Seth Stohs

Saturday, I was told just some 'general soreness.' Needed a day off. Didn't play on Sunday either, which is probably good. He had played, i think all but one (maybe two) games up until this weekend.

100% correct... Easy decision.

I think Barnes is worth giving a shot. Last night, he was consistently 91-92, and with his changeup and slider, that makes him intriguing. Obviously he has to have really good command to be successful, but he knows how to pitch. It's interesting... at 88-89, hard to be too excited... at 91-92, worth a shot.

Edited... thank you!

Observations from the Saints game: 1.) Charlie Barnes looked good. I'd like to talk to him about what he learned about himself and his pitching, and how is he incorporating that into his starts with the Saints now. 2.) Barnes threw only 45 pitches. It was clearly a plan. My guess is he will be called up relatively soon. 3.) Bobby Witt Jr is going to be really special. The HR he hit off Barnes was incredible. 4.) Gilberto Celestino is a terrific CF. And, he has an absolute canon for an arm.

"Service Time Clock" - players get 1 day of service time for every day they are in the big leagues. So, if he's called up today, he'd get like 20 days of service time. Has nothing to do with it. In St. Paul, he plays 6 games a week. With the Twins, it would be less. He should play.

Of course, he was hitting .214 before today... 5-for-5 and now he's at .281!

The highlight, at least in my mind, was that he debuted. Results weren't good, but good to see him back out there after not pitching in a game in like 6-7 weeks. He didn't pitch in Tokyo, so when he got to Wichita, they just had him work in the bullpen for a few weeks to build up his pitch count again.

This week's Twins minor league players of the week were both 2021 draft picks. On Monday, three more players taken in July's draft made their pro debuts in the FCL. We are down to the final weeks of the minor league seasons. See how the Twins minor league affiliates did this past week, where they are in their division standings, who played well (or didn't), and a Twins legendary executive was inducted into a Hall of Fame. Be sure to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday, and then jump into the minor league week. Before we get started, let’s check out the organization’s transactions and the FCL Twins game from Monday. TRANSACTIONS There were several announced transactions on Monday’s minor league off day. Several 2021 Twins draft picks debuted in the FCL on Monday. 10th round pick Ernie Yake from Gonzaga, 15th round pick Mikey Perez (UCLA) and 20th round pick Dillon Tatum (UC-Irvine) were activated and made their first starts. Ft. Myers shortstop Jesus Feliz was placed on the Injured List. RHP Steven Cruz was activated by the Mighty Mussels. FCL Twins Talk FCL Twins 9, FCL Braves 10 Box Score Ernie Yake led off and was the second baseman. He went 1-for-2 with three walks, two runs, an RBI and two stolen bases in his pro debut. Mikey Perez had a strong pro debut too. He played third base and batted fifth. He homered in his first pro at bat. He ended up going 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs, two RBI and a stolen base. Finally Dillon Tatum caught and batted ninth. He went 0-for-1 but walked in his first plate appearance. Endy Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a walk, his second double and his second home run, a three-run shot in the second inning. Niklas Rimmel started and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out four batters. Giovahnney German came on and gave up three runs on four hits. In two innings, he walked two and struck out four. Elipidio Perez tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two batters. Jackson Hicks came on and was charged with five runs (2 earned) on three hits. He recorded just one out. Samuel Perez got five outs, two on strikeouts. He gave up just one hit. With that, let’s look at Week 18 in the Twins minor leagues: RESULTS Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (2-4, @ Columbus), overall (55-53) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (2-4, @ Arkansas), overall (62-46) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (3-3, hosting Quad Cities), overall (59-49) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (2-4, hosting Bradenton), overall (52-52) Complex League FCL Twins: Week (2-4), overall (17-31) STANDINGS Triple-A East Midwest: Toledo 62-46, Omaha 61-47, St. Paul 55-53. Double-A Central North: Wichita 62-46, Arkansas 59-49, Tulsa 58-50. High-A Central West: Quad Cities 70-36, Cedar Rapids 59-49, Wisconsin 52-55. Low-A Southeast: Tampa 70-36, Bradenton 65-41, Ft. Myers 52-52. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. Twins Minor League Week in Review: Saints Swept, Wichita Wins Propeller Series Who will be the Twins Top Prospect in 2023? Twins to Promote Olympic Medalist Joe Ryan, Slated to Start Wednesday Tuesday: Wichita Whacks, Louie Lights it up Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month - August 2021 (Trey Cabbage) Wednesday: Saints Clip Columbus, Vallimonster Not Enough for Wichita Finding the Next Bailey Ober Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - August 2021 (Sawyer Gipson-Long) Thursday: Kernels Walk it off! A Celebration of Joe Ryan’s Hair Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month - August 2021 (Ryan Shreve) Friday: Wind Surge Win Wild One Saturday: Simeon Woods Richardson Debuts Sunday: Close But No Sweep-gar Highlights We will start with the Twins choices for the organizational hitter and pitcher of the week, and then mention several other Twins prospects who had good Week 18 performances Twins Player of the Week: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Encarnacion-Strand was the Twins fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft after a strong junior season at Oklahoma State. This past week, he played in six games, went 14-for-27 and hit .538/.556/.808 (1.363) with a double, two homers and eight RBI. After spending two seasons at Yavapai College (Arizona), he played in 56 games this year for Oklahoma State. He hit .361/.442/.661 (1.103) with 17 doubles, three triples and 15 homers. Now in 12 total games with the Mighty Mussels, he has hit .420/.431/.700 (1.131) with two doubles and four homers. Twins Pitcher of the Week: David Festa, FCL Twins Festa was the Twins 13th round in 2021 out of Seton Hall. This week, he pitched once out of relief and threw three scoreless innings. He issued no walks and six strikeouts. Overall, he has made two appearances and has given up just one hit and struck out eight batters in eight scoreless innings. This year at Seton Hall, he went 6-4 with a 2.00 ERA. In 72 innings, he gave up just 44 hits, walked 33 and struck out 67 batters. Other Strong Performances this Week St. Paul Saints Charlie Barnes returned from his month with the Twins and had another strong showing for the Saints. In five scoreless innings, he gave up just two hits and walked one. He struck out three batters. Fellow lefty Bryan Sammons gave up only two unearned runs on four hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out four batters. Yennier Cano had an outing in which he gave up just one hit over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Derek Law tossed two scoreless innings in his outing, which is good, but then he was DFAd over the weekend. Caleb Hamilton made his first appearance with the Saints. He played in just two games but went 2-for-5 with a home run. Drew Maggi played five games. He hit .333/.368/.722 (1.091) with a double, two homers and eight RBI. Wichita Wind Surge Simeon Woods-Richardson returned to the mound after not pitching since mid-July. He tossed 40 pitches in 1 1/3 innings. Tyler Beck came on in relief and threw five scoreless innings in relief. He struck out five batters. Jordan Gore struck out four batters over two scoreless innings. Zach Neff tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings. He didn’t even give up a hit. Chris Vallimont gave up one run over five innings in his start last week. While he walked four batters, he struck out nine. Ben Gross struck out seven batters over four innings in relief. He gave up one run. Stevie Berman came to the Twins organization from the Dodgers in exchange for Andrew Vasquez. In his first game, he hit a big, grand slam for the Wind Surge. Roy Morales played in all six games and hit .391/.462/.522 (.983) with three doubles. DJ Burt played in six games and hit .304. Cedar Rapids Kernels Aaron Rozek gave up one run on five hits over five innings. Louie Varland gave up one run on three hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out eight batters. Sawyer Gipson-Long gave up two runs on one hit and three walks over six innings. Michael Helman played in all six games. He hit .318/.400/.591 (.991) with three doubles, a homer and five RBI. Alex Isola played four games and hit .278 with a double and two home runs. Also Seth Gray hit .333 (6-for-18) with a double and a triple. Ft. Myers Might Mussels Carlos Suniaga worked 3 2/3 one-hit innings and struck out four batters. Casey Legumina came on in relief and tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings on three hits and a walk. He struck out five batters. Regi Grace returned to the mound and gave up just one hit, one walk and one hit batter over three scoreless innings. He struck out five. Logan Campbell struck out five batters over three hitless, shutout frames. He walked one and struck out five batters. Willie Joe Garry played in four games and hit .250/.438/.583 (1.021) with a double and a homer. He walked three batters. Will Holland hit .278/.381/.611 (.992) with a double, a triple and a home run over five games. FCL Twins Develson Aria struck out six batters in three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and one walk. Juan Mendez also tossed three scoreless innings, and struck out four batters. Lowlights We are talking about small samples for these six-game weeks, so it’s important not to make any big decisions or develop a full impression on a player from this small size. It’s just a reminder of the fact that baseball is hard, and all players have good and bad stretches. St. Paul Saints Jason Garcia came up and made a start. In two innings, he gave up four runs on four hits and a walk. Ian Hamilton also gave up four runs over two innings. He gave up five hits and walked two batters. Vinny Nittoli made his return to the Saints. He gave up two runs on a walk and a home run. Chandler Shepherd gave up five runs over four innings in his start. He gave up eight hits and walked two batters. Sherman Johnson went 0-for-7. BJ Boyd went 2-for-14 (.143). Jimmy Kerrigan went 2-for-16 (.125) with a double. Trevor Larnach played in just one game before being placed in the IL with a hand contusion. Wichita Wind Surge Mitchell Osnowitz gave up four runs on two hits and three walks over just 1 1/3 innings. In five games, Aaron Whitefield went 2-for-16 (.125). Leobaldo Cabrera went 3-for-22 (.136) with 11 strikeouts in six games. Spencer Steer played six games and went 3-for-21 (.143) with 11 strikeouts. Ten of 13 Wichita hitters who played at all last week had a batting average under .200. Cedar Rapids Kernels The day that Twins Daily named Ryan Shreve the relief pitcher of the month, he gave up four runs on three walks and recorded just one out. Carlos Suniaga was called up and gave up five runs on four hits (2 homers) and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Osiris German gave up four runs in 2 2/3 innings. In his first High-A start, Sean Mooney gave up five runs on five hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out six batters. Jair Camargo went 2-for-12 (.167) with five strikeouts. Matt Wallner went 3-for-18 (.167) with nine strikeouts. Ft. Myers Might Mussels Over two appearances, AJ Labas gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk in just 1 2/3 innings. Juan Pichardo gave up three runs on two hits (1 HR), a hit batter and two walks. Justin Washington went 0-for-9 with six strikeouts. Kole McKinnon went 1-for-8 (.125) with three strikeouts. In four games, Charles Mack went 1-for-13 (.077). Patrick Winkel went 2-for-15 (.133) with a double. Radcliff Enshrined in Professional Sports Hall of Fame On Friday in Ft. Myers Twins Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Radcliff was enshrined in the Killebrew Root Beer Professional Scouts Hall of Fame. He is the 16th person inducted into this group. He now has a plaque outside the main entrance at Hammond Stadium. To be considered for induction, a person should: Strong professional scouting background Represented the scouting community in a professional manner and made contributions to growing the game of baseball. Made a significant impact within their organization. Worked and resided in Florida for a significant portion of their career. Radcliff was hired by Terry Ryan in 1987 and remains in the organization. A Kansas City native and resident, he began as the team’s Midwest Area Scout. By 1993, he was named the team’s Scouting Director. He remained in that position until 2007 when he became the Vice President of Player Personnel. He was the scouting director during seasons in which the Twins selected players such as Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Denard Span, Todd Walker, Glen Perkins, Michael Cuddyer, AJ Pierzynski, Trevor Plouffe and many more players. Others in this Pro Scouts Hall of Fame include Terry Ryan and Larry Corrigan from the Twins organization, and Marty Scott who was involved in the early days of the St. Paul Saints. Of scouting, Radcliff said “What scouts can offer up most is the vetting of the player, the makeup of the player – what he’s about. His different personality traits are going to impact and affect how he applies his physical tools to the journey of developing. The best teams are incorporating all of that into one giant process. Hopefully we’re one of those teams.” Mike Radcliff is such a knowledgeable baseball man. It has always been enjoyable to see him on the back fields in Ft. Myers during minor league spring training, just observing players. He wasn’t afraid to answer questions about players, and very straight-forward. Always nice. Sometimes willing to offer a little more than you would think, and that’s fun. Congratulations to a man who has spent almost 35 years in this Twins organization and had a major impact on the various successes they have had over the years. PROSPECT SUMMARY This Prospect Summary shows our updated Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings. #1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL) #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 26 games, .255/.397/.408 (.805) with 6 doubles, 3 home runs, 17 RBI, 15 BB, 26 K. #3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 18 GS, 87.1 IP, 94 H, 32 BB, 92 K, 3.61 ERA, 1.44 WHIP #4 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) - 1 GS, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA, 2.25 WHIP. #5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – 5 G, 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on IL with a right forearm strain) #6 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 107 games, .333/.396/.557 (.953) with 25 doubles, 25 homers, 76 RBI, 39 BB, 69 K #7 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - St. Paul (2 GS, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 17 K, 2.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP), Minnesota (1 GS, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 5.40 ERA, 0.80 WHIP) #8 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 5 GS, 21.0 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 43 K, 0.86 ERA, 0.67 WHIP (IL, elbow strain) #9 - Chase Petty (Complex) - Has yet to pitch. #10 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 60 games, .233/.296/.301 (.597) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 24 RBI, 18 BB, 89 K, 5 SB #11 - Josh Winder (St. Paul) - 14 GS, 72.0 IP, 55 H, 13 BB, 80 K, 2.63 ERA, 0.94 WHIP (IL, shoulder impingement) #12 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 54 games, .252/.339/.481 (.820) with 11 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers, 35 RBI, 22 BB, 82 K. #13 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), St. Paul (28 games, .277/.376/.475 (.851) with 8 doubles, 4 homers, 19 RBI, 15 BB, 24 K), Minnesota (22 games, .140/.183/.298 (.482) with 3 BB, 13 K) #14 - Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - 7 GS, 31.2 IP, 38 H, 16 BB, 26 K, 7.39 ERA, 1.71 WHIP. #15 - Noah Miller (Complex) - 14 games, .212/.300/.327 (.627) with three doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 15 K #16 - Brent Rooker (Minneapolis) – St. Paul (58 games, .239/.368/.566 (.934) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 37 BB, 74 K), Minnesota (39 games, .200/.299/.385 (.684) with 7 doubles, 6 homers, 10 RBI, 12 BB, 50 K) #17 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (underwent Tommy John surgery on June 9th) #18 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 93 games, .188/.297/.288 (.586) with 11 doubles, 4 triples, 5 homers, 50 RBI, 51 BB, 75 K, 12 SB) #19 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 16 G, 15 GS, 63.1 IP, 51 H, 28 BB, 82 K, 3.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP #20 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 98 games, .255/.353/.496 (.849) with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 23 homers, 58 RBI, 51 BB, 95 K) LOOKING AHEAD Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers: (Zarion Sharpe, John Stankiewicz, Casey Legumina, Cade Povich, Regi Grace, TBD): Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin: TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD): NW Arkansas @ Wichita: (Cole Sands, Austin Schulfer, Simeon Woods-Richardson, TBD, TBD, TBD): Omaha @ St. Paul: (Bryan Sammons, Drew Strotman, Beau Burrows, Charlie Barnes, Andrew Albers, Bryan Sammons): Feel free to ask any questions you like. View full article

Not an injury. Personal, non-baseball situation. Should be back tomorrow.

We've seen what Dobnak is capable of in 2019. We saw it the first 70% of the 2020 season. What happened to him this year was equal parts poor pitching, injury and weird usage. Spent the offseason and spring training starting.. They start him in the bullpen and rarely use him. He not-surprisingly struggled, and then had the injury that cost him 2 1/2 months. No reason to give up on him at this point. I think he needs to go into the offseason knowing his 2022 role (and in my mind, that should be in the rotation), and they should stick with that. The dollars on the extension are so low that even if he's a long-reliever, the Twins won't lose any money on it.

A fairly large percentage of minor leaguers work for Uber or similar in the offseason... most minor leaguers (those without the big bonuses) have to get jobs in the offseason.

Randy Dobnak returned to the mound for the Twins for the first time in 2 1/2 months on Friday night. He gave the Twins seven innings, but early defensive miscues and another game with little offensive production and the Twins fell to the Rays in Tampa. Box Score SP: Randy Dobnak: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (88 pitches, 53 strikes (60.2%)) Home Runs: Jorge Polanco (25), Ryan Jeffers (12) Bottom 3 WPA: Randy Dobnak (-0.287), Josh Donaldson (-0.084), Byron Buxton (-0.067) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Hip... Hip... Jorge Polanco gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his 25th home run of the season. Polanco cut the Twins deficit to just two runs (5-3) with a two-out bloop double that scored Luis Arraez in the 8th inning. In between, Ryan Jeffers launched his 12th homer with the Twins this season. The Fu Manchu Returns For the first time since June 19th, Randy Dobnak took the mound for the Twins. While it may be impossible to make a start in which one gives up five runs a good start, Dobnak did figure things out and provided the Twins with seven innings. Yes, he gave up five runs before recording the first out of the third inning. However, he retired the next 15 batters he faced. He got weak contact. He induced ground balls. He recorded 17 of his 21 outs on ground balls. He worked efficiently, and gave the bullpen a second straight day off... well, except for the eight-pitch outing from Ralph Garza. It's hard not to wonder if things might have been different that Miguel Sano simply recorded the out at first bases on the Randy Arozarena broken-bat grounder to first. Obviously it's impossible to know, but Arozarena wouldn't have scored on Kevin Keirmeier's double that followed. Maybe that means one less run. Maybe two? Who knows, but the tone of the game sure changed at that point. Here are some of Dobnak's postgame thoughts: Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Colomé 23 0 0 0 0 23 Thielbar 0 26 0 0 0 26 Minaya 0 24 11 0 0 35 Alcalá 25 0 0 0 0 25 Gibaut 0 0 24 0 0 24 Garza Jr. 0 17 0 0 8 25 Duffey 0 16 0 0 0 16 Coulombe 0 0 10 0 0 10 View full article

Gore is a switch-hitter, not a switch-pitcher...

August is complete, and we are already handing out awards. Today, we are going to share the Twins Daily choice for Pitcher of the Month. There were several relievers and one starter who were deserving of consideration. Taylor Rogers was the choice for Twins Daily Pitcher of the Month in both May and June, and Kenta Maeda ‘received’ the award in August. Who will take home the prestigious award in their minds (because we haven’t come up with any sort of physical trophy or plaque or piece of paper). Now, before we get too far into this, I will debunk a rumor that was going around the Twitter-sphere on Wednesday afternoon. Sure, he had a 0.00 ERA and just a 1.00 WHIP, and opponents didn’t get a single hit off of him all month, but here are some candidates that finished ahead of La Tortuga in voting. Before even getting to the Honorable Mentions and the Winner, there were several strong pitching performances by the Twins in August, particularly out of the bullpen. Unfortunately, the starting pitching was not as good. First, Andrew Albers posted a 0.96 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP in his two appearances and 9 1/3 innings. Jorge Alcala had a 1.50 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP in August, but he pitched in just five games and spent half of the month on the Injured List. Tyler Duffey had a 2.25 ERA and 12 strikeouts but had just eight innings and a 1.75 WHIP. Caleb Thielbar became one of the most reliable arms out of the team’s bullpen. He had 14 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. His WHIP was just 0.95. Without further ado, here are three honorable mentions, followed by the big winner! Honorable Mention #3: RHP Ralph Garza, Jr. The Twins claimed the 27-year-old right-hander after the Astros DFA’d him on August 1st. He was called up to the Twins on August 14th and has been impressive since. In eight games and 10 1/3 innings, he posted a 1.74 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP. He gave up just two earned runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out nine batters. Opponents hit just .167 against him. The Twins have claimed several players off waivers over the past couple of months and signed a few others to minor league deals. Several have already been DFAd and weren’t claimed by another team, hence, they remain in St. Paul (Beau Burrows, Edgar Garcia, Nick Vincent). However, Garza, with his multiple side-winding arm angles and pitch movement, has made a good first impression. Honorable Mention #2: RHP Alexander Colome Colome hasn’t been good in 2021. It would be tough to argue that he has been. However, he was solid in August. Following the trade of Hansel Robles at the July 30th trade deadline and the season-ending injury to Taylor Rogers, Colome has returned to the closer’s role and generally been good. Of his 13 appearances in August, ten of them provided him with a save opportunity. He converted eight of them. And he had a solid month in Alexander Colome fashion. In his 12 2/3 innings, he had a 1.22 WHIP. He gave up some hits, and he issued five walks to go with just five strikeouts. Honorable Mention #1: Bailey Ober Ober made his big-league debut in May. He had some ups and downs along the way, but overall, the Twins have to be thrilled with his performance. In his five August starts, he went 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. In 27 1/3 innings, he gave up 27 hits, walked just three and struck out 26 batters. As important, Ober has been very consistent and reliable over the past month. He pitched at least five innings in all five starts. His ERA dropped from 4.94 to 3.98 over the course of the month. He hasn’t given up more than three earned runs since July 10. The Twins are now 10-6 in games started by Ober in 2021. The only rookie starters whose teams have a better winning percentage in their games started are Alek Manoak of the Blue Jays and Shane McClanahan of the Rays. Twins Starting Pitcher of the Month: Juan Minaya Minaya has been with the Twins since the beginning of the 2020 season. Before that, he had spent much of the previous four seasons in the White Sox bullpen. He had recorded 142 strikeouts over 128 1/3 innings with Chicago. He signed a minor league signed a minor league deal with the Twins and went to spring training 2020. He then participated at the Twins alternate site in St. Paul. In fact, he was called up to the Twins once last year, but a day or two later, he was DFAd without pitching in a game. He went unclaimed and stayed in the organization. He signed back with the Twins in 2021 and began the season in St. Paul. He was called up to the Twins at the end of May and pitched in four games before being DFAd on June 5th to make room for Griffin Jax. He was again unclaimed and returned to St. Paul. However, in mid-July, he was called up one more time, and after sporadic appearances, he got thrown into more proverbial fires following the trade deadline, and he has been very good. In August, Minaya worked in ten games. He went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Opponents hit just .180 off of him. He walked eight, but struck out 16 batters in his 14 innings. Still just 30-years-old, Minaya has a chance to keep himself on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason and in the plans for the team’s 2022 bullpen. August was a good month for that endeavor. Congratulations to Juan Minaya on a great month, as well as the other Honorable Mentions. Do you agree that Minaya is the choice? Should Bailey Ober have been the recipient? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

Joe Ryan was perfect in four of his five innings during his MLB debut on Wednesday night at Target Field. Unfortunately, the third inning happened, and the Twins bats did not show up, and the Cubs swept the short two-game series. Box Score SP: Joe Ryan: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (89 pitches, 60 strikes (67.4%)) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Willians Astudillo (-0.143), Ryan Jeffers (-0.143), Joe Ryan (-0.097) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Joe Ryan Experience Be honest. Before the Twins acquired Joe Ryan (and Drew Strotman) from the Rays for Nelson Cruz, had you heard of him? However, it didn't take long for Twins fans to get excited. First, he made two strong starts for Team USA in the Olympics. Then after winning a silver medal, he returned and struck out 17 batters over nine innings in his two starts with the Saints. That's all it took for Twins fans to get excited about the right-hander with the great flow. That's all the Twins needed to deem him ready for the big leagues. On Wednesday night at Target Field, we were able to enjoy the Joe Ryan Experience in the big leagues. He became the 34th pitchers to throw for the Twins this year. He was the fourth pitcher to make his MLB debut this season (comment below who the other three were). Things started out very well. Ryan needed just eight pitches to work a 1-2-3 first inning. That included a strikeout of Ian Happ for his first career K. His second inning required a few more pitches, but ended with the same results, a perfect inning. In fact, Ryan was perfect in the fourth and fifth innings too. Unfortunately, the third inning provided Ryan with some stress. The inning started with a walk. After a strikeout, 2021 Twins spring training participant Andrew Romine doubled Alfonso Rivas to third base. Ryan got a fly out to short center field to record the second out. However, Frank Schwindel hit a home run for the third straight game, his eighth of the season. Ryan responded well by getting the final seven batters he faced. All-in-all, it was a good showing for the rookie, a nice debut and something to build on. Bullpen Performs Again The Twins bullpen has been pretty solid of late, and on Wednesday night, Ian Gibaut, Danny Coulombe and Juan Minaya combined to give up just one hit over four scoreless innings, and that runner was erased by a double play ball. Over the past six games, the Twins bullpen has a 0.38 ERA, just one earned run allowed over 23 2/3 innings. Rooker's a Hit The Twins had just two hits in the game. Brent Rooker had both of them. He had a 98 mph single, and then he had a game-high exit velocity of 110.3 mph on a seventh-inning single. Unfortunately, the rest of the Twins bats went silent. In this two-game series, Rooker went 3-for-4. Also tonight, Rooker was hit by a pitch. It is the seventh time he has been hit by a pitch this season. Only fellow rookie Trevor Larnach has been plunked more (8). This is the first time in Twins history that multiple rookies were hit by at least seven pitches. Of course, Rooker's seven HBP have come in 153 plate appearances this season. Larnach's been hit by eight pitches in 260 pitches. We may have to investigate the pitchers who have hit Rooker this year to see how many pitched in the SEC in 2017. What's Next? The Twins have Thursday off before traveling to Tampa Bay to take on Nelson Cruz,.. and JT Chargois... and Dietrich Enns... and Chris Mazza... and Nick Anderson is getting close to returning as well... and the Rays in a three-game series. Friday night, Randy Dobnak will make his first start in months after his finger injury. He'll face Michael Wacha. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Colomé 13 0 23 0 0 36 Thielbar 23 0 0 26 0 49 Minaya 17 0 0 24 11 52 Alcalá 0 0 25 0 0 25 Gibaut 0 33 0 0 24 57 Garza Jr. 0 11 0 17 0 28 Duffey 0 0 0 16 0 16 Coulombe 0 0 0 0 10 10 View full article

Cabrera was a nice signing. Young guy with good power potential. He's got a big arm. He hasn't been a regular, a backup at all three levels. However, he absolutely has earned the playing time he got in the 2nd half of the month, and he's taken advantage of it. Cabbage having a ton more plate appearances during the month is absolutely a differentiator.

I have little doubt in his future. But yes, he has had his struggles.

Vasquez is a free agent after the season. He's got a chance to go home and play for his hometown team, and he's close enough that maybe they call him up.

I think they should be pretty close. Urbina is young and at a higher level, but Rodriguez currently appears to have more power. We'll see.

The Twins will promote right-handed pitcher Joe Ryan when rosters expand on Wednesday, and he will make his MLB debut on Wednesday night at Target Field against the Chicago Cubs. Ryan was the top prospect acquired when the Twins traded away Nelson Cruz to the Rays. As such, he is one of the team’s most intriguing players and important components to future success. So who is he and how has water polo helped him on the mound? When the Twins take on the Cubs on Wednesday night against the Cubs, we will be able to watch the major-league debut of Joe Ryan. Darren Wolfson reports that Ryan is being promoted tomorrow, with rosters expanding on September 1st, and the expectation is that he'll take the hill at Target Field in Kenta Maeda's place on Wednesday. It's been a pretty crazy travel schedule for the former Rays prospect the past two months. In late June, he headed to the Olympics in Tokyo. Upon his return to the States, he went to North Carolina to pack up and move to the Twin Cities. He has spent the past couple of weeks with the Saints, making starts at CHS Field, and in Toledo. He was in Columbus, Ohio, when he learned that he got The Call. And now he will be back in Minneapolis, excited for his debut. Scouting Report Joe Ryan is a fastball pitcher. He throws, literally, at least 70% fastballs. But it’s not because he has huge velocity; his fastball sits between 90 and 93 mph. Like another Twins pitcher, it has proved more effective than the radar gun readings. Bailey Ober sits 91-93 mph with his fastball, his length allows him to release the ball closer to home plate. In essence, he can make 91 look like 94 just because of that release point. Joe Ryan is only 6-2, but he still has some deception in his delivery. He throws from a lower release point. While the average pitcher’s release point is 5.9 feet, Ryan’s average release point is just 4.8 feet from the ground. Not one starting pitcher in the big leagues throws from that low. He also gets Ober-like extension in front of the mound. It’s something that he credits his water polo background with helping him. He told Verducci in a Sports Illustrated article: Here's a breakdown of Joe Ryan by Twins Daily's own Nash Walker: “"In water polo you learn how to skip the ball,” he says. “I spent 10 years trying to skip the ball in water polo, and it’s the same concept as throwing a fastball: Get the shoulder in position and then let the hand work and get it out front. Throwing a baseball feels the same way. You get that zip right at the end.” He has always had supreme confidence in his fastball, even though he doesn’t throw it real hard. He has a swagger. He believes that his movement and location will make it difficult for the hitter to square up. When he gets ahead, he - again like Ober - can get a lot of swings-and-missed up in or just above the strike zone. In fact, in his two starts with the Saints, he struck out 17 batters in just nine innings. In 2019, Ryan was pitching in High-A Charlotte. His pitching coach was Doc Watson. In a 2019 Baseball America article, he shared a story about facing then-Miracle outfielder Trevor Larnach, who was the Florida State League MVP that season: “Several guys kept saying ‘I’ve not seen a fastball like that in my career, “High Class A Charlotte pitching coach Doc Watson said. “Even when we were playing Fort Myers, (Trevor) Larnach, who’s their best hitter, in my opinion, he made a comment … he said ‘Doc, I’m gonna tell you what, that arm is electric. It comes through and you do not see the baseball until it’s on top of you.’ so I’ll take it from them and just say that it is an electric arm.”” But Ryan has also shown a solid slider. In his two starts since joining the Saints, he has been able to locate it at the knees and near the outside corner very consistently. It will obviously be an important second pitch for him to keep hitters off balance. Even within that, he throws a couple different sliders. Sometimes it acts like a cutter, and just moves enough to stay off a barrel. Other times, he’ll throw the slider with a bigger break. He will also throw a slower, more 12-to-6 curveball. Joe Ryan turned 25 years old in June, and he sits on the precipice of a lifelong dream and goal, the big leagues. It’s been a somewhat unusual path to get here, and to land with the Twins. Background Joe Ryan grew up in Northern California, miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. He led a unique early life. From a Tom Verducci article in Sports Illustrated, Ryan “grew up without travel ball, video games or cable while living an old-fashioned Tom Sawyer life in the shadow of Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods in Marin County, California” His father, Kurtis, was “an extreme athlete and runner.” The family didn’t have cable TV. He didn’t play video games until middle school. At age 8, he entered a 7.2 mile cross-country race with his dad. He and his dad went into the mountains to camp, fish and hunt. He played water polo competitively, even during the baseball season. He attended Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, California. As a senior, he went 12-1 with a 0.76 ERA. He was drafted in the 39th round by his hometown San Francisco Giants. Instead of signing, Ryan headed to Los Angeles to attend Cal State - Northridge. As a freshman, he pitched in 13 games (9 out of the bullpen) and posted a 1.48 ERA in 30 1/3 innings. As a sophomore, seven of his 11 appearances were starts. He went 1-2 with a 3.35 ERA in 40 1/3 innings. As a junior in 2017, he posted a 12.79 ERA in just 6 1/3 innings due to lat injury. At the end of that season, he decided to transfer. If he had gone to another Division I school, he would have had to sit out a year. The Twins and other teams tried to sign him as a non-drafted free agent that summer. Instead, he headed back to northern California and went to Division II Cal State - Stanislaus. It proved to be a great decision for him. In 14 starts - and with health - Ryan went 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 98 1/3 innings. He had 127 strikeouts with just 13 walks. In June of 2018, the Tampa Bay Rays selected him with their seventh-round draft pick. Because he had received a medical redshirt that junior season, he had some leverage and signed for just shy of $150,000, about $60,000 under slot value. He spent that summer in the New York-Penn League, but in 2019 he raced through three levels of the minors, making it to AA. He also led the entire minor leagues in strikeouts (183) in just 123 2/3 innings, while walking only 27 batters. He didn’t pitch officially in 2020 due to the pandemic, but he did work out at the Rays alternate site and continued to progress under the Rays’ strong pitcher development program. He began the 2021 season at Triple-A Durham. He pitched in 12 games (11 starts) and went 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA. In 57 innings, he walked just ten and struck out 75 batters. He then was named to the Team USA Olympic team and had a fantastic run. He started the team’s first game in the tournament. He then was the starting pitcher against Korea in the semi-finals, a win that put USA into the Gold Medal game. The team won the silver medal, but Ryan really impressed. While in Japan, he learned that he had been traded (along with RHP Drew Strotman) and has made two starts for the St. Paul Saints. In the first start, he struck out the first six batters he faced and nine batters over four innings of work. In his second start, last Thursday, he struck out nine batters in five innings. In his two starts, he only gave up five hits and two runs over nine innings, to go with seventeen strikeouts. Turns out that was enough to prove to the Twins brass that it was time to call him up. On Wednesday, Joe Ryan will make his long-anticipated Twins debut (long-awaited in this case being since the July 31st trade) at Target Field against the Chicago Cubs. It's always fun to watch an MLB debut, but Twins fans should be excited about seeing Ryan for the season's final month. View full article