Thursday

Well, the Twins got a solid performance from Boof Bonser, but were unable to do much of anything against Barry Zito, Kiko Calero or Huston Street and lost 4-0 to the A's late last night. It was nice though in that the pitchers worked quick and the game was done in just under two hours! I appreciate that with west coast games. The Twins will remain in Oakland for three more games with the A's this weekend. Johan Santana will pitch tonight, with Brad Radke tomorrow afternoon and Carlos Silva's return to the rotation will be on Sunday. Just a few notes today as my cable connection was lost at about 11:00 last night so I'm finishing up here on Friday morning.

Finally, I need to note that I will be the Blogger on the Blogger's Moment on the Twins Magazine Show before Saturday's Twins game. So, check that out on WCCO Radio is you have a chance.

THE LONG BALL

Boof Bonser was excellent last night and got no run support. Of course, his lone problem last night was a problem that he was known to have throughout his minor league career. He gave up four runs in seven innings, all coming on home runs. He gave up just five hits and and walked none. But the home run ball really came back to haunt him last night.

In 2002, playing at Hi-A San Jose, he gave up 9 homers in 128.1 innings. (0.63 per nine innings)

In 2002, playing at AA Shreveport, he gave up 15 homers in 24.1 innings. (5.8 per nine innings)

In 2003, at AA Norwich, he gave up 11 homers in 135 innings. (0.73 per nine innings)

In 2004, at AA New Britain, he gave up 22 homers in 154.1 innings. (1.3 per nine innings)

In 2005, at AAA Rochester, he gave up 22 homers in 160.1 innings. (1.2 per nine innings)

In 2006, at AAA Rochester, he gave up just two homers in 49.1 innings before being called up to the Twins. (0.36 per nine)

With the Twins, he has now given up four homers in 18 innings. (2.0 per nine innings) To be fair, if you were to take out last night's game, he had only allowed one homer in 11 innings.

Now, after pulling the numbers, I really don't know why Bonser was known as a guy who gave up a lot of home runs. If you take out the very short stint at AA Shreveport in 2002, the rest of his 'per nine' ratings are very solid.

See, this is a case where you need to actually look at the numbers before deciding to write a blog entry about something. That said, it was probably a good exercise. I think it shows that HR have really not been a problem for Bonser, so hopefully last night was a bit of an aberration. That said, I'll take five hits over seven innings from Bonser any day. Just hopefully three of them aren't homers.

However, HR Rate is a stat that should probably be looked at for all pitchers as they come into the league. Francisco Liriano has allowed one homer in 38.1 innings so far. Scott Baker had allowed ten homers in 49 innings of work. That equates to 1.8 per nine innings.

Of course, it never hurts to compare such numbers to the veterans, who have each been prone to the long ball as well this year. Johan Santana has allowed nine homers in 75.1 innings (1.1 per nine). Brad Radke has allowed 14 homers in 61.2 innings (2.0 per nine). Carlos Silva uncharacteristically allowed 15 homers in 53 innings (2.5 per nine).

THE PROMOTION

It was reported early yesterday that the Twins were sending Scott Baker back to Rochester, and that Shawn Wooten would be called up to the Twins. It was a move that made sense in some ways, but not in others.

First, clearly Ron Gardenhire makes it a point that he does not like having Joe Mauer DH when Mike Redmond is catching for fear of a Redmond injury. First, I don't think that is a big deal. I mean, should Redmond get hurt and Mauer have to catch the rest of the game, the pitcher would have to bat. It isn't as though the team wouldn't have pinch hitters. Secondly, a catcher could be called up and be ready the very next game.

Second, Wooten has the ability to catch, but he could also play both first and third base and pinch hit. So, it would not be at all comparable to the whole Corky Miller situation. Wooten is a long-time veteran who could help the Twins in a given role.

Third, I wondered if Wooten had a clause in his contract saying that if he was not brought up to the Twins by June 1st, he could become a free agent. I know that Peter Munro had a deal like that in 2004 and used it.

Fourth, if they were really just looking for a third catcher, and some insurance, why not call up Chris Heintz? At least he is on the 40 man roster and an additional move would not be necessary. There was talk that Ruben Sierra would be put on the 60 Day Disabled List to make room.

And, after all that thinking, we learned that Wooten was not the player coming up to the Twins. Terry Tiffee was recalled by the team to take Baker's spot on the roster. So, the team is now down to 11 pitchers on the staff, a number they probably wanted to be at all along. They don't have the catching insurance, but at least Tiffee was on the 40 man roster so they did not need to make another move. I just don't know what Tiffee will provide for the team. Will he just be a second switch-hitting pinch hitting option along with Luis Rodriguez? Will he battle Tony Batista for playing time at 3B?

BLOG SPOTTING

The Twins have so many excellent blogs to chronicle their season. Each is excellent in their own way, and today I would really like to recognize many of them. If I missed a couple, I apologize. Please let me know and I will be sure to add it here. As they pop up, I don't always notice right away.

Special thanks to the writers of Tripl3 Play blog who mentioned by Top 10 Twins prospects in their blog yesterday.

Are you in the group who believes that Ron Gardenhire is one of the best or worst managers in baseball. Aaron's Baseball Blog yesterday had a brief, but high quality, posting on just one of Gardy's many faults. His article is great, but I really enjoyed reading the comments he got which was quite thorough in detailing many of Gardy's faults.

Right now, I have to say that Stick & Ball Guy is just great. He has this blogging thing done well. I enjoy it because I have a problem reading long postings (I know, ironic, isn't it?), so SBG's brief but thoughtful postings are a welcomed relief!

Nick & Nick's Twins Blog is also one of the best, most consistent for great information out there.

I have been meaning to link to this new Twins blog for a few days now. It is called Twins Cards and discusses Twins baseball cards throughout the years. It is a very interesting site regardless of if you collect baseball cards or not.

Pat Neshek discussed life in the minor leagues, something that could change in the very near future when the Twins call him up to the big club, something that apparently has been highly speculated in the last month, not just here. He also discusses being named Rochester's pitcher of the month for May.

The BJ Hess Blog is now discussing the Gardenfire Watch.

What a great title for a new Twins blog, Thank you Brian Sabean. Brian Sabean is the GM of the San Francisco Giants, and the guy who sent Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano to the Twins for AJ Pierzynski. Yes, he still has a job. As a matter of fact, he is generally very well respected in the league. Anyway, check out the new site sometime. It really does focus primarily on those three players.

Will Young remains one of the best Twins bloggers, although he has not posted a new entry for some time. His work with the Win Probability charts is excellent!

Andy and Mike over at Twins Killings really do an excellent job of analyzing many aspects of Twins baseball.

Sun ap led Wood writes with a little bit of an edge. I also enjoyed his frame-by-frame pictures of Juan Castro's dropped pop up! That's fun!

Twins Geek is back and his site is now the Gameday Magazine site as well.

The author of The Good Life, Hannah, is a little bitter about not being Joe Mauer's girlfriend. The Love Calculator told her that she was a great match, certainly better than the woman rumored to be with Joe. I'm sure you want to see who that is, so check out her site.

The Twins Junkie continues to write good stuff almost daily. Impressive considering he also writes for Gophers Illustrated.

AMR's Blog talks mainly about the Twins but certainly is not afraid to venture into plenty of other areas.

Third Base Line takes a look at the Twins stats as a team for May and ranks them against the other AL teams and all of the major league teams. She has written some very good articles, and is another veteran of the Twins blogosphere.

I would be absolutely remiss if I didn't mention Jim Mandelaro's Extra Bases. He is the Rochester Red Wings writer for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and he has also taken the time to blog things that do not appear in his articles.

Those of you who have checked lately have probably noticed that Twinkie Town has been a lot more active in recent weeks. That is a good thing, to see a place where several writers can create a nice Twins fan community.

Another excellent Twins minor league blog is the Ft. Myers Miracle Ramblings.

Mauer and Liriano Deserve Man Love. I would never write that, but that is one of the headlines over at Ground Rule Triple for yesterday! There is more!

Another thing you won't see on this site is the title of the most recent article over at Twins Town, although the phrase probably does directly apply to the pitching of one Francisco Liriano.

I apologize if I missed any other Twins blogs. If I did, please let me know and I will be sure to add them. Also over the weekend, be sure to check out the other blogs on the left of my screen. There is just a lot of great stuff about baseball on the internet.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or opinions, please feel free to e-mail me, or leave some Comments down below. thanks!

SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Josh Rabe, Rochester Red Wings

SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Kevin Slowey, Ft. Myers Miracle

If you have any thoughts on the Twins system, please e-mail me.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday - Red Wings 6, Columbus 5 – Four seventh inning runs gave the Red Wings a big win. With none on and two outs in the inning, an error kept the inning alive. A couple of hits later, Josh Rabe drilled his third homer of the year, a three-run shot, to give the team the lead and the win. Rabe went 3-4 with his 13th double. He drove in five runs. Jason Bartlett went 2-4 with his 21st double. Gil Velazquez went 2-4 with his first double. Matt Ford got a rare start and gave up three runs on three hits and five walks in just 3.2 innings. Ricky Barrett gave up two runs over the next 2.1 innings. Beau Kemp got the win by pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Pat Neshek came on to record his 10th save of the year. He struck out four in two innings.

NEW BRITAIN NEWS

Thursday - Rockcats , Harrisburg – Rained Out.

FT MYERS MEMOS

Thursday - Miracle 0, Daytona 1 – The Miracle offense managed just five hits. Jeremy Pickrel had two of them, and his eighth stolen base. Of course, no run support means that it was Kevin Slowey who started for the Miracle. The righty went seven shutout innings. He gave up five hits. Of course, he walked none and struck out seven. Jose Mijares came in to pitch the 8th and gave up a run on two hits and a walk to take the loss. He falls to 1-5, and his ERA sits at 6.75.

BELOIT BITS

Tuesday -Snappers 5, Quad Cities 8 – The Snappers got plenty of hits and runs, but it wasn't enough to grab the win. Only Edward Ovalle had multiple hits. He went 2-5 with his 10th double and two RBI. Erik Lis drilled his eighth home run. Oswaldo Sosa got the start and went four innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits and a walk. He struck out five. Yohan Pino came in and gave up three unearned runs on no hits and a walk in one inning. Danny Vais gave up a run in 2.2 innings. David Shinskie went the final 1.1 innings and did not allow a run.

Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? I would love any input, or ideas to make it better. Thanks! E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.

And on that note, I will call it a day and a week. I certainly hope that you have found some things that were worth reading. Next week, I will be posting my May Grades for the Twins hitters and pitchers. I will also be naming my SethSpeaks Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Month. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.