Steve Lein

And just as recently as last year he was going to be called up already. Then his shoulder flared up. He's seen plenty more than 16 innings.

Pretty sure he won't be worse than what they have going on right now. Plus he'll bring the velocity and K potential that they severely lack. It's a no-brainer to me at this point.

Nope, 3-year starter. You're probably thinking of Tyler Duffey.

Baseball America's chat last week also had this mention from J.J. Cooper on an Adam Brett Walker question: "Dave Martyn (Vernon BC): Hello JJ, how far away is Adam Brett Walker from Minny? Does his power transfer to the majors? How big of an issue are his K's? J.J. Cooper: Love the power and yes, he can hit them out of any ball park, but he’s not ready and he’s not all that close. The strikeouts are a big issue. We’ve seen that the threshold of strikeout rate where a player can still be a productive big league player is higher than it used to be, but that involves strikeouts and walks. Right now Walker has gobs of strikeouts but he doesn’t walk. The power’s great, but I believe he needs a good bit of refinement before it’s playable big league power."

Yup!

That conversation still isn't started unless Buxton, Sano, or Berrios' name is included. No thanks.

The GCL game was not listed on the MiLB scoreboard page when I wrote this last night. Even if it was, I'm certain they would not have listed a probable starter, just like they currently do not for tomorrow: http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?cid=&lid=&org=142&sc=&sid=milb&t=affiliate&ymd=20150623 Believe me, it'd be there if it was on that page or at any of the other locations I search for the starters!

Eddie has definitely shown he belongs so far. Still things to improve upon, but lots of praise for him doing the little things!

Happy Father’s Day across Twins Territory!!! While Jake Arrieta was taking it to the Minnesota Twins lineup and Anthony Rizzo continued to bash their pitchers on Sunday afternoon, three of the four full-season league affiliates were in action in the minors. Image courtesy of Craig Gordon Happy Father’s Day across Twins Territory!!! While Jake Arrieta was taking it to the Minnesota Twins lineup and Anthony Rizzo continued to bash their pitchers on Sunday afternoon, three of the four full-season league affiliates were in action in the minors. The organization went 2-2 on the day. In the minors a come-from behind victory was sparked by a pair of bash-brothers in a single inning, and there were several standout bullpen performances. Read on to find out about all the action on Sunday afternoon! RED WINGS REPORT Louisville 3, Rochester 2 Box Score The Red Wings managed to score first and last in this contest, but were still handed a loss as Louisville put a crooked number on the scoreboard in an inning, while the Wings did not. In the first inning Danny Santana led off the game for Rochester with a double and after being moved to third on a groundout he trotted home to score the game’s first run on a Danny Ortiz single and 1-0 lead. It would remain that way until the third inning, when Red Wings starter Pat Dean gave up a solo home run to number eight hitter Ryan Lamarre to tie the game at one. Dean had retired the first seven hitters of the game to that point. He ran into further trouble in the fourth inning as the middle of the lineup for Louisville came through with some more power. Number three hitter Hernan Iribarren singled to start the inning, and trotted home on a two-run home run from cleanup man Josh Satin, making the score 3-1. Dean faced the minimum over the next nine outs before walking two around a strikeout to begin the top of the seventh. He was relieved by Alex Meyer who escaped the inning with no damage after two fly-outs. In the bottom of the seventh inning, it was again Santana providing a spark for Rochester. His third triple in 12 games with the Red Wings allowed him to score on a sac fly to left field from James Beresford, moving the score to 3-2. Meyer pitched a scoreless eighth inning, picking up two strikeouts along the way, to keep the game within striking distance for Rochester. Caleb Thielbar retired the side one-two-three in the ninth, bringing up the home team for their final at-bat. Eric Farris singled with one out, then was erased on an Eric Fryer fielder’s choice. Fryer moved to second on a balk, placing the tying run in scoring position for the games star to that point, Danny Santana. Unfortunately, this at-bat ended in a groundout to second base instead of an extra-base hit, and Rochester fell 3-2. Santana (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B, 3B) and Oswaldo Arcia (2-4) were the only hitters in the lineup with multiple hits and Reynaldo Rodriguez added a triple to lead the offense. Dean managed a quality start, allowing the three runs on five hits and two walks in 6.1 innings, striking out five. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jacksonville 5, Chattanooga 6 Box Score The Lookouts found themselves down 5-1 after the top-half of the sixth-inning, but the powerful bats in their lineup refused to let them stay there. D.J. Baxendale made the start and pitched the first three frames in his first start returning from shoulder discomfort. He allowed zero runs on one hit and two walks, while striking out three. Tim Shibuya came on for the fourth inning, and promptly allowed a solo home run to the first batter he faced, the rehabbing Michael Morse of the Miami Marlins, to tie the game at one. It didn’t get much better for Shibuya, as he allowed two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to put the Lookouts in a 5-1 hole. Brandon Peterson came on in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on third, but picked up a strikeout to end the frame. This is when the big boppers in the Chattanooga lineup came out to play. Mike Gonzalez led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and Adam Brett Walker made the score 5-3 with his Southern League-leading 19th home run of the year. Singles from Jairo Rodriguez and Levi Micheal around a Stephen Wickens fly out and a Niko Goodrum strikeout would bring Miguel Sano to the plate. His 13th home run of the season put the Lookouts out front 6-5 and they never looked back. Peterson picked up four more strikeouts and did not allow a single base runner in the seventh and eighth innings, before yielding the save opportunity to J.T. Chargois. He walked one but retired the three other hitters to pick up his fifth save in eight appearances with the Lookouts. His ERA stands at 2.08 for the season and 1.17 with Chattanooga. Assisting Sano (1-3, 2 R’s, HR, BB, 3 RBI) and Walker (1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI) with multiple hits in the comeback victory were Michael (2-4, R, BB, SB), and Rodriguez (2-4, R). Max Kepler was 0-2 but reached base via walk twice and stole his eleventh base from the cleanup spot in the lineup (behind Sano). The Lookouts finish the first half of the Southern League season atop the North Division standings, and tied with the Biloxi Shuckers of the South Division with 43-25 records. The 43-25 mark is the Lookouts best first half record in the history of their home park, AT&T Field. MIRACLE MATTERS The Miracle enjoyed a day off on Sunday afternoon, and host the Palm Beach Cardinals for a three game series starting tomorrow at 6:05 PM CST at the Century Link Sports Complex and Hammond Stadium. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 2 Box Score Cedar Rapids jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Brett Doe led off the frame with an infield single and moved into scoring position when T.J. White was hit by a pitch. He scored on a Rafael Valera single. Kernels starter Jared Wilson gave the run back in the bottom half when a two-out single brought home Joseph DeCarlo, who had doubled. Cedar Rapids responded by adding two runs in each of the third and fifth innings. Max Murphy was the catalyst in both of those innings. In the third, he slugged his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to make the score 3-1. In the fifth, his double put runners on second and third. A balk scored Alex Real and moved Murphy up to third, before a pick off attempt caught Pat Kelly between first and second base with two-outs. Kelly was savvy enough to make the LumberKings attempt multiple throws in a rundown, and Murphy was able to scamper home before they tagged out Kelly to end the inning. Randy LeBlanc was the first pitcher in relief of Wilson, and he went three scoreless innings to improve his record to 5-0. He allowed just two hits and struck out two. These three scoreless innings improved his ongoing scoreless streak to 26 innings, tying him with Trevor Hildenberger for the team’s longest streak of the year and lowered his ERA to 1.52. Lefty Cameron Booser came on for the eighth inning and allowed one run on a sac fly after a walk and two singles, but struck out the last two hitters he faced to escape with limited damage. Hildenberger then came on for the ninth and recorded his eighth save by striking out the side. His ERA rests at 0.51 on the season and has not been above 1.00 since April 23rd. The Kernels got multiple hits from Real (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B), Murphy (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Valera (2-3, BB, RBI) to lead the offense. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Peterson, Chattanooga Lookouts (W, 2.1 IP, 5 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano, Chattanooga Lookouts (1-3, 2 R’s, GW 3-Run HR, 3 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Tyler Duffey (1-4, 4.15 ERA) Chattanooga – Scheduled Day Off. Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) – TBD Cedar Rapids – MWL All-Star Break. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games. View full article

Happy Father’s Day across Twins Territory!!! While Jake Arrieta was taking it to the Minnesota Twins lineup and Anthony Rizzo continued to bash their pitchers on Sunday Afternoon, three of the four full-season league affiliates were in action in the minors. The organization went 2-2 on the day, but in the minors a come-from behind victory was sparked by a pair of bash-brothers in a single inning, and there were several standout bullpen performances. Read on to find out about all the action on Sunday afternoon! RED WINGS REPORT Louisville 3, Rochester 2 Box Score The Red Wings managed to score first and last in this contest, but were still handed a loss as Louisville put a crooked number on the scoreboard in an inning, while they did not. In the first inning Danny Santana led off the game for Rochester with a double, and after being moved to third on a ground out, trotted home to score the game’s first run on a Danny Ortiz single and 1-0 lead. It would remain that way until the third inning, when Red Wings starter Pat Dean gave up a solo home run to number eight-hitter Ryan Lamarre to tie the game at one. Dean had retired the first seven hitters of the game to that point. He ran into further trouble in the fourth inning as the middle of the lineup for Louisville came through with some more power. Number three-hitter Hernan Iribarren singled to start the inning, and trotted home on a two-run home run from cleanup man Josh Satin, making the score 3-1. Dean would face the minimum over the next nine outs before walking two around a strikeout to begin the top of the seventh. He was relieved by Alex Meyer who escaped the inning with zero damage after two fly-outs. In the bottom of the seventh inning, it was again Santana providing a spark for Rochester. His third triple in 12 games with the Red Wings allowed him to score on a sac-fly to left field from James Beresford, closing the score to 3-2. Meyer would pitch a scoreless eighth inning, picking up two strikeouts along the way, to keep the game in striking distance for Rochester. Caleb Thielbar retired the side one-two-three in the ninth, bringing up the home team for their final at-bat. Eric Farris singled with one out, then was erased on a Eric Fryer fielder’s choice, before Fryer moved to second on a balk, placing the tying run in scoring position for the games star to that point, Danny Santana. Unfortunately, this at-bat ended in a ground out to second base instead of an extra-base hit, and Rochester fell 3-2. Santana (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B, 3B) and Oswaldo Arcia (2-4) were the only hitters in the lineup with multiple hits, and Reynaldo Rodriguez added a triple to lead the offense. Dean managed a quality start, allowing the three runs on five hits and two walks in 6.1 innings, striking out five. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jacksonville 5, Chattanooga 6 Box Score The Lookouts found themselves down 5-1 after the top-half of the sixth-inning, but the powerful bats in their lineup refused to let them stay there. D.J. Baxendale made the start, and pitched the first three frames in his first start returning from shoulder discomfort. He allowed zero runs on one hit and two walks, while striking out three. Tim Shibuya came on for the fourth inning, and promptly allowed a solo home run to the first batter he faced, the rehabbing Michael Morse of the Miami Marlins, to tie the game at one. It didn’t get much better for Shibuya, as he would allow two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to put the Lookouts in a 5-1 hole. Brandon Peterson game on in the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on third, but picked up a strikeout to end the frame. This is when the big-boppers in the Chattanooga lineup came out to play. Mike Gonzalez led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and Adam Brett Walker made the score 5-3 with his Southern League Leading 19th home run of the year. Singles from Jairo Rodriguez and Levi Micheal around a Stephen Wickens fly out and Niko Goodrum K would bring Miguel Sano to the plate. His 13th home run of the season would put the Lookouts out front 6-5 and they never looked back. Peterson would pick up four more strikeouts and not allow a single baserunner in the seventh and eighth innings, before yielding the save opportunity to J.T. Chargois. He walked one but retired the three other hitters to pick up his fifth save in eight appearances with the Lookouts. His ERA stands at 2.08 for the season, and 1.17 with Chattanooga. Assisting Sano (1-3, 2 R’s, HR, BB, 3 RBI) and Walker (1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI) with multiple hits in the comeback victory were Michael (2-4, R, BB, SB), and Rodriguez (2-4, R). Max Kepler was 0-2 but reached base via walk twice and stole his eleventh base from the cleanup spot in the lineup (behind Sano). The Lookouts finish the first half of the Southern League season atop the North Division standings, and tied with the Biloxi Shuckers of the South Division with 43-25 records. The 43-25 mark is the Lookouts best first half record in the history of their home park, AT&T Field. MIRACLE MATTERS The Miracle enjoyed a day off on Sunday afternoon, and host the Palm Beach Cardinals for a three game series starting tomorrow at 6:05 PM CST at the Century Link Sports Complex and Hammond Stadium. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Clinton 2 Box Score Cedar Rapids jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Brett Doe led off the frame with an infield single and moved into scoring position when T.J. White was hit by a pitch. He would score on a Rafael Valera single. Kernels starter Jared Wilson gave the run back in the bottom half when a two-out single brought home Joseph DeCarlo, who had doubled. Cedar Rapids responded by adding two runs in each of the third and fifth innings. Max Murphy was the catalyst in both those innings. In the third, he slugged his fourth home run of the season, a two run shot to make the score 3-1, and in the fifth his double put runners on second and third. A balk would score Alex Real and move him up to third, before a pickoff attempt caught Pat Kelly between first and second base with two-outs. Kelly was savvy enough to make the Lumberkings attempt multiple throws in a rundown, and Murphy was able to scamper home before they tagged-out Kelly to end the inning. Randy LeBlanc was the first pitcher in relief of Wilson, and he went three scoreless innings to improve his record to 5-0. He allowed just two hits and struck out two. These three scoreless innings improved his ongoing scoreless streak to 26 innings, tying him with Trevor Hildenberger for the team’s longest streak of the year and lowered his ERA to 1.52. Lefty Cameron Booser came on for the eighth inning and allowed one run on a sac fly after a walk and two singles, but struck out the last two hitters he faced to escape with limited damage. Hildenberger then came on for the ninth and recorded his eighth save by striking out the side. His ERA rests at 0.51 on the season and has not been above 1.00 since April 23rd. The Kernels got multiple hits from Real (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B), Murphy (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Valera (2-3, BB, RBI) to lead the offense. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Peterson, Chattanooga Lookouts (W, 2.1 IP, 5 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano, Chattanooga Lookouts (1-3, 2 R’s, GW 3-Run HR, 3 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Pawtucket (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Tyler Duffey (1-4, 4.15 ERA) Chattanooga – Scheduled Day Off. Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) – TBD Cedar Rapids – MWL All-Star Break. Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Sunday’s games.

That's a good question... Walker is not a particularly good outfielder, and hasn't been playing 1B (was described as "stiff" there going into his draft). Kepler is the better option to me at both spots defensively. So if that's the conundrum, I think it's Max in the OF.

Kepler was still .305/.361/.491 the day Buxton was promoted with a .283/.351/.489. I might concede a wash, haha!

The exact reasons you guys are proposing to keep Arcia, are the exact reasons I would trade him. Young, has power. That's valuable. Maybe not as much right now with the struggles, but he's shown that value. That's why you trade him. He could get you something useful back. We complain so much around here about them trading "low" on guys, so why are you so opposed to them attempting to trade "high" now?! I've never thought Arcia was a good fit for this team from a depth chart perspective (he's not an OF, and too many DH's). Love the youth, enthusiasm, and power. But it's been three years now and he hasn't developed into the type of hitter his minor league career suggests (.310 career MiLB hitter), only the power remains. I'd cash him in on something the Twins need in a heartbeat and wouldn't care how it turns out for him on another team. There's plenty of options to step up on the Twins and provide the power he takes with him elsewhere.

A bit surprised Kepler has only climbed to #9, but I've always been higher on him then most. He's outplayed everybody on that talented Lookouts roster, and that included Buxton while he was there. Love Max, but he's likely a guy to go to AAA first instead of straight to the majors, I think. September seems logical for him this year, but who knows what else might happen.

If Kepler isn't #1, or very close, on BA's Hot Sheet today, I will be extremely disappointed!

What I find interesting is a lot of pitchers, before going pro, are or were also great or decent hitters in their amateur careers. It's the nature of their "elite athlete" status. Why when they turn pro, especially for an NL team, that this aspect of the game kind of gets thrown away for them, is weird to me. A local pitching product, Brad Hand of the Miami Marlins, was a stud hitter in high school too. He broke a friend of mine's single season HR record for them. But through his development with them is now only a career .074 hitter as a major leaguer. I feel like Carlos Zambrano like production could happen for a lot more pitchers than it does if they kept that as more of a part of the development process than they do.

I've mentioned this experience several times here before as well, but Max did more for my overall opinion of his baseball talents than any other prospect of the Twins has that I've watched with my own eyes in person. At Spring Training in 2012, he was playing with the Snappers roster that included Sano, Vargas, and Rosario. Kepler was the best player on the diamond throughout my time there, and it wasn't even close. Think he was something like 7 or 8 for 11 with 3 doubles, some walks, and a bunch of RBI in the three full games of theirs I took in. His outs were even loud as everything off his bat was a line drive (check out this double I recorded from then, for instance). I was astonished that he didn't play with the Snappers at all that season, but he did crush the Appalachian League.

Hah. Yes he wasn't drafted. But that's a common/reflex way to refer to when a player joins an organization. Doug Mientkeiwicz even uses those exact words in this article talking about Max. Sorry! I wish I could find all the obscure articles I've read talking about it, but that remark comes from Max himself. He was always the biggest guy on his teams and essentially the slugger, so he got plugged at 1B. We don't disagree though, so I don't know what your issue is.

Burdi had been well on his way to normalizing his numbers this season since the last update, appearing in 3 more games and 4 more innings of scoreless baseball. In a two-inning appearance on 6/10, he struck out four. In those 4 innings total, he struck out 6, and allowed just 1 hit and 2 walks. That lowered his season ERA to 4.28, and it had been 1.76 over his past 9 appearances and 15.1 innings. Then yesterday's game happened. Burdi wasn't able to record an out after entering the game in the 7th inning in relief of starter Brett Lee who had put runners on fist and second base with singles. Burdi was greeted by a double to allow both inherited runners to score, then a sequence of single, walk, single, walk scored two runs and left the bases loaded for Jake Reed. After a strikeout, a grand slam would tack on 3 more runs to Burdi's line for the night. 0 IP, 3 H's, 2 BB, 5 ER's. This bloated his season ERA back up to 5.93. Season Totals (20 games): 3-4, 5.93 ERA, 27.1 IP, 1 Save, 18 ER's on 30 hits and 19 walks, with 31 K's.

You guys know Kepler's "natural position" is 1B, right? q:) He didn't play OF until the Twins drafted him. As mentioned, he's more than athletic enough to do it though, so why wouldn't they develop him at multiple spots? I think he'd take offense to being called a "waste" at his best position.

So much THIS. I hate the pidgeon-holing of positions to be a certain type of hitter. You can get power or whatever else from wherever it shows up in your lineup. You don't need to be, and shouldn't be, cookie-cutter. A team like the Twins can't survive that way. Also, to Kirby's point, you might be very surprised to know how Mauer stacks up against the primary #3 hitters of all teams over the past 4 seasons (and I know he has been very good in those seasons). BUT, a lot of #3 hitters have been, it's the nature of that spot in the lineup. I've wanted Mauer batting second all the time for forever, but unfortunately for the Twins, they haven't really had a guy who fit better at #3 during those years, either. That's not the case this year, however.

What Kwak said also... (Walker is not an outfielder like Arcia is not an outfielder)

Walker is certainly one of the most interesting guys in all of the minors if you ask me. The HR power is certainly legit. That's his issue as well though. That's all he's shown. It's certainly a tool that can carry him, but it's hard to get overly excited about a strict DH.

I think he's already had the "stretching out process" started while working as a reliever. He pitched 3+ innings quite frequently for Illinois this year.