Episode 25 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunes or by clicking here.
This week on the podcast Paul and Eric delve deep into the excitement of spring training and make some bold predictions for what they see happening in the AL Central this season. We take a look at the ZIPS projections for the Twins and discuss what the numbers mean for the 2013 team, and we even spend some time talking about the Twins promotional giveaways coming up this season. This week’s Twins HOF’er is Earl Battey. In the prospect world we take a look at Adrian Salcedo and then jump into emails and beer talk before the show is through. 95 minutes of magic.
If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes (ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers, which help us pretend like we’re a big deal.)
The Beloit Snappers, Midwest League (low Class A) affiliate of the Twins, are making their last appearance of the season in Cedar Rapids this week with games Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, and as I’m prone to doing, I’ve been out at the ballpark getting a look-see at the young future Twins.
Snappers in the field in Cedar Rapids
I saw plenty of offense out of some of the Snappers on Saturday night and Iowan BJ Hermsen survived some early struggles to squeak out a “Quality Start” in front of a packed house that included a fair number of Hermsen fans. Beloit won the game 10-5.
Sunday, the results were less favorable for the Snappers, as they gave up three runs in the first inning to the Kernels en route to a 6-1 loss.
But enough about the games. The purpose of this post is simply to give Twins fans a glance at the names and faces of a few of the young players who are toiling in the farm system as they work toward their dreams of playing Major League baseball. They work hard and know they face long odds… and they deserve some recognition. – JC
Jhonatan Arias donned the catchers gear on SundayDH Michael Gonzales was the picture of intensity at the plateSS Andy Leer takes his lead off 1BLF Derek McCallum gets his cutsRF Daniel Ortiz went deep with this swing... but foul3B Jairo Perez rips a line driveOF/1B Lance Ray checks signs before getting in the batters boxStarting pitcher Adrian Salcedo strides toward homeCF Daniel Santana watches a pitch sail wide of the plateRelief pitcher Sam Spangler delivers to the plate2B Reggie Williams readies on defense
Like their parent club, the Beloit Snappers played extra innings Monday. Unlike the Twins, however, the Snappers actually managed to get some hits with runners in scoring position and thus avoided getting swept out of Cedar Rapids with a 5-4 win over the Kernels. Thunderstorms during the morning threatened to delay the Snappers “getaway”, but the two teams got started on time and completed their 10-inning game in just under three hours.
The 20+ mph wind that blew in from right-center field most of the game made for some interesting (and entertaining) defensive plays, but rather than just write about this game, I thought I might try to tell the story with pictures and even a short video.
Snappers shortstop Daniel Santana got things going for Beloit by lining the second pitch of the game over the left-centerfield wall for a leadoff home run.
Daniel Santana homers to lead off the first inning
Leftfielder Nate Roberts collected three hits, scored a run and stole two bases on the day, then added a sacrifice bunt to move Andrew Leer in to scoring position in the top of the 10th inning.
Nate Roberts leads off in front of Kernels SS Jean Almanzar
Also contributing three hits to the Snappers attack was centerfielder Wang-Wei Lin, who put the Snappers ahead 3-0 in the 5th inning with an RBI single to right field.
Wang-Wei Lin moves away from Kernels 1B Brandon Decker
Starting pitcher Adrian Salcedo didn’t give up a hit until Kernel 1B Brandon Decker reached on an infield single in the 4th inning (on a backhand play that Snapper 2B Derek McCallum would likely admit he should have made). Salcedo was regularly hitting 93 mph on the stadium radar gun and was dominating the Kernels through 6 innings.
Adrian Salcedo was all but untouchable for 6 innings
The wheels fell off for Salcedo in the 7th inning, however (or more accurately, they fell off for the Snapper defense behind him), as the Kernels batted around, scoring four runs (only two earned) to tie the score at 4-4. Clinton Dempster relieved Salcedo with bases loaded and two out and gave up an RBI single and a sac fly before getting the final out of the inning.
Dempster was more effective over his remaining two innings of work, facing the minimum six hitters.
Clinton Dempster collected a blown save AND the win
That’s where the score remained until the top of the 10th inning when Leer let off with a single to left field, was moved to 2B by Roberts’ sacrifice bunt and on to 3B by Michael Gonzales’ second single of the day. Daniel Ortiz’s groundout to second base was deep enough to easily score Leer.
All that remained was for relief pitcher Matt Hauser to nail down the save. He made it a bit interesting, giving up a walk and a single (almost makes it seem like the Twins actually teach their closers to do that, doesn’t it?), before getting the final Kernels out to finish off the Snappers’ 5-4 victory.
Matt Hauser talks things over with catcher Matt Parker
The Snappers make their next (and final) trip to Cedar Rapids for a three-game series July 30-Aug 1, but both teams are off to good starts in the first half of the season and have real shots at the Midwest League post-season.
