Tom Froemming

Seattle 6, Twins 5 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Top 5 Plays (via Baseball-Reference) Kintzler opened the ninth by quickly getting two groundouts on seven total pitches. Ben Gamel hit a two-out single into center field on a 2-0 count to extend the game. Kintzler then fell behind Zunino 2-0, as well. Image via Yahoo Sports The Star Tribune’s Phil Miller shared this interesting tidbit regarding Zunino’s two-homer game: https://twitter.com/MillerStrib/status/872707782402744325 Adalberto Mejia had a 5-2 lead as he entered the fifth inning, in which he gave up a run. In seven starts, Mejia has now factored into the decision in just two of them (1-1). Tyler Duffey gave up another run in the sixth, but managed to record seven outs. Taylor Rogers got the last two outs of the eighth, and was very impressive, topping out at 96 mph. Image via Brooks Baseball The only Twins hitters who failed to reach base were Robbie Grossman and Byron Buxton, and the team went 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Miguel Sano hit his 15th home run of the season, a three-run blast (see below). The only other extra-base hit was an Ehire Adrianza double. Image via ESPN’s Home Run Tracker The Twins made a number of roster moves prior to Wednesday’s game. Hector Santiago was placed on the 10-day DL and Jorge Polanco on the bereavement list. Kennys Vargas was recalled from Rochester and Chris Heston was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers. To make room on the 40 man, Nick Tepesch was released. Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3OhJIEvubI Postgame With Molitor Today Kyle Gibson (7.23 ERA) vs. Christian Bergman (4.36 ERA) In three starts since returning from Rochester, Gibson has a 5.63 ERA. Current Mariners have hit .232./.286/.348 off Gibby, with their only home run coming from Jarrod Dyson, who has gone deep just nine times in 1,740 career PAs. The only Twins hitter who has faced Bergman, a former Rockies pitcher, is Adrianza (1-for-3). AL Central Standings 1. Twins 29-26 2. Cleveland 29-28 (-1.0) 3. Detroit 29-29 (-1.5) 4. Kansas City 26-32 (-4.5) 5. Chicago 25-32 (-5.0) Make sure to check out the Minor League Report from Wednesday’s action. And here's a link to last night's Twins Daily game thread.

Seattle 12, Twins 3 Box Score Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs) Top 5 Plays (via Baseball-Reference) Santiago did not look right from the get-go. Below is a visual on how he fared against the first batter of the game (via Yahoo), the location is obviously an issue, but note the velocity, as well. Hector struggled to eclipse 90 mph early on, though he did appear to loosen up as the game progressed. (Data below from BrooksBaseball.net) Brian Dozier hit his ninth home run of the season on a prototypical Dozier homer. The pitch was left up and he pulled it right down the left field line. The Twins are now 4-4 when Dozier homers (he had a two-homer game), but oddly enough they're 12-2 when Miguel Sano goes deep. (data below from Yahoo) The new guys out in the bullpen had ugly games. Randy Rosario gave up five earned runs in 0.1 IP. His ERA is 30.86. Alex Wimmers managed to get five outs, but he also gave up a pair of runs. Byron Buxton was 2-for-4 with a double and saw 19 pitches. Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDGRFN0OTqo Postgame With Molitor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIM8NLGZ0-w Today Adalberto Mejia (3.95 ERA) vs. Yovani Gallardo (6.24 ERA) Mejia has been solid in three starts since returning from Rochester, lowering his ERA from 5.79 to 3.95 in the process. Current Twins have hit .359/.450/.516 off Gallardo over a combined 81 PAs. AL Central Standings 1. Twins 29-25 2. Cleveland 29-27 (-1.0) 3. Detroit 28-29 (-2.5) 4. Chicago 25-31 (-5.0) 5. Kansas City 25-32 (-5.5) Click here for the minor league report for Tuesday's games.

Transaction Alert The Red Wings added Ryan Pressly, reinstated Engelb Vielma from the temporary inactive list (paternity leave) and sent Nik Turley back to Chattanooga. Also, Rochester won't be needing to make room for Jason Wheeler, as he has been traded to the Dodgers. https://twitter.com/LaVelleNeal/status/870847189752332289 Award Announcement John Curtiss was named the Southern League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. In eight games, 9.1 IP, Curtiss had a 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, gave up just four hits and struck out 12. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Norfolk 2 Box Score David Hurlbut gor off to a rocky start, giving up two runs in the first, but the Wings staff shut out the Tides from there on. The Rochester bats managed to string together a four-run third inning despite not recording an extra-base hit in that frame. Zack Granite led off the game with a triple, drew a walk in that big third inning and added a double in the fifth. He scored three runs on the night. Matt Hague and Tommy Field also had multi-hit games. Despite his early struggles, Hurlbut turned in a quality start. Over six innings he gave up six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out two. Drew Rucinski followed with clean innings in the seventh and eighth before Michael Tonkin pitched a perfect ninth inning. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Birmingham 2 Box Score Felix Jorge continued to roll, as he pitched into the seventh inning for the fourth-consecutive start. He also tied a season high with six strikeouts. Heading into the seventh frame, Jorge had a two-hit shutout in the works. After giving up a solo home run and a single, his night was done. Jake Reed was thrown right into the fire for his 2017 debut, and struggled to find the zone. He walked three-consecutive batters, causing the runner he inherited from Jorge to score, before finally recording the final out of the inning on a strikeout. I’d relay Reed's radar gun readings, but let’s just say the Birmingham gun was unreliable. https://twitter.com/BaseballByTom/status/870826369562931201 With the game tied in the top of the eighth, Edgar Corcino hit a leadoff single and later came around to score on a Dan Gamache double. Corcino was the only Chattanooga batter to record a multi-hit game, bumping his average up to .301 on the year. Nick Gordon hit his 15th double of the season, putting him in a tie for the Southern League lead. Seth Stohs recently provided an update of his prospect rankings which had Gordon at the top spot. John Curtiss pitched a perfect ninth inning, picking up his 26th strikeout (over 18.2 IP) and 10th save of the season. All it took was 10 pitches, eight of which were strikes. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 0 Box Score Daniel Kihle’s two-run homer was the difference maker in this pitcher’s duel. Dereck Rodriguez, Williams Ramirez and Alex Muren combined to shut out the Marauders. Rodriguez went six innings, gave up just three hits (all singles) and a walk while striking out six. You’d be hard pressed to find a pitcher in the Twins system who’s had a better year than Rodriguez. He lowered his ERA to 2.66 and his WHIP is at 1.07 for the season. He has nearly five times as many strikeouts (49) as walks (10) and has averaged a hair over six innings per start. Second baseman Alex Perez was 1-for-2, drew the Miracle’s only two walks of the game and scored on the Kihle homer. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 0 Box Score Domenick Carlini had his best start of the season, limiting the Bees to three hits and two walks over six innings while tallying two strikeouts. Patrick McGuff (0.1 IP), Max Cordy (1.2 IP) and Hector Lujan (1 IP) secured the shutout, giving Carlini his third win. Lujan also picked up his third save. The Kernels failed to record an extra-base hit in this one, but managed to string together some runs thanks in large part to Aaron Whitefield’s speed. The Aussie outfielder led off the third inning with a walk, went first-to-third on a Travis Blankenhorn single, then scored the first run of the game on an Ariel Montesino sac fly. In the fifth inning, Whitefield hit an RBI single, stole second base (his 12th of the season) and scored on a Blankenhorn sac fly. That’s right, he scored from second base on a sac fly. The win put Cedar Rapids up to 32-23 in what is shaping up to be a special first season under rookie manager Tommy Watkins. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher(s) of the Day – Felix Jorge (6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K) & Dereck Rodriguez (6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aaron Whitefield (1-for-2, BB, RBI, 2 R, SB) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Norfolk, 6:05 pm CT, Aaron Slegers (3.81 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) Chattanooga at Birmingham, 6:30 pm CT, TBD Fort Myers at Palm Beach, 4:30 pm CT, David Fischer (3.35 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Burlington, 6:30 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.50 ERA, 0.99 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games.

Who Is He? A 6-2, 210-pound lefty out of Jupiter, Fla., Smith made a pretty significant impact for the Cavaliers upon his arrival to campus. Not only did he start every game and lead UVA in hits as a freshman, he also helped lead them to their first ever College World Series Championship. Not too shabby. Last season, his numbers improved across the board, but he’s really blossomed in 2017. So how does he stack up against McKay? Here’s a quick breakdown of their numbers this season ... Smith: .346/.429/.571, 12 HR, 72 RBI, 52 R, 36 BB, 9 K McKay: .363/.481/.705, 17 HR, 52 RBI, 52 R, 42 BB, 33 K Smith doesn’t have the same eye-popping power numbers, but one thing to take special note of is that last number. Pavin Smith has more home runs than strikeouts this season. That’s bananas. Of course, McKay facies himself as something of a pitcher as well. All he did was lead the ACC in strikeouts (124) while posting the fourth-lowest ERA in the conference (2.37). But enough on McKay, there will be plenty more on him here at Twins Daily later in the week. Why The Twins Will Pick Him Because they're scared of the potential bust factor with every other top prospect in this draft. With Smith, there is no having to try to figure our whether he's going to be a pitcher or a hitter. Really, there's very little to be worried about at all, comparatively speaking. The Baseball America staff picked Smith as the best college hitter in the draft. Having shown an incredible prowess for handling the bat, Smith appears not only to be one of the safest bets in the draft, but it could be argued he’s the closest to being major league ready. Now I don’t know if we’re talking about ready to take over for Joe Mauer in 2019 ready … but maybe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TEaLI-XWCM Also, it’s worth noting any concern over Smith transitioning over to wood bats can be relieved by the fact that he hit .318/.394/.444 in the Cap Cod League. John Sickels of Minor League Ball put a 60 grade on Smith’s power, calls him an asset at first base, and notes that he draws comps to John Olerud and Eric Hosmer. That’s not the sexiest profile, but he’s got a slab house floor -- no basement. Another thing that could be working in Smith’s favor that’s it’s possible he’s willing to sign for significantly under slot. Nobody even has him projected to go in the top five (more on that to come), so he's likely flexible. That seems to be an unpopular strategy among Twins fans, but any money saved at the top could be used to sway some more big names in later rounds. Looking from the outside in and following along with the national media coverage, it would seem like there’s a very low percentage chance the Twins are calling Pavin Smith’s name on June 12. But, remember, this is a brand new Twins front office. We have no historical data on this particular group of decision makers. Anything can happen. Why The Twins Will Not Pick Him The lack of projectability/upside hurts his case to be picked at 1:1. The Twins are expected (and rightly so) to be able to find not just a star, but a superstar. It would also seem pretty far-fetched to think the Twins would take Smith over McKay, given his superior performance in the same conference, regardless of whether they think he’ll be a pitcher or a first baseman. And that’s not even taking into account Kyle Wright or any of the great preps in the class. He’s also not what I’d consider to be a high-skill position player. No offense to first basemen, and I’m not trying to belittle the impact they can make defensively, but they’re just much easier to find than starting pitchers, shortstops, center fielders or catchers. Keith Law appears to have Smith the highest in his latest mock, pegging him to go to Oakland with the sixth pick. In Baseball America’s latest mock, they had Smith going seventh to Arizona. Same for Ryan Fagan of The Sporting News. Jim Callis of MLB.com has him going eighth to Philadelphia, as does Jay Jaffe of SI.com. Benjamin Chase of Call to the Pen has him going ninth to Milwaukee. And one last link to share, this one from Twins Daily member Hrbowski, who wrote an excellent and in-depth profile on Smith back in April that is well worth your time. So, if you’re to believe the experts, there appears to be very little chance the Twins take Smith. What do you think? Should the Twins take aim at one of the higher-upside players in the draft? Or take more of a sure thing like Smith and save a little bit of money to use later in the draft in the process?

Transaction Update Adalberto Mejia was called up to the Twins to start Saturday, and the Red Wings activated David Hurlbut from the disabled list to take his spot. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Indianapolis 2 (12 innings) Box Score In the third inning, Indians first basemen Joey Terdoslavich shoved Zack Granite after he was under the impression the Red Wings speedster did … something. Granite was a professional about the whole altercation, but Terdoslavich probably should have been ejected from the game. https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/868667882644934658 It’s funny how things can come around to bite you. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Indianapolis was running out of bullpen arms and turned to Terdoslavich on the mound. With the game tied and Granite due up fifth it seemed unlikely the two would face off. But, of course, they did. With the bases loaded and one out, Granite lined Terdoslavich’s pitch for the walk-off winner. Baseball: what a game, huh? https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/868672973707911168 Back in the bottom of the ninth, Granite put his speed to good use to help send the game into extra innings. He led of the inning by reaching on a fielding error, then went from first to third on a ground out to the shortstop. I repeat, Zack Granite went from first to third on a ground ball to shortstop. Crazy. To top it all off, he scored the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Palka. Nik Turley’s been up and down between Chattanooga and Rochester a couple times already this year and has also bounced between the rotation and bullpen along the way. He started Saturday night, and picked up another five strikeouts over five innings of two-run ball. The Rochester bullpen had an incredible night. Trevor Hildenberger took over for Turley and pitched 2.2 innings, gave up just one hit and struck out five batters. Buddy Boshers went 1.1 scoreless innings before Drew Rucinski threw three shutout innings to earn the victory. Mitch Garver, who entered the night with his OBP at an even .400, drew four walks. Playing first base, he also made a game-saving scoop to end the top of the 12th inning as the winning run was on its way home from third. This was a wild game which also included a pretty comical ejection and ensuing blowup from Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Montgomery 3, Chattanooga 0 Box Score Former Twin Yohan Pino (11 starts in 2014) made his season debut. It was also his first appearance in the States since he pitched for the Royals in 2015, as the right hander pitched in Korea last season. The 33-year-old struck out the side in order in the first inning, and gave up one run on two hits over three innings pitched. Matt Tracy took over from there, as in took over the whole rest of the game. Tracy gave up a pair of runs over the final six innings, racking up five strikeouts. He gave up three hits and walked three. Third baseman T.J. White (single and a walk) and second baseman Ryan Walker (two walks) were the only Rochester batters to reach safely twice. Edgar Corcino’s double was the Lookouts only extra-base hit. MIRACLE MATTERS Charlotte 4, Fort Myers 2 Box Score After a 17-run barrage Friday night, the Miracle were shut out over the first six innings of this contest. By the time the bats got rolling it was too late. Sean Miller was 2-for-5 and had the only Fort Myers RBI on the night. It was Miller’s fifth multi-hit performance in his last eight games. Randy LeBlanc was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs over six innings. Anthony McIver held the tone Crabs scoreless over the final two innings. Catcher Brian Navarreto had two hits and threw out two base runners. The loss dropped Fort Myers to 25-25 on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Kane County 0 Box Score Sean Poppen continued his great start to the 2017 season by throwing seven shutout innings of three-hit ball while striking out six. He walked just one batter. The Harvard product’s ERA is down to 2.35. Zach Tillery and Hector Lujan handled the final two frames to secure the shutout. Hank Morrison, playing his second game with Cedar Rapids, was 2-for-3 and hit his first professional home run. Travis Blankenhorn also had two hits and drove in three runs. Ariel Montesino was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, stole a base and scored twice. A loss would have put the Kernels and Cougars in a tie for the Midwest League Western Division lead, so this was a big victory for Tommy Watkins’ guys. Cedar Rapids is 28-21 so far under their rookie manager. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sean Poppen (7 IP, 0 ER, 6 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zach Granite (scored the game-tying run and hit a walk-off single) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Indianapolis, 12:35 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.38 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 5:15 pm CT, Felix Jorge (4.03 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) Fort Myers at Charlotte, 11:35 am CT, David Fischer (3.32 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Kane County, 6:30 pm CT, Domenick Carlini (5.97 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games.

INJURY NEWS https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/868179966340550656 Here's the Nick Burdi Tommy John Surgery support group ... er, thread. TRANSACTION ALERTS https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/868188471105552385 https://twitter.com/jeje66/status/868178735714979844 RED WINGS REPORT Indianapolis 11, Rochester 6 Box Score Nick Tepesch had a dud of a start, giving up nine earned runs over 3.1 innings, but at least there were some offensive highlights. Daniel Palka hit his eighth homer of the year, and was 2-for-5 with three RBI. Engelb Vielma had his best game for the Red Wings thus far, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Niko Goodrum hit his fourth home run of the season and both Mitch Garver and Matt Hague had two hits. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Montgomery 2 Box Score In his second start of the season, Stephen Gonsalves turned in an impressive effort and the Lookouts won in a strange fashion. Possibly the most encouraging thing out of Gonsalves was the fact that he threw seven innings, 88 pitches. But he also held the Biscuits to two runs on six hits and no walks while tallying seven strikeouts. As excellent as Gonsalves was, this game was tied heading into the bottom of the eighth. Chattanooga scored the game-winning run when Ryan Strausborger struck out. Yes, it’s true. Strausborger went down swinging on a wild pitch that allowed Nick Gordon to score. Gordon had a double, a walk and scored twice. LaMonte Wade was 1-for-2 with a sac fly, an intentional walk and threw out what would have been the go-ahead run at the plate in the seventh inning. Todd Van Steensil pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn his fourth win of the season. Mason Melotakis followed suit with a perfect ninth for his fourth save of the year. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 17, Charlotte 1 Box Score Shortstop Sean Miller led the way with four hits, but four more of his teammates had multi-hit games. The Miracle combined for 16 hits, only three of which were for extra bases (a pair of doubles from Chris Paul and a Tanner English homer). Second basemen Alex Perez filled up the box score, going 2-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and three runs scored. Paul’s big game (he was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs) boosted his batting average to an even .350. Dereck Rodriguez was the beneficiary to all the offense, and he picked up his third win of the season after surrendering one run over five innings. He gave up just three hits and did not issue a walk while striking out four. Nick Anderson had three strikeouts over an eventful, but scoreless ninth inning. The 26-year-old has a 0.93 ERA and 0.83 WHIP on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 1 Box Score Cedar Rapids fell just short of completing a comeback in the ninth. Trailing 2-0 in the final frame and down to their last out, the Kernels strung together three straight hits: a Jaylin Davis double, a Travis Blankenhorn RBI single and another single from Brandon Lopez. But Ben Rortvedt was not able to keep the conga line moving as he grounded out to end the game. It was a night to forget for the young backstop. He was 0-for-4 and had both a passed ball and a throwing error. Ouch. Cedar Rapids got great pitching performances for what was a bullpen game for the team. Max Cordy made his first start of the season, he gave up two unearned runs over three innings and struck out five batters. Cordy was followed by newcomers Ryan Mason and Patrick McGuff, who were both making their Cedar Rapids debuts. Mason a 13th rounder in 2016, threw three shutout innings. McGuff, a 36th rounder last year, held the Cougars scoreless over the final two innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 Ks) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Paul (3-for-5, 2 2Bs, 3 RBI, 2 R) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Indianapolis, 6:05 CT, Nik Turley (3.27 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 6:15 CT, Yohan Pino (has not pitched in 2017) Fort Myers at Charlotte, 5:05 CT, RHP Randy LeBlanc (return to the Miracle) Cedar Rapids at Kane County, 6:30 CT, Sean Poppen (2.68 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games.

Beyond the San-San connection, however, the Twins haven't had many other real standout performers thus far. When you have two guys producing at levels this high above average (Santana has a 230 ERA+ and Sano has a 176 OPS+), you can afford to have a couple of holes on your roster, but the fact remains those two are carrying the team right now. Here's a look at some of the numbers with and without them. OBP Sano: .417 Team: .334 (7th in MLB) Without Sano: .324 (would be 15th) SLG Sano: .600 Team: .414 (16th in MLB) Without Sano: .393 (would be 25th) ERA Santana: 1.80 Team: 4.17 (13th in MLB) Without Santana: 4.67 (would be 24th) WHIP Santana: 0.83 Team: 1.30 (12th in MLB) Without Santana: 1.40 (would be 24th) It's a little concerning at how important Sano and Santana are to the Twins success right now for a couple reasons. Individual players just can't lift a team to dominance in baseball like in other sports. As great as they've been, Sano and Santana can only have so much influence on the team's success. Sano has accounted for 10.9 percent of the team's plate appearances and Santana 18.2 percent of the innings pitched. Obviously the biggest concerns revolve around those two going into extended slumps, or worse, getting injured. The Twins are 7-3 in games Santana starts (18-15 otherwise). They're 10-1 when Sano hits a home run (15-17 otherwise). Yes, Max Kepler has really blossomed and Jose Berrios has been terrific in his three starts. Brian Dozier has started to heat up and both Robbie Grossman and Hector Santiago have been solid. But if the Twins are to continue to stay in contention, there are going to be a few more players who step up and contribute on a more consistent basis. A lot of people don’t like to hear this, but there’s a good chance Sano and (especially) Santana regress. Who’s going to pick up the slack when that happens?