Seth Stohs

Former Twins minor leaguer AJ Pettersen retired from minor league baseball one year, one week and one day ago. He had been playing with AA New Britain.He wrote a touching article regarding his decision to Move On from baseball. Over the winter, he was named the head baseball coach at Chanhassen high school. On Monday night at Target Field, his Chanhassen Storm team defeated Lakeville North 2-0 to claim the 2015 Minnesota Class 3A state championship. He has a very talented team including Ty Denzer who is headed to Kansas next year, but he did a great job of coaching as well. Twins Daily would like to congratulate AJ Pettersen and his Chanhassen Storm baseball team!

David Hurlbut did. I'll post it in the Minor League Award document shortly.

Patrick Reusse wrote a blog about who he recalls having as much hype as Byron Buxton upon his debut. His answer? 1993, David McCarty. He goes on to write about some of the things written about McCarty at the time of his promotion. Words like "savior" were used by actual writers. On Saturday night when it came out that Byron Buxton was going to be promoted, I went to Twitter and asked a similar question. I'll ask it here. In your lifetime, who do you think has generated the fan excitement for their MLB debut? For me, the name that I think of is Justin Morneau. I remember him getting a standing ovation for his first MLB plate appearance. Joe Mauer's debut was on Opening Day, so there were a lot of people there any way. I hardly remember the McCarty one, but upon reading Reusse's article, I do remember it now, and it was a big deal. Eddie Bane's was a big deal, but that was way before me. So, what are your thoughts?

I don't pay for anything.

This Michael Rand article is equal parts way over my head and very interesting. There are several paradoxes that he references in the article. One late in the article is quite interesting: I also agree whole-heartedly with his conclusion:

Tom Powers, from the Pioneer Press, wrote a column on the reality that when it comes to prospects, there really are no sure things. The timing of the article, of course, coincides with the arrival of Byron Buxton in the big leagues. It's a nice reminder that it isn't always the big prospect that becomes the big stars. Many times, the players that don't get as much fanfare wind up being the ones with the long, memorable careers. That's not to say it is always the case. Some top prospects do make it. This story, however, is a good reminder of some of the names of the top prospects of the past who didn't make it. Joe Mauer would be the best example. I don't know that any were as highly touted as Byron Buxton. It's part of my mission with Twins Daily to not just talk about the top prospects, but familiarize Twins fans with the lesser known minor leaguers as well. You never know who will get a cup of coffee, and you never know who will become the next high-quality big leaguer.

On Sunday, Byron Buxton made his major league debut, the goal of every single minor league player. There were a lot of strong hitting performances on the day, lots of three-hit games. A few of the Twins top pitching prospects were on the mound Sunday. Two of them didn’t get through the fourth inning, but one had a tremendous start. To find out who performed well, you’ll just have to keep reading. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Edgar Corcino) On Sunday, Byron Buxton made his major league debut, the goal of every single minor league player. There were a lot of strong hitting performances on the day, lots of three-hit games. A few of the Twins top pitching prospects were on the mound Sunday. Two of them didn’t get through the fourth inning, but one had a tremendous start. To find out who performed well, you’ll just have to keep reading. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 1 Box Score Taylor Rogers has continued to move up the farm system at a steady pace. At each level, he has had a couple of clunkers, but for the most part, he has been very good for the Red Wings. On Sunday, he posted one of his best starts of the year. The southpaw went eight innings. He gave up one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out eight. He improved to 6-4 and reduced his ERA to 3.23. He needed just 92 pitches and 63 of them were strikes. AJ Achter came on for the ninth and retired the three batters he faced to record his tenth save of the season. The Red Wings needed that performance as the offense didn’t provide much support. They had just four hits in the game. The big hit came from Danny Ortiz in the fourth inning. He drove in two runs with his 17th double of the season. Argenis Diaz recorded his sixth double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 3 Box Score There was a scary moment in the bottom of the third inning. JO Berrios started for the Lookouts and had given up just one hit over three shutout innings. On the final out of that third inning, he took a liner to the shin. He made the play, but he left the game with a leg contusion. Reports following the game indicated that he was fine and wouldn’t miss any time. DJ Baxendale went to the mound and threw the next two innings. He gave up one run on one hit and two walks, though he did strike out five. Madison Boer gave up two unearned runs on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Jake Reed got the next four outs in order. JT Chargois recorded his third save since his call up to Chattanooga. He struck out two in an inning. Mike Gonzales went 2-4, but Max Kepler had the big hit. Kepler went 1-2 with two walks and a two-run homer. It was his third homer of the year. Jorge Polanco led off and went 0-1, but he walked three times. Niko Goodrum made the start in center field for the Lookouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Bradenton 6 (11 innings) Box Score Yet another extra innings game for the Miracle, and this one unfortunately ended in a loss. Stephen Gonsalves had a rough one in his second FSL start. In just 3.2 innings, he gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out two. Before he left the game, he issued two straight bases-loaded walks. He was replaced by Matt Summers who gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out one. Corey Williams came on and got the next seven outs without allowing a run. Todd Van Steensel struck out two over his two scoreless innings. Luke Westphal gave up a run on three hits in the bottom of the 11th to take the loss. Mitch Garver led the offense. He went 3-4 with his ninth double. Alex Swim went 2-5. Marcus Knecht’s tenth double drove in two runs. Bryan Haar added a double, his thirteenth. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Lansing 3 Box Score Good things come in threes, right? Well, four Kernels hitters had three hits in this game to help the team to a nice win on Sunday afternoon. Sam Gibbons got the start and got through seven innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks. Mike Theofanopoulos gave up a run in his inning. He struck out two. Trevor Hildenberger struck out one in a perfect inning. Leadoff man Edgar Corcino went 3-4. Alex Real went 3-3 with a walk and his third double. Rafael Valera was 3-3 with a walk. Tanner English led the way. He went 3-4 with his sixth triple and his second home run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Cedar Rapids Kernels MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester – No Game Scheduled Chattanooga @ Birmingham (11:30 am CST) – RHP Greg Peavey Daytona @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – LHP Mat Batts Lansing @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 CST) – RHP Jared Wilson Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. View full article

If he ever has an MLB role, it'd be long relief. But, that it's his fourth start says nothing about him having a future as a starter.

To be fair, and accurate, Byron Buxton is as talented as Bryce Harper, but Buxton is a completely different person.

Uggh! Some day, I'm going to get it right automatically... that said, I still do a double-take when I hear Beloit.

Yeah, the Oliveros thing is just a bullpen game. Not a big deal.

First time I went to Beloit was 2010. Since then, I've made one or two trips to the Twins Midwest League affiliate. That first year, I saw Brian Dozier, Aaron Hicks... and Mike Trout was the Cedar Rapids CF. He stood out on the field. No question he was the best player on the field. In 2012, I saw Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario and later Kennys Vargas. In 2013, I went to Cedar Rapids for their home opener. My assumption is that Buxton would be fun to watch, a great athlete, but I went down there assuming that Sano would remain my #1 Twins prospect. 3 days later (or maybe even quicker, it was clear that Buxton was the best prospect in the organization... In fact, in my eyes, I thought that Buxton was a better prospect at the same stage than Trout. People hear that and think that means that he will be a better player than Trout. Well, that's not how prospects worth. No one would have anticipated Trout becoming what he has. But from a talent standpoint, Buxton is right there. I'm excited about this. I think defensively he can be a difference-maker. Add in what he can do offensively, and it's exciting. I'm tempering my hopes for what he'll be in 2015 with the Twins, but this will be a good thing for him.

I'd expect Molitor to throw him right into the leadoff spot. I would then push Dozier to the three spot, and gasp, Mauer to the six hole. Buxton CF Rosario RF Dozier 2B Plouffe 3B Mauer 1B Vargas DH Escobar SS Suzuki C Robinson LF That's what I'd do. We'll see what Molitor does.

The strikeouts continue, but man, so does the production!

High ankle sprains take a long time to heal. But, it's been almost two months. As Bob said above, he should be back soon.

He's expected to land in Texas at about 11:30 and the game is at 2. He should be in the lineup.

The week in transactions: Twins DFA Tim Stauffer. Promoted Michael Tonkin to Twins. Rochester: Lester Oliveros has been suspended 7 games for hitting a batter. Cole Johnson promoted to Rochester. Josmil Pinto on the 7-Day DL with a concussion. Carlos Paulino promoted to Rochester. Danny Santana demoted to Rochester, Kennys Vargas promoted to Twins. New Britain: Byron Buxton promoted to the Twins Jorge Polanco promoted to the Twins... Jorge Polanco demoted to the Lookouts. Niko Goodrum promoted to Chattanooga. Brandon Peterson promoted to to New Britain. Ft. Myers DJ Johnson sent back to Ft. Myers. Jason Kanzler activated. Cedar Rapids Blake Schmit placed on DL. Rafael Valera promoted to Cedar Rapids.

There was a pretty exciting transaction on Saturday that you’ve likely already heard about. Chattanooga continued its winning ways even without the man at the top of their lineup. They got big production from their stars, and Niko Goodrum made his AA debut. There were two very strong starts in the organization on Saturday as well. Check out the rest of the news and notes from Saturday in the Twins farm system. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Alex Wimmers) There was a pretty exciting transaction on Saturday that you’ve likely already heard about. Chattanooga continued its winning ways even without the man at the top of their lineup. They got big production from their stars, and Niko Goodrum made his AA debut. There were two very strong starts in the organization on Saturday as well. Check out the rest of the news and notes from Saturday in the Twins farm system. To see how the Twins affiliates are doing in the standings and who the statistical leaders are throughout the system, click here. TRANSACTIONS I’m not sure if you’ve heard yet or not… but the Twins promoted an outfielder named Byron Buxton from AA Chattanooga to the big leagues. A corresponding move is expected to be made on Sunday morning. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 Box Score Jason Wheeler has really struggled, especially of late, with the Red Wings. He didn’t have a great day on Saturday, but he really helped out his Rochester teammates. The southpaw gave up five runs (4 earned) on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out four. Most important, he threw all eight innings, giving the bullpen a full day off a day after a bullpen game. The Red Wings offense had seven hits, but they were able to score just one run. James Beresford added another two hits to make him the fifth Twins minor leaguer to surpass the 60 hits mark this season. The lone Red Wings run came on a solo home run by Reynaldo Rodriguez, his fourth homer of the season. Danny Santana went 1-4 with two strikeouts. Oswaldo Arcia went 1-4 with a strikeout. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 0 Box Score Lost in the excitement of the Byron Buxton promotion, the Lookouts still had to play a game on Saturday night. Alex Wimmers was up to it. The right-hander gave up just two hits over 7.2 shutout innings. He walked two and struck out nine for the win. Jake Reed came on and gave up a hit before the final out of the eighth inning was recorded. Zack Jones struck out one in a perfect ninth inning. Jorge Polanco took over Buxton’s leadoff spot in the lineup. He went 2-4 and stole his 13th base. Niko Goodrum batted second and DHd. He went 2-4 with his first AA stolen base. Miguel Sano batted third. He went 1-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, his 12th double and his fifth stolen base. Adam Brett Walker hit an eighth-inning, two-run homer in the 8th inning to give the lookouts some insurance. Max Kepler took over in centerfield. He walked twice in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Bradenton 3 Box Score The Miracle got seven hits and five walks, but they were only able to score two runs. Chad Christensen went 1-3 and had a sacrifice fly. Marcus Knecht went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI. Zach Granite was 1-3 and walked twice. The lanky right-hander went the first 5.2 innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out four. Brian Gilbert came on and struck out two in 1.1 hitless innings. He did walk one. DJ Johnson made his return to the Miracle with two perfect innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Lansing 1 Box Score The Kernels had lost three in a row and seven of their last eight games. What they needed was a strong start, and Zach Tillery did just that. The right-hander started and gave up just two hits and a walk over six shutout innings. He struck out five. Miles Nordgren came on and gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. Cameron Booser came on for the ninth. He had a strikeout, but he also walked two batters. Later, there was an error, but he ended the inning having allowed just one run (unearned). Tillery improved to 4-1. Booser recorded his sixth save. The Kernels got three runs in the first inning and then held on. Edgar Corcino led off with his second triple. Nick Gordon singled him in. Gordon advanced to third base on a Zack Larson double. Brett Doe singled to left to score Gordon, and Larson scored on a wild pitch. That was it. Gordon went 2-4 in the game. Brian Navarreto went 2-3 including his third double of the season. Larson’s double was his 13th of the year. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Alex Wimmers, Chattanooga Lookouts Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Brett Walker, Chattanooga Lookouts SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (12:05 CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers Chattanooga @ Birmingham (3:00 CST) – JO Berrios Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (12:00 CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves Lansing @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. View full article

The minor league seasons are about half over. Here is a look at the updated Twins minor league standings and statistical leaders through Friday, June 12. Feel free to discuss. Image courtesy of Craig Gordon The minor league seasons are about half over. Here is a look at the updated Twins minor league standings and statistical leaders through Friday, June 12. Feel free to discuss. STANDINGS Here is a quick look at where the teams rank in their divisions as the first half of three of the Twins affiliates seasons come to a close very soon. Rochester is 31-29, 1-6 since last week. A week ago, they were 1.5 games ahead of Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Now, they are 3.5 games behind them. Chattanooga is also 36-24. They went 6-1 in the last week and have opened up a four-game lead over Tennessee. Their magic number to clinch a playoff berth is just five. Ft. Myers has gone 6-0 since last week. They are 31-30 and ten games back of Charlotte. Despite a great week, they were eliminated from playoff contention. Cedar Rapids is 36-25. They are 4.5 games behind Quad Cities. They won just one of six games played this week However, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is just five. HITTERS For batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, IsoD and IsoP, we used a minimum of 160 plate appearances. Plate Appearances: Byron Buxton (268), Zach Granite (255), Travis Harrison (243), Jorge Polanco (241), Niko Goodrum/Nick Gordon (240) Batting Average: Trey Vavra (.346), James Beresford (.324), Alex Swim (.317), Jorge Polanco (.314), Max Kepler (.298) On-Base Percentage: Trey Vavra (.406), James Beresford (.367), Travis Harrison (.366), Zach Granite (.364), Miguel Sano (.357) Isolated Discipline: Mitch Garver (.135), Tanner English (.117), Niko Goodrum (.109), Travis Harrison (.105), Miguel Sano (.102) Slugging Percentage: Adam Brett Walker (.567), Trey Vavra (.538), Miguel Sano (.495), Byron Buxton (.489), Danny Ortiz (.478), Max Kepler (.471) Isolated Power (IsoP): Adam Brett Walker (.309), Miguel Sano (.240), Byron Buxton (.206), Danny Ortiz (.202), Trey Vavra (.192) OPS: Trey Vavra (.944), Adam Brett Walker (.879), Miguel Sano (.852), Byron Buxton (.840), Max Kepler (.825),Danny Ortiz (.804) Hits: Alex Swim/Jorge Polanco (71), Byron Buxton (67), Zach Granite (65), James Beresford (59), Chad Christensen/Max Kepler (57) 2B: Max Kepler (19), Danny Ortiz (16), Adam Brett Walker/Travis Harrison (15), Reynaldo Rodriguez (13), Three with (12). 3B: Byron Buxton (12), Max Murphy (6), Tanner English (5), Aaron Hicks/TJ White/Max Kepler (4) HR: Adam Brett Walker (16), Miguel Sano (11), Danny Ortiz (7), Trey Vavra/Josmil Pinto/Byron Buxton (6) Runs: Byron Buxton (44), Adam Brett Walker/Miguel Sano (41), Zach Granite (39), Max Murphy/Nick Gordon (37), Travis Harrison (36) RBI: Adam Brett Walker (51), Byron Buxton (37), Miguel Sano (36), Danny Ortiz (34), Zack Larson (33), Trey Vavra/Michael Gonzales (28) SB: Byron Buxton (20), Tanner English (19), Zach Granite/Nick Gordon/Engelb Vielma (14), Jorge Polanco (12). STARTING PITCHERS (>49 IP) Innings: Taylor Rogers/JO Berrios (75.2), Tyler Duffey (75.0), Pat Dean (67.0), Greg Peavey (65.1) ERA: Stephen Gonsalves (1.49), Mat Batts (2.01), Chih-Wei Hu (2.10), Felix Jorge (2.57), Pat Dean (2.69), Ryan Eades (2.97) WHIP: Stephen Gonsalves (0.86), Felix Jorge (0.94), Chih-Wei Hu/Mat Batts (1.06), Pat Dean (1.16), JO Berrios (1.19) K/9: Stephen Gonsalves (11.8), JO Berrios (9.8), Tyler Duffey (8.8), Mat Batts (8.5), Chih-Wei Hu (8.2) BB/9: Felix Jorge (1.7), Greg Peavey (1.8), Aaron Slegers/Pat Dean//Tyler Duffey (1.9), Mat Batts (2.0) Strikeouts: JO Berrios (82), Stephen Gonsalves (79), Tyler Duffey (73), Alex Meyer (56), Todd Van Steensel (54) Wins: Stephen Gonsalves (7-1), JO Berrios (7-3), Jared Wilson (6-1), 4 with 5 Wins RELIEF PITCHERS (>19 IP, Games: AJ Achter (25), Alex Muren/Brandon Peterson/JT Chargois/Todd Van Steensel (21), Madison Boer (20). Innings: Todd Van Steensel/Alex Muren/Zach Tillery (36.1), Randy LeBlanc (36.0), Madison Boer (34.0), Mike Theofanopoulos (32.2), Trevor Hildenberger (32.1) ERA: Trevor Hildenberger (0.56), Brandon Peterson (0.85), Cameron Booser (1.40), Alex Muren (1.73), Randy LeBlanc (1.75), JT Chargois (1.83) WHIP: Trevor Hildenberger (0.62), AJ Achter (0.64), Brandon Peterson (0.92), Alex Muren (0.99), Zack Jones (1.00), Tim Shibuya (1.01) K/9: Cameron Booser (13.7), Todd Van Steensel (13.4), Brandon Peterson (12.5), Trevor Hildenberger (11.7), Lester Oliveros (11.3), Zack Jones (10.8) BB/9: Trevor Hildenberger (1.4), AJ Achter (1.7), Tim Shibuya (1.8), Lester Oliveros/Zack Jones/Alex Muren (2.7) Saves: AJ Achter (9), Zack Jones (8), Todd Van Steensel (7), Trevor Hildenberger/Michael Tonkin/JT Chargois (6) There you have it. The Twins Minor League Leader Board through Friday, June 12. What are your thoughts? What surprised you? View full article

I agree... no one thought it would be this big of a fall... I still hold out hope of him being solid again.

It was last night, so yeah, 13... and Reusse predicted June 15th or something like that, so that's next Monday. Could be interesting

The key is to not to compare him to Berrios. Berrios was pretty polished. Stewart has more to learn, maybe more upside, but a lower floor. It'll take longer.