"If you were an advance scout, how would you write your advance scouting report? "  - From Steve

Kevin Slowey: I feel like my report wouldn't be anything to spectacular. Most likely reading something like.... Capable RHP who throws like a LHP. Won't blow you away with his "stuff". Solid-average FB, SL, average CB, CH. Shows command of the strike zone. 2-seam slight sink, 4-seam straight. Attacks hitters, tries to get ahead..... I think that's about all the info that I'm at liberty to give out at the moment.

"Do you understand that you're not considered a top major league prospect because of your velocity, and how does that affect your psyche as you attempt to climb the ladder?" - Todd from Uptown

Kevin Slowey: Yes, I do understand that I'm not considered a top major league prospect, and yes I can't throw 94-98. That said, especially within the Twins organization, the emphasis is on getting hitters out any way you can. The whole "top prospect" thing doesn't really affect me that much simply because all being a prospect really means, is that you haven't made it to the big leagues yet.

"Although you have only had a few starts in the Eastern league, what are the differences you have noticed between the hitters in the two leagues?" - from Roger Dehring

"What did you notice, if anything, from your first start in New Britain as opposed to Ft. Myers?" - from Tony Lasky

Kevin Slowey: AA is a pretty significant jump form Hi-A, and It seems like it might be the biggest jump between any 2 levels in the minor leagues. For one, the FSL was really a pitchers league, playing in big parks, in humid conditions and pitching from great mounds. The EL on the other hand, really seems to be a hitters league. The parks are smaller, the mounds are a little flatter, and the hitters are a lot more mature. The second thing is that most every team in the EL has 1 or 2 guys on it who have been up to the big leagues, and usually a handful of guys who are 25-28. This really weeds out the hitters who you can make a mistake pitching to and still get away with it. By no means is AA impossible, but the caliber of the hitters really forces you to be focused every pitch.

"Kevin, what changes do you think you will need to make to be as successful in the Eastern League as you were in Florida?" - from Roger Dehring

Kevin Slowey: For me to be successful in the Eastern League I'm really going to have to develop a better pitch mix that I can throw in any situation. A lot of pitchers in Hi-A, specifically in the FSL are primarily fastball pitchers, thanks to the parks, mounds, etc. But in AA, as I found out in my first start, Fastballs aren't always the way to go when you are in trouble. The best pitchers have the ability to throw any pitch in any count, and that's what I need to develop in order to really succeed.

"Is there any other position on the field that you'd like to play?" - from Beth Miller

Kevin Slowey: Believe it or not, I'd really like to catch. It just seems like a cool position, probably really physically taxing, but still fun. Plus, just like pitching you get to be involved in every play.

"Do you like having a DH or would you rather go to the plate yourself?" - from Beth Miller

Kevin Slowey: I would love to get a chance to hit for myself every once in a while, but considering I haven't taken a real swing in 3 years now might keep me from being too productive. I'll stick with the DH for now.

"What were you studying at Winthrop?" - from Beth Miller

Kevin Slowey: International Business, which was just a Marketing Degree with a Minor In Spanish.

"Do you follow real closely how each of the higher-level teams in the Twins organization, i.e., New Britain, Rochester, are doing as far as player performance, perhaps looking for holes in the pitching rotations that you'd like to fill?" - from Joe Ruppert, Papillion, Nebraska

Kevin Slowey: Everybody in the organization sort of loosely follows everyone in the organization, both ahead and behind them. I think the reason for this is partly to get an idea of who is ahead of you on the depth chart, and party just to keep up with guys you worked out with all during spring training, or instructional league, etc. For example, I keep tabs on all the guys I played with in Instructs and Spring Training, from Loek Van Mil to Ricky Barrett.

"Kevin, Congratulations on your great year so far. Do they have advance scouts in the minors, or are you on your own to figure out how to pitch certain players?" - from Tony Lasky

Kevin Slowey: Well we don't have advance scouts in the minors, but you are certainly not on your own figuring things out. We get a  lot of help from our pitching coaches and managers who take notes and write up reports on all the other players in the league for trades and rule V information. Also, our catchers do a great job of keeping track of which guys hit which pitches and we do our best to discuss pitching strategies even before the game starts.

"Your numbers at Fort Myers were actually better than Matt Garza's. Did it bother you when he was promoted and you weren't? Did anyone to you explain why he was sent up first? Now that you are teammates again, do you have a friendly rivalry going?" - from James M.

Kevin Slowey: Ha ha, yes my numbers were better than matt Garza's, but part of that was because he was gone about 6 starts before I was. It didn't bother me when Matt was moved up because he was certainly deserving of the promotion, and showed it by really pitching well as soon as he arrived in New Britain. Believe it or not, no one really explains much to players when it comes to promotions, demotions, and releases. The reason being, a lot of those moves come straight from the top as a result of any number of reasons from injuries to family emergencies, so we really just sit back, do our job and wait for someone to hand us our next plane ticket. As for the rivalry part, I think every pitcher on a staff really works to be the best, and is pushed by the other guys on the staff. If one guy throws a shutout, or strikes out 12 in a game, its the next guys turn to go out and do the same.

Wednesday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Joe Benson, GCL Twins

Wednesday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Dan Leatherman, GCL Twins

Thursday SethSpeaks Player of the Day - Danny Matienzo, New Britain Rockcats

Thursday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day - Peter Munro, Rochester Red Wings

• Rotoworld posted its midseason Top 150 Prospect report, and just four Twins prospects made the rankings. Matt Garza was obviously the #1 Twins prospect, and he came in at #24. In his summary paragraph, it says that the Twins have been aggressive with him and he could see time in the big leagues by August, but he would likely have to wait until 2007 for his debut. Kevin Slowey was at #72. His description basically said that despite amazing walk and strikeout numbers in his first pro season, he wasn't taken seriously because he hardly hits 90. The fact that he is doing even better this year, at higher levels of competition has made people notice, but he still needs to work on a changeup. Glen Perkins ranked at #112, and Matt Moses was #123. Not a great showing for the Twins organization especially when the latter two are very fringe guys at this time, ranked even that high probably because of their draft status as former #1 picks.

• The Baseball Analysts' Bryan Smith is presenting his Top 75 Prospects as well. Three Twins crack his list. Matt Garza ranks #30, and Mike Radcliff is called 'the game's best scouting director.' Kevin Slowey is ranked #54, and Glen Perkins is #70.

• I thought a Star-Tribune article titled Tapped Out? Things Aren't So Bountiful on the Farm, was really unnecessary and unfortunate. It says that since so many players from Rochester are already up in the major leagues, there isn't much in the minor league system that can help them right now. It goes on to like three non-prospects (Rondell White, Jason Tyner and Chris Heintz) with Boof Bonser who has already shown that he could be a capable replacement level pitcher, and Matt Garza who is the top prospect in the system but likely won't be rushed (although I think he would do alright). With Francisco Liriano, Willie Eyre, Pat Neshek, Scott Baker, Jason Bartlett, Jason Kubel and Terry Tiffee all on the big league roster with less than one year of big league experience, I think that the Twins farm system has more than done its job! Add in guys like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau who have less than three years of big league time under there belts and the Twins farm system should be commended. Are there more prospects that are ready right now to contribute? Probably not. But do the Twins need any more to contribute right now? Probably not.

• Brad Weiss posts his Top 15 Twins Short-Season minor leaguers right now. I really like the future of Loek Van Mil. Joe Benson has been incredible, and Chris Parmalee might be the player with the biggest upside. And those three all play for the GCL Twins. Check out his list for the top players there and in Elizabethton.

• I posted this yesterday and wanted to have it again in case anyone missed it:
  By the way, our good friend Roger Dehring is now writing for scout.com too. His first article for them was his Top 50 Twins Pitching Prospects. Remember the formula he used last fall to mathematically tell us the team’s top pitchers? Well, he tweaked the formula just a little, and he ranks the pitching performances this year. I don’t think that the Top 3 spots will surprise anyone, but the rest of the report is where it gets really interesting and informative. Please take a few minutes to check out his article and again, head over to the scout.com forum to discuss it and many other Twins topics.

TRANSACTION SECTION - John Thomas was release from the organization, specifically from New Britain. Jay Sawatski returned to New Britain. Armando Gabino was promoted from Elizabethton to Beloit. Kyle Waldrop was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers. Brian Duensing was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain. Matt Garza was promoted from New Britain to Rochester. Uffdah... but that's not it! Alexi Casilla was promoted (finally) from Ft. Myers to New Britain while JR Taylor moves back down to Ft. Myers. Kyle Geiger was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain, and Caleb Moore was moved from Beloit to Ft. Myers. Am I missing any moves? 

If you have any thoughts on the Twins system, please e-mail me.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday - Red Wings – AAA All-Star game. Josh Rabe was 0-3 and started in left field for the International League, who won 6-0. Jason Tyner played the last few innings in CF and was 0-2.  

Thursday - Game 1 - Red Wings 11, Ottawa 2 – It was a good game all around for the Red Wings. Mike Smith won his seventh game. He went all seven innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits and two walks. He struck out eight. Garrett Jones and Shawn Wooten were each 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Jones now has 21 walks, and Wooten has 13. Rondell White and Alex Romero were also 2-4. Chris Heintz was 2-5 and hit his second homer. Glenn Williams hit his third homer. 

Thursday - Game 2 - Red Wings 3, Ottawa 2 – Peter Munro started and had a no-hitter through five innings. He had a shutout through six innings. In the seventh, he walked the first batter and the second batter reached on an error. Ricky Barrett came in and walked the guy he faced. Bobby Korecky came in and got a strikeout for the first out. The next batter grounded to 3B. An out was recorded at 2B, but the relay throw was thrown away, and the score was 3-2. Fortunately, Korecky got the final out to record his second save and preserve the sixth win for Munro. The offense managed just six hits. Chris Heintz and Tommy Watkins each had a double. Kevin West hit a two run homer.      

NEW BRITAIN NEWS

Wednesday - Rockcats 8, Bowie 7 – AA All-Star game was played and the North team lost to the South 5-3. Denard Span was the North's leadoff hitter and CF. He went 1-3 with two doubles. Felix Molina played the entire game at SS. He batted 8th and went 1-4 with a stolen base. Matt Garza pitched the third inning. He gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs in his inning. Glen Perkins pitched the 7th inning and was perfect, with two strikeouts.    

Thursday - Rockcats 6, New Hampshire 3 – Justin Olson made another start and really did well. He gave up three runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. He walked three and struck out eight. Tristan Crawford got four straight hitters out, three on strikeouts. Levale Speigner picked up his seventh save with a perfect ninth, including two strikeouts. Danny Matienzo led the offense. He was 2-4 with his 14th double, 11th homer and three RBI. Garrett Guzman was 2-4 with his fourth double. Trent Oeltjen was 1-2 with two walks, his 11th double and two stolen bases. 

FT MYERS MEMOS

Wednesday - Miracle 4, Tampa 8 - It was a rough start for lefty Brian Duensing. In just 1.1 innings, he gave up seven runs on six hits and three walks. Ryan Callahan went the next 3.2 innings and gave up only an unearned run on five hits and a walk. Tim Lahey threw three shutout innings before Chris Schutt added another. Alexi Casilla continues his tear. He went 3-4 with a walk out of the leadoff spot. Brandon Roberts was 2-4 hitting second. That is a lot of great speed out of the top two spots in the lineup, but amazingly, despite getting on base six times, the two combined for no stolen bases.

Thursday - Miracle 4, Tampa 2 - Brandon Roberts had two of the four Miracle hits, and he stole his 31st base. The Miracle did work seven walks. Kyle Aselton made his second start since returning from an arm injury. In his first start, he went two innings. On this night, he went three innings. He did not allow a run. He gave up two hits, two walks and he struck out two. Jose Mijares went the next two innings without allowing a run to record his first win of the year. He walked three, but he struck out four. Colby Miller gave up a run in his two innings. JP Martinez went 1.2 innings. He gave up a run on a hit and two walks. He struck out three, but Danny Powers had to come in for the final out. He got it and recorded his third save.

BELOIT BITS

Wednesday - Snappers 5, Quad Cities 8 – Kyle Waldrop was the recipient of some pretty shoddy defense on this night. The righty went 5.2 innings and gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits and an uncharacteristic four walks (to go with two Wild Pitches). He struck out none. Jose Cordero went 1.1 innings and gave up two more runs. Danny Vais did have a scoreless inning. The Snappers scored their five runs on just five hits... and eight walks. Whit Robbins was 1-3 with two walks. Erik Lis hit his 10th home run, a solo shot in the 9th.

Thursday - Snappers 2, Quad Cities 1 – Adam Hawes has really been pitching well of late. Here, he moved to 4-3 with a good outing. In six innings, he gave up one run despite giving up seven hits and three walks. David Shinskie got his fourth save as he worked three shutout innings. He gave up a hit and a walk. Paul Kelly led the offense by going 3-4 with one of the RBI. Toby Gardenhire hit his third double and drove in the other run. Eli Tintor was 2-4 with his third stolen base.