Seth Stohs

I'm very curious about Thorpe.... When they got the 4th option, the assumed plan was that he would be stretched out as a starter, and that is what he did, and he made the spot starts, but with the Saints, he has been a 2 innings relief guy. So now I'm not even sure what the plan might be.

To be honest, it's all part of the process. All part of development. There is a reason that pitchers that most know are likely bullpen arms are starting for awhile. They can get themselves into tough situations and learn how to work out of them.

I don't think he's a Top 30 Twins prospect at this time, but I definitely think he's worth watching. He's bumped up his fastball velocity. He's improved his secondary. Now he just needs to pitch. He's got the size and strength. So yeah, I think he's very intriguing...

Whitefield just needs to keep playing and improving. It's good to see him have a fast start and then be able to keep his average over .300 to this point. Miranda and Winder could be options for AAA a month or so, maybe. Canterino should get to AA and then just keep making starts. No real rush for any of the starters. We should see Balazovic in Wichita this weekend. The Extended Spring is playing games 4-6 days a week, mostly against the Red Sox. Not sure when a "GCL" season starts or for sure what it'll be called. And, I still don't think we know what the DSL update is, and if they'll have a season or not or what they're doing.

In recent days, we have announced our choices for the May Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month (Jose Miranda) and Starting Pitcher of the Month (Matt Canterino). Today, we will discuss the relief pitchers who started the season strong. If we’re being honest, there just aren’t as many relief pitchers on the minor league rosters right now. After a missed season, the organization will do what it can to protect arms. Part of that strategy, especially in the lower levels has been piggybacking. However, that has involved, often, a guy starting one week and then working in relief the next game. Short story long, there just isn’t a large sample size of guys in the relief pitcher category, and a small subset of that pitched well throughout the month. Here are four pitchers who made less than two starts for the month and pitched well. THE TOP FOUR RELIEF PITCHERS #4 - RHP Miguel Rodriguez - Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels - 3 G, 1 GS, 0.00 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 10 K Rodriguez signed with the Twins in July of 2017 from Venezuela. He debuted in the DSL in 2018. He pitched to a 2.48 ERA in 32 2/3 innings with the GCL Twins in 2019. He began this season with the Mighty Mussels where he will likely be one of their many part-time starters. He missed some time this month, so he made just one stat. He was good when he was on the mound though. He only gave up six base runners in 9 1/3 innings. He can miss bats, and I would expect he’ll be in the Starting Pitchers category in the coming months. #3 - RHP Hector Lujan - Wichita Wind Surge - 7 G, 2.03 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 11 K The 26-year-old Lujan was the Twins 35th round pick in 2015 from Westmont College. He has been a strong performer throughout his minor league career. In May, he didn’t record a ton of strikeouts, but he worked innings and didn’t allow many hits. He has closed games in the past, but this year, he has worked as many as three innings in an outing. #2 - RHP Yennier Cano - Wichita Wind Surge - 8 G, 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 12 H, 2 BB, 21 K. Cano signed with the Twins in July of 2019 after leaving Cuba. He was brought along slowly that summer, pitching twice in the GCL before making eight appearances with the Miracle. After missing the 2020 season, he jumped up to Double-A to start this season and has been good. He has done a good job of avoiding runs and getting strikeouts. He gave up some hits, but he didn’t hurt himself with walks. He had an immaculate inning early in the season. The 27-year-old could surface with the Twins later this season. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: LHP Jovani Moran - Wichita Wind Surge - 8 G, 1.08 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 25 K Moran was the Twins seventh round pick in the 2015 draft out of the Carlos Beltran Academy in Puerto Rico. He was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year back in 2017. In 2018 between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, he struck out 107 batters in 76 innings. He reached Double-A in 2019. That’s where he began the 2021 season, and he has been very good. He has averaged more than two innings per outing. He is throwing strikes (which is a key for him), and he is back to missing a silly number of bats. He’s got a good fastball, but he has a special changeup that gets a lot of his strikeouts. Again, if he can throw strikes, he has a chance to pitch in the big leagues. As you can see, there were a couple of solid relief pitcher performances in May. These guys are all worthy of some recognition. It was a good month for each of these pitchers mentioned today. Congratulations to Jovani Moran, the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May 2021. View full article

Too much? It is a lot. Balazovic's appearance at Extended Spring Training went well Monday, so he's going to make a start this weekend for Wichita. There are two TBDs for Wichita, and Canterino isn't listed among the Cedar Rapids starters. There's a TBD where it should be him. So, I'm wondering if he's moving up too, or if that was dependent upon Balazovic. We'll find out.

Is good, and intriguing.

We are through one month of the five-month season. We’ve got monthly awards. We’ll start seeing more promotions. St. Paul was able to get a rare six-game sweep in Iowa last week. Check out the Minor League Week in Review. For this week again, let’s start with a Question of the Week. Leave your responses in the Comments section. Question of the Week: Which Twins prospect do you most want to see called up to the Twins this year? (that hasn’t already been called up) As always, I welcome your feedback on what you would like to see from these Week in Review articles, so let me know in the comments below. Of course, I also encourage you to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday. With that, let’s look at Week 4 in the Twins minor leagues: RESULTS Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (6-0 @ Iowa), overall (13-11) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (3-3 hosting Springfield), overall (14-10) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (2-4, hosting Wisconsin), overall (10-14) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (3-3 at Lakeland), overall (11-13) IN CASE YOU MISSED IT With the Twins struggles this season, we have had a lot of minor league articles and the daily minor league reports. In case you missed any of them... Twins Minor League Week in Review: Six-Game Series Tuesday: Blowout Bonanza Wednesday: Two Touchdowns and an Electric Outing Thursday: The Saints Come Marching In Patience Important for On-Base Machine Edouard Julien Friday: Jax, Canterino Continue to Shove Saturday: A No-Hitter and a Walk-Off Sunday: Twins System Sweeps the Day Minnesota’s Forgotten Prospect News & Notes Let’s start with a potential, maybe soon-to-be-announced transaction since we don’t have a daily minor league report today. Let the speculation begin. We are in the middle of “handing out” our monthly minor league awards: Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - May 2021 Minor League Hitter of the Month - May 2021 Minor League Relief PItcher of the Month - May 2021 - Coming Soon! Early in the week, Saints (and Twins) LHP Andrew Albers left the team to join Team Canada at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Florida. Albers started the first game for Canada on Monday and threw the first seven innings of the team's no-hitter against Colombia. On Sunday, the Mighty Mussels tossed a combined shutout which puts them in second place in the league. There have been very few six-game sweeps in the minor leagues so far this season, but that’s what the St. Paul Saints did in Iowa this past week. The team went into the series hitting just .161 (.9-for-56) with Runners in Scoring Position and two outs. Now, they are .247 after going 10-for-21 (.476) during the series. Overall, the Saints increased their season batting average from .215 to .227 after hitting .258 in the series. The Saints pitchers have not given up a home run in seven straight games. They have only allowed 12 home runs all season which is tied for the seventh fewest in all of Minor League Baseball. No reports yet on how Balazovic’s performance went on Monday, but if you look at the pitching probables at the bottom of this page, you’ll notice there are a couple of TBDs this next weekend. (also, the TBD in Cedar Rapids is interesting). 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 4 performances too. Twins Player of the Week: Jermaine Palacios, Wichita Wind Surge Jermaine Palacios returned to the organization he began his career with, and thrived with. He was traded to the Rays in exchange for Jake Odorizzi. Palacios really struggled in Double-A. He signed with the Twins this offseason and is off to a fantastic start. This week, Palacios played in all six games and hit .318/.464/.591 (1.055) with two home runs. He also walked six times. He has played in 23 of 24 games and is hitting .311/.398/.478 (.876) with three doubles and four home runs. He’s also playing fantastic defense at shortstop. Twins Pitcher of the Week: Griffin Jax, St. Paul Saints In his start this past week, Jax tossed six shutout innings at Iowa. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out ten batters to earn the Twins nod for pitcher of the week. Jax was the Twins third round pick in 2016 from the Air Force. He has continued to move on up and began this season with the Saints. Overall this season, Jax is 3-1 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.33 ERA. In 27 innings, he has given up 26 hits, walked ten and struck out 29 batters. Other Strong Performances this Week JT Riddle, St. Paul Saints: Riddle played in five games this week and went 10-for-20. He hit .500/.545/.950 (1.495) with three home runs, including two in Sunday’s win. Damek Tomscha, St. Paul Saints: Tomscha played in four games, he hit .267/.313/.733 (1.046) with a double and two home runs (both on Saturday night). Brent Rooker, St. Paul Saints: Rooker missed two games with a minor injury, but in four games this week, he hit .316/.316/.684 (1.000) with one double and two home runs. Charlie Barnes, St. Paul Saints: The southpaw starter gave up just one run on five hits over seven innings in his start in Iowa. He walked just one batter. Jhoan Duran, St. Paul Saints: In Duran’s second start of the year, he struck out eight batters in four innings of one-hit ball. RHP Ian Hamilton/Robinson Leyer/Rob Whalen: These three veteran bullpen arms combined to work 10 scoreless innings over six appearances. They struck out 12 batters. Jose Miranda, Wichita Wind Surge: In six games, he hit .346/.433/.538 (.972) with two doubles and a big, game-tying, two-run homer. He also had three walks to just one strikeout. Andrew Bechtold, Wichita Wind Surge: Bechtold got off to a slow start, but he had a terrific week. In six games, he hit .304/.360/.565 (.925) with three doubles and a home run. Gilberto Celestino, Wichita Wind Surge: The outfielder had a nice week (as the Twins might need another center fielder). . In six games, he hit .321/.345/.536 (880) with three doubles and a walk-off home run. Jovani Moran, Wichita Wind Surge: The lefty reliever threw twice and gave up just one hit over five scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out five batters. Cole Sands, Wichita Wind Surge: Sands made one start and threw four scoreless innings he gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out six batters. Seth Gray, Cedar Rapids Kernels: The third baseman turned 23 on Sunday and finished a very strong week. In six games, he hit .313/.522/.563 (1.084) with a double and a home run. He also walked five times (and was hit twice) with just two strikeouts. Matt Canterino, Cedar Rapids Kernels: Canterino struck out 10 batters over four innings of work. He gave up three hits, but he didn’t hurt himself with walks. And, he was named the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month for May. Kody Funderburk, Cedar Rapids Kernels: The lefty struck out nine batters over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in his start this week. He gave up three hits and walked two batters. Ben Gross, Cedar Rapids Kernels: Gross had his best start of the season for Cedar Rapids. He struck out eight batters over 4 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. He gave up just three hits and one walk. Melvi Acosta/Zach Featherstone/Tyler Palm, Cedar Rapids Kernels: These three relieves combined to work 7 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. They struck out 14 batters without walking any. (if you want, you can add a one batter-one out appearance from infielder Daniel Ozoria too. Kyle Schmidt, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The catcher played in four games and hit .417/.588/.583 (1.172) with two doubles and four walks. The defense-first catcher is off to a great start. Jeferson Morales, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The catcher/outfielder played in six games this week and hit .294/.429/.529 (.958) with a double and a home run. Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The 2019 sixth-round pick struck out eight batters over 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up five hits and one walk. Brent Headrick, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The lefty who was the Twins’ ninth-round pick in 2019 struck out five over five shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. Hunter McMahon, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The right-hander came to the Twins a year ago in the Ryne Harper trade with the Nationals. On Sunday, he tossed five shutout innings, striking out seven batters and walking just one. He gave up four hits. Sean Mooney, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The 2019 12th round pick from St. Johns returned from the IL and tossed three, one-hit innings. He struck out five batters. Bradley Hanner, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The hard-throwing righty went two-for-two in save opportunities this week. In three innings, he gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three batters. Denny Bentley, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: The lefty from Howard College was good this week. Bentley struck out eight batters over three innings in his appearance. 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 Keon Broxton missed a couple of games after rolling his wrist on a diving catch. In the three games he played, he had one hit in 12 at bats. Daniel Descalso had two hits on Sunday. Before that, he had one hit in 37 at-bats. In fact, Descalso had a stretch in which he went 0-for-40, the longest hitless streak of his career. On Sunday, he finally had a bloop, pop up single that was completely misplayed by the shortstop and third baseman, but then he followed it up with a double the next at bat. Andrew Vasquez was a candidate for reliever of the month before his outing this weekend. He was striking out a ton of batters and throwing strikes. Then he walked four batters (and struck out one) in 1/3 of an innings. Wichita Wind Surge Peter Mooney had just one single in 19 at bats over five games (.053). He had one walk and 16 strikeouts. Lefty Bryan Sammons made two starts and gave up eight earned runs over a combined eight innings. In the first start of the week, he gave up solo home runs to the leadoff batter in three of the first four innings and that’s about it. The second outing involved more hits to score the runs. Cedar Rapids Kernels They scored ten on Sunday, but it was a rough week for the Kernels. They were no-hit in Game 1 of Saturday’s double-header, and then didn’t get a hit in Game 1 until there was one out in the sixth inning of Game 2. Jair Camargo played in five games and went 0-for-15, though he did walk four times. Their other catcher, Alex Isola played in five games as well, and he went 0-for-10, though he walked six times. Gabe Snyder went 1-for-11 in four games. Spencer Steer went 3-for-20 (.150). Relievers Jordan Gore and Derek Molina each pitched twice this week. Each worked 3 1/3 innings. Each gave up five earned runs for a 13.50 ERA. Owen Griffith gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief. Four of the runs scored in one inning. Ft. Myers Might Mussels Justin Washington was signed recently and just added to the Mussels roster this week. He played in five games and went 2-for-18 (.111) with three walks and seven strikeouts. Aaron Sabato hit just .118. He had seven walks (good) and nine strikeouts (not good) in 24 plate appearances. Trending Storyline We have seen it with the big-league club. Injuries have absolutely devastated the Twins and other teams around baseball. It’s no different in the minor leagues. Matt Wallner (wrist) and Blayne Enlow (elbow) will both miss some time. Keoni Cavaco returned on Sunday after missing a week with a shoulder injury. Brent Rooker has missed a few games. Ft. Myers has had a handful of pitchers miss time. Simply put, the Twins have needed bodies, and they are signing players from all over the place to help fill rosters. Just since the beginning of the season, the Twins have added the following players: Justin Washington: The 23-year-old was the Dodgers 35th round pick from Savannah State in Georgia. He was released a month ago. Needing outfielders in the lower levels, the Twins signed the burly, strong outfielder and he has joined the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels. Daniel Descalso: The Twins started having injuries and players were being called up from Rochester. There was the COVID situation. Tzu Wei-Lin went on the IL. Zander Wiel on the IL. The Twins signed the 10-year MLB veteran utility man who spent last season with the Cubs alternate site. He has struggled since joining the Saints (see Lowlights). BJ Boyd: The burly outfielder reached Triple-A in 2018. He missed the 2019 season, and was going to play for the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2020, but their season was cancelled. He was having a strong spring training for them, and the Twins needed an upper-level outfielder. In his first game, he had four hits. Sherman Johnson: Johnson reached Triple-A with the Angels in 2019. However, this season, he was set to join the Kane County Cougars, a former Midwest League team that is now an independent league team. He has been a utility guy for Wichita since joining the team. Brandon Koch: Koch signed to play with the Twins in 2020 and pitched in spring training, but after the minor league season was cancelled, he pitched for the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths of the Constellation Energy League. He was going to play with the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association this year. After signing, he pitched briefly with the Cedar Rapids Kernels a couple of times before moving up to Wichita. Rob Whalen: The former big leaguer retired from baseball in February of 2019 due to depression and anxiety. He returned in 2020, going to Mets spring training, but was released in May. He signed with the West Virginia Power of the Atlantic League , but before the season started, the Twins signed him. He began with a couple of games in Wichita and is now with the Saints. Jordan Milbrath: The Springfield, MN, native reached Triple-A for Cleveland and Miami in 2018 and 2019, respectively. In 2020, he went to spring training with the Diamondbacks but was sent home due to COVID. He actually played amateur baseball for Springfield. He works as a financial advisor, but the Twins convinced him to head to Ft. Myers where he’s been getting ready for an assignment. PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects have performed on the season. This was requested in the comments last week. Let me know if it provides value. #1 - Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota) – St. Paul (2 rehab games, went 3-6 with 2 homers, 2 K), Minnesota (21 games, .256/.289/.474 (.764) with 5 doubles, 4 homers, 15 RBI, 4 BB, 22 K) #2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for Season (torn ACL) #3 - Trevor Larnach (Minnesota) – St. Paul (3 games, went 3-11 with two homers, two walks, 8 strikeouts), Minnesota (20 games, .228/.389/.456 (.845) with 4 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBI, 12 BB, 19 K) #4 - Ryan Jeffers (St. Paul) – St. Paul (24 games, .217/.340/.446 (.786) with four doubles, five homers, 16 BB, 26 K), Minnesota (11 games, .147/.216/.176 (.393) with one doubles, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 18 K) #5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – St. Paul (2 GS, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 14 K, 1.29 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Injured List (back) #7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – Ft. Myers (19 games, .230/.305/.297 (.602) with 2 doubles, 1 homer, 8 RBI, 7 BB, 24 K, 4 SB) #8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – Ft. Myers (23 games, .138/.355/.263 (.618) with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 7 RBI, 24 BB, 40 K) #9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Cedar Rapids (4 GS, 18.0 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 35 K, 1.00 ERA, 0.72 WHIP) #10 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Cedar Rapids (3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) - elbow injury, out 6-8 weeks. #11 - Gilberto Celestino (Wichita) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K). #12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (19 games, .227/.366/.470 (.836) with one double, 3 homers, 15 BB, 24 K), Minnesota (8 games, .103/.133/.241 (375) with 1 double, 1 homer, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 13 K) #13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – Cedar Rapids (17 games, .333/.384/.621 (1.005) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 28 K) - wrist injury. #14 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – Ft. Myers (17 games, .206/.320/.286 (606) with 11 RBI, 9 BB, 18 K, 3 SB) #15 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – Wichita (5 GS, 22.0 IP, 13 H, 12 BB, 28 K, 2.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) #16 - Edwar Colina (Rehab) - 60-Day IL (elbow) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPYBUTeph4x/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link #17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) – St. Paul (5 games, .286/.318/.571 (.890) with3 doubles, 1 homer, 1 BB, 6 K), Minnesota (13 games, .179/.258/.286 (544) with 1 homer, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K) #18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (injured) #19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – Wichita (24 games, .319/.389/.564 (953) with 5 doubles, 6 homers, 24 RBI. 8 BB, 11 K) #20 - Bailey Ober (St. Paul) – St. Paul (4 GS, 16.0 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP), Minnesota (1 GS, 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 9.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) LOOKING AHEAD St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (Regi Grace, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Louie Varland, Sean Mooney, Hunter McMahon, Brent Headrick): Cedar Rapids @ Ft. Wayne:(Tyler Beck, Kody Funderburk, TBD, Jon Olsen, Andrew Cabezas, Ben Gross) Arkansas @ Wichita: (Chris Vallimont, Austin Schulfer, Josh Winder, Cole Sands, TBD, TBD) St. Paul @ Louisville: (Charlie Barnes, Jhoan Duran, Chandler Shepherd, Bailey Ober, Griffin Jax, Charlie Barnes): Feel free to provide some feedback below regarding these reports. What do you like to read? What types of information would you like added? Also, feel free to ask any questions you like. View full article

I appreciate your responses. @Dman. I'm never sure how to best respond to all of that, but I do like them... In short, I would say not to make too much of the good or bad yet. Just so hard to know how players are going to perform after such a long lay-off from competitive at bats. For instance, Kyle Schmidt is a little older for the Low-A level, but he's a defense-first catcher. However, his manager told me last week that he has re-done his swing. He's a big, strong guy who worked to try to add some power to his game. Let's see how that goes. If it goes well, maybe he can have a big-league career. Other buys are working on things too. And, I'm becoming stronger and stronger in my thought that Age-To-Level is only important in prospect rankings. I'm sure it's somewhat part of the organization's evaluation, but (especially this year), it just doesn't mean a ton. Not yet. It'll mean more in the season's second half and into next year. Just hard to know how to evaluate anything after a complete missed year.

Yesterday, we discussed the top starting pitcher performers in the Twins system in May. Today, we shift to the offense and find out who the top hitters were in the organization during the season’s first month. Here are the top five hitters for the month of May, but first here are some players deserving of honorable mention. HONORABLE MENTION OF Ernie de la Trinidad - Wichita Wind Surge - 19-63, .302/.370/.429 (.798) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 6 BB, 14 K. OF Brent Rooker - St. Paul Saints - 15-66, .227/.366/.470 (.836) with 1 double, 5 homers, 15 BB, 24 K. C Kyle Schmidt - Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels – 17-49, .347/.458/.469 (.927) with 6 doubles, 9 BB, 13 K. IF Spencer Steer - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 20-78, .256/.385/.385 (.770) with 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 15 BB, 13 K. OF Aaron Whitefield - Wichita Wind Surge - 26-85, .302/.358/.459 (817) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 8 BB, 28 K.. THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Wichita Wind Surge - SS Jermaine Palacios - 28-90, .311/.398/.478 (876) with 3 doubles, 4 homers, 13 BB, 26 K Palacios became a top shortstop prospect with the Twins early in his career. However, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Jake Odorizzi. He struggled to hit in their organization. He became a free agent this offseason and decided to return to the Twins. He was signed with the thought that he would move around the Wichita infield, but when Royce Lewis tore his ACL, Palacios became the nearly-everyday shortstop. He’s solidified the Wind Surge defense, and he has been a force in the middle of their lineup too. Number 4 - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 1B Gabe Snyder - 18-67, .260/.395/.567 (.962) with 3 doubles, 1 triples, 5 home runs, 13 BB, 20 K. Snyder was the Twins 21st round pick in 2018 out of Wright State. In 2019, he was a Midwest League All Star with the Kernels. He and the Kernels both received a promotion to High-A for the 2021 season. Snyder has continued to provide power in the middle of their lineup. He also has a good approach at the plate and is willing to take his walks too. Manager Brian Dinkelman said, "Gabe has power in his bat. We saw that in here '19 when he hit 20 home runs. The power is in there with his bat. We like Gabe in the middle of our lineup." Number 3 – Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels - IF Edouard Julien - 23-78, .295/.476/.449 (.925) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 26 BB, 31 K. Julien had to wait a long time to make his professional debut. The College World Series hero from Auburn was the Twins 18th round draft pick in 2019. After signing, he went to Peru with Team Canada for the Pan-Am Games. In the first practice, he heard a pop in his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. He may have been ready to play by the middle of the 2020 season. Instead, there was no minor league season, so Julien had to wait until this year to debut. He showed patience, and that is a strong characteristic of his game too. Julien is patient at the plate and knows the strike zone well. He had 26 walks in the month. He also isn’t afraid to take a big swing when he gets a good pitch. He had nine extra base hits for the month. He also went 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts. Number 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels – OF Matt Wallner - 22-66, .333/.384/.621 (1.005) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 5 BB. 29 K. The Forest Lake native was the Twins 32nd round pick, as a pitcher, in 2016. He went to Southern Mississippi, became a power-hitting All American, and in 2019, the Twins used the 39th overall pick to select him again. In 2019, he finished the season with the Kernels. He got off to a fast start in 2021 in Cedar Rapids. In Game 2, he hit two home runs. He’s had a four-hit game. He’s showed off some speed with a couple of triples, both have been hit to the left-center field gap, showing his ability to hit the ball to all fields. With the power comes some strikeouts. As his manager says, “Matt takes some vicious cuts. He’s a good hitter when he stays in the zone and doesn’t expand too much.” Unfortunately, Wallner played the first 17 games, but he hurt his wrist on a swing and went on the injured list. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Wichita Wind Surge – IF Jose Miranda - 30-94, .319/.389/.564 (.953), 5 doubles, 6 home runs, 8 BB, 11 K. In 2016, the Twins had four draft picks in the first 75 picks. They drafted four high school hitters with those picks. Alex Kirilloff, Akil Baddoo and Ben Rortvedt have all made their MLB debuts in 2021 (Kirilloff in the playoffs in 2020 too). The fourth, Jose Miranda, is making a name for himself too and hopes to join them in the big leagues soon. His 2021 is off to a terrific start so far. The reports on Miranda were always that he had the potential for power, and that is showing so far this year with five doubles and six home runs. For Miranda, he believes that the key will be for him to stay in the strike zone. “I’m trying to be more patient and lower my chase percentage. That’s one of my goals this season. I know if my chase percentage goes down, I’m going to have better numbers. If I start swinging at better pitches, I’m going to start getting more hits, doubles, home runs.” Miranda ended 2019 with one game in Double-A. He became a father in 2020 but was unable to play because of no season. He did play in the Puerto Rican Winter League and played in the Caribbean Series. It led to an invitation to participate in Twins spring training. He learned a lot from the experience. “It was a great experience just being around all those veteran guys, being around Nellie Cruz who has been around the league for 15 to 20 years almost. Hearing all the things that he says, all the things he knows, hitting-wise. All the work he puts in day in, day out. After the game, he keeps working out. JD (Donaldson) too. All those guys. They are super good, but you see what they do before the game and after the game. It’s pretty cool to watch them work that hard and seeing all the work pay off.” Jose Miranda currently leads the Twins minor league organization in Home Runs (6), RBI (24), Hits (30), XBH (11), Total Bases (53). He is third in batting average (.319), seventh in on-base percentage (.389), third in slugging percentage (.564) and third in OPS (.953). Miranda has already played all four infield positions, making himself prepared should an opportunity arise with the Twins later this season. He can play all of those positions, but it will be his bat that carries him to the big leagues. We would like to congratulate Wichita infielder Jose Miranda, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for May 2021. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. Follow Twins Daily on Twitter and vote for the the Minor League Hitter of the Month. View full article

I verified earlier in the week that he is indeed still in the Twins organization. Hopefully no more setbacks... could start pitching again in a couple of weeks. Presumably in Ft. Myers.

They don't really have a bullpen. Maybe 2-3 guys are solely relievers. The rest are piggybacking and such to maybe stretch out. Beck is impressive to watch. Might be fun to follow, for sure. And, always try to make starters and if not, can always go back to the bullpen.

These guys are all making their professional debuts (minus a couple of E-Town outings in 2019) and haven't pitched competitively for a long time. We need to give them some time before making any decisions on them. I agree on Gipson-Long though. He's got good stuff. They all do. Just need to work things out. Mooney and Legumina had Tommy John. McMahon had an injury. Rijo will arrive soon. Balazovic will pitch today in Extended and I'd guess Wichita next weekend. Laweryson told me a month ago that he was targeting late May, so hopefully things are getting close with him.

Haven't seen a ton of him, but some. He's a low-90s fastball with some cut. He's got a good changeup that misses a lot of bats. I think he's a legit prospect as a lefty reliever. He's off to a good start. He's been really good throughout his career when he is healthy.

No update. He had an injury in spring training, not sure the injury, so he's working back from that. He mentioned after the draft that he hoped to play 2B, but when the scouts were asked about it, they said maybe but they think he'll be an outfielder. He may play around the field a bit.

Maybe we'll have a story at some point... I'll see what we can do.

One month of games are under the minor league belts as the calendar turns from May to June. It’s time to start our first round of monthly Twins minor league awards. Tonight, we talk about the starting pitchers who have started the 2021 season strong. Before we share our choices for the Twins Minor League Top Four Starters for May, there were some other strong starting performers that just missed the cut. Let’s discuss the top starting pitchers in the organization in the season’s first month. It's great that there were several deserving choice this month. HONORABLE MENTION RHP Andrew Cabezas - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 6 G, 5 GS, 27.2 IP, 2.93 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 18 H, 11 BB, 21 K RHP Blayne Enlow - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K RHP Cole Sands - 5 GS, 22.0 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 13 H, 12 BB, 28 K RHP Bailey Ober - St. Paul Saints - 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 13 H, 5 BB, 21 K THE TOP FOUR STARTING PITCHERS #4 - RHP Tyler Beck - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 G, 2 GS, 16.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8 H, 4 BB, 19 K That Tyler Beck is on the list of starters is part of the story. He was the Twins 30th round draft pick in 2019 after being the closer for the Division II champion U of Tampa. He had a circuitous route to pro ball that went through D2, the Big 10, junior college, and he was a reliever all the way. He worked in long relief for the Kernels his first two games this year, but he ended the month with two starts, the first of which was his first start since high school. He has been fantastic. Matt Wallner was his roommate when the players were staying at a hotel earlier this month. He said, “His curveball doesn’t look fun to face. He spots his fastball too. He gets some stupid-looking swings. It’s been fun to watch. He’s going to keep doing it because he fills up the zone. It’s been impressive.” #3 - LHP Kody Funderburk - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 5 G, 4 GS, 18.1 IP, 1.13 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 12 H, 4 BB, 34 K Funderburk was the Twins 15th round draft pick in 2018 out of Dallas Baptist where he was a pitcher and a power hitter. Since joining the Twins organization, he has solely been used on the mound. He made 12 appearances for the Kernels in 2019. After a lost 2020 season, Funderburk is back with the Kernels, though of course they are now the High-A affiliate. He was the team’s Opening Night starter and has been very good and efficient too. In a recent start, he threw 55 pitches over 5 2/3 innings. His manager said, “He was really efficient. He got a ton of ground balls. Didn’t strike out many guys, but he had that cutter working in on their hands and got a lot of weak contact to the left side of the infield. Keeps the infield on their toes when he works that quick and gets a lot of action.” #2 - RHP Josh Winder - Wichita Wind Surge - 5 GS, 24.1 IP, 1.48 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 16 H, 6 BB, 30 K Winder is the prospect with the most helium over the past six to nine months, and his performance on the mound in the season’s first month has justified it. He was the Twins seventh round draft pick in 2018 out of Virginia Military Institute. He spent the full 2019 season in Cedar Rapids and did well. At instructional league last fall, his fastball bumped up to 97 mph from 92 mph and he opened eyes. He went to big-league spring training, and this year he skipped High-A and jumped right to Double-A. He was the Wind Surge Opening Day starter, and he has been terrific. He went 4 2/3 innings in his first start and has completed five innings in three of his past four starts. The only game he didn’t pitch five? Well, he had four no-hit innings at Tulsa before a rain delay. Wichita manager Ramon Borrego said he noticed Winder at Instructional League. “We had reports that Winder threw a good slider and his fastball was 90, 93 mph. When I saw that guy throwing on the mound at 97-98, I was like, ‘Oh my gawd!’ He’s a big, strong guy, a really hard worker. I remember meeting with (minor league director) Alex Hassan and saying ‘I think this guy can be really good.’” Winder is continually trying to improve. He recently said, “I didn’t feel quite satisfied with my first two outings and made some adjustments between the second and third start, took more control of the game. This last start I was a little more aggressive. So I’m slowly getting back into facing other teams and getting back into season form. Just polishing some finer points of my game and figuring out how to best use my stuff. It’s been fun. Definitely been getting into a groove, so hopefully I can keep that going.” And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Cedar Rapids Kernels - RHP Matt Canterino - 4 GS, 18.0 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 10 H, 3 BB, 35 K Matt Canterino was the Twins second-round pick in the 2019 draft out of Rice University. He ended that year with a handful of starts with Low-A Cedar Rapids. During the lost 2020 season, Canterino did get to spend time at the Twins alternate site in St. Paul and at Fall Instructional League. Before the start of spring training, video surfaced on Twitter of him hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. Canterino was invited to Twins spring training in the development camp and began his season at High-A Cedar Rapids where he has dominated. In his four starts, he has six strikeouts in three innings, nine strikeouts in five innings, 10 strikeouts in six innings and 10 strikeouts in four innings. He has just three walks on the season and two of them came in his first start. After his most recent outing, manager Brian Dinkelman said, “Another good night for Matt. Had all his pitches working tonight. He had ten strikeouts. He’s just throwing the ball really well for us right now, and giving us good starts. We’re excited about the way he’s throwing the ball and keeps progressing and hopefully he will get himself to the big leagues hopefully one of these days.” Canterino said of his early season success and strategy. “The main focus is getting ahead early, and staying ahead throughout the at bat. Trying to play to my strengths. You just want to make good pitches early in the count in the zone and force them to do something with it. There are so many swings-and-misses and so many easy outs to be had if you’re in the strike zone early on. It’s important to do that. Hitting is so tough, so if you’re in the zone early with a couple of different pitches, you often times find yourself in those counts where you can get a strikeout.” Congratulations to our Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of May, Cedar Rapids RHP Matt Canterino, and all of the starting pitchers who got off to a strong start after their long layoffs. Feel free to discuss and ask questions. Follow Twins Daily on Twitter and participate in this Twitter Poll. View full article

I think it's fair to say that Shoemaker was not as bad as his final stat line would indicate. 1.) Innings 1-4 were good. 2-4 very good. 2.) He got BABIP'd (seeing eye singles) in the fifth, and 3.) The runners he left on base scored. It's also impossible to say that his performance on the game was anything better than Not Good.

That would sure make a lot of sense to me...