Tom Froemming

I had him 27th on my preseason list and on my very rough first draft of a midseason list I've got him at 21.

There were too many great performances across the Twins’ minor league system to mention them all in this intro, but Lewis Thorpe was particularly impressive. He had 12 strikeouts and only gave up one hit and one walk over seven innings. Holy smokes. Check out what else happened in the minors on Thursday.TRANSACTIONS Alex Kirilloff was promoted to Fort Myers. To take his spot in Cedar Rapids, Ben Rodriguez was activated from the DL. Edgar Corcino was promoted to Rochester, Jaylin Davis jumped up to Chattanooga and Nick Buss was released. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Syracuse 1 (10 innings) Box Score W: Nick Anderson (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) SP: Zack Littell (6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: None Zack Granite got the walk-off hit, picking up his very first RBI of the season. This game was knotted up at 0-0 until the Red Wings, or I guess they were the Plates tonight, broke through with a run in the seventh inning. Jake Cave singled, LaMonte Wade drew a one-out walk, Willians Astudillo singled to load the bases and Kennys Vargas managed to drive in a run on a ground out. Tyler Duffey was nasty in the eighth, striking out three of the four batters he faced, but allowed the game-tying run to score in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Anderson pitched a scoreless 10th inning before Granite managed to drive home the free runner (bonus runner?) in the bottom half of the inning to end it. Byron Buxton was 1-for-3 with two strikeouts and a stolen base. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 12, Biloxi 2 Box Score W: Lewis Thorpe (7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K) HR: Tanner English (1), Jimmy Kerrigan (2), Brent Rooker (10) Multi-hit games: Kerrigan, Chris Paul, Ryan Walker, English Complete domination. Lewis Thorpe was untouchable on the mound and the offense was firing on all cylinders. Here's a great Tweet from Chris Blessing of Baseball HQ; Jimmy Kerrigan was 4-for-5 and scored four runs and Chris Paul had three hits and had six RBIs. Just when you think it couldn’t get any better ... MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 10, Bradenton 0 Box Score W: Charlie Barnes (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras, Lewin Diaz, Luis Arraez, Ben Rortvedt, Taylor Grzelakowski, Caleb Hamilton, Brandon Lopez … the Miracle put together an even more impressive performance. Every member of the Fort Myers lineup had at least one hit, with seven batters putting together multi-hit games. Mark Contreras and Lewin Diaz led the way in terms of hitting with three hits each, but Luis Arraez reached safely four times, picking up two hits and two walks. Caleb Hamilton led the team in total bases on the night, as he hit a double and a triple. Charlie Barnes, who’s been really rolling, had one of his most impressive performances as a pro, pitching seven shutout innings. Colton Davis was perfect over the final two frames. Alex Kirilloff was 1-for-6 and scored a run in his FSL debut. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4 Box Score W: Randy Dobnak (6.1 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) SV: Jovani Moran (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB 5 K) HR: Royce Lewis (7), Ben Rodriguez (4) Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo, Royce Lewis, Ben Rodriguez, Davis Banuelos The Kernels were down a run heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Ben Rodriguez hit a go-ahead two-run inside-the-park home run to put the Kernels on top. Jovani Moran was perfect over the final 2 2/3 innings, all while protecting a one-run lead. He’s struggled with control at times, but when Moran is on (like he was tonight) he’s special. Of the eight batters he faced, he struck out five of them. Royce Lewis, beat up knee and all, slugged his seventh homer, a three-run shot. Randy Dobnak scattered nine hits across 6 1/3 innings to earn his fifth victory. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 9, Burlington 5 Box Score W: Blair Lakso (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4K) SV: Johan Quezada (1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) SP: Andrew Cabezas (3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Ryan Jeffers, Jared Akins, Ariel Montesino, Chris Williams, Trevor Casanova, Ricky De La Torre, Lean Marrero Ryan Jeffers is among the more intriguing new faces to the Twins’ organization. We’re learning this early on: Dude can hit. Jeffers was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and a pair of runs Thursday. Fellow 2018 draftee Trevor Casanova was 2-for-3 with a walk. On the mound, 18th-round pick Andrew Cabezas made his professional debut, striking out five batters over three innings of one-run ball. GCL TWINS TAKES OFF STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Lewis Thorpe, Chattanooga Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jimmy Kerrigan, Chattanooga TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis, CR: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R, K 2. Fernando Romero, MIN 3. Nick Gordon, ROC: 0-for-4, 2 Ks 4. Stephen Gonsalves, ROC: Did not pitch. 5. Alex Kirilloff, FM: 1-for-6, R, K 6. Wander Javier: Out for the season with a shoulder injury. 7. Brent Rooker, CHAT: 1-for-4, HR, BB, RBI, 2 Rs 8. Blayne Enlow, CR: Did not pitch. 9. Brusdar Graterol, CR: Did not pitch. 10. Akil Baddoo, CR: 2-for-4, 2B, R. 11. Zack Littell, ROC: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K 12. Lewis Thorpe, CHAT: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K 13. Lewin Diaz, FM: 3-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 Rs 14. LaMonte Wade, ROC: 1-for-3, 2B, BB, K 15. Mitch Garver, MIN 16. Ben Rortvedt, FM: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs, K 17. Travis Blankenhorn, FM: 1-for-5, RBI, R, 2 Ks 18. Yunior Severino, ET: Did not play 19. Tyler Jay, CHAT: Did not pitch. 20. Felix Jorge: Out with knee injury. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Scranton, 6:05 pm CT: Stephen Gonsalves Chattanooga vs. Biloxi, 6:15 pm CT: Sean Poppen Fort Myers at Bradenton, 5:30 pm CT: Tyler Wells Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT: Bailey Ober Elizabethton at Bristol, 6:00 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox, 11:00 am CT: TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Kyle Gibson did his part, delivering another quality start, but all those pretty numbers listed above look a lot more bloated after the bullpen had a bad day against Boston. Oh, and all the Eds are broken.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 49 Game Score, 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, 61.9% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 0-for-2 w/RISP, 3 LOB Bottom three per WPA: Pressly -.143, Mauer -.085, Grossman -.072 Download attachment: chart.png This game didn’t end well, but you can’t be too sore about the Twins taking two out of three from Boston. Speaking of sore, the bigger concern at the moment is some ailing Twins. Just think, what’s the worst thing that could happen to this offense right now? Being Ed-less, right? Well, Eddie Rosario was scratched from this game due to shoulder soreness and Eduardo Escobar was forced to leave after he was hit by a pitch. The good news is it sounds like Paul Molitor expects Rosie to be available tomorrow and Escobar only suffered a bruised elbow and is considered day-to-day. Down their two hottest hitters, there was little the Twins could muster against Rick Porcello. He pitched seven one-hit innings. Altogether, the Twins got only four hits and scored both of their runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was too bad, because Gibby pitched well once again. He got into some trouble, giving up seven hits while walking three batters and hitting another, but limited the damage to two runs over six innings. He’s now given up two or fewer runs in 10 of his 15 starts on the season. He also accomplished that feat 10 times in 2017, but that was in 29 starts. Entering this game, the Twins hadn’t given up more than six runs all month and the pitching staff had a 3.17 ERA, good for sixth best in the league. The bullpen had been particularly strong in June, ranking fourth in all of baseball with a 2.60 ERA. Ryan Pressly was charged with three earned runs while recording only one out and Matt Belisle also gave up three runs in his inning of work. Matt Magill even gave up a run. Molitor has already demoted Addison Reed from setup duties, at least temporarily, so Pressly’s continued struggles are especially worrisome. He hit a snag earlier this month and gave up two earned runs in three consecutive appearances. But since that bump, Pressly had strung together three scoreless innings in a row. Just when you thought he might be out of the woods, another rough outing pops up. Pressly closed out May with a 2.22 ERA on the season, but so far this month he’s surrendered nine earned runs in just 6 1/3 innings. On the other hand, Magill hadn’t surrendered a run in more than nine innings. He gave up a run on three hits in the ninth inning. It was a disappointing end to what had been a great series for the Twins. Next up, Texas comes to town. The Rangers are off to a poor start, but carry a five-game winning streak into Target Field. AL Central Standings CLE 40-33 DET 36-39 (-5) MIN 33-38 (-6) CHW (24-49 (-16) KC 22-52 (-18.5) Next Three Games Fri vs. TEX, 7:10 pm CT: Mike Minor vs. Fernando Romero Sat vs. TEX, 1:10 pm CT: Yovani Gallardo vs. Jake Odorizzi Sun vs. TEX, 2:10 pm CT: Bartolo Colon vs. Jose Berrios Last Three Games MIN 4, BOS 1: For Grossman and Kepler, The Price Was Right MIN 6, BOS 2: Bats Get to Boston Bullpen CLE 4, MIN 1: Lots of Traffic, Just One Run Click here to view the article

Is it time to platoon Max and sit him against righties? Pretty frustrating to see the Twins make another out on the bases, but boy was the one Boston made 10x more awful. Betts at the plate, two down, runners at the corners and Brock Holt comes way too far off third on a ball in the dirt. Garver, Escobar and Adrianza combine on the run down to get him out to end the inning. Thank you!

I may double down and not only avoid watching the Twins tonight, but watch Cleveland instead. Think I can jinx them, or will my jinx carryover to their opponents? I still haven't figured out how these new powers work

Chris Sale was his usual amazing self, but Jose Berrios kept the Twins in the game and Eduardo Escobar worked his Fogo magic once again. This one was scoreless through five, and Boston actually struck first. Things were tied up at 2-2 before the Twins broke out with a four-run bottom of the eighth inning.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Starting Pitcher: 59 Game Score, 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 58.1% strikes Bullpen: 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB Lineup: 3-for-9 w/RISP, 3 LOB Top three per WPA: Escobar .491, Berrios .193, LaMarre .112 Download attachment: WinEx619.png The Red Sox are one of only three teams averaging more than five runs per game (along with the Yankees and Astros). Most of that feasting has been done against right-handed pitching. Not tonight. This wasn’t the best start of Berrios’ young career, but the way he continued to work out of trouble against a great offense was impressive. He walked the leadoff hitter in two separate innings. He gave up back-to-back singles in the fourth. It didn’t matter. The only run Boston got off Jose was a solo homer by Rafael Devers in the sixth inning. Escobar is simply unbelievable. Right after the Red Sox took that 1-0 lead, Escobar hit a two-run double (of course) to put the Twins on top. That was Eduardo’s 31st double. Boston managed to tie the game again in the eighth, but Esky was there to set things straight once again. Ryan LaMarre drew a leadoff walk and Joe Mauer was hit by a pitch. After Eddie Rosario flew out, Escobar hit a single* to center. An error allowed both LaMarre and Mauer to score and Eduardo hustled all the way around to third base. Robbie Grossman followed with an RBI triple to put this game away. *The official scorer’s ruling has been changed to a double. That seems a little generous to me, but hey it gives Double E 32 two-baggers on the year. That’s a pretty solid season total! While they're at it, maybe the official scorers should also credit Escobar with the victory The biggest two outs of this game may have been the two Trevor Hildenberger was able to record. Berrios was lifted after he hit a batter with one out in the seventh. Hildy came in and walked the first batter he faced, then he got Xander Bogaerts to ground out. The Twins were holding a one-run lead at that point, and with two down and runners at second and third the call was to let Hildenberger pitch to J.D. Martinez. He struck him out. Zach Duke gave up the game-tying run in the eighth, but he’ll end up being credited with the win thanks to the big comeback. Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation. Postgame With Molitor The next time I turned the game on, the Twins were up 6-2. The good news is Andrew is going to be handling the game recap tomorrow, so put all your money on the Twins Click here to view the article

The overall numbers are definitely not what you'd expect. With Runners On .254 AVG (13th) .326 OBP (18th) .424 SLG (12th) With Runners In Scoring Position .263 AVG (6th) .339 OBP (12th) .433 SLG (8th) WHAT? How is that even possible? Why isn't the offense scoring more runs? High Leverage (Using FanGraphs, so leverage index of 2.0 or higher) .218 AVG (26th) .291 OBP (26th) .366 SLG (17th) Ah, this probably explains it. Taking a look at this game, the Twins' highest-leverage situations came in the sixth inning. Trailing 4-1, the Twins had runners on second and third with nobody out. Garver strikeout, Adrianza strikeout, Mauer strikeout.

The Twins racked up 10 hits and added three walks but all that activity on the bases resulted in just one run Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. Jake Odorizzi didn’t have his best performance either, walking four batters in five innings while barely throwing more than half of his pitches for strikes.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Jake Odorizi: 43 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 K, 4 BB, 53.8% strikes Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB Lineup: 1-for-10 w/RISP, 10 LOB Top three per WPA: Escobar .185, Grossman .104, Motter .028 Download attachment: WinEx617.png Brian Dozier, hitting in the fifth spot again, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and left five men on base. He recorded the final out of the first inning, stranding a runner on second base. In the third, Dozier again accounted for the third out, leaving men on first and second. In the fifth, Dozier was up with two outs and runners on second and third … you know where this is going by now. He grounded out to end the inning. To be fair, Brian wasn’t the only one who had a rough day at the plate. Mitch Garver was 1-for-4 with a pair of Ks and left four men on and Joe Mauer, Logan Morrison and Ehire Adrianza all left three men on base. One guy who had a great game was Eduardo Escobar. He hit three more doubles, giving him 30 on the season. He had the team’s lone RBI, driving in Mauer in the first inning. Prior to today, Odorizzi was relying on his four-seam fastball just 33 percent of the time, a career low per Brooks Baseball. Maybe he didn’t have a feel for his other pitches, or maybe it was just that he was constantly behind in the count, but today Odorizzi deployed that pitch 59 percent of the time. The big sting from Cleveland was a bases-clearing double in the third inning that Odorizzi left right in the middle of the plate. The Twins were also rough around the edges both in the field and on the bases once again. Eddie Rosario played a single into a triple. Garver and Adrianza combined for a bad moment on the bases, resulting in an out at third. Robbie Grossman left this game with a heat-related illness in the sixth inning. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen617.png AL Central Standings CLE 37-33 DET 35-37 (-3) MIN 31-37 (-5) CHW 24-45 (-12.5) KC 22-48 (-15) Next Three Games Mon OFF Tue at BOS, 7:10 pm CT - Jose Berrios vs. Chris Sale Wed at BOS, 7:10 pm CT - Lance Lynn vs. David Price Thu at BOS, 12:10 pm CT - Kyle Gibson vs. Rick Porcello Last Three Games MIN 9, CLE 3: That’s Our Eddie MIN 6, CLE 3: Anything is Possible DET 3, MIN 1: Lynn Overexposed, Offense Overmatched See Also I took some time this morning to speculate on when I expect Miguel Sano to return to the Twins. Check it out and let me know what you think: Click here to view the article

Eddie Rosario, what can you say? One moment he’s making you clap in excitement, the next he’s making you throw your cap on the ground in disgust. It can be an adventure sometimes, but the guy is always trying to make something happen. He did just that Saturday, carrying the Twins’ offense once again.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Fernando Romero: 30 Game Score, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 68.3% strikes Bullpen: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB Lineup: 6-for-14 w/RISP, 7 LOB Top three per WPA: Rosario .198, Magill .122, Morrison .112 Download attachment: WinEx616.png Rosario went 4-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and even a stolen base. He drew a six-pitch walk in his first plate appearance, then hit the first pitch in each of his last four PAs. Of the five times he reached base, he scored in four of them. The other one, well it was one of those adventure moments, but we won’t dwell on that just yet. Eduardo Escobar also had yet another strong performance, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Unlike so many other games this season, Rosie and Double E got some support from the rest of the lineup. Joe Mauer was 2-for-4 with a walk, Logan Morrison was also 2-for-4 and drove in three runs and Max Kepler, who entered this game with just one RBI in 13 games this month, drove in a pair of runs. All that offense was crucial, since Fernando Romero didn’t put his best foot forward. He gave up three runs and was pulled after just four innings. Over his last 16 2/3 innings, Romero has given up 15 earned runs and has just 11 strikeouts. Lucky for the Twins, an extremely well rested Matt Magill was prepared to pick up the slack. He pitched three perfect innings, lowing his ERA on the season to 1.14. Circling back to Rosario, he made questionable decisions in both halves of the same inning. With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Morrison hit a ball to the outfield. Mauer bluffed a tag from third base. It must have been a really good one, because he definitely faked out Rosie. Eddie was caught way off second base, cause some confusion on the bases that led to Mauer being thrown out to end the inning. Then in the bottom of the fourth, Cleveland had runners at second and third and hit a ball of their own to the outfield. This time, it appeared fairly obvious that it was going to be an easy sac fly. Instead of hitting the cutoff man to hold the runner at second, Rosario threw all the way through to home, and was way off target. Luckily, that runner was stranded at third. Rosario has certainly been Mr. Entertainment so far this season. His aggressiveness has paid off far more often than it’s hurt the Twins. He’s up to a .323 average and .948 OPS(!), so he’s obviously in a good place playing with freedom this season, even freedom that can border on recklessness. Even so, you can't help but appreciate the fact there's not a single play he doesn't think he can make. One thing’s for certain, whether he’s at the plate, on the bases or in the field, Eddie Rosario is a guy who you want to watch. Heck, he’s even pretty entertaining in the dugout sometimes. Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco was forced out of this game in the second inning when Mauer hit a 99.6 mph line drive square off his elbow. That forced them to ultimately turn to the pitcher they originally had scheduled to start tomorrow, Adam Plutko, to eat a couple of innings out of the bullpen. The Twins went from losing a series against Detroit to not only taking the first two games at Cleveland, but also setting themselves up to face an emergency starter who’s going to be filling in for their emergency starter. Baseball’s a hell of a drug. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen616.png AL Central Standings CLE 36-33 DET 35-37 (-2.5) MIN 31-36 (-4) CHW 24-45 (-12) KC 22-48 (-14.5) Next Three Games Sun at CLE, 12:10 pm CT - Odorizzi vs. TBD Mon OFF Tue at BOS, 7:10 pm CT - TBD Wed at BOS, 7:10 pm CT - TBD Last Three Games MIN 6, CLE 3: Anything is Possible DET 3, MIN 1: Lynn Overexposed, Offense Overmatched DET 5, MIN 2: Bulldog Berrios and the Addison Reed Experience Click here to view the article

Would it seem less random if I said last four weeks? Diaz is already in Fort Myers, no he's not on the 40 man. Not sure if a joke just went completely over my head, or what. I would agree with Seth, I think he's still in my top 20, but barely. What the FSL has done to Diaz should be reason for people to really start believing in Travis Blankenhorn's bat.

The Twins offense has been sputtering. Corey Kluber has been dominant. Was there some kind of a Freaky Friday situation that played out in this game or something? The Twins, who just dropped a series to Detroit, rolled into Cleveland and beat one of the best pitchers in baseball behind a great start from Kyle Gibson. Eddie Rosario had another great game and Brian Dozier slid down in the order and provided a big fly.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs) Kyle Gibson: 68 Game Score, 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 K, 4 BB, 61.2% strikes Bullpen: 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 K, 0 BB Lineup: 0-for-4 w/RISP, 1 LOB Top three per WPA: Gibson .281, Rosario .146, Dozier .135 Download attachment: WinEx615.png The Twins made a lot of moves, some of them big (Miguel Sano being demoted, Joe Mauer being activated from the DL) and some small (Dozier sliding down the fifth in the order, Taylor Motter being promoted to help fill out the bench). It was enough to give the team a bit of a new look, new feel and so far so good. Coming into tonight, Kluber hadn’t walked a batter in more than 40 innings, had gone 26 starts without giving up four runs and pitched at least six innings in all of his starts this season. None of those streaks survived this Freaky Friday. Rosario hit a first-inning home run, giving Gibson a lead before he even took the mound. Rosie also led off what turned out to be a three-run fourth inning with a double. Dozier clubbed a two-run homer to cap that inning, just his sixth since the start of May. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullen615.png AL Central Standings CLE 36-32 DET 33-37 (-4) MIN 30-36 (-5) CHW 24-43 (-11.5) KC 22-46 (-14) Next Three Games Sat at CLE, 3:10 pm CT - Romero vs. Carrasco Sun at CLE, 12:10 pm CT - Odorizzi vs. Plukto Mon OFF Tue at BOS, 7:10 pm CT - TBD Last Three Games DET 3, MIN 1: Lynn Overexposed, Offense Overmatched DET 5, MIN 2: Bulldog Berrios and the Addison Reed Experience MIN 6, DET 4: More Grand Slams, Please More From Twins Daily Miguel Sano's Struggles Trying to Get a Reed on Addison Twins Daily Roundtable: Romero's Innings Click here to view the article

That section will rotate each month. To your point, Kohl Stewart does have a 9.2 K/9 and 3.6 K:BB ratio on the year, but he also has a 7.36 ERA and 2.02 WHIP in his last four starts. He's definitely making some progress, but we're seeing some of the growing pains too. Overall, I'm still higher on him than I was before the season started, despite the run prevention problems.

I disagree. Rooker has been raking in Double A of late, Graterol has been a beast, Thorpe is racking up strikeouts while facing older batters 93% of the time, Wade has 10 more walks than strikeouts, Rortvedt is a 20-year-old catcher who's now hitting in the FSL and Blankenhorn is in the top-15 in slugging in the FSL. Plus, Enlow is one of the youngest pitchers in the MWL and Baddoo seems to be feeling out who he is as a hitter. Since the start of May, Akil has a .790 OPS (MWL league-average OPS is .704). If you expect to see 15 Hall of Famers on here, then yeah, I guess you're going to be disappointed.

Welcome to another edition of the Twins Prospect Pulse, a new feature on Twins Daily inspired from suggestions from you, the readers. There have been numerous players promoted over the past few weeks and a lot of players who got off to slow starts are suddenly surging. Here's how each affiliate is performing, a rundown of the Twins Daily top 20 prospects and another 10 names of note. Here we go …In case you missed it, late last month I rolled out this feature without really having any idea where it was going to fit into the big picture of minor league coverage at the site. Seth and I came to the conclusion this would be a good mid-month feature to sort of play off his Minor League Player of the Month Award articles. Speaking of which, here are the award winners from May: Hitter: Alex Kirilloff, OF, Cedar Rapids Starting pitcher: Brusdar Graterol, RHP, Cedar Rapids Relief pitcher: Todd Van Steensel, RHP, Chattanooga Below are the stats for this edition of the Prospect Pulse. All numbers were pulled on the morning of June 15. Affiliates -Rochester Red Wings: 30-33, fifth place in IL North -Chattanooga Lookouts: 35-32, second place in SL North -Fort Myers Miracle: 26-39, last place in FSL South -Cedar Rapids Kernels: 31-35, sixth place in MWL Western -Elizabethton Twins (season starts June 19) -GCL Twins (season starts June 18) -DSL Twins: 8-3, tied for first place in DSL South Top Prospects Here’s a snapshot at how the top 20 prospects have performed. Just a quick note before we get into the numbers, one way or another there will be an updated top 20 list I’ll be using for the mid-July Prospect Pulse. 1. Royce Lewis, SS, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .267/.300/.505 (.805 OPS), 17.1 K%, 3.6 BB% Full season: .291/.336/.437 (.773 OPS), 15.9 K%, 6.0 BB% 2. Fernando Romero, RHP, Minnesota Last 28 days: 24.2 IP, 6.20 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 2.7 K:BB Full season: 62.1 IP, 3.47 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 2.3 K:BB (MIN & CHAT) 3. Nick Gordon, SS, Rochester Last 28 days: .269/.290/.385 (.674 OSP), 19.6 K%, 2.8 BB% Full season: .308/.347/.466 (.813 OPS), 16.8 K%, 4.7 BB% (ROC & CHAT) 4. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 15.1 IP, 9.98 ERA, 2.28 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 0.9 K:BB Full season: 57.0 IP, 4.42 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 1.9 K:BB (ROC & CHAT) 5. Alex Kirilloff, RF, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .346/.417/.635 (1.051 OPS), 13.3 K%, 10.8 BB% Full season: .329/.386/.608 (.994 OPS), 16.9 K%, 8.2 BB% 6. Wander Javier, SS, out for the year with a shoulder injury. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. 7. Brent Rooker, 1B/LF, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .273/.354/.535 (.889 OPS), 28.3 K%, 11.5 BB% Full season: .255/.310/.449 (.759 OPS) 28.4 K%, 7.0 BB% 8. Blayne Enlow, RHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 15.2 IP, 4.60 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 1.4 K:BB Full season: 34.1 IP, 4.46 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 1.7 K:BB 9. Brusdar Graterol, RHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 22.0 IP, 3.68 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 4.2 K:BB Full season: 36.1 IP, 2.48 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 7.0 K:BB 10. Akil Baddoo, CF, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .233/.309/.493 (.802 OPS), 27.2 K%, 9.9 BB% Full season: .220/.364/.387 (.751 OPS), 30.4 K%, 17.8 BB% 11. Zack Littell, RHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 19.0 IP, 7.11 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.6 K:BB Full season: 58.0 IP, 5.12 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 10.20 K/9, 2.6 K:BB (MIN, ROC & CHAT) 12. Lewis Thorpe, LHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 26.1 IP, 3.76 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, 3.7 K:BB Full season: 62.2 IP, 4.74 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, 3.5 K:BB 13. Lewin Diaz, 1B, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .167/.177/.244 (.421 OPS), 16.5 K%, 0.0 BB% Full season: .208/.232/.344 (.576 OPS), 18.2 K%, 1.5 BB% 14. LaMonte Wade, OF, Rochester Last 28 days: .267/.375/.350 (.725 OPS), 9.7 K%, 13.9 BB% Full season: .293/.396/.424 (.821 OPS), 9.3 K%, 13.7 BB% (ROC & CHAT) 15. Mitch Garver, C, Minnesota On May 28, Mitch collected his 130th MLB at bat, meaning he no longer qualifies as a prospect. 16. Ben Rortvedt, C, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .362/.384/.435 (.818 OPS), 16.4 K%, 4.1 BB% Full season: .288/.335/.388 (.723 OPS), 20.8 K%, 6.4 BB% (FM & CR) 17. Travis Blankenhorn, 3B/2B, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .313/.385/.388 (.773 OPS), 20.3 K%, 10.1 BB% Full season: .270/.323/.446 (.769 OPS), 24.4 K%, 6.7 BB% 18. Yunior Severino, 2B, expected to join E-Town next week. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. 19. Tyler Jay, LHP, Chattanooga Last 28 days: 15.1 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 2.8 K:BB Full season: 27.2 IP, 2.60 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 2.3 K:BB 20. Felix Jorge, RHP, out with a knee injury. Last 28 days: None. Full season: None. Another 10 to Know These aren’t necessarily the next 10 in the rankings, but here are some other names of note: Luis Arraez, 2B, Fort Myers Last 28 days: .345/.400/.500 (.900 OPS), 8.1 K%, 8.1 BB% Full season: .271/.328/.371 (.699 OPS), 11.8 K%, 7.2 BB% Charlie Barnes, LHP, Fort Myers Last 28 days: 23.0 IP, 3.13 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 2.7 K:BB Full season: 55.2 IP, 3.88 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.0 K:BB Trey Cabbage, 1B/LF, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .254/.325/.463 (.787 OPS), 24.7 K%, 9.1 BB% Full season: .248/.312/.418 (.730 OPS), 31.2 K%, 7.1 BB% Randy Dobnak, RHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 28.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 7.5 K:BB Full season: 58.1 IP, 4.01 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 5.4 K/9, 3.89 K:BB Adalberto Mejia, LHP, Rochester Last 28 days: 27.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 3.9 K:BB Full season: 36.1 IP, 3.47 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 2.9 K:BB Sean Miller, SS/2B, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .303/.387/.364 (.750 OPS), 21.3 K%, 12.0 BB% Full season: .225/.281/.275 (.556 OPS), 19.4 K%, 5.8 BB% (ROC & CHAT) Jose Miranda, 2B/3B, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: .339/.390/.514 (.904 OPS), 12.7 K%, 6.8 BB% Full season: .251/.308/.381 (.689 OPS), 13.0 K%, 6.5 BB% Jovani Moran, LHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 18.1 IP, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 15.2 K/9, 3.9 K:BB Full season: 34.2 IP, 2.60 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 14.0 K/9, 2.1 K:BB Brian Navarreto, C, Chattanooga Last 28 days: .269/.319/.388 (.708 OPS), 12.5 K%, 4.2 BB% Full season: .265/.300/.377 (.677 OPS), 13.4 K%, 2.9 BB% Bryan Sammons, LHP, Cedar Rapids Last 28 days: 23.2 IP, 3.04 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, 7.0 K:BB Full season: 53.0 IP, 2.89 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, 3.6 K:BB That’s it for this edition of the Prospect Pulse. 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Congrats Griffin!

Alex Kirilloff has been among the most impressive prospects in the Twins system all year, but he may have had his best game yet in what was an impressive offensive output from the Kernels Thursday night. Also, some familiar faces had strong performances for Rochester and there were some noteworthy transactions.TRANSACTIONS Hmmm, where to start? Well, I suppose Miguel Sano being demoted to Fort Myers was something worth mentioning, huh? Joe Mauer’s rehab assignment with Rochester ended. He was 0-for-10 with two strikeouts and no walks. Also, Jake Cave was optioned to Rochester. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Buffalo 1 Box Score W: Adalberto Mejia (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) SV: John Curtiss (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) Multi-hit games: Zack Granite, Kennys Vargas Adalberto Mejia! Zack Granite! Kennys Vargas! Remember those guys? Well, they’re still around, and they all helped lift the Red Wings to a win tonight. Mejia gave up just one run on four hits in six innings of work, lowering his ERA to 3.47 on the season. He struck out six and walked three batters. Granite was 2-for-5 with a stolen base and a run scored while Vargas was 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs. Nick Anderson had hit a bit of a rough patch, but he got back on track again tonight, pitching two scoreless innings. John Curtis picked up his fourth save. All three of Rochester’s runs were scored in the first inning. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Birmingham 3, Chattanooga 0 Box Score SP: Omar Bencomo (5.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) It was a really rough night for the Chattanooga bats. The Lookouts were shut out, only had five hits, drew zero walks and struck out 11 times. I usually don’t mention opposing players, but Birmingham pitcher Dane Dunning is looking like a stud. He was a first-round pick out of Florida back in 2016 and made most of the top 100 prospect lists this season. He was originally drafted by the Nationals, who traded him to the … Chicago White Sox. Aw man, seriously? Edgar Corcino got the only extra-base hit of the night for Chattanooga, a double. Omar Bencomo gave up three runs on nine hits over five innings. He struck out seven. Tyler Jay (two innings) and Cody Stashak (one inning) combined for a scoreless night from the bullpen. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 3, Fort Myers 2 (10 innings) Box Score SP: Charlie Barnes (5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) HR: Taylor Grzelakowski (6) Multi-hit games: Ben Rortvedt, Travis Blankenhorn Charlie Barnes didn’t get his first full season as a professional off to a great start, but he’s been rolling as of late. Last year’s fourth-round pick had a 5.14 ERA through his first five starts, but since then he’s pitched to a 3.12 mark. Barnes gave up one run on just two hits in 5 2/3 innings tonight, but unfortunately the Miracle bullpen couldn’t hold a one-run lead. Ben Rortvedt was 3-for-4. They’ve all been singles, but he’s 6-for-15 (.400) since being promoted. Rortvedt’s arrival has provided an opportunity for fellow catcher Taylor Gzelakowski to get work in elsewhere. He started in left field tonight and hit his sixth homer. Travis Blankenhorn and Jaylin DAvis each reached safely twice and they also both stole a base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Kane County 3 Box Score W: Bailey Ober (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) HR: Alex Kirilloff 2 (13) Multi-hit games: Kirilloff, Robby Rinn, Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, David Banuelos Take a bow, Alex Kirilloff. This was his first four-hit game of the season and second multi-homer effort. He’s tearing apart Midwest League pitching, posting a line of .329/.386/.608. It would have been understandable if Alex had gotten off to a slow start after missing all of last season, but he’s been a beast from the get-go. In a season that hasn’t had many positives for Twins fans, this young man represents a brilliant beam of sunshine. There were plenty of other strong performers for Cedar Rapids, as Robby Rinn had three hits, both Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda had two doubles and David Banuelos reached safely three times. The Kernels were actually trailing 1-0 after the first inning, but Bailey Ober ended up getting settled in. He went seven innings, needing only 79 pitches to do so, and gave up two runs on four hits and one walk. He struck out seven batters and threw 72.2 percent of his pitches for strikes. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Bailey Ober, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Alex Kirilloff, Cedar Rapids TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects performed: 1. Royce Lewis, CR: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, BB 2. Fernando Romero, MIN 3. Nick Gordon, ROC: 0-for-4 4. Stephen Gonsalves, ROC: Did not pitch. 5. Alex Kirilloff, CR: 4-for-6, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBIs 6. Wander Javier: Out for the season with a shoulder injury. 7. Brent Rooker, CHAT: 0-for-4, 2 Ks 8. Blayne Enlow, CR: Did not pitch. 9. Brusdar Graterol, CR: Did not pitch. 10. Akil Baddoo, CR: 1-for-5, BB 11. Zack Littell, ROC: Did not pitch. 12. Lewis Thorpe, CHAT: Did not pitch. 13. Lewin Diaz, FM: 1-for-5, K 14. LaMonte Wade, ROC: 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 BBs 15. Mitch Garver, MIN 16. Ben Rortvedt, FM: 3-for-4 17. Travis Blankenhorn, FM: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 K 18. Yunior Severino: Expected to join E-Town. 19. Tyler Jay, CHAT: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 20. Felix Jorge: Out with knee injury. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Buffalo, 6:05 pm CT (Zack Littell) Chattanooga at Birmingham, 7:05 pm CT (Kohl Stewart) Fort Myers OFF Cedar Rapids vs. Peoria, 6:35 pm CT (Bryan Sammons) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article