SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects

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On Monday, I posted my choices for Twins Prospects 36-50. Wednesday, Twins prospects 21-35 were presented. Yesterday, I found that I had completely forgotten one of my top 20 prospects, so he had to be added, and that means that I presented Twins prospects 11-21. That brings us to the topic that I’m sure most of you look forward to in any prospect lists. Here are the SethSpeaks.net Top 10 Minnesota Twins Prospects. You’ve done a great job in the comments section throughout the week, so be sure to Click Here to leave your Comments or Questions.

(To read the player profiles and more, be sure to go to www.SethSpeaks.net)

The SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Minnesota Twins Prospects

#10 – Adrian Salcedo – RHP – 18 (4/24/91)

 

#9 – Rene Tosoni – OF – 23 (7/2/86)

 

#8 – Miguel Sano – SS – 16 (5/8/93)

 

#7 – Ben Revere – OF – 21 (5/3/88)

 

#6 – David Bromberg – RHP – 22 (9/14/87)

 

#5 – Kyle Gibson – RHP – 22 (10/23/87)

 

#4 – Danny Valencia – 3B – 25 (9/19/84)

#3 – Wilson Ramos – C – 22 (8/10/87)

#2 – Angel Morales – OF – 19 (11/24/89)

#1 – Aaron Hicks – OF – 21 (10/2/89)

So there you have it, the SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects. If you have any feedback, comments, opinions or suggestions, please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Minor League Awards

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On Thursday, the Twins announced their Minor League award winners. David Bromberg was the choice for the Jim Rantz Award for top minor league pitcher in the Twins system. For the second straight year, Ben Revere was named the recipient of the Sherry Robertson Award for the organization’s top hitter.

David Bromberg had another terrific season, and although there were several very good pitchers in the Twins system in 2009, this was really an easy choice. Bromberg went 13-4 with a 2.70 ERA. In 153.3 innings this year, he struck out 148 batters, which was the most in the organization. In 2008, Bromberg led all minor league pitchers with 177 strikeouts while pitching for the Beloit Snappers. He was named, by Baseball America, the top pitching prospect in the Florida State League. Bromberg spent the entire 2009 season at the age of 21 and is clearly a Top 10 Twins prospect.

Here are some others who were likely considered:

• In 51 games at AA New Britain, Anthony Slama struck out 93 in 65.1 innings. He was 4-2 with 25 saves and a 2.48 ERA. He pitched in 11 games at AAA Rochester. He was 0-2 with four saves and a 3.45 ERA. He struck out 19 in 15.2 innings. He gave up five of those six runs in one outing. Overall, he was 4-4 with 29 saves, a 2.67 ERA, and 112 strikeouts (with 40 walks) in 81 innings.
• Alex Burnett was moved from being a starter and into the bullpen. In 18 games in Ft. Myers, he went 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA. Then in 40 games after being promoted to New Britain he was 1-2 with a 1.79 ERA. Overall, he was 3-3 with a 1.85 ERA. In 78 innings, he had 78 strikeouts and just 26 walks.
• Steve Hirschfeld went 7-7 with a 2.2 ERA. He pitched in 15 games out of the bullpen before making 17 starts.
• Santos Arias was 6-3 with a 2.15 ERA in 100.2 innings. He made 29 relief appearances before ending the season with nine starts.
• Joe Testa spent the first half of the season pitching in Beloit. In 25 games, he was 0-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 45. 2 innings. Then in Ft. Myers, he was 5-0 with a 1.22 ERA in 21 games, and 37 innings. Altogether, in 82.2 innings, he struck out 116, and walked 41.
• Adrian Salcedo (3-2, 1.46 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 3 BB, 58 K in 61.2 IP), Blayne Weller (5-1, 1.58 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 8 BB, 49 K in 57 IP), BJ Hermsen (6-2, 1.35 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 4 BB, 42 K in 53.1 IP) and Andrei Lobanov (2-1, 0.82 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, 1 BB, 35 K in 22 IP) all had strong showing for the short-season GCL Twins.

The choice for hitter of the year was much more difficult, so it is hard to argue the selection of Ben Revere for winning for the second straight season. Revere finished second in the Florida State League in batting average in 2009 with a .311 average. He was on base 37.2% of the time and had 19 extra base hits. He also stole 45 bases in 62 attempts. Something I like to see in a top of the order hitter, he walked 40 times with just 34 strikeouts. No question, Revere has proven a lot of critics wrong through his first two full minor league seasons.

There are several other hitters who warranted strong consideration:

• After a strong showing during big league spring training, Danny Valencia started his season back where he ended the 2008 season, in New Britain. There, he hit .284/.373/.482 with 14 homers, four triples and seven homers. That earned him a promotion to AAA where he got off to a fast start before tailing off late. He hit .286/.305/.454 with 24 doubles and seven home runs. All together, he his .285/.337/.466 with 38 doubles, four triples and 14 home runs.
• Brian Dinkelman spent the entire 2009 season at New Britain. He played primarily in 2B, but in the 2^nd half of the season, he played several games in LF as well. With the bat, he had a very strong season. He hit .296/.383/.440 with 38 doubles, two triples and eight home runs.
• Rene Tosoni hit .271/.360/.454 with 25 doubles, four triples and 15 home runs for the New Britain Rockcats.
• Also at AA was Erik Lis for the second straight full season. He hit .283/.353/.462 with 29 doubles and 17 home runs.
• Chris Parmelee hit .258/.359/.441 with 27 doubles and 16 home runs for the Ft. Myers Miracle.
• Ramon Santana spent most of the season at Beloit for the third season. There he hit .296/.384/.453 with 25 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He went 4-15 in four games at AA New Britain at the end of the season.
• In short season Elizabethton, Josmil Pinto hit .332/.387/.610 with 14 doubles, two triples and 13 home runs in just 53 games. Brian Dozier hit .353/.417/.431 with 17 doubles.

There were several very good performances in the Twins minor league system, some that I didn’t mention here. It’s hard to argue with either of the Twins choices. So, congratulations to both David Bromberg and Ben Revere. If you would like to share your thoughts, please click here.

Arizona Fall League Update – Yesterday, the Mesa Solar Sox lost 12-5 to Surprise. Rene Tosoni was 0-4 with a walk. Chris Parmelee went 0-3 with a walk. Steve Singleton went 1-4 with his second double in two games.

Miracle Season Ends

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The Ft. Myers Miracle won both the first half and second half titles in the Florida State League. Unfortunately, that meant little in their Best of 3 first round playoff series against Charlotte.

Santos Arias got the Game 3 start. In five inning, the righty gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out three. Bobby Lanigan came in and did a great job. In four innings, he gave up just one hit. Ben Revere went 2-3, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and drove in both runs. Jair Fernandez went 2-4 with a double.

The New Britain Rockcats are now down two games to one in their Best of 5 series against Connecticut. It certainly wasn’t Wilson Ramos’s fault. The catcher went 4-5 with a double, a homer and four RBI. Ramon Santana went 3-5. Whit Robbins and Steve Singleton each went 2-4. Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats. He gave up six runs on six hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out five. Frank Mata came in and gave up a home run in his inning. Kyle Waldrop gave up three runs on four hits in one inning. Spencer Steedley and Alex Burnett each threw a scoreless inning. Burnett struck out the side in the ninth inning.

The Rockcats will send lefty Ryan Mullins to the mound at home tonight in Game 3.

It was a bad day all around for the Twins organization on Thursday. The Twins lost 3-2 on Thursday afternoon in Toronto to fall back to .500 (70-70). Scott Baker started and gave up three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Ron Mahay and Jesse Crain each recorded two outs in relief.

Denard Span’s seventh home run of the year tied the game at one in the top of the third inning. In the fourth, Baker gave up a solo homer to Jose Bautista. Then in the top of the fifth inning, Orlando Cabrera singled in Nick Punto to tie the game at two a piece. Unfortunately in the bottom of the 5^th inning, Baker gave up another run, one the Twins could not get back. Cabrera went 2-4 with his 30^th double. Michael Cuddyer hit his 31^st double.

I you’re looking for a bright side, the Royals beat the Tigers again so their lead over the Twins remains 5.5 games. The White Sox are ½ game behind the Twins.

In World Cup play, several Twins minor leaguers participated on Thursday. Nelvin Fuentes struck out two in 1.1 relief innings against Cuba. He gave up a solo home run to Yulieski Gourriel. Rene Tosoni batted third and played RF for Canada yesterday. He went 0-3 with two walks. Team USA lost 13-9 to Venezuela in 11 innings. Trevor Plouffe batted 2^nd and played SS. He went 0-4 with two walks. He made all eight plays he was involved in. Terry Tiffee was the DH and went 1-5 with a walk.

Twins Links:

• Aaron Gleeman has restarted his Top 40 Twins series.
• I’m sure it surprises no one that the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle’s Jim Mandelaro went negative in his Red Wings Season Review.
• Nick Nelson discusses a couple of Misperceptions floating around the Twins these days. What do fans believe?
• Adam Peterson asks (and then answers) if the Twins are still doing the little things right.

 If you have any opinions, comments or updates, please leave them in the Comments section.

Minor League Notes

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Hey everyone, I apologize for my lack of normal Twins minor league game reports of late. Between being ill, being out of town and inconsistent internet access, it has been rather frustrating. But here, I’ll give the Twins minor league game report its due, posting only minor league stuff here today!

Although not yet confirmed, be sure to tune in to WCCO Radio (am830) at midnight tonight. I will be joining host Steve Thomson and talking Twins!

As you know, the GCL Twins season completed on Tuesday with their loss to the GCL Nationals. Reliever Zach See joined the Ft. Myers Miracle after the game.

The Elizabethton Twins and Danville Braves resumed their annual end-of-season match they like to call the Appalachian League Championship series. Last night, it was Tom Stuifbergen who got the call for the Twins in Game 1. The burly right-hander gave up four runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. The hits were not crisp, but they count nonetheless. Tony Davis came in and gave up three runs on five hits in 1.2 innings. The bats didn’t help out much. Chris Herrmann went 2-4 with a double. Derek McCallum added a double. Tobias Streich went 1-3 with a walk. Josmil Pinto added a single. That’s it. The E-Twins lost 7-1. Tonight the two teams will play Game 2 in Danville. If necessary, the teams will again play in Danville.

The Beloit Snappers played the long game of the night. They lost 2-1 to Quad Cities in 12 innings. Dan Osterbrock started and gave up one run on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out 11. Steve Blevins and Billy Bullock each worked two scoreless innings. Bullock struck out five. Thomas Wright gave worked a scoreless 11^th before giving up a run with two outs in the bottom of the 12^th. The pitching in this game was very good, the hitting, not so much. In 12 innings, the Snappers managed just five hits. Nathan Hansen was 2-5 with his 21^st double. 

The Ft. Myers Miracle had to play two games against St. Lucie. Tyler Robertson got his 8^th win in the first game. He gave up three runs on six hits and four walks in five innings. Two of the hits were home runs. Bobby Lanigan struck out two in a scoreless sixth. Blair Erickson gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the 7^th.  Mark Dolenc went 2-4 with his 19^th double and three RBI. Ben Revere was 2-4. Deibinson Romero hit his fifth home run.

In the second game, the Miracle held a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the 7^th. Steve Hirschfeld threw six shutout innings. He went back out for the 7^th and gave up a run. Joe Testa came in with two one and one out and got the groundball that was needed to extend the game, but an error meant no double play and a Miracle loss. Ben Revere was 2-3 with a walk. Evan Bigley and Rene Leveret were each 2-4. Chris Parmelee hit his 27^th double.

The New Britain Rockcats took a two game lead in the Wild Card race with five games to go with their 11-6 win over Reading. Ryan Mullins gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 6.2 innings to record his 11^th win. He struck out seven. Kyle Waldrop then gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in one inning. Loek Van Mil got the one batter out that he was asked to, to end the 8^th inning. Spencer Steedley struck out two in his inning of work. Erik Lis continues his second half hitting. He went 3-4 with his 26^th double and 17^th home run. Whit Robbins went 3-4 with his 22^nd double and four RBI. Wilson Ramos and Juan Portes were each 2-4 with a double. It was Portes’s 21^st double and Ramos’s 15^th. Brian Dinkelman also had two hits.

Rochester lost 7-6 to Pawtucket with a pretty bare roster. Jeff Christy was promoted back to Rochester to give the team a second catcher after Jose Morales moved back to the Twins. However, the bench was light. Brock Peterson is now hitting .301 on the season after this game. He went 3-4 with his 17^th double and second triple. Anyone else want to see the former 49^th round draft pick get a September cup of coffee with the Twins? What a great story! Matt Macri was 2-4 with his 11^th home run. Jason Jones started and gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. Juan Morillo gave up a run on two walks in the sixth. Jose Lugo pitched two innings and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks.

There have been several roster moves to account, in some cases, for players participating in the World Cup. Yangervis Solarte was moved up to New Britain after missing the entire season with injury and recently rehabbing in the GCL. Ramon Santana was moved from Beloit to New Britain. Also, don’t be surprised if you see a starting pitcher move from Elizabethton after their playoff series to make a start for Beloit on Monday as the Snappers will lose both Brad Tippett and Liam Hendriks to the World Cup.

Also, two Twins prospects playing in the Dominican Summer League were suspended 50 games for testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs. SS Jose Murillo and P Francisco Nunez  are 16 and 17 years old, respectively.

If I’m missing something, or you would like to add anything else, please leave them in the Comments section. Also, please feel free to send you questions, and I will attempt to give or find answers.

Updated Top 50 Twins Prospects

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Generally speaking, I post my Top 50 Twins Prospects list in early June and then after the season, in September sometime. Usually I will post a quick update right before spring training starts. I thought it would be fun to do an updated Top 50 Prospect list today. I’m not going to do the full profiles like I do in the main ones. In fact, this is just a list to create conversation. Tell me that you’re surprised by someone’s ranking and ask questions and help each other learn more about these guys. Tell me I’m an idiot for having someone too high or too low. I’m always interested in what other people think of these players. So again, let’s have a really good discussion about the Twins minor leaguers using this list as a starting point.

1. Aaron Hicks, OF, Beloit Snappers
2. Angel Morales, OF, Beloit Snappers
3. Wilson Ramos, C, New Britain Rockcats
4. Danny Valencia, 3B, Rochester Red Wings
5. Ben Revere, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle
6. David Bromberg, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle
7. Rene Tosoni, OF, New Britain Rockcats
8. Joe Benson, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle
9. Deolis Guerra, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

10.  Adrian Salcedo, LHP, GCL Twins 

11.  Chris Parmelee, 1B/OF, Ft. Myers Miracle

12.  Danny Rams, C/1B, Beloit Snappers

13.  Carlos Gutierrez, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

14.  Jeff Manship, RHP, Minnesota Twins

15.  Tyler Robertson, LHP, Ft. Myers Miracle

16.  BJ Hermsen, RHP, GCL Twins

17.  Anthony Slama, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

18.  Rob Delaney, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

19.  Luke Hughes, UT, New Britain Rockcats

20.  Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Rochester Red Wings

21.  Tom Stuifbergen, RHP, Elizabethton Twins

22.  Steve Singleton, MI, New Britain Rockcats

23.  Oswaldo Arcia, OF, GCL Twins

24.  Trevor Plouffe, SS, Rochester Red Wings

25.  Josmil Pinto, C, Elizabethton Twins

26.  Michael McCardell, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

27.  Steve Tolleson, IF/OF, Rochester Red Wings

28.  Alex Burnett, RH RP, New Britain Rockcats

29.  Andrei Lobanov, LH RP, GCL Twins

30.  Blayne Weller, RHP, GCL Twins

31.  Jose Morales, C, Rochester Red Wings

32.  Martire Garcia, LHP, Elizabethton Twins

33.  David Winfree, OF, Rochester Red Wings

34.  Brian Dinkelman, 2B, New Britain Rockcats

35.  Billy Bullock, RH RP, Beloit Snappers

36.  Deibinson Romero, 3B, Ft. Myers Miracle

37.  Bobby Lanigan, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle

38.  Whit Robbins, 1B, New Britain Rockcats

39.  Evan Bigley, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle

40.  Michael Tonkin, RHP, GCL Twins

41.  Matt Bashore, LHP, Elizabethton Twins

42.  James Beresford, SS, Beloit Snappers

43.  Chris Herrmann, OF, Elizabethton Twins

44.  Brian Dozier, SS, Elizabethton Twins

45.  Brad Tippett, RHP, Beloit Snappers

46.  Daniel Santana, SS, GCL Twins

47.  Liam Hendriks, RHP, Beloit Snappers

48.  Reggie Williams, UT, Elizabethton Twins

49.  Ben Tootle, RH RP, Elizabethton Twins

50.  Juan Morillo, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

51.  Bonus – Yohan Pino, RHP, Rochester Red Wings

52.  Bonus – Loek Van Mil, RH RP, New Britain Rockcats

OTHERS TO CONSIDER – Dustin Martin, OF, Rochester Red Wings – Erik Lis, DH, New Britain Rockcats – Cole DeVries, RHP, New Britain Rockcats – Matt Fox, RHP, New Britain Rockcats – Santos Arias, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle – Steve Hirschfeld, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracles – Ramon Santana, IF, Beloit Snappers – Shooter Hunt – RHP – Jon Waltenbury, 1B, Beloit Snappers – Derek McCallum, 2B, Elizabethton Twins – Michael Gonzalez, 1B, Elizabethton Twins – Wang Wei-Lin, OF, GCL Twins – Jairo Perez, IF, GCL Twins -

Alright, so this is a non-official ranking. My post season rankings will still appear after the minor league seasons sometime. But I hope that this updated list will create some fun discussion about the Twins prospects. Keep it educational and informative, please. Please leave your Comments here.  

TWINS 7, ROYALS 1

The story of this game was Francisco Liriano. He had not pitched in a game for a week, and he had just one start in nearly three weeks. In the first inning, he looked good, but he also gave up a solo home run to Willie Bloomquist. It was a controlled optimism for me at that point. I mean, he’s shown glimpses before. But after that, he was excellent. Liriano went seven innings and gave up just that run on just three hits. More important, he walked just one and struck out eight. He looked like a different, better pitcher, and the Twins need that. Hopefully this is something that he can build on for the rest of the season. We can hope. We have seen good starts before. He just has to put together a nice run. I think the argument could be made that the Twins postseason chances are directly related to the success of Liriano the rest of the way.

After Liriano gave up the run in the first inning, the Twins came back. With two outs, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau singled. Jason Kubel singled in Mauer. Michael Cuddyer singled in Morneau. And then Joe Crede launched his 15^th home run of the season to give the Twins a 5-1 lead. Crede went 3-3 in his first game back after his second cortisone shot.

Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He had not pitched since Sunday. Joe Nathan struck out the side in the 9^th. He had not pitched since last Friday, so it was good to get both of them into an inning. Some thought that Jeff Manship should have thrown those final two innings. I disagree, and here is why. In Tuesday’s debacle, Brian Duensing, Bobby Keppel and Jesse Crain pitched enough that they could not pitch on Wednesday and ideally would not have to pitch on Thursday. So, if Carl Pavano has a short site this afternoon, it would still be good to have Manship available to go four or five innings, if necessary.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Rene Tosoni, New Britain Rockcats

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Miguel Munoz, Elizabethton Twins

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

OK, it was a day full of transactions yesterday, so as a reminder, I’ll list what I believe to be all of them here.

• Glen Perkins put on the Disabled List.
• Jeff Manship added to the 40 man roster and promoted to the Twins. Kevin Slowey put on the 60 Day Disabled List.
• Anthony Slama promoted to Rochester.
• Loek Van Mil promoted to New Britain.
• Wilson Ramos to be activated from the Disabled List and return to New Britain.
• Bobby Lanigan promoted to Ft. Myers.
• Brad Stillings promoted to Beloit.
• Kelvin Mota and Jhon Garcia promoted to Elizabethton.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday – Rochester 4, Buffalo 7 – Reid Santos found out earlier in the day that he would be starting this game instead of Jeff Manship. It didn’t go so well. He gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Jason Jones gave up an unearned run on three hits in three innings. The Red Wings managed just six hits in this game. Brock Peterson hit his seventh home run. Danny Valencia added his sixth homer.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Wednesday – New Britain 4, Erie 1 – Mike McCardell came off of the Disabled List and gave up just one run over five innings. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four. Carlos Gutierrez worked a scoreless sixth. Frank Mata threw two scoreless innings. Alex Burnett takes over the closer’s role from Anthony Slama. He recorded his third save with a scoreless ninth. Rene Tosoni led the offense. He hit his 23^rd double and his 13^th home run. Luke Hughes hit his ninth double.

MIRACLE MEMOS

Wednesday – Ft. Myers 3, Palm Beach 10 – Deibinson Romero went 2-4. Estarlin de Los Santos hit his tenth double. But the pitching and defense just weren’t good. Michael Tarsi started and in six innings, he gave up six runs (3 earned) on nine hits and two walks. Joe Testa gave up three runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He did strike out three. Henry Arias got the final four outs, two on strikeouts. He gave up one run on one hit.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Wednesday – Beloit 2, Clinton 4 – Brad Tippett pitched very well again. In 6.2 innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out five. Dan Osterbrock got the final out of the 7^th, but not until he gave up another run on one hit and two walks. Kyle Carr threw two innings. He gave up a run on two hits and a walk. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his 19^th double. Ramon Santana and Jonathan Waltenbury were each 2-4 as well.

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Wednesday – Elizabethton 5, Greeneville 1 – Miguel Munoz has struggled quite a bit this season, so it was great to see him have such a good start. He gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in eight innings. He struck out six. Matt Tone struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Josmil Pinto went 2-4 with his ninth home run. Paul-Michael Klingsberg went 2-4.  

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Wednesday – GCL Twins, GCL Rays – This game was suspended after just three innings due to rain. I obviously won’t go back and look at old box scores, so here are a couple of highlights. Jairo Perez had a double and a triple to that point. BJ Hermsen threw three innings and gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out five.

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Where Are We Now?

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Alright, it’s late on Wednesday night and I’m just getting home for the first time since Saturday morning. Quite a bit has happened while I was away, and I was able to blog a few times, but I still feel like I’m way behind even though with the All-Star break for the Major Leaguers, AAA and AA have been going on, so I haven’t been missing much. Getting back so late, and with the Twins 2^nd half not starting until Friday, I am going to wait a day to post my thoughts on some Twins awards for the first half. Let’s see, what has happens? Where are we?

• You may have heard, on Monday, TwinsCentric 2009 July Trade Deadline Primer released, and of course, John, Nick, Parker and I thank you all for your support of that venture, but also just for coming to our sites every day and either just reading or even participating. One of my favorite things about blogging is the interaction with other fans whether you agree or disagree. With the release of the Trade Deadline Primer, there are over 30,000 words that we can all disagree on. Fun! There are still two weeks before the deadline, and for some reason, I truly believe that the Twins will do something, and something of significance. I am in agreement with those who believe that if the Twins do nothing, they will stay right around .500 and likely finish in 3^rd (if not 4^th) place in the division.
• If you want to read a little unbiased opinion of the Trade Deadline Primer, fellow Star Tribune Your Voices blogger Doogie Wolfson wrote a review last night. Also yesterday, Aaron Gleeman blogged about the book. Thank you to both of them.
• Let’s see… Alexi Casilla was promoted after the game on Sunday when Matt Tolbert was sent down. Just yesterday, the Twins sent Jose Morales back to Rochester to bring up a pitcher. The choice was Kevin Mulvey, a starter. Although I was initially surprised somewhat, it isn’t hard to understand. Jesse Crain and Juan Morillo are still walking too many. Rob Delaney has experienced some bumps in Rochester, and Anthony Slama still has not seen AAA. I am very curious how this bullpen will play out, or what this move really signals, if anything.
• The bigger question I have is who will be starting for the Red Wings now that their top three pitchers (Mulvey, Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing) are all with the Twins. Jeff Manship, who has been in Rochester for less than a month, is probably the team’s ace. If pitchers are promoted from AA (Say… Matt Fox, Ryan Mullins or Cole Devries), then who moves up to AA? If Mike McCardell, Tyler Robertson or David Bromberg get moved up from Ft. Myers to New Britain, then who moves up from Beloit? It could be interesting.
• And with the promotion of Steve Singleton from Ft. Myers to New Britain on Tuesday, there are other questions. One would have to think that there is a chance that Brian Dinkelman could be promoted to Rochester now that the AA All-Star game is complete so that they both can get regular at bats. However, how do you allot playing time in the middle infield in Rochester if you’ve got Dinkelman along with Trevor Plouffe, Steve Tolleson, Matt Macri and now Matt Tolbert? Dinkelman and Tolleson have both played a little bit of LF, so that’s possible. It will certainly be interesting.
• Back to the trade deadline stuff, I’m normally one to trust the Twins minor leagues system and I still very much believe in the farm system’s depth. But again, I truly believe that a move is needed this year if they truly want to compete. That is the opinion that I have generally heard. But Travis Aune takes a little different perspective, one that I normally have had in the past. I encourage you to read his thoughts.
• Is it too early to start thinking about which six Twins minor leaguers the Twins will send to the Arizona Fall League? With the promotion of Singleton to AA, he certainly becomes an option. I spent some car time today thinking about this very topic. Typically the Twins haven’t sent a player there in back to back years. Last year, they sent Jeff Manship, Anthony Slama, Rob Delaney, Tim Lahey, Danny Valencia, Dustin Martin and Steve Tolleson. If that holds true, it becomes quite difficult to select which players would be selected. Another rule is that players from countries with Winter League teams can not participate. If healthy, I am sure the Twins would love to send Wilson Ramos there to get him additional at bats, but he will head back to Venezuela. So here are my guesses, and please feel free to agree or disagree with them. I think the three hitters will be: Rene Tosoni, Steve Singleton and Whit Robbins. If I were to name three pitchers today, I think they might send Michael McCardell (who could yet be promoted to New Britain, or go as a A-ball exception), Cole Devries, and Alex Burnett,  
• Speaking of Alex Burnett, check out the Q&A that Josh Johnson conducted with the Rockcats righty reliever.
• Nick Nelson ranted on the Madness of Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire… hard to disagree with the evaluation!
• At Over the Baggy, Parker looks at Three Signings as part of his First Half Review.   
• I accidentally watched the last few innings of the AAA All-Star game last night. Did You know that former Twin Michael Ryan is still playing? He plays for the New Orleans Zephyrs, the AAA Affiliate of the Florida Marlins. He apparently recently turned 32 years old. He doubles in the 8^th inning.
• Jesse from Twinkie Town investigates which Toronto Blue Jays relievers the Twins might have interest in.
• Finally, be sure to go to www.CoryHepola.com and check out his blog. But be certain to check out his video story on Danny Valencia. Cory has done some really good stories, but this one is right at the top.

Oh, and again, be sure to check back tomorrow when we may be able to let you in on a little information that has been teased here and a couple of other places over the last few days.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – James Beresford, Beloit Snappers

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld, Ft. Myers Miracle – Tom Stuifbergen, Elizabethton Twins

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday – Rochester – The AAA All-Star game was played last night in Portland, Oregon. The Twins/Red Wings representative was Justin Huber. He came in to pinch hit for the DH in the 5^th inning and hit a sacrifice fly. He went 0-2 in his next two at bats.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Wednesday – New Britain – The Rockcats sent five players to the Eastern League All-Star game. Rene Tosoni started and played in CF the whole game. He was 0-4 with a walk. Brian Dinkelman entered the game at 2B and went 1-2. Whit Robbins pinch hit for the DH and went 1-2. Matt Fox pitched a perfect second inning, striking out one. It didn’t go as well for Anthony Slama. He started the ninth and got the first two outs. He gave up a run on a hit, a walk and a hit batter before being replaced.    

MIRACLE MEMOS

Wednesday – Ft. Myers 13, Sarasota 0 – Steve Hirschfeld got plenty of run support early as the Red Wings scored nine runs in the second inning. He didn’t need that much. The righty went the complete game route. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked just one and struck out just two. He improved to 3-4 and dropped his ERA to 2.17. Ben Revere went 3-5 with a walk and his third triple. Estarlin de Los Santos went 3-6 with his fourth and fifth doubles. Nick Romero and Chris Parmelee were each 2-4. Mark Dolenc went 2-5. Alexander Soto was promoted to the Miracle about a week ago and hit his first home run.     

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Wednesday – Beloit 9, Burlington 3 – Liam Hendriks picked up his first Midwest League win. He gave up just one run on nine hits over 6.2 innings. He walked one and struck out four. Blake Martin gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Matt Williams struck out three of the four batters he faced. James Beresford went 3-5 with his fourth and fifth doubles, and his ninth stolen base. Danny Rams went 2-3 with a walk and his first home run. Angel Morales was 2-3 with his 11^th double and ninth steal. Dominic de La Osa went 2-4 with his seventh double.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Wednesday – Elizabethton 4, Danville 2 – Danville is the one team in the Appy League that really gives the E-Twins some struggles, so it is good to see this win. Tom Stuifbergen led the way and improved to 3-0. The Dutch righty went all nine innings. He gave up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Of the 20 outs that he got on balls in play, 18 of them were ground balls. Derek McCallum went 2-4. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his fifth double and two RBI.

GCL TWINS THOUGHTS

Wednesday –GCL Twins 3, GCL Reds 2 – BJ Hermsen improved to 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA after giving up just one run on three hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out five. Andrei Lobonov struck out two in two scoreless innings, reducing his ERA to 0.96. Dakota Watts picked up his fourth save. He struck out three but gave up an unearned run in the ninth inning. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his first home run and three RBI.

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

After looking at Twins prospects 36-50 Tuesday, and 21-35 Wednesday, and Prospects 11-20 yesterday, it is time to look at my choices for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. Again, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy this and again, please feel free to comment.  

What is a prospect and how do I rank them? First of all, prospect ranking is far from an exact science. The top prospects do not always pan out, and frequently other players seemingly come out of nowhere. I do this as much to recognize players as anything else. But I also have been following the Twins minor league system for several years now and have tried to learn what I can about how they operate, and what is needed for promotions, and what skills are important. I have not included players from the Dominican Summer League in these rankings because they need about 7 promotions before they would get to the big leagues. I daily review box scores from the games. I keep up with stats and some trends. For hitters, I like to look at OBP and SLG, but specifically at 2B and 3B coupled with body type to try to determine if HR are in their future. For pitchers, I will look at WHIP and innings and consistency and opponent’s batting average. One of the key stats I look at for both hitters and pitchers are walks and strikeouts which I think tell a lot about a player.

Now, sitting in Minnesota, I have little opportunity to actually see many of these players play. When it comes to prospects, you have to try to look beyond the stats. I have developed sources in and around the Twins farm system to try to get a closer perspective on the players, what their skills are, what they need to work on. I think it is vital to look beyond the stats to try to give a fair perspective. You also have to consider age and level of competition. You have to weigh potential ceiling with likelihood of reaching that ceiling.

With that, I am curious your thoughts on my top ten Twins prospects, or any of the top 50. Who is missing? (Note – I made a concerted effort not to include Jose Mijares just because I think he is now pretty established as a big leaguer.) In the comments, share your top 10, top 20, or whatever you like.

And again, to read much more on all ten of these players, go to www.SethSpeaks.net.

#10 – Rene Tosoni – OF – 22 (7/2/86) 

#9 – Kevin Mulvey – RHP – 23 (5/26/84) 

#8 – David Bromberg – RHP – 21 (9/14/87 

#7 – Carlos Gutierrez – RHP – 22 (9/22/86)

#6 – Anthony Swarzak – RHP – 23 (9/10/85)

 #5 – Angel Morales – OF – 19 (11/24/89) 

#4 – Wilson Ramos – C – 21 (8/10/87)

#3 – Danny Valencia – 3B – 24 (9/19/84)

#2 – Ben Revere – OF – 21 (5/3/88)

#1 – Aaron Hicks – OF – 19 (10/2/89)

So there you have it, my selections for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. What do you think? I would love your feedback and input. Who did I have too high, or too low? If you have any comments, opinions or suggestions, please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Sunday Stream of Consciousness

also avilable at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Watching the Twins lose six in a row on the road earlier in the month was rather frustrating. Then they won 20-1 in Chicago before winning five of seven at home. Then they went back on the road and lost their first two games to the Rays. But more important than anything else, on Sunday, they were able to beat Matt Garza and that makes everything right with the world again. It was great seeing Brendan Harris touch him up for a home run. It was great to see Delmon Young come in to face him and get a single.

In the end, we see over and over and over again, whether at the Metrodome or on the road, that the key to a team’s success starts with that day’s starting pitcher. I know. It’s boring and sounds so cliché, but sometimes it’s important to remember how clichés got to become clichés! You’re only as good as your next day’s starter, right? Tom Kelly used to say that all the time, and well, it is one of baseball’s great truths. Friday night, it was Scott Baker giving up a three run homer to Evan Longoria. On Saturday, it was Francisco Liriano looking pretty clueless. On Sunday, it was Nick Blackburn looking pretty much in control the whole game with the exception of two solo home runs. Garza looked pretty good though and for awhile it looked like that would be enough for the Rays to sweep the Twins, but single runs in the 6^th and 7^th innings gave the Twins a 3-2 win. Sean Henn, Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan finished the final three innings without allowing a run to preserve a win for Blackburn.

Why was the offense able to score in the 6^th and 7^th? Did they wear out Garza? I don’t know about that, but I know I did my part by leaving the house and going to watch the cartoon Up at the theatre. What as excellent movie, one of the best feature cartoon movies that I have seen! That’s right! I quit watching them and decided to enjoy the weekend! So, you’re welcome!

Plenty of topics to discuss, and as you can see, I am just rambling. That’s the beauty of titling something a Stream of Consciousness blog. I can ramble and that’s the purpose! That’s what I am going to do today, trying to touch on several Twins-related topics. I’ll write for awhile and just see where it takes us, so please enjoy and certainly feel free to comment.

As I have said, starting pitching is the key to everything. Right now, it seems that the Twins can count on Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey to give them decent starts and a chance to win. Anthony Swarzak came up to replace the injured Glen Perkins and has since made two very good starts. Perkins had really struggled for several starts before going on the Disabled List, so I am not certain if the struggles were related to the arm, or what. But I do know that I agree with the theory that a player should not lose his spot to an injury. That is why, after his rehab stint at Rochester, I believe that Glen Perkins should be given a couple of starts before possibly being shifted back to the bullpen if that is what needs to be done.

The problem is that Swarzak is a good pitching prospect, but nothing in his minor league numbers indicate that he will be able to sustain this level of excellence over a long period of time. As one who believes in minor league track record being an indicator of big league success, I also understand that there are exceptions to every rule. So of course you just run with Swarzak while he is the hot hand and just hope . The problem is that Swarzak could stay in the rotation because one of the two guys that we all counted on heading into the season, Francisco Liriano, has been horrific of late. He looks completely lost on the mound. It’s all about control of the fastball, and from pitch to pitch, he does not seem to know where the ball is going. It’s as if he still thinks he’s a dominant pitcher and he’s fighting himself so hard to get there again and overdoing everything. I really do not know what is best for him. He does have an option left, so he could be sent to Rochester, but I don’t necessarily think that is the best idea. He could be sent to the bullpen for awhile too, but who would he replace? R.A. Dickey continues to do great out of the bullpen. Sean Henn and Jose Mijares have been solid as lefty relievers. I guess this could be the opportunity to let go of Luis Ayala and see how Liriano responds. What do you think?

Scott Baker continues to get hurt by the big inning and/or the big home run. Friday, it was the three run blast by Longoria that essentially ended that game. Baker has really been very good most of his innings, but in each start he has had that one bad inning where he can not control the damage. Instead of giving up one or two, he gives up three to six. A team can come back from one or two, but it really puts you behind the eight ball when you’re always down by a handful of runs.

It is all so frustrating to me because the Twins are playing so inconsistently and average despite getting amazing production from Denard Span, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel all season. In May, Michael Cuddyer stepped up his game big time while Joe Crede showed the power that he can have from the right side. This team is too talented to be playing like this and to not think that a division title is in reach. But what happens when three-fifths of the season-opening starting staff is not performing to expectations? Swarzak is already up. Kevin Mulvey could probably come up and be a solid back of the rotation type. What if Liriano can’t get things figured out? What if Glen Perkins then struggles? What if Baker doesn’t stop giving up huge innings? If you go through the season’s second half with two rookie pitchers in your rotation, that isn’t necessarily good. Brian Duensing and Philip Humber do not appear to be big league starter material and none of the starters at AA New Britain look ready.

We have spent the last couple of years wondering why the Twins would go after pitchers like Livan Hernandez, Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson. Why did they insist on bringing in veterans who were not good instead of just trusting their own young players? Well, maybe now we are seeing why. And yet, I can’t be mad at the front office for not getting a veteran. All five starting pitchers showed enough last year that there was no need for a veteran starter. The starting pitching was supposed to be a sure-thing, the thing that would lead the Twins to a division title. Pedro Martinez, anyone?

The bullpen has actually been much better of late. The reason? Well, when Slowey, Blackburn and Swarzak have pitched, they have been able to go seven innings. Bill Smith is not above criticism for not going out and getting a bullpen arm to solidify the back end of the bullpen, and yet, I agreed with him that they didn’t need to prioritize it too high. We knew Joe Nathan would be fine, and he has been. Many assumed Jose Mijares would be solid, and since returning he has been good. I believed Matt Guerrier would be fine, and he has been. I thought Jesse Crain would take another step forward, to get back to what he was the first three years of his career, but since his disabled list stint, he has been non-trustable. Luis Ayala was a reasonable, cheap risk, but he has not been good at all. R.A. Dickey, as I have stated several times, has been just fine in the role that he was brought in to fill, so no arguments there. Again, the key is the starting pitching, but the bullpen arms are not above criticism either. Now, Juan Cruz has been alright for Kansas City. Nothing spectacular by any means, and I fully understand not giving up a first round pick to acquire him (although when I saw the dollars and years that he signed for, I thought that it made sense). But Cruz walks a ton and moving to the American League never seems to be a good thing for a relief pitcher. Other names that fans wanted at various times included Eric Gagne, Russ Springer, Joe Nelson, Brandon Lyon and others, and none of them have done well either. So again, I don’t blame the Twins in not being big players in the free agency market because free agents rarely have an impact worthy of the contract they sign.

(Meanwhile, Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama sit in AA, just waiting for a promotion. I agree with the thought that a player who dominates in AA is ready for the big leagues and could be promoted if necessary. But at some point, those two players should be moved up somewhere, whether it is to Rochester or to the Twins. I don’t pretend to know if they are ready to help the Twins today. I know their numbers indicate that they could probably both be pretty good. Slama needs to throw more strikes, and Delaney could give up some hits. But both have done enough at the AA level to move forward.)

(The one prospect that I believe is ready to play at the big league level offensively and defensively is Danny Valencia, and as long as Joe Crede is healthy, there is no reason to call him up. Could he be at Rochester? Certainly, and I think he would do well there, but Luke Hughes needs at bats too.)

The Twins understand that building from within is the best way to develop a team over the long haul. It is a philosophy that has been very successful for the organization. But then that success is dependent upon the players developing as they need to. The Twins have developed some very good players (Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Cuddyer, Span, Slowey, Blackburn, Baker, etc.). They were able to stare down Scott Boras and get Joe Crede for a very fair market deal. But the player development right now is kind of a question mark.

Look at the AAA roster. How many players there do you think will be contributors to the Twins at the big league level? More important, how many of them could help the Twins right now, today? Jose Morales could, and yet, I think Twins fans need to look at his track record and realize that he is not a .350 hitter. At the big league level, he could possibly hit .280/.310/.310, which frankly, isn’t terribly exciting. But he is one guy who could contribute on some level. Luke Hughes and Dustin Martin are two others that I think could contribute for the Twins if called upon, but neither of them is star caliber and I don’t know that either of them is really starter caliber. I still hold out hope for Trevor Plouffe to be a future Twins SS, but again, his batting average doesn’t indicate that he would be much better than Nick Punto at SS.

Which brings me to my next point… when the Twins locked up Nick Punto last winter for two years and $8.5 million, it didn’t bother me too much. I looked at the other free agents on the market at SS and none of them seemed to be much better than Punto, particularly for the price tag that they would insist upon. Edgar Renteria had already signed with the Giants for two years and $18 million, and he is no better than Punto. We heard rumors for players like JJ Hardy and Yunel Escobar, but the price tags in terms of players were so high that those options didn’t make sense. So although I would have preferred to go into this season with Punto not on the team, I understood that he was probably the best option available and the dollars and years that he got were certainly fair market value (in December, before free agent dollars seemed to completely disappear). My caveat to being comfortable with Punto was that he not return to 2007 form and just give 2006 or 2008-like performances. Again, that’s not to say he was good during those two years, but as a nine-hitter it would be acceptable. Well, to this point in the season, Punto has been even worse than he was in 2007, and worst yet, his defense has taken a major step backward. I always thought it was a bit overrated (because of the constant web gems), but he now has very little range and no arm.

The biggest problem with the SS situation is that there isn’t anyone close to ready to take the position from him. Brendan Harris will do just fine in replacing him. He is a far better option, so that is actually an upgrade right now. But I have noticed, as Gardy has said, that Harris does not do as well when he plays too much. But again, Plouffe isn’t ready. Steve Tolleson just got promoted to AAA this week, but I don’t think he would be ready to step in today (but maybe in a month?). There are not other options in the system right now.

It’s a good think that Justin Morneau has been incredible this year and Joe Crede has been everything that could be expected because Punto, Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert and Brian Buscher have been terrible. Casilla has been somewhat disappointing. Tolbert is what he is, as I have said all along,  he is a better version of utility player than Punto is. He’s a little better offensively (which doesn’t say much) and he’s not quite as good defensively (which does). I said that Buscher is a solid left-handed bat off the bench, a guy who takes good at bats and generally does what the situation calls for. I don’t think we have seen that this year, and his defense has never been real solid. I’m not certain how much value he provides to the team. In fact, that would be the one way right now that I could see the Twins bringing Jose Morales back to the roster. Morales could be the new left-handed bench bat, occasionally get some time behind the plate, and give Gardy the confidence to keep Joe Mauer in the lineup most games. Again, I feel it necessary to temper the expectations people seem to have for Morales, but I do think it is fair to say that he could contribute as much with the bat (and maybe the glove) as Buscher.

Watching Mike Redmond play baseball is painful. In years past, it was because he seemingly was always getting beat up behind the plate and yet still finding a way to hit .300 or higher while providing excellent defense and leadership from the backup catcher position. This year has been painful for a couple of new reasons. First, he simply can not throw any more. I don’t know how hurt he still is, but that has not improved over the season’s first couple of months. Secondly, if I’m an opposing defense and Redmond is up, I bring all the outfielders in to about 200 feet and swing the CF toward the gap in right center. You could almost put on a left-handed batter shift for him too. In the past, it was almost “cute” as told to us by Dick Bremer when he flails singles to right field or barely throw the hole on the right side. This year, those balls are being hit even softer. I don’t know how he continues to get any hits (and he has). I have no problem with keeping Redmond around for the rest of the season. I just sincerely hope that this is the end of the line.

Gardy-led teams are known for being overachievers. That is always the case when the expectations are low. But what about in those years when the Twins have come into the season with expectation? They have not played well. This year may be the biggest visual of that. This team has way too much talent to be flailing around .500. But to be fair, I don’t know if this team has ever had this many holes either. A broken bullpen. A horrific middle infield. Two 23 year old outfielders that need playing time to get better but provide so little to helping the team win. And now starting pitching problems that were not expected. I don’t think that can be pinned on a manager, and yet in some organizations, it is. I personally agree with the ideas of longevity, and we all know that Gardy and his coaching staff aren’t going anywhere, so it’s not worth worrying about.

In the end, it comes down to the players and making plays. It’s the players that will turn the season around, or they won’t.

Now I know, I don’t whine too often on here, and one thing that you can almost certainly not get from here that you can get most places is the seemingly sophomoric need to say the same thing every day. Could I write about Brian Buscher or Nick Punto being bad every day Sure. But why? What good is that? Why pile on?? I could write about being wrong about Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez daily, but why? What good comes from that? I prefer to write more often about being completely wrong about Denard Span and Nick Blackburn! So many of these above topics, you may not read here again until something happens. There are enough other topics that can be covered and a lot more positives. There is an entire minor league system of players dreaming of getting to the big leagues that is worth talking about.       

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Danny Valencia, New Britain Rockcats

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – David Bromberg, Ft. Myers Miracle

Sunday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Whit Robbins, New Britain Rockcats

Sunday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Robertson, Ft. Myers Miracle

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday –Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 3 – Jason Jones picked up his first win in the Twins organization in this game. The righty went 5.2 innings and gave up three runs. He allowed six hits (two homers), walked one and struck out four. Jason Pridie went 3-5 with his 13^th and 14^th stolen bases. Jose Morales went 2-4 with his fourth double. In his first AAA game, Steve Tolleson went 2-3 with a walk and a double.

Sunday –Rochester 1, Lehigh Valley 5 – Kevin Mulvey started this game for the Red Wings. He gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out six. Tim Lahey pitched a scoreless inning. The Red Wings managed just four hits. David Winfree hit his eighth home run.

ROCKCAT RECAP

Saturday – New Britain 6, Binghamton 5 – The Rockcats got a couple of big home runs and the second win of the season by Jay Rainville. Rainville gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. Frank Mata came in and gave up two hits and a walk before getting the final out of the sixth. Rob Delaney struck out four in two shutout innings. Anthony Slama recorded his 10^th save with a scoreless ninth. Danny Valencia went 2-3 with his sixth homer and two RBI. Rene Tosoni was 2-4 with his seventh home run and three RBI. Whit Robbins went 1-2 with two walks.

Sunday – New Britain 15, Binghamton 7 – It was a big offensive game for the Rockcats, with nearly the entire lineup contributing. Whit Robbins led the way by going 4-6 with his 11^th double. Brandon Roberts was 3-5 with a walk and his third homer. Erik Lis was 3-5 with his seventh double. Rene Tosoni went 2-5 with his eighth double and eighth home run. Matt Moses went 2-4 with a walk and three RBI. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with two walks. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-5 with a double. Danny Valencia was 1-2 with two walks. Ryan Mullins was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion. He gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. Yohan Pino gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in two inning. Zach Ward pitched a scoreless inning.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Saturday – Ft. Myers 7, Brevard County 1 – David Bromberg has continued to pitch well this season despite not getting as many strikeouts this year. This game was a little different. Bromberg went six innings and gave up just one run on six hits and a walk. He struck out 12 to improve to 5-0 and reduce his ERA to 1.94. Kyle Waldrop picked up his first save of the season by throwing three shutout innings. Chris Cates went 3-5. Mark Dolenc went 3-4 with his ninth double and ninth stolen base. Rene Leveret went 2-5 with his first stolen base. Deibinson Romero was 2-5 with his 11^th double.

Sunday – Ft. Myers 2, Brevard County 0 – Tyler Robertson improved to 3-2 in this game. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out six. Santos Arias, Spencer Steedley and Blair Erickson combined to throw three shutout innings. The Miracle managed just five hits. Ben Revere hit his sixth double. Rene Leveret hit his seventh double.  

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Saturday – Beloit 2, Kane County 5 – Michael Allen fell to 0-7 in this game, but he really has been pitching a little better as the season has progressed. In this game, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits and a walk. He struck out six in six innings of work. Bruce Pugh gave up a run on two hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out four. Michael Tarsi gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. The Snappers managed just six hits in this game. Nathan Hanson hit his seventh double.

Saturday – Beloit 4, Kane County 11 – Dan Berlind gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits and three walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out five. Joe Testa gave up three runs (1 earned) on two hits in two innings. He struck out three. Matt Williams went 0.2 innings and gave up just a hit. Curtis Leavitt gave up three runs on five hits in one inning. He struck out two. Jeff Lanning went 2-4. Angel Morales went 1-2 with two walks and his sixth homer. Ramon Santana hit his fifth home run and Michael Harrington got his first homer.   

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Twins Crush Crew; Cuddyer Captures Cycle

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

A day after putting up twenty runs against the Chicago White Sox, the Twins bats continued to roll. The Twins scored three in the first inning on a Michael Cuddyer home run. They added four in the fourth inning. They scored in five of the first six innings, and ran away with a second consecutive easy win.  I was up in section 226, in the 8^th row. It is just to the third base side of home plate, so very good seats really. There were some Brewers fans around, but happily it was primarily Twins fans. Here are some of my observations and some highlights from my scorecard:

• Obviously Michael Cuddyer was again the story in this game. In his first at bat, he hit a LONG three run homer, well into the bleachers in left center field. In his second at bat, he hit the first pitch to the gap in left center for a ground rule double. In the fourth inning, he welcomed Mike Difelice to the game with a single up the middle to drive in a run. In his third at bat, a broken bat liner down the 3B line turned into a triple. As he was rounding second, the crowd figured out what was going on and that was a very neat scene. Following that at bat, his batting average was up to .293. For the game, hew as 4-5 with two runs scored and five driven in. When he came to bat in the eighth inning, the game was out of reach, so we were trying to figure out the benefit of him even batting there. Maybe have his name introduced by as he stepped into the batters box, Gardy could have put in a pinch hitter so that he could have left to another ovation.
• More Cuddyer Tidbits – That was his second straight four-hit game. He has homered in three straight games, and four of his last five. He is on pace to hit .291 with 34 doubles, 11 triples, 26 homers and 113 RBI. And to think he got off to such a rough start in April.
• A Quick Aside on the Cycle – Cuddyer’s triple was very exciting. What made it exciting? The fact that Ryan Braun pretty much looks like he could care less out in left field. He barely jogged to go retrieve the ball in the corner that Cuddyer hit. People can say all they want about Delmon Young being a bad defensive outfielder, but from what I saw tonight, Braun is not a guy who should be out there. Seriously, if I was Ken Macha, I may have made a mid-inning defensively change and got him out of there.
• I was almost surprised when I was going through my box score after the game to see that Justin Morneau was 3-5. He scored three runs and drove in two. His triple was nearly a three run homer, but the other hits were just nice singles. He is such a well-rounded hitter.
• Joe Mauer’s 14 game hitting streak came to an end, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t productive. He hit a sacrifice fly in his second plate appearance. He also walked twice. When he came up in the 8^th inning, knowing it was his final at bat to get a hit, he still didn’t go outside the strike zone. I think that is pretty impressive.
• Denard Span had a strong game too. He went 2-4 and also added a walk. He took a lot of pitches early in the game, and I think that is often overlooked. He hit a long home run off of left-handed reliever RJ Swindle.
• The top four in the lineup combined to go 9-16 with nine runs scored and 10 RBI. The bottom five in the lineup went a combined 3-18 with two runs and an RBI. And that includes Brendan Harris who went 2-4 with an RBI.
• Kevin Slowey got great run support again, but he really pitched well, even better than his line score might indicate. In 7.1 innings, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on eight hits. He, of course, walked none and struck out four. He is now 6-1. He has four walks and 39 strikeouts in his 55.1 innings pitched. In this game, he was really able to keep his pitch count low. Looking at the pitch count on the board, he threw just 27 pitches (21 strikes) through the first three innings. He had 41 pitches through four innings, 53 pitches through five, and 65 pitches through six innings. Four mid-inning pitching changes for the Brewers between the fourth and seventh innings had to catch up with Slowey a little bit.
• Sean Henn got the final five outs. He looked very good against lefties Prince Fielder (jammed him and got a double play) and Jody Gerut (strikeout). Mat Gamel did double off of him, but Gamel looks to be a pretty legit hitting prospect. That isn’t a surprise to those of us that follow prospects, as he was highly regarded. I was somewhat surprised he didn’t start the season with the Brewers. With Casey McGehee getting the start tonight at 3B, and Gamel on the roster, Billy Hall can’t be feeling too strongly about his future with the Brewers
• Of course, tomorrow is a new day. It was very important that the Twins were able to use just two pitchers in this game. With Anthony Swarzak set to make his big league debut, it will be nice to have everyone else in the bullpen ready to go at any time! Swarzak will face the Brewers’ Braden Looper at 6:10 at the Dome.      

 With that, here are some more Twins-related articles or stories for you to peruse while downing your Friday morning cup of coffee:

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Nathan Hanson, Beloit Snappers

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Cole Devries, New Britain Rockcats

ROCHESTER REPORT

Friday –Rochester 3, Norfolk 4 – The Red Wings managed just three hits in this game. Luke Hughes was 1-3 with a walk to raise his average to .261. The first seven batters in the Red Wings lineup had at least two strikeouts in the game. Reid Santos made the start. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out two. Armando Gabino came in and worked two scoreless innings. Juan Morillo gave up a run on three hits and no walks in two innings to take the loss.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Friday – New Britain 3, Binghampton 1 – Cole Devries got back on track with a great start. In seven innings, he gave up a run on seven hits. He walked none and struck out four to lower his ERA to 2.86. Rob Delaney came in, and with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with one out, he struck out the next two batters to get out of that inning. Anthony Slama came on and struck out two in a perfect ninth for his ninth save. Brandon Roberts went 2-5 with his second homer and two of the RBI. Danny Valencia hit his fourth triple.  

Be sure to read Travis Talks where he compares and contrasts Delaney and Slama.

MIRACLE MEMOS

Friday – Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 1 – Carlos Gutierrez was back on the mound in this game. In five innings, he gave up only an unearned run on two hits. He walked four and struck out four. Spencer Steedley continues to impress. In 2.2 innings, he gave up just one hit. He improves to 3-0 and his ERA drops to 0.83. Blair Erickson got the final four outs, two via strikeout. Chris Parmelee and Jair Fernandez each went 2-3 with a walk. Ben Revere was 1-2 with a walk. He also stole his 17^th and 18^th bases.  

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Friday – Beloit 7, Peoria 13 – The defense let the team down in this one. Dan Osterbrock gave up eight runs in just 2.1 innings, but just one of the runs was earned. He gave up five hits, and walked two as well. Bruce Pugh came in and gave up two runs on four hits (2 HR) in 2.2 innings. Steve Blevins worked two scoreless innings. Blake Martin pitched the final two innings and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk. Former Gopher Nathan Hanson went 3-5 in the game. He hit his second triple and second home run. Ozzie Lewis was 2-3 with two walks and his seventh double. Michael Harrington is hitting just .215, but in this game, he notched his 13^th and 14^th doubles. James Beresford and Dominic de La Osa each had two hits. Jonathan Waltenbury was ejected late in the game for calmly questioning a called strike.   

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Saturday Night Lights

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Be sure to tune in live to tonight’s MNGameNight.com podcast. The Twins Geek will be hosting the show tonight. I will not be on the show as I am taking a couple of days away from blogging, unless of course, there is any breaking news. There will also not be a new SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast on Monday night. During Saturday afternoon’s Twins telecast on FSN, I hosted a Live Chat. There weren’t a ton of questions, which is fine, but you can read the transcript by clicking here.

By the way, I did go to see Angels & Demons on Saturday night. I don’t know if it was quite as good as The Da Vinci Code, but obviously Tom Hanks was excellent, and it was very good and interesting.

TWINS 4, YANKEES 6 (11 Innings)

For the second straight game, the Twins lost to the Yankees on the Bombers’ final at bat. Friday night is was Melky Cabrera with a well-place soft line drive. On Saturday afternoon, it was an A-Bomb, from A-Rod. Rodriguez hit it high and he hit one far, a two run homer off of Craig Breslow with nobody out in the bottom of the 11^th inning. Here are some other notes:

• Nick Blackburn was excellent. If not for Mark Teixeira, his day would have been wonderful. In 7.2 innings, Blackburn gave up four runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out four. Then remember that Teixeira went 4-4 against him with four RBI, three on a home run, and see just how good Blackburn was against everyone else.
• Gardy decided to leave him out there for the 8^th inning. It was absolutely the right decision. Gardy decided to let him pitch to Teixeira with a runner on third and two outs that inning. It probably was the right move. I mean, you could walk him and have him pitch to A-Rod. There just really isn’t a right answer in that situation.
• Denard Span and Brendan Harris, the team’s top two hitters on the day, combined to go 0-11.
• #3 hitter, Joe Mauer, had a hit and a walk. The hit was a long home run, his sixth of the year already. He has five home runs in his last seven games.
• #4 hitter, Justin Morneau, went 2-3 with two walks. One of his hits was a home run, his 12^th of the year. He has six home runs in his last eight games.
• #5 hitter, Jason Kubel, went 2-5. He has now had four straight multi-hit games. He is 10-19 in his last five games to raise his average to .341 on the season.
• Matt Guerrier finally got a day off on Friday, but he was right back in there on Saturday afternoon. So, he has now pitched in six out of seven games. He threw two hitless innings, walked one and struck out two.
• Craig Breslow got the final out of the 10^th inning, coaxing a pop up out of Johnny Damon. He was about the only option to pitch the 11^th, and it was really an impossible situation for him. He walked Teixeira before serving up the game-winning homer to Alex Rodriguez.
• Sunday, Kevin Slowey gets his opportunity against the Yankees on Sunday afternoon when he faces off against AJ Burnett.  

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Juan Portes, New Britain Rockcats

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Dan Berlind, Beloit Snappers

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday –Rochester 3, Durham 4 – Anthony Swarzak threw a lot of strikes in this game. 70 of his 106 pitches were strikes. Unfortunately, many of those strikes were hit well. Swarzak gave up four runs on 11 hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. Juan Morillo then struck out one in a perfect inning. David Winfree went 2-4 with his tenth double. Jason Pridie was 2-5 with his tenth stolen base.       

ROCKCAT RECAP

Saturday – Game 1 – New Britain 4, Portland 5 – Cole Devries started this game and gave up five runs on ten hits (2 HR) and two walks. Jose Lugo then got the next four outs. Rob Delaney struck out two in a perfect relief inning. Juan Portes went 2-2 with a walk and his third stolen base. Steve Tolleson went 1-2 with a walk.  

Saturday – Game 2 – New Britain 4, Portland 1 – Juan Portes had a second good game on this day. In this game, he was 2-2 with a walk. Rene Tosoni was also 2-2 with a walk. Zach Ward made the start for the Rockcats. He threw three no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out two. Frank Mata came in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Anthony Slama recorded his sixth save with 2.1 no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out three.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Saturday –Ft. Myers 11, St. Lucie 9 (13 innings) – Carlos Gutierrez started this game and gave up four runs in five innings. None of the runs were earned. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out three. David Bromberg entered in relief and gave up three runs (1 earned) on a hit and a walk in just 0.2 innings. Steve Hirschfeld gave up a run on two hits in 1.1 innings. Henry Arias came in and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Kyle Waldrop gave up a run to blow the save, but in all, he went three innings and gave up just the one run. Santos Arias struck one out in his inning. Danny Berg went 3-6. Danny Rams made his first start and it went quite well. He went 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Late in the game, Ben Revere pinch hit for him and stayed in the game. He went 2-2 with a walk. Evan Bigley went 2-5 with two walks and his first double. Steve Singleton was 2-5. Juan Richardson went 2-7, but his two run single in the 13^th gave the Miracle the win.     

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Saturday – Beloit 5, Peoria 6 – Angel Morales keeps giving glimpses that he is ready to bust out. In this game, the young outfielder went 2-3 with a walk and two doubles. Ozzie Lewis went 2-5. Dan Berlind made the start. In six innings, he gave up four hits and one walk while striking out six. Bruce Pugh gave up two runs on two hits and a walk and got just one out. Joe Testa came in and gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. Matt Williams allowed the losing runs to score in the 8^th. He gave up two hits in 1.1 innings.   

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.