Twins Promote Moses and Blackburn

The Minnesota Twins made a move to the future on Thursday, promoting top prospects Nick Blackburn and Matt Moses to Double-A New Britain. Playing for the Fort Myers Miracle, Moses and Blackburn had been tearing up the Florida State League. Both should be available to the Rock Cats on Thursday, and they both will be filling gaping holes in the New Britain lineup.

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The New Britain Rock Cats, who are currently in the cellar of the Northern Division of the Eastern League, received help on Thursday. Top prospects Matt Moses and Nick Blackburn were both promoted from Fort Myers, filling holes in the Rock Cats lineup. With the addition of these prospects, the Rock Cats should be able to make a move in the division standings.

In Moses, the Cats get the third baseman that they have been lacking all season. They tried out Rick Bell for a while, but he was given his release. Although Moses has struggled as of late, he is a big-time prospect with a high ceiling.

The Twins’ 2003 #1 draft pick, Moses was batting .306 at the time of his promotion. A Florida State League All-Star, Moses had seven home runs and 42 RBI at Fort Myers this season. Drafted right out of high school, Matt was rated the #8 prospect in the Twins organization by Baseball America.

In the middle of a bad stretch this month, Moses hopes the change in scenery will do him good. He is batting only .106 in eight games in July, but is still sixth in the Florida State League in batting average. A great hitter no matter who is on the hill, Moses is batting .300 against righties and .320 against lefties.

Blackburn was the ace of the Fort Myers Miracle. Selected in the 29th round of the 2001 draft, Blackburn was the winning pitcher in the 2005 Florida State League All-Star Game. Recently, he out dueled Tampa Yankees ace Tyler Clippard, cementing himself as one of the top hurlers in the pitcher friendly Florida State League.

Blackburn is coming off one of his best outings of the season, a seven inning start in which he struck out seven while holding his opponent scoreless. Devastating to righties, Blackburn is holding them to a .225 batting average this season. In 15 starts for Fort Myers, Blackburn is 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA.

Not a tremendous power pitcher, Blackburn has only 55 strikeouts in 92.1 innings this season. He does have great control though, walking only 16 batters in his 15 starts. Always in the zone, Blackburn has recorded only one wild pitch all season.

Look for Blackburn and Moses to get right in the mix of things as they will be available to New Britain on Thursday. They should provide a boost for the team, and also some excitement to the fans in Connecticut.