Friday, September 8, 2006

TWINS THOUGHTS

Twins Minor League Reports

NFL "Expert" Picks

August Minor League Update

Good morning to everyone! The minor league regular seasons were all done after Labor Day. Four of the Twins affiliates made the playoffs this year. Rochester, Ft. Myers and Beloit are still playing. However, it is time to take a minute to look back at the month of April and come up with the SethSpeaks Hitter and Pitcher of the month.

To help me with the statistics for August, I have been using a site called Minor League Splits. Creative name, I know, but it has provided me with the August numbers. Today, I will be discussing the Twins Minor Leaguers. I will count down the Top 5 Twins Hitters and Pitchers in the month of August. Each list will lead to the SethSpeaks Hitter and Pitcher of the Month. (With the pitchers, you will not find the W-L record. First, I just don't believe that is important for a minor leaguers, particularly in the lower levels. But second, and maybe more importantly, I just don't have those numbers. But again, I really don't care. W-L record does not necessarily say how well a pitcher is throwing.)

I hope you enjoy this and learning more about the goings on in the Twins system. So let's get to the August Minor League Players and Pitchers of the Month. Please, feel free to leave some comments or send me an e-mail with any thoughts that you may have. Let's get started (Note - Stats are only for July)

THE HITTERS

#5 - Brian Dinkelman - 2B - Elizabethton Twins

Dinkelman was the Twins 8th round pick this year out of NAIA McKendree College. An argument could be made that Dinkelman was the best NAIA player ever. He started out his professional career very well with E-Town. In August, he hit .352/.377/.500 (33-102). He had seven doubles and three home runs. Reports indicate that he also plays solid defense.

#4 - David Winfree - 3B - Ft. Myers Miracle

It was an interesting year for the 2005 Twins Minor League Player of the Year, but the last month or so has been very positive. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League, and he had an excellent August. For the month, he went 35-119. He hit .294/.328/.555 with five doubles, a triple and eight home runs. I think that he is the Twins 3B of the future, no matter the former #1 pick in New Britain.

#3 - Trent Oeltjen - OF - New Britain Rockcats

Oeltjen is no stranger to this list. He has been on it a couple of times. He ended the season with a strong month for the Rockcats. The Aussie OF hit .340/.407/.500 (36-106). He had three doubles, four triples and two homers. He also walked ten times. I think he has become the Twins top OF prospect, at least at the higher levels.

#2 - Doug Deeds - OF/1B - New Britain Rockcats

I thought that Deeds should have spent this season in Rochester. I still believe that. He got off to a slow start with the Rockcats after his All-Star season there in 2005. But Deeds has been excellent since mid-May. In August, he hit just .284, but 20 walks gave him an on-base percentage of .395. He he nine doubles, two triples and six home runs to help him to his .588 slugging percentage. It was a great end to the season for Deeds, and hopefully, next season, he will get his shot at AAA.

The SethSpeaks August Player of the Month is... (drum roll please)

# 1 - Brock Peterson - 1B - Ft. Myers Miracle

I have said over and over that I was surprised that Peterson spent another season at Ft. Myers, rather than moving up to New Britain. However, there is a log jam at 1B in the organization. It will play itself out next year because Peterson has had a season which should force his promotion to New Britain next year. For August, he went 38-109. He hit .349/.433/.615 with eight doubles and seven home runs. He also walked 12 times. Not bad for a guy taken in the 49th round in 2002!

HONORABLE MENTION - Garrett Jones, Rochester Red Wings (.284/.315/.509, 33-116, 7-2B, 2-3B, 5-HR) - Trevor Plouffe, Ft. Myers Miracle (.304/.385/.461, 35-115, 8-2B, 2-3B, 2-HR, 15-BB) - Brandon Roberts, Ft. Myers Miracle (.303/.366/.353, 36-119, 3-2B, 1-HR) - Eli Tintor, Beloit Snappers (.294/.339/.440, 32-109, 4-2B, 1-3B) - Garrett Olson, Elizabethton Twins (.352/.442/.443, 31-88, 6-2B, 1-3B, 10-BB) - Steven Singleton, Elizabethton Twins (.351/.378/.662, 27-77, 4-2B, 4-3B, 4-HR) - Wilson Ramos, GCL Twins (.328/.400/.525, 20-61, 6-2B, 2-HR, 6-BB).

THE PITCHERS

#5 - Eduardo Morlan - Starter - Beloit Snappers

Morlan was injured in July, but he came back with a strong July. Back in the rotation, he allowed 22 hits, walked nine and struck out 37 hitters in his 32.7 August Innings Pitched. Opponents hit just .185/.254/.328 against him for the month. He had a WHIP of 0.95 and struck out 10.2 per nine innings. The Havana-born Morlan is a top Twins pitching prospect which says a lot.

#4 - Oswaldo Sosa - Starter - Ft. Myers Miracle

Sosa is another unheralded Twins pitching prospect. He is another Venezuela product. Sosa moved up to Ft. Myers from Beloit a couple months ago and has continued to pitch well. In August, he allowed 23 hits, 18 walks and struck out 27 hitters in 34.3 innings. Obviously the walks are too high and that is something he will need to vastly improve upon. But hitters hit just .189/.287/.262 against him. His WHIP was 1.19 and he struck out 7.1 per nine innings. 

#3 - Jay Sawatski - Reliever - New Britain Rockcats

Sawatski was a top relief pitching prospect early in 2005. He was the Twins 8th round pick in 2004 out of college and was dominating the lower levels. He really struggled early in the season. He was sent down to Ft. Myers to start and get more innings, but he quickly returned to New Britain and he has been very solid since then. In August, he threw 25.3 innings. He allowed 18 hits and just three walks. He struck out 25 for an 8.9 strikeouts per nine inning rate. Opponents hit just .200/.226/.211 against him. That's an impressive .437 OPS against!

#2 - Anthony Swarzak - Starter - Ft. Myers Miracle

After spending half of 2005 in Ft. Myers, Swarzak has now spent the entire 2006 season in Ft. Myers too. He has had his ups and downs, but August was an "up" month for the Twins 2nd round pick in 2004. For August, he threw 28.3 innings. He allowed 18 hits and walked 11 hitters. He struck out 23 hitters for a 7.3 K/9 rate. His WHIP was 1.02. Opponents hit .182/.261/.232 against him. 

The SethSpeaks August Pitcher of the Month is... (drum roll please)

# 1 - Alexander Smit - Starter - Beloit Snappers

This was a pretty easy choice really. Since being inserted into the Snappers starting rotation, Smit has been unbelievable and reclaimed his spot as a Twins top pitching prospect. For the month, Smit pitched 30 innings. He gave up just 11hits. His WHIP was just 0.87 despite the 15 walks he allowed. Again, that is something he still needs to get a hold on, but he is much better than he had been (and I believe six of them came from one outing). He struck out 45 batters in 30 innings, a rate of 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings. So, for the month, opponents hit just .110/.224/.140 against him. I think that is Pitcher of the Month worthy! And he won't turn 21 until next month.

HONORABLE MENTION - Scott Baker, Rochester Red Wings (1.14 WHIP, 6.9 K/9 (27 K in 35 IP), 7 BB, .248/.296/.316) - Jason Miller, Rochester Red Wings (1.11 WHIP, 8.0 K/9 (32 K in 36 IP), 8 BB, .239/.285/.373) - Tristan Crawford, New Britain Rockcats (0.95 WHIP, 9.3 K/9 (25 K in 24.1 IP), 5 BB, .202/.242/.360) - Julio DePaula, New Britain Rockcats (1.05 WHIP, 4.3 K/9 (9 K in 19 IP), 9 BB, .169/.289/.215) - Dan Leatherman, Beloit Snappers (1.12 WHIP, 10.5 K/9 (23 K in 19.2 IP), 7 BB, .214/.286/.271) - Yohan Pino, Beloit Snappers (1.05 WHIP, 7.7 K/9 (26 K in 30.1 IP), 4 BB, .233/.258/.358) - Jose Lugo, Elizabethton Twins (1.09 WHIP, 8.0 K/9 (28 K in 31.1 IP), 6 BB, .241/.290/.302).  

So there you have it. The August SethSpeaks hitter and pitcher of the month along with some other very worthy candidates. Of course, I could have commented on several others too without feeling like I was hurting the list. This month's list was so much more difficult to rank from 1-5 than usual, but again, that is a positive.

Are there any other thoughts that I missed or should have pointed out. Feel free to send me any notes or tidbits on any of the players. Feel free to discuss below in the comments or send me an e-mail.  

Twins Thoughts

• The Twins lost 7-2 to the Tigers last night at home. Justin Verlander was great. I picked him in my two main fantasy leagues, so I got lucky with his productivity. He is clearly the choice for AL Rookie of the Year.
• Scott Baker struggled a little, starting with the first pitch of the game. Curtis Granderson hit a home run with that pitch. In the second inning, he gave up a two-run homer to Marcus Thames (pronounced Tims), his 25^th of the year. It looked like it could be a short night for Baker. But he was very good in the 3^rd and 4^th innings. But then he gave up two more in the 5^th. When he comes off the field each inning, he just looks intimidated, worried and apprehensive. I wonder why. He has been sent between Rochester and the Twins so many times this year.
• Another game, another game on the bench for Phil Nevin… Uggh!
• I had supper with good friend of the site Roger Dehring and his wife at Joe Senser’s in Bloomington last night. He has been working on some minor league things that I am excited to see. But we talked about their vacation in France, but on lots of Twins topics. It was really an enjoyable evening.
• Despite allowing two runs, Matt Guerrier gave the Twins four innings, allowing the bullpen an easy night.
• Quick Phillies bullet point – Last night, Chris Coste went 2-6 with four RBI in the Phillies 14-8 win over Florida. He had a two run double and a two run homer. It was his 10^th double and his sixth home run. But my main question is why does anyone throw Ryan Howard a strike?

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Quinton McCracken, Rochester Red Wings

SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Anthony Swarzak, Ft. Myers Miracle

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

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday - Red Wings 11, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 – The Red Wings fell behind 5-1 in the second inning, but terrific bullpen pitching and Quinton McCracken led the team to a big win and a 2-0 series lead. David Gassner got the start and gave up five runs in just 1.1 innings.  Henry Bonilla gave up just one hit in the next 3.1 innings. Kevin Cameron and Beau Kemp combined for 4.1 shutout innings. McCracken went 4-4 with a walk, a homer and three RBI.  Garrett Jones went 2-4 with a walk and a home run.  Kevin West was 2-4 with a double. Andres Torres also homered.  

FT MYERS MEMOS

Thursday - Miracle 2, Dunedin 3 (11) – It rained almost all day in Florida. This game started 2 ½ hours late and finished after midnight. They had to play it because the Winner advanced to the second round which begins tonight. So, of course it would go to extra innings! Unfortunately, the Miracle season is over. Anthony Swarzak started and gave up just one run in seven innings. Danny Powers blew a save opportunity, giving up a run in two innings. Then, Tim Lahey gave up the game-winning run with two outs in the 11^th. The offense didn’t do much, just five hits in 11 innings. Brock Peterson had two of them.

BELOIT BITS

Thursday – Snappers 1, Peoria 6 – The Beloit bats didn’t show up last night, so this series will go to a third and deciding game tonight. The Snappers managed just four hits. Eduardo Morlan started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and two walks. He struck out three. But then Danny Vais and Frank Mata each gave up two runs in their one inning stints. Dan Leatherman did pitch on scoreless inning.

Do you have any further thoughts on any Twins prospects, minor leaguers, or these summaries? I would love any input, or ideas to make it better. Thanks! E-mail me, or also feel free to leave comments below.

NFL "EXPERT" PICKS

WEEK 1

In case you missed it yesterday...

Summary

Looking at the selections of the 16 panelists, here is who the collective "We" think will win each game:

Miami @ Pittsburgh - Steelers 11-5

Baltimore @ Tampa Bay - Buccs 14-2
Atlanta @ Carolina - Panthers 15-1
Denver @ St. Louis - Broncos 12-4

Buffalo @ New England - Patriots 16-0
Philadelphia @ Houston - Eagles 12-4
New Orleans @ Cleveland - Browns 10-6
Seattle @ Detroit - Seahawks 16-0
NY Jets @ Tennessee - Titans 15-1
Cincinnati @ Kansas City - Bengals 11-5
Chicago @ Green Bay - Bears 14-2
Dallas @ Jacksonville - Jaguars 13-3
San Francisco @ Arizona - Cardinals 16-0
Indianapolis @ NY Giants - Colts 12-4
Minnesota @ Washington - Redskins 9-7
San Diego @ Oakland - Chargers 14-2

As always, please feel free to e-mail me, or you could also leave Comments down below.

That is it for today and for this week! Have a terrific day!