Cody Christie

While the Twins were in the midst of the longest game in Target Field history, the Twins minor leagues were in the middle of a busy day. Only two teams have games on Memorial Day so Sunday became a critical day as multiple affiliates float around the .500 mark. What teams could shine? What players would struggle? Who would help their team to win? Read on to find out.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Indianapolis 2 Box Score Only three Red Wings batters were able to collect hits as the team was held to four total hits. Niko Goodrum had the team's lone extra-base hit as he came around to score on a Tommy Field single. Field led the team with a 2-for-3 effort. Leonardo Reginatto went 1-for-3. David Hurlbut started and made it through five frames. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with a strikeout and a walk. It was his third loss of the season and he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of those decisions. Alan Busenitz and Alex Wimmers kept the game close for Rochester. Busenitz pitched two scoreless innings by allowing only a pair of singles. The final two innings from Wimmers were perfect and he struck out one. The loss drops the team to one game under .500. Rochester has gone 4-6 over the last ten games as the club sits 9.5 games out of first place in the International League North Division. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Montgomery 2 Box Score Chattanooa powered past Montgomery with a pair of four-run innings. In the bottom of the second inning Travis Harrison and Dan Gamache led off the inning with doubles. With two outs in the frame, Dan Rohlfing walked before a trio of singles. Ryan Walker, Nick Gordon and Levi Michael joined the hit parade and pushed the lead to 4-0. In the bottom of the third, TJ White walked with two outs. Kevin Garcia and Dan Rohlfing singled to score another run. Walker came up with the biggest hit of the inning, a three-run home run. When the dust cleared, the Lookouts held an 8-0 lead. Felix Jorge improved to 5-1 on the season. Over seven shutout innings, he limited the Biscuits to five hits while striking out one and walking one. Raul Fernandez allowed two earned runs on three hits over the final two frames. He struck out one and didn't have a walk. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Charlotte 6 Box Score Fort Myers jumped out to an early first inning lead. Bradley Strong reached base on a throwing error and than stole second. Chris Paul cracked a ground-rule double which would score Strong. The Miracle offense went cold from there as the team was shut out the rest of the way. They finished 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Paul reached base three times in the game while Max Murphy and Strong both collected doubles. David Fischer took the loss for the Miracle even though he limited the Stone Crabs to two runs on four hits. He pitched five innings while striking out four and walking two. Williams Ramirez had a rough inning as he walked three batters and allowed a pair of runs. Sam Clay and Alex Muren both allowed a run in their inning of work with each pitcher collecting a strikeout. With the loss, the Miracle fall one game below .500. They currently sit 4.5 games out of first place in the Florida State League South Division. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Kane County 2 (10 Innings) Box Score Cedar Rapids seemed to be off to a good start. Lewin Diaz singled in front of a Jaylin Davis double to get an early 1-0 lead. Kane County quickly countered to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the frame. Cedar Rapids was quiet until the fifth inning when Caleb Hamilton led off the inning with a single. Aaron Whitefield drove him in with a double to tie the game. The Kernels finally found a way to get back on the board in extra innings. Travis Blankenhorn was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a balk. Kane County's manager didn't like the call and he was ejected from the game. With two outs, the Cougars walked the bases loaded. Aaron Whitefield was hit by a pitch to drive in a run. Ariel Montesino singled to drive in two more. Domenick Carlini kept the game close for the Kernels. He allowed two earned runs on four hits. He struck out two and walked one. Colton Davis and Alex Robinson combined for three shutout innings. Tom Hackimer picked up his third win after two shutout innings allowing one base runner and he struck out three. He has not been tagged for an earned run in his last 21.0 IP. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Chattanooga Lookouts (7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H) Hitter of the Day – Ryan Walker, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Indianapolis (12:35 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler (4-1, 4.50 ERA Chattanooga - Scheduled Off Day Fort Myers - Scheduled Off Day Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (1:00 CST)- RHP Clark Beeker (5-2, 2.61 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

It's hard to believe but baseball has already passed the quarter-mark of the season. What might be even harder for Twins fans to believe is that Minnesota finds themselves in contention. This is a welcome surprise after a tough to watch 2016 season. There will be some questions facing the Twins in the weeks ahead as there will be plenty of tough decisions left to be made. The future of the franchise could tilt with the first overall pick. However, that player likely won't be making his Target Field debut in 2017. So what other questions will the new front office have to answer?Were the 2016 Twins a fluke? Things certainly couldn't have gone much worse for the Twins in 2016. Following a 2015 seasons where Minnesota was in contention until the final weekend, the wheels came off. Young players like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios struggled to make adjustments at baseball's highest level. Even with those players struggling, the Twins' pitching was their most noticeable flaw. Only Arizona could match the Twins' 5.09 team ERA and Minnesota had the third worst WAR total from their pitchers. The 2017 version of the Twins look much more comparable to the 2015 squad. Sano has been a dominant force at the plate. Buxton might be the best defensive center fielder in baseball. Ervin Santana might be developing into an ace. Even Berrios has looked like a completely new pitcher. It's hard to know if it will last but it's been a fun ride so far. What can the Twins do to improve their bullpen? Brandon Kintzler has been effective so far by converting 11 of his first 12 save opportunities. The Twins were able to pick up the win in his only blown save of the season but it still seems like the team is playing with fire. Besides Kintzler, Tyler Duffey and Matt Belisle have tossed the most innings. Only veteran Craig Breslow and Tyler Duffey have ERA's under 3.00. Rochester doesn't exactly have a plethora of top-tier relief pitching options. At the end of the last two seasons, Trevor Hildenberger has been named the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He has a 3.07 ERA and a 16 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio in 12 appearances. Other 40-man options include Buddy Boshers, Drew Rucinski, and Nick Tepesch but none of these guys are breaking down the door to the big leagues. Can the Twins contend in an wide-open AL Central? Many national sports outlets expected Cleveland, the defending AL Central champs, to run away with the division. Cleveland's best pitcher, Corey Kluber, is on the disabled list and they've played below .500 at home. The rest of the division also has plenty of questions. Chicago is in the midst of a rebuild. Kansas City's offense has struggled to start the year. Detroit seems to have pitching struggles every year. The Twins have started 15-11 in the division which has been bolstered by a 7-1 record versus the Royals. Minnesota has 2-4 record against the Tigers and the Indians. If the Twins want to contend in the division, the club will need to improve against the teams in the division. Are there any prospects fans can expect to see? With things going well in Minnesota, it's hard to know when the team will need to dig into the minors for some extra help. An injury to an everyday player or a slumping bat could signal the start to any of these player's big league career. Zach Granite was the organization's minor league player of the year and he is already at Triple-A. It's quite possible for Granite to follow in Brian Dozier's footsteps. Infielders Engelb Vielma and Nick Gordon have a chance to debut this season as well. Vielma was recently promoted to Rochester and he is the best defensive infielder in the organization. Gordon, a former first-round pick, is off to a hot start with his bat which could lead to a September call-up. Will the Twins be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? With a new front office and a team surprisingly in contention, July could become an interesting month. No one expected the Twins to contend but the new regime will need to add some pieces if they are serious about making a playoff run. There are holes in the bullpen and the team has been rotating through starters in the rotation. Falvey and Levine shouldn't mortgage the farm but some extra pieces will be needed for the stretch run. What questions do you think the Twins need to answer in the weeks ahead? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

MLB's 2017 draft is a little over two weeks away. Minnesota has known they have the first overall pick since last fall and the new regime will be doing their due diligence as draft day approaches. With Derek Falvey and Thad Levine overseeing their first draft, there is a lot of pressure for the club to make the right pick. The Twins have narrowed their list to a handful of players but it seems more likely that the club will be picking from a trio that includes college players Brenden McKay and Kyle Wright and two-way high school player Hunter Greene. McKay and Wright might be the safer picks because of their collegiate experience. Greene could be a once in a generation player on the mound. At this point, it seems more likely for the Twins to select one of the safer college options. This leaves Greene, a player Sports Illustrated called "the star baseball needs," still on the board. Will passing on Greene haunt the Twins in the years to come?Taking A Chance There has never been a right-handed high school pitcher taken with the first overall pick. Greene could become the first but there are so many factors that come into developing a high school arm. He is a raw product whose edges would need to be refined over the next 4-5 seasons in the Twins farm system. Organizationally, the Twins haven't had the best track record when it comes to developing pitchers. Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay have both been taken with high first round picks since 2013. Jay was supposed to develop into a top flight starter but the Twins have already moved him to the bullpen. Stewart has shown flashes of being strong but his ERA is north of 5.00 at Double-A. One of the reasons Falvey was hired by the Twins was to revamp the pitching staff. "He made it his, probably his passion, to understand pitching and the delivery," Indians manager Terry Francona told the Star Tribune."We go to him a lot with questions. If he doesn't have the answer, he'll go find it." When asked if there was a temptation of taking Greene, Falvey said, "We want to line it up and take the best player that has the best possibility to affect us long term, and sometimes that will be a high school player and sometimes it will be a college player." Falvey could want the challenge of developing Greene or he might have seen enough of him this spring to know that taking a chance isn't the right move. West Coast Kid Greene has grown up and played almost exclusively on the West Coast. With the Padres sitting with the number three pick, rumors have been swirling about Greene wanting to stay close to home. Baseball America reported,"The rumors of he and his family attempting to maneuver his way to the No. 3 pick with the Padres are a poorly kept secret." Baseball America also stated, "The Padres' throwing program is more in line with Greene's program." Every young kid is going to want play near his friends and family. The weather in southern California would be a little more pleasant than the in the upper midwest. He'd also be part of a National League organization where he'd still have the opportunity to bat on a regular basis. If Greene's family really doesn't want him playing in Minnesota, they could pressure the Twins with some high demands that might persuade the club into taking a college option. Weighing The Cost Because the Twins have the first pick and other high picks, they have the largest bonus pool in the draft. The Twins' top draft slot is set at $7,770,700 which is roughly $1.25 million less than what the Philles were slotted for with the top pick in last year's draft. Baseball switched over to the current slotting rules five years ago. Dansby Swanson has been the only top pick to receive the highest signing bonus. In 2012, the Twins gave out the highest bonus to Byron Buxton after the Astros worked a deal with Carlos Correa. Houston was able to use the savings to take Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz with some of their other early picks. Since he is a high school player, Greene is going to want the highest bonus in the draft. Minnesota could do something similar to what Houston did in 2012. By signing McKay or Wright to a smaller bonus than Greene, the Twins could use that savings to go over slot on the 35th and 37th picks. However, the Twins might believe Greene is the best available player and take him no matter the cost. What are your feelings as the draft moves closer? Is Greene going to haunt the Twins? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Most pitchers got knocked around. I was going to pick a relief pitcher but thought that Turley settled in and had a nice game after a rough start.

Losing games isn't any fun for anyone. Three of the four Twins affiliates held leads on Sunday but none of them were able to pull out the win. Even in the midst of all the losing there were some strong performances. Multiple big name prospects had good days at the plate and some relief arms were thrust into the spotlight. While losing isn't fun for anyone, a lot of the minor leagues is about developing players. Who performed well in the middle of all the losing? You'll have to read on to find out.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 5 (11 Innings) Box Score After trailing 3-0 after two innings, Rochester plated four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-3 lead. All of the team's damage came with two outs in the frame. Daniel Palka singled and Zack Granite came all the way around for first to score. Back-to-back home runs from ByungHo Park and Tommy Field capped a big Red Wings inning but the team was shut out the rest of the way. Every hitter in the line-up except JR Murphy collected at least one hit. Field finished the day 3-for-5. Nik Turley saw three early runs scored against him but he settled in nicely to make it through five innings. Overall, he allowed three earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Alan Busenitz pitched two scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts. Kevin Chapman started the eighth by allowing a double which was followed by a passed ball. Drew Rucinski came in with a man on third and no outs. He made it through 1.2 innings by allowing only the inherited runner to score. Both of the outs Buddy Boshers collected were by strikeout. Michael Tonkin collected the final out of the 10th and the first out of the 11th before he ran into trouble. Top Yankees prospect Clint Frazier walked before a single moved him all the way to third. The game ended on an interesting play as Frazier scored on a sacrifice bunt. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Biloxi 5 (10 Innings) Box Score Much like Rochester, Chattanooga jumped out to an early lead before watching the opposition collect a walk-off win. Nick Gordon led off the game with a double and a wild pitch moved him to third. Ryan Strausborger brought in Gordon with a single giving the Lookouts an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, things got a little wild for Biloxi. Jose Gonzalez and Ryan Walker started the inning with a single and a walk. While Gordon was batting, there were two wild pitches which allowed Gonzalez to score. Gordon eventually walked and then he stole second. LaMonte Wade plated both runners with a two-out double as Chattanooga was staked to a 4-0 lead. Nick Gordon finished the game 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and a walk. Matt Tracy had a no-hitter entering the fifth inning but he allowed a walk and a single to start the frame. He had a shutout into the sixth before back-to-back singles put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Biloxi scored one in the inning to cut the lead to 4-1. Tracy ran out of steam in the seventh as he was charged with three more hits and three runs to see the team's lead evaporate. With two outs in the seventh, Nick Burdi allowed the big hit, a two-run single. Both of these runs were charged to Tracy. Burdi pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Raul Fernandez came on in the ninth and took the loss as he allowed three singles and a hit by pitch in the 10th. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 6 Box Score Fort Myers looked to sweep the series with Bradenton on Sunday but the Marauders stormed back from an early 5-1 deficit. After Bradenton scored in the first, Fort Myers answered back with back-to-back homers in the bottom of the inning. It was the second homer of the year for Bradley Strong and the third for Chris Paul. Fort Myers went on a hit parade in the second as they used four singles and a walk to push across three runs. Cody Stashak ran into some trouble in the third and fourth frames as he saw the Miracle lead evaporate. He pitched four innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. Anthony McIver pitched two scoreless innings with a strikeout. Williams Ramirez was perfect in his inning of work and struck out a pair. Alex Muren took the loss as a fielding error by Rafael Valera allowed a run to score in the eighth. Strong and Paul each reached base three times. Zander Wiel had a multi-hit game including his 13th double. Max Murphy was the only Miracle batter to be held without a hit. Fort Myers had three lead-off doubles in innings four through seven but the runners never made it past third. The team went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Wisconsin 12 Box Score Cedar Rapids found themselves in a 12-2 hole before trying to mount a comeback. Tyler Beardsley got knocked around for nine earned runs on 12 hits, a career high, including two home runs. Zach Tillery didn't stop the bleeding much as he was charged with three runs after allowing five walks and one hit. Hector Lujan, Alex Robinson and Logan Lombana combined for 3.2 scoreless innings to end the game. Lujan struck out two and didn't allow a hit (1.2 IP). Travis Blankenhorn crushed a two-run blast in the fifth following a Jaylin Davis double. Lewin Diaz cranked his sixth home run, a solo shot, in the sixth. The Kernels used four straight hits and a sacrifice fly to pull within five runs but that's where the comeback ended. Blankenhorn finished the day 2-for-4 with two extra-base hits, three RBI, and two runs scored. Davis had a multi-hit game and scored twice. Davis reached base three times with his homer and a pair of walks. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Rochester Red Wings (5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 2 BB) Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester - Scheduled Off Day Chattanooga @ Biloxi (6:35 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 CST) - RHP David Fischer (2-2, 3.58 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:35 CST)- RHP Sean Poppen (2-1, 2.38 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Teams are always looking for the one pitcher who can be their rock. The pitcher who always ends a team's losing streak. The pitcher who will pitch late into a game. The pitcher who lets the bullpen take the night off. The pitcher who is in contention for the Cy Young Award. The Ace... Unfortunately, there aren't exactly a plethora of aces lying around for teams to scoop up. It's been many years since the Twins have been able to call someone their ace. Johan Santana comes to mind but he hasn't put on a Twins jersey in close to a decade. In fact since Santana left, only two pitchers have led the Twins in WAR, Scott Baker and Kyle Gibson. A spirited debate was circling Twitter over the weekend. Should Ervin Santana be considered an ace? He's off to a tremendous start but does he fit the criteria for being an ace.What Is An Ace? Sporting News compiled a few different theorieswhen it comes to identifying an ace. Theory one was the best starting pitcher on each team. Santana clearly fits into this category as he leads the Twins staff in virtually every statistic. This theory has some holes as there are clearly teams who don't have an ace pitcher and their best starter shouldn't be considered an ace. Theory two states that an ace should be among the top 30 starters in the league. Santana would fail into this category again as his fast start has him near the top of the league in multiple categories. However, 30 aces seems like a lot especially when combining both leagues to get to 60 pitchers. There aren't 60 aces across the baseball world. Theory three says an ace should be better than a number one starter and theory four states that an ace should be higher than a chosen statistical threshold. Santana could meet both of those criteria this year but he clearly doesn't have the history to fit into the mold of an ace pitcher. Santana's History Santana has one lone All-Star selection in his career. That same season he finished sixth in the Cy Young voting and it was the only year he has received a vote. He only has one season where he has finished in the top-10 in WAR for pitchers. There have been two seasons where he finished in the top-10 for ERA and three seasons where he was in the top-10 for WHIP. He's done some good things during his career but his resume doesn't exactly scream ace. This season he is on pace to finish the year near the top of the leader-board. Last week, I wrote about how it seems more likely for Santana to come back down to earth in the weeks ahead. His only hiccup has been against the Red Sox last Sunday. Based on his history, it seems like regression is on the horizon for Santana instead of the Twins planning a Cy Young press conference for the off-season. The Curious Case of Rick Porcello Last season, Rick Porcello came out of nowhere to win the AL Cy Young. He'd hardly shown up on any major leader-board through out his career. He'd never been an All-Star. In fact, he'd only posted a positive WAR in three of his first seven seasons. At the end of the season, he was awarded one of baseball's highest honors but there are very few people who would call Porcello an ace even with last year's hardware over his mantel. Porcello seems to have morphed back into his true self this season. His ERA is north of 4.00 and he leads all of baseball in losses and hits allowed. His WHIP has moved back over 1.33 which is much closer to his career mark than the 1.01 WHIP he compiled in 2016. Baseball is a weird game and pitchers can have great seasons but that shouldn't qualify them as an ace. Less Is More While the theories discussed above show some ways to select baseball's aces, there are still plenty of flaws. If I am creating a list of aces in baseball, the list isn't going to be very long. To me, an ace needs to be a player who has shown consistency for multiple seasons while being a top pitcher in all of baseball. Here are the pitchers I would consider aces from both leagues (in alphabetical order): Jake Arrieta, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, David Price, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander There are only ten players on my list of aces. Ervin Santana is nowhere near making the cut. He could end up having a Porcello-like season and be in contention for the Cy Young but that wouldn't change my mind about it. He's not an ace. Do you think Ervin Santana is an ace? Who would make your list of current aces in baseball? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. The baseball world helps to celebrate the weekend by powering their uniforms and bats in pink. Not only can players honor their mothers but they can also help raise money for breast cancer awareness as many of the items will be auctioned off for charity. It was a muted Mother's Day in the Twins farm system as only two teams were scheduled to play. After a rain-out for Rochester, the Lookouts were the lone team to play. Who would make his mom proud? Read on to find out...RED WINGS REPORT Rochester --, Pawtucket -- (Postponed) Rain and wet grounds meant the Red Wings' game was postponed on Sunday. Rochester was looking to sweep the four-game series after being swept by Lehigh Valley earlier in the week.The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, June 17 starting at 3:35 pm CST. Sunday marked the eighth time Rochester has been postponed this season. The Red Wings are currently tied with the Buffalo Bisons for second place in the International League North. Lehigh Valley sits atop the division and they are currently three games ahead of Rochester and Buffalo. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Birmingham 4 Box Score Chattanooga was getting no-hit into the sixth inning but their bats finally came alive over the course of the final frames. Lookouts' right hander Paul Clemens matched zeros with the Barons as he didn't allow a run in his five innings of work. However, Birmingham would strike first with a solo home run in the top of the sixth. The Lookouts wasted little time answering back as Ryan Walker ended the no-hitter and the shutout with one swing of the bat. He led off the bottom of the sixth with a long ball to tie the game at 1-1. Chattanooga wasn't done as they strung together a walk and three straight singles to push the lead to 3-1. The game continued to be back and forth with Birmingham scoring two in the top of the seventh to tie the game. Walker got things going again in the seventh. He and Nick Gordon singled to start the frame. Engelb Vielma bunted them over before LaMonte Wade connected for a clutch two-run single that turned out to be the the tie-breaking hit. Raul Fernandez allowed four earned runs over 2.2 innings in relief of Clemens. It was still enough to "earn" his first victory of the year. John Curtiss was asked to get an out in the eighth before collecting the final three outs in the ninth. He didn't allow a run and struck out two on the way to his sixth save. MIRACLE MATTERS Following an off-day on Sunday, the Miracle will start a six-game home stand as they look to dig out of a recent slump. Fort Myers has lost four of their last five contests and they have only won one series in the month of May. This week will go a long way to deciding if the Miracle can contend for a first half playoff spot. This up-coming home stand includes series versus the first place teams in the FSL South and North Divisions, Clearwater and Bradenton. Currently, the Miracle are in fourth place in the FSL South as they trail Bradenton by seven games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids entered Sunday with a 20-15 record as they sit near the top of the MWL Western Division. They are percentage points behind Kane County for the overall top spot but they have played two more games than the Cougars. Over the last week, the Kernels went 4-3. Over the next three days they will play four games against Peoria to make-up for a rainout at the end of last month. The Chiefs are nine games under .500 and sit seven games back of the Kernels. Next weekend, Cedar Rapids has a big series at Wisconsin, the second-place team in the MWL Western Division. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Paul Clemens, Chattanooga Lookouts (5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K) Hitter of the Day – Ryan Walker, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-for-3, 2 R, HR, RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST)- LHP David Hurlbut (2-2, 1.59 ERA) Chattanooga vs. Birmingham (6:15 CST) - TBD Fort Myers vs. Clearwater (5:35 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak (0-3, 3.94 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs. Peoria (5:30 CST)- RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (2-2, 3.95 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs. Peoria (Game 2- Makeup of 4/29)- TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

It seems like the baseball season just began. But by the end of the week, the Twins will have completed over 20% of their schedule. Following Monday's off-day, the Twins sit in a cluster at the top of the AL Central. Besides Kansas City, the rest of the division is separated by a mere 2.0 games. Cleveland might start to separate itself from the pack but for the most part, the AL Central was mired in mediocrity throughout April. If the Twins are going to stay in the playoff race, there are plenty of pieces that will need to fall into place. Each player mentioned below is going to need to decide if he is really playing up to his full potential or pretending to be something he can't sustain. So you make the call... Are they real or pretenders?Miguel Sano Sano is off to a torrid start at the plate and he has shown some strong defensive skills at third base. Entering play on Monday, he only trailed Mike Trout and Aaron Judge in the American League WAR standings. He's also hitting the ball with authority. According to MLB's Statcast data, Sano is leading the big leagues in average exit velocity. One has to worry about the Sano that slumped during his sophomore season. He wasn't able to draw as many walks and his power wasn't as regular as his rookie campaign. However, the 24-year old slugger seems primed to make his mark this season. RESULT: REAL Ervin Santana Santana ran into his first hiccup on Sunday after nearly a perfect month of April. Even after allowing a season high six runs, his ERA only rose to 1.72. It seems highly unlikely for Santana to be able to sustain this level of the course of an entire season. His best ERA total for any season was 3.24 and he has a career ERA north of 4.00. He leads both leagues with a 0.79 WHIP while allowing 4.0 hits per nine. His career hits per nine average is more than twice his total this season and he has a career 1.27 WHIP. Santana might not turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight but there's no way he can be this good for all of 2017. RESULT: PRETENDER Brian Dozier After a record-breaking 2016 season, Dozier hasn't exactly set the world on fire to start 2017. His batting average is down to .229 but he is getting on base over 32% of the time. Dozier ranks second on the team with four home runs and he has a team leading six stolen bases. He ranks in the bottom half of AL when it comes to WAR for second basemen. There's nothing stopping Dozier from going on another hot streak as the season progresses. However, it seems more likely that he will be back to the .245/.320/.440 career hitter while averaging 23 home runs. This is the real version of Dozier even after his monster 2016 season. RESULT: REAL Hector Santiago While Santana has been getting a lot of pitching headlines, Santiago is quietly off to a great start. He ranks 13th in the AL in ERA and 16th in WHIP. He's pitched his entire seven year career in the AL and never posted an ERA under 3.33. He's striking out fewer batters per nine innings but he's also walking fewer batters and keeping the ball in the park. As a 29-year old, he has been part of three different organizations and he has been traded twice. He might be a veteran coming into his own or he could be taking advantage of some early struggles from opposing hitters. RESULT: THE JURY IS STILL OUT So who gets your vote for being real or being a pretender? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

The tryout period is over. Minnesota's new front office has busy over the last few days. Buddy Boshers and Kyle Gibson were both optioned to Rochester. Danny Santana and Michael Tonkin were both designated for assignment which means they could end up in different uniforms before the end of the week. With new faces heading to Rochester, a few names had to be added back to the big league squad. Infielder Ehire Adrianza and relief pitcher Justin Haley were both reinstated from the 10-day disabled list. Haley pitched one scoreless inning in Rochester while striking out two. Adrianza was hitting .310/.383/.357 in 42 minor league at-bats this season. Even with all the roster moving and shaking. There were still games to be played. SPOILER ALERT: There were some great performances on Sunday afternoon.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Pawtucket 1 Box Score For the second straight Sunday, Jose Berrios was on the mound as he continued his masterful start to the season. The only trouble he faced in the game came with two outs in the top of the first. He allowed back-to-back doubles that pushed across the lone Pawtucket run of the game. Berrios pitched 6.2 innings while allowing one earned run on six hits. He struck out four and walked none. Minnesota could call him up to make his next start at the big league level. Rochester responded quickly in the bottom of the first. Zack Granite and JB Shuck led off the inning with singles. Tommy Field drove in both runners with his eighth double of the season. Rochester wouldn't trail for the rest of the game. Granite created the next run for the Red Wings as well. He started the third with a single, stole second, and Field drove him him with a single. With little margin for error, the bullpen played an important role in this game. Buddy Boshers relieved Berrios in the seventh. He was able to strand a runner at second while keeping Rochester up two. Trevor Hildenberger allowed one hit during his inning of work but a big strikeout helped him leave a runner in scorning position. Alex Wimmers struck out the first two batters of the ninth before a walk and a single put the tying run on base. A groundout ended the threat and Wimmers earned his third save. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Pensacola 2 (Game 1- seven Innings) Box Score Nick Gordon started this game with a bang for the Lookouts. His first inning triple put Chattanooga in position to tie this game in the early going. Engelb Vielma drove him in with a single. From there, the team's bats went cold until a big sixth inning. In that sixth frame, all the damage was done with two outs. Jonathan Rodriguez singled and was followed by a LaMonte Wade double. Travis Harrison plated two runs with a single. He wasn't on base very long as the next batter, Ryan Walker, tripled to score Harrison. Gordon ended the game 2-for-3 with two extra-base hits and a run scored. Kohl Stewart started for Chattanooga but couldn't make it out of the fifth inning. In 4.2 innings, he allowed two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. He has a 5.63 ERA for the season. Todd Van Steensel earned his third victory out of the bullpen. He didn't allow a base runner over the last 2.1 innings while striking out two. Chattanooga 3, Pensacola 2 (Game 2- eight Innings) Box Score For the second straight game, Nick Gordon helped the Lookouts get off to a fast start. He led off the first inning with a walk. Levi Michael and Edgar Corcino followed with singles put Chattanooga out to an early 1-0 lead. Ryan Eades got the start and didn't run into any trouble until the top of the fifth inning. A pair of singles and a triple pushed across a pair of runs as Pensacola took a 2-1 lead. That lead would be short lived as Chattanooga used a Jonathan Rodriguez double and a fielding error to tie up the game in the bottom of the frame. After Eades exited, the bullpen put up zeros the rest of the way. John Curtiss pitched two scoreless innings and he has yet to allow a run this year. Nick Burdi saw two base runners reach against him but put the team in position to win. This game headed to extra-innings as it was scheduled to be two seven-inning contests. In the bottom of the eighth, Corcino lead-off with a walk. Jonathan Rodriguez followed with a single that moved Corcino all the way to third. LaMonte Wade got to play the hero with a walk-off single over an outfield that was playing in. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 0 Box Score Fort Myers and starting pitcher Dereck Rodriguez found themselves in the middle of quite the pitchers duel. Rodriguez had limited the Mets to two hits in seven innings of work but the offense didn't decide to show up until the last two innings. Rodriguez didn't allow a run and struck out three on the way to his second victory. St. Lucie removed their starter in the eighth and Fort Myers was able to break through. With one out, Max Murphy was hit by a pitch. Nelson Molina cracked a two-run shot. Two batters latter Zander Wiel knocked his third home run of the season, a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 4-0. In the top of the ninth, Fort Myers was able to add some insurance runs. Max Murphy started it again with a single to center. Nelson Molina doubled and Murphy came all the way around to score. Chris Paul followed Molina's double with a single to add one more run. Williams Ramirez replaced Rodriguez and allowed one runner in both of his innings of work. In the eighth, a batter reached with a one out walk. In the ninth, a batter reached with a one-out single. Over two shutout innings, he struck out three. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Fort Wayne 1 Box Score Clark Beeker won his fourth consecutive start on Sunday after tossing six strong innings. It was his fourth quality start as he limited the TinCaps to one earned run. He retired eight straight batters at one point in the contest and he allowed only one runner to get into scoring position. Beeker struck out six and walked one. The first big hit of the game came in the second inning off the bat of Christian Cavaness. Travis Blankenhorn and Ariel Montesino reached base with walks before Cavaness belted a two-run double. In the fifth frame, Aaron Whitfield led off the inning with a single and scored on a Lewin Diaz one-out double. Blankenhorn brought in Diaz with a two-out single to push the lead to 4-0. Max Cordy took over for Beeker and pitched three scoreless innings. He struck out three and walked one. It was his longest outing of the season and he leads the team with three saves. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Fort Myers Miracle (7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K) Hitter of the Day – Nick Gordon, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2R, 2 BB) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST)- TBD Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05 CST) - TBD Fort Myers vs. Palm Beach (5:35 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak (0-3, 4.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:00 CST)- RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (2-1, 3.04 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Joe Mauer struggled through the worst April of his career. While the Twins have young players populating the majority of their roster, Mauer plays the role of aged veteran. His future playing career is tied to his time in Minnesota. He will be a free agent following the 2018 season and for some Twins fans that day can't come soon enough. With two seasons of Mauer left on the horizon, the Twins need to decide what the correct direction is with the hometown star and former MVP.Platoon Plan During spring training, I wrote about the possibility of a Mauer platoon. During the 2016 campaign, Mauer hit .272/.383/.410 against right-handed pitching. His numbers dipped against southpaws as he hit 48 points lower and got on base 29% of the time. This was a stiff drop-off from his .267/.327/.393 slashline against left-handed pitching in 2015. Mauer's numbers against lefties have dropped even lower this year. Through the end of April, he had gone 5-for-23 (.217 BA) with one extra-base hit and a .250 OBP. Batting switch-hitters like Robbie Grossman and Kennys Vargas might be better options. When facing lefties, Grossman has an .809 OPS this season while Vargas has a career .816 OPS. Shifting Focus With more statistical information available to organizations, baseball is making a literal and figurative shift. Teams have figured out what Mauer wants to do with the ball. "I know his numbers don't show it, but he's swung the bat probably better than anyone has," outfielder Robbie Grossman told the Pioneer Press. "If they weren't shifting him a certain way, or don't catch the ball, he's right there at the top with anyone." When looking at Mauer's batted ball spray chart, it's easy to see what other team's should do to defend him. If he hits the ball to the outfield, it's likely to go to the opposite field. If he hits the ball on the ground, it's going to be pulled. Teams can shift their center fielder into left-center and move an extra infielder to the right side of second base. Graphic courtesy of FanGraphs Patience Is A Virtue Mauer suffered through some bad luck in the season's first month. He posted a .241 BABIP which is likely to improve in the months ahead. For his career, Mauer has a .339 BABIP and he posted a .301 BABIP during the 2016 campaign. In fact, he's never ended the season with a BABIP under .300 during his entire 14-year career. Over the last three seasons, Mauer has averaged over 100 strikeouts which included strikeout rates north of 16.5%. Through 94 plate appearances in 2017, he has only struck out seven times and his strikeout percentage has dipped to 7.4%. That would put him on pace for record numbers in both of those categories for his career. April was rough for Mauer but there is plenty of baseball left to be played. Some of the numbers show he might be trending in the right direction even after the rough start. What should fans expect from Mauer for the rest of 2017? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

April has come and gone. With the calendar flipping to May, there have been plenty of story-lines to follow across the baseball world. Bryce Harper seems to have found his swing again. Aaron Judge is making himself known as a Bronx Bomber. Even Eric Thames is having a resurgence in Milwaukee. Teams in the AL Central have been making headlines of their own. The four top teams are separated by two games. Meanwhile, the Royals are the lone team with an under .500 record. What's been going well for each AL Central squad? What needs to improve in the coming months? Let's dive in.Cleveland Indians (April Record 14-10) What's Gone Right Following their World Series run, the Indians might have come out of the gate a little slower than they would like. Francisco Lindor is continuing his strong performance from last year's postseason. He leads all shortstops in home runs, slugging percentage and WAR. Jose Ramirez is also proving he can hold his own. Through April, he hitting .330/.388/.593 with six home runs, the second highest total on the team. Cleveland's pitching staff continues to be one of it's strengths. Indians pitchers have compiled the highest WAR total in all of baseball. Both their starters and relievers rank in the top six in WAR. Their 9.97 K/9 ranks as the best in baseball while their 2.79 BB/9 is the second lowest mark. Cleveland's strong pitching helped the club to sweep three-game series from the Twins and Rangers during the season's first month. Room For Improvement Edwin Encarnacion was the team's big free agent acquisition and he has't exactly gotten off to a hot start. Through April's action, he was hitting .200/343/.353 with one home run. Those averages are all below his career production. Jason Kipnis has been limited to nine games and his production has suffered when he's been on the field. Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer have both struggled at the back of the Indians rotation. Tomlin has posted an 8.87 ERA, the club's worst mark, while averaging less than five innings per start. Bauer's ERA is slightly better at 6.26 and he's been close to six innings per appearance. Cleveland was only swept by one team in April, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and both Tomlin and Bauer made starts in that series. Chicago White Sox (April Record 13-10) What's Gone Right The White Sox were supposed to be in the midst of a rebuild but they find themselves a half game out of first place after the season's first month. Avisail Garcia is batting .368/.409/.621 and he leads the team with 10 extra-base hits. Matt Davidson joins Garcia in the .600 slugging percentage club and he's also been getting on base over 33% of the time. Miguel Gonzalez and Derek Holland have been quiet surprises in the White Sox rotation. Gonzalez leads the team with three wins and he's posted a 3.27 ERA with 21 strikeouts. Holland's ERA is better at 2.17 and he's second on the team in strikeouts. Even former Twins Anthony Swarzak has been good out of the bullpen as he has yet to allow a run in over 12 innings. Improvement Areas Veterans on the team like Todd Frazier and Melky Cabrera haven't started strong. Frazier is hitting under .185 while getting on base less than 29% of the time. Cabrera's .260 average is 25 points lower than his career mark. His .668 SLG would also be his lowest total since the 2014 campaign. Jose Quintana, the team's best starter a year ago, has struggled out of the gate. His ERA is north of 5.00 for April and his WHIP is over 1.46. James Shields was brought in as a veteran starter and he has been limited to three starts while currently being on the 10-day DL. Former Twin Mike Pelfrey has made a pair of starts so you know you're in desperation mode when you turn to Big Pelf. Detroit Tigers (April Record 12-12) What's Gone Right The Tigers took advantage of six games with the Twins as 25% of their victories have come against Minnesota. Justin Upton has provided the most value to the Tigers as he has gotten on base over 40% of the time while compiling a .968 OPS. Both of those totals, if sustained, would be career-best marks. Ian Kinsler and Alex Avial have also had good starts to the year. Detroit's pitching has been a mixture of good and bad. Michael Fulmer has put together the most consistent starts as he has a staff leading 3.19 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 31 innings. Justin Wilson and Shane Green have also limited damage out of the bullpen. Improvement Areas Former Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera has been limited to five extra-base hits and a .268 average. He currently is on the 10-day DL. Veteran slugger Victor Martinez has been limited in his time at DH. He has combined to hit .218/.281/.276 with only three extra-base hits in over 96 plate appearances. Justin Verlander and Jordan Zimmermann are supposed to be the anchors of this starting staff. Verlander, the 2016 runner-up for Cy Young, has a 4.60 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Zimmermann has a 1.62 WHIP and and ERA of over 6.00. Francisco Rodriguez has also struggled as the closer as he has allowed 14 hits (3 home runs) and six earned runs in less than 10 innings. Kansas City Royals (7-16) What's Gone Right Not much has gone right for the 2016 World Series champions. Lorenzo Cain leads the team in WAR and over half of his value comes on the defensive side of the ball. Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas have combined for 13 home runs with each having OPS over .835. Other than that, there hasn't been much to write home about. The Royals top three starters (Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, and Jason Vargas) all have ERA totals under 3.00. Kennedy and Vargas have a WHIP under 1.00. Because of the strong start by the Royals starters, the club ranks first in the AL for WAR from their starting staff. Kansas City's lone sweep in the first month came in a three-game homestand versus the Angels. Improvement Areas Positive signs on the offensive side of the ball have been few and far between. The Royals rank at the bottom of the AL in many offensive categories. Their .210 batting average is 10 points lower than any team in the league. Slugging percentage doesn't rank them any better as they are in last by 14 points. While the front end of the rotation has been strong, the bullpen has been a weakness for Kansas City. The team's relief core has the third worst ERA in the AL while posting a negative WAR total. Relief pitchers Matt Strahm and Travis Wood both have ERA marks north of 11.50. Nate Karns and Jason Hammel have also struggled in the back end of the rotation. A lot of pitching help will be needed to turn things around in KC. What will May entail for the AL Central? Will anyone be able to separate themselves from the pack? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Jose Berrios is making it known that he doesn't want to be in Rochester for much longer. He entered play on Sunday with a 1.44 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Opponents were hitting .180 against him with a 28 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio. It's hard to believe but those numbers would improve on Sunday. Minnesota doesn't need a fifth starter until later this week. One has to wonder if Berrios will be getting the call. His MLB time has been disappointing but it's hard to imagine him putting up better numbers at Triple-A. It might be time to throw him into the fire at the big league level.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Louisville 1 Box Score Jose Berrios was outstanding over eight shutout innings. He allow one runner to reach scoring position and that happened in the second inning. Overall, he allowed two hits, both singles, while striking out seven and walking two. His season ERA dropped to 1.09 following his outstanding pitching performance. Berrios found himself in a pitchers duel with Rochester failing to get on the board until the seventh frame. Matt Hauge started the frame with his third home run of the season. Following a Daniel Palka walk, Niko Goodrum cracked a two-run shot. With two outs in the frame, John Ryan Murphy would collected his first home run to push the lead to 4-0. In the bottom of the eighth, the Wings loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a hit by pitch. Eventually, Niko Goodrum drew a bases-loaded walk to add an insurance run. Drew Rucinski came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. The first batter collected a double and eventually came around to score. He coaxed a double play to end the game. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Jackson 3 Box Score Top pitching prospect Fernando Romero made his fifth Double-A appearance on Sunday. For the third consecutive start, he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed one earned run or less. In this outing, he scattered seven hits over six innings while striking out six. Following this strong start, his ERA dropped to under 3.00 for the first time this season. Chattanooga scored a first inning run after Nick Gordon tripled to start the game. The scoring picked up again in the fourth. Jonathan Rodriguez singled before scoring on a LaMonte Wade double. Wade was driven in by a Dan Gamache triple. Ryan Walker drove in Gamache with a sacrifice fly and the Lookouts were up 4-0. Gamache came up with another big hit in the fifth inning. His two-out double plated two runs. In the sixth, the first three batters collected hits as the Lookouts extended their lead to 8-1. Gamache wasn't done as he doubled to start the seventh and set up another scoring opportunity. Of the last three games, he's had multiple hits in two of them. Ryan Eades ran into a little trouble out of the bullpen. He allowed three runs in the bottom of the seventh as Jackson tried to claw closer. John Curtiss struck out the side to close out the ninth. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Dunedin 6 Box Score Before starting on the comeback trail against Dunedin things were looking bleak for Fort Myers as they were looking at a five run deficit, 6-1, after the top half of the second inning. Max Murphy punched his first two home runs of the season to help the comeback. He started the scoring in the first with a solo shot and added another solo shot in the third. The big inning for Fort Myers came in the bottom of the eighth when the team plated three runs to take the lead. Zack Granite came up with the biggest hit, a run-scoring double. The Miracle also scored a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly and a throwing error by the center fielder. Chris Anderson was making his organizational debut on the mound and it didn't go well. He allowed six earned runs on five hits. Anthony McIver and Sam Clay both pitched three shutout innings. McIver struck out three and walked two while Clay had two strikeouts and two walks. Jonny Drozd earned his second save with a perfect ninth frame. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Peoria 0 (6 Innings) Box Score Weather got in the way again for the Kernels. They were scheduled to play a double-header on Sunday but rain forced an early completion to their first game. The second game was postponed. Clark Beeker was the story of this game. He tossed five shutout innings, allowing one hit. He struck out three and walked none. Beeker, a 2016 33rd round pick is now 3-1 on the season with a tidy 1.69 ERA. This is his first start all season where he's failed to pitch seven innings and only the rain put an end to that streak. Offensively, Cedar Rapids could string together only three hits. In the fourth frame, Lewin Diaz started the inning by being hit by a pitch. Jaylin Davis, the next batter, singled to move Diaz into scoring position. Caleb Hamilton came up with the big hit, a one-out RBI double. This would be the lone run of the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jose Berrios, Rochester Red Wings Hitter of the Day – Max Murphy, Fort Myers Miracle MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester- Scheduled Off Day Chattanooga @ Jackson (11:05 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge Fort Myers vs. Dayton (5:35 CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (0-2, 3.24 ERA) Cedar Rapids- Scheduled Off Day Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. Click here to view the article

Shortstop is becoming a position of strength across baseball. Names like Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Corey Seager are becoming household names. These budding infielders are leading the next generation of baseball stars. It is truly seems like the sky could be the limit for each of them. The sky has not been the limit for the Twins when it comes to the shortstop position. In fact, the position has become a revolving door in recent years. While other organizations are building their franchise around a star shortstop, Minnesota has struggled to fill the void. Even in midst of a young season, Jorge Polanco is providing poise at one of baseball's hardest positions.Doubling Down On Defense Polanco's biggest question marks as a prospect were on the defensive side of the ball. The Twins blundered a little with his development last season as he didn't play a single inning at shortstop in the minors. Twins manager Paul Molitor was asked about how the organization handled Polanco during spring. "I wish I had a better explanation for you. But I think myself, a lot of other people, realized we didn't handle it the right way." Even with this organizational blunder, Polanco seems to have overcome some of these defensive faults. According to FanGraphs, he currently leads the American League in defensive runs saved (3). The only player with a better DRS mark this season is the Cubs' Addison Russell. Polanco also ranks in the top-10 across baseball in RZR, UZR, and defensive WAR. Looking For Lumber Being a two-way player is what separates many of the young shortstops mentioned above. Polanco was never expected to be an elite hitter but he showed positive signs as a prospect. So far this season, he ranks third in the American League in shortstop WAR. He has the third fewest strikeouts and the fourth highest OBP. This puts him ahead of players like Carlos Correa, Troy Tulowitzki, and Elvis Andrus. Much of Polanco's offensive success has come against left-handed pitching. He has hit .364/.391/.591 (.982 OPS) against southpaws with three extra-base hits in 22 at-bats. His OBP is almost 100 points lower against righties and this has come in 21 more plate appearances. He does have an impressive 6 to 5 strikeout to walk ratio versus right-handed hurlers. Waiting In The Wings The Twins have other young shortstop prospects waiting in the wings. Former first round pick Nick Gordon is off to a hot start at Double-A. Through 14 games, he is hitting .339/.397/.464 with four extra-base hits in 56 at-bats. After playing every game in 2016 at shortstop, Gordon has started four games at second base this season. Gordon's time at shortstop is being challenged by Engelb Vielma. When it comes to shortstop, Vielma is widely considered the better defender. Vielma has started six games at shortstop and seven at second base. There have been questions about Vielma's offensive in the past but he is hitting .340/.365/.400 to start the year. While shortstop might have been a weakness in recent years, the Twins look poised to stop their revolving door. Polanco is emerging as a very viable shortstop candidate. If he can't keep up his hot start, Gordon and Vielma are waiting for their own opportunity. Who will be the Twins shortstop by 2018? What about 2020? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article