The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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This morning, I will join Paul Allen on KFAN and KFAN.com at about 9:20 a.m. If you’re able to listen, that would be great. Let me know what you think.

Wednesday was a difficult day for Twins fans. After Scott Baker and AJ Burnett exchanged zeroes for five innings on Tuesday night, their game was suspended. The teams played the final four innings of that game on Thursday afternoon. In those four innings, only one run was scored, a solo home run off the bat of Derek Jeter. Game 1 – Yankees 1, Twins 0. In the second game, Francisco Liriano was very good. Through seven innings, he gave up just two runs. Unfortunately, through eight innings, the two teams each had just two runs. Jon Rauch came in for the 9^th inning and gave up a solo home run to Nick Swisher. That was it. Game 2 – Yankees 3, Twins 2.  

There was some Good, Some Bad, and some Ugly in the games on Wednesday:

The Good

• Starting Pitching. Scott Baker was great on Tuesday night, and Francisco Liriano was very good on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Twins and their fans, the Yankees starters were just as well. AJ Burnett matched Baker’s five shutout innings on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Andy Pettitte was impressive, giving up just two runs in eight innings.
• The bullpens – Brian Duensing gave up the solo home run to Jeter, but that was all in three innings. Jesse Crain pitched a very good ninth inning. Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless 8^th inning in the night game.
• Drew Butera – Butera did a really good job of working with Liriano. He also picked up his first double of his career late in the game to set up a Twins rally. Speaking of doubles, Delmon Young hit a long double to CF that scored Michael Cuddyer.

The Bad

• Runners on 1^st and 3^rd, nobody out, Orlando Hudson up. He gets jammed by Pettitte and lines back to the pitcher very softly for the first out of the inning.
• Runners on 1^st and 3^rd, now one out, Joe Mauer up. On a 3-1 pitch, Pettitte throw another slider on the outer part of the plate. Mauer reached and lined a tailor-made double play ground ball to Derek Jeter.
• Remember when the Twins used to actually do all the little things right? I miss those annoying days of getting bunts down and moving runners over and coming up with so much as a sacrifice fly when there is a runner on third and less than two outs. I know that nationally, the Twins are perceived as doing the little things. This team does not do the little things and that is what loses one run games to teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. You can usually get away with it against all of the other teams in the league, but not the good teams.

The Ugly

• The Twins have an early 1-0 lead. Runner on 1^st and one out. Francisco Cervelli grounds to Brendan Harris, who throws to 2B Orlando Hudson for the force out at 2B. Hudson takes a step back, cleans off the ball on his pants leg, grabs a sandwich out of his back pocket, eats it (please note, this is a slight exaggeration), then throws the ball to 1B, missing a double play by inches. The inning continued and Kevin Russo drove in Cervelli with a double. Hudson’s occasional lapses are allegedly the reason that he lost playing time to Ronnie Belliard down the stretch with the Dodgers last year. Earlier in the year, I was told to expect many such instances. They have actually been few and far between, but this one hurt.
• The fact that Brendan Harris playing every day is making Twins fans clamor for Nick Punto’s return to the lineup. Or Danny Valencia’s promotion to the big leagues. Harris has gone 6-39 in May, and that includes a 3-4 game earlier in the month.
• The Twins media seems to perpetuate this sense that the Yankees are a far better team and organization than the Twins. I have the utmost respect for the Yankees organization and most of their players, but I also believe that the Twins starting nine is just as good. I’m tired of hearing that the team “has to play perfect ball” to beat the Yankees.
• Even worse, the Twins play against the Yankees proves that media right!
• Speaking of the media – stop talking about the Twins inability to hit home runs. Please stop saying that ball would have been a homer in the Metrodome. Yes, home runs are great, but both teams play on the same field, and while the Twins players have allowed the frustration of lack of home runs affect them, other teams haven’t. Opponents have twice as many home runs as the Twins at Target Field. And on this day, Joe Mauer just missed a homer in the second game. JJ Hardy just missed what would have been a game-tying homer off of Mariano Rivera in the 9^th inning. But you know what… Derek Jeter was able to get one out of there. Nick Swisher was able to get one out of there. So no, it’s not impossible to homer in Target Field. And, I hate to agree with Bert Blyleven, but even if there aren’t homers, the field plays the same for both teams, so you have to still find ways to win games.
• The ugliest – my attitude while watching the offensive ineptitude. And I’m the positive Twins blogger, right? Even I’m more than a little frustrated. No, I’m not ‘the sky is falling down’ like Fanatic Jack, and I still believe that what happens in these May games won’t necessarily affect what happens in October. It’s just frustrating to keep losing close games, especially against a Yankees team that frankly, isn’t that terribly great.

The Twins and Yankees play again tonight, with Nick Blackburn going against Sergio Mitre.

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Wednesday in the Twins minor league system:

SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jair Fernandez – New Britain Rockcats

SethSpeaks Wednesday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Not Applicable Tonight –

Red Wings Report   

Wednesday – Rochester – No Games Scheduled in International League.  

New Britain Notes

Wednesday – New Britain 6, New Hampshire 11 – David Bromberg started and gave up four runs on nine hits in the first six innings. He walked two and struck out two. Joe Testa came in and gave up four runs on three hits and two walks (and two hit batters) in just one inning. Chris Province gave up three runs on five hits in two innings. Jair Fernandez went 2-4 with a triple. Steve Singleton was 2-4. Erik Lis hit his third home run and drove in three runs.  

Singleton Update – On May 5^th, Steve Singleton was hitting .192. Since then, he has gone 29-77 (.377) and is now hitting .281.

Miracle Matters

Wednesday – Ft. Myers 4, Bradenton 10 – Michael Tarsi got lit up but at least was able to go five innings. He gave up eight runs (7 earned) on 11 hits, including two home runs. He walked none and struck out five. Shooter Hunt gave up two runs on three hits in three innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out three in three innings. Chris Parmelee went 2-4 while five other hitters each hit a double.    

Snappers Snippets

Wednesday – Beloit 1, Quad Cities 6 – Edgar Ibarra started and gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. He struck out five. Jhon Garcia gave up one run on three hits in two innings. He struck out three. Eliecer Cardenas gave up an unearned run on two hits in two innings. The Snappers managed just four hits. Angel Morales hit a triple.  

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here. 

Twins Minor League Weekly

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Be sure to listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly. Travis Aune and I were joined by the play-by-play man of the Ft. Myers Miracle, Alex Margulies. We discussed many of the players on the Miracle roster. Later, we were joined by New Britain infielder Steve Singleton who is on a tear. In the Rockcats double header on Tuesday night, he went 3-5 with a home run. Since May 6, he is 27-73 (.370) and has raised his average from .192 to .279. Travis and I then discussed all four Twins full-season affiliates. Travis asked me for mini-scouting reports on what I saw in Beloit over the weekend. Finally, after the show’s live stream ended at 11:00, Travis and I spent about another 20 minutes podcasting, which you can listen to now as well. Each of us discussed the five Twins prospects that would move up our prospect lists the most right now. Listen to ours and then discuss yours. Which Twins minor leaguers have made the strongest impression and moved up your lists so far this season?

 

The Twins and Yankees were tied at zero through five innings last night when the rains came. After a long delay, the game was suspended and will be continued at 4:05 on Wednesday. Here are some more links to Twins blogs:

 

·         Aaron Gleeman posted several Twins notes.

·         Nick Nelson says that Kevin Slowey really needs to step it up.

·         Parker, at Over the Baggy, wrote about the selectivity and connectivity of Justin Morneau this year.

·         Between Phil Mackey and Tom Pelissero, they are doing a tremendous job covering the Minnesota Twins at 1500espn.com.

·         Ed Thoma speculates on the Twins interest in Roy Oswalt.

 

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Tuesday in the Twins minor league system:

 

SethSpeaks Tuesday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Steve Singleton – New Britain Rockcats, Anderson Hidalgo – Beloit Snappers

SethSpeaks Tuesday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kyle Gibson – New Britain Rockcats

 

Red Wings Report   

Tuesday – Rochester 1, Norfolk 2 – Anthony Swarzak returned to the Red Wings rotation. He gave up just one run on three hits and two walks in four innings. Jose Lugo came in and gave up one run on one hit in three innings. Tim Lahey pitched a scoreless inning. Jason Repko went 2-5. Dustin Martin and Brock Peterson were each 1-3 with a walk.   

New Britain Notes

Tuesday – Game 1 – New Britain 5, New Hampshire 7 – Tyler Robertson returned to the Rockcats after one AAA start. He gave up seven runs on 11 hits and three walks in six innings. Santos Arias struck out two in a scoreless inning. Erik Lis was 2-4 with his first double. Rene Tosoni hit his third homer and drove in two runs. Steve Singleton was 1-2, was hit by a pitch, hit his fourth home run and drove in two runs.

Tuesday – Game 2 – New Britain 2, New Hampshire 1 – Kyle Gibson was again this story in this game. Gibson gave up only an unearned run (thanks to his own error) in seven innings. He gave up seven hits, but he walked none and struck out four. He recorded 11 groundball outs to five fly outs. In the bottom of the seventh, Steve Singleton singled, advanced to 2B on a sacrifice bunt and to 3B on an error. Ben Revere reached on an error that allowed Singleton to score the winning run. Rene Tosoni was 1-2 with a walk.   

Miracle Matters

Tuesday – Ft. Myers 2, Bradenton 6 – Blake Martin made another start for the Miracle. In 5.2 innings, he gave up four runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out four. Andrei Lobanov gave up two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings. Jose Gonzalez made his first appearance with the Miracle and pitched a scoreless inning, despite two hits. Dan Rohlfing went 2-4 with his eighth double. Nick Romero was 2-4 with his fifth double.   

Snappers Snippets

Tuesday – Beloit 7, Cedar Rapids 13 – BJ Hermsen was in line for a win when this game was delayed after the top of the 6^th inning. He had allowed three runs (2 earned) on five hits and a walk through five innings. He went back out to start the sixth inning, after the delay, and gave up two hits and two walks and all four came around to score. Matt Tone relieved him and got two outs, but not before he gave up five runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks). Dakota Watts gave up an unearned run in 1.1 innings. Kane Holbrooks pitched a scoreless inning. Anderson Hidalgo went 3-4 with three more doubles and now has 14 on the year. Josmil Pinto went 2-4 with his seventh double. Angel Morales was 2-3 with a walk and his 14^th stolen base. Reggie Williams hit his seven home run and drove in four runs. Steve Liddle hit his fifth homer. 

 

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here.

Minor League Notebook

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First things first, be sure to tune in at 10:00 CST tonight to Twins Minor League Weekly. Travis Aune and I will be joined by the play-by-play man of the Ft. Myers Miracle, Alex Margulies. The hour-long show will discuss each of the four Twins affiliates, and we will again have a teaser following the live podcast is complete.

Please head over to the TwinsCentric blog at StarTribune.com. Today, I posted a Minor League Notebook in which I discussed some injuries, some players that are playing great and much more.  

Since the STrib blog is quite long, here is a quick glance at what happened on Monday in the Twins minor league system:

SethSpeaks Monday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Joe Benson – Ft. Myers Miracle, Steve Singleton – New Britain Rockcats

SethSpeaks Monday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Deolis Guerra – Rochester Red Wings

Red Wings Report   

Monday – Rochester 1, Norfolk 2 – Deolis Guerra had his best start of the year. He gave up two runs in the first inning, but that was it. The 21 year old right-hander gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out five. Cole DeVries came in and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Jacque Jones went 3-4. Jason Repko was 2-4 with his sixth double and sixth stolen base. Matt Tolbert was 2-4 with his ninth double and fourth steal. Former Twins pitcher Armando Gabino pitched three shutout innings to record the save for Norfolk.  

New Britain Notes

Monday – New Britain 8, Binghamton 7 – Steve Singleton has been on fire since May 6^th. In this game, he was 3-5 with his 12^th double, third home runs and three RBI. Allan de San Miguel went 2-3 with his third double. Ben Revere was 2-5 with his 17^th steal. Yangervis Solarte was 2-5. Mike McCardell made the start and went 7.1 innings. He gave up four runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. Joe Testa got one out but also issued a walk. Chris Province got two outs but gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Michael Allen got the final five outs.  

Miracle Matters

Monday – Ft. Myers 12, Bradenton 3 – Joe Benson led the way again. He went 3-4 with two home runs and four RBI. Nick Romero was 3-4 with a walk, his fourth double and three RBI. Chris Parmelee went 2-5 with a walk and a grand slam. Brian Dozier again notched two hits, and added two walks and his first double. Adrian Salcedo picked up the Win. In five innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits. He walked three and struck out three. Tony Davis gave up an unearned run on four hits and two walks in three innings. Of the nine outs he recorded in those three innings, eight of them came on strikeouts. Steve Blevins threw a scoreless frame.  

Snappers Snippets

Monday – Beloit 6, Cedar Rapids 8 – Brad Stillings had a rough one. He gave up eight runs on 11 hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out three. Eliecer Cardenas struck out three in two scoreless. Jhon Garcia threw two shutout frames as well. Angel Morales went 2-5 with his third triple. Anderson Hidalgo was 2-4 with his 11^th double. Aaron Hicks hit his fourth home run (and struck out three times).  

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here.

Day 2 in Beloit

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Click here to listen to last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast.

On Saturday night, I blogged some thoughts live from Beloit on seeing the Beloit Snappers and the Cedar Rapids Kernels play on Friday night. Today I’ll discuss my thoughts on seeing the teams play on Saturday. (If you don’t want to read my thoughts, you can scroll down for the Minor League updates from the games). Josh Johnson and I got to Beloit on Friday afternoon and watched the team’s play that night. We found a hotel room, but we had to check out by 11:00 a.m. One thing we didn’t consider is what to do from the time we had to get out of the hotel until going to the ballpark around 5:00. Well, I got an oil change in my car and we ate at a sports bar called Jerseys in Beloit. We decided to go to the theatre and watched Iron Man 2. I actually really liked it, which surprised me, considering I hadn’t seen the first and don’t really get into the Marvel Comics movies. But it was very good and we (as in me) really like Scarlett Johansson. She just seems very, well, friendly. Then we went to Applebee’s to watch the Twins/Brewers game until we headed over to the park.  

 Here are a few quick notes from watching the Saturday night Snappers game in person (so take it for what it is worth, a very small sample size):

• Aaron Hicks is where he should be. Going 2-4 with two walks is very good. It shows his ability to take pitches and work a walk. He stands right on the plate and has very quick hands. He has a very strong swing. His second hit was a line drive to the opposite field. He played CF in this game and completely misplayed a ball to dead center. He froze and even took a step forward on a fly ball that ended up landing on the warning track. He showed a good arm, or course. He is close to ready to advance, but there is zero rush, so it would be good to see him stay for a little longer.
• Angel Morales struck out just once in the two games. That is good because he had really been struggling. He struggles some with curveball and sliders, as a lot of hitters at this level do. But he has such a strong, quick swing. I was expecting to see more bad swings on breaking balls, but he was on all of them and fouled a couple straight back. His speed is very impressive. He played RF in this game (after DHing on Friday night), and did alright out there. Nothing stood out either way. Good arm, certainly not comparable to Hicks, but pretty accurate. It would be nice to see Morales go on a strong run for the next month and then move up.
• James Beresford was the most impressive players to me. He looks very young and is very skinny, but I was impressed by how he looked at the plate. In this game, he was 1-6, but I was still impressed by the type of at bat. He took pitches, he had very good bat control. But I was especially impressed by his defense. He is a very good shortstop, but he played 2B both games. He made all the plays and made them look easy. In this game, he made a play going far up the middle, back-handing the ball and leaping toward left field to throw out the runner at first base (similar to the play that Derek Jeter has made famous). He’s got a good arm and good range on grounders or pop ups. And then there are the intangibles. He was the clear leader of that infield. He took charge out there. In fact, there was one time during a tough situation that he called catcher Tobias Streich out to the mound for a quick discussion. We keep hearing that when he grows into his body and gains weight, he will be very good. I now completely agree with it.
• Danny Rams can crush the ball. He can hit fastballs pretty well. But he also has struck out a lot in his career, and watching, it is pretty clear why. He swings and misses a lot at breaking balls. After crushing a fastball to the right center field gap and then drilling a fastball for a single in his second at bat, he struck out the final three at bats, on curveballs. One of them landed in the left-handed batters box.
• Michael Tonkin looked alright. Decent fastball. Doesn’t throw real hard. Early in the game, his curveball just rolled, but as the game went on, it got more and more sharp and was very good. Very thin, he has a chance to be good if he can get bigger and stronger, add some velocity and maintain his terrific control.
• Dakota Watts is a reliever to watch. He throws pretty hard and has a solid slider. But he came into a tough position and got out of it with strikeouts. One thing I noticed about all of the Snappers relievers is that they have the ability to work out of really tough situations. Of course, they also showed a great ability to put the team in some really tough situations to get out of.
• Tobias Streich had a rough game too on Saturday night. He threw out two would-be base stealers… out of 11. That’s right, nine stolen bases against the Snappers. On two of them, the ball went in to centerfield and he was changed with an error. Now, some of that is on the pitchers and I believe that a middle infielder should try to knock the ball down if it could go in the outfield, but it was a tough game for the defensive-minded catcher.
• Reggie Williams was drafted as a great athlete. He played 3B both games and had a couple of plays that made me, a former 3B, cringe, and then he had a couple of plays there that made me say “Wow!” He looks more like a 2B to me.
• Daniel Santana came up and had a rough Midwest League debut. He went 1-5 with three strikeouts. In his first at bat, he had three fastballs blown right by of them. A couple of them were at head level. As the game went on, you could see that he has an ability to be a line drive hitter if he swings at good pitches. Defensively, I saw a guy who could be a very good defensive shortstop. He has good hands and a very strong arm. However, a couple of his throws were wild. He had three errors in the game as well. Josh said the first part of the following and I added the second part: “Daniel Santana makes James Beresford look old and chubby.” Santana is tiny. He may be 5-7, and he may be 150 pounds, but he has a chance if he keeps working. Ideally he would head back to Elizabethton for the 2010 season.  
• Finally, in a couple of games that had Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales, the best prospect that I saw was Mike Trout of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He was the Angels 1^st round pick (25^th overall) last year. The 19 year old centerfielder is hitting about .360 so far this year, gets on base via walk, and has nearly 20 extra base hits already this year, including five home runs. Offensively, he is incredible. In centerfield, I thought he was pretty advanced. His arm may not be as good as Aaron Hicks, but he got tremendous reads on fly balls. In general, I just think he looks like a guy that prospect fans will want to get to know.

In all, I think that going to Beloit was a great experience. Saturday’s game went 11 innings and didn’t finish until about 10:20 p.m. It was a great game. The only negative is that we had to drive back to the Twin Cities after the game to get Josh back for a previous commitment. I drove until about 12:30 and then couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I asked Josh if he could. He did, and I got into the passenger’s seat. After talking for a couple of minutes, the next thing I knew, I looked at the clock and it had been 40 minutes. I apparently fell asleep mid-sentence. I was awake for another couple of minutes, and the next thing I knew, it was an hour after that. I asked how he was doing driving and he said just fine. Next thing I knew, it was 3:00 and we were to St. Paul, just about to 35E! Dropped Josh off at 3:30 and then I got home about 3:50. I am WAY too old for that. I am thinking of getting back to Beloit again in June if it works out.

If you have any questions or comments about Beloit, the trip or any of the players, please feel free to e-mail me.  

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Saturday and Sunday in the Twins minor league system:

SethSpeaks Saturday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee – Ft. Myers Miracle

SethSpeaks Saturday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Joe Testa – New Britain Rockcats

SethSpeaks Sunday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ben Revere – New Britain Rockcats

SethSpeaks Sunday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Carlos Gutierrez – New Britain Rockcats

• A bunch of people have asked me about what is happening with Matt Bashore. I finally received confirmation that he had, or will have, Tommy John surgery and miss this entire season.
• Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco will begin their Twins playing career in the Dominican Summer League. They will play there for a few weeks, until the GCL Twins season starts. At that time, they will evaluate whether to push them to the GCL or let them continue to play in the DSL.
• Paul Kelly and Drew Thompson are both currently out of the Ft. Myers Miracle lineup with injuries. Thompson has a hamstring injury, while Kelly is having wrist issues.
• Tom Stuifbergen told me that he threw a bullpen on Friday and felt good. He expects to be out another week and probably pitch out of the bullpen a couple of times.
• As LaVelle posted last week, Ben Tootle has been sent back to the Twin Cities to check out why he is experiencing elbow soreness and pain.  

Red Wings Report   

Saturday – Rochester 9, Norfolk 2 – Matt Fox pitched well and was helped by plenty of offensive support to gain his fourth win of the year. In six innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits. He struck out two and walked none. Jose Lugo gave up three hits and a walk, but no runs, in 1.2 innings. Anthony Slama struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings. Matt Tolbert went 3-5 with his eighth double and fifth stolen base. Toby Gardenhire went 3-5 with his first double (actually his first three hits with the Red Wings). Danny Valencia went 3-4 and was hit by a pitch. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5 with his ninth double. Wilson Ramos went 2-5 with his third double.

Sunday – Rochester 8, Norfolk 4 – Jeff Manship started and gave up three runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out four. Tim Lahey walked two in 1.1 scoreless innings. Kyle Waldrop gave up a solo home run in two innings. Rob Delaney walked one in a scoreless inning. Danny Valencia went 2-4 with a walk. Matt Macri went 2-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Jason Repko went 2-5 with two RBI and his fifth stolen base. Jacque Jones went 2-5. Brian Dinkelman hit his second home run.   

New Britain Notes

Saturday – New Britain 1, Binghamton 3 – Santos Arias made his first start of the 2010 season. He gave up two runs on three hits (two solo home runs). He walked two and struck out one in 4.2 innings. He falls to 0-6 with a 4.50 ERA. Joe Testa has come on of late. He was perfect for 2.1 innings. Loek Van Mil gave up one run on two hits and a walk in one inning. Matt Williams walked one and struck out one in an inning. Ben Revere went 3-5 with his 14^th stolen base. Allan de San Miguel went 1-2 with two walks. Erik Lis hit his second home run.

Sunday – New Britain 5, Binghamton 2 – Ben Revere again led the offense. He went 3-4 with a walk and two stolen bases. Carlos Gutierrez recorded his first win of the year. He gave up just two runs on seven hits in 7.2 innings. He walked one and struck out four. Matt Williams recorded his first save with 1.1 scoreless innings.

• Ben Revere is on a tear. In his last nine games, he has gone 18-38 (.474) with six walks, two doubles, a triple and a home run. In his last six games, he is 14-26 (.538).
• Carlos Gutierrez improved to 1-3 with a 3.75 ERA. In his first start of the season, he gave up four runs in four innings. In his April 24^th start, he gave up eight runs in four innings. In his seven other starts, he has given up two or less runs.

Miracle Matters

Saturday – Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 6 – Chris Parmelee got off to a slow start in Ft. Myers, but had a great weekend. In this game, he was 3-4. Brian Dozier made his Miracle debut and was 2-4. Jair Fernandez also was 2-4 and drove in the lone run. Liam Hendriks had his first rough start of the year. He gave up four runs on eight hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out six. Andrei Lobanov gave up just two hits in three shutout innings. Steve Blevins gave up two runs on four hits in two innings.

Sunday – Ft. Myers 7, Daytona 9 – Chris Parmelee again went 3-4 in this game, adding a walk, a triple and three RBI to raise his average to .360. Brian Dozier went 2-5 with two RBI. Dan Osterbrock fell to 0-4. In 5.1 innings, he gave up seven runs (5 earned) on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out three. Shooter Hunt came in and gave up a run on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. Billy Bullock struck out four in two scoreless innings.  

Snappers Snippets

Saturday – Beloit 5, Cedar Rapids 7 (11 innings) – Michael Tonkin started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits. He walked none and struck out just two in 5.1 innings. Dakota Watts came in and walked two and struck out three in 1.2 innings. Kane Holbrooks gave up one run on two hits and two walks in his two innings. He struck out four. Jhon Garcia gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in two innings to take the loss. Aaron Hicks went 2-4 with two walks. Danny Rams went 2-5 with his tenth double and two RBI. Josmil Pinto was 2-5. Angel Morales went 0-2 with two walks and a hit by pitch. In the bottom of the ninth, he was hit in the helmet by a fastball. Josh Johnson has video of it that he will soon post on YouTube that you will want to watch. Daniel Santana made his Midwest League debut and it was a rough one. He went 1-5 with three strikeouts. He also committed three errors.   

Sunday – Beloit 2, Cedar Rapids 14 – Miguel Munoz gave up four runs on six hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. Peter Kennelly gave up six runs (5 earned) on six hits and two walks in three innings. Matt Tone gave up a solo home run and struck out two in his inning. Catcher Tobias Streich gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in his inning of work. James Beresford went 2-3 with his fifth double. Aaron Hicks hit his eighth double.  

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here.

Live from Beloit, it’s…

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Before we get started, a huge Congratulations to Trevor Plouffe who made his big league debut last night for the Twins against the Brewers in interleague play. Plouffe batted eighth and started at shortstop in the Twins 15-3 victory. Plouffe batted in the first inning and singled in a run in his first big league at bat. Later in the game, he drove in a second run on a double.

Josh Johnson (of Josh’s Thoughts) and I left the Twin Cities at about 11:00 on Friday morning. We arrived in Beloit at about 4:30. Game time was 6:30, and the gates don’t open until 5:30. For the price of just $8.50, we were able to get box seats, in the 3^rd row, right behind home plate. The attendance was state at 493, but if there were more than 250, I have no idea where they were. The game was good. It was actually a 2-1 game heading into the sixth inning, but things just went wrong for the Snappers that inning. Here are a few quick notes from watching just one Snappers game in person (so take it for what it is worth, a very small sample size):

• Aaron Hicks played right field and led off for the Snappers. In the first inning, batting left-handed and standing almost right on top of the plate, he showed good patience, took some tough pitches, took a strong, quick swing and later hit a solid line drive right up the middle. In his final two at bats, one left-handed and one right-handed, he flew out on the first pitch. In right field, he looked very natural, although he also mis-read a short fly ball and had to play it on a hop. However, with runners on first and second, there was a fly ball to medium right field. Hicks played the ball perfectly, caught it and made a very strong throw that probably would have one-hopped third base, but shortstop Brian Dozier cut it off and threw to second base to get that runner trying to advance. You may have to trust me on this ,but everything we have heard about his arm strength, is definitely true.
• Angel Morales batted ninth and was the DH. He has been struggling of late. He has a very strong right-handed swing, and I thought he took some very good at bats. He took pitches, and he has such a quick, strong swing. He had a line drive single up the middle. He also got on via an error by the shortstop, but he got down the line so fast that I don’t think he would have been out anyway.
• If you look at Edgar Ibarra’s line, it doesn’t look very good, but what we saw told a very different story. Ibarra has a very smooth delivery. He has a good fastball and works both inside and outside corners. He had a very, very good changeup that he only threw a few times, and he had a pretty sharp slider too.
• Eliecer Cardenas came in and he throws pretty hard. He has a good fastball and a good slider, but control of both pitches was not there on this night. Matt Tone throws pretty hard, and almost short-arms the ball, so it’s deceptively fast. I think it could be hard to pick up the ball out of his hand. But his release point is all over the place, so often, so were the pitches.
• Wang-Wei Lin played centerfield and really does a very good job out there. He made a couple of good catches and showed some good range. He also made an inning-ending diving catch early in the game. The only blemish is that he caught a semi-deep fly ball with the bases loaded. He made a good, strong throw toward third, but had no chance at getting that runner. The runner from 1B also advanced.
• Danny Rams is a strong man with good power. He lined out to RF late in the game and hit that ball quite well. But what I noticed was that he is much better defensively than I would have thought based on what I had heard. He seemed in control of the game behind the plate. He did a nice job receiving pitches, and blocked a couple of balls in the dirt. He had a passed ball, but it was actually on a pitch up that there appeared to be a mix up in what pitch was to be thrown. Although he didn’t have to throw any runners out, he has a rocket for an arm.
• We will also be going to the Saturday night game between the Beloit Snappers (who are still leading their division and the Cedar Rapids Kernals, who are not far behind.

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Friday night in the Twins minor league system:

SethSpeaks Friday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Allan de San Miguel – New Britain Rockcats, Joe Benson – Ft. Myers Miracle

SethSpeaks Friday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Michael Tarsi – Ft. Myers Miracle

• I’m a day late with this one, but according to MiLB.com, Ft. Myers OF Michael Harrington was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a muscle-building substance.
• Brian Dozier was promoted to Ft. Myers, and Danny Santana will be joining the Beloit Snappers.

Red Wings Report   

Friday – Rochester 1, Syracuse 6 – Glen Perkins falls to 0-6, but reduced his ERA to 9.09, with six innings of work. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits. He walked two and struck out six. Kyle Waldrop came in and struck out two in two perfect innings. Rob Delaney gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his inning. Matt Tolbert went 2-2 with two walks. Jose Morales went 1-3 with a walk and a double.  

New Britain Notes

Friday – New Britain 14, Binghamton 2 – Allan de San Miguel is an excellent defensive catcher, but on this night, he was the hitting hero too. He went 4-5 with two doubles and four RBI. Brandon Roberts was 2-3 with a walk. Steve Singleton and Yangervis Solarte each had two hits. David Bromberg gave up two runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. He walked four and struck out nine. Chris Province was perfect over the final 2.1 innings.  

Miracle Matters

Friday – Ft. Myers 7, Daytona 0 – Joe Benson is doing a great job of showing he wants to be back in New Britain. In this game, he went 4-5 with two doubles, and his second home run. In his five games with the Miracle, his is hitting .450/.522/.900 with four singles, three doubles and two home runs. Michael Tarsi started and went six shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked four and struck out six. Brad Tippett threw two scoreless frames before Andrey Lobanov kept the shutout with a scoreless ninth.  

Snappers Snippets

Friday – Beloit 2, Cedar Rapids 8 – If you look at Edgar Ibarra’s pitching line, it isn’t exactly impressive. The lefty gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks. He struck out three. Eliecer Cardenas came in with the bases loaded and gave up a single and a bases-clearing triple before getting out of that inning. He got out of that inning and threw two more. Matt Tone struck out two in a scoreless ninth. James Beresford went 2-4. Reggie Williams had a long RBI double to left centerfield. And yes, Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales both played, and each had a single.

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here.

Plouffe Promoted

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REMINDER – The SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast will be at 9:00 on Sunday night. Guests are still a work in progress, but there will be a show with lots of Twins talk, minor league talk and much more.

Well, it was only about ten days too late, but Trevor Plouffe was finally promoted to the Twins following Thursday night’s Twins and Red Wings game. He had been held of out the Red Wings lineup on Thursday. Unfortunately, his promotion comes at the expense of Jeff Manship who was sent back to Rochester. From the Red Wings site:

The Minnesota Twins announced after tonight’s game that they will recall infielder Trevor Plouffe from Triple-A Rochester in time for Friday night’s game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers at Target Field. In 38 games with the Red Wings this season, Plouffe batted .303 (46-for-152) with 11 doubles, three triples, four home runs and 21 rbi. He was drafted by the Twins in the first round (20th overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. Plouffe’s first game action will be his Major League debut and he will wear uniform number 24. To make room for Plouffe on the 25-man roster, the Twins have optioned right-handed pitcher Jeff Manship to Triple-A Rochester…

I told Plouffe at Twins Fest that next year, I will pay for his autograph, and now, I will have to do just that. Trevor is a terrific guy with great charisma and he has put it all together this year. He will turn 24 years old in June. One of the Twins first-round picks in 2004, Plouffe has slowly worked his way up the Twins farm system. He was promoted to the Red Wings in the second half of 2008 and spent all of 2009 there as well. When the Twins signed JJ Hardy this offseason, Plouffe used it as motivation and is putting together a great year.

Following the 2009 season, Plouffe participated in the World Cup for Team USA. He was their shortstop and second hitter and a team leader. He helped the team, along with guys like Ike Davis, Justin Smoak and Terry Tiffee, win the gold medal.

So, although it is unfortunate that Jeff Manship is returning to Rochester (instead of say, Jose Mijares, or… maybe a DFA of Jesse Crain?), I am thrilled for Trevor Plouffe.

Here is a quick glance at what happened on Thursday night in the Twins minor league system:

SethSpeaks Thursday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jason Repko – Rochester Red Wings

SethSpeaks Thursday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – BJ Hermsen – Beloit Snappers 

• Be sure to check out Josh’s Thoughts for his Minor League News and Notes.
• Speaking of Josh Johnson, he and I are heading to Beloit, Wisconsin, on Friday to watch the Snappers play Cedar Rapids on Friday and Saturday. We should see Edgar Ibarra and Michael Tonkin in the mound. Hopefully we will see Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales both games. I am not certain if I will be posting blog entries over the weekend, but I am sure that I will be tweeting away. Follow me at www.twitter.com/sethtweets.

Red Wings Report   

Thursday – Rochester 3, Syracuse 4 – Tyler Robertson was promoted to Rochester, likely just for this one start in place of Manship. The young lefty did alright. In five innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out six. Tim Lahey came in and threw two shutout innings. Cole DeVries then gave up an unearned run on three hits in two innings. He struck out three. Jason Repko was most of the offense. He went 4-5 with his fourth homer and three RBI. Jacque Jones went 2-4. Matt Tolbert and Brock Peterson each had doubles.  

New Britain Notes

Thursday – New Britain 6, Portland 2 – Kyle Gibson appears to be fairly good at pitching. . I think that is fairly safe to say. On this night, the 2009 top pick gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out six. He had 13 ground balls with two fly outs, continuing his ground ball inducing ways. Michael Allen reduced his AA ERA to just 1.23 with another scoreless inning. Loek Van Mil gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. Erik Lis went 3-5 with his first New Britain homer. Ben Revere went 2-3 with two walks. He stole his 12^th and 13^th bases. Rene Tosoni went 2-5 with his seventh double. Juan Portes went 2-5 with a triple.   

Miracle Matters

Thursday – Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 7 – Blake Martin made another start, and it didn’t go well. In 3.2 innings, he gave up seven runs on seven hits (two home runs). He walked two and struck out three. Tony Davis went 2.1 scoreless. Billy Bullock struck out two in his inning. Steve Blevins struck out three in two shutout innings. Estarlin de Los Santos went 3-5. Joe Benson went 2-5 with his first Miracle home run (6^th of the year). Ramon Santana hit his eighth double and first triple. Chris Parmelee went 0-2, but he walked three times.

Snappers Snippets

Thursday – Beloit 3, Kane County 2 – The Snappers didn’t get much offense generated, but it was still enough for BJ Hermsen. The Twins young pitcher was tremendous in his second Midwest League start. In seven shutout innings, he gave up three hits and no walks. He struck out three for the Win. He is now 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. Jhon Garcia gave up two runs (1 earned) in 1.1 innings, his first since joining the Snappers. Kane Holbrooks recorded his fifth save by getting the final two outs via strikeout. The Snappers managed just four hits. Angel Morales had a two run single. He also stole his 12^th and 13^th bases of the year.

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to comment here.

One Last Thing…

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The best part, for me, about being a blogger is the interaction with other Twins fans. It’s the e-mail discussions and the comments in the comments section each day that make the writing and the podcasts worthwhile. I don’t claim to have all the right answers, and I would hope that no one takes my opinions as the only way to think. I believe that baseball teams can win (or lose) in many different ways. The Yankees and Red Sox can win year in and year out by outspending other teams and getting the top players. The Twins and Rays go about winning by drafting high-upside talent and developing them and building from within. The Cubs and Mets spend a ton of money, but it hasn’t guaranteed them much. The Pirates have gone the way of player development and it hasn’t done much for them.

I love following the Twins minor league system and have been doing so fairly religiously for the past six or seven years. I love minor league baseball and the process that it takes to become a big league player. It takes a ton of work to be a big leaguer, a star, or a role player. And each of the players in the minor league system is also working very hard and deserve to be recognized as well. I have my opinions on player development and what stats are good to look at, and understanding that minor league stats are what they are and that scouting and potential are as important as the numbers. The Twins have a philosophy. I guarantee that not every member of the Twins front office, or every scout, or every minor league coach believe 100% the same thing, and in the same way, I don’t expect to agree with every decision that the Twins make as it relates to player movement at the big league level or below. We question, and that’s OK. And I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me on every Twins minor leaguer either. Hey, I thought Danny Matienzo was a future Twins DH. One year, I had Matt Moses ranked as the Twins #5 prospect. One year, I had JD Durbin ranked as the team’s #2 prospect. I thought the Mike Lamb signing was great for the Twins. I thought that giving Type A free agent Juan Cruz a two-year, $4 million contract would have been worth the first round pick that it would have cost the Twins. Horrible pitching by Cruz and the draft selection of Kyle Gibson proved me and others wrong. I would have been willing to give Felipe Lopez three years and $18 million. I thought Jesse Crain should have been given the Twins closer role in 2004, since he did it so well in the minor leagues instead of going with Joe Nathan, who had just one career save going into that season. I could go back in time in my seven years of blogging and come up with a really fun “I was VERY wrong” list of topics and we could all laugh about it.  

This week’s example of me disagreeing, or to be fair, not understanding of a Twins personnel move was the demotion of Joe Benson from AA New Britain to Hi-A Ft. Myers. I laid out some of the reasons for my confusion the other day. I probably won’t mention it again because, as I stated, the goal isn’t for him to be in New Britain, it is for him to be the best big league player that he can be, and in the end, maybe this will be a good move for him. And if so, that’s all that matters. As someone with the Twins once told me, the goal is not to get players to the big leagues as fast as they can, it is for them to be ready when they get there. When you draft a player with the incredible potential and upside of Joe Benson, patience is a very good, very prudent thing. So again, I won’t dwell on it because I understand the end game, the grand scheme.

However, in the comments section of my blog the other day, I had one of the best comments I have received in a comments section. I probably should highlight more comments and e-mails that I get because additional insight into these topics is terrific. I don’t do this often, but I really wanted to highlight one particular comment that I thought was great. This is a comment from “Dave Nelson” that I like because whether or not you or I agree with each part of it, it is well laid out and backed by facts and stats.

I hope the demotion of Benson wasn’t BA motivated but I suspect it was the main factor. .219/.346/.419 is a solid line especially considering his BA is so low.

As for who the better prospect; Revere or Benson, if you think it Revere, you are ignoring performance, tools, upside and defensive ability, and hoping that Revere starts taking more walks, learns how to play CF and develops gap power. Revere has been living off of almost hitting .400 for more than a year now.

2009 FTM
Benson: .285/.414/.403
Revere: .311/.372/.369

2010 NBR
Benson: .219/.346/.419
Revere: .279/.353/.328

Add to that Benson playing better defense and being a more versatile defender. Ben Revere is not even a good base stealer. Benson gets demoted despite playing better this year than revere, and I’m sure Ben is well on his way to a 3rd consecutive player of the year award because he happens to be in an organization that’s allergic to walks and absolutely hypnotized by batting average and speed.

There’s a pretty good chance revere is going to be a huge disappointment. He doesn’t hit near enough to play a corner outfield position so his only role with the Twins would be to take over CF and move Span to a corner. But right now reports are that he doesn’t play CF particularly well, so he might not be a good option to move Span. Either way he’s got Hicks on his tail as CF of the future. And if Hicks does supplant Revere in CF, Revere has few tools to transition to a corner spot.

Please feel free to discuss. Have a great day! Leave any comments here.

Twins Minor League Weekly TONIGHT and Quick Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I have been having some computer/connection issues the past couple of days, so I apologize for lack of posts here at SethSpeaks.net. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been busy (outside of my normal 8-5 duties).

• First of all, at 10:00 CST tonight, Travis Aune and I will host this week’s episode of Twins Minor League Weekly. We will be joined by the voice of the Rochester Red Wings, Josh Whetzel. We will discuss all four of the Twins full season minor league affiliates as well. So, tune in and let us know what you think.
• In case you missed it on Sunday night, I did host the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. Topper Anton from Curve for a Strike was at all three Twins/Yankees games in NYC this weekend, so we got his first-hand account of the series. He was followed by Jason Collette of Dock of the Rays and Fanball.com, who discussed his Tampa Bay Rays and the AL East. Finally, we discussed some of the Twins top prospects and performers in their minor league system with Josh Johnson of Josh’s Thoughts.
• Then on Monday night, I joined Travis Aune on the Travis Talks Minnesota Sports Podcast to talk about more Twins minor league transactions which took place on Monday.
• On Monday, I posted a StarTribune.com TwinsCentric blog called Who Can Help noting several players in AAA Rochester who could help the Twins if needed. Of course, in it, I mentioned several players, and when the Twins announced a transaction tonight (Tuesday), it was a player I forgot to mention. The Twins promoted Jeff Manship to the big leagues as an extra arm out of the bullpen for this Boston series. Manship provides the Twins with a guy who can eat a lot of innings if necessary. Matt Tolbert was optioned back to Rochester. When JJ Hardy comes off the Disabled List in a couple of days, a pitcher will likely be demoted. It could be Jeff Manship, or maybe it could be that Jesse Crain is Designated for Assignment. As a long-time fan of Crain, someone who has been supportive of him and his stuff, and of patience following the shoulder surgeries he went to, I finally agree that the time has come. I still believe in Crain and his stuff, but now I fully believe that he needs a change of scenery, maybe a move to the National League. I still believe he can be a very good reliever.
• I also posted my thoughts on yesterday’s minor league transactions on my secondary site (talkintwinsbb.wordpress.com) since this page wasn’t working. That is the site that allows comments. That is the site that contains the RSS feed. I was able to blog about being Perplexed by the demotion of Joe Benson. I won’t repost here, but be sure to click on the link to read that short blog post.

Thanks for all your support and continued readership. Have a great day! Leave any comments here.

Call Me Perplexed

Good morning, folks. I don’t know why, but I am unable to post at www.SethSpeaks.net today. But I did want to post something. First, be sure to tune in at 10:00 central time tonight for Twins Minor League Weekly, a podcast from Travis Aune and myself to discuss the goings on in the Twins farm system.

Yesterday, the Twins again made several transactions in their farm system. Most of them make sense. One completely baffles me. Here is the rundown:

• Toby Gardenhire is promoted to AAA Rochester.
• Erik Lis demoted from Rochester to AA New Britain. (This combination of moves makes sense to me. With both Jose Morales and Wilson Ramos getting AAA at bats, and Brock Peterson at 1B, Lis would get very little playing time with the Red Wings. Gardenhire at least provides flexibility on the bench.
• Chris Cates and Brandon Roberts move to AA New Britain. Cates becomes a AA utilty player even though he’s really struggled at the plate this year. Roberts’ rehab is complete and he heads back to New Britain yet again.
• Loek Van Mil comes off of his rehab and reports to AA New Britain as well.
• Chris Parmelee, Estarlin de Los Santos are demoted from New Britain to High-A Ft. Myers. Both are really struggling. Parmelee never hit for high batting average, but he would take walks and show power. This year, he was not doing either. De Los Santos only played half of the 2009 season in Ft. Myers due to injury, and he coudln’t hit AA pitching either. He also had a lot of errors at SS.
• Joe Benson was demoted from New Britain to Ft. Myers. This is the one that has me completely perplexed. So, why am I so confused by the demotion of a 22 year old who is hitting .219? Let me count the ways:
  • In the minor leagues, you look for continued improvement and adjustments. In April, Benson hit .169. In May, he was hitting .283.
  • In April, he hit one home run. In May, he hit four home runs. His five homers are tops among all Twins minor leaguers so far this year.
  • In 2009 at Ft. Myers, Benson hit .285 and got on base .414. Even when Benson hit .169 in April, he was taking walks and had an IsoD of .127. In May, his IsoD was .128. He consistently walked about 14% of his plate appearances.
  • Defense is a strong suit of Benson’s. He has nearly the speed of Ben Revere and is fully capable in centerfield, but he has a very strong arm and can also play right field. He has shown his strong arm with several outfield assists, enough that in recent weeks, he is not being tested as much.
  • I am told that this is not a disciplinary demotion in any way. So that is a good thing.
  • The one number that is worth noting to be fair to this decision is striking out 27.6% of his plate appearances, and actually in his month of May (when he has an OPS of 1.020) he struck out 32.1% of his plate appearances.
  • Maybe this is an attempt to help Ft. Myers win a 1st half title and allow Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales another month of development time in Beloit.
  • I know my prospect rankings and thoughts don’t matter in the least, but last week, when I was considering how my Top 50 would look now, I had Joe Benson ranked ahead of Ben Revere, and I will stand by that. Benson’s potential is so much higher than Revere’s, and maybe this demotion will help him to achieve that. And if so, that’s all that matters. Benson’s upside is as high as anyone in the organization, with the possible exception of Aaron Hicks. Had this demotion happened in April, I would not have even been surprised. In fact, before the season, when I was projecting rosters, I actually had Benson starting the year in Ft. Myers. So, it’s not like he couldn’t have used more FSL at bats. I’m just not sure the message it sends when one of the top hitters of the month gets demoted while guys like Chris Cates and Toby Gardenhire get promoted.

But what do I know… I’m just a lowly blogger!! Any thoughts?

Twins Podcast Live at 9!

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I took a four day weekend, and ended up having some allergies kick my butt, so it should be entertaining, but tonight at 9, I will be hosting the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. It’s been a while since I blogged, so I’ll be sure to get you caught up on lots of baseball/Twins topics. The Twins lost two in New York before winning in most unlikely of fashions on Sunday when Jason Kubel hit a grand slam off of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Jon Rauch then showed a lot when, after giving up singles to the 8 and 9 hitters, he struck out Derek Jeter, Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira to close out his 10^th save of the year. We will definitely be sure to talk Twins/Yankees, and we will do so with Topper Anton from Curve for a Strike. Topper is a Bloomington native who now lives and works in the Big Apple. He braved Yankees Stadium in a Twins jersey for all three games, so it’ll be great to discuss the series with him.

But we’ll also be sure to talk Twins minor leagues as well. There were some impressive performances. Danny Valencia had a great weekend, and now has a 20 game hitting streak and is hitting .305 on the season. Trevor Plouffe is hitting .300, despite some struggles in the field. Kyle Gibson was very impressive in his New Britain Debut. His Miracle roommate, Bruce Pugh had a tremendous outing this weekend. BJ Hermsen made his first start for Beloit. It was a big day on Sunday for the Kubel family as Jason was not the only family member to impress. His brother-in-law, Michael Tonkin threw seven shutout innings in just his second Beloit start. And there will be much more to talk about.

So, again, I’ve got another day of vacation. Dentist visit… it’s going to be fun! So, I probably won’t be blogging again tonight, so be sure to check out tonight’s podcast for all updates. Be sure to participate in the chat room or by calling in at 347-202-0548.