Seth Stohs

Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Thursday, starting with the transactions of the day... well, after a Misael Urbina update from the DSL. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1136773288678612992 TRANSACTIONS Catcher Brian Navarreto was activated from the injured list. Mitchell Kranson was released by the Twins. AWARDS Trevor Larnach was named the Florida State League Player of the Month for May. Probably no surprise as he was named the hitter of the week twice during the month. Hard to argue, though we at Twins Daily named his teammate Lewin Diaz the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month, with Larnach finishing a close second. Also, we finished our May Minor League Awards by announcing that Hector Lujan was the choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month. ALL-STARS On Thursday, the Southern League announced their All-Stars. Six members of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos made the South Division team. They are RHP Brusdar Graterol, Griffin Jax, Ryan Mason, C Caleb Hamilton, 2B Travis Blankenhorn and OF Jaylin Davis. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 9, Syracuse 0 Box Score Sean Poppen has moved up and down from Pensacola to Rochester a couple of times this season, but after a start like Thursday night’s, he just might stick. The right-hander from Harvard tossed seven shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out eight. Jake Reed got the final six outs, four of them on strikeouts. The Red Wings got offense from a bunch of people - all nine starters had at least one hit - but Jake Cave stayed hot. The outfielder went 4-for-5 in this game with four doubles. In his last three games, he has eight hits. Jordany Valdespin went 2-for-5 with his fifth home runs. Zander Wiel added his ninth homer. Tomas Telis went 2-for-4 with his eighth double. Brent Rooker went 2-for-5. BLUE WAHOO BITES Before we get to the double-header, but we're just going to start with Jimmy Kerrigan, who did this: https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1136845322506735682 Game 1 - Pensacola 2, Jacksonville 0 Box Score Andro Cutura has had a rocky start to his 2019 season, his first at Double-A. But on Thursday, he was fantastic. The right-hander threw six shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out two batters. Sam Clay worked a scoreless seventh inning for his fifth save. Michael Davis connected for his first Double-A home run since his promotion from Cedar earlier in the week. It gave the Wahoos a 1-0 lead in the second inning. In the third, Travis Blankenhorn scored on an error. That was all the scoring. Jimmy Kerrigan went 2-or-3. https://twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall/status/1136801569473794050 Game 2 - Pensacola 11, Jacksonville 4 Box Score The bottom of the Wahoos lineup led them to a big Game 2 win. A four-run fourth inning was followed by a five-run fifth inning. The six through nine hitters combined to go 6-for-11 with seven runs on nine RBI. Sixth-place hitter Caleb Hamilton went 2-for-3 with his 11th double and fifth homer. He drove in three runs. Next up was Michael Davis. After hitting his first homer in Game 1, he hit his first two triples in Double-A. Brian Navarreto drove in two runs with his second home run, and nine-hole hitter Joe Cronin hit a two-run homer. It was his third Double-A homer. It was a bullpen game for Pensacola. Anthony Vizcaya got them off to a fast start. He needed just 42 pitches to get through three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out six batters. Williams Ramirez came on and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk in his inning. Cody Stashak gave up two runs over his two innings. Zack Weiss pitched a scoreless final frame and struck out two. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Florida 4 Box Score Jordan Balazovic was really good again on Thursday night and improved to 4-0 since joining the Miracle a month ago. In this one, he started with five scoreless innings. He did give up a run in the sixth frame, so his final line had him giving up one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Calvin Faucher gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits over two innings. Melvi Acosta pitched in another different role. This time he was the closer and came on for the final four outs to record his first save. He struck out two. Royce Lewis led off and led the way for the offense. He went 3-for-5 with his 13th double. Ernie De La Trinidad also had three hits, including a triple. Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 12th double. Lewin Diaz added his 11th home run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Clinton 0 (10 innings) Box Score For the second straight night, there wasn’t much scoring in Clinton, but the Kernels were able to scratch one across in the top of the tenth to take a 1-0 win. Wander Javier came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the tenth and grounded into a fielder’s choice. The out was made at third base while the runner, Ricky De La Torre, crossed home plate. Jared Akins went 2-for-4. Gilberto Celestino had a single and a walk. The story, of course, was on the mound where Kernels starters struck out 15 batters over 10 shutout innings. Kody Funderburk made the start and worked five scoreless, one-hit innings. He struck out seven without a walk. Alex Schick came on and tossed two scoreless innings. Derek Molina followed with four strikeouts over the next two innings. Zack Neff came on for the bottom of the 10th inning and kept the LumberKings from scoring. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Sean Poppen, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jake Cave, Rochester Red Wings PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 3-5, 2B(13), R, RBI #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured List (shoulder) #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, RBI #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 2-5, RBI, 2K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch. #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch. #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List (Tommy John surgery) #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 1-5, R, RBI, 2B(8) #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List (elbow) #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Game 1 (0-3, 2K), Game 2 (1-4, R, K) #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (thumb) #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, BB, K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-5, 2B(6), R, 2 RBI, 2K #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 2-3, BB, 2B(12), R, RBI FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (DH @ 4:05 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart (4-3, 3.95 ERA), TBD Pensacola @ Biloxi (6:35 CST) - LHP Charlie Barnes (0-0, 3.60 ERA) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:00 CST) - RHP Jhoan Duran (0-5, 3.61 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Palm (1-4, 4.75 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games or any other minor league topics you would like.

Before we get to our Top 4 relievers in the Twins system in May, here are several Honorable Mentions. Adam Bray - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 9 G, 2.53 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 17 H, 4 BB, 22 K Sam Clay - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 10 G, 1.10 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 18 K Zach Neff - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 8 G, 1.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 22 K THE TOP FOUR RELIEF PITCHERS #4 - Derek Molina - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 7 G, 0.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 19 K Molina was the Twins 14th-round pick in 2017 out of Merced College where he was a two-way player. He was the team’s shortstop and pitched as well. The Twins liked his arm a lot and drafted him as a pitcher only. He throws hard and has a good breaking ball. After a slow start to his season, Molina was fantastic in May. Opponents hit just .167/.255/.190 (.446). When he throws strikes consistently, good things happen. #3 - Tom Hackimer - Ft. Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 7 H, 6 BB, 20 K After four seasons at St. Johns, Hackimer was the Twins fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. He was promoted fairly quickly and even pitched in the Arizona Fall League. However, he was sidelined by injury through much of 2018 and his season ended early with a biceps surgery. He returned in 2019 and has been great. He began with the Miracle, however, after one May outing, he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola where he remained nearly unhittable. Opponents hit just .156/.296/.156 (.452) off of him in the month. He had 20 strikeouts in just 13 1/3 innings and he could advance another level this season. #2 - Anthony Vizcaya - Ft. Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 7 G, 1.59 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB,14 K Vizcaya is potentially one of those feel-good stories that we all enjoy so much. He was originally signed in 2011 by Cleveland. He was in their organization through the 2014 season, peaking in the advanced rookie New York-Penn League. And then he was out of affiliated baseball until the Twins signed him this spring. He pitched some in the Venezuelan Winter League, but not a lot. However, he throws hard and has proven it was worth a shot for the Twins. He began the season in Ft. Myers and was promoted to Double-A Pensacola late in May. For the month, opponents hit just .160/.189/.200 (.389) off of the right-hander. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Ft. Myers Miracle – RHP Hector Lujan - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 16 K Lujan was the Twins 35th-round pick in 2015 out of Division III Westmont College in California where he teamed with the Twins 32nd-round pick that year, Andrew Vasquez. Lujan has really improved since signing with the Twins. He now has a fastball that reaches to 95-96 mph and much improved breaking pitches. He took off late in the 2017 season when he became the Cedar Rapids closer and led the organization in saves. He was also the recipient of the 2017 Harmon Killebrew Award for Community Service for Cedar Rapids. He pitched well in 2018 in Ft. Myers. He posted a 2.64 ERA over 71 2/3 innings. Almost inexplicably, he remains with the Miracle. Through another 36 2/3 innings this year, he has a 2.21 ERA. In May, opponents hit just .151/.179/.219 (.398) against him. He walked three batters in the month, and all three were intentional. There were some really solid relief pitcher performances in May throughout the Twins minor league system.There were several players with 0.00 ERAs. It was a good month for each of these pitchers mentioned today. Congratulations to Hector Lujan, the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May 2019.