Matt Braun

Twins’ minor league teams split the night, going 2-2 with some good, some bad, and some ugly... All that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS C José Godoy selected by Minnesota Twins Saints Sentinel St. Paul 2, Toledo 5 Box Score Jake Faria: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Royce Lewis (2) Multi-hit games: Curtis Terry (2-for-4, 2B) The Saints lost a winnable game on Saturday. Starter Jake Faria carried the torch for the first few innings of the game, racking up five strikeouts over four solid frames with one earned run to his name. He was not as efficient as he probably would have liked, however, and was pulled from the game after 76 pitches. The game sat at a 1-0 standstill heading into the 6th inning before Royce Lewis strode up to the plate and absolutely molly whopped crushed destroyed obliterated annihilated the baseball to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. The lead was short-lived. Chi Chi Gonzalez, pitching in relief of Faria, allowed a two-run triple and RBI single that gave the Mud Hens a lead they would never relinquish. Drew Strotman pitched an inning with no earned runs. The offense outside of Lewis’ blast was sparse. Curtis Terry and Elliot Soto provided a double each, while Chance Cisco was the only hitter outside of Terry to reach base twice. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 4, Midland 15 Box Score Brandon Lawson: 1 1/3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, K HR: None Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B), Michael Helman (2-for-4, RBI, 2B) Wichita was clobbered on Saturday. It was one of those days where showing up to the diamond felt like a mistake; The Wind Surge fell into a deficit in the first inning and never recovered. Wichita pitchers allowed 17 hits, 14 earned runs, and 10 walks. Alex Scherff was the only pitcher not to allow a baserunner. It would be for the best if we ended the discussion on pitching there. Wind Surge hitters were somewhat more successful. While they only knocked around three extra-base hits, they struck out just four times; poor BABIP proved to be their downfall more than anything. Edouard Julien was the most prolific hitter of the bunch, dropping in three hits while scoring half of Wichita’s total runs. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-for-2, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 2B), Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B), Will Holland (2-for-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2B) The Kernels continued their dominant start to the season on Saturday. Unusually mortal, Sawyer Gipson-Long did not over-match hitters like he usually does. The righty trudged through four innings while Peoria hitters frustrated him by scoring in three of those frames. It was a rare off-day for a pitcher who had been so great for most of last season and the beginning of this one. The Kernels offense had his back, though. They pecked away at the Chiefs’ lead, scoring in five separate innings to culminate in six runs total—more than enough needed to win the game. Aaron Sabato and Will Holland were the most consistent culprits, twice plating runners and twice knocking in hits. In relief of Gipson-Long, Bradley Hanner, Melvi Acosta, and Osiris German combined to toss five scoreless innings, ensuring the win for Cedar Rapids. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 7, Dunedin 3 Box Score David Festa: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (1), Emmanuel Rodriguez (5), Kyler Fedko (2) Multi-hit games: Noah Miller (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B), Dylan Neuse (2-for-5) The Miracle won solidly on Saturday. David Festa continued his incredible start to the season with four shutout innings. It was not the cleanest performance—he needed 70 pitches to net 12 outs—but the start lowered his season ERA to 1.93. Much like the Kernels, Fort Myers hitters backed up their pitchers. The New Bash Brothers, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kyler Fedko, both launched homers in their effort to discredit the entire concept of pitching in general. Oddly enough, all of Fort Myers’ runs came via a homer or a bases-loaded BB. Walks proved to be the defining aspect of the game, as the Mighty Mussels took eight of them in the game; that’s how they plated seven runs off eight hits. The barrage of relievers—Jaylen Nowlin, Malik Barrington, Regi Grace, Matthew Swain—worked five innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs to carry the team to victory. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – David Festa, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Edouard Julien, Wichita Wind Surge PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, R #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR #3 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B, K #11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-1 #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, HR #18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K #19 – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Toledo (1:05 PM) - RHP Daniel Gossett Midland @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - LHP Aaron Rozek Fort Myers @ Dunedin (11:00 AM) - RHP Travis Adams View full article

The hitters across the farm system enjoyed fruitful days at the plate. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS LHP Lewis Thorpe added to AAA St. Paul from Development List Saints Sentinel St. Paul 16, Indianapolis 13 Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 1 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: Derek Fisher (2), Curtis Terry (3), Jermaine Palacios (1) Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B), Royce Lewis (3-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, 3B), Curtis Terry (2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR), Jermaine Palacios (4-for-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR) The Saints won a crazy game on Saturday. Lewis Thorpe took the bump for St. Paul; the recently outrighted left-hander was looking to impress in his first official start of the season. Things did not go well. Thorpe was tagged for a solo shot in the first inning, but the second inning proved to be most damaging as seven runners crossed home plate for Indianapolis. J.C. Ramirez had to be called in to end the madness. Down eight runs early, the Saints' bats remained unphased. Derek Fisher answered back with a two-run homer to cut the lead to six, while a Jose Miranda single knocked down the deficit to within one-hand-counting distance. But the team was not done yet. In the third inning, St. Paul harassed Jerad Eickhoff and southpaw-Frenchman, Cam Vieaux to the tune of five runs—just enough to knot the game at eight. The game remained a slugfest until the bell rung in the ninth inning. Indianapolis would take a three-run lead, Curtis Terry would erase it; Indianapolis jumped ahead later, then Miranda and Royce Lewis negated it. Eventually, Jermaine Palacios yelled enough and blasted a two-run homer that cemented the Saints’ lead for good. Royce Lewis, once again, was the star of the show. He unleashed three crucial extra-base hits from the DH spot that either ignited a rally or stoked the flames of one. It would be difficult to have a better start to the season (although Christian Encarnacion-Strand is making a case). Jermaine Palacios’ 4-for-4 performance should not be ignored either. The 25-year-old started at left field instead of shortstop like usual and showed no discomfort by reaching base all five times he walked up to the plate. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 5 Box Score Chris Vallimont: 2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Spencer Steer (2-for-5), Dennis Ortega (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Michael Helman (2-for-5), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-5, R), Kevin Merrell (3-for-5, RBI) Wichita won an extra-inning affair on Saturday. Chris Vallimont was handed the ball to start the game and did not have his best stuff. The righty struggles with command, walking five hitters before his day ended partway through the third inning. Hopefully, he can rebound in his next start. The offense kept the game within reach, however. Dennis Ortega brought home the first run of the game with a two-run single in the 5th inning, while Wichita drew the game even closer when Austin Martin scored in the 7th inning when the Naturals' defense threw the ball around the field. Martin later knotted the game with a clutch RBI single in the 8th inning. The game moved into extra innings, where the Wind Surge took advantage of the Manfred runner to plate two runs thanks to an Alex Isola sacrifice fly and a single from Kevin Merrell. Steven Klimek was shaky to close the game. He allowed a runner to score, and ultimately loaded the bases before inducing the final outs to end the game in favor of Wichita. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 10, Quad Cities 2 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K HR: Aaron Sabato (1), Jair Camargo (2, 3) Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-6, 2 R), Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, BB, 2B, HR), Jair Camargo (4-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR), Will Holland (2-for-5, R, 2B) The Kernels demolished their opponent on Saturday. Sawyer Gipson-Long set the tone on the mound with five masterful innings. The righty scattered three hits across his start while punching out an impressive nine batters in just 60 pitches. Talk about efficiency. Gipson-Long found a groove late last year, and he has continued to melt faces with the Kernels; he’ll certainly be in Wichita sooner than later. But that’s enough about pitching. Cedar Rapids’ bats were explosive early and often on Saturday. Aaron Sabato smacked a three-run homer in the first inning, Jair Camargo sent a solo shot over the wall in the second, Jeferson Morales tripled home a run in the third, Camargo hit another homer in the fourth, and, well, you get the idea. In total, the Kernels bopped seven extra-base hits in the game with a fairly even distribution of damage amongst all hitters. Derek Molina concluded the game with two shutout innings and four strikeouts. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 2, Jupiter 6 Box Score David Festa: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (3-for-3, R, RBI, 2B) The Mighty Mussels lost a rain-shortened game on Saturday. David Festa took the mound for the second Saturday in a row, and much like the previous week, he flashed dominant ability with eight strikeouts over five efficient innings. Tom Froemming notes that he topped out at 97.2 MPH with his fastball. Offensively, the game was a struggle for the Fort Myers bats. Thanks to RBI doubles from Kyler Fedko and Kala’i Rosario, the Mighty Mussels took a quick lead, but those would prove to be the only two runs of the day for the team. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had enough of Fort Myers’ winning streak, and the higher powers convened to snap the team’s seven-game run in the 6th inning. 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 – Jermaine Palacios/Jair Camargo PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, 3B, #3 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B #9 – Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 5 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 2 K #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, 2 K #18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 2-for-5, K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Indianapolis @ St. Paul (2:07 PM) - RHP Jake Faria Wichita @ NW Arkansas (2:05 PM) - RHP Brandon Lawson Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 PM) - LHP Aaron Rozek Jupiter @ Fort Myers (12:00 PM) - RHP Travis Adams View full article

A few hitters had monster nights, while the pitchers also did their job. Read all about that and more in this edition of the minor league report. TRANSACTIONS None Saints Sentinel St. Paul 11, Louisville 1 Box Score SP: Devin Smeltzer: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K HR: Royce Lewis (1), Chance Cisco (1) Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, 2B, HR), Daniel Robertson (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, BB), Jake Cave (2-for-5, R, BB), Caleb Hamilton (3-for-5, R, 3 RBI) It’s Royce Lewis’ world, and we’re just living in it. The top prospect reached base five times on the back of three walks, a double, and a homer. He also flashed some leather with an excellent play rolling to his right. It’s been a small sample, but Lewis has quickly re-established why evaluators were originally high on the high school shortstop out of California. The rest of the offense wasn’t bad. Saints bats took nine walks and dropped 14 hits on the helpless Bats pitching staff. They aren’t called the Louisville Arms. Somehow, the Saints scored 11 runs while leaving 13 players stranded on base. Not to be outdone, Devin Smeltzer and the Saints’ pitching staff did their job as well. Smeltzer tossed four scoreless innings while Griffin Jax, Jovani Moran, and Yennier Cano combined to finish the job. Those three relievers struck out eight hitters and allowed just one run. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 2, Tulsa 3 Box Score SP: Simeon Woods Richardson: 5 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None Simeon Woods Richardson pitched a masterpiece on Saturday. The right-handed pitching prospect was looking to improve his 2021 performance with Wichita, and Saturday was a good start. His start was the longest of the day for any Twins prospect, and it took him just 66 pitches to net 17 outs. Woods Richardson’s prospect stock may be deflated, but his talent is undeniable. The Wind Surge offense was mainly held in check. The game took 10 innings to complete, but the bats were held to three hits and three walks on the night. Hopefully, Sunday can be a more productive day for Wichita hitters. The game was going smoothly before two runs were scored in the 7th off of wild pitches from Austin Schulfer. In fact, if one doesn’t count the 10th inning zombie runner as legitimate, then Tulsa did not have a hit with a runner in scoring position. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 9, Beloit 3 Box Score SP: Brent Headrick: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K HR: Christian Encarnacion-Strand (3) Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (5-for-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2B, HR) Christian Encarnacion-Strand may not be of this planet. The 2021 4th round draft pick went an amazing five-for-five on Saturday, one notch better than the previous day when he went four-for-five. He somehow has more RBIs on the year than plate appearances, and it should be fully expected that he somehow goes six-for-five on Sunday. He also stole a base. The rest of the Kernels offense acted like prime Michael Jackson by dropping singles after singles in what ended up being a 13 hit effort. Like the Saints, the Kernels still left 23 men on base despite scoring nine runs. Brent Headrick, the Twins’ 9th round pick in 2019, shoved. He punched out eight batters over five innings of work and allowed just two runs to score off two hits. Cody Laweryson and Matt Mullenbach tossed four innings with no earned runs to end the game. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 4, Clearwater 2 Box Score SP: David Festa: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Emmanuel Rodriguez (1) Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2B, HR) The Mighty Mussels won a close one on Saturday. Emmanuel Rodriguez led the offensive movement, reaching base four times and supplying two of the three RBIs from Mighty Mussels hitters. He also owned the two extra-base hits of the game for Fort Myers. The big 2019 international signee is looking to make a significant splash in his first taste of full-season minor league ball, and Saturday’s performance was just the kind of day to make his name known. David Festa was the shining star on the mound. The tall right-hander punched out five batters while allowing just three hits over five innings of work. Festa was a 2021 draft pick, and while pitchers like Steve Hajjar and Cade Povich have received more attention, he should not be forgotten. A rule change also aided Fort Myers. Kala’i Rosario appeared to strike out on a full count with the bases loaded to end the 8th, but he challenged the call, and the ABS system reversed the strike to a ball, leading to an insurance run to score. (Also, that would have been Rosario's fifth strikeout of the game. Instead, he settled for the Golden Sombrero and an RBI walk!) Regi Grace and Mike Paredes combined for four innings of relief with just one earned run to win the game for Fort Myers. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson, Wichita Wind Surge Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B #2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, 2B, HR #3 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, RBI, 2 K #8 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 5 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K #10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-5, 3 K #12 – Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2 K #15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K, 2B, HR #18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-4, RBI, K, 2B #19 – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Louisville (12:05 PM) - RHP Jake Faria Tulsa @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Chris Vallimont Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long Fort Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM) - RHP Travis Adams View full article

As of writing this article on April 5th, the year of our Lord 2022, the Twins bullpen is far from set. Some prominent names have established themselves, while other, darker horses rode a hot spring into the opening day roster. But the pitching staff generally is a name salad of “whos” and “whys;” players with little star power at the moment but who are still guys potentially capable of carrying a team. The Twins this year will be flexible, and that is a good thing. Why go with a flexible pitching staff? There are two significant reasons. The first stems from the natural volatility of relievers, something in the DNA of the position curses them with inconsistency more unusual than any other position in baseball. We see relievers rise and fall yearly, with only a handful of genuinely elite talents remaining at the top of the heap for more than a year at a time. They’re about as consistent as Ohio or Pennsylvania in an election year. That creates a significant challenge for team-building. Beyond occasionally being stuck with poor performances, the issue is the sunk-cost fallacy that comes with bringing in a free-agent reliever. The Twins know all about this. What do you do with a struggling reliever with a solid history of success? Alex Colomé was utterly dreadful in 2021, blowing saves in cartoonish fashion for three painful months before the sting of each loss numbed due to the team’s already poor record. If Colomé were some AAAA schlep, he would have been optioned before April ended, and a different arm would have had the chance to prove themselves. But Colomé didn’t have options, and the team owed him $5 million, so the Twins had to be as confident as humanly possible that Colomé was no longer worth the roster spot. The season was already a lost cause by that time, and Colomé remained on the team. Ensuring that you can quickly rid yourself of a poor-performing reliever is a wise strategy. The other main reason to have flexibility is rooted in pitching philosophy. For years, a pitcher was either a starter, an individual capable of pitching anywhere between five-to-nine innings every fifth day, or they were a reliever, an individual tasked with netting three outs on a moment's notice. The system does not make much sense if one thinks about it. There’s a significant grey area between “incapable of pitching deep into games” and “can only be relied upon for three outs.” Indeed, some of these arms could go for two or three innings, right? One could combine pitchers like Voltron to make a better, more complete staff out of pitchers with potential drawbacks. Fortunately, some more enlightened baseball philosophers have moved away from this rigid binary, and, in a move that harkens back to the pitching staffs of the 60s and 70s, labels like “starter” and “reliever” have merged into someone simply being an “out-getter.” A pitcher is no longer only good for one or five-to-nine innings; they are allowed to get as many outs as physically possible. A myriad of terms have grown into our shared baseball lexicon to describe this shift: “opener,” “piggy-backing,” uhhh, “two dogs and two cats.” While differing in their meaning, they all call back to the idea that pitchers differ in the duration of their effectiveness. The Rays are a masterclass in this style of strategy. In what feels like the millionth year in a row, the team owned a top-10 pitching staff in baseball by fWAR, struck out a small army, and barely walked anyone despite losing ace Tyler Glasnow to Tommy John surgery. Four pitchers, Shane McClanahan, Rich Hill, Glasnow, and Shane Baz, appeared solely as a starter. The 11 other pitchers who made a start for them in 2021 also appeared out of the bullpen at some point in 2021. Let’s take a look at their strategy in action. On July 28th, Michael Wacha pitched five solid innings before being followed by Drew Rasmussen, old friend Matt Wisler, Pete Fairbanks, and Andrew Kittredge. On August 12th, Rasmussen started the game and went four innings; he was followed by Collin McHugh, old friend J.T. Chargois, Louis Head, and Ryan Sheriff. Rasmussen both started and entered the game in the sixth inning in about a two-week period, and he netted significant innings in both roles. It’s a high-wire act for sure, a bad game or two could throw the entire staff into chaos, but a deft manager can properly tip-toe the line. In practice for the Twins, we may see something like Chris Archer going four innings, Jhoan Duran following with three innings of his own, and then the usual suspects of Tyler Duffey and Taylor Rogers cleaning up the game, assuming all went well. This style of pitching management will be even more necessary at the beginning of the season; starters are not yet ready for their usual pitch counts, and games have not yet been shortened (but I wouldn’t put anything by Rob Manfred). Expanded rosters will help alleviate the pitching roster crunch. As it stands, five relievers—Rogers, Duffey, Joe Smith, Jharel Cotton, and Danny Coulombe—are un-optionable (without the risk of losing them on waivers). The rest of the bullpen will be ushered into the continuous testing machinery to determine which arms can stay at the major league level. Think of it like the Hunger Games, but you’re sent to St. Paul instead of dying. Guys like Griffin Jax, Josh Winder, Cody Stashak, and Jovani Moran may or may not begin the season in the majors, but the team will certainly shuffle them in at some point in 2022. It may be for the best if you don’t get too attached to the names you see in the bullpen to begin the season. How would you like to see the pitching staff work, especially in the season's first month. Leave a COMMENT and discuss below. View full article

On March 19th, the Twins officially announced the signing of reliever Joe Smith to a one-year deal. It was the quintessential Derek Falvey acquisition. The team ignored declining velocity, instead choosing to bank on Smith’s historic consistency—a consistency that stems from his unique traits that fly in the face of the modern velocity obsession—to carry him for one more season. It may be only one move, but the signing, on top of a handful of other moves by the front office, signals a divergence away from the general baseball consensus and may define the team’s future. In the fanfare and celebration of signing Carlos Correa, you'd be forgiven if you missed the Twins inking 38-year-old Joe Smith to a one-year pact. Smith, an MLB pitcher since the Bush administration, is precisely the style of reliever favored by Falvey and company. His average fastball hasn’t tickled 90 MPH in years, and much of his effectiveness is rooted in “funkiness,” a pitching trait in the Potter Stewart philosophy of “I know it when I see it.” In the case of Smith, his unique, low arm slot is his special calling card. Smith now joins the likes of Matt Belisle, Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke, Sergio Romo, and Tyler Clippard as an “unusual Twins reliever” acquired during the Falvey regime. That is to say, these bullpeners are (or were) atypical in their archetype—age or poor fastball velocity lowered the industry opinion of them, whether fair or not. But the Twins, perhaps believing in a philosophical blind spot, decided to trust in their past effectiveness and were rewarded with mixed but generally positive results. Belisle caught fire in the second half of 2017 to help lead the team to their first playoff appearance in seven years, Rodney and Duke both performed just well enough to net prospects in 2018, Romo was crucial in cementing a shaky Twins bullpen in 2019, and Clippard was a quality reliever for the Twins during the truncated 2020 season. Of course, the Twins haven’t solely focused on cast-offs from the island of misfit toys; they have signed or acquired more prototypical relievers like Addison Reed, Sam Dyson, and Alex Colomé on top of their usual assortment of unique funkmasters. Funny enough, it seems like they have had better fortune with odd relievers than with your more standard ones, but that isn’t quite the point of this article. Why ignore velocity? The Twins, as pointed out by Tom Froemming, had a velocity problem in May 2021 and had not fixed that issue by October 2021. It is March 2022, and the symptoms still persist. None of the four assumed starters possess an average fastball velocity that tops 93 MPH—a fact entirely at odds with the front office’s implications that velocity would be a top priority when they took over command of decision-making in 2016. Both newly-acquired starters, Sonny Gray and Dylan Bundy, are more masters of breaking balls than fireballers. Taylor Rogers and Jorge Alcala are the only true flamethrowers established in the bullpen. When diagnosing the malady, we must remember that there is nuance in team building; teams like the Twins count all their chips to the last penny as their room for error is smaller than other franchises. The team could quickly cash in and deal their top prospects for high-octane arms or sign the fastest-tossing relievers with little care for the long-term implications of those decisions. Still, such moves would not only likely hurt the franchise, but it would also open them up to being dunked on by randoms on Twitter years in the future, and that’s a risk no one wants to take. Why ignore velocity? Velocity is expensive, perhaps too much so. Corey Knebel (96.5 MPH) signed for $10 million, Joe Kelly (98.1 MPH) signed for $17 million over two years, and Kendall Graveman (96.5 MPH), signed for $24 million over three years. With no disrespect, none of those three players have been particularly consistent in their performance (or with health), but teams see their “stuff” and can’t help but imagine a perfect world where it all comes together for such a player. Trading for velocity can also be expensive. The White Sox parted with two young, talented players in Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer to acquire Craig Kimbrel, the Padres gave up their 9th best prospect, Mason Thompson, for half a season of Daniel Hudson, and the fact that the Twins received anyone for Hansel Robles showed that teams are willing to ignore performance in favor of the allure of stuff. The same can be said for prospects. Arms that can sit in the high-90s are valued highly because the upside of that player is tantalizing. We’ve seen the natural sheen of “stuff” blind teams into ignoring risk because they see the next Roger Clemens in an arm that will likely flame out in high-A. The Twins have recognized this and seem to tap their higher-velo arms in deals; Huascar Ynoa, Luis Gil, Brusdar Graterol, and Chase Petty all own big fastballs, but now pitch for other organizations. The guess is that the team is leveraging industry opinions on fastball velocity to acquire major-league talent they otherwise could not have if the pitcher were your average 93-95 MPH Joe. Or, to simplify, they think other teams over-value fastballs and are trying to find value in overlooked arms. Consider the Smith signing; $2.5 million for Joe Smith’s consistency is a bargain if you choose to look at his performance absent velocity implications. The Gray trade looks exquisite as well. Acquiring a great starting pitcher for a pitcher four or so years away from debuting is a masterclass in fleecing. Has it worked? The results are iffy. Twins pitching was undeniably elite in 2019 and 2020 when their team average fastball velocity sat in the bottom five of the league but fell off entirely in 2021. We shall see how 2022 plays out, but the prospects so far do not look good. Shoot, 43-year-old Johan Santana might be an upgrade to the starting rotation. That isn’t to say the team is completely ignoring velocity. Jordan Balazovic is capable of sitting 94-95, Jhoan Duran hits 100 daily, Josh Winder can sit in the mid-90s, and Matt Canterino can do the same. The team is still focusing on velocity, but more on developing said heat, not paying for it upfront. If a pitching prospect can throw hard, great, but their velocity isn’t as prioritized as other aspects of their game. If another team overvalues a prospect’s velocity? Ship him off and receive a more bountiful return than expected. Again, it is unclear if the plan has been successful or not, but the Twins unquestionably believe in their process. View full article

While the Twins played their first spring training game, the front office stayed active with a waiver claim for catcher José Godoy. What can we expect from the 27-year-old catcher? Jose Godoy, despite his age, made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Seattle Mariners. The Venezuelan native signed with the St. Louis Cardinals a decade ago and labored through the minors with them for the first eight seasons of his career before joining the Mariners late in 2020. A handful of injuries pushed Godoy to the major-league level, netting him 40 plate appearances for the 90-win team. Just four days ago, Godoy had been claimed by the San Francisco Giants who then put him on the waiver wire again. This time, the Twins were awarded his rights. With just a handful of plate appearances to his name, it’s difficult to analyze what he brings to the table with both the glove and the bat. In May, Eric Longenhagen wrote that Godoy is “a lefty stick with good feel for contact and a frame built to withstand the beating catchers take.” Continuing, he says that he “like[s] him as upper-level depth and think[s] he’d be a fine third catcher on a 40-man roster.” Andrew Baggarly, when writing about Godoy for the Giants (yes, he has been claimed twice now in a week), called him “an upper-level catching alternative.” It appears that is how Godoy will fit into the Twins roster. Ryan Jeffers and Gary Sánchez will demand the majority of playing time at the position, but the alleged plan to have Sánchez DH consistently leaves the team thin at the catching position; just two untimely injuries could leave the Twins in a prickly position. Godoy looks to be insurance against any such outcomes. Godoy slashed .285/.330/.413 in 73 games at AAA Tacoma in 2021. He still has two options remaining, so the Twins could: 1.) Keep him on the big-league roster as the third catcher, allowing Gary Sanchez to DH more often. 2.) Option him to St. Paul, and if one of the Twins catchers gets hurt, call him up. 3.) Try to pass him through waivers again, and hope that he clears waivers and can be sent to St. Paul. What do you think his role can be with the Twins? Leave a Comment below. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email View full article

I ranked Duran 9th. His stuff is obviously still mind-bending, but the nature of his injury is absolutely terrifying. Still, I kept him higher than a guy like Canterino because his last full, healthy season was dominant.

Agreed, I had him 6th in my ranking. He's my third favorite pitching prospect after Jordan Balazovic and Joe Ryan. Which reminds me, we should call these guys "The Killer J's" or something.

As we here at Twins Daily continue our First Great Prospect Rundown of 2022, it may become easy for you, the wise reader, to lump the glut of right-handed pitching prospects together in your mind. It’s easy to do—most of the great arms in the system are knocking on the door of the majors. The Twins will certainly shuffle them around so quickly that their names and faces seem to exist within a weird baseball uncanny valley; is Jordan Balazovic real, or did you imagine him? But I implore you, do not ignore Josh Winder. There may be more hyped pitching prospects in the Twins system, but no one else who toes that raised 24 by six-inch slab of rubber in the middle of the diamond can dominate the strike zone with four pitches as Winder did in 2021. The Twins selected Josh Winder in the 7th round of the 2018 draft (the second process headed by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine) out of Virginia Military Institute. Winder spent the next two years milling around prospect list No Man’s Land with occasional phrases like “repeatable delivery” written to let you know his name can be forgotten. In retrospect, those rankings seem harsh, given that his 2019 season was more than serviceable. Winder tossed 125 2/3 innings at low A-ball with a 2.65 ERA, and a 3.44 FIP; plus he struck out then uber-prospect Wander Franco in the Midwest League All-Star Game. Heading into the mid-levels of the minor leagues, Winder appeared set to fly under the radar amongst people-in-the-know. Then 2020 happened. For most prospects, 2020 either knocked them off trajectory or at least shifted industry opinions to the negative; it was an entire year of development gone, after all. Winder went against the grain. He did not pitch at the alternate site, but some mechanical tweaks combined with a different workout routine netted him a few ticks of fastball velocity—an adjustment that adds to every pitcher’s prospect stock. When even a curmudgeon like Keith Law is intrigued to see you pitch, the game is tilting in your favor. Given this excess of previously non-existent attention, it would have been understandable if Winder fell flat in 2021, victimized by the weight of his own hype. That did not happen. Winder dominated AA to the tune of a 1.98 ERA. Over his 54 ⅔ innings pitched at the level, his 31.3% K rate provided the melody, while his outstanding 4.8% BB rate served as the harmony. Just five qualified starters in MLB struck out hitters at a higher rate; only one starter walked batters at a lower rate. It’s not difficult to see why Winder was so good, I lamented the “repeatable delivery” comment before, but he easily owns one of the smoothest windups I’ve seen from a Twins pitching prospect: Hitters have to be prepared for 96 at the pits, a breaking ball dropped in glove-side, and a changeup gliding away arm-side. That’s an impossible task. After embarrassing AA hitters for a month and a half, Winder received the call to AAA, where he hit a minor roadblock. He started just four games which in itself is both a sign for relief and mild concern; four games is a sample too small to analyze closely, but he made such few starts due to a shoulder injury that ended his season prematurely. Those AAA stats—a 4.67 ERA, a 5.15 FIP, and a reduced strikeout rate of 22.4%—ultimately lessen his excellent 2021. In total, Winder tossed 72 innings with a 2.63 ERA, a 29.1% K rate, a 4.7% BB rate, and a FIP of 3.40. Amongst 251 pitchers who threw 70 innings in the upper minors (AA and AAA), Winder posted the 12th best K-BB% and was the highest placed Twins starter with those qualifications. Yeah, I know that stat is a bit of a stretch, just understand that Winder was unusually dominant amongst pitchers around his league placement. When we were dicing out which writer would cover which prospect, I immediately leaped at the chance to post Winder’s writeup. His 2021 season greatly intrigued me—what soulless Twins fan wouldn’t find interest in a pitcher who netted results after improving their raw ability? There are pitching prospects with more impressive stuff, a higher ceiling, a more regal pedigree, or a more dominant individual pitch, but few, if any, can harvest a plethora of crucial pitching characteristics like Winder. He is, in many ways, the total package. Previous Rankings Honorable Mentions Prospects 16-20 Prospects 11-15 #10: Josh Winder, RHP #9: Coming Soon View full article

A little over two years ago, reports broke that the Twins agreed with Josh Donaldson on a four-year $92 million deal. It’s a surreal experience to look back on that day. Not only was the news groundbreaking—the Twins broke the dam and finally signed a big-name free agent to an expensive contract, but the memory exists in a time and place just weeks before COVID would alter our lives forever. There was hope (at least, as much hope that could exist amongst Minnesota sports fans), as the winds of change seemed to blow in our favor for once. Now? I’m left wondering what ultimately is Donaldson’s legacy on the Twins. Certainly, Josh Donaldson cannot be the one to blame for the putrid 2021 season; that existed outside of his sphere of influence. Unless he secretly siphoned off all the talent from the pitching staff while bullying Max Kepler by placing pictures of his BABIP in his locker before every game, the disastrous year should not be attributed to him. In fact, I would argue that he did exactly what the team asked of him. His somewhat disappointing 124 wRC+ masks batted ball data that suggests he should have hit at an MVP level in 2021. If those balls allude outfielders like they were supposed to, then we’re talking about Donaldson as a tragic hero, an excellent performer stuck on a bad team. Click the link and you'll see enough red to give Senator Joseph McCarthy a heart attack. His xwOBA is right in line with his peak years on the Toronto Blue Jays—some better luck would have altered the season and turned the Twins from bad to... still pretty bad, but with a better third baseman. Ultimately, his batted-ball numbers change little about the team as a whole, but it does improve Donaldson's footing; perhaps the vitriol of fans washes over him if his wRC+ is upped by 30-40 points. But those balls didn’t safely land in the grass. They were caught. And the team stunk. And stats disagree on his defense. And the team stunk. So, now we’re halfway through a contract that was supposed to represent a changing tide for the Twins organization, and all there is to show for it is a playoff series sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros, a series that Donaldson did not participate in. The conversation has moved on from discussing Donaldson as the veteran that will lead the Twins to higher greatness. Now we ask whether or not his contract should be dumped onto some rich team like the Mets so that we can warm the seat for Jose Miranda, Austin Martin, or another prospect who represents the soft rebuild the team is inevitably embracing. Funny how much two years can change things. But none of this is his fault. It’s somewhat odd, really, that the team failed solidly in 2021, yet the big-name free agent signing was not the reason for such disaster. Donaldson did as we expected, or, to play off the words of the great Dennis Green; he was who we thought he was. He hit well, made headlines for comments made outside of the diamond, made headlines for comments made inside of the diamond, was told to meet Lucas Giolito outside, met Lucas Giolito outside, and, ultimately, flashed a level of showmanship possibly unmatched in franchise history. If you’re the type who is unimpressed by xwOBA, BABIP, or any other vaguely medicinal-sounding advanced stat, you at least can’t argue that Donaldson has brought entertainment to the team. I don’t know if Josh Donaldson will be on the Twins for the 2022 season. The front office has played their cards close to their hand as usual; after the lockout ends, I could wake up to the headline that the team signed Trevor Story and be just as surprised had I woke up to see that they dealt Jorge Polanco. The Twins under Derek Falvey and Thad Levine relish refusing to act until they absolutely must—a bowl is most useful when it is empty, after all. If Donaldson remains, he will be left as the eldest leader of a currently youthful squad—just three players currently on the 40-man roster were born during the Reagan administration. The team would have to rebound dramatically to make good on the promises made following the 2019 season. If the Twins decide to trade him, then I can say for sure that it was the team that failed Donaldson, not the other way around. I hope the biggest free-agent signing in franchise history gets the chance to lead a legendary Twins squad properly, but the real world is not as poetic as hopes and dreams; wrongs cannot be righted by the whims of an author and the randomness of life can often spoil even the prettiest of visions. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email View full article

Interesting choices you have here. I usually have better luck tanking in 2021 and 2022 while accumulating prospects. Let us know how things go.

Yes, that's exactly correct.

You're comparing solely strikeouts and walks to each other instead of considering all that a pitcher can allow. Winder had 80 strikeouts and 13 walks, yes. But he allowed other things as well; singles, homers, groundouts, you name it. K-BB% includes all of this instead of just pitting strikeouts and walks against each other. Say a pitcher strikes out two batters in an inning, walks another, and in total, faces six hitters. If you calculated it by comparing the strikeouts to the walk, he would be at 66%. If you calculated by including all outcomes (the six batters faced), he would be at 16.7%. In a way, you can think of K-BB% as considering strikeouts along with a pitchers WHIP. Giving up more hits and walks takes away opportunities for strikeouts.

For transparency sake, I'll post my ballot and explain it here. 1. Louie Varland Not much to say here. He was easily the best starting pitcher in the system by most important metrics. 2. Sawyer Gipson-Long I don't look at ERA at all these days. I don't care about what a guy has done, but rather what he is likely to do in the future. These are prospects after all. Gipson-Long had the second highest K-BB% in the system for a starter (25.6), and also threw 97 innings. That means a lot in my book, so he received my second place pick. 3. Ben Gross Gross is quite similar to Gipson-Long. He also had a phenomenal K-BB% (21.8) while tossing 95 1/3 innings (if you couldn't tell, I greatly value how many innings a pitcher threw). His overall peripherals are not as good as Gipson-Long, but they were good enough to nab 3rd place for me. 4. Andrew Albers Andrew Albers walked 2.7% of hitters in 2021. 2.7! That was too absurd to overlook. He was not one to strike out many, of course, but, again, he pitched 96 innings in the minors with a respectable WHIP. That kind of workload is sometimes difficult to find among minor league starters. 5. Jordan Balazovic These last two spots were nearly impossible for me to choose and I actually almost left Balazovic off of the list. His peripherals were actually fairly mediocre for his standards (3.91 FIP, 4.28 xFIP), but those 97 innings stuck out to me; especially considering that he started the season on the IL. I'm not married to this placement and I could easily be argued into choosing Cole Sands or someone else for these spots, though. 6. Josh Winder This was the one time I strayed from my love of innings. Winder "only" had 72 innings but was just so dominant in those innings (24.4 K-BB%), that I gave him the nod for the last spot. Is that hypocritical? Maybe. But I don't care.

The Saints crushed their opponents on Sunday while the Kernels season came to an end with a loss in the championship series Game 5. TRANSACTIONS None Saints Sentinel St. Paul 11, Iowa 1 Box Score Andrew Albers: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K HR: David Bañuelos (3) Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (3-for-6, 2B, R, 3 RBI), David Bañuelos (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB) The Saints steamrolled the Cubs on Sunday. St. Paul took all the way until the 2nd inning to score a number of runs that would be wholly unnecessary for them to win. A wild pitch plated B.J. Boyd before Jose Miranda brought two more runners in safely with a single up the middle. Miranda racked up three RBIs in the game; his first time doing that since… Friday. David Bañuelos provided the firepower for the 3rd inning. He unclogged the bases with a two-run double that put St. Paul up 5-0 after the first third of the game. They would be far from done scoring. The 7th inning would prove to be the most fruitful for the Saints’ offense. Jose Miranda flexed his muscles once more and banged a run-scoring double to take the lead 7-1. Drew Maggi singled home a run before B.J. Boyd tripled home two more. Mr. Bañuelos added a solo homer in the 8th for good measure. In total, the Saints offense knocked ten hits, walked an astounding 13 times, and scored 11 runs. Somehow, actually, it seems that the Cubs got off easier than they should have. But it did not matter as Andrew Albers and the rest of the Saints pitching staff carried the torch the rest of the way. Albers allowed a single run over his five excellent innings of work while Ian Hamilton, Derek Law, and Ian Gibaut combined to hold Iowa’s offense scoreless. In total, the three relievers struck out five, walked one, and allowed one hit en route to that lopsided victory. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 5 Box Score Cody Laweryson: 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Kernels lost Game 5 to Quad Cities, finish second in High-A Central League. Cody Laweryson was wild early. Four of the first five hitters he faced reached base, and he was pulled after throwing 26 pitches to net one out. Denny Bentley held the bleeding to just a pair of runs, but he was also touched up for two runs over his 2 2/3 innings of work. Derek Molina was the most effective out-getter of the night as he allowed no runs over 2 2/3 innings while striking out three batters. Even if the River Bandits failed to score after the 1st inning, they still would have won the game. The Kernels’ offense was completely blanked in the game as, despite walking eight times, they were unable to score a run. In a unique outcome, the team left ten men on base despite only having two hits in the ballgame. The River Bandits gave the Kernels a plethora of opportunities to plate a run, but the offense could not find a single hit with a runner on base. DaShawn Keirsey tried to kick-start the bats with a 9th inning double-the only extra-base hit of the game for Cedar Rapids-but he was stranded at second. It was a tough loss for a team that was in the driver’s seat just two days ago. Cedar Rapids was up 2-1 in the series but lost on Saturday and Sunday, and they now find themselves as the second place team in the High-A Central, as they were in the regular season. Nonetheless, it was an impressive season for the team as they were without Matt Canterino and Blayne Enlow for most of the year, and only had one healthy player from our Twins Daily Top 20 on the roster for the final game (Matt Wallner). TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – David Bañuelos PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #6 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 3-6, 2B, R, 3 RBI #12 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #13 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 1-5, R, K #16 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) - 0-2, 2 K View full article

One of the Twins minor league teams threw a no-hitter that, while fun, is most certainly not an official no-hitter. You'll see what I mean. Chase Petty made his second career outing, Aaron Sabato ripped, and Sawyer Gipson-Long punched out fools. TRANSACTIONS INF Drew Maggi selected by Twins from AAA St. Paul Saints Sentinel St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 9 Box Score Bryan Sammons: 3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Tomás Telis (3-for-5), Drew Stankiewicz (2-for-4, RBI) The Saints lost on Saturday. Bryan Sammons had a rough day at the office. He allowed seven runs as Indianapolis put up back-to-back four-run efforts in the 3rd and 4th innings. The score was close at times. The Saints originally took the lead in the 2nd inning thanks to singles by Sherman Johnson and Drew Stankiewicz, but that lead did not last for long. Indianapolis instantly responded with five runs over the next two innings; runs that were capped off with a bases-clearing double from Taylor Davis. Damek Tomscha brought the game within striking distance with a triple and eventually came around thanks to a balk. The good news ends there as Indianapolis piled on four more runs in the 4th inning and essentially ended the game there. Mitch Garver went 1-4 with a single and a strikeout in his rehab appearance. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 3, Arkansas 5 Box Score Austin Schulfer: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Wind Surge lost a close one on Saturday. Offensively, Wichita was limited to only singles and walks, but the team was able to scrap themselves to a few runs. Austin Martin, Aaron Whitefield, Jermaine Palacios, and Leobaldo Cabrera all stole a base on Saturday (and Palacios stole two). The steals directly to the three runs the Wind Surge scored. Three runs would not be enough to win. Austin Schulfer allowed two runs in his start, but Evan Sisk matched that total in relief of Schulfer. The Travelers tacked on another run, but that proved to just be unnecessary breathing room. Wichita put together a rally in the 9th inning as Palacios and Trey Cabbage both took walks, but Whitefield and Andrew Bechtold were unable to bring any more runners home. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3 Box Score Sawyer Gipson-Long: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K HR: Edouard Julien (14), Aaron Sabato (8) Multi-hit games: Alex Isola (2-for-4) The Kernels won a close game on Saturday. Sawyer Gipson-Long continued his ridiculous strikeout streak by punching out eight Chiefs. He now has 134 punchies on the season, which, by my count, is pretty darn good. Gipson-Long might still fly under the radar on prospect lists, but he certainly is a name that should be kept track of. Offensively, the Kernels dominated. Only one hitter had multiple hits but that was because every other hitter was too busy taking walks. The team walked eight times with Aaron Sabato leading the way with three free passes on top of his homerun. Let’s talk about his homer. Sabato’s 5th inning shot was his eighth in 92 plate appearances with the Kernels. Over a 600 plate appearance season (a traditional full year of play), that would be good for 52 blasts. I don’t think you need me to tell you how good that is. Not to be outdone, Edouard Julien blasted his 14th homer with the Kernels in the 3rd inning. Julien has seen a dramatic boost in home runs since his promotion (three with Fort Myers, 14 with Cedar Rapids over a comparable amount of playing time), and the new power is quite intriguing. If he can find the perfect mix of discipline and power, then we may be looking at a great hitter for the Twins. Osiris German and Tyler Watson combined to end the game for Cedar Rapids with 2 2/3 clean innings of work between the two pitchers. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Tampa 6 (7 innings) Box Score Jackson Hicks: 0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K HR: Willie Joe Garry Jr. (4) Multi-hit games: Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI) The Fort Myers Miracle lost their paused game on Saturday. Cade Povich took over for Jackson Hicks and performed admirably. He struck out five batters over his two innings of work without allowing an earned run. Povich now has 16 strikeouts over eight innings with Fort Myers, not a bad start at all. Fort Myers held the lead late in the game thanks to Willie Joe Garry Jr’s. two-run homer, Misael Urbina’s double, and some early-inning shenanigans from Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Kole McKinnon. The 6th inning proved to be the back-breaker, though. A single from Tyler Hardman, with the aid of a Garry Jr. error, scored the game-ending go-ahead run. The Mighty Mussels had three total errors in the game. The three errors, along with going 1-9 with RISP, proved to be too much for Fort Myers to overcome. Game two: Fort Myers 3, Tampa 0 Box Score Regi Grace: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Mighty Mussels threw a no-hitter* in game two. ...Kind of. MLB already established that a seven-inning no-hitter does not technically count, but I find that to be lame, so Fort Myers threw a no-hitter on Saturday (as declared by Matt Braun.) Regi Grace was astonishingly efficient in his start. Landon Leach, Bradley Hanner, and Matthew Swain combined to complete the game in relief of Grace. In total, the Mighty Mussels struck out 11 batters, allowed no hits (duh), and walked just one batter. That lone walk proved to be the sole blemish on the night. The Fort Myers offense, to their credit, did their part as well. Will Holland doubled home a run, Jake Rucker brought in another with a sacrifice fly, and Patrick Winkel added on with a run-scoring double. Those three runs were more than enough for the Mighty Mussels in game two. Quotes following the game: Matthew Swain, who struck out the side in the ninth inning, said, "I just focused and took it pitch-by pitch. Just trying to get strike one and eliminate hitters. Just wanted to finish out the season strong, on a good note. I had a little chip on my shoulder this game." Tonight's starter, Regi Grace, said of the group, "It's just our organizational philosophy; throw nasty (stuff) in the zone. I guess all four of us were all a little extra nasty tonight." Catcher Patrick Winkel said, "(Manager) Brian (Meyer) told us before the week, this might be the last time you guys play together, so try to have fun with it, and that's exactly what we're doing. That just comes through on the field, the level of energy and the focus we have. We're just trying to enjoy these last few days as a group. We don't know if or when we'll ever play together again. Just trying to go out on a good note." Winkel said of his pitchers, "Regi was dominating with his fastball and then going to his curveball, keeping them off balance. Leach came out and was working really fast, not giving them a chance to breathe and catching them off guard. Working down and away. Putting the ball where he wanted to put it. Hanner came in and had great energy and focus. He didn't back down. He had the top of the order, some of the best hitters in this league, and obviously Swain came in and closed the door by just blew fastballs by them." Hanner said, "I just wanted to end the season on a high note, and I can't think of a better way to do it." Complex Chronicles FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 3 (7 innings) Box Score Mike Paredes: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (5) Multi-hit games: Kala’i Rosario (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Gregory Duran (2-for-3, 2B) The FCL Twins won their paused game on Saturday. Technically, Kala’i Rosario kicked off the game yesterday with a monstrous first-inning home run. But, because the game did not end until today, I am commandeering the content for today’s write-up. Here it is: Mike Paredes mowed through the FCL Red Sox offense to begin the game before Chase Petty took over to carry the torch. His second professional outing resulted in three earned runs over his three innings of work-not the best performance on the surface, but he also struck out four batters. Those three earned runs turned the tide of the game against the FCL Twins as they now found themselves down by a run. The team was not finished, though. A 6th inning double-steal brought home the tying run, and a 7th inning single from Ricardo Olivar ended the game for good. The Twins and Red Sox were supposed to play a second game, but that game was canceled. Today was also the last day of the season for the FCL and it appears that the team will not make up the game on Sunday. 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 – Aaron Sabato PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for season (torn ACL) #2 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-4, K #3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) - Did not pitch #4 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - Did not pitch #5 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Elbow Strain) #6 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2B #7 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did not pitch #8 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (Right Elbow Strain) #9 – Chase Petty (Complex) - 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K #10 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) - Did not play #11 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Shoulder Impingement) #12 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, R, 2 K #13 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 0-3, 2 R, K #14 – Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - Did not pitch #15 – Noah Miller (FCL Twins) - 1-3, RBI, BB, 2 K #16 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) - 0-3, BB, K #17 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Out for Season (Tommy John surgery) #18 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) - 1-6, R, RBI, 2B, BB, K #19 – Cole Sands (Wichita) - Did not pitch #20 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Tampa @ Fort Myers (10:00 AM) LHP Zarion Sharpe St. Paul @ Indianapolis (11:35 AM) RHP Drew Strotman Arkansas @ Wichita (12:05 PM) RHP Simeon Woods Richardson Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (12:35 PM) TBD View full article