Cody Christie

Minnesota completed a sweep of the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. It was quite the series for the Twins as the club does their best to take care of some of the rebuilding clubs in the American League. Minnesota will get to see Baltimore again next weekend, but first they need to put on their big-boy pants and face the Astros. There was only one game in the Twins farm system on Sunday. Was Pensacola able to make a clean sweep for the organization?RED WINGS REPORT Rochester has had a slow start to the season with a 5-11 record. Currently the club is seven games back in the International League North. Rochester starts a four-game series with Scranton/WB on Monday. The RailRiders are 8-6 on the season and sit in third place in the division. If Rochester is going to make a move, this is as good of time as any to start moving up the standings. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 8, Mobile 5 Box Score Jordan Gore got things started with a lead-off double in the first frame. He moved to second on a wild-pitch. Even without an out at that point, it took a two-out single from Taylor Grzelakowski to bring in Gore for the first run of the game. That wouldn’t be the end of the scoring for the Blue Wahoos. Pensacola put up a five-spot in the third inning with help from the middle of the order. Ernie De La Trinidad singled before coming around to score on a Caleb Hamilton double. Jaylin Davis followed with his second home run of the season. Grzelakowski walked and then he moved to third on a Luis Arraez double. Jimmy Kerrigan singled to drive in a run and put runners on the corners. Joe Cronin drove in the final run of the innings with a sacrifice fly. Del La Trinidad got things started again in the fourth inning with his first homer of the year. Hamilton followed with a single and Davis added a double to put runners on the corners. Grzelakoski drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to put the score at 8-0. Jorge Alcala was cruising through four shutout innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He allowed five runs that inning, but he was able to finish the frame. He struck out eight and walked one. Tyler Jay took over and was fantastic through two shutout innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Gabriel Moya made his second rehab appearance. He recorded two outs and both were strikeouts. However, he surrendered two walks and one hit to make things a little dicey. Dusten Knight finished off his fourth save by pitching 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two and went for the back flip. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers enters play on Monday with a 10-7 record. The Miracle are currently in third place in the Florida State League South and trail first place by two games. Fort Myers will start a three-game set against first-place Bradenton on Monday. If the club were to sweep, the Miracle could take over first place in the division. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids has started the year 7-9 and they will start Monday 4.5 games out of first place in the Midwest League Western Division. The Kernels start a three-game set on Monday in Wisconsin, which is currently half a game back in the standings. Andrew Cabezas will be looking to pick up his first win of the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY TD Pitcher of the Day- Tyler Jay, Pensacola (2.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 3 H) TD Hitter of the Day- Caleb Hamilton, Pensacola (3-5, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI, K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) – Did not pitch #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) – Did not play MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Scranton/WB (5:05 CST) – TBD Pensacola vs. Mobile (6:35 CST) – RHP Brusdar Graterol (1-0, 0.52 ERA) Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) – TBD Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 CST) – RHP Andrew Cabezas (0-0, 6.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Have you ever wanted your own airplane? Well, the Twins’ Double-A affiliate was sort of able to accomplish this on Thursday. There’s more to the story below. Also, there was plenty of action throughout the Twins’ system. Two teams tried to mount comebacks, while another took advantage of the opportunities provided by the other team.TRANSACTIONS ACTIVATED: C David Banuelos from the 7-day injured list for Cedar Rapids RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 6 Box Score Rochester outhit the IronPigs (10 to 7) and scored a late run to make things interesting, but it wasn’t enough. The club didn’t take advantage of some opportunities as they left eight runners on base and went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Kohl Stewart took his bumps and bruises in this one as he couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning. He allowed six runs on six hits including two home runs. He struggled to find the zone for most of the night as he threw 100 pitches and only 52 of them were for strikes. After a promising first start of the season, Stewart has thrown clunkers his last two times out. Rochester continued to rely on the long ball in this game. With three solo shots on Thursday, Rochester has hit 22 home runs to produce 33 of the 62 total runs scored this season. LaMonte Wade, Tomas Telis, and Jordany Valdespin joined the home run parade. Also, Telis and Valdespin each added a double. DJ Baxendale pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings by only allowing one hit. He struck out six and walked one. Matt Magill took the final frame and didn’t allow a runner. He had one strikeout and he has yet to allow a run this season. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola --, Biloxi – (Postponed-Rain) The Blue Wahoos and the Schuckers were postponed on Thursday due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a double-header on Friday, April 19 with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 CST. Pensacola currently has a 9-4 record and they are in first place by two games in the Southern League South. In other news, the Blue Wahoos have teamed up with Silver Airways for a Kazoo- themed airplane. Kazoo is the name of the Blue Wahoos mascot. Silver Airways has flights from Pensacola to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Orlando. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Charlotte 6 Box Score Fort Myers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but a six-run deficit was too much to overcome. Tyler Watson started and pitched into the sixth inning for the second consecutive game. He allowed two runs on three hits while striking out five and walking one. Anthony Vizcaya took over for Watson and struggled in parts of two innings. He allowed four runs on four hits as Charlotte pushed their lead to 6-0. Calvin Faucher had a very nice bounce back game. In his last appearance, he allowed three runs while only recording one out. Tonight, he pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts and two walks. In the bottom of the ninth, Akil Baddoo lead off with a triple and was driven home on a Lewin Diaz groundout. Jose Miranda followed with a double before Trevor Larnach singled to put runners on the corners. A double from Ryan Jeffers scored a run and there were still runners on the corners. Ben Rortvedt would ground out to score another run and Michael Helman recorded the game’s final out. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Beloit 2 Box Score Cedar Rapids jumped out to an early 4-0 thanks to some miscues by the Snappers. With one out, Gabe Snyder was hit by a pitch. Trey Cabbage followed and reached base on an error by the shortstop. Jacob Pearson struck out for the second out of the inning and it looked like Beloit might get out without allowing a run. However, Gilberto Celestino and Andrew Bechtold knocked back-to-back singles to push across a pair of runs. Celestino then stole third but it wouldn’t matter because David Banuelos tripled to score two more runs and put Cedar Rapids up 4-0. Cedar Rapids allowed a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, but the club got those runs back in the bottom of the frame. The Kernels were able to do this without recording a hit. Celestino and Bechtold walked to start the inning. With Banuelos batting, an error by the third baseman loaded up the bases. Michael Davis drew a walk to score one run and a wild pitch put the score at 6-2. Jordan Balazovic pitched five strong innings. He struck out eight, walked one, and limited the Snappers to two runs (one earned). He has allowed two runs or fewer in every start this season. His eight strikeouts tonight were the fewest he’s had all year (nine strikeouts in both previous starts). Jose Martinez pitched two shutout innings and struck out one. Joe Record collected the final six outs with four strikeouts. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY TD Pitcher of the Day- Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids (5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 1 BB) TD Hitter of the Day- Tomas Telis, Rochester (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, R) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) – Did not play #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - No Game #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, R #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - No Game #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) – Did not play #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) – Did not pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) – 1-3, 3B, R, K #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, 2B, RBI, K #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, RBI #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, RBI, 2 K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) – Did not pitch #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 2-4, HR, R, RBI, BB #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) – No Game #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, 2B, R, K FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – RHP Zack Littell (0-2, 7.71 ERA) Pensacola @ Biloxi (5:35 CST) – RHP Griffin Jax (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Pensacola @ Biloxi (Game 2) – TBD Fort Myers vs. Charlotte (5:30 CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs. Beloit (6:35 CST) – RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 3.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday’s games. Click here to view the article

Extending young players has become the new normal in baseball. Some young players are willing to give up free agent years for more financial stability. In some situations, teams have been able to work out those contracts with unestablished big-league players. Team friendly deals seem to be trending and that could benefit the Twins. Is it possible Minnesota may engage Alex Kirilloff or Royce Lewis in extension talks within the next 12 months?Atlanta Braves Deals Baseball was a little up in arms last week with the extension signed my Ozzie Albies. The All-Star second baseman signed a contract that will guarantee him $45 million over the next nine seasons. With multiple top tier players signing for $100 million or more this off-season, this deal was seen as a relative bargain. The Braves also locked up Ronald Acuna Jr. this off-season to a deal that was also considered a bargain. Coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign, he signed an eight-year deal for $100 million. Acuna is a five-tool player with the ability to impact multiple facets of the game. This puts him in a different category than Albies, but Atlanta was able to work out two very team friendly contracts. Eloy Jimenez Extension Another intriguing extension was the one handed out by a division rival. The Chicago White Sox were able to work out a unique deal with one of their top prospects. Eloy Jimenez had yet to appear in a big-league game and the club signed him to a six-year, $43 million contract. It includes a pair of club options and can max out around $77 million. One unique aspect of this deal was there was no need to manipulate service time. He was under contract and the White Sox aren’t going to be in contention this season. This allows him to take his licks at with the big-league club. Entering play on Tuesday, he was hitting .268/.328/.393 with three extra-base hits in 15 games. Possible Twins Extensions When looking at Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis, there are plenty of things to consider. Minnesota’s outfield seems like it is in good shape with the likes of Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Byron Buxton. Kirilloff’s bat might be MLB ready but the outfield seems a little jammed at this point. Kirilloff’s best option might be a move to first base. Minnesota has already stated that he will be getting plenty of time at first base this season. There is also an opening at first base for the 2020 season. Kirilloff has yet to play this season, so it will be intriguing to see how much time he gets at first. Lewis is certainly in a different situation. He might be able to come up and succeed at the big-league level, but what’s the rush? He’s starting this season at Fort Myers where he is almost 2.5 years younger than the competition. He had a great 2018 campaign, but he likely won’t have a shot at debuting until 2021. Jorge Polanco is doing more than holding down shortstop at this point. Lewis might be able to land a contract higher than Acuna, but there are plenty of hurdles facing him in the years ahead. If he follows in Acuna’s footsteps and wins the AL Rookie of the Year, then the Twins can start taking about a long-term extension. The Boras Question Scott Boras, the baseball super-agent, might be standing in the way of Minnesota getting any long-term deals in place. Forbes has named Boras as the most powerful sports agent in the world for six consecutive seasons. This off-season he negotiated Bryce Harper’s massive free agent deal. He has negotiated more than ten contracts worth over than $100 million including Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Chris Davis. Kirilloff and Lewis are both represented by Boras. Of the trio mentioned above (Acuna, Albies and Jimenez), none are represented by Boras. Boras likes his clients to test the open waters of free agency, but free agency hasn’t been as lucrative in recent years. Could Boras buck the trend and give up some free agent years for Kirilloff or Lewis? We will all have to wait and see… Do you think Kirilloff or Lewis will sign an extension in the next 12 months? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Eddie Rosario led Minnesota’s offense in almost every major category last season. He evolved into the clubhouse leader on a team that was missing key players like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano for large chunks of the season. He became the club’s most consistent offensive threat. The Puerto Rican outfielder got off to a slow start this season. However, things seem to be trending in the right direction. Can Rosario continue his recent surge and how important is he to the Twins offense?Slow Starter For his career, Rosario has been a traditionally slow starter. He has hit .241/.276/.398 in the months of April/March. His OPS of .647 in the season’s first month is 100 points lower than any other month. Maybe the cold impacts his bat, because September/October is his second lowest monthly batting average and OBP. This season, Rosario didn’t collect a hit until the team’s fourth game. This meant he started the year 0-for-14 with two walks and four strikeouts. In that fourth game against the Royals, his first hit came at one of the biggest spots so far for the club. Minnesota was down a run in the top of the ninth. Jorge Polanco had doubled to lead off the inning. Rosario was able to drive him in to tie the game and the club came back to win in extra-innings. Baseball is a game of streaks and that hit might have helped Rosario to turn an offensive corner. Going Streaking Since that game, Rosario has recorded a hit in seven out of eight games including three multi-hit efforts. Following Sunday afternoon’s three hit barrage, Rosario has his average up to .283 and his OPS is north of .880. But is there more to this recent streak? He’s been able to go on this stretch thanks to a few key changes. He is barreling up the ball more often. Last year, he set a career high with an 8.3 barrel percentage. This year he has nearly doubled that total with a 15.2 barrel percentage. Rosario’s exit velocity has also improved to 88.9 mph, which is up for a career high 87.3 mph last season. Rosario’s launch angle has also shifted over the last two seasons. During the 2015-17 seasons, his average launch angle sat in the 10.5 to 13.6 range. Last year, he upped his launch angle to 17.4 and this season he’s right near that mark with a 16.3 launch angle. Rosario is never going to lead the league in walks, especially with his free-swinging approach. During his first two big-league seasons, he was in the bottom 3% of the league in walk percentage. Over the last two seasons, he has seen minor improvements. Entering play on Monday, his walk percentage was better than league average (8.7 BB%). Fans can overreact to early season results. There will be ups and downs for players throughout the year. Rosario was relied on to power the offense through multiple parts of last season. He can’t be everything for this team again; but hopefully, he can be one piece of an even more powerful offense in 2019. How important is Rosario to the Twins offense? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Teams always need pitching, pitching, and more pitching. For the Twins fans, lack of pitching has been a complaint for many years. However, there may some hope on the horizon. Strong pitching performances have been a staple in the organization’s early minor league games. Let’s review the last week and see what minor league starters whose performances stood out.Kohl Stewart, Rochester Red Wings Stewart got the Opening Night start in Rochester. He actually struggled in the first inning as he allowed two runs (one unearned). He settled in from there and put up zeros for the next four frames. He finished the night with five innings by allowing one earned run on three hits and he struck out eight. Bryan Sammons, Fort Myers Miracle Sammons took the mound in the Miracle’s first game. He labored a little but was able to pitch into the fifth inning. He scattered seven hits and only saw one unearned run cross the plate. He struck out five and walked two. Sammons wasn’t able to pick up the win, but he kept the Miracle close before the team’s offense exploded later in the game. Jorge Alcala, Pensacola Blue Wahoos After being rained out on Opening Night, Alcala took the mound in the first game of a doubleheader. He tossed five shutout innings and struck out six. He limited Mobile to three hits and he threw over 65% of his pitches for strikes. Last season, he made three appearances where he didn’t allow a run, but only one of those appearances saw him pitch five innings. Brusdar Graterol, Pensacola Blue Wahoos Minnesota’s top ranked pitching prospect had a tough act to follow after Alcala’s strong start. He was still able to be very impressive including hitting triple digits on the radar gun. He allowed one run on three hits and pitched into the fifth inning (4 2/3 innings). He struck out six and walked a pair of batters. The 20-year old flamethrower made only 11 regular season appearances with the Miracle last season, so it might have been a little aggressive to push him to Double-A. It certainly seems like he can handle himself at that level. Jhoan Duran, Fort Myers Miracle While Graterol was throwing heat for Pensacola, Duran was doing the same for the Miracle. Like Graterol, he hit triple digits on the radar gun. In four innings, he didn’t allow a hit and the lone base runner came on a walk. He struck out four and tossed 35 of his 57 pitches for strikes. As Tom noted in the TD Minor League Report, Duran’s career high for innings pitched is just over 100, so the organization will likely watch his innings in the season’s early action. Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids Kernels Balzovic threw over 70% of his pitches for strikes in a very dominant performance. He allowed one run on four hits over five innings. The only run scored against him came in the third. A one out single put a runner on base before a two-out triple allowed the runner to score. He was able to collect nine strikeouts and he didn’t walk a batter. At one point in the game, he struck out six straight batters. Devin Smeltzer, Pensacola Blue Wahoos Smeltzer was perfect through five innings of work. He wouldn’t make it out of the sixth frame, but he still put together quite the stat line. In 5 2/3 shutout innings, he allowed two hits and a walk. He struck out nine batters and threw strikes for almost 75% of his pitches (61 of 82 strikes). Last June, he had back-to-back starts where he pitched six innings or more and didn’t allow a run. This came before he was part of the Twins organization. Cole Sands, Cedar Rapids Kernels Sands was drafted by the Twins last year, but he had yet to make his professional debut. The organization felt he had had enough innings during his college season at Florida State. His debut couldn’t have been much more impressive. He pitched five shutout innings without allowing a hit. He struck out eight and walked one. He sent the first 13 batters of the game down in order and struck out the first five batters of the game. Griffin Jax, Pensacola Blue Wahoos Pensacola starting pitchers have been outstanding to start the season and that trend continued with Jax. He scattered four hits in 4 2/3 innings without surrendering a run. He struck out five and walked two batters. Runners reached base in every inning against Jax, but he was still able to keep Mobile off the scoreboard. Bailey Ober, Fort Myers Miracle Ober certainly made things look easy on Sunday. He pitched six innings, struck out 11, and walked only one. Charlotte could only muster four hits against him. The lone run scored with Ober on the mound was unearned. There were only three games last season where he reached double-digits in strikeouts. Now he’s already got one under his belt for 2019. Which pitching performance would you rank as the best? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Spoiler alert...Every team in the organization lost on Sunday. Now that that's out of the way, there were still some very strong performances. Three of the four minor league affiliates were within two runs or fewer. There were also some strong starting and relief appearances from minor league hurlers. Who shined on Sunday? I'm glad you asked...RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 7 Box Score Rochester found themselves in an early hole. Zack Littell got knocked around for four first inning runs. He would settle in a little from there and pitch into the fifth inning. He ended up allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out two and walking two. The Red Wings were limited to six hits with only two of them being for extra bases. Jordany Valdespin went 2-for-3 out of the number nine spot in the order. He was the lone Red Wings hitter to collect multiple hits. John Andreoli reached base two times including his first double of the season. Randy Cesar collected his second double. Andrew Vasquez pitched 1 1/3 innings and struck out four. No… that’s not a typo. Ryan Eades ran into some trouble in the final frames. He gave up two runs on three hits in a little over two innings. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 1, Mobile 2 Box Score Griffin Jax was strong, but the Blue Wahoos lost for the first time on Sunday. Jax stranded base runners in all five innings he worked and left the game with a 1-0 lead. Blue Wahoos starters have allowed one run in 20.0 innings so far this season. Pensacola didn’t collect an extra-base hit for the first time this season and the club was limited to four hits in the entire game. Pensacola actually scored first in this one as Drew Maggi scored on a fielder’s choice by Brian Schales. That would be the lone run for the Blue Wahoos. It turned into a bullpen game for Pensacola. Jeff Ames took over for Jax. He allowed one run on three hits in just under two innings of work. Tyler Jay pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. He was followed by Dusten Knight who tossed two scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts. Sam Clay took the loss but it was more to do with the runner starting on second base in extra innings. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Charlotte 2 (10 Innings) Box Score Royce Lewis helped to get things going in the first inning. With one out, he walked and then stole second, which one was of two steals on the day. Trevor Larnach advanced Lewis to third before Jose Miranda drove him in with an RBI-single. Bailey Ober was the story of this game as he dominated on the mound. In six innings of work, he scattered four hits and allowed one unearned run. He struck out 11 and walked only one. Calvin Faucher took over for Ober and was just as good. He struck out four in two innings and limited the Stone Crabs to one hit. Calvin Faucher pitched two scoreless frames and limited Charlotte to one hit while striking out four. Alex Phillips took the loss. He allowed the runner to score from second base in extra innings. However, he struck out four in 1 2/3 innings of work. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 4 (6 Innings- Rain Shortened) Box Score After trailing 2-0, the Kernels scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game. Joe Cronin walked before a Michael Davis singled moved him into scoring position. Gilberto Celestino plated a run with a line-drive single to cut the score to 2-1. DaShawn Keirsey singled to tie the game, but that’s when the scoring stopped for Cedar Rapids. Josh Winder started for the Kernels and pitched five innings. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking three. Joe Record was saddled with the loss after he surrendered two unearned runs in less than an inning of work. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY TD Pitcher of the Day- Bailey Ober, Fort Myers (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 11 K, 1 BB) TD Hitter of the Day- Aaron Whitefield, Fort Myers (2-for-4, 2 2B) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB, K #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - No Game #4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) – 0-4, BB, 3K #5 - Wander Javier (EST) - No Game #6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 0-4, 2 K #7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) – Did not pitch #8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch #9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) – 0-for-4, BB, K #11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List #12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) – 0-4 #14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, K #15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) – Did not play #16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, RBI, 2 K #17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 2 BB #18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 0-3, BB, K #19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) – Did not play #20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) – 2-5, RBI, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Syracuse (5:35 CST) – LHP Justin Nicolino (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Pensacola @ Mobile (6:35 CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Dunedin (5:30 CST) – LHP Charlie Barnes (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs. Kane County (6:35 CST) – RHP Andrew Cabezas (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Minnesota is off to a great start after winning their first two series. Lots of things seem to be working in the Twins favor, but there is a lot of season left to be played. One of the biggest concerns came in Tuesday night’s extra-inning win in Kansas City. Byron Buxton went hurdling into the wall trying to make a catch. He ended up in a pile on the ground and had to be removed from the game. This isn’t the first time Twins fans have seen their young star come up injured on an aggressive play. Is it getting to the point where Buxton is being reckless?Aggressive Being aggressive is one of the reasons Buxton was able to walk away with a Platinum Glove in 2017. His ability to get to almost any baseball is what makes him one of the game’s best defensive center fielders. He can make highlight reel catches look effortless and defensive metrics support his superior defensive ranking. He added over 20 pounds of muscle this off season and even joked about running into walls at TwinsFest. “If I want to play the way that I want to play and run into walls, I’ve got to have a little bit more cushion,” he said. This was his first off-season where he made adding weight a focus. Luckily for Buxton and the Twins, he was able to get into the game on Wednesday. He started the game on the bench, but he was used as a late inning pinch runner. Buxton showed little sign of the injury bothering him as he was able to steal second base. Then, he came around to score the game-winning run on Eddie Rosario’s single. Minnesota has an off-day on Thursday before playing Bryce Harper and the Phillies on Friday. Buxton’s aggressiveness might not have cost the team anything this time around. In case you missed the play on Tuesday, here is a look at how Buxton was injured. Reckless At this early juncture of the season, Buxton seems to have more confidence at the plate, and he’s had some key hits for the club. Minnesota has a better offensive and defensive line-up with him on the field. This is one of the reasons diving into walls is a reckless decision. The calendar has barely turned to April. In the course of a 162-game season, one play isn’t going to be the difference in the outcome of the team’s season. Buxton suffering a serious injury could have greater consequences for the club. There was little chance of Buxton catching the ball. He could have played the ball off the wall and held Adalberto Mondesi to an extra-base hit. Tuesday’s play was reminiscent Buxton jumping into the wall at Yankee Stadium during the 2017 Wild Card Game. That was a winner take all game in October. At that time of year, it makes sense to try for a diving catch to keep the game close. It doesn’t make sense to try a similar play against a rebuilding Kansas City club on April 2. Buxton’s professional career has seen multiple injuries, but he seems to have made some great changes leading in to this season. It might be in his best interest to make another change this season. Try to find a balance between aggressiveness and recklessness so he can stay on the field for the entire year. What do you think about Buxton’s outfield play? Is he aggressive? Reckless? Or maybe a little of both? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Minnesota started this season with three catchers on the roster. Jason Castro caught Jose Berrios on Opening Day. Mitch Garver started the team’s second game. Fan favorite Willians Astudillo starred on Sunday afternoon. Each catcher offers a little something different and it’s hard to know how rookie manager Rocco Baldelli will utilize their strengths. How will these three catchers be rotated in the season’s early games?There seems to be three different options when it comes to rotating through this trio of catchers. Each one has its own benefits and downfalls. Let’s examine each one. Strict Rotation Using a strict rotation might be the pattern Baldelli will follow to start the season. Jason Castro got the Opening Day start. This made sense because he was a left-handed hitter and Corey Kluber, a right-handed pitcher, was starting for Cleveland. Castro was also the more veteran catcher and he was returning to the field for the first time since the knee injury that cost him all of last season. On Saturday, Mitch Garver, a righty, got the start. He was facing a right-handed pitcher in Trevor Bauer. On paper, it might seem like this isn’t a good match-up, since it would be a righty vs. righty scenario. However, Garver batted .288/.352/.454 against righties last season. To put that in perspective, his OPS versus right-handed pitchers was 177 points higher compared to when he stepped in against lefties. Sunday saw Willians Astudillo make his first start. He went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI. He also made a tremendous defensive play when he was backing up a play in foul territory. This means Castro will sit for a minimum of the end of Thursday until Tuesday’s series opener in Kansas City. If Baldelli is going to rotate through players, these early season off-days are going to make it tough for the catchers to get into a rhythm at the plate. Play Matchups A natural platoon seems to form with Garver being a right-handed hitter and Castro being a left-handed hitter. Baldelli could play the natural match-ups but this would put Castro on the field far more than Garver. As mentioned above, that might not always be the best option since Garver has some reverse splits. Garver is actually better than Castro at hitting right-handed pitching. For his career, Castro has hit .241/.326/.412 against righties. His OPS against lefties is 171 points lower. While a strict rotation might make some sense, Garver needs to be in the line-up against lefties. Garver doesn’t destroy the ball against lefties (.629 OPS), but his numbers are better than Castro's. Astudillo has been unreal at making contact during his big-league tenure. Through just over 100 plate appearances, he is hitting .368/.386/.547 with 10 extra-base hits. He also doesn’t have much of a platoon split. His OPS is .949 against righties (67 at-bats) and .893 against lefties (28 at-bats). Personal Catchers for Starters Some team’s like for a pitcher and a catcher to build rapport with each other. It certainly seemed like Castro was working well with Berrios. Berrios might have been able to make any catcher look good during Thursday’s game. If the Twins keep rotating catchers, Castro would catch Berrios and Garver would continue to catch Odorizzi. Astudillo caught the Pineda/Perez combo on Sunday. Gibson has yet to make a start, but it seems likely for Garver to catch him in the second game of the Royals series. Pitchers can get comfortable when the same catcher is working with them behind the plate. It seems likely that a personal catcher could be a luxury, but it seems unnecessary at baseball’s highest level. All of these players are professionals and have worked with a multitude of battery combinations throughout their playing careers. A personal catching system might naturally form from the catching rotation but it’s not a necessity. Castro’s contract expires at season’s end. Garver is coming off a strong 2018 campaign and he can’t reach free agency until 2024. Minnesota needs to see if Garver can be the team’s long-term solution behind the plate. As the season progresses, the team could continue with a rotation or ride the hot bat. Hopefully, Garver is taking the reins and showing he is ready to take the next step. If you were in the manager’s chair, how would you approach the catching situation? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Opening Day can be filled with hope for almost every fan. Baseball’s long off-season is finally complete and meaningful baseball games will be played. Even with green grass at Target Field, there are still plenty of questions remaining to be answered about the current club.How will the bullpen be used? New manager Rocco Baldelli is the first MLB manager born in the 1980’s. His playing career was cut short, so he has been on the fast-track to his current position. He comes from the Tampa Bay organization that was the first to regularly use the opener strategy. It seems likely for the club to utilize this as just one in-game tactic this season. Baldelli hasn’t named a closer this season and that might be a purposefully strategy. Minnesota doesn’t have a “proven closer” on the roster. Twins coaches will be able to analyze match-ups and put pitchers in situations to succeed. Every relief arm will need to be ready to come into the game at any given point. Fans will have to wait and see how this strategy plays out. Can the young core take the next step? Eddie Rosario and Jose Berrios were two of the most valuable players on the Twins last season. Now they need some help from the other young core players. Max Kepler is going to be given the opportunity to lead-off this season, even though he has never batted in that spot at the big-league level. He seemed to make some strides in the right direction last season. Can he flourish as the team’s lead-off man? Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are also entering a critical season. Both players struggled through most of last season. Reports were that Sano’s off-season regimen had him in great physical condition. A fluke injury during a winter league celebration means he will start the year on the IL. Buxton had a huge spring and seems poised for a break-out campaign. Is he ready to become the team’s next superstar? With Joe Mauer gone, who takes over as the face of the franchise? Veteran slugger Nelson Cruz was brought in to serve as a leader in the clubhouse, but he’s only on a short-term contract. Heck, Target Field already has a two-foot long hot dog named after him. Even with his presence, it will be key for a young player take over as the face of the franchise. Jose Berrios was an All-Star last season and he will make his first Opening Day start. On multiple platforms, I have discussed how I think he can take an even bigger step this season. He has a chance to finish in the top 5 in the AL Cy Young voting at season’s end. However, he only pitches every fifth day. Someone like Byron Buxton needs to be the face of the franchise. Buxton can impact every level of the game and it might be his time. Do the Twins have enough pitching? Twins fans are always clamoring for more pitching. This off-season Minnesota added the likes of Martin Perez to the back of the rotation and Blake Parker will get some important bullpen innings. Neither one of these players will exactly make fans get overly excited, so there are other parts of the staff to examine. Non-roster invitee Ryne Harper made the team out of spring training. He was tremendous this spring and the 30-year old will finally get an opportunity to make his big-league debut. Other than that, the Twins are hoping players from last year’s roster can adjust to new bullpen roles. Trevor May will be relied on in the late innings. Former top prospect Fernando Romero will start the year in Rochester to try to find his spot in the bullpen. No team can have too much pitching and there are some questions about Minnesota’s depth to start the year. What do you think about these questions as Opening Day begins? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Cleveland has won the AL Central for three consecutive years, but that streak could come to an end this year. The Indians are coming off a year where they had a club-record $135 million payroll. Ownership decided it was time for a mass exodus of players, so there will be a lot of new faces in the Cleveland line-up. Could this open the division to other foes? Fans will have to wait to find out.Key Additions: Carlos Santana, Jake Bauers Santana played his first eight big league seasons in Cleveland before signing a three-year $60 million deal with Philadelphia. The Phillies traded him back to the Indians this off-season in a deal that sent Edwin Encarnacion to Seattle. Santana offers some more line-up flexibility since he is a switch-hitter and he can play multiple positions. Jake Bauers was also part of the Santana trade. He could start the year in the Indians outfield or split time with Santana at first base. He’s only 23 years old and he hit 11 home runs last year for Tampa. Since Tampa was willing to part with him, one has to wonder if they know something that others do not. Key Departures: Yonder Alonso, Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion, Yan Gomes, Yandy Diaz, Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer, Lonnie Chisenhall, Josh Donaldson, Melky Cabrera, Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, and Josh Tomlin. A team could field a pretty good squad with the players that left the Indians from the end of last season. Heck, you might be able to win a Wild Card spot with this crew. Cody Allen and Andrew Miller were key late inning pieces for the Cleveland’s recent success. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez will drive the offense but there are plenty of holes in the rest of the line-up. What if one of their key pieces gets hurt? This club might not score a ton of runs and they are going to rely on their strong starting staff to keep games close. Potential X-Factors: Trevor Bauer Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco are going to be a strong one-two punch at the top of the rotation, but Trevor Bauer could be a difference maker as the club’s number three pitcher. He does some outlandish things on social media and has hurt his hand with a drone, but he could put together some solid numbers that help to prove he belongs with the top two Indians arms. FanGraphs Projected 2019 Record: 92-70 My Projected 2019 Record: 87-76 (Win Game 163 against the Twins) 2018 Record: 91-71 (1st Place AL Central, Lost ALDS to Astros) 2017 Record: 102-60, (1st Place AL Central, Lost ALDS to Yankees) 2016 Record: 94-67, (1st Place in the AL Central, Lost World Series to Cubs) Click here to view the article

Chicago missed out on the Manny Machado sweepstakes but there are plenty of other up and coming stars on the southside of Chicago. Even though the White Sox lost 100 games last season, there is hope for some of their young core to take the next step. Winning the division might not be out of the question in 2019, but the White Sox are building a core that could compete in the years to come.Other American League Previews AL West: Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem AL East: New York State of Mind Central Intelligence: Clawless Tigers Central Intelligence: Rebuilding Royals Key Additions: Alex Colome, Kelvin Herrera, Ivan Nova, Yonder Alonso, Jon Jay, James McCann Chicago’s bullpen might be its most improved part. Colome and Herrera have combined for over 100 saves the last two seasons. This includes Colome’s league leading 47 saves in 2017. Ivan Nova is a familiar name as a former Yankees pitcher, and he looks to take over the veteran role in a young White Sox rotation. As will be clear in the Indians preview tomorrow, the Tribe dumped as many pieces as possible this off-season. This included Yonder Alonso who could help Jose Abreu in the middle of the line-up. Jon Jay was brought in to help lure Manny Machado to Chicago but that didn’t work out. Instead the club will add an everyday corner outfielder that isn’t projected to have that much pop. Key Departures: Miguel Gonzalez, James Shields, Avisail Garcia Nova takes over the rotation role left vacant by James Shields. Shields led the AL in losses last season with 16. He pitched over 200 innings for the first time since 2015 but he posted a 4.53 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP to go along with a 154 to 78 strikeout to walk ratio. Garcia’s was not tendered a contract even though he was an All-Star in 2017. Last year in Chicago, he hit .236/.281/.438 with 19 home runs and 49 RBI in 93 games. Gonzalez only pitched in three games last season and allowed 17 earned runs in 12.1 innings. For his career, he has a 4.06 ERA in over 880 innings pitched. Potential X-Factors: Yoan Moncada He was once considered baseball’s best prospect, but he is coming off a season where he had over 200 strikeouts. He finished the year hitting .235/.315/.400 with 17 home runs and 32 doubles. He could be a difference maker in the line-up if he can finally put it all together at the big-league level. His batting average has been in the tank since making his big-league debut but he is only 24-years old, so there is still time for him to take the next step. FanGraphs Projected 2019 Record: 70-92 My Projected 2019 Record: 74-86 2018 Record: 62-100, (4th Place in the AL Central) 2017 Record: 67-95 (4th Place in the AL Central) 2016 Record: 78-84 (4th Place in the AL Central) Click here to view the article

Kansas City’s front office has followed a similar formula during the last decade or so. They build their team through the draft and trades. When players are nearing free agency, they deal away veteran players. This cycle repeats and there end up being some long rebuilding years. It might seem like eons ago, but the Royals made back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015. In the midst of a rebuild are the Royals trending upwards? Or is the club due for a second straight 100-loss season?Other American League Previews AL West: Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem AL East: New York State of Mind Central Intelligence: Clawless Tigers Key Additions: Billy Hamilton, Chris Owings, Brad Boxberger, Homer Bailey Billy Hamilton fits nicely with Ned Yost’s style. He can play great defense and he’s one of the best base-stealers in the game. Having Hamliton in the same division as Byron Buxton means baseball’s two fastest players will see each other multiple times this season. Chris Owings was once a top prospect in Arizona but he’s hoping to find himself in a new city. Brad Boxberger should get some key outs in late innings. He should split closing duties with Wily Peralta. Homer Bailey could slide into the back of the rotation, but Kansas City might want to see what they have in some younger arms. Key Departures: Mike Moustakas, Lucas Duda, Alcides Escobar, Jason Hammel Mike Moustakas was one of the key pieces of the 2015 World Series Championship. The Moose was the second overall pick in 2007 and he made two All-Star Games with the club. Another key piece, Salvador Perez, will miss the season after having Tommy John surgery. His leadership on the field will be greatly missed this season. Alcides Escobar had been a regular starter in KC since 2011. Last year his OPS was almost 40 points lower than his career average. Lucas Duda was traded away at last year’s trade deadline and he ended up in camp with the Twins this spring. Jason Hammel struggled through two seasons in KC. His ERA was almost 5.60 in over 300 innings. Potential X-Factor: Whit Merrifield Kansas City locked up their 30-year-old second baseman to a four-year, $16.5 million contract this off-season. He has led the AL in steals in each of the last two seasons. His 192 hits were tops in the AL last year. He ranked in the AL’s top-10 for WAR last season, which put him higher than Jose Altuve and Giancarlo Stanton. Merrifield might not make the top-5 but he could move up that list with improvements this season. Could Merrifield take over the leadership role left vacated by Perez? Or will the Royals need other pieces to take the next step? FanGraphs Projected 2019 Record: 68-94 My Projected 2019 Record: 67-95 2018 Record: 58-104, (5th Place in the AL Central) 2017 Record: 80-82 (3rd Place in the AL Central) 2016 Record: 81-81 (3rd Place in the AL Central) Click here to view the article