Seth Stohs

Optimistic? Rooker late August Kirilloff June 2019.

It was a day full of close games and extra innings in the Twins minor league system. Two games went to extra innings. One game ended with a walk off in the bottom of the ninth inning. Alex Kirilloff and Brent Rooker continued to rake. And don’t forget you can Get To Know Elizabethton first baseman and 2018 eighth-round pick Chris Williams.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 Officially, Adalberto Mejia was called up to the Twins with Alan Busenitz being sent down to Rochester.Infielder Alex Perez has returned to the Chattanooga Lookouts. Also, infielder Chris Paul has been activated from the disabled list. RHP Cody Stashak was activated from the temporary Inactive List. RHP Todd Van Steensel was placed on the disabled list.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester Box Score No Game Scheduled. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Pensacola 3 Box Score Down 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Lookouts baseball found itself with a few heroes. Mitchell Kranson was called upon to pinch hit, and he hit a game-tying home run, his second since joining the Lookouts. Tanner English followed with a triple. After two batters were walked intentionally, Chris Paul provided the walk off single. Brent Rooker led the offense. The powerful slugger went 2-for-3 with his 18th home run of the season. Paul went 2-for-5 in the game. Jaylin Davis also went 2-for-5 on the night. It was Sam Clay’s turn to play the role of “Opener” on Monday night. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk in his inning. He struck out one. Anthony Marzi then came on and worked the next five innings. He gave up just one run despite five hits, three walks and a hit batter. He struck out four. Andrew Vasquez got five outs, two on strikeouts, and Ryne Harper struck out the one batter he faced. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Jupiter 12 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle began a road trip on Monday, and it was a ‘70s Road Trip… KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Lansing 2 Box Score The Kernels got another quality start from righty Randy Dobnak. He gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. Melvi Acosta came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. Unfortunately, the Kernels managed just two hits and two walks in the game. Andrew Bechtold hit his 16th doubles while Ariel Montesino knocked his second two-bagger. E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton , Princeton Box Score The doubleheader at Princeton was cancelled. Obviously with a short-season, there are fewer off days to make up games, so instead of postponing, they need to cancel them. GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 5 (10 innings) Box Score Another extra innings game for a Twins affiliate in Florida… Same result, unfortunately. The Twins scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning, but then gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning. Prelander Berroa started and gave up two runs on three hits over four innings. He walked four and struck out four. Niklas Rimmel, a 19-year-old from Germany, made his first pro appearance in the States. He gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Michael Montero gave up a hit and walked one but did not allow a run over his two innings. JT Perez came on and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits over 1 2/3 innings. He struck out two. Osiris German came on and gave up a home run that ended the game. Gabe Snyder led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his fourth double. LaRon Smith and Janigson Villalobos both went 1-for-3 with two walks. Smith added his first double. Hunter Lee added his first GCL double, and Willie Joe Garry, Jr., added his third double. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Alex Kirilloff, Ft. Myers Miracle (3-4, BB, 3-2B(11). Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Randy Dobnak, Cedar Rapids Kernels (6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 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) - 1-6, 2B(3), 3 RBI, R, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, 3-2B(11), #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch. #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Did not play. #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - Did not play #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 2-3, 2 BB, HR(18), K, R, RBI #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, 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) - Did not play. #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2 R, 2 K #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch. #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, R, K #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - Did not play #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - 0-2 #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Elizabethton) - Did not play. #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - Did not play. #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - Did not play. #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4 *I figured that since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves (6-3. 3.34 ERA) Pensacola @ Chattanooga (7:05 CST) - TBD Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 CST) - LHP Charlie Barnes (4-5, 2.93 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (1-2, 3.49 ERA) Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - LHP Kody Funderburk (0-0, 3.55 ERA) GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

Here is the Baseball America article I read in this awhile back... Though I'm certain there are similar articles out there too. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/where-are-they-now-mark-davidson/

About six weeks ago, the Minnesota Twins used their eighth round draft pick to select Chris Williams, a catcher out of Clemson. Recently, Twins Daily caught up with the slugger who already has nine home runs for the Elizabethton Twins in 2018. Take a few minutes to get to know one of the newest intriguing Minnesota Twins prospects.Chris Williams grew up in Southern California. Following high school, he spent a year at a junior college before heading across the country to play in South Carolina at a big-time Division 1 school. He played first base and third base. In 2017, he was the Tigers’ catcher. This spring, the team need was for him at first base, and that is the position that he has played for the Elizabethton Twins. Thank you to Chris Williams for taking time to respond to our questions. Please feel free to discuss and ask more questions in our comment section below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Southern California, who was your favorite team to follow? Who were some of your favorite players? Chris Williams (CW): My favorite team was the Angels. I went to countless games growing up and have memories since I was a little kid watching the Angels play. Growing up my favorite Angel players were Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero. SS: What were some of the better memories of your high school baseball career? Did you play other sports or were you involved in other activities? CW: When i look back at high school and think of the times I had the most fun and enjoyed baseball, it was when i was playing high school baseball with some of my best friends and not taking baseball too seriously at a level that is meant to be both competitive but fun. It was fun having all my friends in the stands and hanging out with them after the games. SS: What were a couple of your highlights from your three college years at Clemson? CW: It’s not my highlight, but a highlight that always sticks out to me is winning the ACC Championship in 2016. That was one of the the coolest moments of my baseball career and is something I will never forget. Also, hitting a home run in our regional. Our fans did a great job of supporting us, and it was an amazing feeling to hit a home run in that environment. SS: What was the recruitment process like for you out of high school, and was there any question that you wanted to go to Clemson? CW: I actually didn’t have any D1 offers out of high school. I went to a junior college in Huntington Beach, California, named Golden West College for a year. After my freshman year, I decided to leave and pursue going to a four-year, D1 college. It was a lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time because I really didn’t have Clemson in my mind for a school I wanted to go to. I mean I just didn’t think that was an opportunity. However, 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. SS: Did you have the chance to speak with many scouts before the draft? What was your interaction with the Twins scout? CW: I spoke with a few, but I was getting ready for a regional and didn’t want to concern myself too much with the draft. So I let my agent handle most of the calls. The scout that drafted me was Matt Williams, and I only spoke briefly with him. He has been a great help with this whole transition, and I am grateful for the opportunity. SS: The Twins took you in the eighth round. How did you find out that you had been drafted? How busy was your phone at that moment? CW: I was out eating lunch with my dad and some of my best friends when I started getting a lot of calls from different teams asking if this amount was OK and stuff like that. I thought I was going to get picked by another team when the Twins called and said they had taken me in the eighth round. It was a great feeling to have my name called and to have some of my best friends and my dad right there to celebrate with me. SS: What has the adjustment been like for you so far, from the college game to the professional game, both on and off the field? CW: I mean, immediately, playing every day has been an adjustment. In college, you only played four games a week, plus a mandatory day off. Also, you can take it easy at practice before a big weekend. Here, you play games every day, and you can’t check out mentally because every at-bat matters. You don’t want to throw at-bats away. Also, everyone is good at this level. Every at bat is a battle and the game is slightly faster. SS: You have put up strong power numbers in Elizabethton. Are you at all surprised to have experienced such success already, and what do you think has been the biggest reason for the success? CW: I’m definitely a little pleasantly surprised because I didn’t really have any expectations for this summer. I was just excited to get my feet wet and told myself to focus on the process because this is all going to be a brand new transition and I didn’t want to get overwhelmed. However, I trusted that my experiences in college would get me ready for my future in professional baseball and so far I feel like it has. SS: At this very early stage in your career, what would you say are your biggest strengths? CW: We play cards everyday, and I’m really good at 13. Best player in the clubhouse. SS: What are the areas of your game that you would like to spend time working to improve? CW: : My arm. I’m still coming back from shoulder surgery and it is definitely something I need to improve upon. SS: What do you have planned for the offseason? What was your major in school? CW: I plan on going back to Clemson this offseason and train there. They have great facilities where I can work out and train for the next season. In college, I was a business management major. Don’t ask me “”What do you plan on doing with it?” because I still have no clue. SS: Who are some of the people who have helped you get to this point in your career? CW: Two people who have helped me tremendously are my dad and my head coach at Clemson, Monte Lee. The reason I even had the opportunity to go to Clemson and pursue a professional career is because of my dad. He raised me to work hard and be humble in the process. I’ve had to work hard for everything I’ve achieved and I wouldn’t be that way without my dad. Coach Lee has been a huge role model for me the past three years. His passion and determination are unmatched, and it was a pleasure to play under him. He’s an outstanding coach but a better teacher. He made sure his players left Clemson ready for the real world. I believe most players were ready, and it was thanks to him. SS: Favorite baseball movie? CW: Bull Durham and Everybody Wants Some Again, a big Thank You to Chris Williams for taking time to answer our questions here. Williams and the Elizabethton Twins travel to Burlington, North Carolina, for their next series. Click here to view the article

Yup, I would assume that the others will just get pushed back until through Saturday's spot. So much going on in the Twins minor league system besides just the top three prospects (who have been very good). Zander Wiel is on fire. Gonsalves ERA over the last six starts is crazy, despite the walks. Bailey Ober has been dominant in Cedar Rapids. Hopefully people are reading the Minor League Reports every day and night and asking a lot of questions because a lot get answered in the comments each day too. As for Lance Lynn, I can't watch anymore. I'll find something streaming or do something besides watch him pitch.

I think all four of them, plus Busenitz and Anderson can all be useful MLB arms. Just need an opportunity and some time. It's been unfortunate that wen Busenitz has had opportunity this year, he's hung some sliders, a bunch of them, and hasn't been able to gain the confidence of the manager (understandably so).

Wiel was the TD Hitter of the month in April. Tom did a big article on him in January. Parker analyzed his swing last year sometime. He's a hitter. That's the one tool that could get him to the big leagues.

He's doing what he needs to be doing. He's lost a bunch of weight, and he's working on taking more pitches to better understand the strike zone again. The rest will come with time.

I'd doubt it. He's only been in AA for like a month. Lots of other relievers that they need to make decisions on that need to get the call. Vasquez tops out at about 91, 92, but he's got a great slider.

I think I'd try the bullpen first. The front office/scouts must have seen something in order to make him the #2 piece in the Garcia trade. Maybe it's a curveball.I don't know. Nothing looks spectacular. But I'd consider getting Tyler Wells up to AA to make starts and move Enns to the bullpen.

No need to eat crow or alter much opinion on 2018 rookies yet. Plenty of time for that. .400/.500 is obviously fantastic. But it's 30 games. Likely if he played another 30, they'd come down some. That said, totally on board with him moving up and continuing to catch a couple of times a week and mostly DH.

Yup, he's got his month worth of "adjustment" completed, so absolutely.

They signed Helman, Mack and Sands (and maybe LaRon Smith) all on the last possible day (July 6th).

Chris Williams has played only 1B for the E-Twins so far. He told me earlier today that he played 1B/3B as a sophomore at Clemson, caught as a junior and played 1B this year. And yes, Rene Leveret. He has been an indy league star the last bunch of years.

There really isn't that big of a weight difference. Wells lost about 35-40 pounds over the offseason. I don't know what he's at now,but probably in that 225-230 range.

Blogging started in May of 2003 (so yes, pre-Mauer)... focus on the minor leagues probably more 12-13 years ago. Miranda has been tremendous since May 19. In 58 games since then, he's hitting .324/.366/.516 (.882) with 17 doubles, a triple and eight homers. 13 walks, but just 27 strikeouts (9%). Wiel is all about hitting. He's had a really nice year, but as it relates to the 40-man roster, I just don't think he's the type of player that typically needs to be added or gets taken. For him, his value is offense, and he just hasn't demonstrated a lot of power yet the way Rooker has. Wiel is a guy who might be able to play in the big leagues and be a solid player, so I guess if the right team wanted, he could be taken. May sound strange, but Graterol could be the first of the group called up, maybe as early as mid-2019. Lewis and Kirilloff could be too, but obviously that depends on things like the Dozier situation, Nick Gordon/Jorge Polanco play and how they may determine how much they want to rush Lewis. Obviously the Twins ave their Rosario/Buxton/Kepler trio in the outfield, and Jake Cave has made an impression and LaMonte Wade and Zack Granite are at AAA. Rooker could get some corner outfield time. So again, the Twins shouldn't feel like they need to rush Kirilloff either. That said, IF the Twins are in playoff contention and they feel those guys can help them get to the playoffs, then I think there is a chance for any of them depending upon need. If the Twins aren't in contention, then there is no reason to push them up. Of course, if they continue to dominate all the way up and force their way into the lineup/rotation, they'll make room.

Ober will climb. No doubt. Leach will be fine. Dude throws really hard and has secondary pitches. But, they drafted him knowing he was a big arm that they needed to show a lot of patience with. He's very raw. He's only been pitching for about two years now. He had always been a catcher. So, no surprise he's moving slowly and no surprise he's found some struggles.

I may have to do some digging. I don't know that I get the whole concept. I looked at the Mobile lineup and their first three hitters were right-handed Rodriguez is left-handed, so they weren't trying to get a matchup advantage in doing it.

He could move up a bunch. If healthy, he's always been good. What makes him so intriguing to me is that he was the national pitcher of the year his freshman year at the College of Charleston. But then there was Tommy John surgery and he struggled to come back and fought a few other injuries since then. Even this spring, he hyper-extended his knee doing some PFP work. But when healthy, he's 6-8 and has really good stuff... So yeah, I can see him bumping up into the Top 30 or so. Here's the story I did on Ober in the offseason. http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/get-to-know-twins-rhp-prospect-bailey-ober-r6363

I was watching a AAA game in spring training, and a Twins official was standing by me. I said to him that I loved watching Alex Perez approach a plate appearance. Such a professional hitter. Not a big guy, so no power, but knows and controls the strike zone so well. Very good defender at the two middle infield positions too.

Eades is a bullpen guy, but I could see either of those guys called up at some point.

In prospect rankings? Probably not a lot, maybe a few spaces. No one is surprised that he's hitting well at E-Town. Defense is his question mark and that won't be answered in the short-season. Also, lots of great talent ahead of him still.

Why the drop for Jose Miranda? He's been fantastic and is filled with potential?