Jeremy Nygaard

I’ve always been a fan of mock drafts and this is my favorite exercise to do. This is my fourth annual attempt, though it’s my first attempt with the new group, led by Derek Falvey and Sean Johnson, in charge. In 2014, I hit on Nick Gordon in the first round (most would have) and landed ninth-round pick Max Murphy in the exact spot he was drafted. Because of that, I will overvalue/overrate Murphy for the rest of his career. Hitting on two of the ten picks was exactly two more correct than I expected to hit on, and I expected some regression the following year.Projecting Dillon Tate first in 2015 was incorrect. And I thought my chances of hitting on anyone was rapidly approaching 0%. But my next two projected picks - Kyle Cody and Trey Cabbage - both heard their names called by the Twins and I had my two picks correct for the second straight year. Last year, my string of two correct ended, but I did get Kirilloff and had many of the projected picks pegged near where they heard their name come off the board. This year, with one compensation pick, there will be 11 selections and 11 chances to extend my streak. To give this an as “realistic” feel as possible, I’ve used composite rankings, but that eliminates getting the correct answer at times, so I’ll be mentioning their Baseball America or MLB.com rankings, but will not hold myself to any rules regarding their rankings. ------------------------------------------------------ First overall (round 1): $7,770,700: RHP Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt. There could be plenty of strategy that comes into play between now and next Monday night. But at this point, there is no reason to believe there’s a better option to come off the board first. There could be some late steam with a few prep players, but ultimately I think the Twins draft Wright, get him signed within a few weeks and save a few hundred thousand to spend later in the draft. (BA: 2; MLB: 3) 35th overall (comp round A): $1,935,300: RHP Blayne Enlow, Louisiana prep. Enlow is a long (6’ 4”), powerful (mid-90s) right-handed pitcher who has impressed this year. I expect the Twins to draft more high-upside pitchers this year… (BA: 33; MLB: 29) 37th overall (round 2): $1,846,100: LHP Jacob Heatherly, Alabama prep. ...and wouldn’t be shocked if they went back-to-back prep arms. While Enlow comes from the pitcher-heavy area scouted by Greg Runser, Heatherly falls in Jack Powell’s area. Heatherly is not as tall (6’ 1”) but also can run it up to the mid-90s. (BA: 64; MLB: 45) 76th overall (round 3): $755,500: C Riley Adams, San Diego. Adams has the bat to play anywhere and might be able to stick behind the plate. While it’s not certain, I think we could see more bat-first players join the organization. The Twins have also used a lot of Top 10 round picks on catchers in the last handful of years and haven’t had a lot of success since drafting another college guy from the southwest: Mitch Garver. (BA: 73; MLB: 73) 106th overall (round 4): $507,000: RHP Michael Baumann, Jacksonville. I like to work in a local player and assuming Sam Carlson isn’t available at 35, drafting a Minnesota prepster who left the state to play collegiately might be the next best guess. Baumann was drafted by the Twins in the 34th round in 2014. His development at Jacksonville has been steady should hear his name called early on Day 2. 136th overall (round 5): $378,700: RHP Bryce Montes de Oca, Missouri. Montes de Oca was one of my favorites out of high school but needed Tommy John and signed with Missouri instead of turning pro. He’s got the 100 mph fastball at his disposal, but he’s still mostly projection, throwing only 69 innings over the last three years, with 61 coming this year as a starter. He struggles with control, but over time could develop into a frontline starter or a flamethrowing reliever. (BA: 147; MLB: 89) 166th overall (round 6): $283,300: LHP Seth Lonsway, Ohio prep. A late-bloomer from the midwest who has shown to be one in a shallow pool of quality prep lefties. (BA: 128; MLB: 149) 196th overall (round 7): $220,700: RHP Griff McGarry, California prep. The Twins have had a heavy presence in California over the last handful of years. Though McGarry might not be the route they go, expect that same presence again. McGarry is committed to Vanderbilt and might price himself out of signing by this point, but he has a draftable pair of pitches in his fastball and curveball. (BA: 175; MLB: NR) 226th overall (round 8): $174,400: SS Dalton Guthrie, Florida. Another re-draft and the first “bloodlines” player to be included, as his father is former Twins pitcher Mark Guthrie. The younger Guthrie will start his professional career, though he may eventually have to shift to the right side of the infield. (BA: 169; MLB: 141) 256th overall (round 9): $148,000: C J.J. Schwarz, Florida. During the Twins freefall last year, I started the #suckforSchwarz hashtag. Somehow wires got crossed and instead #Schwarzsucked. I’m still a believer in his bat and I think he’s worth still trying to develop as a catcher. (BA: 375; MLB: 172) 286th overall (round 10): $137,100: OF Reed Rohlman, Clemson. Rohlman is crushing the ball this year for Clemson (.366/.451/.549) with nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (32) and played a phenomenal game in the field against Vanderbilt Sunday night. Though not ranked in BA’s Top 500, he’s the leader of a very good Clemson team and looks like (a left-handed hitting version of) Jayson Werth. That’s it. 11 picks, seven pitchers, two catchers, a shortstop and an outfielder. Are four preps too many? Are seven pitchers too many? I'd anticipate a cost-saving college senior or two will be drafted as well. We’ll get answers to all these questions a week from tonight. Click here to view the article

If I had a dollar for every time someone suggested the Twins should manipulate their bonus pool to draft two top five talents, I’d have roughly $7,770,700, or the equivalent of what the first pick is worth. The rules have changed and, honestly, the Twins just aren’t in a position to do what the Astros have successfully done on multiple occasions. But I’m going to lay out a scenario that could result in two top 15 (or better) talents - a scenario which one scout tells me could be “realistic.” First, let’s connect some dots.Derek Falvey said on Wednesday that the Twins are still considering five or six guys at #1 overall. The list likely includes Kyle Wright, Hunter Greene, Brendan McKay and Royce Lewis, who seem to be the favored candidates to go in the top four. That means options “5” and “6” are guys that are not only unlikely to go first overall, but also unlikely to be taken in the top three, if not top four. The difference between going fifth and going first is over $2 million. This story was sent out last week on our Twins Daily newsletter. Sign up below or in the upper right-hand corner to get insights like this first. So let’s say that the Twins cut a deal with player “5.” They’ll draft him first overall, but sign him for “only” $6.25 million, which is between the slots of the third and fourth overall picks. As a result, they bank $1.52 million that can be spent on later picks. Then, when their #35 pick is on the clock, the Twins will essentially have $5.3 million to spend on their next two picks, #35 and #37. They could also cut a deal with a lesser-viewed - think eighth-round - talent and sign him for $300,000 at pick #37. Or maybe they use more at #37 and find ways to skim from their third day picks and the $2.6 million tied to them. At any rate, they could have $5 million, or nearly the equivalent of the seventh-overall pick, for the 35th pick. The problem is finding the right matches. While it might not be apparent that the new regime is higher on pitching, I think we’ll notice - maybe not this year, but eventually - a greater attraction to prep pitchers.So while we’ve heard college first baseman Pavin Smith’s name mentioned as someone with whom the Twins could cut a deal, I’m going to lean more towards prep lefty MacKenzie Gore. Gore profiles similar to Braxton Garrett, who the Twins really liked last year but was picked seventh overall, well before the Twins’ #15 pick. Gore possesses a mid-90s fastball, a very good curveball and a slider and changeup that could both develop into plus pitches. He won’t tumble far - and could certainly leapfrog any of the top pitchers - but a guarantee to secure Top three money - and maybe the Twins could even pay him more - and forever be the #1 pick might be attractive to him and his reps. Gore is committed to East Carolina and is widely considered the best left-handed prep pitcher in the draft. One potential hang-up in this plan is that Gore is represented by Scott Boras. As far as projecting which players will come out with super high asking prices (like many prep pitchers did last year in the weeks leading up to the draft… and they all signed), it’s still tough. But there was one nugget in Keith Law’s last mock draft that was worth some attention. “There’s a sense that (Shane) Baz is either heading to school (TCU) or has a deal with someone in the sandwich/second round.” Well, look at that. But before we get too excited, let’s be warned that the Twins (#1, #35, #37) aren’t the only team with the ammunition to pull this off. The Reds (#2, #32, #38), Rays (#4, #31, #40) and A’s (#6, #33, #43) all have three picks in the Top 43 selections. But none has the Twins arsenal. So who is Shane Baz? He’s someone the Twins have scouted in Texas and was once reported as someone who interested them at #1 (and he still could!). Baz is arguably the most-advanced prep right-hander in the draft, beating out Hunter Greene because of his secondary pitches. Baz also brings a mid-90s fastball to the table, a heater that has touched 98 and reportedly has the highest spin-rate of any prep pitcher. (Something the new regime would know!) His repertoire also includes a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. The changeup isn’t very good yet, but the cutter is really good and the breaking balls aren’t far behind. Of course, this is just one scenario that involves MacKenzie Gore and Shane Baz. Maybe Shane Baz could go first and the Twins could strike a deal with local boy Sam Carlson (though the Reds seem to really like Carlson too). Maybe Kyle Wright can be convinced he could drop to #4 if the Twins don’t pick him and lower his demands. These are all scenarios that the Twins will likely explore. And right now, the actual plan has yet to be hashed out. But when it’s time to make that pick, it’s safe to say that this year’s draft preparation will have left no stone unturned. Click here to view the article

Happy Memorial Day! After Sunday’s marathon game against Tampa Bay, the Twins were forced to make some moves on Monday morning. To reinforce the pitching staff, the team recalled P Drew Rucinski and selected the contract of LP Jason Wheeler. Wheeler will take the 40-man spot recently vacated by Adam Wilk, who was designated for assignment, placed on waivers, cleared and will report to Rochester. Rochester will also reportedly add Ryan Eades to their roster in advance of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Let’s check the only two affiliates in action on Monday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Indianapolis 3 Box Score With Wheeler getting the call-up, Rochester moved Aaron Slegers up a day to make the start (still on regular rest). He performed well, striking out seven in six innings and only allowing three runs on six hits and a walk and took a no-decision. Michael Tonkin pitched the final three shutout innings, walking two, allowing one hit and striking out three. Tonkin picked up the win, his first in AAA for the season. The Red Wings got on the board in the fourth inning when Niko Goodrum drove in Matt Hague. It was a Goodrum double in the eighth, which followed a Mitch Garver double, that plated the team’s second run. John Ryan Murphy tied and put Rochester ahead with a single, scoring Goodrum from second and J.B. Shuck from first. An error by old friend Danny Ortiz helped. Bengie Gonzalez struck with the third double of the inning to score Shuck and put Rochester comfortably ahead. Goodrum was 3-4 with a double, run and two RBI. Hague had two hits and a run. Shuck walked three times. Garver added two walks to his double. Bad news for the Red Wings: Daniel Palka fractured a finger and is out indefinitely. Rochester is 22-22. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga - DAY OFF The Lookouts are 28-22. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers - OFF DAY Fort Myers, on a recent cold streak, is 25-26. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 3 Box Score Clark Beeker made the start and went six innings. He was in line for the win, allowing only one run on a walk and five hits. He struck out five. The game was turned over to Andrew Vasquez in the seventh and he worked around two hits to keep the Kernels down only 1-0. There wasn’t a lot of offense to speak of. To start the eighth inning, Travis Blankenhorn was hit by a pitch. Caleb Hamilton followed with a double. And though they only had two hits on the game at this point, they had two runners in scoring position and a chance to take the lead. That they did. Ben Rortvedt singled them both in. 2-1 Kernels. Patrick McGuff was called in for the eighth inning. He allowed three hits which produced the tying and eventual game-winning run and took a loss as well as a blown save. The Kernels are 29-22 TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Michael Tonkin, Rochester Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Durham (6:05 CST) - RHP Ryan Eades *speculative* (0-0, -.-- ERA) Rochester at Durham (Game 2) - Bullpen Game Chattanooga at Birmingham (7:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (3-5, 4.11 ERA) Fort Myers vs Bradenton (5:35 CST) - LHP Lachlan Wells (2-6, 3.72 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs Quad Cities (6:35 CST) - RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (4-2, 4.47 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

The Twins will officially be on the clock with the first overall pick on the evening of June 12th. They should be making their selection shortly after 6pm. This will be the first time the franchise selects first overall since taking catcher Joe Mauer in 2001. Along with the first overall pick - and two other first day picks (35th and 37th overall) - the Twins also have the largest combined draft pool, $14,156,800. Round 3-10 will be on Tuesday. The final 30(!) rounds are on Wednesday. It stands to be an exciting few days for Twins fans and draft enthusiasts. There will plenty of draft coverage right here in the weeks leading up, so check back often.DRAFT SLOTS AND POOL Each draft pick has a specific dollar amount assigned to it, but it’s not as simple as just drafting a player in that spot and him getting all the dollars tied to the pick. The team and player can agree to any signing bonus and that money goes against the cap. As long as the entire draft class stays under the limit, there are no penalties. There are a few exceptions: If a player doesn’t sign, the team loses value assigned to that pick. For example, if the Twins fail to sign the first overall pick, their draft pool would be reduced to $6,386,100. Additionally, the cap for all picks for rounds 11-40 is $100,000. A team who signs a player for more than $100,000 will have the excess amount count against the cap. For example, if the Twins sign their 11th round pick for $600,000, $500,000 will count against the cap. 1st overall (round 1): $7,770,700 35th overall (comp round A): $1,935,300 37th overall (round 2): $1,846,100 76th overall (round 3): $755,500 106th overall (round 4): $507,000 136th overall (round 5): $378,700 166th overall (round 6): $283,300 196th overall (round 7): $220,700 226th overall (round 8): $174,400 256th overall (round 9): $148,000 286th overall (round 10): $137,100 UNDER CONSIDERATION As of today, there are a handful of names still being talked about as potential 1-1 candidates. We will go in depth on these players as the draft gets closer. But the list of names contains college arms righty Kyle Wright and lefty Brendan McKay, preps uberprospect Hunter Greene, shortstop/centerfielder Royce Lewis and pitcher Shane Baz, and college first baseman Pavin Smith. Handicapping the race to go first three weeks early probably has Wright in the lead as McKay fades. Greene, who hasn’t pitched in a game for over a month, and only threw 28 innings all year, remains an ultra-intriguing prospect, but is surrounded with question marks. Lewis has some questions about his bat, but is a premium athlete who oozes potential. Baz has as much helium as anyone in the draft and. Smith is a left-handed bat who plays first well defensively, but has some questions about his ability to hit left-handed pitching. DRAFT STRATEGIES Having the largest draft pool provides the Twins with some flexibility to get creative. But pump your brakes before your mind wanders too far. This isn’t going to be like the Correa/McCullers/Ruiz year or the Bregman/Tucker/Cameron year. The reason is simple: The rules changed. The Twins still have the pick worth the most, yes; but the value has been reduced (by almost $1.25 million) while picks 5-9 have all increased by over a million dollars. By bringing the values of these picks much closer together, it has narrowed the advantage in two ways. First, the team picking first, in this case the Twins, can’t just skim a million and a half off of their pick value and still be able to offer more than the second team could. And on the flip side of that, teams that pick after the Twins could get creative with their pools and be able to come up with more than the first pick value. That would have been very tough to do before. That doesn’t mean the Twins can’t still get creative. I anticipate they’ll still be able to save a considerable amount of money to turn a 6th round pick into a 2nd round value or an 11th or 12th round pick into a 5th round value (or something like that). The ability to get creative remains, but the chance to manipulate their pool into getting two Top 7 talents doesn’t. OTHER POTENTIAL TARGETS Two names that are intriguing in the 30s are Clark Schmidt, a right-handed pitcher from South Carolina who is missing the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Seth Romero, a lefty who was kicked off the team at Houston. Both are first round talents and just might be worth the risk with that “extra” pick. The Twins drafted Tyler Benninghoff in the 11th round last year knowing that he’d need Tommy John surgery. And the Twins know Romero well, though it’s unclear whether or not he’ll make their final draft board. Some other names that should receive consideration: Heliot Ramos, a Puerto Rican outfielder, Jacob Heatherly, a prep lefty from Alabama, Brent Rooker, an outfielder from Mississippi State and Greg Deichmann, a third baseman from LSU. The Twins drafted both Rooker and Deichmann last summer. Though the draft is quickly approaching, many teams haven’t gotten a great read on contract demands yet and that doesn’t happen for many players until the final days before the draft. But the Twins have always been one of the best teams in the league at being able to gauge a player’s signability. Both Stephen Gonsalves and Kolton Kendrick are recent players to have dropped, and while many teams passed because of signability issues, the Twins were able to draft confidently because their area scouts did the work and knew the players would sign. Though their professional careers haven’t taken the same paths, the organization impressed many others with the homework they had done. And you better believe the Sean Johnson-lead scouting department will have all their homework done this year too. Click here to view the article

The Twins opened their brief road trip on Monday in Baltimore. Kyle Gibson, who was recalled from Rochester when Phil Hughes was placed on the disabled list, made the start. Congratulations to Chris Paul of the Miracle, who was named Florida State League Player of the Week. Paul hit 12-25 last week with nine runs, nine RBI, five doubles and two home runs, including a three-run walk-off and a walk-off single in consecutive games. Let’s check the affiliates.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester - DAY OFF Rochester is 19-19 and on a two-game losing streak. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Biloxi 3 Box Score Felix Jorge took the ball and improved to 4-1 on the season. In seven strong innings, Jorge scattered five hits and a walk. He allowed three runs and struck out three. Mason Melotakis picked up the hold with an inning that included a walk and hit… and Melotakis also striking out the side. John Curtiss picked up his seventh save and struck out one. T.J. White led the offense with two hits. Jonathan Rodriguez hit his fifth home run, a two-run shot in the third inning. Ryan Strausborger tripled and his eighth inning walk drove in the game-winning run. Nick Gordon was 1-3 with a walk and run scored. The Lookouts jump to 24-21. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 13, Dunedin 6 Box Score The Miracle and especially David Fischer got a chance to see Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki on Monday night. No problem. They combined to go 0-4 with three strikeouts and a walk. Fischer picked up his third win of the season. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing only a run on two hits… but walked six. He struck out five. Michael Theofanopoulos got beat up, he surrendered five runs on six hits and a walk, striking out out in 2.2 innings. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth. The bats put up innings of five, three, two and three runs on their way to a 13-run barrage. Kevin Garcia, 3-5 with an RBI, two runs, and a walk, and Sean Miller, 3-5 with two runs and a walk, paced the team with three hits each. Max Murphy was 2-5, but scored three times and drove in four. Murphy had a double and a walk. Also in the two-hit club were Zander Wiel, who hit his fifth home run, a solo shot and Alex Perez, who scored three runs and drove in a run. FSL POW Chris Paul was replaced in the fifth inning after going 0-3 with two strikeouts. Fort Myers is on a hot streak and improves to 24-21. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 3 (12 innings) Box Score It’s Monday, so naturally at least one affiliate was going to go into extra innings. But it ended in walk-off fashion as Jermaine Palacios hit a three-run walk-off home run in the twelfth inning. With the Kernels trailing 3-2 after an inning and a half, the scoring slowed down. The Kernels tied it in the seventh inning. Then the scoring stopped for four more innings. Sean Poppen gave up three runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out five in five innings. Colton Davis (two innings, three hits), Andrew Vasquez (three innings, walk, two strikeouts) and Tom Hackimer (two innings, three strikeouts) combined to give the bullpen seven shutout innings. Christian Cavaness was 3-5 with a triple, walk, RBI and run. Lewin Diaz was 2-5 and is batting .294. Ben Rortvedt added two hits. Aaron Whitefield, from the 9-spot, scored two runs and is batting .288. But the story, again, is Palacios. Batting .329, he’s now got six home runs and added his ninth double on Monday as well. Last year’s injury-shortened season is now just a blip on the radar and he’s back to being the breakout prospect he was in 2015. The Kernels are 26-18 TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Chattanooga Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Durham (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler (3-1, 5.35 ERA) Fort Myers at Dunedin (5:30 CST) - LHP Lachlan Wells (2-5, 3.51 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs Clinton (6:35 CST) - LHP Domenick Carlini (2-2, 4.73 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

Strasburg with a 70 fastball is still a legitimate front end pitcher. Strausburg - out of college - with his fastball/slider combo was an once a decade prospect.

The Twins completed a series victory in Cleveland and returned home to rest before welcoming the Colorado Rockies and then the Kansas City Royals to Target Field. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next six days as rain is forecasted nearly every day while the Twins are back in town. Though the Twins were off, there were plenty of transactions throughout the system. The Red Wings welcomed RP Michael Tonkin (outrighted) and SS Engelb Vielma (from AA). They released 1B/OF Ben Paulsen. The Lookouts added OF Ryan Strausborger (activated and sent from AAA) and 3B TJ White (activated). Fort Myers added OF Tanner English from Chattanooga and released P Chris Anderson. Cedar Rapids activated RP Zach Tillery.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score The Red Wings offense only managed two hits: a Zach Granite two-out single in the third inning and a leadoff double off the bat of Tommy Field in the seventh. Field didn’t score as #oldfriend came Casey Fien came in and abandoned him at third base (after he advanced on a wild pitch). Engelb Vielma went 0-3 with a strikeout in his AAA debut. Kyle Gibson took a hard-luck loss and dropped to 0-2 with Rochester. He allowed six hits, four walks and only a lone run - though a solo home run - while striking out 10. Kevin Chapman struck out three getting five total outs and Drew Rucinski struck out two in his inning of work. Rochester drops to 17-15. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Birmingham 0 Box Score Chattanooga led a close game throughout before adding four insurance runs late and winning a game that was closer than the final score makes it appear. Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an Edgar Corcino sac fly. Corcino scored the second run after singling and eventually crossing home on a Travis Harrison sac fly. The four runs in the eighth came by way of two singles, four walks and a hit by pitch. T.J. White was 2-4 with an RBI in his return to the lineup. Randy LeBlanc picked up the win, scattering seven hits and a walk in six shutout innings. Miraculously, he didn’t strike out a single batter. Randy Rosario struck out four in three no-hit innings. The Lookouts jump to 22-16 and are among the leaders in the Southern League North (unfortunately the best four teams in the Southern League are all in the Northern Division). MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Clearwater 3 Box Score Max Murphy and Bradley Strong both hit solo home runs, Zander Wiel and Nelson Molina tripled, and Alex Perez, Chris Paul, Tanner English and Brian Navarreto all doubled in an extra-base hit barrage at the Lee County Sports Complex. No one drove in more than one run and no one scored more than once in a balanced offensive attack. Cody Stashak struggled through four innings - five hits and four walks - but only allowed two runs while striking out three. Jonny Drozd allowed five hits in two innings; one runner scored and Drozd struck out four. Williams Ramirez struck out two in the final frame. Fort Myers is now 18-20 on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 12 (GAME ONE) Box Score Cedar Rapids scored seven third-inning runs, but Peoria scored in six of the seven innings to win game one going away. Jermaine Palacios scored in the first inning after being hit by a pitch. He also walked to start the third inning. Lewin Diaz doubled him home to score the first run of that frame. Travis Blankenhorn, who also walked, scored as well. Diaz scored on Jaylin Davis’s ensuing double. Davis scored on a Ben Rortvedt single. Aaron Whitefield hit a sac fly to score Alex Perez, who walked. Christian Cavaness later homered to bring in Rortvedt. When all was said and done, the Kernels had an 8-3 lead… but their offense was done. And their pitching was done in. Eduardo Del Rosario gave up three home runs - seven runs total - on five hits and three walks. He struck out one in five innings, but was still in line for the win. Logan Lombana took care of that, allowing four runs, including a home run, in 1.2 innings. He couldn’t finish the game and Alex Robinson got the final out, but not before giving up a three-run home run to close the book on Lombana. Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 0 (GAME TWO) Box Score The Kernels went with the bullpen approach in the second half of the doubleheader and got much better results. Max Cordy struck out three in three innings, allowing three hits and a walk. Colton Davis picked up the win striking out two in two innings and only allowing a single hit. Tom Hackimer earned his fifth save of the year. Hackimer struck out three, issuing a walk and a hit in two innings. Offensively, the bats did little, but enough to win. Jermaine Palacios hit his third home run of the year in the fifth inning. Mitch Kranson doubled. Diaz, Caleb Hamilton and Cavaness added singles. Cavaness also stole his third base of the season. The Kernels improve to 21-16. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Chattanooga Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids (maybe only 1-5 on the day, but scored every time he got on base - three times - and continues to be a catalyst for their offense) TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut (2-2, 1.59 ERA) Chattanooga vs Birmingham (6:15 CST) - LHP Matt Tracy (2-3, 4.40 ERA) Fort Myers vs Clearwater (5:35 CST) - RHP David Fischer (2-2, 3.54 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley (3-2, 4.34 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

A new day, a new draft prospect that has some momentum to go 1/1. Twins fans have embraced high school phenom Hunter Greene. Some have warmed to one of the best collegiate players of all time Brendan McKay. But the name that has the most momentum is Kyle Wright, a right-handed pitcher from Vanderbilt. This story was sent out last week on our Twins Daily newsletter. Sign up below or in the upper right-hand corner to get insights like this first. Rewind to late September of 2016, around the time the Hunter Greene Train started barrelling down the tracks as the Twins barreled towards clinching the first overall draft pick in the 2017 draft. I sent out a series of texts about the upcoming draft class, trying to gauge which guys might be getting early consideration to go first overall. One text response really stuck out: “I’d take Wright.” Kyle Wright was a name I’d heard, but not one that was firmly on my radar. (It was only September.) Sure enough, Wright was someone that many felt could go early. He was arguably the best pitcher in college baseball. Fast forward to February and Kyle Wright starts slow. Command and consistency, his two biggest question marks, were lacking. Short starts, walks, wild pitches… and the big draftniks questioned if he would go Top 10. Things started to change on April 14 when Wright dominated Florida. Wright pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits and striking out a career-high 13 batters. Most importantly and impressively, though, Wright didn’t walk anyone. Wright backed that game up with two more starts - neither great, neither horrible - before getting a chance to impress in front of Twins CBO Derek Falvey. He responded by throwing an absolute gem. Nine innings, three hits, one walk, one run, 13 strikeouts and 119 pitches. I reached back out to the same scout from last fall and got this no-nonsense response: “Best player in the draft by far.” So who is Kyle Wright? Prototypical size (6’ 4”, 220), mid-90s fastball, a really good slider, a good curveball and an improving changeup. Wright is represented by CAA (who also represents Phil Hughes) and doesn’t seem to have any sort of injury history. All seems too good to be true, right? Maybe. Doing research on Wright, I’d noticed a lot of pictures of Wright, in mid-delivery, in the Inverted W or at the moment your lead foot lands, your throwing elbow being higher than your throwing shoulder. I remember that being a concern about Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg. I’m not a scout and don’t pretend to be one, so I asked a Twins scout who has seen both. Initially, he had no concerns about Wright’s delivery. But later said this, “I’ve looked more. There are more similarities, delivery-wise, than I knew.” But the similarities don’t stop there. There are no Strasburg-type pitchers in the organization. Wright has that potential (minus Strasburg's 80 fastball). And if the risk of arm potential arm issues down the line precludes an organizaton from drafting a potential ace… well, what’s the point of drafting any pitcher ever? Click here to view the article

If you would have given me 10 guesses for #3, I don't think I would have gotten it.

Despite the Twins being off to travel, there was still plenty to go down on Monday. Young Dominican Lewin Diaz was named Midwest League Player of the Week just a day after being named Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Later in the afternoon, the Twins worked out a trade with the Atlanta Braves. All four full-season affiliates were in action on Monday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 9 Box Score The bats and gloves didn’t show up on Monday night and, interestingly, three members of the Red Wings rotation made an appearance. Aaron Slegers made the start and lasted four innings, getting knocked around for five runs on seven hits and one walk. He struck out two. Reliever Alan Busenitz hit the first batter he faced before getting a fly out and striking out the last two batters of the inning. Longtime starter Jason Wheeler came in to face Lehigh Valley in the sixth inning and was on the receiving end of three errors committed behind him in two innings. At the end of those two innings, Wheeler had allowed six hits and four runs, though only one was earned. Nik Turley, who made a start for the Red Wings last week after being promoted from Chattanooga, got two swinging strikeouts and a foul pop-out. (Maybe Turley could help the Twins bullpen?) Wheeler and Turley shifting to the bullpen is the result of all of Gibson, Berrios and Mejia being in AAA. The bats managed one more hit (five) than errors (four). Matt Hague led the offense with two hits. Tommy Field, Niko Goodrum and John Ryan Murphy combined for the other three. Ironically, Field (two), Goodrum (one) and Murphy (one) also committed the four errors. The loss drops Slegers to 2-3 and Rochester drops to 14-12, two games off the IL North pace. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Montgomery 9 Box Score Fernando Romero didn’t have his best stuff on Monday, allowing nine hits in 5.2 innings. He allowed seven runs (five earned). He hit a batter and threw 94 pitches (63 strikes). Romero struck out four and got 12 outs by groundball. Randy Rosario struck out two, allowing two runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings and Mason Melotakis struck out three in an inning. Both walked one batter. LaMonte Wade reached base safely four times (single, double and two walks). He’s brought his batting average up to .321. Nick Gordon and Engelb Vielma each added singles and are batting .330 and .316 respectively. Gordon committed his sixth error of the season. Daniel Rohlfing’s fourth inning grand slam put the Lookouts up 4-1, but Montgomery scored the next eight unanswered. The Lookouts drop to 17-14 after suffering their first loss in May. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Palm Beach 2 Box Score Cody Stashak pitched well enough to give Fort Myers a chance to win on Monday, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out four. Unfortunately for Stashak, he only lasted five innings and the Miracle didn’t put their big inning together until the sixth. The Anderson Boys combined for the win and save. Brady struck out two in three shutout innings and improved to 2-0. Nick picked up his second save, striking out one in a scoreless ninth frame. None of the hitters did anything extraordinary, but seven of the nine registered hits and when four of them come in the same frame, good things tend to happen. Rafael Valera tripled and drove in two runs. Max Murphy, Nelson Molina, Chris Paul, Zander Wiel and Kevin Garcia all singled and scored. Sean Miller also singled. Garcia stole his first base of the year. Fort Myers clawed back to .500 and 16-16. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Lake County 4 Box Score The Kernels bats didn’t show up after the long bus trip to Dayton. Besides Jermaine Palacios’s second home run in the fourth inning, the only offense came from Christian Cavaness, who singled and was picked off in the third. Eduardo Del Rosario cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Four hits and three walks later, Del Rosario was getting the hook. Failing to complete four innings, Del Rosario gave up four runs, striking out five. Logan Lombana escaped a bases-loaded jam and worked three additional scoreless innings, striking out three. Tom Hackimer pitched the final scoreless frame. Travis Blankenhorn was ejected by the home plate umpire after being called out on strikes in the second inning. The loss drops the Kernels to 17-13. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Logan Lombana, Cedar Rapids Hitter of the Day – LaMonte Wade, Chattanooga TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) - RHP Kyle Gibson (0-0, -.-- ERA) Chattanooga at Montgomery (10:35 CST) - RHP Paul Clemens (1-0, 3.46 ERA) Fort Myers vs Palm Beach (5:35 CST) - RHP David Fischer (2-1, 2.74 ERA) Cedar Rapids at Dayton (6:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley (3-1, 3.91 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

I've gotten that info from a variety of people within the organization.

Good talk here. If Greene doesn't go #1, it will have very little to do with his perceived attitude. Character-type stuff is what removes guys from the draft board. That's not happening - from all accounts Greene is a very mature, high-character guy. But, yeah, he does have people around helping him make good decisions. Hard to blame him for that. He also has the drive to be the absolute best. That probably rubs people the wrong way. But you can't teach a kid to have that drive. Obviously the floor of all players is out of baseball before making the big leagues. But those are things that you just can't account for happening. Wimmers was a high-floor guy, Gibson was a high-floor guy, Jay is a high-floor guy. You can't account for injuries. And all have dealt with them. If McKay can stay healthy, he's a #3 starter (floor) with the potential to be better.

If you read the Draftbook (not many of you did!) after Wade was drafted, there was a lot of mention of his last year at Maryland. He was hurt, missed a lot of the season. His signing scout told me that he'd be really good and that the scouting community missed on him. He comped Billy Burns when was playing well for Oakland. He was playing out of position at Maryland and the games he truly showed his potential - I believe a tournament in Alabama that postponed games due to rain so he was playing really late - were not scouted heavily. Wade was a great find!

It was a full slate of baseball on Thursday as the Twins hosted Oakland and all of the affiliates were in action (including one playing a doubleheader). While there were no moves in the minor leagues, the Twins optioned Buddy Boshers after Tuesday's slugfest and activated Hector Santiago from the bereavement list on Wednesday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Buffalo 3 (Game 1) Box Score David Hurlbut gave the Red Wings a solid effort in the front end of a doubleheader. Hurlbut was touched up for eight hits over five innings, but he allowed only three runs (two earned) while striking out two and walking one. He allowed a two-out, two-run home run to let Buffalo back into the game in the third inning. Hurlbut did coax nine outs by way of the groundball, which is impressive. Alan Busenitz and Alex Wimmers each threw scoreless frames to finish the game. Busenitz struck out one in a perfect sixth inning. Wimmer walked two in the seventh inning. Rochester did damage with their bats in the top half of the second inning. Matt Hague singled to start off the frame and was advanced to third on a Daniel “Power” Palka double. John Ryan Murphy drove them both in with a one-out single. After a Quintin Berry single moved Murphy to second, both were driven in on a Bengie Gonzalez triple. Murphy added an insurance run in the seventh inning with his second home run of the season. Rochester 1, Buffalo 4 (Game 2) Box Score Nik Turley made his Rochester debut and it certainly wasn’t memorable from a production standpoint. After giving up a single in the first and a walk and single in the second, but escaping without damage, Turley hoped to calm down in the third and started the inning by getting a called strike three. Then the trouble started. Turley allowed two straight singles and both players advanced on a wild pitch. A walk eventually loaded the bases. After another wild pitch allowed the game’s first run to score, Turley got the second out by pop up and looked to be getting out of the inning without further damage. But Bengie Gonzalez committed an error allowing an unearned run score. Two other runs followed in the inning. Turley didn’t come back for the fourth. He finished with three innings, four runs (three earned), five strikeouts, two walks and a loss. Despite his costly air, Gonzalez did have a decent night at the plate. He was the only player with a multi-hit game and scored the team’s lone run. Ben Paulsen had his third double. Rochester is currently 13-10. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Pensacola 4 Box Score Paul Clemens spotted Pensacola four runs in the first four innings, but held on to make it through six innings. Clemens allowed eight hits and a walk which resulted in four runs. He struck out seven. The bats got going in the bottom of the fourth and didn’t stop. The surge was led by Edgar Corcino, who hit his fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning. Corcino had three hits and a walk, drove in three runs and scored once. LaMonte Wade hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, in the seventh inning. He also had three hits. Nick Gordon also hit a home run, his second, in his two-hit game. Todd Van Steensel threw two shutout innings and struck out two to pick up the win. John Curtiss earned his fourth save of the season, weathering a walk and double in a rough ninth inning to close it out. The win got the Lookouts back to .500 at 13-13. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Daytona 5 Box Score David Fischer took the loss, allowing five first-inning runs. It turned out to be all the runs Fischer would allow in his four innings of work. All told, three hits, three walks and two hit batsmen did Fischer in. Brady Anderson gave up one hit in three solid innings of work. Anthony McIver allowed a hit in two innings. Not a lot of offensive firepower on Wednesday for the Miracle. Zander Wiel hit his ninth double of the year and scored on Shane Kennedy’s first double. Kennedy then stole third base and was driven in by Brian Navarreto. The Miracle lineup struck out 12 times. Fort Myers dropped to 13-14 on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Lake County 3 Box Score Cedar Rapids used a balanced offensive attack and solid performances from their staff to win Wednesday’s tilt. Tyler Beardsley struck out seven in seven strong innings. He allowed three runs on a walk and five hits (two solo home runs). He picked up his third win of the season. Alex Robinson struck out two and earned a hold. He allowed two hits. Max Cordy picked up his second save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He struck out one. Despite giving up an early run, the Kernels answered back quickly. Jermaine Palacios extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a leadoff hit. He would come around to score on a Jaylin Davis groundout. Palacios is hitting a cool .391 on the young season. After getting behind in the third inning, the Kernels strung together some keys hits to regain the lead. Christian Cavaness hit a leadoff double and scored on a Mitch Kranson single. Both Kranson and Jaylin Davis, who walked, scored when Ben Rortvedt doubled. Cedar Rapids added two more in the bottom of the sixth. Aaron Whitefield singled, Brandon Lopez walked and Shane Carrier drove them both in with a double. Davis and Whitefield also both stole bases, their third and fourth respectively. The only batter in the lineup who has not yet been mentioned is Tuesday’s hero, Lewin Diaz, who went 1-4. Cedar Rapids has ridden this hot streak to a 15-10 record. Seth will be in Cedar Rapids til Sunday, so there will be lots of Kernel talk popping off. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Beardsley, Cedar Rapids Hitter of the Day – Edgar Corcino, Chattanooga THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Buffalo (12:05 CST) - RHP LHP Adalberto Mejia (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Chattanooga vs Pensacola (6:15 CST) - RHP Randy LeBlanc (0-1, 36.00 ERA) Fort Myers vs Daytona (5:35 CST) - RHP Keaton Steele (1-3, 8.10 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs Lake County (6:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells (2-0, 1.88 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Thursday’s games. Click here to view the article