Seth Stohs

Yesterday, I posted Part 1 of my interview with Jake Mauer, the manager of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Cedar Rapids is the home of the Twins Low Class A affiliate in the Midwest League. We discussed his goals as a manager/coach, the language barrier that there can be in baseball, the best part of managing and much more. He even discussed the similarities between Byron Buxton and Joe Mauer. In Part 2 today, Mauer will discuss several more topics including the importance of development versus winning, left-handed pitching, several players including Aaron Hicks and more. Enjoy the interview and feel free to comment as well. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3731[/ATTACH] PART 2 Watching Aaron Hicks play in Ft. Myers, where he didn’t put up big stats, what made you think that he had something? Jake Mauer (JM): I think he got a little enamored with the long ball, and I think he tried to do that in Ft. Myers a little more than hitting. You play in those big ball parks, and I think he tried to muscle up a little bit and got into a funk, but I think that’s part of learning too. Joe’s first year in the Florida State League, I think he was only hitting two-something, maybe .220, in the month of April. He wasn’t tearing the league up by any stretch of the matter. So it’s part of development and understanding that very rarely do guys come in and just tear the league apart right away and do it for the whole year. There’s usually a point where the league adjusts to you, and that’s part of it. Aaron obviously made a commitment last year to turn himself into a pretty good player. Now it’s another thing to be starting over in the big leagues. It’s another learning process for him. Watching batting practice, it’s clear that bunting is done different. When I played, bunts were supposed to go down the lines, but now it seems like hitting it back toward the pitcher is just fine. JM: I’m the same way, I still like to bunt it toward the lines and make the corner guys field it. But the thought-process behind it that most of the time, if the pitcher fields it, and it’s not a bullet back to him, if he has to come in and pick the ball up, he’s going to throw it to first base most of the time anyway. So, what they’re trying to do with sacrifices is to take the guy who’s trying to be too fine and bunts the ball and it roles foul. Now we have to tee it up again. More of the thought process is just get it down into the grass where the pitcher has to field it and throw it to first. So, it’s still just trying to deaden it? JM: It’s having a feel for it. Really, a lot of our guys try to get too perfect. They’re sacrificing and they’re almost trying to bunt for a base hit. We’re just trying to change the mentality a little bit. Josue Montanez was added to the Kernels roster that already includes a lot of lefties. A couple of years ago, there were very few left-handers in the organization, now is it a focus? JM: I think it’s just kind of a cyclical thing. Honestly, where we drafted the last couple of years, we had opportunities to get some guys that can run it up there pretty good. We drafted earlier compared to five years ago when we drafted toward the bottom of the draft. I think the opportunities were there. I think Ibarra’s got a very good arm, a left-handed arm. Jose Gonzalez has a pretty good arm. Those guys are AA now. We have some guys here, you’re going to see (Mason) Melotakis today. (Josue) Montanez has a pretty good arm. Brett Lee threw the ball pretty good last night. We have some left-handed arms that we haven’t had for a while. Do I think that the scouts are focusing on it? I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s just not only our draft status, but some opportunities internationally to get these kids and develop them. What is yours and the organization’s philosophy of development versus winning? JM: To be honest, development is one, number one, without a doubt. But winning is 1A, if that makes sense. You’ve got to try. Am I going to sacrifice bringing a guy in in the ninth inning to get one out? I am pretty confident that my closer is going to come in and slam the door. Well, let’s see. Let’s maybe given another kid an opportunity. I think it’s unfair to kids to pigeonhole them when they’re this young. Melotakis may be a starter, may not be a starter, but he’s got a good arm, so let’s see what we have. Especially the way starting pitching is around the league. They’re at a premium. When you’ve got guys that are fourth and fifth starters getting double-digit figures that just tells you where it is and the value that’s place on it. Development is number one, give guys an opportunity. That’s my biggest belief. But in the 9th inning, if we get a chance to try to win the game, maybe it’s a pinch hit or pinch run for somebody, we’re going to do that most of the time. But, there will be some managerial moves that wouldn’t necessarily make sense, but I think it will be better for the development of a hitter or a pitcher just to see what happens. We may sacrifice some losses just to see what we have. History suggests he’ll spend the full season in Cedar Rapids, but is there any chance that Byron Buxton moves up to Ft. Myers during the season? JM: To be determined. If he’s dominating the league here, they’ll probably move him. But that’s not to say anyone. If JD Williams is dominating, they’ll probably move him too. It’s kind of the neat thing. It’s not like, and I use the term, it’s not like school where you do just enough and they graduate you. You have to play your way out of leagues. Michael Tonkin is a good example. Started in Beloit. Probably not happy. Asked what he’s got to do. Well, he’s got to go out and dominate the league. Well, he did. Then he went to Ft. Myers. He got down there, dominated the league. Gets himself on the 40 man. Does a nice job out in Arizona. Now he’s in AA knocking on the door. That can happen. These guys have to realize that nothing is going to be given to him. They got to go out and play, and if they dominate a league, we’re going to get them out of here. AJ Achter and Michael Tonkin followed very similar paths in 2012, can you compare and contrast the two? They were outstanding. Achter is a little more polished right now, but realistically, Tonkin probably has a higher ceiling. He’s got more power stuff, that you would want to see at the back end. Achter’s stuff is pretty good also. I would say that’s probably the biggest difference between the two. Tonkin’s going to be more of a strikeout guy, swing and miss guy. And Achter’s going to get his fair share, but he’s smart enough too. He’s not a strikeout guy. He gets them to swing at his pitch, ground ball. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s going to be that power pitcher than Tonkin can be. A baseball season is pretty time-consuming and intense. What do you enjoy doing to get away from the game? It’s nice. My family is here most of the time we’re in town. When school winds down, they’re able to spend more time. That keeps me pretty busy. I try to give mom a break because she’s got those two all the time. There’s no break for her. We’ll go play golf as a staff. That’s probably more on the road in the morning. The boys like to sleep in, which is fine, but I don’t think anyone in that other room sleeps in either. We’ll get up and go play. Come to the park and get our stuff down. This is a bigger town for an A ball town, about 100,000 people. There are a lot of opportunities, a couple of malls on the south and north sides. There’s things to do. Different, decent restaurants, to go sit down and eat and have good meals. Yeah, you try to get away, Seth, I think you have to. I think it’s important. It can consume you. Baseball can. It’s every day. You want to try to spice it up sometimes. It can turn into Groundhogs Day, and you don’t want it ever to feel like a job, if that makes sense. It’s fun. We get to put a uniform on and go out there and play, and they pay you to do it. You can’t beat that. You get serious when it’s time to get serious. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself when it’s appropriate too. I think that, if you have that kind of attitude and that mindset, and you’ll be ok. Adam Walker puts on a show in batting practice and has incredible power, but he appears to, like many, struggle with the breaking pitches. He gets pull happy sometimes. His hands get around the ball. If he thinks, just stay to the inside of the ball, he’s still going to pull it. It’s not telling you to punch the ball that way. If he stays inside the ball, he’ll be OK. Watching Travis Harrison work in batting practice is great. Great stance, uses his hands well, and the ball jumps off his bat. He’s strong. He’s strong in his hands for a young man too. He’ll learn the strike zone a little bit, and young hitters do, they get anxious sometimes. When he starts recognizing pitches and tendencies, and not only that, but what he can really lock into, you’ll start seeing him pop some balls out of the park. Is that the key to hitting and hitting for power? I think it’s learning yourself. Learning what pitches you can take a chance on, per se, and understanding points in the game and counts, when you can do it. I think that’s the biggest thing, not only with those potential power guys, but with the small guys too. You have to learn your role. That’s part of the Objectives meeting that we have. We tell each guy how you fit on our team right now. Probably going to change. You know, (Drew) Leachman obviously is going to hit in the middle of our order, and he goes down the first night, so things change a little bit. We slide Polanco down to the 3-hole and different things like that. He’s going to DH today and we’ll how that goes, but I think it’s learning yourself as a hitter and getting those at bats, having that understanding. You learn how to hit and all that other power stuff starts to show up. --- As I’ve said, Jake Mauer was great. He was willing to take time to chat with me on several occasions and answer questions, or just kind of chat about other things like playing baseball in the MIAC (Minnesota Inter-collegiate Athletic Conference), family, etc. His whole staff was great. Tommy Watkins is as good of a guy as there is. It was fun chatting with him as well. And I got the chance to meet Gary Lucas for the first time and he was a terrific guy. Kernels GM Doug Nelson chatted with me for an extended period all four days I was there. He is good. He runs a great show at Perfect Game Field and other venues around the city. He’s got to be quite busy, but he was kind enough to spend time with me. Morgan Hawk is their PR guy as well as doing the radio broadcast at www.kernels.com. He was extremely helpful and supportive. As I wrote yesterday, I can’t encourage people to make a trip to Cedar Rapids enough to watch this team play. I made the trek last week. I’m hoping to get there at least one more time this summer. I’ll be joining the Territory Train in late June to spend a couple of fun-filled days watching Kernel baseball. If you’re interested in joining that trip, click here.

Prospect Diary: Emulating The Mayor - BaseballAmerica.com Check out Twins Daily's and Ft. Myers Miracle's AJ Pettersen's most recent Baseball America blog. It's a good reminder of what pro ball players should think of more often. It's a nice tribute as well to Tommy Watkins.

If you're interested in hearing a couple of guys talk about the Twins and the Mets, please listen to the MetsMusings.com podcast. We recorded the podcast on Thursday night. METS MUSINGS: METS MUSINGS #102

Jake is just a terrific person, very personable, genuine, and I think he's got the appropriate mentality to be a great manager at this level (and frankly, any level). I didn't ask all the normal questions, and he didn't shy away from any of them. It was casual and I thought he did a great job. There are more interesting thoughts in part 2 that I think people will enjoy.

Not in this format. I had a lunch with Tommy again, and we talked before and after each game. I had never met Lucas before, but he's another great guy and very knowledgeable. I interviewed him after the first game, but then just chatted more with him the other days.

I agree birdwatcher. I'll be watching Sano's strikeout numbers this year. I'd like that K% to at least stay the same, and ideally improve a little bit. I think there's little question that Sano will likely move up to New Britain for the second half, probably along with Rosario, where he will again be the youngest player in the league.

yeah, that happened last night. The Jays are trying to do the same thing that the Twins did with Burnett. They're trying to get him through waivers so they can send him to the minors but keep him in the organization. He should pass through.

I full acknowledge that the sample for me on Buxton has been 4 days and for Trout was 2 or 3 days three years ago. Trout stood out on the field. He looked great at the plate, showed patience, got on base, stole bases, played great defense and had a great arm. Buxton stood out on the field. He looked great at the plate, displayed patience, got on base, stole bases (is faster than Trout and likely has equal or more power), played great defense and showed a great arm. Both just looked like ballplayer, played the part, and frankly, made a lot of the game look easy. Again, I'm not going to say that Buxton is going to be up next July and put up a 10+ WAR in 2015 or anything like that. I'm just saying that as good as a prospect as Trout was in the Midwest League, I think Buxton is his equivalent. We'll see how he develops, but it is exciting to follow!

Molitor will visit each of the full-season minor league affiliates 2-4 times throughout the season, so don't make too much out of him going to Ft. Myers as opposed to somewhere else. He'll get to Cedar Rapids, New Britain and Rochester too. His input is very much valued in the organization. He receives daily updates on the games and the players from each team each day as well. He gets the same information that is going up to Terry Ryan, Rob Antony, Brad Steil, etc., and he is filling out reports on what he sees as well. As far as seeing Michael, he's going to see where he is health-wise, and if he gets into games yet in EST. Don't forget Molitor will also be involved in Extended Spring Training while he's down there. Michael is going to get an opportunity to play some SS in Ft. Myers, but has been brought up, he'll also play a little 2B and Rosario will get a few games in CF still. Jim Crikket will likely agree with me, but when we were sitting at the Cedar Rapids games last weekend, the Buxton/Trout talk was definitely a pretty big part of the conversation. It's not really fair to put that kind of expectations on Buxton because what Trout has done is rare, but I saw what, in my opinion, is the Twins top prospect playing Cedar Rapids this weekend. And that's no knock on Sano. I think he's a top prospect and should remain at 3B as long as possible because he's such a good athlete that he'll figure out another position well enough in no time. Buxton is pretty special.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1548-Q-A-with-Jake-Mauer-(Part-I)

As you know, I was able to spend four days in Cedar Rapids last week. I arrived in time for their Meet the Kernels event at Perfect Game Field. At a press conference, hitting coach Tommy Watkins introduced me to manager Jake Mauer. Over the next few days, I had a chance to talk to Watkins, pitching coach Gary Lucas and Mauer quite a bit. Below, you can read Part 1 of a two-part Q&A with the Kernels manager. Before we start, here is a little background. Jake Mauer is the older brother of Twins catcher Joe Mauer. The younger sibling was the first overall pick out of Cretin-Derham Hall in 2011. The elder Mauer was the Twins 23rd round selection the same year after helping the University of St. Thomas to a national championship. He spent the remainder of that 2001 season in Elizabethton. He spent the 2002 season in Quad Cities of the Midwest League. In 2003, he played the full season in Ft. Myers. In 2004, he moved up to AA New Britain. He was hurt much of the 2005 season. In 2006, he moved into the coaching world. He managed the Twins Gulf Coast League team starting in 2008 for two years. In 2010, the then-31 year old became the manager of the Ft. Myers Miracle where he has spent the past three season. In 2013, Mauer is being entrusted to lead some of the most talented prospects in the Twins farm system. On Saturday, Mauer was gracious enough to spend a half-hour with me after batting practice talking about several topics. Today, I’m posting the first half of that discussion, and tomorrow, I will post Part 2, so be sure to check back. Again, this interview took place on Saturday morning. The Kernels had won their home opener 9-7, and then won on Friday night in walk-off fashion. In other words, this was before the loss on Saturday afternoon, the combined no-hitter on Sunday, another win on Monday and the rain/snow-outs the last couple of days. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3723[/ATTACH] PART 1 What is the hardest part of managing at a different place and different level? Jake Mauer (JM): A new city. Getting to know the city, a place to live, get comfortable. Meeting a new front office, obviously, but everybody here has been outstanding. Facility is great. Town is fantastic. The front office has been even better. Different level? These guys aren’t quite as experienced. Granted, maybe it’s a year, but that can make a difference. These guys have to learn to prepare and to play every day. For most, it’s their first full season, and you’re dealing with inclement weather at times. There’s some adjustments in this league. This is a great league, I think, for a first full season for these guys because the towns are a little bigger, they play in front of some more people. These guys are still kids. You kind of have to keep an eye on all of it. I don’t remember being 21. JM: That’s just it. Most of these guys are only 20, 21 years old, sophomore, junior in college. We have some 19 year olds that would be freshmen. It’s a life, not only on the field, but off the field. They’ve got to eat right. Make sure they’re washing their laundry. Figuring out how to get to a ballpark and all that stuff. Do you get advice from anybody as a manager? JM: Oh yeah, you talk to everybody. From Gene Glynn to Ramon Borrego, we’re all in it together obviously. And, having Tom Kelly and Paul Molitor as a resource is pretty good. Having them around every day in spring training was outstanding. You’ve got everybody, Lep (minor league coordinator Joel Lepel). Everybody will help. We’re not afraid. There’s no, “we’re on our own island” here. There’s none of that, all the way through, from Gene to Ramon. Do you have a good Tom Kelly story? JM: I’ve actually known Tom. I actually played ball with his son at St. Thomas, so I’ve known him even before we were in pro ball. Really, when I was a player, it was starting to get into his last year as a manager on the big league side. Actually, I’ve been around him more as a coach and manager. I just like to ask him questions. Coaching third base, places to go. Obviously he was a third base coach before he was a manager. Some thoughts that he has. Managing bullpens. You bounce certain things off of him that come up. Ask him what he thinks and his opinion. Obviously that’s a pretty nice resource to have. Are there things that Joe asks you, or are there things you will call Joe about to help you as a manager? JM: It’ll be more catching stuff that I’ll ask him. Things that he likes to do. I see something on TV, for instance, they change their signs with a runner on second, just their thought process and then try to get that through with everybody else, to tell them what they’re doing up there. We talk a lot about baseball obviously, no doubt about it. But it’s in general terms. How he’s feeling. He asks how a lot of these guys are doing. When he comes down to spring training, he knows a lot of those guys in there. He recognizes names. Buxton made an impression on him when he went up there for a big league game, and some of these younger guys that he’s been around. 2 hits, 2 stolen bases, not a bad impression. Yeah, and played a real good centerfield. Kenny Vargas is another one he asks about, that he’s seen in a big league game. A lot of our guys that have come up through the system that are in the big leagues are pretty familiar with a lot of these kids at every other level. They see them throughout, and you hear names and stuff like that, so there is an interest. Do you get Head and Shoulders free? JM: We used to. Yeah, we used to. (Lots of laughter) Joe was the #1 overall pick. Buxton was a #2 pick. Any thoughts yet on if there are any similarities? JM: You know, Seth, their personalities are pretty similar. They’re quieter guys. I don’t think they let a lot of people in right away. I think that’s maybe a good thing with all the attention. I think the biggest thing, too, is they just go out and play. I don’t think they necessarily believe what everybody writes and what’s said. You still have to go out and play the game. That’s the most important thing. I would say there are a lot of similarities, personality-wise, between the two. They both have high expectations, but that comes with the territory, but I think both of them, the way that they think, and mentally, how tough they are, I think they both handle it pretty good. On your staff, what are the coaching responsibilities? JM: Tommy and I will share most of the hitters. Tommy pretty much takes the outfielders, and I take the infielders. You’ve seen, Tommy keeps a spray chart, which is good, so we can position guys. Tommy has free reign to move guys as well, if he sees someone in the outfield that isn’t moving, he’ll holler and get it straight. More of the pre-game stuff, I’ll usually go out and take care of the defensive stuff, and Tommy will do the offensive stuff in the cages. That’s just kind of how it’s been. Got to be in two places at one time, so we get a lot of stuff done, which that’s nice. Luke (Gary Lucas)? Really, the pitchers are Luke’s. He’s there in the trenches with them every day. He knows a lot about how they tick so I rely on him quite a bit. Ultimately, it comes down to being my decision on who goes out there and who does what. I bounce a lot of things off of them, and they bounce a lot of things off of me. We’re pretty comfortable. He was the pitching coach when I was in Quad Cities, so I’ve known Luke for ten years, and I’ve known Tommy for even longer. I think it starts with the staff, as far as team chemistry. If the staff isn’t getting along, I think the players can feel it. We like to have fun. We’re pretty laid back, and I think that helps. Lead by example, and when it’s time to play, it’s time to play. Here we go. Observationally, I see a generally positive and optimistic and fun atmosphere with your team, but when the game approaches, there is a different mentality. How do you help young kids turn that off and on? JM: Absolutely. Some of these guys, it’ll be the first time they experience failure. In high school and college, they were always the man, head and shoulders above everybody else. Now when they get thrown into this, it’s… you know, you say ‘big fish in a small pond,’ now you’re in the ocean. There are players from all over the world that they’re competing against. So it can be overwhelming at times. You try to stay positive. You let them know that we’ve gone through what they’re going through. They’re not different. Everybody’s gone through it. Let’s work through it. Let’s stay positive. Bad things are going to happen. It’s part of the game, but how do we come out the next day? How do we make the next pitch? How do we take the next at bat? That’s what a professional mentality they’ve got to start to understand. We’ve got 138 more (games) left. We’ve got a lot of games left. They’re not always going to be as exciting as the last two nights, obviously. When failure does happen, like when (Steven) Gruver had a walk, a run scored, he was kind of beating himself up about it. So, let’s look at the positives. That’s not to say forget about the walk, but he threw three excellent innings, dominated them. Let’s learn from the walk, but let’s not harp on it. The language barrier has to be an issue, especially with young players. The most important thing is that you try to make them feel like they’re part of the team. They’re more comfortable with other Latin players just because they speak the same language and a lot of them come from the same background. In our group of guys, like a JD Williams, (Drew) Leachman, (Travis) Harrison, they make really good efforts to include everybody and I think that’s important. Some of these guys aren’t old enough to play winter ball. It’s a different thing. You go down there and get to experience that. Well, that’s what those guys are experiencing here. It’s not only in baseball that they’re competing, but the culture. It’s different. Being able to find that and get adjusted up here. It’s obviously cooler. In the Midwest, there’s not a lot of Spanish-speaking folks up here, compared to in a Ft. Myers or something like that. It’s getting that, but they also need to make an effort to learn English. And our guys do. I saw the video. Outstanding. And then to be comfortable. When they talk, they don’t want to sound like they don’t know what they’re talking about, if that makes sense. A confidence. JM: It’s a confidence with using it, and that’s the biggest thing. We had (Candido) Pimentel and (Jorge) Polanco, and Polanco speaks pretty good English. He’s a quiet guy. Really smart kid. Really smart. Pimentel’s not as comfortable. So we’re trying to explain and go over objectives. “So, Pimentel, what are your goals and objectives?” Polanco asks him. He starts to say them in Spanish. I said, “No, you tell me in English.” Well, you’ve got to try. You know, you’ve got to try. We’re not going to laugh at you. Try, see what happens. We can help if you need. Just try. The Twins value family and character a lot, and it is shown by the players, the coaches, and their families. JM: It comes into play in a game like last night. That bullpen guy (Dakota Bacus) struck nine of us out in five innings. Three innings of not even putting a ball in play. We could have hung our heads. Walk. Stole second. Hit him in the back. Rolls out. Now they score a run on a dribbler. We could have folded up shop. But I think that’s that chemistry stuff. They’re all pulling for each other. No one put their head down and give them this one. That’s the mentality here. I think that starts with team chemistry. Obviously, you want to Develop #1, but you can develop and win. That’s preparing guys to get to Minnesota. You want guys to get to Minnesota who have experienced winning. That just helps. There’s no panic out there in the last inning. You know, Pimentel stands out in the cold for eight innings and scores on a double from first. Easily. JM: Yeah. Without a doubt. So, it’s stuff like that. It’s being prepared. Have an understanding that just because your name isn’t in the starting lineup. Adam Walker may have to come in and pinch hit here in the ninth inning, so he has to be ready. Are you a prospect? Are you looking to move up the organizational ladder? JM: I would like to get to the big leagues, Seth, any way possible. Some guys that got to the big leagues… Jim Dwyer is the hitting coach in Ft. Myers and played for 18 years in the big leagues. He’s not looking to get back to the big leagues. He likes the road trips. He just loves being around baseball. There’s other guys, like Tommy Watkins. who is probably in the same boat as me and would like to get to the big leagues again at some point, whatever capacity it is. There are only 30 managerial jobs, and a lot of guys are recycled. So, to get the opportunity to manage that would be outstanding, but hitting coach, it doesn’t matter. You try to think. You do the right things and get prepared enough to where, if there is an opportunity that comes along, that you’re ready to hopefully seize it. SS: Best part of managing at these levels. JM: The teaching aspect. The day to day. Getting into the trenches with the boys, and that’s kind of a cliché, but the day-to-day stuff that nobody sees. You’re out there four hours before the game hitting ground balls and working on footwork and making throws and trying to develop not only physical tools, but mental tools, and how they apply. That’s what gets exciting, when you see a guy start to get up into those higher levels. Aaron Hicks. (Ben) Revere, we had. Guys like that start to surface, and you see them doing things that you worked on and they needed to improve upon that they’re starting to do. When you see that light bulb go on, that’s probably the most rewarding thing. --- That’s it for today, a lot of information to take in. Tomorrow, I’ll be back with the rest of the interview, so be sure to check that. I’ll ask Jake Mauer about what he saw in Aaron Hicks. I’ll talk to him about bunting, left-handed pitching, winning versus development, promotions and much more. Thanks again to all those with the Kernels who were so great. I can’t encourage people to make a trip to Cedar Rapids enough to watch this team play. I made the trek last week. I’m hoping to get there at least one more time this summer. I’ll be joining the Territory Train in late June to spend a couple of fun-filled days watching Kernel baseball. If you’re interested in joining that trip, click here.

One thing I always like to say as well is that the purpose of college is to prepare a person for their future career. Well, in what career is a million signing bonus (or $6 million in Buxton's case), or even $500,000? When college is an option after that career is over (whether it's after a big league career or not), it's a no brainer to me.

Territory Train: Dining with the Developing - Blogs - Minnesota Twins News & Rumors Forum IF you're looking for a good way to get down to Cedar Rapids and don't want to drive, check out the link.

That's why I encourage fans of the minor leagues to try to make that trip down to Cedar Rapids, if you can. If you see people play in person, your impressions can be based on more than just the numbers. As Mike Radcliff once told me, the lower down the farm system a team/player is, the less that the stats mean. Doesn't mean meaningless, but it's just a part of the picture.

JT Chargois is in EST on a throwing program with a flexor strain.

Same draft class, that's right.

Thanks for the report Halsey... I get a lot of questions about Kepler.

Ben Tootle?

Roberts had another knee surgery (meniscus). He was hoping to be ready by opening day, but I don't know where he currently stands. I'll see if I can find out. As for Kepler's elbow, it seemed as though it was really bothering him, and yet part of it might not be wanting to put a sore elbow into the wintry conditions that the Kernels are going to see for a little while yet.

Chargois is not being converted to a starter. I believe he was hurt some this spring, but I'm trying to get some more information.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1545-Tuesday-Turn-Through-the-Minors