Sara-Reds slip past Miracle

Fort Myers 1 at Sarasota 2

Record: 9 - 7

W: J. Smith (3-1, 1.42); L: C. Devries (1-2, 6.00); SV: S. Watson (3)
HR: None.

The Sarasota Reds took a slim lead in the bottom of the second inning and hung onto it through nine to pick up a win over the Fort Myers Miracle.

Despite pounding out ten hit, the Miracle could only convert for one run with Brian Dinkelman, Rene Tosoni and Juan Portes all singling in the top of the 3rd. Portes fly to left field would score Dinkelman.

Justin Turner singled on a line drive in the first and came home on a Chris Valaika double. Valaika would be taken out at 3rd on the play as he tried to stretch it for a triple.

Drew Stubbs double in the bottom of the second and Justin Laowsma would be hit by a pitch to put runners on base. The pair then worked a double steal with Anthony Gressick at the plate. Gressick would then hit a sac-fly to bring in Stubbs for what would prove to be the game winning run.

Cole Devries suffered the loss, allowing both runs on six hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 over 5 innings worth of work. Tim Lahey, newly added to the roster, and Danny Graves finished off the contest.

Dinkleman and Portes were both 3-for-4 in the contest.

The Miracle return home to take on the Lakeland Flying Tigers Sunday for a special 5:05 PM start. Jeff Manship (2-0, 4.50) will make the start for Fort Myers. The Tigers are expected to counter with lefty Duane Below (1-1, 4.92).

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Danny Berg was placed on the seven-day DL retroactive to last Thursday with an undisclosed injury. Lahey was required by the Twins after he was taken in December in the Rule 5 draft by the Phillies. He was designated for assignment and the Twins purchased his contract back. He was added to the Miracle roster from extended spring training.

In Single-A low, four runs in the last three innings helped the Timber Rattlers claim game two of the three-game series, 5-3. Beloit's Spencer Steedley picked up the loss allowing two runs off three hits. Joe Benson was 2-for-3 for the Snappers with 2 walk and 2 runs. Sean Singleton and Garrett Olsen were both 2-for-4, Singleton with a run and 2 RBIs and Olson with 1 RBI. Catcher Danny Lehmann was 3-for-3 with a double.

In Double-A play, Trenton downed the Rock Cats 5-3 in New Britain. Luke Hughes hit his 2nd home run of the season for the Cats, going 3-for-5 at the plate with 2 runs and 1 RBI. Brock Peterson was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run. Dustin Martin and David Winfree each had a hit a piece in the game.

Yohan Pino allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in five innings worth of work, but took a no-decision in the game. Ben Julianel suffered the loss in the 11th inning with 2-unearned runs on 2 hits and 4 walks while striking out one over 2 innings.

The Rochester Red Wings also lost to a Yankees' farm team, being shut out by the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees 1-0. Rochester managed only 3 hits and 1 wlak in the contest. Brian Duensing suffered the loss, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 over 5.2 innings.

Check out the Rock Cats report on RedWingsBaseball.com for a look former Miracle Anthony Swarzak, plus stroll through of the Miracle roster, which speculates that Deolis Guerra will be called up to New Britain once the Twins deem Swarzak ready for Triple A play.

Six players exit in Rule V Draft

Tim Lahey

The Minnesota Twins remained remarkably quiet during the Rule V draft Thursday at baseball's winter meetings.

After all the rumors surrounding the Santana Sweepstakes failed to materialize, General Manager Bill Smith sat back and passed on all potential Rule V picks, perhaps the most intriguing of which was Tampa's Evan Meek, who went to Pittsburgh with the 2nd pitck.

The Rays, picking first overall, selected Minnesota reliever Tim Lahey. Lahey split last season between AAA Rochester and AA New Britain, posting a 9.00 ERA in 2 games in Rochester, and a 3.45 ERA with a 8-4 record and 13 saves for New Britain in 78.1 innings pitched. The New Britain stats look promising, the 3 innings in triple a did not.

A converted catcher out of Princeton University, Lahey is a hard worker who's gone through a lot to catch up with the rest of the Minnesota pitching staff. While it was possible he'd have stuck in the Rays bullpen, they Rays then sold Lahey to the Chicago Cubs for $150,000. It's extremely unlikely that the competative Cubs will keep him in the major league line up for the year, which means they will have to work a deal with the Twins if they intended to keep him.

Seattle selected R.A. Dickey, a free agent right-hander the Twins had signed to play in Rochester for the upcoming season in the 12th round. This is a puzzling selection as Dickey really hasn't displayed anything in the past that would indicate the 33-year-old could handle a full time major league roll. Dickey had a 13-6 record with a 3.72 ERA for his hometown Nashville Sounds in 2007, earning himself a spot on the PCL Post Season All-Star team. He walked 60 and struck out 119 in 169.1 innings pitched. He will have to earn a spot in the Seattle bullpen out of Spring Training.

Going in the 30th round to the Washington Nationals, was Garrett Guzman. This maybe wasn't such a surprise, as the Nat's had shown some interest in the California native before. Guzman finished up last season with the AA Rock Cats batting .312 with 14 home runs and 88 RBI's and sported a .453 slugging and .359 on base percentages. The big question would be if Guzman has what it takes to make a major league roster for the Nats. That's a really iffy pick for Washington, since we've not seen what Guzman is capable of at the Triple A level.

Outfielder Rashad Eldridge was a free agent signee for the Twins in 2007 and spent last year in New Britain, where he hit for a .291 average with 65 runs, 41 RBIs and 7 homre runs. This Eldridge will wear a Durham Bulls jersey as we has selected by Tampa Bay with the first pick of the Triple A portion of the draft.

The Twins resigned former Miracle Josh Hill to a minor league contract earlier this fall, but he won't be in a Minnesota uniform. The Aussie right-hander was picked up by Pittsburgh with the 2nd pick in the Triple A phase of the draft. He does not have to be placed on Pittsburgh 40-man roster, so he'll likely be playing for AAA Indianapolis or AA Altoona next season.

Hill posted a 3-2 record with a 3.00 ERA in 17 games for the Fort Myers Miracle last year, moving from the bullpen into the starting rotation, before earning a long overdue promotion to New Britain. He went 3-2 with the Rock Cats with a 4.36 ERA in 53.2 innings, walking 27 and striking out 46. The 24-year-old still projects well as a major league reliever, but he's never been a fast-track prospect.

J.P. Martinez was taking in the AA portion of the draft, this time by Baltimore. The 6'2" right hander from New Orleans split time between the Rochester Red wings and the New Britian Rock Cats last season, as well as making one apperance with the FSL Fort Myers Miracle. Martinez compiled a 3-6 record with a 4.19 ERA in AA New Britain, where he walked 33 and struck out 48 in 53.2 innings, earning 2 saves in relief. His brief 2 game appearance in Triple A was less then memorable, as he posted a 12.0 ERA in 3 innings.

The Twins under Terry Ryan were always very active in the Rule V draft, which makes me wonder if Terry just liked taking part to keep busy at winter meetings. Smith seems somewhat disinclinded to play the game. The change of organizational philosophy is certainly of interest.

Simply Simonitsch

While not quite as impressive as Jacob Tata's complete game shut out for the Lakeland Tigers earlier in the Week, Errol Simonitsch spun a very good game Thursday against the Tampa Bay Yankees.

The 23-year-old from Glendale, California allowed eight hits, but only one run -- a solo shot homer -- through seven innings while striking out six. Nor did he issue a free pass, something he's been very stingy with through six games, allowing only five.

At 6'4" and 225, Simonitsch presents a big powerful figure on the mound, a bit of an illusion, as the southpaw is not a power pitcher.

Simonitsch's fast ball tops out at 89 miles per hour, but he has a good change up and an excellent curveball. He locates his pitches well, and he moves them around quite a bit, baffling hitters who are never quite sure what to expect next.

A sixth round draft pick for the Twins in 2003, Simonitsch played NCAA for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs and received honorable mention as a Louisville Slugger All-American in his freshman year. He played short-season Elizabethton the year of his draft and pitched a full season in Low A with the Quad City Swing last season.

Simonitch, who grew up a Dodger's fan and who is a bit of a car conoisoure (he drives a '69 Chevy El Camino) relaxes before the game with a good book. He says it helps him focus.

The Twins have Simonitch pegged as a fourth or fifth starter if he continues his steady improvement through the minors. While he's never going to be a power pitcher, he is a big strong prospect that throws a lot of strikes, has a great mound presence and puts in effective performances.

Certainly someone for farm watchers to keep an eye on through out this season.

Walk wise, Simonitsch is not the only stingy player on the team. Nick Blackburn, who sports a 3-1, 2.90 ERA record as only given up three in 31 innings. Blackburn has been hot, but struggled early on Tuesday, giving up four earned runs on 9 hits during the second inning. The Miracle bounced back though with a stellar 7 run rally in the ninth in a game that saw everyone except first baseman Omar Burgos get at least one hit.

Education Day

Once again, I've gotten through a homestand without a chance of seeing Glen Perkins pitch. Perkins made his first home start on Wednesday, but the game was at 10:30 in the morning, a field trip day for the children of Lee and Collier Counties.

It was also the first game that Perkins went five innings after recovering from a bruised wrist earlier this season. He allowed one run on three hits, walked two and struck out five.

(On a side note, he did seem to find our harassment of the outfield umpire Thursday evening rather amusing.)

The education day question however was how does a pitcher, facing two batters in the sixth, give up two runs, both earned on one walk and no hits?

The Miracle put Peter Tautor on the mound for the start of the sixth. The struggling Australian walked one and hit the second batter before he was pulled from the mound. Josh Gray, who was not fully warmed up, came into the game and allowed the hits that drove in the runs.

Tautor's continued presence in the line up was been a bit of a bafflement. Josh Hill was demoted down to Beloit after struggling a bit early on, but his 6.71 era at the time of his demotion is nothing compared to Tautor's, who was not really impressive during spring training either. However, Beloit wanted a potential starter and Hill fit that roll, actually getting a start last night for the Snappers who defeated the Fort Wayne Wizards, 13-3.

Hill allowed two runs on six hits, walking three and fanning five. Kevin Culpepper received credit for the win, however.

And yes, while I understand it's really hard to evaluate a prospect on 3.2 innings pitched through five games, the point remains that if Tautor wasn't struggling so badly, he'd have had more time on the mound. I did check, but there is no report of injury to the Melbourne resident, although his performance does remind me of prospect we had several years ago who was struggling badly while coming off a shoulder injury.

Talk of the Town


Tim Lehey - just another righty or the Twins' secret weapon?

When Tim Lahey reported to minor league spring training, it was as catcher. Drafted in the 20th round in 2004 out of Princeton (yes! Princeton) University, the Ivy Leaguer spent short season with Elizabethton where he had seven runs on seventeen hits in 26 games, including 3 yarders.

By the time Extended Spring Training started, the 6'4", 248 pound 23-year-old had hung up the mask. Two weeks later, he stepped out on the mound for his first professional game as a pitcher -- and promptly hit 93 MPH on the radar gun.

A native of Worcaster, Massachusetts, Lahey has only pitched relief innings for the GCL Twins, but look for him to be getting a lot more time in if he continues to dominate.

And dominate he did on Saturday during a 10-9 rally win over the GCL Red Sox. Lahey took to the hill for the ninth, and struck out two of the three batters he faced. The first two pitches to the first batter were fast balls, with the third pitch being a deceptive slider that slipped beautifully past the bat. And yes, those fast balls were hitting 93 on the radar gun.

It was the type of performance that made you sit back afterwards and say nice, VERY NICE. Lahey may well be back in short season Elizabethton for the 2004 season, but don't expect to him stay there long if he continues to live up to his early billing.

Injury Report


Tim Henkenjohann & Matt Fox

The ranks of the wounded are starting to thin out a bit. First round draft pick Matt Fox has started throwing extended spring training games again. German prospect Tim Henkenjohann made his debute for the Miracle, allowing two hits, issuing one walk and striking out 2 in two innings worth of work.

Denard Span who spent a week on the disabled list with a hamstring injury was actived again and played for the Miracle Saturday night against West Palm Beach. Billy Mauer was activated from the DL and sent to Beloit and Fergus Falls native Justin Arneson made a rehab start with the GCL Twins.

Continuing to nurse injuries however is Justin Jones, the lefty prospect the Twins received in the Doug Mientkiewicz trade, who has been suffering with tendinitis through extended spring training. He says he is still three weeks away from resuming pitching activities.

The Aussie Connection

The Twins recently signed a 17-year-old infielding prospect in Matt Lawman, who is considered to be promising short-stop, as well as one of the best hitters to come out of Australian baseball in a while.

The Victorian prospect however will not report to the GCL Twins this season but will instead go to the MBLAAP Baseball Academy. He will report for Minor League Spring Training in 2006.

Signed by Howie Norsetter, Lawman received a lucrative signing bonus as well as opting into the Twins college scholarship plan.

One 17-year-old who has reported to the Twins however is catching prospect Allan de San Miguel, and he has been opening eyes early on.

De San Miguel turned down another season at the MBLAAP Academy, and a rather lucrative job in his father's business to report to the Twins camp this season.

He did offer some insight into "The Wizard of Aus" though. "Howie will sign anyone," he laughed. "He'd sign every ballplayer in Australia if he could. He'll throw ten-thousand dollars at them in the hopes they'll sign cheap."

Rock Cats Report

Rock Cats' outfielder Selwyn Langaingne currently ranks 10th in Eastern League batting with a .310 average, and seven RBIs.

Hitting, especially clutch hitting has plagued the Cats, whose are currently ranked eighth overall in Eastern League batting.

Pitching wise, the Cats rank 5th over, and Rock Cat starter Colby Miller is third in the league with 0.82 ERA. He is 2-0 on the season and has struck out 24. Lefty ace Francisco Liriano is tied for league second, with 43 strike outs.

One stat that the Cats do not like to see belongs to Levale Speigner, who is tied for first in the league with Home Runs Allowed, giving up five so far on the season.

The Cats made several roster moves this week, adding Rick Bell to shore up the infield at 3rd base.

Bell is the son of ex-big leaguer Buddy Bell, The 26-year-old was released by the Chicago Cubs Tuesday after going 5-for-25 (.200) with two RBIs at Triple-A Iowa. He arrived in town during batting practice Thursday, but has yet to play for the Cats, who were rained out on Saturday.

Meanwhile, struggling outfielder Matt Scanlon was released. An 8th round draft pick of the Twins in 1999, Scanlon has worn a Rock Cats jersey through parts of the last four seasons.

Jake Mauer, the older brother of Twins Catcher Joe Mauer was placed on the DL with an elbow injury. New Britain catcher Jose Morales was placed on the DL as well, while veteran catcher Gabby Torres came off the DL to replace him behind the plate.

Finally the Cats shipped relief pitcher Ricky Barrett to Rochester and received lefty reliever Jan Granado from the Miracle. Granado was one of the players drafted in the minor league portion of the Rule V draft this last winter.

The Cats were 3-3 on the last week finishing their series at New Hampshire with a split as well as splitting with the Portland Sea Dogs.