Sunday, May 9,
2010
Minor Updates
First things first… happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there,
especially my mom.
On Saturday, the Twins and Orioles played a day-night double header. I’m
sure most of you watched both games, so I won’t dive into the big league game
too much. In Game 1, Francisco Liriano struggled and yet, he didn’t give up many
hard-hit balls. Most of the hits off of them were just out of someone’s reach
or blooped beyond the reach of a fielder. One even
hit third base and bounced away from Nick
Punto. Liriano’s
numbers didn’t look great, but he probably pitched better than the numbers say.
Scott Baker’s numbers for game 2
look great, and they were that great. In fact, he made just one mistake, and
Luke Scott hit the ball a long way. But other than that, Scott Baker was terrific.
·
It was a positive to see Joe Mauer
get an at bat as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 8th in the
night game. With a three run lead already, the move was quite risky to have him
pinch hit for Alexi Casilla. The fact that Mauer hit tells me that they must have felt comfortable
with him running as well. I guess they could have had a pitcher pinch-run for
him.
·
How cool was it that Joe
Mauer came up with the bases loaded and one out,
and he struck out. Then came Drew Butera to the plate, and he came
through with a two run single. That’s what I love about baseball. You just don’t
know what’s going to happen. And, that’s why I generally don’t get too upset
with most individual situational decisions.
·
After a groundout in Game 1, Wilson Ramos was 1-13 since starting out with seven hits in his
first nine at bats. 1-13 was the batting average of Butera
on the season. That said, which watching today, it became clear that the
defense of Drew Butera
really is much better than Wilson Ramos.
Ramos has a strong arm, but Butera is much better at
keeping baseballs in front of him. Butera calls a
better game. These are not meant as knocks to Ramos who I think will be better
than average as a defensive catcher, just that right now, Butera
is better.
·
On Sunday afternoon, the Twins will face my choice for AL
Rookie of the Year, Brian Matusz.
SethSpeaks Friday Minor League
Hitter of the Day – James Beresford
– Beloit Snappers
SethSpeaks Friday Minor League
Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Robertson
– New Britain Rockcats
SethSpeaks Saturday Minor League
Hitter of the Day – Steve Singleton
– New Britain Rockcats
SethSpeaks Saturday Minor League
Pitcher of the Day – Deolis Guerra – New Britain Rockcats
·
Check out DW’s Top 25 Twins
Prospects update.
·
Be sure to read Roger’s
Weekly Minor League report at Twinkie Town.
·
Nick Nelson updates us on how his Top 10 Twins Prospects are faring.
·
There are Nick Punto and Brendan
Harris. We’ve seen Luke Hughes and anticipate Danny Valencia. But Little
Big League asks if there is another player that Twins fans might want
to consider as a possible future 3B too.
·
Yes, Aaron Hicks
was taken out of the Beloit game after three plate appearances and being caught
stealing. However, he is just sore and will most likely be back in the lineup
on Sunday.
Red Wings Report
Friday – Rochester 3, Louisville 16 – Yoslan Herrera was the veteran starter
who got the nod in this game. He gave up five runs on five hits. He walked two
and struck out one in just two innings. Tim
Lahey came
in and gave up four runs (3 earned) on two hits and two walks in just one inning.
Jose Mijares
made his first rehab appearance and he gave up three runs on four hits (1 home
run) in just one inning. Jose Lugo
gave up four runs on three hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. Rob Delaney gave up just one hit and
got five outs. Anthony Slama pitched a perfect inning, with one strikeout. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with his
sixth double. Dustin Martin went
2-4.
Saturday – Rochester 5, Louisville 16 – Charlie Zink was brought in to be a veteran, able to pitch a lot
of innings because of his knuckleball. Well, he has been really horrific. He
has zero control of his knuckleball and the walks have piled up. Because of
that, he has not been able to pitch many innings. In this game, he gave up ten
runs on five hits and seven walks in just two innings. For the second straight
day, Tim Lahey
came in early, and for the second straight day, didn’t help at all. He gave up
six runs (5 earned) on eight hits in just two innings. Kyle Waldrop went two shutout innings. Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama
had to pitch in unfortunate situations for the second straight game, but
pitched scoreless innings. Matt Tolbert
was 2-4 with his sixth double. Danny
Valencia was 1-3 with a walk, his ninth double and two RBI. Trevor Plouffe
added his eighth double.
New Britain Notes
Friday – New Britain 2, Portland 4 – Tyler Robertson put together a really nice start. In 6.1 innings,
he gave up just one run. He served up seven hits, walked three and struck out
five. Santos Arias came in and
pitched scoreless innings in the 7th and 8th frames, but
then he gave up three runs in the ninth to blow the save and suffer his fifth
loss. Chris Province came in and got
the final out. Ben Revere went 2-4 with his third double
and two stolen bases. Steve Singleton
went 2-4. Danny Rams caught and hit
fifth. He went 1-4 with a double.
Saturday – New Britain 3, Portland
4 – Welcome
to New Britain, Matt Williams. The Australian relief pitcher was promoted from
Ft. Myers to replace Steve Hirschfeld who was put back on the disabled list. But
let’s start with the good news. Deolis Guerra
made the start and had another great start. In 6.1 innings, he gave up only an
unearned run. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four. Joe Testa got
the next four outs, two of them via the strikeout. Williams came in and gave up
three runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings for the loss. Steve Singleton went 3-5. Alexander Soto hit his second double.
Miracle Matters
Friday – Ft. Myers 2, St. Lucie 6 – After being named the
Midwest League Pitcher of the Year the past two weeks and throwing a no-hitter
in his last start for Beloit, Dan Osterbrock made his first Florida State League start on
Friday night. The lefty gave up five runs, but just two of them were earned. He
allowed six hits. He walked none and struck out six. Michael Allen gave up one run on four hits and a walk in the final
three innings. Yangervis Solarte went
4-4 and ended the game with a .341 batting average.
Saturday – Ft. Myers 2, St. Lucie 3 – Bruce Pugh had another good start
for the Miracle. He gave up two runs on three hits in five innings. He walked
three and struck out nine. Blake Martin
gave up a run on two hits in two innings. Billy
Bullock struck out two in two scoreless innings of relief. The Miracle bats
managed just three hits in this game. Nate
Hanson drove in two runs with his second home run of the season.
Snappers Snippets
Friday – Beloit 4, Burlington 9 – James Beresford seems to have turned around his slow start. In this
game, he went 4-4 with his third double. Anderson Hidalgo matched Beresford’s
total bases by going 3-5 with two doubles. So did Steve Liddle, who was 2-5 with his fourth
home run. Brian Dozier was 2-4 with
a walk while Aaron Hicks went 2-5.
The Snappers bats showed up, but it wasn’t enough. Miguel Munoz gave up five runs on seven hits and four walks in four
innings. He struck out six. Matt Tone
went the next 1.2 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. Dakota Watts worked one inning. He
walked three but struck out two in a scoreless inning. Steve Blevins went the final two innings. He gave up a run on two
hits and a walk.
Saturday – Beloit 5, Burlington 1 – Brad Stillings had by far his best start
of the year to record his first win. He gave up just one run on seven hits in
six innings. He walked two and struck out five. Kane Holbrooks came in and gave up just
two hits in three shutout innings. He struck out five. Tobias Streich went 2-4 with his fourth
double and two RBI. James Beresford
went 2-4 with his fourth double and two RBI.
Any questions? Leave your
comments here.