Call it the charm of Alexi Casilla, but since Ron Gardenhire’s whipping boy has been in Rochester, the Wings have been tough to beat. They won six of seven games over the last week, outscoring their opponents (Louisville, Charlotte and Indianapolis) 40-29. Casilla has rediscovered his hitting stroke from last season, going 10-22 with two triples. He’s only walked once, but also only struck out three times. And, while playing well and winning, he’s improved his attitude and started to have more fun, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Casilla is not the only catalyst for the recent offensive outburst. In the last ten games, Luke Hughes and Dustin Martin are both hitting an even .341. David Winfree has just ten hits in 36 at-bats, but six of them went for extra bases—three doubles, a triple and two home runs. Unfortunately, the burly third baseman has struck out a whopping 13 times in those same 36 at-bats, and walked only once. For the season, Winfree has two walks and 28 strikeouts, leading to one of the stranger batting lines you’ll ever see: .272/.283/.495. On the other hand, Jose Morales has eight hits and as many walks against four strikeouts in his last 25 at-bats.
On the pitching staff, Anthony Swarzak has continued his phenomenal season with two wins in the last week. On May 6 in Louisville, he allowed one run, five hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out seven. Then, in Rochester against Charlotte on May 12, he went six innings and gave up nary a run in a 6-0 victory. It was an unsightly game, with seven combined errors and only five hits by the Red Wings, but Swarzak managed to stay above the fray. In six starts this spring, the 23-year-old right-hander has surrendered 29 and seven earned runs in 37 innings, struck out 28 batters and walked only nine.
Kevin Mulvey also had a fine start last week, coming on May 10 against Charlotte. He lasted six innings and gave up only one run in an eventual 8-4 victory. The other three runs were scored off of reliever Tim Lahey, who made his second appearance since coming off the disabled list.
Indeed, the bullpen has been one of the only question marks as of late. Closer Sean Henn has two saves, but he allowed a pair of ninth inning hits in each of them. Mike Gosling was roughed up in relief on May 8 against Charlotte, and Juan Morillo has walked four batters in 3.2 innings over his last two appearances.
The bullpen artist with the strongest week was Armando Gabino, who allowed no hits in three outings last week. He was rewarded on May 12 with the victory, when Rochester scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-5 walk-off victory against Indianapolis. Three different Wings (Casilla, Hughes, Huber and Trevor Plouffe) had multiple hits in that game.
When Casilla was demoted and Lahey came off the disabled list, Rochester was forced to make a roster move, and decided to release left-hander Ben Julianel. He had struggled this season, coughing up 11 runs in as many innings, including three home runs. That is as many homers as he allowed all of last season in 68 innings with New Britain, when he also recorded 26 saves.
Starting this Wednesday, the Wings have three more home games against Indianapolis. After playing the series finale at 7:05 on May 15, they hop on the bus for an 11 hour trip to Durham, North Carolina, where they play the following evening. Such is the life of a minor league player (and coach, and umpire, and radio announcer, and scout). After playing four games in Durham, the Wings will get a day off on May 20—their first in 18 days.
Topics: Alexi Casilla, Anthony Swarzak, Armando Gabino, Ben Julianel, David Winfree, Dustin Martin, Jose Morales, Juan Morillo, Justin Huber, Kevin Mulvey, Luke Hughes, Mike Gosling, Minnesota Twins, Rochester Red Wings, Sean Henn, Tim Lahey, Trevor Plouffe, Upstate Update
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[...] sure to check out the Twins Page of the BaseballDigest.com site. Justin Murphy posted another great Upstate Update, on the Rochester Red Wings. I’m certain there will be some Morning Doinks there as [...]
[...] Wednesday, Justin Murphy posted his Upstate Update, a look at the Rochester Red Wings play of late. He e-mailed me something that is certainly worth [...]