Seth Stohs

yes, it clearly was a hit-and-run. I get the above numbers, but when the team is struggling to score runs, I'm just fine with taking some chances with a hit and run there.

The Twins lost 6-2 to the Blue Jays. Jason Marquis was able to go just four innings. The game was ugly for Twins fans. There were base running errors. There were several defensive errors. There was bad pitching, and bad hitting. Josh Willingham did home for the second straight night. As Gardenhire told the Twin Cities media following the game, “Things happened out there that really don’t happen in high school.” I guess it’s fair to say that things have to get worse before they get better, but hopefully that means we’ll start seeing the ‘better’ soon! Before getting to the minor league update, a big Happy 19th birthday to Twins and Snappers prospect Miguel Sano. Secondly, before you start reading all the Twins Daily articles, blogs and forums, be sure to download this week’s Twins Minor League Weekly where Seth was joined by Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zimmerman and Snappers utility player AJ Pettersen. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday: ROCHESTER 6, PAWTUCKET 7 The Red Wings had a get-away, afternoon game in Pawtucket. They even had a 6-5 lead in the 9th, but they managed to suffer a tough loss. Luke French made the start. The lefty went the first six innings and gave up five runs on five hits. He walked three and did not record a strikeout. Esmerling Vasquez came in and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in 1.2 innings. Tyler Robertson came in and got a ground ball, but instead of the final out and a one-run lead, there was an error and the inning continued. Anthony Slama came in and gave up a two-run double for his first blown save of the year. He did strikeout the next batter. Ben Revere led the offense. He was 3-5 with three stolen bases. He is now hitting .309 with six steals for the Red Wings. Pedro Florimon went 2-5 with his second home run in his week with the Twins. Matt Carson (8th), JR Towles (5th) and Clete Thomas (2nd) each hit a double. NEW BRITAIN 3, READING 10 It was another rough start for lefty Logan Darnell, and the Rock Cats took a tough loss. Darnell gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out two. Brett Jacobson gave up four runs on four hits over the next two innings. Bobby Lanigan struck out four over the final two innings. Wilkin Ramirez continues to rake for the Rock Cats. The outfielder went 3-4 with his second home run and second stolen base. Chris Herrmann went 3-5 with his ninth double. Evan Bigley was 1-3 with a walk and his seventh double. The Twins signed 27-year-old infielder Shawn Roof to play in a utility role. With Brian Dozier with the Twins and Pedro Florimon up in Rochester, the Rock Cats only had two middle infielders. James Beresford started at shortstop with Estarlin de Los Santos was at second base. Roof was the 33rd round pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2007. He played in the Tigers organization, up to AAA, through the 2011 season. In 1267 minor league plate appearances, he hit .259/.334/.307 with 35 doubles, eight triples and one home run. He played 121 games at 2B, 102 games at SS and 84 games at 3B. He also spent some time playing left field, right field and first base. FT. MYERS 12, DUNEDIN 11 The Miracle bats were out again on this night, but so were the Dunedin bats. Fortunately the Miracle were able to get enough pitching at the end of the game to come away with the win. Adrian Salcedo had another short start. He recorded just one out. He gave up five runs (1 earned) on two hits and two walks. He left the game with a trainer with what appeared to be a blister. Cole Nelson came in and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. Edgar Ibarra went the next four innings and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. Bruce Pugh recorded his third save of the year. He struck out two over the final two innings. Oswaldo Arcia had a huge game, and he wasn’t the only Miracle hitter who hit well in this game. The lefty-hitting outfielder went 4-5. He hit his sixth and seventh doubles, his second home run and drove in four runs. Lance Ray was 3-4 with a walk and his eighth and ninth doubles. Danny Ortiz was 3-5. Danny Santana was 2-5 with his third home run. Jairo Perez was 2-5 with his tenth double. Michael Gonzales was 1-3 with two walks and his third home run. BELOIT 6, PEORIA 5 Tim Shibuya started for the Snappers and dropped his ERA to 2.83 with five solid innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out two. Bart Carter gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits in 1.1 innings. Michael Tonkin gave up one run on three hits in two innings. Clinton Dempster came on and got the final batter to strikeout to end the game. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his second home run of the year. He drove in three runs. AJ Pettersen was 2-4 with a walk. Rory Rhodes went 1-3 with two walks. Drew Leachman was 1-3 with two walks. Miguel Sano, on the eve of his 19th birthday, added his ninth double. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, May 10, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia [ATTACH=CONFIG]922[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Bobby Lanigan [ATTACH=CONFIG]923[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Friday, May 11, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – TBD New Britain vs Reading – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers @ Dunedin – RHP Marty Popham Beloit @ Peoria – LHP Jason Wheeler --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

The Twins just finished a three game series against the Angels, and on Thursday night, they will start a four game set at Target Field against the Toronto Blue Jays. To say that the Blue Jays have had the Twins numbers in recent years is a massive understatement. Let’s take a look: [TABLE=align: center] Year W-L RS RA 2011 1-5 14 44 2010 3-6 34 59 2009 3-5 28 44 2008 0-6 19 35 2007 4-6 40 59 2006 2-5 25 32 [/TABLE] In 2011, the Twins were really bad and the Blue Jays were good, but the domination was uncanny. Even in recent years when the Twins have been very good and the Blue Jays were not good, the Jays had the Twins number. The one win the Twins got came in the third game and was 4-3 decision in which Nick Blackburn topped lefty Brett Cecil. Cecil was sent back to AA to start the 2012 season (no, not just because he lost to the Twins). In those six games in 2011, the Blue Jays collected 10 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs against the Twins. Jose Bautista led the way. He had one double and in incredible seven home runs, including three home runs in the final meeting of these teams. Catcher JP Arencibia knocked a double, a triple and three home runs against the Twins. Seemingly every Blue Jays hitter contributed. The Blue Jays enter this series with a 17-14 record while the Twins are at 8-22. Their record is as much about their pitching as it is about their hitting. The Twins are lucky in that they don’t have to face Brandon Morrow, but Henderson Alvarez, Ricky Romero, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchinson will get to face Twins hitters. (note – Blue Jays’ player stats are through Tuesday, unless noted) What would you have said if, a little over a month into the season, I told you that the two best hitters for the Blue Jays were Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson. Encarnacion is hitting .270/.326/.574 with eight doubles, nine homers (10th homer on Wednesday) and 25 RBI. Johnson is hitting .269/.383/.472 with a double, seven homers and 18 RBI. Would you have believed me if I had told you that Jose Bautista would have a sub-700 OPS? Coming into the Twins series, Bautista is hitting just .187/.318/.355 (.673) with three doubles and five home runs. Yet, they have four hitters performing even worse than that! JP Arencibia - .187/.318/.355 (.654) with five doubles and two homers. Colby Rasmus - .206/.274/.363 (.637) with three doubles, two triples and three homers. Yunel Escobar - .248/.275/.309 (.624) with five doubles, one triple and one home run. Adam Lind - .186/.275/.309 (.585) with six doubles and two home runs. The Twins will send Jason Marquis, PJ Walters, Nick Blackburn and Scott Diamond to the mound. The Jays won on Wednesday to break a three-game losing streak. The Twins did a nice job of keeping Albert Pujols cold. Can they do the same with Jose Bautista? Well, that’s why they play the games! [ATTACH=CONFIG]913[/ATTACH]

Immediately following the Twins loss tonight against the Angels, the team announced that they had optioned 3B Danny Valencia and Designated LHP Matt Maloney for Assignment. The selected the contract of RHP PJ Walters and OF/2B Darin Mastroianni. Valencia has really struggled with the bat and glove throughout the season, and yet the timing here is a little surprising. The hope would be that he is able to figure things out down in Rochester and come back and resume his role as the team's starting 3B. Maloney had a solid spring training, but really has struggled in the season's first five weeks. Mastroianni started the season by struggling for two weeks in New Britain (AA), but he has been hitting nearly .360 through three weeks with AAA Rochester, playing LF and some 2B. He has ten stolen bases with the Red Wings, including stealing home on Monday. He will likely be with the Twins in time to play his former organization, the Toronto Blue Jays. PJ Walters played for the Blue Jays and Cardinals last year and was part of the big July trade between the teams. He has posted a 3-1 record with a 2.70 ERA in AAA. So, the question I have is... who is the Twins starting 3B now? Carroll? Plouffe? What are your thoughts on the moves? [ATTACH=CONFIG]907[/ATTACH]

Shane - If they didn't sign minor league veterans for Rochester, the Twins wouldn't have Jared Burton. Aaron Bates was a pretty good signing. Rene Rivera has been of value. Chris Colabello has been a good sign. Bailey and Lambin were long-time International League All Stars. Bailey had some big league success. Matt Brown had big league time. Wilkin Ramirez was a good signing this year. Where would the Rochester pitching staff be without some minor league veterans? All organizations hvae to sprinkle in some minor league veterans. Bailey was terrible, so was Lambin. If they would hvae been at all good, they probably would have been given a shot with the Twins. Link the 'blog' in the forums. Comments in two places, I guess... but may be more. YHIMH - I just have a hard time believing that a guy with 40 strikeouts in about 120 plate appearances isn't being challenged. I might, as a manager or minor league decision-maker, challenge him to say... hey, if you cut your K-Rate to 25 in your next 120 plate appearances, we'll move you up.

This is good stuff, Shane, and I enjoy the discussion. Do you really want to see Sano and Rosario struggle in Ft. Myers the way that Arcia did (and does)? Arcia dominated in Beloit during April last year (almost as much as Danny Ortiz did) and then after his surgery went right to Ft. Myers where he was OK, but really struggled to make contact. We see his splits vs lefties and all those strikeouts. He is where he needs to be. I believe in Rosario and Sano, but I do think that thye should not be promoted until at least the half-way point of the season, just to see if they can make some of the adjustments they need to at Beloit. Again, Ortiz started the season with an 1.100 OPS in Beloit and ended the year well south of .700 OPS. I'm not comparing Sano/Rosario to Ortiz, but I just think that a little patience is good for two guys that aren't going to be with the Twins for 2 1/2 to four years anyway. I'm good with Clete Thomas in Rochester until Joe Benson turns things around in New Britain. Once he does that, then they can let him go. But right now, the Red Wings outfield is filled with Mastroianni, Revere, Tosoni, and Carson has played well too. It's about getting at bats, and I don't know that Thomas will get a ton, certainly not in front of those three. Ramirez is interesting because he is still young enough to believe he has a future of some sorts, but again, might as well keep him playing every day. DJ Romero used to be a good prospect, one the Twins put on the 40 man roster. But reports indicated that he stopped working and got really lazy. His numbers in AA last year were OK... I think he'd be ready to move up, but frankly, I think that Chang and Burroughs have more of a future with the Twins. But I don't disagree with the thought of finding out based on Valencia's performance. I love promotions, writing and talking about promotions, so I really enjoyed this blog. I don't even disagree with it as much as it probably sounds. Look at AAA rosters around MLB... they're not a place for prospects. They're generally for older, veteran, former big leaguers (in many cases).

Tonight, Brian Dozier made his Major League Baseball debut. He fielded a ground ball off the bat of Albert Pujols in the first inning and made all of the plays throughout he game. He was hitless in his first three at bats against Jered Weaver. In the bottom of the 8th inning, he singled right up the middle against reliever Dave Carpenter for his first big league hit. At first base, he as patted on the helmet and congratulated by Albert Pujols. Soon after he scored his first run. It seems like we have heard a lot about Brian Dozier since this spring when he made a strong impression on the coaching staff and the media. Dozier has been on two or three SethSpeaks Weekly Twins podcasts, and I had the opportunity to meet him on a couple of occasions. Today, I'd like to share with the Twins Daily readers the story on Dozier that I wrote for my 2012 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. I wrote articles, using quotes from the subjects, on my choices for minor league hitter of the year (Dozier), starting pitcher of the year (Liam Hendriks) and relief pitcher of the year (Andrew Albers). Here is my Dozier story, and I believe it shows why he is a person (And a player) that Twins fans should root for. ---- Minor League Player of the Year: SS Brian Dozier By Seth Stohs, SethSpeaks.net Brian Dozier grew up in the small town of Fulton, Mississippi. The town’s population is just shy of 4,000 in the northeast corner of the state. To Dozier, it’s the “best place on earth to me. Everything is always the same. You always know what you’re going to get when you come back here.” Occasionally, Dozier tells people that he’s from Tupelo. “I’m actually ten minutes outside of Tupelo. I tell people sometimes when I’m the road that I’m from Tupelo just because a lot of people have heard of Tupelo with Elvis being from there.” But Dozier is proud of his Mississippi roots. “It’s awesome. Everybody knows everybody. All of my best friends are still here. It’s just very laid back, and I love it here.” Brian Dozier was the choice for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year for 2011. It may be a cliché, but Dozier can be described simply as a “Baseball Player.” If you’re looking for someone in the Twins farm system that represents the organization perfectly, look no further than Dozier. “I grew up around baseball. My dad was my coach throughout all of my years. I had an older brother – two years older than I am – that I looked up to throughout my younger days, and even now. He has taught me a lot.” Although he grew up a big Mississippi State fan, watching all the greats that came through there, Dozier decided to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. “I had a lot of offers. I’m actually from right outside of Ol’ Miss and Mississippi State, two great SEC schools that kind of recruited me. I chose well by going to Southern Miss, I believe. It was also a great fit with me, a blue collar program, and I fell in love with the coaching staff.” Dozier was very successful in college. As a freshman, he played in 62 games and hit .368/.442/.488 with eight doubles, four triples and three home runs. As a sophomore, he played in 61 games and hit .339/.402/.456 with 17 doubles and four home runs. In his junior year of 2008, he played in 64 games and hit .342/.403/.476 with 17 doubles, two triple and five home runs. Despite these tremendous numbers, he went undrafted and returned for his senior year. Unfortunately, a broken collar bone cost him time during his senior season. It limited him to just 37 games, but he hit .391/.485/.587 with 13 doubles, a triple and four home runs. However, it was all worth it. “We had the opportunity to go to Omaha (to play in the College World Series) which was one of the best times of my life my senior year.” In his four seasons, he walked 87 times while striking out just 73 times. He was also hit by a pitch 25 times. The Twins used their 8th round pick in 2009 to draft the shortstop. “I was very blessed to be drafted by the Twins and believe it was a great fit for me.” He signed quickly and reported to Ft. Myers where he spent five games with the GCL Twins. He was then sent to Elizabethton where he hit .353/.417/.431 with 7 home runs in 53 games with the E-Twins. He was able to get off to a fast professional start, and he quickly credits the coaching staff. “Right out of the gate, we have the best managers in our rookie system in Elizabethton, Ray Smith, Reeder (Jeff Reed) and Shelly (Jim Shellenback). Those guys have been around the game so long, and they are just so knowledgeable about everything. I remember going to Elizabethton and Reeder being my hitting coach. I didn’t really have to ask him much. Rather, I just fed off his stories. The stuff he was telling, it just gave you goose bumps. He talked about playing with Barry Bonds, catching a perfect game, that kind of stuff. And, he taught me a lot. Right away, he found a little hole in my swing, and we got going on fixing that on Day 1. Elizabethton had a great influence on me.” He began 2010 with the Beloit Snappers. In 39 games, he hit .278/.347/.338 with seven doubles and a triple. On May 22, he was promoted to Ft. Myers. He played 93 more games and hit .274/.352/.354 with 11 doubles, one triple and five home runs. On the season, he walked 60 times with 57 strike outs. He had 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts. He successfully laid down 12 sacrifice bunts. It was a solid 2010 season for Dozier, his first full season in the Twins system. It came as a surprise to many when the Twins announced that Dozier received an invitation to big league spring training. Dozier said, “I was very much surprised. I got the invite on Christmas Day. We were opening presents and that was the biggest one of them all. Very blessed.” Merry Christmas, indeed! Dozier made a strong impression on the Twins coaching staff, but he also learned a lot from the experience. “For me, the experience to get to know all the guys. I came in the first day, and I was locker mates with Michael Cuddyer, who I’ve been watching for years on TV. He has become a friend of mine now. I learned a lot from him and the other older guys, how they are on and off the field, how they interact with fans. I think that’s the biggest thing. As a young guy, you worry so much about the baseball side, you also have to think about the stuff that comes with it. I had an awesome time and had a lot of fun.” Having ended 2010 in Ft. Myers, he knew that he would not be making the big club. He was sent back to Ft. Myers to start the 2011 season. He played in 49 games with the Miracle. He hit .322/.423/.472 with 11 doubles, five triples and two home runs. Again, he credited his manager, Jake Mauer. “I tell you what, he’s a player’s coach. He’s been there, gone through the system and everything. He really relates to his players very well.” He moved up to New Britain and worked for former Twins hero Tom Brunansky, a member of the Twins 1987 World Series championship team. Dozier said, “He is one of the best when it comes to hitting. He knows how to hit. Actually, when I got moved up, he found a couple of little tweaks in my swing that I never knew I was doing. He showed me on film. I was like, ‘Well, that makes sense!’ Ever since then, since that first week, we worked really hard in the cage, and he found a couple of things, and it took off from there.” Under the tutelage of Brunansky and manager Jeff Smith, Dozier played in 78 games with the Rock Cats and hit .318/.384/.502 with 22 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs. Just days after he was promoted to New Britain, he was hit in the face with a pitch and missed just a week. Mark Dolenc is a Minnesota native who spent the past two seasons in New Britain. He said, “When Dozier came up, he immediately stepped in and took on a leadership role.” Dozier said, “I think from a leadership aspect, everybody kind of looks to the shortstop. They are the captain on the infield. I know Gardy takes a lot of pride in his shortstop being like the quarterback on the field. I’ve taken that to heart a lot. Same thing with my college coach, he was the same way. I’m not a big vocal guy. I never have been. I do try to put myself into the right situations, the right place at the right time, not only on the field but off the field. We see a lot of guys that aren’t playing the game the way it is supposed to be played, but if you play the game the way it is supposed to be played and always give 110%, people respect that. I try to do that each and every day.” Not only did Dozier put up big numbers for the Rock Cats, but he did so while helping his team push for a spot in the playoffs. The team fell short on the final day, but it was a great experience. “We had a great year with the Rock Cats. Even in Ft. Myers, before I got called up, we were in the race for the first half of the division. I left a week early to go to New Britain and found myself in a great situation. They were in a playoff race the whole time I was there. You can’t ask for anything else when you come down to the wire. It just makes it that much more fun.” So how does he separate winning with personal development in the minor leagues? “Sometimes everybody is worried about stats and you want to move up, but at the same time, stats will come if you work hard and put yourself in the right position for when the time comes. So you have to sit back and let that take care of itself and just play the game of baseball. Sometimes, especially at this level, we get into this mindset that it’s such a business. We try to do too much, but it’s a game. It’s a game we all grew up loving to play. We’ve got a group of good friends that have we’ve made over the years. If we just go out and play that game, which we all love to do, we have a lot of fun, and that’s what we did.” Combined, Dozier hit .320/.399/.491 with 33 doubles, 12 triples and nine home runs. He scored 92 runs and drove in 56. He stole 24 bases. He was hit by 11 pitches. He successful laid down 10 sacrifice bunts. He primarily played shortstop (93 games), but he also played 28 games at second base and three games at third base. Late in the season, he found out that he was invited to participate in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. He was excited. “It’s a great opportunity to play with and against the best guys in the minor leagues. I’m truly blessed that they picked me for that.” In 26 games for the Mesa Solar Sox, Dozier hit .296/.358/.454 with eight doubles and three home runs. He scored 27 runs and knocked in 22. He was four-for-four in stolen base attempts. He was selected to play in the league’s Rising Stars game, and in his first at bat, he homered. Did he get out of the AFL what he was hoping to? “Yeah, I really did. The Fall League offers so much. You get to see where you are versus some of the best competition in the game at our level. I got to meet a lot of new guys, guys I’ve played against but never actually got to develop a friendship with. Now I have, and hopefully I can play many years against them down the road. I got to play under a great manager in Joe McEwing. He’s so intelligent with the game. I got to learn a few things from him. Actually, he gave me some insight on being set up for the play. I think that’s the biggest thing I learned from ‘Super Joe.’ I had a great time.” Between 1998 and 2006, Joe McEwing played in 754 games with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros. He was a very solid utility player. He played more than 45 games in the big leagues at second base (238), left field (161), shortstop (99), third base (92), right field (79), first base (61) and center field (46). McEwing ended his playing career after the 2008 season and has quickly moved up the coaching ranks in the White Sox organization. In 2011, he was the manager of the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. After Robin Ventura was named the new manager of the White Sox, McEwing was named the Third Base Coach. McEwing was a great influence for Dozier. “He stressed to me that I’m still a young guy and primarily a shortstop, and the Twins want me to play shortstop, but down the road, you never know, may have to play second base. I may have to in the near future. He saw one little thing with my set up before plays, a tip, and it flew out from there, improved my range. I’m very grateful for that. Anything you can learn from a guy like Joe McEwing is always positive. He’s a great guy, and I’m lucky that he got to be our manager out there.” 2011 was a great year for Brian Dozier. But he knows that he still has more work to do before he reaches his goal of getting to the big leagues. “I’ve just got to be prepared. I have to get myself into the best shape possible. I’m not taking too much time off from baseball. Swinging that bat. Taking ground balls. All that footwork and stuff to put myself in the best possible position when I go to big league camp in February.” With all the Twins issues and injuries in 2011, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire mentioned Brian Dozier several times as a guy he would like to see up with the Twins. It didn’t happen for various reasons, many of them business-related. But Dozier said, “I’m going to get there, it’s just the fact that you’ve got to wait it out and prepare yourself so when that time does come, you’re fully prepared and ready to go. I felt like I had a pretty good year and put myself in the talk up there (with the Twins management) to actually be called up just two years into the system, which is great. Hopefully I can work hard this offseason and get that opportunity next year.” There is a strong likelihood that Twins fans will see Dozier in the big leagues sometime in 2012. And when he gets there, Twins fans will see a “Baseball Player.” They will see a team-first leader. They will see a guy who is proud of where he is from and appreciative of all those who have helped him get to where he is. He hasn’t played in a big league game yet with the Twins, but Brian Dozier is already a strong representative of what defines a “Minnesota Twin.” [ATTACH=CONFIG]892[/ATTACH]

I was asked to be a guest on KFAN’s Baseball Weekly with Gleeman & The Geek on Sunday. I was on the second segment of the show and shared a Good, a Bad and an “Other” story. It was a fun segment and I encourage you to listen to the podcast, if you haven’t already. It was fun to do some research on each of those topics, and I thought that I would share some of that with you today. Obviously we could talk about Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, and that’s good, but we want to make sure that other guys get discussed too. Would we mention that Sano is hitting .308/.438/654 (1.091) with 18 extra base hits and 28 RBI. We could mention that he is 10-20 (.500) with three doubles and two home runs in his last five games. Or, we could mention that he had three errors in a game this weekend and ten on the season. Rosario is hitting .308/.438/.455 with ten doubles, a triple and a home run. He has also walked more than he has struck out (17-15). He also has seven stolen bases… and nine errors, although it is at his new position of 2B. You take the good, you take the bad… you take them both, and there you have… Life in the Minor Leagues! THE GOOD On the show, I mentioned Deolis Guerra and Anthony Slama from the Rochester bullpen. I should have also mentioned Jeff Manship currently is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA. Guerra has given up one run in 19.1 innings between AA and AAA. He has two walks and 24 strikeouts. Impressive, to say the least, and yet I am hearing reports that he is only hitting 88-89 mph with his fastball. His changeup is sometimes described as Santana-like, and that’s great, but it will be interesting to see how AAA hitters adjust to him before the Twins call him up. Slama is the guy that most of us Twins fans have wondered about for years. He has a 0.63 ERA this season and seven saves. In 14.1 innings, he has 10 walks and 24 strikeouts. If it is the walks that concern people with the Twins, that is understandable. The walk total is high. Yet, in the last couple of years, the Twins have added lots of pitchers that throw harder than Slama, yet walk just as many. Names like Jim Hoey, Juan Morillo, Esmerling Vasquez and now Jeff Gray come to mind. If the argument is about his “stuff,” which generally sits between 88-91 mph, then how do they explain his incredible strikeout rates? I know I can’t explain it. However, with the Twins 2012 (and 2013?) seasons in serious doubt, it would seem like a good time to give him an extended look! Slama was removed from the Twins 40 man roster following the 2011 season. Soon after, David Bromberg was also removed from the 40 man roster. Bromberg missed most of the 2011 season after taking a line drive off the forearm that cost him 3 months and then he came back and struggled. He began the 2012 season in the New Britain bullpen, and he struggled. In his first three games (2 IP), he gave up nine earned runs. Since then, he has thrown 15 inning and given up just one run. In his last two starts, he has thrown ten shutout innings. When the Twins traded Kevin Slowey to the Rockies last December, they acquired right-handed Daniel Turpen. Turpen was a hard-throwing, side-winding, ground ball-throwing reliever. However, in 59.2 innings at AA last year, he walked 35 and struck out 33. He is pitching out of the New Britain bullpen this season. So far, in 16 innings pitched, he has 18 walks and ZERO strikeouts. Getting back to Rochester, it isn’t just the bullpen guys who are pitching well. Scott Diamond was called up to the Twins, but he had a 4-1 record with a 2.60 ERA. PJ Walters is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA. Eden Prairie’s Cole DeVries is 0-2 but has a 2.89 ERA. Daryl Thompson is 1-2 with a solid 3.60 ERA. Walters and DeVries are 27 while Thompson is 26. DeVries is the only one of that group without big league service time… yet. THE BAD The guy I probably should have talked about was Joe Benson. The talented outfielder hit .179/.269/.316 with three doubles, two triples and two home runs in 28 games with the Red Wings. He had 27 strikeouts in 106 plate appearances. It would have been timely because Benson was demoted back to New Britain this morning where he will hopefully be able to turn things around. We did talk about Alex Wimmers and the news from the weekend that he has a partially torn UCL. Of course, talk of UCL tears has to lead to talk of Tommy John surgery. The Twins are choosing to rest and rehab, but we have to believe that the team also has a deadline for when they will want to have surgery in order to minimize his time missed. If Wimmers were to have the surgery, he would join 2009 first round pick Kyle Gibson and 2009 supplemental first-round pick Matt Bashore as guys who have had the Tommy John surgery. Add that 2011 first-round pick Levi Michaels entered Monday morning’s game with a .227 batting average and that can’t be termed “good.” Oswaldo Arcia is a top 5 prospect in most Twins prospect lists. He is hitting a respectable .275 in Ft. Myers this spring despite missing a little over a week with a leg injury. However, he is hitting 4-30 with 14 strikeouts against left-handed pitchers so far this year. Very small sample size, but his prospect ranking could be affected if his future would be as a platoon player. Of course, he is hitting .351 with a .959 OPS against right-handed pitchers. Angel Morales, another Miracle outfielder, started the season by hitting .418 (23-55). Since then (19 games), he is 4-46 (.087) and hitting .267 on the season. Brian Dozier started the season by going 15-34 (.441) through the first nine games. In 19 games since, he is 14-71 (.197). I mention this, not to discount him as a prospect at all. But, people do need to temper expectations a little bit. THE OTHER We spent some time talking about Minnesota native Caleb Thielbar. The lefty has thrown 16.2 innings without giving up a run. He was promoted to New Britain last week, and the day he arrived, he got the final out and a save. The next night, he threw two scoreless innings and got the Win in an 11 inning game. Thielbar was signed by the Twins last year and became the first player the team signed from the St. Paul Saints. Adrian Salcedo left his last start when the second batter hit a one-hopper at the mound which bounced up and broke his nose. He had been struggling to start the season. In his previous start, he had walked five batters, something he just doesn’t do. On Saturday, Salcedo was back on the mound and had his best start. He gave up two runs in five innings. Most important, he walked none. What else is going on in the Twins minor league system? What is standing out to you? [ATTACH=CONFIG]886[/ATTACH]

The Twins fell behind early and were not able to catch up despite two solo home runs by catcher Ryan Doumit. That was pretty much it for the Twins offense . Simply, there were very few positives to be found in the Twins’ 1-5 road trip to the west coast. (To be fair, even in good years the Twins haven’t done well on west coast trips.) The loss drops the Twins to 6-20 on the season. There have been a few changes this week, and I can’t help but feel that there are more to come. On Monday, the Twins return home and will send Francisco Liriano to the mound against Jered Weaver who will be trying to be the first pitcher in 74 years (Johnny Vander Meer in 1938) to throw back-to-back no-hitters. The Twins will counter by adding SS Brian Dozier to the lineup. Let’s hope for better things in the upcoming week. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ROCHESTER – No Game Scheduled The Red Wings and Buffalo played a double header on Saturday to accommodate the rehab start of Andy Petitte for the Empire State Yankees at Frontier Field. 13,584 fans showed up to watch the game and set the regular-season record for highest attendance at the stadium. Be sure to check out the blog of one of the newest Red Wings players. Joe Thurston writes Joe’s Blog and his most recent entry was about his transition from Lehigh Valley to Rochester. Check it out here. NEW BRITAIN 1, PORTLAND 3 BJ Hermsen made his second start for the Rock Cats, and although he pitched well, he took his first loss of the season. The lanky right-hander went the first 6.1 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out five. Bobby Lanigan gave up a hit, but got the final two outs of the seventh inning. Brett Jacobson then struck out three in two perfect innings. The Rock Cats didn’t hit much in this game. However, Aaron Hicks went 3-4. Chris Colabello was 2-4 with his eighth double. FT. MYERS 13, LAKELAND 3 After weeks of very minimal offense, the Miracle bats broke out on Sunday and set a season high in runs scored and with 18 hits. Shortstop Danny Santana led the way. He went 5-5 with his fifth double and third stolen base. Anderson Hidalgo went 3-5 with three RBI. Jairo Perez was 2-5 with his eighth and ninth doubles. Levi Michael was 2-5 with his first double. Angel Morales and Oswaldo Arcia each hit their fifth double. Marty Popham got the start for the Miracle and improved to 3-0. He gave up three runs on four hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out just two. Lefty Cole Nelson struck out six in three scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, but walked none. He has been on the active roster less than a week and picked up his second save. BELOIT 5, KANE COUNTY 3 Jason Wheeler has arguably put up the best numbers of any starting pitcher in the Twins minor league system this year, and he had another tremendous start on Sunday. The lefty threw six shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four to improve to 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA. Lefty Bart Carter came in and gave up two runs on a hit in 1.2 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Michael Tonkin recorded his first save. He gave up one run on two hits in 1.1 innings. He struck out three. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with his 11th double. Rory Rhodes and Tyler Grimes were each 2-3. In the third inning, the 8th and 9th hitters, respectively, hit back-to-back home runs. It was Rhodes’ second of the year. It was Grimes’ first home run of the year. Grimers also added his ninth double. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, May 6, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Danny Santana [ATTACH=CONFIG]876[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler [ATTACH=CONFIG]875[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Monday, May 7, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Pawtucket – RHP Daryl Thompson (vs Daisuke Matsuzaka) New Britain @ Binghamton – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers vs Lakeland – LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs Kane County – RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

The Twins got a Quality Start from Jason Marquis, but the bullpen struggled mightily and in the end, it was too much Felix Hernandez as the Mariners topped the Twins 7-0. The King went eight shutout innings against the Twins and allowed just one hit, a ground ball single between first and second base in the fourth inning. It was the third time in their last four games that the Twins have been shutout. Earlier in the day, the Twins did announce that Justin Morneau’s wrist was not getting better and he will be put on the Disabled List. Check out the Rochester report below to see a couple of Red Wings coming up to the Twins on Monday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday: GAME 1 - ROCHESTER 2, BUFFALO 1 PJ Walters gave the Red Wings exactly what they needed in Game 1 on Saturday. He was able to pitch all seven innings. Even better, he gave up just one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out seven. And as a bonus, he improves to 3-1 with the win. The team needed the great pitching performance because the offense managed just six hits in the game. Matt Rizzotti picked up his fourth double. Brian Dozier collected the game-winning RBI with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 5th inning. GAME 2 - ROCHESTER 5, EMPIRE STATE 0 The second game became a bullpen game. Brendan Wise started and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up three this, walked two and struck out two. Deolis Guerra came in and struck out four over 2.1, one-hit innings. Tyler Robertson got the second out of the sixth inning. Anthony Slama came in and got the final out of the 6th inning and three outs in the 7th to record his seventh save. He walked one and struck out two. Darin Mastroianni was the leadoff hitter and went 2-3 with a walk and his first double. He also stole his eighth base. He also played run producer in this game with four RBI. Aaron Bates was 2-3 with his fourth double. Ray Chang walked twice. Since their eight-game losing streak ended, the Red Wings have now won four games in a row and can enjoy an off day on Sunday. Following the game, according to the Rochester Baseball Observer, manager Gene Glynn informed Scott Diamond and Brian Dozier that they were being promoted to the Twins. NEW BRITAIN 5, PORTLAND 0 David Bromberg appears to be back in a role the suits him and the results have been tremendous. Bromberg made another start and threw five more scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out five. Caleb Thielbar threw two innings and gave up just one hit. Luis Perdomo struck out two in two scoreless innings. The Rock Cats got a big, two-run triple off the bat of Estarlin de los Santos. Danny Lehmann went 1-1 with two walks and an RBI. Aaron Hicks went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI. More On Bromberg – Bromberg started the season by giving up nine runs in his first two innings. Since then, he has thrown 15 innings and given up just one run. More Bad News – It was announce that Alex Wimmers has a partial tear in his UCL, and that they will attempt to rest and then rehab it. FT. MYERS 3, LAKELAND 4 (11 innings) Last start, Adrian Salcedo was hit in the face by a one-hopper and broke his nose. He still made his next scheduled start. The righty went five innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out two. (It is also great to see zero walks because in his pre-broken nose start, he walked five and had as many walks as strikeouts on the season) Nelvin Fuentes came in and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out three. Edgar Ibarra came in and was terrific, but he still gets the loss. He gave up one run (in the 11th) on three hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out five. Danny Santana went 2-5. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. BELOIT 4, KANE COUNTY 7 The Snappers played a double header in Cedar Rapids on Friday night, drove almost four hours back to Beloit, and then played an early-afternoon game on Saturday. Tim Shibuya was on the mound to start. He gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk. He struck out. Unfortunately, two of the three hits were home runs. He did leave with the lead. Ryan O’Rourke came in and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings. Corey Williams pitched the ninth and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. Jairo Rodriguez went 2-2 with two walks. Tyler Grimes was 2-4 with his eighth double. Drew Leachman went 2-4 with his first stolen base. Miguel Sano was 1-4 with a walk and his eighth double. Sano is on fire with the bat of late, but his glove has gone quite cold of late. In this game, he committed three errors and now has ten errors on the season. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, May 5, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – PJ Walters [ATTACH=CONFIG]868[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Darin Mastroianni [ATTACH=CONFIG]869[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, May 6, 2012 Schedule Rochester – No Game Scheduled New Britain vs Portland – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers vs Lakeland – RHP Marty Popham Beloit vs Kane County – LHP Jason Wheeler --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!