Seth Stohs

Continue reading, and then discussing, the Twins Daily choices for 26th through 30th prospects of the Minnesota Twins below. 30. Lewin Diaz - 1B Age: 22 ETA: Late 2020 2019 Stats (High-A/AA): .303/.343/.541 (.884 OPS), 14 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 44 K, 14 BB. 2019 Preseason Ranking: NR Seth: 25 | Tom: 25 | Cody: 39 | Ted: NR | Steve: 18 Diaz was a big prospect when the Twins signed him for $1.4 million in July 2013. He was the Twins Daily short-season Minor League Hitter of the Year in 2016 when he had a strong season at Elizabethton. He was quite productive in Cedar Rapids in 2017. Last year, he struggled in the first half in Ft. Myers and his season ended with wrist surgery. He came to spring training much lighter in 2017 and lighter yet in 2018 and his hard work really paid off. He was red hot in May and selected the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month when he hit 10 home runs. He was promoted to Pensacola last week and started out hot there. 29. Devin Smeltzer - LHP Age: 23 ETA: 2019 2019 Stats (AAA/MLB): . MLB: 12.1 IP, 3.65 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 3.0 K/BB MILB: 70.0 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 6.1 K/BB 2019 Ranking: NR Seth: 31 | Tom: 31 | Cody: 21 | Ted: NR | Steve: NR When the Twins acquired Smeltzer (and Luke Raley) from the Dodgers last July for Brian Dozier, few knew much about the left-hander. And if anything, it was more about his story than his pitching. He had been moved to the bullpen by the Dodgers and pitched in that role in Chattanooga and in the Arizona Fall League. But this offseason, the decision was made for him to return to starting, and he has been terrific. He started in Pensacola where he gave up just two earned runs in 30 innings (five starts). He moved up to Rochester and started with 15 scoreless innings. He came up to the Twins and worked six shutout innings against the Brewers and made one more start. Smeltzer is a good reminder that command for pitchers is key. He tops out at about 92 but he mixes all of his pitches really well and he’s able to miss bats without issuing walks. http://traffic.libsyn.com/sethstohs/Get_To_Know_Em_Eps_4_Devin_Smeltzer_Final.mp3 28. Matt Canterino - RHP Age: 21 ETA: 2022 2019 Stats (College): 99.1 IP, 2.81 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 5.3 K/BB 2019 Ranking: NR Seth: 32 | Tom: 29 | Cody: 28 | Ted: 18 | Steve: 22 It is likely we won’t actually see Canterino pitch in 2019, and if he does, it will be with very limited innings in the low minor leagues. Just 21, he has a lot of pitching experience and innings under his belt, so I expect he will be shut down until spring. He has pitched for Rice University the last three years. He is one of just two college pitchers who has over 100 strikeouts in each of the past three seasons. He spent a summer with Team USA. He spent last summer in the Cape Cod League. He throws a fastball that sits in the 92-94 range but he can crank it up into the upper 90s. He’s got a good mid-80s slider and a spike curveball. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1135753743826395136 27. Luke Raley - OF Age: 24 ETA: 2020 2019 Stats (AAA): .302/.362/.516 (.878 OPS), 6 2B, 0 3B, 7 HR, 42 K, 7 BB. 2019 Preseason Ranking: Seth: 19 | Tom: 23 | Cody: 46 | Ted: 15 | Steve: 28 Raley has kind of always been an overlooked player. He had a really good high school career, yet he ended up going to Division II Lake Erie College. He dominated at that level but was a seventh-round pick of the Dodgers in 2016. He has put up a lot of power since then while never being considered a top prospect. We continue that trend with these rankings. When Raley’s season came to an abrupt stop with an ankle injury, he was playing well and just starting to display some big power for that Red Wings offense. He has a ton of power, and he’s also got enough speed that he played quite a bit in center field. People tout his high-energy level and willingness to work, along with his power potential. 26. Gilberto Celestino - OF ETA: 2018 Age: 20 2019 Stats (Low-A): .217/.298/.314 (.612 OPS), 11 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 51 K, 28 BB. 2019 Ranking: 16 Seth: 27 | Tom: 26 | Cody: 27 | Ted: 24 | Steve: 29 The Twins acquired Celestino, along with RHP Jorge Alcala, late last July from the Houston Astros in exchange for RHP Ryan Pressly. Celestino was a big international signing when he was a 16-year-old. He is a very good athlete. He’s not tall, but he is built strong and has really good speed. Some scouting reports indicate that he a very good defensive center fielder with a strong arm and room to continue to improve. Offensively, he works counts and is willing to take walks, though that has led to a lot of strikeouts to this point. He’s very young for the Midwest League and has not been over-matched. That's it for now. The prospect rankings will continue tomorrow. Feel free to ask questions and leave comments below. Twins Daily 2019 Midseason Prospect Rankings Prospects 36-40 Prospects 31-35 Prospects 26-30 Prospects 21-25 (Coming Soon)

Cody Allen had a few really good years in Cleveland. Many assumed that his connection with Twins CBO Derek Falvey made him a realistic offseason target for the Twins. Instead he signed with the Angels. Things did not go well for Allen in Anaheim. He was designated for assignment before being given his outright release last week. In 25 games for the Halos, he posted a 6.26 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. In just 23 innings, he had 29 strikeouts but also walked 20 batters. From 2013 to 2017 (five seasons), he never posted an ERA over 2.99. He was Cleveland's closer a couple of those years and a key late-inning reliever. He posted 145 saves for them Jon Heyman was the first to tweet the news. Dan Hayes posts an update with a good reason for the signing. "There is no timeline." The Twins don't have to push him to the big leagues to see value. "They want to get their hands on him." Derek Falvey came to the Twins with a reputation as being a pitcher guru from his days in Cleveland. Wes Johnson is being given a lot of credit for the Twins pitching successes in 2019. It will be interesting to see when Allen arrives with a Twins affiliate and which affiliate that is. How quickly will he get to Rochester? And, the strikeouts certainly indicate that there is some stuff remaining for the still-just-30-year-old. As with RHP Drew Hutchinson, who signed a minor league deal with the Twins on Friday, signing Allen to a minor league deal is a no-risk, potentially good reward deal. If he never finds his velocity and isn't good in the minors, the Twins are not obligated to call him up. If he finds his stuff again, the Twins could have added a low-cost late inning reliever for the season's final weeks.

Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS The Twins signed third-round pick Spencer Speer on Wednesday. They have also now signed Nate Hadley and Jake Hirabayashi. Keep up with the signings of their their 2019 draft picks here. The Twins optioned RHP Sean Poppen to Rochester and called up RHP Kohl Stewart. Adalberto Mejia’s rehab has been transferred from Ft. Myers to Pensacola. Pensacola announced that Alex Kirilloff has been activated from the IL. OFs Aaron Whitefield and Mark Contreras promoted from Ft. Myers to Pensacola. OF Gabriel Maciel has been promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. OF Malique Ziegler has been activated from the IL. RHP Brian Rapp activated from the Cedar Rapids IL. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Columbus 2 (Completion of Suspended Game Monday) Box Score These two teams got into the fifth inning on Wednesday night before rains came and the game was suspended. When the game started, Cody Stashak made the spot start and was very good. He gave up one run on two hits over three innings. Fernando Romero came in to start the fourth inning and got four outs, but then the rains came. When play resumed, Adam Bray made his first AAA appearance in the Twins organization and earned his first win. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk over 3 2/3 innings.He struck out two. Lefty Ian Krol made his first appearance in the Twins organization and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning. When the game resumed, the score was tied 1-1. The Red Wings run came on Brent Rooker’s ninth homer of the season. In the seventh inning, Zander Wiel knocked his 11th homer of the year, a three-run shot that proved huge. Columbus scored one but the Wings added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Jaylin Davis’s first AAA hit scored a run, and later Nick Gordon’s 12th double of the season drove in another run. Davis and LaMonte Wade each went 1-for-3 with a walk. Wade hit his eighth double. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1141768014402064384 Rochester 4, Columbus 5 (8 innings) (Regularly Scheduled Game) Box Score In the regularly-scheduled game, the Red Wings had a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Brent Rooker came up with two runners on and hit his 10th home run of the season to give them a 4-0 lead. He has now homered in three straight games. Unfortunately, the team was unable to add on and Columbus tied the game before winning it in the eighth inning. https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/1141818743015837696 Gabriel Moya was used as the opener in this game. He struck out two in one perfect inning to drop his season ERA to 7.97. Chase De Jong made the start, moving up to take Kohl Stewart’s spot in the rotation. He gave up four runs on four hits and four walks over five innings. The problem was that three of the four hits he allowed were home runs. Preston Guilmet pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but he gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning (meaning the runner that starts the inning at second base) and falls to 0-6 on the season. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 4, Jacksonville 3 Box Score The Blue Wahoos offense didn’t do a lot overall on Thursday night, but they did a lot in the fifth inning and it was enough to carry them to a 4-3 win. Brian Navarreto got things going with his third home run. Travis Blankenhorn came up next and knocked his 12th Pensacola home run. Following an Alex Kirilloff walk, Ben Rortvedt hit a two-run homer. Rortvedt now has four homers since moving up to Double-A. Rortvedt and Blankenhorn each had two hits. Lewin Diaz went 2-for-4 with a double in his first Double-A game. Adalberto Mejia worked the first inning. He gave up one hit, but he struck out two in an uneventful inning. Lefty Bryan Sammons came in and struck out eight batters over the next six innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Jeff Ames worked a scoreless eighth inning. Sam Clay picked up his sixth save despite giving up a single run in the bottom of the ninth. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 8 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle certainly had opportunities to close out a win in this one, but were unable to do so. They had leads going into the bottom of the ninth, the bottom of the tenth and the bottom of the 11th. Blayne Enlow put together another quality start for the Miracle. The right-hander gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out six batters. Derek Molina made his first appearance for the Miracle and worked a scoreless eighth inning. Royce Lewis put the Miracle on the scoreboard in the third inning with a three-run home run, his fifth homer of the season and his third in two days. He had a single and a walk, as well, and stole his 12th base. Jose Miranda had a couple of big hits as well. He had a two-run double, his 14th, and an RBI single in extra innings. David Banuelos and Ernie De La Trinidad each had two hits. In his first Miracle game, Gabriel Maciel had a single and a walk and was hit by a pitch. https://twitter.com/paxton/status/1141876984794025984 The Miracle went into the bottom of the ninth inning with a two-run lead. Johan Quezada came on and struggled with his control. He gave up two runs in that inning which tied the score. He then gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the tenth (the runner that started at second base scored. Then in the 11th inning, Calvin Faucher came on. He was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits to take the loss. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 4 Box Score Lefty Kody Funderburk was back on the mound for the Kernels and was really strong. In four innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He struck out seven without issuing a walk. Tyler Palm came on and gave up one run on two hits over the next 2 1/3 innings. Carlos Suniaga got the final five outs but not before giving up two runs (one earned). Ricky De La Torre led the offense with three hits in the game. He hit his first two doubles since joining the Kernels right before their All-Star break. Yeltsin Encarnacion went 2-for-3 with a walk. Jacob Pearson went 2-for-4. E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 13, Bluefield 4 Box Score It’s always fun to follow the Firsts when the Elizabethton season starts. On Thursday night, Ben Gross (10th round, Duke) made his first professional start. He gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out two. Denny Bentley came in and struck out five batters over the next three innings. No runs on just one hit for him. Dylan Thomas (13th round, Hawaii) came on for the final two innings for his pro debut. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three. We saw the first professional hits for Matt Wallner (Comp A, Southern Mississippi), Seth Gray (5th round, Wright State) and Alex Isola (29th, TCU). Gray went 3-for-5. Isola went 2-for-4. Tyler Jensen (24th, Tulane) had his first hit on Wednesday, and on this night he went 1-for-3 with a walk. Tyler Webb had two doubles and drove in three runs. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Bryan Sammons, Pensacola Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricky De La Torre, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, HR(5), 3 RBI, 2 R, SB(12), K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-3, BB, R, 2K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured List (shoulder) #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2K #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, 2R, RBI, HR(9), 2K), Game 2 (1-3, BB, HR(10), 2R, 3 RBI) #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP, (87 pitches, 64 strikes) #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List (Tommy John surgery) #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, 2B(12), RBI, SB(7), 2K), Game 2 (1-4, R, SB(8), K) #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List (elbow) #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play. #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 2-3, BB, HR(4), R, 2 RBI #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (thumb) #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 3 BB #17 - Zack Littell (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Game 1 (1-3, BB, R, K), Game 2 (0-2, 2BB, R) #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, 2B(14), 3 RBI FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (DH @ 5:05 CST) - TBD Pensacola @ Jacksonville (6:55 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (2-0, 1.67 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (1-4, 3.05 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games or any other minor league topics you would like.