Minor League Report...Beloit Snappers

Baseball America posted their Top 20 for the International League this week.  The Rochester Red Wings didn't have any players make the list.  Former Red Wing Wilson Ramos was ranked as their eighteenth best prospect.

The Arizona Fall League began play on Tuesday with seven Twins playing for the Peoria Saguaros.  With six of the seven likely to be on the Twins 40-man roster by late November (Carlos Gutierrez doesn't need to be added until after the 2011 season), this is the strongest group the Twins have sent to Arizona in recent memory.  

Although the Peoria Saguaros have yet to win (0-3-1), several Twins are off to great starts.  Ben Revere is one of the league leaders, hitting .533/.563/.733 (8-15) with a double, triple, three runs scored, four runs batted in and two stolen bases.  Last year, Chris Parmelee went hitless in his first ten at bats.  This fall he is 7-18 with two doubles and a triple, hitting .389/.421/.611.  Joe Benson is 2-12 with a double.  Benson threw out a runner at the plate opening day from right field.  Revere gunned down a runner at third base from left field in the same game.

On Thursday the Saguaros tied their cross town rival Peoria Javelinas, 4-4 (In the AFL, games go in the books as ties after eleven innings).  In Friday's rematch with the Javelinas, David Bromberg put the Saguaros in position for their first win when he left the game with a 2-1 lead after four innings.  The Javelinas would go on to shell the Saguaros bullpen to win, 13-5.  Kyle Waldrop pitched the last inning, allowing two runs in his second appearance of the fall.  Carlos Gutierrez has pitched one shutout inning.  There have been indications of late that Tyler Robertson may be headed to the bullpen.  He has made two appearances, pitching 2.0 innings with three hits and one run.

On a side note, one member of the Saguaros is Jared Mitchell.  Twins fans will rember Mitchell was the Twins tenth round pick in 2006 (the same season the Twins took Parmelee and Benson in the first two rounds).  Rather than signing with the Twins, Mitchell went to LSU where he played both football and baseball.  Mitchell, who was the first round pick of the White Sox in 2009, was assigned to the Saguaros after playing A ball this past summer.

Last week the readers selected Liam Hendriks as the Twinkie Town Ft. Myers Miracle Player of the Year.  My review of the Beloit Snappers season and our Player of the Year selection follows the jump.  

The Beloit Snappers began their season with a couple of the organization's top prospects making a surprise return to the Midwest League.  The Snappers would spend their season in the middle of the pack, always within striking distance of a playoff spot.  Although they missed the playoffs, the Nelson Prada led Snappers were the only full-season club in the Twins organization to finish with a winning record at 71-65.  

The Snappers opening day starting rotation had three pitchers capable of being the team Ace, Liam Hendriks, Tom Stuifbergen and Daniel Osterbrock.  Hendriks and Osterbrock earned early season promotions to Ft. Myers about the same time Stuifbergen went on the disabled list, missing most of May and June.  Hendriks was 2-1 with a 1.32 ERA in six starts while Osterbrock was 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in five starts.  Stuifbergen returned to appear in ninteen games (93.2 innings) with a 6-4 record and 2.98 ERA. 

The three go to starters for much of the season were Miguel Munoz, Edgar Ibarra and Brad Stillings.  Munoz led the Snappers with 131.2 innings and a 12-7 record as he pitched more like the top starter he was two years ago in the GCL.  He finished with a 4.37 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, 121 strikeouts and 48 walks.  Ibarra didn't have the numbers he had a year ago in the Appy League, finishing with a 6-11 record and 4.81 ERA in 112.1 innings.  Brad Stillings was a seventh round pick in 2009 who finished his first professional season with the Snappers.  Returning to Beloit this spring, Stillings had an excellent 8-4 record in 19 starts (98 innings) with a 3.40 ERA.  B. J. Hermsen and Michael Tonkin both made a dozen starts prior to joining Elizabethton after the Appalachian League began play.  Hermsen had a 4-6 record with a 5.00 ERA while Tonkin had a 3-6 record with a 4.29 ERA.  Pedro Guerra moved up to the GCL Twins following his excellent 2009 season in the Dominican Summer League.  When Beloit had a few openings in their rotation, Guerra skipped the Appy League to join the Snapper's starting rotation.  Guerra had a 2-0 record with a 3.54 ERA in five starts (28.0 innings) for the Snappers. 

Kane Holbrooks began the season as the Snappers closer.  Before moving on to Ft. Myers and eventually New Britain, Holbrooks appeared in 33 games (54.0 innings) with a 5-3 record, a team best nine saves, 1.67 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 71 strikeouts and 13 walks.  After Holbrooks moved on, most of the closer opportunities went to Eliecer Cardenas who was 5-1 with eight saves, a 3.69 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 44 walks in 63.1 innings.  Steven Blevins was very good before moving on to the Miracle, picking up six saves with a 2-0 record and a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings.  Jhon Garcia had a 3.35 ERA in 43.0 innings while Matt Tone had a 3-5 record, 5.09 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 44 walks in 51 games (69.0 innings).  Dakota Watts was solid in his short stay in Beloit with a 2.31 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.  Andrei Lobanov finished his season in Beloit where he had a 1-2 record in 21 games (34.0 innings) with a 3.44 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 9 walks.

Many were surprised to see both Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales return to the Beloit this spring.  Morales earned an early summer promotion by hitting .289/.381/.474 in 211 at bats with 13 doubles and 4 home runs.  His 7 triples led the Snappers while his 18 stolen bases in 25 attempts were second most even though he played less than half his season in Beloit.  Hicks would remain in Beloit all summer, hitting .279/.401/.428 in 423 at bats.  Hicks took an amazing 88 walks, however, also struck out 112 times.  Hicks finished his season with 27 doubles, 6 triples, 8 home runs and a team high 21 stolen bases in 32 attempts.  Baseball America named Hicks the fifth best prospect in the Midwest League, down from his ranking first last year. 

Morales had six outfield assists in his partial season while Hicks had five.  Steve Liddle led all Snappers outfielders with 15 assists while hitting a respectable .253/.332/.398 in his first full season with the organization.  Liddle also led the Snappers with 70 RBI with 15 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 18 attempts. 

James Beresford was recently named the "Brodie Trophy Player of the Year."  Beresford finished as the thirteenth best hitter in the league at .297/.349/.363 in 491 at bats with 14 stolen bases and a team high 70 runs scored.  Anderson Hidalgo led the team in hitting at .316/.375/.443, however, he went on the disabled list and his 282 at bats weren't enough to qualify for the league leadership (his .316 average would have been second best in the league). 

Danny Rams didn't hit for the lofty average he did last year in the Appy League, however, led the Snappers with 28 doubles while hitting .243/.310/.450 in 407 at bats.  Rams also had 4 triples and a team high 16 home runs so that nearly half of his hits were for extra bases (48 of 99).  First baseman Michael Gonzales hit .236/.322/.439 in 326 at bats with 13 home runs and 27 doubles.  Gonzales saw more than half his hits go for extra bases (40 of 77).  Former Gopher and 2009 fourth round pick, Derek McCallum, spent most of his season on the disabled list or playing injured.  McCallum hit .228/.323/.296 in only 162 at bats.  

James Beresford was selected the Snappers Player of the Year, will the readers of Twinkie Town agree?