Rock Cats: Day Game Away from a 4-Game Sweep

Evan Bigley says, "Do not take my
playing time, Oswaldo Arcia."

The Rock Cats finish up their four game series, as well as their week-long road trip, in a noon game today against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, but the series has already been a success. The Rock Cats won the first three games, and go for the sweep in today's finale.

Friday night was an offensive showing for both teams, but New Britain prevailed, 9-8. Evan Bigley had 4 hits, including his 9th home run, and Chris Colabello had 2 hits, including a double, and 2 RBIs. Catcher Chris Herrmann also notched 2 hits and a double. Starter B.J. Hermsen actually pitched pretty well, but wasn't aided by his defense. Though he only was charged with 2 earned runs in 6 and 1/3 innings, 6 runs scored thanks to errors.

Saturday New Britain won 6-1. Blake Martin, traditionally a reliever, started and went 4 innings. Luis Perdomo threw the other 5 innings and gave up only 1 run, striking out 6. Chris Colabello had a double and a home run, and Evan Bigley hit his 15th double of the season. Oswaldo Arcia also had a hit, and Minnesota's own Nathan Hanson hit his second home run of the season.

On Sunday, the Rock Cats won 7-3. Logan Darnell turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, pitching 6 innings and giving up 3 runs. He struck out 3 and walked 2, but gave up 2 home runs. Daniel Turpen was excellent out of the bullpen, throwing 3 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 2. Chris Colabello, again, had a big game. He notched 3 hits, including his 12th home run, in 5 at-bats, and scored twice. Evan Bigley was 3-for-4 with his 16th double and drove in 2 runs, and Matt Rizzotti was 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-for-5 and is batting .174 in a very, very small AA sample size.

These are just very short summaries, but I think it's important to note who is carrying this team lately when it wins. It's not necessarily Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Arcia or Chris Herrmann (although Hicks and Herrmann certainly have been productive at various points this season). Right now, it's unquestionably Chris Colabello, the 28 year old journeyman, 25 year old Evan Bigley, who recently was told that with Arcia's promotion, he would lose playing time, and 25 year old Nathan Hanson, who has played various positions and has found more playing time as a result of his hot bat. I'm not sure if any of these guys are destined for major league careers, but it's nice to see veteran players getting the job done at AA -- a level at which they need to excel.

Let's look at the last 10 games: Evan Bigley is hitting at a .400/.415/.700 clip, and has 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR and 10 RBIs. The 25 year old is now hitting a respectable .265 on the season. Chris Colabello is hitting .293/.326/.488 2 2B, 2 HR and 8 RBIs. He's still leading the entire Eastern League in RBIs with 52, and his 12 home runs are good for 3rd in the Eastern League. Guess who's in second place in the Eastern League RBI race? Evan Bigley, with 48. Finally, there's Nathan Hanson. In his last 10 games, he's hitting .343/.378/.629 with 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR and 4 RBIs. After starting the season off slow, Hanson is batting an even .270 on the season.

The finale of the Rock Cats-Flying Squirrels series is noon (eastern time). The Rock Cats are still 3 games back in the standings, and are hoping to gain a little more ground today. All season long, this has been a streaky team, so hopefully they will continue to ride this current streak.

[Update: All my positive mentions of Bigley were not in vain. He took home Eastern League player of the week honors for this past week. http://eastern.league.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120625&content_id=33893738&vkey=news_l113&fext=.jsp&sid=l113]

Rock Cats Starting to Rebound

B.J. Hermsen, perhaps
the MVP for the
Rock Cats this
past month

After winning 2 of 3 on the road at Erie over the weekend, the Rock Cats earned a much needed day off, though much of it was probably spent on the team bus headed back to Connecticut. Beginning tonight, the team is home for 6 games, before another week on the road. As I like to do once a week or so, I'll take a look at the team's performance, including a couple players that are currently standing out.

Importantly, the offense came back alive over the weekend. After scoring a combined 7 runs in 3 games against the Akron Aeros, the Rock Cats tallied 19 runs in their 3 games against Erie. Currently, New Britain is just 1 game back in their division, sitting in a tie with the Reading Phillies for second place.

Here are a few players that have been getting the job done this past week.

First, James Beresford: .296/.362/.340, 3 2B, 2 3B, 14 RBIs. Check out James' stats for the last 10 games: .417/.462/.556. 3 of his 5 extra base hits this season have come in these past 10 games. He's leading the Rock Cats in batting average far and away, and has been on a hot streak lately. Let's hope he can continue this recent success as we get into summer! It would be great to have one of the every-day players hitting above .300.

Evan Bigley: .243/.287/.410, 12 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 37 RBIs. Admittedly, I haven't written much about Bigley this season. For me, he has sort of flown under the radar. The 25 year old Texas native is an outfielder for New Britain, in his second full season with the team. His power stroke has been showing in the past 10 games: .317/.333/.634, 4 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBIs. Hopefully Evan will continue to knock the ball around.

B.J. Hermsen: 4-2, 2.59 ERA, 42 K, 11 BB, 55 and 2/3 innings. Hermsen has been nothing short of excellent for New Britain. This team has lost its most dependable pitchers, including Lucas French, to promotion, and that's part of the reason why the Rock Cats' record has stagnated to a degree. That's minor league baseball for you. The fact that Hermsen, 22, has been able to step up and can be counted on to pitch deep into games has been great for New Britain. His shortest start of the season for the Rock Cats is 5 innings; in 8 total starts, he has pitched 7 or more innings 6 times; 7 of his 8 starts have been quality starts. In fact, since he joined the Rock Cats on May 1, I might argue that Hermsen has been their most valuable player -- certainly their most valuable pitcher.

Up ahead: I'll be at either Wednesday's or Thursday's Rock Cats game, so expect a report, analysis and pictures from that. And tomorrow morning expect a recap and pictures from Justin Morneau's Casino Night, with a Rock Cats twist.

Wednesday's Rock Cats Report

Quietly, and with many, many singles,
Rock Cats infielder James Beresford is leading
the team in batting average

Last night, the Rock Cats lost to the Akron Aeros 6-2. Starter B.J. Hermsen took a tough loss, giving up 3 runs (only 1 earned) in 5 innings, but he wasn't aided much by his defense, which committed 2 errors while he was on the mound. Hermsen is 3-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.96. Very solid. He has walked 5 and struck out 25 in his 7 starts (48 and 2/3 innings) as a Rock Cat. Deibinson Romero and Evan Bigley provided the offense, both hitting solo home runs for New Britain. For more, here's a great summary of the game by Nodak Twins Fan.

The Rock Cats lost another player to promotion to AAA Rochester. Starting pitcher Steve Hirschfeld was promoted earlier this week. He was 4-4 on the season with a 3.2 ERA. In 64 and 2/3 innings this season for New Britain, he gave up 73 hits, walked 16 and struck out 44, for a WHIP of 1.38. Good luck, Steve! As noted in the Hartford Courant this week, Hirschfeld is the 8th player promoted from New Britain this season. Aside from Wilkin Ramirez, Darin Mastroianni and Pedro Florimon, the bulk of the promoted players have been pitchers, including Lucas French, Deolis Guerra, Lester Oliveros and David Bromberg (I guess you can also count Jason Marquis, but that hardly worked out well for anyone). This, as I have mentioned before, is the tough part about minor league baseball: your best talent rarely stays for too long. In return, New Britain has received players such as Hermsen, Caleb Thielbar and Bruce Pugh, who all saw success at A-level Ft. Myers. Hopefully, they can continue their success in the Eastern League.

Although they have lost 3 consecutive games, as of this morning, the Rock Cats are in a tie for first place in their division. Both the Trenton Thunder (suddenly very hot) and New Britain are 32-24, good for a .571 winning percentage. The Rock Cats continue their series against the Aeros tonight. Incidentally, I heard that it was a 10-hour bus ride to Akron.

Finally, as I try to do every week or so, I'll take a look at a few prospects and highlight how they are doing on the season, and in recent days.

Aaron Hicks: .246/.341/.396, 8 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 28 RBIs, 15 stolen bases (caught 4 times).
In his last 10 games, Hicks is hitting .233/.333/.410 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 9 walks. I have been getting a few questions lately about Hicks and a promotion. As Seth Stohs noted recently, Hicks needs to be added to the 40 man roster after this season. In my opinion, though, Hicks is playing this season where he needs to play. Defensively, he's ready for the majors, but significant work needs to be done at the plate, including a determination of whether he will continue to switch hit. Twins fans, Aaron Hicks is 22 years old -- still a young prospect who the Twins took out of high school. There's no point in sending him to AAA when he's not even batting .250 in the Eastern League. I have confidence that he will materialize, but it might take a little more time than some want.

Chris Herrmann: .250/.313/.401, 14 2B, 5 HR, 19 RBIs.
In his last 10 games, Herrmann is struggling, batting .125/.300/.219 with a home run, 3 RBIs and 8 walks. If you happened to miss it, I recently interviewed Herrmann. Take a look. My opinion is that, like Hicks, Herrmann is where he needs to be right now. Hicks and Herrmann are not similar prospects, though. Hicks, as a 22 year old first round outfield prospect drafted out of high school, needs to be developed slowly and carefully, especially considering that the Twins have good outfield talent in their system. Herrmann, a 24 year old catcher with D-1 college experience, is already second on my depth chart for catchers in the entire organization. If Herrmann can get that average up to around .270, and demonstrate more plate discipline, I'd like to see him promoted this season. The interesting question is should he go to Rochester or Minnesota? Ordinarily, you think about a guy working his way through the minors and going up the ladder one step at a time. What about a catcher, though? If the expectation in Minnesota is that Herrmann will be Joe Mauer's back-up sooner rather than later, does it make more sense to send him directly to Minnesota this September to learn how to catch the different pitchers on the Twins roster? Or, is it better for his development to catch AAA-level pitchers (many of which he already caught in New Britain) and work on hitting at that level? It's an interesting question.

James Beresford: .273/.346/.302., 2 2B, 1 3B, 11 RBIs.
In his last 10 games, the Australian Beresford is hitting .294/.333/.353. Very quietly, Beresford is leading the Rock Cats in batting average, and although he generally flies under the radar, it's important to give mention when it is due. The problem with Beresford's stats, though, is that they are barren when it comes to power. Of his 38 hits this season, 2 were doubles and 1 was a triple. And for a middle infielder, he apparently is not very fast (or is not a good base-stealer), going 0-for-3 in stolen base attempts. But perhaps just as importantly, the defense has been solid: he has only 1 error in 202 chances between second base and shortstop. I don't realistically think of Beresford as the Twins second baseman of the future, but he's only 23 years old, and there is still time for development.  

Major Comeback in New Britain!



Chris Herrmann celebrates his
first inning home run.
Mauer's 2013 backup???



Unlike their parent club, the New Britain Rock Cats put up a fight after the odds were stacked against them Tuesday night and, thanks to a 5-run 7th inning, came back to defeat the Portland Sea Dogs 7-6.

The weather was not great last night, and neither were the Rock Cats for the first several innings. They were stymied by Portland starter Billy Buckner (no relation to Bill Buckner of Red Sox lore), who tossed an easy 6 innings, giving up only 3 hits while striking out 11 and walking 1. The one bright spot for the Rock Cats against Buckner was a Chris Herrmann solo home run in the 1st inning. Other than that, Buckner really challenged the New Britain hitters. In contrast, the Rock Cats did not get a good start from Logan Darnell, who lasted only 3 innings after giving up 6 earned runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. He had no strikeouts, and gave up 2 home runs. Notably, the wind seemed to be blowing out at a pretty good clip, so hard hit balls really sailed. Watching Darnell, the worst part of the night was that he simply didn't miss bats -- yes, there were some weak grounders and routine fly balls, but for the most part everything was hit hard. The Rock Cats were down 6-1 after the third inning, and things did not look optimistic.

You may recognize the gentleman
in the middle in the black jacket
as Hall of Fame member
Paul Molitor.

For the second consecutive night, however, the Rock Cats' bullpen kept them in the game. Actually, the bullpen -- called on for 6 innings tonight -- was pretty perfect. Lester Oliveros, Brett Jacobson and Deolis Guerra each tossed 2 scoreless innings. Oliveros walked and struck out 1; Jacobson walked 2 and struck out 3. And then there's Guerra, who walked 0 and struck out 5 in his 2 innings, picking up the win in relief. Guerra's ERA stands at 0.71. In 12 and 2/3 innings, he has only allowed 5 hits and 1 earned run, and has struck out 15 and walked 1 along the way.

Once Buckner left the game after the 6th inning, the tides changed. With two outs in the bottom of the 7th, New Britain completed a 5-run comeback to tie the game. 7 straight batters reached base, and here's how it played out: Pedro Florimon walk; Danny Lehmann single; James Beresford single; Aaron Hicks single to score Florimon; Chris Herrmann walk with bases loaded to score Lehmann; Evan Bigley infield single to score Beresford; Chris Colabello single to score Hicks and Herrmann. Nothing fancy -- some walks and some singles got the job done against the Sea Dogs' bullpen.

With the game tied in the bottom of the 9th, Herrmann opened things up with a single to left field. Thereafter, he was sacrificed to second by Bigley. Colabello was intentionally walked, and then Deibinson Romero popped out to catcher. But again with 2 outs, the Rock Cats came through. Nathan Hanson had the game-winning, walk-off hit to score Herrmann from second, and New Britain won!

It was quite a game. Here are just a few notes from what I observed (In full disclosure, I picked an awful time to leave -- right as the comeback, and a hard, cold and slanty rain, were both commencing):

Hicks batted leadoff tonight -- to my knowledge he had been batting 5th all season.

Chris Herrmann has some pop in his bat. His home run, though helped somewhat by the wind blowing out to right field, was smacked. He was playing left field in this game.

Paul Molitor is in town this week as a roving instructor. It was neat to see him interact with the young guys on the team. I'm sure they can learn a lot from a Hall of Famer with 3,319 big league hits.

All of New Britain's runs came with 2 outs tonight. Impressive, and great that they can score that way, but it would have been nice to see some earlier rallies.

Finally, the team is back in action at 10:35 this morning completing their homestand in a rubber match against Portland.

3 Weeks of Rock Cats Baseball: A Review

New Britain fans have been treated to a lot of wins
early in the 2012 season

The minor league baseball season is just about 3 weeks old. For the New Britain Rock Cats, it has been a successful first few weeks. The team stands at 12-5, and is currently 1/2 game up on the Reading Phillies for first place in the Eastern League. Surprisingly, the Rock Cats have been better on the road, going 6-1, than they have at home, where they are 6-4. It is really over their past 10 games where the Cats have shined. They are 8-2 in that span, including a 6-game winning streak, and had won their past 2 contests before Sunday's game was rained out. I've attended 3 games (would have been 4 but for the rainout), and have been impressed with the on-the-field product.

The Rock Cats have had several good performers on offense. I've been pleasantly surprised by Chris Colabello, journeyman first baseman who, at age 28, finally finds himself playing in affiliated baseball. After 15 games played, Colabello's slash line is .313/.414/.667, for an OPS of 1.080. In 48 at-bats, he has 4 home runs, 5 doubles, 12 RBIs, and has 6 walks and 6 strikeouts. Evan Bigley has also performed well. In 17 games, his slash line is .308/.361/.462. He's accumulated 1 home run, 2 triples and 2 doubles, and also has driven in 12 runs. He has 12 strikeouts to go along with 6 walks, and has stolen 1 base, but has been caught twice. Pedro Florimon has been a pleasant surprise. With a .306/.358/.435 line, 2 homers and 2 doubles, 4 stolen bases (having only been caught 1 time) and 7 RBIs, it's been a good start for Florimon. Unfortunately, he's struck out 14 times, while walking 5, in 62 at-bats, but he has played error-free defense at shortstop. Aaron Hicks has been good, but streaky. From having attended a few games, it seems that, on any given night, he either has it, or doesn't. His line is solid, though, at .276./362/.534, with 3 home runs, 1 triple and 4 doubles. He's driven in 10 runs, has struck out 15 times and has walked 9 times in 58 at-bats. He's committed one error in the field. Finally, there is Deibinson Romero. He's been in the Twins' system for too many years to be a top prospect, but is batting well this year. At .274/.338/.516, with 3 home runs and 6 doubles, the offense has been there for Romero. Unfortunately, the glove has been a little troublesome. He's committed 4 errors in 17 games. From what I have seen, it's mostly fielding, and not throwing, issues. Perhaps this is the year where he can be comfortable with his offense, and make a jump in his defensive ability? He does lead the team with 14 RBIs, so he's getting the job done in the batter's box.

As you can see, these 5 players -- Colabello, Bigley, Florimon, Hicks and Romero -- have done considerable damage for the Rock Cats in only 17 games. Any lineup that has 5 core guys batting above .275, with a combined 13 home runs and 19 doubles in 17 games, is probably going to be pretty potent.

Starting pitching has also been decent for New Britain. I'm still getting used to the way the rotation works in AA. Due in part to Jason Marquis' presence for a couple starts, and Alex Wimmers' recent injury, there have been several starters, 7, for the Rock Cats thus far: Lucas French has dominated at AA (and he should). In 4 games started, French is 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA, and a WHIP of 0.93. He has struck out 14, but walked 12 (6 in 5 innings on Friday) in 23 and 2/3 innings of work, so there is room for work on control. Steve Hirschfeld, in 3 starts, is 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.05. He's struck out 15, while walking 4, in 17 innings. Lefty Logan Darnell is also 2-0. I saw him hitting 93 on the radar gun consistently in his start last Thursday night. In 16 innings of work, his ERA stands at 2.81, with a WHIP of 1.19. He's struck out 10 and walked 6 along the way. Andrew Albers has probably been the weakest starter, but has not been bad by any means. In 3 starts, he's 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA and a WHIP 1.05 in 20 innings. But wait for this stat: in those 20 innings, Albers has struck out 16 . . . and walked 0. No walks. So although Albers has given up too many hits (21) in 20 innings, if he can convert a few more batted balls into outs, that 7.2 K/9 innings ratio might start to make him more effective.

The final interesting stat about Rock Cats starters is that not a single one has been charged with a loss. All of the 5 losses have been charged to the bullpen. This is not to suggest that the bullpen has been bad, because a few pitchers have been great in clutch situations. Daniel Turpen, in his first year with the Rock Cats, is already 2-0 with 1 save in 9 and 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. His ERA stands at 2.89, and he's struck out 9 while issuing no free passes. Similarly, Deolis Guerra has been excellent for the Rock Cats. In 10 and 2/3 innings of work, Guerra has a tidy 0.84 ERA, a 0.47 WHIP, and has struck out 10 and walked 1, picking up 1 save and 3 holds along the way. If this production keeps up, look for Guerra, who just turned 23 this past week, to not stick around in central Connecticut for too many more months.

In sum, yes, it's only been 17 games -- just over 10 percent of the season schedule. But this core consisting of guys like Hicks, Colabello and Bigley on offense, French, Hirschfeld and Albers starting games, and Turpen and Guerra in late-inning, high-leverage situations, has worked out well thus far. This team will be even better when Chris Herrmann (.228) comes around and hits like he can, and when Wimmers re-emerges healthy and set to take a position in the starting rotation. New Britain is back in action tonight, beginning the first of 3 games at home against the Portland Sea Dogs, while their parent teams do the same thing. Let's hope for a bunch of Minnesota-New Britain success over their Boston counterparts.

Tough Night in New Britain

The Twins of Tomorrow watch baseball on a
beautiful Spring evening in Connecticut

It was a beautiful evening for outdoor baseball in central Connecticut -- the kind of night where you might come wearing a t-shirt, but had better pack a hooded sweatshirt for when the sun disappears behind the bleachers. The Rock Cats began a homestand tonight, and it was "Anti-Diet Night" at New Britain Stadium. For $12, or $14 if you wanted the good tickets, you could get all-you-can eat hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos and popcorn. Also (as I have mentioned before), Thursdays are Sam Adams happy hours, with discounted beer. Can you beat these deals? I heard that the Twins are charging $10.75 for buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese. I spent about $20 tonight -- including my ticket right over the Rock Cats' dugout.

It was a tough defeat for the home team tonight. They lost 6-5, after coming from behind to tie the game up in the 8th inning. There were some good things, however, that bear mention. The Rock Cats did a lot of hitting tonight: Evan Bigley, Chris Colabello and Estarlin De Los Santos each contributed two hits. Aaron Hicks had a clutch 2-out RBI single to get the scoring going in the first inning -- a sharp line drive back up the middle. Chris Herrmann and Deibinson Romero each had doubles. Colabello continues to impress me. He was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a walk tonight, and is batting an even .333 on the season. I'm not sure quite what to make of him -- 28 and in his first year of affiliated baseball -- but he is definitely not in over his head at AA. He's the kind of guy you want to root for; it's the kind of story that makes minor league baseball so great.

For me, the most interesting play of the night involved Hicks. With one out and Hicks on first, Romero hit a deep fly ball to deep left field. There was never much doubt that the ball would be caught, but it appeared to make it to the warning track. Hicks retreated to first, then proceeded to successfully tag up on the play. It was a gutsy, heads-up base-running play. A better left fielder might have made the play on Hicks, but not tonight. It was the first time I saw Hicks sprint out of necessity, and the guy was fast!! He didn't end up scoring that inning, but those are the types of plays that gamers make.

Logan Darnell warms up for New Britain

On the mound, Logan Darnell was adequate. He went six innings, gave up 4 runs, walked 3 while striking out 5. He never appeared to have complete control of his pitches, though. His fastball was hitting 93 most of the evening, and definitely had some pop. His offspeed stuff was about 83 and 79 (I'm guessing change-up and curve). He fooled several hitters. Darnell, unfortunately, was charged with 2 errors on pickoffs. On the error that I witnessed, the baserunner broke toward second, and all Darnell had to do was make a solid throw to first. Unfortunately, he threw wildly and the ball ended up in the right field corner. Hopefully that was a one-night problem for Darnell. Hicks also had a miscue, but it was ruled as a hit: he failed to see a fly ball of the bat (the sun was setting and it is apparently tough to pick up the baseball at that time of night), and it went for a double. So, although Darnell wasn't perfect tonight, there was room for improvement with the defense.

Lester Oliveros took the loss for the Rock Cats. After they had tied the game up on a clutch two-out two-run triple to center field by Evan Bigley, Oliveros couldn't keep the momentum going into the 9th inning. A walk, stolen base and single did him in. The good thing about baseball, though, is that you need a short memory. New Britain will be back in action this morning, in fact. I'll be going to Sunday's game, so keep an eye out for more pictures and a game summary.

Rock Cats' Winning Streak Pushed to 5

The New Britain Rock Cats defeated the Portland Sea Dogs tonight 10-5. Despite the lopsided score, this game actually took 11 innings to produce a winner. The sides were knotted at 5 runs until the Rock Cats exploded for 5 runs in the 11th inning, and then shut down the Sea Dogs in the home half to secure the victory.

For all the runs tonight, New Britain only accumulated 9 hits (they also walked 5 times). Big producers tonight included shortstop Pedro Florimon, who hit his first home run of the year, and drove in 2 runs. Chris Colabello had the most important hit of the night: a 3 run game-tying home run (his second of the season) in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. On the evening, Colabello also had a double and a 4th RBI. Quite a night for the first baseman! Right fielder Evan Bigley had 3 singles and a walk tonight, in 4 at-bats, and also scored 2 runs, pushing his batting average to .311. Deibinson Romero, Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford also had hits for the Rock Cats. New Britain sent 10 men to the plate in the decisive 11th inning.

Lefty Andrew Albers got the start for New Britain, lasting 5 innings, and giving up 8 hits, 4 earned runs, and striking out 4 while issuing no free passes. The bullpen, however, was better. Although reliever Brett Jacobson gave up a run in one inning of work, Blake Martin pitched a scoreless 7th, and Luis Perdomo and Daniel Turpen each pitched 2 scoreless innings, with Turpen picking up the win in extras. Aaron Hicks was hitless tonight, but did have an outfield assist, nailing a Sea Dogs runner at third base. Martin (on a pickoff) and Florimon each committed their first errors of the season.

This is now the 5th consecutive win for the Rock Cats, pushing their impressive record to 9-3. They are also undefeated on the road, which is good for any team looking to gain confidence early in the season. They'll be back in action tomorrow night -- same time, same channel.

New Britain's Winning Streak Continues

I think 4 games in a row constitutes a winning streak. If that's not the case, well too bad! The final score today was 3-0 New Britain, and the Rock Cats, in the midst of their first road trip, are now 8-3. The Sunday Rock Cats-Fisher Cats matinee at New Hampshire was essentially a pitcher's duel for much of the game. New Britain starter Lucas French tossed 7 scoreless innings (92 pitches) for the Rock Cats, allowing only 2 hits, and walking 3 and notching 3 strikeouts along the way. He improved to 2-0 on the young season, and his ERA stands at a tidy 0.96.

New Britain's offense came from an Evan Bigley RBI single (he had two hits on the day), a Chris Herrmann solo home run (his first of the season), and a Nathan Hanson sacrifice fly. Herrmann, especially, is in the middle of an important season -- I'm viewing him as Joe Mauer's potential back-up catcher for 2013. Also notching hits for the Rock Cats were Mark Dolenc, Chris Colabello, Deibinson Romero (who committed the only error for New Britain), and Pedro Florimon, who had 2 hits. Aaron Hicks was hitless, batting as a lefty, but his batting average is still a solid .297.

The other good story today was the Rock Cats bullpen. After almost giving the game back yesterday, it was much better today. Deolis Guerra pitched a scoreless 8th inning to get the hold, and Lester Oliveros struck out one in the 9th to get the save. New Britain's pitching staff only gave up 3 hits all day, striking out 4 and walking 3. The road trip continues tomorrow, as they travel to Portland, Maine to face the Red Sox AA affiliate, the Sea Dogs.

Alex Wimmers' First AA Start: He Belongs in New Britain

2008 First Round draft pick
Aaron Hicks,  #31, warming up
before the game

Last week, I was fortunate enough to have dinner with and talk to Twins 2010 first round draft pick Alex Wimmers. He sounded pretty geared up for his first start, which took place last night before an announced crowd of 3,126 in New Britain. New Britain won 6-3 over the Harrisburg Senators, the AA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Wimmers -- though he pitched only 40 innings in Class A last season -- was not overmatched at all by AA hitters.

In the first inning, Wimmers struck out Eury Perez, the first hitter he faced, looking. He also gave up a double and a single, but was the fortunate recipient of a 9-2 Evan Bigley to Chris Herrmann play at the plate to save a run. In 53 degree weather, Wimmers' fastball was initially registering 86 and 87 on the radar gun, but got up to 89 as he warmed up. His offspeed stuff was just under 70, and definitely fooled some hitters.

2010 First Round draft pick Alex Wimmers
warming up before facing his first AA competition

Wimmers walked a batter to lead off the second, but got out of the inning unscathed. In the third inning, he gave up a first-pitch solo home run to the Harrisburg #9 hitter, Josh Johnson, but then retired the next three hitters. The next inning, third baseman Deibinson Romero committed an error on a hard grounder through his legs, and Wimmers walked the next batter. Thereafter, though, he showed composure, getting the next hitter to pop out weakly to catcher, and striking out the Harrisburg third baseman for the final out.

The fifth inning would be Wimmers' last. After Josh Johnson, who previously homered, led off the inning with a bunt single, the next two batters singled -- one on a grounder to third that was ruled an infield hit. All of the sudden, the bases were loaded with no outs. The #3 hitter for Harrisburg then grounded back to Wimmers, who alertly threw home for the force out. That would be the last hitter Wimmers would face. Delois Guerra came on in relief, and gave up a run-scoring single before retiring the side. That run, of course, was charged to Wimmers. In the end, Wimmers' line for the day was good: 4 and 1/3 innings pitched; 2 earned runs; 6 hits; 3 strikeouts (2 looking); 2 walks. He threw 83 total pitches (I had 50 as strikes) in fairly chilly conditions, and I imagine he was on a pitch count this early in the season, and this early in his professional career. Wimmers was solid in his debut. There was definitely room for improvement, but he looked ready for AA competition, and I look forward to seeing him in action again.

Because this is a fan blog, and I'm a fan of Alex Wimmers, I'll say this, too: he wasn't out of gas in the fifth inning. 2 of the 3 hits he allowed that inning were a bunt single and a slow chopper to third that a better third baseman might have converted for an out (as it was, the runner beat it out by just a half step). Wimmers thereafter gave up a routine line drive single, and then made a nice play on a weakly hit, high-bouncing chopper back to the mound. So in his final inning, only 1 ball was solidly struck. If this was June or July and 85 degrees out, I would have liked to have seen Wimmers stay in there and get out of the jam.


Though he got into a jam in the fifth inning,
Alex Wimmers definitely looked capable of facing
AA competition



If you're looking for the hero of the game, though, look no further than Aaron Hicks. Up until tonight, he was not playing well. I felt justified in questioning whether he was, in fact, ready for AA ball. His first at-bat was frustrating. With a runner in scoring position and two outs, Hicks flailed weakly at two offspeed, well off-the-plate pitches, before grounding out to end the inning. In fact, at one point early this evening, Hicks was batting .077. Everything changed, though, after a tough 9-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the third inning, when Hicks, batting right handed, hit a no-doubt, 3 run homer to right center field. New Britain Stadium has what I would estimate to be a 15 foot tall fence all around the stadium, and Hicks' tater easily cleared the wall. In his next at-bat, Hicks lined a sharp single up the middle to score Evan Bigley. All of the sudden, he had 4 RBIs through only 5 innings. On the night, Hicks ended up 2-for-4, with a homer, 4 RBIs, a strikeout and a groundout, and 2 runs scored. It was a solid night, and had to be both relieving and exhilarating for Hicks.

After a 2-hit, 4 RBI
performance, Hicks was the
clear choice for player
of the game

Other notable performers included Bigley, who recorded two hits, including a well struck double to deep right-center field, and a sacrifice fly, as well as the previously mentioned great throw to home plate to cut down a Harrisburg runner in the first inning. Outfielder Darin Mastroianni had two hits, and, looking alert on the base paths, two stolen bases. Guerra was good out of the bullpen. Although he gave up a hit to score a run (charged to Wimmers), he went 2 and 2/3 innings, gave up only 2 hits, walked none, and struck out 1 batter. He earned the win. Finally, it's worth noting that Deibinson Romero atoned for his error at third base, compiling 3 hits, including a double. Daniel Turpen gave up 1 run in 2 innings to close out the game, and hit 94 on the radar gun, striking out 2 along the way.

It was a beautiful, if chilly, night for outdoor baseball

These Rock Cats are looking good early in the season. They racked up 13 hits tonight, including 3 for extra bases. Bigley already has 7 RBIs this season. How many runs have the Twins -- the entire team -- scored this year? New Britain pitchers gave up only 2 walks, which is good, and were able to get out of jams and hold leads. This will be a fun team to watch!