Seth Stohs

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Byron Buxton was placed on the Red Wings disabled list with a left wrist strain. Rochester added RHP Chase De Jong. He will start on Thursday afternoon. 1B/3B Ryan Costello came to the Twins from the Mariners where he had been playing at Clinton under former Twins utility man Denny Hocking. He reported to the Miracle, so he received a promotion with his new organization. 1B/DH Robby Rinn was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. 1B/C Ben Rodriguez was sent down to Cedar Rapids because C David Banuelos went on the Kernels DL with a concussion. IF Victor Tademo returned to the GCL Twins from the Miracle. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 2 Box Score Zack Littell put together a strong start and was helped by the bullpen and the bats to earn his third Red Wings win. Littell gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out three. Ryne Harper came on and struck out five batters over two perfect innings. Alan Busenitz got the ninth inning and struck out two batters to end the game. Jon Kemmer went 2-for-4 with his fourth double and first triple since joining the Red Wings. He drove in three runs. Jordan Pacheco went 2-for-4 with his third double. Tyler Austin continued to hurt the team that he played for just two days ago. The former Yankees player went 2-for-4 with his second homer in as many games, his eighth International League homer of the year. And yes, it was a long one again. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1024819063564980224 CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga, Tennessee Box Score Rains in Tennessee caused Tuesday’s doubleheader to be cancelled. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 8, Jupiter 4 Box Score Griffin Jax had another strong start. He began the game with six shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the seventh inning. In total, he gave up two runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Alex Robinson came on and was charged with two runs on two hits over 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two. Colton Davis got the final two outs to record his second save. Travis Blankenhorn got the Miracle off to a fast start. The first three batters for the team got on to load the bases, but the next two batters struck out. Blankenhorn picked them up in a big way, launching his tenth home run, a grand slam. Royce Lewis went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth Miracle double. Caleb Hamilton also went 2-for-4 and stole his fourth base. Taylor Grzelakowski had a single and walked twice. Ernie De La Trinidad went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. That gives him six RBIs through his first four Miracle games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 4 Box Score Tyler Watson started and went just one inning because he needed 36 pitches to complete it. He gave up three runs on one hit and four walks. He struck out one. Calvin Faucher struck out three over three no-hit innings. Derek Molina worked the next three innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He struck out five. Rickey Ramirez gave up a hit, walked one and struck out one in his inning. Ben Rodriguez returned to the Kernels due to the David Banuelos concussion. He hit his ninth and tenth home runs for the Kernels. Andrew Bechtold went 2-for-4. Trey Cabbage hit his 15th double. https://twitter.com/CRKernels/status/1025048580581670912 E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton, Johnson City Box Score Rain also caused the postponement of this game. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday. Perhaps delaying for a day a huge milestone. With the next Elizabethton win, manager Ray Smith will reach the 1,000 win total. GCL TWINS TALK Game 1 - GCL Twins 7, GCL Orioles 6 (resumption from Tuesday) Box Score Down a run heading into the bottom of the ninth inning of this game resumed from Tuesday, the Twins put the ball in play enough to score two runs and get a walkoff win. Before the rains came on Tuesday,Tyler Benninghoff started. He gave up three runs on two hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out two. Then Erik Cha came on and struck out two in his inning. When the game resumed on Wednesday, Junior Navas took the mound. He gave up two runs on four hits over two innings. He struck out one. Steven Cruz gave up an unearned run on one hit and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. Denny Bentley came on for the final two outs. Former Twins pitcher Ryan O’Rourke came on for the bottom of the ninth inning, continuing his rehab. The inning started with an error on the third baseman. Then a bunt single down the third base line. And then another, to load the bases. There was a fourth grounder toward third base which scored the tying run despite the throw coming home. Finally, Tyler Webb came up and hit a sacrifice fly to end the game. Yeison Perez went 2-for-4 with his seventh double and two RBI. Erick Rivera and two hits and two RBI. Hunter Lee also had two hits. Charlie Mack went 1-for-3 with a walk. Game 2 - GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 0 (8 innings) Box Score The regularly scheduled game ended up going an extra inning, but this time the Orioles won in a walkoff. Donny Breek, the reigning Twins minor league pitcher of the month, gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits over four innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out five. JT Perez came on and struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning. Osiris German got the sixth inning and struck out two. Petru Balan pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but in the eighth frame, he gave up the tying run (who started the innings at second base) and one more run to take the loss. Alberoni Nunez got the Twins off to a big start. He hit a first-inning grand slam. Agustin Marte went 2-for-4 with his fourth double. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Ben Rodriguez, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI). Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Griffin Jax, Ft. Myers Miracle (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 96 pitches, 71 strikes) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that this Prospect Summary has been updated. #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, 2B(6), 3 R #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) -1-3, HBP, RBI, K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-4 #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - Rained out. #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - Rained out. #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2 BB #9 -Wander Javier - out of for the season #10 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (97 pitches, 60 strikes) #11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch #12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-4, 2B(8), R #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, HR(10), 4 RBI, R, K #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Rained out. #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Did not play #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - Rained out. #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - will have surgery on his wrist soon. Out for season. #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4 #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, BB, R, K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - Rained out. #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4 *Since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (11:35 am CST) - RHP Chase De Jong (1st Red Wings/Twins start) Mississippi @ Chattanooga (6:00 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe (6-4, 3.61 ERA) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - Bullpen Game started by Jovani Moran Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (7-3, 3.53 ERA) Elizabethton @ Johnson City (DH @ 4:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Palm, RHP Andrew Cabezas GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions about Wednesday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.

Let’s take a look at the Top 5 hitters for the month of June, but first here are some players deserving of honorable mention. HONORABLE MENTION Akil Baddoo - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 30-107, .280/.363/.439 (.802) with eight doubles, three triples and a homer. Taylor Grzelakowski - Ft. Myers Miracle - 31-88, .352/.396/.511 (.907) with ten doubles, and two triples. Mitchell Kranson - Chattanooga Lookouts - 23-72, .319/.398/.486 (.884) with four doubles, a triple and two home runs. Royce Lewis - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle - 33-112, .295/.370/.420 (.790) with eight doubles and two homers. Jose Miranda - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 39-114, .342/.382/.553 (.935) with six doubles and six home runs. THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 – Chattanooga Lookouts - Zander Wiel - .336/.424/.551 (.975), 36-107 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs and 14 RBI. Many months, Wiel’s July numbers would be a serious contender for the monthly honor. For him to be fifth on this list tells you a little bit about the numbers the guys ahead of him put up. Wiel has had a really solid season. He’s shown more consistency than he has in the past. During this month, he hit for a high average. He got on base. He showed power. He’s seemingly made himself an even better athlete since the draft with enough speed to beat out some triples. Over the last couple of months, Wiel has been hitting in the leadoff spot for the Lookouts with Brent Rooker hitting second. The combination has often given their team a first-inning lead. They also have split time between left field and first base, as well as getting some DH days. While he strikes out at times, he has also really improved his eye and had 16 walks during the month of July. Number 4 – Elizabethton Twins - Chris Williams - .277/.391/.585 (.976). 26-94 with two doubles, nine home runs and 26 RBI. Again, Chris Williams had a July worthy of the top spot, but he’s #4 on our list this month. Williams was the Twins eighth-round pick this June out of Clemson where he spent three years. Drafted as a catcher, he has played first base most every game for the Elizabethton Twins, and he’s been a force in the middle of their lineup. He has had a lot of interesting games. He’s had a two-homer game. He also had a game in which he walked five times. He has walked nearly as much as he struck out. You can get to know more about Chris Williams in this recent Q&A at Twins Daily. Number 3 - Chattanooga Lookouts – OF/1B Brent Rooker - .315/.406/.604 (1.010), 35-111 with 11 doubles, seven homers and 22 RBI. Rooker was the runner-up last month for Hitter of the Month when he posted an OPS over 1.000, and he did it again in July. Since starting the season very slowly, Rooker has dominated the Southern League the last two-and-a-half months. His strikeout rate has dropped. His walk rate has greatly increased. That combination means that when he’s swinging at good pitches, he is hitting the ball really hard. Still hard to believe that he’s doing this just 13 months after being drafted with the 35th overall pick out of Mississippi State. This month, he hit for average, got on base a lot and continued to hit for power. He has been the Twins minor league hitter of the week three times this season already. Sure, he’s still got room for improvement. The strikeouts are still too high, but Rooker is putting together the kind of numbers that indicate that he could be ready sooner rather than later. Number 2 - Ft. Myers Miracle – OF Alex Kirilloff - .396/.422/.614 (1.036), 40-101 with 12 doubles, two triples, two homers and 20 RBI. To repeat the initial comment from each of the first three mentioned above, most months, with these numbers, Alex Kirilloff would be the minor league hitter of the month. Instead, he’ll have to settle for the #2 spot. That’s OK. I mean, he was the Twins Daily minor league Hitter of the Month in May. His 13-game hitting streak came to an end on Tuesday night with an 0-for-2 night, but during that stretch, he had eight multi-hit games, and that doesn’t even count the 2-for-2 game he had at the Futures Game in that stretch. He’s become an extra-base hit machine. The 2016 first-round draft pick moved up to Ft. Myers in mid-June. After missing all of 2017 (Tommy John surgery), it didn’t take him long to adjust to the Midwest League. Likewise, it didn’t take him long to adjust to the Florida State League. In fact, he’s hitting .376 with the Miracle. In 100 combined games between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, he has hit .349 with 34 doubles, seven triples and 16 home runs. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Elizabethton Twins – C/DH Ryan Jeffers - .384/.517/.648 (1.165), 35-91 with nine doubles, four homers and 16 RBI. The Twins used their second-round draft pick on UNC-Wilmington catcher Ryan Jeffers. He signed quickly, and for under slot value, and was assigned to Elizabethton where he immediately started to rake. He had two hits in each of his first two games. Then he had three hits in his third game and four hits in his fourth game. In July he was tremendous. As you can see from the numbers. He hit for average. He took a ton of walks and got on base over half of the time. In fact, he had 21 walks to go with just 17 strikeouts during July. And, he provided a lot of power. He moved up to Cedar Rapids late in July. He went 2-for-19 in his first five games with the Kernels. However, in the final two games of the month, he went 4-for-4 with a walk,three doubles and a homer, and then 3-for-5 with another double and another home run. While he’s known more for his bat, Jeffers also was behind the plate for Jhoan Duran’s Kernels debut on Monday night in which he threw seven, no-hit innings. He’s got work to do behind the plate, but his bat will play. As you have read, there were a lot of strong candidates for July hitter of the month, probably even a few behind the Top 5 who might win this award with their numbers in many months. But Ryan Jeffers ended his month very strong after his promotion to the Midwest League and earned this month’s Hitter of the Month award. We would like to congratulate Ryan Jeffers, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for July 2018. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions.

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Monday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS At the big league level, the Twins traded LHP Zach Duke to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two minor leaguers, RHP Chase De Jong and IF Ryan Costello. Addison Reed’s rehab with the Red Wings is complete and he has been reinstated to the Twins roster. Also, the Twins traded RHP Lance Lynn to the New York Yankees in exchange for 1B/OF Tyler Austin and RHP Luis Rijo. Austin was in Rochester with Scranton/Wilkes Barre, though he was scratched from the game. RHP Ryne Harper has been promoted from Chattanooga to Rochester. He spent some time with the Red Wings earlier in the season. Twins Daily has also been able to confirm that RHP Tyler Wells has been promoted to AA Chattanooga, though the move won’t be made official until Tuesday. OF Tyler Webb was returned from Elizabethton to the GCL Twins. AWARDS Along with being named the Southern League Player of the Week honors, Brent Rooker was also named the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Week for the third time this season. He hit .467 with four doubles,, three homers and nine RBI. Got on base 55.6% of the time in his seven games. Donny Breek was named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week. The 18-year-old from The Netherlands made two starts in the GCL and went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in nine innings. He gave up just three hits, walked four and struck out 13 batters. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 4 Box Score This game started way back on June 24th, but it rained and was suspended until today. It ended in dramatic fashion at home plate on Monday. Dietrich Enns started and went four innings back in June. He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks. When action started again on Monday, Tyler Duffey took the mound. The right-hander threw four scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He walked one and struck out three batters. Luke Bard worked the ninth inning and walked one and struck out one. While Enns is no longer with the Red Wings, neither is Jake Cave who homered in the first inning of this game in June. Also, Wynston Sawyer started behind the plate and was replaced by Cameron Rupp who has since been released. Finally, Zack Granite started in left field, but he is currently on the disabled list. The RailRiders had five of their starters who are no longer with the team as well. The beauty of a suspended game. On this day, Willians Astudillo hit a solo home run. Down 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Kennys Vargas walked. Edgar Corcino came to the plate as a pinch-hitter and delivered with an RBI double. Tommy Kahnle came on and Gregorio Petit greeted him with a single to left, but Corcino was thrown out at the plate to end the game. New Twins 1B/OF was scratched from the Scranton/Wilkes Barre roster, and as you now know, traded. All he had to do was walk over to the other dugout. However, when this game started back in late June, Austin had hit a home run for the RailRiders. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1024130673148407808 Game 2 - Rochester 1, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 0 (8 innings) Box Score Kohl Stewart and Chance Adams put together a pretty impressive pitcher’s duel in this game. Stewart threw seven shutout innings. He gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out four batters. Adams, however, had a no-hitter going until the seventh inning when Gregorio Petit broke it up with a single to start the seventh, but the team was unable to break the scoreless tie. Nick Anderson struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning. Adams went back out for the bottom of the eighth. With one out in the inning, and the automatic runner (Taylor Motter) at third base after a ground out to first base, two batters were intentionally walked to load the bases. Joel Skinner had Jeremy Hazelbaker pinch hit for Byron Buxton (who was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts), and Hazelbaker singled in Motter with the winning run. It was just the second hit of the game for the Red Wings. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1024114374967881728 CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Tennessee 0 Box Score Four pitchers combined for the Lookouts to shut out Tennessee 3-0. Williams Ramirez went the first two innings. Sean Poppen came on and went the next five innings. Then Tyler Jay and Cody Stashak each threw a scoreless inning to finish the job. The Lookouts scored all three of their runs in the third inning. Jordan Gore started the inning with a single. He scored on a Tanner English double. English then scored on a single by Zander Wiel. Later in the inning, Chris Paul knocked in the third run with a single to score Brent Rooker, who had walked. English led the offense with two doubles. He now has 13 doubles on the season. Mitchell Kranson also had two hits in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers Box Score No Game Scheduled. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 0 Box Score You never get a second chance to make a first impression. At least that’s what “they” say. Well, if it’s true, then Jhoan Duran made about as strong of a first impression that a 20-year-old starting pitcher can make in a new minor league system. Duran came to the Twins organization over the weekend from the Diamondbacks in the Eduardo Escobar trade. On this night, he threw seven no-hit, one-walk innings. He struck out eight batters and really didn’t have much struggle on the night. Jared Finkel kept the no-hitter alive through the eighth inning. However, with two outs in the ninth inning, he gave up a solid single between third base and the shortstop. One batter later, the Kernels settled for a one-hit shutout. Duran needed just 92 pitches to get through seven innings. He improved to 6-4 with a 4.27 ERA. (Included his numbers with Kane County because they are in the same league.) Duran got plenty of offense in support, but their number three and number four hitters led the way. Jose Miranda batted third. He got the team off to a fast start in the first inning with a three-run homer, his 12th of the season. In his next at-bat, he added an RBI single, and in his third at bat, an RBI double. He went 3-for-5. The double was his 22nd of the year. Beyond catching the one-hitter, cleanup hitting Ryan Jeffers came into the game having just two hits in his first five games (19 at- bats). In this game, he went 4-for-4 with a walk, his first three doubles, his first home run and three RBI. Michael Davis went 2-for-4 with his second Kernels double. And in case you were wondering, it does appear that Duran and Finkel are still on good terms... https://twitter.com/jaredfinkel17/status/1024124836963069952 E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton Box Score No game scheduled. GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 0 (7 innings - rain) Box Score The Twins got a terrific start from Prelander Berroa. The right-hander gave up just three hits over the first five innings. He walked one and struck out four to earn his first win. Dylan Stowell was credited with a save. He struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. The offense wasn't as impressive, but it was just enough. 2017 ninth-round pick Willie Joe Garry, Jr., singled in Kidany Salva with the game’s lone run. Garry also stole his fourth base of the season. Gabe Snyder, a 2017 21st-round pick, had the only other hit, his sixth double. Also, big Congratulations to GCL Twins manager Dan Ramsay who became a father for the third time over the weekend. He and his wife named the baby Carew. https://twitter.com/skipper_rams/status/1023647076561952769 STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Ryan Jeffers, Cedar Rapids Kernels (4-4, BB, 3-2B, HR, 3 RBI). Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Jhoan Duran, Cedar Rapids Kernels (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that this Prospect Summary has been updated. #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-4 | 0-3, K #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - No Game Scheduled. #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-3, BB, R #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, 2BB, 2 R, K #9 -Wander Javier - out of for the season #10 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch #11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch. #12 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-3, BB, 2B | 0-2, BB #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - No Game Scheduled #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Rained out. #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - No Game Scheduled #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - will have surgery on his wrist soon. Out for season #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Cedar Rapids) - 4-4, BB, 3-2B(3), HR(1), R, 3 RBI #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - 1-4 #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 3-5, 2B(22), HR(12), 5 RBI, 2 R, K *I figured that since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. Also, here are the new guys: Jorge Alcala (Chattanooga) - on Disabled List Ernie De La Trinidad (Ft. Myers) - No game scheduled Gabriel Maciel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, BB, 2 R, 2 K Jhoan Duran (Cedar Rapids) - 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (92 pitches, 59 strikes) Gilberto Celestino (Elizabethton) - No game scheduled TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (2-3, 2.95 ERA) Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00 CST) - LHP Dietrich Enns (0-5, 6.00 ERA) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (0-1, 11.57 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina (4-3, 3.06 ERA) Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday games, or ask any questions you may have.

The Twins acquired starting pitcher Chase De Jong, a 24-year-old, who has started 21 games for the Mariners' AA affiliate. He's 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA. In 120 2/3 innings, he has walked 34 and struck out 89. He has already pitched in the Blue Jays (2012-15), Dodgers (2015-16) systems, as well as the Mariners the last three seasons. He was originally the Blue Jays second-round pick in 2012. Infielder Ryan Costello is the other player acquired for Duke. The 22-year-old has hit .266 with 24 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs for Class A Clinton in the Midwest League where he was managed by Denny Hocking. He was the Mariners 31st round pick last June out of Central Connecticut University in New Britain, Connecticut. Zack Duke will head to the Mariners after a solid season with the Twins. The Twins will pay a small part of the remainder of Duke's 2018 contract. This evening, Duke posted the following to Twitter, thanking Twins fans and looking forward to Seattle. Soon after, Ryan Costello thanked the Mariners and says he's looking forward to joining the Twins.