Seth Stohs

Article updated as I was given the OK to mention Tyler Wells surgery. Lachlan Wells should be back this year sometime... LeBlanc, maybe...

On Saturday morning, the Kernels made official what we started hearing rumblings of on Friday night. Wander Javier was set to join the Kernels. The immensely talented shortstop will make his 2019 debut on Saturday night, and play in his first official game since 2017. He missed 2018 with a non-throwing shoulder injury, and he hurt his quad in a big league spring training game. However, on Saturday, the Twins announced some major injuries in the Twins minor leagues, and frankly, that has been an unfortunately large story so far this season.Let's get right to the bad news. The Twins announced the following: Brusdar Graterol is going on the IL for Pensacola with a shoulder impingement. While the Twins said that they are bringing many minor leaguers in to Target Field for evaluation - which is 100% true - Graterol was brought in this week to have his shoulder evaluated. A shoulder impingement is not a serious injury in and of itself, but if not diagnosed and treated, it could become worse. Stephen Gonsalves is going back on the IL for Rochester with a left elbow stress reaction. Gonsalves felt a little elbow soreness in spring training and the team decided to be cautious with it. He slowly worked his way up to being able to return to the Red Wings rotation. Last week, he made his first start of the season, but he struggled and left after two innings. A stress reaction in and of itself isn't terrible news, but it will require rest. Obviously the hope is to avoid Tommy John surgery. Akil Baddoo, the talented Miracle outfielder, will miss the remainder of the season with Tommy John surgery. Baddoo went on the IL about ten days ago with the elbow pain. It was further evaluated and the UCL was torn, so Tommy John it is. As a position player, the hope is that he will be ready for spring training in 2020. He will be having the surgery about two months later than Alex Kirilloff had it in 2017. Kirilloff was full go around Thanksgiving. Another outfielder, Rochester's Luke Raley, is going to have ankle surgery. Raley went on the IL a week ago. It is unfortunate because he was playing well and playing hard and really making an impression on those around the Red Wings. It has been a tough season for top prospects and injuries. Royce Lewis went to big league spring training, but he was unable to play for most of camp because of an oblique injury. He was ready by Opening Day and hasn't missed time in the season. Alex Kirilloff, coming off of an incredible 2018 season, hurt his wrist late in spring training and missed about a month at the beginning of the season. Nick Gordon began the season on the IL with a stomach issue. He returned a month later, but after playing really well for a week, he went back on the Injured List for seven more days with a strained adductor. He has returned again and continues to hit. Brent Rooker missed about a week early in the season with a hamstring injury. He is currently on the IL with a wrist injury. Just a handful of games into the Kernels season, Yunior Severino fractured his thumb and tore some tendons as well. Righty Bailey Ober was runner-up for our Starting Pitcher of the Month for April and then went on the IL with another elbow issue. The Twins Daily choice for Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2018, Tyler Wells, has been out all season with an elbow injury. He will be having Tommy John surgery on May 29. DaShawn Keirsey, the Twins 4th-round pick last June, has had a couple of IL appearances already this season. This article isn't to place blame. It's just another reminder that player development isn't linear. Injuries are a factor and they don't have prejudice. They will find highly-ranked prospects or lesser-known prospects. They can bite a pitcher or a hitter at any time. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, though I don't pretend to know a lot of the details behind many of these. Click here to view the article

I have no idea what he'll be... maybe... maybe not. I expect he'll play in the FSL All Star game and then move up to AA.

Alcala (or any starter) will get the opportunity to work in and out of more situations as a starter than as a reliever. Looks like Littell may now be in the Twins bullpen and maybe that'll be his role going forward. Most of the best relief pitchers in the big leagues were starters in the minors and learned the bullpen out of necessity in the big leagues. My personal opinion - and I'm not saying it's right or the only way - would be to keep guys starting as long as possible until they get to the big leagues and can be eased in.

Hmmm... it is legal to express and even be concerned at this point, if you want. Personally, I won't start worrying about the future of Royce Lewis for a couple of years...

Doogie also reported that Dobnak is going to make his first start for the Red Wings on Saturday as well.

Thorpe, Enlow and Rooker won't be moving out of Top 20s anytime soon (I don't think). The others were borderline Top 20 this year already so they were always potentially going to be moving based even on other guys outside of the Top 20. Balazovic iss clearly top 10 now. Smeltzer, Jax and Diaz have certainly put themselves into Top 20 consideration.

He's such a great athlete, that I always believed he would figure it out. I think some of it is getting out of the Florida State League. But when I asked about that, I was told that in Pensacola, with the Gulf winds coming in from right field, you really have to get a hold of one,, and a few of his homers since moving up there have just shot right through the wind. Good speed. Great power... He'll have his ups and downs, but it's always been clear that the organization really likes his potential.

Good athlete. Very strong. Big power potential. Good speed. Swing-and-miss... but played at Fresno State. He's a college guy, drafted in 2017 and still started this season in Extended, but everyone develops as they are ready. He may just be a late-bloomer.

It was a busy day throughout the Twins organization. The Twins powered past the Angels to complete a sweep. Pensacola got a big win. Ft Myers got a great start and the offense showed up in the ninth inning to take a nice win. Cedar Rapids has received power from a new, maybe unexpected source and got a late-inning clutch hit to win.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS Pensacola placed LHP Jovani Moran on the seven-day injured list and activated RHP Andro Cutura.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Buffalo 4 Box Score The Red Wings were supposed to play a morning game on Thursday. Weather delayed the start, making it an afternoon game. Lefty Devin Smeltzer was on the mound for the Red Wings. He went the first five innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits. He uncharacteristically walked four batters and struck out three. Jake Reed came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Gabriel Moya worked the ninth. He gave up two runs on two hits and three walks to take the loss. Wilin Rosario led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run. He drove in all three Red Wings runs. Jordany Valdespin went 2-for-4 and stole a base. Zander Wiel was 1-for-3 with a walk and his eighth double. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 10, Tennessee 5 Box Score The Blue Wahoos had an offense explosion in this one, which was needed after a short start. Sean Poppen started and needed 32 pitches to get through the first inning. He gave up three runs on five hits and a hit batter. Williams Ramirez came on to start the second. He went 2 2/3 inning and gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out three. Tyler Jay went the next 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two unearned runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out three. Ryan Mason came on and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. Cody Stashak pitched a scoreless ninth. Jaylin Davis went 3-for-5 with his fifth home run. Travis Blankenhorn went 3-for-5 with his fourth double. Alex Kirilloff went 2-or-4 with a walk and his fifth double. Taylor Grzelakowski was 2-for-4 with a walk and his seventh double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Daytona 0 Box Score Charlie Barnes put in the best start of the season. The southpaw from Clemson needed just 87 pitches to throw eight shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out five. However, after Barnes walked off the mound after the bottom of the eighth inning, the Miracle started the ninth with some good patience. Trey Cabbage walked. Royce Lewis walked. Michael Helman walked to load the bases. Jose Miranda didn’t walk. He grounded out to second base, hitting it in the right spot to allow the first run of the game to score and the other runners to move up a base. That was important because Lewin Diaz followed with a ground-rule double to score two more runs. Anthony Vizcaya came on for the ninth and struck out two in a perfect inning to record the save, his sixth of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 1 Box Score Jared Akins was the Twins 13th round draft pick in 2017 out of Fresno State. He was called up to the Kernels about ten days ago. He went 3-for-4 in this game and hit his fourth homer in nine games. Blayne Enlow made the start for the Kernels. He went the first five innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out five. He was replaced by Moises Gomez who struck out four over two scoreless innings. Derek Molina got the final six outs to record the save. In the seventh inning, Estamy Urena singled in Andrew Bechtold with what proved to be the winning run. Bechtold and Jacob Pearson each walked twice in the game. Yeltsin Encarnacion went 2-for-4. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Charlie Barnes, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jared Akins, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB, R, 2 K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 2-4, BB, 2B(5), RBI #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch. #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - .0-3, BB, 2 K #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured (quad), return...unknown #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured (wrist) #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K (92 pitches, 56 strikes) #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Did Not Play #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, K #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did Not Play #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-4, K (threw out a runner at home, as well) #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, RBI. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (DH @ 4:05 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (3-2, 6.70 ERA) Pensacola @ Tennessee (6:00 CST) - RHP - RHP Jorge Alcala (5-1, 4.09 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) - LHP Tyler Watson (1-4, 4.66 ERA) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Palm (1-3, 4.44 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday’s games. Click here to view the article

They pretty much know what they have ,but bringing them to Target Field is kind of a neat treat for them... A chance to pitch and just be in that environment is exciting.

Twins have announced that they are bringing minor leaguers to Target Field throughout the season for evaluation... https://twitter.com/betsyhelfand/status/1131643599303503872https://twitter.com/betsyhelfand/status/1131643599303503872 I've talked to a couple of other players who were at Target Field yesterday. Said they were throwing in front of the team's front office. Exciting, but it doesn't appear that he is being called up at this time.

Misael Urbina will play in the DSL. Or, at least, he's not at Extended Spring Training. It's possible he starts playing in the DSL but then comes north when the GCL season starts. That has happened. Anthony Escobar is in Extended Spring Training.

The 2019 Twins Prospect Handbook price has been lowered. The e-book - now available for $5.99... for over 160 prospect profiles plus stories on our 2018 Twins Daily Award winners, plus rankings plus a whole bunch more. The print book - now available for $9.99 (plus there is now a promo code for 10% off print books.

It was a great pick for the 22nd round... and, every reliever in history (with maybe 2-3 exceptions) has had a streak like this... He'll work through it and hopefully figure it out. Happens all the time. No need to be giving up on him yet.

Here is the tweet from when the beat writers asked about Javier last night.

Well, the day before, he was promoted four levels from Extended Spring Training to AAA Rochester. With Nick Gordon activated today, they knew they only needed a very tentative change, so it makes more sense to do that then to alter the other affiliates.

The Twins acquired LHP Devin Smeltzer from the Dodgers last July, with Luke Raley and Logan Forsythe, in exchange for Brian Dozier. The trade looks good at this point. Luke Raley has been raking in Rochester. Smeltzer returned to his role as a starter and has been lights in in five Double-A games and now three games for the Red Wings. He also has a great story to tell and a great cause that he is trying to help. In this 23 minute podcast, you can Get to Know Devin Smeltzer.Podcast link here (or direct download below). Devin Smeltzer will be 23-years-old throughout the 2019 season. He's been through a lot in his baseball career. Drafted out of high school, he went to Florida Gulf Coast University before transferring to a junior college so he could get drafted a year sooner. The Dodgers drafted him in the 5th round in 2016 and last July they traded him to the Twins. He had been moved to the bullpen by the Dodgers and pitched in that role for the Twins over the final month of the 2018 season. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League. And over the offseason, it was determined that he would get another shot as a starting pitcher. He has taken advantage of that opportunity. In five starts in Pensacola, he posted a 0.60 ERA (2 ER in 30 IP), with just three walks to go with 33 strikeouts. He was promoted to AAA Rochester where he went 15 innings over his first two starts without giving up an earned run. When he gave up four runs in his start on Friday night, it tripled his season earned run total (from two to six). But Smeltzer has been through a lot off the field too. When he was nine years old, he was diagnosed with pelvic rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer. After surgery and chemotherapy, Smeltzer has been in full remission since 2012. And now he is giving back, and you can help. Recently, he announced that proceeds from his Catch Cancer Looking t-shirts will go to Katie's Krusaders. The organization is something that Smeltzer is very close to because he was helped by them. They provide funds to help defray some of the costs for families of childhood cancers that are not covered by insurance or other needs. Please listen to the 23-minute podcast. We talk mostly about baseball but to hear Devin Smeltzer explain why this organization and bringing awareness to childhood cancer is so important to him. (Subscribe to the Get To Know 'Em podcast on iTunes here.) Topics in the podcast include: Growing up a Phillies fan.Getting traded from the Dodgers to the TwinsHis transition to the bullpen.The decision for him to move back into a starting roleWhat has helped him to be so successful on the mound in 2019.Similarities between him and an All Star starting pitcher.What pitches he throws, and what is his best pitch.Moving up to the Red Wings.Catch Cancer Looking t-shirtsKatie's KrusadersBeing just one step away from the big leagues. Click here to view the article

The Red Wings had the day off and announced that one of the Twins top pitching prospects will be making his first start of the season on Tuesday. The Blue Wahoos got another solid start and some key hits. A Miracle slugger continued to blast baseballs, though rain suspended their game in the fourth inning. Cedar Rapids had a well-played game with some strong pitching after getting an early lead.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS While not officially making the transaction (that will come on Tuesday), Rochester announced that LHP Stephen Gonsalves will make the start for the Red Wings on Tuesday.After his one game for the Red Wings, infielder Victor Tademo was sent back to extended spring training.RHP Griffin Jax was placed on the injured list for Pensacola, and RHP Williams Ramirez was activated.1B Gabe Snyder was activated from Cedar Rapids’ temporary inactive list with 1B Albee Weiss sent back to EST.RED WINGS REPORTRochester Box Score Stephen Gonsalves will make his first start of the season on Tuesday for the Red Wings. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 4, Mobile 2 Box Score The Blue Wahoos got some nice pitching and some big hits and pulled out a 4-2 win. Randy Dobnak started and threw the first five innings. He gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out seven without walking a batter. Tyler Jay got the win. He threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Williams Ramirez, fresh off the IL, struck out three batters in 1 2/3 innings of work. Cody Stashak came on for the ninth and recorded his fourth save. He gave up one hit, but he struck out two batters. Mitchell Kranson got Pensacola on the board first. He singled in Travis Blankenhorn in the first inning. Mobile got on the board with a solo homer in the top of the second inning, but Ernie De La Trinidad responded in the bottom of the inning with his second of the season to reclaim the lead. In the fourth inning, another solo homer off of Dobnak tied the score at two. In the sixth inning, Joe Cronin gave the team a lead with an RBI single. It was followed directly by another RBI single from De La Trinidad. Cronin and De La Trinidad were each 2-for-3. Kranson went 2-for-4. MIRACLE MATTERS (Game suspended in 4th inning) Ft. Myers, Bradenton Box Score This game was suspended in the fourth inning with the Miracle down 3-1. Much more will be written about this game when it concludes on Tuesday morning as part of a doubleheader. Here are two or three quick notes: First, Jhoan Duran started and gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. When the game was suspended, there were still two runners on base. Second, Lewin Diaz stayed hot. He hit a first-inning home run, his eighth of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Burlington 0 Box Score The Kernels scored four runs in the first inning. Gilberto Celestino doubled in a run then scored on a Gabe Snyder single. Gabriel Maciel then drove in two more runs with another single. Celestino drove in another run with a single in the second inning. Luis Rijo was the beneficiary of the early offense and did a nice job of holding that lead. Rijo, who came to the Twins from the Yankees in the Lance Lynn deal, threw five scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out six. Moises Gomez and Carlos Suniaga each threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. They both struck out four batters. Yeltsin Encarnacion went 2-for-5 in the game. He had an RBI triple in the eighth inning to round out the Kernels scoring. Celestino went 2-for-4 with a walk and his fifth double. Gabriel Maciel went 2-for-3 with a walk. 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 – Ernie De La Trinidad, Pensacola Blue Wahoos PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - Game Suspended in 4th. #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-4, 2 K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch. #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - Game Suspended in 4th. #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured (quad), return...unknown #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured (wrist) #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Game Suspended in 4th (his line incomplete, will update tomorrow) #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - No Game Scheduled #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch. #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List (adductor) #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - making first start on Tuesday #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 0-3, BB, R #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB, 2B(5), R, 2 RBI, 2 K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - No Game Scheduled #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - No Game Scheduled #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves (season debut) Pensacola - No Game Scheduled. Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 10:00 a.m. CST) - RHP Edwar Colina (1-1, 5.91 ERA) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Andrew Cabezas (1-3, 3.31 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

I agree with this timeline. Also, if he's on the roster before September 1st, he can pitch in October. So I think that is a realistic timeline. I think that timeline could happen as early as mid-June. I personally kind of expect him to be up at some point. But I do think they still envision him long-term as a starter so they are going to want to get his innings up a bit before they bring him up as a reliever.

And as I keep saying... if the Red Sox have zero interest in him, that's all I need to know. And, while they may not be Kimbrel, guys like Morin, Harper, Adams, and Addison Reed remind us that high priced relievers don't have to be the answer.