The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Part I

The phrase is something of a cliche, but it's apt for looking at what's gone right -- and wrong -- with any particular issue. Today, I'm beginning a four-part series full-season minor league clubs, starting with the Rochester Red Wings.

Rochester Red Wings (17-27)

The Good

Pitchers

Brian Duensing and Kevin Mulvey both have losing records, but both have pitched pretty well so far this season. Duensing has a 3.44 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 52.1 innings of work, moving himself into a position to be considered for a callup in the event that the Twins starting staff suffers another injury. Mulvey, meanwhile, has fallen off considerably from a great first 3 weeks or so, but still has a 3.89 ERA in 41.2 innings -- although his 1.56 WHIP is higher than I'd like to see. Glen Perkins (2.97 ERA/1.41 WHIP/33.1 IP) has been the best of the Rochester pitchers this year, but of course he's currently with the Twins and undoubtedly is hoping to stay there.

In the bullpen, minor league free agents are thriving. Lefty Mariano Gomez has a 2.36 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 26.2 innings, and with Bobby Korecky currently in the Twins bullpen and getting little use, the question has to be asked whether Gomez could find himself getting a callup. Casey Daigle has also been solid for the Red Wings, posting a 2.57 ERA and slightly high 1.52 WHIP in 21.0 innings. Meanwhile, Heath Totten has a 3.86 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 21.0 innings, and back-from-the-dead Danny Graves has a 1.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 9.0 innings since being promoted to AAA.

That's not to say that only the free agents have had success -- long-time Twins prospects Julio DePaula and Ricky Barrett have been solid this year (2.81 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 25.2 innings for DePaula, and 2.96 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 24.1 innings for Barrett) as well, and Rule 5 returnee Tim Lahey has a 3.96 ERA and very solid 1.06 WHIP in 16.0 innings since coming back to the organization. In other words -- the bullpen has been pretty darned good for Rochester this year.

Position Players

There are fewer offensive success stories for the Red Wings, but some of those stories are pretty compelling. Denard Span has been a great story, making his big league debut when Michael Cuddyer went down with an injury and playing outstanding baseball in AAA. Span has a .378 batting average and unbelievable 1.031 OPS in 90 AB's. He's added 14 steals, 3 homers, and a stunning .486 OBP to that mix. What do you even say to that?

I'm also stunned by the performance of Darnell McDonald so far this year. McDonald, you may remember, was picked up from the Nationals last year in exchange for letting Washington send Rule 5 pick Levale Speigner to the minors. He had a brief stint in the big leagues and didn't show much, and it was somewhat surprising that he was still hanging around the team this spring. After starting the season with an injury, McDonald has gone on a tear, hitting .336/.992 with 4 homers in 110 AB's. I certainly didn't expect this out of the veteran McDonald, and it will be interesting to see if he can hold up over the summer.

Meanwhile, third baseman Brian Buscher deserves credit for shrugging off a horrid spring by hitting .322/.898 in 118 AB's so far this season, and for finding his power stroke (he's hit 6 homers for the Red Wings in that span). Honorable mention also goes to catcher Jose Morales, who was absolutely terrible early in the season -- he's managed to raise his batting average to a very respectable .281 in 121 AB's. Over his last 10 games, Morales is hitting .471 -- I'd say he's solved whatever the problem was early this year.

The Bad

Pitchers

There's not actually much to talk about in the bad category. Former Met Philip Humber qualifies with his 5.09 ERA and 1.75 WHIP (and perhaps more disturbingly his near-parity 22-19 K-BB ratio). In fact, that line is close to being in the "ugly" category, but I'm going to be generous. Outside of that, there's no one else I can point to in Rochester who has consistently been bad.

Position Players

I was very excited about first baseman/DH Randy Ruiz this spring, because of his power potential and his seeming ability to hit for a decent average. Unfortunately, in 146 AB's for the Red Wings, Ruiz is hitting just .247 and has just 2 homers. Worse (and this stat belongs firmly in the "ugly" category), Ruiz has an eye-popping 48 K's in those 146 AB's, and just 7 walks. Yikes.

Former "Ray" Jason Pridie has also been pretty mediocre this year, hitting .231 in 169 AB's. Like Ruiz, Pridie has also had a brutal strikeout problem with 47 of them this season. That's a better ratio than Ruiz, but is still a horrid number, especially for a player like Pridie who certainly shouldn't be aiming for the fences.

The Ugly

Pitchers

There's no one on the team that I think needs to be in this category. You could argue that a couple of Francisco Liriano's starts could fit in this category, but I'm giving him a pass, and his actual ERA puts him somewhere just above the "Bad" category.

Position Players

Where to start? I guess the most disappointing player has been 1B/OF/DH Garrett Jones, who has a .181 average in 138 AB's. He's joined by the since-released Eli Whiteside, a backup catcher who hit just .167 in 24 AB's, and new backup catcher Ryan Jorgensen, who is hitting .143 in 14 AB's. I could also easily put recently claimed Sergio Santos on this list for his .171 BA in 105 AB's. Then, there's the sad performance of Tommy Watkins, the longtime Twins minor leaguer who was a popular callup to the Twins last year before seeing his season end with an injury. Unfortunately, after being brought back into the fold in the off-season (he could have left as a minor league free agent), Watkins is hitting just .179 in 56 AB's while dealing with injuries.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Just FYI -- I've adopted the Star Tribune convention of bolding a player's name the first time I use it in the story (or, I should say, when I start to talk about that player's performance for the week). I think it makes things a little easier to follow with these posts.

Rochester Red Wings (12-12)

Starting Pitchers
This week belonged to Glen Perkins and Brian Duensing, with Kevin Mulvey also continuing to put up solid numbers. Glen Perkins was the real story, though -- after struggling through the first few weeks of the season with an ERA above 5.00, Perkins made two starts this week that were much better than what he has been putting together, even though he took a loss in one of them. In his first start, Perkins went 5.0 innings and gave up just 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks. That's not bad, but his second start was gold -- a complete game shutout in which he struck out 7 and allowed just 2 hits and a walk. That nearly halved his ERA, which fell all the way to 2.89. Amazing how early in the season, two solid starts can completely change the perception of how things are going.

Brian Duensing, meanwhile, continued to impress this week. He went 7.0 strong in getting the win in his only start, giving up a run on 3 hits while striking out 5. His ERA fell from 2.74 to 2.40 on the season. Kevin Mulvey also continued to impress, going 5.2 innings in his only start and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 4 walks with 5 K's. His ERA rose (from 1.02 to 1.16) and those 4 walks were a bit high, but the fact remains that Mulvey continues to impress.

Unfortunately, the same has not been true of fellow former Met Philip Humber, who continued to struggle this week. In a losing effort, Humber went 4.2 innings and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on an awfully high 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out a couple of batters. That performance raised Humber's already high ERA from 5.09 to 5.24.

The final start of the week went to Heath Totten, whose days as a starter are probably over now that Francisco Liriano is back in Rochester, giving the Red Wings five solid starters. Not that Totten has been primarily a starter anyway -- he made 2 relief appearances this week in addition to his 3.0 inning, 3 hit, 2 K start. Totten did allow an earned run during one of his relief appearances, but his 2.87 ERA still is evidence that Totten has pitched pretty well this season.

Relief Pitchers
Tim Lahey joined the Red Wings this week after rejoining the Twins and pitching briefly with the Ft. Myers Miracle. In two games, Lahey picked up a win and a save, going 3.1 innings and striking out 3 batters without allowing a baserunner. The bullpen Lahey joined has been pretty solid overall this year, and this week was no different. Casey Daigle made one 1.1 inning, 1 K appearance to drop his season ERA to 3.38. Ricky Barrett went 5.0 innings in 3 games, giving up 1 run on 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 7 batters in that span, bringing his ERA to 2.45.

While nobody had terrible weeks, the other relievers weren't quite as good. Carmen Calipitched in just one game, giving up a run in 1.0 inning on 1 hit and a K, bringing his season ERA to 2.79. Julio DePaula pitched in 2 games, going 2.2 innings and giving up 2 runs on 4 hits with 3 K's, bringing his ERA to 3.52. Finally, Mariano Gomez went 3.0 innings in 3 games, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits to bring his season ERA to 1.84. Like I said, none of them was terrible, but they weren't quite as good as the guys up top.

Catchers
Finally! After struggling mightily to start the season, Jose Morales put together a great week, going 8-for-16 (1 double and 7 singles) and drove in 3 runs to bring his season average to .231. While .231 is nothing to write home about, it's a dramatic improvement from the .143 he was hitting as of last week. Backup Eli Whiteside also picked it up in limited action this week, going 2-for-6 with a homerun to bring his average to .150 from .071.

Infielders
First base was all about Randy Ruiz this week, as he started all 6 games. He went 8-for-22 on the week with a homer, 4 doubles, and a triple while driving in 8 runs and raising his average up to .273. Somehow, everyone who was struggling a bit seems to have figured out how to hit. I'm not as high on Ruiz as I was during spring training, but I still think there's a chance that he could see big league action at some point this year if the Twins decide they want to have a power bat off the bench.

Second base still belongs to Howie Clark, the veteran minor league free agent picked up in the off-season. He went 4-for-16 on the week to bring his season average to .246 -- and that included a surprising homerun and a double.

At third, Matt Macri and Chris Basak both started three games for the Red Wings. Macri also picked up 2 starts at SS and one at 2B, going 5-for-21 with 3 doubles to bring his season average to .263 (a drop from .271). Basak, meanwhile, went 4-for-14 with a homer and a double (and 6 K's) while starting a game at SS in addition to his starts at 3B.

Shortstop primarily belonged to Alexi Casilla, and unfortunately he was the exception to the major improvements seen by many of the struggling hitters on the team. Casilla started 3 games at SS and one at 2B, going 3-for-13 with a double to raise his season average to .176. As Jose Morales showed, it's possible to turn things around pretty quickly -- hopefully Casilla can do that right soon.

Outfielders
Jon Knott went 3-for-10 this week in 3 starts in left field, hitting a homerun in a 2-for-3 performance during his first start of the week and generally struggling thereafter. Knott may have a hard time finding playing time from here on out, though -- with Denard Span back in center, Jason Pridie started the last two games of the week in left, going 8-for-28 overall in those two starts and 4 more in CF. Pridie struck out an awful lot this week -- 10 times, in fact -- but at least he was generally hitting the ball. His season average now sits at .278 on the season.

Denard Span returned to the Red Wings this week and started two games in center, going 2-for-8 with 3 walks and a steal (along with 1 caught stealing) in those two starts. His average in Rochester is now .294 -- we'll see this week how he settles back into his job in AAA.

Darnell McDonald, meanwhile, got all 6 starts in right field this week, going 5-for-24 with a double and a triple, dropping his season average to .292. McDonald could find himself splitting some playing time this week, with Jon Knott out of a regular job in left. Garrett Jones didn't start any games in RF this week, but he did start all six as the DH, so I'm sticking him here. Jones went 4-for-23 this week (all singles), dropping his average to .208.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (8-10)

Starting Pitchers
Kevin Mulvey continued to impress this week, winning his sole start by going 7.0 innings and allowing just one run on 6 hits while striking out 9 batters, bringing his season ERA to 1.02. He by far continues to outshine fellow former-Met Philip Humber, who in two starts this week went 8.2 innings, allowing a combined 7 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits and 8 walks with 5 K's. Humber's season ERA sits at a rather precarious 5.09 this season, which is not particularly encouraging.

Meanwhile, lefty Brian Duensing had a reasonably solid week, picking up a win and a loss in his two starts. He actually pitched better in the loss, but his line for both games was pretty consistent -- he allowed 5.2 innings, 4 hits, and 2 walks in both starts. In his win, however, Duensing allowed 3 runs and struck out just 1 batter, while he allowed just 1 run and struck out 5 batters in the game that he lost. Baseball can be a bit strange that way. These two starts took Duensing's season ERA to a solid 2.74. Fellow lefty Glen Perkins continued to struggle this week, going just 4.1 innings in his lone start and allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out five. He now has a 5.14 ERA on the season.

The Red Wings also got spot starts this week out of Casey Daigle (2.2 innings, 2 runs on 5 hits with a K in a losing effort) and Heath Totten (4.0 innings, 4 hits, 5 K's). Expect Kevin Slowey to get at least one start for the team while he's on his rehab assignment -- and maybe more than that. If there's nowhere in the Twins rotation for Slowey to slot into, he could wind up starting for the Red Wings for quite awhile.

Relief Pitchers
Closer Bobby Korecky was the workhorse this week, getting into 5 games and picking up 3 saves, a win, and a loss. On the downside, he allowed his first earned run of the year -- but that still leaves him with an extremely solid 0.73 ERA on the season. Overall, Korecky pitched 6.1 innings over those 5 games, giving up 7 hits and 2 walks in addition to that previously mentioned run while striking out 4 batters.

Two bullpen lefties also turned in solid performances for the Red Wings this week. Carmen Cali put together four solid outings, going 3.2 innings and picking up a couple of wins while not allowing any runs and giving up just 3 hits and 3 walks along with 2 K's to bring his season ERA down to 2.08. Meanwhile, off-season addition Mariano Gomez pitched 6.2 innings in 3 games, picking up a save while not allowing a run and giving up just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4 batters. Gomez has been stingy enough to have a 0.77 ERA this season, and may be involved in the conversation if the Twins lose a reliever to injury and need to call someone up. A third lefty, Ricky Barrett, also had an OK week as he went 3.0 innings in 2 games, allowing an earned run on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 to bring his season ERA to 2.79.

On the right-handed side of the 'pen, Julio DePaula got into 3 games and went 6.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 5 walks while striking out 6 (all in one game, in which he pitched 3.2 innings). DePaula's 2.84 ERA this year testifies to the fact that he's been pretty consistent so far this season. Spot starters Casey Daigle and Heath Totten also got a relief appearance each, with Totten going 1.1 innings and allowing an unearned run on a hit with 2 K's to bring his season ERA to 3.18, and Daigle going 2.0 innings allowing just 3 walks to bring his season ERA to 3.86.

Catchers
I really wish I had good news for you Jose Morales fans, but he still hasn't quite snapped out of his offensive slump. He was a little better this week, going 4-for-21 (which, on the good side, did include a homer) in 6 starts behind the plate. That certainly was an improvement, but it still only brought his batting average to .143 on the season. Morales's backup Eli Whiteside also continues to be terrible at the plate, going 0-for-5 in two starts to drop his season average to .071.

Infielders
Recently promoted Brian Buscher got 4 starts at 1B this week, which was the most of anyone. By now, you're probably aware that Buscher was hitting .345 by the time he earned his promotion. Before getting the call, he went 9-for-23 this week with a couple of long balls. Matt Macri also got a couple of starts at 1B, along with two starts at 3B and three as the DH. Macri went 7-for-23 this week to raise his season average to .271. The best thing about Macri's week was that he continued to cut down on his strikeouts, with just 3 K's this week. Meanwhile, Randy Ruiz also got a couple of starts at 1B this week along with 2 as the DH, going 4-for-15 with a double and an RBI to go along with 6 K's.

Howie Clark continues to be the starting shortstop for the Red Wings, and he actually hit pretty well this week, going 8-for-29 with 2 doubles and a triple to raise his batting average to .244. I personally would still prefer to see someone (anyone!) younger playing at this position, but there aren't a ton of candidates in AA who are ready to take it over, so I'll live with Clark for now.

With Macri spending most of his time at 1B and DH, Chris Basak picked up the bulk of the playing time at third, starting five games there and two at short. Basak went 5-for-21 on the week to raise his season average up to the lofty heights of .211. I guess starting Basak irks me more than starting Clark, incidentally. I still don't know why the Twins claimed him (how many times have I said that? I need to let it go!).

Finally, Alexi Casilla started 6 games at SS and 1 at 2B while continuing his epic struggles at the plate. Casilla went just 4-for-26 on the week, and his season average now sits at .164. Casilla's status as a prospect is starting to take a hit in my book -- but it's still very early, and there's plenty of time for him to turn things around and put together a decent season. He has to start in a hurry, though!

Outfielders
I was proud of myself last week for correctly predicting that Tommy Watkins would start to get some playing time in left field, but even I didn't see this coming -- Watkins started 6 games in LF this week and didn't get so much as one play as an infielder. Unfortunately, his change of position didn't improve his hitting, as he went just 4-for-17 to bring his average to .160 on the season. Jon Knott, who had been starting regularly in left, got two starts at the position along with 1 as the DH, and he was even worse than Watkins for the week: he put together a 1-for-11 week, and is now hitting just .179 on the year.

Jason Pridie started all 8 games for the Red Wings in center this week (they had a double-header on the schedule due to first week weather issues), and really turned himself around offensively, going 11-for-29 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and a dinger. His season average now sits at .274, and while that isn't great it's a whole lot better than the .182 he sported a week ago. He also drove in a bunch of runs -- 9 of them, to be precise. It's nice to see Pridie get his offense on track after a weak start to his season.

Right field primarily belonged to Darnell McDonald, who was activated after a season-starting stint on the 7-day DL. McDonald went 9-for-24 to get his season off to a strong start, hitting a homerun and pickin up a couple of doubles (he went 3-for-3 with those two doubles and a couple of walks in his last start of the week). I'm not big on McDonald's future as a big leaguer (remember how he looked up during his short callup last year?), but that doesn't mean I don't wish him well, and I'm happy to see him start off hot. Meanwhile, Garrett Jones also got two starts in right along with a game as the DH, and he went just 1-for-11 to drop his season average to .224.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

Rochester Red Wings (3-7)

Starting Pitchers
The Red Wings played seven games this week and, unfortunately, didn't get a lot of support from the starting pitchers. Kevin Mulvey opened the week for the Red Wings last Monday, going 5.2 scoreless innings and giving up 5 hits and a walk while striking out 5 in picking up the win. Things would go downhill from there. Mulvey's second start of the week actually wasn't bad -- he went 5 innings, giving up an earned run on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6 -- but he got no run support and ended up taking the loss. Can't blame Mulvey for that one. Philip Humber's start mid-week was alright -- he went 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 2 -- but the offense let him down too, and he took the loss.

Most of the rest of the week was rough: Brian Duensing took the loss in a 6.0 inning, 6 run performance (although just one of those runs was earned -- like the offense, the defense for the Red Wings hasn't been great this year); Glen Perkins went just 4.2 innings in his lone start of the week, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and walks while striking out 5; and Heath Totten finally made his first Red Wings start, lasting just 3.0 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits while striking out 3. Of course, the most notable start of the week was from a pitcher no longer with the Red Wings -- Francisco Liriano stopped by for a 4.0 inning, 3 run performance in which he allowed 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Twins fans have since see him make his less-than-triumphant return to the big leagues.

Relief Pitchers
Bobby Korecky continued to put up solid performances this week, making three appearances and going a total of 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 batters. Korecky technically blew a save in his last appearance of the week, but just to show how charmed he's been this year, he later got the win when the Red Wings came back. Mariano Gomez wasn't far behind Korecky in terms of success this week -- he came in twice to get one batter, striking that batter out each time, and then came in for a 3.0 inning appearance in which he allowed just a hit and a walk while striking out 3 batters. Most everybody else in the bullpen was at least reasonably solid: Julio DePaula went 5.0 innings and allowed just 1 earned run; Ricky Barrett went 4.2 innings and allowed 2 earned runs; and Carmen Cali went 4.0 innings and allowed 2 earned runs. Only Casey Daigle really struggled this week, making three appearances and going just 2.0 innings while allowing 3 earned runs, including a performance where he failed to get an out while allowing a hit, a walk, and an earned run. Incidentally, starters Glen Perkins and Heath Totten also each got a relief appearance this week, with Totten getting an out in 1/3 of an inning, and Perkins going 2.0 innings, allowing an earned run on a hit and two walks.

Catchers
Things are not good in catcher-ville for the Red Wings. Promising starter Jose Morales went just 1-for-19 on the week and is hitting a horrendous .107 on the season, while veteran backup Eli Whiteside went 0-6 with three K's in his two starts. I really have nothing more to say on this subject, other than it's early and I'm sure Morales will figure out his swing.

Infielders
The theme of not hitting carries over throughout the team this week, and looking at some of the season batting averages for regular players is enough to make a fan faint -- check it out: Randy Ruiz (.225); Howie Clark (.188); Chris Basak (.176); Alexi Casilla (.172); Tommy Watkins (.000). In fact, only Brian Buscher, with his .314 average, is doing much of anything offensively for the entire Red Wings team. Buscher split his time primarily between first base and DH this week, starting three games at each and adding a start at 3B for good measure. For the week, he went 9-for-27 with a homer and a double, and without question paced the offense.

Elsewhere in the infield, Alexi Casilla split time between 2B and SS, with Howie Clark and Chris Basak getting the starts at those positions, respectively, when Casilla was on the other side. Meanwhile, Matt Macri once again was the primary third-baseman, and went 7-for-25 on the week with three doubles, a triple, and a homer. He also continued to strike out a bunch, but with 7 K's this week he at least cut it down a bit from when he was seemingly striking out every other time at the plate. In fact, at this point Macri's five errors are the biggest concern with his performance for the Red Wings.

Outfielders
If the infielders were bad, the outfielders were terrible this week. Garrett Jones came into the week having gone 6-for-12 in the first few games of the year, but this week he fell back to Earth by going 4-for-26 (including an 0-for-15 stretch over the last four games of the week). Jones started every game in right field this week. The primary left fielder for the week was, as expected, Jon Knott -- and Knott went 5-for-21 (a good performance for this outfield, as it turned out). Tommy Watkins, meanwhile, did indeed get a start in the left, as I predicted last week. Sadly, he went 0-for-6 on the week and still doesn't have a hit this season. Finally, Jason Pridie finds himself hitting just .182 on the season, including a 4-for-22 performance this week.

Down on the Farm: AAA Report

If you've been with me since the beginning of this blog (or at least since early last season), you might remember that a regular feature during the season used to be a "Down on the Farm" report each weekday covering one of the minor league teams. Last season, due largely to time constraints, I abandoned the Down on the Farm reports. Starting today, I'm going to try to resurrect them. The structure is going to be a bit different from those early versions, but the goal will be the same -- to give you an idea both of who has played well over the past week and how that fits into the context of the season at large. I can't promise that I'm going to have time to keep up with this, but it's something that I want to do, and something that I think there is a demand for.

The schedule will be pretty simple: on Monday I'll cover AAA Rochester, on Tuesday it'll be AA New Britain, Wednesday will be reserved for High-A Ft. Myers, and Thursday will be the day for Low-A Beloit. Once the short-season rookie league seasons start in June, I'll attempt to cover both Elizabethton and the GCL Twins on Fridays. Now, enough for the intro -- here's the first Rochester report of the season:

Rochester Red Wings (1-2)

Starting Pitching
The Red Wings haven't exactly received great starts from their pitchers so far this season, with Brian Duensing's 5.2 inning, 6 hit/1 walk performance being the best of the bunch (despite all of those baserunners, he allowed just 2 runs, both earned, and he did strike out three batters). The other two starts were pretty miserable -- Glen Perkins started on opening day and went just 3 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4. Phil Humber, meanwhile, went just 4 innings in his start on Saturday, giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits while striking out 3. Of course, short starts aren't particularly unexpected early in the season as the starters get their stamina built back up -- but while 5.2 innings is acceptable, the team undoubtedly was hoping for more than the 3 or 4 innings that Perkins and Humber gave them. I wouldn't worry too much after just one start, though. Kevin Mulvey was scheduled to start yesterday's game, but was pushed back due to a rainout. On Tuesday night, meanwhile, Francisco Liriano is set to make his first start for the Red Wings after opening his season in Ft. Myers with the Miracle.

Relief Pitching
Heath Totten, who was reportedly going to start games, has made two relief appearances already this season and hasn't been terribly good (3 earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings). Julio DePaula (1.2 innings, 2 earned runs) has also struggled a bit, but the sample size is so small as to be virtually meaningless. Meanwhile, the strongest performances of the young season have come from Ricky Barrett (2 innings, 1 hit, 2 K's), Casey Daigle (2.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 K), and Bobby Korecky (1 inning, 1 hit, 1 K).

Catchers
There's not a lot to report on the catching side of things. Regular starter Jose Morales was behind the plate for the first two games of the season and went 2-9 with a run scored, a walk, and 2 K's. His backup, veteran Eli Whiteside, went 1-3 with an error in his first game of the year on Saturday. Expect that 2-1 split in playing time to persist in favor of Morales, who may get some playing time as the DH.

Infielders
Through the first three games, Randy Ruiz (1B), Howie Clark (2B), and Alexi Casilla (SS) were clearly established as the starters at their respective positions (although Casilla did get a start at 2B with Chris Basak spelling him at SS), while Matt Macri and Brian Buscher split starts at 3B (Macri started twice there and got a start as the DH, while Buscher got a start at 3B and a start as the DH). I'm not sure what advantage there is for the Twins organization in giving a veteran like Clark regular playing time, but that seems to be the direction we're headed in. For the most part, the infielders haven't warmed up their bats yet -- Alexi Casilla (4-13, 2 SB, 3 K's), Randy Ruiz (3-12, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K's) and Brian Buscher (2-8, HR) have been the best of the bunch. Meanwhile, the last player on the team without a hit is backup Tommy Watkins, who has gone 0-2 in two pinch hitting appearances. The big questions in this infield are whether Macri or Buscher will emerge with more playing time at 3B, and whether the Twins will really continue to give Howie Clark a chance to play regularly.

Outfielders
Garrett Jones has gotten off to an absolutely torrid start, going 6-12 with a HR, 4 RBI's, a SB, a BB, and perhaps most surprisingly no strikeouts while starting every game in RF. I fully expect things to change (and quickly), but those are obviously great numbers through the first three games of the season. Meanwhile, Jason Pridie has gone 2-11 while getting two starts in LF and one in CF -- expect him to play in center every day until the return of Denard Span to Rochester. The new left fielder for the next fifteen days seems to be Jon Knott, who went 1-7 after a game in left and one as the DH. I wouldn't be surprised to see some interesting names in left, though, until Span gets back (when Pridie will return to the position) -- perhaps Brian Buscher will get a start there, or maybe Jones with Randy Ruiz starting in right. Maybe Tommy Watkins will even get a start in the outfield. Honestly, why not experiment? Knott, like Howie Clark, is unlikely to ever make a dent with the big league club, so it doesn't make sense to start him exclusively in left.

Rochester Roster

The season opening roster for the Rochester Red Wings was released on their website today, and while most of the names on the list were expected, there are a few surprises. Here are some thoughts on the guys starting the season in AAA:

Starting Pitchers:

Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, Zach Day (DL), Heath Totten

Duensing, Humber, and Mulvey were all expected to start the season in AAA, so there are no surprises there. I thought prior to the start of spring training that Perkins was likely to make the big league roster as either a starter or as the last man out of the bullpen, but it was clear that if he didn't make the big club, he was going to end up here. Zach Day doesn't really fit in any of the lower levels of the system, and he wasn't going to beat out the young guys for a major league roster spot, so a slot in AAA makes sense -- although as noted, he's starting the season in the DL. Finally, Heath Totten was a bit of a surprise to me -- he was one of a number of minor league free agents brought in by the club, and based on his career numbers I was thinking he'd be lucky to make the Rock Cats roster. Instead, he'll probably get a few chances to start for the Red Wings, although he could be used in the bullpen, also.


Relief Pitchers

Ricky Barrett, Carmen Cali, Casey Daigle, Julio DePaula, Mariano Gomez, Danny Graves (DL), Bobby Korecky

The big surprise here is Danny Graves, who I didn't even realize had been signed by the Twins. Beyond that, this is a fairly balanced bullpen (3 lefties and 3 righties) that doesn't have any real standout stars. Bobby Korecky will likely return to the role of the Red Wings closer (he saved 35 games a year ago) -- although it's not like it really matters, since the Twins don't exactly need to be breaking in a closer. Carmen Cali is probably the first option out of the names on this list to get called up if the Twins have an injury in the bullpen, but it's probably equally likely that the Twins would go with one of the starters (Perkins especially) if they needed to fill a roster spot. The only question: where is Randy Keisler? A roster spot in New Britain seems unlikely, so perhaps he's been released.


Catchers

Jose Morales, Eli Whiteside, Ryan Jorgensen (suspended)

Jose Morales should get a chance to play a lot, as at this point he's the Twins emergency third catcher. Whiteside is a veteran who hopefully will play reasonably well without taking playing time away from Morales. Jorgensen is another guy (like Graves) who I didn't even know was in the organization. No real surprises here, and while I'm sure Drew Butera would have liked to start out in AAA rather than his likely destination in New Britain, there wouldn't have been enough playing time to go around.


Infield

Chris Basak, Brian Buscher, Alexi Casilla, Howie Clark, Garrett Jones, Alejandro Machado (DL), Matt Macri, Randy Ruiz, Tommy Watkins

Talk about an eclectic group. There are a couple of good prospects (Casilla and Macri) and one pseduo-prospect (Buscher) on the list, but the rest of these guys are unlikely to ever make an impact at the big league level, and a few (Howie Clark, Chris Basak) just don't seem to fit particularly well in the organization. Randy Ruiz will probably play mostly at DH, but with Garrett Jones likely playing a lot in the outfield (he's listed as an infielder on the roster, but that doesn't mean much), he might also get some starts at 1B. Alexi Casilla will probably play mostly at shortstop, with Macri at 2B and Buscher at 3B. Watkins, Basak, and Clark will be lucky to get whatever playing time they're handed, and are unlikely to play significant roles with the team. As for significant missing names -- Felix Molina failed to make the squad, and it seems questionable that the Twins will give him a roster spot in New Britain, but we'll see. I also thought that Brock Peterson had a good chance to get a promotion to Rochester, but it looks like a return trip to New Britain is in his future.


Outfield

Doug Deeds (DL), Jon Knott, Darnell McDonald (DL), Jason Pridie, Denard Span

With Deeds and McDonald starting out the season on the DL, Knott, Pridie, and Span should get a significant amount of playing time. That would almost certainly be the case anyway for Pridie and Span, who will probably split time respectively between CF and RF (with Span likely getting a bit more time in CF). Garrett Jones and Randy Ruiz will likely also get some time in the outfield (although watching either of them patrol the outfield might be harmful for your health, so be wary).

Rochester Red Wings Roster

The Red Wings will be the last of the Twins minor league full-season affiliates to get started this season, with their first game scheduled for tomorrow. Here's the opening day roster for what should be a very, very good Red Wings team:

Name / Position / Age / Organization Rank

Starting Pitchers
1.) Matt Garza - RHP - 23 - #3 SP
2.) Glen Perkins - LHP - 24 - #5 SP
3.) Kevin Slowey - RHP - 22 - #6 SP
4.) Scott Baker - RHP - 25 - #9 SP
5.) Jeremy Cummings - RHP - 30 - #19 SP

I don't even know what to say about this rotation -- it's phenomenal. The first three could all easily end up in the Majors before the season is over, and Baker and Cummings are both reasonably good pitchers. The big battle early on will be between Garza and Perkins, as both try to set themselves up for a chance with the Twins if one of the current starters at the Major League level falters. There really isn't much else to say, other than that Cummings may not get a chance to start a lot because of the presence on the team of lefty Dave Gassner, who I'm listing as a reliever at the start, largely because Cummings had a very solid spring and seemingly deserves a chance to start the season in the Red Wings' rotation.

Relief Pitchers
1.) Dave Gassner - LHP - 28 - #13 SP
2.) Brian Bass - RHP - 25 - NR (SP)
3.) Tristan Crawford - RHP - 24 - #16 RP
4.) Julio DePaula - RHP - 24 - #10 RP
5.) Bobby Korecky - RHP - 27 - #20 RP
6.) Jason Miller - LHP - 24 - #26 RP
7.) Mike Venafro - LHP - 33 - #7 RP
DL - Ricky Barrett - LHP - 26 - #17 RP
DL - Carmen Cali - LHP - 28 - #22 RP

Mike Venafro accepted his assignment to Rochester, which is good news for the Twins since they now have a very solid backup plan in case there is an injury to one of the current members of the bullpen, or a need for a 12th pitcher at some point early in the season. The bullpen is not quite as exciting as the starters (it would be pretty hard to be), but watching the continuing development of guys like DePaula and Crawford should be interesting.

Catchers
1.) Matt LeCroy - C - 31 - #13 C
2.) Jose Morales - C - 24 - #15 C

Chris Heintz was slatted to start the season as the Red Wings starting catcher, but a series of unusual events (including an injury to Lew Ford and the Twins decision to go with 14 position players anyway) have him in the big leagues to start the season. That means that Matt LeCroy (yes, that Matt LeCroy) will get a fair amount of time behind the plate for the Red Wings at the start of the season. The younger (and much more promising) Jose Morales should also get a fair number of starts. Morales has the potential to be a solid backstop, but hasn't done much since being injured in 2005. He hit just .211 in 80 games last season for the Rock Cats, so his promotion has to be related to (1) his defensive ability, and (2) the dearth of catchers in the organization capable of playing at the AAA level.

Infielders
1.) Garrett Jones - 1B/OF - 25 - #5 1B
2.) Alexi Casilla - 2B/SS - 22 - #2 SS
3.) Tommy Watkins - SS - 27 - #5 SS
4.) Matt Moses - 3B - 22 - #4 3B
5.) Matt Tolbert - IF - 24 - #9 2B
6.) Glenn Williams - IF - 29 - #5 2B
DL - Ken Harvey - 1B - 29 - #7 1B

Alexi Casilla and Matt Moses are the two to watch here. Casilla almost certainly will be the Twins starting second baseman by no later than the start of the 2008 season, and Moses could at least play himself into consideration for the Twins starting 3B job with a good season (he's more likely to have to wait at least an extra year, however). Garrett Jones could very well be used more in the outfield than at 1B this year, but the roster lists him as an infielder, so that's where he'll stay for now. He's entering his last option year with the Twins, so his development this season will be interesting to watch.

Outfielders
1.) Doug Deeds - 1B/OF - 24 - #3 1B
2.) Trent Oeltjen - OF - 23 - #10 OF
3.) Josh Rabe - OF - 28 - #6 OF
4.) Denard Span - OF - 23 - #7 OF

Span is the man to watch the closest this season, as he's been tapped as the likely successor to Torii Hunter in center field for the Twins in 2008. A good season for the Red Wings will likely make that a reality, while a sub-par season could have the Twins scouring the bargain bin looking for a serviceable replacement for 2008 while Span continues to develop. Josh Rabe is also a potential Twin in 2008, likely in left field. If the Twins need an outfielder this year from Rochester, he's almost certain to be the guy. Doug Deeds should, like Garrett Jones, play a little bit in the outfield and a little in the infield. This will be his first season at the AAA level. The same goes for Trent Oeltjen, who is a speed and average kind of guy. It's a sparse but fairly talented outfield.