Ranking the Organization's Pitchers

Seeing yesterday's format didn't work, will try this a bit different.  Following is my ranking of the organization's pitchers.  As with the position players, there were several changes this year including comparing each players season to the league in which they pitched.

My ranking follows the jump:

** denotes player is no longer with the organization

The top five this year includes two with the potential to be front of the rotation starters.  Kane Holbrooks was also in this group, moving up 68 spots which is more than any other pitcher.  The top five are:  Kyle Gibson (1), Liam Hendriks (2), Kyle Waldrop (3), Kane Holbrooks (4), and Anthony Slama (5).

I closed out my top ten with three very good starters, another starter who may be as good as Gibson and a very good reliever who doesn't get a lot of mention.  It needs to be mentioned that Wimmers had awesome numbers, although he pitched only 15.2 innings.  This group includes:  David Bromberg (6), Alex Wimmers (7), Dan Osterbrook (8), Jose Gonzalez (9), and Bobby Lanigan (10).

The second ten is led by a couple relievers who both may be in the Twins bullpen within the next eighteen months.  Three more of the organization's top relievers in the top twenty gives us hope that relief is on the way.  This ten includes:  Billy Bullock (11), Carlos Gutierrez (12), Matt Fox** (13), Pat Dean (14), Tom Stuifbergen (15), Tony Davis (16), Jeff Manship (17), Rob Delaney (18), Dakota Watts (19), and Andrei Lobanov (20). 

My third group includes several very talented Latin starters and the last player remaining from the Santana trade.  Twenty-one through thirty are:  Adrian Salcedo (21), Tyler Robertson (22), Spencer Steedley (23), Logan Darnell (24), Ryan Mullins (25), Deolis Guerra (26), Cesar Ciurcina (27), Bruce Pugh (28), Matt Hauser (29), and Miguel Munoz (30).

Closing out the top half are several promising starters, including a young man who was converted to a pitcher in the Dominican Summer League in 2009.  Enjoying the success he had in the Appalachian League after skipping the GCL in his second year as a pitcher makes Manuel Soliman a very exciting prospect.  This group also includes a veteran who has spent several seasons with the Twins.  Thirty-one through forty are:  B. J. Hermsen (31), Manuel Soliman (32), Brad Stillings (33), Michael Tonkin (34), Michael McCardell (35), Matt Williams** (36), Glen Perkins (37), Jhon Garcia (38), Justin Parker (39), and Martire Garcia (40).

This next group includes another veteran starter who has seen time with the Twins and another of the organization's most exciting young lefty relievers.  This group includes:  Santos Arias (41), Anthony Swarzak (42), Steve Blevins (43), Chris Province (44), Nelvin Fuentes (45), David Gutierrez (46), Cole DeVries (47), Matt Schuld (48), Pedro Guerra (49), and Derek Christensen (50).

This will be the third consecutive group to include a pitcher who has pitched for the Twins:  Justin Gallant (51), Edgar Ibarra (52), Jean Mijares (53), Clint Dempster (54), Bret Carter (55), Eddie Ahorrio (56), David Deminsky (57), Tim Lahey** (58), Pat Neshek (59), and Blayne Weller (60).  

This group includes a young man who due to injury, dropped from third last year to sixty-eighth this year.  Hopefully, Steve Hirschfield can return to the pitcher he was before a season filled with injuries:  Brett Carroll (61), Luis Nunez (62), Michael Tarsi (63), Eliecer Cardenas (64), Jose Lugo** (65), Zach See (66), Ryan O'Rourke (67), Steven Hirschfield (68), Blake Martin (69), and Matt Tone (70).

The next to last group includes a former first round pick who has a very high ceiling, if he can only find the strike zone.  This group is dominated by young men who joined the Twins last summer, getting their first experience with professional baseball:  Michael Allen (71), Richard Arevalo (72), Brad Tippett (73), A. J. Achter (74), Nick Alloway (75), Sam Spangler (76), Shooter Hunt (77), Tyler Herr (78), Mark Trau (79), and Pete Kennelly (80).

The final group includes a recent third round pick who is at the end of the rankings solely because he was injured most of the year, pitching only 17.2 innings at Beloit:  Richard Calcano (81), Ben Tootle (82), Kyle Necke (83), Nate Fawbush (84), and Hein Robb (85).