In the world of social media, one has an opportunity to connect to people much easier than in the past. Famous people, semi-famous people, even Twins minor league players. I have been Kane Holbrooks "friend" on Facebook for some time. He once interjected on a Facebook post I had written: "I think u forgot to mention that Kane holbrooks is throwing 99 not to mention just overall sexy" On Sept 2, he posted on his page: "Everybody dakota watts hit 99 tonight. I will hear about this for at least 2 months. Until he hits 100. Then I'm removing his arm from his body." When he & Dakota Watts got promoted to New Britain the next day, I wrote: "Congrats on the promotion, who will throw harder at New Britain? Dakota or you?" Kane responded with "Haha come on you know I throw harder than his little pansy ass".
Kane seems like a funny guy and seems to have a friendly competition with Dakota. Without knowing either of them personally, they seem to have a lot in common. They were both picked in the later in the 2009 draft, they are both tall right-handers & both born in 1987. Could they both be Minnesota Twins someday?
Holbrooks was selected in the 21st round of the draft out of Texas State. He started slow in 2009, compiling a 5.04 ERA on 25 innings at rookie Elizabethtown. He has been great in 2010. He went 5-3 with 9 saves and a 1.67 ERA in Beloit. Pitching mostly in relief, he had 71 strikeouts and 13 walks in 54 innings. He made the transition to starter and was promoted to Fort Myers in mid July. He was 3-3 with a 2.27 ERA with 36 Ks and 15 walks in 43.2 innings. As he has stated above, he throws hard. He also has a good slider and changeup.
Watts was selected in the 16th round of the draft out of Cal State Stanislaus. He had a 4.60 ERA in 29.1 innings at 3 levels in 2009. He also had a great year in 2010. He went 2-1 with 2 saves and a 2.31 ERA with Beloit. He had 55 strikeouts and 30 walks in 46.2 innings. He was promoted to Fort Myers a couple days before Holbrooks and went 4-2 with 6 saves and a 3.19 ERA. He struck out 29 and walked 12 in 31 innings. He is another guy who throws hard and has a good slider.
Both pitchers had breakout years in the Twins system, spending the whole year together at 3 levels. Both have great stuff. Both guys will probably start the season back in Fort Myers and could be on the fast track to the major leagues. Both could be premium relievers or Holbrooks could start. Watts could close out those starts. It will be interesting to watch the careers of these two "Twins" as they make their unexpected rise up prospect lists. For now, they'll have to settle for being Fort Myers "Twins" or New Britain "Twins", but someday it would be great if they were both Minnesota Twins.
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Whenever a potential move needs to be made by the Twins, the name Estarlin De Los Santos finds its way to the top of the blogosphere's drop list. If Anthony Slama needs to be added to the 40 man, the Twins can take off De Los Santos. If Justin Morneau comes off the 60 day DL, the Twins can DFA (designate for assignment) De Los Santos, etc.... So who is Estarlin De Los Santos? Is he so terrible?
De Los Santos was signed by the Twins in 2005 out of Villa Mella, Dominican Republic. He was added to the 40 man roster after the 2009 season. Coming into his 23rd year, this surprised a lot of fans. As a 22 year old, he hit .290/.330/.397 in High A Fort Myers with 11 stolen bases in 15 attempts. He had decent numbers at Fort Myers and is very good defensively but by no means, was he an overwhelming prospect.
One thing in De Los Santos favor is there were only 5 other players to play SS on the Twins 40 man. Trevor Plouffe, Alexi Casilla and J.J. Hardy were the only other SS, with Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto also able to play short. In fact, the system is nearly bereft of shortstops. It seemed like an odd choice at the time, but De Los Santos was the next best middle infielder in need of protecting. With his age, speed, a little bat and good defense at a premium position, it shouldn't have come as such a shock that he'd be added to the 40 man roster. His numbers as a 23 year old in A+ ball are similar to those of Matt Tolbert put up at the same age and level.
In 2010, De Los Santos has been slightly disappointing. After hitting .274/.340/.346 with 13 steals in 15 attempts in a return to Fort Myers, he was promoted to AA New Britain. Once promoted, he struggled big time. He hit only .177/.249/.245 with 6 steals in 14 attempts. When fans see those numbers, it makes sense that they'd think De Los Santos would be dropped off the roster, the first time the Twins need a roster spot. But it hasn't happened.
I think there is a real chance De Los Santos isn't dropped from the roster after the season. Hardy will probably be retained by the club for 2011, but second baseman Orlando Hudson will probably not be retained. Taking Hudson's spot will be either Alexi Casilla or Trevor Plouffe with Matt Tolbert also available. Nick Punto will most likely be let go due to a $5 million club option, injury and declining skill.
There are not a lot of options to add to the roster in the system at SS or even 2b. James Beresford might be one SS to add to the roster. He will only be 22. He hit .295/.347/.360 and stole 14 bases in 28 attempts in his second year at low A ball Beloit. He is 2 years younger than De Los Santos, but also 2 levels behind him in the system. The Twins could also choose to add Steve Singleton to the 40 man roster, though they didn't protect him following 2009. Singleton had a .267/.325/.410 for New Britain, playing mostly 2b. These numbers are similar to his 2009 numbers. He is a year and a half older than De Los Santos and has a little bit better bat, but will most likely go unclaimed again.
Estarlin De Los Santos is not a great prospect by any means. Soon to be 24, he is not terribly young anymore. He would return to AA next season and will profile as the next closest shortstop prospect to the major leagues. While no one should be too disappointed if he is removed from the 40 man roster, no one should be too surprised if he is left on the roster. Should the Twins drop him and add Beresford or Singleton or both? Do they add Beresford and keep De Los Santos on the 40 man? Do they find depth elsewhere? Do they go into 2011 with only 5 middle infielders, including Luke Hughes on the 40 man? I'm guessing he has one more year to grow, before the Twins give up their protection of him. They could drop him and he may go unclaimed, but another team may need SS depth. I believe he stays on the 40 man roster. He will return as the 40 man pariah.
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Let me introduce myself, My name is Shawn Berg, I am the author of OntheroadwithShawn. It's a baseball blog where I tackle various Twins, minor league and general baseball topics. For TwinsTarget, I will be posting minor league thoughts a couple times a week, or as inspiration dictates.
With my first post, I will introduce you to my favorite Twins prospect, Joe Benson. He plays all outfield positions and is capable of playing a very good center field. The 22 year old was a Twins 2nd round draft pick in 2006 out of Joliet Catholic Academy in Joliet, Illinois. He is not as highly thought of in Twins prospect circles as Aaron Hicks, Ben Revere, or Angel Morales, but he should be. He is a similar, if more advanced player than Aaron Hicks and Angel Morales. Hicks most likely will walk a little more than Benson. He is the same age as Revere and has much more power and is a better fielder, if not as fast a runner.
In 2009, he batted .285/.414/.403 for Fort Myers with 14 stolen bases in 21 attempts. He ranked #4 overall in my Twins prospect list coming into 2010. At the time, I said "he is developing into a prototypical lead off or #2 hitter. He's another of many high-end outfield prospects in the Twins organization." Well in 2010, his power has taken off. The 6'2" 211 lb. Benson finally added power that his frame would suggest. Prior to 2010, Benson topped out at 5 HRs in a season. He had a .259/.343/.538 line with 27 HRs, 31 doubles and 8 triples for Fort Myers and New Britain. He also stole 19 bases in 28 tries. His .527 slugging percentage at New Britain ranked 5th in the Eastern League of players with 300 plus plate appearances. His .862 OPS ranked 11th of players with 300 plus PA. His 23 HRs ranked 4th in the league. He probably isn't a going to be a 1 or 2 hitter after-all, though he hits at the top of the order for New Britain.
I have seen him play 3 times this season. When he was named as one of seven Twins to make the Arizona Fall league, I posted a scouting report on the 7 players.
This was my scouting report on Benson:
I saw him in June and wrote this: He's 22 and LaVelle E. Neal thinks he'll arrive in 2012. For some reason, he was sent back to Fort Myers this year. I personally think he is a better player than Revere right now. He certainly looks to have more upside. He is almost as fast as Revere but also has power. He went 2-5 with a 2B and a walk on Wednesday and 1-4 with a HR in Thursday's game. He leads New Britain with 9 HRs. The bounce in power is great especially since he is considered more of a speed guy. He already has 13 HRs in 2010 between Fort Myers/New Britain. He's never had more than 5 HRs in a season. If Micheal Cuddyer were traded in the off-season, Benson may be better equipped then Revere to replace some of his offense by next season.
I also saw him in August: He went 0-5 and some of his swings were really hard. Carlos Gomez hard. He is certainly the best prospect in AA for the Twins currently, but he has some work to do. I love watching him in the field and he has legitimate power. He also might be wound to tight. He got mad a couple times during the game, tossing his helmet hard into the dugout and also on the field after just missing his pitch and flying out. The kind of reaction usually reserved for strikeouts. Benson has a ton of tools and potential that is starting to show. I hope he is able to keep his emotions in check and just enjoy the game a little more. He has enough ability to go a long way someday soon.
Benson is a 5 tool player that could be a future star for the Twins. He can hit, hit for power, steal a base, plays great defense and has a good arm. He is more than capable in center field but may eventually shift to a corner. When he is in the lineup with Ben Revere, Revere has played center. Benson has also improved his on-base skills in the last couple of seasons.
The one flaw in his game is his strikeout rate. Benson struck out 136 times in 519 plate appearances in 2010. His 115 Eastern League K's ranked 11th and his total of 136 would have placed him in 6th place for the league. That's a strikeout every 3.82 plate appearances. Many mention his strikeout rate as a reason to keep Benson in AA for another season and it may be a fair reaction. Give him more time to work on this flaw before promoting him to AAA or the majors. As a comparison, the Twins strikeout leader this year is Jason Kubel. He has 102 strikeouts in 515 plate appearances. Kubel never had more than 59 Ks in any minor league season. Benson's strikeouts are a problem. Mark Reynolds and Adam Dunn never struck out that much in the minors.
Joe Benson will be added to the 40 man roster over the winter and will get a look in spring training before he gets sent back to AA. Between Arizona Fall league and his return to New Britain, Benson should be tasked with lowering his K rate. If he can do that, he will be ready to make an impact with the big league club as soon as mid-season. Guys like Aaron Hicks, Angel Morales and Ben Revere could be great players for the Twins, but Joe Benson is the most likely to do it first.
no commentsRochester Wrap
Columbus 5 Rochester 3 (29-45)
- The Red Wings suffered a tough hard fought game yesterday as they had decent pitching and decent hitting, but it was not enough as the Red Wings went down to the Clippers by a score of 5-3. Matt Fox got the start and if you take away a three run top of the first he was pretty decent, but you can’t so it is a so-so outing. Fox went just three innings and gave up three runs on seven hits along with an uncharacteristic three walks while striking out three to raise his era on the year to 3.94 and drop his record to 4-6. Matt Fox has generally been a pretty consistent pitcher for the Red Wings as they normally have a chance to win when he is on the mound. This was another one of those games although he only went three because of pitch count when he left the game it was only 3-1 so the Red Wings had a good chance to pull off the win. Jose Lugo then came in and id what the Wings needed him to do and that was to eat up innings with Fox only going three innings. Lugo went four innings and gave up two runs on three hits on two solo homeruns along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 6.88. Kyle Waldrop continued his wonderful season by pitching a scoreless inning of relief on one hit and a walk to lower his team leading era down to 1.07 on the year. Anthony Slama worked the ninth and tried to keep up with Waldrop to see who ends the season with the lowest era. Slama went one inning and did not give up a run on only one hit along with a strikeout to lower his era down to 1.49.
- The Red Wings offense did some decent things in this one, but just could not take advantage of all the chances they had in this game. Rochester scored three runs on 13 hits along with drawing a walk and leaving an unbelievable 11 guys on base in this one. When you leave 11 guys on base you are not going to win very many games and the Red Wings were not able to overcome it yesterday. The Red Wings were led offensively by Toby Gardenhire who continued his hot string by going 3-4 at the plate with his 10th rbi to bring his average up to .278. Trevor Plouffe went 2-5 to bring his average up to .269. Dustin Martin went 2-5 at the plate with his 17th double to bring his average up to .286. Jacque Jones went 2-4 with his 17th rbi and brought his average up to .307. Jose Morales went 1-4 at the plate with his eighth double. Brock Peterson went 1-5 with his 15th double of the year. D’Angelo Jimenez went 1-5 at the plate with his second double and first rbi. Brian Dinkelman also added a base hit in the losing cause for the Red Wings yesterday in Rochester.
- Tonight, the Red Wings travel to Scranton to take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees as it will be a bullpen game with Jeff Manship with the Twins. Gametime is at 6:05 in Scranton as the Red Wings try to break their three game losing streak with a victory.
New Britain Business
Binghamton 5 New Britain 1 (19-53)
- The Rockcats could not follow up a win with another win as they saw a close game get away from them in the middle innings last night in a 5-1 loss to Binghamton. Mike Mccardell got the start and did well for six innings holding a 1-0 lead going into the seventh inning, before everything fell apart in the seventh and before you knew it the Rockcats were behind 5-1. Mccardell went 6+ innings and gave up four runs on six hits along with a walk and four strikeouts to raise his era on the year to 5.22 along with dropping his record to 0-8. Cole Devries came on with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 1-1 game. What did Devries do well he gave up a grand slam to the first guy he faced to put the game away. Devries did fine after that going 1-2-3, but the damage was done. Devries went one inning and gave up a run on a hit along with a strikeout to raise his era up to 6.17. Tony Davis then came in and pitched a shutout inning of relief with a walk and a strikeout.
- Just like most games the Rockcats could not do anything offensively and it really hurts in a game like this that they could have won with a key hit and a key hit there. New Britain scored just one run on five hits along with drawing two walks and leaving seven guys on base. That is not a terrible amount to leave on, but in a close game like this you need to get those guys in to win games. The Rockcats were led offensively by Steve Singleton who went 1-4 at the plate with his team leading 20th double of the year. Joe Benson went 1-4 at the plate with his ninth homerun for the Rockcats and overall his organization leading 13th overall. Benson also drove in his 17th run of the year for the Rockcats. Mark Dolenc went 1-4 at the plate with his eighth double of the year. Ben Revere made his return to the lineup after missing a week with an arm laceration and went 1-4. Danny Lehman added a base hit in the losing cause for the Rockcats.
- Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series with Portland as Deolis Guerra gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 5:35pm in Portland as the Rockcats try to bounce back from last night and get back on the winning track.
Fort Myers Minutes
Fort Myers 3 (1-0) Charlotte 1
- The Miracle got their second half off to a good start as they pitched very well and got just enough big hits to pull out a 3-1 victory over Charlotte last night in Fort Myers. Bobby Lanigan got the start for the Miracle and was very good, but because he missed so much time his pitch count was limited so he was not able to go long. Lanigan went four innings and did not give up a run on only one hit along with a walk and a strikeout to lower his era on the year to 2.23. Fellow starter Bruce Pugh, also returning from injury, came on and went the next 2.2 innings and also did not give up a run on only two hits along with a walk and three strikeouts to lower his era down to 3.71 along with improving his record to 3-5. Jose Gonzalez then came on and worked 1.1 scoreless innings on just two hits to lower his era on the year to 1.17. Billy Bulluck pitched the ninth and gave up a run on two hits to pick up his 14th save, while raising his era on the year to still a very good 3.62.
- The Miracle offense did not do much against Charlotte pitching in this one, but they did enough to get the lead and turn it over to the pitching staff that was really on. Fort Myers scored three runs on eight hits along with drawing a walk and leaving just five guys on base so the Miracle did a nice job of not wasting the runners that they had. Bruce Pugh committed his first error of the year in the victory for Fort Myers. The Miracle were led offensively by Brian Dozier who continued his hot streak by going 2-4 at the plate with his first homerun and 14th and 15th rbi’s to bring his average up to .284. After getting off to a slow start in Fort Myers Dozier is showing he is the shortstop version of Ben Revere in that he does not have much power, but man can the guy hit. Dozier in his last 10 games is hitting a robust .415 with an on base percentage of .467 so he is really hot right now. Esterlin De Los Santos also went 2-4 at the plate with his eighth rbi of the year to bring his average up to .314. De Los Santos has done enough in my mind to warrant sending him back up to AA and that move would open up a spot in Fort Myers for another deserving infielder in James Beresford. Drew Thompson went 1-3 at the plate with his ninth double of the year. Angel Morales went 1-3 with his second double and is rebounding after a slow start since his promotion to get his average up to .233. After starting out 3-19 in his first six games with the Miracle, Morales has rebounded in his last three to go 4-11 which is much better. Nathan Hanson and Jon Goncalves each contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Miracle.
- Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with Charlotte as Shooter Hunt is scheduled to pitch for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 6:05 in Fort Myers as the Miracle attempt to keep up the winning ways.
Beloit Beat
- The Snappers had their final day off of the All-Star Break last night. Tonight, the Snappers begin a series with Clinton as Brad Stillings gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 7:00pm in Clinton as the Snappers try to get the second half off the same way they ended the first half.
E-Town Tidbits
E-Town 5 (2-1) Bristol 4
- The E-Town Twins got the season off to a good start with a nice comeback in the ninth inning to steal one in Bristol. Trailing 4-3 going into the ninth after Zach See gave up three in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Twins scored two runs in the ninth behind a two run single by Brian Burke to score Jamaal Hawkins and Gunner Glad. However, it was not over an error by closer David Gutierrez put a guy on third with only one out, but Jamaal Hawkins threw the guy out at the plate to preserve the victory. Ryan O’Roarke got the start for the Twins and was very good in this one. O’Roarke went five innings and gave up just one run on five hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to bring his era to 1.80. Nelson Fuentes then came in and went two innings and gave up a run on a hit along with two walks to bring his era to 3.00. Zach See then came in and was not very good, but still got the win to go to 1-0. See went 1.1 innings and gave up two runs on two hits along with a walk to bring his era to 7.71. Closer David Gutierrez then came in and got two outs to pick up his first save of the year and his career.
- The E-Town Twins did not do anything offensively until the seventh inning and still found a way to get the job done. Elizabethton scored five runs on 11 hits along with drawing five walks and leaving eight guys on base in the victory for the Twins. The Twins committed three errors in this one that did not help things. Jamaal Hawkins committed his first and second errors of the year, while David Gutierrez committed his first. The Twins were led offensively for the third straight game by Oswaldo Arcia who went 2-5 with his third homerun and fifth rbi to bring his average up to .538. Gunner Glad went 2-5 at the plate to bring his average to an even .500. Brian Burke went 2-5 at the plate with his first two rbi’s of the year to bring his average up to .222. Daniel Ortiz went 2-4 at the plate with his second and third doubles of the year to bring his average up to .250. Kyle Knudson went 1-3 with his first double of the year. Jamaal Hawkins and Lance Ray contributed base hits in the winning cause for the Twins.
- Tonight, the Twins begin a series with Kingsport as Matire Garcia is scheduled to pitch for Elizabethton. Gametime is at 6:00 p.m. in Elizabethton as the Twins try to make it two straight and continue their winning ways.
Top Prospect Watch in GCL
Max Kepler 0-3 with a walk Average .250
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- The Red Wings continued their rough first half and Glen Perkins edged himself to a possible release with another rough start in the Red Wings 11-2 loss to
- The Red Wings did not do anything on offense against
- Today, the Red Wings continue their series with
- The Rockcats finally combined a good pitching performance with a good hitting performance for one of the few times all year. If they could have done this more often they wouldn’t be 50 games out of first. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and had his best start in quite a while. Gutierrez went six innings and gave up just one run on six hits along with two walks and three strikeouts to drop his era on the year to 4.65 and improved his record up to 3-5.
- The Rockcats finally got a good night offensively in this one as they put up some good offensive numbers.
- Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with
- The Miracle finished their first half on a winning track after having a disappointing half. The Miracle put a nice combination of good hitting and adequate pitching to beat
- The Miracle had a nice offensive game in this one as they really stepped it up.
- Tonight, the Miracle begin their second half at home against
- The Snappers had yesterday off as they get ready to begin their second half with a series against
E-Town Tidbits
- The Twins actually have the ability to lose a game. I know that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but they win so much that you are surprised when they don’t win. However, just like in any level if you don’t pitch well you are not going to win very many games. Blayne Weller got the start for the Twins and was not very good in this one. It was probably the worst start of his career as he had such a wonderful season in 2009. Weller went just four innings and gave up four earned runs on a whopping nine hits along with two strikeouts to bring his era to 9.00. Weller will get much better as the year goes on and this was just a one start thing so don’t expect starts like this very often. Sam Spangler then came in and went two innings and gave up a run on two hits along with two strikeouts to bring his era to 4.50. David Gutierrez then came in and pitched a scoreless inning along with two strikeouts. He was followed by Kyle Necke who did not do too well giving up two runs on three hits in one inning of work along with a walk and two strikeouts to bring his era up to 18.00.
- The E-Town Twins offense had a decent game offensively, but they could not pitch very good. E-Town scored four runs on seven hits along with taking a walk and leaving two guys on base. Jonathon Arias committed his first error of the year in the loss. The Twins were led offensively by Oswaldo Arcia who continued his hot start by going 2-4 at the plate with his second homerun and first triple and fourth rbi to bring his average up to .625. Jamaal Hawkins, Hyeong-rok Choi, Kyle Knudson each contributed a base hit in the loss. Brandon Henderson went 2-2 at the plate to bring his average up to .400 on the year.
- Tonight, the E-Town Twins continue their series with
- The Red Wings lost a tough one last night as their pitching staff did not allow the offense to do anything against
- The Red Wings offense had a pretty good night, but you are not going to win very many times when your pitching staff gives up 10 runs.
- Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with
- The Rockcats had a really tough one last night as not only did they not pitch very good in this one, but they also did not get a whole lot going on offense in a blowout loss to Binghamton by the score of 13-3. Tyler Robertson got the start and was decent before running out of gas in the seventh inning. Robertson went into the seventh inning only allowing three runs which is not real bad, but he got drilled in the 7th so his line will not look pretty. Robertson went 6.1 innings and gave up six runs on 10 hits along with a walk and four strikeouts while giving up two homeruns. With the six runs allowed it ballooned Robertson’s era on the year to 5.16 and dropped his record down to 0-7. This has been Robertson’s problem all year long as he will be doing good and then will hit the wall and get drilled. This probably means one of two things that either he does not have the stamina to pitch into the 7th and 8th innings or quite possibly he should be a reliever as teams figure him out the third and fourth times around. Loek Van Mil then came on and went 2/3 of an inning and gave up three runs on two hits although only two were earned along with a strikeout to raise his era up to 3.24. Michael Allen then came in and got shelled getting only one out and giving up four runs on only one hit along with two walks to raise his era up to a robust 8.68. Matt Williams finished the game with a shutout inning on one hit to lower his era on the year to 6.85.
- The Rockcats really could not go much on offense and in a game where the pitchers struggled that is not a good sign.
- Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with
- The Miracle are having their first half come to an end thankfully they only have one game left after finishing a suspended game and winning that while losing the regularly scheduled game. In the suspended game Liam Hendriks had started the game and pitched five shutout innings on only three hits along with four strikeouts to lower his era to 1.62. When they started last night Blake Martin got the start and went three innings and did not give up a run on a walk and three strikeouts to pick up the win and improve his record to 2-2 on the year and drop his era down to 4.68. Billy Bulluck pitched a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout to pick up his 12th save of the year and lower his era to 3.90. In game 2 Dan Osterbrock got the start and was very good once again, but the offense could get nothing done in the 5-0 loss. Osterbrock went seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits although only one of the runs was earned to take the loss and drop his record to 3-6 and his era down to 2.98. Joe Testa then came on and was awful going one inning and gave up three runs on five hits along with two strikeouts to raise his robust era up to 6.52.
- The Miracle did not have a good offensive game in game 1, but got enough big hits to pull out the win.
- Today, the Miracle finish off their bad first half with a game with
· The Snappers continue their All-Star Break and will not begin their second half until Friday. Last night the Midwest League held their all-star game and the Snappers had three players involved. Aaron Hicks went 1-3 at the plate with a double.
E-town Tidbits
Elizabethton 6 (1-0)
· The E-Town Twins got off to a very good start to their season last night as they got a very well pitched game by Adrian Salcedo and some key hits to get the season off on the right foot with a 6-1 win over
· The Twins had a pretty good night offensively as they scored their runs in bunches last night. E-Town scored six runs on nine hits along with drawing two walks and leaving just five guys on base. The Twins were led offensively by Oswaldo Arcia who went 3-4 at the plate with his first homerun along with his first double and his first three rbi’s of the year. Gunner Glad went 3-5 at the plate with his first and second doubles of the year. Daniel Ortiz went 1-4 at the plate with his first double. Hyeong-rok Choi went 1-3 at the plate with his first homerun of the year. Jamaal Hawkins also contributed a base hit in the winning cause for the Twins.
· Tonight, the Twins continue their series with
- The Red Wings broke a four game losing streak with a very well pitched game by Ryan Mullins and good bullpen work along with a run scoring single by Jose Morales in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Dustin Martin for the winning run. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Red Wings and was very good in this one and broke out of a little slump he had been on. In his previous three starts he had given up 14 earned runs so it was a nice change of pace. Mullins went seven innings and only gave up a run on five hits along with two walks and four strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 4.95. Anthony Slama then came on and pitched awesome throwing two shutout innings on one hit along with a walk and two strikeouts to lower his era on the year to 1.52. Kyle Waldrop then pitched a scoreless 10th inning to pick up his third win of the year without a loss along with a walk to lower his era on the year to 1.11. Waldrop and Slama have developed into quite a pair at the end of the Red Wings bullpen this year and one of the only things that is worth talking about. In 90 innings of work between the two of them they have only given up 13 earned runs and that is utterly amazing to have two guys at the end of the bullpen to be that dominant. Imagine if Alex Burnett was there like he was supposed to before Clay Condrey got hurt. The game would have been a six inning game. However, it is amazing what those two have accomplished and I can’t imagine it will be long before the Twins will be forced to call up one if not both of them.
- The Red Wings could not get much going against
- Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with
- The Rockcats had yesterday off and will begin a series in
- The Miracle are counting the days until the end of the dreadful first half of play as they lost another doubleheader to Palm Beach and are now 0-9 against Palm Beach this year. With the two losses that increases the Miracle’s losing streak up to a season high eight games. In game one the Miracle got a great pitching performance from staff ace Liam Hendriks, but wasted it in a 1-0 loss. Hendriks went the whole way giving up a run in the bottom of the seventh to take the loss and drop his record on the year with the Miracle to 4-2. Hendriks ended up going 6.1 innings and gave up an unearned run on eight hits along with seven strikeouts. Hendriks has been awesome this year and has really elevated his stock in the Twins eyes. His walk to strikeout rate is unbelievable and if you count his time in
- In game one the Miracle offense really could do nothing against
- Tonight, the Miracle first finish off a suspended game with
- The Snappers are currently in their all-star break and will play in the Midwest All Star Game tonight. The Snappers begin the second half of their season Friday Night.
- The Red Wings lost their fourth consecutive game yesterday to complete a three game sweep by
- The Red Wings offense really did not do much as White Sox top pitching prospect Dan Hudson shut the Red Wings down pretty good.
- Tonight, the Red Wings begin a series at home against first place
- The Rockcats lost their third consecutive game to
- The Rockcats offense had a decent day at the plate as some of the guys that have returned to
- The Rockcats have today off before beginning a series in Binghamton as they try to stop their three game losing streak and try to do something positive as they get ready for the second half of the season.
- The Miracle had yesterday off and will begin a series in
- The Snappers finished off their first half on a flurry as they won 9 of their last 11 games to get close to Quad Cities for the last playoff spot, but not quite enough as they finshed a couple games behind them. The Snappers had a great first half and now they get some rest before they come out and try to win the second half title behind good pitching and good hitting. Yesterday, the Snappers finished strong with a good pitching performance from Miguel Munoz and some timely hitting to pull out a 4-3 win in
- The Snappers did not get a lot of offense in this game, but got some key hits that let them overcome a 3-2 deficit in the fourth to pick up the win.
- The Snappers now begin their all-star break and will not begin the second half until Friday.
- The Red Wings continued their inconsistency by following up a good game the day before with a bad one last night. In this one they got back relief pitching along with not hitting in a 9-2 loss to
- The Red Wings just could not get anything going against
- Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with
- The Rockcats had a nice game last night as they defeated
- The Rockcats had a nice night offensively and it was good enough to get the win because they got a well pitched game by David Bromberg and
- Tonight, the Rockcats begin a series in
- The Miracle lost their fourth consecutive game last night as they got good pitching from Dan Osterbrock, but could not do anything against
- The Miracle could do nothing offensively in this game as they were shutout once again.
- Tonight, the Miracle continue their series with
- The Snappers continued their hot streak with a nice 4-0 victory over
- The Snappers offense did not do a lot in this game, but it was enough thanks to the great performance by Hermsen.
- Tonight, the Snappers start their final series of the first half as they welcome in
- The Red Wings had yesterday off and will begin a series in
- The Rockcats lost a couple games to
- The Rockcats could do nothing against former Rochester Red Wing pitcher Jason Jones in this one.
- Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with
- The Miracle had their game with
- Tonight, the Miracle begin a series with first place
- The Snappers are playing their best baseball of the season, but there is one problem they are to far behind first place
- It was a good day offensively by the Snappers as they put the Kernels away early and packed it away early.
- Tonight, the Snappers finish off their series with
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