Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (3-2)
T-2nd -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

Games by position for the season are listed first, with games by position for this week listed in brackets.

Starting Pitchers
1.) Matt Garza - 2 starts [1 start]
2.) Kevin Slowey - 1 start [1 start]
3.) Scott Baker - 1 start, 1 RA [1 start, 1 RA]
4.) Dave Gassner - 1 start [1 start]
5.) Jeremy Cummings - 3 RA [2 RA]

Who's Hot: Matt Garza has only made it through 8 innings in his 2 starts, but his 2.25 ERA and 7 K's indicate that he hasn't been pitching that badly. Unfortunately, to this point he has allowed 9 hits and 7 walks, for a rather horrid 2.00 WHIP. Kevin Slowey went 6 innings and allowed just 1 unearned run on three hits in his first regular season AAA start, picking up his first win of the season. Meanwhile, Dave Gassner allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 5 innings during his first start -- unfortunately, the game isn't done yet, as it was suspended due to rain in the 11th inning. At least the stats are official! Finally, with Glen Perkins having been promoted to the Twins, that opened up a spot in the bullpen, and I've placed Jeremy Cummings in that spot. So far, Cummings has pitched very well out of the bullpen, allowing just 1 run in 7 innings while striking out 7. It's nice to see that he's continued his strong spring.

Who's Not: Really, nobody -- Scott Baker comes closer, with a 3.38 ERA in his 2 appearances. He's allowed 9 hits and walked 3 batters in 8 innings of work, while giving up 4 runs, 3 earned. But ya know what? If the worst starter on the Red Wings has an ERA of 3.38 at the end of the season, I think the Twins would be pretty darned happy.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Julio DePaula - 3 RA [3 RA]
2.) Mike Venafro - 3 RA [2 RA]
3.) Bobby Korecky 3 RA [2 RA]
4.) Jason Miller - 2 RA [2 RA]
5.) Brian Bass - 2 RA [2 RA]
6.) Tristan Crawford - 2 RA [2 RA]
7.) Carmen Cali - 1 RA [1 RA]
DL - Ricky Barrett

Who's Hot: Jason Miller has pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and walking 1 batter during his 2 appearances. Carmen Cali, meanwhile, has made his Red Wings debut after being activated from the disabled list, and while it isn't much, he has a perfect 0.1 inning under his belt. Finally, while his ERA doesn't reflect it yet, Mike Venafro had a much better week by going 2 scoreless innings with just 1 hit this week. Of course, this followed his horrendous performance in the season opener for the Red Wings, so his ERA is still sitting at 11.25.

Who's Not: Plenty of guys qualify for this position: Tristan Crawford has allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk in 1.2 innings of work for a 16.20 ERA; Brian Bass has allowed 4 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and a hit batter in 2 innings of work; Bobby Korecky has allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk over 3.2 innings of work. Perhaps most disappointing, however, as been Julio DePaula -- probably the most promising member of the Red Wing bullpen -- who has allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks in 6.1 innings of work for a 5.68 ERA.

Catchers
1.) Jose Morales - C (4) [C (3)]
2.) Matt LeCroy - DH (5), C (1) [DH (4), C (1)]
3.) Chris Heintz - C (1) [C (1)]

Who's Hot: Jose Morales went 3-for-10 this week, giving him a .357 average for the season to go along with 3 runs scored and an RBI.

Who's Not: Matt LeCroy started off the week strongly, going 2-for-4 in the first game of the week. Unfortunately, since that point he's gone 1-for-15 and is now hitting just .182 this season with 3 RBI's. Chris Heintz, meanwhile, found himself in his first Red Wings game on Saturday, and it turned into a lengthy 14 inning marathon that the Red Wings ended up losing, with Heintz going 1-for-6 in the opener.

Infielders
1.) Glenn Williams - 1B (6) [1B (5)]
2.) Matt Tolbert - 2B (3), SS (2) [2B (3), SS (2)]
3.) Tommy Watkins - SS (5), 2B (2) [SS (4), 2B (2)]
4.) Matt Moses - 3B (6) [3B (6)]

Who's Hot: With the promotion of Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert has seen his playing time increase -- and he's taken advantage of the opportunity by going 6-for-14 this week (that'd be a .429 batting average) with 6 runs scored and 2 RBI's. On the down side, Tolbert has already made 3 errors in his 4 full games of work (he played at both 2B and SS in one of them). Tommy Watkins has also had a fairly strong week, going 4-for-19. He had two great games in a row in the middle of the week, going 2-for-4 in both and hitting his first HR of the season in the first game and scoring 4 runs while picking up 2 RBI's and a stolen base in the other.

Who's Not: Matt Moses has hit just .160 (4-for-25) this season while striking out 7 times and making 4 errors. He also has yet to drive in a run this season. Not the kind of start that the Twins were hoping Moses would have.

Outfielders
1.) Denard Span - CF (6) [CF (5)]
2.) Garrett Jones - RF (3), LF (3), DH (1) [LF (3), RF (2), DH (1)]
3.) Doug Deeds - RF (4), DH (1) [RF (4), DH (1)]
4.) Trent Oeltjen - LF (2), CF (1) [LF (2)]

Who's Hot: Garrett Jones is hitting .308 (8-for-26) this season with 8 RBI's, including a 4 RBI day on Friday the 13th. Somewhat surprisingly, he also has picked up a stolen base, and hasn't yet made an error. Trent Oeltjen, meanwhile, is taking advantage of Josh Rabe's promotion to get some playing time. He went 3-for-9 this week with a walk, and has also played error free ball.

Who's Not: Denard Span went 4-for-22 this week, and is hitting just .154 through the first 6 games of the season (remember, one game was suspended and so doesn't count in the standings yet). He's also struck out 6 times. On the plus side, he's picked up 2 stolen bases and hasn't made an error in center field. Meanwhile, Doug Deeds has started off on a 3-for-17 pace (.176) while striking out 5 times.