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Mr. Ed -> RE: Players and prospects III (3/17/2016 7:50:57 AM)
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Twins Daily
A little bit about the AAA game against the Orioles AAA Team.
Right-hander David Martinez started and went three innings. Another veteran Marcus Walden came on in relief.
Jake Reed pitched an inning. It didn't go well. He hit a batter and walked one, He gave up a blooper and a couple more hits. The inning ended with just two outs. He was throwing hard and getting good movement though. Nothing to worry about.
Brandon Peterson came on and had a clean, 1-2-3 inning. He struck out the first two batters and got a soft line out to end the inning. Lots of others get mentioned, and throw harder, but few relievers in the Twins system can match the numbers that Peterson has put up the last two years.
JT Chargois got an inning at the end. The first pitch he threw went for a double to right (I would argue the hitter was just late on the pitch). He hit a batter and walked a couple. I know he got a strikeout too. Again, nothing to be concerned out. It's not unusual for guys coming back from big league camp to struggle a bit in their first outings.
Offensively, the AAA team had a couple of home runs. Later in the game, centerfielder Shannon Wilkerson hit a long home run to left field. Earlier, Travis Harrison crushed a first-pitch well beyond the fence in left-center field.
One last thing that I would point out is that Niko Goodrum played shortstop for the Twins team. He made some great plays and had many opportunities. He looks so comfortable and smooth at the position and has plenty of arm to play there.
The AAA starting group, which means little at this point:
C: Jairo Rodriguez
1B: Dalton Hicks
2B: Heiker Meneses
SS: Niko Goodrum
3B: Stephen Wickens
LF: Travis Harrison
CF: Shannon Wilkerson
RF: Daniel Palka
DH: Adam Brett Walker
Here is how the AA team started:
C: Joe Maloney
1B: Bryan Haar
2B: Levi Michael
SS: Engelb Vielma
3B: TJ White
LF: Keury De La Cruz
CF: Zach Granite
RF: Alex Swim
DH: Tanner Vavra
In the AA game, the Twins sent lefty Tyler Jay to the mound. He was hitting 95 mph with his fastball and a sharp curve ball at times. He threw four innings. Through the first three innings, he had four strikeouts. The fourth inning started with a triple and two singles. However, he got a double play and a pop up to end the inning. Unofficially, I think he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out four and got six outs on ground balls.
Offensively, TJ White and Bryan Haar had multi-RBI games and hits. White crushed a triple.
In about the 2nd inning, with Jay pitching, a foul tip hit the home plate umpire in the forearm. After a minute, he finished the inning. The Twins training staff checked on him for awhile in between innings. He came back out and stood there not looking good at all. He went back to the dugout and the game was paused. His day was clearly done. Hopefully he's alright. The umpire in the field ran to his vehicle to get his home plate ump gear.
In an attempt to not slow down the game, Tom Kelly stepped out of the Twins dugout and said he would umpire the game from behind the mound. The Orioles manager had no problem with that.
The first pitch from the Orioles pitcher bounced, and TK yelled, "Ball! That's too low."
Those in the crowd got a good chuckle, as did the pitcher. The inning went by just fine as the pitcher was close to the plate and the batters were aggressive, understanding the situation.
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