Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Steven Buhr

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,682

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Blog Entries posted by Steven Buhr

  1. Steven Buhr
    The Cedar Rapids Kernels passed the midpoint of the first half of their 2015 season over the past weekend, making it an appropriate time to get manager Jake Mauer’s assessment of how their season is progressing.
     
    There’s not a lot for the manager to complain loudly about, with his team vying for the second best record in the entire Midwest League. Then again, his guys have consistently remained several games behind Western Division leading Quad Cities in the standings, so there’s certainly room for improvement, too.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Mauer15a-429x600.jpg
    Kernels manager Jake Mauer

    If the Kernels can maintain distance between themselves and the other Western Division challengers behind them, they’ll lock in a postseason spot as the Division’s first half runner-up, even if they can’t overtake Quad Cities by mid June.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    In a conversation last weekend, Mauer quickly identified the primary reason for the Kernels’ success so far.
     
    “Starting pitching has been good, for the most part,” Mauer said. “The bullpen’s been really good, for the most part and the defense has been good.”
     
    It’s not a coincidence that those two aspects have led to wins on the scoreboard.
     
    “It goes hand in hand,” Mauer explained. “The pitchers throw strikes and the boys get a chance to catch it. If (pitchers) don’t throw strikes and we’re standing for a while, when they do hit it, sometimes we’re not ready for it. It’s not an excuse but that’s what happens.
     
    “Defense has been good, for the most part. We’re making the plays that we should and I think that’s the reason we’re pitching so well.”
     
    Kernels shortstop Nick Gordon, the Twins’ first round draft pick a year ago, seconded his manager’s opinion on the value of the team’s defense this season.
     
    “Pitchers like to throw strikes when they know they’ve got good defense behind them,” Gordon said on Saturday.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/P4290565-2-600x400.jpg
    Nick Gordon

    There’s one aspect of the pitching game that has surprised Mauer and it’s a component that defense has nothing to do with. More than half of the pitchers who have toed the rubber for the Kernels have averaged at least a strikeout for every inning pitched, led by reliever Cam Booser’s 1.75 strikeouts per inning.
     
    “We’ve struck out a lot more guys than anticipated, which is probably a little bit of a surprise,” Mauer admitted. “We thought we’d have a couple of guys that would be able to strike guys out. Booser, obviously, and (Zach) Tillery, some of the guys that have some pretty good stuff. But for the most part, the pitching’s been what’s kept us going.”
     
    He wouldn’t be a manager of young players if he couldn’t find room for improvement, of course.
     
    “Still way too many walks,” Mauer said, concerning a few members of his staff. “We’re not taking that step forward, which is a little disappointing.”
     
    Coincidence or not, since Mauer said those words, the Twins have sent several new pitchers to join the Kernels.
     
    At least one case, of course, had nothing to do with a pitcher walking too many batters. Opening Day starting pitcher Mat Batts was rewarded for his strong work this spring with a promotion this week to Class high-A Fort Myers.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/P4290550-2-600x400.jpg
    Mat Batts

    Pitching alone doesn’t win games, however. You need to score some runs, too, and the Kernels have outscored all but three teams in the Midwest League this year.
     
    “The middle of our lineup is really starting to produce, which is huge,” Mauer observed, in regards to his lineup. “We’re starting to see some of the offensive guys hopefully get their legs underneath them and start going. We need some more contributions, especially from the bottom half of the order. I’d like to get our top half going again, but the middle’s been pretty good as of late.”
     
    The "middle of the lineup" that Mauer referred to includes first baseman/outfielder Trey Vavra, who leads the Kernels in all three of the "Triple Crown" offensive categories, batting average (.353), home runs (6) and Runs Batted In (25), as well as almost every other offensive category that involves the use of his bat.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TreyVavra2015a-600x400.jpg
    Trey Vavra

    The Kernels haven’t faced any of the league’s Eastern Division teams yet, while seemingly matching up with the last two teams in the Western Division standings, Beloit and Wisconsin, at least every other week. Both of those clubs have younger rosters than many of their MWL competitors, including the Kernels.
     
    That may have something to do with their early success, the manager will admit, but he’s not stepping up to volunteer to give back any of the wins against those teams, either.
     
    “We’ve feasted on some of the pitchers we’ve needed to feast on, there’s no doubt about it,” Mauer observed. “We’re supposed to do that.”
     
    But the manager doesn’t feel his guys have been bad against the better pitching they’ve faced, either.
    “What we’re looking for is just a little more consistent approach at the plate.”
     
    Gordon summed up the approach that he and his teammates are taking as they enter the final weeks of the season’s first-half.
     
    “Our goal is to win so we’re out to compete and give our best,” the shortstop offered. “As for me, it’s been a learning experience for me to come out here and play against great competition every single night. You’ve got to make adjustments, you’ve got to learn. I feel as a team, we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”
  2. Steven Buhr
    A year ago, Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher Michael Cederoth was neither a Minnesota Twins prospect, nor was he a starting pitcher. But times change.
     
    Cederoth was wrapping up his college career at San Diego State in May of 2014, looking forward to entering the June amateur player draft and getting his professional career started. The 6’ 6” tall pitcher spent his junior season as the team's closer and his 20 saves tied the Aztecs' school record.
     
    A year later, he's a starting pitcher in the Kernels' rotation with a 1-2 record, a 3,75 ERA and 24 strikeouts in the same number of innings pitched over five starts. On Saturday, he threw six innings, giving up just two runs, in the Kernels' 5-2 win over Beloit in the first game of their doubleheader sweep over the Beloit Snappers.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15c-600x400.jpg
    Michael Cederoth

    Cederoth was the Twins’ 2014 third round draft pick last June and soon after found himself in the starting rotation for the Twins' rookie-level team in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
     
    At San Diego State, Cederoth pitched for the late Tony Gwynn, who lost his battle with cancer last year. His face lights up when asked about playing for the Hall of Famer.
     
    “Wow. I mean, imagine playing for any HOF baseball player. It’s something that every kid wants to be when they grow up and to have that as a coach at the college level is a great opportunity. I was blessed with the fact that he gave me the opportunity to play underneath him and I’ll never forget all the memories I got with him and playing underneath him.”
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    What can a pitcher learn from a guy who made his fame and fortune swinging a bat, rather than throwing the ball? Plenty, according to Cederoth.
     
    “We definitely picked his brain. You’ve got one of the best hitters in baseball ever to play the game. Of course you’re going to want to know what’s in the hitter’s mind, so it really helps having that as a pitcher. Because we know what we’re doing out there – we want to know what (hitters) are thinking and he’s the best guy to ask.”
     
    Cederoth had a reputation with scouts as being a hard-thrower (occasionally hitting 100 mph on the radar gun) who could be a fast riser with the right organization. One national prospects writer even projected him to have the potential to reach the big leagues as a bullpen arm by the end of 2015.
     
    Instead, Cederoth is spending 2015 in the class A Midwest League with the Kernels as the Twins attempt to make a starting pitcher out of him.
     
    And that’s just fine with Cederoth.
     
    “He wants to do it,” Kernels pitching coach Henry Bonilla said, of Cederoth. “He definitely wants to be a starter. I think he enjoys the nuances that go with it. He has to prepare every day for that one day that he gets his day (to pitch).”
     
    When you ask Cederoth, he makes it clear he’s dedicated to whatever role the Twins see as the best fit for him within the organization.
     
    “Growing up, I’ve always been however I’m needed, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.
     
    “If they want me to be a starter, then I’m going to do my best to be a starter. If tomorrow they tell me they want me to be relief, then I’m going to do my best to be a reliever,” he added. “They’re giving me this opportunity so I’m going to show them, ‘OK, If you want me to be a starter, I’m going to try my best to be the best starter I can be.’”
     
    It’s not like the starting pitcher role is totally foreign to Cederoth, after all.
     
    Cederoth was a successful starting pitcher his first two years at San Diego State and converted to the bullpen for his final year on the Aztecs’ staff.
     
    The Twins have made a practice, in recent years, of drafting strong-armed college relievers and giving them experience in a starting rotation, at least at the lower minor league levels.
     
    Bonilla admitted that helping a pitcher make that transition isn’t always easy.
     
    “It’s a problem if the kid doesn’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s a little harder when you try to make a guy a starter and he wants to be a 1-2 innings blowout kind of guy.”
     
    Bonilla also provided some insight in to the organization’s thinking when they consider whether to try to turn a successful college reliever in to a professional starter.
     
    “A lot of times you’ll see a guy and you’ll go, ‘ok, at worst, he’s going to be a reliever. Let’s see what we’ve got.’”
    Bonilla thinks Cederoth definitely has the potential to make it as a starter because he not only has the high-velocity fastball in his arsenal, but is developing other quality pitches, as well.
     
    “He’s got a mix (of pitches) to him. He can spin the ball. He’s got both the curveball and slider and with that velo, can he maintain it?”
     
    And if, later, it turns out Cederoth returns to the bullpen, the effort has not been in vain, according to the pitching coach.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CederothBP-400x600.jpg
    Michael Cederoth

    “The good thing about it, as a reliever he’ll get 1-2 innings of experience at a time. Here he’s getting 6 innings, 7 innings, 100 pitches at a time. It gets him out of his element. A lot of these guys, they’re comfortable doing one thing. When they’re uncomfortable, you see their true colors. So you’ll see him starting something new and he really has to adjust, you can see his mental capacity and what he really is.
     
    “He (Cederoth) is doing a really good job of transferring to the starting position. It’s hard.”
     
    For his part, Cederoth isn’t interested in even discussing any potential Plan B the organization might have.
     
    “I really didn’t think about that,” he said. “I can’t think about that. They didn’t tell me that. Honestly, they told me they want me to be a starter and I’m really trying to be the best starter I can be. I’ve been working a lot and trying to hone my mechanics and my delivery.”
     
    Having served in both roles in college, Cederoth is more prepared to make the switch than other college relievers who have seldom started a game above the high school level. He comes in to the process already aware of adjustments he has needed to make.
     
    “A lot of it is routine, that’s really the similarity,” he explained. “But the difference is, what are the routines? So that is really what I had to transition with. I knew how to do a routine, I knew how to get in to a routine, but now it’s the routine as a starter.
     
    “As a reliever, every day could be your day. So every day is kind of the same thing. As a starter, you have a routine. Every day is different, but it’s the same thing every week. The game you’re starting you throw 6 innings. The next day, what’s that day? And then the following day after that?
     
    “As a reliever, you might have to pitch that day so you do everything you can to get ready to pitch that day. Did you pitch that day? Well you have to do the same thing the next day. If you pitched that day, well, you might have to pitch the next day. So, it’s the same thing every day. That’s really the physical part.”
     
    There are differences in the mental approach, as well, according to Cederoth.
     
    “As a reliever, your job is to come in there and get three, six, maybe nine outs. At most nine outs, hopefully. Because you want to throw the next day,” he explained.
     
    “As a starter, you want to flip the lineup at least twice. It’s really a chess game. You’ve really got to plan out how you’re going to pitch. What did you give the guy his first at bat? What did he show you when you threw this pitch? You’ve got to keep that in the back of your head.
     
    “It’s not just a bulldog mentality of go after him bang - bang - bang. You have to plan out what kind of game you’re going to go in to and what kind of hitters they have, unless you’re just gifted with the fact that you can just do the same thing over and over again and get guys out. If you’re on your game, then great, then you can do that. When you’re not always on your ‘A’ game, you’ve got to deal with what the day gives you.”
     
    Tall pitchers, like Cederoth, often are challenged to develop consistent, repeatable deliveries and that’s something he’s working on with Bonilla this season. He’s also working to improve his secondary pitches.
     
    “Curveball and change up right now. My curveball has come a long way,” Cederoth said, of the pitches he’s specifically working to integrate in to his game plans. “You’re facing guys twice. You go fastball – slider to one guy. Maybe the next time you face him, you throw a curveball at him. Completely change their whole game
    plan.”
     
    Striking out batters has never been an issue for Cederoth and through five starts for the Kernels, he has averaged more than a strike out per inning. Ultimately, however, the ability to develop several effective pitches will likely determine whether Cederoth – or any starting pitcher – will have success in a big league rotation. He’s well aware of that.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15a-600x400.jpg
    Michael Cederoth

    “There’s some guys that can survive on just three pitches,” he said, adding, “I believe that I can get four good pitches. My change up is something that I’m really trying to get. If I can get that down, I can have more success getting early outs and dropping my pitch count. That’s been my problem, the pitch count. So getting that quick out, just getting a guy to roll over, is something I’m really trying to work on. Right now, it’s not totally ready, but it will be soon.”
     
    Cederoth is also working on his mechanics with his pitching coach and he’s clearly pleased to be getting another opportunity to work with Bonilla, who had the same role for the Twins’ rookie level team at Elizabethton a year ago.
     
    “Don’t get me wrong, I had amazing pitching coaches in college, but when I came to Elizabethton last year, I worked with Henry Bonilla. We had a great relationship in rookie ball.
     
    “My problem has always been my balance in my drive leg. There’s so much going on in my wind up that it’s not always consistent. My body is leaning a different way every time instead of always going toward home. I’ve always had to try to adjust in mid pitch and that’s why I’ve been so inconsistent. So what we’ve focused on (is) the plant leg getting right and make sure everything is going towards home.
     
    “So, yes, mechanically, I’m becoming a little more sound and I’m happy about it.”
  3. Steven Buhr
    You might not guess it just to look at him, as he patrols centerfield for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but there’s a good chance that Tanner English is among the most athletic ballplayers on the roster.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15a-600x400.jpg
    Tanner English (Photo: SD Buhr)

    Sure, he measures just 5’ 10” tall and is listed at just 160 pounds, but don’t let his size fool you. English has athletic skills.
     
    For example, how many of his team mates do you think could do a standing back-flip in the middle of the field?
     
    More to the point, how many do you think have actually DONE a standing back-flip in the middle of the field?
     
    Now that he’s trying to earn a living playing ball, you might not see English repeating the feat, but, as this video proves, he has certainly demonstrated he’s capable of it.
     

    Yes, you may have noticed that the back-flip wasn’t the only oddity in that video, from his time with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2013. English also was the pitcher who recorded the final out of that game.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Neither pitching nor back-flips have been part of the 22-year-old’s repertoire since he signed with the Twins after being drafted in the 11th round last summer following a three year career at the University of South Carolina.
     
    “No, the team we were playing that night in the Cape, that was their last game and we were going in to the playoffs,” English explained, while laughing. “Our bullpen was kind of spent and we had about a two-hour rain delay that night, so our coach was looking for people who could pitch. Me and another outfielder said, ‘hey, sign us up. We’ll do it.’ I just got up there for fun and threw some strikes.”
     
    And the back-flip?
     
    Again, the laugh, before the explanation from English.
     
    “We were kind of messing around the whole game, playing rain-delay games and stuff. Then a whole bunch of the guys on the team bet me I wouldn’t do it (the back-flip). So I showed them that I would. I proved them wrong.”
     
    English isn’t looking to make a name for himself as a pitcher – or a gymnast – at this point. Instead, he’s continuing to build his reputation on being a reliable center fielder who gets on base regularly and knows how to move along the basepaths once he does.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/EnglishSB2015-600x400.jpg
    Tanner English (2) with a successful stolen base (Photo: SD Buhr)

    In fact, English is tied for the most stolen bases for the Kernels this season with seven swiped bases. He's likely to pull in to the lead, too, since the player he's tied with is Zach Granite, who was promoted to class high-A Fort Myers last week.
     
    As for his skills in the field, English’s outfield defense has already landed him on ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays of the Day,” for the diving catch captured in this video:
     

    “That was probably my number one goal, going to college,” he recalled. “’Man, I just want to get on ESPN’s Top 10 one time.’ I had a couple of opportunities to do that, so that was pretty cool.”
     
    For some young players, playing in front of a few thousand people on a night that Cedar Rapids’ Veterans Memorial Stadium is packed is a new experience, but that’s nothing unusual for English.
     
    South Carolina’s baseball program has been a big-time Division I program for years and English got to experience the thrill of playing in the finals of the 2012 College World Series with the Gamecocks as a freshman.
     
    “That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life,” English recalled, despite the fact that his club lost to Arizona in the finals. “Shoot, 30,000-plus fans at the game, everyone was going nuts. I know that every kid that plays college baseball, that’s their dream is to get there and I’m one of the rare few that can say that got to play there and play for a championship.”
     
    With the promotion Granite to Fort Myers, English is likely to be the primary leadoff hitter for the Kernels. It’s a role he feels he’s ready for.
     
    “I’ll hit wherever they want me to hit,” English said. But he’s aware his role is changing following Granite’s promotion and he’s working with Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins to be prepared to be the club’s table-setter at the top of the lineup.
     
    “Really just trying to shorten things up, because I have a tendency to get a little bit long and try to hit the ball a lot further than I should, obviously, now as the leadoff hitter. That’s one of the big things I’ve been working on with Tommy and Jake (Mauer).”
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15b-600x400.jpg
    Tanner English (Photo: SDBuhr)

    Watkins believes English can handle the spot at the top of the Kernels’ batting order.
     
    “Yeah, I think so. I’m a big fan of his. He’s got tools," Watkins said, of English, over the weekend. “We’re trying to get him to trust himself – believe in his abilities. He can play baseball."
     
    “I think there is a difference when you lead off," Watkins added, "but just talking to Tanner about slowing things down a little bit and not using his body as much. He’s been doing a good job with that. Hopefully, he just keeps getting better – keep progressing on cutting the body down and using his hands a lot more.”
     
    English acknowledged that he and his fellow position players are going to need to step up their games if the Kernels are going to be successful. Early in the season, the club’s pitching has largely been carrying the bulk of the load on the field, while the offense has been sporadic.
     
    English is confident the hitting will come around.
     
    “We probably need to stop missing our pitch, as a team. We have great hitters on the team, but I don’t think we’re hitting to our fullest potential right now. We just need to get to a point where everyone’s in that groove and feeling comfortable and getting to where we can barrel everything up.
     
    “I know that baseball is hard, but just kind of do a better job in certain situations.”
     
    If he and the Kernels can do that, the Kernels' chances of competing for a third straight Midwest League Championship will improve significantly, but don't expect to see English doing any celebratory back-flips on the field.
     
    Then again, don't bet him that he won't do it.
  4. Steven Buhr
    I’ve been down here in Fort Myers, Florida, for several days now and I’ve been very slow about posting anything here. My bad.
     
    The newly remodeled stadium at the Twins’ complex (now named “Century Link Field”) is very nice. Much wider concourses and a lot of variety of seating options. I’ve seen parts of a couple games at the new place, as well as a game against the Phillies at their Clearwater home. I plan to also see the Twins take on the Orioles up in Sarasota on Sunday.
     
    But I’ve spent the lion’s share of my time over on the back fields watching the minor leaguers, in particular the two Class A groups. One of them made up of guys who were Cedar Rapids Kernels last year and are likely to play for the Fort Myers Miracle this season, the other made up of players likely ticketed to start this season in Cedar Rapids.
     
    I’ve taken quite a few pictures and maybe I’ll work at getting them downloaded and posted at Knuckleballsblog.com once I get back to Cedar Rapids next week.
     
    For now, I’m going to share three separate articles I wrote for MetroSportsReport.com in Cedar Rapids. Since I don’t have space concerns here, I’m just going to combine them all in this one blog post. Enjoy.
     
    Gonsalves Will Have a New Pitch When He Returns to Cedar Rapids
     
    Ask Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves about his offseason and the first thing he may mention is his vacation to Australia with fellow Twins pitching prospects Lewis Thorpe and Sam Gibbons.
     
    “It was Sam’s 21st birthday so we made a little vacation out of it,” Gonsalves explained on Friday, while watching his Cedar Rapids Kernels teammates take on a group of Tampa Bay Rays Class A prospects.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GonsalvesST15c-600x399.jpg
    Stephen Gonsalves
     
    But hanging out with Aussies Thorpe and Gibbons down-under for a couple of weeks was just one small part of Gonsalves’ winter.
     
    The 20-year-old lefty starting pitcher played a crucial role in the playoff drive the Kernels put together during the second half of the 2014 season. He notched a 3.19 Earned Run Average while striking out 44 batters in just 36.2 innings of work over eight starts with Cedar Rapids.
     
    Some young pitchers might have felt satisfied with those numbers and focused their offseason workouts on simply adding some muscle or improving their conditioning, but not Gonsalves.
     
    The young Californian combined a 90 mph fastball with an effective slow curve and an equally effective change up to solidify his ranking as a consensus top 20 prospect within the Twins’ organization heading in to 2015.
     
    Rather than being satisfied with that, Gonsalves went home after participating in fall instructional league and went to work on broadening his arsenal of pitching weapons.
     
    “Right after instructs, I went home and started working out that next week,” Gonsalves said.
     
    “Home” for Gonsalves is San Diego, California, and he wasn’t working out alone there. He worked out with a couple of other well-credentialed pitchers with San Diego ties.
     
    “I was able to work out with Stephen Strasburg this whole offseason, got to pick his brain a lot,” Gonsalves recalled. “James Shields was there, also. So I got to mix in a lot with those guys and kind of pick their brains the entire offseason. Helped me out a little mechanically on the hill, also.”
     
    Strasburg and Shields were both rotation leaders for Major League postseason participants last year, Strasburg with the Washington Nationals and Shields with the Kansas City Royals. Shields inked a new deal as a free agent this offseason with the San Diego Padres.
     
    “I was working on a slider,” said Gonsalves. “That’s what Shields is known for, his slider, so I got to work with him for about a month just specifically on that pitch for a while. It’s coming along nicely. The Twins are starting to like it.”
     
    So far this spring, the results seem to be positive. He’s been in Ft. Myers since March 1, well before the minor leaguers began playing games. He’s made three solid appearances, building up his pitch count and getting ready to head north to Cedar Rapids when camp breaks the first full week of April.
     
    Gonsalves acknowledged that he’s likely to be one of just a small number of 2014 Kernels returning to open the new campaign in Cedar Rapids, but he’s looking forward to opening the year with the new crew of Kernels.
     
    “We’re going to have a whole new team, pretty much, (but) we’re going to have a good little squad together. It’s going to be fun. We’re going to be a little scrappy team.”
     
    Chad Christensen Hoping His Time Playing Before Hometown Fans is Over
     
    Almost a year ago, Cedar Rapids Washington grad Chad Christensen got the word he would be making his full-season pro baseball debut with his hometown club, the Cedar Rapids Kernels. This spring, the Minnesota Twins farm hand is hoping to avoid a return trip to Cedar Rapids.
     
    You can’t blame a guy for preferring a promotion up the Twins’ minor league ladder over another summer living at home.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/P3250300-600x450.jpg
    Chad Christensen & Jason Kanzler going through early morning stretching exercises
     
    In fact, hitting .272 for the Kernels last season,Christensen left Cedar Rapids, just like his Kernels teammates.
     
    “I went back to Lincoln and lived there,” Christensen explained. “A lot of guys that are in pro ball are back there so we kind ofwork out together and use the (University of Nebraska) facilities andeverything. That’s where I was doing my workouts.
     
    “I came home (to Cedar Rapids) for a couple of weeks before I came here (Fort Myers). I got down here a little early, February 23rd, to get outside, get out of the cold and get back to baseball.”
     
    With about two weeks of spring training left, his ultimate assignment is primarily just speculation, at this point, but every player in camp is hoping for a promotion and, for Christensen, that would mean a spot on the roster of the Twins’ class high-A affiliate, the Fort Myers Miracle.
     
    “I’m not positive,” Christensen said, when asked about whether he’d heard anything about where he would open the 2015 season. “I would think probably down here (in Fort Myers). But I’m just playing, it’s not up tome. I’m just trying to play every day and stay healthy and get back in the swing of things.”
     
    For Christensen, playing every day last summer meant spending time playing all around the diamond defensively for the Kernels. Christensen played all over the outfield, but also logged 90 games at firstbase. He also played 27 games at third base for Elizabethton in 2013.
     
    Versatility is a benefit for players trying to get noticed in a professional baseball organization and Christensen will be continuing to demonstrate his willingness and ability to move around the field. During spring training, however, it’s clear the Twins are wanting to see him in the outfield as much as possible.
     
    “I’ve been playing all outfield – all three outfield spots,”said Christensen. “Obviously, if I’m needed to go in to the infield again, Ican go in the infield, but I’ve been in the outfield down here, so far.”
     
    An assignment with the Miracle would keep Christensen with alot of last summer’s Kernels. Of the thirty or so players currently listed onthe Miracle’s spring training roster, over 25 spent time in Cedar Rapids last season. Christensen likes the idea of sticking with that group.
     
    “Yeah, we have a good group. Guys come ready to go every day, that’s what makes it fun,” said Christensen. “We’re looking forward to getting the season going.”
     
    Christensen isn’t the only one ready to get the season rolling. Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins indicated he is more than ready to head to Cedar Rapids. “This is like Groundhog Day,” Watkins said, alluding to the day-after-day repetitive nature of the spring training routine.
     
    Christensen indicated the players are starting to feel the same way.
     
    “Yeah, we’re starting to get kind of anxious this time of year.”
     
    Jake Mauer Hopes to Have His Roster Set Soon
     
    In less than two weeks, Cedar Rapids Kernels manager Jake Mauer will be bringing a fresh crop of 25 ballplayers north from their spring training home in Fort Myers, Florida. The exact constitution of that roster, however, is still somewhat of work in progress.
     
    Mauer said he’d like to get things finalized soon, however.
     
    “Ideally we’d like to have who we’re going to take to Cedar Rapids that last week of spring training,” Mauer explained on Thursday, just before his squad took on a Class A group of Boston Red Sox prospects.
     
    “You can do different things and put in different signs, things we’re going to use throughout the year. Make sure we get all the kinks out before we start up there at Kane County (where the Kernels open their season on April 9).”
     
    Mauer will be entering his third season as manager of the Kernels. In fact, among all of the Twins organization’s full-season teams, he’s the only manager assigned to the same club he led a year ago.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/P3260219-600x450.jpg

    Jake Mauer and Tommy Watkins with early morning instructions 
    The Twins hired Hall of Famer Paul Molitor to manage the big league team this season and former Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade is taking over the AAA Rochester Red Wings. Jeff Smith and Doug Mientkiewicz swapped their assignments this year, with Mientkiewicz managing AA Chattanooga and Smith taking over high-A Fort Myers.
     
    Mauer indicated, though, that he wasn’t surprised to be assigned to Cedar Rapids again.
     
    “No, I wouldn’t say surprised,” he said. “Obviously, Cedar Rapids is a pretty good fit for me on a personal level, family-wise. Professional-wise, baseball is baseball, wherever you’re at and at the level I’m at, I really enjoy being around the young guys and teaching every day.”
     
    Kernels fans may recognize the team’s manager this season, but they are going to want to pick up a program early on their first trip to the ballpark and study it closely, because they aren’t likely to see many familiar names or faces among the 2015 Kernels players
     
    Starting pitchers Stephen Gonsalves and Mat Batts are looking likely to return to start their new season with the Kernels and both have been, “throwing it well,” according to their manager.
     
    John Curtiss, who joined the Kernels to make a start during their playoff run a year ago, is also likely to start his summer with the Kernels.
     
    “As far as those starters, folks in CR have seen those guys a little bit, but our bullpen is going to be pretty much all new guys from what it looks like,” Mauer said.
     
    “As far as position players, I don’t think we’ll have too many guys that were there last year. Maybe a few guys that were there for a portion of the year, we may get back,” he added.
     
    Outfielders Zack Larson and Max Murphy are the only position players with time in a Kernels uniform who have been assigned to the most recent Kernels spring training working group.
     
    Mauer was quick to point out that the roster is not set, however.
     
    “It will depend with, obviously Molitor running the big league club, who he likes, who he wants to keep.”
     
    The parent Twins are still about 10 players over their opening day roster limit, so as the big club makes further cuts, there could be additions and/or subtractions from the current group of prospective Kernels.
     
    Once the season gets underway, Mauer indicated he felt the team may be relying on their starting pitching early on.
     
    “I think we’ll have some starting pitchers with a little bit of experience that I think we’ll lean on, especially early in the year. They’ll need to go out there and set the tone.”
     
    Offensively, the Kernels are going to be relying on a lot of players with little or no experience above rookie-level short season ball at Elizabethton last season.
     
    “We’re still trying to kind of get to know these guys a little bit,” Mauer said, of his position players. “As far as team speed, I don’t know if we’re going to have a lot of it. We’re going to have some guys that put up decent numbers in E’Town. Obviously, we all know it’s different going in to the Midwest League, facing a little different caliber of pitching.”
     
    A number of players are having strong springs, but Mauer was philosophical about his expectations for the Kernels once they leave the mid-80 degree temperatures of Fort Myers behind and head north.
     
    “We may go through some growing pains, but hopefully it’ll all shake out. We’ll see how we react when it’s thirty degrees out.”
  5. Steven Buhr
    In case you missed it, there's a new Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
     
    I know that, for many fans, that may come as a shock. There are fans that legally enjoy a brew or two at ballgames who have never attended a big league game that wasn't played under rules dictated by Bud Selig. If it's true that, "the exception proves the rule," then that applies to Bud Selig's role in "proving" the Peter Principle. There's no other way to explain that man surviving 22 years as Commissioner of Baseball.
     
    But today is not the day to trash Selig. Today we humbly beseech his replacement, Rob Manfred, to finally do something about a couple of the most outdated and ill-advised Selig policies. These are two issues that I have long felt were the dumbest, most indefensible of all MLB policies and yes, I've written here about both before - several times, in fact.
     
    I'm referring to baseball's policies concerning compensation for minor league players and their MLB.tv blackout policy.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    These two issues are illogical, at best, and offensive, at worst, in the way that they reflect MLB's low views of the value they place on two of the assets most critical to the game's long-term viability - their future players and their current & future fan base.
     
    FOX Sports writer Jon Paul Morosi posted an article recently that listed a number of issues that Morosi felt Manfred should focus on as he inherits Selig's throne atop Major League Baseball. I may disagree with Morosi's view concerning Selig's legacy, but his list of topics where Manfred could make improvements included a number of valid possibilities.
     
    Unfortunately, it did not include any mention of paying minor leaguers even minimum wage, much less a living wage, nor did Morosi mention the blackouts. I'm not surprised, of course. The next baseball writer from a major media outlet to properly and persistently shame baseball on either topic will be among the first.
     
    I won't go in to great detail concerning either topic. There are plenty of articles available with a simple Google search authored by far more knowledgeable and talented writers than yours truly.
     
    But if you really want to read my take on the issues, you can find my thoughts on minor league pay by clicking here and on blackouts by clicking here (where I asked the Twins President why he didn't want me to be a fan) ... and here (where I attempted to start an "Alice's Restaurant"-like movement)... and here (where I basically just trashed Selig for his inaction on the subject).
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/KernelsPractice.jpg
    Most of these guys are among the lowest compensated people at the ballpark.

    On the pay issue, suffice to say that, unless you are a US player drafted in the top couple of rounds or one of the very highest regarded international 16 year olds playing ball anywhere in the world, signing your name on a contract to play professional baseball in this country is a losing proposition. You'd almost certainly have a better shot at making a living off your competitive fire by taking up Texas Hold'em.
     
    Wages for minor leaguers start in the neighborhood of $1,100 a month. That's gross (in more ways than one). Uncle Sam is going to take his share and then there's clubhouse dues, all of which leaves a typical player with a few hundred dollars a month to cover luxuries like housing, transportation and food.
     
    Of course, the players only get their money while they are assigned to an actual minor league roster. No pay for offseason workouts or team-sponsored appearances. No pay for spring training.
     
    You think there's really little difference for a player who gets the final roster spot on a full season Class A roster coming out of spring training and the first guy left off who stays behind at extended spring training? Guess again. One guy gets paid a pitiful sum. The other guy doesn't even get that.
     
    In his article, Morosi did include this item on his recommended to-do list for Manfred: "Engaging young athletes, especially African-Americans."
     
    Here's a thought, Mr. Manfred. Maybe if you actually paid young players working their way toward the big leagues a living wage, athletically gifted kids (of any ethnicity) wouldn't laugh at you any time you suggest they put their talents to work at baseball instead of other sports, where at least they have a shot at becoming more famous indentured servants of major colleges.
     
    The good news is that a lawsuit against baseball has been filed on behalf of minor leaguers, asking the courts to require teams to pay at least minimum wage salaries to players.
     
    What is MLB's reaction to that challenge, under Selig and, so far, Manfred? They're trying to convince Congress to specifically categorize ballplayers as "seasonal workers," akin to carnival workers. And they're enlisting the help of their minor league affiliates to help lobby their elected representatives on baseball's behalf, via not-so-thinly veiled threats of "contraction" of minor league teams if baseball is forced to increase pay to their future players.
     
    Those are nice guys running big league baseball, huh?
     
    Likewise, the issue of blackouts has been out there for years. Promises from MLB executives (including Mr. Selig, himself) to take a look at the issue go back at least to 2008 and probably further. But here we are, in 2015, and still cable TV subscribers in Iowa are blacked out from watching any game involving the Twins, Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Cardinals or Royals, unless it's a national network game. The blackout even applies to subscribers of MLB.tv.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/blackoutmap.gif
    Look at all the pretty colors in Iowa and Nevada!

    This has been frustrating to me and my fellow Twins fans in Iowa for years, but nobody in baseball or the media has really cared.
     
    Now, however, thanks to WGN no longer broadcasting Cubs games on the national version of their network, a lot of Cubs fans outside of greater Chicago may suddenly discover the problem. Welcome to the club, folks. Maybe you can get the national media to notice the problem.
     
    As with the minor league pay issue, there's some news on this front. Baseball has indicated they are looking in to the matter and there may be changes to the policy forthcoming.
     
    Hmmmm... I think we've heard that before.
     
    Anyway, Mr. Manfred, if you want to convince me you are any different than your predecessor whatsoever, you can start by proving you give a damn about your fans and about just being fair to the thousands of young players who are feeding your talent pipeline by clinging to their dream of playing big league baseball.
     
    Until then, a lot of us will continue to view you as nothing more than "Bud Light."
  6. Steven Buhr
    Regardless of whether you believe the Minnesota Twins' extended search for new manager was thorough or a sham to cover for what was a foregone conclusion all along, the wait is finally over and Paul Molitor is taking over the manager's office at Target Field.
     
    The Twins announced the hiring Monday morning and will hold a press conference at 10:00 am on Tuesday to introduce Molitor as their new manager, though the decision was leaked to the traditional media types in Minneapolis days earlier.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MolitorKelly.jpg
    Former Twins manager Tom Kelly and new Twins manager Paul Molitor (Photo: SD Buhr)
     
     
    Molitor wasn't my first choice as manager, but I do believe he is qualified and potentially could be a very good choice. In fact, when you boil down all the criticisms of the choice of Molitor, they really come down to two points:
    He was already employed by the Minnesota Twins.
    He has never managed at any level of professional baseball.

    I get that a certain segment of the Twins fanbase flat out did not want a manager who had any prior connection whatsoever to Twins organization. I understand that position, though I do not agree with it.
     
    I do believe that part of the Twins' problems has been that, as an organization, it has become a bit too insular. I think that it was important to hire a manager that brings a fresh approach to the manager position and that will be more open to new ideas than Ron Gardenhire appeared to be during his tenure with the Twins.
     
    I just don't believe that the only way you get that is to hire someone with absolutely no prior ties to the club. I think we'll quickly notice that a team managed by Molitor is not simply Ron Gardenhire Part 2 (or Tom Kelly Part 3, if you prefer).
     
    (This article originally appeared at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    It sure appears, based on everything I've read and heard from people who know Molitor and have seen him work during his time as a minor league instructor and Major League coach, that he not only genuinely enjoys teaching the intricacies of baseball to young players, but he also continues to strive to learn more about the game, himself.
     
    Many former elite ballplayers come across, as they age, as guys who think they already know all there is to know about the game because they were very, very good at it when they laced up their cleats - as though all knowledge of how to play the game is a finite base of knowledge that can never be improved upon.
     
    Others simply seem to have trouble teaching the game to young players that, in most cases, simply do not have the kind of natural talent that they had during their playing days.
     
    Neither of those factors appear to be the case with Molitor, so while I would be more comfortable with this choice if he did have some managing experience at some level of professional baseball, I don't necessarily believe it should be considered a disqualifying factor for Molitor.
     
    I don't believe that General Manager Terry Ryan stretched out the process simply to appease the fan base before making the hire he intended to make all along. I think anyone who does believe that is being extremely cynical.
     
    Of course, the Twins have given their fans plenty to be cynical about lately, so it's not altogether unrealistic to suspect the worst in this case.
     
    Perhaps I'm just a bigger believer in Terry Ryan than many are, but I trust that he set out to conduct a thorough search for the best candidate and he was not going to announce a hiring until that process was complete.
     
    I also think it is possible - though not probable - that Ryan actually preferred Red Sox coach Torey Lovullo over Molitor, but was overruled by Jim Pohlad, who, by multiple reports, has had a strong relationship with Hall of Famer Molitor for years and strongly favored Molitor since the time Gardenhire was dismissed (if not before).
     
    Honestly, since we're on the subject of Pohlad's relationship with Molitor, let me just throw out now, for the record, that I won't be one bit surprised if, ultimately, Molitor succeeds Ryan as the Twins' General Manager.
     
    I can envision a scenario where Ryan may have favored Lovullo, but was unable to convince Pohlad that Lovullo was such a better choice than Molitor that Pohlad would be willing to risk seeing Molitor to walk away from the Twins organization altogether..
     
    However, since this choice is likely to determine how Ryan's legacy as Twins GM is ultimately judged, it is difficult for me to imagine him agreeing to hire a manager he did not personally believe was the right choice to help him turn the club's fortunes around. I think Ryan is the sort who would resign rather than allow the Twins ownership to impose a manager on him that he did not support in this situation.
     
    If, in fact, Ryan had a slight preference for Lovullo, but not so strong as to resign over Pohlad's insistence on Molitor (if such was actually the case), then I could only conclude that the GM is very comfortable with Molitor, as well.
     
    In the end, I'm encouraged that Ryan's top two choices for the job both have reputations for utilizing technology and advanced metrics to prepare their teams for success on the field, something Gardenhire had a reputation (deserved or not) for resisting.
     
    Along with the rest of Twinsville, I'll be very interested to find out who Molitor and Ryan will decide upon to fill out the Twins' big league coaching staff (could Molitor really bring in Robin Yount as a bench coach, giving the Twins a pair of Hall of Famers in their dugout?). Naturally, I'll also be interested to learn the organization's minor league assignments.
     
    It has certainly been an interesting first few weeks of the offseason for the Twins and it certainly appears it will continue to be the case as we move toward free agency season.
  7. Steven Buhr
    I shot several videos during my trip to Arizona to watch a few AFL games so I thought I would share a few in this post.
     
    I saw Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler, Jake Reed and Zach Jones in action during the 3 Salt River games I attended.
     
    Enjoy.
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdIeM0Q4few
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz2buQsUhg0
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtwmBDr3Ho
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR1nywxVE38
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L9AUc8AivA
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJixBC4kKYY
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_YC-2oOgM
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z0Z6hcS3rk
  8. Steven Buhr
    The Salt River Rafters made the trip across to the west side of the Phoenix area to Surprise, Arizona, on Wednesday to take on the Surprise Saguaros and, prior to the game, Twins prospects Max Kepler and Tyler Rogers took the time to answer a few questions.
     
    Kepler takes a .289/.385/.422 slash line in to Thursday night's game in Salt River, which is respectable for any hitter in the Arizona Fall League, but is perhaps even more impressive for a 21-year-old with no experience above the Class A level.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kepler2-600x400.jpg
    Max Kepler

    He's happy with his performance, so far.
     
    "I think I'm playing consistent ball," Kepler said. "I'm playing solid outfield defense. Yeah, doing everything I can right now."
     
    Players in this league have been playing ball since minor league spring training started at the beginning of March, and Kepler confirmed that the wear and tear on the body starts to catch up with them this time of year.
     
    "Yeah, it has (been a long year)," Kepler admitted, but he quickly added, "It's been an awesome year, though."
     
    This is Kepler's second year in the Arizona Fall League and he said he's definitely seeing a difference in his game this time around.
     
    "I'm more confident. I feel more confident against the pitchers," Kepler reflected. "Last year, coming out of low-A ball, I just felt like all these big names were throwing at me and I was just a little guy in the big ocean. (They were) big dudes. Now I just feel like I can handle it."
     
    Kepler has been part of two minor league championship teams in his past three years of minor league ball, winning titles with Elizabethton in 2012 and in Fort Myers this past season.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kepler3-600x400.jpg
    Max Kepler diving back in to first base on an attempted pick off

    In between those championship seasons, Kepler spent 2013 split between rehabbing an elbow injury during the first half of the season and spending the second half of the year with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    He had some good moments with Cedar Rapids, including an opposite field home run in his first home game as a Kernel, that stands out in Kepler's memory ("I remember that short porch really helped me out that first game"), but his thoughts on that season are admittedly mixed.
     
    "The fans are unbelievable (in Cedar Rapids)," Kepler said. But at the same time, recalling his efforts to overcome the injury, he added, "It was rough, but I'm glad I got to stick with that good group of guys and I hope we can move up together because we've got chemistry on that team."
     
    That "good group of guys" that Kepler played with in Cedar Rapids formed the core of this year's Florida State League championship team. That team was managed by Doug Mientkiewicz, the former Twins first baseman who has been prominently mentioned as a finalist for the Twins' managerial job this fall.
     
    The speculation has been that, should Mientkiewicz not get the Twins job, he may move up to manage the Class AA team that will be playing their first season in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
     
    "That would be awesome," said Kepler, of the possibility of playing a second year for Mientkiewicz.
     
    Kepler also provided some insight in to what it's like to play for Mientkiewicz.
     
    "He's wild," Kepler said, while laughing. "I'd say he's a little unorthodox, but it sure worked for us. We kind of went through a lot of ups and downs this year, but when we won, we won a bunch. And then when we lost one game, Doug would get on us, and I mean hard. But when he did, he fixed it and it worked for us. But, yeah, he sure was tough on us when we weren't doing well and weren't focused, but the rest of the year, he was a fun guy to be around. He was just like one of us. Yeah, I loved him."
     
    Once the AFL season wraps up, Kepler will take a little time off then begin getting ready for 2015.
    "The offseasons are getting shorter and shorter," he said. "But I'll do as much as I can with my three months of workout.
     
    "I'll travel the states for a little, go to Texas for Thanksgiving," Kepler said of his immediate plans after AFL finishes. "I'll be going home (to Germany) for Christmas and the holidays."
     
    While Kepler has been playing several days each week in Arizona, pitcher Taylor Rogers has been not much more than a spectator during the games.
     
    Rogers, a 23-year-old lefty who pitched at Class AA New Britain in 2014, was injured in the third inning of his first AFL game when a batted ball was lined off his shoulder.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Rogers1a-600x400.jpg
    Taylor Rogers

    Since then, he's been sitting.
     
    Taylor said Wednesday that he's hoping that's about to change.
     
    Rogers said that he is, "finally getting back to square one almost - back to where I can toss a little bit. Hopefully I can get a few more innings in here before the season ends.
     
    "It's something I want to do. You sign the contract to play here so I want to finish this thing out and see what I can do. We'll probably going to see how these bullpens go."
     
    Rogers, along with Kepler, Byron Buxton and Jake Reed, is a Cedar Rapids Kernels alum.
     
    Though, unlike the others, Rogers' time in Cedar Rapids barely was long enough to register on his minor league stats line. He struggled a bit during his three games for the Kernels in a very cold April of 2013 before being promoted to Fort Myers, where he had a very good season for the Miracle.
     
    "Yeah, you know what, funny what warm weather can do for you," Rogers said, with a smile, then added, "No, it was fun those 14 days or so. It was nice to get out of the cold, but I'm sure if I would have stayed in Cedar Rapids, it would have been a fun year."
     
    The weather in Cedar Rapids may have been chilly, but Rogers recalls the warm greeting he and his team mates got upon arrival.
     
    "I thought it was really cool how that was the first year of the Twins being there (as an affiliate). What I remember was the fans really welcoming us. That was just really nice to see. Something like that you don't see very often. They were excited to have us there and we felt very welcomed."
  9. Steven Buhr
    This is Part 2 of 2, concerning the work to be done this week by the Minnesota Twins staff at their "organizational meetings" in Fort Myers this week.
     
    Reports have estimated that as many as 100 members of the Twins staff may participate in the meetings this week. That's a lot of people, but then it's a big job.
     
    In Part 1, we covered the manager and coaching staffing issues. In Part 2, we look at roster matters at the Major League and minor league levels.
     
    As indicated in Part 1, over the coming days, weeks and months, the Twins need to
    Hire a new manager for the first time in over a decade.
    Work with said new manager to assemble a seven-person big league level coaching staff.
    Assign manager and coaching duties to every level of minor league affiliate.
    Determine which, if any, of their minor league free agents to attempt to retain.
    Determine at which minor league level to place a significant number of their top young prospects to start 2015.
    Determine whether to offer arbitration to a few members of their current big league roster.
    Identify potential MLB level free agents and/or trade targets to pursue once the World Series is completed.

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ToDo-List.jpg
     
    Some of the items on that to-do list are not common tasks for this organization, but even for some of those that are on the list every postseason, the stakes this year have risen significantly.
     
    Concurrently with their efforts to identify and put in place big league and farm system managers and coaches, the Twins also have some work to do on the player front.
     
    Filling out the roster(s)
     
    When the subject of filling out the 2015 roster comes up among most Twins fans, the discussion generally focuses on which of the current Twins will/should be back with the club and who potential acquisitions might be that Terry Ryan should seek in the free agent and/or trade market.
     
    Granted, those are important considerations.
     
    But, given that 2015 is looking more like a bridge to the next era of competitive baseball at Target Field than it is a destination itself, the make-up of the organization’s minor league rosters may be equally important to that of the big league roster, if not more so.
     
    For the past couple of years, as the farm system has been being restocked, even the most optimistic fans of the organization have conceded that most of the Twins’ most promising prospects have been in the low minors, multiple years away from being of any help to the parent club.
     
    Sure, it was fun to watch Byron Buxton put on a show for the Fox Sports North audience in 2013 when the cable network televised one of Buxton’s Cedar Rapids Kernels games. But while the distance between Cedar Rapids and Target Field can be traversed in less than five hours, the time it takes for a prospect to progress from the Class A Kernels to the Twins is much longer – frustratingly so, in some cases.
     
    The 2012 Elizabethton Twins won the Appalachian League championship. In 2013, many of those same players made up a Cedar Rapids Kernels playoff team that went 88-50. This past season, largely the same crop of prospects contributed to Fort Myers’ Florida State League championship team.
     
    In 2015, that group should largely fill out the roster for the first season of the Twins’ new AA affiliation with the Chattanooga Lookouts.
     
    No problem, right? Move them up there. Challenge them. A player who masters Class AA is generally considered a candidate to skip AAA and move up to the Big Club if a need for someone at his position presents itself and that player is deemed to be a more promising solution than whoever fills that position in Rochester.
     
    The thing is, you don’t have to stretch your imagination far to find 30 or more players who, arguably, should be starting their season at AA. That’s a problem when you’re only allowed 25 players on the Lookouts’ roster.
     
    Jeremy Nygaard maintains an excellent database at Twins Daily that includes a variety of important information concerning every player in the Twins organization. For example, did you know that the Twins also have 23 minor leaguers in their system eligible for free agency this offseason - or that 21 of them are already at Class AA or higher?
     
    They also have a similar number of players eligible to be selected by another organization in the Rule 5 draft if they aren’t added to the Twins’ 40-man MLB roster by December.
     
    Granted, few of those potential free agents would be viewed as potential lynchpins on future Twins teams and even fewer of the Rule 5 eligibles are likely to be lost in that draft, but with the promising class set to move up to Chattanooga, the front office does have its work cut out for it this week when they sit down to fill out preliminary rosters for their AAA and AA clubs.
     
    Finally, there’s the minor little project to assemble a Major League roster.
     
    And, by “Major League roster,” I mean a roster of players who have either demonstrated that they possess a talent level worthy of being on a Major League roster or, at least, have shown potential to be elite big leaguers in the not-so-distant future.
     
    Of course, this topic can (and certainly will) warrant entire articles devoted to it all on its own. For purposes of brevity here, suffice to say that the Twins need to identify big league talent to fill the following positions:
    A starting pitcher worthy of being a #1 or #2 starter for a competitive big league team.
    Multiple bullpen spots.
    A Major League center fielder.
    A Major League left fielder.
    Any other position that may open up due to trades.

    That’s a pretty substantial shopping list. Some of these needs may be filled from within the organization, some via trade and some via free agency. What they all have in common is that, at the end of 2014, they did not have an incumbent that you would definitively declare to be a legitimate everyday Major League talent.
     
    When you consider all the work to be accomplished this week – paring down the manager options, looking at coaching candidates for both big league and minor league positions, and assembling rosters at multiple organizational levels, not the least of which is for the Twins team itself, I’m not sure 100 people in Fort Myers is going to be enough.
     
    Of course, I have some vacation time coming if Terry Ryan would like me to come down and offer some ideas. I’m just a phone call, email or Tweet away.
  10. Steven Buhr
    While the current edition of the Cedar Rapids Kernels have been making their way through the Midwest League playoffs this week, a group of 20 Kernels alumni are on the verge of claiming the first Florida State League championship in franchise history for the Fort Myers Miracle.
     
    (Click here for David Dorsey's story on the Miracle's pursuit of a championship)
     

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Walker1.jpg
    Adam Brett Walker lines a home run vs Clinton on September 2, 2013. Walker led the FSL in HR and RBI this season for the Fort Myers Miracle
    Since their permanent home, Hammond Stadium, is undergoing major remodeling, the Miracle won the first two games of their best-of-five championship series with Daytona (Cubs) on Thursday and Friday in their temporary home park, JetBlue Stadium. They will need to win one of the next three games, all in Daytona, to claim the championship title.
     
    Thirteen active members of the Miracle suited up for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2013, when the club put together an 88-50 overall record before getting bounced from the Midwest League playoffs by eventual MWL champion, Quad Cities. Two additional ‘13 Kernels are currently on the Miracle Disabled List. The Kernels can also claim Fort Myers pitching coach Gary Lucas as an alum. Lucas was the Kernels’ pitching coach a year ago.
     
    Six current members of the Miracle (and one on their DL) were promoted to Fort Myers this season after spending time with the Kernels.
     
    The recent addition of outfielder Jeremias Pineda to the Miracle roster from Elizabethton accounts for the 20th former Kernel on their roster. Pineda spent time on the Cedar Rapids roster in both 2013 and 2014.
     
    Here’s a list of the Kernels alumni currently pursuing a FSL championship ring:
     
     
    2013 (1 coach, 13 active, 2 DL)
    Gary Lucas - pitching coach
    Madison Boer P
    Steven Gruver P
    David Hurlbut P (DL)
    Tyler Jones P
    Zack Jones P
    Brett Lee P
    Tim Shibuya P (DL)
    Matt Tomshaw P
    Tyler Grimes C/IF
    Jairo Rodriguez C
    Niko Goodrum IF
    Dalton Hicks IF
    Travis Harrison OF
    Max Kepler OF
    Adam Brett Walker II OF
     
    2014 (6 active, 1 DL)
    Nick Burdi P
    Ethan Mildren P
    Alex Muren P (DL)
    Brandon Peterson P
    Todd Van Steensel P
    Bryan Haar IF
    Jason Kanzler OF
     
    BOTH 2013 and 2014:
    Jeremias Pineda OF
  11. Steven Buhr
    Welcome to life as a minor league manager.
     
    The Cedar Rapids Kernels have some of the best pitching in Class A baseball right now. So why isn't Jake Mauer smiling and confident heading in to the MWL playoffs next week?
     
    Jim Ecker's report (click to read) following Thursday night's loss to Kane County reflects one of the challenges Mauer and other minor league managers face at this time of year. One night, your team is popping chamgagne corks (or in this case, sparkling cider), celebrating earning a top playoff seed and the next night you're slapped in the face with the cold reality of organizational innings limits on the young arms on your pitching staff.
     
    The Twins have generally been using 6-man rotations at their Class A levels to hold their young starters' innings down, theoretically allowing them to get through entire full-season schedules without having to be shut down early. However, for various reasons, the Kernels have not had the luxury of utilizing a 6-man rotation through most of the second half of their season.
     
    That appears to be catching up to the team and its manager now, as three young rotation lefties are nearing their organizationally determined innings limits for 2014.
     
    Lewis Thorpe, Stephen Gonsalves and Mat Batts have all been major contributors to the Kernels' success in the second half of the season. With Kohl Stewart sidelined by two trips to the DL, those three pitchers have been crucial cogs in the machinery that is the Kernels' rotation.
     
    Earlier this week, Chih-Wei Hu was tabbed as the likely starting pitcher for Wedneday's game 1 of the 3-game first round series against Burlington.
     
    "We're still staying with Hu," Mauer said after Thursday's game. "The other guys we don't know yet. We haven't gotten word from on top (from the Twins).
     
    "We're running into some innings issues with the three lefties. We're going to need clearance to figure out who can go and who can't."
     
    Thorpe has thrown 67.2 innings this season, all with the Kernels since joining the team during the first week of June.

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/P8150251-2-600x449.jpg
    Stephen Gonsalves

    Gonsalves has notched 62 innings, split relatively evenly between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids.
     
    Batts has 58.2 innings under his belt after spending time with the GCL Twins and E'town before joining the Kernels.
     
    Of course, all three pitchers did some pitching in extended spring training before starting their official seasons in June.
     
    Batts is the scheduled starter against Kane County in Friday night's regular season home finale in Cedar Rapids. Gonsalves and Thorpe are scheduled to start games Saturday and Sunday in Clinton.
     
    If the three left-handers are not available to start postseason games, it leaves just Hu and Ryan Eades available among the current rotation members.
     
    Stewart is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today (Friday) and could be reactivated over the weekend if that session goes well.
     
    Beyond that, it's guesswork.
     
    Josue Montanez has filled a swingman role in his career with the Twins organization. Hudson Boyd was stretched out to three innings of work Thursday night.
     
    Obviously, priority 1 for the Twins is making sure this stable of promising young arms remain healthy on what is, at best, a precarious route to Target Field.
     
    The situation in Cedar Rapids, if nothing else, serves as an answer to the questions that come up during the season from fans wondering why some of the low level minor league teams use 6-man rotations or why certain pitchers are only throwing 4-5 innings per start.
     
    In the mean time, you get the feeling maybe Jake Mauer wouldn't mind seeing Clinton, Iowa, get about three days of torrential rain over the Labor Day weekend.
  12. Steven Buhr
    Weekend Wrap Up: Kernels Clinch, Pub Crawl, MLB BlackoutsA lot of stuff has happened over the past few days.
     
    Kernels are Playoff bound
     
    First, the Cedar Rapids Kernels clinched a Midwest League playoff spot.
     
    Whether they did this Saturday or Sunday is a bit hazy, but what's certain is that the Kernels will be playing baseball beyond the scheduled end of the regular season on Labor Day. This makes the Kernels a perfect 2 for 2 qualifying for playoff work since affiliating with the Minnesota Twins.
     
    Going strictly by "magic number," the Kernels qualified for the playoffs on Sunday, when Peoria fell to Clinton. However, as Jim Ecker at MetroSportsReport.com pointed out, tie-breaking criteria favored the Kernels over Peoria, so in fact Cedar Rapids apears to have wrapped up their postseason spot late Saturday night.
     
    Most likely, the Kernels will open the playoffs with a best of three series against Burlington. They would host Burlington on September 3 and then travel to Burlington for games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on September 4 and 5, respectively.
     
    Unfortunately, I was not in attendance when the Kernels clinched, regardless of whether you consider that to have occurred Saturday or Sunday.
     
    "Touch 'em All"
     
    Instead, I joined 100 or so Twins fans taking part in the second "Touch 'em All Pub Crawl" sponsored by Twins Daily/Gleeman & the Geek.
     
    The "Crawl" involved stopping at several establishments along the Twin Cities' light rail line and ending with attendance at the Twins game Saturday night. It officially started at the Barrio Tequila Bar in St. Paul at noon, but since I was staying out in the southern 'burbs and wanted to eat breakfast downtown at Hell's Kitchen before getting started, I'd already spent at least 90 minutes on the rail before ever getting to the start of the official event over in St. Paul.
     
    It was a great time, offering opportunities to renew friendships from prior TwinsDaily events and to meet even more fellow Twins fans for the first time. I'm always surprised how many people at these things have read the stuff I contributed to Knuckleballs and to TwinsDaily.
     
    It was a great time with great people, all of whom just happen to be fans of a pretty poor baseball team. Despite that, the only real negative comment I heard was from Star Tribune Twins beat writer, Phil Miller, who thought the Kernels camo jersey I was wearing was ugly.
     
    Hey, you can't please everyone, right? And I enjoyed talking to Miller, once we moved away from fashion-related topics.
     
    It really was a good time and I appreciate the TwinsDaily guys and Aaron Gleeman going to the effort to put it together. I always enjoy the events they organize.
     
    Blackout News
     
    Finally, some of you that have been reading Knuckleballs for a while may recall one (or more) of my rants concerning MLB's TV blackout rules. Those rules result in Iowa residents being unable to watch games involving six diferent teams, the Twins, Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals and Royals, online via MLB.tv.
     
    Late last week, the Star Tribune posted a story quoting MLB's head of online business, Bob Bowman, as saying that baseball is nearing a solution that will allow people to watch their hometown teams online, if they are also subscribers to cable and/or satellite services.
     
    That's great for people in Minneapolis that want to watch the Twins on their mobile devices.
     
    I'm guessing it's still not good news for Iowans.
     
    As crazy as it sounds, what seems most likely to happen is that MLB will broker a deal to allow people who already have access to Twins games via their local cable company to also have access online. Meanwhile, those of us in areas where FSN is not even an option via cable will continue to be blacked out.
     
    I do understand the theory. We are supposed to individually get so up in arms over this that we all march on our local Mediacom office and demand that they pay FSN whatever they want for fees to get the regional sports channel added to our Eastern Iowa cable options.
     
    That hasn't happened yet, it's not happening now and it won't happen... ever.
     
    However, given that MLB and the teams let the regional sports networks set whatever they want as the "home market" geographic footprint (because, after all, those rights fees are pretty much the major thing propping up MLB teams' revenues), it's pretty clear that any relief from the bizarre and antiquated blackout rules for places like Iowa, Las Vegas and North Carolina, which several teams claim as part of their "home market," isn't likely happening either.
     
    Instead, what I expect is that we'll see MLB, under their new Commissioner, Rob Manfred, address the online issue for fans who could already watch their favorite teams on TV. Then, they'll claim they've "solved" this problem and ignore the fact that they've solved nothing for the fans in areas like Iowa.
     
    Maybe I'm wrong and there will indeed be a solution for the rest of us. But, given the selection of a Commissioner who got the gig basically by promising to be "Bud Light," I'm not expecting anything remotely close to real solutions to any of MLB's biggest challenges.
     
    I'd be really happy to be proven wrong, of course.
     
    Finally, a few pictures from Saturday's "Touch 'em All Pub Crawl."
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Barrio1.jpg
    The meeting spot, Barrio Tequila Bar, St. Paul

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Campus-Pizza2.jpg
    Campus Pizza, which will be on my list for a return if/when I journey up for Hawkeyes/Gophers in the future. Friendly service, good thin crust pizza.

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/BarZia1.jpg
    BarZia in downtown Minneapolis. Met a number of the hard working moderators of TwinsDaily's forum section. I'm not sure what possesses these people to put in the work being moderators, but I'm sure glad they do it.

    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Masons2.jpg
    Mason's, near Target Field, was the last stop. Gotta be honest, I wasn't impressed with Mason's this time. TD has used Mason's as a meeting place in prior events and I've always liked it. But this time, some of us got the sense from their people like we were imposing. They closed off two of their seating areas to us, requiring most in our group to stand. Not a big deal, perhaps, but I can tell you it cost them some food orders, not to mention general goodwill, among some of the people I was hanging with.


    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TargetField1.jpg
    The view from our Home Run Porch seats at Target Field were better than what this picture might indicate. First time I've watched a game from these left field seats and it really is not a bad place to watch a game from.

    (sorry, appears mabe there's some kind of limit as to how many pictures I can post over here, so the last one didn't go through. - SDB)
  13. Steven Buhr
    For your viewing pleasure:
     
    First, 4 spearate videos of Kohl Stewart's 4 innings of work this week vs Beloit in his first start coming off the DL, followed by a video of Mat Batts' 6th inning in Beloit the following night.
     
    (Looks like a couple of these successfully imbedded, the others you'll have to just click the link to view)
     

     

     

     

     

  14. Steven Buhr
    I made the 3+ hour trip to Beloit this week for the Kernels' three-game series with the Snappers.
     
    Cedar Rapids entered the game tied for second place in the MWL Western Division with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, both a single game behind Divison leaders Kane County.
     
    Outside of how it would be nice to be able to say the Twins' Class A club won their Division in the second half of the season, it really doesn't matter where the Kernels finish relative to Kane County because the Cougars won a playoff berth in the first half of the season.
     
    What's important, at this point, is how the Kernels measure up to the Rattlers, as well as Quad Cities and Peoria. The latter two teams trailed the Kernels and Rattlers by 3 games entering Tuesday. Two of those four teams will earn playoff spots. The other two will join Beloit and Clinton on the outside looking in.
     
    Ryan Eades drew the start in the series opener for the Kernels and notched the win as the Kernels topped the Snappers 12-5.
     
    Eades, the Twins' second round pick in the 2013 draft, has had a challenging first full season of professional ball, but he's been having more success lately.
     
    On Tuesday, the first batter he faced, Beloit shortstop Melvin Mercedes lined a ball to right field that hit the top of the right field wall and bounced over for a leadoff solo home run. In the second inning, he gave up a triple to left fielder Ryan Mathews, who then scored the Snappers' second run.
     
    From that point forward, through the remainder of his six innings of work, Eades shut out the Snappers.
     
    Eades' final stat line may not look all that impressive, but I'll say this about Eades: He seems to have a bit of bulldog in him.
     
    Twice on Tuesday night, he worked out of bases-loaded jams that had the potential to allow Beloit to break the game open.
     
    Instead, he got the outs he needed to escape and buy time until his offense beat up on Beloit pitching.
     
    That happened in the fifth and sixth innings, when the Kernels batted around in back-to-back innings and tallied a total of 10 runs, breaking what had been a 2-2 tie and moving in to a commanding 12-2 lead.
     
    Kane County also won on Tuesday, scoring four runs in the 9th inning to top the Quad Cities, 4-3. However, Wisconsin fell to Clinton, 4-2. As a result, the Kernels remain a game behind the Cougars and the Rattlers fell a game behind Cedar Rapids in the standings.
     
    After a series of roster changes, Cedar Rapids is operating one player short of the 25 player limit allowed. The Kernels currently have 13 active pitchers and just 11 active position players, which is not ideal.
     
    "We're something bad happening away from being in trouble," was how Kernels manager Jake Mauer put it after the game, alluding to the fact that he's playing games with just two offensive players on his bench.
     
    Mauer indicated he was not aware of what plans the Twins farm director, Brad Steil, might have with regard to filling the club's 25th spot.
     
    Kohl Stewart could be coming off the Disabled List at any time, according to Mauer, but both Zack Larson and Zack Granite, two outfielders that started the season with Cedar Rapids before incurring injuries, remain at the Twins' training site in Fort Myers nursing those injuries.
     
    Chih-Wei Hu gets the ball for the Kernels on Wednesday and Matt Batts is scheduled to go on Thursday.
  15. Steven Buhr
    I got a bit video crazy Thursday night and if you'd like to see a bit of the result, click here to head over to Knuckleballsblog.com for a look.
     
    Video of Jake Reed's work on the mound in the 9th.
     
    Mitch Garver's leadoff double in the 11th.
     
    Bryan Haar's game winner, driving in pinch runner Jon Murphy to beat Kane County 4-3.
  16. Steven Buhr
    Tuesday night was a big deal at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
     
    Twins Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco were in the Kernels’ line up together and at least twice the usual Tuesday night crowd squeezed in to the ballpark to watch them.
     
    I don’t know that from witnessing it first hand, but only from accounts from media and family members that used my season tickets that night.
     
    Seems I had foolishly committed to making a business trip to St. Louis Sunday through Wednesday this week.
     
    So I missed the filled ballpark and, from what I understand, filled pressbox on Tuesday when Nolasco pitched and Mauer DHed for the Kernels, who beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-0 that night.
     
    I did make it home from St. Louis Wednesday in time to see Mauer’s rehab debut in the field at first base. I didn’t expect to see another huge crowd, but I certainly didn’t expect to see what was essentially a pretty normal 2,000+ crowd, either. Yet, that’s exactly what I saw.
     
    I’m not sure what that says about baseball fans in Eastern Iowa.
     
    Maybe it says we aren’t as awe-struck by the presence of big leaguers as some people think we should be.
     
    Maybe it just reemphasizes that the Twins organization still has a lot of work to do in the area if they want to truly make a dent in the Cubs’ stranglehold around here and make this area a part of “Twins Territory.”
     
    Maybe it reflects the reality that Joe Mauer, himself, does not have the star power that he did when he was winning batting titles and MVP awards, not to mention being the cover-boy of MLB video games for two straight years.
     
    Still, while a lot of the Twins fans in Minnesota who have been booing Mauer at Target Field this season might scoff, he’s an almost certain future Hall-of-Famer and he was in uniform playing for the Kernels Wednesday night. If you’re a baseball fan, why the heck would you NOT show up to watch?
     
    You can’t say nobody tried to get you out there.
     
    The Kernels began marketing the Mauer arrival even before they could officially announce it was happening. When it was still an “unofficial” thing, the Kernels announced via every media outlet they could get access to that they would have special extended ticket office hours Saturday and Sunday.
     
    And people did take advantage. They got tickets for Tuesday and they got tickets for this weekend’s games, but there was little demand for Wednesday’s contest.
     
    It’s great that there will be big crowds Friday and Saturday, but honestly, there were going to be big crowds Friday and Saturday, anyway. Already-planned promotions and tie-ins with a major local employer or two this weekend guaranteed the Kernels would have a couple of pretty full houses those two nights, with or without a big league headliner.
     
    That’s good, perhaps, because there’s no assurance that Mauer will play both nights. He’s scheduled for an off day on Thursday and he indicated after Wednesday’s game that he still has a few things on his, “checklist,” that he wants to accomplish before returning to the Twins, so I think we can safely assume he’ll be on the field Friday night. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on him also being with the Kernels on Saturday night.
     
    I would also be betting he’s en route to Houston to rejoin the Twins before the Kernels take the field on Sunday.
     
    Anyway, I just don’t understand the mediocre crowd Wednesday night.
     
    At least the fans who did show up didn’t boo Mauer when he walked to the plate. They didn’t rise to their feet with an ovation, either, but the polite applause is better treatment than he gets from his home town fans at Target Field these days. I don’t understand that treatment, either.
     
    On Wednesday night, Mauer continued to kick off the rust a bit. He went 0-3 before calling it a night. He grounded in to a force out in the first inning and was stranded at second base. He barreled up on one in his second at-bat and drove the ball to the warning track in left-center field. In his third trip to the plate, he watched two strikes go by and then went down swinging.
     
    Defensively, I don’t recall a ball being hit to him at all. He did get one ball thrown to him on a DP attempt that went in the dirt and he didn’t come up with it.
     
    He obviously is not lighting up the Class A pitching he’s seeing, but that’s why you rehab in the minors. Keep in mind, it’s not like he’s been taking BP throughout his time on the Disabled List. His injured oblique muscle meant he was pretty much on the shelf until taking a few cuts in the few days before coming to Cedar Rapids. Anyone who thinks it’s easy to sit out a month and then step in and immediately hit any level of professional pitching has never tried to do it.
     
    If he’s not making consistent solid contact by the time the weekend is over, then I’ll be a bit concerned.
     
    The Kernels and Twins PR guy Andrew Heydt have done a good job of getting media access to Mauer without totally disrupting the clubhouse and other aspects of the game day routine for the Kernels. As was the case Tuesday, Mauer met with the media after exiting the ballgame in an auxillary locker room near the Kernels’ clubhouse.
     
    Here’s some video I shot of that exchange. I think you can tell he’s not pleased with his results on the field, but he’s also glad to just be back on the field again. His response to a question I posed also gives a little insight in to those items on his “checklist” that he still wants to try to do before rejoining the Twins.
     
    (Not having much luck posting the video here, so you'll need to go over to Knuckleballsblog.com to check out the video.)
     
    The Kernels got pretty well drubbed in the game. Chih-Wei Hu had his first rough start as a Kernel, giving up six runs in the fourth inning.
     
    Nick Burdi pitched the ninth inning for Cedar Rapids. He maxed at 99 mph on the scoreboard gun, which is known as a “slow gun.” We use a +2 guideline in Cedar Rapids, adding 2 mph to what shows on the board, which means Burdi likely hit about 101 on that pitch. Otherwise he was in the mid-upper 90s with the fastball and around 90 with the slider.
     
    I have a few photos from the evening posted over at Knuckleballs if you'd care to go check them out. As with the video, I have no idea how to get them to show up over here in TD with the new format (I used to simply cut from my blog and paste everything here, but that doesn't work any more).
     
    We’re celebrating my grandson’s first birthday on Friday by having a “Party at he Park,” and I’m looking forward to seeing Mauer donning one of these, “Jimmy Buffet Night” jerseys on Saturday night.
     
    (again. if you want to see an image of the jerseys, you need to go to Knuckleballs)
     
    Mauer may well be on his way to Houston to rejoin the Twins by Sunday, but I’ll be at the ballpark that afternoon to watch Ricky Nolasco stretch himself out to 75 pitches in his second rehab start with the Kernels.
  17. Steven Buhr
    The big All-Star bash in Minneapolis is behind us now and by most accounts, it was somewhere between very successful and close to perfect.
     
    I saw the Futures Game/Celebrity Softball Game in person on Sunday and watched the Home Run Derby and ASG on the tube. My conclusion is that, while I wouldn't say it was all perfectly staged and performed, the Twin Cities and those from MLB and the Twins who were involved all did themselves proud.
     
    It was the kind of event that could make us feel proud to call ourselves Twins fans (and there haven't been many events like that over the past few years).
     
    A list of the things I didn't like would be short. Too much Jeter (but we knew there would be) and too little Gwynn (none at all, really). I also really didn't like the special caps for the ASG. That just seems like an over-the-top money grab by MLB to sell more stuff. I'd rather see the players in some version of their regular uniforms, including the cap.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
    The rain delay at the HR Derby on Monday sucked. But the rainbow over the Plaza almost made the rain delay worthwhile in itself. I'm sure there were a few people moaning about the lack of a roof, but I think most of us stopped listening to those idiots years ago.
     
    The new HR Derby format didn't exactly work the way people thought (or hoped) it would. Oh well, try something different next time.
     
    I had some family with me this trip and that meant visits to the Mall of America on Friday night and Saturday.
     
    I know a lot of people roll their eyes at going to MOA, but I've never been too averse to it. Walking around the Mall brings back some memories of visits there when our kids were young and it was a bit of an adventure.
     
    I tire quicker these days, of course, but I've never had trouble finding an open bar stool for a rest and I rested at the Sky Deck Grille and Kokomos for quite a bit of my time at MOA.
     
    Sunday, the family got in some pool time at the hotel before we hopped on the light rail to Target Field for the Futures Game. It was my 11-month old grandson's first venture in to a swimming pool and his first time at a Big League ballpark. So that was cool.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Jack1-300x171.jpg
    grandson Jack in the hotel pool
     
    We pretty much took over the first row of Section C in the Legends Club for the Sunday activities. Getting through a full Futures Game, a half hour or more "intermission" and a six-inning softball game with various interviews slowing things down between innings was a bit much for me, so I have no idea how an 11-month old endured it, but he did.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Jack2.jpg
    My grandson's first trip to Target Field. Kind of gave "Futures Game" a different meaning to me.
     
    I enjoyed watching Kennys Vargas and Alex Meyer and I was really excited to see Jose Berrios start for the World team.
     
    When the Twins announced their affiliation with the Cedar Rapids Kernels starting in 2013, I started looking forward to being able to see guys I'd been watching in Kernels uniforms play in Target Field.
     
    Berrios was the first of the 2013 crop of Kernels I got to see there and it just has me even more anxious to see the arrival of a few of his Kernels teammates with the Twins in coming years.
     
    All three of the Twins prospects did just fine in the game. Nobody "starred," but that's OK. Let's not forget, these three guys aren't the organization's top 3 prospects, but they held their own (or better).
     
    The future is bright for the Twins, if I can just manage to live long enough to see it.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Berrios-FG-2.jpg
    Jose Berrios, former CR Kernel, future Minnesota Twin
     
    The cramped rail-ride back to Bloomington was probably the worst part of the day, but at least I could collapse at the hotel when it was over.
     
    Monday morning, we packed up and headed back to Cedar Rapids, getting there well before the HR Derby's scheduled start. Of course, it turned out the actual start was delayed about an hour by rain anyway.
     
    The ovations for Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier were terrific and I thought the crowd did a nice job of showing appreciation for all the participants.
     
    I felt a bit bad for Yasiel Puig. I'm not sure if he just was too amped up or what. And did nobody tell him he should enlist his favorite BP pitcher to throw to him? Odd. Anyway, I suspect he'll do better in a future Derby.
     
    If I'm being completely honest, I was just really glad it wasn't Morneau or Dozier that got shutout.
     
    I watched the first couple innings of the All-Star Game itself at my favorite local bar. They had music playing, so I was spared the need to mute the TV. Of course, that meant I missed what most seem to think was a pretty good National Anthem (though FOX totally blew off the Canadian Anthem, which I thought was tacky on their part).
     
    Looked like a great flyover, too. I love those.
     
    I guess I have to give my thoughts on the Jeter-fest.
     
    I'd like to get a real good case of Jeter-hate up, but I just can't.
     
    Yes, I hate the Yankees and that's largely because of Yankee fans, so it's usually pretty easy for me to really dislike individual Yankee players. But I reserve most of my dislike for the mercenaries who grab the Yankee dough after spending their best years elsewhere.
     
    Jeter didn't do that. And, at least at the ballpark, from what I can tell, he's conducted himself in a pretty honorable manner through the years. I can appreciate that, even in a Yankee.
     
    Is he over-rated? Oh yeah, definitely. But playing for the Yankees isn't always easy, as others have found out, so maybe a guy who plays there and plays very well for 20 years should get a little credit for that.
     
    That said, I would agree that his career warranted an ASG send off closer to the one Chipper Jones got. It just wasn't realistic to expect that would happen.
     
    So, I thought he, MLB, the Twins and the Target Field crowd did about the best job that could have been expected of balancing proper appreciation with he inevitable ESPN/FOX overkill of the situation.
     
    I admit, too, that I was pleasantly surprised that Mike Trout got the ASG MVP award, rather than Jeter. Again, some bias there at seeing another former Kernels player out-do the "face of baseball."
     
    By the way, that whole "face of baseball" thing is a crock. First, there IS no face of baseball. This isn't the NBA and we don't need hyped up media megastars to survive.
     
    Trout is the best player in the game and he's only 22 years old (for about another month), but the media will never allow him to reach the hype level of Jeter - because he's not a Yankee. It's really that simple.
     
    There will be no more "face of baseball" hype until the next time there's a Yankee with the pedigree to allow Yankee fans, MLB and ESPN to bang the drum loud enough to proclaim him as such.
     
    Hopefully, that will take a REALLY long time. Like forever.
     
    It was good to see Pat Neshek participating. You can't help but feel just how important this unimportant game was to him after all he's been through.
     
    Sure, there were more deserving pitchers that could have been selected (but not as many as some people think), but as long as you're going to give the ASG manager some latitude on picks, you're going to get some picks based on his emotions and if that's going to happen, I'd rather see it happen to guys like Neshek than some others.
     
    I did think he could have done without the bit of Twins front office-bashing he did to the media over the weekend, but he probably has good reason to feel the way he does. Heck, I really wish I could complain that letting Neshek go was the worst decision the Twins have made the last few years.
     
    It's too bad Neshek got saddled with the loss. His 3B (I don't even remember who it was) sure didn't do him any favors with his defense on Trout's double down the left field line.
     
    The game was at least interesting. Plenty of stars performed well under the spotlight. Some did not (I'm looking at you Robinson Cano).
     
    All in all, as I said, it was an event Twins fans can be proud of.
     
    I took a few pictures on Sunday, so I'll share some of them here. - JC
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ClydesdalesFG.jpg
    Best thing about Budweiser beer
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Meyer-FG-4.jpg
    Alex Meyer
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Oliva-FG-3.jpg
    Tony Oliva with the first pitch before Futures Game
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/OlivaVargasFG.jpg
    Tony Oliva threw out the first pitch to Kennys Vargas
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Vargas-FG-6.jpg
    Kennys Vargas
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BeerMachines.jpg
    The self serve beer machines seemed to really clog up the concourse. Not sure if it was the people using them or the people gawking at them.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fingers-SB-1.jpg
    Rollie Fingers
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fitzgerald-SB-1.jpg
    Larry Fitzgerald
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/HendersonPiazza-SB.jpg
    Mike Piazza and Ricky Henderson
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Parsise-SB-1.jpg
    Zach Parise
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Peterson-SB-1.jpg
    Adrian Peterson
  18. Steven Buhr
    The merry-go-round that is a minor league team's roster continued to spin over the weekend in Cedar Rapids as the Kernels saw two pitchers promoted to high-A Fort Myers, one infielder put on the 7-Day Disabled list and two new pitchers arrive from Elizabethton.
     
    The new pitchers, right handed starting pitcher Chih-Wei Hu and righty bullpen arm Jake Reed, were in uniform for Tuesday night's series opener with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, won by the Kernels, 15-5.
     
    The two will replace starter Ethan Mildren and co-closer Todd Van Steensel on the Kernels' pitching staff.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ArteagaMildren.jpg
    Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and pitcher Ethan Mildren
     
    Mildren has been dominant through his most recent pair of starts, throwing seven shutout innings against Clinton on June 29 and duplicating that feat on Independence Day against Beloit. He allowed just seven hits and three walks over that 14-inning stretch.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Van Steensel had not been charged with allowing a run, earned or otherwise, in his last seven appearances for Cedar Rapids. Overall, he put up a 1.30 ERA covering 34.2 innings of work in 23 appearances in a Kernels uniform.
     
    If early impressions mean anything, Reed will be a capable replacement for Van Steensel in the Kernels bullpen.
     
    The 21-year old righty, drafted in the 5th round out of the University of Oregon last month, threw nothing but shutout innings for the E-Twins in his first six innings of work this season. He struck out eight batters and held opponents to a .053 batting average.against him.
     
    That scoreless streak, however, came to an end in Reed's first appearance in a Cedar Rapids uniform on Tuesday night. Reed gave up one unearned run in an inning of work on Tuesday night when the first batter he faced reached on a two-base error and came around to score on a subsequent single.
     
    Reed recorded his first strikeout as a Kernel to finish the eighth inning.
     
    The man with the biggest shoes to fill with the Kernels, perhaps, will be Hu.
     
    Cedar Rapids has struggled to find consistency from their rotation and Mildren was just beginning to provide much needed leadership in that area.
     
    Hu will get Mildren's spot in the rotation and should get his first start for the Kernels on Thursday against the Rattlers, in front of the home crowd.
     
    Like Reed, Hu was off to a strong start for Elizabethton.
     
    The Taichung, Taiwan, native had time to make just three starts for the E-Twins before being promoted. He was 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He threw six shutout innings of two-hit baseball in his last start, striking out nine batters in the process.
     
    After watching Hu throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga pronounced the 20-year old Hu, "ready to go."
     
    "His fastball moves a lot and his slider's got good rotation," Arteaga added. "He really competes, according to the reports we got."
     
    The Kernels played Tuesday a man short on their roster as shortstop Engelb Vielma has been placed on the 7-day DL with concussion symptoms and no corresponding roster move was immediately announced.
     
    Manager Jake Mauer indicated to media after the game that infielder Logan Wade would be re-activated from the DL on Wednesday to replace Vielma.
  19. Steven Buhr
    Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan had surgery for squamous cell carcinoma in February and has undergone radiation treatment as well. In the meantime, Assistant General Manager Rob Antony has filled in as the interim GM for the Twins, though Ryan has been in regular contact with Antony and others in the Twins front office.
     
    During the past Cedar Rapids Kernels homestand, Ryan was in town observing the Twins’ young Class A prospects and sat down Sunday for an interview that covered a range of topics.
     
    In Part 1, we covered his return to work, his view of the current state of the Twins at the big league level and his thoughts concerning the upcoming MLB First Year Player Draft.
     
    Today, Ryan shares some thoughts and observations concerning the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Twins’ Class A affiliate in the Midwest League.
     
    Like their parent club, the Kernels have hovered near the .500 mark most of the season. That’s been no small achievement given the number of injuries that manager Jake Mauer’s club has sustained. They currently have seven players on the Disabled List and have others who have been on the DL and come back already.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TRyan2014e-600x449.jpg
    Terry Ryan
     
    Ryan acknowledged that it’s a very different club than local fans saw a year ago when top prospects like Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Adam Brett Walker and Travis Harrison were wearing Kernels colors.
     
    “We had a very talented club here last year, you’d like to think we could supply this affiliate with that kind of talent every year, but it’s not going to happen. We’ve got a different looking club this year.
     
    “We’ve got some pitching here. Don’t have the thump. Don’t have the type of line up we had last year, which was a very dangerous line up. We don’t have that type of size. We had monstrous guys here so yeah it’s different.
     
    “But every year is going to be different no matter what you try to do or accomplish at a minor league affiliate. You’re looking for players, you’re trying to develop players. This is a little different lot.
     
    “So you adjust. Jake and Tommy (Watkins, the hitting coach) and Ivan (Arteaga, the pitching coach) are going about their business. It’s a little bigger challenge this year because you don’t have a Buxton here, you don’t have a Walker. You don’t have a Polanco.
     
    “But that comes with the territory. When you’re running a Class A club, you’re going to have different personnel every year. You’ll have a few repeats, but for the most part it’s a different club and a different atmosphere and different results.”
     
    Asked for his observations on specific players, Ryan was reluctant to go in to much detail, given that he had seen just four Kernels games at the time of the interview.
     
    “It’s a little dangerous when you start naming names.
     
    “I haven’t seen Stewart (Kohl Stewart, the Twins first round draft pick a year ago), of course. He’s pitching today. But he’s the most recognizable name on this roster for a lot of reasons. He’s talented and he’s a big draft. I’ll be interested to see how he does today.
     
    “He had a tough outing his last go, I understand, I didn’t see it. He went two or three innings and they had to go get him. I doubt very much that he’s experienced that in his life but this is the ideal spot (to experience that). Alright, let’s see how he handles this. We’ll see if he bounces back today and gets back to his normal self. If he doesn’t then I would be a little concerned. But if he does, which I would expect, it’s just a matter of growth."
     
    For the record, Stewart did indeed bounce back under the watchful eyes of the GM. Stewart threw six innings Sunday, giving up just one earned run, in the Kernels’ win over Burlington.
     
    “He’s an athlete, he’s confident,” continued Ryan. “He’s got the skills that you’re looking for. There’s a reason the guy was picked fourth in the (draft). He was picked up there because he’s got strength, he’s got a body, he’s got mechanics, he’s got stuff, he’s got competitiveness.
     
    “He’s got the kind of mechanics and arm action that would be conducive to pounding strikes, which is good.”
     
    Kernels fans are getting the opportunity to see a native Cedar Rapidian in action with the Kernels this season.
     
    Chad Christensen, the Twins’ 25th round pick a year ago out of the University of Nebraska, played high school ball at Cedar Rapids Washington. He came north with the club out of spring training and is hitting .290 while playing all over the field for the injury-plagued Kernels.
     
    “One of the things that I think we were impressed with when he came out of Nebraska was his ability to have some versatility for a club,” Ryan said of Christensen. “He’s got strength and he’s got speed. He’s got strength in his bat. He can play a number of spots, including centerfield, which is pretty good.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TRyanKernelsGroundCrew-600x364.jpg
    Twins GM Terry Ryan chats with members of the Cedar Rapids grounds crew
     
    “When he showed up last year after signing, he made a good impression and then in spring training. He’s got the type of make-up that you want to have him on your club. I’m sure Jake was pleased when he did come here and I think he’s even more pleased with what he sees in the results.
     
    “He’s just been a good player on this team, home town or not. That’s a little bit more pressure for a kid to come in here and play in front of your home town. He’s handled it quite well. In fact, he might be the most consistent guy we’ve had on this club. Not that I’ve been around much, but I read those things, the reports and that stuff.”
     
    Ryan is aware that the Kernels have had more than their fair share of injuries, but doesn’t feel they should be keeping the team from performing well on the field.
     
    “It’s no excuse. We’ve got other players.
     
    “(Jason) Kanzler came in because of an injury to Zack Granite. So here comes Kanzler and he’s been quite good here. There are other people that we can go get and hopefully fill in for an injury.
     
    “Now, we’re starting to get healthy. A bunch of these guys are going to get healthy here soon.
     
    “Getting back on the diamond is important for a 21 year old, because they can’t afford to spend a lot of time on the Disabled List. You just can’t do anything with them. There’s no development time, they’re getting bypassed, stuff like that. They’ll get healthy and we’ll get them back here.
     
    “We’ve got some kids with ability but so far it’s been a slow go for them. I’m not so sure the weather was too conducive to what they were trying to do. The thing is, you’re going to have to learn to do that. We play in Cedar Rapids, we play in New Britain (CT), we play in Rochester (NY) and we play in Minnesota. Minnesota is not too much different than Cedar Rapids.”
     
    About a year ago, Twins top prospect Byron Buxton and others were promoted from the Kernels up to Class high-A Fort Myers shortly after the mid-June Midwest League All-Star break. Ryan’s visit shouldn’t be interpreted as a precursor to similar promotions, however.
     
    “When I come in here, I don’t worry about that stuff. That’s Brad Steil (Twins minor league director) and that would be Jake and the minor league coordinators.
     
    “If someone is dominating, as you know, we’ll move them. I don’t know if we’ve got any of that going on here. I don’t think we’re in that position quite yet.
     
    “Although if somebody starts dominating this league in the next month or so and they put up numbers and you say, ‘what more do they have to do?’ That’s about the time you start saying ‘let’s move him up.’”
     
    Ryan was asked for an update on the condition Buxton, who has missed almost the whole season so far with a wrist injury.
     
    “We had him see a specialist with that wrist about two weeks ago and there was no alarm. He re-aggravated that thing and we’re taking our time. It’s getting better. I read that yesterday in a medical report. He’s still not ready to take the field.
     
    “He’s not going to lose a whole year. Unfortunately, April and May are shot, but he certainly played pretty good in March (during spring training). With him going through Major League camp, it was a good experience. He handled himself pretty well. He handled himself with some class. He understood, he listened, was very coachable.
     
    “We’ll get him back up there. We’ll salvage the year, I don’t think there’s any question that we’ll be able to do some things to get him at-bats.”
  20. Steven Buhr
    During a routine physical exam early this year, Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan asked his doctor to take a look at a lump on his neck. Testing found Ryan to have squamous cell carcinoma.
     
    Ryan had surgery in February and has undergone radiation treatment as well. In the meantime, Assistant General Manager Rob Antony has filled in as the interim GM for the Twins, though Ryan has been in regular contact with Antony and others in the Twins front office.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TRyan2014c.jpg
    GM Terry Ryan observes Cedar Rapids Kernels batting practice on Sunday
     
    During the past Cedar Rapids Kernels homestand, Ryan was in town observing the Twins’ young Class A prospects and sat down Sunday morning for an interview that covered a range of topics.
     
    In Part 1, we’ll cover his return to work, his view of the current state of the Twins at the big league level and his thoughts concerning the upcoming MLB First Year Player Draft that kicks off Thursday, June 5.
     
    Usually a regular presence at spring training and all around the Twins minor league affiliates during most seasons, Ryan has understandably not been making those trips to this point this year. So the first question anyone would likely ask is, how is he feeling?
     
    “I’m feeling OK. This is my first trip. I wanted to come here (to Cedar Rapids) so just in case I couldn’t handle it, I could just get in my vehicle and come back, but I can handle it.
     
    “I’ve got a lot of physical therapy and a lot of rehab to go still. I’m doing that. But I’m OK, I’m fine, I’m fortunate actually.”
     
    Ryan indicated, however, that there still is no specific timetable for his return to full time General Manager duties.
     
    “I’m going back for the draft after this game today (Sunday). That’s a huge piece to our year. It’s one of the most important days to our entire year – maybe the most important. So I’ll be going back for the draft. That’ll be a huge step for me, because I’ve got to get acclimated to the players.
     
    “On an everyday basis, I’ve certainly been participating. I haven’t taken any road trips but that’s about all. And when we’re home, I’m usually at a game up there. So it’s not like I haven’t been involved.
     
    “(Rob Antony) has done a nice job. He certainly knows what he’s doing, he’s been around it. He’s been around Gardy a lot and he’s been around the team a lot. We’re in good hands.
     
    “Ultimately when the time is right, I’ll take a road trip and we’ll kind of make a seamless transition again. I’m not sure when that’s going to be, but it shouldn’t be down in the future too far.”
     
    Asked if that meant we should expect to see him back in the GM chair before the end of the current season, Ryan responded, “Yeah, no question.”
     
    As Ryan indicated, he was headed back up to Minneapolis after Sunday’s Kernels game to participate in the organizational preparations for the First Year Player Draft. The GM wouldn’t tip his hand concerning who the team is targeting with the fifth overall pick in the first round, but Ryan shared what he’d like to see accomplished in the draft.
     
    “Where we’re picking, everybody’s always trying to get the best guy. Nobody cares if they take a pitcher or position player.
     
    “It’s like when took (Byron) Buxton. Everybody thought we were going to take a pitcher. We didn’t. And I caught hell up there. It was ‘pitching, pitching’. Well, the guy is named minor league player of the year. We’ll take the best guy there.
     
    “This has got a little more pitching flavor to this draft. There’s not a clear cut number 1. There are a handful of guys that could go 1. But at 5, we’re sitting in a good spot. We’re going to get a good player or pitcher, it doesn’t matter which way we go. We’re going to take probably the best guy.”
     
    Ryan was asked whether this year’s high number of “Tommy John” injuries among pitchers across baseball makes him feel any greater inclination to draft heavy on pitching.
     
    “I’m guessing we will. We did last year. We did the year before. We’ll draft a lot of pitching just because of the attrition. We need to make sure we have numbers and competition.
     
    “Actually the depth and some of the talent in our organization is starting to lean toward pitching. We’ve got some pitching in AAA. We’ve got some arms that can run it up there with some velocity now, which is good to see.
     
    “But we won’t have enough, so we’ll take a bunch more.
     
    “I’d like to see us take more left handed pitching. That would be my preference. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the first guy, but that wouldn’t bother me either.
     
    “For me, left handed pitching is a commodity that’s very difficult to come by. You’ve got to take it and hopefully develop a few of them and get lucky with a few of them. If we took a lot of left handed pitching, I would be very pleased.”
     
    While his trip to Cedar Rapids was his first road trip of the season, Ryan has seen a lot of the parent club’s home games in Minneapolis. The Twins have hovered near the .500 mark through most of the season and just completed a rare series win over the Yankees in New York over the weekend. Ryan was asked for his impressions of the Twins’ performance so far.
     
    “We’re better. It didn’t help us when (Josh) Willingham and (Oswaldo) Arcia both went down at the same time. Although at that time, we were scoring runs. (Chris) Colabello carried us for a month, maybe more. We’ve had trouble offensively again this past month.
     
    “Our pitching is improved, our hitting went the other way. It was directly opposite in April. We’re a better club. We’ve got more depth.
     
    “We’ve had a couple of pleasant surprises, particularly (Eduardo) Escobar. He’s kind of emerged and looks like he might want to take that shortstop job. I think (Trevor) Plouffe has improved. (Kurt) Suzuki has been a good addition. (Phil) Hughes has been a good addition. Unfortunately, we lost (Mike) Pelfrey, again. But we’re better.
     
    “We’re competitive. We have not embarrassed ourselves, maybe a game here or there, but not too much. Unlike last year when we were out of games in the fifth (inning) a lot.
     
    “We do have some chemistry and character on this club that seems to mesh pretty well . When you go to the park, you feel pretty good. At least we’re going to be a competitive team in this game. That’s a big difference.
     
    “The one constant, our bullpen has been pretty good over the last number of years. (Glen) Perkins in the back side of that thing has solidified that.
     
    “We’ve got a handful of guys up there that people didn’t see last year, which is kind of neat. Between (Josmil) Pinto and Escobar and (Danny) Santana and (Caleb) Theilbar and Arcia, all those guys are 20-25 or so.
     
    “We’re getting there. We’ve got a ways to go. What we’ve done the last three years has not been good at all, but we are getting there. It’s going to take a little bit more.”
     
    Tomorrow, in Part 2, Ryan shares some of his observations concerning the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the challenges they’ve faced this season.
  21. Steven Buhr
    I'm traveling for work the first half of this week, so I won't really have an opportunity to write a regular weekly update on the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Perhaps it's just as well, though, because the Twins' Midwest League affiliate did not have a real good week.
     
    The Kernels dropped from the second spot in the MWL Western Division standings all the way to the cellar, as they endured an eight-game losing streak.
     
    That losing streak ended Sunday in Burlington, however. Cedar Rapids topped the Bees 7-6. As a bonus, the win lifted the Kernels out of the MWL West basement.
     
    Since I don't have anything exciting to write about this week, I thought the least I could do is provide a few pictures of the game on Sunday. I had hoped to take more, but it turns out there are very few spots where you can take pictures at the Burlington ballpark that aren't behind netting.
     
    Some of the photos are a bit blurry. I hoped they just looked blurry on Sunday because I was having a few beers at the game, but no, they're still a little blurry.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HaarMildren2014.jpg
    3B Bryan Haar and SP Ethan Mildren
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/JakeMauer2014a.jpg
    Manager Jake Mauer coaching 3B in the first inning. That's something he would not be doing by the end of the game, however. Mauer was ejected in the 7th inning following a heated discussion with the umpires over a balk call.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Williams2014a.jpg
    Leadoff hitter JD Williams
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Vavra2014b1-443x600.jpg
    Tanner Vavra pulling in to 2B with a double
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/VavraMauer2014.jpg
    Tanner Vavra chats with manager Jake Mauer. Vavra would ultimately be stranded at 3B.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Christensen2014b.jpg
    Chad Christensen
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Thomas2014a.jpg
    Ivory Thomas
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Garver2014b.jpg
    Mitch Garver
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Licon2014b.jpg
    Joel Licon
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Haar2014a.jpg
    Bryan Haar
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Altobelli2014d.jpg
    Bo Altobelli
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Quesada2014d.jpg
    Michael Quesada
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Mildren2014a.jpg
    Ethan Mildren
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Watkins2014a.jpg
    Tommy Watkins took over 3B coaching duties following Mauer's ejection. Two runs scored in the 9th inning with Watkins and his bubble gum in charge.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/WatkinsChristensen.jpg
    Tommy Watkins gets a close-up look as Chad Christensen tags up and scores on a sac fly
  22. Steven Buhr
    Everyone who has ever played the game knows you simply do not anger the baseball gods.
     
    The baseball gods are a vengeful lot. Any kind of slight, whether real or perceived, can cause them to rain down bad karma on players, coaches, teams and even, apparently, entire organizations.
     
    Someone in the Minnesota Twins organization must have really ticked off those baseball gods back during spring training, because the Twins have had one calamity after another since March. That’s when arguably the top power-hitting prospect in the game, Miguel Sano, was lost for the season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), requiring Tommy John surgery.
     
    A couple of weeks later, the consensus top minor league prospect in baseball, Byron Buxton, injured his wrist in the outfield on one of the back fields of the Twins’ training complex in Fort Myers FL. In fact, the baseball gods must really have it in for Buxton because just days after he was activated by Fort Myers, they zapped his wrist again, sending him back to the DL.
     
    The Twins have had so many injuries at the Major League level that they’ve routinely been sending out career infielders like Eduardo Escobar to play in the outfield over the past week. The Twins currently have four players on a Disabled List of one kind or another. Others, including $23 million a year man Joe Mauer, have missed stretches of games with injuries despite avoiding a trip to the DL.
     
    However, the wrath of the baseball gods has perhaps been visited hardest upon the Twins’ Class A Midwest League affiliate, the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Rosario2014a.jpg
    Randy Rosario - on the DL
     
    Cedar Rapids’ uniforms don’t have players names sewn on the back of their jerseys above the number. That’s probably a good thing this season, because the club may have needed to retain a seamstress full time just to keep up with the roster changes already during 2014.
     
    Roster turnover is not unusual in the minor leagues, of course. Players are promoted, demoted and even released at various points during the season, making it not at all unusual to see close to 50 different players take the field in a Kernels uniform at some point during the summer. A year ago, 49 different players (including Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey on an injury rehabilitation assignment) put in time with the Kernels.
     
    But this year’s Cedar Rapids club is getting an unwelcome jump on the roster musical chairs game.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Pineda1-600x420.jpg
    Jeremias Pineda - on the DL
     
    On Tuesday, less than six weeks in to the new season, pitcher Jared Wilson became the 34th player to wear a Kernels uniform this year.
     
    Before the end of the first game of the Kernels' doubleheader Tuesday night, shortstop Engelb Vielma had been pulled from the game after coming up lame as he left the batters box in the second inning and center fielder Jason Kanzler had been injured on a collision in the outfield.
     
    (UPDATE: After the 2nd game, Kernels manager Jake Mauer confirmed Vielma injured his hamstring and Kanzler likely has a concussion. Mauer said he expects both players to be placed on the Disabled List and hopes to have replacements up from extended spring training in time for Wednesday night's doubleheader.)
     
    Of the 25 players who arrived in Cedar Rapids from spring training to start the current campaign, pitcher Brandon Peterson has earned a promotion to Class high-A Fort Myers, pitcher Miguel Sulbaran has been traded, pitcher Christian Powell has been released and seven original 2014 Kernels have spent some time on the club’s Disabled List. If Vielma's name is added to that list, he would be the eighth.
     
    Centerfielder Zack Granite was hitting .313 for the Kernels just four games in to the season when the baseball gods struck him down with a rotator cuff strain.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Larson4-450x600.jpg
    Zack Larson - on the DL
     
    About ten days later, catcher Michael Quesada fell to a right wrist contusion.
     
    Less than a week after Quesada was felled, outfielder Jeremias Pineda broke his wrist and pitcher Randy Rosario hit the Disabled List with a left flexor mass strain.
     
    The game’s mystic guardians finally looked in other directions for almost two weeks before returning their attention to the Kernels with a vengeance and sidelining infielders Tanner Vavra (right ankle sprain) and Logan Wade (dislocated left shoulder), as well as outfielder Zack Larson (right hamstring strain) all during the first ten days of May.
     
    That’s an average of better than one player a week that manager Jake Mauer and his coaching staff have had to replace due to injury.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wade2014a-600x449.jpg
    Logan Wade - on the DL
     
    So far, the nine players added to the Kernels’ roster as replacements from extended spring training have managed to avoid the DL, though Kanzler would break that string if he lands on the DL following his injury Tuesday. One replacement, Jonatan Hinojosa, was with the team only long enough to play in one game before finding himself suspended by Major League Baseball for having tested positive for a PED.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/P3260165-3-475x600.jpg
    Michael Quesada - back from the DL
     
    Twins farm director Brad Steil must cringe every time his phone rings and he sees Jake Mauer’s name on the caller ID.
     
    Perhaps remarkably, Mauer has patched together line ups that have managed to win more games than they’ve lost. In fact, with five weeks left in the Midwest League’s first-half race, the Kernels are right in the thick of the race for second place in the league’s Western Division and the automatic postseason spot that would come with it.
     
    The Kernels struggled through a tough six-game road trip during which they won just two of six games and they play just seven of their next 17 games at home, but both Quesada and Vavra have returned from their injuries.
     
    Even Quesada’s return, however, poses a peculiar challenge for his manager. The Kernels’ current active roster includes 13 pitchers and 12 position players, four of which are catchers. Of course, at this level, it’s not unusual for catchers to play some first base. Which is good, because the Kernels’ regular first baseman of late, Chad Christensen, is likely going to be needed in the outfield.
     
    The arrival of JD Williams from extended spring training, where he’d been recovering from his own spring training injury (a broken thumb) has certainly provided a spark at the top of the Cedar Rapids batting order.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Vavra2014b-600x428.jpg
    Tanner Vavra - back from the DL
     
    After Monday night's doubleheader against Peoria was washed out, the Kernels were scheduled to play back-to-back doubleheaders against the Chiefs Tuesday and Wednesday.
     
    Going in to Tuesday night's games, Peoria sat in second place in the MWL West, just a half game ahead of Cedar Rapids. There were four more teams, however, bunched tightly together behind the Kernels and all of them have their eyes on the second Western Division postseason spot.
     
    (All photos: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com)
  23. Steven Buhr
    Ivan Arteaga is in his first year serving as the Cedar Rapids Kernels pitching coach, but he’s far from being a rookie when it comes to working with young pitchers in the Twins organization.
     
    After bouncing around the minor leagues for much of the 1990s with the Expos, Rockies and Mets organizations, the Venezuela native began coaching young pitchers for the Twins organization in 2001 and he’s been helping to develop the organization’s young arms ever since.
     
    Arteaga spent several years as the pitching coordinator for the Twins’ Venezuelan Academy and coached at both Rookie League levels before serving as the pitching coach for the Class high-A Fort Myers Miracle a year ago. This season, he and Gary Lucas (the 2013 Kernels pitching coach) traded assignments, bringing Arteaga to Cedar Rapids.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ArteagaMauer11.jpg
    Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and manager Jake Mauer share a light moment while watching a pair of Kernels pitchers work out. (Photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Several hours before game time, you can find Arteaga, often sporting a shirt with the word “ZONING” across the back, working with his pitchers in the Kernels bullpen down the right field line at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
     
    Recently, he agreed to sit down and talk about his work with the Kernels and the Twins organization.
     
    First things first. What’s with the ZONING shirt?
     
    “We’re trying to implement, as an organization, visualization, focus, concentration – actually throwing the ball to one spot without thinking how to throw the ball,” Arteaga answered.
     
    The secret to doing that, according to the coach, is visualization.
     
    “First, you know what you throw in certain situations and you know where you want to throw it, right? That should be how we pitch. Knowing your strengths and your weaknesses and how to apply that to the hitters’ tendencies.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Arteaga2014a-300x225.jpg
    Ivan Arteaga
     
    “So zoning is basically, we’ve been working for the last couple of years on having the pitchers visualize the pitch before they throw it. OK I have an 0-0 count, I want to throw a breaking ball, I don’t want to throw it down in the dirt, I want to throw it for a strike. So I’ll visualize the pitch how I want to throw it.”
     
    Arteaga was quick to point out, however, that it’s not a cookie-cutter approach to teaching pitching.
     
    “Everybody’s doing it for the most part, (but) everybody has his own way of doing it. Getting in to the process of thinking about pitching, and throwing the ball; not thinking about the process of ‘how do I throw the ball? My mechanics are off, or this or that.’ You throw the way you throw and it’s kind of hard for us to change that.”
     
    It’s not that pitchers don’t need to work on mechanics, of course, but those thoughts are ideally confined to the bullpen workout sessions. Pitchers can’t afford to be thinking about that kind of thing on the mound during games.
     
    “You shouldn’t and if you’re doing that, then something’s wrong,” confirmed Arteaga.
     
    While he’s an advocate for the Zoning philosophy, Arteaga doesn’t believe that simply subscribing to the approach will assure a young pitcher’s success.
     
    “I don’t think that success will be dictated by the Zoning or by how you run or by how you lift or if you sleep enough or how heavy you are or how skinny you are,” said the coach.
     
    “Success is a combination of all those factors, plus talent. Success is how you put together the whole package. Mental toughness and talent all together and you apply that in to the game.”
     
    Arteaga has been entrusted this season with a number of the Twins organization’s top pitching prospects. Some were high draft choices, others highly coveted international signings, but the coach sees similarities in what each of the pitchers on his staff must overcome.
     
    “Facing adversity,” Arteaga said. “Because that’s the main thing. The game is full of adversity. I’ve seen guys with a lot of talent, but they cannot get people out. And I’ve seen guys with lesser talent that are just great, because they’re mentally tough and they know how to apply their talent to the game and to the hitters’ tendencies.
     
    “So, to say that the guys that are pitching well are doing the Zoning and the guys that are not are not doing it, I don’t think that would be very smart on my part. I think that everybody’s doing it, it’s just that this is a level where everybody’s so young and so inexperienced. There’s a lot of things they’re working on at the same time. Holding runners. Getting in a routine. Playing every day. Some of these guys just worked on Saturdays or Fridays. Now they come to the ballpark every day.”
     
    While subscribing to the Zoning philosophy, in itself, won’t assure success, Arteaga believes there is one thing that a pitcher must develop.
     
    “As a pitching coach, if I have to pinpoint to one thing that is going to make these guys succeed throughout the year, it’s mental toughness. Mental toughness is part of the Zoning. Mental toughness is part of who you are as a pitcher when adversity strikes. Adversity could be having a cold, you’re sick. Maybe homesick. That’s adversity. It’s just the way it is.”
     
    It’s hard sometimes to imagine that such things can enter in to the mind of a professional ballplayer when he’s on the mound during a game but, said Arteaga, “It’ll be there. But how do you set your priorities straight, being able to put all that aside and go and perform?”
     
    One thing you hear a lot about with pitchers spending their first year or two as professionals is that organizations try to limit the number of different pitches they work on in a given season. A pitcher who threw a variety of pitches in high school or college sometimes seems to focus on just a fastball and one variety of off-speed pitch early in his professional career.
     
    Do the Twins or Arteaga take that approach with the Kernels’ pitchers?
     
    There’s no one answer to that question, according to the coach. “Always depends on the player, always.”
     
    Arteaga also doesn’t believe there’s a single right approach.
     
    “If I tell you that there’s a philosophy out there that is successful, everybody would be doing it,” Arteaga said with a laugh.
     
    “So everybody’s different and as a coach you have to fluctuate, not only man to man, player to player, but day by day. There are some days that will be cold, some days will be rainy. You have to learn to adjust to that and as a coach you have to let the guys pitch and learn.
     
    “There are some days that the change up might not be there or the breaking balls won’t be there or they’re very good in the bullpen, but not so good on the mound. Or you see that they’ve had a bad week, headaches or something. And the day of the game, everything goes away and they have a great game.
     
    “So this is baseball. There’s nothing set in stone. There’s nothing for you to do every day and you’re going to be successful. There’s no guidelines for that.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ArteagaSlegers2014-484x600.jpg
    Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and pitcher Aaron Slegers (photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    For Arteaga, that means treating every player as an individual.
     
    “As a coach, I’ve got to adjust to every single one of them and understand what they do and how they do it and how they can be successful by doing that.
     
    “Now, yeah, we want to establish the fastball in and out, throw the ball down. We want them to have at least ten per cent change ups every day they throw, the starters, and about 15 per cent the sliders or curve. That’s what we do.
     
    “It’s a very simple philosophy. Attack the hitters. Be athletic around the mound. Pitch inside. Throw the ball down and attack. Attack.”
     
    Treating each player as an individual must be a challenge, given the widely varying backgrounds that pitchers at the Class A level have. Some were still pitching for their high schools a year ago, some were in college and some have been working their way up through a couple of years of short-season rookie leagues within the Twins organization.
     
    Arteaga believes it’s important for him to demonstrate consistency in his approach, even as he works with players individually.
     
    “Number one, I am the coach so I try to be the same every day, regardless of the score or regardless of what happened. I won’t panic. I won’t get too high or too low. If they see that in me, they understand that I am under control. I’m fine with what they’re doing.
     
    “Now, if I pay enough attention, they will tell me what they need. Once I pay attention, and I get to know them and they get to know me, we establish a relationship. Then I can treat everybody in a different way.
     
    “For the most part, yes, you have a standard. That’s who I am. I’m not going to be different to you than I’m going to be to them. That’s who I am.”
     
    The individual approach enters during individual instruction, according to Arteaga.
     
    “Now, how do I teach you? How do I approach the teaching part of it? That is different. You have different needs as a lefty than as a righty. Different needs as a starter than as a reliever. Different needs as a long reliever than as a closer. So, yes, I have to adjust to each and every one of them.”
     
    Since Arteaga was working at the next level up in the organization, with the Miracle in Fort Myers, a year ago, he hadn’t had an opportunity to work much with this year’s crop of Kernels pitchers prior to spring training this year. That means they’ve had just a couple of months to get to know each other. Has that been enough time to establish those individual relationships?
     
    “Yes, it’s all about paying attention. It’s all about spending the time with them. When you’re on the road, this is your family. You’re spending 14 hours on a bus ride in this class. You get to know them a little bit.
     
    “I believe that they know me well. They know how I’m going to act and react and what I like and not only me, as a coach, but what the Twins want. I’m basically an extension of what the Twins philosophy is. Twins first, then yes, as a person, you put out your knowledge and experience and what you are and you try to teach them the way you teach.”
     
    The speculation in the media and among others who follow the Twins minor leagues has been that the Twins had Arteaga and Lucas swap coaching assignments this season because the Twins knew they’d have a number of significant Latin American prospects on the Kernels’ staff and they may find it helpful from a communication standpoint to have a Spanish-speaking pitching coach.
     
    Arteaga isn’t certain that was really a significant factor, however.
     
    “I don’t know if that’s the case,” observed Arteaga, concerning such speculation. “I guess that it’s got something to do with it. Obviously, the communication factor is important.
     
    “Yeah, I think that helps, but at the same time, I think I have one half (of the pitching staff) that were born in the United States. They’re college guys, some of them are very good prospects. So I have to be able to teach baseball.
     
    “Personally, I think that I can communicate with anyone. I’ve worked on my English for a long time and keep working on it. I prepare myself all the time to be able to communicate in both languages. Not only in baseball terms, but in life. Understand the culture, understand how Americans go about their everyday lives. I’ve spent half of my life learning that, because I was here, playing and coaching.”
     
    Speaking of top prospects, his Kernels staff has a lot of them. Does he feel any additional pressure to make sure all of the high-priced pitching talent with the Kernels this summer progresses the way the Twins want?
     
    “I feel motivation. I have a plan every day and I do my best every day so they can get better. I’m not pitching anymore, so I don’t have stress or sense of urgency because I do everything that I can every day to teach these guys how the game is, the game that we want them to pitch, the Minnesota Twins. So I have my own plan that I have learned over the last 14 years with the Twins.
     
    “So to have guys, regardless of how much talent they have, to be able to coach them every day, that’s my motivation. If not, I wouldn’t be here. That’s what moves me every day, to have the motivation to teach somebody and to actually help them with the game and with life.”
     
    Certainly, a coach like Arteaga must get a sense of satisfaction from seeing his pitchers succeed, though.
     
    “You do,” Arteaga confirmed. Yet it isn’t just seeing pitchers advance through the ranks that gives him satisfaction.
     
    “I think I get most satisfied when we make eye contact, regardless of the situation, that’s the best communication you can have with a human being.”
     
    “I can talk to you all day,” Arteaga continued, “but when you’re pitching and I’m coaching and you pitch a good inning or a bad inning or a bad at-bat or something, and you walk in to the dugout or I go to the mound and there’s eye contact, you should know what is what and how I feel. That’s the relationship thing you create with the player, regardless of whether he’s going to be here for one day or ten days or 25 years. Because you care.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ArteagaSlegersb.jpg
    Ivan Arteaga having a between-innings chat with Aaron Slegers (photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballs)
     
    Arteaga understands that’s not an aspect of the game that many outsiders can appreciate.
     
    “People don’t see that. Fans don’t see that. Journalists don’t see that. TV cameras don’t see that. TV cameras will look at emotions and what is exciting for everybody. But as a coach when, for whatever reason, your team gave up 14 runs that night, then you make eye contact and you’re able to assure those guys, ‘you know what, it’s okay, it’s going to be fine, we’ll work on it.’”
     
    The night before Arteaga sat for the interview, two Kernels pitchers had been victimized for a combined 12 runs. Can he communicate that kind of assurance to those guys after that kind of night?
     
    “Of course, because that’s baseball, It’s every day,” assured Arteaga.
     
    “Because what if I overreact last night and I tell them that they’re not good enough? Maybe because I don’t feel well. That’s me, but it’s not about me. It’s about them. So what if I overreact and I tell them they’re not good? The next thing you know, I’ve lost all that the staff had for me because I overreacted. So maybe apologizing might not be enough after that.
     
    “So, I’m with them every pitch. Yeah, we lost a game, fine. Then today is a different day and make no mistake, these guys are going to work today to get better so they can pitch well tomorrow. It’s a 142 game season.”
     
    Through the first week or so of May, Arteaga’s work with the Kernels is beginning to pay off. Two Kernels starters (Aaron Slegers and Kohl Stewart) are among the top 10 Midwest League pitchers in WHIP, two (Slegers and Ryan Eades) are in the top 10 in strikeouts and two more among the top 10 in saves (Hudson Boyd and the recently promoted Brandon Peterson). Nine Kernels pitchers have ERAs of 3.00 or below.
  24. Steven Buhr
    The Cedar Rapids Kernels brought a highly heralded group of pitchers north out of spring training. The opening day pitching staff was littered with highly rated prospects obtained with high draft picks and big-money international free agency signings.
     
    Even among top prospects, however, you’re never sure what kind of start you’ll get in a Midwest League season. Some of these pitchers are still teenagers. Some are a long way away from home for the first time. Some have seldom, if ever, pitched in front of a sizable crowd. Some have never experienced the kind of bone-chilling spring weather that is commonplace in Cedar Rapids and other MWL locations.
     
    Any of those factors can cause a pitcher to get off to a slow start, but if you can find a guy who’s already spent a few years away from home, matured as a pitcher, pitched in high-pressure situations and is no stranger to cold weather, he just might have a chance to impress early.
     
    But where could you possibly find such a pitcher? Maybe a guy whose spent the last three years away from home at college, pitching in front of big crowds in big games, regularly played in cold weather, during his college years.
     
    Meet Kernels starting pitcher Aaron Slegers.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Slegers2014j.jpg
    Aaron Slegers (photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballs)
     
    The 21 year-old Slegers, who was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 2013 Major League June Amateur Draft out of the University of Indiana, is 3-0 for the Kernels and carries a 2.52 ERA after six starts. He’s struck out 33 batters in 35.2 innings, while walking just six.
     
    Slegers threw seven shutout innings on Saturday night against the Peoria Chiefs and sat down for an interview the following morning.
     
    Slegers is mature and converses his way through an interview easily, despite the fact that he must know, by now, that the first question every interviewer is going to start with will be about his height. At 6′ 10”, it’s impossible to overlook the obvious.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Slegers2014g.jpg
    Aaron Slegers (photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballs)
     
    As he told a group of Kernels boosters at the club’s welcome dinner the day before the season started, he’s not even the tallest member of his family.
     
    “My dad’s seven feet tall,” he said on Sunday, just as he told the gathering a month ago.
     
    So there was never much doubt that the pitcher would be long in the frame.
     
    “Yeah, there’s a funny story about that,” offered Slegers. “In the Big Ten Tournament at Target Field, my mom was interviewed by the Big Ten Network and the sideline reporter asked her, ‘when did you know Aaron was going to be so tall?’ She thought to herself, ‘I guess when I married a seven foot guy.’ I don’t think she said that to the reporter, though.”
     
    Too bad. It’s the kind of line reporters love.
     
    He also has an older sister, in New York City. “She’s about six foot, 6’ 1”. She played volleyball in college,” said Slegers.
     
    Height can be an advantage for a pitcher, but it can also come with certain challenges, including additional levels of stress and strain on important joints.
     
    Slegers fought through a number of injuries in college, but he doesn’t feel they were related to his height.
     
    “The injuries were kind of freak, they weren’t really related to growing or anything,” Slegers explained. “I took a line drive my freshman year in an intrasquad the first week of the season. The first pitch I threw to our starting shortstop that year was a fastball right down the middle and he hit it right back at me off my throwing wrist. That broke my wrist and I was out for the year on a medical redshirt.
     
    “The next year, was a little more my fault, but I showed up a minute late for the bus that was leaving the hotel for the field and the punishment for that was running the entire batting practice. Because of that, I got shinsplints in my right shin. It hurt to walk and, again, out for the year after seven innings my sophomore year.
     
    “It was a tough little stretch there when I was in Indiana the first couple of years. It was a tough go on the injuries.”
     
    Things got better before he left Bloomington, however. Slegers and his Indiana teammates made it all the way to the College World Series in Omaha last year. Slegers threw a complete game in his final appearance as a Hoosier, but lost to Oregon State 1-0.
     
    Despite the way it ended, the trip made all of the early challenges at Indiana worthwhile.
     
    “A hundred percent, exactly right,” Slegers agreed, smiling. “The College World Series makes everything OK.”
     
    The sight of a 6′ 10” pitcher on the mound brings to mind memories of Randy Johnson, the certain future Hall of Fame pitcher who’s fastball periodically clocked in excess of 100 miles per hour.
     
    But that’s not Slegers’ style. His fastball regularly sits in the low 90s, which is good, but not considered overpowering.
     
    The big righthander isn’t concerned about his velocity, however.
     
    “Velocity’s always nice, but that’s sort of something that comes secondary,” explained Slegers.
     
    The primary thing, according to Slegers, is getting the preparation work done and preparing to compete.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ArteagaSlegersc-436x600.jpg
    Aaron Slegers having a between-innings conversation with pitching coach Ivan Arteaga (photo: SD Buhr/Knuckleballs)
     
    “Working in the bullpen, working on your mechanics, long-toss. When you go out and compete, you’re doing exactly that. Going out and competing, trying to repeat (the delivery) and throw strikes and throw all your pitches for strikes. Velocity’s just sort of one of those things that happens.”
     
    So you won’t see Slegers turning around to check his pitch speed on the Kernels’ video board after every pitch.
     
    “That’s something they’re trying to steer us away from,” Slegers agreed, smiling.
     
    Slegers saw a lot of success in college, but he realizes he’s working at a new level now and that requires work to improve, even if he’s not focused on adding velocity to his fastball right now.
     
    “I’m throwing my slider and change up more since I got in pro ball; trying to keep the hitters off balance. You can’t just keep pumping in fastballs over and over. They’re pretty good at learning those pitches. I’m kind of moving the baseball more than in college.”
     
    One thing Slegers hasn’t had to do is adjust to pitching in cold Midwestern weather. His time pitching in the Big Ten assured he’d be prepared for that aspect of his first full season of professional ball.
     
    “Oh yeah, oh yeah,” said a smiling Slegers. “We would go down south the whole month of February, but when we’d come up to school, if it was above 35, we were out on the field practicing and trying to hit BP So, yeah, I’m more than accustomed to it. And those late March home games will toughen you up in a hurry, in terms of the weather.”
     
    Being accustomed to cold weather doesn’t mean he spends any more time in it than he has to, however.
     
    Slegers may have gone to school in Indiana, but he and his family live in Arizona and that’s where he spends his offseason.
     
    Slegers stays active both in the offseason and, to the degree possible, during off days during the season.
     
    “I like to fish and golf, primarily,” Slegers said, concerning his off-the-field interests. “I like to golf as much as possible. In terms of exercising, I like cycling, road biking. That always takes up my time when I want a good cardio workout. It’s kind of unusual for a guy my size to ride a road bike, but mostly golf and fishing are my relaxing offday hobbies.”
  25. Steven Buhr
    The Cedar Rapids Kernels sported a 9-7 record as they departed for Peoria Monday for the first of seven road games before returning to Veterans Memorial Stadium on Monday, April 28. They enter the week just two games behind Kane County in the Midwest League’s Western Division standings.
     
    One reason for the success they’ve had thus far has been a power surge in the heart of their batting order.
     
    The Kernels lead the MWL in slugging percentage entering this week’s games largely due to power generated by catcher Mitch Garver and infielder Bryan Haar. Garver leads the league in home runs, with five, and Haar is right on his heals with four round-trippers.
     
    Over the weekend, Haar shared his perspectives on the start to the season that he and his team mates have had, as well as some thoughts about his own experiences moving from college ball, through two levels of Rookie level professional baseball and on to his first month with the Class A level Kernels.
     
    Though Garver and Haar have provided much of the power early on for Cedar Rapids, Haar insists that their offensive success has been a team effort.
     
    “When our team got hot and went on a little winning streak, I think we were all hitting pretty well so that helps,” said Haar. “Hitting is contagious. So I think we all contributed to the good start.”
     
    While the Kernels have kept their record above .500, they haven’t exactly had it easy thus far.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Haar1a.jpg
    Bryan Haar
     
    Haar and many of his team mates have spent their lives playing ball in far warmer climates. Several of the Kernels’ games have been played with temperatures in the 30s and 40s, so they were glad to see things warm up a bit over the past weekend.
     
    “Anything above 50 right now is good for us,” Haar said with a smile on Saturday. “If it’s not 35 and raining, we’re happy.”
     
    You won’t yet find Haar’s name on many of the organizational “top prospect” lists published during the offseason, but the 24 year-old from San Diego is showing power that’s been largely missing to this point in his professional career.
     
    Haar was drafted by the Twins in the 34th round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft, following his senior year at the University of San Diego.
     
    He hit only one home run in 44 games with the Gulf Coast League Twins in 2012 after signing with the Twins and went deep just six times in 60 games with the Twins’ short-season Appalachian League affiliate in Elizabethton last season.
     
    Haar said it took some time for him to adjust from college pitchers, who generally threw a mix of pitches, to lower levels of professional ball, where he faced a lot of strong young arms who were looking to impress.
     
    “In GCL that first summer, it was just fastballs all day,” recalled Haar. “I actually struggled a little bit because I forgot how to hit a fastball. It was new to me. They were blowing it by me.”
     
    He had to continue working on being able to catch up with the heat a year ago in Elizabethton.
     
    “In E’town, it was rookie ball, so there were a lot of 18 year old pitchers out of high school that maybe thought they threw 95 and really threw 91-92, trying to throw fastballs by me. I got more fastballs then. Jeff Reed (hitting coach at Elizabethton) is a great hitting coach, so he helped me out a lot.”
     
    That doesn’t necessarily mean the pitching he faced in college was superior to what he saw his first two years in the pros, though.
     
    “I’d say not better, but more command of their sliders,” Haar explained. “In E’town it was sliders in the dirt, sliders in the dirt. They never flipped one over for a strike. In college, it was slider for a strike, slider for a strike, now you’re down 0-2. But now (in the MWL), it’s more college guys so I’ve got to readjust to college pitching, I guess.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Haar1b.jpg
    Bryan Haar
     
    Haar knows he’s largely been feasting on fastballs this season and said he already sees pitchers making adjustments.
     
    “The first game of a series, usually I get some fastballs to hit. If I hit them well, then the next two or three games I get sliders and change-ups and curveballs. Just making that adjustment has been a little harder than I would have thought, but I’ve got to hit the fastball when I get it.”
     
    Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins has been working with Haar to keep a step ahead of the adjustments the pitchers are making.
     
    “They’re throwing me off-speed a lot, so I’ve got to start adjusting my swing a little bit towards that,” Haar said. “Tommy and I have been working on that the past couple of days. Not really trying to strike out less, but just put more balls in play hard.
     
    “I’ve hit two home runs off sliders, but I think they were the only hits I’ve had off sliders. We were working on that (Saturday), just kind of letting the ball get a little deeper, seeing it deeper.”
     
    At 24, Haar is a bit older than the average MWL position player, but he’s not feeling any extra anxiety about trying to advance quicker up the Twins organizational ladder because of that.
     
    "I don’t really worry about that. I’m just having a good time in Low-A with my friends,” he said.　”I got drafted in 2012 and pretty much all the guys here were drafted in the 2012 draft, so it’s nice to move up with them, in a sense. I’m just letting my play speak for itself and doing what I can here.”
     
    That includes being versatile in the field. Haar has played both corner infield positions for the Kernels already and that’s fine with him. Haar said he’d play anywhere, “as long as I’m in the lineup.”
     
    Haar played some football and basketball in high school and said his interests include, “pretty much every sport with a ball.” But as a Southern Californian, his interests outside of baseball go beyond what local fans might consider the norm.
     
    “I’m from San Diego, so I surf whenever I can. Usually in September I take some time off from baseball and I go surf. But when I get back in to workouts, I don’t have much time for that.”
     
    There’s obviously neither time nor opportunity for surfing during the season, so Haar is looking for other things to do with his limited down time.
     
    “I do enjoy fishing, so since we’re in Iowa, I’d like to get out and fish a little bit, but it’s tough. Getting back from a long road trip, you want to sleep in, and then you’re at the field.”
     
    Of course, there’s always the standard fallback option for ballplayers: video games.
     
    Haar and team mates Garver and Zach Larson, who live in close proximity to one another this season, “have a little FIFA battle on the X-Box. We’re on that quite a bit.”
×
×
  • Create New...