Seth Stohs

The Twins fell behind early and lost to Max Scherzer, Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. On Sunday, it will be Sam Deduno against Robbie Ray. YahooSports’ Jeff Passan reported that Byron Buxton will have an MRI on his reinjured wrist. The reports indicate that it is not considered serious, but the Twins are being very cautious. It was also a full day of baseball in the Twins minor league system. If you missed it, check out A Mother’s Perspective, by Diane Plouffe, Trevor’s mom, as you celebrate your Mother’s Day. Reynaldo Rodriguez RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Toledo 6 Box Score Alex Meyer had a rough start, and the Red Wings bats struggled to score runs. The Red Wings had eight hits, nine walks and one hit batter. However, they were only able to manage three runs and lost for the sixth straight time. Chris Herrmann went 3-5 with a double. He now is 6-9 in the two games since his return to the Red Wings. Deibinson Romero walked three times and was hit by a pitch. Pedro Florimon went 0-2 but he did walk two times. Oswaldo Arcia went 1-3 with a walk. Meyer went just four innings. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on seven hits and three walks. He struck out two. Edgar Ibarra gave up two hits over two shutout innings. Deolis Guerra struck out two in two perfect innings. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 7, Bowie 6 Box Score The Rock Cats brought out the power bats early and held on late for the win. The offense pounded out 16 hits including three home runs. Kennys Vargas went 3-5 with his seventh home run. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 3-5 with his fifth homer. Brandon Waring went 2-5 with his fourth homer. He drove in four runs. Kyle Knudson went 2-4 with a walk and his fourth double. Danny Ortiz went 2-5 with his seventh double. Tony Thomas also had two hits. Virgil Vasquez made the start. He gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out seven. Jim Fuller gave up two runs on two hits in four innings. He struck out three without a walk. Cole Johnson came in for the ninth inning and recorded his second save. He gave up just one hit. MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter 3, Ft. Myers 1 Box Score Jason Wheeler took the mound for the Miracle and went 6.2 innings. He gave up three runs on ten hits and two walks. He struck out three. Steven Gruver gave up one hit and struck out one in 1.1 innings. Brett Lee gave up a hit in his inning. It was his first appearance in May. The Miracle managed just five hits in this game. Aderlin Mejia and Stuart Turner both went 1-2 with a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 6 Box Score Ryan Eades was back on the mound on Saturday and struggled. In just 2.2 innings, he gave up three runs on five hits and four walks. He also threw two wild pitches. He struck out just one. Derrick Penilla came on and gave up two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He struck out three and walked none. Yorman Landa walked one and struck out one in 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings. Chad Christensen went 1-2 with two walks. He hit his sixth double and stole his ninth base of the season. Bryan Haar went 2-4 with his fourth double and two RBI. Tanner Vavra returned to the lineup and was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance. He was 1-3. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Deolis Guerra, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (1:00 CST) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (1:05 CST) – Matt Summers (Listen) Jupiter – No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids – No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games.

The Minnesota Twins played one of the more crisp games of their 2014 season on Friday night. Phil Hughes needed just 86 pitches to get through seven shutout innings. Casey Fien dominated the 8th inning, and Glen Perkins got the save in the 2-1 win. Brian Dozier reached base four times, and Kurt Suzuki drove in both runs with a single off of Justin Verlander. Today, it will be Kyle Gibson taking on fellow Missouri Tiger Max Scherzer. It was also a full night through the Twins minor league system. TRANSACTIONS On Thursday the Twins announced that Pedro Florimon and Chris Herrmann were heading down to Rochester. The corresponding moves were announced on Friday afternoon. Aaron Hicks came off of the 7-Day Concussion List. The Twins also purchased the contract of Chris Parmelee and went 2-4 in his return. The Cedar Rapids Kernels put Logan Wade on the 7-Day Disabled List with a dislocated shoulder. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Toledo 7 Box Score Coming into this game, Yohan Pino was pitching better than anyone in the organization. His ERA was under one. On this day, he went just 2.1 innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out one and his ERA jumped up to 1.57. Aaron Thompson got the final two outs of the third inning. Ryan Pressly came in and gave up two unearned runs on three hits over three innings. Matt Hoffman gave up a run on three hits and a walk. Eric Farris led off and led the offense. He was 3-5 with his third double. He also stole his eighth base. Chris Herrmann returned to the Red Wings and went 3-4 with his first triple and stolen base. Pedro Florimon went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his first game for Rochester. James Beresford went 2-4 and drove in both runs. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Bowie 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Rock Cats used the long ball to score all four of their runs. However, in extra innings, the team fell by a run. Danny Ortiz hit his first home run of the season and drove in two. Brandon Waring went 2-4 with his second homer. Nate Hanson hit his third homer. AJ Pettersen went 1-2 with a walk. Pat Dean started the game and went the first 6.1 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. Dan Turpen came in and got the next three outs, though he walks one and was charged with an unearned run. Ryan O’Rorke struck out one batter. Adrian Salcedo got six outs, but he was also charged with an unearned run in the 10th to take the loss. MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter 11, Ft. Myers 2 Box Score A look at this box score reminds us that player development is the key in the minor leagues. One part of development in the Minnesota Twins organization is the ability to play several positions. This is a good thing long term, though it also means that once in a while you will have a pretty ugly result. In this game, Tyler Grimes played in left field. Travis Harrison made his first start of the season at third base. Niko Goodrum made the first start this season at second base. The result was a pretty ugly game with five errors and several other misplays. Goodrum and Harrison each had two errors, and Polanco added another. Alex Wimmers was on the mound. After three shutout innings, he recorded just two outs in the fourth inning. He was charged with ten runs. Just two of them were earned due to the errors. He gave up 11 hits, walked one and struck out three. Tim Shibuya came on and went the next 2.1 innings. He gave up only an unearned run on three hits. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson gave up one hit and struck out two over two shutout innings. Tyler Jones struck out two in his inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Wisconsin 5 Box Score Aaron Slegers had his worst start of the year, and yet he improved to 4-0 on the season. The Kernels’ offense came through for him with an 18 hit, ten run performance. Mitch Garver went 4-5 with a walk, his ninth and tenth doubles and three RBI. Engelb Vielma also had four hits, including his second triple. He scored four runs. Bryan Haar went 3-4 with a walk. Chad Christensen was 2-6 with his fifth double. Jason Kanzler was 2-5. Slegers gave up five runs on nine hits (including two home runs) in 5.2 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel was impressive. He walked two and struck out six in 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings. Christian Powell walked three and struck out one in a scoreless innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Todd Van Steensel, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 CST) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (1:05 CST) – Ryan Eades (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday game. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday, it means that on Saturday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

Sunday is Mother’s Day! (All of you guys, after you’re done reading this, go to the store and pick up some flowers or at least a nice card for your mom) Two years ago before Mother’s Day, Trevor Plouffe donated his hair to Locks of Love in honor of his mother, Diane, who is a breast cancer survivor. Today, Diane Plouffe was kind enough to write for us and give us some insight into what it’s like to be the mother of a Major League Baseball player. Thank You, Diane! -------------------------------------------------------------------- A Mother’s Perspective by Diane Plouffe As a mother, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your child immersed in their life-long passion, waking up every morning to do something they absolutely love, and have worked so hard for. Although I should be used to it by now, I still get chills whenever I have the opportunity to see Trevor play. It is so surreal that the same little boy I took to tee-ball practice years ago is at the height of his professional career in Major League Baseball. I think back to his childhood baseball games, and I remember standing for seven innings straight with my stomach in knots, riddled with anxiety. I think the only thing that has changed in the past twenty years or so, is that now I have to stand for nine innings instead of seven! After almost ten years, you would think I would get used to my son leaving for months at a time, but honestly, I still cry the same way I did when he left for spring training when he was only eighteen. Our family is very close, and it is not only hard for me to say goodbye to my son, but having to watch my children say goodbye to each other is somehow even more heartbreaking. Despite the trials we face when spread out across the country for work or school, baseball has always been an important part of our family and continues to bring us together, whether it is at the stadium, or at home watching the Twins play on TV. Trevor never ceases to make me proud of the person he has become. Not only is he successful, but he is also a kind, charitable man who stands up for what is important to him. He has always been a big supporter of programs that benefit the troops as well as cancer research. Recently he has become a part of a few different programs that benefit cancer research such as, Stand Up 2 Cancer, and a campaign entitled, Strike Out Cancer. As a cancer survivor myself, I feel it is important that people with a large social media presence and fan base address programs such as these in order to raise awareness and gain support. Although Trevor and many other players are able to use their social media platforms for good, they sometimes receive negative feedback. I’m sure many of them have learned to ignore these harsh remarks. As a mother, you can never get used to seeing these things written about your child. Constructive criticism is welcome, but cruel remarks are unnecessary. However, injuries, strike outs, errors, they are all a part of the game, and I have always felt that is important for me provide positive thoughts and encouraging words at times when I know they may be scarce. Despite the roller coaster of ups and downs my son has faced throughout his career, I am glad that I have been able to be a part of his journey. Here’s to hoping the ups are here to stay and the downs are few and far between. Photo by Betsy Bissen.

Following the Minnesota Twins’ 4-3 loss in Cleveland on Wednesday night, the team announced that Logan Darnell was being optioned to Rochester and former Twins reliever Matt Guerrier was being added to the 25 man roster. At the same time, they acknowledged that on Thursday the team will make the corresponding 40 man roster move to make room for the 35-year-old right-hander. Logan Darnell certainly made a strong impression in his major league debut on Tuesday night in Cleveland when he came out of the bullpen and threw three perfect innings. He even hit 95 MPH on the radar gun once or twice. He will return to the starting rotation in Rochester where he was named the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of April just last week. Guerrier made his major league debut with the Twins in 2004. He made two starts and seven relief appearances that year. He was a very solid, consistent performer out of the Twins bullpen through the 2010 season. In that time, he went 19-25 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He pitched in long relief for two years before being given more high-leverage situations. His final four seasons with the Twins (2007-2010), he pitched in no less than 73 games. He led the league in games pitched in 2008 (76) and 2009 (79). He has pitched in 393 games for the Twins, which ranks fifth on the Twins all-time list. Following that 2010 season, Guerrier became a free agent and signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After throwing in 70 games in 2011, he pitched in just 16 games for the team in 2012. He pitched in 34 more games for the Dodgers in 2013 before being traded to the Cubs to end the season. Injuries caught up to him after all of those healthy years with the Twins. So, last offseason, the Twins signed Guerrier to a minor league contract. When he was not going to make the opening day roster, the team let him go. However, he agreed to re-sign with the Twins and go to the minor leagues. However, his opt-out date was May 8th, today. For those that haven't been following this, that is why this decision needed to be made. Let’s get back to the remaining question at hand. How will the Twins make room on the 40 man roster for Guerrier? In my mind, there a four to six players currently on the 40 man who could find their names on the transactions list on Thursday. Let’s take a look. Edgar Ibarra – The 25-year old lefty had a terrific 20013 season between the New Britain Rock Cats and the Rochester Red Wings. He is left-handed and he throws 93 to 95 mph. He also has a very good slider. That said, he missed most of spring training (which was his first with the big league club) because he had contracted hepatitis. He has pitched in just eight games for the Red Wings this season and has nine walks and eight strikeouts in 11 innings (to go with 15 hits allowed). If teams look at statistics, there is little chance that he would be claimed. If they look at scouting reports, it is possible he would be lost. Brooks Raley – The Twins claimed Brooks Raley as spring training was about to begin when the Cubs designated him for assignment. The left-hander, who spent limited time with the Cubs the last two seasons, was among the first round of cuts in spring training. He has pitched out of the Red Wings bullpen and just made his first start of the season. Again, he is left-handed and just 25. Eric Fryer – The catcher has split time this season with Dan Rohlfing in Rochester. He is best known as a defensive catcher. The man posted a 1.192 OPS with the Minnesota Twins in 2013… OK, I know it was in just six games and 16 plate appearances, but it was a nice showing. He has spent some time in the major leagues in 2011, 2012 and 2013, though I would be surprised if the 28 year old would be claimed if he were designated for assignment. Chris Herrmann – He is an athletic catcher, but his value to the Minnesota Twins this past month has been allowing Ron Gardenhire to play Josmil Pinto as the designated hitter most days. Herrmann can catch, but when he has played, it has been in the corner outfield spots. He could also play centerfield in a pinch. That said, he has not hit at all with the Twins this year. Though he has never been a big offensive threat, his defensive versatility does provide the team with options as the 25th man on the roster. Of course, he is currently on the Twins 25-man roster, so I think this is unlikely and it would necessitate another roster move. Kenny Wilson – The outfielder was recently claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. Although he has not hit much at all since being drafted in the 2nd round out of high school, he does have a lot of tools. His best tool is his speed, but he is also quite strong and could still develop. He is currently the regular centerfielder for the New Britain Rock Cats. He is not about early-2014, and he has an option remaining, so he could be about late-2014 and beyond… although the Twins do have a pretty good centerfield prospect who could be ready by then as well. Josh Willingham – What? How does his name appear on this list, as he is a veteran at the end of a three-year, $18 million contract. Plus, he’s hurt, so they wouldn’t DFA him. No, they wouldn’t DFA him, however, he has not played since being hit by a pitch on April 6th and breaking a small bone in his wrist. Reports this past weekend indicated that he is progressing slowly in his rehab efforts. If the Twins put him on the 60 Day DL (retroactively), he would be eligible to return to the Twins on June 5. Could he be ready before then? If so, then maybe this doesn’t make sense. If he’s going to be anywhere near that June 5 deadline, then this is the move that makes the most sense. You don’t have to lose anybody at this time to add Guerrier and can move that decision back one month. To me, the choice it pretty simple. If Josh Willingham is still at least three weeks out, put him on the 60 Day DL. If they feel he will be back in the lineup within the next two weeks, then the decision becomes much more difficult. *Yes, it was intentional that I did not include Jared Burton or Pedro Florimon on this list of possibilities to be removed from the 40 man roster. Are other moves looming? How long will Danny Santana remain on the big league roster, sitting on the bench? How many consecutive days does Eduardo Nunez need to remain healthy before he is up? How about Oswaldo Arcia?

Jason Wheeler has been a successful starting pitcher ever since he signed with the Twins. In two seasons – and a month – he has compiled a 25-12 record with an ERA of 3.49 over 335.2 innings. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to chat with the talented left-hander. Wheeler is a very bright young man with a great perspective on pitching and several other things. Wheeler is a Southern California kid. He lived in a suburb of Los Angeles and grew up as a fan of the Angels, probably both the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In his formative years, he was able to witness some really good baseball. The Angels went to the playoff six times in eight years and won the 2002 World Series. “I was a big Angels fan. Favorite player? It’s hard to pick one. I’m a big Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad fan. Vlad Guerrero was a little after them, toward the end of their run. Troy Percival, Scot Shields.” Those Angels teams were not just strong offensively, but always had solid starting pitching, and dominant back ends of the bullpen. However, there isn’t a player that he emulates, or models his game after. “I love watching big league pitchers, watching them pitch. There’s not one guy that sticks out that I want to be like him. Everyone likes to throw out CC Sabathia because I’m big and left-handed. CC Sabathia circa 2009, when he was throwing a complete game every other game. There’s not one person that I really want to be like.” Wheeler took his talents to Loyola Marymount where he pitched for three years before the Twins drafted him in the 8th round of the 2011 draft. Four rounds later, the Twins selected Wheeler’s teammate, Matt Koch. Regarding the catcher, who was invited to big league camp this year by the Twins, Wheeler said very good things. “I love working with Matt. The last five years, we have worked together. He’d been my catcher at school and in my first two years in pro ball. He obviously can hit. That’s what got him a scholarship at LMU. He’s gotten way better defensively. I remember in college, he struggled with glove-side fastballs. That was one thing that I know he worked on a ton. He’s gotten so much better at that. I love throwing to Matt in pro ball now. He’s got a great arm behind the plate, and he and I are pretty much on the same page when we’re together calling a game. So, it’s pretty good.” So what makes Wheeler successful? What does he throw? Last week, he threw a complete game shutout and talked about what worked and what he tries to do on the mound. “I threw a ton of fastballs that game, and I was able to get to both sides of the plate. I think that that’s what drives me. If I have a good start, it’s usually because of my fastball. I’m able to command it to both sides of the plate. Get in on guys. I love pitching in, lefties and righties. I think it shows. I got a lot of weak popups. That’s what I’m trying to get to, is that mentality of really attacking with the fastballs. I threw about 80% fastball.” The key to being able to throw that many fastballs is not always throwing the same fastball but also about location. “I throw a one-seam sinker when I’m throwing in to a lefty or away from a righty. And a four-seamer when I’m throwing in. I have a cut fastball that I’ll throw in on the hands too. If I want to run it up, I’ll go 4-seamer up on the hands and the chest.” He also throws a couple of secondary pitches as well to keep hitters off balance. “Just slider and changeup. My slider and my cutter have become one pitch that I’m able to do different things with. That’s what (Miracle Pitching Coach) Gary Lucas and I have been working on for the last couple of weeks, making that one pitch something I have some feel for. If I want to, I can make it a little bigger, have it more like a real slider, or if I want to I can tighten it up and throw it in on a right-handers hands and it’s only a couple of mph off of my fastball.” Wheeler has had a chance to work with a couple of very good, well-respected pitching coaches. In Beloit in 2012, he worked with Gary Lucas. Last year in Ft. Myers, he worked with Ivan Arteaga. This year, Arteaga and Lucas switched positions with Lucas moving to the Miracle and Arteaga going to Cedar Rapids. This means that Lucas and Wheeler are working together again. Both are very good, but they are very different. “I love working with Luke (Lucas). The big thing that I like, and very much so how I think, he’s never content. We’re not out here to be the best High-A pitcher. Something’s wrong if I’m the best High-A pitcher for multiple years. It’s about getting to the big leagues and being the best big league pitcher that I can be. And so, we’re always working on something whether it’s my breaking ball, my changeup, my arm slot. There’s always something that we can be better at. He fuels that fire of Don’t Be Content.” Gary Lucas pitched eight seasons in the Major Leagues. He played for the Padres, Expos and Angels. He was a left-handed reliever who posted a 3.01 ERA. However, if you ever get the chance to talk to Lucas, you would never know that he had a major league career. According to Wheeler, “You wouldn’t even know it. You would think that he was the 13th guy in the bullpen. He’s so humble. It’s awesome. Everyone knows his track record of eight years in the big leagues and a career three ERA. You wouldn’t even know it talking to him. He doesn’t brag or boast at all.” Ivan Arteaga has a different style than Lucas, but he is also a very good teacher. “Ivan has a little different approach than Luke. Ivan treats us more as a grown man, adult. It’s your career. I’m here to help if you want help. That (mechanics) was one thing we talked about. We looked at video and there were some hitches in my delivery. Ivan worked with me just about every day to clean it up for two months or so, and we were able to see the results at the end of the year. In my last five or six starts were pretty good, my velocity was up. That was really good to clean that up, and I kind of built on that and taken it here to this year.” As I mentioned, Wheeler is a bright guy and knows himself well as a pitcher. He has a very good perspective. “I’m just trying to be as aggressive as I can be and get to the big leagues, and I think my best shot at doing that is being a guy who can throw a fastball, almost being a power pitcher in the way I think. I know that I don’t run it up to 95 to 96 mph but you don’t necessarily have to do that as a starter. You look at the guys who do that, and they’re making $25 million a year, and obviously that’s awesome, but if you can be a big league starter and throwing 90-92 and get outs, you can have a pretty good career.” So, let’s project a couple of years out. If Jason Wheeler were to play for the Minnesota Twins, it would not be the first time he played in the state of Minnesota. Between his sophomore and junior years in college, he played for the St. Cloud River Bats. He was named the league’s pitcher of the year after going 8-1 with a 1.35 ERA in 15 games. He also struck out 74 in 66.2 innings. However, it wasn’t just the baseball game itself in the Northwoods League that he learned the most from. “It was the first time that I had any experience of really being away from home and basically just playing ball every day. My first college summer ball, I played in Palm Springs, just a couple of hours away from home. I would go home whenever I could. I think that it really prepares you for minor league baseball, get on a bus for a while, you’re going to Wisconsin and wherever else, to Canada, and there’s some good competition. The next year I played in the Cape Cod, and there is better competition in the Cape Cod League, but it doesn’t prepare you in terms of six-hour bus rides and other things like the Northwoods League. There are a ton of games in the Northwoods League. It’s different than any other summer league that I had experience in. I had a good time. I loved my host family while I was in St. Cloud, and it was a fun time. It was a good summer” Teammates and others have told me that Jason Wheeler is incredibly smart, on the field, and also off the field. He’s got a great perspective on baseball, but he’s also done the things he needs to do academically for life after baseball. “I got my degree in my first two off seasons. I was drafted in 2011, and I didn’t play that year, so I went and took the fall semester of 2011. And then I did the fall of 2012 after I played in Beloit, and I got my degree. I’m a Business Law major with a Math minor. I took the LSAT, the Law School Admissions Test, this past offseason, and I did very well on it. So that’s good. That’s good for five years, so if something happens with baseball, if it doesn’t work out, I can go to law school. I can apply whenever I want over the next five years.” Certainly not a bad fallback plan! Learning that Wheeler is a fellow math minor makes me a big supporter. However, it is clear that his biggest support comes from his family, and in particular, his brother. Ryan Wheeler was the Arizona Diamondbacks fifth round pick in 2009, also out of Loyola Marymount. Unlike Jason, he is a position player, and in July of 2012, he made his Major League debut with the Diamondbacks. He played in 50 games for the team. Following the season, he was traded to the Rockies for left-handed pitcher Matt Reynolds. In 2013, he played in 28 games for the Rockies. He began the 2014 season with the Rockies AAA affiliate in Colorado Springs. Jason Wheeler and I were originally scheduled to chat on Friday afternoon, but it was pushed back one day for very good reason. “I was just on the phone with him for an hour. He was just called up to the Rockies. He got a hit, a hard line drive for a pinch-hit single. Right now, he’s commuting from Colorado Springs, which is about an hour and a half drive to Denver because that’s where their AAA team is, and so he’s called the last two days and we’ve talked for an hour, hour and a half.” On Saturday, he started and went 1-3 with his first home run of the season (and second of his career). So, what do the two brothers talk about during their conversations? “We don’t talk baseball too much, to tell you the truth. He’s a position player so we, we’ll talk about his at bats, or we’ll talk when I have a start. We don’t talk too much about the lifestyle and baseball itself because we live it every day. But it’s just good to talk to him,” Wheeler continued, “But it’s not really baseball. It’s just kind of talking, hanging out, he’s probably my best friend. We’ve got a small group of really good, close friends. It’s good that we are together in that circle.” So what are some of Wheeler’s goals for the 2014 season? “Obviously it would be nice to be recognized as an All-Star in the High-A League if I’m here long enough. That’s not everything. Those accolades, like I mentioned earlier, you’re not really here to be the best High-A pitcher. I want to get better. I want to move up. I want to keep going. I want to push myself through the organization and move some people out of the way that are above me and that’s only going to happen if I keep getting better.” Hopefully that will mean a promotion to AA New Britain. “That’s obviously a main goal (to get to New Britain). I just want to go out and get better. That’s kind of the big thing.” That promotion should be coming soon. One would think that Wheeler would be the next starting pitcher promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this opportunity to get to know a Twins prospect who has a chance to work his way up the system and could reach the big leagues. Feel free to comment.

If you take a look at the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month for April 2013, you will see some absolutely remarkable statistics put up by the likes of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Josmil Pinto, Eddie Rosario and Adam Walker. Buxton and Sano have not played due to injury. Rosario is serving a suspension. Pinto is up with the big league club, hitting pretty well. Adam Walker has struggled in April, but he does have five home runs. I don’t know if any of the top five on this list would have appeared in that report, but there were a few really strong offensive performances in the Twins system in this season’s first month. Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in April: Number 5 – Ft. Myers – Travis Harrison - (28-87) .322/.368/.471 (.840) with eight doubles, one triple, one home run and 15 RBI. Harrison got off to a slow start this year. Through the first ten days, he struggled to get on base. However, he has been on fire during the second half of the month. A move to left field (from third base) has likely created some challenges. Once he started hitting, he transitioned from the bottom of the order to batting second. He’s hit doubles, and I believe he has the potential to bust out soon with a lot of home runs. He’s also sneaky-quick on the base paths, a very smart ball player. Number 4 – Rochester – Doug Bernier – (20-56) .357/.431/.571 (1.002) with six doubles, two home runs and nine RBI. Bernier was one of the great, positive stories of the 2013 Minnesota Twins season. The 33-year-old had a two-game cup of coffee with the Rockies in 2008. He didn’t give up on his dream and got to spend the second half of the season with the Twins. He returns to Rochester where he has been playing all over the baseball field, including in the corner outfield spots. He is also off to a terrific start with the lumber, specifically showing a lot of extra base hits. Number 3 - Rochester – Chris Parmelee - (30-92) .326/.382/.511 (.893) with five doubles, four home runs and 16 RBI. Parmelee, the former first round pick, had to be frustrated this spring when the Twins designated him for assignment to remove him from the 40 man roster. No team claimed him and he reported to the Red Wings. He didn’t start out hitting much, but he came on really strong late in the month. He ended the month on a 13-game hitting streak (which he extended on Thursday) and showed more of his power. Last weekend, one of his home runs was a walk-off for the Red Wings. Number 2 – Jorge Polanco – Ft. Myers Miracle - (32-93) .344/.421/.495 (.915) with six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI. Remember when the early reports on Jorge Polanco, when the team signed him as a 16-year-old, he was known for his glove. And, he does play good defense. However, this spring, they have decided to move him to shortstop at least for the time being and he has really struggled. He has not struggled at all with the bat. He is a top of the order bat. He takes quality at-bats and has good extra base power. In my opinion, the purpose of moving Polanco to shortstop is to give him a more clear path to the big leagues now that Brian Dozier has taken over at second base. That alone tells us how much the organization believes in him. The April Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Ft. Myers Miracle C/1B Mitch Garver (25-78) .321/.413/.628 (1.041) with seven doubles, a triple, five home runs and 15 RBI. Garver was a fourth-year senior selected in the 9th round last year out of New Mexico. He was runner-up for the 2013 Johnny Bench Award. Fellow Twins 2013 draft pick Stuart Turner won the award. Often a four-year senior taken in the top ten rounds is strategic. They don’t have much leverage, so they can be signed for less than slot value which allows the team to go above in other places. That said, Garver had a strong career in college and he has a strong bat. He showed that offensive potential in the month of April. Though he went hitless in his first game, he went on a strong run for the next two weeks. He hit for a lot of power and showed a willingness to take walks. He leads the Midwest League in several power categories including extra base hits, total bases and home runs. Drafted as a catcher, Garver spent a lot of time in spring training working with Tom Kelly at first base. He’s been a mainstay in the middle of the Kernels lineup. There were several solid performances in April that weren’t included in the Top Five. Here are some Honorable Mentions who just missed out on the Top Five. Kennys Vargas (22-79) .278/.363/.443 (.806) with four doubles, three homers and 12 RBI. Tanner Vavra (22-64) .344/.391/.438 (.829) with six doubles and eight RBI. Zack Larson (27-88) .307/.351/.455 (.806) with 10 doubles, one home run and 13 RBI. Feel free to comment and discuss.

From a source with direct knowledge, Twins Daily has learned that LHP Logan Darnell is on his way to the Twins Cities and will be with the Twins on Friday night. The other half of the transaction is not presently known. A player from the current 25-man roster will need to be optioned or placed on the disabled list to make room for Darnell. The Twins will re-evaluate Aaron Hicks on Friday morning, and he could be placed on the 7 day concussion list. They could also option a reliever to Rochester. After the second game on Thursday night, Game 2 starter and 26th man Kris Johnson was sent back to Rochester. The Minnesota Twins are in need of an arm on Friday and throughout this weekend. With the rainouts and Thursday's doubleheader, there could have been issues. However, when neither of Thursday's starters went beyond five innings, the bullpen was all overused. Jared Burton pitched in both games. Sam Deduno and Anthony Swarzak, the long-relievers, both threw a lot of pitches. Brian Duensing threw on Wednesday and a lot of pitches again on Thursday. The Twins need an arm. Darnell was scheduled to start for Rochester on Saturday, so he would be capable of eating extended innings if needed. Of course, it would be ideal if Ricky Nolasco would throw seven, eight or even nine innings on Friday night against Baltimore, but the Twins have to be prepared for that not happening. Yesterday, I named Darnell the Minnesota Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of April. In four starts, he went 0-0 but posted an ERA of 1.69 and a WHIP of 1.03. He worked 21.1 innings and gave up 15 hits, walked seven and struck out 21. Darnell was drafted by the Twins in the 6th round of the 2009 draft. He played college ball at the University of Kentucky where he was a teammate of former Twins pitcher Andrew Albers as well as potential Twins pitchers Alex Meyer and Taylor Rogers. Injured Ft. Myers outfielder Lance Ray and former Twins farmhand Gunner Glad also played at Kentucky with Darnell. In December, I had the opportunity to talk to Kentucky head coach Gary Henderson about these players, and he had wonderful things to say about Logan Darnell. After signing, Darnell went to Elizabethton. In 2011, his first full season, he made six starts for Beloit, 15 starts in Ft. Myers and then five starts with New Britain. He spent the entire 2012 season with the Rock Cats and then went to the Arizona Fall League. He started 2013 in New Britain as well. When he was pitching very well in mid season, he earned the promotion to Rochester. Following the season, he was added to the 40 man roster. This spring he participated in his first big league spring training and was optioned in early March so he could be stretched out and prepared to start. Darnell most likely will only be with the Twins for the weekend. However, can you imagine getting that phone call, likely very late at night, that you were going to the big leagues? Learning that you are about to live your dream has to be a remarkable moment.

On Thursday, we posted the choices for Twins Minor League Starting Pitchers of the Month for April. Now, we will jump into the top performing relievers in April. Check back later today when the Hitters of the month of April will be recognized. Relief pitchers often go unrecognized unless they don’t do their job. However, in April, when starters are on pitch counts and may not always go even to the fifth inning, they are very important. Today, we’ll look at the top relievers in the Twins farm system in April. Number 5 – New Britain – Cole Johnson- 1.74 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 10.1 IP, 7 H, 7 BB, 11 K Johnson is the first of two relievers in this top five list who was drafted in a round that no longer exists. He was the Twins 44th round pick in 2011 out of Notre Dame. He pitched a handful of innings as a starter in Beloit in 2012, but he has been very good in the bullpen ever since. He spent just 13 games with Ft. Myers last year before ending with 28 outings for the Rock Cats. That’s where he started this season, and he has been very good in the early going. A few fewer walks would be very good though. Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – Brandon Peterson – 0.84 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 16 K Peterson is a Minnesota native, having played his high school ball at Burnsville. After spending some time at Des Moines CC, he transferred to Wichita State. Following the 2013 season, he was selected in the 13th round by the Twins. He struck out 40 batters in 27.1 innings last year in Elizabethton. He moved up to Cedar Rapids and had a strong first month posting sub-1.00 ERA and WHIP while not walking many and striking out more than 1.5 per inning. Pretty impressive! Number 3 – New Britain – Lester Oliveros – 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 10 K In 2013, Oliveros pitched just 6.1 innings of rehab in the GCL after having Tommy John surgery late in the 2012 season. The hard-thrower is in New Britain to get his work in and continue the process of his return. To say the least, so far so good. Though he’s really only pitched one inning at a time, he has been very impressive. He is yet to allow a run and is striking out over one batter per inning. As he continues to gain strength, it won’t (or at least shouldn’t) be too long before he gets back up to Rochester. Number 2 – New Britain/Rochester – AJ Achter – 1.10 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 20 K Like Johnson, Achter was drafted in a round that no longer takes place. He was the Twins 46th round pick in 2009 out of Michigan State. He was my choice for Twins minor league pitcher of the year in 2012 when he split the season between Beloit and Ft. Myers. He was almost as good in 2013 when he split the season between New Britain and Rochester. He ended the season in the Arizona Fall League. Certainly it was just about roster spots that Achter returned to New Britain, but it was a given that as soon as a spot opened in Rochester, he would take it. That came after just three appearances with the Rock Cats. He didn’t mope, he went out and dominated. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester – Yohan Pino – 1.17 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 12 H, 7 BB, 27 K Yohan Pino photo courtesy Rochester Red Wings There was no question that the overall pitcher of the month (and maybe the player of the month) in the Twins farm system in April was Yohan Pino. Should he be categorized with the starters (he does have more innings pitched than most starters in the organization) or the relievers (he’s made four bullpen appearances and two spot starts)? Of course, in one of those starts, he threw a seven-inning, complete game shutout. This offseason, the Twins brought him back, signing the veteran free agent to a minor league contract. Ten years earlier, 2004, the Twins had signed Pino out of Venezuela. That summer, he was the Dominican Summer League Pitcher of the Year. In 2005, he was in Elizabethton where he went 9-2 with 64 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. In 2006, he went 14-2 with a 1.91 ERA, primarily out of the Beloit bullpen, though he ended the season making seven starts. That’s the role he has had ever since, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He got up to Rochester in 2009, but in late August, he was sent to Cleveland in exchange for Carl Pavano. In early 2011, he went to the Blue Jays organization. He was there until this spring when he was invited to Twins spring training. Maybe Yohan Pino should be in his own category. Either way, he deserves to be recognized for a tremendous opening month. Quickly, here are some Honorable Mentions, a few guys worthy of recognition: [*=1]Matt Hoffman – Rochester – 0.96 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 K [*=1]Madison Boer – Ft. Myers – 1.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 1 K [*=1]David Hurlbut – Ft. Myers – 1.59 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 17.0 IP, 16 H, 7 BB, 6 K [*=1]Brandon Bixler – Cedar Rapids – 0.73 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 7 H, 9 BB, 14 K Relief pitchers often don’t get the recognition they deserve. They are generally unnoticed unless things go bad. That’s why we recognize the relief pitchers here. Each of these pitchers did his job, and they all did it well. Later today, check back for the April Hitters of the Month.

Maybe it’s the weather, but it’s hard to believe we are now in May. One month of the season is already complete. That means it is time to determine our Hitter and Pitcher of the Month. If you’ve been following the Twins Minor League Reports each day of the season, you’ve noticed that there are seemingly great starts each night, often two or three. And hey, pitching is what wins games, right? So let’s start with the starting pitchers. As we have done in past years, aside from just picking the top pitcher, we’ll count down the top five performers for the month. It’s always nice when we have a few extra strong performers. This month, ranking the pitchers was difficult. There were a lot of strong, solid performers, so feel free to discuss the rankings and even comment with your own rankings or thoughts. With that, let's jump to the starting pitchers. Here are the Top 5 starting pitchers for April: Number 5 – Rochester – Kris Johnson - 4 GS, 2-2, 2.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 22.0 IP, 18 H, 18 BB, 20 K On Thursday night, Kris Johnson will make his Minnesota Twins debut. In 2013, he made his big league debut and pitched in four games for the Pittsburgh Pirates including one start. He came to the Twins this offseason in a trade with the Pirates in exchange for reliever Duke Welker (remember the Duke Welker-Twins Era?). His 2.39 ERA for Louisville last year led the International League, and he is off to a strong start in 2014. In his first start, he threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits. In his most recent start (last Thursday), he gave up only an unearned run in six innings. The left-hander sits 91-92 with his fastball and has a good three-pitch mix. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – Brett Lee - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 31 H, 7 BB, 15 K Following last season, Lee was my pick for the pitcher to take a big step forward as a prospect in 2014. The 23-year-old put together a solid first month of the season. If nothing else, he was very consistent. He gave up two earned runs in all five of his starts. In these games, he went 5.2 innings, then six, six, six and seven innings. The lefty was the Twins 10th round pick in 2010 out of junior college. In 2012 at Elizabethton, he posted a 2.68 ERA. In 2013 in Cedar Rapids, he posted a 2.95 ERA. So, Mr. Consistent’s 2.93 ERA in April shouldn’t be too surprising. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Aaron Slegers - 5 GS, 2-0, 3.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 28.2 IP, 24 H, 4 BB, 27 K The 6-10 Slegers was the Twins 5th round pick just last year out of the University of Indiana where he was the 2013 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. After a very solid performance in Elizabethton last summer, Slegers was the Kernels’ Opening Day starter. Since signing, Slegers has been able to add a little bit of velocity. He’s got pitches, and he’s got really good control. He doesn’t walk batters, and he was able to get strikeouts as well. If he can continue this for another month, he will likely move up to the Miracle. Number 2 – Rochester – Alex Meyer - 5 GS, 1-0, 2.70 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 26.2 IP, 11 H, 11 BB, 35 K Maybe you’ve heard or read a lot about Alex Meyer in the last couple weeks. The 24-year-old Meyer came to the Twins for Denard Span. He’s tall. He sits 95-96 and hits 99 and even 100. He has a devastating slider. And now he's learned a new changeup grip from Yohan Pino and Deolis Guerra. He’s got Ace upside. He has been really good in four of his five starts. He had a clunker in his third, but in his last two starts, he has been absolutely dominant. He’s got things to work on, but he can be very special. I asked Dan Rohlfing, the talented catcher who caught those last two starts about Meyer, and here’s what he had to say: “Alex is electric! There’s definitely not many guys who can do what he does with a baseball. It’s awesome to watch him go from a thrower to a pitcher. He is really starting to figure a lot of things out. By him learning (and trusting) to pitch inside and developing a quality change-up makes him that much more dangerous. We all know his curveball is filthy, and it’s becoming much more consistent as well. By him being a three-pitch pitcher now, who knows how to mix it up, makes it extremely unfair for hitters. His last two outings were dominant, to say the least.” And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester – Logan Darnell - 4 GS, 0-0, 1.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 15 H, 7 BB, 21 K Logan Darnell was the team’s 6th round pick in the 2010 draft out of the University of Kentucky where he was a teammate of Alex Meyer. He pitched at three levels in 2011 (Beloit, Ft. Myers and New Britain). He spent all of 2012, and the first two-thirds of the 2013 with the Rock Cats. He ended last season with 12 starts in Rochester. Following the season, he was added to the 40-man roster and this spring he reported for his first major league camp. He was one of the first cuts, but he was able to stretch out and be ready for the start of the season. In his first start, he worked four innings and gave up only an unearned run. He’s given up just four earned runs over 17.1 innings in his other three starts. He has been consistent, and he’s started getting strikeouts for the first time in his career. Last June, following his promotion to AAA, he talked to Twins Daily about what he throws, what he’s learned, pitching in the Arizona Fall League and much more. There were a lot of very good starting pitching performances in April. It was difficult to rank the five above, and here are a few more starters who were strongly considered: [*=1]Pat Dean – New Britain – 5 GS, 25.2 IP, 2-1, 3.51 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 27 H, 7 BB, 20 K [*=1]Jason Wheeler – Ft. Myers – 5 GS, 30.0 IP, 2-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 32 H, 7 BB, 14 K [*=1]Tyler Duffey – Ft. Myers – 4 GS, 22.1 IP, 3-0, 2.82 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 22 H, 5 BB, 13 K [*=1]Ethan Mildren – Cedar Rapids – 4 G, 3 GS, 18.0 IP, 0-1, 2.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 17 H, 2 BB, 18 K We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the Relief Pitcher and Hitter of the Month. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

It was a very quiet night in the Twins organization on Wednesday. The Twins and Dodgers were able to get their game in. It was the first time the Twins had played since Saturday. In the minor leagues, the Ft. Myers Miracle played and got another quality start from a guy who has done that all season. There was one scheduled day off and two teams were rained out. And due to the quiet Wednesday, it is going to a big schedule on Thursday. The Twins and Dodgers will play a day-night doubleheader. The two affiliates that were rained out Wednesday will also play two games on Thursday. We have reached the end of April, the end of the first month of the season. In the next couple days, I will be posting my choices for Twins minor league starting pitcher, relief pitcher and hitter of the month. RED WINGS REPORT The Rochester Red Wings had a scheduled off day. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, Harrisburg The Rock Cats game in Harrisburg was postponed due to rain. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Bradenton 2 Box Score The Miracle got yet another quality start from Brett Lee in this one and got some big hits to capture the win. The southpaw from Florida worked the first seven innings. He gave up two runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out five. Brian Gilbert came on for the 8th inning. Coming into the outing, he had just four strikeouts in 10.1 innings. In his two innings on Wednesday night, he gave up one hit, walked none and struck out five to record his fourth save. Max Kepler led the offense. He went 2-2 and walked twice. He hit a triple and drove in two runs. Niko Goodrum was 2-4. Levi Michael was 2-5 with a triple and two RBI. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Kane County The Kernels game against Kane County was rained out. They’ll play two games on Thursday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brett Lee, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler, Ft. Myers Miracle MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (2 games, 4:30 CST) – Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (5:00 CST) – Josue Montanez, Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday game.

When Alex Meyer was asked, at Twins Fest, when he would like to make his big league debut with the Twins, he was pretty honest yet realistic. “I hope the first day, the first game of the season. Realistically, it’s nothing I can control. I’m just trying to make it tough for them.” And yet, he does have some control over it. He can perform. On Monday night, in front of Twins assistant GM Rob Antony, Meyer did a great job of making the decision to keep Meyer at AAA much more difficult. Facing Charlotte, the AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, Meyer went six shutout innings and earned his first AAA win. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out 11. In his previous start, at Pawtucket, he gave up three hits and walked three batters in 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out 11 batters in that game, too. Just so you don’t have to do the math yourself, that is 12.2 innings, five hits, six walks and 22 strikeouts over two starts. He is making it tough on the Twins front office. Fans see those back-to-back shutouts in the box score. They’ve heard his name. They’ve read about the fastball that touches 100 mph (and the slider, and this new changeup grip taught to him by Red Wings teammates Yohan Pino and Deolis Guerra). They know that the Twins gave up Denard Span for him. Oh, and Twins fans have watched the current starting staff of the Twins post an ERA of 6.04, second worst in baseball. There are legitimate reasons to keep Meyer down for a little longer: First, we have to remember that he was limited to just 70 regular season innings last season because of a shoulder injury that cost him two months of his season. He threw more, and very well, in the Arizona Fall League, but overall, he worked fewer than 100 innings in 2012 so they do need to be supremely cautious with him. Second, although he has generally had pretty good control through his minor league career, he does have 11 walks in 26.2 innings on the season. He had 10 walks over his last three starts (16.1 innings). That is concerning since big league hitters are more patient and will be able to better determine which pitch he is throwing. As Twins hitters have shown this year, the “Walks Will Haunt” cliché is true. He has been using his new changeup grip for two starts now and the results have been quite favorable. However, having that pitch be a consistent pitch is really important. A third dominant pitch could make him an All-Star. It would not hurt at all to let him work on that pitch for another two or three starts. Of course, there is the business side of the game of baseball as well. That said, if the Twins called up Alex Meyer to make his major league debut on Sunday against the Orioles, he would be a four-year arbitration guy, but the Twins would control him for an extra season. Of course, the Twins have proven over and over in the past that they don’t often make decisions based on service time. However, Alex Meyer’s agent is Scott Boras, who generally is against long term deals before free agency, so it has to come in to play. To keep him away from arbitration for an extra year, the Twins would have to wait until early-to-mid June. Meyer is not on the 40-man roster. The Twins are currently at 40 men on the roster, so someone would either need to be designated for assignment or traded (the market for the trade-worthy options is quite limited). There are plenty of options to be DFA'ed on the 40-man roster, so this is a pretty minor inconvenience. Lefties Kris Johnson and Logan Darnell are both pitching well in Rochester as well, and they are on the 40-man roster. Darnell's season ERA is just 1.69 and he has 21 strikeouts (and just seven walks) in 21.1 innings. Johnson has a 2.86 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 22 innings. More importantly, you want to make sure Meyer is ready and doesn’t need to be sent down. You would want him to stay with the big league club and not use up an option to send him down. Again, this is hopefully a minor concern as you hope he would not need options in 2015 or 2016 or beyond anyway. Now, for the reasons why Alex Meyer should be promoted to the Twins. These are much more fun. Reason Number One… have you seen the Minnesota Twins starting rotation so far this spring? Kyle Gibson has made three (of four) solid starts. Phil Hughes' last two starts have been good. Ricky Nolasco has had one good start. However, the Twins starting rotation has an ERA greater than six, which is just awful. Kevin Correia is reminding Twins fans that although he was quite solid in 2013, we never understood that second season on his contract. Mike Pelfrey has been awful, and Twins fans are wondering loudly why he was signed at all, much less to the two year contract he did receive. The strikeouts are something we have seen very little of from a starting pitcher since about 2006 when Johan Santana and a rookie Francisco Liriano were dominating the league. The rotation is averaging an MLB-worst 5.12 K/9. Alex Meyer may walk too many when called up initially, but he will also miss a lot of bats. He is a guy who, even right now, could likely strike out eight batters per nine innings. Alex Meyer is going to be 24 years old through this season. He’s not a 19 year old kid. Meyer is very mature and credits his time at the University of Kentucky for helping him with that. There is no question that Will Middlebrooks was right to question whether there were actually five starters in Minnesota better than Alex Meyer. As I’ve pointed out before, I honestly don’t think there is even one starting pitcher in the Twins rotation who is better than Meyer right now. His upside is Justin Verlander. He is a potential Cy Young-caliber talent. Those guys are good to have in a big league rotation. This should NOT be a reason to call him up, but when he makes his big league debut, Target Field will be electric. He’s one of those players who will bring people in and fans can really be excited about. As easy as we like to think the decision to call up Alex Meyer right now is, it’s not. A lot has to go into it. The most important things that have to be considered when talking about whether Meyer should be called up now or in a month is what is best for Alex Meyer and the Twins. What is going to make Alex Meyer the best he can be? Is he going to be hurt by making three to five more AAA starts? Of course not. There is no negative to it. Would it hurt his long-term development if he is called up too early? I don’t know. No one knows. That’s why there is no “right” answer to this situation. With top pitching prospects, teams have used different strategies for when to call them up. Both sides of the argument have had successes and failures. It has to be a decision dependent on the individual. One thing I do know is that I personally can’t wait until Alex Meyer is in the Twins starting rotation. I think most of us can agree on that. Also at Twins Fest, Meyer said, “I want to show that whenever they’re ready for somebody, I’m just hoping that I’m the guy that is ready to come up.” At the very least, he’s done that! Feel free to discuss, and make your projection for when Alex Meyer is promoted to the Minnesota Twins. I'll say... June 6.

The Twins and Tigers were rained out on Sunday, so the Twins were able to avoid Justin Verlander. Monday is a scheduled off day before a three-game series at Target Field against the Dodgers where they will see former AL Central nemesis Zach Greinke in Game 1. In the minors, there were a couple of very strong starts. One of the affiliates won on a walk-off, and another used some big extra base hits to mount a huge comeback. On the other hand, one affiliate gave up a late-inning lead. But, one affiliate scored a dozen runs. So, mix and match. Which affiliate did each of these? Read below to find out. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Pawtucket 2 (10 innings) Box Score Chris Parmelee went 0-3 with three strikeouts. It threatened to end his 11-game hitting streak. However, he singled in the 8th inning to help the Red Wings tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, Parmelee hit a walk-off home run to get the Wings back in the win column after two losses. Logan Darnell was on the mound and again very good. He was charged with two runs (1 earned) on five hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. He struck out six. As he walked to the mound for the seventh inning, he had not yet allowed a run. Yohan Pino came in to replace Darnell. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning and then worked three more scoreless innings. It wasn’t until the 10th inning he even gave up a base runner. He was helped by right fielder Doug Bernier who threw out a runner at the plate that inning. Pino struck out six in this outing. He is now 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA. Parmelee was 2-5 in the game with the big hits. James Beresford was 2-4. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Richmond 7 Box Score The Rock Cats got a great start and got some big hits. Until the bottom of the 8th inning, this was a terrific game in Richmond for the Rock Cats. And then came the eighth inning. Virgil Vasquez started and threw six shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out four. Not bad coming off his previous start when he threw seven three-hit, shutout innings. Ryan O’Rourke came in for the seventh inning and gave up a run while striking out two. The Rock Cats grabbed the lead early. Brandon Waring, who had a nice showing in big league camp this spring but was hitting under .180 coming into this game, hit a first inning double that scored Nate Hanson and Kennys Vargas. The Rock Cats added two more in the fourth inning. Former Gophers Kyle Knudson and AJ Pettersen each had an RBI double. With two outs in the seventh inning, Nate Hanson was hit by a pitch and Vargas singled. Then Waring drove in his third run of the game with a single. The Rock Cats had a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th inning. Dan Turpen came in. He gave up a single, a walk, a single and a bases-loaded walk before striking out a batter. He was replaced by Jim Fuller who hit the one batter he faced to make the score 5-3. Cole Johnson came on. He hit the next two batters he faced to tie the score at five. A single then scored two more runs before Johnson got the final two outs. Kennys Vargas was 3-4 with his fourth double. Brandon Waring was 2-5 with his sixth double and three RBI. AJ Pettersen went 2-4 with his first double. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his seventh double, and Kyle Knudson hit his second double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Palm Beach 7 Box Score The Miracle had a bit of a miracle on Sunday afternoon. Down 5-0 after just two innings, the team fought back and came away with a great team victory. Alex Wimmers made the start. He went five innings and was charged with seven runs, though just four were earned. He gave up seven hits (2 homers) and walked three. He struck out two. Mason Melotakis came on and gave up two hits (and a hit batter) over two scoreless innings. Madison Boer earned his third save with two perfect innings. Down 7-2 going into the sixth inning, the Miracle put six on the board to take the lead. The inning started with walks to Adam Walker and Mike Gonzales before Niko Goodrum’s single loaded the bases. Max Kepler came to the plate and picked the perfect time for his first home run of the season, a grand slam that cut the lead to 7-6. After a pitching change, Tyler Grimes doubles. Following a Levi Michael walk, Travis Harrison doubled to score Grimes and tie the game. Jorge Polanco came up and hit a sacrifice fly to give the Miracle an 8-7 lead. The Miracle added some insurance in the bottom of the 8th inning when Travis Harrison doubled in Levi Michael and scored on a Jorge Polanco single Harrison was 3-5 with the two doubles, his fifth and sixth on the season. Polanco was 2-4. Levi Michael was 1-2 with three walks. Adam Walker was 0-2 but walked three times. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 12, Clinton 1 Box Score When a team scores 12 runs in a game, you’d think we’d start with a note on the offense. Not in this game. Aaron Slegers started and was terrific. He went seven innings and gave up just one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out eight batters. Todd Van Steensel made his Kernels debut and had a one, two, three inning with two strikeouts. Christian Powell came in for the ninth. He gave up a hit, but he struck out two in a scoreless inning. Chad Christensen went 3-5 with a walk. He stole his sixth base. Zack Larson went 3-5 with his league-leading tenth double and his third stolen base. Ivory Thomas was 2-3 with two walks and his first stolen base and Midwest League home run. Mitch Garver was 2-4 with a walk. Tanner Vavra was 2-5 with his sixth double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00 CST) – Matt Summers (Listen) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Ryan Eades (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games.

Phil Hughes worked seven quality innings and the Twins evened their series with the Detroit Tigers. On Sunday, it will be Kyle Gibson taking the mound for the Twins opposite Justin Verlander. Oswaldo Arcia began his rehab. Scott Diamond was back on the mound. After being rained out on Friday, the Rock Cats played two games in Virginia. A couple of powerful hitters hit home runs. And, there is a doubles-machine down in Cedar Rapids that Twins fans will want to learn more about. TRANSACTIONS Early on Saturday afternoon, we learned the ‘other’ transaction in Cedar Rapids. Jonatan Hinojosa was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a PED. According to Baseball America, the Twins signed Dutch Deol, a 21-year-old outfielder from California who is yet to get out of the rookie leagues. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 6 Box Score Scott Diamond’s last start was at least somewhat encouraging. On Saturday, things did not go well for him. He gave up six runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out three. His ERA is back above ten at 10.35. He was replaced by Edgar Ibarra who didn’t allow a run in 1.2 innings despite giving up three hits and walking two. AJ Achter came on and struck out two of the four batters he faced and got out. Ryan Pressly came in for the ninth inning and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He did strike out two batters. Oswaldo Arcia made his first rehab appearance, DH'ing and batting fifth. He batted three times and went 3-3, all singles. Danny Santana went 3-5 with his seventh double. Doug Bernier went 2-5 with his fifth double. He’s hitting .380. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 – New Britain 5, Richmond 4 Box Score If you look at Sean Gilmartin’s line in this game, it doesn’t look that great. The lefty was charged with four runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. He walked one and hit one batter. He struck out seven. However, into the seventh inning, he had given up just one run on four hits (and the hit batter). In that final inning, he gave up a hit and a walk before giving up a three-run homer to Tyler Graham that cut the Rock Cats lead to 5-4. Lester Oliveros came on and hit the first batter he faced on an 0-2 count. Oliveros then threw to first in a pickoff attempt, but the ball was thrown wide and the potential game-tying runner advanced to third base. On the next batter, Brandon Waring made a lunging backhand catch at third base and used his strong arm to get the runner at first in a close play to finish off the win. The Rock Cats plated two runs in the third and two more runs in the fourth inning. In the top of the 7th inning, AJ Pettersen had a leadoff bunt single. He stole second, and with two outs, Nate Hanson singled him in to give the Rock Cats a 5-1 lead. It proved to be a very big insurance run. Kennys Vargas went 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-3 with his second homer of the year. Nate Hanson drove in two runs. Game 2 – New Britain 2, Richmond 5 Box Score Pat Dean was charged with five runs in five innings, but only one of the runs was earned. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out four. He gave up three runs in the second inning. He went out for the sixth inning and was charged with two more in that inning. Cole Johnson got the three outs in the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out two. The Rock Cats had just four hits in the game. Kennys Vargas hit his third home run, a two-run shot that made the score 3-2 in the top of the sixth. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 9 Box Score David Hurlbut made his second start since replacing Mason Melotakis in the rotation. He went five innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out three. Tim Shibuya came in for the sixth inning. It was a rough one. He gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk. Brian Gilbert pitched two innings. He walked three but gave up no runs or hits. Steven Gruver pitched the ninth. He gave up one run on two hits. The Miracle were shut out through the first eight innings. They scored four runs in the ninth frame. Adam Walker went 2-4 with his fifth home run. In his return to the Florida State League, Aderlin Mejia went 2-3 with a walk. Dalton Hicks hit a two-run double in the ninth inning as well. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 6 Box Score Felix Jorge started for the Kernels and was very good. However, things got very interesting late, but Hudson Boyd was able to close the door and secure a Kernels win. They are now back over .500 at 11-10 on the season. Jorge went the first six innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out five. Josue Montanez pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He came out for the eighth and gave up two runs. He left the game with runners at first and third and nobody out. Hudson Boyd came in and got two outs before issuing a walk to load the bases. He gave up a two-run single to cut the lead to one, but he got the final out of that inning. He had one base runner in the ninth, but was able to record the save. Zack Larson led the offense. He went 4-5 with his eighth and ninth double. He drove in two runs. Tanner Vavra went 2-5 with his fifth double. Mitch Garver was 2-4 with a walk. Ivory Thomas had a single and a walk in his first Kernels game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (12:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain @ Richmond (12:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, ion Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

I wondered why the Twins called up Jonatan Hinojosa to Cedar Rapids. Now we know. From Bob Nightengale on Twitter: Class A #Twins IF Jonatan Hinojosa receives 50-game PED suspension for testing positive for metabolites of Nandrolone. Hardball Times' Bill Baer said this of Nandrolone: Because he was on the Cedar Rapids roster, his suspension can start right now. Had he stayed in EST, his suspension would not have started until the Elizabethton season starts in late June. Hinojosa is the fourth Twins minor leaguer currently suspended. Eddie Rosario, Dallas Gallant and Mark Hamburger are the others. They are all in Ft. Myers playing in Extended Spring Training games. ~~~ Since the Twins beat the Tigers 5-3 yesterday (Saturday), you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code on Sunday. ~~~

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. 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.

The Chris Colabello Story continues. Since signing with the Twins before the 2012 season, his story has continued to get better and better. Wednesday night was another highlight in what has been a remarkable start to his career and specifically to his 2014 season. On Wednesday, he gave his Mom a great birthday present and then made his teammates happy again with a huge extra inning hit. Maybe I am a horrible child! I think the best gift I ever gave my mom for her birthday was, well, maybe when I drew/colored her a picture or something when I was really young. Chris Colabello gave his mom a really cool birthday present last night. With his mother, Silvana, chatting on FSN with Marney Gellner, she saw her son tie the game at two with a two-run home run. In her excitement, you can hear her say, "Another present!" What the remarkable video right here: http://m.mlb.com/video/v32326113/mintb-colabello-hits-tworun-shot-on-moms-birthday[/media] Move ahead to the 12th inning, and Chris Colabello gave his teammates a great gift. With Joe Mauer on third base and Trevor Plouffe on second base, Rays' manager Joe Maddon decided to pitch to Colabello. Bad guy Josh Lueke got ahead of Colabello 0-2, but he battled and eventually hit a single up the middle to score two more runs and give the Twins a 6-4 lead. After Glen Perkins shut the door in the bottom of the inning, the Twins got back to .500 at 10-10. The Chris Colabello story just continues to get better and better. When the Twins signed him before spring training 2012, he was hoping to do enough just to make an affiliated team's roster for the first time after seven years of independent ball. After a solid season in New Britain, Colabello got an invitation to Twins' big league spring training in 2013. He was able to leave camp to play for the surprising Team Italy in the WBC. He went to AAA Rochester, but on May 22, 2013, he made his major league debut. His story could have ended there and it could have been a story meant for Disney. But the story continued into the 2014 season. He had a very interesting offseason. Though few believed that he would make the Twins' 25 man roster for Opening Day, some thought he could be a candidate to be DFA'd during the offseason. He wasn't. However, a team from South Korea came to the Twins and offered Colabello and the Twins a lot of money for him to play there. He wasn't guaranteed a spot on the Twins major league roster, but he chose again to believe in himself and his dreams and his goals. No one would have blamed him for taking the money in Korea. He would have made almost as much in one season there as he would make in two full seasons in the big leagues. As he told me at spring training, "I played baseball, sometimes literally for nothing for a long time, so it's not and has never been about the money." In a Twins Daily Q&A with Colabello from before the 2013 season, he talked about what he learned about the game while playing in the independent leagues, "Independent baseball taught me a lot about myself. I was blessed to play for Rich Gedman who taught me so much about the game, and most importantly that as long as I had a uniform on, that there was a chance someone would see me." He believed in himself, and he got the job done this spring, earning a spot on his first Opening Day roster. Even then, he wasn't necessarily a starter. He was the team's DH on Opening Day largely because the Twins faced lefty Chris Sale. He has produced, and that is why he remains in the every-day lineup, in the middle of the order. Not only is he hitting in the middle of the order, he is becoming quite the run producer. Yes, RBI is a stat that a player accumulates largely due to what hitters in front of him do. However, through the first three-and-a-half weeks of the season, he has come through and driven in runs whenever the opportunity has presented itself. When Colabello singled in Mauer and Plouffe in the 12th inning, it gave him 26 RBI in April. That number ties Kirby Puckett for the record for most RBI in April, and there are still six games to play. Again, two years ago at this time, Colabello was making his affiliated baseball debut in New Britain, and today, his name is in the same sentence as Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett. If there is a story in baseball in the past several years that is better than Chris Colabello, please let me know what it is. Colabello has his head on his shoulders. He speaks about the process as much as the results. He understands well that there are things that he can control and other things that he can't. From the January 2013 interview, Colabello spoke of this. "My biggest goal is to be able to adjust and be in the moment to the best of my ability. Hitting is so much more about process than it is about results. If you can make a commitment to taking care of the process, the results will take care of themselves." It's that thinking that will continue to give Colabello an opportunity. He's earned more time with an incredible April. If the month were to end right now, Colabello would have to be the favorite for player of the month. Helping his team win and giving his Mom great birthday presents, Colabello is getting the job done, and it's really fun to watch. http://deadspin.com/twins-player-hits-homer-while-his-mom-is-interviewed-on-1566872955?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitte r&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow ~~~ Also, since the Twins beat the Rays on Silvana Colabello's birthday, today (Thursday) you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code. ~~~

Alex Meyer had one of the best starts of his minor league career on Wednesday night. He set a career-high in strikeouts and went into the 7th inning for the first time this season. On this night, one could make the argument that his performance was the third best by a starting pitcher in the organization (though you could also make a case for best or second-best very easily, as well). Ft. Myers' Tyler Duffey and Cedar Rapids' Ethan Mildren each made a strong case as well. Also, Chris Parmelee remains on fire!! photo by Mark Rebilas PODCAST NOTES Looking for an update on Nate Roberts? Zack Jones? Get those updates and much more Twins and minor league talk, like what is Miguel Sano up to on Tuesday night’s Twins Hangouts podcast here or download the podcast (or previous podcasts) on iTunes. Also, on last night’s Talk to Contact podcast, the guys chatted with former Twin and current Cedar Rapids hitting coach Tommy Watkins. Listen here. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Wednesday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Pawtucket 3 Box Score For the fourth time in four starts with the Red Wings, Alex Meyer received a no- decision. His most recent start was a bit of a clunker, but he was tremendous in this start. The right-hander went 6.2 innings without allowing a run. He gave up just three hits, walked three and struck out a season-high 11 batters. Reports stated that he was consistently hitting 96-97 MPH and hit 99 on a couple of pitches. Ryan Pressly came on and got the final out of the seventh inning. He came out for the eight and walked the first two batters. He was replaced by lefty Edgar Ibarra who immediately gave up a two-run double and an RBI single. Matt Guerrier came up and surrendered a single and a walk before getting the final two outs. Chris Parmelee remained on fire. He went 2-4 with two doubles. He’s now hitting .343. In his last seven games, he is 15-29 with three doubles and two home runs with four walks and just two strikeouts. Doug Bernier was also 2-4 on the night and is now hitting .385 on the season. Eduardo Nunez missed his fourth straight game with the oblique strain. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, New Hampshire 7 Box Score The Rock Cats had a 4-1 lead after two innings, but then the defense faltered, lost the lead and eventually the game. Tony Thomas had a nice night at the plate. Leading off, he went 2-4 with a walk, his fifth double and his first home run of the season. He drove in two runs. Danny Ortiz drove in the other two runs with his fourth double. DJ Baxendale gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. However, due to four errors, just two of those runs were earned. Dan Turpen came on and gave up only one hit over 2.1 scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke went the final two innings. He gave up only an unearned run. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 2 Box Score The Miracle got some big hits but it was the performance of Tyler Duffey that was most instrumental in this win. He improves to 3-0 and drops his ERA to 2.82 after throwing six shutout innings on this night. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out five. Tim Shibuya came on and gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Brian Gilbert came in for the ninth inning and gave up two runs on three hits, but he ended the game with the Miracle in the lead. Travis Harrison and his hot bat were moved to the second spot in the lineup. After a Levi Michael leadoff single in the first inning, Harrison doubled him to third. Michael scored on a Jorge Polanco single while Harrison scored on an error. In the fifth inning, Stuart Turner singled with one out and advanced to third on an AJ Pettersen double. With two outs, Harrison singled in both runners. The Miracle had just six hits, and Harrison had two of them. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Peoria 2 Box Score The Kernels gave up no hits into the 7th inning and found a way to lose this game 2-0. Ethan Mildren made the start and threw five no-hit innings. He walked one and struck out six batters. Alex Muren came on and didn’t give up a hit in the sixth. In the seventh, he allowed a one-out double. After an error and a ground out, Peoria had an unearned run and a 1-0 lead. Hudson Boyd came in for the 8th inning. He gave up a leadoff double, but the next two batters popped out. Unfortunately a passed ball and a wild pitch gave Peoria their second run. Cedar Rapids managed just five hits in the game. Logan Wade had two of them. Joel Licon walked twice. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Duffey, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tony Thomas, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (11:05 a.m. CST) – Kris Johnson (Listen) New Hampshire @ New Britain (9:35 a.m. CST) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Brett Lee (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 CST) – Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. ~~~ Also, since the Twins beat the Rays 6-4, today (Thursday) you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code. ~~~

I am all for getting the calls right if we have the technology, but I am not a fan of how the new replay rules are working. I think they need to be much more efficient (or quick!) to not annoy and potentially lose a small part of any team's fan base. With the new replay rules, something that has long been a part of baseball will be much more rare. There won't as many great manager/umpire arguments like there were in the past. We have all seen video of Earl Weaver and Billy Martin in the face of umpires. We have seen dirt kicked and caps thrown. I thought it would be fun to take a look back at Minnesota Twins history and go a little deeper. During the past offseason, video of a July 1978 Twins, Red Sox game appeared. It's actually fascinating to watch a Twins player react like Mike Cubbage did when he was called out. Manager Gene Mauch was also ejected for arguing and tossed bats all over the field before leaving the field. Here is the video, and following it, I'll mention so other interesting tidbits from the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deJTjqB-qmQ Mike Cubbage was the base runner and from watching the video, it appears he was safe. Cubbage had gotten on base with a single. He was 1-2 when he was ejected. He was also hitting .319, pretty impressive considering it was mid-July already. Though his career was not great, he was in the big leagues for parts of eight seasons. He came to the Twins from the Rangers in a July 1976 trade along with Roy Smalley and two other players in exchange for Bert Blyleven. Speaking of Smalley, he came to the team and was a very good shortstop for several years. Most know that he was the nephew of the manager who was ejected, Gene Mauch. Did you know that Smalley was the #1 overall pick in the 1974 draft after a College Baseball Hall of Fame career at USC. He was in the big leagues less than one year later, and traded to the Twins two years after being selected. This ejection came in Game 2 of a doubleheader with the Red Sox. Smalley went 0-4 in that game, but he was 3-5 with a double in the first game. Batting third for the Twins in that game was Rod Carew, playing 1B. He was 1-3 with a walk in the game. The Twins had a couple of hitting stars in the 3-2 loss in Game 2. Hosken Powell led off and went 3-5. "Disco" Dan Ford was batting cleanup and went 2-4. Rob Wilfong, who a couple of years later was sent to California in a deal that brought the Twins Tom Brunansky, had two hits. Willie Norwood went 2-4 with a double and a home run in the game. You may have notice a spry, young first base coach for the Twins, donning the powder blue, and looking to not keep his third baseman in the game. Tony Oliva was the first base coach that year. Roger Erickson pitched the complete game for the Twins. He went eight innings and gave up just three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three. It seems he would fit in well with the current Twins style of pitcher. When the Red Sox won that second game of a double header, they improved to 60-28 under the leadership of one Don Zimmer. The Red Sox put a pretty solid lineup out against the Twins. Hall of Famer Jim Rice hit third in the game. Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski batted fourth. The big hit of the game was a two-run homer from Fred Lynn, who batted fifth. Bob Stanley pitched the final two innings for the Red Sox to record the save. He was in just his second season with the Red Sox. He threw in 52 games for the Sox, but he made just three starts. He went 15-2 with 10 saves and a 2.60 ERA. Of course, many in Red Sox Nation remember him for a certain Wild Pitch he threw in the 1986 World Series, in Game 6. That day's first base umpire, Bill Kunkel, pitched in the big leagues from 1961 through 1963. In 1968, he became an American League umpire and was well-respected in that role until his death in 1985. He may be best known as being one of the final two umpires to weather the outer chest protector. His son, Jeff Kunkel, played infield in the big leagues for parts of nine seasons. Let's get back to Mike Cubbage before we conclude this glimpse back in time. Cubbage was a third base coach in the big leagues from 1990 to 2003 for the Mets, Astros and Red Sox. He was an interim manager of the Mets in 1991, and for the Red Sox early in 2002. Since 2006, he has been a scout in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Once in a while it is fun to look back in history and look into a box score. Which teams had the better players, or even future Hall of Famers? Which relative unknown got to play hero in the big leagues? The Mike Cubbage, Gene Mauch ejection video takes us back in time to some names from over 25 years ago and some great powder blue uniforms. Does anyone remember this game? Who were your obscure favorite players, like Willie Norwood, or Dan Ford, or Roger Erickson or maybe even Bombo Rivera?

~ Sponsored by Switch My Trip ~ Ron Gardenhire and Jason Kubel were insistent throughout spring training. Is it possible that they knew what they were talking about when they kept saying the veteran would be just fine when the regular season began? Fans and many writers wondered aloud which Jason Kubel we might see in 2014. Kubel hit just .196/.288/.283 (.571) in spring training, and that’s only because he ended the spring schedule on a good note. Fortunately, he has been able to flip a switch with the regular season and has been one of the Twins’ top offensive performers in the early weeks. ~ The Twins are looking to switch things around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better. ~ Kubel was drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2000 draft. He stayed in the organization through the 2011 season. He was a solid performer, providing power in the middle of the lineup after his return from major knee surgery following the 2004 season. In 2012, he switched leagues, signing a two-year pact with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The first year with the Snakes, he hit .253/.327/.506 (.833) with 30 doubles and 30 home runs. However, 2013 was a year full of injury and struggle. He played in just 97 games and hit .216/.293/.317 (.610). In August, he was traded back to the AL Central and hit .167 for Cleveland in their playoff push. This past offseason, Kubel signed a minor league contract with the Twins despite reports that he had been offered a guaranteed, major league deal elsewhere. After that slow start in spring training, Jason Kubel has done a nice job of switching the opinions of many fans in Twins territory with his fast start. He is hitting .328/.418/.483 (.901) with six extra base hits. He has regained his form offensively. At the same time, his role with the Twins so far this season has switched from initial plan. He came in to be the team’s primary designated hitter who might occasionally get some time in the outfield. With injuries to Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham, he has become the Twins starting left fielder, playing every day. He has actually represented himself well with the glove to this point in the season. There is a lot of season to go. We are not even to May on the schedule yet. However, to this point, Jason Kubel has done a terrific job. He has been able to switch the opinions of many Twins fans who felt that he was on the wrong side of 30 and in decline. He will turn 32 years old at the end of May, but to this point of the young season, he is healthy and appears to be more like the 2012 version of Jason Kubel that we all hope to see. ~~~ Why fight traffic and parking? Say ‘Switch My Trip’ for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE The Twins and Red Wings were the only two organizational teams in action on this Easter Sunday. Coincidentally, both teams used strong starts from their pitchers and big offensive outputs to power their records back to .500. The Twins announced before today's game that they were awarded OF Sam Fuld off waivers. (He'll join the team on Tuesday.) To make room for Fuld, Darin Mastroianni was designated for assignment.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Though Mastro had an option left, the team was required to make room on their 40-man, which they'll have as soon as Jason Bartlett's paperwork goes through. For now though, it's Mastro that goes. He'll remain in the Twin Cities until this process plays out (with him likely to clear waivers and accept an assignment to Rochester). He would have the right to elect free agency. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 9, Syracuse 3 Box Score Trevor May was the story of the day for the Red Wings. May threw 89 pitches in six innings. He allowed only one hit and a walk. He struck out four and picked up his first win of the season. His ERA drops under 3.00 to 2.93. Offensively, Rochester put up season-highs in both runs (9) and hits (17). Chris Parmelee saw his average jump to .305 with a 4-for-5 day. He drove in one run and scored twice. From the 9-hole, Doug Bernier went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and a run. Danny Santana, James Beresford and Eric Farris all had two-hit games. Chris Rahl had a three-run home run. Earlier on Sunday, the Red Wings announced that Deolis Guerra would be placed on the DL with a hamstring strain. It's purely speculation, but it wouldn't be shocking to see Matt Guerrier fill that role by "taking the next step." MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (11:00 CST) – Scott Diamond New Britain vs New Hampshire (5:35 CST) - Pat Dean Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:35 CST) - Alex Wimmers Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:30 CST) – Aaron Slegers --- A couple of losses in the upper levels and a couple of wins in the lower levels quickly summarizes a Saturday in the minor league ballparks. There was a dramatic win in Cedar Rapids again last night, something that has become commonplace the last couple seasons. On Easter Sunday, just one of the Twins affiliates has a game. At 1:00 PM, Trevor May will take the mound for the Rochester Red Wings. Look back at this article later Sunday where you’ll be able to see what happened in that one. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Saturday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Syracuse 4 Box Score Kris Johnson started and went six innings. He was charged with four runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out eight. Ryan Pressly came on and threw two scoreless innings despite allowing a hit and walking three. He struck out two. The Red Wings managed just five hits. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 1, Portland 6 Box Score Sean Gilmartin struck out a career-high nine batters. He didn’t walk any either. However, he gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings to take the loss. Matt Summers came out of the bullpen for the final four innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out four. New Britain managed just six hits in the game. Matt Koch was 2-4 with his first Eastern League home run. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, St. Lucie 0 Box Score David Hurlbut has spent time in the bullpen and starting. Whenever he has started, he has been very good. That was the case on Saturday again. The left-hander threw five shutout innings in his first start of the season. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out one. Tim Shibuya came on and was perfect for two innings, striking out one. Brian Gilbert finished the game with two shutout innings. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 with his fifth double. Max Kepler notched his first double of the season Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his third double. Harrison is 12-25 in his last six games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, West Michigan 6 (12 innings) Box Score Bryan Santy knocked his first home run in his short stint with the Kernels, and it came in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score and send it into extra frames. The Kernels gave up a run in the top of the 10th to fall behind again. With two outs, Jason Kanzler singled and scored on a pinch-hit double from Mitch Garver. The game continued into the 12th. Engleb Vielma walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Joel Licon sacrifice bunt. Jason Kanzler followed with a game-winning RBI single to end it. Kanzler went 2-6 with his third steal, but his two hits were pretty big. Tanner Vavra, Chad Christensen and Zack Larson each had two hits. Felix Jorge started and gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out two. Alex Muren came on and gave up two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings, but no runs scored. Yorman Landa struck out four in two scoreless innings. Hudson Boyd went 1.2 innings and gave up a run on two hits and two walks. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson came on for the final out of the tenth inning. He worked two more scoreless innings and struck out three. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – David Hurlbut, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matt Koch, New Britain Rock Cats FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (1:00 CST) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain – No Game Ft. Myers – No Game Cedar Rapids – No Game Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games.

I remember asking Kyle Gibson several years ago what it meant to be the Twins #1 prospect. He said that it was an honor, but all being a prospect meant was that you hadn’t done anything yet. It is a great point for all to remember. Friday was the third time this season when Twins top pitching prospects were all on the mound. Friday was a good reminder that there is a reason these guys are at the levels they are at, that there is still work to be done. The Twins lost the opening game of their three game set in Kansas City and are back at .500 (8-8). There were also five Twins minor league games on Friday, and the Twins affiliate lost each of them. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Friday, but first a look at the Transactions: TRANSACTIONS The big news was that Jason Bartlett has decided to retire from baseball. According to a Mike Berardino tweet, Ron Gardenhire received a text message from Bartlett saying that “it just wasn’t happening. His body’s not reacting the way right now he wants it to.” The move opens up a spot on the Twins 40 man roster. Eduardo Nunez returned to the Red Wings after his one-day trip to Minnesota to serve as the team’s 26th man in the second game of their double header on Thursday. Reliever Tyler Jones was added to the Miracle roster while lefty Matt Tomshaw was sent to Extended Spring Training. Catcher Bryan Santy was added to the Cedar Rapids Kernels roster to replace Michael Quesada who was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List. He was hit by a pitch in the hand earlier this week. X-rays were negative, so he may not be out for too long. Photo by Jonathan Dyer RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Syracuse 6 (11 innings) Box Score I’m pretty certain that the Red Wings coaching staff didn’t want to play 11 innings on their first game of a road trip, but that’s just what happened. Alex Meyer got the starting nod and struggled for the first time. The talented right-hander gave up five runs on five hits (including one home run) in just 3.2 innings. He walked four and struck out just two. Brooks Raley came on and threw 2.2 scoreless. He gave up a hit, walked two and struck out three. Edgar Ibarra struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. AJ Achter went 1.2 innings. In the 11th, he got the first out before giving up a double to former Red Wing Brock Peterson. Matt Hoffman came on and issued an intentional walk before giving up a single to Brian Goodwin. Chris Parmelee led the offense. He went 2-4 with a walk, his second double and his second home run. James Beresford went 2-5 with his fourth double. Eric Fryer and Chris Rahl each went 2-4. ROCK CATS REVIEW Game 1 - New Britain 4, Portland 6 Box Score Portland had made the long trip down to Connecticut, so they might as well play two. Of course, they also did it because they were rained out on Thursday. DJ Baxendale started the first game and went five innings. He gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out two. Matt Guerrier came on and struck out three in the final two innings. He gave up no runs, three hits and a walk. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-3 with his fifth double. Mike Kvasnicka drove in two with a double. Corey Wimberly went 1-3 with a walk and three doubles. Matt Koch hit a double as well. Game 2 - New Britain 0, Portland 6 Box Score Taylor Rogers was on the mound for the second game. He was much improved in his third AA start. He left the game with one out in the fifth inning down just 2-0. However, he was replaced and a couple of batters later, a Blake Swihart home run made the score 6-0. Rogers was charged with four runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out five. Ryan O’Rourke came on and gave up two runs on three hits (including the homer) and recorded two outs. Adrian Salcedo pitched a scoreless inning. Lester Oliveros struck out two in a perfect seventh. There wasn’t much offense for the Rock Cats in this game. They managed just three hits. Mike Kvasnicka hit his third double of the year. Tony Thomas was 1-2 with a walk. Of the 21 outs in this game, the Rock Cats struck out 16 times. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, St. Lucie 15 Box Score Fair to say that this game was not a pitchers’ duel. JO Berrios made the start for the Miracle. He went two innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits and a walk. However, just two of the runs were earned thanks to the ninth error of Jorge Polanco’s season. Steven Gruver came on and gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. Tyler Jones returned to the mound for his first appearance of the year. He gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. Mason Melotakis came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out three. Travis Harrison went 2-5. In the first inning, he hit a three-run homer. He also stole his first base. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with his second triple. Adam Walker and Dalton Hicks each had two hits. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, West Michigan 5 Box Score Kohl Stewart was back on the mound for the Kernels on Friday night. He gave up just one hit over the first three innings, but he gave up two runs in the fourth. He went five innings and gave up just those two runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out three. Josue Montanez came on and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out two. Christian Powell struck out three batters in two perfect innings. The Kernels had just five hits in the game. Zack Larson went 2-4. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Christian Powell, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (1:00 CST) – Kris Johnson (Listen) Portland @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – David Hurlbut (Listen) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games.

There were four games in the Twins' farm system, and the Twins were able to play a split double header at Target Field in some record cold conditions. More impressive, they were able to win two games against the Blue Jays, a team they have been crushed by in recent years. Kyle Gibson threw eight shutout innings in the afternoon game. In the evening game, the Twins used eight eighth inning walks, and three wild pitches in that same inning, to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 9-5 win. It would be very cool if the story in the minor leagues on Thursday were to become a great story of the Twins 2014 season as well. Who was it? Well, keep reading to find out… Here is a look at what happened in the Twins' farm system on Thursday. And, by the way, it's another Top Pitching Prospect Day on Friday. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1 - Rochester 1, Pawtucket 2 (11 innings) Box Score With a doubleheader, the games are only supposed to be seven innings. With this game going 11 innings, the two teams ended up playing 18 innings anyway. Logan Darnell got the start in Game 1 and was impressive. The lefty from the University of Kentucky gave up one run on six hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. Ryan Pressly came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and a walk. AJ Achter gave up no runs and recorded four outs. Aaron Thompson got the final five outs, but he gave up one run to take the loss. Brad Nelson led the offense. The veteran went 2-2 with two walks and a double. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his second double of the year. Chris Rahl was 2-4 with his third double. Game 2 - Rochester 2, Pawtucket 0 Box Score This offseason, the Twins signed veteran free agent Yohan Pino. Ten years earlier, 2004, the Twins signed Pino out of Venezuela. That summer, he was the Dominican Summer League Pitcher of the Year. In 2005, he was in Elizabethton where he went 9-2 with 64 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. In 2006, he went 14-2 with a 1.91 ERA, primarily out of the Beloit bullpen, though he ended the season making seven starts. That’s the role he has had ever since, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He got up to Rochester in 2009, but in late August, he was sent to Cleveland in exchange for Carl Pavano. In early 2011, he went to the Blue Jays organization. He was there until this spring when he was invited to Twins spring training. Already this year, he has made two starts and two relief appearances. Both starts came in Game 2’s of doubleheaders including the game 2 on Thursday night. The 30-year-old threw the complete game shutout. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out four. He improved to 2-0 and reduced his ERA to 0.59. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with another double. Eric Farris went 2-3. Doug Bernier hit his second home run. Last year, the Twins had several players with great stories get call-ups. If there is one to root for in 2014, make it Yohan Pino. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, Portland This game was postponed due to poor weather conditions. The teams will play a doubleheader in Maine on Friday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, St. Lucie 6 Box Score Brett Lee took the loss, but he recorded his second straight quality start. The lefty went six innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out one. Tim Shibuya came in for the seventh and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Madison Boer gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in the final two innings. For the fifth time already this season, the Miracle didn’t have a hit through five innings. They ended with four hits in the game. Jason Bartlett was originally in the starting lineup, batting second and playing shortstop. Shortly before the game, there was a lineup change. Jorge Polanco played shortstop and batted second. No official word yet on why Bartlett was removed. Polanco had a hit and committed two more errors. Levi Michael also had two errors in the game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, West Michigan 7 Box Score The Kernels fell behind early, and fought back. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Logan Wade tied the game with a two-run double. Unfortunately, it was all for naught as the team gave up four runs and fell to the Tigers’ affiliate. Randy Rosario got the start. He struggled early with his control. Because of it, the lefty lasted only three innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and five walks while striking out two. Brandon Bixler came on and gave up two hits and a walk in 2.2 shutout innings. He struck out three. Brandon Petersen went the next 2.1 innings and didn’t allow a run. He struck out three. Hudson Boyd came into the tie game in the top of the ninth. He gave up four runs on four hits in the inning to take the loss. Logan Wade had the big hit in the 8th inning. He was 2-4. The double was his second. Jason Kanzler was 2-4 and stole a base. Bryan Haar and Bo Altobelli each had a double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Yohan Pino, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero, Rochester Red Wings FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (5:00 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) Portland @ New Britain (Doubleheader: 4:35 CST) – DJ Baxendale, Taylor Rogers (Listen) St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (6:35 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 CST) – Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Thursday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins wins over the Blue Jays on Thursday, it means that on Friday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

Winter just does not want to go away. Much of the state of Minnesota woke up to cold and even snow on Wednesday. The weather has been difficult around the country. New Britain was weathered out. The Minnesota Twins game on Wednesday night against the Blue Jays was postponed. They will play their regularly scheduled game at 12:10 on Thursday and then the makeup game at 6:10. When there is a doubleheader, teams are able to add a 26th player. The Twins will promote the recently acquired Eduardo Nunez. In his week with Rochester, he has played shortstop, third base, right field and DH. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system on Wednesday: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] . RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Pawtucket 7 Box Score I think it’s fair to say that things have not gone terribly well for Scott Diamond in 2014. He lost the fifth starter ‘battle’ to Kyle Gibson and was DFA'ed. He went unclaimed. He agreed to pitch for Rochester. And then the season started. His first two starts were bad. In his third start, he went four innings and was charged with seven earned runs on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out four. His ERA in three starts is now 15.00. Fortunately, the Red Wings got five shutout innings from their bullpen. Deolis Guerra gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. Matt Hoffman gave up three hits and got five outs. Ryan Pressly gave up one hit over the final 1.1 innings. The Red Wings hitters attempted to come back but ended up just short. Wilkin Ramiez went 3-4 with a walk and a double. Dan Rohlfing went 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Eduardo Nunez went 2-5 and stole a base. Eric Farris also had two hits. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain, New Hampshire This game was postponed due to poor weather conditions. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Charlotte 5 Box Score Down 4-2 after seven innings on Wednesday morning, the Miracle put up four runs in the top of the eighth frame and held on for a 6-5 win. Max Kepler led the way, going 2-4 with a triple. Adam Walker had a double and drove in two runs. Travis Harrison is now hitting .310 after going 2-4 and driving in the game-tying run in the 8th. Jonathan Murphy gave the Miracle a 6-4 lead with a two-run single. AJ Pettersen also went 2-4 in the game. Tyler Duffey was charged with four runs on nine hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out two. Steven Gruver settled things down. The lefty gave up two hits and a walk but no runs over 2.2 innings in relief. Brian Gilbert recorded his second save. He gave up a run in the eighth that cut the lead to one, but pitched a scoreless ninth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, South Bend 4 Box Score Ethan Mildren made his first start for the Kernels. The 2013 draft pick gave up two runs on six hits. In five innings, he struck out five without walking a batter. Yorman Landa came on and was charged with two runs on five hits in two innings. He struck out two and also hit a batter. Alex Muren walked one over two scoreless innings. The Kernels had just seven hits in the game. Jason Kanzler had a triple. Engelb Vielma and Zack Larson each doubles. It was Larson’s seventh double already. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Steven Gruver, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dan Rohlfing, Rochester Red Wings THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (Doubleheader: 12:05 CST) – Logan Darnell, Yohan Pino (Listen) Portland @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – DJ Baxendale (Listen) St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Brett Lee (Listen) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Randy Rosario (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games.