Seth Stohs

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The Twins were pretty well dominated by the Red Sox on Tuesday night, losing 11-2. Nick Blackburn was crushed. Matt Maloney was crushed. The offense didn’t come through. There was even some bad defense. Its’ a good thing that there are plenty of positive things going on in the Twins farm system to give us positive stuff to talk about! Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Tuesday: ROCHESTER, SYRACUSE The Red Wings were rained out on Tuesday night, but they still made some news. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was put on the 7-Day Disabled List with a high ankle sprain. Also, Ben Revere will be promoted to the Twins to take Josh Willingham’s place on the roster while the power hitter is gone on paternity leave. Best wishes to Josh and his wife Ginger! NEW BRITAIN 7, PORTLAND 6 Logan Darnell had a rough start and put the Rock Cats in a bad place early in the game. It took quite the comeback, but the team got a big, walk-off win in this one. Darnell started and gave up six runs on eight hits and four walks in just three innings. Lester Oliveros gave up a hit and a walk in his two scoreless innings. Brett Jacobson walked three in two scoreless innings. He struck out two. Deolis Guerra continues his mastery of the bullpen. He went two scoreless innings and struck out five. He is now 2-0 with an ERA at 0.74 ERA. Chris Herrmann led the offense by going 2-4 with a walk, his second home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Deibinson Romero was 2-5. Danny Lehmann was 2-4. The Rock Cats scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to tie the game. Then with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Nate Hanson hit a game-winnings, walk-off double. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 7, ST. LUCIE 1 BJ Hermsen finally was credited with his first win of the season. The righty gave up just one run on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Matt Hauser came in and struck out three in three scoreless innings. Ricky Bowen struck out two in a perfect ninth. Danny Santana went 3-5 with his third double. Levi Michael was 3-4 with a walk and his first triple. Angel Morales was 2-5 with his third double and forth stolen base. Michael Gonzales was 2-5 with his second home run in as many games. Josmil Pinto was 1-3 with a walk and three RBI. BELOIT 8, WEST MICHIGAN 0 The Snappers grabbed an early lead, but then they added five runs in the 7th inning to break away. Danny Ortiz led the offense. He was 3-5 with his third double and four RBI. He is now hitting .304. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his sixth double and is now hitting .324. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-3 with two walks and his second double. AJ Pettersen was 2-3 with a walk and his first stolen base. Tim Shibuya was the recipient of the great run support. He recorded his first win of the year. He went 5.2 innings and gave up no runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out five. AJ Achter came into the game with two outs in the 6th inning and got the final out with the bases loaded via a strikeout. Achter reduced his ERA to 0.77 by throwing a scoreless 7th inning too. Nelvin Fuentes and Clint Dempster each pitched a scoreless inning. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Danny Ortiz [ATTACH=CONFIG]741[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Tim Shibuya [ATTACH=CONFIG]740[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs Portland – LHP Luke French Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – RHP Adrian Salcedo Beloit vs Bowling Green – LHP Jason Wheeler --- 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!

He's just fine defensively. No one is callling him a gold glove candidate, but he is very solid.

Ah, fun with Nick Blackburn!! I mean, for Red Sox hitters!

Twins Lineup: Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer C Josh Willingham LF Justin Morneau DH Ryan Doumit C Danny Valencia 3B Chris Parmelee RF Trevor Plouffe 2B SP: Nick Blackburn Red Sox Lineup: Mike Aviles SS Ryan Sweeney RF Dustin Pedroia 2B Adrian Gonzalez 1B David Ortiz DH Kevin Youkilis 3B Cody Ross LF Marlon Byrd CF Kelly Shoppach C SP: Josh Beckett

You've got him...

Dolenc is available.

They are yours!

Yup, he's yours.

West Micigan announcer after Snappers LF Wang-Wei Lin makes great catch. "Wang-Wei Lin went a Long Way to make that sliding catch."

Gotta love Danny Ortiz, little guy with huge pop in his bat!

What college juniors are at Extended Spring? There are some guys that were drafted in the 20th round or lower who are at EST, but they could be the guys called up if there is a need at Beloit. Guys like Steve Evans, David Hurlbut, Cole Johnson, Drew Leachman... But most of the highly drafted college juniors/seniors are in at least Beloit.

College juniors drafted last year are already 22 this year. Except Levi Michael because he younger and went to college a little earlier. That's just how it is with college guys. Brian Dozier's been fast tracked, and he's almost 25. Gibson was really fast-tracked. A lot of the high draft college guys get pushed pretty quickly.

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Over 60 Twins minor leaguers were adopted in yesterday's Twins Adopt-a-Propsect. If you are interested, you can still adopt a Twins prospect by clicking here and selecting a Twins minor leaguer. There is a huge interest in the Twins minor league system, and for good reason. Although you may read or hear that the Twins farm system is struggling and middle-of-the-pack, that certainly does not mean that there are not people worth tracking. That's what we'll do here today. In each of the four Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbooks that I have written, I put in my Top Twins Prospect rankings and those of several Twins writers and bloggers, local and national. Although we are just three weeks into the minor league season, I thought it would be good to track how the Twins top minor league prospects are performing to date. We can track this monthly, or whenever, to see how these guys are doing. ---- #1 Miguel Sano - 3B - Beloit Snappers - 18 Sano has stepped into the full-season and come out hitting like crazy. He is hitting .311/.447/.705 (1.152 OPS) in 61 at bats. He has four doubles, a triple, six home runs and 18 RBI. He has 14 walks, but he also has struck out 20 times. Not just a big man, he has good speed and has stolen two bases in three attempts. #2 Eddie Rosario - 2B - Beloit Snappers - 20 Last year's Appalachian League MVP is off to a very solid start in 2012. he is hitting .317/.427/.444 (.871) in 63 at bats. He had five doubles, a home run and 13 RBI. He has good speed, stealing six bases in eight attempts. He also has walked 12 times and struck out just 11 times. His transition to 2B is going as expected. He has five errors already, but reports indicate that he is doing better than that number would indicate. #3 Oswaldo Arcia - RF - Ft Myers Miracle - 20 He is somewhat off to a slow start, hitting just .267/.358/.467 (.825) in 45 at bats. A lingering leg injury cost him about a week's worth of games already this month. He had a big 4-5 game on Sunday with a triple and a home run that really boosted his early season numbers. He has two doubles, two triples, a home run and four RBI on the year. He has six walks, but the number to watch with him is his strikeouts, and he already has 17. #4 Aaron Hicks - CF - New Britain Rock Cats - 22 Many expected Hicks to struggle with the jump to AA this spring, but he has held his own to this point. He is hitting .274/.356/.516 (.872) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and ten RBI in 62 at bats. He is also 2-3 in steal attempts. He has walked nine times and struck out 16 times. Hicks has a history of being quite streaky and we've seen that already in the early season. The goal will be to minimize the length of the bad streaks. #5 Joe Benson - CF - Rochester Red Wings - 24 Benson is off to a slow start in AAA. He is hitting .185/.318/.241 (.559) in 54 at bats. He has one double, one triple and no home runs to this point. He has walked ten times, but he has also struck out 17 times. That is the key for him, putting the ball in play because when he does, generally good things happen. He is also 3-3 on the base paths so far this season, and we all know about his range and arm on defense. #6 Liam Hendriks - RHP - Minnesota Twins - 23 Thanks to a bout with food poisoning, Hendriks missed his first start of the season, but he has been solid in his first two starts since. He is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 11.2 innings, he has given up 12 hits, walked just two and struck out five. In each of his games, on bad home run ball allowed really hurt him, but he has looked poised and shown good stuff on the mound. [ATTACH=CONFIG]727[/ATTACH] #7 Kyle Gibson - RHP - Rochester Red Wings - 24 As you know, Gibson is on the Disabled List after having Tommy John surgery in September. He expects to throw off of a mound in early June and could be making rehab starts in late July or early August. The goal is to have him ready to compete for a Twins job next spring training. #8 Adrian Salcedo - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 The talented right-hander has made three starts this season without a decision. He has a 3.21 ERA that looks much better than the 1.64 WHIP he has posted. In 14 innings, he had allowed 15 hits, uncharacteristically walked eight and struck out ten. #9 Alex Wimmers - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 23 After a frustrating 2011 season that ended with a no-hitter in Ft. Myers, Wimmers made the jump to AA to start the 2012 season. In his first start, he gave up two runs on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. (4.15 ERA, 1.85 WHIP) He hasn't pitched since due to a sore back and a slightly strained flexor (elbow). He hasn't pitched in two weeks, but hopefully he can get back on a mound soon. #10 Chris Parmelee - 1B/OF - Minnesota Twins - 24 Parmelee was a big surprise in spring training, earning a spot on the big league roster thanks to the decision to use Justin Morneau primarily as a DH. He has held his own at the start of the season, hitting .273/.304/409 (.713) in 44 at bats. He has four doubles, a triple and two RBI. he has walked just twice and struck out 11 times. #11 Brian Dozier - SS/2B - Rochester Red Wings - 24 Dozier has certainly made a name for himself in the organization's mind the last two seasons. He got off to a great start in AAA this season, and despite going 4-27 (.148) in his last seven games, he is still hitting .311/.373/.459 (.832) in 61 at bats this season. He has six doubles, a home run and six RBI. He has walked six times and struck out nine times. He has just one steal in three attempts. To this point, he has hit 1st, 2nd and now 3rd in the Red Wings lineup. He has primarily played shortstop, but has a handful of starts at 2B as well. (It is important to note that we have passed the point in the season where, if the Twins called him up today, they would still have control of his services until the 2018 season. He would be a Super-2 arbitration-eligible player, but the Twins would keep him the extra season.) #12 Travis Harrison - 3B - Extended Spring Training - 19 The Twins supplemental first round pick in 2012 is playing in Extended Spring Training right now and will play in either the GCL or for Elizabethton when the short-seasons start in late-June. #13 Tom Stuifbergen - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 23 He came to spring training with an injured foot and a sore shoulder. A recent MRI indicated some issues in his shoulder that hopefully can be fixed through some shoulder strengthening. It is still uncertain when he will next pitch. #14 Angel Morales - CF - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 2011 was a lost season for Morales, for the most part, due to his elbow pain and then surgery. However, he is back in 2012 and hitting very well. He was the Florida State League's hitter of the week for the seasons for ten days. He is hitting .339/.400/.452 (.852) through 62 at bats. He has two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBI. he is 3-4 in stolen base attempts. He has seven walks, but a concern would be his 19 strikeouts. #15 Chris Herrmann - C - New Britain Rock Cats - 24 Herrmann broke out last year and then made another strong impression this spring as a future Twins catcher. He is off to a slow start with the Rock Cats this year. He is hitting just .226/.273/.387 (.660) in 62 at batswith seven doubles, a homer and five RBI. He has just four walks to go with 13 strikeouts. #16 Manuel Soliman - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 The hard-throwing former 3B has moved up a level each year. He has made two starts with the Miracle this season before being put on the Disabled List this weekend with a sore shoulder. Through two starts, he had thrown just five innings. He was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. He allowed seven hits, walked five and struck out five. #17 Levi Michael - SS - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 Michael, the Twins top pick in 2011, is making his professional debut this spring. he is off to a slow start with the bat and the glove. In 57 at bats, he is hitting .228/.338/.281. This weekend, he smashed his first professional home run (and his first extra base hit). He has walked ten times and struck out ten times. He is 1-1 in steal attempts. #18 Max Kepler - OF - Extended Spring Training - 19 The young German OF is starting this season in EST. He could advance to Beloit if there is a need, or he could return to Elizabethton and hope to improve upon a decent first showing there. #19 Niko Goodrum - SS - Extended Spring Training - 20 The super-talented shortstop actually had a quietly very good 2011 in Elizabethton. He committed a lot of errors, but he did well with the bat. He is back at EST, and like Kepler, I would not be surprised if he moves up to Beloit before the short-season starts. #20 Hudson Boyd - RHP - Extended Spring Training - 19 The Twins second supplemental first round pick last year was the stocky right-hander from Ft. Myers. He throws hard and it will be interesting to see if he goes to the GCL or Elizabethton. #21 BJ Hermsen - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 22 Everyone wants to point out that he doesn't throw real hard, but what he does do is get hitters out with a good mix of pitches and a poise on the mound. Hersen has made three starts and is yet to get a decision despite tremendous numbers. He is 0-0 with a 0.50 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP. In 18 innings, had has given up just nine hits, walked just four and struck out ten. #22 Danny Santana - SS/2B/CF - Ft. Myers Miracle - 21 Santana got off to a very fast start with the Miracle, and even now after 66 at bats, he is hitting .303/.324/.455 (.778). He has two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBI. He has walked just twice and struck out nine times. Very fast, he is just 2-4 in stolen base attempts. #23 Madison Boer - RHP - Beloit Snappers - 22 The Eden Prairie native and Twins 2nd round pick last June, Boer has found that the Midwest League can be a little more difficult than the Appy League. He has made four starts and is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. In 21.2 innings, he has given up 20 hits, walked seven and struck out 17. He is doing just fine as a starter. #24 Logan Darnell - LHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 23 The left-hander who pitched at three levels last year returns to New Britain where he ended the season. He is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. In 16 innings in three starts, he has given up 13 hits, six walks and struck out ten. #25 David Bromberg - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - 24 Bromberg has been moved to the bullpen by the Twins and he has struggled in the transition. He did make one, three-inning spot start. The numbers don't look great. He is 0-0 with a 15.00 ERA and a 2.83 WHIP. However, it is just six innings. He has given up 13 hits, walked four and struck out just two. So, there are the updates on my Top 25 Twins prospects from my Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. I'll be looking to update my Top 50 Twins Prospect list in late May or early June, before the draft. So, continue to look for updates. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask in the Comments!

Players can still be "adopted" here as there are still several prospects available. Here is the quick update: - Alex Wimmers - Twins Fan from Afar Corey Williams - jnygaard Max Kepler - LuckyLager James Beresford - Jim Crikket Jeff Manship - John Bonnes Daniel Turpen - glanzer Miguel Sano - Seth Stohs Chris Herrmann - shanewahl Aaron Hicks - gunnarthor BJ Hermsen - seanmiz Josh Burris - Thrylos Levi Michael - TwinsTakes-RD Darin Mastroianni - ashburyjohn Madison Boer - Hogs2 Eddie Rosario - twinsmvb Adrian Salcedo - Cody Christie Oswaldo Arcia - bkucko Angel Morales - nicksaviking Hudson Boyd - TwinsFaninPhilly Deolis Guerra - Rosterman Matt Hauser - Teflon Brian Dozier - Mr. Ed Drew Butera - LimestoneBaggy Carlos Gutierrez - JakeE141414 Michael Tonkin - twinsfanstrief Daniel Ortiz - SouthDakotaTwinsFan AJ Pettersen - Gernzy Travis Harrison - travistwinstalk Kyle Gibson - enge0280 Niko Goodrum - MarcusE Pedro Florimon - James Tyler Grimes - Miles Joe Benson - Jontler Logan Darnell - Neinstein Caleb Thielbar - Cap'n Pirahna Dereck Rodriguez - StormJH1 Brian Dinkelman - Kirsten Brown Andrew Albers - mom2fourtwinsfans Lester Oliveros - stringer bell Angel Mata - Your House is My House Liam Hendriks - twinsnorth49 Jairo Perez - righty8383 Ben Revere - AT4MVP Tyler Robertson - LaserED62 Tim Shibuya - Mike in SD Jason Wheeler - MWLFan Danny Rams - joeboo_22 Danny Santana - SDTwinsFan Anthony Slama - gromit Nate Roberts - raindog Evan Bigley - striker_86 Brett Jacobson - danoo Cole DeVries - SirLoin Chris Colabello - Republican22 Manuel Soliman - dv3 Lance Ray - Land of 10,000 Beasts AJ Achter - shs_59 Scott Diamond - sweetluis Jorge Polanco - TRex Ryan O'Rourke - SnapperJP Steve Hirschfeld - lecroy24fan Pat Dean - TKGuy Cole Nelson - nickpuntoismygod

The case for Brian Dozier is this: Jamey Carroll might just need a day off. Dozier could come up and give him a day off and give Casilla a day off and then go back down. The case against is: Is it really worth adding him to the 40 man roster for that? Probably not.

I would agree with that. And it definitely seems that the Willingham family is a good one. Ginger is a great follow on Twitter. Family first. Always!

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As I type this, the Twins and the Red Sox are sitting at 5-5 in the 7th inning. Who knows how long that game will go. All three Twins minor league games were in the Eastern time zone, so those games are all complete. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday: ROCHESTER RED WINGS Rochester residents were the recipient of three inches of snow when they woke up on Monday morning. Fortunately, the Red Wings did not have a scheduled game. Syracuse is scheduled to come to town on Tuesday. NEW BRITAIN 3, PORTLAND 5 Steve Hirschfeld started and gave up five runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Blake Martin, David Bromberg and Luis Perdomo went the final 3.1 innings, keeping the Rock Cats within striking distance. The Rock Cats offense just wasn’t able to put enough together. Estarlin de Los Santos went 2-5 with his second stolen base. Evan Bigley was also 2-5. Pedro Florimon was 1-2 with two walks. Chris Herrmann and Nate Hanson each hit a double. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 6, ST. LUCIE 10 Jhon Garcia was given a spot start for the Miracle, something he has done occasionally throughout his professional career. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out one. Miguel Munoz came in and made his first appearance of the season. He gave up three runs on four hits in just one inning. Edgar Ibarra then gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in just two innings. The Miracle bats showed up and showed plenty of power, but it just wasn’t enough in this game. Jairo Perez went 1-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Lance Ray was 1-3 with his third home run. Danny Santana hit his second home run. Michael Gonzales hit his first home run of the season. BELOIT 1, WEST MICHIGAN 6 The Snappers bats and gloves both didn’t appear to show up to the ball park on Monday night. The team committed five errors in this game. They only had six hits. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a walk and his fourth double. Matt Koch also doubled. Steven Gruver started and gave up four runs (1 earned) on five hits in five innings. He struck out three. Michael Tonkin and Bart Carter each threw a scoreless inning. Corey Williams gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. He struck out three. --- Players of the Day for Monday, April 23, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Lance Ray [ATTACH=CONFIG]719[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Jhon Garcia [ATTACH=CONFIG]720[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs Portland – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie – RHP BJ Hermsen Beloit @ West Michigan – RHP Tim Shibuya --- 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!