Matt Braun

A competitive Twins team with a problematic bullpen? Is it 2019 again?

Royce Lewis I have been conservative about Lewis for a while, and it is time to admit that he is the best prospect in the Twins system. His hit tool looks real, at least much better than before, and the eye test shows that he can currently play a passable shortstop, a significant point in his development. The Twins are lowering him into a super-utility role, which is fine given his athleticism, but I would prefer to have him challenged at shortstop every day. There is no real easy answer to that conundrum until Carlos Correa no longer calls that position home. For now, we shall appreciate watching a unique talent perform at the highest level for years to come. Austin Martin 2022 has not been the best season for Martin. He is striking out at a lower rate but is somehow hitting for less power than before; his season wRC+ sits at 95. While I have supreme confidence in his bat turning around eventually, his glove is a different story. He is not a shortstop; that is clear now. I’m not sure what position he can play, but the Twins will have to find one, and his value is now much lower as a super-utility guy unable to cover such a crucial position. He also has a ridiculous 20 steals, perhaps hinting at a skillset philosophy leaning closer towards a traditional, scrappy type of player. I think he’ll figure it out and become a useful major league player, but his future is far hazier than one prefers from one of their best prospects. Jose Miranda Although not because of his performance, Miranda moves up one spot in my ranking. He hasn’t hit during his time in the majors, owning terrible batted ball data during his brief stint that ended with Lewis’ re-appearance on the Twins. One should never overreact to 70 plate appearances, and Miranda’s 2021 was so legendary that I tend to believe this to be a fad and not an indictment of his hitting ability. He owns a rare batting average/power combo that few in baseball can claim, and that alone is what keeps Miranda sitting near the top of this list. Time shall tell whether Miranda can find his groove again. ------------------------- Jordan Balazovic I’m still a firm believer in Balazovic as the team’s best pitching prospect, but it has been an extended period since he last unquestionably dominated hitters for a significant stretch, and it’s fair to lean into doubts. Early returns at AAA have been ugly, although the eye doesn’t catch exactly what the problem for him seems to be. He’s avoided major injury, but the nicks and dings are starting to add up, holding him back from being the “set-it-and-forget-it” ace that many thought he would become after his excellent 2018 and 2019 performances. Again, let’s not overreact, but it’s time for a correction of sorts for Balazovic. Noah Miller Miller is good, and people should recognize this as soon as possible. 19-year-old shortstops are not supposed to dominate A-ball like this, and the ones that do tend to become exceptional players. He’s hitting for a 146 wRC+ with reportedly silky smooth defense that could play if the team called him up tomorrow. He isn’t hitting for much power (ISO of .113), but that feels like an extreme nitpick for an otherwise otherworldly performance this far into the season. Get used to his name this high on prospect lists. Emmanuel Rodriguez Rodriguez could have easily claimed the five spot, but Miller’s shortstop potential broke the tie, and Rodriguez ends up here. He’s also just 19, which is ridiculous, and he’s walking at a 27.3% clip while slugging .475. If one wanted to nitpick, he’s also striking out 28.5% of the time, a number digestible given his age, but one to keep an eye on given how sticky strikeout numbers tend to be as a player changes levels. His profile will clear up with time (mainly whether he owns discipline or is plain passive against wild pitchers), but things are exciting for the former international big shot signing. Spencer Steer I don’t think that Steer is legitimately a 147 wRC+ batter, but it is apparent that he is a well-rounded player with a potentially rare batting average/OBP/power combination. His best comp is probably Jose Miranda’s 2021 season which was equally impressive in how he didn’t have to sacrifice batting average for power. We’ve seen that combo struggle in the majors over a short sample with Miranda, but a player like Ty France proves that it can work with refinement. He can pass at both 3rd and 2nd base, giving the team options if they ever decide to clean out their gutter at 3rd or trade Jorge Polanco. ------------------------- Simeon Woods Richardson I originally had Woods Richardson above the previous three hitters, but I kept questioning whether I was more excited about him or the other batters, and you can see the answer I came to. Woods Richardson’s ERA is excellent, but his FIP is merely passable, and his xFIP is dreadful; combine that with a suspicious BABIP, and I’m not sold that he has improved significantly since struggling at AA all of last season. He’s still just 21, which feels impossible, but his stock remains stagnant in my eyes. Matt Canterino Canterino is a reliever. Usually, I don’t consider relievers prospects, but his stuff is so otherworldly that it’s not out of the question that he becomes a 2-3 inning fire-breathing dragon, which can be extremely valuable to every team in MLB. He has already bested his innings total from last season, and he should be up with the team down the stretch if he can remain healthy. Walks are up this year, but I believe that to be a mirage and not a loss of command for a pitcher who has otherwise thrown strikes during his time in the minors. Cole Sands I like Sands more than I probably should. He flashed an incredible sweeper during his cup of coffee, a pitch that I believe can carry him to some sort of helpful niche in the team’s pitching staff. The rest of his profile is pretty vanilla, and he’s currently on the IL, a statement often too true about Sands, but the power of his breaker keeps him elevated on my list. Ronny Henriquez Henriquez is still a somewhat mysterious prospect. He came over as an afterthought in the Mitch Garver deal and has flashed some major league playable stuff but has yet to play enough for me to get as good of a read on him. It’s been a rough go at AAA so far, but he’s not even 22-years-old yet, and his development feels like it will be more of a slow burn a la Woods Richardson rather than a fiery explosion like Jhoan Duran. Edouard Julien Julien is unfortunately injured at the moment, but his profile is far too intriguing to ignore. It’s not every day that one comes across a player practically guaranteed to get on base at a .400 clip, but Julien is precisely that kind of player. His OBP is true, a sign of patience over passivity, which will carry him across all levels of baseball. He’s more positionless than one would like, but his bat projects so well that the Twins will find a way to make it work. Marco Raya Raya was a popular pop-up pick in the pre-season, and he’s impressed so far with an 18.8 K-BB%. His stuff is electric, the classic mid-90s fastball and wipeout slider combo that fans can dream on with a curve and change that will need refinement as he elevates through the minors. It has been less than 30 innings into Raya’s professional debut, but it’s easy to see why the Twins were so high on him in the 2020 draft. David Festa The Twins system has lost top-end credibility due to some graduations and players in that tier struggling, but their middle area has beefed up considerably thanks to arms like Festa. Festa came out of nowhere in 2022, dominating hitters with Fort Myers before enjoying a promotion to Cedar Rapids. His K-BB% sits at 28.9%, the highest in the system amongst pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings. Christian Encarnacion-Strand Encarnacion-Strand went supernova to begin the season, netting all the RBIs before gently cooling off and settling in as a merely great, not Bondsian hitter. Evaluators are still baffled by Encarnacion-Strand; he fits into the scary right/first baseman/college bucket from which hitters go to die (or become Pete Alonso), and it’s unclear if he’s made proper adjustments since joining the Twins organization. For now, it’s best to shrug your shoulders and continue to ride the wave. Cade Povich Povich, like Raya, was also a popular breakout pick for 2022. He’s responded with an eye-catching 27.4 K-BB%, a total bested only by Shane McClanahan amongst qualified MLB pitchers this year. It’s not a 1:1 comp, but his success should not be understated, and he could find himself at AA sooner rather than later at this rate. ------------------------- Blayne Enlow I remain a firm believer in Enlow. Tommy John surgery derailed his path to AA in 2021, but he recently returned from the procedure, and his performance the rest of the season will help illuminate his prospect status; it says a lot that the Twins protected him in the rule 5 draft despite his injuries and underperformance. Brayan Medina Medina has yet to pitch in an organized game for the Twins, so this ranking is an aggregate of other publications rather than a personal evaluation. Louie Varland Varland is not having as fine a season like 2020, but he has still settled in as a consistent, reliable arm at AA. The walks have crept up while his home run rate has ballooned, perhaps an ominous sign of regression waiting in the wings. Back-sliding has not hit yet, so he remains solidly in the mid-tier of prospects until otherwise. Steve Hajjar Hajjar, like Povich, was an intriguing breakout arm to keep an eye on in 2022. He’s punched out a small army but has also walked far too many batters for his good; less than 50% of plate appearances against him have ended with a ball put into play. It has been less than 30 innings, but I’m far leerier of his skillset translating unless he tames his walks. Brent Headrick Like Gipson-Long in the next spot, Headrick is an old-for-his-level starter who has easily crushed his competition. His command is much improved in 2022, and hitters are now overwhelmed by stuff that they can no longer just wait out for the inevitable walk. He’s so similar to Gipson-Long in this regard that I gave him the one-spot nod for better peripherals (28.3 K-BB %). Sawyer Gipson-Long Gipson-Long is an old-for-the-level starter but should not be ignored when looking at this system. He has picked up right where he left off in 2021, owning the 9th best K-BB% rate amongst all pitchers with 30 innings in the system this year (22.4%). He should get a taste of AA soon, which will help illuminate his prospect status more than feasting on A+ hitters. ------------------------- Kala’i Rosario Rosario is a raw, toolsy prospect dipping into the full-season waters for the first time. His 94 wRC+ is far from disastrous, but his 39.2% strikeout rate is ghastly, perhaps a sign that he’s still too green. As a 19-year-old, he exists in that frustrating “potential” sphere of prospect evaluation where his struggles are summed up as him “learning,” and no actual analysis is gleaned from his performance. In summary: early returns are not favorable but not indictable yet. Matt Wallner To be blunt, I have little faith in Wallner becoming a valuable major league player. Hitters who strike out 34% of the time need legendary power to negate their whiffs, and Wallner seems to have merely great, not jaw-dropping power. He can still walk and bop homers, but I remain skeptical of his skillset translating at the major league level; Brent Rooker soured any ability I have to overlook one’s strikeout rate. Aaron Sabato Speaking of hitters striking out too much, Sabato has been disappointing since the Twins took him in the 1st round in 2020. He can take a walk, but his ISO is far lower than one wants from a pure 1st baseman (.163). At this point, I don’t expect Sabato to become a useful contributor for the Twins, and he can join Keoni Cavaco in the club of “Falvey and Levine’s unwise 1st round picks.” Speaking of which… Keoni Cavaco Cavaco has never shown any consistent ability to hit at any level during any extended period of play. His career minor league OBP begins with a .2, which should tell you everything you need to know. Yes, injuries have played a role in his poor performance, but injuries can’t excuse his immense strikeout problems, and his ranking on any prospect list is honorary at this point. I’m holding on to his draft pedigree, but he will be dropped soon unless his performance turns around. John Stankiewicz I have no idea what to make of Stankiewicz. He was an undrafted free agent in 2020 and has performed very well during his time in the Twins system. Time will tell if it’s a lower-level mirage, but he should still be a name to remember throughout the remainder of the season. Jake Rucker I just wanted to get Rucker a mention on one of these lists. Since the Twins drafted him in 2021, he's held his own and has improved his ISO (.059 to .111) despite the rest of his stat-line not falling in line. He feels like the kind of prospect who can suddenly be in AAA despite flying under the radar for the entirety of his professional career. Misael Urbina Urbina showed great peripherals in 2021 (12.3% walk rate, 18.7% K rate), which lost out overall to his otherwise poor slash line. Visa issues have delayed the start of his season, which is both a shame and a detriment to his development. Hopefully, he’ll be playing baseball in the Twins system soon. Drew Strotman The clickbait 30 spot goes to Strotman out of deference towards teams far wiser than I. The Rays added Strotman to the 40-man roster, and the Twins targeted him in a trade now overshadowed by Joe Ryan’s success, showing that there are franchises that believe in him. He is now a reliever, limiting his upside, but I’ll wait to give up on him when the Twins do.

The pitchers weren't the best on Saturday, but the bats helped make up for that. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS OF Willie Joe Garry Jr. placed on IL for A+ Cedar Rapids RHP Yennier Cano optioned to AAA St. Paul LHP Jovani Moran recalled by Minnesota Twins RHP Juan Minaya contract selected by Minnesota Twins INF Tim Beckham assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on minor league rehab Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 7 Box Score Ronny Henriquez: 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K HR: Spencer Steer (2), Jake Cave, (3) Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-for-4) The Saints lost a winnable game on Saturday. Indianapolis jumped all over Ronny Henriquez, scoring five runs before the young starter could complete five innings. Henriquez continues to own great strikeout numbers since joining the Twins organization, but his ERA has yet to follow suit. We shall see which budges first. Spencer Steer continued his assault on baseballs. The high-flying prospect has no desire to stay at AAA and is surprisingly banging on the door of the majors thanks to a .306/.392/.599 slash-line that hints at a rare OBP/power combination oddly reminiscent of Jose Miranda's 2021 season. Of all the prospect risers in the system, few have shot as highly as Steer. Jake Cave also homered, but the total offensive effort was not enough on Saturday. The Saints gave up seven runs but also struck out 15 batters, flashing some punch out upside available in the high minors. Ian Hamilton descended again, lowering his season ERA to 0.84. The soon-to-be 27-year-old has reigned in command issues that plagued him in 2021, walking batters at a passable 9.1% clip while striking them out 36.4% of the time. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 13, Corpus Cristi 14 Box Score Casey Legumina: 3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 K HR: Leobaldo Cabrera (4), Matt Wallner, (10), Dennis Ortega (2) Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-6, RBI), Michael Helman (2-for-5, 2 R), DaShawn Kiersey (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Leobaldo Cabrera (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI), Ernie Yake (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI) Wichita lost a heartbreaker on Saturday. A true barn-burner, no lead was safe on Saturday, as both teams traded blows like Muhammad Ali fighting against Joe Frazier; Leobaldo Cabrera was the big winner with his early-game grand slam. Matt Wallner and Dennis Ortega were the other big blasters of the night. It was a tough night for Wind Surge pitchers. Every arm allowed at least two runs, and the team ended up walking more hitters than they struck out, a bad outcome no matter how you slice it. Perhaps something was in the water, or maybe the vibes were off, but Wichita pitchers will undoubtably look to forget their outings on Saturday. Offensively, the 7-9 hitters found an incredible amount of success, with each batter scoring at least two runs and two hits. Usually, the top of the order sets up the middle section, but Saturday proved the opposite, as those bottom hitters wrecked havoc all night long. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 8, Wisconsin 3 Box Score Brent Headrick: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: Aaron Sabato (6), Alerick Soularie (3) Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI), Will Holland (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI) The Kernels won handily on Saturday. Brent Headrick took the mound and had a rather mortal outing. The lefty had previously well-established himself as a breakout arm, but his start here was forgettable, allowing more baserunners than innings pitched while striking just three. David Festa followed with four quality innings of work, including three strikeouts and one earned run allowed. The offense stole the show on Saturday. Will Holland brought home the earliest runs with a bases-clearing little-league homer that brought the game to a 3-0 advantage for the Kernels. Wisconsin eventually knotted the game, but Aaron Sabato gave Cedar Rapids a massive lead thanks to a three-run homer in the 5th. Alerick Soularie homered and brought home a final run with a sacrifice fly. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 9, Bradenton 2 Box Score Jaylen Nowlin: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K HR: Emmanuel Rodriguez (7), Tim Beckham (1) Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI), Luis Baez (2-for-4, R, RBI) Fort Myers won a blowout on Saturday. It was one of those games that could have ended just about as soon as it began. Emmanuel Rodriguez blasted a solo homer in the first inning before the Mighty Mussels put up a five-spot in the following frame. Tim Beckham hit the home run in that inning. Fort Myers scored three more runs in the game, but it hardly mattered. Jaylen Nowlin had the start of the night, striking out nine batters over his four innings of work. Yes, he allowed two runs as well, but acquiring 75% of one’s outs via the strikeout is a far more impressive task. Matt Mullenbach, Juan Mendez, and Niklas Rimmel combined to hold Bradenton scoreless in relief of Nowlin. Although Mendez and Rimmel walked more batters than either pitcher probably cared to, the extra base-runners never came around to score. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Leobaldo Cabrera PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-6, RBI #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, 2 K (played LF) #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-2, HR, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB, K #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB #16 – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4 2/b IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K #18 – Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Indianapolis @ St. Paul (5:07 PM) - RHP Cole Sands Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:05 PM) - RHP Louie Varland Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - RHP Sean Mooney Fort Myers @ Bradenton (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Richard Nixon had a problem. No, it wasn’t Vietnam, or the Russians, or the press finding out about a secret slush fund; those would be issues for the ghosts of Nixon past and future. Rather, this was a dilemma for a mid-1960s Nixon, one that the people barely rejected in 1960 in favor of some young, handsome guy and who then badly lost a California governor race that should have ended his career. But the times were changing. The Democrats, crushed under the sins of Lyndon Johnson, were in disarray and out of favor with the general populous. The Republicans were comparatively healthy, but they lacked a true conservative superstar to carry them to success; significant players like George Romney and Nelson Rockefeller belonged to the liberal Republican camp. Perhaps, and this was a longshot, Nixon could re-brand himself and prove that a changed man was deserving of the White House. ----------------------------------- Tyler Duffey. You know him; you may like him! The Duffman is now the longest-tenured Twins pitcher, debuting in 2015 back when Ryan O’Rourke and Blaine Boyer were a thing (Caleb Thielbar was technically on that team also, but he took a bunch of years off, so it doesn’t count the same). Evolution has defined his entire career; Duffey moved to a relief role in 2019, cut his changeup, and found new success as a reliable late-inning arm. He’s back to tinkering in 2022. 2019 is the pivotal year in this discussion. Yes, those previous seasons do count, but Duffey was a different pitcher, so different that analyzing those years does not help us. The Twins front office decided that Duffey would not be up to snuff as a starter (probably true) and moved him to the bullpen where his fastball/curveball combo could play up. Friends, that’s exactly what it did. Duffey averaged 94 MPH with his fastball and spent 57 ⅔ innings laying waste to batters to the tune of a 2.50 ERA with great peripherals (3.06 FIP, 2.94 xFIP). Success since that year has been inconsistent, though. He was better in 2020 (1.88 ERA, 2.57 FIP), but his peripherals fell off a cliff in 2021 (3.49 FIP, 4.19 xFIP, enough walks to start a protest). He became hittable and less deadly outside the strike zone, as both his O-Swing % dipped (33.9% in 2019 to 26.6% in 2021) and Contact % rose (69.2% in 2019 to 77.9% in 2021); a terrible combination for any pitcher. Oh, and he’s lost a tick and a half on his fastball. The fastball is perhaps the most interesting pitch in Duffey’s repertoire. His curveball always had deep, visceral movement, the kind of drop that pushes one to theorize that all stadiums have a baseball magnet hidden underneath home plate. His 4-seam fastball, though, never carried great traits. It spins a bit more than average but doesn’t ride in the way that Justin Verlander’s heater can look like it’s elevating towards heaven. Still, he had enough juice to effectively attack hitters at the top of the zone in 2019. In the years since? It’s a different story. That’s… something; he’s become unpredictable, which can help to a degree (the hitter can’t know where the pitch is going if you don’t either), but inconsistency has plagued him with this new strategy. His solution? Re-invite the sinker to the party. He’s thrown the sinker 10.8% of the time—mainly against righties—and has successfully thrown it in exactly one location. See if you can spot the pattern: The pitch has excellent Statcast outcomes, but with only six batted ball events against it, bringing up those numbers seems foolish. Overall, Duffey has had an inconsistent start to his season, more than what one would expect from any reliever. The good news is that he might be ahead of the curve by trying out his sinker more; the bad news is that it is unclear yet whether that plan will work. Either way, Duffey is a changed pitcher in 2022. View full article

Royce Lewis played left field, the Wind Surge almost made an impressive comeback, and Jake Cave blasted a grand slam. If that doesn't excite you, then nothing will. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Trevor Megill selected by Minnesota Twins LHP Devin Smeltzer optioned to AAA St. Paul RHP Tyler Bashlor placed on IL (right elbow strain) RHP Jake Petricka placed on COVID-19 related IL RHP Bailey Ober returned to Twins Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Omaha 2 Box Score Dereck Rodriguez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K HR: Jake Cave (2) Multi-hit games: None The Saints cruised on Saturday. Royce Lewis walked, Alex Kirilloff singled, Jermaine Palacios walked, and Jake Cave brought the family home with a grand slam. You can’t start a game better than that. St. Paul would not score the rest of the game, but they didn’t need to as they received an outstanding effort from their pitching staff. Dereck Rodriguez was on his game. The former, former Twins prospect struck out nine batters over five innings while allowing just six baserunners. His ERA at AAA is now a sparkling 1.74, and one has to imagine that he’ll get another chance in the majors before long. Rodriguez handed the reigns to Ian Hamilton, who out-dueled Omaha hitters to the tune of three strikeouts over five total outs. His ERA is somehow even lower at 1.08. If he continues to quell the walks, his number could be called very soon. Overall it was a pretty quiet game. Cave’s grand slam represented the crucial runs while Omaha never established themselves at the plate. Hey, quiet wins count as much as loud ones. Of note: Royce Lewis played in left field, and it appears that he caught all of one out in the game. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, Springfield 9 Box Score Ben Gross: 3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, K HR: Andrew Bechtold (5) Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB), Chris Williams (3-for-4, R, RBI, BB) Wichita lost a close game on Saturday. It was a classic barn-burner in score but not in game flow. Springfield, at one point, enjoyed a 9-0 lead over Wichita before an explosive six-run 7th inning brought intrigue to a game entirely in the blowout category. Let’s back up. An ugly 2nd inning that included a balk, a few hits, and two errors netted the Cardinals four quick runs. Gross would pitch one more inning afterward, but the damage remained attached to his name. Zach Featherstone put forth his best attempt at controlling the game but was only rewarded with an inflated ERA. A barrage of hits mixed with an error from Michael Helman doubled Springfield’s lead in short order. A solo homer would make the score the aforementioned 9-0 lead, but Wichita’s bats came alive in the 7th. It was a story in two parts: the first being runs scored by traditional hits, the second being patience leading to flourishing rewards. Ernie Yake doubled, Austin Martin singled, and Andrew Bechtold brought everyone home with a three-run blast. Some may see a home run as a rally-killer, yet it was anything but in this inning. An array of walks knocked old friend Kevin Marnon from the game before old friend Johan Quezada came in to establish order. He did not. A wild pitch brought home the inning's fifth run before a walk to Martin netted the sixth and final one. Chris Williams doubled home a run in the following inning, but it was not enough to overcome the brutal 9-0 deficit, and Wichita walked away without a win. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 12 Box Score John Stankiewicz: 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: Will Holland (3) Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB) The Kernels lost handily on Saturday. The Captains jumped on John Stankiewicz as the early innings melted into the middle innings, and the rest of the game’s narrative quickly followed suit. Ryan Shreve and Miguel Rodriguez were unable to stop an offensive movement in the 6th inning, and any scoring after that was a vain attempt at stat-padding. Cedar Rapids was held in check offensively as well. Kernels hitters punched out 14 times while reaching base only nine times; they went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Seth Gray was the big bat of the day, reaching base three times while knocking in half of Cedar Rapids’ runs; Will Holland knocked in the other two when he homered in the 3rd inning. To look for more bright spots, Bradley Hanner continued his ridiculous start to the season with two strikeouts over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. His season ERA is now a sparkling 0.50. Yeah, that’ll play. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Clearwater 5 Box Score Marco Raya: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: Mikey Perez (5) Multi-hit games: Mikey Perez (2-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-5, 2B, RBI), Dylan Neuse (2-for-3) Fort Myers lost a close one on Saturday. Marco Raya, looking to continue his fine start to the season, took the mound for the Mighty Mussels. The right-hander could not reign in his dominant stuff, and the Threshers made him pay, knocking around eight hits to go with three walks and three earned runs. It will be on to the next start for him. Clearwater’s offense was not a consistent onslaught despite the earned runs, instead evenly distributing their runs one at a time in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings, respectively. In fact, the Mighty Mussels held a slight lead after the top of the 7th inning when Mikey Perez blasted an Earl Weaver special to give Fort Myers a 4-3 lead. Although, the Mighty Mussels forgot that defense was part of Weaver’s special equation, and a dodgeball fight involving Noah Cardenas and Perez in the bottom half of the 7th resulted in a tying run scoring for Clearwater. They would score once more the following inning to win. The team shot themselves in the foot offensively as well. While four runs will win a team a fair amount of ballgames, the Mighty Mussels left a small army stranded on base; 11 to be exact. They walked and slashed hits all around the field like a good team is supposed to do but just missed out on a few damaging knocks that could have sealed a win. Altogether, six Mighty Mussels hitters reached base multiple times; Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez walked more than once, while Miller added a base hit for good measure. Regi Grace stood out for Fort Myers pitchers, allowing just one earned run over eight outs, with five of those coming via a strikeout. Because baseball is inherently cruel, he was tagged with the loss. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mikey Perez PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, R, K #5 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (79 pitches, 51 strikes) #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K #11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, R, BB #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, R, 3 BB, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (2:05 PM) - RHP Ronny Henriquez Springfield @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - LHP Brent Headrick Fort Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin View full article

If I were to guess, the definition of a pitch in a certain location and it being "in the strike zone" could differ based on whether it was called a strike or not. Because the samples are so darn small, just a few calls could make it so that a pitch was thrown in a specific location of the plate, but not called a strike. Therefore, it could be reflected in the heatmap, but not necessarily his zone %. Also I grabbed most of my numbers from pitch info solutions and the heatmap could be from a different source, which mucks things up. That's the issue with trying to look at very small samples!

It was 1920, alcohol would soon be banned, big band Jazz would become the popular music of the time, and Republican Warren G. Harding would take the office of the Presidency in March the following year. His opponent, James Cox, has melted away in the sands of time; the tragic victim of losing in a country that has no time for losers. Cox's running mate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, could have easily been the nominee for the Democrats, but the politically wise Roosevelt sensed the shifting tides and understood that he would never win in 1920. Woodrow Wilson burned any goodwill left with the American public, and the last time a Democrat took office after another Democrat was James Buchanan in 1857. FDR still wanted to be president, but his time would have to wait. Royce Lewis is no longer on the Twins big-league roster. The top prospect slashed .308/.325/.564 with the ballclub, a total impressive for most hitters in the game, much less one who just recently played his first professional baseball game in two-and-a-half years. But the Twins, whether so enamored by Gio Urshela that they couldn’t possibly DFA him, or doggedly set on having Lewis play shortstop no matter the cost, optioned him to AAA. While Lewis is now literally just 15 minutes away, let's dive far too deep into his offensive numbers in the majors. Plate Discipline: Looking first at his O-Swing%, Lewis swung at 33.3% of pitches outside the strike zone, placing him 34th highest amongst qualified hitters in MLB, sandwiched between two Austins; Hays and Riley. There’s nothing inherently damning about that stat—O-Swing rate is more descriptive of how the meat is made rather than its quality; that he’s between a great hitter in Riley and a forgettable one in Hays makes that point by itself. Dave Cherman’s work allows us to understand that O-Swing rate is correlated with walks, meaning that Lewis did not show much of an affinity for taking a free base, which we knew. The following important stat is O-Contact %—how much contact did Lewis make with pitches outside the strike zone? He put up a 70.0% mark, an elite total that would tie him with teammate Gio Urshela and Ozzie Albies for 24th in baseball. If you can believe it, making contact with pitches outside the zone is a great way to lower your strikeout rate (as pointed out by general baseball logic and Cherman’s work from above), and Lewis rocked this area. His otherworldly 12% strikeout rate is probably lower than it will be when his numbers stabilize, but he should still settle in with a punchout rate well below average (in a good way). Finally, we’ll observe Z-Contact %. Zone contact rate, again using Cherman’s work to help, is correlated with strikeouts—a swing and a miss inside the zone means as much for the count as a swing and a miss outside of it. Lewis’s 88.2 % mark is well above average, sitting 54th among 172 hitters, right above José Abreu. Again, this number is hardly world-altering, but it reflects a hitter capable of putting the ball in play at the major league level. What is incredibly odd is that Lewis saw 56.8 % of pitches inside the strike zone, a total that would top the leaderboards if he qualified for them. MLB pitchers, rather than berate him with junk, thought the best course of action would be to hurl him enough strikes to make Jimmy Hoffa proud. That level of zone-filling will certainly change whenever Lewis re-joins the team. Batted Ball Nuggets Lewis popped an xWOBA of .347, good enough to tie him with known elite bats Gavin Lux and Andrew Knizer; Austin Hays isn’t far behind. Perhaps most impressive was his smoked “officer, I didn’t mean to kill him” 114 MPH line-out that could have cartoonishly blasted José Ramírez through brick walls if we didn’t live in such a dull reality. Instead, it was just an out. So it goes. Not Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, or another big-meaty man, Pete Alonso, have hit a ball harder this year. The baseball gods gave Royce Lewis 139 pitches to sculpt an impressive resume from, and he did a solid B+ job, hinting at a tool collection full of noisy, consistent contact. Happenstance chose otherwise this time, but Lewis is guaranteed another shot at staying in the majors whenever the universe next carelessly chooses to injure an unfortunate starter. Hopefully, for that player’s sake, their nickname isn’t Wally Pipp. View full article

Emmanuel Rodriguez reminds me of a certain Sublime song; "I take two walks in the morning, I take two walks at night."

Bailey Ober was supposed to make his first rehab start, but rain stopped him from ever taking the mound on Saturday. However, the three teams that did play all won their games. Read all about that and more in this edition of the Minor League Report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Bailey Ober assigned to AAA St. Paul on Major League Rehab. OF Alex Kirilloff optioned to AAA St. Paul. LHP Devin Smeltzer contract selected by Minnesota Twins. IF Miguel Sano placed on 60-Day IL. RHP Blayne Enlow added to AA Wichita Saints Sentinel The Saints were rained out on Saturday. They will play a double-header against Columbus tomorrow with Bailey Ober taking the mound in game one. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, Arkansas 6 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K HR: Spencer Steer (6), Chris Williams (1) Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-5, R, RBI), Spencer Steer (3-for-5, HR, R, 3 RBI), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, 2B, R, BB, 2 K) The Wind Surge kept rolling on Saturday. Blayne Enlow made his Wind Surge debut and his first non-rehab assignment start since undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’s back. The start wasn’t the best, but six strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at. It’s just great to see him healthy and back on a pitching mound this summer. While the game ended up close, Wichita’s offense took off quickly in this game, scoring pairs of runs in the first three innings. Spencer Steer was the main culprit, hitting a two-run homer in the first to go with an RBI infield hit in the second. That may be the biggest difference feet-wise between RBI hits in baseball. Arkansas would steal a run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but Chris Williams belted a hearty laugh, and blasted a two-run homer to right-center field. The Naturals came scratching back, though. Chris Vallimont had a tough outing in relief, allowing two earned runs and walking four batters in 1 2/3 innings of work. Defense didn’t help either, as both Andrew Bechtold and Austin Martin made errors that allowed un-earned runs to score. That Martin error was especially deadly, as Arkansas rode their extra out to three runs and a tied game. In dramatic fashion, Martin then made good and gave Wichita the lead in the 8th with an RBI single. The Naturals could not recover from that deficit. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 1 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K HR: Anthony Prato (5) Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, 2B, R), Alerick Soularie (2-for-4, 3B, 2 R, RBI), Will Holland (2-for-3, R, RBI) The Kernels won on Saturday. Water is wet. These were the two sentences used last time, and they are still appropriate. Sawyer Gipson-Long Did the Darn Thing and completely silenced the Chiefs’ bats. It took the righty just 62 pitches to run through 15 outs with seven of those being strikeouts. Gipson-Long has been a surprising revelation since joining the Twins organization, and Saturday was another day in a line of impressive starts from him. Credit news to be given to Derek Molina, Tyler Palm, and Denny Bentley, as they combined for four clutch innings of work and just a single earned run allowed. Although the game ended up handily won by Cedar Rapids, the game flow was not always so simple. The score was 2-1 after eight innings with an Alerick Soularie little-league homer (triple with an error allowing him to score), and a Jair Camargo RBI single representing their only offense of the game. But the Kernels broke it open in the 9th inning, plating five runs off a few base knocks, and an Anthony Prato three-run bomb. Peoria had no response in their half of the inning. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 10, Palm Beach 4 Box Score Steve Hajjar: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K HR: Mikey Perez (3), Dillon Tatum (2) Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (3-for-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB), Mikey Perez (3-for-4, 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB) The Mighty Mussels won handily on Saturday. Is it a good thing to have four players reach base three times in one game? Asking for a friend. Fort Myers dominated with an equal attack amongst their offense—no one batter should own the means of run production after all. Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez continued to be on-base machines, which isn’t surprising. Mikey Perez was the big story though, as he doubled, homered, and reached base four times in the game. Eight hitters reached base at least once. Steve Hajjar took the mound, and while he allowed just one run, command eluded him. Hajjar walked five batters while throwing just 46 of his 80 pitches for strikes. Although, it appears he was “effectively wild” given that the Cardinals could only knock one hit off of him. Walks proved to be the name of the game overall. The Mighty Mussels walked more than they struck out (nine to eight) while the Cardinals weren’t far behind (seven to 10). One could refer to this game as “leisurely.” TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sawyer Gipson-Long Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 2-for-5, R, RBI #2 – Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-4 #3 – Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-5, 2 K #4 – Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did not pitch #5 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did not pitch #6 – Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Did not pitch #7 – Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K #8 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - Did not pitch #9 – Josh Winder (Minnesota) - Did not pitch #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB #11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, 2 K #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, K #13 – Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did not pitch #14 – Louie Varland (Wichita) - Did not pitch #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 3-for-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB, K #16 – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - Did not pitch #17 – Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K #18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 2B #19 – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K #20 – Steve Hajjar (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (12:05 PM) - RHP Bailey Ober St. Paul @ Columbus (Game Two) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez Wichita @ NW Arkansas (1:35 PM) - RHP Casey Legumina Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (1:35 PM) - RHP John Stankiewicz Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (12:00 PM) - RHP Marco Raya View full article

Of course, what happens is you spend a few days writing an article about a guy and on the day you send it, he has his worst outing of the season. Really shouldn't have tempted fate like that.

Jhoan Duran has melted faces, Emilio Pagán has given everyone heart attacks, and Joe Smith has rumbled on, continuing his excellence with a fastball that wouldn’t get pulled over on most highways. Yet, Griffin Jax has quietly emerged as a reliable stud in the bullpen, giving the team desperately needed bridge-outs in the middle innings with relative ease. Let’s talk about Jax, the relief ace. Griffin Jax had a poor 2021 season by just about any stat you prefer. He struck out just 18.1% of batters, walked them at an 8.1% clip, and gave up 23 home runs in 82 innings, a total high enough to make Bert Blyleven blush. Unsurprisingly, his ERA/FIP/xFIP slash line looked more like the price of gas these days, as it went 6.37/6.47/5.75. Outside of a surprise, 10 strikeout game against the White Sox on August 10th, outings of upside were few and far between. Jax always had a trick up his sleeve: his slider. The pitch was a bright spot in an otherwise bland repertoire, running a .275 xWOBA with characteristics favorable in Eno Sarris' pitch data collection. Ironically, his popular slide piece only recently joined his repertoire. You can read Jax himself describe the pitch to David Laurila in possibly the greatest baseball information series known to mankind. According to Jax, the pitch came as a fluke; “I was toying around in catch-play, right before I was about to go on the mound, and was like, ‘What if I just turned my curveball a little bit?’ That’s how I got the slider I have now.” Coaches immediately caught on to the pitch and encouraged him to continue using it. In its horizontal break, the pitch perfectly fits with the sweeper revolution in baseball, and it has buoyed Jax’s 2022 season so far. With his two-pitch (basically one-pitch) mix, Jax became a reliever. His velocity has bumped up two ticks to 94.7 MPH, and he has thrown his slider a Matt Wisler-like 52.7% of the time. While the fastball remains hittable, the breaker is anything but. He owns a .195 xWOBA with it, while hitters are whiffing 47.3% of the time they swing at it. That’s good. In fact, that’s good for 11th best amongst all pitchers in MLB who have faced 25 hitters in 2022. The total numbers are inspiring; an ERA/FIP/xFIP slash line of 1.35/2.43/2.83 that looks great in any era, dead ball or not. The only two criticisms are ‘it’s early’ and ‘it’s not sustainable.’ The first point is fair, but the second one may not be true in the age of breakers. Matt Wisler, Amir Garrett, Andrés Muñoz, Diego Castillo, and the Rogers twins are all quality relievers throwing sliders more often this season than Jax. And, well, just look at the pitch! Hitters may eventually key in on the pitch, but its movement combined with Jax’s command makes it a safe bet that he’ll continue to succeed in the majors. Like we talked about with Danny Coulombe, where a pitch ends up matters as much, if not more than any movement profile. Jax knows how to put his slider juuuuuuuust in the precise place to fool hitters. Yeah, that’ll work. Griffin Jax has become a revelation, finding his proper place in the bullpen where he can unleash as many sliders as humanly possible. It has only been a handful of innings, but Jax has wholly changed course from 2021; his performance is much improved, and his stuff suggests that this will be a permanent change. View full article

You may think it's too early, and that's fine, but we have countless articles from incredibly bright minds that can absolutely prove that the balls are dead. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/home-runs-and-drag-an-early-look-at-the-2022-season/ https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/74097/moonshot-2022-mlb-baseball-higher-drag/ https://theathletic.com/3272450/2022/04/26/baseballs-arent-flying-as-far-and-home-runs-are-down-across-mlb-is-it-the-ball-itself/

Do the Twins actually have a good pitching staff? Twins fans have asked this question in various forms, attempting to grapple with a group of arms currently sitting with the fourth-lowest ERA in baseball. Usually, one does not question a good thing, but Minnesota sports fans know better than to buy into any hype. This author cannot answer for sure, but it does appear that the team has purposely constructed a stable of pitchers perfectly suited for a new Twins pitching style. Let’s dive in. The ball is dead. The ball remains dead. And Rob Manfred has killed it. One can barely watch a game or read a baseball article without someone mentioning just how short baseballs are flying compared to previous years. Perhaps MLB wanted to counter-act the previous “rabbit ball” era, perhaps they wanted to de-incentivize home runs to move away from three-true-outcome baseball, or perhaps Manfred is a foolish stooge. One cannot say with authority which statement is true, or if the answer includes some combo of the three, but the reality is thus: baseballs in 2022 are not flying as far as before. If the baseballs are dead, and they are, then flyball pitchers have the most to gain from such a development; their main weakness—one of those flyballs landing behind the fence—is neutered. The term “flyball pitcher” has become something of a swear in the juiced-ball age, implying a deficiency rather than describing a strategy. The main plus to being a flyball pitcher is that most true flyballs end up in gloves; flyballs held a .117 BABIP in 2018, and that number barely moves yearly. If flyballs are no longer as threatening as before, a team in 2022 could be more liberal with allowing them. For the Twins, that’s an important note. The team has the seventh-highest flyball rate in baseball, and many of the culprits holding that number up—Joe Ryan, Chris Archer, and Sonny Gray—the team targeted over the past year. Those pitchers have other desirable traits, so their flyball rate could be a secondary thought, but that consideration looms especially large this season. Of course, presumably, part of why the Twins targeted them involved other details; Target Field and outfield defense. If Target Field feels like it’s on the cavernous side of ballparks, that’s because it is. Statcast’s park factors claim that the stadium was the 10th best at suppressing homers between 2019-2021 and is generally slightly more of a pitcher’s park. That feels right. The high walls in right field block homers that would go out in the wiffleball field that is Yankee Stadium, while centerfield often plays like Death Valley, eating up flyballs for dinner. Righties have it better for hitting doubles, but it’s also the most challenging park for them to single in. A secondary point: that 2019 team looks even more impressive when you consider that the team hit many of those homers in a park that is bad for power. The exact characteristics that define Target Field aside, there’s one glaring, painfully obvious reason Target Field is more challenging for hitters: Byron Buxton. Buxton’s defense needs no introduction, so it won’t get one. Buxton is an out machine, whether you like OAA, UZR, DRS, or any other suspiciously New Deal Program-sounding acronyms. His presence in center is world-altering, attracting fly balls to his person so he can gobble them up in a SportsCenter Top 10-esque diving catch or during a mid-sprint effort that only looks easy because Buxton makes it look so. Even his backup, Gilberto Celestino, currently is in the 84th percentile of outfielders by OAA, albeit in a minuscule sample size. In fact, let’s talk about those other outfielders; Max Kepler has long been one of the finest defensive right fielders in the game, ranking in the top 15 in MLB in OAA every full year since its introduction. Trevor Larnach is messier to analyze given his small sample, but Statcast at least thinks his route-running is good enough for an NFL wide receiver. Nick Gordon holds the least attractive numbers, but he has the athleticism to play in the outfield and should improve with more reps. It should be unsurprising that the Twins outfield is currently 1st in MLB in DRS, 3rd in OAA, and 3rd in UZR/150 innings. The ball does not fly as far as before, Twins pitchers are good at allowing fly balls, Target Field suppresses those fly balls, and the Twins outfield will probably catch them. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are either cracked-out geniuses or fortunate individuals because they have quietly built a perfect relationship between the ball, pitcher, park, and defense. That combination has not only fueled their success so far in 2022, but it will probably carry them to many victories as the season continues. View full article

Like a well-used Nissan Altima, Danny Coulombe bafflingly has done his job almost every time Rocco Baldelli has handed him the ball. The 32-year-old lefty was an afterthought, an assumed sacrificial arm for the baseball gods when the Twins added him to the 40-man roster in 2020. What would you expect from a former nondescript reliever known for a handful of innings on some Athletics teams of varying greatness? The first sign of evolution for a reliever is always velocity—is he throwing harder in a pitching landscape so focused on the radar gun? To end this streak of questions, no. His average fastball has reached a new high in 2022 (91.6 MPH), but the sample of 11 innings is negligible. Looking at 2021, the year featuring the bulk of his Twins innings, the fastball remained unchanged from his “heyday” with Oakland: 90.6 MPH sitting in a sea of relative sameness. The secret sauce in Danny Coulombe’s recipe is his off-speed collection. Unique amongst most bullpen arms, he often spins both a curve and a slider (with a healthy seasoning of changeups in 2022), giving Coulombe plenty of options to net his outs. When talking to David Laurila, Coulombe mentioned that he developed the slider to throw off hitters able to key in on the “hump” noticeable in most curveballs. The new pitch was not specifically for aiding in platoon splits, but more valuable weapons are never bad for a pitcher. Coulombe is the kind of arm who could use as many options as possible. The public movement data from Statcast paints a rather average portrait of a reliever. Despite having enough red in his percentile rankings to make Senator Joseph McCarthy irate, his curveball’s vertical movement is the only pitch with outstanding characteristics. In fact, most of his pitches are pretty poor by advanced movement measurements. Let’s talk about the slider. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Twins have coaxed him into tossing it more often than before. In Minnesota, Coulombe has thrown 36.5% sliders against 31.7% with the Dodgers and Athletics before 2020. But, oddly, the slider is not that great of a pitch. It produced a .304 xwOBA in 2021, which is fine but nowhere near elite; his curveball was far better at a .169 xwOBA mark. What gives? Command might be the answer. Movement profiles and batted ball data are great, but the goal of all pitchers is still to throw the ball where they want. The first two heatmaps are for his slider and curveball locations respectively before joining the Twins, the next two afterward. Aha! That looks significant. The Twins have moved Coulombe towards throwing his breaking balls more off the plate rather than in the strike zone. The reason should be apparent; off-speed pitches thrown for strikes are dangerous when not adequately commanded, and hitters across the board perform worse against breaking balls outside of the zone. So what do we make of this? To venture a guess, Coulombe will generally avoid loud contact thanks to his decision to now throw breakers out of the zone, but he may run an elevated walk rate because of it. The aforementioned plan is excellent when the pitcher is working ahead, but without an 0-1 or 1-2 count, Coulombe may struggle more than your average arm. At the moment, his first-pitch strike % sits a touch below the league average for relievers (58.1% vs. 60.2%). Gripping stuff, yes. “A pitcher needs to get ahead to succeed” isn’t new knowledge by any stretch of the imagination, but this is more “Coulombe’s entire plan succeeds or fails depending on whether he can get ahead of the count.” So far this year, the philosophy has yielded iffy xFIP numbers, and his early-count strike rate may reveal a house of cards. As always, though, it is still May, and performances can vary in the coming months. We shall see how successful Coulombe is in the future with the Twins plan, but he is undeniably a different pitcher. So what do you think? Can Danny Coulombe be a reliable arm out of the Twins bullpen all season, or maybe even longer? Leave your COMMENTS below. View full article

One important pitching prospect made his first start in a while, another made his AAA debut, and yet another one looked to continue his dominant beginning of the season. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS RHP Jordan Balazovic activated from the IL for the St. Paul Saints RHP Cole Sands optioned to the St. Paul Saints from the Minnesota Twins RHP Blayne Enlow assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on minor league rehab RHP Dylan Thomas was reinstated from the 7-day IL and released Saints Sentinel St. Paul 9, Iowa 2 Box Score Jordan Balazovic: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K HR: Kevin Merrell (1), Derek Fisher (3) Multi-hit games: Jermaine Palacios (2-for-5, RBI) A top prospect made his AAA debut on Saturday. Jordan Balazovic, one of the team’s top pitching young arms, returned from the injured list on Saturday, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Saints. Other exciting pitching prospects have overshadowed Balazovic with their major-league performances, but no one should forget just how dominant Balazovic can be when healthy. Of course, one should never lose themselves in a pitcher when St. Paul’s offense scored nine runs. It was a group effort on Saturday; every player got on base at least once, and the only player without a hit (Curtis Terry) walked four times. In fact, the team ended up walking more often than they struck out (11 to 10). The Cubs suffered death by a thousand paper cuts. Outside of the Kevin Merrell homer above, Derek Fisher and Cole Sturgeon provided the only other extra-base hits of the game. One final offensive note: every RBI came from the 5-9 hitters. Mario Sanchez allowed two runs over 3 1/3 innings in relief of Balazovic; Wladimir Pinto shut out Iowa over the final two innings with an impressive five strikeouts. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 5, Tulsa 4 Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson: 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: Spencer Steer 2 (3, 4) Multi-hit games: Spencer Steer (3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR) Wichita walked off their opponent on Saturday. Simeon Woods Richardson proved he was human, allowing his first earned runs of the year in a decidedly middling start. The Drillers, full of classically tough Dodgers prospects, ambushed Woods Richardson in the third inning with three hits and an HBP, ultimately netting three runs in the frame. Wichita would not stand around quietly, though. Or, Spencer Steer specifically, would not stand around quietly. Steer was a train engine, doubling home a run in the first before homering in the third and fourth innings. One must assume that Tulsa pitchers were on the verge of an outright revolt if their coaches forced them to pitch to Steer. Of course, one man an offense does not make. Alex Isola reached base three times, Michael Helman singled home a run, and Matt Wallner brought home the walk-off run in the 9th inning. Don’t look now, but Wallner now owns an .897 OPS at AA despite his dreadful start to the season. We all sometimes Need A Little Help From Our Friends, and the wind smiled favorably onto Wichita. Oh, and Wallner also threw a missile to nail a runner at home. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2 Box Score Cade Povich: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K HR: Anthony Prato (4), Will Holland (1), Aaron Sabato (4) Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (3-for-4, 2 R) The Kernels won on Saturday. Water is wet. Cade Povich continued his utterly brilliant introduction to the full minor-league season by punching out eight batters without allowing an earned run. Don’t look now, but the Twins may already have the second wave of arms in the wings waiting for the first group to graduate. Cedar Rapids’ offense started with a bang. Anthony Prato hit a lead-off homer and Charles Mack doubled home another run in the first to give Povich a 2-0 lead before his second inning of work. Will Holland extended the lead in the second with a solo shot before Aaron Sabato blasted away, giving the Kernels a six-run lead before anyone knew what hit them. Bobby Milacki and Denny Bentley combined for four innings with just one run allowed to end the game. Kernels pitchers struck out 15 batters in total. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 7, Lakeland 12 Box Score Blayne Enlow: 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jake Rucker (2-for-3, R, RBI, 2B, BB), Noah Miller (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB), Noah Cardenas (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Daniel Ozoria (2-for-4, 2 R) The Mighty Mussels lost a high scorer on Saturday. Blayne Enlow made his much-anticipated return from Tommy John surgery. The young righty was tagged as the Lance McCullers of the Twins’ 2017 draft when they went over-slot to pick him in the third round after drafting Royce Lewis with the first overall pick. His career hasn’t been straightforward since, but the Twins saw enough potential to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and this year will go a long way to proving whether that decision was wise. Baseball is far too cruel to carry a storybook tale, though. Even after Fort Myers jumped out to a 6-0 lead, Lakeland harassed Enlow in the second inning, taking advantage of poor defense to take a 7-6 lead after the dust had settled. Mike Parades tried in vain to put the effort to a stop, but Lakeland’s bats were in an evil mood, and all he gained was a higher ERA. The game wasn’t all bad; Fort Myers reached base 16 times as Noah Miller and Emmanuel Rodriguez continued to flash their on-base potential with three and two times reaching base respectively. Keoni Cavaco was not so fortunate, striking out three times in the loss. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cade Povich Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-5, R #2 – Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-3, 2B, K #3 – Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-2, BB #4 – Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K #7 – Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB, K #11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-for-1 #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-4, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, K #17 – Blayne Enlow (Fort Myers) - 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K #18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, 2B SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Iowa @ St. Paul (2:07 PM) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez Tulsa @ Wichita (12:05 PM) - RHP Chris Vallimont Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long Fort Myers @ Lakeland (12:00 PM) - LHP Steve Hajjar View full article