Seth Stohs

If the season had started 10 games ago, the Twins would have the second best record in the American League. Too bad the Twins had been terrible for the better part of four months before this brief stretch. To make things worse, the Twins sent struggling Byron Buxton to Rochester to make room for Trevor Plouffe who was activated from the disabled list. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Omar Bencomo) If the season had started 10 games ago, the Twins would have the second best record in the American League. Too bad the Twins had been terrible for the better part of four months before this brief stretch. To make things worse, the Twins sent struggling Byron Buxton to Rochester to make room for Trevor Plouffe who was activated from the disabled list. Continue reading to find out more detail about Sunday in the Twins farm system: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Lehigh Valley IronPigs Box Score Byung Ho Park had another rough day, 0-4 with a strikeout, as the Red Wings were rocked by the IronPigs. Buck Britton led the offensive charge, 2-4 with a double and a run scored. The pitching staff didn't fare much better, as starter Jason Wheeler gave up four earned runs over 6.0 innings. He gave up eight hits, walked four, struck out one and gave up a home run. Alex Wimmers had a terrible relief stint, managing just 0.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned), via five hits. Sean Burnett finished the inning, striking out the only batter he faced. Neil Ramirez gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth to finish the game. Final: Red Wings 1, IronPigs 10 LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga Box Score More Omar Bencomo, more of the time! Bencomo gave the Suns fits over 7.0 innings. Bencomo gave up just two hits. He walked one and struck out five. Raul Fernandez and Ryan Eades each gave the Lookouts an inning of scoreless relief to complete a 3-hit shutout. The Lookouts only tallied six hits of their own, but two of them were doubles, and two more of them went over the fence, so that was plenty. Ryan Walker led the way with a 2-3 game, with a double, a home run, two runs scored, two RBIs, and a walk. Nike Goodrum had a two-run dinger as part of his 1-4 night. Zach Granite had a nice night as well, 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Final: Suns 0, Lookouts 4 MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers @ Charlotte Stone Crabs Box Score Fort Myers only gave up one hit, but they gave up TWO runs! To make matters worse, they managed only three hits of their own, scoring just one run, in a tough loss. Dereck Rodriguez was tagged with the loss in his Fort Myers debut, despite 7.0 innings of one-hit ball. He gave up two runs, walked two and struck out six. Cam Booser added a clean inning of relief, sending the Stone Crabs down 1-2-3. Tough night with the sticks for the Miracle, who teamed up for seven strikeouts, two walks, and those same three hits. The Miracle scored their lone run on a solo home run from Chris Paul (1-4). Final: Miracle 1, Stone Crabs 2 KERNELS KORNER Peoria Chiefs @ Cedar Rapids Box Score The Chiefs put up three runs in the top of the first against Tyler Beardsley, and then had just one more hit the rest of the night. Beardsley pitched 5.0 innings, gave up three hits, three runs, walked four and struck out one. He was replaced by Williams Ramirez, who had a spectacular relief outing, going three full innings giving up just one hit. Max Cordy pitched the bottom of the ninth. He was a little rocky, walking two batters, but struck out two and kept the Chiefs off the board. Leadoff man Christian Ibarra led the way for the Kernels, he was 2-4 with a solo home run. Luis Arraez and Casey Scoggins each added two hits of their own. Final: Chiefs 3, Kernels 2 E-TWINS E-NOTES Danville Braves @ Elizabethton Postponed, rain. Will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Monday. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Ryan Walker - Chattanooga Pitcher of the Day - Omar Bencomo - Chattanooga MONDAY'S PROBABLES Rochester - OFF Chattanooga - David Hurlbut (7-6, 3.62) Fort Myers - Keaton Steele (5-9, 4.21) Cedar Rapids - Sam Gibbons (5-3, 5.00) E-Twins - Game 1 - Jose Martinez (1-3, 7.36) E-Twins - Game 2 - TBD GCL Twins - TBD DSL Twins - TBD Please ask questions and discuss the Sunday games. -ERolf View full article

Pretty easy - and I'd say necessary - choice.

I love the balance that Whitefield shows in the videos, even with the leg kick.

The full-season minor league regular seasons end on Labor Day. The short-season teams end about a week earlier. So, we’re getting down there in terms of games remaining in the season. We haven’t updated the Twins leaderboard or the reports on how the Twins affiliates are doing in their leagues and divisions. First, here is how the Twins’ affiliates currently stack up in their leagues. Rochester is 65-50. The Red Wings are 6.5 games back of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the International League North Division. They’re in third place in the division, 4.5 games back of Lehigh Valley for second place. In the second half, Chattanooga is 21-21. That puts them in third place 6.5 games behind Jackson (who won the first half title) and four games behind Montgomery. Overall, they are 57-55. Ft. Myers is 22-20 in the second half. They are in fourth place in their division; however they are just 1.5 games behind the division lead, percentage points behind third place. Jupiter and St. Lucie are both 23-18, and Charlotte is 21-19. Overall, the Miracle are 56-55. Cedar Rapids is 24-18 in the second half. They have gone 15-8 in their last 23 games, but they are still four games behind Clinton. Overall, Jake Mauer has led them to a 60-51 record this season. Elizabethton is currently 21-21 which is 2.5 games back of Greeneville and two games back of Johnson City. The GCL Twins are 19-18 which is 2.5 games behind the GCL Red Sox, and 1/2 game behind the GCL Orioles. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photos of Daniel Palka, LaMonte Wade, Luis Arraez) The full-season minor league regular seasons end on Labor Day. The short-season teams end about a week earlier. So, we’re getting down there in terms of games remaining in the season. We haven’t updated the Twins leaderboard or the reports on how the Twins affiliates are doing in their leagues and divisions. First, here is how the Twins’ affiliates currently stack up in their leagues. Rochester is 65-50. The Red Wings are 6.5 games back of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the International League North Division. They’re in third place in the division, 4.5 games back of Lehigh Valley for second place. In the second half, Chattanooga is 21-21. That puts them in third place 6.5 games behind Jackson (who won the first half title) and four games behind Montgomery. Overall, they are 57-55. Ft. Myers is 22-20 in the second half. They are in fourth place in their division; however they are just 1.5 games behind the division lead, percentage points behind third place. Jupiter and St. Lucie are both 23-18, and Charlotte is 21-19. Overall, the Miracle are 56-55. Cedar Rapids is 24-18 in the second half. They have gone 15-8 in their last 23 games, but they are still four games behind Clinton. Overall, Jake Mauer has led them to a 60-51 record this season. Elizabethton is currently 21-21 which is 2.5 games back of Greeneville and two games back of Johnson City. The GCL Twins are 19-18 which is 2.5 games behind the GCL Red Sox, and 1/2 game behind the GCL Orioles. With that, let’s look at the minor league statistical leader board (through games on Saturday, August 6). THE HITTERS (Rate numbers- minimum 270 plate appearances) Plate Appearances - Zack Granite (456), Daniel Palka (455), Zander Wiel (454), Leonardo Reginnato (446), James Beresford (435). Batting Average - Luis Arraez (.335), Nick Gordon (.303), Nelson Molina (.300), Zack Granite (.298), LaMonte Wade (.294). On-base Percentage - LaMonte Wade (.404), Luis Arraez (.378), Nelson Molina (.377), Zach Granite/Engelb Vielma (.356). Slugging Percentage - Daniel Palka (.533), Adam Brett Walker (.477), Jorge Polanco (.457) Zander Wiel (.443), Luis Arraez (.442), LaMonte Wade (.438) OPS - Daniel Palka (.878), LaMonte Wade (.841), Luis Arraez (.820), Jorge Polanco (793) Kennys Vargas (.788), Adam Brett Walker (.782), Zander Wiel (.778). Hits - Luis Arraez/Zach Granite (122), Nick Gordon (112), Leonardo Reginnato (107), Daniel Palka/James Beresford (106), Zander Wiel (100).. Doubles - Mitch Garver (25), Luis Arraez/Zander Wiel/Dalton Hicks (24), AJ Murray/Joe Maloney (23). Triples - Levi Michael (7), Zander Wiel/Edgar Corcino/Jorge Polanco/Max Kepler (6), Nick Gordon/Zack Granite (5). Home Runs - Daniel Palka (26), Adam Brett Walker (22), Kennys Vargas (13), Jaylin Davis (12), Mitch Garver (11), Byung Ho Park (10), Jorge Polanco/Travis Blankenhorn (9). Runs Scored - Zach Granite (68), Daniel Palka (60), Luis Arraez (57, Zander Wiel/James Beresford, TJ White (53). RBIs - Daniel Palka (77), Mitch Garver (66), Zander Wiel (62), Adam Brett Walker (57), Kennys Vargas (53), LaMonte Wade/Luis Arraez (51) SBs - Zach Granite (39), Wilfredo Tovar (24), Aaron Whitefield (20), Nick Gordon/Ryan Walker (14), Travis Harrison (10). THE STARTING PITCHERS (Rate number - minimum 80.0 innings) Innings Pitched: Jason Wheeler (136.0), David Hurlbut (129.1), Felix Jorge (123.2), Kohl Stewart (119.0), Randy LeBlanc (116.0). ERA: Stephen Gonsalves (2.37), Randy LeBlanc (2.41), Jose Berrios (2.44), Felix Jorge (2.47), Jason Wheeler (2.65), Kohl Stewart (2.87). WHIP: Felix Jorge (1.00), Jose Berrios(1.01), Stephen Gonsalves (1.07), Randy LeBlanc (1.08), Jason Wheler (1.125), Kohl Stewart (1.134). K/9: Stephen Gonsalves (9.9), Jose Berrios (9.7), Sam Clay (9.1), Tyler Jay/Dereck Rodriguez (8.3). BB/9: Felix Jorge (1.2), David Hurlbut (1.7), DJ Baxendale (1.8), Jason Wheeler (1.9), Pat Dean (2.0). K: Stephen Gonsalves (121), Jason Wheeler (113), Jose Berrios (111), Sam Clay (102), Dereck Rodriguez (93). Wins: Jason Wheeler, Jose Berrios, Randy LeBlanc (10), Andrew Albers, Stephen Gonsalves, Felix Jorge, Cody Stashak, Kohl Stewart (9). THE RELIEF PITCHERS (Rate numbers - minimum 29 innings, and less than 4 starts) Innings Pitched: Jake Reed (59.0), Marcus Walden (56.1), Luke Bard (55.1), Raul Fernandez (54.0), Todd Van Steensel (51.2), Michael Theofanopoulos (51.1)), Alex Wimmers (51.0).. ERA: Trevor Hildenberger (0.75), JT Chargois (1.35), Mike Theofanopoulos, (2.28), Williams Ramirez (2.29), Michael Cederoth (2.34). WHIP: Trevor Hildenberger (0.79), Williams Ramirez (0.97), Nick Anderson (0.99), JT Chargois (1.03), Marcus Walden (1.07), Michael Theofanopoulos (1.188), John Curtiss (1.192). K/9: John Curtiss (12.9), Luke Westphal (11.8), Michael Cederoth (11.7), Nick Anderson/Michael Theofanopoulos (11.6), Williams Ramirez/Brandon Peterson (11.4). BB/9: Trevor Hildenberger (1.1), Anthony McIver (2.2), Nick Anderson (2.3), JT Chargois (2.5), Marcus Walden (2.6). K: John Curtiss (70), Michael Theofanopoulos (66), Jake Reed (63),Brandon Peterson (62), Nick Anderson (60). Saves: Trevor Hildenberger (19), JT Chargois (16), Alex Wimmers (9), Nick Anderson/Yorman Landa (7), Marcus Walden/Anthony McIver (6). Feel free to ask questions about any of the players or teams. View full article

It's a good list. Obviously we could go back and forth on a few guys. Maybe I'd have Kirilloff and Romero higher, Palka lower. Arraez lower, and so on... but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the players and how you came about your rankings. It's also always interesting to see who has graduated and also who has moved up the most from year to year in your mind... or, for whatever reason, fallen back on your list.

He was drafted as an athlete, with the team knowing that he would take a while to develop. At this point, I think he's been more of a utility guy the last few years, playing CF and three infield positions. He can become a free agent at the end of the season, and I would think that the Twins would like to keep him around, but he should have other options.

There will be quite the log jam set up when Trevor Plouffe comes off of the disabled list early next week. There was some talk of Miguel Sano being optioned to Rochester, but that’s not likely. Kennys Vargas has been better in this go-round with the Twins. Meanwhile, Byung Ho Park, Adam Brett Walker and Daniel Palka are providing a powerful punch in the middle of the Rochester lineup. It will be interesting to see what happens. Speaking of power in Rochester, how about the back-end of the bullpen with JT Chargois and Pat Light throwing gas? Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Cody Stashak) There will be quite the log jam set up when Trevor Plouffe comes off of the disabled list early next week. There was some talk of Miguel Sano being optioned to Rochester, but that’s not likely. Kennys Vargas has been better in this go-round with the Twins. Meanwhile, Byung Ho Park, Adam Brett Walker and Daniel Palka are providing a powerful punch in the middle of the Rochester lineup. It will be interesting to see what happens. Speaking of power in Rochester, how about the back-end of the bullpen with JT Chargois and Pat Light throwing gas? There were a couple of transactions of note on Friday as well: Brian Olson was sent from Ft. Myers to the GCL. Logan Lombana returned to the Miracle following his 80-game suspension. Miguel De Jesus was promoted from the GCL to Elizabethton. With that, let’s get to the Minor League Report for Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 2 Box Score The Red Wings didn’t score a lot, but they got the big hit that they needed near the end to pick up the win. Nick Greenwood made another start. The lefty gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits over the first seven innings. He struck out two and walked none. Ryan O’Rourke continued to pitch well with a perfect inning including two strikeouts. Pat Light topped 100 a few times in his perfect ninth inning. He struck out one. Byung Ho Park played hero in this one. He went 2-4 and in the top of the 8th inning, his 10th Red Wings homer gave them the 3-2 lead. Trevor Plouffe continued his rehab. He went 1-4 with a double. Reynaldo Rodriguez and Logan Schafer each had a double. Adam Walker hit his 22nd home run of the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jacksonville 7 Box Score Aaron Slegers took the loss as he was charged with four runs on six hits in five innings. However, all four runs were unearned. He struck out four without issuing a walk. Brandon Peterson came in and gave up two runs on one hit in two innings. He walked four and struck out four. Zack Jones gave up a run on three hits over his two innings. He struck out three. Former Twins prospect Chris Mazza started for Jacksonville and went the first five innings to earn his fourth win of the season. Ryan Walker led the offense. He went 3-4. Zack Granite went 2-3 with a walk. Niko Goodrum went 2-2 with two walks and his third home run. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Charlotte 1 Box Score Cody Stashak made his Miracle debut on Friday night and pitched well. He gave up one run on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out four and earned his first win. Mike Theofanopoulos go the next four outs, three of them on strikeouts (though he did give up a hit and walked two). Nick Anderson recorded his fourth save. He got the final five outs without allowing a run. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out one. Chris Paul provided the Miracle with their big blast. His first Miracle home run of the season was a three-run shot. He went 2-4. Tanner English returned to the Miracle after being on the disabled list for about three months. He hit his third double and first triple in his four at-bats. Nick Gordon was also 2-4. Joe Maloney went 2-3. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1 - Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 7 (Completion of Suspended game) Box Score Lightning, wind and torrential rains caused Thursday night’s game to be suspended. On Friday they completed that game before playing the regularly-scheduled game. Eddie Del Rosario pitched the first four innings on Thursday. He gave up three runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Andrew Vasquez started on the mound when the game resumed. The lefty threw three shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two, hit one and struck out five. Tom Hackimer came one and worked the eighth and ninth innings. He gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits, a walk and two hit batters to take the loss. Zander Wiel continued to hit. He went 2-4 with his 13th homer of the season. Chris Ibarra was 2-4 with his fourth double. Nelson Molina went 1-3 with his first home run of the year. Luis Arraez went 1-2 on Thursday and did not play due to injury on Friday night. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 7 (regularly-scheduled game) Box Score Miles Nordgren made his first start since his return to the Kernels. He gave up five runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk. He struck out four. Michael Cederoth worked the final two innings. He gave up one hit and walked two but did not allow a run. He struck out three. Chris Ibarra hit his fifth and sixth doubles in four at-bats with an RBI. Rainis Silva went 2-3 with an RBI. Zander Wiel drove in the third run. Per Jeff Johnson, Luis Arraez has a bump/bruise on his right wrist. He will be meeting with doctors on Saturday. Also, Nelson Molina took a ground ball off of the nose but hopes to keep playing. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 14, Johnson City 1 Box Score Alex Schik was the beneficiary of a big night of offense to earn his third win of the year. In his 5.1 innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out four. Domenick Carlini threw 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck out two. Johan Quezada walked two in a scoreless ninth inning. The Twins put up 14 runs on 17 hits. Eight of the nine starters reached base at least twice. Amaurys Minier, however, went 0-5 with four strikeouts. Here is the rest of the lineup: Brandon Lopez went 3-5 with a walk and his fifth double. Travis Blankenhorn was 3-6 with his seventh double and ninth home run. Alex Kirilloff went 2-6. Lewin Diaz was 3-6 with his 12th double. Shane Carrier went 2-4 with his fifth home run and three RBI. Minier batted sixth. Caleb Hamilton went 1-3, walked twice and hit his first triple. Trey Cabbage went 2-4 with a walk and his fourth double. Robert Molina added his first double of the season. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 2 Box Score Taylor Clemensia put together another solid start. The left-hander from the Netherlands went the first five innings and gave up just two runs. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four. Tyler Fox came on in relief and worked the final three innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out one, but did not allow any runs. Aaron Whitefield continued to play well. He went 1-3 with a walk, his fourth double and his 20th stolen base. Jorge Munoz went 1-4 with his sixth double. He drove in Whitefield with the lone run for the Twins. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cody Stashak, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Elizabethton Twins SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Lehigh Valley (5:35 CST) - LHP Andrew Albers Jacksonville @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) – LHP Lachlan Wells Elizabethton @ Johnson City (6:00 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (9:00 am CST) - LHP Bo Hellquist Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. View full article

You could look at it two ways really... How would you feel about Jay or Gordon or Kirilloff or even Gonsalves being the Twins #1 prospect. If you'd feel good about that, then having someone that some think is even a better prospect than them would seem to be a positive thing. (if that sentence made any sense. Ha!)

He's already a really good pro... but yes, with some added size, the power numbers could take him to another level. I woudln't count on him getting too much bigger or adding too much more power (at least in terms of home runs). I think Ben Revere is a pretty strong comparison all-around.

I know that my opinion on this is boring, but it has to be a case-by-case thing, person by person. My definition of moving a player up quickly may be different than others... I think arguments could be made on both sides of it. Burdi was pushed. He was on the fast-track. The Twins probably wanted him up in 2015. But Burdi struggled in AA. They'd love to have him up now, but he got hurt. Reed was pushed quickly. To the AFL the year he was drafted and skipped Ft. Myers and went right to AA. He's still there. The reports and the opinions are still very high on him. But he hasn't earned his way to the big leagues yet. Hildenberger was a late pick with limited experience. He started in the GCL, which made sense. He went to CR and pushed to FM in his first full season. He at AA now and if not for this injury, maybe he's in AAA now. He's moved quick. Melotakis they tried as a starter, and they moved on from that fairly quickly. He then had Tommy John, and they pushed him right to AA this year. They're taking care of him and getting him through this year, but doesn't have the numbers to jump to AAA. Chargois missed two years with injuries. He came back and got some innings in Ft. Myers but was pushed to Chattanooga quickly. He started out there again this year, but moved up to AAA quickly. He was called up in June. He's close. I think he could be up, but I don't feel like he's been moved slowly. Rogers was a starter for several years, including times when the Twins rotation was pretty weak. Most think that if he could develop a better changeup, he could be a solid three-pitch starter. There's value in that. Even with the lefty-right splits, if that pitch comes through, those numbers would likely be closer. But, when there was a job opening early this year, he got it. So, I feel like he was brought up as he should have been. Patrick McGuff was drafted this year out of a small school in the 39th round. He made 5 appearances in the GCL and was moved up to the Appy League. I'm guessing if the Kernels would have needed a reliever right now, they wouldn't hesitate to move him up. There are examples of guys who could move up a month or two earlier than they are. Michael Theofanopoulos is one example this year.

Zander Wiel was named the Midwest League's Hitter of the Month in July.

Romero is 94-96 with the ability to hit 98. He's got a really good breaking ball and a solid changeup. I ranked him 7th in my midseason rankings and was told by someone whose opinion matters to me that I might not have him high enough. The Jay thing may have more to do with his shoulder after all. I'm trying to figure out how much I should be concerned about Jay's "injury."

Yes, he would need to be added to the 40 man roster or potentially be lost in the Rule 5. The fact that he hasn't pitched all year (or last year) and last pitched in Low A would likely mean he won't be drafted which saves the Twins a year on adding him.

Brandon Lopez would probably have been Top 6, but he had at least 30 less plate appearances than others. So, generally that's something I have to look at in considering.

I'd guess that they think that MIlone could have some value in August and if not, I can see them releasing him. Boshers seems to be a different pitcher since coming back to affiliated ball. His breaking pitches look pretty legit. Maybe I'm wrong but I have no idea with them evaluating him. He's not old, so I don't mind them keeping him around at all. That said, I'd like to see Wimmers and there's no reason (in my non-knowledgeable) head for Chargois not to be up right now. Light should be up in September too. I'd then push Zack Jones and Trevor Hildenberger (if his elbow is OK) up to Rochester.

That is correct. He doesn't have to be added, so there is little reason to bring him up there year unless they had been in contention and brought him up by now.

Baxendale has been amazing out of the bullpen, and that is where his future in the big leagues would be. Just interesting (or at least unusual) that the Red Wings have 5 starters and all of them are left-handed.

They do with college guys since they're 3 years older. But I'd be surprised if they did with Kirilloff. He's doing well and learning a lot offensively, defensively and off the field. But he could move up after the E-Town season for the final week or so with the Kernels. Then again, I think the Brad Steil is much, much more aggressive with promotions than Jim Rantz ever was, so it's possible.

Thorpe just needs to get healthy and back on the mound. He's not even 21 yet, so no need to give up on him at this point. He could find himself flying up the system next year.

Correct. Obviously at that same stage (AAA), Liriano was hitting 95-97. Mejia is more 90-93. I think he touched 94 a couple times. But I think he's a legit prospect.

He's walked 24 in 44+ innings. I think he's right where he needs to be. He's working on a pitch or two too. He's still very young. There's no rush whatsoever. My guess is he'll get an invite to spring training next year which will be a nice thing, if it happens.

I think Jay, Gordon, Kirilloff, Gonsalves and Romero could all stake claim on the team's #1 prospect if Berrios hits 50 innings with the Twins (which he will).

If a reliever comes into a game in what would be a save situation (if it was the 9th)) and holds the lead, he gets a Hold. If he gives up the lead, he gets a blown Save. If the team reclaims the lead, he gets the Win. So, in this game, Bard did the final two things.