Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #1

After going from player number 50 all way down we and finally at in my opinion the top prospect in the whole Twins organization. He is something special who I believe is the future for the Twins. I hope you enjoy this and if you have questions on him or anyone I put in my top 50 either leave a comment in the comment box or email me at travis_aune@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading my top 50 because I put a lot of work into it and hope you enjoyed.

1. Aaron Hicks CF 19 (10/2/1989)

2008 teams: Gulf Coast League Twins

• Aaron Hicks was the Twins first round draft pick, 14th overall, in the 2008 draft out of high school in Long Beach, California. After signing with the Twins Hicks was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Twins. In 45 games there he hit .318 with 4 homeruns and 27 rbi's and 12 stolen bases. He also had 10 doubles and 4 triples for an ops of .900. This year he started the season in Extended Spring Training and just recently got called up to Beloit. Aaron Hicks really has it all and it gets mentioned alot, but he is the prototypical 5 tool player in that he can hit for average, hit for power, great speed, great arm, accurate arm. This should tell you all you need to know about how freakish of an athelte Aaron is many teams had him as a first round pick as a pitcher where he touched 97 on the radar gun in high school. He made it clear that he preferred to be an outfielder and that was fine with the Twins who are looking for that type of player. I have heard Twins scouts claim he is the top prospect the Twins have had since Joe Mauer. That is saying quite a bit considering how Joe Mauer has turned out. The thing about him too is he is only 19 years old and you can take your time with him as the Twins should. I have heard fans complaining that some first round picks are already in the bigs and ours wasn't even at A ball. What I tell them is that is like comparing Apples to Oranges it is not the same thing because those guys are college guys and those guys don't have the ceiling like Hicks does. I really believe if you are patient with him Aaron Hicks has the ability to be really special, like franchise player special. He is a switch hitter thatplays center who can hit from both sides of the plate so the obvious comparision is to Carlos Beltran of the Mets. If Hicks turns out like that I would be pretty happy with him. I think he has the ability to be a 30-30 guy eventually at the major league level and be a gold glove guy in the outfielder. Seriously people be patient with him because you will not be disappointed because we have on our hands another superstar in the Mauer, Morneau range and just enjoy the ride because Aaron Hicks will be the Twins next American Idol.


• 2009: Spend season playing center for Beloit


• Projection: I view him as a superstar centerfielder who could hit 30-30 for the Twins and could be with the Twins as early as 2013 and be there for 10-15 years.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #2

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

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

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

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


• 2009: Spend season playing center for Fort Myers


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

Friday, June, 26th

Twins Talk
Twins 6 Brewers 4

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

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

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 8 Columbus 7

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

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

New Britain Business

New Britain 8 Harrisburg 5

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

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

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 6 Daytona 4

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

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

Beloit Beat

Clinton 7 Beloit 2

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

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

E-town Entertainment

E-town 8 Bluefield 2

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

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

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #3

Tonight I will continue my prospect list with prospect number 3 for the Twins. This guy is someone that I have more confidence in that he will be a star than just about anybody that I have profiled so far. Let me know what you think of the selection you can either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com

3. Danny Valencia 3b 24 (9/19/1984)

2008 teams: Fort Myers and New Britain

• Danny Valencia was a 19th round pick by the Twins in the 2006 draft out of Miami University. After signing with the Twins Valencia reported to Elizabethton where in 48 games he hit .311 with 8 homeruns and 29 rbi's along with 13 doubles for an ops of .870. In 2007 Danny split the season between Beloit and Fort Myers. Valencia started the season at Beloit and in 66 games with the Snappers he hit .302 with 11 homeruns and 35 rbi's along with 15 doubles for a ops of .874. That led to a promotion to Fort Myers where in 61 games Danny hit .291 with 6 homeruns and 31 rbi's along with 8 doubles and 2 triples for an ops of .754. In 2008 Valencia split the season between Fort Myers and AA New Britain. In 60 games at Fort Myers Danny hit .336 with 5 homeruns and 44 rbi's along with 19 doubles and 3 triples for an ops of .920. That led to a promotion to AA New Britain where in 69 games with the Rockcats he hit .289 with 10 homeruns and 32 rbi's along with 18 doubles and a triple for an ops of .819. Danny started this year in New Britain and just recently got promoted to AAA Rochester. In 57 games at New Britain Danny hit .284 with 7 homeruns and 29 rbi's along with 14 doubles and 4 triples for an ops of .855. In just a few games at Rochester Danny is 7-14 with 1 homerun and 3 rbi's. Danny Valencia really took the Twins brass by surprise when he did as well as he did after being drafted in the 19th round out of Miami. He has hit every place he has been at as his .302 career batting average would say. He plays a very good 3rd base where he has soft hands and a strong arm. He has some power, not crazy power numbers, but a little pop in his bat that will lead to 15-20 homeruns at the big league level. There really is nothing about him that you look at and say yeah he needs to work on that if he is going to be in the bigs. For the last 2 years plus the thinking wasn't if he makes it to the bigs it is all about when. Danny Valencia is going to be a starting 3rd baseman in the Major Leagues you can write that down. He has good patience as his 135 walks to 289 strikeouts in 1300 at bats would indicate. He does not walk alot, but he also doesn't strike out a ton either which is big once you get to the majors. The biggest thing that Danny needs to work at is to be more consistant as he can be a little streaky sometimes where he goes into cold streaks and then will rattle off an impressive hot streak. I expect Danny Valencia to be the starting 3rd baseman for the Twins when they open up Target Field next spring and be the starter over there for the next 10-15 years because he has all the tools you look for in a 3rd baseman along with the hard work and dedication he possesses makes him a superstar in waiting.


• 2009: Play 3rd base for Rochester all season


• Projection: Starting 3rd baseman for the Twins for the next 10-15 years with superstar written all over him.

Thursday, June, 25th

Twins Talk
Brewers 4 Twins 3

• The Twins were involved in one of the wackiest endings to a ball game that I have ever seen. In the bottom of the 8th with the Twins ahead 3-2 and Twins starter Nick Blackburn cruising towards his 7th win of the year. J.J. Hardy hits a bloop single. Then Jason Kendall comes up and hits a pitch off the fence that Hardy tries to score on and does thanks to a poor relay throw from Brendan Harris. So the score is tied end of the play right. Nope the ball squirted away from Joe Mauer and Nick Blackburn picks it up and thinks he can throw out Kendall going to 3rd and airmails it into left field to the winning run score. You can't write up an ending like that if you tried. Nick Blackburn had an awesome start ruined with the last inning. Blackburn went 8 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 11 hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts. With the 3 runs allowed Blackburn saw his era raise to a very good 3.11 era. Blackburn has shown that he is the best pitcher in the Twins staff and this start will do nothing to damper that feeling by Twins fans.

• The Twins really struggled to score in this one as Brewers pitcher Braden Looper kept the Twins off balance. The Twins really did not have anyone step out, but Michael Cuddyer had the best night going 2-4 with his 15th double and raised his average up to .281. Jason Kubel went 1-4 with his 13th homerun and drove in his 40th run of the year. Kubel struggles against lefthanded pitchers, but against right handed pitchers he kills them. Look at his average against right handed pitchers at a .354 rate. Joe Mauer went 1-4 to lower his average to an unbelievable .394 average. Joe Crede continued his production as of late going 1-3 with his 11th double of the year and drove in his 34th run of the year. Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris each contributed a hit in the Twins loss.
• Today, the Twins finish off their series with the Brewers and send Scott Baker to the mound for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Columbus 9 Rochester 5

• The Red Wings dropped their 5th straight game in blowout fashion last night as they went down to Columbus by a score of 9-5. Philip Humber got the start for the Wings and in a word was awful. Humber went only 3.1 innings and gave up 6 runs on 9 hits although only 4 were earned along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to raise his era to 5.88 and lower his record to 2-5. Humber has been up and down all year and with more downs than up. With the addition of Manship to the rotation it would not bother me at all to see Humber thrown in the bullpen to see if he can do a better there than in the rotation. Tim Lahey then came in and gave up 1 run on 2 hits in 2.2 solid innings along with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 8.57. Lahey has not been good but he has made slow but sure progress as the season has gone on. Armando Gabino then came in and gave up a run on 3 hits in 2 solid innings of relief. Reid Santos finished the game by going 1 inning and giving a run on 3 hits to raise his era to 6.02

• The Red Wings were behind the 8 ball as their pitching did not let the offense get anything going against Columbus pitching. They were still able to get 5 runs on 9 hits to make it halfway respectable. Unbelievably Tommy Watkins led the offense by going 3-5 with his 6th double of the year to bring hsi average up to .253. Drew Butera went 2-4 with his first homerun as a Red Wing along with his 13th rbi of the year. Brock Peterson went 2-4 with his 7th double of the year to bring his average up to .246 which is quite an improvement where he was a month ago when he was hitting in the .160's. Justin Huber and new Red Wing Danny Valencia each added a base hit in the losing cause.
• Today, the Wings continue their series with Columbus as new Red Wing Jeff Manship starts for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Harrisburg 5 New Britain 3

• The Rockcats suffered a tough loss last night to Harrisburg as they lost by a score of 5-3. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was very good as they continue to protect his innings as they hope he can make it through the year because they have a certain number of innings that they won't let him go past since it is his first year as a starter. Gutierrez went 5 innings in this one and gave up only 1 run on 2 hits along with 4 strikeouts and the important thing 0 walks to lower his era to 5.21 on the year. Kyle Waldrop then came in and pitched a very good 6th inning. Jose Lugo pitched a clean 7th along with a strikeout to lower his era to 4.42. Things were going good with a 3-1 lead going into the top of the 8th and then everything went bad. Alex Burnett came in and tried to protect the lead and just imploded. Burnett was only able to get 2 outs and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits along with a walk to raise his era to 3.18 on the year. Last night was just a bad outing for Burnett so hopefully he can shake it off and do a better time next time out. Frank Mata came in and pitched a perfect 1.1 innings along with 2 strikeouts to lower hsi era to 4.93.

• The Rockcats could not do alot offensively as they could only push 3 runs across on 11 hits and that is because they left 8 guys on base and it is starting to become a problem for the Rockcats. Whit Robbins led the offense going 2-3 with his 3oth rbi of the year. Robbins had been in a bit of a slump lately so it was nice of him to come out of it and improve his average to .319. Brandon Roberts went 2-4 with his 8th double of the year to bring his average up to .288. Rene Tosoni continued this hot streak by going 2-4 with his 12th double of the year. Allan De San Miguel went 1-3 with his first triple and 3rd and 4th rbi's of the year. Brian Dinkelman, Erik Lis, Matt Moses, and Toby Gardenhire all added hits in the losing cause.
• Today, the Rockcats finish off their series with Harrisburg as Ryan Mullins gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 9 Jupiter 6

• The Miracle rebounded from what looked like a for sure loss to make it an unbelievable victory. Trailing 6-2 going into the bottom of the 8th the Miracle pounced on Jupiter for 7 runs in the last 2 innings to pick up a 9-6 victory over Jupiter. David Bromberg got the start and he was not real great in this one. Bromberg went 5.1 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits along with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 2.66. I am not concerned at all about Bromberg because he has been so dominant this year that I am not going to let 1 start let me change my mind about him. Henry Arias then came in and went 2.2 innings and only gave up an unearned run to lower his era to 5.28. Blair Erickson pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up the win for the Miracle to bring his record to 1-3 and lower his era to 2.66

• The Miracle got their offense going late, but it was just enough as they won the game on a Deibinson Romero 3 run homerun after Ben Revere had tied it with an rbi double to score Evan Bigley. Deibinson Romero was the story of the night going 2-3 with his 3rd homerun of the year and 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 35. Chris Parmalee went 3-3 along with his 36th rbi to bring his average on the year to .258. Nick Romero went 2-3 with his 9th rbi of the year and brought his average up to .260. Ben Revere went 1-5 with his 8th double and his 29th rbi of the year. Steve Singelton, Jair Fernandez, and Evan Bigley all added hits in the winning cause for the Miracle.
• Tonight, the Miracle begin the second half as they take on Daytona with Tyler Robertson on the mound for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

• The Snappers had their last day off last night and will begin the second half tonight as they take on Clinton with Dan Berlind scheduled to start for Beloit.

E-town Entertainment

E-town 4 Bluefield 1

• The E-town Twins proved one night after slugging the ball all over the ballpark that they also could win a pitchers duel as they beat Bluefield last night by a score of 4-1. Liam Hendricks got the start for the Twins and was very good. He went 6 innings and only gave up 3 hits and no runs along with 6 strikeouts. Edgar Ibarra went 1 inning of relief and gave up a run on 2 hits to pick up the win for the Twins. Kane Holbrooks pitched a clean 8th inning on 1 hit along with a strikeout. Tony Davis picked up his first professional save as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning as he struck out the side for the Twins.

• In a game that the Twins were not able to get much across offensively the Twins were able to get the key hits to pull off the victory. The Twins were only able to muster 4 runs on 6 hits, but that proved to be enough on the night to pull out a victory. Dan Rohlfing led the offense in this one going 2-3 at the plate in his first outing of the year. Reggie Williams went 1-4 with 1st double and drove in his first 2 rbi's of the year to pace the Twins. Mike Gonzalez, Jon Goncalves, and Tobias Streich each contributed hits in the winning cause for the E-town Twins on this night.
• Tonight, the Twins try to go for the sweep as they will send Matire Garcia to the mound for Elizabethton

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #4

I am sorry that I was not able to bring you the latest player in the prospect list yesterday, but I will make up for it by bringing you players 4 and 3 on my list. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think of my choices by leaving a comment in the comment box or emailing me at travis_aune@yahoo.com. Thanks alot for reading.

4. Wilson Ramos C 21 (8/10/1987)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Wilson Ramos was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 2004 out of Venezuela as a 16 year old kid. Wilson spent the rest of 2004 and the 2005 seasons playing for the Dominican Summer League Twins. In 2006 Wilson came over to the states and played with the GCL Twins. At GCL in 46 games Wilson hit .286 with 3 homeruns and 26 rbi's along with 12 doubles and a triple for an ops of .774. In 2007 Ramos moved up to Class A Beloit where he spent the entire year there hitting .291 in 73 games with 8 homeruns and 42 rbi's along with 17 doubles and a triple for an ops of .783. In 2008 Ramos moved up to high A Fort Myers where he also had a solid year. In 126 games with the Miracle Wilson hit .288 with 13 homeruns and 78 rbi's along with 23 doubles and 2 triples for an ops of .780. A cause for concern though was in 452 at bats Ramos only walked 37 times and struck out 103 times which is too many and not enough walks. This year Ramos moved up to New Britain and in a word to describe his year would be injuries. A broken finger and now a pulled hamstring have caused Wilson Ramos to spend most of the season on the disabled list. In only 36 games Wilson is hitting .308 with 3 homeruns and 18 rbi's along with 9 doubles for an ops of .770. In 133 at bats he has really improved the strikeouts as he has only 15 strikeouts, but the walk total continues to be an issue as he has only walked 3 times in 133 at bats. Wilson Ramos is by far the top catching prospect in the organization and if it were not for Joe Mauer being with the Twins he would get more props than he does. If Mauer was not with the Twins there would be clammoring for Ramos to be up with the Twins, but as long as Mauer is with the Twins Ramos will not get the chance to play everyday with the Twins. At only 21 years old Ramos is way young for his level and won't be 22 until August. He possesses a very good arm and calls a terrific game. He can hit for average, and has a little pop in his bat as the 13 homeruns last year at Fort Myers would indicate. Hopefully, the injury problems he is facing this year won't slow him down too much. The thing that Wilson needs to work on is being more disciplined at the plate because as he keeps moving if he swings at everything his average will go down so I would like to see his walk rate go up. So far this year he has done alot better making contact as his 103 strikeouts last year were too many. Those 2 things are the main things I think he needs to work on, but there is so much talent there that I can just about guarantee you that he will be in the big leagues by 2011 if not sooner. The question is with Joe Mauer with the Twins atleaast through next year will it be with the Twins? It wouldn't surprise me for the Twins to use Ramos as a negotiating ploy with Mauer's agent because if we lost Mauer we would have a very good catcher to replace him with. Is he as good as Joe Mauer well the answer is no because there is only 1 Joe Mauer, but is Wilson Ramos good enough to be a very good starting catcher in the big leagues that answer is YES! It will be interesting to see what happens with that, but make no mistake about it whether it is with the Twins or if the Twins trade Ramos Wilson Ramos will be a future starting catcher in the major leagues sooner rather than later.


• 2009: Try to stay healthy and catch for New Britain


• Projection: I project Wilson Ramos as a starting catcher who will be around for 15+ years and be a very good offensive catcher.

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.