Seth Stohs

Yesterday, we got to know our August 2015 Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month, Brett Lee. Today, we’re going to give you the top five Twins Minor League Hitters for the month of August. This is an interesting mix of players, but there were a lot of strong performances. The minor league seasons are now less than a week from being complete. Continue reading to find out which hitters had success in the season’s final full month.Before we get to the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters for May, here are a few hitters who are very worth of mention: Rochester Red Wings OF Reynaldo Rodriguez (24-92) .261/.343/.489 (.832) with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 16 RBI.Rochester Red Wings 2B James Beresford (39-115) .339/.368/.365 (733) with three doubles and 13 RBIRochester Red Wings SS Danny Santana (29-87) .333/.352/.506 (.857) with four doubles, a triple, three homers and ten RBI.Ft. Myers Miracle UT Logan Wade (31-96) .323/.350/.479 (.829) with nine doubles, three triples and 13 RBI.Cedar Rapids Kernels SS Nick Gordon (32-103) .311/.355/.437 (.791) with six doubles, two triples, one homer and 14 RBI.Cedar Rapids Kernels IF Rafael Valera (28-92) .304/.379/.370 (.748) with six doubles and seven RBI.Cedar Rapids Kernels OF Tanner English (17-43) .395/.438/.605 (1.042) with seven doubles, a triple and six RBI.Elizabethton Twins C Brian Olson (17-51) .333/.414/.510 (.924) with three doubles, two homers and eight RBIAnd now, let’s get to the Top 5 Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitters for August: Number 5 - Elizabethton – SS Jermaine Palacios - (43-130) .331/.341/.492 (.833) with 14 doubles, two triples, 1 home run and 19 RBI. Palacios was our choice for Twins minor league hitter of the month in July, and he had another strong month in August. He’s struggled with the glove at shortstop, but the bat is solid. As you can see, he doesn’t walk. He is not a big kid, but the 19-year-old from Venezuela has a little extra base pop. After hitting .421 with a 1.061 WHIP in 26 games in the GCL, he has now hit .336 with an .852 OPS in 31 E-Town games. Number 4 – Chattanooga – 1B/OF Max Kepler - (31-103) .301/.405/.495 (.900) with seven doubles, two triples, three home run and 20 RBI. Kepler has had an incredible 2015 season. His .900 OPS in August was a pedestrian number by his 2015 standards. He was the Twins choice for minor league hitter of the month in May, June and July. He was Twins Daily’s choice in May and runner up in June and July. On Thursday, he was named the Southern League’s MVP. He has hit .327/.415/.540 (.955) with 32 doubles, 12 triples, nine homers and 69 RBI. As remarkable, he has walked 60 times and struck out 59 times. In August he walked 19 times with just 16 strikeouts. He will lead the Lookouts into the playoffs next week and could join the Twins as a September call up after that. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – 3B TJ White - (33-97) .340/.431/.526 (.957) with ten doubles, one triple, two home runs and 21 RBI. White had the chance to move up to Ft. Myers for almost a month, but he was returned to the Kernels at the start of August. He has been on fire since. He has a lot of multi-hit games and seemingly on base at least twice most games. In his last ten games, he has hit .400. In 102 games with the Kernels this season, White has hit .264/.354/.367 (.721) with 20 doubles, six triples and two home runs. He puts the ball in play. The 23-year-old from UNLV should jump to Ft. Myers full time in 2015. Number 2 – Elizabethton Twins – OF LaMonte Wade – (33-101) .327/.474/.495 (.969) with three doubles, one triple, four home runs and 20 RBI. The Twins were thrilled when the 21-year-old Wade was still available when the Twins made their ninth round pick. The Maryland product fell in large part due to injury in his junior season. He was a mainstay in the Elizabethton lineup and was named to the Appalachian League’s All-Star team. Overall with the E-Twins, he hit .312/.428/.506 (.934) with eight doubles, five triples and nine homers. He walked 46 times and struck out 34 times. Consider in August alone he walked 30 times with just 12 strikeouts. He also stole 12 bases. The May Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Rochester Red Wings 1B/DH Kennys Vargas (31-100) .310/.453/.580 (1.033) with five doubles, two triples, six home runs and 25 RBI. Vargas was a surprise call up a year ago in August. When Josh Willingham was traded, the Twins brought in Vargas who hit .275/.316/.456 (.772) down the stretch with 10 doubles and nine home runs. A nice showing for a 24 year old. Vargas began the 2015 season as the team’s Opening Day DH and really struggled. He hit .245/.277/.365 (.642) with four doubles and five homers in 47 games. He was sent to Rochester briefly early in the season. On June 1, he was sent down to AA Chattanooga. The move the next day was to bring up Miguel Sano. Vargas’s future was suddenly in question. He struggled early in Chattanooga but ended up at .287/.417/.516 (.934) with 12 extra base hits (including seven homers) in 35 games there. He moved back up to Rochester and was terrific. As you see in August, he posted an OPS over 1.000. In his time with the Twins, he struggled to control the strike zone. He had seven walks to go with 48 strikeouts. In August, Vargas struck out 29 times, but he also walked 28 times. It is definitely something to watch. What is Vargas’s role with the Twins going forward? With Miguel Sano DHing, and with his hamstring injury right now, that is likely all he will be able to do this year, playing time for Vargas may consist of an occasional start at first base or DH. He may primarily be a strong, switch-hitting pinch hitting option for the team. Going forward, I’m sure that is all to be determined. However, it’s important to note that he went down to the minor leagues to work on his approach at the plate and to show power, and he did both of those things. It was a terrific August for Vargas. He earned the September call up by playing well on the field. There were several strong performances in August. The top hitters for the month were spread out with no affiliate having more than one representative. It was also good to see so many solid, honorable mention performances from guys in their final full month of the season. Click here to view the article

Yeah, about twice a week, I tweet out Nick Gordon's updated stats since May 22nd. It's been really good. In 81 games, he's hit .298/.360/.393 (.753) with 20 doubles, 4 triples and a homer. He's been very good, especially considering his age. Ortiz's bad second half slump likely hurt any chance of him getting called up this year.

I'll be honest... I thought JO Berrios was the hands-down choice when I started looking at this... but then I went side-by-side between Lee and Berrios and it was closer than I thought, and I thought that Lee deserved it. (though I wouldn't argue with Berrios arguments either) Thank you for the compliment. It's important and one of our focuses, not to solely promote and write about the big names. Enough guys get up in different paths and frankly, they all deserve to be written about when they perform.

He's not eligible to return until Friday.

Hicks is staying in Rochester today and working out and then meeting the team in Houston on Friday. He's definitely ready. That said, I think Buxton continues to play center most games, with Hicks playing in right, and sometimes playing in left for Rosario against some lefties. But yes, he'll play some in CF too.

It’s hard to believe that it’s September already. The full minor league seasons will be complete on Labor Day. Both short-season affiliates are now done with their seasons as well. But before we start thinking too much about the 2015 season, let’s take a look at some of the top performers. Today we start with the starting pitchers. As Terry Ryan told local media on Tuesday night, he saw a lot of great performances in the last week while in Rochester.Before getting to the Top 5 starters for the month of August, here are a few starters who just missed the cut but deserve recognition. Honorable Mention LHP – Luke Westphal – Ft. Myers – 5 GS, 1-2, 1.75 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 21 H, 6 BB, 22 KRHP – Kohl Stewart – Ft. Myers – 4 GS, 2-1, 2.39 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 26.1 IP, 25 H, 6 BB, 16 KRHP – Andro Cutura – Elizabethton – 5 GS, 1-1, 1.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 25.2 IP, 25 H, 7 BB, 22 KLHP – Lachlan Wells – GCL Twins – 4 GS, 3-1, 1.50 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 18.0 IP, 12 H, 5 BB, 17 K--- Number 5 – Cedar Rapids Kernels – RHP Keaton Steele – 5 G, 4-1, 2.57 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 35.0 IP, 26 H, 2 BB, 22 K Third time is the charm. After being drafted by the Rays in 2012 and the Royals in 2013, he signed when the Twins used their eighth-round pick in 2014 on the University of Missouri right-hander. He went 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in 19 games out of the bullpen for Elizabethton last year. He began this season in extended spring training, but in mid-May he came up and did well out of the rotation. He missed three weeks in July, but has returned strong. In August, opponents hit just .210/.238/.298 (.537). He was 5-5 in quality starts. Overall this year, he is 6-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for the Kernels. Number 4 – Rochester Red Wings – LHP Logan Darnell – 5 G, 3-1, 2.25 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 23 H, 7 BB, 26 K Darnell was the Twins sixth-round draft pick in 2010 out of Kentucky. He made seven appearances, including four starts, for the Twins in 2014. He went to spring training with the Twins this year as a bullpen arm, a role he held through the season’s first four months. However, he made a spot start early in August and stayed in the rotation and put up tremendous numbers. He gave up two runs in 28 innings during his four starts. His third start, he threw a complete game shutout. In his final start of the month, he gave up one run over eight innings. Opponents hit just .195/.238/.280 (.518) against him, making a September call up a possibility. Number 3 – Rochester Red Wings – LHP Pat Dean - 6 GS, 4-2, 2.28 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 43.1 IP, 37 H, 7 BB, 25 K Dean was the Twins third-round pick in 2010 out of Boston College. We Got To Know the southpaw last week in a story in which he talks about his impressive, surprising, successful 2015 season. Overall, he’s 11-11 with a 2.91 ERA in 26 starts and 170 innings. Opponents hit just 233/.265/.277 (.542) against him. His monthly numbers are more impressive when you consider that he gave up seven runs in six innings in one start. However, he threw two complete game shutouts and an eight-inning shutout in the month as well. Number 2 – Rochester Red Wings – RHP JO Berrios - 6 GS, 2-0, 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 40.0 IP, 30 H, 3 BB, 48 K I think it’s fair to say that JO Berrios has been the biggest topic among Twins fans, with the exception of one Miguel Sano. He continued to put up great numbers through the month of August. Just yesterday, GM Terry Ryan finally announced the Berrios would not be getting called up to the Twins this year. Instead, he will head home for the offseason. He made six starts and the final two were in front of the Twins GM. His worst start, statistically, of the month came against Scranton/Wilkes Barre when he gave up four runs on six hits in six innings. You may recall, he had a no-hitter through six innings in that game. In other words, take away that one inning and the numbers look even more astonishing. On the season, between AA and AAA, he is now 13-5 with a 2.90 ERA. In 26 starts and 161.1 innings, he has walked just 37 while striking out 170 batters, the most in minor league baseball. We’ve all seen , and when I wrote about him being the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2014, teammates raved about him and his work ethic. He even did an interview for Twins Daily in both English and Spanish.And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Chattanooga Lookouts – LHP Brett Lee - 6 GS, 5-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 29 H, 9 BB, 27 K Lee was drafted by the Pirates in 2009 and the Dodgers in 2010 before signing with the Twins as their 10th round pick in 2011. He was an All-Star in the Florida State League last year, but he missed time with injury. He began this season late again and made six starts for the Miracle before moving up to AA Chattanooga. He struggled some in his transition to the Southern League. Not in terms of runs allowed, but he wasn’t getting through five innings most starts. That changed in August. All six of his starts this month were quality starts. During the month, he reduced his ERA from 4.25 to 2.89. Twins Daily caught up with Lee following his tremendous August performance. Asked if there was a difficult adjustment from the Florida State League to the Southern League, he said, “It was a little tougher adjusting to the smaller strike zone. The hitters are more disciplined at the plate. They have better approaches and know what they’re trying to do. That made me have to make good pitches more consistently, and get ahead in the count.” So to progress, he had to make some adjustments. “I’d say a huge factor for me was lengthening my stride, following through and developing a slider.” He was quick to give credit to his pitching coach with the Lookouts, Stu Cliburn. “Cliburn helped me a lot with it. He showed me some new grips with it, and some things I can do to make sure I can repeat my delivery.” It was a strong month for Brett Lee, but also for several members of the Triple-A Rochester rotation. It’s exciting to see so many strong performances in the upper levels of the Twins minor league system. So there you have it. The top pitchers in the Minnesota Twins farm system in August. What do you think? How would you rank these starting pitchers? Click here to view the article

We can certainly hope! Wouldn't that be nice?!

I can't think of any logical reason why you wouldn't!!

all it means is that the Twins weren't "dumb" for having them around. Teams want depth and guys they know they can go to.

Florimon was just added to their 25 man roster this afternoon... Old Friend Deolis Guerra was transferred to the 60 Day DL.

Yup, but he was a contributor to a winning team and still in their organization.

A couple of weeks ago, he had a walk-off triple for the Pittsburgh Pirates (2nd? 3rd best team in baseball?). Drew Butera, considered elite defensively... has played for the Royals and the Angels... Good teams want these types of players around.

That's amazing. He went from crushing pitchers on the inner half at the thighs to crushing pretty much everything from the thighs down!

Today, I would vote Correa... After 30 more games, the games-played difference won't matter any more. Sano can definitely win it yet.

Pat Meares had a nice little career for the Twins and Pirates. I still think Michael will, can and should get a chance. Should go to AAA next year. He's a solid ballplayer and just needs to stay healthy!

He was... considered a five-tool potential, though hitting was the question mark. Even when he was drafted, the idea of pitching was close at mind. After two years, they moved him. He's been alright. They've been patient with him. He was old when drafted out of high school and signed at 19, so he's actually eligible for the Rule 5 this year.

Last year, Rogers threw about 152 innings between New Britain and the AFL (he pitched in the championship game and I don't think that's included in the stats, but maybe). He should make one more Rochester start this week and get to 165 innings. He should get another 25 innings in the Fall league, putting him near 190. (that's 25% more than last year) Also, Rogers will turn 25 shortly after the fall league. Berrios turned 21 in May. Two very, very different situations.

He still won't be in any top 30s and probably not top 50 Twins prospects due to his age, but he has had a tremendous season and frankly,if he keeps on moving up, I don't care if he doesn't debut until he's 27. It's a nice honor for him and a chance to be seen.

It was an eventful day in the Twins system, as you would expect September 1st to be. Lots of moving parts, and still some big games as two teams approach the playoffs and one team isn’t quite ready to give up their playoff hopes. There were some awards named, transactions and the Arizona Fall League rosters were announced. The season came to an end for another Twins affiliate.All that and more can be found below. Let’s start with some transactions. ALL-STARS The International League named two members of the Rochester Red Wings to the league’s postseason All-Star team. First baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez and second baseman James Beresford were both very deserving. ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE Major League Baseball announced their 2015 rosters. The Twins will be represented by seven players. The four pitchers from the Twins organization are Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers. The Twins are sending two catchers, Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver. Adam Brett Walker is the other Twins player who will spend six or seven weeks in the Phoenix area. TRANSACTIONS The Twins made official on Tuesday afternoon what we knew here on Monday night. The team recalled pitchers AJ Achter and Michael Tonkin, and infielders Kennys Vargas and Danny Santana. They also put Eric Fryer back on the 40-man roster and called him up. What we didn’t know is the roster move to make that possible. We have since learned that the Twins have out-righted Jason Wheeler from the 40-man roster. Rochester obviously needed to add some players to make up for the players promoted. Equally obviously, the Twins aren’t going to mess with the Chattanooga roster as they prepare for the playoffs. Eric Farris and Allan de San Miguel came off of the disabled list. Also, Loek Van Mil was in uniform for the Twins. Baseball America had announced that the team had signed him. He last played in affiliated ball in 2013. He has played some in Japan since then. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 2 Box Score The Red Wings are barely holding on in their division. After this loss, Scranton’s magic number to clinch the division over the Red Wings is just one. Rochester does have a little more wiggle room in the wild card hunt, but not much. Michael Bowden started and gave up just two runs on four hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out eight. Alex Meyer came on and worked two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two (one intentional) and struck out three. Unfortunately, the Red Wings weren’t able to muster much offense. In fact, Reynaldo Rodriguez scored the lone run of the game. He got on after striking out and the ball got by the catcher. He advanced to second. He stole third base (his 13th steal of the year), the throw went into left field and Rodriguez scored. Aaron Hicks had one of the four Red Wings hits. He played the whole game in right field. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 1 Box Score Adam Brett Walker struggled for about five weeks, but he’s been providing some extra-base hits again of late. On Tuesday night, he hit his 30th home run of the season to match the number of doubles he has this season. He was 2-4 with a walk and the homer. He also drove in two more runs, giving him 103 on the season, second-best in minor league baseball. Levi Michael went 3-5. Max Kepler went 1-3 with two walks and two RBI. Cleanup hitter Travis Harrison also drove in two runs. DJ Baxendale gave up just one run on four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Corey Williams pitched a flawless seventh. Nick Burdi gave up a hit and walked two, but struck out three in a scoreless inning. JT Chargois got the final three outs, two of them via strikeout. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 – Ft. Myers 5, Jupiter 2 Box Score Kohl Stewart was again good in this game. He went six innings and was charged with only two unearned runs. He gave up four hits, walked four and struck out three. He improved to 7-8 with a 3.20 ERA on the season. Jake Reed picked up his first save with a clean seventh inning. Chad Christensen led the offense. He went 3-4 with his second and third triples. Mitch Garver was 2-3 with a walk. Logan Wade hit his 21st double and drove in three runs. Zach Granite was 1-2 and notched his 20th stolen base. Game 2 – Ft. Myers 6, Jupiter 1 Box Score Luke Westphal improved his Miracle numbers to 5-5 with a 2.82 ERA. The southpaw went five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five. Todd Van Steensel struck out the side in the sixth. Matt Summers gave up a solo home run in the seventh. LaMonte Wade hit his fourth triple. Aderlin Mejia went 1-2 with a walk. Chad Christensen walked twice. Zach Granite drove in two runs. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 5 Box Score Sam Clay put together a real solid start, but the Kernels fell with two outs in the ninth. The left-hander Clay gave up two runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out three. He walked two and struck out three. Yorman Landa pitched the next two innings. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. Zach Tillery came on for the ninth. He got two outs, but he gave up a run on two hits and a walk to take the loss. Sean Miller was leading off. He went 2-4 with his third and fourth doubles. TJ White went 2-4 with a walk. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 6, Bristol 1 Box Score Dereck Rodriguez was named the Appy League Pitcher of the Year last week. Tonight, he put together, arguably, his best start of the year. In six innings, he gave up one run. He allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out 11. He improved to 6-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Onesimo Hernandez threw two shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out two. Kuo Hua Lo worked a scoreless inning to finish the game. LaMonte Wade went 2-4 with his fifth triple. AJ Murray was 2-3 with a walk and his 11th double. Brad Hartong and Nelson Molina each went 2-4. Zander Wiel walked twice. The Elizabethton season is complete. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chad Christensen, Ft. Myers Miracle WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (6:5 CST) – TBD Chattanooga – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (12:05 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario Feel free to leave any questions or comments below Click here to view the article

I don't know about desperation, but I do think they want to see how they do, put them in this situation. It's a good challenge for both. During the season, understandably, they want them both playing. I think this is good.

They changed it to TWO players below AA a couple of years ago.

On Tuesday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced the Arizona Fall League rosters. The Twins will be represented by seven players in Arizona. It is a good opportunity for the Twins to learn about these guys, and for the players to see how they compare to and learn from other top prospects from other organization. The Twins will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions with players from the Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco. Here are the Twins representatives:NICK BURDI (22) – Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Burdi came into the year and many of us thought he’d be with the big league club by now. That didn’t happen. He started in Chattanooga, but after posting a 5.93 ERA in his first 22 games there, he was sent down to Ft. Myers in late June. After a solid month there, he returned to the Lookouts. In 10.1 innings (5 outings) since his return, he has a 1.75 ERA. That said, he has 8 walks to go with 15 strikeouts. If he can find some control, he should be terrific. JAKE REED (22) – Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Like Burdi, Reed struggled in AA. In 33 games, he posted a 5.64 ERA. He returned to Ft. Myers (actually, he had skipped Ft. Myers to start the season) where he has a 0.00 ERA in eight games. Reed pitched well in the Arizona Fall League last year. He was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2014 out of Oregon. TREVOR HILDENBERGER (24) – Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Hildenberger was the Twins 22nd round pick just last year from California. He began the season with 28 games in Cedar Rapids and dominated to the tune of a 0.80 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP through 45 innings. He was promoted to the Miracle where he has a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings. He has 17 total saves on the season. He has twice been our minor league pitcher of the month and is a leading candidate for the annual honor. TAYLOR ROGERS (24) – Left-Handed Starting Pitcher Like Reed, Rogers pitched in the AFL last year, though he was limited thanks to a liner to his left arm. He is 9-12 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP with the Red Wings this year in 161 innings. He has struggled more in the second half. He has risen pretty quickly through the Twins ranks since being their 11th round pick in 2012 out of Kentucky. ADAM BRETT WALKER (23) – Outfielder The powerful slugger was the Twins third-round pick in 2012 out of Jacksonville University. This year in Chattanooga, he has slugged 30 doubles and 29 homers. He’s driven in over 100 runs for the second time in three full seasons. And yes, he is approaching 190 strikeouts on the season. For him, continuing to work on his strike zone knowledge and plan will be key. MITCH GARVER (24) – Catcher The Twins are sending Mitch Garver to the Fall League. He was Twins Daily’s Minor League Hitter of the Year last year in Cedar Rapids. He struggled through the first two months this season, but since June 1st, he is hitting .273/.374/.392 (.766). He has thrown out 36% of would-be base-stealers for the Miracle this year. STUART TURNER (23) – Catcher So, the Twins are sending two catchers to the Fall League. That is unusual, I would think, though both are very solid behind the plate. Turner is definitely known more for his defense. He has thrown out 40% of would-be base-stealers in Chattanooga. He is hitting just .220/.318/.307 on the season. However, in his last 34 games, he has hit .284/.384/.371 (.755). These seven will represent the Twins organization in Arizona. What are your thoughts? Click here to view the article