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.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (24-21)
3rd Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Matt Garza - 10 starts [2 starts]
2.) Kevin Slowey - 9 starts [1 start]
3.) Dave Gassner - 8 starts [1 start]
4.) Brian Bass - 1 start, 13 RA [1 start, 1 RA]
5.) Nick Blackburn - 2 starts [1 start]

Who's Hot: Kevin Slowey continued to roll this week, going 8 innings and allowing just 7 hits while striking out 7 while picking up his 6th win of the season. It's almost certainly going to be his last AAA start for awhile, as the Twins have announced that "someone" will be called up to replace Ramon Ortiz in the rotation, and all signs point to Slowey being that "someone." Matt Garza also had a great week, despite getting saddled with 2 losses. He pitched 14 innings and allowed just 1 earned run (along with a couple of unearned runs) on just 7 hits and 6 walks while striking out 11 hitters. He's dropped his season ERA to 3.21 and his WHIP to 1.32 -- both solid numbers. While Slowey and Scott Baker have clearly had better AAA seasons than Garza, he's definitely getting things on track. Finally, as bad as Dave Gassner's season has been (5.75 ERA), he badly needed a start like he had on Saturday -- his line: 9 innings pitched (yes, an honest to goodness complete game!), 4 hits, 1 walk, 4 K's. Keep it up, Dave!

Who's Not: Brian Bass got a start and made one relief appearance, and was awful -- 8 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks in 5.1 innings of work. For the season, he now has a 7.11 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP in 25.1 innings. The problem is, the Twins can't really afford to get rid of him, because they've had so many guys called up. For now, anyway, Bass will stay on the roster, although I suspect that his first start of the year will be his last, and he'll probably be relegated to mop-up or other emergency duty from here on. Nick Blackburn, meanwhile, wasn't bad -- 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings -- but he doesn't come anywhere close to three guys listed above, so he winds up on the "not hot" list.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Bobby Korecky - 19 RA [3 RA]
2.) Jeremy Cummings - 5 RA, 5 starts [1 RA]
3.) Ricky Barrrett - 9 RA [3 RA]
4.) J.P. Martinez - 1 RA
5.) Jose Mijares - None

Who's Hot: That's right, the Red Wings have just 5 relief pitchers on the team at the moment. That number should rise in the next few days, after Kevin Slowey is called up and someone (probably Julio DePaula) is sent back down. For the moment, though, being so short-staffed hasn't been a big problem for the Red Wings, considering the solid starting pitching that they've been getting from 3/5 of the rotation. Each of the three relievers who pitched this week had pretty good performances: Bobby Korecky went 5.2 innings and gave up just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6; Ricky Barrett went 4 innings and finally allowed his first 2 runs of the year on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 -- but his season ERA is still at just 1.35 and his WHIP is at 0.75; and Jeremy Cummings made it into just one game, but went 2 innings and allowed just a hit while striking out 3.

Who's Not: Well, nobody who pitched deserved to be in this category, but I'll throw J.P. Martinez in this list -- his first outing for the team was so bad (2 innings, 4 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks) that they didn't trust him to get into a game this week! Actually, I'm sure his not pitching was more a function of too few innings to spread amongst relievers, but still -- that was a bad debut!

Catchers
1.) Jose Morales - C(29), DH(9) [C(4)]
2.) Matthew LeCroy - DH(26), C(9), 1B(2) [C(3), DH(1)]

Who's Hot: Jose Morales is playing out of his mind right now, as he went 8-for-15 this week to bring his season average to .350 with an .843 OPS. He's also only struck out 15 times in 137 AB's, scored 20 runs, and driven in 11 runs.

Who's Not: Matthew LeCroy actually raised his batting average this week by going 2-for-9, all the way to the thundering heights of .198. I've said enough mean things about LeCroy since the Twins brought him back into the system before the season started, so I'm just going to cut it off here this time.

Infielders
1.) Matt Moses - 3B(39), DH(1) [3B(6)]
2.) Tommy Watkins - SS(18), LF(10), 3B(4), 2B(3), DH(1) [SS(1), LF(1)]
3.) Matt Tolbert - 2B(28), SS(5)
4.) Alexi Casilla - 2B(15), SS(13) [2B(6)]
5.) Glenn Williams - 1B(27) [1B(6)]
6.) Gil Velazquez - SS(8), 1B(1) [SS(5)]
DL - Ken Harvey

Who's Hot: Slim pickins' amongst this crew for inclusion on this list this week. I settled on Alexi Casilla, who's 6-for-24 hitting was accompanied by 4 steals. He shifted back to second base exclusively this week while Matt Tolbert is out. He's now up to 104 AB's in Rochester, and is hitting just .260 -- so the Twins will undoubtedly be looking for him to bump that average back up as they weigh his ability to become the team's starting 2B next year.

Who's Not: Doing the math -- that leaves everyone else. I'll spare you the details for most of these guys, and highlight the worst offenders: Tommy Watkins, in limited action, went 1-for-9 but is hitting .260; Gil Velazquez went 3-for-18 and is hitting .185; and Glenn Williams went 4-for-23 to lower his average to .260.

Outfielders
1.) Denard Span - CF(42), RF(2) [CF(5)]
2.) Garrett Jones - 1B(17), RF(15), LF(9), DH(1) [LF(5), RF(1)]
3.) Trent Oeltjen - LF(20), RF(10), CF(3) [RF(4), CF(1)]
4.) Doug Deeds - RF(19), DH(6), LF(3), 1B(1) [DH(2), RF(1)]
5.) Josh Rabe - DH(3), LF(2) [DH(3)] (Rehab Assignment)

Who's Hot: Trent Oeltjen went 5-for-14 this week to raise his average to .301 with a .756 OPS in 93 AB's. He's also stolen 7 bases and made just 1 error. Garrett Jones went 6-for-26 and is hitting .289 on the season -- but he's this list particularly because of the 2 homeruns he hit during the week. He leads the team (by 11!) with 30 RBI's, and while he's struck out 33 times, he's done so in 152 AB's -- once every 4.6 AB's, which isn't great, but also isn't horrid.

Who's Not: For the King of Not-Hotness, there's no other place to go on this team than Denard Span, who went just 1-for-18 during the week to drop his batting average to .218. He also lost his place as the team's leadoff hitter, being moved in the middle of this week down to the last spot in the order. He's struck out 36 times in 174 AB's -- and while I excused a high strikeout ratio in Garrett Jones, it's a little different when you're dealing with a guy who's supposed to set the table. Span's 11 steals are nice, but Casilla has one more steal in 70 fewer AB's. In other words, Span has some work to do if he's to regain his place as the heir-apparent to Torii Hunter. For good measure, I'll also mention that Doug Deeds' woeful season continued, as he went just 1-for-9 and is hitting .193 on the season.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Due to the lengthy absence and the difficulty that would be associated with me trying to stick to the new format this week, I'm modifying the Down on the Farm reports slightly for this week. I'll be focusing more on who's doing well this season rather than just over the past few weeks, and will only be marking where a player has played over the course of the season, rather than splitting it into both "this week" and "this season" segments. The format will return to normal next week.

Rochester Red Wings (22-18)
2nd Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Kevin Slowey - 8 starts
2.) Matt Garza - 8 starts
3.) Dave Gassner - 7 starts
4.) Jeremy Cummings - 5 starts, 4 RA
5.) Nick Blackburn - 1 start

Who's Hot: Kevin Slowey remains a dominant pitcher this season, with a 5-2 record and remarkable stats: 1.76 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 50-5 K-BB ratio all in 56.1 innings. he's put himself in the lead position for a call-up to the big leagues if the Twins find themselves in need of a starter, with the only real question being whether the Twins think he can still benefit from the time in the minors rather than a quick call-up. Jeremy Cummings has also been solid this season, posting a 2.90 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 31 innings. He should be used mostly as a starter for the foreseeable future.

Who's Not: Dave Gassner may be close to being done in the Twins system. He was removed from the 40-man roster last November after suffering through an injury plagues 2006 season, and this year has been a nightmare for Gassner, with a 7.39 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 31.2 innings of work. If the Twins had more candidates to take over a starting role at the AAA level, he'd probably already be gone. As it is, if he doesn't turn things around quickly, he won't last past the end of June. It's harsh to put Nick Blackburn in this category after just one start, but his 4.91 ERA justifies it (even if his 1.23 WHIP does indicate a bit of bad luck on the runs allowed side of the ledger). At least he made it through 7.1 innings in his AAA debut, which is solid. And, while it's not really BAD, Matt Garza's 4.07 ERA and 1.45 WHIP get him in this category because so much more was expected of him. To this point, he hasn't turned it on, and he's been passed by Scott Baker, Glen Perkins, and Kevin Slowey in the pecking order since the start of Spring Training. That's definitely moving in the wrong direction -- although I and most Twins fans are still very high on him, for good reason.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Bobby Korecky - 16 RA
2.) Brian Bass - 12 RA
3.) Carmen Cali - 11 RA
4.) Jason Miller - 3 starts, 6 RA
5.) Ricky Barrett - 6 RA
6.) J.P. Martinez - 1 RA

Who's Hot: Ricky Barrett started the season on the disabled list, but has returned with a vengeance, posting a 0.00 ERA in 6 games (9.1 innings) with a 0.43 WHIP and 8-1 K-BB ratio. With the Twins bullpen injury woes right now, his name has to come up as a possibility for a promotion. Jason Miller is another name that might get some consideration if the Twins need to call someone up, having posted a 2.63 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 24 innings this season. On the downside, his 9-8 K-BB ratio isn't very inspiring, and could indicate that he might have trouble getting out big league hitters. Carmen Cali has also been reasonably solid, with a 3.46 ERA/1.31 WHIP in 13 innings.

Who's Not: There are any number of candidates for this position. The low-hanging fruit here is J.P. Martinez, a recent call-up who through one game has an 18.00 ERA and 3.50 WHIP in 2 innings of work. But Brian Bass has to be the most obvious candidate for inclusion in this category amongst pitchers who actually have some time at the AAA level this year, having posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in 20 innings of work. Incidentally, the recently departed Mike Venafro never really recovered from his rough start, as he had a 5.40 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 11.2 innings when he was sent packing. Amongst those still on the team, Bobby Korecky also belongs on this list. Although he has 8 saves, he also has a 4.76 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 17 innings of work.

Catchers
1.) Jose Morales - C(25), DH(9)
2.) Matthew LeCroy - DH(25), C(6), 1B(2)

Who's Hot: Jose Morales has figured out how to hit, apparently, with a .328 batting average and .808 OPS in 122 AB's. He's also popped a homer out of the park, driven in 10 and scored 17, and limited himself to an acceptable 14 K's while making just one error behind the plate this season. If something were to happen to Chris Heintz, he'd almost certainly be the next option for the Twins (especially considering that the alternative would be *gulp* Matthew LeCroy.

Who's Not: Speaking of LeCroy, he belongs firmly on this list. He's knocked a couple balls out of the park and has 12 RBI's on the season, but he's hitting just .197/.546. With numbers like that, I wouldn't expect him to be seeing a big league bench anytime soon. LeCroy is a nice guy, but these numbers are making it look an awful lot like he is simply no longer a Major League caliber ballplayer, as has been suspected for some time.

Infielders
1.) Tommy Watkins - SS(17), LF(9), 3B(4), 2B(3), DH(1)
2.) Matt Moses - 3B(33), DH(1)
3.) Matt Tolbert - 2B(28), SS(5)
4.) Alexi Casilla - SS(13), 2B(9)
5.) Glenn Williams - 1B(21)
6.) Gil Velazquez - SS(3), 1B(1)
DL - Ken Harvey

Who's Hot: Matt Tolbert continues to hit at a torrid pace, putting up a .356 average and .972 OPS in 101 AB's. On the downside, he's made 6 errors and is still behind Alexi Casilla on the depth chart. Glenn Williams is also putting together a solid season, with .300/.862 numbers and a couple of jacks in 70 AB's. He's probably also happy to be playing just one position this year -- last year he was bounced around a lot and actually played a fair number of games at 2B. Finally, it's a mixed bag this year with Alexi Casilla, but I'm going to throw him on the good side because he's shown a lot of speed (8 steals in 23 games) and a reasonable bat (.263/.685). On the downside, he's struck out 20 times in just 80 AB's, so he's got to fix that problem.

Who's Not: How about Gil Velazquez, who is hitting just .222 (to be fair, that's in just 9 AB's -- he was recently promoted). Matt Moses is the worst of the regular crew, but his batting average of .250 and OPS of .617, while not that good, also aren't terrible. For a third baseman, though, he does need to generate more power -- although a two homer game early this month showed that maybe he's moving in that direction. Moses has also struck out 32 times in 128 AB's and made 6 errors in the field; all-in-all not a great year so far for one of the Twins one-time big name prospects.

Outfielders
1.) Denard Span - CF(37), RF(2)
2.) Garrett Jones - 1B(17), RF(14), LF(4), DH(1)
3.) Trent Oeltjen - LF(20), RF(6), CF(2)
4.) Doug Deeds - RF(18), DH(4), LF(3), 1B(1)

Who's Hot: Garrett Jones (who, you'll notice, just barely avoided moving into the "infielders" category -- 18 outfield games v. 17 infield games) played well enough so far this year to earn himself a short promotion to the Twins before being sent back down. He's hitting .302/.853 with 5 HR's and 25 RBI's, while striking out 26 times in 126 AB's. He should get another chance to play in the big leagues soon. Trent Oeltjen is also quietly putting together a good season for the Red Wings, with a .291/.734 in 79 AB's as a sometimes starter, to go along with 5 SB's.

Who's Not: With all of the hype, the Twins have to be sorely disappointed in the play of Torii Hunter's heir apparent, Denard Span, who is hitting just .237/.606 in 156 AB's and who has a ridiculous 34 K's. For a contact/average hitter, that's way, way, way too high. Span has shown his speed with 10 SB's, but the average simply has to come up before the Twins can even think of replacing Torii Hunter with him. Doug Deeds has also been disappointing, hitting just .203/.581 in 74 AB's -- although he has hit a couple of HR's. Most startling though may be his paltry 3 RBI's and his 28 K's (remember, that's in just 74 AB's).

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (12-4)
1st Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

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

Who's Hot: As Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune has been reporting regularly, Kevin Slowey is absolutely scalding. This "week" (it was 8 days on the calendar because I'm a day late with the post), Slowey made 2 starts and got a win, going 14 innings and allowing just 3 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out seventeen batters. The drumbeat for him to replace Sidney Ponson in the rotation will just keep growing louder if he keeps putting up numbers like that in his starts. On the season, he has a 1.05 ERA and a remarkable 0.62 WHIP in 25.2 innings to go along with a 28-2 K-BB ratio. As much as I think he needs this time in AAA, I'm starting to think we'll see him with the Twins sooner rather than later. There were numerous other candidates who could go in this category for the Twins this week, but I'll focus on just one more for brevity -- Scott Baker had another great start, winning the game and going 7 innings while allowing just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 7. He's starting to demonstrate why the Twins have chosen to give him a shot over the last couple of seasons, and why it's so frustrating that he hasn't won a regular job in the big leagues -- he clearly has some electric stuff when everything is working. On the season, he has a 1.57 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 23 innings, and a 23-3 K-BB ratio.

Who's Not: The only guy who really fits the description this week is Dave Gassner, who really didn't pitch badly. That's what happens when you're in a rotation with this group of guys, though. Gassner went 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits a walk and 3 K's, and I'm calling that a bad start. Life really isn't fair. On the season, Gassner has a solid 2.81 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 16 innings, and a rather poor 7-5 K-BB ratio.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Mike Venafro - 10 RA [4 RA]
2.) Julio DePaula - 9 RA [3 RA]
3.) Bobby Korecky - 9 RA [3 RA]
4.) Jeremy Cummings - 1 start, 4 RA [1 RA]
5.) Brian Bass - 5 RA [2 RA]
6.) Carmen Cali - 4 RA [2 RA]
DL - Ricky Barrett

Who's Hot: Bobby Korecky had 3 very solid appearances for the Red Wings this week, all in the last three days, picking up a save in each. He went a total of 3 innings and allowed just 2 hits and a walk in the process while striking out 5. All of that lowered his ERA to 4.82 and his WHIP to 1.50 in 9.1 innings of work, with a 9-5 K-BB ratio. Mike Venafro also had a pretty good week, appearing in four ballgames and going 2.2 innings with a save. He gave up just one hit and 3 walks while striking out 3. On the season, he too has a 4.82 ERA, but his 1.93 WHIP is still awfully high, and his 5-7 K-BB ratio is also a little disturbing. Still, he's doing his job and bringing that ERA down from his poor start.

Who's Not: Brian Bass got a win this inning, but his overall numbers weren't that good this week, as he went 3.1 innings and allowed 5 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 2 K's. On the season, his ERA is a whopping 11.05 and his WHIP is an inflated 2.18, with a low 4-3 K-BB ratio. Those aren't the kinds of numbers that keep you in the good graces of the organization, and the Twins have already shown that they're willing to make quick moves, having sent Tristan Crawford down to AA last week. Also struggling over the last 8 days was Jeremy Cummings, although the sample size was awfully small. After getting a chance to start last week, he was relegated back into the bullpen and made just one appearance, going 1 inning and giving up a 1 run on 1 hit with 1 K. Certainly, that's not terrible -- but it's not that good, either, and everyone else in the 'pen pitched well enough to stay off this list for the week.

Catchers
1.) Matthew LeCroy - DH(13), C(1) [DH(4)]
2.) Jose Morales - C(12), DH(2) [C(5), DH(1)]
3.) Chris Heintz - C(4), 3B(2), DH(1) [3B(2), C(1), DH(1)]

Who's Hot: It was a pretty good week for all of these guys, really. Jose Morales was the hottest, with a 12-for-20 week that included his first homerun of the season. He's now hitting a remarkably hot .408 on the season in 49 AB's with a 1.034 OPS and just 1 error in the field. Chris Heintz also had a solid week, going 5-for-16 to bring his season average to .276 in 29 AB's with a .586 OPS. Finally, even Matt LeCroy had a solid week, going 4-for-14 including a clutch 2 RBI hit in yesterday's game that won the game for the Red Wings. Still, his season average is still a woeful .192 in 52 AB's with a .501 OPS, and he still hasn't taken any of the minor league pitchers he's faced deep.

Who's Not: There's no one left for this category this week.

Infielders
1.) Matt Tolbert - 2B(14), SS(2) [2B(6)]
2.) Tommy Watkins - SS(16), 2B(2) [SS(6)]
3.) Matt Moses - 3B(15) [3B(4)]
4.) Glenn Williams - 1B(11) [1B(3)]
5.) Alexi Casilla - 2B(2)

Who's Hot: Matt Tolbert went 6-for-20 this week, including his 2nd homer and his 1st stolen base as his batting averaged settled in at .340 with a .961 OPS -- although he has made a whopping 5 errors already this season.

Who's Not: Pretty much everyone else. First off, Alexi Casilla didn't play for the Red Wings this week, having just been sent down today -- but being optioned back to the minors is enough to get you in the "not hot" list. As for the guys who did play, Watkins went 3-for-23 (.217 on the season), Moses went 2-for-13 (.182 for the season), and Williams went 2-for-8 (.256 on the season). Ouch to all.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Jones - RF(9), 1B(7), LF(3), DH(1) [RF(4), 1B(4)]
2.) Denard Span - CF(17) [CF(6)]
3.) Trent Oeltjen - LF(11), RF(2), CF (1) [LF(4), RF(2)]
4.) Doug Deeds - RF(10), DH(2), 1B(1) [RF(3), 1B(1)]
5.) Lew Ford - LF(2) [LF(2)]

Who's Hot: Trent Oeltjen went 7-for-20 to bring his average up to .318 in 44 AB's with a .784 OPS. Garrett Jones also continued his recent hot streak, going 8-for-23 on the week with his 3rd HR. He's now hitting .338 in 68 AB's with a .932 OPS and 15 RBI's on the season. And, while he only went 2-for-9 on the week, I'm putting Lew Ford on this list for getting back on the field in actual games on his rehab stint.

Who's Not: Doug Deeds went just 1-for-7 on the week and is hitting just .189 on the season in 37 AB's with a .439 OPS.

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.

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.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

The start of the minor league season means the return of the Down on the Farm posts. However, I have decided to substantially revise the format of the posts. For an example of how the posts were set up last year, you can click here. What's the reason for the change? Largely, I think I can provide more useful and more interesting commentary using the new format, and because I can simply direct you to the team websites if you want to see season stats, there's no reason for me to waste time duplicating them here. Rather than describe the new format in writing, I'm just going to launch into it below. I hope you enjoy it!

Rochester Red Wings (1-0)
T-2nd Place -- International League North Division

Red Wings Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Matt Garza - RHP - 1 start
2.) Glen Perkins - LHP
3.) Kevin Slowey - RHP
4.) Scott Baker - RHP
5.) Dave Gassner - LHP

Who's Hot: It's hard to say that any of the starters are actually "hot" at this point, since the team has only played one game and starter Matt Garza was decidedly not hot. Dave Gassner may win the award simply because he's now actually listed in my starting rotation, after the player I originally listed there (Jeremy Cummings) came on in relief of Garza in Saturday's first game.

Who's Not: Garza's first start was anything but solid, as he threw 74 pitches to get through 3.1 innings and allowed 3 unearned runs while walking 5 batters. By no means should this be cause for too much concern -- the start was pushed back a day, and it was quite cold in Rochester for the opener. Look for Garza to bounce back strong his next time out.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Jeremy Cummings - RHP - 1 game
2.) Mike Venafro - LHP - 1 game
3.) Bobby Korecky - RHP - 1 game
4.) Brian Bass - RHP
5.) Tristan Crawford - RHP
6.) Julio DePaula - RHP
7.) Jason Miller - LHP
DL - Ricky Barrett - LHP
DL - Carmen Cali - LHP

Who's Hot: Jeremy Cummings put together a very solid 3 inning appearance in relief of Matt Garza on Saturday in which he allowed just 2 hits while striking out 3 batters. I really got to like Cummings in spring training, and had hoped that the Twins would give him a chance to start in the Red Wing rotation. That hasn't happened -- yet -- but if Cummings continues to put up solid relief appearances and Dave Gassner struggles, he could get a shot at some point this season to prove he deserves to be starting.

Who's Not: Mike Venafro, the much vaunted free agent acquisition who posted a 0.00 ERA for the Twins in spring training, got touched for 5 runs on 6 hits in 2 innings of work on Saturday. Reports from a commentator in a previous post suggest that Venafro went out in 30 degree weather in short sleeves -- perhaps he should think twice before doing that again. Bobby Korecky picked up a win for the Red Wings, but pitched 0.2 innings and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits. I don't grade on a curve, so win or no that constitutes a "not hot" performance.

Catchers
1.) Matt LeCroy - DH (1)
2.) Jose Morales - C (1)

Who's Hot: Both LeCroy and Morales had solid first games for Rochester on Saturday. LeCroy, starting at DH, went 1-for-3 and picked up 3 RBI's, while Morales went 2-for-4 and scored a run as the starting catcher. So far, so good -- but I'm not yet convinced that Catcher is going to be a strength for this Red Wings team, at least not until Chris Heintz returns to Rochester.

Who's Not: No one fits the description -- yet.

Infielders
1.) Glenn Williams - 1B (1)
2.) Alexi Casilla - 2B (1)
3.) Tommy Watkins - SS (1)
4.) Matt Moses - 3B (1)
5.) Matt Tolbert
DL - Ken Harvey

Who's Hot: Tommy Watkins went 2-for-4 while picking up 2 RBI's and scoring 2 runs in the opener. After hitting well below .200 this spring with the Twins, Watkins strong start for the Red Wings is a welcome change of pace. Alexi Casilla scored 2 runs and picked up an RBI while going 1-for-5 in the game as well, and also stole his first base of the season. His 2 K's are an unwelcome addition to his stat line, however.

Who's Not: Glenn Williams got the start at 1B and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Matt Moses was at 3B, and also went 0-for-4, although he scored a run and avoided picking up any K's.

Outfielders
1.) Jose Rabe - LF (1)
2.) Denard Span - CF (1)
3.) Trent Oeltjen - CF (1)
4.) Garrett Jones - RF (1)
5.) Doug Deeds

Who's Hot: Garrett Jones went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI's and 2 runs scored in the opener, which certainly qualifies him for inclusion on the hot list. His OPS after one game -- a stratospheric 1.400. Josh Rabe also contributed, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI's and 2 runs.

Who's Not: Denard Span went 0-for-4 with a run scored in his first start for the Red Wings before being replaced late in the game by Trent Oeltjen.