Seth Stohs

Beresford is a second baseman. He would need Brian Dozier to go on the DL or something. He could be a utility player as well, but he's played 2B almost exclusively the last 2-3 years after playing a lot of SS earlier in his career. Baxendale needs more innings. He struggled the last year and a half because he wasn't healthy. He's had 6 good AA starts. I'd give him at least another 6-8. Plus, Rochester's rotation has Rogers, Meyer, Milone, Wheeler and Dean. Maybe there'll be an opening in 6 months. So, it's a combination of getting time and having an opportunity. With top prospects, it's primarily about time and other things as opportunity will be created for them in most cases.

Hey Roger, I don't think that Hamburger ever was an option to come up to the Twins as a starter, but he could be in the long-relief type of role. He could thrive in that role.

Jones has been remarkable this season. His biggest issue in his career has been throwing strikes. He now has one walk in 10 innings so far. If that trend continues, with his stuff, he could be with the Twins later this year.

Man... I need more sleep! Ha!! I have corrected this... thank you!

I pretty much don't. I'm happy if I get 5 hours of sleep. It's been a long few days, with a couple of early-morning flights. But, the show must go on, right?

In one game, there was a home run that provided all of the offense. In another, the team won on a long, walk off home run. In yet another, the team had three players with three hits a piece. All that offense, and there was also a shutout. It was a good night in the Twins minor league affiliates. Continue to read below for all of the scores and highlights from the Twins minor leagues on Friday, starting with some transactions. Then, on Saturday morning, check back to see the organizational Leaderboard update.TRANSACTIONS Rochester released RH RP Daniel Turpen.RH RP Dereck Rodriguez was called up to the Miracle again from Extended Spring.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Louisville 0 Box Score In the top of the first inning, outfielder Danny Ortiz hit his fourth home run of the year. The three-run blast gave the team a lead that they never game up. Tommy Milone made his first start after being sent down by the Twins. He threw 114 pitches, but he went 6.1 shutout innings. He gave up just five hits, walked two and struck out eight. Mark Hamburger got the final two outs of the seventh inning and pitched a scoreless eighth frame. AJ Achter pitched a scoreless ninth for the save, his second. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-4 with his ninth double. Aaron Hicks doubled for the fourth time in his last five games. It was his eighth two-bagger of the year. James Beresford went 1-3 with a walk and is now hitting .355. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Jackson 2 Box Score The score was tied going into the bottom of the ninth. With one out and one on, catcher Stuart Turner stepped to the plate and launched a long home run to end the game and give the Lookouts a 4-2 win. The game featured a terrific start by JO Berrios. He worked eight innings and gave up two runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out eight. He was actually quite dominant through the game, only struggling with his control in the two-run sixth inning. Aside from that inning, he was very efficient. He needed just 99 pitches and 66 of them were strikes .Zack Jones pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get credit for the win. Turner had the big hit in the game, the hit that ended the ballgame, but he also walked once early in the game. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with a walk. Mike Gonzales got the Lookouts on the board with an RBI double in the first inning. Heiker Meneses added a double as well. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Jupiter 4 Box Score The Miracle bats showed up again on Friday night. Zach Granite was the instigator at the top of the order. He went 3-5 and is now hitting .333 in his time in Ft. Myers. Bryan Haar went 3-4 including two doubles (his fourth and fifth). Logan Wade was batting ninth, and he added three hits as well, including his fifth double. Alex Swim had another multi-hit game. He was 2-4 and is now hitting .345. Ryan Eades recorded his second win. He went 7.1 innings. He was charged with four runs (three earned) on nine hits. He walked one and struck out four. Todd Van Steensel came in to get the final five outs for his third save of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids @ Beloit Box Score Rain caused the postponement of this game. The teams will play in Beloit starting at 11:00 on Saturday morning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – JO Berrios, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Bryan Haar, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Louisville (5:05 CST) – RHP Alex Meyer Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Greg Peavey Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – LHP Brett Lee Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (DH at 11:00 a.m. CST) – Michael Cederoth, Felix Jorge LEADERBOARD Here are the leaders in the Minnesota Twins minor league system through Friday, May 8. Hitters BA: James Beresford (.355), Zach Granite (.349), Alex Swim (.345), Trey Vavra (.326), Aaron Hicks (.320), Josmil Pinto (.317) OBP: Zach Granite (.421), Josmil Pinto (.411), Trey Vavra (.396), Aaron Hicks (.395), Dalton Hicks (.394), James Beresford (.390) SLG: Aaron Hicks (.540), Adam Brett Walker (.527), Trey Vavra (.517), Byron Buxton (.500), Dalton Hicks (.494), Danny Ortiz (.476) OPS: Aaron Hicks (.935), Trey Vavra (.913), Dalton Hicks (.888), Josmil Pinto (.874), Zach Granite (.865), Reynaldo Rodriguez (.840) Plate Appearances: Niko Goodrum (138), Zach Granite (124), Engelb Vielma (121), Alex Swim (120), Byron Buxton/Nick Gordon (115) Hits: Alex Swim (39), Zach Granite (37), Aaron Hicks (32), Reynaldo Rodriguez (30), Trey Vavra (29), Buxton/Polanco/Beresford (27) 2B: Reynaldo Rodriguez (9), Aaron Hicks/Travis Harrison (8), Niko Goodrum (7), Five with 6. 3B: Byron Buxton (6), Aaron Hicks (4), Levi Michael/Max Murphy (3), Six with 2. HR: Adam Brett Walker (7), Miguel Sano (5), Danny Ortiz/Niko Goodrum/Brock Peterson (4), Six with 3. Runs: Zach Granite (22), Aaron Hicks (19), Byron Buxton/Trey Vavra (18), Reynaldo Rodriguez (17), Four with 16. RBI: Nick Gordon (20), Byron Buxton (18), Danny Ortiz/Adam Brett Walker (16), Zack Larson (15), Three with 14. SB: Tanner English (9), Zach Granite/Engelb Vielma (8), Byron Buxton (7), Jason Kanzler (6), Three with 5. Walks: Niko Goodrum (20), Mitch Garver (19), Tanner English (18), Miguel Sano (16), Zack Larson/Dalton Hicks (15). Pitchers Innings Pitched: Tyler Duffey (38.2), Taylor Rogers (38.0), JO Berrios (36.0), Pat Dean (33.0), Stephen Gonsalves (32.0), DJ Baxendale (31.1). Starters ERA (>24.0 IP): DJ Baxendale (0.86), Chih-Wei Hu (1.24), Stephen Gonsalves (1.41), Mat Batts (2.05), Felix Jorge (2.25), Pat Dean (2.45), Ryan Eades (2.67) Relievers ERA (>10.0 IP): Trevor Hildenberger (0.60), Cameron Booser (0.69), Zack Jones (0.90), Mike Theofanopoulos (1.26), Adrian Salcedo (1.38), Tim Shibuya (1.53) Starters WHIP (>24.0 IP): Chih-Wei Hu (0.79), Stephen Gonsalves (0.81), Mat Batts (0.88), Aaron Slegers (0.98), Felix Jorge (1.08), Tyler Duffey (1.09) Relievers WHIP (>10.0 IP): Trevor Hildenberger (0.53), Zach Tillery (0.58), AJ Achter (0.67), Zack Jones (0.70), Madison Boer (0.84), Tim Shibuya (0.85) Starters K/9 (>24.0 IP): Stephen Gonsalves (12.1), JO Berrios (11.2), Felix Jorge (10.9), Alex Meyer (9.8), Chih-Wei Hu (9.3), Tyler Duffey (8.6) Relievers K/9 (>10.0 IP): Cameron Booser (15.9), Zack Jones (15.3), Lester Oliveros (14.8), Todd Van Steensel (13.7), CK Irby (13.1), Brandon Peterson (12.4) Starters BB/9 (>24.0 IP): Aaron Slegers/Chih-Wei Hu (1.2), Mat Batts (1.8), Tyler Duffey (1.9), Stephen Gonsalves (2.0), Felix Jorge (2.2) Relievers BB/9 (>10.0 IP): Trevor Hildenberger (0.6), Zack Jones (0.9), Tim Shibuya (1.5), Zach Tillery (1.6), Randy LeBlanc (1.8), Cole Johnson (2.2) Strikeouts: JO Berrios (45), Stephen Gonsalves (43), Tyler Duffey (37), Taylor Rogers (33), Chih-Wei Hu (30), Three with 29. Saves: Zack Jones (6), Michael Tonkin (5), Todd Van Steensel (3), Four with 2. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games or the organization's leader board. Click here to view the article

Similar, though Herrmann never played in Low A ball and was an FSL All Star his first full minor league season. Swim is a good hitter with an incredible knowledge of the strike zone. He doesn't swing at pitches that aren't strikes. He'll hit a few doubles, but not much power.

Here's a good place to find it... ha! http://www.lulu.com/shop/seth-stohs-and-jeremy-nygaard-and-cody-christie/minnesota-twins-prospect-handbook-2015/ebook/product-21948998.html Tall, thin, fastball 90-91, touches 94-95, good breaking ball, improving change.

Very good point, and that's not always a given in Low-A ball.

I agree. Remember these should be updated no less than once every other week. But if you read the daily minor league reports and monthly award winners and such, there are plenty of opportunities for updates. And again, we'd love to have more people , more minor league players, written about.

Those games are also pitching to live batters. I wasn't counting things like bullpen sessions or simulated games.

That's a little bit deceiving... Along with the 65 innings in E-Town and CR last year, he also threw (I'm guessing) another 30-40 in Extended Spring Training and probably 15-20 in spring training, maybe more. So in reality, he probably threw closer to 110-120 innings last year.

T.J. White was the 18th round selection of the Minnesota Twins in 2014 out of UNLV. His professional career was delayed several weeks due to an injury. In 2015, he leads the Cedar Rapids Kernels in games played, manning the hot corner at third base most nights. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs Born and raised in Las Vegas, T.J. White attended athletic powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School. It may be best known right now as the school that produced Cordell Broadus (Snoop Dogg’s son), but it has a strong baseball history too. In fact, former Twins outfielder Marty Cordova, who was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1995, is from the school. While at Bishop Gorman, White teamed with some really good players, including Texas Rangers top prospect Joey Gallo. Gallo hit 42 home runs last year between Class A and AA after hitting 40 homers in 2013 in Low A. They both play third base now, and they both played third base in high school. So, how did that work? Well, earlier in their years there, White played third base while Gallo played shortstop. That changed heading in to White’s senior season. According to White, “My senior year, we switched. I played third up until my senior year in high school and he played short. We talked and went to the coach and said, ‘I want to play short and he’s going to get drafted as a third baseman.’ (The coach) said, ‘Alright, you guys do it.’ It was a good experience.” When asked about it, Joey Gallo replicated White’s story. “I was playing short. He was playing third. He was going to go to college as a shortstop, and I was going to be a third baseman so we asked our coach to switch. Our coaches went ‘Yeah, alright. Do it.’ We just switched. We were a little amazed how easy it was to convince him.” Gallo spoke very highly of the Twins third base prospect. “He’s always been one of my best teammates to play with it. He was always one of my best friends as well. We always did everything together. We were always in a big group together. He was always ready to play the game and always had a lot of fun. One of the best guys I’ve played with, that I can remember.” While Gallo went to the Rangers with the 39th overall pick in the 2012 draft, White knew where he was going after high school. He stayed at home and played an UNLV. “Being from Vegas, it was a pretty easy choice because there were about nine guys including myself from in town that were all going there together. We all talked to each other and planned it out that way. So we had nine guys incoming from Vegas.” Was Gallo the one that got away? “We tried! That’s for sure!” While at UNLV, the teams experienced quite a bit of success. As you would expect with that many young players coming in together, that success didn’t happen right away. “First year was a little rough, but the next two years we did really well. We had good chemistry, having all played against each other and then with each other. It was fun.” White played third, shortstop and second base. Mostly he played third base. “I think my sophomore year I played mostly all at short. My junior and freshman years were at third base.” He spent a summer playing for the YD Red Sox in the Cape Cod League and really enjoyed the experience. “It was a blast. It was awesome. Great baseball,” He continued, “The towns, small little cities they have there. You get to play against the top competition, the guys you hear about from the teams you don’t get to play. You get to play with them and against them.” Last season, while playing in the conference tournament, T.J. White broke the hamate bone at the base of his hand. He continued to play, but it certainly affected his draft status. The Twins took him with their 18th round pick. “I always heard seven to twelve in the beginning. Then I had the injury. So I kind of knew. I broke my hamate the weekend of conference tournament. Then I played regionals with it. I actually had surgery the day before the draft. I kind of knew that would push me back a little bit.” There was still no question that he would sign with the Twins. He told his UNLV coaches that he was going to sign. “I talked to the Twins and they said, ‘Rehab three weeks there.’ That way I didn’t have to take up a roster spot. So, I signed three weeks in and finished up my rehab.” He went to Ft. Myers and got into eight games with the GCL Twins just to get some at-bats. He finished the season by playing in five games at Elizabethton. “It was a little different. Coming back from the injury, it wasn’t ‘I’ve got to get into pro ball.’ It was more like ‘Get the hand to feel well.” I worked out a little bit. I got a lot of ABs. I wasn’t trying to put too much pressure on myself. I was just trying to get healthy.” White came to spring training this year, healthy and ready to compete. “It was a blast. I was finishing up working out and getting everything going. I feel good. Had a good spring training.” White takes pride in his defense at third base saying “I’ve always been pretty solid.” He is 5-10 and about 220 pounds. He’s stocky and very strong, but he also runs really well. “My speed is coming back, so I’m hoping to get a couple bags this year.” Despite his strength, White hasn’t been a home run hitter. “I’ve always been a good contact hitter, two strikes has been one of my strengths.” That said, it is something that he is looking to incorporate into his game. “I’ve been talking to Tommy (Watkins), trying to get a bit more power. I think that’s what I need to develop more. More power, so I think that’s one of the things we’re going to be working on. I’ve always been a doubles guy, gap-to-gap. Home runs is what we’re trying to produce. A little more pop, big guy.” For hitting coach Tommy Watkins, it’s not just about the homers. “I don’t worry so much about home runs. Home runs come as they get older and they get their man strength as I like to stay. Just trying to get him to drop more and use his legs. He’s a guy that, when he stands up, he uses his legs and understand that we walk around on our legs all day long.” White began the 2015 season slowly. Through the first 15 games, he was hitting just .215. Maybe it was the cold, but he has turned things around recently. In his last ten games, he is hitting .333/.386/.436 (.822). That’s a trend that we should see continue. As the power comes, White is certainly one to watch. View full article

I think Tapia is a really good prospect. Watched him a couple of times this spring. He's a big guy! He throws pretty hard and looks like he has the makings of some pretty good secondary pitches too. Definitely one to watch. Velez is interesting. Little guy, left-handed. Very hard worker. Very interesting delivery. He could use some deception and be a guy who sticks with it and eventually gets a shot.

We know that Twins Daily readers follow the Twins farm system each day with these reports. I would imagine you were equally excited to see Eddie Rosario promoted to the big leagues, and even more excited when he launched the first MLB pitch he saw into the bleachers in left centerfield. His Rochester Red Wings didn’t get much offense, and neither did the potent bats in Chattanooga. Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids have been really struggling to generate offense, but on this night, they both got strong hitting to go with their usually stellar pitching.Read below for all of the scores and highlights from the Twins minor league system, starting with some transactions. TRANSACTIONS Rochester lost Doug Bernier as he was promoted to the Twins.Levi Michael was put on the 7-day disabled list with his ankle sprain.After the game, the Miracle promoted Madison Boer to ChattanoogaBefore the Miracle game, Brandon Peterson and Todd Van Steensel were sent to extended spring training while Jose Velez and Alexis Tapia came across the parking lot to play for the Miracle. (As they had done earlier in the year; this is procedural after the Miracle played two more extra innings games prior to Wednesday.)RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Indianapolis 3 Box Score Minor league teams rarely fly. Those long bus rides are famous, or infamous, in the minors. However, the International League is spread all over the eastern half of the country. The Red Wings had an early-morning flight to Indianapolis. Pat Dean made the start and the left-hander went the first 5.2 innings. He gave up three runs on nine hits and three walks. He struck out just one. Mark Hamburger made his return to the bullpen and got five outs. He gave up no runs despite giving up two hits and a walk. Ryan O’Rourke got the final two outs. The Red Wings didn’t produce much offense on this day. They had six hits, but were able to cross home plate just once. That happened on a solo home run off the bat of Josmil Pinto. The Red Wings saw a couple of old friends in this game. Right-hander Deolis Guerra got the win. He gave up three hits and struck out one in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. Third baseman Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with two doubles. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Jackson 4 Box Score The Lookouts got close but weren’t able to catch Jackson on this night, falling by one. Alex Wimmers made the start. He gave up two runs on three hits over six innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Tim Shibuya came on and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his two innings. Cole Johnson struck out two in his perfect inning. Max Kepler went 2-4 in the game. In the bottom of the ninth, he drove a ball that was caught at the wall in center field. Travis Harrison had a walk and his eighth double. Adam Brett Walker added an RBI double. Byron Buxton’s eight-game hitting streak came to an end after an 0-4 night. He did have an RBI. Miguel Sano went 0-3 and walked once. He also committed his sixth error. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Bradenton 0 Box Score The Miracle scored three runs in the first inning. In the third, they put up a five-spot. They received very good pitching and got a needed win, in regulation. The top four hitters in the Miracle lineup each had two hits. Zach Granite, Engelb Vielma and Alex Swim went 2-5. Brian Haar was 2-4. Niko Goodrum provided power with his two-run home in the first inning. It was his fourth of the season. Tanner Vavra added his second double. Chih-Wei Hu made the start. The right-hander from Taiwan threw five shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out two. He needed just 79 pitches and 51 of them were strikes. Lefty Jose Velez came on and struck out four (and walked none) in three perfect innings. Right-hander Alexis Tapia gave up a hit in a scoreless inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Wisconsin 2 Box Score Through five innings, the score of this game was 2-2. John Curtiss worked the first six, got a lead, and then the two most dominant relievers in the Midwest League came on to, well, dominate the final three innings and close out the team’s 16th win. Curtiss was charged with two runs on six hits in those six innings. He struck out eight without issuing a walk. Trevor Hildenberger came on and struck out three in two perfect innings. Cam Booser got the final three batters out, two of them on strikeouts. Hildenberger’s season ERA now sits at 0.60 while Booser’s is at 0.69. The Kernels scored three runs in the sixth and another three runs in the seventh to take control of this game. Max Murphy led the way. He went 3-5 with his third triple and three RBI. Trey Vavra went 3-5. He also had another outfield assist. Tanner English added a double. Rainis Silva, who was recently promoted when Brian Navarreto went on the DL, went 1-3 with a walk. He doubled in his first MWL at bat. The 19-year-old is the youngest player on the Kernels roster, about five months younger than Nick Gordon. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Velez, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Max Murphy, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (10:05 am CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (6:30 CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

That would be awesome!

Agree that Ryan shouldn't answer any questions of timeline... but it's fun to think of for us! And... I'm thinking they could find a 40 man spot for him if necessary.

100% correct!

A couple of things: #1 - Terry Ryan is scheduled to be in Chattanooga (or wherever they're playing this weekend). We've seen it before. When he goes on a trip to an affiliate (usually AAA for obvious reasons), he sees things and makes decisions based on those trips. Worth seeing how Buxton does this weekend, offensively and defensively. #2 - About the time he came back from missing two games, I was watching Chattanooga on milb.tv. His at bats were different. His swings weren't wild. He was taking balls and taking good swings at strikes. Compared to those first 10-12 games, he was a different hitter. He was back to what made him so great in 2013. #3 - HE's absolutely blazing right now. He's not going to keep hitting .415, so the Twins need to evaluate the process more than the results right now. It's easy to look at the numbers. It's harder to know the "other" intangible things. #4 - He is on a different level than Hicks and Arcia and other top prospects. He's a top prospect in the game and his skills and tools are both elite. That doesn't mean he comes up and is a star right away. Who knows, he may never be a star, but he's in a different category.

He's really good when healthy and he has that slider going. I'm excited to see what will happen if he can stay healthy all year.

Over the weekend, I handed out the “awards” for Twins minor league relief pitcher and starting pitcher of April. Whether coming out of the bullpen or starting the game, the Twins had some minor leaguers put up some very good numbers.. Today, I am going to profile five Twins minor league hitters who had solid Aprils. There were a few strong offensive performances, but in my mind, one stood out above the rest.Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins minor league hitters in April. But first, here are a few honorable mentions: Rochester C Josmil Pinto (18-59) .305/.397/.373 (.770) with one double, one homer and nine RBIs.Rochester 2B James Beresford (17-50) .340/.382/.380 (.762) with two doubles and five RBI.Cedar Rapids 1B/LF sTrey Vavra (19-68) .279/.319/.500 (.819) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs.THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Chattanooga – Adam Brett Walker - (16-66) .242/.301/.530 (.832) with four doubles, five home runs and 11 RBI.s Walker had a solid month in his Double-A debut for the Lookouts. He put up Walker-like numbers. He didn’t hit for average, but he showed the type of immense power that we have seen in the lower levels. His five home runs led the league and the Twins organization for the month. In 71 plate appearances, he walked six times and struck out 29 times. Four of his six walks came in one game. It was a solid performance for Walker. Number 4 – Rochester – Aaron Hicks - (22-71) .310/.398/.493 (.891) with four doubles, three triples, 1 home run and 12 RBIs. Through the season’s first seven games, Aaron Hicks was hitting just .194. In his final 11 games of the month, he hit .400/.479/.525 (1.004) with three doubles and a triple. Though he’s got a .980 OPS against left-handed pitchers (as a right-handed batter), he has a solid .813 OPS against righties as well. He’s also playing some very good defense in center and right field. He ended the month on an 11-game hitting streak. Maybe May 4th wasn’t the date he was called up, but I can’t imagine it will be too much longer before he’s back at Target Field, patrolling center field. Number 3 - Rochester – Reynaldo Rodriguez - (22-68) .324/.403/.500 (.903) with five doubles, two triples, one home run and nine RBIs. Rodriguez is in his third season in the Twins organization after years in the Yankees and Red Sox systems. The 28-year-old from Colombia is back to playing first base and DHing, but he has been a force in the middle of the Red Wings lineup. After starting the season going 2-16 in his first four games, he went on an 12-game hitting streak. His batting averaged reached a high of .345. Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – Zach Granite – (24-67) .358/.463/.463 (.925) with five doubles, one triple, one home run and five RBIs. After playing in just 21 games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2014 because of two separate injuries, Zach Granite was sent back to Iowa to start the season and get caught up. After hitting like he did at the top of the Kernels order, he was promoted when the calendar turned to May. Granite, the Twins 14th round pick in 2013 out of Seton Hall, is not going to hit for a lot of power. However, he takes really good at-bats, doesn’t expand the strike zone, hits line drives and turns singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He’s a very good base runner and base stealer. He can be a terrific instigator at the top of a lineup. The April Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Chattanooga Lookouts 1B Dalton (DJ) Hicks (22-66) .333/.436/.576 with five doubles, one triple, three home runs and 11 RBIs. Listed at 6-5 and 250 pounds, Hicks is a powerful presence in the middle of the Chattanooga lineup. For one reason or another, he is an under-rated “prospect,” but he has been one of the more productive hitters in the Twins organization since the Twins used their 17th round pick in 2012 on the slugger out of the University of Central Florida. He drove in 25 runs in 31 games for Elizabethton that first year. His walk-off grand slam won the Appalachian League title for the E-Twins. In 2013, he spent two-thirds of the season in Cedar Rapids and the final third in Ft. Myers. His 110 RBIs was one more than Kernels teammate Adam Brett Walker. He spent all of the 2014 season with the Ft. Myers Miracle and was a key component in the Miracle’s Florida State League championship. Right now, he is the three-hitter in that power- and potential-packed Lookouts lineup. In May, he was the organization’s top hitter. However he credits some of his hot start to his teammates. Hicks said, “It’s always important to get off to a hot start. Obviously easier said than done. But, when you play with the guys I play with, it’s pretty easy to be patient and look for what I want to hit knowing the guy behind me will get the job done if I don’t.” Though he hit .414 with a 1.071 OPS in the season’s first eight games to jump-start his season, he remained consistent throughout the whole month. Over the final ten games of the month, he hit .270 and still had a .968 OPS thanks to finding his power stroke. For the second straight season, his manager is former Twins infielder Doug Mientkiewicz. When you have success, a lot of it is due to what work and preparation was done in the offseason. The 25-year-old credits his offseason work. “Working with Slice (Miracle hitting coach and long-time big leaguer Jim Dwyer) and Dougie from last year, I knew what I needed to ‘fix’ in order to have better success.” This Chattanooga team is pretty special. Many of the players were on last year’s Miracle championship team and the Elizabethton championship team. They won a lot of games in Cedar Rapids in 2013 as well. They may be off to a slower start early this season, but Hicks said the atmosphere in the Lookouts clubhouse is the same. “It’s the same as it has always been. This is a special group. We know that. We are a team that likes to have fun. Guys are always looking out for each other on and off the field.” As for the remainder of the season, Hicks won’t set many goals. “I’m not a guy with big goals. The best advice I think I have ever received is to always ‘stay the same’ and look at making today the best today. When we as baseball players can be the same, day in and day out, success will find its way our way. At the end of the year, goals will take care of themselves.” Dalton Hicks – who is also just fine if you prefer to call him DJ – made the best of his April. He is a big part of this Chattanooga Lookouts roster, and he is a name the Twins fans should really get to know. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- There were several strong performances in April around the organization. Earlier in the week, we named the Twins Relief Pitcher and Starting Pitcher of the month of April. Please feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article