Thrylos

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 21: Walker Weickel Profile/Stats: Walker Weickel is a senior at Olympia High School in Orlando, FL. He committed to play for Miami University. He is listed at 6'6" and 200 lbs. He was born on November 14, 1993 . He throws righthanded. This season he went 10-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 55 innings. Mini Scouting Report: Weikel has 3 pitches: a Fastball, a curve and a change. His fastball is an above average pitch that averages in the low 90s and jumps up to 94. His 12-6 curve is above average and potential plus pitch. Throws it at low 70s. His low 80s changeup is an average pitch that needs work. He has a long frame and a 3/4 to over the top tall delivery that is inconsistent at times and affects his command and control. A lot of potential and a big frame, but will be a work in progress for a team for a while. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Walker Weickel pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATP23.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 20: Michael Wacha Profile/Stats: Michael Joseph Wacha is a Junior at Texas A&M University. He throws right handed. He was born on July 1st, 1991 in Iowa City, IA. He grew up in Texarkana, TX and went to Pleasant Grove High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 200 lbs. He was not previously drafted. He has been a starter for 3 season. This season he is 8-0 in 14 Games Started (99 innings) allowing 16 Bases on Balls and accumulating 99 strike outs. Hepitched 2 complete game shutouts, has a 2.09 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Was a member of the National Honor Society in High School. Mini Scouting Report: Michael Wacha has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up. Regarded by some the most polished pitcher in the draft and a typical Twins'-type selection because he's close to being ready and throwing strikes. His fastball is a two-seamer with good movement sitting at 90-92 and up to 93-94. His changeup is a plus pitch with good deception and late movement. Good command and control of both his sinker and change. His slider is a work in progress that has shown some promise, but he has not been using it much. Tall and lanky with lots of arms and legs and deception in his delivery. Good mechanics and good angle to the plate. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Michael Wacha pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/XV/XVWDKTVXMVVMUPD.20111027194438.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 20: Michael Wacha Profile/Stats: Michael Joseph Wacha is a Junior at Texas A&M University. He throws right handed. He was born on July 1st, 1991 in Iowa City, IA. He grew up in Texarkana, TX and went to Pleasant Grove High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 200 lbs. He was not previously drafted. He has been a starter for 3 season. This season he is 8-0 in 14 Games Started (99 innings) allowing 16 Bases on Balls and accumulating 99 strike outs. Hepitched 2 complete game shutouts, has a 2.09 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Was a member of the National Honor Society in High School. Mini Scouting Report: Michael Wacha has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up. Regarded by some the most polished pitcher in the draft and a typical Twins'-type selection because he's close to being ready and throwing strikes. His fastball is a two-seamer with good movement sitting at 90-92 and up to 93-94. His changeup is a plus pitch with good deception and late movement. Good command and control of both his sinker and change. His slider is a work in progress that has shown some promise, but he has not been using it much. Tall and lanky with lots of arms and legs and deception in his delivery. Good mechanics and good angle to the plate. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Michael Wacha pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/XV/XVWDKTVXMVVMUPD.20111027194438.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment; and it is heavily influenced by the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft: This is great evidence to reinforce my position to a. not believe in "mock drafts" and b. not attempt one. That mock draft had the Twins not taking a P until their 6th pick (3rd round) and taking 3 catchers with their first 4 picks. The chance of this happening is smaller than me winning the lottery (and I do not play the lottery.) This year, like I did in 2010 and 2009, I will live-blog the Twins' draft. More details about the coverage of the Twins' 2012 Draft at The Tenth Inning Stretch will be coming later this week, but it will be a lot like the 2010 coverage. Speaking of the Twins' draft, unless they feel strongly about a particular pitcher (Appel?, Gausman? Zimmer? Wacha? - yes, Wacha, he is a "Twins' kind of a pitcher") for the number 2 spot and Houston does not pick him before them, I think that they might go with highest upside healthy guy (and I mean healthy, because I think that Lucas Giolito has the highest upside of everyone in the draft) for his position, and this would probably be Carlos Correa, the 17 year old High School Senior SS from Puerto Rico. Since they have plenty of picks in the supplemental round, they could use those to pick good arms who might fall there like Matt Smoral (because of injury) or Chris Stratton or Pat Light or Rochester's Mitch Brown. A future infield of Sano, Rosario and Correa sounds pretty interesting; but let's not put the carriage in front of the horse... Lots of possible things the Twins can do with that second pick and I can see them take any of seven players. Speaking of him, he did not make my top 22 pitchers of the MLB draft list, but this is a great story on Rochester's (MN) Mitch Brown, by Tyler Mason. And his father is a former Korean power-lifter. Good blood lines. It appears that the player who the Twins will pick at #2, will be a Boras client. No word about who that might be yet. Appel is a Boras client. And if someone does not realize why the Twins should promote the best people from the minors and should be fair about it, here is a reminder Speaking off promoting the best players and being fair, sad to read about the miss-trust that Ron Gardenhire and this organization shows to Anthony Slama. And when the Twins promoted another pitcher for their pen last Sunday, it was Jeff Manship who has been OK, but not exactly as good as Slama. The online voting for the 2012 AAA All-Star Game is open. Maybe voting early and often for Anthony Slama might open the Twins' eyes. I was not surprised with the practical release of Erik Komatsu. He was overmatched in the majors and the presense of Ben Revere lessened the need for another lighter hitting and slower lefty outfielder. Mastroianni bats right-handed. And I do not foresee the Twins making a deal with Washington to keep him (if he passes waivers.) They just have too many outfielders in the minors at this point. Also, to fill Manship's spot in the Rochester rotation, David Bromberg has been promoted from New Britain to Rochester. I suspect Aaron Thomspon who is to be able to return from his suspension today or tomorrow, will take Bromberg's spot for the Rock Cats. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Michael, the Twins' 2011 1st round draft pick, gets demoted to Beloit one of these days. Unfortunately, I think that the Twins pushed him too high for his first pro season by assigning him to Fort Myers. The problem was that Tyler Grimes (who is not playing at Beloit-level also) was assigned to Beloit and they both need playing time. The Twins' product of the week is one of the best books about the Twins and fairly appropriate these dark times: We're Gonna Win, Twins!http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=0816656215 The parting shot today is of Jeff Manship, the latest player to join the Twins from AAA Rochester: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7281786118_36c5c16726_z.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment; and it is heavily influenced by the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft: This is great evidence to reinforce my position to a. not believe in "mock drafts" and b. not attempt one. That mock draft had the Twins not taking a P until their 6th pick (3rd round) and taking 3 catchers with their first 4 picks. The chance of this happening is smaller than me winning the lottery (and I do not play the lottery.) This year, like I did in 2010 and 2009, I will live-blog the Twins' draft. More details about the coverage of the Twins' 2012 Draft at The Tenth Inning Stretch will be coming later this week, but it will be a lot like the 2010 coverage. Speaking of the Twins' draft, unless they feel strongly about a particular pitcher (Appel?, Gausman? Zimmer? Wacha? - yes, Wacha, he is a "Twins' kind of a pitcher") for the number 2 spot and Houston does not pick him before them, I think that they might go with highest upside healthy guy (and I mean healthy, because I think that Lucas Giolito has the highest upside of everyone in the draft) for his position, and this would probably be Carlos Correa, the 17 year old High School Senior SS from Puerto Rico. Since they have plenty of picks in the supplemental round, they could use those to pick good arms who might fall there like Matt Smoral (because of injury) or Chris Stratton or Pat Light or Rochester's Mitch Brown. A future infield of Sano, Rosario and Correa sounds pretty interesting; but let's not put the carriage in front of the horse... Lots of possible things the Twins can do with that second pick and I can see them take any of seven players. Speaking of him, he did not make my top 22 pitchers of the MLB draft list, but this is a great story on Rochester's (MN) Mitch Brown, by Tyler Mason. And his father is a former Korean power-lifter. Good blood lines. It appears that the player who the Twins will pick at #2, will be a Boras client. No word about who that might be yet. Appel is a Boras client. And if someone does not realize why the Twins should promote the best people from the minors and should be fair about it, here is a reminder Speaking off promoting the best players and being fair, sad to read about the miss-trust that Ron Gardenhire and this organization shows to Anthony Slama. And when the Twins promoted another pitcher for their pen last Sunday, it was Jeff Manship who has been OK, but not exactly as good as Slama. The online voting for the 2012 AAA All-Star Game is open. Maybe voting early and often for Anthony Slama might open the Twins' eyes. I was not surprised with the practical release of Erik Komatsu. He was overmatched in the majors and the presense of Ben Revere lessened the need for another lighter hitting and slower lefty outfielder. Mastroianni bats right-handed. And I do not foresee the Twins making a deal with Washington to keep him (if he passes waivers.) They just have too many outfielders in the minors at this point. Also, to fill Manship's spot in the Rochester rotation, David Bromberg has been promoted from New Britain to Rochester. I suspect Aaron Thomspon who is to be able to return from his suspension today or tomorrow, will take Bromberg's spot for the Rock Cats. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Michael, the Twins' 2011 1st round draft pick, gets demoted to Beloit one of these days. Unfortunately, I think that the Twins pushed him too high for his first pro season by assigning him to Fort Myers. The problem was that Tyler Grimes (who is not playing at Beloit-level also) was assigned to Beloit and they both need playing time. The Twins' product of the week is one of the best books about the Twins and fairly appropriate these dark times: We're Gonna Win, Twins!http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=0816656215 The parting shot today is of Jeff Manship, the latest player to join the Twins from AAA Rochester: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7281786118_36c5c16726_z.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 19: Hunter Virant Profile/Stats: Hunter Virant is a senior at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, CA, and has committed to play for the same college, UCLA, as other pitching prospects, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito. He is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. He was born on January 24, 1994. He throws left-handed. Virant is athletic and also plays as a Center Fielder. He threw a no-hitter in April over Oxnard. Mini Scouting Report: Virant has a fastball, a curve and a changeup. His fastball is an above average pitch with good movement. It averages 92-93 and occasionally gets to 95-96. His curve is a plus pitch with a good bite, thrown at the upper 70s. His changeup at low 80s is an average pitch. Very polished and athletic player. Good mechanics and smooth Delivery. Size might be an issue but he will bulk up. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Hunter Virant pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATN22.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 19: Hunter Virant Profile/Stats: Hunter Virant is a senior at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, CA, and has committed to play for the same college, UCLA, as other pitching prospects, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito. He is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. He was born on January 24, 1994. He throws left-handed. Virant is athletic and also plays as a Center Fielder. He threw a no-hitter in April over Oxnard. Mini Scouting Report: Virant has a fastball, a curve and a changeup. His fastball is an above average pitch with good movement. It averages 92-93 and occasionally gets to 95-96. His curve is a plus pitch with a good bite, thrown at the upper 70s. His changeup at low 80s is an average pitch. Very polished and athletic player. Good mechanics and smooth Delivery. Size might be an issue but he will bulk up. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Hunter Virant pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATN22.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 18: Marcus Stromen Profile/Stats: Marcus Stromen is a Junior at Duke University. He throws right handed. He was born on May 1st, 1991. He is from Medford, NY and went to the Patchogue-Medford High School. He is listed at 5'9" and 180 lbs. In his previous 2 seasons he was a swing man, and even served as the closer for Team USA in 2011 converting all 4 save opportunities, but this season he has been exclusively a starter. In 14 games started (98 innings) he is 6-5 with a 2.39 ERA, walking 26 and striking out 136, allowing a .231 opponents batting average. Also plays at the outfieldand second base between starts but he has no future in the pros as a position player (.252/.324/.362 career slash line in 336 Plate Appearances) He was drafted in the 18th round of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals but did not sign. Mini Scouting Report: Marcus Stromen has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up and occasionally throws a cutter. The fastball is a plus pitch, It sits in the mid 90s with bursts up to 96-97 and has excellent command and control of it. His slider is better than an average pitch sitting at the mid 80s. His changeup and cutter are works in progress. Given his statute and the fact that right now he has only 2 pitches, he is projected by some teams as a dominating reliever instead of a mid-rotation starter. There are a lot of comparisons with Tom (Flash) Gordon. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Marcus Stromen pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/HI/HIYEPBVXIERQAWH.20120124181633.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 18: Marcus Stromen Profile/Stats: Marcus Stromen is a Junior at Duke University. He throws right handed. He was born on May 1st, 1991. He is from Medford, NY and went to the Patchogue-Medford High School. He is listed at 5'9" and 180 lbs. In his previous 2 seasons he was a swing man, and even served as the closer for Team USA in 2011 converting all 4 save opportunities, but this season he has been exclusively a starter. In 14 games started (98 innings) he is 6-5 with a 2.39 ERA, walking 26 and striking out 136, allowing a .231 opponents batting average. Also plays at the outfieldand second base between starts but he has no future in the pros as a position player (.252/.324/.362 career slash line in 336 Plate Appearances) He was drafted in the 18th round of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals but did not sign. Mini Scouting Report: Marcus Stromen has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up and occasionally throws a cutter. The fastball is a plus pitch, It sits in the mid 90s with bursts up to 96-97 and has excellent command and control of it. His slider is better than an average pitch sitting at the mid 80s. His changeup and cutter are works in progress. Given his statute and the fact that right now he has only 2 pitches, he is projected by some teams as a dominating reliever instead of a mid-rotation starter. There are a lot of comparisons with Tom (Flash) Gordon. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Marcus Stromen pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/HI/HIYEPBVXIERQAWH.20120124181633.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 17: Chris Stratton Profile/Stats: Christopher Lee Stratton is a Junior at Mississippi State University. He went to Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. He was born on August 8th, 1990. He is listed at 6'3" and 198 lbs. He throws right-handed. He was not previously drafted. Stratton has been a starter all 3 season in his NCAA career starting 14 games each the past 2 seasons. This season he started 9 and came from the pen in 4 (a practice common for high level prospects.) He pitched 89.1 innings, allowing 19 bases on balls and striking out 107. He has pitched a complete game shutout, his ERA is 2.22 and his WHIP 0.960. Mini Scouting Report: Stratton's fastball is his greatest weapon. It sits at 94-95 and bursts up to 96-97. He has great command and control, even though his fastball at the highest speeds occasionally flattens out. He has a hard slider that sits at 84-85 mph, which is an average pitch, and an above average 12-6 curve at high 70s, which is his out pitch. His mechanics and arm action are not consistent but will benefit by professional coaching. Here is a piece on Chris Stratton by ESPN. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Chris Stratton pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/CA/CAXKFQKXLVUSJQE.20120203134438.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 17: Chris Stratton Profile/Stats: Christopher Lee Stratton is a Junior at Mississippi State University. He went to Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. He was born on August 8th, 1990. He is listed at 6'3" and 198 lbs. He throws right-handed. He was not previously drafted. Stratton has been a starter all 3 season in his NCAA career starting 14 games each the past 2 seasons. This season he started 9 and came from the pen in 4 (a practice common for high level prospects.) He pitched 89.1 innings, allowing 19 bases on balls and striking out 107. He has pitched a complete game shutout, his ERA is 2.22 and his WHIP 0.960. Mini Scouting Report: Stratton's fastball is his greatest weapon. It sits at 94-95 and bursts up to 96-97. He has great command and control, even though his fastball at the highest speeds occasionally flattens out. He has a hard slider that sits at 84-85 mph, which is an average pitch, and an above average 12-6 curve at high 70s, which is his out pitch. His mechanics and arm action are not consistent but will benefit by professional coaching. Here is a piece on Chris Stratton by ESPN. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Chris Stratton pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/CA/CAXKFQKXLVUSJQE.20120203134438.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 16: Matt Smoral Profile/Stats: Matt Smoral is a senior at Solon High School in Solon, OH. He throws left handed and is listed at 6'8" and 225 lbs. He was born on Last season he went 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 32.2 innings pitched. This season 3 games in, he had a metatarsal fraction on his landing foot. He had surgery and is out for the season. The recovery is said to be 12 weeks. Here is a good article about his injury and recovery. He is committed to attend the University of North Carolina. Mini Scouting Report: Matt Smoral is throwing a fastball and a slider and is developing a change up. His fastball sits at 91-92 and touches 94-95. His slider is a hard slider and is a plus pitch with plus plus potential. His changeup is a work in process. His delivery is nice and easy and almost side arm. A lot of similarities with White Sox' pitcher Chris Sale, but Smoral is taller. Good command of his fastball. Very injury prone, maybe because of his size. His latest foot injury is his 3rd injury in 3 years, but nothing major. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Matt Smoral pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATCB29.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 16: Matt Smoral Profile/Stats: Matt Smoral is a senior at Solon High School in Solon, OH. He throws left handed and is listed at 6'8" and 225 lbs. He was born on Last season he went 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 32.2 innings pitched. This season 3 games in, he had a metatarsal fraction on his landing foot. He had surgery and is out for the season. The recovery is said to be 12 weeks. Here is a good article about his injury and recovery. He is committed to attend the University of North Carolina. Mini Scouting Report: Matt Smoral is throwing a fastball and a slider and is developing a change up. His fastball sits at 91-92 and touches 94-95. His slider is a hard slider and is a plus pitch with plus plus potential. His changeup is a work in process. His delivery is nice and easy and almost side arm. A lot of similarities with White Sox' pitcher Chris Sale, but Smoral is taller. Good command of his fastball. Very injury prone, maybe because of his size. His latest foot injury is his 3rd injury in 3 years, but nothing major. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Matt Smoral pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATCB29.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 15: Lucas Sims Profile/Stats: Lucas Sims is a senior at Brookwood High School in Lawrenceville, GA. He throws right handed and is listed at 6'2" and 185 lbs. He was born on May 10, 1994. Sims is also playing at shortstop but will be drafted as a pitcher. He is committed to attend Clemson University. Mini Scouting Report: Lucas Sims is throwing a fastball, a curveball and a change up. His Fastball is averaging 92-94 mph and has been thrown up to 96-97 mph. His stamina needs work because his velocity seems to drop late in the game. His fastball is an above average pitch with some life. His curveball is an above average pitch at 76-78 mph with a late break. His changeup is fairly polished. It sits between 85-87 and has good fade. He has a smooth delivery, even though there have been some concerns with his mechanics, especially his elbow being positioned high. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Lucas Sims pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATR8.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 15: Lucas Sims Profile/Stats: Lucas Sims is a senior at Brookwood High School in Lawrenceville, GA. He throws right handed and is listed at 6'2" and 185 lbs. He was born on May 10, 1994. Sims is also playing at shortstop but will be drafted as a pitcher. He is committed to attend Clemson University. Mini Scouting Report: Lucas Sims is throwing a fastball, a curveball and a change up. His Fastball is averaging 92-94 mph and has been thrown up to 96-97 mph. His stamina needs work because his velocity seems to drop late in the game. His fastball is an above average pitch with some life. His curveball is an above average pitch at 76-78 mph with a late break. His changeup is fairly polished. It sits between 85-87 and has good fade. He has a smooth delivery, even though there have been some concerns with his mechanics, especially his elbow being positioned high. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Lucas Sims pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATR8.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 14: Clate Schmidt Profile/Stats: Clate Schmidt is a senior at Allatoona High School in Acworth, GA. He throws right handed and is listed at 6'2" and 175 lbs. He was born on December 10, 1993. Schmidt is also playing at shortstop very well and enjoys it (and hitting .406/.500/.688 this season), but will be drafted as a pitcher. This season he pitched for 29 innings, allowing 9 hits and striking out 33. His ERA was 1.69 and held opponents to a .222 Bating Average. He is committed to attend Clemson University. Mini Scouting Report: Clate Schmidt is throwing a fastball, a curveball and a change up. His Fastball is averaging 92-94 mph and has been thrown up to 96 mph. It is an above average pitch with good motion. His curveball is a plus pitch and is a sharp breaking low 80s curveball. His changeup is a work in progress. He has a 3/4 arm slot and has a fast arm, but his delivery is a maximum effort delivery and his mechanics need to be simplified. Videos/Photos: Because of the difficulty of embedding videos here, please visit the original post for videos of Clate Schmidt pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATGO9.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 14: Clate Schmidt Profile/Stats: Clate Schmidt is a senior at Allatoona High School in Acworth, GA. He throws right handed and is listed at 6'2" and 175 lbs. He was born on December 10, 1993. Schmidt is also playing at shortstop very well and enjoys it (and hitting .406/.500/.688 this season), but will be drafted as a pitcher. This season he pitched for 29 innings, allowing 9 hits and striking out 33. His ERA was 1.69 and held opponents to a .222 Bating Average. He is committed to attend Clemson University. Mini Scouting Report: Clate Schmidt is throwing a fastball, a curveball and a change up. His Fastball is averaging 92-94 mph and has been thrown up to 96 mph. It is an above average pitch with good motion. His curveball is a plus pitch and is a sharp breaking low 80s curveball. His changeup is a work in progress. He has a 3/4 arm slot and has a fast arm, but his delivery is a maximum effort delivery and his mechanics need to be simplified. Videos/Photos: Because of the difficulty of embedding videos here, please visit the original post for videos of Clate Schmidt pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATGO9.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- This is way overdue. My goal was to get it a. within the few days of theseason (that passed) and then b. before the amateur MLB draft that will bring in a new influx of talent to the Twins. So I am sticking with it. And Seth Stohs already starting his mid-season rankings, really made me want to get this up before it is too obsolete. And before I post my post-draft rankings for 2012 I have not done prospect rankings for a couple of years now, mainly because I did not see the players play. Now that I have spent a good 15 hours or so watching Twins' prospects of all levels live in Spring Training, I feel confident to create a post-draft top prospects list (or 2 really; I like to separate pitchers from position players in these lists; ) this had to come up first as a housekeeping item. Thus, I decided to do a consensus list. What is a consensus list? A consensus (or aggregate or composite) ranking is a ranking based on other rankings calculating averages. This is what this list is. A bit about methodology: I combined 25 rankings of Twins top prospects. Some of them were top 10, some of them top 50. So I ended up with 71 names. The players were scored from 1 until the last position in the ranking (lets say 10 in a ten prospect list) and the ones who appeared in the master list but did not appear in the individual list were scored as one over the lowest ranking (i.e. prospects in the master list, but not in a top 10 list were scored as 11). The reason that this is required, is to not have artificially highrankings when results were averaged from players omitted in most lists but ranked high in one or 2. After all players in the master list were scored this way, their average scores were calculated and a new consensus ranking was created. This is the consensus list I am presenting here. What are the 25 sources? They are both national and local to the Twins'area, both professional and bloggers. And they are were weighted the same. My rationale in this is a. several Twins bloggers (Seth Stohs, for one) have a much more intimate view of the Twins' system than Baseball America. and b. Twins' bloggers care more and pay more attention to the Twins' system and get to watch more Twins' MiLB games than Keith Law, Johnathan Mayo or Kevin Goldstein. But the other guys have "professional" opinions. So here every opinion weighs the same. Here is a list of the 25 sources (alphabetically) : Baseball America Baseball Intellect Jim Crikket (Knuckleballs) Aaron Gleeman Keith Law Kevin Goldstein (Baseball Prospectus) Fanatic Jack Steal Fangraphs Field of Twins Gear up for Twins baseball Jonathan Mayo MLBDirt.com MLB Prospect Portal LaVelle Neal Nick's Twins Blog North Dakota Twins Fan Jeff Reese- Bullpen Banter John Seikels On the road with Shawn Puckett's Pond Al Scorupa -Bullpen Banter Seth Stohs Travis Talks Twins Top prospect alert Twinkie Town - community ranking This is what the master list looks in Excel: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7252079620_7c270a07f7_z.jpg And if you want to have a close look, original size is here (and I did copy and paste a row -Lance Ray- twice; this would not fit in one screen) There are 71 names in the list, but six of the players listed are no longer with the Twins for various reasons (alphabetically) : Matt Bashore, Philip Chapman, Tony Davis, Terry Doyle and Kane Holbrooks Without further ado, here is the consensus rankings list of the top Twins' prospects this off-season (one can call it "post 2011 season" ) list : 1 Miguel Sano 3B 2 Eddie Rosario 2B/OF 3 Oswaldo Arcia OF 4 Aaron Hicks OF 5 Joe Benson OF 6 Liam Hendriks P 7 Kyle Gibson P 8 Levi Michael IF 9 Adrian Salcedo P 10 Brian Dozier IF 11 Chris Parmelee 1B/OF 12 Alex Wimmers P 13 Travis Harrison IF 14 Hudson Boyd P 15 Max Kepler OF 16 Madison Boer P 17 Angel Morales OF 18 Chris Herrmann C 19 Manuel Soliman P 20 Niko Goodrum IF 21 Tom Stuifbergen P 22 David Bromberg P 23 Garlos Gutierrez P 24 Nate Roberts IF/OF 25 BJ Hermsen P 26 Matt Hauser P 27 Matt Summers P 28 Pat Dean P 29 JaDamion Williams OF 30 Jairo Perez IF 31 Deolis Guerra P 32 Tyler Robertson P 33 Corey Williams P 34 Logan Darnell P 35 Scott Diamond P 36 Danny Rams C/OF 37 Jorge Polanco IF 38 Lance Ray OF 39 Danny Santana IF 40 Lester Oliveros P 41 Tyler Grimes IF 42 Jose Gonzales P 43 Danny Ortiz IF 44 Angel Mata P 45 Tim Shibuya P 46 James Beresford IF 47 Michael Gonzales 1B 48 Bruce Pugh P 49 Cole DeVries P 50 Michael Tonkin P 51 Dakota Watts P 52 Nelvin Fuentes P 53 Bobby Lanigan P 54 Rory Rhodes 1B/OF 55 Evan Bigley OF 56 Kennys Vargas 1B/OF 57 Andrew Albers P 58 Anthony Slama P 59 Anderson Hidalgo IF/OF 60 Ryan O' Rourke P 61 Hung-yi Chen P 62 Danny Lehmann C 63 Darin Mastroianni OF 64 Derek Rodriguez OF 65 Luis Nunez P 66 Kyle Waldrop P Just thinking about the 2012 Twins' draft and how they might want to supplement the system, there are way too many OFs and not enough Ps in the top spots (and this is not about to change in the mid-season rankings) and there are not enough infielders in the whole system (other than the top 2 spots).

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- This is way overdue. My goal was to get it a. within the few days of theseason (that passed) and then b. before the amateur MLB draft that will bring in a new influx of talent to the Twins. So I am sticking with it. And Seth Stohs already starting his mid-season rankings, really made me want to get this up before it is too obsolete. And before I post my post-draft rankings for 2012 I have not done prospect rankings for a couple of years now, mainly because I did not see the players play. Now that I have spent a good 15 hours or so watching Twins' prospects of all levels live in Spring Training, I feel confident to create a post-draft top prospects list (or 2 really; I like to separate pitchers from position players in these lists; ) this had to come up first as a housekeeping item. Thus, I decided to do a consensus list. What is a consensus list? A consensus (or aggregate or composite) ranking is a ranking based on other rankings calculating averages. This is what this list is. A bit about methodology: I combined 25 rankings of Twins top prospects. Some of them were top 10, some of them top 50. So I ended up with 71 names. The players were scored from 1 until the last position in the ranking (lets say 10 in a ten prospect list) and the ones who appeared in the master list but did not appear in the individual list were scored as one over the lowest ranking (i.e. prospects in the master list, but not in a top 10 list were scored as 11). The reason that this is required, is to not have artificially highrankings when results were averaged from players omitted in most lists but ranked high in one or 2. After all players in the master list were scored this way, their average scores were calculated and a new consensus ranking was created. This is the consensus list I am presenting here. What are the 25 sources? They are both national and local to the Twins'area, both professional and bloggers. And they are were weighted the same. My rationale in this is a. several Twins bloggers (Seth Stohs, for one) have a much more intimate view of the Twins' system than Baseball America. and b. Twins' bloggers care more and pay more attention to the Twins' system and get to watch more Twins' MiLB games than Keith Law, Johnathan Mayo or Kevin Goldstein. But the other guys have "professional" opinions. So here every opinion weighs the same. Here is a list of the 25 sources (alphabetically) : Baseball America Baseball Intellect Jim Crikket (Knuckleballs) Aaron Gleeman Keith Law Kevin Goldstein (Baseball Prospectus) Fanatic Jack Steal Fangraphs Field of Twins Gear up for Twins baseball Jonathan Mayo MLBDirt.com MLB Prospect Portal LaVelle Neal Nick's Twins Blog North Dakota Twins Fan Jeff Reese- Bullpen Banter John Seikels On the road with Shawn Puckett's Pond Al Scorupa -Bullpen Banter Seth Stohs Travis Talks Twins Top prospect alert Twinkie Town - community ranking This is what the master list looks in Excel: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7252079620_7c270a07f7_z.jpg And if you want to have a close look, original size is here (and I did copy and paste a row -Lance Ray- twice; this would not fit in one screen) There are 71 names in the list, but six of the players listed are no longer with the Twins for various reasons (alphabetically) : Matt Bashore, Philip Chapman, Tony Davis, Terry Doyle and Kane Holbrooks Without further ado, here is the consensus rankings list of the top Twins' prospects this off-season (one can call it "post 2011 season" ) list : 1 Miguel Sano 3B 2 Eddie Rosario 2B/OF 3 Oswaldo Arcia OF 4 Aaron Hicks OF 5 Joe Benson OF 6 Liam Hendriks P 7 Kyle Gibson P 8 Levi Michael IF 9 Adrian Salcedo P 10 Brian Dozier IF 11 Chris Parmelee 1B/OF 12 Alex Wimmers P 13 Travis Harrison IF 14 Hudson Boyd P 15 Max Kepler OF 16 Madison Boer P 17 Angel Morales OF 18 Chris Herrmann C 19 Manuel Soliman P 20 Niko Goodrum IF 21 Tom Stuifbergen P 22 David Bromberg P 23 Garlos Gutierrez P 24 Nate Roberts IF/OF 25 BJ Hermsen P 26 Matt Hauser P 27 Matt Summers P 28 Pat Dean P 29 JaDamion Williams OF 30 Jairo Perez IF 31 Deolis Guerra P 32 Tyler Robertson P 33 Corey Williams P 34 Logan Darnell P 35 Scott Diamond P 36 Danny Rams C/OF 37 Jorge Polanco IF 38 Lance Ray OF 39 Danny Santana IF 40 Lester Oliveros P 41 Tyler Grimes IF 42 Jose Gonzales P 43 Danny Ortiz IF 44 Angel Mata P 45 Tim Shibuya P 46 James Beresford IF 47 Michael Gonzales 1B 48 Bruce Pugh P 49 Cole DeVries P 50 Michael Tonkin P 51 Dakota Watts P 52 Nelvin Fuentes P 53 Bobby Lanigan P 54 Rory Rhodes 1B/OF 55 Evan Bigley OF 56 Kennys Vargas 1B/OF 57 Andrew Albers P 58 Anthony Slama P 59 Anderson Hidalgo IF/OF 60 Ryan O' Rourke P 61 Hung-yi Chen P 62 Danny Lehmann C 63 Darin Mastroianni OF 64 Derek Rodriguez OF 65 Luis Nunez P 66 Kyle Waldrop P Just thinking about the 2012 Twins' draft and how they might want to supplement the system, there are way too many OFs and not enough Ps in the top spots (and this is not about to change in the mid-season rankings) and there are not enough infielders in the whole system (other than the top 2 spots).

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one ofthose picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 13: Lance McCullers Profile/Stats: Lance McCullers Jr. is a senior at Jesuit High School in Tampla, FL. Hethrows right handed and is listed at 6'3" and 200. He is the son of former MLB relief pitcher Lance McCullers who has a 28-31 record with 3.25 ERA, 252 bases on balls and 442 strike outs in 526.1 innings pitched in seven MLB seasons with the Padres, Yankees, Tigers and Rangers from 1985 to 1992. Lance McCullers Jr is also a shortstop but will be drafted as a pitcher. This season he pitched 77.1 innings, allowed 30 bases on balls and had 140 strikeouts. His ERA is 0.18 and his opponents hit .106 off him. Here is an interview of McCullers with Scout.com, and here is an older article from his hometown newspaper. He is committed to attend the University of Florida. Mini Scouting Report: McCullers is throwing a four seam and a two seam fastball, a slow and hard breaking ball and is working on a changeup. His Fastball is a plus pitch. It averages 94-95 and sporadically hits up to 97-98 mph and has decent movement. It projects as a plus plus pitch. His slow curve is a weak pitch and will probably be scrapped for his slider that can be a plus pitch. It sits at 85-86 mph and has a hard sharp two-plane break. His changeup is a work in progress. His delivery is inconsistent with varying arm slot and needs work. Because of that, his command and control are lacking. It will be corrected in professional baseball with a pro coach. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Lance McCullers pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATR27.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one ofthose picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 13: Lance McCullers Profile/Stats: Lance McCullers Jr. is a senior at Jesuit High School in Tampla, FL. Hethrows right handed and is listed at 6'3" and 200. He is the son of former MLB relief pitcher Lance McCullers who has a 28-31 record with 3.25 ERA, 252 bases on balls and 442 strike outs in 526.1 innings pitched in seven MLB seasons with the Padres, Yankees, Tigers and Rangers from 1985 to 1992. Lance McCullers Jr is also a shortstop but will be drafted as a pitcher. This season he pitched 77.1 innings, allowed 30 bases on balls and had 140 strikeouts. His ERA is 0.18 and his opponents hit .106 off him. Here is an interview of McCullers with Scout.com, and here is an older article from his hometown newspaper. He is committed to attend the University of Florida. Mini Scouting Report: McCullers is throwing a four seam and a two seam fastball, a slow and hard breaking ball and is working on a changeup. His Fastball is a plus pitch. It averages 94-95 and sporadically hits up to 97-98 mph and has decent movement. It projects as a plus plus pitch. His slow curve is a weak pitch and will probably be scrapped for his slider that can be a plus pitch. It sits at 85-86 mph and has a hard sharp two-plane break. His changeup is a work in progress. His delivery is inconsistent with varying arm slot and needs work. Because of that, his command and control are lacking. It will be corrected in professional baseball with a pro coach. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Lance McCullers pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATR27.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: Still continuing the presentation of the top 22 arms for the 2012 MLB draft. You can find them all here. For a couple years (2009 and 2010) I live-blogged the Twins' draft, providing profiles and information for each pick, and it looks like I might resume doing it this season again. More information on the MLB draft coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch next week, as it is getting closer to the draft. No matter what, one has to find humor (and maybe hope, if one is sarcastic enough) in Drew Butera's pitching appearance last Sunday at Milwaukee. He was not half way bad, either. As a matter of fact, his fastball was the fastest of any other Twins' pitcher that day not named Brian. Looks like the Twins want to give Carl Pavano an extra day of rest so they are looking for a spot starter this coming Thursday versus the White Sox at Chicago. I suspect that Anthony Swarzak will be it. Still the Twins need to figure out who Marquis' replacement might be (if you did not hear, he was Designated For Assignment) so this might muddy the waters Congratulations to Tsuyoki Nishioka for hitting his first Professional Home Run in the US last Saturday with the Rochester Red Wings. Here is a first year Twins' player (ok, second, if you count 12 games with Elizabethton after he signed last season) who is not a household name, but has the potential to break the top ten Twins' prospect lists one of these years: 23 year old C Matthew Koch who is hitting .265/.412/.471 in Beloit. This is higher OPS than Eddie Rosario and second only to Miguel Sano (who, btw, leads the Twins' organization with 11 home runs) in that team Speaking of HRs, Justin Morneau is 10 away from career 200 and Josh Willingham 10 away from career 150 HRs Alexi Casilla led the Twins in pretty much any defensive metric, but the manager of the millennium benched him in favor of a 38 year old and a bad fielding, cold hitting Plouffe. Hopefully, this latest accident does not sideline a well-performing Twins' pitcher A couple of Rochester Red Wings players (Anthony Slama and Mike Hollimon) and a whole bunch of Rochester executives (including a woman - don't ask) are growing mustaches for charity. Former Twins' First Baseman Aaron Bates has signed a contract with the Cardinals' organization If you are wondering why the Twins want out of Beloit, these disgraceful numbers might help you understand. The Red Wings are towards the bottom of the International League(but thankfully better than the venue-sharing Yankees) as far as attendance goes, and both the the Rock Cats and Miracle are middle high in their leagues. The aluminum bat "boink" sound will not escape Target Field. It will host the 2013 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Allegedly, a former Twins' player is cruising the NYC subway in his pajamas and harrasing young women. Not sure that I am buying the story (he lives in TX.) but who knows? The Twins' product of the week is perfect for the warm and humid nights at the ballpark:Nike Minnesota Twins Perfect Game Dri-FIT T Shirthttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B004VRR3E4 The parting shot today is in honor of Brian Dozier and all the buzz he generated in his rookie season as a Twin. He is not the only Dozier in the organization. Buzz Dozier pitched for 2 games for the Washington Senators in 1947 and for 2 more in 1949. He was born in Waco, TX on August 31, 1928, played in the Senators' organization (from Charlotte Hornets to Chattanooga Lookouts to Augusta Tigers) until 1950 and had a year with 3 Independent League Teams in 1951 (Port Arthur Seahaws, Sherman-Denison Twins and Texarcana Bears.) Afterwards he went to school at Baylor University in Waco TX, lived all his life in Waco, TX and died in Waco, TX on November 24, 2005 at age 77. Here is Buzz Dozier as an 18 year old rookie RHP for the Washington Senators: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7222304528_6187211d97.jpg And here is a bonus video of Ben Revere singing a popular song: [please go to the original post for the video, due to the difficulties in embedding videos here] As always you can find all the Random Tuesday Twins Thoughts and Tidbits Posts here, in reverse chronological order.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: Still continuing the presentation of the top 22 arms for the 2012 MLB draft. You can find them all here. For a couple years (2009 and 2010) I live-blogged the Twins' draft, providing profiles and information for each pick, and it looks like I might resume doing it this season again. More information on the MLB draft coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch next week, as it is getting closer to the draft. No matter what, one has to find humor (and maybe hope, if one is sarcastic enough) in Drew Butera's pitching appearance last Sunday at Milwaukee. He was not half way bad, either. As a matter of fact, his fastball was the fastest of any other Twins' pitcher that day not named Brian. Looks like the Twins want to give Carl Pavano an extra day of rest so they are looking for a spot starter this coming Thursday versus the White Sox at Chicago. I suspect that Anthony Swarzak will be it. Still the Twins need to figure out who Marquis' replacement might be (if you did not hear, he was Designated For Assignment) so this might muddy the waters Congratulations to Tsuyoki Nishioka for hitting his first Professional Home Run in the US last Saturday with the Rochester Red Wings. Here is a first year Twins' player (ok, second, if you count 12 games with Elizabethton after he signed last season) who is not a household name, but has the potential to break the top ten Twins' prospect lists one of these years: 23 year old C Matthew Koch who is hitting .265/.412/.471 in Beloit. This is higher OPS than Eddie Rosario and second only to Miguel Sano (who, btw, leads the Twins' organization with 11 home runs) in that team Speaking of HRs, Justin Morneau is 10 away from career 200 and Josh Willingham 10 away from career 150 HRs Alexi Casilla led the Twins in pretty much any defensive metric, but the manager of the millennium benched him in favor of a 38 year old and a bad fielding, cold hitting Plouffe. Hopefully, this latest accident does not sideline a well-performing Twins' pitcher A couple of Rochester Red Wings players (Anthony Slama and Mike Hollimon) and a whole bunch of Rochester executives (including a woman - don't ask) are growing mustaches for charity. Former Twins' First Baseman Aaron Bates has signed a contract with the Cardinals' organization If you are wondering why the Twins want out of Beloit, these disgraceful numbers might help you understand. The Red Wings are towards the bottom of the International League(but thankfully better than the venue-sharing Yankees) as far as attendance goes, and both the the Rock Cats and Miracle are middle high in their leagues. The aluminum bat "boink" sound will not escape Target Field. It will host the 2013 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Allegedly, a former Twins' player is cruising the NYC subway in his pajamas and harrasing young women. Not sure that I am buying the story (he lives in TX.) but who knows? The Twins' product of the week is perfect for the warm and humid nights at the ballpark:Nike Minnesota Twins Perfect Game Dri-FIT T Shirthttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B004VRR3E4 The parting shot today is in honor of Brian Dozier and all the buzz he generated in his rookie season as a Twin. He is not the only Dozier in the organization. Buzz Dozier pitched for 2 games for the Washington Senators in 1947 and for 2 more in 1949. He was born in Waco, TX on August 31, 1928, played in the Senators' organization (from Charlotte Hornets to Chattanooga Lookouts to Augusta Tigers) until 1950 and had a year with 3 Independent League Teams in 1951 (Port Arthur Seahaws, Sherman-Denison Twins and Texarcana Bears.) Afterwards he went to school at Baylor University in Waco TX, lived all his life in Waco, TX and died in Waco, TX on November 24, 2005 at age 77. Here is Buzz Dozier as an 18 year old rookie RHP for the Washington Senators: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7222304528_6187211d97.jpg And here is a bonus video of Ben Revere singing a popular song: [please go to the original post for the video, due to the difficulties in embedding videos here] As always you can find all the Random Tuesday Twins Thoughts and Tidbits Posts here, in reverse chronological order.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 12: Pat Light Profile/Stats: Pat Light is a Junior at Monmouth University. He was born on March 29, 1991 and he is from Colts Neck, NJ. He went to Christian Brothers Academy for High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 210 lbs and throws right handed. Last summer in the Cape Code League, he pitched 12 games (4 starts) and was 0-5 with a 3.77 ERA, 10 bases on balls and 24 strikeouts in 31 games pitched. This season he started in 14 games, pitched 101.1 innings, had 16 bases on balls and 102 strikeouts. His era was 2.40 and allowed a .225 opponents' batting average. He was drafted in the 28th round of the 2009 draft by the Minnesota Twins, so keep an eye for him, as far as the Twins are concerned, on the supplemental round, if he lasts that long. Mini Scouting Report: Pat Light's pitching repertoire features three above average pitches: a low to mid 90's fastball four seam, slider and a changeup. His fastball is above average occasionally hits mid 90s, there has been a report that he touched 99 mph. His slider is truly plus and is his out pitch with a tight horizontal break down and away to righties. His changeup is a slit-change that sits in the upper 70s. Good command of the fastball, especially low in the strike zone, he will need to learn to command his secondary pitches better. He throws from an under 3/4 arm slot, almost side arm. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Pat Light pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/AQ/AQSLCVTCWLYKDUS.20120125175832.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 12: Pat Light Profile/Stats: Pat Light is a Junior at Monmouth University. He was born on March 29, 1991 and he is from Colts Neck, NJ. He went to Christian Brothers Academy for High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 210 lbs and throws right handed. Last summer in the Cape Code League, he pitched 12 games (4 starts) and was 0-5 with a 3.77 ERA, 10 bases on balls and 24 strikeouts in 31 games pitched. This season he started in 14 games, pitched 101.1 innings, had 16 bases on balls and 102 strikeouts. His era was 2.40 and allowed a .225 opponents' batting average. He was drafted in the 28th round of the 2009 draft by the Minnesota Twins, so keep an eye for him, as far as the Twins are concerned, on the supplemental round, if he lasts that long. Mini Scouting Report: Pat Light's pitching repertoire features three above average pitches: a low to mid 90's fastball four seam, slider and a changeup. His fastball is above average occasionally hits mid 90s, there has been a report that he touched 99 mph. His slider is truly plus and is his out pitch with a tight horizontal break down and away to righties. His changeup is a slit-change that sits in the upper 70s. Good command of the fastball, especially low in the strike zone, he will need to learn to command his secondary pitches better. He throws from an under 3/4 arm slot, almost side arm. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see 4 videos of Pat Light pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/AQ/AQSLCVTCWLYKDUS.20120125175832.jpg