Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (7-3)
T-1st Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

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

Who's Hot: Scott Baker had the best week on the staff, amongst a number of solid performances. He went 8 innings on Friday, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 8 batters in picking up his first win of the season. So far, Baker has posted an ERA of 1.69 on the season in 16 innings to go along with a 0.88 WHIP and a 16-3 K-BB ratio. I'm not a big Baker guy, because of his past inability to put things together at the Major League level, but if he keeps pitching like this, he'll be right back in the discussion of which young gun gets a shot if one of the Twins veterans (or Boof) fizzles out. Amongst other solid performances, Kevin Slowey went 5.2 innings and allowed just 3 hits while striking out 9 in picking up a win on the 19th, in the first game of a doubleheader when the Red Wings finally started to play baseball again after four straight postponements. He has a dazzling 0.00 ERA and a 0.51 WHIP along with an 11-0 K-BB ratio so far this year. And finally, Jeremy Cummings has finally worked his way into the rotation after Glen Perkins was called up to add depth to the Twins bullpen. He went 4 innings (still building up arm-strength, I assume) and allowed just 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 8 (!) in his first Red Wings start, dropping his season ERA to 0.82 and his WHIP to 0.91 and a K-BB ratio of 15-2. I really like what he's shown so far.

Who's Not: It wasn't a terrible performance, but Matt Garza's start on the 19th wasn't on par with what the rest of the rotation has been doing. He went 5 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits with 2 walks and 5 K's. On the season, he has a very good 2.77 ERA and a not-so-good 1.85 WHIP, along with a so-so 12-9 K-BB ratio.

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

Who's Hot: After a disastrous first game of the season, Mike Venafro has managed to get back on track, going 2.2 innings this week and allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks. That's a fairly high whip, but the fact that he hasn't allowed a run since that disastrous opener merits his inclusion on this list. His season ERA is still a lofty 6.75, but it's falling. His WHIP, sitting at 2.10, also needs some more work, and his 2-4 K-BB ratio isn't all that great either. But hey, as long as he keeps getting people out, those numbers will go down. Julio DePaula also had a solid week, going 4 innings and giving up just 1 walk while striking out 3 batters. He has a respectable 3.48 season ERA to go along with a very good 1.06 WHIP and a very suspect 3-6 K-BB ratio.

Who's Not: Just because it was so bad on the ERA, I'm putting Carmen Cali first. His one appearance this week was a ZERO inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk performance. Not good. His season ERA is a preposterous 27.00, but that's in a grand total of 0.1 inning of work. His WHIP? An ugly 6.00. Brian Bass, meanwhile, gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 2 innings of work in his lone appearance of the week (to go along with 2 K's). He has a 9.00 ERA on the season to go along with a 1.75 WHIP. At least his K-BB ratio is 2-0.

Catchers
1.) Matthew LeCroy - DH(9), C(1) [DH(4)]
2.) Jose Morales - C(7), DH(1) [C(3), DH(1)]
3.) Chris Heintz - C(3) [C(2)]

Who's Hot: It's not much, but Chris Heintz went 2-for-7 this week and is now hitting .231 on the season. Seriously, that's as hot as it gets behind the plate for the Red Wings right now.

Who's Not: Why not start with Matt LeCroy, who went just 2-for-15 this week and is hitting a woeful .162 in 37 at-bats so far this season. At least he's not getting much playing time behind the plate. Meanwhile, Jose Morales is also struggling, going 3-for-15 this week. His season batting average is a still respectable .276, with an OPS of .633.

Infielders
1.) Matt Tolbert - 2B(8), SS(2) [2B(5)]
2.) Tommy Watkins - SS(10), 2B(2) [SS(5)]
3.) Matt Moses - 3B(11) [3B(5)]
4.) Glenn Williams - 1B(8) [1B(2)]

Who's Hot: Matt Tolbert hit 4-for-13 this week, including (somewhat unexpectedly) his first Red Wings homer. On the season, he's hitting a red-hot .370 with a rather outrageous 1.061 OPS, 3 RBI, and 7 runs scored. Unfortunately, he has made 4 errors in the field, detracting somewhat from his solid start offensively. Also having a good week was Tommy Watkins, who went 4-for-14 to bring his season batting average to .270 to go along with a .861 OPS. He also stole a couple bases in one game this week, bringing his season total to 3.

Who's Not: Matt Moses is still struggling mightily at the plate, going just 3-for-17 this week to bring his season average down to .167 with a .353 OPS. Even worse, he's up to 5 errors in the field. He has just 1 RBI to this point, and 12 K's in 42 at-bats. Needless to say, things aren't going quite as planned so far for Moses.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Jones - RF(5), 1B(3), LF(3), DH(1) [1B(3), RF(2)]
2.) Denard Span - CF(11) [CF(5)]
3.) Doug Deeds - RF(7), DH(2) [RF(3), DH(1)]
4.) Trent Oeltjen - LF(7), CF(1) [LF(5)]

Who's Hot: Garrett Jones strung together a great week, going 7-for-19 with 2 homeruns. On the season, he's hitting .333 with a .936 OPS and 11 RBI's. Even better, he's keeping his strikeout numbers own, with just 7 in 45 at-bats. If he keeps hitting like this, he could find himself playing at the Major League level at some point this season (especially considering the poor performance of Josh Rabe on his recent callup). Denard Span also had a solid week, going 6-for-19, including a 3 RBI game last Friday. Span is still struggling on the season, hitting just .222 with 10 K's in 45 at-bats -- and he's not a guy who should be striking out a lot. Nonetheless, at least the batting average started to go north this week.

Who's Not: Doug Deeds went just 3-for-13 this week, and is hitting just .200 this year with 12 K's in just 30 at-bats. He also has yet to drive in a run.