Seth Stohs

Jeff Johnson from The Gazette in Cedar Rapids posted a Q&A with Twins minor league coordinator Brad Steil. They talk about the difficulties that the team has had this year but also about some of the guys who have stepped up. Jeff asked him about the pitch counts of Lewis Thorpe and Kohl Stewart throughout this year. He also talked about the extension of the PDC between the Twins and Cedar Rapids. Check it out here: http://www.thegazette.com/a-chat-with-twins-farm-director-brad-steil-20140809

It was a tough night for the Twins top two pitching prospects. Trevor May’s much-anticipated major eague debut didn’t go as well as planned, and in Rochester, Alex Meyer didn’t fare much better. On a more positive note, JO Berrios will return to the mound on Sunday afternoon for the New Britain Rock Cats. Also, Taylor Rogers returned tonight for the Rock Cats after missing nearly three months. Another of the Twins top pitching prospects put together his best start of the season. Check out all of that and much more in tonight’s Minor League Report:RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Indianapolis 14 Box Score Trevor May was on the mound for the Twins, and Alex Meyer was on the mound for the Red Wings. At the end of the day, neither had the type of performance he would have wanted. Meyer needed 64 pitches to get through just two innings. He was charged with four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four. A 40-pitch second inning meant that he would not get a third inning. AJ Achter came on and threw two scoreless innings. However, in the fifth, he recorded just one out and was charged with two runs after two walks. Deolis Guerra got the final two outs of the fifth but not before both of Achter’s runners and four more runs scored. He pitched one more inning. Then Aaron Thompson gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in his inning. Catcher/Outfielder Dan Rohlfing pitched for the second time in a week, and for the second time, he did not allow a run. Pedro Florimon went 3-4 with his 11th double. Josmil Pinto hit his 11th and 12th doubles. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-4 with his 22nd double. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 8, Erie 3 Box Score Taylor Rogers had been on the disabled list for since July 19 with a biceps injury. He returned to the mound on Saturday night and worked four scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out one. Dan Turpen came in for the fifth inning and gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. Edgar Ibarra came on and gave up only one hit over two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke finished the game with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Tony Thomas went 3-5 and hit his eighth home run of the year. Mike Kvasnicka went 3-4 with his 21st and 22nd doubles. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 16th home run. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 0 Box Score The Miracle had been really struggling of late, so they have got to be happy with the pitching the last two nights. On Friday night, lefty Brett Lee threw a complete game shutout for the Miracle. On Saturday, another lefty got the ball. Steven Gruver gave up just one hit and two walks in five scoreless innings. He struck out three. Then BJ Hermsen and Brandon Peterson each threw two scoreless innings and struck out two batters. Adam Walker hit a two-run homer in the game and now has 24 home runs and 85 RBI on the season. Aderlin Mejia went 3-4 with his 11th double. Travis Harrison hit his 29th and 30th doubles. Byron Buxton went 2-4. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2 Box Score Lewis Thorpe posted his best start of the season. The Australian left-hander gave up only an unearned run over six innings. He allowed three hits, walked two and struck out seven. Dallas Gallant gave up one run on one hit over two innings. He walked one and struck out three. Nick Burdi came on and recorded his fourth save of the season. He gave up a hit and struck out one. Joe Mauer went 2-4, though his manager and brother, Jake, didn’t see either of the hits as he was ejected before Mauer got his first hit. Logan Wade was also 2-4 and hit a solo homer, his first of the year. Alex Swim was also 2-4. Max Murphy had the biggest hit though. He hit a two-run homer, his second since joining the Kernels, in the 5th inning. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Danville 11 Box Score Sam Gibbons made the start for the E-Twins and gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out five. Keaton Steele came on and gave up one run on three hits over two innings. Randy LeBlanc got an inning and was charged with five runs, though just one was earned, on three hits. Kuo Hua Lo gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Trey Vavra hit his 10th and 11th doubles. Austin Diemer was 2-4 and stole his seventh base. Blake Schmidt hit his first professional double, and Nick Gordon doubled for the fifth time. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Red Sox Box Score This game was suspended due to rain after three innings. The score was already 10-3 at that point, not in the Twins favor. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Steve Gruver, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tony Thomas, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (12:35 CST) – Kris Johnson New Britain @ Erie (12:35 CST) – JO Berrios Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (12:05 CST) – Aaron Slegers Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – Ricky Nolasco Danville @ Elizabethton (5:0 CST) – TBD GCL Twins – No Games Scheduled on Sundays Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

I wrote this article a while back, but hadn’t edited it until now. I hope you enjoy the update and a glimpse into the wonderful world of Minnesota Town Ball Baseball. When I was younger, we loved the rain. A storm would come in and my brothers and I would run outside while my dad grabbed the wiffleball and bat. Something about the water pouring down made it a little bit more exciting.Now I sit in the Minnetonka High School parking lot, waiting to play. Rain drops fall on the windshield as I check the radar, but today feels different than the last time rain threatened a game of mine. And it's different than the one before that. Rain is a minor leaguer’s best friend, it offers hope of an extra day off, but I don’t want tonight off. I'm slated to start at shortstop for the Hopkins Berries, a town ball team in the Riverview League. Tonight we face the Minnetonka Millers, the perennial best team in the state. I feel different than I usually feel. I want to play tonight. I don’t care if it’s in the rain, I want to play. This is the exact feeling I was searching for when I signed up to play with a couple of friends. Welcome back, baseball. You have my attention. Town ball has been an integral part of Minnesota for a long time. Teams in cities large and small form to play in front of hometown crowds on cool summer nights. On any given evening you can find a game in places like Dundas, New Ulm and Saint Louis Park. Young kids and, often, grown men, face up against each other for the love of the game. No one is being paid, there is no hope of reaching a higher level, no call-ups or demotions, just pure, unadulterated baseball. Just what I was looking for. My team meets about 45 minutes before games. We chat about the week, take a few swings in the cage, do a little stretching, play catch and take the field. No pressure, just baseball. Sometime during my career, I lost love for playing in the rain, literally and figuratively. I sought to escape the difficult parts of the season. I hoped for washed out games to help me physically escape from the park. Instead of being in a tough time, instead of standing in it and being OK, I sought to run away. Now I want to stand in the rain, I want to get back to being a part of the game I love, every part of it. The game starts a little late and I step into the batter’s box in the first inning. The same box I stepped into for the first time seven years earlier as a high school senior. My soul finds its home in this space. A slight drizzle continues to fall and I am taken back to my childhood. I look toward the mound and feel no pressure, no worry about the future or the past, only focused on this moment. All I need to do is be. To be right here where I am, doing what I love. The pitcher winds and delivers the pitch and I am home again. Twins (finally) beat the A's on Sunday so on Monday you can get 50% off a large or extra-large pizza by using the promo code 'twinswin' at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

I want to say this about the minor league report each day. As John mentioned earlier, we have gone back and forth about doing Twins Game Stories, but we have decided a few things: 1.) most of you are watching all or more of the game, 2.) others write game stories with quotes and such, and 3.) if we're going to do it, we want to provide something different. As it relates to the minor league reports, I've always been under the assumption that 99% of readers were not able to watch the games. I've always believed whole-heartedly that the minor leaguers deserve recognition. So, my goal, going back to SethSpeaks.net with the minor league reports, was to give that recognition. Who pitched? Who had multi-hit games? Who had home runs? That said, I do hear your comment, and we can certainly try to add more. Again, we always recommend those who have seen a particular game to leave Comments in the forum with their thoughts. Finally, we would love to have "beat writers" for each of the Twins affiliates. SD Buhr does a tremendous job and has been writing at least an article a week throughout the year to let us know more about players/coaches, etc. If anyone else is interested in doing this at any of the affiliates, please let us know. We can certainly work with their front offices to get you access in exchange for an article or two a week, getting to know (and recognize) those players. Thank you all, and continue to leave your feedback and ideas.

I really liked the Alex Meyer one last week. I really think that the "Blogs" area is a great place for that. When readers do get to Cedar Rapids or one of the other affiliates, I'd encourage posting a blog about it, posting your thoughts and observations.

I'd agree with this.

Twins Daily has learned that Saturday will be Trevor May day. The righthander will be promoted to the Twins and make the start for the team in Oakland on Saturday afternoon opposite Jeff Samardzija. The other half of the transaction will likely be announced following Friday night’s game. The 6-5, 240 pound prospect is 8-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 17 starts this season for the Rochester Red Wings. In 95.1 innings, he has allowed just 75 hits, walked 37 and struck out 91 batters.May came to the Twins from the Phillies organization in December of 2012 with Vance Worley in exchange for outfielder Ben Revere. He was Philadelphia’s fourth-round draft pick in 2008 out of Kelso High School in Washington. The Twins sent him back to AA for the 2013 season where he reduced his walk rate from 4.7 per nine innings to 4.0 per nine innings. This year in Rochester, that number has dropped to 3.5 walks per nine innings. May was on track for a big league promotion in mid-May. He also had been named as a Twins representative in the Futures Game. On June 16, he gave up just one run on three hits and struck out 11 batters in 8.1 innings against Pawtucket. On June 21, he gave up three runs on five hits in five innings and injured his calf. The injury was deemed to be not serious, but he was forced to miss the Futures Game (and replaced by teammate Alex Meyer). His return to the mound was supposed to come on the Sunday of the Futures Game, but Rochester was rained out, so he could not pitch until July 19th. He went three innings. He went three (no-hit) innings in his next start as well, but the game was suspended because of rain. On July 30, he needed just 77 pitches to get through 6.2 scoreless innings. At that point, the comments coming from the Twins were that he needed to make another start to get to 95-100 pitches. On Monday night in Louisville, May threw 99 pitches over six innings. He gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks. Despite the results, the Twins will have him make his major league debut on Saturday against the league’s top offensive team, the Oakland A’s. Before this season, May was #10 in the Twins Daily Top Ten Twins Prospect rankings. Click here to view the article

My Top 4: 1.) Dave Martinez, 2.) Jake Mauer, 3.) Doug Mientkiewicz, 4.) Gene Glynn And, I don't know enough about outside candidates, but I really liked Dave Martinez going back to his playing days.

Tha'ts just how "comps" work. You don't hear a lot of players getting comp'd to like Scott Leius or Cleatus Davidson. The comparisons to Ortiz are real. Doesn't mean the results will be exactly the same. 99% chance they won't be. But the comp is legit.

As a terrible writer, I would say, "I don't know."

Good list... I hope lots of people will share their lists here in the Blogs for people to discuss.

Yeah, it was great to see Hicks do well, and as others have said, will be good to see him do well in Rochester. I think it's wise they're letting him play and succeed. Confidence is such a big part of this game. As for the large 1B, I don't mind it at all. Vargas is up. Gonzales and Hicks have good power. I don't mind having a few thumpers around.

I'm confident there will be. I'm less confident it will be what we want to hear... but I'm hopeful.

...besides Nick Gordon...

I don't get the rush. The guy doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster for another year or two. He'll be 23 years old in AA next year. No one is saying that if he puts up these kind of numbers in the big leagues, he won't be just fine as a player. There's a reason he's not a Twins top prospect. He'll never be a high, high average guy, and he will always strike out, but there's no harm in trying to cut down on the Ks. The game does get harder and pitchers do get smarter and have better stuff as they move up. The Twins are a team that has its top prospects generally spend 1/2 year in Ft. Myers and 1/2 year in AA in a season. It's not about age or anything like that.It's about the evaluators believing he can be successful. I'll trust Mientkiewicz and Jim Dwyer in their evaluation that the best thing for him is to stick there for the full season. Also, very few players with sub-.300 OBP last in the big leagues very long... So I do think it's important for him to make these adjustments. So, in my opinion, this is a clear case where spending the full season in Ft. Myers, I believe, is the right there. People can show examples like Jose Abreu as a guy with a low-OBP, but it's still .330. People can suggest that Alfonso Soriano is a guy who had a long, productive career despite a low OBP... I'd say that's the exception.

Not that Mauer. Joe will get there. The Pioneer Press sent preps writer Tim Leighton to Cedar Rapids to follow Joe Mauer. Tonight he penned an article on manager Jake Mauer and his possible path to the big leagues as a manager or coach. Very nice article. http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_26288906/twins-jake-mauer-joes-brother-says-hes-right

Kevin Correia posted his fifth quality start in his last seven games, but Glen Perkins blew the save in the ninth and Anthony Swarzak gave up a Seth Smith home run in the tenth. The Twins lost 5-4. The Twins will now head to Oakland to start a four-game series. Two Twins affiliates had the day off on Wednesday, but there was still plenty of action in the Twins farm system. Here is the Minor League Report for Wednesday:RED WINGS REPORT Rochester had no game scheduled Wednesday. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Akron 6 Box Score The Rock Cats went into the bottom of the ninth, holding on to a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, a solo homer followed by a single, a sacrifice bunt and a single led to a loss. Virgil Vasquez started and gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings. He didn’t allow a walk and struck out six. Ryan O’Rourke struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Johnson came out for the ninth inning and gave up the two runs on three hits to take the loss. Down 4-3 going into the sixth, Brandon Waring and Mike Gonzales hit back-to-back home runs to give the Rock Cats the lead. It was Waring’s 12th home run, and Gonzales’ second with the Rock Cats and 11th overall this season. Eddie Rosario and Tony Thomas each had two hits. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run double early in the game. The Rock Cats are now 55-60 on the season. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, St. Lucie 6 Box Score The Miracle held a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. Unfortunately, five unearned runs came across the plate, and the team lost 6-5. Matt Tomshaw made the start. The left-hander gave up six unearned runs on ten hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out two. Todd Van Steensel pitched the final two innings. He gave up no runs on two hits and two walks and he struck out two. Levi Michael went 2-5 and knocked his first home run of the year. Adam Walker went 2-3 with a walk. Travis Harrison went 1-3 and walked twice. Tyler Grimes, playing at third base on this night, went 1-2 with two walks. Dalton Hicks had a two-run double early in the game. Byron Buxton went 0-5 and is now 2-19 in his last five games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 6 Box Score Joe Mauer played six innings at first base for the Kernels in his second rehab game. He went 0-3 in the game and is now 1-6 in his two rehab games. He is scheduled to have Thursday off and will then play in Cedar Rapids this weekend. Mitch Garver went 2-3 with a walk. Tanner Vavra went 3-4 and stole his sixth base. Chih-Wei Hu started and was very good through three shutout innings. However, he was charged with six earned runs in the fourth inning. In all, he gave up six hits, walked two and struck out two. Brandon Bixler threw two shutout innings. Josue Montanez struck out three over two scoreless innings. Nick Burdi came on for the ninth and struck out two and walked one. He was clocked at 101 mph. The Kernels are 57-58 overall this season, but this is the first series they have lost in a month, according to the team. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton did not have a scheduled game on Wednesday. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score For the third time in two days, the GCL Twins lost a one-run game to the GCL Orioles. They fall to 14-27 on the season. Lefty David Hurlbut made his first appearance on the mound in about two months. He gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk in three innings. Seth Wagner came in and worked the next five innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He didn’t walk any and struck out one. Trevor Hildenberger worked a perfect ninth inning. Corey Wimberly and Zach Granite continued their rehab stints in this game. They were the top two hitters in the lineup and each went 1-4 in the game. Rainis Silva went 2-4. TJ White played in his second game and collected his first professional hit. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Seth Wagner, GCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner Vavra, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin New Britain @ Akron (6:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (6:35 CST) – Ethan Mildren Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Mat Batts Danville @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles (11:00am CST) – Brandon Easton Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

Poulson was featured tonight on NBC's Nightly News. A nice story. http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/twins-sign-former-art-school-student-100-mph-fastball-n174366

Earlier in the week, we looked at the long lists of Starting Pitchers and Relief Pitchers in the Minnesota Twins farm system who had strong July performances. Fortunately, there were also a lot of hitters who were up for consideration for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month in July. It’s fun to review July because it’s the first time that short-season players, many drafted in June, spend their first full month in professional baseball. So, these lists can contain players who are in AAA and been in pro ball for many years or players who have been in pro ball for one month. Let’s get to it. Here are July’s top hitters:Let's start with a few players who are outside of the Top 5, but certainly warrant mention. Honorable Mention Rochester Doug Bernier 31-103 (.301/.376/.447 – .823), 8-2B, 2-3B, 1-HR, 13-RBINB/Rochester Reynaldo Rodriguez 27-93 (.290/.382/.419 - .801) 9-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 12-RBINew Britain Mike Kvasnicka 34-111 (.306/.345/.505 – 849), 7-2B, 0-3B, 5-HR, 20 RBIFt. Myers Travis Harrison 31-102 (.304/.393/.402 - .795), 7-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 10-RBICedar Rapids Alex Swim 34-95 (.358/.402/.411 - .812), 5-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 12-RBICedar Rapids Mitch Garver 25-91 (.275/.333/.538 – .872), 3-2B, 0-3B, 7-HR, 19-RBICedar Rapids Bryan Haar 23-83 (.277/.344/.446 - .790), 4-2B, 2-3B, 2-HR, 10-RBIElizabethton Tyler Kuresa 28-96 (.292/.349/.510 - .859), 9-2B, 0-3B, 4-HR, 23-RBIAnd now this month's Top 5 Hitters: #5 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers - Jason Kanzler, 29-92 (.315/.402/.489 - .891), 3-2B, 2-3B, 3-HR, 13-RBI Kanzler was the Twins 20th round pick in 2013 out of the University of Buffalo where he won a couple of college Gold Glove awards. Though he began the season in extended spring, he was called up to Cedar Rapids quickly. With the Kernels, he took over centerfield and showed the tools that made him an intriguing draft pick. He’s got extra base power that he showed with eight doubles, eight triples and nine home runs in 84 games with the Kernels. He also stole 15 bases. Late in July, he received the promotion to Ft. Myers that he was ready for. He homered in his first at bat. Kanzler is definitely much more than the mustache. He’s got legit athleticism, talent and baseball acumen to continue to rise. #4 – Ft. Myers - Dalton Hicks, 30-107 (.280/.344/.561 – 0.905), 7-2B, 1-3B, 7-HR, 23-RBI As you recall, Hicks led all of baseball in RBI in 2013. This year it’s been more of a struggle for the 6-5, 250 pound first baseman. His OPS' by month since April have been .720, .696, .616, but he increased that to .913 in July. For the month, his 15 extra base hits were more than the three previous months combined. He has missed time with injury throughout the year, but he is now back to being the run producer in the middle of the Miracle lineup that was expected. #3 – Ft. Myers – Mike Gonzales 29-76 (.382/.442/.684 – 1.126), 11-2B, 0-3B, 4-HR, 20-RBI Gonzales was the Twins ninth round pick in 2009 out of Diablo Valley College. At 6-6 and 260 pounds, he had a long swing. A second year in Beloit was very beneficial for him. His career has been slowed, in part, by a medical condition that makes it difficult for him to play full games in Ft. Myers, or in back-to-back games. However, things certainly clicked for him with the Miracle in July. He carried a 19-game hitting streak right up until the day he was promoted to New Britain (July 27). In his second game with the Rock Cats, he was 2-4 with a home run. Gonzales and Hicks combined for a dominant 1B/DH team with the Miracle. Both have tremendous power and profile very similarly. #2 – Elizabethton/Cedar Rapids – Max Murphy 33-98 (.337/.433/.622 – 1.056), 4-2B, 0-3B, 8-HR, 17-RBI Murphy was the Twins ninth round pick this year out of Bradley University. He is from Robbinsdale, Minnesota. He signed quite quickly after the draft and reported to Elizabethton where he started to hit immediately. Like Kanzler, Murphy is a good combination of skills, though none of them jump out as great. He is a solid baseball player who has few weaknesses. Before the end of July, he was promoted to Cedar Rapids. The July Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... New Britain Rock Cats – OF Aaron Hicks (35-101) .347/.427/.554 (0.982) with 10-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 18 RBI After starting the second straight season as the Minnesota Twins starting centerfielder, and then struggling for two or more months, the Twins decided to option Aaron Hicks to AA New Britain. As expected, he started out quite slowly, but once the calendar turned to July, Aaron Hicks started putting up numbers. He went back to switch-hitting and likely relaxed and found it again. He hit for average, got on base and showed some extra base power. He was playing all three outfield positions and put himself in position for a promotion. On Monday, he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings where he will attempt to continue doing what he was in New Britain. Hopefully he can put up another terrific month in August in Rochester and spend September in the big leagues. There you have it. The top five hitters in the Twins system for the month of July. Now it’s time to debate. What do you think? Please feel free to discuss. ---- Twins win last night and you do today. Order a large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com using the promo code TWINSWIN and get it for 50% off. Click here to view the article

Kirby Puckett is a great example... He stayed inside the ball and hit line drive after line drive to right field (Jeter does the same thing)... but as Puckett matured as a player, he found pitches that he was able to turn on and pull for long home runs as well.

I see nothing wrong with encouraging hitters to be complete hitters. I don't want Josh Willingham slapping a single to right field on a pitch right down the middle of the plate, but on a pitch on the outside corner, I don't want him rolling over a weak ground ball to SS either. I'm good with Gladden's comments. But, Ortiz has also hit a lot of balls off the Monster in his years too. He's not entirely a pull hitter. He's been able to hit for average to go with the home runs because of his ability to use the whole field. What I like about the comments, and what I think Brunansky teaches, is that when you get your pitch, don't be afraid to crush it. I've talked to players that played for him in the minors and he said that there were times that it was OK to just go out and swing out of your shoes on your pitch. Other times, being able to take a good swing and be productive is important.