Seth Stohs

I would agree with this.

On Thursday in the Minnesota Twins minor league system, there were some really strong offensive performances. The pitching wasn’t on par with Wednesday when three starting pitchers threw at least six innings of shutout baseball. However, one starter looks like he could be turning his season around in a positive way.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 6 (11 innings) Box Score Alex Meyer was back on the mound. Though the results weren’t great, it was certainly a step in the right direction, an improvement. The right-hander gave up five runs (just three earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four. His fourth strikeout was the first out in the seventh inning. He walked the next batter and was removed from the game. Logan Darnell came in and gave up a single. Mark Hamburger replaced him and gave up two hits, one allowing a run, the other resulted in a runner thrown out at the plate. Tim Stauffer continued his rehab. He threw two quick, scoreless innings and struck out one. Caleb Thielbar pitched a scoreless tenth inning, but the takes the loss after giving up one in the 11th. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-5 with his third home run. Jose Martinez was also 2-5 with his first home run. Eric Farris went 2-5. Josmil Pinto hit his fourth double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Birmingham 1 Box Score Greg Peavey’s season couldn’t have started much worse. Through his first five starts (22.1 innings) he had 10.48 ERA and opponents had a 1.048 OPS off of him. In his last start, he gave up just one run over five innings. On Thursday night, he continued that positive trend. He gave up just one run on four hits over seven innings. He walked none and struck out three. Zack Jones finished things up with two scoreless innings in relief. He struck out two. Max Kepler continued to rake. He went 2-4 with his seventh and eighth doubles. Travis Harrison went 2-3 with a walk and his league-leading 11th double. Mike Gonzales went 2-3 with a walk. Adam Brett Walker hit his first triple of the season. One To Watch: In his last 12 games, Kepler is hitting .422/.447/.622 (1.069) with seven doubles and a triple. In his current six-game hitting streak – during which he has four multi-hit games – he is hitting .522/.522/.826 (1.348) with seven doubles. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Dunedin 6 Box Score Ryan Eades has been very good this season, but he had a clunker on Thursday night. He gave up six runs in the game’s first two innings. He did settle down and gave up only those six over five innings. He gave up ten hits, walked three and struck out two. Alex Muren came on and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Todd Van Steensel then struck out two more over the final two innings. The Miracle bats came to play. They had 11 hits and walked four times. However, they were only able to muster three runs in the game. Jason Kanzler went 2-5 and hit his third home run of the season. Zach Granite went 2-4 with a walk and his first FSL double. Alex Swim’s 16-game hitting streak came to an end on Wednesday, but he started a new one. He went 2-5 in this one. Mitch Garver went 2-3 with a walk. Logan Wade was 2-4 with his sixth double. One To Watch: Earlier this week, the Minnesota Twins named Zach Granite their minor league hitter of the month for April. In 19 games with Cedar Rapids in April, he hit .358/.463/.463 (.925) with five doubles and a triple. He also walked 12 times while striking out just six times. When the calendar changed to May, he was promoted to Ft. Myers. He had just one hit in his first 14 at bats (three games) with the Miracle, but since then, he has been terrific. In ten games since, he is hitting .425/.500/.525 (1.025) with a double and his first professional home run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Peoria (Game Suspended in fourth inning) Box Score There was rain at Perfect Game Field at Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids most of the day. The tarp was removed from the field about thirty minutes before game time. They were able to get through three innings, but in the top of the fourth, the rains came and the game was suspended. It will continue where it left off next Monday in Peoria before their regularly-scheduled game. Stephen Gonsalves started and gave up two first-inning runs. Through four innings, he gave up just those two runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out four. Trey Vavra gave the Kernels a lead in the second inning when he launched his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot. Tanner English had a triple and a walk in the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Greg Peavey, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Reynaldo Rodriguez, Rochester Red Wings; Jose Martinez, Rochester Red Wings; Jason Kanzler, Ft. Myers Miracle FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05 CST) – RHP DJ Baxendale Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:35 CST) – LHP Brett Lee Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Michael Cederoth LEADERBOARD Be sure to check back on Saturday morning to see who is leading the Twins organization in many of the statistical categories. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games. Click here to view the article

Woo hoo!! I am the smartest man alive!!

I think Zack Jones is a Top 20 guy at this point, and I think that Chih-Wei Hu is a top ten guy at this point. This list was made in February and had input from several Twins Daily writers. The "Up, Slightly Up, Flat, Slightly Down, Down" categories are worthy of discussion. I guess I consider it like this: Flat - relative to where he ranked preseason, he'd be in about the same place, maybe give or take one spot. Slightly - Up or Down, this would mean that he would move 1-3 spots in a new ranking. Up or Down - assumes that he would move up more than 2-3 spots. That's all up for debate and we didn't do a new ranking yet to determine where they woudl actually wind up. That's always much more difficult to assume AND I would poitn out that altering someone too much based on 5 weeks of a season (or in my individual case seeing them in spring training or in Cedar Rapids, etc.) may not make a lot of sense.

I don't know. I don't think anything I wrote about him is inaccurate and I don't think he would even disagree with that assessment. I wasn't surprised to see him struggle out of the gate. I don't think that affects his status. He still has tremendous stuff and remains a very good bullpen prospect.

Do I get ten points for guessing it's a Notorious B.I.G. reference?

I really liked Comerica. I think Target Field is better, but they do a great job of showing off their history. I like their little theme park within the ballpark. I also like all the tigers around the outside of the stadium. They're intimidating, as in you can't take your eyes off of them, and huge.

We are now about five weeks into the Twins season, so I thought it would be interesting to review the Preseason Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects list and provide updates on how each player is doing. As you would expect, some of the players have had strong starts while others would probably like a mulligan for their season’s start. Today, we’ll look at prospects 11-20. Tomorrow, we’ll be back and look at the top ten prospects.If you would like to look back at the prospect list from February, click here for a good summary and links to each article.As you read, think about your own top 20 Twins prospect list and think about how it might look now. #20 – OF – Amaurys Minier – Extended Spring Training The 19-year-old from the Dominican begins this season by remaining back in extended spring training. He played for the Gulf Coast League, and unless something crazy happens, he should spend the short-season with the Elizabethton Twins. Status: Flat #19 – OF – Travis Harrison – Chattanooga Lookouts Harrison made the jump to AA and has been solid. Through his first 30 games, he is hitting .280/.389/.430 (.819) with and league-leading ten doubles and two home runs. After playing left field last year, he has played right field so far this year. He already has three errors this season. He hit .269/.361/.365 (.726) with 33 doubles and three home runs in Ft. Myers a year ago. He will be 22-years-old through the 2015 season. Status: Slightly Up #18 – RH RP – Jake Reed – Chattanooga Lookouts Reed was the Twins fifth-round draft pick in 2014. Between Elizabethton (4 games) And Cedar Rapids (16 games), he went 3-0 with a 0.29 ERA. In 31 innings, he walked three and struck out 39. He then gave up just one run in 12.2 innings during the Arizona Fall League. He skipped High-A Ft. Myers, and began the 2015 season with the Lookouts. It has been a rocky start for him. He is 1-2 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 14 innings over 11 games. He has been better of late. He has not allowed a run in five of his last six games. The 22-year-old does have four walks and 16 strikeouts in 14 innings. Status: Slightly Down #17 – C – Stuart Turner – Chattanooga Lookouts Turner was the Twins third-round pick in 2013. He skipped Low-A Cedar Rapids in 2014 and spent the whole season in Ft. Myers. He made the jump to AA Chattanooga. Like last year, he is off to a slow start with the bat. Through his first 23 games, he is hitting .213/.304/.288 (.592) with three doubles and a walk-off home run. His defense is what he is best known for. He has thrown out 39% of would-be base stealers. He will be 23-years-old through the season. Status: Flat #16 – RH SP – Tyler Duffey – Chattanooga Lookouts Duffey had a strong 2014 season in which he pitched in Ft. Myers, New Britain and ended with three starts in Rochester. After getting an invitation to big league spring training, he was sent back to AA, this time to Chattanooga. In his first seven starts of the season the 24-year-old is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. In 45.2 innings, he has walked nine and struck out 42. Along with J.O. Berrios and D.J. Baxendale, the Lookouts have a strong pitching staff. Status: Flat #15 – LH SP – Taylor Rogers – Rochester Red Wings Like Duffey, Taylor Rogers was invited to spring training with the Twins this year. The left-hander had a strong season in 2014 with New Britain. He went 11-6 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 145 innings. He was pushed up to Rochester where he has been successful. In his most recent start, he gave up five runs in five innings, but he gave up all five of them in that fifth inning. Overall, he is 2-2 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, though both of those numbers were significantly better before that fifth inning. In 43 innings, he has walked 18 and struck out 40. Status: Flat #14 – OF – Adam Brett Walker – Chattanooga Lookouts The 23-year-old from Milwaukee continues to be a big power bat in the middle of a dominant Lookouts lineup. In 30 games, he has hit .252/.300/.559 (.859) with seven doubles and a league-leading nine home runs. He continues to strike out a lot without walking much (120 plate appearances, eight walks, 41 strikeouts), but the power is very legit. He flip-flopped positions with Travis Harrison, so he is in left field this year. Status: Slightly Up #13 – LH SP – Stephen Gonsalves – Cedar Rapids Kernels A year ago, the lefty made six starts for Elizabethton before being promoted and making eight starts in Cedar Rapids. That’s where he began his 2015 season. He was just named the Twins minor league pitcher of the month by the Twins after being named the Twins Daily starting pitcher of the month. In his first five starts, he is 3-1 with a 1.41 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. In 32 innings, he has issued seven walks and struck out 43. It is very possible, and probably likely, that he will be promoted to Ft. Myers well before his 21st birthday in July. Status: Up #12 – OF/1B – Max Kepler – Chattanooga Lookouts A year ago, Kepler played in 102 games with Ft. Myers and hit .264/.333/.393 (.726) with 20 doubles, six triples and five home runs. He missed time due to health. He then posted a .806 OPS in the Arizona Fall League. He had a good showing this spring, though it was again shortened by injury. That’s why he began the season by playing six games in Ft. Myers before moving up to the Chattanooga Lookouts. After a slow start, he has been red hot of late. In his past ten games, he has hit .432/.462/.595 (1.056) with four doubles and a triple. Overall, he is hitting .328. Status: Slightly Up #11 – LH SP – Lewis Thorpe – Out for the Season Thorpe was one of the youngest players in the Midwest League after his June promotion to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He pitched through the whole season, but in his last start, he hurt his elbow. He rehabbed throughout the season. He pitched some in spring training, but he had a set back and in late March, he had Tommy John surgery. Status: Slightly Down There is part 1 of our Top 20 Update, a look at how the Twins Daily Prospects 11-20 have started their 2015 seasons. Check back tomorrow for updates on the Twins Daily Top 10 Minnesota Twins Prospects. Click here to view the article

Each step up the ladder gets a little more difficult and weeds some guys out. Hu is pretty young and inexperienced for the Florida State League. The same question would/could have been asked a year ago about Berrios in the FSL, though he is 6 months younger. I personally think that Hu has the stuff and the confidence and ability to move all the way up, but so much can happen.

For me, it's Berrios. That ninth inning, for a starter, is impressive to me. But Milone, and Hu, were both very, very good.

Mildren and Westphal are out of the rotation in Ft. Myers. Their rotation is: Eades, Lee, Hurlbut, Stewart, Slegers and Hu. (in no particular order)

Haven't heard anything yet.

I've said it before, but Max Kepler reminds me so much of Justin Morneau. Height/Weight wise, but even just looks. Left-handed bats. Sweet, but powerful swings. Kepler is much more athletic. He can really run at his size. It is nice to see some numbers show up and kind of validate that it's not just tools but he's really talented. As for Max Murphy, he's a borderline top 30 Twins prospect for me. I know there are some (I'm looking at you Jeremy!) who have him ranked much higher. He's definitely a sleeper and one to watch.

If fully healthy, he'll be fine as a middle of the rotation type. I'm wavering a little, but he's got too much of a track record of solid, mid-rotation success to think he's just done at 31.

I think if they can get to that 11-12 range this year, that would be huge. I mean, not only were they the worst in ERA the last few seasons, but by a significant margin. If they take nearly a run off of their SP ERA, that's very encouraging. And, with an offense that is capable of scoring runs, averaging a run less given up leads to several more wins (in theory, at least). I'm not expecting a sub-3 ERA from Gibson, though I do agree that sometimes Ks are a bit overrated. I think Pelfrey can be around 4. I think Nick wrote up a great synopsis of why Hughes should be better. I'm excited for getting Ervin Santana back. he should jump right into that 2/3 spot and more people back a spot. And, as Nick mentioned, I think guys like Rogers, Berrios and Duffey can contribute if or when needed.

It's also OK to have 'favorites' who aren't the top prospects.

Murphy was just drafted last year and spent a month in Cedar Rapids. That's not'repeating' in my opinion. It'a like saying Berrios was 'demoted' to AA this year after finishing last year in AAA. Murphy has all the tools. There is a LOT to like about hom.

In a first here this season in the Twins Minor League Reports, we are going to have a Vote for Hitter of the Day. Max Kepler and Max Murphy both had big days for their respective teams. Read today’s articles, the contributions of each and then please vote for your hitter of the day in the comments section below. One team’s winning streak ended. One batter’s hitting streak was extended. There were two extra innings games; one of them ended on a walk-off home run.Continue reading for all of the news and notes from a full, five-game night in the Twins minor league system. And then, be sure to vote in the comments for your hitter of the day. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0, Toledo 8 Box Score Taylor Rogers has been terrific all season. He started this game with four shutout innings. However, in the fifth inning, he had his first really rough inning of the season. He gave up five runs in the inning, the big hit being a grand slam. Overall, he went five innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out seven. Lester Oliveros struck out two in a perfect sixth inning. Caleb Thielbar had a one, two, three inning. Tim Stauffer made his first rehab appearance and got two groundouts and a fly out. Ryan O’Rourke gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in the ninth inning. He struck out two. There wasn’t much offense for the Red Wings on this night. They had just four hits. Argenis Diaz had two hits. James Beresford had the lone extra-base hit, a double. The Red Wings fall to 17-14 on the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 3 (8 innings) Game 1 – Box Score Knowing that the team would be going with a bullpen game in the second game, Tyler Duffey needed to pitch deep into game one of the double header. He did just that. He pitched seven innings. He was charged with two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out five. However, the game was tied after seven innings, so Zack Jones came in to start the eighth inning. On a 1-1 pitch to the first batter he faced, he gave up a game-ending home run to Joey DiMichele. The Lookouts had just six hits in the game. Max Kepler went 2-3 with his fifth double. Miguel Sano doubled for the sixth two-base hit of the season. Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 0 Game 2 – Box Score When a minor league team goes with a bullpen game, you never know what you’re going to get. In this game, manager Doug MIentkiewicz got everything he could have hoped for. Madison Boer made the start and worked the first three innings without allowing a run. He gave up just one hit and struck out five. Cole Johnson came on to pitch the next two innings. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out two. D.J .Johnson came on and got his second save of the week. He worked the final two innings. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two. The Lookouts had seven hits in the second game. Max Kepler again led the way. He went 3-3 and added two stolen bases. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with his sixth double and his sixth stolen base. In the two games, Sano went 1-6. Byron Buxton was 0-8 on the day. His streak of consecutive games with an RBI ended at ten. In his first seven games with the Lookouts, Max Kepler hit just .185. In his ten games since, he is hitting .432 (16-37). Overall, he is now hitting .328. With the split, the Lookouts record now stands at 19-13. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Dunedin 2 Box Score The Miracle had a winning streak end on Monday but put another one in the win column on Tuesday. Alex Swim extended his hitting streak to 16 games with another 2-4 game. He is hitting .411 (30-73) in that stretch. It was his fifth multi-hit game in his last six games. He is now hitting .349 on the season. Swim wasn’t the only hitter to contribute to the Miracle win. Zach Granite was 0-1, but he walked twice, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases. Chad Christensen went 2-4 with a steal. Michael Quesada went 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Mitch Garver went 2-3 with a walk and his first stolen base of the season. Michael Quesada went 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Aaron Slegers started for the Miracle and worked the first five innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out six batters and got seven groundouts. Brandon Peterson struck out two over two scoreless innings. J.T. Chargois struck out two in the eighth inning. Todd Van Steensel recorded his fourth save, striking out two in the ninth frame. The Miracle are now 15-17 on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 5 (11 innings) Box Score It took 11 innings, but the Kernels seven-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night. Mat Batts started for the Kernels. He started with three scoreless innings. However, uncharacteristically, he lost his control starting in the fourth inning. He gave up just one run in the fourth despite giving up a single and walking three. He came out for the fifth inning, but after giving up a single, throwing a wild pitch and walking a batter, he was replaced by C.K. Irby who got out of the inning allowing only one run (one of Batts’ runners). Irby went two innings and gave up no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out three. Mike Theofanopoulos worked a scoreless seventh inning. In the eighth inning, he got two outs, but there were two runners on when Cameron Booser was summoned from the bullpen. The power-lefty got a strikeout to end the threat and hold the Kernels lead. Holding a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth, Booser gave up a single, a walk and a single to tie the game at two. He walked another but was able to get a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the inning with the game still tied. He came back to strike out the side in the 10th inning. Sam Clay pitched the 11th inning and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk to take the loss. Max Murphy was the hitting hero for the Kernels again. He hit a two-run homer (second of the year) in the fourth inning that temporarily gave the Kernels a lead. He added two doubles in the game as well and has five on the season. In his last nine games, Murphy has hit .474 (18-38) with four doubles, a triple and two home runs. Through the first 19 games of the season, he was hitting just .173 (13-75). After Tuesday, he is hitting .274 overall. Zack Larson went 2-5 with his fourth double. Rainis Silva hit his second double. The Kernels had ten hits, but they also struck out 19 times in the 11-inning game. The seven-game winning streak came to an end, but the Kernels are still 20-12 on the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Madison Boer, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Twins Daily Vote (Please vote in the Forum below. Here are the candidates): Max Kepler – Chattanooga Lookouts (5-6, 2B, 2 SB) Max Murphy – Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 2-2B, HR) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Toledo @ Rochester (12:35 CST) – LHP Tommy Milone Chattanooga @ Birmingham (11:00 am CST) – RHP JO Berrios Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (9:35 am CST) – RHP Chih-Wei Hu Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 CST) – RHP John Curtiss Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Tuesday games. Click here to view the article

Though 4 games... a little perspective on Rosario is good at this point.

Vavra has just been so consistent this season. His average hasn't really been below about .280 all year and it's been up to about .340, with good approach at the plate and some doubles/homers. Larson and Murphy have been good for a week. I think they need another month, which puts us to that mid-June timeline when we start seeing some changes.

They've both been better of late, which is good to see. I think both will be fine, but we need to be more patient... obviously.

As of sometime last night, my laptop suddenly wouldn't let me type a key twice in a row. In other words, I probably types 22nd and all that came out was 2nd. Imagine how frustrating that is! There are a lot of words that have consecutive letters (like letters). That includes the delete button, so I have to get creative if I type something wrong. I'm thinking a restart would be good.