Twins Fan From Afar

Thanks, error fixed! I have a small ticket plan, and as a result of my work with this website can access the pressbox and players. I hold out hope for May. 80% of his start was fantastic tonight. He does have kind of a funky delivery, though.

In the nightcap it wasn't just Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario that I was excited to see. This was also my first time seeing righty Trevor May in person. May consistently hit 93 with his fastball in the 1st inning, and was moving it in and out pretty effectively. Same control problems we have all heard about, though. Had a 4-pitch walk and a wild pitch in the first inning. 20 pitches to get out of it. The second inning, though, was much better -- 14 pitches 1-2-3. Ironically, former Twins' farmhand David Bromberg got the start for the Altoona Curve. He pitched very, very well tonight. The Twins' big prospects: Rosario walked in his first at-bat. Sano K'd mightily. Morales -- who shouldn't be forgotten -- also struck out swinging. Control issues came back in 3rd inning for May. He walked leadoff batter, and took 13 total pitches to record an out (swinging strikeout). But then May came back with a convincing strikeout. He started off the next hitter with 3 balls before giving up a well struck homer to left-center. With May, it's not just the walks -- it's the extra pitches the walks and control problems generate. One positive: I like May's curve. Another: he was still throwing the fastball 93 in the 6th inning just about 90 pitches into his outing. In Rosario's second at-bat, he really turned on a 1-1 offering for a hard single to right. It was a quick, decisive and powerful swing. Sano's second at bat: worked a 3-1 count, got a pitch to hit, and again just missed it. Another high sacrifice fly just shy of the warning track, to put the Cats on the board. Morales second at-bat: half-swing strikeout. Not a good at-bat. Rosario's third at-bat, half-swinging strikeout. He did take a vicious cut on a fastball earlier in the at-bat. I can definitely see where the power comes from. Rosario made a great play at second -- picking a low throw from C Kyle Knudson and applying the tag just in time. Definitely an average to above-average play. The the kind of thing that makes a manager curse: Trevor May immediately walks that batter with 2 outs. All in all, May had a decent start. 6 and 1/3 innings, charged with 3 earned runs. The control problems were on display, but so was his strikeout potential. 8 Ks and 3 walks; 106 pitches; 62 for strikes. The players were pretty tired after the doubleheader, and the locker room was already clearing out. There was one guy at his locker, eating a plate of food in silence. It was Sano. I asked for just a moment of his time. Clearly Sano was tired from a whirlwind few days, but obliged. No translator, either! Regarding his 2 sacrifice flies tonight, Sano admitted that "when [he] hit them, [he] thought they were home runs," but he was just "a little under" the ball. On his call-up: "I was so happy, I have been working so hard." Describing the moment he was called up, Sano told me: "[Doug] Mientkiewicz said 'Sano, Rosario, Morales come here. You're ready to be promoted to Double-A.'" Regarding his defense, at third base, Sano confirmed that he is "totally comfortable there." And again, he looked very comfortable fielding tonight. All in all, it was 2 Rock Cats losses, but solid offensive and defensive performances from Sano and Rosario. More notes forthcoming, but it's been a long night of baseball.

In the nightcap it wasn't just Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario that I was excited to see. This was also my first time seeing righty Trevor May in person. May consistently hit 93 with his fastball in the 1st inning, and was moving it in and out pretty effectively. Same control problems we have all heard about, though. Had a 4-pitch walk and a wild pitch in the first inning. 20 pitches to get out of it. The second inning, though, was much better -- 14 pitches 1-2-3. Ironically, former Twins' farmhand David Bromberg got the start for the Altoona Curve. He pitched very, very well tonight. The Twins' big prospects: Rosario walked in his first at-bat. Sano K'd mightily. Morales -- who shouldn't be forgotten -- also struck out swinging. Control issues came back in 3rd inning for May. He walked leadoff batter, and took 13 total pitches to record an out (swinging strikeout). But then May came back with a convincing strikeout. He started off the next hitter with 3 balls before giving up a well struck homer to left-center. With May, it's not just the walks -- it's the extra pitches the walks and control problems generate. One positive: I like May's curve. Another: he was still throwing the fastball 93 in the 6th inning just about 90 pitches into his outing. In Rosario's second at-bat, he really turned on a 1-1 offering for a hard single to right. It was a quick, decisive and powerful swing. Sano's second at bat: worked a 3-1 count, got a pitch to hit, and again just missed it. Another high sacrifice fly just shy of the warning track, to put the Cats on the board. Morales second at-bat: half-swing strikeout. Not a good at-bat. Rosario's third at-bat, half-swinging strikeout. He did take a vicious cut on a fastball earlier in the at-bat. I can definitely see where the power comes from. Rosario made a great play at second -- picking a low throw from C Kyle Knudson and applying the tag just in time. Definitely an average to above-average play. The the kind of thing that makes a manager curse: Trevor May immediately walks that batter with 2 outs. All in all, May had a decent start. 6 and 1/3 innings, charged with 3 earned runs. The control problems were on display, but so was his strikeout potential. 8 Ks and 3 walks; 106 pitches; 62 for strikes. The players were pretty tired after the doubleheader, and the locker room was already clearing out. There was one guy at his locker, eating a plate of food in silence. It was Sano. I asked for just a moment of his time. Clearly Sano was tired from a whirlwind few days, but obliged. No translator, either! Regarding his 2 sacrifice flies tonight, Sano admitted that "when [he] hit them, [he] thought they were home runs," but he was just "a little under" the ball. On his call-up: "I was so happy, I have been working so hard." Describing the moment he was called up, Sano told me: "[Doug] Mientkiewicz said 'Sano, Rosario, Morales come here. You're ready to be promoted to Double-A.'" Regarding his defense, at third base, Sano confirmed that he is "totally comfortable there." And again, he looked very comfortable fielding tonight. All in all, it was 2 Rock Cats losses, but solid offensive and defensive performances from Sano and Rosario. More notes forthcoming, but it's been a long night of baseball.

New Britain only amassed 3 hits in the first of two 7-inning contests tonight, but to be completely honest, that wasn't the main -- or perhaps even secondary -- story. No, make no mistake, fans and reporters (including this fan/reporter) were here to see Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Angel Morales, the newest additions to the Rock Cats. I was fortunate to be in attendance, to take a few pictures, and even awful video, of the debuts. [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1M9A5gvsug/UbkKbZgOh2I/AAAAAAAAAi0/Tj6D4qelVDo/s320/IMAG0464.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Miguel Sano (#24), nicknamed "Boacton," warming up[/TD] [/TABLE] One interesting item: the home plate umpire wore a camera on his facemask for the first part of the game. This was in connection with the documentary being filmed about Sano, The Miguel Sano Story. Here's some more information on that. I loved the first documentary, Ballplayer: Pelotero, and it's pretty cool that the sequel is (partly) being filmed right here. I suspect, though, that the filmmakers hope that the end of the documentary takes place a little west of Connecticut. My biggest takeaway from the first game: Sano's defense looked good. The arm got the job done. Sano had to come in on a bunt early on and made a nice play, and he snagged a hard grounder right after (he actually took a few steps back to third base in a decent attempt to catch the runner on third, who had just broken home). At no point was there any awkward footwork or anything that would suggest that Sano was uncomfortable at that position. To be sure, he wasn't tested with a diving play, and didn't have to barehand a ball in this first game, but he looked good. Solid. At bat, he was decent. He wasn't challenged in his first plate appearance, which ended in a 5-pitch walk. He was, however, thrown out stealing second. Don't forget -- Sano does have some speed (he stole 9 bases with Ft. Myers this spring). In his second at-bat he grounded rather routinely to third base. His final at-bat was probably the best. He was just under a fly ball, which went for a sac fly. He didn't "connect" with the pitch, yet it ended up just shy of the warning track. You can check out awful videos of Sano's at-bats here. Again, the videos are jittery. I took them with my phone. I'll get better, maybe. I thought Rosario played well, also. He took a 4-pitch walk in his first at-bat, hit a sinking liner to center in his second at-bat (that took a decent play from the centerfielder), and singled with a grounder up the middle in his final at-bat. No big defensive challenges that I recall. Angel Morales batted 9th in the order. He struck out in his first at-bat, grounded out to second in his second at-bat, and grounded to short in his final trip to the plate. General thoughts: Rosario has a compact swing, and is not a huge guy, but you can see where the power comes from. For lack of a better word, he is coiled when he bats. I'm excited to watch him hit. Wow, Sano is huge. Look at that picture of him compared to the other professional athletes next to him. I think Sano is used to getting pitched around. The difference between High-A pitching and AA pitching is significant. Let's see Sano gets tons of pitches to hit early on, or if pitchers try to paint the corners when he bats. Game 2 is just about to start. Let's see what happens. Expect more tweets, more awful videos, and another recap.

New Britain only amassed 3 hits in the first of two 7-inning contests tonight, but to be completely honest, that wasn't the main -- or perhaps even secondary -- story. No, make no mistake, fans and reporters (including this fan/reporter) were here to see Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Angel Morales, the newest additions to the Rock Cats. I was fortunate to be in attendance, to take a few pictures, and even awful video, of the debuts. [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1M9A5gvsug/UbkKbZgOh2I/AAAAAAAAAi0/Tj6D4qelVDo/s320/IMAG0464.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Miguel Sano (#24), nicknamed "Boacton," warming up[/TD] [/TABLE] One interesting item: the home plate umpire wore a camera on his facemask for the first part of the game. This was in connection with the documentary being filmed about Sano, The Miguel Sano Story. Here's some more information on that. I loved the first documentary, Ballplayer: Pelotero, and it's pretty cool that the sequel is (partly) being filmed right here. I suspect, though, that the filmmakers hope that the end of the documentary takes place a little west of Connecticut. My biggest takeaway from the first game: Sano's defense looked good. The arm got the job done. Sano had to come in on a bunt early on and made a nice play, and he snagged a hard grounder right after (he actually took a few steps back to third base in a decent attempt to catch the runner on third, who had just broken home). At no point was there any awkward footwork or anything that would suggest that Sano was uncomfortable at that position. To be sure, he wasn't tested with a diving play, and didn't have to barehand a ball in this first game, but he looked good. Solid. At bat, he was decent. He wasn't challenged in his first plate appearance, which ended in a 5-pitch walk. He was, however, thrown out stealing second. Don't forget -- Sano does have some speed (he stole 9 bases with Ft. Myers this spring). In his second at-bat he grounded rather routinely to third base. His final at-bat was probably the best. He was just under a fly ball, which went for a sac fly. He didn't "connect" with the pitch, yet it ended up just shy of the warning track. You can check out awful videos of Sano's at-bats here. Again, the videos are jittery. I took them with my phone. I'll get better, maybe. I thought Rosario played well, also. He took a 4-pitch walk in his first at-bat, hit a sinking liner to center in his second at-bat (that took a decent play from the centerfielder), and singled with a grounder up the middle in his final at-bat. No big defensive challenges that I recall. Angel Morales batted 9th in the order. He struck out in his first at-bat, grounded out to second in his second at-bat, and grounded to short in his final trip to the plate. General thoughts: Rosario has a compact swing, and is not a huge guy, but you can see where the power comes from. For lack of a better word, he is coiled when he bats. I'm excited to watch him hit. Wow, Sano is huge. Look at that picture of him compared to the other professional athletes next to him. I think Sano is used to getting pitched around. The difference between High-A pitching and AA pitching is significant. Let's see Sano gets tons of pitches to hit early on, or if pitchers try to paint the corners when he bats. Game 2 is just about to start. Let's see what happens. Expect more tweets, more awful videos, and another recap.

Great stuff, JC.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption][ATTACH=CONFIG]4384[/ATTACH] Miguel Sano: Probably a cornerstone to the 2016 Twins [/TABLE] This year's Twins are better than the 2012 edition, who thankfully were better than the 2011 edition (well, it was hardly possible to be any worse). All signs indicate that the 2014 edition will continue on that track of improvement. The trend is slow. Painfully slow. But the direction is undoubtedly correct. I'm no expert on the Twins' minor leagues, or on prospecting in general. For the past couple seasons, though, I have seen guys come and go -- and sometimes come back again -- from New Britain. I've been fortunate to watch Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee, Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Arcia, Chris Colabello, and even "new guys" like Alex Meyer and Trevor May. In the coming months, I'll watch Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. In short, what I lack in expertise I make up in convenient geographical location. I've been thinking a lot recently about when the Twins can next win the AL Central -- not just "compete for it" -- and what their roster might look like. My best guess for the year is 2016, and what follows is a bunch of crazy roster projections. Keep in mind, many, many prospects don't pan out. Even guys that dominate all levels of the minors routinely fail when they get to the majors. Also keep in mind that my projections don't take into account front office moves that may (I'm cringing typing this) move a few of our best prospects in coming years. I hope Terry Ryan & Company are still in a mindset of collecting, not dealing, prospects, but you never know. With those caveats in mind, here's a position-by-position look at how the Twins are going to win the AL Central in 2016. Catcher: Joe Mauer: He's still under contract, still catching some, and is now playing some combination of first base/DH/right field in the 50 percent of games he doesn't catch. He can still hit .300, by the way, because he's awesome at the game of baseball and his knees are getting very routine rest. Josmil Pinto: I hope he continues to produce and grow as a catcher. There's no reason he can't be catching half the Twins' games in 2016 and batting .280 with some power while doing so. I've watched him play probably a dozen or so games, and he is a professional hitter. Chris Herrmann: He can, at the very least, be a third catcher/outfielder. I have every confidence that he can, in time, be a .270 hitter with a good eye at the plate. An all-star -- probably not. But an affordable back-up that can call a good game, absolutely. Third Base: Miguel Sano: He's not a gold glover, but we don't need that. He plays adequate defense and is a force to be reckoned with at the plate. As I'm writing this post, he was just promoted to AA New Britain, so rest assured the Twins are not going to let their top prospects languish in the minors. If Sano cannot hack it at third base, he can always play first. But here's a question -- when was the last time that you heard a legitimate source claim that Sano was a serious question at third? Probably the very beginning of this season or the end of last season. Clearly there has been improvement! Centerfield: Aaron Hicks. He will continue to improve, just as he did in 2012 with the Rock Cats, and just as he is slowly doing in Minnesota. Byron Buxton: He might be one of the top 2 prospects in baseball right now. It's crazy to type that, but legitimate writers claim that as the truth. Buxton has a long way to go before he pans out, but I have yet to read any report suggesting that he does not have the skill set to become a solid major league player. Corner Outfield: Oswaldo Arcia. He's already gotten a taste in Minnesota this year, and I was pretty impressed. Although he slumped at the end, he didn't look in over his head, and he demonstrated why he was named the Twins' minor league hitter of the year last season. He's good now, but he'll be great in a few years. Aaron Hicks: If Byron Buxton becomes the player we hope he becomes, he will eventually win the centerfield job, pushing Hicks to a corner position. Angel Morales: I honestly don't know much about him, but am looking forward to finding out more. He's 23 and now is in AA. Joe Mauer: The guy has a cannon, and is just an all-around great athlete. I predict he'll get a 20-30 games in left field or right field. Danny Ortiz: I've really like what I've seen from him in New Britain. I'm not sure what the scouting reports say, but I saw a good arm, and his batting stats have been impressive. Middle Infield: Eddie Rosario. Rosario is young, and is still learning to play second, but has demonstrated that he is up to the challenge. By the way, he's probably one of the best offensive second base prospects we have had since Chuck Knoblauch. As with Sano, the reports of Rosario's difficulty learning the position have subsided this season. Brian Dozier: 2013 is a little better than 2012. His glove is better, anyway. Will he get it together? Time will tell. In any event, if he does, he'll be an affordable option in 2016. Levi Michael: I have yet to see Michael play, so I'm hesitant to judge. I'd love to see him have a breakout second half of 2013 and turn some heads. James Beresford: He was just promoted to AAA today. Congratulations, James! He's not a first-tier prospect, but he has an excellent glove. Can he continue to hit .300? We'll see. Beresford, however, could be a great utility infielder, as shortstop is his natural position. If he was called up to the Twins today, the bat would be an issue, but I'd put his glove right up there with anyone in this organization. Pitching: In short, pick 5 starters from this list: Alex Meyer Trevor May J.R. Berrios Alex Wimmers Kohl Stweart Kyle Gibson Logan Darnell D.J. Baxendale Sam Deduno Scott Diamond Ryan Eades Now, add a bullpen out of guys that didn't quite make it. This list of players, of course, is conjecture. Archives of this post will live on in 2016, and some parts will undoubtedly be laughable. Others, however, I'm willing to bet will be very accurate. Here's the best part about this list: Every position player on it is home-grown. Every player on it will be under team control in 2016. In fact, with the exception of Joe Mauer's $23 million, there are few players on this list that would command more than a couple million dollars per season. In short, there's ample room to spend on free agents in an area of weakness. Otherwise stated, there's TONS of money on the table if the Twins want to add an extra power bat as a DH, a top-of-the-line shortstop, or an "ace pitcher" to lead our young rotation. The other reason that I listed 2016 as the year to win the AL Central is because of the learning curve of major league baseball. If we can learn anything from watching Aaron Hicks this season, it's that there is a gigantic difference from the minors to the majors. Sano, Rosario, and even Meyer might all have tough rookie seasons. Picking 2016 gives these young guys a chance to make it through the league a couple times, learn from mistakes, and learn to succeed. So you've heard it here first: Don't count on the Twins the next couple seasons, but by 2016 this is going to be a dominating team.

Well the big news of the day, of course, was the Twins selecting pitcher Kohl Stewart with the 4th overall pick in the amateur draft. Not surprisingly, all the MiLB experts at TwinsDaily are providing great draft coverage, so I'm pinch-hitting and piecing together the daily minor league report. Here's hoping that, in the coming couple years, we see Stewart's name popping up very often in this nightly report! It's fun to think about a rotation in, say, 2015 or 2016 that could feature Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Stewart, Kyle Gibson, and even Alex Wimmers. From where this organization was just a year ago (prospect-wise), it's tough not to be at least a little optimistic. Now to tonight's action: ROCHESTER 3 GWINNETT 11 Unlike in his previous start, Vance Worley was not very effective today. He lasted 3 innings and gave up 7 runs, but only 2 were earned. The big problem: he allowed 8 hits, including a home run, struck out 2 and walked 1. Blake Martin tossed 2 scoreless innings, before Anthony Slama came in and allowed 3 runs in 2 innings on 5 walks and a hit. Virgil Vasquez threw the final frame, allowing a run on 3 hits. The Red Wings had 10 hits tonight, just not enough runs. Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero and Brian Dinkelman all had 2 hits, and Oswaldo Arcia, Dan Rohlfing, Doug Bernier and Ray Olmedo each had 1 hit. Bernier tripled, and Romero doubled, incidentally. Here's the link to the box score. NEW BRITAIN 9 RICHMOND 4 Trevor May pitched well tonight. He went 6 innings and allowed only 1 run on 5 hits. The best part, though, is the 6 Ks and 2 walks. It's important that he limits the walks. AJ Achter tossed a scoreless 7th, before Cole Johnson ran into trouble in the 8th, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk. Daniel Turpen pitched a scoreless 9th. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4359[/ATTACH] The Rock Cats only amassed 5 hits tonight, but they made them count. TwinsDaily contributor, nice guy, and occasional pro ballplayer Adam Pettersen was 1-for-3 with a double, 2 RBIs and 2 walks. Danny Santana had a double and 2 RBIs in 5 at-bats. Nate Hanson, Daniel Ortiz and Kyle Knudson also had hits tonight. Here's the link to the box score. FT. MYERS --- CANCELLED There was a rumor floating around that Brevard County forfeited both games of this doubleheader because Miguel Sano is just too damn good, but apparently there was bad weather. CEDAR RAPIDS 5 QUAD CITIES 9 Well we learned that J.R. Berrios is human. Tonight, anyway. The young righty lasted only 3 and 1/3 innings, allowing 9 runs (6 earned) on 5 hits. He struck out 6, which is good, but walked 4, and also allowed a home run. But the home run was to last season's #1 overall pick Carlos Correa. Josue Montanez threw 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings, walking 2, striking out 1 and allowing 1 hit. Tyler Jones tossed 3 scoreless innings, striking out 3 and walking 2. A nice performance for him out of the bullpen. There just wasn't enough Kernels offense tonight. Dalton Hicks did his best, blasting 2 solo home runs, giving him 9 on the season. Travis Harrison and JD Williams doubled (Williams also had 2 singles and 2 RBIs). Candido Pimentel singled, and Jhonatan Arias had 2 hits. Jeremias Pineda tripled and scored a run, as well. Pimentel had a rough night in the field, committing 3 fielding errors. Here's the link to the box score. All 4 teams are back in action tomorrow night.

I should have lead off with that! Just dawned on me this morning too see who Rochester had. Ugly!

So you think he should play 2 full seasons in New Britain? Here is who the Red Wings are trotting out in the middle infield: Doug Bernier, who will turn 33 later this month and has a .672 OPS. He's playing short. And Eric Farris, 27 years old with a .608 OPS. He's playing second. You are right that Beresford doesn't walk much, and that he doesn't hit for power. Yet his OPS, .737, is higher than either of the non-prospects at AAA. Regarding his positioning, Danny Santana is considered a SS prospect, so he has been getting the starts there. His bat is getting better, but the defense is cringeworthy. So Beresford has been mostly playing second, except for when manager Jeff Smith needs a break from watching Santana boot plays. I'd certainly defer to guys like Seth that know more than I do, but I would comfortably call Beresford's middle infield defense the best in the upper levels of the Twins' system

Herrrmann hasn't been great this season, but I'm not ready to relegate him to 3rd catcher yet. He had a nice 2012 season (.276/.350./392). Not the stuff that dreams are made of, but good enough for 2nd catcher on many teams I would think. I guess I'd like them both to play every day if that's at all possible. Also I very much agree that Doumit can be traded if the return is decent.

Thanks for the comment. I guess I would say that it's not "supposed" that Beresford has good defense. He plays defense very well. Like, it's a fact. SS and 2B have been, and continue to be, positions of weakness for the Twins. So in my (albeit uneducated) opinion, if a guy can play very good defense at either or both of those positions in this organization, and can bat .300 -- even without power or the ability to take walks -- and can do it consistently, it's time to see if he can do it at the next level. I'm not suggesting Beresford is the next Jose Reyes, or will displace Eddie Rosario. I am suggesting that he's played very well in his second AA season. So let's see what he can do at AAA. By the way, great defense at 2B and the ability to bat over .230 in the bigs may in fact be a ticket to the majors for the Twins this season and next. Josmil Pinto has been very good. He needs to play every day. Chris Herrmann won't be with the Twins for very long (I expect, anyway), and will go back to AAA, where he also needs to play every day. I think it's a disservice to Pinto's development to have him split time with Herrmann at catcher. But your point is well-taken -- Pinto has been great, and shouldn't hang around longer than he needs to. I'd also add that, although he has a good arm, I'm not sure he's a great catcher yet. I.e., framing pitches and some of the finesse stuff. Danny Ortiz. Again, I've been impressed. He's held his own. Struggling a little lately (batting .194 over last 10 games) but he's been good and has shown decent power. He's played 56 games at AA. He hasn't dominated like, for instance, Oswaldo Arcia did (played 69 games in New Britain; .955 OPS). But then again, Brian Dinkelman played left field tonight for Rochester, so it's not like a legitimate prospect is blocking Ortiz in Rochester. Let's see what happens at the trade deadline. If Willingham is traded and Arcia called up permanently, there's a corner spot open at Rochester. I'd give that to Ortiz in August.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2012/11/07/3zZ4tfaM.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Logan Darnell, New Britain's most consistent pitcher this season. Image: Kevin Pataky, MiLB.com [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] It's been a fast 40 percent of the New Britain season. The team has played all right -- about what I expected, given difficulty of replacing guys like Aaron Hicks, Chris Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello, who were the mainstays of the 2012 team, and who have all gone on to varying degrees of success in 2013 -- not only with the AAA Red Wings, but with the Twins. One of the most exciting things about following the Rock Cats is that I have realized how quick the path from central Connecticut to Minneapolis can be. A comment about minor league baseball: it's not very helpful to focus on a minor league team's win-loss record. Sure, it's great to watch the Ft. Myers Miracle and the Cedar Rapids Kernels win most of their games (and it bodes well for the Twins' future), but those teams are temporarily fortunate to have clusters of great talent on the same roster. Rather, for me, Rock Cats baseball is mostly about following individual performances. With nearly half the season in the books, let's take a look at a few of the players that I think deserve a call-up from AA New Britain to AAA Rochester in the near future. James Beresford. I'm not sure what else he needs to do. Beresford has played over 150 games for New Britain. His glove is great at both second base and shortstop -- that's never been an issue. He's third in the Eastern League in batting. Yes, there's little power. But so what? A middle infielder with a good glove that can hit .300 and reach base 40% of the time has value. Beresford deserves a long look in AAA to see how he can hit the pitching there. This is his second full season in New Britain, and I've seen enough. Also factoring into my recommendation to promote Beresford is Eddie Rosario. Unlike Miguel Sano, who undoubtedly will be promoted to the Rock Cats after the High-A All-Star Game, there's no immediate rush to promote Rosario, who is still learning second base, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rosario come up to AA for the last month of 2013. Clearing Beresford's spot makes Rosario's path easier, and ensures that Rosario will get the reps he needs at second base. Nate Hanson -- Great organizational guy. Plays all positions, but especially third base. Hanson has played over 180 games for the Rock Cats, and is hitting a solid .284 this season at AA.He had an abbreviated look at AAA Rochester last month, but needs a dedicated chance to succeed at that level. 64 at-bats -- what he received at Rochester -- is simply insufficient to judge any player. Reportedly, he hit the ball hard, but hit into some outs. If you only have 60 or so at-bats, a few hard outs, which could easily have been hits, makes a big difference. Additionally, Miguel Sano needs to move to New Britain the day after the High-A All-Star Game and play the remainder of 2013 at third base for the Rock Cats. Hanson to AAA makes sense all around. Logan Darnell: Like Beresford, this is Darnell's second full season in AA, and he is showing improvement. In fact, he's been New Britain's most consistent starting pitcher. How consistent? 7 of his last 10 starts have met the definition of a quality start (not a great statistic, but worth something). Darnell has posted a 2.76 ERA, a 60/20 K/BB rate, and has allowed only 3 home runs in 75 innings pitched. I'm not sure what Darnell's future will be, but I am certain that the 24 year-old needs to pitch against more experienced hitters to so that the Twins' front office can get a better picture of what his ceiling is. If you're a fan of the Twins' Top 10 organizational prospects, you might not like what I'm about to write now: Alex Meyer isn't ready to be promoted. Yes, there are many, many more positives than negatives. One big positive is that he's second in the Eastern League in strikeouts, with 73. That's why we traded a good player, Denard Span, for him. But if I'm a member of the Twins' front office, I need to see more consistency from Meyer. By comparison to Darnell's 7 quality starts in his past 10, Meyer has 4. He also has yet to pitch into the 7th inning in any game he's started for the Rock Cats. Let that sink in for a second. If there's one thing the Twins need -- and expect -- it's that their best starters go deep into games. Meyer, who regularly throws over 100 pitches in a start -- hasn't reached the 7th frame nearly halfway into his 2013 season. Meyer's season is somewhat similar to Kyle Gibson's in AAA -- a couple good starts followed by a clunker. Not that I expect 10 Ks and 1 earned run every single outing (which occurred in Meyer's most recent, and best, start), but in my opinion, there are composure and consistency issues that needs to be resolved -- or at least mitigated -- before I think it makes sense to send Meyer north to Rochester. So in short, I'm ready to say goodbye to 3 mainstays. Beresford, Hanson and Darnell have put in their AA time. I don't like to think of "sink-or-swim" situations, but I think it's clear that each needs a solid couple months in Rochester to see how their games fare against better competition. But I'm not ready to let Meyer leave yet. There's no reason to rush him to AAA (especially considering how quickly the Twins are willing to pull "ready" players from Rochester after they arrive) before he is ready. One final note: The Rock Cats host the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 10. I'm not sure how, if at all, personnel decisions may factor into this. On the one hand, it would be a nice reward for a guy like Beresford to be named to the All-Star Game held in his own park, but on the other hand, it would also be a nice reward to get bumped up to AAA before July 10.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2012/11/07/3zZ4tfaM.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Logan Darnell, New Britain's most consistent pitcher this season. Image: Kevin Pataky, MiLB.com [/TD] [/TABLE] [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] It's been a fast 40 percent of the New Britain season. The team has played all right -- about what I expected, given difficulty of replacing guys like Aaron Hicks, Chris Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello, who were the mainstays of the 2012 team, and who have all gone on to varying degrees of success in 2013 -- not only with the AAA Red Wings, but with the Twins. One of the most exciting things about following the Rock Cats is that I have realized how quick the path from central Connecticut to Minneapolis can be. A comment about minor league baseball: it's not very helpful to focus on a minor league team's win-loss record. Sure, it's great to watch the Ft. Myers Miracle and the Cedar Rapids Kernels win most of their games (and it bodes well for the Twins' future), but those teams are temporarily fortunate to have clusters of great talent on the same roster. Rather, for me, Rock Cats baseball is mostly about following individual performances. With nearly half the season in the books, let's take a look at a few of the players that I think deserve a call-up from AA New Britain to AAA Rochester in the near future. James Beresford. I'm not sure what else he needs to do. Beresford has played over 150 games for New Britain. His glove is great at both second base and shortstop -- that's never been an issue. He's third in the Eastern League in batting. Yes, there's little power. But so what? A middle infielder with a good glove that can hit .300 and reach base 40% of the time has value. Beresford deserves a long look in AAA to see how he can hit the pitching there. This is his second full season in New Britain, and I've seen enough. Also factoring into my recommendation to promote Beresford is Eddie Rosario. Unlike Miguel Sano, who undoubtedly will be promoted to the Rock Cats after the High-A All-Star Game, there's no immediate rush to promote Rosario, who is still learning second base, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Rosario come up to AA for the last month of 2013. Clearing Beresford's spot makes Rosario's path easier, and ensures that Rosario will get the reps he needs at second base. Nate Hanson -- Great organizational guy. Plays all positions, but especially third base. Hanson has played over 180 games for the Rock Cats, and is hitting a solid .284 this season at AA.He had an abbreviated look at AAA Rochester last month, but needs a dedicated chance to succeed at that level. 64 at-bats -- what he received at Rochester -- is simply insufficient to judge any player. Reportedly, he hit the ball hard, but hit into some outs. If you only have 60 or so at-bats, a few hard outs, which could easily have been hits, makes a big difference. Additionally, Miguel Sano needs to move to New Britain the day after the High-A All-Star Game and play the remainder of 2013 at third base for the Rock Cats. Hanson to AAA makes sense all around. Logan Darnell: Like Beresford, this is Darnell's second full season in AA, and he is showing improvement. In fact, he's been New Britain's most consistent starting pitcher. How consistent? 7 of his last 10 starts have met the definition of a quality start (not a great statistic, but worth something). Darnell has posted a 2.76 ERA, a 60/20 K/BB rate, and has allowed only 3 home runs in 75 innings pitched. I'm not sure what Darnell's future will be, but I am certain that the 24 year-old needs to pitch against more experienced hitters to so that the Twins' front office can get a better picture of what his ceiling is. If you're a fan of the Twins' Top 10 organizational prospects, you might not like what I'm about to write now: Alex Meyer isn't ready to be promoted. Yes, there are many, many more positives than negatives. One big positive is that he's second in the Eastern League in strikeouts, with 73. That's why we traded a good player, Denard Span, for him. But if I'm a member of the Twins' front office, I need to see more consistency from Meyer. By comparison to Darnell's 7 quality starts in his past 10, Meyer has 4. He also has yet to pitch into the 7th inning in any game he's started for the Rock Cats. Let that sink in for a second. If there's one thing the Twins need -- and expect -- it's that their best starters go deep into games. Meyer, who regularly throws over 100 pitches in a start -- hasn't reached the 7th frame nearly halfway into his 2013 season. Meyer's season is somewhat similar to Kyle Gibson's in AAA -- a couple good starts followed by a clunker. Not that I expect 10 Ks and 1 earned run every single outing (which occurred in Meyer's most recent, and best, start), but in my opinion, there are composure and consistency issues that needs to be resolved -- or at least mitigated -- before I think it makes sense to send Meyer north to Rochester. So in short, I'm ready to say goodbye to 3 mainstays. Beresford, Hanson and Darnell have put in their AA time. I don't like to think of "sink-or-swim" situations, but I think it's clear that each needs a solid couple months in Rochester to see how their games fare against better competition. But I'm not ready to let Meyer leave yet. There's no reason to rush him to AAA (especially considering how quickly the Twins are willing to pull "ready" players from Rochester after they arrive) before he is ready. One final note: The Rock Cats host the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 10. I'm not sure how, if at all, personnel decisions may factor into this. On the one hand, it would be a nice reward for a guy like Beresford to be named to the All-Star Game held in his own park, but on the other hand, it would also be a nice reward to get bumped up to AAA before July 10.

This post is a little delayed coming. Apologies. But the good news is that I've had time to process a little on Alex Meyer after having seen two of his not-so-good starts. And I've come to a conclusion: when Meyer misses it's because his pitches are high. Those misses are driving up the pitch count, gradually slowing down his fastball, causing him to tire and not go as deep into games as is necessary for the ace pitcher we expect him to become. I attended one of his recent starts, a losing effort last week against the Binghamton Mets. Meyer started off dominant, but had a rough 4th inning that ended up costing him the game. Instead of focusing on that inning, however, I want to focus on the third inning. It started off innocently enough, with a 4-pitch strikeout and a 1-pitch ground out. Just like that, 5 pitches and 2 outs. But then this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4218[/ATTACH] Check out the pitch locations. Meyer started missing high with 2 outs. As this shot shows, all but 1 pitch was belt-high or higher. Meyer issued this 2-out walk -- a Cardinal Sin in any organization, especially the Twins organization. But he wasn't done. How about the next batter? [ATTACH=CONFIG]4219[/ATTACH] As you can see, a 5-pitch walk with all of the pitches high. Basically the same thing, except this batter only swung at a meaty 2-0 pitch. 12 unnecessary pitches and 2 unnecessary walks, before a 2-pitch groundout to end the inning. Several extra pitches in that frame no doubt caused mental and physical fatigue that cost Meyer in the fourth inning. Meyer issued 3 walks on the night. Here's the screenshot of his final walk. Again, high misses. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4220[/ATTACH] The point of this post isn't to suggest that Meyer needs to alter his mechanics or anything like that. I have absolutely no specialized knowledge to that effect. He's 6 feet, 9 inches tall, and his fastball reached 96 on both starts I've attended; I'm 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and may have hit 76 on a hot summer day in White Bear Lake in 1999. Meyer has a knuckle-curve that falls off the table and embarrasses hitters who are expecting the fastball. He has all the makings of a phenomenal pitcher, but something is missing this spring. The point of this post is to suggest that, in the 14 or so innings I have seen Meyer pitch, when he misses, it's consistently high -- and it's very high. High to the point that batters aren't likely to offer. I could do screen shots from the other start I attended, and I'm confident they would be the same. In fact, I heard Terry Ryan mumble something to this effect when Meyer was laboring in a protracted inning last month. In other words, I wouldn't be writing this if it's not something that I had consistently noticed. So what is the solution? Having watched Meyer, I have no doubt that this is mostly a mental issue. He'll get 2 outs, then walk a couple batters with high pitches. Or, alternatively, he'll have 2 great innings, then start walking batters in the 3rd inning. Something temporarily changes. It really strikes me as a composure issue more than anything else. On more than one occasion I've seen Meyer have difficulty with the subsequent batter who follows a guy that reaches on a fielding error or a weak infield single. It's a common problem, and it makes sense to me. It would annoy me to no end to be unable to rely on my fielders. But that's a part of the game Meyer is going to have to learn: he won't be able to strike everyone out, and not every fielder will be Gold Glove caliber. Some baseball lifers say that the jump from High-A to AA is the most significant. Meyer might be finding that out this spring. Like I've said all along, I have no doubt that he will become the pitcher that we all hope he will be. But it's also important to realize that he's a young kid working out physical -- and mental -- issues along the way. So if you're looking for something to watch for, I would recommend keeping an eye on the walks and composure issues. Is Meyer struggling after 2 outs for no reason? Does he start to miss very high with that fastball? Those are the signs that he's not ready, yet, for the show. But on the whole, those are fixable issues. You can teach a guy to work through a composure issue, but you can't teach a guy to toss 96.

[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YUz9OOZOUOE/UZv1lIymlrI/AAAAAAAAAik/ExZxLKexMvA/s320/New-RockCats-cropped-1024x766.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]If you're familiar with this blog, you know that this image signifies that the Rock Cats are in the midst of a losing streak [/TD] [/TABLE] Just like their parent club, the New Britain Rock Cats have hit a tough spell. In fact, their last victory was May 11 vs. Portland, and since that 5-4 win, the Cats have lost 8 consecutive games. In those 8 games, the Rock Cats have combined to score a grand total of 18 runs, while allowing 52. It's not tough to see the problems: they aren't scoring enough, and are allowing too many runs (how's that for analysis?). But let's dig a little deeper. There are other things -- some good -- at play. First, infielder James Beresford, who had been on the disabled list with a pulled groin, just returned to action this past weekend. Beresford had been off to a hot start before missing 2 weeks. In his first 4 games back, he has 6 hits (in 17 at-bats), and is batting .340 on the season. I frequently write about Beresford, and it's for a reason: although he isn't a top Twins prospect, he has a very good glove, and has demonstrated this season that his bat has caught up to AA pitching. If the hot bat continues, I'd be surprised if Beresford isn't promoted by July. So keep checking his stats! Second, New Britain had been playing without a dedicated third baseman for a couple weeks, after Minnesota's own Nate Hanson was promoted to Rochester. Luckily, Deibinson Romero's visa issues were resolved, and he joined the team earlier this week. He's off to a good start, hitting .370 with 2 doubles and 2 home run in the first 7 games. In fact, he had 3 hits in each of his last 2 games. Romero, not a fantastic defender, was dependable on offense last year, so in the long run, his presence in the middle of the Cats' lineup will create more punch. Don't forget, last season, Romero hit 19 home runs and 23 doubles for New Britain, so he's no slouch with the bat. Now, let's discuss our top stating pitching prospects: Meyer and May, hopefully our next "M & M Boys." They haven't been as successful the proverbial second time around the league. In his starts this month, Meyer hasn't lasted longer than 5 and 1/3 innings, but has 17 Ks to go along with 7 BBs. The problem, though, is that he's been allowing more than 1 hit an inning, and has given up 9 earned runs in these last 3 starts (a cumulative 15 innings). So yes, he's still missing bats -- 51 Ks and 18 BBs in 43 innings -- but he hasn't been going as deep into games. If these last 3 games are like the game I attended last month, it's because Meyer is struggling to either finish off hitters with a strikeout (instead, he would allow them to come back in a count), or locate his fastball. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Meyer has a 3.56 ERA. He's 23. He's tied for 3rd in the Eastern League in strikeouts. Yes, areas for improvement have been identified, but isn't that what the point of the minor leagues is? Instruction. Opportunity for improvement. Finally, Trevor May. This month, May had 2 very good starts, and 1 clunker. His first 2 starts both lasted 7 innings, and he only gave up 1 earned run, striking out a combined 13 and walking 3. His most recent start was tough: only 4 innings, 5 earned runs, 3 Ks and 2 BBs. After allowing only 5 total hits in those first 2 starts, May surrendered 9 in the most recent. Let's talk about progress, though: May has not allowed a home run in his last 5 starts, after allowing 1 home run in each of his first 3 starts. His current strikeout-to-walk ratio is 40-21.But in those last 3 starts, the ratio is 16-5 -- better than 3-to-1. Both Meyer and May still have some distance to go before they are ready for Target Field. Meyer needs to better locate his fastball, and May still has to work on control so that he can work deeper into games on a more consistent basis. One final note: after a very slow start, shortstop Danny Santana is hitting .280/.297/.354, including .366/.395/.415 over his last 10 games. Again, with this team, this year, I'm looking for individual progress and development. Check back in a couple days. I'm attending Wednesday's Rock Cats game. Alex Meyer is scheduled to throw. But if Tuesday's game is cancelled, there's a chance that Trevor May will be on the hill. Either way, there will be something to write about, and I'll be tweeting from the press box.