Saturday, April 27, 2013

Rochester Preview


The Bisons travel to New York to take on the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

The scheduled starters for the series are the following:

Game 1:
Kyle Gibson. The top pitching prospect for the Twins (5 overall, according to Sickels), Gibson appears fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. and looks to make quick work of the International league and crack the weak Twins rotation. He should be ready soon. He should be a tough challenge for the Herd.

Game 2:
Liam Hendriks. The Australian born 24 year old has over 100 innings in the Majors already over 3 partial seasons, including 2 starts this season. He is a control type, and needs to have sharp command to be successful. This could be a good match-up for the Bisons and their potent bats.

Game 3:
Virgil Vasquez. Has 2 partial season in the Majors (2007 and 2009), but his mediocre Minor League numbers since have kept him in the Minors and Indy ball. This has the potential to be a nice outing for the Bisons bats.

Game 4:
Andrew Albers. Canadian (Saskatchewan native) Albers gets his 1st crack at AAA at age 27. To get a nice background on Andrew Albers, a friend of mine wrote a great article on him during his time with Team Canada. Click here.

Interesting hitters on the team include:

OF Joe Benson. John Sickels has him as the 14th best prospect in the system, but says his grade is generous and 2013 is a really important year, as he could left behind. He does flash quality tools though, and should be a tough out all series.

1B Chris Colabello, the "Italian" slugger from the WBC (not really Italian), has gotten off to hot start to 2013 with 6 HR. He's 29, so not a prospect, but he should be interesting to watch.

Ex-MLB hitters include:

OF Clete Thomas, who had flashes of success in Detroit.

IF Ray Olmedo, who has MLB time with a few teams, including the Blue Jays.

C Chris Hermann, a fringy catching prospect who is reliant on his bat and still working on his defense.

IF Eric Farris, utility player with experience with the Brewers.

C Eric Fryer, utility player who had a brief appearance with the Pirates.

1B Jeff Clement, former "can't miss" prospect who missed by a fucking mile. Has MLB time with Seattle and Pittsburgh.

C Drew Butera, an all-glove receiver who lost his back-up job to no-glove Ryan Doumit on the MLB squad. Enough said.

OF Brandon Boggs, an athletic, intriguing player with time with the Rangers and Brewers. An on-base machine who has never put it all together.

Here's hoping for at least 3 of 4 against a team that appears to be built very well for providing capable back-ups to the MLB squad.


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