Seth Stohs

was there a different cedar avenue bridge at that time? when I lived in the cities and worked in eagan, I went over that ridge nearly every day. it's hard for me to imagine how high that water must have been or how much rain must have caused it to be out. this was a fun read. Like john said, I have never heard this story before. thank you so much for sharing it with us!

MWW - for starters, I do tend to look some more at ERA because they're starting most of their own innings. For relievers, it is more about WHIP, but ERA and Ks and stuff matter. This is certainly not a top prospect list, although some will be solid big leaguers, it's just who did well in May. And to me, that's about getting outs, K or otherwise. Prospect lists are more about K rate and such.

I always enjoy watching non-pitchers pitch... especially when they do well.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?600-Twins-Minor-League-Starting-Pitcher-of-the-Month-May

It’s hard to believe that the month of May is already complete, and with it, it is time to announce the choices for Twins minor league hitter, starting pitcher and relief pitcher of the month. This month, we are going to start with the starting pitching. There were some very solid starting pitchers during the month of May. Instead of making four starts, as they did in April, they had to be good for five or six starts in May. Below, you will find my rankings of the Top 6 starting pitchers in the Twins farm system in the month of May. Be sure to vote for your choice in the comments. --- Number 6 - Beloit – Jason Wheeler - 5 GS, 3-1, 3.09 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 34 H, 5 BB, 22 K Wheeler, the Twins 8th round pick in 2011 out of Loyola Marymount, was on this list in April. Overall, the lefty is now 6-1 with a 2.75 ERA. In ten starts, he has given up more than three earned runs just once. In fact, he has given up three runs just once. Number 5 – Beloit – RHP Matt Summers - 6 GS, 3-1, 2.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 35 H, 10 BB, 24 K Summers was the Twins 4th round pick in 2011 out of UC-Irvine. The big right-hander had a rough April with the Snappers. He went 1-2 with a 6.64 ERA. However, in May, he warmed up with the weather. He walked the same number of batters in over 15 more innings while striking out 11 more. Number 4 – New Britain/Rochester – RHP David Bromberg - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.48 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 28 K It’s been well documented. Bromberg’s 2011 was a lost season after having a line drive back at him break his forearm. He began this season in the Rock Cats bullpen and gave up nine runs in his first two innings. However, since May, Bromberg was spectacular. At one point, he threw 20 consecutive scoreless innings. The month ended with a start for the Rochester Red Wings. Number 3 – Rochester – RHP Liam Hendriks - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.93 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 22 H, 10 BB, 24 K Hendriks was sent back to Rochester after struggling with the Twins in April. He pitched great, and if not for a bad starting on Wednesday night (6 ER in 5 IP), he probably would be #1 on this list. Coming into the game on Wednesday, he was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. The right-hander should get another month with the Red Wings and then potentially come back to the Twins in July. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – LHP Pat Dean - 6 GS, 4-0, 1.34 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 34 H, 6 BB, 16 K Dean got an extra start in May because he pitched just three innings before there was a rain delay one game, so he was able to come back on short rest. Although he strikes out very few, Dean doesn’t hurt himself with walks. The 2010 third round pick just turned 23. On the season, he’s 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA. He has just 30 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: New Britain – BJ Hermsen - 6 GS, 3-1, 2.68 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 43.2 IP, 39 H, 2 BB, 23 K For the second straight month, BJ Hermsen is my choice for Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Last month, he pitched for Ft. Myers. At the end of the month of April, he was promoted to AA New Britain, and he hasn’t missed a beat. What is remarkable is that he averaged almost 7.5 innings per start. He definitely is a pitch to contact pitcher, reliant upon a lot of movement and pinpoint control (note, two walks in 43.2 innings). Overall this year between the two stops, he is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA in 66.2 innings. What do you think? I listed six pitchers here that pitched quite well in the month of May. There were actually a few other choices. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? [ATTACH=CONFIG]1090[/ATTACH]

Fun chat! Good times!

Typically I do one following the end of the minor league season... Then when my next book comes out, it'll hae a top 30 or 40. A ton of research goes into the book, and that's why things can change from September to January.

I don't think that's fair or true. Not in the Top 10. There are those types in 11-20 group, but not in this one. Like any team's top 10, there are question marks, but I think everyone in the group has high ceiling, with the possible exception of Dozier who looks more like a sure-thing to contribute for awhile.

Great point, and it was in my notes, and it's why he is #5 and not #3.

a lot of teams liked him as a pitcher, but the Twins liked him as a 5-tool outfielder. He may have gone earlier, but he let it be known that he did not want to pitchre.

In AAA, it's not really that unusual.

Their top hitter has 5-6 more home runs than anyone the Twins have in their lineup. THey're not a good offense, but as we continue to see, apparently neither are the Twins. I have a hard time believing that the Twins offense isn't better than this. Last night, De Vries had no control of his curveball or slider. It's hard to throw 5 shutout innings with just one pitch. Then again, when he needed it, he was able to get the changeup over. It just shows that having four pitches if pretty important for a starter.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?596-Minnesota-Twins-Top-Ten-Prospects

A week ago, we started to take a look at my Top 50 Twins Prospects. Within the last week, we looked at prospects 11-20, prospects 21-30, prospects 31-40, and prospects 41 through 50. The general belief is that the Twins farm system is pretty weak and sadly, from doing this exercise, I find it hard to disagree. However, to say that it is bad and completely void of talent is also not true at all. Within this top ten, there is a lot of talent. There are still plenty of question marks due to age and injuries, but there are some high ceilings. The hope would be that after the Twins make six selections in the top 100 picks in next week’s draft (And sign them), there will be a lot more talent in the system to believe in. Most likely, the player the Twins select with the #2 overall pick should slot right into the #2 spot on the list below. Without further ado, let’s get to the list. Here are my choices for Twins Top Prospects: #10 –Hudson Boyd, RHP Boyd was the Twins second supplemental first round pick a year ago. He was drafted out of his high school in Ft. Myers. The Twins had him come to Hammond Stadium days before the draft and saw him throw 97 mph. Listed at 6-3 and 270 pounds, Boyd is a big man who the Twins will want to slim down. He didn’t play in 2011 until the Instructional League. Boyd throws hard, and he also throws strikes. He is just 19 years old so he will likely start his career in the GCL as a starter. Many believe that he may eventually need to move to the bullpen. It’s way too early to know that. Reports I’m hearing from Ft. Myers say that he is working really hard and more important, he is throwing really hard and has a very good curveball. #9 – Travis Harrison, 3B Harrison was selected five picks before the Twins took Boyd in the supplemental round of the 2011 draft. Like Boyd, he signed at the deadline for a little bit above slot. He debuted with the Twins in the Florida Instructional League. The 6-3, 215 pound right-handed hitter is one day younger than Boyd. Reports from Ft. Myers tell me that he is crushing the ball. Of course, like most young hitters, especially power hitters, Harrison still occasionally struggles with hitting a curveball. He can be a solid batting average hitter too if he can make contact, as he does a good job of using the whole field thanks to a very balanced swing. He is best known as a guy who hit a ball 504 feet, well out of Tropicana Field. And again, like Boyd, Harrison could start at Elizabethton but most likely with the GCL Twins. #8 – Brian Dozier, SS The Twins drafted Dozier with their 8th round pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi. The four-year senior advanced quickly through the Twins farm system. He split the 2011 season between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He was my choice for 2011 Minor League Hitter of the Year after hitting a combined .320/.399/.491 with 33 doubles, 12 triples, nine home runs and 24 stolen bases. Teammates talk about his poise and leadership. After hitting .276/.339/.371 with seven doubles and a homer in 28 AAA games this spring, he was promoted to the Twins. In 22 games, he has hit .227/.247/.341 with four doubles and two home runs. No one is expecting him to post an .800 OPS, but in time, I think he will be a .720-.750 OPS guy for a few years. He has shown good range and hands, and plenty of arm to play shortstop. #7 – Joe Benson, OF The Twins second round pick in 2006 out of his Illinois high school, Benson gave up a football scholarship to Purdue. Since signing, things have not always come easy for Benson. He was the Twins Minor League hitter of the year in 2010, and he was my runner up choice in 2011. He spent each of those seasons in New Britain. Last year, he spent September playing nearly every day with the Twins. In one game against Cleveland, he was 4-4 with a triple and two doubles. He began the 2012 season in Rochester, but through 28 games, he was hitting .179/.269/.316 with seven extra base hits. He was sent down to New Britain where he hit .156 in eight games before having surgery on a broken hamate bone last week. There is no questioning the physical tools that Benson possesses. His competitive and aggressive style can mean good things in many cases. The struggles this year were with the emotional side of the game and being able to handle the negative. If ever the 24-year-old can find a way to slow the game down, he can be a special player. #6 – Kyle Gibson, RHP The Twins top pick in the 2009 draft, Gibson came from the University of Missouri. Gibson was the Twins 2010 minor league pitcher of the year when he quickly moved from Ft. Myers to New Britain and up to Rochester. He began 2011 with the Red Wings and pitched well the first two months of the season. Unfortunately, he had elbow pain and had to have Tommy John surgery. He is expected to throw his first bullpen off of a mound next Monday and hopes to pitch in games in 2012. The idea would be that he be ready to pitch for the Twins sometime in 2013. The lanky right-hander throws a fastball between 89-91 but can touch 93. He has a great sinker and a slider. He also throws a change up. He gets a lot of ground balls. He will be added to the 40 man roster following the season. #5 – Oswaldo Arcia, RHP The Twins had to add Arcia to the 40 man roster last November because the 21 year old signed in July of 2007 out of Venezuela. He came to the States and put up solid numbers in 2009, but in 2010, he was the Appalachian League Player of the Year. In 2011, he put up huge numbers in Beloit in April, but then had to miss six weeks after having elbow surgery. Instead of returning to Beloit, he was moved up to Ft. Myers. That is where he starts this spring. After a slow April (thanks, in part, to a leg injury), he had a big May. Right now, he is hitting .298/.351/.482 with 13 doubles, three triples and four home runs. The left-handed hitter has major power. He strikes out a lot, and will have to figure out how to hit left-handed pitching at a decent rate, but Arcia does have a high ceiling. #4 – Aaron Hicks, OF Hicks was the Twins first-round pick way back in June of 2008 out of high school in California. The 22 year old is getting his first taste of AA this year after posting some impressive numbers in the Arizona Fall League last year. Hicks is not over his head, but he is certainly working through some struggles. Overall this season, he is hitting .246/.335/.392 (.727) with eight doubles, a triple and five home runs. However, he posted an OPS of .824 in April and of just .624 thus far in May. The other question is whether or not Hicks should remain a switch-hitter. Well, this year against left-handers, he is hitting .347/.396/.510 (.906) against left-handers and .205/.313/.344 (.657) against right-handers. I’ve said all along that I would give him this year to work on the switch-hitting, but they do need to think about him just being a right-handed hitter following this season when they add him to the 40 man roster. Hicks is already big-league ready defensively. He has great range and a very strong, accurate arm. He has a lot of strength and is very athletic. If he goes by the same timeline as other athletic high school types like Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span, he should make his debut in 2014. It’s possible if he plays well in the second half that Hicks could debut in September. #3 – Liam Hendriks, RHP Consider that just about two years ago this month, Hendriks was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers, he has come a long ways very quickly. Signed by the Twins in 2007 from Australia, the 23-year-old has been on a fast-track, especially when considering that he missed all of the 2008 season with a neck surgery. He was my choice for Twins minor pitcher of the year in 2010 (Gibson was chosen by the Twins). He was my repeat choice in 2011 when he went 12-6 with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 139.1 innings between New Britain and Rochester. He walked just 21 and struck out 111. He pitched in the Futures Game and the Eastern League All-Star game. He then was promoted to the Twins. He began the season in the Twins rotation but April was frustrating for him. He missed his first start due to food poisoning, and then struggled in four starts. He was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in 18 innings. The Twins sent him back to Rochester, and in four starts, he is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA. In 25.2 innings, he has given up 15 hits, walked eight and struck out 23. When on, the 6-0 right-hander has a two-seam fastball between 88-91 with a lot of movement. His four-seamer can hit 93. Although we didn’t see it in April, he has a good curveball at two speed, and a very good changeup. On other thing we didn’t see was his impeccable control of the strike zone. His ceiling is the good, healthy Scott Baker. #2 – Eddie Rosario, 2B When the Twins drafted Rosario in the 4th round of the 2009 draft, he was said to be the best hitter from Puerto Rico that year. To this point in his career, he has shown that he can flat-out hit. He posted a solid .781 OPS in the GCL in 2010 and showed a very good all-around game. It was 2011 in Elizabethton where he made his name. He hit .337/.397/.670 (1.068) with nine doubles, nine triples, 21 home runs and 60 RBI in 67 games. He was named the Appalachian League Player of the Year. At Instructs last fall, the decision was made to move Rosario from Centerfield (where he is really good) to second base. He advanced to Beloit and struggled in April with the glove, but he has improved greatly in the last month. He still plays centerfield once every eight to ten games as well. One the season, he is hitting a solid .284/.356/.458 (.814) with 16 doubles, a triple and five home runs. In the two short-season leagues, Rosario stole a lot of bases. In 2010 and 2011 combined, he had 39 steals in 50 chances. This season, he is struggling on the base paths, successful in just nine of 19 attempts. The 20-year-old has a very good swing, very quick and strong hands. He uses the whole field and is a terrific all-around hitter. #1 – Miguel Sano, 3B The Twins were the happy winners in the Miguel Sano sweepstakes when, in October of 2009, he signed with the Twins for a $3.15 million signing bonus. Known as the top Dominican talent that year, he was the subject of the movie Peletero (Ball player). After coming to the States for spring training in 2010, he split that season between the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf Coast League. In 2011, he played in Elizabehton and didn’t disappoint. He hit .292/.352/.637 (.988) with 18 doubles, seven triples, 20 home runs and 59 RBI in 66 games. How would he adjust to the full-season Midwest League and life in Wisconsin? He adjusted well. In April, he hit .276/.422/.586 (1.008) with five doubles, two triples and six home runs. However, he has struggled in May. Following his 19th birthday, he went on a run in which he had just one hit in 39 at bats (including an 0-24 stretch). He has homered in his past two games again. Miguel Sano has unbelievable power, and power potential. On the year, he has ten doubles, two triples and 13 home run in 188 at bats. He has the ability to hit for average, but that will largely be dependent upon his ability to put the ball in play. In 216 plate appearances, he has 60 strikeouts. He also has already committed 17 errors at third base. Those that look at his stats want to see him pushed and promoted quickly to Ft Myers. Those (coaches, front office types, fans, bloggers) who have seen him play in person say that he is where he needs to be because there are a lot of things he needs to work on. Sano is a special talent, and the Twins need to be wise with how they handle him. He can be on the Joe Mauer path (which was very fast) and get to the big leagues by early 2014. It shouldn’t be about getting him there quickly. It should be about getting him there when he is ready. So, there you have my choices for Twins Top 10 Prospects. Later this week, I’ll be back with my choices for Twins Hitter, Starting Pitcher and Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. If you have any questions or comments on any of these prospects, please feel free to ask. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1077[/ATTACH] (Photo Beloit Daily News) --- Over at Twins Daily, you have a one-stop shop for all Minnesota Twins topics. Minnesotan, former Gopher and current Beloit Snappers infielder AJ Pettersen wrote about Traveling in the Midwest League, specifically the team’s road trip to Kane County. Remember Tommy Watkins, the long-time Twins minor leaguer who finally got an opportunity with the Twins in 2007. He’s now in his third season as the hitting coach of the Beloit Snappers. Last night, he was a guest on the SethSpeaks Weekly Twins Podcast and talked about his playing career, but also a lot about coaching the likes of Sano and Rosario in Beloit this year. It was a fun interview, one of guests on the show, so be sure to listen. Cody Christie updated the goings on in the Twins minor leagues on Tuesday. In the forum, there is a terrific look at how impressive the trio of Scott Diamond, PJ Walters and Cole De Vries have been for the Twins. Thrylos continued his look at the top 22 pitchers in the upcoming draft by writing about RHP Michael Wacha. He has just a couple more pitchers to profile before the draft.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?595-Tommy-Watkins-Headlines-SethSpeaks-Weekly-Twins-Podcast

Tommy Watkins has been in the Twins organization since 1998 when he was the team's 38th round draft pick of the Twins. He spent two seasons in the Gulf Coast League, one year in Elizabethton and one year in Quad Cities. He spent two years playing for his hometown Ft. Myers Miracle. After two-and-a-half seasons with New Britain, he was promoted to Rochester. He spent three-and-a-half seasons there before retiring. However, in late 2007, all the time and all the work paid off when he was called into his manager's office and told he was going to the big leagues. He played in nine games for the Twins and hit .357 (10-28). Watkins is now in his third season as the hitting coach of the Beloit Snappers where this year he gets to work with a team that is currently four games ahead of its nearest competition in its division. Tonight, I was joined by Watkins on the SethSpeaks Weekly Twins podcast. We talked about his career, but mainly about his coaching with the Snappers. We talked about Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, AJ Pettersen and more players. It was a fun conversation. I was also joined by Ed Thoma of the Mankato Free Press who writes a terrific blog called The Baseball Outsider. Then TwinsCentric and Twins Daily's own Parker Hageman came on to talk about more Twins topics. He also let us in on some Twins Daily 'stuff' that you'll likely be reading about here in the near future. Check out the podcast here. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1074[/ATTACH]

What we're saying is that most 1st round picks dont' have the career that Jamey Carroll has had, at least most taken in the late first round which is where Michael was drafted. Obviously you're trying to find an All-Star with every pick, but that's not realistic.

I agree with that. If you get a player in the first round who has a Jamey Carroll-like numbers at the end of his career, you've made a pretty good pick. That said, we all want Ken Griffey Jr success with our first round picks too, right?

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