Seth Stohs

He's the one hitter in Rochester that is probably pretty close to coming back up. Likely when they go back to 12 pitchers.

"Finding out what they will do" is just a small part of it. Lee and Hurlbut have earned their promotions over plenty of time. Injury is what slowed them down, slowed them from likely starting in Chattanooga. I'd almost consider their time in Ft. Myers as glorified rehab assignments (especially Hulbuts'). That said, the Twins will also be making quite a few draft picks in less than a week. Those players will need to get to the GCL or ET, which may push more guys to CR, which may push more guys to FM... They have to push some guys. That's the reality of it.

They are handling Hu very strange. They're promoting him as quickly as anyone I've seen in my decade of "covering" (or just paying pretty close attention?) the Twins minor leagues. He made THREE appearances in Elizabethton in 2014. He made NINE starts for Cedar Rapids in 2014. He has made SEVEN starts in Ft. Myers in 2015. He was trusted to make the sport start in Rochester. I'd say they're pushing him along quite quickly.

Which lineup is better? Dozier 2B Hunter RF Mauer 1B Plouffe 3B Suzuki C Rosario LF Escobar DH Hicks CF Santana SS and Dozier DH Hunter RF Mauer 1B Plouffe 3B Suzuki C Rosario LF Escobar 2B Hicks CF Santana SS Yes, I think you'd lose some defensively, but if the decision was made that Dozier needed a day off, but you still want his bat in the lineup, it's worth it to keep him strong all year. it's weird arguing this stuff. I'd have Vargas up and DHing 4-5 times a week, if it was me.

I'm just saying that Dozier can get an occasional DH day and not be in the field. Escobar can play 2B with Dozier DHing and the lineup is the same. Also, guys get days off, and it's important for bench players to get at bats in case they are needed at various times in the season.

Lee was an All Star last year in the Florida State League and then got hurt in the 2nd half and started this season late. He's pitched into the 8th inning in three of his last four starts. His most recent start, he didn't go eight, in part, because it was a 7-inning game. He's pitching well. He's a fringe prospect, sure, but they need to find out how he'll do in AA. Same thing exactly (down to the injuries and timeline) with David Hurlbut. Proceeding wisely with a guy like Hu is pretty important. There'll be room. He'll get there.

Exactly, so not a big deal. Just saying that anyone can DH. Can always mix it up.

I would assume that Nolasco, with as much big league time as he has, would be out of options. If not, he has the right (due to service time) to refuse a minor league demotion, I believe. Jeremy might be more well-versed in this. Nolasco was actually pretty decent in May. He obviously got run support and you'd love to see more, but he wasn't terrible at all.

Tim Belcher didn't sign with the Twins in 1982. He went to school and was drafted a year or three later. He went on to a solid, though not spectacular career. I think #4 is the right ranking here for Mauer. Hard to argue with three Hall of Famers in front of him, but there's no way to put anyone ahead of him.

I have to say that I disagree with part of what Jeremy asserted in his report. I don't think it's time to call up Alex Meyer, especially after reading about his inefficiency. Now, that said, if he has another month in the bullpen under his belt and he's dominating, absolutely, bring him up. Right now, the only Red Wings player whose performance is screaming promotion is AJ Achter.

Yes. That's why he didn't debut until this past weekend.

Starting pitching has been much improved so far this season for the Twins. Few would argue that getting quality starts is the most important thing for a team that wants to win. After reviewing the top minor league hitters and relief pitchers in recent days, today we review the top starting pitcher performances in the month of May. In this list there are a few of the Twins top starting pitcher prospects and names that we saw in April. Sustaining success at a level shows a lot, and often leads to promotions around this time of the season. We saw that with some of the starters mentioned below. Image courtesy of Bare Antolos Starting pitching has been much improved so far this season for the Twins. Few would argue that getting quality starts is the most important thing for a team that wants to win. After reviewing the top minor league hitters and relief pitchers in recent days, today we review the top starting pitcher performances in the month of May. In this list there are a few of the Twins top starting pitcher prospects and names that we saw in April. Sustaining success at a level shows a lot, and often leads to promotions around this time of the season. We saw that with some of the starters mentioned below. With that, let's get to know these starting pitchers. Below are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for May. We begin, however, with a few players deserving of mention. Rochester LHP Pat Dean – 6 GS, 3-3, 3.07 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 41.0 IP, 45 H, 7 BB, 11 K Chattanooga/Rochester – RHP Tyler Duffey – 6 GS, 2-2, 2.56 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 38.2 IP, 37 H, 9 BB, 37 K Ft. Myers LHP Brett Lee – 5 GS, 1-2, 2.70 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 33.1 IP, 29 H, 12 BB, 16 K Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers LHP Mat Batts – 4 GS, 1-1, 1.96 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 21 H, 7 BB, 23 K TOP 5 STARTING PITCHERS IN MAY Number 5 – Cedar Rapids – RHP Felix Jorge - 5 GS, 2-1, 2.97 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 30.1 IP, 25 H, 4 BB, 20 K 21-year-old Jorge really struggled in his early-season showing with the Kernels last year but went on to be the Appy League Pitcher of the Year. He came back to Cedar Rapids this year and has been very good. Overall, the lanky right-hander is 3-2 with a 2.42 ERA. In 48.1 innings over eight starts, he has a 0.93 WHIP due to just 36 hits and nine walks. He has very good mechanics and sits in the low-90s. He has a good feel for pitching.Number 4 – Chattanooga – RHP JO Berrios - 6 GS, 4-1, 2.61 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 41.1 IP, 33 H, 9 BB, 42 K May is a big month for JO Berrios. On the 27th, he turned 21 years old. On the 15th, his daughter turned one. I believe even his wife’s birthday is on the 13th, and on that day, he threw a nine-inning, complete game, two-hit shutout at Birmingham. He was able to go at least six innings in all but one of this six starts. Through the end of May, Berrios had gone 6-2 with a 2.84 ERA. Opponents had hit just .242/.305/.360 off of him in May. He continues to pitch in the low-to-mid 90s with really good secondary pitches and control. Berrios has solidified himself as the Twins top pitching prospect. Could a move to Rochester be imminent?Number 3 – Ft. Myers/Rochester – RHP Chih-Wei Hu - 4 GS, 2-0, 0.78 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 16 H, 7 BB, 18 K Hu had a very interesting month. The right-hander from Taiwan made two starts at Ft. Myers before it was announced that he was going to make a spot start for the AAA Rochester Red Wings. Hu pitched better than anyone could have hoped or expected. He gave up just one run on two hits in six innings. He walked four, but he also struck out six. He quickly returned to Ft. Myers where he didn’t make his next start for 11 days. He didn’t miss a beat. He gave up two runs (one earned) in that start. The stocky right-hander tops out about 95 mph though he sits 91-93. He’s got a palm ball, a couple of breaking pitches and everything he throws gets a lot of movement.Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – LHP Stephen Gonsalves - 5 GS, 3-1, 1.61 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 16 H, 9 BB, 36 K Gonsalves was our choice for Starting Pitcher of the Month for April. Overall, he is now 6-1 with a 1.15 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP in nine starts this year for Cedar Rapids. He has dominated the Midwest League all year. In fact, his only loss came on May 1. In that start, he gave up two runs over seven innings. However, that was the game that the Kernels were no-hit by Clinton. Batters hit .165/.257/.206 (.463) in the month of May. Gonsalves has an advanced baseball and pitching knowledge. He is tall, strong and has the pitches and good control to be very successful as he continues to advance and grow. He won’t turn 21 for another month, so he’s got a lot of room yet for growth. Following his June 1 start, he announced that he has been promoted to Ft. Myers to continue his season.And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester Red Wings – LHP Tommy Milone - 5 GS, 4-0, 0.70 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 38.2 IP, 25 H, 3 BB, 47 K At the end of April, when Ricky Nolasco came off of the disabled list, the Twins needed to open up a spot in the starting rotation. The decision was made to have Tommy Milone continue to start, so he was sent back to Rochester because he had an option remaining. Understandably, he was disappointed, but he said all the right things. He also performed on the field as you would hope. OK, that’s not true. There’s no way that there could be any hope that he would be as incredible as he has been with the Red Wings. In his first start, he threw 6.1 shutout innings. He just got better from there. In start number two, he threw eight shutout innings. Then he threw his first professional complete game shutout. In his next start, he went another 8.1 innings without giving up a run before giving up a solo home run with an out in the ninth. To summarize, he went 37.2 innings without giving up a run in AAA. In those 31.2 scoreless innings, he gave up just 20 hits, walked two and struck out 41. He made one more start in May and pitched “just” a regular quality start. He gave up two runs in seven innings. Milone was promoted to the Twins and will make the start in Boston this afternoon (Thursday). Before the game, Ricky Nolasco will throw a bullpen and the team will determine whether or not he will go on the disabled list. If they decide that Nolasco is all right, he will start on Saturday. That means that this could be a spot start for Milone with the Twins and he could be returned to the Red Wings after the game. If Nolasco does go on the DL, Milone will have at least a couple more opportunities to stake his claim on a rotation spot with the Twins. The 28 year old is a big league pitcher. He’s not a AAA pitcher and he’s not a AAAA pitcher. He should be in a starting rotation. It’s strange for the Twins and their fans to have pitchers throwing so well that a legit big league starter is sitting in AAA waiting for an opportunity. However, because he was in the minor leagues for the full month, his incredible numbers simply can’t be ignored. What a tremendous month for the left-hander.Please feel free to post your comments on Milone, Gonsalves, Hu, Berrios, Jorge and the rest of the Twins minor league starting pitchers who pitched well in May. Let us know what you think. View full article

Because not getting out is better than getting out.

I would assume so, unless there's an injury.

Hunter, Mauer, Dozier, Plouffe... whoever. It's just one spot out of nine in the lineup. I would like them to mix it around. Give guys games off. It's clear that Molitor is not a fan of players who have almost no defensive value such as Vargas and Arcia and Pinto, none of which are showing nearly enough pop in their bats to be a regular DH. All three could become that, but they aren't right now. Edit/Addition - I think Vargas has been doing pretty well at that since he was demoted. I think that was the goal of sending him down. He wasn't providing any power. He might be close.

I like that too... though on June 1, I think he struck out three times in the game, but those happen too. I like the idea of a guy not wanting to strike out!

Pretty sure no one is forgetting Adam Brett Walker.

Reports out of Boston this morning say that LHP Tommy Milone will start for the Twins on Thursday. Ricky Nolasco will throw a bullpen before the game. He may go on the DL... or he may start on Saturday (with Kyle Gibson now starting on Friday). Clear as mud?

Fair enough... We also want Zaino Henriquez to do well because after signing he did a nice interview with Jeremy Nygaard for Twins Daily and then was willing to answer our questions in the comments.

I'd like to see this thread (http://twinsdaily.com/topic/18440-dominican-summer-league/) developed so that we can kind of all find out together. We don't generally update the DSL games in our daily minor league reports as explained in the article above, but there's no harm in getting to know the names. If anyone wants to take responsibility for providing game notes each day, and maybe another person can do a little bit of research on a player a day or something and include it in there, it'd be great. The big one from last year is Huacar Ynoa. I know that Lewin Diaz and Roni Tapia are in Ft. Myers prepping for the GCL.

Prospect status in the DSL is based pretty much solely on signing bonus. they're all just so young.

I haven't heard anything since listening to that game on Saturday night. Definitely sounded like an elbow or shoulder issue. Hopefully it's not too bad, but it sounded bad. Turner walked out there and immediately called to the bench. I'll see what I can find out.

I know... Swim is just singles, so as good he is as a hitter, he doesn't take a ton of walks or hit for any power. I almost went to 7 prospects just to include Polanco. He was very good. I went to 6 profiles because I think Harrison's reclaimed some prospect status this year with a really strong two months. No one talks about him at all. Polanco would normally be on the list, and despite the low average, Walker had 7 homers in the month and a great SLG. And, I didn't include Stuart Turner. He didn't have as many at bats since he's a catcher and hits 7-9 in the Lookouts order, but despite a low batting average, he had good OBP and SLG in the month. That Lookouts lineup is stacked and they'd be even better with Hicks and Michael in it.

I struggled with how to order Buxton and Sano. You're probably right, overall hitting Sano was better. I just considered that Buxton is a leadoff hitter and had the kind of impact he did. That was pretty impressive. But, they're really 3a and 3b in my opinion. As for Kepler's position. He can play all three outfield spots well. He's not a burner, so he won't be a big league CF. He's a pretty solid 1B too. I asked him what he thought his best position was, and he said he thinks either corner outfield spot.