Minnesota Twins Week In Reveiw July 3rd through 9th, 2017

Minnesota Twins Week In Review July 3rd-9th

It’s been a busy week around the Minnesota Twins organization! Let’s check in at every level…

Minnesota Twins

Record: 4-3 (2-1 vs. Angels, 2-2 vs. Orioles), 45-43, 2nd in AL Central, 2.5 games back in division, 1 game back from 2nd wild card
Best hitter: Max Kepler .476/.560/.810/1.370, 4 R, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 7 RBI, 4/1 BB/K
Best pitcher: Ervin Santana 9 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 68 game score, complete game
Worst hitter: Jorge Polanco .053/.100/.105/.205, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 1/3 BB/K, 3 SB
Worst pitcher: Tyler Duffey 3 games, 3 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 1 strike out, 12.00 ERA, 2.67 WHIP
Notes: Not noted here, but a number of Twins middle relievers had strong showings, most notably, Matt Belisle was strong coming off the DL in two appearances, and Ryan Pressly was a single hit away from 3 perfect innings of relief across 3 appearances on the week.

Rochester Red Wings

Record: 6-2, 49-39, 3rd in International League North, 5.5 games back in division, 5 games back in wild card
Best hitter: Mitch Garver .321/.367/.929/1.295, 10 R, 2 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 2/8 BB/K
Best pitcher: Tim Melville 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Worst hitter: Ryan Strausborger .105/.190/.158/.348, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2/9 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Michael Tonkin 2 G, 1 GS, 5 2/3 IP, 5.76 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 3 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 4 K
Notes: The entire Rochester pitching staff had a good showing outside of Tonkin as most relievers went the week without allowing a run, and Tonkin was the only pitcher on the staff with an ERA on the week over 4. Hitting was a little more sparse, but Garver’s big week more than made up for that.

Chattanooga Lookouts

Record: 5-2, 14-3 in second half, 56-31 overall, 1st in Southern League North
Best hitter: Jonathan Rodriguez .500/.545/.767/1.312, 7 R, 5 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3/9 BB/K
Best pitcher: Kohl Stewart 2 GS, 11 IP, 1.64 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K
Worst hitter: Dan Rohlfing .000/.077/.000/.077, RBI, 1/4 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Luke Bard 2 G, 4 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Notes: Good idea just how dominant the Lookouts pitching staff was when the two choices for “worst pitcher” were two guys who would be in the running for the best starter and the best reliever of the year for Chattanooga this season. Rodriguez was tremendous all week, which covered up a few players that were expected to be solid not hitting the way they would like, even including top prospect Nick Gordon (.513 OPS before he headed off to the Futures Game).

Fort Myers Miracle

Record: 6-1, 12-4 in second half, 45-39 overall, 1st in Florida State League South
Best hitter: Tanner English .320/.393/.680/1.073, 7 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 2/7 BB/K, 4 SB
Best pitcher: See “notes” section
Worst hitter: Brian Navarreto .150/.190/.200/.390, 3 R, 2B, RBI, 1/8 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Williams Rodriguez, 2 G, 3 IP, 18.00 IP, 3.33 WHIP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 K
Notes: Rather than select one, I decided to select the most dominant bullpen in the system. 5 relievers – Alex Muren, Thomas Hackimer, Andrew Vasquez, Sam Clay, and Michael Theofanopoulos – combined to throw 22 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out 32 hitters.

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Record: 5-2, 10-9 second half, 49-40 overall, 3rd in division, 3.5 games back
Best hitter: Lewin Diaz .435/.440/.652/1.092, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 1/1 BB/K
Best pitcher: Anthony Marzi, 2 G, 13 2/3 innings, 0.66 ERA, 0.51 WHIP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 14 K
Worst hitter: Travis Blankenhorn .120/.290/.160/.450, R, 2B, 3 RBI, 5/8 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Evan Sanders 1.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 5.25 WHIP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Notes: The Kernels found themselves in a collection of pitcher’s duels this week, so the run/RBI totals of hitters were low, and the ERAs of pitchers in general were quite low with some very good pitching performances throughout the roster during the week.

Elizabethton Twins

Record: 5-2, 12-6 overall, 2nd in division, 0.5 games back
Best hitter: Shane Carrier .438/.438/1.313, 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 0/6 BB/K
Best pitcher: Edwar Colina 2 GS, 13 IP, 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 5 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 15 K
Worst hitter: J.J. Robinson .000/.333/.000, R, 3/3 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Blair Lakso 2 G, 2 IP, 18.00 ERA, 3.50 WHIP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Notes: Elizabethton had solid performances from a number of hitters, but the most impressive area was the rotation, where scoreless performances from Huascar Ynoa and Charlie Barnes didn’t even win the best pitcher spot on the week.

GCL Twins

Record: 4-2, 10-3 overall, 1st in division
Best hitter: Akil Baddoo .238/.407/.524/.931, 6 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 6/4 BB/K, 2 SB
Best pitcher: Pedro Garcia 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Worst hitter: Victor Tademo .067/.167/.067/.233, R, 3 RBI, 1/5, 0/1 SB
Worst pitcher: Amilcar Cruz 2 G, 4 1/3 IP, 8.31 ERA, 2.31 WHIP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Notes: Baddoo’s batting average may not have been pretty, but the guy who was expected to be raw and struggle with his zone recognition has been able to show tremendous ability to take a walk and keep his strikeout rate at a respectable rate while showing off his incredible blend of power and speed. While all eyes are on #1 overall pick Royce Lewis at the level, Baddoo could end up being a guy from the 2016 draft to explode up prospect rankings this year.

DSL Twins

Record: 5-1, 24-7 overall, 1st in division
Best hitter: Yeltsin Encarnacion .600/.667/1.200/1.867, 6 R, 3 triples, HR, 5 RBI, 3/0 BB/K, 1/1 SB
Best pitcher: Cristian Castro 3 G, 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Worst hitter: Zaino Henriquez .000/.125/.000, 2 R, 2/4 BB/K
Worst pitcher: Robert Gutierrez 3 IP, 18.00 ERA, 3.33 WHIP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Notes: The Dominican Summer League Twins have been absolutely dominating their league, in part because they’ve had plenty of help from older players than many of their competition, but they’re still getting excellent performances across the board.

Next: Lewin Diaz making his mark

Minor League Pitcher/Hitter Of The Week

Pitcher: Anthony Marzi, Cedar Rapids – 2 starts, 13 2/3 innings, 0.66 ERA, 0.51 WHIP, 5 hits allowed, 1 run, 2 walks, 14 strikouts
Hitter: Yeltsin Encarnacion, DSL – .600/.667/1.200/1.867, 6 runs, 3 triples, HR, 5 RBI, 3/0 BB/K ratio, 1/1 SB/CS

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Minnesota Twins Week In Review: July 3rd-9th, 2017

By Benjamin Chase | Jul 11, 2017