Seth Stohs

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. 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. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3723[/ATTACH] 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.

The Twins had a rough going in the early innings on Tuesday night. In the minor leagues, the Red Wings got a big, late-inning home run that led to a win. The Rock Cats scored nine runs for the second straight game yet they played a game that was close until the ninth. The Miracle won a 1-0 game thanks to great pitching and a big home run from a big prospect. Cedar Rapids’ game was postponed due to rain, but be sure to check out the rest of the Organizational Report. The Twins fell 7-4 to the Royals on Tuesday night, their first two-game losing streak of the season. Mike Pelfrey could only get through two innings for the Twins, but Anthony Swarzak saved the bullpen with four solid innings in relief. Ryan Pressly then pitched two scoreless innings. Eduardo Escobar, batting ninth, led the offense by going 3-4 including his first Major League home run. Josh Willingham was 2-3 with his second homer. Joe Mauer hit his first homer of the season in the first inning. Rochester Red Wings 2, Scranton/WB RailRiders 1 Box Score A day after being named the first International League Player of the Week of 2013, Chris Colabello gave the Twins a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth with a home run against Mark Montgomery. Anthony Slama came on and needed just nine pitches to close out his first save of the season, the 101st of his minor league career. PJ Walters made his second start of the early season. In this game, he gave up just one run on three hits in 5.1 innings. He walked four and struckout seven. He left the game with a runner on second and one out. Caleb Thielbar came on and struckout the next two batters. In the 7th, Thielbar gave up a hit, but he faced just three batters. With the score still tied, Bruce Pugh got the first two outs of the eighth inning before giving up two singles. Tyler Robertson came on and struckout the batter he faced to end that threat. Slama struckout one in his perfect ninth frame. There was not much offense from either side, but the Red Wings managed just five hits. Brandon Boggs had two of them, including his first double and a sixth-inning home run that tied the game at the time. Kyle Gibson will take the mound for the Red Wings on Wednesday to face right-hander Dellin Betances in a 5:35 central time start. New Britain Rock Cats 9, Harrisburg Senators 7 Box Score The score was tied 5-5 heading into the ninth inning. With two outs and one runner on base, the Rock Cats got singles from Josmil Pinto and Danny Ortiz. They were followed by a two-run triple from Evan Bigley. Bigley then scored the fourth run of the inning on a bunt single by Harold Garcia. It’s fortunate the got some insurance that inning because Harrisburg scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Michael Tonkin was able to end the game before the lead was lost. Logan Darnell started and the lefty gave up just one run in five innings. He gave up five hits and three walks, but he found a way to limit the runs despite zero strikeouts. AJ Achter came in and threw a scoreless innings. He got the first two batters of the 7th inning out, but then a walk was followed by two singles. Jose Gonzalez came in and walked the bases loaded before giving up a bases-clearing triple to Destin Hood. He walked another before getting the final out, but the game was now tied. Bobby Lanigan struckout two in a perfect eighth frame. Michael Tonkin gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in the ninth before getting the third out. There were many contributors on the offensive side of the game as the team scored nine runs for the second straight game. Josmil Pinto went 3-5 with his second double. Danny Santana was 3-5 with a triple. Dan Rohlfing was 2-4 with a double. Nate Hanson and Danny Ortiz each had two hits. Evan Bigley contributed with a big three-run triple. Trevor May will take the mound for the Rock Cats at Harrisburg on Wednesday. Ft. Myers Miracle 1, Jupiter Hammerheads 0 Box Score D.J. Baxendale made his first professional start on Tuesday night and pitched well. The 2012 tenth round pick who pitched in last year's College World Series threw 5.1 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struckout eight. Cole Johnson came on and struckout two and walked one in 1.2 scoreless innings. Zack Jones came in and threw 99 for two scoreless innings for his second save. The Miracle improve to 5-0 on the season for manager Doug Mientkiewicz despite just four hits. Fortunately, one of those hits was a blast off the bat of Miguel Sano for his first home run of the year. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3712[/ATTACH] Tom Stuifbergen will start for the Miracle on Wednesday, at home against Jupiter. The game will begin at 6:05 central time. Cedar Rapids Kernels, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Rained out on Tuesday night. Doubleheader on Wednesday, starting at 5:05. Brett Lee will start the first game before the six-man rotation rolls over and Taylor Rogers gets his second start. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

I'd be shocked if Dereck Rodriguez plays in CR this year. He's a raw, toolsy type. He'll spend the year at E-Town. There are several other OF who will likely go to CR before him, like Murphy and Proctor at least. (but i do like Rodriguez's potential) From what I saw, JD Williams looked good, and looked much more confident.

Guys, I can vouch for the great job that the Territory Train does. Scott's a huge Twins fan, and he really takes care of everything. It's a fun bus ride. I've been on Territory Train trips to Detroit and last year's Prospect Tour (to Quad Cities and Beloit) and it's just a great opportunity. I've said before, it's something where a lot of individuals or small groups get on a bus in the cities, but by the time you get back, you have a big group. It's worth it, so take a look at his link and consider it.

Can you imagine the difficult decision that highly-drafted high school kids have to make? Do they sign a signing bonus for seven (or at least upper six) figures, or do they go to a college whose coaches have recruited them and clearly want him to play for their school? For a couple of Twins prospects, that decision was all too real. The Twins had two supplemental first round draft picks in 2011 thanks to losing free agents Michael Cuddyer and Matt Capps. As a result of having one of the best records in the game in 2010, the Twins had the 30th overall pick. They drafted infielder Levi Michael and signed him for $1.175 million. With their two supplemental first round picks, the Twins went the high school route, selecting third baseman Travis Harrison and right-handed pitcher Hudson Boyd. TRAVIS HARRISON [ATTACH=CONFIG]3699[/ATTACH] Harrison has started all five games at third base this year for Cedar Rapids while Boyd was the starting pitcher in their second game. This weekend in Cedar Rapids, I asked these two top talents just how hard the decision was for them to sign with the Twins and forego their college scholarships. Harrison said that the decision for him was very hard. “It was because I fell in love with USC. I did. That place is awesome. It’s close enough to my house where there are a lot of people who would support it. But then I got picked by the Twins which is exciting. They didn’t even give me a first offering until two days before the deadline. So, it wasn’t like we were trying to wait. That happened like that, and I think it was a good decision overall.” When the Twins did make an offer and it was negotiated, the finally agreed upon a signing bonus of $1.05 million. “My family was supportive of what I wanted to do. In the end, realizing that I really wanted to go pro, I really wanted to do it. With that said, I was ready to go to USC. You really have to balance what you want. I feel like baseball is my thing, so I wanted to go that way. Fortunately the Twins provided that offer so I could.” He made his debut in 2012 with Elizabethton. He hit .301/.383/.461 with 12 doubles, four triples and five home runs. Manager Jake Mauer believes that his power will come. “He’s strong. He’s strong in his hands for a young man. (When) he starts recognizing pitches and tendencies, and not only that but what he can really lock in to, you’ll see him start knocking the ball out of the park. It’s learning yourself. Learning what pitches you can take a chance on, per se. Understanding points of the game and counts, when to do it.” Harrison had three doubles in his first four games with the Kernels this season and last night, he hit his first home run of the season. The biggest question with Harrison seems to be his glove. Can he stay at third base? At E-Town last year he committed 24 errors in 59 games. He said he worked hard on the defense in the offseason. He was at the ballpark and on the first four hours before game time getting extra groundballs from Mauer. Tommy Watkins said he works hard and has already shown great improvement this spring. “I played outfield in high school. I played 3B for my high school team, but that’s only 15-20 games a year. I’m still fairly new to the position. Last year I was mostly learning it. This year, I put a lot of work in the offseason, so it feels like night and day different. I make it a priority to get out there with Jake every day, and just keep getting better.” HUDSON BOYD For Boyd, the decision was just as difficult. The Ft. Myers native could sign with the Twins, or go to the University of Florida. He was the 55th overall pick in the draft, and he had a certain number in mind. When the Twins made that offer, he agreed to sign. It was not an easy decision, but it was one that he is very happy with. “It was a tough decision, mostly because I really wanted to go to Florida just because I was a big Gator fan growing up. My brother went there. He graduated from there. Me and Coach O’Sullivan had a pretty good relationship.” Like Harrison, Boyd signed just minutes before the deadline that August. The Twins had to go slightly over slot to sign him for $1 million. “I think I made the right decision. I mean, you don’t really get to the big leagues by going to college.” At Elizabethton a year ago, he went 2-5 with a 2.95 ERA. In 58 innings, he walked 23 and struckout 36. He was a large man, but he made the effort in the offseason to lose some weight and get in better shape. He is still not the skinniest guy on the team, but he now looks like a pitcher. His velocity in his first outing was good. He sat 89-91 but he hit 93 mph a few times. He also showed a very good changeup and a tremendous curveball. He has a ways to go, but he will work and will improve. The Twins got a couple of extra picks in the 2011 draft, and they used the strategy of taking a couple of big, strong, powerful high school kids with high ceilings. So far, so good for both as they enter their first full seasons in 2013. Harrison will turn 21 on October 17. Boyd will turn 21 on October 18. Both will develop slowly, but each has the potential to be an impact player for the Twins for years to come.

I have to say, I have been pretty lucky down here in Cedar Rapids. On Opening Night, I saw Twins pitchers strikeout 16 batters, Byron Buxton get a couple of hits and a steal and a couple of home runs. On Friday night, I got to see more individual performances that are exciting for Twins fans, and I got to see a come-from-behind, bottom-of-the-ninth, walk-off win. One of the first observations that I have seen with this Cedar Rapids team is that they are very close, and that they have a lot of fun playing baseball. JD Williams is kind of the leader in the have-fun category, but what he starts, seemingly most of the players follow along. It’s also clear that manager Jake Mauer, and his coaches Gary Lucas (pitching) and Tommy Watkins (hitting) have the ears and the utmost respect of the players. I had a chance to meet Tim Goodrum (Niko’s dad) the other night, and he introduced me to Adam Walker (Adam’s dad). The Twins do talk about character being important a lot. You meet these fathers, and I’ve interacted with several parents and players in the past as well, and you get a better sense for why the players (still young kids) have such a high level of character. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3679[/ATTACH] I’ll be sure to write more notes and observations from my trip to Cedar Rapids in the coming days, but let’s briefly discuss what happened in the Kernels/Snappers game last night, as well as let you in on how the other Twins affiliates did. Cedar Rapids Kernels 9, Beloit Snappers 7 Following Opening Night’s 16 run game (9-7 Kernels win) which also included 16 strikeouts by Kernels pitchers, Friday night’s game was much more crisp. The Kernels cleaned up their defense with a strong showing, and the pitching was very good for both teams. Because of that, the game was finished much quicker. However, though there were less runs, there was a lot of drama, and any time the home team wins in walk-off fashion, it’s a great night. Down 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, Dalton Hicks led off with a solid single to right field. He was pinch run for by Candido Pimentel. Adam Walker flew out to center for the first out, but Travis Harrison came through with a big double to right centerfield. Pimentel was able to score easily to tie the game, making the decision to pinch-run him pay off right away. Harrison, a throw-back who doesn’t wear batting glove, said after the game of the at bat, “I was looking middle-out because I figure he wouldn’t want to come in and lose it on one pitch if I took a chance and hit a home run, and he gave it to me right there, a middle-away fastball and I couldn’t have hit it any better.” That brought Niko Goodrum to the plate with Harrison on second base and one out. He lined a hard single down the right field line. Mauer waved Harrison around third base, and when the right fielder bobbled the ball, there was no play on the plate. There was, however, a rush toward second base to mob Goodrum. Goodrum said, “I was moved up on the plate looking for a fastball so I could drive him in, and that’s what I got. I knew right away that he was going to score.” “Run faster! I knew where the right fielder was playing before the ball was hit. I got a pretty good jump on it, so I knew I could probably score. I just had to make sure I could stay on my feet and get in there.” Goodrum acknowledged that it was his first walk-off hit in professional baseball. How did he feel about the hit and being piled on after the game, “Pretty exciting!” The story of the game up to that point was another solid night of pitching from the Kernels pitcher. Hudson Boyd made the start and gave up just one run on three hits. He did walk three and struckout three. With two outs in the top of the 5th, he hit a batter, and that was the end of his night. It was clear that pitching Coach Gary Lucas wanted Boyd to get that final batter, but Boyd was removed. “It’s more protecting his career, to be honest for you. It was his first time out. You’d like to get him a win and that will look nice and everything, but most importantly, I was hoping he’d go out on a positive note.” Mauer added, “Boyd got better as the game went on, which is very encouraging. The young man’s first start. He’s never pitched in cold weather before. I thought that was encouraging his last couple of innings there. With him I think the biggest thing, and a lot of young guys can do that, where they don’t trust their stuff, and he’s got pretty good stuff. I thought he got a little finesse, tried to be a little too fine when he walked a couple of men, but then he got a little aggressive again, which is good.” Boyd was also happy with his game. “The second inning was rough, but I came out in the third and made some adjustments. I didn’t want to let one bad inning to become two. I tried to put it behind me. My changeup was really good tonight. In the fourth and fifth inning, my curveball was working. It had some bite. In that second inning, I couldn’t get my fastball over, so I walked a couple of people.” Boyd seemed legitimately concerned about pitching in the cold weather on Wednesday, but he said it wasn’t a big issue for him on Friday night. “Actually, I didn’t even notice it. I actually didn’t think I even needed my sleeves. Once I got out there, it was natural.” Left-hander Steven Gruver came in and got the final out of the fifth inning. He then worked three more innings. He gave up just an unearned run on one hit and two walks, and he struckout two. Unfortunately, he gave up one run in the top of the 8th frame that gave the Snappers a 2-1 lead. Mauer said, “Gruver had the hiccup with the lead-off walk, but other than that, he was phenomenal.” Lefty Brett Lee came on for the top of the 9th. He is scheduled to start for the Kernels on Tuesday, but he came in and struckout the side on his bullpen day. And then came the bottom of the ninth, walk-off heroics! There’s a lot of excitement in Cedar Rapids for the Kernels this year. I want to encourage people to check out Metro Sports Report and the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Both provide some great information on the Kernels. You’ll also want to follow the Kernels website for a lot of information on the team as well as the ability to listen to the games live online. Buxton Update Byron Buxton went 2-3 with a walk, a first inning leadoff blast and his second stolen base. I noted on Twitter during his first at bat versus the Snappers (A’s) starter Michael Ynoa that there was over $10 million in signing bonuses during that plate appearance. Ynoa received $4.25 million dollars as a 16-year-old from the Dominican. He has pitched very little because he had Tommy John surgery a couple of years ago. Last year, he pitched a combined 30 innings between rookie ball and the A’s Low A team, yet the A’s chose to put him on their 40 man roster. In the first inning, it’s fair to say that the Twins $6 million man, Buxton, won that battle. He got a pitch on the inner half of the plate and launched a long, towering home run over the left field fence, out of the ballpark and onto the street behind. It is already being said that it bounced off the street and hit the second floor of a house. Just as impressive as Buxton’s power is his speed. He stole his second base of the season last night. However, in one at bat, he hit a routine, three-bounce ground ball to third base. The third baseman fielded it cleanly and made a strong, accurate throw to first base. Buxton beat the throw by a half-step. There is no question that Buxton has a bit of developing to do, but first, he is quite advanced for his age, and second, he has the potential to be a 40-40 type of player. Mauer said after the game of Buxton, “He’s a very talented individual. There is no doubt about it. He stayed back. He got a hanging breaking ball in that first at bat, and he unloaded on it. That was a big time swing. In talking to him, he’s going to affect the game a lot of ways, even if he’s not swing that bat very well, with his speed and the pressure he can put on. He made a nice play, a ball hit to right center with nobody out, caught the ball, turned, Boom, right to the cutoff man. It was fantastic. Not only the wherewithal and the athleticism to catch it, but to keep the ball down, right to the cutoff man. That guy had no chance in advancing. Stuff like that, you want to see especially with young outfielders. Some may get excited and think the guy’s going to go, but he was calm, collected. He is a pretty special talent, no doubt about it. It’s a matter of him doing it every day. He’s going to be in there, without a doubt. Drew Leachman was put on the 7-Day Disabled List. In the opening game, he had a stolen base. His left (non-throwing) shoulder caught the base and jammed. Following the game (after having two more at bats in the game), he was icing his shoulder. On Friday, he could not raise his right arm at all. Mauer said of Leachman, “Young man’s trying to play, gut it out. He’s a guy with experience, put up pretty good numbers here. We’ll miss that presence here in the middle of the lineup. It’ll give somebody an opportunity to step up too. Who will replace him? As of post-game, Mauer did not know. I asked if it could be an arm, and Mauer said, “I would like it to be an arm. You know, there’s a few guys down at Extended that are pretty good pitchers that we thought had a chance to break with us when everything shook out. That’s usually how it happens. There’s three or four boys down there that are getting close. I don’t think it’ll be a starter. I think it’ll be a bullpen guy. We’ll know tomorrow.” Tyler Grimes caught his first game as a professional player and really did a nice job. “He’s caught in spring training and in Instructional League, so that was a whole learning experience for him too.” I was at the ballpark early, and when I was there, Grimes out stretching in his knee pads. Soon after, backup catcher Jhonatan Arias was with him, coaching and instructing him on various catching techniques. Then Jairo Rodriguez, the Opening Day catcher, was out there a well, helping Grimes through drills. I have to say that those two catchers being willing to help their teammate (yet also a “competitor” in the sense that they all want to advance). I found that to be pretty classy. Niko Goodrum acknowledged two goals for the season. First, “I want to steal 40 bases real bad!” Second, “I hit 200 pounds, and I hope I can stay up there!” The Kernels will send 2012 2nd round pick Mason Melotakis to the mound at 2:05 today to face the Snappers. At the game last night, no less than three people stopped me in the concourse to introduce themselves and say Hi. They had all made the trip down from the Twin Cities that afternoon. One was heading back following the game, while a couple of others were spending a night to go to Saturday’s game as well. In two days, I’ve seen two tremendous games, and it has been a lot of fun. In my mind, it is worth the trip, and from those I have talked to, they would agree. Rochester Red Wings 2, Buffalo Bisons 3 The Red Wings came up short for the second straight game in Buffalo with a 3-2 loss on Friday afternoon. Kyle Gibson started and was very good. The lanky, right-hander worked the first five innings. He gave up one run on four hits. He walked none and struckout four, including a big one to end the fifth inning with a couple of runners on in a 1-1 game. Michael O’Connor came in and gave up one run on three hits in two innings. Anthony Slama pitched the eighth inning and takes the loss. He gave up a solo home run to Luis Jimenez. The Red Wings had just five hits in the game. Brian Dinkelman hit his first home run of the season. Oswaldo Arcia hit his second home run in as many games. Former Twins starter Ramon Ortiz started for the Bisons. He hit three batters, including hitting Chris Colabello and Drew Butera back to back. Butera was hit in the hand by a pitch and had to leave the game. After the game, he was put on the Disabled List and infielder Eric Farris was promoted to Rochester. On Saturday, righty Shairon Martis will start opposite Claudio Vargas. Both have pitched in the big leagues. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Richmond Flying Squirrels 0 (Conclusion of suspended game) The weather isn’t warm, and the bats certainly are not either. Logan Darnell had started this game on Thursday night. He went 3.2 scoreless innings and gave up four hits and walked two before the rains came. When play resumed on Friday night, Blake Martin took the mound. He went 2.1 innings without allowing a hit. He did walk one, but he struckout three. Bobby Lanigan came on and gave up one hit in a scoreless frame. Jose Gonzalez pitched a perfect inning as well. Michael Tonkin came in and threw a clean ninth inning to record his first save of the season. The Rock Cats managed just six hits. Danny Santana had three of the hits including a single that scored Eric Farris with the lone run of the game. Antoan Richardson went 1-2 with a walk and a double. Josmil Pinto also doubled. New Britain Rock Cats 0, Richmond Flying Squirrels 1 (regularly scheduled game) The bats remained pretty cold for both teams in the regularly scheduled matchup. Trevor May started for the Rock Cats. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks. He struckout four. Edgar Ibarra pitched a scoreless inning despite loading the bases with two hits and an intentional walk. The Rock Cats gave up just one run, but it was more than enough as Richmond pitchers Jack Snodgrass and Daryl Maday no-hit New Britain. They each walked one batter, but those were quickly erased by two Flyin Squirrel double plays. Connecticut native Pat Dean will make the Saturday start for the Rock Cats. He had made one late-season start for the team in 2011. As mentioned above, second baseman Eric Farris was promoted to AAA Rochester to replace Drew Butera on the roster. Farris spent the past three years playing AAA ball in the Brewers organization. Farris spent some time with the Brewers each of the past two years. The Brewers decided to put him on their AA roster, and the Mariners selected him in the AAA Rule 5 draft. Seattle decided to release him just before opening day and the Twins signed him quickly. To fill Farris’s roster spot, corner infielder and outfielder Curt Smith was activated. He was signed by the Twins after playing for Team Netherlands in the WBC. Ft. Myers Miracle 4, Bradenton Marauders 1 For the second straight night, the Miracle got some good pitching and enough offense to win a very crisp game. Jason Wheeler began the 2013 season as he pitched most of the 2012 season in Beloit. The tall lefty threw five shutout innings for his first win of the season. He gave up four hits, walked one and struckout three. Miguel Munoz came on and gave up just one hit in two shutout innings. Cole Johnson gave up an eighth inning run on one hit and one walk. Corey Williams came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 save. The Miracle had just five hits in the game. Fortunately, catcher Kyle Knudson, who is fully healthy for the first time since signing with the Twins from the University of Minnesota, hit his first home run of the year, a line drive over the left field fence. Then Kennys Vargas launched a towering blast over the wall in right field. Angel Morales provided a double for the Miracle as well. Eddie Rosario got his first hit of the season. Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

On Thursday, the Minnesota Twins got a big 8-2 win over the Detroit Tigers to improve to 2-1 on the season, the first time they have been over .500 since the 2010 season. However, the game was not the blowout that the final score would indicate. In fact, there was a very key moment in the 7th inning that could have altered the results of the game. With the Twins leading 3-2 going into the 7th frame, Josh Roenicke walked Omar Infante and gave up a double to Austin Jackson to put runners on first and second with nobody out. He struckout Torii Hunter for the first out and then was asked to intentionally walk Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera to load the bases. Prince Fielder was coming up, and left-hander Tyler Robertson was coming in. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3677[/ATTACH] On Monday, before the Opening Day game against the Tigers, I had the opportunity to talk to Robertson. I asked him about his role, and specifically asked if he was looking forward to a role in which he needed to come in to face a Prince Fielder in a key situation. His response? “I’ll do whatever they have me do. Prince is obviously a tough hitter. I think I’ve faced him 5-6 times last year and he got me once. I’m confident against anybody. I know if I execute my pitches, I’ll be fine. He’s just one of the guys that you really have to be careful with and make sure you execute because if you don’t…” I butted in by saying, “You’ll see what happens.” And Robertson chuckled and said, “Yeah, I’ve seen what happens! On the other hand, we’ve had some good at bats where I made some good pitches and I got him. Hopefully me and him are battling for a long time. I’d like that. I’m up for the challenge.” On Thursday, in his first appearance of the season, Robertson was up to the challenge. Last June 26, a 24-year-old Robertson made the jog in from the Target Field bullpen to the mound for his Major League debut against the Chicago White Sox. The first batter he faced was outfielder Alejandro de Aza, and he struck him out. He then struckout Kevin Youklis looking. Finally, he was able to strike out the side when he got Adam Dunn to swing and miss. Robertson looked back at the memory fondly. “It was unbelievable. I got here the day before. Got kind of settled in, but I knew the nerves were still going to be there until I actually got out there on the mound. I was confident going in. I was going pretty good in AAA. I knew that if I threw like I was throwing down there, I was going to be fine. It’s definitely not easy up here. This is the best of the best. It was reassuring to know that you can do it. You always believe you can do it, but until you actually see that you can do it. You just prove it to yourself.” Was that the biggest thing he learned from that rookie season? “Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, there was a lot of other things I learned about hitters up here and certain teams’ tendencies and all that stuff. But the biggest thing was, it doesn’t matter what level you’re pitching at, it’s confidence. You can have confidence up here and throw the ball in the minor leagues for the most part, I’ll be just fine.” There was no question that Robertson was thrilled to make the Twins Opening Day roster and happy to experience his first Opening Day. “(I’m) just really excited. I mean, I think the nerves got out a little bit last year with making the debut and being up here for a little while. That was just pure excitement. I’m ready to go. It’s going to be fun to get the season rolling.” It was fun picking his brain about his thoughts on facing tough lefties, like Fielder. What pitches does he throw and why? He provided a little bit of insight: “When I came up here last year, it (the slider) was going really good at the time. It was a little bit of a blessing and a curse because it was a good pitch for me up here, but I think I probably overused it a little bit because it was working so well. In ST, one of the things I did, especially against the lefties, I was mixing in more fastballs. In spring, I had a little success with it, left-on-left, mixing in the fastball. Guys were swinging at a lot more first pitches so I couldn’t do it left-on-left, probably didn’t want to get too deep into the count. I got more swings at fastballs earlier in the count, which is fine. I’m going to need to throw that more to set up the breaking ball and everything. I know that, and I’m confident in my fastball to do that left-on-left. It’s something I did in 2010 a lot when I was closing in AA. Shoot, I faced 5 lefties over a span of time and didn’t even throw a slider, so I feel comfortable throwing a fastball to them. I know I’m going to need to do that. Obviously the slider’s always going to be in the back of my mind, but that will help my fastball out if I can show a few more fastballs. Just got to keep it balanced. If they’re 100% sitting on slider, I mean, I can throw the best one I’ve got and it won’t be as effective.” The life of a relief pitcher is filled with ups and downs. When they do their job well, not everybody notices. When they don’t do their job well, everybody notices. On Thursday, he entered the Twins/Orioles game in the 8th inning with a tied game and the red-hot Chris Davis up to bat. Unfortunately for the Twins, on this day, the hitter won. Davis hit a grand slam that made a 5-5 game a 9-5 game in a hurry. Such is the role of a reliever. Robertson played hero on Wednesday, and he gets to play the goat on Thursday. It’s a tough job, and Tyler Robertson is more than happy to do it for the Twins.

Each night throughout the entire minor league season, Twins Daily will be writing up game notes and highlights from all of the Twins minor league affiliates. Thursday was Opening Day for the full-season minor leagues, so here is our first Minor League Report. Since I am currently spending the opening weekend following the Cedar Rapids Kernels, that’s where we will start with our report. It will be followed by reports from the other Twins affiliates. As we did in 2012, there will be several writers composing these updates, so please let us know if you would like to see something specific in the report, and please feel free to ask questions in the Comments section. Twins Minor League Hitter of the Day - Chris Colabello, Rochester Red Wings Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Tyler Jones, Cedar Rapids Kernels [ATTACH=CONFIG]3670[/ATTACH] Cedar Rapids Kernels 9, Beloit Snappers 7 On Wednesday night, Kernels pitching coach Gary Lucas told the crowd of media, “I think there’s potential to strike people out. Fans come to the ballpark looking for home runs and strikeouts a lot of times and from a pitching standpoint, we’ve got some arms and some velocity coming out of those arms.” In Thursday night’s season opener at Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids, four pitchers combined to strikeout 16 Beloit Snappers hitters. The tone was set quickly when starter Taylor Rogers, who would not be classified as strikeout pitcher, struckout the side in the top of the first inning. He struckout seven batters in 3.2 innings. Lucas said of Rogers, “He’s a location pitcher. When he’s on his game, he can throw it low and work both sides of the plate. I would say that he has a lot of savvy and ability to read at bats and read swings and work off of hitters’ weaknesses and strengths.” His slider was terrific on this night, especially to lefties. “It was a good pitch, and when he’s on his game, he can double up and triple up on that slider, and he plays a little tune with them. If they go out to try to take the slider away, he has the ability to throw it in on their hands and jam them. He’s more of a finesse guy and a control pitcher compared to getting them to swing and miss bats.” The Kernels grabbed an early lead with a three-run first inning. Byron Buxton led off with a single to center. He stole second, but one pitch later, second baseman Jorge Polanco hit a home run over the wall in right field. After the inning’s first out, Dalton Hicks hit a very long home run over both walls in right field. In the second, the Kernels tacked on another run when Niko Goodrum scored from third on a Buxton fielder’s choice (That was a tailor-made double play ball to shortstop that he simply beat out). Unfortunately, Rogers was hurt by his defense in the top of the third inning, and it cost four runs and allowed the game to be tied. Manager Jake Mauer said, “It started with a leadoff error. That’s the thing we harp on all spring training. You have to protect that starting pitcher. Starting pitcher is making pitchers, we’ve got to get outs.” Following the error, Rogers did make one mistake. As Lucas said, “He didn’t get away with the fastball inside, the one that (Renato) Nunez hit the home run off him. He tried to come inside there, and he didn’t get it in to where he wanted to get it.” Rogers went 3.2 innings due to having met the 70 pitch limit. He left the game with a couple of runners on, and Tyler Jones came in and got the job done. He got out of that jam with a big strikeout. Jones said, “When I came in there the first half inning with two outs and men on 1st and 3rd, I was thinking strikeout. I didn’t want to let the guy get the bat to the ball because anything can happen. Equally important, he was able to pitch very well for the next three innings. Mauer said that Jones’ performance was “Huge! Absolutely huge!” “He attacked. Second time through the league. He’s carrying himself a little differently this year. To get that big out in that inning to stop the bleeding and calm things down, and then really dominate for three. He threw the ball very well. So I was very pleased. He threw a heck of a game.” He is literally carrying himself differently. Jones pitched for Beloit last season, but did not get promoted to the Snappers until early May, and he knows why. “To be honest, it was really my own fault that I wasn’t on the Opening Day roster. I was out of shape.” So, what did he do this past offseason to get ready? “I worked harder in the offseason, so I knew what to expect. The previous offseason, it was the first time I had time to myself. So, I didn’t work hard enough, not nearly hard enough and my diet wasn’t good. So, this past offseason, really ate healthy, worked harder and came in better shape. It paid dividends in spring training and I hope it continues throughout the whole season.” Lucas added, “I was so happy that he gave us those innings. We had some long innings offensively while he was out there. He went out and shut them down and got our hitters back out there again. It was a good thing to see. He was keeping his focus, going after the first guy. It made his job a lot easier. He was in a real groove as far as attacking with fastballs, hitting the low, outside corner, using his slider so they didn’t know when it was coming. Just about the time he lost his feel on his fastball, He went to his slider. He was able to be a pitcher, rather than just overpowering people. So, it was nice to see.” The Kernels answered with three runs in the fourth inning and two more runs in the fifth inning to gain a 9-4 edge. Manuel Soliman came on to pitch in a game for the first time since last April when he threw in just two games for the Ft. Myers Miracle. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk, but he got through the inning. Before the game, he told me that his shoulder felt “Good! Very, very good!” After the game, he said it felt great to get back on the mound, and that he really wasn’t even nervous. Lucas said of Soliman’s game, “The thinking with Soliman was, give us two innings at the end, and I didn’t want to break his arm. He threw 25-30 innings in the inning, and I didn’t want to take a chance.” Mauer added, “You get him out there. Get him out in the cold. Get him used to it. He got two quick outs, looking good, and then a base hit. He needs to understand he’s OK. He’s got good stuff. Just to trust it. Go right at guys. No one on base, they’re not going to hit a five run home run.” Chris Mazza came in and gave up a run in the ninth. Once he gave up a couple of hits, he came on strong and ended the game with two strikeouts to end the game. Mauer said, “Honestly, we didn’t want to get him out there, but we had him in our back pocket. Any time you have a six-man rotation, you’re always scared of using your bullpen and using three guys is probably too many.” It was a nice win for the hometown team in their first night as a Minnesota Twins affiliate. Jim Rantz was in attendance to throw out the first pitch. Over 1,900 fans were at the game, and it was a fun evening. The offensive highlights included: [*=1]Jorge Polanco went 3-5 with that first inning home run and drove in three runs. Mauer said, “Nice two-strike approach there, right? I saw him as a 16-year-old and this is the first I’ve seen him three years later, and he’s starting to physically mature, and he’s swinging the bat like we think he can. [*=1]Byron Buxton went 2-5 with a stolen base and two RBI. Mauer said, “A couple hits. Stole as base. Went first to third. Did a nice job. I thought a couple of balls in the dirt read, he could have been a little more aggressive on, but that might be nitpicking. Did a nice job in center. Paid attention to him moving outfielders and being in control, noticing swings. He’s further along than a lot of the guys I had previously, and he’s a lot younger. So, he’s pretty exciting.” [*=1]Jairo Rodriguez does a very nice job behind the plate. In spring, he was yet to catch more than five innings in a game, and tonight he caught all nine innings. He also hit the ball well, with two hits including a line drive double down the left field line. [*=1]JD Williams is back in the Midwest League and he is all about fun. In this game, he also went 2-3 and had a sacrifice fly. [*=1]Dalton Hicks hit a big, long home run in the first inning. He has asked to be called by his first name, Dalton, rather than his nickname of DJ. His final at bat of the 2012 season resulted in a walk-off grand slam to win the Appalachian League championship for Elizabethton. His first at bat of the 2013 season was also a home run. [*=1]Niko Goodrum went 1-3 with a walk. Travis Harrison added a double. The Kernels will send RHP Hudson Boyd to the mound on Friday night to square off with A’s young prospect, Michael Ynoa. If you leave the Twin Cities by about noon on Friday, you can be at the stadium in Cedar Rapids by about the time the gates open. They also play at 2:05 on Saturday and Sunday. If you’re going to be there, be sure to say Hi. Rochester Red Wings 7, Buffalo Bisons 12 The Red Wings traveled over to Buffalo to take on the Bisons (Blue Jays affiliate) in the first minor league game to be played in the 2013 season. PJ Walters made his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Red Wings. He gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk in four innings. He struckout just one. He was relieved by lefty Caleb Thielbar who, in one inning, gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Bruce Pugh then made his AAA debut and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. Daniel Turpen came in for the 8th and got two outs. However, he walked two and hit one and all three of those runners scored. Luis Perdomo came in and gave up a hit that scored the final runs before getting the final out. It was a terrific AAA debut for a couple of minor leaguers who were talked about a lot this spring. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with a walk, a double, a home run, and he also threw out two runners trying to advance to second base. Chris Colabello debuted by going 3-4 with his first home runs of the season. Both homers went to dead center. Ray Olmedo went 3-4. Mark Sobolewski went 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Alex Burnett, who the Blue Jays claimed last week when the Twins DFAd him, pitched 1.1 innings for the Bisons, giving up just one hit. On Friday, Kyle Gibson will make his season debut against former Twins starter Ramon Ortiz. New Britain Rock Cats 0, Richmond Flying Squirrels 0 (Game Suspended in the 4th due to rain) With two outs in the bottom of the 4th inning, the rains came and the game ended for the night. It will be made up, starting where they left off. Logan Darnell started the opener for the Rock Cats. He did not give up a run despite giving up four hits and walking two. He struckout two. Danny Santana made his Eastern League debut, with two hits in his two at bats. Antoan Richardson doubled for the Rock Cats. Those were the only three hits to this point in the game. Ft. Myers Miracle 4, Bradenton Marauders 3 It was a back and forth game through, but in the end, the Miracle closed out a 4-3 win. Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up three runs on six hits in five innings. He gave up solo home runs in the first and second innings which is interesting because his ground ball to fly ball ratio was 8:1. Ryan O’Rourke came on with a runner on in the sixth and allowed the inherited runner to score. But he worked two innings and gave up just one hit. He struckout two. Chad Rodgers made his Twins organization debut and struckout the side. Then hard-throwing Zack Jones came in for the ninth with a one run lead. He went 1-2-3, striking out one to record his first save of the season. Jhon Goncalves led the offense, going 3-4 with a double. Stephen Wickens was 2-4. Twins Daily’s AJ Pettersen started in left field for the Miracle and was the leadoff hitter. He led off the first inning with a walk, then went 0-3. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a walk. Eddie Rosario went 0-3 with a walk. Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

Happy Minor League Opening Day! This is a great day for me. Opening Day with the Twins was tremendous, but when minor league opening day hits, we as Twins fans suddenly have as many as five games and box scores to follow! Last September, the Minnesota Twins made the business decision to leave Beloit and enter into a player development agreement with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. It’s fair to say that both sides are excited about this relationship. Tonight, the Kernels will open their 2013 season, ironically, against the Beloit Snappers, now an affiliate of the Oakland A’s organization. Gary Keppel, Kernels Team President and Board of Directors member told a group of media before their Meet the Kernels night at Perfect Game Park, “We are truly, truly excited to have the Twins here. We had a great affiliation for 20 years with the Angels, but we are looking forward to a long, long relationship with the Twins. I think it’s going to be great for our fans that as the players develop and get toward the big leagues that they’ll be able to take a four hour trip up there to go up and see those players. They’ll be in the same time zone so they can catch more games on TV. But, from a selfish standpoint, we’re very, very excited that those folks are going to be coming down.” Yesterday, I hopped in my car in Eagan, Minnesota, at about 12:20 p.m. I headed south on I-35. Shortly after Mason City, Iowa, I exited and took highway 18 East/27 South and took that until Cedar Falls, Iowa, where I connected with highway 380 and headed south. At 4:45, I arrived in Cedar Rapids, the home of the Twins new Midwest League affiliate. With a quick stop to grab something to eat, and one stop to add some gas, I still arrived at the ballpark in just under four-and-a-half hours. It’s not a very long drive from the Twin Cities, and this summer, it will be worth your time to take a trip or two to see the Kernels. They have a group of very talented players on this spring’s roster, and more will be coming when the likes of 2012 first round picks J.O. Berrios and Luke Bard, as well as fellow Top 10 Twins prospect Max Kepler come to town. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3661[/ATTACH] Byron Buxton, the 2nd overall selection in the 2012 MLB draft will be starting the season as the team’s primary centerfielder and leadoff hitter. Since being drafted, he has drawn comparisons to the likes of BJ Upton, Andrew McCutchen and Adam Jones. One long-time baseball person in Cedar Rapids, having seen him for the first time last night, observed that he looks so much like a young Willie Mays, facially, body type and his style and arm from centerfield. High praise, but he still has some work to do before he’ll be ready for the big leagues. Former Twins infielder and current Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins said of Buxton, “I got a chance to see him in instructional league last year. He has amazing ability. I mean, he’s got all the tools, and he’s a great guy to go along with it. I think you’ll be very happy with how he plays the game.” Kernels manager Jake Mauer said, “He is, tool-wise, what you expect a #2 pick to be. One thing that’s really struck me is the person that he is, and how he goes about his business. That’s very exciting. We had a meeting with all of our guys individually today. We go over objectives throughout the season, what we expect, roles and all that. When it came to Byron, we just want him to be himself and just to go out and play. Obviously there are some expectations and things like that, but once you’re between the lines, you’re the only man out there. All that other stuff doesn’t really matter.” I asked where he would hit, thinking he could be a leadoff hitter who steals a ton of bases, or a Number 3 hitter because of his power potential and all-around game. Mauer added, “he’s going to lead off for us to start here. He’s a young man that will be similar to Aaron Hicks and we’ve had this conversation with him throughout the minor leagues. He can lead off. He can hit third. Obviously Aaron is up there in the big leagues now getting an education on… that’s a tough draw, Justin Verlander right out of the shoot, that’s introduction to big league pitching there… Byron’s going to lead off and probably be our primary centerfield. You’ll see him out there quite a bit. Tools-wise, it’s kind of cultivating all of them. He’s going to learn some things, tendencies. He’s got a chance to steal a lot of bases. And then again, he’s got a chance to be a middle of the lineup type hitter, and that’s kind of rare. You don’t find a guy with that tool set and the things that he can do. But the biggest thing for him is to get through the season. It’s going to be a long year. It’s the first time he’ll get to play in over 140 games we’re going to play. So, it’s him getting prepared, not only physically, but also mentally. That’s something we’re looking forward to see how all these boys react to that.” When Buxton himself was asked what he was going to be working on the most, he hesitated for a couple of seconds. Teammate Travis Harrison jumped in saying, “He’s pretty good at a lot of things!” Harrison is another very exciting prospect in the Twins system. He was the team’s first supplemental first round pick in 2011 out of high school in California. He gave up a scholarship to USC to sign with the Twins. He hit for average last year in Elizabethton, but did struggle early in that short-season with the glove at third base. It’s an area he knows he needs to improve upon. “I want all parts to see improvement. Everyone knows I need to get better at defense. I know that. That’s what I’ve been working really hard in the offseason trying to get better at. But then again, I can always be a better hitter as well, so, if you were to say a strength, I’d say hitting, but hopefully by the end of the season, it’ll be both.” Watkins also spoke well of what he’s seen from the 20-year-old. “I think Travis has made some tremendous strides. The good thing about it, he wants to get better. I think you just take it slow. One day at a time. It’s a process. It’s every day getting ground balls, getting games under your belt. But he’s doing a good job, and he wants to get better. I think that’s the main thing.” Mauer added, “He was an outfielder in high school, so he is fairly new to him as far as playing in the infield. Tommy hit the nail on the head, he wants to get better and that’s part of the battle. He believes that he can play third. We believe that he can play third. Just from the beginning of spring to where he is now, he’s made some pretty good strides and we just expect him to keep continuing to get better. If he wants to, which he does, I think you’ll see a big difference from April to August in him defensively.” And that is what the purpose of the Midwest League. The lower levels of the minor leagues are often designed to allow players to get instruction, get into games, and get better. A year ago, I saw the Beloit Snappers play two games in early June and saw some struggles from the likes of Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario defensively. When I returned in early August, I saw both of them had improved greatly. This is a talented roster. I talked briefly with shortstop Niko Goodrum, who said he is up to 200 pounds after being drafted at maybe 170 pounds. He looks ready to play. Last year’s Appalachian League MVP, Candido Pimentel will play a lot of second base this year. Jorge Polanco will play both middle infield positions. Dalton Hicks and one of the unsung players from last year’s Beloit Snappers run, Drew Leachman will get time at first base. Tyler Grimes has made the transition to catcher and reports are quite positive on how well that has gone. The starting pitchers in this rotation will be Taylor Rogers, Hudson Boyd, Mason Melotakis, Tyler Duffey, David Hurlbut and Brett Lee. The bullpen includes arms like Tim Atherton, Steve Gruver, Tyler Jones, Chris Mazza, Manuel Soliman and Matt Tomshaw. Following the press conferences, Kernels players were on the stadium’s concourse, meet and greeting fans and host parents. I talked to several players who were so impressed with the Kernels and with the Cedar Rapids community. Host parents volunteer to have the players stay with them. Players don’t have to pay them a dollar. Given the fact that most of the players on the Kernels roster will make just $1,500 per month during the season, that is an important factor. The Kernels will provide pre and post game food to the players. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3662[/ATTACH] Tommy Watkins showed me around the clubhouse. It is very impressive. The manager has an office. The coaches have their own room. There is a room set up for when instructors like pitching coordinator Eric Rasmussen, or roving instructor Paul Molitor come to town. Adjacent to the player’s clubhouse is a very impressive weight room with free weights and machines. There are two batting cages under the bleachers as well. In a word, the stadium and the atmosphere at Perfect Game Field and of the Kernels management is staff is “professional.” One new thing at Perfect Game Field in 2013 is their new LED scoreboard. It measures 30 feet tall by 48 feet wide. It’s huge, and it’s very clear. It was built by Daktronics who has built scoreboards for many Major League stadiums. It’s one of the largest scoreboards in the Midwest League, and they tout it as the biggest TV in Iowa. In fact, when the Kernels season opening game is complete tonight, they will show the NIT championship game between Iowa and Baylor on the scoreboard. Keppel talked more about the affiliation with the Twins. “You’ll see from Brad Steil, Bill Smith and Terry Ryan that it’s a high-quality organization. That they have the same values we do in terms of community service, developing players within the organization and having them develop within the framework of what they want to do.” Keppel also informed media that “the Twins have developed a Harmon Killebrew Community Service Award that they are going to give to one player at each of their affiliates. It’s just a testimony to how much they think of community service and how much they want to develop players off the field as well as on the field.” It was a lot of fun to be at Meet the Kernels night. Following the player’s time on the concourse greeting fans, they held a short practice on the field, under the lights. They stretched and threw. They took a solid round of infield, and then they took a full round of batting practice. Tyler Grimes launches home runs. Adam Walker hit a ball out of the ballpark in left field. Byron Buxton hit after him and hit some long home runs, but after Walker left the ballpark, Buxton hit one even further. The temps dropped throughout the evening, from probably 46 degrees to the upper 30s. Temperatures at game time tonight are expected to possibly touch 60, so it won’t even be all that bad. This will be a fun group to follow and watch develop, but it was great to see these young men truly enjoying playing baseball. If you have a chance, come down this weekend and see this group. Find a time during the summer and watch these guys, many of whom you may see playing in Target Field in a couple of years. You won’t be disappointed. Pitching Matchups this weekend: Thursday - 6:35 p.m. - LHP Taylor Rogers vs RHP Raul Alcantara Friday - 6:35 p.m. - RHP Hudson Boyd vs RHP Michael Ynoa Saturday - 2:05 p.m. - LHP Mason Melotakis vs LHP Seth Streich Sunday - 2:05 p.m. - RHP Tyler Duffey vs RHP Vincent Voiro

The Twins season began on Monday. The season of the Twins full-season minor league affiliates will begin on Thursday. Below are the rosters of the Rochester Red Wings, the New Britain Rock Cats, the Ft. Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers. The rosters were sent to the affiliates first, but here is a complete look at the Twins full-season affiliates. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3649[/ATTACH] Rochester Red Wings Pitchers: Andrew Albers, Kyle Gibson, Pedro Hernandez, Shairon Martis, Mike O’Connor, Luis Perdomo, Bruce Pugh, Anthony Slama, Caleb Thielbar, Dan Turpen, Virgil Vasquez, PJ Walters. DL – Bryan Augenstein, Nick Blackburn, Kyle Davies, Samuel Deduno, Deolis Guerra, Rich Harden, Lester Oliveros, Rafael Perez, Dan Sattler, Esmerling Vasquez Catchers: Drew Butera, Eric Fryer, Chris Herrmann Infielders: Doug Bernier, Jeff Clement, Chris Colabello, Brian Dinkelman, Ray Olmedo, Mark Sobolewski. Inactive – Deibinson Romero Outfielders: Orlando Arcia, Joe Benson, Brandon Boggs, Clete Thomas New Britain Rock Cats Pitchers: AJ Achter, Logan Darnell, Pat Dean, Nelvin Fuentes, Jose Gonzalez, Edgar Ibarra, Bobby Lanigan, Blake Martin, Trevor May, Alex Meyer, Marty Popham, Mike Tonkin. DL: Matt Hauser, BJ Hermsen, Aaron Thompson, Dakota Watts, Alex Wimmers. Catchers: Danny Lehmann, Josmil Pinto, Dan Rohlfing Infielders: James Beresford, Jason Christian, Eric Farris, Harold Garcia, Nate Hanson, Reynaldo Rodriguez, Danny Santana Outfielders: Evan Bigley, Danny Ortiz, Antoan Richardson, Curt Smith Ft. Myers Miracle Pitchers: DJ Baxendale, Madison Boer, Cole Johnson, Zach Jones, Miguel Munoz, Ryan O’Rourke, Chad Rodgers, Adrian Salcedo, Tom Stuifbergen, Matt Summers, Jason Wheeler, Corey Williams – DL: Jhon Garcia Catchers: Kyle Knudson, Matt Koch Infielders: Michael Gonzales, Andy Leer, AJ Pettersen, Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, Kennys Vargas, Stephen Wickens – DL: Levi Michael Outfielder: Jhon Goncalves, Michael Kvasnicka, Angel Morales, Lance Ray Cedar Rapids Kernels Pitchers: Tim Atherton, Hudson Boyd, Tyler Duffey, Steven Gruver, David Hurlbut, Tyler Jones, Brett Lee, Chris Mazza, Mason Melotakis, Taylor Rogers, Manuel Soliman, Matt Tomshaw – DL: Dallas Gallant, Tim Shibuya Catchers: Jhonatan Arias, Tyler Grimes, Jairo Rodriguez – SUSP – Michael Quesada Infielders: Niko Goodrum, Travis Harrison, DJ Hicks, Drew Leachman, Candido Pimentel, Jorge Polanco – DL: Adam Bryant Outfielders: Byron Buxton, Romy Jimenez, Adam Walker, JD Williams – DL: Nate Roberts * Starting Pitchers in Red.