Cody Christie

The bad news continues to mount for Twins fans. Earlier this week, the news came out about Ervin Santana being sent back to doctors for his ailing finger and Byron Buxton is heading back to the DL for his broken toe. Joe Mauer was supposed to be close to returning to the field but now his concussion symptoms have returned. In a contract year, Mauer's continued concussion issues might have him thinking about what the future holds.On May 11 against the Angels, he made a dive for a foul ball and something wasn’t quite right. Even Mike Trout, who was on first base, noticed something might have been wrong as Mauer returned to his position. Mauer would play another week before leaving in the middle of a game on May 18. His drive home that night sounds like it was a scary situation. He felt the concussion symptoms “pour on” on his way home. Mauer stayed at home and away from the team for a couple of days to try and recover. Thursday was supposed to be another step towards Mauer returning this weekend. He worked out on the field before the team’s contest against Cleveland. Things went fine while he was hitting but jogging and fielding caused some of his concussion symptoms to resurface. Mauer hoped to be able to sit on the bench during the Cleveland series to see how his body responded to the lights and sounds of a big league game. Twins Territory saw a Mauer resurgence in 2017. In his age-34 season, he hit .305/.384/.417 with 44 extra-base hits in 141 games. He was also robbed of being a finalist for the AL Gold Glove at first base. He finished third in SABR’s SDI rankings and Eric Hosmer, the eventual winner, finished with the second worst ranking. So far this season, Mauer has hit .283/.404/.355 with eight extra-base hits in 38 games. Concussions are a dangerous part of sports. Mauer’s career has been altered because of his recurring symptoms. Former Twin Justin Morneau saw his career cut short because of concussion issues. There are long-term repercussions from continuing to play with mounting concussion concerns. Mauer has a family to think about and a post-baseball life that might be starting sooner, rather than later. Click here to view the article

“There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain” --- Casey Stengel, Hall of Fame Manager Rain might have been the best thing that could have happened to the Twins on Wednesday night. Twins fans saw Fernando Romero struggle for the first time in his young pitching career as the Royals pounced on him. Minnesota did their best to mount a comeback but it wasn’t in the cards. Earlier in the day, there was some other bad news. Bryon Buxton was placed on the disabled list and Ervin Santana was pulled off of his rehab stint. It was a rainy day in Twins Territory.Buxton’s Bothersome Toe When the Twins activated Buxton from the DL, I questioned the club’s decision for him to skip a rehab stint. He originally went on the disabled list because of migraines but then he ran into another problem on his rehab assignment. On April 23rd, Buxton fouled a ball of his left big toe and fractured it. He’s clearly been in pain at the plate and on the bases. Since returning, he has gone 6-for-47 with two doubles and a stolen base in 16 games. At the plate, his biggest issues was trying to use the lower half of his body. Eventually, the pain was just too much. "Defense wasn't really the problem, it was hitting pretty much the whole time -- trying to land, trying to find different ways to keep it from barking," Buxton said. "Each time I'd find myself having a different swing trying to hit a ball. It's tough trying to do that up here in the bigs. You've got to have that consistent swing, and that wasn't happening. I think the best thing for me was letting it settle down a little bit." Buxton clearly wanted to help the team, especially with the club’s slow start. Now he will be reevaluated by team doctors to see if he further damaged his toe while trying to play through the pain. Santana’s Situation Santana underwent surgery in February on the middle finger of his right hand. Originally, team officials thought he would miss 6-8 weeks. The calendar flips to June this week and he doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to joining the Twins rotation. On Tuesday, he suited up for High-A Fort Myers for his second rehab appearance. His fastball velocity topped out around 90 mph, which quite a bit below his average over the last couple seasons. His secondary pitches have also caused some issues as he tries to get a feel for them with his surgically repaired finger. He’s on his way to New York to see Dr. Charles Melone, the surgeon who operated on him earlier this year. After a reevaluation, the club will need to decide on the next course of action. The timeline is unclear at this point but it doesn’t look like Santana will be rescuing this team any time soon. A year after making the AL Wild Card Game, the Twins have lost two of their most valuable pieces for a large chunk of the beginning of the season. Other players are going to need to step-up in order to fill the void. Click here to view the article

Twins Daily Roundtable is a new weekly series. As part of this series, a question will be posed to the site’s writers and they will respond in 200 words or less. This will give readers an opportunity to see multiple points of view and then add their own point of view in the comments section. It’s hard to believe the calendar will flip to June at the end of the week. Baseball’s season is roughly a third of the way complete. Teams are starting to see some separation in the standings and MLB’s Mid-Summer Classic is quickly approaching. It won’t be long until your inbox gets flooded with promotional emails to start voting for baseball’s best players. Before that happens, let’s take a look at the All-Star candidates on Minnesota’s roster. This week’s roundtable discussion question is: “Who should represent the Twins at the 2018 All-Star Game?"John Bonnes There isn’t a lot of separation. Eduardo Escobar has arguably been the most valuable position player, given his offense and his defensive position. Jake Odorizzi has the lowest ERA of the full time starting pitchers. Fernando Romero has been unbelievable, albeit for only five starts. And if Joe Mauer was healthy, I’d love to have him represent the Twins one last time. However, to me, it comes down to Eddie Rosario versus Jose Berrios. They’re both very good - maybe a half stride better than any of the other candidates on the team - but I’m voting for both mostly because they’re going to be incredibly entertaining. Berrios might throw a curveball that makes John Smoltz' head explode and Rosario might do something so non-traditional/un-Twins-Way-like that it will make Jack Buck’s head explode. That settles it. I’d rather see Jack Buck’s head explode. Eddie Rosario is the Twins representative. Tom Froemming All-Star Eddie Rosario, it just rolls right off the tongue. If there’s any one player who most deserves to represent the Twins in the Midsummer Classic, it’s Rosie. Here’s the problem: Outfield is loaded in the American League. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge and J.D. Martinez are having insane seasons, and I’d be willing to bet Giancarlo Stanton will get voted in as a starter given the name recognition and Yankee-ness. With that being the case, it may be tough for Rosario to crack the roster, let alone Max Kepler, who also warrants consideration. Eduardo Escobar may have a better case, given his defensive flexibility. That certainly helped Josh Harrison last year and Eduardo Nunez the year before that. The Twins also have a few pitchers who deserve consideration. As of Tuesday afternoon, Jose Berrios ranked 12th in the AL in WAR among qualified starters and Fernando Rodney’s 11 saves put him in a tie for sixth in the league. There’s also a legit argument to be made that Ryan Pressly has been the best middle reliever in the AL. But, with their record, I suspect the Twins may only have one representative. It should be Rosario. Cody Christie Every team gets a representative and few players on the Twins have separated themselves from the pack. According to FanGraphs, Jose Berrios leads the pitching staff in WAR with Kyle Gibson and Ryan Pressly currently sitting in second and third. Offensively, Eddie Rosario leads the team (1.3 fWAR) and he is followed by Eduardo Escobar (0.9 fWAR) and Max Kepler (0.9 fWAR). On my list, I cross off Rosario and Kepler because of the depth of outfielders in the American League. Escobar has some position flexibility and some managers like this option for the late-innings. Pressly has been the team’s best relief option and managers have recently been more willing to use non-closers in the All-Star Games. I could see Pressly getting the nod or even Fernando Rodney because he is the team’s “proven closer.” At the beginning of the season, I made some crazy predictions and not many of them are going to come true. However, I picked Jose Berrios to be an All-Star so it’s tough to go back on that early season prediction. He could be a dominant option out of the bullpen when he doesn’t have to hold anything back. Berrios played in multiple Futures Games including starting in front of the Target Field crowd back in 2014. For me, the future is now and I believe Berrios will be the club’s selection. Jeremy Nygaard If the teams were announced today, I'd have a hard time believing the Twins would be more than a one-bid team. I would think that Jose Berrios would get that bid. A case could be made for Eddie Rosario, and deservedly so. He's 10th among qualifying AL outfielders in OPS, 8th in batting average and tied for 11th in home runs with only Betts, Trout and J.D. Martinez ranked higher in all three categories. But there are other bigger names that push Rosario down and probably out. Fernando Romero has been lights-out for five starts and he'll have a chance to improve his case with another handful of starts as well. Only Justin Verlander has thrown more innings and has a lower ERA. But one subpar outing changes that stat in a hurry. Which brings me back to Berrios. He's one of only ten AL starting pitchers - along with BarolofreakingColon - with a sub-1.00 WHIP, averages just short of a strikeout an inning and would be electric in a one inning relief role. While he struggled through a rough patch, he's still got the resume to suggest he's an All-Star... and hopefully an All-Star for many years to come. Seth Stohs With the All Star Game like six weeks away, it's really hard to predict who might represent the Twins. In large part, it's difficult to know how many Twins might be participants. Right or wrong, that is sometimes based on how well the team is doing. If they were to get hot now, they might have two or three. If not, they may end up with just one. So, as of this date, I'll guess that the Twins will be represented in the All-Star Game by Jose Berrios. If they continue to play well as a team, then a case could (hopefully) be made for Eddie Rosario or Max Kepler at that time. Ted Schwerzler The Twins are facing a situation unlike 2017 when it comes to a representative at the All-Star Game. After Miguel Sano was nearly voted as the top player at 3B a year ago, Minnesota is looking at a likely skunking across the board in 2018. Needing a representative in the contest, I think the honor gets split one of three ways. Eddie Rosario has been the team's best player, and you could make a very strong case for him to go. There's a significant number of big names when it comes to American League outfielders however, and Rosario's exploits pale in comparison to most of them. From there, the choice for me falls in between one of two pitchers. Jose Berrios represents an up and coming star who's been much more good than bad. At times he's looked like a true ace, and an All-Star nod would hardly be a reach. If you'd like to go the relief route, it has to be Ryan Pressly. He's looked the part of a lock down type this season, and a continuation of this performance will quickly have him being named among the best in the game. Steve Lein Despite their overall record and performance as a team thus far, I think the Twins still have quite a few candidates to represent them at the All-Star Game. On the position player front, Eddie Rosario stands out as an overall performer and is on par with many top players in left field. Eduardo Escobar leads all MLB shortstops in doubles, Max Kepler continues to have some great at-bats, and Miguel Sano even leads the Twins hitters in Win Probability added (WPA). As far as pitchers go, I think cases could be made for Addison Reed and Ryan Pressly as set-up men. After a rough start, Fernando Rodney has been hardly an experience, now with eleven saves. Jake Odorizzi has had his moments as well. But if I’m picking only one, and I would be with how the year has gone, the nod would go to Jose Berrios. He leads the team in innings pitched, strikeouts, WPA, WAR, has struck out nearly 9 per 9IP, and walked fewer than 5% of hitters he’s faced. He’s been electric most of the time this season, blossoming into the team’s ace, and should get his first of hopefully many more opportunities in this July’s summer classic. Jamie Cameron I think there are a few in consideration here. Kepler and Rosario have played really well, but they play at incredibly competitive positions. I'd have to go with Ryan Pressly. Pressly ranks 14th in MLB in fWAR (0.7). He's 18th in K/9 (12.18), 24th in xFIP (2.90). All of this while carrying a pretty inflated BaBIP of .348. This is even more impressive when you consider where Pressly was in 2017. Using the same categories, he put together an fWAR of 0.1, K/9 of 8.95, xFIP of 3.81, in spite of a stingy .264 BaBIP. You don't win awards for most improved, but Pressly has to have taken the biggest step forward of almost any relief pitcher at the big league level. Pressly has always had the stuff, including one of the most devastating curveballs of all relief pitchers in the majors. He's put it all together and turned himself into a top 20 relief pitcher. He's a deserving All-Star. Andrew Thares At this point Jose Berrios is the clear cut favorite to represent the Twins in the All-Star Game. On merit alone Berrios might not be an All-Star as things stand today, but if he keeps up the way he has been pitching of late his All-Star selection will be well deserved. However, with the rule that each team must be represented Berrios should be the Twins representative. Really the only other player I see having a shot is Eddie Rosario if he can put together a big month in June. If you missed any of the previous roundtable discussions, here are the links: Romero’s Rotation Spot (Ervin Santana is on his way back) Top Prospect Timelines Click here to view the article

Welcome to summer! Nothing seems to go together quite like grilling out and watching a baseball game. Memorial Day weekend is typically the unofficial kick-off to summer. Most teams are starting to figure out if they are pretenders or contenders. There is a lot of baseball left to be played in the coming months but teams are starting to figure out their roles. Entering play on Sunday, almost every team in the system was within striking distance of a .500 record. Rochester had a scheduled doubleheader and sat four games above .500. Cedar Rapids also had a doubleheader and they started the day one game under .500. Chattanooga has the best winning percentage in the organization with a 30-19 record. So who was able to come out on top on Sunday?RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Buffalo 11 (Game 1- 7 Innings) Box Score Trevor May is getting closer to returning to the big league roster but he certainly didn’t look ready based on what he did in this contest. May started and didn’t make it out of the third inning. He pitched 2 2/3 innings while allowing seven runs on five hits. He struck out five but he also walked four. There were some control issues as he threw 77 pitches in under three innings and 42 pitches were for strikes. D.J. Baxendale was pressed into service after May’s early exit. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out four and didn’t allow a walk. Luke Bard finished the final 1 2/3 innings by surrendering one earned run. He compiled three strikeouts and no walks. Rochester didn’t have much offense to talk about. Zack Granite and Jake Cave each reached base twice. Willians Astudillo went 1-for-3 with the team’s lone extra-base hit, a double. Taylor Featherstone reached base twice, scored a run, and stole his seventh base. Recently promoted Nick Gordon went 0-for-3 with an RBI. Rochester 1, Buffalo 3 (Game 2- 7 Innings) Box Score Rochester’s offense continued its struggle in this one as the team put together only seven hits. Zack Granite went 2-for-4. Jermaine Curtis collected the team’s lone extra-base hit, his fourth double. After going hitless in the opening game, Nick Gordon went 1-for-4 with a single. On the mound, the Red Wings got five decent innings from Adalberto Mejia. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking two. John Curtiss finished the game with two shutout innings. He struck out four and walked one. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Montgomery 7 Box Score Chattanooga almost matched Montgomery in hits (7 to 10) but the Biscuits managed to compile three extra-base hits including two home runs to get out with a comfortable win. Cody Stashak started and went three innings without allowing an earned run. He gave up only one hit and struck out three. Ryan Eades ran into some trouble. He allowed three runs on five hits in his three innings of work. Tyler Jay surrendered one run on two hits out of the bullpen. He last 1 2/3 innings and struck out one. Zack Jones tried to stop the bleeding but he allowed three runs, all unearned, on two hits with four strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. After the error, he allowed a home run. Offensively, there wasn’t much to write home about either. Ryan Walker went 2-for-3 and was the only batter to have multiple hits. Tanner English collected the team’s only extra-base hit, a double. Brian Olson reached base twice and scored a run. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers --, Charlotte -- The Miracle were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Sunday but their games against Charlotte were cancelled due to rain. Both games were supposed to be played on Friday evening so weather has gotten in the way of these games on multiple occasions. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Clinton 9 (Game 1) Box Score It was a long time between home runs for Royce Lewis. His first home run of the season came in the team’s fifth game. Sunday’s first game of the doubleheader was game 35. He finally collected his second home run and fans wouldn’t have to wait long for his third long ball. In the first inning, he smack a one-out solo home run to give the Kernels the early lead. In the third inning, he collected his second homer of the game, a two-run bomb. Jacob Pearson lead-off for the Kernels and went 2-for-5 with a triple, his first extra-base hit since being promoted. He has multiple hits in three of his first five games with the Kernels. Alex Kirilloff crack his 14th double and reached base twice. Ben Rortvedt continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-4 effort. Edwar Colina struggled to find the plate as he walked six batters in five frames. He allowed three runs on two hits with five strikeouts. Jared Finkel pitched three innings and didn’t allow an earned run but he did allow an inherited runner to score. He struck out two and walked a pair. Moises Gomez took the loss as he allowed six runs, four earned in the tenth inning. Cedar Rapids 0, Clinton 1 (Game 2- 8 Innings) Box Score After a marathon in Game 1, the second game of the double header must have felt like a breeze. However, things would get dicey from there. Clinton scored quickly on Randy Dobnak by pushing across a run in the first frame. He settled in nicely from there and pitched seven strong innings. He allowed one run, a solo home run, on three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Cedar Rapids waited until the seventh inning until they mounted their comeback. Jose Miranda and Jean Carlos Arias singled with one out in the inning. Ben Rodriguez then drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. This sent the game to extra-innings. Clinton scored in the top of the eighth inning off of Nick Brown, who replaced Dobnak. But this day was reserved for Royce Lewis. Andrew Bechtold started the eighth with a walk to put two runners on base. David Banuelos bunted to move runners into scoring position. Jacob Pearson drove in the first run with a single. Royce Lewis capped off his day with a walk-off sacrifice fly. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Royce Lewis, Cedar Rapids (3-8, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Randy Dobnak, Cedar Rapids (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 K, 1 BB) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Buffalo (12:05 CST) – TBD Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – LHP Tyler Watson (2-2, 3.94 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Sunday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

It’s been a week full of surprises for the Minnesota Twins. Almost a week ago, he was designated for assignment. It looked like the team was going to have to eat over $20 million in salary. For a team and ownership group like the Twins, this was a lot of money left on the table. However, the San Diego Padres came calling this weekend and the Twins were able to strike a deal.Phil Hughes was traded to San Diego along with cash considerations and the 74th overall pick in June’s Draft. In return, the Twins will receive Janigson Villalobos, a minor league catcher. Villalobos will be entering his age-21 season and he has yet to play above rookie ball. Last season in 27 games, he hit .275/.367/.388 with eight extra-base hits. He also posted a 23 to 14 strikeout to walk ratio. Defensively, he’s caught over 415 innings across two seasons. He averages five errors a season and he has a career .977 fielding percentage. Last season, he threw out 11 out of 36 potential base stealers (31% CS). After allowing 12 passed balls during his professional debut, he improved that total to four passed balls in 2017. Minnesota was on the hook for the $22 million still owed to Hughes and no team was going to take on his contract for free. Reports have the Twins getting $6 million off that total from the Padres so they had to give up the 74th pick in order to get someone to take on some of his pay. It can be debated if the Twins should surrender a top-100 pick for some salary relief. Some believe this isn't a deep draft and the Twins might like Villalobos better than a player that would be available at 72. Hughes wasn’t coming back to Minnesota and San Diego might be a good landing spot for him. What are your thoughts on the trade? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Twins Daily Roundtable is a new weekly series. As part of this series, a question will be posed to the site’s writers and they will respond in 200 words or less. This will give readers an opportunity to see multiple points of view and then add their own point of view in the comments section. Top prospects are a fickle bunch. For every Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, there is an Adam Johnson and a BJ Garbe. The truth is that it takes a lot for a prospect to make it to the major leagues. Big league rosters are limited and teams have a lot to consider. More players miss out on their big league dream than ever find success. Twins fans have seen top pitching prospect Fernando Romero make his much anticipated debut this season. In fact, last week’s roundtable discussion looked into his rotation spot after the return of Ervin Santana. Now fans might be wondering when the next big prospects will be on their way. This week’s roundtable question is “What’s the timeline for the organization’s top prospects?”Nick Nelson Nick Gordon is the most interesting case right now. Ehire Adrianza is doing everything he can to play his way out of a regular gig. Maybe that takes care of itself if Miguel Sano returns this weekend, but should that timeline get pushed back at all, you've gotta think it's worth giving the kid a shot. The offense could really use a spark. Stephen Gonsalves and Zack Littell are ready for a look but there are no imminent vacancies in the rotation. They're behind Trevor May in line, then Ervin Santana, and probably Aaron Slegers too. Brent Rooker would be making things interesting right now if he were tearing it up in Double-A like he did Single-A, but he's been slow to get going. Still wouldn't totally shock me to see him heat up and reach the Twins in the second half, pending Joe Mauer's situation. The rest of the team's top prospects are basically all in Low-A ball, so I wouldn't expect to see any until 2020 at least. Outside chance Royce Lewis makes it up in 2019 if he muscles up quick. John Bonnes Let’s go through a few top prospects, starting with the closest... Stephen Gonsalves (AAA-P) and Zach Littel (AAA-P) – I’m not sure Littel would be considered a top prospect (he was #11 on our list), but his stock is rising and we'll see both this year. Brent Rooker (AA-1B/DH) – A slow start, but he’s heating up. Normally, that would mean he waits until next year, but opportunity gets him some time this year. Nick Gordon (AA-SS) – There’s a decent chance we could see him this year, but I’ll speculate 2019. At just 22 years old, that’s soon enough. Alex Kiriloff – (Low A-OF) – He's overlooked due to missing last year, but the 20-year-old is killing Cedar Rapids. Still, he would need to be inhuman to make it in 2019, so let’s say 2020. Royce Lewis – (Low A-SS) – Speaking of inhuman, Lewis thrived in Cedar Rapids late last year and again early this year, making it likely the 19-year-old will make it to High-A soon. That could mean 2020 but, let’s give him room to stumble. I’ll predict 2021. Tom Froemming Seeing 20-year-old Ronald Acuna hold his own with the Braves and now 19-year-old Juan Soto being called up by the Nationals, you can’t help but wonder when we may see Royce Lewis. Lewis turns 19 in a matter of weeks, but if the Twins intend on developing him as a shortstop I foresee at least two more full seasons down on the farm. His physical development will play a role in where he ends up, but he definitely has the speed to be an impact defender in the outfield. Not a bad fallback option. Either way, I don’t think we see Lewis at Target Field until 2021 at the earliest. As for the rest of Twins Daily’s top five, Fernando Romero has already arrived and both Nick Gordon and Stephen Gonsalves appear ready for a taste of the majors. As for Alex Kirilloff, who’s 20, I’ve been really impressed by his swing. As a bat only guy, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was ready at the end of next year. The problem is I’m not so sure where he’ll end up in the field. Cody Christie If you would have asked me at different points throughout last season, I would have said that Stephen Gonsalves would make his major league debut before Fernando Romero. That doesn’t mean Romero’s stuff isn’t better but Gonsalves had a longer track record of minor league success. Gonsalves has also been very good this season so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him before the end of the year. Considering Minnesota’s entire left side of the infield has missed time this year, I’m surprised Nick Gordon hasn’t made his debut. The Twins have been filling in the shortstop role with some lackluster options and Gordon could provide a spark. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see him this summer. There’s an outside chance of Brent Rooker and Tyler Jay making their debuts this season but Gonsalves and Gordon are the two big names I expect to see in the coming months. Other top prospects like Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and Busdar Graterol are still multiple years away from getting the call. Jeremy Nygaard Alex Kirilloff was my #1 Twins prospect after his short-season debut in 2016. If I recall correctly, he missed the playoffs of that season. Then early in 2017 we find out he's going to miss the whole upcoming season with Tommy John surgery. After not facing live pitching for well over a year, there were obviously going to be questions. It's safe to say, he's answering those questions with his hot start to 2018. His 14-game hitting streak was snapped recently, but what I find most impressive is his ability to hit left-handed pitchers. In 2013, as a 20-year-old in low-A, Max Kepler had seven hits (including one extra base hit) against left-handed pitchers all year. Kirilloff, also 20 in low-A, has seven hits against lefties already and he's slugging over .600. Needless to say, at some point this summer (or maybe earlier) he'll head to Fort Myers. And who knows... could he make up some lost at-bats in the Arizona Fall League later this year? Starting next year in Chattanooga doesn't seem out of the question if he continues to hit. Could he be knocking on the door within two years? Seems lofty. But so are his numbers. Ted Schwerzler The group is loaded at the top, but the Twins have some very nice depth as well. Obviously Royce Lewis is the hot name, but there are some real contributors ahead of him as well. I’d expect to see Nick Gordon the next time Minnesota needs an infielder. He should’ve been promoted when Miguel Sano was DL'd, and he’s more than graduated beyond Double-A. Teammate Brent Rooker got off to a slow start, but has heated up considerably of late. I’m not a fan of the K/BB ratio and what it says about plate discipline, but I believe he’ll settle in and that bat will play. Counting on him to debut in 2019 is a decent bet. Stephen Gonsalves is already at Triple-A, and aside from one lackluster outing in 2018, he’s appeared big league ready as well. Minnesota could opt to give Aaron Slegers or Adalberto Mejia a shot first, but Gonsalves deserves the next rotation opening. From there you’ve got the group including Lewis, Brusdar Graterol, Alex Kirilloff, and a host of others. Tons of talent amongst them, but at least two years away from the big leagues still. SD Buhr Among the Twins’ top prospects, there are those who should potentially arrive yet this year (Gordon, Gonsalves, Littell, Wade) and those that are more likely to debut in 2020 (Blankenhorn, Diaz, Lewis, Kirilloff) or beyond (Graterol, Enlow, Javier, Baddoo). In between, there aren’t many I realistically expect to see next season. Brent Rooker could be one, but he’s not exactly setting Chattanooga on fire so far this year. It’s possible that LaMonte Wade’s arrival could wait until 2019 and it’s also possible that one or both of Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff could shoot up through the ranks enough over the next 15 months that they’d get a September call-up in 2019, though that would seem pretty ambitious to me. The next year is going to be critical for pitcher Lewis Thorpe. If he can get back on track, he would be another potential 2019 arrival. Steve Lein I’ve been interested in the prospect timeline idea since the new front office took over in 2016. Not necessarily what any top prospect’s current timeline might be, but just how different Derek Falvey’s crew might handle this part of the organization. There absolutely was smoke behind the national perception fire that Terry Ryan’s regime was slow on such things, and that was the biggest thing I wanted the new guys to change. Now, I also believe that prospects must earn it with their performance, but does that mean they put up an enticing OPS? Impress a scout’s eye? Meet individual goals set by the organization, or some other statistical thresholds? I think it’s a combination of things like that, or even one extraordinary circumstance that can hasten a timeline. It also shouldn’t be a one size fits all approach but tailored individually. Looking at current top prospects, names like Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon, and LaMonte Wade are all deserving of promotions. For the latter two, that could even mean their MLB timeline is this summer. Stephen Gonsalves’ MLB debut is also imminent. In the case of Lewis, I see the 2019 season mentioned a lot around here but give me 2020 and that still would be fast. Fernando Romero got to the majors quicker this season than I thought he would too. So, I like how that old perception is changing, and I expect the top prospect timelines will continue to be faster than we’re used to. Overall, that a good thing in my book. Andrew Thares One of my favorite Twins prospects is Blayne Enlow. He has a plus fastball, and had arguably the best high school curveball in last year’s draft. Even better, Enlow has excellent control for a pitcher of his age. He got off to a great start in the minor leagues last season, but hasn’t been quite as sharp this year in Cedar Rapids, though that could be due to him battling the injury bug. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he flies up the prospect ranking boards over the next couple of seasons. Seth Stohs I'm going to separate the Twins prospects into a few categories based on readiness. We'll start with a couple of guys that are already there. Fernando Romero came up ready to fill a rotation spot, and Mitch Garver earned the opportunity to be one of two MLB catchers. Let's look a little deeper. Ready Now, Need Opportunity: Stephen Gonsalves has now made four starts for the Red Wings. Three of them have gone well. One, not so much. He's close to ready, but we''ll see how (or if) the Twins create an opportunity for him. The same can be said even more strongly about Aaron Slegers who has little to prove in AAA. In addition, prospects John Curtiss and Luke Bard are ready now (along with no-longer-a-"prospect" Alan Busenitz). The one position player that fits the Ready Now, Need Opportunity category, for me, is LaMonte Wade. Obviously the DL stint right now with the shoulder injury slows the timeline, but he's ready. Of course Zack Granite and Jake Cave are also prospects who are ready and in need of an opportunity. Cave is currently up but that's likely short-term, for now. Sometime In 2018: Gabriel Moya needed more time in the minors to start 2018. He's close, but he needs more work. Nick Gordon has been promoted to AAA. He's close. He continues to hit for average while adding more power to his pace from last year. He'll have to show he can last a full season, but the only way to do that is to do that. Zack Littell fits into this category as well. If he continues to pitch well with the Red Wings, he could be up by year's end too. Finally, Tyler Jay is still working his way back,, but he's got the stuff to contribute in the big leagues in 2018. (Don't forget Felix Jorge, who hasn't pitched yet this season due to a knee injury.) 2019 Timeline: Brent Rooker may be up by year's end. He's come on nicely after a slow start, but the Twins will want to see more power before they'd call him up. More likely is a debut early in 2019. By late in 2019, we may see LHP Lewis Thorpe. And, while it would be remarkably quick, don't be surprised if we see any of the Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Brusdar Graterol Kernels trio in the big leagues. Who do you expect to see at Target Field this season? How fast will the top prospects move? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

At the end of March, Logan Morrison was looking like a bad signing for the Minnesota Twins. He was struggling at the plate and he didn’t offer a lot on the offensive side of the ball. Luckily, no division is won in the season’s first month and not player’s statistics are complete after the first month. One of the beautiful aspects of the game of baseball is the season’s length and players ability to build numbers (good or bad) over the course of their careers. Morrison might have been a late bloomer and this season it took him some time to get the engine running.Cold Start Morrison’s first opportunity to impress Twins fans didn’t go exactly as planned. In March/April, he hit .145/.253/250 (.503) with five extra-base hits across 22 games. He also posted a 20 to 8 strikeout to walk ratio. Pitchers were taking advantage of plenty of holes in his swing and Morrison’s swing of 2017 couldn’t be found. When the Twins signed Morrison, there was a lot of talk about his adjustments to his launch angle. During the 2015 season, he posted a 10.8 degree launch angle. He increased that number a little in 2016 with a 12.1 launch angle. However, the 2017 was his true breakout campaign and his launch angle increased to 17.6. This might have been one of the reasons he was able to collect a career-high 38 home runs. Heating Up As the calendar turned to May, Morrison’s bat began to heat up along with the weather. Through the team’s last 17 games, LoMo is batting .298/.403/.544 (.947 OPS). He has three home runs and five doubles during that stretch. Also, he’s posted a 13 to 10 strikeout to walk ratio. All of a sudden, pitchers have a small window when pitching to Morrison. Last season, Morrison barreled up the ball in 12.8% of his batted balls. This season his barrel percentage has dipped to 7.4% but that includes his cold hitting in the season’s first month. His exit velocity (89.3) and launch angle (18.7) are higher than last year’s breakout season. He also ranks 45th in all of baseball in FB/LD rate. Jekyll and Hyde So which version of Morrison can fans expect for the rest of the season? The early season version of Morrison was even worse than his career numbers would have indicated. Maybe, he was pressing to try to make an impression on his new team. Maybe, he was trying hard to make other teams regret that they didn’t go after him. Or maybe, just maybe… He’s always been a slow starter. Throughout his entire big league career, April is his lowest month for OPS, SLG, and walks. On the other hand, May has been one of his best months during his career. He has his second highest monthly totals in OPS and SLG to go along with his highest batting average and OBP. There’s a lot of baseball left to play and the real LoMo will probably be somewhere between the two versions Twins fans have seen this season. Around Twins Daily Week in Review: Crisis of Leadership Twins Minor League Report (5/20): Slegers Solid, Kirilloff Crushes 2018 MLB Draft Top 50 Prospect: 31-40 Click here to view the article

There has been plenty to be excited about this year with the Twins farm system. Top pitching prospect Fernando Romero has been more than holding his own at the big league level. Other pitchers like Stephen Gonsalves and Aaron Slegers look close to ready for the big leagues. Minnesota also has to find room on the roster for the likes of Ervin Santana and Trevor May. It’s going to be tough for some of these minor league players to break through to baseball’s highest level. However, Slegers made quite the case on Sunday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Pawtucket 0 Box Score Aaron Slegers was the story of this game. In seven shutout innings, he struck out five and didn’t walk a batter. He scattered five hits and saw his ERA drop to 1.97. Over his last 10 starts, he has pitched a minimum of six innings and he’s only allowed more than one earned run in two of those contests. Among Rochester players with four or more starts, he ranks first in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and he’s allowed the fewest walks. Tyler Duffey completed the shutout for his first save. He pitched the final two innings and only allowed one baserunner while striking out four. At the plate, three Red Wings players compiled three hits. Zack Granite went 3-for-5 with a run scored but he also added a pair of stolen bases. Kennys Vargas went 3-for-4 and drove in a run. Nick Buss finished off the trio of hitters and he might have had the most important part in the win. He went 3-for-4 and drove in two of the team’s three runs. His home run in the eighth inning was a much needed insurance run. Miguel Sano is rehabbing with the Red Wings and there might be a little rust still left to work off. He went 0-for-2 at the plate with a walk and a strikeout. Sano also committed a fielding error at third base. He did not play the entire game. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Biloxi 3 (10 Innings) Box Score Chattanooga got on the board quickly thanks to a James Ramsey lead-off home run. After Biloxi had tied it up in the third, the Lookouts bounced back in the next frame. Singles by Brent Rooker and Zander Wiel put runners on the corners with one out. Edgar Corcino drove in Rooker with a ground out to second base to take back the lead. Chattanooga went quiet from there. Wiel was the only hitter to have multiple hits as he went 2-for-4. Rooker struck out in three of his four plate appearances. As a team, Chattanooga went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Randy LeBlanc started and went 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out one and walked two. Of his 64 pitches, 34 were for strikes. Sam Clay finished off the fourth and then got two innings of his own. He didn’t allow a run on two hits with a couple strikeouts. Todd Van Steensel got charged with his fourth blown save as he allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the eighth. For the final two innings, Ryne Harper took over on the mound. He made it through the ninth unscathed but the tenth would be another story. Chattanooga couldn’t take advantage of having a runner start on second base in the top of the frame. Biloxi used a sacrifice bunt to move their runner from second to third. Then a walk-off single to the outfield scored the winning run. Because of the new extra-inning rules, it doesn’t count as an earned run for Harper but he still is charged with the loss. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, St. Lucie 2 (Suspended in the sixth) For the second straight day, rain caused the Miracle to be suspended. This game originally started on Saturday and now it won’t be made up until June 1 in St. Lucie. The regularly scheduled game was also postponed. Fort Myers has a runner at first and second in the sixth game. This means the clubs will finish the suspended game on June 1 and then play the postponed game. Then the clubs will play a doubleheader on June 2. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 1 Box Score Don’t touch Alex Kirilloff. You might burn your fingers. He smacked his team-leading seventh home run on route to Kernels clobbering Clinton on Sunday afternoon. He leads all Twins minor league players with seven home runs and 34 runs batted in. He finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI. Every batter in the Kernels lineup reached base. Four batters (Jordan Gore, Jose Miranda, Ben Rertvedt, and Kirilloff) had multiple hits. Top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol was also on the mound. Control was a bit of an issue in this one as he walked five batters. However, he pitched five frames and allowed one earned run on four hits. With six strikeouts on Sunday, he is averaging 6.75 strikeouts per start. Carlos Suniaga added three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no hits allowed. Calvin Faucher finished off the win by allowed a pair of walks in the ninth but he kept the runners off the board. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Alex Kirilloff, Cedar Rapids (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, K) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Aaron Slegers (7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB) TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #3 – Nick Gordon (Chattanooga) – 1-4, K #5 – Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, K #7 – Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 1-4, R, 3 K #9 – Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) – 5.0 IP, ER, 6 K, 5 BB #14 – LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) – 1-6, RBI #16 – Ben Rortvedt (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4 MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – LHP Dietrich Enns (2-4, 5.20 ERA) Chattanooga @ Biloxi (6:35 CST) – LHP Anthony Marzi (0-1, 3.86 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Bradenton (6:00 CST) – RHP Clark Beeker (1-2, 2.45 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – RHP Edwar Colina (2-1, 2.14 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Sunday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

Twins Daily Roundtable is a new weekly series. As part of this series, a question will be posed to the site’s writers and they will respond in 200 words or less. This will give readers an opportunity to see multiple points of view and then add their own point of view in the comments section. Fernando Romero versus Shohei Ohtnai certainly lived up to the hype on Sunday. That being said, Ohtani knows his spot in the rotation will continue to be safe. Romero doesn’t have that luxury with players like Ervin Santana and Trevor May returning to the roster in the days ahead. Minnesota could find themselves with quite the decision. This week’s roundtable question is “What should happen to Fernando Romero when Ervin Santana returns?”Nick Nelson Unless Romero experiences some sort of major backslide, his name shouldn't even factor into the discussion of rearranging to accommodate Santana's return. Right now the rookie right-hander looks like the Twins' best starter, and until that changes he needs to stick. Given the lack of long-term investment in them, Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi should be atop the pecking order. But with Erv likely a month away, the rotation landscape will probably look quite a bit different by the time he's ready. Seth Stohs So, presumably Santana may be back in mid-June, so about a month from now. That's plenty of time for things to work themselves out, as they almost always do. Someone will need to be placed on the DL, a younger guy will be struggling. But, if that answer had to be made today, it would be difficult. At least somewhat difficult. Jake Odorrizi and Kyle Gibson aren't going anywhere. Jose Berrios is struggling right now, but he's not going back to AAA (subject to change if he's still struggling in a month. And, no one wants to hear it, but Lance Lynn isn't going to be dropped now (again, maybe in a month if he's still not throwing strikes). So, maybe the Twins should go the way of the Angels and use a 6-man rotation and treat Romero like Ohtani and the rest of the rotation works around the Romero schedule (purpose being to limit his innings). Fortunately, that answer doesn’t need to be made today. However, Trevor May could return from the DL in two weeks, and roster/rotation construction could get very interesting then. John Bonnes Ervin Santana or no, Fernando Romero needs to stay in the Twins rotation right now. The only reason not to do so would be to limit his innings for the first half of the year in order to use them in the latter half, and specifically the playoffs, so let’s chart that out a little. Following his Tommy John surgery, Romero pitched 90.1 innings in 2016 and 125 innings in 2017. He should likely be limited to ~150 innings in 2018. With his upside and injury history, stretching beyond that is just plain foolish. So let’s do the math. He’s at 37.2 innings right now, so that leaves about 115 innings. There are 126 games left in the season, so approximately 25 starts. Over his last three years, he’s averaged about 5.1 IP per start, which would be 133.25 innings, which means he would likely miss his last four starts if he makes every start. Assuming the Twins also want him available for a couple of playoff starts, that means shaving off 3-6 starts. That might be easy if he ends up on the DL at some point, so no need to panic now. So keep him in the rotation for now, with a plan to ease up on the innings mid-summer if he stays healthy and effective. Tom Froemming Fernando Romero’s a 23-year-old who’s never thrown more than 125 innings in a season. Ervin Santana’s a 35-year-old who’s recovering slower than expected from a major finger surgery. Neither of those guys sound like somebody you can rely on to pitch into October. My short-term answer would be to insert Ervin into the rotation and piggyback him with Romero out of the bullpen in each of his starts. Santana is going to need some time to catch up, so you work him in slowly. It’s likely that an injury would open up a spot for Romero eventually, but let’s just say that doesn’t happen. In that case, I say once Ervin’s up to speed you roll out a six-man rotation. I think both Ervin and Romero could use the extra rest. The hope would be you keep everyone healthy and get fresher pitchers for the stretch run/playoffs. The fear would be altering the routine of everyone in your rotation would also result in everyone falling apart. Personally, I think a team like the 2018 Twins is perfect for such an experiment. Ted Schwerzler Fernando Romero has been electric for the Twins in the early going. There's also the reality that it's been a very small sample size and the volatility with rookies is generally off the charts. That being said, he's a special talent and I've rated him highly on prospect reports given his potential to be the Twins ace for many years to come. Right now, I think it's hard to worry about what to do when Ervin Santana returns and in large part, because that timetable is so murky. Lance Lynn could turn things around by then, someone may be hurt, or another pitcher could falter. If we're still having to look for answers to this question when Santana is a week out, I think then it becomes a bigger talker. Until then, Paul Molitor has to hope for continued strong outings from his full staff and go from there. I do know that as the pitching crunch continues to come down the pipe, Phil Hughes and his remaining contract money is looking more and more like a big bite for the front office to swallow (but a necessary one). SD Buhr Short of something dramatic happening in a Fernando Romero start before Ervin Santana is deemed healthy enough to join the Twins rotation, I think it’s obvious what you do with Romero at that point. You send him out there to pitch in his Twins jersey every fifth day. The question becomes, what do you do with the other guys? Maybe one of them joins (or replaces) Phil Hughes in the Twins bullpen until one of the other rotation members falters or gets injured, but you simply do not take a guy who is literally allowing no opponent to cross home plate out of the rotation in a season where you’re honestly trying to win your division. I suspect the situation will resolve itself the way these things so often do. A starting pitcher that has given up a run or two more than they’d like to see will suddenly suffer an “impingement” in his throwing shoulder or a “strain” in his arm, necessitating a 10-day stint on the DL. Poof! Problem solved. Jeremy Nygaard There are still a few starts to be had by Romero before decision time, but as of now you can't take him out of the rotation. There's also a doubleheader on June 5 that would require a sixth starter or pitching a guy on short rest later that week. Having too many capable starting pitchers is never a problem... and it won't be here either. Short answer: He should stay in the rotation. Andrew Thares I think Fernando Romero needs to stay in the MLB rotation upon the return of Ervin Santana. If everyone in the rotation stays healthy, I don't think a six-man rotation is a bad thing for a few reasons. First, for Romero's sake, it would help the Twins limit his innings this year, as he has never thrown more than 125 in a season. Second, it will help keep everyone in the starting rotation fresh throughout the season as they get an extra day's rest between each start. Next, the Twins don't have a front-line ace in their rotation, so it's not like they will be taking starts away from someone like a Max Scherzer or Corey Kluber. Finally, someone else in the rotation will inevitably get hurt, and when that happens the rotation can simply go back down to a five-man rotation without skipping a beat. Jamie Cameron Right now, we are evaluating Romero's initial performance through rose-colored glasses, and rightly so. He's been dominant against two really good teams. He's likely to run into bumps in the road as teams adjust and see him more. If he keeps pitching the way he has been, there's no way the Twins, who have less margin for error after a difficult start, can push him out of the rotation. I don't think it's debatable, even at this early stage, that he has the best stuff on the team. Right now, Lance Lynn is the odd-man out (performance wise) in the Twins rotation. This decision likely depends largely on what the Twins decide to do with Phil Hughes. Are the likely to cast aside an arm who is making $26 million over the next two seasons? I'm doubtful, although that's absolutely what they should do from a baseball standpoint. I think it's likely that the rotation logjam works itself out naturally. The chances of the Twins starting staff staying injury free seems unlikely, in which case Romero stays occupying. Ultimately, I think it's hard to argue that right now, the optimal Twins rotation would be: Santana, Berrios, Romero, Gibson, Odorizzi. We'll see what happens at the end of May, but Romero has undeniably provided some much needed spark and swagger to this pitching staff. Click here to view the article

Jason Castro was only supposed to miss 4-6 weeks following knee surgery. That won’t be the case. Castro is done for the year following surgery on his meniscus. In the midst of his surgery this morning, surgeons found more damage than expected. This forced doctors to complete a full meniscus repair. This is a tough blow for a Twins team fighting for the top spot in the AL Central standings. Other players like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano have already missed time this season. It’s taken longer than expected for Ervin Santana to return from injury. Also, the club has been without Jorge Polanco due to his suspension. That’s a lot of regular players not in the line-up. That being said, it’s not like the Twins are without a viable catching option. Mitch Garver has performed well so far this season and he will need to continue to make the most of this opportunity. Bobby Wilson played an important role in Tuesday’s victory over the Cardinals. Both players are going to need to take on even more vital roles moving forward. Now the question remains as to what the Twins front office should do moving forward. Does the club need to bring in another catcher to back up Garver? Can they find another option to stash at Triple-A? Can Garver and Wilson carry the team’s catching needs? Feel free to add your thoughts to any of those questions and more in the COMMENTS section. Click here to view the article

When Jason Castro went down with an injury, it could have been easy for Twins fans to think it was another bad omen for the 2018 campaign. Big time contributors from last year like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Ervin Santana have all spent time on the disabled list to start the season. Another regular missing time could have been a nail in the coffin. Enter Mitch Garver. The 27-year old catcher has played fewer than 50 games at the big league level. However, Castro’s injury (and now surgery) is giving Garver the chance to prove he belongs at baseball’s highest level. What can Garver do to make the most of this opportunity?As spring training began, there were questions about whether or not Garver would break camp with the club. Other veteran options were in camp and he didn’t exactly hit the cover off the ball during his debut. In the 2017 season, he hit .196/.288/.348 with four extra-base hits in 23 games. After combining for four triples in his entire minor league career, he collected three triples out of his nine total hits. Garver has made a few changes at the plate this season. After barreling up the ball 3.2% of the time last year, he has raised that percentage to 8.1% this season. This has helped to increase his exit velocity from 86.8 to 88.0. His launch angle has also been impacted as he moved from 10.5 last year to 18.0 this year. His change in launch angle has resulted in his OPS increasing by 140 points. Another change for Garver this season has been an increase in his BABIP. Last year, he ended the season with a .290 BABIP. This year his BABIP has risen to .343 so there might be some luck involved with the big jump. One could expect Garver’s batting average to drop as teams figure out how to defend him. During his minor league career, Garver hit .271/.364/.429. Defensively, Garver started four games at catcher last season. He’s already more than doubled his amount of innings behind the plate. This year he has allowed seven stolen bases and thrown out two potential base stealers. His 22% caught stealing percentage is lower than the league average (28%). Throughout his minor league career, he had a 32% caught stealing percentage. To make the most of this opportunity, Garver needs to continue to make offensive strides. There have been some small adjustments this season but he dominated at the upper levels of the minors. He hit .298/.386/.520 in 110 games with Rochester over the last two seasons. If that version of Garver shows up at the big league level, his defensive flaws will be easier to swallow. What do you expect from Garver in the years to come? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Around Twins Daily Week in Review: Back in the Swing Twins Minor League Report (5/13): Rooker Homers, Perez Piles Up Hits A Tale Of Two Rookies: Fernando Romero and Shohei Ohtani Click here to view the article

With only two scheduled games in the Twins system, it could have been a quiet day in the minor leagues. However, Rochester and Chattanooga played a pair of tight games. Some big name prospects played roles in the outcomes of both games. Two former first-round picks, Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay, pitched in Chattanooga. Top prospect Fernando Romero faced off against Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani. Which prospects stood out in Sunday’s action? I’m glad you asked…ROSTER MOVES RHP Calvin Faucher assigned to Cedar Rapids from Fort Myers RHP Moises Gomez assigned to Elizabethton from Cedar Rapids RHP Derek Molina assigned to Elizabethton from Cedar Rapids INF Nelson Molina released from Fort Myers RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Scranton/WB 1 Box Score Rochester jumped out to an early lead and tried to hold on for the win. In the second frame, Kennys Vargas singled and Wynston Sawyer moved him to second with a single of his own. Nick Buss provided the big hit of the inning as he smashed a three-run home run. It was his first home run since joining the Twins organization. He had 11 home runs in the Pacific Coast League last season. Myles Jaye started and tried to take advantage of the early runs. He pitched five innings and allowed one run, a solo home run, while striking out two and walking two. In three of his last four starts, he has held the opposition to one earned run. Jake Reed, Alan Busenitz, and John Curtiss combined for four shutout innings. For Reed and Busenitz, they each recorded their first hold. It was the second save for Curtiss. Busenitz pitched the seventh and the eighth inning and allowed only one base runner on a walk. He struck out three and his Triple-A ERA is down to 0.90. Vargas was the lone Red Wings hitter to finish with multiple hits but he also struck out twice. He’s hitting .189 for the season. Sawyer reached base three times in four at-bats. Ryan LaMarre added his first double since being sent back to Rochester. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 10, Tennessee 11 (12 Innings) Box Score Kohl Stewart was flying through the first five innings of this game before running into trouble in the sixth. Through five innings, he had allowed one run, a home run. In the top of the sixth, Stewart allowed a lead-off single before striking out a batter. The next batter reached on an error by TJ White. Then Stewart proceeded to allow four straight hits as five runs would score in the inning. Overall, he allowed four earned runs (six total runs) on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Things got crazy from there as the two clubs combined for 13 runs from the sixth inning to the end of the game. Unfortunately for Chattanooga, Tennessee scored 10 of the final 13 runs. Out of the 11 runs scored by the Smokies, four of them were unearned. Every pitcher besides Tyler Jay saw an unearned run score while he were on the mound. Ryne Harper stuck out five in 2 2/3 innings but he allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits. Sam Clay took the loss, his third, after allowing an unearned run in the final frame. He struck out four and walked one in 2 1/3 innings. Chattanooga had plenty of offensive chances. The club went 7-for-21 with runners in scoring positon and left 11 men on base. Brent Rooker collected his third home run, a solo shot, in the sixth inning. Alex Perez reached base five times in the game as part of a three-hit effort. He also led the team with three RBIs. Brian Olson went 3-for-6 with an RBI and Nick Gordon added a pair of hits. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Alex Perez, Chattanooga (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Myles Jaye, Chattanooga (5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 BB) TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #3 – Nick Gordon (Chattanooga) – 2-6, R, 2 K #7 – Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) – 1-6, HR, R, RBI, K #14 – LaMonte Wade (Chattanooga) – 1-6, RBI #19 – Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) – 1.2 IP, 2 ER, K, 2 BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Chattanooga vs. Tennessee (6:15 CST) – RHP Omar Bencomo (2-0, 2.97 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 CST) – RHP Sean Poppen Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities (6:35 CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions about Sunday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article