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Seth Stohs

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Blog Entries posted by Seth Stohs

  19. Seth Stohs
    On Saturday afternoon, the Twins offense jumped all over Jeff Samardzija, scoring eight runs in the first four innings. Joe Mauer returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained thumb. He was 3-4 with his 13th double. Trevor Plouffe went 2-4 with his sixth double and ninth home run. He drove in four runs. Justin Morneau, Denard Span and Ben Revere each had two hits in the game, as the Twins beat the Cubs 11-3, and won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Scott Diamond improved to 5-1 and reduced his ERA to 1.61 with six scoreless innings.
     
    Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Friday:
     
    ROCHESTER 2, INDIANAPOLIS 0
     
    When Liam Hendriks was sent down to Rochester at the end of April, it was because he was showing a lack of confidence and getting hit pretty hard. Since his return to the minor leagues, Hendriks has regained that confidence, and continued to improve his stuff. The hard-worker has had one rough start, and on Saturday night, he was at his best. Facing Indianapolis, Hendriks improved to 5-0. He went 8.2 innings (on out shy of a complete game) and gave up no runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out ten. His ERA dropped to 1.94. Lester Oliveros, who would clearly be the next reliever in line to come up to the Twins when there is a need, recorded the final out for his fourth Rochester save.
     
    As you would expect by the score, the Red Wings bats were pretty quiet too. They scored their two runs in the top of the 7th inning. The inning began with walks to Danny Valencia and Wilkin Ramirez. Then Matt Carson was hit by a pitch. Valencia scored on a ground out t to first base by Clete Thomas. Next, Ramirez scored on a single by Rene Rivera. That was the offense. Thomas was 2-4 with atriple. Valencia was 1-3 with a walk. Ramirez was 1-2 with two walks.
     
    NEW BRITAIN 6, ERIE 0
     
    The Rock Cats bats scored six runs on 16 hits, but when a team throws a shutout, we are going to start with the pitching. Andrew Albers improved to 3-1 with six shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four. Bruce Pugh came in and walked two in a scoreless inning. Caleb Thielbar struck out three over the final two innings.
     
    Chris Herrmann led the offense by going 4-5 on the day with his 15th double. Evan Bigley was 3-5 with his 10th and 11th walks. Chris Colabello was 3-4 and provided the big blast, a three-run homer in the eighth inning that gave the bullpen some extra insurance. Nathan Hanson was 2-4 with his sixth double. James Beresford was 2-5.
     
    FT. MYERS 2, PALM BEACH 3
     
    After being unable to play thanks to rain since Wednesday, the Miracle finally just moved on, to Palm Beach, and played a solid game. Pat Dean started for the Miracle and threw four innings of shutout baseball. He gave up two hits and walked and struck out none. Then Tom Stuifbergen came in for his first appearance due to shoulder issues. In the fifth inning, he got the first two batters out. However, four straight singles later, the game was tied at two. He recorded the first out of the sixth inning, but then next batter drilled a line drive off of his leg. He left the game at that point. He was charged with that run, which scored later. Jose Gonzalez recorded four outs. Then Dakota Watts got the final four outs. He struck out two.
     
    The Miracle managed just five hits. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-2 with a walk and his 15th double. Josmil Pinto hit his first triple. Angel Moracles was 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
     
    BELOIT 0, WISCONSIN 4
     
    In games against these two teams, the top two teams in the Midwest League West division, the Timber Rattlers have now won three out of four to take the division lead. The Snappers had just five hits in the game. Nate Roberts and Drew Leachman were each 2-4. Leachman hit his third double.
     
    Milwaukee native Tyler Jones started for Beloit. He gave up three runs on four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out nine. Ryan O’Rourke gave up only an unearned run in two innings. He gave up three hits and an intentional walk, and he struck out three.
     
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    Players of the Day for Saturday, June 9, 2012
     
    Pitcher of the Day – Liam Hendriks
     
     
    Hitter of the Day – Chris Herrmann
     
     
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    A Look Ahead – Sunday, June 10, 2012 Schedule
     
    Rochester @ Indianapolis – RHP Cole De Vries
    New Britain @ Erie – RHP BJ Hermsen
    Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach – LHP David Hurlbut
    Beloit @ Wisconsin – TBD
     
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    If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!
  25. Seth Stohs
    Tonight at 6:00 central time, the MLB Draft will commence. We have heard now that the Astros will select Stanford right-hander and Houston native Mark Appel. That means that the Minnesota Twins will have their pick of every other eligible player.
     
    I have freely said that I will not be at all disappointed if the Twins take a college pitcher like Kyle Zimmer or Kevin Gausman, the college catcher Mike Zunino or high school bats like OF Byron Buxton or IF Carlos Correa. In fact, although there is a bunch of risk, I would be just fine with the Twins taking a shot on high school RHP Lucas Giolito.
     
    Many fans and media types really want the Twins to use the #2 pick on a college pitcher. This makes a lot of sense as the Twins need pitching at every level, and the four pitchers mentioned above all reach into the upper-90s with their fastballs.
     
    The general consensus appeared to be that the Twins will take Byron Buxton, the talented high school outfielder. Buxton is a very toolsie talent who is already considered strong defensively, with great speed and range and a strong arm. Scouts believe he will hit, but there are plenty of questions about what his upside is. Will he hit for power? We will find out in about four to six years.
     
    Reading through the comments here and other places, I frequently read about how the Twins don’t need another toolsie outfielder. That is generally followed by a comment speaking about how much outfield depth the Twins have in the minor league system. A year ago, I may have agreed with that, but now? Let’s consider:
     

    Denard Span and Josh Willingham have long-term contracts and are both under contract to fill two of the three outfield positions for the next three years. However, these two are the Twins most tradeable assets right now, so we don’t know if one or both of them will be around long-term.
    Ben Revere, while being very good defensively (range-wise), has struggled with the bat and with getting on base. Of course, he still has room to improve and hopefully he will.
    Rene Tosoni was the first outfielder to be called up to the Twins in 2011, and although he struggled until September, he did show some power. He went to AAA to start this season again, and was injured early. He returned in May and before the month was over, he was demoted to AA New Britain because he was hitting well under .200.
    Joe Benson has hit very well in AA the last two years ago, and last September, he was called up to the Twins. During that time, we saw the good and the bad of Benson, but his ceiling is so high. He began this season in AAA but he got off to a slow start. It really got to him and it was necessary to send him down to AA in mid-May. Unfortunately, he broke his hamate bone and had surgery and will miss six weeks.
    Aaron Hicks had a frustrating 2011 season in Ft. Myers. He had a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League last year. This spring, he was pushed up to AA New Britain where it has been a mixed bag of success and failure. He still hasn’t put up numbers as a left-handed batter, but is very good right-handed. Defensively, he is big-league ready now. The 2008 top pick still has a long ways to go.
    Angel Morales put up huge numbers in the Appalachian League years ago, but his power has not shown much since then and he has really struggled this year since a great first week. He is still younger than Aaron Hicks, and he has the world of talent, but will it come together soon?
    Max Kepler is still just 19 years old and will spend his second season in Elizabethton. That is the right thing to do with him, but being so raw means that he could develop into a great player, or he could never develop at all.

    Obviously there are several more outfielders in the system, four to five per team, but for people to say that the Twins have huge outfield depth is, unfortunately, no longer the case. There are too many question marks right now. That isn’t to say that some of these very talented players mentioned above won’t turn it around and become very good regular in time.
     
    What it does speak to is that you just never know with the draft, at any position, including the outfield. That is why taking the Best Available Player is always the right strategy. Finding the player they believe has the most upside, regardless of age or position. I know that the term “Toolsie Outfielder” seems to mean something negative right now to a lot of Twins fans. However, Torii Hunter and Denard Span were toolsie outfielders. Each of them took six to seven years after being drafted to get a chance in the big leagues. Ken Griffey Jr, Matt Kemp, BJ Upton, Justin Upton, Andrew McCutheon and Jay Bruce were toolsie outfielders. In the same way, Marc Newfeld, Paul Coleman and to some degree, BJ Garbe, were also toolsie outfielders. From the list above, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and to some degree Ben Revere were all drafted as toolsie outfielders and the jury is still out on them.
     
    There are no ‘sure-things’ in the MLB Draft. However, there are several players that Twins fans should be excited about if they are taken with the #2 overall pick. As much as we like and want pitching, taking a toolsie outfielder like Byron Buxton would NOT be a bad pick at all… as long as they address the pitching with several of their remaining five Top 100 picks.
     
    It will not surprise me in the least if the Twins take Buxton, although I will also not be shocked or disappointed if they pick any of the seven names mentioned earlier. I will, however, be shocked if the Twins do not take Rochester Century’s RHP Mitch Brown with the #32 overall pick in the draft.
     
    Stay tuned to Twins Daily and the forums throughout the day for any Draft-related news. It is a big day for the Twins and their future.
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