Monday, September 11, 2006

TWINS THOUGHTS

Roger's Minor League Players of the Week

Twins Minor League Reports

 

HAPPY MONDAY

It is a Happy Monday morning for Twins fans all over. The Twins just won three out of four games from the Detroit Tigers. In doing so, they are now just two games behind the Tigers for first place in the AL Central. Coupled with a White Sox loss on Sunday, the Twins also have a 1 1/2 game lead over them in the AL Wild Card race. The Twins also got great news on Saturday night when Francisco Liriano pitched three no-hit innings for the Rochester Red Wings.

I did write throughout the weekend, so be sure to check out the daily updates below. Also, yesterday, I recorded a segment for the Minnesota Fan Network podcast. Jeff and I discussed several topics including the pitching rotation, the financial situation in baseball, the Twins MVP and so much more. Check it out!

Things certainly do not get any easier for the team starting tonight. The Twins begin a three game series with the Oakland A's, one of the hotter teams in baseball. It is the second half of the season, so of course the A's are playing well.

It is truly amazing that the Twins have put themselves in this position considering where they were in early June. It may be even more remarkable when you consider that they have had a pitching rotation of Johan Santana (the best pitcher in baseball), Carlos Silva (who has been one of the worst), and plenty of pitchers with less than a full year of big league service time. Francisco Liriano will pitch for the Twins on Wednesday, which is obviously great news. But even with that positive news, the Twins will make a second change to their starting rotation. Matt Guerrier will be replacing Scott Baker. It will be Liriano's first start in over a month. It will be Guerrier's first Twins start in about two years. Because of that, there is so much uncertainty and yet, here the Twins are, right in the thick of important September baseball. And as fans, that is really all we can hope for in April when a season starts.

There are just twenty more games to be played. As things are set up currently, Johan Santana should make four more starts (including the final game of the year). Francisco Liriano will hopefully make four starts. Boof Bonser will make four more starts. Who knows who will start the other eight games, and it is too bad when each game is so important. But between Matt Garza, Matt Guerrier and Carlos Silva, we can hope for five innings and that the bullpen can come through. But how can we even predict what will happen in the final 1/8th of the season? What has happened so far this year could not have been predicted!

And that's why this is such a great game. You just never know what is going to happen from day to day, or week to week. At the end of last week, many believed that the Twins were about to falter. As we start a new week, the Twins are definitely in the cat bird seat. Where will they be next week? It will be fun to watch.  

Here are some thoughts on the Twins, the Beloit Snappers, Roger's Minor League players of the week, and of course, our NFL "Expert" Picks. Just two more games to go, but so far, Kyle Waldrop and Bill Ferris are in the lead!

Twins Thoughts

• Apparently not all the Twins appreciate that "piranhas" nickname, but they are definitely scavengers in some ways!
• Johan Santana was again Johan, with just one exception. Santana went 6.1 innings and gave up no runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out 11. Typical numbers for Johan, except despite all of his strikeouts, Johan is usually able to keep his pitch count down a little bit more. Santana is now sitting at 18-5 with a 2.75 ERA.
• My new theory, and I know I've told some of you this already, is that after the season, the Twins should extend Santana's contract by two more years. In lieu of Roy Oswalt's 5 year, $73 million deal that he signed a couple of weeks ago, Santana is going to make a lot of money. Of course, with pitchers, it is very scary to give contracts for too long. However, if you're going to for anyone, Santana is the guy. I think that two years and $29 million could do it.
• The offense did just what it needed as well, scoring 12 runs on 15 hits. It was nice to get a nice lopsided win. Several key players were even able to take an inning or two off.
• Nick Punto led the offense with four hits, including a triple, and three RBI. . He went 7-17 in the series.
• Torii Hunter went 3-4. Of course, one of those hits went through SS Carlos Guillen. I can't even believe how difficult it is for a major league player to be charge with an error.
• Joe Mauer was 2-3 with a walk, two doubles and two RBI. He even swung at a 3-0 pitch for one of them! He is hitting .350. Derek Jeter went 2-4 to increase his batting average to .345.
• Justin Morneau was also 2-4 and is now hitting .320.
• The Chicago White Sox fell 5-2 to CC Sabathia and the Cleveland Indians. The Indians scored three runs in the top of the 9th inning.
• Next up is a three game set against the Oakland A's. Tonight the Twins will unfortunately send Carlos Silva to the mound against Joe Blanton. Blanton has gone 7-2 since the All Star break. Silva has been, well, Silva. On Tuesday, Matt Guerrier will start against Kirk Saarloos. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, Francisco Liriano will return to the mound, but on that day, the Twins will have to try to hit Danny Haren.  This will be a tough series. The A's are playing well. Frank Thomas is probably making Twins fans wish that the Twins would have signed him. He has 35 home runs already. However, I still contend that he would not have been able to stay stay healthy with the Twins. 

ROGER'S MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

All season, our good friend Roger has been selecting a player of the week and a pitcher of the week. Roger just recently returned from a wonderful vacation in France and he was kind enough to return to give us his Minor League Players of the Week. Feel free to comment! And don't forget to check out his weekly minor league update at Twinkie Town where you can also read about his vacation!

Player of the Week…Garrett Jones, Rochester Red Wings

First baseman Garrett Jones was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent out of the Atlanta organization in May, 2002.  After a few seasons of mediocre performances Jones continues to strike out to much, however, has blossomed into one of the system’s top power hitters.  Jones has been on fire and is the leading reason the Wings are in position to win the first round playoff series tonight.  In three games versus Scranton, Jones is 8 for 11 (.727Ave) with 2 walks (.769OBP), 4 runs scored, 5 rbi, 1 double and 1 home run.  For the season, Jones led the system with 92 rbi and tied with Brock Peterson for the system home run lead with 21.  When the Wings end their playoff run later this month, will Jones get the call to see how he does against big league pitching?   

2006        Rochester              .238Ave     525 ab     32-2B      21 HR     121 SO   72 R        92 RBI

2005        Rochester              .244Ave     488 ab     22-2B      24 HR     109 SO   71 R        72 RBI

2004        New Britain           .311Ave     450 ab     33-2B      30 HR       98 SO   68 R        92 RBI

                Ft. Myers               .242Ave      66 ab       5-2B        1 HR       19 SO     6 R          6 RBI

2003        Ft. Myers               .220Ave    404 ab     12-2B      18 HR       98 SO   52 R        67 RBI

2002        Quad Cities           .202Ave     223 ab       8-2B      10 HR       82 SO   21 R        32 RBI                   

Pitcher of the Week…Yohan Pino, Beloit Snappers

Anthony Swarzak had an excellent start in Ft. Myer’s loss last night as did Alexander Smit in Beloit’s win, however, Yohan Pino pitched a gem in Beloit’s opening night 2-0 win of their three game series with Peoria.  Pino pitched a 9.0 inning complete game shutout, allowing 4 hits with 6K/0BB.  For the season, Pino moved into the starting rotation after several starters moved up to Ft. Myers.  In 42 games, Pino had 7 starts with a record of 14-2 with a 1.91era, 0.95WHIP and 99K/20BB in 94.0 innings pitched.  For his career, Pino has a record of 33-5 in three seasons at Elizabethton, Beloit and in the DSL.  Seth recently asked a very appropriate question:  “Although he is right handed, will Yohan be the next Johan?”     

 2006        Beloit                  94.0ip      14W-2L    1.91era   0.95WHIP    99K/20BB

2005        Elizabethton       67.2ip       9W-2L     3.72era   1.19WHIP     64K/13BB

2004        DSL                     85.2ip      10W-1L     0.53era   0.63WHIP    81K/5BB       

TWINS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES

Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day – Jose Leger, Beloit Snappers

Sunday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day – Not Applicable

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

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday - Red Wings  – The Red Wings have a day off, awaiting the International League Championship series.

BELOIT BITS

Saturday – Snappers 3, Kane County 15 – This was a good game until Kane County scored nine eighth inning runs. Ryan Mullins started and gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits and three walks. He struck out five. Adam Hawes gave up two hits and a walk without getting an out. He was charged with one unearned run. Dan Leatherman gave up two runs (1 earned) in two innings. He struck out three. Frank Mata got one out, and was charge with seven unearned runs thanks to a Juan Portes fielding error. Armando Gabino got the final out.

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.

That is it for today! Have a terrific week!