Seth Stohs

On Monday night, the Twins began their final week of the 2015 regular season with the first of four games in Cleveland. It won't be an easy task and it started with a game against reigning Cy Young Corey Kluber. Hours before the game, Tommy Milone was told that he would make the start in place of an ill Phil Hughes. He gave the Twins all they could have hoped for. The bullpen finished the job. The Twins pulled out a 4-2 win. It was the team's 81st game of the season, guaranteeing them a .500 record for the first time since 2010.Last Wednesday, Corey Kluber was making his return from a hamstring injury. He had a pitch limit in the game, but through three innings, he did not allow a run. However, the Twins were able to knock him out in the fourth inning with a four-spot against him. The Twins hitters clearly used the same game plan against Kluber on Monday night. They were aggressive early in the game. Kluber retired the first two batters. However, Joe Mauer hit the first pitch he saw off the wall in left-center field for a double. Miguel Sano came up and hit nearly the same spot with a double of his own, driving in Mauer. Trevor Plouffe came to bat, having missed Sunday's game at Target Field due to illness, and he launched his 22nd home of the season to give the Twins a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Kluber settled down and finished six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits. Mauer had two hits. Eddie Rosario, celebrating his 24th birthday, had three hits on the night. Chris Herrmann didn't have a hit, but he walked in his first plate appearances and was hit by a pitch his second time up.Probably even more important, Herrmann contributed while giving Kurt Suzuki a game off. Well, most of a game off. Herrmann was pinch hit for late in the game, so Suzuki still caught two innings, but he didn't have to catch nine. That is important. But, as we have learned time and time again, it all comes down to pitching. Tommy Milone was not scheduled to start again this year. He found out hours before the game that he would be making the start in place of Phil Hughes who was sick and had an IV earlier in the day. Milone had not pitched since September 17th when he gave up five earned runs in just 1.1 innings. Noting that he walked three batters in that time, he was shut down with a shoulder injury. He struggled a little bit the first two innings. In the first, he served up a long home run to Francisco Lindor but over time, he settled down. He had quick innings in the third and fourth. He gave up a leadoff triple to Jason Kipnis in the sixth, and he scored on a ground out one batter later. Milone gave up just the two runs in 5.2 innings. It was quite impressive, all things considered. Then came the bullpen. Blaine Boyer got the final out of the sixth inning. Casey Fien came in for the seventh frame. On Friday night, he really struggled and gave up three runs in that meltdown in Detroit. However, on this night, he gave up a hit in a scoreless inning. Glen Perkins was given the eighth inning. It's no secret that he has been struggling of late. In a great interview with Mackey and Judd on 1500ESPN, he was fully accountable and upfront regarding his struggles. Fans were on edge when he gave up a leadoff single to Mike Aviles on an 0-2 pitch to lead off the inning. However, he responded by striking out Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor. Michael Brantley grounded to first base for the third out. Kevin Jepsen came in for the ninth inning, trying to protect a two-run lead. He got three pop-ups to end a 1-2-3 inning for his 14th save of the season. A fast start by the offense. A solid outing from the starting pitcher. Timely hitting Bullpen getting their job done. These are the things that a team would like to get every night, but as the team is now down to just six games remaining, these will be even more magnified. As this article is written, the Astros' and Angels' games were just beginning on the West Coast. The Twins hope to make up some ground in the wild card race. On Tuesday night in Cleveland, the Twins will send Kyle Gibson to the mound. Gibson is coming off a bad start and is 10-11 with a 3.96 ERA. The Twins will face Cody Anderson who is 6-3 with a 3.31 ERA this season. Click here to view the article

I was going to write up some of my game thoughts from the Twins 6-4 loss last night to the Detroit Tigers. I had some ideas. I jotted them down. But, I thought it might be wise to just wait until morning to actually write them up. After sleeping on it, I arrive at the same conclusion. That was a tough one! Giving up a 4-0 lead in the late innings is certainly not ideal.That might be an understatement. After the last four season in which the Twins lost 90 or more games each year, 2015 has been fun. And, because of that fun, and the fact that the Twins are in contention on September 25th with just nine more games to play makes such a loss even more difficult on fans. Of course, as difficult as the loss was on the fans, it is likely ten-times more difficult on the players in that clubhouse, and particularly on Glen Perkins whose second-half slide may have reached a low point. THREE UP Some questioned the decision to have Mike Pelfrey make the Friday night start because of his road struggles throughout the 2015 season. At Target Field this year, Pelfrey is 4-4 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in 13 starts. Opponents hit just .248/.305/.323 (.628) off of him. On the road, he is 2-6 with a 5.60 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. Opponents have hit .347/.397/.484 (.881). And yet, Pelfrey came through when his team needed him. The righ-hander threw five innings and gave up just one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out seven. He was at just 85 pitches when Paul Molitor ended his night and went to the bullpen. The game was scoreless through the first four innings. In the top of the fifth, Tigers starter Matt Boyd began with walking the first two batters, Miguel Sano and Trevor Plouffe. After a Nick Castellanos throwing error, the bases were loaded for Eddie Rosario. The rookie has had many great moments in his rookie season, but when he launched a bases-clearing triple, it may have been the biggest moment of his year. It gave the Twins a 3-0 lead. Eduardo Escobar later hit a sacrifice fly, to second baseman Ian Kinsler, for the fourth run. Escobar leads MLB in triples with 15. He also added his 16th outfield assist in the game. THREE DOWN Things started out well for the bullpen as Blaine Boyer worked a scoreless sixth inning. Casey Fien got the seventh inning and it started with a strikeout. Dixon Machado hit a single, but Fien got a flyout from Rajai Davis for the second out. One out from getting out of the inning, he proceeded to walk Anthony Gose, the nine hitter. Ian Kinsler then hit a ground-rule double, a lucky break as Gose may have scored from first base. The Twins still had a 4-2 lead, and Glen Perkins came in. Glen Perkins was amazing in the first half. He was 28-28 in his save opportunities and recorded the final out of the All-Star Game for the second straight season. As Nick wrote yesterday, the second-half has been a huge struggle for the left-hander. With runners on second and third, Miguel Cabrera walked. That brought up Victor Martinez who has not been good against right-handers (.214) while hitting very well against southpaws (.348). Martinez came through with a two-run double to tie the game. Perkins was able to strike out JD Martinez to keep the game tied. Perkins stayed in for the 8th inning. Nick Castellanos led off the inning with a double. However, he struck out the next two batters. That brought up Rajai Davis, and we all know what happened then. On a full-count pitch, Davis launched an opposite field home run to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Perkins was going for the backdoor slider to get Davis, but as he said after the game, he just hung the pitch and Davis took advantage. It’s easy to first- or second-guess Molitor’s decisions in the seventh and eighth innings. Bringing in the left-hander to face Cabrera, Martinez and Martinez makes sense with Perkins going well, but how about when he’s struggling? Having Perkins, coming off of injuries, stay in for a second inning can be questioned as well. However, he got the two strikeouts and then just made a really bad pitch to Davis. If he throws the slider the way he throws it 95% of the time, he gets a strikeout or weak contact. If he takes out Perkins and brings in Tonkin at that point, then fans could wonder why he didn’t stick with Perkins. The Twins bullpen woes on Friday night certainly are magnified in a playoff race. Through the course a 162-game season teams are going to cough up leads, even four-run leads, several times. Likewise, teams are going to have tough nights with the bat. Last night, it was a combination. The bullpen melted down, but the offense had just two hits. Matt Boyd, the southpaw rookie, gave up just one hit. That was as big of an issue as the bullpen. Rosario gave the team the big hit after a couple of walks, but aside from that the offense did nothing. WILD CARD WATCH The Twins lost, but the Astros also lost, so the Twins are still just 1.5 games back for the second Wild Card spot. However, the Angels got a win, so they are just 0.5 games behind the Astros. Before the Cleveland series, I thought that the Twins would need to go 10-3 over their final 13 games to make the playoffs. They’ve gone 2-2 in the last four games, so now my thought is that they will need to go 8-1 down the stretch to make the playoffs. Tonight, the Twins will send rookie Tyler Duffey to the mound against Detroit. Along with Ervin Santana, he's been the team's best starter in the last four to five weeks. The Twins are now 78-75. And yes, I only came up with Two Up for the Three Up section. You’ll have to let me know if you can find a third from last night’s game. A good night's sleep didn't make that loss any less tough. Click here to view the article

Video from Baseball Tonight where Keith Law discussed the promotion of Max Kepler.

Eddie Rosario is having one of the best rookie seasons in Minnesota Twins history. He won’t be the American League Rookie of the Year. In fact, he may not even win the Twins top rookie award following the season. However, the emergence of Eddie Rosario in 2015 has been vital to the Twins success.The Twins used their fourth round pick in 2010 to take Rosario, a high school kid out of the mean streets of Guayama, Puerto Rico. He signed quickly and went to the GCL. He teamed with the likes of Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas and Miguel Sano. Rosario hit a solid .294/.343/.438 (.781) with nine doubles, two triples and five home runs, but Miguel Sano was the player talked about. In 2011, he advanced to Elizabethton where he performed so well he was named the Appalachian Leaguer’s Player of the Year. He and Sano teamed to hit 41 home runs in the short season. Rosario hit .337/.397/.670 (1.068) with nine doubles, nine triples and 21 home runs. Sano hit .292/.352/.637 (.988) with 18 doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs. While Sano came into the organization as a top prospect. Rosario has been a Top 10 Twins prospect since that monster season in Elizabethton. In 2012, the duo advanced to Beloit for their first full-season action. Sano, just 19 then, hit .258/.373/.521 (.893) with 28 homers and 100 RBI on the season. Rosario was limited to just 95 games because he was hit in the face with a line drive during batting practice. He was taking ground balls at third base at the time. He hit .296/.345/.490 (.835) with 32 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs. As you recall, he had gone to the Instructional League after the 2011 season and moved to second base. It was certainly a work-in-progress, but he made improvements throughout the season. Of course, when the Snappers went to the playoffs, Rosario was right back in center field where his defense was always above average. Before the 2013 season, Rosario was named a representative of the team from Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. He played left field most of that tournament. Sano and Rosario advanced to Ft. Myers to start the 2013 season. The Miracle had a terrific team. They clinched a first-half title about a week before the Florida State League All-Star Game. The day after they clinched a playoff berth, Rosario and Sano were promoted to AA New Britain. In their half-season with the Miracle, they both put up big numbers. Sano hit .330/.424/.655 (1.079) with 15 doubles, two triples and 16 home run. Rosario hit .329/.377/.527 (.903) with 13 doubles, five triples and six home runs. With the Rock Cats, Sano hit .236/.344/.571 (.915) with 15 double and 19 home runs. Meanwhile, Rosario hit .284/.330/.412 (.742), solid for a 21-year-old. In the fall, Rosario went to the Arizona Fall League. He hit just .238/.262/.275 (.537) in 20 games there. His on-field performance was the least of the concerns. When the AFL came to a close, Rosario returned to Puerto Rico and told his Puerto Rico Winter League GM that he was going to be suspended by MLB for PED usage. A month later, MLB announced that he was being suspended for a Drug of Abuse. Fast forward to spring of 2014. Sano missed the full season after having Tommy John surgery in March, and Rosario did not go to spring training. The Twins had excused him. He also had to miss the first 50 games of the season. Upon his return, he began with eight games in Ft. Myers before jumping back up to New Britain. This time with the Rock Cats, he hit just .237/.277/.396 over the final 79 games. Fortunately, he was able to go back to the Arizona Fall League where he hit an impressive .330/.345/.410 (.755) with six extra base hits. The hope was that it would springboard him to a big 2015 season. Rosario had a good showing at MLB spring training. Though his numbers were pretty similar to those he put up in New Britain in 2014, new manager Paul Molitor talked about how impressed he was with him defensively and how well he held his own against lefties. Still, he started this season in Rochester. The 23-year-old struggled in his AAA-debut. He hit just .242/.280/379 (.659) in 23 games with the Red Wings. When Oswaldo Arcia went on the disabled list the first week of May, it was Rosario who was called up from Rochester, not Aaron Hicks. Reports came out indicating that they wanted Aaron Hicks to continue hitting as he had been and that because it would be just a two-week stint with the Twins, it would be a good opportunity for Rosario. As you know, however, if a player comes up and gets the job done, he has the ability to stick. And that’s exactly what Eddie Rosario did. In fact, he has continued to be productive ever since and has become a fixture in the Twins lineup. He has far out-performed this minor league numbers the last two seasons. Now, in 113 games, he has hit .268/.290/.455 (.744) with 17 doubles, 14 triples, 11 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Defensively, he has proven that he is an above average corner outfielder. Not only does he have great range, but he has a strong, accurate arm which has accounted for 14 outfield assists. FanGraphs has him at 1.9 wins, a value of about $15.5 million. (Not bad for a guy making the league minimum for the next two seasons too. Sure, he will need to work on a few things to take the next step in his career and continue to progress. The key will be to improve upon his 109 to 14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That will help him to improve on his .290 on-base percentage. Will he be able to make that progress? There is reason for optimism that he can improve his numbers. He has struck out about 25% of the time in the big leagues. Through his minor league career, that number has been between 13% and 21%, so we could see a good reduction in strikeouts over time. More important, however, would be for him to take more walks. He is walking just 3.2% of the time this year in the big leagues. In his minor league career, he was never one to walk a lot, but he walked between 5% and 7% of his plate appearances. Not big numbers, but he could potentially double his walk output which would be huge. It has been a very good rookie season for Eddie Rosario, but as has been the case throughout his entire minor league career, it has been completely overshadowed by Miguel Sano. The third baseman, who has primarily DHd for the Twins, has hit .282/.399/.563 (.962) with 16 doubles and 17 home runs in 69 games. Sano has just three fewer strikeouts in 150 less plate appearances than Rosario. Sano is the one being touted in Rookie of the Year discussions along with Houston’s Carlos Correa and Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor. Meanwhile, Rosario continues to put up solid, all-around numbers with less fanfare. That may be the case nationally, and somewhat locally, but I guarantee that the efforts of Eddie Rosario have not been overlooked by Paul Molitor and his coaching staff. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the front office. And, I am certain that the pitching staff appreciates what he does in the outfield with his range and his arm. Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano have been teammates for most of their young careers. Rosario has been in the shadows of Sano throughout that time, and yet, he has always been productive. He has been a big asset to the Minnesota Twins in 2015 and the goal will be for him to continue to improve over time. He may never get out from Sano’s large shadow, but he can be a long-time, productive big leaguer. Click here to view the article

It's impossible to know. If a guy appears ready in the minors, gets called up and struggles in the big leagues, does that mean he wasn't ready? If a guy appears to not be ready, gets called up and hits well, does that mean he was ready? If a guy looks ready, gets called up, hits really well right away, does that mean he was ready weeks ago, or that the extra time in the minors made him ready? No way to know.

He's really been terrific since the Twins signed him. Still just 24, there is still room for improvement. He's got the right mentality to be good. Just based on prospect rankings, Jeremy had him at about 11 or 12. I had him around 14-16 before the season. His curveball has always been his calling card, but he's got a good fastball too, and the changeup has certainly been solid at times too. It's been fun to see him come up and do well. More impressive is how he overcame that first start.

Monday marked the Twins last off day before the end of the season and provided a good chance to take a step back and survey what lies ahead. Minnesota opens a three-game series with Cleveland coming to town, with Tuesday marking the first of seven remaining games between the Twins and the Tribe. So essentially, more than half the Twins’ remaining 13 games come against Cleveland, a team which has underachieved virtually the entire season, but finds itself a mere 1.5 games behind the local nine.The series matchups don’t favor the Twins, either. Danny Salazar takes the mound for Cleveland Tuesday night, and he’s proven to be one of the most physically gifted pitchers in the American League, with 9.7 strikeouts per nine, a league-average groundball rate and a 3.48 ERA to go along with legit 95 mph heat. His changeup (27.2 percent whiff rate) is absolutely devastating as well. Things get no easier with Corey Kluber starting on Wednesday. And while he’s taken a bit of a step back — far less than most think, however — from last year’s Cy Young pace, he’s still had the Twins’ number all season long. He’s held them to a .085/.128/.146 batting line with a 1.38 ERA across three starts. In 26 innings, he’s allowed only 11 baserunners. Cody Anderson starts on Thursday, and while he’s a total wild card — he’s faced the Twins just once, and they smoked him — keep in mind that manager Terry Francona was willing to bump Trevor Bauer from the rotation to keep him in there. After a rough August, Anderson has a 1.78 ERA in four September starts. And if that isn’t tough enough, the upcoming four-game series with Cleveland promises to be just as tough. Not only are the odds good that the Twins will get Kluber again in the series opener on Monday, but that’s four games in a row down the stretch against the team which ranks fourth in the AL in starter ERA, first in strikeouts and second in FIP. It’s pretty easy to make an argument that this rotation and the Rays’ are in a dogfight to be the best in the AL. It’s not certain which Tigers team the Twins will find at Comerica after the first Cleveland series, but there are a couple things at play here. The Twins lost two of three to Detroit at Target Field last week, and this is probably a Tigers team that hasn’t totally forgotten the thrashing they took to end last season. The Twins took two of three from the Tigers in Detroit in mid-September last year and split a four-game series to end the season with two blowout wins when they were jockeying for position in the playoffs. The Tigers were summarily bounced from the playoffs in three straight by the Orioles and find themselves fighting to get out of the cellar at the present time with a 69-79 record — a game back of fourth-place Chicago. The other team in the Twins’ way of the end of the season is Kansas City, and while an 11-game lead wouldn’t suggest a team needing to get things together, it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride for the Royals for a while now. The Royals are 7-13 in their last 20 games and now are battling with Toronto for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Royals have a two-game lead as of this writing, and of course at this point it’s unclear where that’ll stand when they invade Target Field from Oct. 2-4, but ultimately it’d be ideal for the Twins if they have nothing left to play for. The odds don’t seem to favor it, however. So what’s a realistic need for the Twins record-wise in the 13 games that remain? Fangraphs’ Cool Standings presently gives the Twins a 6.1 percent chance of making the playoffs, and an expected final record of 82-80. That’s progress from the last four seasons, but disappointing to be sure. Not many teams get to the cusp of the playoffs after a rough stretch and revel in the fact that they almost made it, even if that represents considerable growth. Cool Standings projects 89 wins for the Yankees and the top Wild Card slot; the Twins would have to finish 13-0 to match that. So … that can clearly be ruled out. The projections suggest 85.4 wins for the Astros and 82.7 for the Angels; we’ll round to 85 and 83 for mathematical ease. At 76-73, the Twins would need to go 9-4 to match that projection for the Astros — and maybe 10-3 to be safe — and that’s assuming the Halos don’t flip the script. Going 7-6 would be enough to beat their projection and the Angels’ as well, but that would only claim the third Wild Card spot which, as of this writing, doesn’t exist. In short, the Twins are going to have to go all Chris Sale on Corey Kluber and friends if they’re going to punch their ticket into October. Well, further into October. The odds don’t favor it, but that’s why they play the games. This content originated at Cold Omaha here; please consider clicking through to support it. Click here to view the article

I would agree with you on each of those things.

right, but there will be moves made in the offseason. It'll clear itself out.

With Sano, they waited until they felt he was ready after missing a full season. With Buxton, it was an injury that brought him up, not that he was ready. Kepler may be ready now. He may be ready on Opening Day or a month in, or next July. No way to know. I don't expect an early call up at all for him in 2016. I think it would be awhile. Rosario and Hicks will be in the OF. Arcia is out of options. Hunter could come back. Buxton may be an Opening Day possibility, though I think he could use another couple months or a half-season in AAA too.

Hey, you can get an official Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League championship t-shirts here: http://lookouts.milbstore.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=37&dept_id=-1&product_id=69157

Let's just hope for different results!!

Like I said, he'll almost certainly start the 2016 season in Rochester, but he could be up in a month. The service time isn't an issue at all. Also, there are way too many examples with the Twins not worrying about service time to worry about that anyway. It may send a message to Arcia. That's not why Kepler is up, but the message is clear. It doesn't send Hunter any sort of message. Hunter isn't going to be threatened in any way.

Yes, teams can add one coach in September. Ivan Arteaga has been with the club for the last couple of weeks, and now Jake will join the Twins.

Jason Wheeler was named the Southern League Championship Series MVP. He threw seven shutout innings in Game 2 and then four shutout innings tonight. In an interview after the game, he talked about the talent and the organizational depth, especially considering Buxton, Sano and Duffey were Lookouts to start the season. Kind of a nice reminder. This is a pretty special group. Those seven guys have won together, a lot. And, Cedar Rapids made the playoffs and had the best record in the Midwest League in 2013.

On Monday night, Max Kepler was a member of the Southern League champion Chattanooga Lookouts. He was one of seven Lookouts players who also won a championship with the Ft. Myers Miracle in 2014 and the Elizabethton Twins in 2012. Following the game, he also learned that he was going to the big leagues for the final 13 games of the Twins regular season.After the Lookouts championship, the Minnesota Twins announced via Twitter that Max Kepler was heading to the big leagues. It's been a great year for the German. He began the year with this second year at big league spring training. After injury meant his season started with a week with the Ft. Myers Miracle, and he then moved up to the Lookouts. From that point, he dominated the Southern League. He went on to hit .322/.416/.531 (.947) with 32 doubles, 13 triples and nine home runs. As impressive, he walked 67 times and struck out 63 times. He ended the season on a cold streak and hit just .188 in the playoffs. That said, he hit three homers in the playoffs and walked nine times (to go with 10 strikeouts). Kepler was signed the same day the Twins signed infielder Jorge Polanco in July of 2009. Miguel Sano signed that October. Kepler has been written about nearly every day at Twins Daily since about May 1. Last week, he was unanimously chosen as the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year. Kepler can play all three outfield positions defensively as well as first base. I would guess that he will do some pinch hitting until (or if!) the Twins are officially eliminated from contention. If they are eliminated, he would likely play every day, somewhere. Kepler will most likely spend a couple of months in Rochester at the start of the 2016 season. However, it is a nice "bonus" for Kepler as he will be able to learn from the veterans through observation. He'll also make about $35,000 to $40,000 for his two weeks with the club. The other person from the Twins minor leagues who will be joining the Twins is Cedar Rapids Kernels manager Jake Mauer. He will join the Twins coaching staff for the final two weeks of the season. Click here to view the article

For the third straight game, the Cedar Rapids Kernels found themselves down a run going into the bottom of the ninth at Perfect Game Field and Veterans Memorial Stadium. On Saturday in Game 3, the Kernels had a come-from-behind win on a Brian Navarreto infield single. On Sunday afternoon, their comeback fell short. What would happen in a winner-takes-all Game 5?26-year-old Ross Seaton got the start for the West Michigan Whitecaps. The 26-year-old had 21 starts for the Detroit Tigers’ Low-A affiliate on the season, posting an 11-8 record with a 3.88 ERA. He also made two starts for AAA Toledo. He has made AAA starts each year since 2012. Randy LeBlanc made the start for the Kernels. On the season, he went 9-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 33 games, and just five starts. Both starters began with two scoreless innings. In the bottom of the third frame, outfielder Austin Diemer put the Kernels on the board with a long home run. It was his first of the postseason and just the third since he was promoted from Elizabethton in mid-July. The Kernels added another run in the bottom of the fourth as well. Edgar Corcino led off with a single and scored on a TJ White single. Randy LeBlanc was terrific through four innings. In fact, he had faced the minimum, 12 batters. His only blemish was a one-out single in the fourth inning. That was quickly erased on a double play. Unfortunately, LeBlanc was unable to get out of the fifth inning. With that two-run lead, LeBlanc got the first out, but followed it with a four-pitch walk. It was followed by a single and another walk to load the bases. A fielder’s choice scored the Whitecaps' first run. A line drive single tied the game at two. That was it for LeBlanc. Luke Bard entered and hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. A few pitches later, he threw a wild pitch off the glove of Brian Navarreto which gave the Whitecaps a 3-2 lead. Bard then struck out the batter to end the inning. Unfortunately, it was a lead that would stick over the remaining innings of the game. The Kernels had a few runners, but were not able to add that third run to tie the game. Randy LeBlanc took the loss. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Though he allowed an inherited runner to score, Bard hit a batter and struck one out. Yorman Landa came on and struck out the side in the sixth inning and struck out four over two scoreless innings. Nick Anderson gave up two hits, but no runs, over two scoreless innings. The Kernels managed just four hits in the game. Edgar Corcino and Max Murphy each had one hit and walked once. Congratulations to Jake Mauer, Tommy Watkins, Henry Bonilla and the entire Cedar Rapids Kernels organization on another terrific season and a fun-filled playoff run. Jake Mauer will now join the Minnesota Twins coaching staff for the final two weeks. Click here to view the article

I like that kind of optimism!! Any other predictions for tonight's games?

To be fair, both were promoted in mid-July and couldn't help in the playoffs.

Mike Trout debuted with the Angels as a 19-year-old in 2011. Since then, he has played in four All-Star Games (and been MVP of the game the last two years), won three Silver Sluggers, been named American League MVP once and runner-up twice, and signed a six-year, $144.5 million contract. He's turned into an all-time great, and he just turned 24. Back in 2010, a year after the Angels made him their first-round pick, he was an 18-year-old in Cedar Rapids. He played in 13 games against the Twins Midwest League affiliate at the time, the Beloit Snappers. How did he fare in those games?Friday night, the Twins and Angels game was postponed due to rain. On Thursday night, Mike Trout launched two home runs and drove in five runs to help the Angels to a victory. Trout has become a rare, generational player. He debuted in 2011 as a 19-year-old. He was an All-Star, Rookie of the Year and runner up for the MVP the next year as a 20-year-old. He was the runner up for MVP in 2013. In 2014, he won his first MVP award. This year, he’s having an even better season. And he just turned 24 at the beginning of August. And, before the season he signed a six-year, $144.5 million contract that takes him through 2020, when he’ll become a free agent at age 29. Just imagine what that next contract might be! We all know that his father, Jeff Trout, was the Twins fifth-round pick in 1983 out of the University of Delaware. That season, he played in the Midwest League, for Wisconsin Rapids. His manager that year was Charlie Manuel. In 1984, he jumped up to AA Orlando where he hit .285/.351/.378 (.729) with 17 doubles, seven triples and four home runs in 130 games. He returned to Orlando in 1985 and hit .279/.385/.398 (.783) with 20 doubles, three triples and three home runs in 95 games. He was 24 years old that season. He was back in Orlando in 1986 as well. He hit .321/.406/.451 (.857) with 22 doubles, four triples and seven home runs in 105 games. Certainly a solid season, but he never played pro ball again. In his pro career, he stole eight bases and was caught 15 times. Safe to say that his son has outperformed him on the baseball field. I remember the first time I decided to make the five hour trek from the Twin Cities to Beloit for some Midwest League action. Former Twins blogger Josh Johnson and I packed up and went to a Friday and Saturday game. We were excited to see Aaron Hicks, Danny Rams and Angel Morales among others. That Friday night game, Brian Dozier was the shortstop for the Beloit Snappers. After the game, he was promoted to Ft. Myers. Taking his spot on the Snappers roster and playing shortstop that second game was Danny Santana. Ironically, the Snappers were playing the Cedar Rapids Kernels, then an affiliate of the Angels. The centerfielder for the Kernels was Mike Trout. Even then, as an 18-year-old, he stood out on the field. Obviously I’m not a scout, but I know the game of baseball, and you could just see his talent offensively and defensively. I like to tell the story that I went in to the bathroom at Pohlman Stadium in Beloit in between innings, and I stood next to Trout at the urinals. Weird, maybe crude story, but true. I have strict rules about conversing in public facilities, but maybe I should have made an exception if only I had known how good he would become. Maybe even shake hands. Maybe not. Trout was 18-years-old in the Midwest League and in 81 games he hit .362/.454/.526 (.979) with 19 doubles, seven triples and six home runs. He was the Kernels’ leadoff hitter. He also stole 45 bases in 54 attempts. I couldn’t help but wonder how he did against Snappers/Twins pitchers during his time. Baseball-Reference doesn’t have the game logs for the minor leagues from 2010, so I went to milb.com and went through box scores. It was kind of a tedious activity, but for me, it was a fun walk down Twins prospect memory lane, reading names I hadn’t seen in quite some time. The Snappers actually started their season in 2010 with a three game series in Cedar Rapids. Liam Hendriks was the Snappers Opening Day starter. He struck out Trout in their first inning matchup. In the third, Trout rolled back to Hendriks. It was Tom Stuifbergen who faced Trout in the sixth inning. He struck him out looking. In the eighth inning, Steve Blevins gave up an infield single to Trout. In the bottom of the 10th, with Kane Holbrooks on the mound, Trout grounded out to Dozier at shortstop for a fielder’s choice to end the game. In that three –game series, Trout had just the one infield single in 13 at-bats. I won’t dig into each of the games, but here is how Trout fared against the Snappers pitchers he faced before his July promotion to High-A. Liam Hendriks – 0-2 with a strikeout and groundout.Tom Stuifbergen – 0-1 with a strikeoutSteve Blevins – 1-1 with a singleKane Holbrooks – 0-3 with two strikeouts and a groundout.Dan Osterbrock – 0-3 with two groundouts and a fly outDakota Watts – 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts (pretty good)Miguel Munoz – 2-11 with a walk, a single, and a three-run triple. Also three strikeouts.Eliecer Cardenas – 1-3 with a single and strikeoutJhon Garcia – 0-1 with a walk and a strikeoutPeter Kennelly – 0-2 with two walksBrad Stillings – 4-10 with three singles, a double and a strikeoutChris Armstrong – 1-2 with a double.Matt Tone – 0-0 with a walkBJ Hermsen – 0-3 with a walkMichael Tonkin – 2-3 with a walk, two hit by pitches, a single and a strikeoutHe played 13 games against the Snappers in 2010 and went 11-49 (unofficially), .225/.377/.306 (683). In a mid-June appearance in Cedar Rapids, about an hour from his hometown, BJ Hermsen threw a complete game, one-hit shutout. He lost a perfect game bid when he walked Trout in the fourth inning. He lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning on a single. Liam Hendriks made just six starts at the beginning of that 2010 season in Beloit. He was 2-1 with a 1.32 ERA. In 34 innings, he gave up just 16 hits, walked four and struck out 39. He debuted with the Twins as a 22-year-old a year later. Hendriks has faced Trout just once in the big leagues. He intentionally walked him. That’s probably never a bad strategy. Michael Tonkin was a late-round draft pick of the Twins in 2008 and pitched in six games for the GCL Twins that season. He remained with the GCL Twins for 2009 as well. In 2010, Tonkin began the season with the Snappers as a starter. He made 12 starts (and one bullpen appearance) and went 3-6 with a 4.29 ERA. When the short-season began, he went to Elizabethton and posted a 1.08 ERA out of the bullpen. He made a full-time transition to the bullpen in 2011. He pitched in 48 games for the Snappers in 2011 and 22 more in 2012. It was important for him to get that small sample in 2012 because that’s when he really took off as a prospect. Tonkin has faced Trout four times in the big leagues. The All-Star is 1-2 with two walks against Tonkin. Dakota Watts was a hard-throwing bullpen guy, though at times he struggled with his control. He was the Twins 16th round pick in 2009 out of college. As a 22-year-old in 2010, he pitched in 30 games for the Snappers followed by 17 games with the Miracle. He even pitched in two games for AA New Britain. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, he split the seasons between the Miracle and Rock Cats. In 2014 and 2015, he has pitched in the independent American Association. Late in the season, he was signed by the Texas Rangers and pitched for High Desert. Trout moved quickly through the Angels minor league system. Those other Angels affiliates played in different leagues than the Twins affiliates, so there were no other Trout vs. Twins minor league numbers to report. Several of the pitchers mentioned above never pitched above the Midwest League, but they still have a pretty cool story to tell their kids and grand kids. They once pitched against Mike Trout. Click here to view the article