Cody Christie

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?568-Tuesday-s-Trip-through-the-Minors

As I put this post together, the Twins are up big on the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning. Gavin Floyd struggled for the White Sox and the Twins pounced on him for nine runs in the first four innings. Only Ben Revere and Brian Dozier have yet to get involved in the hit parade so it will be interesting to see if they can join the club in the final innings. PJ Walters is in the middle of his third start since being called up by the Twins. There were some bad starts to innings with Walters letting lead off men reach base but he seemed to be able to coax a double play to erase any of those runners. With the announcement that Cole DeVries will be making his MLB debut on Thursday, the Twins will start three pitchers in the White Sox series that were in the rotation at Rochester earlier in the year. There are a lot of players from the minor leagues who have been called on during the early portion of the season so let's see who else is making their mark in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 1, GWINNETT 3 A couple of runs in the first inning were enough to put the Braves Triple-A affiliate on top for this game with the Red Wings. The Braves put together 12 hits in the contest but left nine men on base during the course of the game. On the other hand, the Red Wings put together five hits and one of those hits was for extra bases. Chris Parmelee hit his first career home run at Triple-A and his first home run of the year in the second inning. Pedro Florimon had two hits for the second consecutive game. The rest of the Red Wings offense struggled at the plate as the team tried to figure out opposing pitcher Julio Teheran, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. All of the runs for the Braves came during Daryl Thompson's time on the mound. In his 3.1 innings of work, Thompson allowed eight hits and three earned runs with a single strike out. Deolis Guerra, Lester Oliveros, and Casey Fien covered the rest of the game for the Red Wings and they didn't allow another run to score. Oliveros was making his third appearance since being called up from New Britain and he pitched two innings while racking up four strikeouts. NEW BRITAIN 3, BINGHAMTON 0 There were a lot of zeros on the board for both teams on Tuesday night but the Rock Cats were finally able to break through in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the first lead of the game. They chased the starter from the mound and were able to add to their lead with three runs on the board. In one of his best starts of the season, Logan Darnell scattered seven hits over the course of seven innings but he was able to escape trouble. He didn't allow a run to cross the plate and he struck out four while not giving up a walk. After allowing nine combined earned runs in his last two starts, it was nice to see Darnell bounce back with a positive outing that put his team in position to win. Chris Herrmann provided the majority of the offense for the Rock Cats in this game. He put together a 4-for-4 night and he drove in two of New Britain's three runs. Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford each had two hits and Evan Bigley started the scoring by hitting his second home run of the year in the seventh inning. FORT MYERS 2, CLEARWATER 1 It was a big day for catchers in the Twins system as Dan Rohlfing joined Herrmann as the offensive hero for his team. The Miracle struggled to score runs for most of this game but Rohlfing was about to put together a 3-for-4 night while driving in both runs for the Miracle. With two doubles in this game, he has five doubles in his last six games. Marty Popham pitched a good game for Fort Myers but he was unable to factor into the final decision. In his six innings on the mound, he saw one run cross the plate and he struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes picked up his first win of the year by tossing two scoreless innings to back-up the strong start from Popham. Daniel Santana and Oswaldo Arcia added two hits apiece to help pace the offense for the Miracle. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael had his first hit in his last four games. Ricky Bowen picked up his fourth save of the year by striking out the side in the ninth inning. BELOIT (Off Day) The Snappers enjoyed an off day on Tuesday before starting a home series against Cedar Rapids. Miguel Sano has only one home run in his last ten games and he is batting .094/.216/.188 during that stretch. It would be nice to see him go on another run as the weather starts to warm up in the Midwest. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Chris Herrmann http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVanNywXpws/T7w5_bSFthI/AAAAAAAABTA/jYQA2DXZ-Ek/s320/ChrisHerrmann.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Logan Darnell http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zgffM-pKJIg/T7w7E6c4TMI/AAAAAAAABTI/K1z2Lv6c3-o/s1600/LoganDarnell.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 23th Schedule Rochester (Off Day) New Britain vs. Binghamton- RHP David Bromberg Fort Myers vs. Clearwater- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Cedar Rapids- RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

As I put this post together, the Twins are up big on the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning. Gavin Floyd struggled for the White Sox and the Twins pounced on him for nine runs in the first four innings. Only Ben Revere and Brian Dozier have yet to get involved in the hit parade so it will be interesting to see if they can join the club in the final innings. PJ Walters is in the middle of his third start since being called up by the Twins. There were some bad starts to innings with Walters letting lead off men reach base but he seemed to be able to coax a double play to erase any of those runners. With the announcement that Cole DeVries will be making his MLB debut on Thursday, the Twins will start three pitchers in the White Sox series that were in the rotation at Rochester earlier in the year. There are a lot of players from the minor leagues who have been called on during the early portion of the season so let's see who else is making their mark in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 1, GWINNETT 3 A couple of runs in the first inning were enough to put the Braves Triple-A affiliate on top for this game with the Red Wings. The Braves put together 12 hits in the contest but left nine men on base during the course of the game. On the other hand, the Red Wings put together five hits and one of those hits was for extra bases. Chris Parmelee hit his first career home run at Triple-A and his first home run of the year in the second inning. Pedro Florimon had two hits for the second consecutive game. The rest of the Red Wings offense struggled at the plate as the team tried to figure out opposing pitcher Julio Teheran, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. All of the runs for the Braves came during Daryl Thompson's time on the mound. In his 3.1 innings of work, Thompson allowed eight hits and three earned runs with a single strike out. Deolis Guerra, Lester Oliveros, and Casey Fien covered the rest of the game for the Red Wings and they didn't allow another run to score. Oliveros was making his third appearance since being called up from New Britain and he pitched two innings while racking up four strikeouts. NEW BRITAIN 3, BINGHAMTON 0 There were a lot of zeros on the board for both teams on Tuesday night but the Rock Cats were finally able to break through in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the first lead of the game. They chased the starter from the mound and were able to add to their lead with three runs on the board. In one of his best starts of the season, Logan Darnell scattered seven hits over the course of seven innings but he was able to escape trouble. He didn't allow a run to cross the plate and he struck out four while not giving up a walk. After allowing nine combined earned runs in his last two starts, it was nice to see Darnell bounce back with a positive outing that put his team in position to win. Chris Herrmann provided the majority of the offense for the Rock Cats in this game. He put together a 4-for-4 night and he drove in two of New Britain's three runs. Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford each had two hits and Evan Bigley started the scoring by hitting his second home run of the year in the seventh inning. FORT MYERS 2, CLEARWATER 1 It was a big day for catchers in the Twins system as Dan Rohlfing joined Herrmann as the offensive hero for his team. The Miracle struggled to score runs for most of this game but Rohlfing was about to put together a 3-for-4 night while driving in both runs for the Miracle. With two doubles in this game, he has five doubles in his last six games. Marty Popham pitched a good game for Fort Myers but he was unable to factor into the final decision. In his six innings on the mound, he saw one run cross the plate and he struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes picked up his first win of the year by tossing two scoreless innings to back-up the strong start from Popham. Daniel Santana and Oswaldo Arcia added two hits apiece to help pace the offense for the Miracle. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael had his first hit in his last four games. Ricky Bowen picked up his fourth save of the year by striking out the side in the ninth inning. BELOIT (Off Day) The Snappers enjoyed an off day on Tuesday before starting a home series against Cedar Rapids. Miguel Sano has only one home run in his last ten games and he is batting .094/.216/.188 during that stretch. It would be nice to see him go on another run as the weather starts to warm up in the Midwest. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Chris Herrmann http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVanNywXpws/T7w5_bSFthI/AAAAAAAABTA/jYQA2DXZ-Ek/s320/ChrisHerrmann.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Logan Darnell http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zgffM-pKJIg/T7w7E6c4TMI/AAAAAAAABTI/K1z2Lv6c3-o/s1600/LoganDarnell.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 23th Schedule Rochester (Off Day) New Britain vs. Binghamton- RHP David Bromberg Fort Myers vs. Clearwater- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Cedar Rapids- RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As with all Tuesday's for the rest of the minor league baseball season, I will be writing the minor league update for the TwinsDaily website later tonight. So make sure to check back for my post on all of the happenings across the Twins farm system. Until then, here are a few "Tuesday Morning Tidbits" to keep you satisfied until this evening. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ia5oCK2g01I/T7t2fTZ8rFI/AAAAAAAABS0/kJvsZMC0ec4/s320/LewFord.jpg Gibson set to pitch off of the mound Kyle Gibson, the Twins 2009 first round pick, has been slowly working his way back from Tommy John surgery and it is getting closer to him being able to pitch off of the mound. According to his Facebook account, he will be throwing from 135 feet this week and 150 feet next week before stepping on the mound for the first time on June 4. He will get to throw 15 pitches in his first bullpen session. During the beginning of the year, Terry Ryan said that Gibson was on pace to pitch in minor league games by the end of the summer so his progression is nice to see. With many current members of the Twins starting rotation slated to be free agents, the Twins might need Gibson to be ready for the big leagues in 2013. It will be interesting to see if the Twins follow a similar plan to Stephen Strasburg for Gibson's first year back following the procedure. The Nationals are limiting the amount of innings Strasburg will pitch and they followed a similar plan with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman. It seems like the Twins will take any starting pitcher that can keep them in a game at this point so Gibson's recovery could be key for next year. Ford continues on comeback trail Former fan favorite Lew Ford (see photo above) has been bouncing around baseball leagues in recent years. This has seen him play all over the country in independant leagues and even in other countries like Japan and Mexico as he tried to make it back for one more shot at the big leagues. For a 35-year old scrappy outfielder, this can be a challenge and making it through to a 25-man roster would be even harder for him to do. Over the weekend, the news came out that Ford signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles and he was assigned to their Triple-A club in Norfolk. In his first four games with the Tides, he has batted .375/.444/.500 with two doubles and two RBI in 16 at-bats. He also has muliple hit games in two of his first four games With the Orioles being in first place, it would be great to see Ford get a call-up to help the club push for a division crown. Ford will always have a special place in the hearts of Twins fans so watch this video of him hitting a double with his new team and get ready to yell "LLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW." Butera throwing heat For the second year in a row, the Twins were forced to use a position player on the mound to cover the last inning of a blowout loss. In 2011, Michael Cuddyer took the field against the Rangers and pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Cuddyer left the team in free agency so the Twins had to look for a different arm on Sunday afternoon. Drew Butera stepped up and pitched a pretty decent frame for the Twins. In Cuddyer's outing, Texas was able to mount a threat against him on the strength of a couple hits and a walk. During his inning of work, Cuddyer showed a variety of pitches with his fastball averaging around 87 mph. He mixed in a cutter, a slider, and a change up but for the most part he tried to just throw the ball over the plate to get the Twins out of a terrible 20-6 loss. Compared to Cuddyer, Butera looked like Nolan Ryan when he stepped on the mound. The radar gun had Butera throwing as high as 94 mph with his fastball and he worked a decent change-up into the mix. With the good arm Butera has shown behind the plate, it could be assumed that he would have a little something behind his pitches. His fastball averaged close to 90 mph and his change-up sat around 79 mph. He even got former Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez to strike out swinging in very Gomez like fashion.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As with all Tuesday's for the rest of the minor league baseball season, I will be writing the minor league update for the TwinsDaily website later tonight. So make sure to check back for my post on all of the happenings across the Twins farm system. Until then, here are a few "Tuesday Morning Tidbits" to keep you satisfied until this evening. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ia5oCK2g01I/T7t2fTZ8rFI/AAAAAAAABS0/kJvsZMC0ec4/s320/LewFord.jpg Gibson set to pitch off of the mound Kyle Gibson, the Twins 2009 first round pick, has been slowly working his way back from Tommy John surgery and it is getting closer to him being able to pitch off of the mound. According to his Facebook account, he will be throwing from 135 feet this week and 150 feet next week before stepping on the mound for the first time on June 4. He will get to throw 15 pitches in his first bullpen session. During the beginning of the year, Terry Ryan said that Gibson was on pace to pitch in minor league games by the end of the summer so his progression is nice to see. With many current members of the Twins starting rotation slated to be free agents, the Twins might need Gibson to be ready for the big leagues in 2013. It will be interesting to see if the Twins follow a similar plan to Stephen Strasburg for Gibson's first year back following the procedure. The Nationals are limiting the amount of innings Strasburg will pitch and they followed a similar plan with starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman. It seems like the Twins will take any starting pitcher that can keep them in a game at this point so Gibson's recovery could be key for next year. Ford continues on comeback trail Former fan favorite Lew Ford (see photo above) has been bouncing around baseball leagues in recent years. This has seen him play all over the country in independant leagues and even in other countries like Japan and Mexico as he tried to make it back for one more shot at the big leagues. For a 35-year old scrappy outfielder, this can be a challenge and making it through to a 25-man roster would be even harder for him to do. Over the weekend, the news came out that Ford signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles and he was assigned to their Triple-A club in Norfolk. In his first four games with the Tides, he has batted .375/.444/.500 with two doubles and two RBI in 16 at-bats. He also has muliple hit games in two of his first four games With the Orioles being in first place, it would be great to see Ford get a call-up to help the club push for a division crown. Ford will always have a special place in the hearts of Twins fans so watch this video of him hitting a double with his new team and get ready to yell "LLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW." Butera throwing heat For the second year in a row, the Twins were forced to use a position player on the mound to cover the last inning of a blowout loss. In 2011, Michael Cuddyer took the field against the Rangers and pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Cuddyer left the team in free agency so the Twins had to look for a different arm on Sunday afternoon. Drew Butera stepped up and pitched a pretty decent frame for the Twins. In Cuddyer's outing, Texas was able to mount a threat against him on the strength of a couple hits and a walk. During his inning of work, Cuddyer showed a variety of pitches with his fastball averaging around 87 mph. He mixed in a cutter, a slider, and a change up but for the most part he tried to just throw the ball over the plate to get the Twins out of a terrible 20-6 loss. Compared to Cuddyer, Butera looked like Nolan Ryan when he stepped on the mound. The radar gun had Butera throwing as high as 94 mph with his fastball and he worked a decent change-up into the mix. With the good arm Butera has shown behind the plate, it could be assumed that he would have a little something behind his pitches. His fastball averaged close to 90 mph and his change-up sat around 79 mph. He even got former Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez to strike out swinging in very Gomez like fashion.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?564-Twins-should-go-all-in-on-Greinke

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jZfVSkFdIc/T7osi8xBYuI/AAAAAAAABSo/T9Dddu6sgOw/s320/ap-201205201432523667858.jpg The Twins didn't put up much of a fight on Sunday afternoon and their four game winning streak came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Brewers. When the starting pitcher doesn't make it out of the second inning in a game following an extra-inning affair, it is going to be tough for a team to find success. The Twins offense did score the first run of the game and they were able to put some runs on the board in their last at-bat but the innings in between were ugly. While the front office of the Twins might have been cringing when Twins pitchers were on the mound, their eyes should have been clearly fixed on the starting pitcher for the Brewers in this game. Zack Greinke had been a standout pitcher in the AL Central for multiple seasons with the Royals so the Twins are well aware of his outstanding ability on the mound. On Sunday, Greinke was given a big lead and he knew what to do with it by pitching into the seventh inning and allowing a single earned run to cross the plate. When the 2012 season comes to an end, Greinke will hit the open market as one of the most sought after free agent pitchers. He will turn 29-years old during the offseason and many teams will be lining up at his door to inquire about what it will take for him to sign with their club. According to sources, there have been no recent talks between the Brewers and Greinke. It sounds like the Brewers would like to resign their ace but money could be a big factor for a team playing in one of the smallest markets in baseball. Most projections of Greinke's value as a free agent have him getting upwards of $100 million when he signs on the dotted line this offseason. The San Francisco Giants recently signed Matt Cain to the largest contract in history for a right-handed pitcher. The six-year deal was for $127.5 million with $112.5 million being guaranteed and it will keep Cain in San Francisco through the prime of his career. Since Greinke is only a year older than Cain, Greinke's deal could be structured very similar to the Cain deal and that would put the Brewers out of the running to keep Greinke around. If the Brewers are out of the running, this leaves other teams with the opportunity to swoop in and add Greinke to their starting rotation. The Twins should be one of the team's taking a hard look at bringing Greinke into the fold for the 2013 season. Coaches, fans, and the front office have been frustrated with the performance of many of the pitchers that have been in the starting rotation for the Twins this year. Jason Marquis and Francisco Liriano have been disasters, Carl Pavano has been forced to pitch through some pain in his shoulder, and Nick Blackburn has been very underwhelming when he has been able to pitch. Lucky enough for the Twins most of the starting staff will be free agents at season's end. This means the team can do a complete overhaul of their rotation for the start of next year. The extra money freed up by letting these players go could also allow the Twins to go after a free agent starting pitcher like Zack Greinke. Liriano makes $5.5 million, Pavano earns $9.0 million, and Marquis signed this past offseason for $3.0 million. If you add all of those up with the $6.5 million lost on Scott Baker this year, the Twins will have quite the chunk of change to spend on pitching for 2013. In the past, Greinke has battled with some issues surrounding anxiety and he was even forced to leave the Royals for a short time to try and figure out a solution to these problems. This battle with stressed related issues has allowed writers to predict that Greinke might like to stay away from some of the major markets in baseball. His issues with anxiety might only be compounded if he were to sign and play in New York or Los Angeles. This could give the Twins a better opportunity to sign Greinke because he has pitched his entire career in the Midwest and he is already familiar with the AL Central. Since Johan Santana was traded away before the 2008 season, the Twins have been searching for an ace of their staff. Greinke could be that player but a big time contract for a starting pitcher always comes with some risk. In this case, I think the risk is worth taking and the Twins should go all in to sign Greinke for the foreseeable future.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jZfVSkFdIc/T7osi8xBYuI/AAAAAAAABSo/T9Dddu6sgOw/s320/ap-201205201432523667858.jpg The Twins didn't put up much of a fight on Sunday afternoon and their four game winning streak came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Brewers. When the starting pitcher doesn't make it out of the second inning in a game following an extra-inning affair, it is going to be tough for a team to find success. The Twins offense did score the first run of the game and they were able to put some runs on the board in their last at-bat but the innings in between were ugly. While the front office of the Twins might have been cringing when Twins pitchers were on the mound, their eyes should have been clearly fixed on the starting pitcher for the Brewers in this game. Zack Greinke had been a standout pitcher in the AL Central for multiple seasons with the Royals so the Twins are well aware of his outstanding ability on the mound. On Sunday, Greinke was given a big lead and he knew what to do with it by pitching into the seventh inning and allowing a single earned run to cross the plate. When the 2012 season comes to an end, Greinke will hit the open market as one of the most sought after free agent pitchers. He will turn 29-years old during the offseason and many teams will be lining up at his door to inquire about what it will take for him to sign with their club. According to sources, there have been no recent talks between the Brewers and Greinke. It sounds like the Brewers would like to resign their ace but money could be a big factor for a team playing in one of the smallest markets in baseball. Most projections of Greinke's value as a free agent have him getting upwards of $100 million when he signs on the dotted line this offseason. The San Francisco Giants recently signed Matt Cain to the largest contract in history for a right-handed pitcher. The six-year deal was for $127.5 million with $112.5 million being guaranteed and it will keep Cain in San Francisco through the prime of his career. Since Greinke is only a year older than Cain, Greinke's deal could be structured very similar to the Cain deal and that would put the Brewers out of the running to keep Greinke around. If the Brewers are out of the running, this leaves other teams with the opportunity to swoop in and add Greinke to their starting rotation. The Twins should be one of the team's taking a hard look at bringing Greinke into the fold for the 2013 season. Coaches, fans, and the front office have been frustrated with the performance of many of the pitchers that have been in the starting rotation for the Twins this year. Jason Marquis and Francisco Liriano have been disasters, Carl Pavano has been forced to pitch through some pain in his shoulder, and Nick Blackburn has been very underwhelming when he has been able to pitch. Lucky enough for the Twins most of the starting staff will be free agents at season's end. This means the team can do a complete overhaul of their rotation for the start of next year. The extra money freed up by letting these players go could also allow the Twins to go after a free agent starting pitcher like Zack Greinke. Liriano makes $5.5 million, Pavano earns $9.0 million, and Marquis signed this past offseason for $3.0 million. If you add all of those up with the $6.5 million lost on Scott Baker this year, the Twins will have quite the chunk of change to spend on pitching for 2013. In the past, Greinke has battled with some issues surrounding anxiety and he was even forced to leave the Royals for a short time to try and figure out a solution to these problems. This battle with stressed related issues has allowed writers to predict that Greinke might like to stay away from some of the major markets in baseball. His issues with anxiety might only be compounded if he were to sign and play in New York or Los Angeles. This could give the Twins a better opportunity to sign Greinke because he has pitched his entire career in the Midwest and he is already familiar with the AL Central. Since Johan Santana was traded away before the 2008 season, the Twins have been searching for an ace of their staff. Greinke could be that player but a big time contract for a starting pitcher always comes with some risk. In this case, I think the risk is worth taking and the Twins should go all in to sign Greinke for the foreseeable future.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?556-Friday-Links-N-Thinks

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wait for it... Are you ready, yet? Don't adjust your monitor but the Twins just swept a two game series in Detroit. That's not a typo either. Over the course of the two games, the Tigers were a little error prone with six mistakes and the Twins were able to capitalize for five unearned runs. It has been great to see Trevor Plouffe find some semblance of power with two home runs in recent games. Maybe his new bald head is doing him some good. Justin Morneau and Ben Revere are back with the Twins and each of them has returned to their old ways with Morneau hitting a home run and Revere stealing a base. The Twins head to Milwaukee for the weekend and their first interleague series of the year. I am on the fence about whether or not interleague play should still be part of baseball but it seems like it is here to stay for the time being. It is always intertaining to watch the American League pitchers attempt to bat. From the sound of it, Jason Marquis could be the Twins diamond in the rough when it comes to pitchers at the plate. Enjoy this collection of links from the week and have a super weekend! There have been plenty of things to be annoyed with this season so read this post about the factors for frustration with the Twins. Joe Mauer seems to be spending a lot of time at first base and it could be possible that he is breaking down. Puckett's Pond takes a look at what type of player the Twins should draft with the number two pick. An interesting question was raised, "Are we ever biased towards umpire bias?" It has been tough to watch Jason Marquis on the mound this year and it can leave that sinking feeling in your stomach. It defiantly isn't time to pull the plug yet. One of the best stories to come out this week was about Anthony Swarzak and his search for Sasquatch. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KFxJm9U3ZGM/T7WzrUS_YHI/AAAAAAAABSc/-PN9ZEYvRbg/s320/SwarsakSasquatch.jpg This collection of old time baseball pictures is hilarious to see. With open seats at Target Field, I have snuck down to a better location more than once. Looks like that could be a bad idea at other ballparks. One of the most entertaining baseball people on Twitter, Ozzie Guillen, is calling it quits from the social media world. Only four closers have yet to blow a save this year and one of them happens to be the ninth inning man for the Twins. The Baseball Outsider was at two games in Beloit this week and he gives full reports on what he saw from two of the top prospects in the system. Another Beloit player, AJ Pettersen, got some press on the FSN North site. On of the top pitching prospects in the organization, Alex Wimmers, is trying to avoid surgery on his elbow by rehabbing it. This sounds like a familiar story for Twins pitchers. The 2013 All-Star Game location was finally announced this week and this means the next announcement could be that the Twins get 2014. A mysterious letter leaked out from Dave St. Peter's office this week. Read it for a good laugh. If you don't check out Minor League Ball, you should! Here's a post about Brian Dozier from earlier this week. Bert Blyleven was not happy about the way one of his former teammates was fired by the Angels this week. Jack Morris celebrated a birthday this week (along with Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier). My Weekly Rundown Monday: Concerns with Pavano's velocity continue to mount Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits Tuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: Should the Twins have started with this roster? Thursday: Soon one year has passed... Video of the Week: This Little League umpire in Illinois needs to tone down his strikeout call a little bit. Very extreme but at least the kids should know if they are out or not.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wait for it... Are you ready, yet? Don't adjust your monitor but the Twins just swept a two game series in Detroit. That's not a typo either. Over the course of the two games, the Tigers were a little error prone with six mistakes and the Twins were able to capitalize for five unearned runs. It has been great to see Trevor Plouffe find some semblance of power with two home runs in recent games. Maybe his new bald head is doing him some good. Justin Morneau and Ben Revere are back with the Twins and each of them has returned to their old ways with Morneau hitting a home run and Revere stealing a base. The Twins head to Milwaukee for the weekend and their first interleague series of the year. I am on the fence about whether or not interleague play should still be part of baseball but it seems like it is here to stay for the time being. It is always intertaining to watch the American League pitchers attempt to bat. From the sound of it, Jason Marquis could be the Twins diamond in the rough when it comes to pitchers at the plate. Enjoy this collection of links from the week and have a super weekend! There have been plenty of things to be annoyed with this season so read this post about the factors for frustration with the Twins. Joe Mauer seems to be spending a lot of time at first base and it could be possible that he is breaking down. Puckett's Pond takes a look at what type of player the Twins should draft with the number two pick. An interesting question was raised, "Are we ever biased towards umpire bias?" It has been tough to watch Jason Marquis on the mound this year and it can leave that sinking feeling in your stomach. It defiantly isn't time to pull the plug yet. One of the best stories to come out this week was about Anthony Swarzak and his search for Sasquatch. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KFxJm9U3ZGM/T7WzrUS_YHI/AAAAAAAABSc/-PN9ZEYvRbg/s320/SwarsakSasquatch.jpg This collection of old time baseball pictures is hilarious to see. With open seats at Target Field, I have snuck down to a better location more than once. Looks like that could be a bad idea at other ballparks. One of the most entertaining baseball people on Twitter, Ozzie Guillen, is calling it quits from the social media world. Only four closers have yet to blow a save this year and one of them happens to be the ninth inning man for the Twins. The Baseball Outsider was at two games in Beloit this week and he gives full reports on what he saw from two of the top prospects in the system. Another Beloit player, AJ Pettersen, got some press on the FSN North site. On of the top pitching prospects in the organization, Alex Wimmers, is trying to avoid surgery on his elbow by rehabbing it. This sounds like a familiar story for Twins pitchers. The 2013 All-Star Game location was finally announced this week and this means the next announcement could be that the Twins get 2014. A mysterious letter leaked out from Dave St. Peter's office this week. Read it for a good laugh. If you don't check out Minor League Ball, you should! Here's a post about Brian Dozier from earlier this week. Bert Blyleven was not happy about the way one of his former teammates was fired by the Angels this week. Jack Morris celebrated a birthday this week (along with Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier). My Weekly Rundown Monday: Concerns with Pavano's velocity continue to mount Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits Tuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: Should the Twins have started with this roster? Thursday: Soon one year has passed... Video of the Week: This Little League umpire in Illinois needs to tone down his strikeout call a little bit. Very extreme but at least the kids should know if they are out or not.

Not great news on the Adrian Salcedo front. On Seth Stohs Twins Minor League Weekly podcast, he mentioned that Salcedo has to undergo a MRI on his throwing elbow. A scary situation with a top prospect especially since the Twins have concerns with Kyle Gibson and Alex Wimmers. Another elbow injury to a top pitching prospect could be devistating. Fingers will be crossed for a positive result.

One year ago today, the Twins lost one of the most important people in the history of the franchise. It is hard to believe that one year has already come and gone. I put together the following poem to honor Harmon Killebrew and his lasting legacy. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bACqUvmqVSU/T7VNM36wvrI/AAAAAAAABSQ/LylJsplGlTk/s320/Harmon_Killebrew_AP6303011347_620x350.jpgIt's been one year since you have come and gone, But your impact is still felt like the morning dawn. Even though your mighty swing was something to behold, Your gentle nature was something that never got old. The first hero of a generation to call Minnesota home, You were a star outside before the team moved to the Dome. Your number three will only be worn by one Twin, And hearing your home run calls brings chills to my skin. You were a gentle giant; a man among boys, Chants of your name were much more than noise. I hope that big game in the sky is still going fine, Because your mark on the Twins continues to shine. It's hard to think you will never be return, And players on this team have plenty to learn. When I sit outside at a ballgame under the open sky, Your presence still brings a tear to my eye. Thanks for your time and the mark that you made, Your memory with fans will never fade.

One year ago today, the Twins lost one of the most important people in the history of the franchise. It is hard to believe that one year has already come and gone. I put together the following poem to honor Harmon Killebrew and his lasting legacy. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bACqUvmqVSU/T7VNM36wvrI/AAAAAAAABSQ/LylJsplGlTk/s320/Harmon_Killebrew_AP6303011347_620x350.jpgIt's been one year since you have come and gone, But your impact is still felt like the morning dawn. Even though your mighty swing was something to behold, Your gentle nature was something that never got old. The first hero of a generation to call Minnesota home, You were a star outside before the team moved to the Dome. Your number three will only be worn by one Twin, And hearing your home run calls brings chills to my skin. You were a gentle giant; a man among boys, Chants of your name were much more than noise. I hope that big game in the sky is still going fine, Because your mark on the Twins continues to shine. It's hard to think you will never be return, And players on this team have plenty to learn. When I sit outside at a ballgame under the open sky, Your presence still brings a tear to my eye. Thanks for your time and the mark that you made, Your memory with fans will never fade.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?548-Tuesday-s-Trip-through-the-Minors

The Twins put up a lackluster effort at home in getting swept during a short two-game series with the first place Cleveland Indians. Derek Lowe looked like Cy Young on the mound and the Twins continued to hit ground ball after ground ball to fall further behind the Tribe. Jason Marquis gave up three home runs in the fifth inning and five runs over five innings to put the Twins in a hole they would never be able to get out of in the game. Ron Gardenhire shifted up the line-up for this contest and moved Joe Mauer to the second spot in the order. This meant Brian Dozier had to move and he was placed in the fifth spot for the Twins. The move down in the line-up didn't seem to impact Dozier because he ended the contest with half of the team's six hits. Dozier showed some power again by hitting his second double of the year and his batting average continues to climb. Besides Dozier, there has to be some good news in other parts of the Twins organization. So let's peruse the minor leagues as we take Tuesday's trip through the Twins farm system. ROCHESTER 5, LOUISVILLE 4 The Red Wings trailed for most of the game on Tuesday night but a late rally helped Rochester to come out on top versus Louisville. With the Red Wings down by one run in the bottom of the eighth, the team mounted a two run rally to come out victorious. Wilkin Ramirez and Clete Thomas started the inning with singles and Danny Valencia grounded out to tie the game. Later in the inning Sean Burroughs had his second hit of the night, a double, to score the go-ahead run. Ben Revere continued his hot hitting for the Red Wings with a three hit night. He has six multi-hit games out of the last eight times he has been in the line-up for Rochester. Matt Carson had two hits in the contest and one of those knocks was his team leading 11th double of the year. Carson is in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak that he will look to continue tomorrow against the Bats. Luke French started the contest for the Red Wings and he allowed four runs over the course of five innings. The bullpen took care of the rest of the innings and helped to put zeros on the board so the offense could mount their comeback. Esmerling Vasquez pitched three shutout innings while allowing one hit. Tyler Robertson and Casey Fien were asked to cover the ninth and they managed to shut the door on the Bats. NEW BRITAIN -, NEW HAMPSHIRE - (PPD) The Rock Cats had a double-header scheduled for Tuesday but both contests were postponed. New Britain and New Hampshire will attempt to play two games tomorrow to make up for the action they missed today. FORT MYERS 2, CHARLOTTE 3 Unlike the Red Wings, the Miracle saw their opponent score late in the game to take the lead and steal a win in Fort Myers. The Stone Crabs took an early lead in the top of the first inning but the Miracle answered with their own run in the bottom half of the frame. Three consecutive singles from Jairo Perez, Oswaldo Arcia, and Daniel Rohlfing plated allowed the Miracle to tie the contest. The only other run of the game for the Miracle came in the bottom of the fifth when Daniel Santana tripled to lead-off the inning. Levi Michael was the next batter and he drove in Santana with a sacrifice fly to center field. Anderson Hidalgo along with Perez and Arcia would be the only players with more than one hit. It was almost like the Miracle had two different starters on Monday night with Miguel Munoz throwing four innings and being followed by Cole Nelson tossing four innings of his own. Munoz did okay by allowing two earned runs on six hits with a couple of strikeouts. Nelson was excellent by striking out five and only allowing one runner to reach base. Ricky Bowen took the loss for the Miracle after giving up a double to start the ninth inning. BELOIT 1, CLINTON 0 There was a pitching duel in Beloit on Tuesday night and the Snappers were lucky enough to come away with the one run they would need in the late innings of the game. The LumberKings had one base runner make it as far as second base and that happened all the way back in the fourth inning so the pitching for Beloit was the story of the game. The only player you needed to know on this night was Tim Shibuya because he pitched a complete game shutout for the Snappers. Shibuya was masterful by striking out nine in the contest and giving up three hits in the game. One of the other impressive things might have been his control of the plate by not giving up a walk in the entire contest. The Snappers put together seven hits but only one run was able to be pushed across the plate. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Beloit began the inning with Rory Rhodes and Jairo Rodriguez getting walked to start the threat. JaDamion Williams singled later in the frame to score the lone run the Snappers would need to back the impressive outing from Shibuya. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Pitcher of the Day- Tim Shibuya http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uw0pNV7IQVc/T7MUhyAxPbI/AAAAAAAABRo/-HePg7GtezE/s1600/TimShibuya.jpg Hitter of the Day- Sean Burroughs http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EpkhQjEojy4/T7MUdFCXQ9I/AAAAAAAABRg/bgJ84Sk__5Y/s320/SeanBurroughs.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 16th Schedule Rochester vs. Louisville- RHP Jeff Manship New Britain vs. New Hampshire (1)- LHP Logan Darnell New Britain vs. New Hampshire (2)- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers vs. Charlotte- RHP Jhon Garcia Beloit vs. Quad City- LHP Jason Wheeler --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

The Twins put up a lackluster effort at home in getting swept during a short two-game series with the first place Cleveland Indians. Derek Lowe looked like Cy Young on the mound and the Twins continued to hit ground ball after ground ball to fall further behind the Tribe. Jason Marquis gave up three home runs in the fifth inning and five runs over five innings to put the Twins in a hole they would never be able to get out of in the game. Ron Gardenhire shifted up the line-up for this contest and moved Joe Mauer to the second spot in the order. This meant Brian Dozier had to move and he was placed in the fifth spot for the Twins. The move down in the line-up didn't seem to impact Dozier because he ended the contest with half of the team's six hits. Dozier showed some power again by hitting his second double of the year and his batting average continues to climb. Besides Dozier, there has to be some good news in other parts of the Twins organization. So let's peruse the minor leagues as we take Tuesday's trip through the Twins farm system. ROCHESTER 5, LOUISVILLE 4 The Red Wings trailed for most of the game on Tuesday night but a late rally helped Rochester to come out on top versus Louisville. With the Red Wings down by one run in the bottom of the eighth, the team mounted a two run rally to come out victorious. Wilkin Ramirez and Clete Thomas started the inning with singles and Danny Valencia grounded out to tie the game. Later in the inning Sean Burroughs had his second hit of the night, a double, to score the go-ahead run. Ben Revere continued his hot hitting for the Red Wings with a three hit night. He has six multi-hit games out of the last eight times he has been in the line-up for Rochester. Matt Carson had two hits in the contest and one of those knocks was his team leading 11th double of the year. Carson is in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak that he will look to continue tomorrow against the Bats. Luke French started the contest for the Red Wings and he allowed four runs over the course of five innings. The bullpen took care of the rest of the innings and helped to put zeros on the board so the offense could mount their comeback. Esmerling Vasquez pitched three shutout innings while allowing one hit. Tyler Robertson and Casey Fien were asked to cover the ninth and they managed to shut the door on the Bats. NEW BRITAIN -, NEW HAMPSHIRE - (PPD) The Rock Cats had a double-header scheduled for Tuesday but both contests were postponed. New Britain and New Hampshire will attempt to play two games tomorrow to make up for the action they missed today. FORT MYERS 2, CHARLOTTE 3 Unlike the Red Wings, the Miracle saw their opponent score late in the game to take the lead and steal a win in Fort Myers. The Stone Crabs took an early lead in the top of the first inning but the Miracle answered with their own run in the bottom half of the frame. Three consecutive singles from Jairo Perez, Oswaldo Arcia, and Daniel Rohlfing plated allowed the Miracle to tie the contest. The only other run of the game for the Miracle came in the bottom of the fifth when Daniel Santana tripled to lead-off the inning. Levi Michael was the next batter and he drove in Santana with a sacrifice fly to center field. Anderson Hidalgo along with Perez and Arcia would be the only players with more than one hit. It was almost like the Miracle had two different starters on Monday night with Miguel Munoz throwing four innings and being followed by Cole Nelson tossing four innings of his own. Munoz did okay by allowing two earned runs on six hits with a couple of strikeouts. Nelson was excellent by striking out five and only allowing one runner to reach base. Ricky Bowen took the loss for the Miracle after giving up a double to start the ninth inning. BELOIT 1, CLINTON 0 There was a pitching duel in Beloit on Tuesday night and the Snappers were lucky enough to come away with the one run they would need in the late innings of the game. The LumberKings had one base runner make it as far as second base and that happened all the way back in the fourth inning so the pitching for Beloit was the story of the game. The only player you needed to know on this night was Tim Shibuya because he pitched a complete game shutout for the Snappers. Shibuya was masterful by striking out nine in the contest and giving up three hits in the game. One of the other impressive things might have been his control of the plate by not giving up a walk in the entire contest. The Snappers put together seven hits but only one run was able to be pushed across the plate. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Beloit began the inning with Rory Rhodes and Jairo Rodriguez getting walked to start the threat. JaDamion Williams singled later in the frame to score the lone run the Snappers would need to back the impressive outing from Shibuya. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Pitcher of the Day- Tim Shibuya http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uw0pNV7IQVc/T7MUhyAxPbI/AAAAAAAABRo/-HePg7GtezE/s1600/TimShibuya.jpg Hitter of the Day- Sean Burroughs http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EpkhQjEojy4/T7MUdFCXQ9I/AAAAAAAABRg/bgJ84Sk__5Y/s320/SeanBurroughs.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 16th Schedule Rochester vs. Louisville- RHP Jeff Manship New Britain vs. New Hampshire (1)- LHP Logan Darnell New Britain vs. New Hampshire (2)- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers vs. Charlotte- RHP Jhon Garcia Beloit vs. Quad City- LHP Jason Wheeler --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As with most Tuesday's for the rest of the season, I am in charge of writing the minor league update for the Twins Daily website. This means I won't have a very big post here this morning but here are some of the news and notes that have been discussed with the Twins. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ivWOPrdLBw/T7JANCG-HiI/AAAAAAAABRU/E1gYVaQJzCM/s320/Ramosinjury.jpg Casilla gets new role as utility player Anyone who has watched the Twins since Brian Dozier got called up could tell what the plan was for the team in the middle infield. Apparently the message never got sent to Alexi Casilla and he had a meeting with Ron Gardenhire to discuss his role with the club. Gardenhire basically told him that his role is the utility player at this point and he will fit into the line-up when the team needs to give some of the other players a break. The infield situation seems set with Dozier at shortstop, Jamey Carroll at second base, and Trevor Plouffe at third base. Since Plouffe took over for Danny Valencia at third, he hasn't been ripping the cover off of the ball so it will be interesting to see if Casilla can find some more playing time at the hot corner. Former Twins player Ramos out for the year Wilson Ramos, the center piece of the Matt Capps trade, tore his ACL and will need knee surgery to repair his injury. The young catcher made headlines this offseason after he was kidnapped in his native Venezuela. Now one of the best young catchers in the game will miss the rest of the 2012 season as he tries to rehab a tough injury for a catcher. The trade of Ramos for Capps has been widely criticized by Twins fans especially after the 2011 performance of Capps. Ramos finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting last season and now his club was fighting for first place in the NL East to start the 2012 campaign. The loss of Ramos combined with other injuries to the Nationals power bats could make it tough for the team to keep up the pace they are on. Morneau takes batting practice Over the weekend, Justin Morneau had tested his injured wrist by taking some swings off of a tee. That step in his recovery process seemed to go fine and the next step was to take some swings during batting practice. This took place on Monday evening and it was the first time in two weeks that he had stepped into the cage. From all reports, it seemed like the session went well and Morneau is one step closer to being back in the middle of the line-up for the Twins. There is still some soreness in his wrist but he thinks he can play through it at this point. Personally, I don't like the way that sounds and it seems like he might be trying to rush himself back. He is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday but the Twins aren't sure of when he will be put back on the roster.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As with most Tuesday's for the rest of the season, I am in charge of writing the minor league update for the Twins Daily website. This means I won't have a very big post here this morning but here are some of the news and notes that have been discussed with the Twins. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ivWOPrdLBw/T7JANCG-HiI/AAAAAAAABRU/E1gYVaQJzCM/s320/Ramosinjury.jpg Casilla gets new role as utility player Anyone who has watched the Twins since Brian Dozier got called up could tell what the plan was for the team in the middle infield. Apparently the message never got sent to Alexi Casilla and he had a meeting with Ron Gardenhire to discuss his role with the club. Gardenhire basically told him that his role is the utility player at this point and he will fit into the line-up when the team needs to give some of the other players a break. The infield situation seems set with Dozier at shortstop, Jamey Carroll at second base, and Trevor Plouffe at third base. Since Plouffe took over for Danny Valencia at third, he hasn't been ripping the cover off of the ball so it will be interesting to see if Casilla can find some more playing time at the hot corner. Former Twins player Ramos out for the year Wilson Ramos, the center piece of the Matt Capps trade, tore his ACL and will need knee surgery to repair his injury. The young catcher made headlines this offseason after he was kidnapped in his native Venezuela. Now one of the best young catchers in the game will miss the rest of the 2012 season as he tries to rehab a tough injury for a catcher. The trade of Ramos for Capps has been widely criticized by Twins fans especially after the 2011 performance of Capps. Ramos finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting last season and now his club was fighting for first place in the NL East to start the 2012 campaign. The loss of Ramos combined with other injuries to the Nationals power bats could make it tough for the team to keep up the pace they are on. Morneau takes batting practice Over the weekend, Justin Morneau had tested his injured wrist by taking some swings off of a tee. That step in his recovery process seemed to go fine and the next step was to take some swings during batting practice. This took place on Monday evening and it was the first time in two weeks that he had stepped into the cage. From all reports, it seemed like the session went well and Morneau is one step closer to being back in the middle of the line-up for the Twins. There is still some soreness in his wrist but he thinks he can play through it at this point. Personally, I don't like the way that sounds and it seems like he might be trying to rush himself back. He is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday but the Twins aren't sure of when he will be put back on the roster.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?543-Concerns-with-Pavano-s-velocity-continue-to-mount