Seth Stohs

We have some answers: Rochester announced that Nick Gordon has been activated from the DL. Also, Devin Smeltzer has been promoted to the Red Wings and will start on Friday.

I'm giving this one it's own comment ,rather than lump it in with my pitching ramblings: Alex Kirilloff is in Pensacola. So, I don't' know if he will play today or tomorrow, but I can say that his timeline is quite close.

A couple of other transactions occurred that aren't mentioned in the article. 1.) The Twins/Red Wings released Justin Nicolino. 2.) Randy Dobnak was promoted from Ft. Myers to Pensacola. Those are interesting to me for a couple of reasons: a.) Who takes Nicolino's spot in the Red Wings rotation? Gonsalves isn't going to be back until later in the month. Is someone moving up to Rochester from Pensacola? Whose spot is Dobnak taking? Then with Dobnak moving up and Ober on the IL, who makes starts for Ft. Myers? Does someone like Balazovic move up to the Miracle already? c) I believe Tyler Wells isn't quite ready but they could have him make a couple of starts with the Miracle before heading up to Pensacola. But I don't think he's there yet.

To be honest, I try hard NOT to factor age into the monthly award rankings. Obviously that factors into prospect rankings but these rankings should be about hitting performance. I do look at BB/K as one of the factors... probably why J Davis wasn't in there despite the good batting average. Schales. It would have been a positive for Chris Williams.

The beauty of the small sample size, right?

That''s a very fair question... One thing I always struggle with is how to account for playing time. Specifically, how do you compare catchers to players at other positions. Naturally, catchers are going to play less due to the demands of the position. I really wanted to jump up to a Top 6 ,and probably should have. Snyder began the season in EST so he has less plate appearances than Hamilton (by about 20, again, in a month, that''s a small number, but that's potentially 5-6 games. But Hamilton had the power numbers to go with a decent average and great catching. Williams and Snyder were good. They''re kind of platooning at 1B for the Kernels and Williams is getting some time behind the plate. Now that Cabbage has moved up, those two should see a little more time still, as will Ben Rodriguez. I don't want it just to be about counting down OPS. I don't want it to just be about any one stat, so I try and I probably put too much time trying to think about it... and then I come up with it. Ha!! Also, I will now add the positions to the Honorable Mentions too. That's a good point.

A couple more of Steve's Sano photos from last night. As others have said, Sano will never be skinny, but he is in good shape. Hopefully that continues. https://twitter.com/JimCrikket/status/1123395154105253888

Yes. Sammons threw 38 pitches in the first inning last night. The one "at-bat" Sano got last night was a Major-League popup!!! https://twitter.com/JimCrikket/status/1123384818623033344

90-94.

As Minnesota is experiencing another cold stretch, it’s hard to believe that April is complete. The good news is that it is time to highlight some of the top minor league performers during the month of April. We will get to the pitchers over the next couple of days, but today we start with the top hitters for the month.Let’s take a look at the Top 4 hitters for the month of April, but first here are some players deserving of honorable mention. HONORABLE MENTION 1B Gabe Snyder - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 17-52, .327/400/.558 (.958) with three doubles, three triples and a home run.1B/C Chris Williams - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 13-51, .285/.406/.529 (.936) with two doubles, four homers and 10 RBI.3B Brian Schales - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 14-58, .241/.405/.500 (.905) with four doubles, a triple, three homers and 13 RBI.C Tomas Telis - Rochester Red Wings - .15-53, .283/.328/.528 (.856) with four doubles, three homers and seven RBI.OF Jaylin Davis - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 22-70, .314/.342/.500 (.842) with four doubles, three homers and nine RBI.C Ben Rortvedt - Ft. Myers Miracle - 15-60, .250/.375/.467 (.842) with five doubles, one triple, two homers and nine RBI.2B/3B Luis Arraez - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 30-95, .316/.404/.358 (.762) with two doubles, a triple and seven RBI.THE TOP FOUR HITTERS Number 4 – Pensacola Blue Wahoos - C/IF Caleb Hamilton - .283/.403/.500 (.903). 17-60 with five doubles, one triple, two home runs and nine RBI. Hamilton was the Twins 23rd round pick in 2016 out of Oregon State. Following that season, He had been an infielder in college, but following his pro debut, the Twins moved him behind the plate. He has become a trusted catcher in the organization. He has greatly improved his game calling, blocking and is a good pitch receiver. He got off to a strong start in his Double-A debut month, enough that he has received additional at-bats playing at first base and third base. Hamilton is strong and compact. He has a strong arm, and he has some power. Number 3 - Rochester Red Wings – 3B Randy Cesar - .316/.366/.566 (.932), 24-76 with 10 doubles, three homers and 18 RBI. Cesar signed a minor league contract with the Twins this spring after pending seven seasons in the Houston Astros organization. He gained some notoriety last year when he had a 42-game hitting streak. At 6-4 and 240 pounds, Cesar has a lot of power potential, though he has never hit more than the ten homers he hit last year at AA Corpus Christi. The 24-year-old is off to a fast start with the Red Wings, hitting for average and power. This is an award for hitting, so there’s really no need to mention that he has eight errors in 12 games at third base already this year. Number 2 - Rochester Red Wings – 1B Zander Wiel - .253/.313/.600 (.913), 19-75 with four doubles, two triples, six homers and 14 RBI. Wiel came to the Twins as their 12th-round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt. He has moved up one level each year, though he ended 2018 with a handful of games with the Red Wings. While Wiel has spent time the last couple of seasons, and in spring training, in left field, he played exclusively at first base. Wiel strikes out a fair share of the time, but he has always been an extra-base hitting machine. The 26-year-old ended the month strong with multi-hit games in three of the month’s last four games. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle – OF Trey Cabbage - .300/.395/.600 (.995), 21-70 with one double, one triple and six homers and 16 RBI. Trey Cabbage was the Twins fourth-round pick in 2015 out of high school in Tennessee. He spent that summer in the GCL. In 2016, he played at Elizabethton. That’s where he started 2017 as well before playing the final two months in Cedar Rapids. That’s where he spent all of 2018 as well. Cabbage was likely a bit disappointed to learn that he would start 2019 with the Kernels, but he handled it just as you would hope. Instead of worrying about things like results and promotions, he trusted the process. On the field, he got off to a fast start and carried it through the month. In fact, his final game of April came for the Ft. Myers Miracle. For the month, the powerful first baseman/outfielder led the Twins minor leagues in OPS, slugging percentage and home runs. Still just 21 years old for a couple more days, Cabbage should have an opportunity for playing time with the Miracle. While he has played mostly right field this year, he can play left field, first base and possibly third base. We would like to congratulate Trey Cabbage, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for April 2019. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. Click here to view the article

I don't' think the oblique injury is affecting him. He missed like 3 weeks of spring training though. That could factor into a slow start. With an oblique injury he wouldn't be able to swing the way he does without feeling it if there was something wrong. I think he's just off to a slow start in a pitcher's league.

Senzel just started playing, but he is definitely a candidate, and probably will be called up in a month or less. Rodgers is a good candidate. Oh, and if anyone gets to Cedar Rapids the next few days, Wander Franco will be playing there... Saw him in Ft. Myers at spring training. He's got a pretty sweet swing.

Nah... Thorpe gave up the double, but then the single was deflected off of Cesar's glove. Probably means it was inches from being a potential double play. Then he got a strikeout, but then the walk... I've only seen Jax throw a couple of bullpens and then watched him a few innings in milb.tv. So I'm not too sure either... but the Scott Baker comp seems fair... Moya will probably be fine. He wasn't going to make the big league roster out of spring training, so once he made a couple of rehab appearances, he was just optioned. Probably nothing to worry about with him. Just a bad game.

Monday was a much-needed day off for a couple of the Twins affiliates, but Red Wings and Blue Wahoos played. One game was a pitcher’s duel. The other provided a bit more offense. More strong pitching and a few big home runs. And Miguel Sano (and possibly others?) will begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday with the Miracle.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day TRANSACTIONS LHP Daniel Camarena was released by the Twins (Blue Wahoos roster). Camarena is another pitcher from Cathedral Catholic in San Diego, the same high school as Twins pitchers Stephen Gonsalves and Alex Schick as well as Cleveland minor leaguer Brady Aiken.AWARDS International League Pitcher of the Week - Rochester LHP Lewis ThorpeThe Twins named Thorpe the organization’s minor league pitcher of the week on Sunday. On Monday, the International League named Thorpe their pitcher of the week. Ronald Torreyes went 2-for-4 with his third home run, three runs scored and three RBIs. Luke Raley went 2-for-5 with his fourth homer and three RBIs. Zander Wiel was 2-for-5 with his fourth double. John Andreoli was 1-for-3 with two walks. LaMonte Wade went 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs. Drew Maggi had a walk and a triple. Thorpe’s final line shows that he was charged with four runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Moya gave up two runs on one hit (and one hit batter) in 1/3 of an inning. Jake Reed got four outs before Preston Guilmet pitched a scoreless ninth inning. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 1, Jackson 3 Box Score The Blue Wahoos played a morning game in Jackson, Tennessee, the final game of the five-game series. Travis Blankenhorn got things going well in the first inning. He hit his first AA home run in the top of the first inning to give Pensacola the 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Blue Wahoos starter Griffin Jax gave up a two-out, solo home run to Jeffrey Baez. At the time, his season ERA jumped from 0.40 to 0.79. But that was all that the Diamondbacks’ affiliate was able to score off him. Jax went 5 1/3 innings and gave up four hits, walked two and struck out two. Jovani Moran came on and got out of the sixth inning. He gave up two runs in the seventh inning. Jeff Ames worked a scoreless eighth inning. The Blue Wahoos had just four hits in the game. Ernie De La Trinidad walked and had a bunt single. Brian Navarreto walked twice. Luis Arraez was 1-for-3 with a walk. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers Box Score The Miracle had Monday off. They had played in 23 of 24 days before Monday. On Tuesday, Miguel Sano will begin his rehab with the Miracle in Ft. Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids Box Score Like Ft. Myers, Cedar Rapids has played 23 games in the first 24 days, so a scheduled day off on Monday comes at a good time. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Griffin Jax, Pensacola Blue Wahoos Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ronald Torreyes, Rochester Red Wings PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List, early May return #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured, early May return #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Did Not Play, hamstring #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - 6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (96 pitches, 64 strikes) #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - No Game Scheduled #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List, early May return #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List, late-May return possible #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - No Game Scheduled #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-2, 2 BB, R, 2 RBI, SB(4) #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (5:35 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart (1-2, 6.00 ERA) Pensacola - No Game Scheduled Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (5:30 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (3-0, 0.42 ERA) Bowling Green @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (0-2, 4.20 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

Tyler Wells' spring training (and season) was delayed by a 'minor' elbow issue. He's still working his way back to a full workload.

Numbers from 5 starts rarely indicate anything. Also, there are so few aces that I really try not to use that term too much. Smeltzer was moved to the bullpen by the Dodgers last year, and he went to the AFL as a reliever. The Twins decided to move him back to the rotation. His upside is probably #4 starter or a Taylor Rogers like reliever if things go well. NOTE - this isn't a knock. If he becomes Taylor Rogers, I think we should all be thrilled.

I've heard that on Kirilloff as well. End of this week is "early May." Sano, Kirilloff, Gordon and Javier have been playing in Extended Spring Training games. I saw Smeltzer in a couple of bullpens and once (maybe twice?) in spring games. Skinny. Wiry. Full of energy. Doesn't throw real hard, low 90s. Good secondary and good control.

No relation... or, if so, it's very distant.

Corrected... thanks!

Gonsalves isn't the only pitcher with some elbow issues from velocity efforts... (well from something this spring... Severino had a fractured thumb. I didn't get any timeline on him, but I assume that could be a lengthy one.

It was a busy Sunday in the Twins minor league system. The Twins named their weekly hitter and pitcher of the week. There were a bunch of transactions. And with the Kernels playing a doubleheader, the organization’s four affiliates played five games. Devin Smeltzer and Randy Dobnak continued their remarkable starts on the mound.Find out everything that happened in the Twins system on Sunday, starting with the transactions of the day TRANSACTIONS With Willians Astudillo going on the Injured List, Jake Cave was recalled from Rochester.Infielder Drew Maggi was promoted back up to Rochester.Infielder Joe Cronin was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Pensacola.Infielder Trey Cabbage was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers, with RHP Tanner Howell being sent back to extended spring training.Outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr was activated from the Kernels injured list. Infielder Estamy Urena was promoted to Cedar Rapids from extended spring training.AWARDS The Twins announced their Minor League Players of the Week on Sunday morning. Hitter of the Week - Pensacola OF Jaylin DavisPitcher of the Week - Rochester LHP Lewis ThorpeIn six games, Davis hit .407 (1.148 OPS) with three doubles, two homers and six RBIs. In one start, Thorpe gave up one run on three hits over eight innings. He struck out 12 batters for the second straight start. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 5 Box Score An #OldFriend came back to haunt the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. Justin Nicolino started for the Red Wings and gave up two runs in the first inning, but that was it. In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up the two runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out two. Mike Morin came on and finished out the seventh. He finished the eighth inning as well, but not before giving up an two-out, three-run homer to Juan Centeno. Morin pitched a scoreless ninth inning as well. Down 2-0, the Red Wings clawed back to tie the game. In the sixth inning, Luke Raley hit a solo homer to put the Wings on the board. Zander Wiel followed with his second triple of the year and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Adam Rosales. Raley went 2-for-3 with a walk and the home run was his third. Jordany Valdespin went 2-for-4 BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 8, Jackson 3 Box Score Devin Smeltzer has been fantastic in April for the Blue Wahoos. That continued on Sunday. The left-hander threw five more shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out three. In doing so, he is now 3-1 with a 0.60 ERA (2 ER in 30 IP). He was replaced by Minnesotan Adam Bray in his return from the injured list. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out three. Cody Stashak gave up a solo home run in the ninth inning. The Wahoos scored two runs in the fifth inning to take the lead. Then in the sixth inning, Caleb Hamilton drove in two runs with his fifth double of the season. He scored on a single off the bat of Jordan Gore. Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Wahoos lead to 3-2. But Taylor Grzelakowski added a two-run homer in the eighth inning. They also scored a run on a passed ball and on a wild pitch. Grzelakowski went 2-for-5 with his first homer of the season. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-for-4 with a walk. Luis Arraez walked three times. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 1 Box Score The Miracle defended the Cardinals, and won three out of four games in this series against the division leaders. Randy Dobnak came into this game having thrown 17 innings without giving up an earned run. He kept that streak going until allowing a run with two outs in the fifth inning, ending the streak at 21 2/3 innings. He gave up the one run on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six batters. He exited with a season ERA of 0.40. Hector Lujan came in and got eight outs without allowing the tying run. He gave up just two hits and struck one batter out. Alex Phillips came on for the ninth inning and struck out two. It was his fourth save of the year. Jose Miranda led the offense. He went 3-for-4 and drove in the team’s first run. His single drove in Trevor Larnach who had reached on his seventh double of the season. The other run came on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Whitefield. KERNELS NUGGETS Doubleheader after a snow-out on Saturday. The Kane County field was snow-covered on Sunday morning. The double-header was postponed a bit as they waited for more snow to melt, which it did. Game 1 - Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 3 Box Score The Kernels scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game, but the Cougars scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to get the walk-off win. Cole Sands started the game for the Kernels. The 2018 pick gave up two runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter over the first five innings. He struck out four. Down 2-0, the Kernels rallied in the top of the sixth inning. Ben Rodriguez hit his first double of the season to drive in Chris Williams. Rodriguez later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jacob Pearson. Jose Martinez pitched a scoreless sixth inning but he gave up the walk-off hit to end the game in the seventh. He gave up two walks and the single. Chris Williams led the Kernels offense. He went 2-for-3 with a walk. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2 Box Score This section is brought to you by the letter W. Winder and Williams lead Kernels to a Win. Josh Winder started for the Kernels and was fantastic. He gave up just four hits and walked one over the first 6 1/3 innings. He left with one out in the seventh with 84 pitches thrown and a runner on first base. Derek Molina came on and walked a batter. Then a single scored the inherited runner from Winder. Molina gave up another run as well, but was able to keep the tying run from scoring The Kernels didn't get a lot of offense, but Chris Williams provided a big, timely hit. In the fifth inning, Williams, who walked twice in Game 2, came up with two runners on and two outs. He responded with his fourth homer of the year and gave the Kernels a 3-0 lead. Gabriel Maciel went 1-for-3 with a walk. Estamy Urena walked twice. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Josh Winder, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Williams, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List, early May return #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB, 2B(7), R #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured, early May return #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Did Not Play, 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) - 0-3, BB #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List, early May return #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List, late-May return possible #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, K #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, R #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1 (1-4, K), Game 2 (1-4, K) #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-5 #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, RBI MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (5:35 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (1-2, 7.25 ERA) Pensacola @ Jackson (11:05 a.m. CST) - RHP Griffin Jax (1-0, 0.41 ERA) Ft. Myers - No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article