Seth Stohs

I think the idea of Buxton, and Levi Michael, moving up to AA is that they'll get to play in the Arizona Fall League... and they can still add two more from Ft. Myers to that group as well.

Maybe I'm weird, but I like when they bring in former players to be involved with the development of the next crop. Doug Mientkiewicz represents that type of player. So does Chad Allen. I really like when they bring back players during spring training as well. I think it's a good thing.

The last time the Minnesota Twins had a stretch of losing seasons like they are today happened in the late 1990s. From 1996 through 1999, the team lost more than 90 games each season. However, the Twins had a team in 1999 that played a lot of young players that would be part of the Twins turnaround last decade. One of those rookies was their starting left fielder, Chad Allen. Today, Allen is in his second season as the hitting coach of the New Britain Rock Cats. Last month, I had the opportunity to chat with him about Kennys Vargas, but also about his time with the Twins and his transition into coaching.Chad Allen was the Minnesota Twins fourth-round draft pick in 1996 out of Texas A&M University. After playing for Team USA, he signed late and spent the final week of the season in the Midwest League. In 1997, he started at Ft. Myers but finished the season in AA New Britain. That’s where he spent the entire 1998 season. He hit .262/.344/.399 with 31 doubles, seven triples and eight home runs. He came to big league spring training in 1999 and played so well that he was the Twins Opening Day starter. His greatest memories of that team involved playing with a bunch of his friends. Allen recalled, “I think the best thing that happened to the 13 guys who made it in ’99 is that we were all able to play with each other before we got to the big leagues.” Those guys had quite a bond. He continued, “To have them be able to know when you’re down, to know how to pick you up, to know if you need something, or that a guy will always have your back. That’s a special feeling. That’s something that I think all 13 kind of helped each other out with. We were always there to pick each other up, to have each other’s back.” 1999 was the best season of Allen’s career. He played in 137 games and hit .277/.330/.395 (.725) with 21 doubles, three triples and ten home runs. He spent parts of the next two seasons with the Twins. Some fans reading this may remember the final play he made for the Twins. Playing right field in a mid-August game in 2001, Kenny Lofton hit a ball to the wall. Allen took off for it, but a cleat got stuck in the grass and he tore his ACL. Somehow, Allen got to the ball and side-armed it back toward the infield, keeping Lofton from scoring. That was the type of player he was. He worked for everything and even in that moment,his playing was with maximum effort. It may not have been a long time, but Allen says that his bond to those teammates remains strong. He keeps in touch with several of his former Twins teammates from time to time. “(Doug) Mientkiewicz is managing in Ft. Myers. One of my best friends to this day is Mike Lincoln. He was my roommate my first, second and third years. He’s a great friend of mine. I stay in contact with him to this day. AJ Pierzynski? I saw this year at spring training when he was playing with Boston. He came over to the clubhouse and still says hello to all the coaches. Just a great teammate. Torii Hunter still lives in Dallas. I saw his wife and kids in Dallas a couple of times. It’s just like I say, when you play with guys for two or three years, even though you may not talk to them more than a couple of times a year, there still is that special place in your heart for them because you grew up with those guys, and it was a special time for us all to be rookies in the same year.” He remained in the game, spending parts of 2003 with Cleveland, 2004 with Florida, and 2004 and 2005 with the Rangers. He was with the Royals AAA team for 2006. So, what became of Chad Allen after his playing career? Allen told me, “Honestly, I left the game in 2008. For about two years, I actually went back to school, got my degree and got away from the game. Well, not really got away from that game, but really concentrated on getting my degree so I could get back into the game.” And then it took a bit of random luck for him to get back with the Twins. As Allen recalls, “It just so happened that I was actually coaching at a high school in Dallas, and we were playing a team in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was at third base, and I heard my name called. It happened to be Bill Springman who is now our minor league hitting coordinator. Spring yelled at me, and I looked up. I hadn’t seen him in probably ten to twelve years. So, we started to talk, and I said ‘Spring, I’d love to get back in the game, if there was ever an opportunity for it, I’d really appreciate it.’” It was left at that until the following year when an act of providence occurred. “Ironically enough, his son was actually playing football against our school. I was on the sideline as the sideline referee. He walked up behind me during the game and said, ‘Chad, what are you doing here these days?’ I said, ‘Spring, I’m still coaching here at the high school and would love to get into the game.” He said, ‘Well, you know, I think you might be a guy that we’d like to interview.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir, any time you would like, I’d be willing.’” Chad Allen flew up to Minnesota and interviewed with Terry Ryan and Brad Steil. Soon after, he was named the hitting coach of the New Britain Rock Cats. He has served in that role the last two seasons (2013 and 2014). He remains very thankful to Bill Springman for the opportunity. “To this day, I thank him all the time that he gave me this opportunity, and the Twins gave me this opportunity. It’s a blessing. I just pray to God that I can help develop these guys and get them to the big leagues and that they go on and have great careers.” So what brought him back? I don’t think the reasons will surprise you. “To me, it’s the love of the game. Even though I went to school for two years, the desire and the love of the game never left me. Even though I’m not playing anymore, I still have a passion and a love to see these guys go up and have the opportunity to go to the big leagues. You have the relationships that you build with these guys. You have the clubhouse atmosphere that you rarely get to see. Obviously I was fortunate enough to play. And now, to be able to again develop those relationships with players and our coaching staff. To me, it’s the best job in the world to have.” Do his players know that he spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues? Does it give him any credibility with the players? “I think the majority of the guys know that I did play in the big leagues, but no matter if you played zero years in the big leagues or if you have ten, the biggest thing I wanted to do when I became a coach was to gain the confidence of my players. I have to learn as a coach how to gain their confidence and I do that by learning not only what those guys do on the field mechanically and mentally, but what’s going on in their lives off the field. I think if I can gain their trust on and off the field, that’s going to help me in the future.” Allen looked back at his career and the type of coaches that he had and that he enjoyed playing for. “I think the greatest coaches I had were the ones that truly cared about me. If I was up or down, those guys were always behind me, always upbeat. That’s the kind of coach I want to be. No matter how things are going at the plate, I’m behind you and I have confidence in you. That’s just something that was most important for me when I was playing was I wanted my coaches to have confidence in me so I think by gaining their trust, knowing what makes them go is the most important thing for me.” The Twins coaching staff in his minor league days were the guys who became his coaches at the big league level with the Twins. The obvious question remains. Is getting to the big leagues as a coach a goal for Chad Allen? “Obviously that would be a phenomenal gift from God to be able to get back up there. Obviously I can’t tell the Twins that I want to go to the big leagues. That’s a decision that they’re going to have to make. But again, if I made it to the big leagues, would I thoroughly enjoy it? Absolutely! 100%. I think the most important thing for me is the passion and the love for the game is still there. Whether I’m in the big leagues or the minor leagues, I’m going to give my guys everything I’ve got. That’s just something that I… That’s how I played. I played as hard as I could. That’s something that I want to give my players. Whatever they need, I’m going to do the best I can for them.” There is one trait that I have seen from Twins minor league coaches that I have met and talked to. They have tremendous passion for the game of baseball. Chad Allen fits that mold. If you remember his playing days, you remember that he was a max-effort guy, always going at 100% It sure appears that his passion and love of the game has transferred into his coaching career. He has worked with Kennys Vargas this year and Miguel Sano last year. He credits Reynaldo Rodriguez for being a great on-field mentor for Vargas and Eddie Rosario. Starting on Tuesday, he will get the opportunity to start working with top prospect Byron Buxton in an attempt to get him ready for the big leagues. ------------------------------ Thanks to the Twins win against the Houston Astros on Monday night, it means that on Tuesday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza for the second straight day when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

Throws 95, could start, just 23 in AA... I'll take that any day. That's all I need to know. Good deal! And, good for Willingham. I really do hope that he does great the rest of this season and gets to play in the playoffs. I remember at Twins Fest two years ago (after his big year), I was up in the clubhouse area where players were between signings, etc. I am sure I looked lost and Willingham came over to me, shook my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Josh Willingham." I think a couple of seconds later, I said, "I'm Seth Stohs." Inside, I was thinking, "Yeah you are!" Dude wasn't that tall, but he was huge, such huge arms. But, just a great impression for me. However, I saw that he would go up to all of the minor leaguers who were at Twins Fest to sign and introduce himself as well. Seems to be a great man with a great family. The injuries have really hurt him which is too bad.

I don't think so. I think he's a very good defensive infielder who they hope will grow at some point and become a decent hitter. My guess is he signed for less than $10,000.

I expect the Twins to take him off the 40 man roster this winter. Jeremy (I believe) still thinks they'll keep him on.

Kepler (or guys like him from Europe or Australia or other places) are going to likely be more raw than guys from the US or DR or VZ. I just don't care if it takes him a little bit longer than others to develop. Age to level just isn't as important with a guy like that. Yes, it will effect his prospect ranking, but I don't know that anyone thought he was going to be a star anyway. He can be an MLB starter at best and a role player more likely, maybe a platoon type. I don't care if he's 25 vs 23 when he debuts.

Beyond the stats that jokin posted, which was neat to see, I don't think anyone thinks Kepler is a centerfielder. And, he won't have to be. Buxton will be. He will be a LF/1B type. But, he's good enough with the glove and the arm that he can play CF in hi-A ball and be just fine.

He should repeat either way. He needs playing time. Getting to AA should not be a rush. They need to put him in a position to succeed and work on his skills when healthy... It's the right thing to do for his career.

Thank you for writing! As someone who follows the Twins minor leagues and minor leaguers so closely, I've always wanted to learn Spanish better. Maybe listening to Oliva and Fernandez would help! I hope you will continue to to post from time to time! The Twins are doing (and did) a lot of very good things environmentally, no question. Their green efforts have been awarded, and it's great to see them continue to do more.

Kepler is a solid player, a solid hitter. He is raw, and he's missed so much time the last two years. Might be a very wise thing to have him repeat in Ft. Myers in 2015. It's best for him!

By all accounts, Cedar Rapids did a wonderful job hosting the rehabs of Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco. Both appear to now be headed back to the Minnesota Twins. For the second straight day, the Rock Cats had an important starting pitching prospect return from the disabled list. For the second time in the last two weeks, the Rochester Red Wings faced a pretty high profile MLB pitcher on rehab assignment. The Kernels played nearly two games in one. The Miracle put together a very complete game. And there were several transactions again. Here is the Minor League Report for Sunday:TRANSACTIONS There are a few transactions from Sunday that we’ll address here: Jonatan Hinojosa has been promoted to Cedar Rapids.Darren Wolfson reported via Twitter that “2nd round pick Nick Burdi is heading to Ft. Myers.Wolfson also was informed that the Twins have had four offers between $1-1.5 million from overseas teams for Red Wings lefty Kris Johnson, but the Twins have said no.Jeff Johnson is hearing also that Bryan Haar is heading to Ft. Myers.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 0, Indianapolis 10 Box Score For the second time in the last two weeks, Rochester faced Pirates ace Gerrit Cole making a rehab start. Cole was definitely on his game. He gave up just one hit over six shutout innings, though he recorded just three strikeouts. James Beresford had another multi-hit game. He was 2-4. Dan Rohlfing had the lone extra base hit, his 17th double. The team had just five hits in the game. Kris Johnson had a tough start. The lefty was charged with seven runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks in just three innings. Stephen Pryor then went two shutout innings. Michael Tonkin then gave up three runs on four hits in just one inning. Lester Oliveros struck out two in a perfect inning. Aaron Thompson then threw a scoreless inning despite two hits. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Erie 2 Box Score A dozen days ago, Twins fans (and likely front office and teammates) had a bit of a scare when JO Berrios had to leave a game with an injury. Fortunately, by the next day, we learned that he just had a stiff shoulder. He would miss a start, but things could have been much worse. On Sunday afternoon, Berrios returned to the mound for the Rock Cats. He went four innings and gave up one run on two hits. He walked one, hit one and struck out two. He threw 65 pitches. Adrian Salcedo came, threw three shutout innings and picked up the win. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Cole Johnson gave up one run on two hits and two walks over the final two innings. It was his eighth save of the year. Brandon Waring led the offense. He was 2-4 with his 13th home run. Brad Boyer went 2-4 with his third double. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 and drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario (15) and Nate Hanson (18) each hit a double in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Palm Beach 1 Box Score Aaron Slegers made his second Miracle start and improve to 2-0 with six strong innings. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out four. Brian Gilbert, Madison Boer and Alex Muren each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. The Miracle had plenty of offense from plenty of sources. Dalton Hicks led the way. He went 3-5 with his 20th and 21st doubles and three RBI. Aderlin Mejia went 3-5 as well. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with a walk, his 16th double and he also stole his 27th base. Max Kepler went 2-4 with his 14th double. Tyler Grimes also had two hits. Travis Harrison walked twice. Byron Buxton went 1-4 with a walk and his sixth stolen base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 7 (15 innings) Box Score After collecting five hits in the two previous games, Joe Mauer was not in the lineup for the Kernels on Sunday, likely headed to Houston to join the Twins. However, Ricky Nolasco made his second rehab start for the Kernels. He gave up three runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out six. He got eight groundballs to just one fly ball. He will likely rejoin the Twins and start this coming weekend. After he pitched nearly six innings, the Kernels played another nine innings, finally falling in the 15th inning. Brandon Bixler replaced Nolasco and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Jake Reed pitch two more scoreless innings. He has now thrown 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Jared Wilson gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. Chris Mazza worked two scoreless innings. However, in the 15th frame, he was charged with all three runs and took the loss. Hudson Boyd got the final out. In 15 innings, the Kernels had ten hits. Alex Swim went 2-6 with his ninth double. Ryan Walker also had two hits. Mitch Garver walked three times and hit his 23rd double. Michael Quesada hit his 11th double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton, Bristol This game was postponed by rain. GCL TWINS TAKES The GCL Twins do not play games on Sundays. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Ft. Myers Miracle MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (also completion of a game suspended previously) New Britain – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – Matt Tomshaw Cedar Rapids – No Game Scheduled. Elizabethton @ Bristol (DH starting at 5:00 CST) – Felix Jorge, Derrick Penilla GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins first win against the Oakland A’s in nearly two years on Sunday, on Monday you can get 50% off a Large or Extra Large pizza for the fourth straight day (on Monday) when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

I was wrong last night when I wrote about Jake getting ejected. That was the night before. Saturday was a long (but good) day.

Well, based on a couple of tweets from Twins Daily's own, Parker Hageman tonight: Tweet 1: Tweet 2:

Agreed... by all accounts, he is a professional, a good teammate, and he was exactly what the Twins likely thought he would be. He was certainly worth the contract he got. He stayed healthy and gave innings. really, his only truly bad stretch was about his first 8 starts this year.

It was a tough night for the Twins top two pitching prospects. Trevor May’s much-anticipated major eague debut didn’t go as well as planned, and in Rochester, Alex Meyer didn’t fare much better. On a more positive note, JO Berrios will return to the mound on Sunday afternoon for the New Britain Rock Cats. Also, Taylor Rogers returned tonight for the Rock Cats after missing nearly three months. Another of the Twins top pitching prospects put together his best start of the season. Check out all of that and much more in tonight’s Minor League Report:RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Indianapolis 14 Box Score Trevor May was on the mound for the Twins, and Alex Meyer was on the mound for the Red Wings. At the end of the day, neither had the type of performance he would have wanted. Meyer needed 64 pitches to get through just two innings. He was charged with four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four. A 40-pitch second inning meant that he would not get a third inning. AJ Achter came on and threw two scoreless innings. However, in the fifth, he recorded just one out and was charged with two runs after two walks. Deolis Guerra got the final two outs of the fifth but not before both of Achter’s runners and four more runs scored. He pitched one more inning. Then Aaron Thompson gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in his inning. Catcher/Outfielder Dan Rohlfing pitched for the second time in a week, and for the second time, he did not allow a run. Pedro Florimon went 3-4 with his 11th double. Josmil Pinto hit his 11th and 12th doubles. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-4 with his 22nd double. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 8, Erie 3 Box Score Taylor Rogers had been on the disabled list for since July 19 with a biceps injury. He returned to the mound on Saturday night and worked four scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out one. Dan Turpen came in for the fifth inning and gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. Edgar Ibarra came on and gave up only one hit over two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke finished the game with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Tony Thomas went 3-5 and hit his eighth home run of the year. Mike Kvasnicka went 3-4 with his 21st and 22nd doubles. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 16th home run. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 0 Box Score The Miracle had been really struggling of late, so they have got to be happy with the pitching the last two nights. On Friday night, lefty Brett Lee threw a complete game shutout for the Miracle. On Saturday, another lefty got the ball. Steven Gruver gave up just one hit and two walks in five scoreless innings. He struck out three. Then BJ Hermsen and Brandon Peterson each threw two scoreless innings and struck out two batters. Adam Walker hit a two-run homer in the game and now has 24 home runs and 85 RBI on the season. Aderlin Mejia went 3-4 with his 11th double. Travis Harrison hit his 29th and 30th doubles. Byron Buxton went 2-4. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2 Box Score Lewis Thorpe posted his best start of the season. The Australian left-hander gave up only an unearned run over six innings. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out seven. Dallas Gallant gave up one run on one hit over two innings. He walked one and struck out three. Nick Burdi came on and recorded his fourth save of the season. He gave up a hit and struck out one. Joe Mauer went 2-4, though his manager and brother, Jake, didn’t see either of the hits as he was ejected before Mauer got his first hit. Logan Wade was also 2-4 and hit a solo homer, his first of the year. Alex Swim was also 2-4. Max Murphy had the biggest hit though. He hit a two-run homer, his second since joining the Kernels, in the 5th inning. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Danville 11 Box Score Sam Gibbons made the start for the E-Twins and gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out five. Keaton Steele came on and gave up one run on three hits over two innings. Randy LeBlanc got an inning and was charged with five runs, though just one was earned, on three hits. Kuo Hua Lo gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Trey Vavra hit his 10th and 11th doubles. Austin Diemer was 2-4 and stole his seventh base. Blake Schmidt hit his first professional double, and Nick Gordon doubled for the fifth time. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox Box Score This game was suspended due to rain after three innings. The score was already 10-3 at that point, not in the Twins favor. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Steve Gruver, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tony Thomas, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (12:35 CST) – Kris Johnson New Britain @ Erie (12:35 CST) – JO Berrios Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (12:05 CST) – Aaron Slegers Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – Ricky Nolasco Danville @ Elizabethton (5:0 CST) – TBD GCL Twins – No Games Scheduled on Sundays Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

I wrote this article a while back, but hadn’t edited it until now. I hope you enjoy the update and a glimpse into the wonderful world of Minnesota Town Ball Baseball. When I was younger, we loved the rain. A storm would come in and my brothers and I would run outside while my dad grabbed the wiffleball and bat. Something about the water pouring down made it a little bit more exciting.Now I sit in the Minnetonka High School parking lot, waiting to play. Rain drops fall on the windshield as I check the radar, but today feels different than the last time rain threatened a game of mine. And it's different than the one before that. Rain is a minor leaguer’s best friend, it offers hope of an extra day off, but I don’t want tonight off. I'm slated to start at shortstop for the Hopkins Berries, a town ball team in the Riverview League. Tonight we face the Minnetonka Millers, the perennial best team in the state. I feel different than I usually feel. I want to play tonight. I don’t care if it’s in the rain, I want to play. This is the exact feeling I was searching for when I signed up to play with a couple of friends. Welcome back, baseball. You have my attention. Town ball has been an integral part of Minnesota for a long time. Teams in cities large and small form to play in front of hometown crowds on cool summer nights. On any given evening you can find a game in places like Dundas, New Ulm and Saint Louis Park. Young kids and, often, grown men, face up against each other for the love of the game. No one is being paid, there is no hope of reaching a higher level, no call-ups or demotions, just pure, unadulterated baseball. Just what I was looking for. My team meets about 45 minutes before games. We chat about the week, take a few swings in the cage, do a little stretching, play catch and take the field. No pressure, just baseball. Sometime during my career, I lost love for playing in the rain, literally and figuratively. I sought to escape the difficult parts of the season. I hoped for washed out games to help me physically escape from the park. Instead of being in a tough time, instead of standing in it and being OK, I sought to run away. Now I want to stand in the rain, I want to get back to being a part of the game I love, every part of it. The game starts a little late and I step into the batter’s box in the first inning. The same box I stepped into for the first time seven years earlier as a high school senior. My soul finds its home in this space. A slight drizzle continues to fall and I am taken back to my childhood. I look toward the mound and feel no pressure, no worry about the future or the past, only focused on this moment. All I need to do is be. To be right here where I am, doing what I love. The pitcher winds and delivers the pitch and I am home again. Twins (finally) beat the A's on Sunday so on Monday you can get 50% off a large or extra-large pizza by using the promo code 'twinswin' at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

I want to say this about the minor league report each day. As John mentioned earlier, we have gone back and forth about doing Twins Game Stories, but we have decided a few things: 1.) most of you are watching all or more of the game, 2.) others write game stories with quotes and such, and 3.) if we're going to do it, we want to provide something different. As it relates to the minor league reports, I've always been under the assumption that 99% of readers were not able to watch the games. I've always believed whole-heartedly that the minor leaguers deserve recognition. So, my goal, going back to SethSpeaks.net with the minor league reports, was to give that recognition. Who pitched? Who had multi-hit games? Who had home runs? That said, I do hear your comment, and we can certainly try to add more. Again, we always recommend those who have seen a particular game to leave Comments in the forum with their thoughts. Finally, we would love to have "beat writers" for each of the Twins affiliates. SD Buhr does a tremendous job and has been writing at least an article a week throughout the year to let us know more about players/coaches, etc. If anyone else is interested in doing this at any of the affiliates, please let us know. We can certainly work with their front offices to get you access in exchange for an article or two a week, getting to know (and recognize) those players. Thank you all, and continue to leave your feedback and ideas.

I really liked the Alex Meyer one last week. I really think that the "Blogs" area is a great place for that. When readers do get to Cedar Rapids or one of the other affiliates, I'd encourage posting a blog about it, posting your thoughts and observations.

I'd agree with this.

Twins Daily has learned that Saturday will be Trevor May day. The righthander will be promoted to the Twins and make the start for the team in Oakland on Saturday afternoon opposite Jeff Samardzija. The other half of the transaction will likely be announced following Friday night’s game. The 6-5, 240 pound prospect is 8-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 17 starts this season for the Rochester Red Wings. In 95.1 innings, he has allowed just 75 hits, walked 37 and struck out 91 batters.May came to the Twins from the Phillies organization in December of 2012 with Vance Worley in exchange for outfielder Ben Revere. He was Philadelphia’s fourth-round draft pick in 2008 out of Kelso High School in Washington. The Twins sent him back to AA for the 2013 season where he reduced his walk rate from 4.7 per nine innings to 4.0 per nine innings. This year in Rochester, that number has dropped to 3.5 walks per nine innings. May was on track for a big league promotion in mid-May. He also had been named as a Twins representative in the Futures Game. On June 16, he gave up just one run on three hits and struck out 11 batters in 8.1 innings against Pawtucket. On June 21, he gave up three runs on five hits in five innings and injured his calf. The injury was deemed to be not serious, but he was forced to miss the Futures Game (and replaced by teammate Alex Meyer). His return to the mound was supposed to come on the Sunday of the Futures Game, but Rochester was rained out, so he could not pitch until July 19th. He went three innings. He went three (no-hit) innings in his next start as well, but the game was suspended because of rain. On July 30, he needed just 77 pitches to get through 6.2 scoreless innings. At that point, the comments coming from the Twins were that he needed to make another start to get to 95-100 pitches. On Monday night in Louisville, May threw 99 pitches over six innings. He gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks. Despite the results, the Twins will have him make his major league debut on Saturday against the league’s top offensive team, the Oakland A’s. Before this season, May was #10 in the Twins Daily Top Ten Twins Prospect rankings. Click here to view the article