Cody Christie

For starting as a position player, Rodriguez has developed into a decent pitcher. He will be a fun player to watch in the coming years.

It's a fun site to play around on.

Baseball America posted their fourth mock draft today. Wright going number one but the Twins second selection might be a surprise. http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/2017-mlb-mock-draft-4-0/#IEWfcKpo8upqdxeU.97

Reading this piece made me want them to take Lewis.

These write-ups look really slick. Nice work, Tom!

Minnesota has been on the clock since late last season. They knew this day was coming. A parting gift from the 2016 team for accumulating the worst record in franchise history. The 2017 MLB draft could be a franchise altering event. For better or for worse, the Twins new front office could be defined by the choices they make in the coming days. As fans already know, the Twins will make the first overall selection on Monday. The organization also has two other picks in the top-40. Because of these high picks, Minnesota will have the draft's highest bonus pool which is almost half a million more than the next closest team. This gives the organization a financial advantage but this advantage is less than it has been in previous years. Hopefully, Twins Daily has been your first stop for all of your MLB Draft related coverage but you might have missed something along the way.Twins Daily Draft Preview: Jeremy, the Twins Daily Draft Guru, kicked off the coverage by looking at the Twins's draft pool, which players were under consideration for the top pick, and some potential draft strategies. There are lots of factors impacting an organization as the draft gets closer. Draft Player Profiles Royce Lewis, SS/OF: While a lot of the draft focus has been on the big three (Wright, McKay, and Greene), the Twins are considering other players for the top spot. Lewis might be the best hitter in this draft class. Baseball America calls him "arguably the best position player prospect in this year's class." With that type of praise, the Twins certainly have to consider him. Pavin Smith, 1B: Smith might be one of college's most polished players. His advanced approach at the plate has helped him to have more home runs (12) than strikeouts (9). For a player with power hitting ability, that is quite a shift away from the norm. Baseball America thinks he is the best college hitter in the draft. He might not have the upside of other potential picks but his floor could be higher. Brendan McKay, SP/1B: If the draft was happening earlier this spring, McKay might have been the Twins' most likely first pick. He has crushed the ball at the plate and shown some strong ability on the mound. Unfortunately, his stock has slipped a little as his fastball velocity dropped. MLB.com columnist Jim Callis said McKay might be the best two-way player since Dave Winfield. He's one of the big three at the top of the draft but it would be a little surprising for the Twins to take him. Hunter Greene, SP/SS: Greene has been at the front of the national draft coverage for most of the spring. Sports Illustrated featured him on their cover and called him "the star baseball needs." He hasn't pitched in some time and there is talk of him wanting to end up with San Diego at the number three pick. Greene could end up being the best player in the draft but he could also fail to develop and end up as a bust. The Twins can't afford for that to happen but they also have to hope Greene won't haunt them. Kyle Wright, SP: Fans have heard Wright be called the "right pick". While McKay and Greene might have lost some steam as the spring progressed, Wright has only solidified his place at the top of the draft. McKay and Greene have been two-way players while Wright has been focusing solely on his pitching. He is more polished and could move quickly through the Twins system. Most national writers expect Wright to be the Twins' choice with the first overall pick. MacKenzie Gore, SP: Gore has been gaining a ton of steam as draft day approaches. He's left-handed and has advanced command for his age. He can mix in four different pitches and he might be the most complete high school pitcher in the draft. Would the Twins surprise the baseball world and select the lesser known of the top-two high school arms? Other MLB Draft Coverage Twins 10-round mock draft: Jeremy does his best every year to try to select the players Minnesota will be focusing on through the first 10-rounds. Sometimes this can be an exercise in futility but he has gotten multiple players correct when doing this for previous drafts. The Multi-Pick Gambit:As mentioned before, the Twins have the biggest pool in the draft. Will they be able to cut a deal with the number one pick so they have other money to spend on later selections? It's tougher than one might think. Will Hunter Greene Haunt The Twins?: He could be a once in a generation player. What happens if the Twins decide to go in a different direction? Keith Law On The Twins And The 2017 Draft: Law, ESPN's prospect writer, did an interview with Seth where he look ahead to the draft and speculated on the names Minnesota is considering at the top. The Wright Fit?:Kyle Wright could end up in Minnesota. Why is he the right pick for this organization? The Scouting Skinny: Kyle Wright: He probably has the best chance to go first overall. What do scouts have to say about Wright and his ascension to the top? Sam Carlson Q&A: Part 1 Sam Carlson Q&A: Part 2: Carlson, a Burnsville High School player, has a good chance of being taken in the mid-to-late first round. While he might not be in play for the Twins, it's interesting to hear about the draft process for a player in the midst of a life-changing event. Even after the Twins make their selection on Monday, check back at Twins Daily for all of your MLB draft related coverage. Click here to view the article

The dog days of summer are quickly approaching and many of the Twins affiliates need to push for the playoffs. Three leagues hand-out first half playoff spots while Rochester has a full-season battle ahead of them. Rochester entered play on Thursday 11.5 games behind Lehigh Valley in the International League North. The Iron Pigs are going to be tough to catch so the Red Wings might need to focus on the wild card race where they trail by six games. Chattanooga currently trails Montgomery by half a game for the top spot in the Southern League North. Fort Myers sits nine games out of first place and five games under .500. There are four teams ahead of them in the standings so the first half title is likely out of reach. If the Midwest League playoffs started today, the Kernels would be in as the first half winners of the Western Division. They are currently a game up on Kane County for the division lead. The division winner and runner-up for each half qualify for the MWL playoffs.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Syracuse 3 Box Score Syracuse was threatening in many of the early innings but Aaron Slegers continued to find ways to get out of the jam. The Chiefs had runners in scoring position in the first, second and fourth innings before they eventually broke through in the sixth. A pair of doubles and a pair of singles would sink Slegers. In 6.2 innings, he ended up allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out four and walking three. Rochester tried to answer back in the bottom of the sixth. Engelb Vielma and Zach Granite started the frame with singles. With one out, Matt Hague lifted a sacrifice fly to center. Granite came around to score after two wild pitches from Chiefs' starter AJ Cole. However, the two runs wouldn't be enough. Many Twins fans are on bullpen watch as the big league squad could use some help. Michael Tonkin allowed base runners in both innings he worked but he worked out of both jams with a couple of strikeouts. Ryan Pressly struck out the side in the ninth but he also allowed a pair of hits. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Jackson 3 Box Score Chattanooga wasted a strong start from Ryan Eades as Jackson wasn't able to score until the Lookouts' bullpen got into the game. Eades only allowed one hit and struck out three in five innings. Randy LeBlanc struggled in the sixth as he surrendered three runs on four hits. Todd Van Steensel struck out two and walked two in an inning. Jake Reed pitched two scoreless frames by allowing one hit. Before the bullpen blow-up, the Lookouts held a 2-0 lead. Ryan Strausborger and TJ White started the second with a pair of doubles. With one one out in the inning, Nick Gordon brought in Strausborger for the first run. In the fifth inning, Gordon cracked his fifth home run which is already as many home runs as he had in his first three professional seasons combined. Jonathan Rodriguez reached base four times in five at-bats with a double and a pair of walks. Gordon, Strausborger, and Ryan White all had multi-hit efforts. The team went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and out-hit Jackson 10 to 6. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Tampa 2 (Game 1- 7 Innings) Box Score Fort Myers jumped out to an early 1-0 thanks to a lead-off home run from Max Murphy. The hits were few and far between for the rest of the game. The Miracle went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Murphy was the lone batter to finish with multiple hits as he added a double and reached on a walk. Nelson Molina went 1-for-3 with a double. Brady Anderson suffered his second loss in as many starts. In the top of the third, he allowed a one out walk that came back to haunt him. The next batter knocked a two-run home run that turned out to be the difference in the game. Anderson stuck out four and walked two in six innings. Williams Ramirez pitched a scoreless seventh with a strikeout. Fort Myers 2, Tampa 1 (Game 2- 7 Innings) Box Score Fort Myers turned things around on Tampa in the second game of the double-header. Much like the Miracle did in game one, the Yankees jumped out to an early 1-0 first inning lead. Derek Rodriguez allowed a triple and single to the first two batters of the game. He settled in from there and went on quite the run. Rodriguez retired 11 straight batters at one point on his way to a complete game (even if it was only seven innings). He struck 10 batters for only the third time in his career. It was the first time he had accomplished this feat since last July. There have been only three starts this season where he has allowed more than three runs. Murphy was in the middle of the offensive action for the second straight game. He tripled to lead off the fourth inning. Alex Perez knocked him in with a single. After two consecutive walks to load the bases, Kevin Garcia grounded into a double play that pushed in the second run. Fort Myers only had three hits but that's all they would need. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Clinton 4 Box Score The Kernels struggled to get the bats going in this one and found themselves in an early hole. Domenick Carlini allowed four runs on eight hits while taking his fourth loss of the season. He struck out eight and didn't give up a walk. Logan Lombana allowed only one base runner over the last three innings to keep the game close. All four LumberKings runs were scored with two outs in the inning. Cedar Rapids' top six hitters in the line-up combined to go 3-for-22 with no extra-base hits in the loss. Brandon Lopez went 2-for-3 but failed to come around and score. Ben Rortvedt collected his fifth double and drove in the team's lone run. Lewin Diaz and Mitchell Kranson each went 1-for-4. With the loss, the Kernels drop to 34-26 and they still hold their playoff destiny in their own hands. It was only the third series loss for Cedar Rapids this season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez, Fort Myers Miracle (7 IP, 1 ER, 10 K, 1 BB) Hitter of the Day – Max Murphy, Fort Myers Miracle (3-for-6, HR, 3B, 2B, BB 2 R) FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Syracuse (6:05 CST) - LHP Adam Wilk (0-0, 4.26 ERA) Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (4-5, 3.51 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Tampa (6:05 CST) - RHP David Fischer (3-4, 4.02 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs. Burlington (6:35 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker (5-2, 2.51 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday’s games. Click here to view the article

This Washington Post story talks about the dark side of launch angle. Players like Jason Heyward have struggled at the plate because they end up popping out more than making solid contact.

http://artofbaseball.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Screen-shot-2012-06-25-at-11.40.38-PM.png

I think they are getting at the fact that all groundballs are not optimal. Not just groundballs into the shift.

Baseball is an ever changing game. Pitchers and batters are in a constant struggle to find an advantage. Technology has made it easier for teams to find and fix flaws. There is also a plethora of statistical information available to help fans have a better understanding of the game. It's no secret that the Twins were behind the times when it came to statistic analysis. They were one of the last front offices to establish a "baseball research" position in 2011. After the establishment of a new front office regime this off-season, the Twins are playing catch-up to the rest of the league.Thanks to MLB's Statcast, statistics like launch angle and exit velocity are starting to become part of the baseball lexicon. How do the Twins stack up in this new statistical era? Launch Angle The Washington Post took a deep look into the launch angle revolution happening across baseball. As part of the story, they say that MLB players have reached "the conclusion that not only are flyballs, on average, better than grounders but the latter are to be avoided at all costs." With teams utilizing more defensive shifts, there are fewer holes in the infield so it makes sense to try to put the ball in the air. Minnesota hitters seem to have bought in to the launch angle revolution. The Twins currently have MLB's fourth lowest GB/FB rate because they have the third highest FB%. From a hitter's vantage point, a launch angle between 25-35 degrees is optimal. To put that in perspective, Miguel Sano has averaged a 28.2 degree launch angle on his team-leading 14 home runs. While hitting the ball in the air might be good for some players, it can also mess with the swings of others. FiveThirtyEight did a study on launch angles and concluded "the correlation between a batter's changing flyball rate and his subsequent change in production is nonexistent." Exit Velocity Launch angle is only part of the equation. If a player hits it at the right angle, there still needs to be enough force behind the ball and this is where exit velocity comes into play. The Twins are not only putting the ball in the air, they are also in the top-10 when it comes to hard-hit percentage. In fact, multiple Twins hitters rank very well when it comes to average exit velocity. Miguel Sano leads all of baseball in average exit velocity (see rankings above) while Max Kepler is just inside the top-20 with Joe Mauer and Brian Dozier ranking near the top-40. ESPN updates the hard hit leader-board on an almost weekly basis. In this week's update, Kepler ranks in the top-10 (seventh) with Mauer (14th) and Sano (26th) both in the top-30. Questions still remain about the validity of some of these new statistical areas. Statcast is only three years old and some might call it a work-in-progress. The information being provided by this new technology is untested. Statcast continues to add an extra dimension to the baseball world. However, there is much still to be discovered when it comes to this new statistical era. What has Statcast added to your baseball-viewing experience? Did any of the Twins rankings surprise you? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Turns out he was injured. Unless this was just a way to give him some rest

If I was the Twins my board would look like this: 1. Wright 2. Greene 3. Lewis 4. McKay Lucky enough for them, they won't have to go past the first option on their board

The calendar has flipped to June and many teams are trying to decide if they are contenders or pretenders. Minnesota is in the same situation. With the club off to a strong start to the season, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will need to decide if the team will be buying or selling at the trade deadline. One Twins player's name is already being thrown around in trade rumors. Ervin Santana has gotten off to a tremendous start to the season. At the beginning of May, I wondered if his start to the season was real or if he was a pretender. He has continued to be impressive and this could make him a hot trade target.Fanrag Sports' Jon Heyman reports "Ervin Santana will be available even if he isn't quite available yet. He even quotes one rival as saying, "You can make an offer. They're hoping to cash in on his start." Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal said, "The ask for Santana figures to be quite high -- a stunning development for a pitcher who was suspended 80 games after testing positive for PEDs in 2015." Reasons To Trade The new regime has yet to have a signature move. There were plenty of steam regarding a Brian Dozier trade this off-season but nothing materialized. Trading Santana at the peak of his value could be a move that impacts this organization for years to come. A team trading for Santana would have to include quite the package of prospects and this could result in an overhaul of the Twins minor league system. Another reason to sell high on Santana is that he isn't a typical ace. Santana's career numbers back-up his non-ace status. It's not unprecedented for a pitcher to have a great season and then regress back to their previous performance level. Boston fans have seen this with last year's Cy Young winner Rick Porcello. He put together a Cy Young winning campaign in 2016 but his 2017 season has been rough. Santana's value will never be higher. If Minnesota wants to build for the future, trading Santana is the right move. Reasons Not To Trade The Twins always need pitching and it's been nice to have Santana as the anchor to the Twins rotation. Other players have filtered in and out this year but he has been the one constant. He also has a very team friendly contract. He is signed for next year at $13.5 million and there is also a $14 million team option for 2019 which would vest depending on innings pitched in 2017-18. These totals seems cheap in a baseball world where large money is tossed around Santana has also been one of the best pitchers in the American League this season. He has a chance to make his second All-Star team while being near the top of the AL in WHIP, ERA, hits/9, compete games and shutouts. Minnesota could sneak into the playoffs and Santana needs to be part of this roster for that dream to become a reality. As the Twins young core continues to develop, it would be nice to have a veteran pitcher at the front of the rotation. Santana can continue to provide veteran leadership while the team tries to stay in the playoff fight. To trade or not to trade, that is the question. Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

I feel like some one should make a Vote Wright and Vote Greene poster and bumper stickers

This is one of the things that makes the MLB Draft so much different from the NFL Draft. With the mix of college and high school players, there is a lot of projection

I keep wondering if Gordon is lining himself up for a September call-up

Even though we don't have the same data as the Twins, it's easy for fans to find out that he has struggled to keep his velocity up into the late innings. It would have been nice for him to concentrate on being a pitcher or a hitter and not doing both.

Seems "blah." I feel like even with his two-way ability, he won't be more than a back-end starter or long reliever. His bat has been good this year but previous years he wasn't anything exciting at the plate.

Will fans be upset if they take McKay?

It's interesting to consider how much someone's stock can change in one spring. Many fans would have be fine with him being the first pick earlier in the year. He will certainly be a high pick but I think he has shown enough flaws that it's the right (or Wright) move to pass on him.