Seth Stohs

Alex Kirilloff also named the Appy League's Player of the Year.

Today, a couple of the Minor Leagues announced their postseason All Star teams: Appalachian League: OF Alex Kirilloff, 1B/DH Lewin Diaz, RH Patrick McGuff Midwest League: 2B Luis Arraez We'll continue to update this as they are announced.

Here is an interview with former Twins pitcher Michael Nakamura. It's full of interesting questions and fantastic responses. He's from Australia. Has pitched for the Twins, Blue Jays, and also for a long time in Japan. He also represented Australia in a couple of Olympics. http://goalcentral.com.au/micheal-nakamura-interview

Player of the Week: 8/15-8/21: Single-A Ft. Myers outfielder Tanner English is the Twins minor league player of the week...English played six games for the Miracle, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with two triples, three home runs, four walks and eight runs scored...English was drafted in the 11th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina...he is hitting .233 (20-for-86) with three doubles, three triples, four home runs and eight RBI in 24 games for the Miracle this season.

Stephen Gonsalves was named Southern League's Pitcher of the Week last week.

It was no surprise that the Twins needed to get an arm to Kansas City after Friday night’s 11 inning, seven hour (with rain and light delays). The specifics may have been a bit surprising. Adalberto Mejia was called up to the Twins, his first big league promotion. Kennys Vargas was the one optioned to Rochester where he’ll have to spend the next ten days. Because of a short start from lefty Hector Santiago, Mejia also made his major league debut with two outs in the fifth inning. He got a groundout to end that inning. He went another two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Following the game, he was optioned back to Rochester. The Twins will promote another pitcher to take his spot before Sunday’s series finale. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Ryan Eades) It was no surprise that the Twins needed to get an arm to Kansas City after Friday night’s 11 inning, seven hour (with rain and light delays). The specifics may have been a bit surprising. Adalberto Mejia was called up to the Twins, his first big league promotion. Kennys Vargas was the one optioned to Rochester where he’ll have to spend the next ten days. Because of a short start from lefty Hector Santiago, Mejia also made his major league debut with two outs in the fifth inning. He got a groundout to end that inning. He went another two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Following the game, he was optioned back to Rochester. The Twins will promote another pitcher to take his spot before Sunday’s series finale. Because Mejia was promoted, Omar Bencomo was brought back to Rochester to make the Saturday start. The Red Wings also officially announced the signing of veteran Edward Mujica. Also, lefty Randy Rosario was promoted from Ft. Myers to the Chattanooga bullpen. That means that five of the six Miracle starters at the beginning of the season have now made it to Chattanooga. Let’s get to the Saturday game action: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Gwinnett 5 (7-Rain) Box Score Omar Bencomo was summoned back to the Red Wings pretty last minute to make this start. He went five innings, though he gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk. He struck out four. Rio Ruiz took him deep twice. Neil Ramirez got the final two outs of the sixth inning before the game was called due to rain. The Red Wings managed just six hits. Wilfredo Tovar went 1-2 with a walk and his 22nd double. He scored the lone run on a single off the bat of Adam Brett Walker. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Montgomery 1 Box Score With Bencomo heading back to the Red Wings, Eades was back into the Lookouts rotation, at least for this start. He was tremendous. He gave up just one hit over six shutout innings. He walked one and struck out four. 51 of his 81 pitches were strikes. Zack Jones gave up a run on a hit in two innings. He walked two and struck out two. Raul Fernandez recorded his third save with a perfect ninth. TJ White had a strong game. The infielder went 3-4 with his fourth double and third triple. Stuart Turner was 2-4 with his 21st double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 4 Box Score Before they batted, the Miracle were down 4-0, but they clawed their way back and scored seven unanswered runs to claim the win. It was a tough start for Sam Clay. The lefty gave up four runs on two hits and six walks in 4.2 innings. He gave up all four runs right away in the first inning. He struck out four. Luke Westphal came on and walked two and struck out two over 1.1 scoreless innings. Cam Booser struck out five of the six batters he faced in his two perfect innings. Nick Anderson recorded his seventh Miracle save with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. Down 4-0 before they batted, Tanner English and Joe Maloney each hit solo home runs. English was 2-5. The homer was his fourth. Maloney went 2-4 with his fourth homer. He drove in four runs in the game. Chris Ibarra went 2-5 with his third double. Trey Vavra went 2-3 with a walk. Daniel Kihle went 2-4. Nick Gordon added his 22nd double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 3 Box Score The Kernels scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead. They added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth and earned the win. Tyler Beardsley started and gave up two runs on four hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Michael Cederoth gave up a run on two hits and a walk over 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Max Cordy got the final two outs of the 8th inning, one on a strikeout. Tom Hakimer gave up a hit and hit a batter in a scoreless ninth inning. JJ Fernandez went 2-3 with his 24th double. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-4. Casey Scoggins went 2-4 with a walk. Brandon Lopez went 1-3 and walked twice. Nelson Molina contributed his 14th double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 2, Burlington 4 Box Score While the Kernels beat Burlington on Saturday night, the E-Twins dropped a game in Burlington. Random fun with minor league cities, of course. Miguel De Jesus started. He gave up three runs on three hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out six. Johan Quezada gave up a run on three hits over his two innings. Quin Grogan walked one and struck one out in his scoreless inning. The Twins managed just four hits in the game. Lewin Diaz was 1-3 with a walk and his 14th double. Alex Kirilloff was also 1-3 with a walk. Caleb Hamilton added his fifth double. Roberto Gonzalez doubled for the third time. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, Red Sox 1 Box Score Jordan Balazovic put together the best start of his very young professional career on Saturday morning. The young Canadian threw six shutout innings to earn his second win. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out two. Matz Schutt hit two and gave up a hit in a scoreless seventh inning. Juan Gamez made his second pitching appearance. In this one, he gave up a run on two hits and a walk in just two-thirds of an inning. Clark Beeker got the final out of the eighth and then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second GCL save. Juan Miranda went 2-3 with his seventh double. Lean Marrero was 2-4 with his third stolen base. Justin Hazard knocked his fifth double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Eades, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – TJ White, Chattanooga Lookouts SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Gwinnett (1:05 CST) - LHP Nick Greenwood Montgomery @ Chattanooga (1:15 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) - RHP Keaton Steele Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons Elizabethton @ Burlington (5:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games. View full article

He doesn't play RF very well, so I don't think LF would go well. Then again, Kepler's best position might be LF. If he strikes out 36% in AAA, that's more than Buxton strikes out in AAA, so yeah, he would likely strike out 50% of the time in the big leagues... Maybe.

He's got some great stuff, and no one hits him hard, so I don't know. I really don't get it. I don't know why he doesn't miss more bats... Very curious to see how his career proceeds.

Where would he play? He's played pretty much only DH and RF in the minors. Kepler's in RF. Mauer's at 1B. Plenty of DH options. No reason for him to not play every day. He's doing just fine.

After another long game with a short start due to weather, the Twins needed another pitcher. So, the Twins have called up recently-acquired Adalberto Mejia and optioned 1B/DH Kennys Vargas to Rochester.

I'm sleepy... Who's still here? Even if you dont' comment, comment here... who's still watching?

Arcia started out 9-20 with the Rays... And then reality set in in August. In his final 15 games, he went 5-34 (.147) with 15 strikeouts.

It was a big day in Rochester on Friday. Twins interim-GM Rob Antony has been in town to see and evaluate players. However, on Friday, he completed a trade, signed a minor league veteran, and was on hand to help the Red Wings announce a two-year extension to their current Player Development Contract with the Twins, keeping the Twins AAA affiliate in upstate New York through the 2018 season. Let’s start with the trade. Chris Cotillo was first to announce that the Twins had traded Red Wings left-handed reliever Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals in exchange for a player to be named later, or cash. It’ll likely be a few dollars. Burnett, a former big league All-Star, came to the Twins after opting out of his Braves minor league deal. While he had a mid-June opt-out with the Twins, he stuck with the organization with the understanding that if another team offered him a big league opportunity, the Twins would accommodate it. The Nationals are going to send Burnett to their AAA affiliate in Syracuse, but he is going to be called up to the big league club for September. During the Red Wings game, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle beat writer Kevin Oklozija tweeted that veteran Edward Mujica was warming up in the Red Wings bullpen. He was throwing a side-session, having just arrived in Rochester that day. Mujica is a 32-year-old right-hander who was an All-Star in 2013 and has ten years of time in the big leagues. From an affiliate standpoint, arguably the biggest news of the day was that the Red Wings and Twins agreed to continue their player development contract two more years, through the 2018 season. Representatives from the Red Wings and the Twins were very happy about the news. Red Wings President, CEO and COO Naomi Silver said, ““The Twins have been an outstanding partner to the Red Wings. With a Major League affiliation, a Minor League club hopes for three important things: a competitive team, having future Major Leaguers and top draft picks being a part of that team, and a Big League team that values the importance of the Minor League system. The Twins have been great to us in each of these areas. They’ve regularly fielded winning teams here and we’ve seen a lot of great players come through Rochester. Every month someone from the Twins top management comes to town to see their players and to consult with field personnel and our front office. They rely on their Minor League system to develop young players, and we are the ones who benefit from that. We consider ourselves lucky that the Minnesota Twins respect and appreciate our organization and want to continue this affiliation.” Rob Antony noted, ““It’s been a tremendous partnership that we’ve had with Rochester. The biggest things you look for in an affiliate are A. you want good ownership, Rochester has that, B. you want good facilities, Rochester has that, and C. you want a good fan base and the fans in Rochester have been very supportive of this club.” Image courtesy of Butch Hill (photo of Daniel Palka) It was a big day in Rochester on Friday. Twins interim-GM Rob Antony has been in town to see and evaluate players. However, on Friday, he completed a trade, signed a minor league veteran, and was on hand to help the Red Wings announce a two-year extension to their current Player Development Contract with the Twins, keeping the Twins AAA affiliate in upstate New York through the 2018 season. Let’s start with the trade. Chris Cotillo was first to announce that the Twins had traded Red Wings left-handed reliever Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals in exchange for a player to be named later, or cash. It’ll likely be a few dollars. Burnett, a former big league All-Star, came to the Twins after opting out of his Braves minor league deal. While he had a mid-June opt-out with the Twins, he stuck with the organization with the understanding that if another team offered him a big league opportunity, the Twins would accommodate it. The Nationals are going to send Burnett to their AAA affiliate in Syracuse, but he is going to be called up to the big league club for September. During the Red Wings game, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle beat writer Kevin Oklozija tweeted that veteran Edward Mujica was warming up in the Red Wings bullpen. He was throwing a side-session, having just arrived in Rochester that day. Mujica is a 32-year-old right-hander who was an All-Star in 2013 and has ten years of time in the big leagues. From an affiliate standpoint, arguably the biggest news of the day was that the Red Wings and Twins agreed to continue their player development contract two more years, through the 2018 season. Representatives from the Red Wings and the Twins were very happy about the news. Red Wings President, CEO and COO Naomi Silver said, ““The Twins have been an outstanding partner to the Red Wings. With a Major League affiliation, a Minor League club hopes for three important things: a competitive team, having future Major Leaguers and top draft picks being a part of that team, and a Big League team that values the importance of the Minor League system. The Twins have been great to us in each of these areas. They’ve regularly fielded winning teams here and we’ve seen a lot of great players come through Rochester. Every month someone from the Twins top management comes to town to see their players and to consult with field personnel and our front office. They rely on their Minor League system to develop young players, and we are the ones who benefit from that. We consider ourselves lucky that the Minnesota Twins respect and appreciate our organization and want to continue this affiliation.” Rob Antony noted, ““It’s been a tremendous partnership that we’ve had with Rochester. The biggest things you look for in an affiliate are A. you want good ownership, Rochester has that, B. you want good facilities, Rochester has that, and C. you want a good fan base and the fans in Rochester have been very supportive of this club.” The Red Wings also hosted several members of the Miracle on Ice, the 1980 Gold Medal hockey team from the USA. Hockey legend Dave Christian “threw out the first pitch” before the game by using his hockey stick to ‘shoot’ the ball to the catcher. The Red Wings wore red, white and blue uniforms with USA across the chest. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/766788403505434625 And then the Red Wings actually played a game, and it ended in exciting fashion as well. It was a full day in the Twins farm system, so let’s get to Friday’s action. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Buffalo 2 Box Score With USA hockey heroes in attendance, several Red Wings players stepped up to play hero. Down by a run in the bottom of the 9th, Mitch Garver stepped to the plate and singled in Byron Buxton, who had pinch run earlier in the inning, to tie the game and send it to extra innings. With a runner on in the bottom of the tenth inning, Daniel Palka ended it in style with a long, two-run blast. The homer was his 11th as a Red Wings player and his 32nd overall this season. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/766831874161258497 David Hurlbut made his second start of the season with the Red Wings and he was terrific. He gave up a run in the first inning but that was it. He gave up one run on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. He was replaced by Jake Reed who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. In the ninth, Pat Light gave up a run which put the Red Wings down one. He worked two innings giving up the run on two hits a walk and a hit batter. Adam Brett Walker went 2-3 with a walk and his 19th double. He stole his sixth base. Leonardo Reginnato also added his first AAA double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Montgomery 1 Box Score Just like the Red Wings, the Lookouts had a close game and were able to come up big in dramatic late-inning fashion. Kohl Stewart was on the mound for the Lookouts and was very good. He gave up just one run on five hits over the game’s first eight innings. He walked two and struck out five. He gave up a run in the 2nd inning, but then settled in and finished with six straight scoreless frames. However, Stewart walked off the mound after the top of the eighth inning with his team losing 1-0. The Lookouts loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, and Travis Harrison stepped to the plate. The outfield lined a single which plated two runners and gave the Lookouts a 2-1 lead. Raul Fernandez completed the ninth inning without allowing any runs to record the save. Stewart improved to 7-6 and reduced his ERA to 3.05 on the year. Zach Granite led the way. The leadoff man went 3-4 and is now hitting .299. Engelb Vielma went 1-2 with a walk. Ryan Walker added his fourth triple. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Jupiter 4 Box Score The Miracle jumped out to 3-0 lead after the first three innings but were unable to hold the lead and fell to the Hammerheads. Dereck Rodriguez put together yet another quality start. The right-hander worked the first six innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on ten hits. He didn’t walk anyone though he did strike out one. Michael Theofanopoulos gave up one run on four hits and a walk over the next two innings. He struck out two. John Curtiss worked a quiet ninth inning. The Miracle bats managed just five hits in the game. Tanner English went 2-3 and stole his ninth base. Sean Miller went 2-4 with his second double and his first stolen base. Joe Maloney drove in two of the three Miracle runs. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 0 Box Score It was University of Iowa Night on Friday in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels wore some ugly black and white football-looking jerseys with huge numbers. (see Steve Buhr’s photo below) As happens often at Kernels games, the special jerseys are auctioned off during the game and handed to the winners by the players after the game. Speaking of the game, the Kernels played a very good, all-around game for the shutout. Most important, they got some terrific pitching in the shutout. Lachlan Wells went the first 5.2 innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out five. Williams Ramirez came on and walked two over 2.1 scoreless frames. He struck out one. Anthony McIver picked up his ninth save with a scoreless ninth inning. Nelson Molina led the offense with his first career, four-hit game. He added his 13th double and drove in two runs. He is now hitting .315 on the season. Luis Arraez went 2-3 with a walk. He is now hitting .349. Travis Blankenhorn was 2-4 with his first MWL stolen base. Jaylin Davis added his tenth double. https://twitter.com/JimCrikket/status/766778521419079682 E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Burlington 4 Box Score This game went back and forth until the ninth inning. Tied at four, Ariel Montesino singled and was bunted over to second base. Shane Carrier came through with an RBI single to give them a lead they would hold on to. Montesino went 3-5 with his fourth stolen base. Carrier went 3-5 with his 13th double. Mitchell Kranson went 3-5 with his third home run. Andre Jernigan went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth double. Hank Morrison hit his second triple. (I won’t mention the other side of the ledger, but if I did, it might show that Amaurys Minier went 0-5 with five strikeouts). Jose Martinez started and went the first four innings. He gave up four runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out two. Alex Robinson struck out four over three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and, most important, walked none. Austin Tribby has done a great job as a vulture for the E-Twins. He threw a scoreless eighth inning so when the E-Twins scored in the top of the ninth and held on for the win, Tribby improved to 5-0. Patrick McGuff picked up his seventh save for the E-Twins with a scoreless ninth. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, Red Sox 5 Box Score While several of the Twins affiliates found a way to win a close game at the end, the opposite was true for the GCL Twins. They went into the bottom of the ninth holding a 4-3 lead and walked off the field with a 5-4 loss. Huascar Ynoa started. He gave up three runs on five hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Garrett Kelly came on and threw two scoreless innings. Onas Farfan came on for the ninth. He’s been quite good this year, returning from Tommy John surgery. On this day he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk, and recorded just two outs to take the loss. The Twins had 11 hits on the day. Jose Miranda went 2-3 with two walks and a triple. Lean Marrero went 2-4 with his third double. Jhon Alvarez went 2-4. Brian Olson added his third double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kohl Stewart, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nelson Molina, Cedar Rapids Kernels SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Gwinnett (6:05 CST) - LHP Adalberto Mejia Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Omar Bencomo Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) - LHP Sam Clay Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Tyler Beardsley Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - RHP Miguel DeJesus GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. View full article

It was a trade, most likely for cash... probably $1-2. Sounds like he gave up his opt-out in June with the understanding that if a big league job with a team opened up, he could be dealt. The Nationals said they'll call him up for September.

According to Chris Cotillo, the Twins have traded Red Wings LH RP Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals. The Twins had signed the former All Star to a minor league deal following his release by the Atlanta Braves. He didn't pitch for the Twins in the big leagues.

They probably don't. As Jeremy pointed out, there are six other guys that he would add to the 40 man first, and a guy like Turner could be added too. Busenitz was in AAA when the Twins acquired him, but they sent him to Chattanooga. I can't help but wonder if some of that was just to help him get acquainted with more players. Maybe not. I think Jones can be called up to AAA too. But I don't know what the plan/schedule is for him considering he missed all of spring training and the first couple of months of the season. I'm sure he's on a pretty strict throwing plan for this season. As we've seen with Chargois, the higher up the ladder they go, the harder it is to limit innings and such. But I can't explain why Jones isn't up at AAA.

I think that would be just fine...

Several of the Twins 2016 draft picks, and a few undrafted free agents, have had very nice starts to their professional careers. Some in the GCL. Some in Elizabethton. And several have already spent time in Cedar Rapids. On Thursday night in Burlington, North Carolina, Patrick McGuff picked up his sixth save for the Elizabethton Twins. The right-hander was the Twins 36th-round pick in June out of Morehead State. He began his pro career in the Gulf Coast League where he threw 5.2 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out nine. He was promoted to Elizabethton where his scoreless streak at the start of his career reached 15 innings. In total with the E-Twins, he has given up just two earned runs in 18.2 innings (0.82 ERA). He has walked seven and struck out 27. Image courtesy of Creative Story Visuals (http://www.creativestoryvisuals.com/) Several of the Twins 2016 draft picks, and a few undrafted free agents, have had very nice starts to their professional careers. Some in the GCL. Some in Elizabethton. And several have already spent time in Cedar Rapids. On Thursday night in Burlington, North Carolina, Patrick McGuff picked up his sixth save for the Elizabethton Twins. The right-hander was the Twins 36th-round pick in June out of Morehead State. He began his pro career in the Gulf Coast League where he threw 5.2 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out nine. He was promoted to Elizabethton where his scoreless streak at the start of his career reached 15 innings. In total with the E-Twins, he has given up just two earned runs in 18.2 innings (0.82 ERA). He has walked seven and struck out 27. Recently, McGuff was kind enough to answer some of our questions about his two-month pro career and what led him to this point. Thank you Patrick, for your time and thought-filled responses. Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Ohio, what was your favorite team to follow? Who were some of your favorite players? Patrick McGuff (PM): Growing up around Cincinnati I was a huge Reds fan throughout my life. I always loved watching Ken Griffey Jr. play. He was definitely my favorite player. SS: What were some of the better memories of your high school baseball career? Did you play other sports or were you involved in other activities? PM: Some of the better memories of my high school baseball career came from being a younger guy on the varsity baseball team. I really enjoyed hanging out with the older guys as a freshman and sophomore on the varsity team and the guys really made me feel like I belonged. My junior and senior years were a blast too, I really enjoyed the staff there we always had a lot of fun. I also played basketball in high school up until my junior year when I decided to not play my senior year and focus on baseball. SS: What was the recruitment process like for you out of high school, and what was it about Sinclair that made you want to go there? PM: The recruitment process for me wasn’t very active in high school. I had no Division 1 offers. I had a lot of D2 and D3 offers to play as a position player but I felt my future was in pitching so I decided to go with the junior college route. I originally started at Wabash Valley College in IL my freshman year but decided to transfer to Sinclair for my sophomore season. Sinclair had a very good history of winning and sending guys to quality schools, Coach Dintaman is an incredible coach. I loved my time at Sinclair and would consider it to be one of the best baseball decisions in my career. SS: What were a couple of your highlights from your two college years at Morehead State? PM: Winning our conference tournament my junior year was a big highlight for my career at Morehead State. With that win it led us to a regional at Louisville which was also an incredible experience. I had a ton of fun that year and winning came so easy to our team it was extremely fun to watch and be a part of. A highlight from my senior year was for three of our guys to go in this past year’s draft. Matt Anderson (Pirates) and Tyler Keele (Diamondbacks) were some of my closest friends, and I was extremely happy all three of us got the opportunity to play at the next level. Morehead State was filled with many good memories. SS: Did you have the chance to speak with many scouts before the draft? Did you have any idea where in the draft you might be selected? What was your interaction with the Twins scout? PM: I didn’t have a whole lot of interaction with scouts until the end of the season. I started the year slow but finished very strong which put a good impression on a few scouts. I had an idea I would go late but honestly did not know if I would go at all. I filled out some paperwork for the scout that drafted me (Alan Sandberg) after I threw in our conference tournament but didn’t hear from him again until draft day. SS: The Twins took you in the 36th round. How did you find out that you had been drafted? How busy was your phone at that moment? PM: I found out I had been drafted from Alan giving me a call saying that he thought they were going to take me with their next pick. I was sitting on our couch at home with my mom and dad and we heard it over the radio broadcast of the draft and we went crazy. It was one of the happiest days of my life. After I had been drafted Alan called me back and my phone was going crazy. It was a good feeling and a good reminder of how much support I have throughout this journey. SS: What has the adjustment like for you, from the amateur/college game to the professional game, both on and off the field? PM: At first the adjustment was a little tough going into college. I was a little bit of a hot head in high school so realizing how much I represented on and off the field and how I need to present myself in a professional matter at all times was different. Luckily I had very good college coaches to guide me throughout the processes on and off the field. Coach McGuire at Morehead constantly preaches on how to be a professional on and off the field and I was lucky to have him guide me throughout the process. SS: You put up great numbers in five appearances in the GCL, and now have been very good in Elizabethton. You had the long 15 inning scoreless streak to start your pro career. Are you at all surprised to have experienced such success already, and what do you think has been the biggest reason for the success? PM: I have been very blessed to start my career with the success I have had. It was a good feeling to have and a feeling that I did belong in professional baseball. I believe my biggest reason for my success so far has been my aggressiveness at everyone I face. I pride myself in attacking the zone and being able to throw all four of my pitches for strikes. SS: At this very early stage in your career, what would you say are your biggest strengths? PM: I think my biggest strength is my mentality. I feel like I have a good mentality on going at every hitter and not allowing a free pass. Another strength is the ability to throw four pitches for strikes in any count. SS: What are the areas of your game that you would like to spend time working to improve? PM: I would definitely like to improve my velocity in the off season. Adding some more sharpness to a couple of my pitches will also definitely help me be a better pitcher. SS: Do you know if you’ll head to Instructs, or will you be going back to school in the offseason? What was your major in school? PM: I am heading back to school once the season is done. I was pursuing a health and physical education degree but I have changed my major to University Studies due to the fact I will graduate this December. SS: Who are some of the people who have helped you get to this point in your career? PM: My parents have definitely helped me get to this point in my career. They have been very supportive throughout my life and I could never thank them enough. Also coach McGuire at Morehead and Coach Dintaman at Sinclair, they were phenomenal coaches and I couldn’t have been in better hands throughout my college career. Another person is Alan Embree my summer pitching coach the past 2 summers, he helped me so much with my mentality and how to go about getting batters out. SS: Favorite baseball movie? PM: Definitely Bull Durham.Again, thank you to Patrick McGuff for taking time to answer our questions. Please feel free to ask any questions you would like in the comments. View full article

Was placed on the DL maybe a week ago.

Comparing prospects to guys like Sano probably will reduce the number of guys that are prospects. Pretty sure no one is putting them in that category... and because of it, we get the upside and ceiling.

May to August 2017 depending on other factors.

After 2017.