Seth Stohs

He's not blazing fast, but from all I've read and seen and heard, he sure looks solid defensively. I think he can play at least acceptable defense in the outfield (right field). I haven't seen enough of him at 1B, a couple of games this spring. He looks fine there too, but I just haven't seen enough to know for sure. I think he's got a chance. Like Walker though, the key will be making enough contact.

Yeah, i have a feeling we'll have an article written on him in a few days!

We must have seen 40 deer driving around the woods last night in maybe an hour. That one was just kind of standing at the side of the road. My daughter saw it, and I was in the back seat. We got past it and it just kind of stopped, so my brother said, take a selfie with it. It was still just standing there, so I took a couple and then it just calmly walked across the gravel road, in no hurry. Got a few more decent pictures of the deer. Gotta love it!

My Fourth of July weekend started a bit early. A little much-needed time off from my 8-5 job (which has been more like 8-8 the last month) allows me to hang out and relax for a few days. Maybe even ride around in a truck in the woods, looking for a deer friend. Sorry! But hey, the Twins minor leaguers still play ball, and we at Twins Daily will still cover it. They gave us plenty to talk about on Thursday night. Adam Brett Walker lived up to his twitter handle (@walkoff28) with a HUGE homer in Game 1 tonight for the Red Wings. A couple of Twins' second-round picks had real solid games in Ft. Myers, where another starter has quietly had a solid season. Chattanooga played and it was still June, so of course Daniel Palka homered, again. And another 2016 pick played in his first professional game.All that, and much more, in today’s Twins Minor League Report. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 5, Pawtucket 1 (8 innings) Box Score I think we know that Adam Brett Walker is what he is on the baseball field, and sometimes that works out really, really well for his team. Game 1 on Thursday was one of those times. He came up big with the walk off grand slam. The Red Wings had just five hits in the game. James Beresford went 2-4 with his 11th double. Logan Schafer hit his first Red Wings triple. Andrew Albers was very good as well. The lefty gave up one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. JT Chargois gets the win after a perfect, two-strikeout inning. Game 2 - Rochester 1, Pawtucket 6 Box Score There was a different, less exciting script in the second game of the doubleheader, especially for the Red Wings. Nick Greenwood gave up four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out four without a walk. Ryan O’Rourke came on with a runner on in the sixth and got one out, on a strikeout. However he gave up an intentional walk and a hit and both runners scored. David Martinez got the final out of the sixth and worked through the seventh. Eddie Rosario went 2-3 with his 14th double. Miguel Sano added a double. Tommy Field hit his first Red Wings triple. Stephen Wickens was also 2-3. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Pensacola 3 Box Score The Lookouts had a touchdown and PAT and held Pensacola to just a field goal for the Thursday night win. Ryan Eades improved to 5-3 with six strong innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out six. Jake Reed worked the next two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and two hit batters. He did strike out four. Mason Melotakis struck out two in a perfect ninth inning. Daniel Palka ended an incredible June with yet another homer, his 20th of the season and two RBI. He ends June with 13 homers and 30 RBI in the month. Not too shabby. Shannon Wilkerson entered the game in center field, replacing Zach Granite (who went 1-2). Wilkerson went 2-3 with his seventh double and his second home run. It was a two-run blast to give the Lookouts a cushion in the eighth inning. Dalton Hicks went 2-4 with his 16th double. Ryan Walker was 2-4. Stuart Turner had a single, and he also stole his first two bases of the season. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Palm Beach 0 Box Score Keaton Steele is the least known of the Miracle rotation, but he has quietly put together a solid season. He had one of his best starts on Thursday night. He threw 6.2 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out two. He is now 4-6 but has a solid 3.66 ERA. Steele was replaced by Luke Bard who got the next four outs. Mike Theofanopoulos came in for the ninth inning. He gave up one hit, but he recorded his first Florida State League save. Joe Maloney led the offense. He went 2-4 and also stole his first two bases with the Miracle. AJ Murray notched his third triple. Nick Gordon recorded the lone RBI on a single. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 6 Box Score Eduardo del Rosario started and worked six innings. However, he gave up six runs on six hits (two homers). He walked three and struck out four. Anthony McIver and Cameron Booser each worked scoreless innings. Booser did so while walking one and giving up one hit. Luis Arraez continued to hit. He went 2-4. Nelson Molina, batting third, went 2-4 with his fifth double. Zander Wiel added an RBI double, his 15th of the year. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Pulaski 3 Box Score Travis Blankenhorn gave the E-Twins a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his third homer of the season. But that was it in terms of runs scored. Jaylin Davis was 1-3 and had a walk. Lewin Diaz added his third double. Alex Kiriloff batted sixth again, but this time, he played left field. He went 1-4. Brandon Lopez made his professional debut. He signed a little later since Miami was playing in the College World Series. He went 1-3 with a walk. He batted fifth and played shortstop. Domenick Carlini actually pitched pretty well, but a couple of errors led to a couple of unearned runs, and he took the loss. He gave up the two unearned runs on just one hit. He walked two and struck out one. Hector Lujan went the final three innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out two. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Orioles 0 Box Score Bo Hellquist, a non-drafted free agent from Savage (Burnsville HS) and Minnesota-Duluth, made his pro debut. The crafty lefty threw 4.1 scoreless innings before meeting his pitch limit. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out five. Daniel Martinez struck out two over 1.2 perfect innings to record his first win. Callan Pearce struck out three over two shutout innings. Garrett Kelly recorded his first save. He struck out two in a perfect ninth. Akil Baddoo led off and went 2-4 with his first stolen base. Jose Miranda went 2-3 with a walk and his first stolen base. He also drove in both Twins runs. Australian Aaron Whitefield went 2-4. Jorge Munoz went 1-3 with a walk and his first steal. Manuel Guzman, in his first rehab game, went 1-3 with a with a stolen base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Keaton Steele, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Shannon Wilkerson, Chattanooga Lookouts FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Pensacola (6:30 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (7:00 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Pulaski @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - RHP Miguel de Jesus Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

The bats were quiet through most of the Twins farm system on Wednesday. There were a few really strong pitching performances. I mean, Felix Jorge was on the mound, so you knew there would be at least one strong pitching performance, right? And, we’ve been waiting for it, but Wednesday was finally the professional debut of Twins top pick, Alex Kirilloff. Find out how that went and much more in today’s Twins Minor League Report. We even have Miguel Sano video.Let’s start with a couple of quick notes before we get to the game reports and highlights. First, after missing just over two weeks with a hamstring injury, Wander Javier returned to the DSL Twins lineup. He played about a half a game and got two plate appearances, a walk and a strikeout. While the other affiliates have played their All-Star Games, the AAA ASG is near the MLB All-Star Game. Three members of the Rochester Red Wings will participate in the event. Lefty Jason Wheeler, second baseman Jorge Polanco and pitching coach Stu Cliburn will participate in the event. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 3 Box Score Logan Darnell started for the Red Wings. The southpaw gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. Sean Burnett came on and got the next four outs, including one on a strikeout. Alex Wimmers pitched a scoreless inning despite giving up a hit and two walks. Marcus Walden gave up a hit in a scoreless inning. Adam Brett Walker led the offense. He went 2-4 with his 11th double. Tommy Field hit his tenth double. Carlos Paulino was 0-1, but he drove in two runs. Miguel Sano batted third and played third base. He went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout. This may not go down as his greatest moment. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 0, Pensacola 3 Box Score David Hurlbut didn’t get any run support from the hitters or his fielders in this game. The lefty gave up three runs (just one earned) on nine hits. He walked one and struck out five. Three errors were committed behind him. Corey Williams and Raul Fernandez each worked a scoreless inning. There wasn’t much offense. There were six hits, though no one had more than one. Daniel Palka went 1-3 with a walk. Leonardo Reginnato went 1-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. Stuart Turner went 1-3, was hit by a pitch and hit his 10th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Palm Beach 3 Box Score He gave up two runs in the 7th inning, but outside of that, Felix Jorge was tremendous again. In all, the right-hander went 6.1 innings and gave up two runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out a season-high ten batters. Brandon Peterson got the final two outs in the seventh and then gave up one run in the eighth inning. Todd Van Steensel came on for the ninth, attempting to save a two-run lead. He walked two and struck out one, but he got help from catcher Brian Navarreto who threw out a man trying to steal a base. Van Steensel came through with a big strikeout to end the game. Jorge improved to 8-3 on the season, though his ERA “jumped” to 1.67. The save was Van Steensel’s fifth of the year. The top of the Miracle lineup was very productive. The first five batters each had two hits. TJ White was 2-5 with his first triple. AJ Murray went 2-4 with a walk. Niko Goodrum (4), Trey Vavra (10) and Edgar Corcino (11) each went 2-4 and added a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 4 Box Score For the second time in four games, leadoff man Luis Arraez had a four-hit game. Over those four games, he is 11-17 from the plate. Daniel Kihle went 2-4. Sean Miller added his 12th double. JJ Fernandez extended his hitting streak to ten games with his 16th double. Miles Nordgren fell to 3-4 with just a 2.93 ERA in this complete game effort. The right-hander went all eight innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on ten hits. He walked one and struck out nine. 75 of his 107 pitches were strikes. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Pulaski 6 Box Score Twins first-round pick Alex Kirilloff has been with the E-Twins since Saturday, but on Wednesday, he finally made his professional debut. He batted sixth and was the team’s DH. It didn’t take him too long to record his first hit. He lined a single to center in his first at bat. He went 1-3 in the game and will likely make his first start in the outfield on Thursday. There wasn’t much offense for the E-Twins on this night. Ariel Montesino continues to hit. He went 2-3 with a walk. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-4 and had the team’s lone RBI. Alex Robinson has a ton of talent. He struck out eight in his season debut, but he also walked six batters. Control has been his issue and it reared its ugly head on Wednesday night in the E-Twins home opener. Robinson was charged with three runs on four hits in just 2.1 innings. He walked five batters without a strikeout. Robinson was replaced by Tyler Beardsley. He gave up two runs on five hits, but he got through 3.2 more innings. He struck out five and did not issue a walk. Max Cordy gave up one run on three hits and a walk in his two innings. He also struck out five. Austin Tribby, a left-hander from Missouri, came on for the ninth to make his professional debut. He walked two and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Orioles 3 Box Score The Twins didn’t have much offense in this game. Twins 12th round pick Zach Featherstone went 2-3 with a walk. Juan Gamez, a late-round pick from NDSU, recorded his first professional hit in this game, a single. Tyler Fox made the start. He gave up two runs on two hits in 3.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two. Matz Schutte gave up one run on two hits over two innings. Moises Gomez went 1.1 innings without allowing a run despite a hit and two walks. Zach Strecker walked one in a scoreless inning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Luis Arraez, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Syracuse @ Rochester (DH @ 5:05 CST) - LHPs Andrew Albers, Nick Greenwood Chattanooga @ Pensacola (6:30 CST) - RHP Ryan Eades Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (11:00 am CST) - RHP Keaton Steele Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 CST) – RHP Eduardo Del Rosario Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

Control, but maybe even more important, command. Absolutely the key for both.

No one would, but as written in the article and throughout the comments, that's not why he's included.

I can't disagree with that, and if I replaced someone to add him it would likely be Taylor Rogers.

I just think the game has changed. Teams now need starters to go 6 innings and then turn it over to the bullpens. I think May and Pressly and Chargois and Burdi can be dominant bullpen arms. May and Pressly already are pretty close to that. And, like I wrote, I think May could still move to starting, but they just have to commit to that.

For a little perspective, here is a page which shows all of the players selected in the 1997 draft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Major_League_Baseball_expansion_draft

Just to point this out though... they're all two-sport guys in high school. Sure, there are some guys who specialize in just baseball, but that's rarely a good thing. I'm encouraged by what he's done this year. I like how he doesn't get hit real hard still. He's a 21-year-old in AA. That's pretty good. Though most of his career, he's been a half-year ahead of Gonsalves. Can't help but wonder what type of numbers Stewart would have if he'd gone on the same schedule as Gonsalves. I don't know the answer, but would be interesting.

An expansion team wouldn't select him, but it "MAY" be a requirement to include such a player in the 15 to remove the possibility. It's all hypothetical.

I mean, you're going to lose one guy after round 1, and then be able to protect three more. You'll lose 1 guy after round 2. And, almost a 50/50 chance of losing someone in round 3. So, in theory you could lose someone in your 16-18 range and someone (or two) in your 20-22 range. And even then, it depends on if the expansion team chooses big league talent or prospects.

Jay doesn't have to be added since he was drafted in 2015 (unless he's called up before the end of the year - he won't be).

The 10-and-5 rule means that he has more than 10 years of MLB service time and 5 with the current team. Once a player passes those two milestones, they automatically have a no-trade right.

Pretty much... and, it is fairly timely with the NHL announcement just last week.

There's no comparison between Burdi and those three. Maybe Bullock since he was a high draft pick who threw in the upper-90s, but Slama and Delaney weren't high prospects and they didn't throw hard. Johnson was a starter. If Burdi doesn't make it, it'll likely be solely about health.

The NHL announced expansion to Las Vegas last week. With that came news of an Expansion Draft. You may have seen AJ Mansour’s article at Vikings Journal where he asked What Would Happen If The NFL Held An Expansion Draft? It was a very interesting article, and of course, it got me thinking about what the Twins would do in the event of further expansion. The last time MLB held an expansion draft was in November of 1997 when the league expanded to 30 teams. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the league the next year. Both teams were able to pick 35 guys from other organizations. The draft went three rounds: Round 1 - the 28 current MLB teams were able to protect 15 players from the entire organization (40-man or not). Each team could only lose one player in the round. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams) Round 2 - each team can protect three more players and then the same guidelines apply. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams. Round 3 - each team makes seven more selections. In that November, 1997 draft, the Twins lost Outfielder Brent Brede in the first round. In the 2nd round, Damian Miller was the selection of the Diamondbacks. Of course, he went on to a terrific career catching the likes of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson to a World Series championship. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today There were some exceptions, players that could not be selected. Players drafted in the previous two drafts could not be selected. Neither could players signed the previous year when they were under 18. Players who were free agents were not eligible for the expansion draft, which makes sense since, they are free agents at the time of the draft. --------------------------------------------------------- So, let’s pretend for a moment that there was going to be MLB expansion and a draft held following the World Series this fall. Which 15 players would (or should) the Twins protect? First, let’s look at the players who would not have to be protected without fear of losing them. Players the Twins drafted this June. So, they wouldn’t have to worry about losing Alex Kirilloff or Ben Rortvedt or Tom Hackimer. Players the Twins drafted last June (2015). So, they don’t have to protect the likes of Tyler Jay, They wouldn’t need to protect LaMonte Wade, Trey Cabbage or Travis Blankenhorn. Guys signed internationally in 2015 would also not need to be protected. In other words, the Twins don’t have to decide whether or not to protect 17-year-old Wander Javier, who they gave $4 million just one year ago. Players who signed in 2014 under the age of 18. This includes international signings from that year like Huascar Ynoa, Lachlan Wells, Jean Carlos Arias, Brusdar Graterol and Jorge Munoz. I lumped in guys who could be non-tendered following the season into the free agent exception. I’ll include Fernando Abad, Tommy Milone, Kevin Jepsen Trevor Plouffe, Juan Centeno and Kurt Suzuki in that group that won’t need to be included. You can also probably add the likes of Buddy Boshers and Darin Mastroianni to this group as well as they are likely be be free agents by the end of the season. ----------------------------------------------------------- There are still a lot of players who will be eligible to be selected if not added. There are some givens to protect but after that, there are going to be some really tough decisions. THE FIFTEEN I WOULD PROTECT I’m just going to start by posting all fifteen that I would protect. Some are quite easy choices. Others take a little more thought. And, even with that, there are another few dozen I wish I could protect too. Let’s start with The Givens. As we know, the phrase “Givens” means different things to different things to different people. However, in my mind, it would be inexplicable for the Twins to not protect the following 11 players. In other words, I saw that these guys would be eligible to be selected, I immediately put them on the list to protect (in alphabetical order). RH SP Jose Berrios RH RP Nick Burdi OF Byron Buxton RH RP JT Chargois 2B Brian Dozier OF Max Kepler 1B Joe Mauer RH RP Trevor May IF Jorge Polanco RH RP Ryan Pressly 3B/OF/DH Miguel Sano I guess some may read a name or two on that list and be a little surprised. First, let’s get this out of the way, Joe Mauer would most likely need to be protected due to his 10-and-5 rights. Brian Dozier is really the only other veteran presence on this list. He’s been the Twins best player, or right there, the last three years. So even if you plan to eventually trade him, you protect him. Other than that, there are young players who the organization has deemed the building blocks. Whether or not they all pan out is not known, but they must be protected. That includes the likes of Buxton, Kepler, Sano, Berrios and Polanco. I’d put Pressly and May in the same category, along with Chargois and Burdi. We have seen the value of a strong bullpen and those four could be a great start to that over the next couple of years. By having several of them, if you’re the GM you could still push for May to start. The Other Four So, I have to come up with four more names to protect, and this is where it gets difficult. How do you pick? Does salary come into it? What will the expansion team draft? Prospects or proven players? Maybe some combination, but it’s so hard to know. So, here are the four players that I would (probably) add to the protected list before a (hypothetical) expansion draft. 12. Tyler Duffey 13. Taylor Rogers 14. Nick Gordon 15. Stephen Gonsalves So as you can see, I’m choosing to protect pitching and prospects. I’ll briefly touch on each. Tyler Duffey - I don’t know if he’ll be a starter long-term, or if he’ll eventually (maybe likely) wind up in the bullpen. I do know that he’s done enough to show that I want him in the future plans of the organization. Taylor Rogers - I think he can be a long-term, left-handed reliever with the ability to really dominate left-handed hitters. Nick Gordon - There just aren’t a ton of shortstop prospects who people believe can stick at shortstop. Gordon can be a solid, every day shortstop who will play solid defense and hit too. He’s two years out, but you don’t want to lose a guy like this. Steven Gonsalves - There are several pitchers who fit into this range. Gonsalves has produced at each level he’s pitched at, and he just made the move to AA. Who Is Left Unprotected (in my scenario)? As a reminder, following the first round, in which the Twins would lose no more than one player, they will be able to protect three more players. At most, the Twins would lose three players. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. But, they would lose two or three players and the hope would be that you’ve protected the right people. But it’s very likely you’ll lose someone who will become a solid major leaguer. The High-Priced Pitchers - I’ll lump Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco and now probably Glen Perkins though he will miss time next season and isn’t making an excessive amount. I would be very surprised if an expansion team would take on these salaries. They would not get selected, and frankly, if they did, would we be disappointed? The Prospects - There are a bunch of quality prospects that I believe are not protected and eligible to be selected in my fake expansion draft scenario. Here is a list of prospects that I would unfortunately leave unprotected. Kohl Stewart, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario, Yorman Landa, Mason Melotakis, Pat Dean, Alex Meyer, Adam Brett Walker and many more. There were many other tough decisions too. For instance, would you protect Kyle Gibson as he is coming off of injury and will go to arbitration for the first time in the offseason? How about Michael Tonkin? With all the power arms in the system, would he be one you’d protect? Eddie Rosario is still pre-arbitration and plays good defense, but will his lack of plate discipline mean he isn’t on your list? What about the Eduardos, Nunez and/or Escobar? How about Byung Ho Park? Do you protect him one year after investing about $25 million on him? How about a catcher? Would you want to protect John Ryan Murphy? Maybe Mitch Garver or Stuart Turner? This is not an easy exercise, but it can be a lot of fun. Thinking about 2016 and going forward. What are the priorities? Which players are automatic protect guys for you? ----------------------------------------------------------- YOUR TURN OK, now it is your turn. Considering everything you’ve read above, which 15 players would you protect? Let’s discuss. View full article

I struggle with that first point. Dozier is arguably their best player. Crazy streaky, but productive non-the-less. I don't like easily getting rid of those types of players, especially since he's locked in for 3 more years at fair rates. Polanco, he might be as good as Dozier overall someday. Maybe. I'd rather throw him at short and hope.

He had elbow surgery about a month ago to remove some bone spurs in his elbow. Extended Spring Training is over, yes. Anyone who is not on a short-season roster could be there rehabbing, but it's not Extended Spring.

He's a guy that, just watching in spring training and in Cedar Rapids the year he was there, just looks the part of future MLB shortstop. He's like 6-1 and thin, but he's got a really nice swing and a good approach at the plate. We have to accept that he isn't going to hit for power. He just isn't, but he's got the other tools.

Probably a little of both. I think he sits more 90-93, but he lets one go from time to time... I know he hit 97 a few times and generally tops out at 94.