Seth Stohs

I don't think Gonsalves gets called up in September. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but since he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster for another year, they can wait. If he was a guy who could make the starting rotation out of spring training, then you could. But they have enough starters they need to figure out futures for right now. Yes, I saw Arraez this spring and then again in late-May. I'll say this... he can hit. Good approach at the plate. Not big, and not really athletic, so I'm not sure the upside, but he can hit. Things are very quiet on Thorpe.

With the promotion of Jose Berrios to the Twins, we can debate who the top Twins prospect prospect is in the minor leagues. Nick wrote about the Pitching Pipeline, specifically those in the upper levels in his article yesterday. He wrote the following: “While Mejia is closest to the big leagues, he is not Minnesota's top pitching prospect. That honor, almost indisputably, goes to Gonsalves at this point.” While I would say that it remains disputable, there is no question that Gonsalves is pitching as well as anyone in minor league baseball right now. On Wednesday evening in Montgomery, Gonsalves left after six innings, having thrown six no-hit innings. You can find much more below on how good he’s been over his last eight Lookouts starts, but we caught up with the lanky lefty following his tremendous outing. Image courtesy of Kelly McGlohon (photo of Stephen Gonsalves) With the promotion of Jose Berrios to the Twins, we can debate who the top Twins prospect prospect is in the minor leagues. Nick wrote about the Pitching Pipeline, specifically those in the upper levels in his article yesterday. He wrote the following: “While Mejia is closest to the big leagues, he is not Minnesota's top pitching prospect. That honor, almost indisputably, goes to Gonsalves at this point.” While I would say that it remains disputable, there is no question that Gonsalves is pitching as well as anyone in minor league baseball right now. On Wednesday evening in Montgomery, Gonsalves left after six innings, having thrown six no-hit innings. You can find much more below on how good he’s been over his last eight Lookouts starts, but we caught up with the lanky lefty following his tremendous outing. According to Gonsalves, the key to his outing was his slider. “My slider was my go-to tonight. I threw it 22 times.” He used it to get strikeouts and when he was behind in the count “to get me back in the count.” While he likely would have loved to keep pitching, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t lobby his manager, Doug Mientkiewicz, to stay in the game. “No, I didn’t. I looked at the scoreboard and joked it off.” In his previous start, Gonsalves gave up only an unearned run in a nine-inning complete game. He told milb.com that he wasn’t feeling good coming out of the bullpen at the start of that game. True to form, Gonsalves said that he still wasn’t at 100% on Wednesday night. “The changeup wasn’t there tonight, which is rare, but I was still able to mix it in. Fastball command hasn’t been there the last two games, but everything else was, so it’s been a battle.” If the recent performances of Stephen Gonsalves represent a battle, there are a lot of exciting days ahead for Gonsalves, the Twins and Twins fans! With that, let’s get to the Minor League Report for Wednesday, including more on Gonsalves’ terrific night and streak. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 4 Box Score This game was close throughout with all of the runs scored before the fifth inning, but the Red Wings were unable to get a win and fall to 68-57 on the season. Daniel Palka gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he connected for his 10th AAA home run. It was his 31st of the season. Andrew Albers was back on the mound for Rochester. He threw two scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the third and fourth innings. In all, he gave up the four runs on 11 hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. Jake Reed threw much better in his second AAA appearance than in his first. He faced four batters and got them all out, two on strikeouts. Sean Burnett got the final two outs. The other two runs the Red Wings scored came in the top of the fourth when Adam Brett Walker slugged a two-run homer. He now has 25 homers on the season. He knocked in Reynaldo Rodriguez, who had hit his seventh double of the year. James Beresford went 2-4. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Montgomery 3 Box Score In his second AA start, Stephen Gonsalves gave up six earned runs in just 3.2 innings for the Lookouts. Since then, he has been remarkable. I’ll explain in more detail in just a moment, but on Wednesday night, it all came together. The southpaw started and threw six shutout innings. Not only that, he completed the six innings without giving up a hit. He walked two and struck out nine. Unfortunately, with 105 pitches, he was done after six innings. Alan Busenitz came on and gave up three runs on two hits, a hit batter and a walk in just one inning. Mason Melotakis came in to pitch the eighth inning. He threw one pitch, a strike, and then the rains came and the game was delayed. When things resumed, Zack Jones took over. He walked one and struck out four in two scoreless innings to record his first save of the year. His Lookouts ERA drops to just 1.46. Ryan Walker went 2-3 with a walk and his tenth double. TJ White was 2-3 with a walk, his third double and two RBIs. Niko Goodrum hit his sixth double while Edgar Corcino knocked his third AA double. Zach Granite stole his 44th bag. Now let’s get back to Gonsalves. In his eight starts since that clunker in his second AA game, Gonsalves has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball, not just in the Twins system. Here is how his numbers look in those eight starts: Gonsalves is 5-0 with a 0.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. In 51 innings, he has given up just four earned runs. He has allowed 22 hits and walked 22 while striking out 58 batters. His K-rate since then is at 10.2 K/9 and his walk rate is 3.9 BB/9. In other words, he’s been incredible. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 6 Box Score Miles Nordgren returned to the Miracle .He gave up six runs (four earned) on nine hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out five. John Curtiss gave up just one hit over the final 2.1 innings. He walked none and struck out three. Tanner English led the offense. The outfielder went 2-4 with his third triple and third home run. Daniel Kihle went 2-3. AJ Murray added his ninth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 1 Box Score The Kernels got off to an early lead and it was more than enough for Eduardo Del Rosario on this night. The right-hander posted his best start of the year. He threw six shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-2. Logan Lombana came on. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. Anthony McIver picked up his eighth save by recording the final five outs. Three of the outs came on strikeouts. Kevin Garcia went 2-4 with his seventh double and an RBI. Luis Arraez with another multi-hit game. He went 2-4 and drove in a run. Nelson Molina added his 12th double. Zander Wiel hit his eighth triple. With his third straight multi-hit game, Luis Arraez is now hitting .347. In was his 98th game played this year, and he now has 43 multi-hit games. 2-hit games: 27 3-hit games: 12 4-hit games: 3 5-hit games: 1 E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton Box Score The E-Twins had a rare off night. They return to action on Thursday. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 4 Box Score The Twins fell behind 2-0 after two innings. They managed to tie the score at two in the top of the seventh inning, but gave two runs right back in the bottom of the inning. That’s how the score stayed, and they fell 4-2. There wasn’t much offense for the Twins in the game. They managed just five hits. Zach Featherstone had two of them. Kidany Salva’s seventh-inning triple scored the Twins’ two runs. Lefty Taylor Clemensia started for the Twins. He gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out three. He hurt himself a bit with two errors. Callan Pearce was charged with two runs on two hits. He walked one, hit one, and struck out one over his three innings. Pearce left the game with two runners on base, and both scored off of Onas Farfan who gave up one hit over 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Kolton Kendrick returned to the Twins lineup. He went 0-2 in his first game since mid-July. He had a bone bruise caused by being hit by a pitch. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day –Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts (though Eduardo Del Rosario’s honorable mention is very well deserved) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Ft. Myers Miracle THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (vs Chi-Wei Hu) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (1st MWL start) Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - TBD GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (DH @ 9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. View full article

Brady Anderson was signed out of Florida Gulf Coast U right after the draft. I think this was just his third start for the Kernels.

Yeah, when I'm coming up with my Top Prospect rankings after the season, I'm going to go back and forth about 1000 times on who the Twins top pitching prospect is. Gonsalves has been terrific, minus some control issues. Jay has a higher upside, probably, but the transition to starter isn't going to make it easy. Romero has the highest ceiling, but he just has so few innings above the GCL that they need to be careful with him.

Yeah, he threw like 75 innings this year, so he got to the innings count they wanted him to get to as a starter. In my opinion, he had a very nice transition to pro baseball and to full-time starting. He struggled once he got to AA, but that could likely be attributed to the neck pain.

I believe he got sent back down this morning too. Not sure what the White Sox were thinking with him, or what they're thinking with Zach Burdi either.

I was wondering about that the other day... thanks for sharing.

Some have mentioned Wade and AJ Murray, good choices... I avoided 2015 draft picks just because we don't have an real track record to determine a good level of expectation. I went with guys who have been in the system longer... I guess an exception would be Arraez who just came to the States last year in the GCL.

They protected Kepler and Polanco after their year in Cedar Rapids... and back in the day, they protected Deibinson Romero after a year in Beloit.

Correct, and that was before the rule changed and teams got one more year to evaluate their players.

From Mike Berardino via Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeBerardino/status/765633474082533377

That, and the fact that he was made a pitcher at like 17 or 18, so he's had a lot of growth to do since signing. But yes, he's a bit old for the level.

I might have been slow-playing it when I said he should be in everyone's top five Twins prospects this year...

All good picks... Wimmers was alright in the bullpen in Chattanooga, but he's been better than expected in Rochester. In fact, he's been pretty good. Ramirez was our pick for TD Short-Season pitcher of the year, so I'm not surprised he's succeeded, though I didn't know as much about him as I do now. He's impressive. Rodriguez was the Appy League Pitcher of the Year. HE was really bad for two months, but he's been tremendous for the last two months. IF this was a list of overcoming poor 2016 starts, Rodriguez would be at the top of my list.

Strong list, and I really like the Matt Lawton comp for LaMonte Wade. Lawton was an on-base machine before that became cool. Some of my list was more about surprise, but you make a good case for your guys too. I expected Ynoa to come over and be solid. I expected Palka to hit for a bunch of power. Both have been better than I expected, but not surprisingly so.

One of the fun things about following the minor league season each year and over several years is to see which players take the biggest strides forward from year to year. That can mean different things to different people, of course. It not only can mean jumping up prospect rankings, but it could mean guys who needed to play well to remain in the organization for another year. For instance, a guy like Lachlan Wells was ranked in the high 30s or low 40s in many Top 50 Twins prospect lists. Now, he should be in most people’s Top 25 Twins prospects after pitching very well since his promotion to Cedar Rapids as a 19 year old. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs One of the fun things about following the minor league season each year and over several years is to see which players take the biggest strides forward from year to year. That can mean different things to different people, of course. It not only can mean jumping up prospect rankings, but it could mean guys who needed to play well to remain in the organization for another year. For instance, a guy like Lachlan Wells was ranked in the high 30s or low 40s in many Top 50 Twins prospect lists. Now, he should be in most people’s Top 25 Twins prospects after pitching very well since his promotion to Cedar Rapids as a 19 year old. My focus is going to be on eight guys, four hitters and four pitchers, who have gone from relative unknowns before the season to guys who may find themselves in the Twins future. Please feel free to add other names to this list, guys who have taken a big step forward in 2016. FOUR HITTERS LUIS ARRAEZ - 19 - 2B As an 18 year old in the GCL last year, Arraez hit .306/.377/.388 (.765) with 15 doubles. It was a solid season and MiLB.com listed him as the second baseman on their Twins post-season all-star team. He played in the Venezuelan Winter League. My assumption was that he would spend the 2016 season in extended spring training before going to Elizabethton. Instead, he began the season in Cedar Rapids. He began the season playing one in three games. It took about a week for him to be in the lineup almost every day. He has just kept hitting. In fact, now he’s hitting third or fourth in the Kernels lineup every game. He hasn’t stopped hitting. He’s now hitting .344/.383/.450 (.833) with 27 doubles, three triples and three home runs. He doesn’t walk a lot, but he also doesn’t strike out often. Before the season, he would have ranked in the 40s in my prospect lists, and now he’s easily in the Top 25 prospects or so. ZACH GRANITE - 23 - OF Granite has always been thought of as a professional, top-of-the-order type of hitter. He had a difficult, injury-plagued 2014 season in Cedar Rapids and played in just 21 games. That’s where he started 2015, but he moved up to Ft. Myers on May 1st because he had a great month. He did all right at Ft. Myers, but he hit .249/.328/.304 (.632) with ten doubles, four triples and a home run. He began 2016 in AA Chattanooga, maybe due to injury to others, but he has been the team’s leadoff hitter from day one. He has hit .295/.351/.385 (.736) with 14 doubles, seven triples and four home runs. He leads the Southern League in stolen bases with 42. He has as many walks as strikeouts. He has put himself into consideration for a 40-man roster spot this offseason. NELSON MOLINA - 21 - IF Molina was the Twins 11th round pick in 2013 draft out of high school in Puerto Rico. He spent two years in the Gulf Coast League where he hit .110 and .243.Last year in Elizabethton, he hit .207. There are rules that say an organization can only have so many players in the rookie leagues for a fourth year, so this was an important year for Molina. He began the season in extended spring training, but the Kernels needed an infielder in late April so he was summoned to Iowa. I’ve always said, at 6-3 and 175 pounds, he looks the part. Molina looks like what you would envision a professional shortstop to look like. At the plate, he has a balanced stance with a nice swing. It just didn’t come together offensively for him in the rookie leagues. However, he has grown both in terms of strength and maturity, and he is seeing the benefits on the field. In 74 games with the Kernels, he is hitting .304/.378/.375 (.754) with 11 doubles, two triples and a home run. He’s still got room to grow, but experiencing the success has to be a huge boost in confidence. RYAN WALKER - 23 - IF He was the Twins 18th round pick in 2013 out of Texas-Arlington. He spent most of that year in E-Town, though he moved up to Cedar Rapids for a week or so at the end of the season. In 76 games in 2014 in Cedar Rapids, he hit .239/.296/.299 (.595). In 2015, he played 83 games in Ft. Myers and hit .269/.311/.312 (.623). He began this year in Ft. Myers and hit just .262 in 24 games before being promoted to AA Chattanooga. He’s played all three infield positions and hit .287/.357/.368 (.725). In talking to him before the season, he pointed out that he worked really hard to add a lot of weight in the offseason. He got up to 185 and hoped to maintain it throughout the season, something players struggle to do. He has always been above average defensively in the infield, but he has improved offensively as he has moved up to AA this year. FOUR PITCHERS DJ BAXENDALE - 25 - RHP Baxendale was the Twins 12th round pick in 2012 out of Arkansas. He’s primarily been a starter. He moved quickly from the Midwest League to the Florida State League. He moved quickly to AA, but he experienced a lot of struggles in AA the last coupele of seasons. This year, he made 14 starts for the Lookouts and went 6-7 with a 3.44 ERA and made the All-Star team. Immediately following the game, he moved up to AAA Rochester. He was put into the bullpen and has been very good since. He has a 1.61 ERA in 17 appearances for the Red Wings. His pitches work very well out of the bullpen. He can add a couple of ticks to his fastball, and his slider can be devastating. He can be a decent starter, but he has a chance to be a quality relief pitcher. SAM CLAY - 23 - LHP Clay was the Twins 4th round pick in 2014 out of Georgia Tech. He began last season in Cedar Rapids, but he really struggled. Through nine games and 18 innings pitched, he had 19 strikeouts but 18 walks. He was sent back to EST where he worked on his control as a starter. He ended the season with three appearances in Cedar Rapids. Clay was much improved when the 2016 season started. In 14 starts for the Kernels, he went 5-4 with a 3.39 ERA. He still is walking too many, but he is striking out over a batter per inning. After starting the All-Star Game in the Midwest League, he was promoted to Ft. Myers where he’s had some ups and downs, some good starts and some bad starts but he continues to get strikeouts. FERNANDO ROMERO - 21 - RHP Romero became a prospect in 2013 when he posted a 1.60 ERA in the Gulf Coast League as an 18-year-old. Reports had him throwing a fastball in the mid-90s. In 2014, he began in EST, but he was promoted to Cedar Rapids where he made three starts. Unfortunately, he experienced elbow pain and needed Tommy John. He had the surgery in 2014, and during his rehab in 2015, he needed knee surgery which cost him more time. This spring, he was hitting 94 and 95 consistently. In mid-May, he was sent back to Cedar Rapids. He needed just five starts before he was promoted to Ft. Myers where he posted a 2.39 ERA in nine starts (49 innings). His fastball is touching 97 and 98 mph with regularity. He’s got three quality pitches that have a chance to be plus pitches. He gets strikeouts. He has really good control. He was a Top 30 prospect coming into the season. He was my #7 Twins prospect at midseason, and he will most likely be a Top 5 Twins prospect following the season. JASON WHEELER - 25 - LHP Wheeler was the Twins eighth-round pick in 2011 out of Loyola-Marymount. He worked up the system, one year at a time. Following the 2014 season, the left-hander was added to the Twins 40 man roster. He began 2015 in Rochester, but when he was 1-7 with a 6.58 ERA in 15 starts before being sent back to Chattanooga. He went 4-3 with a 3.92 ERA with the Lookouts and was removed from the 40-man roster. After that, he was really good. In fact, he was the MVP of the Southern League Championship series. He began this season in AA, but after posting a 1.88 ERA in four starts, he moved up to Rochester. He has gone 9-4 with a 3.44 ERA and was the International League’s Starting Pitcher in the AAA All-Star Game. As frustrating as 2015 was for Wheeler, 2016 puts him back on the radar. He’s warranted consideration for a September call up. So there are eight players who have made the most out of their 2016 season and have taken a step forward in their careers. Not all of these guys will show up on Top 30 prospect lists, but they have had very strong seasons. Which prospects make your list? View full article

Why Dean? Because they needed someone who could pitch 3+ innings if necessary. O'Rourke pitched 3.2 innings once this year. Other than that, completed two innings just twice. Dean made sense. Now, I too would like to see Wimmers and Baxendale, but for those 3 days, they played it how they had to.

He definitely got a talking to after that.

Maybe it would have been easier if Hawkins had just done this:

Agreed... don't want to make too much out of it. Obviously learn from it and secure the ball a little better, but weird stuff happens in this game.

No, I don't think he moves up this year. He'll start at AA to begin 2017 regardless.

Player of the Week 8/8-8/14: Single-A Ft. Myers right-handed pitcher Fernando Romero is the Twins minor league Player of the Week...Romero made one start for the Miracle, coming Friday vs. Charlotte, pitching 7.0 shutout innings with six hits allowed, no walks and 11 strikeouts...the 21-year-old has made nine starts for the Miracle this season, going 3-2, 2.39 ERA (49.0 IP, 13 ER) with eight walks and 48 strikeouts...he was signed by the Twins out of the Dominican Republic on November 4, 2011 and has a career minor league record of 10-7, 2.56 ERA (165.0 IP, 47 ER) with 45 walks and 157 strikeouts.

I have... ha! And wisely, that's one of the things they won't answer. I don't blame them.