Seth Stohs

It was quite the power display for the Rochester Red Wings, something the Twins AAA-affiliate needed badly. Clete Thomas and Chris Colabello continue to make their case for a big league job. Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton continue to make their cases for being the #1 prospect in baseball going into the 2014 season. The Twins fell again in Cleveland, but there was plenty to watch in the Twins minor leagues. There was good pitching. The top prospects each had multi-hit games. And, the Red Wings got some big time power from the middle of their lineup. Check out what happened on Saturday in the Minor League Parks: Rochester Red Wings 8, Columbus Clippers 2 Box Score The middle of the Red Wings lineup came through in a big way on Saturday night in Ohio. Clete Thomas, Chris Colabello and Jeff Clement (the 3-4-5 hitters) combined to go 8-15 with a double, five home runs and seven RBI. Thomas is now hitting .386 after going 2-5 with his fifth and sixth home runs. Chris Colabello went 4-5 with his seventh double and seventh home run. Jeff Clement was 2-5 with the first two home runs of his season. Joe Benson had a single to extend his hitting streak to nine games. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3989[/ATTACH] (Photo - Naples News) Liam Hendriks made the start. He gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out five. Caleb Thielbar came on and threw two scoreless innings, walking one and striking one out. Luis Perdomo gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth frame. He struck out two. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 2 Box Score The score was tied at one going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Lefty Edgar Ibarra, who threw a scoreless eighth inning, was back on the mound. He walked the leadoff batter and proceeded to throw two wild pitches to get the runner to third base. He then intentionally walked the next two batters in an attempt to set up a force at home plate. Jose Gonzalez was brought in, and he proceeded to walk in the winning run. Trevor May was very good, while Terry Ryan watched from the stands. The hard-throwing right-hander went seven strong innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out three. The Rock Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first. Veteran Charlie Haeger, the knuckleballer who spent parts of five season in the big leagues, was on the mound for Portland. He missed all of the 2012 season after having Tommy John surgery. He walked Antoan Richardson to lead off the game. Richardson stole his twelfth base of the year and then advance to third on a groundout by Danny Santana. With Mark Sobolewski batting, Haeger threw a pitch that knuckled past the catcher to score Richardson. That was the lone run of the game for New Britain. The Rock Cats had just four hits on the game. AJ Pettersen left Ft. Myers very early on Saturday morning and landed in Portland, Maine, two hours before the early-afternoon game. He arrived at the ballpark to find that he was in the lineup, batting ninth and playing second base. In his first plate appearance, Haeger walked him. In his next plate appearance, he was hit by a knuckleball. He then flew out to right field twice. Alex Meyer will face Brandon Workman when the two teams play on Sunday at noon (central time). Ft. Myers Miracle 5, St. Lucie Mets 10 Box Score The Miracle’s nine game winning streak came to an end on Saturday night. Tom Stuifbergen made the start and gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out five over the next two innings. He gave up one hit and an unearned run. Corey Williams pitched the eighth inning. He gave up a solo home run, and he struck out two. Chad Rodgers gave up two runs in the ninth. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Miguel Sano did his part. The slugger gave the Miracle a 3-0 lead after one inning with a three-run blast, his tenth home run of the season. He had three hits in the game and drove in four runs. Matt Koch went 3-4 as well. Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, South Bend Silver Hawks 6 (11 innings) Box Score Tyler Duffey continued to pitch well, but it wasn’t enough on this night. The right-hander went the first seven innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out five. Tyler Jones came on and struck out the one batter he faced. Josh Burris came on and gave up three runs on one hit and three walks in one inning. Tim Atherton came on and got him out of the ninth inning. He got the game to the 11th frame, but a leadoff walk led to a game-losing run. He gave up the run on two hits and three walks (one intentional) in two innings. Byron Buxton continued his streak of getting on base in all 27 games so far this season. He was 2-5 with a walk and his sixth and seventh doubles. He also stole his 12th base. Jorge Polanco went 2-5 with a walk and his third triple. He is now hitting .352. Tyler Grimes was 2-4 and was hit by two pitches. Niko Goodrum had a single, two walks and his third stolen base. A LOOK AHEAD to Sunday Sam Deduno will be making his first start of the season for the Red Wings on Sunday at noon (central time) in Columbus. Alex Meyer will be starting for New Britain in Portland on Sunday at noon. Ft. Myers plays at 3:05 on Sunday afternoon and will have Cole De Vries making a rehab start. J.O. Berrios will start for the Kernels in South Bend when they start at 1:05. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.

Yeah, of all the things people complain about the coaches and Gardy about, this would be really low on my list.

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After going through the top performing Hitters and Starting Pitchers from April, its’ time to now check out which relief pitchers performed the best in April. The Twins announced their choices of Byron Buxton and DJ Baxendale as their Hitter and Pitcher of the month, respectively. As we saw with the starting pitcher list, using an beginning and ending point (such as a month) can alter how the numbers look. Alex Meyer may be been #1 or #2 on the list if not for one inning in which he gave up four runs. Instead, he was #4. With relief pitchers, the low number of innings in a given month mean that having one bad outing can really affect your numbers. However, we have a pretty strong list of relievers who started the 2013 season with a strong first month. Let's get to the Top 5 Relief Pitchers in April: Number 5 – Cedar Rapids – Tim Atherton - 0.82 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 9 H, 3 BB, 13 K The 23-year-old from Australia originally signed with the Twins in 2007 as a position player. He was released a year later for some off-field stuff, but re-signed with the Twins, this time as a pitcher, in 2011. He has been quite good since then, and that was the case in April. He pitched the ninth inning of the Kernels’ early-season no-hitter. He struggled some with control last year with the Snappers, but has shown good control to this point in the season. He has a good fastball and a solid slider. He can be deceptive due to a very animated motion. He should move up to Ft. Myers during the season. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – Cole Johnson – 1.69 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K This time last year, Johnson was still toiling in Ft. Myers with the Extended Spring Training group. He was promoted to Beloit when the short-season leagues started. He pitched well for the Snappers in the 2nd half last year and in minor league camp to earn a spot in the Miracle bullpen. The success has continued through the season’s first month when he gave up just two runs and opponents hit just .143 off of him. The 23-year-old was the Twins 44th round pick in 2011 out of Notre Dame. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Steven Gruver – 1.08 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 22 K A year ago at this time, the 23-year-old Gruver was in the starting rotation for the Beloit Snappers. He made 18 starts and 12 relief appearances and posted a 3.61 ERA. The lefty began this season in the Kernels bullpen and has been pitching in long relief. He has pitched at least two innings in each of his appearance and has pitched as many as four innings in relief. He did go 4.2 innings in one spot start. The 2011 7th round pick from Tennessee throws strikes, hits 91 and has a good slider. He is another guy that just needs a spot to open up in Ft. Myers to move up. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Corey Williams – 2.31 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 5 K In 2012, Williams led the Twins minor leagues with 17 saves while pitching in 47 games for Beloit. The lefty struck out 68 batters in 62.1 innings, but he also walked 33. In his first month in the Florida State League, Williams led the organization with six saves despite splitting save opportunities. However, as you can see, he didn’t strike many out, but more encouraging, he also threw strikes. He was the Twins third round pick in 2011 out of Vanderbilt. He throws hard and has very good stuff. Despite not being promoted last year, Williams is a guy who could move quickly. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: [ATTACH=CONFIG]3986[/ATTACH] (Photo by Greg Wagner) Ft. Myers – Zack Jones – 1.64 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 11 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 13 K Zack Jones was one of the talented bullpen arms that the Twins selected in the 2012 draft. Unlike some, he will not be getting an opportunity to start. He will be a back-of-the-bullpen arm. When fans hear Zack Jones, the first thing you should think is fastball. Reports last year in Beloit say that radar guns consistently would hit 98 mph with several instances of reaching triple-digits. In 2013 with the Miracle, the radar guns are consistently between 96 and 99 with the fastball. He has been splitting time pitching with late-inning leads with Corey Williams. Jones has five saves. Opponents hit just .139 off of him in April. Jones is highly-touted and has a chance to move up quickly, but his role and level of success could be determined by his ability to continue to develop a second pitch. Jones said, “Right now, just a slider I’ve been working on. Spent some time messing with different grips and what not, but right now, I believe I have a better grasp on the pitch than I have previously. “His slider is improving,” said Twins Director of Minor League Operations Brad Steil who added, “He’s being aggressive, throwing strikes and not walking many.” To what does Jones credit his first-month success? “In my opinion, a lot of my success this first month really came from attacking the hitter. I’m starting to develop more confidence with my slider and using that periodically in fastball situations so teams can’t just sit on the fastball,” he continued, “For me, I just try to keep it simple. Come into the game ready and throw strikes down in the zone. Do my best to compete with a relaxed intensity and not let the game speed up on me.” The Miracle are 22-4 on the season. They’ve had strong offense, solid starting pitching, and as you can see from this list, their bullpen has been very good. What’s it like to pitch late in games with Corey Williams, and what can he learn from him? Jones says he learns a lot and they push each other. “I’m lucky to be competing with a pitcher like Corey. I believe a lot of our success comes from us competing with each other and backing each other up. He is a well-rounded pitcher and has a very good mound presence. So, from watching from the bullpen, I try and study how he and other pitchers deal with adversity because that is what makes or breaks a pitcher. We both want the ball just as bad as the other at the end of the game, and we will continue to push each other to be the best we can be.” So, when he gets called in for a save situation, what’s his walk-in music? Jones chuckled and said, “Good question. Guys have different ideas on the walkout music. Some like calm, steady songs, but I’m the opposite. I like feeding my adrenaline when I pitch so I go with something heavy like Metallica.” It may be something he’ll have to have played in Target Field in the future! It was a terrific month for the Ft. Myers Miracle. They were the only team in baseball to end April with 20 wins. Miguel Sano was my choice for Twins minor league hitter of the month. (The Twins officially chose Byron Buxton, which is completely understandable.) DJ Baxendale was the choice for me for Twins minor league starting pitcher of the month. The Twins made him their pitcher of the month. And today, three of my top five relievers, including the top two, were from the Miracle. Hopefully May can be as exciting for the Twins minor league affiliates and their prospects. As always, please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

I might have a little inside information on this one... Sorry! He left Ft. Myers early this morning. Landed in Portland at about 11:00 eastern time, and now he's in the lineup, batting ninth and playing 2B in the 1:00 game!

Check out the Freckles and Fastballs blog of AJ's wife Emily: Freckles & Fastballs

Kenny Rogers, Mike Pelfrey, Jeff Manship, Alex Meyer, Carlos Gomez... the Twins aren't going to completely avoid Boras.

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Friday was another good day for the two Minnesota Twins Class A affiliates while the Red Wings and Rock Cats fell short. In some pretty exciting Twins Daily news, our frequent contributor AJ Pettersen tweeted the following after tonight’s Miracle game, “I'm headed to Portland, Maine tomorrow to join the @RockCats!” Congratulation to AJ! Who knows… maybe we’ll get a great blog post telling us all about it!! Check back tomorrow morning for the April Twins minor league relief pitcher of the month article. Rochester Red Wings 1, Columbus Clippers 5 Box Score Kyle Gibson was back on the mound. The Clippers bats were definitely on this day. Gibson gave up five runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out just one. Shairon Martis then threw 2.1 innings and gave up just two hits. Rafael Perez made his first appearance of the year and through a 1-2-3 inning. Clete Thomas remained hot. He went 2-4 with his fifth stolen base. He is now hitting .385 on the season. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his sixth double. New Britain Rock Cats 4, Portland Sea Dogs 5 Box Score Pat Dean pitched well again. The lefty gave up just two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings. He walked none and struck out six. Bruce Pugh came on and gave up a run on two hits and got just two outs. Aaron Thompson pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Michael Tonkin came in for the ninth. He got two outs, but with a couple of runners on, Antoan Richardson had an error that allowed both runners to score and the Rock Cats fell. Josmil Pinto went 2-3 with a walk and two RBI. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. Curt Smith homered for the second time this season. Ft. Myers Miracle 6, St. Lucie Mets 0 Box Score For the second time this season, the Miracle were able to topple Mets top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard. Kennys Vargas led the way by going 4-4 with two doubles. He now has nine, two-baggers. Drew Leachman went 2-3. Miguel Sano hit his eighth double. Matt Summers started for the Miracle. The right-hander threw five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. Adrian Salcedo came on and threw two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. Zack Jones gave up a hit and two walks, but no runs, over two innings. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3980[/ATTACH] Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, West Michigan 6 Box Score Jorge Polanco led the Kernels offense. He went 3-5 with his seventh and eighth doubles and drove in three runs. Jhonatan Arias was 3-4 with his first double. Adam Walker was 2-5 with his first stolen base. Niko Goodrum went 1-3 with two walks. Byron Buxton was 1-4 with a walk, meaning he has continued his streak of getting on base at least once in every game. Mason Melotakis started and gave up four runs (2 earned) on eight hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three. Manuel Soliman gave up a run on one hit and one walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out four (of the five outs he got). David Hurlbut gave up a run on two hits but he recorded his second save. A LOOK AHEAD to Saturday The Rochester Red Wings will send Liam Hendriks to the mound to face Columbus at 6:05 (all times central). At noon, Trevor May will be on the mound in Portland for the New Britain Rock Cats. Tom Stuifbergen will look to continue his impressive 2013 when he takes the mound for the Miracle at 5:05. Tyler Duffey will make his first non-Sunday start for Cedar Rapids when they play in South Bend at 6:05. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.

Twins Daily Represent... err... Minnesota Represent... A tweet just now from AJ himself: AJ Pettersen ‏@apettersen14m I'm headed to Portland, Maine tomorrow to join the @RockCats!

I know that Brad Steil is a really good guy. He's been around the organization for over a decade. He's young (mid-30s, I believe) and very smart. He may have a few things that he'll do differently than Mr. Rantz. Obviously anyone in a front office position isn't going to agree or do things exactly the same. I am certain that he was the right choice for the job. I'm very curious how things like promotions/demotions/releases/signings/etc. will be any different, but we need more than a month of games to find that out.

I think that's a pretty good compliment. I think that pre-injury, Wimmers was moving pretty quickly, and even if his ceiling was solid #3 starter, there is a ton of value in that for 6 years too! I'll see if I can't do some digging on the injuries in the system to get an update.

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Yesterday, we looked at the top hitters in the Twins system in May, and today, we’ll be taking a look at the top pitching performances of April. It will be separated into two blog postings, one for the relievers and this one for the starting pitchers. While the hitting leaders were primarily in the lower levels of the Twins farm system, there are a couple of starting pitchers that appear on today’s list that may not be too far from contributing to the Twins. With that, let's jump to the starting pitchers. Here are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for April: Number 5 - Rochester – Kyle Gibson - 5 GS, 1-3, 3.33 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 21 H, 9 BB, 26 K Gibson’s return from Tommy John surgery has been filled with ups and some downs. He had one start in which he gave up five runs in 4.1 innings. It is a process, to be sure. However, the 25-year-old has been able to strike out nearly a batter per inning. The general belief is that he is getting close to being able to contribute to the Twins. Twins Director of Minor League Operations said, “Kyle is making good progress. He pitched into the 7th inning in his last outing, which was good to see.” Number 4 – New Britain – Alex Meyer - 5 GS, 2-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 26 H, 11 BB, 34 K In Meyer’s most recent start, he gave up four runs in six innings, but all four runs came in the third inning. If we were nice, and we could just pretend that one inning didn’t happen, his ERA for the month would be 1.33. Certainly his walk total is a little high, but his strikeouts are encouraging, even exciting. Meyer is blessed with an upper-90s fastball, a hammer for a curveball, a sharp slider and an ever-improving change up. Still just 23 years old, Meyer could rise quickly. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Tom Stuifbergen - 5 GS, 1-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 27.2 IP, 23 H, 0 BB, 18 K Stuifbergen doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts, and the 24-year-old is back with the Miracle for the third straight year. But he also doesn’t walk anybody. Zero walks in 27.2 innings?! He also doesn’t give up many home runs. He gave up two homers in his first start of the year, and has given up none since, in 22.2 innings. He has the pitches, he just needs to opportunity to advance. Steil said, “He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and be ready when there’s an opportunity. When he’s pitching well, it’s usually because he’s changing speeds effectively and keeping hitters off balance.” Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – Tyler Duffey - 4 GS, 3-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 27.2 IP, 18 H, 3 BB, 21 K The Twins used their fifth round pick last year on Duffey, a relief pitcher from Rice. As would be expected, he dominated the Appalachian League out of the bullpen. The Twins were committed to giving Duffey (And several other college relievers) an opportunity to start. Duffey got that opportunity, and he has made the best of it to this point. In his first start of the season, he threw seven perfect innings for the Kernels, and two pitchers completed the no-hitter. With a six-man rotation and the weather issues, Duffey made just four starts in the month. He has shown impeccable control and general ability to keep runners off base. He is efficient with his pitches and has been able to complete seven innings in three of his four starts. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: [ATTACH=CONFIG]3975[/ATTACH] Ft. Myers – DJ Baxendale - 5 GS, 4-0, 1.84 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 29.1 IP, 21 H, 6 BB, 25 K Baxendale was the top starter of the Arkansas Razerbacks team that advanced to the College World Series. During the season, he set the Arkansas record with 20 starts. He went 8-5 with a 3.11 ERA. The Twins were thrilled to use their 10th round pick on the right-hander as they believed he had the talent to be selected much earlier. He began his pro career with the Elizabethton Twins but quickly moved up to Beloit. Combined, he walked just two and struck out 31 in 18.2 innings. He pitched out of the bullpen primarily because of the 107 innings he threw during the college season. The plan was for him to start this season, but it is somewhat surprising the he began the season with the Miracle. However, as Brad Steil said, the things he’s done so well in April are the things that got him pushed to Ft. Myers. “He’s been locating well, keeping hitters off balance by changing speeds, and keeping the ball down. Along with (those things), just his maturity and poise on the mound.” Just take a look at the numbers. 4-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP. He has limited long balls and walks. The Miracle were 21-4 in April, and Baxendale was a big part of it. So, what does he throw? A scouting report might tell you that he throws both a 2-seam and a 4-seam fastball that ranges from 87 to 92 mph. He has a big-bending curveball in the low 70s with downward break that makes it a pitch that induces ground balls. He also has a very good, late-breaking slider in the 78 to 82 mph range. He has terrific control of it, and when he spots it on the outside corner, he can get hitters to chase. He also has good arm speed and sink on his changeup. What would Baxendale himself say? “I throw a four-seam fastball, sinker, change-up, curve ball and slider. I try to use the slider and curveball both as strikeout pitches in order to keep the hitters guessing what pitch I will come with ahead in the count.” Baxendale has great command and makeup. He has the ability to move the ball around the strike zone very well. He can pitch to all of the zones of the plate, up and down, inside and out. He gets a lot of swings and misses outside of the zone, in part, because he hides the ball well. He is competitive and wants to win at everything. He has a knack of getting out of jams, and has grittiness and intensity on the mound. Baxendale credits his pitching coach and his control for his success so far this year. “The biggest key to my success so far is throwing low, quality strikes with all of my pitches. I’ve been working hard with pitching coach Ivan Arteaga to be able to consistently repeat my mechanics which improves my command and control of all pitches.” It’s also been about making adjustments to the professional game. Baxendale explained, “The biggest adjustment I’ve made so far in pro ball is to be efficient in my innings and keep the pitch count down. I’ve done this by pitching to contact, throwing the ball down in the zone and getting outs in early counts.” For Baxendale to continue to develop and rise through the Twins system, he may need to get a little bigger and strong. By adding some weight and strength, he would likely see a little increased velocity. But for now, Baxendale is happen to be part of this tremendous Miracle team. “Being part of a talented team is always fun. We are all really competitive so we want to win. It’s pretty special to be a part of a team that is as talented as we are because every game is fun to watch.” There were a lot of great hitting performances in April, but several pitchers threw the ball very well and were quite successful in the season’s opening month as well. DJ Baxendale is the choice for April Starting Pitcher of the Year, but Tyler Duffey, Tom Stuifbergen, Alex Meyer and Kyle Gibson all performed quite well during the month. We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the Relief Pitcher of the Month. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

Miracle win on a Walk-off walk by Levi Michael!

Seth Stohs ‏@SethTweets20s Down 2-1, bottom of the 8th, two outs... Two runners on... MIguel Sano comes up and... singles up the middle to tie the game!

Miracle still down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th inning. Eddie Rosario just started another nice double play.