Brian Dinkelman was called up last night after the Minnesota Twins’ game against Kansas City. Trevor Plouffe* was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and Joe Mauer was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list to make room for him on the 40-man roster.

*Trevor is hitting .200/.310/.383 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 3 HR, 10 RBI and 1 stolen base. He also had 8 walks and 12 strikeouts in the 18 games he was with the Twins. He had problems on the field with 3 errors. He went 1 for 24 in his last 8 games. We’ll probably see him again at some point.

Brian has played second base and left field for the Triple-A Twins affiliate Rochester Red Wings. He has also played shortstop, but only 14 games at the High-A and AA levels in 2008. Since then, he has divided his time between second base and a corner outfield spot.

Brian Dinkelman is 27 years old, 5’11”, 195 pounds, hits left and throws right. Brian was drafted in the eighth round of the 2006 MLB Freshman Draft out of McKendree College in the National Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NAIA) Still holds 24 career school records, including batting average (.426), runs scored (303)*, hits (373)*, doubles (96)*, home runs (59 ) and total bases (670). ) )* He was the second player drafted out of McKendree College at that time and the first to reach the major leagues!

*These are all NAIA career records and he also holds the record for most career assists (679).

Brian Dinkelman follows Jeff Manship, Danny Valencia and Anthony Slama as players for the Twins who were drafted in 2006. Brian started at the rookie level for Elizabethton in 2006 and hit .298 with 4 HR and 32 RBI. He has steadily climbed the organizational ladder since he played at Beloit (A) and Fort Myers (High-A) in 2007 and at Fort Myers and New Britain (AA) in 2008.

In 2009, Brian played the entire season at AA New Britain hitting .296/.383/.440 with 38 doubles, 8 HRs and 65 RBI with 55 walks and 73 strikeouts in 459 at-bats. He stole 5 bases in 11 tries. He played 80 games at second base, 40 in left field, and 4 in right field. He was named an Eastern League All-Star, an EAS Post-Season All-Star (as a Utility Player) and a Ca’n’t Beat Bernie Player of the Year (Fan Voted New Britain Rock Cats Favorite Player). that season.

In 2010 Brian moved up another level to the Triple A Rochester Red Wings and played there the entire season. He struggled a bit, only hitting to a .265/.336/.379 line. He had 32 doubles, 8 home runs and 54 RBIs with 52 walks and 99 strikeouts in 525 at-bats. He stole 9 bases in 13 attempts and had 6 errors in 135 games, 2 at second base and 4 in left field. He only played 25 games at second base and 110 in the outfield (46 at RF, 64 at LF).

So far in 2011, Brian has had a strong start to the season in Rochester. He is currently hitting .296 with a .374 on-base percentage and has a .402 slugging percentage. He hit 15 doubles, 1 HR and 10 RBIs with 21 walks and 32 strikeouts in 189 at-bats. He is 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts and has zero errors in 50 games. He currently leads the Red Wings in hits (56), doubles (15), runs scored (22) and walks (21).

Brian Dinkelman is known as a fearless player who will take good at-bats and do whatever it takes to win. He’s been a fan favorite everywhere he’s played and it should be fun to watch. He has progressed steadily in the minor leagues throughout his career. He sometimes took a while, but he eventually adjusted to the higher level of competition and put up good numbers.

Dinkelman will wear number 26 when he makes his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins! Hopefully the phrase “you’re a Dink!” it will be a good thing from now on! I’m sure McKendree College will be watching too.

This move wasn’t injury related, but would you rather have to make moves due to injury or because certain players aren’t playing well?