The Twins have named High-A Ft. Myers Miracle outfielder Alex Kirilloff and AAA Rochester Red Wings right-handed pitcher Kohl Stewart minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
Kirilloff, the Twins 2016 first round pick (15th overall) who was in last week’s SiriusXM Future’s Game, played in five games for the Miracle, hitting .545 (12-for-22) with three doubles, one triple, one home run and six RBI. Kirilloff who won’t turn 21 until this November started the season in Cedar Rapids but after hitting .333 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI in 65 games was moved up to Ft. Myers and he has found the Florida State League to his liking. In 29 games he is hitting .370 with 3 home runs and 22 RBI in just 29 games. I would not be surprised to see him get a taste of AA ball at Chattanooga before the 2018 season winds down. A pretty impressive season for Kirilloff after sitting out all of 2017.
Stewart, another first round pick and fourth overall in 2013 made two starts for the Red Wings, going 0-2, 1.50 ERA (12.0 IP, 2 ER) with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Stewart has been a bit of a disappointment so far in the sense that everyone expected more out of this right-hander since he was the fourth overall selection but we need to keep in mind that he is just 23 years of age. Stewart turned down a football and baseball scholarship at Texas A&M University to sign with the Twins.
The minor league report below has an article on the Twins experimenting with “Bullpenning”.