Seth Stohs

Lefty Pat Dean was the Twins third-round pick in the 2010 MLB draft out of Boston College. While JO Berrios gets all the press clippings and Tyler Duffey got the promotions, Dean has probably been the most consistent (in a good way) starter for the Rochester Red Wings this season. He has gone from a “suspect” to potentially on the verge of his first call up to the Minnesota Twins. Twins Daily recently chatted with Dean about his 2015 success and much more. When the opening day rosters were set, Pat Dean found himself in the bullpen for the first time in his career. However, Ervin Santana was suspended, Trevor May was promoted and Dean was back in the rotation. He responded well early, and has continued to pitch well throughout the season.On the season, he is 10-11 despite a very good 3.06 ERA. In 162 innings, he has walked just 35 batters and struck out 94. It was important for him to get off to a fast start because 2014 was a difficult, frustrating year for the southpaw. After going 3-2 with a 2.02 ERA in six starts in Rochester to end the 2013 season, the Connecticut native went back to New Britain to start the 2014 season. He spent the full season there and went 8-9 with a 4.81 ERA in 26 starts with a 1.55 WHIP. “Last year was a tough one for me. Mentally, it wore me down. I had high expectations for myself and when I struggled early, I continued to put a lot of pressure on myself. I quickly found myself in a hole I couldn’t figure out how to get back out of. I lost confidence in myself and that was the worst part.” After taking a little bit of time off following the season, Pat Dean played some winter ball in the Dominican Republic for the first time. The experience was important to him and his career. “I went and played winter ball and pretty much hit the reset button. I did my best not to worry about results and only focused on some things I wanted to work on from a mental and mechanical stand point. I think that helped tremendously. I also was able to talk to some older players and pick their brains on how they had success. I definitely learned a lot down there.” On and off the baseball field, the whole Dominican experience was something he enjoyed. “My experience in the Dominican this winter was a great one. The Gigantes took great care of me. The talent level of the league was great, and it helped me learn a lot about myself. Playing against experienced guys and talking to experienced guys created a great learning environment for me. I learned a lot about reading hitters and setting them up, and how to utilize my strengths. Most of all, it helped me prove to myself that I can pitch at a high level and to use last season as a learning experience and put the negative results behind me.” He continued to learn once he came back home from the Dominican Republic. “When I got back to New Jersey, I worked with my boss where I give pitching lessons, and he helped me tighten up my curve and slider. Last year’s struggles were tough, but I feel they made me stronger and smarter.” That brings us to 2015, a new start for Dean. He came back to Ft. Myers for spring training having learned a lot and feeling better about baseball, pitching and his perspective. “Coming in to this season, I tried not to put any pressure on myself, especially with things out of my control. My thought-process in spring training was to be happy to have a jersey and to take advantage of every day I had one. I was fully prepared to be a bullpen guy. I knew I hadn’t earned anything and was just planning on taking advantage of any role the Twins wanted to put me in.” With Trevor May summoned to Minnesota before the season started, Dean found himself back in the rotation, back in Rochester for the first time since six starts in 2013. He responded very well. In his first three starts, he worked 20 innings and gave up just two runs while striking out 22 batters. He has thrown three complete game shutouts. He has completed six innings 19 times in 25 starts. In one start, the game was postponed by rain after two innings. He has only not gone five innings one other time. Dean is a left-hander who knows himself well as a pitcher. He knows what he needs to do to be successful. He throws both a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, as well as a curve ball, a slider and a change up. Knowing that he doesn’t throw hard enough to blow fastballs by hitters, he has to mix and match to be effective. He also knows that he has to have pinpoint control. “I am definitely a control pitcher and am constantly working to tighten up my control of every pitch I throw.” As for an out pitch, Dean says that two pitches have really been working for him better this year. “My curve and slider have both become effective tools for me this year. They have helped me get out of some tough jams.” The strategy is simple even if the execution at the AAA level isn’t always because of the talent and experience of hitters in the International League. “My strategy with approaching hitters is to be aggressive in the strike zone and work ahead. I know I don’t have an electric fastball, but I trust that I will be able to hit my spots with all my pitches. By working ahead, I am able to expand the zone and make the batter hit my pitch instead of having to give in to making a pitch they can handle.” Red Wings manager Mike Quade and especially pitching coach Marty Mason have also played a large part in Dean’s resurgent 2015 campaign. “A big thing Marty (Mason) has helped me with this year is really to just be me out on the mound. All year, he has told me to be me out there, not to try and be a pitcher I am not. I am not a guy that will light up a radar gun, so why would I go out there and try to do that? He just wants me to be Pat Dean out there, and his and Quade’s confidence in me as a pitcher has meant a lot this season.” So what would a September call up mean for Dean after such a resurgent, comeback season? “After six seasons with the Twins, getting a call up would mean more than words can describe. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career so far. So, for that dream to come true, especially after the year I had least year in AA… I can’t imagine how great it would feel.” Dean knows himself well, even when talking about his golf game. “On off-days, I enjoy playing golf with the guys. I am not very good at it, but I am getting better.” He enjoys staying busy after the season too. “In the offseason, my fiancé and I like to do a lot of exploring and traveling. I like going to new places and trying new foods.” Hopefully he and his fiancé will get the chance to travel to Minnesota and Target Field following the Red Wings season before starting a more formal, relaxing offseason. 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OK, there's one.

I generally agree with postponing Free Agency, but the Twins are in a playoff race right now. IF they believe he can help them get there, they can call him up. I can't think of (any?) many top-notch Twins players that the team hasn't signed to an extension beyond their free agency timeline going back 20 years.

Not long after JO Berrios put together, arguably, his best start of season, he sat in the Red Wings bus just starting the 90-mile drive from Syracuse to Rochester. Instead of sitting back and relaxing, he took the time to take (and welcome) a phone call from a Twins Daily writer. As Jeremy opined in today’s Minor League Report, “He’s arguably the best pitcher in the entire organization right now.” But will he get called up for September? The answer to that question likely has changed in the mind of Paul Molitor, Terry Ryan and others in the Twins front office over the last two or three weeks. I know it has changed for me now.Berrios felt really good about his Wednesday night start. A season-high 12 strikeouts in seven shutout innings will make a pitcher feel pretty good. Of the start, Berrios said, “Tonight, all three pitches were really nice. The best one was the curveball. I used it to strike them out.” Having watched several of Berrios’s starts, it appears that he’s had all three of his pitches working well most times out. He says that it is important and has been a focus for him. “You need to use all three pitches to get out big league hitters. The more I throw them, the more confident I am with all three pitches.” Berrios is quick to credit others for his success. The first thing he said was “All Glory to God!” He also says that he has received great advice from his coaches in Rochester too. “Yeah, here they want me to work with the curveball, and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve worked with that. I’ve thrown it pretty good.” It is interesting that Terry Ryan is watching the Red Wings. Asked if he notices Terry Ryan or thinks about the fact that the Twins GM is in the stands watching, Berrios answered quickly. “I don’t think about him. I just do my work and try to get outs and pitch my game.” However, we all know that Berrios works really hard. It was his goal before the season to make the big league club on Opening Day. He began at AA and dominated there. He wanted to be in the big leagues before he turned 21 in early May. Instead, he started another Futures Game for the World Team. He moved up to AAA where after his first two starts, he has continued to dominate. So, what would it mean for him to get that call in September? “It’s my dream from when I was young. It would be a blessing if they called me up in September. If they give me the opportunity to move up, I would try my best to help the team get to the playoffs.” There is no question that he and his teammates are keeping close tabs on the Twins big league club and their strong success this season. Asked if seeing Tyler Duffey’s success gives him confidence that he can succeed in the big leagues, Berrios replied quickly. “Yeah! They’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of very good pitchers. They have played very well.” It is the youth that has been leading the way for the Twins. Miguel Sano has been crushing pitches since his call up on July 1. Byron Buxton returned to the Twins last week after his injury and has multiple hits in four of his last five games. Puerto Rican outfielder Eddie Rosario has been up since early May and proven that he can play in the big leagues. He has a lot of extra-base hits, and he’s played great defense, showing range and a strong, accurate arm. Duffey has been good in his last three starts. Is He Ready? There are many angles to the Twins decision to bring up JO Berrios or not. As I wrote earlier, the opinions on that have likely changed in the mind of Paul Molitor and Terry Ryan over the last few weeks. I know that it has changed a few times in the last few weeks. First and foremost, JO Berrios is the top pitching prospect in the organization. He has done everything that he possibly can at each minor league level to have earned the right to pitch in the big leagues. In 15 starts at AA Chattanooga, he went 8-3 with a 3.08 ERA. In 90.2 innings, he walked 24 and struck out 92. After last night’s game, he is now 4-2 with a 2.78 ERA in ten starts with the Red Wings. In 64.2 innings, he has walked 13 and struck out 73. He has nothing more to prove. That is a lot of success. That is also a lot of innings. Combined, he is 12-5 with a 2.95 ERA. In a career-high 155.1 innings, he has given up 129 hits, walked 37 and struck out 165 batters. His previous career-high innings was 140.1 innings in 2014. Many teams subscribe to being concerned about a pitcher working more than a 20% innings increase from year to year. The Twins rarely mention the 20% number though they are aware of it. They monitor it, but they also tend to make those decisions based on how a pitcher is performing on the mound. Beyond numbers, is the pitcher starting to labor more on the mound. Well, based on last night’s performance, Berrios doesn’t appear to be laboring. If he were called up to the big leagues and put into the starting rotation, he could make seven more starts in high-pressure situations. Let’s estimate that he averaged six innings per start and he could wind up just shy of 200 innings. Of course, the Twins could also bring him up and put him in the bullpen down the stretch, maybe getting him 15 to 20 more innings. For what it’s worth, the Twins have not given Berrios any indication that he is on any innings limit at this time. The Business Impact As of Thursday morning, the Twins hold the second American League wild card spot. All season, Twins fans have tried to enjoy the ride, always wondering when they might falter. There have been a couple of times, including one week ago after the series in New York, when it was fair to wonder aloud if that time had come. This team has shown great resiliency. They have played themselves back into contention. They have added two quality bullpen options, helping the area of the team that needed it most. The idea that arguably the best pitcher in the organization would not be part of a playoff quest seems wrong. To a fault, I admit that I tend to look at the business side of promotions too much. If the Twins were not contending, I would fully understand and agree with the idea that if they didn’t bring him up this year, it made sense. Like Buxton, Berrios was a first-round pick in 2012 out of high school. That means that he doesn’t have to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2016 season. My general belief is that if they are not promoted by early August, it makes little sense for them to call them up and take up a 40-man roster spot. Let him rest and come to spring training as a non-roster invitee in 2016 and come up in late April, gaining another season of his rights before he would hit free agency. It would also allow them to protect another player over the offseason. That’s just smart. However, the Twins ARE in contention. They do have a real chance to make the playoffs. In my opinion, that means finding a way to get Berrios on the roster. At that point, some of those intangibles have to come in to play. Can the player handle pitching in these types of pressure situations in a playoff push? How will he handle success or failure? How mature is he? How will he perform while pitching in innings that he has never pitched before? How will he handle the big league lifestyle? Simply put, there is no way to know with 100% certainty. But they do know JO Berrios. They knew him and watched him before they drafted him in June of 2012. They’ve been able to get to know him better in the past three years. He only turned 21-years-old three months ago, but he is very mature. He is confident yet humble. He clearly has the right work ethic. Beyond that, we don’t know how he will handle it. No one does. Tyler Duffey was pitching best for the Red Wings when he was called up. He was drafted the same year as Berrios, but he is three years older because he went to college. He is mature. He was ready for the big leagues. And, he was clearly nervous when he made his debut. It’s fair to say he’s calmed down well over his last three starts. Summary JO Berrios was great again on Wednesday night for the Red Wings. We talked to him after the game for his thoughts and what a September call up would mean to him. Will he get that call? We’ll find out within the next two weeks. On the mound, he has nothing left to prove, though it is very fair to worry about his innings. He has the makeup and maturity to handle the situation, as well as the confidence and, maybe more important, the pitches. There are “business” reasons for the Twins to wait until about April 20, 2016, to call him up, but the fact that the Twins are in strong playoff contention in 2015 and the opinion that he may be the best pitcher in the organization right now, it seems pretty apparent (in my humble opinion) that JO Berrios should spend most of September with the Minnesota Twins. Click here to view the article

I think that is very realistic.

Nah, he's been to the AFL the last two years... I think he gets called up and then gets to spend his offseason however he wants... though he could play in VZ or something.

It should be a huge consideration... He'd maybe be a role player with the Twins. He'll be the #2/#3 hitter for the Lookouts in playoff games. It's good for him and it's good for his teammates... Unless he's going to start, getting those playoff at bats will be great. And, he can be up by 9/15 or so.

There's no way he's a Sept 1 call up. They'll let him play every day through the end of Chattanooga season (Sept 7), and he'll play for the Lookouts in their playoffs, however long they stay in it. Also, Kepler is mentioned pretty much every day in the minor league reports.

He's saying that despite the impressive batting average, if he were called up now he would probably still struggle with breaking pitches and such. He's not a finished product. They think he can become an above average player.

This article is awesome! We should be talking about Max Kepler, and we will, but I do need to say that I am incredibly impressed with Chad Allen. I've talked to him a couple of times and he's so knowledgeable and really has a plan. He seems to have a good plan for everyone. I think that's important. But Kepler's been tremendous. I saw him in Cedar Rapids, and that talent was there, but his swing was strange. You could see the quick bat and the power potential, but it was very, very raw. He's a quiet guy, very respectful. Every time I've talked to him, he stands and listens intently. Very polite. It's cool to see more assertiveness.

I think that's the role that would give him a shot...

I kind of think it'll be between him and Mark Hamburger (with Achter and Tonkin as guys I assume will be up). Tonkin may come up Sept 1, but I assume the others would come up after the season, after Labor Day.

The Twins are still playing meaningful games in late August, and they’re being led by a trio of players who began this season in the minor leagues. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario are all performing very well. On Wednesday, they will send a fourth,Tyler Duffey, to the mound.Three of those players began this season in AA Chattanooga. The exciting thing is knowing that there is a lot more talent coming through the pipeline. Check out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Tuesday. The Midwest League announced its end-of-season awards and all-star team and no Kernels were named. The Appalachian League also named its all-stars as well. LaMonte Wade was an all- star outfielder. Kuo Hua Lo was named the league’s top reliever. Dereck Rodriguez was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Syracuse 4 Box Score A night after collecting 20 hits, the Red Wings were only able to muster six hits in this game. Kennys Vargas had a single and a walk, the only player getting on base more than once. Pat Dean’s scoreless inning streak ended at 18 in the second inning when he gave up a run. The southpaw’s night ended after five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three. Alex Meyer came on and needed just 20 pitches to strike out three over two perfect innings. Aaron Thompson struck out two in his inning of work. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Tennessee 3 Box Score Shannon Wilkerson has done a nice job for the Lookouts since signing out of the Can-Am League last month. He helped the Lookouts win this game. He had an RBI early, but in the bottom of the seventh, he tripled in Stuart Turner with the go-ahead run. He then scored on a throwing error to give the team the lead. Wilkerson led the offense. He went 2-3 with his third triple and two RBI. Turner went 1-2 with a walk and scored two runs. Heinker Meneses added his tenth double. Brett Lee started for the Lookouts. He gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out three. Alex Wimmers came on and threw three shutout innings for the win. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out three. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 4 Box Score The Miracle got a quality start from lefty Luke Westphal. He gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out two. Matt Summers came on and gave up one run on three hits in 1.2 innings before getting ejected. He struck out four. Jake Reed came on and got the final four outs. Logan Wade went 2-4 with his 18th double. He has hit in eight of his last nine games and has multiple hits in five of his last seven games. Jason Kanzler cut the Miracle deficit to one with his eighth homer of the season. Mitch Garver doubled for the 23rd time this year. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 7 Box Score The odds of the Kernels coming back on this night and matching their 23-run, 27-hit night against Clinton the night before were not good. They did have eight hits and scored four runs, but it wasn’t enough against Peoria. Felix Jorge went six innings again. He was charged with four unearned runs in one inning which included two errors. In total, he gave up those four runs on nine hits and a walk. He struck out five. It is his 19th time in 21 starts this season that he has completed six innings. Luke Bard came on and gave up three runs on seven hits in three innings. He struck out three. Seven Kernels hitters had at least one hit. Edgar Corcino was the lone player with more than one hit. He was 2-4 with his 14th double. TJ White added his 19th double, and Max Murphy hit his 13th. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Greeneville 8 Box Score Cody Stashak has been very good, but he struggled on this night. In just 1.2 innings, he gave up seven runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out two. CK Irby came on and gave up one run on one hits and one walk in 3.1 innings. He struck out five. Jose Abreu gave up only a walk over three scoreless innings. It’s been a struggle for big Lewin Diaz since being promoted to E-Town. On this night, he hit his second home run. Manuel Guzman and Nelson Molina each went 2-4. Brad Hartong added his seventh double. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 2 Box Score Rain has been, and always is, a force to be reckoned with in Southwest Florida. It was definitely the case on Tuesday afternoon. The Twins and Rays were set to finish a game from mid-July that was suspended after the fourth inning. They planned to finish that as a seven-inning game and then play another seven-inning game. They finished the first game. Brandon Poulson came in and began where he left off a month ago. He finished with 2.2 total innings. He gave up no runs on no hits. He walked two and struck out five. Johan Quezada came in for the eighth inning and gave up a run on three hits. The Twins were unable to come back in the bottom of the inning. In total, Luis Arraez went 2-3 with a walk. Roberto Gonzalez went 2-3 and stole his seventh base. They started game two, but again, it was suspended after four innings with the Twins leading 4-2. The plan is for the teams to finish this game and play another on Wednesday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Meyer, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Shannon Wilkerson, Chattanooga Lookouts WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (6:05 CST) – RHP JO Berrios Tennessee @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00 CST) – LHP Sam Clay GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (DH @ 11:00) – TBD, TBD Feel free to leave any questions or comments below Click here to view the article

I definitely encourage people to look into the box scores for more details. See all those Kernels and Red Wings with three hit games... Check out how AB Walker did on the night.

I can't remember a night like this. 7 Kernels hitters with at least 3 hits. I think 5-6 Red Wings hitters with 3+ hits. AB Walker ties the Lookouts HR record. Logan Darnell had a perfect game until an error in the 6th, and a no-hitter into the 7th.

I tweeted this earlier today because White has been terrific:

Jeremy Nygaard has tons on him and the rest of the 40 Twins draft picks in his Draft Book. A great purchase option... Jeremy spent time with many scouts, etc., learning about these players and it's incredible.

Following a sweep in New York against the dreaded Yankees, many Twins fans - admittedly myself included - were ready to write off the 2015 season. It was the start of a ten-game road stretch against three teams with playoff hopes remaining. However, after an unlikely four-game sweep in Baltimore, the Twins remain in contention for a wild card berth.It was something that happened frequently in the Ron Gardenhire-led era. When the Twins had a shot at making the playoffs, they played some of their best baseball. Maybe it was that "One-Day-At-A-Time" mantra that Tom Kelly preached. Maybe it was the fire of Gardenhire. Maybe it was having some of the right players on the field for the season's final months. Like many Twins fans, I often get excited and hopeful when things are going well, but when things start to go awry, I'm ready to play the realist. This year, that meant talking about how the Twins weren't really expected to compete yet. They were expected to finish dead last in the American League. 2016 was when this team was supposed to start playing competitive games in August. And then that rough stretch of games out of the All-Star break that moved them from 10 games above .500 to a game below .500. That culminated with that dreadful performance in the Bronx. And yet, baseball is a funny game, and funny things happen. An offense that struggled to score runs began the series in Baltimore with a 15-run performance. After that, they showed a great toughness winning three close games. In fact, instead of being the team whose bullpen was giving up leads late in the game, the Twins were the team overcoming a deficit in the late innings. In fact, the Twins bullpen was terrific in Baltimore. Glen Perkins wasn't available for the first three games of the series, but he pitched on Sunday. Kevin Jepsen was remarkable in that closer's role. Trevor May pitched three straight games for the first time and was absolutely dominant. Even Casey Fien was terrific, returning to the 2013 and 2014 form that made him so good. Adding Neal Cotts to the equation makes the bullpen deeper. The bullpen was a strength in that series and now they get a day off before starting a three-game series with the Rays in St. Petersburg. After that, they head home to play the Houston Astros, another playoff team. It doesn't get easier. What else? This team is being led by some young fellas. Tyler Duffey set the tone for the series with a tremendous performance in Thursday's blowout. He showed Twins fans what he is capable of doing. Miguel Sano continued to bash American League pitching by delivering a couple of home runs in the series and driving in runs. Eddie Rosario continues to impress in left field and came up with some big hits and a big sacrifice fly on Friday. Byron Buxton played great defense. His bat still hasn't come on strong, but he came up with the big, game-winning hit in Saturday's game. Remember the year that the Twins were in contention and Justin Morneau got hurt about as the calendar turned to September? Michael Cuddyer moved onto first base and put up crazy numbers for the final three or four weeks of the season. Maybe this year it will be Miguel Sano who leads the charge? There's no way to know what will happen. Maybe unlikely veterans like Joe Mauer and Torii Hunter will be hot for the final five or six weeks. Will the Twins make the playoffs? I don't know. I don't claim to know. The odds still aren't in their favor. But if there's one thing that I've learned in the last dozen years or so, when the Twins have had a chance, they have stayed resilient. And as we've said many times, with baseball, you just never know what could happen. Might as well enjoy the ride! Click here to view the article

I'd now say two really good starts after one really bad start... That curveball is legit!

Yup, he's back in the lineup today as well.

I agree.. It was his first full season back from Tommy John, so I'm glad they gave him another shot to start. But if he has a big league future, it'd likely be in long relief. He certainly had a couple of stretches that showed he could fill that kind of role.