Jeremy Nygaard

We'll lead tonight's report off with some injury news. Kernels RP Tyler Jones was placed on the D.L. with a strained flexor tendon. (If you're curious to know exactly what that means, I looked it up and, knowing I'm not a doctor, am more confused than I was before.) Taking Jones's place in the bullpen is Alexander Muren, who played for the GCL Twins last summer after being drafted out of CS-Northridge. Also heading to the disabled list is Miracle INF/OF Adam Bryant. Bryant, activated before Sunday's game, lasted all of three at-bats (total, not his own) before separating his shoulder in the outfield and leaving the game. Replacing Bryant from across the street is Aderling Mejia. Mejia was a post-season GCL All-Star last year and made a few appearances for the Miracle after his season was over. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0, TOLEDO MUD HENS 1 Box Score It's a little bit harder to win a game with zero runs than it is to lose a game giving up only one. Unfortunately for the Red Wings, they were on the zero side of tonight's game. Andrew Albers pitched a solid 6.1 shutout innings, striking out three. He turned it over to rehabbing Tim Wood, who, taking the loss, gave up three hits, two walks and the only run. Wood's recent performance is going to make it hard to crack the Twins bullpen which will ultimately lead to his exposure on the waiver wire. Caleb Thielbar took care of the two runners he inherited by getting out of the eighth. The Mud Hens didn't need to bat in the ninth. On a night when there wasn't much to speak of offensively, Chris Colabello had two hits (batting .339). Joe Benson's hitting streak is over. Clete Thomas, the next "solution" in center field struck out three times. P.J. Walters (3-2, 3.82) pitches tomorrow at Toledo at 6:30 ET. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 11, NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS 6 Box Score The Rock Cats got their second straight win to make it back to .500 for the season. The Rock Cats had 13 hits, led by Josmil Pinto's three (including a double and three-run home run) and Danny Santana's two extra base hits (double and triple). Reynaldo Rodriguez added a home run in an exciting ninth inning. Logan Darnell had a rough outing, but made it through 5.2 innings and 93 pitches. He gave up five runs, though two of those were runners he left to A.J. Achter. Achter ended up getting credited with the win. Jose Gonzalez pitched a scoreless eighth. Michael Tonkin gave up an unearned run in the ninth. B.J. Hermsen (0-2, 4.91) looks for his first win tomorrow. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 7, TAMPA YANKEES 0 Box Score The pitching star of tonight - and really of the young season - is former Arkansas Razorback D.J. Baxendale. He improved his record to 5-0 and struck out a career-high 10 batters. Not to temper expectations, but Baseball America's John Manuel said this in a chat over the winter: (photo courtesy of Bryan - begreen90 - on Flickr) Personally, I don't know how long you can leave him in Fort Myers, but New Britain's rotation isn't exactly in need of help. I would expect though, when there is a need, Baxendale would be first in line. Adrian Salcedo, adjusting nicely to his role in the bullpen, struck out three in two innings. Fort Myers scored all seven of their runs in the first four innings. The lineup scattered nine hits, including doubles by Mejia, Eddie Rosario, Matt Koch, Angel Morales and Jonathan Murphy. The offensive start by Koch has been especially encouraging. In one of my first posts here I said the following about Koch, "Matt Koch hit the ball more squarely than any other Snapper this weekend. He only played Saturday, but the crack of the bat on the ball makes you look up if you're not paying attention." Hey Matt, we're paying attention! Jason Wheeler (2-0, 5.46) pitches tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 12, SOUTH BEND SILVER HAWKS 4 Box Score The Kernels won their 21st game tonight by scoring four runs in each of the 1st, 5th and 9th inning. Adam Walker hit another grand slam and added a double to amass 5 RBI. He now has 32 on the season. Not to be outdone, D.J. Hicks and Jorge Polanco each added their 25th RBI, which is tied for 3rd in the MWL. Travis Harrison added his 5th home run, his 3rd since hitting his game-winning "grand single" only eight games ago. Byron Buxton got a hit and a walk, extending his "on-base" streak to "forever". He's batting .373. If Buxton is still in Cedar Rapids on Memorial Day, I might just have to take a road trip. (Shhh... don't tell my wife.) Buxton leads the MWL in OPS and is leading Rock Shoulders by 101 points. Rock Shoulders isn't second, but nobody has ever beaten Rock Shoulders by 101 in anything. Before I forget, the Kernels had two pitchers pitch tonight. Matt Tomshaw went five innings and picked up the win, giving up four runs on ten hits. Manuel Soliman picked up the four-inning save. He didn't allow any hits, but did walk three. He also struck out four. That's all for tonight. If you have questions or comments, please leave them. You are also welcome to talk about Rock Shoulders or Brian Dozier's hair.

At some point, while researching for a previous draft, I came across a Baseball America podcast where they were discussing their “personal cheeseballs”. At first I was a little confused, but quickly came to realize that these “cheeseballs” were their favorites. In fact, to qualify to be a “personal cheeseball” you have to fit into only two categories: one – be a favorite; two – don’t be too good. For example, [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]one of the BA guys (I think it was Callis, but I could be wrong) really liked Massachusetts prep outfielder Rhett Wiseman. Why I remember that one, I don’t know. Wiseman was ranked #136 in their pre-draft 500, had a solid commitment to Vanderbilt and ended up attending there after being drafted by the Cubs in the 25th round (764th overall). Obviously the “don’t be too good” is a rule only because it would be really easy to look back at a draft and say, “I knew Bryce Harper was going to be a stud, that’s why he was my personal cheeseball.” Not exactly living on the edge. I thought this year was as good as any to publicize my own personal cheeseballs. Today’s edition will focus on three hitters, none of which are ranked in Jon Mayo’s Top 75 draft prospects or appear in Keith Law’s future 50 (plus 10). Stephen Alemais, SS, Elev/8 Sports Institute (FL) BRYAN PACE FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Alemais first caught my attention after reading about a showcase in the northeast two summers ago. It was something simple like “slick-fielding shortstop that could stick there professionally”. Given the Twins lack of success drafting shortstops and, really, the lack of Americans who man the position in the MLB, I think Alemais caught my eye because he’d be spending the rest of his high school career (and college or professionaly) in an “underdog” role. Are you asking yourself why a Florida kid was participating in a Northeast Showcase? If you are, good. This is where the story takes a turn. After trying to check his progress this spring, I noticed that Alemais was no longer listed with his prep team, All Hallows High School located in the Bronx. It was then that I found out that he had transferred from All Hallows to the Elev/8 Sports Institute in Delray Beach, Florida. Alemais, who committed to Tulane University last April, injured his shoulder in a playoff game last summer (which led to labrum surgery) and decided that it would be in his best interest to move to a place where he could play against better competition, not have to worry about the weather, and prove that he was back to good health. Luis Alicea, a 13-year big league veteran, is the Executive Director at Elev/8. Alicea expects big things from Alemais telling the New York Daily News a couple weeks ago that “he’s a very talented kid.” He added, “You look at him in a uniform and he has a little resemblance to a Derek Jeter, when you see his body. Athletically he’s very gifted. He’s very fast; he has quick hands. It’s like the game comes easy to him sometimes. He’s got a huge future ahead of him.” He’s currently the 42nd ranked draft prospect in the state of Florida according to Perfect Game. Alemais is strong academically, so dropping too far may force him to Tulane, but you’ve got to believe that uprooting and moving to Florida was done to improve his draft stock. The Twins typically try to add a middle infielder in the first 10 rounds. (Last year, they waited until Round 16 when they drafted Kentucky prepster SS Will Hurt.) I would hope the Twins would consider Alemais somewhere between rounds five and ten. Brian Navarreto, C, Arlington County Day (FL) HS Navarreto makes an appearance on MLB’s Top 100 draft prospects, but its in the back half. All the way down at number 89. Navarreto hasn’t gotten the hype of two other prep catchers in Florida, Chris Okey and Zack Collins, but is an interesting prospect in his own right. Navarreto is a pretty big dude (6’3, 220), but surprisingly athletic and, though raw, has all the stuff including agility and above-average arm strength to stay behind the plate. His big right-handed swing still has a ways to go, but, overall, Navarreto is a high-ceilling prospect. He’s also still somewhat unknown. Navarreto followed the path of Javier Baez, who also attended Arlington County Day, in that he is a Puero Rican native who came to Florida later in his prep days. Though he really just came onto the scene last summer, he’s already committed to South Carolina. Navarreto was in the news over a month ago when his team was involved in a bench-clearing altercation with Norman North (OK) High School. While the cause of the fight alledgedly was the result of racial overtones, Navarreto was a central figure when he punched an oppoent in the face after a play at the plate. (You can read the story and see some video here.) The Twins drafted a similar-type player, Jorge Fernandez, last year in the 7th round. Navarreto is a higher-regarded prospect and could possibly come off of the board in the third or fourth round. Justin Williams, OF, Terrebonne (LA) HS Easily the most well-known of my three “cheeseballs”, Williams also appears late in the Top 100 (at #88). Williams sometimes gets first-round mention, but appears to be a sandwich round pick at best and probably someone that fits into the second round. This isn’t really through a fault of his own, though. Williams’s prep team wasn’t very good (10-18 on the year) and the typical strategy opposing teams employed was to simply not pitch to Williams. So while teams didn’t get to see Wiliams, who won’t turn 18 until August, a lot in game action, they did get to see him in BP where he routinely put on a show. His power-potential ceiling is probably on par with Adam Walker’s, though Williams bats from the left side. Williams evokes a lot of comparisons to Jason Heyward for both the physical resemblence (Williams is a chiseled 6’3, 215) and also his defensive question marks as a prep. Heyward was a first baseman in high school and scouts doubted he could be an outfielder. (Heyward won the Gold Glove last year, at age 22. Whoops.) Williams played shortstop for his high-school team. So along with not getting to see him bat in game situations, scouts didn't get to see him play defense in game situations at his likely home – a corner outfield position. If any scouts were overly impressed by his glove, they could give him a shot at 3B before moving him to the outfield. Williams’ profile really fits the way the Rangers have drafted recently, but the Twins also went out looking for power last year and there might not be a prep prospect with more power potential. Oh, and I drafted Williams for my dynasty keeper league in March of 2012, so there’s that too. Who are some hitters that you consider your "Personal Cheeseballs"?