Seth Stohs

Eddie Rosario put himself in the Twins record books again and gave the Twins a nice boost with a first inning home run, but the bats then went silent and the bullpen was unable to stop the bleeding. The Twins got a big win in the series’ first game, and the Astros got the big win in the second game. On Wednesday night, the team’s will face off one more time.Box Score SP: Michael Pineda: 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 65.5% strikes Home Runs: Eddie Rosario (10) Multi-Hit Games: Jonathan Schoop (2-4) WPA of +0.1: Eddie Rosario (0.189), Max Kepler (0.147) WPA of -0.1: Michael Pineda (-0.309), Trevor Hildenberger (-0.213), Jorge Polanco (-0.117) (chart via FanGraphs) For the second straight night, the Minnesota Twins jumped out to a fast start in Houston. Leadoff hitter Mitch Garver got on with an infield single. One out later, Nelson Cruz reached. Eddie Rosario went opposite field to give the Twins a 3-0 lead just four batters into the game. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Three Games Wednesday - 7:10 @ Houston - Kohl Stewart (1st start of season) vs Justin Verlander (3-0, 3.00 ERA) Thursday - Twins Day Off Friday - 7:10 Home vs Baltimore - Jose Berrios (3-1, 2.97 ERA) vs Dan Straily (1-1, 8.59 ERA) Saturday - 1:10 Home vs Baltimore - Martin Perez (2-0, 5.31 ERA) vs Alex Cobb (0-1, 11.88 ERA) Last Game MIN 9, HOU 5: Bats Thrive, Bullpen Survives Click here to view the article

Poppen throws 94-96 so I think that's pretty good. But I agree that he''s not an option. Not on the 40-man. No reason to push him straight from AA.

Hamstring. I included that in the Prospect information last night.

Yeah, I'd go with Stewart on his regular rest. Also, he pitched well in Houston last year in one outing. It''s home for him. Most important it's his regular day so you aren't pushing Littell up. The other option could be to go bullpen game tonight and have Thorpe go on an extra day rest but I don't 'think that makes a lot of sense either. Most likely, they have already made that decision for travel purposes.

It was 7 errors in 7 games, so he's improving...

Yeah it's likely a spot start, so you wouldn't want to make a 40-man roster decision unless you absolutely had to.

I dont' think they'd go with a bullpen game. I think they would call up someone.

According to the pitching matchups for today, he is scheduled to start for the Blue Wahoos today. Sounded initially like he was OK too, so I think he's pretty lucky.

It was a good night for teams throughout the Twins' minor league system. There wasn’t a loss to be found among the Twins affiliates. One starting pitcher’s impressive streak continues. One starter had one rough inning but was solid other than that. One prospect was just shy of hitting for the cycle. And one affiliate was rained out.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day Be sure to check out Steve Buhr’s articleon Kernels’ pitching coach and “Dragon” Leader Virgil Vasquez and his encouragement of strikeouts by his pitchers. TRANSACTIONS LHP Gabriel Moya’s MLB rehab was transferred from Pensacola to Rochester.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 8, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 6 Box Score The Red Wings fell behind 6-0, but they scored five in the fifth inning and then single runs in each of their final innings to take the 8-6 win. In the fifth inning, the Red Wings got a two-run double from Randy Cesar. He scored when Wilin Rosario switched places with him with a double of his own. Zander Wiel knocked in a run with a single before Tomas Telis hit a sacrifice fly. Cesar led the offense. He went 3-for-5 with his seventh and eighth doubles and four RBI. Wilin Rosario went 2-for-5 and his double was his first of the season. Wiel had the RBI single to go with two walks. John Andreoli went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base. Luke Raley went 1-for-3 but was twice hit by a pitch. Justin Nicolino started for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out four. Ryan Eades worked the next three innings and gave up two run (one earned) on one hit and a walk. He struck out two. Matt Magill continued his rehab and worked two perfect innings, with four strikeouts. In his four appearances now, he has given up zero runs in five innings. He has allowed one hit, walked one and struck out eight. The Red Wings infield had four more errors in this game. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 7, Mobile Box Score Brusdar Graterol came into this game having giving up only one earned run in 17 innings this season. He threw five innings on Monday night and put a zero on the board in four of them. However, in the fourth inning, he lost a bit of control and gave up four runs. On the game, he gave up those four runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out six batters. Graterol was replaced by Sam Clay. Clay gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs, over his two innings. Ryan Mason came on and recorded his third save. He gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. He struck out three batters including the game’s final out. Brian Schales had a really nice night at the plate. He had a single, his fourth double and his first triple of the season. Schales came to the Twins in November from Miami in exchange for Nick Anderson. Luis Arraez went 2-for-4 with a walk. Caleb Hamilton was 2-for-3 with a walk and his fourth double. Tanner English was also 2-for-4 MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Bradenton 1 Box Score To say the Miracle have received pretty solid starts most games would be a bit of an understatement. On this night, Randy Dobnak made his third start of the year. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up five hits, but no walks, and struck out two batters. He now has 16 scoreless innings to start the season. But he isn’t the only Miracle starter with that same ERA. Bailey Ober has started the season with 18 innings and a 0.00 ERA. Their Opening Day starter, Bryan Sammons, will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday. He has started with a 0.00 ERA in 15 innings. Hector Lujan came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk over the next two innings. He struck out three. Johan Quezada recorded his first save of the season with a perfect ninth inning. He struck out one batter. The hitters provided two runs in the third and two more in the fourth inning. Royce Lewis had singles in his first two at-bats. He scored on Jose Miranda’s third double of the season. Ben Rortvedt added his fourth double of the season. Aaron Whitefield walked twice and stole his sixth base of the season, leading the organization. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Wisconsin Box Score The game in Wisconsin was postponed by rain. The teams will play two games on Tuesday, starting at 12:05. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Randy Dobnak, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brian Schales, Pensacola Blue Wahoos PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, R, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (81 pitches, 48 strikes) #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - No Game #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Out of Lineup (hamstring) #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, R, 2B(4) #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - Rained Out. #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-4, BB, K #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, 2B(3), RBI, 2K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - TBD Mobile @ Pensacola (6:35 CST) - LHP Devin Smeltzer (2-0, 0.50 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (2-0, 0.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (12:05 CST) - RHP Andrew Cabezas (0-1, 6.00 ERA), RHP Luis Rijo (0-2, 4.35 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

The front office never said anything (related to a Kirilloff timeline). Actually they may have said something about him returning by May, which I thought was really conservative.

I don't know if I ever said "a few days" but I was told it was more for precautionary reason. MRI and x-rays were clear... I'm surprised it's taken this long.

He had a big, long hitting streak last year. But signed young, he because a free agent young. Nice pickup by the Twins... though might be the worst defensive player that I have seen (admittedly early-season small sample).

I saw the headline about Rosario and then looked over at the pictures and thought "That's not Rosario." But Cruz was pretty good too. Berrios clearly didn't have his best stuff on Saturday, but just well enough. Game 2 was just fun for everyone.

I don't know if Trey will play in the big leagues. I don't know how he'll do in the coming weeks much less in Ft. Myers or throughout the various steps along that journey. But as Linklete tweeted out yesterday, Success (and player development) are not linear. And it''s not like he's 25 in the Midwest League... Note also Nick Anderson was 25 and in the Midwest League in 2015... https://twitter.com/linklete47/status/1118500756754243584

Duran left the game having given up just one run... but there were two runners on base that Melvi Acosta allowed to score. This was a rough one for Acosta. The two inherited runners scored and then four more that same innings including a big home run off the bat of a rehabbing Todd Frazier.

I agree with this. If Ober can stay healthy, he has huge potential. Also Sammons has four pitches that qualify as at least average. That's a good thing.

The only "1st Bowman Card" is Costello. I like Costello, but I would want another 4-5 1st Bowman Card guys!

He's looked really, really good... Secondary stuff has looked very improved... through three starts.

I hadn't heard anything until Sunday when Jeremy Zoll said that Kirilloff and Javier are both very close. That's not detailed, but it's what we've got.

There are still pitch count limits in the minors after 3 starts. They're going to be cautious with these guys.

Yup, and as I've written many times, Gonsalves was OK with the plan and enjoyed going back to the level where he had made 10-12 starts the year before to allow him to work on the things he worked on in the offseason to help him get prepared for the next level. Do you think Gonsalves would have been MORE prepared for the big leagues if he had been up at 21 rather than 23-24? Whether or not he makes it has nothing to do with the age he came up. 24 isn't very old.

The Miracle didn’t quite reach their 12-run total from Sunday, but on Monday they did score seven runs. They also got another strong starter who is beginning this season with a great streak. Pensacola’s Opening Day starter was terrific again, and the Blue Wahoos game ended with a back flip, so that’s always good.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day TRANSACTIONS Rochester announced on Monday that Wynston Sawyer was going on the injured list.Cedar Rapids announced that OF Gabriel Maciel was activated from the IL while OF Jean Carlos Arias was sent back to extended spring training.AWARDS Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article