Seth Stohs

I haven't seen a ton of him, a start in Cedar Rapids and a few spring training appearances. But what I saw was a guy with a fastball 92-93 (which is plenty) and the changeup/curveball combo is solid. What I've seen is a want to be aggressive and a willingness and ability to adjust quickly.

People worry so much about age and level and age to reach the big leagues... How about we worry more about them just being ready when they get there, or soon after? That's more important. College guys, maybe other than the first few still take 3-4 years to get to the big leagues, and that's OK. Wells is from a D2 school. Taking a little longer to get to the big leagues can be a good thing. He may have been more raw when signed, needed time to develop a 3rd or 4th pitch, etc. If that means he gets to the big leagues at 26, oh well.

My thoughts: Colina - Definitely Ft. Myers. Thorpe - Definitely Rochester Gonsalves - Definitely Rochester. Command is the issue. I can't imagine that even if he works 20+ innings without a walk in spring training, they're going to want him to prove it for a bit in AAA. Graterol - Probably Ft. Myers, some chance he could start in AA. Wells - Probably AA. More regarding Gonsalves: If he had come up and struggled mid-season, he could have been sent down with the list of things to work on. The minor league seasons are over, so he's just go to keep working in the big leagues and in the bullpen. Now he's got the offseason to make adjustments and two more options to make adjustments (obviously the hope is that he doesn't need them). Clearly some adjustments are needed, but he'll put in the work. So the idea of giving up on him at this point is just kind of crazy to me (not saying you're doing that, just others are).

I should have noted that I asked voters to vote for or rank their top 5 2018 performers. Well, Graterol and Gonsalves appeared on all six 'ballots' so there were only two more spots. If I had asked for people to vote for up to 8 pitchers, obviously there would have been more "receiving votes." What does Gonsalves need to do? Throw strikes. He's got the pitches and enough stuff and moxie and stuff to big OK, but as we've seen, without command (and really even control), it can't work against big leaguers. The Twins need to figure out over the next 12ish months to see what they may have in Gonsalves, Littell, De Jong, Romero, and then next year Thorpe enters the equation too. Wells could force his way into the conversation in 2019.

The Twins, and probably every organization in baseball, need and want more pitching. Even with the “opener” concept starting to take root in the game, development of starting pitchers will always be a top priority for baseball executives and coaches. Today, we announce the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. There were some good choices again in 2018. Previous 2018 Awards Short-Season Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Cabezas Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year: Chris Williams Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Vasquez Today: Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Wells Coming Soon: Minor League Hitter of the Year: Previous Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitchers of the Year: 2012 - BJ Hermsen 2013 - Taylor Rogers 2014 - Jose Berrios 2015 - Jose Berrios 2016 - Stephen Gonsalves 2017 - Stephen Gonsalves 2018 - Keep ReadingBefore we get to the Top Five, and the eventual winner, it's worth noting a few honorable mentions. While Rochester and Chattanooga struggled in 2018, Cedar Rapids made the playoffs and Ft. Myers and Elizabethton won championships, largely on their pitching. Here are some of those candidates that also received votes: Honorable Mention Sean Poppen - Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts - 26 G, 20 GS, 6-9, 3.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 127.2 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.7 K/9Randy Dobnak - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 24 G, 20 GS, 10-5, 3.14 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 129.0 IP, 1.7 BB/9, 5.9 K/9Bailey Ober - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 14 GS, 7-1, 3.84 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 75.0 IP, 1.1 BB/9, 10.6 K/9Starting Pitcher of the Year Here are the top five picks for the 2018 Minnesota Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. #5- Edwar Colina - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 G, 20 GS, 7-5, 2.63 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 109.1 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 8.7 K/9 Colina signed with the Twins in September of 2015. He pitched in the Dominican Summer League in 2016. Last year in Elizabethton, he was the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year. While his walk total was high, Colina was often able to work out of situations with strikeouts. Colina is stocky and strong. While he isn’t tall, he uses has legs to drive the ball. He sits 93 to 94 mph, but he can hit 96 regularly. He’s got good secondary pitches as well. He spent the majority of the season in Cedar Rapids, where he started a no-hitter. He ended the season with a start for the Miracle and then was the winning pitcher in the Miracle’s championship game. #4- Lewis Thorpe - Chattanooga Lookouts/Rochester Red Wings - 26 G, 25 GS, 8-7, 3.54 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 129.2 iP, 2.5 BB/9, 10.9 K/9 Thorpe was added to the Twins 40-man roster last November. After missing two full seasons with Tommy John surgery (and mono), Thorpe showed enough in Ft. Myers to earn the roster spot. This year, he began in Chattanooga where he struggled early. But he started pitching well and was named to the Future Game where he represented the Twins and Australia. He took off from there, throwing more and more strikes and getting a lot of strikeouts. He ended the season with four starts in Rochester. #3- Stephen Gonsalves - Chattanooga Lookouts/Rochester Red Wings - 23 G, 22 GS, 12-3, 2.76 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 120.2 IP, 4.8 BB/9, 9.0 K/9 Gonsalves was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and 2017. He was the runner up to Jose Berrios in 2015. After being added to the 40-man roster last November, Gonsalves came to his second big league spring training. He struggled early and was sent to Chattanooga where he issued too many walks but dominated in four starts. He was promoted to Rochester where he went 9-3 with a 2.96 ERA. When you consider he has starts in which he gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings, five runs in 2/3 inning, and nine earned runs in four innings, he was incredible in the rest of his innings. He followed the nine-run outing with a stretch of seven starts in which he gave up just two runs over 40 1/3 innings. In mid-August, the 24-year-old received the call to the big leagues. #2- Brusdar Graterol - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle - 19 GS, 8-4, 2.74 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 102.0 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 9.4 K/9 The Twins signed Graterol way back in late August of 2014. The Venezuelan right-hander pitched just 11 innings in the Dominican Summer League in 2015 before coming to the Twin Cities and having Tommy John surgery. He continued to rehab until early in the 2017 season when he returned to pitching, this time for the GCL Twins. He split 2018 between the GCL and Elizabethton. He began the 2018 season in extended spring training, though he got to Cedar Rapids before the end of April. With the Kernels, he went 3-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 41 1/3 innings (9 BB, 51 K) before being promoted to the Miracle shortly after the Midwest League All-Star Game. With the Miracle, he went 5-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 11 starts and 60 2/3 innings (19 BB, 56 K). Blessed with a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and frequently hits triple digits, Graterol also has the makings of a quality slider and changeup. #1- Tyler Wells - Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts - 22 G, 21 GS, 10-6, 2.49 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 119.1 IP, 2.3 BB/9, 9.2 K/9 The Twins used their 15th-round draft pick in the 2016 draft to select a tall, right-hander from Cal State-San Bernadino. He was an interesting draft story. Recently Senior Advisor to Scouting, Deron Johnson, who was the Twins Scouting Director in 2016, told Twins Daily that he had traveled with Twins area scout and now West Coast Supervisor Elliot Strankman. “Elliot and I were going to see a junior college kid at another college. He said, ‘Hey, I like this reliever at Sonoma State. Let’s go see him on the way there.’ So we go there and they’re playing Cal State-San Bernadino. We see this big giant on the mound throwing up to 94 with a nice breaking ball. John Leavitt, our area scout had him in, but he wasn’t a guy for me to see. We just stopped in there on a whim. John had seen him, but he hadn’t seen him throwing that hard. We just kind of had him on our radar after that. We didn’t hide him out, but we didn’t show a lot of interest. We knew there were two other clubs that had interest in him. We targeted him in the draft and thought, let’s not lose this guy.” Johnson noted that Wells reminded him of a former Twins pitching prospect (and former minor league pitcher of the year) who reached Triple-A Rochester. “Remember David Bromberg? (Wells) was a lot like David. When we draft-and-followed David, he weighed 290 pounds out of high school. He went to junior college and lost a ton of weight.” That was the carrying story for Wells as he came into the 2018 season. This past offseason, Wells worked really hard at Performance Fitness for Athletes as well as greatly improved his diet. It was noticed, and it paid off. Since being drafted, he has lost about 50 pounds. Twins minor league director Jeremy Zoll noted, “Tyler does seem to fly under the radar a little bit for whatever reason. We’ve been really proud of him this year. He came into spring training and had really transformed his body, lost about 25 pounds. Really changed his diet working with his mom and a few other people in California. To dial that in this offseason. Felt it was the area he needed to improve the most. Thought it would help him sustain success through a long, full season. He did just that. He stayed committed to that all year.” Wells acknowledged that it was very important to him, but not only did he lose the weight, but he got results on the mound. He said, “It was extremely fulfilling knowing that the hard work I’ve put in is showing out on the field. It helped me gain confidence in myself and my ability to go out there every day and compete.” The weight loss is part of Tyler Wells’ 2018 story, but at the end of the day, he is the choice for Twins Daily Starting Pitcher of the Year because of the numbers and because of the results, and frankly, because he is a really good pitcher. For his part, Wells likes to just keep it simple. “I don’t really try to follow my stats too much. I like to keep it simple and just try to put up as many zeroes as possible every time I go out there. If anything, I was extremely blessed and thankful to have a completely healthy season.” His pitching coach at Ft. Myers, Henry Bonilla, noted that staying healthy was part of the key for Wells. “One of the main things for Tyler was staying healthy. He always had good numbers, but seemed to find little injuries that kept him off the field. He also learned how to use his pitches better, what works well off each other and so forth.” Jeremy Zoll credits that pitching coaches working with Wells, but also Wells himself for working on things. “I know he was working with both pitching coaches, Henry Bonilla, Ivan Arteaga and JP Martinez, our assistant pitching coordinator, throughout the season with various grips on his curveball. He tried an adjustment early that ultimately didn’t go the way he wanted it to. He made some tweaks in the middle of the year and it seemed like from there, it started to really help. It played off his fastball well. Increased comfort with the slider and ability to use it early in the count, late in the count, and just continue to be comfortable pitching inside. So a lot of it is just continued innings, continued reps, continued development, and some minor tweaks along the way.” From Johnson, “Tyler’s got that good fastball carry. He’s got a nice down-action curveball. He can pitch. He’s got a changeup too. He’s got good makeup. He’s turned himself into a good prospect.” According to Zoll, “He’s got four pitches. He continued to hone ways to use all four and have them play off each other. He fills up the strike zone and generates weak contact. All those things put together equal a pretty good starting pitcher. It helped him earn his promotion to AA and he just step on the gas pedal from there. ” Wells made 16 starts for Ft. Myers to start the season and was named a Florida State League All Star. He went 8-4 with a 2.80 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. In 86 2/3 innings, he walked 17 and struck out 82 batters. He was the Twins Daily Starting Pitcher of the Month in June. He was promoted to Chattanooga where he made six more starts and went 2-2 with a 1.65 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In 32 2/3 innings, he walked 14 but struck out 39 batters. Asked about the continued success upon his promotion to Double-A, Wells said, “Honestly, my transitions were very easy for one reason. It’s the same game all the way through. I have to go out and throw strikes, execute pitches, and give my team a chance to win every single time.” The makeup and the mental aspect of the game is often forgotten, but Tyler Wells has it in spades. “I cannot say that there was one pitch or sequence (that led to his success) because every hitter is different. My success, I believe, came from my mental side of the game. I was able to learn how to use my pitches, read hitters’ swings, and keep my approach to pitching simple and aggressive.” Deron Johnson says it well when he says of Wells. “He was a pleasant surprise. You’ve got to get lucky and get guys down there in the draft. You never know what’s going to happen with your top picks, so it’s always a pleasant surprise to get a guy or two, like Hildenberger, down there. You’ve got to get lucky.” Who knows? The Twins just may have got lucky in the 2016 15th round with Tyler Wells. The Ballots Votes came in from the Twins Daily minor league writers, making six ballots in total. Striving for transparency, here is how each individual voted: Seth Stohs - 1) Tyler Wells, 2) Brusdar Graterol, 3) Stephen Gonsalves, 4) Edwar Colina, 5) Sean PoppenJeremy Nygaard - 1) Tyler Wells, 2) Stephen Gonsalves, 3) Lewis Thorpe, 4) Brusdar Graterol, 5) Bailey OberCody Christie - 1) Stephen Gonsalves, 2) Tyler Wells, 3) Brusdar Graterol, 4) Edwar Colina, 5) Sean PoppenTed Schwerzler - 1) Tyler Wells, 2) Brusdar Graterol, 3) Stephen Gonsalves, 4) Edwar Colina, 5) Randy DobnakTom Froemming - 1) Tyler Wells, 2) Lewis Thorpe, 3) Brusdar Graterol, 4) Sean Poppen, 5) Stephen GonsalvesSteve Lein - 1) Tyler Wells, 2) Brusdar Graterol, 3) Lewis Thorpe, 4) Stephen Gonsalves, 5) Randy DobnakFeel free to discuss below in the comments. Share your ballot! Click here to view the article

Why would they have called up Burdi last September? He was only like 3 months post Tommy John surgery. While I agree with Reed (should have been called up), if he's added to the 40-man roster in November, it really isn't a big deal.

It's pretty minor and he got to the big leagues, making it even more minor. Every year, teams bring in new players, free agents, minor league free agents, etc., so the dominoes fall because no one wants to lose more players than they have to. So it becomes a numbers game. It takes care of itself. Vasquez kept putting up numbers. The Twins traded lefty Anthony McIver. Mason Melotakis asked for his release. Injuries happen. And again, it all works itself out.

Miller is upper-90s. Vasquez tops out at 91, maybe 92. But he can be a really good lefty reliever. The 40-man givens are Wade and Gordon. I'd like to think Reed and Anderson might be too. With Roger and Moya and now Vasquez, I wouldd think that Jay would be left unprotected.

It's also important to note where these people are in their careers. GCL is in noon games in the July and August heat of southwest Florida. Many in their first pro experiences. Many not getting real consistent playing time. Or, for top prospects, they're playing most every day for the first time ever. There are just so many factors in these leagues. That said, I do agree that these numbers are lower than many years... But also important to note... Check out what Jeffers, Larnach, Helman and Davis did in Cedar Rapids after short stints in E-Town. What could they have done with another month of games in E-Town?

At one point, he missed about 3 weeks with a quad injury.

To be fair, the questions that there were on draft day with Jeffers and Williams are still there. Both could hit (And this is a hitting award) The question marks for both were more on defense and specifically at catcher. Jeffers did fine defensively and maybe was even better than expected. Williams played 1B, in large part because of the shoulder.

Along with Kirilloff and Lewis, Cedar Rapids also lost Jose Miranda fairly late, and Edwar Colina right at the end.

Sometimes these short-season awards can be difficult to vote for. Yesterday, Andrew Cabezas was named the short-season Pitcher of the Year. Today we discuss the short-season Hitters of the Year. Over the coming days, we’ll also announce our choices for the full season Hitter, Starting Pitcher and Relief Pitcher of the Year. It is important to note that voters were encouraged to only look at the stats from the GCL Twins and the Elizabethton Twins. That’s probably unfair to the likes of Michael Davis and Michael Helman who played very little in Elizabethton before being promoted to Cedar Rapids where they continued to play well. Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach each stayed in E-Town a little longer. Previous winners: 2016: Lewin Diaz 2017: Akil Baddoo With fewer games than full season leagues, players have less time to make their mark. A smaller sample size can skew a player's overall numbers. However, each of these players are trying to make the organization take notice of their performance. Which hitters performed well for Elizabethton Twins and the GCL Twins? Let's dive in... Image courtesy of Mike Gallagher (graphics by Finn Pearson) Yesterday, Twins Daily announced the Short Season Pitcher of the Year. Throughout the rest of the week, the other minor league awards will be announced. There were some strong performances throughout the minors and some of these players may be part of the next wave of players heading for Target Field. Short profiles of our top five are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Others Receiving Votes: Janigson Villalobos, GCL Twins: 26-84, .310/.363/.393 (.755), 3-2B, 2-3B, 15 RBI Yeltsin Encarnacion, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 50-167, .299/.350/.377 (.727), 8-2B, 1-3B, 1-HR, 22 RBI DaShawn Keirsey, Elizabethton Twins: 31-103, .301/.371/.427 (.798), 7-2B, 3-3B, 13 RBI Michael Helman, Elizabethton Twins: 15-40, .375/.435/.575 (1.010), 1-3B, 2-HR, 7 RBI (does not include stats from Cedar Rapids) Alex Robles, Elizabethton Twins: 66-244, .297/.357/.378 (.735), 12-2B, 2-HR, 35 RBI Trevor Larnach, Elizabethton Twins: 19-61, .311/.413/.492 (.905), 5-2B, 2-HR, 16 RBI (does not include stats from Cedar Rapids) Tyler Webb, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 41-143, .287/.373/.336 (.709), 4-2B, 1-HR, 16 RBI Short-Season Hitter of the Year Here are the top five players for the Twins Daily Short-Season Hitter of the Year 5. Yunior Severino, Elizabethton Twins: 52-198, .263/.321/.424 (.745), 8-2B, 8-HR, 28 RBI Severino split the 2017 season between the Dominican Summer League and the Braves Gulf Coast League teams. Following the season, he was ruled a free agent by Major League Baseball and the Twins quickly signed him for $2.5 million. The 18-year-old is a really good athlete with good speed, but he’s also got real good bat speed from both sides of the plate which could lead to some power. While he could play shortstop, he is already primarily playing second base. 4. Colton Burns, Elizabethton Twins: 23-93, .247/.375/.505 (.880), 6-2B, 6-HR, 14 RBI Burns was the Twins 18th-round pick in 2017 out of UC-Santa Barbara. He’s fought some injuries in his time as a professional, including about a month due to a knee injury this season. When he did play, he displayed some raw power that made him intriguing to the organization. T2. Ryan Jeffers, Elizabethton Twins: 43-102, .422/.543/.578 (1.121), 7-2B, 3-HR, 17 RBI If we’re being honest, Jeffers was clearly on his way to this award, but it was clear that the Twins 2nd-round pick was ready to be pushed to the Midwest League. Jeffers hit for average, he took walks and got on base, and he showed plenty of power. Those things continued after he joined the Cedar Rapids Kernels. T2. Trevor Casanova, Elizabethton Twins: 48-145, .331/.389/.490 (.879), 14-2B, 3-HR, 16 RBI Casanova played just one year of high school baseball and then went to three junior colleges before spending a year at El Camino College. He was drafted in 2017 in the 14th round by Seattle, but he chose to go to Cal State-Northridge. The Twins made him their 13th-round pick and sent him as one of four catchers to Elizabethton. He played a little more than half of the time and earned the playing time with his high batting average and doubles power. As he continues to work on his defense, he will be one to watch in Cedar Rapids in 2019. Get to know more about Casanova from his Q&A for Twins Daily. 1. Chris Williams, Elizabethton Twins: 54-214, .252/.372/.500 (.872), 6-2B, 1-3B, 15-HR, 51 RBI Williams grew up in Southern California and after a strong high school career, he did not have a single Division 1 offer. So, he went to an area junior college and after one year, he moved across the country to play at Clemson University. In an interview with Twins Daily in late July, Williams discussed the decision to go to Clemson. “Clemson gave me a call and asked if I was interested in leaving California and going to South Carolina to play baseball. All I can remember was being dumbfounded and thinking, What does South Carolina even look like? I had never left home for more than three weeks. But I took a leap of faith, and it was the best three years of my life.” Over the next three years, Williams played in 211 games for Clemson and hit a combined .276 (.883) with 48 doubles and 44 home runs. He was drafted in the 31st round of the 2017 draft by the Rays but went back for his senior season. This June, the Twins called his name in the eighth round. Twins minor league director Jeremy Zoll mentioned the Twins scouts finding his potential game-changing tool and took a shot on him. “I think our amateur group identified that there was real power in Chris’s bat and to be able to snag that at that point in the draft was intriguing.” Since the only defensive position Williams played for Elizabethton was first base, it may surprise many to know that the Twins drafted him as a catcher, and that may be something he gets an opportunity to do starting next month. According to Zoll, “He’s dealt with some shoulder injuries in college, and he seems to be all squared away now and coming into our fall program, we’re going to explore getting him back behind the dish. That’s only going to help his value long-term.” Williams reported to Elizabethton where manager Ray Smith took a look at him and inserted him into the middle of the lineup. Smith noted, “ We had situated him into a ‘run producing’ slot early after seeing him a few times and reading the scouting reports. He had shown success (with power) at a good college program, had driven in some runs, hit some long balls for us and we ended up leaving him there for the duration of the year.” Williams’ 15 home runs led the Appalachian League, and his 51 RBI put him in fourth in the league. Despite the low batting average, he finished in the Top 10 in the league in slugging percentage and OPS. The numbers match the scouting reports. Zoll adds, “Chris has got crazy raw power. He does a good job when pitches end up in his zone of not missing them, and he showed that from wire to wire in the Appy League. To end up with 15 bombs in short season is pretty cool and speaks to the threat he is in the middle of the order. We saw teams starting to pitch around him at times which only helped that walk total there.” While he struck out just under 20% of his plate appearances, he walked over 15% of the time too. His manager noticed. “A lot of that comes from development and application of a hit plan, knowing the strike zone, showing balance and alignment, control of your weight shift, et cetera. Allows you to make adjustments to velocity, spin and location and not get yourself out so much.” Zoll added, “You can have all the power in the world, but if you don’t find the right place to harness it or get too eager to show it off, it becomes a detriment.” E-Twins manager Ray Smith discussed how Williams fit into the ideal lineup. “Ideally, you hope to stack your line-up with speed, consistency & some power. Chris supplied us with that power threat in the middle of our lineup. He was especially effective when we had Jeffers and Larnach here for awhile. Got pitched around some late.” All that being said, Williams had a very nice professional debut with the Elizabethton Twins and was very deserving as the choice for Twins Daily Short-Season Hitter of the Year. The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs- 1) Chris Williams, 2) Ryan Jeffers, 3) Yunior Severino, 4) Trevor Casanova, 5) Yeltsin Encarnacion Jeremy Nygaard- 1) Ryan Jeffers, 2) Chris Williams, 3) Michael Helman, 4) Trevor Larnach, 5) Trevor Casanova Cody Christie- 1) Chris Williams, 2) Ryan Jeffers, 3) Trevor Casanova, 4) Colton Burns, 5) Yunior Severino Tom Froemming- 1) Chris Williams, 2) Ryan Jeffers, 3) Colton Burns, 4) Trevor Casanova, 5) Alex Robles Steve Lein- 1) Chris Williams, 2) Trevor Casanova, 3) Colton Burns, 4) Yunior Severino, 5) DaShawn Keirsey Ted Schwerzler- 1) Trevor Casanova, 2) Janigson Villalobos, 3) Yeltsin Encarnacion, 4) DeShawn Keirsey, 5) Tyler Webb Feel free to discuss. What do you think of our rankings? How would you rank them? How would your ballot look? View full article

It doesn't help (and shouldn't hurt) any sort of prospect status. It just kind of is what it is. Hildenberger and Vasquez both spent their draft seasons in the GCL. They can only have so many pitchers at each level, and only so many in Elizabethton, so the rest of them go to the GCL. They're usually the guys drafted in the later rounds.

Alex Phillips signed from Evansville. I chatted a bit with Travis Harrison about him (Travis is with Evansville this year). Said he's 91-94 with a lot of strikes. Good slider and curveball. Attacks the zone.

At the end of June each year, not long after the completion of the draft, the short-season minor leagues begin. The GCL Twins stay in Ft. Myers, and the Elizabethton Twins take the long bus ride to Tennessee. The GCL Twins finished just outside of the playoffs. The E-Twins just won their eighth Appalachian League title since the turn of the century and second in a row. The last couple of seasons, Twins Daily has added two annual awards for the short-season Twins players. Tomorrow we’ll hand out the award for the top hitter in the short-season teams, but today, we’ll start with the pitchers. Image courtesy of Mariana Guzman (graphics by Finn Pearson) The previous winners of the Short-Season Pitcher of the Year awards have gone on to continued success. Our 2016 choice was Huascar Ynoa. He had spent that summer in the GCL, and he began 2017 with Elizabethton. However, at the July trade deadline, he was traded to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Jaime Garcia.In 116 1/3 innings, he struck out 131 batters between Low A and High A. The 2017 winner was lefty Jovani Moran who was dominant in the Elizabethton bullpen that year (to the tune of 51 strikeouts and six walks over 28 1/3 innings). He began this year in Cedar Rapids where he was our choice for minor league relief pitcher of the month in June with the Kernels and then July with the Ft. Myers Miracle. As you’ll read below, there were several pitchers on the Twins short-season teams who put together real solid seasons. Most of the Elizabethton starters were really good throughout the year. Of course, we are generally talking about a limited number of innings due to their seasons being just two months long. One poor outing can have an effect on their overall numbers. Six Twins Daily Minor League writers voted for the various awards this year. For the short-season pitcher of the year, we each voted for five players. The player who was voted as #1 received five points, #2 received four points and so on with the #5 vote receiving one point. Results were tabulated and can be found below. Short profiles of our top five are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Others Receiving Votes: Austin Schulfer - Elizabethton Twins - 11 G, 7 GS, 3-0, 1.58 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 40.0 IP, 33 H, 15 BB, 34 K Michael Montero - GCL Twins - 12 G, 1 GS, 4-1, 1 Save, 2.41 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 26 H, 10 BB, 21 K Josh Winder - Elizabethton Twins - 9 GS, 3-1, 3.72 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 38.2 IP, 37 H, 6 BB, 42 K. Landon Leach - GCL Twins - 7 G, 6 GS, 0-1, 2.18 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 20.2 IP, 16 H, 10 BB, 16 K Kai-Wei Teng - GCL Twins - 10 G, 9 GS, 3-3, 3.59 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 42.2 IP, 36 H, 15 BB, 47 K Short-Season Pitcher of the Year Here are the top five vote getters for Twins Short Season Minor League Pitcher of the Year. #5 – Donny Breek, GCL Twins: 10 G, 8 GS, 2-1, 2.89 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 37.1 IP, 26 H, 17 BB, 41 K Breek signed after the 2017 season out of The Netherlands. He arrived in Ft. Myers after regular spring training but for extended spring training. In 2016, the Twins liked something they saw from the then-16-year-old who posted a 7.51 ERA and a WHIP over 2.00 in the Dutch Major League in 2016. Breek did a nice job for the GCL Twins. He was once named the Twins minor league pitcher of the week. He’s got good stuff, though he is quite raw. #4 – Luis Rijo, Elizabethton Twins: 5 GS, 2-0, 1.27 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 15 H, 4 BB 17 K Rijo came to the Twins organization at the July 31 trade deadline. He was acquired along with Tyler Austin from the Yankees in exchange for Lance Lynn. Rijo had primarily pitched for the Yankees Appy League affiliate, though he also had made one start in the Florida State League and one start in the New York-Penn League. The Twins sent him to E-Town and he helped the team to an Appy League title. While he pitched in just five games (and just over four innings per start), he continued to post real strong numbers in the Twins organization. #3 – Erik Cha, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 15 G, 2-0, 1.37 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 26.1 IP, 23 H, 7 BB, 29 K Cha was the Twins 17th round draft pick in 2018 out of Cal State-Fullerton. He turned 21 shortly after the draft and began his career in the GCL. 13 of his 15 games came in the GCL, but he was promoted to Elizabethton where he made two appearances and then worked in the Appy League playoffs as well. #2 – Prelander Berroa, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 10 G, 8 GS, 2-0, 2.81 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 33 H, 15 BB, 41 K The Twins signed Berroa on July 2, in 2016. He pitched in the Dominican Summer League in 2017. His numbers weren’t good, but the Twins saw enough to bring him Stateside in 2018. He spent most of his season in the GCL. He had a nine strikeout, one-hit, scoreless outing in the GCL. After the GCL season, he moved up to Elizabethton where he made one appearance in the regular season. Finally, he worked five innings of one-run ball in the E-Twins championship-clinching game. Pitcher of the Year – Andrew Cabezas, Elizabethton Twins:. 11 G 9 GS,, 1-3, 2.74 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 46.0 IP, 30 H, 14 BB, 44 K. Cleveland drafted Andrew Cabezas in the 34th round of the 2015 draft out of high school. However, he decided to stay close to home and attend the University of Miami. In his first two seasons at Miami, he worked primarily out of the bullpen. This season, he made ten starts and nine relief outings. In his three years, he went a combined 14-8 with five saves. He had a 3.69 ERA and struck out more than a batter per inning. The Twins drafted him in the 18th round in 2018 and signed him for $90,000. He signed quickly and reported to Ft. Myers before making the trek north up to Elizabethton. For the most part, Cabezas was used as a starter and did quite well. As you can imagine, the transition from The U of Miami to Elizabethton, Tennessee, was an adjustment. According to Cabezas, “There was a big transition from playing from University of Miami to playing with the E-Twins. From playing in front of a couple thousands fans compared to a couple hundred, the atmosphere of playing every night, the town itself... Miami and Elizabethton are completely different in their own ways.” As you can see above and from him winning this award, Cabezas handled the transition well. He felt that the key was being aggressive and efficient with his pitches. The right-hander pointed out, “(The key) was definitely getting after batters much more efficiently. I was able to go deep in games by having the hitter making quick contact, not letting them do much. That’s probably the #1 thing that helped me out big time this season.” His manager, the legendary Ray Smith, pointed out that Cabezas has an “attack mentality.” He continued, “(Cabezas) was able to slow his delivery down some. He could spin the ball and change speeds. He threw it over the plate for most of the season. He fields his position well. He took the ball consistently. Hitting is all about rhythm and timing, and good pitching can upset that rhythm and timing. Cabezas has ‘funk.’ Hesitation pitches, semi-quick pitches, unusual deliveries.” Twins minor league director, Jeremy Zoll, spoke of what helped Cabezas to his quick pro start. “We knew we were getting some polish in Andrew having worked his way through the Miami program. It’s a bulldog mentality out there. He goes out there and attacks guys. Good feel for how to attack guys and utilize his pitches. Does a good job of getting ground balls. Really fills up the zone. The thing that really stands out with him is his slider. We think that’s really going to continue to be a good weapon for him here as he continues to develop and harness it and play other pitches off of that.” The E-Twins had a really strong starting rotation as evidenced by the other starters mentioned above. It was the key to the E-Twins winning their 2018 Appalachian League championship this year. Cabezas thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the championship team. “It was amazing! The fact the coaches had the confidence to choose me to pitch Game #3, do-or-die game, it really meant a lot because I love games with that much adversity. I haven’t won a championship since high school so I definitely missed that feeling. By winning the Appalachian League championship, it definitely made my first year playing pro baseball a thing to remember most!” With his track record as a reliever at Miami, it’s natural to wonder whether Cabezas will stick as a starter or potentially move to the bullpen. “We’ll see” is how Jeremy Zoll responded to that question. He continued, “We’re going to give him every opportunity to continue to start here and see how his changeup continues to develop and ultimately how he holds up over the course of a full season.” There you have it, the top pitchers in the short season leagues for the Minnesota Twins in 2017. The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Prelander Berroa, 2) Austin Schulfer, 3) Andrew Cabezas, 4) Donny Breek, 5) Josh Winder Jeremy Nygaard – 1) Andrew Cabezas, 2) Michael Montero, 3) Erik Cha, 4) Donny Breek, 5) Prelander Berroa Cody Christie – 1) Luis Rijo, 2) Andrew Cabezas, 3) Prelander Berroa, 4) Donny Breek, 5) Michael Montero Tom Froemming - 1) Andrew Cabezas, 2) Josh Winder, 3) Erik Cha, 4) Kai-Wei Teng, 5) Donny Breek Steve Lein – 1) Luis Rijo, 2) Andrew Cabezas, 3) Michael Montero, 4) Donny Breek, 5) Kai-Wei Teng Ted Schwerzler - 1) Erik Cha, 2) Austin Schulfer, 3) Landon Leach, Prelander Berroa, 5) Andrew Cabezas Feel free to discuss. What do you think? How would you rank them? How would your ballot look? View full article

This is kind of fun!

It all goes back to Sano/Buxton not doing much this year. Polanco missing a half season. Santana and Castro being hurt 90% of the year. Etc. I definitely think that the Falvey/Levine combination will be just fine. They just need more time. They've done a lot of good things. But this was an interesting line to me: This is the feeling from people in and outside the organization. I've talked to many players still in the organization and some now outside of the organization. I've been told by several that they feel like "just a number." A lot of guys signed or drafted before the new regime feel like their time may be short... Terry Ryan was very present. It was important to him that the players knew he was around, and they knew he could be communicated with, etc. He spent a lot of time at the affiliates. It's a completely different culture. Even if some of the names are the same. There have been a lot of guys let go (front office types, scouts, etc.). Some have remained but the culture is completely different. It's all business.. and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Aside from the big league club, the Ft. Myers Miracle are the final Twins affiliate whose season continues. And on Monday night, the Miracle season ended with a Florida State League championship! They join the Elizabethton Twins as the two Twins affiliates to win a championship in 2018!Congratulations to the Florida State League champion Ft. Myers Miracle! MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 8, Daytona 5 Box Score The Miracle begin their Florida State League playoff series on Tuesday night. What a performance by right-hander Edwar Colina! Promoted to the Miracle for one regular season start, Colina has done well with the Miracle and he came up huge for them on Monday night. The right-hander gave up three second inning runs, but it came with the help of two errors which made all three runs unearned. He kept pitching and worked a total of 6 2/3 innings. He gave up just the three unearned runs on two hits. He walked four and struck out six. Having fallen behind 3-0 after two innings, the Miracle responded very well right away in the top of the third. Jose Miranda and Travis Blankenhorn each singled in a run to cut the deficit to 3-2. With two outs, Ryan Costello drilled a three-run homer to push the lead to 5-3. Alex Kirilloff led off the fifth inning with a double. After a walk, Travis Blankenhorn advanced the runners with a bunt. He was also safe at first on an error. Caleb Hamilton grounded out to score a run. With two outs, Shane Carrier knocked in two runs with a single to give the Miracle an 8-3 lead. Adam Phillips came on and got the final out of the seventh inning. He came back out for the eighth frame. With one out, he gave up a single. It was followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Ibandel Isabel. He led the Florida State League with 35 home runs during the regular season. After a walk, a hard-hit grounder hit the mound and bounced right to Travis Blankenhorn who completed a double play to end the inning and end the threat. Hector Lujan came on for the ninth inning. After a fly out, he gave up a single. However, for the second straight inning, a ground ball to Travis Blankenhorn resulted in an inning-ending double play, which was also a game-ending and championship-winning double play! Congratulations to the Ft. Myers Miracle! STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Ryan Costello, Ft. Myers Miracle (2-4, HR, 3 RBI). Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Edwar Colina, Ft. Myers Miracle (6.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, BB, R #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2B, R #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, 2 R, RBI, SH #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Did not play #21 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, BB, 2 R, RBI TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS No more Games Scheduled (until the Arizona Fall League. Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s game, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

1.) that would mean a Florida State League championship, which would be awesome. but 2.) Kinda sad to think about...

Yes... I mean, borderline top 30 type... maybe a little higher