Seth Stohs

Following his appearance in the Florida State League All Star game, Oswaldo Arcia has been promoted to New Britain. He's been destroying FSL pitching for the last 6-7 weeks, so this is a good time for the promotion. Also, reliever Dan Sattler, the 28 year old signed earlier this month from the St. Paul Saints has been promoted to the Rock Cats as well.

You recall a little over a week ago, Anthony Slama was pitching against Norfolk when Miguel Tejada hit a line drive back up the middle. It hit Slama in the leg, and he had to leave the game. He was immediately put on the 7-Day Disabled List with what was called a "Right Leg Contusion." Someone close to the situation informed me over the weekend that after a follow-up X-Ray, they found a 'clean break' in his fibula. It will most likely mean that Slama will be out at least four weeks. This is unfortunate because of how well he was pitching for the Red Wings. He deserves another opportunity with the Twins and this set back certainly does not help.

No! Daniel Bard plays in the Red Sox organization. However, last night, Twins supplemental first-round draft pick (and Daniel's brother) Luke Bard tweeted a picture from Target Field. He was at the game yesterday and obviously there would have been some business talked while he was there as well. I tweeted him and asked if there was any business discussions at Target Field yesterday. I then noted that not ALL Twins games are THAT long. He responded by tweeting, "Yeah, that was a long one!! Glad we won!" So although he didn't answer the question directly, could the word "WE" indicate that he has signed or is near signing? I have little concern that he will sign. It would just be great to get it done sooner rather than later.

I just have a hard time finding names of guys who got to the big leagues that immediately had sustained success and for sure they were held back too slowly.

He'll be promoted to Ft. Myers by Friday. Does it really make a huge difference if he was called up 2-3 weeks ago, or after he gets to help his team/teammates clinch a playoff berth and pitch in an All Star game? I'm in agreement, he should move up, but big picture, a month isn't a huge deal.

Great report... Sorry you saw a couple of clunkers, although at least today's game was good until the 8th.

GCL is the lowest... It is where mostly high school picks from the current year and guys who come up from the Dominican Summer League. Elizabethton is an Advanced Rookie League. The Twins send a lot of their college draft picks and guys who have already spent a year or two in the GCL. GCL starts Monday. Elizabethton starts Tuesday.

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The Twins needed 15 innings and six relievers to work nine scoreless innings, but a Denard Span two-out single gave the Twins a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The hit was Denard Span’s fourth of the game. Jamey Carroll also had four hits to raise his batting average to .259. Joe Mauer was 3-4 but had to leave the game after an RBI single tied the game at four in the 7th inning. He cleared his hamstring able to play before the game, but after a collision with Rickie Weeks at home, he was clearly affected by a leg/quad contusion. He had two RBI hits after that, but could not run at all. Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier each had two hits in the game. Ben Revere had two hits and at least three terrific plays on defense. Trevor Plouffe was 2-5 and walked two more times. Nick Blackburn gave up four runs in six innings, the big blow was a three-run homer off the bat of Corey Hart. The big story in this game was the bullpen. Alex Burnett pitched the 7th. Jared Burton pitched the 8th. Glen Perkins pitched the ninth and tenth. He was playing the role of closer with Matt Capps unable to pitch. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless inning, and he likely would have gone longer, but there was a 42 minute rain delay. Jeff Gray came in and provided three innings of scoreless baseball. Anthony Swarzak was not supposed to pitch, but he was given the 15th inning and did not allow a run and got the win. The Twins have Monday off before starting a stretch of six inter-league home games (in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati). Enough about the big league club. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ROCHESTER 7, LOUISVILLE 4 The Red Wings got off to a great start in this game. In the first inning, with two runners on, Matt Carson hit a three-run homer. Clete Thomas came up next and hit his fourth homer of the year. Carson came up in the 6th inning and hit another homer, his fourth of the year. In all, Carson was 3-4 and drove in four runs. He also stole his sixth base of the season. Rene Rivera was 3-4 with his fifth double. Pedro Florimon went 2-4 with his fourth double. Sam Deduno made his second start since his return from injury. He went 3.2 innings and gave up one run on two hits. He walked four and struck out six. Casey Fien went 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings, striking out two. Deolis Guerra gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. (Guerra has given up two or more runs in five of his past seven experience.) Kyle Waldrop got the save by recording the final five outs. NEW BRITAIN 3, ERIE 4 The Rock Cats made a last-inning comeback, but it fell just short. Down 4-1 in the 9th with the bases loaded, Nate Hanson was hit by a pitch. The next batter was Chris Herrmann who hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Erie lead to one, but the next batter grounded out to end the game. Andrew Albers made the start and gave up four runs on nine hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out four. Bobby Lanigan struck out two in two perfect innings. Bruce Pugh struck out one in a perfect ninth. Nate Hanson went 2-4 with his first home run in addition to his RBI hit-by-pitch. James Beresford went 2-4. Estarlin de Los Santos went 1-3 with a walk. FT. MYERS – All Star Break The Miracle will return to game action on Monday in Jupiter. BELOIT 2, BURLINGTON 6 This game was tied at two going into the eighth inning. Unfortunately, Burlington scored four runs after that point. Matt Summers gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in 7.1 innings. He struck out two. Ryan O’Rourke came in and gave up two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings. He walked none and struck out four. The Snappers offense managed just five hits in this game. Nate Roberts drove in both runs. The top six hitters in the lineup combined to go 1-22 while the bottom three hitters went 4-9. JD Williams went 2-3 with his 12th double. Steve Liddle hit his first double since returning to the lineup. On the other side, Miguel Sano went 0-4 with four more strikeouts. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, June 17, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Matt Carson [ATTACH=CONFIG]1257[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Casey Fien [ATTACH=CONFIG]1258[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Monday, June 18, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Indianapolis – TBD New Britain – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Jupiter - TBD Beloit – All Star Break GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – RHP Kuo Hua Lo --- 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 was going to say, not sure any Rule 4 guys have even played yet.

That may be the case for some of them but there is no way to know that or to really anticipate that.

Bard would certainly go to ET of these two, although I would guess he'll go to Beloit, if not Ft. Myers. (although you're right, may just keep him in ft. Myers until he's deemed 100% No need to push him for this half season.) Cross... you'll see his name tomorrow. Johnson... not exactly certain what his status is. Not released, but not yet assigned to a team. He's in Ft. Myers.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?668-2012-Elizabethton-Twins-Roster-and-Preview

Late Saturday night, players and coaches assigned to play for the Elizabethon Twins left Ft. Myers on a bus destined for Tennessee. It would mean a 13 hour drive, but for all of the players, they are more than happy to make the trip. Most of the players reported to Twins minor league spring training in early March and remained at Extended Spring Training. Hopping on that bus means they will be playing in the Appalachian League instead of staying in Ft. Myers and playing in the Gulf Coast League. They are excited to play in games that matter. Ray Smith is back for his 18th year as manager of the E-Twins and 26th year with the team in Elizabethton (not coaching his time there as a player. He has a record of 748-464 as manager. Jeff Reed is back for his 11th season as the E-Twins hitting coach. Ivan Arteaga takes over for long-time pitching coach Jim Shellenback. Arteaga has served in that role with the GCL Twins the past six seasons. The 2011 team boasted Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year Tim Shibuya and Hitter of the Year Eddie Rosario. Rosario’s 21 home runs was one more than teammate and Twins top prospect Miguel Sano. Those three, and most of the 2011 team, have moved their way up to the Beloit Snappers roster. However, there is some very good talent on the 2012 Elizabethton Twins roster and they will most likely again compete for an Appalachian League title. THE PITCHERS Ricardo Arevalo (SP-21), Hudson Boyd (SP-19), Josh Burris (20), Steve Evans (22), Dallas Gallant (23), Tyler Herr (21), Garrett Jewell (21), Zach Jones (21), Corey Kimes (SP-22), Brett Lee (SP-21), Angel Mata (SP-19), Mason Melotakis (21), Luis Nunez (20), Hein Robb (SP-20), Taylor Rogers (21). DL – Tyler Duffey (21) and JT Chargois (21). As you can see, this group is a combination of young guys who spent time in the GCL last year and college guys drafted earlier this month. There are a few college guys from last year’s draft as well. 2012 Draft – Mason Melotakis was the team’s first second round pick this year out of Northwestern State. Chargois was the team’s second second round pick this June from Rice. Duffey was the Twins second pick from Rice this year, and the team’s fifth round pick. Zach Jones was the fourth round pick out of San Jose State. Taylor Rogers is left-handed. He was the 11th round pick out of Kentucky. The Twins clearly made a concerted effort to add some power arms. They did that, particularly with Melotakis, Chargois and Duffey. It will be fun to see how that plays out. I also can’t help but wonder how quickly some of these college guys move up to Beloit. 2011 Draft – Hudson Boyd was the Twins second supplemental first round pick a year ago out of high school. There was a lot of speculation about whether he was go to the GCL or E-Town. The hard thrower will make his debut in the Appy League. If you’re looking for a guy and wondering why he is still in Elizabethton, look to 2011 13th round pick Steve Evans. He pitched for Elizabethton last year, very well, and returns in 2012. How well? He was 2-1 with a 1.54 ERA in 21 games out of the bullpen. In 23.1 innings, he walked 11 and struck out 24. Garrett Jewell pitched just eight games last year for the E-Twins before coming down with mono. Corey Kimes got into a game or two before he fought injury the rest of the year. Brett Lee was a last day signing last year as well. The left-hander was the team’s 10th round pick a year ago. Josh Burris has a huge upside thanks to a big fastball and a devastating curveball. If he throws strikes, he will be very good. The GCL Guys – Ricardo Arevalo has made 25 appearances and 20 starts for the GCL Twins over the past two seasons. He is 0-11 with a 4.37 ERA. Tyler Herr was the Twins 44th round pick in 2009 out of high school. He didn’t pitch in the GCL until 2010. He stayed there in 2011 and was much improved out of the team’s bullpen. He looks to continue that trend with the E-Twins. Hein Robb has been a mainstay on the South African team in international competitions since he was 15 years old. The Twins signed him, and he came to the States as an 18 year old. He struggled in the GCL in 2010 and was much better in 2011, although inconsistent. In 2010 in the GCL, Luis Nunez struck out 30 batters in 29 innings, but he also walked 15. Last year, he returned and was incredible. He went 5-0 with 5 saves, and in 32.1 innings, he struck out 37 and walked just six. He’s skinny and throws really hard. Angel Mata is the youngest guy on the pitching staff. Last year in the GCL, he went 0-1 with a 1.46 ERA. In 37 innings, he walked 19 and struck out 30. Dallas Gallant has tremendous upside. He was drafted in 2010, but he missed all of 2011 with Tommy John surgery. He has a fastball that touches 95 and he could be one to watch late in games. CATCHERS Bo Altobelli (21), Jhonathan Arias (23), Michael Quesada (22) Arias returns to Elizabethton after spending most of 2011 in Beloit. Following the 2011 season, he went to Instructs and became a pitcher. However, he is back to catching. Quesada was the team’s 24th round pick in 2010 out of Sierra College. He signed late and played in just three games that year. Last year, he was a constant in the GCL lineup. He hit .211, but got on base 31% of the time. He also had seven doubles, two triples and three home runs. Bo Altobelli was drafted the team’s 21st round pick this month of Texas Tech. INFIELDERS Niko Goodrum (20), Travis Harrison (19), Josh Hendricks (20), DJ Hicks (22), Candido Pimentel (21), Jorge Polanco (18), Stephen Wickens (23) This is a group of immensely talented, young players. These guys have very high ceilings, but there are still many questions with each of them, as you would expect from guys this young. Goodrum was the Twins 2nd round pick in 2010 out of high school. A tremendous athlete, he hit just .161 in 128 Pas in 2010 in the GCL. However, last year in Elizabethton, he hit .275/.352/.382 with 10 doubles, three triples and two home runs. He was also 8 of 9 in stolen base attempts. More important, he got better every month, offensively and defensively at shortstop. Josh Hendricks is 20 years old and hit .275/.316/.350 in the GCL a year ago with eight doubles and two triples. The Australian first baseman is 6-3 and 220 pounds. He had great power potential. His problem in his first two seasons in the States has been consistency. He has had several very good and several very bad streaks. DJ Hicks was the Twins 17th round pick this year out of Central Florida. He has a lot of power potential as well, and should play a lot of 1B, although he also can play in the outfield. Jorge Polanco was a highly-ranked Dominican prospect. He was signed as a shortstop, for about $700,000. In his second turn in the GCL last year, Polanco hit .250/.319/.349 with eight doubles, three triples and a home run. Polanco played 19 games at shortstop, 14 games at third base and 10 games at second base. He also spent some time at all three outfield positions. Polanco will turn 19 in July. Candido Pimentel has been an outfielder through his minor league time, but this year, he is listed with the infielders. He is a lanky, speedy, Otis Nixon type bat, and maybe the better Nixon comparison would be his speed on the base paths. OUTFIELDERS Romy Jimenez (21), Max Kepler (19), Kelvin Mention (20), Rory Rhodes (20), Adam Walker (20). Jimenez (who you may remember as Romy Trinidad in the DSL) hit .321/.367/.429 with three doubles in 28 at bats before his season came to an end with injury. The 21-year-old has terrific speed. Kepler played in Elizabethton last year. He hit .262/.347/.366 with 11 doubles, three triples and a home run. Those are solid, but unspectacular numbers, so the 19 year old gets to go back. Hopefully, like Goodrum, he will dominate the league this year. Kelvin Mention went to high school with Beloit’s JD Williams. Unfortunately, he missed all of last season with injury. He is big and strong and if he can stay healthy, he could hit some home runs. Rory Rhodes started this season at Beloit but hit just .189/.262/.289 before moving back to Extended Spring Training. Instead of playing at first base, he is now listed with the outfielders. Finally, the Twins used their 3rd round pick (97th overall) on Adam Walker. Although he played 1B and Jacksonville U, the Twins wanted to list him as a right fielder. Although he’ll likely strike out a lot, there is a good chance that he will hit a lot of home runs. NEW RULE - Previously, a player could spend no more than three years combined between the GCL and Elizabethton. A new rule this year allows three players with more than three years of experience. This is important in the case of Rory Rhodes. The 6-7, 20 year old from Australia played in the GCL in 2009 and 2010. He played in Elizabethton last year. That's three years. However, he is allowed to play in Elizabethton again in 2012 because of this rule. It would appear that this is a rule designed for players signed as 16 or 17 year olds from other countries. The players from Central America can play in the Dominican Summer League before coming up to the short-season leagues. However, players from Australia (Rhodes, Hendricks), or South Africa (Robb) or Germany (Kepler) or other places that don't have a pre-short season place to play. I think this is a good rule. SUMMARY This roster for Elizabethton has another chance to compete for another Appalachian League title. There are some good veterans in the rotation and in the bullpen which always helps. However, there are also some high-end pitching prospects worth watching to see how they adjust to a little better competition. On the offensive side, it is also a good mix. It is a good mix of college guys and young players. There is a good combination of power guys (Walker, Kepler, Hendricks, Rhodes, Quesada, Harrison, Hicks) and speed (Goodrum, Polanco, Kepler and Jimenez). Tomorrow, we will take a look at the GCL roster. It includes several players drafted this year and last year out of high school as well as several players who have come up from the Twins Dominican Summer League team. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1254[/ATTACH]

Twins Lineup: Denard Span CF Ben Revere RF Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau 1B Trevor Plouffe 3B Ryan Doumit DH Brian Dozier SS Jamey Carroll 2B SP: NickBlackburn

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The Twins lost the second game of the Target Field series against the Brewers. Be sure to check out the article by Twins Daily’s Parker Hageman who was on the scene and filed a very nice story on the game. Starting on Tuesday, this Twins minor league report will be expanding. On Monday, the Twins Gulf Coast League team will be playing their first game. Will it be the professional debut of first round pick Byron Buxton? Late on Saturday night, the Elizabethton Twins players and coaches boarded a bus and started their trek to Tennessee. By the time you read this on Sunday morning, the bus may soon be arriving in Elizabethton after an estimated 13 hour drive. I believe I have the E-Twins roster and plan to write up a season preview for the team tomorrow. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday day: ROCHESTER 5, LOUISVILLE 11 Unfortunately for the Red Wings, this game got out of control pretty quickly. Matt Maloney got the start. The lefty gave up nine runs (8 earned) on eight hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. Three of the hits went for home runs, including a homer by Corky Miller and a rehabbing Scott Rolen. Brendan Wise came in and gave up one run on four hits over the next 2.1 innings. Kyle Waldrop gave up one run on a hit and two walks in two innings. JR Towles led the offense by going 2-3 with a walk and his 12th double. Clete Thomas hit a two-run homer in the 9th, his fourth with the Red Wings. NEW BRITAIN 1, ERIE 4 BJ Hermsen was back on the mound for the Rock Cats on Saturday. The right-hander gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out just one. Daniel Turpen came in and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked two batters, but he also struck out two. Luis Perdomo struck out one in a perfect ninth frame. Nate Hanson had another strong game. He was 2-4 with his tenth double. Rene Tosoni also had two hits. Chris Herrmann went 1-3 with a walk. FT. MYERS – All Star Game The midseason All Star game for the Florida State League was played on Saturday night. Josmil Pinto started at catcher for the south squad and batted seventh. He was 0-1 in his one plate appearance. Oswaldo Arcia entered the game as a replacement and went 0-2. Danny Santana played shortstop the last half of the game. He was 0-1 but walked once, scored two runs and stole two bases. Ricky Bowen came in to pitch the eighth inning and went 1-2-3. He was the winning pitcher in the game. BELOIT 3, BURLINGTON 11 Things definitely got started poorly for the Snappers in this game. Jason Wheeler was on the mound, and he gave up seven runs (just four earned) on seven this in five innings. He walked two and struck out three. He was hurt by errors, to be sure. Tim Shibuya came in and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in two innings. Bart Carter gave up two runs on four hits in his inning. He struck out two. Clinton Dempster then pitched a perfect ninth inning. Adam Bryant led the offense. In four at bats, he had a single, his tenth double and his second triple of the season. On Sunday, the first 500 fans in Beloit will get a Miguel Sano Wobblehead! --- Players of the Day for Saturday, June 16, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Adam Bryant [ATTACH=CONFIG]1249[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Ricky Bowen [ATTACH=CONFIG]1248[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, June 17, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Indianapolis – RHP Sam Deduno New Britain vs Erie – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers – All Star Break Beloit vs Burlington – RHP Matt Summers --- 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!

The greatest value of Beresford. Tonight, he committed his third error of the year. Consider he has been playing most every day at SS And 2B, and has just 3 errors in half of a season. The man can flat-out pick it!

Kind of have to at this point, since that is exactly what he has shown so far. They were actually when he has tried to sacrifice bunt. He's been better when he tries to bunt for hits. Pretty sure he's been told that many, many, many times.