Demise of the DOTF Posts

After a weekend of contemplation, I've made a fairly major decision about the future of this blog. Don't worry -- I'm not announcing my retirement from blogging (which, for all I know, some of you might applaud). I am, however, announcing a fairly significant shift in how I will spend my blogging hours.

For most of this year, regular readers will likely have been aware of a noticeable absence of "features" from the blog. By features, I mean articles that aren't part of a regular series -- for instance, the Nightly Notes and Down on the Farm columns. Simply put, I don't have as much time as I had last summer, and the DOTF columns take a surprisingly long time to write. As a result, I just haven't had time to write featured articles that look at the team -- and I think the blog has been suffering as a result.

This doesn't mean that I'm not going to cover the minor leagues. For me, I get almost as much enjoyment out of covering the overall Twins system as I do covering the Major League team. I could no more give up paying attention to, and writing about, the overall system than I could completely give up on the blog. I'm not sure what form my comments on the minor leagues will take -- more than likely a once a week column on Saturday's, or something similar -- but there will still be content.

For those of you who have been regular readers of the DOTF columns (and I know there are at least a few of you out there), my apologies. If I had the time, I would do everything I want to with this blog -- but, to paraphrase the old cliche, I need to blog smarter, not harder. I'm excited about the change, because it will give me a chance to write longer articles that are more satisfying to write than the DOTF reports, which are basically just glorified information sheets. Hopefully, you all will be pleased with the change as well.

Down on the Farm: High A Report

Ft. Myers Miracle (25-33)
5th Place -- Florida State League West Division

Miracle Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Oswaldo Sosa - 12 starts [1 start]
2.) Jay Rainville - 11 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
3.) Zach Ward - 6 starts, 8 RA [2 starts]
4.) Yohan Pino - 4 starts, 9 RA [1 start]
5.) Joshua Hill - 2 starts, 13 RA [1 start]

Who's Hot: He took a loss, but Zach Ward had a great week, going 13 innings and giving up just 3 runs on 13 hits and 3 walks while striking out 14 batters. Ward's 2-7 record looks pretty bad, but his 2.56 ERA and 1.10 WHIP (along with his 44-12 K-BB ratio) in 52.2 innings just go to show that a guy's record really does pretty much mean nothing. Joshua Hill also had a nice outing when he returned to the rotation, going 5 innings and giving up 9 hits while striking out 4. He's put up a nice season as well, putting up a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings. A bit odd is his 1.55 WHIP, which is higher than you would expect with an ERA as low as his.

Who's Not: Nobody was that bad this week. Slightly less good were Yohan Pino (5 innings, 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk with 2 K's) and Oswaldo Sosa (5.1 innings, 2 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk with 5 K's) -- but those are really pretty solid numbers. When that's the worst of the bunch, you know the pitching is doing its job.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Eduardo Morlan - 19 RA [2 RA]
2.) Angel Garcia - 17 RA [2 RA]
3.) David Shinskie - 17 RA [3 RA]
4.) Kyle Aselton - 16 RA [2 RA]
5.) Alexander Smit - 3 RA, 6 starts [1 RA]
6.) Armando Gabino - 5 RA [2 RA]

Who's Hot: Four of the six guys in the bullpen had great weeks, allowing no runs. Kyle Aselton (2.2 innings, 1 hit, 4 walks, 3 K's), Armando Gabino (1.1 innings, 1 hit), Angel Garcia (3 innings, 1 hit, 4 K's), and Alexander Smit (2 innings, 2 hits, 2 K's) all get gold stars for the week. Gabino has still not allowed a run since being called up, now over 6.1 innings, and he has a 0.32 WHIP.

Who's Not: David Shinskie was the only guy who struggled this week, going 5.2 innings and giving up 5 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks with 5 K's. Shinskie's ERA has now crept up to 4.11 on the season, with a still respectable 1.30 WHIP and a ho-hum 15-10 K-BB ratio in 30.2 innings.

Catchers
1.) Caleb Moore - C(28), DH(5) [C(5)]
2.) Javier Sanchez - DH(12), C(9) [DH(2)]

Who's Hot: Caleb Moore had a solid week, going 7-for-20 as the primary catcher once Jeff Christy was promoted (probably for just a very short time) to New Britain. That brings his season average to .239 on the season, with a .590 OPS. On the downside, he made 2 errors in one game, which is never a good thing for a catcher -- well, for anyone, really.

Who's Not: Javi Sanchez wasn't really a "catcher" this week, with his only 2 appearances coming as the DH. In those two games, he went 1-for-6 and now has a batting average of just .172 on the year.

Infielders
1.) Steven Tolleson - SS(22), 2B(21), DH(9) [2B(3), DH(2), SS(1)]
2.) Juan Portes - 3B(26), 2B(25), RF(3) [3B(6)]
3.) Whitney Robbins - 1B(35), DH(10), 3B(6) [1B(4), DH(1)]
4.) Toby Gardenhire - 3B(19), 2B(12), SS(5), DH(1) [2B(3)]
5.) Matthew Betsill - 1B(14), 3B(7), SS(6), DH(2) [2B(2)]
6.) Luis Ugueto - SS(25) [SS(5)]

Who's Hot: It wasn't a particularly good week for the infielders, with Juan Portes leading the pack with a 6-for-22 performance to raise his average to .248 with a .637 OPS. After that . . . not so hot.

Who's Not: Toby Gardenhire (0-for-14; .190 on the season) and Matthew Betsill (0-for-7; .152 on the season). What else can you say?

Outfielders
1.) Edward Ovalle - CF(37), LF(10), RF(4), DH(1) [CF(5)]
2.) Erik Lis - LF(36), 1B(9), DH(6) [LF(6)]
3.) Dwayne White - RF(27), LF(15), DH(8) [RF(5)]
4.) Eli Tintor - RF(24), LF(22) [CF(1), RF(1)]

Who's Hot: Dwayne White went 6-for-17 to increase his batting average to .259 on the season with a .647 OPS. I remark on it every week, but remarkably enough, that is good enough for second on the team. And, no surprise here, but Erik Lis also had a good week, going 7-for-24 to raise his average to a team-leading .275 with an OPS of .762.

Who's Not: Eli Tintor went 0-for-7 and is hitting .184 on the season. Edward Ovalle, meanwhile, went 4-for-20, and is hitting just .190.

Down on the Farm: AA Report

New Britain Rock Cats (28-24)
2nd Place -- Eastern League Northern Division

Rock Cats Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Jesse Floyd - 10 starts, 1 RA [2 starts]
2.) Brad Baker - 8 starts, 3 RA [1 start]
3.) Tristan Crawford - 7 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
4.) Kyle Waldrop - 4 starts [1 start]
5.) Ryan Mullins - 1 start [1 start]
Suspended - Anthony Swarzak

Who's Hot: Tristan Crawford, who had been struggling quite a bit this year, had a great start this week, going 7 innings and giving up just a hit and a walk while striking out 9 runners. That dropped his ERA from 5.02 last week to 4.04 this week, along with a 1.43 WHIP and a 25-12 K-BB ratio in 35.2 AA innings of work. In fact, it was a solid week for most of these guys (the exception is listed below), with Jesse Floyd getting two starts and going 11 innings, allowing 3 earned and 3 unearned runs on 10 hits with 5 walks and 11 K's; Brad Baker going 7 innings and giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk with 5 K's; and Ryan Mullins making his AA debut, going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks along with 7 K's.

Who's Not: Kyle Waldrop has yet to find his groove since being called up from Ft. Myers a couple of weeks ago. This week, he lasted just 4.2 innings, and gave up 5 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks while picking up 5 K's. That brings his season ERA to 5.09, with a 1.52 WHIP and a 12-9 K-BB ratio. Every day brings us a little closer to Anthony Swarzak's return (by my count, Swarzak -- who was suspended for 50 games on April 21 -- is only about 4 or 5 days away from being eligible to return to the team). I'm not sure what the Twins plans are for Swarzak when he comes back, but if he's stayed in shape I imagine that it will only be a short stretch before he's back in the rotation. If Waldrop doesn't pick it up, he could perhaps find himself back in Ft. Myers when Swarzak comes back.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Tim Lahey - 20 RA [3 RA]
2.) Jay Sawatski - 20 RA [3 RA]
3.) Danny Powers - 16 RA [2 RA]
4.) Brian Forystek - 10 RA, 3 starts [1 RA, 1 start]
5.) J.P. Martinez - 11 RA, 1 start [1 RA]
6.) Frank Mata - 6 RA [2 RA]

Who's Hot: Frank Mata seemed to settle in this week, going 3 innings and giving up just 1 hit to lower his AA ERA to 4.00 with a 1.44 WHIP in 9 innings over 6 games. Tim Lahey also had a reasonably solid week, going 5.2 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 K's. That brings his season ERA to 3.55 with a 1.48 WHIP and a 29-18 K-BB ratio over 33 innings.

Who's Not: J.P. Martinez didn't see his ERA suffer any, but his one performance this week (after being reassigned from AAA Rochester on May 30) saw him go 1.1 innings while allowing 6 unearned runs (yes, 6 unearned runs) on 2 hits and 2 walks with 2 K's. His season ERA is still a sterling 1.29 because those runs didn't count -- but man, I bet his manager wasn't too thrilled.

Catchers

Just a reminder that the numbers listed for a player's position totals will NOT add up to the number of games played. In some cases, the number will be higher, because a player will have played at multiple positions in one game. In other cases, the number will be lower, because this list does not keep track of things like pinch hit and pinch run appearances if the player never plays in the field.

1.) Kyle Geiger - C(26), DH(3) [C(5)]
2.) Jeff Christy - C(1) [C(1)]

Who's Hot: Well, how about a shout-out for Jeff Christy, who was promoted from High A Ft. Myers pretty much exclusively because of the catching shortage at AAA Rochester, which saw Jose Morales get hurt, which then had a domino effect throughout the organization. Christy has only played once so far with the Rock Cats, but he took advantage of the situation by going 1-for-2 in his debut.

Who's Not: Kyle Geiger went 3-for-17, which dropped his batting average to .301 with an .854 OPS. He's got to be a bit upset that his significantly better offense didn't get him promoted over Korey Feiner (who's hitting just .224 in AA this season), but that should tell you something about how the Twins feel about Feiner's catching skills. Besides, Feiner will be back down as soon as Morales is healthy, so it's really just a short-term issue anyway. Who knows -- that could have played a role in the Twins decision, if the team didn't want to disrupt Geiger's routine.

Infielders
1.) Brian Buscher - 3B(32), DH(14), 1B(1) [3B(4), DH(3)]
2.) Trevor Plouffe - SS(44), DH(2) [SS(7)]
3.) Felix Molina - 2B(39), SS(2), DH(2) [2B(7)]
4.) Brock Peterson - 1B(35), DH(7) [1B(5), DH(1)]
5.) David Winfree - 3B(16), DH(16), 1B(7) [DH(3), 3B(2), 1B(2)]
6.) Luke Hughes - 2B(14), DH(5), LF(5), 3B(2), 1B(1) [2B(1), 3B(1), LF(1)]

Who's Hot: Trevor Plouffe had a great week at the plate, going 11-for-27 to raise his season average to .279 with a .762 OPS. He's also shown a little power, hitting 4 homers so far this season along with a team-leading 17 doubles. On the downside, he had 4 errors this week (3 in one game!), and now has an absolutely astounding 14 so far this season. Egad! Luke Hughes saw limited action, but went 2-for-6 and is also hitting .279 -- so I guess I'll throw him on this list as well.

Who's Not: While there were a number of so-so performances this week (Buscher, 7-for-26; Winfree 7-for-26; Molina, 7-for-27), the only really bad week belonged to Brock Peterson, who went 4-for-21 to lower his batting average to .253 with a .757 OPS.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Guzman - LF(40), DH(2) [LF(6)]
2.) Brandon Roberts - CF(36), DH(1) [CF(5)]
3.) Matt Allegra - RF(40) [RF(5)]
4.) Rashad Eldridge - CF(15), RF(11), LF(5) [CF(2), RF(2)]

Who's Hot: Believe it or not, Brandon Roberts had a great week, going 9-for-17 to raise his average to .252. He also seems to have reclaimed his starting Center Field job from Rashad Eldridge. I don't know whether the plan was to play him every day or not, but in his first start this week he had 2 hits. Then he picked up 2 more the next day, and 1 the day after that, and just kept getting playing time. Good for him -- his disappearance as a prospect, while not on par with the hugely disappointing season being put up right now by Denard Span, was certainly troublesome. Now, it looks like he just might be on the way back. Matt Allegra also had a decent week, going 5-for-16 to bring his average to .273 on the year.

Who's Not: Rashad Eldridge went just 2-for-14 and is now hitting .234 on the season. Garrett Guzman, meanwhile, went 5-for-24 and is hitting .269 for the year.

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: High A Report

Ft. Myers Miracle (22-30)
6th Place -- Florida State League West Division

Miracle Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Oswaldo Sosa - 11 starts [1 start]
2.) Jay Rainville - 10 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
3.) Joshua Hill - 1 start, 13 RA [1 start]
4.) Zach Ward - 4 starts, 8 RA [DNP]
5.) Yohan Pino - 3 starts, 9 RA [DNP]

Who's Hot: All three of the guys who made starts this week did well. Jay Rainville went 6 innings and allowed just 1 unearned run on 5 hits while striking out 7. His season ERA fell to 2.94, with a 1.27 WHIP and a 40-11 K-BB ratio in 49 innings. Oswaldo Sosa went 5.2 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 5 K's. His season ERA now sits at 2.54, with a 1.29 WHIP and a 49-19 K-BB ratio in 56.2 innings. Finally, Joshua Hill made his first start of the season yesterday, and went 5 innings, allowing just 1 unearned run on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 6. His season ERA is 3.55, with a 1.50 WHIP and a 27-12 K-BB ratio in 25.1 innings. Congratulations are also in order for the recently promoted Ryan Mullins, who took his 1.98 ERA and 1.13 WHIP to New Britain.

Who's Not: Empty set for the week.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Eduardo Morlan - 17 RA [1 RA]
2.) Angel Garcia - 15 RA [1 RA]
3.) Kyle Aselton - 14 RA [1 RA]
4.) David Shinskie - 14 RA [1 RA]
5.) Alexander Smit - 6 starts, 2 RA [1 RA]
6.) Armando Gabino - 3 RA [1 RA]

Who's Hot: Lots of good performances this week to choose from, starting with Armando Gabino, who went 2 innings and struck out 3 in his third performance as a member of the Miracle. He still has yet to allow a run, and has a 0.20 WHIP in 5 innings, along with a 3-0 K-BB ratio. Eduardo Morlan had nearly as good of a performance, going 2 innings with 2 K's to lower his season ERA to 2.60 and his WHIP to 0.76 with a 39-3 K-BB ratio in 27.2 innings. Then, there are Kyle Asleton (1 inning, 1 walk, 1 K) and Alexander Smit (1.1 innings, 1 hit, 2 K's) who weren't exactly slouches this week, either.

Who's Not: David Shinskie had the worst performance out of the bullpen this week, going 2 innings and giving up 2 runs on 2 hits with 1 walk to raise his ERA to 3.24 and his WHIP to 1.16. And in a normal week, this wouldn't even bear mentioning, but Angel Garcia's 2 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 3 K performance is actually on the "Not Hot" list because of the great performances by his teammates.

Catchers
1.) Caleb Moore - C(23), DH(5) [C(2)]
2.) Jeff Christy - C(21), DH(3) [C(1)]
3.) Javier Sanchez - DH(10), C(9) [DNP]

Who's Hot: Caleb Moore went 3-for-7 to raise his average to .215 with a .536 OPS.

Who's Not: Jeff Christy went 0-for-3 in his one start behind the plate, and is now hitting .175/.533. I'll also throw Javi Sanchez on this list for not playing -- but considering that he's hitting .172 this season, maybe that should qualify him for the "hot" list . . .

Infielders
1.) Steven Tolleson - SS(21), 2B(18), DH(7) [DH(3)]
2.) Juan Portes - 2B(25), 3B(20), RF(3) [3B(3)]
3.) Whitney Robbins - 1B(31), DH(9), 3B(6) [1B(1)]
4.) Toby Gardenhire - 3B(19), 2B(9), SS(5), DH(1) [2B(3)]
5.) Matthew Betsill - 1B(12), 3B(7), SS(6), DH(2) [1B(2)]
6.) Luis Ugueto - SS(20) [SS(3)]

Who's Hot: Luis Ugueto went 5-for-13 on the week to raise his batting average to .268 with a .678 OPS. On the downside, he continued making errors this week, and now has 6 in 21 games (20 in the field). Steven Tolleson also had a good week as the DH for all three games, going 4-for-14 to raise his average to .253 with a .667 OPS.

Who's Not: It's rough when you only get a couple of at-bats, but Whit Robbins 0-for-2 was the worst average of the week, so he's on this list. He's joined by Juan Portes (2-for-13; .245 on the season) and Matthew Betsill (2-for-9; .163 on the season).

Outfielders
1.) Edward Ovalle - CF(32), LF(10), RF(4), DH(1) [CF(3)]
2.) Dwayne White - RF(22), LF(15), DH(8) [LF(3)]
3.) Erik Lis - LF(30), 1B(9), DH(6) [DNP]
4.) Eli Tintor - RF(23), CF(21) [RF(3)]

Who's Hot: Dwayne White went 5-for-12 this week with a homer and a 4 RBI game to bring his batting average to .250 with a .606 OPS. Edward Ovalle also had a solid week at the plate, going 3-for-11 with 2 homeruns to bring his average up a bit, to .194, with a .615 OPS.

Who's Not: Eli Tintor went 2-for-12 and is hitting just .192. Erik Lis didn't play. Both make the "not hot" list.

Down on the Farm: AA Report

New Britain Rock Cats (24-20)
T-2nd -- Eastern League Northern Division

Rock Cats Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Brad Baker - 7 starts, 3 RA [2 starts]
2.) Jesse Floyd - 8 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
3.) Tristan Crawford - 6 starts, 1 RA [1 start]
4.) Kyle Waldrop - 3 starts [2 starts]
5.) Ryan Mullins
Suspended - Anthony Swarzak

Who's Hot: Jesse Floyd went 7 innings and gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5. That gives him a season ERA of 4.24 with a 1.41 WHIP and a 31-19 K-BB ratio in 46.2 innings. Nobody else deserves to be on this list for what they did at the AA level, but I'll put Ryan Mullins here for earning a promotion (just today!) from Ft. Myers, and Brian Duensing for pitching well enough to earn a promotion to AAA to replace Kevin Slowey in the Red Wings rotation.

Who's Not: Brad Baker was horrible this week, making two starts and giving up 10 runs (9 earned) on 14 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 batters in 9 innings. That was so bad that it changed the outlook on his season entirely -- he entered the week with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP, and he enters it with a 4.11 ERA and a still respectable 1.22 WHIP. Kyle Waldrop also had a rough week this time around, giving up 7 runs on 12 hits and 6 walks with 5 K's in 11.1 innings of work over two starts, giving him a 3.93 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 18.1 innings of work. Finally, it didn't affect his ERA much, but Tristan Crawford gave up 6 runs (just 1 earned) in 5 innings of work in his lone start of the week. His ERA sits at 5.02 in 28.2 innings with the Rock Cats this season.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Tim Lahey - 17 RA [3 RA]
2.) Jay Sawatski - 17 RA [3 RA]
3.) Danny Powers - 14 RA [2 RA]
4.) Brian Forystek - 9 RA, 2 starts [1 RA]
5.) Frank Mata - 4 RA [2 RA]

Who's Hot: Tim Lahey was smokin' this week, going 4.1 innings and not allowing a run or a hit while walking 3 and striking out 4 over the course of three games. He lowered his ERA to 3.95 on the season, but his WHIP is still at a too-high 1.57 in 27.1 innings. Danny Powers also had a solid week, going 5 innings and giving up 1 run on 5 hits with 1 walk and 2 K's. He needs some more good weeks, though, as his season ERA still sits at 6.14 and his WHIP is at 2.05 in 22 innings of work. Finally, a shout out to Jose Mijares, who earned a promotion this week to Rochester.

Who's Not: Nobody was absolutely awful this week, but Brian Forystek's one appearance saw him give up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings of work to bump his season ERA up to 3.72 with a 1.34 WHIP and a 29-14 K-BB ratio over 29 innings. Frank Mata also had a down week, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in 3.2 innings to settle his ERA in at 6.00 with a 2.00 WHIP in 6 innings of work.

Catchers
1.) Korey Feiner - C(25) [C(3)]
2.) Kyle Geiger - C(21), DH(3) [C(4), DH(2)]

Who's Hot: Kyle Geiger remained hot this week, going 6-for-21. That actually lowered his batting average to .329 on the season with 2 HR's and 12 RBI's to go along with a .920 OPS in 76 AB's. Pretty good for a guy who had a career .238 average coming into this season!

Who's Not: Korey Feiner went 1-for-12 on the week to lower his batting average to .233. Still no errors behind the plate, though, so that's a plus.

Infielders
1.) Brian Buscher - 3B(28), DH(11), 1B(1) [3B(3), DH(2)]
2.) Trevor Plouffe - SS(37), DH(2) [SS(6)]
3.) Felix Molina - 2B(32), SS(2), DH(2) [2B(6), SS(1)]
4.) Brock Peterson - 1B(30), DH(6) [1B(6)]
5.) David Winfree - 3B(14), DH(13), 1B(5) [3B(4), DH(2), 1B(1)]
6.) Luke Hughes - 2B(13), DH(5), LF(4), 3B(1), 1B(1) [2B(2), LF(2), 1B(1)]

Who's Hot: There was a trio of solid performances this week for the Rock Cat infielders, led by Brian Buscher. Buscher went 10-for-22 on the week with a HR (he now has 3 on the season) to bring his batting average to .289 with an .817 OPS in 159 AB's. That's good for the second-best average and third-best OPS on the team this year. Felix Molina also had a good week, going 10-for-29 to raise his average to .289 as well, with a .786 OPS and 4 HR's in 142 AB's. Finally, Trevor Plouffe (yes, that Trevor Plouffe) went 9-for-31 to raise his average to .258 in 163 AB's -- but he now has 10 errors on the season.

Who's Not: Regulars Brock Peterson (7-for-27) and David Winfree (7-for-29) were ok this week, leaving the only downright bad performance in the hands of one Luke Hughes, a backup middle infielder (and occasional left fielder), who went 2-for-15 on the week but is nonetheless still hitting .275 on the season.

Outfielders
1.) Garrett Guzman - LF(34), DH(2) [LF(2), DH(1)]
2.) Brandon Roberts - CF(31), DH(1) [CF(3)]
3.) Matthew Allegra - RF(35) [RF(5)]
4.) Rashad Eldridge - CF(13), RF(9), LF(5) [CF(4), RF(2), LF(1)]

Who's Hot: Garrett Guzman went 9-for-22 this week and now has a .278 average and .716 OPS with 3 HR's and 22 RBI's in 151 AB's. Perhaps most impressive is his very low strikeout total, which sits at 14. Rashad Eldridge (10-for-27) and Brandon Roberts (3-for-9) also both had good weeks -- and both needed them, as Eldridge is still hitting just .255, and Roberts (who lost his starting CF job to Eldridge) is hitting just .212. Meanwhile, Matt Allegra went 6-for-21 and is hitting .269 with 6 HR's and 23 RBI's -- but also has 41 K's in 134 AB's.

Who's Not: Zero. Zilch. Nada.

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: Low A Report

Beloit Snappers (30-16)
1st Place -- Midwest League Western Division

Snappers Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Jeff Manship - 10 starts
2.) Cole DeVries - 8 starts, 2 RA
3.) Adam Hawes - 9 starts
4.) Alex Burnett - 9 starts
5.) Brian Kirwan - 1 start
DL - Jose Lugo - 7 starts

Who's Hot: Jeff Manship has put together a great season for the Snappers, going 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA and 0.71 WHIP in 60.1 innings of work. His 61-7 K-BB ratio is equal proof that Manship is already beyond the Low A level, and it should only be a matter of time before he earns his first promotion, up to Ft. Myers. Unfortunately, he left his start last night with an injury, but it sounds very minor and at worst should only land him on the 7-day DL. Cole DeVries is also having a great first season in the Twins organization, as he's put up a 1.53 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP with a 34-14 K-BB ratio in 47 innings. He too could potentially earn a mid-season callup -- although finding room for everybody at Ft. Myers would be a bit of an issue if both Manship and DeVries were to be promoted, so I suspect DeVries will finish off his season in Beloit. Finally, Brian Kirwan was just added to the team from Extended Spring Training, and had a very nice first start, going 5 scoreless innings and allowing just 1 hit.

Who's Not: No one really belongs on this list. Adam Hawes (3.23/1.25) and Alex Burnett (3.25/1.12) have both pitched well. The only guy I can find who fits the bill is Jose Lugo, who has posted a 4.68 ERA/1.74 WHIP in 32.2 innings -- but of course, he's on the DL right now, so it's kind of a cheat to put him on this list.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Robert Delaney - 19 RA
2.) Dan Leatherman - 18 RA
3.) Danny Vais - 11 RA, 2 starts
4.) Jesus Carnevales - 9 RA
5.) Aaron Craig - 5 RA
6.) Matthew Fox - 1 RA
DL - Danny Hernandez
DL - Sean Land

Who's Hot: This bullpen has gone through a massive overhaul since the last time I wrote, with Armando Gabino being promoted, Adam Revelette being released from the organization, and Sean Land and Danny Hernandez being placed on the DL. To replace them, Jesus Carnevales, Aaron Craig, and Matthew Fox have all been either activated from the DL or called up from Extended Spring Training to fill places on the roster. The result has been continued strong pitching from the bullpen, led by closer Robert Delaney, who has put up 16 saves and a 0.67 ERA with a 0.63 WHIP along with a 31-4 K-BB ratio in 27 innings. Jesus Carnevales (2.93/1.17) and Matthew Fox (0.00/1.00 -- but in just 1 inning of work) also deserve particular mention. Really, though, the bulk of the guys in the bullpen are in the mid-3.00's.

Who's Not: Nobody has been outright bad, but Danny Vais has been the worst of the bunch that's still with the team, posting a 4.13 and a 1.24 WHIP in 28.1 innings of work. On the positive side, he still has a 20-3 K-BB ratio -- which, coupled with that pretty low WHIP indicates that he really hasn't pitched that badly. Still, someone had to end up on this list, and an ERA above 4.00 is at least a partial justification for having it be him.

Catchers
1.) Gregory Yersich - C(24)
2.) Allan de San Miguel - C(23)

Who's Hot: Sadly, neither of them.

Who's Not: Less bad -- de San Miguel's .206/.615 with 2 homers and 13 RBI's (although, he does have 21 K's in 68 AB's. Really bad -- Yersich's .189/.474 with just 6 RBI's and 21 K's in 74 AB's, as well as 4 errors. Yowsers.

Infielders
1.) Brian Dinkelman - 2B(33), LF(13), DH(2)
2.) Daniel Valencia - 3B(29), DH(13), 1B(1)
3.) Johnny Woodard - 1B(33), DH(8)
4.) Garrett Olson - 3B(16), LF(11), SS(5), DH(3), 1B(3), RF(1)
5.) Yancarlos Ortiz - SS(32)
6.) Daniel Berg - DH(14), 1B(12), 3B(3)
7.) Steven Singleton - SS(14), 2B(6), DH(2)
8.) William Luque - 2B(10), SS(6), DH(2), 3B(2)
DL - Andrew Thompson
DL - Paul Kelly

Who's Hot: Danny Valencia has been very solid at 3B for the Snappers this season, hitting .310 with an .877 OPS, 7 HR's and 25 RBI's. He has struck out 33 times, but that's in 158 AB's -- a far cry from the horrid K-BB ratio's put up by the Catchers on the team. Brian Dinkelman has also had a solid season, hitting .282/.839 with 4 homers of his own to go with 12 RBI's and 7 SB's. Perhaps most interesting, he's been getting a lot of playing time recently in left field - a position that I didn't know the Twins were interested in having him play. Steven Singleton, who joined the team at the start of May, has become pretty much the regular shortstop for the Snappers, and has hit .280/.639 since being called up. On the downside, he's made 7 errors in just 22 games. Finally, Johnny Woodard is hitting .277/.833 with 4 homers and 16 RBI's (and a less flashy 8 errors) so far this year as the Snapper's primary 1B.

Who's Not: William Luque, a backup middle infielder with the team, is doing nothing to suggest that he deserves more playing time -- he's hitting just .143/.348 in 56 at-bats. Yancarlos Ortiz, who had been the starting shortstop before Steven Singleton was added to the roster, is also struggling along with a .159/.414. Finally, Daniel Berg has hit just .170/.479 in his playing time -- problematic since he's already at 100 AB's, indicating that he's playing a fair amount.

Outfielders
1.) Chris Parmelee - RF(34), LF(4), DH(3)
2.) Joe Benson - CF(38), DH(1)
3.) Danny Santiesteban - LF(14), RF(10), CF(9)

Who's Hot: None of them, but Chris Parmelee is the closest, with a .230 average and a slightly better .718 OPS. He's hit 4 homers and driven in 16 runs. He's also struck out 43 times in 139 AB's -- and that's not going to win you any awards.

Who's Not: Danny Santiesteban is hitting just .216/.704 with 4 errors and 35 K's in 111 AB's (he does have 6 homers). Joe Benson is hitting .206/.617 with 34 K's in 136 AB's and 3 errors. Mark Robinson was playing so badly (.132 batting average in 38 AB's) that he was released from the organization. Time to pick it up, boys.

Down on the Farm: High A Report

Ft. Myers Miracle (20-29)
6th Place -- Florida State League West Division

Miracle Season Stats

Starting Pitchers
1.) Oswaldo Sosa - 10 starts
2.) Ryan Mullins - 9 starts, 1 RA
3.) Jay Rainville - 9 starts, 1 RA
4.) Alexander Smit - 6 starts, 1 RA
5.) Zach Ward - 4 starts, 8 RA

Who's Hot: Ryan Mullins is having a great year, although his 3-3 record wouldn't show it. He's put up a 1.98 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with a 56-12 K-BB ratio in 54.2 innings of work to establish himself as the best of the Miracle starters this season. It can't be said that this is completely unexpected -- Mullins had an ERA of 2.18 with Elizabethton in 2005 and of 3.86 with Beloit in 2006, so he's been a solid starter in his short professional career. With numbers like this, a mid-season promotion (following in the footsteps of Kyle Waldrop, already promoted to New Britain) is a distinct possibility. Mullins is hardly alone on this list; Oswaldo Sosa (2.65/1.25), Jay Rainville (3.35/1.33), and even Zach Ward (2.72/1.06), who started his season in the bullpen, have all been very good this year. Unfortunately, they aren't getting much run support (Ward is 2-6!).

Who's Not: Alexander Smit, who was added to the Twins 40-man roster in November, isn't having a very good season. He missed a little bit of time recently, but has since come back (making his lone appearance out of the 'pen). When he has pitched, though, he's been hit pretty hard, with a 5.59 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 29 innings of work. Smit will have to make significant progress in the last 2/3 of the year in order to have any chance of advancing higher in the organization next season -- and if he doesn't, the Twins will have just 2 more option years to get him ready for the MLB, or he'll be gone.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Eduardo Morlan - 16 RA
2.) Angel Garcia - 14 RA
3.) Kyle Aselton - 13 RA
4.) David Shinskie - 13 RA
5.) Joshua Hill - 13 RA
6.) Yohan Pino - 9 RA, 3 starts
7.) Armando Gabino - 2 RA

Who's Hot: Yohan Pino is putting up a great season for the Miracle, posting a 1.57 ERA/0.84 WHIP and 29-7 K-BB ratio in 28.2 innings. Frank Mata was having a better season and earned a promotion before Pino, but it's only a matter of time before Pino finds his way up to New Britain. David Shinskie (2.74/1.13) and Eduardo Morlan (2.81/0.82) are also putting together nice seasons in the 'pen. Finally, I have to mention Armando Gabino, who earned a promotion from Beloit after putting up a 0.82 ERA in 22 innings, has been great in his first 2 games (3 innings) for the Miracle, with just 1 hit allowed and 2 K's.

Who's Not: No one in the 'pen is having a terrible season, but Kyle Aselton (who was used exclusively as a starter in 2006) is having a down year. So far this season, he's posted a 4.64 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 21.1 innings of work, and he'll need to turn that around if he wants a promotion to start next season. Angel Garcia (4.57/1.48) and Joshua Hill (4.43/1.67) have also struggled this season.

Catchers
1.) Caleb Moore - C(21), DH(5)
2.) Jeff Christy -C(20), DH(3)
3.) Javier Sanchez - DH(10), C(9)

Who's Hot: None of them.

Who's Not: Caleb Moore is hitting .198/.503; Jeff Christy is hitting .182/.536; Javi Sanchez is hitting .172/.531. Which would you go with if you had to pick one? Me, I'd take Moore -- at least he's only made one error, while Christy has made 5 and Sanchez has made 2 in limited action on the field.

Infielders
1.) Whit Robbins - 1B(30), DH(9), 3B(6)
2.) Steven Tolleson - SS(21), 2B(18), DH(4)
3.) Juan Portes - 2B(25), 3B(17), RF(3)
4.) Toby Gardenhire - 3B(19), 2B(6), SS(5), DH(1)
5.) Matthew Betsill - 1B(10), 3B(7), SS(6), DH(2)
6.) Luis Ugueto - SS(17)

Who's Hot: Pretty much no one. Juan Portes (.251/.616) and Steven Tolleson (.250/.665) are the closest, but Portes has made 6 errors and Tolleson has made an astounding 12 (yeesh!). Luis Ugueto, recently re-activated from the restricted list, has been playing pretty much every day at short, and his hitting .246/.616 -- sad that that's in the top 3 of the infielders on the Miracle.

Who's Not: Matthew Betsill is hitting an absolutely woeful .157/.385 with just 3 RBI's on the season; he's also struck out 26 times in 89 AB's and made 7 errors in the field. Considering that he hit .280 last season in Beloit (albeit in somewhat limited action), his total inability to hit this season has to be considered something of a surprise. Toby Gardenhire, meanwhile, recently had a 3-hit game to push his batting average back above the Mendoza line (all the way to the stratospheric heights of .206!). Finally, Whit Robbins has been a disappointment with a .235/.637 and no homers. Considering that last season was his first in professional baseball, he gets a bit of a pass -- but he's got to turn it in as the year progresses.

Outfielders
1.) Erik Lis - LF(30), 1B(9), DH(6)
2.) Edward Ovalle - CF(29), LF(10), RF(4), DH(1)
3.) Dwayne White - RF(22), LF(12), DH(8)
4.) Eli Tintor - CF(21), RF(20)

Who's Hot: Erik Lis has been the best hitter on the Miracle roster this season -- but is still having no better than a so-so season, posting .272/.742 numbers with 3 homers and 27 K's in 169 AB's. That's the end of the "hot" list.

Who's Not: Edward Ovalle (.188/.572), Eli Tintor (.194/.552), and Dwayne White (.237/.559) have all struggled this season, although at least Ovalle has shown some power, hitting 4 homers and driving in 23 RBI's. Tintor has perhaps the most remarkable stat -- he's struck out 44 times in 139 AB's -- or just over once in every 3 at-bats. Yipes!

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.

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: 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.

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.