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The Twins had not played a series in Pittsburgh that fans could attend since April of 2018, with the last series the team played at PNC Park being a fanless two game series during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The scheduling of this series on a weekend in early June at one of the best ballparks in the country allowed the opportunity for many Twins fans, this one included, to watch their team get shutout in a new and exciting destination!
My wife Sophie joined me on this trip and she got a nice (for me) or terrifying (for her) glimpse into our future when we were surrounded by scores of older, presumably retired couples wearing Twins gear at the gate awaiting our early Thursday morning flight to Pittsburgh. Our plans got pushed back a bit when our Delta gate agent got on the loudspeaker and asked for volunteers to take $500 per person to take a later flight. We were the first ones to take the offer and didn’t actually fly out until 12:30, but did so $1000 richer. Always take the extra pierogi money, friends. 
Neither of us had been to Pittsburgh before and while the trip was largely influenced by wanting to see the Twins play at PNC Park, I had heard from numerous people that Pittsburgh was a wildly underrated city and actually had a lot of appeal outside of the ballpark, and that proved to be true. 
The main things I knew about the city entering the weekend were that the local "Yinzers" speak with ridiculous accent, which had initially come to my attention during this sketch. I also knew that they liked to eat pierogies and sandwiches with fries on them. While all of those things were on display throughout the course of the weekend, we came to find that the city is also very picturesque. It was once the sixth largest city in the country which explains why it has such an impressive skyline for a city that currently only has about 300,000 people. It’s split up by the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers which meet to form the Ohio River, so you are never far from water or bridges and get some really great views.

When it comes to getting around town, the public transit options aren’t great. I would guess that’s largely due to the aforementioned rivers and bridges splitting up parts of the city and a lack of necessary connectedness, but Uber and Lyft were both pretty reliable. We took the bus from Lawrenceville, the neighborhood where we stayed, down to the Strip neighborhood and downtown a few times which was a good option for simple trips. The funicular at the Duquesne Incline was pretty cool too and only took about five minutes to ride to the top. Once you’re up there there are some great views (pictured above), especially at night, but not a whole lot to do except head back down. 
Pittsburgh is also the only sports market smart enough to have all of their professional teams wear the same colors. The Pirates, Steelers, Penguins, and even the Riverhounds in the USL, all don the black and gold. This results in a lot of cross-sport wearing of merchandise; for example there were a lot of Steelers shirts and jerseys at the Pirates game that didn’t look out of place. It seems like a great deal for fans; they can buy one black and gold shirt in their lifetime and fit in at any game in the city, but it’s probably not as great for the teams’ bottom lines.   
Friday night game
Friday morning and afternoon before the first game of the series I decided to throw on my Roberto Clemente shirt and blend in amongst the Yinzers. While I think this won me some points, it also created some confusion from the multiple people who asked me for directions or where they could find a bathroom and were met with my blank, helpless stares. 
Later on before the game, I changed into my Joe Ryan Grateful Dead shirt and became just another Twins fan jagoff. 

 
Ahead of game time we contemplated heading over to the Andy Warhol museum which is just blocks away from PNC Park, but decided we didn’t have enough time and that we’d tackle that the next day. Instead, we headed over to Southern Tier brewery down the street from the ballpark and had some beers with a large swath of Pirates fans listening to an acoustic guitar-playing singer banging out timeless hits like “Thong Song” and “No Diggity”. This was a pretty solid spot to have a few beers before the game, but it looked like there was no shortage of breweries around the park where you could do the same. 


 
About a half hour before game time, we strolled over to PNC Park and were able to get in pretty quickly. I had purchased seats up in Section 322 a few days before the game and the prices were pretty reasonable at around $25 a ticket. I like to get cheaper seats when I go to a ballpark for the first time as I expect to be walking around and exploring for a good portion of it. I feel most at home with the upper deck patrons at a ballpark anyways. These seats and really any section in the 300s near the third base line had a great view of the city and the bridge. 

 
Our seat neighbors for the most part were pretty engaged, but right in front of us, there was a group of girls likely in their late teens or early 20s that spent the entire game taking pictures of themselves and recording Tiktoks. This is not an exaggeration, it was the entire game. Just as I was losing hope in our youth, I noticed the group of girls to our left that were likely in their early 20s and were drinking beers and eating hot dogs and watching the game without a phone in sight. Let that be a lesson that there are not disappointing generations, just disappointing people. 
Some fun gimmicks at the game included the Warhol cam, which was a jumbotron filter honoring Pittsburgh’s famous purveyor of pop art, and the Pierogi race, honoring Pittsburgh’s famous Polish dumpling. Had we gotten a Michael Keaton-related activity, I think that would have covered the Pittsburgh Big Three.   

 
You’re likely not here to read about the game itself, and the Twins got shutout so there’s not a whole lot for me to write about on that front anyways. Joe Ryan pitched really well, the Twins hit a lot of singles but not in a row, and the home plate umpire was clearly doing a very bad job even from my seat in the 300 level. If you’re looking for a much more detailed writeup on the 3-0 loss, you can find a great one here.
The only thing worse than the result was that the Pirates' closer David Bednar, who is from Pittsburgh, walked out to “Renegade” by Styx for his intro music.  
One redeeming note: With legal sports betting in Pennsylvania I decided to place an “emotional hedge” bet on the Pirates moneyline so I would get to either see the Twins win or win some money. 15 bucks on the Pirates at +114 yielded a nice 17 dollar profit that paid for the jumbo 24 oz IC Light I had at the game.
After the game we were told there were fireworks, what we didn’t realize was that they would match the pyrotechnics budget of the helicopter Ride of the Valkyries scene in Apocalypse Now. To say these fireworks were a bit over the top would be like saying a Dinosaur Jr. show is a bit loud. We decided to watch them on the Roberto Clemente bridge since they were being fired off of a barge in the river right in front of the bridge. This seemed like a great idea until we started getting bombarded with smoke and actual fireworks shrapnel. Great view though!
Ballpark thoughts
PNC Park is as good as advertised. The sightlines are great from everywhere, the views are spectacular and it only has two seating decks which makes it really manageable to get around. The Clemente bridge is closed to traffic on game days which makes for an easy way to get there if you’re coming from downtown. The Pittsburgh fans are pretty dang good too. I was a little disappointed in the attendance for a beautiful Friday night in June but the ones there were very tuned in and loud. 
Going to a Major League ballpark for the first time always makes me consider where it ranks among the others I’ve been to so far. I have a hard time comparing Fenway and Wrigley to ballparks that were built in the last 30 years as it feels very apples to oranges. However, I would probably put those two in the top spots due to the joy and overwhelming sense of history one gets from attending a game there. That being said, I think my current top ten now including PNC, would be something like this:
1. Fenway Park (Boston)
2. Wrigley Field (Chicago, the good one)
3. Oracle Park (San Francisco)
4. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
5. Target Field
6. Citi Field (Queens)
7. Coors Field (Colorado)
8. Kauffman Stadium (KC)
9. T-Mobile Park (Seattle)
10. Miller Park, it will always be Miller Park to me (Milwaukee)
Fenway and Wrigley are pretty interchangeable for me at 1A and 1B and so are Oracle and PNC at 3A and 3B, but it’s really all about personal preference. Wrigley is typically a more fun game experience with better sightlines than Fenway, but I like the architecture and quirkiness of the Green Monster at Fenway better. When comparing Oracle and PNC, they both have great views on the water but PNC gets the edge with the skyline and the Roberto Clemente bridge in the background and Oracle gets the edge on food and beer selection. 
The three I still haven’t visited that I’d really like to get to are Dodger Stadium in LA, Petco Park in San Diego (been to the park but in January during the offseason), and Camden Yards in Baltimore. 
Other Pittsburgh activities
My wife and I spend most of our vacations eating and drinking so while this section is titled “Other Pittsburgh activities” it’s mostly just going to be some of our favorite restaurants and bars to consider if you’re making the trip. 
As I mentioned earlier, we stayed in Lawrenceville. This was a really good hub if you want to be close to a lot of bars and restaurants that are walkable and cater to all ages. Of the neighborhoods we visited, we were definitely happy with our choice and it was validated by one of our Lyft drivers (shoutout David) who said we nailed it by choosing to stay there. Downtown had a lot of nice looking hotels if that’s more your scene and Squirrel Hill supposedly was nice if you’re looking for a more residential, quiet vibe. 
-Cork Harbour Pub was literally next door and was a solid home base/Lyft drop off spot for us. We ended up going all three days of the trip at some point in the day and even when we weren’t there at night, we got to pretend we were because we could hear it from our bedroom when we were trying to sleep. 
-Big Jim’s in the Run was a classic dive that naturally has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It was tucked into an odd, hidden neighborhood called Four Mile Run and is the most authentic Pittsburgh place we went to. I will admit that the food didn’t blow me away, but I would still highly recommend it just for the experience. This was also where I watched the final four innings of the Saturday loss and thanked my lucky stars that we explored a few more areas of the city instead of paying to watch the Twins get shutout two days in a row. 
-Dish Osteria Bar on the South Side was the best meal we had on the trip. If you don’t mind shelling out a little more money and have the foresight to snag a reservation (we had to grab one for 10 pm on Thursday) this is about as good as it gets for Southern Italian food. The pasta was perfect, the seafood was delicious, the drinks were great, and it was in a very nice, intimate setting. 
-I hesitate to even admit it, but the only time we ate at a Primanti Brothers sandwich was at the ballgame. I’m confident that a limited menu and a ballpark kitchen was not the best way to experience Pittsburgh’s most legendary sandwich chain but the capicola and cheese we got (topped with fries, of course) was still very good. I wish we would have made it to one of the locations around town and gotten the true experience but alas, I only have one stomach. 
-La Gourmandine was a great French bakery just up the road from us where we had a wonderful almond croissant and an apricot pastry for breakfast one day. It was a tough place to order because everything there looked so good, including the sandwiches. 
-S&D Polish Deli in the Strip was a good stop for pierogies and had some interesting Polish deli items to browse. 
 -Colangelo's was a solid pizza joint right around the corner from the Polish deli. I had a really tough time figuring out what they’re doing with pizza in Pittsburgh. Most of the places we saw or ate were similar to a Detroit style pizza which is fine by me, but then you have the unmelted cheese abomination of the Ohio River Valley style that’s served famously at Beto’s in Pittsburgh. I actually wanted to try it out of morbid curiosity but didn’t find the time.
-I ducked into William Penn Tavern to catch the fifth set of the Alcaraz/Sinner French Open semifinal while Sophie was shopping one day and that was a great spot to grab a beer and watch a game in the middle of the day. It looked a little more rowdy at night when we walked by however, so beware of that potential bro-fest.
-After the fireworks on Friday night, we wandered over the bridge into downtown and eventually settled at Emerson’s which was a good, hidden cocktail bar on the second floor. They had some really interesting cocktails and the food looked promising too. 
-Bar Marco was another good spot for drinks in the Strip that looked to have some good Italian food as well. 
-Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. was a huge Italian market that was fun to walk around if you like spending time in a place that has 40 different kinds of canned tomatoes. Think Cossetta’s in St. Paul on steroids. 
-After that dinner at Dish on Thursday night, we went to a bar called Dee’s in South Side Flats that still allows smoking and employed some bartenders with great accents. From what I could tell, South Side Flats and all the bars on Carson Street are basically Pittsburgh’s version of the old Combat Zone in Boston. In other words, this was an area I was entirely too old for, so we didn’t last long there. 
-Schenley Park was a good place to go for a walk in the city. The northern half of the park felt like being at a park that was in a city. It had an arboretum that we decided not to pay $22 for and had a couple weddings going on. The southern half of the park was a bit more rustic and while we may have gotten slightly lost in there, we did get to see a couple deer which was an unexpected surprise. 
-The Andy Warhol museum is very conveniently located only a few blocks away from PNC Park and was a good place to spend a few hours. It has seven floors that are broken into the different stages of Warhol's life and career. We later found out it’s half price on Fridays so that’s probably the time to go. 
Overall, I'd highly recommend making the trip out to Pittsburgh next time the Twins are in town, or just to see the Pirates. It's a highly underrated city if you know where to look and features arguably the best ballpark in the country that's been built in this century. 
Jump into the comments if you made it to the games this past weekend or have been to a game at PNC previously and have some experiences to share. 
 

Too many Topps sets lack character and are rather bland, hard to differentiate year over year. That’s my problem with the sets from the late 1970s. At least to me, those designs are difficult to set apart in my head, and I have a tough time remembering which design is which year. Let’s take a closer look at the distinct, easily recognizable 1986 Topps and Topps Traded sets.
The top of the 1986 cards features a black box background and the team’s name in block lettering. In the case of the Twins, the team’s name has a red font. The bottom and side borders are white. The player’s name is in capital letters at the bottom and there is a small circle in the lower left with the player’s position. The color of the circle matches the color of the team’s name. Exceptionally clean and concise. The backs (I will include one example below upon the recommendation of IndianaTwin) have the player name in block lettering at the top, the biographical information just below the name, then the player’s statistics, then some player highlights or “Talkin’ Baseball” team trivia at the bottom. All of this is against a red background.
There are a whopping 792 cards in the 1986 Topps baseball card set plus an additional 132 cards in the Topps Traded. There are 27 Twins cards in the two sets. The Traded set has rookie cards of Hall of Famer Barry Bonds, as well as others who looked like they might make the Hall – Jose Canseco and Bo Jackson. Neither made the Hall for different reasons. Rookie cards for Twins player in the main Topps set are Frank Eufemia and a player to be discussed later. The pictures in this set have plenty of action shots and a few straight-up head shots.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
After researching the players in this set, I considered five who might be called the most obscure Twins player in the set, including Frank Pastore (who had a very prophetic death), Frank Eufemia, Pete Filson, and Mike Stenhouse. In the end, I selected a player for whom I simply have no memory, Mr. Mark Brown (#451).
  

Mark Brown was a 6th round draft pick in 1980 for the Baltimore Orioles. He made it to the majors for the Orioles in 1984 pitching in nine games, winning one. Brown was traded to the Twins after the 1984 season for Brad Havens. For the Twins, Brown had no decisions, pitched only 15.2 innings in six games in relief, had an ERA of 6.89, and a WHIP of 1.878. His career WAR was -0.1. He wasn’t particularly good, but he also wasn’t given a very extensive chance and was unable to stick in MLB after his age 25 season.
THE BEST
The best and apparently most valuable Twins card in the 1986 Topps set is that of Hall of Famer, and longtime broadcaster, Bert Blyleven (#445).

I like that it’s an action shot, a look of determination on his clean-shaven face. For many years, the Twins had a no beard policy including when Blyleven returned to the Twins in the August 1985 trade from Cleveland. Bert complied with policy and shaved his beard and appeared without a beard for at least the rest of the 1985 season. Then in 1986 he played with a beard and was fined $50 per game. Bert preferred the beard, so he simply paid the team fine. In am unable to verify when, but at some point, the policy was rescinded. My memory says the fines did not exist in the World Series year of 1987.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite Twins 1986 Topps, I choose the Twins Hall of Famer Kent Hrbek (#430).

To me there’s a certain air of confidence or swagger or arrogance that makes it look like a home run is sure to follow. It’s a semi-action shot that really captures a potential moment. Who really knows what happened next, but I’m confident it was something good for the Twins.
I like the 1986 Topps set design. It’s a plain design that somehow gets your attention. I think that might be because of the black background at the top, the team’s name in block lettering, and the all caps player name at the bottom. It’s super basic but it just works for me.
I’d love to see any of your thoughts and comments below.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

The 1980 Topps baseball card set is better than the average set of that era. To me it’s not great, but better than average. The design consists of a banner in the upper left corner with the player’s position. The upper right corner has the player’s name. The bottom right has another, larger banner with the team’s name. Each card also has a facsimile autograph of the player. The pictures are rather bland in my opinion with a mix of portraits and action shots. Some of the action shots are not well done. See the Mike Cubbage card (#503).

There are 726 cards in the 1980 Topps baseball card set including 27 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My choice for most obscure Twins player in the 1980 Topps baseball set pitched for five seasons in Major League Baseball with two of those coming with the Twins. His son also played Major League Baseball and is a trivia answer/footnote in history. Mike Bacsik (#453) is my choice for most obscure Twin in this year’s set.

Right-handed pitcher Michael James Bacsik was drafted in the 55th round of the 1970 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He debuted with the Texas Rangers in June of 1975. He started three games in 1975, then never started another. He pitched only 73 games over five seasons with a career high of 31 games with the Twins in 1979. His career record was 8-6 with an ERA of 4.43. He pitched 172.2 innings and finished with a career WAR of -0.9.
Bacsik’s story gets interesting when we introduce his son, Michael Joseph Bacsik. Michael Jospeh also pitched in Major League Baseball. He was a left-handed pitcher with similar numbers to his father. He had a 10-13 career record over five seasons. He had a 5.46 ERA over 216.0 innings during the steroid era. His career WAR was -0.5. The younger Bacsik’s claim to fame is that he gave up the record-breaking 756th home run of Barry Bonds’s career. Wikipedia has a great note about this. While the son did give up number 756 to Bonds, the father was one of 30 pitchers to pitch to Hank Aaron after Aaron had achieved 755 home runs. The younger Bacsik would comment in 2007, "If my dad had been gracious enough to let Hank Aaron hit a home run, we both would have given up 756.”
Mike Bacsik the Twin, last pitched in Major League Baseball in 1980. He went to spring training in 1981 with Seattle but was released in late March.
THE BEST
Well Rod Carew was now gone to the Angels. The Twins were going downhill before bottoming out in 1982. There are just not a lot of great players or cards during that point in Twins History. There are no 1980 Topps Twins cards of any value. So, my choice for the best Twins card of this year is going to be that of Ken Landreaux in what was to be his lone All-Star season.

During 1980, Landreaux hit .281/.334/.417. He had 7 home runs and 62 RBIs. For the 1980 Twins, that performance was enough to be selected to the All-Star game. Unbelievably, his WAR was actually ninth among Twins batters who played more than 100 games that season. For those wondering, no, his first half numbers were not far superior to his second half. So why was he selected to the All-Star game? I suspect the notoriety of having a 31-game hitting streak in April and May was the main reason for his being named the Twins All-Star representative that season.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
My favorite 1980 Twins card in the Topps set is probably an unusual choice. It’s not a superstar or even a long-tenured Twin. It’s a card where I just simply like the picture. Behold the #218 card of Jose Morales.

Above we talked about the father and son Mike Bacsik tandem who both pitched in Major League Baseball. Here we have catcher Jose Manuel Morales who played for the Twins from 1978-1980, but he is not related to catcher Jose Guillermo Morales who played for the Twins from 2007-2010.
Anyway, the Morales 1980 Topps card. Love the picture. Red Hat. Two Bats. Collared shirt over a tee shirt under a jersey. Mustache, eyebrows, sideburns. There’s a lot to take in.
So that’s my review of the Minnesota Twins in the 1980 Topps baseball card set. There’s not a lot of big names for the Twins in this set. But I do think the design and style of 1980 cards may be the best since 1975.
What do you all think? I would love to see your opinions and comments below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1979 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins player cards in that set. Once again, Rod Carew is the Twins lone superstar from that era. Mr. Carew will make an appearance later in this post.
When it comes to my review of any of the late 1970s Topps cards, I have come to the realization that I am not a fan of the design of most years. Some years are better than others, of course. But I have also come to recognize that my opinion is probably clouded by two things. I am a little too young to have been fully invested in those Twins teams of the late 1970s. Secondly, the teams were just not that great. And those two things might have been a chicken and egg thing. Was I not that interested because they were bad, or was I just too young?
For me, this design fits the “just OK” category. I find the design and pictures to be simple, some might say boring. The bottom of the card lists the player’s name and position. Under that is a banner with the player’s team. There are 726 cards in the set with 29 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Throughout my blog series of Topps baseball cards and Twins players, I hope I have not offended anyone by using the phrase “most obscure.” Obviously, these guys I select as the most obscure are far more accomplished than I. But reviewing each year’s players is captivating to me in that some players appear only briefly then fade from our memories. I try to do somewhat of an internet dive and try to figure out what happened to that player and where they went. When I select the most obscure, if I have a few choices, I tend to go with the player who has an interesting story. My choice as the most obscure Twins Player in the 1979 set is local, so if anyone who knows him reads this, I mean no disrespect. For 1979, I chose Gery Serum’s card (#627) as the most obscure Twins player in the Topps set.

As an aside, where the heck is that field in the background of the picture? That looks worse than any rec league field that I played on or that my son plays on nowadays. Sandlots are fine, but shouldn’t a professional be playing on a better field?
Gary Serum is an Upper Midwesterner. He was born in Fargo, ND. He graduated high school in Alexandria, MN. For college, he first attended Moorhead State University then St. Cloud State University. The Twins signed Serum after college as an amateur free agent.
Despite being a free agent, Serum quickly worked his way through the Twins’ minor league system and by 1977 he was called up to the Twins and first appeared on July 22. He played the full season in 1978 for the Twins pitching 184.1 innings with a record of 9-9 including six complete games and one shutout. He pitched part of 1979 for the Twins then never played Major League Baseball again.
After his playing career, Serum opened a restaurant in Anoka, MN, so go check it out. I’m sure many of you have.
THE BEST
Once again, the most valuable Twins card in the 1979 Topps set is a Rod Carew card, the #1 Batting Leaders card with Dave Parker. I do like combo cards. But let’s also acknowledge Mr. Carew’s other last card as a Twin. His base card (#300) is an all-star card. And it’s the end of an era. Carew was traded to the Angels in February of 1979.


The all-star card has a simple difference from the regular base card in that it has another banner on the card labeling the player as an all-star. For some reason, for me personally, that upgrades the card quite a bit over the plain 1979 Topps base card. It seems like a small thing that would not affect my opinion, but for me it makes the card much more compelling than a regular base card and simply better overall.
So, those two Carew cards kind of tie for me as the best of 1979.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I know I mentioned an autographed Dave Goltz in my 1978 blog entry. Here I am again. But wait, there’s a good reason. As I looked at this card (#27), I thought the player’s face/picture/stance/something was familiar to me. I thought he looked like another player from another era.

After not too long I realized a likeness to Mr. Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh from my favorite baseball movie Bull Durham. I’m sure most of you will think I’m nuts. But let me know, is there any resemblance? Is it the way he wears the hat, the striping on the sleeves, or the blue long-sleeved undershirt? Maybe the V-neck?

While I was digging for a picture for Nuke, I came across a USA Today article about the real-life inspiration for the Nuke character – Steve Dalkowski. It’s worth a read. His numbers were crazy.
So, I’m going with my signed 1979 Dave Goltz card as my favorite Twin in the 1979 Topps set exclusively because of my probably incorrect perception that he looks like the fictional character Nuke LaLoosh and that I loved that movie and have seen it too many times.
What do you all think? Does anyone know Gary Serum or his restaurant? What do you all think of Nuke LaLoosh and Bull Durham? I would love to see your opinions, comments, or stories below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1978 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins. There really are not any Twins superstars in this set other than Rod Carew. It’s easy to see how the Twins weren’t world beaters in the late 1970s.
In my judgment, the 1978 Topps baseball card design is one of their better designs during the late 1970s. I like the script team name in the lower left corner, the small baseball in the upper right corner listing the player’s position, and the player’s name at the bottom of the card in plain black. It’s a straightforward design that works well in my opinion. It’s not busy and the result is a focus on the player picture. There are 726 cards in the set with 28 Twins cards.
My focus here is on Twins cards, but I will mention the set has the rookie cards of two local boys who later played for the Twins, each of whom were inducted in the Hall of Fame – Jack Morris and Paul Molitor. Each shares their rookie cards with three other players. The Molitor card famously includes a second Hall of Famer, Alan Trammell.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
During a preliminary review, I narrowed it to five options of who could be the most obscure Twin in 1978 Topps set, but four of those players played four years or more. While not great or even good, those four did manage to play at least four years in Major League Baseball. Bob Gorinski only played one season and he has only one Topps card, so he seems the obvious choice as the most obscure Twins player represented in the 1978 Topps set.

Gorinski was a first-round pick of the Twins in the 1970 draft out of high school in Pennsylvania. He was picked 22nd ahead of a couple relief pitching Hall of Famers – Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter – who were each chosen a round later.
Gorinski slowly worked his way up the Twins’ minor league system. Baseball Reference shows he played part of the 1975 for the White Sox AAA affiliate, but I cannot find details on how he got there. In 1976 he was back with the Twins AAA affiliate in Tacoma. According to Wikipedia, Gorinski led his league in home runs in 1970, 1972, 1974, and 1976. Seven years after being drafted, Gorinski finally debuted with the Twins on April 10, 1977. He played 54 games that season as a backup corner outfielder. He batted an underwhelming .195/.226/.322 and hit three home runs. He never appeared in Major League Baseball after that season.
THE BEST
Here we go again with the obvious choice of Rod Carew as the best card in this set. There just are not a lot of Twins stars in this era.

But is Carew’s card really the choice as best Twins card in the set? What if there is a 1978 Topps Twins card showing a rookie who might make and probably should make the Hall of Fame? Shouldn’t that card be the best Twins card of the 1978 set? Well, I believe Lou Whitaker should and will make the Hall of Fame someday. Yes, he never played for the Twins, but he does share his rookie card with Sam Perlozzo of the Twins and two others. Anytime you have a rookie card of a Hall of Famer or potential Hall of Famer, you have to say that’s a special card. We’ll see if Mr. Whitaker is ever selected.

The Perlozzo/Whitaker rookie card is my choice for best Twins card of the set.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I have two options for my personal favorite Twins cards in the 1978 Topps set.
I have an autographed Dave Goltz card in my collection. Anytime I have a signed card, it’s got to be in the running for a personal favorite card of mine in any particular set.

However, I’m going in a different direction for my 1978 selection as my personal favorite card. Gene Mauch was a backup infielder for nine MLB seasons and six franchises. He later had an extensive managerial career of 26 years. His 1978 Topps card shows pictures of him as a player and many years later as the manager of the Twins. I love that the back of the card has his statistics as a player. I can’t say with certainty, but suspect this will be the only time in my blog series about baseball cards where I will select a manager as my favorite Twins card of that year.


I would say the 1978 Topps set is better than 1977, which I deemed better than 1976. What do you all think? Does anyone have any memories of Bob Gorinski? I would love to see your opinions and comments below.
Go Twins.

Hello again Twins fans! This is another post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please share your opinions, stories, comments, and memories below.
1977 Topps
Overall, I think it’s safe to say the mid to late 70s cards are not my favorite. But 1977 might be little better than the other sets of this era. Again, the Twins do not have a plethora of stars in the 1977 set. The 1977 Topps baseball card design is, I would say, good. I like the large team name, italicized, and outlined in black. In the case of Twins cards, the player names are in red and there is a yellow banner with the player’s position. I just don’t love it, maybe because of the photography. I don’t find many of the pictures interesting. There are 660 standard-sized cards in the set with 25 Twins cards including the Butch Wynegar rookie card. The images below are courtesy of www.tcdb.com.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Similar to prior sets, I found about half a dozen possibilities for the most obscure Twins player in the this set. After extensive research, Jim Gideon is my choice for most obscure player in the 1977 Topps baseball card set.

This is Gideon’s one and only Topps card and he only gets a quarter of it. He’s not even the player on the card who ended up with the most significant Twins career – Dave Johnson pitched in 36 games for the Twins in 1977 and 1978 after being picked up from the Mariners part way through the 1977 season. Gideon never pitched for the Twins. In fact, his only MLB action was a single start with the Texas Rangers in 1975.
Gideon was born and raised in Texas. He went to the University of Texas where he was part of the 1975 team that won the College World Series. He was co-captain that season and was outstanding, finishing with a record of 17-0. No college pitcher has ever had more wins in a season when they had zero losses. He ultimately finished his college career with 40 wins. In 2000 he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
To continue the Texas theme, the Rangers used their first-round draft pick to select Gideon in the 1975 draft. He made 13 AAA starts before starting that one MLB game on September 14, 1975. He pitched 5.2 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 walks, and 6 runs.
In the middle of the 1976 season, he was traded to the Twins. The details on that trade are summarized later in this blog entry. Because Gideon had been a first-round draft pick just the summer before, I would imagine he was seen as an integral part of the trade.
Gideon played in the Twins minor league system until 1979. He went back to the Rangers in 1982 playing for their AA team before retiring.
THE BEST
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Rod Carew #120 is the most valuable Twins card in the 1977 set. I also considered the Butch Wynegar rookie card #175. It’s got the rookie cup. Wynegar was a great player early in his career. He started out strong with all-star selections in his first two years, finishing second in rookie of the year voting in 1976. In 1977 he was only 21 years old, but the picture to me looks like he’s 15. Love that card, but I’m going with the Carew all-star card as the best Twins card of the year.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
The Roy Smalley card (#66) is my personal favorite Twins card in the 1977 set.

For the 1976 set, I selected the Dan Ford as my favorite Twins card in large part because of the facial hair. Was Smalley selected here based solely on the mustache? I have other reasons.
Growing up when I did, Smalley was my favorite player. He filled a void after Carew was traded before the 1979 season. Another reason I selected this as my favorite card for this series is related to memories of his trades. He was included in three trades involving the Twins and I think they won them all including the first one which was a big one.
1976: Traded by the Texas Rangers to the Twins with our friend Jim Gideon above, Mike Cubbage, and Bill Singer, for the disgruntled Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. The Twins received 25.8 WAR from that trade while the Rangers got 10.5. 1982: Traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Paul Boris, Ron Davis, and Greg Gagne. Smalley was worth 6.1 WAR with the Yankees. Despite Ron Davis sucking for his Twins career, the Twins still won that trade because Mr. Gagne became a key piece of their 1987 and 1991 World Series championship teams. Gagne was a great fielder. If he could have laid off the low and away curve/slider maybe he would have been a good hitter as well. He did have some pop, hitting 111 home runs in his career. He achieved a 17.9 WAR with the Twins. 1985: Traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Twins for Ron Scheer and Randy Johnson. The Twins won this trade too. While Smalley was winding down his career, he still provided 2.1 of WAR. He was a valuable backup infielder, DH, and pinch hitter on the 1987 World Series team. Scheer never made it to MLB. Randy Johnson, who I for some reason loved in 1982, also never made it back to the major league level. There you go fans. In my judgment the 1977 design is better than the 1976 design. To me, a lot of these late 70s sets run together. We’ll see shortly how the 1978 and 1979 sets stack up.
As always, I would love to see your opinions and comments below. And Go Twins.

Hey Twins fans! This is the sixth post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please share your opinions, stories, comments, and memories below.
1976 Topps
Well, I feel like this entry is a bit of a dud. Few star players and few interesting cards. The 1976 Topps baseball card design is just OK in my opinion. I do like the colored bars on the bottom of the card showing the name of the player and team. I also like the player silhouette, but overall, I can’t say it’s one of my favorite designs. The 1976 set has 660 cards with 28 Twins cards including rookie cards of Dan Ford and Lyman Bostock among others. The images below are courtesy of www.tcdb.com.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
I found about half a dozen possibilities for the most obscure Twins player in the 1976 Topps set. After extensive review, my choice is pitcher Jim Hughes.

Hughes was born and raised in California and was drafted by the Twins in the 33rd round of the 1969 draft. He was used primarily as a starting pitcher working his way up through the minor leagues. He debuted in September of 1974, starting two games and completing one. In 1975 and 1976 he was a member of the Twins’ starting rotation. He started 34 games in 1975 and had a winning record of 16-14 pitching 249.2 innings. He had an amazing May of that season being named American League Player of the Month (this was prior to the existence of the separate Pitcher of the Month award). During that magical month he was an incredible 6-0, with five complete games and two of which were shutouts. In the other game he pitched, he entered in the third inning and gave up no runs the rest of the way and picked up the win. What a month!
Hughes went 9-14 in 1976, then pitched only two games in April 1977 before being sent to AAA Tacoma for the remainder of the season. He would pitch two more years in the American minor leagues and one season the Mexican League in 1980. It seems arm troubles ended his career (https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jim_Hughes_(hugheji03)). Seems like he was quite the flash in the pan – one great month, but what a month it was.
THE BEST
The Rod Carew #400 is the most valuable Twins card in this set. And I agree it’s probably the best card in the set. It’s an interesting picture of Carew in the dugout with the AL All Star label. Carew has probably the best Twins card in many of the 1970s sets. Boring, I know.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
My favorite Twins card in the 1976 set is the all-star rookie cup card of Disco Dan Ford (#313). That choice may be based solely on the sideburns alone. And is it just me or did athletes, heck maybe even all people, just look way older in the 70s? I feel like Ford looks about 35 in this picture; he was 24.

There you have it folks, a review of the Twins cards in the 1976 Topps set. This is the shortest blog entry in my series. I’m sorry to say I don’t find 1976’s Topps design to be particularly interesting and in my judgment most of the pictures on the cards are dull. If you disagree, please, I would love to see your opinions and comments below. And Go Twins.

Hey Twins fans! This is the fifth post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. This post is in a little different order than prior posts. Because I tend to dive most deeply into the most obscure player of the set (we all know about Tony, the Killer, and Carew not to mention Puckett, Hrbek, Mauer, and Morneau), this post will start with a write up of the player I deem to be most obscure in this set. Also “best” and “favorite” might be the same card, hence no different write up. If my favorite is different than the best, I will certainly say so. In previous posts, I struggled to differentiate between best and favorite. That’s not the case for the 1973 Topps, my favorite is definitely different from the best (which, I’m sorry tends to trend toward the most valuable).
Anyway, here we go…
1973 Topps
I love the look of the 1973 Topps baseball cards – the black border on the picture, the white border of the cards, and especially the silhouette of the player and his position in the lower right corner. The player’s name and team are listed at the bottom of the card. These cards are the standard 2.5” x 3.5” which started in 1957. The complete set has 660 cards. The Twins have 29 cards in this set including two variations of #49, the Frank Quilici manager card with his coaches. One of the variations has palm trees in the backgrounds for two of the coaches. www.PSAcard.com states the values of the two variations are the same and the number of each variation graded by PSA are similar.
               
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
The 1973 Topps set has about half a dozen decent options for the most obscure Twins Player in the set, but one of these never played for the Twins. Meet Mr. Ken Reynolds.

Reynolds was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the fourth round of the 1966 draft. He was primarily a starting pitcher in their minor leagues. He started 25 games in 1971 and 23 games in 1972 for bad to awful Phillies teams. He had a crazy bad record of 2-15 in 1972. Reynolds came to the Twins in a November 1972 trade. The Twins traded fan favorite and future Twins Hall of Famer Cesar Tover for Joe Lis, Ken Sanders, and Reynolds. It seems like Philadelphia won that trade but it wasn’t robbery. Tovar played only one season for the Phillies and had a WAR of 0.9 WAR. The players the Twins received totaled -1.4 for the time they played for the Twins. That -1.4 WAR does not include Reynolds as he never played for the Twins and was traded to the Brewers in March 1973 for Mike Ferraro. Ferraro also never played for the Twins and the organization released him in May. Reynolds had a 7.36 ERA in two games for the Brewers. Reynolds later pitched for the Cardinals in 1975 and the Padres in 1976, finishing his MLB career with a 7-29 record. He stuck around the minor leagues until 1979.
An interesting tidbit I discovered while researching Ken Reynolds was that he played for the Hawaii Islanders in 1976 which was a AAA team and part of the Pacific Coast League. I went to Hawaii three weeks ago. It took me 4-5 after coming home to readjust to the time change. It seems like having Hawaii in a North American league would make travel exciting but brutal for those minor leaguers who experienced it. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_Islanders, the Hawaii Islanders were surprisingly part of the PCL from 1961 thought 1987. I found the entire Wikipedia entry to be fascinating and would encourage your perusal. Hall of Famers Barry Bonds and Tony Gwynn played for the Islanders. This is something this blog series has done for me, introduce me to interesting parts of the game I never knew.
THE BEST
The Rod Carew #330 is the most valuable Twins card in this set. I like the stance, the pose, the background, and just the general look of this card. And I just love the look of this set in general.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
There’s something about the Tony Oliva card (#80). I think it’s a great picture, great pose, and mine is autographed (with his phenomenal signature). In the 1960s, there are many players photographed standing in Yankee Stadium with an inauthentic stance or pose. Tony’s stance may not be overly competitive but the pose, to me, looks better than average. But it’s not my favorite card.

The Harmon Killebrew (#170) is one of my favorite autographed cards in my entire collection (again, an exceptional autograph). This action shot seems to show an aggressive stance like he’s ready to release his energy and hit a blast. Where is he? The catcher’s red and blue pant stripes and the stadium background suggests Cleveland to me. I’m not sure. What do you think? I love this picture. But it’s not my favorite card.

As an aside, seriously, whose autograph is better Oliva or Killebrew? I’ve heard many say Killebrew’s signature is the best, but Tony O’s is similarly clear, legible, and smooth. Please share your opinion below.
Even though I have those two autographed cards of Hall of Fame players, neither ranks as my favorite Twins card from 1973. That honor easily belongs to another Hall of Famer – the #530 card of Jim Kaat. I think it’s absolutely awesome that Topps chose a photograph of a pitcher, Mr. Jim Kaat, batting. I love that this 1973 Topps card was issued, ironically, during the first year of the Designated Hitter. American League pitchers simply did not bat in 1973. Kaat could probably be considered a very good hitting pitcher. He batted .185 in his 25-year career, .289 in 1972, and .375 in 1981 (but only 8 at bats). I love all of that, which makes this my favorite Twins card in the 1973 Topps set.

Please, I would love to see your opinions, criticisms, and suggestions in the comments below. I really want to know. Let’s have fun with this! And Go Twins.

Hey Twins fans! This is the fourth post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please read my first post here for deeper detail on my series.
1968 Topps Game
This insert set from the 1960s is unique. It’s a very limited set and like the 1964 Topps Giants seems to contain only the best of the best. The cards measure 2.25” x 3.25” so slightly smaller than today’s standard sized card. The cards resemble a deck of playing cards. The complete set has 33 cards, three of which are Twins players. Each card has a color image of the player, facsimile autograph, and a game outcome. This set contains a second year Rod Carew (#29) after his rookie card in 1967 was a dual card with the Senators’ Hank Allen.
Rules for the game can be found at https://www.beckett.com/news/1968-topps-game-baseball/. Seems to me you would go through the cards quickly and maybe there should have been more cards in the set. But I have never played. Maybe I should try to get the full set and play?
According to the same Beckett website above, these game cards were inserted within the third series release of the regular Topps baseball cards from 1968.
THE BEST
Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew fight for the best Twins card in this subset. Because Rod Carew has no solo rookie card in the 1967 set, I’m going to choose his card as the best simply because it's one of his first stand-alone cards.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
I’m going with the #5 Killebrew as my personal favorite simply because his outcome was a double and Carew’s was, unfortunately, a ground out. Hey, I’m competitive and would want to win this game!

MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Just like my earlier entry about the 1964 Topps Giants set, when there are only three cards in the set, somebody has to be named “most obscure,” at least according to the format I set for this series. So like Camilo Pasucal in the 1964 Topps Giants set, Dean Chance gets named most obscure Twin in this game set because the other two cards show Hall of Famers. But, hey, at least his game outcome was a strike out (which I assume was a positive for a pitcher in this game).

Dean Chance was an excellent pitcher. He won the Cy Young Award in 1964 when there was only one winner for all of MLB. His career record was 128-115 with a career ERA of 2.92. Now he did pitch during the year of the pitcher (1968), but that career ERA measures up very well. His career ERA+ was 119. Chance came to the Twins in a December 1966 trade with the Angels; the Twins gave up Pete Cimino, Jimmie Hall, and Don Mincher. The Twins got 13.1 WAR from Chance in three seasons. The trade seems like a win for the Twins as the players they gave up combined for 5.7 WAR for the Angels. While playing for the Twins, he led the American League in innings and starts in 1967, which was also one of two years he made an All-Star team. In December 1969, Chance was traded by the Twins with Bob Miller, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. This trade seems like the Twins screwed up both ways. Nettles was obviously great for many years, some contend he is worthy of the Hall of Fame. And some also argue the same for Taint, who the Twins released in 1971.
Chance retired after his age 30 season. It was said by Wikipedia and other websites that his body broke down perhaps because of funky wind up where he essentially turned his back the batter. Interestingly, in retirement he was a successful carnival operator and founded the International Boxing Association. I have vague memories of Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writing about Chance and the IBA.
If you disagree with my opinions, I would love to see your opinions, criticisms, and suggestions in the comments below. Don’t be too hard on me. Let’s have fun with this!

Hi folks. This is my third post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please read my first post here for deeper detail on my series.
1968 TOPPS
The 1968 Topps set is one of my personal favorites which is interesting because I find the look rather ugly, but I really like some of the Twins cards. The set’s cards are standard size, with kind of a burlap looking border. The player’s name is at the bottom with a colored circle showing his team and position. The set has a couple of my favorite multi-player cards ever and Rod Carew’s first stand-alone Topps card (#80) as well as an all-star card (#363). There are a whopping 37 Twins cards in the set.
THE BEST
With this set, I might run into a problem for my personal choice of best and favorite. There are more than a few cards to choose from that fit both categories. As far as value, both the #490 Super Stars card with Harmon Killebrew, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, and the #480 Manager’s Dream card with Tony Oliva, Chico Cardenas, and Roberto Clemente rank high. I don’t always want to equate value with best, but in this case my choice for best card has to be the Super Stars card. The card has three Hall of Famers who as a group hit 1,769 home runs. Three of the top 18 HR hitters ever…on one card!! Quite a bit of firepower on one single card.
                        
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite I am going to select the Rod Carew (#80). You just got to love Rod Carew’s first solo card. I like the pose and the Topps rookie cup. Like I said in a previous post about Tony Oliva, Carew just looks so young here.

And like my statement above about firepower on a single card, the AL RBI Leaders card also has three Hall of Famers in Carl Yastrzemski, Harmon Killebrew, and Frank Robinson. I really like these types of leader cards with multiple Hall of Famers. This card represents 1,611 career home runs and 5,240 career RBI. A lot of history there.

I’m going to choose the Carew as my favorite Twins card in the set, but I really, really like that Super Stars card above as well.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Cal Ermer did manage a major league baseball team, but only briefly. He previously had a very limited playing career. He went 0-3 in his lone MLB game for the Senators in 1947, was a long-time coach and manager in the Senators/Twins organization, who ended up managing the Twins for part of 1967 and all of 1968. I thought he was the right choice for most obscure player/coach in the 1968 Twins set, but then I read about right-handed pitcher Moe Ogier.

Maurice “Moe” Ogier appeared on a dual rookie card (#589) with Ron Clark. Mr. Ogier made the 1968 Twins opening day roster but was sent to the minor leagues shortly thereafter to make room for Jim Kaat after Kaat was activated from the disabled list for an elbow injury dating to the prior season. Ogier didn’t pitch that season – or ever – in the major leagues. Ogier played six years in the Twins minor league system. His record was 36-37. His minor league strikeout numbers were rather good especially for that era, but his WHIP was also high. He pitched later in the Angels and Padres systems. He never made the majors, but he did have this baseball card.
While researching this post, I learned a new phrase that I had not heard before – phantom ballplayer. According to Wikipedia, a phantom ballplayer is a player who spent time on an active roster but never appeared in a game. That sounds to me like a definition for obscure. Moe Ogier is the choice here.
If you disagree with my opinions, I would love to see your opinions, criticisms, and suggestions in the comments below. Don’t be too hard on me. Let’s have fun with this!

Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven’t posted in a very long time. Everyone on here does such a good job covering the team I’ve been struggling with figuring out what could I possibly add that would be unique to the site. I haven’t found anyone on here who reviews books so that’s something I’m going to start doing. If there is someone on here who already does this I’m sorry for stealing your idea. 
The first book I’m going to review is “Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger” by Steve Aschburner. Here’s my review:
I thought this book was great! This is a great biography of the greatest slugger in Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins history. I thought the story of his life and career was really well done by this author. I especially loved the stories about Harmon off the field since I already knew about his playing career exploits. It made me really jealous of my wife who got to meet Harmon in real life before he passed away. Highly recommended.
You can buy the book from Amazon here on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Harmon-Killebrew-Ultimate-Steve-Aschburner/dp/1600787029/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=3LJKIPBLX1FWA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1IWTgxRUrrDZSnHTyrIZNcu6C4cRlqcPI7E89o47yMHjCSanbmhj_emo84vsAVaNnhbWhJQ7O8Rhs0cqz5xlbsz6UQu4TI-dRKM6BzjJXTm8LCEhSpRbGsTjAt6_wMb5Q2tygs3oYP4fbN3PQXiMqABkUKPY5zaFdBz9Yyl6znvfZue8NpXQw0j0FwFHaYcqs3GMJSdv92_DC47NcoIMqg.FkQJ3fTkStl80fMIl2GR61DOqC5_mwMa-MYmBmHVNxA&dib_tag=se&keywords=harmon+killebrew&qid=1710444362&sprefix=%2Caps%2C332&sr=8-2

From DFA’d to premier setup man in less than four years, Brock Stewart has one of the best stories in baseball and is poised to play a big role on the 2024 Twins. 
In 2019, Stewart was DFA’d by the Dodgers before being picked up by the Blue Jays. Stewart only threw 21 innings with the Blue Jays but his time there was the worst of his career. He pitched to a 55 ERA+ along with a career low in K/9 at 6.6. Furthermore, his fastball sat at a middling 91 MPH. As a result, he was once again DFA’d. After a lost season in 2020 due to covid, Stewart looked to get back on the mound but was hit by a slew of elbow injuries and was sidelined for a year. Now as a 30 year old, he was running out of options to be able to keep pitching and he turned to Tread Athletics to give him another shot.
Tread is a sports performance center located in North Carolina that specializes in using advanced data to highlight weaknesses and improve all aspects of a pitcher's game. While at Tread, Stewart focused on two things: change his slider to a sweeper and add a cutter to his repertoire. Within months of working at Tread, he hit a new best of 96 MPH on his fastball.
Stewart was eventually signed to a minor league deal with the Twins after seeing his new pitch mix and mechanics he developed while at Tread. On April 27th 2023, Stewart made his Twins debut pitching two scoreless against the Royals. Stewart pitched only 27 innings in 2023 but they were dominant. He allowed only 2 earned runs and had a .65 ERA while striking out 12.7/9.
When looking even deeper into some of his pitches, you can truly see his effectiveness. He throws his fastball the most out of any of his pitches at 39% and for good reason. Compared to his pre-Tread fastball, the average MPH has bumped over 6 MPH to 97.3. He is able to generate a high spin rate of 2600 which gives him a well above average Bauer Unit score of 26.76 (league average is 24). On top of his high spin rate, the spin efficiency is great as well at 82%. For comparison, an average MLB 2-seamer has a 2150 spin rate and a spin efficiency in the range of 75-100%. This means that Stewart has the spin profile of a 2-seamer with the spin rate of an electric 4-seamer. The result of this is a xwhiff+ score of 132, above the likes of dominant pitchers such as Spencer Strider and Alexis Diaz.
The biggest focus during his time at Tread was the development of a new sweeper and it transformed his pitch mix. Prior to his injuries, Stewart was throwing a more traditional gyro slider which only generated 4.7 inches of horizontal movement. His sweeper that he showed off in 2023 has a whopping 15.6. Compared to his 2018 slider, the opponent’s xBA and hard hit% dropped off substantially when facing this sweeper. This pitch was developed as a more effective way to get righty batters out and it did just that. He threw the sweeper to righties 71% of the time and had a stuff+ score of 132 when facing same handed hitters.
The final of his three main pitches is the cutter, another pitch he developed at tread. The cutter acts as a medium between the fastball and sweeper at an average of 93.3 MPH and 2.3 inches of horizontal movement but it is just as effective. Opponents batted a mere .071 against it and he had his highest put away% of 40% while using the cutter. Even the expected stats back up the dominance of the pitch with a xSLG of only .231.
When looking at the 2024 Twins outlook, the bullpen is slated to be the biggest bright spot of the team and a full season of Brock Stewart is massive to the success of the pen overall. It may be easy to write off his 2023 season as something like a fluke due to the low innings count but all underlying numbers and pitch data suggest otherwise. 
Finally, Stewart’s story shows the increasing prevalence and usefulness of advanced data and pitch tracking. Sports centers such as Tread and Driveline are becoming increasingly popular as it allows athletes to use data they normally wouldn’t be able to see to fully tap into their abilities. It also gives MLB teams further insight and aids them in making potentially multi-million dollar deals. Without them, the Twins would have never signed Brock Stewart who looks to be one of the biggest factors of a Twins team that is poised to run it back in the playoffs.

The 1961 American League season was unique because for the first time since the turn of the century the league was not made up of 8 teams. Not only did the Senators move from Washington to Minnesota, but the league added 2 expansion teams, the Los Angeles Angels and the “new” Washington Senators. Originally the expansion teams were supposed to be located in Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul, but Calvin Griffith, the owner of the Washington Senators, asked for and received approval to move the Senators to Minnesota, giving Washington the expansion team. Even though the Senators had a hard time getting fans to attend, the baseball felt that because of baseball’s anti-trust issues that it was best to have a team in the Nation's capital.
Up until the Senators moved to Minnesota there had only been 5 teams that had pulled up stakes in one city and moved to another. They were: 1) in 1953 when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, 2) in 1954 when the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore, 3) in 1955 when the Philadephia Athletics moved to Kansas City, and 4/5) in 1958 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants moved to Los Angeles and San Francisco, 
There would be other relocations after the Twins: 1) in 1966 the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, 2) in 1968 the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, 3) in 1970 the expansion Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee, 4) in 1972 the Washington Senators moved to Dallas/Ft. Worth, 5) in 2005 the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and 6) in 2024 the Oakland Athletics moved to Las Vegas.
When the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota in 1961 they brought with them a team that had finished the 1960 season with a 73-81 record, good for 5th place in the 8 team American League. This was their best finish in 6 years -
1946
4th
1947
7th
1948
7th
1949
8th
1950
5th
1951
7th
1952
5th
1953
5th
1954
6th
1955
8th
1956
7th
1957
8th
1958
8th
1959
8th
1960
5th
Not only were they in the 2nd half of the 8 team division in standings, but here are their attendance standings.
1946
5th
1947
7th
1948
6th
1949
7th
1950
6th
1951
6th
1952
6th
1953
6th
1954
7th
1955
8th
1956
8th
1957
8th
1958
8th
1959
8th
1960
8th
Their attendance for the 1960 season at Griffith Stadium was 743,404 (9,655 per game), which was the lowest in the American League. When they moved they brought with them their Owner and General Manager, Clark Griffith, Farm Director – Sherry Robertson and Manager – Cookie Lavagetto. Cookie would only last 59 games into the season when he was fired with a 23-36 record and was replaced by Sam Mele who would be 47-54-1 for the season. Their overall record was 70-90-1 good for 7th place (out of 10 teams). Both the expansion Senators and the Angels would finish behind the Twins in the standings as well as the Kansas City Athletics. The Twins attendance for the season was 1,256,723 (an average of slightly over 15,000 per game (3rd out of 10 teams).
How much better was it to receive a team as a transfer rather than an expansion team?
If we examine the 8 teams that relocated between 1901 and 1968 you will see that many of them had early success that may not have happened if they had received an expansion team.
Here is where those 8 teams finished in the standings in their first five years in a new city.
Team
 
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
1953 Milwaukee Braves
 
2
3
2
2
1
1954 Baltimore Orioles
 
7
7
6
5
6
1955 Kansas City Athletics
 
6
8
7
7
7
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers
 
7
1
4
2
2
1958 San Francisco Giants
 
3
3
5
3
1
1961 Minnesota Twins
 
7
2
3
6
1
1966 Atlanta Braves
 
5
7
5
1
5
1968 Oakland Athletics
 
6
2
2
1
1
It’s really interesting to note that there have been a total of 8 franchise moves listed above and 6 of the teams won a league championship within 5 years of moving.
Here are the first five years of every expansion team.
Team
 
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
1961 Los Angeles Angels (of 10)
 
8
3
9
5
7
1961 Washington Senators (of 10)
 
9
10
10
9
8
1962 New York Mets (of 10)
 
10
10
10
10
9
1962 Houston Colt .45s (of 10)
 
8
9
9
9
8
1969 Kansas City Royals (of 6)
 
4
4
2
4
2
1969 Seattle Pilots (of 6)
 
6
4
6
4
6
1969 San Diego Padres (of 6)
 
6
6
6
6
6
1969 Montreal Expos (of 6)
 
6
6
6
6
6
1977 Toronto Blue Jays (of 7)
 
7
7
7
7
7
1977 Seattle Mariners (of 7)
 
6
7
6
7
6
1993 Colorado Rockies (of 7) (of 4)
 
6
3
2
3
3
1993 Florida Marlins (of 7) (of 5)
 
6
5
4
3
2
1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays (of 5)
 
5
5
5
5
5
1998 Arizona Diamondbacks (of 5)
 
5
1
3
1
1
Of the 14 expansion teams listed in the table only the Diamondbacks were able to finish in 1st place in their division (3 times). Only the Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies experienced moderate success.
1960/61 Expansion Draft to stock Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators
In the very first expansion draft an existing team had to make available seven players from their active roster as of August 31, 1960 and eight others from their 40 man roster, with a maximum of seven players that could be taken from each existing club.
The Angels took Eli Grba, Jerry Casale, Duke Maas, Tex Clevenger, and Bob Sprout with their 1st five choises, while the Senators took Bobby Shantz, Dave Sisler, Johhny Klipstein, Pete Burnside and Carl Mathias with their choices. The Senators/Twins would lose Tex Clevinger, Hal Woodeshick, Hector Maestri, Rudy Hernandez, Johnny Schaive, Faye Throneberry, Julio Becquer and Joe McClain.  
1997/98 Expansion Draft to stock the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks
In the most recent expansion draft each existing team could protect 15 players. All players in an organization were eligible to be drafted except with those with no prior major league experience who had less than 3 years of service. A team could lose no more than 1 player per round, with 28 selections in rounds one and two, and 14 selections in round 3. After the first two rounds a team could add three more players to be protected.
The Devil Rays chose Tony Saunders, Quinton McCracken, Bobby Abreau, Miguel Cairo and Rich Bulter with their 1st five choices. The Diamondbacks chose Brian Anderson, Jeff Suppan, Gabe Alvarez, Jorge Fabergas, and Karim Garcia with their choices. The best player taken in the draft would turn out to be Randy Winn taken from the Marlins by the Devil Rays in the 3rd round. The Twins would lose Brent Brede (1B) and Damian Miller (Catcher).
Conclusion
Clark Griffith did the fans of the Twins a great service by moving his franchise to Minnesota in 1961, rather than giving Minnesota an expansion team.

Saint Paul, Minnesota - A unique start to the game with the first three hits coming in the form of solo home runs. The Saints were able to hang around when Hunter Greene (MLB Rehab Assignment) was pitching before breaking through, scoring five in the fifth to pick up an 8-5 win over the Louisville Bats on Thursday night in front of 8,456. The Saints improved to 64-46 on the season. 
Matt Reynolds hit his 19th home run of the season, which gave Louisville a 1-0 lead. 
Trevor Larnach tied the game at one with his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the first. 
There are not many games where the first three hits are home runs, but this game that was the case. The third hit of the game came in the second, Noelvi Marte hit his third home run of the season, and this gave Louisville a 2-1 lead. 
In the third, Alejo Lopez walked with one out. Next, Reynolds singled followed by a single from Nick Martini, which brought home Lopez. Henry Ramos hit a sacrifice fly to give the Bats a 4-1 lead. 
Andrew Stevenson hit his 14th home run of the season. 
The Saints got within one in the fourth. Kyle Garlick walked with one out and Jair Camargo doubled to bring home Garlick, and the Saints trail 4-3. 
The Saints broke the game open in the fifth; however, the Bats pitching did not do them any favors. Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, Anthony Prato, and Yunior Severino all walked. This was four straight walks, and this tied the game at four. Next, Kyle Garlick hit a sacrifice fly to center, which gave the Saints a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning, Gilberto Celestino hit his seventh double of the season. This one went off the right field wall and gave St. Paul an 8-4 lead.
Henry Ramos hit his ninth home run of the season for the Bats to lead off the sixth, but that is all Louisville would get. The Saints shut the door the rest of the way, which secured an 8-5 win. 
Michael Boyle picked up his second win of the season for the Saints. Ronny Henriquez is credited with his second hold, and Kody Funderburk picked up his third save. 
The Louisville Bats and St. Paul Saints meet in game four of a six-game series at CHS Field on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. The Bats will send RHP Levi Stoudt (3-3, 5.13) while the Saints will counter with RHP Louie Varland (6-0, 4.53). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM. 

One of the Twins strengths this season has been its ability to pitch. Whether it's from the starting rotation or the bullpen, the staff has been fantastic this year. However, one prospect who was moving up and hoping to be a part of this staff, Matt Canterino, the Twins #9 ranked prospect by MLB.com is out for the year with Tommy John surgery. I recently caught up with him to find out how things are going in his recovery, where he's at in the rehab process and a more!
DC: how's the rehab going? Where are you at in the process?
MC: Rehab is going very well! I am regularly throwing bullpens twice per week, and I have just started touching 90 miles per hour again. The elbow has been recovering well, and the goal is to start throwing to hitters around the middle of September.
DC: What has the process been like this time for you compared to previous injuries?
MC: It’s different this time because there is more of a set structure for a return from surgery. In the past, when I’ve attempted rest and rehab for my lingering elbow issue, the limiting factor was always waiting for my elbow to feel healthy enough to throw. With surgery, it’s been more about dealing with the slow progression of a 13 month long recovery.
DC: When you first got hurt with this injury, what was the biggest hurdle for you?
MC: My biggest hurdle was figuring out if surgery was the right course of action for me. My UCL tear was not something that obviously needed surgery at the time of injury, but after multiple failed attempts to rest and rehab my forearm and elbow, it became clear that Tommy John Surgery was the best option.
DC: Has this injury and rehab been more mentally or physically tough/challenging for you?
MC: I would say the mental aspect of seeing an entire season go by without playing is the toughest part. I really wanted to contribute and help the Twins organization this year, but it just didn’t work out. I’ve gotten over that melancholy feeling a bit by really honing in on some of my development goals as a pitcher during my current build up. 
DC: How do you feel you're progressing as it relates to being fully healthy?
MC: I feel extremely confident in my ability to come back as a better pitcher than what I was pre-surgery.
DC: Where have you been able to rehab at?
MC: I’ve been rehabbing at the Twins Complex in Fort Myers since the start of Spring Training, and will continue there through the season.
DC: How has your family support assisted you in getting through this rehab and your previous ones as well?
MC: My loved ones are the best at helping me keep my head on straight through this process. There are always ups and downs when dealing with injury and rehab, so to have someone I can vocalize those situations to and trust their input on how to keep level-headed and optimistic is beyond important.
DC: Have you heard anything from the Twins recently and how often do you keep in contact with them?
MC: I am in contact with coaching staff everyday at the facility, and they do a great job of mapping out the rehab process for me. Everyone is optimistic about my progression thus far.
DC: How far removed from your surgery are you?
MC: My surgery date was August 24th of 2022, so I am just over 11 months out.
DC: Last question Matt, what is your off-season rehab going to look like and will it ramp up as you approach ST, and do you anticipate being full healthy for ST?
MC: The goal is to be built up and healthy for next Spring Training. My buildup through the end of the season is still subject to some change, but, for the most part, the hope is to have a regular off season this Winter and be fully primed for a healthy 2024.
Thanks to Matt for taking the time to catch up with me via Twitter. 
Follow me on Twitter @devlin_clark84

Saint Paul, Minnesota - The temperature was not the only thing hot at CHS Field on Sunday afternoon. The Saints bats were once again on fire gliding past the Gwinnett Stripers 11-5 in front of 7,475. The Saints improved to 48-31 on the season. 
In the bottom of the first, Trevor Larnach hit his fifth homerun of the season. This one was to rightfield and gave the Saints a 1-0 lead. 
Joe Dunand started the second with a single. He stole second base, which was his first stolen base of the season. Next, Yolmer Sanchez doubled, which tied the game at one. 
A game changing inning would come in the bottom of the second for the Saints. Jair Camargo singled followed by walks from Anthony Prato and Elliot Soto. Next, Andrew Stevenson hit a grand slam to right field. The Saints took a 5-1 lead. 
In the third Gwinnett would plate two. Eli White walked and Forrest Wall singled. Vaughn Grissom doubled, which brought home White. Wall was unable to score because he was picked off first base by Saints pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson. Next, Dunand doubled, which allowed Grissom to score. The Saints still lead 5-3. 
In the bottom of the third, Chris Williams walked, and Jair Camargo doubled. This gave the Saints a 6-3 lead. 
Elliot Soto singled and Stevenson reached on a fielder's choice in the fourth. Trevor Larnach singled on a soft ground ball to second base, which allowed Elliot to score. The Saints took a 7-3 lead. 
Soto would continue his good day at the plate in the sixth. Soto doubled to lead off the inning. Gilberto Celestino walked. Larnach hit an RBI single which brought home Soto. 
In the seventh, Andrew Bechtold hit his seventh homerun of the season. This one was to rightfield. The Saints took a 9-3 lead. 
In the eighth, Sanchez walked followed by a double from Daniel Roberston. Roberston doubled allowed Sanchez to score. 
The Saints once again would answer. Giberto Celestino tripled, and Chris Williams hit a sacrifice fly. Mark Contreras hit a homerun to right-centerfield. This gave the Saints an 11-4 lead. 
Forrest Wall started the ninth with a walk. Grissom singled to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Dunand would ground out but both runners would advance. Luke Williams hit a sacrifice fly to center, which brought home Wall. St. Paul still led 11-5. Sanchez would fly out to end the game and the Saints would secure the 11-5 victory. 
Sunday was another very good day offensively for the Saints. Seven out of the nine players in the starting lineup collected at least one hit. Larnach, Camargo, Bechtold, and Soto all had multi-hit games. Also, each person in the starting lineup came around to score a run. Soto led the way, scoring three times. 
Simeon Woods Richardson picked up his first win of the season on Sunday. Woods Richardson worked 5.0 innings allowing three runs on six hits. Ronny Henriquez pitched 1.0 innings allowing one run on one hit. Brice and Murphy also pitched for the Saints. 
Luetge was the only pitcher for the Stripers who had much success. Luetge pitched 1.2 innings allowing zero runs on two hits. AJ Smith-Shawver started for Gwinnett. He is the top prospect in the Atlanta organization. He worked 3.1 innings allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits. He took his second loss of the season. 
The Gwinnett Stripers and St. Paul Saints meet in game six of a six-game series on Monday night at CHS Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:07 p.m. Gwinnett will send RHP Allan Winans (6-3, 2.94) to the mound while St. Paul will counter with RHP Louie Varland (2-0, 6.66). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM. 

I just completed my 24th annual baseball road trip with my buddies Steve-O and TJ, this past weekend we caught a trio of games in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home of the Minnesota Twins High Class A team the Kernels.   The Beloit Sky Carp won the first game we saw on Friday, June 23, 11-9.  Cedar Rapids then won the next two days by scores of 10-6 and 8-3.  Sky Carp, in case you are wondering, is a not-so-flattering moniker for Canadian geese.  I am by no means a baseball expert, but rather just an avid fan who loves to go to baseball games, watching and observing.   With my scorebook in hand, I make notes throughout the game of what I see happening on the field (and sometimes inthe stands.)   Here's a summary along with some thoughts and observations on how players on the Twins Daily Top 20 prospect list faired, along with some of the other Kernels "popping" in the minors.  
Current Twins Daily Top 20 prospects (after mid-May rankings)
#3 prospect - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez   Over the three games we saw...10ABs/2H/HR/RBI/4SO/4BB/SB - Rodriquez played CF the first two games and DH the final one.   Good athleticism in CF.  In the first game he showed excellent range getting to a ball in the LF/CF gap and then he non-chalantly flipped his glove for the catch and the ball glanced off his glove for a three-base error.  The next night was windy and with a rocket hit to CF he hustled back to the ball in time, but it hit off his glove for a triple (we thought it could have been an error, but then again it was windy.)  Showed some patience at the plate with 4 walks to go along with 4 strikeouts.  Has some of that "Wow" factor going for him with his swing (he's got "pop"), presence, and confidence.   I hope he can continue to mature and improve, he is the youngest player on the Cedar Rapids Kernel roster.
#6 prospect - P Marco Raya - 4th round pick in 2020 out of HS - He pitched the first game we saw on Friday and got off to a quick start, retiring 7 of the first 8 batters he faced.   Then an error (Rodriguez) and two unearned runs later, the Kernels were down 2-0 after three.  Raya got the first out in the 4th, but never finished the inning after loading up the bases on three consecutive singles.  His stat line was 3 1/3IP/4H/3ER/2K/BB.   In ten Class High-A starts, Raya is 0-1, 3.19 ERA, 35K/6BB in 31 IP.  The word I would use to describe Marco Raya is "efficient."  He started out the game dealing strikes and going after the hitters and was getting outs.  Then after giving up three consecutive singles to load the bases in the 4th, the Kernels made a call to the bullpen, which let the game get away in the middle frames (see Jaylin Nowlin below.)  Nothing "Wow" about his stuff like when I saw Brusdar Graterol pitch here, but Raya did exhibit good control and confidence.   They seem to be bringing Raya along slowly with 31 IP in ten starts.
#12 prospect - IF Jose Salas    Also acquired in the Luis Arraez trade - 7ABs/R/H/RBI/2B/2K/2BB/2HBP/1SB.  He played 2B two games and 3B once, with a slick glove, great range, with no errors.  On the season batting .166 with 61 Ks in 193 AB.  He is the second youngest player on the roster.  The glove is there, the bat is not (yet?)   Good versatility and speed.
#13 prospect - SS Noah Miller - 1st round pick 2021 out of HS - 9ABs/R/2H/2RBI/SB/5Ks.  Miller played two games at SS and was part of 3 double plays.  His glove is MLB ready IMO.  He gobbled up anything hit his way and was smooth as butter with his glove & throws, but has much work to do with the bat.  Miller is a switch hitter batting .208 (not sure of his splits.)   He had two RBI singles late in the Friday night game, otherwise he had tough at bats.  Out of the regulars playing offensively, Miller is the third youngest behind Rodriguez and Salas.  
Preseason Top 20 Twins Daily prospects
#18 prospect - IF Tanner Schobel (2nd round pick 2022 out of Virginia Tech as a draft eligible sophomore)  In two games batting leadoff and playing third base, 9AB/3R/3H/5RBI/2HR/K.  Batting .279 on the season with ten HRs and tied for the team lead with 46 RBI.  He's only 6 months older than Miller, but has got the bat and is a solid fielder.  I was surprised he dropped out of the Twins Daily Top 20 in the mid-May updated rankings, while Miller climbed one spot.  I can see him earning a promotion to Wichita before long.  Good stick & solid glove.  Very comfortable at the plate.
#20 prospect - OF Misael Urbina (signed as MLFA in 2108, just turned 21) - 13AB/2R/4H/5RBI/(2)2Bs/HR/3K.  Played two games in LF and one at DH.  Had 3 hits in Friday's game.  Adequate fielder batting .192 on the season.  I heard a lot about a high ceiling with him, nothing to write home about at this point (yet), hasn't taken off.  Still A LOT to prove.
Best of the rest
Jorel Ortega IF - 6th round pick 2022 (signed out of Tennessee after his junior year) - recently promoted to Cedar Rapids.  12AB/5R/5H/2B/HR/BB.  Played 1B,2B, and DH in the 3 games we watched.  He catches your attention when playing.  Batting .400 in 5 games since his promotion from Ft. Myers.  I like his game, he hustles and does things positively that you notice.
Kala'i Rosario OF - 5th round pick 2020 - Yay, another Rosario in the Twins organization!   Played RF for 2 games.  7AB/5R/3H/2RBI/2B/HR/2K/3BB.  Drafted out of high school in Hawaii, currently leads the Kernels in doubles (14), batting average (.279), and tied for HR lead with 12.  41 BBs to go along with 71 Ks.  Nothing flashy defensively, but very solid at the plate.  Possible OF promotion to Wichita if an opening should arise?  On a side note, during a rain delay during the Saturday game, Rosario was the ONLY player from either team, on the side of the dugout signing autographs for kids (and some big kids too-see pic below) for over twenty minutes during a light (and sometimes not-so-light) rain.
Ben Ross Utility - 5th round pick 2022 out of Notre Dame after his junior year - A clear fan favorite who plays everywhere, big blonde mullet (see locks below.)  1B/SS/CF when we saw him.  12AB/2R/3H/5RBI/(2)2Bs/HR.  Batting .235 on the season with 11HRs.  Fun player to cheer for, goes all out.  Made an error while in CF otherwise was solid, but not spectacular on defense.  
Andrew Cossetti C - 11th round pick out of St. Josephs - Earned a promotion from Ft. Myers in May after a strong start.  3AB/R/2H/2B.  Played one game behind the plate last weekend and is built as solid as a brickhouse.  Not Ben Rortvedt solid, but a stocky 5'10/215 lbs.  Seemed to call a really good game in the final game we saw on Sunday, and showed really good hustle legging out his double, helmet flew off and everything (almost Willians Astudillo like.)
Other pitching prospect notes:
I was hoping to see pitchers Cory Lewis and Zebby Matthews, who have created a bit of buzz this spring, but Lewis & Matthews did not throw.  I heard pitcher Connor Prielipp (2022 2nd round pick) was at the Twins facility in Florida for evaluation, but someone was wearing his number 47 during Friday's jersey auction and they said it was HIS jersey in their online auction site.  Mmmm?   I did see Jaylin Nowlin pitch in relief Friday and he got lit up to the tune of 2IP/5H/4ER/3BB/noKs.  Matthew Swain closed out Sunday's win allowing 2HRs on 3H with a K & BB in one inning pitched.  Ironically, the best pitching performance of the weekend came from starter Orlando Rodriguez who threw 5 shutout innings on Sunday. earning the win and improving his record to 7-2 on the season.  As mentioned earlier in Twins Daily, he was released after the game on Sunday.  Rodriguez is 5-7 years older than most players in high-A ball and I guess they needed the roster space.  Tough break.
If you make the trip to Cedar Rapids, the players are pretty accessible after the games.  They walk right out of the clubhouse past you, as does the opposition on the way to their bus.  There was only one other person looking for autographs with me after Friday's game.  On Sunday, fans are invited to go on the field as ALL Kernel players sign on the field after Sunday games for 10-15 minutes or so.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels won the first half of the season standings and are loaded with talent, especially in the infield (with depth too.)  It will be interesting to watch some of the names above and follow their development during the second half of the season and beyond.  Thanks for reading.

Wow, what a game yesterday! There is nothing better than seeing a walk-off win in absolute monster fashion. Winning is pretty fun, eh? Here are some of my thoughts on Sunday April 24's walk-off win vs the White Sox:
After that sweep, we’re back on top of the Central where we belong. I have no doubt that the White Sox will end up being fine, but it is important that we pounce and gain as much ground as possible while they’re banged up and committing a circus of errors in the field. I of course don’t wish to see anyone injured, but unfortunately that’s part of the game and we’re already facing a host of injuries too. Now that our offense has really woken up, it's time to go on a tear here and put some space between us and the White Sox. A long season awaits, but it's great being the frontrunner. It's incredible how entirely different of a team the Twins are when Byron Buxton is in the lineup. Everyone else starts hitting and he makes unbelievable, clutch plays like Sunday’s walk-off launch into orbit. He's also a huge clubhouse leader/ veteran presence. Jeff Passan had a great tweet illustrating his on-field impact: I was at the game with some friends, including a loyal White Sox fan, and he called the Buxton home run. Once he saw the Sox weren’t going to walk Buxton, he laughed, pointed up to the Home Run Porch and said, “He’s going to hit it right up there.” And sure enough next pitch, out into outer space that ball went. I was really surprised that they decided to pitch to Buxton considering the streak he’s been on (4-4 with a walk the day before Saturday and a home run in the 7th inning earlier on Sunday’s game). Chicagoans were not impressed with that decision either. Boy, is it great to have Buxton back. If this keeps up, he very legitimately will be in talks for MVP. And going further- might we even have the best player in baseball? It was a COLD day for a Gatorade bath at home plate, but something tells be Buxton didn't mind too much...  
 
We got our first look at everyone's favorite rule- the "runner on second in extra innings" or Ghost Runner rule! I wrote a piece on it in March when the return of the rule was announced. It worked out well for us this time, but I'm still not a big fan of the rule. Because it is so effective on ending the game in the inning in which it is implemented, it seems to me it should maybe take effect in the 11th or 12 inning- give a little extra time for the game to end naturally, and if not, the Buck stops here (pun intended). However, yesterday's game was a bit cold and unpleasant with some scattered sprinkles, so my friends and I were just fine with the rule yesterday. I'm glad we started out with an extra innings win so we don't have an "0-8 in extras" monkey on our back like we did last year. And I'm kind of surprised we made it 16 games into the season before we had an extra innings duel. How about that diving stop by Gio Urshela followed by an incredible, right on the money throw to first from the seat of his pants?! That has to be the best 3rd baseman play I've ever seen at Target Field. What a great addition to the team he is.  There were a few times there where I was wondering why in the world we did not pinch hit Carlos Correa for Gilberto Celestino, Nick Gordon, or Miguel Sanó. I understood that we could not pinch hit for José Godoy because we did not have another catcher to go in, but for the others I was a little puzzled. To Rocco, if a player is off, he must be off.  Every time Sanó gets a hit, I breathe a sigh of relief. He had a nice single in yesterday's game and no strikeouts- so progress, right? He has played in 15/16 games. so they are really trying to just make him work through what he's been going through. Hopefully things are turning around now.  I noticed Target Field is still doing the pitch sequence that I talked about in my last blog, but it is very irregularly shown on the right field screen and only for opposing pitchers, Everyone in the stadium got a huge kick out of the junior PA announcer, who was extremely enthusiastic and sounded like he was announcing a goal at a Wild game when announcing each Twin up to bat. Cute moment from Gleeman here describing how the junior PA announcer got a tour of the press box after his half inning! I wore snow pants to the game, brought big, thick Twins mittens, and wore a full winter coat. I'm not messing around. It looks like it won't be at least until a week into May when it will hit 60 degrees. The Tigers series this week will be cold (a shock, I know). It's been so bad that at this point I'm wondering if Correa knew how cold it was here (albeit, unseasonably so) if he would've come here. We sure are earning that spring this year, and those warm summer nights at Target Field will feel even better after all this, right? Maybe?  As a last side note, I got mentioned in David Laurila’s Sunday Notes column at Fangraphs! Thank you so much to Twins Daily’s Matt Braun for pointing that and to David for the kind shoutout. Here is a link to my piece and here is David's! See you at the Ballpark and Win Twins!

Walk-off home run!

New to the site, we've added both the active roster and the 40-man roster pages!
These pages will update nightly so they'll always be up-to-date with the current state of the big league club, adding yet another long-term feature I've wanted to see on our baseball sites basically forever. There isn't a lot to say about these pages other than they feature the standard set of player info: name, position, handedness, DoB, etc.
To find these pages, use the hamburger menu at the top right of every page (the three horizontal lines), click "Twins Resources", and then you'll be presented the options for both the roster pages and the team schedule for the season.
As always, if you have suggestions for new features you'd like to see added or improvements to current features, please comment below!

Prospects are exciting, but they do come with some risks. The Twins currently seem to have as deep of a system as ever, but until the prospects reach the majors, it doesn’t matter. Today I will be revisiting the 2018 Twins Top 30 Prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, going through #1 to #15 on the list, and give some reason for hope, and some for fear for the current crop.
 
#1 Royce Lewis
Acquired: Drafted 2017, 1st Overall
Current Team: Twins Organization
Royce Lewis was a bit of a surprise being drafted #1 overall in 2017, many believed it would be high school flamethrower Hunter Greene going to the Twins instead. He is still currently the #1 prospect in the Twins system. Royce Lewis has shown plenty to be excited about, but also has shown some concerns, especially tearing his ACL right before spring training in 2021. He figures to be the most important piece to the Twins success in the coming years, will he be able to live up to the hype?
 
#2 Fernando Romero
Acquired: Signed out of Dominican Republic in 2011, $260,000 Signing Bonus
Current Team: Yokohama DeNA BayStars (Japan)
Likely the biggest letdown on this list, Romero was a late find for the Twins, who had some competition in signing Romero. Ultimately, it all worked out and the Twins got a deal done. Romero played well in his first couple years of minor league ball before tearing his UCL and requiring Tommy John surgery, knocking him out of the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He came back and worked his way up to his debut in 2018, pitching well for a few starts and ended the season with a 4.69 ERA. The Twins tried to turn him into a bullpen piece in 2019, but to no avail. It failed miserably and he was sent back to the minors. In 2020 he could not get into the United States for Spring Training due to visa issues, and was ultimately released late in 2020.
 
#3 Stephen Gonsalves
Acquired: Drafted 2013, 110th Overall
Current Team: Cubs Organization
Another massive letdown. Unlike Romero, Gonsalves never found any big league success, even for a few starts. He was expected to go higher, but an incident where he lied to the dean of his high school was made public and as a result, he fell lower in the draft. The Twins signed him away from his San Diego college commitment. He only pitched 24.2 innings in the majors for the Twins, all in 2019 ending with a 6.57 ERA. He has been in multiple other organizations throughout the past 2 years, only having big league time with the Red Sox in 2021.

 
#4 Nick Gordon 
Acquired: Drafted 2013, 5th Overall
Current Team: Twins
Gordon has had a rather long journey to the big leagues. He was drafted very high in 2013 and posted solid stats in the minors, and was finally added to the 40-man after the 2018 season. Gordon’s season was limited in 2019 due to injuries, and he endured a rough battle with Covid-19 during the cancelled 2020 minor league season, knocking him out of any possible baseball activity. He finally made his long awaited debut with the Twins, playing his way into a possible future role as a super-utility man. I personally am a big fan of Gordon and think he will be a good player for the Twins in the coming years. Fun fact: Outside of baseball, Nick Gordon also raps with his stage name of G Cinco.
 
#5 Wander Javier
Acquired: Signed out of Dominican Republic in 2015, $4 Million Signing Bonus
Current Team: Twins Organization
When the Twins signed Wander Javier out of the DR, they gave him the highest signing bonus in franchise history, breaking Miguel Sano’s $3.15 Million in 2010. The first 2 years of his professional career looked good, and he could be a big contributor for the Twins in the future. Since then, not much has gone right. He has battled injuries and has been inconsistent to say the least. On the bright side, he is still only 22 years old, and plays a premium position, shortstop. If he can find what he seemed to once have he still has enough time to become a solid Major Leaguer.
 
#6 Alex Kirilloff
Acquired: Drafted 2016, 15th Overall
Current Team: Twins
Alex Kirilloff was drafted out of Pennsylvania as a good hitting corner outfielder. He didn’t disappoint in his first taste of pro ball in 2016, but in 2017 he needed Tommy John surgery, knocking him out for the year. He really broke out in 2018 and earned a top 20 rank in most prospect lists. Kirilloff had a good first showing in the MLB in 2021, but just had some bad luck on batted balls as well as a wrist injury ended his season early. Although he can play outfield, it appears he will be the Twins first baseman of the future.
 
#7 Brusdar Graterol
Acquired: Signed out of Venezuela in 2014, $150,00 Signing Bonus
Current Team: Dodgers
Saying Brusdar throws hard is an understatement, he throws extremely hard. He also has good offspeed. The Twins traded him along with Luke Raley to the Dodgers in exchange for Kenta Maeda. Graterol has only been used in the bullpen by the Dodgers, and rightfully so. He had posted mixed results. Personally, I am content with the trade. Sure, Brusdar could have been a good bullpen arm for the next 5+ years, but we got a near Cy Young season with Maeda. An elbow injury ended his season early and will likely eat up his whole 2022 season, but he has shown how good of a pitcher he can be, and in my opinion, you cannot be too upset with the trade.
 
#8 Brent Rooker
Acquired: Drafted 2017, 35th Overall
Current Team: Twins
What could have been, and what might still be. Rooker has shown off the light-tower power he was drafted for, but also hasn’t been very consistent. He has proven just about everything he has needed to in the minors, but can’t quite figure it out in the majors. Over his 2 partial year Major League career, he has had a 32.1% strikeout rate. He also plays below average defense in right and left field. If he can find his swing in the majors, he could be a great DH or good corner outfielder, but time is running out, especially since he is already 27.
 
#9 Blayne Enlow
Acquired: Drafted 2017, 76th Overall
Current Team: Twins Organization
The Twins paid Enlow over twice slot value at $2 million, to keep him from going to LSU. He had pitched very well in the minors, but has been injured a fair amount too. A few weeks into the 2021 season it was revealed that he would need Tommy John surgery, keeping him out until mid-2022. The Twins have shown they have faith in him though, adding him to the 40-man roster this offseason rather than risk losing him. He is still young enough though, he is currently 22 and will be 23 on opening day. I think he will become a good starter in the majors.
 
#10 Lewin Diaz
Acquired: Signed out of Dominican Republic in 2014, $1.4 Million Signing Bonus
Current Team: Marlins
Lewin Diaz was the guy we traded for Sergio Romo at the 2019 trade deadline. More importantly, along with Romo, we obtained Chris Vallimont, who has shown signs of brilliance, but also has had trouble. Lewin Diaz can hold his own at first base defensively, but he has had trouble hitting in the majors. He has hit well enough in the minors, but like Rooker, has never figured it out at the major league level. In his Major League career over 161 AB’s, he owns a .193 batting average. He is currently 25 years old.
 
#11 Akil Baddoo
Acquired: Drafted 2016, 74th Overall
Current Team: Tigers
The one that got away. The Tigers selected Akil Baddoo in the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Nobody could have expected he would play this well. He only had one really good season in the minors, that being in 2017. In 2019, early in the season it was revealed he would need Tommy John surgery, which seems to be a recurring theme in Twins outfield prospects on this list. Anyways, the Tigers selected him in the Rule 5 draft and he was a well above average hitter in the majors, posting a 113 OPS+.You cannot really blame the Twins for losing him, they appeared to have all of the outfield depth in the world, and Baddoo still looked multiple years away from the show.
 
 
#12 Lewis Thorpe
Acquired: Signed out of Australia in 2012, $500,000 Signing Bonus
Current Team: Twins Organization
There were reports that he was finally reaching his potential this past spring training. He had increased fastball velocity and was in the best shape of his life. None of that translated to games that mattered. He was signed as a crafty lefty out of Australia in 2012, with a fastball sitting around 90 MPH. He has had no big league success to this point, in all 3 years he has appeared in a major league game (2019 ,20, 21), he has been below average. The only way that seems possible for him to stick in the majors is if he becomes a bullpen arm, and like many other Twins fans, I am not buying it.
 
#13 Lamonte Wade Jr.
Acquired: Drafted 2015, 260th Overall
Current Team: Giants
Another one that got away. Lamonte Wade Jr. looked like he could have been a decent 4th outfielder for the Twins. The Twins chose Jake Cave over him, and sent Lamonte packing to San Francisco in exchange for project piece Shaun Anderson. Anderson ended up pitching less than 10 innings for the Twins before being released. Wade Jr. on the other hand, broke out in a huge way. He posted a 117 OPS+ for the Giants and looks to be a big piece of their future. He even received MVP votes in 2021. For the record, I always liked Lamonte Wade over Cave, but no one could have expected he would be this good. I am happy Wade broke out, and even happier it wasn’t for an AL team.
 
#14 Travis Blankenhorn
Acquired: Drafted 2015, 80th Overall
Current Team: Mets
Blankenhorn was pretty average throughout his minor league career for the Twins. His ceiling seemed to be a good utility player. He made his debut in 2020, going 1 for 3 with a double. He played one game for the Twins in 2021, as a defensive replacement. He made a costly error against the Athletics, which was paired with a Luis Arraez throwing error, which cost the game. That game seemed to send the season to the trash can and kind of lost hope for everyone. Days after the error, he was DFA’d and picked up by the Mets, which is where he currently plays. It never seemed meant to be with the Twins, and I hope for the best of luck in the future for Travis.
 
#15 Zack Littell
Acquired: From Yankees (Traded for Jaime Garcia at 2017 Deadline)
Current Team: Giants
Littell was originally drafted by the Mariners, then a few years later traded to the Yankees. Soon after, he was sent to Minnesota along with Dietrich Enns, in exchange for Jaime Garcia and cash considerations, in one of the most puzzling trades in team history. Littell had success out of the pen in 2019, and then looked lost in 2020. I was always a believer in him but it doesn't really matter what I think. He was eventually released and picked up by the San Francisco Giants. Littell rebounded in a huge way in 2021, posting a 2.92 ERA for the Giants in 61.2 innings. He looks to be a reliable bullpen arm for them in the coming years.

Notable 16-30
#19 Mitch Garver
Acquired: Drafted 2013, 260th Overall
Current Team:Twins
Garver broke out fairly late in his career, during his age 27 season. However, he broke out in a huge way, cementing himself as one of the best offensive catchers in the MLB. As a result of Garver breaking out late, he is already getting up there in age for a catcher. He will be 31 on opening day, which is decently old for a catcher. If he is still with the Twins after this offseason, he looks like he will catch for a few more years, and then it is likely he will transition over to a 1B/DH role. There is also a small chance he will play one of the most physically demanding positions in sports, catcher, for 5+ more years, due to how Baldelli rests his catchers.
 
#23 Luis Arraez
Acquired: Signed out of Venezuela in 2013, $40,000 Signing Bonus
Current Team: Twins
You always know what you will get with Arraez, high average, not a whole lot of power. That is what has made him one of my favorite Twins to watch. Some people believe Arraez will be dealt this offseason, but only time will tell. He currently holds down a utility role for the Twins. He broke out defensively this year, becoming a top 5 defensive 3rd baseman in 2021. He may have found his defensive home for the future, but he will have to beat out young buck Jose Miranda, who is mentioned soon in this list. Arraez also carries injury concerns, he has torn an ACL during his minor league career, and overall has “balky” knees. I think he could be a great leadoff hitter for the next 10 years if his body can hold up.
 
#25 Ben Rortvedt
Acquired: Drafted 2016, 56th Overall
Current Team: Twins
Like Arraez, you know what you are getting with Rortvedt. Rortvedt isn’t a force with the bat, but does have some power. He is highly regarded for his defense, profiling as the best in the system. With the Twins surplus of catching, he will likely serve as the 3rd catcher, playing most of his games in Saint Paul. It is nice to have him on hand though, as there could be some moves involving catchers after the lockout, and freak injuries happen with catchers. If he can bump his offense to average for a catcher, his defense will carry him to being an above average MLB catcher.
 
#28 Jose Miranda
Acquired: Drafted 2016, 73rd Overall
Current Team: Twins Organization
It wasn’t until this year that Miranda broke out, and he did it in a big way. Everybody knew Miranda had good tools, maybe they didn’t know they were this good though. He finally put them all together and hit over .340 on the season with 30 bombs between AA and AAA. He looks like he will be the 3rd baseman of the future for Minnesota, but stats don’t matter until the show, so we'll just have to wait and see. He is still fairly young, being 23 years old and he is one of, if not the best hitter in the whole system.
 
This list should provide a good realization that prospects are just prospects. Some are more likely to contribute at the MLB, hence the rankings, but odd things can happen. Also, it should show that lower ranking prospects can provide a big impact in the big leagues, so don’t always write them off. This list likely brought up some names you have forgotten, and some you wish you could forget *cough cough Baddoo* The future of this team is resting on their current farm system, which should hopefully provide fun baseball for years to come. After all, even Mike Trout was a prospect once. Thank you for reading. Leave a comment. Go Twins!!!
 

It’s Thanksgiving week and in that spirit, I’d like to ask our community, “What are you thankful for?”
I’ll start:
I’m thankful for all of you, our Twins Daily community. You give me so much food for thought. You give me an outlet to discuss my passions, my fears, my skepticism. Our community makes Twins fandom great, and I haven’t found another one like it.
I’m thankful for our moderation and community leadership team, we get to work together to help make this site as conducive to robust Twins Fandom discussion as possible.
I’m thankful for our founders/owners who keep the lights on, John, Nick, Seth, Parker & Brock
I’m thankful for our writers who continuously churn out tons of great new content for the front page.
Last, but not least, I’m thankful for our blogs and bloggers who write awesome work. One blog post I’d like to point out as a moderator, was written by one of our moderator/community leadership team written 5 years ago. Posting styles discussing our frustrations about the Twins - In My Opinion - Twins Daily. I encourage our community members (myself included) to try a longer form of writing. What are you interested in? What gets your blood pressure up?
If I took the running theme of my posts, the partial thoughts, frustrated rants, one-off comments and collected them up, I could write something longer form… maybe. I dunno…
 
I’m unsure
 
What I write, might suck, it might unravel as soon as I put it out there. I don’t really know how to write prose. But that’s the power of our community and why I am so thankful for you. We as a community will offer candid feedback, support, encouragement, disagreement, and perspective.
I don’t know if blogging will work for me, or if I have that much to say, but maybe I’ll give it a shot. I encourage you all to do the same.
How about you, what are you thankful for?

As you know, the MLB draft is vital to team success. Although the impact might not be seen immediately like in the NFL or NBA, the draft is still how great teams are built. If you haven't checked out Part 1 yet, I encourage you do so if you want to read about our first 11 picks of the 2021 draft. Without a further ado, let's hear about our new draftees!
 
 
Round 11, Pick 339: Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Texas Tech
 
Did not sign
 
Round 12, Pick 369: Kyler Fedko, OF, Connecticut
 

 
Kyler Fedko is a 6’2” 210 lb outfielder from the University of Connecticut. Fedko is a bat-first outfielder who had a phenomenal collegiate career at UCONN. He has a limited defensive profile and won’t wow you on the basepaths, so he will need to impress with his hitting in order to make the majors.
 
Fedko is originally from Gibsonia, PA. In his career at UCONN, he slashed .335/.410/.557 with 19 home runs and 53 extra base hits. Fedko broke out at the plate during his junior campaign in 2021, slashing an absurd .398/.483/.673 with 12 home runs and 53 RBI’s. He also led the Big East in batting average, runs scored (57), hits (78), OBP, and total bases (132). Fedko was named Big-East Player of the Year.
 
Fedko received 81 plate appearances for Low-A Fort Myers in 2021, slashing .235/.346/.265 with 2 doubles. Considering Fedko’s monstrous college career, this first taste of pro ball is seen as a disappointment but it could also be attributed to a very small sample size. Fedko has always hit well everywhere he has been so I expect his track record of success to continue into 2022. 
 
Round 13, Pick 399: David Festa, RHP, Seton Hall
 

 
David Festa is 6’6” 185 lb RHP from Seton Hall University. Festa is very projectable and although his strikeout totals aren’t that impressive and he won’t light up a radar gun, these are both things that I am confident can be developed. With a frame like this, he has a lot of room to add muscle and velocity to his fastball.
 
Festa is originally from Verona, NJ. In his career at Seton Hall, he was 10-11 with a 3.49 ERA. In 2021 however, he was very good. Festa went 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA. In addition, he averaged 8.38 K/9 and 4.13 BB/9. Along with Fedko, Festa was named to the All-Big East first team in 2021.
 
Festa made 4 appearances in 2021 between the FCL Twins and Low-A Fort Myers. In these 4 appearances, he went 8 & ⅓ innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 12. Festa will be an intriguing prospect to follow given his collegiate success and slender frame. If he can gain muscle and velocity to his fastball, he will be a fast-rising prospect.
 
Round 14, Pick 429: Pierson Ohl, RHP, Grand Canyon University
 

 
Pierson Ohl is a 6’1” 180 lb RHP from Grand Canyon University. Ohl has excellent command and pounds the zone. He doesn’t have phenomenal velocity or movement on his pitches, but if he develops those he could be a great pitcher going forward.
 
Ohl is originally from Simi Valley, CA. In his collegiate career at GCU, he went 18-9 with a 2.99 ERA. In 2021, he was excellent, posting a 2.60 ERA while going 10-2. He averaged 9.24 K/9 and an astounding 1.08 BB/9. In his college career, he had a miniscule BB/9 of 1.31. Ohl was also named WAC Pitcher of the Year and received second-team All-American honors, the first GCU player to earn D-1 All-American honors.
 
Since Ohl threw 100 innings for GCU in 2021, he was limited in pro ball this year. He only made one appearance for the FCL Twins and went 1.2 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 5 hits while striking out 1. Obviously this is an extremely small sample size so there is no reason to worry that this is the type of pitcher Ohl will be going forward. However, for Ohl to make it to the MLB, he will need to add velocity and movement.
 
Round 15, Pick 459: Mikey Perez, SS, UCLA
 

 
Mikey Perez is a 6’0” 185 lb 2B from UCLA. Perez is a versatile power-hitting middle infielder. Perez didn’t play a full collegiate season until 2021 but he can play all around the infield and he is sure-handed there. With limited collegiate playing time, it is hard to evaluate his bat quite yet but he has some power so it will be interesting to see how his bat plays at the next level.
 
Perez is originally from Cerritos, CA. In his collegiate career at UCLA, he slashed .243/.366/.443 with 11 home runs and 29 extra base hits. In 2021, he started every game for UCLA, mostly at second base but he also made 11 starts at SS and 4 starts at 3B. He led the team in home runs with 11. He joins Cardenas as UCLA alumni in this Twins draft class. 
 
Perez received 35 plate appearances between the FCL Twins and Low-A Fort Myers in his first experience of pro ball in 2021. Perez made the most of this opportunity, slashing .533/.600/.800 with 5 doubles and a home run. He also walked more than he struck out. He played 5 games at 2B and 3 games at SS. If Perez continues to mash minor league pitching he could progress quickly through the minors given his ability to play multiple positions. 
 
Round 16, Pick 489: Johnathan Lavallee, RHP, Long Beach State
 

 
Jonathan Lavallee is a 6’4” 240 lb RHP from Long Beach State University. Lavallee is an absolute specimen. He relies mostly on his fastball and likes to use his slider to put hitters away. 
 
Like Perez, Lavallee is from Simi Valley, CA. Before LBSU, Lavallee attended LA Pierce CC, a community college in Los Angeles. He excelled there, posting a 1.92 ERA and striking out 102 in 84 innings of work as a sophomore. Lavallee was utterly dominant at LBSU as well. He attended LBSU in 2020 (COVID shortened) and 2021. In his career at LBSU, Lavallee went 9-1 with a 2.10 ERA. He also had 9.86 K/9 and only 2.34 BB/9. He held opposing batters to a measly .177 batting average. Lavallee received numerous awards in 2021, including First-Team All-American, All-Big West First-Team, and Big West Co-Pitcher of the year.
 
Lavallee made one appearance in 2021 for the FCL Twins and went 2 innings, allowing 1 ER on 2 hits while striking out 3. Lavallee has an impressive track record of collegiate success and it will be exciting to see if he can continue it into the Twins organization in 2022.
 
Round 17, Pick 519: Dylan Neuse, 2B, Texas Tech
 

 
Dylan Neuse is a 5’9” 175 lb 2B from Texas Tech University. Neuse’s older brother, Sheldon, is an infielder in the Dodgers system. Neuse is a great all-around athlete who has shown he can play both middle infield and center field.
 
Neuse is originally from Fort Worth, TX. In his collegiate career at Texas Tech, Neuse slashed .305/.421/.477 with 10 home runs and 43 extra base hits. Neuse was a highly touted prospect coming into his junior year, being named the preseason Big-12 player of the year but after a solid start to the season, he was hit in the back by a pitch and didn’t play a game after April 11. Neuse could be a steal this late in the draft, it just all depends on how he is able to bounce back from injury.
 
Neuse did not appear in any minor league games in 2021, so hopefully he can return to full health for 2022.
 
Round 18, Pick 549: Mike Paredes, RHP, San Diego State
 

 
Mike Paredes is a 5’11” 185 lb RHP from San Diego State University. Paredes sports a fastball that ranges from 89-92 MPH and has a great mix of pitches he uses to keep hitters off balance. 
 
Paredes is originally from San Diego, CA. In his collegiate career, Paredes went 8-4 with a 5.28 ERA. He averaged 8.37 K/9 and 2.61 BB/9. Paredes never had much success collegiately but hopefully things can change course when he gets to pro ball.
 
Paredes made 2 appearances for the FCL Twins, going 4 innings while allowing 1 ER on 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 6. Maybe once he got to pro ball, something clicked for Paredes. Whatever it could’ve been, it will be interesting to see if he can build off of this small success in 2022.
 
Round 19, Pick 579: Jaylen Nowlin, LHP, Chipola JC
 

 
Jaylen Nowlin is a 6’2” 185 lb LHP from Chipola JC. Nowlin has a fastball that sits in the low 90s and he can run it up to 94. He also throws a changeup in the low 80s and a slider in the low to mid 80s. Nowlin’s changeup is his best pitch as he has great fade on it and the ability to throw it in any situation.
 
Nowlin is originally from West Lake HS in Georgia. He had an outstanding ERA of 2.14 in 42 innings pitched in his lone season at Chipola. He has a lot of swing-and-miss in his repertoire, averaging 12.6 K/9. He has struggled with command, issuing an average of 5.1 BB/9 this spring.
 
Nowlin made one appearance for the FCL Twins in 2021. He went ⅓ of an inning, allowing 3 ER on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1. Obviously not a great start to pro ball for Nowlin, but bad outings happen to everyone. Nowlin is still a very raw pitcher and I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw his velocity jump into the mid 90s under the tutelage of the Twins minor league pitching staff.
 
Round 20, Pick 609: Dillon Tatum, C, UC Irvine
 

 
Dillon Tatum is a 6’0” 190 lb catcher from the University of California, Irvine. Tatum is a power-hitting catcher who also assumed the DH role for the Anteaters in 2021.
 
Tatum is originally from Stockton, CA. Before going to UC-Irvine, he attended San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. In his career at Delta college, he slashed .316/.442/.474 with 4 home runs and 24 extra base hits in 60 games. At UC-Irvine, Tatum slashed .278/.401/.684 with 15 home runs and 36 RBI’s in 40 games. He set the single-season record for home runs in his only year as an Anteater. 
 
Tatum only had 10 plate appearances for the FCL Twins and went 0-7 with 3 walks. Obviously this is a frustrating start to a career for Tatum but look for him to pick it up and have a solid year in 2022.


 
Summary
 
With a collegiate-heavy class in 2021, the Twins are counting on some of these players to come up and contribute in the near future for the Twins. Over half of our draft picks were either pitchers or catchers as those are very important positions in baseball. It will be exciting to see how these prospects develop in 2022 and beyond!



 
Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!
 

The MLB draft is not nearly as popular as the NFL or NBA drafts. In 2021, 12.6 million people tuned in to watch Roger Goodell announce the first round of draft picks. Over the last 10 years, the NBA draft has had between 2 and 4 million viewers. The MLB however, had barely over 1 million viewers in 2021. However, the MLB draft remains very important.
 
Since 1965 (when the first MLB draft was held), 9 of the Twins top 13 players in terms of WAR were drafted by the Twins. These players include Joe Mauer, Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Chuck Knoblauch, Gary Gaetti, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau, Brian Dozier, and Corey Koskie. As you can see, most of our franchise’s best players were drafted by us and that stresses the importance of drafting well.
 
Without further ado, let’s jump in to checking in on our 2021 draft class

 
Round 1, Pick 26: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional HS (NJ)

Chase Petty was one of the most electrifying players drafted in 2021. Petty was the third high school pitcher taken in the draft. High school pitchers are generally riskier selections than college pitchers just because they haven’t proven themselves at a higher level yet. 
 
Petty is worth the risk. He has a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and it has been up to 100 mph. He also has a firm slider that sits in the upper 80s and has a spin rate between 2600 and 2700 RPM. Lookout Landing does a great job breaking down Petty’s stuff and mechanics here. 
 
Petty is a high-octane arm who only throws three pitches, so I foresee him as the Twins closer of the future. Petty is one of the most exciting players in the Twins farm system, ranking as our 7th best prospect.
 
Petty saw very limited action in the 2021 minor league season, making 2 appearances (one start) for the FCL Twins in the Florida Complex League. Between these 2 appearances, he threw 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and one walk while striking out 6. He only faced 21 batters so obviously this is a small sample size, but Petty had a solid start to his professional baseball career. Look for Petty to make some noise in 2022.
 
Comp Round A, Pick 36: Noah Miller, SS, Ozaukee HS (WI)

It is often said that shortstops are the best athletes on the field. Most MLB infielders were shortstops on their high school or college teams. It is always a good thing to have too many shortstops because you can move them around the field.
Seth Stohs wrote a great article about Noah Miller that really highlights everything about him. The Twins loved his makeup, athleticism, and rare ability to hit at a high level from both sides of the plate. In Miller's senior year of high school, he hit .608 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI’s. Miller currently ranks as the Twins number 13 prospect.
 
In Miller’s first taste of pro-ball, he was assigned to the FCL Twins and in 96 plate appearances, he slashed .238/.316/.369 with 3 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs. He had 9 walks to 26 strikeouts and committed 4 errors out of 86 chances, good for a .952 fielding percentage.
 
Miller struggled in his first taste of pro ball this season but he was only an 18 year old and he still has a very bright future ahead of him.
 
Round 2, Pick 61: Steve Hajjar, LHP, Michigan

Steve Hajjar is a 6’5” 215 lb pitcher from the University of Michigan. He throws a fastball in the low 90s and it has been up to 95 mph. His best pitch is his changeup, and MLB Pipeline says that he does a very good job of selling his changeup with fastball arm speed, which can be very deceptive to hitters. Hajjar is ranked as the number 22 prospect in the Twins system.
 
Hajjar did not pitch professionally in 2021. In 81.2 innings at Michigan, he was 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA. His K/9 was very impressive at 12.2, while having a BB/9 of 3.2. He was named All-Big Ten Conference First Team. He also led the Big Ten in strikeouts.
 
Hajjar is a 21 year old so he will probably progress a little quicker through the minor leagues than Petty and Miller. Hajjar will be a fun prospect to watch develop and I am excited to hopefully see him at Target Field soon.
 
Round 3, Pick 98: Cade Povich, LHP, Nebraska

Cade Povich is a 6’3” 185 lb pitcher from the University of Nebraska. He has a fastball that tops out around 91 MPH. Povich does not have a whole lot available on him or his pitch repertoire, but he seems like a crafty lefty who really understands how to pitch.
 
Povich, initially from Bellevue West High School, went to South Mountain CC in Phoenix for one year and excelled. He went 10-1 with a 1.52 ERA before transferring to Nebraska. Along with Hajjar, Povich was also named All-Big Ten Conference First Team in 2021. He went 6-1 with a 3.11 ERA. He also had 9.8K/9 and 2.4BB/9.
 
In professional ball, Povich made one start with the FCL Twins and went 2 innings, allowing one hit and striking out 3. He also made 3 appearances for Low-A affiliate Fort Myers and pitched very well, compiling 8 innings and allowing only 1 earned run, 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 HBP while striking out 16 (!!).
 
Povich was dominant in his limited 10 innings of work this year and he will definitely be a prospect to follow if he continues his success in the minors.
 
Round 4, Pick 128: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B, Oklahoma State

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is a 6’0” 224 lb 3B from Oklahoma State University. Encarnacion-Strand has a very talented bat and extremely strong throwing arm. He is a little limited on his feet as the Twins will probably move him to 1B eventually.
 
Encarnacion-Strand, initially from Pleasant Hill, CA, went to Yavapai CC for his first two years of eligibility. At Yavapai, Encarnacion-Strand absolutely mashed, hitting .410 with 31 doubles and 33 home runs in just 81 career games. At Oklahoma State, he slashed .361/.442/.661 with 15 home runs and 66 RBI’s in his one year there. He was named Big 12 newcomer of the year and was unanimously selected to the All-Big Twelve Conference First Team.
 
In his first taste of professional baseball, Encarnacion-Strand slashed .391/.424/.598 with 4 home runs in 92 plate appearances for the Twins low-A affiliate Fort Myers. He did have 5 walks compared to 26 strikeouts, which could be an area of concern as he progresses, but he is still young and has shown a lot of potential with his bat so far. He will be a fun prospect to watch crush opposing pitching and hopefully he continues this impressive offensive start.
 
Round 5, Pick 159: Christian Macleod, LHP, Mississippi State

Christian Macleod is a 6’4” 227 lb LHP from Mississippi State University. Macleod has a fastball that ranges from 87 to 93 MPH but is very effective because he commands it well and tunnels it well with his best pitch, an upper 70s curveball with great depth.
 
Macleod is originally from Huntsville, Alabama. In his collegiate career at Mississippi State, Macleod went 10-6 with a 4.34 ERA. He had a 12.8K/9 and a 3.4BB/9. His ERA for 2021 was not great at 5.23, but before playoffs he had a 3.14 ERA and a few bad outings ballooned that ERA. In the shortened 2020 season, he was named Co-National Freshman Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, going 4-0 with a 0.86 ERA.
 
Macleod only appeared in one game with the FCL Twins this season, going 1&⅔ innings, allowing no runs, one hit, and two walks while striking out 5. Macleod has a chance to be a back-end starting pitcher and he will be an interesting prospect to follow. If he adds some velocity, he could make a huge jump.
 
Round 6, Pick 189: Travis Adams, RHP, Sacramento State

Travis Adams is a 6’0” 195 lb RHP from Sacramento State. Contrary to what pitchers are becoming more of as strikeouts and walks are rising league wide, Adams is a control specialist who won’t blow anyone away with his strikeout numbers but he hardly walks anyone.
 
Adams is originally from Desert Hot Springs, California. In his collegiate career at Sacramento State, Adams went 10-6 with a 3.75 ERA. He had 7.75 K/9 and an impressive 1.49 BB/9. In 2021, the MLB average for BB/9 was 3.3, so Adams thrives in that area of the game.
 
Adams made one appearance for the FCL Twins, recording 4 outs while allowing 3 earned runs, 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 3. If Adams can improve his stuff he could be a good prospect for the Twins going forward.
 
Round 7, Pick 219: Jake Rucker, 3B, Tennessee

Jake Rucker is a 6’2” 185 lb 3B from the University of Tennessee. He was a very solid player at Tennessee and can play every position in the infield. He is very aggressive at the plate and solid in the field. Rucker lacks an elite trait so it might make it difficult for him to excel in pro ball, but he could be a solid player.
 
Rucker is originally from Greenbrier, Tennessee. In his collegiate career at Tennessee, he slashed .311/.388/.463 with 12 home runs and 96 RBI’s. In 2021, he really broke out. He had an OPS of .919 and had 21 doubles, 2 triples, and 9 home runs. He was named a 3rd team All-American this year and also garnered First Team All-SEC honors.
 
Rucker had 85 plate appearances at low-A Fort Myers this year, and slashed .265/.376/.324 with 2 doubles and 1 triple. These numbers are not other-worldly but they are a great starting point for an experienced versatile player like Rucker. It will be fun to see how he progresses into 2022. 
 
Round 8, Pick 249: Noah Cardenas, C, UCLA

Noah Cardenas is a 6’1” 190 lb catcher from UCLA. Cardenas is an outstanding defensive catcher. If Cardenas is going to make an impact in the league, he will have to improve at the plate. Right now he profiles like Ben Rortvedt, an outstanding defender who doesn't stand out offensively.
 
Cardenas is originally from Saugus, California. In his collegiate career at UCLA, he slashed .302/.407/.426 with 8 home runs and 30 extra base hits. His freshman year, he had an OPS of .976 in 58 games. In 2021, he had a .775 OPS. He also threw out 38% of base-stealers. Cardenas was named to the 2021 Pac-12 All-Conference Team.
 
Cardenas had 25 plate appearances with the FCL Twins in 2021. He went 6-20 with a double, a home run, and 3 walks. A very small sample size, but if Cardenas could get back to his 2019 self offensively and continues to dominate defensively, he could be a very nice prospect for the Twins.
 
Round 9, Pick 279: Patrick Winkel, C, Connecticut

Patrick Winkel is a 6’1'' 200 lb catcher from the University of Connecticut. Mlb dot com says that Winkel is a great athlete behind the plate with above average power but needs to improve his hit tool to use his power more regularly.
 
Winkel is originally from Orange, CT. In his career, he slashed .300/.359/.507 with 18 home runs and 41 extra base hits in 102 games. He also threw out 25% of potential base-stealers. Winkel was named All-BIG East Second Team in 2021. 
 
Winkel had 84 plate appearances at Low-A Fort Myers in 2021. He slashed .243/.369/.357 with 5 doubles and a home run. Beginning his career in Low-A shows that the Twins have confidence in where Winkel could go with his career. He struggled more than he did in college, but that is expected. Hopefully with some experience under his belt he can thrive in 2022.
 
Round 10, Pick 309: Ernie Yake, SS, Gonzaga

Ernie Yake is a 5’10” 175 lb SS from Gonzaga. Yake was a phenomenal shortstop at Gonzaga and played four years there. Yake is an older prospect, as he will be 24 years old at the start of the 2022 season.
 
Yake is originally from Bellingham, WA. In his career at Gonzaga, he slashed .320/.392/.419 with 6 home runs and 54 extra base hits. He also walked 71 times compared to only 53 strikeouts, so he controls the zone very well. In 2021, he was a national semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace award, given yearly to the best shortstop in college baseball.

Yake only had 26 plate appearances with the FCL Twins in 2021, slashing .227/.370/.318 with 2 doubles and 3 stolen bases. Yake will be fun to follow as he could be a Luis Arraez type hitter who puts the ball in play and rarely strikes out, while playing great defense at shortstop.
 
Part 2 highlighting our picks in rounds 11-20 will be coming soon
 
Thank you for reading and Go Twins!

With the addition of several new prospects into the Twins' farm system, I've gone a bit overboard and expanded my prospect rankings to a total of 50 players now... enjoy!
Here is my new format:

 

 
We're pretty deep in the weeds here, so let me know what you think. Oh, and yes, I know, I'm really low on Chris Vallimont. I know.