Christopher Fee

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4381[/ATTACH] After going 5-3 on a recent eight game road trip against the Charlotte Knights (White Sox) and Gwinnett Braves (Braves), the Rochester Red Wings returned home this weekend to play four games against the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers). After dropping the opener 8-1 last night, the Wings were hoping Kyle Gibson would be able to get them back on their winning ways. Entering today’s game with a record of 5-5 in 12 starts so far this season; Gibson had won three of his last four starts and has pitched six plus innings in all four of those starts. It seems that the only thing keeping Gibson in Rochester is a lack of consistency. While Samuel Deduno, P.J. Walters, Pedro Hernandez, and several other pitchers, have been promoted to the Twins, opportunities to play in Minnesota have been there. However the biggest name in the Red Wings rotation remains in Rochester. In today’s start, the overall numbers are good. Gibson pitched seven innings giving up just four hits, allowing just one run, striking out six but also walking five. Thanks to a Brian Dinkelman home run and a Drew Butera sacrifice fly, Rochester went on to win the game 3-1 over Toledo, giving Gibson his 6th win of the season and improving to 6-5 on the year, and lowering his ERA to 3.16. However the number that is looms in this start is the walks, while the free passes did not result in runs, it’s still something that you hate to see. Looking back it’s hardly going to be considered a bad start, but if you’re looking for a promotion soon things like that are going to stick out. Coming into today, the Twins lead the league in fewest walks allowed with just over 2.6 per game, and are tied for fewest in all of Major League Baseball, walks is something that Minnesota does not tend to do. The numbers split between wins and losses are mind-blowing for Gibson this season. In his seven starts ending in a no-decision, or loss, Kyle Gibson has pitched 34 total innings, giving up 45 hits, 25 earned runs, 10 walks and 29 strikeouts in that stretch, equalling a 6.62 ERA. Compare this to the now six wins Gibson has on the season, and the numbers are jaw dropping. In those six starts he’s pitched a combined 45.2 IP, 22 H, 3 ER, 16 BB, and 40 strikeouts, which translates to a 0.60 ERA. When Gibson is on track he’s proven to be almost unhittable, but when he struggles, it’s almost as though he’s a completely different pitcher. While there is definitely an opportunity for Gibson to make his mark in Minnesota this year, it’s going to take a few more of the good outings, and less of the mediocre to poor outings if he’s going to get the call to show what his potential at the major league level.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4180[/ATTACH] When the Minnesota Twins acquired starting pitcher Vance Worley from the Philadelphia Phillies in the off-season trade involving Ben Revere, no one thought that the opening day starter would be spending Memorial Day pitching in Rochester, NY, for the Red Wings. After a dismal 1-5 start with the Twins, an ERA over seven and a WHIP of almost two, it was no real surprise that something had to be done. The Twins are hoping that he can become the pitcher they were hoping to have acquired this past off-season, after a brief stint in Rochester. Pete Orr led the game off with a lead off single up the middle, something that Vance had been struggling with all year, getting out of the first inning. Worley said, “It was definitely in my head for sure, that’s what I’ve been struggling with too, giving up first inning runs. I knew that I needed to not let that guy score.” After getting the number two hitter to fly out to center, Eric Fryer threw a strike to shortstop Doug Bernier to get Orr stealing, and then was able to get another fly ball to center to get out of the first inning unscathed. The second, third and fourth innings, Worley allowed one runner to reach, and it wasn’t until the 8th inning that he allowed a runner to reach second base. “He used all of his pitches and was aggressive with them, he got some quick outs at times. Everything that you look for in a big league pitcher right there, he is a good pitcher that belongs in the Major Leagues.” manager Gene Glynn said regarding Vance Worley’s start this afternoon. Worley pitched a complete game shutout, throwing 119 pitches and 74 for strikes, while he did walk four batters; they were spread out throughout the game, limiting the damage that could have been done. The eight and ninth innings were really the only ones that Lehigh Valley had the potential to put together a small rally in the game. “It was pretty good, I haven’t had a whole lot of strikeouts. There were a couple that were looking, that’s normally how I strike guys out. I’m not a guy that’s going to try to go out there and punch everybody out, I’m the guy that’s going to put the ball in play and that’s what is going to allow me to go deeper into the games”, Worley said regarding his four strikeouts in the game. Strikeouts have been something that he had been struggling with getting up in Minnesota (25 in 48.2 innings pitched), it was encouraging to see him controlling the strike zone. “I was trying to keep my pitch count down, go deeper into games and to keep the ball down. That’s what I’ve been struggling with up there (Minnesota), I needed to get back to being myself.” Outside of striking out the Taco Bell K-Man, Vance Worley gave the Frontier Field crowd of 5,226 something they’ve seen a few times as of late, a complete game shutout victory. While I wouldn’t expect Worley to be called up immediately, it was definitely encouraging to see him getting through innings without major damage. “It’s very important to get one of these types of games in”, Worley, said. “I’ve been struggling all year starting in the spring, I haven’t been myself. The velocity has been there, the break on everything is there, and it’s just a matter of getting it down. I needed this, I need to find myself down here so that I can go back up and help those guys.” Rochester scored one run in the 2nd inning on an Eric Fryer RBI single, then the Wings scored four more in the 6th inning to secure a 5-0 victory over the Iron Pigs. For the Red Wings it was their fourth complete game shutout of the season, Kyle Gibson has two of them, P.J. Walters and now Vance Worley have one each. For Worley, this was not his first CG shutout; July 9th, 2010 he pitched a CG shutout, while he was with Reading (AA Phillies). Rochester broke Lehigh Valley’s six game winning streak, which started after Kyle Gibson almost threw a CG shutout against them last Sunday.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4111[/ATTACH] Entering his 10th professional season, it’s safe to say that 2012 was his best year in Samuel Deduno’s career thus far. Not only did Deduno end the year in the Minnesota Twins rotation, but he also had the opportunity to pitch for the Dominican Republic, his home country, in the World Baseball Classic. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Colorado Rockies in 2003, 19 year old Samuel Deduno was on the road to pursuing his dream of playing in the Major Leagues. “ I was 19 years old in the Dominican, I felt very good about getting signed, I knew that if I kept pitching and kept working something good was bound to happen, and it did.” However, it’s safe to say after a successful rookie season in the Frontier League, his next three seasons in the Rockies system were very forgettable. Compiling a record of 19-25, an ERA of 5.32 and a strike out to walk ratio of just under 2-to-1, and then an arm injury causing him to miss the entire 2008 season, Samuel Deduno’s career appeared to be in some serious danger. After rehabbing his right arm in 2008, something clicked for Deduno in 2009, while pitching for the Rockies Double-A affiliate, Tulsa Drillers. With a record of 12-4, an ERA of 2.57 and striking out 131 batters in 138.2 innings, it appeared that things were finally starting to turn around for Samuel Deduno. "I give the glory to God, he has given me everything. I was feeling pretty positive about everything, myself and my team." During the 2011 season, the Rockies went ahead and released Samuel Deduno, and after a small stint with the San Diego Padres, Deduno was signed to a minor league contract by the Minnesota Twins at the end of the 2011 season. In nine starts in Rochester last season, he went 1-2 with a 2.14 ERA, his strikeouts were over one per inning and his walk to strikeout ratio was better than two to one. In 15 starts in Minnesota, Deduno had control issues, and that’s putting it mildly. With a walk to strikeout ratio of one-to-one, an ERA of 4.44, many people questioned if Deduno was going to be back in Minnesota for the 2013 season. In spring training, he was competing for the 5th starter position with the Twins, when he decided to go and represent his country in the World Baseball Classic. “The GM called me and said to expect a call from the Dominican team. I wanted to go and play for my country, and I played pretty good, everything was working, fastball, curveball, change-up.” While some people would question that decision, the numbers don’t lie, he was more dominant in those games, than he has been in his career thus far. In 13 innings pitched Deduno struck out 18 batters while walking five, he lead the Domincan Republic to victory in the gold medal game over Puerto Rico, but unfortunately a groin injury would hold him out for the beginning of the year. Before a game earlier this week Deduno talked a little bit about how he was recovering from the groin injury he suffered after the WBC. “I’m feeling pretty good, just need to keep throwing and pitching.” I then asked him about the opportunity to of rejoining the Twins rotation? “I don’t know, I can’t control that, when I go to the game I need to work on my game, it’s my job. I’m looking to pitch for a long time, I have to pitch good, I have to throw strikes.” Samuel Deduno has started three games so far in 2013 for the Rochester Red Wings, compiling a 0-0 record, with a 2.70 ERA, 17 SO, 10 BB in 16.2IP.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4027[/ATTACH] At 14-20, the Rochester Red Wings are substantially better than they were two weeks ago. After a 2-11 start, the Red Wings have gone 12-9 in their last 21 games, and after facing the top tier teams in the International league to start the year, it was finally time for Rochester to play teams they have had success against in years past. First Stop Columbus Rochester began the road trip by going to Columbus to play a four game series against the Clippers (Indians). Last season the Red Wings went 6-2 against the Clippers, so it was safe to say that hopes were high, that the winning ways may continue on the road. The bats continued to come to life in the series, as the Wings combined to score 18 runs in the four game series (4.5 per game) and compiled 39 hits in the series as well (9.75 hits per game). In addition to the continued run production and increase in hits, the most important stat, runners in scoring position. In 32 at bats versus Columbus, Rochester compiled eight hits or a .250 batting average over the four game stretch. While the offense is continuing to improve, the pitching continues to get better for the Red Wings as well. In the series in Columbus, Rochester pitching allowed 16 runs in those four games. (Four runs per game). The starters combined for a 4.09 ERA, however that number is a bit deceiving. In 11 innings, Kyle Gibson and P.J. Walters gave up 8 runs which translates to a 6.55 ERA. Liam Hendriks and Samuel Deduno combined to pitch 11 innings, while giving up just 2 earned runs in their starts (1.64 ERA). The bullpen continued to get better as well, after giving up three earned runs in game one of the series, they would allow just one run in their next 9.1 innings pitched, combining for a 3.00 ERA, much improved as well. Holy Toledo After splitting the two game series in Columbus, the Red Wings took the two-hour drive North to Toledo, to begin a four game series against the Mud Hens (Tigers). Last season Rochester went 8-0 against Toledo, so there was hope the Red Wings hot streak would continue. In four games against the Mud Hens, the Wings scored 13 runs (3.25 runs per game), that number is very much inflated by the eight run slugfest that took place Tuesday night. If you take out that one game, Rochester combined to score just five runs in three games (1.66 runs per game), and went 1-2 in those games. Usually when one area of the team is inconsistent, you’re hopeful that the other aspects of the team will be able to pick you up, that was not the case in this series. The numbers are lopsided in this series as well, Rochester allowed 20 runs over the four game series, and however 19 of the 20 runs were scored in two games. Rochester’s starters gave up just eight runs in 26 1/3 innings which is an impressive 2.73 ERA. The bullpen however, was not as overwhelming, giving up 10 runs in 15 2/3rd innings pitched (5.75 ERA). Rochester went on to split the series with Toledo and Columbus, ending the eight game road trip at 4-4. What Lies Ahead? Rochester returns home to Frontier Field on Friday, opening a four game series against the Columbus Clippers (Indians). The Red Wings finish up an eight game home stand, hosting mega prospect Wil Myers and the Durham Bulls (Rays). Last season Rochester was 2-6 against Durham, including losing three out of four games at Frontier Field in 2012. Team Leaders Batting Average Clete Thomas - .346 Chris Colabello - .313 Evan Bigley - .303 Home Runs Chris Colabello – 8 Clete Thomas – 6 Oswaldo Arcia – 3 RBI Chris Colabello – 23 Clete Thomas – 17 Doug Bernier – 11 Wins P.J. Walters – 3 Kyle Gibson – 2 Virgil Vasquez – 2 ERA Tyler Robertson – 2.45 Shairon Martis – 3.04 Andrew Albers – 3.30 Strikeouts P.J. Walters – 36 Kyle Gibson – 35 Andrew Albers - 27

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3910[/ATTACH] After finishing an eight game home stand at 3-5, the Rochester Red Wings took the short trip up the New York Thruway to Syracuse to play the Chiefs (Nationals). Last season the Red Wings won just three games in Syracuse, something that they would match in their first trip to NBT Bank Stadium. The Bats Come Alive In their four game series against the Chiefs, Rochester scored 31 runs on 50 hits. Things change when you average almost eight runs per game, and just over 12 hits as well. Before their series began on Tuesday, the Red Wings had not scored more than seven runs in a game since April 7th, and through their first 18 games, Rochester had scored a total of 53 runs (2.9 runs per game). The Wings also continued to improve their average with runners in scoring position (RISP). In the four game road trip Rochester was 14-53 (.264), which is significantly higher than in previous weeks. The Pitching Woes Continue It seems so far this season, either the pitching or hitting is strong, but never at the same time, this trend continued. In the four games against the Chiefs, starting pitching combined to give up 11 runs in 23 innings (4.30 ERA). The bullpen had their own problems as well, in 18 1/3rd innings; they gave up 10 runs (4.91 ERA), including two blown saves. Coming Back Home After going 3-1 on the road, improving their record to 8-14 on the season, Rochester returned to Frontier Field for a four game series against the Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays). Kyle Gibson pitched his best game of the season on Friday, going 6 2/3rd innings, giving up just two hits, striking out seven. Caleb Thielbar and Tim Wood pitched the remaining 2 2/3rd innings to preserve the shut out. Winners of four straight games entering Sunday, there were high hopes with Liam Hendriks on the mound, maybe the Wings winning streak would continue. Unfortunately for Rochester, and Hendriks, he was unable to contain the Buffalo offense, giving up eight hits and five runs in five innings pitched. Tyler Robertson and Daniel Turpen did pitch four shutout innings in relief, but the four run deficit would be too much for Rochester to overcome. If all aspects of this team clicks, there is still hope that they can have something to play for in September. What’s Ahead Now at 9-15 on the year, Rochester has two more games at home against the first place Bisons. The Red Wings then go on the road, starting a four game series against the Columbus Clippers (Indians). Last season the Red Wings went 6-2 against the Clippers, going 3-1 at Huntington Park. After four games in Columbus, Rochester continues to Toledo, playing four against the Mud Hens (Tigers). The Wings went 8-0 against Toledo last season, the only team Rochester went undefeated against in 2012.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3849[/ATTACH] Entering his fourth professional season, Rochester Red Wings pitcher Kyle Gibson is hopeful that this is the year he gets his chance to pitch in Minnesota. Currently listed as Baseball America’s #68 ranked prospect in their 2013 Top 100 Prospect list, and #5 on their organizational list, it’s safe to say that there are high hopes this year for the future Twins right hander. After batting practice on Monday, I had the chance to talk about his rehab, what his expectations are for the year, and what exactly is happening with the Wings so far this year. CF - Can you talk a little bit about how the team is doing this year? Not the start you guys had hoped for coming out of the spring. Kyle Gibson – I think the last four or five games is a better indicator of how the team is. We lost two to these guys (Pawtucket) at their place, I think it was a 1 to 1 ball game going into the sixth. Even yesterday (Sunday’s doubleheader) the one that we lost, it was a 1-0 game going into the sixth. If you look at the last four or five games we’ve played, we are a lot different team then when we started. We are starting to click a little bit, we are a little bit more comfortable up here. I think the offense is starting to hit their stride, and the bullpen has been really good, so that always helps. CF -Obviously it’s not just one thing, but you guys had a pretty good spring training, do you take that with a grain of salt? Or do you think that’s what we could be? KG – I think spring training was the indicator of how good the team can be. Our offense was really good. Our pitching threw pretty good, I think all of us coming up here thought we were going to keep it rolling. I think for whatever reason we had those games where our offense would struggle, and so would our pitching. We would have games where our pitching would do well and our offense would struggle or vice versa. Spring training is a whole lot different, you have the lineups shuffling a little bit more, there’s a lot less pressure on the situation. Right now we’re starting to find that lineup that’s working for us. One of the things that always hurts Triple-A is the movement up and down from the big leagues. You always have new guys coming in so that shuffles it up a little bit, which makes AAA a little bit different than every other level. CF - What was 2012 like for you as a player? You moved around a lot, still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, what was it like to basically have to rebuild? KG - I think it was a good process for me. You never want to have to go through an arm rehab program, but I think at the end of the day I’m mentally and physically stronger for it. I think at the end of the year being able to come back up to Rochester for a few start was pretty big, to get back up against this level of competition. Even though I didn’t have that much success, to be able to come back up here, I felt strong being back up here. The Arizona Fall League was a good experience as well, kind of the same as here. I was facing good prospects, faced a lot of guys on this team (Pawtucket), and all throughout the International League. I got a lot of good experience against a lot of good players. CF - How much of rehab is mental as well as physical? KG - Good question, if I could say 100 percent and 100 percent I would. I would say getting over the injury is more mental than physical. You do a lot of physical work, but at the end of the rehab, you get to the point when it’s time to let it go, and it’s time to move on from the rehab, and that’s where the mental part comes in. For me, I was able to do that okay because I had an elbow surgery before. My first outing in extended I was like, here’s a four seamer throw it as hard as you can, you get past that and that’s what helped me. CF - Are you on any sort of innings cap that you know of? Or are you and the team just kind of taking it as it goes? KG - When they sent me down in Spring Training, Terry Ryan told me to go down there and pitch. We aren’t going to baby you this year, we are going to let you go down there and throw and see what happens. I’m sure if I come up sore or tired later on in the season, we might rethink it, but as of right now I don’t have too much information on it. CF - So far you’ve had a couple of strong starts, but in the later innings you seem to struggle a little bit, what do you credit the good start to? KG - I’m getting closer to where I want to be. Pitch wise, I think I still have some work to do mentally. Just like yesterday (Sunday), I have the stuff that I want to have and for whatever reason I lose it in the 6th inning, and I start to lose it for them. I think there are some positives and negatives to it, my last two starts I’ve felt really good, but I’ve let the other team sneak into some situations where I shouldn’t have. I walked away from a start yesterday thinking, wow I gave up four walks and gave up three hits, I kind of beat myself up there. That’s one thing to make it to the next level I can’t do. CF - Would you consider yourself a strikeout pitcher, or more of a groundball pitcher? KG - I would consider myself a ground ball pitcher that can get strikeouts when I need to, how bout that? (laughs) One thing with the surgery, and the velocity that I have, I think it’s allowed me to use strikeouts a little more, even strikeouts with my fastball. That’s something that I’ve never done too well, I think the added sharpness to my pitches due to the rehab from the surgery has really helped me out with that. CF - Is your fastball your “outpitch”? KG - Yeah, I think it can be now. Before it was a little bit slower, 88-92 MPH, and I don’t think it was as much of an outpitch. I think if I need a ground ball double play or I need an out, that’s a pitch that I can go to now. CF - Can you compare where you are now to where you were two or three years ago? As a pitcher, and a clubhouse guy? KG - I think age, and the process that I went through, has definitely matured me baseball wise. I think as a pitcher, in certain aspects I’m better, and in certain aspects I’m not as good. The aspects that I’m working on are making sure that I’m mentally focused, and not beating myself. Before surgery I didn’t walk anybody, walks are just something that I hated to do, I still hate to do it I just haven’t been able to control it as much. I know how to use my stuff now, once I can consistently learn to use it the right way, that’s where I want to be as a pitcher. As a clubhouse guy, it’s different. We have a pretty veteran team here, where a couple of years ago I may be in the middle of the pack age wise. I think the veterans here are definitely doing a good job, especially pitchers like P.J. Walters and guys that have been around and have been in the big leagues are doing a good job pointing me in the right direction to help me grow as a player. CF - What is it like knowing that you’re just one phone call away from being called up to the Twins? KG – I mean there’s a lot of pressure in this situation, but at the same time we all know that we’re in a pretty good spot. I think the hardest part is not to think about that, and to go out and just try to win the game today. The more I’m able to focus on going out and winning that day the better I am, because I’m not thinking about, when that call might come? How it’s going to be? And the excitement that I’m going to have. CF - What are your goals for the rest of the season, for your team and yourself? KG – I think one thing we’ve struggled with in Rochester is having a full season of being really successful. We were .500 last year, but I think we want to be a lot better than that. The fans deserve a team that goes out there and wins 85-90 games, and go to the playoffs. I’d like to make it to the big leagues as fast as possible as well, ever since I was a kid I’ve always had a goal of making it to the highest level possible, for as long as possible. I’m going to try to get better and keep developing and hopefully make it up there at some point this year.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3828[/ATTACH] Photo Courtesy of Richard Bobby Photography Coming off a dismal 1-5 road trip the Rochester Red Wings came home to start an 8 game home stand against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders (Yankees) and Pawtucket Red Sox. Coming into their game Monday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Wings had lost four in a row and had been outscored 24-8 in those games. More of the Same In the four games against the Railriders the Red Wings starters allowed 11 earned runs in 23 innings pitched, which translates to a 4.30 ERA. However, the bullpen continues to struggle, giving up 13 runs in just nine innings pitched (6.23 ERA). During the series the Red Wings were outscored 22 – 6, which included a 20 inning scoreless drought. When you only score six runs in four games, to blame the offense is an obvious choice. Exactly how much is the offense struggling though? In their four game series against the Railriders, Rochester was a combined 2-33 (.061) with runners in scoring position and 31 men were left on base. After the game Wednesday night, manager Gene Glynn talked a little bit about the teams early season struggles. “I was hoping that it wouldn’t get this deep. We had a couple of 8 game losing streaks last year early in season. I just want to put this behind us as soon as we can. You know that there’s a long season ahead, but it’s getting urgent that we turn this around.” After breaking their seven game losing streak on Thursday, the road was not going to get any easier as the International League North division-leading Pawtucket Red Sox were coming to town. Not only were the Red Sox in first place, but also they were getting better. Boston called DH David Ortiz up from Pawtucket on Friday afternoon, but sent top prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. down to the PawSox. Is the team starting to click? Friday night’s game was rained out, which meant the Red Wings would play one Saturday and a double header on Sunday, their second twinbill of the young season. Andrew Albers started for Rochester on Saturday; overall he has been one of the more reliable pitchers on the team. However due to cold weather, strong winds and control issues, Albers would only last two innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Over the remaining seven innings, the bullpen allowed just five hits and one run, while striking out five. While it wasn’t a jaw dropping offensive performance, it was still nice to see the team hit. The Red Wings went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position (RISP), but they capitalized on the Red Sox three errors, and Chris Colabello’s game winning HR in the 7th inning helped Rochester get their first winning streak of the season. Kyle Gibson took the mound in game one of the double header on Sunday. Through 5 innings he looked great and the Red Wings were up 1-0. Unfortunately he was unable to retire anyone in the 6th inning, Luis Perdomo was also unable to get anyone out in the 6th. Five runs crossed the plate in the inning and the Red Sox added three more in the 7th, in an 8-1 Red Sox victory, ending the Red Wings two game winning streak. Game two was all about P.J. Walters, pitching a complete game two hitter, to give Rochester their first shutout of the season. Despite going 2 for 14 with RISP, it was still enough to pick up their third win in four games. Let’s Look at the Numbers In the Red Wings five wins this year, they have outscored their opponents 28-14. In their 12 losses, opponents have outscored Rochester, 78-23. Also in 12 of the 17 games played (71%), the Red Wings have scored 2 runs or fewer; they are 2-10 in those games. Chris Colabello and Clete Thomas are the only two Rochester players with batting averages above .300 for the year. There are seven players with averages at .200 or below, and three more players with averages below .220 for the season. Rochester has a combined team ERA of 6.43 through 17 games. However the team has an improving ERA of 4.80 over their past four games. What Lies Ahead? Now at 5-12 on the year, Rochester finishes their home stand tomorrow in game four of the series against Pawtucket. The Red Wings then stay local, heading east to Syracuse for a four game series against the Chiefs (Nationals). Last season Rochester was 5-11 against Syracuse, and 3-5 on the road at NBT Bank Stadium. The Red Wings then return home for a four game series against the Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays). The Wings are 1-3 against Buffalo this season, including 1-1 at Frontier Field.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3776[/ATTACH] Photo courtesy of Tim Doohan and the Rochester Red Wings After spending eight seasons playing baseball in the Independent leagues, Chris Colabello finally was given the opportunity to play for a major league affiliate. Last year in New Britain, Colabello turned some heads hitting .284 with 19 home runs and 98 RBI’s. So far in Rochester it has been more of the same, hitting .395 with 4 home runs and 6 RBI’s and was named the IL player of the week during the opening week of the season. After batting practice on Tuesday, I had the chance to talk to him about his time in the minors, his season so far, as well as his time playing for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. CF - Being from Framingham, the cold weather hasn’t been bothering you at all this season has it? You must be used to it at this point. Chris Colabello (CC): It’s not to say that I like it. I would say no matter where you grow up, for me it was Central Massachusetts, where I spent almost my whole life. You get used to it I guess, but it’s still not something I enjoy. (laughs) You do the best you can with it. CF - What do you credit your early season success to? Being named the International League Player of the Week last week, hitting over .400, pretty good start. CC - I think more than anything else is to try to stay consistent mentally. Over the past couple of years I tried to put an emphasis on taking care of the process, not worrying about the results. When you focus too much on results, you force things. You try to focus on the things that you can control every day, taking care of things that you can take care of. Taking care of your swing. Taking care of your pre-game, and prepare yourself the best you can and hope for the best. At that point playing that game becomes part of the process. CF: The team is off to kind of a rough start (Rochester was 2-9 when we spoke), how is the morale in the locker room? CC – I think everyone’s doing okay. I mean obviously as individuals you want to get off to a good start, team wise and on a personal level. It’s very important to remember that it’s a long season and you have plenty of time. Not to say that starting 2-9 is something that everyone wanted to do, you just keep battling, keep grinding. We haven’t gotten very many breaks, and that’s part of the game, when it rains it pours. We just have to go out, keep grinding every day and things will start to turn, start to catch some breaks, start feeling a little bit better about yourself and the team. CF - You played Left Field for the first time in a couple of years the other night. Was there a reason for that? CC – I’m not really sure, I played a lot of outfield in college, a lot of outfield in Indy ball. Gene (Glynn), had asked me in Spring Training if I felt comfortable enough to do it, just to mix things up a little, also to try to get other guys into the lineup, it was fun though, I enjoyed it. CF - Any problem out there, or was it just like riding a bike? CC – I don’t know if it’s like riding a bike. (laughs) When you get used to playing a certain position for a while it sort of becomes second nature, so you don’t have to worry about situations and where you’re going to go with the ball. In left field, I was always double-checking to make sure I knew what to do with the baseball if it got hit to me before the play, things like that. Thankfully I was able to make a pretty good play on a line drive that saved us a couple of runs. My heart was racing a little bit on that one (chuckles). CF - Having played 8 seasons in Indy ball, what would you compare the level of play too in affiliated baseball? AA, AAA? CC – On any given night it really depends on the guy on the mound. In the Indy leagues you could face a guy who pitched in the big leagues, AAA, AA. A guy who has plus stuff who may be coming off of an injury, trying to reinvent himself or whatever it might be. I think the difference between Indy ball and a level like this is, you have a bigger disparity of the kind of guy you’re going to get. You might have a 36-year-old guy who played 10 years in the big leagues, or you might have a guy who’s right out of college. In affiliated ball you really don’t see that as much because there is a development process. I think that’s the single biggest thing. In affiliated ball you see why guys are here, whether its tools oriented, or they’ve been around the game for a while or whatever it may be. I think it terms of top to bottom on a roster there is a little bit more consistency in the type of player you’re going to get. CF - What was it like being on the Italian World Baseball Classic Roster? CC – It was unbelievable. It was a tremendous experience, definitely something that I’ll never forget. I couldn’t be more thankful to the organization and the Italian Federation for giving me the opportunity to do it. Obviously being able to move on to the second round too, something not a lot of people expected us to do. I think everyone that was watching saw how much fun we were having as a group. It was really neat to get together with a bunch of guys, who for the most part didn’t know each other. I was fortunate enough to play with a bunch of the Italian guys, whether it was growing up or at the European Cup last year. But to have guys come in from big league camp, from minor league camp that really didn’t know each other all that well and have us come together like we did was great. CF - I’m not terribly familiar with the process of being selected to the WBC, how did you get selected and how did you find out that you were on the team? CC– I’ve known the Italian manager for quite a while. I grew up in Italy; my father had played on the International team for quite a few years. Last year, when we were about half way through the season, the manager had emailed me to see if I’d be interested in playing in the European Cup in the fall. I was really excited to be able to do, if the opportunity allowed itself with the regular season and playoffs in New Britain. Unfortunately we didn’t make the playoffs in New Britain last year, we missed out by a game. We had discussed it out there, talked about it a little bit the year before, we were just going to wait to see how the roster shook itself out. He stayed in touch with me all winter, I did okay during the European Cup, and so he was excited to potentially have me on the roster. We kept talking throughout the first few months of the year, fortunately things were able to work out, the Twins green lighted it and it was an awesome experience. CF - You had a pretty good Spring Training campaign; did you expect to get sent down to Rochester? Or was there a part of you that thought you may stick with the Twins coming out of camp. CC – Honestly, as a player, as an individual my goal is to go out everyday and control the things that I can control. I don’t think there was ever an expectation to make the big league club out of camp. They have a pretty good First Baseman up there, he’s been to a few All Star Games, done some really nice things, won an MVP. I didn’t really know what the protocol would be, but I talked to some people who had mentioned Rochester being the most likely scenario. I worked as hard as I could to show the staff up there what I was capable of; again I try to control the things that I can control. Whether it is in Rochester, New Britain, Minnesota, I’m just thankful to put on the uniform every day and play the game that I love. I know there are a lot of people that would trade places with me, if the opportunity comes to do it in a Twins uniform, that would be unbelievable. Right now I’m worried about being a Rochester Red Wing, and being the best Rochester Red Wing I can be, and try to help this team win some games. CF - How surprised are you that it took 8 seasons in Indy ball before getting picked up by a Major League organization? CC – I mean, at the end of the day I don’t worry about what other people think. There were a bunch of things that I had heard, whether it was “I couldn’t run fast enough” or “I didn’t hit for enough power” or even “I’m only a first baseman”. I’ve been very lucky to have people at a young age that told me to “control you”. I went out and tried to play to the best of my ability every day. If someone saw enough they liked to give me an opportunity, I would be more thankful then anyone could ever imagine. For some reason it took 8 years for someone to give me that chance, but in a lot of ways it was almost a blessing in disguise in terms of me being able to develop as player maturity wise. It allowed me to be able to deal with failure, and deal with things that the game brings out. When you’re young, you don’t really know how to cope with things. For whatever reason it happened the way that it did, and I couldn’t be more thankful to be here today, and have a pretty good grasp on myself as an individual and to be able to take that with me when I go to the field. CF -What are your goals for the rest of the season, not only for yourself but for the team as well? CC – I would have to say consistency more than anything else in terms of how you approach the game. Results are very difficult to create, process is something as a player, as a team you take care of every day. Whether it means fundamentals, preparation, whatever you do as a player to get yourself in a routine, is what you need to do to give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. I told coaches in Spring Training my biggest goal was to bring mental consistency to the field everyday, to stay positive mentally no matter what’s going on around you. As a team that’s the goal every day to be consistent and to give yourself the best chance to win every night. There’s no real secret formula to say this is what you have to do, you just gotta keep grinding. There’s going to be upswings and downswings in baseball, and when the downswings happen early, people have a tendency to key in on them. If you go through a 0-10 stretch in July or you’re 2-30 in July, people just say, “It is what it is” and tend not to notice it at much. It comes down to being able to find mental consistency as an individual and as a team, and then see where the road takes you.