Thursday, June
10, 2010
Notes from an
Insomniac
Radio Update – I will be on KFAN and KFAN.com with Paul Allen at 9:20 talking about the Twins. Then at 10:05,
I’ll be on The Jack Michaels Show
on am710 in Bismarck, ND.
I should be sleeping. I really should. But, American Pickers is on The
History Channel (yes, again). And I just can’t not watch it!
After work on Wednesday, I met my sister and we went to the Twins game. Decked
out in our Twins gear, we watched the game from the third deck, front row, and
again, they were solid seats. I decided
to get something different, for me, to eat before the game started. So, I
ordered up the Walleye Fingers and fries. It was actually not too bad, but
rather filling. So, later in the game, I went back to the Nachos Grande. I was
careful to only take bites when there was game action so that the FSN cameras
would not catch me eating the nachos again. Live and learn. But aside from the
food, it was a great night for outdoor baseball. When I got home, I had to
spend time cleaning. I’m sorry ya’ll, it had to be done. But I don’t want to
leave people hanging, so here are a few thoughts and links for the day:
·
On Wednesday, the final twenty rounds of baseball’s
draft were completed. So, what did the Twins do with their 50 draft choices?
Here is the breakdown along with my quick thoughts:
o 30 pitchers
§ 19 Right-handed
pitchers, 11 Left-handed pitchers
§ 3 High School
pitchers, 6 junior college pitchers, 21 four-year college pitchers.
o 7 middle
infielders
§ 4 high school, 1
JC, 2 four-year college
o 6 outfielders
§ 3 high school, 1
JC, 2 four-year college
o 4 corner
infielders
o 3 catchers
o I actually
really like the Day 3 strategy of the Twins. They took a bunch of college
pitchers, several of them were college seniors. I thought it was a good
strategy on several counts. First, the cliché “you never have enough pitching”
is very true. Second, the Twins minor league system has had several injuries to
good young pitching prospects including Matt Bashore,
Ben Tootle, Bruce Pugh, Tom Stuifbergen, Brad Tippett and Bobby Lanigan. Those
injuries have forced some really good prospects to be pushed beyond where they
probably should be. Guys like Adrian Salcedo, BJ Hermsen, Michael Tonkin and Andrei Lobanov
are pitching fairly well, but likely were going to start their season in
Elizabethton. Simply put, the Twins need lots of pitchers to fill rosters.
o The Twins took
several outfielders and middle infielders. There are the athletes that can play
those positions, but because they are athletes, they are more able to switch
positions too as needed. More than half of them are high school players.
o I think the
summary of the Twins 2010 draft is simply that the Twins stood by their basic
draft principles. They took the best player available on their board early.
That meant college pitchers and high school hitters, for the most part. So,
despite the run on college pitchers in the late rounds, the Twins remained
consistent in their draft philosophy.
o And the final
thing to remember about any draft… it can’t be judged for at least eight to ten
years. Someone like Alex Wimmers could be with the
Twins in about two years. Someone like Niko Goodrum likely would not arrive in Minnesota for the next
six years. If three or four of these fifty draft picks
simply make the big leagues, that’s pretty impressive. If one of the players becomes
an All-Star, that’s tremendous.
·
The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2.
o Carl Pavano was excellent. He gave up two runs in the 3rd
inning, but that was it as he made it through eight innings. In Pavano’s last nine starts, he has gone at least seven
innings in eight of them. He has given up two runs in six of those nine starts.
o Jon Rauch
pitched a scoreless ninth inning. In his last six appearances, he is 5/5 in
save opportunities and has only given up one run. Of course, he has given up at
least one hit in each of those games.
o Delmon Young gave the Twins an early 1-0 lead when he launched his sixth home
run of the year. He is hitting .275 with six homers and 34 RBI already this
season. He also has 13 walks this year after posting just 12 all of 2009. Sure,
his Isolated Discipline is still just .041 this year, but it was just .024 last
year. Beyond the walks, he just appears to be a new hitter.
o Joe Mauer had a double to go with another single. The double
scored Denard Span all the way from 1B.
o Danny Valencia
went 1-4 with a solid single to left field. He is now 7-22 (.318) through six
games. But more impressive has been his defense. It’s early, but so far in his
young career, I have been very impressed with his defense.
o Tonight, it will
be Scott Baker for the Twins against the Royals’ Bruce Chen at 7:10 as the Twins
try to sweep a home series before beginning a wave of interleague play.
·
The Rochester Red Wings lost 8-0 to the Columbus
Clippers.
o Ryan Mullins
started and gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits and a walk. Jose Lugo
gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out five.
o The Red Wings
managed just four hits.
o But Matt LaPorta, who was demoted by Cleveland just days ago, went
4-4 with three home runs.
·
The New Britain Rockcats
lost 2-1 to Richmond.
o Deolis Guerra made his first start with the Rockcats
since returning from AAA Rochester. He gave up the two runs, but both were
unearned. He allowed three hits, walked four and struck out three. He fell to
1-2 and reduced his ERA to 2.41.
o Brandon Roberts
went 3-4 with his third double.
o I posted an
update yesterday, but I wanted to mention again that Ben Revere will likely
miss the next week. On Tuesday night, he was hit just above the eye by a ball
and although the CT scan was negative, it is quite swollen. He was hit by a
ball that was thrown by a middle infielder on a double play attempt.
·
The Ft. Myers Miracle beat Bradenton 3-2
o The Miracle had
just six hits.
o Shooter Hunt made
the start and gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked three and
struck out five.
o Jose Gonzalez
gets the win after two shutout innings. Billy Bullock recorded the save with a perfect
ninth.
·
The Beloit Snappers beat Dayton 8-4.
o Angel Morales
went 2-3 with two walks, his 11th double and his fourth home run.
o James Beresford
went 2-4 with a walk, his second triple and his seventh stolen base.
o Mike Gonzales
went 2-4 with his third double.
o Wang-Wei Lin
went 2-5.
o Danny Rams
started at catcher, but he was hit in the arm during his first plate appearance
and had to leave the game. Tobias Streich was sick
and unavailable. So Josmil Pinto, who began the game
as the DH, had to enter the game as the catcher, and the DH was lost.
o That meant that
starter Miguel Munoz had to hit for himself. He fared well, going 1-2 before
being pinch hit for. Munoz went the first six innings and gave up four runs on
seven hits. He walked one and struck out three.
o Eliecer Cardenas went two innings and did not allow a run
despite allowing two hits and walking one. Matt Tone threw a scoreless ninth
inning.
·
Beloit Trip – Travis Aune
and I will be in Beloit for the games on Friday night and Saturday night, so
stop by and say hi.
What
else is going on in the world of baseball? Feel
free
to post your comments and questions in the Comments section.