Tom Froemming

TRANSACTIONS -Twins recall RHP Zack Littell from Rochester. -RHP Fernando Romero optioned to Rochester. -RHP Jacob Blank retired. -Several more drafted players signed. Again, you can keep up with them on the Twins Daily Draft Signing Tracker article. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Charlotte 6 Box Score Kohl Stewart: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 66.3% strikes (65 of 98 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Willians Astudillo (4-for-5), Luis Arraez (3-for-5, 2B), Jake Cave (2-for-3, BB), Wilin Rosario (2-for-5, 2B) These two teams traded blows, with the lead changing hands four times in the first six innings. Charlotte knotted it up in the eighth, but a Brent Rooker RBI single to score Willians Astudillo in the bottom of that inning was the difference maker. Kohl Stewart surrendered five runs in his 5 1/3 innings, but Gabiriel Moya did a great job stabilizing this game. He provided 1 2/3 perfect innings, striking out three batters in the process. Cody Stashak was credited with both a blown save and the win. He gave up a run in the eighth, but struck out a pair of batters in a scoreless ninth to protect the one-run lead. Astudillo had four singles in this game, and now has a 1.553 OPS since being sent down to Rochester. Jake Cave had another two-hit night, and has a 1.174 OPS so far in June. Luis Arraez had three hits, including a double, lifting his batting average up to .351 in his time with the Red Wings. BLUE WAHOO BITES Pensacola 5, Tennessee 4 (11 innings) Box Score Charlie Barnes: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 60.9% strikes (56 of 92 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Travis Blankenhorn (2-for-6, 2B) Tennessee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and held that advantage until the bottom of the sixth. A Travis Blankenhorn leadoff double sparked a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth. The Blue Wahoos still trailed heading into the bottom of the ninth. Michael Davis led off the inning with a six-pitch walk, was bunted over to second base by Jimmy Kerrigan and scored the game-tying run on a Taylor Grzelakowski single. Tyler Palm pitched a scoreless 10th inning, but gave up the go-ahead run in the 11th. The Pensacola bats had one more comeback in them. Kerrigan hit a game-tying RBI single and scored the winning run on a Blankenhorn walk-off single. https://twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall/status/1139739021372993538 Tom Hackimer and Zack Weiss did an excellent job in the middle innings for Pensacola. They both pitched a pair of scoreless innings, Hackimer struck out four batters and Weiss had three punchouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers OFF - FSL All-Star break KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 1 Box Score Josh Winder: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 68.1% strikes (56 of 81 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Jared Akins (2-for-4, 2B) Just three pitchers total were used in this game. Both teams combined. You don’t see that too often in a nine-inning game in the minors. Josh Winder held Clinton to one run over seven innings before Derek Molina came out of the pen to slam the door shut over the final two frames. Molina threw 25 of his 36 pitches for strikes (69.4%), got seven swinging strikes and had four strikeouts. Cedar Rapids scored two in the first inning, thanks to a Wander Javier RBI single and a Chris Williams run-scoring double. Javier was removed from the game in the top of the fourth inning. https://twitter.com/jeje66/status/1139731783937740800 Clinton committed four errors in this game. Their poor starter, George Soriano, pitched a complete game and still got the loss despite giving up zero earned runs. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Josh Winder, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Travis Blankenhorn, Pensacola TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 5. Wander Javier (CR): 1-for-2, R, RBI, K 6. Brent Rooker (ROC): 1-for-3, 2 RBI, K 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-4, BB, R 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 1-for-4, BB, R, RBI, 3 K 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 0-for-4, K 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-3, BB SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Charlotte, 6:05 pm CT (Chase De Jong) Pensacola vs. Tennessee, 6:05 pm CT (Jorge Alcala) Fort Myers OFF - FSL All-Star Game, 6:05 pm CT Cedar Rapids vs. Clinton, 6:35 pm CT (Andrew Cabezas) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

Kimbrel is a Cub, Keuchel is a Brave and so now the Twins are going to have to spend prospect capital to boost their pitching instead of “just” money. As things currently stand, the Twins appear to have several difficult decisions on the horizon this offseason anyway, so dealing a few prospects for bullpen help may actually help clear up space. A big crop of Twins prospects will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time this winter. That means the team will either have to add them to the 40-man roster or risk potentially losing them to another organization. For more on the Rule 5 Draft, check out Jeremy’s article on the subject from last month. Jeremy also maintains an amazing Twins Roster and Payroll spreadsheet that’s available on the top navbar at the desktop version of the site (click on Roster & Payroll) or you can just access it here. Rule 5 Eligibles Here’s a list of some of the players who will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time this winter: Travis Blankenhorn Wander Javier Luke Raley Jorge Alcala Edwar Colina Jhoan Duran Brusdar Graterol Griffin Jax That group of players joins another few guys having impressive seasons who were already Rule 5 Draft eligible in Lewin Diaz, Jaylin Davis and Zander Wiel. Not all of those players would end up being selected, but why risk losing them for nothing when you can turn them into trade bait? Of course, the other option would be to try and deal some of the other young players currently on the 40-man roster to avoid that logjam. Guys like Luis Arraez, Nick Gordon, Lewis Thorpe, LaMonte Wade or even Jake Cave. But Wait, Isn’t the System Having a Down Year? It’s true that there are a lot of guys on the shelf right now, and some who are active have not been putting up great numbers. But, what Royce Lewis does in the first few months of 2019 in Fort Myers probably doesn’t have a huge impact on who he ends up being in, say 2022. The same is likely with Brusdar Graterol and his shoulder impingement Likewise, Alex Kirilloff missing some time this year doesn’t really cloud his future outlook too much. I mean, the guy already missed a year due to Tommy John and still established himself as among the better hitters in the minor leagues last year. Speaking of Tommy John surgery, that's what's going to cost Akil Baddoo the rest of his 2019 season. And while there have been blips, there have been other guys who’ve surged. Diaz, Blankenhorn and Davis are having tremendous seasons. Jordan Balazovic has really exploded, Gordon appears to be having a bounce back and Ben Rortvedt is another riser. Misael Urbina is a player you can expect to hear a lot about in the coming years. Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers and Cole Sands from last year’s draft continue to look good. Speaking of which, the Twins just added a bunch of new talent via the 2019 Draft. Click here for an update for who has signed. Where will those new draftees fit as far as the rankings? You'll find out soon, as Twins Daily will be sharing our 2019 Midseason Twins Prospect List in the coming weeks. The farm system is always going to need to be an area of focus for the Twins, but if there was ever a time to part with some prospects to improve the big club, now’s the time. 40-Man Roster Spots Opening Up The Twins do have several players currently set to become free agents at the end of the season. That group is highlighted by Jake Odorizzi, Jason Castro, Michael Pineda, Kyle Gibson and Jonathan Schoop. There also always seems to be some fat that can be trimmed from the 40-man roster. But, I suspect the Twins will be more interested in free agent additions to replace those departures rather than just protecting prospects. When the competitive window opens, priorities have to change at least a little bit. No, I’m not saying I expect the Twins to be active at the top of the market, but it is pretty easy to envision Derek Favley and Co. setting out to add another solid crop of veterans in the middle tier, much like they did this past offseason. Rocco Baldelli seems to be establishing a very player-friendly atmosphere. That, combined with the team’s success, should make Minnesota an attractive destination for free agents. Recommended further reading: When the Twins Go Buying ... Who Are They Selling?

I know, I know, enough minor league band-aids already, right? Well, until the Twins make some moves to acquire arms, it appears they'll continue to audition in-house candidates in the bullpen. Over the past two weeks, we've seen Zack Littell, Ryan Eades and now Fernando Romero all make cameo appearances with the big club. When is Jake Reed finally going to get his shot? Well, a lot of it will have to do with timing. Often when a bullpen move is made, the team is looking to promote a fresh arm as much as anything, or someone who could provide them with length. But Reed has a solid track record, is showing he's open to making adjustments and has been on a nice roll of late for the Red Wings. Reed delivered two scoreless innings and struck out three batters this afternoon for Rochester. His totals for the year don't jump off the page, but over his last eight appearances, Reed has only given up two earned runs over 16 1/3 innings ( 1.10 ERA) and has 19 strikeouts. He's also been tinkering with his release point. The video below contains a comparison between where he was releasing the ball earlier this year and where he was this afternoon (skip ahead to about the 1:15 mark for that). Reed has always had a lower arm slot, but he's really dropping it down to sidearm now. Will this adjustment be what (finally) gets him up with the Twins? It's hard to say, but with the rate the team is currently cycling through relievers, it feels like it's only a matter of time before Reed's number gets called. Previous 2019 Prospect Spotlights

*You're going to see a lot of speculation and analysis on potential bullpen additions at the site over the coming weeks. Cody led things off last night with a great overview of 10 potential trade targets. We'll continue to explore the reliever market by running profiles on specific pitchers each day. Kirby Yates, RHP, 32-years-old San Diego Padres (33-33, 4th in NL West) Under team control via arbitration through 2020 2019: 0.96 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 15.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 in 28.0 IP 2018: 2.14 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 12.9 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 in 63.0 IP What’s to Like? Well you gotta like the idea of a guy named Kirby joining the Twins, right? He’s also a frontrunner for fireman of the year right now. If you were looking to ride a hot hand, Yates is among the hottest you can find right now. Yates leads all relievers in saves (23), FanGraphs’ WAR (1.9) and WPA (2.59). Out of the 165 relievers with at least 20 innings, Yates is third in ERA (0.96), fourth in xFIP (1.95) and second in K-BB% (37.7). Opposing batters are hitting just .167/.245/.219 (.464 OPS) against him right now. Yates hasn’t given up a run in his last 10 appearances, yielding just two hits and one walk over that stretch. He hasn’t been taken deep in 2019 and has surrendered just five extra-base hits. Plugging in a set closer to the ninth inning would allow Rocco Baldelli to continue using Taylor Rogers in whatever other high-leverage situations he sees fit. Concerns Diversity is something to aim for in the bullpen, and Yates’ pitch mix is similar to a current Twins reliever. Yates’s specialty pitch is his splitter, same as Blake Parker, though Yates goes to that offering nearly twice as often as Parker does (42% vs. 21.8%). https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1126254140265566209 There’s also some concern that he may be a product of his pitching environment. Yates has posted a 161 ERA+ over 146 2/3 innings with the Padres. He was nowhere near that good with the Rays (73 ERA+ in 56 1/2 innings) or Yankees (83 ERA+ in 41 1/3 innings). What happens if you take him out of San Diego and put him back in the American League? He did develop that splitter while with the Padres, however, so maybe this is for real. The aging curve for relievers can be pretty brutal. Yates is 32 and it’s not like he’s a flame-thrower as it is. His four seamer, which he throws roughly 57% of the time, sits 93 mph. See Also 10 Relievers Minnesota Could Target

Box Score Gibson: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 67.0% strikes (63 of 94 pitches) Bullpen: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K Home Runs: Cruz (10) Multi-Hit Games: Cruz (2-for-3, HR, BB) WPA of +0.1: Cruz .102 WPA of -0.1: Gonzalez -.185, Gibson -.294 (chart via FanGraphs) The key moment in this game came in the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Gibson retired the first two batters he faced, then got ahead of the next batter 0-2. One more strike and the good guys are back in the dugout. Gibson’s next two pitches weren’t close enough to chase, however, evening the count at 2-2. Gibson manged to get a chase the fifth pitch, but the batter managed to hit a slider down and away into left field for a single to extend the inning. Gibson lost an eight-pitch battle with the next batter, walking him on a two-seamer that was well outside the zone. He then hung a slider on the second pitch he threw to JaCoby Jones, who crushed a three-run homer. That third out has been elusive for Gibson this season. In addition to the three-run homer, Gibson also gave up a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning. Entering today, opposing hitters had a .720 OPS with no outs, .648 OPS with one out and an .809 OPS with two outs against Gibby. Of the 11 home runs Gibson has now surrendered, six have come with two down. That’s a strange trend, not only generally speaking, but also in comparison to Gibson’s career numbers. With both the 2019 league averages and Gibson’s overall career marks, OPS against shrinks the more outs there are. It’s not like Gibson didn’t have good stuff today. He struck out eight batters and got 18 swinging strikes, which is the third-most whiffs he’s gotten in 12 starts this year. Eades Debuts Gibson’s short start created a nice opportunity for the Twins to get Ryan Eades his MLB debut. We’ve been privileged to some pretty special stories so far this season. Ryne Harper finally making his debut as a 30-year-old and cancer survivor/ultimate underdog Devin Smeltzer making it are about as good as it gets. FSN managed to tug at my heartstrings pretty hard today, as they showed Eades’ wife in the stands, baby wearing their infant, crying her eyes out at seeing her husband on a major league mound for the first time. Beautiful moment to be able to witness. Eades retired the first two men he faced, then walked the next two batters. Wes Johnson came out to the mound and probably said something along the lines of “hey, we’re not paying you by the hour,” and Eades retired the next batter to end the inning. Eades came back out for the seventh and gave up a couple of hits. He was helped out by the combination of a bad send at third base and a good relay from Marwin Gonzalez to Miguel Sano to Jason Castro, but Eades ended up throwing two shutout innings. He struck out three batters and topped out at 95.5 mph. Magill Floundering Matt Magill followed Eades and struggled badly, once again. He gave up four runs on five hits. Over his last three appearances, Magill has surrendered 10 earned runs on 10 hits and three walks over just 1 2/3 innings. Bats Struggle vs. Detroit Pen The Tigers went with a bullpen game today and managed to hold the Twins to three runs on just six hits. They combined to strike out nine batters, Miguel Sano accounting for three of those punch outs. The Twins had just two extra-base hits today, Nelson Cruz’s 10th home run and Jorge Polanco’s 18th double of the season. Really, the Twins as a whole just felt like the came out a little flat in this one. Postgame With Baldelli https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1137508466266796032 Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Next Game Sun at DET, 12:10 pm CT (Odorizzi-Carpenter) Last Game MIN 6, DET 3: Offense, Bullpen Come Through Late as Twins Take Opener More from Twins Daily Cali Connection Jumps Draft Boards: Q&A with Keoni Cavaco Minnesota Twins 2019 MLB Draft Recap Area Man to Let Bullpen Ruin His Family's Weekend

TRANSACTIONS -LHP Devin Smeltzer was optioned back to Rochester. -C Trevor Casanova joined Fort Myers from extended spring. -OF/1B Trey Cabbage also re-joined Fort Myers from the suspended list. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Rochester 19, Pawtucket 4 (7 innings) Box Score Kohl Stewart: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 58.5% strikes (55 of 94 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Luis Arraez (3-for-4, 2B, BB), Wilin Rosario (3-for-5, 2B), Nick Gordon (2-for-6, 2B), Zander Wiel (2-for-3, BB, HBP), Jake Cave (2-for-5, 2 2B), Wynston Sawyer (2-for-5, 2B) How do you score 19 runs in a seven-inning game without the benefit of a home run? Well, drawing nine walks helps. So does going 12-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Every single hitter in Rochester’s lineup reached base at least twice. Luis Arraez and Wilin Rosario both tallied three hits. Arraez drove in five runs from the leadoff spot while Rosario had four RBIs. Drew Maggi reached safely in four of his five plate appearances, hitting a double to go with three walks, and score three runs. Zander Wiel also reached base in four of his five plate appearances (two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch). Brent Rooker scored three runs … lots of crooked numbers. Kohl Stewart, the beneficiary of all that run support, improved to 5-3 on the year. Game 2: Rochester 7, Pawtucket 4 (7 innings) Box Score Zack Littell: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 81.1% strikes (30 of 37 pitches) HR: Drew Maggi 2 (5), Rooker (7) Multi-hit games: Cave (2-for-4, 2B), Maggi (2-for-3, 2 HR) The Wings trailed 4-2 entering the final inning, but Drew Maggi hit a game-tying home run, his second of the game, and Brent Rooker blasted a three-run homer to push Rochester ahead. https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1137219192120336384 There were a lot of familiar names on the mound in this one. Gabriel Moya actually started this game. He recorded four outs before giving way to Zack Littell. I originally thought this may be an opener situation, but you don’t typically see the starting pitcher (or primary, whatever you want to call it) coming in to the middle of innings. Littell also only pitched 2 2/3 innings, throwing 37 pitches. The only hit Littell gave up was a solo home run. Fernando Romero followed with two innings. He gave up three runs on four hits, including a solo homer. Trevor Hildenberger pitched a perfect bottom of the seventh to pick up his first save for Rochester. BLUE WAHOO BITES Biloxi 9, Pensacola 1 Box Score Bryan Sammons: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 65.9% strikes (54 of 82 pitches) HR: Travis Blankenhorn (10) Multi-hit games: None Travis Blankenhorn led off this game with a home run. The Blue Wahoos managed just one more hit the entire rest of the game. Bryan Sammons also had a rough night on the mound, meaning Biloxi had a pretty comfortable evening. Blankenhorn’s homer was his 10th already in just 40 games since being called up to Double-A. The Southern League leader came into today with 14 homers, so Travis is making quite the first impression. Adam Bray was another positive for Pensacola. He pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball while striking out four batters. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Jupiter 2 Box Score SP: Jhoan Duran: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 65.9% strikes (60 of 91 pitches) HR: Lewin Diaz (12), Jose Miranda (3) Multi-hit games: None Another day, another Lewin Diaz home run. That’s 12 home runs over his last 31 games now. Speaking of Blankenhorn, he led the Miracle with 11 homers last year. Jhoan Duran is another guy who’s been rolling for Fort Myers. He was hot, hot, hot tonight. https://twitter.com/JimCrikket/status/1137138222130257920 Duran held Jupiter to one run on six hits over seven innings and struck out four. In his last three starts, Duran’s surrendered just 10 hits and three earned runs over 20 innings. Jose Miranda hit his third homer of the year, drew a walk and scored twice. Trey Cabbage hit a double and drove in a pair of runs in his return to the Miracle. Royce Lewis got a single, stole his 11th base of the season and scored a run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 3 Box Score Tyler Palm: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 61.7% strikes (37 of 60 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Yeltsin Encarnacion (2-for-5), Gabriel Maciel (2-for-4) Cedar Rapids stumbled a bit out of the gates, falling behind 3-0 after the first three innings, but they sure did finish strong. Carlos Suniaga, Jose Martinez and Moises Gomez combined to no-hit Peoria over the final seven innings of this game. Suniaga, the first man out of the bullpen, struck out five batters over his three innings. Martinez also delivered three innings before Gomez came in for the save in the ninth. The bats had a nice rally in the fourth inning to get rolling. With one out, Jared Akins and Chris Williams drew back-to-back walks. Jacob Pearson hit an RBI single before Andrew Bechtold provided a run-scoring ground out. Gabriel Maciel tied the game with an RBI single. Things stayed knotted up until the eighth inning. Gilberto Celestino hit a leadoff double and was driven home on a Williams triple. Celestino also helped provide an insurance run in the ninth, hitting a sacrifice fly. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jhoan Duran, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Drew Maggi, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-4, R, SB, K 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 1-for-4, 2B, R, K 6. Brent Rooker (ROC): 2-for-6, HR (7), 3 BB, 4 R, 5 RBI, K, HBP 7. Jhoan Duran (FM): Jhoan Duran: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 65.9% strikes (60 of 91 pitches) 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 3-for-10, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 0-for-2, K 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-4, K 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 1-for-4, 2B, R, RBI 17. Zack Littell (ROC): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 81.1% strikes (30 of 37 pitches) 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 2-for-6, 3 BB 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-3, HR (3), BB, 2 R, RBI SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Pawtucket, 5:15 pm CT (Randy Dobnak) Pensacola at Biloxi, 6:35 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:00 pm CT (Cole Sands) Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 6:35 pm CT (Josh Winder) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.