Seth Stohs

On Saturday at noon (central time), Seth will be taking your Twins-related questions and answering them. He'll answer questions for at least an hour, but it will also depend on how many questions he gets. There are plenty of Twins topics to discuss, and Seth will try to answer as many questions as you have. Click here to set a reminder for the chat, to watch the chat live (and be able to ask questions), or to read the transcript later.

On Saturday at noon (central time), Seth will be taking your Twins-related questions and answering them. He'll answer questions for at least an hour, but it will also depend on how many questions he gets. There are plenty of Twins topics to discuss, and Seth will try to answer as many questions as you have. Click here to set a reminder for the chat, to watch the chat live (and be able to ask questions), or to read the transcript later.

On Saturday (May 5) at 12:00 p.m. central time, Seth will be taking your Twins-related questions here at Twins Daily. Feel free to ask anything about the Twins, their minor league system, etc., and I will try to answer all questions for an hour (or more if there are a lot of questions). Twins Daily Live Chat

On Saturday (May 5) at 12:00 p.m. central time, Seth will be taking your Twins-related questions here at Twins Daily. Feel free to ask anything about the Twins, their minor league system, etc., and I will try to answer all questions for an hour (or more if there are a lot of questions). Twins Daily Live Chat

The Twins return from a day off. However, they are still in the Pacific time zone, so that means some late games!! For those that didn’t stay up… shame on you (just kidding!), but you missed a good game. With Scott Ullger at the helm, Carl Pavano was caught by Drew Butera, and Pavano responded with six shutout innings. Mariners’ lefty Jason Vargas also held the Twins scoreless through six. The Twins got to the M’s bullpen for three runs in the top of the 7th, thanks to a couple of walks, an error and an infield single by Joe Mauer that gave the Twins the lead. Because the top of the 7th went over 30 minutes, Ullger went to his bullpen despite the fact that Pavano had thrown just 69 pitches. Brian Duensing was perfect in the 7th. Glen Perkins dominated the 8th, and Matt Capps looked better than ever with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth. The Twins played with a one-man bench on Friday night because of the 13 man pitching staff, Justin Morneau’s wrist, and Erik Komatsu not getting to Seattle until Saturday. The Twins got a big win and there was a lot of excitement in minor league affiliate’s games too. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday: ROCHESTER 3, EMPIRE STATE 0 The Red Wings won for back-to-back games for the first time in over two weeks, and yet the story of the game, for the organization, was again Scott Diamond. The left-hander went the first three innings. He gave up no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two. With GM Terry Ryan in attendance, speculation is quite heavy that Diamond will be promoted to the Twins and likely start next week. Esmerling Vasquez came in and threw three innings of one-hit baseball. He struck out three. Tyler Robertson started the seventh inning and got two outs. He walked one and was replaced by Casey Fien. Fien loaded the bases but was able to get Steve Pearce, who has come up with many big hits against the Red Wings already this season, to pop out to end the inning. Fien pitched the eighth inning as well. Anthony Slama recorded his sixth save. He gave up two hits and walked one but did maintain the shutout. Matt Rizzotti went 2-4 with his second and third doubles. The first broke an 0-12 streak. JR Towles hit his fourth double of the season in the game. That hit broke an 0-21 streak which went back to April 10. All four of his hits this season are doubles. Aaron Bates was 1-3 with a walk and his third double. Rene Tosoni added his second double. Five of the team’s nine hits were doubles, which is a season high for the team. NEW BRITAIN 3, PORTLAND 4 The Rock Cats came up just one run short. Logan Darnell started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits. In six innings, he walked one and struck out three. The bullpen was terrific. Lester Oliveros gave up no runs and no hits and walked none in two innings. He struck out five batters. Daniel Turpen continued his great work. He struck out two (And walked none) in a perfect inning. Deibinson Romero provided the much of the offense. He was 3-3 with a walk. Wilkin Ramirez was 2-4 with his first triple. FT. MYERS 1, LAKELAND 6 The Miracle fell behind early and weren’t able to come back. No surprise since the Miracle hitters were hitting a combined .197 over their previous 16 games, according to play-by-play man Brice Zimmerman. The team did manage eight hits in this game (.296 in the game). Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his fourth double. Josmil Pinto knocked his seventh double and drove in the team’s lone run. Jhon Garcia made the start and gave up five runs (3 earned) in just 3.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out just two. Miguel Munoz had another nice performance in his comeback from elbow problems. He went 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Matt Hauser threw two scoreless innings. Ricky Bowen pitched the final inning and gave up a run on a hit and two walks. GAME 1 - BELOIT 6, CEDAR RAPIDS 9 – Completion of suspended game These two teams sored managed to get into the third inning on Thursday night before rains came and the game was suspended. So they completed the game before the regularly scheduled game. Matthew Tomshaw had started on Thursday and went 2.2 innings before the rains came. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. When the game resumed on Friday, AJ Achter took the mound. In three innings, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on five hits. David Hurlbut made his Midwest League debut and gave up three runs on five hits in 1.1 innings. Bart Carter threw a scoreless inning. Miguel Sano went 2-4 with his seventh home run and three RBI. Adam Bryant and Jairo Rodriguez were each 2-4. AJ Pettersen (4th) and Tyler Grimes (6th) each hit a double. Meanwhile, Drew Leachman made his MWL debut and hit his first home run in the game. GAME 2 - BELOIT 5, CEDAR RAPIDS 3 Things got a little interesting in the regularly scheduled game. With the score tied in the top of the 9th, Miguel Sano hit a two-run homer to put the Snappers ahead. Although details are sketchy, benches cleared as Sano rounded the bases. Calm was restored and the Snappers pulled out the win. Steven Gruver has been struggling in his last couple of outings, but on this night, he was pretty good. The lefty gave up one run on five hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out four. Michael Tonkin gave up a solo home run, but of the four outs he got, three of them came on strikeouts. Clinton Dempter went the final 2.2 innings, striking out two, to be credited with the win. Sano again led the offense. He was 2-4 with his eighth home run and his seventh double. Eddie Rosario was 2-4 with his ninth and tenth doubles. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-4 with his sixth double. Tyler Grimes (7th) and JD Williams (4th) each had a double. Matt Koch was also 2-4. Sano Update - He is 9-16 in his last four games with 2 doubles, 2 HR and 9 RBI. He was hitting .262, and four games later, he's at .310. --- Players of the Day for Friday, May 4, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano [ATTACH=CONFIG]864[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Lester Oliveros [ATTACH=CONFIG]863[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, May 5, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Empire State (2) – RHP PJ Walters and TBD New Britain vs Portland – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers vs Lakeland – RHP Adrian Salcedo Beloit @ Kane County – RHP Tim Shibuya --- 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 had a much needed day off on Thursday after being shutout in back-to-back games at the hands of the Angels including being no-hit by Jered Weaver (Who they will get to face against at Target Field in his next start). Hopefully the players were all able to get a day away from baseball in Seattle! Weather affected a couple of the Twins affiliates, but here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday: ROCHESTER 4, EMPIRE STATE 3 The Red Wings got just enough offense, some great bullpen work and a much-needed win. The Red Wings offense had not scored more than three runs in their last seven games. Darin Mastroianni led the way. He went 3-5 with his fifth and sixth stolen bases. Ben Revere celebrated his 24th birthday by going 2-4 with a walk. Aaron Bates was 2-4. Brian Dozier was 0-2, but he walked three times. Luke French made his first start for Rochester. The 26-year-old gave up three runs on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out four. Jeff Manship came in and threw 3.1 hitless, scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out four. Anthony Slama came in and got the final two outs, both via the strikeout. Manship got the win, and Slama recorded his fifth save. He now has 20 strikeouts in 12 innings. The win ended an eight-game losing streak for the Red Wings. They had also lost four straight games to Empire State. NEW BRITAIN 4, HARRISBURG 5 The Rock Cats ended a road trip with a one-run loss. Steve Hirschfeld got the start and gave up four runs (3 earned) on nine hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three. Brett Jacobson gave up a run in his inning. Blake Martin walked one and struck out two in a scoreless inning. James Beresford went 2-3 with a walk. Chris Herrmann gave the Rock Cats a 2-0 lead two batters into the game with his third home run. Wilkin Ramirez is playing as if he would like to get an opportunity to be the Twins right fielder. He went 3-5 in this game. FT. MYERS 0, PALM BEACH 5 On Thursday afternoon, the Miracle concluded a series with Palm Beach. Madison Boer made his first Florida State League start. He gave up five runs (3 earned) on eight hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out one. Jose Gonzalez went 2.1 scoreless innings and gave up only a walk. The Miracle bats remained frozen. On this day, they had just three hits. Lance Ray was 1-2 with two walks. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-3 with a walk. BELOIT – Game at Cedar Rapids suspended. Rain caused a rain delay in the 3rd inning of this game, and later the game was suspended with the Snappers leading 2-1. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, May 3, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Jeff Manship [ATTACH=CONFIG]856[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Darin Mastroianni [ATTACH=CONFIG]857[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Friday, May 4, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Empire State – LHP Scott Diamond (vs Ramon Ortiz) New Britain vs Portland – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs Lakeland – RHP Jhon Garcia Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – LHP Steven Gruver --- 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!

Earlier this week, I handed out the “awards” for Twins minor league relief pitcher and starting pitcher of April. In each case, I was able to profile six pitchers and there were good numbers. Today, I am going to profile five Twins minor league hitters who had solid Aprils. Unlike with the pitchers, it was really tough to come up with hitters. If I’m being honest, it was a two-player race for the April Hitter of the Month. And, today, when the Twins have an off day after being shut out two straight games (and no-hit late last night by Jered Weaver), I wish I could tell you that there were several players at AAA Rochester who are hitting so well that they are pushing their way up to the big leagues. There aren’t. Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in April: Number 5 - Ft. Myers - Danny Santana - (29-95) .305/.327/.453 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 11 RBI. The diminutive middle infielder got off to a very fast start before a mini-slump. However he did end the month strong again to garner a spot on this list. Although his game is speed, he is not afraid to take a big swing and will get a lot of extra base hits. To advance through the minors and eventually get to the big leagues, he will have to learn to take an occasional walk, but he does have really good tools. Number 4 – New Britain – Deibinson Romero - (25-89) .281/.337/.494 with eight doubles, a triple, 3 home runs and 17 RBI. Although he’ll play at 25 years old throughout this season, this is already his ninth season in the Twins organization. He was on the Twins 40 man roster, but quickly fell out of favor. However, last year he had a semi-revival season in New Britain in 2011 (.256/.327/.411, with 27 doubles and 11 home runs), and he has continued that success into the first month of the 2012 season. Number 3 - New Britain – Aaron Hicks - (24-88) .273/.347/.477 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 14 RBI. I truly thought that Hicks would really struggle in the early going at AA New Britain. To this point, he has certainly held his own. He has shown patience. He has shown power. He has struck out a lot and been a little inconsistent, but overall, a very impressive start for the ultra-talented outfielder prospect. Consistency will be the thing to watch with Hicks throughout the year. Can he limit the longevity of the slumps better? That will be important. Number 2 - Beloit – Eddie Rosario - (29-89) .326/.429/.472 with eight doubles, a triple, one home run and 16 RBI. Rosario was the Appy League Player of the Year in 2011. He has already had some ups and downs in his first month of a full-season league, but overall, the numbers are definitely there. Some may expect more home runs from Rosario after leading the league last year with 21, but that’s not the type of hitter he is. He has very quick hands and will hit for average, gap power and certainly can hit his share of homers. He has a good approach at the plate as well. He stole 7 bases in the season’s first month. His transition to 2B has been shaky at times (7 errors in April), but reports indicate that he may be able to handle the position given time. The April Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Beloit Snappers 3B Miguel Sano (24-87) .276/.422/.586 with five doubles, two triples, six home runs and 19 RBI. Sure, the batting average isn’t the highest, and he leads the Midwest League in strikeouts. He has a ton to learn about defense, plate approach and has a lot of maturing to do. But at the end of the day, Sano was the clear-cut top hitter of the month in the Twins organization. Along with the strikeouts, he is the league leader in walks which means he has a tremendous OBP. And 13 extra base hits in 87 at bats is pretty impressive. Sano is a powerful individual and when he makes contact, he does very good things. It will be a lot of fun to track his development. There were several strong performances in April, even if there weren’t many strong hitters. Earlier in the week, we named the Twins Relief Pitcher and Starting Pitcher of the month of April. Please feel free to discuss. [ATTACH=CONFIG]848[/ATTACH]

The Twins were hoping to salvage game three of their series in Anaheim against the LA Angels. Instead, the Twins got another poor start and the bats were shut down. In fact, the bats managed to do nothing. Jered Weaver, one of baseball's best starting pitchers, threw a no-hitter against the Twins. The Angels won the game 9-0, but Weaver kept Twins fans interested in the game with his efforts. In fact, he kept the national television audience on their toes. In the eighth inning, Trevor Plouffe hit a home run ball that landed just foul. In the ninth, Jamey Carroll hit a deep fly ball to left. Denard Span was called out on strikes. Alexi Casilla drove the first pitch he saw from Weaver to deep right field, but Torii Hunter tracked it down, ending Weaver's first career no-hitter. It was the ninth no-hitter in Angels history. Nolan Ryan had four of them for the team. Teammate Ervin Santana threw one just last year. It was the fifth time that the Twins have been no hit. It was the first time since 1998 when David Wells of the Yankees threw a perfect game against the Pat Meares-led Twins. Seeing the Twins bats struggle is frustrating. Being no-hit, coming off of the complete game shutout by Jerome Williams is a lot to take in. Hey, we're all Twins fans, but getting the chance to watch baseball history is pretty cool. [ATTACH=CONFIG]846[/ATTACH]

The next time someone says that the Twins (or whichever team) is wasting roster spots by signing minor league free agents and hoping, remind them of Jerome Williams’ performance against the Twins on Tuesday night in LA. Formerly one of baseball’s top prospects (12-13 years ago), Williams has been signed as a minor league free agent several times. He should be proud of his three-hit shutout against the Twins. He had Twins hitters baffled all night (insert joke about how difficult that really is to do, if you choose). Francisco Liriano gave up four runs in 5.1 innings. Torii Hunter again had his number. The Twins lost 4-0, but it was all about Jerome Williams on this night. Since there is pretty much zero to be positive about with the Twins game, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Tuesday: ROCHESTER 2, EMPIRE STATE 5 The Red Wings were back on the road at home as they played three games in Rochester as the “Visitor” on the scoreboard against the Empire State Yankees (formerly Scranton/Wilkes Barre). Daryl Thompson was on the mound for the Red Wings and his line was actually better than it looked. And it looked pretty good. Through six scoreless innings, he gave up just one hit. He started the seventh by giving up two hits and was charged with a run. Casey Fien replaced him and gave up a run in 1.1 innings. Tyler Robertson came in and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. Ben Revere led the offense with a 3-5 day. He doubled for the first time on his AAA season. Brian Dozier was 2-4 with a walk. Rene Rivera was 2-4 with a double and a stolen base. Rene Tosoni returned to the lineup. He batted third and played in left field. NEW BRITAIN 6, HARRISBURG 1 (12 Innings) There were a couple of good stories in this game. First, BJ Hermsen made his AA debut. He gave up a single run in the bottom of the 1st inning, but that was it. The right-hander gave up just one run on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out five. Blake Martin and Brett Jacobson each pitched a scoreless inning. Second, Caleb Thielbar came in and pitched two scoreless innings, the 10th and the 11th frames. He traveled to New Britain on Monday morning and was fortunate to record the final out of the Rock Cats win that night. He recorded the save on Monday night and thanks to the Rock Cats 12th inning rally, he recorded a win in his second outing. Third, Daniel Turpen pitched a scoreless 12th inning. He walked none and struck out two. Turpen has put together a strong early season as well. Last year, in over 50 innings, he walked 35 and struck out just 33. In 15 innings with the Rock Cats thus far this year, he has 16 strikeouts to go with zero walks. Fourth, despite little offense through most of the game, the Rock Cats exploded for five runs in the top of the 12th. Danny Lehmann knocked in what proved to be the game winning run. Later, Wilkin Ramirez doubled in two more runs. Pedro Florimon was the only hitter with more than a hit. He as 2-6 (And is hitting .290) and stole his sixth base. FT. MYERS 3, PALM BEACH 9 This game was actually much closer than it appears. Marty Popham started and gave up three runs on nine hits and two walks in 6.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra came in and got out of the 7th, but he gave up six runs (just two earned) on four hits and two walks. Oswaldo Arcia went 3-4 with his third triple. Jairo Perez went 2-3 with a walk and his third home run. Michael Gonzales was 2-4. BELOIT – No Game Scheduled The Snappers enjoyed a day off on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, they’ll make the drive over to Cedar Rapids, IA, for a three-game series. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia [ATTACH=CONFIG]833[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – BJ Hermsen [ATTACH=CONFIG]832[/ATTACH] (Photo by Thrylos) --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, May 2, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Empire State – RHP Cole DeVries New Britain @ Harrisburg – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach – LHP Pat Dean Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – RHP Matt Summers --- 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!

someone would have to do some research and show me that winning in the minor leagues leads to winning in the big leagues. Don't get me wrong, the purpose of every game is for the Twins to win. During the game, the pitchers and hitters should be doing everything they can to try to win. That said, if a manager is instructed to play the team's top prospect, even if he isn't currently as good as another player today... I want them playing the struggling prospect.

I know many people care about the win-loss records in the minor leagues, but for me, it doesn't matter at all. The minor leagues are 100% about player development and what is best for the individuals, to make them the best big leaguer. I do think that being part of a team and learning what types of things can help a team win are part of that development.

Last night, I posted my choice for the Twins minor league relief pitcher of the month, Deolis Guerra. I also mentioned five other bullpen guys that deserved recognition for their strong starts. This morning, I’ll post my choice for the Twins minor league start pitcher for April. There were some pretty good options, but in the end, the choice was pretty easy. As always, I welcome feedback in the Comments if you have any thoughts, questions, or want to ‘vote’ for your choice. From a starting pitcher, I will mention Win-Loss record although it doesn’t really factor into the rankings. I do look a little bit more at ERA with starters than relievers, and WHIP is always important. Limiting base runners is a good way to limit runs allowed. For prospect status, strikeouts are important, but for this, I think that it’s important to look at walks and strikeouts in combination, and do so relative to innings pitched. And please remember, we are talking about a very small sample size of four to five starts. One of these pitchers mentioned below was the obvious choice as top starting pitcher for April until he struggled in his fifth start of the month. (So, how would you weigh one bad start with four terrific ones?) It can be a little subjective, but let's take a look at the top starting pitchers for the season’s first month. Number 6 – Beloit – Tim Shibuya - 5 GS, 1-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 24.0 IP, 30 H, 4 BB, 22 K Last year’s Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year had a solid first month in full-season ball. He started off a little slow, giving up some hits, but he stayed true to form and ended up with some solid numbers. He is the definition of a Twins pitcher, throwing strikes and yet, as you can see, he struck out nearly a batter per inning. He has a strong four-pitch mix that should succeed in the Midwest League. Number 5 - Rochester – Cole DeVries - 4 GS, 0-1, 2.91 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 21.2 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 23 K Last April, DeVries was the easy selection as Twins minor league relief pitcher of April. After bouncing between the bullpen and rotation in 2011, he started in the AFL and enters 2012 as a starter as well. He had a terrific initial month to his season. He has terrific control and has found a way to get more and more strikeouts. He has good stuff, and he has been around for a while. He has also gained a little velocity on his fastball. Number 4 - Beloit – Jason Wheeler - 5 GS, 3-0, 2.33 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 19 K Last August, Jason Wheeler waited until the last day to sign with the Twins after they made him their 8th round draft pick out of Loyola Marymount. His first pro experience came in the Florida Instructional League, and this spring he made his official professional debut with the Snappers. The tall, burly south paw made a good impression. Two years ago, he was the pitcher of the year in the Northwoods League. Number 3 – Rochester – Scott Diamond - 5 GS, 4-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 31.2 IP, 32 H, 5 BB, 24 K Before his most recent start of the month (in which he gave up seven earned runs in six innings, he was the easy choice for the top minor league pitcher of the month. However, we can’t completely ignore that last start. It happened and affected his month’s numbers, but nowhere near far enough to keep him out of the top three. The lefty clearly made some adjustments from last year when he really struggled at AAA and with the Twins. The biggest thing might be a better defense behind him because he will need to rely on defense. Number 2 – New Britain – Luke French - 5 GS, 2-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 30 IP, 17 H, 12 BB, 18 K The Twins signed the left-handed former big leaguer shortly before the start of spring training. He went to minor league camp and despite a big league past, he started his season at AA New Britain. As should be expected, he had little problem with the level. Six of his walks came in one of his outings and he was able to wiggle out of trouble a couple of times. He was promoted to AAA Rochester and is expected to start on Wednesday in place of Sam Deduno. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Ft. Myers – BJ Hermsen - 4 GS, 1-0, 0.78 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 23 IP, 16 H, 5 BB, 12 K Hermsen had a terrific 2011 season for the Twins organization. He spent most of the year in Beloit where he went 11-7 with a 3.10 ERA. He was promoted to Ft. Myers and made five starts. He made four starts in April for the Miracle before being promoted to AA New Britain where he is expected to make his first start for the Rock Cats tonight. Hermsen is not a pitcher who misses bats, so he relies on a strong mix of pitches. Despite a 6-6 frame, he doesn’t overpower hitters, and yet, when you look at the numbers, he gets results. Double-A may be a challenge for him, but he has earned this opportunity. A 6th round pick in the 2008 draft, the Twins will have to decide after the season whether to put him on the 40 man roster or not. We will see what happens going forward, but for April 2012, he was the Twins top minor league starting pitcher. [ATTACH=CONFIG]823[/ATTACH] (photo courtesy Jim Crikket, Knuckleballs) What do you think? I listed six pitchers here that got off to a nice start this season. There were not a lot of other choices. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Be sure to check back later in the day for the April Starting Pitcher and Hitter of April. Also, tonight at 9:00 central time, you can listen to the SethSpeaks Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast while watching the start of the Twins/Angels game.