Twins draft RHP Kyle Gibson in first round of draft

The Twins have selected RHP Kyle Gibson in the first round of the Draft. Gibson was highly thought of, but he lost some velocity because of a strained forearm. He was rated as the 4th best prospect coming into the draft but many teams were scared off thinking he might need Tommy John Surgery so he lasted until pick 22. The Twins obviously must believe it is a minor injury or you would not risk a first round pick on someone who could never pitch. The belief is that he will miss 4-6 weeks and probably will not debut until next spring in extended spring training. I think if it is just a strained forearm then the Twins got the steal of the draft. However, if he needs Tommy John surgery the Twins just made a bad pick. Only time will tell.

UPDATE: The Twins selected left handed pitcher Matt Bashore out of the University of Indiana with their supplemental first round pick. They received the pick when the St. Louis Cardinals signed former Twins reliever Dennys Reyes. Bashore has good size being 6'3 200 for a Lefty is good. He was clocked in the mid 90's, but works mainly in the low 90's with a good splitter. If you are left handed you have a chance to be good. He also has had arm problems so there is a red flag on him as well. Time will tell if the Twins were right in taking these chances.

• I got in a time crunch today and was not able to get 40-31 on my prospect list up today, but I plan on doubling up by bringing you 40-21 tommorrow so look back for that action packed article tommorrow.

Tuesday, June, 9th

Twins Talk
Oakland 4 Minnesota 3

• The Twins saw their road woes continue with a tough 4-3 loss to Oakland last night that saw the Twins record on the road fall to 7-19. It was also the Twins 3rd consecutive loss on the road. Thank goodness the other teams in the division are also having their difficulties or the Twins would be in more dire straits then 4 games out of first. Anthony Swarzak got the start last night and with his last 2 performances we have likely seen the last of Anthony Swarzak for a while as he will probably go down to Rochester. In this game Swarzak only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up 3 runs o 4 hits along with a career high 3 walks and a hit batsman and 3 strikeouts. With the outing Swarzak's era dropped to a not good 5.23 on the year. Through these 4 starts we have seen that Swarzak has the talent to be a major league pitcher, but we have also found out that he is not quite ready for the bright lights of the major leagues. For the first time since he came up he looked like a rookie last night who let the situation get the best of him. That is something he can work at in Rochester and if he goes there with the right mindset of improving he will be back with the Twins sometime this season. Luis Ayala came in and made one bad pitch in his 1.1 innings. The only problem was the one bad pitch was a homerun to Jack Cust that put the A's ahead and gave Ayala his 2nd loss of the year. Sean Henn then came on and continued his impressive outings by pitching 2.1 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts and lower his era to a very good 2.70 on the year. Matt Guerrier then came on to get the final 2 outs in the losing cause.

• The Twins offense could not get anything going against A's starter Josh Outman as they could only muster 5 hits in the game. Joe Mauer was the only one who really did anything in this game going 2-4 to raise his average to .413. Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, and Matt Tolbert all contributed hits. Matt Tolbert had the biggest hit for the Twins as he had a 2 run single in the 4th that put the Twins ahead 3-0 that turned out to be shortlived. The Twins hitters are relying on Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau too much right now and when they don't have big games the Twins usually lose. If the Twins are going to turn this around guys like Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez are going to need to turn things around because our lineup right now is not very good. I really believe the Twins can turn this around and contend for a playoff spot, but guys like Young, Gomez, Alexi Casilla, and Nick Punto need to start pulling their weight because Mauer and Morneau can not do it all by themselves.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with the Athletics as Scott Baker looks to build on his last start as he gets the ball for Minnesota.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 Syracuse 3 11 innings

• The Red Wings were able to stop a 5 game winning streak with a gut check 4-3 victory in 11 innings over Syracuse last night. Losing 5 in a row makes you wonder what your really made of and what has impressed me all year is how they don't give up and that continued last night with the big win. Brian Duensing had his best start in quite a while last night. Duensing went 8 innings and only gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. With the outing Duensing lowered his era down to 4.95 on the season. If the Red Wings are going to make a move in the IL standings Duensing has to be the catalyst by being much more consistant which he really has not been so far this year. If he doesn't become more consistant there is no way the Red Wings are going to be able to contend in the tough IL North. Another great sign was the outing by new Red Wing Rob Delaney who showed everyone last night why everyone is so high on him as a prospect for the Twins. After getting hit hard last time out Delaney pitched 3 perfect innings to pick up his first win for the Red Wings along with 3 strikeouts. With the great outing Delaney dropped his era to 6.00 on the year. Don't worry he has only pitched in 3 games so far so his era will come down fast if he keeps pitching good. Last night was the Rob Delaney that we are used to seeing as fans of his. I really look forward to see if he can continue this and possibly get a promotion to the Twins.

• Last night's game should not of been even close as the Red Wings knocked out 14 hits, but were only able to put 4 runs across. Thanks to leaving 12 guys on base the Red Wings almost dropped this one. That should not take for granted that the Red Wings stung the ball pretty good last night and there were several guys that had big games. Jose Morales, Justin Huber, Trevor Plouffe, David Winfree, and Tommy Watkins all each had 2 hits apiece. Justin Huber hit his 6th double of the year and brought his average up to .264 and brought his rbi total up to 26. Tommy Watkins had his 5th double of the year. Jason Pridie and Steve Tolleson each had rbi's in this one. For Pridie it was his 17th and for Tolleson it was his 4th. Jose Morales put the game away in the bottom of the 11th with an rbi single, his 11th rbi of the year, to score Steve Tolleson to send everyone home happy.
• Today, the Red Wings finish off their series with Syracuse as Jason Jones gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had yesterday off and begin a series at home with Altoona with Jeff Manship getting the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle had their game last night with Lakeland rained out and will play a doubleheader today. The scheduled pitchers are Steve Hirschfeld to pitch the first game and Twin Glen Perkins making his final rehab start in the nightcap.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 7 Wisconsin 5

• The Snappers won their 2nd consecutive game last night after losing 8 in a row previously. The Snappers hope to continue their roll and go into the all-star break on a little bit of a roll. The Snappers continued their recent string of good hitting as they put 12 hits on the board which is the second consecutive game they have had over 10 hits. In this one Ozzie Lewis was the calalyst going 3-5 with his 10th double and 2oth rbi of the year. Lewis is now hitting a very good .294. Michael Harrington, Jon Waltenbury, and Angel Morales each contributed 2 hits in this one. Morales added his 8th double and 24th rbi to bring his average up to .220 on the year. Ramon Santana had 2 rbi's in this one to bring his total up to 24 along with his 11th double of the year.

• The Snappers got so so pitching in this one, but were bailed out by the hitters who carried the day in this one. Bobby Lanigan got the start in this one and went 4.2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with a walk and 6 strikeouts to bring his era down to 5.37. This is the kind of start that they need to get from Lanigan all the time because he is too good of a pitcher to have a 5 era this late in the season. I am sure he could of went longer, but this time of the year the Twins are probably watching his innings being this is his first full season year in the minors. Michael Tarsi then came on and pitched 1.1 innings and was not real sharp giving up 2 runs on 2 hits along with a strikeout, but picking up his first win of the year. Danny Rondon then came on and he wasn't real sharp either going 1 inning and giving up a run on 2 hits. That is when the studs of the Snapper bullpen took over and that is Matt Williams and Joe Testa. Williams came on and pitched 1.1 perfect innings along with a strikeout to lower his era to 1.64. Joe Testa finished the game by getting the last 2 outs to pick up his 4th save on the year. Williams and Testa both should be at Fort Myers and hopefully after the All-Star break that is where they will be.
• Today, the Snappers finish off their series with Wisconsin and Brad Tippett gets the start for Beloit.