Seth Stohs

Hildenberger had a nice 3-4 year run. Molitor used him nearly every day. Curtiss has a World Series win under his belt. He had Tommy John this year, but in his limited time, he's done pretty well.

makes sense, but I didn't even consider Laweryson for the relief pitcher of the year award because he made 10 starts. Maybe I should have given him more thought here.

Mercedes was my #1 (with Rodriguez #2) because of the speed numbers to go with the power. I can't tell you a lot about the defense of those others.

I think it's incredibly impressive. He's very young, but there are several 18-20 year olds in this league still, so yeah... It'll be good to hopefully see him in the FCL next season. The K and BB numbers are good. But it's the power numbers that are amazing.

I have corrected this... The BRef links are done with an automated process that typically amazes me with how it's able to distinguish between players with the same names... but they got this one wrong. Thanks for pointing this out!!

Woods Richardson needs to be added to the 40-man roster after the season. I could see him getting one start with the Twins or spending a week with the Twins in the bullpen or something. I think their philosophy is to take care of their pitchers, so how far they go into the game likely depends on how efficient they are and where they're at health-wise. If Sonny Gray is at 100% health, and he's pitching well, they'll let him get to 95-105 pitches. Same with Mahle. Same with probably Joe Ryan. Bailey Ober had leg issues this year, but as long as he's healthy, he has typically been very efficient. Louie Varland was throwing 90-100 pitches all season this year.

Of note, the fourth affiliate, the one that didn't make the playoffs, is the Saints... and there are no Triple-A playoffs. Also, there is such a turnover on that roster that it would be impossible to find any consistency to compete. Even just this past weekend, Rodriguez was supposed to start on Saturday, he got called up Saturday morning. Henriquez was supposed to start Sunday. He got called up Sunday morning. "Excuses?" Sure... also just the reality of a feeder affiliate. Varland and Festa... Headrick. Nowlin... Traded Povich and Hajjar (with Steer and CES) to get Lopez and Mahle. They're developing pitching prospects. Those prospects now just need to make that final step. Guys like Ryan, Ober, Winder, Varland are a pretty solid starting point.

I was really worried about that when the Twins hired Wes Johnson. As much time as they spend working on mechanics and studying the video of arm angles and release points (and all that has helped keep Bailey Ober's arm healthy, and probably others)... I also worry about the focus on velocity. It's a tough thing because its' clearly really important in the game, but it isn't natural for an arm. There have been arm injuries, but (without looking) I don't think there have been more than before. But yes, I do think that the whole medical staff and training philosophy needs to be analyzed... and I have no doubt in my mind that has been an ongoing study as well. How many of the injuries were freaky, can't do much about it kind of things (broken bones, hit by pitches, etc) and how many are soft tissue, muscle types of things.

More like "Lack of Developments"... amirite? ?

Saturday was a long, tough day for the Twins and their fans, but the Twins woke up on Sunday, got dressed, went to the ballpark and just continued to show up. Joe Ryan was fantastic with some help from his defense. Jake Cave gave him an early lead, and they got a couple of huge insurance runs late from a likely source. Image courtesy of Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports Box Score SP: Joe Ryan: 7 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (95 pitches, 64 strikes (67.4%) Home Runs: Jake Cave (5) Top 3 WPA: Joe Ryan (0.559), Carlos Correa (0.087), Luis Arraez (0.078) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Joe Ryan Does it Again, Well, Not Quite That, but… Earlier in the week, Twins starter Joe Ryan threw seven no-hit innings against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field. While disappointed, it was easy to understand why he was removed after the seventh inning, and it was said often. His next start would be his biggest start of the season. Well, that may or may not still be true - based on the Twins losing the first three games of this series, and being seven games back coming into the day - it was a very important game for the Twins. Saturday was a long day that ended in a double-header sweep at the hands of the Guardians. The Twins had lost eight straight games to Cleveland in key September games. The Twins needed a big outing from Ryan, and he gave it to the Twins. After Saturday, it was important for Ryan to start out well. He had a one-two-three first inning that included a strikeout of Twins Killer Amed Rosario and a Jose Ramirez pop-out. He got two groundouts and a strikeout in the second inning, which does mean that he had nine straight no-hit innings. He walked a guy in the third inning, but no hits again. The fourth inning was again perfect, including a ground out by Rosario and a strikeout of Ramirez. His no-hit streak ended with one out in the bottom of the fifth frame when Tyler Freeman singled. He gave up two more hits and walked two batters, but he even recorded two outs in the eighth inning. After a Myles Straw single, lefty Jovani Moran came on and got Andrew Gimenez to fly out to end the inning and officially close the book on Joe Ryan’s fantastic outing. Defense Comes Through Any great pitching performance is likely to include some help from his defense. In the fifth inning, there were runners on first and second with just one out, but Austin Hedges grounded into a double play. Then in the sixth inning, Straw led off with a double before Gimenez was hit by a pitch. Runners on first and second and nobody out. Amed Rosario stepped to the plate and grounded into a double play. Straw remained at third with Jose Ramirez to bat. The perennial MVP candidate lined a shot to deep center field, but Gilberto Celestino got a great jump and was able to run it down on a full sprint to the warning track to end the threat and maintain a 1-0 lead. But that catch always reminds me of another great Celestino catch, and why not show that one again… Josh Naylor walked to lead off the seventh inning, but with one out, Richie Palacios grounded into an inning-ending double play. Captain Cave… Man! Jake Cave has had a couple of tough years the last two seasons with the Twins, at least offensively. Prior to that, he was a very solid fourth outfielder, but with the Twins injuries the last couple of seasons, he has been forced into more action than was intended, including a lot of ABs against southpaws. Last year, he missed significant time with a fractured back. Removed from the 40-man roster in the offseason, Cave spent most of this season at Triple-A St. Paul. He played great, getting on-base pretty much every game. In 85 games, he hit 273/.370/.509 (.879) with 20 doubles, seven triples and 14 home runs. As impressive, he continued to put up numbers as he watched player after player get called up to the Twins before he was. In fact, he was about the eighth outfielder on the depth chart when he was finally called back up. And, since then, more injuries have meant that he’s again played more than was planned. Now, I’m not here to say that he’s been great. I’m not saying they should bring him back. I’m just saying that he’s filled in admirably and does not deserve the online hate that he often gets. On Sunday afternoon, he gave the Twins their 1-0 lead in the second inning when he hit a solo homer. It was his fifth homer since joining the Twins and his second big home run in this Cleveland series. One general observation from watching him play with the Saints and in his return to the Twins is that he is staying down on the ball and doing a much better job driving the ball to the opposite field, as he did today. He has played solid defense wherever he’s been, and been happy with any opportunities he gets. And no one can ever question his effort. All Rise for Arraez Jovani Moran got the final out of the 8th inning to maintain a 1-0 lead for the Twins, but that isn’t exactly a comfortable lead. A little insurance sure would have been nice! The first two batters in the top of the ninth inning got out, but then Celestino walked. It was followed by a single from Mark Contreras (who had come in an inning earlier as a defensive replacement for Matt Wallner, who had two hits in the game). Nick Gordon then pinch hit for Jermaine Palacios, and he waAll-Starlked to load the bases. That set the stage for All Star Luis Arraez, and he came through with yet another big hit for the Twins. He lined a solid single up the middle to score two runs and give the Twins a 3-0 lead. In addition, Carlos Correa continued his red-hot September. With three hits on Sunday, he had his seventh multi-hit game in the month. Sanchez Helps Duran Jhoan Duran has been, arguably, the most dominant reliever in baseball for much of the second half, if not all year. Obviously, Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase is in that conversation as well. However, on Sunday, he didn’t display the same kind of control and command as we have seen from him throughout the season. He got the leadoff man (Rosario) out, but then he walked Jose Ramirez, and not intentionally. He started Josh Naylor off with a fastball for a ball. At that point, just four of Duran’s 11 pitches were strikes. Personal opinion and observation… With a 1-0 count, Gary Sanchez called three straight slow(ish) sliders (the upper-80s one that drops more than the other one) and Naylor missed all three for a strikeout. Sanchez continued to call mostly breaking balls and struck out Oscar Gonzalez on the same pitch. Gary Sanchez is not a good defensive catcher. That’s probably putting it fairly nicely. The difference between Sanchez and Ryan Jeffers is very noticeable both by the eye test and by statistical measures. However, have to give credit where credit is due, Sanchez deserves credit for having Duran mix it up. With his fastball command lost in this game, Sanchez recognized it and helped Duran by calling another of his pitches, and fortunately that pitch was on. In the end, he threw 17 pitches, so he ended the game with six straight strikes to end the game with two strikeouts. Pre-Game Transaction Following Saturday’s lengthy double-header, the Twins wanted to make sure they had a long-relief option. Dereck Rodriguez was terrific in his 3 2/3 innings in that role in Saturday’s late game. Unfortunately, for him, that meant that he was optioned back to St. Paul. Ronny Henriquez was set to start on Sunday afternoon for the Saints. Instead, he traveled to Cleveland and was activated shortly before the Twins game started. Veteran Ariel Jurado made the start for the Saints in his place. Henriquez came to the Twins in the Mitch Garver trade to Texas. He turned 22 years old in mid-June, and has a 3-4 record with a 5.66 ERA with the Saints. The hard-throwing Dominican has made 14 starts and come out of the bullpen ten times. While his overall numbers don’t look great, he has been much better of late. Over his past five outings, he is 1-0 with a save. In 21 innings, he has just four walks to go with 24 strikeouts. He has given up just one or two runs in four of his past five appearances. On September 7th, he gave up two runs on one hit and one walk. In five innings, he struck out nine batters. On September 13th, he came out of the bullpen and recorded a four-inning save. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked none and struck out three. In short, if he doesn’t hurt himself with walks, he can be very effective and has some really sharp, nasty stuff. Texas had already placed him on the 40-man roster, so the Twins didn’t need to make an additional 40-man roster move. What’s Next? The Twins had hoped to take at least four (if not five) games in this five-game series. On Monday afternoon, they’ll send RHP Sonny Gray (8-4, 2.83 ERA) to the mound and attempt to win a second game in a row, and in the series. The game will start at 12:05 central time and air on Bally Sports North. Cleveland will counter with RHP Cal Quantrill (12-5, 3.51 ERA). Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Moran 40 0 0 0 15 5 60 Jax 0 0 18 22 13 0 53 Duran 0 0 19 16 0 17 52 Sanchez 0 0 0 0 49 0 49 Fulmer 0 0 21 11 17 0 49 López 0 17 0 0 32 0 49 Thielbar 0 12 12 15 0 0 39 Pagán 0 0 0 0 31 0 31 Henriquez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

AL MVP vote (if I had a ballot): 1.) Aaron Judge 2.) Jose Ramirez 3.) Shohei Ohtani

David Festa 2022 = Louie Varland 2021... So, the question becomes: David Festa 2023 = Louie Varland 2022??? (We shall see) But Festa should start in AA next year, and I have no doubt he will... The difference, Festa is about 3-4 mph faster. Both have good secondary pitches. Very encouraging.

Also, there won't be Triple-A playoffs again this year. (though the Saints wouldn't have made it anyway).

The regular season ended for two Twins affiliates. They will both start their playoff runs on Tuesday. Two other affiliates have another week. Wichita has one more week of games before the playoffs. St. Paul has two weeks remaining in their season. As for Sunday, you're going to want to see how Cody Laweryson did, and how he has done since joining the Wind Surge. And Nate Baez had a powerful day at the plate. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins recalled 2018 seventh-round pick RHP Josh Winder, and optioned 2018 fifth-round pick RHP Cole Sands to St. Paul. The Twins also selected the contract of RHP Jharel Cotton from St. Paul (again) and placed RHP Chris Archer on the IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 1, Toledo 6 Box Score Through six innings, this game was tied at 1-1. Unfortunately, the Saints allowed five runs over the next two innings and weren’t able to account for any of it. Bailey Ober continued his rehab with his first start with the Saints. He gave up one run on one hit over 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six batters. Austin Schulfer came on and got the final out of the fifth inning. Randy Dobnak threw a scoreless sixth inning, but he then was charged with two runs and got just one out in the seventh inning. He gave up two hits and a walk. Jake Jewell came on and allowed an inherited runner to score, but finished the inning. Brock Stewart gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits in the eighth inning. Jewell and Stewart each hit a batter. The Saints had just one hit in the game, a solo homer from John Andreoli. Ober threw 66 pitches and 44 of them were strikes. Could he be ready to make a start for the Twins next weekend in Cleveland? WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, NW Arkansas 0 Box Score On Saturday, the Wind Surge won on a walk-off. On Sunday afternoon, they won another one-run game, this one thanks to some masterful pitching from a guy who has been great since joining Wichita. Cody Laweryson went to the Fall League last year and then returned to Cedar Rapids to start this season. After 16 games, and just two starts, he was promoted to Wichita. With the Wind Surge, he has now made 18 appearances and Sunday was his seventh start. On this day, Laweryson tossed seven shutout innings. He gave up just one hit and struck out eight batters without issuing a walk. He improved to 5-0 and dropped his Double-A ERA to 0.82. He has given up just five earned runs in 54 2/3 innings. He’s got 64 strikeouts in that time. Denny Bentley came in for the eighth inning and got one out. Casey Legumina came on and got the final five outs to record his second save of the season. The Wind Surge scored just one run despite ten hits. Then went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base. Only one hit produced a run. Seth Gray hit his first Double-A homer. He was 1-for-2 with two walks. Anthony Prato went 3-for-4 with a triple. DaShawn Keirsey was 2-for-4. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, South Bend 9 Box Score After being rained out on Saturday night, the Kernels ended their regular season on Sunday with a loss. With the playoffs set to start on Tuesday, the Kernels went with lefty Samuel Perez to start. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. Malik Barrington came on and gave up four runs on five hits over two innings. Matthew Swain worked the next 2 2/3 innings and gave up just one run. He struck out three batters. Regi Grace gave up an unearned run in his inning. Then Tyler Palm gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning. Kyler Fedko led the offense. He went 3-for- 4. Brooks Lee also reached three times on walks. Jake Rucker drove in back runs with a four-inning double. Wander Javier was hit by a pitch in the helmet in the second inning. He was able to walk off the field, with help. The Kernels ended their season with a 73-58 record. On Tuesday, they’ll play in South Bend. Games 2 and 3 (if needed) will be in Cedar Rapids on Thursday and Friday. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, St. Lucie 1 Box Score The Mussels closed out their regular season with a nice, big win. Nate Baez led the way. He hit his second and third home run and drove in five runs. Fellow 2022 draft pick, Ben Ross, went 2-for-5 with his fifth double and three RBI. Rubel Cespedes, Keoni Cavaco and Ricardo Olivar each had two hits. Cespedes hit his 15th double. Misael Urbina went 1-for-3 with two walks. Niklas Rimmel made the start and continued to pitch very well. He tossed three shutout innings. He gave up one hit and struck out four batters. Johnathan Lavallee worked a scoreless inning. John Wilson struck out three over two scoreless frames. Zaquiel Puentes gave up a solo homer over his two innings. Develson Aria made his Mussels debut and the lefty struck out one in a perfect inning. The Mussels ended their season with an overall record of 69-59. On Tuesday, they will begin a Best-of-3 playoff series against Dunedin. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Laweryson (Wichita) - 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K Hitter of the Day – Nate Baez (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR (2, 3) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Sunday. #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 3 BB #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-4 (DH) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-4, K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 2 R, BB, K #20 - Kala’i Rosario (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-2, R, RBI, 2 BB, K UPCOMING SCHEDULE No Games on Monday. Tuesday: Louisville @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Ariel Jurado (0-2, 4.58 ERA) Wichita @ Midland (6:30 PM CST) - TBD Playoffs Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa Playoffs Game 1: Dunedin @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games! View full article

I think the bigger point here is multi-parts. 1.) The Twins have a dozen players on a 26 (now 28) man roster that would normally not be. 2.) The White Sox have had guys missing too, and so have Cleveland, but not this quantity, and not always at the same time. 3.) Maybe even more important, it would be really great to be getting guys like Jeffers, Kirilloff, Larnach and Lewis more development time in the big leagues, and playing in a pennant race. That's important short and long term. 4.) There's just never enough pitching to overcome 5+ starters missing so much time. 5.) This doesn't even account for the amount of time that guys like Buxton, Polanco, Kepler and others played when they maybe should have been on the IL. 6.) As mentioned by someone above, this was a team predicted to finish around .500 with health. I think it's impressive they're still at .500 right now.

I mean... I know, but it's more of an internal thing. It's not a PED suspension or anything like that.

If I understand this right, are you saying that you think that Brooks Lee will play in the big leagues in 2023?

Thanks for pointing this out. I should have caught the first two and certainly should have noticed that the bullpen spreadsheet wasn't sorted. I have made those changes and re-written portions as well.

This is actually pretty normal at this time of the year in Florida. Then about every other year there is a hurricane passing through too.

I like Megill. I think he's been a nice find.

I like the AFL as a prospect-focused league. I like that the Twins primarily stopped playing any Instructional League games. They've all played enough games during the season, except some injured guys, so I like that the time spent there is based in learning and teaching, in fundamentals in a low-stress environment. The minor leaguers have been playing since March. The college draft picks have been playing since February. Even the high school kids taken have been playing since March or so. This is where the plethora of coaches and coordinators can work with players on their individual improvement programs.

To be fair to Matt Wallner (shown swinging and missing in Jan 2021 video)... here is another video of Wallner facing Varland this spring training... Anyone getting to the big leagues is a success. Definitely hopeful on Varland, but I would say that Ober has been a success especially considering all the injuries he faced before 2021. Hopefully he can return. Thankfully it's not an arm injury, so maybe he can come back this year and if not, should be ready to go next spring. To be fair, I think Randy Dobnak was a major success for this group. Non-drafted to the big leagues in 2 years, terrific first 2/3 of the season in 2020. Injured since then, but that's a success. Admittedly, the missing piece so far is longevity, but most are just getting to the big leagues this year. It took Carlos Carrasco years to figure it out. Kluber was older when he took off. Civale and Plesac and Clevinger had many ups and downs for a couple of seasons before becoming mainstays in those Cleveland rotations. Ryah, Duran... I would say Jax has absolutely been a success. Thielbar was older and had been around, but they got the best out of him. And, what's exciting is the pipeline. There are a lot of guys who are developing. Obviously not all will make it, but the more that develop well, the more options down the line. David Festa was a Day 3 guy in 2021 and he's been dominant at two levels (this year's Varland). Jaylen Nowlin, their 19th round pick last year, has been very good. I think the pitcher development is exciting. I just think they need to find a way to keep them healthy,b ut that was always the concern when Wes Johnson took the PC job in '19.

Correct. No need to add Varland to the 40 and 28-man rosters before tonight's game. They'll wait until after the game, and probably not announce the DFA move until tomorrow. I don't think it's possible to add another 60-Day IL guy right now... no one fits the bill for that.