Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (29-24)
2nd Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Matt Garza - 11 starts [1 start]
2.) Dave Gassner - 9 starts [1 start]
3.) Jeremy Cummings - 7 starts, 5 RA [2 starts]
4.) Nick Blackburn - 4 starts [2 starts]
5.) Brian Duensing - 1 start [1 start]

Who's Hot: Brian Duensing had an excellent AAA debut, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 1 K to show that he's perfectly capable of pitching at this level. There's absolutely no reason that he can't stay in AAA for the rest of the season, and he could be a dark horse candidate to make the Twins rotation next year -- although he'd have to beat out a fearsome field of candidates, and is more likely to spend 2008 in AAA. Matt Garza also had a solid start, going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs on 4 hits with 4 walks and 7 K's to lower his season ERA to 3.19 with a 1.32 WHIP and a 60-26 K-BB ratio. Nick Blackburn also gets on this list by virtue of his 2 starts, in which he went 14 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits with 1 walk and 9 K's, to bring his 4 start ERA to 3.42 with a 1.06 WHIP and 13-4 K-BB ratio.

Who's Not: Dave Gassner returned to his old ways this week, going 6.1 innings and giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits with 3 walks. His season ERA is at 5.74, with a 1.51 WHIP and a disappointing 20-15 K-BB ratio. And Jeremy Cummings, unfortunately, is making me look a little bad for supporting him as I have since spring training -- in his 2 starts this week, he went 10 innigns and gave up 7 runs (6 earned) on 6 hits and 5 walks while striking out 7.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Bobby Korecky - 23 RA [4 RA]
2.) Brian Bass - 16 RA , 1 start [3 RA]
3.) Julio DePaula - 16 RA [1 RA]
4.) Ricky Barrett - 11 RA [2 RA]
5.) Jose Mijares - 3 RA [3 RA]
6.) J.P. Martinez - 2 RA [1 RA]

Who's Hot: After being shown to be waaaay out of his element in the Major Leagues, Julio DePaula returned to AAA this week and proceeded to go 1.2 innings with 3 K's in his only appearance, lowering his AAA ERA to 2.91 in 21.2 innings with a 0.97 WHIP. J.P. Martinez also had a solid week in just 1 appearance, going 1 inning and giving up just 1 hit -- although his season ERA is still at 12.00 in 3 innings. Brian Bass (4 innings, 1 run, 1 hit) and Ricky Barrett (3 innings, 1 run, 3 hits) also both had respectable weeks -- and Barrett has now reached 16.1 innings with a 1.65 ERA and 0.86 WHIP.

Who's Not: After 2 solid performances to start his AAA career, Jose Mijares had a bad outing that gets him on the "not hot" list. For the week, Mijares went 7.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks with 5 K's. That's gives him a 4.70 ERA and 1.30 WHIP after his first 3 appearances.

Catchers
1.) Matthew LeCroy - DH(27), C(15), 1B(2) [C(6), DH(1)]
2.) Jose Morales - C(29), DH(9) [DNP]
3.) Korey Feiner - C(2) [C(2)]

Who's Hot: Can I put Jose Morales on this list even though he didn't play this week? What am I saying -- this is my blog. Jose Morales gets the nod.

Who's Not: Matthew LeCroy is getting a lot of playing time. He shouldn't be. This week, he went 2-for-23 to lower his already anemic batting average to .181 with a .532 OPS. Congratulations to Korey Feiner for getting an injury-inspired call-up (he's replacing Jose Morales on the roster for now), but he gets on the list for an 0-for-3 in his debut.

Infielders
1.) Tommy Watkins - SS(24), LF(10), 3B(5), 2B(4), DH(1) [SS(6), 3B(1), 2B(1)]
2.) Matt Moses - 3B(41), DH(1) [3B(2)]
3.) Alexi Casilla - 2B(21), SS(14) [2B(6), SS(1)]
4.) Matt Tolbert - 2B(29), SS(5) [2B(1)]
5.) Glenn Williams - 1B(34), C(1) [1B(7), C(1)]
6.) Gil Velazquez - SS(9), 3B(4), 1B(2) [3B(4), SS(1), 1B(1)]

Who's Hot: Alexi Casilla went 7-for-25 and bumped his season average up to .264 with a .693 OPS, and he picked up another steal this week. Matt Tolbert also gets on this list for going 1-for-3 in his return from a short-term injury, and leads the team with a .356 batting average and .968 OPS.

Who's Not: Matt Moses went 0-for-8 and sat out the rest of the week, presumably with an injury. That'll get you on the "not hot" list every time. Gil Velazquez also "earns" the dubious honor, after going 3-for-14 on the week to lower his batting average to .195 with a .511 OPS.

Outfielders
1.) Denard Span - CF(49), RF(2) [CF(7)]
2.) Garrett Jones - 1B(17), LF(16), RF(15), DH(1) [LF(7)]
3.) Trent Oeltjen - LF(20), RF(16), CF(3) [RF(6)]
4.) Doug Deeds - RF(20), DH(12), LF(3), 1B(1) [DH(6), RF(1)]

Who's Hot: Garrett Jones went 10-for-31 on the week including his 8th homerun of the year. His batting average is now sitting at .302 with an .865 OPS, and he also has 35 RBI's. Doug Deeds also had a solid week, going 9-for-24 to raise his average to .234 with a .660 OPS -- but the 37 K's in 107 AB's is still a problem.

Who's Not: Trent Oeltjen (3-for-19) and Denard Span (5-for-24) need to pick it up -- especially Span, who is still hitting just .218.