Steve Lein

I don't really disagree with any of your thoughts, and I understand them in a lot of players cases. But not in Rooker's. He was in the SEC and really, really good against the best that conference had to offer (which included Wright, Lange, Faedo, and Houck just from this draft's first round. I'm sure he's faced Clark Schmidt before too along with a bunch of other guys who will probably go early in the next few drafts). What I don't want to see again, is a case like Adam Brett Walker. A lot of people got so excited about him because he mashed in the Appy and Midwest Leagues. I never understood it because my thought process was "Well yeah, he should have given where he came from." Keith Law even answered such a question from me once in a chat, saying basically "he shouldn't be at that level anyway, so of course he put up those numbers there." (I know he was "young" in comparison, but it doesn't change the competition he had already been playing against). It could be moot though if your process happens, as I think most would hope he's starting at AA next year, so maybe it doesn't matter how he gets there. But I don't want him becoming complacent against competition that is beneath him. I think that is a detriment to players development because what does he learn that he doesn't already know? (he can do a lot of the secondary to games things you mention no matter where he's at)

I really, really, really hope this is not the M-O of the new guys... I absolutely hated that they would send college hitters there. They have already faced better competition.

That's fair and I understand the thought process with it. It just doesn't take it that far for me (yet) and I don't think he'll be disappearing from many other lists yet, either.

This is my biggest concern with him. He makes a ton of awesome catches, we all know that. But his landings...leave a lot to be desired.

Then he went and tore up the Arizona Fall League, too...

I don't disagree. But paying over $1.2MIL to spend $700K extra is nothing to scoff at for a lot of teams.

I'm a really big fan of Rooker... I'd put him in the group you're thinking of along with Enlow. Twins may have had Leach there too. He had a lot of helium going into draft.

I think guys like Bechtold and De La Torre will eat up any of what you're thinking is left. And even though they can go $700K over their pool (I would let them if I was running the team) without losing a pick if they wanted, not everybody does that and I think the Twins are in that group. Only about half of all pools in the draft pool era have been exceeded.

Just spitballing this quick after the draft, but we basically agree: 1. Nick Gordon 2. Royce Lewis 3. Fernando Romero 4. Stephen Gonsalves 5. Alex Kirilloff 6. Wander Javier 7. Tyler Jay 8. Blayne Enlow 9. Lewin Diaz 10. Brent Rooker There's also a lot of talent after those names...

You can see some run on his fastball in those videos as well. He's got an idea of the "sinker" type 2-seamer already, too.

Yeah, probably not a big deal. Fielding as a pitcher I think you end up having to try and rush a lot more plays than anywhere else (relative to the volume you see). I'd want to know more about the actual plays before I made any conclusion (did he have to field a ball down the 3B-line, did he deflect one away from him a little, etc...).

Have to make sure you click the date (ex.: Apr 18) or time (13m) link by the user name of said tweet. Copy the link it then puts in your browser.

Melville was pretty good, but a lot to be desired from Heston and Chapman. But those are the types of guys you find on the waiver wire, so I'm not knocking him for it.

Yikes... That is money for guys you have near certainty will be super stars. They made the right decision.

I've also seen reports that the lower velocity was earlier in the season and he was back up to 90-93 when the weather warmed up.

One edit: Curtiss had 34 K's in those 23 IP before giving up the runs last night Didn't count the two in his first inning.

Who's our favorite for first pick today? I like the injured Stanford kid, Beck, but would guess he's not signable as he likely would go much higher after he comes back, or the injury is more serious than people think. Tanner Burns is going to college, he won't sign...Probably same with McConnell. Plenty of High School talent available, but they probably need to scrounge up around fourth round money to even have a chance at them ($400K+). What about...Schwarz?

Definitely believe they had Enlow higher on their boards than Carlson. Falvey is known for identifying pitching, and I've heard him talk about things like spin rate multiple times when talking about pitchers. Enlow had the highest spin-rate on his curve in the draft, and was largely considered the best breaking ball available as well. Wonder if they see some Kluber-like traits in there. My favorite pick of the day though? Rooker. I find it strange he wasn't more highly regarded and think that was based on past seasons, not this year and the work he's put in. Dude is going to hit.

If you’ve been diligently following the minor league reports this season, you’d know that one of the standouts has consistently been reliever John Curtiss of the Chattanooga Lookouts bullpen. The headline may be a little misleading today however, as it was something he hadn’t done yet this season that was the story on Tuesday. I’ll blame it on the Lookouts going extra innings. Another pitching prospect, fresh off his promotion made the start in that game, and a of couple hitters also had multiple triples on the day. Fort Myers was again rained out and they’ll play a bunch of games in the next two days because of it.To find out what happened to Curtiss, and who the other stars were in Tuesday’s games, read on! TRANSACTIONS In advance of Tuesday’s games, there were a bunch of transactions in the system. Ryan Pressly was recalled to the Twins while Alex Wimmers was optioned to Rochester. After signing his contract yesterday Tim Melville was assigned to the Red Wings and Drew Rucinski was outrighted to AAA. With Dereck Rodriguez officially being promoted to Chattanooga for his start tonight, Randy LeBlanc was assigned back to Fort Myers. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Scranton Wilkes-Barre 9 Box Score After claiming him off waivers from the Dodgers a week ago and making one appearance with the Twins, Chris Heston found himself in Rochester, NY tonight to make the start for the Red Wings. Twins manager Paul Molitor had insinuated earlier in the day that he was in consideration for a start with the Twins this weekend. That probably won’t be the case after this one. The RailRiders pounced on him for four runs in just 2.1 innings. He allowed six hits and two walks, and struck out one. Fellow organization newcomer, Tim Melville, came out of the bullpen to relieve him in the third and allowed one inherited runner to score, but kept it close for the Red Wings to mount a comeback over the next 4.2 innings. Rochester finally got on the board in the sixth inning, cutting the lead to 4-2 thanks to a Niko Goodrum solo home run and a Leonardo Reginatto RBI single. They cut the lead to one in the eighth after John Ryan Murphy reached third on an error out in center field and he scored on an Engelb Vielma groundout. Melville came out to start the eighth inning, but a walk and double to the first two hitters scored one and chased him from the game. Kevin Chapman came in and allowed three of his own runs along with the inherited runner and put the game out of reach at 9-3. Zack Granite was 3-5 with his ninth double out of the leadoff spot to lead the offense. His single to lead off the game extended his month-spanning hitting streak to twelve games. In that stretch he has hit .480/.536/.720 with six doubles, three triples and twelve runs scored, raising his average from .237 to .322. If he qualified, that mark would lead the International League. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Montgomery 8 Box Score Right-hander Dereck Rodriguez made his AA debut in this one, and it’s likely one he’ll want to forget quickly. He was able to finish just two innings as the Biscuits took advantage of four hits and four walks to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Rodriguez was able to strike out the last two hitters he faced, but already at 72 pitches his day was done. The Lookouts scored runs in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a 5-4 lead after his exit. It was a two-run double from LaMonte Wade in the third, an RBI triple from Ryan Walker in the fourth, and Jonathan Rodriguez RBI single in the fifth that put them out front. Alex Muren relieved Rodriguez and went the next three innings. After perfect third and fourth frames, he allowed a solo home run to give Montgomery the lead 5-4 in the fifth. It would stay that way until the eighth inning when Nick Gordon delivered an RBI single to tie it at five. Reliever Nick Anderson got Chattanooga to that point by pitching two scoreless innings after Muren. He allowed one hit and struck out two. Luke Bard came on for the eighth inning and went one-two-three, striking out two. Chattanooga took the lead in the ninth thanks to multiple errors from the Biscuit defense and Bard remained in the game in line for a win. He struck out the first batter, but a single, stolen base, and RBI triple tied the game before he was able to escape with the bases loaded. This brought the game into extra innings. John Curtiss came on for the tenth and did his thing. That means he didn’t allow a run and struck out two. His offense took it from there. In the top of the eleventh, T.J. White led off the inning with a walk, Jose Gonzalez was hit by a pitch, and both scored on Walker’s second triple of the game. Gordon followed with his nineteenth double of the season to make 9-6 in favor of the visiting team. Curtiss remained in the game to shut the door, but something strange happened. He gave up a run. Two of them even! A single and two walks loaded the bases before he got an out, but he was able to coax three ground outs (two of the run-scoring variety) to pick up his second win of the season. He ERA ballooned to…0.75. In his start to the 2017 season, Curtiss went 23 scoreless innings, allowing eleven hits and ten walks, while striking out 32. It couldn’t last forever! Gordon (3-7, R, 2B, 2 RBI, SB), Corcino (2-6, BB), and Walker (4-6, 3 R’s, 2 3B’s, 3 RBI, SB) all tallied multiple hits for the offense. MIRACLE MATTERS Postponed – Rain. After yesterday’s game was postponed into a Tuesday double-header, rains again caused kept the teams from playing. They will now play double-headers on both Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting. Lewis Thorpe and Brady Anderson are two of the probable starters for the regularly scheduled games on those days. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Quad Cities 5 Box Score The Kernels put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in four of nine innings in this one as they took advantage of nearly every opportunity that was presented. A double, error, triple, and sac fly in the second inning led to an early 3-0 lead, but they gave those runs back in the third inning when starter Sean Poppen had a run-scoring throwing error and also surrendered a two-run home run. He ended up finishing 5.2 innings, allowing just those three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four. Hi picked up his fifth win of the season because his offense got those runs right back for him in the top of the fourth. A Ben Rortvedt 2-RBI double was followed by a triple from Travis Blankenhorn that made it 6-3. Cedar Rapids added two more runs in the sixth on an error and Blankenhorn sac fly to make it 8-3, and Jermaine Palacios punctuated the victory with a two-run home run in the ninth for the final tally of ten runs on the game. It was Palacios’ eleventh home run of the season, and fifteenth of his MiLB career (Someone has grown into his man-muscles…). Logan Lombana came on in relief of Poppen in the sixth inning and would also finish the seventh. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk. Hector Lujan came on with one out and the bases loaded in the eighth and escaped the jam with limited damage. He also picked up his fifth save, finishing the game by striking out three in the ninth around a single. Four of his five outs were K’s. As a team the Kernels were 5-11 with runners in scoring position, and left only six men on base for the game. Blankenhorn had two triples and two RBI while Mitchell Kranson (2-5, R, 2B), Brandon Lopez (3-5, 2 R’s), and Rortvedt (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, 2 RBI) also had multiple hits to lead the barrage. Aaron Whitefield also drew three walks, scored two runs and had an RBI in the rare 0-0 night at the plate. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Hector Lujan, Cedar Rapids Kernels (S, 1.2 IP, H, 4 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Ryan Walker, Chattanooga Lookouts (4-6, 3 R’s, 2 3B’s, 3 RBI, SB) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton Wilkes-Barre (5:35PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (3-4, 3.44 ERA) Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves Charlotte @ Fort Myers, Game 1 (4:30PM CST) – LHP Lewis Thorpe (0-2, 1.38 ERA) Charlotte @ Fort Myers, Game 2 (TBD) - RHP Brady Anderson Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30PM CST) – LHP Domenick Carlini (3-5, 5.05 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

Guessing he was the guy that didn't make their board...

Almost. Buy taking Leach early and Enlow in the third, if they don't sign Enlow, they lose a lot less money from their pool. It was a dollar mitigation move, that's it.

Sweet. I feel better already today.

Sweet. I feel better already today.