Tuesday May 25, 2004
WEEKEND WRAP-UP
The Twins had a Day Off yesterday, so I am kind of going to take one too. I'll preview briefly the upcoming Twins/Devil Rays series and update the minor league information and then call it a day.
For those of you who want to know what types of issues/problems/transactions they have to figure out within the next two to three weeks, be sure to check out both Aaron's Baseball Blog and the Twins Geek for their thoughts on it all. It's hard for me to disagree with either of them. Gleeman even compares Jessica Alba and Justin Morneau. You'll have to let me know what you think.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Who sang the song with the follow lyrics?
The first time, I looked into your eyes, I cried.
Do you remember, the first time, we fell, in love?
Did that work for him? If I tried that, I would either get laughed at or slapped.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
By the way, if you didn't check out Kirk's New-Look Power Rankings article from last Friday, click here. It's worth checking out! We would love to hear more of your thoughts. E-mail me or E-mail Kirk and let us know what you think.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here's what I wrote yesterday about the Devil Rays.
NEXT UP - The Twins have a much needed day off today. The travel to Tampa tonight and will start a three game series with the Devil Rays tomorrow night? The Devil Rays have a better team than their record would indicate. They have a fun, exciting team to watch. Aubrey Huff, Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford are all solid. The one question I have for them is how long can they keep uber-prospect BJ Upton in the minor leagues. BJ Upton was the #1 overall pick in the 2002 draft out of high school in Virginia (a year after Joe Mauer was taken #1 out of high school). He started the year by performing well in the D-Rays training camp. He started the year and crushed AA pitching . Two weeks ago, the Rays were going to call him up to the big league club, but on his way to the airport, the Rays called him again and told him they changed their mind and sent him up to AAA. Well, in two weeks there, he he has started by hitting .364/.417/.705 with three doubles and four homers. His only negative is 13 strikeouts in 48 plate appearances. Just some extra information, BJ's younger brother, Justin, is a junior in high school and has been the #1 ranked player in his age group each of the last four years, and is expected to be a top pick in the 2005 major league baseball draft.
If you'd like some more information on the Rays, be sure to check out Ya Gotta Believe, a great Rays blog.
Here are the pitching matchups for the series, although it is yet uncertain as to whether Kyle Lohse will make his scheduled start because he was drilled in the dugout by a line drive. But, here are the projected starters:
Tuesday - 6:15 pm - Kyle Lohse (1-3, 6.08, 1.81, .307) vs Rob Bell (0-1, 7.20, 1.60, .250 - 1 start)
Wednesday - 6:15 - Seth Greisinger (1-3, 5.52, 1.67, .320) vs Victor Zambrano (3-4, 6.18, 1.72, .252)
Thursday - 1:15 - Carlos Silva (5-2, 4.39, 1.50, .316) vs Paul Abbott (2-4, 6.42, 1.60, .267)
So, clearly this will be a series of 1-0, 2-1 and 2-0 games with those pitchers and their lines!!! Isn't that what always happens? You get a bunch of bad pitchers throwing and neither team can hit. Maybe this will be a series where the Twins can do to Tampa what the White Sox just did to them!
Any thoughts on the Twins or their upcoming Devil Rays series? E-mail me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Redwings 3, Richmond 2 - The Redwings got an excellent start out of Peter Munro. The righty went 7 scoreless innings and gave up just two hits and a walk. He struck out three. Jesse Crain was brought in for a two inning save opportunity. The Good News? He picked up his 10th save and struck out 5. The bad news? He gave up 2 hits and walked 2 in giving up two runs.
Elvis Corporan has made quite an impression since coming up to Rochester. Last night, he DHed and went 2-4 with his first homer. LF Josh Rabe went 3-4 with two doubles. SS Augie Ojeda went 2-5. RF Jason Kubel also went 2-5 with a double.
NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS
The Rockcats had a day off before starting a series with Bowie today.
FORT MYERS MIRACLE
FRIDAY - Miracle 4, Daytona 8 - SS Kaulana Kuhaulua went 3-4 with a 2 run homer, but it wasn't enough for the Miracle. Matt Yeatman gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up 8 hits and 2 walks, but he did strike out six. 3B Michael Sandoval had a triple and a walk in 3 at bats. DH Jesus Merchan had a double. Reliever Travis Bowyer continued his stellar season. He went 1 2/3 innings, gave up a hit and a walk and struck out 3 batters. His season ERA is now at 0.34.
THE SWING OF THE QUAD CITIES
FRIDAY - Swing 2, Wisconsin 1 - The Swing got a good pitching performance from probably their three best pitchers. Nick Blackburn gave up the run in his five innings. He struck out 4. Julio DePaula came in and went 3 innings for his 6th win of the year. He gave up a hit and two walks and struck out four. Levale Speigner picked up his sixth save, going one inning. He gave up a hit and a walk, but closed the door. Blackburn's ERA is 2.15, DePaula's is 1.67 and Speigner's is 1.93. 3B Omar Burgos went 2-3 with one RBI. Catcher Kyle Phillips went 1-2 with a walk and a solo home run.
Any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, e-mail me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
TIED 1-1, WOLVES/LAKERS HEAD TO LA
Wolves. Lakers. Game 3. Tonight! Staples Center. 8 p.m. central time. On TNT. Be there. Aloha!
That is it for today. Have yourself a great Tuesday! Don't work too hard! As always, if you have any questions or comments on anything, please e-mail me.