Testa to Fort Myers

I just found out that there are a couple of promotions to speak of. Joe Testa after a successful all-star outing has been promoted to high A Fort Myers. In addition to that new draft pick Buddy Munroe has been added to the Beloit Snapper roster. Testa went 0-2 with a very good 2.56 era along with 7 saves in 24 games with the Snappers. Munroe was a catcher out of the University of Florida. Best of luck to both guys.

Wednesday, June, 24th

Twins Talk



Twins 7 Brewers 3

• In a word this game could not be called anything but ugly. It seemed the first 3 innings took 2 hours as both starters were not real great. The difference was Liraino got out of some jams and Brewers starter Jeff Suppan did not as the Twins beat the Brewers last night by the score of 7-3. Liriano only lasted 5 innings and gave 3 runs on 7 hits along with 5 walks and 6 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.88 and raise his record to 3-8 on the year. I am kind of at a loss with Liriano because he has so much talent, but seriously his starts are difficult to watch. I don't think he knows where his pitches are going. Sometimes he is way up and the next one is 3 ft in front of home plate. The sad part about it is the talent is there as sometimes he will just blow hitters away with 2 fastballs on the black and then an unhittable slider down and in. He has way to much talent to give up on but the same time it is not fair to the rest of the players to keep letting him pitch like this. The positive is he is getting better of wriggling himself out of these jams, but there are times where he can't and gives up big hits. Another thing is the walks as he has 45 walks in 75 innings which is a crazy amount and I don't know what to do about that because I thought we had solved that last year when he spent 3 months in AAA working on his control, but apparently not. I am asking for some suggestions on what everyone would do with Liriano. R.A. Dickey came in relief and he was good as always. Dickey pitched 2 shutout innings on only 1 hit to bring his era down to 2.43 on the year. Matt Guerrier then came on and pitched a scoreless 8th to lower his era to 2.76. Joe Nathan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to lower his era to 1.63 on the year.

• The Twins did something in this game that they have struggled with all season which is something they did so well last year. That is getting the key hit with runners on base. Joe Crede and Carlos Gomez had big 2 out hits with guys on that really led to the Twins win. Carlos Gomez showed all the tools that the Twins were expecting out of him going into the year. He went 3-5 with a hustle double along with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored. The 2 rbi's brings his total on the year to 12. Justin Morneau had a big game after struggling a bit in the Houston series by going 2-4 with his 20th double of the year to bring his average up to .322 on the year. Joe Crede went 2-5 with his 10th double and drove in 3 to bring his total on the year t0 33. Delmon Young went 1-5 with his 5th double of the year and drove in a run to bring his total up to 23. Brendan Harris, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto, and Jose Morales each contributed a hit in the game to help the Twins win.



• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Milwaukee as the Twins will send Nick Blackburn to the mound looking to pick up the Twins second straight win of the series.

Rochester Wrap

Columbus 8 Rochester 7

• The Red Wings suffered a devastating loss last night to Columbus in 10 innings as they wasted a great start by Anthony Swarzak before losing 8-7 in the 10th inning. Anthony Swarzak got the start for the Wings and was very impressive last night. Swarzak left with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd and the bullpen made his outing look worse than it really was. Swarzak went 7.1 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to raise his era to 2.47. He pitched much better than his line showed and continues to show that he belongs up with the Twins. I was wondering what kind of frame of mind he would be in after being sent to AAA and thankfully he was in the right kind of mind to get better. Rob Delaney then came on and was totally awful as he gave up 4 hits and 4 runs and 2 homeruns in 2/3 of an inning. Last night was just a outing that Delaney would like to forget about and a game he needs to forget about because it is not the first bad outing of his career and won't be the last it is just how he responds. Juan Morillo then came on and gave up the winning run in 2 innings of work. Morillo went 2 innings and gave up 1 run on 1 hit along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Morillo once again showed he is not ready to come back to the bigs because he walked 2 batters in that 10th inning and like it will in the bigs they came back to bite him. He has now walked 18 batters in only 28 innings of work so until he gets that walk number way down he will and should stay in AAA.

• The Red Wings had a good night at the plate it was just the pitching could not back them up as they put up 7 runs on 14 hits. Newly promoted Danny Valencia led the Wings attack by going 3-5 with his first double and his first 2 rbi's in a Red Wings uniform. It had to be a confidence boost for Valencia to have a big opening night in Rochester to prove to himself that this is no different then it was at New Britain. Steve Tolleson went 3-5 with his 2nd homerun with the Wings. His homerun tied the game 7-7 in the bottom of the 8th and drove in his 6th run of the year. Dustin Martin also had a big game going 3-5 with his 3rd triple of the year along with his 26th and 27th rbi's of the year to raise his average up to .258. Denard Span, Trevor Plouffe, David Winfree, Matt Macri, and Brock Peterson each added hits in the losing cause for the Red Wings last night.


• Tonight, the Red Wings take on Columbus and Philip Humber will get the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 5 Harrisburg 4 13 innings

• The Rockcats won a hard fought and very long game with Harrisburg last night by a score of 5-4 thanks to a rbi single by Matt Moses in the bottom of the 13th inning. Matt Fox got the start for the Cats and for the first time in a long time he just did not have it. Fox only lasted 4.1 innings and gave up 4 runs on 11 hits along with 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 2.80. Fox has been so good this year that I am not going to make too big of a deal out of it because of what Fox has done so far this year. I truly expect Matt Fox to bounce back next time out and pitch another good game like we are used to seeing. Jay Rainville now pitching out of the Rockcats bullpen and pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.29. Kyle Waldrop then came into the game and made his Rockcat debut for the year pitching a scoreless inning along with a walk. Alex Burnett then came in and pitched a scoreless inning of relief to lower his era to 1.10 on the year. He was followed by Anthony Slama who pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief on 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.57. Yohan Pino then came in and gave the Rockcats what they needed and gave them 3 innings of scoreless ball along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.89 and won his 2nd game of the year.

• The Rockcat offense had a big night offensively by putting up 14 hits, but were only able to bring 5 of them to score thanks to 9 guys left on base. The important thing though is they scored just enough runs to win the game. The Cats were led by Erik Lis who went 3-6 with his first triple of the year and his 32nd rbi to bring his average on the year to .309. Brian Dinkelman went 2-6 with his 17th double to bring his average up to .293. Rene Tosoni went 2-5 with his 42nd rbi of the year. Tosoni has really been productive with 9 homeruns and 42 rbi's to pace the Cats. Matt Moses had a big game going 2-4 with 2 rbi's including the winning run in the 13th inning. Moses now has driven in 36 runs on the year. Brandon Roberts, Whit Robbins, Danny Berg, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Danny Lehman all contributed hits in the winning cause.


• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Harrisburg and Carlos Gutierrez will get the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 7 Jupiter 6

• The Miracle had a big lead yesterday afternoon and had to hang on for dear life to win the game. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Miracle and he was very good for the Miracle. Guerra went 6+ innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 6 hits along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.03 and improved his record to 5-7 on the year. Guerra has been so inconsistant that it is hard to get to excited or too upset about any of his starts because all year he has followed that one start with one the total opposite. Hopefully, Guerra can become more consistant in the 2nd half because all the talent is there and they just need him to put it all together. Loek Van Mil proved he was human as he pitched an inning and gave up his first run of the year on 1 hit along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 0.69. Spencer Steedley pitched the last 2 innings to pick up his 3rd save of the year. Steedley went 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to a very very good 1.05.

• The Miracle played a game of who can hit it the farthest as the Miracle combined for 3 homeruns in their 10 hits. Steve Singelton led the offense going 4-5 with his 4th homerun of the year along with 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 30 on the year. With the 4 hits Singelton raised his average up to .262 on the season. Singelton has really come on after a rough start to the season. In the month of June Singelton is hitting .333 with 3 homeruns and 10 rbi's and an ops of .894 which shows what Singelton is capable of doing when he is going good. Ben Revere went 1-4 with his 2nd homerun of the year and 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 28 and brought his average up to .322. Chris Parmalee went 1-4 with his 9th homerun and drove in his 34th and 35th runs of the year. Rene Leveret went 2-2 at the plate to bring his average up to .299 on the year. Juan Richardson and Chris Cates added singles in the winning cause.
• Tonight, the Miracle finish off their first half with a game versus Jupiter as David Bromberg gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had yesterday off and Snappers pitcher Joe Testa got both hitters out he was asked to face in the Midwest League All-Star game. The Snappers will start their second half on Thursday night in Clinton.

E-town Entertainment

E-town 8 Bluefield 2

• The E-town Twins got their season off to a good start with a big 8-2 victory over Bluefield last night. Tom Stuifbergen got the opening day assignment for the Twins and was very very good. Stuif went 6 innings and only gave up 1 earned run along with 10 strikeouts. Tom Stuifbergen really opened eyes in the WBC and looks like he is going to continue it this year with E-town and he appears to be a guy you will be hearing about for years to come. Kyle Carr then came on and pitched 3 shutout innings to pick up his 1st save of the year. Carr went 3 innings and no hits along with 4 strikeouts for the Twins.

• The Twins jumped all over the Orioles pitching and put up 8 runs on 13 hits in the game. 2008 2nd round pick Tyler Ladendorf was the story of the game for the Twins goingg 4-4 along with a walk and 2 runs scored. Danny Rams also had a big game going 3-3 with 2 doubles and 3 rbi's. Jasmil Pinto went 1-4 with his 1st homerun of the year and drove in 2 rbi's. Michael Gonzalez went 2-5 for the Twins in the game also. Derek Mccallum, Anderson Hidalgo, and Jonathon Goncalves all contributed hits in the winning cause for the E-town Twins.
• Tonight, the Twins continue their series with Bluefield as Liam Hendricks will get the start for E-town.

Manship Promoted

I again would like to thank Seth over at Sethspeaks.net for breaking another story this one being the promotion of Jeff Manship to AAA Rochester. Manship had been lights out the last month or so posting a 1.80 era in his last 5 starts and showing the promise that we all expected out of him when he was drafted out of Notre Dame a couple years ago. I really expect him to do well with the Red Wings and possibly be a September callup for the Twins this year and work out of that bullpen. I am really excited to see how Jeff will do with this new challenge, but I am sure he will use his usual competitivness and poise to pitch lights out for the Red Wings until he gets that call that says we want you with the big club. So congrats to Jeff Manship and good look at Rochester.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #5

Today I will be continuing my prospect list as we move into the top 5 prospects. Today I will bring prospect number 5 in the Twins organization. Let me know what you think either by emailing me at travis_aune@yahoo.com or leaving a comment in the comment box.

5. Tyler Robertson LHP 21 (12/23/1987)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Tyler Robertson was a 3rd round draft pick by the Twins in the 2006 draft out of high school in Fair Oaks, California. After signing with the Twins Tyler was assigned to GCL where he made 10 starts there and went 4-2 with a 4.25 era. In 48.2 innings he walked 15 and struck out 54 for a whip of 1.42. In 2007 Tyler moved up to Beloit where he dominated and really was put on the map for Twins prospects. After the season he had in 2007 many people had him rated as the top prospect in the entire system and I will admit I was one of those people. In 2007 with Beloit Robertson went 9-5 with an awesome 2.29 era in 16 starts. In 102.1 innings Tyler walked only 33 and struck an impressive 123 batters for a whip of 1.17 which was way down from the 1.42 he had in 2006. With the great 2007 Tyler was promoted to 2008 season and that is where the trouble started. Tyler had a very good 2008 season statistically, but missed the whole second half with arm problems. Last year in 15 starts Tyler went 5-3 with a very good 2.72 era. In 82.2 innings Tyler walked 31 and struck out 73 for a whip of 1.32. After an offseason of rehab Tyler Robertson had alot of questions to answer on whether he could come back the same pitcher and after a few struggles early on he has done a phenomenal job in June. Overall, Tyler has been pretty good going 4-3 with a good 3.66 era in 13 starts. In 66.1 innings Tyler has 28 walks and 47 strikeouts for a whip of 1.46. At age 21 Tyler Robertson in my opinion is the top pitching prospect in the system. Tyler won't be 22 until December so he is way young for his level of play. Tyler has a good fasball, a nice curveball, with a slider and changeup. Tyler has succeded every where he has pitched and I expect that to continue. It just shows you the fortitude he has to come back this year like he has coming off an arm injury. Tyler has gotten better every month as he gets more and more confidence in that arm. He told me that his arm feels good and that is the most important thing because if the arm is sound his god given ability will take over. Tyler is still probably 3 or 4 years away from being with the Twins, but Robertson posseses something not many other pitchers in the system possess and that is ace stuff. He has the ability to be an ace for the Twins at 6'5 he throws on a downward plane that is hard to pick up. His walk total is up a bit this year, but I expect Tyler to fix that problem and for him to continue to progress through the system. Even though he is ready for AA I think the Twins will be careful with him because you don't want to risk getting him hurt again. I expect Tyler to finish the year at Fort Myers and next spring start the season at New Britain at only 22 years old which is way young for the level. Mark this down 5 years from now Tyler Robertson will be pitching for the Twins and pitching well as the ace of the staff.


• 2009: Continue starting at Fort Myers and outside chance of promotion to New Britain.


• Projection: I project Tyler Robertson as an ace type for the Twins in 3 to 4 years and have a long and productive career in the majors.

Tuesday, June, 23rd

Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off before beginning a 3 game series in Milwaukee with the Brewers as Francisco Liriano will start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Toledo 9 Rochester 4

• The Red Wings had their dreadful series with Toledo end with a thud as they once again could not do much in the pitching department. Jason Jones got the start in this one for the Wings and really was not very good. In 5 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to a very bad 6.49 and dropped his record to 2-6. I am probably the most disappointed with Jason Jones then anyone on the Rochester staff because the Twins gave up a pretty solid relief prospect in Charles Nolte to keep him and he has done nothing. The Twins gave up too much to just release him so I would atleast try him out of the bullpen to see if he can right himself and possibly go back into the rotation, but right now he has no chance to get hitters out. Another guy like that is Reid Santos out of the bullpen who came in for Jones and got shelled again. Santos went 2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits although only 2 were earned along with 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 2 homeruns to raise his era to 5.95 on the year. As a minor league free agent I was not expecting alot out of Santos and he has been just about what I thought he would be. I actually think it is time to cut the cord with Santos and bring up Matt Fox from AA New Britain and move Jason Jones to the bullpen. You can't keep sending out the same people time after time and expect a different result sometimes you just have to shake things up. Jesse Crain then came on and pitched a very good inning of work on 1 hit along with 2 strikeouts. I do not expect Crain to be with the Wings very long and if he keeps pitching like this he will be back with the Twins by the end of July. Armando Gabino pitched a 1-2-3 ninth a day after giving up the winning homerun so it was good that he bounced back. Gabino struck out a batter and lowered his era to a very good 3.02 on the year.

• I know I am getting repetitive with this and I am sorry for that, but the Wings keep piling up the hits and are not able to score enough runs because they constantly strand runners on base. In this one the Wings had 10 hits and only 4 runs because they left 7 guys on base. Twins outfielder Denard Span made a rehab start for the Wings and did what he always does for the Twins and that is get on base. Span went 1-4 with a double and a walk adn was constantly working the count and having good at bats. Span is scheduled to play again tonight and if all goes well join the Twins on Thursday to continue their roadtrip. Justin Huber went 1-4 with his 7th homerun of the year for the Wings along with his 34th rbi to bring his average down to .277. Matt Macri went 2-4 with his 2nd double of the year and drove in his 22nd run of the year to bring his average up to .211. Dustin Martin went 2-4 with his 9th double of the year to bring his average up to .251. Dustin Martin has had an awful June hitting only .211 in June after doing much better in April and May. Hopefully, he is starting to come out of it because he is too good of a hitter for this. Trevor Plouffe went 2-5 with his team leading 38th rbi of the year. David Winfree and Brock Peterson also added hits in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Wings begin a series with Columbus and will send Anthony Swarzak to the mound for Rochester.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had yesterday off and will begin a series with Harrisburg tonight as Jay Rainville will get the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Jupiter 4 Fort Myers 3

• The Miracle made their return to the field last night in a losing cause to Jupiter by a score of 4-3. Most of the Miracle starters sat out this one as a reward for being all-stars and for clinching the first half title before the break. Ben Revere, Steve Singelton, and Chris Cates did not start this one for the Miracle. Fresh off a good outing in the all-star game Steve Hirschfeld got the start for the Miracle and was very good. Hirschfeld went 5.1 shutout innings in this one on only 6 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 1.50 on the year. Santos Arias then came on and really struggled giving up 3 runs and 5 hits in 2 innings of work and let a 3 run lead slip through his fingers. Santo saw his era rise to 2.70 with this outing. Santos Arias has been one of the most reliable relievers for the Miracle this year and everyone has a bad outing every once in a while and last night was Arias' turn and I fully expect him to bounce back next time out. Blair Erickson came into the game and gave up the go ahead run to take the loss for the Miracle to drop his record to o-3 and raise his era to 2.78. Erickson went 1.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits to take the loss for the Miracle.

• The Miracle could not do alot with the bats last night as they could only muster 3 runs on 7 hits against Jupiter. Danny Berg led the attack going 2-4 with his 2nd triple of the year along with his 17th and 18th rbi's and brought his average up to .239 on the year. Congratulations again to Danny for the promotion to AA New Britain and the possiblilty of playing every day. Juan Richardson went 1-3 with his 3rd rbi of the year. Jair Fernandez went 2-4 at the plate to raise his average up to .193 on the year. With Danny Lehman and Allan De San Miguel up in New Britain the Miracle really need Jair Fernandez to pick it up hitting and his .193 batting average will not cut it so hopefully last night was just the beginning of a better second half. Chris Parmalee and Rene Leveret each added a hit in the losing cause.
• This morning the Miracle take on Jupiter in game 2 of their 3 game series as the Miracle will send Tyler Robertson to the mound this afternoon.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers are on their all-star break and will not start the second half of the season until Thursday Night in Clinton.

E-town Tidbits

• The Twins had the day off and will begin their season tonight as they take on Bluefield with Tom Stuifbergen getting the start for E-town.

Valencia Promoted

I would like to thank Seth over at Sethspeaks.net for breaking the story that Danny Valencia has been promoted to AAA Rochester. Valencia had been in a rough slump but the last 6 games he is 10-24 to come out of it and with some injuries in Rochester he will be a good guy to come in and play 3rd for them. I hope expectations are not out of his world in Rochester because Danny has a history of needing time to adjust to the new league. Last year he struggled at New Britain for a while until he adjusted before taking off and I expect the same thing at Rochester. When he gets his 50-60 at bats then look to see the real Danny Valencia and don't pay attention to his numbers before then while he adjusts. But it is great news for Danny and Twins fans all over the world because Danny is that good. For us Twins fans that have been hoping Danny will open up Target Field next season as the Twins 3rd baseman this is another sign that it is possible. Here is hoping Danny does very well at Rochester.

Another big thank you to Seth for breaking the news that Danny Berg will take Valencia's spot with New Britain as he got promoted to New Britain. Danny is a very solid player that can play just about anywhere. I know he only hit .232 with Fort Myers, but he is so versatile that he will be good at New Britain. The interesting question is who plays 3rd for New Britain on a regular basis now. Their only 2 choices that are on the roster right now are Berg and Toby Gardenhire and both of them are better suited for part time roles so it should be interesting to see if they split the position for the rest of the year.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #6

Tonight I will be bringing you prospect number 6 in the organization. I will hope everyone enjoys and will add their 2 cents. You can either email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com or leave a comment in the comment box.

6. Carlos Gutierrez RHP 22 (9/22/1986)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Carlos Gutierrez was a first round draft pick by the Twins, 27th overall, in the 2008 draft out of Miami University. Gutierrez was a reliever in college, but he projects as a starter because of his heavy sinker that gets him tons of groundballs. After signing with the Twins Carlos made his debut out of the bullpen for Fort Myers to save on his innings. In 16 games with Fort Myers Gutierrez went 3-1 with a very good 2.10era. In 25.2 innings Carlos walked 7 and struck out 19. This year Carlos juined the starting staff for Fort Myers and took off which led to a promotion to AA New Britain. In 10 starts at Fort Myers Carlos went 2-3 with a 1.32 era. In 54.2 innings he walked 22 and struck out 33 and held opponents to a .192 batting average. That led to a promotion to New Britain where he has struggled so far. In 3 starts Gutierrez is 1-1 with a 6.43 era. In 14 innings Gutierrez has walked 8 and struck out only 4. Carlos Gutierrez is a groundball machine with his heavy sinker. His only problem is control problems as he has walked 37 batters in only in only 93 professional innings. He walks 2.5 runners per 9 innings and that is way too many. If he can get his control on track the sky is the limit. He is is a better version of Carlos Silva with a very good sinker. For his development though he needs to develop a third pitch to go with his fastball and sinker. If he doesn't develop that 3rd pitch he will be a reliever because he is going to need that third pitch to develop into a frontline pitcher. If he can get that third pitch he will be a very good pitcher that will get 60 to 70 percent of his outs on groundballs and will be a very good pitcher. The thing about Gutierrez is if he develops that 3rd pitch he will be the top Twins pitching prospect and be a solid number 2 or 3 starter for the Twins. If he can't develop that 3rd pitch he still will be a solid setup man out of the bullpen so as I see it Carlos Gutierrez has a very bright future in one way or another. I can see Carlos getting a September callup or at worst possibly be in the bullpen for the Twins next season.


• 2009: Starting rotation for New Britain and a possible September callup


• projection: I project him as a solid number 2 or 3 starter at the big leagues for many years.

Monday, June, 22nd

Twins Talk
Astros 4 Twins 1

• The Twins had a very dissapointing loss yesterday afternoon with a tough to take 4-1 loss to the Astros to lose the series 2-1. Glen Perkins got the start for the Twins and was ok and take away his first inning he was good. Perkins gave up 3 runs in the first even though not all of it was his fault. Jason Kubel tried to play even though he was very ill with the flu. That led to him misjudging a fly ball in right field that scored a run. I am not trying to beat a dead horse, but Mike Cuddyer would of caught that ball and although we did not hit it is hard to come back from 3 runs in the first. Perkins ended up going 7 innings and gave up 4 runs on 9 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to raise his era to 5.10 and drop his record to 2-4 on the season. Matt Guerrier then came on and pitched a very clean 8th inning with 2 hits allowed to lower his era to 2.84 on the year. R.A. Dickey pitched a solid 9th inning to lower his era to a very good 2.64 on the year. With the way he has been pitching I would like to see Dickey get the chance in some more pressure situations to see how he can do.

• The Twins offensively ran into a buzzsaw that was named Wandy Rodriguez. The Twins could not do anything against Rodriguez as they could only muster a run on 2 hits. Michael Cuddyer was the only one in the lineup yesterday to do anything against Rodriguez as he went 1-3 with his 11th homerun of the year and drove in his 37th run of the year along with bringing his average up to .277 on the year. The only other starter to get a hit yesterday was Brian Buscher who drove a single through the right side against Wandy. There are games where the old adage is true that good pitching beats good hitting and on this day it proved to be right and all the hitters can do is tip your cap to the pitcher and move on to the next game and in this case to the next series.
• The Twins have today off before they begin another big 9 game roadtrip with stops in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and finally back to American League teams with a stop in Kansas City.
• Transactions: This afternoon the Twins called up RHP Bobby Keppel from AAA Rochester and to make room for him designated for assignment RHP Luis Ayala. I want to wish the best of luck to Luis Ayala as he looks for a job.

Rochester Wrap

Toledo 6 Rochester 4

Toledo 3 Rochester 1 11 innings

• The Red Wings had a rough day yesterday as they were swept in a doubleheader by Toledo losing the first game 6-4 and then losing the nightcap in heartbreaking fashion 3-1 in 11 innings. In the first game Brian Duensing got the start for the Wings and was not real great. Duensing went 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits although only 3 of the 4 runs were earned along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 5.08 on the year and drop his record to 3-6 on the year. Duensing has been one of the more disappointing players on the team as the Twins were expecting him to lead the staff in Rochester and after a rough year last year he has followed that up with another rough year this year and the question has to be asked has he hit the end of the line. There are other starters that have been worse for the Wings this year, but Duensing has underacheived this season and that makes it 2 years in a row. I think Duensing will be able to find himself a job in AAA for the next 4-5 years, but with so many good prospects on the way is it time for the Twins at the end of the year to cut their losses and wish him luck. I am not saying that is the right answer, but it is a question that needs to be asked. Jesse Crain made his Red Wing debut and pitched a very solid inning going 1-2-3 along with 2 strikeouts. With the Twins bullpen struggling so much the hope that this is a short stay for Jesse and he can get back up with the Twins soon. Tim Lahey pitched the 7th and gave up 2 unearned runs along with 2 hits. In game 2 Bobby Keppel was scheduled to start, but was a late scratch as he was promoted to the Twins so Kevin Mulvey got the start and was very good. Mulvey went 7 innings and only gave up 1 run and scattered 10 hits along with 6 strikeouts and the most important part Mulvey did not walk a batter to lower his era to 3.69 on the year. Things have been a bit bumpy for Mulvye, but overall he has been the best starter for the Wings and should be added to the 40 man after the year and compete for a rotation spot next spring. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched a solid 8th inning along with a walk to lower his era to 3.65. Juan Morillo then came on and pitched a 1-2-3 9th along with a strikeout to lower his era to 3.04 on the year. Armando Gabino then came on pitched 2 innings and did very except 1 pitch a 2 run homerun to Ben Sizemore that put Toledo up. Gabino went 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits along with 4 strikeouts to bring his era up to 3.09 on the year.

• Offensively, in the first game the Wings were hampered by the same problem they have been having all year and that is leaving guys on base. The Wings had 8 hits, but were only able to get 4 runs because of 8 guys left on base. At the end of the year if the Wings don't make the playoffs that is going to be one of the reasons as they have left a ton of runners on base this year. Brock Peterson led the attack going 2-3 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 10th run batted in to raise his average up to .234. Tommy Watkins went 2-3 to raise his average up to .256. Steve Tolleson continued his torrid start to his Rochester career going 2-4 with his 9th double to bring his average up to .346 with the Wings. Dustin Martin and Drew Butera also contributed hits in the loss for the Wings. In the second game the Wings could not solve the Toledo pitching as they were only able to put 1 run on 5 hits up. Trevor Plouffe led the attack going 2-5 with his 9th double of the year and brought his average up to .238. Plouffe has been one of the more disappointing hitters in the Wings lineup as he only has 9 doubles and hitting only .238. I was expecting more out of Plouffe then those numbers along with 11 errors so hopefully he can get it going in the second half. Matt Macri went 1-4 with his 12th double of the year and brought his average up to .205. Steve Tolleson and Jeff Christy each added a hit in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Wings finish off their series with Toledo as they send Jason Jones to the mound hoping to win the game.

New Britain Business

New Britain 9 Bowie 1

• The Rockcats snapped their 2 game losing streak versus Bowie with a very impressive 9-1 victory yesterday afternoon. Cole Devries got the start for the Rockcats and was very impressive. Devries went 6 shutout innings on only 4 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.00 on the year and raise his record to 3-3 on the year. Alex Burnett then came on and pitched a very good inning on 1 hit to lower his era to 2.93 on the year. It was a good sign to get Alex back into a game after having his first rough outing at AA the day before so I am glad they got him back in there for a better result. Jose Lugo then came in and gave up a run on 3 hits in 2/3 of an inning to raise his era to 4.54 on the year. Frank Mata finished the game with 1.1 innings of work along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.11. It was nice to get a good outing out of Mata because he really has been struggling lately and the thought has been possibly about releasing him so this was a big outing for him hopefully he can keep it going.

• The Rockcats offense really came alive as they put up 9 runs on 14 hits to put this game away early on. Juan Portes led the offense going 3-5 with his 22nd rbi of the year and his average rose to .345 on the year. Portes has been on fire in June as he is hitting an incredible .404 with a homer and 9 rbi's in 17 June games. Danny Valencia continued his recent hot streak as he went 2-5 with 2 rbi's to bring his average up to .284. After an awful slump Danny in his last 6 games is 10-24 for a .417 average. Good hitters like Valencia it just was a matter of time before he got going, but it is nice to see him hitting like we all know he can hit. Rene Tosoni continued his torrid streak where he went 2-3 with 3 rbi's to bring his season total up to 41 and brought his average up to .259. After having a slow start Tosoni has really turned it on and is the best hitter on the Rockcats right now. Brandon Roberts and Brian Dinkelman each contributed 2 hits each. Whit Robbins, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Allan De San Miguel also added a hit apiece to the winning cause.
• The Rockcats have today off before they begin a series with Harrisburg tommorrow night in New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle had yesterday off and will begin a series with Jupiter tonight with Tyler Robertson scheduled to start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Quad Cities 6 Beloit 4

• The Snappers ended the first half with a loss that was so similiar in so many of their games this season in that they had a victory snapped out of their hands as the Snappers bullpen imploded and gave up 6 runs in 3 innings of work. Mike Tarsi got the start for the Snappers and was very good once again. Tarsi went 6.2 innings of shutout ball on only 7 hits along with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 1.69 on the year. I am really surprised by the run Tarsi has made since his addition to the Snappers rotation. In 3 starts as a starter Tarsi has not given up a run in 19 innings of work. I am not real high on Tarsi as a prospect, but he could turn out to be the next Cole Devries where noone can figure out how he gets guys out, but just does. I am not going to put anything past him with a 19 consecutive scoreless innings streak going. Joe Testa then came on and had his worst outing of the year. He went 2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits along with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Matt Williams came into the game with the bases loaded and gave up a grand slam that put Quad Cities in front. Williams got one out and gave up 1 run on 1 hit to raise his era to 2.33 on the year.

• The Snappers had a solid day offensively as they put up 4 runs on 9 hits, but the problem was they left 10 guys on base in this one and that is why they lost. Top prospect Aaron Hicks had a big game going 1-2 with 3 walks including his first intentional walk of the year. After his first weekend with the Snappers Hicks is hitting .375. Jeff Lanning had a big game going 2-4 with his first triple of the year and 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 5. James Beresford, Ramon Santana, Ozzie Lewis, Jon Waltenbury, Dominic De La Osa, and Drew Thompson each contributed a hit in the losing cause for the Snappers.
• The Snappers are off for the all-star break they will return to the field on Thursday with games against Clinton.

Stream of Negativity

I am calling this the stream of negativity because everyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty positive guy especially when it comes to the Twins and their minor league system as I don't see a point on being a negative columnist. I will leave those type of articles to the Jim Souhan and Patrick Reusse's of the world. However, every so often I need to get some things Twins related off my chest and I thought this would be a good forum to get the things off my chest. I will return to normal programming after this and everyone should check back later in the day as I have some interesting things planned so enjoy.

The Twins went 3-3 on this last homestand and a few things bothered me about this. First, Sean Henn needs to go he is a terrible reliever who just seems to get worse and worse every time we use him. He was ok to start with but he has been bad really bad for a while yet, but Gardy still trusts him in big situations. I was pretty upset watching that game on Saturday night. As most that know me know I am a pretty big Scott Baker fan and I was so happy with his start Saturday night. Going into the 7th inning Bake had only given up 1 run and was in control of things. Gardy acts like he got drilled and he really did not. Hunter Pence hit a soft line drive in the gap for a double with 1 out. Then Ivan Rodriguez hit a texas leaguer barely over the second baseman for a basehit to score Pence and make it 3-2 hardly getting drilled. I don't have a problem taking Baker out because he has a history of when he loses it really loses it, but don't make it see like he is the only pitcher that is like that other pitchers on the staff also have that problem. What I have a problem with is bringing in Sean Henn instead of Mijares or Guerrier. When they brought in Henn I knew exactly what was going to happen because he has been awful his last 4 or 5 outings. That is like saying I don't care if we win as long as we get Henn and Ayala in the game. After the game too Gardy made it seem like Baker needed to fight through it and Gardy did not even give Baker the opprotunity to go. I understand that Mijares and Guerrier can't pitch every game and if they needed a day off then I would of let Baker stay in with only a runner on first with 1 out. It is pretty obvious that changes in that bullpen need to be made and need to be made fast. The first thing I would do is dfa Henn and bring up Bobby Keppel who asked Rochester to start him so other teams can get a better look at him because he has an out in his contract. I would rather the Twins lose Sean Henn then lose Bobby Keppel. For those that are going to say well Keppel is right handed so you need another left hander that is hogwash of course if you have leftys that are good than that is a bonus but you can get by without 2 leftys. I would also give R.A. Dickey the opprotunity to pitch in the 7th inning instead of Ayala. He has proven he can do the long relief role I would like him to atleast get the chance to see if he can do more pressure situations. If you try him and he can't do it you can always return him to long relief role. There is no doubt that the Twins need to make a move because this divison is for the taking a one good relief pitcher is all that seperates the Twins from their 5th division title this decade and I love prospects just as much as the next guy, but when you have a chance to go get someone to help you take the next step you need to do it. I would offer Alexi Casilla and a low prospect for a reliever because Casilla just does not get what it means to be a Twin and because of that the best course of action is to let him start fresh somewhere else. Something else I am burning about is the handling of Jose Morales. Yesterday, was the perfect day to have him catch a day with Joe Mauer Dhing the Twins could of given Morales a start behind the plate. Mike Redmond is not hitting right now and is not the player he used to be so why not go with the hothand especially considering Morales had a big double Saturday night that gave the Twins the chance to tie it in the bottom of the 9th. So why not give him a reward by giving him a start yesterday. Of course not that would be too hard to do so my question is what is the point of having him with the Twins if you are not going to use him. You are not helping the Twins and you are also not helping his development by giving him 2 at bats in a week. I would also give Jason Pridie a chance because Carlos Gomez is regressing at the plate and although he is great defensively atleast I think Pridie would have a good idea of what he is doing at the plate. I am happy for Kyle Waldrop that he gets the chance to get back to AA I just hope that Spencer Steedley joins him at AA very soon or that will be disappointing because he has an era under 1 and deserves the opprotunity over anybody. I am done ranting on the Twins I hope everyone enjoyed it and will put their 2 cents in on this. Thanks for listening to me complain it doesn't happen very often.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #7

Tonight, I will be bringing prospect number 7 of the Twins organization. Tommorrow I will continue the countown as I will bring pick number 6 and so on until I finish with the top prospect in the Twins organization. I hope everyone enjoys and will comment on if they agree or disagree with the selection.

7. Angel Morales CF 19 (11/24/1989)

2008 teams: Elizabethton Twins

• Angel Morales was a third round pick of the Twins in the 2007 draft out of Puerto Rico. After signing with the Twins Morales started his Twins career at the age of 17 with the GCL Twins. In 38 games Angel hit .256 with 2 homeruns and 15 rbi's along with 6 doubles and 3 triples along with 11 stolen bases. In 121 at bats Morales only walked 12 times and struck out 44 times which was way too much and did not walk enough. In 2008 Morales moved up to E-town where he really took off as a prospect at only 18 years old. In 54 games at E-town he hit .301 with a very good 15 homeruns and 28 rbi's along with 12 doubles and a triple for an ops of 1.036. In 183 at bats Morales only walked only 26 times and struck out an outragous 72 times. This year Angel moved up to full season Beloit and it has been a struggle. In 56 games Morales is only hitting .219 with 6 homeruns and 24 rbi's along with 8 doubles and 3 triples for an ops of .673. In 196 at bats Angel has only 17 walks and terrible 58 strikeouts. Angel Morales is a very good prospect for the Twins who can hit alot of homeruns, but will also strikeout alot by his 174 career strikeouts in 148 games. Angel Morales is only 19 years old and won't be 20 until Novemaber so he is way young for his level. Morales will probably never hit for high average, but if he is going to keep moving up he needs to cut down on his strikeouts. He is a 5 tool player in that he can hit for power, hit for doubles, has speed, strong arm, will steal some bases. When you think about it most 19 years old are either in EST or GCL and he is 2 levels ahead of them. If he can get to Fort Myers in 3 years he will still be young for his level. His ceiling in my opinion will be limitless who I think will hit for a tremendous amount of power and play good defense. I think he has the ability in the future to be a 30-30 guy with his power and speed. If Angel can hit .260-.270 I would be very happy because his power numbers and defense will take care of the rest. Morales is still probably 5 or 6 years away from joining the Twins and even if it takes him 6 more years to get to the bigs he would still only be 25 years old which is young for the majors. The sky is the limit for Morales who I am looking for a better second half and a better season yet next year with Beloit. I view him as a corner outfielder who has the ability to play center, but with Aaron Hicks and Ben Revere around Morales will be more of a corner outfielder and that is fun because of his power and his strong throwing arm. Write it down right now eventually Angel Morales will be anchoring the middle of the lineup for the Twins.


• 2009: Outfield for Beloit all season and hopefully improve in second half.


• Projection: I project him to be a middle of the order hitter who will be around for 15-20 years with the Twins.

Sunday, June, 21st

Twins Talk
Astros 6 Twins 5

• The Twins lost a game that they had no business losing last night to the Astros by a score of 6-5. When you hit 4 homeruns in a game and get a quality start from your pitcher there is no excuse to lose and that is exactly what the Twins did last night. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and was excellent going 6.1 innings and only giving up 3 runs on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.22 on the year. Baker left the game with a 3-2 lead in the 7th with just a runner on 1st with 1 out. Sean Henn came on and was totally awful facing 3 batters and only getting 1 of them out. He gave up a double to the first guy and then a ground out and then a 2 run homerun to put the Astros upfront. In all Henn went 1/3 of an inning and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits to bring his era up to a very bad 7.36 on the year. Sean Henn got off to a good start, but it has become painfully obvious why he has gotten released by organization after organization and that is he is not a good enough pitcher to get big league hitters out. He did fine at AAA and that is where he should be. I can't take many more of these debacles by Henn as he has given up lead after lead everytime he comes into a game it means runs for the opposition. Luis Ayala then came into the game and was ok except giving up a solo homerun to Lance Berkman that would turn out to be the winning run of the game. Ayala's era rose up to 4.18 on the year and has been ok, but not what we were expecting when we signed him. R.A. Dickey then pitched a very solid 9th inning for the Twins to lower his era to 2.63.

• The Twins have changed their offense this year as they have gone from a team that has to manufacture runs to a team that relies on homeruns. Brendan Harris continued his recent hot streak for the Twins by going 3-4 with his 11th double and 4th homerun of the year along with an rbi and a run scored to bring his average up to .296. Joe Mauer added his 14th homerun of the year and his 42nd rbi and lowered his average to a still very good .417. Delmon Young went 1-4 with his 2nd homerun of the year and his 22nd rbi. Jason Kubel went 1-4 with his 12th homerun of the year and his 38th and 39th rbi's of the year. Brian Buscher and Jose Morales added a single each in a losing cause for the Twins in this game.
• Today, the Twins take on the Astros in game 3 of the series as they send Glen Perkins to the mound to try to win the series.

Rochester Wrap

• The Red Wings had their game with Toledo rained out and will make it up as part of a doubleheader today as Brian Duensing will start the first game. Kevin Mulvey will get the ball in the second game of the doubleheader.

New Britain Business

Bowie 5 New Britain 4

• The Rockcats tried to come back from a 5-0 1st inning deficit, but could not complete the comeback as they went down to Bowie last night by a score of 5-4. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Rockcats and continued what his problem has been all year and that is he gets drilled in the 1st inning and then shut down the team after that. He continued that last night as he gave up 5 runs in the first inning and then not giving up a run after that. Mullins went 4.2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 6 hits along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts to raise his era up to 5.18 on the year. To be all fair after the 1st inning Mullins went 3.2 innings and only gave up only 2 hits and no runs, but the damage was already done and he dropped his record to 3-8 on the year. Yohan Pino then came in and did a very good job for the Rockcats as he went 1.1 innings along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.19 on the year. Jose Lugo then came on and pitched a very effective 2 innings of scoreless ball along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.38.

• The Rockcats could only muster 4 runs against some good Bowie pitching and unfortunately that was not enough in this one. Rene Tosoni led the offense in this one as he went 1-3 with his 9th homerun of the year a 3 run shot that brought the Rockcats within 5-4, but the Cats could not get any closer. The 3 rbi's by Tosoni brought his season total up to a team leading 38 on the year. Erik Lis went 2-4 to bring his average up to .303 on the year. Danny Valencia continued his strong string lately as he went 1-3 to bring his average up to .282. Brandon Roberts drove in his 23rd rbi of the year with an rbi single to bring his average to .284. Danny Lehman added his 3rd double and Yancarlos Ortiz added a single in the losing cause.
• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Bowie as Cole Devries gets the start for New Britain

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Florida State League had their all-star game last night and the Miracle had some good performances. Pitching wise David Bromberg got the start and went a scoreless 1st inning along with a hit and a strikeout. Spencer Steedley pitched an inning and gave up 2 hits and an unearned run. Steve Hirschfeld went an inning and did not give up a hit on 2 hits.
• On offense Ben Revere had a big game going 2-5 with a double and a stolen base. Chris Parmalee went 1-2 for the South All-Stars. Steve Singelton went 0-2 with a strikeout. Chris Cates went 1-3 with a walk for the South All-Stars.
• The Miracle have today off before getting back at it on Monday night as they will take on Jupiter in Fort Myers. Congratulations to all the All-Stars hope you all had a good time.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 6 Quad Cities 0

Quad Cities 6 Beloit 1

• The Snappers split a doubleheader with Quad Cities last night winning the first game 6-0 before dropping the nightcap 6-1. In the first game Bobby Lanigan got the start and he was very good going 6 shutout innings for the Snappers. In 6 innings Lanigan only gave up 4 hits along with a strikeout to lower his era to 4.82 on the season and picked up his 6th win of the year. Steve Blevins pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish off the Snappers win in the first game of the doubleheader. In the second game Curtis Leavitt got the spot start for the Snappers and was not very good. In 4 innings Leavitt gave up 4 runs on 4 hits along with a walk and 3 strikeouts to bring his era up to 9.20. Bruce Pugh then came in and pitched an inning and gave up a run on a hit along with 2 walks and a strikeout to raise his era to 4.13. Thomas Wright made his first outing of the year after spending some time on the dl and gave up a run on 2 hits along with a homerun. Mike Allen then came on and pitched a very good inning on 1 strikeout to lower his era to 5.65 on the year.

• Offensively, the story of the game was the debut of 2008 first round pick Aaron Hicks who joined the Snappers for this game. Hicks went 2-4 with his first double and his first rbi to bring his average up to .500 after the first game. Ozzie Lewis went 1-3 with his 6th homerun of the year and his 29th and 30th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .302 on the year. Jeff Lanning added his 3rd double and Drew Thompson added his 7th double and 12th rbi of the year in the win for the Snappers. In the second game the Snappers did not do much against some good Quad Cities pitching as they were only able to muster 2 hits in the game. Michael Harrington had his organization leading 22nd double of the year along with his 23rd rbi of the year. Alex Soto added a hit in the losing cause to raise his average up to .254. Aaron Hicks went 0-2 with a walk and a run scored for the Snappers to bring his average after 1 day to .429.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #8

I will be bringing you 2 of the top prospects in the whole minor league system today. First I wll bring you the number 8 prospect in the Twins organization. Later today I will be bringing you the number 7 player. I hope everyone enjoys and will add their 2 cents to the discussion on if you agree or disagree with the pick. Also I want to wish everyone a very happy Father's Day! I am trying out a new font let me know what you think of it.


8. Anthony Swarzak 23 (9/10/1985)

2008 teams: New Britain and Rochester

• Anthony Swarzak was a 2nd round pick by the Twins in the 2004 draft out of high school in Davie, Florida. After signing with the Twins Swarzak started his Twins career with the GCL Twins where he went 5-3 with a very good 2.63 in 9 starts. In 48 innings Anthony walked only 6 and struck out 42 for a whip of 1.08. In 2005 Swarzak split the season between Beloit and Fort Myers. He started season in Beloit where he went 9-5 with a 4.04 era in 18 starts. In 91.1 innings Swarzak walked 32 and struck an impressive 101 for a whip of 1.24. Those impressive stats led to a promotion to Fort Myers where in 10 starts Anthony went 3-4 with a 3.66 era. In 59 innings Swarzak walked 11 and struck 55 for a whip of 1.41. Swarzak spent the entire 2006 season back in Fort Myers at 20 years old. In 27 starts Swarzak went 11-7 with a very good 3.09 era. In 145.2 innings Swarzak walked 60 and struck out 131 to lower his whip to 1.31. The great season at Fort Myers led to a promotion to AA New Britain for the 2007 season and that is where his career and life would change forever. On April 20, 2007 Anthony Swarzak was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for abuse of a non performance enhancing drug. It was later revealed to be Marajuana and after the suspension Swarzak was punished by the Twins for this by being demoted to Class A Fort Myers. In retrospect it was something that really motivated Swarzak and probably changed his career in a positive way. Being suspended by MLB probably was the best thing that could of happened to Swarzak because it probably helped him turn his life around. Swarzak was not at Fort Myers very long as he only made 3 start with the Miracle and went 0-0 with a very good 2.30 era. In 15.2 innings Swarzak walked 5 and struck out 18 for a whip of 1.21. Swarzak then was promoted back to New Britain where he had a very good year for the Rockcats. In 14 starts Swarzak went 5-4 with a very good 3.23 era. In 86.1 innings Swarzak walked only 23 and struck out 76 for a whip of 1.17. Many including myself believed the 2007 season at New Britain would earn him a promotion to AAA Rochester for the 2008 season, well the Twins did not agree and sent him back to New Britain. I don't know if he was upset about not being promoted, but Swarzak was not very good at New Britain in 2008 as he went 3-8 with a not very good 5.67 era in 20 starts with the Rockcats. In 101.2 innings he walked 37 and struck out 76 and saw his whip jump from 1.17 in 2007 to 1.60 in 2008. Swarzak for some reason was then promoted to Rochester even though he really did not earn the promotion. For whatever reason when he got to AAA Rochester Swarzak took off once again. In 7 starts for the Red Wings Swarzak went 5-0 with an awesome 1.80 era. In 45 innings Swarzak only walked 14 and struck out 26 for a whip of 1.22. This year Anthony started the year back at Rochester and did very well leading to a promotion to the Twins. At Rochester Swarzak in 8 starts is 3-4 with a very impressive 2.29 era. In 51 innings he has walked 13 and struck out 34 for a whip of 1.20. After Glen Perkins went out with a elbow injury Swarzak got the call to the Twins and he did not disappoint. In 5 starts with the Twins Swarzak went 2-2 with a very good 3.90 era. In 27.2 innings he walked 10 and struck out 18 for a whip of 1.34. Including in those starts is 2 shutouts and his era is schewed by 2 bad starts. In 3 of the 5 starts Anthony made they were quality starts and gave the Twins a chance to win. Anthony Swarzak is a very good control pitcher with an awesome 12-6 curveball that when it is on is dominant. He has picked up a slider to go with it that is decent. Anthony is a control pitcher who will not walk many and will not strike out to many either. He works on the corners and when he hits his spots he is hard to hit. He usually goes from 89-94 on the radar gun and most of his pitches are 91-92 which is plenty fast enough. Anthony is back at Rochester now, but everyone knows it is just a matter of time before he is back up with the Twins either in the rotation or in the bullpen. Swarzak took the ball and ran with it when given a chance with the Twins this year. Anthony Swarzak has a very bright future at only 23 years old and projects out as a number 2 or 3 starter in the big leagues. He is a long ways from April, 20 2007 and has totally changed his life and career around from then. Lesser Men would of let that derail their career, but Anthony has shown what he is made of and I truly believe he will be a mainstay in the Twins rotation for many years to come.


• 2009: Split season between Rochester and the Twins


• Projection: I project Anthony to have a very successful and long career in the major leagues. Anthony Swarzak will be a mainstay in the Twins rotation for the next 10-15 years.

Saturday, June, 20th

Twins Talk

Twins 5 Astros 2

• The Twins beat the Astros last night for their 2nd straight victory last night with a very tense 5-2 win. Kevin Slowey got the start for the Twins last night and was very effective, but not quite as good as he has been in previous outings. Slowey went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits along with an uncharacteristic 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. With the good 6 innings Slowey won his American League tying 10th win of the year on only 2 losses. Slowey had to leave after the 6th with only 90 pitches because he felt a twinge in his right side and the Twins decided instead of risking further injury it was best to get him out of the game and see what caused it. After the game last night Gardy seemed to think it was nothing serious, but he wanted to see how he was feeling when he got to the park today. Here is hoping that it is nothing serious and Slowey will be able to make his next start Thursday against the Brewers. Matt Guerrier came in the 7th in a 2-1 game and pitched a very effective inning on only 1 hit along with a strikeout to lower his era to 2.93 on the year. Jose Mijares came into the game in the 8th inning with the Twins ahead 3-1 and gave up a solo homerun to Jeff Keppinger in 2/3 of an inning to raise his era up to a still very good 2.57 on the year. With the score 3-2 Gardy decided to bring in Joe Nathan in the 8th to get Miguel Tejada and he did just that striking him out to end the inning. The Twins got 2 in the bottom of the 8th to get some cushion and Nathan got out of the 9th with no runs to pick up his 16th save of the year. With the 0 runs in 1.1 innings Nathan lowered his era to an awesome 1.69 on the year.

• The Twins ran into a great pitcher last night in Roy Oswalt for the Astros, but still found a way to get it done so you have to give them credit for that. They were able to get 5 runs and 10 hits which is saying something against a future hall of famer like Oswalt. Delmon Young led the attack for the Twins going 2-4 with his 3rd and 4th doubles of the year and 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 21. Delmon Young has really come on for the Twins since slumping before and after the passing of his mother. In the month of June Delmon is hitting .300 with 7 rbi's in 50 June at bats. The bottom line is the more Delmon plays the better he is going to be and when Span comes back I would not take Young out of the lineup I would go back to making Carlos Gomez the 4th outfielder and going with an outfield of Young, Span, and Cuddyer. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel also contributed 2 hits apiece for the Twins. Cuddyer added his 14th double of the year and drove in his 36th run. Kubel went 2-4 to bring his average up to .315 on the year. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Carlos Gomez, and Nick Punto added singles to contribute to the Twins victory.
• Tonight, the Twins take on the Astros in game 2 of their series as Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 2 Toledo 1

• The Red Wings continued their winning ways last night as they won their 3rd straight game with a tough 2-1 win over Toledo. Philip Humber got the start last night and had his best start of the year for the Red Wings. Humber went 7 very good innings and gave up only 1 run on 4 hits along with 1 walk and an incredible 10 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.57 on the year. I really did not see this start coming because to be all honest Humber has been very bad this season out of the Red Wings rotation. I was beginning to wonder if it would be best to put Humber in the bullpen or even to give him his release. Hopefully, it is not just a one start thing, but a start of a much better second half of the season for Humber, because the Red Wings could really use better starting pitching in the second half if they hope to stay in contention for a wild card spot. Juan Morillo came in and pitced 2 very good innings for the Red Wings. Morillo went 2 innings and gave up 0 runs on only 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to pick up his 2nd save for the Red Wings and lowered his era to 3.16 on the year.

• The Red Wings were not able to do much better offensively than Toledo does the only difference is the Wings took advantage of their 3 hits to pick up 2 runs. The Wings broke a 1-1 tie with an Alexi Casilla rbi groundout that scored Matt Macri for what turned out to be the winning run. Alexi Casilla went 1-4 with his 10th rbi of the year. Drew Butera added his 5th double of the year in the winning cause. Matt Macri also added a base hit that led to the Wings scoring the winning run in the game.
• Tonight, the Wings take on Toledo in game 2 of their series as Brian Duensing will get the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

New Britain 5 Bowie 4

• The Rockcats had a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of 7th so it was an easy victory right. You would be wrong as the Rockcats had to hold on for a very hard 5-4 victory over Bowie last night. Jeff Manship got the start for the Rockcats and he was excellent once again. Manship went 6.2 innings and did not give up a run on only 3 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era down to 4.28 on the year. Manship has been very good for the Rockcats the last month or so. In the month of June Manship is 2-0 with an awesome 1.35 era. To go even a little bit further Manship in his last 5 starts is 3-0 with a very good 1.83 era in those games. Manship has really turned the corner with the Rockcats and in my opinion he is ready for AAA and at age 24 he would be young for AAA, but I believe that he could do well there and if not this year for sure I expect him to start next season with Rochester. Alex Burnett got shelled last night for the Rockcats as he only got 2 outs and gave up 3 runs on only 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 3.14 on the year. Anthony Slama then came in and was not much better, but found a way to get the save, his 14th of the year for the Rockcats. Slama went 1.2 innings and gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 2.70 on the year.

• The Rockcats continued their recent string of good hitting as they put up 5 runs on 11 hits last night. It could of been even worse, but the Rockcats left 7 guys on base. Danny Valencia made his official return to the Cats after a bad slump at the plate as he went 3-4 with his 7th homerun of the year and his 14th double along with his 27th run batted in of the year to bring his average up to .281. Brandon Roberts also had a big game going 3-5 to bring his average up to .283 on the year. Juan Portes continued his hot streak by going 2-4 to bring his average up to .336 on the year. Portes has been the hottest Rockcat hitter in the month of June as he is hitting .383 with a homerun and 8 rbi's in 15 June games for the Rockcats. Erik Lis, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Rene Tosoni each added a hit to the winning cause for New Britain.
• The Rockcats continue their series with Bowie as Ryan Mullins gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle are on their all star break and did not have a game last night. They will send 7 guys to the FSL all-star game in a game that will be started by Miracle starter David Bromberg. Best of luck to all of the Miracle players.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had their game with Quad Cities rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight in Beloit. Bobby Lanigan will be the starter in the first game and Curtis Leavitt will make the start in game 2 of the doubleheader for the Snappers.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #9

Tonight, I will be continuing my prospect list with prospect #9 as I keep counting it down until finally picking the top prospect in the Twins organization.

9. Kevin Mulvey RHP 24 (5/26/1985)

2008 teams: Rochester Red Wings

• Kevin Mulvey was a 2nd round pick by the New York Mets in the 2006 draft out of Villanova University. Mulvey came over to the Twins before the 2008 season in a trade with the Mets that also included Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, and Philip Humber in exchange for Johan Santana. Mulvey started his career in 20o6 with AA Binghamton of the Eastern League where in 3 starts he went 0-1 with a 1.35 era. In 2007 Kevin spent the year, except 1 start at New Orleans, at AA Binghamton. In 26 starts Mulvey went 11-10 with a 3.32 era. In 151.2 innings Mulvey walked only 43 and struck out 110 for a whip of 1.24. After the 2007 season Mulvey was traded to the Twins and was assigned to AAA Rochester for the 2008 season. In 27 starts at Rochester Kevin went 7-9 with a very respectable 3.77 era. In 148 innings Kevin walked only 48 batters and struck out 121 for a whip of 1.35. Kevin started the 2009 season with the Red Wings and in 13 starts he is 3-4 with a 3.91 era. In 76 innings Mulvey has walked 30 and struck out 62 on the year. The walks this year are more than you would like, but the era is good and the strikeouts are also good. Kevin Mulvey is one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins organization. He has a good low 90's fastball, with a good curveball and a good changeup. With most organizations he would be starting, but with the Twins having good pitchers at the big league level they can let Kevin work on being more consistant at the AAA level. Mulvey is good enough to be at the bigs right now, but sometimes he can be a little bit wild and he needs to work on throwing more strikes to limit his pitch count. I don't see Mulvey as a ace type, but a good middle of the rotation type of pitcher who reminds me alot of a young Kevin Tapani who will go out there and do his job and at the end of the year will have 10-15 wins along with an era in the mid 3's. I really think that he is ready for the big leagues and probably be added to the 40 man roster after the season if not sooner. I think Kevin Mulvey will make his debut with the Twins sometime next season and be very good for years to come as a member of the Minnesota Twins.



• 2009: Spend season starting for Rochester this season



• Projection: I project Kevin Mulvey to be a middle of the rotation type and be a major league starter for 10-15 years.

Friday, June, 19th

Twins Talk
Twins 5 Pirates 1

• The Twins pulled off a win in a game that Joe Mauer did not play in which is something that doesn't happen very often. The reason behind the victory is very simple and that is the pitching of Nick Blackburn. Blackburn threw his first career complete game and won his 6th game of the year on only 2 losses. In 9 innings Blackburn gave up only 1 run on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.09 on the season. Blackburn had a shutout going into the 9th, but the Pirates broke up the shutout with a Adam LaRoche rbi single with 2 outs in the 9th. Blackburn has been the best Twins pitcher by far this year as he has quality starts in 10 out of his 14 starts on the year so that says how consistantly good Nick has been all year. I really think he deserves a chance to go to the all-star game if he can keep this up for another month. I always was high on Blackburn, but I did not think he was going to be this good. I think Nick Blackburn has improved the most out of any Twins pitcher from one year to another then I can recall. I expect Blackburn to continue to lead the staff as the Twins try to take over first in the division.

• The Twins did better than I thought they would do offensively against one of the better pitchers in the National League in Zack Duke. The Twins were able to put 5 runs on 10 hits in this one and it is especially impressive considering they did it without the services of Joe Mauer who was out recovering from the flu. Brendan Harris led the charge by going 3-4 in the game to raise his average up to .291 on the season. Harris has really come on since he was moved to short and got regular playing time when Nick Punto went on the disabled list. In the month of June he has been awesome hitting .323. Michael Cuddyer went 2-4 with his 10th homerun of the year and drove in his 35th run of the year. Brian Buscher went 1-3 with his 2nd homerun and 8th and 9th rbi's of the year. Nick Punto went 2-3 with his 4th double of the year to bring his average up to .218. Justin Morneau drove in his 56th run of the year with his 18th double of the year. Jason Kubel also contributed a hit in the winning cause.
• Tonight, the Twins begin a weekend series at the metrodome against Houston as Kevin Slowey gets the start and tries to pick up his 10th win of the year.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 Columbus 2 10 innings

• The Red Wings had to work overtime in this one as they defeated Columbus last night by a score of 4-2 in 10 innings. Going into the top of the 8th inning the Wings were behind 2-1 and all hope looked lost, but the Wings proved that they are fighters once again as they got a run in the 8th and 2 more in the 10th to pick up the big win. Anthony Swarzak made his return to Rochester and did what he has done all year with the Red Wings and with the Twins. In 7 innings Anthony gave up 2 runs on 8 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era down to a very good 2.29 era. Swarzak really does not belong in Rochester as he is a major league caliber pitcher, but since there really is not a spot for him with the Twins I was glad that he took the demotion in stride and did not let it get him down. He very easily could of come out all mad and pitched bad and that would not of helped him get back to the Twins. This is the way to get back with the big team by making them bring u back up as either a starter or a reliever. Rob Delaney came in relief and was stretched out a bit which I think is good since when Delaney is with the Twins he is going to be a middle innings guy and will need to pitch 2 or 3 innings at a time every so often. As long as Joe Nathan is with the Twins then Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama are going to have to get stretched out because not very often are they going to be expected to only go one inning so its a good thing. Delaney went 3 innings and only gave up 1 hit along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to pick up his 2nd win as a Wing and lowered his era to 3.97 on the year.

• This game should not of been this close as once again the Red Wings hit the ball, but could not get the key hits to put the game away. The Wings had 13 hits in this one, but could only push across 4 runs. They left a very high 10 guys on base in this one as they continue to struggle with that. David Winfree did not enter the game until the 8th inning, but he was by far the most important player of the game. Winfree hit a sacrafice fly in the 8th inning to tie the score and then in the 10th he hit a 2 run double to put the Wings on top for good. Winfree hit his 19th double and drove in 3 runs to bring his total up to a team high 35 on the year. Alexi Casilla and Justin Huber also contributed 2 hits apiece in the Wings victory. Steve Tolleson went 2-5 with his 8th double of the year and brought his average up to .356. Trevor Plouffe, Alejandro Machado, Dustin Martin, Tommy Watkins, Brock Peterson, and Drew Butera also contributed hits for the Wings as all 9 starters had atleast 1 hit in the game.
• Tonight, the Red Wings begin a weekend series at home with Toledo as Philip Humber gets the start for Rochester.
• Transactions: The Red Wings have promoted Jeff Christy from AA New Britain to back-up Drew Butera behind the plate.

New Britain Business

New Britain 7 Altoona 0

Altoona 4 New Britain 2

• The Rockcats split a doubleheader with Altoona last night as they won the first game 7-0 before dropping the nightcap 4-2. In the first game Matt Fox got the start for the Rockcats and was his usual awesome self. Fox went 5 innings and did not give up a run on only 3 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to pick up his 6th win of the year and lower his era to a very good 2.45. Matt Fox does not belong in AA anymore he is dominant everytime out and if anyone deserves a chance at AAA it is Matt Fox. At 26 he is running out of time to make it to the big leagues and that is also why it is so important for Matt to get to AAA so he can keep improving and possibly be a September callup this year. I will be very surprised if after the All-Star break that Matt Fox is not called up to Rochester and Tyler Robertson is not called up to New Britain to take his place. Alex Burnett pitched the last 2 innings of the game and lowered his era to 1.38 on the season. In the second game Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was not real great. In 4 innings Carlos gave up 4 runs on 7 hits on 2 homeruns along with 3 walks and a strikeout. Everyone knew it was going to be an adjustment going from A ball to AA and that is exactly what Carlos is going through right now. It took Jeff Manship almost a year to take off in AA and now he is the Rockcats best pitcher. My advice is for everyone to take a chill pill because Carlos Gutierrez is too good of a pitcher to pitch like this for much longer. Pretty soon he will be throwing shutouts again and everything will be fine. Jose Lugo then came in and threw a clean 5th inning for the Rockcats to lower his era to 4.63. Anthony Slama needed some work and pitched a very good 6th inning to lower his era to 2.57. Slama seems to have gotten over the hiccup he had a couple weeks ago and is back to being the dominant pitcher we know.

• Offensively, the Rockcats had a good offensive game in the first game as they put up 7 runs on 9 hits. Brandon Roberts, Juan Portes, and Yancarlos Ortiz led the attack in the game with 2 hits apiece. Roberts also added 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 22. Rene Tosoni added his 10th double and his 34th and 35th rbi's of the year. Brian Dinkelman added his 16th double and 35th rbi of the year in the game. Danny Valencia also added his 13th double in the winning cause for the Rockcats. In the second game the Rockcats could not get anything going against Altoona pitching as they could only muster 2 runs on 4 hits in the game. Danny Valencia seems to be coming out of his slump as he had 2 more hits in the second game after a hit in the first. Valencia is too good of a hitter for this slump to go on much longer. Hopefully, he can keep it going because right now their is a wide open spot at third at Rochester and it is calling Danny's name. Yancarlos Ortiz went 1-1 with 2 rbi's and 2 walks to bring his rbi total up to 15 on the year. Juan Portes also added his 13th double of the year to the Rockcats in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Bowie as staff ace Jeff Manship gets the start for New Britain.
• Transactions: In a cooresponding move to losing Jeff Christy to Rochester, New Britain called up Catcher Allan De San Miguel from Fort Myers to back up starter Danny Lehman.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 7 Dunedin 2

• First off I want to congratulate the Fort Myers Miracle for clinching the first half FSL South Title for the 2nd consecutive year. Going into the game the Miracle needed a victory over a Dunedin and a Charlotte loss against Lakeland. Lakeland defeated Charlotte so all the Miracle needed to clinch was a victory over Dunedin and that is exactly what they did with a big 7-2 victory over Dunedin. Mike Mccardell got the start for the Miracle and was very good once again. Mccardell went 5 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.84 on the year. Santos Arias then came in and pitched 2 shutout innings and his 4th victory of the year. In 2 innings Arias gave up 2 hits along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to a very good 2.08 on the year. Spencer Steedley then came in and pitched a solid inning of work in what may be his final outing with the Miracle. Steedley went 1 perfect inning to lower his era to 0.84 on the year. Blair Erickson then pitched a good ninth on 2 strikeouts to get the win for the Miracle.

• The Miracle continued their recent string of good hitting as they put up 7 runs on 12 hits to get the win. Ben Revere continued his hot streak after coming off the slump. Revere went 2-4 with his 26th rbi of the year and brought his average up to .325 on the year. Steve Singelton continued his recent string by gong 2-5 with his 27th and 28th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .251 on the year. Singelton got off to a bad start, but has really come on in the month of June as he is hitting .298 for the month. Deibinson Romero went 2-5 to bring his average up to .236. Evan Bigley added his 5th double of the year, Chris Parmalee added his 11th double, Mark Dolenc add his 12th double, and Allan De San Miguel with his 1st double of the year with the Miracle. Danny Berg and Chris Cates also contributed hits in the winning cause.
• The Miracle are off until Monday for the All Star break before beginning a series with Jupiter on Monday.
• Transactions: After losing C Allan De San Miguel to New Britain, Fort Myers called up C Juan Richardson to backup starter Jair Fernandez

Beloit Beat

Beloit 3 Quad Cities 2

• The Snappers continued their recent string of better play as the Snappers defeated Quad Cities last night by a score of 3-2. Dan Osterbrock got the start for the Snappers and was good once again. Osterbrock went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 6 hits along with 7 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.90 on the year. Osterbrock has done alot better after a rough start to the season. In June Osterbrock is 2-0 with a very very good 1.66 era in 4 starts in June. Looks like after a bad couple of months Dan has made the necessary adjustments and is the pitcher we thought he would be this season at Beloit. Matt Williams then came into the game and pitched 2 shutout innings to pick up his first win of the year and lowered his era down to 2.o2 on the year.

• The Snappers could not get alot of done offensively, but it was enough to pick up the victory for the Snappers. Michael Harrington led the offense going 3-4 with his 20th and 21st doubles of the year. Harrington has really come on after a slow start to bring his average up to .238 which is 60 points higher than what he was hitting about 2 months ago so by the end of the year he will be hitting in the 260's. Ozzie Lewis also had a big game going 2-4 with his 27th and 28th rbi's of the year to bring his average up to .301 on the year. Ramon Santana, Jon Waltenbury, and Nathan Hanson each added singles to contribute to the big Snappers win last night.
• Tonight, the Snappers will take on Quad Cities in game 2 of their 4 game series as they send Bobby Lanigan to the mound for Beloit.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #10

I have decided to do something a little bit different for the top 10. I will be bringing you 1 prospect a day until we have number 1. I will be bringing number 10 tonight. I hope everyone will leave a comment on these players and give them the recognition they deserve. Hope everyone enjoys.


10. Luke Hughes 3b 24 (8/2/1984)

• Luke Hughes signed as a free agent with the Twins in 2002 out of Australia. Luke started his Twins career in 2003 with GCL where he hit .305 with 2hr and 25 rbi's along with 9 doubles and 4 triples in 54 games. Luke then moved on to E-town for the 2004 season where he hit .284 with 3hr and 19rbi's along with 8 doubles and a triple in 44 games. In 2005 Luke moved up to Beloit where in 72 games he hit .257 with 7 hr and 42 rbi's along with 14 doubles and 2 triples for a ops of .709 before being promoted to Fort Myers where in 23 games he hit .202 with 7 rbi's. In 2006 Luke spent the entire year in Fort Myers where he hit .231 with 4hr and 37 rbi's along with 15 doubles and a ops of .599 in 95 games. For the 2007 season Luke moved up to AA New Britain where in 92 games he hit .283 with 9 homeruns and 43 rbi's along with 18 doubles and 2 triples for a ops of .794. The 2007 season was where Luke took the next step to being a big time prospect as he showed some consistancy at the plate. In 2008 split the year between New Britain and AAA Rochester. In 70 games at New Britain he hit .319 with 15hr and 43 rbi's along with 15 doubles and 3 triples for an ops of .936. That led to a promotion to AAA Rochester where in 29 games Luke hit .283 with 3 hr and 21 rbi's along with 7 doubles and a triple for a ops of .778. This year Luke was back at Rochester and was doing pretty good until he strained an oblique that has cost him about 3 weeks. Luke was hitting .259 with 6hr and 28rbi's along with 8 doubles and 2 triples for an ops of .825. Luke Hughes went from a guy that was a candidate to be released to being possibly the future 3rd baseman for the Twins. He brings speed, versitility, power, and overall a very good offensive player. There are 2 things keeping him back and they are he is not a very good defensive player. That is the reason he will probably not be a full time starter at the next level. He is good enough offensively to be a starter, but his glove will hold him back. The other is he is very injury prone as his last 2 seasons have been interrupted due to injuries. I view him as a perfect utility player in that he can play 3rd, 2nd, all outfield positions. With his offense and the versitility he will always find a job in the big leagues and could debut as early as next spring.


• 2009: play 3rd/2b/of for the Rochester Red Wings


• Projection: I project him as a utility player for the Twins going into next season.