Twins Daily Forums - Blogs http://twinsdaily.com/blog.php The top destination on the web for Twins conversation. en Fri, 18 May 2012 22:00:07 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.twinsdaily.com/images/misc/rss.jpg Twins Daily Forums - Blogs http://twinsdaily.com/blog.php Twins Take of the Week for Week 5 - Transactions - Danny Valencia or ValenSeeYa? http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1073-Twins-Take-of-the-Week-for-Week-5-Transactions-Danny-Valencia-or-ValenSeeYa Fri, 18 May 2012 21:30:21 GMT Image:...

Keith Allison via Compfight

Danny Valencia was the victim of change due to losing games! or was he? It's hard to call Danny a victim when he has a .190 batting average (AVG), a .204 on-base percentage (OBP) and a slugging percentage of .290 (SLG), even if Drew Butera thinks those numbers are pretty good.* Those are numbers that are screaming THIS ISN'T WORKING so the Minnesota Twins optioned Danny Valencia down to Triple-A Rochester on Thursday, May 10th. He needs to go down there, get to work and get some confidence back into his game.

*Haha, sorry Drew! My first thought was to go with Junior Ortiz for that, then Tim Laudner but I decided to go with a current Twin so everyone would know who it was. How 'bout Brendan Harris or Matt Tolbert or maybe Alexi Casilla so I can match up the ValenSeeYa with the CaSeeYa? ValenSeeYa is supposed to be a good thing like when Danny hits a home run or gets a clutch hit not when he's sent down to the minors!

Danny has gone through some struggles on his way to the Major Leagues but I doubt he's gone through anything like this where he's struggled for so long. He had a tremendous 2010 season for the Minnesota Twins to the point where it's hard to find an area he didn't do well in, at least with the bat. He only had half a season in the majors but he seemed to adapt to the major leagues quickly. Did his success make him relax in the off-seasons or was it teams learning how to pitch him?

In 2011, Danny Valencia was hitting basically the same way he was in 2010 but getting different results and less hits. He started to struggle against right-handed pitchers. That will tend to happen after teams get some film on young players. That's probably not close to the whole reason Danny struggled in 2011. I'm far from an expert in analyzing swings. I'll leave that to the scouting types.*

*I do find it fascinating how a batter's swing can be divided into so many parts and then adjusted or fixed to speed up or slow down a swing for various situations. Think of what that takes to do and do it in a timely manner to fix your swing from day to day or even week to week. The discipline to first admit there's something wrong, even if you can see it on video, then know what to do (or try) to fix it and, most of all, to change a part of your swing and get to the point where it becomes natural to you again. I'm not sure most fans realize how much this happens. Another thing that's amazing is that these players obviously had success before they changed a part of their swing so it was working and it just shows that baseball is a game with adjustments going on all the time and that's why I love the game!

So Danny's hitting struggles go back to 2011 and have not really ended and have actually gotten worse. At least in 2011 he was still getting some walks where as in 2012, he has 2 walks and 23 strikeouts in 27 games and 100 at-bats. That tells me that he's trying to swing his way out of his slump which usually means swinging at more bad pitches. The opposing teams and pitchers know he's struggling so they'll try to take advantage of that by not giving him much to hit and seeing if he'll bite on the breaking balls and off-speed stuff and throwing more outside pitches as well.

The trouble with being in a slump is most players try to swing their way out of it, swinging at more pitches and at more pitches out of the strike zone but contacting on less of those pitches. Look at Danny's plate discipline stats and it's easy to see what I'm talking about. His swing percentage on pitches out of the strike zone has gone from 24.9 % in 2010 to 30.9% in 2011 and a whopping 40.1% so far this season while his swing percentage on pitches in the strike zone has gone down (60.3 to 57.8 to 50.5.) Not surprisingly, his contact percentage has gone down as well (82.9 to 79.8 to 74.6.) He's getting down in the count early which is getting him into pitcher's counts and he's swinging at the junk they are throwing out of the zone which, of course, is harder to hit. Danny is 0-for-May and he's struggling big time. The Minnesota Twins could've tried sitting him down for a couple games but they obviously didn't want to go in that direction. Hopefully Danny is able to correct this in the minors because we've seen that he's capable of being a pretty good hitter.

Defensively, Danny has kind of been on the questionable side so when he performed so well in his initial call-up, it took most people by surprise. His defense went from above average to really bad. Was it playing more games and the small sample size fooling us? Ron Gardenhire started to show frustration with Danny's approach at the hot corner and hinted that the team's future at 3rd base might be in question. Danny worked on his defense in the off-season and has looked a lot better but he still has his deficiencies.

The bad thing about sending Danny Valencia to the minors is the Minnesota Twins don't really have another 3rd baseman on the roster. They have some guys they can put over there, like Jamey Carroll, Trevor Plouffe, or Alexi Casilla, but they have never really played 3rd base full-time. This should allow the Twins to get Trevor Plouffe more playing time to see if he is worth keeping or if they eventually have to make a move with him as well.* This points to the problems of the Twins depth in the minors at 3rd base and infielders as a whole.

*Plouffe is hitting a whopping .145/.280/.585 although in the last two games he is 2-9 with 2 home runs, 3 RBIs and 4 strikeouts so we may have witnessed a slump...BUSTED! Trevor is out of options so he would have to clear waivers to be sent to triple-A. I would prefer they keep Plouffe in the outfield as he's shown that he might not have the skills to play infield in the Majors. He seems to be on a Michael Cuddyer path where the Twins are trying to find a place for him and it might end up being right field because his glove isn't good enough in the infield. He could probably fill in at 1st base here and there but that's about it.

The bottom line is if players aren't performing and they still have options left to be sent down to the minors, at some point they need to play better or someone else needs to be given a chance in The Show! That's what has to happen when you have a losing team.

Other Minnesota Twinsactions
5/7 - 1B Justin Morneau placed on 15-Day disabled list (retroactive to May 1, 2012) with sore right wrist
5/7 - SS Brian Dozier recalled from AAA Rochester Red Wings
5/7 - RHP Liam Hendricks optioned to AAA Rochester Red Wings
5/7 - LHP Scott Diamond recalled from AAA Rochester Red Wings
5/9 - signed free agent DH Shawn Roof
5/10 - LHP Matt Maloney designated for assignment
5/10 - RHP P.J. Walters recalled from AAA Rochester Red Wings
5/10 - 3B Danny Valencia optioned to AAA Rochester Red Wings
5/10 - LF Darin Mastroianni recalled from AAA Rochester Red Wings
  • SS Brian Dozier is the big name on this list. He’s moved through the organization quickly and made a bid to make the team out of spring training. Don’t expect him to be the savior or anything like that but it’s always exciting to see how a prospect does in his debut. It’s fun to see the firsts of a player’s major league career (hit, rbi, home run, etc...). He should be pretty good defensively and alright with the bat.
  • LHP Scott Diamond was up with the Twins at the end of last season for 7 starts (a spot start in July and a regular rotation spot in late August) going 1-5 (W-L). He got his 1st Major League win in a 7-6 win in Chicago against the White Sox. He ended up with a 5.08 ERA & 1.744 WHIP (Walks + Hits per Innings Pitched) with 17 walks and 19 strikeouts in 39 innings. Not great but he got a taste of what it’s like in The Show and had a couple good starts.
    • He’s been great so far this season no matter where he’s pitched. In triple-A Rochester, he was 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA, 1.212 WHIP with only 7 walks and 26 strikeouts in 34.2 innings. He’s been spectacular with the Twins. In his 2 starts, he’s 2-0, has yet to give up a run (0.00 ERA), has a WHIP of 0.714 and has only 1 walk and 10 strikeouts in 14 innings. Can he keep this going?
  • RHP P.J. Walters was signed as a free agent in December. He was part of the Colby Rasmus trade from St. Louis to Toronto for Edwin Jackson. He’s been up and down between AAA and the majors since 2009 getting some starts and some time in the bullpen.
  • LF Darin Mastroianni was claimed off waivers from Toronto in the off-season. He’s got a lot of speed, good plate discipline, a decent bat although very little power and he’s good defensively in the outfield. He can play 2B as well although I doubt he’d be put there much for Twins but nice to have that option if you need it.

Alright, those are my TwinsTakes. What are your TwinsTakes? Are the Minnesota Twins doing the right things with their roster? When will we see Danny Valencia back up with the Twins?

Tell us what you think in the comments!

Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook and subscribe to our feed!

GO TWINS!!! ]]> TwinsTakes-RD http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1073-Twins-Take-of-the-Week-for-Week-5-Transactions-Danny-Valencia-or-ValenSeeYa Profiles of the Top 22 Pitchers for the 2012 MLB Draft: Lucas Giolito http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1072-Profiles-of-the-Top-22-Pitchers-for-the-2012-MLB-Draft-Lucas-Giolito Fri, 18 May 2012 14:48:53 GMT Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch (http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2012/05/profiles-of-top-22-pitchers-for-2012_18.html)----... Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft.


I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos.


Profile 9: Lucas Giolito


Profile/Stats:


Lucas Giolito is a senior at Harvard-Westlake High School in Encino, CA, like another top High School pitching prospect, Max Fried. Both Fried and Giolito have committed to play for the same College, UCLA. He is listed at 6'6" and 220 lbs. He was born on July 14, 1994. He throws right handed. He was shut down for most of 2012 with a strained UCL.


Mini Scouting Report:


His fastball is a plus plus pitch. It sits at 94-95 and occasionally jumps to 99-100 mph. It has good downward movement and he has very good control of it; however the command (especially on the lower part of the zone is developing). His curve ball is above average and potentially can be a plus pitch at 81-82 mph. He is working on his change up which is a work in progress. His delivery is somewhat slow and deliberate. Would need work to improve his time from wind up to the plate.


Videos/Photos:

Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Lucas Giolito pitching


]]> thrylos98 http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1072-Profiles-of-the-Top-22-Pitchers-for-the-2012-MLB-Draft-Lucas-Giolito Thursday Night Lights http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1071-Thursday-Night-Lights Fri, 18 May 2012 13:02:28 GMT Drew Butera is hitting .350 and the Twins just swept the Tigers!! All is good in Twins Territory now, right? Well, maybe not, but there are starting... Drew Butera is hitting .350 and the Twins just swept the Tigers!! All is good in Twins Territory now, right? Well, maybe not, but there are starting to be some signs of positive. Justin Morneau went opposite field for a home run, one of his two hits. Trevor Plouffe homered for the second straight game. Brian Dozier is inching up on .300. PJ Walters was terrific through four scoreless innings, but between the fifth and sixth innings, he gave up three solo home runs to cut the Twins lead to 4-3. But Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Matt Capps got the final eight outs to secure back-to-back wins!

Listen to Thursday’s Twins Minor League Weekly. Tim Shibuya (RHP Beloit Snappers) was a guest of the show and that was followed by answering your Twitter questions.

Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday:

ROCHESTER 2, LOUISVILLE 4 (11 innings)

Not much offense for the Red Wings in this game. Danny Valencia had two hits including his first home run. He drove in both of the team’s runs. Chris Parmelee made his Red Wings debut. He was 0-2, but he walked three times.

Daryl Thompson started and gave up two runs on six hits. In five innings pitched, he walked two and struck out six. Deolis Guerra worked three perfect innings. Anthony Slama gave up two hits and a walk, but struck out three, in 1.1 scoreless innings. Tyler Robertson issued a walk and got one out. Casey Fien ends up with the loss. He got out of the tenth, but gave up two runs in the 11th inning.

NEW BRITAIN 1, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3

David Bromberg’s 20 inning consecutive scoreless innings streak came to an end in this game. The right-hander has been pitching very well of late. In this game, he went a season-long 6.2 innings. He gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo got the next four ours. Brad Thompson made his Twins organization debut, working a scoreless inning and striking out two batters in his return from Tommy John surgery a year ago.

Joe Benson was in the lead-off spot and went 2-3 with a walk and the lone RBI. Estarlin de Los Santos had a single and a walk.

FT. MYERS 4, BREVARD COUNTY 5 (10 innings)

Marty Popham got the start and gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes was perfect through two innings. Bruce Pugh was perfect for 1.2 innings, but he then gave up three straight hits and a run in the 10th to take the loss.

Oswaldo Arcia went 3-5 with his ninth double. Danny Ortiz hit his first FSL double.

Twins Daily learned on Thursday that RHP Adrian Salcedo is going to have (or has had) an MRI on his elbow. Hopefully we get good news on this situation.

BELOIT 7, QUAD CITIES 3

Matt Summers continues to pitch well. He improved to 4-2 with six solid innings on Thursday. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Corey Williams gave up a run (solo home run) on three hits in two innings. AJ Achter pitched a scoreless ninth frame.

Jhonathan Goncalves went 3-4 with his first home run. Matt Koch went 3-4 with his seventh double and his second home run (in back-to-back games). Kyle Knudson was 2-4. Adam Bryant was 2-4 with his fifth double. Wang-Wei Lin got the Snappers on the scoreboard with his first home run of the season.

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Players of the Day for Thursday, May 17, 2012


Pitcher of the Day – Deolis Guerra
Click image for larger version Name: deolisguerra2.jpg Views: 2 Size: 38.0 KB ID: 984

Hitter of the Day – Matt Koch
Click image for larger version Name: MattKoch.jpg Views: 2 Size: 27.7 KB ID: 985

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A Look Ahead – Friday, May 18, 2012 Schedule

Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Liam Hendriks
New Britain @ Reading – RHP BJ Hermsen
Ft. Myers @ Brevard County – LHP Pat Dean
Beloit vs Quad Cities – LHP Matt Tomshaw

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If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! ]]> Seth Stohs http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1071-Thursday-Night-Lights Strange Goings On In New Britain, Connecticut http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1070-Strange-Goings-On-In-New-Britain-Connecticut Fri, 18 May 2012 12:22:01 GMT
Is 2012 the last season that the Twins organization will
call New Britain the home for their AA team?
[Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar]

Something is amiss.

Something doesn't feel quite right to this blogger.


Take a look at this link. The Rock Cats, who play host to the Mets' AA affiliate, the Binghamton Mets, next Monday through Thursday, are doing a "meet and greet" at New Britain Stadium with the Mets prospects before the start of Monday's game. That's right, with Mets players.


I've never seen anything quite like this before. There could be at least a few normal explanations, and I'll go through a couple. First, it's a spring weeknight game, and the team (from what I have seen), although drawing well, has not been selling out during the week nights early in the season. Minor league teams are known for creative promotions, and this is just another creative promotion. Second, and somewhat related, Connecticut residents are (in order of popularity) Yankees, Red Sox and Mets fans. It stands to reason that many people living in central Connecticut who are Mets fans might love the opportunity to meet some AA prospects without having to drive to Binghamton, New York -- a 4 hour drive from central Connecticut -- to do so. In other words, it's just catering to something that many Connecticut fans might desire. Maybe they would be wise to schedule a similar promotion when the Red Sox affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs, next comes to town?


But, underlying these superficially satisfying explanations are a couple factors that intrigue me. First, in the few years that I have been attending Rock Cats games, I have never before seen a similar event done for a visiting team. Admittedly, I could be wrong about this, but I don't recall ever hearing about a promotion where fans could meet members of a visiting team, such as the Red Sox or Yankees affiliates. I understand that rivalries aren't the same in minor league baseball as they are in the major leagues, but still -- can you imagine the Twins arranging for fans to have meet and greet with White Sox players when they come to Target Field? Or, maybe a more appropriate example: Does Minnesota native Jack Hannahan work officially in conjunction with the Twins to meet some fans when he comes to town with the Indians? My guess -- and it's strictly a guess -- is no.


Second, and more importantly, here is what is possibly happening behind the scenes: It's no secret that there is going to be some AA organization shuffling taking place this offseason. Specifically, the Binghamton Mets are done with their affiliation after this season. The article I just linked to surmises that the Mets would move to New Britain, the Twins would move to New Hampshire, and the Blue Jays (currently in New Hampshire) would move to Ottawa, as an ownership group is purchasing a AA team and moving it there.


From a business standpoint, I can understand why it might be attractive to New Britain ownership to align with whatever local professional team -- the Yankees, Mets or Red Sox -- that had a farm club available. As it is, those 3 teams receive all the media attention in Connecticut, and they all have loyal followings, like the Twins do in Minnesota. The difference is that the Twins prospects -- after they get called up to Target Field -- are relatively forgotten by most in Connecticut (except for Rock Cats fans, of course).


Simply stated, there's no "Twins brand" in Connecticut, outside of what the Rock Cats have done a great job of cultivating on their own (on that note, and in fairness, I need to mention that many of the Rock Cats fans -- primarily season ticket holders -- I have gotten to know this year, are devout Twins fans, who probably know more about the organization than I do; their numbers just aren't as strong as the number of Yankees, Red Sox and Mets fans around me).


At the same time, though, if this speculation is correct, I can't wonder if the Rock Cats would be alienating some of their fan base by aligning with one of the three local professional baseball teams. Since I have lived out here, I don't think I've met one person that told me that they hate the Twins. Sure, some are simply not fans, but far more appreciate the team on at least some level, whether it's an association with Kirby Puckett or Joe Mauer, or the fact that the Twins used to be "the little engine that could." I emailed with a local reporter a few months ago when the Rock Cats' new ownership agreement was announced, inquiring whether he believed that the sale of the team increased the odds of the Rock Cats realigning. His response was a qualified "no," for precisely the reason that I just stated: the previous ownership had believed that, if they aligned with one of the Yankees, Red Sox or Mets, they would lose some who are fans of the other two teams (i.e., a Red Sox fan is not going to pay to watch Yankees prospects if the Rock Cats became a Yankees farm team); if, however, the Rock Cats remained aligned with a club whose major league team was not local, they could develop their own fan base (which they did), while still attracting fans of all three local pro teams (which they do).


In the end, I don't know exactly what's happening, and it's none of my business. The Rock Cats have been very good to me as far as being accessible and helping me provide some fan coverage (more on that to come hopefully next week), and I don't intend to make a mountain out of a molehill. It's just a very interesting promotion, and the timing -- going into the last 3 months of the Rock Cats' contract with the Twins -- is curious. The Twins fan in me, and of course the blogger in me, wants this business relationship to continue, and to prosper, but I ultimately will not be shocked if this new ownership group has plans to align with the Mets. Will I still be a fan of minor league baseball in New Britain? Of course. Will it be the same for me? Of course not. Perhaps this promotion will test the proverbial waters to gauge the extent of Connecticut fan interest in the Mets prospects? ]]> Twins Fan From Afar http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1070-Strange-Goings-On-In-New-Britain-Connecticut Friday Links-N-Thinks http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1069-Friday-Links-N-Thinks Fri, 18 May 2012 11:46:30 GMT Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wait for it...

Are you ready, yet?

Don't adjust your monitor but the Twins just swept a two game series in Detroit. That's not a typo either.

Over the course of the two games, the Tigers were a little error prone with six mistakes and the Twins were able to capitalize for five unearned runs. It has been great to see Trevor Plouffe find some semblance of power with two home runs in recent games. Maybe his new bald head is doing him some good. Justin Morneau and Ben Revere are back with the Twins and each of them has returned to their old ways with Morneau hitting a home run and Revere stealing a base.

The Twins head to Milwaukee for the weekend and their first interleague series of the year. I am on the fence about whether or not interleague play should still be part of baseball but it seems like it is here to stay for the time being. It is always intertaining to watch the American League pitchers attempt to bat. From the sound of it, Jason Marquis could be the Twins diamond in the rough when it comes to pitchers at the plate.

Enjoy this collection of links from the week and have a super weekend!

My Weekly Rundown

Video of the Week: This Little League umpire in Illinois needs to tone down his strikeout call a little bit. Very extreme but at least the kids should know if they are out or not. ]]> Cody Christie http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1069-Friday-Links-N-Thinks <![CDATA[Shoulder stifling Pavano's repertoire]]> http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1068-Shoulder-stifling-Pavano-s-repertoire Fri, 18 May 2012 05:11:34 GMT Attachment 982 (http://twinsdaily.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=982)It was revealed a week ago that Carl Pavano’s shoulder was hurting and that the... Click image for larger version Name: Pavano.jpg Views: 101 Size: 39.8 KB ID: 982It was revealed a week ago that Carl Pavano’s shoulder was hurting and that the team had him undergo an MRI for precautionary measures.

Fortunately for the already thin pitching staff, the MRI showed nothing more than inflammation and, in preventative efforts, the Twins eased up on their workhorse, limiting his pitches and allowed him to miss the recent series in Detroit to have some soft-tissue therapy on his shoulder. The hopes are that by lightening his load, Pavano will heal and not require a cortisone shot following his next start.

Since the beginning of the season, Pavano’s velocity drop has had team officials concerned. While the tests showed no significant injury, the big right-hander admitted that he feels that he cannot get proper extension on his pitches and his results suggest there may be something to that.
While his peripheral numbers are actually a slight improvement over his 2011 campaign – his strikeout rate is up, his walk rate is down – his ability to generate ground balls has dissipated over the course of the season. Currently holding a 44.2% ground ball rate, it is his lowest amount of turf-killer since the year he came over to the Twins in ’09. Because hitters are able to elevate the ball, he is allowing home runs at a higher clip – going from 0.93 home runs per nine innings to 1.29.

Through his first four starts of the year, Pavano pitched like business-as-usual. He was able to miss bats (8% swinging strikes) and induced more grounders than fly balls (1.18 GB/FB). From his April 22 start against the Royals onward, likely when the Twins began to limit his pitch count, Pavano was a different pitcher. Hitters were making outstanding contact (just a 3% swinging strike rate) and the ground balls dried up (0.65 GB/FB).
Outside of his fastball’s velocity, the biggest causality of his sore shoulder has been his second most used pitch, his changeup, and one of the reasons the grounders have become fly balls.

In 2010 and 2011, Pavano’s change was one of the game’s best according to Fangraphs.com’s Pitch Value. His 18.1 runs above average on the pitch was tied for ninth-best in that span, placing him with such change artists as Felix Hernandez, James Shields, Shaun Marcum and Ricky Romero. This season, his change-up is now 2.6 runs below average, making it one of the bottom-dwellers in that category.

In theory, a change thrown with a good differential and down in the zone should induce plenty of weak contact as hitters find themselves unable to hold up and turn over on the pitch. A year ago, his change-up was able to get a ground ball on 51.6% on all contact (including fouls, home runs, etc) which is a very strong rate. Comparatively, this season, Pavano’s change has only incited grounders just 39.3% - meaning opponents are squaring up on his secondary pitch. What’s more is that in 2011 he was able to get a swing-and-miss on 27% when opponents swung but that has declined to 15% in 2012.

As I speculated following his first start, the decrease in his fastball’s velocity was going to adversely affect his change-up as the speed differential closes. Baseball Info Solutions’ pitch charting states that while his fastball is down (from 89 to 86 miles per hour) his change’s top speed has also decreased (from 80 to 78 miles per hour). This means the differential has not been that substantial at all. Pitch F/X, on the other hand, shows that Pavano’s vertical movement on his change is quite different. As I discussed in my analysis of Jason Marquis at Twins Daily on Wednesday, research has shown that the optimal place to get the most ground balls is between 0.0 inches and 3.0. The previous two seasons, his changeup had a vertical finish of 2.0 and 2.7, meaning it was down in the zone. This season it is up to 3.8.

In laymen’s terms, Pavano’s changeup has been up in the zone more frequently therefore resulting in fewer grounders and swing-and-misses on that particular pitch.

Another factor that might explain the in-season drop in grounders and missed bats is the sudden disappearance of his slider. According to Pitch F/X data, in his first four starts he threw his slider 45 times (11% overall). In his last four starts, he threw it just 8 times (3% overall).

His sore shoulder, his inability to get extension and a lack of feel for the pitches may contribute to why he has not spotted his changeup well and why he has ignored his slider as of late. Will the rest and rehab approach prove to be fruitful? Answers will be provided on Saturday when Pavano makes his regularly scheduled start in Milwaukee. Attention should be paid not only to the radar gun readings but also to the performance of his off-speed pitches. ]]> Parker Hageman http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1068-Shoulder-stifling-Pavano-s-repertoire Blackburn or Doumit, Tigers Series Recap, and Other Notes http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1067-Blackburn-or-Doumit-Tigers-Series-Recap-and-Other-Notes Fri, 18 May 2012 03:43:26 GMT Originally posted at k-bro's baseball blog


I know it was another short series, and I know the wins weren't pretty, but it still counts as a series sweep, so I'm breaking out the broom, mostly because there's a real chance that I won't be able to break it out any more the rest of the season.


Some notes from the series:
  • Hits. Hits. Hits.
  • Taking advantage of errors.
  • Who's this Trevor Plouffe? I like this Trevor Plouffe. To be clear, I like this homerun-hitting Trevor Plouffe.
  • Brian Dozier keeps flirting. I think I have a crush on him.
  • I think the entire bullpen is flirting with me.

~~~
After Wednesday's game, the Twins announced that Ryan Doumit was going on the DL with a right calf strain. They also mentioned that Nick Blackburn was hurting as well. They called up OF Ben Revere to take the roster spot.

Wednesday morning, Doumit had an MRI and it revealed that the strain wasn't serious. So, because Ben was already on his way, the Twins decided to place Blackburn on the DL instead.


The Twins have placed RHP Nick Blackburn on the 15-day DL with a left quad strain.

Blackburn reported a stabbing pain in his leg in his last two starts. His performance during those starts proves the point.

It's unclear who will be used to start in his place. They can skip his next scheduled start because Monday is an off day.

I just hope that Doumit's "mild" strain is really just that and the Twins don't have to put him on the DL in eight days.

Other injury updates:
Denard Span sat out both games of the series with a tight hamstring.

Matt Capps was unavailable Wednesday due to a sore arm. He pitched on Thursday, and he was fine.

~~~
Tweets of the series
On Thursday, Glen Perkins came in to the eighth inning with a one-run lead and served up two walks before snapping out of it and getting Prince Fielder to strike out and Delmon Young to hit into a double play. Whew.

After the game, he tweeted:
You guys weren't nervous, were you?? #Twins
— Glen Perkins (@glen_perkins) May 17, 2012
Heh.

Even funnier was Brian Duensing's reply:
@glen_perkins someone was. At least it smelled like it in the pen
— Brian Duensing (@BrianDuensing52) May 17, 2012

And funnier still was Matt Capps's addition:
@BrianDuensing52 @glen_perkins yea that's my bad
— Matt Capps (@MattCapps55) May 17, 2012

How mature. ]]> Kirsten Brown http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1067-Blackburn-or-Doumit-Tigers-Series-Recap-and-Other-Notes 2012 Day-by-Day - May 17 http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1065-2012-Day-by-Day-May-17 Fri, 18 May 2012 03:01:55 GMT *Hitter of the Day: * Matthew Koch - DH - BEL - A: 3-4 HR (2), 2B (7), 3 RBI, 2 R *Pitcher of the Day: * Matthew Summers - RHP - BEL - A: 6IP,... Hitter of the Day:
 Matthew Koch - DH - BEL - A: 3-4 HR (2), 2B (7), 3 RBI, 2 R

Pitcher of the Day:
 Matthew Summers - RHP - BEL - A: 6IP, 4H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

Today's Recap:
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...VE&output=html ]]> bkucko http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1065-2012-Day-by-Day-May-17 Should Fransisco Liriano Become A Full Time Reliever? http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1064-Should-Fransisco-Liriano-Become-A-Full-Time-Reliever Fri, 18 May 2012 02:39:55 GMT Originally Posted at http://troystwinsdugout.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/should-fransisco-liriano-become-a-full-time-reliever/ Recently, the Twins... Originally Posted at http://troystwinsdugout.wordpress.co...time-reliever/

Recently, the Twins have moved Fransisco Liriano to the bullpen. Since then, he's made two relief appearances and hasn't allowed a run.

On Monday, he pitched two innings of relief against the Cleveland Indians. He retired the tribe in order in the seventh. In the eighth, he walked the bases loaded before working out of the jam.

Earlier this afternoon, he pitched 2/3 of an inning against the Detroit Tigers facing one batter, retiring the Tigers by means of a double play.

From following Liriano this season, one thing has become obvious to me. Liriano pitches fine for one inning. The next inning, he works himself into a jam and can't think straight on the mound. Even last year, especially later in the season, Liriano was displaying this inconsistency from one inning to the next.

Although this is only a small sample size, but from Liriano's recent relief appearances, it makes it a good idea to keep him in the bullpen. And the fact he was able to work out of pressure situations today and on Monday makes it seem like the logical thing to do.

There are pitchers that have struggled in the past as starters and when they moved to the bullpen, they found success.

LaTroy Hawkins is one such example of a Twins pitcher that found success when he moved to the bullpen. In his first five seasons with the Twins, he never had an ERA under 5. In 2000, he appeared in 66 games, saving 14 and finished with an ERA of 3.39 with 14 saves.

Since then, he's had only two seasons where his ERA was over 5 (2001 and 2010). In his first five seasons, Hawkins pitched to an ERA of 6.92. From 2000-2012 he has an ERA of 3.51.

For me, it makes sense to convert Liriano to a full time reliever. However, the Twins may not want to since they have a salary of $7 million invested in him. Plus, if he returns to the rotation and does close to as well he did in 2006, the Twins could get more in a trade around the trading deadline.

However, because of the fact he's struggled in the past two seasons, I think it would be the best thing the Twins could do. Who knows, Liriano could be a closer in a year or two. And if he's a successful closer, he could make just as much money as he does now, maybe even more. The fact he's been inconsistent as a starter in the past two seasons suggests that this is a good move for Liriano to become a full time reliever. ]]> Troy Larson http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1064-Should-Fransisco-Liriano-Become-A-Full-Time-Reliever The Ex-Twins in Rochester http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1063-The-Ex-Twins-in-Rochester Thu, 17 May 2012 22:50:39 GMT (This is a cross-post with my blog on baseball in general, the Baseball Continuum (http://baseballcontinuum.wordpress.com). The version there has... (This is a cross-post with my blog on baseball in general, the Baseball Continuum. The version there has more pictures and links.)

Quick, ignore the logos and team names, what team is this?

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Well, it's the Rochester Red Wings. But it's filled with players who have been a part of the Twins over the rather disastrous past season-and-a-half. Revere is now back up with the Twins (saving Rochestarians from having to hear him sing), but plenty of once-and-possibly-future Twins remain. So when, and who, is most likely to rejoin Revere in Minneapolis? Let's take a look (more below the break):

Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Tsuyoshi Nishioka came to Minnesota from the Chiba Lotte Marines, where he was coming off a .346 season. Alas, the transition to the Majors was tough for Nishioka, as he only hit .226 with a .526 OPS during his first season on this side of the Pacific. Furthermore, he missed much of the season with a leg injury courtesy of a Nick Swisher slide, and what little momentum he had been starting to pick up was completely halted. And so, now Nishioka finds himself in the last place he probably thought he'd be: Rochester, NY. And he probably is going to stay there for awhile, as another injury and his .206 BA aren't exactly going to make the big club call for him.

As an aside, I must mention that he comes up to the plate to Japanese pop music. Back in Japan though, every team have big organized cheering sections that come up with and chant theme songs for their players called Ouenka. Here's Nishioka's:



Maybe he's homesick and Wings/Twins fans should start chanting that.

Sean Burroughs


That Burroughs is playing anywhere is worthy of applause, as he was only two years ago suffering from substance abuse and eating cheeseburgers out of a trash can. He got his act together and had a good year in Arizona last season. Still, it was something of a pleasant surprise that Burroughs was in Minnesota to begin with, but a good spring training and worries about the infield's health led the Twins to bring him up as a insurance policy and bat off the bench. But a month and a half into the season and not only had he only played in ten games with 18 plate appearances, but he was hitting .118. So he was put on waivers, which he cleared. So now he's in Rochester. A veteran like him will always have a chance at going back up next time somebody gets injured or released, and he's hit well in the ten games he's been in Rochester for: .310 BA and a .700 OPS. So maybe, if he keeps hitting well, he'll once again be up in Minnesota if they need a bat off the bench.

Danny Valencia
The biggest surprise, the person who I never thought I'd see in Rochester again: Danny Valencia. He might not have been a big prospect coming up like some other players, and he never really had much pop, but he always hit in the .280s and .290s and often was making good defensive plays (although statistically he was average at best). Then, as sometimes happens with ballplayers, he appeared to break out when he was brought up in 2010: .311 BA, .799 OPs, 7 HRs and third place in Rookie of the Year voting. He's never been able to recapture his 2010 MLB form, though. It's doubtful he'll end up back up unless there are injuries or he really starts knocking the cover off the ball. Interestingly, he hits against lefties very well, so there no doubt is a spot for him somewhere in the majors. The question is whether that place is with the Twins.

Other Notable Ex-Twins (AKA People I didn't take pictures of)

Chris Parmelee will be back up to the bigs after some more AAA experience. Morneau's future health means they are always going to need another 1B (besides occasionally Mauer). Has some occasional pop, too.

Liam Hendriks will also probably be back up after further seasoning and/or somebody getting hurt. The Aussie is still young and should one day develop into a reliable MLB starter.

Clete Thomas statistically appears to be one of those AAAA guys: he's always going to do pretty well in AAA, but is never going to have a permanent starting job in the bigs.

Rene Rivera will always have a chance of going up again, since the Twins can never have enough backups if injuries strike Joe Mauer again.

Anthony Slama has a 0.51 ERA in 17.2 IP. If a reliever goes down, he's probably going up.

So, there you have it, a look at the people who are currently in Rochester as part of the revolving door between MLB and AAA...
Attached Thumbnails
]]> ContinuumGuy http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1063-The-Ex-Twins-in-Rochester Changing Luck http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1062-Changing-Luck Thu, 17 May 2012 22:44:17 GMT Back in February, I framed the Twins' rotation as a series of five coin flips. Looking back, it's funny how the worst case scenario seems to have struck in every single situation:

Carl Pavano … Heads, he remembers how to miss a few extra bats and returns to the form he showed while winning 17 games two years ago. Tails, his performance continues to descend as he ages into his late 30s.
Francisco Liriano … Heads, he regains his fastball command and helps power the top of a solid rotation. Tails, the problems that haunted him in 2011 remain present, leading to continued inconsistency and frustration before the non-competitive Twins trade him for peanuts at the deadline.
Scott Baker … Heads, Baker finally shrugs off the arm troubles that have plagued him intermittently throughout the past two seasons to pile up 200 frames for the first time since 2009. Tails, his elbow keeps on barking and limits him once again, perhaps leading to surgery.
Nick Blackburn … Heads, Blackburn overcomes his flaws and serves as an average, yet valuable, anchor in the No. 4 spot. Tails, the hits keep on coming and he struggles to another shortened and substandard campaign.
Jason Marquis … Heads, Marquis proves to be a serviceable piece at the end of the rotation, perhaps until a better option emerges in the minors. Tails, he follows the path of former bargain bin veterans like Ramon Ortiz, Sidney Ponson and Livan Hernandez, dropping before the season's halfway through.
The Twins seem to have flipped tails five times in a row. Ouch. Granted, there were a number of warning signs attached to each of these guys, which is why I dubbed them "dangerous gambles," but it would have taken an unruly pessimist to predict that things would go so horribly awry for the rotation.

Fans are rightfully frustrated with the lackluster outings delivered by Twins starters on an almost nightly basis, and much of the heat is being directed toward the front office. I think this is a little unfair.

Blackburn and Liriano were both on fire in spring training, so their quick descents into the regular season have been surprising. Baker's elbow couldn't have been handled much differently. Marquis has at least been serviceable when healthy for the majority of his career – this is likely the worst he's ever pitched. And Liam Hendriks looked like a solid enough fallback, given his domination of the minor leagues.

Nothing has worked, for any of those guys. Front to back, the starting corps has been a catastrophe. Baker had a cascade of bad news regarding his elbow, resulting in the likely end to his Twins career. Liriano has been demoted to the bullpen, Hendriks to the minors. Blackburn has been placed on the disabled list for reasons that may have as much to do with performance as health. Marquis may be on the verge of getting cut.

The only member of the rotation that has performed about as you'd expect is Pavano, and he's done so while throwing 85 MPH with a sore shoulder.

Altogether, the Twins' starters have been getting battered around like a bunch of marginal minor-leaguers. Ironically, the only guys who have been able to break the spell of ineptitude are a couple of marginal minor-leaguers.

Scott Diamond and P.J. Walters are not noteworthy prospects. They were pretty far back in line to receive major-league starts back when camp broke, but things have spiraled so quickly it took them only until mid-May to get a shot. And to their credit, both have taken advantage in a way that nobody in front of them on the depth chart has been able to.

Diamond blanked opponents for seven innings in two consecutive outings after being called up last week. Walters tossed six innings of one-run ball on Saturday and took a tough loss, then beat the Tigers in their own park with 6 1/3 strong innings on Thursday. Together, the two have combined for four quality starts in four turns; the rest of the Twins' starters have produced seven quality starts in 34 tries.

I've never seen anything quite like it. An entire stable of veteran starters with track records of major-league success pitching abysmally, and then two guys from the bottom of the depth chart coming up and setting the example.

To what can we attribute this strange turn of events? Opponents haven't had the chance to fully scout Diamond and Walters – that might be part of it. But mostly I think it's just the law of averages. The Twins have had so many bad breaks, so many awful performances, so many inexplicable miscues, that eventually a few things had to start going their way.

I believe what we've seen in the Twins' respectable 5-5 run over the past 10 games is a team's luck finally – FINALLY – starting to swing. Rather than getting dud outings from guys with high expectations, they're getting great outings from guys with no expectations. Rather than folding in tough spots, the relievers are coming through (Glen Perkins in the eighth Thursday serving as a prime example). Rather than continuing to struggle in his return from injury, Justin Morneau is swatting the ball. Rather than being placed on the DL at the last second, Ryan Doumit is being pulled off it at the last second.

And rather than losing night after night, the Twins are starting to win a few. Let's hope it keeps up.

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]]> Nick Nelson http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1062-Changing-Luck <![CDATA[Buyer's Remorse to the Tune of $23,000,000.]]> http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1061-Buyer-s-Remorse-to-the-Tune-of-23-000-000 Thu, 17 May 2012 22:13:06 GMT As any Twins fan knows, Joe Mauer was to be the centerpiece around which the Twins built their team. After inking him to a 8 year, $184 million... As any Twins fan knows, Joe Mauer was to be the centerpiece around which the Twins built their team. After inking him to a 8 year, $184 million dollar deal, Mauer's success has been spotty at best. Thursday's 0-5 performance with 5 runners left on base is just the latest in a rough patch for Mauer who is now hitting .265 on the season.

Many fans, myself included, have been openly critical of Mauer and his inability to truly lead the team, perform under pressure and to stay healthy for just one season. So far, Mauer has been on the field and at least in the lineup in all but one game this season. This is leaps and bounds ahead of the last two years for the catcher but the real issue at hand for most Twins fans is Mauer's production or lack thereof.

Mauer, when he is in the field (DH as well!), plays a power position. Whether he is behind the plate or at first base, those positions are traditionally positions in which a team can expect some power. Third base is another however Mauer has yet to man the hot corner.

For a man who is 6-5 and weighs 233 pounds, Mauer doesn't pack the punch expected from his position in the field, position in the batting order or what his contract price would warrant.

Mauer has been hitting in third for most of his major league career. Just once in his career has Mauer topped 20 home runs when he hit 28 in 2009 on his way to an MVP award. He has never reached 100 RBI in a season but came close again in 2009 with 96. Traditionally, the batter in the third spot is a team's best hitting slugger. Players like Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols (nevermind his 2012 season so far!), Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Josh Hamilton, Evan Longoria, Harmon Killebrew, Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski who occupy the third place in the batting order put things in to perspective. When you take these players into consideration and compare the statistics for the hitters involved, you will find that Mauer does not fit the mold of the slugger he is paid to be rather he fits into the mold of a two spot singles and doubles hitter.

To put it bluntly, Joe Mauer gets paid $23,000,000 a year to to be a glorified singles hitter. Now, there is no denying his hitting prowess. Mauer has one of the nicest swings in baseball and is a well documented batting champion and Silver Slugger. However, most people would agree that averaging 57.6 RBI a year would not and does not warrant such a bloated contract. Yes, Mauer is a career .322 hitter but with Mauer averaging just under 58 RBI per year, would you offer $23 million per year to comparable RBI producers like Jason Kubel (55.5 RBI/yr), Delmon Young (59.7) or Juan Uribe (53.1)? I didn't think so.

Why would the Twins choose to pay this much for Mauer? Honestly, I think it is because they wanted so badly to make that splash contract headline to keep up with the big boys in the league. I agree that he is one of the best hitting catchers to grace the majors however I do not see the justification for such a high paying contract or for the length that it lasts. The Twins should know that catcher is a taxing position and to expect Mauer to be worth what they will be paying him in another six years is just ridiculous. He is already showing signs of either breaking down or being bothered physically as he was last year.

Even more bothersome is that Mauer has caught just 17 games this season and recently has been spending most of his time at first base. It begs the question if he can stand up to the rigors of being the Twins' backstop any more.

Please don't misunderstand--I like Joe Mauer. I think he is a great catcher and a great hitter. I don't like how much the Twins have invested in him financially in light of his health history and his offensive statistics. Simply being a .300 hitter isn't enough to have the right to take up a quarter of your team's salary. A $23 million dollar salary should mean statistics more akin to a Pujols (who makes 12,000,000 in 2012) and a Ryan Howard (making 20,000,000 in 2012). In short, the Twins just aren't getting what they paid for. ]]> SpinnesotaGirl http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1061-Buyer-s-Remorse-to-the-Tune-of-23-000-000 Profiles of the Top 22 Pitchers for the 2012 MLB Draft: Kevin Gausman http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1060-Profiles-of-the-Top-22-Pitchers-for-the-2012-MLB-Draft-Kevin-Gausman Thu, 17 May 2012 21:18:04 GMT Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch (http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2012/05/profiles-of-top-22-pitchers-for-2012_17.html)--- ... Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
---

With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft.

I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos.




Profile 8: Kevin Gausman




Profile/Stats:




Kevin John Gausman is a draft-eligible sophomore at Louisiana State University. He throws right handed. He was born on January 6th, 1991. He is from Centennial, CO and went to Grandview High School. He is listed at 6'4" and 185 lbs. In his senior season in High School he went 9-2 with a 3.12 ERA and 14 walks and 88 strike outs. In his College Freshman season he went 5-4 in 14 GS (89.2 IP) allowing 23 walks and 85 strike outs with a 3.51 ERA. He made 2 starts for the US Collegiate National team in 2011, pitching for 8.2 innings, allowing 2 runs with 3 walks and 9 strikeouts. In the current season, Gausman is 8-1 in 13 GS. He pitched 91.2 innings, allowing 81 hits and 34 runs, 21 bases on balls and 112 strikeouts, for a 2.95 ERA and a .235 opponent's batting average. He also had 11 wild pitches. Here is an interview of Kevin Gausman by Jeremy Nygaard of ManCenter.com. Gausmann was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2010
draft.

Mini Scouting Report:


Gausman has four pitches: a fastball, a curve, a slider and a change up. The fastball is a plus pitch, sometimes a dominating pitch, and is surely his best pitch. It sits in the mid 90s with occasionally hitting 98-99 especially early in games. He has good control and command and he has been throwing it with various arm angles. His slider is better than his curve, with a tight hard break and it may become his primary breaking ball. His curve is a slow 12-6 curve that needs a bit of work. His changeup is a borderine plus pitch and it is his best secondary offering. He needs better consistency with his mechanics to be able to command his pitches a bit better.






Videos/Photos:




Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Kevin Gausman pitching, including one in which he reveals one of his obsessions when he is pitching.

]]> thrylos98 http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1060-Profiles-of-the-Top-22-Pitchers-for-the-2012-MLB-Draft-Kevin-Gausman Soon one year has passed... http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1059-Soon-one-year-has-passed Thu, 17 May 2012 19:14:58 GMT One year ago today, the Twins lost one of the most important people in the history of the franchise. It is hard to believe that one year has...
One year ago today, the Twins lost one of the most important people in the history of the franchise. It is hard to believe that one year has already come and gone. I put together the following poem to honor Harmon Killebrew and his lasting legacy.

It's been one year since you have come and gone,
But your impact is still felt like the morning dawn.

Even though your mighty swing was something to behold,
Your gentle nature was something that never got old.

The first hero of a generation to call Minnesota home,
You were a star outside before the team moved to the Dome.

Your number three will only be worn by one Twin,
And hearing your home run calls brings chills to my skin.

You were a gentle giant; a man among boys,
Chants of your name were much more than noise.

I hope that big game in the sky is still going fine,
Because your mark on the Twins continues to shine.

It's hard to think you will never be return,
And players on this team have plenty to learn.

When I sit outside at a ballgame under the open sky,
Your presence still brings a tear to my eye.

Thanks for your time and the mark that you made,
Your memory with fans will never fade.
]]> Cody Christie http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1059-Soon-one-year-has-passed Who is NOT Hot in the Twins minors? 2012 version 2 http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1058-Who-is-NOT-Hot-in-the-Twins-minors-2012-version-2 Thu, 17 May 2012 14:58:41 GMT This is the second version of the 'who is NOT hot in the Twins' minors' series for 2012. I have been doing the Who is hot in the Minors series for a few years now and I decided that a complimentary list might be in order. I will be updating those every month or so, as well. The current "who IS hot" list can be found here and the former "who is NOT hot" list can be found here. This list is getting smaller, but it is unfortunate to see one of the Twins' top prospects (Adrian Salcedo) in it.



Without further ado, here is the list, going from AAA to A. The clubs represented are AAA Rochester Red Wings, International League, AA New Britain Rock Cats, Eastern League, A+ Fort Myers Miracle, Florida State League, A Beloit Snappers, Midwest League (Note: Yesterday's games are not reflected) :

























Catchers:




Rene Rivera (RHB, 28, AAA) .169/.250/.277 2 HR, 3 RBI, 73 PA

Kyle Knudson (RHB, 24, A) .154/.154/.154 0 HR, 1 RBI, 15 PA





Infielders:




Danny Valencia (RHB, 27, AAA) .125/.125/.188 1 RBI, 16 PA

Estarlin De Los Santos (SHB, 25, AA) .169/.233/.205 0 HR, 5 RBI, 91 PA

Andy Leer (RHB, 24, A+) .175/.246/.302 0 HR, 2 RBI, 71 PA





Outfielders:




Rene Tosoni (LHB, 25, AAA) .125/.222/.167 0 HR, 3 RBI, 55 PA

Joe Benson (RHB, 24, AA/AAA) .164/.252/.276 2 HR, 8 RBI, 131 PA

Marc Dolenc (RHB, 27, AA) .141/.176/.141 0 HR, 1 RBI, 76 PA

Danny Rams (RHB, 23, A+) .069/.206/.069 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 H, 34 PA





1st basemen/DH:




Matt Rizzotti (LHB, 26, AAA/AA) .256/.256/.282 0 HR, 5 RBI, 2 H, 39 PA

Rory Rhodes (RHB, 20, A) .146/.204/.188 0 HR, 4 RBI, 54 PA





RH Starters:




Daryl Thompson (26, AAA) 4.5a ERA, 1.604 WHIP, 6.15 K/9, 1.1 K/BB

Madison Boer (22, A/A+) 6.81 ERA, 1.739 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 1.53 K/BB

Adrian Salcedo (21, A+) 5.64 ERA, 1.881 WHIP, 5.24 K/9, 0.87 K/BB

Marty Popham (24, A+) 4.66 ERA, 1.578 WHIP, 5.35 K/9, 1.21 K/BB





LH Starters:




none




RH Relievers:




Brendan Wise (26, AAA) 5.66 ERA, 1.935 WHIP, 5.23 K/9, 1.2 K/BB





LH Relievers:




Edgar Ibarra (23, A+) 4.63 ERA, 1.629 WHIP, 5.79 K/9, 1.88 K/BB ]]> thrylos98 http://twinsdaily.com/entry.php?1058-Who-is-NOT-Hot-in-the-Twins-minors-2012-version-2