Thursday Game Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

A couple of my favorite Twins prospects of years past were quite involved in last night’s Arizona 11-6 win over Pittsburgh. As recently as June of 2007, I ranked Trent Oeltjen as my #10 Twins prospect. The Australian was all about speed and could hit. He has experienced tremendous success helping Australia in international competitions over the years. He left the Twins organization after the 2007 season as a six year minor league free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. After two good years at AAA, last night, he made his major league debut. He went 2-6 including his first home run. He also stole two bases.

After the 2006 season, Oeltjen was my choice for the Twins #9 prospect. At #10 was another OF, Alex Romero. Following the 2005 season, I had ranked Romero 6^th on my Twins prospect list. He peaked at #6 in June of 2006. The Twins decided to keep a third catcher in 2007 (was it Chris Heintz or Corky Miller?) and tried to take Romero off of the 40 man roster. The Diamondbacks quickly claimed the OF and added him to their roster. Romero was 4-7 in last night’s game with a double and a stolen base.

Why am I writing about a couple of former Twins prospects, you may ask?

The alternative would be to spend a lot of time writing about the Twins 2-1 loss to Cleveland. It also meant a series loss. Nick Blackburn gave up two runs in 6.1 innings. He had quick innings in the 5^th and 6^th, but gave up another run in the 7^th that proved to be the winning run. The Twins lone run came on a wild pitch. Michael Cuddyer scored that run. He was 2-3 with a walk and his 22^nd double. Orlando Cabrera went 2-3 and is not 10-20 in five games with the Twins.

Things are definitely starting to get ugly in and around the Twins clubhouse. The evidence comes from some of the blunt quotes uttered by several Twins players in Joe Christensen’s very interesting article. Justin Morneau pinning the loss on one player. Mike Redmond basically admitting that he should not have been player. 

Check back later for another blog entry.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Luke Hughes, New Britain Rockcats

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Cole DeVries, New Britain Rockcats – Edgar Ibarra, Elizabethton Twins

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday –Rochester 2, Louisville 5 – Kevin Mulvey didn’t get the help me needed from his defense. Just one of the five runs he allowed was earned. He gave up four hits and three walks in seven innings. Rob Delaney struck out three in two one-hit innings. Matt Tolbert played LF and went 2-5. Trevor Plouffe was 1-3 with his fourth triple. Danny Valencia hit his 13^th double. Brian Buscher was 0-2 with two walks while playing 1B.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Thursday – New Britain 10, Erie 0 – Luke Hughes had a big game. He went 4-4 with a walk and two doubles. Rene Tosoni went 3-5 with his 11^th home run. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with a walk, his 32^nd double and seventh homer. Erik Lis went 2-4 with a walk. Mark Grudzielanek went 0-4 with a walk. Cole DeVries went the first 7.1 shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out eight. Spencer Steedley struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Thursday – Ft. Myers 5, Charlotte 4 – Chris Cates singled in Mark Dolenc with the winning run in the bottom of the 9^th. Estarlin de Los Santos went 4-4 with his fifth triple. Evan Bigley hit two doubles in his five at bats. Dolenc went 2-4. Allen de San Miguel went 1-3 with two walks and his first home run. Michael Tarsi threw the first seven innings. He gave up four runs on ten hits. He walked one and struck out six. Matt Williams struck out four over the final two innings.  

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Thursday – Beloit 2, Peoria 7 –Liam Hendriks gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out seven. Blake Martin gave up two runs on two hits in two innings. Thomas Wright gave up a run on three hits in his inning.  Danny Rams was 2-4 with his seventh double. Nate Hanson went 2-4.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Thursday – Game 1 – Elizabethton 6, Johnson City 7 – Four games in two days is harsh, but that is exactly what was in store for the E-Twins. Brad Stillings started the first game but went just 1.2 innings. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits. Peter Kennelly came in and gave up just an unearned run over the final 4.1 innings. Tobias Streich went 3-4 with his eighth home run. Chris Herrmann was 2-4 with his second stolen base. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his 10^th double.

Thursday – Game 2 – Elizabethton 7, Johnson City 0 – Edgar Ibarra gave the team exactly what it needed in the second game, a complete game. He threw seven shutout innings and allowed three hits. He walked none and struck out nine. Reggie Williams went 2-4 with his sixth homer, a solo shot. He had four RBI in the game. Chris Herrmann went 2-4 with his first triple. Michael Gonzalez went 1-2 with two walks.  

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

Top 50 Twins Prospects Part 2: 21-35

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

In case you missed my posting earlier today, the Twins promoted Carlos Gutierrez and Alex Burnett from Ft. Myers to New Britain where they will join the Rockcats pitching staff. I would think there could be more subsequent moves to follow, so I will try to stay on top of that. Burnett can be used to fill Rob Delaney’s spot. Carlos Gutierrez likely will start. Cole Devries and Matt Fox have both been quite good this season. Jeff Manship has been better of late, and Jay Rainville has been good enough to stick around. Ryan Mullins is the guy who may be out of the starting picture. Or, maybe the Twins decided that the 26 year old Fox is deserving of a AAA opportunity. I would be supportive of that. As I hear any new information, I will keep people updated. Thanks!

After looking at Twins prospects 36-50 yesterday, today we will look at my choices for the Twins Prospects 21-35. Again, let me know what you think. In the next days, I will continue to work my way up the Twins prospect list until finally giving you my selections for the Top 10 Twins prospects. I hope you enjoy this and again, please feel free to comment.

 Here are my choices for #21-#35. For much more information on each, please see the extended version of this at www.SethSpeaks.net.

#35 – Ramon Santana – SS – 22 (6/20/86)

 

#34 – Bobby Lanigan – RHP – 22 (5/5/87)

 

#33 – Martire Garcia – LHP – 19 (3/1/90)

 

#32 – Juan Morillo – RHP – 25 (11/5/83)

 

#31 – BJ Hermsen – RHP – 19 (12/1/89)

 

#30 – Jose Morales – C – 26 (2/20/83)

 

#29 – Deibinson Romero – 3B – 22 (9/24/86) 

#28 – David Winfree – RF – 23 (8/5/85)

 

#27 – Cole DeVries – RHP – 24 (2/12/85)

 

#26 – Deolis Guerra – RHP – 20 (4/17/89)

 

#25 – Whit Robbins – 1B – 24 (9/25/84)

 

#24 – Brian Dinkelman – 2B – 25 (11/10/83)

 

#23 – Shooter Hunt – RHP – 22 (8/16/86)

#22 – Evan Bigley – OF – 22 (3/9/87)

#21 – Steven Tolleson – IF – 25 (11/1/83)

So there you have it, my selections for Twins prospects 21-35. Be sure to check back tomorrow for my choices for #11-20, and again, later in the week, you will also get my Top 10 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

Game Updates

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I didn’t have time yesterday to give you the Monday game reports, so I thought I would combine game reports from Monday and Tuesday into a posting before posting Part 2 of my top 50 Twins prospects. So be sure to check back later for that.

The Twins had a much needed day off on Monday at home. It was their first day off after playing for 20 consecutive games, the most allowed through the Collective Bargaining Agreement. They came back tonight with a 4-3 win over Cleveland. Kevin Slowey became the third pitcher in the big leagues to win his eighth game this season (he’s 8-1, the other two are Roy Halladay – who won his ninth tonight – and Zach Greinke, not bad company to be hanging around). Joe Mauer continued to be amazing. He was 3-3 with a walk. He drove in a run with a single in the 3^rd inning, and then in the 5^th frame, he hit a two run homer. Span was 2-3 in the game. Justin Morneau and Brendan Harris were each 2-4. Morneau hit his 16^th double. The two teamed for a definite web gem. Harris dove to his right, got up and threw to 1B where Morneau had to pick a medium hop. A great play! Joe Nathan came in to get the final out of the 8^th inning and then finished out his 10^th save of the season with a scoreless ninth.The Twins improve to 26-27, while Cleveland falls to 22-32.

Apparently with Mauer’s newfound offense and power, it gives him the OK to not try terribly hard to block pitches in the dirt. There were no fewer than two balls that should have been knocked down. I know… I have to find something minor to point out, right? In the right/wrong game or situation, it would be nice to be blocking some of those pitches.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Monday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Matt Moses, New Britain Rockcats

Monday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Cole Devries, Ft. Myers Miracle

Tuesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Jason Pridie, Rochester Red Wings

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

ROCHESTER REPORT

Monday –Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 3 – Jason Pridie went 2-4 with his eighth double and first triple. Tommy Watkins was 2-4 with his fourth double. Jose Morales was 2-4 with his first triple. Reid Santos started the game and in 3.1 innings gave up a run on six hits and two walks. Bobby Keppel came in and gave up just one hit over 3.1 innings of shutout relief. Mike Gosling, in what turned out to be his Red Wings swan song, gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in two innings. Juan Morillo came in and struck out the batter he faced for his first save.

Tuesday –Rochester 5, Gwinnett 4 – Trevor Plouffe played hero in this game. The SS went 2-4 but his two run homer with an out in the bottom of the ninth ended the game and gave the Red Wings the win. Jason Pridie went 3-3 with a walk and his second triple. Philip Humber made the start and gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out three. Tim Lahey gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in the 8^th inning. Armando Gabino got the win with a scoreless ninth inning.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Monday – New Britain 9, Connecticut 0 – The offense scored nine runs, but Cole Devries was again the story. The former Gopher righty threw eight shutout innings. He allowed just five hits, walked one and struck out four. He improves to 4-4 with a 2.68 ERA. Frank Mata pitched a scoreless ninth. Whit Robbins went 3-4 with two doubles. He now has 13 on the season. Matt Moses went 2-5 with his eighth double, and his fourth home run (a grand slam), and his fourth stolen base. Wilson Ramos went 2-5 with two RBI.  

Tuesday – New Britain 2, Connecticut 1 – Matt Fox continues to impress. He improved to 5-2 with a 2.81 ERA by allowing just one run over 6.2 innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out three. Jose Lugo got the next two outs. Anthony Slama got the final five outs, two via the strikeout, for his 11^th save. Brandon Roberts was 2-4. Danny Valencia and Wilson Ramos each had a double. Erik Lis hit his fourth home run.   

MIRACLE MEMOS

Monday – Ft. Myers 0, Brevard County 5 – Michael McCardell has been excellent of late, but he was outdueled in this one by Evan Anundsen who had pitched a no-hitter earlier in the season. McCardell went 4.2 innings and gave up four runs. He allowed seven hits but no walks. He left the game after being hit in the leg with a line drive. The offense managed just three hits.

Tuesday – Ft. Myers 0, Brevard County 5 – In this game, the offense managed just two hits, singles by Deibinson and Nick Romero. Ben Revere was 0-2, but he was hit by a pitch twice. Carlos Gutierrez got the loss in this game again. He gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings. Steve Hirschfeld gave up a run in his two innings. Spencer Steedley got two outs, but he gave up two unearned runs on a hit and three walks. Alex Burnett came in and got the final out on a strikeout.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Monday – Beloit – No Game Scheduled

Tuesday – Beloit, Peoria – Game was suspended in the 2^nd inning and will be resumed on Wednesday before the regularly scheduled game.   

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