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http://provationsgroup.org/ftpfiles/louisville/Baseball/2015%20Louisville%20Baseball%20Media%20Guide%20Final%20Files/Header%20Photos/Funkhouser-3.jpeg Kyle Funkhouser is a 6'2", 218 pound right handed pitcher for University of Louisville who was undrafted out of high school. Funkhouser usually throws three pitches, a fastball, slider, and changeup, but has thrown a curveball at times. The biggest worries about Funkhouser are his inability to command his pitches, and not having a great secondar
With the first quarter of the 2015 Major League Baseball season in the books, we are provided a great opportunity to take a look at how the season is shaping up. Considering the projections that were made coming into the year, it's a good time to see how things stand, and take note of some adjustments that may shake out as the season draws on. Keeping the focus on the AL Central, namely the Twins, let's take a look at the division first. Going into the year I had a hard time believing that any t
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3f894c2d87d7cbb17f0c291318475ce0cf011b26/c=127-0-2233-1581&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Nashville/Nashville/2014/06/23/1403538632000-buehler.jpeg Walker Buehler is a 6'1", 160 pound right handed pitcher for Vanderbilt University who was drafted in the 14th round of the 2012 MLB Rule 4 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but went on to pitch for the Commodores. Buehler has four pitches, a good fastball, curveball, slider and change, giving him a nice reper
The Minnesota Twins are set to kick off a three game series with the Southsiders over the weekend. With the White Sox welcoming the Twins into town, Minnesota is set to do battle with an AL Central opponent for the first time in just over a week. On the season, the Twins are 5-2 against Chicago, including a four game sweep. This time around however, a few key opportunities will present themselves. As things stand currently, the Twins are 23-17 holding down the third spot in the AL Central. The
The Cedar Rapids Kernels passed the midpoint of the first half of their 2015 season over the past weekend, making it an appropriate time to get manager Jake Mauer’s assessment of how their season is progressing. There’s not a lot for the manager to complain loudly about, with his team vying for the second best record in the entire Midwest League. Then again, his guys have consistently remained several games behind Western Division leading Quad Cities in the standings, so there’s certainly room
http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/College+World+Series+Vanderbilt+v+Virginia+3IMhWWkMDVMl.jpg Carson Fulmer is a 5'11", 195 pound right-handed pitcher for the Vanderbilt Commodores who was drafted by the Red Sox in the 15th round of the 2012 amateur draft, but chose to attend college. Fulmer throws a fastball that can reach the high nineties, a nasty curveball, and a changeup. Fulmer has some effort in his delivery, but he is very athletic, so he can maintain velocity throughout his starts, m
In the dead of the Pittsburgh night, late in the game (the top of the 13th inning to be exact), Joe Mauer did something that he has abandoned since August 17, 2014. With Antonio Bastardo on the mound, Mauer deposited a pitch over the right-centerfield wall at PNC Bank stadium. The Twins went on to win the game by a tally of 4-3. The home run was the shot that lifted Minnesota over the Pirates, but for Joe, it really doesn't matter. The home run off of Bastardo ended a 286 at bat drought for Maue
http://web.usabaseball.com/assets/images/9/7/0/122694970/cuts/JayGSAMW_mtgh1xoi_l0cm9a6e.jpg Tyler Jay is a 6'1", 175 pound left-handed pitcher for the University of Illinois who went undrafted out of high school, but made a huge jump during his sophomore year. Jay has an electric arm, usually sitting around 95 mph, but can get it up to 98 frequently, and he also throws a slider, curve, and change. Although he is a power pitcher, he does not use a ton of effort in his delivery, using his athle
As of May 20, the Minnesota Twins have played 39 games and have compiled a 22-17 record. After being picked by many to finish last in the AL Central, and even lose 90 games for a 5th straight year by some, Minnesota has done nothing but surpass expectations. Sitting third in the AL Central, the Twins offense has once again been one of the best in the big leagues (currently 6th in runs scored). While starting pitching has been better than in recent years, it is one man in the bullpen that may be
I tend to spend my mornings with four things: a bowl of cereal, a cup of tea at hand, my MLB At Bat app and a folded over copy of The Economist magazine. As I gorge on both carbs and information, I'm happy to know that the Twins have room to grow and that seemingly every night someone out does themselves (even if someone else does worse). But I'm also happy to balance the Twins in one corner of my mind and world events (like Greek debt defaults and Indian corruption trials) are squarely in ano
http://cdn.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Mike-Nikorak-2015-mj.jpg Mike Nikorak is a right handed pitcher out of Stroudsburg High School (Pennsylvania) who has risen steadily since last summer. Nikorak is a power pitcher who can hit 98 mph, but usually sits in the low-mid nineties, and also throws a curveball and changeup. He repeats his delivery well, and is one of the better athletes in this year's draft class, so he should be able to remain a starting pitcher. Nikorak is com
Max Kepler has been featured up and down Twins prospect lists since the Twins signed him as a teenager out of Europe. The list of successful major league players born in Europe is small but there's always been a little something extra with Kepler. His parents were both professional dancers so he's got a strong athletic background. Minnesota took it slow with Kepler allowing him to play three years in the rookie leagues. Over the last two seasons, he has worked through both Low-A and High-A and
Kyle Gibson is elite...when it comes to ground ball pitchers. And that's a good thing. According to Baseball Nation, a ground ball pitcher is a type of pitcher that has a tendency to induce ground balls from opposing batters. The average ground ball pitcher has a ground ball rate of at least 50% with extreme ground ball pitchers maintaining a ground ball rate of around 55%. In his brief MLB career, Gibson has consistently proven he is a top 20 pitcher at inducing ground balls. Gibson had a
This isn’t exactly the blueprint that we had in mind, going out and signing a guy to $55 million. The ideal is to have them keep coming through the system. – Twins GM Terry Ryan after signing Ervin Santana, 12/15/14 Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan said some intriguing things this offseason, chief among them were: 1) That he wants to make the playoffs this year (“I’m trying to be realistic. Our expectations in that clubhouse should be to make the postseason.” — Nov. 11). 2) That th
For the first time in the 2015 Major League Baseball season, and also coincidentally the first time in Paul Molitor's managerial career, the Minnesota Twins will face off against a National League opponent. With that comes the challenges of managing around not having the designated hitter at your disposal. However silly I believe that to be (and I do think it's silly), Molitor may have the deck stacked against him. Now full disclosure, we aren't talking about Dan Jennings, Jeffrey Loria, and the
http://collegebaseballcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Michael-Matuella-620x400.jpg Michael Matuella is a right handed pitcher for Duke University who was undrafted out of high school. He has a four pitch mix, including a 93-97 mph fastball, a curve, slider, and changeup. He has a good, repeatable delivery, and his 6'7" frame gives him a good plane and angle, making his delivery hard to get a good read on. Matuella would likely have been a top five pick, but he suffered from Tommy John ear
This post isn't approved for general viewing, but since I did spend some time and thought composing it and trying to impart serious intent, I feel it does relate some more pretty cogent facts to the debate on the "Nunez back/Vargas optioned to AAA" thread. I thought that a blog-piece might be just the place for it. This post was made in response to a poster that felt that those opposed to the Vargas demotion were "shading" the truth of what the Twins brass was thinking on the matter, that Bern
The year was 2011, and the Minnesota Twins had two players competing for one spot at the hot corner. One was a 19th round draft pick and coming off of a season that had him in the running for Rookie of the Year honors. The other was a first round draft pick that had just experienced his first cup of coffee. At the end of the year though, and into the future, it was the first round draft pick that would take over. Trevor Plouffe grabbed the role from Danny Valencia, and he hasn't looked back. Of
In the minors on Sunday every game was a close and hard fought battle, unlike the Minnesota Twins against Chris Archer. There was a dynamic pitching duel in one, and another that went back and forth seemingly every inning. When the dust settled, the Twins affiliates went 2-2 on the day. There was also some action on the roster front, as one (surprise?) major league was sent to AAA, and a few pitching spots were shuffled. Read on to find out what happened across all four affiliates! TRANSAC
http://cdn.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/nick-plummer-2014-mj.jpg Nick Plummer is an outfielder out of Brother Rice High School (Michigan) who broke out at the Area Code Games last summer. Plummer is best known for his bat, but has decent tools across the board. He implements a high leg kick into his swing and gets good extension, allowing him to pull the ball, giving him power potential, plus he can hit the ball to the gaps with authority. Plummer's hit tool has received 60 r
This is my first post for TwinsDaily.com. It also marks my first time writing about the Rochester Red Wings. But being a Rochester native, it certainly is not my first time seeing them play -- which is to say it is not my first time developing an opinion about the team. Not that I’m constantly critical of the Wings but rather I am always intrigued by the success of a minor league team in an objectively minor league city (I’m allowed to say that since I’m from here). Past summers have seen forg
When you look into the eyes of Aaron Hicks you see a different man, a different player than he has been in the past. His approach and confidence look to me to be stellar. If he can have a little sucess, it might just be the charm as in third time. In my mind he won the first game against the Rays when he singled sharply to get on....then scored on Santana's triple. He has so impressed me and I was ready to give up on him. He might re-define how we think of Byron Buxton and he at presen
http://throughthefencebaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Trenton-Clark.jpg Trenton Clark is an outfielder for Richland High School (Texas) who was Team USA's best hitter last year, with a .565 batting average, 3 home runs, and 20 RBIs. A strong player across the board, Clark should be one of the top picks in this year's draft. Clark has an above average hit tool, due to his incredible bat speed; he is also a slightly above average runner, but his arm strength is slightly below average. Hi
Houston reached base 3 times on Thursday. He's hitting .308/.398/.440 (.838) since joining the Surge and stole his 14th AA base. His 38 total SB is tied with Yasser Mercedes for organizational lead.
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Winning the Cedar Rapids Kernel prize from TD is far better than winning the FIFA World Peace Prize. Thanks.· 0 replies
