Steve Lein

He's probably a guy the Twins don't really know what they have with yet. I mean, his AA numbers are otherworldly, but he hadn't had the same type of success at AAA until last night. But this type of thing gets you noticed, no matter who you are. And look at this damn breaking ball:

In the minors on Tuesday there were a few shortstop prospects who collected hits in bunches, including a near-cycle, but they couldn’t quite match the effort of a starter called up to AAA earlier in the day. He did something not many pitchers could say they’ve done over the first three innings, along with setting a career high for K’s on the game. Bad weather in Florida also wreaked havoc on the Miracle’s attempt at a mid-week series.To find out who made the headlines on 2-1 night in the system on Tuesday, read on. TRANSACTIONS Nik Turley was assigned again to Rochester on Tuesday, made the start for the Red Wings and made more than a statement to stay in AAA for good this time, and maybe even a call-up to the Twins. To make roomon the roster, right-handed pitcher Ryan Eades was swapped back to AA. RED WINGS REPORT Scranton Wilkes-Barre 1, Rochester 8 Box Score The Red Wings offense exploded for multiple runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings in this one to put the RailRiders away. But the story wasn’t that late offensive explosion to secure the victory. The story was starter Nik Turley whose name has appeared quite frequently in these reports this season, but even he hadn’t done something like this. What you ask? How about recording his first ten outs of the game via the strikeout. He did punch out fourteen in a seven inning start for Chattanooga on April 25th, but would eclipse that number in six innings in this one, with fifteen K’s total. He did allow four hits (including two doubles) and two walks on the game, but whenever any trouble materialized he simply shrugged it off and overpowered the next hitter(s). Mitch Garver started that scoring for Rochester with his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot in the sixth. Zack Granite added an RBI single in the three-run seventh inning that also included three errors, and John Ryan Murphy added an RBI double in the two-run eighth to account for most of that late offense. Granite finished 3-5 with two runs scored. Out of the bullpen, Drew Rucinski pitched two perfect innings including one strikeout, while Michael Tonkin allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the ninth to close out the game. He also struck out one. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 4, Chattanooga 2 (14 innings) Box Score The Lookouts were taken into extra innings in this one, as the pitching staffs of both teams limited the chances throughout. Matt Tracy made the start for Chattanooga and went the first six innings. He gave up a two-run home run in the fourth that made the score 2-1 in favor of the Generals, but that was it. He allowed five hits and two walks along with five strikeouts on the game. Chattanooga scored single runs in the third and fifth innings thanks to the bat of Nick Gordon, who brought in the run with a single in both frames. The Lookouts left the bases loaded in that fifth inning, and with the game tied the bullpens took over. Todd Van Steensel, Luke Bard and Mason Melotakis all pitched two scoreless frames for the home team, extending into the extra frames. Van Steensel was perfect in the seventh and eighth. Bard allowed two hits but struck out three in the ninth and tenth. Melotakis walked one and struck out three in the next two innings. Jackson’s bullpen pitched nine scoreless innings, combining to allow just five hits and four walks, while striking out fourteen to keep Chattanooga from walking this one off. Nick Anderson came on in the thirteenth frame and kept the game tied, but ran into trouble that spelled doom for the Lookouts in the fourteenth. Three singles, a walk, and a sac fly plated two runs for 4-2 Jackson lead. Ryan Walker led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and Gordon reached base as the tying run with an infield single before an out was recorded, but a double-play ball and ground out shut the door on the extended game. Gordon (4-6, 2 RBI, BB), Edgar Corcino (3-7), and Walker (2-5, R, 2B, BB) accounted for nine of the Lookouts eleven hits on the game. The rest of the team was 2-33 with twelve of their sixteen total strikeouts. They were just 2-14 with runners in scoring position and left thirteen men on base. MIRACLE MATTERS Cancelled – Rain. After their game was postponed due to rain yesterday, the weather persisted in Palm Beach and both games today were cancelled. Per a press release from the Miracle, the games will not be made up. Lewis Thorpe had started the game yesterday and his team was down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth due to a couple of unearned runs when it was postponed. No stats from that game will count. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 2 Box Score Cedar Rapids notched runs in four of the first five innings in this one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead that would be more than enough offense for their pitching staff. Lewin Diaz put them up 1-0 with an RBI double in the first inning, keeping his name at the top of the leaderboard for extra-base hits on the season with twenty-eight (21 2B, 3B, 7 HR). They scored two in the third thanks to an RBI triple from Jermaine Palacios and an RBI single from Jaylin Davis. In the fourth, after his first double of the season and advancing to third on a fielder's choice, Hank Morrison raced home on a wild pitch before Palacios clubbed his eighth home run to make it 5-0. The LumberKings were held scoreless through the sixth inning thanks to the effort of Kernels starter Tyler Wells. In the high quality start, he allowed just two singles to the opposing offense while striking out seven. Of his 83 pitches, 56 went for strikes including eight swing-and-misses. He struck out the side in the fifth inning. He lowered his ERA to 2.05 on the season along with picking up his third win. The Kernels tacked on two more runs in the eighth thanks to a Caleb Hamilton double, and he scored on a wild pitch. In relief of Wells, Max Cordy allowed a run on a walk that was followed by an RBI double in the seventh, but struck out two in his inning. Colton Davis pitched a scoreless eight, striking out one. Patrick McGuff came on to finish the game, and gave up a run on a walk and a hit for the final score of 7-2. Palacios finished a double short of the cycle with a 3-5 night and scored three runs in addition to his two RBI. Davis was the only other player with multiple hits and also drove in two. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Rochester Red Wings (W, 6 IP, 4 H’s, 2 BB’s, 15 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 3 R’s, 3B, HR, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (11:35AM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (3-3, 3.35 ERA) Jackson @ Chattanooga (10:15AM CST) – RHP Felix Jorge (5-1, 3.39 ERA) Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Brady Anderson (2-1, 4.01 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:30PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (4-1, 2.12 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

In the minors on Tuesday there were a few shortstop prospects who collected hits in bunches, including a near-cycle, but they couldn’t quite match the effort of a starter called up to AAA earlier in the day. He did something not many pitchers could say they’ve done over the first three innings, along with setting a career high for K’s on the game. Bad weather in Florida also wreaked havoc on the Miracle’s attempt at a mid-week series. To find out who made the headlines on 2-1 night in the system on Tuesday, read on. TRANSACTIONS Nik Turley was assigned to Rochester on Tuesday and made the start for the Red Wings, and made more than a statement to stay in AAA for good this time, and maybe even a call-up to the Twins. To make the room, right-handed pitcher Ryan Eades was swapped back to AA. RED WINGS REPORT Scranton Wilkes-Barre 1, Rochester 8 Box Score The Red Wings offense exploded for multiple runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings in this one to put the RailRiders away. But the story wasn’t that late offensive explosion to secure the victory. The story was starter Nik Turley whose name has appeared quite frequently in these reports this season, but even he hadn’t done something like this. What you ask? How about record his first ten outs of the game via the strikeout. He did punch out fourteen in a seven inning start for Chattanooga on April 25th, but would eclipse that number in six innings in this one, with fifteen K’s total. He did allow four hits (including two doubles) and two walks on the game, but whenever any trouble materialized he simply shrugged it off and overpowered the next hitter(s). Mitch Garver started that scoring for Rochester with his fourth home run of the season, a three run shot in the sixth. Zack Granite added an RBI single in the three-run seventh inning that also included three errors, and John Ryan Murphy added an RBI double in the two-run eighth to account for most of that late offense. Granite finished 3-5 with two runs scored. Out of the bullpen, Drew Rucinski pitched two perfect innings including one strikeout, while Michael Tonkin allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the ninth to close out the game. He also struck out one. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 4, Chattanooga 2 (14 innings) Box Score The Lookouts were taken into extra innings in this one, as the pitching staffs of both teams limited the chances throughout. Matt Tracy made the start for Chattanooga, and went the first six innings. He gave up a two-run home run in the fourth that made the score 2-1 in favor of the Generals, but that was it. He allowed five hits and two walks along with five strikeouts on the game. Chattanooga scored single runs in the third and fifth innings thanks to the bat of Nick Gordon, who brought in the run with a single in both frames. The Lookouts would leave the bases loaded in that fifth inning, and with the game tied the bullpens took over. Todd Van Steensel, Luke Bard, and Mason Melotakis all pitched two scoreless frames for the home team, extending into the extra frames. Van Steensel was perfect in the seventh and eighth. Bard allowed two hits but struck out three in the ninth and tenth. Melotakis walked one and struck out three in the next two innings. Jackson’s bullpen pitched nine scoreless innings, combining to allow just five hits and four walks, while striking out fourteen to keep Chattanooga from walking this one off. Nick Anderson came on in the thirteenth frame and kept the game tied, but ran into trouble that spelled doom for the Lookouts in the fourteenth. Three singles, a walk, and a sac fly plated two runs for 4-2 Jackson lead. Ryan walker led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and Gordon reached base as the tying run with an infield single before an out was recorded, but a double-play ball and ground out shut the door on the extended game. Gordon (4-6, 2 RBI, BB), Edgar Corcino (3-7), and Walker (2-5, R, 2B, BB) accounted for nine of the Lookouts eleven hits on the game. The rest of the team was 2-33 with twelve of their sixteen total strikeouts. They were just 2-14 with runners in scoring position and left thirteen men on base. MIRACLE MATTERS Cancelled – Rain. After their game was postponed due to rain yesterday, the weather persisted in Palm Beach and both games today were cancelled. Per a press release from the Miracle, the games will not be made up. Lewis Thorpe had started the game yesterday and his team was down 2-0 when it was postponed in the bottom of the fourth due to a couple of unearned runs, but no stats from that game will count. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Clinton 2 Box Score Cedar Rapids notched runs in four of the first five inning in this one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead that would be more than enough offense for their pitching staff. Lewin Diaz put them up 1-0 with an RBI double in the first inning, keeping his name at the top of the leaderboard for extra-base hits on the season with twenty-eight (21 2B, 3B, 7 HR). They scored two in the third thanks to an RBI triple from Jermaine Palacios and an RBI single from Jaylin Davis. After his first double of the season in the fourth, Hank Morrison raced home on wild pitch before Palacios clubbed his eighth home run in the fifth to make it 5-0. The LumberKings were held scoreless through the sixth inning thanks to the effort of Kernels starter Tyler Wells. In the high quality start, he allowed just two singles to the opposing offense while striking out seven. Of his 83 pitches, 56 went for strikes including eight swing-and-misses and striking out the side in the fifth inning. He lowered his ERA to 2.05 on the season along with picking up his third win. The Kernels tacked on two more runs in the eighth thanks to a Caleb Hamilton double, and he would later score on a wild pitch. In relief of Wells, Max Cordy allowed a run on a walk that was followed by an RBI double in the seventh, but struck out two in his inning. Colton Davis pitched a scoreless eight, striking out one. Patrick McGuff came on to finish the game, and gave up a run on a walk and a hit for the final score of 7-2. Palacios finished a double short of the cycle with a 3-5 night and scored three runs in addition to his two RBI. Davis was the only other player with multiple hits and also drove in two. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Rochester Red Wings (W, 6 IP, 4 H’s, 2 BB’s, 15 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 3 R’s, 3B, HR, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (11:35AM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (3-3, 3.35 ERA) Jackson @ Chattanooga (10:15AM CST) – RHP Felix Jorge (5-1, 3.39 ERA) Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Brady Anderson (2-1, 4.01 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:30PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (4-1, 2.12 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

Me too. A lot more, actually.

You find spots for hitters. I'm not worried about that.

In the first set, all those guys had multiple 60/70 pitches. They may not be as "wow" factor as them at this point, but Wright has plus stuff overall as well with his mix. He's going to throw four pitches, all with plus potential. Greene has the 70 fastball, Mckay has a plus curve. They have potential (MLB) average to above average everything else between them at this point. Wright is getting above average grades on all of his pitches, not just one or two. Fastball is plus velocity (mid-90's). As for the second trio, and some people may scoff at this, but Wright is probably more comparable to them. The key difference though, is Wright is not Appel, Hochevar, or Burlington... He will forge his own path. If you want the best graded (potential) stuff overall for the draft at this point though, it's Mackenzie Gore (or Baz).

I'm in the Rooker camp at 35/37 if he lasts that long (strikes me as the type someone could cut a deal with early). Don't know enough about those prep pitchers to gauge them there, but if Wright is it at 1:1, I like one (just one) of those types there. If that's the case though, I hope they have the speculated deal with Baz in place

He threw 140 innings last season. It would have been hard for him to hit any innings limit even if he hadn't started the season on the DL. I don't think this is an issue to worry about with him.

On 5/25, I would assume the Miracle did not score their run until they were down 2-0 already. Thus, there was never a situation where Thorpe was taken off the hook for being behind while on the mound.

I don't think he's top 10, but I would expect he's moved ahead of J.P. Crawford at this point as far as shortstops go, who was coming into the season.

Gordon is a Monster! Goodrum though, had a nine-game hitting streak after game 1 of their double-hitter on Tuesday, I wrote about it then. He didn't have a hit in the night cap, so he's only at a 2 game streak now He's been very impressive lately, however!

Been saying it everywhere: Gordon's bat has been underrated. Hopefully it won't be anymore after this season. He was my preseason pick for Hitter of the Year, and he would have been #1 for me coming into the season. Great to see Gonsalves having success right away after returning. Romero has been turning it on too. The reinforcements are coming, the Twins just need to weather their 50 games in 50 days storm enough for them to matter later this summer!

Also gives them another option who can throw multiple innings when needed.

I don't know, he's reminding me a lot of Denard Span as a hitter. I'd like that on this Twins club eventually. Probably not much value in a trade for him at this point, though. He wouldn't be someone a team would target as their top return, anyway.

Like a lot of what Lewis brings, but I don't think he's a shortstop. That's why he's probably #5 or 6 on my board right now (Wright, Gore, Mckay, Greene, Lewis/Bukauskas), instead of higher.

The Rochester Red Wings played a double-header on Tuesday, and they along with the major league team had a lot of roster movement leading into it. A top pitching prospect twirled his best start of the season and got a ton of offensive support in a win, while a few other games had very little offense for the good guys.Keep reading to check out a more than full slate of action in the minors on Tuesday! TRANSACTIONS There were a bunch of transactions between the Twins and Rochester in anticipation of their games on Tuesday. Minnesota recalled Buddy Boshers while Drew Rucinski was optioned and Adam Wilk was outrighted to AAA. Daniel Palka went on the disabled list with a fractured index finger and Engelb Vielma was placed on the temporary inactive list. Pitchers Ryan Eades and Kam Mickolio were assigned to the Red Wings to be available for their double-header. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Rochester 6, Durham 1 (7 innings) Box Score In the regularly scheduled game the Red Wings jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings thanks to an RBI groundout in the second from Tommy Field and a two-run home run in the third off the bat of Niko Goodrum. Kennys Vargas led off the second with a walk and moved to third on a Byungho Park double that allowed him to score. Zack Granite was on first after a single before Goodrum’s blast. Making the start and his AAA debut for Rochester, was Ryan Eades. He was pretty good, going the first five innings and allowing just one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five. The run he allowed came in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out double. Rochester added to their lead in the sixth as doubles from Park, John Ryan Murphy and Leonardo Reginatto contributed to three insurance runs. Murphy’s drove in two, while Reginatto’s brought in the third. Trevor Hildenberger pitched two perfect innings of relief to seal the victory, striking out three along the way. Goodrum and Park were 2-4 on the game to lead the offense. Goodrum’s home run was his fifth on the year and he ended game one with a nine-game hitting streak. Game 2 (makeup of 5/25 PPD): Durham 4, Rochester 0 (7 innings) Box Score In the makeup of their postponement on May 25th in Rochester, the Red Wings took the field as the home team for the nightcap. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to talk about in the loss. As a team they managed just two hits and two walks, with J.B. Shuck’s double in the fifth inning being their biggest hit. D.J. Baxendale made the start in a bullpen game, and he made it through 2.2 innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out one. Kevin Chapman went the next three innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three. Newcomer Kam Mickolio made his AAA debut for the Twins organization and pitched the final 1.1 innings. He allowed a hit, a walk and struck out one. Niko Goodrum’s hitting streak came to an end in this one, but over his last ten games he has hit .384 with seven runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 11, Birmingham 0 Box Score The Lookouts jumped out to an early lead and would never look back, as starter Fernando Romero delivered his best start of the season. An RBI double from Travis Harrison gave them the lead 1-0 after one inning, and an RBI single from Nick Gordon made it 2-0 after two. Romero was in control from the get go, finishing six innings and allowing just two hits and two walks. He racked up seven strikeouts, including three of the swinging variety for a true mow-em-down inning in the fifth. He threw 98 pitches, with 64 going for strikes to pick up his fourth win of the year. Chattanooga went on to batter the Barons’ bullpen, adding a single run in the fifth, three in the sixth, and five in the ninth to reach their final blowout tally of eleven. Gordon (2-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI), Ryan Strausborger (3-4, 3 R’s, 2B, RBI), Wade (2-5, R, 2 RBI), Harrison (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI) and Levi Michael (2-5, 2 R’s, SB) had multiple hit nights. Ryan Walker added a double and RBI to the effort while also walking three times. Todd Van Steensel was brought in for the seventh inning and pitched two scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and two walks, but also got two strikeouts. Tyler Jay was summoned to finish the game in the ninth, his second appearance since being activated. He walked the leadoff man but picked up two K’s around a groundout to close it out. The Lookouts improve to 29-22 on the season and end the night in second place in the Southern League North Division. MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton 8, Fort Myers 4 Box score Lachlan Wells took the mound for the Miracle in this one, and the Marauders pounced in the first inning due in part to a couple of errors. Shortstop Sean Miller and Wells each had a throwing error that put runners on second and third and the Florida State League’s home run leader, Logan Hill, added to his total with his fourteenth of the season to make it 3-0. The Miracle got those back and more in the bottom of the second as Miller led off the inning with a single, Alex Perez drew a walk and Tanner English brought them both home with his first triple of the season. He scored on a Nelson Molina single, and Molina later scored on a single off the bat of Bradley Strong to put the home team up 4-3. Wells made it through the fourth inning, but not before another home run put his team back behind 5-4. He allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and a walk in his outing. He struck out just one. The Fort Myers bullpen surrendered single runs in each of the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to put the game out of reach. Anthony McIver allowed one run on three hits in two innings while striking out one. Alex Muren allowed one run while striking out three in the seventh. Williams Ramirez worked around a walk and another Miller error in the eighth to pitch a scoreless frame. Cam Booser had trouble with his control and walked five in the ninth but managed to allow just one run as after the first walk the next batter lined into a double play. Michael Theofanopoulos got the final out to finish the game. English’s triple was the team’s only extra-base hit, and Strong stole his fifth base. They did go 3-5 with runners in scoring position as a team, but with just six hits and one walk on the game they didn’t generate enough chances. KERNELS NUGGETS Quad Cities 8, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score Eighteen hitters went down in order before the Kernels finally ended River Bandits’ starter Carlos Sanabria’s perfect game bid in the seventh inning. They would chase him later in the frame, but it was too little too late by then. Quad Cities took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a two-out rally against Cedar Rapids Starter Eduardo Del Rosario. A double was followed by a walk and run-scoring single to start the game’s scoring. Del Rosario made it into the fifth inning before getting chased after a two-out single to make the score 6-0 in favor of the visiting team. Ryan Mason came on for his second appearance of the season and allowed an inherited runner to score before getting the final out of the frame. In the sixth Mason allowed two more runs after two singles and a double led off the inning. The Kernels finally got to Sanabria in the seventh when Arial Montesino led off the inning with a double and was followed by a Jermaine Palacios home run, his seventh of the year. Lewin Diaz would also doubled in the inning but was left stranded. Zack Tillery came out of the bullpen for the seventh inning and worked around two walks with a couple of strikeouts for a scoreless inning. He also pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two more. Max Cordy pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing a single and striking out one. Cedar Rapids was outhit 16-3 on the game and left just two men on base. They fall to 29-23 on the season. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Fernando Romero, Chattanooga Lookouts (W, 6 IP, 2 H’s, 2 BB’s, 7 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Ryan Strausborger, Chattanooga Lookouts (3-4, 3 R’s, 2B, RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Durham (6:05PM CST) – RHP Yohan Pino (0-0, -.-- ERA) Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30PM CST) – RHP Brady Anderson (2-0, 3.45 ERA) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Tyler Wells Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

Neshek was a guy who really developed, I think. His numbers got better as he moved up the ladder and improved his repertoire. He got big movement in every direction out of his arm-slot that was already hard to deal with by the time he reached the majors. Hildenberger isn't quite as big of a sidewinder, and he also throws something from a more normal overhand slot (which might give that pitch away). I'm not sure Hildenberger has any pitches on Neshek's (prime) level at this point (besides a straight fastball I'd guess, neither are/were flamethrowers), but it's very hard to argue with the results.

Jason Wheeler and Aaron Slegers should be on this list too. They're not lighting the world on fire right now overall, but are near the top of the pecking order in SP depth.

If back-end of the rotation woes continue, he likely could get a chance. Otherwise, I think September is your best bet.

Only three of the Twins four full-season affiliates were in action on Tuesday, as the Chattanooga Lookouts enjoyed a much needed day off. They also got some good news for their already stalwart bullpen, as a top prospect was activated from the disabled list. A much talked about name in the offseason made an appearance in AAA, but Rochester’s starter made the bigger story. A couple of hitters also continued impressive showings in the last week with home runs.To find out who did what in the minor leagues on Tuesday night, read on! TRANSACTIONS There was a notable move in AA today even though the Lookouts didn’t play, as Todd Van Steensel and 2016 first-rounder Tyler Jay were activated. Randy LeBlanc was assigned back to Fort Myers to help make room. Also, Cam Booser was added to the Ft. Myers roster off of the DL. Van Steensel was dealing with a groin strain, while Jay has yet to pitch this year with tendinitis in his pitching arm. RED WINGS REPORT Durham 0, Rochester 4 Box Score The story of the game in this one for Twins fans may have been the fact it was Jose De Leon making the start for the Durham Bulls. Yep, that De Leon. He had missed all of April with an arm injury, and this was his third start of the season. The Red Wings got to him in the second inning for all the runs they would end up needing, as Jason Wheeler outdueled the top prospect. Singles from Byungho Park and Matt Hague led off the second inning, and they both scored on a double from J.B. Shuck. Engelb Vilema and Zach Granite added an RBI double and an RBI single, respectively, to cap the scoring. De Leon went just four innings, allowing eight hits and a walk. Wheeler pitched seven shutout frames in opposition, allowing just five hits while striking out nine. Durham did not send more than four hitters to the plate in any inning while Wheeler was on the mound, and didn’t cause trouble until he came out for the eighth inning. A lead-off single followed by a double put runners on second and third, leading to Trevor Hildenberger being called in from the bullpen. He got the first man to line into a double play, and then induced a pop-out in foul territory to snuff out the threat. He closed out the game in the ninth for his third save on the season, allowing just a two-out single. JB Shuck had two doubles and Engelb Vielma had two hits, including a double, to lead the rest of the offense. It was Vielma’s first double since moving up to AAA. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Scheduled day off. The Lookouts enjoyed an off day after a brutal stretch that was made worse by some early rain. They played 20 games in 20 days and went 12-8 over that stretch. They were 11-3 before the rigors caught up with them and they lost five in a row at the tail end before getting a needed victory yesterday. They are 24-21 on the season, and in fourth place in the Southern League North Division, though less than two games back of first. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Dunedin 3 Box score Aussie left-hander Lachlan Wells was on the mound for the Miracle, and it was opposing major leaguers who made his day worse than it actually was. In five innings, he allowed three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four. Two of the three runs came courtesy of a Josh Donaldson RBI single in the second, and a Troy Tulowitzki solo-home run in the fifth. Fort Myers got back in the game in the sixth, scoring their only two runs of the game on a Zander Wiel home run, his sixth of the season. It was also his third in the last four nights. He was the only hitter in the Miracle lineup with multiple hits, adding a single to lead off the ninth as the game-tying run. He reached second base after a Tulowitzki throwing error, but a bunt attempt resulted in him being forced out at third. A liner to center field off the bat of Rafael Valera ended up turning into a double play, as the potential game-tying runner was doubled off second to end the game. The bullpen tandem of Cameron Booser (2IP, 2 BB) and Sam Clay (IP, H, BB, K) got them to that point, combining for three innings of scoreless baseball. It was Booser’s first appearance of the season, and he set the Blue Jays down one-two-three in his first inning. Daniel Kihle added a double for the offense, which went just 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base for the game. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 7, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score Clinton got the jump on Cedar Rapids starter Domenick Carlini in the top of the first, as the lead-off man led off the game with a home run for an early 1-0 lead. They would extend that lead to 7-1 as they tacked on two runs in each of Carlini’s final three innings. He did make it through five innings, allowing the seven runs on eleven hits and a walk. He struck out two. Zach Tillery and Max Cordy each pitched two innings of relief and each struck out two LumberKings. Tillery allowed one hit in his two frames, Cordy went one-two-three in each. The Kernels got their lone run of the game in the fourth inning, as Jaylin Davis launched his tenth home run of the season. He leads the Midwest League in that category after his recent binge (six HR’s in seven days) and is hitting .375 in his last ten games. He finished this one 2-4. Caleb Hamilton added two hits and a walk to the effort, and Travis Blankenhorn added a double. The lineup was just 1-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving ten on base. At 26-19, the Kernels lead the Midwest League Western Division, a half-game in front of rival Kane County. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler, Rochester Red Wings (W, 7 IP, 5 H’s, 9 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel, Fort Myers Miracle (2-3, HR, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Durham @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers (4-3, 3.83 ERA) Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (2-5, 4.73 ERA) Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30PM CST) – RHP Brady Anderson (2-0, 3.42 ERA) Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (12:05PM CST) – RHP Clark Beeker (5-2, 2.76 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! Click here to view the article

24 runs is almost 40?! Haha Look at Davis! He's carrying a big stick lately! Oh wait, he wasn't the hitter of the day?! Extremely pumped for Thorpe to be back on the mound.

Buxton hit over .500 his Sr. year, scored nearly 2 runs per game. There was a lot to love about his HS batting line, even if his competition level was low. And I am by no means judging Greene solely on his stat line, but... combine the non-"wow" factor of it with the description from BA cited above that includes the terms/phrases "flashes," "projections," "doesn't have as many reps with his offspeed," "flashes feel," "projecting," "predict" in the span of 7 sentences describing his repertoire, and...I have a lot of reservations. Seems like there are a lot of things that need improvement and to go right for him, including the fact he doesn't have a good secondary offering at this point.