Seth Stohs

BA will rank Michael higher because he's a 1st round pick.

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The Twins and White Sox are playing the lone game in the big leagues on Labor Day evening. The Twins minor league affiliates that played on Monday all had afternoon games, with one exception. The Elizabethton Twins are playing tonight for the Appalachian League championship. The results of that game will be available here at Twins Daily upon its completion. The Rock Cats had a small chance of making the playoffs. Miguel Sano hit a very nice milestone. The Red Wings were able to meet an impressive win total as well. There was plenty to play for in the final day of the season. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday: ROCHESTER 6, SYRACUSE 4 The Red Wings ended their season with a win which gives them a record of 72-72. Following the last two seasons, a .500 record is quite something! Shairon Martis started and worked the first three innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five. Luis Perdomo gave up one run on one hit in 1.1 innings. Anthony Slama got the final out for his 14th save of the season and the 100th save of his minor league career. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 2-4 with his 18th double. Brian Dozier was 2-4 with his second home run. Wilkin Ramirez was 2-4 with his 18th double. Clete Thomas was 2-4 with his 22nd double. NEW BRITAIN 8, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 The Rock Cats came into this game knowing that no matter what they did, if Reading won, they would be out of the playoffs. Their hope was that they would win and Reading would lose to Portland. That would have meant a one-game playoff between the two teams for the final spot in the Eastern League playoffs. Unfortunately, late in the game, Reading completed a 7-3 win over Portland pushing the Rock Cats out of the playoffs. The Rock Cats certainly came to play on this day. James Beresford went 4-5. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-5 with his 10th home run. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with two walks. Shawn Roof went 2-3 with his third double. Josmil Pinto was 1-3 with a walk and his fourth double. Chris Herrmann hit his 25th double. Logan Darnell made the start. The left won for the 11th time this season. He gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out one. Dakota Watts threw two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struckout one. Jose Gonzalez pitched a scoreless inning. Edgar Ibarra gave up one run on one hit in his inning. BELOIT 6, QUAD CITIES 1 David Hurlbut evened his record at 6-6 with the win. He worked the first five innings and gave up one run on four hits. He didn’t allow a walk and struckout three. Cole Johnson gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. Taylor Rogers then threw two shutout frames. Zach Jones gave up a hit, but he struck out three in his scoreless inning. Matt Koch led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 23rd double. Drew Leachman went 2-4. Wang-Wei Lin went 2-4 with a three-run, inside-the-park home run. It was his fourth homer of the year. Finally, Miguel Sano was 1-3. He knocked his 28th home run, a solo homer that gave up 100 RBI on the season. --- Players of the Day for Monday, September 3, 2012 Hitter of the Day – James Beresford [ATTACH=CONFIG]2241[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – David Hurlbut [ATTACH=CONFIG]2242[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, September 4, 2012 Schedule Rochester – Season Over New Britain – Season Over Ft. Myers – Season Over Beloit Snappers – Day Off, playoffs start on Wednesday in Clinton Elizabethton Twins – Season Over GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

Here is the game article with quotes from Sano (through translator Tim Shibuya) on reaching 100 RBI. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120903&content_id=37831570&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&tcid=tw_share

Today, in the final game of the regular season, Sano hit his 28th home run, a solo blast that gave him 100 RBI, a very nice milestone number.

Rochester and New Britain are done. The Twins have said that this is it. Unless something crazy happens, this appears to be it. The Twins don't owe me (or any of us) an explanation for not calling up Slama, but I think we deserve one, and at the very least Slama deserves one. I know many disagree, but I'm on board with glennhl regarding Manship. As he is out of options next year, I thought giving him some starts in September would be good. He hasn't been given an opportunity to start in over 2 years, and when he's been up with the Twins, he's rarely pitched. Back to Slama... he can't even become a free agent until after NEXT season. In other words, he has to put up with this stuff for another year. On Dozier, we all questioned the timing of his demotion. Would three weeks be enough time to work through his struggles? Of course not. But apparently 3 weeks was enough time for the Twins to judge. The Twins have a lot of tough 40 man roster spots that have to be figured out over the next 3-4 weeks. The guys that are up are the guys they need to evaluate. They must already know what they think about Dozier, Slama, Manship and any of the others that were not promoted.

Slama not beimg promoted is a joke! Likely the Twins want a full look at Florimon. Escobar could play 2nd or 3rd . I don't think he'll play much SS.

I'm much higher on Santana than Michael. Maybe it's because I've seen him play. I was never high on Michael, but I'm also willing to give him a mulligan on this season, to some degree... I have always been a little high on Santana though.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2237[/ATTACH] The past two days, you have seen the top minor league performances by relief pitchers and starting pitchers. Today, you’ll get to see which minor league hitters finished the year with a strong month. Today is the final day of the regular season for all of the full season minor leagues. Rochester will be playing their final game of the year. New Britain has a chance still as they are one game back. They would need to win and hope. Ft. Myers finished its season on Sunday. Beloit has one more tune up today before starting their Midwest League playoff series on Wednesday at Clinton. Elizabethton will be playing a winner-takes-all game tonight against Burlington for the Appalachian League championship. There have been months where it has been hard to come up with a list of five hitters to mention for this report. This month, it was hard to keep the list short. Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in August, but we will start with some Honorable Mentions: --- Honorable Mention: New Britain – Chris Colabello – (37-115) .322/.402/.496 (.897) with 8-2B, 4-HR, 20 RBI Elizabethton – Jorge Polanco – (23-71) .324/.370/.563 (.934) with 3-2B, 1-3B, 4-HR, 14 RBI Beloit – Nate Roberts – (37-114) .325/.442/.447 (.889) with 10-2B, 2-3B, 0-HR, 12 RBI, 11 SB New Britain – Aaron Hicks – (36-113) .319/.402/.496 (.897) with 5-2B, 3-3B, 3-HR, 12 RBI, 9 SB --- Number 5 – Rochester – Wilkin Ramirez - (35-104) .337/.400/.529 (.929) with six doubles, one triple, four home runs and 21 RBI. Ramirez came to the Twins as a minor league free agent this season. After starting the season injured, he rehabbed in Ft. Myer and New Britain. He struggled early in Rochester, but in August, he has been terrific. He has hit for average and power while driving in a lot of runs. The former Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves outfielder is still just 26 years old. Number 4 – Beloit – Kennys Vargas - (36-113) .319/.410/.513 (.924) with seven doubles, no triples, five home runs and 22 RBI. Vargas has been such an important addition to the Beloit Snappers lineup since he joined the team in mid-July. His power has been evident by all of his home runs and doubles, but it has also helped other hitters in the lineup. Aside from his Snappers teammate, there may not be a hitter in the Twins organization with more power potential this this switch-hitter. Number 3 – New Britain – Oswaldo Arcia - (35-106) .330/.408/.585 (.993) with 11 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 28 RBI. Arcia has been a staple near the top of this list each month. Since his promotion to AA New Britain, he has not stopped hitting. He’s hit for average, hit doubles all over the field and hit some big home runs. He also has a knack for driving in a lot of runs. I used to call Rene Tosoni Jason Kubel-Lite when he was first in AA. Arcia may be the Twins next Jason Kubel, and it doesn’t even need the “Lite” designation. The next guy on this list may have the most potential and upside, but right now, it’s clear that Arcia is the best hitter in the Twins farm system. Number 2 - Beloit – Miguel Sano - (30-96) .313/.389/.646 (1.035) with nine doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 23 RBI. Sano is another guy who has been on this list most months. Even when he doesn’t hit for average, his power and his ability to take walks this year have kept his OPS high. Maybe it was the return of Vargas who primarily hit behind Sano that helped him to another month like this. Sano actually walked a little less in August, but his power returned in a big way. He’s missed the last several games with a sprained ankle (or these numbers might be even bigger), but he should be back and ready for the playoffs. The August Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Rochester Red Wings 1B Chris Parmelee (32-99) .323/.444/.667 (1.110) with eight doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 20 RBI. I don’t know if there are enough superlatives to describe what Parmelee did in Rochester this year and particularly the last two months. Some get sent back to AAA and sulk or struggle for whatever reason. Like Liam Hendriks, Parmelee has been sent down to Rochester a couple of times this year and each time, he has responded by putting up some monster, video-game numbers. He has hit for average as well as for tremendous power. He has walked more than he struck out. Again, like Hendriks, he worked and earned his August promotion to the Twins where it appears that they will make a spot for him to play at this point. There you have it, the top 5 hitters in the Twins system for the month of August. Now it’s time to debate. There were some great performances, many of them by guys you would hope to see on these lists. What’s encouraging is that they finished strong. What do you think? Please feel free to discuss.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2231[/ATTACH] Happy Labor Day to all!! Labor Day is also the final regular season game for full season minor league affiliates. Correcting myself from yesterday, the New Britain Rock Cats will go into the final day of the season with a chance at a playoff spot. On Sunday, Elizabethton fought elimination. Would they be able to force a Appy League championship-deciding Game 3 against Burlington? The Twins and Royals completed three games within a 24 hour period. Unfortunately, after winning the first two games on Saturday, the Royals got the win in game three. Esmerling Vasquez started and after some early control issues, he settled down some. In all, he gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. Joe Mauer had three hits, including his 27th double. Chris Parmelee hit his fourth Twins homer, one of his two hits. The Twins and White Sox will play on Labor Day. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ELIZABETHTON 4, BURLINGTON 3 After losing by a score of 3-2 in 12 innings on Saturday night in Game 1, Elizabethton would need to win on Sunday to force a championship-deciding Game 3 on Monday. The E-Twins needed overtime again, but thanks to a big home run and some incredible bullpen work, they fought out an 11-inning, 4-3 win. On Monday, the Twins will send top pitcher J.O. Berrios to the mound in an attempt to win their first Appy League title since 2009. The weather tried to keep the teams from playing. They were delayed for about two hours before starting the game. The E-Twins had to start 5th starter Hein Robb in this all-important game. The lefty from South Africa game up three runs on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struckout five. He gave up a two-run homer to Bubba Starling before giving up a solo homer to Fred Ford. Adam Walker got the E-Twins on the scoreboard in the fourth with an RBI single. Down 3-1, Max Kepler hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 6th to tie the score at three. That’s where the score stayed for a while thanks to great work by the bullpens. Tyler Duffey struckout five batters in two perfect innings. Kaleb Merck then struckout two in two scoreless innings. JT Chargois threw three scoreless innings. He walked one and struckout five. That brought the game to the bottom of the 11th. DJ Hicks led off with a single to right field. Thanks to an error, he got all the way to third base. Kelvin Mention pinch ran for Hicks. Adam Walker and Byron Buxton were intentionally walked, setting up a force at home. With Travis Harrison at bat, Mention scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. Max Kepler was 3-5 with the homer and two RBI. Candido Pimentel went 2-5 in the game. ROCHESTER 7, SYRACUSE 8 Wilkin Ramirez and the offense continued to put up runs, but on this day, it wasn’t enough. Ramirez went 2-4 with his 17th double, 15th home run and two RBI. Rene Rivera was 2-4 with his 15th homer. Tsuyoshi Nishioka hit his 16th and 17th doubles. Nick Blackburn made the start. He went just 2.2 innings. He gave up six runs (3 earned) on eight hits. Two were home runs. Bobby Lanigan went the next 3.1 innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and hit a batter. He struck out four. Daniel Turpen went the final two innings and did not give up a run. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out two. NEW BRITAIN 10, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 The Rock Cats kept their playoff hopes alive with a win on Sunday afternoon. Steve Hirschfeld started but got just two outs. He gave up one run on three hits. David Bromberg came in and gave up one run on two hits over the next 3.2 innings. He walked two and struck out one. Aaron Thompson gave up one run on four hits over the next 2.1 innings. Matt Hauser went the final 2.1 innings and gave up just one hit. James Beresford went 3-4 with his third triple. Nate Hanson went 2-4 with his 16th double and seventh home run. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-5 with his fifth triple. Josmil Pinto was 2-5. Chris Herrmann went 1-2 with two walks and three RBI. FT. MYERS 6, CHARLOTTE 3 Andy Leer has had a difficult season with the Miracle in terms of his batting average. However, his ability to play several positions has given him value throughout the season in the eyes of manager Jake Mauer. On this day, he went 2-2 and drove in four runs. Three times he drove in Angel Morales who was 2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-3 with his 13th double. Danny Santana homered for the 8th time, and Kyle Knudson ripped his 11th double. Lefty Pat Dean started and gave up just one hit over the first three innings. He struckout four. Matt Summers came in for the middle three innings. He gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out three. AJ Achter didn’t allow a single base runner in the final three innings for his sixth save. BELOIT 1, QUAD CITIES 2 Matt Tomshaw was very good again on this day. The lefty went the first seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked none and struckout six. He was replaced by Steven Gruver who gave up two hits and two walks in his two innings but did not give up a run. The Snappers had just three hits. Jairo Rodriguez went 1-2 with a walk and his 12th double. He scored the team’s lone run on a Wang-Wei Lin sacrifice fly. Kennys Vargas went 1-3 with a walk. Most important, Miguel Sano was back in the lineup. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, September 2, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler [ATTACH=CONFIG]2233[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Matt Tomshaw [ATTACH=CONFIG]2232[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Monday, September 3, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – TBD New Britain vs New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – Season Over Beloit vs Quad Cities – LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton vs Burlington – RHP JO Berrios GCL Twins – Season Over --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

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Hopefully everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend!! The Twins certainly enjoyed their doubleheader sweep in Kansas City on Saturday against the Royals. I know I look forward to the first start of Esmerling Vasquez’s big league career this afternoon. Yesterday, I posted the August relief pitchers of the month, and today, I’m back to present for you the August Twins minor league starting pitchers of the month. There are a couple of new names, but it’s been nice to see some names show up on these monthly reports consistently. Below, you will find my rankings of the Top 5 starting pitchers in the Twins farm system in the month of August, along with a couple of honorable mentions. Be sure to vote for your choice and discuss the nominees in the comments. --- Honorable Mention: Beloit – LHP Taylor Rogers – 7 G, 3 GS, 2-1, 2.30 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 27.1 IP, 26 H, 6 BB, 31 K New Britain – RHP BJ Hermsen – 3-1, 3.29 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 6 GS, 38.1 IP, 43 H, 7 BB, 20 K --- Number 5 – Beloit – LHP David Hurlbut - 4 GS, 1-1, 2.88 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 21 H, 2 BB, 18 K Hurlbut was the pitcher of the month just a couple of months ago and has quietly put together a very solid season for the Snappers. The lefty doesn’t throw hard, but as you can see, he doesn’t walk many at all. Number 4 – GCL Twins – LHP Randy Rosario – 4 G, 3 GS, 1-1, 0.50 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 18.0 IP, 9 H, 8 BB, 19 K Another lefty, Rosario is young and has a long way to go in terms of development, but he is certainly intriguing. He already throws consistently at 92-93 mph and touches 94 and 95. He can strikeout batters now, but as is normal with many hard-throwing young pitchers, he has to work on finding the strike zone more consistently. Number 3 – Rochester – RHP Esmerling Vasquez – 5 G, 3 GS, 4-1, 0.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 17 H, 13 BB, 31 K Vasquez has split his time between the bullpen and the rotation this season in Rochester. Although he made just three starts in August, one of his relief appearances came following a PJ Walters rehab start. Vasquez came in with two outs in the first inning and left after getting an out in the 9th, his longest outing of the season. He throws hard. Control has always been his downfall, but he’s been much better when starting. Number 2 – Rochester – Liam Hendriks - 4 GS, 2-1, 1.61 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 18 H, 7 BB, 21 K Hendriks continued his mastery of AAA hitters in August. Maybe he should be higher on this list if we include his complete game, 1-0 loss to Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: GCL/Elizabethton Twins – RHP JO (Jose) Berrios - 4 GS, 2-0, 1.62 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 28 K The numbers are pretty similar to Hendriks’ numbers in August, but Berrios walked less and struckout more, giving him the edge for pitcher of the month. The Twins first supplemental first round selection this June has been remarkable in every one of his appearances. He made one start for the GCL Twins in August before he and top pick Byron Buxton were promoted to Elizabethton where he has been even better. Add to the above numbers his Game 1 playoff win and his numbers are even better. He threw six shutout innings against Danville, allowing one hit, walking one and hitting one while striking out seven. And, if the E-Twins can get a Game 2 win against Burlington tonight, it will be Berrios starting Game 3 for the Appalachian League championship. What do you think? There have been a few months where I’ve only mentioned four starters instead of five. This month, I referenced seven pitchers. The relievers have been pretty strong all year, and wait until tomorrow when you see the impressive August output from many hitters, including some of the top prospects. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2226[/ATTACH]

Correct. Has nothimg to do with the service time clock, but they should play. Because of decisions they have to make on various players this offseason, Parmelee needs to play in RF pretty much every day. Willingham and Revere will still play most days, and they also have Mastroianni and Carson on the roster to find at bats. And if Span comes back, he'll need to play too. Arcia has been imcredible and can make a case, but it won't hurt his potential to not get a September call up.

Who cares what the fan base thinks!? Sal is right. Drew is one of the better defensive catchers in the game. And yeah, clearly offense isnt part of his game, but it's ok for Sal to put that nicely. Sal should be very proud!