Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/6): Rock Cat Bats Bash

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2199-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(8-6)-Rock-Cat-Bats-Bash

[wagwan]

Great E-town video. It will be a lot more fun to follow those guys after seeing it. They are young, but there seems to be a lot of pitching on that team.

[Pitz]

Seth, do you think Thorpe will/should move up to E'town? He's pretty effectively dominated GCL hitters and seems like he's ready for another challenge.

[ericchri]

Is that Luke Bard's first action this season? I don't recall seeing his name previous to this. Nice to see, regardless.

[Seth Stohs]

Seth, do you think Thorpe will/should move up to E'town? He's pretty effectively dominated GCL hitters and seems like he's ready for another challenge.

 

I guess he could, but he's still so young. At this point, it would be for maybe three starts, so I don't know that there's a benefit. I might just leave him and let him continue what he's doing.

[Seth Stohs]

Is that Luke Bard's first action this season? I don't recall seeing his name previous to this. Nice to see, regardless.

 

No, he's pitched in 4-5 games for the GCL Twins so far. I don't think any have been over 1 inning to this point though.

[roger]

I will second your comments about guys like Albers, Watkins, Heintz.

 

It will be both interesting and perhaps exciting to see how Albers career plays out. Will he become the next crafty lefty who defies the odds with a nice career? Or will last night be the best game of his career?

 

Right now the Twins need someone from this group of over a half dozen pitchers (Albers, Diamond, Worley, Hendriks, Hernandez and Walters) to step up and be good, joining Gibson and Deduno in an improved rotation in 2014.

[Mike Sixel]

Love the little guy succeeding.

[Mike Sixel]

Love the little guy succeeding.

[Seth Stohs]

I will second your comments about guys like Albers, Watkins, Heintz.

 

It will be both interesting and perhaps exciting to see how Albers career plays out. Will he become the next crafty lefty who defies the odds with a nice career? Or will last night be the best game of his career?

 

Right now the Twins need someone from this group of over a half dozen pitchers (Albers, Diamond, Worley, Hendriks, Hernandez and Walters) to step up and be good, joining Gibson and Deduno in an improved rotation in 2014.

 

It's possible last night will be the best performance of his career even if he pitches for a decade in the big leagues. That was a tremendous performance.

 

It's one of those things... Scouts, velocity, etc., tell us that logically, he's not going to be a long-term solution at all. That's the realist in me.

 

However, we saw last night what could make him successful. That is, he had good control. He got ahead. He mixed speed tremendously. There are a lot of pitchers that are successful between 89-91. There are a lot of pitchers who are not successful despite 95-97. But that pitch speed difference gives hope. Three good pitches, ability to throw those three pitches at different speeds, good control, works fast, etc.

 

Because he's not going to strike out many, he will have those games where the grounders go through the infield, and the bloopers land and eventually one is squared up.

 

The other thing... he's only 27. Is he too old to be considered a prospect? Sure. Does that mean he can't pitch in the big leagues? No. He could pitch 12-15 years. Same with Colabello? What if you get three good seasons from them at league minimum? Tremendous value in that. What about Doug Bernier? His glove is tremendous! What if he's the #2 utility infielder for the Twins for 3 years, providing great defense and enough offense at league minimum.

 

Likely? Maybe not. Possible? Sure.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Loved the video. I have followed the minors much more closely the last couple of years possibly cause the Twins are so bad...always good to see guys like Albers and Colobello finally get their chance. Lots of kids in the minors besides the big names (Sano, Buxton, etc.) hopefully they get their chance too.