Seth Stohs

This is where the things like scouting and athleticism and such really come in to play, especially at those low minor league levels. Statistically, he's been one of the more disappointing players in the system this year, but there is no reason whatsoever to give up on him, yet. (Note, in other words, he likely won't be ranked as high by me with my 2013 rankings)

Imagine if he has his wicked stuff... and he only walked 4 per nine innings instead of 8?

Name one pitcher in big league history who has had any sustained success walking more than he strikes out, and not striking out very many. Just one, please.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2180[/ATTACH] For fans of the minor leagues, this time of year is pretty fun. The Elizabethton Twins will be starting their playoff run tonight. September call-ups can start happening on Friday. The minor league regular seasons come to an end on Labor Day and then more players get called up while those playoff runs start. As you know, Beloit will be in the Midwest League playoffs, and most likely, they will be the lone Twins full-season playoff team. Today, it is expected that the Arizona Fall League teams will be announced. So, who will represent the Twins in Arizona when the AFL begins on October 9? According to the Star-Tribune’s LaVelle E. Neal, the Twins will send six players to the AFL and also save one more spot for another player. Here is the list, which should become official today. Chris Herrmann – It isn’t usual for the Twins to send a player to the Arizona Fall League two consecutive years, but Herrmann will do just that. Last year, Herrmann made a name for himself on a more national scene with a strong showing in the AFL. He hit .380/.456/.620 in just 57 at bats. He returned to AA New Britain this season and has hit .268/.342/.385 with 23 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 55 RBI. The 24 year old has been the team’s primary catcher, but this year, he has returned to playing quite a bit of outfield. Evan Bigley – The 25 year old outfielder began the 2012 season back in New Britain where he had spent parts of the two previous seasons. In 88 games, he hit .268/.311/.444 with 19 doubles, three triples and 12 home runs. He was promoted to Rochester where, in 35 games, he is hitting .211/.241/.328 with six doubles and three homers. The Right Fielder has a good arm. Kyle Gibson – Of course, Gibson is the headliner on this roster. Gibson, the Twins 1st round pick in 2009 rocketed through the Twins farm system in 2010. He began 2011 in Rochester where he pitched well until arm issues derailed his season. He had Tommy John surgery last September, and his comeback this season has been going well to this point. He made his first start for the Red Wings in 2011 on Saturday. The goal is to get him as many innings as they can this fall so that he can go to spring training 2013 with a chance to impress. Logan Darnell – He was the Twins sixth round pick in 2010 out of Kentucky. In 2011, he pitched for Beloit, Ft. Myers and New Britain (5 starts, 5.58 ERA). This season, he has pitched exclusively for the Rock Cats. He has made 26 starts and thrown 145 innings already after throwing a combined 150.1 innings in 2011. He is 9-12 with a 5.21 ERA. He’s given up 181 hits (21 home runs), walked 44 and struckout just 94. Despite the pedestrian stats and the low strikeout numbers, he is said to have some really good stuff. Michael Tonkin – The Twins can have up to two players from the Ft. Myers roster compete in the AFL. Michael Tonkin will do that this year. He began the season by completely dominating the Midwest League. For Beloit, he went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 22 games. He had six saves. In 39 innings, he walked just nine (gave up just one home run) and struckout 53. Opponents hit just .206 off of him. He was promoted to Ft. Myers where opponents are hitting just .202 off of him. He’s 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 20 games. In 28.1 innings, he has walked 11 and struck out 40. He has three good pitches, generally gets a lot of ground balls. Caleb Thielbar – Thielbar is a lefty from Randolph, MN, who signed with the Twins late last season, the first player the Twins had signed from the St. Paul Saints. Since then, he has been terrific and progressed swiftly up the Twins farm system. He started the season with seven games in Ft. Myers. In 12.1 innings, he gave up four hits, walked two and struck out 16. He moved up to New Britain and pitched in 16 games. In 25 innings ,he gave up 18 hits, walked three and struck out 26. Now, he’s pitched in 24 games for Rochester. In 37 innings, he has given up 40 hits, walked 15 and struckout 29. The Arizona Fall League will be a good challenge for him. Joe Benson – It’s been a lost season for the Twins talented outfield prospect. He struggled early, but he has had one injury after the next ever since. He had surgery on his hamate bone, he’s had some other minor injuries, and his season came to an end two weeks ago with a knee injury. He will have surgery on Monday. The rehab will likely take at least one month, so the Twins are holding a spot for him in the AFL. He just needs to find some at bats so that he can go into the 2013 season strong and hopefully ready to take that final step. The Twins players will play for the Peoria Javelinas with prospects from the Reds, Phillies, Mariners and Padres. They will be managed by Dusty Wathan. Be sure to check in with Twins Daily for updates on Twins minor leaguers in the Arizona Fall League, but also Twins minor leaguers playing Winter League ball anywhere. Several players will play in the Caribbean, be it in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Mexico. Several will also be playing in the Australian Baseball League.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2168[/ATTACH] It’s August 28th, just a handful of days remaining until September 1st. At that time, Major League rosters can expand to 40. Of course, no team is going to have all 40 members of their 40 man roster on their big league roster. Generally speaking, the Twins say they want to bring up an infielder, an outfielder, maybe an extra catcher, and a couple of arms. Also, the minor league seasons finish on Labor Day, so most of the call-ups will not happen until after that date. Today, I’m going to take a look at 16 players that could be considered for a September call-up and try to handi-cap their likelihood of being called up. There are various reasons for a player to be called up. When the big league team is in contention, it has more to do with a role, something they can add to the current roster. That could be a pinch runner, a pinch hitter, or just some extra arms to only pitch in blowouts. For a team like the Twins this year, they have a lot of players that they will want to see and evaluate over the final month. Some players may be out of options next spring. The Twins will need to add some players to the 40 man roster in November. Some may get added for September. Others may depend on how some fringe players perform in September. With that background, here are some of the players who could potentially be called up in September. I believe there are 16 names here, and most likely the Twins will call up between five and seven players. Here is my list and percentages. Feel free to discuss. --- CHRIS PARMELEE (100%) – I think it’s pretty safe to assume that Parmelee will be up with the Twins in September again. He has simply crushed International League pitching all year to the tune of a .344/.463/.661 (1.124) line, including 17 doubles, a triple, 17 homers and 48 RBI. He even had more walks than strikeouts. Many wanted him called up to play in the outfield for the past month, but if the Twins thought he could play in the outfield, he might have played some there in Rochester. He has not played a single inning in the outfield for the Red Wings. He may see some time out there with the Twins. 40 Man Roster – Yes. BRIAN DOZIER (95%) – He was sent down to Rochester for the final two weeks. He proceeded to have just three hits in his first 44 at bats with the Red Wings. He has played well the last two games, but the manager loves him and he will get some more time in September. Now, I also think that the Twins love the glove of Pedro Florimon at shortstop, so don’t be surprised to see Dozier spending some time at second base. Again, you would think they’d start doing that a little in Rochester first. 40 Man Roster – Yes. JEFF MANSHIP (85%) – He’s out of options next season, so I would think that the Twins would want to see more of him and determine whether to bring him to spring training in 2013. With the Red Wings this year, he is 6-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 20 games. 40 Man Roster – Yes. ESMERLING VASQUEZ (84%) – The hard-throwing right-hander has been terrific this season with the Red Wings, both out of the bullpen and over eight starts late in the season. Overall, he is 9-6 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He has 98 strikeouts in 100.1 innings. 40 Man Roster – No. MATT CARSON (82%) – The outfielder put on a nice show of what he could be (at his best) in his week-long stint with the Twins on the west coast. Since the 32 year old was only “optioned” to Rochester, my assumption is that he will come back up in September (and then be DFAd after the season). 40 Man Roster – Yes. ANTHONY SLAMA (75%) – if he was anyone else putting up the numbers he is this year (not to mention over his entire minor league career, particularly the years in AAA), I would have this percentage at 100% However, this is the Twins and this is Anthony Slama, so who knows what the Twins will choose to do. If I was in charge, he would have been up a long time ago. 40 Man Roster – No. EDUARDO ESCOBAR (71%) – The utility infielder came to the Twins in the Francisco Liriano trade. He hasn’t hit much in his four weeks with the Red Wings, but he’s been good with the glove all around the infield. I’m not worried about his bat because he rotted on the White Sox bench all season, and it appears, based on his role in Rochester, that he will be the Twins next long-term utility player (which makes Alexi Casilla’s non-tendering case even stronger). 40 Man Roster – Yes. LUIS PERDOMO (68%) – It’s strange how much Perdomo struggled to throw strikes during his short stint with the Twins. In 28.1 innings with Rochester this year, he has just four walks to go with 24 strikeouts. His promotion would depend upon how many arms the Twins want to see in September. 40 Man Roster – Yes. OSWALDO ARCIA (50%) – This 21 year old can flat-out hit. He was the Appy League hitter of the year in 2010. He needed just one month in Beloit last year before moving up to Ft. Myers. He spent a couple of months with the Miracle this year, doubled in the Futures Game, and has crushed Eastern League (AA) pitching. Between the two teams, he is hitting .317/.388/.539 (.917) with 36 doubles, six triples, 15 home runs and 90 RBI. He will play in Venezuela in the winter. 40 Man Roster – Yes. CHRIS HERRMANN (40%) – I can see the Twins calling up the versatile Herrmann to play a role very similar to what Ryan Doumit is playing right now. Herrmann can catch and has improved greatly behind the plate. Since the Twins extended Doumit for the next two seasons, Herrmann has returned to playing a lot of left field, where he is known as a terrific outfielder. For the Rock Cats this year, he is hitting .268/.342/.385 (.727) with 23 doubles, ten homers and 55 RBI. He could take Drew Butera’s spot as one of three catchers, but he can provide more bat and even more bench versatility. 40 Man Roster – No (needs to be added). CHRIS COLABELLO (35%) – I think the fact that Matt Carson will likely be called up makes it more unlikely that Colabello is promoted. The lanky right-handed bat has been incredible this year in his first year in affiliated baseball. He was the 2011 Independent League Player of the Year and signed with the Twins before spring training this year. He has responded by hitting .291/.358/.494 (.852) with 37 doubles, 19 homers and 95 RBI so far. The 28 year old could be a decent right-handed bench bat option. 40 Man Roster – No. AARON HICKS (30%) – The 2008 first-round pick is finally putting together the stats that so many had hoped for, and so many fans had given up on him being able to produce. He finally has been able to turn all of his tools into skills. With New Britain, he is hitting .287/.385/.450 (.835) with 20 doubles, eight triples, 12 home runs, 56 RBI and 31 stolen bases. He is hitting lefties and righties well this year. He is showing that he can hit, hit for some power, run, play great defense and has a very strong arm. He also has the sixth tool, very good plate discipline. 40 Man Roster – No (But he needs to be added). DEOLIS GUERRA (25%) – This is Guerra’s final season of options. He started out great with New Britain, and when he moved up to Rochester, that success continued… for a while. Hitters started waiting for his changeup and pounding it. Then, he missed about a month with injury, and he has struggled. The Twins may want to bring him up in September and just see what he can do. Or, they could bring him to spring training next year and give him a job. This is one situation that will be interesting to watch this offseason. 40 Man Roster – Yes. WILKIN RAMIREZ (10%) – Signed as a minor league free agent before the season, Ramirez was once a big-time prospect of the Detroit Tigers. Still just 26 years old, Ramirez has some potential. He has shown it recently in Rochester. In his last 15 games with the Red Wings, he has hit .426 (23-54) with six doubles, seven homers and 17 RBI. A terrific athlete, he is another outfielder. 40 Man Roster – No. CALEB THIELBAR (6%) – It would sure be a nice story if Thielbar got a September cup of coffee with the Twins. The left-hander from Randolph, Minnesota, was signed at about this time one year ago from the St. Paul Saints. This year, he began with Ft. Myers, where he dominated. He moved up to New Britain, where he continued to be dominant. He advanced to AAA Rochester, and although he has not been dominant, he is left-handed, throws the ball well, and can miss a few bats. It may not happen this September, but he has put himself into the discussion. 40 Man Roster – No. KYLE GIBSON (1%) – The Twins and all around the Gibson situation continue to say that the Twins will NOT promoted Gibson when the rosters expand in September. Instead, he’ll finish out the season with the Red Wings, then go to instructional league and then pitch in the Arizona Fall League. If all goes well, he will go to spring training 2013 with an opportunity to make the big league roster. Of course, I want to leave my projection at 1% just because he’s worked hard to return from his September 6, 2012, Tommy John surgery. 40 Man Roster – No (but he needs to be added). 0% Chance – Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Nick Blackburn and Rene Tosoni – All three have been removed from the Twins 40 man roster within the past two weeks, and it is unlikely they would add any of them back for September (although, I guess, Blackburn is always an option). 0% Chance (due to injury) – Joe Benson’s had a rough year that likely just ended with a knee surgery. Sean Burroughs started the season with the Twins but was quickly DFAd and spent the year with the Red Wings. He hasn’t played in six weeks due to some lower back pain. Lester Oliveros had some elbow issues and was shut down. Pedro Hernandez suffered a lat injury and was shut down for the season. My Prediction for September Call-Ups – Parmelee, Dozier, Escobar, Carson, Arcia, Vasquez, Manship, Slama. (That’s eight promotions and 32 players on the roster, not counting PJ Walters who could return shortly as well. That likely means that at least one or two of my picks are not going to be promoted. So, with this information, who do you think will receive September call-ups for the Twins?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2163[/ATTACH] No one expected a slugfest when the Mariners and Twins got together to play in Target Field. Felix Hernandez was on the mound for the Mariners, but Liam Hendriks was on the mound for the Twins. It looked like a mismatch, but it turned into one of the best pitcher’s duals of the year! Liam Hendriks remains winless in the big leagues despite throwing a tremendous, tough-loss, complete game. The one mistake he made was giving up an 8th inning, opposite field home run by Eric Thames. The length of that home run was less than that of a fly ball by Trevor Plouffe caught at the wall by Franklin Gutierrez or a triple off the right-center field wall by Justin Morneau. Location! Location! Location. Hendriks was every bit as good as Hernandez on this night, giving up just three hits in the game. Hernandez gave up five hits, but when runners got on base, both really pitched well. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday: ROCHESTER 6, BUFFALO 1 Nick Blackburn put together a nice start again for the Red Wings. He gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in six innings. He struckout just one batter. Jeff Manship went the next two innings. He gave up no runs despite three hits and two walks. Daniel Turpen worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Blackburn improved to 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Wilkin Ramirez remains on fire. In this game, he had a bases-clearing triple and his 13th home run, driving in four for the Red Wings. In his last 15 games, he is 23-54 (.426) with six doubles, two homes and 17 RBI. Matt Carson was 1-2 with two walks. Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier each hit a triple NEW BRITAIN 8, TRENTON 1 Luke French did what he did in April for the Rock Cats. He dominated AA hitters. The soft-tossing left-hander threw a complete game. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out two. The Rock Cat bats showed up right away, scoring six runs in the first inning. Rene Tosoni doubled in two runs, and that was followed by Nate Hanson’s sixth home run of the season, a three-run blast. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with a walk and his 20th double. Chris Colabello was 2-4 with a walk. Chris Herrmann went 2-5. Aaron Hicks walked twice. Josmil Pinto hit his first triple. FT. MYERS, BRADENTON To no surprise, the winds and rain in the Gulf region postponed the games in the Florida State League. BELOIT 11, CEDAR RAPIDS 8 The Snappers bats were out in full force again on Monday. Drew Leachman went 4-5 with his 12th double and his fifth home run. AJ Pettersen went 4-5 with his 12th double. Eddie Rosario was a double from the cycle. He was 3-6 with his fourth triple and 12th home run. Kennys Vargas was 3-5 with his seventh double. Wang-Wei Lin hit his third home run and stole his tenth base. Nate Roberts got on base twice and stole his 26th base. Tyler Jones started and pitched a career-high eight innings. He was charged with seven runs, but just two of them were earned. He gave up ten hits, but most important, he walked none. He struck out seven. DJ Baxendale came on for the 9th inning. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk. He struck out two. ELIZABETHTON 3, PRINCETON 4 Eight hitters for the E-Twins had one hit in this game. The only player without a hit, Candido Pimentel, walked twice. Byron Buxton and Romy Jimenez each doubled. Angel Mata started and went just one inning. He gave up one run on not hits. He walked two and struckout one. Luis Nunez came on and gave up one hit and two walks in 2.2 innings. He struck out two. Travis Huber went the next 2.2 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Kaleb Merck went the final 2.2 innings. He gave up an unearned run on two hits. He walked none and struckout two. --- Players of the Day for Monday, August 27, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Drew Leachman [ATTACH=CONFIG]2161[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Luke French [ATTACH=CONFIG]2162[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, August 29, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo – RHP Shairon Martis New Britain @ Trenton – RHP Steve Hirschfeld Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (DH) – RHP Matt Summers, TBD Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – LHP Matt Tomshaw Elizabethton vs Princeton – LHP Hein Robb GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

The Twins got off the schneid with a 6-5 win over the Rangers. They end their AL West road trip with two wins in ten games. Ben Revere went 4-4 with a triple. Denard Span had two hits. Cole De Vries started, and after a long rain delay, he returned and was able to go five innings. He left with a 6-2 lead. Jeff Gray came on and before too long, it was 6-5. Casey Fien did a great job in 1.2 innings, striking out three. Jared Burton pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Glen Perkins was terrific in the ninth for his eighth save. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2139[/ATTACH] Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: GAME 1 - ROCHESTER 0, BUFFALO 1 Esmerling Vasquez continues to push toward a September call-up. The hard-throwing right-hander gave up one run on six hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven to reduce his ERA to 2.78. Of course, since the Red Wings were shutout, Vasquez got the loss. The Red Wings bats managed just three hits in the game. Matt Carson hit two doubles, his 25th and 26th of the year. GAME 2 - ROCHESTER 11, BUFFALO 9 Game 1 was a pitcher’s duel. In Game 2, the bats showed up. The Twins went with a bullpen game. Caleb Thielbar started and went the first three innings. He gave up five runs (2 earned) on three hits. He walked twice and struck out three. Bobby Lanigan improved to 6-1 with a scoreless inning. Luis Perdomo then gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Anthony Slama came in for the final five outs and he gave up no runs on one hit to record his 12th save and drop his ERA to 0.59. Brian Dozier broke out of his slump in a big way. He went 3-3 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and hit his 11th double. Chris Parmelee went 2-3 with two walks and his first triple. Matt Carson was 2-4 with a walk and added his 27th and 28th doubles. He also threw out a runner attempting to advance to third base. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-4 with a walk and his 14th double. NEW BRITAIN 7, NEW HAMPSHIRE 8 The Rock Cats had some big home runs. Chris Colabello drilled a three-run homer to keep the Rock Cats in the game early. Then, in the top of the ninth, down four runs, Oswaldo Arcia came up and hit a grand slam to tie the game. However, in the end, they came up just one run short. Andrew Albers started and gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Matt Hauser gave up two runs on four hits in two innings. Blake Martin went the next inning and gave up one run on one hit. Bruce Pugh came in for the bottom of the ninth. He got two outs, but he gave up the winning run to take the loss. Chris Colabello went 2-5 with his 19th home run and three RBI, putting him at 95 RBI on the year. Aaron Hicks was 3-4 with a walk and his 31st stolen base. Rene Tosoni went 2-5. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk and his 21st double. Shawn Roof was 2-4. Oswaldo Arcia hit the grand slam, his 8th home run and his four RBI gives him 57 with the Rock Cats. FT. MYERS, PALM BEACH The game was cancelled earlier on Sunday morning due to the inclement weather caused by Tropical Storm Isaac. Their game on Monday has already been postponed. BELOIT 8, CEDAR RAPIDS 9 (13 innings) It was a long afternoon in Cedar Rapids. The game’s start was delayed for a bit, and then 13 innings later, it finally came to an end. Jason Wheeler started and gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Mason Melotakis came on and got all five batters he faced out, three on strikeouts. Zach Jones and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks in just one inning. He struck out three. Taylor Rogers went 2.1 perfect innings. Tim Atherton went the next 1.2 innings and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out two. Miguel Sano had a big day after getting a day off on Saturday. He went 4-6 with a walk, his 27th and 28th doubles, his 27th home run and three RBI (which gives him 97 on the year). He also stole his 8th base. Wang-Wei Lin was 3-5 with his 13th double and ninth stolen base. Kennys Vargas was 2-6 with a walk and his 11th home run. Stephen Wickens went 2-6 with his second home run and seventh stolen base. Nate Roberts went 2-5 with two walks, his 17th double and his 25th stolen base. ELIZABETHTON 6, PULASKI 8 DJ Hicks hit a two-run homer as part of a game-tying four-run ninth for the E-Twins. Unfortunately, Pulaski came back and won in the 9th. The E-Twins had eight players with one hit each. Jorge Polanco was 1-3 with his fifth homer. Byron Buxton hit his fifth double. Hudson Boyd started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits. In five innings, he walked two and struck out three. Josh Burris gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his inning. Tyler Duffey came on and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Chris Mazza gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in two innings. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, August 27, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano [ATTACH=CONFIG]2137[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Esmerling Vasquez [ATTACH=CONFIG]2138[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Monday, August 28, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo – RHP Nick Blackburn New Britain @ Trenton – LHP Luke French Ft. Myers @ Bradenton – Game Postponed Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – RHP Tyler Jones Elizabethton vs Princeton – RHP Angel Mata GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

Great article!! A definitely talking/thinker, and I have no idea what the answer is... By the way, this blog has been promoted to the front page. Comments will be closed here, but you can find them in the main forum now. http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?966-Blind-faith-vs-evidence-and-reason

The Twins lost big to the Rangers, again. Maybe you’ve read this story before. The Twins starting pitcher (Brian Duensing on this day) puts the Twins way behind early in the game, and the offense isn’t able to catch up. Justin Morneau went 4-4 and homered for the 202nd time in his career to pass Gary Gaetti for 6th on the Twins all-time list. Pedro Florimon was 2-3 with a walk. Jamey Carroll went 2-4 with his 15th double. Joe Mauer doubled for the 26th time this year. The Twins lost for the fifth straight game, and for the 14th time in their last 16 games. Aside from the Beloit Snappers, it was not a great night for the Twins organization. Rochester, New Britain, Ft. Myers and Elizabethton lost. The GCL Twins played their final regular season game of the season. Had they won, they would have been in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost too. That means that most of the players from that team will be able to leave Ft. Myers before Tropical Storm Isaac arrives on Sunday night. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday night: ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 5 The story on this night was Kyle Gibson. He was making his first start for the Red Wings since last July and undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. In the first inning, Gibson struck out the first two batters he faced. He then gave up a seeing-eye single before striking out the third batter of the inning. In the second inning, he had strikeout, got the second out on a soft-line drive to second base, and got the third batter out on another strikeout. Unfortunately, Gibson struggled in the third frame. He gave up four runs on five hits before his evening was done. He threw 47 pitches, 32 for strikes. More important, his fastball was sitting before 90 and 93 mph with movement. His slider was very sharp, and he showed a very good changeup. Deolis Guerra threw the next three innings. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out four. Daniel Turpen went the final two innings. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out four. Wilkin Ramirez remains one fire. He went 3-4 with his 13th double and seventh stolen base. Matt Carson was 2-4 with his 24th double. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4. Danny Lehmann was 1-2 with a walk. Brian Dozier’s struggles with the bat continued. He is 0-20 in his last five game, and since his return to the Red Wings, he has just three hits in 41 at bats. NEW BRITAIN 2, NEW HAMPSHIRE 4 The Rock Cats fell for the third straight game to New Hampshire. BJ Hermsen started for the Rock Cats. Big leaguer, Adam Lind, was the first batter he faced, and he hit a home run. Lind was 2-2 with a walk in the game. Hermsen went six innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out four. Aaron Thompson struckout one in his inning. Dakota Watts walked one in his relief inning. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk. Dan Rohlfing was 2-4 with his first triple. Nate Hanson got the Rock Cats on the scoreboard in the second inning when his 14th double drove in Josmil Pinto. Chris Colabello doubled for the 37th time this season. FT. MYERS 2, PALM BEACH 4 Palm Beach scored one in the 2nd inning, one in the 3rd inning and one in the 4th inning, and that was enough on this night. Cole Nelson got the start. The lefty gave up the three runs on nine hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out four. Ricky Bowen gave up three hits and a walk in two scoreless innings. He struckout three. Nelvin Fuentes struckout three over the next two innings. He gave up no runs on one hit and one walk. Michael Tonkin gave up one run on one hit in the ninth inning. He struckout two. Lance Ray went 1-2 with three walks and his 21st double. Levi Michael went 2-3 with a walk. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-4. Danny Santana went 2-5. Steve Liddle hit his second homer. Remember that the Miracle’s game on Sunday was moved up due to tropical storm Isaac. BELOIT 13, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 Miguel Sano got the night off. Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas combined to go 0-10 with five strikeouts. So, of course the Snappers scored 13 runs in Cedar Rapids. Nate Roberts went 3-6. JD Williams went 2-5 with a walk and his sixth homer. Drew Leachman went 2-5 with a walk and his fourth home run. Matt Koch went 1-3 with two walks and his 20th double. Tyler Grimes was 1-3 with two walks and his fifth home run. Stephen Wickens went 1-3 with three walks. Cole Johnson made the start. He went five innings and gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out one. Corey Williams struck out three and walked one over the next three innings. DJ Baxendale gave up two hits but no runs in his inning of work. ELIZABETHTON 1, PULASKI 4 The E-Twins had a rare game in which they didn’t get much offense. Travis Harrison went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth home run. The team had just four more hits. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks in five innings. He struckout just one. Travis Huber walked two in his scoreless inning of work. Andrew Ferriera walked the one batter he faced. Tyler Herr came on and gave up two hits and two walks but no runs in his two innings. GCL TWINS 1 , GCL RED SOX 4 After winning on Friday night, the GCL Twins had a chance to make the playoffs with a win on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Twins came up just short. On the positive side, many of the players will be able to leave Ft. Myers before Tropical Storm Isaac gets there. Felix Jorge started and gave up three runs in the first four innings. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out six. Kuo Hua Lo walked two and struck out one over the next two innings. Hung-Yi Chen gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Alex Muren then struck out one in a scoreless inning. Aderlin Mejia finished a terrific season with another good game. He was 2-3 with a walk and his 12th and 13th doubles. Bryan Haar was also 2-3. Jeremias Pineda went 1-3 with a walk and his 23rd stolen base. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, August 25, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Corey Williams [ATTACH=CONFIG]2129[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Wilkin Ramirez [ATTACH=CONFIG]2130[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, August 26, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo (DH) – RHP Esmerling Vasquez, TBD New Britain @ New Hampshire – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – RHP Matt Summers Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs Princeton – RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2126[/ATTACH]In recent weeks, we have noticed an increase in the number of Blogs written by Twins Daily readers, and we want to make sure to give notice to those. Obviously, the front page often gets most of the attention, and the Forums follow with the discussion. But we want to encourage people to check out the Blogs page as well because there is often great content. And, if you are at all interested in expressing your opinions in a blog or writing a story on a player, a team, or a trip to see a Twins or Twins minor league game, consider starting your own blog here at Twins Daily. It’s free. Today, I wanted to highlight some of the terrific blogs that have been written in recent days. Be sure to check them out, and again, don’t forget to make checking out the Blogs page a regular part of your Twins Daily visit. --- Sbknudson wrote a terrific blog on The Right Way to Retaliate. Obviously this is a nice blog in response to what happened on Thursday night in Texas. Brad Swanson looked at Twins Hitters who could contribute to playoff teams in the future. He is looking to 2014 and beyond, so he considers hitters on the current roster who could contribute to the Twins or another organization. Twins Best Friend wrote a blog called Back to the Twins Future. He gives his thoughts on a potential 2015 Twins lineup. A couple of blogs look not-quite-as-far into the Twins future. ShawnWahl wrote An early blueprint for 2013. This has been one of the most popular blogs written and commented on at Twins Daily. If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to do so. Similarly, J-Dog Dungan wrote a blog called My beliefs about what the Twins should look like in 2013. Pitching is a key. We all know that. Check out who he has in his 2013 Twins starting rotation. Not all blogs need to be long. AllhopeisgoneMNTwins found a chat by ESPN.com’s Keith Law, and one of the questions he answer was about his thoughts on Scott Diamond. Law’s response may not have been what Twins fans would have hoped for, and that showed in the comments. I think it is fair to say that Freightmaster was impressed by the A’s Brett Anderson. He also asks why the Twins announcers continue to talk about the Twins turning things around and winning. Bark’s Lounge wrote an article called Evolution and the Australian Baseball Player. I know we get a good mount of readers from Australia, and it’d be great to get their thoughts on comments on this one. What if the Twins would have drafted Mike Trout instead of Kyle Gibson in that 2009 draft? Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but what do you think would have happened? To think, those quality blog topics were all posted by members of the Twins Daily community over the last two or three days. I definitely encourage people to check out the Blogs page every day after reading the front page articles and providing good feedback to those who took the time to blog. And again, if you’re interested in putting some of your thoughts and opinions into blog form, consider starting your own blog too.

Do ya'll remember that Joe Mauer made his big league debut at age 20? I mean, seriously, your negativity is ridiculous and unfounded. If Trout would have put up the numbers he did in the Twins system, he would be up by now too. Back to the discussion in the blog, though... it's a great question. If the Twins would have passed on Gibson to draft Trout, many Twins fans would have called them cheap. Having used 1st round picks in 2008 (Hicks), 2007 (Revere) and 2006 (Parmelee, and Benson in second round), Twins fans would have hated the Trout pick. Which, of course, should not factor into the Twins decision.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2122[/ATTACH] The Twins/Rangers game in Arlington was over pretty quickly. Samuel Deduno gave up one run in the first inning and five runs in the second. Somehow, he got through five innings and gave up seven runs on 11 hits. He walked the first batter he faced and that was the lone walk of the night. Kyle Waldrop came in and gave up just one run over three innings. But this game was about the Rangers. The Twins had just three hits. Adrian Beltre alone had four hits, a single, double, triple and home run. It was the 6th cycle against the Twins. Matt Harrison, the talented left-hander improved to 15-7 with a strong performance. It wasn’t until Trevor Plouffe hit a single with two outs in the 7th innings that the Twins had their first hit. Harrison completed eight innings of dominance. Fortunately, there were some pretty impressive performances by Twins minor leaguers. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday night: ROCHESTER 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 8 PJ Walters made another rehab start and this one didn’t go so well. The right-hander gave up seven runs on ten hits in just three innings. He walked one and struck out three. Jeff Manship came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out one. Bobby Lanigan pitched the final three innings. He gave up one run on two hits (a solo home runs and a walk. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-3 with his 14th double and the lone RBI. The team had just three hits. Tom Brunansky and Wilkin Ramirez were both ejected in the 7th inning. NEW BRITAIN 2, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 The Rock Cats really needed to win this series against the cellar-dwellers from New Hampshire, but they’ve lost the first two games. The team got plenty of hits but not enough runs. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his second home run since his promotion. Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with a walk and his 30th stolen base. Rene Tosoni and Chris Colabello were each 2-4. Chris Herrmann was 2-5. Logan Darnell started and gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out three. Jose Gonzalez worked two scoreless innings. He gave up no hits, walked two and struck one out. Bruce Pugh gave up a hit and a walk but no runs in his inning. Earlier in the day, Aaron Hicks, Chris Colabello and Deibinson Romero were named to the Eastern League postseason All-Star team. FT. MYERS 8, PALM BEACH 1 Madison Boer had a terrific game. The right-hander from Eden Prairie gave up one run on four hits in seven innings. He walked none and struckout five. AJ Achter and Miguel Munoz each struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. Danny Ortiz went 3-4 with a walk and his 21st double. Angel Morales was 3-3 with a walk and his eighth stolen base. Danny Santana went 2-5 with his ninth triple and three RBI. Kyle Knudson was 2-4 with a walk. BELOIT 8, PEORIA 2 The Snappers got good pitching and plenty of hitting in this big win. Nate Roberts continued to get on base. He went 2-3 with a walk, his 16th double and his third triple. Eddie Rosario went 4-5 with his 27th and 28th doubles, his 11th home run and three RBI. Stephen Wickens went 1-2 with two walks and 10th double. Steven Gruver gave up two runs on three hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out four. Corey Kimes gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out three. Tim Atherton went one scoreless inning. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out one. ELIZABETHTON 7, PULASKI 5 The E-Twins got back into the win column on Friday night. Max Kepler went 3-5 with his 15th and 16th doubles, his ninth home run and three RBI. Byron Buxton went 2-5 with his fourth double, first home run and two RBI. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with a walk and his 15th double. Romy Jimenez hit his eighth home run. Lefty Brett Lee started but gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out two. Luis Nunez went 2.1 scoreless innings despite giving up a hit and two walks. Kaleb Merck struckout two in 1.2 scoreless innings. JT Chargois walked one but picked up his fifth save. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 1 The GCL Twins played their second-to-last game on Friday and got a win. Gonzalo Sanudo started and gave up just one run on five hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out three. Josue Montanez improved to 2-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.36 after giving up just one hit in 2.1 innings. Melciades de la Cruz struckout four over the final 2.2 innings for his sixth save. John Murphy went 3-4 with his second homer and three RBI. Jeremias Pineda hit his first home run. Bryan Haar hit his ninth double. Dereck Rodriguez hit his eighth double. Jose Ramirez hit his third double. --- Players of the Day for Friday, August 24, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Eddie Rosario [ATTACH=CONFIG]2121[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Madison Boer [ATTACH=CONFIG]2120[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, August 25, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo – RHP Kyle Gibson New Britain @ New Hampshire – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – RHP Cole Johnson Elizabethton @ Pulaski – RHP Ricardo Arevalo GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD (Final game of Regular Season) --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!