Highlights:
Wins-Losses: 3-3

Welcome Back!

-Catcher Joe Mauer made a resounding splash in his first appearance of the season, taking his first cut of 2009 on 2-0 pitch and crushing it into the left-field bleacher’s at the Metrodome. He also cracked a double down the line in his second at bat and drew a walk, finishing 2-3 for the night but also scoring all three times he reached base.

Seconds after his HR a friend sent me a text message that summed up Joe’s debut better than I could. It read simply ‘he would’.

As in he’s that good and would do that on the first swing he took in MLB competition for 2009.

The next night Mauer proceeded to double his output from the previous night, going 4-6 with a 2B. Then contributed a pinch hit RBI single on Sunday to finish his first series of the year 7-10, with a HR, 2 2B’s, and 3 RBI.

We missed you too Joe.

Bullpen Woes

Every reliever so far, sans Joe Nathan and Jose Mijares, continue to be shaky at best.

The addition of Jesse Crain, back from the disabled list, will hopefully provide some stability after getting a rest for his arm, but the ‘pens combined 5.72 ERA is good for 25th in the League.

‘Key’ Free Agent acquisition Luis Ayala has a 5.40 ERA, Knuckleballer R. A. Dickey a 4.96, and pleasant surprise of 2008 Craig Breslow a 7.04.

Those numbers from the middle relievers did not bode well for a team that was waiting for some of it’s starter’s to come around in the early going.

It is still my stance that the Front Office should take the leash off a couple of its relief prospects, namely Robert Delaney and Anthony Slama of the New Britain Rock Cats, to see if they could help them this year.

In order to get a proven relief arm to impact them this season it is going to cost the Twins a key prospect and probably a MLB everyday player, and I don’t think they are willing to do that this season.

Thus, the only other way to try and improve the back end of their staff is to find something from within.

I miss Pat Neshek, and the Twins do more than they realize I think, too.

Player(’s) of the Week:

-1B Justin Morneau.
Morneau over the past seven days has gone 10-26, with 2 HRs, 3 2Bs, and 7 RBI, and right there with him is…

-RF Michael Cuddyer
…who has gone 9-18 with a HR, 2 3Bs, a 2B, and the same # of RBI’s with 7, over the same period. He also racked up 7 BBs. Nice to see you again too, Magic Man.

Minor League Report:

- AAA Rochester Red Wings -
Wins-Losses: 11-12

-3B Luke Hughes has been one of the few bright spots in a lineup that has relatively struggled at the plate so far. His 4 HRs and 19 RBI lead the team, while his .295 batting average is second only to OF Dustin Martin’s .299.

-Starting pitchers Anthony Swarzak and Kevin Mulvey have pitched well, but the lack of run support has hurt them. Both have sub 3.00 ERA’s but are a combined 2-5.

-Phillip Humber has pitched only 7 innings since his demotion, but has allowed just 1 run on 3 hits.

-Rochester Democrat and Chronicle blogger Jim Mandelaro does a great job of covering the Red Wings. You can check him out here.

- AA New Britain Rock Cats -
Wins-Losses: 10-13

-Top prospects Danny Valencia and Wilson Ramos are hitting .275 and .286 respectively in the early going and Valencia leads the Rock Cats with 3 HRs, a .500 slugging percentage and 14 walks.

-2B Brian Dinkelman leads the team with 15 RBI’s while hitting .338, basically even with the .339 of 1B Erik Lis.

-Closer Anthony Slama has continued his strong pitching and is 2-0 with 3 saves in 10 appearances, striking out 20 batters in just 11.2 innings. He did blow his first save for New Britain this week, but that game also ended up as one of his wins.

-Starter Jeff Manship is showing signs he has begun to adapt to AA competition after struggling there last year after his promotion. In his last 3 starts, the heralded right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA, pitching 5, 6, and 7 innings while allowing 2, 3, and 0 runs.

- A+ Fort Myers Miracle -
Wins-Losses: 16-9

-I’m pretty much convinced I should never doubt the Twins scouting staff if they draft a player drastically sooner than than anyone else predicts. If they find a guy they like and want him, they make sure they get him. The last two years this philosophy has produced 2008’s Minor League batting champ Ben Revere and…

2008 1st Round head scratcher and now Miracle starting pitcher, Carlos Gutierrez.

After being a reliever last year, Gutierrez has started 5 games for Ft. Myers, throwing 28 innings while allowing only 16 hits and striking out 17 batters compared to 6 walks. These numbers are good for a 1-1 record, 1.50 ERA and astronomical 0.73 WHIP. Games Gutierrez has started have ended 4-2(L), 4-2(W), 2-1(L), 2-1(L), and 10-3(W). Thats a lot of good pitching despite the outcomes, due to lack of run support.

-Fellow Starters David Bromberg and Michael McCardell have also been fantastic in their last few starts.

McCardell is 3-0 in his last 3, including a 6 inning 1 hit effort. While Bromberg is 2-0 in his last 4, not allowing more than 2 runs in any of those games.

-The aforementioned Ben Revere is currently hitting .296 with a .377 on-base-percentage in his first taste of High-A ball. He is also second on the team with 16 RBIs and has swiped 13 bases.

- A- Beloit Snappers -
Wins-Losses: 9-15

-One of the guys I see a bright future for, SP Shooter Hunt, has struggled mightily with his control so far this young season. In 5 starts, he has allowed 29 walks in only 14.2 innings pitched and has amassed a 10.43 ERA.

-The starting pitching overall seems to be the biggest reason for the Snappers slow start, as other members of the rotation aren’t doing much better.

Daniel Osterbrock and Michael Allen are both 0-3 with 9.70 and 8.10 ERA’s respectively.

-The bright spot on the staff for the month of April is left-hander and 2008 undrafted signee Joe Testa. In 8 middle-relief appearances Testa has pitched 16.1 innings, recording 24 K’s and has allowed only 6 hits.

Minor League Player of the Month:

-SS Ramon Santana
One of the early surprises in the Twins system this year has been Santana of the Snappers, another undrafted signee out of Venezuela. He has a .393 average, 3 HRs, and 10 RBI already this season after batting .241 with 8 HRs and 26 RBI’s in all of 2008 for Beloit.

Minor League Pitcher of the Month:
-SP Carlos Gutierrez
You can find a 2008 Q and A with Gutierrez here.