Ryan O’Rourke isn’t as talented as some of his 2012 teammates, nor is his future as bright as many of the hitters he faced in the Midwest League. The Minnesota Twins pitching prospect is realistic about his strengths and weaknesses, with no illusions of becoming the next Frank Viola. He does, however, intend to pitch in the big leagues.

A 13th-round pick in 2010 out of Merrimack College [Massachusetts], the 24-year-old southpaw transitioned to a bullpen role last year in low-A Beloit and high-A Fort Myers. Effective against left-handed hitters, he features multiple arm slots, a pair of sliders, and good control. In 227 minor-league innings he has walked just 2.3 batters per nine innings. His strikeout rate is an equally impressive 8.6.

O’Rourke talked about his path to the big leagues, as well as a pair of notable Beloit teammates — Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario — and what it is like to pitch to Oscar Taveras and Christian Yelich.

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O’Rourke on his targeted role: “My pitches are more conducive to getting left-handers out, so my clearest path to the big leagues is going to be the LOOGY role. My lefty-lefty breaking balls — from what I hear and what my reports say — are pretty good. They’re definitely serviceable at high levels, so I want to focus on being more of a lefty specialist.

“The Twins are pretty adamant about putting me in that role and seeing if I can have the kind of success that warrants a call-up. They have a few lefties up there now, but not LOOGY types. Glen Perkins is more of a closer. He’s out there throwing 97, with the ball jumping out of his hand. Tyler Robertson can go multiple innings. My job would be to come in and get that one key lefty out.”

On his repertoire: “I throw both a two- and four-seamer. If I’m going arm side it’s usually a two, and if I’m going away it’s usually a four, because my four cuts a little bit. I’ve topped out at 94, but usually sit between 89 and 91. That about average for a major-league lefty, so I have enough of a fastball. I just need to work down with it consistently.

“I have two different sliders. Read the rest of this entry »

If you weren’t a baseball fan between 1968 and 1984, you probably aren’t very familiar with Tom Burgmeier. Even if you know the name, chances are you don’t realize he was one of the top workhorse relievers of his era. Over 17 big-league seasons — mostly with the Royals, Twins and Red Sox — the lefthander appeared in 745 games and threw 1,258.2 innings.

Burgmeier was no slouch. An American League All-Star in 1980, he finished his career with a record of 79-55, 102 saves, and a 3.23 ERA. Displaying excellent control, he walked just 2.7 batters per nine innings. As for the innings themselves, they rarely came one at a time, even though he finished 370 games.

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David Laurila: How did being a relief pitcher in the 1970s and early 1980s differ from today?

Tom Burgmeier: Back in my era, it didn’t matter when you came into the game, whether it was the third inning, fifth inning, or whenever. You pitched until you got in trouble. Nowadays everything is designated. A guy is a long man, so if it gets past the fifth inning he never comes into the game. They have a sixth-inning guy and a seventh-inning guy. They don’t have an “eighth-inning guy,” he’s called a set-up guy. Then you obviously have your closer, who is another one-inning guy.

All through my career, if you came into the game in the fifth inning, you got them out in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. You stayed in there until the ninth unless you had a bona fide closer. When I was with the Red Sox, we had Bill Campbell and Bob Stanley. and we were all reliable for multiple innings. That’s what we did. It kind of bothers me to see a guy come in and have really good stuff, and strike out the side, and the next inning there’s someone else on the mound.

DL: You were a closer in 1980 and saved 24 games.

TB: By definition I was a closer. In total, I had 19 saves that were more than one inning. Read the rest of this entry »

Ben Revere and Anthony Rizzo are distinctly different hitters, but they have a few things in common. Most notable is the fact that they are rising stars: Revere with the Minnesota Twins; Rizzo with the Chicago Cubs. Another is that they each credit a minor-league hitting coach for helping them turn the corner.

Revere, a 24-year-old outfielder, is following up a so-so rookie campaign (.267/.310/.309) with a breakout season. His slashing left-handed swing has produced a .325/.356/.382 line, as well as a 21-game hit streak that came to end Wednesday night.

Rizzo, a 23-year-old first baseman, is emerging as a big-time power threat in his first year with the Cubs. He hit just .141/.281/.242 in his rookie season with the Padres, but in 154 plate appearances with his new team, he’s hitting .301/.344/.524, with nine home runs.

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Ben Revere: “When I first got up here, I was doing alright, but then I kind of dropped off. Going into the off-season, I wasn’t satisfied. I batted .260 and, really, that’s not the kind of player I am. Usually, I’m a .300 hitter. I needed to focus on trying to find the swing I had when I was driving balls up the gaps for doubles and triples.

“Last year, I was rounding up a bunch of balls. I was coming around them and getting jammed. I watched film of myself, and coming up through the minors, I had my hands higher. When I went back down to Triple-A [this year], I told my hitting coach, Tom Brunansky, what was wrong, and we did some drills. Now I’m keeping my hands higher, so that I can go down and stay through the ball — instead of having them low where I come around and get jammed on fastballs right down the middle and a little bit inside.

Read the rest of this entry »

Few people in baseball understand the ins and outs of scouting and player development better than Terry Ryan. His expertise in those areas helped turn the Minnesota Twins into a model small-market franchise — six playoff berths from 2002 to 2010 — and it will be needed if the team hopes to revisit its first-division status. He returned to the general manager’s chair in November after serving for four years in an advisory capacity.

Ryan talked about his approach to scouting and development — and included his thoughts on statistical analysis — at Target Field in late June.

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David Laurila: How would you define what is typically referred to as “The Twins way?”

Terry Ryan: There’s no such animal. It’s just the right way. It’s not the Twins Way, or it’s not the Baltimore Orioles Way, which used to be regarded as tremendous development and scouting, and how they go about their business. Our way isn’t any different than any other organization; we just believe that it’s the right way to play the game. That stems from the days when Tom Kelly was in our system — in the minor leagues and major leagues. Just play the game right. Get an out. Make the routine play. First-pitch strikes. Run balls out. Hit the cutoff man. Take the extra base. That’s just the way we’ve always described how we want to go about our business. But it’s not any different than the other 29 clubs. We do stress a lot of those types of things — there’s no doubt — but so do other teams. It’s just the right way to play the game.

DL: How willing is the organization to adapt to the needs of individual players?

TR: Every player is different in how you treat them and how you develop them. How much work they can handle. How much playing time they can handle. What they should do nutritionally. How much and what kind of rest you have to give them. Every player is a little different, up here and in rookie ball. After you get to know those guys… you know, some guys can’t play a day game after a night game. I don’t know why that is, but it happens. Read the rest of this entry »

The numbers show that Glen Perkins has been an effective pitcher since moving from the starting rotation and into the bullpen. The Minnesota Twins southpaw knows those numbers as well as anyone, and not just his won-lost record, his ERA and his WHIP. He’s also aware of his BABiP, his FIP and his WAR, as well as most anything that can found in his PITCHf/x data.

Prior to a recent game at Target Field, the 29-year-old talked about his move to the bullpen, his repertoire and his interest in stats.

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Perkins on his success pitching out of the bullpen: “A big reason has been more confidence, and the mental side of it came with the physical side. Going to the bullpen allowed me to get healthy. As a starter, I had just worn down.

“A positive was that pitching with inferior stuff taught me to be able to command the ball. It also taught me to set up hitters and recognize what they’re trying to do. There are nuances in the batter’s box that I can pick up on now that I never used to be able to. I needed to get any kind of advantage when I had bad stuff.

“My stuff got better when I went to the bullpen. I got healthy and started throwing harder. I actually kind of went back to my first year in the big leagues. In 2007, I was a reliever and was throwing a lot harder than I did in 2008 and 2009. Along with the increase in fastball velocity, I’ve become a lot more comfortable with my slider. I have a two-pitch mix that I’ve learned to work with. When you throw 95-96 [mph], hitters can’t stay on a fastball that quick, and then a slider.

“I got pounded pretty good in 2009, my last year as a starter in the big leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Being selected by the Twins in the Rule 5 draft means more for Terry Doyle than an opportunity to make a big-league roster. It also improves the 26-year-old right-hander’s financial situation, which has been anything but rosy. Not only has he been augmenting his modest minor-league salary by substitute teaching in the off-season, five years ago he made a decision that cost him close to $20,000.

A math major at Boston College, Doyle was drafted in the 21st round by the Dodgers, in 2007. Despite an inconsistent junior year, he asked for more than slot, which at the time was approximately $20,000. The Dodgers declined, and Doyle returned to school with hopes of improving his draft status and receiving a similar bonus as a senior sign. Instead, he ended up settling for $1,000 after the White Sox took him in the 37th round.

Thanks to an impressive 2011 season, Doyle is about to recoup that lost money, and more. Just how much he earns will depend on whether he breaks camp with the Twins or is returned to the White Sox, but simply being on a 40-man roster means a larger paycheck.

What else does it mean, and how did the math-whiz-turned-Rule-5-selection earn himself this opportunity? Those questions were answered by Doyle, his agent, and a scout for a major-league team.

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RULE 5 RAMIFICATIONS:

Doyle: “Everybody’s goal in the minor leagues is to get to the big leagues and the Rule 5 is just another opportunity to do that. The difference that it makes financially is what’s big. It’s night and day. The average minor leaguer probably makes about $1,500 a month, whereas the big-league minimum is about $480,000 a year. The difference there is life-changing. If you’re on the 40-man — which you go on when you get taken in the Rule 5 — even if you’re in the minor leagues you get about $40,000 a year, which is a significant pay raise. Of course, if I go back to the White Sox, I won’t be on a 40-man anymore.” Read the rest of this entry »

John Gordon will call his final game one week from today — an event that will mark the end of a broadcasting legacy in Minnesota.

The venerable play-by-play man has been the radio voice of the Twins for each of the past 25 years, and few have done the job with as much grace and class. The 70-year-old Gordon has never been flashy — save for an occasionally over-exuberant “Touch-’em-all” home run call — but he has always been entertaining and informative. He also has been extremely popular — both with fans and with the many friends he has made in the game.

Earlier this season, Gordon shared his thoughts on broadcasting, baseball in Minnesota and several other topics — including the steroid era.

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David Laurila: How different is the game that you broadcast from the one that you grew up with?

John Gordon: Well, certainly the talent aspect is a lot different. I think that there is much more athleticism in the game now. Growing up in Detroit, I would watch Major League Baseball. Not that Mickey Mantle and Harvey Kuehn, and some of the other players I followed closely, weren’t great athletes, but I don’t think they had the athleticism that the players have today.

DL: Was the broadcasting different? Read the rest of this entry »

Stephen Strasburg is pitching tonight (at 4:35pm ET, versus Brian Bannister and Kansas City). It goes without saying that every American boy should watch that game while holding his father’s hand. But there are other baseball games, too, and one of them — Minnesota at Milwaukee — is deserving of the baseball nerd’s attention.

For this edition of One Night Only, I contacted certain members of the nerdosphere who possess intimate knowledge of the teams participating in tonight’s game. I also contacted my friend Dan Lurie, who, despite not being a member of the nerdosphere proper, is a bang-up gentleman and Minnesota native.

Of each contributor I requested two or three bullet points in response to the following prompt:

Knowing your team the way you do, what’s something a general audience should know ahead of this contest?

Their responses (in the relevant sections below) are almost entirely verbatim, copied right from my email account to these electronic pages. Thus, if the syntax differs from one section to the other, well, you’re invited to deal with it.

Voila:

Minnesoter at Mawaukee | Wednesay, June 23 | 8:10pm ET
Starting Pitchers
Twins: Francisco Liriano (NERD: 10)
87.2 IP, 9.55 K/9, 2.46 BB/9, .339 BABIP, 48.7% GB, 2.7% HR/FB, 3.07 xFIP

Brewers: Manny Parra (6)
48.1 IP, 9.31 K/9, 4.10 BB/9, .362 BABIP, 49.3% GB, 10.6% HR/FB, 3.81 xFIP

From Larry Granillo, Owner-Operator of Wezen Ball
• There’s little doubt that the Brewers’ terrible pitching has done the most damage to the team’s chances this season. A close second, however, is the terrible defense. The only positions to have a positive UZR among the regulars are Carlos Gomez in CF (UZR of 0.6 in 338 innings) and Alcides Escobar at SS (1.9 in 518 innings). Jim Edmonds has a 1.3 UZR in 264 innings across all three outfield positions.
• Despite that porous defense, and despite Fielder’s career -6.4 UZR/150 at first base, the Brewers have started someone other than Prince at first only once in the last 260 or so games, and that was only last week. Also, since Prince announced his vegetarianism before the start of the 2008 season, he has hit 93 home runs, driven in 270 runs, and put up a .930 OPS. If he’s still on that diet, it hasn’t exactly sapped his strength.
• The Brewers have not won a game in which the Chorizo won the sausage race… Ok, I made that one up. But the Brewers do have an NL worst 11-19 record at home. The only team with a worse home record in baseball is the Orioles. That’s not exactly the company you want to keep

From Jack Moore, Math Snob and Owner-Operator of Disciples of Uecker
• Parra’s [been] awesome [in his] last three starts, as we talked about in the pod. [The pod, that is, which I am almostly defintely editing as you read these words. Promise! – Cistulli]
• Jonathan Lucroy is a relatively exciting prospect, as he’s a solid defensive catcher, and a good contact hitter who should be a solid, above-average ML catcher.
• For all the talk about Jim Edmonds being a poor fielder, he’s hitting extremely well this year at age 39 and coming off a year away from baseball. This is the second time the Brewers have come up big on a guy who was out of baseball, after Gabe Kapler in 2008.
• John Axford is awesome and has a fantastic mustache and a 94-97 MPH fastball.

From Bryz, Owner-Operator of Off the Mark
• If you are communicating online or via text about Francisco Liriano during the game, you must call him FranKKKKie (one K for every strikeout he has recorded. If he has none, then default to Liriano). Bonus points if you do this verbally and/or can include backwards Ks.
• Prince Fielder may be a vegetarian now, but Delmon Young has been far more successful in losing weight.
• Insiders claim that Carl Pavano and John Axford have a $500 wager on who will have the better mustache by the end of the season.

From My G, Dan Lurie, Front Man of The Grapefruit League
• There’s the coming-of-age story of Delmon Young who is cooking right now (maybe because he can finally be confident that he’ll be in the lineup almost every day). Dude has been notching some clutch hits lately and seems to have cut down a bit on his wild free-swinging. He’s also much more svelte, as we’ve discussed during past viewings. [This is true. We’ve talked about this. Dan Lurie is absolutely not lying. – Cistulli]
• As for prospects, Danny Valencia has been up for a couple weeks and started 3B again Tuesday night, after Gardy got bold the past few days and had Cuddyer starting over there.
• Also, please note this ridiculous Punto t-shirt.

A Tweet from Dayn Perry
In the event that you haven’t seen the face part of John Axford yet, this tweet from Dayn Perry will give you an idea of what to expect:

John Axford looks like he should be in a Victorian stage play tying a chaste maiden to the railroad tracks.

One Other Match-Up That’ll Probably Be Pretty Great
Randy Wells (8) at Cliff Lee (10), 10:10pm ET.

If I Had My Druthers
• Manny Parra would throw off the burdensome yoke of Fortune. I mean, it’s a seriously heavy yoke that probably hurts him alot.

The Graduate: Nick Blackburn | Born: February 1982 | Right-Handed Pitcher

The Twins featured a very inexperienced starting pitching staff in 2008 and Nick Blackburn was no exception. Entering the season, he had just six games of MLB experience but he provided 193.1 innings and posted an ERA of 4.05. Blackburn did not miss a lot of bats by allowing 224 hits, with a K/9 rate of 4.47, so he relied heavily on his defence. He won’t hurt himself with walks after posting a rate of 1.82 BB/9. Blackburn is not going to be a star, but he should be an innings-eater for the foreseeable future.

The Riser: Ben Revere | Born: May 1988 | Outfielder

You’d think a former first round pick (2007) would already be pretty highly though of – but most analysts felt Ben Revere was a huge overdraft. Do they still think that after his first full season in pro ball? Not so much. Revere flirted with hitting .400 for much of the minor league season. He showed a far more advanced bat than expected, and does a little bit of everything well – except hit for power (.113 ISO). He finished the season with a line of .379/.425/.497 with 44 stolen bases (13 CS) in 340 at-bats. If Revere needs to work on one thing in particular, it is his patience at the plate. More walks (7.4 BB%) could help him become an even more effective lead-off hitter.

The Tumbler: Deolis Guerra | Born: April 1989 | Right-Handed Pitcher

The crown jewel of the John Santana trade with the Mets prior to the 2008 season, Deolis Guerra took a huge step back and may have put too much pressure on himself to impress his new club. It’s also possible that he was over-matched as a 19-year-old in High-A ball, although he spent most of 2007 there as well and posted better numbers. Guerra went 11-9 in 2008 but posted a 5.47 ERA thanks in part to 138 hits and 71 walks in 130 innings. He also struck out just 71 batters. The good news is that Guerra has plenty of time to right the ship.

The ’08 Draft Pick: Tyler Ladendorf | Born: March 1988 | Shortstop

An offensive-minded shortstop, Tyler Ladendorf posted gaudy numbers in junior college and showed the ability to hit for average and power – with speed on the base paths. He found pro ball to be a little more difficult, though. In 147 Rookie League at-bats, Ladendorf hit .204/.287/.293 with one home run and six stolen bases. He posted rates of 10.4 BB% and 19.7 K%. Expect better numbers in 2009 now that he has his feet wet.

The ’09 Sleeper: Wilson Ramos | Born: August 1987 | Catcher

Wilson Ramos is finally attracting some much-deserved attention as an offensive-minded catcher. It will be interesting to see how Minnesota gets his bat into the line-up when he’s ready, given the presence of Joe Mauer. Ramos had his third straight solid offensive season and produced a line of .288/.342/.434 with 13 home runs in 452 at-bats. His ISO has averaged .146 in each of the last three seasons. With a career walk rate around 7.5%, he could stand to be a little more patient, while also trimming the strikeouts (22.8 K%). Defensively, Ramos has improved his receiving skills and features a dangerous arm behind the plate (41% CS in 2007, 43% in 2008).

Up Next: The Pittsburgh Pirates

The Arizona Fall League will be getting underway shortly and the annual event will feature some of the top upper-level prospects in the game, including a plethora of sleepers and names you need to know. The Minnesota Twins organization has some of the best minor league pitching depth in the game and the club is sending four pitchers to play for the Phoenix Desert Dogs: Rob Delaney, Tim Lahey, Anthony Slama, and Jeff Manship.

Delaney was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of St. John’s University in 2006. The right-hander was rather hittable in college but has found minor league baseball to be pretty easy the past two seasons. In 2007, he began the year in A-ball and posted a 0.77 ERA in 46.2 games with 26 hits allowed (4.82 H/9), to go along with six walks (1.16 BB/9) and 56 strikeouts (10.80 K/9). He then posted a 1.54 ERA in 23.1 High-A innings. In 2008, Delaney started the year back in High-A before finishing in Double-A. His season stats included a 1.23 ERA in 66 innings with 44 hits allowed, along with 11 walks and 72 strikeouts. Right-handers hit just .113 against him at Double-A. Delaney’s best pitches are a low-90s fastball and a plus slider.

Tim Lahey was almost a Chicago Cub after being taken by the organization in the December 2007 Rule 5 draft. Lahey is the rawest of the four Twins pitchers in the AFL, as he was originally a catcher in pro ball before a conversion to the mound after his first pro season in 2004. Pitching at Triple-A in 2008, Lahey posted a 5.43 ERA in 63 innings and allowed 69 hits and 23 walks. He also struck out 53 batters and induced almost 1.5 ground ball outs per fly ball out. Left-handed batters hit .378 against him. Like Delaney, Lahey features a fastball and slider, but his heater has more sink when it’s on.

Anthony Slama was a 39th round draft pick out of the University of San Diego in 2006 and has come a long way in a short time. The right-hander features an 88-92 mph fastball, slider and plus change-up, which makes minor league hitters look foolish. After a debut season that saw him beat up on hitters in the low minors, Slama made High-A ball hitter look bad in 2008. He posted a 1.01 ERA in 71 innings with 43 hits and 24 walks allowed. He also whiffed 110 batters and induced more than 1.5 ground balls for every fly ball. Right-handers hit just .154 against him.

Jeff Manship is the most well-known of the four pitchers on the prospect landscape. He was a star pitcher at the University of Notre Dame and that got him drafted in the 14th round of the 2006 draft. Manship dominated the low minors and did not seem to have any difficulty with hitters until reaching Double-A midway through the 2008 season. In 76.2 innings, he allowed 90 hits and 24 walks with 62 strikeouts. Right-handers hit .311 against him at Double-A. Manship features a diverse repertoire with two fastballs (he works around 88-91 mph), a curveball, slider and change-up. Of the four pitchers headed to the AFL, he is the most likely to be a big league starter, although he projects as more of an innings-eating fourth starter.