Seth Stohs

Thank you all.... As someone who has been blogging many times per week (I think averaging about 6-8 articles per week) for 16 full years, it has been so much fun to see the increased readership and increased blogging and increased forum activity here over the last couple of months. Obviously it's fun seeing the Twins play great too. But this community is great. Hopefully you all enjoy it, and hopefully some of you who have been reading the site will register and see how easy it is to join the discussions in the forums. Or try your hand on the Blogs. This season has been fun, and these next couple of weeks and couple of months should be a lot of fun too! Thank you again for helping Twins Daily become a great community for Twins fans! I'm proud to be a small part of this!

Like I said... never a worry about Wander Javier...

Man is he crushing the ball in Rochester!! Very impressive!

I love looking back at that kind of stuff. I did a few Q&As with Alex Smit when he was in the low minors. He was one of the first from The Netherlands. And Portes was an interesting prospect. He could hit. No position, but he could hit.

Steve is traveling to Ft. Myers today and the next couple of days, but when he is in Cedar Rapids he gets to most of the home games. I can tell you that there is absolutely concern about Javier within the organization. I'm sure they're wondering if they brought him back too soon, pushed him up to Cedar Rapids too quickly after missing the year and then the injury. I'm sure they're struggling with what to do next. Do they send him to Elizabethton (And with Spencer Steer called up to the Kernels today, that could happen). Do they just trust his talent and athleticism and work with him to get him out? I've said that I would probably consider putting him on the IL, sending him back to Ft. Myers to almost start over, in a few weeks get him into some GCL "rehab" games... and hope he regains confidence.

Lewis is immensely media savvy and legitimately nice. In addition, he actually really enjoys answering questions. And, he's also very smart, and very baseball smart, so you actually can learn a lot from him as well.

That's the goal!! Well done!

He's making the decision really easy for the Twins...

The Red Wings returned from their All-Star break with a doubleheader. In game 1, Ronald Torreyes had three hits and homered twice. But as we have known since childhood, Zander Wiel makes the Red Wings bus go round and round. Quietly the 2015 12th round pick from Vanderbilt is putting together a monster season in Triple-A. He deserves to be noticed and a game like this will get a player noticed. There were a large number of transactions again on Thursday including the transfer of Cody Allen from the Miracle to the Red Wings.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS RH RP Cody Allen was reinstated from the temporary inactive list and promoted from Ft. Myers to Rochester.IF Brian Schales was promoted from Pensacola to Rochester.The Red Wings officially received recently-optioned RHP Kohl Stewart and LHP Devin Smeltzer from the Twins.DJ Baxendale was placed on the Red Wings Injured List.LH RP Andrew Vasquez was sent from Rochester to Pensacola.The Blue Wahoos also announced that the Twins have signed veteran infielder (and former big leaguer) Ivan De Jesus, Jr. to a minor league deal and assigned him to Pensacola.RHP Edwar Colina was promoted from Ft. Myers to Pensacola.RH RP Moises Gomez was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers.RH RP Nate Hadley, the Twins 25th round pick last month, was promoted to the Kernels from Elizabethton.RED WINGS REPORTGame 1 - Rochester 13, Lehigh Valley 5 Box Score Zander Wiel continues to quietly put up big numbers for the Red Wings this year. In this game, he hit his 23rd and 24th doubles and his 14th and 15th home runs. He drove in seven runs. That is a good week! Ronald Torreyes knocked his sixth and seventh homers and drove in four runs. He went 3-for-4. Wilin Rosario was also 3-for-4 in the game. Jaylin Davis went 2-for-4. Nick Gordon drove in two runs with a single. Sean Poppen started Game 1 and gave up three runs on four hits and four walks over four innings. He also struck out four batters. Carlos Torres came on to start the fifth inning. He went the final three innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He walked three and struck out three… to win his third game since joining the Red Wings. Game 2 - Rochester, Lehigh Valley Box Score Game is in progress. This will be updated upon game's completion. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 2, Montgomery 6 Box Score Lefty Bryan Sammons started and gave up four runs on four hits over the first four innings. He walked one, hit two batters, and struck out three batters. Zack Weiss came on and gave up one run on one hit over 2 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one batter. Alex Phillips gave up two runs on two hits over the next two innings. He walked three and struck out one. Hector Lujan got the final two outs of the top of the ninth inning, but not before allowing an inherited runner to score and two more of his own. He gave up three hits and struck out one batter. Travis Blankenhorn led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his 14th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers, Daytona Box Score Game cancelled by Rain. It will not be made up. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Great Lakes 3 Box Score Luis Rijo put together one of the best starts in the organization in his most recent starts, and he followed it with another really strong start. The right-hander started with six shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the seventh. In 6 2/3 innings, he gave up those two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out six batters. Alex Schick came on and gave up one run on two hits over the final 2 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two batters. For the second straight game, Trevor Casanova hit a home run, his third in 15 games since joining the Kernels. A catcher, he has been playing often in the Kernels outfield, and on this night he threw out a runner at home. It provided the team their lone run. Gabe Snyder went 2-for-3 with a walk. --------------------------------------------- In case you missed it, on Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids, they introduced their 2019 Hall of Fame class. The group included long-time Board of Directors member Gary Keoppel, players Jerry Reuss and Hector Cruz ,and manager Jake Mauer. Jeff Johnson chatted with Mauerabout getting away from the game, what he misses and what he’s up to these days. E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 0, Burlington 5 Box Score The E-Twins had a rough game. The offense only managed four hits, the same number of errors that they had in the night. Spencer Steer hit a triple, the team’s lone extra-base hit. Matt Wallner had a single, and he also threw out a runner at third base from right field. Ben Gross made the start for the E-Twins. He went the first four innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits. He struck out six without a walk. Lefty Erik Cha came on and gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out three. Steven Cruz struck out six batters in three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 2 Box Score German right-hander Niklas Rimmel made the start for the Twins on Thursday afternoon. He gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits over five innings .He struck out five without walking any, though he did hit one batter. Venezuelan righty Miguel Rodriguez came on and tossed three scoreless innings for his second straight outing. On this day, he gave up one hit, walked one and struck out seven batters. Lefty Evan Gillespie, recently signed out of Faulkner University, gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth. He was credited with his first professional win. The Twins entered the bottom of the ninth inning down 2-0. With one out, Wander Valdez, Francisco Martinez and Bryson Gandy all singled to load the bases. Alec Craig walked to bring in the team’s first run. Martinez scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Jesus Feliz walked to reload the bases. Parker Phillips ended the game with a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Bryson Gandy with the winning run. LaRon Smith went 2-for-4. Along with the game-winning RBI, Phillips went 2-for-4. Wander Valdez entered the game late and went 2-for-2. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Luis Rijo, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel, Rochester Red Wings PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-4, RBI, 3 K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured List (shoulder) #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2 K #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Did Not Play #8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Game 2 ( #9 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-4, R, 2 RBI), Game 2 ( #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - All Star Break #15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 1-3, 2 K, OF Assist #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 1-4, K #17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured (Tommy John) #18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 0-3, 2 BB, R, RBI #20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - 2-4, 2B(14), RBI FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (4-4, 5.50 ERA) Montgomery @ Pensacola (6:35 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-0, 2.92 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (2-2, 1.95 ERA) Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Josh Winder (6-1, 2.32 ERA) Burlington @ Elizabethton (5:30 CST) - Andriu Marin (1-1, 2.77 ERA) GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (11:00 CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games or any other minor league topics you would like. Click here to view the article

updated it... thank you!

The other alternative is for Rooker to spend the season playing twice a week behind Rosario, Cron and Cruz... I like the idea of him playing 6 games a week and getting better. They can call him up on August 30th to be a role player in September.

Except the A's are the ones that paid him millions. The Twins will likely spend about $20,000 over 3-5 years to see if a guy who throws in the upper-90s can figure out where the strike zone is. That's a pretty good risk.

Chatted with Leach a bit this morning. Didn't go into a lot of detail, but he has had a couple of setbacks in the rehab of his arm. He's disappointed and just wants to pitch, but he has to be frustrated. Like I've pointed out, he's such a big, strong kid and he can throw hard. Just have to keep being patient... us and him.

I moved the Draft Signings thread back to the front page.

It's a commuter trip to Davenport.

Yeah, I like that most minor leagues give the day off for the All Star game. Southern League and Florida State League still played. I knew the Southern League played but I thought the FSL usually didn't.

More on Alec Craig...

Urbina has two 3-hit games this year. He has five 2-hit games as well.

If I'm voting for first-half MVP, i give my vote to 1) Polanco, 2) Kepler... If I'm being asked which player is most valuable to the Twins, I can certainly agree with the choice for Buxton... though I think that they would struggle if Polanco was out for an extended period of time as well.

The All-Star break is upon us for both the big leagues and Triple-A. Pensacola got a great start from a key pitching prospect, and three hits from its top hitting prospect. The Miracle starter provided a quality start. Tyler Webb played hero again for Cedar Rapids. Matt Wallner provided the offense in E-Town, and a rehabbing starter was strong again in the GCL and could be returning to the Miracle soon.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS Blake Parker was activated from the Paternity List.Following Sunday’s game, Devin Smeltzer was optioned to Rochester.Yeltsin Encarnacion was returned to Cedar Rapids from Rochester.Royce Lewis was activated by the Miracle from the temporary inactive list (Futures Game).Cody Allen was placed on the temporary inactive list by the Miracle. No issue, just giving him his All-Star break.RHP Sawyer Gipson was placed on the Elizabethton roster.The Twins signed RHP Steve Theetge, a non-drafted player out of Bryant University. AWARDS Jaylin Davis was named the International League Hitter of the Week.Andrew Cabezas was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week.RED WINGS REPORTRochester Box Score The Red Wings are on their All-Star break… well, except for Brent Rooker and Tomas Telis who will be participating in the game. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 1, Birmingham 2 Box Score There weren’t a lot of runs scored in this game, but unfortunately, the Wahoos lost on a walk-off homer in the ninth. Jorge Alcala put together his first really good start in a while. In six scoreless innings, he gave up just four hits and one walk. He struck out seven batters. Jeff Ames came on and was charged with an unearned run on two hits and a walk over two innings. Anthony Vizcaya came on for the ninth but gave up a leadoff homer to end the game. Alex Kirilloff led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with his second triple. Joe Cronin walked, hit his fourth double and stole his sixth base. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 6 Box Score Cole Sands put together another quality start for the Miracle, but the offense didn’t provide enough run support. Sands gave up three runs on six hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out five batters. Ricky Ramirez came on and gave up three runs on two hits over two innings. He walked three and hit a batter while striking out two. Derek Molina pitched a scoreless ninth. Gabriel Maciel provided the offense. He hit his second home run since joining the Miracle. Royce Lewis returned directly from Cleveland and went 1-for-3 with a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 5 Box Score In his first game with the Kernels (and his first game with the E-Twins this year), Tyler Wells hit a walk-off double. On this night, he singled in two runs to cap a four-run top of the ninth for the Kernels. Earlier in the game, Gilberto Celestino had a two-run single. He was 2-for-4 with a walk in the game. Austin Schulfer started for Cedar Rapids. He gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out five without issuing a walk. Tanner Howell gave up two hits but no runs in the sixth inning. Brian Rapp gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the seventh inning. JT Perez struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning, and Jose Martinez struck out one in a perfect ninth for the save. E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 3, Johnson City 4 Box Score Matt Wallner led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his fifth double. Ruben Santana was also 2-for-4 in the game. Anthony Prato went 1-for-3 with a walk. Ryley Widell started. The left gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out seven batters. Steven Cruz walked two and struck oune out in a scoreless 1 2/3 innings. Frandy Torres worked two innings. He gave up a run on two hits and struck out three. Dylan Thomas started the ninth, but he gave up a run on two hits before recording an out to take the loss. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 1, GCL Pirates 4 Box Score Bailey Ober was back on the mound for his second rehab start. The lanky right-hander gave up an unearned run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter in five innings. He struck out eight. Niall Windeler came on for the sixth inning and gave up two runs on three hits in the inning. Donny Breek pitched the last two innings. He gave up one run on one hit. He walked three and struck out five. Wander Valdez went 2-for-3. LaRon Smith hit his second double. Francisco Martinez provided the one run with his first homer of the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Jorge Alcala, Pensacola Blue Wahoos Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Alex Kirilloff, Pensacola Blue Wahoos PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 3-4, 3B(2), R #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured List (shoulder) #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-4 #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, 3 K #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Did Not Play #8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - All Star Break #9 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - All Star Break #12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - All Star Break #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-4 #14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - All Star Break #15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 204, 2B(5), R, RBI #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did Not Play #17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured (Tommy John) #18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K (82 pitches, 57 strikes) #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 3-4, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB(13) #20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - 0-4, 2 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester - All Star Break Pensacola @ Birmingham (7:05 CST) - TBD Daytona @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled Elizabethton - No Game Scheduled GCL Twins @ GCL Pirates (11:00 CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games or any other minor league topics you would like. Click here to view the article

I I bet Smeltzer starts on Sunday...

In the last couple of days, we have announced our choices for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month for June and Twins Relief Pitcher of the Month for June. Today, we will look at an extensive group of starting pitchers who were really good in June. The rankings were not easy at all, so be sure to add your rankings as well. As impressive as the top five were this month, there were another eight starters that received strong consideration and are listed among the honorable mentions. Previous 2019 Starting Pitchers of the Month: April - Devin Smeltzer - Pensacola Blue Wahoos May - Jordan Balazovic - Ft. Myers MiracleBefore we share our choices for the Twins Minor League Top Five Starters for June, there were some other strong starting performers that just missed the cut. You can certainly agree or disagree with the rankings. Let’s discuss the top starting pitchers in the organization in June. HONORABLE MENTION Edwar Colina - Ft. Myers Miracle - 4 G, 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 23 H, 6 BB, 17 K (.253/601)Randy Dobnak - Pensacola Blue Wahoos/Rochester Red Wings - 5 G, 3 GS, 30.2 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 31 H, 6 BB, 26 K, (267/657)Kody Funderburk - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 3 G, 3 GS, 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 11 H, 3 BB, 18 K (.220/571)Griffin Jax - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 4 G, 4 GS, 19.1 IP, 1.40 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 13 H, 3 BB, 11 K, (183/399)Sean Poppen - Rochester Red Wings - 6 G, 4 GS, 31.0 IP, 2.90 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 26 H, 12 BB, 36 K (226/686)Luis Rijo - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 3 G, 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 0.61 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 7 H, 4 BB, 12 K (149/.418)Devin Smeltzer - Rochester Red Wings - 4 G, 4 GS, 20.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 19 H, 3 BB, 30 K (250/739)Kai-Wei Teng - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 G, 3 GS, 21.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 19 H, 7 BB, 23 K (.235/.570)THE TOP FIVE STARTING PITCHERS #5 - RHP Blayne Enlow - Ft. Myers Miracle - 4 G, 3 GS, 25.1 IP, 2.13 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 18 H, 7 BB, 20 K Enlow had a couple of tough, short starts for Cedar Rapids during the season’s first month, but he has been really good since then. He was a candidate for Starting Pitcher of the Month in May, and was promoted to Ft. Myers at the end of that month. He has been even better since joining the Miracle. He has produced a quality start in all five of his Miracle starts. Enlow is blessed with a low-90s fastball that occasionally pushes to 94 and even 95. He also is known for his breaking ball and ability to spin the ball. The Twins third-round pick in 2017 continues to grow as a pitcher which is exciting as he won’t turn 21 until next March. #4 - RHP Cole Sands - Ft. Myers Miracle - 3 GS, 16.1 IP, 2.20 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 8 H, 2 BB, 19 K Sands was the Twins fifth-round pick last year after three seasons at Florida State. The Twins just shut him down and didn’t have him pitch at all after the draft. He came to spring this year and pitched well in Cedar Rapids. In his first start of the season, he tossed five hitless innings. He was promoted to the Miracle right before June. He had a short IL stint, and when he returned, he threw five no-hit innings. He has given up just two hits in 11 innings over his past two starts. Sands also works in the low 90s with good secondary pitches as you would expect from a 21-year-old coming out of a quality college baseball program. In his three June starts, opponents hit just .145 off of him with a .409 OPS. #3 - RHP Austin Schulfer - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 G, 4 GS, 21.0 IP, 2.14 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 11 H, 5 BB, 23 K Schulfer was the Twins 19th-round pick a year ago after four years at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He pitched in Elizabethton last year. This year, he began the season in the Cedar Rapids bullpen, though he usually worked multiple innings. He appeared in the April Relief Pitcher of the Month list, and then Brian Dinkelman moved him into the Kernels rotation where he has continued to pitch well. Schulfer doesn’t throw real hard, but he generally throws strikes and stays away from the middle of the plate with each of his pitches. Opponents hit just .151 with a .498 OPS against him in June. #2 - RHP Jhoan Duran - 4 G, 3 GS, 24.0 IP, 1.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 15 H, 10 BB, 31 K, Overall this season Jhoan Duran has a record of 1-7. You might think that he must not be pitching well, but that isn’t the case. He has a 3.48 ERA on the season and has 78 strikeouts in 62 innings (26 walks). He has been pretty consistent and his stuff has continued to improve. We often hear about him hitting triple-digits multiple times in his starts. Duran came to the Twins last July in the Eduardo Escobar trade from the Diamondbacks.In June, he went 1-3 with a 1.88 ERA. He gave up one run in three of his starts, and two runs in the other. Duran recently ranked #9 in our midseason Twins top prospect rankings. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Cedar Rapids Kernels - RHP Josh Winder - 5 G, 5 GS, 34.0 IP, 1.32 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 22 H, 6 BB, 28 K (190/520) At the end of May, Steve Buhr wrote an article on Josh Winder that profiled the talented right-hander drafted a year ago out of Virginia Military Academy. He talked about liking to keep his room clean and his head clear, especially on the mound. Winder was pitching well at the time, but he was tremendous in June. In 13 starts so far this season for the Kernels, Winder is 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. As you can see above, he was tremendous in five June starts. All five starts were quality starts. He had a seven-inning shutout performance early in the month at Peoria. He ended his month with eight innings of shutout baseball against Kane County. In that start, he gave up just three hits, walked none and struck out eight. Winder works with a low-90s fastball. He has a good curveball and has worked really hard to make his changeup an effective pitch. And it has become a really good pitch for him. One would think that a promotion to Ft. Myers should be in the near future for Winder. Congratulations to our Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of June, Cedar Rapids Kernels right-hander Josh Winder. Feel free to discuss and ask questions. Click here to view the article