Seth Stohs

On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced they have added four players to their 40 man roster. Jorge Polanco is probably the headliner, or certainly the most obvious choice, but they also added Max Kepler, LHP Logan Darnell, and DH Kennys Vargas. Also, RHP BJ Hermsen was outrighted off the 40 man roster. Download attachment: jorge-polanco.jpg This leaves the Twins 40 man roster at 39. Polanco, 20, struggled for two seasons in the Gulf Coast League, but in 2012 in Elizabethton, he came through with a .903 OPS. He hit .318/.388/.514 with 15 doubles, two triples and five home runs. He moved up to Cedar Rapids in 2013 and proved that his Appy League stats were not a fluke. In 115 games, he hit .308/.362/.452 (.813) with 32 doubles, ten triples and five home runs. He also drove in 78 runs hitting primarily out of the #3 spot in the lineup. Max Kepler, 20, was also signed in 2009, at the same time as Polanco. The German outfielder was moved slowly through the early levels because he was so raw, but at 6-4, 220 pounds he has very good power potential. In 61 games in the 2nd half in Cedar Rapids, the left-hander hit .237/.312/.424 (.736) with 11 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He played a lot in left field, center field and first base. He missed the first half of the season with an elbow injury. Left-hander Logan Darnell quickly rose to New Britain a year after being drafted. He remained there until the second half of 2013. The left-hander has a mixed bag of pitches including a fastball that tops out around 90 and a very good slider. Kennys Vargas is a DH who can play some first base. He put up big numbers in Ft. Myers in 2013, hitting .267/.344/.468 (.813) with 33 doubles, 19 home runs and 93 RBI. He plays first base as well. He’s a large, physically imposing man who reminds many of David Ortiz. He is often referred to as “Little Papi” though he may be bigger than the Red Sox star. This leaves several Twins players at risk of being selected in MLB’s Rule 5 draft on Thursday, December 5, the final day of the Winter Meetings. 2010 top pick Alex Wimmers will be eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft. Relief pitchers such as AJ Achter, Adrian Salcedo, Lester Oliveros and Dakota Watts could be picked. Others, such as James Beresford and Pat Dean, could also be taken. Any thoughts? Click here to view the article

The Twins got a nice 4-3 win last night at Target Field in the first game of the final home stand of the season. Brian Dozier knocked his 18th home run of the season to send the game to extra innings. In the 11th inning, Josmil Pinto drove in the game-winning run for the Twins. As the season is winding down, it seems there are fewer people wanting to talk about the Twins, and understandably so. But here are several topics that are interesting, if nothing else: Last night's Twins win marked the 998th win in the Twins managerial career of Ron Gardenhire. Obviously a big talker over the next week will be whether or not the Twins will (or should) retain him as their manager for 2014 and beyond. No matter what you think of his style or his overall success, 998 wins is noteworthy. Consider, in the long history of Major League Baseball, only 59 managers have reached the 1,000 Win plateau. The most recent manager to attain the milestone was former Twins player Charlie Manuel who achieved it with the Phillies. Of course, once he reached 1,000 wins, the Phillies fired him and have now replaced him with Ryne Sandberg. Josmil Pinto had the big hit last night, and he has come up with many big hits over the course of his short time with the Twins. It caused me to got back a couple of seasons to look at another September call up who made a great first impression. In 2011, Chris Parmelee came up to the Twins following a solid second season in New Britain. He was 23 years old and played in 21 games. In 88 plate appearances, he hit .355/.443/.592 (1.035) with six doubles and four home runs. Josmil Pinto came up just a short stint in Rochester and debuted on September 1st. He was 24 years old and has played in 17 games so far. In 68 plate appearances, he is hitting .359/.397/.578 (.975) with five doubles and three home runs. That comparison is not meant as a knock to either player. Chris Parmelee will turn 26 next spring training, so there is no reason to give up on him as a big league hitter. And, this isn't to say that Pinto won't be a fixture on the Twins roster and in the lineup for years to come. Download attachment: PintoParmelee.jpg Brian Dozier's still hitting just .248 on the season, but his .739 OPS is finally giving him a 102 OPS+, which is to say that it is better than league average. Considering that after a May 27th game, he was hitting just .197, he's put together a very solid season. Since that game (now 104 games, so not completely in the realm of small sample any longer), he has hit .266/.339/.479 (.817) with 30 doubles, two triples and 17 (of his 18) home runs. We know about his defense at second base. His 1.5 DWAR trails only Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler among MLB second basemen. His 705 total chances is tops among all second basemen. His overall WAR (according to ESPN) of 3.8 ranks seventh among second basemen, trailing Robinson Cano (7.4), Matt Carpenter (6.6), Dustin Pedroia (6.3), Jason Kipnis (5.3), Ben Zobrist (4.7), and Ian Kinsler (4.6). His 18 home runs are behind only Cano (27), Dan Uggla (22), and Jedd Gyorko (20). Long-time Twins infielder/outfielder/pitcher(?) Michael Cuddyer is about to win the National League batting title. Entering play today, Cuddyer is batting a robust .334. He is currently leading the Braves' Chris Johnson (.327) and the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter (.324). Couldn't happen to a better, most standout guy. If not for the frustrations of the 2011 season, I believe he would have loved to have stayed in Minnesota for his whole career. He represents all that a Minnesota Twins player should be. He was a starter for the National League in the All-Star game this year (his second All- Star game), and put on an impressive display in the Home Run Derby. Since joining the Pirates, Justin Morneau is hitting .254/.354/.299 (.653) with three doubles. Jamey Carroll has had three hits in 39 at bats for the Royals since they acquired him at the end of July. He is sitting on 999 career hits. Six games to go... The Twins will play three more against Detroit followed by three games against Cleveland. And then we will go almost four and a half months before spring training! Click here to view the article

On Sunday, the Minnesota Twins announced their Florida Instructional League roster. The Florida Instructional League is designed for younger players in the organization to get some extra time and instruction in the Twins' system. There are several 2013 draft picks on this roster, but there are also a lot of players who will be there because they missed time during the season with injury. Some are just there to get some work in before heading to the Arizona Fall League. There are games, but it is really about getting into the finer points of the game, and for those 2013 draftees, a little preview of what will happen next spring when they report for spring training. Here is a look at the Twins roster in Florida: Download attachment: TwinsProspects.jpg The Pitchers: Jose (JO) Berrios, Brandon Bixler, Madison Boer, Hudson Boyd, Ryan Eades, Brian Gilbert, Stephen Gonsalves, Chih-Wei Hu, CK Irby, Felix Jorge, Yorman Landa, Austin Malinowski, Mason Melotakis, Alex Meyer, Ethan Mildren, Brandon Peterson, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario, Aaron Slegers, Kohl Stewart, Tyler Stirewalt, Miguel Sulburan, Lewis Thorpe, Alex Wimmers Thoughts: There are some very exciting prospects on this list. The 2013 top pitching draft picks will be there. There is reason for optimism with Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, and even Ryan Eades despite unimpressive numbers at Elizabethton. Miguel Sulburan may be invited, in part, to get to know more people in the organization. Randy Rosario ended the Elizabethton season in the DL with some shoulder discomfort, but he is fine and will join fellow E-Twins starters Yorman Landa and Felix Jorge. Alex Meyer will get more work in even before the AFL after missing so much time during the season. The Catchers: Jorge Fernandez, Mitch Garver, Brian Navarreto, Michael Quesada, Alex Swim, Stuart Turner. Thoughts: Jorge Fernandez and Brian Navarreto were both impressive in the GCL. Turner and Garver were top college catchers who got off to a good start in Elizabethton. Quesada completed his 50-game suspension before spending the final months with the Kernels. The Infielders: Niko Goodrum, Travis Harrison, Dalton Hicks, Aderlin Mejia, Levi Michael, Amaurys Minier, Javier Pimentel, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas, Engelb Vielma, Ryan Walker. Thoughts: This is a little older group of prospects, but they are guys with something to work on. I would say that, particularly with infielders, any extra mechanical work will be beneficial. They will work on the hitting side of the game, but I would venture that defense will be a primary focus for this group. That said, there is some serious upside in this group. The Outfielders: Zach Granite, Zach Larson, Jeremias Pineda, Dereck Rodriguez, Adam Walker, JD Williams. Thoughts: Walker and Williams had very solid seasons, but both have some work to do defensively, and even offensively. Rodriguez has so much talent, but he keeps getting hurt, so this is an opportunity for him to get more work in. Larson was a late-round pick last year who put together a very nice 2013. There is the list of players. Although box scores and any information are difficult to get out of Ft. Myers during the instructional league, it is a good opportunity for these young players. Click here to view the article

Maybe it was because Hall of Famer Rod Carew threw him some batting practice before the game, but third baseman Bryan Haar had one of those special games that players dream about... by the end of the 2nd inning. He went 2-3 with two home runs and seven RBI. The Cedar Rapids Kernels won a 9-5, rain-shortened game at Perfect Game Field on Saturday night. The game had a 31-minute rain delay in the early innings, but after another 30-minute delay in the top of the 7th, the game was called. Three hours later, it’s still raining in Cedar Rapids. Download attachment: Haar1a.jpg Following the game, Haar said that he hadn’t had a game like this in a long time. “It’s been since high school that I hit two home runs in one game.” In the first inning, Zach Granite led off with a solid single up the middle. One pitch later, Engelb Vielma doubled down the right field line. One batter later, Haar came up and launched one. He said, “I got an offspeed pitch the first at-bat, so it went to left center.” In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Kernels cleanup hitter did just that. With the bases loaded, he had a long at-bat that ended with a long home run to dead center field, just out of the reach of a leaping LumberKings’ center fielder Aaron Barbosa. Haar acknowledged he wasn’t sure if the ball was caught. He said, “I thought he caught it. Oh man, I got nervous for a second.” His approach at the plate with runners on base was certainly sound. He said, “(With) guys in scoring position, I tried to get a pitch up, especially with the wind blowing out tonight. I tried to drive it to the middle of the field.” I don’t know if Bryan Haar is a superstitious, but getting to replicate his pregame from Saturday each day would be great. He told the story: “I was hitting off the tee before the game, and (Rod Carew) had to get loose before the first pitch. He was like, ‘Alright, step in there.’ I took about ten swings off of him, and it was pretty cool. It was a great experience.” For the record, Rod Carew threw a strike to Kernels infielder Tanner Vavra for the game’s First Pitch. Haar was very much knowledgeable of who Rod Carew is and his place in Minnesota Twins history, and in Major League Baseball’s history. It was not the first time he had met the Hall of Famer. (Side Note – Twins Daily was able to interview Carew, and that will be posted here in coming days.) Catcher Bo Altobelli hit his first home run of the season, a solo home run to lead off the 2nd inning. Vielma went 1-2 with a walk and the double was his tenth. Ryan Eades got the start for the Kernels. He had a quick 1-2-3 inning in the first frame. He looked impressive. His fastball sat between 90 and 92 and touched 94 early in the game. He showed a slider at 83, and a changeup at about 82. His curveball was in the low-to-mid 70s. All four of those were quality pitches. He gave up one run in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings and then two runs in the fifth inning. He has the pitches, but he seemed to make a bad pitch or two each inning that came back to haunt him. But, he lasted through the first rain delay and then through five innings to record his fifth win. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits. He walked none, hit one and struck out five. Brandon Bixler worked 1.1 scoreless innings before the rains came. He struck out two. KERNELS NUGGETS I had the opportunity to chat with reliever Todd Van Steensel after the game. He absolutely loves being a closer. His high leg kick is a bit of a timing mechanism for him. However, he will be working on shortening up somewhat when there are runners on base to help against the running game. Click here to view the article

The Twins got a very nice 7-6 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night. But the offense and defense of Denard Span and some great ninth inning work from the bottom of the order gave the Twins a walk-off win. Danny Valencia led off the ninth with a line drive single. Alexi Casilla pinch ran for him. Brian Dozier laid down a perfect bunt that AJ Pierzynski threw into right field, allowing both runners to advance. Jamey Carroll stepped up and flew out to right field, deep enough for Casilla to score the game-winning run. The next 24 hours will be interesting as the trade deadline will pass in the middle of the afternoon (3:00 central time) and then the Twins will take on Francisco Liriano in his first White Sox start. Should be an interesting day, to say the least. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Monday games in the minor leagues. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 7, COLUMBUS 2 Esmerling Vasquez made the start for the Red Wings and was very good. The right-hander threw six innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out six. Kyle Waldrop came in and recorded his third save with three perfect innings. The big hit for the Red Wings came off the bat of Rene Rivera whose eighth homer of the season was a grand slam. Chris Parmelee went 3-5 and drove in two runs. Pedro Florimon was 3-5. Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Matt Carson were each 2-5. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4. Eduardo Escobar made his Red Wings debut and was 1-4 with an RBI. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS No Game Scheduled FT. MYERS 4, DAYTONA 8 It was a rough start for Cole Nelson and the Miracle in this one. They came on late, but it wasn’t enough. Nelson gave up seven runs (5 earned) on ten hits and two walks in three innings. Miguel Munoz struckout four over three scoreless innings. Clinton Dempster gave up a run on two hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out three. The Miracle scored four runs in the 9th, but that only cut the lead in half. Levi Michael was 2-5. Anderson Hidalgo hit a three-run double in that ninth inning. BELOIT 5, PEORIA 3 Jason Wheeler started and gave up one run on six hits and two walks in five innings. He struckout four. Dallas Gallant gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in two innings. He struckout three. Corey Williams recorded his 15th save with two scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit and struckout two. Stephen Wickens hit his first Midwest League home run and walked. AJ Pettersen went 2-3 with his ninth double. Miguel Sano went 2-4. Kennys Vargas went 1-3 with a walk and his second double. ELIZABETHTON 5, BRISTOL 3 Corey Kimes made the start in this game. The lefty gave up three hits and a walk over five shutout innings. Brett Lee improved to 3-0 despite blowing a save. He gave up three runs on four hits in two innings. Luke Bard made his Elizabethton debut. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out two in an inning. Travis Huber picked up his first save with a 1-2-3 inning. Jorge Polanco led the offense in this game. He went 3-4 with his first home run and fourth stolen base. Candido Pimentel went 2-5 with his fifth double. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 1 Yorman Landa pitched very well again. He threw four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Kuo Hua Lo gave up one run on five hits over the next 3.2 innings. Melciades de la Cruz struckout two in 1.1 innings. Zach Larson went 2-3 with his second stolen base. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with a walk and his fourth double. Joel Licon drove in two runs. Aderlin Mejia was 1-3 and stole three bases, including a steal of home. --- Players of the Day for Monday, July 30, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Jorge Polanco Download attachment: JorgePolanco.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Corey Kimes Download attachment: CoreyKimes.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Columbus – RHP Eric Hurley New Britain @ Bowie – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Daytona – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit vs Kane County – David Hurlbut (vs Royals #1 pick, RHP Kyle Zimmer) Elizabethton @ Bristol – Ricardo Arevalo 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

A lot has been going on in the Twins farm system the last couple of days, and after missing a day for the first time this year, I'll be updating you on the last two days in game summaries and highlights. Not sure if people will believe this, but I went from 11:00 a.m. on Friday until 7:00 p.m. on Saturday without being on my computer. I believe that is my personal record. I watched a couple of games at the state baseball tournament (check out this Howard Sinker blog on it, please) and kept quite busy. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Friday - Rochester 12, Gwinnett 8 Saturday - Rochester 6, Gwinnett 5 The Red Wings bats came alive on Friday night. Dan Rohlfing led the way. He went 4-4 with his first AAA double and triple in the game. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with a walk and his 13th home run. Antoan Richardson went 2-5 with his fourth triple. Eric Farris and Trevor Plouffe each went 2-5. Drew Butera drove his first home run of the season, a three-run blast. On Saturday, the Red Wings were down 5-1 going into the bottom of the 9th. Improbably, things happen from time to time. The Red Wings scored five runs in the half-inning and won on a two-run, walk-off single from Dan Rohlfing. Rohlfing was 2-4 with a walk and his second double. Antoan Richardson went 0-2 with three walks and his 11th stolen base. Kyle Gibson started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out four. Cody Eppley made his first appearance in the Twins organization and gave up a run on three hits and a walk in two innings. Luis Perdomo pitched a perfect inning. Friday - New Britain 1, Harrisburg 4 Saturday - New Britain 8, Harrisburg 1 On Friday night, lefty Logan Darnell provided the team with another quality start. He went seven innings and gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out three. BJ Hermsen gave up two hits but no runs in his inning. Matt Hauser gave up a solo homer in the 9th. Nate Hanson went 2-4 with his seventh double. Angel Morales homered for the first time with the Rock Cats. On Saturday, Tom Stuifbergen was back on the mound after a rough first outing for Rochester. The Dutch right-hander rebounded to give up one run on four hits in six innings; he walked none and struck out seven. Edgar Ibarra worked two perfect innings. AJ Achter gave up a hit but no runs in his inning. Nat Hanson again led the offense. He went 2-3 with his eighth double and third AAA homer. He drove in five runs. Miguel Sano went 0-1 with three walks. Josmil Pinto went 1-1 with two walks and a double. Eddie Rosario hit his first AA double. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his seventh home run. Friday - Off Day in the Florida State League. Saturday - Florida State League All Star Game. Taylor Rogers started for the south squad and pitched a perfect 1st inning. Corey Williams and Zack Jones each pitched a perfect inning in relief. Kennys Vargas batted fourth and played first base. He went 1-3. Matt Koch started behind the plate and batted eighth. He went 0-1. The South All-Stars went on to win 8-1. Friday - Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 6 (10 innings) Saturday - Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 8 Cedar Rapids has had a stronghold on the western division of the Midwest League much of the first half of the season. After losses the past two nights and a Beloit win on Saturday, the Snappers now lead the division by one game with on game to play. So, here's how tomorrow (Sunday) lays out: if Beloit wins, they are the division champs for the first half. If Cedar Rapids loses, Beloit wins the title. However, if the Kernels win and the Snappers lose, Cedar Rapids will still claim the division title because the will have played two fewer games and would have a higher winning percentage. On Friday night, the Kernels got a terrific start from Brett Lee. The lefty went seven innings and gave up just one run. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out five. Kaleb Merck gave up one run on three hits in two innings. The game went to extra innings and Steven Gruver was charged with four unearned runs on two hits to take the loss. Dalton Hicks went 2-5 with his 10th home run. Byron Buxton went 2-5 with his 28th stolen base. JD Williams and Adam Walker each had two hits. Saturday, it was Hudson Boyd on the mound; it didn't go well. The right-hander gave up six runs on seven hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. Caleb Brewer came on and gave up one run on three hits and a walk over the next 2.1 innings. Tim Atherton went the final three innings and gave up one run on two hits. Hicks hit his 11th homer in this game. Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his 11th home run. Byron Buxton went 1-3 with a walk. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. View full article

The Twins played a late game out in Seattle and did not get a very good start. The Twins minor league affiliates all got pretty good starts. Five of the six starters began the game with four scoreless frames. The Twins starters at the top three affiliates each went at least six scoreless innings. Liam Hendriks had a perfect game going through six while Trevor May had given up just one hit through the Rock Cats first six innings. Each gave up runs in the third. Matt Summers has been incredible in July, and he was at his best on Thursday. Check out his July numbers below, and then see how the rest of the minor league affiliates did: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 3 Box Score Liam Hendriks certainly had people talking for a while with his performance in this game. The Australian right-hander had a perfect game through six innings. However, in the 7th, he gave up three quick runs. In total, he went 7.2 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Aaron Thompson came in and got the final four outs to record his sixth Red Wings save. All four outs came on strikeouts. Deibinson Romero led the offense. He was 2-2 with two walks, his eighth double and his seventh home run. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4 with his tenth double. New Britain 1, Reading 3 Box Score Trevor May was terrific on this day. He gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out eight. However, through six innings, he had given up just one hit, one walk and no runs. Dan Turpen came in and worked a perfect inning. Danny Ortiz provided three of the team’s hits, including his 24th double. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 23rd double. Nate Hanson, taking over third base duties for the benched Miguel Sano, went 1-2 with two walks and his sixth home run. Ft. Myers 8, Clearwater 3 Box Score Matt Summers has been the story for the Miracle in the month of June. On this night, he was again terrific. He worked seven shutout inning and gave up just five hits and a walk. He struck out seven. After listening to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly and hearing his July numbers, I had to go look for myself. In four starts this month, he is 2-1 with a 0.28 ERA. In 31.2 innings, he has given up one earned run. He has allowed 17 hits, walked four and struck out 23. Summers was replaced by Manuel Soliman who gave up one hit in his innings. Corey Williams came on for a perfect ninth. Each had one strikeout. The offense was spread out among four players. Utilty man Andy Leer went 3-4 with his ninth double. Byron Buxton was 2-5 with his third home run with the Miracle. Mike Kvasnicka was 2-4 with his sixth double. And Aderlin Mejia’s improbable run at Ft. Myers continues. He went 2-4 with his tenth double and is now hitting .341! Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 8 Box Score Josue Montanez started and through four innings, he did not allow a run. However, he went seven innings and was charged with five runs on ten hits and a walk. Dallas Gallant came on and gave up two runs on two hits and three walks and recorded just two outs. Alex Muren came on and gave up an unearned run in 1.1 innings. Travis Harrison and Jorge Polanco each went 3-5 in the game. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 and stole his 11th base. Joel Licon’s sixth double drove in two of the Kernels' runs. Elizabethton 1, Kingsport 3 Box Score Yorman Landa had another decent start, though his control eluded him at times, again. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked four and struck out five. Austin Malinowski came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked a batter. Andrew Ferreira gave up one run on one hit and one walk in one inning. He struck out… one! Zach Granite went 2-4, and Dereck Rodriguez hit his third home run of the season. GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 1 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu started and threw four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out six. Jared Wilson came on and threw two scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out one. Reyson Zoquiel gave up an unearned run on two hits in his inning. Josh Guyer struck out two in a scoreless inning. Derrick Penilla struck out two in his perfect inning to record the save. Alex Swim went 2-3 with a walk as the GCL Twins managed just six hits in the game. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

Brian Dozier headlines a list of several guests on tonight's SethSpeaks Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. The show goes live at 9! You can listen live (or listen later), by clicking this link. I would encourage you to participate by signing in and joining the chat room. Dozier was the talk of spring training and has kept his name all over Twins Daily discussion boards thanks to a fast start in Rochester. You can ask Brian Dozier a question. I'll also be joined by Chrissy Scaffidi, the Director of Media and Community Relations for the Beloit Snappers. Later, I'll be joined by TwinsCentrician Parker Hageman to talk about Twins topics. Andy from Twins Fan from Afaralso called in to talk about the New Britain Rock Cats. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Again, your participation is welcomed and encouraged. If you can't listen live, but want to ask Brian Dozier or any of our guests a questions, leave them here. Leave Comments in the Forum. Download attachment: BrianDozier3.jpg Click here to view the article

It is hard to believe the baseball season is nearly two months old. I guess it is only June 1, but it’s time to look back at some of the best performers in the Minnesota Twins farm system. We will start today by looking at the top relief pitchers. There were a lot of terrific bullpen performances this month. Coming up with a top five was difficult. That is why there are several honorable mentions. However, it was pretty easy to pick this month’s Relief Pitcher of the Month. He’s a guy who has experienced a lot of success ever since he signed with the Twins organization. Number 5 – New Britain – Lester Oliveros - 1.32 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 13.2 IP, 8 H, 9 BB, 17 K Oliveros was on this list last month, and his elbow certainly appears to be back at 100%. According to a recent Baseball America story, part of the reason he was sent to AA was because he showed up to camp overweight. However, now the weight is off and he’s back to throwing mid-90s heat. Overall on the season, he has a 0.78 ERA and seven saves for the Rock Cats. As you recall, Oliveros came to the organization from the Tigers in the Delmon Young trade. He got to the Twins but he ended up having Tommy John surgery in September of 2012. He should be moving up to Rochester in the very near future. He will have to throw more strikes in order to get another opportunity with the Minnesota Twins. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – Brandon Peterson – 0.90 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 12 K The Minnesota native was on this list last month when dominating in Cedar Rapids. He made two more May appearances with the Kernels before being promoted to the Miracle. He continued to dominate out of the bullpen. Petersen throws hard, vaulting fastballs into the mid-90s. He combines that pitch with a low-80s slider that makes him very difficult on right-handed hitters. He was the 13th round pick just last year out of Wichita State. He had pitched at Des Moines Area Community College before that. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Todd Van Steensel – 1.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 18.0 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 22 K Van Steensel was signed by the Twins early this year after a strong season in the Australian Baseball League. It will be his second stint with the Twins as he spent the 2011 season with Elizabethton where he went 5-2. In his time away, he has moved to the bullpen, he has altered his mechanics and has become a dominant reliever. He now employs a high leg kick in his delivery, and he airs it out. He still has a good three pitches. He began the season in Extended Spring Training, but he was called up to Cedar Rapids at the end of April. He now has some really good stuff and a chance to move up fairly quickly. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Tim Shibuya – 1.10 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 12 H, 2 BB, 19 K Shibuya’s first month in the Florida State League didn’t go so well. He posted a 7.98 ERA. He gave up 22 hits in 14.1 innings. The turn of the calendar from April to May did wonders for Shibuya. He was the 23rd round pick in 2011 out of UC-San Diego. He was the Appy League Pitcher of the Year when he went 8-2 in Elizabethton. In the second half of 2012, he developed arm problems and had shoulder surgery in the offseason. It cost him much of the 2013 season as well, though he ended the season going 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA in 10 outings. Shibuya doesn’t throw real hard, topping out around 90. However, he has been working on a cutter. He’s got a curveball and a changeup as well. He has always had impeccable control. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester – AJ Achter – 1.72 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 15 K Download attachment: AJ Achteredie.jpg He was my choice for minor league relief pitcher of the year in 2012, his first year as a reliever, and he was almost as good last year as he smoothly adjusted to the upper levels of the farm system. Yes, he began this season back in AA, but he quickly (3 games) moved up to Rochester when there was an opening. He has been tremendous with the Red Wings. Overall, he has a 1.41 ERA and a 0.63 ERA this year. Achter was the Twins 46th round draft pick in 2010 out of Michigan State. Achter generally sits in the low-90s but has the ability to hit 95 from time to time. He also has a good changeup along with a curveball and slider. While Michael Tonkin has the prospect status, it is Achter who continues to get the job done in whatever role he is put in. Most often, he is asked to go two or even three innings, but he also has four saves for the Red Wings. Following the 2013 season, Achter pitched in the Arizona Fall League. However, he was not added to the 40 man roster. The way he is pitching, he should be added to the 40 man roster during this season and get an opportunity with the big league club. Quickly, here are some Honorable Mentions, a few guys worthy of recognition: Yohan Pino – Rochester – 2.41 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 16 H, 4 BB, 16 KRyan Pressly – Rochester – 2.04 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 17.2 IP, 17 H, 1 BB, 16 KAaron Thompson – Rochester – 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 11 KTyler Jones – Ft. Myers – 1.69 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 10 KYorman Landa – Cedar Rapids – 1.80 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 8 H, 8 BB, 16 KRelief pitchers deserve to get more recognition. Seemingly only when things go poorly do fans notice them. That’s one of the reasons that we recognize the relief pitchers here. Each of these pitchers did their job, and they all did it well. In the next couple of days, we’ll also be recognizing the top starting pitchers and hitters for the month of May. Click here to view the article

If you follow the tremendous work of 1500 ESPN's Phil Mackey, you know that every Sunday, he posts an updated 25 man roster projection. Phil is in Ft. Myers and talking to players, coaches and front office personnel, so he may have some insider information. But, I think that we can all do our own roster projections because until we get to April and the team has to announce their 25 man roster, anything can happen. I hope to post my projection updates each Friday and hope that you will leave your projections in the comments and discuss. The players in Red are players that I believe are givens to make the roster (obviously pending injury). Those in black are potentially up for grabs. Catchers: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, JR Towles Although Towles isn't exactly an exciting prospect like he was 5 years ago, he likely is an improvement over Drew Butera. If the team insists on three catchers, I now believe Towles tops Butera. Infielders: Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Jamey Carroll, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Luke Hughes It certainly doesn't sound like the Twins really want to keep Nishioka around. I personally think that in terms of a pure utility infielder, Ray Chang would be the right choice. I think Luke Hughes is on the bench for power, if he is not placed on the disabled list. Outfielders: Ben Revere, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe As much talk as there has been about Plouffe taking over in LF with Revere as the 4th outfielder, Plouffe will have to improve tremendously with the glove for that to happen consistently. Starting Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Jason Marquis No changes, no surprises here, although Terry Doyle and Liam Hendriks have looked good in their couple of outings early in spring. Bullpen: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Jared Burton, Jeff Manship, Terry Doyle The first four appear set. Burton was the non-roster invite who garnered the most attention coming in to camp, and he's been good so far. Too many people have forgotten about Jeff Manship as a bullpen option, and he's been good. If Terry Doyle continues to pitch well, the Twins will certainly want to keep their Rule 5 investment. It is early, and we know guys like Kyle Waldrop, Alex Burnett, Lester Oliveros, Jeff Gray, Esmerling Vasquez, Matt Maloney and others will try to make an impression. I admit as well that I am intrigued by Brendan Wise as well. Those last three names are certainly debatable and subject to change over the next three or four weeks. What are your thoughts? What does your roster look like? Download attachment: JaredBurton.jpg Click here to view the article

Twins Daily hopes that you and your families and friends had a fun and safe Fourth of July holiday. The Twins had the honor of facing reigning AL Cy Young Award and AL MVP Justin Verlander. The righty from Old Dominion dominated the Twins with the exception of a solo home run off the bat of Chris Parmelee. It was one of just four hits the Twins had in the game, and two of them were from Denard Span. Brian Duensing left the game after 4.1 innings. Then Kyle Waldrop and Cole De Vries each gave up homers to Miguel Cabrera, who is good at baseball, in case you were wondering. For all this and more, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Wednesday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 4, PAWTUCKET 7 Matt Carson hit his seventh home run of the season for the Red Wings. Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Rene Rivera each hit their seventh doubles of the year. Unfortunately, the key #7 was the number of runs that Red Wings pitchers allowed in this loss. Luke French gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks in just 1.1 innings. He gave up two home runs, one of them to former Twins OF Jason Repko. Esmerling Vasquez then gave up just two hits over 3.2 scoreless innings. Caleb Thielbar gave up three hits and a walk, but no runs, in two scoreless innings. Bobby Lanigan gave up a run on two hits and a walk in two innings. NEW BRITAIN 3, TRENTON 2 Logan Darnell started and gave up two runs on seven hits. In 6.2 innings, he walked one and struck out two. Dakota Watts walked one and struck out one in 1.1 scoreless innings to record his first AA win this year. Bruce Pugh picked up his fourth save. He struck out two in one perfect inning. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his 11th home run. James Beresford was 2-3. FT. MYERS 7, CHARLOTTE 5 Matt Hauser is now in the Miracle starting rotation. He was good again on Wednesday. He gave up five hits in four scoreless innings. He walked none and struck out four. Jose Gonzalez then struck out five in three scoreless frames. He walked one. Ricky Bowen gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. AJ Achter came in and got the final out to hold the lead and to record his second Miracle save. It was a great day for the Miracle bats as several players had multi-hit games. Danny Santana again led the offense. He was 3-4 with his tenth doubles and seventh triple. Jairo Perez went 3-4 with a walk and his sixth home run. Danny Ortiz went 2-4 with his fifth triple. Josmil Pinto was 2-5 with his 14th double. Danny Rams went 2-5 with his second triple and third home run. BELOIT 6, CLINTON 8 Steven Gruver started for the Snappers. The left-hander gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out three. Cole Johnson came in and gave up two runs on two hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out three. Inexplicably, the Snappers scored six runs despite just four hits and only two Matt Koch walks. ELIZABETHTON 8, KINGSPORT 1 Hudson Boyd recorded his first Win as a professional pitcher. The large right-hander gave up only an unearned run on five hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. Hein Robb came in and recorded one of those fun, statistical anomalies. The lefty from South Africa struck out four in one inning. DJ Baxendale struck out two in his inning. Dallas Gallant struck out one and gave up one hit in a scoreless inning. The E-Twins continued to hit well. Josh Hendricks was 2-5 with his first home run. Adam Walker went 2-5 with his third double. Romy Jimenez is now hitting .449 after another 2-4 game. Niko Goodrum was 1-3 with two walks and his fourth double. Travis Harrison was 1-3 with a walk and his fourth double. GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 2 The GCL Twins got a nice win. Felix Jorge made his first start and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Markus Solbach gave up two hits in his two scoreless innings. Gonzalo Sanudo threw two scoreless innings in which he gave up just one hit and struck one out. Bryan Haar went 2-3. Byron Buxton more than doubled his batting average with a 2-4 game. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, July 4, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Hudson Boyd Download attachment: Hudson Boyd.jpg Hitter of the Day – Jairo Perez Download attachment: JairoPerez.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Thursday, July 5, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Pawtucket – RHP Jeff Manship New Britain @ Trenton – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit @ Clinton – LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs Kingsport – RHP Ricardo Arevalo 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

It was a busy day in the Twins organization, even with the Cedar Rapids Kernels game in Kane County being rained out. The Red Wings and Miracle both played doubleheaders. Both short-season teams played. The New Britain Rock Cats sent Jason Wheeler to the mound for his Eastern League debut in search for the team’s record tenth straight win. Could they get it? Also, Mark Hamburger was promoted from New Britain to Rochester. The Twins beat the White Sox for the third straight time on Saturday afternoon. Kevin Correia was solid again, and Glen Perkins was able to hold on for a save. Let’s check out what happened in the Twins farm system on Saturday: RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 – Rochester 6, Buffalo 3 Box Score Before the game, Mark Hamburger was promoted from New Britain to Rochester after just eight games with the Rock Cats since his return from his 50-game suspension. He was put in action right away and recorded a two-inning save in the first game. He gave up two hits but walked none and struck out two. Trevor May was the winner for the eighth time this year. The right-hander gave up a three-run homer in the first inning, then threw four scoreless innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out three. Chris Rahl went 2-3 with his eighth double and two RBI. James Beresford went 2-3. Dan Rohlfing drove in two with his 12th double. Deibinson Romero went 1-2 with a walk and his second triple. Game 2 – Rochester 3, Buffalo 7 Box Score With the doubleheader, Scott Diamond was given another chance to start. It went about as well as expected. In 3.1 innings, he gave up five runs on six hits and two walks (without a strikeout). Deolis Guerra came on and gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. He struck out one. Edgar Ibarra went the next 1.2 innings and gave up one hit. He walked none and struck out two. Doug Bernier was 2-3 with a walk. Chris Herrmann went 2-4. Eric Farris was 2-3 with his 12th double. Josmil Pinto hit his second home run with the Red Wings. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Reading 2 Box Score The Rock Cats were looking to increase their winning streak to a club record ten games, and they sent Jason Wheeler to the mound to make his AA debut. The lefty was up to the challenge. He gave up just two runs over 6.1 innings. He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out seven. Cole Johnson came on and struck out two over 1.2 scoreless. Lester Oliveros came in for the ninth inning and gave up a hit but no runs for his 11th save. The Rock Cats managed just five hits, but they added six walks and took advantage of a couple Fightin Phillies errors. Nate Hanson drove in two runs. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 20th double and stole his fourth base. Mike Kvasnicka walked twice and stole two bases. Aaron Hicks was 2-4, but as was noted, at least one of his hits was left-handed. With Hicks on the roster, Eddie Rosario played left field in this game. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 - Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 0 Box Score Tim Shibuya had to wait a day after yesterday's rainout but it didn’t seem to affect him at all. The right-hander threw all seven innings and didn’t give up a run. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out one. He now has a 19.1 inning scoreless streak. Lance Ray had a double and drove in two runs. Max Kepler went 2-3 with his sixth double. He also stole his third base. Jorge Polanco went 2-4. Mike Gonzales and Travis Harrison each went 2-3. Harrison’s first hit of the day extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Download attachment: Tim Shibuya.jpg Tim Shibuya photo by Linwood Ferguson Game 2 - Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie Box Score In the second game, the script was switched. It was the Miracle bats that were silenced by Mets pitching prospect Matt Koch. The Miracle had just four hits. Jorge Polanco had two of them. Travis Harrison had a single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. He had a 15 game hitting streak earlier in the season. It was a bullpen game for the Miracle. Steven Gruver, Brian Gilbert and Brandon Peterson each pitched two innings. Gruver gave up one run on one hit and two walks. Gilbert did not allow a run. Peterson gave up an unearned run on two hits. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids @ Kane County Box Score The game was postponed by poor weather. They will play a doubleheader on Sunday. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 5, Greeneville 6 Box Score It was a big day for a couple Minnesota kids. Eden Prairie’s (via U of Maryland) Blake Schmidt started at shortstop, and Red Wing's (via U of Nebraska) Pat Kelly played second base. Schmidt went 2-4. Kelly was 3-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Jonatan Hinojosa went 2-3 with a walk and a triple. Dutch Deol and Brian Navaretto each had a double. Nick Gordon was the DH. He went 1-4 in the game. Chih-Wei Hu went the first four innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and struck out four. Keaton Steele gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out one. Josue Montanez gave up two unearned runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out two. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 5 Box Score The GCL team had an early-morning game at home on Saturday. They fell by one run. Brandon Easton started and went the first three innings. He gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks while striking out two. Zach Tillery gave up an unearned run on one walk and no hits. Miles Nordgren gave up two hits and a walk over three scoreless innings. Trevor Hildenberger came on and gave up an unearned run on two hits. Amaurys Minier is back in the GCL for a couple reasons. He had offseason shoulder surgery and he is also shifting from third base to the outfield. One thing he does possess is some power. He went 3-4 with his first home run of the season. Rafael Valeda went 2-4. Jarrard Poteete hit a double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tim Shibuya, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Pat Kelly, Elizabethton Twins SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (12:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin (vs PJ Walters) (Listen) Reading @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (4:00 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (1:00 CST) – Fernando Romero (Listen) Pulaski @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – TBD (Listen) GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. [/hr] A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins third straight win over the White Sox on Saturday, it means that on you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza for the third straight day (on Sunday) when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code atPapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

Earlier in the week, I posted the June Twins minor league starting pitcher and relief pitcher of the month of June. The starters were not too terribly impressive, but there were a lot of tremendous bullpen performances in June. So today, let’s take a look at which Twins minor league hitters had the best June performances. I’ll let you be the judge of how impressive the performances were. Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in June: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 5 – Ft. Myers/New Britain – Oswaldo Arcia - (21-77) .273/.371/.468 (.839) with six doubles, no triples, three home runs and 19 RBI. Arcia had a monster May and was selected the minor league hitter of the month for May. Arcia began June in Ft. Myers, played in the Florida State League All Star game and then was promoted to Double A. Although his Rock Cats numbers are much more pedestrian, he has held his own with the promotion. The 21-year-old from Venezuela was added to the 40 man roster and is clearly the Twins top hitting prospect in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – Danny Ortiz - (24-77) .312/.384/.494 (.877) with five doubles, three triples, one home run and 9 RBI. Ortiz was the player of the month in April of 2011 when he posted an OPS over 1.000 in Beloit. The rest of the year was disappointing for the outfielder from Puerto Rico. He began the 2012 season back with the Snappers but was promoted to the Miracle in early May. After a short adjustment period, Ortiz was very good in June. Listed at 5-11 and 166 pounds, Ortiz has plenty of punch in his bat. The 22-year-old was the Twins 4th round pick in 2008. He missed the entire 2009 season due to knee surgery. Number 3 – Beloit/Ft. Myers – Kyle Knudson - (22-59) .373/.427/.474 (.901) with six doubles, no triples, no home runs and 10 RBI. The 24-year-old former Gopher catcher missed the early part of the 2012 season due to injury and rehab. He rejoined the Snappers in early May and hit just .250 in 18 games with the Snappers. In mid-June, he was promoted to the Miracle and many assumed he would fill a backup role. He went 0-3 in his first Miracle game. Then came the All Star break. Knudson then had three hits in three straight games. He hit .400 in 15 June games with the Miracle and found himself in the middle of the lineup. He was the Twins 9th round pick in 2010. Number 2 - Beloit – Nate Roberts - (24-65) .369/.481/.554 (1.035) with six doubles, no triples, two home run and 11 RBI. Roberts was the Twins 5th round pick in 2010 out of High Point University. In 2011, he hit .302/.443/.446 with the Beloit Snappers. Unfortunately, he only played 68 games due to injury. Same story this spring for Roberts. He missed the first six weeks of the season with a bad knee. He played in just six games in May. However, in June, he took off, showing off his all-around game. He has extra base pop and a great willingness to get on base. The 23-year-old should move up to Ft. Myers soon. The June Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... New Britain Rock Cats OF Evan Bigley (34-101) .337/.367/.624 (.986) with nine doubles, one triple, six home runs and 23 RBI. 25-year-old Bigley is in his third season with the Rock Cats. After hitting just .165 in May and the subsequent promotion of Arcia, the assumption was that Bigley would lose some playing time. Instead, he has gone on a prolonged hot stretch. At one point, he went 16-28 (from June 19-24). Bigley was the Twins 10th round pick in 2008 from Dallas Baptist. He hit .336 for the Rock Cats in the final 27 games of the 2010 season, then hit .253 in 2011. Bigley is a solid all-around player who has put up decent numbers throughout his career. There you have it. The top 5 hitters in the Twins system for the month of June. Now it’s time to debate. What do you think? Please feel free to discuss. Download attachment: Evan Bigley Mug.jpg Click here to view the article

Minnesota Twins Minor League Report for July 26, 2014. The Twins had yet another rough one with the White Sox. Three Twins pitching prospects had impressive, shutout performances. There was a walk-off win for one of the affiliates, and another needed 11 innings to win.Logan Darnell made his first Major League start on Saturday night at Target Field against Chris Sale and the White Sox. It was a David and Goliath matchup, and in this case, Goliath dominated. Darnell’s first inning was terrific. Three ground ball outs and eight pitches. Then things went downhill. In all, he gave up seven runs on 11 hits in five innings. That start may not have been great, but there were three very strong starts in the Twins minor leagues on Saturday night. It was a struggle to figure out who the pitcher of the day should be. Be sure to comment on which one you would pick. And, a Minnesota native provided a walk-off win for one of the Twins affiliates. Here is the Minor League Report for Saturday: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Indianapolis 0 Box Score It was quite a pitcher’s duel in Rochester on this night and it ended in a walk-off win. Lefty Sean Gilmartin was up for the challenge. He went 7.1 scoreless innings. He gave up just five hits, walked two and struck out four. He was helped by his defense as well. With a runner on third base and one out in the 3rd inning, Gilmartin got a fly ball to right field. Chris Rahl made the catch and threw home to get the runner for the third out. Righty Stephen Pryor came on for his first Red Wings appearance since coming to the organization earlier this week from the Mariners. He walked one but got the final two outs of the eighth inning. Michael Tonkin came on for the ninth. He made it interesting, giving up a hit and hitting a batter, but he completed the shutout. There wasn’t much offense, but just enough. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Eden Prairie’s Nate Hanson singled up the middle to drive in Eric Farris for the walk-off win. It was one of just four hits for the Red Wings. Deibinson Romero pinch hit in the ninth and walked. It was the 23rd straight game he’s played in and reached base. Hanson had a slow start in his first ten games after being promoted from New Britain to Rochester. He now has a seven-game hitting streak during which time he is 10-27 (.371). ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 7, Portland 0 Box Score Download attachment: Tyler Duffey 2.JPG Tyler Duffey seems to have found his way in the Eastern League of late. On this night, he went seven innings without allowing a run. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out seven. He improved to 7-2 with a 3.75 ERA. In his last three starts, he has thrown 21.1 innings and given up just three earned runs. He has given up 12 hits, walked just one and struck out 24 in that time. Jim Fuller gave up only a walk in the final two innings. Jorge Polanco made it to New Britain in time to play. He led off and went 1-4 with a double. The middle of the lineup hit well in this one. Cleanup man Kennys Vargas went 2-4 with his 16th double. Aaron Hicks, batting fifth, went 2-4 with his seventh and eighth doubles and three RBI. Brandon Waring hit his 19th and 20th doubles in four at bats. Mike Kvasnicka went 2-4 with his 20th double. Eddie Rosario added his 11th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 8, Tampa 6 (11 innings) Box Score Aderlin Mejia had a big game that concluded with a game-winning RBI single in the 11th inning. He went 2-2 with three walks and his 13th and 14th stolen bases. Michael Gonzales went 2-3 with his 21st doubles and seventh home run. Byron Buxton doubled twice in six at bats. Travis Harrison went 2-6 with his 26th double. Niko Goodrum went 2-5. Matt Tomshaw made the start. The lefty gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings. Todd Van Steensel threw two shutout frames. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a perfect eighth inning. Tyler Jones gave up two unearned runs on one hit and two walks in the ninth. He did strike out two. Brian Gilbert struck out three over the last two innings. He didn’t allow a base runner. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Dayton 0 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu has been tremendous since his promotion to the Kernels. Saturday’s start was his best yet. The right-hander went six shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out ten. He is now 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA with the Kernels. Jake Reed, the Twins 5th round pick this summer, struck out three in two perfect innings. Nick Burdi came on and struck out one in his perfect innings. These two have been strikeout guys. Burdi now has 16 strikeouts in eight innings for Cedar Rapids. Reed has 21 strikeouts in 15 innings between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids. The Kernels struck for three runs in the first inning, and that was enough. Engelb Vielma went 2-4. JD Williams hit his 12th double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 2, Johnson City 5 Box Score Michael Cederoth was back on the mound for the E-Twins. He went five innings and gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits. He walked one, hit three and struck out two. Cameron Booser gave up two unearned runs on one hit and three walks in two innings. He struck out two. Dereck Rodriguez continued his impressive streak at the start of his pitching career. He has only given up an unearned run in his 16 innings over ten games this season. Pat Kelly went 3-3 in this game with his fourth and fifth doubles. Nick Gordon went 2-4 with his third double. Tyler Kuresa doubled for the ninth time. Max Murphy went 1-3 with a walk. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 5 Box Score The GCL Twins won again. Amaurys Minier went 2-3 with his seventh double and two RBI. He was also hit by a pitch. Jarrard Poteete went 2-4 with two RBI. Brandon Easton worked the first four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and three walks. Eduardo Del Rosario threw three innings and gave up just one hit. Trevor Hildenberger worked two perfect innings in relief. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Chih-Wei Hu, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aderlin Mejia, Ft. Myers Miracle SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Indianapolis @ Rochester (12:05 CST) – Kris Johnson Portland @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Tampa (12:00 CST) – Ethan Mildren Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (1:00 CST) – Stephen Gonsalves Elizabethton @ Johnson City (3:00 CST) – Sam Gibbons GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

On Monday, the Minnesota Twins had an actual off day. The players and the coaching staff were given a full day off. However, on the minor league side, things were really busy. They held a regular workout from about 9:30 until 11:30, but then after lunch, they played their first intra-squad game of the season after four full days of workouts. On Tuesday afternoon, there will be another set of intra-squad games.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] At 1:00, the Rochester Red Wings work group played against the New Britain Rock Cats work group. At the same time, on an adjacent field, the Ft. Myers Miracle work group went up against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. There was actually quite a crowd at the game. For a minor league guy like myself, this is an amazing atmosphere. I walked back and forth between the fields with a camera, trying to get pictures of everyone. However, with prospects playing on both fields, it can be a little overwhelming. It is also pretty incredible. As mentioned on Sunday, the Twins cut 16 players from Twins camp. Those players were encouraged to take Monday off as well and are expected to report to minor league camp on Tuesday. Notes from the day: Pitchers of the day: ROCHESTER: Virgil Vasquez, Taylor Rogers, Matt Summers, Matt Hauser, AJ Achter and Ryan O’Rourke.NEW BRITAIN: Jason Wheeler, Mason Melotakis, Tim Shibuya, Chad Rodgers, Matt Tomshaw, Tyler Jones.FT. MYERS: Aaron Slegers, Kuo Hua Lo, Christian Powell, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario.CEDAR RAPIDS: Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe, Ethan Mildren, Derrick Penilla, Tyler Stirewalt. Of course, the questions you will want to ask likely revolve around seeing Stewart, Thorpe and Romero. I can’t blame you. Those are three guys that I found myself gravitating toward when they were on the mound. Obviously what they did statistically doesn’t really matter at all, especially five days into camp. Where all of these pitchers were on Monday is not where they hopefully will be in April and throughout the season. Here are my thoughts on those three and some others. Kohl Stewart – He certainly is an athlete. He has a good delivery, and he does throw pretty hard (though I don’t think he was airing it out yet). He struggled some with his control and walked a couple. He’s not as tall as many of the Twins pitchers. He’s about 6-3 and has room to grow. Download attachment: Kohl Stewart 6.jpg Lewis Thorpe – The lefty was pretty impressive as well. He showed a good fastball and a good curveball, and many think his changeup may be his best pitch. There was contact on him, but for the most part, he also just threw strikes. He has a very smooth delivery. It is clear he’s got a high baseball IQ and knows how to pitch. Couple that with his stuff and he has a chance. Download attachment: Lewis Thorpe 3.jpg Fernando Romero – He threw the hardest of the group, and he does have that slider. He struggled with his control as well. He is not tall, and he is pretty stocky. Scouts likely notice that he has some pretty big, strong legs. Download attachment: Fernando Romero.jpg Randy Rosario – Jorge and Landa didn’t pitch, but Rosario was impressive. He’s a small, athletic guy with a lot of energy. He does throw pretty hard, and when he throws strikes, it’s hard to make great contact off him. Download attachment: Randy Rosario 3.jpg Jason Wheeler – The very tall (6-8) lefty looks pretty impressive. He’s lanky, and the mechanical adjustments he made while working with Ivan Arteaga last year have helped him increase his 87-89 mph fastball to 91-92 mph. He has very good mechanics and a nice delivery. He also has a brother that plays in the big leagues. Mason Melotakis – He definitely did not have his best control, but he does throw hard. He threw a lot of fastballs in the dirt. Matt Hauser* – He throws really hard. It might be a bit straight though as he was hit really hard. Again, nothing to worry about, but he is a reliever to watch this year. Tim Shibuya – He missed much of the early part of the 2013 season after shoulder surgery the previous offseason. He showed his old impeccable control and appeared to be throwing harder than I recall. Taylor Rogers – The lefty makes it look pretty easy out there. He has a great delivery and really good arm action. He also touches 93, so he’s worth watching. Kuo Hua Lo – He struggled with his control early, walking a few in a row. He has a delivery in which he brings that ball and his glove over his head and then pauses before throwing. Tyler Stirewalt – I know he’s a guy that Jeremy Nygaard and I talk a lot about due to his football background. He didn’t throw as hard on Monday as I thought he might, but you can see that it’s there. He works from about a ¾ release point and has a good slider. Definitely a project. The Hitters: Travis Harrison – Yes, they had him playing left field throughout the game. He will likely spend some time at third base again in 2014, but he will get a lot of time in the outfield. He’s one that goes without batting gloves to get that feel in his hands. He worked a count against Matt Summers and crushed a pitch well over the left centerfield fence for a home run. He put some really good swings on the ball. He also showed more speed than I recall from last year. Download attachment: Travis Harrison.jpg Brian Navarreto – The 6-4, 220 pound, 18-year-old catcher was pretty impressive. Behind the plate, he set up surprisingly low. He also displayed a very strong, accurate arm, throwing out a would-be base stealer at second base. He came to bat with the bases loaded one inning. He destroyed a pitch down the third base line that the ump called foul. Tom Kelly joked, "Hey, you hit it too far anyway.” A couple pitches later, he settled for an RBI single. Download attachment: Brian Navarreto.jpg Engelb Vielma – There has been a lot of talk about him. I will say this, he plays a pretty good shortstop. He made a play up the middle on a ground ball and flipped it perfectly to second base to start a double play. He’s thin and has a lot of room to grow. Offensively, he is a slap hitter, as you’d expect. He does have good speed. We’ll have to be patient, but you can see what the Twins see in him. Nelson Molina – Again, he is a guy whose tools are quite evident. The team’s 11th round pick a year ago has the tools. He has a good glove at shortstop with good range. At about 6-2 and really skinny, he has some growing to do. If he does, he could be one to watch. That would also help him at the plate, where he looks like he could struggle in the short term. Also, Will Hurt plays a tremendous shortstop. Tom Kelly – TK warrants his own section. We know he’s a roving instructor, but you can see, up close, the love and passion that he has for the game. He was frequently talking to Chad Christensen. In fact, he held up a full round of infield before the games to show Christensen a couple of tips. In the game, he’s walking around with his fungo in his hands. He’s shouting encouragement to players, and he’s observing. He’s seeing the minutiae that most of us miss. Players who didn’t pitch today were behind the home plates, watching their teammates. Many of the pitchers will throw on Tuesday. Download attachment: Engelb Vielma Kelly Christensen.jpg John Murphy made a remarkable diving catch down the left field line in the second game. He all-out dove after it and made the play. JD Williams was in centerfield for the New Britain team, at least for a few innings. He made a terrific diving catch in left center. He remained on the field for a little while before coming in. He told me later that he was feeling much better. He had landed on his hip and was moving slowly. Levi Michael – At one point, he found his way on base. He stole second and then grabbed a leg. It looked like it could have been a pulled muscle, or maybe even just a charley horse. A couple of new hitters hit back-to-back in the first game. Brad Nelson and CJ Ziegler both look to have a lot of power and not much speed. They are both big and strong and clearly around for power. Twins Daily contributor AJ Pettersen had a single, a walk and a couple of stolen bases. He didn’t play defense early in the game, but he did go play centerfield for a couple innings. The first two batters flew out to him when he got out there, and he made the plays. Before the game, I had the chance to talk to a couple pitchers. I talked to Tyler Jones who was my choice for minor league reliever of the year last year. He provided the “best shape of my life” line, but he certainly looks the part too. With that 97 mph fastball, he has a chance to move a couple of levels this year. I also talked to veteran Mark Hamburger. He is incredibly excited to be back with the Twins. He said this spring he feels so much better and he sounds like it too. He is in a much better place in his life. He looks truly happy. Asked whether he will get a chance to pitch as a starter or out of the bullpen, he said he wasn’t sure. He will be working late in the intra-squad game on Tuesday, but he was told that he would be given an opportunity to start. He talked about how he has his 50 games to get stretched out down in Ft. Myers. He enjoyed his time with the Saints, but this is where he wants to be. Don’t forget that he pitched in September for the Rangers briefly in their first World Series run. He has a chance to contribute this year. I plan to spend time at the major league camp some on Tuesday morning and again watch the minor league intrasquad game in the afternoon. Remember that Jeremy Nygaard and I will discuss all kinds of Twins and Twins minor league topics on Tuesday night's Twins Hangout at 8:30 (central time). One last thing... here is some video of Lewis Thorpe on the mound. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins were back in action on Tuesday after an off day on Monday. The team traveled to Port Charlotte and lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 7-1. Jason Kubel homering seems to have been the main story of the game. As Twins Daily fans would know and expect from me, I chose to stay in Ft. Myers because there were two more minor league intrasquad games. Four Twins pitchers threw in the game to mixed results, but there was plenty going on in the games. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Note - There are a LOT of pictures from yesterday's games in this article, but there will be a lot more on the Twins Daily Facebook page throughout the afternoon. Be sure to Like Twins Daily on Facebook to see more. The biggest news was that Matt Guerrier made his first appearance in a game on the mound. It wasn’t a big league game, but it was a milestone for the 35 year old veteran nonetheless. He looked good. The first batter he faced was Byron Buxton who hit a hard ground ball that third baseman Tony Thomas dove to his left for, got up and got him by a half step. The next batter was Jorge Polanco and he grounded out as well. John Murphy came up and hit a fly ball to left center that should have been an easy out, but it dropped for a double. Good thing Tom Kelly didn’t see that. Guerrier walked the next batter before getting the final out on a lazy fly ball. Download attachment: Matt Guerrier 3.jpg The secondary news was that Jared Burton came in and pitched the first inning for New Britain. To say it didn’t go well is an understatement. The first batter was Corey Wimberly, and he singled. With Burton not even paying attention, the diminutive veteran stole second and third base. Then Burton hit Chris Rahl who proceeded to steal second base on the first pitch. The next batter hit a hard one-hopped that Jorge Polanco, playing shortstop, dove and caught. He got up and threw a short-hopper to first base that got by the first baseman just enough for both runners to score. CJ Ziegler, the large man signed from independent ball this winter, hit a deep double to the right centerfield fence. On the next pitch, Danny Ortiz hit a ball about 420 feet to right field, and it was 5-0. Burton did get the next hitter, Reynaldo Rodriguez, out on a ball that was caught near the fence in centerfield, about 405 feet from home plate. Frankly, I went over to watch the other game at that point, but I understand he got the final two outs of the inning. It is important to note that he doesn't throw his slider this early in spring training, so let's not make too much out of this. In good news, Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins had relatively easy innings. Perkins made a couple of hitters look silly on his slider, caught by the catcher near the back foot of right-handed hitters. Mike Kvasnicka and AJ Pettersen, like Perkins, are former Gophers, put the ball in play against him. Kvasnicka flew out, and Pettersen lined out to third base. That’s the big league portion of the minor league report for today. Below, you will find several other observations from intra-squad game two. Pitchers of the day: ROCHESTER/NEW BRITAIN GAME: Matt Guerrier, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, Pat Dean, AJ Achter, Dakota Watts, Mark Hamburger, DJ Baxendale, Madison Boer, BJ Hermsen, Cole Johnson, Tyler Duffey, Brett LeeFT. MYERS/CEDAR RAPIDS: JO Berrios, Felix Jorge, Yorman Landa, Stephen Gonsalves, Josh Burris, CK Irby, Chris Mazza, Carson Goldsmith, Sam Gibbons, Tanner Mendonca, Dereck Rodriguez, Todd Van SteenselTHE PITCHERS: DJ Baxendale looks tough. Like Scott Erickson, he looks in for the signal with his hand in his glove, peering over the top of his glove. He has a quick delivery, but he throws pretty hard and his breaking ball looks really tough. Download attachment: DJ Baxendale.jpg Todd Van Steensel went 5-2 in 2011 with the Elizabethton Twins, but after the season, he was released. The Australian went back home and he been pitching in the Australian Baseball League. This spring, he the Twins re-signed him. Watching him reminds me of former Twins reliever, turned dominant closer the last few years, Grant Balfour. He wears the goggles. He pitches solely from the stretch. He has a high leg-kick and he throws a lot harder. We’ll see where it goes, but still just 23, he is worth watching. Also, how can we not cheer for a guy who got to take a selfie with Taylor Swift. Download attachment: Todd Van Steensel.jpg Reports from last year were that lefty Pat Dean topped out around 88 mph, but he was throwing pretty well on Tuesday. He showed terrific control in the strike zone, or just off the corners throughout his two innings. The former third round pick gets forgotten, but he did make it to AAA last year. I had the chance to talk to AJ Achter a little bit yesterday. He pitched and said he felt really good. I asked him about his experience in the Arizona Fall League last year, and he said he enjoyed it immensely. He said he threw really well early, but by the end of the season, his arm was really tired and he had little left. He’s looking forward to a fresh start this year. Brett Lee has been my choice throughout the offseason as a sleeper candidate. The lefty looked really good pitching against the AAA hitters on Tuesday. I talked to him afterward for a little while. He said it felt good. They were encouraged to get a feel for all of their pitches. Going forward in spring, they’ll start focusing more on fastball command. He has a nasty slider that he said is going well so far in spring. Download attachment: Brett Lee 2.jpg BJ Hermsen had a rough year in 2013. He would be the first one to admit it. What he won’t admit is that the strained oblique injury that he suffered late in spring training last year affected him the entire year. Obviously Hermsen relies on his control and movement. But when your side hurts, imagine trying to find a consistent release point that doesn’t hurt. He looked good in his first outing of the spring on Tuesday. Tyler Duffey pitched, and got a bunch of ground balls. I was able to stand behind the plate a little more when he was pitching and saw the life on his pitches. He didn’t throw real hard, but he did got a lot of sink, and because of it, you can see why he has the potential to be an extreme ground ball pitcher. Mark Hamburger looked solid in his first inning as well. He throws pretty hard still, and that mustache has to be intimidating. JO Berrios may not be tall, but he does a very nice job on the mound. I watched his pregame bullpen. He throws hard and locates well down in the zone. His breaking pitch looked devastating in the bullpen. He did walk one batter in his first inning, but he got out of it. In the second inning, he got a weak ground ball to first base. Then a ground ball back to himself that he made an athletic, diving play on. He struck out the final batter he faced. He did miss on his location on one pitch that I’ll write more about later. Download attachment: JO Berrios 4.jpg Stephen Gonsalves is tall and long. He looks like a pitcher, especially standing on the mound. He has a very smooth delivery and great arm action. He didn’t throw blazing fast at this stage, but he’s got a good, consistent release even on his breaking pitches. He got hit a little bit, and he even walked one, but in all, it’s clear he has some potential. Download attachment: Stephen Gonsalves 3.jpg Felix Jorge came on and he definitely looks like he’s going to be good. He is tall and he is very lean. He throws hard, but has good control. The breaking pitch and the change looked pretty good. Download attachment: Jorge Felix 2.jpg Yorman Landa also threw. He’s a little bigger and stronger than Jorge at this point, but the scouting reports that I’ve seen and heard were on display in this game. He throws really hard and he doesn’t always know where it’s going to go. In fact, he hit Ivory Thomas, who isn’t a real big target, near the shoulder with a pitch. Download attachment: Yorman Landa 2.jpg Reports on Josh Burris were accurate too. Throws hard, struggles with control, hammer for a curveball! Brian Gilbert looks like a late-inning reliever. He’s got a certain mound presence that is clear watching him. He throws pretty hard, and does have good control too. Could move quickly. Dereck Rodriguez, I wish I would have seen more of him, but he is tall and thin. Kind of the opposite build of his father who is aptly nicknamed “Pudge.” He does throw hard. He’ll have to work on his other pitches. He’ll go back to EST and develop. Download attachment: Dereck Rodriguez.jpg THE HITTERS I have to lead the hitters with Brian Navaretto. I mentioned earlier the one bad pitch the JO Berrios threw? It was to Navaretto, and he deposited it well over the left field fence. Unlike a day earlier, this one stayed fair. He had at least one other hit in the game. Travis Harrison says that he is seeing the ball really well. He hit the long home run on Monday and hit some hard line drives. He said that he is disappointed somewhat in moving to the outfield because he felt he made some real positive strides throughout the 2013 season. He pointed at Jake Mauer and said, “a huge amount of credit goes to that guy right there.” But he also understands it and knows that his best attribute as a player is his offense, specifically his power. Byron Buxton grounded out in his first two minor league at-bats. He then hit a chopper down the third base line that he beat out. He played just five innings. Download attachment: Byron Buxton 6.jpg Same thing with Jorge Polanco. In one of his at-bats, he lined a ball to center in one at-bat and went all-out to second for a double. However, he played shortstop and it was a mess. He made no fewer than three errors that I saw. He was saved on another one when a ball went under his glove and the second baseman fielded it and stepped on the base for an out. Listen, he’ll be fine as a shortstop. It wasn’t a good day, but he can field. It is also clear that he is a second baseman. Max Kepler played for the Ft. Myers team and played the full game. He struck out against Gonsalves, but he hit the ball real hard a few times. He played right field throughout the game. Starting to feel better about my pick of Stuart Turner as my breakout hitter of 2014. He hit a long double to right field off of Duensing. He had another line drive hit. He also does a tremendous job behind the plate. You can see that clearly. Download attachment: Stuart Turner 3.jpg We also shouldn’t overlook 2013 ninth round pick Mitch Garver. He’s a terrific backstop as well, and he can hit too: a lot of line drives. Up the middle defense looks to have some potentially really good glove guys. Nelson Molina, Will Hurt, Carlos Avila, Jonatan Hinojosa, Ryan Walker, AJ Pettersen, Niko Goodrum, and Jorge Polanco are all really good glove guys. The guy people wanted to talk about was Engelb Vielma. He has made some tremendous plays with the glove. Levi Michael did not play on Tuesday after a leg injury on Monday. It didn’t appear serious. Nate Roberts is around and doing some running and such, but he has not played yet. DISCLAIMER: Yes, I am aware that seeing these guys for one or two games does not a sufficient scouting report make. However, it is great to be able to see these players who otherwise you only know through box scores. It is enlightening. Twins play the Pirates in a couple of hours. Kevin Correia and Gerrit Cole will be starting. Oswaldo Arcia is returning to the lineup and the outfield. Aaron Hicks is again not in the lineup. Robby Incmikoski is here in Ft. Myers with the Pirates broadcast team. Also, Jack Morris is making his radio debut today. The game will also air on FSN at 12:05 (central). Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins had a much-needed day off in Chicago as they prepare for a four-game series again the White Sox. Liam Hendriks has been recalled and will pitch the second of the day-night doubleheader. Josh Willingham returns from his rehab stint in Rochester and is expected to play for the Twins on Friday. It was a full night in the Twins farm system though. Cedar Rapids got their bats going again. Elizabethton’s hitters even had a big game. Of course, Elizabethton also got a tremendous start from a hard-throwing left-hander. Check out what else happened in the Twins Minor League system on Thursday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 3, Durham 7 Box Score The Red Wings fell behind 4-0 after just one inning and were unable to catch up. Virgil Vasquez gave up just those four runs on seven hits in five innings total. He walked none and struck out five. Cody Eppley then gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. Aaron Thompson got the next two outs, but not before giving up one more run on two hits and a walk. Shairon Martis pitched a scoreless inning. He walked one and struck out one. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 and is now hitting .423 in his short time with the Red Wings. Eric Farris went 2-5, and Jermaine Mitchell was 2-4. Deibinson Romero hit his ninth home run for Rochester. New Britain 1, Akron 0 Box Score Veteran Kyle Davies was back on the mound for the Rock Cats and pitched well. He went the first six innings without allowing a run. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out two. Cole Johnson came on and struck out three over the next two innings. He gave up just one hit. Dakota Watts finished with a scoreless ninth frame. He gave up just one hit. The Rock Cats got the win despite scoring just one run and getting just four hits. Evan Bigley had two of the hits and drove in the lone run. Ft. Myers 1, Charlotte 3 Box Score The pitching was adequate in this game, despite a rain delay of over an hour to start. However, the Miracle bats did not show up on this night. Manuel Soliman started and gave up one run on five hits and three walks in four innings. He struck out six. Tyler Duffey came out of the bullpen and worked three innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out three. Zack Jones worked the final two innings without giving up a run. He gave up one hit, one walk and struck out three. The Miracle had just five hits in the game in this one. Byron Buxton’s third double was the lone extra base hit for the Miracle. JD Williams and Levi Michael each had a single and a walk. A frustrated Doug Mientkiewicz was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes. Cedar Rapids 7, Beloit 2 Box Score It was a terrific night for the Kernels in Beloit. Their bats have really cooled of late, but on this night, the bats showed up. The pitching was also terrific. Tim Atherton started and improved to 6-4 with five solid innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out four. Alex Muren was unhittable in his three innings. In fact, he faced nine batters and got all nine of them out, including two on strikeouts. Brian Gilbert pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out the win. Jonathan Murphy led the offense. He went 2-4 with a walk, his fifth double, his second triple and four RBI. Adam Walker was 2-5 with his 27th double. Niko Goodrum was 1-2 and walked three times. Max Kepler and Joel Licon each had two doubles. Jorge Polanco hit his 28th double. Elizabethton 6, Johnson City 3 Box Score Download attachment: Randy Rosario 2.jpg Hard-throwing lefty Randy Rosario was on the mound for the E-Twins. He threw seven shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four. Second-round pick Ryan Eades came on and struggled to find the strike zone. He recorded just two outs and was charged with three runs (2 earned). He gave up one hit, walked three and struck out one. CK Irby recorded his first save. He got the final four outs. He walked one and struck out two. Zach Granite continues to lead the E-Twins offense from the leadoff position. In this game, he was 2-3 with two walks and his 12th stolen base. Rory Rhodes was also 2-3, and he added a walk. Tanner Vavra hit his first triple. GCL Twins 2, GCL Orioles 4 Box Score For the second straight rehab game, Alex Wimmers got roughed up. In his previous start, he had given up eight runs (5 earned) on nine hits in three innings. On Thursday morning, he gave up four runs on five hits and a walk, and he recorded just two outs. He struck out one. Fernando Romero did a tremendous job in relief. He went the next 5.1 innings and gave up just one hit and walked one. He struck out five. Leonel Zazueta struck out four and walked one in two scoreless innings. Tyler Stirewalt then struck out the side in his inning. The Twins had seven hits on the game. Jonatan Hinojosa was the lone player with a multi-hit game. He was 2-3 with a walk. Jorge Fernandez had the lone extra base hit, his second triple of the season. Former Twins outfielder, Lew Ford, played in his first rehab game for the Orioles and went 1-1 with a walk. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. Click here to view the article

This afternoon, the Twins made a trade with the Atlanta Braves. The Twins sent catcher/DH/outfielder Ryan Doumit to Atlanta in exchange for LHP Sean Gilmartin. Download attachment: Ryan Doumit 2.jpg The Braves will take on the entire $3.5 million of Doumit's 2014 contract which helps the Twins as they look to continue adding players. It also opens up a 40 man roster spot because Gilmartin is not yet on the that roster. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Doumit came to the Twins before the 2012 season. In his first season, he hit .275/.320/.461 with 34 doubles, 18 homers and 75 RBI. In 2013, he dropped to .247/.314/.396 with 28 doubles, 14 homers and 55 RBI. He spent time as the team's backup catcher, but also was a primary designated hitter and spent some time in the corner outfield positions. He did miss time with concussion symptoms in the 2013 season and has talked about wanted to not catch (or at least catch less often) which makes the move to the National League interesting. The Twins had great interest in Sean Gilmartin before the 2011 draft. He was taken with the 28th overall pick in the draft, two picks before the Twins selected Levi Michael. Download attachment: SeanGilmartin.jpg Gilmartin, a 23 year old who went to Florida State, moved up the Braves system quickly. Last year, he made 17 starts for AAA Gwinnett. He went 3-8 with a 5.75 ERA, though he missed time with injury. He will not need to be added to the 40 man roster until after the 2014 season. Here is a huge scouting report on Gilmartin. Gilmartin graduated from Crespi Carmelite HS in Encino, California. That is the same high school that Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe is from. When the Twins signed Jason Kubel last week to a minor league contract, the writing was on the wall that Doumit would likely be traded. The two are really DHs who can play in the corner outfield spots. With the $3.5 million saved, the Twins could continue their search for more starting pitching or they could turn their attention to the offense. The Twins busy, exciting offseason continues to be eventful! What's next? Click here to view the article

Below you will find the complete list of 2012 draft picks of the Minnesota Twins. Feel free to discuss. #40 (1210) - Brad Schreiber - RHP - COL - Purdue #39 (1180) - Steven Liquori - OF - HS - Georgia #38 (1150) - Austin Rei - C - HS - California (37/38, same HS) #37 (1120) - James Marvel - RHP - HS - California #36 (1090) - Brandon Bayardi - OF - COL - UNLV #35 (1060) - Jared Wilson - RHP - COL - UC-Santa Barbara #34 (1030) - Bryan Haar - OF - COL - U of San Diego #33 (1000) - Kaleb Merck - RHP - COL - Texas Christian U #32 (970) - Andrew Ferreira - LHP - COL - Harvard #31 (940) - Tim Robinson - LF - HS - California #30 (910) - Bryan Santy - C - COL - U of Washington #29 (880) - Sean Hagan - LHP - COL - St. John's U #28 (850) - Carson Goldsmith - RHP - COL - Northwestern State #27 (820) - Jared Grundy - LHP - COL - U of Kentucky #26 (790) - Justin Jones - LHP - COL - U of California #25 (760) - Joel Licon - SS - COL - Orange Coast College #24 (730) - Jose Favela - C - HS - Texas #23 (700) - Travis Huber - RHP - COL - Nebraska #22 (670) - Josh Graham - C - HS - Oregon #21 (640) - Bo Altobelli - C - COL - Texas Tech #20 (610) - Zach Larson - CF - HS - Florida #19 (580) - Jonathan Murphy - LF - COL - Jacksonville U. #18 (550) - William LaMarche - RHP - COL - Chabot College #17 (520) - Dalton Hicks - 1B - COL - Central Florida #16 (490) - Will Hurt - SS - HS - Kentucky (Ben Revere's HS)#15 (460) - Jarret Leverett - LHP - COL - Georgia Southern #14 (430) - Jake Proctor - CF - COL - Cincinnati #13 (400) - Erich Knab - RHP - HS - South Carolina #12 (370) - Alex Muren - RHP - COL - Cal St. Northridge #11 (340) - Taylor Rogers - LHP - COL - Kentucky #10 (310) - Doug (DJ) Baxendale - RHP - COL - Arkansas-Fayetteville #9 (280) - LJ Mazzilli - 2B - COL - U Connecticut (Lee Mazzilli's son) #8 (250) - Christian Powell - COL - RHP - College of Charleston #7 (220) - Jorge Fernandez - C - HS - Puerto Rico #6 (190) - Andre Martinez - LHP - HS - Florida #5 (160) - Tyler Duffey - RHP - COL - Rice U #4 (130) - Zach Jones - RHP - COL - San Jose State #3 (97) - Adam Walker - RF - COL - Jacksonville U #2 (72) - JT Chargois - RHP - COL - Rice U #2 (63) - Mason Melotakis - LHP - COL - Northwestern State (LA) #1S (42) - Luke Bard - RHP - COL - Georgia Tech #1S (32) - Jose Orlando Berrios - RHP - HS - Puerto Rico# #1 (2) - Byron Buxton - OF - HS - Georgia Download attachment: MLB-Draft.jpg Click here to view the article

I guess if there is one positive to having three straight 96+ loss seasons, it is the high draft picks that the Minnesota Twins have received. In 2011, the Twins had the second worst record in baseball, so they had the second overall pick in the 2012 draft. With it, they selected Byron Buxton. In 2012, the Twins had the fourth worst record, so in 2013 they had the fourth pick.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The selection was something that had Twins Daily buzzing for a month leading up to the draft. Would the Twins use the pick to take one of the three big college players? Would they work out a pre-draft deal with Reese McGuire and then use extra bonus money later in the draft? The Houston Astros took Mark Appel with the first overall pick. Third baseman Kris Bryant was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the second pick. Then the Colorado Rockies drafted Jonathan Gray with the third pick. The player the Twins were most rumored to want all along, right-handed pitcher Kohl Stewart, fell to them with the fourth pick and they were excited to draft him. (Jeremy, John and Seth talked about the pick at the end of the first day of the draft.) Stewart was the 6th-ranked quarterback in the nation and had signed to play at Texas A&M. However, when he was drafted he made it clear he had every intention of signing quickly with the Twins. In a conference call following his selection, Stewart said, “Football has always taken rank over baseball, especially in high school with it being so demanding and such a big deal here in Texas. I look forward to being able to just sit down and work on baseball for once. I’ve never been able to do that. I really didn’t start pitching at the level I have been pitching at until high school and then football came again and took away from that. So I’m really looking forward to being able to really focus on one thing and focus on that for a long period of time.” Stewart is blessed with some great gifts. He has a mid-90s fastball and has been clocked at up to 97 mph. He has a slider in the upper-80s. He has a curveball and a change up and he is also working on a sinker. Scouts said he had as much pure stuff as anyone in the draft, including Appel and Gray. Though some considered him fairly advanced for his age, he still has a lot of developing to do. In his 2013 high school season, he went 5-1 with a 0.18 ERA. He also struck out 59 batters in his 40 innings. Download attachment: Kohl Stewart Mug.jpg After signing, he went to the Gulf Coast League where he posted a 1.69 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. In 16 innings, generally two or three inning stints, he walked three and struck out 16. He was promoted to Elizabethton where he made just one start. He threw four shutout innings, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out eight. However, he experienced some soreness in his right shoulder and the Twins were wise to shut him down. In 2014, Stewart will certainly be one to watch. He will likely pitch for Cedar Rapids, in their six-man rotation. One thinks they will have him on some sort of innings limit or plan since he doesn't have a lot of innings on his arm. In 2014, the Twins will have the fifth overall pick in the draft which means that selection will be a top story in 2014. The Twins have added a couple elite prospects through their high first-round picks the last two years. As a pitcher with a big fastball and huge potential, Stewart will be a key to the Twins staying strong for years to come. A look at other Twins stories from 2013 includes: #13 – Twins in the WBC #12 – Drew Butera Traded to Dodgers #11 – Twins Sign Kubel, Trade Doumit #10 - Brian Dozier Breaks Through #9 - Kyle Gibson Promoted #8 - Aaron Hicks' Lost Year Click here to view the article

It is apparent that most nights we will be able to follow at least one very good pitching prospect. On this night, Trevor May looked to continue the good work he had done through his first three starts. JO Berrios and Kohl Stewart were looking for their first wins with their 2014 teams. Continue to read below to see how these three did in their efforts Friday night. Meanwhile, Jorge Polanco had another big night with the bat. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an April day without one of the Twins affiliates getting rained/snowed/weathered out. Download attachment: Kohl Stewart 6.jpg TRANSACTIONS Newly acquired Kenny Wilson made his way to Richmond, Virginia, on Friday to join his new team (and organization). AJ Pettersen was promoted to New Britain while Aderlin Mejia was sent back to the Miracle. The Cedar Rapids Kernels put Randy Rosario on the 7-day disabled list with a left flexor mass sprain. Australian reliever Todd Van Steensel and outfielder Ivory Thomas spent all night traveling and should join the Kernels on Saturday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Trevor May was very good in his first three starts for the Red Wings this season. In those, he worked 15.1 innings and had just three walks to go with 16 strikeouts. He also had a sub-3 ERA. Things didn’t go quite so well for May in his fourth start. May went just three innings and was charged with five runs, all earned and all in the 3rd inning. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out four. Brooks Raley came on and gave up one run on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out three. Aaron Thompson walked two and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Eric Farris was the lone Red Wings batter with more than one hit. He went 2-4. Dan Rohlfing had the lone extra base hit, his third double of the year. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, Richmond Kenny Wilson made it to Richmond. AJ Pettersen was supposed to make his 2014 Rock Cats debut in this game, batting ninth and playing shortstop but instead he’ll have to wait a day as the teams were rained out. They will play a doubleheader on Saturday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Palm Beach 1 Box Score JO Berrios really had to work, but he did a great job and earned his first win in the Florida State League. Berrios went six innings and gave up eight hits and two walks, but he yielded only one run. He struck out seven. Mason Melotakis came on and struck out four in two perfect innings. Tyler Jones worked a scoreless ninth inning. Thursday, Jorge Polanco hit his first home run of the season. In his first at-bat Friday night, he hit his second. He went 3-4 in the game. Dalton Hicks went 2-4 with his fourth double. Max Kepler was 2-3 with his second double. He drove in two runs. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 1 Box Score Tonight, Kohl Stewart put together the best start of his season in Clinton. The right-hander gave up only an unearned run over six innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one and struck out six. Like Berrios, he recorded his first win at his new level, evening his record at 1-1. Yorman Landa came on and struck out five in two hitless innings. He did walk one. Brandon Peterson struck out two in his one-hit, no-run inning. Mitch Garver went 3-5 and he drove in three runs, one in each of three separate at-bats. He hit his fifth double as well. Engelb Vielma was 3-4 and stole two bases. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 and tripled. He stole two bases including a steal of home on the back end of a double steal. Tanner Vavra was 2-4 with a walk and is now hitting .340. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kohl Stewart, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jorge Polanco, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (3:05 CST) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Britain @ Richmond (Doubleheader, 4:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin, Pat Dean (Listen) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – David Hurlbut (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

In 2012 infielder Jamey Carroll played in 138 games (second-most of his career) and racked up a career-high 537 plate appearances. He was the Opening Day shortstop but that was the position that he played the third-most. He played 66 games at second base, 44 games at third base and 37 games at shortstop. Through 13 games in 2013, Jamey Carroll has made just two starts and has a total of nine plate appearances. Why has his role been so diminished to start this season? I think there are a few potentially good reasons. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Did Carroll’s skills diminish in 2012? At first glance, looking at just his .660 OPS in 2012, we see a drop from .718 and .706 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. However, his Isolated Discipline (OBP – BA) of .075 was better than 2012 (.069). For his career, his Isolated Discipline is .078. In other words, his approach at the plate was right on par with his career. His 2012 Isolated Power (SLG – BA) was .049. A year earlier, that number was .057 and for his career, it is .067. So, his “power” dropped slightly from not-very-much to even-less. The .022 drop in batting average accounted for .044 drop in OPS by itself. Considering that he got off to such a slow start (hitting .214 in April), he was himself the rest of the season. The summary of the previous paragraph is that it was clear that Carroll’s production drop in 2012 was more related to a couple of hits falling (or not falling) in over the course of the season rather than a fundamental flaw in his approach. The Twins have committed to giving every opportunity to 26-year-old Trevor Plouffe at third base, 26-year-old Pedro Florimon at shortstop and 25-year-old Brian Dozier at second base. The primary utility player at this stage of the season has been 24-year-old Eduardo Escobar. As much as the Twins say aloud that 2013 is about winning, it makes much sense for the rebuilding organization to play the younger guys as much as possible, ahead of the 39-year-old Jamey Carroll. One side aspect of this situation is that Carroll is a terrific person and happy to teach. He can be a strong influence on the younger players offensively and defensively. Carroll is as steady as it gets with the glove. His demeanor is exemplary on and off the field. He has kept himself in great playing shape throughout his career. And offensively, Carroll remains one of the more patient hitters on the roster. Is it possible that a large percentage of Carroll’s lack of playing time is money-related as well? He is making $3.75 million in 2013. It is the second year of his 2 year, $6.5 million contract. However, the contract comes with a $2 million club option for 2014 that the Twins could consider picking up. It becomes a player option if he reaches 401 plate appearances. That is a number he has reached in each of the past three seasons. However, in the previous seven full seasons before 2010, he reached that number just twice. Since he is a prototypical #2 hitter, if he were playing most days, he would average about 4.2 plate appearances per start. He would need about 96 starts to eclipse that mark. If he continues to get just nine plate appearances for every 13 games, he would end the season with fewer than 120 plate appearances. At some point during the season, an infielder may get hurt and need to miss 15 to 20 games. Would the Twins start Carroll or Escobar in that situation? My assumption today would be that most of those starts would go to Carroll. Escobar really profiles to be the next in a long line of solid, long-term utility infielders like Al Newman, Jeff Reboulet, Denny Hocking and Nick Punto. No one is feeling sorry for Jamey Carroll. The author of this article and most of those reading it would give just about anything to sit on the end of a Major League Baseball bench and still make $3.75 million for the year. Carroll has had about as good of a career as a guy can have who didn't debut in the big leagues until he was 28 years old. He has over 10 years of service time and has earned the respect of his peers around the game of baseball. I had the opportunity to briefly meet Carroll at Twins Fest and he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He acknowledged that he has a goal to play in the big leagues as a 40 year old. He will turn 40 as spring training is starting next year. It may be as simple as the Twins are going to play those young guys and give them a lot of rope to start the season. That’s completely understandable on a rebuilding team with some terrific prospects on the way but which still has to determine which of these current young players warrant a spot on future Twins teams. It may be as simple as trying to get out from needing to pay Carroll $2 million in 2014, although that is a very fair rate for a quality utility infielder in baseball. It is also possible that, despite Carroll’s work ethic, his skills had diminished enough to notice in spring training and he simply is not considered the player that he was within the organization. Who knows? Maybe there is something else going on all together. View full article

The news came early on Saturday afternoon when USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweeted that Twins prospect Eddie Rosario would be suspended 100 games for testing positive for recreational drug usage. Twins media guru Dustin Morse quickly tweeted a response that the suspension was for 50 games. The penalty is 50 games because it was his second positive test. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] When the first reports of a possible suspension came out in November, it was believed that it was a performance-enhancing drug. At the time, Parker Hageman went to Google Translate to decipher an article from a Venezuelan newspaper: We don't know what the "recreational drug" was, though I can say that it likely comes as no surprise to many. Download attachment: Eddie Rosario NB.jpg That said, Twins fans need to take a step back and look at this from a larger perspective. 1.) A 50 game suspension really only affects Rosario's development and timeline. In reality, he was going to start 2014 in New Britain with a chance to be called up later in the year to Rochester. He could have been a September call-up, if not sooner. A 50 game suspension likely means he will spend a few games in Fort Myers with the Miracle getting back into the swing of things before going to New Britain. 2.) Rosario does need to be added to the Twins' 40 man roster next November (or be subject to the Rule 5 draft... where he would be taken). The 40 man roster is also something that is relevant to this story. You see, marijuana is not a drug that is tested for on players on the 40 man roster. Read into that as you may. 3.) It may take a while to regain his credibility in the minds of some, but this (on its own) does not take anything away from Rosario's status as a prospect. This is clearly a mistake, and hopefully it will be no more than a hiccup on the road to the big leagues. Consider, Twins reliever Anthony Swarzak once was suspended 50 games for a "drug of abuse" too. He was given a second chance and he has made the most of it. Rosario can do the same thing. 4.) Does it hurt his trade value? Perhaps, and maybe that's important if the Twins are trying to deal him (which we don't know). Again, those around the game know Rosario well. Remember, he is just 22 years old. He's got a long career in front of him. On a personal level, I know there are a lot of people who are and have been very concerned about him. As fans, let's see how he responds to this. He'll get another opportunity and hopefully he can make some changes. We hope this suspension is something that pushes that to happen. It is important to note that the next suspension, if there is one, would be 100 games. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Morales.jpg According to Jon Heyman, the Minnesota Twins have agreed to sign 1B/DH Kendrys Morales to a deal. Little is known at this point, and a deal likely will not be able to be completed until after the draft concludes later today. Minutes later, Ken Rosenthal was able to confirm the reports and indicated that the dollars will be a little less than Stephen Drew's, but in the "same ballpark." Entering 2010, Morales was a budding star, fresh off a 34 home run season with the Angels and just 26 years old. But following a walk-off grand slam in May, he broke his ankle during the celebration at home plate. The injury was particularly gruesome and took two years to recover. Since returning, he has hit 45 home runs combined with a .275/.329/.457 line over the last two years. Morales was one of the top free agent hitter available this offseason. He was still available because the Mariners gave him a “qualifying offer” this offseason which means they offered him a one-year, $14.1 million contract. When Morales turned that down, it meant the Mariners would receive a high draft pick in this year's draft from any team that signed Morales. Teams didn’t want to give up that draft pick, so Morales had to wait until after the draft was over to be free of that obligation that was attached to him. Multiple teams were reported to be interested in him. Morales will likely be the full-time designated hitter. He is 30 years old and a switch-hitter, but has had more success batting left-handed versus right-handed pitchers. He can also play first base, but has done so only 59 times in the last two years. Last year, he hit 3rd or 4th for the Mariners. Rhett Bollinger reported the agreement is a one-year deal for $12 million and is prorated, so the Twins have committed somewhere around $8M to boost their lineup. Entering today's game, the Twins were 2.5 games out of the Wild Card race, and five games behind Detroit in the AL Central. I think most Twins fans will find this surprising. The Twins have certainly shown they are not afraid to deal with Scott Boras. Maybe this is a "sorry for the Pelfrey thing" make up? This likely means that Jason Kubel and/or Chris Parmelee, both of whom have really struggled, will be designated for assignment soon. Stephen Drew played in the minor leagues for about a week before joining the Red Sox. I would guess that Morales would follow a similar timeline before joining the Twins. More information will be shared here as we learn more. Click here to view the article