Seth Stohs

In the last two days, we’ve discussed the top pitchers, starters and relievers, in the Minnesota Twins farm system. Today, we’ll write up some of the top hitters. While there were tons of great pitching performances in the month of May, it was a bit more difficult to find top hitting performances. That said, we have five below and a couple of honorable mentions that are deserving of recognition. A quick reminder. Twins Daily is covering all angles of the Major League draft, which starts on Thursday night with the first two picks. On Thursday at 6:00 PM, join Jeremy Nygaard and Seth Stohs, with guest John Bonnes, for a special Twins Hangout. The Twins should pick around 6:30 PM, so we’ll be discussing what the previous picks could mean for the Twins. Be sure to check out TwinsDaily.com for more details on Thursday night. Also, on Thursday at 9:00 PM, the show will continue on KFAN where we will discuss the draft’s first round as well as the Twins second pick which should be made during that hour. So without further ado, here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in May: Number 5 – Rochester – Oswaldo Arcia - (21-70) .300/.342/.614 (.956) with seven doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. Should Arcia be on this list? Maybe not. Some of these stats were compiled as part of his major league rehabilitation stint. About half of them were after he was taken off the DL and optioned to Rochester. While he was rehabbing, he was unable to stay on the field for more than two days in a row. Seemingly the day he was optioned, he started crushing the baseball. That isn’t a surprise. Arcia is a big leaguer who was just getting rid of some rust with the Red Wings. Number 4 – New Britain – Reynaldo Rodriguez – (36-107) .336/.368/.579 (.947) with eight doubles, six home runs and 16 RBI. After hitting 21 home runs last year for New Britain, Rodriguez re-signed with the Twins in the offseason. The 28 year old Colombian returned to the Rock Cats this year, moving into the outfield. He hit just .231 in 2013 but this year he is hitting .306/.353/.527 (.880). He has 15 doubles and eight homers,and as you can see, most of those extra base hits came in May. Originally signed in 2003 by the Yankees, Rodriguez spent a couple years in the independent leagues before signing with the Red Sox. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Jason Kanzler - (29-81) .358/.411/.605 (1.016) with three doubles, one triple, five home runs and 19 RBI. Kanzler began the 2014 season at Extended Spring Training. A week later, he was promoted to the Kernels to play centerfield. He was the Twins 20th round pick last year out of the University of Buffalo where he had won a couple NCAA Gold Glove Awards. He hit just .220 last year in the GCL with 15 extra base hits. He was also 13 for 14 in stolen base attempts. He has been very good this year with the Kernels. Overall, he is hitting .309/.358/.481 with five doubles, four triples and five home runs. He also has ten steals in 12 attempts. Number 2 – New Britain – Kennys Vargas - (38-106) .358/.430/.566 (.996) with seven doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI. Little Papi (who is actually bigger than Big Papi) had a very impressive month. Importanlyt, he was pretty consistent throughout the month with a couple of six game hot streaks. Early in the month, he had a six-game streak where he went 12-28. Later in the month, he had a six game stretch in which he went 12-21. He continues to show he can hit for average and power from both sides of the plate. The 24-year-old from Puerto Rico has put himself squarely into future Twins plans. He has greatly improved his plate discipline and approach. The May Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... New Britain Rock Cats OF Danny Ortiz (40-103) .388/.402/.660 (1.062) with 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 23 RBI. Ortiz was the Twins fourth-round pick in 2008 out of high school in Puerto Rico. The 24-year-old had a tough first month, likely disappointed to be back in the Eastern League. He hit .227 and managed just four extra base hits. He took off in May, though. He has certainly been a streaky hitter, having had some really terrific months over the years. Although his MLB future would appear to be a fourth or fifth outfielder, he is the kind of guy who is still young and could play for a long time. He can play all three positions well. He is a fundamentally sound defender. His biggest flaw is that he completely lacks the will to do much walking. In May, he had 14 multi-hit games, including four three-hit games for the Rock Cats. Although he was consistent throughout the month, he finished very strong. In his final five games, he went 10-19 with three doubles and a triple. In a mid-month three-game series against Richmond, he had eight hits including three doubles and a home run. Listed at just 5-11 and 175 pounds (which seems pretty accurate), Ortiz can pack a big punch. Overall, he is hitting .324/.340/.500 (.840) with 16 doubles, two triples and four home runs. He and Vargas, along with Eddie Rosario, teamed together this spring to help their Puerto Rican team into the Caribbean Series. In time, all three could contribute to the Twins as well. There were several solid performances in May that weren’t included in the Top 5. Here are some Honorable Mentions who just missed out on the Top 5. Deibinson Romero (29-102) .284/.378/.490 (.868) with 10 doubles, a triple, three homers and 15 RBI. Adam Walker (27-103) .262/.296/.524 (.821) with six doubles, seven homers and 20 RBI. Feel free to comment and discuss.

After looking at the May Relief Pitchers of the Month, we turn our attention to the starters in the Twins farm system. There were some really strong performances. In fact, one starter who went 5-0 did not make the top five list. Another with a strikeout per inning and a 2.43 ERA didn’t make the top five. Some of the Twins top pitching prospects had impressive months and a couple of lesser known minor leaguers continued to put up numbers. With that, let's jump to the starting pitchers. Here are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for the month of May: Number 5 – Rochester – Kris Johnson - 5 GS, 3-0, 1.13 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 24 H, 14 BB, 30 K The 29 year old came to the Twins from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason in exchange for Duke Welker, who was the Player to be Named Later in the Justin Morneau deal last July. The 2013 International League Pitcher of the Year has been even better so far this season. Overall, he’s 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA after posting a 2.39 ERA last year. Johnson’s month began with a spot start with the Twins where he struck out five (and walked six) in just 4.1 innings. The lefty sits 89 to 91 and touches 93 at times. He’s got a good mix of pitches. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – David Hurlbut - 5 GS, 2-1, 2.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 31 H, 2 BB, 20 K The Twins drafted Hurlbut in the 35th round in 2009 and again in the 28th round in 2011 out of Cal State-Fullerton. He has pitched in pretty much every role in the Twins farm system in just a couple of years. He has pitched in long relief, short relief and also been a closer. However, each year, his team ends up making him a starter and each year he pitches well in the role. 2014 is no exception. The 24-year-old works fast with three good pitches and incredible control. He doesn’t have the strikeout stuff of others, but he limits base runners by not handing out free passes. Long-term, maybe he will be a reliever, but for his minor league teams, he has been a leader in the rotation. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Trevor May - 5 GS, 3-2, 1.82 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.2 IP, 23 H, 13 BB, 30 K In May’s first start in May, he walked one and struck out 11 over six innings. In his second start, he gave up four earned runs on eight hits and three walks in just 4.1 innings. Since then, he has not given up a run. In his last four starts, he has worked 26 scoreless innings. The streak has pushed his overall numbers this season to 5-3 with a 2.62 ERA. His walk rate continues to drop (although it is still 3.6 per nine) which is encouraging. May has certainly put himself in a position to be called up when the Twins have a need. Of course, so have Kris Johnson and Yohan Pino. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – JO Berrios - 5 GS, 3-1, 1.84 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 29.1 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 36 K May was a big month for the young Berrios. First, he became a first-time father. Also, as of last week he is no longer a teenager. And yet, he is in the Florida State League putting up some impressive numbers. The 2012 supplemental first round pick from Puerto Rico has not let the fact that he’s over three years younger than the league average player in the league get in his way. In May, he put things together. Berrios has had quite the start to his professional career. He dominated at two levels of rookie league that first summer. In 2013, he was on the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic. He found himself making a few Top 100 prospect lists. This season, he has been terrific. Berrios throws hard, sitting 92 to 94, but he has touched 96 mph on several occasions. He has a very good curveball and a slider. He also has an ever-improving changeup. Also note that his June 1 start gives him a pretty good start toward June pitcher of the month consideration. And the TwinsMinor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Number 1- Ft. Myers – Matt Tomshaw - 4 GS, 4-0, 0.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 19 H, 5 BB, 11 K Earlier in the month, I wrote about two Unsung Southpaws, #3 David Hurlbut and this month’s Starting Pitcher of the Month, 25-year-old Matt Tomshaw. Both would not fit on your top 40 or top 50 Twins prospect lists, but both have been tremendous. Look at what Hurlbut, Berrios, May and Johnson did this month. And for that matter, look at what the three pitchers that I listed as Honorable Mention below accomplished. Now take another look at what Tomshaw did in May. In mid-April, Tomshaw had made three relief appearances and he was sent back to Extended Spring Training. Why? To work on The Thing! It is a pitch he had not been able to use the last two seasons. Now, it is a pitch that they want him to throw a lot in a game. When asked to describe The Thing, Tomshaw describes it as, “…like a knuckle split. Moves left to right and drops. Occasionally straight down or an abrupt right turn.” The other thing is that after sitting in the mid-to-upper 80s earlier in his career, Tomshaw now sits 89 to 91 mph with his fastball. He also throws a curveball and a changeup. Upon returning to the Miracle, he made one April start and gave up one run in four innings. In his five innings, he has worked at least six innings in each start. He gave up zero earned runs in three of the four and just two runs in 7.2 innings on May 20. In his final May start, he gave up three hits over eight shutout innings. There were a lot of very good starting pitching performances in May. It was difficult to rank the five above, and here are a few more starters who were strongly considered: Honorable Mention: Sean Gilmartin – New Britain – 5 GS, 3-1, 2.43 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 37.0 IP, 33 H, 12 BB, 37 K Taylor Rogers – New Britain – 6 GS, 5-0, 2.41 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 37.1 IP, 37 H, 11 BB, 31 K Kohl Stewart – Cedar Rapids – 5 GS, 0-1, 2.74 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 21 H, 11 BB, 19 K We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss Hitter of the Month. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. Twins beat the Yankees on Sunday, so you win today. Get 50% of a Large or XL pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.