CATS GET HIGH-QUALITY HELP
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Familiar faces abounded at the Twins minor league complex once again on Friday morning.
American League batting champion Joe Mauer spent his third straight day on the back lot as the Twins continue to monitor the injury to his lower left leg. He was joined by a pair of ex-Rock Cat right-handers who have gone on to bigger and better things, Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek.
Mauer, who batted third in each of the first three frames, grounded out twice and dumped an opposite-field single into left.
Crain, 19-10 with a 2.95 ERA since joining the Twins in 2004, threw heat in the first inning but his command wasn't what it was when he was dominating the Eastern League in 2003. That year, he posted an 0.69 ERA with a ridiculous innings pitched-to-hits ratio of 39 to 13 before he was promoted to Triple-A.
Neshek faced two lefties out of the chute in the second inning. Orioles left-handed hitting prospect Val Majewski slammed a hard grounder off his leg but Neshek recovered and threw him out. As it was in the American League last year, right-handed hitters had little chance against the hard-throwing sidearmer.
Neshek established himself as a vital bridge to Twins closer Joe Nathan last year by going 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA. He pitched parts of three seasons with the Rock Cats, his best coming in 2005 when he notched 24 saves.
The Rock Cats ended in a 4-4 tie with the Bowie Baysox after scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
"The boys responded and didn't quit today," Rock Cats manager Riccardo Ingram said. "It bodes well for us because a lot of our players were missing (traveling with the big-league club or filling in at Triple-A) and Bowie was pretty much playing with the club they'll have."
Ingram said that two of the players he's counting on for run production -- Matt Allegra and Brock Peterson -- swung the bats well. They were swinging through breaking pitches Thursday against Portland.
"They have to put the ball in play with men on base," Ingram said.
Clutch hitting was a problem with last year's club, which didn't have the power potential of the 2007 group.
American League batting champion Joe Mauer spent his third straight day on the back lot as the Twins continue to monitor the injury to his lower left leg. He was joined by a pair of ex-Rock Cat right-handers who have gone on to bigger and better things, Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek.
Mauer, who batted third in each of the first three frames, grounded out twice and dumped an opposite-field single into left.
Crain, 19-10 with a 2.95 ERA since joining the Twins in 2004, threw heat in the first inning but his command wasn't what it was when he was dominating the Eastern League in 2003. That year, he posted an 0.69 ERA with a ridiculous innings pitched-to-hits ratio of 39 to 13 before he was promoted to Triple-A.
Neshek faced two lefties out of the chute in the second inning. Orioles left-handed hitting prospect Val Majewski slammed a hard grounder off his leg but Neshek recovered and threw him out. As it was in the American League last year, right-handed hitters had little chance against the hard-throwing sidearmer.
Neshek established himself as a vital bridge to Twins closer Joe Nathan last year by going 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA. He pitched parts of three seasons with the Rock Cats, his best coming in 2005 when he notched 24 saves.
The Rock Cats ended in a 4-4 tie with the Bowie Baysox after scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
"The boys responded and didn't quit today," Rock Cats manager Riccardo Ingram said. "It bodes well for us because a lot of our players were missing (traveling with the big-league club or filling in at Triple-A) and Bowie was pretty much playing with the club they'll have."
Ingram said that two of the players he's counting on for run production -- Matt Allegra and Brock Peterson -- swung the bats well. They were swinging through breaking pitches Thursday against Portland.
"They have to put the ball in play with men on base," Ingram said.
Clutch hitting was a problem with last year's club, which didn't have the power potential of the 2007 group.
posted by Ken Lipshez at
10:41 PM
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