Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #2

Tonight we will be nearing to the end of my top 50 prospect list as I name the number 2 prospect in my eyes in the whole Twins organization. The top 2 could be argued all day long because they both deserve to be number one. In my eyes they are like 1a and 1b, but I had to pick one over the other so one of them had to be number 2. I hope you all enjoy and will leave a comment on this in the box below. Thanks.

2. Ben Revere CF 21 (5/3/1988)

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

• Ben Revere was the Twins first round draft pick, 28th overall, in the 2007 draft out of high school in Lexington, Kentucky. After signing with the Twins Ben was assigned to the GCL Twins. In 50 games there Ben hit .325 with no homeruns and 29 rbi's along with 21 stolen bases. He also had 6 doubles and 10 triples for an ops of .849. For the 2008 season Ben Revere started in Extended Spring Training, but an injury to Joe Benson opened up a spot for Revere in Beloit and he did not waste the opportunity. In 83 games with the Snappers Revere his an unbelievable .379 and was above .400 most of the season. He also hit 1 homerun and had 43 rbi's and 44 stolen bases along with 17 doubles and 10 triples for an ops of .930. That is the kind of season that every player dreams of having and hardly anyone can. As a former player I can appreciate how hard it is to hit a baseball and for him to do it so consistantly and with such success just blows my mind. This year Ben moved up to Fort Myers where he has been very successful in his own right. In 68 games Revere is hitting .319 with 2 homeruns and 29 rbi's and 28 stolen bases along with 8 doubles and a triple for an ops of .768. Ben Revere is a hitting machine as he can hit fastballs, curveballs, sliders, and changeups. It does not matter to him because he can hit them all. Revere is very fast and uses his legs to get infield hits quite regularly. He reminds me of a young Kenny Lofton in that he is left handed and plays center field and they both use their legs to create their offense. The only difference is Ben Revere is alot better hitter than Kenny Lofton ever was. Ben does not strike out which is a plus as his highest total as a professional was 31 in 340 at bats last year. He could walk a little bit more too so he can get on base and use his speed as his highest walk total was 27 last year too. You ask with all those stats why is he not number 1 and the reason is he has no arm in the outfield. He is not a great outfielder either as he uses his speed to make up for taking bad routes to balls. He doesn't have much of an arm in centerfield so that is a bit of a problem. Teams are going to run all over him if he can't strengthen his arm. There has been some talk about moving him back to 2nd base where he was some in high school. However, with his speed he is best served in the outfield and his bat will far outweigh his arm. I expect Ben to be a .330 hitter who will steal 50-60 bases at the major league level. He is so good of a hitter that he reminds me of Joe Mauer in his approach at the plate and how he can spray the ball all over the park. I think he will be patrolling the outfield in Target Field as early as 2012.


• 2009: Spend season playing center for Fort Myers


• Projection: As close to a sure thing as the Twins have who will hit .330 with 50-60 stolen bases for the next 10+ years.

Friday, June, 26th

Twins Talk
Twins 6 Brewers 4

• The pulled off a series win with a tough hard fought game yesterday as they beat the Brewers by a score of 6-4. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and was awesome for the first 5 innings. In the first 5 he gave up no runs on only 2 hits along with 2 walks, which one of them was intentional, and 3 strikeouts. Then the 6th inning happened which has been his problem all year as he gave up homeruns to Casey Mcgehee and Prince Fielder turned a comfortable 4-0 lead into a tight 4-3 game. Overall, though Baker had another quality start his 5th consecutive quality start in which he has gone 3-0 with a very good 3.43 era in those starts. That is the Scott Baker that we all used to seeing because he will never be lights out, but he is very solid in the mid 3's all season long. In all Baker went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.17 and improved his record to 5-6. R.A. Dickey came into the 7th inning a role I have been saying for a while that he has earned and I am glad he got the chance. Dickey did not dissapoint as he pitched a scoreless 7th to lower his era to an awesome 2.38 on the year. With Dickey taking over the 7th inning role look for Bobby Keppel to become the long man out of the bullpen and he should do that job just fine. Another guy that has earned his role is Matt Guerrier who pitched the 8th and only gave up a solo homerun to Ryan Braun to raise his era to a very good 2.94. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect 9th along with 2 strikeouts to pick up his 17th save of the year. With the good inning Nathan saw his era drop to 1.57. After getting off to a slow start in the save department Nathan has really turned it on and become the Joe Nathan we are used to seeing and if he doesn't make the all-star team there is something wrong with his 17 saves which are 3rd in the American League and his era is the best of all the closers under consideration.

• The Twins found a way of winning that has been missing the last couple weeks, but found it just in the nick of time to get the win. That way of winning is a person and that player is Denard Span. Span went 1-2 with 3 walks, his 3rd triple of the year, and 3 runs scored. With the hit Span raised his average to .293 and improved his ops to a very good .388. Joe Crede went 1-4 with his 11th homerun of the year and drove in his 35th run of the year. Joe Mauer came out of a 1-18 slump to go 2-5 along with his 12th double of the year to raise his average to a unbelievable .395. Brendan Harris went 2-4 with his 16th rbi of the year to raise his average to .291. Matt Tolbert finally contributed going 2-4 to raise his average to .176. Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel each contributed hits to the winning cause.
• Tonight, the Twins begin a series in St. Louis as Glen Perkins will get the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 8 Columbus 7

• Last night against Columbus was futures night as they had big contributions from future Twins that helped them snap a tough 5 game losing streak with a 8-7 victory. Jeff Manship made his AAA debut and after a horrible 1st inning he showed why the Twins are so high on him. Manship gave up 3 earned runs in the first and not another one the last 5 innings he was in there. In all Manship went 6 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 10 hits along with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts to leave his AAA era at 4.50. Jesse Crain then came in and in a word was not very good and that is discouraging considering the Twins were hoping it would be a short stay with Rochester before returning to the Twins. I know one outing can't make that decision, but really it was not very good so hopefully , he can rebound next time out. Crain only got 2 outs and gave up 2 run on no hits along with 2 walks and a strikeout. Crain had his era jump to 6.75 on the year. Juan Morillo then came in and showed once again why he is not ready to be with the Twins. Morillo went 1.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 2 walks and a strikeout to raise his era to 3.30. Rob Delaney then pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 3rd victory and lowerd his era to 5.79.

• The Red Wings came back from a 7-5 deficit going into the bottom of the 9th to snap their 5 game losing streak. Tommy Watkins rbi single with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th broke the tie in the 9th and gave the Wings the win. Justin Huber had a huge game at the plate going 3-5 with his 8th and 9th homeruns of the year along with his 8th double and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 38. Danny Valencia also had a big game going 3-5 with his first homerun as a Wing that tied the game at 7 in the 9th inning. In 3 games with the Wings Valencia is 7-14 for a .500 average. Tommy Watkins went 3-6 with 2 rbi's to bring hsi season total up to 9 and brought his average up to .268. Alexi Casilla made his return to the Wings lineup by going 3-5 with his 11th rbi and brought his average up to .343. Dustin Martin went 2-4 with his 10th double of the year and brought his average up to .259. Brock Peterson also added a hit in the winning cause for the Red Wings.
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Columbus as Brian Duensing gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 8 Harrisburg 5

• The Rockcats bounced back from a tough loss the night before to pick up a big win last night against Harrisburg by a score of 8-5. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Cats and was very solid going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 7 hits along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.12 and improved his record on the year to 4-8. Jay Rainville came in relief and was not very good once again. Rainville went 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits along with 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 5.40 on the year. I have been pretty disappointed in Rainville this year and the Cats just can not trust him as a starter right now and are hoping he can right the ship as a reliever. At only 23 years old Rainville is too young and way to talented to give up on, but hopefully he can develop into a good relief pitcher because I don't think he throws hard enough anymore to be a starting pitcher. Anthony Slama pitched a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 15th save of the year and lowered his era to a very good 2.50. Slama has been much better as of late after going through a rough stretch with walking people. In Slama's last 7 outings he has only walked 1 batter in 8.2 innings. I really think with the walk thing under control that Slama is ready for AAA and hope they give him the chance up there.

• The Rockcats continued their recent string of hitting the tar out of the ball as they put up 8 runs on 8 hits. The Rockcats were led by Rene Tosoni who went 2-4 with his 13th and 14th doubles and drove in 3 runs to bring his rbi total up to 45. With the 2 hits Tosoni is now hitting .271 and has been even better in June as he is hitting .281 with 1 homerun, but 15 rbi's in the month of June for an ops of .871. Tosoni was also chosen to play in the Futures game at the All-Star game as part of the world team. Brian Dinkelman went 1-4 with his 4th homerun of the year and drove in his 37th and 38th rbi's of the year. Matt Moses hit his 6th homerun of the year and drove in his 37th and 38th rbi's of the year. Brandon Roberts, Juan Portes, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Danny Lehman contributed hits in the victory.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with first place Connecticut as Cole Devries is scheduled to start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 6 Daytona 4

• The Miracle got the second half of the year the same way as they finished the second half with a win. Last night in Fort Myers the Miracle defeated Daytona by a score of 6-4. Tyler Robertson got the start for the Miracle and was pretty good, but was undone by the defense. Robertson went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs although only 1 of the 4 was earned on 7 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.48 and improved his record to 5-3 on the year. Tyler Robertson has really picked it up as of late especially in June where he is 2-1 with a very good 2.63 in 4 June starts. Loek Van Mil came in and pitched 2 really good innings of ball. In 2 innings he only gave up 1 hit and a walk to lower his era to an out of this world 0.60. Blair Erickson then came on the 9th to pick up his 8th save of the year on 1 hit along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to a very good 2.55. Erickson has been very good as of late with a 2.79 era in the month of June.

• Offensively, the Miracle just did enough to pick up the win as they had 6 runs on 8 hits on the night. Deibinson Romero is out of his mind at the plate the last 2 games as he is hitting 6 for his last 7 with 2 doubles, a triple and a homerun along with 7 rbi's. Last night Romero went 4-4 with his 14th and 15th doubles and his 1st triple along with 3 rbi's to bring his average up to .248. Romero went through a bad slump earlier in the year, but he has really rebounded well to get his average back in the range that he is usually at. Ben Revere went 1-4 with his 28th stolen base of the year and brought his average down to .319. Steve Singelton, Evan Bigley, and Nick Romero each contributed hits in the winning cause for the Miracle.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Daytona as Mike Mccardell gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Clinton 7 Beloit 2

• The Snappers started their second half much of the way that they ended the second half with a loss. Last night they came on the short end of the stick in a 7-2 loss to Clinton. Dan Berlind got the start for the Snappers and was ok going 3.2 innings and giving up 6 runs although only 2 of them were earned on 9 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 4.04 and lower his record on the year to 2-8. Blake Martin then came on and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on 3 hits aloing with a walk to lower his era to 4.26. Mike Allen then came on and pitched 2 scoreless innings on 1 hit along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.48. Thomas Wright finised the game with 1 ining and gave up a run on 2 hits to raise his era to 9.00 on the year.

• Offensively, the Snappers were not able to get much going against Clinton pitching as they only got 2 runs on 7 hits in the game. The Snappers were led by James Beresford who went 2-4 with his 13th rbi of the year. Aaron Hicks picked up an rbi on a bases loaded walk his 2nd rbi of the year. Michael Harrington, Ozzie Lewis, Jon Waltenbury, Dominc De La Osa and Alex Soto contributed hits in the losing cause for the Snappers as they tried to come back against Clinton in vain.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Clinton as Dan Osterbrock is scheduled to start for Beloit.

E-town Entertainment

E-town 8 Bluefield 2

• The E-town Twins completed the 3 game sweep with a very impressive 8-2 win over Bluefield last night. Top Prospect Matire Garcia got the start for the Twins and was very impressive. Garcia went 5 innings and only gave up 1 run 3 hits along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year and leave his era at 1.80. Ramon Acosta then came in and pitched 2 solid innings giving up a run on 2 hits. Winston Marquez then came on and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Finally, 2nd round pick Billy Bulluck made his pro debut and did not disappoint as he mowed Bluefield down 1-2-3 along with 2 strikeouts. Bulluck should be fun to watch as he develops as a closer and it would not surprise me to see him with Beloit some time this summer.

• The Twins showed how much offense they have from top to bottom in this series as they have guys on the bench that would be starters for other teams. Tyler Ladendorf showed in this series why the Twins were so high on him and the offseason seems to have rejuvenated him and allowed him to show how good he really is. Ladendorf went 2-5 with his first homerun as a Twin and drove in 2 runs along with his first double. Ladendorf is now hitting .545 on the young season and I look for him to explode into superstardom this year. Jon Goncalves had a big night going 2-3 with an rbi to bring his average up to .400 on the young season. Chris Hermann went 2-4 with a walk in his first start of the year. Derek Mccallum got his first hit as a professional for the Twins. Danny Rams, Jasmil Pinto, and Paul Klingsberg each contributed hits in the E-town Twins big victory last night.
• Tonight, the Elizabethton Twins begin their home schedule with a series with Pulaski as Angelo Sanchez is scheduled to pitch for Elizabethton.