Article: Sunday Funday in the Minors

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1565-Sunday-Funday-in-the-Minors

[Madre Dos]

I am glad that Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers are finally utilizing all of the great talent that we have sent them from Elizabethton.

[jokin]

I am glad that Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers are finally utilizing all of the great talent that we have sent them from Elizabethton.

 

Not all of the great talent has been sent yet.

 

Chargois, Kepler and Berrios still have their debuts on hold.

[glunn]

Thanks for this great report. Sano seems to be on fire, but Slama seems to be struggling.

[Sanibelchuck]

Am a season ticket holder for the Miracle. This team is fun to watch. 90 degrees in Fort Myers with a nice breeze. Will be at the game Monday night. Miracle take on the Palm Beach Cardinals. Go Miracle!! Great hitting and great pitching equals a win.

[Mike Sixel]

I wonder how long a guy like Slama can keep giving it his all, intentionally or not.

[TwinsFanInPhilly]

Sanibelchuck - more first-hand reports from you would be a welcome addition to this site!

[Seth Stohs]

I wonder how long a guy like Slama can keep giving it his all, intentionally or not.

 

I asked myself that same question the last two days. I have no doubt in my mind that Slama is giving it his all. None whatsoever. He's as classy as it gets and he does care. It has to be frustrating, and now the fact that he barely hits 89 often anymore, it's hard to not feel for the guy. Would have been nice for him to get more of an opportunity when he still could hit 91-92.

[Mike Sixel]

I feel bad for him, frankly. Lots of guys with way worse stuff and way worse results have played for this team. It would have been great to at least have given him some time.

 

I have no doubt he's trying his hardest.

[cmathewson]

Personally, I hope all this success at Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids doesn't make us too eager to promote guys like Buxton for a few months anyway. Hopefully, they keep playing this way and dominating their leagues before getting the call-up.

 

One question Seth: Have you heard anything about the health of Morales the last couple of years? I have heard rumors, and I know he was hurt in 2011. But I was as shocked as anyone when he struggled so badly last year, especially with the spring he had. I can't help but I think he had some unreported injury.

[Seth Stohs]

Personally, I hope all this success at Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids doesn't make us too eager to promote guys like Buxton for a few months anyway. Hopefully, they keep playing this way and dominating their leagues before getting the call-up.

 

One question Seth: Have you heard anything about the health of Morales the last couple of years? I have heard rumors, and I know he was hurt in 2011. But I was as shocked as anyone when he struggled so badly last year, especially with the spring he had. I can't help but I think he had some unreported injury.

 

On your first point, I'm in agreement. I would never promote a top prospect for at least two months in those lower levels. At that point, you're in mid-June, might as well let them play in their league's all-star game. The Twins typically do promote several guys at that time.

 

I go back to Danny Ortiz two years ago. He posted like a 1.250 OPS in April in Beloit, and he never posted another .700 OPS the rest of the season. Miguel Sano had a terrific April, but he struggled at various times throughout the season. I've said with Buxton that I think there's a decent chance he'll get pushed up to Ft. Myers this year, but I wouldn't do it now. He needs time.

 

As for Morales, we're all aware of his elbow problems that cost him most of 2011. They tried rehab for awhile, then he went in for Tommy John. When they got in, they found they were able to fix it with arthroscopic surgery and he played some at the end of the year. I have been given no indication of any injury with him in 2012. He got off to the great start and really just struggled the whole rest of the season. And, he couldn't make contact in Puerto Rico this winter. He's a really good person, potentially too nice. But he's such a great athlete and still not old for the level of competition (he's like 5-6 months older than average for FSL). It's a big year because he can become a minor league free agent following the season.

[Steven Buhr]

The Kernels have announced they'll play a doubleheader Tuesday night against Wisconsin, which will make up one of the two postponed games from last week. The other game will not be made up due to rules limiting teams to no more than three doubleheaders in a 7-day period (Kernels played twinbills Sat and Sun in Clinton). CR and Wisconsin don't face one another the rest of the first half of the season, so they'll each just play 69 games instead of 70.

 

It should be interesting to see how Jake Mauer and pitching coach Gary Lucas juggle the rotation. The Tuesday doubleheader will mean the Kernels will have played seven games inside of four days.

 

Then again, we're seeing rain in the forecast for CR this week, so who knows how many of these games will get played anyway.

[Seth Stohs]

Any idea why Taylor Rogers went just two innings yesterday?

[kab21]

Let's not overreact to Slama's 'struggles'. These occurred in back to back days and I think Rochester tried to keep Slama out of the 2nd game and didn't use him until it went into extra innings.