Monday, July 10, 2006

Twins Thoughts

Roger's Minor League Players of the Week

Twins Minor League Report

Weekend Recap

Good morning everybody! For those that missed it, late on Friday night, I posted a new article chronicling the Major League Debut of Pat Neshek which remains at the  bottom of this page. Neshek came into the game with the Twins down 9-4 in the bottom of the 7th. He gave up a leadoff single to Kevin Mench, but he then proceeded to retire the next six batters in order, including a strikeout of Mark DeRosa. So, take a few minutes to read all about Neshek's debut.

 

Also, on Saturday morning, I listened to my interview on Friday's podcast of the Minnesota Twins Fan Network. I appear midway through Part 2 if you have a chance to listen to it. Joshua of Taylor's Twins Talk was also on the show to discuss the Twins system as well. He just recently started his blog on the Twins. I have checked it out and it is excellent, especially if you are interested in the Twins minor league system.

Next, I wanted to give a quick Chris Coste update. As we enter the All-Star break, Coste is hitting .311. After starting his big league career 0-14, he is now 14-45. In other words, since that start, he is 14-31 or .452! I was able to watch parts of the Phillies three game series against the Pirates thanks to mlb.tv. He was named the Phillies player of the game in both Saturday and Sunday's games. Saturday he went 2-3 with 3 RBI. If you watch ESPN or ESPN2, you saw his name and numbers on their Bottom Line. On Sunday afternoon, he went 2-5 with two more RBI. With Mike Lieberthal likely to come off of the Disabled List after the All-Star break, my assumption is that Carlos Ruiz would be sent back to Scranton/Wilkes Barre. When their backup catcher Sal Fasano comes off the DL, Coste would likely return to his utility role where he may get more at bats at 1B and maybe even 3B as well. There are also rumblings in the Phillies blogging community that Fasano could be released. We shall see!

 

MLB.com's Phillies beat writer Ken Mandel wrote a wonderful article on Coste with some really great quotes from him and Charlie Manuel about staing in the big leagues. Check it out!  

 

So, let's keep the intro short and sweet, and Have a Great Week! Please feel free to e-mail me or leave Comments below. 

 

TWINS THOUGHTS

Over the weekend, the Twins and Rangers finished out the season's first half with a three game series in Arlington. The Rangers won two out of the three games. Here are some thoughts from the series:

• On Friday night, the Twins lost 9-4 to the Rangers. Carlos Silva was lit up and didn't get out of the second inning before leaving the game with a knee injury. The extent of the injury is not known, but it does appear that Silva disappointed Rick Anderson with his lack of toughness. This situation could be interesting to follow.

• Willie Eyre came in to replace Silva with the bases loaded and two outs in the second and Mark Teixeira coming to bat. He gave up three straight hits and a 2-0 deficit was suddenly a 6-0 hole to work out of. In his last two outings, Eyre's ERA has jumped from 5.40 to 6.60, and that doesn't even account for the three inherited runners that he allowed to score. I have been saying for several weeks that I think that Eyre needs to be sent down to Rochester to get some innings. I think that when the team needs a 5th starter, Eyre will be sent down with Scott Baker coming back up to the Twins. 

• Obviously the highlight of the game was the big league debut of Pat Neshek. Again, my take on his debut can be found here, and Pat's take on his exciting couple of days can be found in a two-part series at On the Road with Pat Neshek.

• Another positive was that the big three left-handed bats for the Twins each hit a home run. Joe Mauer hit his 7th home run in the 5th. Jason Kubel hit his 7th home run in the 6th inning, and Justin Morneau unloaded for his 23rd home run of the year. Morneau's home run came off of lefty reliever Ron Mahay. It was his 7th home run this year against a lefty. Morneau went 2-3 Friday night and ended the game with a .301 batting average!

• Kyle Lohse came in and gave up just a run in 3.2 innings of work. As a starter this year, Lohse went 2-4 with an 8.92 ERA and a WHIP of 1.98 while opponents hit .339 against him. So far, in his eight games as a reliever, he is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. His WHIP is 1.29 and opponents are hitting just .266 against him. He has pitched well in six of his eight bullpen appearances, and really poorly in the other two. Maybe, just maybe, some GM will note that he is pitching much better out of the bullpen.

• On Saturday, it was again the Night of Francisco. Some seemed worried that Liriano might be disappointed in not making the All-Star game and have a rough outing. But no, Liriano had one of his best outings yet. Pitching in Texas is always difficult, but Liriano dominated the Rangers' hitters. In seven innings of work, he did not allow a run. He gave up just four hits. He walked three and struck out eight. He is now 10-1 with a 1.83 ERA. It is just remarkable to me how easy he makes it look. He throws his three incredible pitches with incredible ease. It almost appears effortless.

• Nick Punto has been doing a nice job of late. In his last five games, he is 9-22 (.409). On Saturday night, he was 3-4. However, he was twice thrown out by Gerald Laird trying to steal second. Laird has thrown out over 50% of would-be base stealers on the year. Why would you try to steal twice with Joe Mauer at the plate?

• Torii Hunter did hit his 14th home run. Although he is not on pace for 30 homers, he is on pace for 26 which would not be too bad either. Like so many Twins fans, we all just get a little tired of all of the first-pitch ground outs!

• Here is the Justin Morneau Update. With his 1-4 on Sunday, he extended his hitting streak to 16 games. In that time, he is hitting .441 (26-59) with six homers and 16 RBI. The streak started on June 22nd when he was hitting .266. On June 8th, Morneau was hitting .235. He has had hits in 27 of the 28 games since then during which time he is hitting .413 (45-109) with 12 homers and 35 RBI. He enters the All-Star break hitting an even .300.

• The numbers three and four hitters for the Twins had a rough weekend. Joe Mauer went just 1 for 12 while Michael Cuddyer was 3-12 but did not come through with runners in scoring position.

• Lew Ford has two hits in each of the last three games he has played in. Going 6-11 (545) has increased his average from .215 to .234. 

Any other thoughts on the Twins, the AL Central, the Rangers or anything else? E-mail me, or leave some Comments below.

 

ROGER'S MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Throughout the year, our friend "Roger" is keeping tabs of the Twins minor leaguers. This year, he is coming up with a minor league hitter and pitcher each week.  Feel free to comment! And don't forget to check out his weekly minor league update at Twinkie Town.

Player of the Week - David Winfree, Ft. Myers Miracle

David Winfree, who was the 2005 Minor League Player of the Year, was injured when hit by a pitch a few days into this season.  He was also rehabbing from off season arm surgery which led to a much publicized leave of absence. In his first week back with the Miracle, Winfree appears to have had no effect from his long absence.  While playing a combination of DH, first base and third base, Winfree was 7 for 24 with 2walks, a double, 3 home runs, 6 runs scored and 6 rbi.

2006        Ft. Myers               49ab        3hr          11rbi       .306Ave                 .358OBP .551SLG  

2005        Beloit                      562ab      16hr        101rbi     .294Ave                 .329OBP .452SLG

2004        Elizabethton          217ab      8hr          37rbi       .286Ave                 .349OBP .433SLG

2003        GCL Twins            172ab      1hr          15rbi       .238Ave                 .330OBP .302SLG

Pitcher of the Week - Ryan Mullins, Beloit Snappers

Ryan Mullins, was one of the stars of last year’s championship season for the Elizabethton Twins.  During this season, he has had outings that were disappointing and others that were good, however, none better than Wednesday when he pitched a complete game shutout in Beloit’s 4-0 win.  In his only start this week, Mullins pitched 9.0 shutout innings with 4 hits and 6K/1BB.

2006   Beloit                89.1ip      2W-3L    4.23era   1.32WHIP   74K/30BB

2005   Elizabethton    53.2ip      3W-0L    2.18era   0.88WHIP   60K/13BB

 

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

ELIZABETHTON UPDATE

Friday - E-Twins 1, Burlington 7 – The E-Twins managed just two hits in this game. Jeff Christy was 1-1 with two walks and his second double. Jose Castillo started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and three walks. Brandon McConnell gave up three runs on three hits in three innings.

Saturday - E-Twins 5, Bristol 1 (10) – Sean Land made a very impressive start. He went seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and two walks. He added nine strikeouts. Armando Gabino threw a perfect inning. Matt Williams gave up three runs over 1.2 innings on five hits. Matt Fox got his first Save as he came in to get the final out. Greg Yersich led the offense going 2-4 with a walk and his fifth double. The catcher also stole his first base. Jeff Christy went 2-5 with his third double. Josh Dean was 0-1 but walked three times. Garrett Olson was 1-3 with two walks and an RBI.

Sunday - E-Twins 5, Bristol 3  – Daniel Berg led the offense by going 3-4 with two doubles. William Luque was 2-3 with a walk. Steve Singleton was 2-3. Young Alex Burnett started and gave up just two runs over seven innings. He gave up six hits and did not walk a batter while striking out six. Aaron Craig got the blown save by giving up a run in an inning, but he also picked up the win as the E-Twins scored the following half inning. Danny Hernandez pitched a scoreless 9th for his third save.

GCL TWINS REPORT

Friday - GCL Twins – Rained Out.

Saturday - GCL Twins,GCL Red Sox – Rained Out.

Sunday - GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled.

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