Minor League Report...May 22, 2010

With 62% of the 163 votes cast, Danny Valencia was selected as last week's Player of the Week. 

The organization again played sub-.500 ball with 12 wins and 15 losses.  While Beloit and New Britain led the way at 4-3, Rochester has now lost five straight as they won only one game this week.  

After spending much of the week in New Britain two weeks ago, Terry Ryan's influence was evident as the Twins made ten moves affecting the Rock Cats roster.  Joe Benson, Estarlin De Los Santos and Chris Parmelee were sent down to Ft. Myers.  Brandon Roberts, Loek VanMil (both were in Ft. Myers on re-hab assignments) and Chris Cates were promoted from the Miracle to New Britain.  The Rock Cats top reliever, Spencer Steedley, was placed on the disabled list.  Toby Gardenhire and Tyler Robertson were promoted to Rochester with Erik Lis moving back to New Britain from the Red Wings who also placed Luke Hughes on the disabled list with a strained left hip flexor.  Many were surprised when Joe Benson moved back to Ft. Myers.  Jim Rantz told Ken Lipshez of the New Britain Herald when asked to comment on the three players going back to Ft. Myers, "Maybe they'll be back up here before too long but for now, we feel they have to re-start."  

In other moves Jeff Manship was promoted to the Twins, making one appearance in Boston before returning to Rochester.  Matt Tolbert was returned to Rochester with Trevor Plouffe making his first appearance with the Twins last night filling Manship's spot on their roster.  Matt Harrington was placed on the restricted list with 50-game suspension.  Seth Stohs reported from Beloit last night that Brian Dozier has moved up to Ft. Myers with Daniel Santana joining the Snappers from EST.  Bruce Pugh may be on the disabled list, however, that move hasn't been listed amongst the official Florida State transactions.  Finally, it was reported in the comment section of this report last week that Brad Tippett and Bobby Lanigan were placed on the 7-day disabled list, however, Tippett appeared in several games this week as a reliever.    

Rochester Red Wings (AAA) (1-6, 15-27, 6th place, -11.5 games behind Scranton/WB)

The Red Wings have been struggling of late with their only win this week on Sunday against Louisville.  Jeff Manship got the start, pitching 5.1 innings with 7 hits, 3 runs (2 earned) and 5K/4BB.  Tim Lahey came on for 1.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts and no runs, hits or walks to get his second win in three decisions.  The Red Wings were 5-1 losers to Syracuse and Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday night.  Played before the eleventh largest crowd (12,390) in Frontier Field history, Strasburg pitched 6.1 shutout innings with 3 hits, 9 strikeouts and 2 walks.  Strasburg threw 92 pitches with 60 strikes, consistantly hitting 96-97 with four pitches clocked at 99.  Glen Perkins picked up two losses this week, however, last night was his longest outing of the year as he pitched 6.0 innings with 8 hits, 4 runs (3 earned) and 6K/2BB...picking up his sixth loss in six decisions.  Tyler Robertson was very good in his first AAA start on Thursday, pitching 5.0 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs and 6K/2BB in a 4-3 loss to Syracuse.  Mike Maroth and Anthony Swarzak are working on their rehab in Ft. Myers and are certainly needed in Rochester. 

Perkins last outing dropped his ERA to 9.09.  Ryan Mullins continues to lead the staff with 46.1 innings with a 5.05 ERA.  Matt Fox has the best ERA of the starting staff, 3.06.  Kyle Waldrop made two appearances this week, allowing one hit and one walk in 4.2 innings to drop his ERA to 1.47.  Waldrop also has 19 strikeouts and only 5 walks in 19 appearances (30.2 innings).  Cole DeVries was also very good this week, allowing three hits and one unearned run in two appearances (5.0 innings).  Rob Delaney made two appearances without any runs before allowing 3 hits and 2 runs in last night's loss to Syracuse as his ERA moved up to 4.13.

Slama Watch.....Anthony Slama picked up one save in his three outings (3.0 innings) this week.  Slama didn't allow any hits or runs, walking one while striking out three.  Slama now has a 1.78 ERA with his walk ratio dropping to 3.55 per 9 innings (10 walks in 25.1 innings) after allowing only 3 walks in his last ten appearances (11.0 innings).  Slama struck out 11 hitters in his last ten games to give him 29 for the season.

Jose Morales went 3-4 in his first game and is now hitting .367 Average in 30 at bats since returning to the Red Wings from EST.  Dustin Martin continues to be the Red Wings top hitter, .317/.382/.500, which is tenth best in the International League, while his 31 RBI are fifth best in league.  Wilson Ramos continues to struggle at the plate, going 2-26 since his return from the Twins.  After a slow start, Danny Valencia is hitting .315/.333/.411 in 73 at bats this month.  Valencia leads the Red Wings with 14 doubles, however, is still looking for his first home run.  Jacque Jones is hitting .289/.337/.408 while Brock Peterson is hitting .240/.329/.424 with a team best 6 home runs.

Trevor Plouffe is the Red Wings nominee for Player of the Week after a week in which he was 7-19 (.368 Average) with 4 runs scored, 3 doubles and 3 RBI.  To finish off his week, Plouffe got two big hits last night after his promotion to the Twins late Thursday evening.

New Britain Rock Cats (AA) (4-3, 10-29, 6th place, -14.5 games behind New Hampshire)

The Rock Cats responded to the many roster changes with their first winning week of the season.  David Bromberg made two starts, getting the loss on Sunday at Harrisburg when he allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in 5.0 innings.  He returned last night, pitching 6.2 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs and 9K/4BB to even his record at 2-2.  After walking four in the first two innings, he was on his way to an early departure when pitching coach Stu Cliburn talked to him about his composure.  It was reported in the Herald that Cliburn said, "You were the Pitcher of the Year [in the Florida State League] last year.  Go out and show me."  Carlos Gutierrez had an excellent outing in Tuesday's 2-1 loss at Portland when he allowed three hits and two runs (one earned) in 6.0 innings.  Michael McCardell was very good a day later when the Rock Cats won, 4-3, in ten innings after McCardell pitched 5.2 innings with 6 hits and 2 runs. 

Bromberg, who leads the staff with 44.1 innings pitched and 34 strikeouts, has an excellent 3.45 ERA.  Tyler Robertson also had a 3.86 ERA with a 0-3 record in 7 starts (32.2 innings) before moving up to Rochester.  Chris Province has 3 saves with a 5.76 ERA in 18 games (25.0 innings) with 15 strikeouts and 16 walks.  Michael Allen has a 1.23 ERA in his first 4 games (7.1 innings) with the Rock Cats.   

Ben Revere had four multi-hit games for a 9-26 week, getting his average up to .302.  Revere has 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts with only 16 strikeouts and 15 walks in 139 at bats.  Steven Singleton, Yangervis Solarte and Juan Portes all had three multi-hit games while Erik Lis was 6-19 with a home run in his first four games back with the Rock Cats.  Rene Tosoni was 7-20 this week and is now hitting .290/.353/.435 in 138 at bats.

The Rock Cat's top player this week was last year's first round pick, Kyle Gibson.  Gibson pitched 7.1 shutout innings in his first AA start last Saturday with 10 strikeouts and 1 walk in a 6-0 win at Harrisburg.  He returned Thursday when the Cats beat Portland, 6-2.  Gibson pitched 7.0 innings with 4 hits, 2 runs and 6K/2BB to pick up his second win.  Three of the four hits he allowed were to Jacob Ellsbury (2-3 with a double, ground out to second and infield hit) and Mike Cameron (strikeout, ground out to second and double) who were in Portland on re-hab assignments.     

Ft. Myers Miracle (Hi-A) (3-4, 18-23, 5th place, -6.0 games behind Bradenton)

With several starters moving up to New Britain or on the disabled list, Blake Martin made two spot starts this week.  Martin allowed only 1 run in 3.0 innings on Saturday in a 6-5 win versus Bradenton.  Martin returned Thursday in a 7-5 loss to Daytona, pitching 3.2 innings with 7 hits, 7 runs and 3K/2BB.  Liam Hendriks was very good in Monday's 5-2 win versus Clearwater.  Hendriks pitched 6.1 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs and 4K/0BB to pick up his second win with the Miracle.  Michael Tarsi struggled in Sunday's 9-5 loss to Clearwater when he allowed 7 runs (5 earned) in 5.0 innings.  Tarsi returned last night with the best start of the week, pitching 6.0 shutout innings with only 2 hits in a 7-0 win over Daytona.  Brad Tippett pitched 2.0 shutout innings of relief with Andei Lobanov pitching the ninth inning, allowing one walk.  Adrian Salcedo joined the Miracle from EST on Wednesday.  The Miracle lost 6-1 with Salcedo pitching 4.0 innings with 6 hits, 5 runs and 4K/0BB.  Salcedo gave up a lead-off home run in the second inning and went downhill after that to give up four runs before the inning was over.  He was able to return to pitch two more innings with only one more run allowed.  It will be exciting to see if this was a spot start or if Salcedo will remain in Ft. Myers.     

Shooter Hunt struggled in a 2.0 inning appearance last Saturday, allowing 4 runs on no hits, 4 walks, a wild pitch and 2 hit batters.  He returned on Wednesday, pitching 4.0 shutout innings with 1 hit, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks and 1 wild pitch.  Steven Blevins made three more appearances since joining the Miracle earlier this month.  Blevins pitched 6.2 shutout innings with 3 hits and 7K/2BB to keep his ERA at 0.00 in 7.2 innings.  Moscow native Andrei Lobanov maintained his perfect 0.00 ERA since joining the Miracle from EST on May 13th.  Lobanov has appeared in 5 games with 4K/1BB in 4.2 innings.      

Chris Herrmann and Nathan Hanson had two multi-hit games this week.  Herrmann is hitting .256/.316/.355 with a team high 9 doubles while playing left field, center field and catching.  Hanson is hitting .222/.287/.323.  Paul Kelly hasn't played since he was 2-5 last Sunday.  Chris Parmelee was 3-17 and Estarlin De Los Santos was 6-17 since returning from New Britain.

If Joe Benson needed a re-start, that is exactly what he did as he clearly was the Miracle's top player this week.  In five games since his return on Monday, Benson was 9-20 (.450 Average) with 6 runs scored, 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 2 stolen bases. 

Beloit Snappers (A) (4-3, 25-17, 1st place, +0.5 games over Cedar Rapids)

With their top three starters either on the disabled list (Stuifbergen) or moving on to Ft. Myers (Osterbrock and Hendriks), the Snappers continued to maintain their slim lead in the Western Division of the Midwest League.  Edgar Ibarra was solid in a 4-3 win at Wisconsin last weekend when he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 5.0 innings with 3 hits.  He returned last night in a 8-2 loss to Cedar Rapids when Seth Stohs reported that he was much better than his line....5.1 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs (4 earned) with 3K/4BB.  Brad Stillings was very good in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Kane County, pitching 5.1 innings with 4 hits and 2 runs.  Miguel Munoz threw a seven inning complete game shutout on Tuesday, allowing only 3 hits and 3K/2BB.  MIchael Tonkin had an excellent second start against Wisconsin, pitching 7.0 shutout innings with 3 hits and 6K/0BB.   

Munoz leads the staff with 41.2 innings and an excellent 3.24 ERA.  Edgar Ibarra has a 4.06 ERA in 31.0 innings with 29 strikeouts and 16 walks.  Kane Holbrooks has been a reliable closer with a 1.11 ERA and 5 saves in 17 appearances with 35K/5BB.  Jhon Garcia has been nearly perfect since joining the Snappers from EST on May 9th.  Garcia has made five appearances (9.1 innings) with 7 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) and 3K/2BB for a 0.96 ERA.

The Snappers' best hitter the first quarter of this season has been third baseman Anderson Hidalgo.  Hidalgo is hitting .324/.351/.448 with a team high 10 doubles.  Brian Dozier was hitting .278/.347/.338 in 151 at bats with 6 stolen bases in 7 attempts and an equal number of strikeouts and walks, 16.  Angel Morales has the seventh most stolen bases in the league, 13 in 18 attempts, while hitting .248/.325/.380 with a team high 21 RBI.  After hitting for a .164 Average in April, James Beresford is hitting .324/.385/.366 in May.  Aaron Hicks had only one hit in his first 30 at bats, then went on a hot streak to finish April hitting .299/.427/.463 in 67 at bats.  He is now on another cold streak with only 16 hits in 76 at bats this month (.211 Average).  Hicks has tremendous raw tools, however, with 6 stolen bases in 12 attempts and 46 strikeouts in 143 at bats the Twins were correct to send him back to the Midwest League for more seasoning.

The Twins called up B.J. Hermsen from EST to fill one of the vacant spots in their rotation.  Hermsen responded to pitch as well as anyone on the Snapper staff this season.  Making his second start against Kane County on Thursday, Hermsen threw 7.0 innings of shutout ball in a 3-2 Snappers win.  Hermsen allowed 3 hits with 3K/0BB to win his first game in the Snappers best performance of the week.  In two starts, Hermsen has a 0.75 ERA  and 0.75 WHIP in 12.0 innings with 7 hits, 1 run and 5K/2BB.