Minor League Report
Here
are some minor league notes for those of you who are interested:
·
LaVelle
E. Neal posted a blog
yesterday in which he announced the Oswaldo Arcia had elbow surgery. It wasn’t Tommy John surgery, but
they cleaned up some bone chips. He will likely miss two months. Obviously this
is too bad for Arcia who was off to a tremendous
start for the Snappers, showing that his Appy League
numbers a year ago were not a fluke. But this is the right thing to do. Arcia is just 20 years old, too only be a DH, and that is
what he had been doing. He is a good outfielder as well.
·
People
have been asking a lot about Alex Wimmers. LaVelle also mentioned that Wimmers
was going to make his first start at Extended Spring Training yesterday
afternoon. I learned last night that he gave up a leadoff home run and then struckout the next two batters. In all, he threw 82 pitches
in three innings. He walked five and struck out four. I don’t have all of the
specifics, but obviously there is still work to be done, but that happens by
getting back on the mound.
·
The
Twins minor leaguers garnering the most questions is
Kyle Gibson. Many want the Twins to call him up. My response is, who would he replace? Francisco Liriano
is the difference-maker and has to be better. Carl Pavano
was great the last two years, got some more money for the next two years and
has to be better. Those two aren’t coming out of the rotation. And, after
yesterday’s outing, Gibson has a 4.13 ERA in Rochester. Meanwhile, Brian Duensing, Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn each have ERAs for
the Twins below four. And, Kevin Slowey remains in
the picture as a possible starter. I know most people think that the primary
reason that Gibson is not with the Twins is financial, to keep him from Super-2
status. However, as Kyle would admit, there are still things that he needs to
work on. He is doing what he needs to be doing. He is getting a lot of ground
balls, he isn’t walking batters, and he is getting a strikeout every inning.
Could he contribute for the Twins now? Probably. But is there a real reason to
promote him today? Not really. He will get to the Twins, and he will be very
good, but we all need to be patient.
·
For
a ton of Twins minor league topics and information, but sure to listen to last
night’s Twins Minor League Weekly. The 45 minute show talks about each of the
four affiliates. You can find out there how each team is doing in the
standings.
·
Yesterday,
I was on the Paul Allen Show at 10:20. Right after me, PA was joined by Twins
prospect and Minnesotan Mark Dolenc. It was a great interview. To check out both of
those segments, click
here.
·
Alex
Margulies and Bryce Zimmerman do an excellent job calling Ft. Myers Miracle
games which you can always hear at www.miraclebaseball.com
or on their terrific mobile app. They also have been doing bi-weekly episodes
of the Miracle Insider Show. I highly recommend it for those of you interested
in the Twins minor leagues. Episode 2
had great stories and information on Aaron Hicks and Bruce Pugh. Episode
3 was just made available online yesterday online. It contains stories on “Skittles”,
er, Nate Hanson (is he a grinder, an intimidator or a
scorer?), the Miracles’ “Needs Camp” (an amazing story), and some great
bloopers.
If you
have any questions or comments about the Twins minor league system, please feel
free to e-mail me, ask
me in the comments, or on
Twitter.
Minor League Notes
Thursday SethSpeaks.net Minor League Hitter of the Day– Michael
Gonzales, Beloit Snappers
Thursday SethSpeaks.net Minor League Pitcher of the
Day – BJ Hermsen, Beloit Snappers
Red Wings Ramblings
Thursday
– Red Wings 2, Louisville 5 – Kyle
Gibson got the start in the mid-day series finale against Louisville. He gave
up four runs on six hits (including two home runs) in five innings. He walked
two and struck out four. Anthony Slama came in and
gave up two runs on two hits and three walks in two innings. He struck out
three. Chuck James threw two more shutout innings. He gave up two hits and a
walk and struck out three. The Red Wings managed just five hits.
Rock Cats Report
Thursday
– Rock Cats 10, Portland 9 – For the
second straight night, New Britain scored ten runs. They needed each of them in
this game. Dan Osterbrock started and gave up seven
runs (6 earned) on nine hits and three walks in three innings. The Rock Cats
scored two in the first, three in the second; one in the third, two in the
fourth, two more in the fifth and had a 10-7 lead going into the 6thframe.
The bullpen came through for the team. Spencer Steedley
threw 2.1 hitless innings. He walked four and struck out one. Brett Jacobson
came in and got the final two outs of the sixth inning, although he walked
another. Mike Tarsi gave up two hits, but no runs as his ERA dropped to 1.69.
Cole DeVries is proving human his last couple of
outings. In this one, he gave up two runs on five hit and a walk in his two
innings, but he held on for his eighth save. Chris Parmelee
was 3-3 with a walk and his 10th double. After
going 4-6 the night before, Chris Herrmann went 3-5. Mark Dolenc and Joe Benson were each 2-5.
Miracle Matters
Thursday
– Miracle, Dunedin – Rained out.
Snappers Bites
Thursday
– Snappers 10, Kane County 3 – A ten
run outing for the Snappers is exciting. Michael Gonzales went 4-5 and his now
hitting .298. Nate Roberts was 3-5 with his third double. Tobias Streich went 3-5 with a triple. Jamaal Hawkins was 2-4 with
a walk and his fourth double. Lance Ray was 2-3 with two walks. BJ Hermsen was the recipient of the terrific run support. He
recorded his third win. He gave up three runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings. He
walked three and struck out five. Clinton Dempster
got the next four outs. Matt Hauser got the final three outs, two of them via
the strikeout.
As
always, if you have any
questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
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