Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) second baseman Luis Arraez is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. The left-handed hitting Arraez hit .455 (10-for-22) with one double, four RBI, one walk and six runs scored in six games for the Kernels, including a 5-for-5 effort on Tuesday at Burlington. The 19-year-old is hitting .335 (122-for-364) with 24 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 51 RBI, 57 runs scored and 26 walks in 88 games for the Kernels this season. Arraez who stands just 5’10” was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent on November 5, 2013. In just his third season in the Twins system, Arraez has a career hitting mark of .333 and at just 19 years of age in Low-A, he could rise quickly in the Twins prospect rankings.
Month: August 2016
According to ELIAS
Kintzler picks up 10th save of season
Brandon Kintzler, who turned 32 years old on August 1, picked up his 10th save of the seasonand in his major-league careerin the Twins’ win over the Astros on Monday. Four other active pitchers were 32 or older at the time of their first 10-save season: Koji Uehara, Santiago Casilla, Jason Grilli and Joaquin Benoit.
According to ELIAS
Twins have two young sluggers
Miguel Sano, age 23, hit two home runs in the Twins’ 6-3 win at Tampa Bay. Sano’s teammate Max Kepler, also 23, has two multi-homer games in 2016. The last pair of Minnesota players, each under 24, who both hit two home runs in a game within the same season were Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in 2004.
According to ELIAS
Rosario gives Twins a lead in a pinch
Eddie Rosario hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the seventh inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the Twins’ victory over the Rays. It was the first pinch-hit home run that turned a deficit into a lead for the Twins since Matt LeCroy hit one in Toronto on May 19, 2004. LeCroy’s blow was slightly more dramatic than Rosario’s; it was a grand slam in the ninth inning that turned a three-run deficit into a lead.
The pinch-hit grand slam, it has been awhile
Odds are that you will not recognize the player in this picture but he is still in the Twins organization and has been on the Fort Myers Miracle coaching staff since 2006. He played in the big leagues for 18 seasons for seven different teams but never had more than 260 at bats in any single season and played for the Minnesota Twins in 1998, 1999 and 1990.
It has been over 25 years since a Minnesota Twins batter pinch-hit a grand slam for the Minnesota Twins. This Twins were ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning when “Pig Pen” stepped into the left-handed batters box to hit pinch-hit for Twins catcher Tim Laudner who was hitting in the 7-hole on that day. Right-hander Donn Pall was the third pitcher used by the mighty whitey’s that inning and he gave up the grand salami to Jim Dwyer and the Twins were up 7-2 and would eventually win the game by a score of 10-3 as Frank Viola won his 22nd game of the season. No one has pinch-hit a grand slam home run for the Twins since September 15, 1988.
Pinch-hit grand slam home runs in Twins history
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Dwyer | 1988-09-15 | MIN | CHW | W 10-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Mike Cubbage | 1978-08-08 | MIN | SEA | W 10-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Rod Carew | 1976-09-09 | MIN | TEX | W 6-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Tony Oliva | 1975-06-29 | MIN | TEX | L 7-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Rich Reese | 1972-07-09 | MIN | NYY | L 6-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Harmon Killebrew | 1971-09-03 (1) | MIN | OAK | W 9-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Rick Renick | 1970-06-30 | MIN | KCR | W 8-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | Rich Reese | 1969-08-03 | MIN | BAL | W 5-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Julio Becquer | 1961-07-04 (1) | MIN | CHW | W 6-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
ERROR, ERROR, RECOMPUTE: A bit of a technical glitch with my search, it turns out that the last player to pinch-hit a home run for the Twins was not Jim Dwyer but our old friend Matt LeCroy in 2004. Here is the corrected list.
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| Rk | Player | Date ? | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Pos Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt LeCroy | 2004-05-19 | MIN | TOR | W 6-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 2 | Greg Colbrunn | 1997-08-04 | MIN | TOR | W 9-3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 3 | Jim Dwyer | 1989-06-10 | MIN | CHW | W 11-8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH DH |
| 4 | Carmelo Castillo | 1989-04-11 | MIN | DET | W 14-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH RF |
| 5 | Jim Dwyer | 1988-09-15 | MIN | CHW | W 10-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 6 | Ron Washington | 1986-07-03 | MIN | BAL | W 11-7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | PH 2B |
| 7 | Dave Engle | 1982-07-06 | MIN | DET | L 6-11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | PH RF |
| 8 | Mike Cubbage | 1978-08-08 | MIN | SEA | W 10-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 9 | Rod Carew | 1976-09-09 | MIN | TEX | W 6-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 10 | Tony Oliva | 1975-06-29 | MIN | TEX | L 7-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 11 | Danny Walton | 1973-04-17 | MIN | CAL | W 10-5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | PH DH |
| 12 | Rich Reese | 1972-07-09 | MIN | NYY | L 6-9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 13 | Harmon Killebrew | 1971-09-03 (1) | MIN | OAK | W 9-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 14 | Rick Renick | 1970-06-30 | MIN | KCR | W 8-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 15 | Rich Reese | 1970-06-07 | MIN | WSA | W 10-9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH 1B |
| 16 | Rich Reese | 1969-08-03 | MIN | BAL | W 5-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
| 17 | Julio Becquer | 1961-07-04 (1) | MIN | CHW | W 6-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | PH |
According to ELIAS
A one-of-a-kind day for the Indians
All four members of the Indians starting infield homered on Thursday against the Twins: first baseman Carlos Santana, second baseman Jason Kipnis, shortstop Francisco Lindor, and third baseman Jose Ramirez. But not only that: all three starting outfielders had an assist: left fielder Brandon Guyer, center fielder Rajai Davis, and right fielder Abraham Almonte. No other team in major-league history has had homers from all four of its starting infielders and assists from all three of its starting outfielders in one game.
Bull Dozier plowing through American League pitching this week
Brian Dozier had two hits including a homer in the Twins’ loss in Cleveland, and over his last five games he’s collected 10 hits and slugged five homers. Over the last 30 years, the only other Twins players with 10 hits and five homers in a five-game span were Kirby Puckett (1987 and 1995) and David Ortiz (2002).
According to ELIAS
Twins top three hitters produce in win over the Indians
Twins leadoff hitter Brian Dozier had three RBIs and three runs scored, second-place hitter Joe Mauer had four RBIs and two runs scored and third-place hitter Max Kepler scored twice and drove in two in Minnesota’s 13-5 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday. It’s only the second time since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920 that each of the top three hitters in the Senators/Twins starting lineup produced multiple RBIs and runs scored in the same game. The only other time that happened was on July 1, 1964, when Zoilo Versalles, Rich Rollins and Tony Oliva each did it in a 14-3 win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
According to ELIAS
Kepler’s power surge continues
One day after becoming the first Twins rookie in franchise history to homer three times in a game, Max Kepler cleared the fence one more time in Minnesota’s victory over the Indians last night. Kepler became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett in August 1987 to hit four home runs within a two-game span. Only four other players this season have homered four or more times over a two-game span – Mookie Betts (five homers), Khris Davis (four), Michael Saunders (four), and Giancarlo Stanton (four).
According to ELIAS
Kepler does something a certain 40-year-old has never done
Max Kepler slugged three home runs last night, which may make another active player who began his career with the Twins a little jealous. David Ortiz has hit 528 home runs in the majors and he has never had a three-homer game. Big Papi is one of three members of the 500-home-run club who never hit three in one game, along with Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield.
Corey Seager went deep three times in a game against the Braves in June. Kepler and Seager are the fourth pair of rookies to each have a three-homer game in the same season. The other tandems to do that were Mark McGwire and Mickey Brantley in 1987, Nick Markakis and Cody Ross in 2006, and Evan Longoria and Joey Votto in 2008.
Update: According to Elias, Max Kepler became the first European-born player in baseball history to homer three times in a game.
Kepler hits three homers in Twins’ victory
Congratulations Max!
Twins minor league player of the week – Lachlan Wells
Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) left-handed pitcher Lachlan Wells is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Wells started for the Kernels on Monday against Dayton, pitching 8.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts and earned the win. The 19-year-old 5’8″ Wells has made six starts for the Kernels, going 3-2, 1.57 ERA (34.1 IP, 6 ER) with six walks and 29 strikeouts. Wells was signed as an undrafted free agent August 11, 2014 out of Newcastle, Australia for $300,000.
Lachlan has a twin brother Alexander who is also a pitcher in the Orioles organization.
Australian twins bring competitive spirit to pro ball
Newcastle twins make pitch for baseball history