Pitz

After starting the season 1 for 19, Palacios is hitting .553 over his last 12 games with 4 doubles and a triple, 7 walks and 5 strikeouts.

Great to see Randy Rosario back and pitching well.

A bit surprised to see Blankenhorn promoted, but I won't complain. I'm guessing it probably had more to do with the numbers of corner infielders at the 2 short season clubs. Could it also be an indication that Kolton Kendrick is coming off the DL and making his debut soon?

Sorry, I didn't intend my comment in a negative way. I really appreciate the analysis and it certainly gives insight into where Dozier is experiencing so much success and how successful he has been in comparison to others. His success is fantastic and coming from a guy who was never considered much of a prospect is remarkable. I just didn't know if there was some mechanical change, or change in approach, etc. that might indicate why he's been able to essentially remake himself as a hitter. But Dozier doesn't seem to want to give that away and fairly so.

I've got mixed feelings about Arcia. He's been on a power binge of late and certainly that would be great to add to the lineup (or bench). However, his K and BB rates are concerns. In those last 11 games mentioned previously, he's K'd 12 times and has 1 BB. If we expand the arbitrary starting point, in his last 18 games he has 22 K's and still only the 1 BB (and his HR and Double totals don't increase at all). But over the last 23 games, he's slashing .289/.333/.567 which would be a nice boost to the offense. Do they make up for his defensive liabilities? Would his poor plate discipline continue to be much more exposed at the big league level?

Great article, but I think the title is a bit misleading. The information is fantastic, but it doesn't really tell us why he's been so good as much as it tells us more specifics about what he's good at and how good he's been at it. Of course its difficult to analyze the 'why,' especially when the player is not going to give away the reasons. Thanks for the analysis, Parker.

I think a case could be made for promoting all or either of Slegers, Eades, and Hu. (Edit: And yes likely the strongest case for Hu.)

Yes, but it may raise a bit of concern about his projections as a starter. Is it a stamina issue? (Somewhat hard to believe given the conditioning work he does) Maybe it is a matter of getting through a lineup multiple times. Perhaps at AAA, hitters are making more in-game adjustments. This could be an important step in the development of Berrios - learning to make adjustments and game planning for how to vary his pitches as he works his way through a lineup multiple times. I'm not going to doubt the kid though as he has shown incredible makeup - I believe he'll get the most out of his talent. And the first five innings do serve as a reminder that he has the "stuff" to succeed.

The Twins' pool according to Baseball America is $3,948,500. + 5% = $4,145,925 (If my math is correct).

There has been considerable debate on TD about whether the Twins should be willing to blow past there pool as some other teams have done and be willing to take the penalties in hopes of signing a great class of talent. It is not my intention to reopen that discussion and the ethics of the international signing strategies. What I will say is that if the Twins aim to stay within the rules and the spending limits, I think they have done a pretty solid job of trying to mix in high dollar guys and also 'spreading the net fairly wide.' When they see a player (such as Javier) who they think is worth the big bonus and they have a good chance to sign, they are willing to do so, but they have also mixed in a good number of smaller bonus signs that have also shown some promise. Signing these guys is complex and there appear to be so many factors that dictate where a player will sign, I do not have any problem with the Twins approach as they have (at least up to this point) worked within the rules and pools set forth by MLB.

Yeah, I was wondering about the 'big-boned' comment in the article. Based on his listed height/weight (though they are rarely that accurate) and the pictures I've seen of him, he seems to be a fairly good build for a starting pitcher. Also, has it been said that the plan is for Berrios is to start on Friday? I haven't seen any confirmation and other indications were that it may be Saturday. Friday would be his 5th day, but is also the 5th day for Duffey.

You wouldn't happen to be personally benefitting from them spending extra time in Chattanooga would you?

Although overshadowed by the offensive exploits of Sano/Kepler/Walker, Tyler Duffey has been fantastic of late as well. He's now gone 22.1 innings (across 3 starts) since giving up his last earned run. He's amassed 19 strikeouts to 3 walks and 15 hits in those innings. His ERA in AAA is now 2.82 (If not for a very rough start on June 11, it would be much much lower - half of his 14 AAA earned runs were given up in that 5.1 inning start.)

Any chance Sano and/or Kepler get promoted to AAA soon? Before Friday would be terrific since I'm heading to the Red Wings' game in Lehigh Valley

He's had a good month, slashing .333/.432/.440 in June - vast improvements over is April and May numbers.

Player A - 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR Player B - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR Player C - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 2 HR Who's your pitcher of the day?

Has it been posted on TD that Jack Barrie was released? I don't recall seeing it but its certainly possible I missed it. Didn't see his name listed on either GCL or ELZ rosters so I was curious. According to his intragram account, he was released four days ago, but it is not listed on the Twins' transaction page. Anybody have any insights on why he was released? They certainly have a number of corner infielders in the rookie leagues.

Nice to see Blankenhorn with a couple extra base hits to start his pro career. Hopefully we'll be seeing his draft mate Cabbage joining the hit parade soon. GCL does have some intriguing guys to follow.

Back to back sterling starts for Duffey. 15.1 IP; 0 ER; 11 H; 1 BB; 15 Ks

I don't have a Baseball America subscription to read the full article, but both Graterol and Bellorin signed for 6 figures. I haven't found any exact numbers anywhere, but if anybody has any info, feel free to post.

Of course dealing with small sample sizes is dangerous as numbers can be altered quite significantly in one outing. On the day I posted this, Carlos Suniaga had a rough outing giving up 6 hits 1 BB and 5 ER in 1 inning of work. His K/BB numbers are still strong though despite a now quite ugly ERA/WHIP. Brusdar Graterol also pitched an inning in the game - giving up a hit while adding 2 K's to his impressive total.

I've been a Twins fan my whole life. About 6 years ago I started paying more attention to the minor league system, and found myself getting excited about the potential of young guys. As I started to pay more attention, I found myself looking further down the pipeline to the Dominican Summer League stats to see who might be the next guys to show up on prospect lists. Of course information is pretty scarce on a majority of these players and scouting reports seems non-existent except for the higher bonus guys. While scouting box scores and stat lines is always precarious, one guy caught my eye. That player was mentioned by Miguel Sano as one to watch for this most recent spring - Alexis Tapia. Tapia will likely be heading to the Appy League next week, but has pitched 2 innings in relief for Fort Myers this year as well. And while he certainly has a work a lot to prove given that he is still in the rookie levels, I am pleased to see him getting some attention. Why did he catch my eye in 2013 in the DSL box scores? A combination of his size (6'2" 190ish) and an excellent K/BB ratio (31/5). Tapia showed well in the GCL last year as well and hopefully the 19 year old will continue to develop and give Twins fan another pitcher to dream on. As I look at this years DSL squad and some of the early season returns, there are a few pitchers with similar characteristic to those that drew my attention to Tapia. Of course, we are still dealing with extremely small sample sizes, but so far so good. While Huascar Ynoa gets more attention due to his larger signing bonus, here are a few others to keep an eye on: (Click on their name to go to their respective MILB player pages) Brusdar Graterol : The 6' 1" 180lb Venezuelan righty has pitched 10 innings across 3 outings and amassed 15 strikeouts to just 1 walk, an impressive start for the youngster who is still only 16 years old! Carlos Suniaga : Another Venezuelan righty, Suniaga turned 18 last month and is 6'2" 187. In 12.2 innings he has struck out 11 and walked only 1. Miguel De Jesus : Miguel is a bit older at 19 and comes from the Dominican Republic. He's 6'2" 175 and also throws right handed. He has been dominant though, with 22 K's and only 1 BB in 15.2 innings. His WHIP is a ridiculous 0.45 and he has yet to allow a run. Due to his older age, perhaps we could see De Jesus make a few appearances in the GCL this season. Luis Bellorin : Luis is another Venezuelan. He's 17 years old 6'1" 167. He's a bit smaller and his walk numbers aren't quite as good as the others on this list. In 14.1 innings, he has walked 6 and struck out 12. Again, the numbers aren't quite as exciting, Luis is unique to the others in an exciting way due to the fact that he's a southpaw. It will be interesting to see how these young guys develop. Obviously, they've got a long way to go to even get on the prospect radar, let alone a big league roster. However, their numbers this year suggest the Twins have done a pretty good job of adding some upside arms in the international market.

To me getting him in the MLB bullpen is a win-win-win. (But it shouldn't be decisive of his future role beyond this year.) The rotation depth is there for this year, that Meyer shouldn't be needed as a starter for the big club. Win #1 - It allows Meyer to get experience getting big league hitters out. I'm in favor of starting out in lower leverage opportunities and hopefully easing him into higher leverage situations. Win #2 - It allows Meyer to work more closely with Neil Allen. Win #3 - It infuses more talent into the bullpen.

3 for 4 tonight with 2 triples. Is there a hotter hitter on the planet right now?

Anyone heard anything about when Dalton Hicks or Levi Michael may be getting back on the field? After a really good May, Travis Harrison has really been struggling. Nice to see Kepler with a couple hits. I know its not wise to scout stat lines, but based on his June walk and strike out numbers already nearly matching his May totals, I'd say pitchers have made some adjustments - and he seems to be adjusting as well. Of course I could be making all this up. Anybody have any insights?