Seth Stohs

The Twins had a rough weekend series with the A’s, so on Monday night they picked on another vowel, the O’s. The Twins scored seven runs in the first inning and kept on adding on their way to a 19-7 win over Baltimore. Scott Diamond wasn’t in finest form after a ten day break since his last start, but he did go six innings for the Win. Justin Morneau had four hits, extending his hit streak to 14 games. That is the same hit streak that Trevor Plouffe has as well after he had two hits. Ben Revere had four hits and another highlight reel catch in right field. Denard Span had three hits and after a misplay, he made two terrific catches in center field. Joe Mauer had two hits including his sixth home run. Jamey Carroll added two hits. Ryan Doumit was the only starter without a hit, yet he had two RBI. Josh Willingham, the team’s RBI leader, was the only Twins player without an RBI. 19 runs on 20 hits and five walks. They added a homer and six doubles. It was a long game, but those are just fine when the right team is winning! Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Monday games in the minor leagues. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 4, NORFOLK 11 The Red Wings have Liam Hendriks and Nick Blackburn, but someone has to pitch after they do. That pitcher is Luke French who has really struggled since his promotion from New Britain. On this night, he went four innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits and a walk without a strikeout. Caleb Thielbar came in and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his inning. Kyle Waldrop gave up two runs on four hits in his innings. Bobby Lanigan came in and threw two scoreless frames. Tsuyoshi Nishioka led the offense again. He went 3-4 with his 10th double. Chris Parmelee was 2-4 with a walk. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-5 with his eighth home run for the Red Wings. Evan Bigley played in his first AAA game and went 0-3 but drove in two runs. GAME 1 – NEW BRITAIN 8, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 (9 innings) It took Oswaldo Arcia a couple of games to figure out AA pitching, but he’s been hitting very well for a month now. On Monday night, he went 2-4 with a walk and a walk-off. He came to the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning with two runners on and a tie game. He proceeded to end it. He was part of a top of the order that provided most of the offense. Aaron Hicks led off and went 2-5 with his 11th double and his 20th stolen base. Chris Herrmann batted second and was 2-4 with a walk. Those top three hitters were 6-13 with 7 runs scored. Joe Benson made his return to New Britain, batting fifth, and he was 2-3 with a walk. By the way, Hicks and Arcia each threw a base runner out at third base in this game as well. Logan Darnell started. The lefty gave up four runs (2 earned) on ten hits. He walked none and struck out two. Daniel Turpen went the next two innings and gave up one run on three hits and an intentional walk. He struck out three. Dakota Watts recorded his second win. He struck out two in two scoreless innings. GAME 2 – NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0 The Rock Cats completed a very nice doubleheader sweep against the other “New” team in the Eastern League. This game was about the pitching of Steve Hirschfeld, just returned from Rochester. The righty improved to 6-4 with seven shutout innings. He gave up six hits, walked none and struck out six. The offense remained at the top of the order. Aaron Hicks knocked his 12th double. Chris Herrmann went 2-3 and scored two runs. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-3 with his fifth double and drove in two runs. Deibinson Romero hit his 13th home run. FT. MYERS, DUNEDIN The Miracle game against the Blue Jays affiliate was postponed by rain. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Tuesday. BELOIT 8, LAKE COUNTY 9 Miguel Sano gave the Snappers a 1-0 lead with his 19th home run in the top of the 1st inning. However, Lake County scored three runs in the first inning and two runs in the third inning. The Snappers tied the game at five in the top of the fifth, but they then gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth inning, Drew Leachman cleared the bases with a double to tie the game at eight. That was all the scoring until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Eight Snappers hitters tallied one hit each. Sano was 1-3 with two walks and the home run. Steve Liddle hit his second home run. Wang Wei-Lin hit his fourth triple. Tyler Jones started for the Snappers. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on four hits and three walks in four innings. He struck out four. Steve Evans then gave up three runs on three hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. Tim Atherton walked three and struck out one in 1.2 scoreless innings. Corey Williams pitched a scoreless eighth inning. However, the ninth inning began with an error on the left-hander. He walked a batter. Then with two outs, he issued another walk and on it threw a wild pitch that allowed the game-winning run to score. GAME 2 - ELIZABETHTON 8, BLUEFIELD 0 In the first of two on Tuesday, the E-Twins played a very well-rounded game. Max Kepler provided the big blow with a second innings grand slam. Niko Goodrum added his third home run of the season in the 5th inning. This was a team offensive win because no player had more than one hit. Hudson Boyd was back on the mound, but he was only able to complete four innings before reaching his pitch count. He gave up just two hits, walked three and struck out two. Lefty Brett Lee came in and gave up just one hit and one walk in two innings. Tyler Duffey struck out three in the final inning. Boyd’s season ERA is now 1.24. Lee’s is 1.06. GAME 2 - ELIZABETHTON 7, BLUEFIELD 13 After beating Bluefield bad the first two games of this series, the E-Twins were beaten badly in this one. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up seven runs on two hits and six walks in just 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Luis Nunez got two outs, but he gave up four runs on one hit, two walks and a hit batter. Tyler Herr went the next 2.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out five. Josh Burris raised his season ERA to 0.95 as he gave up one run on three hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out three. Josh Hendricks went 3-4 with his second double. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 with his eighth double. DJ Hicks walked twice. GCL TWINS, GCL ORIOLES Game postponed by rain. --- Players of the Day for Monday, July 16, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia Download attachment: Oswaldo Arcia NB.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld Download attachment: Steve Hirschfeld MUG.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Norfolk – RHP Jeff Manship New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Aaron Thompson Ft. Myers vs Dunedin (2) – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit – No Game Scheduled Elizabethton vs Johnson City – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (2) – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: MaxKepler3.jpg Happy Labor Day to all!! Labor Day is also the final regular season game for full season minor league affiliates. Correcting myself from yesterday, the New Britain Rock Cats will go into the final day of the season with a chance at a playoff spot. On Sunday, Elizabethton fought elimination. Would they be able to force a Appy League championship-deciding Game 3 against Burlington? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins and Royals completed three games within a 24 hour period. Unfortunately, after winning the first two games on Saturday, the Royals got the win in game three. Esmerling Vasquez started and after some early control issues, he settled down some. In all, he gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. Joe Mauer had three hits, including his 27th double. Chris Parmelee hit his fourth Twins homer, one of his two hits. The Twins and White Sox will play on Labor Day. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ELIZABETHTON 4, BURLINGTON 3 After losing by a score of 3-2 in 12 innings on Saturday night in Game 1, Elizabethton would need to win on Sunday to force a championship-deciding Game 3 on Monday. The E-Twins needed overtime again, but thanks to a big home run and some incredible bullpen work, they fought out an 11-inning, 4-3 win. On Monday, the Twins will send top pitcher J.O. Berrios to the mound in an attempt to win their first Appy League title since 2009. The weather tried to keep the teams from playing. They were delayed for about two hours before starting the game. The E-Twins had to start 5th starter Hein Robb in this all-important game. The lefty from South Africa game up three runs on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struckout five. He gave up a two-run homer to Bubba Starling before giving up a solo homer to Fred Ford. Adam Walker got the E-Twins on the scoreboard in the fourth with an RBI single. Down 3-1, Max Kepler hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 6th to tie the score at three. That’s where the score stayed for a while thanks to great work by the bullpens. Tyler Duffey struckout five batters in two perfect innings. Kaleb Merck then struckout two in two scoreless innings. JT Chargois threw three scoreless innings. He walked one and struckout five. That brought the game to the bottom of the 11th. DJ Hicks led off with a single to right field. Thanks to an error, he got all the way to third base. Kelvin Mention pinch ran for Hicks. Adam Walker and Byron Buxton were intentionally walked, setting up a force at home. With Travis Harrison at bat, Mention scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. Max Kepler was 3-5 with the homer and two RBI. Candido Pimentel went 2-5 in the game. ROCHESTER 7, SYRACUSE 8 Wilkin Ramirez and the offense continued to put up runs, but on this day, it wasn’t enough. Ramirez went 2-4 with his 17th double, 15th home run and two RBI. Rene Rivera was 2-4 with his 15th homer. Tsuyoshi Nishioka hit his 16th and 17th doubles. Nick Blackburn made the start. He went just 2.2 innings. He gave up six runs (3 earned) on eight hits. Two were home runs. Bobby Lanigan went the next 3.1 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and hit a batter. He struck out four. Daniel Turpen went the final two innings and did not give up a run. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out two. NEW BRITAIN 10, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 The Rock Cats kept their playoff hopes alive with a win on Sunday afternoon. Steve Hirschfeld started but got just two outs. He gave up one run on three hits. David Bromberg came in and gave up one run on two hits over the next 3.2 innings. He walked two and struck out one. Aaron Thompson gave up one run on four hits over the next 2.1 innings. Matt Hauser went the final 2.1 innings and gave up just one hit. James Beresford went 3-4 with his third triple. Nate Hanson went 2-4 with his 16th double and seventh home run. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-5 with his fifth triple. Josmil Pinto was 2-5. Chris Herrmann went 1-2 with two walks and three RBI. FT. MYERS 6, CHARLOTTE 3 Andy Leer has had a difficult season with the Miracle in terms of his batting average. However, his ability to play several positions has given him value throughout the season in the eyes of manager Jake Mauer. On this day, he went 2-2 and drove in four runs. Three times he drove in Angel Morales who was 2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-3 with his 13th double. Danny Santana homered for the 8th time, and Kyle Knudson ripped his 11th double. Lefty Pat Dean started and gave up just one hit over the first three innings. He struckout four. Matt Summers came in for the middle three innings. He gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out three. AJ Achter didn’t allow a single base runner in the final three innings for his sixth save. BELOIT 1, QUAD CITIES 2 Matt Tomshaw was very good again on this day. The lefty went the first seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked none and struckout six. He was replaced by Steven Gruver who gave up two hits and two walks in his two innings but did not give up a run. The Snappers had just three hits. Jairo Rodriguez went 1-2 with a walk and his 12th double. He scored the team’s lone run on a Wang-Wei Lin sacrifice fly. Kennys Vargas went 1-3 with a walk. Most important, Miguel Sano was back in the lineup. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, September 2, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler Download attachment: Max Kepler.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Matt Tomshaw Download attachment: MattTomshaw2.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, September 3, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – TBD New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – Season Over Beloit vs Quad Cities – LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton vs Burlington – RHP JO Berrios GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Cedar Rapids Kernels and Beloit Snappers are both going to the playoffs in the Midwest League. Which one will go as first-half champ will be soon determined. The big news in the Twins farm system on Thursday, however, involves a significant transaction. The Twins signed RHP Cody Eppley. Not a major signing, though he did pitch in 59 games out of the Yankees bullpen a year ago. The bigger news, for Twins fans of recent years, is that Anthony Slama has finally been freed. The Twins released the 29-year-old right-hander who has been a strikeout machine since signing with the team after his 2007 college season.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Slama has been a favorite of those of us who follow the minor leagues and believe in the value of things like ‘ability to miss bats’ and dominance at all levels equating to big league opportunity. Here is what I wrote in the 2013 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook about Slama: If ever there was a case of The Numbers versus The Scouting Reports, it might be Anthony Slama. It might even be a case where neither side is wrong. The numbers are undeniable. Since signing with the Twins as a draft-and-follow early in 2007, Slama has dominated at every minor league level. In Low A, he posted a 1.48 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP with a 14.4 K/9. In High-A, he posted a 1.01 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP and a 13.9 K/9. In AA, he had a 2.48 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP and a 12.8 K/9 rate. He has now been in AAA since late in the 2009 season, and in 123 AAA games, he has posted a 2.27 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and still 11.1 K/9. In 2012, he recorded the 100th save of his minor league career, so he has pitched primarily in late-inning, game-on-the-line situations throughout his career. On the other side, however, most scouts question his ability to be successful in the big leagues. Some say that he has a deceptive motion that big league hitters will quickly adjust to. He may not have a good out-pitch against left-handed batters. Although his minor league stats are clearly better against right-handed, they are still very good versus lefties as well. He walks too many. In the upper levels of the Twins minor league system, he has averaged about one walk every other inning, which is too much and doesn’t bode well upon moving up. Despite the crazy strikeout numbers, he does not have a dominant fastball. At his peak, Slama’s velocity topped out at about 92 mph. In 2012, Slama rarely reached 89 mph with his fastball. Slama has pitched seven innings in seven big league games (5 in 2010, 2 in 2011). To be fair, Slama was pitching very well through the season’s first two months in 2012. In a game against Norfolk, he was hit in the leg by a comebacker off the bat of former MVP Miguel Tejada. A week after the game, the swelling came down and an x-ray showed a broken fibula which kept him out of action for nearly two months. Without that injury, maybe Slama would have had an extended tryout with the Twins. Slama is a very hard worker who has put in the time, and he has experienced the success at every level of the farm system to warrant an extended opportunity. If not, then the Twins’ “work hard and succeed and we build from within” philosophy goes out the window. Slama never really got that opportunity. When he was released on Thursday, he was 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP in 14 games. In 13.1 innings, he gave up 16 hits, walked 14 and struck out just nine. At this point, the release is completely understandable; I’m hoping that he can be healthy, find a good team and get an opportunity to return to the big leagues. With that, check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday: Rochester Red Wings 8, Gwinnett Braves 2 Box Score Andrew Albers was terrific again. In this game, the Canadian lefty gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-2 with a 3.01 ERA. Luis Perdomo came on and gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He struck out two. Chris Colabello led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk and his 20th double. He drove in three runs. Antoan Richardson went 2-4 with a walk, his third triple, three RBI and his tenth stolen base. Doug Bernier was 2-4 with his third home run. New Britain Rock Cats, Altoona Curve Postponed by rain Ft. Myers Miracle 1, Daytona 5 Box Score Tyler Duffey was on the mound for his second Miracle start. In 4.2 innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out four. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two runs on three hits over the next 2.1 innings. Jose Gonzalez pitched a scoreless inning. The Miracle had just six hits. Aderlin Mejia went 2-3 with two walks. Mike Kvasnicka was 1-2 with two walks. Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Quad Cities River Bandits 9 Box Score The Kernels clinched a playoff spot on Wednesday night, but they still have a lot to play for before the Midwest League All-Star game. They are in a battle with the Beloit Snappers for the first-half division title. Coming into play on Thursday, the Kernels had a half-game lead. The Snappers split a double header on Thursday, so would the Kernels' lead increase or decrease? Things started out well. Byron Buxton led off the game with his 8th home run of the year. However, through seven innings, the Kernels were down by a score of 4-1. In the top of the 8th frame, the Kernels rallied to score seven runs and take an 8-4 lead. They maintained that lead to the bottom of the 9th. Christian Powell made his second start with the Kernels. He gave up one run in five innings despite giving up five hits and walking five. He struck out four. Alex Muren came in and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in just 1.1 innings. Tyler Jones got out of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth frame. That brings us to the bottom of the ninth. Jones got the first two outs, but he walked two as well. He then got a ground ball that should have ended the game, but an error by shortstop Jorge Polanco kept things alive. Jones left the game with the Kernels up 8-7 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. There were runners on first and second, and Josue Montanez came in to replace Jones. The first batter he faced hit a two-run double that ended the game. So, with three games remaining in the first half, the Kernels and the Snappers are tied. The Kernels will play three games against Peoria while the Snappers will play three against Clinton. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

It’s hard to believe that we are already nearly two months through the minor league season. However, it is time to hand out some awards. Today, I’ll name the choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. There are fewer candidates this month, yet there were a couple tremendous performances by relievers. The two at the top of the list actually ended the month with promotions to the next levels on their journeys up the ladder. Let's get to the Top 4 Relief Pitchers in May:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 4 – New Britain – AJ Achter – 1.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 9 K In 2012 Achter was my choice for Twins' Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He split last year, pretty evenly, between Beloit and Ft. Myers. This year he began the season in New Britain, from where he was promoted last week. The former 46th round draft choice out of Michigan State started the season slowly, but came on in May. For the year, he has now given up 21 hits in 27.2 innings while striking out 26. When Michael Tonkin was promoted to Rochester last week, Achter took over the closer role for the Rock Cats. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Zack Jones – 0.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 3 H, 11 BB, 16 K Zack Jones was the winner of this award last month. This month his numbers were nearly identical to last month's. He throws gas, and he’s still working on a hard slider. He is really hard to hit. I mean, 98 mph heat is tough to square up on. He doesn’t give up hits and he gets strikeouts. However, the difference between April and May for Jones was an increase in the number of walks. Likely the reason he remains with the Miracle is to continue working on his slider and his control of the strike zone. Number 2 – New Britain/Rochester – Michael Tonkin – 0.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 20 K Tonkin is the brother-in-law of former Twins OF/DH Jason Kubel, but in the past 12 months he has made a name for himself. He split 2012 between Beloit and Ft. Myers. Last year he was runner-up to Achter in my Reliever of the Year balloting. He moved up to New Britain this year and there, after not allowing an earned run, earned a promotion to Triple-A at the end of the month. He has come into two games for the Red Wings since his promotion. In the first, he threw one pitch and gave up an RBI single before leaving. In his second AAA game, he came on and threw two pitches before giving up a game-winning single to Gordon Beckham. Tonkin is a very good bullpen prospect. He throws hard and gets a bunch of sink on his pitches, producing ground balls and strikeouts. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in a reliever. Not bad for a 30th round draft pick. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Greg Wagner/Fort Myers Miracle Ft. Myers/New Britain – Cole Johnson – 0.68 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 14 K Johnson was born in Wisconsin and went to college at Notre Dame. He was the Twins 44th round pick in 2011. A year ago, he was still waiting for an assignment in Extended Spring Training. It was not until the short-season teams started that Johnson was assigned to the Beloit Snappers. He pitched well and was one of their starters in the playoffs. He was assigned to Ft. Myers this spring where he had been overshadowed by bigger name players, but he was nothing short of remarkable. In fact, despite not having as much publicity as others in the Miracle bullpen, it was Johnson who was the first promoted to AA. He was charged with one run in his final appearance of the month, but he’s shown that he can pitch. Again, we wonder how the Ft. Myers Miracle have been so good this year. They have the hitting prospects in Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas surrounded by other solid players; they also have good starting pitching and a dominant bullpen. While Zack Jones and Corey Williams get a lot of the credit in the Miracle pen, Johnson had been steady and consistent all season. We hope June will be a very good month for the relievers on the Twins minor league affiliates. As always, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. View full article

Today, we move on to Part 4 of the Minnesota Twins Top 50 Prospects. We'll look at the Twins prospects I ranked 31 through 35. The first three have brought some interesting discussions into the comments, and I suspect that as we move closer to the top of the list, discussions will continue to be terrific. If you click on the links to the previous pieces of this list at the bottom of this article, you can read some background into what I consider when making these lists. As always, feel free to discuss each of these players and the rankings of those discussed to this point. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Tyler Jones 2.jpg Part 3: Prospects 36-40 In this group, there is an athletic on-base machine and four pitchers. As with those on the previous list, these pitchers have experienced some success, yet at this point can't be ranked any higher. Maybe it's a lack of strikeouts despite good pitches. Maybe the reason is strictly health-related. One made the move to the bullpen before the 2013 season while the other three could wind up there as well. All five are certainly worthy of interest and attention. #35 – Matt Summers – RH SP (24) Summers led the Florida State League in both ERA and WHIP in 2013. In 21 starts, he went 6-5. He also made five starts for New Britain in which he really struggled. The 2011 fourth-round pick struck out 6.3 per nine innings in 2013, which was actually an increase from 5.9 K/9 in 2012. He does throw hard, hitting 92-94 with a two-seam fastball and occasionally hitting 97. He’s got a sharp slider and a good slow curve ball, so I can’t explain the lack of strikeouts. #34 – Tyler Jones – RH RP (24) Jones was my choice for Twins minor league relief pitcher of the yearin 2013. He averaged 11.4 K/9 between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He had been a starter in 2012 in Beloit, but he made the transition to the bullpen and it went well. Having a fastball that touches 98 mph certainly helps, but a much-improved slider helped also. Jones rededicated himself last offseason and got himself in tremendous shape which he credits with some of his success. He's definitely one to watch as he could move quickly. #33 – JD Williams – OF (23) Williams was the Twins 10th round pick in 2010 out of high school in Florida. He is a tremendous athlete who needed time to develop. In 2013, he started the season by repeating in the Midwest League. He needed to do it, and he showed great improvement. In 80 games with the Kernels, he hit .281 with an impressive .391 on base percentage. He has very good speed and increasing pop in his bat. He moved up to Ft. Myers where he got off to a fast start before slowing at the end of the year. #32 – Luke Bard – RH SP (22) Bard was the Twins supplemental 1st round pick in 2012 out of Georgia Tech. He has been hurt pretty much the whole time since. He rehabbed most of the 2013 season before making four appearances in the GCL. He made seven appearances in Elizabethton. He ended the season with one game pitched in Ft. Myers. He’s got the ability to be a solid big league starter or a good big league reliever, if he can get and stay healthy. #31 – Logan Darnell – LH SP (24) The Twins 6th round pick in 2010, he moved from Beloit to Ft. Myers to New Britain in 2011. He spent all of 2012 and began 2013 with the Rock Cats where he made 15 starts and went 6-6 with a 2.51 ERA. He was then promoted to Rochester where he made 11 more starts. The lefty pitched in the Arizona Fall League after the 2012 season and is well thought of. He can eat innings and has a solid four-pitch mix. He just doesn’t strike many out. So there you have it, Part 4 of my Top 50 Twins Prospect list. We'll be back Monday with Part 5, prospects 26-30. Part 1: 46-50 Part 2: 41-45 Part 3: 36-40 Click here to view the article

The Twins lost 12-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays. It was not a pretty game. Sure, Joe Mauer had three hits, and Ryan Doumit had a home run, but that was not a pretty game. Down 8-1 after an inning and a half makes for a long game. At least we have plenty of positives throughout the Twins farm system, so let’s just jump right into that! Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday games in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 9 A couple of former Twins were instrumental in a big loss for the Red Wings on Friday night. Eric Hurley started and gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks while recording just six outs. He did have three strikeouts. David Bromberg came in and provided three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Luke French went the next three and gave up two runs. He gave up four hits and one walk. Anthony Slama made his first Red Wings appearance since June 6 when a Miguel Tejada line drive broke his fibula. He didn’t miss a beat. The righty walked one, but struck out three, in a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 0.38.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Chris Parmelee hit a 2-run homer, his 13th, in the first inning off of Daisuke Matsuzaka that gave the Red Wings an early lead. He went 2-3 with a walk. Ray Chang was 3-4. Pedro Florimon knocked his 15th double. For Pawtucket, Jason Repko hit a double and his seventh home run. Danny Valencia went 3-3 with two walks and two doubles. (Following the game, Valencia was promoted to Boston because 3B Will Middlebrooks has a broken wrist.) NEW BRITAIN 5, READING 1 BJ Hermsen continues to impress. Despite not throwing real hard or recording “enough” strikeouts, Hermsen continues to get people outs and eat innings. He is now 10-5 with a 3.09 ERA in New Britain after yet another terrific start on Friday night. The lanky right-hander pitched a complete game. He gave up one run on ten hits. He walked just one and struck out four. He needed just 94 pitches to complete the game, and 71 of those were strikes. Aaron Hicks led the offense. He was 2-4 with a walk and drove in a run. Rene Tosoni went 1-2 with two walks and hit ninth double. Chris Colabello hit his 33rd double and drove in his 85th run for the Rock Cats. Pretty impressive debut in affiliated ball for the 28 year old who was the independent leagues’ MVP last year according to Baseball America. FT. MYERS 1, ST. LUCIE 2 Cole Nelson gave up two runs in the first inning. And that was it. Those were the only two runs scored by the St. Lucie Mets. Unfortunately, the Miracle bats were only able to score one run. The run came on an RBI double off the bat of Anderson Hidalgo which scored Danny Ortiz. The Miracle managed just four hits. Nelson gave up those two runs on six hits and two walks over the first four innings. The lefty struck out four. Miguel Munoz went the next two innings, giving up just one hit while striking out three. Ryan O’Rourke pitched the final three innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out three. BELOIT 2, QUAD CITIES 1 It was a very quiet game for the Snappers on Friday night. In fact, both offenses in this game were quite quiet. David Hurlbut was terrific. He gave up just one run on six hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out five. He left with his team down 1-0. However, in the top of the 8th, the Snappers finally got on board and tied the game. Drew Leachman singled to score Wang-Wei Lin. Corey Williams pitched a scoreless eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, AJ Pettersen, who went 2-3 as a replacement for Miguel Sano who got a rare day off, came up and drilled a single up the middle to score Stephen Wickens. The hit gave the Snappers a 2-1 lead. Williams returned to the mound for the 9th. He got one out before being replaced by hard-throwing Zach Jones. Jones gets his fourth save by getting the final two outs. Nate Roberts continues to be an on-base machine. He got on via a walk and a single and stole his 19th base. Wickens was 1-2 and was twice hit by a pitch. GAME 1 – ELIZABETHTON 3, BRISTOL 2 Pitching is the name of the game, and in this one the E-Twins got a great start and a nice finish. Angel Mata started and gave up just two hits and one walk in five shutout innings. He struck out five. He gave way to Christian Powell who threw a scoreless sixth frame. In the seventh, he got one out, but a two-run double put the game in jeopardy. With the tying runner on second and one out , Tyler Duffey was brought in. He recorded the final two outs, one on a strikeout, to get the save. Byron Buxton continues to show he’s not intimidated by his recent promotion. In this game, he was 2-3 with his first double and an RBI. Adam Walker and Jorge Polanco were each 2-3. Niko Goodrum added his tenth double. GAME 2 – ELIZABETHTON 5, BRISTOL 2 The E-Twins were able to complete the double-header sweep in the second game. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out five. Chris Mazza came in and worked the next two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He struck out two. Luke Bard came in to start the seventh inning. He faced one batter and walked him. He came out of the game, replaced by Kaleb Merck. Merck gave up one hit, but struck out three, in his inning to record his second save. (Note – I am trying to find out why Bard left the game and will report as soon as I have any information.) Travis Harrison led the way in this game. He was 3-3 with his ninth and tenth doubles. Adam Walker hit a two-run double, his sixth. Jorge Polanco hit his 14th double. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 8 Randy Rosario started, and the lefty went the first three innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits. He walked two and struck out three. Josue Montanez came in next. It was his first appearance since June 11 when he threw five shutout innings. On this day, he struckout five in two perfect innings. Trent Higginbotham came in and gave up four runs on five hits in 2.1 innings. He walked three, hit one and struck out one. Gerardo Ramirez gave up one run on four hits in 1.2 innings. He struckout one. Joel Licon went 2-4 with two RBI. Logan Wade drove in the other two runs. Jorge Fernandez and Brian Compton each hit a double. --- Players of the Day for Friday, August 10, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – BJ Hermsen Download attachment: BJ Hermsen 2.jpg Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison Download attachment: Travis Harrison 2.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, August 11, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Pawtucket – LHP Pedro Hernandez New Britain vs Reading – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit vs Peoria – LHP Taylor Rogers Elizabethton @ Bristol – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – LHP Austin Malinowski --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

On Tuesday, we took a look at Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier and noted that his performance is certainly trending in the right direction, and that continued on Wednesday night in Kansas City. Today, we’ll shift to the other side of the infield and try to determine whether Dozier’s keystone combination partner Pedro Florimon is meeting or exceeding expectations. If I’m being honest, my expectations for Mr. Florimon were not terribly high. In fact, when I posted my 2013 Twins hitting predictions, I thought that he would be Designated for Assignment in June with an OPS below .500.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Strangely, I was not all that impressed by his defense in his late-season run at shortstop with the Twins. Looking at some defensive metrics, they lined up pretty closely with those of Brian Dozier, who many fans thought was pretty bad at shortstop. Download attachment: Pedro-Florimon.jpg So, let’s start with the defense. When the Twins claimed Florimon after he had been DFAd by the Orioles, he was known as a tremendous defensive shortstop. Offensive expectations were very low, but that only meant that his defense must be incredible. Reports I was hearing out of New Britain and Rochester last year didn’t disagree with that. They were seeing a great glove man. But again, I thought he was disappointing, relative to expectations, with the glove in 2012. So, let’s jump to 2013. How is Florimon doing defensively? He had four errors in about the first week of the season. Not a great start to the season, but in total, he has just ten errors this season. Now to the more advanced defensive metrics. According to fangraphs, Florimon ranks third among MLB shortstops with a 7.7 UZR. Only the Braves Andrelton Simmons (17.7) and the Rays Yunel Escabar (8.2) rank ahead of him right now. By DWAR (Defensive WAR), Florimon’s (1.9) is second to Simmons’ 4.2. Third on the list is former Twins shortstop, JJ Hardy at 1.5. If Range Factor is what you prefer, then Florimon is Number One on your list. His 5.46 is 0.50 ahead of Simmons’ 4.96. The Number Two AL shortstop is Seattle’s Brendan Ryan at 4.30.So, from a defensive perspective, he has been very good. For me, that’s actually a little bit better than I expected. So, let’s turn to the offense. My expectations were incredibly low so it won’t take a whole lot to be better than my expectations for him with the bat. Overall this year, in 300 plate appearances, he is hitting .232/.286/.353 (.639) with 12 doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBI. Looking at those numbers with no context says that they are not very good numbers. So, let’s look at how his numbers rank with other big league shortstops. Of 14 shortstops with more than 200 plate appearances, only Seattle’s Brendan Ryan has a lower batting average. Of the 14 shortstops, only Ryan and Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar have a lower on-base percentage. Of the 14 shortstops, only Ryan, Escobar, the Yankees’ Jayson Nix and the Rangers’ Elvis Andrus have a lower slugging percentage. Those same four players are the only ones who have an OPS lower than the .639 that Florimon boasts.In general, Florimon’s offense has been pretty poor, but he’s not the worst shortstop in baseball offensively, which is what I expected. Imagine if the Twins were paying him as much as the Rangers are paying Elvis Andrus!! So, when you combine the offense of Pedro Florimon with his defense, what happens? Well, if you believe in WAR, the answer might surprise you. Here are the WAR rankings for the shortstops with more than 200 plate appearances: 1. Jhonny Peralta 3.5 2. JJ Hardy 2.4 3. Yunel Escobar 2.3 4. Elvis Andrus 2.1 5. Pedro Florimon 2.0 6. Alexei Ramirez 1.8 7. Stephen Drew 1.7 8. Jose Reyes 1.7 9. Erick Aybar 1.3 10. Jed Lowrie 1.1 11. Asdrubal Cabrera 1.0 12. Mike Aviles 0.8 13. Jayson Nix 0.5 14. Brendan Ryan 0.3 15. Alcides Escobar 0.2 SUMMARY Has Pedro Florimon met or exceeded our expectations? Well, my expectations were immensely low. Again, I expected his defense to be like he was last year, which is to say, look like he should be a good shortstop but the numbers don’t match. I thought he wouldn’t hit at all, especially over the course of a full season where his weaknesses could be more and more exposed. He hasn’t hit great at all, but much better than I expected. So, maybe not to the extent as Brian Dozier, but Pedro Florimon has exceeded my expectations by a decent amount. We said before the season if he could post a .600 OPS and play great defense, we would be happy. I think we can be happy with Pedro Florimon. Click here to view the article

There are Top 10 lists for everything: prospect lists, all-time greatest Philly cheese steaks. Today, I thought I’d work on a similar theme, but instead, I’m going to make it a Top 11 list. Below, I will post, in order, the Top 11 Minnesota Twins players that could be traded in the next 23 hours. Number 11 is the one I would say is least likely (as of right now), and the Number 1 player is the one I would assume is most likely to be traded. Of course, guessing what will happen is a lot of fun.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Twins GM Terry Ryan and his staff will actually have to make real-life decisions on these players, considering what the team can get in return from various teams. So, put yourself in the GM’s seat. Who would be your Top 11 (or 10, or 6, or whatever) players that you think the Twins will trade? If you want, who are the Top 10 or 11 that you think the Twins should trade? I have included a “Percent-Likelihood” for each player. Although I have 11 players listed, the odds of most of them being traded is pretty small. Let’s start with a drum roll, please… (Disclaimer: These are the thoughts of Seth Stohs and not necessarily representative of the thoughts of other Twins Daily writers, the Twins themselves, or any other parties.) #11 – Kevin Correia – 1.9% – Yes, his April was terrific, as it has been in the past, but Correia has come back down to earth each month since then. When he signed with the Twins, I was comfortable with bringing him in, even though no one (myself included) understood the need for a second year. To Correia’s credit, he has been a workhorse. Even with his short start last weekend, he is on pace for over 190 innings. Innings may be very important to the Twins the next two months. #10 – Trevor Plouffe – 2.4% – He had a tremendous 4-6 week stretch for the Twins last season. He’s been more consistent this year. There is a certain Dominican third base prospect chomping at the bit for big league playing time as early as next year (Miguel Sano, not Deibinson Romero). I’d be surprised if there is a lot of interest in Plouffe, and the Twins would be silly to trade him right now. Who knows? He could be the team’s first baseman from June, 2014 forward. #9 – Casey Fien – 6.7% – The Twins signed Fien to a minor league deal before the 2012 season. Since he was promoted to the Twins halfway through last season, he has been one of baseball’s best relief pitchers. Should the Twins trade him while he’s pitching at his peak, or should they plan on him being an 8th (or 9th) inning guy for the next few years? #8 – Josh Roenicke – 8.4% – The Twins claimed Roenicke in the offseason when the Rockies did not tender him a contract. He has been solid, for the most part, with the Twins this year. Listen, he may not have a lot of value, but teams want reliever depth at this time of the year. The Twins have Michael Tonkin waiting in Rochester for an opportunity. #7 – Glen Perkins – 9.1% – Perkins is clearly the big fish. There are a lot of great reasons to trade him, the most important being that he is the one player they could demand a premium for. However, he is also under contract for a few more years at a very reasonable dollar value. He is from Minnesota. He has been quite dominant since moving to the bullpen. How quickly can the Twins contend? That is the question. Will anyone be willing to overwhelm the Twins' GM? #6 – Brian Duensing – 15.8% – When teams call and they can’t (or say they can’t) give up what the Twins want for Perkins, they may still be interested in this veteran Twins reliever. It’s been a frustrating season for Duensing, and for some reason his best trait, his ability to get left-handed hitters out, has disappeared. But, he’s got too much of a track record of success against lefties not to garner some interest. #5 – Drew Butera – 17.4% – This one may come as a surprise to many, but Drew Butera has value in the industry. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not going to fetch a top prospect. It likely would be a prospect few of us have even heard of. However, teams love having a great defensive catcher as their backup. Drew Butera is elite, and there may be a team out there willing to part with a little something to have him as their #2 or #3 catcher. #4 – Justin Morneau – 20.3% – Sentimentality may win with this one. Terry Ryan likely knows that he won’t get much for Morneau in the trade market. Morneau has had a terrific career with the Twins and has long been a fan favorite. So, the little bit that they may receive for two months of his service has to be weighed against what he can bring to the Twins for those two months. The casual fan will not be happy if the Twins trade Morneau for a couple non-prospects, but it may be the right thing to do. #3 – Jared Burton – 22.9% – With a hat tip to 1500 ESPN’s Brandon Warne, it should be pointed out that after a bad stretch, Burton has again become very good. As Warne tweeted earlier, in his “last 11 outings (9.1 IP) - .393 OPS allowed, 0 ER). That is much more reminiscent of what he did in 2012, and what he has done throughout his career… when healthy. He’s signed for one more season at a reasonable rate, which could entice some. #2 – Mike Pelfrey – 24.8% - Pelfrey is set to pitch for the Twins tonight when they open a series with the Kansas City Royals. The right-hander really struggled the first two months, but as Nick Nelson showed us last Friday, he has been terrific since the beginning of June. In seven starts, he has posted a 3.35 ERA and a 29/9 K/BB rate. He isn’t striking out many, but he’s gaining velocity, movement and command. The Twins signed him for just this season. He has the makings of a great mentor for the young pitchers coming up through the minors, but if the Twins can get something for him now, they should shop the Boras client who could be in line for a decent pay raise next year. #1 – Jamey Carroll – 52.1% – There’s little question in my mind that Jamey Carroll will (or at least should) get traded. He is the consummate professional and is a leader on any team. He has played in fewer than half the Twins games this year and because of that, his offensive numbers don’t look very good. But, he is what he is. He puts together solid plate appearances, works pitchers, and he plays terrific defense anywhere around the infield. There has to be a contender looking for some infield depth, and a guy who understands his role. His role on a contender would likely be similar to what it is with the Twins. It wouldn’t cost much for a team to acquire Carroll. In fact, maybe it would just be a Low A reliever, or cash, but it would be good to put Carroll on a team with a chance to win. I can see Cleveland being a realistic landing spot by the end of the day tomorrow. So, there you have it. My Top 11 most-likely-to-be-traded-in-the-next-23-hours Minnesota Twins ranking. It is, of course, subject to change tonight and throughout the day Wednesday as new rumors and opinions present themselves. I’d love to see your thoughts, and your rankings. As you can see, my percent-likelihood of most of these guys being traded is pretty small. View full article

Friday marked the start of our daily Minor League Reports covering six teams. The GCL Twins began their season with a matinee against the Red Sox in Ft. Myers. It wasn’t a great night for the affiliates, but there were still plenty of good performances worthy of note. Kennys Vargas has been terrific all year, and hasn’t slowed down since Miguel Sano moved to New Britain. Sano added to his home run total. Chris Colabello continues to rake. What else happened? Keep reading to find out what happened in the Twins' farm system on Friday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 0, Louisville Bats 3 Box Score The Red Wings were beaten by former #3 overall draft pick Greg Reynolds. The team managed just two hits. That said, Chris Colabello went 1-2 with two walks. Cole De Vries gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out seven, lowering his ERA to 8.82. Luis Perdomo came on and struck out three and walked one in three scoreless, hitless innings. New Britain Rock Cats 4, Akron Aeros 13 Box Score It was a rough night for a couple Rock Cats pitchers. Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up eight runs on eight hits and two walks in just 3.1 innings. BJ Hermsen entered and gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. AJ Achter struck out two in his time on the mound. Dakota Watts made his second appearance of the season and gave up an unearned run on two hits in his inning. Bobby Lanigan gave up one hit in getting his three outs. Danny Ortiz went 3-4 with his 19th double. Nate Hanson was 3-5. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-4 with his third triple and his 10th home run. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with his second Rock Cats home run. Danny Santana went 2-4. Ft. Myers Miracle 3, Jupiter Hammerheads 8 Box Score The Miracle got neither good pitching nor good defense. Tyler Duffey went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on nine hits and two walks. He struck out five. Chad Rodgers entered and gave up two unearned runs in 3.2 innings, yielding four hits, one walk and two strikeouts. The teams's three errors were by Steve Wickens, Kennys Vargas and Candido Pimentel. Kennys Vargas' hot streak continued as he went 2-3 with a walk. Matt Koch was 2-4 with his 12th double. Jon Murphy hit his sixth double. Mike Kvasnicka hit his first triple. Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 3 Box Score The Kernels replaced lefty Hein Robb in their six-man rotation with lefty Josue (pronounces Ho-sway) Montanez. He started Friday night and gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. Tim Atherton came on and threw four shutout innings. He gave up two hits and struck out three. Kaleb Merck got the save. He gave up three hits in two scoreless innings. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with two walks and two stolen bases, giving him 31 on the year. Dalton Hicks went 2-5 with his 22nd double. Max Kepler went 1-4 with a walk. His hit was his first double. Tyler Grimes hit his fifth home run. Travis Harrison walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Elizabethton Twins 2, Bristol White Sox 4 Box Score In Game 2 of their season, the E-Twins managed just three hits. Jake Proctor had a triple. Kelvin Ortiz went 1-2 and was hit by a pitch twice. He also stole a base. Josh Burris started. After going 7-0 last year out of the Elizabethton bullpen, he took a loss in his first start of the 2013 season. He gave up three runs, one was earned. The only team miscue was his own throwing error. Kuo Hua Lo gave up four hits, but no runs, in three innings. Miguel Gonzalez gave up a hit and walked one in a scoreless inning. He struck out two. Carson Goldsmith came on and gave up one run on two hits and two walks in his inning. Andre Martinez pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. GCL Twins 6, GCL Red Sox 4 Box Score A five-run inning helped the GCL Twins to a win in their season opener. The big hit came off the bat of 17-year-old Amaurys Minier. The bonus baby came through with a big three-run homer in his third at-bat. He had already hit a double in his second at-bat. He was 2-4 on the day- not a bad debut. Jorge Fernandez hit a triple. Engelb Vielma and Jonatan Hinojosa each walked twice and stole two bases. Australian Lewis Thorpe started and gave up two runs on five hits in four innings. He walked none and struck out four. Chih-Wei Hu came on and walked one and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Miguel Gonzalez gave up a hit and walked one in a scoreless inning; he struck out three. Markus Solbach gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits in one inning. He struck out two. Two players got into the game on rehab assignments. Madison Boer picked up the save. He gave up two hits, but he struck out two, in the ninth inning. Also, Lance Ray went 0-3 with a walk. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

All four Minnesota Twins minor league affiliates played on Thursday night. Two of them won in dramatic, walk-off fashion. One was a two-run single, and one was a lot more dramatic than that. One of the other Twins affiliates won with shutout, just the way you write it up: Starter goes seven, dominant reliever with a strong eighth and another dominant reliever with a scoreless ninth inning.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As of today, the Twins have a new organizational home run leader, so you’ll want to check that out. See, that’s the beauty of following an entire organization. The Twins had an off-day, and yet we are able to follow four games that matter to the organization and likely to most Twins fans. Rochester Red Wings 6, Durham Bulls 5 Box Score The Red Wings entered the bottom of 9th inning down a run. Eric Farris led off with a walk. Doug Bernier came on and was asked to bunt. He got the bunt down and beat the throw to first for a single. Antoan Richardson walked to load the bases. Ray Olmedo came up and knocked in two runs with a single to right to end the game. Olmedo was 2-5 in the game. Jeff Clement went 1-2 with two walks and his fourth homer. Chris Colabello went 2-3 with a walk and the organization-leading 11th home run of the year. Samuel Deduno was very good in his third Red Wings start. Through six innings, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He began the 7th with his eighth strikeout. However, he then gave up an infield single and a walk. Both runners scored- these runs are credited to Deduno- when Tyler Robertson came in and gave up three straight hits. He was replaced by Dan Turpen who got the final outs on a double play. He gave up an unearned run in the 8th. Rafael Perez came in, walked two and struck out one in the 9th inning and he earned his first win of the season. New Britain Rock Cats 2, Bowie Baysox 8 Box Score Overall, it wasn’t a very good night for the Rock Cats. Trevor May started and never really found it in this one. He gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. He gave up runs in three of the four innings he pitched. Jose Gonzalez came on and gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. Bobby Lanigan gave up two hits over the next 1.2 scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin walked one and struck out one in his scoreless inning. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his first double of the year. He had two of the four hits for the Rock Cats. Josmil Pinto walked twice. Danny Ortiz had two outfield assists, one at second base and one at third. Ft. Myers Miracle 2, Dunedin Blue Jays 0 Box Score Taylor Rogers was the story in this game. The left-hander worked the first seven innings. He gave up five hits and no runs. He walked one and struck out eight. Cole Johnson came in and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning. Corey Williams struck out one in a perfect ninth to record the save. Miguel Sano had an interesting day. He was 1-1 with a walk and was also hit by two pitches. He stole his fifth base. He also committed his 10th error. Drew Leachman and Aderlin Mejia went 2-4. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his 11th double. Jonathan Murphy went 2-3 with his third double. The Miracle improved to 28-10. They are 5.5 games ahead of the second place St. Lucie Mets. Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Burlington Bees 6 Box Score Down 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 9th, the Kernels had their 6, 7 and 8 hitters due up. Travis Harrison led off by being hit by a pitch. Michael Quesada flew out to the wall in left field. Candido Pimentel doubled Harrison to third base. Tyler Grimes came on to pinch hit; he was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Byron Buxton came up and ended the game with a walk-off grand slam. Buxton went 2-5 in the game, and in addition to the home run, he stole his 16th base. Michael Quesada went 2-4 with his first double and his first home run. Pimentel and Jeremias Pineda each hit a double. It was a rough game for the defense. The Kernels committed three errors. Two of them came in the span of two batters in the sixth inning. Mason Melotakis started and worked the first six innings. He gave up four runs, one of which was earned, on three hits. He walked one and struck out three. Tim Atherton came on and gave up two unearned runs on one hit and one walk in two innings. He struck out four. Manuel Soliman gets the win. He walked one in a scoreless ninth frame. If you’re near the Twin Cities, you’re just about four hours from getting to see Byron Buxton, Adam Walker and the Kernels. On Friday night, Tyler Duffey will start for the team. These Kernels are 27-12, and four games ahead of Quad Cities in their division. You wanted video... here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=ESFtlpmPxT4&feature=youtu.be&nomobile=1 Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

There was not much offense through the Minnesota Twins' farm system, with the usual exception of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. There was some very good pitching. There was the return of Nick Blackburn to an active roster as he made the start for the New Britain Rock Cats. Alex Wimmers returned to a mound for the first time since his Tommy John surgery last August. One constant through the 2013 season has been the pitching of Andrew Albers, and he was on the mound again for the Rochester Red Wings.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On Sunday, be sure to watch Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano represent the Twins at the Futures Game. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Saturday: Rochester 5, Pawtucket 1 Box Score Andrew Albers was back on the mound for the Red Wings and was terrific yet again. The Canadian southpaw went six innings to improve to 9-4. He gave up only an unearned run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out ten. Shairon Martis recorded his sixth save, of the three-inning variety. He gave up no runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out three. Eight Red Wings had one hit in this game. Five of them went for extra bases. Ray Olmedo hit his second home run, as did Chris Herrmann. Chris Colabello hit his 23rd double. Doug Bernier hit his 15th double. Jeff Clement hit his 13th double. New Britain 1, Trenton 5 Box Score After a few rehab starts with the GCL Twins, Nick Blackburn was sent to New Britain where he made the start on Saturday evening. He gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out two. Bruce Pugh was terrific, not allowing a base runner in 2.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra and BJ Hermsen each threw a scoreless inning in relief. Angel Morales hit his second home run with the Rock Cats. He was 2-3 in the game. Eddie Rosario hit his seventh double. Ft. Myers 1, Lakeland 4 Box Score Matt Summers gets the loss in this game, though he did pitch quite well. He went 7.2 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned). He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three. Corey Williams got the final four outs, one on a strikeout. He gave up two runs on one hit and four walks. Mike Kvasnicka went 2-4. Evan Bigley hit a double. Cedar Rapids 6, Bowling Green 3 Box Score Adam Walker remains hot with the bat. He went 2-4 with his 19th double and his 16th home run. Tyler Grimes went 2-4, including an inside-the-park home run. It was his sixth homer of the season. Jeremias Pineda went 3-4 with his second double. Jorge Polanco went 2-4. Tim Atherton improved to 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA. The Australian right-hander gave up one run on two hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Steven Gruver then gave up two runs on four hits in his two innings. Tyler Jones recorded his eighth save, striking out two in one inning. Elizabethton 1, Greeneville 2 Box Score It was a very good pitcher’s duel in the Appy League on Saturday night. South African lefty Hein Robb was charged with two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Dallas Gallant and Brian Gilbert each pitched a scoreless inning. The E-Twins had just five hits. Dereck Rodriguez is now hitting .322 after going 2-4. Bryan Haar went 2-4 as well. GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 1 Box Score A couple rehab stints took place in this rain-shortened 5.2 inning game on Saturday. Michael Gonzales returned to the field for the first time since breaking the hamate bone his hand. In his first at bat, he homered. Chad Christensen went 1-2 with his first professional home run. Jonatan Hinojosa went 1-3 with a triple. The big story will be that Alex Wimmers returned to a mound in a game for the first time since he underwent Tommy John surgery last August. The 2010 first-round pick went three shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out two. Chih-Wei Hu went the final 2.2 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

On Saturday, Nick Blackburn was placed on the Rochester disabled list with an inflamed knee. Virgil Vasquez will make the start for him on Sunday. On the field, there were some good starts and a couple not-so-good starts. A couple affiliates came from behind to get wins. A couple homers by Kennys Vargas powered the Miracle to a win. Elizabethton doubled their pleasure against Johnson City. Check out what else happened in the Twins Minor League system on Saturday night:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 4, Norfolk 2 Box Score Logan Darnell was solid again in his Saturday start for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up two runs on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out eight. Cody Eppley came on and gave up a hit to the batter he faced. Edgar Ibarra came on and got two outs, extending his consecutive scoreless inning streak to 22.2 innings (between New Britain and Rochester). Michael Tonkin recorded the final four outs, two on strikeouts, for his sixth save. The Red Wings bats made short work of Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman. The hard-throwing righty topped out at 98 mph in his 4.1 innings of work. The Wings scored four runs on six hits and two walks off him. Eduardo Escobar went 2-4 with a double and a stolen base. Deibinson Romero was 2-4 with his ninth home run. James Beresford was 2-3 with a triple. What a month July has been for the Red Wings. With this win and a Pawtucket loss, the two teams are in a virtual tie at the top of the International League North Division. The Red Wings were 11 games behind the Red Sox on July 2nd! New Britain 3, Reading 12 Box Score Miguel Sano sat out for the fourth straight game, and the Rock Cats looked like they needed more than just the ultra-talented prospect on this night. Former Gopher Seth Rosin held the Rock Cats to just one run over the first five innings. Danny Santana was 2-5 with his 20th stolen base. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his 11th double and third stolen base. Danny Ortiz went 2-5. DJ Baxendale had another rough start. He was charged with eight runs (7 earned) on ten hits and two walks in four innings. Blake Martin came on and gave up a run on a hit and a walk in an inning. He struck out two. BJ Hermsen and Ryan O’Rourke each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Cole Johnson then gave up three runs on two hits in his inning. He did strike out three. Ft. Myers 12, Clearwater 11 Box Score This was a back and forth game for the Miracle, but in the end, they walked off with a win; they had to overcome a five-run deficit at one point. Tyler Duffey started and gave up seven runs (5 earned) on seven hits and three walks in just 3.1 innings. Chad Rodgers came on and got the final two outs of the fourth, but not before giving up a home run. Steven Gruver worked the next three innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. Corey Williams gave up a hit in a scoreless inning. In the ninth, Zach Jones came on to hold a two-run lead, but he gave up two runs on a hit and a walk. He blew the save, but thanks to the Miracle winning in the bottom of the ninth, he also gets the win. JD Williams went 3-5 with a walk, his fifth stolen base and he scored the game-winning run. Kennys Vargas put on a show. He went 2-3 with three walks. He hit his 16th and 17th home runs, both three-run blasts. The six RBI was the most by a Miracle hitter in a game this season. Mike Kvasnicka went 2-5 with a walk and his seventh and eighth doubles. Stephen Wickens was 2-2 with a walk. Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 2 Box Score Tim Atherton gave up a run in the third and a run in the fourth. In six innings, the Australian right-hander gave up the two runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out eight. Hudson Boyd worked the next two innings, and allowed only a walk. Brian Gilbert came on to protect the three-run lead in the ninth and recorded the save. Max Kepler led the offense on this night. He was 2-3 with his fifth homer, a solo shot, a walk and two RBI. Adam Walker hit his 23rd double, a shot off the wall. Elizabethton 8, Johnson City 0 Box Score The E-Twins doubled their pleasure on Saturday night. The team hit nine doubles and a home run and got great pitching for the win. Randy Rosario started and gave up six hits and no walks in seven shutout innings. He struck out nine. C. K. Irby gave up two hits but no runs in his inning. Kuo-Hua Lo pitched a scoreless inning. Bryan Haar led the offense. He was 3-5 with his fifth, sixth and seventh doubles. Rory Rhodes was 3-5 with his eighth double. Javier Pimentel went 3-5 with his eighth double. Mitch Garver went 2-5 with his fifth and sixth doubles. Jake Proctor returned to the E-Twins lineup and hit a double. Logan Wade was 2-4 and hit his second home run. GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox Postponed by Rain. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

For all who watched The Byron Buxton Show on Fox Sports North on Monday, there is no question who is the top prospect on the Cedar Rapids roster. Buxton was the clear-cut focus of the broadcast, for good reason. Not only was he 3-4 with a single, a bases-clearing double and a triple, but he made one of the best catches you will see all year. He is also hitting a robust .350/.444/.578 (1.022) with 14 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs 60 runs scored, 47 RBI and 26 stolen bases. He has earned all the attention. However, this is much more than a one-man team. I like to see the other guys get some attention as well. This Kernels team is stacked right now. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Within days, they will claim a playoff spot for the season’s first half and they have eight players on their current roster who were named All-Stars. That doesn’t include Tyler Duffey who was promoted last week after being named to the All-Star team. Today, I am going to give a little bit more information on some non-Buxton players to keep on your radar. Here are eight Kernels that ranked in my Top 52 Twins Prospects last week (my organization ranking in parentheses). JO Berrios (5) – The righthander from Puerto Rico was the Twins supplemental first round pick one year ago. He signed pretty quickly for $1.55 million and pitched great at both the GCL and Elizabethton. Combined, he walked four batters and struck out 49. He is young and he was chosen to play for Puerto Rico in the WBC this spring. Because of that, his regular season was delayed as he built arm strength. However, he earned a spot on the Midwest League All-Star team. In eight starts, he is 4-3 with a 3.61 ERA. He had a bad outing in his most recent start. It was the first time that he had given up more than three runs this year (something he did last year just once as well). In 47.1 innings, he has walked just 12 and struck out 50. He throws a fastball that touches 94. He also has a very good curveball and changeup and knows how to pitch. He turned 19 at the end of May. Jorge Polanco (9) – Polanco signed with the Twins in July of 2009 as a 16-year-old free agent from the Dominican Republic and is still just 19. He was small and thin. He was known for tremendous defense, and that has proven true in his time with the Twins. However, he spent two years in the GCL and hit .233 and 250. He had an offensive breakout season last year in Elizabethton, but how would it transfer to a full-season league? Well, since opening night when he batted second, he has been the Kernels' number three hitter all season. He has hit .291/.342/.447 (.789) with 17 doubles, seven triples, two home runs and 44 RBI, while playing solid defense at second base. He will also continue to get some time at shortstop throughout the year. Travis Harrison (10) – When the Twins drafted Harrison out of his California high school as their first supplemental first round pick in 2011, it was thought he would be a very difficult sign. He had a strong commitment to USC but in the end he decided to sign and play. The $1.05 million signing bonus may have factored in as well. Harrison has tremendous power potential. He is very strong and has a good approach at the plate, potentially making him more than just a home run hitter. So far this year, he is hitting .265/.347/.470 (.817) with 17 doubles, nine homers and 32 RBI. He actually had a tenth homer that went over the fence, but he was only given credit for a walk-off single rather than a walk-off grand slam. His glove at third base is a work-in-progress. He works really hard at it and has improved greatly in 2012. It’s important to remember that he too is still young. He won’t turn 21 until after the season. Adam Brett Walker (12) – Walker’s father (Adam) was a replacement player for the Minnesota Vikings in 1987. He was a great athlete and so is his son. Walker grew up in Milwaukee and chose to go south for college, playing at Jacksonville University. The Twins made him their third round pick a year ago. As the 97th overall pick, he signed for slot value of $490,400. He went to Elizabethton where he hit 14 home runs before hitting some huge homers in the Appalachian League playoffs. Although he doesn’t like to walk and strikes out quite a bit, he has shown great power for the Kernels. He is hitting .272/.325/.525 (.850) with 15 doubles, five triples, ten home runs and 51 RBI. He is a big man at 6-4 and 230 pounds, but he has good speed and plays solid defense in right field. Niko Goodrum (15) – Goodrum was unable to play in the game yesterday because has been on the DL with a concussion. He has resumed baseball activities and hopes to return just before the Midwest League All-Star game so he would be able play in the game. He has had a very solid season. He is hitting .270/.382/.388 (.770) with 12 doubles, three triples, a homer and 28 RBI. He is very patient at the plate and takes good, solid swings from both sides of the plate. He also plays a very good shortstop and has a strong arm. Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft, Goodrum signed quickly for $514,800. He was a long, lanky kid. He was proud this spring to have reached 200 pounds and has been able to hit the ball with more authority. Mason Melotakis (23) – The left-hander from Northeastern State was one of the Twins' 2nd round picks last June. He signed for $750,000, about $68,500 below slot. The left-hander was clocked as high as 97 on the radar gun as a reliever in college. He has gotten an opportunity to be a starter and has done a pretty good job so far in Cedar Rapids. Following his seven shutout innings on Monday, Melotakis is now 6-2 with a 3.24 ERA. In 58.1 innings, he has allowed 57 hits, walked 28 and struck out 44. So, he is walking too many, to be sure. He also is not accumulating a lot of strikeouts. As a starter, his fastball is sitting 90-93, enabling him to be able to go six or seven innings. He has the potential to be a solid #4 starter or a potentially dominant left-handed, late-game reliever. Hudson Boyd (31) – Boyd was the Twins 2nd supplemental first round pick in 2011. He pitched his high school ball in Ft. Myers and signed at the deadline for $1 million. Through 11 starts this season, Boyd is just 1-3 with a 6.02 ERA. In 55 innings, he has given up 58 hits, 27 walks and 43 strikeouts. So again, too many walks and not enough strikeouts. Boyd will be 20 years old throughout the season, and I think there’s a chance he could be back in Cedar Rapids in 2014 for more development. However, he has a fastball in the low-90s. He has a very good changeup and a very good curveball, just not all the time. He has the pitches to be successful, but needs to be more consistent. Dalton (DJ) Hicks (41) – If you saw the game on FSN, you saw that Hicks is a big man. He has a big, long, powerful swing. He has used it to hit .288/.363/.493 (.856) with 20 doubles, nine homers and 51 RBI. He was the Twins 17th round pick a year ago out of Central Florida. It was his walk-off grand slam that won the Appalachian League championship for Elizabethton last year. He has already turned 23, so I think he will be moved up to Ft. Myers (with Buxton) after the Kernels clinch the first half title. JD Williams (NR) – JD Williams is a guy who shows that repeating a level can be good. He was drafted in the 10th round as a great athlete out of high school in Florida. He was pushed to Beloit a year ago and struggled. This season, he has been an on-base machine. Despite hitting just .252, he gets on base 39% of the time and has hit 10 doubles, two triples, five home runs and driven in 31 runs. He has also stolen 12 bases. There are nine “other” names to know in Cedar Rapids. That doesn’t even include right-handed pitcher Tyler Duffey or left-handed starter Taylor Rogers, who has a sub-2 ERA since joining the Miracle roster as well. Also in the next month the Kernels will likely be joined by German outfielder Max Kepler. Too, we hope Luke Bard will heal and soon be making starts for the team. In other words, that four hour drive from the Twin Cities to Cedar Rapids will still be completely with it, even after Byron Buxton is promoted to Ft. Myers. View full article

Download attachment: podcast_icon1.jpg OK, so the show hasn’t been exactly weekly of late. Frankly, the ratings haven’t been where we would like them to be. However, tonight at 9:00 central time, I’ll be hosting a 90-minute Twins podcast. We’ll get caught up on the goings-on around the Twins as we are now about one week from pitchers and catchers reporting! We’ll discuss the offseason and look forward to the 2012 season. You’ll want to join because I’m in the process of lining up several guests to discuss the upcoming season. As I get confirmations, I’ll be sure to share them. But put it on your calendar. 9:00 tonight. Listen Live. And, if you have any topics you would like us to cover, be sure to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or leave your questions and topics in the Comments Section! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

Last night, I posted the Twins Minor League Starting Pitchers of June. It was clearly not a strong part of the organization during the month. One area where the Twins minor league system was very strong was in the bullpen. There were plenty of very strong candidates. It was difficult to rank the relievers because there are some very good relievers who have really pitched well into this middle part of the season. However, here are my choices for the Top 5 Twins Minor League Relief Pitchers in June:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 5 – Ft. Myers/New Britain – RHP Dakota Watts - 9 G, 1.32 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 13.2 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 13 K Watts missed nearly the first two months of the season with some shoulder tendonitis. He returned in late May to the Miracle where he pitched seven games. There was little question that the team wanted to push him up to AA when it was clear he was healthy. He ended the 2011 season with the Rock Cats before going to the Arizona Fall League. Watts has a big-time back-of-the-bullpen ceiling, if he throws enough strikes. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – RHP Matt Hauser - 8 G, 1.59 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 17 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 15 K Earlier in June, Hauser got to start a “Bullpen” game and threw three good innings. Hauser throws very hard and mixes pitches well. He can be dominant in the bullpen. Late in the month, he got a second start and had a no-hitter through four innings. He is going to be in the starting rotation at least for the time being. Number 3 – Beloit – RHP Tim Atherton - 7 G, 0.61 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 24 K Atherton was a hitter in the Twins system a few years ago, but he resurfaced last year as a pitcher. He throws hard and he throws a very sharp slider. He has walked too many, but his stuff is terrific and he misses a lot of bats. The Australian is one who could move up quickly. Number 2 – New Britain – Bruce Pugh - 10 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 18 K Bruce Pugh had a frustrating 2011 season with the Miracle, the Rock Cats and then in the Arizona Fall League. He was promoted to the Rock Cats at the end of May. He still walked too many, but he gave up few hits and missed a lot of bats. Like the others on this list, Pugh throws gas and does have a second pitch as well. He and Watts are both candidates to be added to the 40 man roster after the season. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Beloit/Ft. Myers – Michael Tonkin - 9 G, 0.63 ERA, 0.42 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 28 K Tonkin had an incredible month of June. He began the month in Beloit where he dominated. In eight innings, he gave up ZERO hits, ZERO walks and struck out 18 batters. Fans (and bloggers) wondered aloud when he would be promoted to Ft. Myers. He pitched in the Midwest League All Star game and was promoted following the game. He has been very good with the Miracle as well. He throws hard and from a different arm slot. He gets a lot of movement and missed a lot of bats. So what do you think? I’ve listed five relievers here that deserve be recognized for their terrific performances this past month. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Be sure to check back later for the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month of June. Download attachment: MichaelTonkin.jpg Click here to view the article

Well, Desmond Jennings didn’t get a double on the first pitch in Sunday’s game as he had Friday and Saturday nights. However, on a 1-2 pitch, he hit a home run off of Scott Diamond. Diamond threw yet another Quality Start, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and the Twins lost 6-3 thanks to a late rally by the Rays. In the minor leagues, there is a lot going on. Monday will be the final off day for New Britain. Not big news by itself, but it does mean that the seasons are wrapping up quickly. The Rock Cats find themselves fighting for a playoff spot. If the season ended today, they would have the final Eastern League playoff position. The Beloit Snappers earned their playoff berth in the first half, and they are putting together a strong roster. Elizabethton is again a force in the Appalachian League. It will be fun to watch these final weeks. If you missed it on Sunday, I posted the current Minor League Hitting Leaders and Pitching Leaders in many categories. Check those out. There were many more terrific performances on Sunday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 10, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 The Red Wings continue to get great performances from a couple of guys who started the season with the Twins and were sent down for more seasoning. In this game, Liam Hendriks started and threw seven shutout innings. He gave up just four hits, walked one and struck out four to drop his ERA to 1.99 with the Red Wings. Caleb Thielbar came in and gave up just two hits over the final two innings. He struck out two. Chris Parmelee led the offense in this one. The first baseman went 3-4 with a walk, his 14th double, his 14th and 15th home runs and four RBI. Matt Carson went 2-5 with his 22nd double and 13th home run. Clete Thomas went 2-4 with a walk, his 12th home run and his 10th stolen base. NEW BRITAIN 3, READING 8 The Rock Cats and Reading split their four game set, leaving the Rock Cats ½ game ahead for the final playoff spot with three weeks to go. The Rock Cats fell behind early. They were down 4-0 heading into the 7th inning stretch, but over the next two innings, they pulled back to within one, 4-3. Unfortunately, they allowed four runs in the top of the 9th and fell 8-3. Steve Hirschfeld started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits over five innings. He falls to 7-7. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up just one hit over two scoreless innings. Jose Gonzalez struckout one in his inning. Dakota Watts came in for the 9th frame and gave up four runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk. Dan Rohlfing led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 12th double. Deibinson Romero went 2-4. Chris Colabello was 1-2 with two walks. Oswaldo Arcia went 1-3 with a walk and his 15th double. FT. MYERS, ST. LUCIE Carl Pavano was supposed to start, and Kyle Gibson was supposed to come in second for the Miracle. Unfortunately, the game was postponed due to rain. BELOIT 6, PEORIA 5 Kennys Vargas drilled a three-run home run in the first, and the Snappers hung on for a one-run lead. Vargas led the way on this day. The burly first baseman went 2-3, was hit by a pitch, hit his fourth double and the homer was his eighth. Steven Wickens went 2-3 with a walk. Nate Roberts had a walk, his 12th double and stole his 20th base. Tyler Jones got the start and struggled through 3.2 innings. He gave up four runs on four hits and six walks. Corey Kimes came in and gave up just one run on three hits over the next 3.1 innings. Cole Johnson returned from the DL and worked a scoreless eighth frame. Corey Williams picked up his 16th save with a scoreless ninth. It was a short day for 3B Miguel Sano. After walking in the first inning, he was called out on strikes in the third. A brief glance turned into his first ejection of the year. The Snappers wore special “Tuxedo” uniforms as seen below. (Thank you to Rinaldi Photos for the below picture of infielder Steven Wickens in his tuxedo uniform!) ELIZABETHTON 3, BRISTOL 1 The E-Twins are known for having a big offense, but on this day, it was an all-around great game for the team. There was some offense. Niko Goodrum was 3-5. Adam Walker was 3-5 with his first stolen base. Max Kepler was 2-5. Those were the team’s 2, 3 and 4 hitters. The other six hitters combined to go 2-22 in the game. There was some good pitching as well. Hein Robb, a young lefty from South Africa, started and gave up just one hit in five scoreless innings. He walked none and struck out five. Josh Burris improved to 6-0. He gave up no runs and no hits, but he walked two and struck out two. Andrew Ferreira walked one and struck out one in a scoreless inning. JT Chargois pitched the final two innings to record his third save. He gave up one run on one hit and two walks. He struck out five. GCL TWINS There are no games scheduled in the GCL on Sundays. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, August 12, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee Download attachment: Chris Parmelee.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Liam Hendriks Download attachment: Liam Hendriks RW.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, August 13, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Lehigh Valley – RHP Shairon Martis New Britain – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled Beloit vs Peoria - LHP Matt Tomshaw Elizabethton – No Game Scheduled GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

Yesterday, I posted Part 1 of my interview with Jake Mauer, the manager of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Cedar Rapids is the home of the Twins Low Class A affiliate in the Midwest League. We discussed his goals as a manager/coach, the language barrier that there can be in baseball, the best part of managing and much more. He even discussed the similarities between Byron Buxton and Joe Mauer. In Part 2 today, Mauer will discuss several more topics including the importance of development versus winning, left-handed pitching, several players including Aaron Hicks and more. Enjoy the interview and feel free to comment as well. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] PART 2 Watching Aaron Hicks play in Ft. Myers, where he didn’t put up big stats, what made you think that he had something? Jake Mauer (JM): I think he got a little enamored with the long ball, and I think he tried to do that in Ft. Myers a little more than hitting. You play in those big ball parks, and I think he tried to muscle up a little bit and got into a funk, but I think that’s part of learning too. Joe’s first year in the Florida State League, I think he was only hitting two-something, maybe .220, in the month of April. He wasn’t tearing the league up by any stretch of the matter. So it’s part of development and understanding that very rarely do guys come in and just tear the league apart right away and do it for the whole year. There’s usually a point where the league adjusts to you, and that’s part of it. Aaron obviously made a commitment last year to turn himself into a pretty good player. Now it’s another thing to be starting over in the big leagues. It’s another learning process for him. Watching batting practice, it’s clear that bunting is done different. When I played, bunts were supposed to go down the lines, but now it seems like hitting it back toward the pitcher is just fine. JM: I’m the same way, I still like to bunt it toward the lines and make the corner guys field it. But the thought-process behind it that most of the time, if the pitcher fields it, and it’s not a bullet back to him, if he has to come in and pick the ball up, he’s going to throw it to first base most of the time anyway. So, what they’re trying to do with sacrifices is to take the guy who’s trying to be too fine and bunts the ball and it roles foul. Now we have to tee it up again. More of the thought process is just get it down into the grass where the pitcher has to field it and throw it to first. So, it’s still just trying to deaden it? JM: It’s having a feel for it. Really, a lot of our guys try to get too perfect. They’re sacrificing and they’re almost trying to bunt for a base hit. We’re just trying to change the mentality a little bit. Josue Montanez was added to the Kernels roster that already includes a lot of lefties. A couple of years ago, there were very few left-handers in the organization, now is it a focus? JM: I think it’s just kind of a cyclical thing. Honestly, where we drafted the last couple of years, we had opportunities to get some guys that can run it up there pretty good. We drafted earlier compared to five years ago when we drafted toward the bottom of the draft. I think the opportunities were there. I think Ibarra’s got a very good arm, a left-handed arm. Jose Gonzalez has a pretty good arm. Those guys are AA now. We have some guys here, you’re going to see (Mason) Melotakis today. (Josue) Montanez has a pretty good arm. Brett Lee threw the ball pretty good last night. We have some left-handed arms that we haven’t had for a while. Do I think that the scouts are focusing on it? I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s just not only our draft status, but some opportunities internationally to get these kids and develop them. What is yours and the organization’s philosophy of development versus winning? JM: To be honest, development is one, number one, without a doubt. But winning is 1A, if that makes sense. You’ve got to try. Am I going to sacrifice bringing a guy in in the ninth inning to get one out? I am pretty confident that my closer is going to come in and slam the door. Well, let’s see. Let’s maybe given another kid an opportunity. I think it’s unfair to kids to pigeonhole them when they’re this young. Melotakis may be a starter, may not be a starter, but he’s got a good arm, so let’s see what we have. Especially the way starting pitching is around the league. They’re at a premium. When you’ve got guys that are fourth and fifth starters getting double-digit figures that just tells you where it is and the value that’s place on it. Development is number one, give guys an opportunity. That’s my biggest belief. But in the 9th inning, if we get a chance to try to win the game, maybe it’s a pinch hit or pinch run for somebody, we’re going to do that most of the time. But, there will be some managerial moves that wouldn’t necessarily make sense, but I think it will be better for the development of a hitter or a pitcher just to see what happens. We may sacrifice some losses just to see what we have. History suggests he’ll spend the full season in Cedar Rapids, but is there any chance that Byron Buxton moves up to Ft. Myers during the season? JM: To be determined. If he’s dominating the league here, they’ll probably move him. But that’s not to say anyone. If JD Williams is dominating, they’ll probably move him too. It’s kind of the neat thing. It’s not like, and I use the term, it’s not like school where you do just enough and they graduate you. You have to play your way out of leagues. Michael Tonkin is a good example. Started in Beloit. Probably not happy. Asked what he’s got to do. Well, he’s got to go out and dominate the league. Well, he did. Then he went to Ft. Myers. He got down there, dominated the league. Gets himself on the 40 man. Does a nice job out in Arizona. Now he’s in AA knocking on the door. That can happen. These guys have to realize that nothing is going to be given to him. They got to go out and play, and if they dominate a league, we’re going to get them out of here. AJ Achter and Michael Tonkin followed very similar paths in 2012, can you compare and contrast the two? They were outstanding. Achter is a little more polished right now, but realistically, Tonkin probably has a higher ceiling. He’s got more power stuff, that you would want to see at the back end. Achter’s stuff is pretty good also. I would say that’s probably the biggest difference between the two. Tonkin’s going to be more of a strikeout guy, swing and miss guy. And Achter’s going to get his fair share, but he’s smart enough too. He’s not a strikeout guy. He gets them to swing at his pitch, ground ball. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s going to be that power pitcher than Tonkin can be. A baseball season is pretty time-consuming and intense. What do you enjoy doing to get away from the game? It’s nice. My family is here most of the time we’re in town. When school winds down, they’re able to spend more time. That keeps me pretty busy. I try to give mom a break because she’s got those two all the time. There’s no break for her. We’ll go play golf as a staff. That’s probably more on the road in the morning. The boys like to sleep in, which is fine, but I don’t think anyone in that other room sleeps in either. We’ll get up and go play. Come to the park and get our stuff down. This is a bigger town for an A ball town, about 100,000 people. There are a lot of opportunities, a couple of malls on the south and north sides. There’s things to do. Different, decent restaurants, to go sit down and eat and have good meals. Yeah, you try to get away, Seth, I think you have to. I think it’s important. It can consume you. Baseball can. It’s every day. You want to try to spice it up sometimes. It can turn into Groundhogs Day, and you don’t want it ever to feel like a job, if that makes sense. It’s fun. We get to put a uniform on and go out there and play, and they pay you to do it. You can’t beat that. You get serious when it’s time to get serious. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself when it’s appropriate too. I think that, if you have that kind of attitude and that mindset, and you’ll be ok. Adam Walker puts on a show in batting practice and has incredible power, but he appears to, like many, struggle with the breaking pitches. He gets pull happy sometimes. His hands get around the ball. If he thinks, just stay to the inside of the ball, he’s still going to pull it. It’s not telling you to punch the ball that way. If he stays inside the ball, he’ll be OK. Watching Travis Harrison work in batting practice is great. Great stance, uses his hands well, and the ball jumps off his bat. He’s strong. He’s strong in his hands for a young man too. He’ll learn the strike zone a little bit, and young hitters do, they get anxious sometimes. When he starts recognizing pitches and tendencies, and not only that, but what he can really lock into, you’ll start seeing him pop some balls out of the park. Is that the key to hitting and hitting for power? I think it’s learning yourself. Learning what pitches you can take a chance on, per se, and understanding points in the game and counts, when you can do it. I think that’s the biggest thing, not only with those potential power guys, but with the small guys too. You have to learn your role. That’s part of the Objectives meeting that we have. We tell each guy how you fit on our team right now. Probably going to change. You know, (Drew) Leachman obviously is going to hit in the middle of our order, and he goes down the first night, so things change a little bit. We slide Polanco down to the 3-hole and different things like that. He’s going to DH today and we’ll how that goes, but I think it’s learning yourself as a hitter and getting those at bats, having that understanding. You learn how to hit and all that other power stuff starts to show up. --- As I’ve said, Jake Mauer was great. He was willing to take time to chat with me on several occasions and answer questions, or just kind of chat about other things like playing baseball in the MIAC (Minnesota Inter-collegiate Athletic Conference), family, etc. His whole staff was great. Tommy Watkins is as good of a guy as there is. It was fun chatting with him as well. And I got the chance to meet Gary Lucas for the first time and he was a terrific guy. Kernels GM Doug Nelson chatted with me for an extended period all four days I was there. He is good. He runs a great show at Perfect Game Field and other venues around the city. He’s got to be quite busy, but he was kind enough to spend time with me. Morgan Hawk is their PR guy as well as doing the radio broadcast at www.kernels.com. He was extremely helpful and supportive. As I wrote yesterday, I can’t encourage people to make a trip to Cedar Rapids enough to watch this team play. I made the trek last week. I’m hoping to get there at least one more time this summer. I’ll be joining the Territory Train in late June to spend a couple of fun-filled days watching Kernel baseball. If you’re interested in joining that trip, click here. View full article

On Tuesday morning, we woke up to the news that the Elizabethton team bus driving from Ft. Myers to Elizabethton was involved in a fatal, head-on accident. Fortunately, none of the Elizabethton players or personnel were injured. The driver of the other vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the road, died. We should be seeing rosters for the E-Twins and the GCL Twins shortly. On Tuesday night, eight Kernels played in the Midwest League All-Star game. We should also hear about any player promotions on Wednesday. There were a couple great performances on Tuesday night, so check out what happened below.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders 3 Box Score Andrew Albers continued his impressive season. The lefty went the first 6.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out four. Cody Eppley came on and got one out, but he walked two. Aaron Thompson gave up one run on one hit in 1.2 innings and he struck out two. Michael Tonkin picked up his third save, getting the final two outs. Antoan Richardson was on base a bunch again. He went 2-4 with a walk and his sixth double. He also stole his 13th base. Doug Bernier was 2-4 with his 10th double and second triple. Chris Herrmann went 2-5. New Britain Rock Cats 8, Erie Thunder 0 Box Score The Rock Cat bats showed up, but the story has to be the performance of Trevor May. The right-hander acquired in the offseason from the Phillies put together his best start of his season. He went 7.2 innings without allowing a run. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out nine for the win. Edgar Ibarra came on and struck out the batter he faced. Cole Johnson pitched the 9th, giving up just one walk. Danny Santana led off and went 4-5 with his 12th double. Nate Hanson was 3-4 with a walk, his ninth double and three RBI. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-4 with a walk and his eighth home run. Eddie Rosario was 2-4 with a walk and is now hitting .313 in his short time with the team. Miguel Sano was 0-4 to drop his average to .067. Ft. Myers Miracle 15, Palm Beach 6 Box Score Matt Koch has had a good season to this point and on Tuesday he was tremendous. He went 4-4 with a walk, his tenth and eleventh doubles and his fourth home run. Jhon Goncalves went 3-4 with a walk, his second homer and third stolen base. Kennys Vargas went 2-3 with two walks, his 21st double and 13th home run. Matt Tomshaw was the recipient of the run support on his way to his second Miracle win. He gave up three runs on ten hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out one. Ryan O’Rourke picked up his second save with three innings of work. He gave up three runs on four hits. Cedar Rapids Kernels The Kernels are on their All-Star break. However, eight members of the Kernels roster played in the Midwest League All-Star Game Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. Byron Buxton was the leadoff hitter and centerfielder. He went 0-3. Dalton Hicks batted third and played 1B. He was 1-3. Adam Walker batted fourth and played right field. He was 1-3. Jorge Polanco played 2B and batted seventh. He was 1-2 with a walk. Niko Goodrum came on late to play shortstop. He was 1-1 with a walk and a two-run single in the ninth. Travis Harrison played third base late and went 0-1. JO Berrios got one out in the seventh inning. He gave up one run on one hit and a walk; the out came on a strikeout. Steve Gruver got two outs in the 8th inning, one on a strikeout. The Kerrnels' Mid-West Division lost to the Mid-East Division 6-5. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

A ten run second inning was more than enough run support for Scott Diamond who won for the 10th time this season. The left-hander worked the first seven innings and gave up three runs (2 earned). Jeff Gray and Luis Perdomo each threw a scoreless inning. It was the offense in this game. In that ten-run inning, Josh Willingham hit his 29th home run. The next batter was Justin Morneau, who hit his 14th home run. The entire team batted around again, and #6 hitter Ryan Doumit also homered in the same inning. Later, Justin Morneau hit his second home run of the year, his 15th homer of the season, and the 200th of his career. Ben Revere went 4-5 to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Joe Mauer had three more hits, including two doubles. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from a quiet Monday night of games in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 2, EMPIRE STATE 9[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] After playing 19 innings on Monday night, the one thing that the Red Wings needed was a quality, lengthy start. Left-hander Pedro Hernandez, who came to the organization in the Francisco Liriano trade, made his first start for the Red Wings. It didn’t go so well. The 23-year-old went just two innings and gave up six runs on ten hits. He walked none and struck out two. David Bromberg, who was promoted to the Red Wings for such an occurrence came on and gave the team four good innings. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks while striking out four. Eric Hurley, pitching on a bullpen day, struck out two in the 7th inning. Then things got interesting. Matt Carson, who started the game in right field, came in to pitch the 8th inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. He gave up a home run. For Carson, it was the first time he pitched in a game since 2009… when he pitched six innings over six games for AAA Sacramento. Then, catcher Rene Rivera pitched the ninth inning. The hard-thrower needed just ten pitches to complete a perfect inning. He struck out one batter, and all ten pitches he threw were strikes. He had not pitched in a game in his career. The last Red Wings position player to pitch in a game was Toby Gardenhire, who worked a scoreless inning in July of 2011. There was not much offense for the Rock Cats on this night. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-4. Ray Chang drove in both Red Wings runs with his seventh double. The loss ended a seven-game win streak for the Red Wings. Also, Chris Parmelee, who was named the International League Hitter of the Week, went 0-3 (with a walk) to end his 15 game hitting streak. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS New Britain did not have a game scheduled on Tuesday. FT. MYERS MIRACLE There were no games scheduled in the Florida State League. BELOIT 5, WISCONSIN 3 The Snappers played another very well-rounded game on Monday. 2012 pick, LHP Taylor Rogers started and provided the team with another quality start. He gave up three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Corey Williams came in and gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs, in 1.2 innings. Zack Jones came in and got the final four outs to record his third save. He struck out two. Nate Roberts again did a great job of setting the table for the Snappers. He went 2-3 with a walk, his tenth double and 17th stolen base. AJ Pettersen hit his 10th double. Eddie Rosario drove in two runs and hit his 24th double. Stephen Wickens went 1-2 with two walks and his third stolen base. Miguel Sano hit his 23rd home run. ELIZABETHTON, DANVILLE They just can’t seem to get the rain to stop in the mountains of Tennessee. These teams were supposed to play a doubleheader on Tuesday night, but due to more inclement weather, these two games have been cancelled. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 4 Kuo-Hua Lo started for the Twins. He threw four shutout innings and gave up just one hit. He walked none and struck out four. Anthony Slama came in and made his first appearance since breaking his fibula. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Yorman Landa came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and three walks in 2.1 innings. He struck out two. The Twins bats managed just six hits. John Murphy hit his eighth double. In his first game in the Twins organization, Jeremias Pineda went 1-4 with his 15th stolen base. He is now hitting .416. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, August 6, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Nate Roberts Download attachment: TimothyDaltonCentennial.jpg Download attachment: Nate Roberts Walk.jpg Left: Timothy Dalton in the late-70s mini-series Centennial. Right: Nate Roberts walking in from stretching. Pitcher of the Day – Kuo-Hua Lo Download attachment: KuoHuaLo.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, August 7, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Empire State – RHP Liam Hendriks New Britain @ Binghampton (2 games) – TBD Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – RHP Madison Boer Beloit vs Wisconsin – RHP Tyler Jones Elizabethton @ Johnson City – LHP Hein Robb GCL Twins vs GCL Rays – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

Rain was a big part of the story in the Minnesota Twins farm system on Wednesday. On Thursday, two Twins' affiliates played double-headers, so there were a total of eight games to follow. Another day… another Chris Colabello home run. Colabello often speaks of only worrying about things that are in his control. He can’t control when Terry Ryan will call him up, but he can control his approach at the plate.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] And frankly, his numbers have to be making Mr. Ryan consider ways to get him back on the Twins roster. I’m thinking Ryan is happy to have Colabello putting up the kinds of numbers that make him think of changing the major league roster. Two other players launched homers to put themselves in a tie for third place in the organization in home runs. There were a couple very strong pitching performances, but there were also a couple pitchers who would like a mulligan. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Thursday: Rochester 7, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Chris Colabello was at it again on Thursday night. He went 2-5 with his 24th home run, a majestic blast estimated at 450 feet to straight-away center. Jermaine Mitchell went 2-3 with two walks and his 14th double. Eric Farris went 2-4 with his third home run. Logan Darnell’s most recent start was tremendous. This one wasn’t as good. Through the first four innings, he gave up just one run. However, he gave up five runs in the fifth inning without recording an out. Overall, he was charged with six runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out four in four innings. Aaron Thompson came on and gave up one hit over the next 2.2 innings. Cody Eppley got the next four batters out. Shairon Martis came on and pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save. New Britain 2, Trenton 0 Box Score Lefty Pat Dean was terrific. He threw 7.2 scoreless innings: he allowed six hits, walked one and struck out four. Dakota Watts came on and got the final four outs, two on strikeouts, to complete the shutout. As you would expect from such a low-scoring game, there was not much offense. Miguel Sano hit his fourth double. Jordan Parraz went 2-2 with a walk and his second stolen base. Game 1 – Ft. Myers 1, Jupiter 6 Box Score The first game is the completion of a game that had been suspended in the fifth inning on Wednesday. Kyle Davies started the game and went the first five innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and three walks. He struck out four. Matt Tomshaw came on when the game resumed. The southpaw gave up three runs on five hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out three. Kennys Vargas provided the offense. He went 2-4 with his 14th home run of the year. Game 2 – Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 6 Box Score Taylor Rogers was activated from the disabled list and made the start. He gave up six runs on five hits and four walks in just two innings. Adrian Salcedo threw three innings and gave up one hit. Ryan O’Rourke worked the final two innings and gave up one hit. Again, there was not much offense for the Miracle. Aderlin Mejia went 2-4 with his 13th stolen base. Stephen Wickens hit his third homer of the year. Cedar Rapids 9, Dayton 13 Box Score The Kernels fell behind early, attempted a comeback, but fell short. Josue Montanez had been terrific in his previous two starts. This one didn't go as well. The lefty gave up ten runs (9 earned) on seven hits and six walks in four innings. He struck out three. Hudson Boyd came on and gave up an unearned run on a hit and two walks in three innings. He struck out three. Madison Boer pitched the game’s final two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out two. Jonathan Murphy went 3-5. Fellow Jacksonville U alum Adam Walker went 1-2 with three walks and his 14th home run. Jorge Polanco had two hits, including his 23rd double. Jeremias Pineda and Tyler Grimes each went 2-4. JD Williams added his eighth home run. Travis Harrison walked three times. Photo by: Rinaldi Photos Game 1 – Elizabethton 5, Bristol 4 Box Score Rain on Wednesday created this double-header. Earlier in the day, these games looked uncertain, but the weather finally did cooperate. Felix Jorge proved human in this start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out six. Ethan Mildren walked two in a scoreless inning. Dallas Gallant then struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning, gaining the win when the Twins came from behind with two runs in the final inning. Javier Pimentel went 2-3 with his sixth double. Zach Granite was 2-3 with a walk. Kelvin Ortiz hit his first home run. Dereck Rodriguez hit his sixth double, and Ryan Walker hit his third double. Game 1 – Elizabethton 6, Bristol 11 Box Score It was a doubles day for Dereck Rodriguez; he went 2-3 with his seventh and eighth doubles. Romy Jimenez went 2-3. Bryan Haar hit his fourth triple. Bryan Santy and Carlos Avila each hit his first double of the year. Josh Burris made the start. He gave up six runs on three hits in three innings. He walked six and struck out five. Carson Goldsmith gave up three runs on one hit and three walks and recorded just one out. The out he got was a strikeout. Andre Martinez finished that inning by getting the final two outs, though he did walk two. Twins fifth-round pick Aaron Slegers made his first professional appearance with a perfect inning. Austin Malinowski gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits in his inning, while striking out three. GCL Twins 6, GCL Orioles 2 Box Score Damian Defrank started and gave up one run on four hits and two walks in three innings. He struck out two. Then Stephen Gonsalves came on and was impressive. In three scoreless innings he held the Orioles hitless, walked one and struck out three. Josh Guyer worked a scoreless inning, though he gave up one hit and walked one. Markus Solbach gave up an unearned run over his two innings. Joel Polanco went 2-3 with a walk. Jason Kanzler was 2-4 with his fourth double. Evan Bigley’s rehab continues. Here he had a triple and three RBI. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

The Twins have about 30 pitchers coming to spring training this year. Some Twins fans are upset that the Twins haven't signed the likes of Dan Wheeler or Brad Lidge when they signed for low-price deals. There are still some bullpen arms available (Coffey, Wuertz ,etc.), but the question is Would you rather sign one of those guys, or give opportunities to the guys they already have? Is it possible that the Twins scouting department has determined that Todd Coffey will not be able to get hitters out as well as Alex Burnett or Lester Oliveros, Jeff Manship or Jason Bulger? if that's the case, then there is no reason to bring additional pitchers in. What say you? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

Drew Butera is hitting .350 and the Twins just swept the Tigers!! All is good in Twins Territory now, right? Well, maybe not, but there are starting to be some signs of positive. Justin Morneau went opposite field for a home run, one of his two hits. Trevor Plouffe homered for the second straight game. Brian Dozier is inching up on .300. PJ Walters was terrific through four scoreless innings, but between the fifth and sixth innings, he gave up three solo home runs to cut the Twins lead to 4-3. But Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Matt Capps got the final eight outs to secure back-to-back wins! Listen to Thursday’s Twins Minor League Weekly. Tim Shibuya (RHP Beloit Snappers) was a guest of the show and that was followed by answering your Twitter questions. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 2, LOUISVILLE 4 (11 innings) Not much offense for the Red Wings in this game. Danny Valencia had two hits including his first home run. He drove in both of the team’s runs. Chris Parmelee made his Red Wings debut. He was 0-2, but he walked three times. Daryl Thompson started and gave up two runs on six hits. In five innings pitched, he walked two and struck out six. Deolis Guerra worked three perfect innings. Anthony Slama gave up two hits and a walk, but struck out three, in 1.1 scoreless innings. Tyler Robertson issued a walk and got one out. Casey Fien ends up with the loss. He got out of the tenth, but gave up two runs in the 11th inning. NEW BRITAIN 1, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 David Bromberg’s 20 inning consecutive scoreless innings streak came to an end in this game. The right-hander has been pitching very well of late. In this game, he went a season-long 6.2 innings. He gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo got the next four ours. Brad Thompson made his Twins organization debut, working a scoreless inning and striking out two batters in his return from Tommy John surgery a year ago. Joe Benson was in the lead-off spot and went 2-3 with a walk and the lone RBI. Estarlin de Los Santos had a single and a walk. FT. MYERS 4, BREVARD COUNTY 5 (10 innings) Marty Popham got the start and gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes was perfect through two innings. Bruce Pugh was perfect for 1.2 innings, but he then gave up three straight hits and a run in the 10th to take the loss. Oswaldo Arcia went 3-5 with his ninth double. Danny Ortiz hit his first FSL double. Twins Daily learned on Thursday that RHP Adrian Salcedo is going to have (or has had) an MRI on his elbow. Hopefully we get good news on this situation. BELOIT 7, QUAD CITIES 3 Matt Summers continues to pitch well. He improved to 4-2 with six solid innings on Thursday. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Corey Williams gave up a run (solo home run) on three hits in two innings. AJ Achter pitched a scoreless ninth frame. Jhonathan Goncalves went 3-4 with his first home run. Matt Koch went 3-4 with his seventh double and his second home run (in back-to-back games). Kyle Knudson was 2-4. Adam Bryant was 2-4 with his fifth double. Wang-Wei Lin got the Snappers on the scoreboard with his first home run of the season. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, May 17, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Deolis Guerra Download attachment: deolisguerra2.jpg Hitter of the Day – Matt Koch Download attachment: MattKoch.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Friday, May 18, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Liam Hendriks New Britain @ Reading – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers @ Brevard County – LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs Quad Cities – LHP Matt Tomshaw --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins started their three-game series at The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati against the Reds with a 5-4 win. Ben Revere and Ryan Doumit each had four hits, and the Twins got another four shutout innings from their bullpen to hold the win for Nick Blackburn who went the first five innings. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Friday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 3, CHARLOTTE 0 The Red Wings recorded their sixth shutout of the season on Friday night. Sam Deduno went the first six innings. He gave up just one hit, walked two and struck out eight. Kyle Waldrop gave up one hit and struck out one over the next two innings. Tyler Robertson got the first two outs of the ninth inning on strikeouts, but he also gave up a hit and walked a batter. Casey Fien came in and got the final out for his ninth save of the season. Pedro Florimon went 2-2 with three walks and his seventh double. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 3-4. Danny Valencia was 2-5 with his tenth double. Deduno missed five to six weeks of time with injury, but since his return, he has been terrific. In three starts, he is 1-0 with a 1.66 ERA. In just 13.2 innings, he has given up just one run. Pedro Florimon has been doing quite the job in the last two games as the team’s leadoff hitter. He is 4-5 with five walks. In other words, he has reached base nine out of ten plate appearances. Going back to his past three games, he is 6-9 with five walks and a double in each game. NEW BRITAIN 9, RICHMOND 8 Evan Bigley led the Rock Cats to a big, high-scoring win. The outfielder went 4-5 with his 14th double, his ninth home run and three RBI. Chris Colabello was 2-5 with his 16th double. Chris Herrmann went 2-4 with a walk and his 18th double. BJ Hermsen got the start and wasn’t helped by his defense. In 6.1 innings, he gave up six runs but just two were earned. He gave up eight hits, of which two were home runs, walked none and struck out two. Edgar Ibarra came n and gave up one run on two hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. Dan Sattler came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk in 1.1 innings. He was credited with the Win. When Oswaldo Arcia was called up to New Britain, Mark Dolenc was released and Bigley was told that his playing time would likely be lessened. In four games since then, Bigley is 10-16 with two doubles and two home runs. FT. MYERS 7, ST. LUCIE 8 (5 innings – Rain) The St. Lucie Mets used the long ball to top the Miracle in this high scoring, five inning game which was shortened by rain. Marty Popham started and gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in 3.1 innings. He struck out eight and gave up one homer. Miguel Munoz came in and threw 1.2 innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on three hits and two walks. In the bottom of the fifth, he allowed a three-run home run that tied the game and seven, and then the next batter hit a homer that ended the game. Levi Michael went 2-3 with his fifth double. Josmil Pinto hit a grand slam in a five-run second innings. It was his sixth home run of the year. Danny Ortiz hit his fourth triple since joining the Miracle in early May. Kyle Knudson went 0-3 in his first game with the Miracle. Then he got to enjoy the All Star break. He came back and had three hits in three straight games. Last night, he was 1-2. That’s 10 hits in his last 16 at bats. BELOIT 7, CEDAR RAPIDS 0 The Twins saw enough in David Hurlbut that they drafted him twice, once out of high school and then last year after a mediocre collegiate career as a LOOGY at Cal-State Fullerton. It’s nights like Friday night that make fan’s appreciate a scout that saw enough in him to suggest drafting him. The lefty improved to 3-0 with seven one-hit, no-run innings. He walked three and struck out four. Tim Atherton came in and pitched a perfect eighth frame, striking out one. Corey Williams got the ninth inning and walked one and struck one out in a scoreless innings. Nate Roberts went 2-3 with a walk, his fourth double and his third stolen base. Drew Leachman went 2-4 with a walk. Steve Liddle and Tyler Grimes each hit a double. ELIZABETHTON 5, BURLINGTON 6 This is a game that wasn’t decided until the final pitch. Angel Mata started for the E-Twins and gave up two runs on three hits in 4.2 innings. He walked four and struck out two. Luis (Daniel) Ortiz came in and gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks. The lefty struck out two. Brett Lee went the next 1.2 innings and gave up only a walk. Tyler Herr pitched a scoreless innings despite one hit. Mason Melotakis came in to protect a one-run lead in the ninth. The lefty got two outs, but gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks to take the loss. Rory Rhodes continued his hot streak by going 2-4 with a double. Jorge Polanco went 2-4. Travis Harrison hit his first pro home run (and committed his second and third pro errors). Stephen Wickens hit a double. Max Kepler went 1-4. He is now 1-17 (.059) on the young season. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 4 (7 innings – Rain) Byron Buxton made his professional debut on Friday afternoon. The Twins top pick went 0-4. He flew out to center twice and to left once. He also took a called third strike in the game. Bryan Haar went 2-3 with his third double. Jose Ramirez went 2-3 with his first triple. Dereck Rodriguez hit his first double. Randy Rosario started for the Twins and gave up just one hit, one walk and no runs in four innings. He struck out five. Markus Solbach gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. Chris Mazza threw the seventh inning and gave up two unearned runs on two hits and a walk. The game was called after seven innings due to rain. --- Players of the Day for Friday, June 22, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – David Hurlbut Download attachment: DavidHurlbut.jpg Hitter of the Day – Evan Bigley Download attachment: Evan Bigley.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, June 23, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Charlotte – LHP Luke French New Britain @ Richmond – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers @ Jupiter – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – LHP Steven Gruver Elizabethton @ Danville – RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – LHP Austin Malinowski --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2013 is now available for $13.99 (just $8.99 for the ebook). To high-level summarize, the handbook contains 191 pages of content on the Twins minor league system. You may be asking yourself, “How could one book possibly contain 191 pages on one team’s minor league system?” I’ve asked myself that question, wondering if it’s too much. Hopefully below I’ll be able to show that there is a lot of value. Taking a step back though, I have to say that it is shocking to me that this is my fifth Twins Prospect Handbook. The first cover was plain white text on a red cover. Since then, the past four covers have had players on the covers. The first book had about 81 pages. We’ve clearly increased the output since then.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Most important, however, in that first book the player profiles basically talked about when the player was drafted and/or signed and a few statistics. The content has increased because we talk about the players’ history before coming to the Twins, and we talk about statistics and some more advanced statistics (but without being overwhelming). However, we have been able to gain enough contacts to get very good scouting reports on players. In other words, there is more content, and it is significantly better. Download attachment: MnTwinsPH13.jpg Let’s talk about the profiles. I did something a little bit different this year. In year’s past, I put all of the players together, in alphabetical order. This year, it’s still in alphabetical order, but I did separate the pitchers and the hitters. There are about 85 pitcher profiles and 68 hitter profiles. That is a lot of profiles, and I need to thank and recognize Jeremy Nygaard and Cody Christie. As you at Twins Daily know, these two are very talented writers who have a passion for the Twins and for the minor leagues. I was honored that they were willing to help me out. They both put in a lot of time and now realize the work that it takes to put into each profile in research and writing. To be completely honest, due to life and such, without the help of those two, this year’s Prospect Handbook would not happen. So please, be sure to follow both of them on Twitter (Jeremy and Cody) and thank them. In addition to their profiles, they each wrote a couple of articles as well. Cody wrote an article looking back at the rookies who played for the Twins in 2012. How did they do and what is their future? He also wrote an article on the rise of Tom Brunansky, as well as other coaches/managers in the Twins farm system that are prospects themselves. Jeremy has an article looking back at the Twins 2012 draft. He also wrote an article looking at who some of the options might be when the Twins draft 4th overall in the 2013 draft. Finally, Jeremy was able to secure an interview with Jack Powell. Powell is a Twins scout, and they had a great discussion about the job, and several of the Twins recent draft picks. Jeremy also asked him about being a movie star!! In addition to Cody and Jeremy, a couple of other Twins bloggers were gracious enough to write an article for the book. Jim Crikket (Knuckleballsblog) is a long-time Twins fan and a Cedar Rapids native who has been going to Cedar Rapids Kernels for many, many years. He wrote a very nice article on the history of the Kernels and about the stadium and the atmosphere there. Also, Paul Pleiss (Puckett’s Pond and the Talk to Contact podcast) wrote a fun article talking about a baseball trip that included major league games and a bunch of minor league games. He did a nice job of illustrating why it is so much fun to attend minor league games. I wrote articles on my choices for Twins minor league hitter of the year (Oswaldo Arcia), starting pitcher of the year (BJ Hermsen) and relief pitcher of the year (AJ Achter). Achter and Hermsen provided some quotes to discuss their seasons, their sports histories (both were stars at their high schools in multiple sports) and what they are looking forward to in 2013. I did send questions to Arcia, but he is obviously busy bashing pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League playoffs (Where he has hit three home runs already), so I didn’t get quotes from him. However, I got some great quotes from his teammates about his value as a teammate and obviously as a monstrous hitter. If you are into autographs, specifically if you are going to Twins Fest of Spring Training in Ft. Myers, then the Prospect Handbook is a must-have. Of the five players on the cover of the book, four of them will be at Twins Fest. 17 players profiled in the handbook will be at Twins Fest. As I’ve mentioned before, the cover was put together by Josh Johnson, who also did last year. There are several photos on the covers but also throughout the book. New Britain photos were taken by Heather Cavalier, via the Rock Cats. Ft. Myers photos were taken by Greg Wagner, via the Miracle. The Byron Buxton photos were taken by Janet Carter Patton. Finally, a huge thank you to Justin Rinaldi and Rinaldi Photos. Justin has provided pictures of Snappers players the last few years. The Twins have been brutal the last two years, and as the roster sits right now, they could lose 95+ games again in 2013. That means that there are a lot of minor leaguers who could get the opportunity with the Twins during the season. You know a bit about Kyle Gibson, Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks, but do you know much about Caleb Thielbar, Michael Tonkin, Andrew Albers and Chris Herrmann? The book includes the newest Twins minor leagues like Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Ryan Pressly and Mark Sobolewski. Think any of them will be mentioned from time to time? The beauty of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook is that you can keep it by your coffee table. When Dick Bremer talks about a minor leaguer, or you want to find out what pitchers could come up to the Twins, just grab the book and do a little research. Find out which players are playing well in AA or AAA, get to know about them, and then impress your friends with how much you know. The Twins have not gone the free agency market this offseason, at least not with any players who will hold back any top prospects, so we will likely see several more players come up to the Twins. $13.99 for 191 pages of Twins minor league content seems fair enough. I really want it to be available for people to bring to Twins Fest. If you would like to have some copies before Twins Fest, you will really want to get them ordered within the next 24-48 hours. Get your copy of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2013 today! (Note – E-Books will be coming in the near future. I wanted to get paperback books available.) IF you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. 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Tonight at 6:00 central time, the MLB Draft will commence. We have heard now that the Astros will select Stanford right-hander and Houston native Mark Appel. That means that the Minnesota Twins will have their pick of every other eligible player. I have freely said that I will not be at all disappointed if the Twins take a college pitcher like Kyle Zimmer or Kevin Gausman, the college catcher Mike Zunino or high school bats like OF Byron Buxton or IF Carlos Correa. In fact, although there is a bunch of risk, I would be just fine with the Twins taking a shot on high school RHP Lucas Giolito.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Many fans and media types really want the Twins to use the #2 pick on a college pitcher. This makes a lot of sense as the Twins need pitching at every level, and the four pitchers mentioned above all reach into the upper-90s with their fastballs. The general consensus appeared to be that the Twins will take Byron Buxton, the talented high school outfielder. Buxton is a very toolsie talent who is already considered strong defensively, with great speed and range and a strong arm. Scouts believe he will hit, but there are plenty of questions about what his upside is. Will he hit for power? We will find out in about four to six years. Reading through the comments here and other places, I frequently read about how the Twins don’t need another toolsie outfielder. That is generally followed by a comment speaking about how much outfield depth the Twins have in the minor league system. A year ago, I may have agreed with that, but now? Let’s consider: Denard Span and Josh Willingham have long-term contracts and are both under contract to fill two of the three outfield positions for the next three years. However, these two are the Twins most tradeable assets right now, so we don’t know if one or both of them will be around long-term.Ben Revere, while being very good defensively (range-wise), has struggled with the bat and with getting on base. Of course, he still has room to improve and hopefully he will.Rene Tosoni was the first outfielder to be called up to the Twins in 2011, and although he struggled until September, he did show some power. He went to AAA to start this season again, and was injured early. He returned in May and before the month was over, he was demoted to AA New Britain because he was hitting well under .200.Joe Benson has hit very well in AA the last two years ago, and last September, he was called up to the Twins. During that time, we saw the good and the bad of Benson, but his ceiling is so high. He began this season in AAA but he got off to a slow start. It really got to him and it was necessary to send him down to AA in mid-May. Unfortunately, he broke his hamate bone and had surgery and will miss six weeks.Aaron Hicks had a frustrating 2011 season in Ft. Myers. He had a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League last year. This spring, he was pushed up to AA New Britain where it has been a mixed bag of success and failure. He still hasn’t put up numbers as a left-handed batter, but is very good right-handed. Defensively, he is big-league ready now. The 2008 top pick still has a long ways to go.Angel Morales put up huge numbers in the Appalachian League years ago, but his power has not shown much since then and he has really struggled this year since a great first week. He is still younger than Aaron Hicks, and he has the world of talent, but will it come together soon?Max Kepler is still just 19 years old and will spend his second season in Elizabethton. That is the right thing to do with him, but being so raw means that he could develop into a great player, or he could never develop at all.Obviously there are several more outfielders in the system, four to five per team, but for people to say that the Twins have huge outfield depth is, unfortunately, no longer the case. There are too many question marks right now. That isn’t to say that some of these very talented players mentioned above won’t turn it around and become very good regular in time. What it does speak to is that you just never know with the draft, at any position, including the outfield. That is why taking the Best Available Player is always the right strategy. Finding the player they believe has the most upside, regardless of age or position. I know that the term “Toolsie Outfielder” seems to mean something negative right now to a lot of Twins fans. However, Torii Hunter and Denard Span were toolsie outfielders. Each of them took six to seven years after being drafted to get a chance in the big leagues. Ken Griffey Jr, Matt Kemp, BJ Upton, Justin Upton, Andrew McCutheon and Jay Bruce were toolsie outfielders. In the same way, Marc Newfeld, Paul Coleman and to some degree, BJ Garbe, were also toolsie outfielders. From the list above, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and to some degree Ben Revere were all drafted as toolsie outfielders and the jury is still out on them. There are no ‘sure-things’ in the MLB Draft. However, there are several players that Twins fans should be excited about if they are taken with the #2 overall pick. As much as we like and want pitching, taking a toolsie outfielder like Byron Buxton would NOT be a bad pick at all… as long as they address the pitching with several of their remaining five Top 100 picks. It will not surprise me in the least if the Twins take Buxton, although I will also not be shocked or disappointed if they pick any of the seven names mentioned earlier. I will, however, be shocked if the Twins do not take Rochester Century’s RHP Mitch Brown with the #32 overall pick in the draft. Stay tuned to Twins Daily and the forums throughout the day for any Draft-related news. It is a big day for the Twins and their future. 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