Seth Stohs

What are your thoughts on the interview, the questions... and who else would you want to see on a 3 Questions With interview?

I get that there are a few examples of players debuting as teenagers. It was obviously much more common 60 years ago when "bonus babies" had to be in the big leagues. It's much more impressive since Griffey 32 years ago. Definitely the exception. Rodriguez is exciting. His power is impressive. His athleticism is good. He started the season with 12 walks to 6 strikeouts. In 3 games this week, he's got 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. So, patience will be good.

Seth chats with one of the top hitting prospects in the Minnesota Twins organization, 19-year-old slugger Emmanuel Rodriguez. They discuss what it was about the Twins that made him sign with them, what his strengths are on the field and what he's working on, and what his goals are for this season and beyond. View full video

The pitching pipeline is strong. No doubt about it.

Cedar Rapids did not play on Wednesday due to poor weather. The three other Twins affiliates played tight, one-run games. A couple of Top 20 pitchers had big games. A couple of Top 10 hitters have multi-hit games. Read all about them and more in Wednesday's Minor League Report. Weather was a factor in just one of the Twins’ affiliates today. The Cedar Rapids Kernels game was postponed. They hope to play a doubleheader tomorrow. The Wind Surge hosted a whole bunch of students in an afternoon game. They got to see a couple of big innings, an extra inning and plenty of excitement. Ft. Myers saw one of its players knock their first professional home run, and it proved large in a one-run game. In addition, along with being named the Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Week, Mighty Mussels righty John Stankiewicz was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week. Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins announced that RHP Jharel Cotton has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to St. Paul. The Saints placed RHP Ian Hamilton on the 7-Day IL with a right groin strain. Ft. Myers placed RHPs Marco Raya and Niklas Rimmel on the 7-Day IL. Rimmel is out with a right shoulder impingement. Raya is getting his wisdom teeth removed. RHP Logan Campbell joins the Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Toledo 3 Box Score The Saints used one big inning and it was just enough for the pitching staff to hold on for the win. Mario Sanchez started and gave up one run on one hit (a solo homer). He walked two and struck out six batters. Dereck Rodriguez came on and completed three innings. He was charged with two unearned runs on two hits. He struck out five batters without any walks. Yennier Cano pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Juan Minaya came on and struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to record his third save. In the top of the third inning, Elliot Soto walked and advanced to third base on a Jose Miranda double. With Royce Lewis batting, Chase Anderson threw a wild pitch to score Soto. Lewis followed with a single to center to score Miranda. Later in the half-inning, Daniel Robertson singled in Jake Cave and Curtis Terry to give the Saints a 4-1 lead. Royce Lewis went 2-for-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Jose Miranda hit his fifth and sixth doubles. They combined for four of the Saints’ six hits, but they added six walks as well. The Saints are now 9-4. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 9, Midland 8 (10 innings) Box Score Things got a little wild in Wichita on Wednesday. First and foremost, we have to talk about Simeon Woods Richardson. The young right-hander tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out six batters. Overall, he is up to 16 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run. Ben Gross came on and tossed scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. The Wind Surge offense came in the third inning. Michael Helman singled in Alex Isola to get the Surge on the board. DaShawn Keirsey then scored on a wild pitch. First baseman Dennis Ortega drilled a triple to right-center which scored Spencer Steer and Helman. Matt Wallner followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field. New pitcher came in, and he was greeted by Kevin Merrell who hit his first Wichita homer and gave the team a 7-0 lead. That lead carried to the top of the ninth inning. Steven Cruz came on and was consistently sitting 98-100 mph with his fastball. However, the one issue he has had over his career has been control. He walked the leadoff batter, then hit the next guy. Austin Martin made another diving play at second base to get the first out at first base. But then Cruz walked another guy to load the bases. Then the 21-year-old made a mental error. Logan Davidson (former Twins outfielder Mark Davidson’s son) hit a bounding ball to first base. Dennis Ortego made the play, turned toward the bag, and no one was there. Cruz had forgotten to cover the base. Shutout over. And then a bases-loaded walk made it 7-2. Cruz then got a fly out to left field, which scored the third run, but also gave them two outs. However, another single to left scored a run and now it was 7-4. That was the end for Cruz. He was replaced by Argenis Angulo. He gave up a three-run homer to the first batter he faced. Tie game. He walked another, but then he got a strikeout to end the top of the ninth. The Wind Surge went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth and we had extra innings. Angulo started the 10th. With a runner on second base, a single moved him to third. A walk loaded the bases, and Davidson singled in the go-ahead run. Bases still loaded, just one out, but someone Angulo got out of the inning with a strikeout, a force out and another strikeout to end the threat. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Michael Helman started on second base. Ortega singled him to third. Wallner hit another sacrifice fly, scoring Helman and tying the game. However, the throw to the plate was cut off and a throw was made to first base. It got by and went down the line Ortega hustled to third base. Two batters were intentionally walked to load the bases. Alex Isola came up and on a 1-2 pitch, he drilled a line drive to the left-center field gap. Normally it would have been a double, but as soon as Ortega touched home plate, and Isola touched first base, the Wind Surge won in a walk-off. This was definitely a unique way to pick up the team’s sixth straight win. After starting 0-5, they are now 6-5. Isola and Keirsey each had two hits in the game. Spencer Steer had a double and two walks. Dennis Ortega had four hits. The minor-league veteran catcher (who has also played some at first base) went 4-for-5 and drove in two runs. He had a triple, a double, and a couple of singles in a game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Peoria (Postponed) Box Score Wednesday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather. The plan is for these teams to play two, seven-inning games on Thursday, starting at 5:30. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 3 Box Score Down 2-0 heading into the sixth inning, the Mighty Mussels got on the board with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Emmanuel Rodriguez. Then in the top of the seventh inning, Mikey Perez doubled in Kyle Schmidt. Later, Dylan Neuse hit his first professional home run, a two-run shot that gave the Mussels a 4-2 lead. They gave up one run in the bottom of the eighth inning but held on to the lead for the win. Kyler Fedko continued to rake. He went 2-for-4 and is hitting .432. Our choice for Minor League Hitter of the Week last week was Emmanuel Rodriguez. Along with three homers, he also had 12 walks to go with just six strikeouts. A night after Marco Raya struck out ten batters in his second pro start, Steven Hajjar made his second pro start. He also struck out ten batters. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up an unearned run. He gave up no hits and walked two batters. Regi Grace came on and got the next five outs, but not before giving up an unearned run on three hits and two walks. Sam Perez was also charged with an unearned run. Matthew Swain recorded his second save with one strikeout in a perfect ninth inning. The Mighty Mussels are now an impressive 9-2 on the season. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K Hitter of the Day – Dennis Ortega (Wichita) - 4-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-5, 2B (4), K #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-3, BB, 2B (7), RBI #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-5, R, 2-2B (6), K #8 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (65 pitched, 45 strikes) #10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, K #11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-1, HBP #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-3, 2 RBI (2-SF), 1 K #15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, SF RBI, 3 K #18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (5), R. #20 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 4.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (73 pitches, 47 strikes) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Toledo (5:35PM CST) - LHP Devin Smeltzer (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Midland @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Chris Vallimont (0-1, 21.00 ERA) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (DH @ 5:30 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (1-0, 2.00 ERA), RHP Sean Mooney (0-0, 6.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (0-0, 15.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

This is a fair request... I'll send it to our minor league writers to watch for. Lewis has only played SS (and a game or two at DH). Miranda's played mostly 3B (maybe a game or two at DH and 1B) Martin sure looks like a 2B now. Man, he just looks so much more natural, more comfortable playing there. Another diving play today. He turned a really nice double play. Looked really good. I don't think he's played SS since the first 4-5 games of the season.

Fair or not... the comparisons between Raya and Berrios have been evident. Not too tall. Thin. Throws low-90s, but he knows how to pitch, with multiple good pitches. Solid work ethic. All those things. Of course, now Raya hits 97 and even 98 with the fastball sometimes, so there is a lot to be excited about.

The jerseys were auctioned off and money went to the Tiger preserve or whatever it's called.

Yes, but he's been on the Injured List for a week now.

Imagine the numbers Sano would put up in Colorado where the air is light and breaking pitches don't break as much.

Well, one thing we want to do is give voices to a variety of thoughts and opinions. As someone who does editing and scheduling, I fight myself often and have to keep reminding myself that just because I may think this topic or this opinion is silly or even out there, there may be other Twins fans who agree with whatever topic. Even something like this, that I think we can agree that like 95+% of Twins fans would find laughable, there are some fans who think it's worth consideration. That's what the forums are for, agreeing and disagreeing. I don't think even @Cody Christiethinks it's a good idea, but that doesn't mean it can't be discussed. In this case, 95+% of us think it's silly. In many similar articles, it may be more 60/40 or even 50/50.

Yeah, it was a national talker due to who sent out the message. It's definitely good to point out those kinds of things, even if they're silly to most of us.

No doubt. We saw that last year too in CF... Depth is good. Teams have to have decent depth, 2-3 deep at most positions, but if you're going beyond that, it's a mess. You either have to rush a guy like Celestino because he's on the 40-man, or start playing guys out of position, like Gordon or Refsnyder. At that point, it's hard to even blame the front office. That's just horrible luck and no team could adequately replace that many.

SS: Lewis 2B: probably Martin, though Palacios is a possibility there too. Likely Daniel Robertson. 1B: Miranda 3B: Miranda C : Godoy or Sisco... Mack and Camargo are in High-A. They've go a ways to go. OF: Likely Cave, maybe should be Contreras? SP: probably Sands right now because he's pitching well and on the 40-man. Winder would presumably just enter the rotation officially, if needed. RP: Moran is on the 40, so he's got an advantage. I would think Minaya could be up quick, and also Yennier Cano.

100% agree... it's crazy to me that a respected national writer would even think of this, much less spend any time writing about it.

As we know, these things tend to figure themselves out. Kirilloff gets hurt, Larnach gets called up. Depends on need, but that's the thing about the Twins system, they do have depth at most positions.

We did every week last year and the first two weeks of this season, so I think there's a good chance!

Week 2 of the minor-league season was a good one in the Twins organization. All four Twins full-season affiliates had winning records. The Saints went 3-2 despite being no-hit and playing in frigid conditions. The other affiliates all went 4-2 for the week. And, there were a lot of great pitching performances as well. Keep reading to find out more. Over the past week, the Twins went 2-4, but all four of their minor-league affiliates had a winning record. There were postponements and a no-hitter. Games were played in snow. There were some great comebacks, and some absolutely dynamic pitching performances by some top prospects, but also by several that you may not have heard of… yet. And there were some really big offensive performances by prospects and others that are less known. Our purpose here, in large part, is to update you and introduce you to Twins prospects by giving them the credit they deserve. If you missed it, read Nick's Twins Week in Review after you've read about the minor league week. Also note, hyperlinks on player names will show you past articles in which that player has been tagged. Click around a bit and see how much some of these players have been written about over the years. WEEK IN REVIEW In case you missed a daily report: Tuesday: Povich Nearly Perfect (Video) Wednesday: Streak Continues, No-No in St. Paul (Video) Thursday: Varland Victorious and Mussels Mighty (Video) Friday: Bats Bring the Boom, Pitchers the Brooms (Video) Saturday: The Bats are Sizzling (Video) Sunday: Saints, Wind Surge, Kernels Conclude Week with Wins (Video) Jhoan Duran is What the Twins Have Always Needed Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (vs. Indianapolis) 3-2 (8-3 overall) The Saints played their home-opening series and got a brutal look at what baseball in Minnesota in April can look like. After dropping the first two games of the week, including being no-hit on Wednesday, the team was snowed-out on Thursday. They came back to play the coldest game in team history on Friday, got the win, then had a crazy come-from-behind win on Saturday, and finished off a series win on Sunday. The Saints scored 28 runs over their five games, and 16 of them came on Saturday. Here are the top offensive performers from the past week: Curtis Terry played four games. He went 4-for-14, hitting .286/.333/.786 (1.119) with a double and two home runs. Royce Lewis played in all five games. He hit .412/.389/.706 (1.095) with three doubles and a triple. (Yes, he had a sacrifice fly.) Jermaine Palacios has played around the infield, and in four games last week, he hit .385/.467/.615 (1.082) with a home run. On the pitching front, there was a lot of solid pitching. Nine pitchers threw in one game and did not allow a run. In that group includes: Devin Smeltzer who gave up three hits over five scoreless in his start of the week. Chi Chi Gonzalez tossed three scoreless, hitless innings in his outing. Cole Sands had a second strong start. He gave up one run on three hits over five innings. Finally, Jake Faria stretched out to four innings and gave up just one run. What’s Next? The Saints travel to Toledo to take on the Mudhens. Here are their pitching probables: Pitching Probables (RHP Cole Sands, RHP Mario Sanchez, TBD, TBD, TBD, RHP Cole Sands) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (@NW Arkansas) 4-2 (4-5 overall) The Surge began their 2022 season with three home losses to Tulsa. This past week, they traveled to NW Arkansas and lost the first two games against the Royals’ affiliate. On Thursday, they grabbed their first win of the season and finished the weekend with four straight wins. Things started a bit ominously for the team. In their first game of the week, Edouard Julien walked in the first inning. He stole second, but he hurt his ankle on the play and went on the Injured List the next day. Here are a couple of offensive highlights for the week: Spencer Steer played in all six games. He hit .269/.321/.538 (.859) with two doubles, a triple, and a home run. Alex Isola hit .286/.353/.500 (.853) with a homer over four games played. Veteran Kevin Merrell joined the roster this week. He hit .385 in three games (5-for-13). Austin Martin got off to a rough start, but over the past few games, he has returned to on-base machine status. This week, he hit .292 with a .433 OBP. He had seven hits and five walks, and when he got on base, he was running. He went 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts. On the other side of the spectrum, Matt Wallner went 2-for-22 (.091) with 12 strikeouts. He did hit his first Double-A homer. Like the Saints, the Wind Surge got some really strong bullpen performances and a couple of standout starter performances. Eight relievers pitched twice and did not give up an earned run. Among them: Steven Cruz tossed four hitless innings. Tyler Viza struck out nine batters in 4 1/3 scoreless innings without issuing a walk. Austin Schulfer struck out four batters over three, one-hit innings. He recorded one save. Argenis Angulo struck out six batters over three scoreless innings. Lefties Bryan Sammons and Evan Sisk each threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Louie Varland got a Win in his start last week. He struck out ten batters over 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. Simeon Woods Richardson backed up his strong first start with another very good start. He gave up only an unearned run on two hits over five innings. On the other side, in Brandon Lawson’s second start of the week, he gave up eight runs without recording an out. What’s Next? The Wind Surge will be hosting Midland. Pitching Probables (RHP Matt Canterino, RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Chris Vallimont, RHP Louie Varland, RHP Brandon Lawson, RHP Matt Canterino) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (@ Quad Cities) 4-2 (7-2 overall) Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a solid week at the plate, a couple of home runs, and still leads all of minor-league baseball in RBI. This week, his OPS ranked sixth among Kernels hitters. The team scored 38 runs in their six games despite playing two, seven-inning doubleheaders. The team hit nine home runs in those six games. Charles Mack has adapted well to playing behind the plate. The team may need to find ways to get his bat in the lineup more. In three games last week, he went 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI. He posted a 1.583 OPS. Another catcher, Jair Camargo, played in four games and hit .375/.412/1.000 (1.412) with a double, three homers, and five RBI. Seth Gray played five games. He hit .429/.600/.786 (1.386) with two doubles and a triple. He also reached five times on walks. Anthony Prato did a great job setting the table from the leadoff spot. In six games, he hit .348/.448/.565 (1.013) with a triple, a homer, five walks, and seven RBI. Aaron Sabato had a nice week. He played in four games, but he hit .313/.421/.563 (.984) with a double and a home run. He drove in six runs. Maybe more important, he had just three strikeouts in 19 plate appearances. Alerick Soularie was the only other player with six games played. He went just 2-for-21 (.095) The Kernels got some terrific performances from their starting pitchers last week in Quad Cities. Sawyer Gipson-Long had a strong first start. He was even better in start number two. The right-hander tossed five shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none, and struck out nine batters. Lefty Cade Povich went five shutout innings in his start. He gave up just one hit, walked one, and struck out eight. Brent Headrick is healthy and put together a second strong start. In four innings, he gave up just one hit. He struck out eight batters and walked none. A third left-hander, Aaron Rozek, gave up only an unearned run over five innings in his start. He gave up three hits and struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. Derek Molina worked three scoreless innings over two outings in relief. He struck out five batters. What’s Next? The Kernels will be hosting Peoria for six games this week. Pitching Probables (LHP Cade Povich, RHP Sean Mooney, RHP Casey Legumina, LHP Brent Headrick, RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long, LHP Aaron Rozek) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: (vs. Jupiter) 4-2 (7-2 overall) After winning their first four games of the week, the Mussels were 7-0. However, they lost their final two games of the week. The Mighty Mussels had a couple of big comeback wins, along with a nice 12-0 blowout. They scored 37 runs in their six games last week. A top prospect is making the large Florida State League ballparks look small. And a 2021 All-American showed again that he can flat-out hit. Emmanuel Rodriguez played in five games last week. He went 7-for-16, hitting .438/.591/1.000 (1.591) with three homers. He also walked six times. He heads into this week with just one minor leaguer having more walks than him. Kyler Fedko had another really good week. He played in all six games. He hit .500/.577/.727 (1.304) with two doubles, a homer, and four RBI. He went 11-for-22. Dillon Tatum was drafted last year as a catcher, but he’s been spending time at first base too. In four games this week, he went 3-for-12 (.250), but he walked five times in 17 plate appearances. Another catcher, Kyle Schmidt, played in all six games. He hit .278/.316/.611 (.927) with two homers and nine RBI. On the flip side, top pick Noah Miller played in five games and went 2-for-20 (.100). He did walk six times. Fellow 2021 draft picks Mikey Perez (2-for-14, .143) and Noah Cardenas (1-for-12, .083) also struggled in the small sample size of one week. Like the other affiliates, the Mighty Mussels got strong pitching from starters and relievers this week. John Stankiewicz had a very impressive start. The right-hander struck out 11 batters over six shutout innings. He gave up three hits and didn’t issue a walk. Travis Adams also had a really good start last week. In his start, he struck out seven batters over five scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits and walked one batter. Lefty Sam Perez struck out five batters in three relief innings. Malik Barrington, Jackson Hicks, Mike Paredes, Matthew Swain, and John Wilson all tossed two scoreless innings in their relief outings. What’s Next? The Mighty Mussels will head up north to play six games against Dunedin. Pitching Probables (RHP Marco Raya, LHP Steve Hajjar, RHP Pierson Ohl, TBD, RHP Travis Adams, TBD) PROSPECT SUMMARY This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week (April 12-18). #1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 6 G, 7-for-24 (.292), 2B, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 5 G, 7-for-17 (.412), 3-2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 5 G, 5-for-19 (.263), 3-2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K #4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - IL #5 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 7 K #6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 1 GS, 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 3 G, 4 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K #8 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K #9 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 2 G, 6.1 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K #10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 2-for-20 (.100), 1 RBI, 6 BB, 8 K. #11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 4 G, 1-for-7 (.143), 2 BB, 4 K #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 5 G, 2-for-22 (.091), HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 12 K. #13 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K #14 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K #15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 7-for-16 (.438) , 3 HR, 3 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K #16 - Ronny Hendriquez (Development List) - DNP #17 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - IL #18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 6 G, 7-for-26 (.269), 2-2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 7 K #19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1 G, 0-for-0 (.000), 1 BB, 1 SB #20 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K. (pro debut) PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Hitter of the Week: Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Rodriguez is a 19-year-old outfielder that the Twins signed on July 2, 2019, out of the Dominican Republic. It sure took some time for his career to begin. The 2020 season was canceled in the Dominican Summer League too. He made his professional debut in 2021 in the FCL. In 37 games, he hit .214/.346/.524 (.870) with five doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs. He also stole nine bases and is a solid defensive outfielder. He has spent all of his time in centerfield early this season, with a couple of games as DH too. Overall in his eight games this season, he has hit .360/.568/.880 (1.448) with a double and four home runs. More impressive, to this point, he has 12 walks to go with just six strikeouts. In 153 plate appearances a year ago, he walked 15% of the time and struck out nearly 37% of the time. Through just 37 plate appearances this season, Rodriguez has walked an unsustainable 32% of the time and struck out just 16% of the time. That number will certainly go up, but to this point, it is a nice sign of an improved process at the plate. The Florida State League is notoriously tough on hitters, so it will be very interesting to see if he is able to maintain his early-season power too. Pitcher of the Week: John Stankiewicz, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels The Twins signed Stankiewicz following the 2020 draft. As you recall, there were just five rounds in the 2020 MLB draft. After it was complete, teams could sign other draft-eligible players for up to $20,000. Stankiewicz signed with the Twins following three solid seasons at Fordham University. Between the 2019 and the four-game 2020 season, he went 10-5 with a 1.56 ERA. In 2021, he spent time at the Florida Complex in the first half of the season. He made one start in the FCL when that season started and struck out six batters in two innings. He then finished with seven games (4 starts) with the Mighty Mussels. He was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA. He had 24 strikeouts and just eight walks over 23 1/3 innings. In his first start of the season, he went five innings. He was charged with two runs on two hits and two walks. He also struck out eight Clearwater batters. Coupled with his six shutout innings in his second start, he has now struck out 19 batters, and walked just two, over 11 innings. He has been a strike machine so far this season. Over those two starts, he has thrown 145 pitches (11 innings) and thrown 72% strikes. Congratulations to our Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, and to all those who have started the 2022 season strong. Check back at Twins Daily at least daily to see our minor league reports, game recaps, and usually some video highlights from the minor league games. View full article

After Rich Hill, the pitchers were right-handed. That, and Kepler is significantly better defensively so you'd want him in the late innings with a lead.

100% correct. Plus, nothing should really ever be decided based on two good weeks... what's nice to know is that if Correa missed two weeks (hope not!), I think they could feel fairly comfortable bringing him up. But, that said, getting him a ton of ABs and reps at shortstop all season is very important. It's why it's too bad that Larnach has been forced to the big leagues last year and now again this year.

Yeah, this is why I enjoy following everyone, not just the top prospects. These stories are often more fun to follow, and when they get to the big leagues, it's such a great feeling. And yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Contreras. It speaks to the depth... and honestly, I do think it speaks to the development that there are so many guys that we think could be big leaguers. A guy like Stankiewicz wasn't drafted in 2020, and the Tiwns signed him for $20K. Truly, if he were to get to AA, that's a win for player development and if he becomes more, that's amazing!

Based on what we've seen in a week or so, so far, Yes. First, Miranda and Lewis are on the 40-man roster, so that helps. but they're also hitting fairly well to start the season. Martin has struggled some offensively (nothing worrying) and defensively. Do I think Martin could jump up to AAA and play everyday all over the diamond today? Yes. Would he hit? I think he'd be fine. So, it's not like he's far behind those two. I think all three of them could play in the big leagues today, if it was needed. Not sure they'd be great, but they could probably hold their own. Miranda's bat is probably furthest along.