Weekend Update

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I haven’t really posted anything for awhile, and I apologize for that. Unfortunately life had to get in the way, work and other commitments had to take priority. Thank you for your understanding. I should probably go back and do minor league game reports and updates for the last week to ten days, but that may just be a bit much and a bit overwhelming. So, I’ll write about the weekend games and share a few comments on some other topics related to our favorite baseball team. Then I will try to stay on top of things moving forward, so please continue to stop by and be sure to leave your comments.

Last night, I was excited to help KFAN’s Phil Mackey host Twins Weekly in studio from 5 to 6:15. Talking Twins baseball is always fun, but put a microphone in front of me and it is quite an experience. As you know, PMac does a great job on the show, so I thought it went quite well. I thought I would use some of the topics we discussed to start my ramblings about the Twins. (By the way, I also saw a copy of the inaugural issue of Minnesota Poker Magazine, a venture that Mackey and several others have made a reality. So, be sure to check out the site and bookmark it.)

• The Twins won two out of three in Chicago against the Cubs. There were a ton of people from Minnesota at Wrigley, and that would be an amazing experience. If you happen to have been in attendance, please be sure to leave your thoughts.
• After Saturday, the Twins had hit the .500 mark for the season for the first time in a long time. But Sunday’s loss put them a game back again.
• The Twins went 5-5 on this road trip. Winning Sunday would have been great, but for a team that is so bad on the road, we probably should be happy. The Twins also do not generally hit well against pitchers that they have not seen before which is pretty much that whole Oakland pitching staff. The team played well on the road. In the five losses, the Twins lost by a combined six runs.
• The Outfield Situation is a mess right now. It was bad enough with Denard Span back in Minneapolis and Michael Cuddyer manning CF, flanked by Delmon Young and Jason Kubel, but Saturday and Sunday, Cuddyer was out too. So, when they promoted #3 catcher Jose Morales to the big leagues for Sunday’s game, I thought it was perplexing. Why not call up Jason Pridie just to have a fourth outfielder. What is one of the outfielders would have been hurt on Sunday? I believe Matt Tolbert would have been in the outfield while two catchers sat on the bench.
• As Jose Morales has done in his time with the Twins this season, Anthony Swarzak showed that he can be a big league starting pitcher if an opportunity presents itself. That’s all you can hope for from a injury replacement. Swarzak’s seven shutout innings on Saturday against the Cubs showed that again. He was sent to Rochester following the game where he hopefully has been given a list of two or three things to work on. I expect we will see him in the Twins rotation again in the near future.
• Scott Baker gave up two runs on just five hits and no walks on Sunday. Swarzak gave up no runs on four hits and a walk on Saturday. Kevin Slowey struck out ten in the first five innings on Friday before giving up three sixth inning runs. Nick Blackburn has been the team’s best starting pitcher in 2009. He has certainly been the most consistent. Francisco Liriano has had two straight quality starts. Glen Perkins takes the mound for the Twins on Tuesday against the Pirates, and you have to wonder how long his leash is. My personal opinion is that he was really good this year when healthy. The big question is when did his arm start hurting, and how much of his struggle was due to the arm. He should be given at least three starts before discussing any alternatives.
• Jesse Crain has been the brunt of much criticism the last couple of months. I have been as big of a Crain supporter for the better part of six years, and I simply can’t do it any more. He has experienced too much success in a Twins uniform to completely abandon, but why he was brought in to a 2-2 game in the bottom of the ninth against the Cubs’ 3-4-5 hitters is beyond me. I understand not bringing in Joe Nathan and Matt Guerrier, but Jose Mijares could have thrown. I think I may have preferred seeing R.A. Dickey in that situation. Now, I am not certain, but I think that Crain must have some options left. Since Crain made his big league debut with the Twins in early August of 2004, he has not been optioned to the minor leagues. Does this mean that he has three options left? If so, Bobby Keppel is sure looking good at Rochester right now! There is precendence for such a move. The Twins sent Kyle Lohse and JC Romero to AAA after they had spent significant time in the big leagues.
• Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel are very good. Need I say more?
• I actually am happy with Gardy’s decision to go with Brendan Harris at shortstop with Nick Punto taking over at 2B. Harris has been a better defensive shortstop this year than Punto (small sample?). In reality, have there been any plays the last couple of weeks that Harris did not make that Punto would have? And Harris has earned the right to play every day. 2B has been a mess for the Twins. Alexi Casilla has disappointed, and Matt Tolbert simply is not a very good player. If Punto can hit .260-.280 the rest of the season and play good defense, he is likely their best option. I certainly think this is the best option the Twins have.
• The Twins decided last week to go with a lot of college players, and their top four picks were all college pitchers. I liked the picks because they are risks, but their upsides are terrific. The Twins don’t have a lot of #1 type of pitchers, and I believe the Kyle Gibson can be that. Ben Tootle will need to get bigger again, but he was a guy who was predicted to go higher. Derek McCallum was a great choice in the fourth round. Not only is he a local guy, but he can flat out hit and is good with the glove. I’m not certain why they went with a couple of catchers so early, but you need guys behind the plate. I like the Eric Decker pick as well, and I hope that the two sides can reach some sort of creative agreement so that he can play. I will have much more on the Twins draft later in the week.
• The Twins have a much-needed day off again on Monday before starting at three game home series against the Pirates. That will be followed by three games at the Metrodome against the Houston Astros. This would be a good time for the Twins to make a run!
• Tonight at 9:00 central time, there will be a new, live episode of the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. There are a couple of guests lined up already, so be sure to check that out.      

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

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

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Matt Fox, New Britain Rockcats

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Erik Lis, New Britain Rockcats

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

Sunday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Jair Fernandez, Ft. Myers Miracle

Sunday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld, Ft. Myers Miracle

Be sure to check out Roger’s Weekly Minor League Update.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Friday –Rochester 1, Toledo 2 – Bobby Keppel threw a great game, but the offense just was not able to support him. Keppel went all eight innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out four, dropping his ERA to 2.36. Justin Huber and Trevor Plouffe each went 2-4.

Saturday –Rochester 2, Toledo 4 – Justin Huber had a good game. He went 2-4 with his seventh double and fifth home run. David Winfree was 2-4 with his 15^th double. Philip Humber fell to 1-4 with this game. In 5.1 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three. Armando Gabino struck out three in 1.2 innings. Tim Lahey worked a scoreless inning.  

Sunday –Rochester 1, Toledo 6 – Brian Duensing gave up four runs on ten hits in six innings to take the loss. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out five. Ben Hendrickson pitched the seventh inning and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Rob Delaney threw a perfect inning, striking out two. Steve Tolleson is now batting third for the Red Wings and after he went 2-4 with his sixth AAA double, he is now hitting .352.   

ROCKCAT RECAP

Friday – New Britain 1, Bowie 2 – Matt Fox continues to pitch well and really is deserving of a promotion. In this game, he went the first seven innings. He gave up a run on four hits and a walk while striking out six. He dropped his ERA to 2.64. Alex Burnett took the loss. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk over two innings. Wilson Ramos went 1-2 before pulling his hamstring, which will keep him out of the lineup for up to another month. Juan Portes and Brian Dinkelman went 1-3 with a walk.   

Saturday – New Britain 6, Bowie 5 – Carlos Gutierrez was much improved in his second AA start and Erik Lis helped provide the offense. Lis went 4-4 with a walk and two RBI. Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-4 with a walk. Whit Robbins and Matt Moses each went 2-5. Gutierrez against went five innings in this game. He gave up one run on five hits and three walks. He did not record a strikeout. Frank Mata got just one out and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk. Jose Lugo came in and gave up only an unearned run over 2.1 innings. He gave up three hits and three walks while striking out three. Yohan Pino came in and got the final out of the 8^th inning. Anthony Slama struck out two in a scoreless ninth and was credited with the Win.

Sunday – New Britain 2, Bowie 5 – Ryan Mullins took another loss. He gave up four runs (2 earned) on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Zach Ward came in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 2.1 innings. Alex Burnett was perfect for 2.1 innings to lower his AA ERA to 1.54. Whit Robbins went 2-4 with his 16^th double.

MIRACLE MEMOS

Friday – Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 6 – Deolis Guerra falls to 4-6 after going just four innings in this game. He gave up six runs (3 earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out seven. Loek Van Mil continues to impress. He threw two shutout innings, striking out two. Spencer Steedley and Henry Arias each threw a scoreless inning. Evan Bigley went 2-4, and Steve Singleton hit his second home run.  

Saturday – Ft. Myers, Daytona – Postponed by Rain.

Sunday – Game 1 – Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 8 – I’m certain Mike McCardell would like a Do-Over for the start of this game. He gave up eight runs in just 1/3 of an inning before leaving the game. He gave up four hits and walked three. Just one of the eight runs was earned as there were also three errors in that inning, one on McCardell. In reality, only one run really should have scored in the inning. Santos Arias then struck out four over the next 3.2 innings. Blair Erickson and Henry Arias each pitched a scoreless inning. The Miracle had just three hits. Nick Romero hit his second home run.  

Sunday – Game 2 – Ft. Myers 4, Daytona 1 – Rain shorted the second half of the double header after seven innings. Steve Hirschfeld picked up the win in a spot-start. He threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits. He walked three and struck out four. Kyle Waldrop gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Spencer Steedey is credited with the Save with a scoreless inning which dropped his ERA to 0.61 on the season. Jair Fernandez led the offense. He went 2-3 with his fifth double and first home run. Steve Singleton was 2-3 with a walk and his tenth double. Deibinson Romero and Evan Bigley each went 2-4. Ben Revere was 1-2 with two walks.

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Friday – Beloit 10, Burlington 5 – Dan Berlind got some run support to improve to 2-6 on the season. In seven innings, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on four hits and two walks. Blake Martin struck out three over the final two scoreless innings. James Beresford went 3-5 with a walk. Ozzie Lewis was 3-5. Nathan Hanson went 2-4. Drew Thompson and Ramon Santana each had a hit and two walks.

Saturday – Beloit 4, Burlington 1 – Dan Osterbrock went 6.1 innings to improve to 4-5. He gave up a run on six hits and a walk. Joe Testa recorded his sixth save, striking out four over 2.2 innings. The Snappers managed just six hits. Ramon Santana hit his 13^th double.   

Sunday – Beloit 2, Clinton 9 – The Snappers managed just two hits in this one. Bobby Lanigan gave up one run over the first 3.1 innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out six. Danny Rondon gave up an unearned run over the next 2.2 innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins gave up a run on two hits and a walk in two innings to suffer the loss. Matt Williams gave up six runs (just two earned) on four hits and a walk in one inning.   

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

Weekend Game Updates

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The Twins split the first two games of their weekend series in Seattle. On Friday night, they won 2-1 in ten innings. On Saturday afternoon, it was a 2-1 loss.

Friday, Francisco Liriano made a big start. He gave up just one run on three hits in six innings. He still walked four and struck out five. Jesse Crain and Jose Mijares each got two outs. Matt Guerrier went the next 1.2 innings. Joe Nathan recorded his 11^th save with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning.

Brian Buscher was 2-3. Alexi Casilla went 2-4. Brendan Harris went 2-5. Justin Morneau gave the Twins a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly early in the game. He scored the winning run in the 10^th when a Matt Tolbert fly ball to LF was mis-played by Wladmir Balentien.

Saturday, Nick Blackburn had another excellent start. In seven innings, he gave up just one run. He allowed six hits, walked one and struck out one. His season ERA is down to 3.30. Sean Henn gave up the go-ahead run in the 8^th inning on a double by Ken Griffey Jr. Luis Ayala came in for the final out.

It was good to see Michael Cuddyer return to the lineup. Mike Redmond drove in the Twins’ lone run on a double. Joe Crede and Alexi Casilla each had two hits. In a crazy happening, the Twins top three hitters (Denard Span, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau) combined to go 0-12 with just one walk.

On Sunday afternoon, the Twins will send Kevin Slowey (8-1, 3.97 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) to the mound to face Erik Bedard (4-2, 2.37 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) in what should be another pitcher’s dual.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Steve Tolleson, Rochester Red Wings

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Spencer Steedley, Ft. Myers Miracle

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

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

MIDWEST LEAGUE ALL-STAR – Joe Testa was named to the Midwest League All Star team. He was the only player from the Beloit Snappers on the roster. Josh Johnson wondered if another member of the Snappers roster was snubbed. He is probably right.  

Be sure to check out Roger’s Weekly Minor League Update.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Friday –Rochester 6, Gwinnett 9 – Kevin Mulvey started this game and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits. In six innings, he walked six and struck out six. Rob Delaney got a chance to see how quickly a game can turn around. He gave up a cycle and four runs in just one inning  He worked a second inning and it went 1-2-3. Tim Lahey gave up a run on a hit and a walk in his inning. Steve Tolleson has continued to hit with his promotion to AAA. He went 3-3 with two walks and his third double. Drew Butera went 2-4. Jose Morales went 2-5.

Saturday –Rochester 2, Syracuse 3 – Bobby Keppel made a spot start and was able to work seven strong innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits. He walked none and struck out five. Juan Morillo threw two shutout innings, striking out four. But he walked three. Brock Peterson went 2-2 with a walk. Jose Morales went 2-4. Luke Hughes was back in the lineup. He had an error and was 0-1 before being pinch hit for. Can’t help but wonder if he re-aggravated his injury.

Check out Travis’s Red Wings Pitcher and Hitter of the Month for May.   

ROCKCAT RECAP

Friday – New Britain 2, Connecticut 3 (10 innings) – Ryan Mullins struck out eight in 5.2 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and three walks. Alex Burnett came in and threw 2.1 shutout innings. He gave up a hit, walked three and struck out four. Anthony Slama gave up a run on three hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out three. Brandon Roberts went 3-5 with his seventh stolen base. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4. Erik Lis hit his fifth home run of the season.

Friday – New Britain 3, Harrisburg 8 – Cole Devries was the victim of the long ball in this game. In five innings, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits (three home runs). He walked one and struck out two. Frank Mata gave up three runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk in his inning. Yohan Pino and Zach Ward each threw a scoreless inning. Whit Robbins was 2-4 with his seventh homer. Erik Lis was 2-4.

Check out Travis’s Rockcats Pitcher and Hitter of the Month for May.       

MIRACLE MEMOS

Friday – Ft. Myers 3, Clearwater 2 – The Miracle won this game despite getting just six hits. David Bromberg went the first 5.2 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits. He walked six and struck out eight. Spencer Steedley got the win with 2.1 perfect innings. He is now 4-0. Blair Erickson recorded his seventh save with a scoreless ninth.

Saturday – Ft. Myers 1, Clearwater 0 – This was quite the pitcher’s dual. No runs scored until the final pitch of the game. Rene Leveret singled in Nick Romero in the bottom of the 9^th to give the Miracle to 1-0 win. The Miracle had seven hits. No one had more than one hit. Chris Parmelee had a double. Tyler Robertson threw the first seven shutout innings. He gave up eight hits and walked two while striking out four. Henry Arias gets the win due to his two shutout frames, which included four strikeouts.

Check out Travis’s Miracle Pitcher and Hitter of the Month.      

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Friday – Beloit 1, Peoria 5 – Michael Allen fell to 0-8 in this game. He gave up five runs on ninth hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five. Curtiss Leavitt struck out two in a perfect inning. Matt Williams struck out two and gave up one hit in a scoreless innings. James Beresford and Michael Harrington each went 2-4.

Saturday – Beloit, Wisconsin – Game Rained Out.  

Check out Travis’s Snappers Pitcher and Hitter of the Month.   

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.

It’s Official… Casilla to Rochester, Tolbert to Twins

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

LaVelle guessed right. The Twins announced that they are sending Alexi Casilla to Rochester, and promoting utility infielder Matt Tolbert to the Twins.

With lefty Mark Hendrickson on the mound for the Orioles tonight, I would like to see Tolbert get into the lineup at SS, replacing Nick Punto because I would really like to see Brendan Harris in the lineup against a lefty. I think that Harris should be the team’s primary 2B for the near term, with Tolbert again filling the role of utility player.

I do have to say this. When Alexi Casilla started the season with the Twins in 2007, people were excited. He proved that he was not ready at the time and made several mental mistakes. That perception clearly has stuck around. They have been compounded at the start of this season with his .160 batting average and a couple of not-well-timed errors. But I also think that we need to step back a little bit and stop completely bashing Casilla. Has he made mistakes? Certainly. Should he have run out the popped up bunt? Of course. Should he have thrown home last night? Of course. I really don’t like when people question a person’s effort. I really don’t think that is fair. Can we question his baseball IQ at this point? That is fair. But let’s try not to mix the two.

Saturday Game Reports

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

From my BaseballDigest.com Game Recap –

The Twins had several opportunities and really should have won, but instead, they had to work some overtime, burn the bullpen and in the end lost 10-7 to the Kansas City Royals in 11 innings. The game was back and forth throughout. Both teams had several opportunities to take over the game, but both teams squandered opportunities.

Glen Perkins started for the Twins and gave up five runs on ten hits in six innings. Luis Ayala came in and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in 1.1 innings. Jose Mijares came in and got the final two outs. But an Alexi Casilla error caused another tying run to score. Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth. Matt Guerrier threw a scoreless tenth. Then in the 11th inning, Craig Breslow came in and walked three out of the four batters he faced. He left with the bases loaded, and R. A. Dickey was the only bullpen arm still available. The knuckleballer came in and didn’t throw any knuckleballs in a walk to John Buck that gave the Royals the lead. A fielder’s choice and a single later, the Royals had the 10-7 lead that Joakim Soria held onto in the bottom of the inning.

In his second game, Joe Mauer had four more hits. Delmon Young, in the lineup because Jason Kubel was scratched because he was sick, went 3-4 with two RBI. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 with his second home run. Joe Crede, back from a day with his wife who gave birth to their third child, went 2-5.

On Sunday afternoon, the Twins will send Scott Baker to the mound against the Royals’ Gil Meche.

OTHER NOTES

• Craig Breslow – 6.2 innings, 9 walks. I know he’s smart and has something like 57 different pitches in his arsenal. However, he needs to pick out like four or five of them that you can throw for strikes! Otherwise, Brian Duensing should be on call.
• Nick Punto – sure, he has been on Web Gems a lot in previous seasons. But this year, how many times has he bounced throws to 1B. He certainly doesn’t have Bartlett-like range.
• Carlos Gomez – I don’t know if I can put up with watching him anymore. Sure, he covers a lot of ground on defense. I get that. But he can’t hit, he doesn’t even try to bunt for hits anymore, he can’t lay down a sacrifice bunt, and clearly the plate discipline that he was trying to develop didn’t happen yet. How he has a big league gig is beyond me right now.
• Alexi Casilla – he’s not quite in my ‘ready-to-give-up-on’ or ‘send-him-to-Rochester’ lists, but it’s getting close. He at least takes pitches and generally has good swings. Maybe it’s the turf, but he does not seem to have much range on ground balls either.
• Ron Gardenhire – He made the perfect move in the 8^th inning when he brought Jason Kubel off of the bench as a pinch hitter for Alexi Casilla. It forced Trey Hillman’s hand, and he brought lefty Ron Mahay into the game. If Kubel was too sick to play today, it didn’t make a lot of sense for him to pinch hit in that situation. And, because he was pinch hitting for Casilla, the perfect move would have been to have Brendan Harris pinch hit for Kubel. That would have created a righty-lefty matchup with one of the Twins best right handed hitters. It would have been perfect to use Kubel as a decoy to get the matchup you wanted. Instead, Kubel was left in to face Mahay, and he struck out to end the threat.
• 0-2 – That is a good pitcher’s count. Why do Twins pitchers give up so many solid base hits when the count is 0-2? It goes back to Brad Radke who did the same thing.  
• Like Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz has never seen a microphone he didn’t like. But this time, I’m listening. It is great to read him come out with statements about his former high school teammate, Alex Rodriguez, whose most recent round of questions brought up by Selena Roberts involves him taking steroids as early as high school. “There’s no way. I was with him too much, I was with him for too long. Our team was together, like, 20 hours of the day. Every day.”

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

• Roger posted his weekly minor league report at Twinkie Town.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday – Game 1 – Rochester 5, Indianapolis 1 – Philip Humber made his first Red Wings start and did very well. He gave up just one run on three hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out three to gain his first win. Sean Henn got the final six outs, allowing only one hit. Dustin Martin went 2-2, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases. Luke Hughes went 2-3 with an RBI.

Saturday – Game 2 – Rochester 2, Indianapolis 3 (8 innings) – The Red Wings managed just four hits in this game. Matt Tolbert had a double and a triple. Trevor Plouffe also hit a triple. Brian Duensing started this one and gave up two runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. Juan Morillo threw a perfect inning in relief. He needed just six pitches, and four of them were strikes. Mike Gosling pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but he gave up a run with one out in the bottom of the 8^th inning.

 ROCKCAT RECAP

Saturday – New Britain 7, Trenton 6 – Jeff Manship put together and incredible start in this game, and the bullpen held on, barely. Manship worked the first seven innings and gave up no runs on just one hit. He walked one and struck out five to earn his second win of the season. Zach Ward came in and gave up two hits and two walks before being taken out of the game without recording an out. Yohan Pino came in and gave up one hit, but did get the team out of the inning with a three run lead. Anthony Slama recorded his third save, but he struggled. He gave up two runs on a hit and two walks. He struck out one. Rene Tosoni went 2-4 with his third double and first stolen base. Matt Moses and Brian Dinkelman were each 2-3 with a walk. Whit Robbins hit his second home run. Brandon Roberts had a double and drove in three runs.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Saturday –Ft. Myers 6, Charlotte 4 – David Bromberg gave up two funs on four hits and four walks in five innings, but he won his second game of the season. Steve Hirschfeld gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and one walk. Henry Arias picked up his first save by throwing two shutout innings. Steve Singleton went 3-5 with his fifth double. Chris Parmelee went 3-4 with his third double, fourth homer and three RBI. Ben Revere went 2-5 with his 12^th stolen base.    

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Saturday – Beloit 6, Great Lakes 18 – Dan Osterbrock had another bad start in this one and falls to 0-3. In just 2.1 innings, he gave up nine runs on nine hits, including two home runs. He walked two, hit one and struck out two. Bruce Pugh went the next 2.2 innings and gave up just one run. Henry Reyes then gave up seven runs on seven hits and two walks in just 1.2 innings. Steve Blevins gave up a run over the final 2.1 innings. The offense was able to score six runs despite getting just six hits. Ozzie Lewis and Jonathan Waltenbury each hit their first home runs of the season. Drew Thompson got his first hit, a double.   

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

Friday Night Report

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

From my BaseballDigest.com Game Recap – The big story of this first Twins game of May was the return of Joe Mauer. The Twins All-Star, Silver Slugging, Gold Gloving catcher had missed the entire season with a back injury. But after a week of rehab games in the Florida State League, May Day became “Mauer Day” for the Twins.  Joe Mauer helped make it a great day for the Twins and their fans all around.

Mauer came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, and with the crowd still on its feet, Mauer hit a long, opposite field home run off of Sidney Ponson to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. It was his first swing of the season. In his next at bat, with his next swing, Mauer lined a Ponson curveball down the left field line for a double. He would walk in his third plate appearance. In his fourth at bat, he did something else he does quite a bat, hit into a double play. But what a 2009 debut for Mauer! 2-3 with a walk, a double and a home run.

And most important, Mauer helped the Twins to a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. Justin Morneau was also 2-3 and hit his sixth home run of the season, a two run shot in the fifth inning. Brendan Harris went 2-4.

Kevin Slowey improved to 4-0 on the season despite giving up five runs on eight hits in just five innings. The bullpen was another big story in this game. Matt Guerrier threw two shutout innings. Jose Mijares struck out the side in the 8th inning. And Joe Nathan recorded his fourth save of the season.

The Royals and the Twins are now both 12-11 on the season. This marks the first time the Twins have been over .500 since they were 3-2.

On Saturday evening the Twins will send lefty Glen Perkins to the mound. Perkins is just 1-2 on the season despite a 2.48 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has completed eight innings in three out of his four starts this season, including all three of his Metrodome starts. He will face Brian Bannister who since returning from the minor leagues is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA. He has allowed just one run in his 13 innings.

OTHER NOTES

• Carlos Gomez was back in centerfield for the Twins, and he contributed with a ground rule double. He had been in Florida with his wife, who gave birth to their first child, Yendel Gomez.
• Brendan Harris was at 3B in this game because Joe Crede is back in Missouri with his wife who gave birth to their third child.
• Phil Mackey stated simply Joe Mauer is good at baseball. And again, be sure to check out his new blog, Minnesota Poker Magazine.
• Have I mentioned yet that tonight’s Twins starting pitcher, Glen Perkins, was the co-host with me of Thursday night’s MNGameNight.com podcast? If you haven’t checked it out yet, please be sure to do so.
• Have I mentioned yet that on Monday night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, Pat Neshek will be joining me to awhile to talk about his rehab and what else is keeping him busy? Anyway, check out Pat’s Blog and vote on something very important when you get there!  

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

BIG STORY – The big story of this game though has to be the return of Drew Thompson to the lineup. He went 0-4 with two walks for the Beloit Snappers. So why highlight him? Well, it was his first game since the middle of the 2006 season. The Twins second round pick in the 2005 draft, Thompson fractured his back in 2006, and has been working his way back since. He likely could have played early, but with such an injury, the Twins wisely did not send him back to Beloit until the weather warmed. Despite not playing in nearly three years, Thompson is still just 22 years old. The son of former Giants 2B Robbie Thompson, Thompson could move up quickly if he is healthy.

• Josh Johnson posted his April Minor League report, highlighting five players who did very well.
• Border Ball posted an excellent Get to Know ‘Em interview with Snappers 1B Jonathan Waltenbury.
• Earlier in the week, Trevor Plouffe wrote about a typical day in his life as a Twins minor leaguer.  

ROCHESTER REPORT

Friday – Rochester 9, Indianapolis 3 – These two teams were supposed to play two games on Friday because of Thursday’s rain-out, but rain again meant that they were able to get just one game in. Anthony Swarzak had been a tough-luck loser throughout April, but maybe things will be better for him in May. He picked up his first win of the season after giving up three runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out six. Armando Gabino struck out one in two perfect innings. Justin Huber returned to the lineup, and made his presence known. His first inning grand slam gave the Red Wings a 4-0 cushion right away. It was his only hit of the game. Matt Tolbert, Dustin Martin, Trevor Plouffe and Jason Pridie were all 2-5 in the game. Martin and Plouffe hit doubles, and Tolbert hit a triple.

ROCKCAT RECAP

Friday – New Britain 9, Trenton 7 – Whit Robbins has really been hitting well of late, and in this game, he went 4-5. Wilson Ramos went 3-5 with his third and fourth doubles. Brian Dinkelman remains on fire. He went 3-4 with four RBI. Danny Valencia hit his fourth double and third home run in five at bats. Brandon Roberts also went 2-5. Matt Fox made the start in this game. The 2004 supplemental first round pick gave up three runs (2 earned) on seven hits and three walks in 5.1 innings. Jose Lugo went the next two innings and gave up two runs. Frank Mata got two outs to get out of the 8^th inning. Rob Delaney pitched the ninth and gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out two and the Rockcats got the win.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Friday –Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 5 – Deolis Guerra gave up two runs in 5.1 innings. He gave up three hits, walked three and struck out six. Blair Erickson gave up a run on one hit in 2.1 innings. He struck out four, but he took the loss. Alex Burnett came in and got the final out but not before giving up four hits, and two additional runs. Chris Parmelee went 2-3 with a triple. Rene Leveret went 2-3 with a walk. Chris Cates was 1-3 with a walk.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Friday – Beloit 3, Dayton 4 (12 innings) – Shooter Hunt was on the mound again on this night, and there was a contingency of the Twins brass there to see what he was doing. He had yet another frustrating night. In three innings, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on just one hit. He struck out four. Now for what you were looking for; he walked six and threw three wild pitches. Dan Berlind came in and gave up four hits and struck out four in four shutout innings. Danny Rondon was perfect through three innings. Matt Williams gave up an unearned run in his second inning of work to take the loss. He struck out three. The Snappers had seven hits. James Beresford was 2-3 with a walk and his third stolen base. Evan Bigley hit his first homer of the season. Angel Morales hit his second home run.

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

Wednesday Game Reports

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Nick Blackburn took the mound for the 2^nd inning with a four run lead. That has to be encouraging. The Twins took advantage of the wildness of Scott Kazmir, even scoring two runs on wild pitches in the 1^st inning to grab a 4-0 lead. The top of the order got the job done. Denard Span, Brendan Harris and Justin Morneau each had three hits. Morneau also had a double and walked once. Michael Cuddyer was 1-2 with two walks.

 

Blackburn gave up two run on eight hits and a walk in seven innings for his second win. Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Luis Ayala gave up a run in the 9^th.

 

The Twins won the game 8-3, and they won the series two games to one.  They will now enjoy another off day on Thursday before starting a three game series against the Kansas City Royals. They will miss Zach Greinke this time around!

 

PROGRAMMING NOTE –

So, what do the players do on their days off? I can’t answer that with any certainty, however, I do know what Twins lefty starter Glen Perkins will be doing on Thursday night. At 10:00, he will be joining me, and we will be co-hosting the www.MNGameNight.com podcast. We will discuss the start to his season, the Twins/Rays series, and the upcoming Royals series, and more. The half-hour show should be really good, so check it out live if you are able. If not, be certain to download it later and listen to it when you have a chance.

 

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

 

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday – Rochester 1, Buffalo 0 – Kevin Mulvey and three relievers combined to shutout the Bison in this game. Mulvey went the first 5.2 innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Mike Gosling got the win to improve to 3-0 on the young season. He gave up two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Bobby Keppel threw a perfect inning. Sean Henn got his first save with a scoreless ninth. Jason Pridie led the offense by going 2-3 with his third double. He scored the lone run on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Martin, who was 1-2.  

 

ROCKCAT RECAP

Wednesday – New Britain 0, New Hampshire 5 – Ryan Mullins falls to 0-4 after this loss, but his offense did nothing for him. The lefty went 4.2 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out six. Zach Ward went the next 2.1 innings and gave up a run. He struck out three. Yohan Pino pitched a scoreless inning. The Rockcat bats managed just five hits. Steve Tolleson went 1-3 with a walk and his first stolen base.

 

MIRACLE MEMOS

Wednesday –Ft. Myers 5, Palm Beach 1 – Michael McCardell was the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week last week. He made a case for this week’s award with this morning’s outing. The righty improved to 2-2 with seven strong innings. He gave up a run on five hits. He walked none and struck out four. Santos Arias threw two scoreless innings in relief. Mark Dolenc went 3-4 with his third stolen base. Ben Revere went 3-5 with his 11^th stolen base.  

 

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Wednesday – Beloit 1, Dayton 2 – The Snappers managed just two hits in this game. Evan Bigley had a double, and Nick Romero had a single. Brad Tippett started for the team and gave up one run on three hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. Henry Reyes gave up the other run to take the loss. He gave up the run on five hits over 2.2 innings. Danny Rondon gave up just a hit in his inning.  Travis from Travis Talks informed me that the Snappers best hitter to this point in the season, Ramon Santana, went on the Disabled List with a sprained ankle.

 

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

What Would You Do? Part 2 (Infield)

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Last night was the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. Be sure to put it on your iPod, or spend some time at work listening to it at work. Twins pitching prospect Zach Ward called in to the show at the beginning of the show. As you know, Ward spent most of the 2008 season in the New Britain bullpen. He then spent much of his offseason as a starter pitching in Puerto Rico. It was fun to learn a little more about Zach Ward. The two other guests were two new Twins bloggers. First, Wally Fish recently started writing two blogs, a Twins blog (TwinkieTalk.com) and a Royals blog (royaleswithcheese.com). Also, Jack Steal started his Twins blog (Fanatic Jack Talks Twins) this week and came on and talked Twins for awhile. It was a solid show, and there are a couple more Twins blogs that you should check out and potentially bookmark.

 

But for today, I would like to talk about three issues that seem to be hot topics as it relates to the Twins. I will post my thoughts, and ask for your thoughts. I would appreciate your comments on each. I’d like to read what you predict will happen, and what you think will happen. As we know, those two things can be very different.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————   

 

Backup Infielder – If the Twins go with 12 pitchers, they would have four bench spots. They would be comprised of the extra outfielder, the backup catcher, and probably two backup infielders. If they go with 11 pitchers, they could keep all three, which may be why they had Matt Tolbert out of CF for a game.  What would you do?

·         Brian Buscher – can play 3B and 1B, although not terribly well. Provides a very professional left-handed bat off the bench. However, he has not shown power throughout his career.

·         Brendan Harris – can play all four infield positions, very little range, but makes all the plays. Right-handed bat with plenty of pop.

·         Matt Tolbert – Can play 3B, 2B, SS, and fairly well. He is a solid switch hitter with good speed.

·         Seth’s Opinion – I really think that the Twins need to go with 12 pitchers, at least to start the season, as there are plenty of question marks in it. Therefore, I think only two of these guys can make it. Because of that, I would send Matt Tolbert back to Rochester to start the season. He doesn’t necessarily deserve that, but in my mind, you can justify that because he missed so much time in 2008. I wouldn’t mind seeing him go to Rochester for six weeks and play every day and everywhere. At that point, hopefully the bullpen questions have worked themselves out, and the Twins starters are able to consistently go 6-7 innings. At that point, they can go to 11 pitchers and Tolbert can come back up.