Twins Notes
Good morning, all!
Justin Verlander
is a beast! That is all. If I could pick any pitcher in baseball to build a
staff around, I think it might be Verlander.
Although, Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda would also be consider. And so
would pretty much any of the young Braves pitchers like Julio Teheran, Randall
Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino, etc.
Twins lost 7-1. Blackburn was
Blackburn. It really wasn’t much of a game. Tonight, it will be Carl Pavano against Brad Penny. Both pitchers refuse to strike
out anyone, so hopefully it’s a high scoring affair… for both teams.
The Twins announced the Player To Be Named Later yesterday. The Twins (actually the
Rochester Red Wings, for now) will receive right-handed relief pitcher Lester Oliveros. Obviously we all were hoping for more than that,
and it probably perpetuated that hope. When I heard Bill Smith basically say
that the player was currently not eligible to be traded, I thought maybe it was
someone who the Tigers drafted last year and couldn’t be traded for the first
year. Instead, Oliveros could not be traded because
the Tigers had to put him through waivers and he had to get to the Twins to
claim. Obviously that process takes up to 48 hours which is why they were able
to announce him so quickly. If someone like Kansas City would have claimed Oliveros, the Twins could not have received him and likely
they had a second name ready for that scenario. Oliveros
looks a lot like Jim Hoey. He throws hard, up to 95,
he gets a lot of strikeouts. However, he walks a batter about every other
inning which isn’t good. The difference is that the Venezuelan is still just 23
years old, dominated AA this year, struggled in AAA and even made several
appearances for the Tigers in June. Considering it was an August trade for Delmon Young, I actually think that the Twins did alright
in the deal.
Last night, RHP Tim Shibuya
improved to 7-2 for the Elizabethton Twins. He worked seven innings and gave up
just one run on two hits. He walked none and struck out 12 in a very impressive
performance. What did he do after the game to celebrate? He appeared as a guest
on last
night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast!!
Speaking of podcasts, be sure
to listen to the
Inaugural Gleeman and The Geek podcast in which the two most senior
Twins bloggers sit around, had a few drinks but all they kept talking about…
was baseball.
Here are some minor league highlights from
the last two days:
ROCHESTER RED WINGS
On Monday, the Red Wings split a double
header with Columbus. In the first game, they lost 2-0. Scott Diamond pitched
all seven innings and gave up two runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck
out three. Jeff Bailey went 2-3 with his 19th double. Luke Hughes
and Aaron Bates were each 2-3.
Rochester won the second game 4-3 on a single
from Ray Chang. Jeff Bailey hit his 13th home run of the season.
Jake Stevens started. He gave up three runs on three hits in three innings. He
walked three and struck out… do I even have to type it… that’s right, three.
Carlos Gutierrez then struck out four in two scoreless innings. Chuck James got
the win with two shutout frames.
On Tuesday night, the Red Wings lost 5-2 to
Lehigh Valley. Liam Hendriks got back on track with a
solid start. He gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked none and
struck out four. Dusty Hughes then gave up three runs (1 earned) on one hit in
1.2 innings. He walked three and struck out two. Kyle Waldrop got the final
out. Rene Rivera went 2-4 with his fifth home run. Dustin Martin went 2-4 with
his 24th double. Chase Lambin and Brian Dinkelman each went 2-4. Luke Hughes hit his fifth home
run.
NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS
New Britain did not play on Monday. On
Tuesday night, the Rock Cats lost 17-5 to Binghampton.
David Bromberg started and gave up eight runs on eight hits and four walks in
2.2 innings. Matt Schuld then gave up five runs (3
earned) on three hits in 2.2 innings. Dakota Watts gave up four runs on four
hits and four walks in 2.1 innings. Steve Hirschfeld
came in and struck out the lone batter he faced. Chris Parmelee
went 2-4 with a walk and his 12th home run. Chris Herrmann was 2-4.
Evan Bigley hit his 30th double.
FT MYERS MIRACLE
The Miracle got a much-needed day off on
Monday. The Miracle returned on Tuesday night and lost 7-1 to Jupiter. Alex Wimmers made the start. He gave up one run on two hits in
four innings. He walked three and struck out four. Cole Nelson came in for his
Miracle debut. He walked the bases loaded, then got two outs before allowing a
two run single and then got out of the inning. Matt Tone then came in and gave
up four runs on five hits and two walks in two innings. Shooter Hunt pitched
the eighth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with one strikeout. The Miracle
had eight hits and five walks but scored just one run. James Beresford went
2-4.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Beloit lost to Burlington 2-1 on Monday. Blayne Weller started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on
two hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out two. Bart Carter struck
out two in two scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin gave up three hits but no runs
in two innings. Madison Boer pitched a scoreless inning. Danny Ortiz went 2-4. Jhonatan Arias was 1-2 with a walk. Jairo
Perez was 1-3 with a walk.
The Snappers did not have a game scheduled on
Tuesday.
·
On July 15th,
Travis Aune and I were at the Beloit game. Bart
Carter came in and gave up three runs on four hits in one inning. Not one of
the four hits left the infield. Not one. Since that game, he has pitched nine
more times out of the Snappers bullpen. He has given up one run on nine hits in
14.1 innings. So, in 11 total games for the Snappers, he is 1-1 with a 2.20
ERA. Yet, take away that one weird infield single outing, and he’s been
exceptional. Which is to say, he has been exceptional.
He is already 24 years old, so he’s old for AA players, but the numbers for the
lefty have been good and deserve note. In 12.2 innings and Elizabethton, he
walked two and struck out 24. In 16.1 innings for the Snappers, he has walked
three and struck out 19.
ELIZABETHTON TWINS
Elizabethton had Monday night off. As I
mentioned above, Tim Shibuya got the nod for the E-Twins and improved to 7-2
with a strong performance. The 21 year old righty gave up just one run on two
hits. He walked none and struck out 12 in seven innings. Steve Evans struck out
two in his scoreless inning. Matt Bashore also
pitched a scoreless inning in the E-Twins 5-1 win over Bristol. Miguel Sano hit
his 14th home run. Rory Rhodes and Tyler Koelling
each hit a double.
GCL TWINS
The GCL Twins lost 7-1 on Monday to the GCL
Orioles. Hung-yi Chen started and gave up four runs
(2 earned) on five hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out three. Josue Montanez gave up an unearned run in this two innings.
Gonzalo Sanudo gave up two runs on four hits in two
innings. Tyler Herr pitched two scoreless innings. The Twins managed just four
hits. Jorge Polanco had a single, a walk and his
sixth stolen base.
On Tuesday, the Twins and O’s
were postponed by rain.
Any thoughts?? E-mail me, or leave some
Comments.