Cody Christie

This series called "Waiting With the Wings" will profile AAA Red Wings players who are on the brink of a callup and the journey each of them has taken. The first profile in the "Waitin' With the Wings" series was left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers and he had a terrific MLB debut this week. Now it's time to look at a position player and a bat that could be asked to make an impact. Name: Josmil Pinto Born: 3/31/1989 (24 years old) Acquired: Signed as a non-drafted free agent (2006) HT: 5'11"---WT: 210 2013 Stat Line: .311/.410/.480, 14 HR, 25 2B, 70 RBI, 61 R Pinto had been considered a solid prospect before this season but his run through the Eastern League and the International League has him moving up the Twins top prospect rankings. The 24-year-old catcher has been with the organization since he was 17 and he has worked all the way from the Venezuelan Summer League to the Triple-A level. One thing has been clear through all of the levels: he can hit. Out of all of the levels from which Pinto has been promoted, the Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues provided the most challenge. In over 220 plate appearances during his time in the VESL, he had to work to hit .251/.336/.344 with 11 extra-base hits. These struggles would continue in the DOSL as his batting line dipped to .193/.327/.269 over 171 at-bats. The Twins were looking for more out of Pinto and they hoped he would be able to find his swing when he started playing in the States. The next two seasons were fantastic for Pinto in the rookie leagues. He hit for average (.329 BA) and power (.541 SLG and 13 extra-base hits) with the GCL Twins, but this was only the beginning of what was to come. In 2009, he moved up to Elizabethton and really found his power stroke. He knocked 13 home runs and 14 doubles in a little over 200 plate appearances. By the end of the season, Pinto was hitting .332/.387/.610. Things were moving in the right direction and now it was time to tackle a full season schedule. Pinto spent parts of the next two seasons in the Midwest League with the Beloit Snappers. There can be some adjustment to a full slate of games on the schedule and it took some time for Pinto to feel comfortable. He batted .227/.293/.383 with 11 home runs and 24 doubles over 109 games. The Florida State League was next and this can be a tough league for hitters to find success. Pinto continued to make adjustments and he hit .282/.340/.440 with 53 extra-base hits in 570 plate appearances at High-A. The time was right to move to the upper levels of the Twins farm system. At the end of the 2012 season, Pinto got a brief taste of life at the Double-A level. He found success almost immediately and this could have helped his breakout year in 2013. New Britain was very good for Pinto as he had a batting average over .300 for the first time since rookie ball. Even with the higher batting average, he was still able to hit for consistent power. His .896 OPS was the highest for him at any full season league and he hit 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 505 at-bats. It was a great run through the Eastern League and so he was promoted to Rochester. So far, Pinto has been limited in his time at AAA. He has played in six games since being promoted and he has 23 plate appearances. It is a very small sample size but Pinto is hitting .364/.391/.455 with two doubles. He has yet to hit a home run with Rochester but it seems safe to say that won't last too long. Minnesota has used a lot of the players on the 40-man roster at some point this season and Pinto is now only a phone call away. Defense continues to be a work in progress for Pinto. During his time in the minor leagues, he has thrown out potential base stealers 33% of the time. To put that number into perspective, Joe Mauer has a career 33% caught stealing percentage and he has multiple Gold Gloves in his trophy case at home. Since leaving Beloit in 2011, Pinto has allowed 13 passed balls in 165 games behind the plate. He needs to continue to work on his game-calling skills but his offensive threat might be too much to ignore. It helps that Pinto is already on the 40-man roster and Ron Gardenhire loves to have extra catchers on his bench. This could mean a September call-up for the young catcher. Pinto had the option of becoming a minor league free agent at the end of last season but he decided to stay with the Twins organization. For both parties involved, this move seems to be paying off and he could make his big league debut in the coming weeks.

While the Twins finish up their series with the Royals, there could be some reinforcements on the way. Josh Willingham and Darin Mastroianni are both on rehab at the Triple-A level and this could mean both men are back with the big league club in the near future. A healthy Willingham could be a sight for sore eyes to Twins fans. Miguel Sano returned to the line-up of the Rock Cats last night after missing four games with a tight hamstring. He wasted little time making his mark as he fell just a triple shy of the cycle. There were other familiar names and story lines across the farm system.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here are the highlights from Wednesday night's action. Rochester Red Wings 5, Durham Bulls 4 Box Score Rochester continues to find ways to win games at one of the most important parts of their season. The Red Wings scored runs in the second, third and fourth innings and relied on their pitchers to hold the lead. With the win, the Red Wings have won their first ever series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in 16 tries. It was also the team's first season series win over the Bulls since 2008. Josh Willingham and Darin Mastroianni were both on rehab assignment with the Wings. Willingham wasted little time making his presence known as he hit a solo home run in his first plate appearance. Later in the game, the designated hitter drew a walk and finished the night 1-for-3. Mastroianni collected two RBI but he was held hitless before being pulled for a pinch runner in the fourth. (He had hyper-extended his right knee beating out a would-be double play. It doesn't not sound to be very serious.) Logan Darnell earned the victory but he labored to get through five frames. He spread out three earned runs and six hits to keep the Bulls far enough away. Luis Perdomo and AJ Archter pitched the next three innings and limited the Bulls to one run on three hits. Michael Tonkin was lights out in the ninth as he pitched a perfect frame and struck out two for his ninth save. New Britain Rock Cats 3, Akron Aeros 7 Box Score Multiple hit nights from Danny Santana and Eddie Rosario weren't enough to push the Rock Cats to victory. Santana added his seventh triple as part of a 2-for-4 game. Jordan Parraz smacked a 2-run shot for his tenth long ball of the season. After his monster night last night, Miguel Sano went 1-for-3 with a walk. DJ Baxendale started the game on the mound but he found a few struggles along the way. He tossed six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. Along the way, he had four strikeouts and three walks. Matt Hauser didn't do so well in relief of Baxendale. He gave up three runs in his one inning of work. Jose Gonzalez stopped some of the bleeding by giving up no runs over one frame. Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Beloit Snappers 4 Box Score Cedar Rapids sits near the top in their division for the second half but they were visiting the division winners from the first half on Wednesday. The Kernels used a big five run fourth inning to push their lead to 7-0 before the bullpen had to hang on in the end. As part of the Kernels big fourth inning, Niko Goodrum hit a three-run home run. He compiled four RBI and finished the night 2-for-4. Jonathan Murphy helped the offense out of the leadoff spot by going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Joel Licon and Michael Quesada each added a double. Brett Lee had his shortest outing of the season by being pulled after three innings. He didn't give up a run and the Snappers only managed two hits off of him. There might have been some kind of injury or other reason to pull Lee. David Hurlbut was asked to pitch five frames and he didn't do too badly. He gave up one earned run and struck out seven. Madison Boer earned his third save by throwing a perfect ninth inning. Fort Myers Miracle --, Charlotte Stone Crabs -- (Postponed) Weather got in the way of the Miracle trying to end their recent losing streak. The club has lost four of their last five games and they are three games out of first place in the second half standings. Since the Miracle already clinched a playoff spot by winning the division in the first half, their current record isn't as important. Tonight's game will be made up as part of a double header later this month in Port Charlotte. The date and time of this game have yet to be announced. These two teams will continue their series tomorrow night at Hammond Stadium. Elizabethon Twins 3, Johnson City Cardinals 0 Box Score
 The story in this game was all about Hein Robb. He earned his first victory of the season in dramatic fashion. Before today's game, Robb hadn't lasted further than 7.1 innings and he was averaging under 6 innings per start. Robb was terrific by scattering two hits over nine shutout innings. He struck out nine and didn't walk a batter. On the offensive side of the ball, the E-Twins didn't put on a clinic but they scored enough to support Robb's outstanding pitching effort. Mitch Garver and Dereck Rodriguez each went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Tanner Vavra notched his first extra-base hit with a double. Romy Jimenez had multiple hits for the first time in his last ten games. 
GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 2 (10 Innings) Box Score Lester Oliveros continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. He has yet to give up a run in a game and that streak continued today. He tossed two shutout innings on Wednesday by giving up two hits and striking out one batter. Chih-Wei Hu started the game and surrendered one run on one hit over three frames. Jose Abreu earned his third loss of the year by giving up the go-ahead run in extra innings. There wasn't a ton of offense to speak of for the GCL Twins. Four of the team's starters were held hitless. Overall, The team compiled six hits over 10 innings with Jorge Fernandez being the only player with multiple hits. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. Jonatan Hinojosa had an RBI and he finished the day 1-for-4.

Entrenched in the middle of another losing season, it can be tough to look at the Twins roster and find positives. Disappointment abounds, but there is good mixed in with all the bad. Sam Deduno fits here. He was a pleasant surprise for the 2012 Twins team and that still didn't save his spot on the 40-man roster in the offseason. Every MLB team had a chance to claim him and no one took the chance. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Deduno went back into the Twins minor league pool and a successful World Baseball Classic may have given him the confidence he needed to make some adjustments. It has been a new and improved Deduno in 2013. His career walk rate entering this season was 6.1 BB/9; he has cut that number almost in half to 3.3 BB/9 this season. He averaged 1.2 HR/9 by the end of last year and he has reduced that number to 0.5 HR/9. With seven wins to his credit, he already has a career high. Unsurprisingly, decreasing walks and keeping the ball in the park have helped make Deduno a more effective pitcher. One of the things that has helped Deduno most is pitching in the friendly confines of Target Field. So far this season, his ERA at home (2.33) is more than 1.30 runs lower than on the road (3.65) and his 0.963 WHIP at home is outstanding. He has given up one home run at Target Filed compared to three on the road. These numbers are great; we'll jump into them a little deeper. In the past, opponents have put up pretty decent numbers against Deduno. From 2010 to 2012, opposing batters hit .248/.371/.399, which translates to a .770 OPS. This year on the road, the opponent batting average been has worse than that, though the OPS, at .723, is quite better. In eight games this year, the opposition has hit .262/.340/.383 including 14 extra-base hits. When Mr. Deduno has been on the mound at Target Field this year, he's limited the opposing team to a .212/.278/.293 (OPS-.571) batting line. The above numbers have improved for Deduno at Target Field and opponents have also found it more difficult to make hard contact. At home, the opposition has a line drive percentage of 14.4% and that number goes up to 19.1% on the road. He is also getting more ground balls at home, as his ground ball percentage is 64.4% compared to 61.8% on the road. When Deduno is at Target Field, men reach base against him at a lower rate and he is also better at stranding them when they do reach. At home, he has posted an 80.4% left on base percentage. On the road, he has only been able to post a LOB% of 74.9%. Deduno's home numbers would look even better if he hadn't had four HBP. In fact, he hit three men at Target Field in his second start of the season. If those hit bats men are taken out of the equation, Deduno is even more impressive at home. Overall, Deduno has looked greatly improved in front of the hometown crowd but there are plenty of games left in the season. He has started four more games on the road than at home and this difference in sample size could play a role in the numbers described above. Deduno has shown some semblance of being a quality addition to the Twins starting rotation. Not too bad for a guy who no teams wanted to claim when he was made available in the off-season.

For the Minnesota Twins, the last handful of trade deadlines have been mostly uneventful. This seems out of character for a team that has posted one of baseball's worst records the last few seasons. There are different ways for a team to rebuild and the Twins were very active during last offseason by dealing away Denard Span and Ben Revere. Minnesota doesn't necessarily need to now move pieces that will still be with the club in the offseason. That being said, it would make the most sense to say goodbye to Justin Morneau. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] His contract will be expiring at the end of the season and the Twins won't be in contention this year. This would give him a chance to help a contender and the club could go after him in free agency if they felt that was in their best interest. Here is a look back at the moves made during the last three trade deadlines. Even though there haven't been any major moves in the last couple years, there has been an impact on the depth of the organization. There have been ripple effects from dealing away the team's best catching prospect and last year's pair of players has helped the current team, a bit. 2012 Headline: Liriano dealt to White Sox for pair of players The potential was always there with Francisco Liriano but the on-field results were spotty. Since his contract was expiring at the end of the year, it made sense for the Twins to deal him. Many fans thought the Twins should have been able to get more for Liriano. Instead the club got infielder Eduardo Escobar and pitcher Pedro Hernandez. Liriano went 3-2 with the White Sox and he posted a 5.40 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP over 11 starts. According to Baseball Reference, his time in Chicago was good for 0.3 WAR. Escobar has played 69 games over the last two seasons with the Twins. He has hit .217/.268/.303 with three home runs, two doubles and two triples. He got plenty of playing time at the beginning of this year when the Twins were still trying to sort out their middle infield situation. He has been worth 0.3 WAR for the Twins. Hernandez has started seven games and pitched in nine games for Minnesota. He has a 3-1 record with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He has added some depth to the minor league pitching staff but he probably won't have a long-term impact on the big league club, unless it's as a reliever. 2011 Headline: To trade or not to trade, that is the question. There were expiring contracts for Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel but the team still wasn't able to make any moves before the deadline. After a brutal April and May, the Twins posted records above .500 in June and July. This might have given the front office a false sense of hope. Minnesota was only seven games under .500 in the first half of the year. At the end of July, the club had a 50-58 record and they were only seven games out of first place in the AL Central. Unfortunately, the second half of the season turned out to be dreadful. Fans were forced to have faith that the club would climb back into the race. This would never happen and Cuddyer and Kubel left the team in the offseason. There may not have been deals on the table for these corner outfielders and it is hard to know what goes on in the general manager's office. Still, it looked silly to have veteran players with expiring contracts on a club that was headed very close to a 100-loss season. 2010 Headline: Capps acquired for stretch run In one of the most scrutinized deals in Twins history, Matt Capps was acquired from the Washington Nationals for prized catching prospect Wilson Ramos. The Twins were in the middle of another tight division race and the back end of the bullpen might have needed a little boost. Joe Nathan had suffered an elbow injury in spring training and the club had used Jon Rauch as closer for most of the first half. Adding Capps to the mix only strengthened the bullpen and he could have been a key piece if the club had gone on a lengthy run in October. As fans know, this didn't happen but the deal would have looked better with Capps closing out games in the ALDS, ALCS, and even the World Series. The cost for Capps was steep. Ramos was working his way toward the big leagues and he had even had an impressive debut in Minnesota. The Twins already had Joe Mauer entrenched behind the plate so keeping Ramos around wasn't a necessity. Since joining the Nationals, there have been some injury concerns as he played only 25 games last season and a little over 30 games in 2013. He continues to hit for power and he has posted a career .271/.334/.447 batting line in the National League. Ramos hasn't turned into the next Johnny Bench and that might be a good thing for Twins fans.

The non-waiver trade deadline is closing in quickly and it is still tough to know what the Twins will do in the coming hours. Is Justin Morneau's Twins career over? Will Glen Perkins still be the guy at the back end of the bullpen? Can the Twins afford to part with Kevin Correia or Mike Pelfrey? There could be a lot of deals in the next couple days or there could be nothing but the sounds of crickets. During the offseason, the Twins made a lot of noise by dealing two of their starting-quality center fielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere. Minnesota wanted to bolster its pitching depth and shopping their team-controlled outfielders seemed likely to bring back the biggest return. From a drafting and scouting perspective, the Twins were taking a different approach to their pitchers -- less pitch to contact and more strikeouts -- and this deal was supposed to be a step in that direction.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] For those that don't remember, here's a timeline of the events that led to both players being traded. The Nationals had been trying to work out a deal to acquire Span for multiple seasons. His concussion issues in 2011 may have held up a deal. On November 29th, the time was right and he was sent to Washington for former first round pick Alex Meyer. A hard throwing right-handed pitcher, Meyer looked to have the potential of a future top of the rotation starter. Within the next week, Terry Ryan went into Dave St. Peter's office and said there might be a chance to move Ben Revere. The Phillies had been interested in the newly-named starting center fielder for the Twins. It turned out to be a deal the Twins couldn't refuse. Revere headed to Philadelphia and in return Vance Worley and Trevor May headed to Minnesota. Worley was a young pitcher with some big league experience and May was a hard throwing minor league pitcher with some up- side. Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com All MLB teams have played over 100 games, which means the schedule is close to 65% complete. Let's look back at the parties involved in these offseason deals and see what the results have been: Denard Span, CF - Washington Nationals MLB Stat Summary (99 Games): .266/.319/.370, 2 HR, 21 2B, 7 3B, 10 SB, 0.9 WAR Span's career in Washington has not gotten off to a great start. He is a career .282 hitter with a .352 OBP but has struggled to reach those marks this season. The Nationals have even moved him out of the leadoff spot because their team needed some kind of spark. Entering this past weekend, Span had yet to hit a home run in a Nationals uniform. He has now hit long balls in back-to-back games and maybe he can get things going on the offensive side of the ball. Overall, the transition to the National League has been a little rough and the Nats had to have been hoping for more from Span. Ben Revere, CF - Philadelphia Phillies MLB Stat Summary (88 Games): .305/.338/.352, 9 2B, 3 3B, 22 SB, 0.7 WAR Revere is currently on the disabled list after he broke his right foot on a foul ball. This was terrible news for the Phillies since Revere was in the midst of quite the hot streak. Over the previous 15 games before the injury, Revere was hitting .431/.438/.538 with six extra-base hits. He was also in the middle of a 10-game hitting streak. The Phillies were getting some of his best baseball and now he will be on the bench for 6-8 weeks. Vance Worley, RHP - Minnesota Twins/Rochester Red Wings MLB Stat Summary (10 Games): 1-5 record, 7.21 ERA, 48.2 IP, 25 SO, 15 BB, 1.99 WHIP MiLB Stat Summary (9 Games): 6-3 record, 3.88 ERA, 58.0 IP, 34 SO, 17 BB, 1.41 WHIP Worley was supposed to be able to stick in the Twins' rotation for a couple seasons while some of the younger pitching prospects made their way to the big leagues. This hasn't worked out as he struggled mightily with the transition from the National League to the American League. Things have gone better for him in Rochester but this should be expected from someone with over 300 MLB innings. There may be a chance in the second half for Worley to get back to the big leagues but he has been the biggest disappointment of all the trade pieces. Alex Meyer, RHP - New Britain Rock Cats MiLB Stat Summary (11 Games): 3-3 record, 3.69 ERA, 61.0 IP, 73 SO, 27 BB, 1.31 WHIP Meyer was off to a decent start to the year but a shoulder injury ("inflammation") has kept him off the mound since June 1st. The Twins are being extra careful with Meyer since he could be a valuable part of the team's future. In many of the mid-season prospect rankings, Meyer has consistently been in the top-100 for all baseball. A couple weeks ago, it sounded like Meyer was getting close to being back on the mound. The minor league season ends in early September and the Twins are hoping that Meyer will be able to get some more innings under his belt before that time. Trevor May, RHP - New Britain Rock Cats MiLB Stat Summary (20 Games): 6-7 record, 4.07 ERA, 112.2 IP, 113 SO, 50 BB, 1.40 WHIP May has been as advertised from his time in the Phillies organization. There are going to be some strikeouts from this power-throwing right-hander but there are also some control problems. He is averaging 2.5 walks per start and this translates to 4.0 BB/9. That total would match a minor league low for May so he is making strides in the right direction. He has also stayed healthy and on the field and this holds value to the organization. It will be interesting to see how many innings the Twins let May pitch before the end of the year. The last two years he has been around 150 IP.