Down on the Farm: AA Report

New Britain Rock Cats (21-17)
T-2nd Place -- Eastern League Northern Division

Rock Cats Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Brian Duensing - 8 starts
2.) Jesse Floyd - 7 starts, 1 RA
3.) Brad Baker - 5 starts, 3 RA
4.) Tristan Crawford - 5 starts, 1 RA
5.) Kyle Waldrop - 1 start
Suspended - Anthony Swarzak

Who's Hot: Brian Duensing is having a very nice season for the Rock Cats, with a 4-1 record and a 2.47 ERA/1.08 WHIP in 43.2 innings. He's also struck out 30 while walking just 7, which is also quite solid. With the suspension of Anthony Swarzak and the promotion of Nick Blackburn, he's now unquestionably the ace of the Rock Cats staff -- and if the Twins were to call up Matt Garza or Kevin Slowey, Duensing would probably be a candidate for a promotion. Brad Baker is also putting together a solid season, with a 2.92 ERA/1.05 WHIP and 20-9 K-BB ratio in 37 innings of work. Finally, Kyle Waldrop was just promoted from Ft. Myers, and went 7 strong innings in his first Rock Cats start, taking a tough luck loss despite allowing just 2 runs (1 earned) and allowing just 5 hits.

Who's Not: Tristan Crawford was demoted from Rochester after a poor start there, and in 23.2 innings with the Rock Cats he hasn't been much better, posting a 5.70 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. He does have a somewhat odd 4-2 record despite his poor pitching. Jesse Floyd has also struggled a bit, posting a 4.54 ERA/1.54 WHIP in 39.2 innings.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Tim Lahey - 14 RA
2.) Jay Sawatski - 14 RA
3.) Jose Mijares - 14 RA
4.) Danny Powers - 12 RA
5.) Brian Forystek - 8 RA, starts
6.) Frank Mata - 2 RA

Who's Hot: Well, first, a shout out to J.P. Martinez, who was promoted to the Red Wings after starting out with a 1.37 ERA in 19.2 innings for the Rock Cats. Amongst the players still with the team, Jose Mijares (who is probably going to be promoted to Rochester on Wednesday or Thursday) has a 3.20 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 19.2 innings of work (and a 21-6 K-BB ratio). Brian Forystek has also been solid, with a 3.46 ERA/1.35 WHIP in 26 innings, along with a 28-12 K-BB ratio. Also nice: he's been very solid when asked to make spot starts this year, and could probably be slotted into the rotation without too much difficulty. Frank Mata, meanwhile, is another recent call-up, and in 2.1 innings he's allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk while picking up 2 saves. Not a bad start!

Who's Not: Danny Powers has a 7.41 ERA/2.29 WHIP in 17 innings of work, which isn't going to earn him any promotions. Jay Sawatski (4.95 ERA in 20 innings) and Tim Lahey (4.70 ERA in 23 innings) have also struggled a bit this year.

Catchers
1.) Korey Feiner - C(22)
2.) Kyle Geiger - C(17), DH(1)

Who's Hot: Kyle Geiger has a team-leading .345 batting average and .901 OPS in 55 at-bats this season, but still finds himself playing second-fiddle on the team behind the plate. That's not entirely fair -- Geiger and Feiner essentially play every other day, so they pretty much get equal playing time. Meanwhile, Korey Feiner has a reasonably strong .262 batting average and .719 OPS this season in 61 at-bats -- and I just can't bring myself to put that in the "Not" category.

Who's Not: Nobody.

Infielders
1.) Brian Buscher - 3B(25), DH(9), 1B(1)
2.) Trevor Plouffe - SS(31), DH(2)
3.) Brock Peterson - 1B(24), DH(6)
4.) Felix Molina - 2B(26), DH(2), SS(1)
5.) David Winfree - DH(11), 3B(10), 1B(4)
6.) Luke Hughes - 2B(11), DH(5), LF(2), 3B(1)

Who's Hot: Luke Hughes leads the infielders in batting average, with a .308/.840 in 65 AB's to go along with a couple of steals and 10 RBI's. David Winfree has also hit well, with a .284/.783 and 2 HR's in 95 AB's, although his 27 K's are a little on the high side. Felix Molina, meanwhile, is hitting .274/.703 in 113 AB's -- but he has made a rather high 7 errors, tied for the team lead with Trevor Plouffe.

Who's Not: None of the infielders are having truly bad seasons, but the aforementioned Trevor Plouffe does have a low-ish .250/.707 and has made 7 errors on the season in 132 AB's. Brock Peterson (.264/.776) and Brian Buscher (.263/.751) have been more mediocre than truly bad this season.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Guzman - LF(30), DH(1)
2.) Brandon Roberts - CF(28), DH(1)
3.) Matt Allegra - RF(30)
4.) Rashad Eldridge - CF(9), RF(7), LF(4)

Who's Hot: Matt Allegra is the closest thing to hot in the outfield, with a .265/.757 and a team-leading 4 homers to his name. He has struck out 37 times in 113 AB's, which isn't so great, though.

Who's Not: That would be the rest of the crew. Garrett Guzman is the best of the rest (.256/.667 and 3 HR's), but Brandon Roberts (.204/.485) and Rashad Eldridge (.211/.629) have been pretty awful. That's particularly disappointing with Roberts, who for a while last year looked like he might be a very solid prospect for the Twins. Now, he looks like a guy who's going to be fighting just to keep his job.