Seth Stohs

Defining character shouldn't be this hard. The comments of this article should be about how good these guys are. Maybe when they'll move up to Ft. Myers or when they''ll get to the big leagues. Maybe some questions about the things they could be working on. But instead we're discussing "'character" as if it's some negative thing... I'm in awe...

I'm comfortable with character...

Yup, and it was mentioned by their manager and by each other, and in talking to several others about them. It's part of who they are and it's important. Like I noted, it's one part of the picture. Lewis wasn't the #1 overall pick because of his character... it was because of his talent, but the character definitely was a big factor as well.

I think they'll both move up to the Florida State League in the next few weeks and see increased talent in that league. And then they are probably even likely to go to the AFL. The talent there is a split between High-A and AA players.

I don't think he's slipping down the pecking order at all. I haven't seen that. He's in the same place he was when the season started in terms of pecking order I would think, and he moved up a level. As for the bad start last night... happens. He's had two rough starts and the rest have been pretty much fantastic. And yeah... that wouldn't go well...

Not Steve, but i would just call this a very nice start for Thorpe and leave it at that. He's talented. That's why he's on the 40-man, but he's not a future Ace right now, so he's going to struggle, at least until he has some more control and more important, some command. It'd be nice to see him put together a stretch of something like five out of six good starts. He'll be fine, I think. It's Cash, and probably not very much. If it's five digits, I would be shocked. If it was four digits, I would guess it'd be on the low end. If it involved international funds, that would have had to have been mentioned.

While the reason for being placed on the temporary inactive list isn't public, it's fair to assume it wasn't a positive for him.

I met Mr Kirilloff (the dad) this spring in Ft. Myers. Really good person. Enjoyed chatting with him.

I'll ignore, thanks. I've got nothing... Just...

They are the talk of Cedar Rapids, at least the talk all around Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, the Kernels home ballpark. People are talking (or raving) about top Minnesota Twins hitting prospects Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff. They’re discussed in the press box. They’re discussed by the fans in their seats, especially when they do some of the things that made them first-round draft picks over the past two drafts. Everyone wants to talk about Lewis and Kirilloff and for good reason. Over the weekend, I had a chance to talk to both of them quite a bit. I even hit record for a little while to get a perspective on the two that I haven’t seen yet.During my time in Cedar Rapids, I had spent time both Friday and Saturday with Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff. They are both terrific people. One might say that they are better people than they are baseball players. I think those that know them will agree with that statement even understanding that they are both tremendous baseball players with the potential to be impact big leaguers in the future. As I’ve noted, the two have been absolutely bombarded in recent weeks. There have been phone interviews frequently. Twin Cities media is making the trek south to Cedar Rapids as much as they have since the team’s inaugural season in Cedar Rapids in 2013 when they had players like Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Jose Berrios and others. Because of that, I knew that I wanted to limit my official time with them, meaning, asking them questions on record. So I came up with two questions for each of them that I hadn’t seen their responses to yet (unless I missed it). To make it more fun, I wanted to interview them at the same time and see how they played off of each other. I also told each of them that if the interview lasted more than five minutes, I would give each of them a dollar. (Note: There were three dollars in my pocket.) There are a lot of similarities between the two, and there are obvious differences as well. While Kirilloff has more power, Lewis has as much speed as anyone in baseball and might develop into a 15-20 home run hitter. They both come from high-character families.They both played in the national showcases. They also both were highly-talented, clear-cut first round picks. So as we are now less than a week from the 2018 MLB Draft, I thought it would be fun to hear what advice these former top picks might have for players who are projected to go early in this draft. Lewis was the Number One overall pick in the 2017 draft out of JSerra Catholic High School in California where he helped his team to Trinity League championships in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Through much of the spring, Lewis was projected to be a Top 10 selection in the draft and Top 5 as the draft got closer. His advice to soon-to-be-first round picks? He said, “Just to be yourself and have fun. As soon as you step away from who you are, the game will eat you alive, and it just turns you into a different animal. Just be yourself.” Kirilloff was another guy who burst on the national scene following a great junior season at Plum High School near Pittsburgh. Many believed that he was the best high school hitter in that 2016 draft, so some scouts were very surprised that he was available when the Twins selected at pick number 15. Kirlloff was drafted hours after leading his high school team to the state championship game. Two days later, they lost in that game, but it was a great run for the team. Kirilloff has good advice for those who could be selected early next week. “ I would just say soak it in, but it’s hard to soak it in and not get caught up in it. I think if you can do both at the same time, it makes it cool. For me, when I was going through the process, I was just having fun, winning with my team. That’s what I was focused on. At the same time, I was just taking everything in and enjoying it. That would be my advise. Soak it in and enjoy it.” The personalities of the two players can be very different. If you’ve seen Royce Lewis in an interview, he’s very charismatic and the joy he has is very clear to any audience. Meanwhile, Kirilloff is more quiet and reserved but at the same time thoughtful in his responses. One more similarity between the top hitting prospects is the fact that they are quite humble. So instead of making them tout themselves, I thought it would be fun to ask them about each other. We started by asking Royce Lewis what it’s been like to play this season with Alex Kirilloff. “It’s been awesome especially because he rarely smiles. So, he’ll hit two homers and then he won’t smile, and it makes it even more fun for me because I get to smile for him. He hits the crap out of the ball. It’s real special to watch. Like I said, when you have greatness on this team, it makes you step up to another level yourself, so it’s been a lot of fun competing against other teams and kicking people’s butt.” When Lewis noted Kirilloff not smiling, I had to look and see if Kirilloff smiled. A definition for “Smile” might be “a pleased, kind, or amused facial expression, typically with the corners of the mouth turned up.” With that definition, Kirilloff smiled. Now it was Kirilloff’s turn to discuss playing with Royce Lewis. “I just like seeing the joy that he has when he’s playing on the field and the teammate that he is, and the energy that he brings everyday is special. That’s what I feed off seeing from him. The joy that he has, so it’s pretty fun to be around.” And that joy is infectious. Observing the Kernels dugout before each game, there’s no question who the leader of that clubhouse is. It’s Royce Lewis. He’s got special handshakes with the other hitters. When he DHs or when he gets a day off, he is the team’s biggest cheerleader. When a pitcher comes off the mound, he’s usually the first guy high-fiving him. He’s got a home run celebration with Kirilloff. Later, I asked Kernels manager Toby Gardenhire about Royce Lewis and he clearly enjoyed talking about his star shortstop. “With Lewis, he’s a freak athlete, obviously. He can run. He can hit the ball really far in BP which he’ll turn into some power as he develops. But the biggest thing with him is his makeup. He’s just a great kid. He’s a spark plug. He’s a team leader. He’s just a really great kid. That’s the part about him that’s really fun. You see some leadership qualities in him and hopefully he’ll get up to the big leagues and be a Twin for a long time.” Gardenhire was drafted by the Twins in 2002 and again in 2005 after finishing his college years at Illinois. He played in the organization through the 2011 season. He played 173 games in Double-A and 153 games in Triple-A. Over those seven minor league seasons, he played with a lot of teammates. The natural follow-up for me was to ask Gardenhire if he had played with a teammate who exhibited similar leadership and personality traits as Royce Lewis. “Everybody’s a little bit different. Plouffey (Trevor Plouffe in Gardy lingo) had his personality. He (Lewis) lights everybody up. Being around the guy makes everybody happier. He’s just a good guy to have around. Plouffe had a little of that going too.” But Gardenhire notes that Lewis tends to be Must-See TV for his teammates too. “The on-field stuff? He’s just really exciting all the time. That exciting part is kind of like Byron Buxton. You see him do things and think ‘That’s awesome!’ The guys get really excited. But his makeup grade, his ability to be a teammate and all that stuff is pretty cool.” Not to be forgotten as “the other first-round pick,” Kirilloff also garnered high praise from his manager. “The thing about Alex, his makeup grade is really, really high too. He’s a really smart baseball player. He’s extremely mature for his age, and as a baseball player too, he’s very mature in his approach. He knows how to hit. He knows what he’s trying to do when he goes up there. It’s really hard to get him off of that for a pitcher. That’s very rare for a young guy like him. It’s pretty rare. He’s a mature hitter. He’s got a good swing. He does a lot pretty well.” Gardenhire added, “I’ve got him smiling a bit here and there. Here’s a really good kid.” While there has been much debate in the Twins Daily forums regarding when Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff will be promoted over the last month or so, those same conversations go on internally as well. It is very likely to happen. My guess is that they will both participate in the Midwest League All-Star Game and festivities. While the rosters have not yet been announced, it would be shocking if either of them didn’t make it. Trust me, it isn’t an accident that the Twins have drafted a couple of very high character players the last couple of years. I think they will admit that character and makeup are a big part of their reports and evaluation. Obviously the player has to be able to play and have the skill set needed for the lofty draft status, but character matters. And Royce Lewis and Alex Kiriloff have tremendous talent and potential to go with impressive character and class. Click here to view the article

I was always really, really high on him... and I thought he would need more time to get the hitting on track.

Updated, thank you!

The press release said "lower back strain." Quotations are mine.

Happy Memorial Day to each of you. The Twins have a game in Kansas City. The Miracle and Lookouts each had a scheduled day off as they await more reports on the tropical storm beating up Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Rochester played an afternoon game, and Cedar Rapids played their sixth game against Clinton in just four days. You guessed it. More extra innings. And lots of transactions.Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins announced that they have claimed utility infielder Taylor Motter from the Mariners. He will report to Rochester.The Kernels made a series of transactions after all of the pitching that was needed in their extensive series with Clinton:First, Akil Baddoo returned to action after missing seven days with a hamstring injury. He told me that missing seven days now made more sense than trying to play through the pain and making it worse.The Kernels added right-handed pitchers Melvi Acosta and Jordan Balazovic from extended spring training.RHP Moises Gomez was returned to the Elizabethton roster (EST).Catcher David Banuelos and RHP Nick Brown were placed on the DL.Following the Kernels game, we learned that OF Shane Carrier was promoted to Ft. Myers.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 2, Buffalo 4 Box Score Zack Littell worked a quality start in this game. Unfortunately, the two runs he gave up in the sixth inning proved to be the difference. On the game, Littell gave up three runs on six hits and two walks (and a hit batter) over the first six innings. Tyler Duffey finished the final three innings. He gave up a run on two hits (and also hit a batter). He struck out two. Nick Gordon led the offense. The shortstop went 3-for-4 in the game. He is now hitting .333 (10-for-30) in his time with the Red Wings. Nick Buss went 2-for-4 with his eighth double. Jake Cave added a single and walked once. The Red Wings remain over .500 at 24-23 for the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga Box Score The Lookouts got Memorial Day off and will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to take on the White Sox affiliate. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers Box Score The Miracle haven’t been able to get too many games in over the last week due to the tropical storm that is affecting Florida and surrounding states. They had a scheduled off day on Monday and the plan is to head to Clearwater on Tuesday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 4 (10 innings) Box Score The Kernels and LumberKings ended a four-day, six-game series in Cedar Rapids with another extra-innings game. After both ends of the Sunday doubleheader went extra frames, the Kernels called up a couple of arms just to help out. Tyler Watson made the start. He gave up two runs on three hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five. Jordan Balazovic was added to the roster before the game. The Canadian was terrific. He gave up three walks over his 3 2/3 innings of work. He gave up no runs, no hits and struck out five. Carlos Suniaga came on and gave up two earned runs. One came in the ninth inning to tie the game, and the other came in the tenth inning which proved to be the losing run. Both runs were unearned. He struck out three. The Kernels got an nice game from Jose Miranda. He went 3-for-4 with his sixth double. Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-4 with a walk and his eighth home run. Shane Carrier, drove in two runs. Following the game, he was promoted to Ft. Myers. Jordan Gore added a walk and a single. Regarding Carrier, he had been slumping about a week ago. Teammate Edwar Colina offered a suggestion. He encouraged Carrier to shave his beard. Weird, right? Well, a year ago, Carrier was struggling at E-Town, and he shaved. He then went on a long hitting streak, didn’t get a hit in one game, and then went on a longer hitting streak that carried into his return to the Kernels. Carrier tried it, and almost everything he’s been hitting since has been hit very hard. The Kernels are now 23-25 on the season as they await Wisconsin for a home series. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Jose Miranda, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 2B(6)) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K - Midwest League debut) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - Scheduled Day Off. #2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 3-4, R #4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB, HR(8), R, RBI #6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - No Game #8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K #11 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP #12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - No Game #13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - No Game #14 - LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) - Per Doogie Wolfson, could come off the DL as soon as Tuesday. #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play #17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - No Game #18 - Yunior Severino (Extended Spring Training) #19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - No Game #20 - Felix Jorge (Chattanooga) - Disabled List, still no official timetable for return. SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Birmingham (6:05 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves (4-1, 2.39 ERA) Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05 CST) - TBD Ft. Myers @ Clearwater (6:00 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker (1-3, 2.93 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Bailey Ober (1-1, 7.84 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

He's not a big guy, but he's strong, and he seems to barrel the ball real well. Uses his legs. Real good speed. Good outfielder too, with at least an average arm. He's a legit prospect.

Either/or... Magill has been very good and he's only like a year older than Busenitz. I've been (probably too) vocal in my thought that Busenitz should be in the big leagues, but Magill is sowing he should be too.

He doesn't turn 19 for another week. He's so impressive. And that play was amazing. He went a long ways to get there. He hasn't been hitting much the last couple of weeks, but it's there. He's got so much talent, and he's got tremendous instincts. Talked to him for a bit afterwards too. He just gets it. Great kid.

He had a really, really nice game. The two times he got out, he really hit the ball. I talked to him after the game about a fly out to CF. It just didn't travel, but he hit it well. Good speed. OK defense. He's a prospect, for sure.

Lots of pictures from Friday can be found on the Twins Daily Twitter page (https://twitter.com/twinsdaily) or on the Twins Daily Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TwinsDaily/). I've also added a bunch on my personal Instagram page as well.

Rortvedt is a good player. He'll be fine. Too early to know where he'll wind up in the big picture, but he's got a chance. And, "Temporary Inactive List" could be anything that doesn't already have a more official name (Disabled List, Bereavement List, etc.)

The best starting nine in the organization, or those that are able to play now (not urt or suspended): C: Garver, 1B: Mauer, 2B: Dozier, 3B: Sano, SS: Polanco, LF: Rosario, CF: Buxton, RF: Kepler, DH: Morrison. Not hurt/suspended: C: Garver, 1B: Morrison, 2B: Dozier, 3B: Sano, SS: Gordon (maybe), LF: Rosario, CF: Buxton, RF: Kepler, DH: Escobar

Rodriguez has been written about on the site several times. Former high draft pick, very fast to the majors. Flamed out a bit, got hurt, took some time out. Twins signed him a month ago. LHP. Slegers - I wouldn't say "sad." It's pretty meaningless in the big picture. None of the evaluators will suddenly now think any different of him. Stewart - Yes.

CEDAR RAPIDS - This report comes to you directly from Cedar Rapids where I will be the next few days. Tomorrow will be a busy day with some interviews and a double header, but it will be a fun day. On this night, Kennys Vargas and newcomer Chris Carter provided some power for the Red Wings. Chattanooga got a strong start, and so did the Kernels. There was a near cycle in Cedar Rapids too.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 RHP Logan Lombana reinstated from the DL for Ft. Myers.LHP Paco Rodriguez promoted to Chattanooga.For Chattanooga, LHP Casey Crosby was placed on the DL with a left elbow impingement.The Lookouts also placed RHP Kohl Stewart on the temporary inactive list.IF Sean Miller was sent to Chattanooga from Rochester.The Red Wings added OF Jake Cave back to their roster.1B Chris Carter reported to Rochester.1B Brock Stassi was released by the organization.RED WINGS REPORTGame 1 - Rochester 8, Buffalo 9 Box Score He was due for a rough one, and on Friday night, Aaron Slegers had a rough one. He came into the game with a shiny 1.97 ERA through his first eight starts. After giving up nine runs on 11 hits over just 4 2/3 innings on Friday night, his season ERA jumped to 3.27. Jake Reed and Gabriel Moya got the final four outs which gave the Red Wings a chance to come back. The Red Wings had plenty of offense. Kennys Vargas went 2-for-4 with two, three-run home runs. He’s got five on the season now. Newcomer Chris Carter went 2-for-3 with a walk and a home run in his first game for the Red Wings. Zack Granite went 2-for-4 with his second double of the year. Jake Cave went 3-for-4 and added his second home run. He also made a couple of nice plays on defense. Game 2 - Rochester 1, Buffalo 2 Box Score Game 2 was much more of a pitcher’s game. Miles Jaye started and gave up two runs on just two hits. He did walk four and struck out three. Luke Bard worked a scoreless seventh inning. Nick Gordon went 2-for-3 and, and Leonardo Reginnato hit his first home run of the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Montgomery 1 Box Score The Lookouts got strong pitching and enough hitting to come up with a nice win on this night. Omar Bencomo improved to 4-0 with seven strong innings. He gave up one run on four hits. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel picked up his fourth save with two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out tree. Tanner English led the offense. He went 2-for-2 with two walks and stole his ninth base. Chris Paul was 1-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , Charlotte Box Score Rain in for Ft. Myers postponed this game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Clinton 2 Box Score Bryan Sammons came into this game without a win despite a solid 2.91 ERA in his first seven starts of the season. On this night, he pitched his best game of the season, and his offense provided him with plenty of run support. The 23-year-old lefty gave up just a solo home run over his six innings. He gave up a total of three hits, walked none and struck out eight. Nick Brown came on and recorded his first save with three innings of work. He gave up only a solo home run and struck out two. The two Clinton home runs were hit by first baseman Ryan Costello, who had three of the LumberKings’ five hits. The Kernels scored nine runs on 13 hits. They were led by Jean Carlos Arias who was a home run shy of the cycle. He hit his third double and second triple of the season. Ben Rortvedt also had a strong night at the plate. The catcher went 3-for-3 with a walk and his second triple. Shane Carrier crushed his fourth and fifth doubles of the season. Royce Lewis had his fifth double and drove in three runs. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Kennys Vargas, Rochester Red Wings (2-6, 2 home runs, 6 RBI) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Bryan Sammons, Cedar Rapids Kernels (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2B(5), 3 RBI, K #2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - Pitching late on Friday night. #3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 2-7, 2 K #4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, BB, R #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-4, K #8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - Disabled List #11 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did Not Pitch #13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #14 - LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) - Disabled List #15 - Mitch Garver (Minnesota) - Late Game #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Cedar Rapids) - 3-3, BB, 3B(2), R #17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - Did Not Pitch SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Dietrich Enns (2-0, 2 6.03 ERA) Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - LHP Anthony Marzi (0-2, 6.04 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (DH @ 3:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells (3-2, 3.09 ERA), TBD Cltinton @ Cedar Rapids (DH @ 5:05 CST) - RHP Brusdar Graterol (2-0, 0.93 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Friday’s full schedule of games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article