Tom Froemming

Yes! Excited to read the rest of these. Great to see Tyler Wells crack the Top 40, he's been fun to watch this season.

He's big, has been very durable and is excelling as a 24-year-old in Triple A. But at the same time, he's only averaging 6.2 K/9, so the stuff is far from overpowering. The Twins didn't think highly enough of him to make room on the 40-man roster, subjecting him to the Rule 5 Draft, so that should tell you something. Still, he looks really good in games. It definitely seems hitters have a more difficult time pitching up his pitches, which makes sense since the ball is coming from different slots and in at different angles than most pitchers they see. Plus, any pitcher with a K:BB ratio of over three is giving himself a good chance of being successful, and Slegers is at 3.22 this year (was 2.26 in 2016). I'm nuts, people keep telling me, but as far as callups go, I think Hildenberger, Busenitz and Baxendale are all head of Burdi among right-handed relievers. Burdi definitely has the highest upside/is the sexiest prospect of that bunch, but I just don't see him being the next guy up. But he has been dominant, and that is very exciting to see. I do agree with Einstein1, I'd like to see him in Rochester like immediately. I think if Tonkin had been claimed by another team there's a good chance Burdi would already be there.

There was a near complete game shutout, a prospect made his triumphant return after a two-year absence and a hitter slugged his very first home run in 264 professional games. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 1 Box Score Aaron Slegers spun another gem, pitching into the ninth inning for the first time this season. After giving up one run on five hits over 8.1 innings, Slegers’ ERA is down to 3.83 in his first year with the Red Wings. Over seven starts he’s gone six or more innings while giving up one run or fewer in four of them. Slegers only struck out two batters, but it was a particularly impressive performance considering the opponent. Matt Hague scored Daniel Palka on a sac fly in the seventh. ByungHo Park and J.B. Shuck both had doubles. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Biloxi 4, Chattanooga 0 Box Score Nick Burdi continued his impressive 2017 with a 1-2-3 inning in which he consistently hit 99 mph on the radar gun. In 15.2 innings, he’s only given up one run and with one more strikeout tonight is up to an even 20 Ks. The Lookouts could only muster seven baserunners on the evening, but Ryan Strausborger was on three times. The 29-year-old outfielder was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Nick Gordon was credited with a throwing error, but it really probably should have gone to first baseman Jonathan Rodriguez as a missed catch. Ryan Eades made his second start of the season and gave up three runs over five innings while striking out five. Randy Rosario gave up an unearned run over two innings. Over 22.1 innings for Chattanooga, Rosario has a 2.01 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Bradenton 1 Box Score Lewis Thorpe, making his first start since Aug. 31, 2014 and his first ever appearance in the Florida State League, had an encouraging debut. The Aussie hit 94 mph and struck out three batters over four innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk to help lead the Miracle to their sixth straight win. As expected, the Twins appear to be playing it safe with the 21-year-old lefty. He threw just 49 pitches, but just having him back on the mound at all is exciting. Thorpe had a 2.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 11.2 K/9 between 2013 and ‘14. It was also a special day for Rafael Valera. In his 264th career game, the native of Venezuela finally hit his first professional home run. Tanner English, in his fifth game since being sent down from Double A, went 2-for-3 with three RBI, scored a run and was hit by a pitch. Chris Paul also reached in three of his plate appearances, tallying a double, a walk and an HBP. Nelson Molina had a pair of hits and drove in two and Max Murphy drew a couple walks and stole his sixth base. Anthony McIver, Alex Muren and Nick Anderson combined to throw five shutout innings out of the bullpen. KERNELS NUGGETS Wisconsin 9, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score Jermaine Palacios hit his fifth home run of the season and Clark Beeker pitched seven strong innings, but an ugly night from reliever Max Cordy put this one out of reach. Christian Cavaness was the only Kernels to reach safely twice, recording a single and Cedar Rapids’ only walk of the evening. Beeker gave up a pair of homers, but limited the Timber Rattlers to three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five. A 33rd-round pick from last year’s draft, Beeker now has a 2.76 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and has pitched at least six innings in six of his seven starts. Cordy walked three batters, hit two more and threw a wild pitch. Wisconsin scored six runs while he was on the mound (four earned) and he recorded just one out. Andrew Vasquez came in and struck out the only two batters he faced. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers (carried a shutout into the ninth inning) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera (hit a go-ahead homer, the first of his professional career after over 264 games played) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Scranton/WB, 3:05 CT, Nick Tepesch (2.29 ERA, 1.53 WHIP) Chattanooga at Biloxi, 6:35 CT, Stephen Gonsalves (first start of season) Fort Myers vs. Bradenton, 5:05 CT, Dereck Rodriguez (2.80 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:35 CT, Eduardo Del Rosario (5.29 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

I'm sure you're right. It's better to keep Gimenez and Adrianza in the org, and it's not going to hurt any of the alternatives to spend some more time down on the farm. But, it's pretty outstanding to look down and see every hitter on the 40 man currently in the minors is making something of a case for a callup (Garver, Murphy, Vielma, Palka and Granite). I don't know, Murphy only played 26 games with the Twins last year. It was bad, real bad, but I wouldn't completely give up on him just yet. Thank you for adding that. Seems there would be very little reason for the Twins not to want Stuart back basically for free. But who knows, maybe we could poach an intriguing arm from Cincy in a trade if they decide to send him down. It's an interesting situation to keep an eye on.

The Twins new catching duo has helped elevate the pitching staff to respectability, but is it time to break up the backstop tandem of Jason Castro and Chris Gimenez? The veteran pair has drawn rave reviews for their leadership and ability to manage a pitching staff, but both are struggling to provide much offensive value.Castro has had some nice stretches, but overall his batting line heading into Thursday was .202/.304/.360. That should come as no surprise, however, as that’s nearly identical production to his 2016 campaign. Castro is who he is, the Twins knew exactly what they were getting into. He has his flaws, but he’ll certainly be the primary catcher for the foreseeable future. Being a career .257/.355/.391 hitter against left-handers, Gimenez looked like a logical platoon mate for Castro. His defensive flexibility was also a plus when the Twins opened the year with a three-man bench, and his ability to pitch in an emergency doesn’t hurt his cause, either. After going 1-for-4 Thursday afternoon, however, the 34-year-old has a .195/.327/.268 line for the season. Altogether, Twins catchers ranked 20th in wRC+ (80) and 23rd in OPS (.646) heading into Thursday’s games. By all accounts there are a lot of intangibles Gimenez has added to the Twins. It’s also worth noting that the team is 5-6 in games he’s started behind the plate, so it’s not like he is crippling the team. But considering how the Twins Triple-A catchers are performing, you have to wonder if maybe there is a better option to back up Castro. Rochester One-Two Punch Down in Rochester, Mitch Garver and John Ryan Murphy have split playing time right down the middle at 18 games each. Both are off to strong starts, as they rank as the top two hitters in OPS among current players on the Red Wings’ roster. Garver, who is actually a few months older than Murphy, has been particularly impressive, hitting .255/.397/.473. If he had enough plate appearances to qualify, his .870 OPS would rank just outside the top 10 in the International League. Murphy has looked much better than last season, posting a .232/.306/.446 (.780 OPS) line. His biggest advantage over Garver comes in terms of experience, having 141 big league games under his belt. Murphy also has some better defensive numbers than Garver so far, besting him in caught stealing percentage (42 to 29) and passed balls (3 to 5), though Murphy has committed two errors and Garver zero. While neither is considered a liability in terms of pitch framing, they also don’t have reputations of being elite in that discipline either. Three Catchers? If the Twins were to replace Gimenez, I would expect Murphy would be the guy who got the call. It’s easy to forget he hit .267/.311/.374 over 284 plate appearances with the Yankees prior to falling on his face for the Twins last year. The team is trying to stay competitive, and Murphy is probably better suited to step in and contribute right away considering his familiarity with the league and the MLB pitching staff. But, if the Twins were looking to add a third catcher, I’d imagine Garver would be the guy. If the Twins were looking to add a right-handed bat to the bench, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option than Garver down on the farm right now. Sure, it’s great to see ByungHo Park back, but he’s still not on the 40-man roster and has hit just .179/.179/.321 in seven games since returning from injury. As much as I like the defensive upside of Ehire Adrianza, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to have him and Eduardo Escobar on the same bench. Swapping Garver for Adrianza would give the bench some more offensive firepower and provide Paul Molitor with flexibility. Adrianza would likely get claimed on waivers, but the Twins do have Engelb Vielma, who is another similar player, on the 40-man roster. I know a lot of people hate the idea of having three catchers, but Castro is so vulnerable against lefties (career .192/.254/.289 hitter off southpaws) that having the ability to pinch hit for him late in games could be a big asset. You’re never going to see Paul Molitor do that when he’s only got two catchers on the roster because the very last thing he ever wants to do is put his emergency catcher, Escobar, behind the dish. Forgotten Man It’s easy to forget the Twins could also be getting Stuart Turner back at any moment. The former third-round pick of the Twins was taken by the Reds in the Rule 5 draft this year, but he’s only gotten 27 plate appearances in Cincinnati's 39 games this season. Turner was basically brought in to be insurance, but Devin Mesoraco is healthy and has caught back-to-back games a few times this month. Tucker Barnhart has filled in admirably as the Red’s primary catcher in Mesoraco’s absence the past two seasons. For now, the Reds are sticking with three catchers, but Turner’s days there could be numbered. The Reds had to give the Twins $50k to acquire Turner, and if they were to remove him from their 25-man roster the Twins could get him back for $25k. Maybe the Twins would prefer to work out a trade and let the Reds keep Turner, who knows, but I suspect at some point they will have the opportunity to re-acquire him if they so desire. Bottom Line The Twins are off to a better start than expected and there seems to be a positive vibe in the clubhouse. Certainly much more so than last year. Gimenez has contributed to both those factors, so it’s probably premature to be talking about jettisoning him from the roster. But, if the team decides to go another direction, they have no shortage of options to back up Castro. Click here to view the article

Agreed, and it's nice to see him figuring out how to navigate through some trouble. He was so dominant last year he didn't really have to do that often. It looks like he's facing older hitters almost 90 percent of the time, so Double A should be plenty enough of a challenge for him this year. There are a lot of the top bullpen arms who are coming off some sort of injury and haven't really been used in back-to-back games often, if at all. And I know Pressly has struggled so far, but it's important to put into context that if you put him back in the minors I'm sure he'd put up numbers just as impressive as anybody. People seem a little fixated on Burdi. I get it, he's got triple-digit heat, but in my eyes there are a few other guys ahead of him in the pecking order right now. Burdi only threw three innings last season, and over a grand total of 60.1 innings in Double A he's averaged 5.5 BB/9. He needs to have an extended stretch where he's healthy and throwing strikes. We may be witnessing the start of that stretch (he's down to 2.6 BB/9 so far in 2017), but he has not pitched back-to-back days yet. I'm excited about Burdi, but I really don't expect him up with the Twins until maybe September, if at all this year.

Jose Berrios made his triumphant return to the majors, turning in a performance that got Twins fans’ hearts all aflutter. It was also a banner day in the minor leagues highlighted by a near no hitter, two dramatic comebacks and numerous noteworthy performances. Oh, and everybody won. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Saturday.Transactions Michael Tonkin cleared waivers and was assigned to Rochester. Things didn’t go the way he had hoped with the Twins, but he’ll surely be an asset for the Red Wings. Over 118.2 innings in Triple A, he has a 2.65 ERA, 1.045 WHIP, 9.7 K/9 and 5.12 K/BB ratio. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 3, Pawtucket 1 Box Score Aaron Slegers completed six no-hit innings for the second time this season, as he and battery mate Mitch Garver led the Wings to victory. Slegers went 7.1 innings, surrendering one run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. Along with helping guide Slegers through a masterful performance, Garver went 3-for-4 and slugged his second homer of the year. The ninth-rounder from 2013 boosted his batting line to .269/.415/.500. Busenitz, acquired in the same deal that brought Hector Santiago to the Twins, now has a 2.84 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 16 strikeouts over 12.2 innings this season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 9, Birmingham 6 Box Score With the Lookouts trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, LaMonte Wade drew a leadoff walk that sparked a three-run rally. Unfortunately, the Chattanooga bullpen blew that lead, meaning Wade’s services were needed once again in the eighth. Wade lined a leadoff single, stole second base and scored. The Looks batted around, and just for good measure Wade drew yet another walk later in the inning. His OBP is up to .465. Of course, the only reason Wade batted three times in two innings was his Chattanooga teammates were beating up the Barons as well. Edgar Corcino started the game on the bench and still managed to drive in four runs on a pair of hits. Nick Gordon had another excellent night out of the leadoff spot, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. First baseman Jonathan Rodriguez was 3-for-5 and scored twice. Fernando Romero had a rough first couple of appearances for Chattanooga, but Saturday he pitched into the sixth inning for the fifth-straight start. The 22-year-old gave up two runs in the first inning, but he surrendered just one more unearned run from there. He struck out four over 5.2 innings. The Twins have more relief prospects than you can shake a stick at, which is pretty much all opposing hitters could do in the box against Luke Bard. The No. 42 overall pick of the 2012 draft, Bard struck out the first five batters he faced, gave up a double, then got the next batter on strikes for his sixth K of the evening. Bard has now struck out 31 batters in 18.2 innings. That’s preposterous. Just silly what he’s doing to Southern League hitters right now. Unfortunately, Mason Melotakis allowed that inherited runner of Bard’s to score. Todd Van Steensel tallied two strikeouts of his own in the ninth inning, giving him 20 Ks in 15.1 innings on the season. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Charlotte 6 Box Score Down 6-1 heading into the top of the eighth, it seemed Fort Myers needed, well ... a miracle to pull out a victory Saturday night. Turned out all they needed was some rain. With the rain falling the Miracle managed to score four runs in the eighth before adding the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth. Chris Paul was right in the thick of things each of those epic final two innings. A sixth-round pick in 2015, Paul delivered a single to load the bases in the eighth and later came around to score. He followed that up by driving in the game-winning run on a double in the ninth. After a three-hit night, Paul’s average is up to .317. The rain didn’t seem to faze Sam Clay, who held Charlotte scoreless over the final two innings to earn his fourth win out of the bullpen. It was Clay’s 10th consecutive scoreless appearance, a streak that stretches 19.2 innings. Shane Kennedy went 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk and both scored and drove in a pair of runs. Catcher Kevin Garcia also had two RBI, Max Murphy scored twice and stole a base and Zander Wiel went 2-for-5 with his fourth triple of the season. Dereck Rodriguez extended his streak of completing six or more innings to six straight starts. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out four. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Bowling Green 5 Box Score There was no comeback needed for the Kernels, as they racked up five first-inning runs and piled on another pair of runs in the second. Lewin Diaz was 3-for-5 with his fourth home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Christian Cavaness went 2-for-4 and slugged his second homer, a two-run shot. Clark Beeker, who was cruising through six innings, picked up his fifth win but his performance was somewhat tainted by giving up three runs in the seventh. Colton Davis, Andrew Vasquez and Hector Lujan combined to pitch three scoreless innings in relief. Vasquez, a lefty, struck out four batters, giving him 23 K's in 14.2 innings on the year. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers (had a no-hitter through 6.1 innings) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Chris Paul (delivered game-winning hit in crazy Miracle comeback win) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Pawtucket, 12:35 CT, Kyle Gibson (4.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Birmingham, 1:15 CT, Paul Clemens (4.06 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) Fort Myers OFF Cedar Rapids OFF Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games. Click here to view the article

I'm especially high on Hildy, with his delivery I think he could be a dominant right-handed specialist. Last season, RHers hit .168/.192/.240 off him. They have an OPS of .655 off him so far this year, but it's mainly that high because he's already given up a HR. In 25 PAs vs. RHB he has nine strikeouts (36 K%). That's a fair point, I did see quite a few Boston jerseys at the park on Friday. Even saw a Jason Bay and a Rusney Castillo. That's how they're using Buddy Boshers, and basically what they did with Rucinski too. But yeah, the Belisles and Breslows get in the way of expanding that philosophy, and I'd much rather see a Hildenberger or Melotakis used in that capacity.

There has been a reshuffling of the Twins roster, but the pitching staff still isn’t getting any younger. Per Baseball-Reference, the Twins have trotted out the fourth-oldest pitching staff in baseball with a weighted average age of 30.2. The 2016 Twins pitching staff had an average age right at league average, which was 28.3. So after 103 losses, they got older and are continuing to do so. Justin Haley is the youngest pitcher on the active roster, he turns 26 in a little over a month. Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffey are the only other Twins hurlers currently on the 25-man roster who were born in the 1990s.The Rockies, who have the second-best record in the NL, have the youngest pitching staff in baseball. They have three pitchers younger than Haley ... in their rotation. Among the numerous roster moves made the past few weeks included the additions of Nick Tepesch (28) and Drew Rucinski (28) to the roster. Wednesday evening, the team optioned Rucinski back to Triple A to make room for 29-year-old Adam Wilk. As the 250-plus comments (and counting) on Seth’s writeup of the Wilk addition suggest, it was a bit of a controversial and puzzling move. It sounds like Wilk is likely to pitch out of the pen, alleviating some of the Jose Berrios outrage, but having a 29-year-old with little or no upside in the bullpen doesn’t make much sense either, especially considering the other options. ***UPDATE*** Berrios is starting Saturday, woooooooooo!!! Obviously, the 22-year-old Berrios and 23-year-old Adalbert Mejia would represent a youth movement in the rotation, but there are a number of bullpen guys the Twins have pitching well in the minors who are already in their mid-20s. Relievers Trevor Hildenberger, D.J. Baxendale, Alan Busenitz and Luke Bard are all 26-years-old. Mason Melotakis is 25 and both John Curtiss and Nick Burdi are 24. I’m not saying all seven of those guys are ready for The Show, but I gotta believe at least one of them deserves a look in a low-leverage role over a guy like Wilk. But hey, what do I know? The Twins entered the evening with a 16-14 record, which is pretty remarkable. As I noted a while back, the last 24 teams who lost 100 averaged another 95 losses the next year. Only two of those teams bounced back with a winning record. And there doesn’t seem to be any fan apathy either, as the paid attendance eclipsed 90,000 for last weekend’s series against the Red Sox. I guess some people (me) will always have an ax to grind. Rosario Off to a Rosie Start On the flip side, the Twins have the second-youngest hitters by average age this season at 27.1. One of the young hitters who doesn't seem to be getting much attention is Eddie Rosario. The 25-year-old entered this year with a strikeout rate of 25.2 percent, but he has managed to cut that to 17.7 so far this year. Download attachment: RosarioGraph.png Rosario is still swinging at as many balls as ever, he's just hitting them more often. His contact rate on balls out of the zone is up from 65.5 percent in 2016 to 70.6 so far this season. Download attachment: RosarioOContact.png Rosario also leads all of baseball in making medium contact, with a rate of 62.9 percent. While that's not a particularly great accomplishment, it does correlate to a nice drop in his frequency of making bad contact. His soft contact rate is 11.2 percent, which puts him is inside the top 20 among 184 qualified hitters. Download attachment: RosarioSoftContact.png Rosario is also among the top 20 percent of hitters in hitting the ball the other way. His rate of going to the opposite field has increased from 24.1 percent in 2016 to 29.2 this year. Download attachment: RosarioOppo.png ADDITIONAL NOTES -I typically like to include some notes about the expected pitching matchups over the weekend, but the Twins have yet to officially announce who will be starting Saturday or Sunday. But we do know the bats will dodge a bullet in Cleveland, facing Josh Tomlin, Mike Clevinger and Trevor Bauer. No disrespect to those guys, but it’s nice to miss Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. -The Twins staff is still dead last in swinging-strike rate at 8.2%. They also have the third-worst K/9 (6.98) and K% (17.9). They've also allowed highest contact percent at 82.5, which is two points higher than the next team. -Miguel Sano has the lowest soft contact rate at 1.7 percent. That's 5.5 percent better than any other qualified hitter. -Only the Reds have a higher rating in Defensive Runs Above Average than the Twins. The Twins lead the league in outfield arm runs. Yes, that is a real stat (ARM on Fangraphs). But curiously, the Twins have been the second-worst team at GIDP rate. This is calculated by dividing double plays turned by the number of PAs against with a runner on first and less than two outs. -Daniel Palka (.240/.301/.423) has cooled off some after a hot start, but he has been doing a great job in cutting down on the Ks. After striking out in 38.6 percent of his at-bats for Rochester in 2016, he’s cut that rate to 23.9 so far this season. -LaMonte Wade (.937) and Nick Gordon (.880) both rank in the top 10 in OPS among Southern League hitters. Click here to view the article

Great to see Daniel Palka get two hits off Aaron Nola. Also encouraging to see he's dropped his strikeout rate from 38.6% with ROC in '16 to 23.9% so far this year.

Great stuff, thanks for this.

Dudes like Adam Wilk are available all the time. This makes no sense to me. Pretty sure whatever Jose Berrios is working on in Triple A he can continue to work on in the majors.

It was Cinco De Mauer at Target Field, as Joe Mauer cracked his first career walk-off home run to beat the Red Sox. But there were some other big offensive performances on the minor league level Friday night, as both Chattanooga and Cedar Rapids won in blowout fashion. There were also plenty of transactions, as Rochester added Zack Granite, Kyle Gibson and Justin Haley. Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket 7, Rochester 2 Box Score Marcus Walden threw six innings of one-hit ball for the Red Wi, er … wait a minute, he’s not with the Twins anymore. Walden, who was with Rochester last season, set the tone for a strong performance from the Pawtucket pitching staff, as the Wings mustered two runs on just four hits. Adalberto Mejia, who hadn’t pitched since April 28, was a bit of a mess in this one. He lasted just four innings and surrendered six runs on eight hits and three walks. Justin Haley made the first appearance of his rehab assignment, and struck out two in a perfect inning. Rochester’s first five hitters combined to go 0-for-18. Niko Goodrum hit a triple and Leonardo Reginatto went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 8, Pensacola 1 Box Score Nick Gordon and Engelb Vielma both had three hits, Randy LeBlanc pitched around trouble and the bullpen dominated to deliver a victory for the Lookouts. Though they’ve swapped defensive positions back and forth, one thing that has stayed consistent with the up-the-middle duo of Gordon (who is batting .340) and Vielma (.326) has been their bats. LeBlanc’s Double A debut, his previous start, was a dud, but he came back with five innings of one-run ball. He did allow seven hits and four walks while striking out just one, though. Randy Rosario came out of the pen to throw three perfect innings, striking out four. He impressed Chris Blessing of Baseball HQ. Nick Burdi sealed the deal with a perfect 1-2-3 ninth, all on strikeouts. The former second-round pick lowered his ERA to under 1.00 and has now struck out 13 batters in 9.1 innings while issuing just three walks. Levi Michael, who has transitioned to center field, was 2-for-3 and two runs scored. He also drew a walk to spark a massive five-run two-out rally for Chattanooga in the second inning. LaMonte Wade, who entered the game with a .419 OBP, drew three walks. MIRACLE MATTERS St. Lucie 3, Fort Myers 1 Box Score There weren’t many bright spots for the Miracle, but reliever Nick Anderson did extend his scoreless inning streak to start the season to 11.1 innings. A native of Crosby, Minn., Anderson threw two perfect innings, and has given up just five hits and one walk to go with 11 strikeouts on the season. Lachlan Wells struggled a bit for Fort Myers, giving up three runs over four innings. The southpaw from Down Under gave up a home run, two walks, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Chris Paul was the only Miracle batter to get two hits. His batting line is now up to .318/.342/.400. Zander Wiel hit a double and walked twice. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 12, Fort Wayne 4 Box Score Thrusday eveneing, the Kernels failed to deliver with the bases loaded. Tonight there weer no such troubles. Jermaine Palacios, Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for April, continued his blistering start by driving in four runs, three of them on a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning. Lewin Diaz has really started to heat up as well. The Dominican product was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple (!) and a walk. Over his last 10 games, Diaz is hitting .359. Jayin Davis had a multi-hit game and scored a pair of runs, Brandon Lopez had a double and a pair of walks, Christian Cavaness drove in two runs … it was pretty much a banner day all around for the offense. Sean Poppen pitched 6.1 innings for the Kernels. He got tagged for nine hits and walked a couple of batters, but only two of the four runs he gave up were earned. He tallied five strikeouts. Jeff Johnson of the Cedar Rapids Gazette featured Poppen in his game story, it’s worth your time. Hector Lujan cleaned things up from there, firing 2.2 scoreless innings. The Kernels also made back-to-back web gems in the sixth inning, first this great stop and rocket throw by Caleb Hamilton. Which was followed by this great diving catch by Palacios. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sean Poppen (6.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), who pitched better than his line suggests, a result, in part, to his own error. Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Can I say Joe Mauer? Is that allowed? No, OK, then I’ll go with Nick Gordon (3-for-5, 2 2Bs, 2 R, 2 RBI). SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Pawtucket, 12:35 CT, Aaron Slegers (4.37 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) Chattanooga va. Pensacola, 4:15 CT, Matt Tracy (3.32 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Pensacola, Game 2, TBD Fort Myers at St. Lucie, 5:30 CT, Chris Anderson (27.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP) Cedar Rapids vs. Fort Wayne, 6:35 CT, Domenick Carlini (6.97 ERA, 1.65 WHIP) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

Nope, that same Matt Bush is currently the Rangers closer. He's certainly a bust, but he has accumulated 2.2 WAR.

We’re a little over a month away from the 2017 MLB Draft, and it appears two frontrunners have emerged as candidates for the No. 1 pick: Brendan McKay from the University of Louisville and Hunter Greene from Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. They are similar in talent, both are incredibly gifted on the mound and in the batter’s box, but there’s a big age difference between the two. McKay, born 12/18/1995, is only 19 months younger than Jose Berrios. Greene was born 8/6/1999, about two months after Jacque Jones made his Major League debut. If that doesn’t make you feel old, I don’t know what will.Jeremy Nygaard provided a recent draft update last Tuesday. He’s your go-to guy when it comes to breaking down the players in this year’s crop and mining information on what the Twins may do, but I found a couple of interesting tidbits of information to share on college guys vs. high school kids I wanted to pass along. -The most recent No. 1 pick out of college who has made it to the majors is Dansby Swanson (2015, ARI). He played just 127 games in the minors before emerging for the Braves and was 22 years and 188 days old. -The most recent No. 1 pick out of high school who has made it to the majors is Carlos Correa (2012, HOU). He played 282 games in the minors and debuted at 20 years, 259 days old. -Of the last 20 Hall of Famers elected by the BBWAA who were draft eligible (no international guys), 12 of them were drafted out of high school. Just five of those 20 Hall of Famers were first-round picks. -Of the 20 active leaders in career bWAR (again excluding international guys), 11 of them were drafted out of high school. Of those 20, 13 were drafted in the first round. -Of the last 20 No. 1 overall picks, 12 were position players and it’s split right down the middle with 10 of them being drafted out of high school and 10 out of college. -It seems to be a generally accepted idea that high school players carry more risk, but the last two No. 1 overall picks who had negative WAR over their careers were both college pitchers: Bryan Bullington (2002, PIT) and Matt Anderson (1997, DET). So what does all this mean in relation to McKay vs. Greene? Well, nothing really. But it does show that there’s really no way you can say for certain whether it’s better to target college players or high school players. And it may not be just a two-horse race at this point. There are a few more guys who appear to be in the mix for the first overall pick. It’ll be fascinating to follow the Twins’ process of finding their guy. The MLB draft is such a crapshoot. Trying to compare a 21-year-old collegiate player to a 17-year-old high school player seems like about as difficult a task as you could assign to an evaluator. McKay has been outstanding, but can you imagine what a 21-year-old Hunter Greene would look like playing in the Big East? I’d better pump the breaks, Greene doesn’t need any more hype. Sports Illustrated is already calling him baseball’s LeBron James, the next Babe Ruth and they compared him to Noah Syndergaard on the mound and Alex Rodriguez in the field. No pressure, kid. Two-Way Players I don’t know about all this Thor plus A-Rod talk, but Green can hit 100 mph on the mound and has won some high-profile showcase home run derbys. McKay has a 2.15 ERA and 12.8 K/9 on the hill and .390 average with 14 homers, four of which he hit in one game. Both are expected to be drafted as pitchers, but J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently speculated that both would still be first-round picks as strictly hitters. With them both expecting to be such high-profile picks, it seems unlikely either will continue to be two-way players in their professional careers, but who knows? NPB superstar Shohei Otani is such a dominant force on both sides of the game that it wouldn’t shock me for an MLB team to try to develop a two-way superstar at some point. There are always guys here and there that successfully convert from one aspect of the game to another. Rick Ankiel was a major leaguer as a pitcher and a position player, just never both at the same time. Guys like Kenley Jansen, Joe Nathan and Matt Bush (among many more examples) were drafted as position players and converted to pitchers. The Padres have experimented with using Christian Bethancourt as a two-way player, but he’s currently in the minors trying to develop his feel on the mound. Last season, the Cubs used pitcher Travis Wood in left field three games... that counts for something. Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen has a pinch-hit homer this year. Obviously those are all baby steps, but it certainly seems some teams are becoming more open to the idea. Former Twins center fielder Jordan Schafer was attempting to convert to a two-way guy for the Cardinals, but his elbow blew out. Same thing happened to Dariel Alvarez of the Orioles in his attempt to transition to the mound. Even Otani is injured right now, but he's just out a few weeks with a strained thigh muscle. The increased risk for injury is why we probably won’t see Greene or McKay be two-way players in the pros, but I think before too long there will be a handful of two-way role players in the MLB. UPCOMING Friday: Eduardo Rodriguez (2.70 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) vs. Phil Hughes (5.06 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) Current Twins have a .364/.462/.545 line against Rodriguez. In just eight PAs, Brian Dozier homered twice off him. In 43 PAs against Hughes, Dustin Pedroia has hit .390/.419/.829. Ouch. Saturday: Rick Porcello (4.46 ERA, 1.38 WHIP) vs. Nick Tepesch (-) No batter in the league has faced Porcello more than Joe Mauer, who has hit just .259/.317/.345 off the defending AL Cy Young Award winner. Tepesch will be making his Twins debut, and could be in line for an extended look with Kyle Gibson being demoted to Triple A. Sunday: Chris Sale (1.38 ERA, 0.75 WHIP) vs. Ervin Santana (0.66 ERA, 0.71 WHIP) What a matchup, huh? Sale has struggled at Target Field, posting a 4.44 ERA (his career ERA is 2.94). Dozier has three homers to go with a .973 OPS in 41 PAs against Sale. Current Red Sox hitters have hit just .198/.275/.321 over 91 PAs against Ervin. ADDITIONAL NOTES -The Twins allowed their first bunt hits of the season Thursday. Only three other teams had lasted this long without giving up a bunt hit. -Phil Hughes has given up the most contact in baseball. Batters have a 88.3 contact percentage against him. -The Twins pitching staff has the highest foul ball strike percentage in the league at 30.8 percent. -Ehire Adrianza’s rehab assignment ends May 10. While down on the farm, he has hit .310/.383/.357 and appeared in the outfield for the first time in his professional career. -Max Kepler had his struggles in the second half of 2016, batting .223/.304/.391. It was nice to see him put together a tremendous April (.280/.368/.476). -On Thursday, Eddie Rosario extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a home run. He also drew his fourth walk of the season. It took him 95 PAs to reach that mark, which isn’t great, but last year it took him 158 PAs to get to four unintentional walks. Click here to view the article

I don't know that there's anything Gibson could work on or prove in Triple A, but you're right. Considering the rotation depth vs. bullpen strength, sending him down to continue starting seems to be the right move if he's bumped. That's a good sell, maybe the Twins should take you along to the Winter Meetings this year It's a good point, Minnesota should be an attractive destination for pitchers looking to re-establish their value. Giving up four runs over five innings isn't getting pounded? That's a 7.20 ERA. Either way, I think you're right in that he still has some leash left, and ... ... I think it's very possible he teases us with a great start this afternoon against a poor Oakland lineup and buys himself a little more time in the rotation. It is very frustrating. Personally, I'm ready to move on, but it's not like I'm going to root against the guy in hopes the team dumps him. So when he pitches well it's like "great, that'll buy him another couple months of pitching like crap."

Kyle Gibson will make his 104th start for the Twins tomorrow night, and a lot of fans are wondering if it could it be his last chance. To his credit, Gibson is coming off his best game of the season, but he's given up at least three runs in every start and has yet to complete six innings. Altogether Gibson has an 8.06 ERA, 1.836 WHIP and he's averaging nearly as many walks (4.0 BB/9) as strikeouts (5.2 K/9). Meanwhile, Jose Berrios is pitching like he has no intention of sticking around in Rochester for long.With how poorly Gibson has pitched, it's surprising he's held on to his rotation spot this long. Gibson had a marvelous first half of 2015, but since then he's pitched to a 5.39 ERA over 250.2 innings. Opposing batters have an OPS over .800 against him and his WHIP is 1.53 in that time frame. Gibson's career ERA+ is at 86, which is exactly the same as Nick Blackburn's career mark. Meanwhile, Berrios was named Twins Daily's Minor League Pitcher of the month for April after posting a 1.09 ERA and 0.79 WHIP for Rochester. Adalberto Mejia, who made three rough starts with the Twins, looked great in his lone start for the Red Wings (he's scheduled to pitch again Thursday). Nick Tepesch will slot in as the fifth starter Saturday. The 28-year-old had a 2.00 ERA and 1.33 WHIP over three starts for Rochester. If Tepesch can establish himself as a reliable starter, that may cause Gibson more trouble than anything. When they feel the time is right Berrios is coming up, it's just a matter of who gets booted from the rotation. Last Sunday on Go 96.3's excellent weekly programs Inside Twins and The Paul Molitor Show, both Derek Falvey and Molitor mentioned first-pitch strikes when asked about Gibson. Here's what Falvey told Cory Provus: "Sometimes he's trying to get a hitter to swing at something out of the zone early and what ends up happening is major league hitters make adjustments, just as pitchers do, and he has a tendency to be too fine." Among pitchers with at least 20 innings this season, Gibson has the third-worst first-pitch strike percentage at 50.5. He was at 59.4 last season. During that excellent first half of 2015, he was all the way up to 63. It's pretty much universal that pitchers do much better when ahead in the count, but is that especially more important to Gibson than any other pitcher? Here's a look at how his career numbers compare to the other veteran starters on the Twins. For additional reference I also included Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander and Jose Quintana's numbers. Batter Ahead Minus Pitcher Ahead OPS Hughes: .332 (.943 OPS-.611 OPS) Quintana: .352 (.896-.544) Gibson: .358 (.919-.561) Santiago: .373 (.931-.558) Santana: .407 (.956-.549) Verlander: .461 (.918-.457) Kluber: .484 (.946-.462) So being ahead hasn't been especially key to Gibson compared to these other pitchers. In fact, among the Twins' starters Gibson has the lowest OPS against when he's behind. But how about that first pitch in particular? After 1-0 Count Minus After 0-1 Count OPS Quintana: .116 (.762 OPS-.646 OPS) Hughes: .121 (.804-.683) Santiago: .150 (.788-.638) Gibson: .171 (.814-.643) Verlander: .191 (.743-.552) Santana: .192 (.815-.623) Kluber: .228 (.757-.529) So, getting the first-pitch strike doesn't exactly make a huge swing for Gibson in comparison to these other pitchers, either. But again, it's always better to get that first strike, no matter who you are. Career First Pitch Strike Percentage Hughes 67.3 Quintana 65.7 Kluber 62.4 Santana 62.2 Verlander 61.5 Gibson 58.1 Santiago 56.5 I'm going to start calling my boy Hector Santiago "The Exception" because he's the outlier in so many situations. Terrible first-pitch strike percentage, yet still has a career ERA+ of 105, go figure. Gibson, like most other muggles (I suspect Hector may be a wizard), has not been able to overcome that poor first-strike rate. So what's the point of all this madness? Well, before I pulled all these numbers I was wishfully hoping I'd find Gibson was a pitcher who was better than average when ahead in the count. That way, I could at least buy into the idea that with more first-pitch strikes he could return to being a solid piece to the rotation. That does not appear to be the case. There's also the issue that Gibson has been dreadful the second time through a lineup over his career. One more goofy made-up stat ... Second PA Minus First PA OPS Gibson 107 (.827 OPS-.720 OPS) Santana 58 (.742-.684) Kluber 39 (.706-.667) Hughes 15 (.755-.740) Verlander -1 (.637-.638) Quintana -30 (.665-.695) Santiago -66 (.668-.734) Brad Radke -73 (.704-.777, had to toss him in just for fun) Most starters really struggle the third time through a lineup, but Gibson doesn't make it that far. He gets clobbered the second time around. If that doesn't scream "reliever!" I don't know what does. So, even if he does a better job at starting out with strikes, Gibson's upside is probably mediocre at best. But let's assume for a moment he does bounce back to respectability, then what? Gibson's only making $2.9 million this season, but that'll increase through arbitration. While that's very affordable for a starting pitcher, his competitors make the league minimum and will continue to do so next season. How many more starts would you give Gibson? And if he's removed from the rotation, would you rather see him in the Twins' bullpen or the Rochester rotation? Click here to view the article

Before anybody gets too excited about the White Sox, or reacts too strongly to anything in April, just remember Chicago was 17-8 last April.