Thought you all might like to see this: looks like we might find out as soon as tomorrow whether Ortiz gets to move to the bullpen or not. All of the other articles Google popped up listed Slowey as "likely" to replace Ortiz in the rotation. Ortiz's next turn in the lineup would be Friday, but that could be skipped because of an off day Thursday. Incidentally, Slowey's next minor-league start is supposed to be Wednesday 5/30.
Mauer Set To Return, While Ortiz May Soon Be Out
(AP) Minneapolis Joe Mauer should be back on the field soon.
After a strenuous workout Sunday morning, the Twins' star catcher was feeling the best he had since going down early this month with a strained left thigh.
Manager Ron Gardenhire says it's realistic to expect to see Mauer in the lineup at some point during the three-game series against the White Sox that starts tomorrow afternoon.
Gardenhire, however, noted that he will be careful with his catcher's playing time for a while. Mauer has told team trainers that he has trouble keeping his legs loose on days when he's the designated hitter, so Gardenhire will be hesitant to use him in that role when Mauer is not behind the plate.
Meanwhile, Ramon Ortiz's time in the Twins' rotation might be over. But the team wanted to wait another day before making that call.
After another rough start Saturday night, Ortiz made his status even more tenuous -- especially with hot prospect Kevin Slowey throwing extremely well in Triple-A Rochester. Ortiz gave up six runs on ten hits in six innings of a 13-inning loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday night.
Ortiz's next turn is scheduled for Thursday, when the Twins don't play. So it would be easy for him to be skipped at that point, and possibly permanently removed.
Manager Ron Gardenhire says Ortiz will be in the bullpen during tomorrow's game against the White Sox to get his usual side throwing work done.
TurdFerguson wrote:Slowey is the most underrated pitching prospect in baseball.
He's rated the way he is because there are legit questions about how his stuff will translate to the majors. I've read that he throws almost 75% fastballs, albeit with excellent control. And we aren't talking about an exceptional fastball, either. It's good enough to dominate AAA hitters, but I wonder how his approach will work against major leaguers.
He's a good prospect, but those lists are normally based on expectations of major league success, not minor league dominance.
I dunno, man. Every level he's pitched at he puts up decent numbers and now he just keeps getting better. He doesn't walk anyone. I think he's going to be solid.
Don't get me wrong, I expect him to be at least decent. But I think it's going to take more than being able to throw a well-located fastball to consistently get major league hitters out.
According to BA's scouting report on him, he throws NINETY percent fastballs (not the 75% I had mentioned), and it sits from the high 80's to the low 90's.
He's rated behind Garza and Perkins on BA's top 10 list, and he's rated as a "Good" prospect by Kevin Golsdstein at BP, not "Excellent" (like Garza) or "Very Good" (like Perkins).
TurdFerguson wrote:Slowey is the most underrated pitching prospect in baseball.
He's rated the way he is because there are legit questions about how his stuff will translate to the majors. I've read that he throws almost 75% fastballs, albeit with excellent control. And we aren't talking about an exceptional fastball, either. It's good enough to dominate AAA hitters, but I wonder how his approach will work against major leaguers.
He's a good prospect, but those lists are normally based on expectations of major league success, not minor league dominance.
I dunno, man. Every level he's pitched at he puts up decent numbers and now he just keeps getting better. He doesn't walk anyone. I think he's going to be solid.
Don't get me wrong, I expect him to be at least decent. But I think it's going to take more than being able to throw a well-located fastball to consistently get major league hitters out.
According to BA's scouting report on him, he throws NINETY percent fastballs (not the 75% I had mentioned), and it sits from the high 80's to the low 90's.
He's rated behind Garza and Perkins on BA's top 10 list, and he's rated as a "Good" prospect by Kevin Golsdstein at BP, not "Excellent" (like Garza) or "Very Good" (like Perkins).
Looks like we might see how he does pretty soon.
Thanks for the points. I'm going to offer him to the two Twins fans in my league - thinking the hype will get me more than what he'll turn out to be.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Kevin Slowey is likely to replace Ramon Ortiz in the Twins' rotation.
Ortiz has a 10.97 ERA this month and a long history of horrible pitching, while Slowey is 6-2 with a 1.54 ERA in nine starts at Triple-A. A control pitcher with just five walks in 64 1/3 innings at Rochester, Slowey has also shown the ability to miss bats with 57 strikeouts. He's one of the best, most underrated pitching prospects around and would have an immediate impact.
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by joecahill » Mon May 28, 2007 12:35 am 
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