Seth Stohs

On Friday afternoon, the Florida State League announced its All Star rosters. Seven members of the Ft. Myers Miracle - who are hosting the All Star game at Hammond Stadium - were named to the FSL South Division roster including five pitchers. LHP Stephen Gonsalves LHP Tyler Jay RHP Kohl Stewart RH RP - Todd Van Steensel RH RP - Raul Fernandez 1B - Trey Vavra OF - Edgar Corcino Snubbed - Nick Gordon...

He's open more than most GMs but this is definitely not an area in which he should say too much. That said, I noticed that comment too.

If anyone else sees any Twins minor leaguers winning awards anywhere please post them here. Monthly or Weekly awards have been edited up above.

Byron Buxton was the International League Hitter of the Week May 30th.

Uggh! That's embarrassing! I'm a stickler on spelling people's name right... I must have just been in a hurry... Uggh!

The reason this year was more about numbers in some cases. They brought in a lot of guys to compete for MLB spots and frankly now they've used a lot of them. There is a trickle down. Now, to be fair, Chargois was promoted one month ago, and Anderson one week ago... I suspect Theofanopoulos will be quite soon. Should be.

I was there last weekend. I mean, he looks OK at the plate. I didn't see anything exciting, but he has had some good games the last few days which likely account for a lot of the success in those numbers. He's got a long ways to go...

Again, I didn't say that it was something to credit the Twins for... just an ironic thing that the Royals talked publicly about their plans to model the Twins. And, I think most here would agree that when the Twins were winning from '01-10, it was based on defense, making contact (being piranhas), and their strong bullpens. The Royals deserve all the credit for their success... No one is disputing that.

But in the late-90s, they did trade vets, like Dave Hollins (Ortiz), Roberto Kelly (Mays), Aguilera, Knoblauch, Pierzynski, etc. The Twins aren't the model now, but they certainly were 15 years ago... which is relavent to where the Royals were 8-10 years ago.

The Kernels announced this morning that they are adding RHP Eddie Del Rosario... possible he could start in Rodriguez's place. Was listening to one of my interviews with Jake Mauer from last weekend and he was basically saying that Rodriguez has the stuff, but right now it isn't working. Mauer was clearly frustrated and basically said there weren't a lot of other options, BUT if things kept going, there would need to be a change. This might be that change... (though I don't know that officially).

I just said they were top 5 picks. Of course they had other high-quality players. But most of it was drafting and trading vets for minor leaguers and letting them develop.

The Sporting News posted an article ranking the #1 overall picks in the MLB draft. See where Joe Mauer ranks now. Obviously with guys like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, they will continue to move up the list... but it's an interesting look. http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/list/mlb-draft-best-no-1-picks-griffey-arod-chipper-bryce-harper/1hewwsl7pbjhq10mtmluck1pdc

The irony is that the Royals used the Twins model for their rebuild. They took their time, trusted scouting, and let guys play. Like the Twins from 5 years ago, the Royals had to rebuild their system, and had a lot of high picks to do that. Gordon, Moustakus and Hosmer were all Top 5 picks, and they complemented them well.

I can't speak to how all 60 of his at bats have looked. Obviously we'd all like to see more walks, but at the same time, maybe he is swinging aggressively at good pitches and leaning better what areas he can attack. I'm kind of looking into that idea of being able to develop a better approach at the plate or at 24-25, are you just kind of who you are. That may be the case, somewhat, with Rosario. He's never going to walk a ton, but improving the approach at the plate would be nice.

They could have, but in May Palka hit just .200/.270/.360 (.630) with a 31% strikeout rate. I kind of think he's where he needs to be for right now... though, if he hits two home runs every game through June, I think that might signal something.

After posting out Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Starting Pitcher of the Month of May the last two days, we will look at the relief pitchers who got their jobs done in May. There were a bunch and like the starters, you could make arguments for a couple of these guys to claim the title. All nine guys mentioned before deserve the recognition. But who won? We talked to the May Relief Pitcher of the Month to see what helped make him so successful. In case you missed them here are the previous May winners: Hitter of the Month: Byron Buxton, Rochester Red Wings. Starting Pitcher of the Month: Tyler Jay, Ft. Myers Miracle. So, who will join them in the May Twins Minor League Awards? Continue reading to find out. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Mike Theofanopoulos) After posting out Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Starting Pitcher of the Month of May the last two days, we will look at the relief pitchers who got their jobs done in May. There were a bunch and like the starters, you could make arguments for a couple of these guys to claim the title. All nine guys mentioned before deserve the recognition. But who won? We talked to the May Relief Pitcher of the Month to see what helped make him so successful. In case you missed them here are the previous May winners: Hitter of the Month: Byron Buxton, Rochester Red Wings. Starting Pitcher of the Month: Tyler Jay, Ft. Myers Miracle. So, who will join them in the May Twins Minor League Awards? Continue reading to find out. First, a few relievers worthy of mention: RHP Michael Cederoth (Cedar Rapids) – 7 G, 1-0, 3.09 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 16K LHP Buddy Boshers (Rochester) - 7 G, 1-0, 1 Save, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 10 K RHP Brandon Peterson (Ft. Myers) - 11 G, 2-0, 3 Saves, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 15.0 IP 12 H, 3 BB, 17 K RHP Marcus Walden (Rochester) - 7 G, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 12 H, 5 BB, 10 K THE TOP FIVE RELIEF PITCHERS Number 5 - Chattanooga – LHP Luke Westphal - 7 G, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 16 K It was a long and winding road for Westphal from affiliated ball to the Twins organization, but the southpaw from Wisconsin has been quite good since signing with the Twins 16 months ago. Last year, Westphal went back and forth between Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids, and between the bullpen and the rotation. This year, he’s been exclusively in the bullpen. He was promoted to the Lookouts at the end of April and had a good first month in AA. In May, opponents hit just .238/.273/.262 (.535) off him and he struck out 13.1 batters per nine innings. Pretty dominant showing.Number 4 – Chattanooga – RHP Trevor Hildenberger - 11 G, 1.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 13 K Hildenberger was our choice for Twins Daily Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2015 when he split the year between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He’s appeared in these monthly reports pretty much every month the last two seasons and here he is again. After a solid showing in the Arizona Fall League a year ago, he began 2016 with the Miracle, but he was up in AA within a month. At a level where even the top relief pitching prospects have struggled, Hildenberger keeps getting the job done. The side-winding righty limited opponents to a .176/.222/.294 (.516) slash line for the month. He took over as the team’s closer and recorded five saves.Number 3 – Chattanooga – RHP JT Chargois - 8 G, 1.12 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 11 K 2012 2nd-round pick was finally healthy and bringing the high-90s heat in games in 2015. He was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason and showed well in big league spring training. He started with the Lookouts but in early May he was promoted to AAA Rochester where he’s continued to dominate. For the month, Chargois held hitters to a .182/.280/.318 (.598) slash line. While control has always been his problem, he has shown some strong glimpses in 2016, though a walk every other inning is all that is likely delaying his promotion to the big leagues.Soon the reliever whose last name is pronounced shag-waa will become a household name for Twins fans.Number 2 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – RHP Nick Anderson - 8 G, 0.64 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 22 K The Twins signed Anderson last August out of the independent leagues. The mid-90s throwing right-hander from Brainerd (via Mayville State) continued to dominate in Cedar Rapids until a mid-May promotion to Ft. Myers. He had a remarkable and dominant month. Look again at the strikeout-to-walk rate of 22-to-1! He also struck out 14.1 per nine innings. Opponents hit just .109/.128/.130 (.258) off him.And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Cedar Rapids – LHP Mike Theofanopoulos - 7 G, 0.73 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 20 K Mike Theofanopoulos was the Twins 30th-round pick in 2014 out of California. The left-hander grew up about a half-hour from Berkeley so when he was offered the scholarship, he immediately accepted, happy to play Division 1 baseball and get a Berkeley education. After spending the rest of that season, in the GCL, he spent all of 2015 in Cedar Rapids. Though he was likely disappointed in returning to the Kernels to start the 2016 season, he has handled it very well and grown from the experience. According to his pitching coach JP Martinez, he’s used his return to the Midwest League to better himself. “He’s a gritty kid, not a high pick, so he’s had to produce. He had a really good year here last year, and it just turned out that it was a numbers game so he had to come back. The good thing for him is that there is a comfort zone can work on things that they need to clean up so they’re ready for the next level.” Maybe it was frustration - or maybe it was just cold - but Theofanopoulos struggled the first week or so of the season, but he quickly got things back and made some improvements and he has been very good since. “I really wanted to harness in and focus on not walking guys. Earlier on in the season, I started pretty slow, putting guys on, trying to do too much and walking the world. I’m in a nice groove now, just realizing how to use my pitches. Fastball command has been there. That’s a huge part of it which allows me to get to my offspeed which are my strikeout pitches. Being able to finish hitters and put them away. I was trying to overproduce and do way too much.” In May, Theofanopoulos had a streak of 19 scoreless innings that ended with an unearned run. Opponents hit just .093/.152/.140 (.292). He also struck out 14.6 batters per nine innings. “Left-handed and breathing” is a saying in baseball, but Theofanopoulos shows more than that. He has a good fastball that sits 90-92. He has a curveball and a changeup, but his second breaking ball seems to have helped him to another level. According to “Theo,” one of the keys to his success has been “Developing a harder curveball. That’s been a big piece for me, especially against left-handers, changing the hitter’s eyes.” With Nick Anderson being promoted to the Miracle, Kernels manager Jake Mauer says that Theofanopoulos may be in line for some late-inning, closer opportunities. “He started out real slow, walking a lot of guys, but he’s been real good lately. Really good. We’re probably going to use him late. He’s giving us some pretty good reason to use him later in games.” His pitching coach (Martinez) said of the southpaw, “If you get a lefty with two breaking balls who can spot his fastball, that’s pretty tough to hit. I wouldn’t say he had fastball command issues, but he wasn’t getting ahead with the fastball as much as he could. We made a couple of adjustments, and I think he got comfortable right around the second week. He looked relaxed out there. He looks comfortable on the mound, like there’s no place he’d rather be than on the mound. He’s a pretty cerebral guy so he knows how to attack hitters. I think what he’s done really well is spot the breaking ball and the fastball early and then be able to put that breaking ball away later in the count.” Theofanopoulos will continue to work later in games for the Kernels. We would have to assume that like John Curtiss, Nick Anderson and Randy LeBlanc before him, it should just be a matter of time before he gets called into his manager’s office and told he too is heading to Ft. Myers to join the Miracle. He’s ready.There were several very strong relief pitcher performances in May. Feel free to agree or disagree with the order, if you like, but congratulations to each of these individuals on an excellent month of may. Congratulations to the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May 2016, Mike Theofanopoulos. View full article

The Twins have signed veteran outfielder Logan Schafer to a minor league contract and sent him to Rochester. With injuries to Danny Santana and MIguel Sano pushing the promotions of Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, the Red Wings were in need of an outfielder. Schafer was playing for Lancaster of the independent Atlantic League this year. He has spent parts of 2011-2015 with the Milwaukee Brewers in a part-time role. He is 29.

Was todl that his setback was that he has mono.

Per the Twins, Kyle Gibson's back has delayed his return from the Disabled List. Instead, Phil Hughes will make the start tonight.

Has absolutely nothing to do with it. Reed isn't on social media a lot anyway, but there is no correlation between social media usage and play on the field. Baseball is hard... and when a guy gets behind in counts and struggles with command, they're going to struggle in AA.

There were just a bunch of promotions 2 days ago... and yes, there will certainly be more... but there really were just a few ... Stewart, LeBlanc, etc.

That's pretty normal in AAA. They need veterans to try to 1.) provide some wins for the affiliate and 2.) to be depth, org depth. Several of those types aren't going to probably make it as starters in MLB, so giving them flexibility is smart. Britton's played a lot in LF. Wickens has always played some LF over the years. Tovar is definitely the SS. He's still pretty young. When he's been there, Polanco has played pretty much only 2B. Beresford has played 3B, 2B and 1B. It's a good thing. The prospects play their position. Others just fill spots.

I'm sure they have a certain number they'll try to get to and then be careful. Some will depend on how he looks out on the mound, but I've said all along that I expect him to go back to the bullpen in mid-July or even August... probably in Chattanooga.