Steven Buhr

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor was in Cedar Rapids over the course of most of the past homestand in his capacity with the Twins organization. Molitor was gracious enough to answer some questions last Thursday, the first day of his stay in Cedar Rapids, as well as a few follow-up questions Monday afternoon after the final game of the Kernels’ homestand. I used several excerpts from the Thursday interview in an article posted at MetroSportsReport.com last week, but there was so much good material that I couldn't fit in to that article. So, I'm sharing all of Molitor's comments here. First off, I asked Molitor to describe his formal role these days with the Twins organization. Molitor: Titles are overrated a little bit. Technically, part of the player development team. I’m the Minor League Coordinator for Baserunning and Infield Play. It’s an opportunity for me to travel around the system and help try to teach, along with the staff on each club and I do focus on those two areas but invariably get involved with some of the hitting aspects. Our hitting coordinator for minor leagues does an incredible job, considering you have to try to put a hit plan together for about 200 guys. One of the things I enjoy, in addition to the teaching is that a lot of these guys are transitioning from wherever their roots have brought them from and it’s a process of evolving from sometimes teenagers in to men and so there’s mentoring involved, too. Just how to help these guys develop an understanding of the professional life style. We try to do what we can to try to help them progress in those areas, too. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Molitor9.jpg Paul Molitor (4) observing Kernels C Jhonatan Arias (23) take batting practice I mentioned that a lot is made about players having to transition to using wood bats and asked Molitor if he thought that was toughest thing about transitioning to the professional game for young players. Molitor: Some of the collegiate kids have had a chance to play in wood bat leagues in the summer time. A lot of times it’s a big transition just from maybe never having left home, particularly maybe never left your country and you have to try to claw your way in to professional ball and learn a system that particular organization teaches. We don’t try to overwhelm them. We let them play a little bit in the beginning til we kind of get a feel for who they are and what they do, what they do well and what we need to improve on. But the transition can be tough, depending on the guy’s experience. The college guys are usually better at understanding how to carry themselves and how to go about their business day to day. Another change is that very few of these kids have played in seasons where there’s 140 games so it’s understanding how to maintain and prepare yourself to withstand the rigors of a professional season. I asked if playing baseball in the upper midwest in April was difficult for players entering their first season of “full season” professional baseball. Molitor: The guys from warm climates, whether its Florida, California, Texas or the Dominican or Puerto Rico, you throw them up here in April and it’s not only a culture shock, but the weather is something they really never had to play in those type of conditions. So that’s a process. We see a lot of guys that haven’t had that experience start a little bit slower, just adapting to the weather itself. I jokingly pointed out that Byron Buxton is a southern guy that didn’t seem to take long to adjust. Molitor: He’s just a rare individual with a skill set that’s off the charts. I saw him last year in instructional ball for a little bit and you could see the rawness of a high school kid, but somehow this winter I think he put a lot of time in to conditioning and preparation. He was much more advanced this spring than I expected him to be and he’s been able to carry it undoubtedly in to the first 9-10 weeks of the season. You know, he’s got things to work on I’m sure. I’m looking forward to seeing him now compared to even two months ago. Over the next five days. I’ll be watching particularly how he handles himself on the basepaths. On a professional grading scale of 2-8, he’s an 8 runner and I haven’t for the past three decades seen many players that can compete with him in terms of just raw speed. Now how he can translate that in to base stealing is going to be the key. Obviously, this year he’s had over 30 attempts. He’s been caught some, but he’s been fairly successful for a young guy and probably in some ways, in this league, he’s been outrunning the ball. There’s two parts of base stealing: The mechanical, finding the best way to get your body to accelerate from a standstill position; and then there’s the mental side of understanding how they’re trying to slow you down and picking good pitches, good counts, reading pitchers pick-off moves, all those type of things. A lot of times, when you get caught is when you should learn the most. Whether you didn’t get a good jump or you ran on a pitch out or you didn’t anticipate the guy going home or you were tentative. There’s a lot of ways to learn to get better. So it’s a process. The more you do it, the better you get at it. We’re glad to see he’s out running. At least not having fear in athat area to this point. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Molitor4.jpg Paul Molitor hitting ground balls to Kernels 3B Travis Harrison I asked Molitor for his thoughts on Kernels third baseman Travis Harrison, who is still somewhat learning the position. Molitor: Ive been around him some, mostly spring traning and instructional ball. I’m sure there’s some adaption for him going on. He has relatively good hands. I think his footwork is something that needs to be improved. Being so close in proximity to home plate, you don’t have a lot of time to react to get your body in position to catch the ball. The better he can get control of his feet and be in the right spot, his hands are going to be OK. Throwing, he’s had some issues at times with consistency. He’s a little bit mechanical, but I think he’s learning that if he doesn’t try to guide the ball and throws it, he’s better off. So those are areas where we expect young kids to make errors and just like the baserunning, when you make mistakes, you figure out why and hopefully you can make adjustments. I asked for Molitor's thoughts concerning the defensive progress at third base of Harrison, as compared to Miguel Sano (this was a couple of days prior to Sano’s promotion to AA). Molitor: I think that’s a fair question. We’re all hoping that Sano, who’s a little farther along in the organization and in growth, in terms of getting close to the Major Leagues. Not unexpectedly, he made a ton of errors last year, his first year of being a third baseman in a full season and it was a plethora of mistakes. It was misreading balls, it was rushing balls, it was throwing balls he shouldn’t have thrown. Trying to force an out when it wasn’t there. But having seen him twice already this year, he’s made maybe a dozen errors so far and a lot of them are similar things. But he’s been very diligent and asking for extra work and trying to correct mistakes. I’m hoping his future is as a third baseman. Travis, it’s a little bit early to see how it pans out. A lot of times, you can play three or four years in the minor leagues and then you get to the Big Leagues and there’s no room in that position and all of a sudden you’ve got to maybe transition. So you kind of hope that you get these guys a little bit more well-rounded. As far as their strength position, you want to try to see them develop that the most. After the game on Monday, a Kernels win that was broadcast back to the Twin Cities on Fox Sports North, I asked Molitor about his impressions after having spent five days with the Kernels in Cedar Rapids. Molitor: Well it was good to see them bounce back after three tough losses. I feel like we got some things accomplished with some of the infielders defensively. It was good to see (Candido) Pimentel back out there today. He had a better day. He still had one play where he got a little anxious about turning his back to the runner and he didn’t keep his eye on the ball and that’s kind of one of the things he’s got to work on is just catching the ball and understanding the speed of the baserunners on the play. And then with baserunning, we had some guys out working on their jumps today and they’ve been aggressive trying to steal, so I’m pleased with that. But yeah, I had a lot of fun seeing these guys and kind of seeing where they’re at at this point in the season and hopefully I’ll get a chance to get back and see them again. Since Molitor had indicated he would be working with Byron Buxton on his base stealing, I asked if we should blame him for Buxton being picked off first base during Monday’s game (yes, I was kidding). Molitor: You can blame me for that if you want. The (pitcher) did a nice job of holding the ball. I think he kind of built a little tension. The longer the guy holds it, you really have to concentrate on staying relaxed and he might have given him a little bit of a balk move, but that’s, again, learning time. A hitter can help your baserunner out when he’s holding the ball. Call a time out, things like that. But that’s how you learn. I asked for Molitor’s impression of Jorge Polanco, specifically whether he thinks Polanco can stick at shortstop. Molitor: You know, I’ve seen him a fair amount and his arm’s probably competent at short but I still think he probably profiles a little better at second base in the long run. Working on his footwork a little bit. He can get a little false step on his breaks to the ball and it seems like balls you think he might have a chance to get he comes up a little bit short. So we’ll try to improve his range a little bit and give him a chance. At 19, it’s certainly too early to close the book on any one position. Offensively, he’s just getting a little bit stronger and he’s got nice loose hands at the plate and being a switch hitter is generally to his advantage. But I keep trying to keep them versatile in the middle of the field and hopefully one of the positions will pan out. But I have a feeling probably second base in the long run. Since we had discussed third baseman Travis Harrison earlier, I asked if he had any final impressions of Harrison. Molitor: He’s got a great attitude about work ethic and he wants to get better. I think the main thing for him is going to continue to work on his footwork so his range is competent to stay over there, too. But his throwing’s improved. He’s a lot more accurate. I think he’s comfortable over there. He’s still feeling for positioning a little bit. Sometimes I catch him maybe not quite in the right spot. There’s a reason you are where you are on every pitch and I think he’s learning that and trying to take some pride in it. It was a pleasure to talk a little baseball with Paul Molitor and I appreciate him taking the time to answer questions. I think the thought he put in to his comments clearly demonstrates just how seriously he takes his work with the Twins’ young players and how much he enjoys doing what he’s doing.

Pardon the blatant self-promotion of our blog but I posted a video of Buxton's triple over at Knuckleballs, if you're interested. Knuckleballs: Kernels and Buxton put on a show for FSN

Regardless of the quality of the broadcast, or lack thereof, if someone knows how I could get a DVD of the broadcast, I'd be very interested in it.

I don't think people generally realize how stacked the Kane County roster is. This, from the Kernels Media Notes: Baseball America’s 2013 Prospect Handbook listed 8 members of the current Kane County roster as a Top 30 prospect in the Cubs organization: OF Albert Almora (#2), RHP Pierce Johnson(#6), IF Dan Vogelbach(#7), IF Jeimer Candelario (#8), RHP Dillon Maples (#18), IF Marco Hernandez (#20), IF Gioskar Amaya (#21), RHP Lendy Castillo (#28). Vogelbach is listed as the Best Power Hitter in the organization. Almora is listed as the Best Defensive Outfielder. The Kernels worked Maples (#18) for 7 walks in just two innings in Sunday's game and they beat Johnson (#6) Monday. By the way, note that Shoulders is nowhere on the BA top 30 list for the Cubs and he has 12 HRs and a .851 OPS.

Posted a video of Buxton's triple over at Knuckleballs, if you're interested. Knuckleballs: Kernels and Buxton put on a show for FSN

They did finally throw Buxton a strike. He laced it to the base of the wall in LCF for a double.

James got word today that he's being promoted to Rochester. IMO, it's about damn time.

The Pioneer-Press' Tom Powers was in Cedar Rapids this past week and posted the article available at the below link. "The consensus here is that he will be promoted to advanced Class A Fort Myers after the All-Star break. Paul Molitor is in town, helping him to work on getting a better lead off of first base. Various Twins instructors routinely pop in to offer advice. But Buxton can work on that stuff at the next level, too. Right now he needs to face better pitching." Byron Buxton's first pro season, and Twins' first in Iowa, has the attention of Cedar Rapids - TwinCities.com

David Hurlbut is going on the Kernels DL. Mauer said he's had some soreness in his armpit area for a few days and hasn't been able to throw without discomfort. With the short starts they've been getting out of their starting pitchers lately, they can't afford to be left shorthanded in the bullpen.

As things stand at the moment, Mason Melotakis is the scheduled starting pitcher for CR vs Pierce Johnson for Kane County. Might want to double check the broadcast time, though. Game time, from what I've seen, is still scheduled for 12:05 pm CT on Monday.

First, welcome to Twins Daily! Second, not only will Molitor be in a Kernels uniform all weekend, but tonight (Friday) is one of the "special jersey" nights where all of the jerseys are auctioned off during the game for a charity (Salvation Army, tonight). I would be surprised if Molitor isn't wearing one of the Salvation Army jerseys to be auctioned off. If that's the case, you might not only be able to SEE Molitor in a Kernels uniform, but BUY that jersey and probably get it autographed by him after the game.

I'm not one to get "starstruck," but yes, having Paul Molitor agree to sit and talk baseball with me for a few minutes was pretty cool for a middle-aged rookie writer like me. I could have listened to him for hours. The quotes in the linked article were some highlights of the interview, but I may try to post a transcript of the whole thing early next week here at TD and at Knuckleballs. Molitor will be in CR through Monday, so maybe I'll have another opportunity to talk to him before he leaves.

I had a chance to talk to Paul Molitor before Thursday's Kernels game. We talked about his role with the Twins organization and, of course, the subject of Byron Buxton was raised. “He’s just a rare individual with a skill set that’s off the charts,” Molitor said of Buxton. “I saw him last year in instructional ball for a little bit and you could see the rawness of a high school kid. But somehow this winter I think he put a lot of time into conditioning and preparation. He was much more advanced this spring than I expected him to be and he’s been able to carry it, undoubtedly, into the first nine or 10 weeks of the season.” The link below will take you to the article on MSR. Hall of Famer Molitor mentoring Kernels

Yes, I meant June 8. Duh. Sorry. I haven't heard anything specific about Sunday. Saturday night games are generally the biggest attendance (fireworks, etc.).

I agree with Shane. It's going to depend on what he does with the bat in the future and what opportunities he receives. He's obviously hitting well in his second year of AA ball. Will he hit that well immediately upon promotion to AAA or, eventually, MLB? And, if not, will he get an opportunity to struggle a bit at first and then improve? It's one thing for the Twins to give a "top prospect" like Aaron Hicks some rope for a while and stick with him for a couple of years, but will they be that patient with someone like Beresford? Hard telling. One thing he has going for him is that he can play around the infield and that alone has some value.

I'm pretty sure the MWL chooses All-Stars by vote of league managers and when you're an opposing manager, you're probably so focused on trying to figure out how to keep Buxton, Polanco, Walker, Hicks and Harrison from bludgeoning you to death that you tend to overlook Williams' contributions when it comes to voting. On a less loaded team, he'd have had an excellent chance at making the AS team, I think.

I know a lot of people from outside the CR area are planning trips to see the Kernels this month, so I wanted to mention that I'm hearing that tickets for Saturday's game with Quad Cities could possibly be the first "sell out" for CR this season. What that essentially means is that "club" and "premier" seats could be sold out or limited to "single seats only." It is rare for the team to sell out of "general admission" tickets and with the concourse open to the field, there's generally no problem for those willing to stand throughout the game. But if you're thinking of bringing the family to CR this weekend and want to make sure you get actual seats in the "bowl" for the game, you might want to jump online at kernels.com and buy tickets soon.

Former Braves minor leaguer Caleb Brewer is indeed the 2nd pitcher, along with Powell, to be added to the Kernels roster to replace Duffey and Soliman. The Braves released Brewer off of their high-A roster in Lynchburg last week. No official word yet as to whether Caleb is related to Bernie, Jeremy!

Looks like a 10th member of the draft class of 2012 will be joining the Kernels on Wednesday, Christian Powell, drafted in the 8th round.

That's a very strong likelihood, Jeremy.

Christian Powell joining CR Wednesday from EST. A second player, perhaps a recent minor league FA signing, should join as well.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1833-2013-Draft-Class-Could-Lead-2014-Kernels

I've never been someone that pays an enormous amount of attention to the MLB First-Year Player Draft. Most years, I would glance at a few writers focusing on who the Twins might draft in the first round, but the draft itself just held little interest for me. I suppose, like many people, it just seemed to me that it was going to be several years before I would ever see any of the young players drafted in a given year put on a Twins uniform, so there was little point in spending much of my time on the draft. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Buxton31.jpg Byron Buxton I'm coming around, though, and, yes, it has a lot to do with the Twins now being affiliated with my local minor league team, the Cedar Rapids Kernels. During their last several years as an Angels affiliate, it just seemed to me that the parent organization seldom sent many of their top prospects to Cedar Rapids right away (if at all). That may be unfair, I don't know. I honestly never looked up whether my perception of things was backed up by facts. But I do know this: Players drafted by the Twins in the 2012 First-Year Draft have played critical roles in putting the Kernels atop the Midwest League Western Division Standings with less than two weeks before the end of the first half of the season. How critical? I"m glad you asked. The newest Kernel, infielder Joel Licon, who joined the team from extended spring training just this week, is the ninth player drafted last summer to suit up for the Kernels this season. While Kernels fans haven't had a chance to get to know Licon yet, the other eight members of the 2012 draft class have made significant impacts. Consider: Byron Buxton (1st round)): .333/.435/.545 (.980) 11 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 7 HRs Adam Brett Walker (3rd): .270/.321/.530 (.851) 12 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 10 HRs Dalton Hicks (17th): .299/.376/.485 (.861) 17 2Bs, 7 HRs I'm not sure where the Kernels would be without those bats this season, but they'd have been a lot less fun to watch. But if that's impressive, check out these pitchers: Jose Berrios (Supp 1st round): 4-2, 39 IP, 2.54 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.28 WHIP Mason Melotakis (2nd): 5-2, 51.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 42 Ks, 1.52 WHIP Tyler Duffey (5th): 3-2, 58.1 IP, 2.78 ERA, 47 Ks, 0.94 WHIP Taylor Rogers (11th): 0-1, 10 IP, 7.20 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.80 WHIP Alex Muren (12th): 3-0, 15.2 IP, 2.87 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.21 WHIP Clearly, anyone who might want a sneak peek at who is likely to be playing big roles for the 2014 Cedar Rapids Kernels should pay close attention to who the Twins pick with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the draft on Thursday and any college age players drafted in the following 15 rounds or so. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Berrios2.jpg Jose Berrios Of the nine players listed above, only first round picks Buxton and Berrios were selected following their senior seasons of high school baseball. The others all had at least some amount of college experience prior to being selected and signed by the Twins. The Twins’ brass have their work cut out for them to replace that kind of productivity with the Kernels from the draft class of 2012. Of course, most players drafted this week won’t wear a Kernels uniform next year. More will likely arrive in Cedar Rapids the following year during the 2015 campaign. Eleven of this year’s Kernels were selected by the Twins in the 2011 draft. That list includes third baseman Travis Harrison, catcher Tyler Grimes and eight pitchers who have toed the rubber at some point during the season as a member of the Kernels pitching staff. All together, 20 of the 32 players who have appeared in a Kernels uniform this season were drafted by the Twins in the past two years and several more could still arrive in Cedar Rapids this summer as promotions and injuries create roster openings. Of course, Kernels fans may not have to wait until 2014 to get a look at some of this year’s draft talent. Under the terms of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, players with college eligibility remaining must be signed by July 15. That's much earlier than under the agreement in place before last year, which makes protracted contract negotiations almost impossible. As a result, some of the players selected in this week’s draft may have an opportunity to be assigned to Cedar Rapids before the end of this season. Last year, the Twins sent a handful of pitchers from their 2012 draft class to their Midwest League affiliate, the Beloit Snappers, to help the Snappers during their playoff run. The first and second rounds of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft will be broadcast on the MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com Thursday evening, beginning at 6:00 CT. Rounds 3-10 will be streamed on MLB.com beginning Friday afternoon and rounds 11-40 will be streamed on MLB.com beginning Saturday afternoon. SD Buhr covers the Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com in Cedar Rapids. Photos: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com

I've never been someone that pays an enormous amount of attention to the MLB First-Year Player Draft. Most years, I would glance at a few writers focusing on who the Twins might draft in the first round, but the draft itself just held little interest for me. I suppose, like many people, it just seemed to me that it was going to be several years before I would ever see any of the young players drafted in a given year put on a Twins uniform, so there was little point in spending much of my time on the draft. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Buxton31.jpg Byron Buxton I'm coming around, though, and, yes, it has a lot to do with the Twins now being affiliated with my local minor league team, the Cedar Rapids Kernels. During their last several years as an Angels affiliate, it just seemed to me that the parent organization seldom sent many of their top prospects to Cedar Rapids right away (if at all). That may be unfair, I don't know. I honestly never looked up whether my perception of things was backed up by facts. But I do know this: Players drafted by the Twins in the 2012 First-Year Draft have played critical roles in putting the Kernels atop the Midwest League Western Division Standings with less than two weeks before the end of the first half of the season. How critical? I"m glad you asked. The newest Kernel, infielder Joel Licon, who joined the team from extended spring training just this week, is the ninth player drafted last summer to suit up for the Kernels this season. While Kernels fans haven't had a chance to get to know Licon yet, the other eight members of the 2012 draft class have made significant impacts. Consider: Byron Buxton (1st round)): .333/.435/.545 (.980) 11 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 7 HRs Adam Brett Walker (3rd): .270/.321/.530 (.851) 12 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 10 HRs Dalton Hicks (17th): .299/.376/.485 (.861) 17 2Bs, 7 HRs I'm not sure where the Kernels would be without those bats this season, but they'd have been a lot less fun to watch. But if that's impressive, check out these pitchers: Jose Berrios (Supp 1st round): 4-2, 39 IP, 2.54 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.28 WHIP Mason Melotakis (2nd): 5-2, 51.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 42 Ks, 1.52 WHIP Tyler Duffey (5th): 3-2, 58.1 IP, 2.78 ERA, 47 Ks, 0.94 WHIP Taylor Rogers (11th): 0-1, 10 IP, 7.20 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.80 WHIP Alex Muren (12th): 3-0, 15.2 IP, 2.87 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.21 WHIP Clearly, anyone who might want a sneak peek at who is likely to be playing big roles for the 2014 Cedar Rapids Kernels should pay close attention to who the Twins pick with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the draft on Thursday and any college age players drafted in the following 15 rounds or so. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Berrios2.jpg Jose Berrios Of the nine players listed above, only first round picks Buxton and Berrios were selected following their senior seasons of high school baseball. The others all had at least some amount of college experience prior to being selected and signed by the Twins. The Twins’ brass have their work cut out for them to replace that kind of productivity with the Kernels from the draft class of 2012. Of course, most players drafted this week won’t wear a Kernels uniform next year. More will likely arrive in Cedar Rapids the following year during the 2015 campaign. Eleven of this year’s Kernels were selected by the Twins in the 2011 draft. That list includes third baseman Travis Harrison, catcher Tyler Grimes and eight pitchers who have toed the rubber at some point during the season as a member of the Kernels pitching staff. All together, 20 of the 32 players who have appeared in a Kernels uniform this season were drafted by the Twins in the past two years and several more could still arrive in Cedar Rapids this summer as promotions and injuries create roster openings. Of course, Kernels fans may not have to wait until 2014 to get a look at some of this year’s draft talent. Under the terms of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, players with college eligibility remaining must be signed by July 15. That's much earlier than under the agreement in place before last year, which makes protracted contract negotiations almost impossible. As a result, some of the players selected in this week’s draft may have an opportunity to be assigned to Cedar Rapids before the end of this season. Last year, the Twins sent a handful of pitchers from their 2012 draft class to their Midwest League affiliate, the Beloit Snappers, to help the Snappers during their playoff run. The first and second rounds of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft will be broadcast on the MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com Thursday evening, beginning at 6:00 CT. Rounds 3-10 will be streamed on MLB.com beginning Friday afternoon and rounds 11-40 will be streamed on MLB.com beginning Saturday afternoon. SD Buhr covers the Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com in Cedar Rapids. Photos: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com