Minor Leagues

As we passed Labor Day, the minor league season has come to an end. Next week, we’ll start announcing the Twins Daily Minor League awards for 2018. This week, we will celebrate the strong performances from the season’s final month. It may be surprising that August marks the first time that we have a repeat winner for Hitter of the Month. It probably won’t surprise you to learn which player is the repeat winner.

Previous Hitters of the Month for 2018:
April 2018: Zander Wiel, Chattanooga Lookouts
May 2018: Alex Kirilloff, Cedar Rapids Kernels
June 2018: Luis Arraez, Ft. Myers Miracle
July 2018: Ryan Jeffers, Cedar Rapids Kernels
August 2018: See below...

Labor Day always marks the final regular season minor league games. The Rochester Red Wings and Chattanooga Lookouts seasons ended. Three more Red Wings players were called up to the Twins following the game. The Kernels, whose playoff run begins on Wednesday, began six hours late. See how they did and who they will play starting Wednesday. Ft. Myers and Elizabethton had the day off as they prepare for their upcoming playoff series.

A playoff atmosphere is circling the farm system. Fort Myers entered play on Sunday with the opportunity to clinch a second half South Division Championship. Elizabethton was facing a do-or-die Game 3 in the Appy League Playoff Semifinals. Cedar Rapids was amid an eight-game winning streak when play started on Sunday.

There were lots of meaningful games so let’s jump right into the action.

Elizabethton lost a wild Game 2 of the Appalachian League Semifinals, but the E-Twins can still advance to the finals if they win Sunday evening. Chris Williams was the offensive star of the night, though Luke Raley also had an excellent game, while Carlos Suniaga and Edwar Colina delivered the strongest pitching performances.

Come check out what else happened around the minor league system Saturday night.

Elizabethton started its quest for another Appalachian League title on Friday night with a road game. They got a strong start and some youngsters really stepped up their offense in a nice win. They can clinch a spot in the championship series with a win on Saturday (or Sunday, if needed). In addition, Lewis Thorpe and Tyler Wells had strong starts. Alex Kirilloff reached another milestone, but how did the Miracle do in their attempt to get in to the Florida State League playoffs?

The Minnesota Twins affiliates are quickly coming to the ends of their regular season schedules. Some will be making postseason appearances, while others will head into the offseason. Tonight, there were a few strong starting pitching performances, and the hottest bat came from a catcher down in Florida.

On Tuesday there was a long overdue doubleheader played in Rochester where the home team took both games, a postseason all-star was named, and another team got a walk-off win in extra innings to bring them within a half-game of playoff spot.

To find out what happened in those games and how all your favorite Minnesota Twins prospects fared on Tuesday, keep reading and be sure to add to the discussion in the comments!

Following the 2012 season, the Minnesota Twins made the decision to end their time in Beloit. They worked out a Player Development Agreement with the Cedar Rapids Kernels starting in the 2013 season. On Monday night, the Kernels clinched a 2018 playoff berth with a win. It marks the sixth straight season (all six with the Twins) that the Kernels will be in the playoffs. Jake Mauer managed the first four teams. Tommy Watkins was there in 2017. Congratulations to Toby Gardenhire and his coaching staff on another strong, successful season in Iowa!

Entering play on Monday, the Cedar Rapids Kernels will have a shot at clinching the second-half championship. The Kernels are 40-23 in the second half and sit 3.5 games up on the Peoria Chiefs. In the second half, the Kernels are the only team in the entire league to win at least 20 games at home and on the road.

Needless to say, Monday’s game could be a very important one for the Kernels.

Tyler Wells continued to turn heads for the Lookouts tonight, lowering his Southern League ERA to 1.67. Also, in an E-Town win, Gilberto Celestino hit his first homer since joining the org, Akil Baddoo reached safely four times in a Cedar Rapids victory and Alex Kirilloff hit his 18th home run of the season. Come check out what else happened around the minor leagues Saturday.

Willians Astudillo helped lift Rochester to a win tonight, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Tomorrow he'll be back with the Twins, thanks to an injury to Bobby Wilson. Also tonight in the minors, Andy Wilkins hit a home run in extras for Chattanooga and 2018 draftee Andrew Cabezas pitched a gem for E-Town. Come check out what else happened across the system Thursday.

It was another busy day in the Minnesota Twins minor league system. Each of the affiliates played. Zander Wiel recorded his first Rochester hit. Clark Beeker was solid in his first Double A start. Alex Kirilloff kept up an impressive streak while Taylor Grzelakowski continued an impressive season with another strong game. Akil Baddoo and Trevor Larnach powered the Kernels to a win. The E-Twins needed 11 innings and got great relief work from Jacob Blank while Jean Carlos Arias had a couple of big hits. The GCL Twins tried to come back from a big deficit in a rare night game in the Gulf Coast League.