Minnesota Twins June Awards

I will be doing my month awards once again as we move onto the month of June and see who exceeded expectations to grab the Pitcher and Hitter of the Month. I will be starting my tour of all the teams with the Twins and work my way down all the way to Beloit. I will not do Elizabethton or the GCL because they just started their seasons, but I will be adding them next month when i look back at July. I hope you all enjoy and if anybody has a disagreement with me you can either leave it in the comment box or email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com.

• Pitcher of the Month: Joe Nathan- Joe Nathan stole the show in June for the Twins. Nick Blackburn would of been a very solid pick as he went 1-2 with a very good 2.37 era in 5 June starts. For him not to get it there had to of been a performance pretty outstanding. Joe Nathan put up one of the greatest months from a closer in Minnesota Twins history. Joe appeared in 12 games for the Twins and went 0-0 with a 0.00 era in June. He pitched 11.2 scoreless innings and picked up 11 saves in the month of June. In 11.2 innings Nathan only gave up 4 hits along with a very impression 1 walk and 18 strikeouts to pace the Twins. The most impressive stat of all though was opponents hit only .105 against him in June. Normally, I prefer giving this award to a starting pitcher, but Nathans stats were too good to pass up. Joe Nathan in my opinion is the best closer out there and I am so glad the Twins decided to show him the money because as bad as our bullpen has been this year can you imagine what it would of been like without the anchor at the end in Joe Nathan. On the year Nathan has a 1.45 era and 20 saves and appears on his way to another All-Star game for the Twins.
• Others Considered: Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Matt Guerrier

• Hitter of the Month: Jason Kubel- It is not very often that you hit .357 for the month and not win player of the month award. Jason Kubel beat out Joe Mauer even though Mauer hit .353 for the month of June. The reason I gave it to Kubel is because of production. In the month of June Jason Kubel hit .291 with an incredible 8 homeruns and 17 rbi's along with 5 doubles and 10 walks. Kubel had an obp of .371 with a slugging percentage of .628 for an ops of .999. Jason Kubel really struggles against left handed pitching as he is only a .185 hitter against lefty's. However, against right handers he is just killing the ball hitting .352 with 13 homeruns and 38 rbi's and an ops of 1.062. Jason Kubel has really come into his own in the DH spot and gives the Twins a third dangerous hitter from the left side to go with Mauer and Morneau. If need be he can play the occasional outfield and not hurt the team too bad, but his best position with his knees and defensively is DH. On the year Kubel is hitting .308 with 13 homeruns and 42 rbi's which would be up there for an All-Star selection, but with the game in the National League he won't make it. This was a tough decision between Kubel and Mauer in June so I am wondering if you all think I made the right decision.

Wednesday, July, 1st

Twins Talk
Twins 2 Royals 1

• The Twins were on the winning end of a tough hard fought 2-1 victory last night over the Royals. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and I don't know how to describe his start. He was not bad, but he threw so many pitches that he was only able to complete 5 innings. Baker went 5 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits along with 2 walks and 1 strikeout to lower his era to 4.99 on the year and improve his record to 6-6. Baker did not have his good stuff on this night, but I was so impressed how he kept battling and battling out there. The Royals kept fouling pitch after pitch off. He had at bats with 7 pitches, 8 pitches , 9 pitches and 15 pitches, but Baker would not give in to the hitter and really showed his mental toughness. There are those out there that question his mental toughness because he doesn't show emotion on the mound, but Baker showed his toughness by battling the heck out of it last night to keep his team in the game even though he did not have great stuff. In the month of June Scott Baker really bounced back from a couple so so months and got back to being Scott Baker. In June Baker was 4-0 with a very Scott Baker like 3.20 era in 6 June starts. That is after he posted a 9.82 era in April and a 4.97 era in May. Baker was good, but the real story of the game was Bobby Keppel who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Is Bobby Keppel the answer out of the bullpen probably not, but he sure has pitched good in his 2 outings. Keppel went 2.1 innings and gave up no runs on 1 hit along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Jose Mijares and Matt Guerrier each got an out to get out of the 8th with the lead still intact. Joe Nathan then came on in the ninth to shut the door for his 20th save of the year and lowered his era to an awesome 1.45. In the month of June Joe Nathan pitched 11.2 innings and June without giving up a run and only 4 hits and picked up 11 saves. All I can say about that is WOW! Joe Nathan is the best closer in the game for my money and he might be having his best season of his career.

• The Twins did not get much on the offensive side last night, but just enough to pull out the victory. Justin Morneau led the attack going 2-3 with his 19th homerun of the year and drove in his 64th run of the year to improve his average on the year to .313. Justin Morneau is quietly putting up MVP numbers again as he is 7th in average, 4th in homeruns, 2nd in rbi's, 4th in sluggin, and 4th in on base percentage. What I mean by quietly is all anyone talks about right now is can Joe Mauer hit .400 while Morneau continues to put up the big numbers and now has hit a homerun in 3 consecutive games and drove in 6 runs in those games. Brendan Harris went 1-4 with his 12th double of the year and brought his average down to .288. Michael Cuddyer went 1-3 with a sacrifice fly to drive in his 40th run of the year and brought his average up to .277. Joe Mauer went 1-4 at the plate and still saw his average drop to .383. When you have an average that high if you don't have 2 hits every game the average will go down. Denard Span, Joe Crede, and Carlos Gomez added hits in the winning cause for the Twins.
• Today, the Twins finish their series with the Royals and their roadtrip off as Glen Perkins gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

• The Red Wings had their game with Scranton/WB rained out last night and will be made up later in the year. The Red Wings have today off before beginning a series with Buffalo tommorrow night.

New Britain Business

New Britain 9 Portland 5

• The Rockcats got back on the winning side of things after losing 2 straight to Connecticut with a big 9-5 victory over Portland last night. The Rockcats jumped all over Portland starter Kason Gabbard for 7 runs in the first inning and held on the rest of the way. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Rockcats and I felt did a pretty decent job. Basically, he is what he is and he will on most starts keep you in the game. Last night Mullins went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits along with 3 walks and an impressive 8 strikeouts to bring his era on the year down to 5.07 and improve his record to 5-8. I think Mullins era is inflated because when he gets hit he gets hit hard so there are some not so pretty lines in there so it takes forever to bring it down. Jay Rainville came in relief and really struggled giving up 2 runs on 2 hits in an inning of work along with a strikeout to raise his era to a not very good 5.64. Jay Rainville is a guy that I have been very dissapointed in as he has really struggled this year as he started out in the rotation and now is in the bullpen and the next step is probably being released. It is not all his fault though as injuries have robbed the former 1st round pick of his fastball as he struggles to get his fastball in the high 80's and in professional ball it is hard to get guys out when you don't have a good fastball. Alex Burnett then came in and pitched a good inning of relief on no hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.33. Anthony Slama worked a scoreless ninth on no hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.53.

• On a night the pitching was not real great the Rockcats hitters bailed out the pitching as they scored 9 runs on 11 hits. Rene Tosoni led the offense going 2-4 with his 10th homerun and drove in 2 runs to bring his season total up to 47 on the year to bring his average up to .279. Tosoni has really taken a step forward from a good prospect to one of the best hitting prospects in the organization. Toby Gardenhire got a start and made the most of it going 2-4 with his 4th double of the year to bring his average up to .240. Juan Portes went 2-4 to bring his average on the year to .311. Erik Lis went 1-5 and his 6th homerun, a 3 run shot in the first, along with 3 rbi's to bring his season total to 36. Danny Berg went 1-5 with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rbi's of the year. Danny Lehman went 1-4 with his 4th double of the year. Brian Dinkelman went 1-3 with his 18th double along with 2 walks to bring his average up to .298. Brandon Roberts also added a hit in the winning cause for the Rockcats.
• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Portland as they will compete in a doubleheader with Cole Devries scheduled to start in one with Frank Mata scheduled to pitch the other.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle had their game with Lakeland rained out and will make it up with a doubleheader tonight. Mike Mccardell is scheduled to go in the first game and Tyler Robertson is scheduled to pitch in the second.

Beloit Beat

Cedar Rapids 4 Beloit 1

• The Snappers wasted an excellent start by Brad Tippett and had the relief pitching let them down in a tough to take 4-1 loss to Cedar Rapids last night to move their record to 2-3. Brad Tippett got the start for the Snappers and was outstanding. Tippett went 6 innings and only gave up 1 run although the run was unearned on 4 hits along with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.89 on the year. Brad Tippett has been by far the most consistant starter for Beloit all year and consistantly gives good starts. I would like to see Tippett maybe get a chance with Fort Myers this summer. Either way he will be with Fort Myers at the start of next season so its not a big deal if he gets promoted this year or they wait until next year. Curtis Leavitt then came on and pitched 2 very solid innings of work without giving up a run to lower his era to 8.10 on the year. Steve Blevins then came in the 9th in a 1-1 tie and lets just say it did not go the best. In 1 inning of work Blevins gave up 3 runs on 2 hits along with a walk and a strikeout to raise his era to 4.46 and lower his record on the year to 2-4. I know it was a terrible outing by Blevins, but he has been so good this year that I have no doubt that he will bounce back next time to have a good outing. That is the key with any reliever and especially prospects. It is not about how you do when things are going good, but how you respond to a rough outing. I have no doubt Blevins will rebound in a big way.

• The Snappers offense did not help the pitching in this one at all as they could only muster 1 run on only 3 hits. Aaron Hicks led the offense by going 1-3 with his 6th rbi of the year and improved his average to .222 in only 27 at bats. I know he is off to a little bit of a slow start with the Snappers, but it won't be long until he takes off and hits like we all know he will. Drew Thompson went 1-2 with his 9th double of the year and improved his average on the year to .198. Ramon Santana added a base hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Cedar Rapids as Dan Berlind will get the start for Beloit.

E-town Entertainment

E-town 8 Bristol 7

• The E-town Twins had a hard back and forth game last night with Bristol and found a way to win it 8-7 with 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the 9th to improve their record to 7-1. Matire Garcia got the start for the Twins and was uncharacteristically wild. Garcia only lasted 2 innings and gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with an incredible 6 walks and 1 strikeout. There is nothing in Garcia's past that says that this is a problem so I have to believe this was a one time thing and Garcia will come back next time out with a much better outing. Brad Stillings then came on and went 3.2 innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to bring his era down to 3.18. Edgar Ibarra then came on and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings on a hit along with 2 walks and a strikeout to bring his era down to 3.86. Kane Holbrooks then came in and pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up a run on no hits along with a strikeout to bring his era up to 2.70. Billy Bulluck then came on and really struggled in this game. Bulluck gave up 2 runs although only 1 of them was earned on 2 hits along with 2 strikeouts to get his first win of the year and increased his era to 2.25.

• The Twins offense really bailed out the pitching in this one as they put up 8 runs on 9 hits. Jasmil Pinto led the offense by going 3-4 with his 3rd homerun of the year along with a double and drove in his 8th and 9th rbi's of the year to bring hsi average up to .273. Derek Mccallum went 2-4 with his 1st professional homerun to bring his average up to .188. Danny Rams continued his recent string of power numbers as he went 1-3 with his 4th homerun of the year and drove in 2 runs to bring his season total up to 15. Reggie Williams went 1-4 with his first homerun of the year. Chris Hermann and Tobias Streich added a hit apiece in the E-town victory last night.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Bristol as Michael Munoz gets the start for Elizabethton

Tuesday, June, 30th

Twins Talk
Royals 4 Twins 2

• The Twins really had a stinker last night as they made Luke Hochevar look like an all-star. Nothing against Hochevar, but he came into the game with a 5.87 era and we made him look like Zach Grienke. Nick Blackburn pitched a better game than the numbers will show as the hitters could not do anything in the Twins 4-2 loss to the Royals last night. Nick Blackburn got the start for the Twins and was very good once again. Blackburn went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs although only 2 of them were earned along with 10 hits. He also walked a batter and struck out 4 to raise his era to 3.10 on the year and lower his record to 6-4. Blackburn was masterful in the first 5 innings as he only gave up an unearned run in the first 5. Then in the 6th he left some pitches up and gave up back to back homeruns to Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo. Overall, Blackburn continues to show he is the ace of the staff right now and consistantly gives the Twins a chance to win every time out. It was Blackburn's 8th consecutive quality start and that is fantastic. I really can't put my finger on what he is doing differently this year, but he is much better and the results speak for themselves. R.A. Dickey came on in the 7th and had an uncommon for him this year poor outing as he gave up a run on 2 hits along with a walk to raise his era to still a very good 2.45. Jose Mijares pitched a scoreless 8th inning along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era to 2.38.

• Offensively, it was not pretty for the Twins as they were only able to get 5 hits in the entire game and only 2 off Royals starter Luke Hochevar. The only bright spot offensively was Justin Morneau who belted his 18th homerun of the year and drove in his 62nd and 63rd runs of the year to bring his average down to .309. Michael Cuddyer went 1-4 with his 17th double of the year and brought his average down to .276. Denard Span, Delmon Young, and Brendan Harris all contributed singles in a losing cause for the Twins.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with the Royals as Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Scranton/WB 5 Rochester 0

Scranton/WB 3 Rochester 1

• The Red Wings lost a couple to Scranton/WB yesterday with one being a blowout and the other being close, but in the win-loss column it still says 0-2. The Red Wings lost the games by scores of 5-0 in the first game and 3-1 in the second game. In the first game Philip Humber got the start for the Wings and was his usual self. Humber went all 6 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to raise his era to 6.03 and lowered his record to 2-6. I don't understand why they keep sending him out there start after start when you have a better option sitting in AA in Matt Fox. I have come up with the perfect solution. Promote Armando Gabino to the Twins and promote Matt Fox to Rochester and put Philip Humber in the bullpen and either dl/release either Tim Lahey or Reid Santos. To me that would make the most sense because every time out there Humber is getting hit. He only has 2 quality starts in his last 10 and that is just not good enough to get it done. Hopefully, a move to the bullpen would help him get going again because right now he is not very good. In the second game Jason Jones got the spot start and was much better than what he had been when he was in the rotation. Jones went all 6 innings and only gave up 3 runs on only 3 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 6.33 and lower his record to 2-7. I know Jason Jones has not been very good this year so it is probably best not to make too much out of 1 start, but for as bad as he was pitching I will take a step in the right direction. Hopefully, Jones can take this good start back with him to the bullpen and he can use this as a confidence booster because there is talent there we just need to find a way to bring it out.

• Offensively, the Wings left their hitting shoes at home as they were only able to get 1 run in 2 games. In game 1 they were shutout on only 2 hits unbelievable pitching performance by Yankee starter Ivan Nova. The only bright spot in the game was Matt Macri who went 1-3 with his 15th double of the year and brought his average on the year up to .221. Steve Tolleson added a single for the Wings in the losing cause. In game 2 the Wings did not do much more than they did in game 1 as they were only able to score 1 run on 7 hits. Trevor Plouffe led the offense going 1-4 with his 41st rbi of the year and brought his averge up to .240. Jason Pridie went 1-4 with his 12th double and 16th stolen base of the year. Danny Valencia went 1-3 with his 2nd double with the Wings to bring his average up to .355. Dustin Martin went 1-3 with a run scored to bring his average up to .257. David Winfree, Matt Macri, and Brock Peterson all contributed hits in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Red Wings finish off their series with Scranton/WB as Jeff Manship gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Connecticut 6 New Britain 3

• The Rockcats basically lost this game in the 1st inning when Cats starter Carlos Gutierrez gave up 4 runs in the 1st inning. The Rockcats kept fighting back, but could not come all the way in a tough 6-3 loss to Connecticut last night. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Cats and really struggled in the first inning where he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, but after that he calmed down, but it was too little too late. Gutierrez went 4 innings and gave up 5 runs on 10 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 6.26 and lower his record to 1-2. This is a classic case of a reliever in his first year as a starter running out of gas. Gutierrez only threw only 25.2 innings last year after being drafted and he is already at 77 innings this year. The Rockcats will likey move him to the bullpen soon to minimize his innings and look for him to be shutdown the last month or so to save his arm. You should not let his struggles at AA make you think less of him as a prospect, because this happens every year when a pitcher gets to a certain inning count they start leaving pitches up because they have never thrown that many innings before. Carlos Gutierrez will be back next year ready to make an impact and it would not surprise me to see him in a Twins uniform sometime next year. Jay Rainville then came on for an inning and gave up a run on 3 hits to raise his era to 5.45. Kyle Waldrop followed him and went 1.2 scoreless innings along with a walk. Jose Lugo then came in and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to lower his era to 4.61. Frank Mata finished the game by going 2/3 of an inning and giving up 1 hit and no runs to lower his era to 4.85.

• The Rockcats just did not have enough offense in this game as they were only able to push across 3 runs in the game and normally that is not going to be good enough to win. Whit Robbins led the offense by going 3-5 with his 17th double of the year and his 32nd rbi of the year to bring his average up to .312. Erik Lis went 2-4 with his 33nd rbi of the year and improved his average to .302. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with his 39th rbi and improved his average to .297 on the year. Allan De San Miguel added his 4th double of the year. Brandon Roberts also contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Portland as Ryan Mullins is scheduled to pitch for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 5 Lakeland 1

• The Miracle got back on track with a big win last night against Lakeland by a score of 5-1. David Bromberg got the start for Fort Myers and really bounced back from a start that was bad by his standards. Bromberg went 6.1 innings and only gave up 1 run on 5 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 2.57 and improve his record on the year to 6-0. David Bromberg has been so solid this year that we should of known that Bromberg would rebound from his last start and he did. Speaking of that David Bromberg has had a nice comeback season after a so so season last year at Beloit. I'll be honest I did not see this coming out of Bromberg as I thought he walked too many guys to be successful at this level . However, he has proven me wrong as he has gotten much better with the walks and shown just how dominant he can be so hopefully he can keep it up. Spencer Steedley came in relief and was good once again as he went the last 2.2 innings for his 4th save of the year. Steedley went 2.2 innings and gave up 1 hit along with a walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 0.95 on the year.

• The Miracle finally got it going offensively as they have struggled hitting the ball lately, but broke out for 5 runs on 10 hits last night. Jair Fernandez led the attack going 2-4 with his 7th double and drove in his 11th and 12th runs of the year and improved his average up to .214. Nick Romero went 2-4 with his 2nd and 3rd doubles of the year and drove in his 11th and 12th runs of the year to improve his average to .280. Chris Parmalee went 2-4 with his 13th double of the year and improved his average to .271. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 to improve his average to .245. Ben Revere went 1-5 to bring his average down to .319. Chris Cates also contributed a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle last night.
• Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Lakeland as Tyler Robertson gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had yesterday off and will begin a series with Cedar Rapids tonight with Brad Tippett scheduled to pitch for Beloit

E-town Entertainment

E-town 11 Bristol 5

• The E-town Twins got back to their winning ways with a big 11-5 victory last night over Bristol. Liam Hendricks got the start and was ok in this one for the Twins. Hendricks went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs on 8 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Kyle Carr then came on and pitched 2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts. Billy Bulluck came on and pitched another solid inning of relief on 1 hit along with a strikeout.

• The E-town Twins offense exploded in this one by scoring 11 runs and pounding out 19 hits. Danny Rams led the way going 2-4 with his 2nd and 3rd homeruns of the year and 4 rbi's. Chris Hermann went 4-5 with 2 doubles and his 1st homerun of the year along with 2 rbi's. Tyler Ladendorf went 3-5 with a double and a rbi. Michael Gonzalez went 2-4 with a double. Anderson Hidalgo went 3-4 with 2 doubles and an rbi. Herbert Lara went 3-5 at the plate for the Twins. Derek Mccallum, and Jon Goncalves each contributed a hit apiece in the winning cause for the e-town Twins.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Bristol as Matire Garcia gets the start for Elizabethton.