Seth Stohs

The 40-man decision shouldn't be impacted in the least by whether he ends the season in Ft. Myers or Chattanooga.

I'm a pro-Tebow guy... Dude wants to play baseball. He doesn't want to say What If in five years. The Mets gave him an opportunity. He's working hard. He's going for it. I hope he makes it. People were whining about him not earning the promotion. Maybe true, but he's 29... the Mets aren't going to go one year at a time with him. I think they're wise to push him. I guess they could call up someone from Elizabethton to Cedar Rapids to pitch... but then they'd have to sign someone to play in E-Town. Bringing in players isn't a bad thing. Who in E-Town is screaming to move up to Cedar Rapids? Charlie Barnes will probably get there soon. Griffin Jax is moving up there today. With Poppen moving up to Ft. Myers and Wells on the DL, they need arms.

June is always an interesting month in a minor league system. There is the draft, and the organization brings in 25-30 players. The short-season leagues get started. There are All-Star games at each level but AAA, so the month is disjointed for many. And yet, as I researched, looking for the top hitters for the month, there were a tremendous number of hitters who had great success. There are guys with OPS near .900 that are “just” honorable mentions. A guy with an OBP over .500 “only” received mention. It’s hard to image, but there were three hitters with OPS over 1.000 for the month and still the choice for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month was pretty easy.Pitching wins, but only if the hitters score enough runs in that game. Let’s take a look at the Top 5 hitters of the month, but first here are some players deserving of honorable mention. HONORABLE MENTION Mitch Garver - Rochester - 23 G, 29-94, .309/.371/.521 (.893) with eight doubles, four homers, 12 RBI.Nick Gordon - Chattanooga - 22 G, 31-99, .313/.382/.465 (.846) with seven doubles, one triple, two homers, 16 RBI.Brandon Lopez - Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers - 20 G, 25-67, .373/.427/.433 (.860) with two triples, and nine RBI.Alex Perez - Ft. Myers/Chattanooga - 19 G, 21-55, .382/.507/.418 (.925) with two doubles and four RBI.Ben Rortvedt - Cedar Rapids - 17 G, 21-62, .339/.423/.516 (.939) with five doubles, two homers and 12 RBITHE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 – Chattanooga - TJ White - 24 G, .297/.385/.527 (.912). 27-91 with seven doubles, one triple, four home runs and 17 RBI. White returned to the Lookouts lineup in mid-May after starting the season on the disabled list. He made a few mechanical alterations to his swing. He’s come back strong to this point. In June, he hit very well, hitting liners all over the part. He has shown even more power than he has in past years as well. White went to high school in Las Vegas where he was a teammate of Joey Gallo of the Rangers. They played against Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper. White stayed home for college, attending UNLV. The Twins made him their 19th round pick in the 2014 draft. He’s gradually moved up the ladder, reaching Chattanooga early in the 2016 season as an injury replacement. Reports indicate that his third base defense has improved as well Number 4 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – SS Jermaine Palacios - .353/.391/.565 (.956). 30-85 with four doubles, one triple, four home runs and 13 RBI. What a year it has been for Jermaine Palacios. Just under a year ago, a frustrating season in Cedar Rapids came to an end when he was hit in the wrist by a pitch. He returned to the Midwest League this season, still just 20 until recently, and has been on fire. He hit .400 in April, slowed down some in May, but he took off again in June. While he showed in the rookie leagues in 2015 what he could do, this year’s success comes as some surprise. He has never shown the kind of power he displayed in the first half of the Kernels, hitting 11 homers. He was promoted to the Miracle following the Midwest League All-Star Game. He’s hit .348 over his first six games. Number 3 - Ft. Myers – OF Max Murphy - .388/.464/.541 (1.005) 33-85 with five doubles, one triple, two homers and 12 RBI. Murphy began this season hitting down in the Miracle lineup. But in mid-May, he started hitting well and getting on base. He was moved to the leadoff position and he’s been very good since. As you can see, in June, he hit for average, took a lot of walks (and was hit a bit) and showed some extra-base power. Murphy was the Twins ninth-round draft pick in 2014 out of Bradley University. He played his high school ball at Robbinsdale Cooper in New Hope, Minnesota. Number 2 - Cedar Rapids – 3B Travis Blankenhorn - .309/.430/.619 (1.048), 30-97 with four doubles, seven triples, four homers and 19 RBI. Blankenhorn is used to having big June’s. Last year, he started very quickly in Elizabethton and earned a promotion to Cedar Rapids. That’s where he is this year. He began the year really hot for two weeks, but struggled for about a month. In June, he turned things around. He has always had a good eye and a willingness to take walks. That will benefit him going forward. However, he really showed some good power and speed in June. 15 extra base hits are impressive, but seven of them were triples. Of course, most will remember his eventual game-winning steal of home as the Kernels really needed a win to secure a playoff berth. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Rochester – OF Zack Granite - .470/.527/.667 (1.193), 55-117 with 11 doubles, three triple, two homers and 12 RBI. What a month! Even the International League didn’t have to wait to name Zack Granite their player of the month. I’ve been writing about Twins minor leaguers for more than a dozen years, and I can’t remember seeing a guy have a month like Granite just did. He hit .470! Granite started the month with a 17-game hitting streak, had that streak snapped, and then ended the month with an 11-game hitting streak. Putting that all together, he hit in 28 out of his 29 games in June. He had 20 multi-hit games. It’s been an interesting past year for Granite. Last year, he was likely heading to Ft. Myers to start the season, but an injury to the likely Lookouts centerfielder meant Granite started in Chattanooga. He stayed there all year and earned the Twins Minor League Player of the Year award. In November, he was added to the 40-man roster which meant he was going to his first major league spring training with the Twins. Paul Molitor raved about him throughout spring training. When he was sent down to minor league camp, Molitor said, “I like Zack a lot. I like how he prepares. I like how he competes. It was good to watch him play. He got into actually a lot of games. Made an impression almost every day he played in some capacity.” Granite enjoyed the experience and took a lot from it. He told Twins Daily on Saturday, “Big league camp was a lot of fun and a good learning experience for me. It was cool to see how guys go about their business and talking to guys about their approach and working with guys like Torii Hunter and (Michael) Cuddyer.” Unfortunately, on the final day of spring training, he pulled a muscle in his side. It cost him a month. He played five games for Ft. Myers before joining the Rochester Red Wings on May 7th. He had two hits that game. He struggled a bit in May, relatively. He was coming back from injury and playing at a new level. And then came June. Granite just takes it all in stride. “I'm just trying to keep things simple and get a good pitch to hit, if I start to think too much then I start worrying about things I shouldn't be thinking about.” When asked if he’s given much thought to possibly being called up soon, and what it would me, he said, “That's something I can't control. I can't waste my time thinking about things I can't control. I just have to do my job and let the people in charge make the decision. My job is simple. Just play the game. If it happens it happens. But I'm going to go out and have fun playing the game.” Fair to say that Granite had a lot of fun playing the game in June! Congratulations to the June Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for 2017, Rochester Red Wings outfielder Zack Granite. Click here to view the article

Yeah, there is. Was hoping people would update it, but it's a way down the line in the minor league forum now. These are always in the daily minor league report ,and all of these have been... but this place works too.

Very young... a rare kid who was able to play in the DSL while still just 16. So he, at 17, is very young for the GCL this year. He can hit though. Raw, but talented. He didn't get a big bonus to sign, but they were happy to get him.

I'm looking forward to it. He's intriguing. His ceiling is probably #3 starter. More likely he's a #4/5. He attacks the zone, 89-92. Has touched 94. Curveball. Changeup. He throws a lot of strikes, so he'll give up some hits. Not a lot of strikeouts. l Never know what will happen in one game... but I think it's a good move. He should head back to Chattanooga after the start... It'll be interesting to see whether he stays with the Lookouts the rest of the season, or moves up to Rochester. Either is justifiable.

The only thing that can slow down Red Wings outfielder Zack Granite is the weather. Rochester was rained out, but it was a full night in the Twins system. The Miracle and their fans at Hammond Stadium got to see the Tim Tebow Experience up close. And a remarkably unusual game. Lewis Thorpe was on the mound. Elizabethton also played a wild game in the Appy League. A 2015, 2016 and 2017 high-round draft pick each helped Elizabethton to an extra-innings win. A near cycle? So much in tonight’s Twins Minor League Report!Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Friday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS There were a handful of transactions in the Twins system on Friday. Following the Twins loss in Kansas City, Alan Busenitz was optioned to Rochester. Ryan Pressly will return to the Twins.Felix Jorge, as we learned on Thursday, will be the 26th man and start the night game of the doubleheader.The Kernels need some starters, so on Friday, they announced the signing of lefty Anthony Marzi, a 24-year-old who has spent the last two year with the New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League. To make room for him, infielder Ariel Montesino was sent down to Elizabethton.RED WINGS REPORTRochester , Lehigh Valley Box Score The Red Wings were postponed by rain for the 11th time this season. Which is crazy! These teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Mississippi 3 Box Score Dereck Rodriguez was on the mound, and he was also on his game. Through six innings, he gave up just one run on three hits. The lone run came on a Ronald Acuna homer. He was charged with a couple more runs in the seventh before being replaced by Paul Clemens. Rodriguez’s final line was three earned runs on six hits over 6.2 innings. He walked one and struck out six. He credited pitching backwards as a part of his success on Friday night. “My offspeed was good. I was throwing it behind in the count in hitters counts. A team like this that like to swing a lot.” Clemens gave up two hits and a walk over 2.1 shutout innings. He struck out two and recorded his first save of the season. Jonathan Rodriguez went 1-3 with two walks and his ninth home run. It was his third home run in three games. LaMonte Wade went 2-4 with a walk and two runs driven in. Nick Gordon went 2-4, and he stole his eighth base. Edgar Corcino was 2-5. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, St. Lucie 0 Box Score If you were to only look at this score, you would likely believe that this was a blowout. In the end, I guess it was. However, when the Miracle came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning, it was a 0-0 game. Eleven runs crossed the plate that half inning to give the final score. Justin Haley made the start for the Miracle. After one rehab appearance (Monday) in the GCL, Haley worked two innings for the Miracle. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out two. Then regularly-scheduled starter Lewis Thorpe came on and threw 4.2 innings of shutout ball. Thorpe hasn’t worked much out of the bullpen in his career. He said, “it was different but I enjoyed the experience.” But Lewis threw the ball real well. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out five (including a certain former Heisman Trophy winner twice). Regarding his success, he said, “I think spotting my fastball up tonight was really big.” Michael Theofanopoulos got four outs, two of them on strikeouts. His only blemish was a hit batter (a certain former NFL quarterback). Sam Clay got the final three outs. The bottom of the eighth was crazy, as you’ll see in the illustration below, but the Miracle found just about every way to score a run in that inning. Singles, doubles, bases-loaded walks, hit batters and a balk. Baseball is a funny game. But, whether you like it or not, Tim Tebow coming to Hammond Stadium was part of the game’s story. The Tim Tebow Effect is real. The Miracle have averaged 1,748 fans at home games to this point this year. On Friday night, 6,315 fans watched this game. Thorpe mentioned that he really enjoyed the opportunity to compete against Tebow. He said, “It was fun too see what Tebow had. He competes and that's all that matters. Wish him good luck in his career as a pro baseball player.” Tebow came into the game having played just three games in the Florida State League. He was 5-9 (.556) with a homer. He had two walks and struck out once. In this game, he was 0-2 with two strikeouts and was hit by a pitch. He also made this catch to rob Zander Wiel of an extra base hit. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 2 Box Score The Kernels took an early lead on Friday night in the fourth inning when Lewin Diaz hit his ninth homer and two batters later Hank Morrison added his second of the year. Of his homer, Morrison said, "I was looking for a fastball and he threw a hard slider inside that broke right over the middle and just put a good swing on it." Domenick Carlini was really good through the first five innings. He said after the game, “I think I kept them off balanced for the most part. I got away with some fastballs because they may not have been on time because of the quality offspeed pitches.” He has been working and talking a lot with Kernels’ pitching coach JP Martinez about putting hitters away. “We discussed getting to the kill counts (0-2,1-2) and putting them away when I have the chance. Too many times I can look back on the season and remember times when I didn't put guys away when I had the chance and it came back to bite me. So I tried to take advantage of those situations.” He ran into some trouble in the sixth. He got two outs, but gave up two runs in the inning. His final line was two runs on three hits over 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Ryan Mason got the final out of the sixth inning, worked a clean seventh, and struck out two of the four batters he faced. Colton Davis struck out two over the final two innings. Diaz and Morrison were both 2-4 with a homer. Christian Cavaness went 2-5. Travis Blankenhorn’s 13th double drove in two. Caleb Hamilton went 1-3 with a walk. He also stole his first base. It was a nice win for a team that is still learning itself and coming together, according to Morrison. "It was very important just for the team morale. Winning was something the team did a lot of in the first half! Now that we have a bunch of new players. I think we are just as capable to do so, just have to come together as quick as possible!" E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 12, Kingsport 10 (12 innings) Box Score This was about as wild a game as you’ll see. It went back and forth, and needed some extra frames, but the E-Twins came out on top in the end. It looked a little questionable in the ninth. The Twins had a four-run lead, but they gave up four to send it to extra innings. According to Elizabethton left fielder (and third baseman) Trey Cabbage, "Good crowd tonight, so that always makes it fun, but our guys just love to go out and compete." In the top of the 12th, Andrew Bechtold gave the Twins an 11-10 lead, singling home Javier who was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Next up was Jose Miranda who had a special night. He came into that at bat 4-6 and needing only a triple for the cycle. He almost got it. He drove in Bechtold and tried to turn it into a triple, but he was thrown out. The Twins were able to hold on to their lead in the bottom of the 12th to win the game. Jose Miranda certainly led the way. He went 5-7 with two doubles (three on season), a home run and four RBI. He was leading off. The Twins second hitter was Trey Cabbage. He also drove in four runs. He went 2-5 with a walk, and a big three-run homer. It was his second homer of the season. They had RBI opportunities because Andrew Bechtold had a breakout game batting ninth. He recorded his first three professional hits in a 3-5 night. He also walked and scored four runs. Rainis Silva had two hits. Wander Javier was 1-3 with two walks, a HBP and his third double. Cabbage takes a pretty simple approach with him to the plate for each plate appearance. "At the plate, I just try to do damage every time up to help us get into the best position to win." Along with his offense, Cabbage also threw out a base runner at the plate. It wasn’t all good news. Brent Rooker returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games. He went 0-6 with four strikeouts, the Golden Sombrero. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 0 Box Score In the bottom of the first inning, Akil Baddoo led off with a double. He scored when the next batter, Royce Lewis, knocked him in with a double. It was the second of the season for both of them. Two outs later, 17-year-old Victor Tademo hit his first home run of the season. That gives him the same number that he hit last season in 51 games in the Dominican Summer League. Later, Tademo added his first double of the season as well. That was it for the offense, so it’s a good thing they got some nice pitching performances. Vadim Balan has already thrown six innings over two appearances so far this year. On Friday, his younger brother Petru Balan made his first start as a pro, and it went well. The left-hander went the first four innings without giving up a run. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out five. Jose Bermudez came on and struck out three over the next three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked one. Lefty Matt Jones pitched for the first time this year. The 2016 draft pick recorded the save with two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out three. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Lewis Thorpe, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jose Miranda, Elizabethton Twins SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (5:35 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut Chattanooga @ Mississippi (6:00 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) - RHP Brady Anderson Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:30 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker Elizabethton @ Danville (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday’s games. Click here to view the article

That's exactly what it was, and whether it was literally 20 seconds of maybe a minute, it was quick because I believe that they also called a few other high-end high school pitchers to see if they would sign for the $1.4 million that Leach did. I don't know with 100% certainty that that is true, but that would be my guess. Jeremy often pointed out how much Sean Johnson and Derek Falvey liked the high-end high school pitchers in this draft, so they were able to use that method to get two of them.

chatted a bit with Tyler Wells this morning. He's hoping they get the results of the MRI back today.

His option was used when he was optioned from big league camp to minor league camp, so that counts for the full year. It isn't like an extra option.

There's no reason that he shouldn't get to 130-140 innings this year. I think bringing him up to the bullpen now/soon wouldn't be right for his long-term. I would like to see this scenario play out when he gets to 130 innings or so though.

I know. I know. Nick Nelson writes the Three-Bagger articles from time to time, so I couldn’t steal that title. So, I’m one-upping him with a Four-Bagger today. Today, there are just a few topics that may not have larger articles, but each deserves to be discussed.The other difference is that these topics will mostly be minor league related. Let’s get to them. FELIX JORGE TO MAKE MLB DEBUT Felix Jorge was supposed to make a start for the Chattanooga Lookouts on Thursday night. Instead, he was replaced by Kohl Stewart who has spent nearly two months on the disabled list. But the situation was bigger than that. Moments before the Twins game at Fenway Park on Thursday, Mariana Guzman who writes and tweets at Twins Latinos, posted the following: Several minutes later, Mike Berardino tweeted that Jorge would start one of the games of Saturday’s doubleheader in Kansas City. Most likely, Jorge will be added as the 26th man and then return to Chattanooga the next day. Just two days ago, I wrote about three Lookouts starters who have really been pitching well of late. Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Felix Jorge were all discussed. Jorge is 8-1 with a 3.26 ERA so far this year. In 85.2 innings, the-23-year-old has walked 22 and struck out 61. He’s got a solid three-pitch mix. He likes to attack the bottom of the strike zone with a fastball that sits 90-92, but can touch 94 too. It’s exciting and fun to watch big league debuts. No question, Jorge will be nervous, so it’s really hard to know how he’ll do. We will be watching! NICK GORDON TO PLAY IN FUTURES GAME On Wednesday afternoon, we learned that Nick Gordon would represent the Minnesota Twins on Team USA in the Futures Game next weekend in Miami. He is the lone Twins minor leaguer on the roster. If the Twins were just going to get one representative, clearly Gordon was the right person. The game is about top prospects, for the most part, and Gordon is certainly that for the Twins. He is having a great season with the bat for the Chattanooga Lookouts. In 70 games this year in the Southern League, he has hit .306/.375/.481 (.856) with 21 doubles, six triples and six home runs. His stats are starting to match his prospect status, which is very exciting. Who was snubbed? Well, a quick look at the other Twins top prospects shows that maybe one was the right number. Stephen Gonsalves probably hasn’t pitched enough this year. Felix Jorge probably isn’t the big prospect nationally. Same with a Mitch Garver. Alex Kirilloff and Tyler Jay are hurt. I think Fernando Romero would have been a strong case to pitch for the World Team, but it seems that Twins fans have a higher sense of his potential than the national people. It’s been a big year for Gordon. After a solid season in Ft. Myers last year, he was invited to play in the Arizona Fall League where he played quite well. He was invited to big league spring training where he didn’t get a lot of game time but said he gained a lot of confidence from the experience. He was chosen a Southern League All-Star recently. He has gained patience at the plate, and he has increased his power output. GARVER QUIETLY PLAYING GREAT On Wednesday, Drew Rucinski and Zack Granite were named International League All-Stars. Granite is the talk of Twins Territory right now as he has a batting average near .370. He has an 11-game hitting streak and has hit in 28 of his last 29 games. Wednesday afternoon, Mitch Garver went 2-5. On the season, he is now hitting .278/.387/.486 (.873) with 16 doubles and seven homers. He now has a 14-game hitting streak. He caught on Wednesday, but he has also played five games at first base and now six games in left field. With Jason Castro signed for three years, and Chris Gimenez playing more than expected, Garver becoming more versatile can only make him more valuable to the team. BULLPEN OPTIONS The Twins bullpen has been a big topic all season. Brandon Kintzler’s put in a performance worthy of All-Star consideration in the first half. Taylor Rogers has certainly taken another step forward in his development and reliability. Tyler Duffey has generally been good too. After that, lots of questions. In the last couple of weeks, the Twins have finally promoted Alan Busenitz and Trevor Hildenberger. They’re both 26 and were dominating AAA But there is more there. First, Ryan Pressly has pitched better down there and may be ready to come back to the Twins in the near future. Michael Tonkin was DFAd and outrighted in mid-May, but since then he has been good most of the time. Those are two names who we have seen quite a bit in person, or at least on FSN. There are a couple others who are not in the big leagues yet, but they are trying to make the decision difficult. Jake Reed strained his side on the final day of spring training. After several games in Chattanooga, he moved up to Rochester recently. John Curtiss put up silly numbers in Chattanooga during the first three months of the season. He has been dominant with the Red Wings after giving up two runs (both in one game) during the first 2 ½ months of the season. These two have to be close. Twins Twitter and the Twins Daily forums were not happy when the Twins DFAd Mason Melotakis. On Wednesday, we learned that he cleared waivers. While it’s telling that 29 other teams passed on him, Melotakis seems to still have some upside. Reports of a sub-90 mph fastball certainly is discouraging, but maybe he’s still coming back from his Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile we saw Randy Rosario promoted directly from Chattanooga. Luke Bard is also with the Lookouts and he has 57 strikeouts in 34.2 innings and a K/9 of 14.9. QUICK HITS OF Brent Rooker, the Twins compensation pick between the first and second rounds, has missed three straight games in Elizabethton. On Thursday night, he was in Los Angeles for the Golden Spike Awards, given to the top amateur baseball player in the country each year. Brendan McKay was the winner, but Rooker - with his SEC Triple Crown - was a finalist.1500ESPN’s Jake Depue asked manager Paul Molitor before the game on Thursday about Zack Granite and Stephen Gonsalves.Miguel Sano will participate in the home run derby in Miami. This weekend, we’ll find out if he or Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez will be the starting third baseman for the American League in the All-Star game. Whoever is not chosen the starter should be chosen as a reserve.Byungho Park is now hitting .245 in Rochester after going 2-5 on Thursday. That may not sound great (it’s not), but it’s a big improvement over where he was. Following an 0-4 game on June 14, Park was hitting .189/.262/.326 (.588) in 34 games. However, in his last 15 games, he is hitting .375. So, there appears that some adjustments have been made.Similarly, Kernels catcher Ben Rortvedt is hitting .210/.291/.295 (.586) in 52 games after a 2-5 game on Thursday. Not earth-shattering, but consider that through his first 23 games this year, he was hitting .108/.169/.145 (.313). In 27 games since then, he has hit .297 (28-94). The 2016 second-round pick has come a long way with the bat in the last five or six weeks. He deserves a lot of credit, but Tommy Watkins and the Twins minor league personnel deserve a lot of credit for sticking with him and continuing to play him a lot rather than just send him to extended spring training.Infielder Andre Jernigan was just promoted to Cedar Rapids on Thursday. He was a 2016 Twins draft pick after a strong career at Xavier University. Did you know that he is the nephew of former NBA player Bonzi Wells? (That's the kind of fun information you can find in the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2016.)Finally, on Thursday night, I joined Travis Aune and Seth Toupal on their Minnesota Sports Weekly podcast. We talked about Twins for quite a while, and I even shared some thoughts (knowledge, if you will...) on the Vikings and Timberwolves too. Listen here.So there is your four-bagger, with some bonus material. Please feel free to discuss and ask questions. Click here to view the article

He was at the Golden Spikes Award ceremony on Thursday night in LA (I believe). The award went to Brendan McKay, but Rooker was a finalist and was there.

Mauer definitely deserves a Gold Glove. I don't know what or who the competition is. Mitch Moreland won last year, but Mauer has been remarkable. And you're right... that diving attempt, get up, get back to the bag, and no-look catch the toss from Dozier while finding the base is so hard. His other play, the one where Mejia didn't get to the bag on time, was incredible too. Too bad they didn't get an out on it because that was web gem worthy too. and yes, that scoop on the Polanco throw was great. That's a recurring theme, Mauer scooping Polanco throws. He's saved him a lot of errors this year.

It's probably the only red flag out there... but it seems that he's throwing more strikes this year, and once in awhile one will get squared up. I'd have to look, but I think all of them have been solo shots. I don't think it's worth worrying about too much at all at this time.

After losing the first two games of this four-game series in Boston, the Twins really needed to play well on Wednesday night if only to get the taste from an ugly Tuesday night loss out of their mouth. As always, it starts with pitching. Maybe he was helped by being given a first-inning lead, but Adalberto Mejia got the job done. He threw 5.2 scoreless innings. The bullpen came through in a big way too, and Max Kepler added a blast as the Twins found a way to come back from a rough one to get the win.The Twins took the lead in the first inning when they scored two runs, all with two outs. Joe Mauer doubled. It was followed by a double by Miguel Sano. Next up, Max Kepler dropped a well-placed hit into the outfield grass to score Sano and give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Joe Mauer, who had two hits and a couple of great defensive plays, said that getting early runs was important and Adalberto Mejia was terrific. As he had in his previous outing, Mejia found a way to get out of some tough situations. A couple of times, two runners were on with less than two outs, and Mejia got an infield pop up or a strikeout. In the top of the sixth with Miguel Sano on base, Max Kepler crushed a ball into the right field seats. Crushed is probably the right word. The exit velocity, per Baseball Savant, was hit at 108 mph at just a 17-degree angle and yet it still traveled 409 feet.

A full slate of games was scheduled in the Twins farm system on Wednesday. The Miracle game was postponed by weather. Stephen Gonsalves looked to continue his winning ways. He was helped by the home run ball. Did Zack Granite’s hitting streak continue? Royce Lewis was hit by a pitch, and it caused some discussion. So much happened in the Twins system on Wednesday. Get caught up on it all here.Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Wednesday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS There were a handful of transactions in the Twins system on Wednesday. Phil Hughes is now back on the Twins roster. He was removed from the disabled list after his stint in the Red Wings bullpen. Craig Breslow was placed on the 10-day DL.Alex Wimmers was outrighted to Rochester after clearing waivers. Later in the day, we learned that Mason Melotakis had also cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester. Best case scenario for the Twins.Infielder Dan Gamache has been released. He had spent the season with the Chattanooga Lookouts. Ryan Eades was activated from the disabled list.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 0, Buffalo 3 Box Score Dillon Gee made his first appearance in the Twins organization on Wednesday night when he made the start for the Red Wings. While he spent a couple of days as insurance in the Twins bullpen, he didn’t get into a game. On Wednesday, he was limited to 50 pitches since he hasn’t pitched in nearly two weeks. The right-hander threw three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one, all in 47 pitches. Lefty Matt Tracy came on and gave up three runs over the next two innings. He gave up seven hits and walked two. Alex Wimmers worked two scoreless, perfect innings. The Red Wings’ offense didn’t do much. Engelb Vielma had two of the team’s six hits, including its lone extra base hit, a double. Zack Granite started the game 0-3, but he got a single in his final at bat. He now has a ten-game hitting streak and has hit in 27 of 28 games in June. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Mississippi 1 Box Score The Lookouts put together a strong, complete game with good pitching and some timely hitting. Stephen Gonsalves was on the mound, and his overall line looks terrific. The left-hander gave up just one run on five hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out five. The run came on a solo homer in that seventh inning. But as impressive as that is, Gonsalves also found a way to work out of some tough situations. Twice, there were two runners on with nobody out and Gonsalves worked out of it. Some was luck. In one instance, Gonsalves threw what would have been a wild pitch, but Dan Rohlfing hustled back and threw to Gonsalves at home in time to get the runner attempting to score. But then Gonsalves got a big strikeout for the second out. It was a good mix of dominating at times and working out of some tough situations as well. Gonsalves improved to 4-3 with a 2.63 ERA in his eight starts since returning from the disabled list. Nick Anderson worked a scoreless eighth inning, and Randy Rosario worked a perfect ninth inning. The Lookouts took the lead with one run in a long second inning. Mississippi’s starter walked four straight batters. Levi Michael’s walk drove in a run. In the third inning, Jonathan Rodriguez hit a solo homer. With two on in the fourth inning, Rodriguez came up and launched a three-run homer to give the Lookouts a 5-0 lead. Rodriguez went 2-4 with a walk and his seventh and eighth homers. Michael went 2-4 with a walk. Nick Gordon was 0-2, though he did walk three times. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers, Clearwater Box Score Rain won the day in Ft. Myers and caused another postponement. The two teams will try to play a doubleheader on Thursday. Then on Friday, Tim Tebow and the Port St. Lucie Mets will come to Hammond Stadium. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 5 Box Score Sometimes all it takes is one bad inning, and that’s what happened in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday afternoon. Eddie Del Rosario cruised through the first two innings. After a strikeout began the third frame, he walked the next two batters. They both scored on a double. After another walk, Del Rosario gave up a three-run homer before getting out of the inning, but the damage was done. The Kernels were down 5-1. In all, Del Rosario went 5.1 innings and gave up those five runs. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out four. Logan Lombana gave up two hits over 1.2 scoreless innings of relief work. Max Cordy then worked two scoreless innings. Ben Rortvedt led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk in the game. His ninth double scored Amaurys Minier. Minier reached twice on walks. Joe Cronin went 1-2 with two walks. Travis Blankenhorn also walked twice. Hank Morrison had the only other extra-base hit, his first triple with the Kernels. After meeting with a doctor on Tuesday, right-hander Tyler Wells had an MRI on Wednesday. Results should be known in the next day or so. The MRI was given since it was the second time that Wells has experienced this. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Kingsport 0 Box Score What a difference a start can make. Maybe Edwar Colina was more relaxed in his second start in the United States. In his first start, the E-Twins season opener, he gave up six runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks in just 4.1 innings. On Wednesday night, it was a different story. Colina threw five shutout innings. In fact, he left the game without giving up a hit. He did still walk four, but he struck out four as well. Jose Martinez came on and gave up a single right away in the 6th, so there wasn’t too much no-no drama. He gave up two hits over 2.2 scoreless innings. He struck out three. Calvin Faucher got the final four outs, two of them by strikeouts. JJ Robinson had a big game. With two runners on base in the first inning, Robinson singled in Trey Cabbage with the first run of the game. In the fifth inning, Wander Javier hit an RBI double to score Andy Cosgrove. But then after a Matt Albanese single to start the top of the 8th, Robinson knocked a two-run homer. It marked his first home run as a pro, and gave the Twins a 4-0 lead. An inning later, it was a 4-0 win. Along with Robinson’s 2-4, outfielder Shane Carrier went 2-4. Albanese was 1-3 with a walk, and Trey Cabbage reached twice on walks. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 8, GCL Orioles 3 Box Score It was a rough start for the GCL Twins, but the tide quickly changed. Juan Mojica started and gave up three runs and recorded only two outs. Carlos Suniaga came on and got the final out of the first inning and worked four more innings without allowing another run. In fact, he gave up just two hits. Suniaga began the season with Elizabethton and actually worked 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts last week in a game. Amilcar Cruz came on and worked four innings of one-hit, no-run ball for the save. The Twins saw themselves down 3-0 before they even came to bat, but they responded with a six-run bottom of the first inning. A Colton Burns single was followed by walks to Royce Lewis and Jared Akins to load the bases. Benjamin Rodriguez singled to score Burns. Then Victor Tademo added a single that scored Lewis and Akins. Kerby Camacho grounded out, but it was enough to score Rodriguez with the fourth run of the inning. With two outs, Roni Tapia singled to score Tademo. Finally, Humberto Maldonado tripled to score Tapia and give the Twins a 6-3 lead. That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the seventh when the Twins tacked on two more runs. Ricky De La Torre tripled to score Tademo. Tapia then doubled to score De La Torre. Rodriguez went 2-3 with a walk and a triple. Tapia went 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Humberto Maldonado went 2-4 with a triple. Royce Lewis went 0-3, though he also walked and was hit by a pitch. Immediately after being hit, he stole second base. It caused words to be exchanged. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga Lookouts THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (12:05 CST) - RHP Chris Heston (0-1, 8.44 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mississippi (7:00 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge (8-1, 3.26 ERA) Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 4:00 CST) - LHP Lachlan Wells, LHP Lewis Thorpe (1-2, 2.05 ERA) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (5-2, 3.15 ERA) Elizabethton @ Kingsport (5:30 CST) - RHP Huascar Ynoa (0-1, 3.60 ERA) GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday’s games. Click here to view the article

Yeah, that's where the "helium" stuff comes in... he's throwing 95 and hasn't even been pitching real long. He's got the big frame. Certainly very intriguing!

I'm not sure if that's what Brandon's saying... I'm guessing he's saying that Jose Ramirez is also having a great season.

It's even more crazy when you consider that the draft was pushed back a week this year.. Makes it tough. But they have until July 15th to sign, so a lot more gets done sooner.