Steve Lein

My personal nitpick of Walker Jenkins' season: He did not hit for power. My observations have been there is a lot more Joe Mauer in him than there is Justin Morneau (I think he takes a lot of swings geared for contact only). I'm not in any way saying that is a bad thing, just telling what I saw. Then I'll put an asterisk on all that by also noting he is still just 19 years old, so this is not in any way a suggestion that such power will never come.

I wish I had an answer for you, but there is no chatter on anything going on with De Andrade I have been able to find. I do hope he is actually there and will get some play time eventually! You and me both. The Twins seem to be changing how they use the AFL, and it is no longer a place they will send top prospects, whether they had at-bats to make up or not. I think E-Rod and Jenkins were both the perfect candidates, even pitchers like Cory Lewis and C.J. Culpepper had cases to make up innings here. It's a disappointing change in approach, for sure if that is the case. It also could be something like they just didn't want to go. And you're thinking of Brandon Winokur. He would have been an interesting choice as well!

The third week of the prospect showcase season is finished out in the Arizona desert, and one of the Minnesota Twins' top hitting prospects keeps rolling. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Kala'i Rosario) Game Results: Tuesday, 10/22 | Scottsdale 8, Salt River 6 Wednesday, 10/23 | Surprise 5, Salt River 6 Thursday, 10/24 | Glendale 9, Salt River 6 Friday, 10/25 | Salt River 7, Glendale 6 Saturday, 10/26 | Salt River 6, Peoria 7 (8 innings) In their five games of the week, the Salt River Rafters finished with a 2-3 record. For the miniature season, they are 8-8 overall. This is good for fourth in the standings, and they sit three games behind the league-leading Surprise Saguaros. The Rafters offense was certainly consistent in their five games, as they scored six runs in four of them, and seven in the other. This mirrored one of the Twins' hitting prospects, who picked up at least one hit in each game and pushed his batting average to over .300 in the process. It was a mixed bag for the pitchers, but overall, their performance continues to be a bright spot for the Rafters out in the desert. OF Kala’i Rosario Week: 6-for-15, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, SB Overall: .326/.389/.500 The slugging outfielder batted third or fourth in the Rafters order in each of his four games on the week, playing two games in left field, one in right, and DH in the other. He picked up a hit in each contest, though they were all singles, and also walked just as many times as he struck out. In Tuesday’s loss to Scottsdale, Rosario drew a leadoff walk in the fourth inning but was left stranded. In the fifth, he struck out with the bases loaded, but a Twins teammate picked him up a little bit afterward. With a runner on third and the Rafters up 6-4 in the sixth, Rosario wasn’t able to get them a needed insurance run, again striking out to end the inning. An encouraging note, however, is that that would be his last punchout of the week. Down 8-6 after a two-run top of the ninth from Scottsdale, Rosario smoked a two-out ground-ball single at 107 MPH to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom half, but it wasn’t meant to be. Rosario played a big role in Wednesday’s win over the Saguaros. Batting third as the DH, he reached base in all four of his plate appearances, taking one for the team with a hit-by-pitch in addition to three singles. With two outs and the game tied at three in the bottom of the fourth, Rosario’s single into center field brought in two runners to give the Rafters a 5-3 lead. He did end up getting caught at second base on a throw home to end the inning, however. In addition to the three hits and two RBI in this one, he also scored two runs. On Friday the Rafters beat the Glendale Desert Dogs 7-6, and while Rosario didn’t factor much into the runs on the scoreboard, he did reach base in two of five trips to the plate. His walk in the third inning moved a runner into scoring position, and one batter later the Rafters went up 2-0. Leading off the top of the ninth inning, Rosario delivered an infield single and later stole third base, but that’s as far as he got before the Rafters held on to win. In Salt River’s final game of the week on Saturday, Rosario again reached base two times, with one of those coming on a fielder’s choice grounder that unfortunately left a runner in no-man's land between third and home. Leading off the seventh with the score tied at 5-5, Rosario laced another grounder that the third baseman couldn’t handle to pick up his sixth single of the week. He moved to third on a double and put the Rafters up 6-5 by scoring on a grounder. This one went to “extra” innings to start the eighth, and the Javelinas won in walkoff fashion in the bottom half. IF Ben Ross Week: 2-for-14, 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K Overall: .182/.345/.295 Ross also appeared in four games on the week, starting at shortstop in three of those contests and center field in the other. He batted in the fifth or sixth spot in the Rafters lineup in each game. In Tuesday’s loss to Scottsdale, he did not get a walk or a hit, but his fielder’s choice gave him an RBI and tied the game as part of a five-run fifth inning. This at-bat came with the bases loaded and followed Rosario's strikeout. He also just missed on one in the seventh, sending a liner 400 feet to center field that was run down at the wall. Playing center field on Wednesday, Ross finished 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. That walk came in the bottom of the first inning and loaded the bases for the Rafters. They would go up 2-0 after the sac fly that followed. He didn’t see much action in center, tallying just one putout and fielding one other hit, but it is a position he is not unfamiliar with, having started there 28 times this season with the Wichita Wind Surge. Back at shortstop on Thursday, Ross picked up a hit and drew a walk in the Rafters' 9-6 loss to Glendale. His hit came in the bottom of the second inning, on a fastball clocked at 99.2 MPH from top pitching prospect Andrew Painter. He returned it to sender, right up the middle at 103 MPH for a line-drive single. His walk came in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with the score 9-0 in favor of Glendale, but a fly ball turned into a double play and they were unable to push a run across. Ross capped his week with his best game on Saturday, scoring two runs and reaching base twice in Salt River’s loss to Peoria. His single in the fourth inning put runners on the corners and before it was over, Ross had crossed the plate for a 3-1 Salt River lead. Leading off the top of the sixth he drew a walk, and two batters later scored again to make 4-2. On defense, Ross also tallied an unassisted double play, snagging a liner and doubling up the runner at second base to end a threat against one of his fellow Twins pitchers. IF Danny De Andrade Week: Did not play. The Venezuelan infielder hit .243/.333/.359 in 29 games with the Cedar Rapids Kernels before injuring his ankle back in May. He spent the rest of the season on the injured list and the hope was he would be able to make up a few at-bats in the Arizona Fall League, but that has yet to happen. RHP Devin Kirby Week: 1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, .158 BAA, 7 BB, 4 K (6 IP) Kirby’s lone appearance came in Thursday’s loss to Glendale with the score 5-0 Desert Dogs in the seventh inning. To say his knuckleball was doing a bit too much knuckling would be a bit of an understatement. He walked the first two hitters of the inning to make some trouble before picking up a strikeout. Then a single, wild pitch, walk, and double put Glendale up by eight. Another run would score on a groundout before he got the type of placement from his knuckler he wanted, getting the third out on a three-pitch strikeout. Twenty-four of his 36 pitches were knuckleballs on the day, and 13 of those went for called balls. RHP Jack Noble Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB (1 appearance) Overall: 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .222 BAA, 4 BB, 6 K (6 IP) Noble’s only appearance of the week was against the Desert Dogs on Friday, in the back half of a home-and-home scheduling quirk. He was the first reliever summoned after three scoreless innings from the Rafters starter. He was credited with a hold, as he delivered a scoreless inning with Salt River up 2-0. He issued a pair of walks but they were in between three fly outs. Of his 22 pitches, just 10 went for strikes. He continues to sit 93 MPH with his fastball, and his breaking stuff is a slush right now, in need of better definition and command to turn the corner. LHP Kade Bragg Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .111 BAA, 4 BB, 4 K (5 IP) Bragg was tasked with the sixth inning in the Rafters' loss to Glendale on Thursday for his single pitching appearance of the week. The score was already 5-0, so all the lefthander wanted to do was keep any more runs off the scoreboard against the middle of the Desert Dogs lineup. He did that much better than any of the other three pitchers to that point, delivering a one-two-three outing and striking out one. The Rafters offense did put up six runs in the eighth inning to make this game interesting late, but it was not enough. Bragg has interesting secondaries, but as a soft-tosser who only scrapes 90 MPH, he'll have to show great command of them. RHP Jacob King Week: 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K (2 appearances) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.46 WHIP, .071 BAA, 1 BB, 3 K (4 1/3 IP) King was the only Twins pitcher to see action in multiple games on the week, being credited with a hold in each appearance for his efforts. On Tuesday against Scottsdale, he came in for the sixth inning with the score 5-4 Salt River. He gave up a one-out walk, but retired everyone else he faced, including striking out top-100 prospect Termarr Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization to end the frame. His second appearance came in Saturday’s loss to Peoria in extra innings. He began the fourth inning with the score 3-1 in favor of Salt River and went one-two-three, with another strikeout to end the inning. Back out for the fifth, he got into a little bit of trouble after a one-out single and an error that led to a run for the Javelinas. He was lifted after that run scored, getting two of the three outs in the frame, but was also given a hold for his efforts as they came out of it with a one-run lead still intact. RHP Liam Rocha Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K Overall: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, .280 BAA, 4 BB, 5 K (6 IP) Rocha was called upon for the third inning of the Rafters' bullpen game against Peoria on Saturday. The game was tied 1-1, and would remain so after he was done. He gave up a leadoff walk, and an error from his defense led to having the bases loaded with just one out, but he got some help from Twins teammate Ben Ross, whose unassisted double play put an end to the threat and the inning. Rocha threw 25 pitches in his outing, with 12 of them going for strikes. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the prospects playing in the AFL this week! View full article

https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-arizona-fall-league-overview-2024?t=arizona-fall-league-coverage

The second week of the Arizona Fall League wasn’t as loud as the first one for Minnesota Twins' hitting prospects, but their pitchers continue to keep the volume from opposing teams down as well. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Kala'i Rosario) Game Results: Tuesday, 10/15 | Salt River 4, Surprise 6 Wednesday, 10/16 | Salt River 1, Scottsdale 3 Thursday, 10/17 | Mesa 5, Salt River 9 Friday, 10/18 | Peoria 4, Salt River 14 Saturday, 10/19 | Salt River 0, Glendale 1 (7 innings) Sundary, 10/20 | Salt River 4, Scottsdale 2 The Salt River Rafters finished the week 3-3, and are now 6-5 overall, one game behind the leader in the Arizona Fall League standings. While there wasn’t as much offense this week for Salt River, there still were some big outputs on the scoreboards. When it comes to Twins prospects, a slugger kept a bit of a hot hand, but there were also solid pitching results. In Minnesota farmhands' 13 innings pitched on the week, they allowed just three earned runs; teams on the circuit are averaging six and a half runs per game. OF Kala’i Rosario Week: 6-for-19, 3 R, 3B, 3 RBI, BB, 8 K (5 games) Overall: .290/.333/.548 Rosario didn’t launch any more home runs in week 2, but he stayed hot to start the week, racking up six hits in his first three games. He was again plugged into the heart of the Salt River lineup, and played right field in three games, while DH-ing in the other two. His first game of the week came on Wednesday, and with his team down 3-0 in the eighth, Rosario delivered a two-out RBI triple to score their lone run of the game. In Thursday’s win over Mesa, Rosario’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first put the Rafters in front 2-1. He added a single in the third inning and drew a walk in the fifth, coming around to score a run later that made it 5-4 Salt River. In the blowout of Peoria on Friday, Rosario finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. His single in the bottom of the sixth drove in a run to make it 9-4 Salt River. He did cool off in his final two games, going 0-for-7 with 3 K’s and putting an end to his modest four-game hitting streak, but still batted a solid .316 in his 20 plate appearances on the week. IF Ben Ross Week: 2-for-15, 2 R, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K (5 games) Overall: .200/.366/.367 Ross wasn’t able to match his output from Week 1, but still got on base at a decent clip in his five games. He played shortstop in four of those and third base in the other, batting primarily in the middle of the Rafters lineup. He was 0-for-7 in his first two games of the week, drawing one walk while striking out twice. He picked up his first hit in Thursday’s win over Mesa, driving in Rosario with the go-ahead run on a single in the fifth inning. On Friday, he finished 0-for-2, but drew a pair of walks and came around to score both times. In Saturday’s 1-0 loss against Glendale (in which both teams had just four hits), Ross was responsible for one of those from the Rafters. His single in the fourth inning moved a runner into scoring position, but they weren’t able to put one on the scoreboard. IF Danny De Andrade Week: Did not play. De Andrade has yet to get on the field for the Salt River Rafters. The infielder hit .243/.333/.359 in 29 games with the Cedar Rapids Kernels before injuring his ankle and spending the rest of the season on the injured list. RHP Devin Kirby Week: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .071 BAA, 4 BB, 2 K (5 IP) The knuckleballer ate three innings in Friday's domination of the Peoria Javelinas. He came out of the bullpen to start the sixth with the score 8-4 Rafters and froze Peoria there. He walked the first batter he faced, as he couldn’t get a knuckler to land in the zone, but induced a double-play ball to erase them. He also gave up his first hit in AFL play, but retired six in a row before his second walk of the outing in the eighth. He faced 11 hitters, and all 38 of his pitches were tracked as knucklers, with 20 of them going for strikes (53%). In reality, once again, there were seven pitches that clearly were either a fastball or a traditional breaking ball from him, but he's stumping Statcast. RHP Jack Noble Week: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K (2 appearances) Overall: 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .267 BAA, 2 BB, 6 K (5 IP) Noble made appearances in Wednesday’s loss to Scottsdale and Saturday’s loss to Glendale, coming in as the first reliever of the game for the Rafters in both contests. Against the Scorpions, this was in the fourth inning, with the game still scoreless. He gave up a leadoff single, but coaxed a double-play ball and struck out the last one to face the minimum. On Saturday, he went multiple innings versus the Desert Dogs, pitching the third and fourth frames. In the third, he gave up a single, but bookended it with strikeouts and they caught the runner stealing so he again faced just three hitters. In the fourth, a two-out walk was all Glendale would get, and he ended this appearance with his third strikeout. LHP Kade Bragg Week: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 2 K (2 appearances, with 1 start) Overall: 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .133 BAA, 4 BB, 3 K (4 IP) The left-hander pitched out of the bullpen in the Rafters first game of the week on Tuesday, then made the start in their last one on Sunday evening. In the game against the Surprise Saguaros early in the week, Bragg was charged with the loss. He allowed a pair of doubles, and his defense committed two errors leading to his three runs allowed. His fastball did touch 94.4 miles per hour, so there's something there with him, but he needs to be around the zone with quality strikes more consistently. In his start against the Scottsdale Scorpions, Bragg delivered a clean first inning, including a pair of strikeouts. Back out for the second after his team had taken a 1-0 lead, he had a bit of trouble finding the strike zone and ended up walking the bases loaded. Fortunately, he got a lineout to keep the Scorpions off the scoreboard. Because of those free passes, Bragg ran up his pitch count to 42 in the outing, with just 20 of them going for strikes (48%). RHP Jacob King Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 0 BB, 1 K (1 2/3 IP) Like in week 1, King was only called upon to make one appearance in the Rafters six games, and it came in their first one on Tuesday. He followed Bragg after Salt River had fallen behind 5-2, pitching a one-two-three sixth inning. He needed just 10 pitches and struck out one against the fifth, sixth, and seventh hitters in the Saguaros lineup. His fastball sat in the low 90s, but it did have decent carry, and his slider has real depth relative to it. A bit too old and too filled-out to project to add velocity, King needs to defy the odds to mature into a big-league arm, but his pitch shapes are intriguing. RHP Liam Rocha Week: 3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, BB, 2 K (2 appearances) Overall: 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, .318 BAA, 2 BB, 5 K (5 IP) Rocha took the mound in Thursday’s win over the Solar Sox, and in Sunday’s win over the Scorpions. Against Mesa, he came on to begin the sixth inning with the Rafters up 5-4, after Ross had driven in Rosario in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff walk and a single put the tying run in scoring position before he was able to get a double-play ball that stunted some of the threat, but still left a runner on third base. He gave up an RBI single to the next hitter and was charged with a blown save before getting out of the inning with a strikeout. Rocha has a very vertical four-pitch mix, with an interesting ability to tunnel those offerings off one another from his three-quarter slot. Once again, the question is whether he can find another few ticks of velocity on a fastball that currently sits just north of 90 miles per hour. On Sunday night, the righty was brought into the game to start the sixth again, this time with his team down by one. He gave up a leadoff single but retired the next three Scorpions, including one strikeout, to keep the Rafters in striking distance. Back out for the seventh, an error forced him to face a few more hitters than he would have liked, but kept Scottsdale off the scoreboard. In the top of the eighth the Rafters went up 4-2, and gave Rocha the win in his ledger. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the prospects playing in the AFL this week! View full article

While the pitching certainly lags behind the hitting in quality (I have stated that in general hitters are Double-A quality, while pitching is Single-A), this statement isn't completely true... Andrew Painter is there this season. Jackson Jobe and Ricky Tiedemann were there last year. Griffin Jax pitched there in 2018. Plenty of "MLB" pitchers still go through there, but you are right, that top end starting prospects really only go there if they need to make up innings.

He and Aaron Sabato tied for the league lead in HR's last year, with 7. But Rosario also took home the Home Run Derby title on the AFL Stars weekend. Twins pitchers were certainly very successful in comparison to the league overall!

The Arizona Fall League kicked off their 2024 campaign this week out in the desert, with Minnesota Twins prospects playing on the roster of the Salt River Rafters. The scores were big across the circuit in the opening week, and two Twins hitters had plenty to do with that. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Kala'i Rosario) Game Results: Tuesday, 10/8 | Scottsdale 9, Salt River 7 Wednesday, 10/9 | Salt River 4, Glendale 2 Thursday, 10/10 | Salt River 6, Mesa 4 Friday, 10/11 | Salt river 10, Surprise 11 (10 innings) Saturday, 10/12 | Surprise 1, Salt River 14 Before getting into how each Minnesota Twins prospect performed in Week 1 of this showcase season, be sure to get to know ‘em by reading Seth’s roster preview. Along with the Twins, the Rafters roster is made up of prospects from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, and New York Yankees. Salt River went 3-2 in the season’s opening week, powered by a prolific offense that outscored their opponents 41-27 in their five games. That being said, you’re likely going to see a bunch of big numbers on the scoreboards of AFL parks this year, as with all those runs, the Rafters didn’t even lead the circuit as a team in any major hitting categories. So buckle up and keep reading to find out how all the Twins prospects fared to open up the 2024 AFL season. OF Kala’i Rosario Week: 3-for-12, 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, SB (3 games) Overall: .250/.333/.750 (1.083 OPS) Rosario got the start in three games on the week, spending the first two in right field and closing out his week with one in left. He batted in the middle of the Rafters lineup and made loud contact worthy of those spots. In Tuesday’s season opener, Rosario wasn’t able to get a hit, but he did drive in one of the Rafters seven runs with a sac fly--and that spare description undersells him. The ball shrieked off Rosario's bat at 112 miles per hour, on a line, but right at the outfielder. On Wednesday, it was Rosario who got the scoring started. Leading off the fifth inning, he launched his first home run of the campaign, giving the Rafters a 1-0 lead; they’d go on to get their first win against Glendale. This one was thumped to the tune of 113 miles per hour, and while it had enough loft to sail 441 feet through the thin Arizona air, it, too, was as much line drive as fly ball. He also drew a walk among his four plate appearances. Moving up to third in the lineup on Friday against Surprise, Rosario flew out and drew a walk in his first two plate appearances as the Rafters fell behind 9-1 early. Once again leading off the fifth inning, Rosario hit his second home run of the season and kicked off the comeback for the Rafters. This was a measly 105 miles per hour off the bat, placing it fifth in the pecking order among the seven balls he hit at least 101 MPH in his first week. The Rafters would score three in that fifth inning, one in the seventh, and five more in the eighth to send the game to extras. In that game-tying eighth frame, Rosario delivered a bases-loaded single to score the first run of the inning (identical in exit velocity to the homer, just on a lower line), and a bunch of walks later, they had it tied at 10. IF Ben Ross Week: 4-for-15, 5 R, 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, SB (4 games) Overall: .267/.429/.600 (1.029 OPS) While Rosario was hitting bombs, Ross was doing everything except hitting balls over the wall. He played shortstop in three of his games, and served as the DH in the other. In the season opener against Scottsdale, Ross finished 1-for-3 with an RBI batting second in the lineup. He was hit by a pitch in the third inning, singled in the seventh, and delivered a sac fly in the ninth for the Rafters seventh and final run of the game. Serving as the DH on Wednesday against the Desert Dogs, Ross had his only quiet game of the week, finishing 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. If I were him, I’m blaming that strictly on not being in the field, as this was the first time Ross has served as a designated hitter in his entire professional career, while he has played every other position except pitcher and catcher. Ross then went off in his final two games of the week, back to playing shortstop and batting fifth in the order. He went 3-for-7 with a double, two triples, three RBI, and a stolen base in the last two games of the week. In Friday’s extra-inning loss to Surprise, Ross led off the second inning with a triple, and scored their first run of the game. On Saturday, his triple in the bottom of the first scored the first two runs of a game they would go on to win 14-1. He also drew two walks, added a double, and scored two runs in that one. IF Danny De Andrade Week: Did not play. The Venezuelan infielder has not yet seen the field in AFL play. If Twins Daily is made aware of any information on why or why not this may be, we will be sure to share! De Andrade is a prospect with plenty of upside, and is thought to be able to stick at shortstop long-term. He injured his ankle back in May, and spent the rest of the season on the injured list, so making up some at-bats in the AFL will be plenty useful when he is able to get back on the field. RHP Devin Kirby Week: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 2 BB, 2 K (2 IP) Kirby made one appearance on the week, and it came in a less-than-ideal situation as part of Friday’s extra-inning loss. After four walks and a pair of singles had pushed the Saguaros lead to 8-1 in the third, the knuckleballer was summoned with the bases loaded and nobody out. He only allowed an additional sacrifice fly, getting out of the inning with an important effort that played a big part in the Rafters being able to come back and send it to extras. He added a scoreless fourth inning, finishing with two walks and two strikeouts. Two other Twins relievers would follow him after his exit. Though all 41 of his pitches were coarsely classified as knuckleballs in the Statcast readouts of the game, Kirby actually threw nine fastballs and one pitch that appeared to be a light experiment in the cutter. Obviously, for Kirby, the headliner is the knuckler. Six of them danced in with spin rates south of 100 RPM during the outing, which is nuts even for a knuckleball. Overall, he got three in-play outs, four whiffs, and two called strikes with the knuckleball--but if you're noticing that that leaves a lot of pitches that had to be either foul balls or balls, you're right. That's in the nature of the knuckler, too. RHP Jack Noble Week: W, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, BB, 2 K (1 appearance) Overall: 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .333 BAA, BB, 2 K (2 IP) Noble was credited with the win in the only game he pitched during the week, getting the fifth and sixth inning of the Rafters' 6-4 win over the Solar Sox on Thursday. He allowed one run after a walk, steal, and a wild pitch that allowed the leadoff man to score in the sixth, but surrendered just one other hit and struck out two to finish his outing. He also induced a double-play ball. LHP Kade Bragg Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, BB, K (1 IP) Bragg was part of a middle-inning run of Twins relievers in Friday’s extra-inning clash with Surprise. He pitched the seventh inning with the score 10-5 Saguaros. He walked the first man he faced in the inning, but got a double-play grounder before closing his outing with a strikeout of Alejandro Osuna, the 16th-ranked prospect in the Texas Rangers organization and younger brother of former MLB closer Roberto Osuna. RHP Jacob King Week: 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 0 BB, 0 K (2/3 IP) King’s lone appearance of the week came in the Rafters' season opener against Scottsdale. He recorded the final two outs of the game for Salt River after entering with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth. It was 9-6 Scorpions at that point, but he got a pop-out and a lineout to end the inning without any further damage to the scoreboard. RHP Liam Rocha Week: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, BB, 3 K (1 appearance) Overall: 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .250 BAA, 1 BB, 3 K (2 IP) Rocha was the middle man between Kirby and Bragg in Friday’s extra-inning affair with Surprise. He pitched the fifth and sixth innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and a walk, while striking out three. He bookended a scoreless fifth with a pair of strikeouts, but was greeted with a leadoff double in the sixth that led to his one earned run allowed. He left the game with the score 10-4 in favor of the Saguaros. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the prospects playing in the AFL this week View full article

If they sell the team for $1.4 BIL dollars, they will have averaged a profit of $34 MIL dollars each year they have owned them...

🤮 I like the suggestion of Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger... maybe Bill Murray would be on board, too 🤣

https://thesandiegosun.com/san-diego-padres-games-will-indeed-air-on-cable-tv-in-2024/ -> I think you are wrong on this part, but either way it's not going to change much when it comes to revenue for the team whether it's 20K or 100K, we can agree on that.

I don't think the Padres are a perfect comparison. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but the Padres did not have the issue of not having a broadcast/cable/satellite/etc... provider that wouldn't have them, because when MLB took them over they kept them intact. So the headroom in their market to add subscribers is/was not the same as what it is going to be here, from my understanding. If they hit 4% of households in just the metro area (which is the consensus for amount of people who subscribe to MLB streaming, across all age groups), that's 60K subscribers. If they hit 4% of all households in Minnesota, that's 90K subscribers. Add in their range shown in the graphic that's been shared with the announcement, and you start approaching 150K subscribers at 4% of households. I don't actually believe it will be that many, but I also think 100K+ isn't out of the question eventually. If we do use the Padres subscriber count as a baseline, they got 40K subs out of 2.13 Million households they added reach to, or about 2% give or take. The Twins are expanding their reach to 3.32 Million more households, so that 2% would give them 60K. Now, neither of these predictions is going to be anything close to revenues they were getting with the sweetheart TV deals of years past, but saying they won't get even 40K subscribers I think is misunderstanding what's been the overall issue, which is availability, here in our market.

Oh, I agree 100%. But we know that's the minimum pricing structure anything will be. It will get more eyes on the games than now, and you are correct, the idea of bringing more "casual" fans has been baseball's problem for quite a while now, and this won't address that.

If you give consumers the two options of: A: $20/month to be able to stream Twins games, or B: $100+/month to have whatever cable package carries Bally's to watch Twins games... I can guarantee you're going to have more people paying for that streaming option than the full cable package when the product in question is only Twins games. The major issue on this is Option A didn't even get put on the table. As Riverbrian has pointed out, Cable TV as a product is rolling it's death saving throws at this point, at disadvantage because of it's user's demographics. Just put it out of it's misery already. Certainly don't blame the consumer base that is rejecting them for obvious reasons like you are here.

Nice. The top 5 matched my voting exactly! Keaschall was awesome while he was around. Eeles was just unreal, and super fun to watch. What Jenkins did as a 19-year old was *chefs kiss*! McCusker is an absolute unit, and Keirsey just was excellent and steady when healthy.

Just stay miles and miles away from SKOR North and we're good.

Christian MacLeod not being included in this list is kind of a travesty 😉 3 levels, 21 games (20 starts), 92 1/3 IP, 4-4, 3.41 ERA, 107 K, 46 BB, 1.30 WHIP

I would guess they're worried Rodriguez will hurt himself again, because he obviously wasn't good enough at any point this year to not injure himself again. So the rest and reset route. I don't think you could find a more ideal time to send a guy like Jenkins. He's not even 20, but already touched double-A. And that's despite missing time, which is another reason for him to go. I kind of expected to be disappointed, but they were both perfect candidates IMO.

Max Kepler went there twice. So did Mitch Garver. Pretty sure I'm missing someone else off the top of my head, too.

To play devil's advocate... Cory Lewis is the perfect amount of AFL starts away from reaching 100 IP on the season. C.J. Culpepper wouldn't even come close to that with 5 or 6 AFL starts. Both of them have already thrown more innings in a season than they will this year. 😉

Payton Eeles. Big thanks to Matt and all of our wonderful MiLB Report writers for another great season. These can take a lot more effort than you might think, and I'll speak for all of us in saying the support is greatly appreciated! This marks the end of year 10 doing them for me! Off the top of my head I don't remember having a season without any playoff games, which makes me sad.