Seth Stohs

It's because it's only 11 days before the end of the first half that it makes no sense... unless they've rapped up a playoff spot... they'll let him play nithe All Star game.

You know... a .784 OPS from a 18 year old his his first full season is really very good. Future stardom can not be judged on 5 weeks, but yes, Buxton is off to a tremendous start. Buxton will still be there June 5. No question.

3 that I think will move up - Buxton, Walker, Duffey, Melotakis... OK, that's four. 3 That Surprised me one is Polanco. 2 is probably Goodrum. 3 is maybe Harrison.

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Last week, Twins Director of Minor League Operations Brad Steil was in Cedar Rapids watching the Kernels play six games. In an interview with MetroSportsReport.com’s Jim Ecker, Steil said, “I think off of this team, you could easily see six to eight of those guys eventually make it to the big leagues.” As I look at the Kernels’ current roster, I think that number could be as high as ten, with a few more high-ceiling players rehabbing in Extended Spring Training. Obviously there is a lot of attrition because Low Class A and the big leagues, so it’s unlikely that ten of these players will actually get to the big leagues. However, it feels I need to remind people that Cedar Rapids, and all of these future Twins, plays their home games just four hours from the Twins Cities. I made that trek for their Opening Weekend, so I was able to watch four practices and three ball games. It was cool (temperature-wise, and just to be there), but I came away from there with several take-aways. I know I’ll be going back in late June on the Territory Train, and I would love to get down there a third time sometime this summer to see what changes or improvements have been made since early April. Tickets are very reasonable and the Kernels’ staff does so much to make the experience a lot of fun for the fans. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4006[/ATTACH] Below are my thoughts on ten prospects currently on the Kernels roster: Byron Buxton (my #2 Twins preseason prospect) – As I’ve said often since seeing Buxton in person five weeks ago, if someone wants to say Buxton is the #1 Twins prospect (yes, ahead of Miguel Sano), I have no problem with that. His speed is absolutely game-changing. He has very good power. He has tremendous patience at the plate. He has walked 24 times in 126 plate appearances. He can steal bases. He plays great defense. He has an incredible arm. He’s just 19 years old. Jose (JO) Berrios (#8) – Berrios is still just 18 years old until the end of the month. He was not in Cedar Rapids when I was there at the start of the season because of his participation in the World Baseball Classic. The Twins wanted to stretch him out to start before sending him up. He’s now made three starts for the Kernels and is 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA. In 17.2 innings, he has two walks and 21 strikeouts. His fastball sits 92-94 and touches 96 already. He has a plus-breaking ball, and he is developing a potentially-plus change up. He will move up the rankings when they are done next. Travis Harrison (#14) – He was the Twins first supplemental first round pick in 2011 out of high school in California. Last year, he hit about .300 in Elizabethton, but didn’t show a lot of power. In watching him work, and specifically watching him take batting practice, you could just see the power potential that he has. It’s starting to show as he already has nine doubles and five home runs on the season. That doesn’t include his recent walk-off grand slam that was called a single because of the celebration. His defense at third base remains a work-in-progress, but he works very hard at it. This is another guy who will move up the rankings. Adam Walker (#16) – I wasn’t sure what to expect from Walker when I got to Cedar Rapids. I had always heard that he had as much power as anyone in the organization, including Miguel Sano. And then I saw him take batting practice, and I would absolutely agree with the assessment. Now, in the three games I saw, he played in two of them and did very little. But, watching him practice, it was clear that it was just a matter of time. Things have certainly clicked for Walker. He now is hitting .303 with seven doubles, two triples and seven home runs. He has driven in 32 runs. He is a big man and very strong. However, he is a very good athlete and has taken well to right field. He’s just 21 despite already having played three years of college ball. Yes, he will be moving up this list as well. Jorge Polanco (#19) – Polanco was signed as a very little, 16-year-old the same year that the Twins signed Sano. He was to be a great shortstop, and he struggled with the bat in two seasons in the GCL. Last year, he hit for a good batting average in Elizabethton, but with little power. I’m always now a little leery of E-Town stats. Polanco is still just 19-years-old and now he’s hitting .345/.387/.504 (.892) with nine doubles, three triples and a home run. He was the team’s #2 hitting on Opening Night, and he’s hit #3 every game he has played since. He’s playing primarily second base, but he’ll continue to get time at shortstop. He is very smooth defensively, but his offensive, frankly, surprised me. Despite not walking a lot, he does seem to have a good grasp of the strike zone. As you would expect, Polanco will also be moving, quite a bit, up this list. Mason Melotakis (#22) – Melotakis was a Twins 2nd round pick last year out of college. The 21 year old left-hander throws pretty hard. When I saw him in Cedar Rapids, he was sitting 90-93 with the fastball and throwing three pitches. Pitching out of the bullpen in 2012, he was hitting as high as 97 on the radar gun. As he’s transitioning to the rotation from the bullpen, it’s necessary to last more than an inning or two, so it’s normal to see the velocity come down a little bit, at least temporarily. He’s pitched in just 23.2 innings over his first five starts. He’s walked 12 and struck out 21. I’m definitely supportive of keeping him in the starting rotation for awhile because I do think he has the three-pitch mix to be successful with it. Niko Goodrum (#27) – I moved Goodrum down the list a little too far last year. He repeated at Elizabethton and his batting average went down. However, and much more important, he improved his patience and walk total, and he increased his power numbers as well. Goodrum has a very nice swing from both sides of the plate. He has good speed. He is long and lanky, but he is proud that he’s up to 200 pounds and plans to stay there. He could add more power production. Defensively, he does a very solid job at shortstop. He’s not flashy, but he makes most of the plays. He recently turned 21. He’s still quite raw, but he has a chance to be a very solid ballplayer! Hudson Boyd (#29) – It isn’t as obvious, statistically, that Boyd is a potential big leaguer. To see it, you have to look at things beyond the stat line. Right now, in 23.2 innings, he has a 5.48 ERA, 24 hits allowed, 14 walks and just 17 strikeouts. The second Twins supplemental first-round pick in 2011, from high school in Florida, Boyd has some good stuff. He has a low-90s fastball that will hit 95 when things warm up. He shows a good curveball, and he occasionally has a very good changeup. The problem has been consistency with mechanics, release point, control and some confidence. Boyd lost 45 pounds in the offseason, showing that he is willing to work to improve. Tyler Duffey (NR) has been one of the better pitchers in the organization through the first five weeks. He threw seven perfect innings in his first start of the year and has been pretty good since. He was a reliever in college, at Rice, but he’s made the move to the rotation look simple. He’s got three good pitches which leads one to think that he could stick as a starter as he moves up. Dalton (DJ) Hicks – Hicks was the 17th round pick a year ago out of Central Florida. The first baseman became known last year when his walk-off grand slam gave the Elizabethton Twins the Appalachian League championship. He’s been the everyday first baseman and clean-up hitter and hit well. He has a lot of power. He’s got nine doubles and four home runs this season. An overly-positive comp for him as a hitter is someone like Adam Dunn. He’ll walk. He’ll strikeout. He’ll hit for a lot of power… if he develops. There are ten guys who may have a chance to get to the big leagues if they develop nicely. I didn’t include Tyler Jones, a hard-throwing reliever. He was just put on the Disabled List with an elbow injury. JD Williams is a tremendous athlete with great speed, a great eye at the plate and good defense. Middle infielder Candido Pimentel was the Appalachian League MVP in 2012. He’s got great speed. Josh Burris and his killer curveball just recently arrived in Cedar Rapids as well. Lefty Brett Lee has a very live arm. Right now he’s in the 6-man rotation, but he could be a devastating lefty-reliever. And, consider that Max Kepler (#10) will hopefully be arriving in Cedar Rapids soon after missing the early season with an elbow injury. Luke Bard (#20) is also rehabbing an injury in Florida, but he will likely get a chance to start with the Kernels at some point this summer. Hopefully JT Chargois will be able to pitch in 2013 for the Kernels. It’s also possible that the three members of the Kernels’ coaching staff will be Twins coaches at some point in their careers. Manager Jake Mauer does a terrific job of teaching and organizing these young men. He knows baseball, and knows the game well. Tommy Watkins is a great illustration for the players to show perseverance and not to give up on anything until your jersey is ripped from you. He also known hitting and defense. He relates so well to the player. Like Watkins, Gary Lucas is a former big leaguer. He’s been coaching in the Midwest League for about a decade. It’s clear how much he enjoys teaching young pitchers and pushing them to think through their pitches and the situations on the mound. Check out the Kernels schedule and see if it works to book a trip there for a weekend. Like I said, it’s just a four hour drive. I talked to several people the weekend I was there who drove down for the game and then drove back afterwards. Some spent a night and went to two games. It’s a great trip. Minor League ball is always entertaining. But for Twins fans, it’s an opportunity to see some future Twins two or three years early. It’ll be fun to be able to say you saw Byron Buxton or JO Berrios before they became big league stars. I remember my first trip to games in Beloit three years ago. Brian Dozier, Aaron Hicks and Mike Trout were all on the field. It’s fun to do your own scouting reports on the players. Please feel free to ask questions.

The idea of him being a starter solely came from the Perez camp. The Twins said they'd give him an opportunity, but with the shoulder recovery and the timelines, I don't think it was ever a realistic thing. I also don't think he'd be even close to the first one called up if they needed a lefty. Thielbar and Robertson would both be ahead of him... I would hope.

That was my first question!! Ha! Secondly, that is awesome!!

Pelfrey was actually really good in his previous start (if I recall, it was five 0 or 1 innings) before giving up the long home run to Fielder, which happens. Definitely saw signs in that previous start that he was getting there. The Sunday start was very impressive and hopefully can now be continued and consistent. As for the Plouffe tag at third, I thought that he tagged him too, on the way up, but as someone said, the dirt hid it. It's definitely a play that goes to the defense most of the time, and Plouffe did exactly what he could do on the play. That is certainly not a play that will make Gardenhire more upset at Plouffe's defense. As was said, that type of play happens frequently, but generally the ump just goes with the out.

Re: Berrios - pioneers is right. He has shown a plus breaking ball already. Listening to his last couple of innings yesterday, he got a couple of strikeouts on it. Fastball was sitting 92-93 in his 5th and 6th innings. He's pretty legit. I don't think that the changeup is too far off either.

I really do like that the Twins typically promote their top prospects after the Midwest League and Florida State League all star games. That's mid-June. That way, instead of just having a nice month, they've had two months. Generally, the league is going to make some adjustments and that second month will allow the player to make some adjustments too. There will be exceptions. There will be older players moved up because, well, they have to push those guys to see what they have. But they're not going to do anything that they think will hurt a top prospect in any way. Waiting an extra 4-6 weeks isn't going to hurt anyone.

Corrected. thank you!

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All of the Minnesota Twins’ affiliates played afternoon games on Sunday, as did the big league club. As we alluded to yesterday, the Twins had some interesting pitchers taking the mound, and they had mixed results. Sam Deduno and Cole De Vries both made their first rehab starts of the year. Top Twins Prospects JO Berrios and Alex Meyer also made starts. There were several very good offensive and pitching performances. There were also a few errors that proved costly. The Ft. Myers Miracle placed Minnesota native Kyle Knudson on the Disabled List. They promoted 2012 draft picks, catcher Bryan Santy and outfielder Jon Murphy, from Extended Spring Training. On Saturday night, righty Tyler Jones left the game after getting just one out. He left with an elbow injury. He was put on the Disabled List on Sunday morning. Another 2012 draft pick, 12th rounder Alex Muren, will be promoted to take his spot on the roster. The Twins got a terrific start from Mike Pelfrey on Sunday and great bullpen work by Josh Roenicke and Jared Burton to avoid a sweep in Cleveland this weekend. Rochester Red Wings 2, Columbus Clippers 3 Box Score Sam Deduno made his first start of the season for the Red Wings on Sunday. He was activated before the game and started well. However, as the game went along, he fought his control. However, in all, his line looked alright. In five innings, he gave up only an unearned run. He gave up five hits, walked four and struckout four. Virgil Vasquez came on and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in 1.1 innings. Tyler Robertson came on and gave up a hit and a walk, but got the final two outs of the seventh. Daniel Turpen came on for the eighth frame and got two outs. However, he gave up two hits and walked one to load the bases. But Michael O’Connor came on and got the final out of the inning. Jeff Clement has finally started to hit. After two home runs on Saturday, he went 2-3 with a walk and two runs driven in on Sunday. Chris Colabello went 1-3 with a walk and his eighth double. To make room for Deduno, outfielder Brandon Boggs was released. New Britain Rock Cats 6, Portland Sea Dogs 5 Box Score The Rock Cats were able to avoid being swept in the series in Maine with a one-run win on Sunday afternoon. Alex Meyer started for the Rock Cats. Through four innings, he did not allow a run. However, he was unable to get through the fifth inning .He gave up the first run and had the bases loaded. He got an infield pop out and a strikeout to get to two outs. Unfortunately, the next batter lined a single to right and when it was bobbled, all three runners scored. The next batter doubled in the fifth run and ended Meyer’s day. In total, Meyer went 4.2 innings. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits, three walks and six strikeouts. Bobby Lanigan was able to get out of the fifth inning and worked a scoreless sixth inning as well. Blake Martin went the next two innings. He did not allow a run on two hits. He struck out three. He got the win to improve to 2-1. Aaron Thompson came on and recorded the save with a perfect ninth. It was a big day for Antoan Richardson. He was 1-2, was hit by a pitch twice, and stole his 13th base. However, it was hit two-run double in the eighth inning that gave the Rock Cats a 6-5 lead. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-5 with his ninth double and third home run. Mark Sobolewski was 2-4 with his second double. Josmil Pinto went 2-4 with a walk. AJ Pettersen hit a double high off the left field wall in the 1st inning for his first Eastern League hit. Ft. Myers Miracle 2, Tampa Yankees 8 Box Score The Miracle were due for a game like this. They have played very well for nearly 30 games, so they were due a clunker. This one was actually a very good game through six innings, but at that point, the defense gave the Yankees too may outs. In all, the Miracle had five errors in the game. Miguel Sano had two. Levi Michael had one. Eddie Rosario committed the first two errors of the season. Cole De Vries made the start for the Miracle, his first rehab appearance. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits in four innings. He struck out two and did not walk a batter. He was replaced by Taylor Rogers. The lefty was charged with three unearned runs. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out three. Dakota Watts came in to start the eighth inning and got just two outs. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on one hit and three walks. Cole Johnson came on and got the final four outs, two via the strikeout. Sano and Rosario had rough days in the field, but they still hit. Sano was 2-3 with a walk and his ninth double. Rosario went 2-4 with his third double. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3994[/ATTACH] Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, South Bend Silver Hawks 6 (11 innings) Box Score J.O. Berrios was back on the mound for the Kernels on Sunday, and he was terrific again. The young right-hander was tremendous, dominant through five innings. He gave up two runs in the sixth inning. Overall, he gave up two runs on six hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out eight. He now has two walks and 21 strikeouts in 17.2 innings on the year. Steve Gruver came on and worked the final three innings for his second save. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Travis Harrison was 2-5 with a big two-run homer, his fourth of the season, and an RBI single. Adam Walker was 2-5. Niko Goodrum went 1-3 with two walks and his sixth double. Byron Buxton had a hit and a sacrifice fly. A LOOK AHEAD to Monday April’s starting pitcher of the month and three left-handers will be starting for the Twins minor league affiliates on Monday. Andrew Albers will start for Rochester in Toledo. Logan Darnell will get the nod against New Hampshire. DJ Baxendale will face Tampa. Matt Tomshaw will be starting in South Bend. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.

Ft. Myers: Kyle Knudson to the DL. C/1B Bryan Santy and OF Jon Murphy to the Miracle. Cedar Rapids: Tyler Jones to the DL. RHP Alex Muren to the Kernels.

I definitely agree with keeping a real prospects at a level too long rather than pushing them too fast. I agree that promotions of the key prospects shouldn't happen for at least two months because of the reasons given. Teams will adjust. Reports will be updated. Have to see if the player can develop the ability to make adjustments. Last year, Sano had a tremendous April... then he struggled for 3-5 weeks... then he turned it around. This year, he's had a tremendous April. He likely won't post a 1.200 OPS in May. Teams will adjust to him. Pitchers will pitch him differently. Have to see how he adjusts. It's the right thing to do.

I agree on Polanco that high. I think Melotakis should be on the list. I really think he was being conservative because there are more than 8 that have a decent change, talent-wise, to get to the big leagues. The reality of it is that so few do. It's tough to get to the big leagues.

Sounds like he shouldn't be out too long at all, which is a good thing. He's showing that when he is healthy, he can play!

I like it! I love that he has that kind of confidence and expectations for himself!

I like all four pitchers yesterday, and now on Sunday, we'll be watching Deduno, Meyer, De Vries and Berrios. Two top prospects and two guys that will likely factor into this season.

I'd say it's likely that Buxton and Sano are going to be top 5 guys. We are still able to call Arcia, Hicks and Gibson prospects. I like the second-tier guys and think there is some upside in the lower levels. I don't know if Killebrew, Allison, Tovar, Kaat, etc. were considered great prospects or not. Obviously there wasn't a Baseball America type of service back then. I hope that the Buxton, Arcia, Sano, Meyer, Hicks group ends up as successful, but I think that their prospect status is much higher than it was. The Twins had a nice Top 10 run with guys like Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Liriano during a short stretch too.

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