TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
AAA Rochester Red Wings first baseman Kennys Vargas has been named the designated hitter on the International League Postseason All-Star Team, according to the league office. The 27 year-old Vargas is batting .234 with 20 doubles, 20 home runs, 69 RBI, 39 runs scored, 56 walks and 130 strikeouts in 124 games with Rochester this season. Vargas is leading the team in hits, doubles, homers, RBI, runs and walks. He is the first Red Wing to be named the DH on the Postseason All-Star Team since Willis Otanez in 1998 and fourth since the current ballot format began in 1978.
The Twins have named A- Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Trevor Larnach and Single-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Jhoan Duran as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
Trevor Larnach
In six games for the Kernels, Larnach hit .391 (9-for-23) with two doubles, one home
run, three RBI, three walks and six runs scored. The California native was drafted by the Twins 20th overall in this past June’s draft. The 6’4″ left-handed hitting Larnach started playing pro ball in Elizabethton and moved up to Cedar Rapids after 18 games. The Twins are expecting Larnach to move up the Twins system quickly.
Jhoan Duran
Duran made two starts for the Kernels, going 1-0, 0.66 ERA (13.2 IP, 1 ER) with three walks and 19 strikeouts. Duran, who earned this award earlier in the month, was acquired at the trade deadline from Arizona in exchange for infielder Eduardo Escobar. The 6’5″ 20-year-old right-hander has started five games for the Kernels since the Twins acquired him and has a 2-1 record but that is deceiving. He has allowed just 16 hits in 32 innings while striking out 41 and walking 7. Duran has an ERA of 2.25 and a 0.719 WHIP. The guy is tearing it up! WOW! Duran could be a steal.
Regulars that stop by this site know that I am a fan of La Vida Baseball. There is a new post out the site called THE LEGACY OF A JEWELER ON LATIN AMERICAN BASEBALL. One of the players that Andres Reiner signed was Johan Santana. The posting includes a short video called “Johan Santana 1995 scouting report“. It is very interesting and talks about how Reiner had the vision to see a pitcher in Johan Santana when he was a first baseman/outfielder with no power. Check out the story and the video.
The Twins have named A+ Ft. Myers Miracle infielder José Miranda and GCL Twins right-handed pitcher Prelander Berroa as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
The 20-year-old Jose Miranda played seven games for the Miracle, hitting .320 (8-for-25) with two doubles, one home run, four RBI and a .414 on-base percentage. Miranda plays primarily second and third base but has played some shortstop. Miranda was selected by the Twins 73rd overall in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and signed for a reported $775,000. Bats and throws right-handed. Miranda also was the Twins player of the week back in June when he was with Cedar Rapids.
Prelander Berroa, an 18-year-old Dominican right-hander made one start for the for the GCL Twins on Thursday vs. GCL Orioles, pitching 5.0 shutout innings with one hit allowed and nine strikeouts. Berroa has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts, games he which he pitched 5,4 and 5 innings. Berroa was signed as a 16-year-old undrafted free agent in July of 2016 for a reported $200,000 and started pitching in the Twins minor league system in 2017.
Shortstop Royce Lewis and outfielder Alex Kirilloff were named to the 2018 Midwest League Postseason All-Star Team. Outfielder Ernie De La Trinidad who came over from Arizona in the Eduardo Escobar trade and is now playing with the Ft. Myers Miracle also made the same All-Star team.
Not that long ago I ran across a site called La VIDA Baseball. La VIDA Baseball is produced in association with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, celebrates the past, present and future of Latino baseball through our own lens and voice.
If you are interested in Latin Baseball and legends of the past, current stars or future up and coming Latino stars than this site is for you. They publish new articles on a regular basis and the writers are very, very good. If you are a fan of baseball than you should check this site out and bookmark it.
The Twins have had many Latino stars over the years and a lot of them have great stories written about them on this site. Here are just a few examples and there are many, many more.
The Minnesota Twins picked 30th in the June 2011 draft and in round one they selected shortstop Levi Michael. The Twins signed Michael to a $1.175 million dollar bonus and sent him directly to A+ Ft. Myers in 2012. At the end of the 2017 the Twins let him go after Michael peaked with 12 games at AAA Rochester. The New York Mets signed him and he is playing in AA ball this season.
The Twins had two supplementary first round picks for the loss of Orlando Hudson and Jesse Crain and at number 50 they took third baseman Travis Harrison and signed him for $1.050 million. Harrison spent three years (2015-2017) in AA Chattanooga and the Twins let him go and Harrison is playing Independent League ball this season.
The Twins used their other (number 55) supplementary pick to take and sign RHP Hudson Boyd from Bishop Verot High School in Ft. Myers for $1 million. Boyd lasted with Minnesota just three seasons and reached A- Cedar Rapids and was sent packing in November 2014 for his off the field issues and no one has bothered to take a chance on him. No longer in pro ball.
Round 2 – Twins select RHP Madison Boer. The Twins released Boer after the 2015 season when he peaked in AA Chattanooga. Boer is no longer in pro ball.
Round 3 – Twins select LHP Corey Williams. Williams got to AA Chattanooga in 2016 but the Twins let him go and he pitched for the St. Paul Saints in 2016-2017 but is no longer in pro ball.
Round 4 – Twins selected RHP Matt Summers. Summers also reached AA Chattanooga before being released in 2015 and no longer in pro ball.
Round 5 – Twins select shortstop Tyler Grimes and in his fourth season he played at A+ Ft. Myers. The Twins let him go and he is no longer playing pro ball.
Round 6 – The Twins selected outfielder Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez and signed him for $130,000. In 2014 Dereck Rodriguez switched to the mound. The Twins started him out as a reliever in his first season as a pitcher but used him as a starter after that. Rodriguez reached AA Chattanooga in 2017 but left the Twins organization as a free agent after the 2017 season ended and signed with the San Francisco Giants.
Dereck Rodriguez
The Giants had Rodriguez start the season in AAA where in 9 starts he was 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 50.1 innings with just 11 walks. He was called up to the big leagues and made his major league debut on May 29, 2018 in relief and pitched 3.1 innings and allowed four runs but only one earned in Colorado. His next appearance was as a starter against the Phillies and he pitched 6 innings allowing just one run and notched his first big league win. This year Rodriguez has started 12 games and has a 2.25 ERA with a 6-1 record with 80 innings pitched and has 65 strikeouts and allowed only 61 hits. In his 12 starts Rodriguez has gone less than five innings just once. Rodriguez has been one of the most impressive rookie starters in all of baseball despite being allowed to reach minor-league free agency last fall by the Twins.
The Giants can count their found fortune later; for now, it’s enough that they’ve already received a huge contribution from Rodriguez and control him for six more seasons to come. It took 14 years but looks like the San Francisco Giants have finally gotten even for the A.J. Pierzynski trade they made with Minnesota back in November of 2003. That was the trade where the Giants acquired Pierzynski and cash for Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano.
The only player the Twins got out of the 2011 draft that put on a Twins uniform was LHP Jason Wheeler and he appeared in 2 games throwing 3 innings before moving him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I see no record of Wheeler pitching anywhere in 2018 so he may have put baseball in the rearview mirror.
The Twins had a terrible draft in 2011 but the Dereck Rodriguez story is a great one!
The Twins have named A+ Ft. Myers Miracle shortstop Royce Lewis and A- Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Edwar Colina as Twins minor league Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week.
Royce Lewis – Credit Tom Hagerty MiLB.COM
Lewis, who was selected first overall in the 2017 MLB Draft, played seven games for the Miracle, hitting .345 (10-for-29) with a triple, two home runs, six RBI, five walks and a .457 on-base percentage. In 101 games this year between Cedar Rapids (75) and Ft. Myers (26) the 19-year old right-handed hitting shortstop is hitting .318 with an OPS .867 and has 12 home runs and 71 RBI not to mention 28 stolen bases.
Edwar Colina
Colina,21, started one game for the Kernels on Monday vs. Beloit, pitching 8.0 innings with two unearned runs, no walks and eight strikeouts, earning his sixth win of the season. For the year the 5’11” left-hander is 6-3 with just 64 hits allowed in 84.2 inning with 75 KO’s and 45 walks. The Caracas, Venezuela native was signed by the Twins as a free agent in September of 2015.
Minor League Baseball announced the Player of the Month Award winners for each of the 16 leagues for the month of July. A+ Ft. Myers outfielder Alex Kirilloff led the Florida State League in average (.396), hits (40), total bases (62), extra-base hits (16), slugging (.614) and OPS (1.036) and he finished second in runs (20) and third in RBI (20). Kirilloff had 13 multi-hit games in July, including six straight, and had a 13-game hitting streak from July 13–29. He also won the Midwest League Player of the Month Award in May with Cedar Rapids. Kirilloff, 20, was selected by the Twins in the first round (15th overall) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Plum High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Is it possible that Kirilloff who turns 21 in November makes his first appearance in a Twins uniform in 2019? Don’t forget that he missed all of 2017 with TJ surgery and only has 635 AB’s on his professional resume.
I recently finished a baseball book called “The Baseball Codes” written by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca. This is not a new book, it was published back in 2011 and I ran across it at a book sale that I attend on a regular basis put on by a group called Friends of the Library of Hennepin County in Plymouth, Minnesota. Anyway, I ran across this hardcover book and bought it for the price of one dollar.
This book should not be confused with a book called “The Code” written by Ross Bernstein back in 2008 that covers the same subject matter that I also have in my library. Oddly enough, “The Code” has an image on the cover of Nolan Ryan fighting with Robin Ventura and the book that I wanted to bring to your attention “The Baseball Codes” starts out by the author saying in his introduction that his most memorable moment of the 1993 season was the Ryan/Ventura fight. A strange coincidence.
The Twins have named A- Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher Ryan Jeffers and A- Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Jhoan Duran as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.
Ryan Jeffers
Ryan Jeffers, 21, played in seven games for the Kernels, hitting .423 (11-for-26) with five doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a .500 on-base percentage. Jeffers was selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of UNC Wilmington and signed for a below slot $800,000. Jeffers started the season by playing for just over a month in 29 games with Elizabethton where he hit 3 home runs and had 16 RBI with a .458 OBP. Since his promotion to Cedar Rapids on July 24 he has played in 11 games and has 2 home runs and 9 RBI and is hitting .366. Mike Berardino recently wrote Second-rounder Ryan Jeffers laying quick claim to Twins’ ‘catcher of the future’, a good read.
Jhoan Duran
Jhoan Duran, 20, made the start on Monday at Quad Cities, pitching 7.0 shutout/no-hit innings with one walk and eight strikeouts in his first appearance in the Twins system. The 6’5″ and 175 pound Duran was acquired last week from Arizona in exchange for infielder Eduardo Escobar and is ranked as the Twins 23rd best prospect. The right-handed Duran from the Dominican Republic started in the Arizona system at the age of 17 is already in his fourth season of pro ball and won’t be 21 until January.
