Down on the Farm: AA Report

New Britain Rock Cats (8-9)
4th Place -- Eastern League Northern Division

Rock Cats Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Nick Blackburn - 5 starts [2 starts]
2.) Brian Duensing - 4 starts [2 starts]
3.) Jesse Floyd - 3 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
4.) Tristan Crawford - 1 start, 1 RA [1 start, 1 RA]
5.) Brad Baker - 2 starts, 3 RA [1 RA]
Inactive - Anthony Swarzak

Who's Hot: Most of the good this week was mixed in with a little of the bad, as both of the guys who made 2 starts this week struggled the first time out before rebounding with a solid second effort. Brian Duensing did the best, putting up a 7 inning, 1 run, 5 hit gem on the 29th to follow up a 4.1 innings, 3 run, 6 hit mediocrity in his first start of the week. Duensing's season ERA now sits at 2.75 with a 1.22 WHIP in 19.2 innings, and he has a 14-4 K-BB ratio. Nick Blackburn also recovered from a weak first start in which he went 4.2 innings and allowed 5 runs (2 earned) 5 hits -- in his second start, he went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and a walk. His season numbers now sit at 3.97/1.37 in 22.2 innings, with an 8-5 K-BB ratio.

Who's Not: After a solid Rock Cat debut in relief, Tristan Crawford got a start and went just 2 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 3 hits and a walk while taking the loss. He's picking up right where he left off in AAA, with a 9.00 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP through his first two performances. Jesse Floyd also had a so-so outing, taking the loss after a 5 inning, 3 run (1 earned) , 3 hit and 1 walk performance. Again, those really aren't that bad of numbers, but the loss gets him bumped into the "not hot" section. His season ERA is sitting at 5.40 with a 1.31 WHIP in 18.1 innings to go along with a 12-6 K-BB ratio.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Tim Lahey - 7 RA [2 RA]
2.) Jose Mijares - 7 RA [2 RA]
3.) Jay Sawatski - 6 RA [2 RA]
4.) J.P. Martinez - 5 RA, 1 start [2 RA]
5.) Danny Powers - 5 RA [1 RA]
6.) Brian Forystek - 5 RA [1 RA]

Who's Hot: Jay Sawatski had a solid week, going 4 innings with just 1 hit allowed and striking out 5 batters. He needed a week like that, as it lowered his ERA to a still very high 6.30 and his WHIP to a semi-respectable 1.40 in 10 innings of work to go along with a 9-5 K-BB ratio. Danny Powers also did well in his one game this week, going 1 inning and allowing 1 hit to lower his ERA to 12.15 with a 2.85 WHIP in 6.2 innings. I strongly suspect that his numbers will correct themselves significantly as he gets more innings.

Who's Not: Brian Forystek may have picked up a win in his only outing of the week, but he gave up 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk in just 2 innings of work on his way to doing so. His season ERA now sits at 6.55 with a 1.64 WHIP in 11 innings. That was the only really bad performance of the week for the Rock Cats.

Catchers
1.) Korey Feiner - C(10) [C(3)]
2.) Kyle Geiger - C(8) [C(3)]

Who's Hot: In light of the need to be generous with just 2 catchers on the team, I'll say that Kyle Geiger had a "hot" week, going 3-for-11 on the week, which actually dropped his batting average to .333 on the season with a .866 OPS.

Who's Not: Korey Feiner finally started to cool off, going just 1-for-11 this week to drop his batting average to .333 along with Geiger. His OPS sits at .859 on the season.

Infielders
1.) Brian Buscher - 3B(12), DH(3), 1B(1) [3B(6)]
2.) Trevor Plouffe - SS(14), DH(1) [SS(5), DH(1)]
3.) Brock Peterson - 1B(10), DH(5) [1B(3), DH(2)]
4.) Felix Molina - 2B(11), DH(2) [2B(4)]
5.) Luke Hughes - 2B(6), DH(4) [2B(2), DH(2)]
6.) Gil Velazquez - 1B(4), SS(3), 3B(2) [1B(3), SS(1)]
7.) David Winfree - 3B(4), 1B(2), DH(2)

Who's Hot: A whole bunch of guys! For starters, Brian Buscher had an absolutely great week, going 11-for-24 to raise his season average to .348 with a .948 OPS in 66 at-bats. He's driven in 12 RBI's and scored 9 -- and his only real downside so far has been his 4 errors in the field. Trevor Plouffe, meanwhile, went 10-for-25 this week, and he's now hitting .323 on the season with a .956 OPS and 3 homers, although he too has made 4 errors. I said at the beginning of the season that I thought Plouffe might turn things around this year (for which I was mocked!), and at least so far it looks like he might be doing just that. It's still too early to celebrate, but the early returns are quite positive. Elsewhere in the infield, Brock Peterson went 7-for-17 (.240 on the year), Felix Molina went 8-for-18 (.271 this year), and Gil Velazquez went 5-for-13 with a Grand Slam (.269 on the season).

Who's Not: Who's left? David Winfree didn't play this week, although to this point the Rock Cats transaction list doesn't list him as being on the DL, so I assume it's not a long-term injury (or at least isn't classified as such just yet). As for those who played, Luke Hughes was the only guy with a down week at the plate, as he went 4-for-17 to drop his season average to .294.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Guzman - LF(16) [LF(6)]
2.) Brandon Roberts - CF(14), DH(1) [CF(4), DH(1)]
3.) Matt Allegra - RF(13) [RF(4)]
4.) Rashad Eldridge - RF(4), CF(3), LF(1) [RF(2), CF(2)]

Who's Hot: Rashad Eldridge went 7-for-19 on the week, including hitting his 1st HR and a 4 RBI game yesterday. He's now hitting .242 on the season with a .719 OPS in 33 at bats.

Who's Not: Pretty much everone else. The worst of the bunch? Probably Brandon Roberts, who went just 1-for-17 on the week and is hitting just .156 on the season with a .362 OPS. This is one of the most disappointing stories on the season in the Twins minor league system, I would think -- Roberts played very well at times last year, and looked poised to become at least solid, if not top, prospect in the organization. Now, he's in a serious funk to start the season. Matt Allegra also struggled this week, going 2-for-16 to bring his average on the season to .173 with a .496 OPS and 20 strikeouts in just 52 at bats.