Seth Stohs

As RonCoomerFan posted in a different thread: Esmerling Vasquez is starting for the Red Wings tonight. Hirschfeld was sent back to New Britain when Lester Oliveros was taken off the DL. (I've made the change up above.) And again, thank you for the compliments. Having Cody, Jeremy and Twins Fan From Afar contributing once or so each week really helps.

This has been (primarily) a good discussion. Buxton and Berrios are exciting. I think they did well with where they got guys like Powell, Rogers, Baxendale, Hicks, etc. As for the relievers and what they're going to do with them... I guess I'm more willing to see it play out. I certainly wasn't overly excited with those picks on the draft days, but we will see.

Yes, he will definitely be starting next season, whether it is at the GCL or Elizabethton level. Just curious how much they'll extend him this year. He certainly has an electric arm.

I enjoyed this article... brought back memories. I still try to buy a box of Bowman each year. Like you wrote, it's that anticipation of getting that top rookie or some valuable insert card. I remember the 1989 Bowman where you could see the first card at the top of the pack. It didn't take much time to realize the pack pattern and know which packs would get you a Ken Griffey Jr rookie card! And, that last paragraph is great!! Even in a disappointing season, there are so many reasons to continue watching the team as a fan, including that anticipation of seeing something spectacular. Thank you!

Roger - I made the correction. Thank you! Shane - That is good to see. Haven't even seen a ton of errors. Obviously they saw something in him that (hopefully) is starting to show up. Jack - Not sure on the podcasts. Since the start of GatG, listeners have been so few that it's hard to find motivation to do a couple of podcasts a week. Frankly, I haven't done one in 3-4 weeks and only have had 2-3 people mention it.

Righty - I think we keep the thread, but you are welcome to adopt another prospect. green - I know what happened, and I can't share that publicly, but let's just say that it was definitely worthy of him being released for it.

Kepler is an interesting case. As was mentioned above, he is very intriguing because he could top out in A-Ball or a big league regular. He's so talented, but he's so raw. That's why I think that Elizabethton is where he should be. That said, because he is such a high profile prospect, signed at 16, it will be interesting to see how that plays out too.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?794-Saturday-in-the-Minor-League-Parks

The Twins lost 9-3 to the A’s on Saturday night. It was a bad games for the Twins right from the start. Cole De Vries gave up four runs in the first innings, the big blast was a three-run homer off the bat of Chris Carter. The A’s hit three more homers in the game. The Twins rang the bases really poorly. The offense did very little against the A’s Tommy Milone. Brian Dozier and Josh Willingham each had solo home runs, but it was far from enough. With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Saturday games in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 4, TOLEDO 3 Nick Blackburn was back on the mound for the Red Wings after throwing eight scoreless innings in his previous start. In this game, he went seven innings. He gave up three runs (just one earned) on five hits. He walked one and struck out three. Caleb Thielbar came in and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Lester Oliveros returned to the mound for the first time in almost a month when he went on the Disabled List with elbow issues. The right-hander recorded his fifth Red Wings save and struck out two in the inning. Danny Valencia went 2-4 and drove in a run for the fifth straight game. Michael Hollimon was 2-3. Tsuyoshi Nishioka had a walk and his ninth double. The Red Wings won for the seventh time in eight games and are now just two games below .500. NEW BRITAIN 5, TRENTON 6 The game was tied, heading to the 9th inning. The Rock Cats brought Bruce Pugh into the game. It was Pugh’s 15th game with the Rock Cats and he was yet to give up a run. However, he gave up a solo homer in the 9th frame in this game and takes the loss. Blake Martin started and gave up five runs on nine hits over six innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. David Bromberg struck out three over two scoreless innings. Chris Herrmann went 3-4. Chris Colabello hit his 25th and 26th doubles in four at bats. Nate Hanson was 2-4 with his 11th double. FT. MYERS 9, CLEARWATER 5 Joe Benson appears to be turning things around with the Miracle. In this game, he went 3-5 with two stolen bases. Jhon Goncalves was 3-4 with his 10th and 1th doubles. Danny Rames was also 3-4. Danny Ortiz was 2-5. Matt Hauser made another start. The righty went the first 4.2 innings and gave up two runs (one earned). He gave up six hits, walked four and struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two runs in the next 1.1 innings. Ricky Bowen came in and went the final 2.2 innings. He struck out four before giving up the winning run. BELOIT 2, LAKE COUNTY 5 David Hurlbut pitched much better than his line would indicate. Through six innings, the lefty had allowed just one run. Unfortunately, in the 7th frame, he gave up a four-spot. Overall, he gave up five runs on ten hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. Tim Atherton struck out two in the net 1.2 innings without giving up a run. Miguel Sano led the offense. He was 2-3 with his 18th double. He was also hit by a pitch. Stephen Wickens went 2-3. ELIZABETHTON 4, BLUEFIELD 0 Taylor Rogers, the Twins 11th round pick from the University of Kentucky, started for the E-Twins and went the first six innings. He gave up no runs and just two hits. The lefty walked one and struck out seven. JT Chargois struck out three, and walked two, over the next two innings. Mason Melotakis struck out two in his inning. Max Kepler led the offense. He was 3-4 with his third double and third triple. Romy Jimenez was 1-2 with a walk and his eighth double. Jorge Polanco doubled for the third time this year. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 2 The Twins used six pitchers to get this win. It started with lefty Austin Malinowski. The Minnesotan went the first three innings and gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out three. Trent Higginbotham struck out three over the next two innings. Markus Solbach gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Hung-yi Chen struck out two in his inning. Chis Mazza pitched a 1-2-3 inning. J.O. Berrios recorded his fourth save and struck out the side in the ninth. Aderlin Mejia led the offense by going 3-4 and stole his seventh base. Rene Tosoni went 2-4 with his fourth double. Javier Pimentel and Logan Wade each went 2-5. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, July 14, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler [ATTACH=CONFIG]1550[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Rogers [ATTACH=CONFIG]1551[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, July 15, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Steve Hirschfeld New Britain vs Trenton – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers vs Dunedin – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Lake County – LHP Ryan O’Rourke Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBD GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled --- 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!

I'm curious if he'll remain in the bullpen all season, or if they'll eventually give him a start or two. Doesn't really matter because in the GCL, it's all about pitch count.

This. I just think that Hendriks needs some time. In fact, the successes shown by Walters and De Vries illustrates a couple of things: 1.) There is a fine line between AAA, AAAA and back of the rotation starter. 2.) Hendriks has, by far, the best stuff of those three, so he will be just fine once he figured "something" out. 2a.) He just needs to figure out what that "something" is. I do think that Diamond can be a solid middle-of-the-rotation type. He's a level above the Walters and De Vries. Scott Baker had to go up and down several times as well his first year-plus, so he'll be fine.

Perez signed with Wichita in the American Association.

I don't have a timetable... just know it's the hamstring.

Terry Ryan knows the value of the draft. I definitely didn't understand signing Capps. I'm also not going to pretend I know what negotiations were like with Knab, Marvel, Robinson, etc. The Twins could have offered them each whatever amount and they could have said no. I don't know. Or, they could ahve evaluated the players to be worth a certain amount and only were willing to go a certain amount more. I did talk to Radcliff this spring and he was very heavily involved this year, along with Deron Johnson. They all knew the importance of this draft. Also, and Jeremy Nygaard may know this... aren't teams allowed to carry a certain amount over to next year's draft?

I guess we'll learn how good (or non-good) this draft was in about five years or so.

I would assume that they will head back to New Britain, or at least they should. Keeping Thomas and Ramirez in the organization has allowed Rochester to 1.) fill out a lineup every day and 2.) they've played well and helped the Red Wings win. When Benson or Tosoni are ready, necessary moves will be made. Ther are always DL spots. Thomas and Ramirez are Org Depth at this point. (Of course, guys like Burton and Fien and Deduno and Perdomo and Carson were also minor league free agents who have provided quality depth.) Kepler is where he should be right now. Jimenez has missed a lot of playing time the last couple of years due to injury, so he's where he should be. Roberts is ready to move up to Ft. Myers, I think. Ortiz was just promoted to Ft.Myers like 6 weeks ago. He's been awesome and moved up my rankings, but he should spend the rest of the season there.

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Francisco Liriano struck out 15 batters in eight innings for the Twins on Friday night, and he got a loss. The talented left-hander was pitching with his form from 2006. Unfortunately, he also had the fourth inning. It started with a single by Jemile Weeks. One out later, Denard Span dropped a fly ball. Liriano then issued a walk. With the bases loaded, Liriano served up a pitch that Johnny Gomes knocked for a grand slam. Outside of the one inning, Liriano was dominant. Josh Willingham homered twice and drove in all three runs but it wasn’t enough as the Twins lost 6-3. Willingham now has 21 home runs. Joe Mauer and Denard Span were each 2-4. Friday afternoon was the deadline for 2012 draft picks to sign. In the end, the Twins signed 27 of their 43 draft picks, including their first 11 picks. With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday the 13th games in the system. Kyle Gibson was back on the mound in the GCL. How did he do? Which Twins pitcher carried a no-hitter into the late innings? Did Liam Hendriks continue his IL dominance? Which five hitters had three hits on Friday? ROCHESTER 7, TOLEDO 3 Liam Hendriks continued his mastery of the International League. In seven innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out five. He improved to 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA. Kyle Waldrop got five outs and gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo picked up his 5th save by recording the final out. JR Towles went 2-3 with his first home run of the season. Sean Burroughs was 2-4 with his 11th and 12th doubles. Pedro Florimon and Matt Carson were each 2-5. Danny Valencia had an RBI double. NEW BRITAIN 9, TRENTON 2 The Rock Cat bats came out in this game. All nine hitters had at least one hit. Deibinson Romero went 3-5 with his 12th double. Oswaldo Arcia then went 3-5 with two RBI. He is now hitting .316 in New Britain. He also threw out a base runner at home. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk and his 12th homer. Nate Hanson was 2-4 with his 10th double. James Beresford went 2-4 with his sixth double. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with two walks. Shairon Martis started and gave up one run on six hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out two. Daniel Turpen pitched a scoreless inning, walking one batter. Dakota Watts came in for the 9th and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. FT. MYERS 3, CLEARWATER 4 Pat Dean had one of the best performances in the organization this season. The left-hander from Boston College had a no-hitter through the first six innings. He then gave up two runs on four hits in the seventh inning when he recorded two outs. He walked two and struck out four in the game. Miguel Munoz went got the final four outs. Unfortunately, he gave up a two-run home run in the 8th inning to a rehabbing Laynce Nix that proved to be the game-winner. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 with his 15th double. Andy Leer went 3-4. Danny Rams was 2-4 with two RBI including an RBI single in the top of the 8th that gave the Miracle a 3-2 lead. Mike Nesseth recorded the save for Clearwater. The 6-5, 225 pound, 24 year old right-hander drafted out of the University of Nebraska hails from Windom, MN. BELOIT 8, FT. WAYNE 3 The Snappers completed a series in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with an 8-3 win. Matt Summers won for the 9th time. The right-hander went six innings and gave up two runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out four. Steve Evans came in and gave up a run on two hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out three and walked none. Steve Gruver pitched a scoreless ninth frame. Drew Leachman led the offense with a 3-5 day. Wang-Wei Lin walked three times. Stephen Wickens went 2-3 with two RBI. Miguel Sano was 1-3 and walked two times. The Snappers are in the western division of the Midwest League and are playing games now in the Eastern Division. Way in the Eastern Division. Following the game, the Snappers took the bus further east. At 3 a.m., they drove through Cleveland and soon arrived at their new destination. They will now play three games against Lake County whose home is in Eastlake, Ohio. Lake County is the smallest of Ohio’s 88 counties, but it ranks 11th in population. ELIZABETHTON 2, GREENEVILLE 3 (10 innings) Many believe that professional baseball, even in the minor leagues, is a glamorous life. Tell that to the members of the Elizabethton Twins who sat through a long rain delay and got home at about 2:30 a.m. The game was delayed at the start and didn’t start until almost 10:00. Angel Mata started and gave up one run on one hit and four walks in three innings. There was another long delay around midnight. When the game resumed, Josh Burris was on the mound. He dropped his ERA to 0.56 with two innings of work. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk. Christian Powell then struck out three in two scoreless innings. DJ Baxendale struck out five in two perfect innings. Kaleb Merck came in to start the bottom of the 10th frame. He got two outs in the inning, but gave up the winning run on two hits. Max Kepler got one base four times. He had a single, two walks and was also hit by a pitch. Candido Pimentel was 3-5. He also stole his seventh base. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RAYS 1 Kyle Gibson was back on the mound on Friday morning, pitching in a game for just the second time since late last July. On this day, he gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He hit a batter as well. One of the hits was a Nevin Ashley home run. (Ashley is a AAA catcher for a Rays, a very good prospect in AAA.) He recorded just two outs before being removed from the game due to the predetermined pitch count limitation. Asked how his arm felt after the outing, Gibson responded to Twins Daily by saying he “felt good!” Regarding his performance, he said, “(I) threw some good pitches and bad one, but overall felt good.” That is all part of the process . Matthew Tomshaw, who is also rehabbing in Ft. Myers. He had not pitched in a game since May 18th with the Beloit Snappers. The left-hander gave up just two hits over two scoreless innings. Randy Rosario came in and struckout four batters in 4.1 perfect innings. Gonzalo Sanudo recorded his second save with two perfect innings. Joel Licon hit his fifth and sixth doubles. John Murphy and Kelly Cross each doubled. Will Hurt finally got his first professional hit. The middle infielder drafted in June started the year 0-25, but he was 1-4 in this game and now at least has a batting average (.034). --- Players of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean [ATTACH=CONFIG]1541[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero [ATTACH=CONFIG]1542[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, July 14, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Nick Blackburn New Britain vs Trenton – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Clearwater – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Lake County – LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD --- 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!

Well, to be fair, had the TWins signed Mazzilli, and we certainly believe they tried, they would have been pretty close to the limit.

Deadline just passed. Will be interesting to see wat we find out.

Pretend you have him at #46, since Mazzilli hasn't signed yet (although until 4:00 tomorrow, he still could.)