Bob Sacamento

Having seen him in person in college and MiLB, and the one who took the video from above, yes his velocity is VERY sneaky and hides the ball well. His release point is consistent with all of his pitches which adds even more to his game.

I got nothing on him other than he pitched a few times in showcases back in 2010 season and was hitting 92mph regularly. He's not listed on Delaware's roster and in fact the only thing that even comes up on him is the swimming coach at Delaware is "John Hayman". If you really want to know, I"ll try hunting him down tomorrow or Saturday and try to get a background on him.

I'll be at the GCL games this Friday (BoSox/JetBlue Complex) and Saturday (Twins Complex), I'll let you know who I see and what I hear on the draft signing and assignment front.

GCL rosters were announced today, Tyler Jay is on it at least for the interim period.

Yes, I have but they are hard to pick up as they currently don't have numbered uniforms. The ones that I know for sure that are in camp are Tyler Jay as I talked to him and got him on video saying hi to everyone out there. I also got 5 minutes of his side session work. Anthony Mciver, a big lefty who throws above his head. I also saw Max Cordy pitch his end of side session but only got his last two pitches on video. In Mciver's video there is a lefty draftee pitching (to video right) and threw hard with good stuff, I believe that was Vasquez.

I showed up to the Complex around 10am and the players were already on the field performing drills on the two far backfields while Perfect Game Showcases were going on the other fields. The teams appeared to already be divvied up but I'm not sure if was split GCL and Elizabethton so I won't comment on groupings. The official GCL and Elizabethton rosters will be out tomorrow. The one hitter I did see was 2014 37th Rounder Tyree Davis who showed some newfound power in batting practice, he's added 20 lbs since last year. Other than that my time was spent watching the newly drafted pitchers. The first pitcher I saw was 2015 40th rounder Max Cordy. Unfortunately, I only got video of him throwing a couple pitches so it wasn't included. Lets just say he throws hard, real hard but it appeared to be inconsistent and wild. The next pitcher I saw was 2015 1st rounder Tyler Jay. He showed a hard fastball and late biting slider. Here's his side session, you be the judge: Tyler Jay Side Session Video The last prospect I saw was 2015 15th rounder Anthony Mciver. His delivery appears to be straight about his head which adds some deception. It looks like he has a curveball and a what looks like a changeup with backspin. Anthony Mciver Side Session Video Afterwards, I talked to Tyler Jay about his arm, his future position in the club and where he's going to start the season. He's already been coached right in that he was very coy and nondescriptive in his replies. He says he's not sure where he's going to start the season at. He said he's up for whatever and however the Twins want to use him. After his side season of throwing and working out, he was exhausted yet still gave me a sound bite! Thanks Tyler!!! Tyler Jay Saying Hi to Twins Fans You can follow me on Twitter @TTurbo420

Anyone have any specific questions they'd like to have Tyler Jay respond to? I'll try to get him to answer on video/audio when I see him, I do have a "little-in" from former Coach Hartleb as well as being an Illini alum

Exactly, worse case scenario, it looks like you have a shutdown lefty power arm in the pen. Best case, you have a #2 LHSP. I'd take that anyday. I'm hoping to catch up to him this weekend in Ft. Myers, I've heard he should be around as the HighA All-Star game is 6/19 in Port St. Lucie, and the Miracle don't play again til Monday 6/22 which is at home.

Well the total draft pool was 7,388,700 and the Twins can spend an additional 369,435 without giving up a draft pick for next year, so in total they can spend 7,758,135 without getting in trouble. Jay just took 3,889,500 which leaves at most 3,868,635 for the rest of the draft class.

I don't know if he starts or is out of the pen. His last college game he threw 96 pitches and wasn't his sharpest after 75-80 or so pitches of course that was also one of the best college teams there is. Maybe a piggyback starter to begin with, don't know if the Twins do much of that (two SP pitch ~4 IP each) but it might be a good way to wet his feet in extended inning outings.

Little birdie told me Jay to room with Gonsalves, would love to be a fly on the wall in that room.

I'll tell you all what Terry Ryan told me this spring training. When I complimented his high ranking minor league system, he said, "I don't put stock in the ranking of minor leaguers, what matters is how much they help our big league club"..."We have a few guys that we think can help us this year"...

I do find it ironic, many Twins fans that are complaining of taking Tyler Jay who arguably has the highest floor (lower ceiling) of anyone taken in the 2015 draft and instead wanted someone with the highest ceiling (and low floor). Well the Twins did that in 2013 draft and everyone is moaning on how far Kohl (one of high ceiling, low floors) has progressed thus far. Going into the 2013 draft, he was regarded as the best high school pitcher, but he was more of a thrower than pitcher but had projectability The two pitchers taken before him Jon Gray and Mark Appel aren't exactly lightening it up either and were college stars. It's funny Twins fans are complaining about Stewart just the same time as Red Sox fans are complaining about Trey Ball who was a 2 sport HS player and taken three picks later. Both pitchers are where one should be if not a level up of where they should be. Progress takes time for high school pitchers and fans should not jump off the bandwagon as soon as a bump in the road is hit. This was said of Stewart at the draft, "Stewart's pure stuff is as good as theirs (appel and Gray), and he's more athletic than they are." Scouts love the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder's arsenal, athleticism and competitiveness. They say that he has better present stuff than Jameson Taillon did when the Pirates took [him]". Now fast foward to this offseason, "plagued by late-season shoulder issues in both 2013 and 2014. In the latter season, Stewart topped out near 75 pitches per start and logged just five innings after July 17 after coming down with shoulder inflammation and losing velocity. Blessed with a strong, athletic frame and a clean delivery he repeats with ease....His other two pitches (curve and change) project to at least average but could still use some work. His curveball shows 12-to-6 action at its best, while his changeup remains inconsistent but has shown good sink and tumble. Perhaps because hitters could eliminate two pitches on many nights, Stewart's strikeout rate was of 6.4 per nine innings was well off the pace for top Midwest League starters."

I luckily got to see both pitch this season, Fulmer with Vandy early in the season against Indiana State and Jay with the Illini against Fordham and FGCU. I'd take Jay any day over Fulmer. Jay got the win in one game, faced two batters and struck them both out on a total of 8 pitches. Next day Jay threw 4 1/3 IP in relief (71 pitches), the velocity held from beginning to end and the control didn't waiver. I can't say the same for Carson Fulmer who didn't look as good, his velocity dropped a tick into the 4th/5th inning. Honestly was expecting him to clean up with Indiana State. Fulmer's delivery/mechanics/etc scare me especially if you think you can keep him as a starting pitcher.

It's Vasquez he's signed

I'm not going to say where I got it from, but a little birdie told me Travis Blankenhorn and Kolten Kendrick are signed and will be rooming together. Dan Kihle and Alex Perez are signed and will be rooming together, Andrew Velasquez and Hector Lujan, Kerby Camacho and Lean Marrero, AJ Murray and Cody Stashak, Sean Miller will be roomed with Andro Cutura, Kameron Young and Brad Hartlog are signed and will be roomed together.

Hey JJ, I'm a resident of Ft. Myers and frequent the Miracle and backfields on the weekend, the GCL schedule was just posted up and it starts 6/22. The roster hasnt been officially set yet, but most likely Lewin Diaz should start there as well as Amaurys Minier (injuried). By the time the season starts there should be a couple of the kids (most likely HS) they just drafted there as well as some undrafted free agents. There is no better way to watch a game then to go to the backfields and watch the kids in the GCL, you get up close and personal with little other fans there. As for the Miracle, pitchers Stephen Gonsalves and Hu are the ones to watch. Offensively, not much there. Now the Cardinals team, it has a quite of few top prospects.

Forgot to mention but you can find video and pictures from the game and prior ones at my Twitter - https://twitter.com/TTurbo420. GCL starts the 22nd....

While at the spring training complex this weekend a little birdie told me there were "new players" in town. The Twins can't officially sign anyone til Monday but they've reportedly come to terms on quite a few already.

Reporting from the Fort Myers, FL Complex, the Twins faced off against the Red Sox in the doubleheader final game of the 2015 extended spring training season. RHP Ethan Mildren started Game 1 (Advanced) while LHP Brandon Easton started Game 2 (Lower). Before getting to the in-depth pitcher report, let's talk about the hitters. The biggest name out there was Levi Michael who batted leadoff and played second base while rehabbing from a high ankle (tibia-fibula) sprain in Game 1. In his first at bat, he flew out to LF, in his second at bat he grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, in his third at bat he grounded out to second baseman, and his final at bat he walked. He worked counts all day like he usually does. His ankle didn't appear to be a 100% on the bases or with lateral movement in the field, but seemed close, still stiff upon appearance. Tyler Kuresa was hitting cleanup and playing 1B, in the game he hit a single up the middle and also a 2 run homerun. Sitting on the bleachers on one side of me was Twins' top prospect Amaurys Minier. When I asked him why he wasn't playing or the past few weekends, he told me that he was hit by a pitch on his bottom bat hand (non-throwing-left hand) a month ago and had a break. There was no surgery, no casting, just bracing and rest. He's got two weeks left before begins his rehab; currently he's unsure where his assignment will begin but my guess is GCL to start with. When asked of his rehab today (6/13), he said he did some weightlifting and hitting in the cage. When asked about his last time of cardio, he said Wednesday he ran some laps and rode the stationary bike. I had a picture of him (and 5 other EXT kids posing) that I took 3 months ago, and fellow players ribbed him saying "back when you were skinny". Amaurys is a nice sweet kid, really not much different than your typical teenager. He still has alot to learn, but has such a world of potential. On the other side of me, was Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, who is quite spry and very talkative; he did NOT like me taking pictures and video of the game or surroundings. He was there watching the kids play on Game 1 for the entire duration and was yelling from the stands. He made the initiation to talk to Minier and they chatted a bit of plate approach and philisophy. Of the Game play, Ethan Mildren went two innings in game 1, going 2 IP, giving up 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. His fastball was 88-93mph (avg 90), 78-85mph slider, 85-87mph change. He threw 38 pitches (22 strikes), 27 of which were fastballs (18 strikes), 6 sliders (3 strikes), 5 changes (1 strike). Of the 10 batters, he faced, he got a first pitch strike on 8 of them. Aussie Lefty Josh Guyer relieved Mildren, going 2 IP, giving up 3 h, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout. He has good sink to has fastball that he he threw 86-93mph (90 avg), 69-76mph curveball, 86mph slider, 82-84mph change. He threw 35 pitches ( 24 strikes), 25 fastballs (19 strikes), 6 curveballs (5 strikes), 1 slider (strike), 4 changes (0 strikes). Of the 9 batters he faced, he got a first pitche strike on 6 of them. The biggest disappointment came in Brandon Poulson who has been hit extremely hard this spring and today was no exclusion. In 1/3 IP, he gave up no hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 2 hbp, 0 strikeouts. His fastball had no life to it and no control, he threw his fastbal 86-95mph (91 avg), 77-78mph slider. He threw 31 pitches (15 strikes), 26 fastballs (12 strikes), 5 sliders (3 strikes). Jose Abreu came in and put out the fire, bases loaded jam, goig 1 2/3 IP, giving up no hits, no walks and 1 strikeout. His fastball had good late life to it, inducing grounder after grounder. His fastball was 90-91mph (90 avg), 77 mph slider, 83-85 mph change. His threw 14 pitches (11 strikes), 7 fastballs (5 strikes), 1 slider (strike), 6 changes (5 strikes). The big boy on campus pitching in rehab was RHP Adrian Salcedo. He looked good boys and girls, going 1 IP, giving up nothing and striking out two. He threw his fastball 89-93 mph (92 avg), 84-85mph slider, 84-87 mph change. He threw 14 pitches (11 strikes), 7 fastballs (6 strikes), 3 slider (2 strikes), 4 changes (4 strikes). Of the three batters he faced, he threw a first pitch strike to all of them. https://youtu.be/eab4TFBMGJA The last pitcher to get in Game 1 was Tyler Stirewalt, he went 1 IP, gave up a hit, walked none and struck out 1. His fastball was 90-94 mph (93 avg), 84-86mph changeup. He threw 18 pitches (11 strikes), 16 fastballs (10 strikes), 2 changes (1 strike). In Game 2, LHP Brandon Easton made the start going 3 IP, giving up 1 hit, 3 runs (2 earned), 5 walks, 3 hbp, and 2 strikeouts His fastball was 87-93mph (92 avg), 77-79mph curve, 81-84mph change. He threw 72 pitches (38 strikes), 57 fastballs (32 strikes), 10 curves (4 strikes), 5 changes (2 strikes). Netherlands prospect Matz Schutte threw the next 2 IP giving up 2 hits, 1 run, no walks, 2 strikeouts. His fastball was 85-89mph (88avg), 71-73mph slider, 72-74mph change. He threw 27 pitches (18 strikes), 18 fastballs (11 strikes) 3 slider (2 strikes), 6 changes (5 strikes). Of the 8 batters he faced he got a first pitch strike on 4 of them. Moises Gomez came on in the 6th inning, going 2/3 IP, giving up 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 strikeout. His fastball was 86-92mph (89 avg), 74 mph curve, 74 mph change. He threw 26 pitches (12 strikes), 21 fastballs (8 strikes), 2 curves (1 strike), 3 changes (3 strikes). To finish off the game, RHP Miguel Gonzalez came in to pitch the last 1 1/3 IP, giving up nothing and striking out 1. He threw his fastball 86-90mph (88 avg), 75-76mph curve, 77mph change. He threw 18 pitches (14 strikes), 12 fastballs (10 strikes), 4 curve (3 strike), 2 change (1 strike).

I'm not going to say it's a conspiracy but rather a concentrated philosophy that you can see from the ground floor of the developmental departmentl. From what I've seen, the pitchers are taught to pitch more to contact and the hitters are taught to sacrafice power for contact. What the Twins seem to strive for for example: If you strikeout a batter that's great but better to get two ground outs with the same 6 pitches. Or that homerun was great with two strikeouts but the opposite field doubles with a walk were even better.

From what I've seen the organization is big on lesser strides with runners on as it keeps runners close. Interesting you mention that about stride as I heard one of the pitching coaches going over with Josh Guyer on his stride, they did NOT like me recording this, I even had one of the Twins pitchers trying to get me to stop watching.

Wow lot of worried peeps over Kohl Stewart who is pitching at High A and won't turn 21 until after the season. Don't be, he's looked good for being one of the youngest players in the league and his .337 BABIP shows that he's been unlucky thus far. He's been working off and developing more his secondary (change and curveball) than just his fastball. If he stays the entire season in Ft. Myers it's not a bad thing, consider this a learning season. The K rate will go up from 4.17, just don't expect a 9 or be upset if at 21 he starts the 2016 season in High A either.

Exactly, high ankle sprains are far worse than lower (normal) ankle sprains and take longer to heal due to the force they constantly take and blood supply. But in general, sprains are worse than strains in that they take longer to heal due to less blood supply to ligaments.

Video of Aussie Josh Guyer getting delivery advice after his outing https://www.youtube.com/embed/0DBv91Low18