Jeremy Nygaard

Hugs are free.

With only one game today, the organization kept busy by making a number of moves. The first trickle began at 12:25pm when Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reported that Alex Meyer was being recalled by the Twins. Just shy of two hours later, the Twins officially announced the rest of the transaction: Danny Santana would be activated and both Max Kepler and Byron Buxton would be sent down.It came out later in the afternoon that Loek Van Mil was released from AAA and David Murphy had asked for, and was granted, his release. Terry Ryan told the media that John Hicks had been placed on waivers to open up a spot for Murphy. Whoops! Anyway, the Twins played on Monday night with 14 pitchers on their active roster. There could be more moves as only Chattanooga was in action on Monday and, seriously, a two-man bench? Come on. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester - off day The Red Wings will head to Buffalo to start a series on Tuesday. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 6 Box Score Travis Harrison had a day. He put the Lookouts on the board with an RBI double that scored Zach Granite who singled to open the inning and moved over on a sacrifice by Levi Michael. Harrison led off the fourth inning with his second double of the night. Daniel Palka moved him to third on a single and Harrison scored on a Mitch Garver single. Stuart Turner loaded the bases with the third single of the inning. An error by the third baseman allowed Palka to score off of Engelb Vielma’s bat. And with two outs, Michael tripled to score Garver, Turner and Vielma, the third, fourth and fifth runs of the inning, pushing the lead to 6-2. Aaron Slegers pitched six innings, giving up a single run in four of them and leaving with a 6-4 lead. He allowed seven hits and walked one. He struck out six. Slegers was relieved and holds were credited to both Mike Strong and Jake Reed, who both pitched to the minimum three batters. Neither allowed a walk or hit and Reed’s defense was able to erase the base runner who was on due to Vielma’s sixth error of the season. Nick Burdi was summoned to attempt to collect his first save of the season and coaxed a fly ball to record his first out. After walking a batter, Burdi allowed a hit and runners were on the corners. He got his second out of the inning with a swinging strikeout, but lost the save chance with the runner of first stole second and the batter followed with a ground-rule double. Burdi blew the save and the 6-4 win turned into a tie game. Burdi retired the next batter and the Lookouts came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Michael drew a one-out walk and guess who ended the game with a two-out double? None other than Travis Harrison, who hit his third two-bagger of the day. The Lookouts improved to 7-12. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers - off day The Miracle will go to Jupiter to start a series on Tuesday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids - off day The Kernels will host West Michigan starting on Tuesday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (5:05PM CST) – TBD Birmingham @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) – RHP Ryan Eades (0-2, 6.14 ERA) Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 1.89 ERA) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:30PM CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc (1-2, 2.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s only game. Click here to view the article

Yep. Those would have been my next three, but I figured there would be enough Meyer talk in the minor league report/forums with him pitching yesterday and I beat the Wade drum enough. Curtiss is an interesting case, he had some really good starts before a concussion knocked him out for a few months last year. When he came back as a reliever, he was just ok. I'm glad that he has gotten off to a quick start. Curtiss missed a year at Texas with Tommy John and is super intelligent.

After taking a week off to lick the wounds of over a half-dozen losses and to take a look at some names that could be in play when the Twins draft in June, the sometimes-popular TRENDING article is back. So what’s been new? This week we’re going to look at some minor leaguers who got off to a very quick start.The Miracle Rotation If you would have been asked to project the ceiling - statswise - for the Miracle starters 13 games into the season, you would be fixing some tiles after the group of Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart, Tyler Jay, Randy Rosario, Felix Jorge and Keaton Steele went Macklemore all over your ceiling. Through 13 games - stats were compiled before Wednesday’s game - the starters combined to pitch 75.2 innings and strike out 74 batters. They’ve combined for a WHIP below 1.000, allowing only 44 hits and issuing 18 free passes (0.951) for a combined ERA of 1.90. That’s absolute dominance. In about half the innings, the bullpen has allowed only four less runs. With full rotations in both Minnesota and Rochester and Gonsalves and Stewart both pushing towards earning promotions, you wonder how secure some rotation holds are in Chattanooga. Trending towards Chattanooga… right?!? J.T. Chargois, power closer Chargois has been nasty. He’s made five one-inning appearances and has gotten pretty consistent results: No walks, no hits, no runs, and lots of swings-and-misses. On the season, Chargois has thrown 77 pitches (by game: 16, 17, 15, 13, 16) and 50 strikes (65%). Thirteen of those strikes have been swings-and-misses. While it is a very small sample size, a swinging-strike percentage of 26% is very high. In fact, compared to MLB, only one player, #oldfriend A.J. Achter (27.3%), has a higher rate. (Achter has pitched one inning, so even with the inclusion of the smallest of sample sizes, Chargois still has a very high rate.) And did I mention he hasn’t allowed a walk, hit or run? What could be next for Chargois? Well, he is on the 40-man, so he could get a call to the big league if the need presented itself. Could it also be possible that Rochester has a need in the bullpen and summons Chargois, as Chattanooga opens up a spot for the return of Nick Burdi? Trending towards Rochester and, eventually, a future in the Target Field bullpen. Maybe soon. And maybe even sooner if Jepsen doesn’t return to 2015 Jepsen. Nick Gordon, future starting shortstop Entering the offseason, the shortstop position was likely considered the deepest position in the organization, likely boasting a legitimate shortstop prospect at every full-season roster and adding a four million dollar bonus baby, to boot. It didn’t even take until the season started to hear questions of Jorge Polanco’s ability to stick at shortstop. (He hasn’t even played the position this year.) Engelb Vielma suffered a hamstring injury that has kept him from playing for over a week. Jermaine Palacios, who flirted with .400 last season, has seen his full-season career start in a 6-for-35 slump that has offered hardly any power. So who’s left? Nick Gordon. Gordon has 18 hits in 51 at-bats and has hit safely in 10 of the 12 games he’s played. He’s demonstrated the ability to stick at the most difficult position to play defensively. He’s bulked up and shown more pop. (He’s already matched his career-high total in home runs: one.) He hasn’t shown the ability to draw a walk, but, you know, BLOODLINES! Trending towards the top of the Twins prospect lists. The very top? Check in later this summer. Stuart Turner, catcher Before going hitless on Wednesday, Turner had a hit in seven of his first eight games including a three-hit night in the season opening series. There have been many questions about Turner’s hit tool as he’s struggled with the bat as a pro (career .246 batting average) and seen all of his triple slash numbers decrease from Fort Myers to Chattanooga last year. Turner has flashed a little more extra base pop this season as he has three doubles and a home run already in his first 25 at-bats (or one every 6.25 at-bats, compared to last year where he hit one every 18.2 at-bats). Trending towards consideration of being a two-way threat… or at least, not strictly a defense-only catcher. There were many others who could have been included. Who has impressed you with their start to the season? Click here to view the article

All the reports I got about Wade after he was drafted were pretty glowing. Had he not been injured during the season, he would have went higher. The David DeJesus comp was thrown out a number of times. He's a player, for sure.

The Twins have been bitten by the injury bug early in the season and that has resulted in a Rochester roster that has been depleted of their two top hitting prospects. Max Kepler was recalled when Danny Santana injured a hamstring running last week and word started to trickle out on social media this afternoon that Jorge Polanco would be replacing Trevor Plouffe, who is likely to hit the disabled list before Tuesday's game with Milwaukee. Here's Monday's action around the farm.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Pawtucket 3 (10 innings) Box Score The 3,320 people in attendance were treated to a duel between two highly-regarded pitchers (who are no longer considered “prospects”). Tyler Duffey completed seven innings (104 pitches, 69 strikes) in picking up a no-decision tonight. He gave up one run on seven hits. He struck out six and, most importantly, walked only one. He lowered his ERA to 1.72. Rochester scored their only run on a 389-foot third-inning home run by Reynaldo Rodriguez. Rodriguez also had a first-inning single and was the only Red Wing to have a multi-hit game. He did strike out twice, though, and the team combined for 12 strikeouts. Adam Brett Walker returned to the lineup for the first time since April 10, but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter. David Murphy, who has a May 1st opt-out, also went 0-for-4. Stephen Wickens delivered his first AAA hit and stole his first AAA base. Brandon Kintzler pitched two shutout innings before giving way to J.R. Graham in the 10th inning. After connecting for a leadoff single, the PawSox sacrificed the runner to second and Graham coaxed a fly out for the second out of the innings. Then the wheels fell off. Graham threw a wild pitch and then walked Rusney Castillo to put runners on first and third. A Blake Swihart single put the PawSox ahead with runners on first and second. Castillo and Swihart successfully pulled off a double-steal and Graham walked the next two runners to push another run across the plate. Buddy Boshers had to record the last out. The trio of Wilfredo Tovar, Wickens and Darin Mastroianni - all of who had a hit - went down 1-2-3 to end the game. The Red Wings fall to 4-7 early in the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 5 Box Score An eighth-inning rally ended in a double-play and the Lookouts dropped Monday’s game to the Braves. D.J. Baxendale took the loss, allowing two runs in six innings on five hits. He struck out six. Brandon Peterson struggled in his inning, giving up three hits and walking two. He surrendered three runs. Brett Lee struck out two in a perfect frame. Stuart Turner hit an eighth-inning two-run home run, his first of the season, and now sports a .360 average. Mitch Garver got the Lookouts on the board with a two-out RBI single in the fourth-inning. Levi Michael contributed two hits in the team’s six-hit effort. Travis Harrison added a single and a stolen base. The Lookouts drop to 4-8. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Daytona 4 Box Score The Miracle struck first, getting Chris Paul on base when he was hit. Paul advanced to third on Ryan Walker’s single and scored on an Alex Real groundout. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much offense after that. Nick Gordon led off the fourth inning with a triple, which extended his hitting streak to six games. He’s also hit safely in ten on his eleven games. You could say that Nick Gordon is swinging a hot bat and you wouldn’t be wrong. The third and final hit was a single in the 6th inning by Chad Christensen. Tanner English stole his fourth base of the season. Randy Rosario threw 48 strikes in 78 pitches. He was relieved in the sixth inning after allowing five hits and two runs. He walked three and failed to strike out any. It was a far cry from his season debut last week when he struck out eight - and walked none - in six shutout innings. Todd Van Steensel allowed one hit and collected five outs. Luke Bard struggled in his frame, giving up three hits and two runs. With the loss, the Miracle fall to 7-5. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 3 Box Score Cody Stashak made the first full-season start of his career and didn’t disappoint. He struck out five in six one-run, three-hit innings (on only 77 pitches). That’s two runs in ten innings combined so far this season. The offense was equally impressive. Seven runs on 10 hits and five walks, and all but the eight- and nine-hitters contributed in the hits column. Rafael Valera, getting his at-bats as the DH, doubled twice and added a single. He scored once. LaMonte Wade continued to tear up low-A pitchers. He’s hit safely in all 12 games he’s played. On Monday, it was two hits, two runs and an RBI. While Wade is hitting .409, the 2-for-4 night actually dropped his OBP from .469 to .463 and saw his OPS drop by 20 points and now sits at 1.099. Max Murphy and Jermaine Palacios each stole a base. Michael Theofanopoulos struck out three in two innings. Nick Anderson allowed two runs (one earned) in his inning of work. The Kernels improve to 8-4. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Stashak Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (5:35PM CST) – LHP Pat Dean (0-2, 2.06 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mississippi (7:00PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (1-0, 4.00 ERA) Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 2.25 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (11:30AM CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc (1-1, 2.45 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

This is obviously filled with sarcasm (and I'm with you). It's paid some dividends... well, Duffey... but I've long been saying that the bullpen should be filled with players that failed as starters. If I ran a team, I'd draft some flamethrowers, sure, but they'd supplement a 'pen full of guys that didn't get it done as starters. From Rivera to Nathan to Perkins to Hochever to almost everyone in between, turn your junk starters into stud relievers!

What kind of luck are we talking about: This kind of luck?

I feel the same. It really depends on how much he is able to pitch vs what his demands are. With the larger pool, you might be able to work a deal to get him to slide... if you're into that sort of thing.

Funkhouser has been between really bad and terrible. Cody has been between decent and bad. Neither go in the first round. Neither make what they turned down last year.

Senzel will go Top 5. Haven't heard much about Dalbec.

The success rate of college hitters in the Top 10 isn't 100%. It just happened that the Cubs might have gotten the best two in the last ten years. There are some bad names on that list: Michael Choice, Mike Zunino, Christian Colon, Colin Moran. It's possible that Ian Happ turns out to be a stud, but in reality, the Cubs are where they are because they've swindled other teams (Russell for Shark rental! Rizzo for Cashner! Arrieta for Feldman!). So, yeah, copy that part.

I didn't include Puk or Hansen because they've been so inconsistent. It wouldn't shock me if those guys went the same route as Funkhouser/Cody - depending on where they get drafted - and try to show something better as seniors. Of course it's early and if those other two fall on their face/fall in the draft (again), it might help show those juniors that signing where they're drafted is the best route to take.

There's not any catcher that is good enough to go in the Top 15 (at least not that I've heard yet). But if you really want a stud catcher, there is going to be one available to the worst team in in 2017. Also #bloodlines.

I've been asked about Logan Shore. I didn't include him because he was talked about in the first installment. Given how much the Twins like him - Doogie talks about it frequently - I'd imagine he'd be in the mix, among many others that weren't mentioned above.

The Twins started the season with seven straight losses (and this article was sent to publish before Wednesday night’s game concluded), does anyone want to read about where the trend lines are pointing? I’d conclude the answer is no. But the worse the major league team performs the more people start to think about that fun little weekend in June. The draft!Of course, if this season continues to tumble into the dismal place that is a return to the Top 5 of the draft, we’ll have to shed some light onto the 2017 draft. But we’re not there yet and we still have the 2016 draft to focus on. Some housekeeping first: The Twins first-round pick (15th overall) is worth $2,817,100. Their total pool is worth $7,997,200, eleventh most in baseball. One thing you can’t look past - it’s still really early. In fact, not everyone has even started their season yet - which you can understand if you’re living in an area that accumulates snow and/or gets really cold. In poking around to prepare for this article, I learned a few things or, at a minimum, verified things I already thought I knew: The states of California and Georgia are “loaded.” I was also warned that you might see a lot of deals get cut in the days leading up to the draft. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because I hear that almost every year… and then the draft happens. The reason for the belief this year is that after less than a dozen elite prospects, there are a jumble in the next tier... and the difference between being the 15th pick and the 45th pick is a lot of money. In no way is this intended to be a comprehensive list of guys the Twins are considering at #15. Nowhere on Earth does that list exist. Not now and really not until the days leading up to the draft. But if a discussion is what you want… so let’s start that discussion right now about five guys right now. (I’ll include each player’s ranking from Baseball America, Keith Law and MLB.com in parenthesis.) The Peaches from the Southeast William Benson, OF, Georgia HS (23;20;18) - Benson is huge (6’ 6, 225), young (won’t turn 18 til after the draft) and oozes with athleticism (he helped lead his basketball team to a 21-3 record before being ousted early in the playoffs). But there are questions about his bat - as there are with most prep hitters. He’s shown plenty of raw power and has the arm strength to remain in right field. Braxton Garrett, LHP, Alabama HS (35;9;41) - A Vanderbilt signee and Boras advisee, Garrett has a fastball that is usually in the low-90s, a 70 curveball almost every time he throws it and a plus change-up when he’s on. Garrett is going to be become a more prominent prospect as the draft approaches and will probably - despite what the draft rankings show - be gone before the Twins get an opportunity to select him. Josh Lowe, 3B/RHP, Georgia HS (11;18;17) - The Twins have drafted two-way studs before (like Aaron Hicks) and given the player the chance to succeed as a position player. Lowe is very athletic and has a bat that packs a lot of power. As far as where he could play defensively, he could be a plus defender at 3B or any of the OF spots. The question, again, is how the bat plays. Unlike Benson, though, the fallback plan for Lowe would be to move to the mound where he’s raw, but has the ceiling of a #2 starter. Going Back to Cali Cal Quantrill, RHP, Stanford (29;21;20) - Before blowing out his elbow in March of 2015, Quantrill was a player frequently talked about as having 1-1 stuff. He’ll be back pitching for Stanford within the next month and the Twins will be watching closely. As it’s been in the past with Jeff Hoffman (8th), Lucas Giolito (16th) and Erick Fedde (18th), the 15th spot in the draft could be a prime spot to nab a TJ-recoverer, especially one with the ceiling of a staff ace. Could the Twins shave some dollars from the abundance of Top 100 picks and offer Quantrill, who is repped by the other superagent Casey Close, more money in hopes of having him slide? Matt Manning, RHP, California HS (25;12;NR) - His season just starting, Manning is going to be all over national boards until teams have an opportunity to see him, something the Twins and scouting director Deron Johnson did earlier this week. Reports indicate that Manning was throwing “hard.” If it came down to drafting one of these five, who do you want? And why? Click here to view the article

I like what you're doing here Seth. I like an exercise so simple... but I'd also like to see the games broke down - in your opinion - into high-, mid-, and low-leverage situations... maybe something to think about anyway. Especially if you can see a trend of how pitchers are being used and if it changes.

The swing-and-miss is always going to be in his game. With his swing, you're going to get power and you're going to get swing-and-miss. The biggest question is whether he's going to make enough contact to have value as he moves forward. This is a big year for him as it's the most advanced pitchers he'll have seen to date.

Hopefully you’ve all gotten a chance to warm up after sitting in the less-than-ideal weather at Target Field Monday for the Twins Home Opener. If you haven’t properly warmed up, or if your mood towards the parent club has gone cold, grab your cup of joe and learn all about what happened in the Twins farm system on the first Monday of the minor league schedule.It wasn't a very productive day for the affiliates as all three teams that played put a tally in the loss column. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester vs Lehigh Valley The Red Wings (2-1) issued a press release on Monday afternoon informing fans that their game against the IronPigs would be postponed due to rain. The two clubs will face off in a doubleheader on Tuesday beginning at 4:05 pm. Both games will be of the seven-inning variety. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Biloxi 3 Box Score In a rematch of the 2015 Southern League Championship Series, the Lookouts (1-4) came out on the wrong end in this match-up, losing four games in the five-game set. Ryan Eades gave up the first run of the game after allowing a single and issuing a walk to start the third inning. Biloxi followed with two sacrifices to open the scoring. Eades closed out his evening with three scoreless frames to finish with a very respectable line: six innings, three hits, one run, two walks and three strikeouts. Offensively, the Lookouts were able to push only one run across the plate and that was in the fifth inning. Engelb Vielma, who reached on a one-out single, was driven in on a single by Leo Reginatto. Those two singles were two of the seven singles produced today. Chattanooga had no extra-base hits. Daniel Palka led the lineup with two hits. Jake Reed came into a tie game and hit the first batter he faced. After allowing a single to the next batter, Reed allowed a one-out, two-run triple. It appeared that center fielder Zach Granite had a play on the ball but may have misjudged how much room he had between himself and the wall. The ball deflected off the wall and skittered away from Granite. Regardless of whether he should have caught it or not, the go-ahead run would have scored either way. Reed recorded five more outs despite only facing four batters - thanks to a double-play and Mitch Garver erasing a walk with a pick-off from behind the dish. Reed’s line in the loss: two innings, two hits, two runs, one walk, one hit batter, no strikeouts. Reed has allowed two runs in both of his 2016 outings. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 0, Brevard County 2 Box Score After splitting the four-game season-opening home-and-home series with Bradenton, the Miracle dropped the first game of their four-game set with Brevard County. The offense was able to get runners on base, picking up eight hits (one more than their opponent), but a lack of extra base hits (none), walks (none), hits with runners in scoring position (0-for-4) and an abundance of strikeouts (ten) prevented the club from getting any of those runners around the bases and to home plate. TJ White and Alex Real each collected two hits. Felix Jorge took the loss in his high-A debut, but not by much fault of his own. He allowed six runners to reach (five hits and a walk) in six innings, two of who scored. Jorge struck out seven. According to Brice Zimmerman, Jorge was “sitting 92-94” with his fastball and hit 97, also citing a “nice slider and workable change-up.” Brian Gilbert (1.1 IP) and Luke Westphal (1.2 IP) combined to finish the game. Each allowed one hit and each struck out one. Gilbert also issued a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Quad City 9 Box Score The Kernels dropped their first game of the season and did so without putting up much of a fight. Chris Cavaness (single), LaMonte Wade (single, five-game hitting streak), Zander Wiel (hit, walk) and Rafael Valera (hit by pitch) provided all the offense. Again, no extra-base hits. Only one walk. And 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. To add insult to… well, insult, the Kernels committed four errors, including Jermaine Palacios’s second of the season. Valera was also caught stealing twice. Dereck Rodriguez took the rock and pitched six innings. He allowed eight hits and five runs while striking out six. Kuo Hua Lo allowed three unearned runs in one inning, striking one out. Michael Theofanopoulos allowed a run in his inning of work. It would be nice if there were a positive or two to work into this the recap… about the most positive part is that the Kernels have a noon game on Tuesday, so they can wash the stink of this game out of their memories. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Eades (6 IP, 3 H, R, 2 BB, 3 K) Hitter of the Day – Daniel Palka (2-for-4, no strikeouts) There was not a single extra base hit, nor a single RBI on Monday. Palka wins by default, really. He was the only hitter who collected multiple singles and didn’t strike out. Ouch. TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (4:05PM CST) – LHP Logan Darnell (0-0, -.-- ERA) Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (following game one) – RHP David Martinez (0-0, -.-- ERA) Jackson @ Chattanooga (5:15PM CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler (0-1, 5.40 ERA) Brevard County @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – LHP Randy Rosario (0-0, -.-- ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (NOON CST) – RHP Miles Nordgren (0-0, -.-- ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article