Seth Stohs

May was a great month for right-hander JO Berrios. Mid-month, he became a first-time father. Late last week, he lost his status as a teenager. However, keep reading to see how his June started! Kohl Stewart was also on the mound in Cedar Rapids and pitched well. Also, check out how a home town player played hero on Sunday afternoon. The Twins won their second straight series in New York against the Yankees with an improbable win in Yankees Stadium. Phil Hughes was tremendous again, working all eight innings against his former teammates. Josh Willingham provided the power, tying the game with a homer to lead off the ninth. Then the Twins added five more runs and won 7-2. TRANSACTIONS The Twins had several transactions on Sunday. Stephen Wickens came off the disabled list and will begin back with the Ft. Myers Miracle. DJ Baxendale has been sent back to Ft. Myers where he will look to return to the form he displayed a year ago for the Miracle. He has been working out of the Rock Cats bullpen the last week as he recovers from his DL stint. He will be starting with the Miracle. Brett Lee is going on the disabled list. Jonathan Murphy was sent back to Cedar Rapids from Ft. Myers. JD Williams was put on the Kernels’ 7-Day disabled list with right patellar tendinitis. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Gwinnett 1 Box Score While Trevor May and Kris Johnson pitched great in May, Yohan Pino just kept doing what he’s done all year: whatever is asked of him. On this day, Pinto went 7.1 innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He walked none and struck out four. 57 of his 87 pitches were strikes. He was replaced by lefty Aaron Thompson in the 8th and he got the next two batters out. Ryan Pressly came in for the ninth. He gave up two hits but no runs to close the door. The Red Wings offense did very little. They had just six hits in the game. The two fifth-inning runs were both scored on grounders. One went to third base where there was an error. The other was just a ground ball to shortstop. James Beresford went 2-3 with a walk and his eighth double. He also stole his fourth base. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Binghamton 1 Box Score The Rock Cats put up a five-spot in the fifth inning and held on the rest of the way for a win. The big hit again came off of the bat of Mike Kvasnicka who hit a bases-clearing double. The former Gopher was 2-4 with his eighth double. He also played centerfield and threw out a runner at home. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-4 with a triple. Tony Thomas was 2-5. He stole his seventh base. Danny Ortiz had two more hits. Pat Dean had a start that he really needed. The lefty gave up only an unearned run in 5.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out four. Dan Turpen retired the next four batters. Jim Fuller struck out two in a perfect inning. Adrian Salcedo gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 – Ft. Myers 3, Clearwater 0 Box Score JO Berrios had a terrific May. He pitched well, had his first child and he left his teenage status behind. However, he started out June with one of the best starts you’ll see from a minor league pitcher anywhere. The hard-throwing right-hander was at his best. He went all seven innings of Game 1 and gave up no runs. He yielded just one hit. He walked none. And after striking out the side in the seventh inning he had 13 strikeouts in the game. He is now 5-2 with a 2.24 ERA. Travis Harrison led the offense. He went 2-3 with his 16th double. Michael Gonzales was also 2-3. Aderlin Mejia hit his sixth double. For the record, Eddie Rosario was 0-3 with two strikeouts. He has batted third and played centerfield in all three games that he has played for the Miracle. Game 2 – Ft. Myers 8, Tampa 4 Box Score Matt Tomshaw was making his first June start after an incredible May. He began this game with four scoreless innings while yielding one hit. In the fifth, two runs scored, but they were unearned due to a fielding error. He went out for the sixth inning and was charged with two earned run. In total, the left-hander went 5.1 innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out six. Tyler Jones came in and got the last two outs in the sixth (although he allowed both inherited runners to score). He worked a scoreless seventh inning to earn his fifth save of the year. The offense was led by the top four in the lineup. They combined to go 7-13 with a walk, six runs and four RBI. Aderlin Mejia went 2-3 with his seventh double. Stephen Wickens was 2-4. Eddie Rosario went 2-3 with a walk. (Yes, Eddie Rosario played in centerfield and batted third again) Those first three each scored two runs. Adam Walker drove in two runs and now has 41 RBI on the season. The big hit in the four-run second was a bases-clearing double from Dalton Hicks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Burlington 3 Box Score Chad Christensen was the Twins 25th round pick last year out of Nebraska. However, he was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, so he has been able to enjoy his first full season in professional baseball at home. On Sunday afternoon, he was able to play hero in front of the home crowd. With the game tied at three in the bottom of the eighth inning, Christensen hit a long home run, his fourth of the year, which gave the Kernels a lead they held on to. Mitch Garver’s seventh home run of the season tied the game at three in the fourth inning. He was 3-4. Bryan Haar went 2-3. Kohl Stewart made the start. He gave up three runs, but just one was earned. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four. Jared Wilson came in and gave up only a walk over two hitless innings. He struck out two. With the lead, Todd Van Steensel worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fourth save. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – JO Berrios, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mike Kvasnicka, New Britain Rock Cats MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Gwinnett @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) New Britain – No Game Scheduled (Listen) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – DJ Baxendale (Listen) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 CST) – Derrick Penilla (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins afternoon win over the Yankees in New York on Sunday afternoon, it means that on Monday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

It is hard to believe the baseball season is nearly two months old. I guess it is only June 1, but it’s time to look back at some of the best performers in the Minnesota Twins farm system. We will start today by looking at the top relief pitchers. There were a lot of terrific bullpen performances this month. Coming up with a top five was difficult. That is why there are several honorable mentions. However, it was pretty easy to pick this month’s Relief Pitcher of the Month. He’s a guy who has experienced a lot of success ever since he signed with the Twins organization. Number 5 – New Britain – Lester Oliveros - 1.32 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 13.2 IP, 8 H, 9 BB, 17 K Oliveros was on this list last month, and his elbow certainly appears to be back at 100%. According to a recent Baseball America story, part of the reason he was sent to AA was because he showed up to camp overweight. However, now the weight is off and he’s back to throwing mid-90s heat. Overall on the season, he has a 0.78 ERA and seven saves for the Rock Cats. As you recall, Oliveros came to the organization from the Tigers in the Delmon Young trade. He got to the Twins but he ended up having Tommy John surgery in September of 2012. He should be moving up to Rochester in the very near future. He will have to throw more strikes in order to get another opportunity with the Minnesota Twins. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – Brandon Peterson – 0.90 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 12 K The Minnesota native was on this list last month when dominating in Cedar Rapids. He made two more May appearances with the Kernels before being promoted to the Miracle. He continued to dominate out of the bullpen. Petersen throws hard, vaulting fastballs into the mid-90s. He combines that pitch with a low-80s slider that makes him very difficult on right-handed hitters. He was the 13th round pick just last year out of Wichita State. He had pitched at Des Moines Area Community College before that. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Todd Van Steensel – 1.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 18.0 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 22 K Van Steensel was signed by the Twins early this year after a strong season in the Australian Baseball League. It will be his second stint with the Twins as he spent the 2011 season with Elizabethton where he went 5-2. In his time away, he has moved to the bullpen, he has altered his mechanics and has become a dominant reliever. He now employs a high leg kick in his delivery, and he airs it out. He still has a good three pitches. He began the season in Extended Spring Training, but he was called up to Cedar Rapids at the end of April. He now has some really good stuff and a chance to move up fairly quickly. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Tim Shibuya – 1.10 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 12 H, 2 BB, 19 K Shibuya’s first month in the Florida State League didn’t go so well. He posted a 7.98 ERA. He gave up 22 hits in 14.1 innings. The turn of the calendar from April to May did wonders for Shibuya. He was the 23rd round pick in 2011 out of UC-San Diego. He was the Appy League Pitcher of the Year when he went 8-2 in Elizabethton. In the second half of 2012, he developed arm problems and had shoulder surgery in the offseason. It cost him much of the 2013 season as well, though he ended the season going 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA in 10 outings. Shibuya doesn’t throw real hard, topping out around 90. However, he has been working on a cutter. He’s got a curveball and a changeup as well. He has always had impeccable control. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester – AJ Achter – 1.72 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 15 K He was my choice for minor league relief pitcher of the year in 2012, his first year as a reliever, and he was almost as good last year as he smoothly adjusted to the upper levels of the farm system. Yes, he began this season back in AA, but he quickly (3 games) moved up to Rochester when there was an opening. He has been tremendous with the Red Wings. Overall, he has a 1.41 ERA and a 0.63 ERA this year. Achter was the Twins 46th round draft pick in 2010 out of Michigan State. Achter generally sits in the low-90s but has the ability to hit 95 from time to time. He also has a good changeup along with a curveball and slider. While Michael Tonkin has the prospect status, it is Achter who continues to get the job done in whatever role he is put in. Most often, he is asked to go two or even three innings, but he also has four saves for the Red Wings. Following the 2013 season, Achter pitched in the Arizona Fall League. However, he was not added to the 40 man roster. The way he is pitching, he should be added to the 40 man roster during this season and get an opportunity with the big league club. Quickly, here are some Honorable Mentions, a few guys worthy of recognition: Yohan Pino – Rochester – 2.41 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 16 H, 4 BB, 16 K Ryan Pressly – Rochester – 2.04 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 17.2 IP, 17 H, 1 BB, 16 K Aaron Thompson – Rochester – 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 11 K Tyler Jones – Ft. Myers – 1.69 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 10 K Yorman Landa – Cedar Rapids – 1.80 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 15.0 IP, 8 H, 8 BB, 16 K Relief pitchers deserve to get more recognition. Seemingly only when things go poorly do fans notice them. That’s one of the reasons that we recognize the relief pitchers here. Each of these pitchers did their job, and they all did it well. In the next couple of days, we’ll also be recognizing the top starting pitchers and hitters for the month of May.

Ricky Nolasco was not at his best, but he still was able to limit the Yankees offense to just one run over six innings. The bullpen finished with three scoreless innings, and the Twins had a 6-1 win over their nemesis from the Bronx. Oswaldo Arcia showed off his power with another home run and he also showed off his very strong arm. He had two outfield assists in the game. Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe also homered. A couple of lefties in the upper levels were very impressive, tossing scoreless innings at will. And one of the top power prospects in the Twins organization displayed his home run prowess. Meanwhile, one of the fastest players had the best game of his career. The Red Wings had lots of multi-hit performers. Find out everything that happened in the Twins farm system as well as an update on some of the injured minor leaguers. Kris Johnson photo by Betsy Bissen INJURY UPDATES On Thursday, Twins Daily reported that left-handed pitching prospect Randy Rosario had Tommy John surgery. Also, outfielder Jake Proctor had shoulder surgery. Here are some more injury-related notes from the Twins minor league affiliates. There are several players who have started playing games in Extended Spring Training. That includes outfielders Lance Ray and Nate Robert as well as infielder Stephen Wickens. Pitchers Hein Robb and Chad Rodgers are pitching in Extended Spring Training games. Zach Granite is down in Ft. Myers, and he is now able to do full workouts. Zach Larson had pulled him hamstring and has now started jogging. Logan Wade is rehabbing his shoulder. Jeremias Pineda is still experiencing some soreness in his hand. Yorman Landa has a shoulder impingement. It will be a while before we see Levi Michael as he has a broken bone in his foot. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Gwinnett 0 Box Score Kris Johnson was the International League ERA leader in 2013 when he helped lead Indianapolis to a championship. This year, he has probably been even better. On Friday night, he worked seven scoreless innings to drop his season ERA to 1.83. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five. In his last seven starts, he has given up just four earned runs in 42.1 innings for a 0.85 ERA in this streak. Ryan Pressly came on and gave up nothing over two perfect innings. He struck out two. The Red Wings got their offensive support from multiple sources with multiple hits. Eric Farris went 3-4 with a walk and his sixth and seventh doubles. Wilkin Ramirez was 3-4 with his eighth and ninth doubles. Brad Nelson was 3-5 with his fifth double. Eric Fryer and Doug Bernier were both 2-4. Fryer hit his seventh double, and Bernier hit his ninth. Chris Colabello went 0-4 and is now 1-14 (.071) in the four games since his demotion. Chris Herrmann was out with a sore wrist. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Binghamton 0 Box Score Sean Gilmartin is another left-hander who is pitching well of late. The lefty improved to 5-3 with six shutout innings on this night. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out nine. DJ Baxendale, who is working back from his shoulder issues in the bullpen, got the next five outs, two on strikeouts. Lefty Ryan O’Rourke was brought in to face one batter and he got a strikeout. Matt Summers, who has been moved to the bullpen, finished the game with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. The Rock Cats did not get a lot of offense. They managed just six hits in the game but one was huge. All four of their runs came in just one inning. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Nate Hanson drove in Danny Ortiz with a sacrifice fly. Three batters later, the bases were full again. Mike Kvasnicka came to bat and drilled his sixth double of the year. It drove in all three runners. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-3 with a walk and his 15th double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Clearwater 4 Box Score Down 4-1 through seven innings, the Miracle bats took over. Adam Walker led off the 8th frame with his 11th home run of the year. Two walks and an error on a sacrifice bunt and Michael Gonzales came through with a big bases-clearing double. Two batters later, Gonzales scored the fifth run of the inning on a Jorge Polanco sacrifice fly. In the 9th inning, Adam Walker led off again and this time crushed his 12th home run of the season. Walker led the way. He went 3-5 with the two home runs and his seventh double. Brett Lee made the start and gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits over just three innings. He walked none and struck out one. Alex Wimmers came out of the bullpen and gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out four. Mason Melotakis walked one and struck out one in one scoreless inning. Tim Shibuya recorded his first save of the season (second of his career) with two perfect innings. He struck out three. In case you were wondering, Eddie Rosario went 1-5 in the game. For the second straight night, he batted third and played in center field. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Wisconsin 5 Box Score Ethan Mildren was the recipient of a lot of run support to help him to his first Midwest League win. He gave up four runs in the third inning, but then held the Timber Rattlers scoreless through the sixth inning. He was charged with another run in the 7th inning. So his line reads that he gave up five earned run on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Brandon Bixler came on and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Hudson Boyd pitched a scoreless ninth. Engelb Vielma led the offense with his biggest day as a pro. The second baseman went 4-4 with his sixth double and four RBI. Ryan Walker went 2-5 with his first two doubles of the season. Joel Licon went 2-4 with his fourth double. Michael Quesada hit his second home run of the season, a three-run blast in the fourth. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kris Johnson, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Walker, Ft. Myers Miracle SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Gwinnett @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Trevor May (Listen) Binghamton @ Virgil Vasquez (5:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) – Josue Montanez (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over the Yankees in New York on Friday, it means that on Saturday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.