Beloit Snappers

In part 5 of my series on the Twins organization for the month of April i will be looking at the Beloit Snappers. Beloit went 10-16 for the month of April and did some good things and some things they need to work on

• Starting Pitching: The Starting Pitching has really struggled so far this season and the team looked at it as a strength and it has not happened so far. The Snappers starting ERA for the month was 3.60 but for the most part the majority of the starters really struggled. One of the only guys that was outstanding just went out with an injury and is on the disabled list and that is Mike Mccardell. Mike went 0-1 with a 2.53 era in 4 starts to lead the staff. David Bromberg who everybody thought was going to be the leader went 1-2 5.70era and Michael Tarsi another ace went 0-6 with a 6.75 era. That kind of tells how bad things have been pitching for the Snappers and they don't have enough hitting to pick up for the pitchers and if they dont pick it up it will be a long season. The last few starts have shown improvement and that is why the Snappers record has improved. GRADE: D+

• Relief Pitching- The Relief Pitching for the Snappers has been excellent with a relief pitcher ERA of 2.79 era on the season. They have been led by Spencer Steedley's 1.83era and Charles Nolte's 1.29era. Also helping out has been Loek Van Mil's 3.09era. There have been a few disappoinments in Blair Erickson with a 4.91era and Bradley Tippett 4.50. When you have Steedley, Nolte and Van Mil if you have a lead in the late innings your going to win. The bullpen is the most dynamic in the MSL and if the starters can get them the ball they are going to win. GRADE: A

• Hitting: This is an interesting thing to look at because the hitters have really struggled this year and don't seem to be getting any better. They were led by Steve Singelton who hit .330 with 2 homeruns and 13 rbi's. Chris Parmalee has been up and down as he went through a 2-32 slump and ends the month at .247 with 6homeruns and 23rbi's. Losing Deibinson Romero early in the month really hurt the hitting of the team hopefully he can come back soon and get back to what he did last year. The Wildcard has to be 2007 First Round pick Ben Revere who came up with the Snappers last month and has produced hitting .406 in 8 games. He is a dynamic hitter if he can continue it it will really help out the Snappers offense. The guy that i have been really disappointed in is Joe Benson who is only hitting .228 with 2 homeruns and only 7 rbi's along with 37 strikeouts in 26 games thats just not good enough. Another guy i have been disappointed in is Ozzie Lewis who was only hitting .091 before Revere arrived and has saw his playing time go away . Im not sure if its an injury or what but Ozzie has not played in a while and thats the only way he is going to come out of his slump is by playing so hopefully see him in there soon. Overall the hitting has been a real disappointment but since the arrival of Revere it seems to be getting better so hopefully they can keep it coming. GRADE: D-

• Defense: Defense has not been the Snapper's strong point this year with 44 errors in 26 games. They were led in errors by 8 from Ramon Santana and everybody that has played much has contributed to the terrible defense. If they dont get better defense it doesn't matter how good they pitch or hit t hey will lose games and they are too good of players to make dumb errors like that so i look for the team defense to improve alot but right now its not very good. GRADE: F

• Baserunning: The Snappers have been decent running the bases with 45 stolen bases in 26 April games. They have alot of speed and have taken advantage of it led by Marc Dolenc's 7 and Joe Benson, Garrett Olson, and Ramon Santana with 6. I think they should be running more with the speed they have. But they are in most games so they have the ability to steal bases so they should steal 2 to 3 bases a game. Grade B

• Overall: The Snappers have done some good things and some things that they need to work on to contend for a division title. They have pitched really good lately and need to continue that, but if they dont play better defense it won't matter how good they pitch. I think they have some talented players but i would like to see some of their talented players take the next step in their careers and make the Twins move they up. The Twins raised some guys up to Beloit and I want to see if they are ready to take that step and help the Snappers get back into playoff contention because they have really talented players. Grade D

• Player of the Month: Steve Singelton- Steve was the most consistant player for the Snappers in April. He hit .330 with 2 homeruns and 13 rbi's. He also had 2 doubles and a triple. He needs to work on his Defense but if he continues to produce offensively he will be with the Twins in a couple of years.

• Pitcher of the Month: Spencer Steedley- Spencer was the best pitcher on the staff for the Snappers always shutting down the oppostition when he came in with the lead. For the Month Spencer went 1-1 with a 1.83 era. He also walked 8 while striking out an awesome 27 batters in 19.2 innings of work. The bullpen for the Snappers has been the strongpoint and it has been led by Spencer who has put together a great month and i think he will keep it going all year long.