The Twins have a minor league system that develops a continuous supply of starting pitchers.  Beginning with Scott Baker, who arrived in 2005, the Twins staff has seen Garza, Slowey, Perkins, Blackburn, Liriano and Bonser (the last two were obtained by trade) step up to become quality major league starters.  Add Swarzak, Manship and Duensing, who made their first appearances this season, and you have ten starting pitchers who have stepped up when needed over the past five years.  What is most interesting is that none of these (other than Liriano in 2005) would have been considered as top prospects by those who rank minor league systems and prospects.  Rather, they are a group of fine young athletes who have bought into what the organization teaches, an organization that continues to turn out solid starting pitchers. 

It is likely that two of the three who joined the Twins in 2009 will return to Rochester next spring to fine tune their game so that they are ready for a permanent spot in the rotation when the next call comes.  Who else is down on the farm who will be available later next year or in the years following?  This year's top ten starters all fit the mold of what the Twins look for and all could some day find themselves toiling on the mound at Target Field.      

The Tenth ranked starting pitcher in my year end ranking this season is a pitcher USA Today named the Twins Minor League Player of the Year last season, Michael McCardell.  The Twins sixth round pick in 2007 out of Kutztown University, McCardell was my seventh ranked pitcher following his break-out season at Beloit during which he had a 9-4 record with a 2.86ERA.  He also had 139 strikeouts with only 25 walks in 135.1 innings.  McCardell moved up to Ft. Myers this spring where he had an excellent first half with a 9-6 record, 3.93ERA and 78K/16BB in 94.0 innings.  McCardell earned a mid-summer promotion to New Britain where he pitched very well, yet, a couple outings took a toll on what could have been exceptional numbers.  McCardell closed out his AA season with a 5-2 record, 4.10ERA and 40K/16BB in 48.1 innings to be my twenty-third ranked pitcher in 2009.

Tyler Robertson was pitching as well as anyone in the pitching rich Florida State League when his season ended in June, 2008 with what was diagnosed as shoulder tendinitis.  Robertson finished with a 5-3 record, 2.72ERA and 73K/31BB in 82.2 innings to rank as my fourth best pitcher.  This year he returned to Ft. Myers and accomplished two goals by pitching the entire year and pitching very well.  Perhaps most important, he continued to improve throughout the year as evidenced by his 3.04 post all-star ERA.  Robertson finished his season with an 8-8 record and 3.33ERA.  He also had 103K/51BB in the team's second most innings pitched, 143.1, to finish 2009 as my twenty-second ranked pitcher and ninth ranked starter. 

My eighth ranked starter is a young man drafted by the Twins with a supplemental first round pick in 2004, Matt Fox.  Unfortunately, his arm had taken a beating during college and Fox missed all of 2005 following shoulder surgery.  He returned in 2006 and 2007, however, pitching limited innings each year.  Fox worked his way back into the starting rotation last year at Ft. Myers where he made 14 starts in 32 appearances with a 7-7 record and 3.37ERA.  Fox struck out 99 with 33 walks in 117.2 innings to rank thirtieth in my year end rankings.  This season Fox moved up to New Britain where he had an excellent season ranking amongst the Eastern League leaders with a 3.58ERA (5th in league), 120 strikeouts (3rd), 151.0 innings pitched (5th) and his 9-9 record tied him for the ninth most wins in the league.  Fox's excellent season moved him up 9 spots this year to number twenty-one and should earn him a promotion to Rochester in 2010. 

Brad Tippett has had a bit of an up and down career since signing with the Twins shortly before his eighteenth birthday in January, 2006.  This young Australian had a solid rookie season in the Gulf Coast League before being one of the top pitchers in the Appalachian League in 2007 when he had a 7-1 record and 0.93ERA working out of the Elizabethton bullpen.  Tippett earned a promotion to Beloit in spring, 2008 where he had a 2-1 record with a 4.24ERA in 13 games of relief.  When the Appy League began, however, the Twins moved Tippett back to Elizabethton where they converted him to a starter.  Tippett finished 2008 with a 8-3 record, 2.55ERA and 63K/9BB in 74.0 innings at Elizabethton to rank forty-first in my year end rankings.  This season Tippett returned to Beloit and was the one starting pitcher the Snappers could count on every fifth day.  Tippett, who was arguably one of the best pitchers in the league, compiled a 9-8 record on a team that won only 57 games and finished 26 games under .500.  Tippett finished his excellent season with the league's best WHIP (1.07), fifth best ERA (3.21), with 120 strikeouts (3rd best), only 25 walks and the league's fifth most innings (151.0).  Tippett's fine season earned him my nineteenth ranking as the organizaition's seventh best starter.

We all became very familiar with this year's sixth ranked starter, Jeff Manship, after he joined the Twins and pitched what he has called the game of his life the final weekend against the Royals.....to date that is!  Manship joined the Twins after being drafted in the 14th round of the 2006 draft out of Notre Dame University.  Jeff didn't sign with the Twins until August, thus, he appeared in only a few games late in the season for the GCL Twins and Miracle.  Yet, those few innings with the Miracle gave us a hint of what was to come.  Jeff began to rocket thru the organization the following year with a 7-1 record and 1.51ERA at Beloit before moving on to a 8-5 record and 3.15ERA in Ft. Myers.  Last season, Jeff began at Ft. Myers where he compiled a 7-3 record with a 2.86ERA in 78.2 innings with 63K/20BB.  The Twins moved Manship up to New Britain immediately after his start in the FSL All-Star game.  Jeff pitched very well in some games at AA, yet, struggled in a few to finish with a 3-6 record, 4.46ERA and 62K/24BB in 76.2 innings to finish off an excellent 2008 season as my sixth ranked pitcher.  This season began back at New Britain where Jeff was solid with a 6-4 record, 4.28ERA and 45K/20BB in 75.2 innings.  As the Twins were calling pitchers up to Minnesota, Jeff moved to Rochester to fill an opening in their starting rotation.  He proceded to become one of the Red Wings best starters with a 4-2 record and 3.22ERA in 50.1 innings with 30K/17BB.  After not being invited to join the Twins in spring training, it had to be rewarding to Jeff to get that call to the big leagues.  Based on his performance at New Britain and Rochester, Jeff had the thirteenth best season of all the pitchers.  It is likely that the pitcher we saw that last Friday night of the season is a pitcher we will see much more of for many years.

In the five years I have been compiling my year end rankings, I have never had a GCL pitcher rank in my Top 20.  This year I have two with Adrian Salcedo being my fifth ranked starter and ninth ranked pitcher.  Salcedo had an excellent season last year in the DSL where he had a 4-4 record, 1.65ERA and 50K/8BB in 65.1 innings as a seventeen year old.  Salecedo moved up to the GCL Twins this year where he was as good as anyone in the league, finishing with a 3-2 record and the league's seventh best ERA (1.46), fifth most innings (61.2), third most strikeouts (58) and league's eighth best WHIP (1.02).  Perhaps most astonishing, his THREE walks were less than any pitcher in the league with more than 40 innings pitched.  Salcedo won't turn 19 until late April, thus, it is likely he will spend his spring in EST before moving up to Elizabethton for the 2010 season.             

The fourth ranked starter and eighth ranked pitcher is Salcedo's GCL Twins teammate, B. J. Hermsen.  Hermsen was the Twins sixth round pick last year out of West Delaware, Iowa high school.  Hermsen played high school ball last summer before signing with the Twins shortly before the August signing deadline.  Hermsen participated in the Fall Instructional League last year then stayed in Florida for Extended Spring Training before joining the GCL Twins.  Hermsen joined Salcedo, Blayne Weller and Michael Tonkin to lead the GCL Twins to their second consecutive playoff appearance.  Hermsen finished his season with a 6-2 record, league third best 1.35ERA, league best 0.68 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.  Like Salcedo, Hermsen was a league leader with only 4 walks for his season.  Hermsen, who will turn 20 next month, may move up to Elizabethton next sping but a good spring training could push him straight to Beloit.

The third ranked starting pitcher and fourth ranked pitcher overall is Anthony Swarzak.  Swarzak was my twenty-second ranked pitcher in 2008 following a season in which he didn't appear to be motivated at New Britain where he had a 3-8 record with a 5.67ERA in 101.2 innings with 76K/37BB.  When the call came to move up to Rochester, Swarzak took advantage of the opportunity and seemed to be a different pitcher.  In seven starts (45.0 innings), Swarzak had a perfect 5-0 record with a 1.80ERA and 26K/14BB.  This season Swarzak was very good at Rochester where he compiled a 4-5 record with a 3.28ERA and 45K/21BB in 79.2 innings.  His numbers would have been better except for a couple starts following his demotion where he allowed 10 earned runs in 8.1 innings before finishing his season with a quality start against Division champion Scranton Wilkes-Barre.  When the opportunity to join the Twins arrived, Swarzak had several very good starts before several rough starts caused the Twins to send him back to Rochester.  The Twins have a handful of young starters who will be fighting for one or two spots in the rotation.  If Swarzak doesn't win one of those spots in spring training, it will be important that he remain mentally tough as opportunities will present themselves during the season.             

The second ranked starter and third ranked pitcher this year is Steven Hirschfield.  Last season Hirschfield was one of the top pitchers in the MidWest League where he led the team with a 10-5 record with an excellent 3.30ERA in 31 games (16 starts) with 80K/38BB in 109.0 innings to finish as my twenty-seventh ranked pitcher.  Hirschfield returned to the bullpen this season at Ft. Myers before moving into the starting rotation mid-season getting 17 starts in 32 appearances.  Hirschfield may have been the league's best pitcher (which is hard to say considering that teammate David Bromberg was the FSL Pitcher of the Year), as he finished with the league's second best ERA (2.23) and best WHIP (1.03) with 86K/31BB in 117.0 innings and a 7-7 record.  Hirschfield moved up twenty-four spots in this year's ranking and certainly would need to be considered a candidate for the Twins organizaiton most improved player.  Now pitching for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League, look for Hirschfield to move up to New Britain next spring.

The top ranked starting pitcher, David Bromberg, is the second ranked pitcher in my year end ranking.  Bromberg was my twenty-first ranked pitcher following his 2008 season when he had a 9-10 record and 4.44ERA in 150.0 innings for the Beloit Snappers.  What moved Bromberg into the upper echelons of prospects was his 177 strikeouts which led all of minor league baseball.  This season Bromberg moved up to Ft. Myers where he led the Florida State League with 148 strikeouts in 153.1 innings with the second most wins in the league (13-4) and the league's fourth best ERA (2.70) and ninth best WHIP (1.23).  This season was special for Bromberg, so special that he was named both the Florida State League's Pitcher of the Year and the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.  Some will question whether Bromberg is really an elite starter and potential future Ace?  These past two seasons would seem to indicate that he just might be that good.  The next big test will be next year when he makes the critical jump to AA.  A similar performance to this year in AA will confirm that he just might be a future Ace?

Looking back over these past five years should make Twins fans hopeful that the stream of starting pitchers will continue to stock their rotation as needed.  Add last year's first round pick Kyle Gibson to this group and odds are good that there will continue to be another arm down on the farm when needed for another five years.