Seth Stohs

Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Friday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Fernando Romero was optioned by the Twins on Sunday, before the All- Star Game. On Friday, they announced that infielder Taylor Motter will take his spot on the roster. Miguel Sano has returned from the Dominican Republic and has been moved up to Rochester to continue his work. Ryan Eades was placed on the Chattanooga disabled list. LHP Bryan Sammons was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. RHP Derek Molina was promoted from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Norfolk 7 Box Score Ervin Santana is getting close. Dan Hayes noted that the plan for this start was for him to work six innings or 90 pitches. Well, the right-hander went six innings and only needed 66 pitches. He gave up just one run on two hits. One of the hits was a solo home off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. He walked three and struck out one. Luke Bard came on and was able to record just two outs. He was charged with five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter. He did strike out one. Jake Reed came on and gave up one run on three hits over the final 2 1/3 innings. Juan Graterol led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with his third Red Wings double. Gregorio Petit went 1-for-2 and walked three times. Alex Perez came into the game having gone 0-for-4 over his first two Red Wings games. In this one, he went 3-for-5. Edgar Corcino added his second Rochester home run. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Mobile 2 Box Score When you look at the final score, it might be hard to believe that this was a 3-2 ball game entering the eighth inning. The Lookouts responded with a six-run eighth inning to make it a laugher. Zander Wiel led the way. He got the Lookouts going with his fifth home run of the year. The next batter, Brent Rooker, followed with his 17th home run of the season. Wiel had the big blow of the eighth inning too as he knocked a grand slam to put the game out of reach. It was his sixth homer of the year and gave him five RBIs in this game. Brian Navarreto had the big hit in the eighth frame. His two-run double gave the Lookouts a 5-2 lead before the grand slam. Paco Rodriguez, a reliever, made his second start of the week. He worked a scoreless first inning. Sean Poppen then came in and gave up just one run over the next 5 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out four. Todd Van Steensel came on and recorded just one out. He walked two batters. Of his 14 pitches, just three of them were strikes. Williams Ramirez came on and allowed two of three inherited runners to score before getting the final out. Ryne Harper came on and threw two zeroes on the board. Wiel continues his impressive, breakout season. He went 2-for-5 with his fifth and sixth homers and five RBI. Brent Rooker went 1-for-3 with two walks and his 17th home run. Mitchell Kranson went 2-for-4 with a walk and his third and fourth Lookout doubles. Jordan Gore went 1-for-2 with two walks. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Lakeland 6 Box Score The Miracle fell behind 4-0 after three innings,but a seven-run fourth was followed with a four-run fifth, and the Miracle came away with a nice win. Of course, the Twins top three prospects were very much involved in this game. Fair to say that Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff have adjusted well to the Florida State League and on this night both contributed mightily. Brusdar Graterol started and gave up four runs in the first three innings, but he gave up only those four runs over his six innings on the night. He gave up five hits, walked three and struck out seven. Colton Davis gave up an unearned run in his two innings, and Alex Robinson finished the ninth by giving up a run on a couple of hits. Having already scored four in their half of the fourth inning, a new pitcher was brought in and Royce Lewis greeted him with his first Miracle home run, a three-run shot. In the following inning, Lewis’s two-run single was the big hit. Lewis went 2-for-5 in the game with the home run and five RBIs. https://twitter.com/MattLessig/status/1020462492789637121 Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-5 with his seventh and eighth doubles with the Miracle. Taylor Grzelakowski was 3-for-5 with his 15th double. Ben Rortvedt went 2-for-4 with a walk and drove in two runs. Here’s another view of the Lewis home run… https://twitter.com/teejbaseball/status/1020464129814007808 KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Great Lakes 0 Box Score Bailey Ober has been almost unhittable of late. The tall right-hander had another terrific, dominant start on Friday night. He threw eight scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out 12. Over his past three starts, he has gone a combined 21 2/3 innings and struck out 34 while walking just two batters. He’s also given up just one run over that time. Ricky Ramirez came on for the final inning. He recorded his first Kernels save by striking out two batters in a perfect inning. The Kernels didn’t put together a lot of offense. In fact, they had just four hits. In the top of the eighth, Jose Miranda doubled to score Michael Davis and give the game its only run. Miranda went 2-for-3 and the double was his 21st of the season E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton 9, Greeneville 11 Box Score What a tough way to lose a game!! Down by two going into the bottom of the ninth, the first two hitters for Elizabethton reached base. Greeneville made a pitching change, and with Alex Robles at the plate - already with three hits - and a 2-0 count when the rains came down. Players were pulled off the field, and they never returned. What could have been? We’ll never know, but I wouldn’t put anything past this Twins offense. They had big days from a lot of players. Yeltsin Encarnacion made his second appearance in an E-Twins lineup, and he went 4-for-5 with a walk and a double out of the second spot in the lineup. Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-5 with a walk. Alex Robles went 3-for-5. Trevor Larnach was 2-for-4 with two walks and two RBIs. Trevor Casanova had two hits, including his eighth double. Slugger Chris Williams went 0-for-1, but he walked five times ahead of Larnach. The E-Twins fell behind very early. Carlos Suniaga started and recorded just two outs. He gave up six runs (five earned) on four hits. He walked three and struck out one. Blair Lakso came on and threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings to continue an impressive streak for him. He walked three and struck out four. Juan Gamez was charged with four runs on six hits and four walks over his three innings. He struck three out. Tanner Howell worked the final two innings and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He struck out two. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1020474701695643648 GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score Landon Leach made the start and the right-hander gave up three runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Denny Bentley came on and got the next four outs. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one. Tyler Benninghoff worked a perfect inning in relief. Dylan Stowell struck out three over three hitless innings. He walked two. Victor Tademo had two of the Twins’ seven hits. He also stole his second base. Erick Rivera drove in two runs with his first professional double. Rivera is the youngest player on the GCL Twins’ roster. He wont turn 18 until mid-November. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1018225977237876736 STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Zander Wiel, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-5, 2 HR(6), 5 RBIs) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Bailey Ober, Cedar Rapids Kernels (8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 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) - 2-5, HR(1), 5 RBI, R, 2 K In case you needed one more, here is Alex Kirilloff’s dad’s video of Lewis’s first FSL home run. He kept it rolling long enough to show the Lewis/Kirilloff home run shake-dance-thing. https://twitter.com/kirilloff19/status/1020467871779106817 #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, 2-2B(8), R, K #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 7 K, (82 pitches, 49 strikes) #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-5 #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - 2-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI, K #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-3, 2 BB, HR(17), R, RBI, K #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 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) - 0-3, 2 BB #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, BB, R, 2 K #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch. #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, K #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - 1-4, 2 BB, 2 R #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - Did not play. #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Elizabethton) - 3-5, BB, R, RBI, K #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - 0-3, BB, K, RBI #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, BB, 2B(21), RBI *I figured that since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Norfolk @ Rochester (5:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (2-1, 2.04 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mobile (7:05 CST) - LHP Dietrich Enns (0-4, 6.00 ERA) Lakeland @ Ft.. Myers (5:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura (3-4, 4.28 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (1-2, 3.49 ERA) Princeton @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Friday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.

For today’s article, we are going to make the assumption that the Twins 9-2 homestand has pushed them from certain sellers to fairly inactive at the July 31 trade deadline. While it’s easy to say that the 2018 season has been disappointing, should we really be surprised? I mean, before the season started, their top pitcher from 2017, Ervin Santana, had surgery on his right middle finger and is yet to throw a big-league pitch this season. Jorge Polanco, their shortstop and their best hitter (arguably) over the final two months in 2017, was suspended for the first 80 games and returned just recently. Their catcher, Jason Castro, who had his best offensive season since 2013 in 2017, played just 19 games before needing season-ending knee surgery. Byron Buxton only got through a couple of weeks before he fought migraines. A quick rehab stint involved fouling a ball off his big toe which affected his swing and even cost him a little bit of speed. A year ago, he was the best defensive player in the American League. And Miguel Sano had his fair share off off the field issues this offseason to go along with having a rod put in his leg. Things didn’t go well for Sano right from the start. He struck out 66 times in 163 plate appearances. After 37 games, he was optioned. Not just to Rochester, but all the way to Ft. Myers where he remains. Joe Mauer was having another solid season, but in mid-May, he dove for a pop up and came up with a neck injury and concussion-like symptoms. He missed a month and it took him a week or ten days to get his bat back. Logan Morrison and Lance Lynn were terrific, mid-spring training signings. Fans were excited about the idea of adding Morrison, who hit 38 home runs for the Rays a year ago, and Lynn, who many projected to get a nine-digit contract in the offseason. The Twins signed the two of them for a combined $17.5 million for 2018. Lynn took six weeks to get anything going, through he’s been better of late. Morrison was awful in April, good in May, and has been really bad since June. He landed on the disabled list with a hip injury. Fernando Rodney had a rough first month, but he’s been fantastic since the calendar changed to May. Trevor Hildenberger also struggled in April but has been terrific since. Another free agent reliever signed was Addison Reed, who started the season very well, but he really struggled after being used a ton early. He is now on the DL with a triceps injury. Like Reed, Ryan Pressly and Zack Duke were used nearly daily early in the season. Pressly seems to have recovered from a brief hiccup, and Duke has actually been quite good. Now, if you would have known all of that, would you still expect this team to be above .500, or would you expect them to be about where they are? I mean, Eduardo Escobar moved to third base and filled in more than adequately for Sano. Ehire Adrianza replaced Eduardo Escobar who replaced Jorge Polanco at shortstop. Again, Adrianza performed as well as could be hoped or expected. But the upside isn’t there. With Buxton out, Max Kepler often moved to center field with Robbie Grossman in right field. While Kepler is decent in center,i t’s not the same as Bxton out there, and Grossman is nowhere near the defensive outfielder that Kepler is. Ryan LaMarre, a journeyman, performed as well as possibly could have been expected for a fifth outfielder forced into regular action. He was DFAd, and Jake Cave has been really good in center field and with the bat since Buxton’s rehab ended and he was optioned to Rochester. Mitch Garver has been just fine at the plate. He had some glaring issues behind the plate early in the season, but since the first month, his defense hasn’t - at least obviously - hurt the Twins. But replacing Castro with Wilson has been an obvious step down. We have often asked why Garver isn’t playing more. The drop from Joe Mauer to Logan Morrison defensively is clearly noticeable. Brian Dozier was hitting just .219/.303/.389 (.692) through the season’s first 85 games. He got hot over the team’s final eight games before the break. Hopefully that second-half dominance of Dozier that we’ve become accustomed to will show up through the rest of the season. Max Kepler has shown vast improvement against left-handers, but a quick look at his OPS+ over his past three seasons, he has been at 96, 95 and is at 97 in 2018. A little better, but at 25, it would be nice to see him have a strong second half. And hey, let’s not even talk about the base running miscues that have followed the Twins all season. Or the signing of Matt Belisle. Eddie Rosario should have been an All-Star. He’s been as good as it gets over the last 12 months. He’s clearly been the Twins MVP. Eduardo Escobar and all of his extra-base hits have been huge. Jose Berrios was the Twins’ All Star representative, and deservingly so. Kyle Gibson also was very good, continuing to show that the adjustments he made last August have paid off for him and the team. When the Twins begin the post-All-Star break on Friday, they will have about ten days to determine whether they are buyers, sellers, or if they will wait into the August waiver period to make trades in either direction. While they have probably played themselves out of contention for a Wild Card berth, they will have to play great the rest of the way to surpass Cleveland, though they will have plenty of head-to-head opportunity. Ervin Santana should be back by his next start. Polanco is back now and has already reminded us why we were excited about him coming in to spring training. Can Byron Buxton get back on the field in Rochester soon and get on a role and come back to the Twins? Can Miguel Sano continue to do the things asked of him in Ft. Myers, start displaying some power and get back to the Twins in time? There are so many questions for the Twins as the season continues. A year ago,the Twins were sellers at the trade deadline as their odds of making the playoffs dipped down as low as four-percent. Right now, the Twins odds of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs, is 2.4% The Twins come out of the All Star break with a ten-game road trip. They play three in Kansas City, three in Toronto and then four in Boston. The final two games of the month will be at home against Cleveland. The first half had some nice moments. Brian Dozier’s walk off grand slam was a fun way to end the half. There are reasons for Twins fans to have hope, but a lot will have to go right, and maybe more important, a lot will have to go right in the first ten days to determine the direction for the rest of the season.

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 Infielder Leonardo Reginnato was placed on the Rochester disabled list with a fracture in his left hand. Andy Wilkins was promoted from Chattanooga to Rochester. Also, Fernando Romero rejoined the Red Wings. Lewis Thorpe and Alex Kirilloff were removed from the temporary Inactive List of the Lookouts and Miracle, respectively. Infielder Yeltsin Encarnacion and RHP Tanner Howell have been promoted from the GCL Twins to the Elizabethton Twins. RHP Niklas Rimmel has moved from the E-Twins to the GCL. Finally, Miguel Sano was placed on the temporary inactive list. According to Twins farm director Jeremy Zoll, via Mike Berardino on Twitter, Sano has returned to the Dominican Republic due to a “family situation.” Obviously we wish Sano and his family the best. https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/1018982883179024384 In addition, Darren “Doogie” Wolfson tweeted that the plan was for Trevor Larnach to get to Elizabethton on Monday and make his pro debut with the E-Twins on Wednesday. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1018903564377317376 RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 13, Louisville 6 Box Score Zack Littell started and went just 4 1/3 innings. He was charged with five runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out five batters. Gabriel Moya recorded five outs, four of them on strikeouts. Trevor May struck out three over two scoreless innings. Nick Anderson gave up a solo homer in the ninth, but he struck out the other three batters he faced. LaMonte Wade went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. Taylor Motter went 2-for-4 with a walk, his fourth double and his second Red Wings homer. Kennys Vargas had two hits and a walk. Jordan Pacheco also had two hits. Andy Wilkins knocked a grand slam in his first game with the Red Wings. The 29-year-old Wilkins has big league time with the White Sox (2014) and the Brewers (2016). CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Game 1: Chattanooga 7, Montgomery 11 Box Score After completing just two innings on Sunday, these teams resumed the game on Monday. Sean Poppen had started on Sunday and threw two scoreless innings, striking out four. When play resumed Monday, lefty Dietrich Enns was on the mound. It didn’t go well. He was charged with eight earned runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked on and struck out one. Todd Van Steensel came on and was charged with three runs on three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. William Ramirez struck out two in a scoreless inning. Jaylin Davis led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and stole his second base. Luis Arraez went 2-for-5 with his first double. Tanner English went 2-for-4 with his 11th double. Jordan Gore had two hits, including his first AA double. Zander Wiel also had two hits. Game 2: Chattanooga 8, Montgomery 1 Box Score The regularly-scheduled game was just a seven inning affair. Jaylin Davis had another 3-for-4 game. Tanner English hit his third home run, driving in three runs. Alex Perez had a hit, a walk and was hit by a pitch. Jimmy Kerrigan and Jordan Gore each had two walks. It was a bullpen game for the Lookouts. Tyler Jay started and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and struck out two batters. Ryan Eades gave up one run over the next two innings. He struck out four. Lefties Sam Clay and Ryne Harper combined for three shutout innings. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, St. Lucie 4 Box Score Mark Contreras has been a pleasant surprise throughout the season, starting in Cedar Rapids and especially since moving up to Ft. Myers. On this night, he went 3-for-4 with his sixth home run and two RBIs. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-for-3 with a walk, his 17th double and three RBIs. Clark Beeker started and went 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Ryan Mason came on and gave up just two hits over 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He struck out two. Hector Lujan worked a scoreless inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Lake County 4 Box Score Randy Dobnak doing Randy Dobnak things. When the Kernels need innings, Dobnak provides them. He improved to 7-2 with seven solid innings. He was charged with three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Jared Finkel gave up a solo homer in the ninth innings, but he struck out three over the final two innings. Trey Cabbage was the subject of Steve Buhr’s article this week. The article talked about how well he’s been hitting on the road. Well, in this game, he went 3-for-5 with his 13th and 14th doubles. David Banuelos went 3-for-4 with his 12th double and three RBI. Jose Miranda, fresh off being named the Midwest League’s Player of the Week, went 3-for-4 with his 20th double. Ben Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a walk and his ninth and tenth doubles. Jean Carlos Arias went 2-for-4 with his 11th double. He also stole his sixth base. Ariel Montesino added his first double since joining the Kernels recently. E-TWINS E-TALK Elizabethton 4, Kingsport 14 Box Score After scoring in double digits in five of their last six games, the E-Twins had it done against them. Pedro Garcia started and gave up six runs on five hits and four walks over 2 1/3 innings. He struck out three. Seth Pinkerton came on and went the next 2 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on two hits and five walks. He struck out four. Juan Gamez then gave up just one run over the next 2 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two. Tanner Howell made his Appy League debut and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. Derek Molina walked two but got the final out. Ryan Jeffers and Alex Robles each went 2-for-4 with a walk. Chris Williams also had two hits. Yunior Severino hit his third home run of the season. GCL TWINS TALK GCL Twins 2, GCL Orioles 9 Box Score The Twins got a solid start from Prelander Berroa on Monday. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over the game’s first five innings. He struck out two. Petru Balan came on and gave up two runs on four hits and two walks over the next two innings. He struck out three. It was his seventh outing of the season, the first in which he gave up any runs. Dylan Stowell came on for the final two innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits. The Twins had six hits and four walks in the game. Agustin Marte went 2-for-4 with his first double of the season. Yeison Perez walked and hit his fifth double. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Jaylin Davis, Chattanooga Lookouts (6-8, R, 3 RBI, K) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Ryan Mason, Ft. Myers Miracle (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 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) - 1-4, R, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - Did not play. #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch. #4 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 1-5, 2B(10), 2 R, 2 K #5 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch. #6 - Trevor Larnach (Elizabethton) - Not playing yet. Could play by Wednesday (per Doogie) #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 0-5, 3 K #8 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, R, 3 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) - 3-4, BB, R, 2 RBI #13 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 2-3, BB, 2B(17), 3 RBI, K #14 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch. #15 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - Did not play. #16 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton) - 1-4, BB, HR(3), RBI, 2 R, 2 K #17 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, 3 K #18 - Ryan Jeffers (Elizabethton) - 2-4, BB, K, R #19 - Jacob Pearson (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, RBI SF, 3 K #20 - Luis Arraez (Chattanooga) - 2-9, 2B(1), R, RBI, K #21 - Jose Miranda (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2B(20), 2 R, *I figured that since Wander Javier is out, I’d add #21 to the list. TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (10:05 CST) - LHP Adalberto Mejia (5-2, 2.56 ERA) Chattanooga - No Game Scheduled St. Lucie @ Ft.. Myers (6:00 CST) - LHP Charlie Barnes (3-5, 3.19 ERA) Cedar Rapids - No Game Scheduled Elizabethton - No Game Scheduled GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.