Seth Stohs

He certainly seems to understand the need to work on those secondary pitches and be more consistent with them. I watched several of his innings last night. In one inning, he got a batter to 0-2 and then had a really nice slider just off the outside corner. A batter or so later, he threw another 0-2 slider, but it was over the middle of the plate and hit for a double. He worked out of that inning, but it shows 1.) He does have to continue to make progress on those pitches, and 2.) he's got really good stuff that could keep improving.

Yes, they are playing.

I doubt Severino gets added, but he's put himself in the discussion. Signing bonus is a factor, but not huge. Severino wasn't added last year. Javier hasn't been added yet (and probably won't be). Miller is intriguing but I'm not too sure yet the profile. If he becomes Nick Punto, it was a great draft pick. He has more power potential. If he becomes Span or Dozier-like thats a remarkable pick. Y'all, I had carpal tunnel surgery today, Had to be in Grand Forks before 9. Doing OK so far. Typing isn't easy, Ha! Bear with me.

per the above, he's starting for the Saints Friday.

The Wind Surge had a huge, powerful week, led by outfielder BJ Boyd who had six home runs. Check out what happened last week throughout the Twins minor league system. 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 FCL Twins game and the transactions from Monday. TRANSACTIONS LHP Denny Bentley was promoted from Ft. Myers to Cedar Rapids. Ft. Myers added catcher Patrick Winkel (2021 9th round pick), outfielder Kyler Fedko (2021 12th round pick), second baseman Alerick Soularie (2020, 2nd round pick) and RHP Matt Mullenbach (signed as free agent earlier this year). FCL Twins Talk FCL Twins 1, FCL Pirates 5 Box Score Twins Competitive Balance pick Noah Miller made his professional debut today. He walked in his first plate appearance. He then got out twice before singling in his final at-bat of the day. He is a career-.300 hitter as a professional. In addition, eighth-round pick Noah Cardenas was added to the FCL roster. A rehabbing Zander Wiel went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. Also rehabbing is Gabe Snyder. He went 2-for-4 with a double. Juan Mendez has been good for the FCL Twins to this point. On Monday, he gave up five runs on four hits and two walks and recorded just one out. Jackson Hicks came on and gave up three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out six batters. Danny Moreno struck out three batters over three perfect innings. Rafael Feliz struck out the side in the final inning. With that, let’s look at Week 15 in the Twins minor leagues: RESULTS Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (4-2 @ Indianapolis), overall (48-41) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (3-3 @ Tulsa), overall (52-38) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (4-2 @ Peoria), overall (49-41) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (1-3 @ Bradenton), overall (44-41) Complex League FCL Twins: Week (2-3), overall (9-22) IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. Twins Minor League Week in Review: Walkoff Wins of Change in Wichita TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 25-21 Tuesday: Balazovic Gets Back on Track TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 20-16 Wednesday: Who Didn’t Homer? TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 15-11 TD Interview: Mike McCarthy, St. Paul Saints Pitching Coach Trio Hinting at Twins Pitching Pipeline Thursday: Morales Dominates, Saints’ Bullpen Bears Down TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 10-6 Friday: Lewis Thorpe Appears on Verge of Twins Return TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 5-1 Saturday: Clean Sweep (But Not in a Good Way) Sunday: Smashing Sunday Twins 40-Man Roster Crunch? Perhaps Not 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 15 performances Twins Player of the Week: Yunior Severino, Cedar Rapids Kernels Severino has made a lot of money in baseball. He first received a seven-figure signing bonus with Atlanta. After Atlanta was found to be working illegally, Severino became a free agent and kept that signing bonus. Then the Twins gave him a bigger seven-figure signing bonus. He has fought some injuries in his time with the Twins, but after his recent promotion to the Kernels he has been very good. Last week, he played in six games and hit .480/.552/.720 (1.272) with three doubles and a home run. In 17 games with Cedar Rapids, he has hit .424/.493/.591 (1.084) with eight doubles and a home run. Twins Pitcher of the Week: Ben Gross, Cedar Rapids Kernels After three years at Princeton, Gross went to Duke for his senior season and became the Twins 10th round in 2019. In his start this week, he gave up two runs on six hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out 13 batters. Overall this season with Cedar Rapids, he has pitched in 15 games (14 starts) and is 5-1 with a 3.25 ERA. In 72 innings, he has walked 20 and struck out 92 batters. Other Strong Performances this Week St. Paul Saints As per usual, Jose Miranda had a highlight week. In six games, he hit .462/.517/.808 (1.325) with three doubles and two homers. Jimmy Kerrigan played in four games and hit .353/.353/.941 (1.294) with a double, three homers and eight RBI. Tomas Telis played five games and hit .375/.400/.667 (1.067) with a double and two homers. Glberto Celestino played five games and hit .316/.458/.579 (1.037) with two doubles and a home run. Kyle Barraclough pitched in three games and 3 1/3 innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out seven batters. After a bad start with the Twins, Beau Burrows struck out five batters in three scoreless innings for the Sains. Rafael Garza pitched three scoreless innings and had a save for St. Paul before coming up and tossing two scoreless for the Twins. A certain highlight was the return of lefty Lewis Thorpe who made a start and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Andrew Albers made two starts. In 13 innings, he gave up three earned runs (2.08 ERA). On Sunday, he tossed eight scoreless innings. Wichita Wind Surge Zach Neff gave up just one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings over two outings. Alex Phillips tossed 4 1/3 scoreless, no-hit innings. Bryan Sammons made a start and gave up a single and a walk over five scoreless innings. He struck out five. Austin Schulfer threw four innings in his start and struck out four batters. Cole Sands gave up two runs on five hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings in his start. He struck out 10 batters. The Wind Surge lead the AA-Central division with 941 strikeouts, second most in all Double-A ball. The Wind Surge hitters combined for 21 home runs during the week and a league-leading 33 homers in 13 August games! BJ Boyd had a huge week! He has an 11 game hitting streak. In six games last week, he hit .385/.407/1.077 (1.484) with six homers and 12 RBI! Roy Morales played four games and hit .385/.467/.692 (1.159) with a double and a homer. Jermaine Palacios played all six games. He hit .348/.400/.652 (1.052) with a double and two homers. Leobaldo Cabrera played just three games. He went 4-for-9 (.444) with a double and two home runs. Trey Cabbage played all six games. He hit just .208, but he hit four home runs. Cedar Rapids Kernels The start of Matt Canterino on Sunday sure was exciting. In his first game back with the Kernels after about 10 weeks away with injury. He worked three innings and recorded eight strikeouts. He walked one. Of the ten batters he faced, he struck out eight! Cody Laweryson worked four scoreless innings and struck out six batters. He gave up just one hit. Zach Featherstone pitched three innings over two games. He had a save and struck out five batters over three scoreless innings. Melvi Acosta had a save and struck out four batters in four innings. Derek Molina (2 2/3 innings), Tyler Palm (2 innings) and Ryan Shreve (2 innings) each struck out four batters and didn’t allow a run. Breckin Williams struck out three batters over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Jefferson Morales played in four games and hit .500/.500/.813 (1.313) with two doubles and a homer. Four of his eight hits came in one game. Michael Helman played in five games and hit .313/.421/.625 (1.046) with two doubles and a home run. Edouard Julien played in all six games and hit .333/.517/.524 (1.041) with a double and a homer. He also had eight walks. Ft. Myers Might Mussels There were only four games, but Aaron Sabato had a really good week. On the week, he hit .294 (5-for-17). Those five hits? A double and four home runs, a slugging percentage of 1.059 (1.427 OPS). Aaron Rozek struck out six batters over four, two-hit innings. Sean Mooney made one start and tossed three perfect innings. He struck out six batters. Casey Legumina returned to the mound too, and gave up just one hit over three innings. He struck out three batters. Bobby Milacki gave up one run on three hits over four innings. He struck out six batters. FCL Twins Giovahnniey German was fantastic again. In his start, he tossed five no-hit, no-run innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Jackson Hicks worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and struck out six batters. Matt Mullenbach struck out four batters in three scoreless innings. Danny Moreno pitched twice, and he gave up a run on no hits, two walks and struck out four. Wander Valdez had a big week. In four games, he hit .429/.438/.643 (1.080) with a homer. 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 Yennier Cano gave up three runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Ryan Mason gave up four runs on two hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. Keon Broxton went 0-for-10 in three games. He had seven strikeouts. Wichita Wind Surge Chris Vallimont had a rocky start. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up six runs on five hits and three walks. Evan Sisk gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Jhonleider Salinas gave up three runs on a hit and three walks in one innings. Mitchell Osnowitz gave up two runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning. Erik Manoah gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. Caleb Hamilton went 0-for-9. Austin Martin went 3-for-23 (.130) with a homer and a walk. Aaron Whitefield went 3-for-14 (.214). Cedar Rapids Kernels Osiris German gave up five runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter in two innings. Tyler Watson was charged with five runs on six hits a hit batter and two walks over 2 1/3 innings. Wander Javier continues to struggle. In six games, he went 2-for-24 (.083) with a triple. He also struck out 13 times in 26 plate appearances. Seth Gray went 3-for-26 (.115) with a homer. He struck out 10 times. Ft. Myers Might Mussels Matthew Swain gave up four runs on two hits and four walks in just one innings. Landon Leach had a rough start. He gave up three runs over two innings. He gave up zero hits, walked three and hit five batters. Orlando Rodriguez gave up four runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batter in 2 2/3 innings. Charlie Mack has been quite good of late, but in four games, he went 1-for-17 (.059). Prospect Summery This Prospect Summary shows our Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings following the draft and trade deadline. #1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL) #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 12 games, .256/.429/.372 (.801) with 2 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 9 K. #3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 14 GS, 65.0 IP, 66 H, 24 BB, 72 K, 3.74 ERA, 1.38 WHIP #4 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) - Has not pitched since Olympics. #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) – 88 games, .346/.409/.602 (1.011) with 22 doubles, 24 homers, 66 RBI, 33 BB, 54 K #7 - Joe Ryan (St. Paul) - Has not pitched since Olympics #8 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 5 GS, 21.0 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 43 K, 0.86 ERA, 0.67 WHIP #9 - Chase Petty (Complex) - Has yet to pitch. #10 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 49 games, .245/.313/.328 (.641) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 21 RBI, 17 BB, 66 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 #12 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 39 games, .268/.339/.536 (.875) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 10 homers, 30 RBI, 13 BB, 60 K. #13 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), St. Paul (12 games, .277/.358/.511 (.869) with 2 doubles, 3 homers, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 11 K), Minnesota (22 games, .140/.183/.298 (.482) with 3 BB, 13 K) #14 - Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - 3 GS, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 11 K, 6.28 ERA, 1.40 WHIP. #15 - Noah Miller (Complex) - Has yet to play. #16 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (58 games, .239/.368/.566 (.934) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 37 BB, 74 K), Minnesota (28 games, .198/.252/.423 (.676) with 7 doubles, 6 homers, 10 RBI, 6 BB, 36 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) – 76 games, .195/.293/.298 (590) with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homer, 48 RBI, 37 BB, 61 K, 12 SB) #19 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 13 G, 12 GS, 54.0 IP, 38 H, 22 BB, 74 K, 2.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP #20 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 83 games, .255/.358/.506 (.865) with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 21 homers, 50 RBI, 45 BB, 74 K) LOOKING AHEAD Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (Landon Leach, Aaron Rozek, Casey Legumina, Sean Mooney, TBD, Bobby Milacki): Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids:(Ben Gross, Louie Varland, TBD, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Matt Canterino, Cody Laweryson) Wichita @ Springfield: (Chris Vallmont, Tyler Beck, Austin Schulfer, Cole Sands, Jordan Balazovic, Chris Vallimont) Iowa @ St. Paul: (TBD, Lewis Thorpe, Beau Burrows, Joe Ryan, Andrew Albers, Drew Strotman): Feel free to ask any questions you like. View full article

That one game in 2019 really scared people away, apparently. It was a bad game, but still. He's got good K numbers. He's good vs Lefties. He just gets himself in trouble when he doesn't throw strikes. But, definitely worth considering.

That is correct.

The 60 Day IL can't be used until Spring Training. Also, if Enlow was taken and on the 60 Day IL all year, he would have to be on the 2023 roster all season or be offered back to the Twins.

Fun Fact from today's postgame notes: JT Chargois appeared in his first game at Target Field since September 23, 2016, when he was a member of the Twins. In that outing, he faced only one batter and threw only one pitch. It was hit for a two-rn double by Nelson Cruz, who played for Seattle at that time.

Charlie Barnes's third start was the best of his career. Caleb Thielbar came in and got some huge outs after the middle relief coughed up the lead, but as they had all day, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco came up clutch in the bottom of the ninth. Box Score (add link) SP: Charlie Barnes: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (73 pitches, 44 strikes (60.3%)) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Max Kepler (.327), Caleb Thielbar (.232), Charlie Barnes (.200) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Patience is a Virtue Luis Patino was the key piece the Rays received in return for former Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Padres in the offseason. A top pitching prospect, he has certainly shown well for the Rays in 2020. Fortunately for the Twins, he was a bit wild on Sunday and the team took advantage. Patino walked Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco in the first inning, and Josh Donaldon singled in Kepler for the game’s first run. After a walk to Luis Arraez, Polanco scored on a Trevor Larnach fielder’s choice. The Twins went scoreless in the second innings, although Kepler had a double and Polanco walked again. There was one more walk in the third inning. Ryan Sherriff came on in the fourth inning. After getting the first two batters out, Kepler and Polanco walked. All Star Andrew Kittredge came on and Donaldson came through again with a big, two-run double to give the Twins a 4-0 lead. Barnes at his Best Lefty Charlie Barnes made his third MLB start on Sunday afternoon, and it’s fair to say that it was his best start to date. The southpaw was generally in control of the game for five innings. He gave up just three hits and only allowed one run, on a solo homer off the bat of Mike Zunino. Overall, his strike percentage was not real good, but instead of just missing over the middle of the plate, he was missing just outside the strike zone. This is definitely a start to build on. Middle Relief Struggles Edgar Garcia came on for the sixth inning. He quickly got the first two outs of the inning, but then issued a walk and a home run off to star rookie Wander Franco. That cut the Twins lead to 4-3. Tyler Duffey got the 7th inning. He started the inning with a walk. Then after a pop-out, he coaxed a potential ground ball double play. However, due to an error, no outs were recorded. Duffey walked another batter to load the bases. Randy Arozarena hit a little infield single to tie the game at four. Duffey did come up big by striking out Nelson Cruz, but bases were still loaded with one out yet to get. Clutch Caleb (Thielbar) Caleb Thielbar came in and, after falling behind 3-0, got All Star Austin Meadows to pop out to end the inning. He has now stranded his last seven inherited runners, a streak that began on June 21. With the game still tied in the top of the eight, Thielbar gave up a leadoff double to Franco. However, after a sacrifice bunt moved Franco to third, Thielbar got an infield pop out and a ground out to first base to keep the game tied. When you take a look below at the names available to Rocco Baldelli and Wes Johnson in the chart below, is Thielbar the team’s best, most-reliable bullpen arm right now? Well, another option for that title right now might be Alexander Colome who pitched a scoreless inning in the ninth. It was his eighth straight scoreless appearance. In that stretch (7 1/3 innings), he is 1-0 with five saves. Klutch Kepler (and Polanco) Max Kepler reached base four times on Sunday. As mentioned above, he walked twice. He also had two doubles including an opposite-field double down the left field line to lead off the ninth inning. Bobbled by Austin Meadows, Kepler scampered to third base. Two pitches later, Jorge Polanco hit a fly ball deep enough to easily score Kepler from third and give the Twins the 5-4 win, and a third-straight series win. It was his fifth career walk-off plate appearance and third this season. The Twins are clearly playing their best baseball of the season as they have reached arguably the toughest part of their season. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Barnes 0 0 0 0 73 73 García 0 0 27 0 21 48 Gant 0 0 41 0 0 41 Vincent 0 0 37 0 0 37 Colomé 14 0 0 0 13 27 Thielbar 20 0 0 0 15 35 Garza Jr. 0 0 0 16 0 16 Duffey 0 0 0 0 27 27 Minaya 15 0 0 0 0 15 Coulombe 0 0 0 10 0 10 View full article

I'm sure the team control/service time stuff has nothing to do with anything relative to Ryan.

I think it's as simple as Birdsell fell due to some injury concerns. He was there. The Twins knew they had a little over-slot money, so they were hoping to get a potential "million dollar" arm for $200,000 (or whatever they could offer over-slot. Didn't pan out. Worth the shot.

But with prospect rankings, I'd have to ask... "Pick one for what'?" Ceiling? Potential? Likelihood to meet ceiling? Age? Readiness for the big leagues? Who has better 'stuff'? Makeup? A lot more goes into it than which one is more ready right now.

I think that's a pretty safe bet.

Updated to note the Leobaldo Cabrera homer.

Yeah, not sure why it's mentioned that Martin homered, because it was Leobaldo Cabrera. German is certainly making himself intriguing with two outings of five no-hit innings. He was born in the US, but he grew up in the Dominican, which is why he signed from there rather than from the draft

Updated... that was his OPS... I've updated i above.

I should invest in an editor, huh?

And the Rays still put him on their 40-man roster... I think that says a lot too.

As noted in the previous message, we have ten voters included here, and I'm guessing we all have our own opinions and criteria. So, I can really only speak to mine... Age-to-level-of-competition is a factor in prospect rankings. That said, this year I don't know how much that factors. There was a full missed year. Winder didn't pitch at all last year. Strotman had Tommy John surgery in 2018 and has been working his way back. I'd also add that age-to-level may be a slightly lesser criteria for me this year than normal years, and certainly less now that a few years ago. Guys are ready when they're ready. Guys that go to college for 3 or 4 years are naturally going to be a little older. And frankly, if they come up at 26 and stay up, the Twins have control of them (if they're good or great) through their Age 31 or 32 season)... and frankly, the risk over 31-32 is high anyway. But, that doesn't play into it as much as much wanting them to be ready when they get up there. So many other factors or circumstances come into play for me. Tools. Somewhat performance. Injuries... and now a missed season.

Fair question... In total, it was the votes of 10 Twins Daily Minor League Writers... those that do the minor league reports or who have written several minor league-related articles/videos...

Winder has struggled with the Saints, and a lot of that may be tiring down after, as you say, he did NOT participate in the alternate site last year. Owen Miller was drafted out of college though, not high school, so his advancement should be faster.

Mooney is right-handed...