Seth Stohs

At Twins Daily, we believe that the Minnesota Twins minor leaguers deserve to be recognized. They may not play in front of big league crowds or for big league pay checks. However, they work really hard and deserve to be noticed when they perform. Last year, we started Adopt-a-Prospect as a way to help players throughout the minor leagues to get recognized. TODAY, starting at 10:00 central time, we will begin Adopt-a-Prospect 2013. As we did a year ago, a separate forum thread will be set up for the Adoptions. (Here it is!) At 10:00, I will post that the adoptions can begin. See the remainder of the rules below. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It’s fun to “adopt” the top prospects, but it can also be great to “adopt” the lesser-known minor leaguers and learn all about them and be able to share that with Twins Daily readers. Be sure to check out the rules below, and if you feel that you can meet the requirements, please stop by on Tuesday and adopt-a-prospect. Rules of Adopt-A-Prospect: 1) Twins Daily members can only ‘adopt’ ONE prospect at this time. Each Twins prospect can only be adopted once. It will be first-come, first-serve in a new thread here that will be opened at 10:00 a.m. CST on Tuesday morning. (There may be a second adoption between the MLB draft and the start of the short-season leagues.) 2) Once you have confirmed that you have that player, you can post a thread. The title of the thread you start should just be that player's name. First post must be an introduction of the player. The format of the post is up to the individual, but please be sure to get all the important information needed on the player. For Example, Name, Position, Handedness, Drafted/Signed/Acquired (out of where/what round), Previous Stats, etc. Feel free to make it as detailed as you want. (There are a lot of websites you could link to such as their Baseball-Reference, The Baseball Cube, First Inning, Fan Graphs, MiLB.com, affiliate’s websites, etc.) 3) After the initial post (and throughout the season), you MUST update the thread AT LEAST once every week. If you fail to do this, the prospect can be taken away from you. [if a player is inactive due to injury or suspension, this requirement is waived as appropriate.] If you would like to update more often, please feel free. Updates should, at least, include Year-To-Date numbers for the player. The more information given, however, the better. Brag up your prospect! 4) Any major event (i.e. Promotion/Demotion/Trade/Perfect Game/4 HRs in one game...) must be reflected in the thread within a day of the event. Failure to update for this purpose may result in losing your adoptee. 5) Threads will be closed one week after a prospect has been traded out of the organization. However, if the player is traded back to the Twins (for some reason), the member who had the prospect will have the option to regain the prospect. 6) If a player is placed on the 25-man roster, this is wonderful news and you can continue that player’s thread. Reward for your player getting to the big leagues is that you can adopt a second prospect at that point. Even if the first player is eventually sent back to the minor leagues, you can maintain both prospect threads. 7) All other rules which are enforced on the main board will be enforced here.

Although the Twins-Mets game was ‘weathered out’ on Sunday, it was another busy day in the Twins farm system. Two games went to extra innings and ended with a walk-off hit. Cedar Rapids finished two more games in Clinton before 5:00 meaning they completed four games in just under 24 hours. Each of those four games was decided by one run. Then there is the question that we’ve been asking each of the past several days, Did the Miracle win again? Let’s just say a fairly prominent prospect helped the team that won in an impressive way. Who won? Who did well? Well, you’ll just have to keep reading to find out![PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 2, Pawtucket Red Sox 5 (11 innings) Box Score After playing two, seven-inning games on Saturday, the Red Wings had to play 11 more innings on Sunday. After combining for just six hits in those 14 innings Saturday, the Red Wings managed just five hits on Sunday. Clete Thomas got things going the right way. He hit a home run to lead off the game. He was 2-4 with a walk. Chris Colabello continued his torrid start that will hopefully bring him to Minnesota in the near future. He went 2-2 with two walks and two doubles. Andrew Albers made the start and threw five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and struckout five to reduce his ERA to 0.93. Daniel Turpen came on for the 6th inning and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo relieved Turpen in the seventh with a runner on but did not allow him to score. He worked three perfect innings. Tyler Robertson threw a 1-2-3 tenth. Anthony Slama came in to start the bottom of the 11th. He walked two batters, and with two outs, he gave up a walk-off, three-run homer to former Royals outfielder Mitch Maier. New Britain Rock Cats 6, Portland Sea Dogs 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Rock Cats jumped out to a fast lead, but in the mid-innings, Portland tied the game at five. There was little offense until the 10th inning when the Rock Cats pulled out a dramatic win. Curt Smith singled and went to third on a double by James Beresford. Next up was Danny Ortiz. The .400 hitting outfielder singled in the game-winning run. Blake Martin started for the Rock Cats. The lefty was solid through four. However, he ended up giving up five runs on seven hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. He struckout three. The bullpen came through. AJ Achter went 3.1 scoreless innings. He walked one, but gave up no hits and struckout two. Marty Popham went two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Antoan Richardson went 2-3 with a walk. James Beresford went 2-4 with a walk and a double. Ortiz went 2-2 (he came in late in the game as a pinch-hitter). Josmil Pinto was 1-3 with two walks. Ft. Myers Miracle 5, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 Box Score The Miracle have won in just about every way over their 9-0 start. On Sunday, they were down 2-1 heading into the 7th inning. Twins Daily’s AJ Pettersen tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center to score Jhon Goncalves with the tying run. Angel Morales worked a walk and Eddie Rosario was hit by a pitch. That brought up Miguel Sano. He launched a long, towering three-run homer to left field to give the Miracle a 5-2 lead, a lead they would hang on to. The Miracle improve to 10-0, the best start in their history. Sano went 3-4, and the home run was his third of the season. Morales remained hot. He was 2-2 with two walks. DJ Baxendale made the start for the Miracle. The righty went the first five innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and two walks. He struckout three. Chad Rodgers came on and threw two shutout frames. After getting the lead, Ryan O’Rourke continued his great start with a scoreless eighth inning. Zack Jones came on for the ninth and recorded his fourth save. He hit 99 mph again (one of which hit an opposing player) and struckout two. Game 1 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Clinton LumberKings 3 Box Score The Kernels began the game with five straight hits, yet due to some base running issues, they managed just two runs. That would be all they would score in the game as they fell in Game 1 by a single run. Adam Walker went 2-3 with his second double. In that first inning, Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks had back-to-back run-scoring doubles. Byron Buxton was 1-2 with a walk. Tyler Duffey took the mound for Cedar Rapids. In his first start a week earlier, he threw seven perfect innings. He was perfect in the first inning. In the second frame, he gave up a walk, but it was quickly erased with a double play. In the fourth inning, he gave up his first hit of the season before giving up a two-run homer to Guillermo Pimentel that tied the game at two. Duffey lasted until there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth. He left with two runners on base. Lefty Matt Tomshaw came in and got the final out on a strikeout, but not before the go-ahead run scored on a bloop single to right field. Duffey gave up the three runs on six hits and two walks. He struckout four. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Clinton LumberKings 6 Box Score The Kernels were able to hold on for the one-run win. In doing so, the Kernels were able to take three out of four in Clinton in less than 24 hours. Dalton Hicks gave the Kernels a lead with a long, three-run homer, his second of the season. He also added his seventh double. Jorge Polanco was 2-4 with two RBI. Travis Harrison went 1-2 and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Byron Buxton went 2-4 with his third stolen base. Taylor Rogers threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk. Manuel Soliman threw the next two innings and gave up no runs despite two walks. Tim Atherton worked the fifth inning and wasn’t helped by his infield. Harrison had two errors and Niko Goodrum and Jorge Polanco each had one. Atherton was charged with four unearned runs in the inning. It could have been worse, but JD Williams threw out a runner at the plate to end the inning. Tyler Jones then gave up two runs (1 earned) in the 6th inning, cutting the lead to 7-6. He pitched a scoreless seventh to record his first save. All four games of this series were decided by one run.

It’s been fairly easy to write the Twins minor league reports the past four or five days. Aside from the Ft. Myers Miracle, the other Twins affiliates have each missed games this week due to weather. The Cedar Rapids Kernels haven’t played since Monday. So, on a Saturday, it all came together. Four Twins affiliates played a total of six games. Rochester and Cedar Rapids played doubleheaders. The Twins nearly got no hit by Matt Harvey in their fifth straight loss to fall to 4-7 on the season. Wilkin Ramirez was put on the Paternity List following the game, so we’ll find out the corresponding move soon. Could the Miracle win their ninth straight game to start the season? Keep reading, and find out…[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Game 1 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Pawtucket Red Sox 7 Box Score The Red Wings managed just four hits in the first. Chris Colabello drove in the lone run. Chris Herrmann went 1-2 with a walk. Shairon Martis started and gave up one run on four hits in 3.2 innings. He walked four and struckout four. Tyler Robertson got the next three outs. He gave up no runs despite two hits and a walk allowed. Anthony Slama had a rough one and took the loss. In just 0.1 innings, he gave up four runs on two hits and two walks. Of his 18 pitches, just five of them were strikes. Caleb Thielbar got the final three outs, but not before giving up two runs on two hits. He did strikeout two. Game 2 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Pawtucket Red Sox 7 Box Score The Red Wings had just four hits in Game 1, and that was twice as many hits as they managed in Game 2. Eric Farris had a single. Chris Colabello launched his fourth home runs of the season. On the mound, veteran Virgil Vasquez gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk. In four innings, he struckout three. Bruce Pugh’s struggles continued. He gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. Michael O’Connor pitched the sixth frame and gave up one run on two hits. Andrew Albers is set to take the mound for the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Portland Sea Dogs 6 (10 innings) Box Score Alex Meyer made his second start for the Rock Cats. He gave up a leadoff single and two, RBI doubles in the first innings before settling down. He gave up just those two runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. He struckout six. Bobby Lanigan came on and gave up one run on one walk in 1.2 innings. He struckout two. Jose Gonzalez walked the one batter he came in the face. Michael Tonkin came on and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra worked two innings and gave up the 10th inning run on three hits and two walks. He struckout three. Antoan Richardson went 2-4 with a walk. He stole his third and fourth bases. Nate Hanson went 2-4. Curt Smith was 2-5 with a double. Evan Bigley was 2-5. Blake Martin will take the ball for the Rock Cats on Sunday afternoon. Ft. Myers Miracle 8, Jupiter Hammerheads 7 Box Score With the win, the Miracle are now 9-0 and tied with the 1994 Miracle for the best start in franchise history. The team got plenty of offense led by centerfielder Angel Morales. He went 3-5 with his fifth and sixth doubles. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with a stolen base. Kyle Knudson was 2-4 with his first double. Lance Ray and Miguel Sano each doubled. Kennys Vargas was 1-3 with two walks and a big, three-run home run. Madison Boer started and worked the first six innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struckout three. Miguel Munoz made things close. He gave up four runs on four hits over two innings. Corey Williams worked a 1-2-3 ninths for his third save. DJ Baxendale will make his second Miracle start on Sunday. Game 1 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Clinton LumberKings 3 Box Score Hudson Boyd was back on the mound for the Kernels as they returned to action against the LumberKings. The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in five innings. Following the game, he tweeted me saying, “It felt good today. Let the athletes behind me do most of the work” That may be true, but he also struckout six. Brett Lee came on and gave up two hits but no runs in his inning. Chris Mazza recorded his second save. He gave up a walk in a scoreless seventh inning. Niko Goodrum hit his first two doubles of the season in this game. Dalton Hicks hit his fourth double. Jorge Polanco walked twice. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with a walk. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Clinton LumberKings 1 Box Score If fans wanted to see all the action of this double header, they could have watched the first game and just the first inning of the second game. In the top of the first, Dalton Hicks knocked in two runs with his fifth double. It scored Byron Buxton and Candido Pimentel. In the bottom of the first inning, Mason Melotakis gave up a leadoff home run. That was it for the scoring. Melotakis went the first five innings and gave up one run on three hits. He walked one and struckout seven. Steven Gruver gave up one hit and struckout four over the final two innings to record his first save. Pimentel went 1-2 with a walk and his second stolen base. JD Williams had a walk and stole his fifth base of the season. The Kernels are now 6-1 on the season. Tyler Duffey and David Hurlbut will pitch for the Kernels on Sunday afternoon.

The weather conditions have wreaked havoc on the baseball schedule for much of this week. Games from the Midwest to the Northeast have been postponed, and the story was the same for Friday night.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Cedar Rapids Kernels were weathered-out for the fourth straight day. New Britain was supposed to play a late-morning game on Friday but it was postponed. Finally, the Rochester Red Wings scheduled game in Pawtucket was postponed by rain. Double-headers have been scheduled. Perhaps the weather will cooperate. However, the team off to the fastest start in the 2013 season, the Ft. Myers Miracle, was back on the field, looking to improve on their 7-0 record. So how did they do? Well, come on, you’ll have to read a little further to find out. The game started as a bit of a pitching duel. Through the first four innings, just one run scored. In the top of the third, catcher Matt Koch singled to score Eddie Rosario with the game’s first run. Charlotte did tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out double off of starting Matt Summers. However, in the top of the sixth frame, the Miracle loaded the bases. Angel Morales came up and cleared them with a double. He then scored on a Rosario double to make the score 5-1. Matt Summers left the game after five innings. He gave up just the one run on three hits. He did walk three and struck out one. He was relieved by Cole Johnson who was greeted in the sixth by a triple and the runner scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. However, the Miracle responded right away with a single run when Andy Lee scored on a Michael Gonzales sacrifice fly. Johnson gave up the one run over his two innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out none. Adrian Salcedo came in for the eighth inning, and like Johnson, he gave up a run in his first frame. He gave up a quick double. The runner advanced on a groundout and then scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-3. Salcedo gave up another run in the ninth to yield the final 6-4 score. Matt Koch went 4-5 on the game. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his fifth double. The Miracle improved to 8-0 to start the season, the winningest team in minor league baseball at his point. If they can win in Charlotte on Saturday, a 9-0 record would match the 1994 team and be the best start in team history. Madison Boer is scheduled to make the start for the Miracle. Rochester is schedule to start a doubleheader in Pawtucket on Saturday at 11:05 central time. Alex Meyer will take the mound for New Britain to start a game against Portland at 5:35 central time. Cedar Rapids is scheduled to play two games in Clinton, starting at 4:00 central time. Oh yeah, in case you missed it, the Twins got destroyed by the Mets in the first game of their three-game, inter-league set.

The weather conditions have wreaked havoc on the baseball schedule for much of this week. Games from the Midwest to the Northeast have been postponed, and the story was the same for Friday night. The Cedar Rapids Kernels were weathered-out for the fourth straight day. New Britain was supposed to play a late-morning game on Friday but it was postponed. Finally, the Rochester Red Wings game in Pawtucket was postponed by rain. Doubleheaders are scheduled, hopefully for days that the weather will allow the games to be played. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] However, the team off to the fastest start in the 2013 season, the Ft. Myers Miracle, was back on the field, looking to improve on their 7-0 record. So how did they do? Well, come on, you’ll have to read a little further to find out. The game started as a bit of a pitcher's duel. Through the first four innings, just one run scored. In the top of the third, catcher Matt Koch singled to score Eddie Rosario with the game’s first run. Charlotte did tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out double off starter Matt Summers. However, in the top of the sixth, the Miracle loaded the bases. Angel Morales came up and cleared them with a double. He then scored on a Rosario double to make the score 5-1. Matt Summers left the game after five innings. He had given up just the one run on three hits. He had walked three and struck out one. He was relieved by Cole Johnson who was gave up a triple and the runner scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. However, the Miracle responded right away again with a single run when Andy Lee scored on a Michael Gonzales sacrifice fly. Johnson gave up the one run over his two innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out none. Adrian Salcedo came in for the eighth inning, and like Johnson, he gave up a run in his first frame. He gave up a quick double. The runner advanced on a groundout and then scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-3. Salcedo gave up another run in the ninth to yield the final 6-4 score. Matt Koch went 4-5 on the game. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his fifth double. The Miracle improved to 8-0 to start the season, the winningest team in minor league baseball. If they win in Charlotte on Saturday, a 9-0 record would match the 1994 team's record and be tied for the best start in Miracle history. Madison Boer is scheduled to make the start for the Ft. Myers club. Rochester is scheduled to start a doubleheader in Pawtucket on Saturday at 11:00AM, central time. Alex Meyer will take the mound for New Britain to start a game against Portland at 5:35PM, central time. Cedar Rapids is scheduled to play two games in Clinton, starting at 4:00PM, central time. Oh yeah, in case you missed it, the Twins got destroyed by the Mets in the first game of their three-game, inter-league set.

The Twins had their first scheduled off-day of the season on Thursday. They were in Minnesota watching the snow fall. As they look forward to a weekend, interleague series against the New York Mets, the forecast is for snow to fall in Minneapolis throughout the day on Friday. Hopefully they will be able to get some games in. Inclement weather caused the Cedar Rapids Kernels to postpone a game for the third straight night. Three affiliates did play last night. Kyle Gibson was on the mound for the Red Wings and Oswaldo Arcia had a couple more hits. Josmil Pinto reclaimed the organization’s early home run lead. And, one of Twins Daily’s own had a big game for Ft. Myers. Find out if the Miracle were able to remain perfect on the season. All of that and more are below in today’s Twins Minor League Report.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] If you’d like to hear some discussion on the Mets and Twins, I was on the MetsMusings.com podcast last night. Listen here. Rochester Red Wings 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 5 Box Score Kyle Gibson got off to a good start on Thursday night. The right-hander had a 1-2-3 first inning that included strikeouts of Jose Iglesius and a rehabbing David Ortiz. However, in the third inning, Iglesius hit a two-run homer to left field. In the fifth inning, Ortiz singled in a run and another run scored on a double before Gibson was replaced by Caleb Thielbar who allowed one of his inherited runners to score. In all, Gibson gave up five runs on either hits. In 4.1 innings, he gave up one walk and struckout six. Thielbar struckout three in 1.2 innings. Michael O’Connor gave up one hit in 1.1 scoreless innings. Luis Perdomo struckout both batters he faced. Oswaldo Arcia continues his torrid start. He went 2-4 and knocked his third home run of the young season. Mark Sobolewski hit his first home run. The two accounted for three of the team’s five hits in the game. Ortiz went 2-3 in his first rehab appearance. Shairon Martis will start for the Red Wings against Pawtucket tonight. New Britain Rock Cats 3, Portland Sea Dogs 9 Box Score Pat Dean struggled again in his second outing of the season. The lefty from Connecticut gave up five runs (2 earned) on seven hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. Marty Popham came on and gave up two runs on a hit and three walks in one inning. He did strikeout two. Nelvin Fuentes went the next 2.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. AJ Achter struckout three in the final two innings. The pitchers were hurt by four errors by their defense. Jason Christian committed two errors at third base, but he did go 2-4 with his first double. Josmil Pinto launched his fourth home run of the year. Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch for the Rock Cats against Portland on Friday. Ft. Myers Miracle 6, Jupiter Hammerheads 5 Box Score In a lineup that includes Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, on Thursday night, it was Twins Daily and Minnesota’s own, AJ Pettersen, who played hero and helped the Miracle improve to 7-0 on the season. Pettersen, batting ninth and playing shortstop, was -3 with a stolen base already when he came up with a runner on in the bottom of the 8th inning. His RBI double gave the Miracle a 6-5 lead. Pettersen is now hitting .353 on the season. Things didn’t start out so well for the Miracle. Jason Wheeler started and gave up five runs on six hits and two walks in just three innings. Chad Rodgers came in and struckout two in two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke went two scoreless innings. Once the Miracle got the lead, Zack Jones was brought in and struckout two in a perfect ninth inning for his third save. O’Rourke, the Vulture, picked up the win to improve to 3-0 out of the bullpen. The big bats at the top of the Miracle batting order contributed as well. Angel Morales was 3-5 with his third double. Eddie Rosario hit his third and fourth doubles in five at bats. He’s now hitting .367. Miguel Sano struckout three times, but when he made contact, he launched a towering home run, his second of the season. He’s hitting .393. Matt Koch was also 2-4. Cedar Rapids Kernels, Clinton LumberKings The Kernels were rained/snowed out for the third straight night on Thursday. After missing the final two games in Wisconsin, the Kernels lost last night’s game to Clinton. The two teams will attempt to play two, seven-inning games on Friday night, starting at 5:00 p.m.

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

As you know, I was able to spend four days in Cedar Rapids last week. I arrived in time for their Meet the Kernels event at Perfect Game Field. At a press conference, hitting coach Tommy Watkins introduced me to manager Jake Mauer. Over the next few days, I had a chance to talk to Watkins, pitching coach Gary Lucas and Mauer quite a bit. Below, you can read Part 1 of a two-part Q&A with the Kernels manager.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Before we start, here is a little background. Jake Mauer is the older brother of Twins catcher Joe Mauer. The younger sibling was the first overall pick out of Cretin-Derham Hall in 2011. The elder Mauer was the Twins 23rd round selection the same year after helping the University of St. Thomas to a national championship. He spent the remainder of that 2001 season in Elizabethton. He spent the 2002 season in Quad Cities of the Midwest League. In 2003, he played the full season in Ft. Myers. In 2004, he moved up to AA New Britain. He was hurt much of the 2005 season. In 2006, he moved into the coaching world. He managed the Twins Gulf Coast League team starting in 2008 for two years. In 2010, the then-31 year old became the manager of the Ft. Myers Miracle where he has spent the past three season. In 2013, Mauer is being entrusted to lead some of the most talented prospects in the Twins farm system. On Saturday, Mauer was gracious enough to spend a half-hour with me after batting practice talking about several topics. Today, I’m posting the first half of that discussion, and tomorrow, I will post Part 2, so be sure to check back. Again, this interview took place on Saturday morning. The Kernels had won their home opener 9-7, and then won on Friday night in walk-off fashion. In other words, this was before the loss on Saturday afternoon, the combined no-hitter on Sunday, another win on Monday and the rain/snow-outs the last couple of days. PART 1 What is the hardest part of managing at a different place and different level? Jake Mauer (JM): A new city. Getting to know the city, a place to live, get comfortable. Meeting a new front office, obviously, but everybody here has been outstanding. Facility is great. Town is fantastic. The front office has been even better. Different level? These guys aren’t quite as experienced. Granted, maybe it’s a year, but that can make a difference. These guys have to learn to prepare and to play every day. For most, it’s their first full season, and you’re dealing with inclement weather at times. There’s some adjustments in this league. This is a great league, I think, for a first full season for these guys because the towns are a little bigger, they play in front of some more people. These guys are still kids. You kind of have to keep an eye on all of it. I don’t remember being 21. JM: That’s just it. Most of these guys are only 20, 21 years old, sophomore, junior in college. We have some 19 year olds that would be freshmen. It’s a life, not only on the field, but off the field. They’ve got to eat right. Make sure they’re washing their laundry. Figuring out how to get to a ballpark and all that stuff. Do you get advice from anybody as a manager? JM: Oh yeah, you talk to everybody. From Gene Glynn to Ramon Borrego, we’re all in it together obviously. And, having Tom Kelly and Paul Molitor as a resource is pretty good. Having them around every day in spring training was outstanding. You’ve got everybody, Lep (minor league coordinator Joel Lepel). Everybody will help. We’re not afraid. There’s no, “we’re on our own island” here. There’s none of that, all the way through, from Gene to Ramon. Do you have a good Tom Kelly story? JM: I’ve actually known Tom. I actually played ball with his son at St. Thomas, so I’ve known him even before we were in pro ball. Really, when I was a player, it was starting to get into his last year as a manager on the big league side. Actually, I’ve been around him more as a coach and manager. I just like to ask him questions. Coaching third base, places to go. Obviously he was a third base coach before he was a manager. Some thoughts that he has. Managing bullpens. You bounce certain things off of him that come up. Ask him what he thinks and his opinion. Obviously that’s a pretty nice resource to have. Are there things that Joe asks you, or are there things you will call Joe about to help you as a manager? JM: It’ll be more catching stuff that I’ll ask him. Things that he likes to do. I see something on TV, for instance, they change their signs with a runner on second, just their thought process and then try to get that through with everybody else, to tell them what they’re doing up there. We talk a lot about baseball obviously, no doubt about it. But it’s in general terms. How he’s feeling. He asks how a lot of these guys are doing. When he comes down to spring training, he knows a lot of those guys in there. He recognizes names. Buxton made an impression on him when he went up there for a big league game, and some of these younger guys that he’s been around. 2 hits, 2 stolen bases, not a bad impression. Yeah, and played a real good centerfield. Kenny Vargas is another one he asks about, that he’s seen in a big league game. A lot of our guys that have come up through the system that are in the big leagues are pretty familiar with a lot of these kids at every other level. They see them throughout, and you hear names and stuff like that, so there is an interest. Do you get Head and Shoulders free? JM: We used to. Yeah, we used to. (Lots of laughter) Joe was the #1 overall pick. Buxton was a #2 pick. Any thoughts yet on if there are any similarities? JM: You know, Seth, their personalities are pretty similar. They’re quieter guys. I don’t think they let a lot of people in right away. I think that’s maybe a good thing with all the attention. I think the biggest thing, too, is they just go out and play. I don’t think they necessarily believe what everybody writes and what’s said. You still have to go out and play the game. That’s the most important thing. I would say there are a lot of similarities, personality-wise, between the two. They both have high expectations, but that comes with the territory, but I think both of them, the way that they think, and mentally, how tough they are, I think they both handle it pretty good. On your staff, what are the coaching responsibilities? JM: Tommy and I will share most of the hitters. Tommy pretty much takes the outfielders, and I take the infielders. You’ve seen, Tommy keeps a spray chart, which is good, so we can position guys. Tommy has free reign to move guys as well, if he sees someone in the outfield that isn’t moving, he’ll holler and get it straight. More of the pre-game stuff, I’ll usually go out and take care of the defensive stuff, and Tommy will do the offensive stuff in the cages. That’s just kind of how it’s been. Got to be in two places at one time, so we get a lot of stuff done, which that’s nice. Luke (Gary Lucas)? Really, the pitchers are Luke’s. He’s there in the trenches with them every day. He knows a lot about how they tick so I rely on him quite a bit. Ultimately, it comes down to being my decision on who goes out there and who does what. I bounce a lot of things off of them, and they bounce a lot of things off of me. We’re pretty comfortable. He was the pitching coach when I was in Quad Cities, so I’ve known Luke for ten years, and I’ve known Tommy for even longer. I think it starts with the staff, as far as team chemistry. If the staff isn’t getting along, I think the players can feel it. We like to have fun. We’re pretty laid back, and I think that helps. Lead by example, and when it’s time to play, it’s time to play. Here we go. Observationally, I see a generally positive and optimistic and fun atmosphere with your team, but when the game approaches, there is a different mentality. How do you help young kids turn that off and on? JM: Absolutely. Some of these guys, it’ll be the first time they experience failure. In high school and college, they were always the man, head and shoulders above everybody else. Now when they get thrown into this, it’s… you know, you say ‘big fish in a small pond,’ now you’re in the ocean. There are players from all over the world that they’re competing against. So it can be overwhelming at times. You try to stay positive. You let them know that we’ve gone through what they’re going through. They’re not different. Everybody’s gone through it. Let’s work through it. Let’s stay positive. Bad things are going to happen. It’s part of the game, but how do we come out the next day? How do we make the next pitch? How do we take the next at bat? That’s what a professional mentality they’ve got to start to understand. We’ve got 138 more (games) left. We’ve got a lot of games left. They’re not always going to be as exciting as the last two nights, obviously. When failure does happen, like when (Steven) Gruver had a walk, a run scored, he was kind of beating himself up about it. So, let’s look at the positives. That’s not to say forget about the walk, but he threw three excellent innings, dominated them. Let’s learn from the walk, but let’s not harp on it. The language barrier has to be an issue, especially with young players. The most important thing is that you try to make them feel like they’re part of the team. They’re more comfortable with other Latin players just because they speak the same language and a lot of them come from the same background. In our group of guys, like a JD Williams, (Drew) Leachman, (Travis) Harrison, they make really good efforts to include everybody and I think that’s important. Some of these guys aren’t old enough to play winter ball. It’s a different thing. You go down there and get to experience that. Well, that’s what those guys are experiencing here. It’s not only in baseball that they’re competing, but the culture. It’s different. Being able to find that and get adjusted up here. It’s obviously cooler. In the Midwest, there’s not a lot of Spanish-speaking folks up here, compared to in a Ft. Myers or something like that. It’s getting that, but they also need to make an effort to learn English. And our guys do. I saw the video. Outstanding. And then to be comfortable. When they talk, they don’t want to sound like they don’t know what they’re talking about, if that makes sense. A confidence. JM: It’s a confidence with using it, and that’s the biggest thing. We had (Candido) Pimentel and (Jorge) Polanco, and Polanco speaks pretty good English. He’s a quiet guy. Really smart kid. Really smart. Pimentel’s not as comfortable. So we’re trying to explain and go over objectives. “So, Pimentel, what are your goals and objectives?” Polanco asks him. He starts to say them in Spanish. I said, “No, you tell me in English.” Well, you’ve got to try. You know, you’ve got to try. We’re not going to laugh at you. Try, see what happens. We can help if you need. Just try. The Twins value family and character a lot, and it is shown by the players, the coaches, and their families. JM: It comes into play in a game like last night. That bullpen guy (Dakota Bacus) struck nine of us out in five innings. Three innings of not even putting a ball in play. We could have hung our heads. Walk. Stole second. Hit him in the back. Rolls out. Now they score a run on a dribbler. We could have folded up shop. But I think that’s that chemistry stuff. They’re all pulling for each other. No one put their head down and give them this one. That’s the mentality here. I think that starts with team chemistry. Obviously, you want to Develop #1, but you can develop and win. That’s preparing guys to get to Minnesota. You want guys to get to Minnesota who have experienced winning. That just helps. There’s no panic out there in the last inning. You know, Pimentel stands out in the cold for eight innings and scores on a double from first. Easily. JM: Yeah. Without a doubt. So, it’s stuff like that. It’s being prepared. Have an understanding that just because your name isn’t in the starting lineup. Adam Walker may have to come in and pinch hit here in the ninth inning, so he has to be ready. Are you a prospect? Are you looking to move up the organizational ladder? JM: I would like to get to the big leagues, Seth, any way possible. Some guys that got to the big leagues… Jim Dwyer is the hitting coach in Ft. Myers and played for 18 years in the big leagues. He’s not looking to get back to the big leagues. He likes the road trips. He just loves being around baseball. There’s other guys, like Tommy Watkins. who is probably in the same boat as me and would like to get to the big leagues again at some point, whatever capacity it is. There are only 30 managerial jobs, and a lot of guys are recycled. So, to get the opportunity to manage that would be outstanding, but hitting coach, it doesn’t matter. You try to think. You do the right things and get prepared enough to where, if there is an opportunity that comes along, that you’re ready to hopefully seize it. SS: Best part of managing at these levels. JM: The teaching aspect. The day to day. Getting into the trenches with the boys, and that’s kind of a cliché, but the day-to-day stuff that nobody sees. You’re out there four hours before the game hitting ground balls and working on footwork and making throws and trying to develop not only physical tools, but mental tools, and how they apply. That’s what gets exciting, when you see a guy start to get up into those higher levels. Aaron Hicks. (Ben) Revere, we had. Guys like that start to surface, and you see them doing things that you worked on and they needed to improve upon that they’re starting to do. When you see that light bulb go on, that’s probably the most rewarding thing. --- That’s it for today, a lot of information to take in. Tomorrow, I’ll be back with the rest of the interview, so be sure to check that. I’ll ask Jake Mauer about what he saw in Aaron Hicks. I’ll talk to him about bunting, left-handed pitching, winning versus development, promotions and much more. Thanks again to all those with the Kernels who were so great. I can’t encourage people to make a trip to Cedar Rapids enough to watch this team play. I made the trek last week. I’m hoping to get there at least one more time this summer. I’ll be joining the Territory Train in late June to spend a couple of fun-filled days watching Kernel baseball. If you’re interested in joining that trip, click here.