Seth Stohs

Felix Jorge will replace Kohl Stewart on the FSL All Star roster. Also, Nick Gordon will be on the roster as well.

Are we not to the "even worse" category already?

Somewhat expected, but I just got the Lookouts game notes and it says that Kohl Stewart is starting tonight.

He wouldn't retire for a little while because I guarantee he will spend a BUNCH of time letting all be reminded of his success. HA!

I mean, he can put up the numbers Byung Ho Park is right now, probably... but i think there is a viewable ceiling with him too.

Depends on your definition of prospect. For my "Prospect Rankings" he isn't because he lost his rookie eligibility in 2014. If you're just wondering if he has a chance to contribute again in the big leagues, then the answer is... probably, at some point. Maybe.

Honestly, I was shocked that Granite started the season in Chattanooga rather than Ft. Myers. I thought it was just because Shannon Wilkerson started the season on the DL. But he's been good all year. He has good speed. He's a little guy, but as a Staten Island guy, he's got great confidence and has a lot of fun. He's OK defensively, definitely more of a LF. Offensively, he has always taken very professional at bats. He'll take pitches and slap strikes. He's definitely a prospect at this point.

We'll find out... In the Lookouts press notes, it says Bencomo, but there is a lot of thought that Stewart will make that start - unless they're going to have him skip a start as a way to keep innings down.

On Friday night, the Twins minor league affiliates recorded one win and two losses. Rain took away a Miracle game and they will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. Two starters had quality starts. One starter threw seven shutout innings. There was a big grand slam and some extra-base hits from former (and probably future) Twins as well. And, seven members of the Miracle were named All-Stars. Continue reading if you would like just a little bit more information from your Minor League Report.HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL STAR The Florida State League announced its All-Star rosters on Friday afternoon. Seven Ft. Myers Miracle players were named to the initial roster. These players were named All Stars: LHP Stephen Gonsalves LHP Tyler Jay RHP Kohl Stewart RH RP Todd Van Steensel RH RP Raul Fernandez 1B Trey Vavra OF Edgar Corcino Obviously Stewart won’t be participating since he was promoted to Chattanooga last week. Gonsalves is the favorite to get the start. The one surprise is that SS Nick Gordon is not on the initial rosters. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Louisville 0 Box Score Eighteen half-innings were played in this game. Runs were scored in just one of them. In the top of the 3rd inning, Kennys Vargas came to the plate with the bases loaded. He uncoiled for his eighth home run of the season, a grand slam. Later in the inning, the Red Wings scored a fifth run on a sacrifice fly from Adam Brett Walker. Vargas went 2-3 with two walks. Along with the homer, he also knocked his seventh double. Jorge Polanco went 3-5. Eddie Rosario went 2-5 with his seventh double. Logan Schafer made his Red Wings debut. He batted eighth and played right field. He went 1-3 with a walk. Andrew Albers was again terrific. The Canadian left-hander threw seven shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out five. Marcus Walden and Sean Burnett each worked a scoreless inning to maintain the shutout. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 3 Box Score The Lookouts got a real strong start from right-hander Aaron Slegers. He gave up one run on three hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out six. Mike Strong came in and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in the seventh. His ERA jumps up to 9.95. Corey Williams pitched the eighth inning without allowing a run. The Lookouts managed just five hits and two walks in the game. Dalton Hicks reached base four times. He went 2-2 with two walks. Zach Granite was 2-5 with his sixth double. He also stole his 25th base. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , Daytona Box Score This game was postponed by rain. The teams will play two games on Saturday afternoon. The Miracle will send out two talented lefties, Randy Rosario and Stephen Gonsalves. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 13 Box Score Coming off the best start of his career, Miles Nordgren struggled early in this game, but he did show some mental fortitude. In his previous start, he struck out 12 and walked none over seven shutout innings. On this night he gave up eight runs in the first two innings. Yet somehow, he was able to stop the bleeding there and ended up working 5.1 innings. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out three. In the sixth, he was relieved by Kuo Hua Lo who got out of that inning. Lo walked two over 2.2 scoreless innings. Cam Booser came in for the first time since his return from the disabled list. It wasn’t good. He gave up five runs on three hits and four walks and recorded just two outs. Sam Gibbons came on and got the final out. Nelson Molina continues to hit. He went 2-4 and drove in two runs. LaMonte Wade went 1-3 with two walks. Daniel Kihle went 2-4, and Alex Perez went 2-5. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers,Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, Rochester Red Wings SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Louisville (5:05 p.m. CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Birmingham (6:30 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart Daytona @ Ft. Myers (DH starting at 3:05 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario, LHP Stephen Gonsalves Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

He's open more than most GMs but this is definitely not an area in which he should say too much. That said, I noticed that comment too.

Uggh! That's embarrassing! I'm a stickler on spelling people's name right... I must have just been in a hurry... Uggh!

The reason this year was more about numbers in some cases. They brought in a lot of guys to compete for MLB spots and frankly now they've used a lot of them. There is a trickle down. Now, to be fair, Chargois was promoted one month ago, and Anderson one week ago... I suspect Theofanopoulos will be quite soon. Should be.

I was there last weekend. I mean, he looks OK at the plate. I didn't see anything exciting, but he has had some good games the last few days which likely account for a lot of the success in those numbers. He's got a long ways to go...

Again, I didn't say that it was something to credit the Twins for... just an ironic thing that the Royals talked publicly about their plans to model the Twins. And, I think most here would agree that when the Twins were winning from '01-10, it was based on defense, making contact (being piranhas), and their strong bullpens. The Royals deserve all the credit for their success... No one is disputing that.

But in the late-90s, they did trade vets, like Dave Hollins (Ortiz), Roberto Kelly (Mays), Aguilera, Knoblauch, Pierzynski, etc. The Twins aren't the model now, but they certainly were 15 years ago... which is relavent to where the Royals were 8-10 years ago.

The Kernels announced this morning that they are adding RHP Eddie Del Rosario... possible he could start in Rodriguez's place. Was listening to one of my interviews with Jake Mauer from last weekend and he was basically saying that Rodriguez has the stuff, but right now it isn't working. Mauer was clearly frustrated and basically said there weren't a lot of other options, BUT if things kept going, there would need to be a change. This might be that change... (though I don't know that officially).

I just said they were top 5 picks. Of course they had other high-quality players. But most of it was drafting and trading vets for minor leaguers and letting them develop.

The irony is that the Royals used the Twins model for their rebuild. They took their time, trusted scouting, and let guys play. Like the Twins from 5 years ago, the Royals had to rebuild their system, and had a lot of high picks to do that. Gordon, Moustakus and Hosmer were all Top 5 picks, and they complemented them well.

I can't speak to how all 60 of his at bats have looked. Obviously we'd all like to see more walks, but at the same time, maybe he is swinging aggressively at good pitches and leaning better what areas he can attack. I'm kind of looking into that idea of being able to develop a better approach at the plate or at 24-25, are you just kind of who you are. That may be the case, somewhat, with Rosario. He's never going to walk a ton, but improving the approach at the plate would be nice.

They could have, but in May Palka hit just .200/.270/.360 (.630) with a 31% strikeout rate. I kind of think he's where he needs to be for right now... though, if he hits two home runs every game through June, I think that might signal something.

After posting out Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Starting Pitcher of the Month of May the last two days, we will look at the relief pitchers who got their jobs done in May. There were a bunch and like the starters, you could make arguments for a couple of these guys to claim the title. All nine guys mentioned before deserve the recognition. But who won? We talked to the May Relief Pitcher of the Month to see what helped make him so successful. In case you missed them here are the previous May winners: Hitter of the Month: Byron Buxton, Rochester Red Wings. Starting Pitcher of the Month: Tyler Jay, Ft. Myers Miracle. So, who will join them in the May Twins Minor League Awards? Continue reading to find out.First, a few relievers worthy of mention: RHP Michael Cederoth (Cedar Rapids) – 7 G, 1-0, 3.09 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 16KLHP Buddy Boshers (Rochester) - 7 G, 1-0, 1 Save, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 10 KRHP Brandon Peterson (Ft. Myers) - 11 G, 2-0, 3 Saves, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15.0 IP 12 H, 3 BB, 17 KRHP Marcus Walden (Rochester) - 7 G, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 12 H, 5 BB, 10 KTHE TOP FIVE RELIEF PITCHERS Number 5 - Chattanooga – LHP Luke Westphal - 7 G, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 16 K It was a long and winding road for Westphal from affiliated ball to the Twins organization, but the southpaw from Wisconsin has been quite good since signing with the Twins 16 months ago. Last year, Westphal went back and forth between Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids, and between the bullpen and the rotation. This year, he’s been exclusively in the bullpen. He was promoted to the Lookouts at the end of April and had a good first month in AA. In May, opponents hit just .238/.273/.262 (.535) off him and he struck out 13.1 batters per nine innings. Pretty dominant showing. Number 4 – Chattanooga – RHP Trevor Hildenberger - 11 G, 1.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 13 K Hildenberger was our choice for Twins Daily Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2015 when he split the year between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He’s appeared in these monthly reports pretty much every month the last two seasons and here he is again. After a solid showing in the Arizona Fall League a year ago, he began 2016 with the Miracle, but he was up in AA within a month. At a level where even the top relief pitching prospects have struggled, Hildenberger keeps getting the job done. The side-winding righty limited opponents to a .176/.222/.294 (.516) slash line for the month. He took over as the team’s closer and recorded five saves. Number 3 – Chattanooga – RHP JT Chargois - 8 G, 1.12 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 11 K 2012 2nd-round pick was finally healthy and bringing the high-90s heat in games in 2015. He was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason and showed well in big league spring training. He started with the Lookouts but in early May he was promoted to AAA Rochester where he’s continued to dominate. For the month, Chargois held hitters to a .182/.280/.318 (.598) slash line. While control has always been his problem, he has shown some strong glimpses in 2016, though a walk every other inning is all that is likely delaying his promotion to the big leagues.Soon the reliever whose last name is pronounced shag-waa will become a household name for Twins fans. Number 2 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – RHP Nick Anderson - 8 G, 0.64 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 22 K The Twins signed Anderson last August out of the independent leagues. The mid-90s throwing right-hander from Brainerd (via Mayville State) continued to dominate in Cedar Rapids until a mid-May promotion to Ft. Myers. He had a remarkable and dominant month. Look again at the strikeout-to-walk rate of 22-to-1! He also struck out 14.1 per nine innings. Opponents hit just .109/.128/.130 (.258) off him. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Cedar Rapids – LHP Mike Theofanopoulos - 7 G, 0.73 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 20 K Mike Theofanopoulos was the Twins 30th-round pick in 2014 out of California. The left-hander grew up about a half-hour from Berkeley so when he was offered the scholarship, he immediately accepted, happy to play Division 1 baseball and get a Berkeley education. After spending the rest of that season, in the GCL, he spent all of 2015 in Cedar Rapids. Though he was likely disappointed in returning to the Kernels to start the 2016 season, he has handled it very well and grown from the experience. According to his pitching coach JP Martinez, he’s used his return to the Midwest League to better himself. “He’s a gritty kid, not a high pick, so he’s had to produce. He had a really good year here last year, and it just turned out that it was a numbers game so he had to come back. The good thing for him is that there is a comfort zone can work on things that they need to clean up so they’re ready for the next level.” Maybe it was frustration - or maybe it was just cold - but Theofanopoulos struggled the first week or so of the season, but he quickly got things back and made some improvements and he has been very good since. “I really wanted to harness in and focus on not walking guys. Earlier on in the season, I started pretty slow, putting guys on, trying to do too much and walking the world. I’m in a nice groove now, just realizing how to use my pitches. Fastball command has been there. That’s a huge part of it which allows me to get to my offspeed which are my strikeout pitches. Being able to finish hitters and put them away. I was trying to overproduce and do way too much.” In May, Theofanopoulos had a streak of 19 scoreless innings that ended with an unearned run. Opponents hit just .093/.152/.140 (.292). He also struck out 14.6 batters per nine innings. “Left-handed and breathing” is a saying in baseball, but Theofanopoulos shows more than that. He has a good fastball that sits 90-92. He has a curveball and a changeup, but his second breaking ball seems to have helped him to another level. According to “Theo,” one of the keys to his success has been “Developing a harder curveball. That’s been a big piece for me, especially against left-handers, changing the hitter’s eyes.” With Nick Anderson being promoted to the Miracle, Kernels manager Jake Mauer says that Theofanopoulos may be in line for some late-inning, closer opportunities. “He started out real slow, walking a lot of guys, but he’s been real good lately. Really good. We’re probably going to use him late. He’s giving us some pretty good reason to use him later in games.” His pitching coach (Martinez) said of the southpaw, “If you get a lefty with two breaking balls who can spot his fastball, that’s pretty tough to hit. I wouldn’t say he had fastball command issues, but he wasn’t getting ahead with the fastball as much as he could. We made a couple of adjustments, and I think he got comfortable right around the second week. He looked relaxed out there. He looks comfortable on the mound, like there’s no place he’d rather be than on the mound. He’s a pretty cerebral guy so he knows how to attack hitters. I think what he’s done really well is spot the breaking ball and the fastball early and then be able to put that breaking ball away later in the count.” Theofanopoulos will continue to work later in games for the Kernels. We would have to assume that like John Curtiss, Nick Anderson and Randy LeBlanc before him, it should just be a matter of time before he gets called into his manager’s office and told he too is heading to Ft. Myers to join the Miracle. He’s ready. There were several very strong relief pitcher performances in May. Feel free to agree or disagree with the order, if you like, but congratulations to each of these individuals on an excellent month of may. Congratulations to the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May 2016, Mike Theofanopoulos. Click here to view the article

Has absolutely nothing to do with it. Reed isn't on social media a lot anyway, but there is no correlation between social media usage and play on the field. Baseball is hard... and when a guy gets behind in counts and struggles with command, they're going to struggle in AA.