Happy Minor League Opening Day!!
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I am happy to say
that I will be returning to the Paul
Allen Nine to Noon show family for the 2011 season. Thursday mornings at
9:15, PA and I will talk Twins topics, and that starts today. So, be sure to
tune in to KFAN (am1130), one of its
affiliates or www.KFAN.com.
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I was a guest on
last night’s Fanatic
Jack Twins Talk podcast along with Brandon
Warne.
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Speaking of the
KFAN affiliates, you recall that I was a frequent guest on The Dan Hammer Show on 740 The Fan in Fargo. A couple of months ago, Hammer
became the sports guy for Valley News
Live, taking him back to his TV routes. On Tuesday, it was announced that ol’ friend Jack
Michaels would be taking over for Hammer as the Sports
Director for Radio Fargo Moorhead. He will also host The Jack Michaels Show from noon to 1
p.m. week days on 740 The Fan. As
you recall, I was also an occasional guest on The Jack Michaels Show on ESPN710 in Bismarck the last
several years. Jack was really the first person to give me an opportunity on
sports radio. I have been a big Jack
Michaels fans since listening to him as the voice of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. The current voice of the Redhawks
is Scott Miller who is also the host
of Front Row Sports show week nights
on KFGO in Fargo (sister station of 740 The Fan), and I’ve been on his show
several times as well.
Happy Minor League Opening Day everyone!! I
know, I’m weird, but I am much more excited about the minor league Opening Day
than I was about Major League’s Opening Day. Of course, some of that may have
been that the MLB Opening Day was moved to a Thursday (instead of a Monday) ,and the Twins didn’t play until Friday.
As you know, I follow the Twins minor league
system pretty closely. I write
about Twins minor leaguers a little bit. We all jot down our Top 50
Twins prospects lists before the season. But now it is time for those guys to
get their seasons started. It will be fun to watch box scores and stat lines. It
will be fun to see if some of the Top 10 prospects can take another step
forward in their development. Probably five to ten guys that are not in people’s
top 40 or top 50 lists will take major strides forward and put their names
higher on next year’s lists. Of course, there will be injuries and some players
will not adapt well to playing one level higher than a year ago.
I’ve been amazed over the past six or seven
years with fans’ increased enthusiasm and excitement about the Twins minor
league system. When I first started writing about the Twins minor leaguers, I
would get some ho-hum feedback. It has gradually increased over time to the
point where I get more comments on minor league articles than Twins articles.
And I think that’s OK.
I am a Twins die-hard, and in my mind, to be
as such, I need to know what the future of the Twins could be as well. The
Twins have built from within over the past decade and it has been a good thing.
The Twins have spent a lot of money on top prospects from around the globe over
the last two years. Increased revenues have led to increased payroll, but I
hope that never stops player development and scouting from being the
cornerstone of the organization.
Over the last couple of days, I’ve posted a
few Twins bloggers and my choices for Breakout Minor League Hitters and
Pitchers for 2011. Later today, I will be posting our predictions for Twins
Minor League Hitter and Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Last Friday, I posted the Twins Opening Day minor league
rosters here. That’s where they will start. Which players will play
well? Which players will move up a level throughout the year? Will any move up
twice this year as Kyle Gibson did
last year? Unfortunately, there will also be some who will no longer be with
the organization at the end of the year.
It will be fun to see the starting lineups
for Opening Night for the Twins four full-season affiliates, but it always
starts with pitching and here are the four Opening Night starters:
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Anthony Swarzak – Rochester Red Wings – Two years ago, he came up to the Twins
and pitched well in his debut. 2010 was a frustrating year for the Twins former
2nd round pick. He missed time early because of a liner off the foot
that broke a bone, and when he came back, he didn’t pitch well. Reports from
Ft. Myers indicate that he has regained some velocity
and is now touching 94. It’s a big year for Swarzak,
and getting the opening night nod says that the organization still believes in
him. Kyle Gibson will start the Red Wings’ home opener on Saturday night. Scott
Diamond, Erik Hacker and Minnesota-native Andy Baldwin are the other Red Wings
starters.
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David Bromberg
– New Britain Rockcats – It was somewhat surprising
that Bromberg was sent back to New Britain after he made nine starts for
Rochester late last season. He was an easy choice to add to the Twins 40 man
roster after last season. He played in the Arizona Fall League. He got time in the
Twins big league spring training with the big league coaches and pitchers and
likely learned a lot. It will be good for him to get another half-season in New
Britain to work on those things. Since signing with the Twins, the former 32nd
round pick had led his league in strikeouts three times. He was the Florida
State League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 as well as the Twins Minor League
Pitcher of the Year. The Rock Cats rotation will also include Deolis Guerra, Bobby Lanigan, Steve
Hirschfeld and Liam Hendriks.
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Kane Holbrooks – Ft. Myers Miracle – Holbrooks
was the Twins 21st round pick in 2009 out of Texas State where he
went 10-1 and was an All-America selection. He began last season in the
Snappers bullpen, making 31 appearances before getting to starts. He then was
terrific (2.27 ERA) in eight appearances with the Miracle. He ended last year
with a start in New Britain. When drafted, he told me that he really only had a
fastball. Last year, he was working with a solid changeup and a very good
slider. If he continues to improve those secondary pitches, the 23 year old
could again pitch at three levels. The Miracle rotation will be rounded out by
Tom Stuifbergen, Miguel Munoz, Brad Stillings and 2010 top pick Alex Wimmers.
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BJ Hermsen – The Iowa native gave up a full scholarship to play
at Oregon State to sign with the Twins at the last minute. The 6th
round pick in 2008 pick has shown some strong glimpses of potential in his
short time with the organization. He is a typical Twins pitcher,
pitch-to-contact, but he has a lot of pitches. He was scheduled to spend the
entire 2010 season in Elizabethton, but he was needed in Beloit. While there,
he pitched a game in Cedar Rapids, about an hour from him home, and he threw a
complete game shutout in which he lost a no-hitter in the 9th
inning. He struggled a little before going back to Elizabethton when their
season started and being one of their top pitchers. Other starters for the
Snappers will be Adrian Salcedo, Manuel Soliman, Logan Darnell and Andrei Lobanov.
What can you expect from SethSpeaks.net
throughout the Twins minor league season? As I have in the past, I hope to kind
of be a one-spot stop for Twins minor league information. I will post brief
game reports from each minor league game. I will highlight the hitting stars
and let you know how pitchers performed. I will update prospect lists, and I
will try to do some Q&As and get some quotes from
players. And I definitely encourage you to come to me with ideas for stories or
features that you would like to read. I’m always looking for your feedback.
Finally, last week was the first week of Twins Minor League Weekly.
Travis Aune and myself co-host the
show each Thursday night at 10:00 central time. Tonight, we will discuss
the Opening Night games, performances, lineups, etc. We will also continue to
preview the rosters, spending more time discussing the Ft. Myers Miracle and the
Beloit Snappers. It’s always fun, so tune in and join the chat room.
Feel free to leave
your thoughts, questions or comments today.
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