Down on the Farm: Rookie League Report

Elizabethton Twins

Starting Pitchers
1.) Alex Burnett - 1-0 / 0.00 ERA / 13 inn / 12-2 K-BB
2.) Jose Lugo - 1-1 / 3.60 ERA / 10 inn / 14-5 K-BB
3.) Brian Kirwin - 0-1 / 3.60 ERA / 5 inn / 4-3 K-BB
4.) Armando Gabino - 0-0 / 2.25 ERA / 4 inn / 2-1 K-BB
5.) Sean Land - 0-0 / 0.00 ERA / 4 inn / 4-4 K-BB

I guessed right on two of the three starters last week, but incorrectly had Brian Kirwin listed as a reliever. Incidentally, the E-Twins had 4 rainouts this week, and have played 2 days worth of doubleheaders in a row, so the starter situation could get a little messy in the week ahead. Everyone on the list above started one game this week for Elizabethton.

Alex Burnett continues to dominate, going 7 innings and striking out 6 in picking up his first win.

Jose Lugo went 5 innings in his start, and also picked up his first win while striking out 7. His ERA dropped by 1.80 points after his first start.

Brian Kirwin's first start ended with him taking the loss after going 5 innings.

Armando Gabino and Sean Land both went 4 innings in their first starts of the season.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Danny Hernandez - 0-0 / 3.00 ERA / 3 inn / 6-2 K-BB
2.) Jose Castillo - 0-0 / 9.00 ERA / 2 inn / 2-2 K-BB
3.) Matthew Williams - 1-0 / 6.75 ERA / 4 inn / 3-4 K-BB
4.) Aaron Craig - 0-0 / 4.73 ERA / 3.2 inn / 4-2 K-BB
5.) Matthew Fox - 0-0 / 0.00 ERA / 3.2 inn / 7-1 K-BB
6.) Brandon McConnell - 1-1 / 8.10 ERA / 3.1 inn / 5-4 K-BB
7.) Patrick Bryant - 0-0 / 47.25 ERA / 1.1 inn / 3-3 K-BB
8.) Walter Patton - 0-0 / infinite / 0 inn / 0-3 K-BB

Talk about a rough outing for Walter Patton. He allowed 4 ER and didn't get anybody out, hence the infinite ERA. Brandon McConnell also got roughed up, going from having an ERA of 0.00 to 8.10. Patrick Bryant, meanwhile, pitched an inning and lowered his ERA by 114.75 points. Ah, early season ERA's. Not the he should be bragging, with an ERA still sitting at 47.25. Matthew Fox looks like the star of the bullpen so far, having not allowed an ER in 3.2 innings, and with a very nice 7-1 K-BB ratio.

Catchers
1.) Jeffrey Christy - 4 games / .182 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
2.) Gregory Yersich - 4 games / .267 BA / 0 HR / 2 RBI
3.) Daniel Berg - 2 games / .000 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI

Daniel Berg didn't play this week, and may either have been injured or re-assigned. Hopefully by next week's post I'll know for sure.

Jeffrey Christy started 3 games behind the plate this week, but his batting average suffered, falling a massive 318 points. He did pick up his first RBI of the year.

Gregory Yersich got the call for 2 starts behind the plate, and his batting average also fell, by 108 points. He picked up an RBI as well.

Infielders
1B - Joshua Dean - 4 games / .250 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI
2B - Brian Dinkelman - 6 games / .417 BA / 0 HR / 8 RBI
SS - Yancarlos Ortiz - 4 games / .125 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
3B - William Luque - 4 games / .286 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI
DH - Henry Sanchez - 7 games / .143 BA / 1 HR / 5 RBI
IF - Garrett Olson - 4 games / .111 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI
IF - Steven Singleton - 4 games / .300 BA / 0 HR / 2 RBI
IF - Michael Lysaught - 3 games / .000 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI

Joshua Dean started 3 games at 1B this week, halving his batting average.

Brian Dinkelman is quickly emerging as a star on this team, getting 3 starts at 2B and one at DH, while increasing his batting average by 42 points and picking up a solid 6 RBI's this week.

Yancarlos Ortiz started 3 games at SS. His batting average suffered, falling by 42 points.

William Luque picked up 3 starts at 3B, raising his batting average by 36 points.

Henry Sanchez continues to struggle. He started 3 games at DH and 2 at 1B, but dropped his batting average by 79 points. On the positive side, he did pick up 4 RBI's.

Garrett Olson started 2 games at 3B. His batting average fell by 222 points, and he still didn't pick up any HR's or RBI's.

Steven Singleton got 2 starts at SS, and he lowered his batting average by 33 points while picking up 2 RBI's.

Michael Lysaught got 2 starts at 2B, and he still has no batting average. This dude needs a hit.

Outfielders
1.) Danny Santiesteban - 7 games / .120 BA / 0 HR / 3 RBI
2.) Josh Land - 5 games / .294 BA / 0 HR / 3 RBI
3.) J.W. Wilson - 4 games / .286 BA / 1 HR / 2 RBI
4.) Richard Sojo - 3 games / .300 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI
5.) Wesley Connor - 4 games / .231 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI

Danny Santiesteban was the only members of the E-Twins to start all 5 games this week, all in CF. He actually managed to raise his BA by 20 points, but .120 is pretty anemic. He also picked up 2 RBI's.

Josh Land got 3 starts in LF, and his batting average fell by 106 points. He picked up 1 RBI.

J.W. Wilson started 3 games in RF, and picked up his first couple of hits this season. He also hit his first HR, and picked up 2 RBI's.

Richard Sojo started 2 games in LF, and like Wilson picked up his first hits of the season.

Wesley Connor started 2 games in RF and 1 at DH. His batting average fell by 19 points.


GCL Twins

Starting Pitchers
1.) Omar Alcala - 0-1 / 4.50 ERA / 8 inn / 6-3 K-BB
2.) Ludovicus Van Mil - 0-0 / 2.89 ERA / 9.1 inn / 5-5 K-BB
3.) Curtis Leavitt - 0-0 / 2.00 ERA / 9 inn / 14-1 K-BB
4.) David Bromberg - 0-1 / 6.00 ERA / 6 inn / 5-5 K-BB
5.) Tyler Robertson - 0-0 / 2.25 ERA / 4 inn / 4-1 K-BB

Having made it once fully through the rotation, I can now say with more confidence who is in the rotation for the GCL Twins. Unfortunately, my guesses last week were both wrong.

Omar Alcala was listed as 1-0 last week, but that was in error; he is 0-1. He halved his ERA and picked up 3 K's to 1 BB in his start this week.

Ludovicus Van Mil had a reasonable second start, although his ERA rose by .96 points. He did reverse the problematic K-BB ratio from his first start, striking out 4 and walking just 1 this week.

Curtis Leavitt had a very solid start, although his ERA went from 0.00 to 2.00 and he didn't get the win. Nevertheless, check out that 14-1 K-BB ratio through 9 innings of work. Very impressive stuff.

David Bromberg and Tyler Robertson both got their first action of the year as well, and it went better for Robertson than for Bromberg. Bromberg picked up 2 starts this week, but unfortunately struggled, posting an ERA of six and losing a game. Robertson pitched better, but went only 4 innings in his first start.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Robert Delaney - 1-0 / 4.66 ERA / 9.2 inn / 8-0 K-BB
2.) Carlos Garcia - 2-0 / 0.00 ERA / 5.2 inn / 3-3 K-BB
3.) Joan Ortiz - 1-0 / 3.86 ERA / 2.1 inn / 0-1 K-BB
4.) Bradley Tippett - 1-1 / 0.00 ERA / 7.1 inn / 6-1 K-BB
5.) Bruno Sanchez - 0-1 / 7.20 ERA / 5 inn / 2-5 K-BB
6.) Jakub Toufar - 0-0 / 7.71 ERA / 2.1 inn / 2-1 K-BB
7.) Luis Carrerras - 0-0 / 2.35 ERA / 7.2 inn / 8-1 K-BB
8.) Nathan Crawford - 0-0 / 4.50 ERA / 2 inn / 2-1 K-BB
9.) Jon Staatz - 0-0 / 0.00 ERA / 2 inn / 4-0 K-BB

Not a lot to say yet on this bunch, except that Delaney, Tippett and Carreras seem to be the go-to guys out of the bullpen at this early point in the season. Check out the sterling 8-0 and 8-1 K-BB ratios put up so far by Delaney and Carrerras, respectively. Hopefully they can keep that up. I also cleared up some deadwood players who were listed on the roster but haven't yet pitched. I'll re-add them to the list if they get into a ballgame.

Catchers
1.) Wilson Ramos - 6 games / .261 BA / 0 HR / 4 RBI
2.) Gilbert Buenrostro - 3 games / .222 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI
3.) Rodolfo Palacios - 6 games / .300 BA / 0 HR / 3 RBI
4.) Mighuel Barrientos - 3 games / .182 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI

The GCL Twins seem to be using a rotation of Ramos, Buenrostro, and Palacios behind the plate. All three picked up 2 starts this week.

Wilson Ramos got a start at 1B to go with his 2 behind the plate, and saw his batting average fall by 72 points, and didn't pick up any HR's or RBI's.

Gilbert Buenrostro dropped his batting average by 111 points.

Rodolfo Palacios got a start at DH and one at 1B in addition to his 2 starts behind the plate. He raised his batting average by 157 points.

Mighuel Barrientos didn't start a single game behind the plate, instead seeing all his action (2 games) at DH. His batting average fell by 68 points.

Infielders
1B - Deibinson Romero - 7 games / .174 BA / 1 HR / 6 RBI
2B - Matthew Lawman - 5 games / .091 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
SS - Starling De Los Santos - 7 games / .111 BA / 0 HR / 2 RBI
3B - David Winfree - 4 games / .200 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
IF - Juan Delgado - 4 games / .286 BA / 0 HR / 2 RBI
IF - Thomas Cowgill - 5 games / .231 BA / 1 HR / 2 RBI
IF - Eric Santiago - 6 games / .182 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
IF - Steven Tolleson - 1 games / .250 BA / 0 HR / 0 RBI

David Winfree and Steven Tolleson join the GCL Twins, presumably on rehab assignments, since both were playing at higher levels in the system earlier this season.

Winfree has yet to get his bat going after a layoff that's had him out of baseball since April. He has started 3 games at 3B and 1 at 1B for the GCL Twins so far. Tolleson, meanwhile, went 1-for-4 in his only game back thus far, playing at 3B.

Deibinson Romero started 2 games at 1B, 2 at 3B, and 1 at DH. His batting average fell by 26 points, but he picked up 4 RBI's.

Matthew Lawman started 3 games at 2B. He got his first base-hit of the season this week, but hasn't done much else offensively.

Starling De Los Santos started 2 games at SS, 1 at 2B, and 1 at DH. His batting average went up 28 points, but is still anemic. He did get his first 2 RBI's of the season.

Juan Delgado started 2 games at SS this week. His batting average stayed right where it was entering the week.

Thomas Cowgill started 2 games at 2B. His batting average went up 88 points, and he picked up his first HR and first two RBI's of the year.

Eric Santiago started 2 games at SS and 1 at DH. His batting average fell by 151 points, but at least he picked up 1 RBI.

Outfielders
1.) Joe Benson - 9 games / .286 BA / 0 HR / 6 RBI
2.) Kevin Harrington - 7 games / .095 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
3.) Mark Dolenc - 8 games / .207 BA / 0 HR / 1 RBI
4.) Chris Parmalee - 1 game / .500 BA / 1 HR / 1 RBI

Chris Parmalee has finally arrived! After being with the team for about a week, the GCL Twins finally felt that he was ready to make his professional debut, and what a debut it was: 1-for-2 with a solo homer and a couple of walks while playing in RF. Parmalee instantly demonstrated the power for which the Twins drafted him, and hopefully will keep that up in his first professional season.

Joe Benson started 4 games in CF and 2 in RF. His batting average fell by 131 points, but he picked up 3 RBI.

Mark Dolenc started 4 games in LF and 2 in RF, and upped his batting average by 96 points while picking up his first professional RBI.

Kevin Harrington, who probably figures to lose the most playing time now that Parmalee is in the lineup, started 2 games in LF, 2 in CF, and 1 in RF. His batting average fell by 48 points, but like Dolenc he picked up his first professional RBI.