Wednesday, September
1, 2010
Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced
Seven Twins Headed to AFL
On Tuesday afternoon, the Arizona Fall League rosters were announced. As
I’ve mentioned previously, each team sends seven players to the league. The
Twins prospects will play for the Peoria Saguaros this year, along with
prospects from the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the San Diego Padres
and the Tampa Bay Rays. So, who is heading to Arizona to represent the Twins?
The Pitchers
·
David
Bromberg – RHP – As I mentioned yesterday, Bromberg has very quietly put together
another very good year. He was the Twins Minor League pitcher of the year in
2009 after a very solid year with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He began 2010 by
making 17 starts at AA New Britain, and has been even better in his nine AAA
starts. Despite leading his league in strikeouts the previous three years,
Bromberg remains a greatly underappreciated prospect.
·
Carlos
Gutierrez – RHP – I would assume that Gutierrez will be pitching primarily out of
the bullpen. After making 16 starts for the Rockcats,
he moved into the bullpen and made 16 appearances. He has pitched better out of
the ‘pen and the assumption has always been that he and his 95+ mph sinking
fastball would play better in a relief role.
·
Tyler
Robertson – LHP – This one is a little surprising. It has been a tough AA Debut
for the tall, talented lefty. He has gone just 3-12 with the Rockcats (And also got a loss in his one spot start with
Rochester). Following a very good 2007 season, he was my #1 ranked Twins
prospect, but he was hurt some in 2008 and his numbers have not been the same
since. That said, he has a lot of talent, and a lot of
potential. As the team’s 3rd round pick in 2006, the Twins will need
to decide if they will protect him on their 40 man roster.
·
Kyle
Waldrop – RHP – It’s been a very good year for Waldrop, even with the struggles
the last six weeks. There had been talk of the Twins shutting down Waldrop, so
that is why I am a little surprised that he is going to Arizona. It will be a
good opportunity for Waldrop to continue to work out of the bullpen on that
sinking fastball that has helped him to a successful AAA debut season.
The Hitters
·
Joe
Benson – OF – The power portion of his five-tools definitely came into play in
2010. He has hit 20 homers with the Rockcats and
added four more during his short stint back in Ft. Myers. It’s definitely been
a tough second half for Benson in terms of batting average, but he continues to
have a high Isolated Discipline. He will be added to the 40 man roster after
the season, but he will likely return to New Britain in 2011. This Arizona
experience will help him gauge where he is at.
·
Chris
Parmelee – 1B – This one is surprising for me
only because he played for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League last year and in my
time following the Twins minor leagues, I haven’t seen a player go to the AFL
in back-to-back years. That said, since returning to the Rockcats
from Ft. Myers, Parmelee has been terrific. He’s hit
.321 with a .404 OBP since the All-Star break.
·
Ben
Revere – OF – Revere returned to the Twins lineup just three weeks after being
hit in the eye by a pitch. It has been great to see him get back in the lineup
and play well. Revere was likely headed to the AFL either way, but getting
these at bats at the end of the Rockcats season
probably eases some of the concern. Arizona will allow Revere to get more at
bats against top competition.
TWINS MINOR
LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Here is a look at the Tuesday night’s minor league scores and highlights:
·
The Twins didn’t play very well on Tuesday night,
but they won, and that’s all that matters at this point in the season. Right?
Matt Capps got tough in the 9th for the Save. Danny Valencia had
three hits and two of them doubles. But a 4-3 win is always a good thing.
Injuries are adding up way too quickly though, so hopefully recovery will
happen quick, particularly now for Orlando Hudson and Jason Kubel. But with September 1st here, Jose
Morales and Trevor Plouffe will be around
on Wednesday night as the first wave of September call-up. More to come.
·
Rochester
5, Pawtucket 6 – David Bromberg took the loss in this game after giving
up five runs on five hits (3 HR) and two walks in five innings. He struck out
four. Kyle Waldrop needed just 18 pitches to throw two shutout innings. Anthony
Slama needed 32 pitches to work through the
eighth inning during which he gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Brock
Peterson went 2-3 with a walk and his 19th home run. Brandon
Roberts was 2-4 with a walk and his fifth double. D’Angelo
Jimenez was 2-4 with his 12th double. Brendan Harris hit
his fourth home run.
·
New
Britain 6, Reading 5 – Chris Parmelee’s hot streak
continues. In this game, he went 3-4 with a walk and two doubles. Juan Portes was 3-4. Steve Singleton was also 3-4
including his 42nd double. Steve Hirschfeld
started and gave up four runs on eight hits (2 HR) in 4.1 innings. He walked
three and struck out two. Carlos Gutierrez gave up four hits in 2.2
shutout innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins pitched a perfect
inning. Billy Bullock recorded his 13th save but still gave
up a solo home run.
·
Ft.
Myers 4, Palm Beach 1 – Alex Wimmers start with the
Miracle has been terrific, and on this night, he was very good. In five
innings, he did not allow a hit or a run. He walked one and struck out six. Dan
Osterbrock and Kane Holbrooks
each pitched a hitless inning. In the 8th inning, Matt Schuld gave up a hit, and then gave up a run in the 9th.
Deibinson Romero went 4-4 in this game.
Allen de San Miguel hit his fifth home run, a three run blast that
provided the team more than enough offense for the win.
·
Beloit
5, Burlington 9 – Tom Stuifbergen
started and gave up five runs (4 earned) on eight hits in 6.2 innings. He
walked two and struck out eight. Eliecer
Cardenas gave up four runs (2 earned) on one hit and three walks and
recorded just two outs. Sam Spangler walked one but got two outs. Zach
See pitched a scoreless ninth inning. The Snappers scored their five runs
on just seven hits. Josmil Pinto hit
his 9th home run. Reggie Williams went 1-3 with two walks and
his seventh stolen base.
·
Elizabethton
9, Johnson City 3 – Andy Leer had a big game in this one. He went 3-5
with two doubles and a triple. Brian Burke and Danny Ortiz were
each 2-5 with a double. Oswaldo Arcia hit his 21st double. Preparing for the
playoffs, the E-Twins got a couple of innings for several pitchers. Pat Dean
started and threw two perfect innings, including three strikeouts. Logan Darnell
struck out two in two scoreless innings. Adam Achter
threw three shutout innings and struck out four. BJ Hermsen
struck out two in his shutout inning. Adrian Salcedo
gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits in the 9th. He struck
out two.
Any thoughts on the Twins or the Twins blogosphere? Feel free to leave
your questions and comments here.