Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Eric R Pleiss

Provisional Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    460

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Eric R Pleiss

  1. Eric R Pleiss
  2. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins did not play on Thursday, but that does not mean they were idle. Reports are that center fielder Sam Fuld is ready to join the Twins on Friday in Detroit and that catcher Eric Fryer has been recalled to take the place of Josmil Pinto. The Twins have not announced a corresponding roster move to make room for Sam Fuld, but Aaron Hicks is a likely candidate to either go on the disabledl list with a bum shoulder, or be demoted to AAA to work on hitting right- handed against right-handed pitchers. Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels. Photo Credit: KnuckleballsBlog.com Red Wings Report Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 0 Box Yohan Pino ran his record up to 9-1 with seven shutout innings. He struck out nine batters, walked three and surrendered just two hits. Ryan Pressly finished the game for the Red Wings, throwing two scoreless innings and allowing only one hit. This is the eighth shutout of the year for the Red Wings and their eighth consecutive series opening win as well. Rochester had just six hits of their own, but five of them came from the top of the order with leadoff hitter Eric Farris and number two hitter James Beresford both enjoying 2-4 nights. Deibinson Romero, in the third spot, was 1-3 and Pedro Florimon, hitting in the nine-hole, picked up the Wings' only other hit of the night. Beresford's 2-4 night extended his hitting streak to nine games and he had two RBIs as well. Josmil Pinto, making his 2014 Red Wings debut, went 0-4. Rock Cats Review POSTPONED Rain kept Reading and New Britain from taking the field on Thursday night. The Rock Cats head back home to take on the Trenton Thunder over the weekend, so this game will be made up at a later date. Miracle Matters Charlotte 8, Fort Myers 7 Box Matt Tomshaw gave up ten hits, including a home run and five runs (four earned) through the first six innings, but the Miracle bats kept Fort Myers in the game and he left with a no decision. Mason Melotakis was charged with a blown save. He pitched three innings, struck out four and gave up just two hits. Brandon Peterson came on to pitch the tenth inning and escaped unscathed, but when he returned in the top of the eleventh he lost the lead when he gave up an RBI triple. He recorded one out and ultimately was charged with two earned runs and the loss. Brian Gilbert finished the game, giving up two hits before retiring the side. The Miracle had eight hits to go along with seven walks, led by Dalton Hicks and Tyler Grimes, who both had 2-5 nights. Second basemen Anderlin Mejia was on base three times, going 1-4 with a walk and he also scored a run. Adam Brett Walker was on base three times as well, also 1-4 with a walk, but the Miracle could not find a way to bring him across the plate. Despite scoring seven runs, the Miracle were done in by ten strikeouts and 4-16 hitting with runners in scoring position. The Miracle stranded ten runners. The Miracle are on break until June 16th for the Florida State LEague All-Star Game on Saturday in Bradenton. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 2 Box 2013 second round draftee Ryan Eades pitched seven innings and worked around nine hits to allow just two earned runs. Eades struck out two and walked one. Alex Muren pitched the final two innings for the save. Muren struck out three and walked one, but faced just six batters thanks to a double play. The Miracle were out hit on the night 9-5, but they took advantage of eight walks to push some runs across. Mitch Garver was the standout performer, going 2-3 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored. He's now hitting .312/.407/.489 in 62 games with the Kernels. Garver also caught James Ramsay stealing to end the first inning. No other Kernels hitter had multiple hits, but Engelb Vielma, Ryan Walker, Bryan Haar and Jon Murphy all reached safely twice thanks to all those free passes the River Bandits gave up. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Yohan Pino, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday's Probable Starters Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:15 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (6:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Lewis Thorpe (Listen)
  3. Eric R Pleiss
  4. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins took an early four-run lead courtesy of an Oswaldo Arcia grand slam that nearly landed in the Target Field Plaza OUTSIDE of Gate 34. Unfortunately the home team, dressed handsomely in powder blue throwback uniforms, could not hold the lead as Correia and the bullpen let the lead slip away and the Twins failed to rally. (photo credit Scott Blanchette) Transactions Thursday was a big day for the future of the organization with the Twins taking high school shortstop Nick Gordon fifth overall in the MLB draft, and then right hander Nick Burdi in the second round. Check out all the coverage on Gordon and Burdi here at TwinsDaily.com and check back all day on Friday as we continue to keep you up to date on the draft. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Charlotte 7 Box Trevor May was tagged with the loss, despite a quality start. He struck out nine Charlotte Knights and walked just two. He surrendered three runs, all earned, breaking his streak of THIRTY consecutive innings without giving up an earned run, a streak that dates back to May 7. Matt Hoffman, who relieved May in the seventh inning, really struggled last night. He was lit up for four runs in an inning and a third, including a two-run home run in the eighth. Edgar Ibarra finished the final two outs of the eighth inning and almost picked up the win as the Red Wings rallied in the top of the ninth. The Red Wings put their first six hitters on base in the bottom of the ninth, including a three-run home run by Daniel Ortiz to pull the Red Wings within one, his second homer in as many days. After the Ortiz bomb, Charlotte's Donnie Veal came in and set down the next three Rochester hitters to record his third save. Veal was not the only Charlotte pitcher Rochester struggled with, as they recorded just three hits in the first eight innings against the Knights' starter Charlie Leesman. Brad Nelson, the Wings' DH, was 3-4 with a double, Wilkin Ramirez was 2-4 with and RBI and Daniel Ortiz was 1-3 with a home run, three RBIs and a walk. No other Red Wings hitters was on base more than once. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Akron 0 Box In a good old-fashioned pitchers duel, Sean Gilmartin led the Rock Cats with seven and a third innings of scoreless ball, with eight strikeouts and zero walks. (Are we fully on the Gilmartin bandwagon yet? He now has a 2.82 ERA, 68 strike outs and just 16 walks in 67 innings). Ryan O'Rourke earned a hold with two thirds of an inning, striking out both hitters he faced, and Cole Johnson recorded his fourth save of the season with a clean ninth inning. When you win 1-0, you do not need a lot of offense, which is good because the Rock Cats had just five hits, all from three players. Brad Boyer and Mike Kvansnicka were both 2-3, but Tony Thomas was the hero of the night with a seventh inning solo home run, his only hit of the night, providing all the offense the Rock Cats would need. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 Box Fort Myers starter Tim Shibuya went just four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) to go along with two Ks and zero walks. Steven Gruver and Brandon Peterson both pitched two innings of relief. Gruver gave up an earned run, and Peterson picked up the win thanks to a late Miracle rally. Tyler Jones entered in the ninth and struck out two Lakeland Flying Tigers to earn the save. Seven of the nine Miracle hitters picked up hits, but only Dalton Hicks had more than one (2-4). Adam Brett Walker II (1-4) and Tyler Grimes (0-1) both had an RBI, and Travis Harrison, playing as the DH, had two. But the real story of the night was Eddie Rosario. He was just 1-4, but in a tied game in the bottom of the seventh, Rosario raced home from third on an infield chopper, sliding in just ahead of the throw to give the Miracle the win. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 7 Box Fernando Romero pitched very well in his Cedar Rapids debut with five innings of two run ball. He struck out six, walked one, gave up seven hits and a solo home run. Josue Montanez struggled tonight, picking up the loss with one inning of dreadful pitching. He faced eight batters, walked two, gave up three hits and five earned runs. Alex Muren held the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers hitless the rest of the way but the damage was already done. The Kernels picked up nine hits but were just 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Bryan Haar was 1-4 and had an RBI with the only Cedar Rapids extra base hit of the night, a double. Engelb Vielma was 2-5 with a strike out, Michael Quesada and Bo Altobelli were both 2-4, the other two Kernels with multi-hit games. Chad Christensen and Joel Licon had the other Kernel RBIs. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Sean Gilmartin - New Britain Rock Cats Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Daniel Ortiz - Rochester Red Wings Saturday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05 Central) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 Central) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (6:05 Central) – Jose Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (7:05 Central) – Ryan Eades (Listen)
  5. Eric R Pleiss
  6. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins fell behind the Rangers early and could not catch the Rangers down the stretch, despite Josh Willingham's best game of the year. The Twins open a three-game series in New York on Friday night, and then begin a four-game home and home series with the Brewers beginning Monday night in Milwaukee. Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Syracuse 5 Box Logan Darnell pitched just two innings, gave up one run (three earned), stuck out four and walked one. He yielded seven hits and threw just 66 pitches before being lifted for Deolis Guerra to start the third inning. Guerra pitched two perfect innnings, striking out three; then A.J. Achter entered the game in the fifth inning and did the same. Edgar Ibarra struggled through a couple innings but managed to give up just one run and struck out two. Michael Tonkin finished the ninth and struck out two but also gave up a run. All told, the bullpen pitched seven innings, struck out ten and walked no one, not a bad day when the starter can't pitch into the third inning. Taylor Hill, the starting pitcher for the Syracuse Chiefs, pitched eight innings to pick up his International League leading seventh win of the year. He only struck out two Red Wings, but limited them to just three hits. Eric Farris and James Beresford were both 1-4 at the top of the order and Chris Rahl, the number seven hitter, was 1-3 with the Red Wing's only other hit. Deibinson Romero was credited with the only RBI of the night with a sac fly. Chris Herrmann, playing right field, was lifted in the third with a sore wrist. Doug Bernier finished the game in his place. Rock Cats Review New Britain 1, Portland 2 Box This loss drops the Rock Cats to 22-27, the worst record in the Twins system. The Portland Sea Dogs scored their two runs in the first inning off Tyler Duffey. Duffey pitched six innings, turning in a quality start. He struck out five, walked just one and gave up only those two runs in the first inning. Jim Fuller and Adrian Salcedo took it the rest of the way, each with a scoreless inning of relief. The Rock Cats scored their lone run in the top of the ninth to put some heat on the Sea Dog's closer Noe Ramirez, but could not complete the comeback. Daniel Ortiz was the only Rock Cats hitter with multiple hits. He was 2-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored. The rest of the Rock Cats managed just four more hits and one more walk. The Rock Cats were 1 of 8 with runners in scoring position, with plenty of missed opportunities. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Clearwater 0 Box Jason Wheeler pitched eight innings of two-hit baseball to lead the Miracle over the Clearwater Threshers. Wheeler struck out seven and walked one, picking up his fourth win of the year. Madison Boer got the save for the Miracle with a perfect inning in the ninth. After Wheeler allowed the Threshers' Chris Swauger to reach in the fourth inning, the Threshers did not put another man on base. The Miracle managed only four hits on the night, but they picked up eleven walks and every Miracle hitter reached base at least once. Mike Gonzales, playing as the designated hitter and batting eighth, was 2-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the Miracle. Dalton Hicks also had a good night, reaching base three times with a 1-2 night at the plate with two walks and a run scored. Eddie Rosario returned to action following his 50-game suspension. He played centerfield and batted third for the Miracle. He went 0-3 and walked twice. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 8 Box Ryan Eades pitched five innings and gave up three runs but only one of those was earned. He struck out four, walked two and his ERA now sits at 5.66. Eades has come a long way since being drafted in the second round of last year's draft, but has not dominated the Low-A level the way many had expected. After Eades' exit, Chris Mazza came in and was tagged with the loss when things blew up on him. He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 1.1 inning. Jared Wilson came in to pitch with one out in the seventh and pitched 1.2 innings, giving up one run and striking out three. Felix Jorge pitched a scoreless ninth. The Kernels looked better with the bats than they did on the mound, but not by much. They did not draw a single walk on the day and had six strikeouts. Michael Quesada, the Kernels catcher, had a third of their hits with a 3-4 night, including a double, two RBIs and a run scored. No other Cedar Rapids player had multiple hits, but Mitch Garver was 1-4 with an RBI with the other Kernels extra base hit, another double. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Michael Quesada, Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday's Probable Starters (all times central) Gwinnett @ Rochester (6:05 pm) - Kris Johnson - (Listen) Binghamton @ New Britain (5:35 pm) - Sean Gilmartin - (Listen) Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:30 pm) - Brett Lee - (Listen) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm) - Ethan Mildren - (Listen) (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Tampa Yankees)
  7. Eric R Pleiss
  8. Eric R Pleiss
    In his most recent mock draft, Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com had the Twins taking Tyler Kolek at the fifth spot, but among the other candidates he listed the Twins might be looking at he included Kyle Freeland. Who is this guy? Coming out of a Denver, CO high school in 2011, Freeland was drafted in the 35th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, but did not sign and headed to play baseball at a Division-I school, the University of Evansville. Kyle Freeland has matured into dominating 6'4" lefty and he recently led the Purple Aces to a Missouri Valley regular season conference title. Freeland started 14 games in each of his three college seasons and pitched between 91.0 and 99.2 innings. His freshman and sophomore seasons he fared well for a young kid starting in a mid-major conference, but he never really put things together until his junior year. Coming into the 2014 season, Freeland had a strong strike out to walk rate, 154/48 (3.2 to 1), but this year he struck out more than a batter an inning (128 in just 99.2 innings) and increased his strikeout to walk rate to 10.6 to 1! Why the Twins will pick him: In a recent Game Report from Baseball America, Clint Longenecker described all of Freeland's offerings as above-average, with a plus slider and fastball. Freeland has a fastball that sits 90-92, but he can ramp it up to the mid-90s when he needs it, and with the impeccable command he has, he can put the baseball where ever he wants. His changeup is improving, and is still a plus offering in the mid-80s, and his slider comes in anywhere from high-70s to the mid-80s, keeping hitters off balance with both velocity and movement. Most of all, what the Twins like about Freeland is his ability to throw strikes. Freeland threw more than 70% strikes in 2014, and a couple of outings this past season threw more than 80% strikes. With that kind of control, the Twins would be selecting a strike-throwing machine, which they have historically valued, but also a player with elite offerings from all his pitches and the ability to get hitters out on both sides of the plate. Freeland only turned 21 about a week and a half ago, making him one of the younger college arms in the draft. The Twins were not afraid, two years ago, to draft one of the older high school players in the draft in Byron Buxton, but certainly any time they have an opportunity to draft a younger player, that makes the player a little more attractive. Why the Twins will not pick him: Throwing tons of strikes has worked for Freeland in college, especially in an overmatched Missouri Valley Conference schedule, but at the MLB level, hitters, for the most part, are going to be able to hit strikes. Freeland will likely have to change his strategy against a higher level of opponent. There is some concern regarding Freeland's high-effort delivery, which "leaves him spinning toward third base," according to Baseball America. Freeland's arm slot, which sometimes comes in a little below three-quarters, is also a concern. Ultimately, the Twins will not pick Freeland because he is not one of the five best players in the draft, and the Twins have consistently taken the best player available at their draft slot, and Freeland falls just a tick outside the top five. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkFxxBAQHw
  9. Eric R Pleiss
  10. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins fell behind early in San Francisco and could not take advantage of six walks from starter Tim Lincecum in the first six innings. Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer both had two hits at the top of the lineup but the rest of the Twins batters had a tough day against the Giants. Down in the Minor Leagues the Twins affiliates went 2-2. Red Wings Report Rochester 7, Scranton/WB 1 Box Mike Pelfrey pitched five scoreless innings, walking two, and giving up four hits. He threw just 83 pitches as he works his way back from his groin injury, but he managed only 43 strikes. Edgar Ibarra came into the game and gave up a solo home run, but otherwise pitched well, he struck out four, walked one, and gave up two hits. Deolis Guerra closed out the game with two perfect innings, and struck out two hitters. Red Wings hitters jumped on Scranton starter Brian Gordon for six early runs, chasing him from the game after four innings. Josh Willingham was 2-4 with a home run and a double, plus a walk and two RBIs. Oswaldo Arcia added a three run home run in the fourth inning, an finished the game 3-5 with a double and that home run, two runs scored and four RBIs. He's now hitting .315/.370/.616 in AAA and I would imagine the Twins are looking to recall him after the Giants series this weekend. Eric Farris and Brad Nelson also picked up a couple of hits and Dan Rohlfing picked up the remaining RBI. Pedro Florimon started a SS, went 0-4 with three strike outs. Ouch. Rock Cats Review New Britain 2, Binghamton 3 Box Taylor Rogers pitched six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out five Binghamton batters. He also walked three and gave up six hits, so while he managed to produce quality start, he did not have his best stuff. Cole Johnson pitched two innings in relief but after the Rock Cats tied the game at two-two in the top of the eighth, he was tagged for a solo home run and took the loss. Binghamton Mets pitchers Tyler Pill, Jon Velasquez, and Chase Bradford did not walk a single Rock Cat last night, and struck out eight. The Top of the New Britain order did their job, with the one through five hitters going a combined 8-20. The bottom of the order was a combined 0-13 with four strike outs. Reynaldo Rodriguez needed a big game after going hitless in his last three and he delivered, going 2-4 with a double last night. Corey Wimberly and Daniel Ortiz also picked up two hits a piece in the losing effort. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 2 Box Jason Wheeler pitched his way around seven hits and two runs (one earned) in a back and forth game to pick up the win for the Miracle. Brian Gilbert picked up a hold with two scoreless innings of relief, and Tyler Jones came on for the ninth and picked up a save. The Miracle took and early lead thanks to an Adam Brett Walker home run in the second, and after The Dunedin Blue Jays tied it up Jorge Polanco put the Miracle up for good with a sixth inning solo blast of his own. Despite six runs, and a couple of long balls, there were no standout performances at the plate, and Tyler Grimes was the only player to notch two hits. Dalton Hicks, batting cleanup for the Miracle was 0-3 with three strike outs and Nike Goodrum, hitting right after Hicks, was also 0-3 with two strike outs of his own. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 9 Box Ryan Eades faced 24 batters in just 3.2 innings in a losing effort for the Kernels. Have gave up 10 hits, four walks, and a home run and struck out just three. Alex Muren entered with two outs in the fourth, allowed an inherited running to score, but otherwise pitched two and a third scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel came on and mopped up for the Kernels, giving up just one hit in two innings of work. Quad Cities' starter Michael Feliz went just four and a third innings, but their bullpen finished strong, with four and two third scoreless innings, walking no one, and they struck out three. All totaled, the Kernels had just three hits on the night, one each by Mitch Garver (1-4), Jason Kanzler (1-4, 2B), and Joel Licon (1-2, BB). Licon had the best night, in addition to the hit and the walk, he also reached on an error and stole a base, but the Kernels could not manage a single run. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Hitterr of the Day - Oswaldo Arcia, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Mike Pelfrey, Rochester Red Wings Saturday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (6:05 CT) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CT) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:05 CT) – Brett Lee (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:00 CT) – Ethan Mildren (Listen)
  11. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins fell behind early in San Francisco and could not take advantage of six walks from starter Tim Lincecum in the first six innings. Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer both had two hits at the top of the lineup but the rest of the Twins batters had a tough day against the Giants. Down in the Minor Leagues the Twins affiliates went 2-2. [ATTACH=CONFIG]7548[/ATTACH] Red Wings Report Rochester 7, Scranton/WB 1 Box Mike Pelfrey pitched five scoreless innings, walking two, and giving up four hits. He threw just 83 pitches as he works his way back from his groin injury, but he managed only 43 strikes. Edgar Ibarra came into the game and gave up a solo home run, but otherwise pitched well, he struck out four, walked one, and gave up two hits. Deolis Guerra closed out the game with two perfect innings, and struck out two hitters. Red Wings hitters jumped on Scranton starter Brian Gordon for six early runs, chasing him from the game after four innings. Josh Willingham was 2-4 with a home run and a double, plus a walk and two RBIs. Oswaldo Arcia added a three run home run in the fourth inning, an finished the game 3-5 with a double and that home run, two runs scored and four RBIs. He's now hitting .315/.370/.616 in AAA and I would imagine the Twins are looking to recall him after the Giants series this weekend. Eric Farris and Brad Nelson also picked up a couple of hits and Dan Rohlfing picked up the remaining RBI. Pedro Florimon started a SS, went 0-4 with three strike outs. Ouch. Rock Cats Review New Britain 2, Binghamton 3 Box Taylor Rogers pitched six innings and gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out five Binghamton batters. He also walked three and gave up six hits, so while he managed to produce quality start, he did not have his best stuff. Cole Johnson pitched two innings in relief but after the Rock Cats tied the game at two-two in the top of the eighth, he was tagged for a solo home run and took the loss. Binghamton Mets pitchers Tyler Pill, Jon Velasquez, and Chase Bradford did not walk a single Rock Cat last night, and struck out eight. The Top of the New Brighton order did their job, with the one through five hitters going a combined 8-20. The bottom of the order was a combined 0-13 with four strike outs. Reynaldo Rodriguez needed a big game after going hitless in his last three and he delivered, going 2-4 with a double last night. Corey Wimberly and Daniel Ortiz also picked up two hits a piece in the losing effort. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 2 Box Jason Wheeler pitched his way around seven hits and two runs (one earned) in a back and forth game to pick up the win for the Miracle. Brian Gilbert picked up a hold with two scoreless innings of relief, and Tyler Jones came on for the ninth and picked up a save. The Miracle took and early lead thanks to an Adam Brett Walker home run in the second, and after The Dunedin Blue Jays tied it up Jorge Polanco put the Miracle up for good with a sixth inning solo blast of his own. Despite six runs, and a couple of long balls, there were no standout performances at the plate, and Tyler Grimes was the only player to notch two hits. Dalton Hicks, batting cleanup for the Miracle was 0-3 with three strike outs and Nike Goodrum, hitting right after Hicks, was also 0-3 with two strike outs of his own. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 9 Box Ryan Eades faced 24 batters in just 3.2 innings in a losing effort for the Kernels. Have gave up 10 hits, four walks, and a home run and struck out just three. Alex Muren entered with two outs in the fourth, allowed an inherited running to score, but otherwise pitched two and a third scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel came on and mopped up for the Kernels, giving up just one hit in two innings of work. Quad Cities' starter Michael Feliz went just four and a third innings, but their bullpen finished strong, with four and two third scoreless innings, walking no one, and they struck out three. All totaled, the Kernels had just three hits on the night, one each by Mitch Garver (1-4), Jason Kanzler (1-4, 2B), and Joel Licon (1-2, BB). Licon had the best night, in addition to the hit and the walk, he also reached on an error and stole a base, but the Kernels could not manage a single run. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Oswaldo Arcia, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Mike Pelfrey, Rochester Red Wings Saturday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (6:05 CT) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CT) – TBD (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:05 CT) – Brett Lee (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:00 CT) – Ethan Mildren (Listen)
  12. Eric R Pleiss
  13. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins were off Thursday and begin a three game series with the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. The Twins have been playing well against good baseball teams over the past couple weeks, but winning a series on the road against a surprisingly tough Giants team will be a real test for the Twins. It was a tough night in the minor leagues for the Twins affiliates, with the Twins organization picking up only one win. Red Wings Report Rochester 2, Scranton/WB 1 Box Alex Meyer started for the Red Wings and pitched only 5.1 innings before being lifted with the bases loaded. His final line, with only one run surrendered, looks decent only because Yohan Pino came into the game and picked up two outs to end the threat. Pino struck out the side in he seventh to close out his appearance.* Aaron Thompson picked up a hold with 0.2 of an inning, and Michael Tonkin finished the game with a four-out save. The Red Wings managed only six hits, but Brad Nelson, the Red Wings first basemen, in the midst of a 1-37 slump, put the Wings ahead 2-1 in the seventh with a solo home run. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-4 and picked up the other Red Wings RBI, and the rehabbing Josh Willingham was also 1-4. Maybe even more interesting, neither Arcia or Willingham had a strike out Thursday. Mike Pelfrey will make another rehab start for the Red Wings Friday night. *Pino continues to have a special 2014 season, picking up his sixth win of the year, splitting time between the bullpen and starting rotation. He has given up only six runs all year and his ERA now sits at 1.42. He's 30 years old and has yet to reach the big leagues, despite spending parts of each of the past five years in Triple-A. Rock Cats Review New Britain 0, Richmond 0 Box The Rock Cats and Flying Squirrels were suspended after an inning and a half in New Britain because of rain. There was a delay of almost two hours before the game was officially called off. The Rock Cats are on the road tomorrow against Binghamton, so the game will have to be made up later in the year. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 5, Dunedin 7 Box Alex Wimmers did not have his best stuff on Thursday: He walked five, struck out four, and gave up seven hits and six earned runs in four innings. Wimmers now has a 4.62 ERA. Wimmers, a 2010 first round draft pick and former Big Ten pitcher of the year has really struggled the past two years after a case of the yips and an eventual Tommy John surgery derailed his minor league career in 2012. After Wimmers was bounced, Mason Melotakis pitched three innings, giving up a run on two hits and Steven Gruver pitched a scoreless eighth to close out the night. Despite giving up six early runs, the Miracle stormed back with a four-run sixth to close the gap to two runs, but the Blue Jays' bullpen shut down the Miracle the rest of the way. Travis Harrison extended his hitting streak to twelve games with a 1-3 night. Adam Brett Walker II and Mike Gonzales hit back-to-back dingers in that four-run sixth, the first time the Miracles have had back-to-back home runs all year. ABW was the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, but the first seven hitters in the Miracle lineup all had a hit. Stuart Turner, hitting eighth, and Max Kepler hitting ninth, were both 0-4 with two strike outs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 11 Box The Kernels had an early three to one lead, but Aaron Slegers had a forgettable night, giving up ten runs (all earned) in three innings. He gave up 14 hits, did not walk anyone and struck out just one of the twenty-two batters he faced. Slegers' ERA jumped all the way up the 5.36. He was finally pulled after pitching to four batters in the fourth, and Jared Wilson came in and pitched three innings of scoreless ball. Yorman Landa finished the final two innings, giving up a single run. The Kernels relievers struck out nine River Bandits and walked just two. Mitch Garver, Bryan Haar, and Jason Kanzler were all 2-4 on the night. Kanzler, recently activated from the disabled list, hit a home run in the eight, his second in two games. Only two other Kernels contributed hits of their own, with Ryan Walker and Chad Christensen both going 1-5. Kernels batters struck out eleven times, including three by second basemen Tanner Vavra. Twins Daily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Michael Tonkin, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels Friday's Probable Starters Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (6:05 CT) – Mike Pelfrey (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CT) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 CT) – TBD (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 CT) – Ryan Eades (Listen)
  14. Eric R Pleiss
  15. Eric R Pleiss
    Kurt Suzuki is out producing the expectations of even the most optimistic Twins fan. He’s 30 years old and coming in to 2014 had a career line of .253/.309/.375, and even that is rosy considering what he’s done the past two seasons, .234/.282/.332 (for reference, Talk to Contact favorite, Drew “Boat Anchor” Butera, is hitting .231/.300/.385 in 2014). So the Twins bought low on a guy and brought him in with the hopes that he could help out Josmil Pinto, and because Suzuki is seen as a good “clubhouse guy.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/suzuki.jpegMinnesota Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (8) hits a two-run single against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning of an opening day baseball game at U.S Cellular Field in Chicago on March 31, 2014. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports) Through his first 34 games of the year, Suzuki is hitting .332/.388/.430. He has an OBP north of .380 against both left and right handed pitchers. The Twins like what he’s doing with the bat so much they have stuck him in the lineup four times as the starting designated hitter. Originally published at http://knuckleballsblog.com/ Maybe just a hot start, right? He’s actually been better in May than he was in March and April. He started hot, and now he is getting hotter. Over his entire career, Suzuki has played better in the first month of the year than any other month, exactly what you might expect from a catcher that the Oakland Athletics ran out as their everyday catcher at least 117 times for five straight years (he caught his fewest games since his rookie season last year, 93). Kurt Suzuki is doing all of this on a one-year, $2.75 million dollar contract. the Twins bought low and now they are in a great position to turn Suzuki into some surplus value via trade. Or, because he is only 30 years old, the Twins might consider signing him to a modest contract extension, just as they did with Ryan Doumit.* *Ryan Doumit hit .275/.320/.461 in 2012 in his first year (age 31 season) with the Twins. The Twins extended him for two additional years with an extra $7 million dollars in late June 2012, making his total deal with the Twins three years/$10 million. With Doumit, the Twins were basically getting output from Doumit in line with his career numbers, so there was a little less risk, but in two of the three seasons prior to coming to Minnesota, Doumit either hit poorly or was injured (or both), so they were able to sign (what looks like now) such a team friendly deal. The Twins ultimately flipped Doumit to Atlanta** following a poor 2013 season which saw Doumit struggle at the plate and with concussion issues. He’s hitting .200/.217/.222 for the Braves. **The Twins received LHP Sean Gilmartin in return for Doumit, a former first round draft pick (2011), who is currently performing well at AA New Britain (3-2, 3.63 ERA 39.2 IP, 12 BB, 37K) and if the Twins raid the AAA roster for pitching prospects Trevor May and Alex Meyer this summer, Gilmartin should be one of the logical selections to move up to AAA, where he pitched for parts of 2012 and 2013 in the Braves Org. I would guess that the Twins do not expect Kurt Suzuki to continue avoiding outs in almost 40% of his plate appearances, but ZiPS projects the 30 year old catcher to produce as a MLB regular the rest of the way. Combined with with he’s already done in 2014, he’ll end up with a nice 2014 line. If Suzuki keeps up his current pace into the All-Star break, or even just keeps his line to something like .300/.350/.400, which would represent some fairly significant regression over the next month plus, there will be a handful of teams calling Terry Ryan/Rob Antony looking to acquire the veteran catcher for a post season run. Because the Twins have Josmil Pinto (even with his raw defensive skills), and because they are not in a win-now situation, the Twins could feel relatively comfortable flipping Suzuki. In a trade scenario, the Twins would probably hope to fetch an intriguing Minor League player, as well as some MLB outfield depth, maybe a fourth outfielder capabale of playing center field and aleviating some of the Twins’ current outfield issues (especially if Sam Fuldexperiences setbacks returning from the concussion disabled list). Of course, what the Twins ultimately receive for Suzuki will depend on who their trading partner is, and where the Twins think they can add the most value. If the Twins look to extend Suzuki, I think that something similar to the Ryan Doumit deal is realistic, but with a slightly higher annual value. I would not be surprised if he received two additional years for $10 million dollars, bringing his total package in Minnesota to three years and just under $13 million. He’s younger than Doumit, and he is a much more complete player, providing value on both sides of the ball. If I am the Twins, I would attempt to extend Suzuki. The extension would not keep the Twins from trading Suzuki in a year or two, and if Josmil Pinto cannot live up to the hype from his 2013 call up when he hit .342/.398/.566, then the Twins have some hope of a bridge to the arrival of their next young catcher (who might be 2013 third-rounder Stuart Turner). If the Twins can make the extension team friendly then there is not a lot of risk in a deal like that, but if Suzuki and his agent (MVP Sports Group) are looking for a larger deal coming off of a big 2014, then the Twins should feel comfortable walking away. What would you do? For more Twins news, including daily GameChats, visit http://knuckleballsblog.com/
  16. Eric R Pleiss
    Kurt Suzuki is out producing the expectations of even the most optimistic Twins fan. He’s 30 years old and coming in to 2014 had a career line of .253/.309/.375, and even that is rosy considering what he’s done the past two seasons, .234/.282/.332 (for reference, Talk to Contact favorite, Drew “Boat Anchor” Butera, is hitting .231/.300/.385 in 2014). So the Twins bought low on a guy and brought him in with the hopes that he could help out Josmil Pinto, and because Suzuki is seen as a good “clubhouse guy.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/suzuki.jpegMinnesota Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (8) hits a two-run single against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning of an opening day baseball game at U.S Cellular Field in Chicago on March 31, 2014. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports) Through his first 34 games of the year, Suzuki is hitting .332/.388/.430. He has an OBP north of .380 against both left and right handed pitchers. The Twins like what he’s doing with the bat so much they have stuck him in the lineup four times as the starting designated hitter. Originally published at http://knuckleballsblog.com/ Maybe just a hot start, right? He’s actually been better in May than he was in March and April. He started hot, and now he is getting hotter. Over his entire career, Suzuki has played better in the first month of the year than any other month, exactly what you might expect from a catcher that the Oakland Athletics ran out as their everyday catcher at least 117 times for five straight years (he caught his fewest games since his rookie season last year, 93). Kurt Suzuki is doing all of this on a one-year, $2.75 million dollar contract. the Twins bought low and now they are in a great position to turn Suzuki into some surplus value via trade. Or, because he is only 30 years old, the Twins might consider signing him to a modest contract extension, just as they did with Ryan Doumit.* *Ryan Doumit hit .275/.320/.461 in 2012 in his first year (age 31 season) with the Twins. The Twins extended him for two additional years with an extra $7 million dollars in late June 2012, making his total deal with the Twins three years/$10 million. With Doumit, the Twins were basically getting output from Doumit in line with his career numbers, so there was a little less risk, but in two of the three seasons prior to coming to Minnesota, Doumit either hit poorly or was injured (or both), so they were able to sign (what looks like now) such a team friendly deal. The Twins ultimately flipped Doumit to Atlanta** following a poor 2013 season which saw Doumit struggle at the plate and with concussion issues. He’s hitting .200/.217/.222 for the Braves. **The Twins received LHP Sean Gilmartin in return for Doumit, a former first round draft pick (2011), who is currently performing well at AA New Britain (3-2, 3.63 ERA 39.2 IP, 12 BB, 37K) and if the Twins raid the AAA roster for pitching prospects Trevor May and Alex Meyer this summer, Gilmartin should be one of the logical selections to move up to AAA, where he pitched for parts of 2012 and 2013 in the Braves Org. I would guess that the Twins do not expect Kurt Suzuki to continue avoiding outs in almost 40% of his plate appearances, but ZiPS projects the 30 year old catcher to produce as a MLB regular the rest of the way. Combined with with he’s already done in 2014, he’ll end up with a nice 2014 line. If Suzuki keeps up his current pace into the All-Star break, or even just keeps his line to something like .300/.350/.400, which would represent some fairly significant regression over the next month plus, there will be a handful of teams calling Terry Ryan/Rob Antony looking to acquire the veteran catcher for a post season run. Because the Twins have Josmil Pinto (even with his raw defensive skills), and because they are not in a win-now situation, the Twins could feel relatively comfortable flipping Suzuki. In a trade scenario, the Twins would probably hope to fetch an intriguing Minor League player, as well as some MLB outfield depth, maybe a fourth outfielder capabale of playing center field and aleviating some of the Twins’ current outfield issues (especially if Sam Fuldexperiences setbacks returning from the concussion disabled list). Of course, what the Twins ultimately receive for Suzuki will depend on who their trading partner is, and where the Twins think they can add the most value. If the Twins look to extend Suzuki, I think that something similar to the Ryan Doumit deal is realistic, but with a slightly higher annual value. I would not be surprised if he received two additional years for $10 million dollars, bringing his total package in Minnesota to three years and just under $13 million. He’s younger than Doumit, and he is a much more complete player, providing value on both sides of the ball. If I am the Twins, I would attempt to extend Suzuki. The extension would not keep the Twins from trading Suzuki in a year or two, and if Josmil Pinto cannot live up to the hype from his 2013 call up when he hit .342/.398/.566, then the Twins have some hope of a bridge to the arrival of their next young catcher (who might be 2013 third-rounder Stuart Turner). If the Twins can make the extension team friendly then there is not a lot of risk in a deal like that, but if Suzuki and his agent (MVP Sports Group) are looking for a larger deal coming off of a big 2014, then the Twins should feel comfortable walking away. What would you do? For more Twins news, including daily GameChats, visit http://knuckleballsblog.com/
  17. Eric R Pleiss
    Kurt Suzuki is out producing the expectations of even the most optimistic Twins fan. He’s 30 years old and coming in to 2014 had a career line of .253/.309/.375, and even that is rosy considering what he’s done the past two seasons, .234/.282/.332 (for reference, Talk to Contact favorite, Drew “Boat Anchor” Butera, is hitting .231/.300/.385 in 2014). So the Twins bought low on a guy and brought him in with the hopes that he could help out Josmil Pinto, and because Suzuki is seen as a good “clubhouse guy.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/suzuki.jpegMinnesota Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (8) hits a two-run single against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning of an opening day baseball game at U.S Cellular Field in Chicago on March 31, 2014. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports) Through his first 34 games of the year, Suzuki is hitting .332/.388/.430. He has an OBP north of .380 against both left and right handed pitchers. The Twins like what he’s doing with the bat so much they have stuck him in the lineup four times as the starting designated hitter. Originally published at http://knuckleballsblog.com/ Maybe just a hot start, right? He’s actually been better in May than he was in March and April. He started hot, and now he is getting hotter. Over his entire career, Suzuki has played better in the first month of the year than any other month, exactly what you might expect from a catcher that the Oakland Athletics ran out as their everyday catcher at least 117 times for five straight years (he caught his fewest games since his rookie season last year, 93). Kurt Suzuki is doing all of this on a one-year, $2.75 million dollar contract. the Twins bought low and now they are in a great position to turn Suzuki into some surplus value via trade. Or, because he is only 30 years old, the Twins might consider signing him to a modest contract extension, just as they did with Ryan Doumit.* *Ryan Doumit hit .275/.320/.461 in 2012 in his first year (age 31 season) with the Twins. The Twins extended him for two additional years with an extra $7 million dollars in late June 2012, making his total deal with the Twins three years/$10 million. With Doumit, the Twins were basically getting output from Doumit in line with his career numbers, so there was a little less risk, but in two of the three seasons prior to coming to Minnesota, Doumit either hit poorly or was injured (or both), so they were able to sign (what looks like now) such a team friendly deal. The Twins ultimately flipped Doumit to Atlanta** following a poor 2013 season which saw Doumit struggle at the plate and with concussion issues. He’s hitting .200/.217/.222 for the Braves. **The Twins received LHP Sean Gilmartin in return for Doumit, a former first round draft pick (2011), who is currently performing well at AA New Britain (3-2, 3.63 ERA 39.2 IP, 12 BB, 37K) and if the Twins raid the AAA roster for pitching prospects Trevor May and Alex Meyer this summer, Gilmartin should be one of the logical selections to move up to AAA, where he pitched for parts of 2012 and 2013 in the Braves Org. I would guess that the Twins do not expect Kurt Suzuki to continue avoiding outs in almost 40% of his plate appearances, but ZiPS projects the 30 year old catcher to produce as a MLB regular the rest of the way. Combined with with he’s already done in 2014, he’ll end up with a nice 2014 line. If Suzuki keeps up his current pace into the All-Star break, or even just keeps his line to something like .300/.350/.400, which would represent some fairly significant regression over the next month plus, there will be a handful of teams calling Terry Ryan/Rob Antony looking to acquire the veteran catcher for a post season run. Because the Twins have Josmil Pinto (even with his raw defensive skills), and because they are not in a win-now situation, the Twins could feel relatively comfortable flipping Suzuki. In a trade scenario, the Twins would probably hope to fetch an intriguing Minor League player, as well as some MLB outfield depth, maybe a fourth outfielder capabale of playing center field and aleviating some of the Twins’ current outfield issues (especially if Sam Fuldexperiences setbacks returning from the concussion disabled list). Of course, what the Twins ultimately receive for Suzuki will depend on who their trading partner is, and where the Twins think they can add the most value. If the Twins look to extend Suzuki, I think that something similar to the Ryan Doumit deal is realistic, but with a slightly higher annual value. I would not be surprised if he received two additional years for $10 million dollars, bringing his total package in Minnesota to three years and just under $13 million. He’s younger than Doumit, and he is a much more complete player, providing value on both sides of the ball. If I am the Twins, I would attempt to extend Suzuki. The extension would not keep the Twins from trading Suzuki in a year or two, and if Josmil Pinto cannot live up to the hype from his 2013 call up when he hit .342/.398/.566, then the Twins have some hope of a bridge to the arrival of their next young catcher (who might be 2013 third-rounder Stuart Turner). If the Twins can make the extension team friendly then there is not a lot of risk in a deal like that, but if Suzuki and his agent (MVP Sports Group) are looking for a larger deal coming off of a big 2014, then the Twins should feel comfortable walking away. What would you do? For more Twins news, including daily GameChats, visit http://knuckleballsblog.com/
  18. Eric R Pleiss
    If you can still remember early April, Chris Colabello was a monster. He was hitting .346/.386/.577 through the first 20 games of the year. He had nine multi-hit games, and went hitless just four times. He was the darling of the American League for a while due to some timely hitting and a bunch of RBIs. But his line since April 23 tells me the league has started to adjust. Since April 23, Colabello has been hitting an anemic .125/.188/.188. Over those 17 games he has just two extra base hits, five walks, and twenty-five strikeouts. He hasn't had a single two-hit game over that span, and he has more games (nine) without a hit, than he does games with a hit (eight). Originally published at http://www.baseballtwins.com. So what is ailing Colabello? Let's start by taking a look at his spray charts. This is a good place to look for symptoms of Colabello's issue. We'll use the April 23 date to split up his season. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NQfoieke-Sw/U3Uabhm1ykI/AAAAAAAAFgI/kRsvLOi_zLw/s1600/colabello+pre.gif What we see in the early season spray chart is that Colabello was hitting the ball all over the field. He did a nice job of hitting some fly balls the other way, but still had plenty of power to center field and his pull side. We also see line drives spread out pretty evenly across the diamond. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEiO2-rQNUI/U3Uabqyaf1I/AAAAAAAAFgE/KP9BI05rEb4/s1600/colabello+post.gif After April 23, Colabello's chart looks completely different. We see a higher percentage of his balls in play barely making it out of the batter's box, and lots of infield grounders. There are only a handfull of line drives, and no fly balls hit to his pull side. He's either poking the ball the other way, or rolling over the ball and grounding out to the shortstop and third basemen. What does this tell us, other than that Colabello has been struggling? Well, the lack of balls being hit to his pull side is discouraging. Colabello needs to be able to drive the ball to his pull side to be really effective. A couple of things could be going on with pitchers. They could be pitching him away more frequently. Last year there was a lot of talk about how far away from home plate Colabello stands, begging the opposing pitcher to attack the outside corner where Colabello would have a harder time getting to fastballs. The other thing that could be happening is that Colabello is struggling to catch up to MLB caliber fastballs, and after a hot first month, the opponents started to pick up on this, and are challenging him more with the fastball, throwing less breaking balls at him. Let's take a look at the data and see what pitchers are doing to Colabello. We'll start with the pitch location data, to see if pitchers are pounding him on the outside corner. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBLpP2DCcI/U3UckcSz2iI/AAAAAAAAFgY/IxskCzFJWcs/s1600/pitches+pre.gif What we see at the beginning of the year is a whole lot of pitches down in the zone, and while there is some evidence that pitchers prefer to pitch him outside, he was still seeing a lot of pitches over the plate and inside. After his mostly disappointing 2013 season, it was not surprising to see pitchers unafraid to throw the ball over the plate to Colabello, and to see what he did with it. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xgUdI420jM/U3UckXG2QqI/AAAAAAAAFgc/M7RYfBS2PFA/s1600/pitches+post+23.gif After April 23, you see a lot more pitches down and away from Colabello, the part of the zone he has the most trouble covering because of his stance away from the plate. All of a sudden there are almost no more pitches down and in, a significant change from the early part of the season. We also see, surprisingly, that Colabello saw 24 pitches down the heart of the plate, belt high, a typically dangerous place for a baseball to be. But other than down and away, that is where Colabello is seeing the 2nd most pitches! We know that pitchers are in fact pitching Colabello more to the outside, but they are also throwing him pitches right into the heart of the plate, so there has to be more to it. Maybe pitch types will tell us a little more. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKt7kDdVs4s/U3UhYc9zu-I/AAAAAAAAFgo/-vakUnCSPL4/s1600/pitch+type+by+time.gif What we see in this graph is the first two months of the season, Colabello is seeing a lot more fastballs, almost 10% more, and a lot less off speed stuff. This, combined with a spray chart filled hit balls in play to his push side, leads me to believe that Colabello is having a hard time catching up to fastballs. Pitchers are comfortable throwing him fastballs because even when he recognizes the pitch, he has trouble hitting it with authority. Pitchers are throwing less off-speed pitches because those are the types of pitches that Colabello can handle. He's also seeing a lot more breaking balls than he was early in the year. When he's cheating a little bit to catch up to the fastball, he is more susceptible to the breaking ball, especially late break that Colabello would be unable to adjust to. This is not good news. While there are some minor adjustments Colabello could make, bat speed is pretty tough to improve. He either has it, or he doesn't. Standing a little closer to the plate could give Colabello better coverage down and away, and he can certainly help himself by laying off some of those outside pitches, but there might not be much Colabello can do to look more like the hitter he was through the first 20 games of the 2014 season. For more baseball #analysis including the Bert Blyleven Trade Tree, visit http://www.baseballtwins.com.
  19. Eric R Pleiss
    If you can still remember the early part of the season, Chris Colabello was a monster. He was hitting .346/.386/.577 through the first 20 games of the year. He had nine multi-hit games, and went hitless just four times. He was the darling of the American League for a while due to some timely hitting and a bunch of RBIs. But his line since April 23 tells me the league has started to adjust. Since April 23, Colabello has been hitting an anemic .125/.188/.188. Over those 17 games he has just two extra base hits, five walks, and twenty five strike outs. He hasn't had a single two-hit game over that span, and he has more games (nine) without a hit, than he does games with a hit (eight). Originally published at http://www.baseballtwins.com. So what is ailing Colabello? Let's start by taking a look at his spray charts. This is a good place to look for symptoms of Colabello's issue. We will not be sure what is going on, but we might be pointed in the right direction. We'll use the April 23 date to split up his season. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NQfoieke-Sw/U3Uabhm1ykI/AAAAAAAAFgI/kRsvLOi_zLw/s1600/colabello+pre.gif What we see in the early season spray chart is that Colabello was hitting the ball all over the field. He did a nice job of hitting some fly balls the other way, but still had plenty of power to center field and his pull side. We also see line drives spread out pretty evenly across the diamond. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CEiO2-rQNUI/U3Uabqyaf1I/AAAAAAAAFgE/KP9BI05rEb4/s1600/colabello+post.gif After April 23, Colabello's chart looks completely different. We see a higher percentage of his balls in play barely making it out of the batter's box, and lots of infield grounders. There are only a handfull of line drives, and no fly balls hit to his pull side. He's either poking the ball the other way, or rolling over the ball and grounding out to the shortstop and third basemen. What does this tell us, other than that Colabello has been struggling? Well, the lack of balls being hit to his pull side is discouraging. Colabello needs to be able to drive the ball to his pull side to be really effective. A couple of things could be going on with pitchers, they could be pitching him away more frequently. Last year there was a lot of talk about how far away from home plate Colabello stands, begging the opposing pitcher to attack the outside corner where Colabello would have a harder time getting to fastballs. The other thing that could be happening is that Colabello is struggling to catch up to MLB caliber fastballs, and after a hot first month, the opponents started to pick up on this, and are challenging him more with the fastball, throwing less breaking balls at him. Let's take a look at the data and see what pitchers are doing to Colabello. We'll start with the pitch location data, to see if pitchers are pounding him on the outside corner. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBLpP2DCcI/U3UckcSz2iI/AAAAAAAAFgY/IxskCzFJWcs/s1600/pitches+pre.gif What we see at the beginning of the year is a whole lot of pitches down in the zone, and while there is some evidence that pitchers prefer to pitch him outside, he was still seeing a lot of pitches over the plate and inside. After his mostly disappointing 2013 season, it was not surprising to see pitchers unafraid to throw the ball over the plate to Colabello, and to see what he did with it. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xgUdI420jM/U3UckXG2QqI/AAAAAAAAFgc/M7RYfBS2PFA/s1600/pitches+post+23.gif After April 23, you see a lot more pitches down and away from Colabello, the part of the zone he has the most trouble covering because of his stance away from the plate. All of a sudden there are almost no more pitches down and in, a significant change from the early part of the season. We also see, surprisingly, that Colabello saw 24 pitches down the heart of the plate, belt high, a typically dangerous place for a baseball to be. But other than down and away, that is where Colabello is seeing the 2nd most pitches! We know that pitchers are in fact pitching Colabello more to the outside, but they are also throwing him pitches right into the heart of the plate, so there has to be more to it. Maybe pitch types will tell us a little more. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKt7kDdVs4s/U3UhYc9zu-I/AAAAAAAAFgo/-vakUnCSPL4/s1600/pitch+type+by+time.gif What we see in this graph is the first two months of the season, Colabello is seeing a lot more fastballs, almost 10% more, and a lot less off speed stuff. This, combined with a spray chart filled hit balls in play to his push side, leads me to believe that Colabello is having a hard time catching up to fastballs. Pitchers are comfortable throwing him fastballs because even when he recognizes the pitch, he has trouble hitting it with authority. Pitchers are throwing less off-speed pitches because those are the types of pitches that Colabello can handle. He's also seeing a lot more breaking balls than he was early in the year. When he's cheating a little bit to catch up to the fastball, he is more susceptible to the breaking ball, especially late break that Colabello would be unable to adjust to. This is not good news. While there are some minor adjustments Colabello could make, bat speed is pretty tough to improve. He either has it, or he doesn't. Standing a little closer to the plate could give Colabello better coverage down and away, and he can certainly help himself by laying off some of those outside pitches, but there might not be much Colabello can do to look more like the hitter he was through the first 20 games of the 2014 season. For more baseball #analysis including the Bert Blyleven Trade Tree, visit http://www.baseballtwins.com.
  20. Eric R Pleiss
    "When you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail." - Benjamin Franklin On Wednesday the Twins made sure it was known that they were not happy with Aaron Hicks and his level of preparation at the major league level. On Thursday, the Twins squandered a great start from Phil Hughes (the Talk to Contact Pitcher of the Week). But then Hicks bailed out the Twins with a 10th inning victory, with a walk off double to defeat the Red Sox. Down in the minor leagues, things did not go quite as well for the Twins affiliates. Red Wings Report Rochester 5, Columbus 4 BOX The Red Wings had a big first inning and then held on for the victory thanks to a special outing from Alex Meyer. Meyer picked up his second win of the season, pitching five innings of no-hit baseball before reaching his pitch limit. Meyer struck out seven Clippers hitters, but he also struggled with command and issued four free passes. His ERA now stands at 3.79 and he has 49 strikeouts in 40.1 innings in 2014. Deolis Guerra entered the game in the sixth and stretched the no- hitter into the seventh inning before being tagged for three runs (two earned). Ryan Pressly picked up a hold, but pitched only two-thirds of an inning and gave up two hits and a run. Aaron Thompson picked up his first save of the season, striking out the side to end the game. The Red Wings were led to victory by a first inning grand slam from cleanup hitter Deibinson Romero, his only hit of the game. Oswaldo Arcia was the DH last night and went 2-4 with a double, a strike out and two runs scored. His average at AAA is now .298. Chris Herrmann had another big night, 3-4 with a double, and is now 12-26 with a home run, a triple and three doubles since being demoted a week ago. Also of note, the Red Wings' center fielder, Eric Farris, extended his hitting streak to eight games. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Portland 13 BOX The Rock Cats gave up TWENTY hits and committed two errors in the loss to the Sea Dogs, snapping the Rock Cats' four game winning streak. Sean Gilmartin pitched five innings and was charged with only one earned run, but defensive miscues led to two unearned runs. He left the game with the score tied at three. Adrian Salcedo was the second man up for the Rock Cats and was tagged with his fifth loss of the season (0-5). Salcedo pitched just 1.1 innings, giving up five runs, all earned, on six hits, including the go-ahead two run home run from Portland's biggest star, Mookie Betts, who had three hits and extended his reached base safely streak to 65 games. Cole Johnson came in next and gave up just his third run of the season in 1.2 innings of work. Ryan O'Rourke pitched the ninth and gave up four more runs to close out a mostly forgettable day from the New Britain bullpen. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 3-4 with a strikeout and a walk, extending his hitting streak to a season-high ten games. Kennys Vargas extended his own hitting streak to five games with a 1-3 performance with two walks, and he has now hit safely in 20 of the last 23 Rock Cats games. Brad Boyer also reached base three times for the Rock Cats with two hits and a walk. Vargas and Daniel Ortiz both had doubles, the Rock Cats' only two extra base hits of the evening. Miracle Matters Fort Myers and Brevard County RAIN OUT Heavy rain forced the cancellation of the series finale between the Miracle and the Manatees. The Miracle return home on Friday to begin a four-game series with the Daytona Cubs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 6 BOX Not much happening on either side of the ball last night for the Kernels. Felix Jorge started for the Kernels and picked up the loss (2-4) after 4.1 innings in which he was tagged with five runs (four earned). He walked four batters and struck out just two. His ERA now sits at 8.80. Yorman Landa pitched 2.1 innings of relief, surrendering one run and Jared Wilson closed out the game in the ninth, striking out the side. Offensively, the Kernels managed just four hits, all coming in the first four innings. The best performance of the night came from Bo Altobelli, who was 1-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. After the fourth inning, Burlington reliever Alfonso Alcantara came in and pitched five innings of no-hit baseball to finish off the Kernels. TwinsDaily Players of the Day Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Reynaldo Rodriguez, New Britain Rock Cats Friday's Probable Starters Columbus @ Rochester (6:05pm Central) – Mike Pelfrey (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00pm Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:05pm Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30pm Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Since the Twins beat the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon thanks to a walk-off winner from Aaron Hicks, you can get 50% off your online order at PapaJohns.com on Friday using the code "TWINSWIN".
  21. Eric R Pleiss
  22. Eric R Pleiss
    The Minnesota Twins dropped a day game to the Tribe on Thursday afternoon, losing the four-game series three games to one. The Twins fell behind early and while they managed to pull within one run after the top of the seventh, the Indians pulled away for a 9-4 victory. Every team in the Twins system was on the road today, and the road was not a friendly place. Transactions The Twins announced that they called up Matt Guerrier. To make room for Guerrier on the 40-man roster, the Twins DFAd Brooks Raley, and he was claimed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. To make room for Guerrier on the 25-man roster, the Twins optioned lefty Logan Darnell back to AAA. Before Thursday's game, Sam Fuld was put on the 7-day concussion list, and Eduardo Nunez was called up. After Thursday's game the Twins also optioned SS Pedro Florimon and C/OF Chris Herrmann to AAA Rochester. Aaron Hicks could be joining the Twins Friday in Detroit, coming off the concussion list. Could Oswaldo Arcia be the second, or who else could join the Twins? How about Eric Fryer? He would allow Josmil Pinto to remain the DH. Photo from Bryan, Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Columbus 5 Box Columbus completed a four-game sweep of Rochester, and Scott Diamond was tagged with the loss. Diamond pitched all eight innings for the Red Wings. He gave up five earned runs, walked three and struck out four. Diamond was surprisingly efficient, despite the walks and earned runs, throwing just 108 pitches, and shutting down the final ten batters he faced. Trevor Bauer, one of the prized jewels in the Cleveland Indians system, was the story of the night. He went 7.2 innings, gave up just three hits, two walks, and struck out nine. The Red Wings mustered just three hits, one each from Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero, and Eric Fryer. The best thing for Rochester is getting out of Columbus. They scored just eight runs over the four game series. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Bowie 6 Box New Britain battled on Thursday night, and took a two-run lead in the top of the eighth inning. Sean Gilmartin turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, going six innings and giving up three earned runs. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Lester Oliveros was tagged with a Blown Save and the Loss, giving up three runs (one earned) in the bottom of the eighth as Bowie stole a win from the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats had eleven hits, and six of them came from their corner outfielders, Reynaldo Rodriguez (RF) and Daniel Ortiz (LF). Both were 3-4, but Rodriguez benefited from men on base in front of him and Ortiz hitting behind him as Rodriguez picked up two RBIs (including a solo home run) and scored three times. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 2 Box The Miracle's David Hurlbut pitched nine innings of six-hit baseball, throwing just 99 pitches and led Fort Myers to fourth consecutive victory. From the fifth inning through the eighth, Hurlbut did not allow a single batter to reach base. His final line was nine innings, six hits, two runs (one earned), NO WALKS, and he struck out three. His ERA now sits at an impressive 1.69. Levi Michael, now hitting .322 in his third year in the Florida State League and finally looking like the player the Twins expected when they drafted him, led off the game. He left before his at bat was over after fouling a ball off of his foot. Byron Buxton was just 1-5, but he hit a double and scored a run. He still appears to be adjusting to playing full speed, and had a couple more strike outs tonight. This was really a team effort tonight as the Miracle spread their eight hits around to seven different batters, and four different players scored runs. The Miracle also stole three bases, one each for Niko Goodrum, Jorge Polanco, and Adam Brett Walker II. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 11 Box Felix Jorge pitched into just the fourth inning (3.2), giving up eight earned runs, throwing 80 pitches and taking the loss for the Kernels. Alex Muren replaced Jorge but did not fare much better, pitching just 2.1 innings, giving up three earned runs. Both Jorge and Muren gave up two home runs. Brandon Bixler, who has been excellent this season for the Kernels, entered in the seventh and gave the Kernels two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.47. The Kernels scored plenty of runs, but when the pitching staff gives up eleven runs, there is not much hope of pulling out a win. Jason Kanzler led the way on Thursday with a 3-5 night, two RBIs, a home run, three runs scored and no strike outs. J.D. Williams and Engelb Vielma each picked up two hits of their own and five different Kernels picked up RBIs, but the seven runs they scored just could not overcome Jorge's poor start. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels PITCHER: David Hurlbut, Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 PM Central) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 PM Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen)
  23. Eric R Pleiss
  24. Eric R Pleiss
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]7383[/ATTACH] Photo from Bryan, https://www.flickr.com/photos/begreen90/ The Twins dropped a day game to the Tribe on Thursday afternoon, losing the four-game series three games to one. The Twins fell behind early and while they managed to pull within one run after the top of the seventh, the Indians pulled away for a nine to four victory. Every team in the Twins system was on the road today, and the road was not a friendly place. Transactions The Twins announced that they are calling up Matt Guerrier. To make room for Guerrier on the 40-man roster, the Twins waived Brooks Raley, who was claimed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. To make room for Guerrier on the 25-man roster, the Twins optioned lefty Logan Darnell back to AAA. After Thursday's game the Twins also optioned SS Pedro Florimon and C/OF Chris Herrmann to AAA Rochester. Eduardo Nunez and Aaron Hicks should be joining the Twins Friday in Detroit as their replacements. Red Wings Report Rochester 1, Columbus 5 Box Columbus completes a four game sweep of Rochester, and Scott Diamond was tagged with the loss. Diamond pitched all eight innings for the Red Wings, he gave up five earned runs, walked three and struck out four. Diamond was surprisingly efficient, despite the walks and earned runs, throwing just 108 pitches, and shutting down 10 of the final batters he faced. Trevor Bauer, one of the prized jewels in the Cleveland Indians system, was the story of the night. He went seven and two thirds innings, gave up just three hits, two walks, and struck out nine. The Red Wings mustered just three hits, one each from Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero, and Eric Fryer. The best thing for Rochester is getting out of Columbus, they scored just eight runs over the four game series. Rock Cats Review New Britain 5, Bowie 6 Box New Britain battled on Thursday night, and took a two run lead in the top of the eighth inning. Sean Gilmartin turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, going six and giving up three earned runs. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Lester Oliveros was tagged with a Blown Save and the Loss, giving up three runs (one earned) in the bottom of the eighth as Bowie stole a win from the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats had eleven hits, and six of them came from their corner outfielders, Reynaldo Rodriguez (RF) and Daniel Ortiz (LF). Both were three for four, but Rodriguez benefitted from men on base in front of him and Ortiz hitting behind him, as Rodriguez picked up two RBIs (including a solo home run) and scored three times. Miracle Matters Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 2 Box The Miracle's David Hurlbut pitched nine innings of six hit baseball, throwing just 99 pitches and led Fort Myers to fourth consecutive victory. From the fifth inning through the eighth, Hurlbut did not allow a single batter to reach base. His final line was nine innings, six hits, two runs (one earned), NO WALKS, and he struck out three. His ERA now sits at an impressive 1.69. Levi Michael, now hitting .322 in his third year in the Florida State League and finally looking like the player the Twins expected when they drafted him first overall, led off the game but left before his at bat was over after fouling a ball off of his foot. Byron Buxton was just one for five, but he hit a double, and scored a run. He still looks like he is adjusting to playing full speed, and had a couple more strike outs tonight. This was really a team effort tonight, as the Miracle spread their eight hits around to seven different batters, and four different players scored runs. The Miracle also stole three bases, one each for Niko Goodrum, Jorge Polanco, and Adam Brett Walker II. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 22 Box Felix Jorge pitched into just the fourth inning (3.2), giving up eight earned runs, throwing 80 pitches and taking the loss for the Kernels. Alex Muren replaced Jorge, but did not fare much better, pitching just two and a third innings, giving up three earned runs himself. Both Jorge and Muren gave up two home runs. Brandon Bixler, who has been excellent this season for the Kernels, entered in the seventh and gave the Kernels two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.47. The Kernels scored plenty of runs, but when the pitching staff gives up eleven runs, there is not much hope of pulling out a win. Jason Kanzler led the way on Thursday with a three for five night, two RBIs, a home run, three runs scored and no strike outs. J.D. Williams and Engelb Vielmal each picked up two hits of their own and five different Kernels picked up RBIs, but the seven runs they scored just could not overcome Jorge's poor start. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids Kernels PITCHER: David Hurlbut, Fort Myers Miracle FRIDAY'S PROBABLES: Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 PM Central) – Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 PM Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 PM Central) – Aaron Slegers (Listen)
  25. Eric R Pleiss
    The Twins ended their home stand on a positive note, Phil Hughes picked up the win with a quality start and the Twins picked up the series win over the Orioles. Let's see what happened in the minor leagues. Red Wings Report Louisville 6, Rochester 12 BOX The Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games and now sit four games over .500, tied for their best mark of the season. With the win the Red Wings won the four-game series against Louisville, the fourth consecutive year they've done so. Alex Meyer had a rough outing, so maybe the book is out on his new changeup. He went just 4.2 innings, giving up four runs, five hits, three walks and five strike outs. Meyer also gave up a home run in the fourth inning to Louisville's Mike Constanzo, ending Meyer's scorelss innings streak at 15 2/3 innings. Edgar Ibarra picked up the win for the Red Wings, pitching 2.1 innings (two his, one run, two walks and a strike out), and Matt Guerrier finished out the final two innings, serving up a home run along with three hits and a strike out. Sunday was a big offensive day for the Red Wings, setting or matching season highs for runs scored in a game, hits in a game, runs scored in an inning, hits in an inning, extra-base hits and total bases. Every Red Wings player picked up at least one hit and six players picked up at least two. Chris Parmelee led the way with a three for five night, scoring three runs, knocking in five RBIs and hitting two home runs and a double. He's now hitting .333 on the year with a .395 OBP and .600 slugging. Eduado Nunez, despite not playing in eleven of the past twelve Rochester games, was also three for five. He is now hitting .313. Rock Cats Report New Hampshire 2, Rock Cats 5 BOX The Rock Cats have now won three straight and earned their first series sweep of 2014. Virgil Vasquez, making his third start (and fifth appearance) of the year picked up the victory with 7.1 innings of four hit baseball. He only struck out one, but he lowered his ERA to 1.57. Adrian Salcedo, who came into the night with three consecutive strong outings, finished out the final 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and a walk while striking out four batters. His ERA came down a little bit, but it is still at 8.4 for the year, due mostly to an April 12 outing in which he allowed six earned runs in just a third of an inning. Despite scoring five runs, the Rock Cats had just seven hits on the night. Four of those runs came in the first inning. Corey Wimberly (1-4) led off the first with his only hit of the night, a triple. Nate Hanson ended the day 2-4 with a run scored and a first inning RBI, driving in Wimberly. Daniel Ortiz had the Rock Cats' only other extra base hit on the game, a first inning double off the left field wall that scored Hanson. Miracle Report Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 2 BOX The Minnesota Twins organization was dealt their only loss of the day in Fort Myers. The Miracle had just five hits against Bradenton and just two against starter Jason Creasy who struck out six hitters in 5.2 innings. Jason Wheeler pitched 5.2 innings as well, but he served up seven hits, three runs (two earned) a walk and five strikeouts. He now sports a 2.78 ERA. With just five hits and two runs (both unearned), there is not a lot to say about the Miracle hitting from Sunday. Five batters, Levi Michael, Byron Buxton (making his return to game action), Travis Harrison, Aderlin Mejia, and Adam Brett Walker II were hitless, and no one recorded more than one hit nor any extra base hits. If not for three Bradenton errors the Miracle might not have scored at all. Kernels Repor Peoria 0, Cedar Rapids 2 BOX The Kernels won the series in exciting fashion on Sunday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Peoria Chiefs. The Kernels scored early, tallying a run in the second and another in the third and held on for the win. Ryan Eades is now 3-3 after picking up the win, his ERA is down to 2.87 and he looks every bit the polished college pitcher the Twins thought they were drafting last year in the second round. Eades went five innings, struck out five, walked two and surrendered no runs on three hits. Yorman Landa pitched three innings and gave up just a hit to go along with four K's of his own. Hudson Boyd picked up the save with a perfect ninth inning. J.D. Williams, playing in just his second game of the year, was the hero of the day at the top of the Kernels lineup, reaching base three times with a 2-3 day and a walk. Ivory Thomas was 0-1 but he picked up three walks, a stolen base and scored a run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day - Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings MONDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Columbus (5:35 PM Central) - Brooks Raley (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (5:35 PM Central) - TBD (Listen) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) - Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 PM Central) - Ethan Mildren (Listen)
×
×
  • Create New...