Twins Fan From Afar

I should have lead off with that! Just dawned on me this morning too see who Rochester had. Ugly!

So you think he should play 2 full seasons in New Britain? Here is who the Red Wings are trotting out in the middle infield: Doug Bernier, who will turn 33 later this month and has a .672 OPS. He's playing short. And Eric Farris, 27 years old with a .608 OPS. He's playing second. You are right that Beresford doesn't walk much, and that he doesn't hit for power. Yet his OPS, .737, is higher than either of the non-prospects at AAA. Regarding his positioning, Danny Santana is considered a SS prospect, so he has been getting the starts there. His bat is getting better, but the defense is cringeworthy. So Beresford has been mostly playing second, except for when manager Jeff Smith needs a break from watching Santana boot plays. I'd certainly defer to guys like Seth that know more than I do, but I would comfortably call Beresford's middle infield defense the best in the upper levels of the Twins' system

Herrrmann hasn't been great this season, but I'm not ready to relegate him to 3rd catcher yet. He had a nice 2012 season (.276/.350./392). Not the stuff that dreams are made of, but good enough for 2nd catcher on many teams I would think. I guess I'd like them both to play every day if that's at all possible. Also I very much agree that Doumit can be traded if the return is decent.

Thanks for the comment. I guess I would say that it's not "supposed" that Beresford has good defense. He plays defense very well. Like, it's a fact. SS and 2B have been, and continue to be, positions of weakness for the Twins. So in my (albeit uneducated) opinion, if a guy can play very good defense at either or both of those positions in this organization, and can bat .300 -- even without power or the ability to take walks -- and can do it consistently, it's time to see if he can do it at the next level. I'm not suggesting Beresford is the next Jose Reyes, or will displace Eddie Rosario. I am suggesting that he's played very well in his second AA season. So let's see what he can do at AAA. By the way, great defense at 2B and the ability to bat over .230 in the bigs may in fact be a ticket to the majors for the Twins this season and next. Josmil Pinto has been very good. He needs to play every day. Chris Herrmann won't be with the Twins for very long (I expect, anyway), and will go back to AAA, where he also needs to play every day. I think it's a disservice to Pinto's development to have him split time with Herrmann at catcher. But your point is well-taken -- Pinto has been great, and shouldn't hang around longer than he needs to. I'd also add that, although he has a good arm, I'm not sure he's a great catcher yet. I.e., framing pitches and some of the finesse stuff. Danny Ortiz. Again, I've been impressed. He's held his own. Struggling a little lately (batting .194 over last 10 games) but he's been good and has shown decent power. He's played 56 games at AA. He hasn't dominated like, for instance, Oswaldo Arcia did (played 69 games in New Britain; .955 OPS). But then again, Brian Dinkelman played left field tonight for Rochester, so it's not like a legitimate prospect is blocking Ortiz in Rochester. Let's see what happens at the trade deadline. If Willingham is traded and Arcia called up permanently, there's a corner spot open at Rochester. I'd give that to Ortiz in August.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2012/11/07/3zZ4tfaM.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Logan Darnell, New Britain's most consistent pitcher this season. Image: Kevin Pataky, MiLB.com [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] It's been a fast 40 percent of the New Britain season. The team has played all right -- about what I expected, given difficulty of replacing guys like Aaron Hicks, Chris Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello, who were the mainstays of the 2012 team, and who have all gone on to varying degrees of success in 2013 -- not only with the AAA Red Wings, but with the Twins. One of the most exciting things about following the Rock Cats is that I have realized how quick the path from central Connecticut to Minneapolis can be. A comment about minor league baseball: it's not very helpful to focus on a minor league team's win-loss record. Sure, it's great to watch the Ft. Myers Miracle and the Cedar Rapids Kernels win most of their games (and it bodes well for the Twins' future), but those teams are temporarily fortunate to have clusters of great talent on the same roster. Rather, for me, Rock Cats baseball is mostly about following individual performances. With nearly half the season in the books, let's take a look at a few of the players that I think deserve a call-up from AA New Britain to AAA Rochester in the near future. James Beresford. I'm not sure what else he needs to do. Beresford has played over 150 games for New Britain. His glove is great at both second base and shortstop -- that's never been an issue. He's third in the Eastern League in batting. Yes, there's little power. But so what? A middle infielder with a good glove that can hit .300 and reach base 40% of the time has value. Beresford deserves a long look in AAA to see how he can hit the pitching there. This is his second full season in New Britain, and I've seen enough. Also factoring into my recommendation to promote Beresford is Eddie Rosario. Unlike Miguel Sano, who undoubtedly will be promoted to the Rock Cats after the High-A All-Star Game, there's no immediate rush to promote Rosario, who is still learning second base, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rosario come up to AA for the last month of 2013. Clearing Beresford's spot makes Rosario's path easier, and ensures that Rosario will get the reps he needs at second base. Nate Hanson -- Great organizational guy. Plays all positions, but especially third base. Hanson has played over 180 games for the Rock Cats, and is hitting a solid .284 this season at AA.He had an abbreviated look at AAA Rochester last month, but needs a dedicated chance to succeed at that level. 64 at-bats -- what he received at Rochester -- is simply insufficient to judge any player. Reportedly, he hit the ball hard, but hit into some outs. If you only have 60 or so at-bats, a few hard outs, which could easily have been hits, makes a big difference. Additionally, Miguel Sano needs to move to New Britain the day after the High-A All-Star Game and play the remainder of 2013 at third base for the Rock Cats. Hanson to AAA makes sense all around. Logan Darnell: Like Beresford, this is Darnell's second full season in AA, and he is showing improvement. In fact, he's been New Britain's most consistent starting pitcher. How consistent? 7 of his last 10 starts have met the definition of a quality start (not a great statistic, but worth something). Darnell has posted a 2.76 ERA, a 60/20 K/BB rate, and has allowed only 3 home runs in 75 innings pitched. I'm not sure what Darnell's future will be, but I am certain that the 24 year-old needs to pitch against more experienced hitters to so that the Twins' front office can get a better picture of what his ceiling is. If you're a fan of the Twins' Top 10 organizational prospects, you might not like what I'm about to write now: Alex Meyer isn't ready to be promoted. Yes, there are many, many more positives than negatives. One big positive is that he's second in the Eastern League in strikeouts, with 73. That's why we traded a good player, Denard Span, for him. But if I'm a member of the Twins' front office, I need to see more consistency from Meyer. By comparison to Darnell's 7 quality starts in his past 10, Meyer has 4. He also has yet to pitch into the 7th inning in any game he's started for the Rock Cats. Let that sink in for a second. If there's one thing the Twins need -- and expect -- it's that their best starters go deep into games. Meyer, who regularly throws over 100 pitches in a start -- hasn't reached the 7th frame nearly halfway into his 2013 season. Meyer's season is somewhat similar to Kyle Gibson's in AAA -- a couple good starts followed by a clunker. Not that I expect 10 Ks and 1 earned run every single outing (which occurred in Meyer's most recent, and best, start), but in my opinion, there are composure and consistency issues that needs to be resolved -- or at least mitigated -- before I think it makes sense to send Meyer north to Rochester. So in short, I'm ready to say goodbye to 3 mainstays. Beresford, Hanson and Darnell have put in their AA time. I don't like to think of "sink-or-swim" situations, but I think it's clear that each needs a solid couple months in Rochester to see how their games fare against better competition. But I'm not ready to let Meyer leave yet. There's no reason to rush him to AAA (especially considering how quickly the Twins are willing to pull "ready" players from Rochester after they arrive) before he is ready. One final note: The Rock Cats host the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 10. I'm not sure how, if at all, personnel decisions may factor into this. On the one hand, it would be a nice reward for a guy like Beresford to be named to the All-Star Game held in his own park, but on the other hand, it would also be a nice reward to get bumped up to AAA before July 10.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2012/11/07/3zZ4tfaM.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Logan Darnell, New Britain's most consistent pitcher this season. Image: Kevin Pataky, MiLB.com [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] It's been a fast 40 percent of the New Britain season. The team has played all right -- about what I expected, given difficulty of replacing guys like Aaron Hicks, Chris Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello, who were the mainstays of the 2012 team, and who have all gone on to varying degrees of success in 2013 -- not only with the AAA Red Wings, but with the Twins. One of the most exciting things about following the Rock Cats is that I have realized how quick the path from central Connecticut to Minneapolis can be. A comment about minor league baseball: it's not very helpful to focus on a minor league team's win-loss record. Sure, it's great to watch the Ft. Myers Miracle and the Cedar Rapids Kernels win most of their games (and it bodes well for the Twins' future), but those teams are temporarily fortunate to have clusters of great talent on the same roster. Rather, for me, Rock Cats baseball is mostly about following individual performances. With nearly half the season in the books, let's take a look at a few of the players that I think deserve a call-up from AA New Britain to AAA Rochester in the near future. James Beresford. I'm not sure what else he needs to do. Beresford has played over 150 games for New Britain. His glove is great at both second base and shortstop -- that's never been an issue. He's third in the Eastern League in batting. Yes, there's little power. But so what? A middle infielder with a good glove that can hit .300 and reach base 40% of the time has value. Beresford deserves a long look in AAA to see how he can hit the pitching there. This is his second full season in New Britain, and I've seen enough. Also factoring into my recommendation to promote Beresford is Eddie Rosario. Unlike Miguel Sano, who undoubtedly will be promoted to the Rock Cats after the High-A All-Star Game, there's no immediate rush to promote Rosario, who is still learning second base, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rosario come up to AA for the last month of 2013. Clearing Beresford's spot makes Rosario's path easier, and ensures that Rosario will get the reps he needs at second base. Nate Hanson -- Great organizational guy. Plays all positions, but especially third base. Hanson has played over 180 games for the Rock Cats, and is hitting a solid .284 this season at AA.He had an abbreviated look at AAA Rochester last month, but needs a dedicated chance to succeed at that level. 64 at-bats -- what he received at Rochester -- is simply insufficient to judge any player. Reportedly, he hit the ball hard, but hit into some outs. If you only have 60 or so at-bats, a few hard outs, which could easily have been hits, makes a big difference. Additionally, Miguel Sano needs to move to New Britain the day after the High-A All-Star Game and play the remainder of 2013 at third base for the Rock Cats. Hanson to AAA makes sense all around. Logan Darnell: Like Beresford, this is Darnell's second full season in AA, and he is showing improvement. In fact, he's been New Britain's most consistent starting pitcher. How consistent? 7 of his last 10 starts have met the definition of a quality start (not a great statistic, but worth something). Darnell has posted a 2.76 ERA, a 60/20 K/BB rate, and has allowed only 3 home runs in 75 innings pitched. I'm not sure what Darnell's future will be, but I am certain that the 24 year-old needs to pitch against more experienced hitters to so that the Twins' front office can get a better picture of what his ceiling is. If you're a fan of the Twins' Top 10 organizational prospects, you might not like what I'm about to write now: Alex Meyer isn't ready to be promoted. Yes, there are many, many more positives than negatives. One big positive is that he's second in the Eastern League in strikeouts, with 73. That's why we traded a good player, Denard Span, for him. But if I'm a member of the Twins' front office, I need to see more consistency from Meyer. By comparison to Darnell's 7 quality starts in his past 10, Meyer has 4. He also has yet to pitch into the 7th inning in any game he's started for the Rock Cats. Let that sink in for a second. If there's one thing the Twins need -- and expect -- it's that their best starters go deep into games. Meyer, who regularly throws over 100 pitches in a start -- hasn't reached the 7th frame nearly halfway into his 2013 season. Meyer's season is somewhat similar to Kyle Gibson's in AAA -- a couple good starts followed by a clunker. Not that I expect 10 Ks and 1 earned run every single outing (which occurred in Meyer's most recent, and best, start), but in my opinion, there are composure and consistency issues that needs to be resolved -- or at least mitigated -- before I think it makes sense to send Meyer north to Rochester. So in short, I'm ready to say goodbye to 3 mainstays. Beresford, Hanson and Darnell have put in their AA time. I don't like to think of "sink-or-swim" situations, but I think it's clear that each needs a solid couple months in Rochester to see how their games fare against better competition. But I'm not ready to let Meyer leave yet. There's no reason to rush him to AAA (especially considering how quickly the Twins are willing to pull "ready" players from Rochester after they arrive) before he is ready. One final note: The Rock Cats host the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 10. I'm not sure how, if at all, personnel decisions may factor into this. On the one hand, it would be a nice reward for a guy like Beresford to be named to the All-Star Game held in his own park, but on the other hand, it would also be a nice reward to get bumped up to AAA before July 10.

I agree with Seth on New Britain's pitching. Darnell has put in his time, but Meyer and May have been too inconsistent.

Yes. I was there, and the screen shots of these at-bats align with the notes I took during the game. But your larger point is valid.

Great list, Seth. I like the aggressive placement of Alex Wimmers. Some fans act as if he's dead. He's simply rehabbing Tommy John. Yes, he's had physical and mental issues since being drafted, but there's no reason to think that he can't become a major league minimum salaried #3 or 4 starter.

Why is that a big deal? Just curious.

Good points, and Meyer's view of his importance to the Twins' future very well could be causing additional stress.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1802-Alex-Meyer-Missing-High-Minnesota-Twins-Pitching-Prospect

This post is a little delayed coming. Apologies. But the good news is that I've had time to process a little on Alex Meyer after having seen two of his not-so-good starts. And I've come to a conclusion: when Meyer misses it's because his pitches are high. Those misses are driving up the pitch count, gradually slowing down his fastball, causing him to tire and not go as deep into games as is necessary for the ace pitcher we expect him to become. I attended one of his recent starts, a losing effort last week against the Binghamton Mets. Meyer started off dominant, but had a rough 4th inning that ended up costing him the game. Instead of focusing on that inning, however, I want to focus on the third inning. It started off innocently enough, with a 4-pitch strikeout and a 1-pitch ground out. Just like that, 5 pitches and 2 outs. But then this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4218[/ATTACH] Check out the pitch locations. Meyer started missing high with 2 outs. As this shot shows, all but 1 pitch was belt-high or higher. Meyer issued this 2-out walk -- a Cardinal Sin in any organization, especially the Twins organization. But he wasn't done. How about the next batter? [ATTACH=CONFIG]4219[/ATTACH] As you can see, a 5-pitch walk with all of the pitches high. Basically the same thing, except this batter only swung at a meaty 2-0 pitch. 12 unnecessary pitches and 2 unnecessary walks, before a 2-pitch groundout to end the inning. Several extra pitches in that frame no doubt caused mental and physical fatigue that cost Meyer in the fourth inning. Meyer issued 3 walks on the night. Here's the screenshot of his final walk. Again, high misses. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4220[/ATTACH] The point of this post isn't to suggest that Meyer needs to alter his mechanics or anything like that. I have absolutely no specialized knowledge to that effect. He's 6 feet, 9 inches tall, and his fastball reached 96 on both starts I've attended; I'm 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and may have hit 76 on a hot summer day in White Bear Lake in 1999. Meyer has a knuckle-curve that falls off the table and embarrasses hitters who are expecting the fastball. He has all the makings of a phenomenal pitcher, but something is missing this spring. The point of this post is to suggest that, in the 14 or so innings I have seen Meyer pitch, when he misses, it's consistently high -- and it's very high. High to the point that batters aren't likely to offer. I could do screen shots from the other start I attended, and I'm confident they would be the same. In fact, I heard Terry Ryan mumble something to this effect when Meyer was laboring in a protracted inning last month. In other words, I wouldn't be writing this if it's not something that I had consistently noticed. So what is the solution? Having watched Meyer, I have no doubt that this is mostly a mental issue. He'll get 2 outs, then walk a couple batters with high pitches. Or, alternatively, he'll have 2 great innings, then start walking batters in the 3rd inning. Something temporarily changes. It really strikes me as a composure issue more than anything else. On more than one occasion I've seen Meyer have difficulty with the subsequent batter who follows a guy that reaches on a fielding error or a weak infield single. It's a common problem, and it makes sense to me. It would annoy me to no end to be unable to rely on my fielders. But that's a part of the game Meyer is going to have to learn: he won't be able to strike everyone out, and not every fielder will be Gold Glove caliber. Some baseball lifers say that the jump from High-A to AA is the most significant. Meyer might be finding that out this spring. Like I've said all along, I have no doubt that he will become the pitcher that we all hope he will be. But it's also important to realize that he's a young kid working out physical -- and mental -- issues along the way. So if you're looking for something to watch for, I would recommend keeping an eye on the walks and composure issues. Is Meyer struggling after 2 outs for no reason? Does he start to miss very high with that fastball? Those are the signs that he's not ready, yet, for the show. But on the whole, those are fixable issues. You can teach a guy to work through a composure issue, but you can't teach a guy to toss 96.

I've seen Danny Santana play 5 or so games, and have not been impressed with the defense. The errors I witnessed were a grounder he didn't get to that only required 2-3 feet of movement, and a flip to second to start a double play that ended up in centerfield. Also I get nervous on his throws to first. So, small sample size, but the glove hasn't impressed me. One positive thing, though, is that he does have a great arm.

Ha! Totally missed that. But yea, this is a stats-heavy group. Thanks for the comment!

Absolutely it should be playing a big, big role, especially on this Rock Cats team where there seem to be a minimum of 2 errors each game. But I have to say that the human/maturity elements are a factor as I think about pitcher promotions, especially for young guys like Meyer. How does Meyer or May respond when there's an error behind them? I.e., do they struggle with the next batter, throwing balls, etc. And that's kind of what I've seen with Meyer the 14 or so innings I've watched him throw.

That's a good question. Here's my uneducated opinion: especially considering this organization and the way we need SPs, you go as long as possible trying him as a starter. The control issue has to be solved, or contained, at some point, though, because he won't be effective as a reliever with this control problem, either.

I've watched 2 of Meyer's starts in person. One last month, which I blogged about, and last night's. Neither were his best performances, so take that into account when you read the following: Being completely honest, I think he still has work to do in AA. At times he's overpowering, and other times he loses control and composure, and becomes hittable. That being said, he's still our best pitching prospect. I'd be surprised if he lasted the entire season in New Britain, but I don't see him leaving after the Eastern League All-Star Game (being held in New Britain, by the way).

Poor thrylos. Lol.

I tweeted this a couple hours ago, but will also share here: Hearing rumblings that Sano will join the Rock Cats in a few weeks. FSL All-Star game is June 15....

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1752-Rock-Cats-A-Tough-Week-Plus