Month: July 2019

How can you not like Luis Arraez

Luis Arraez – Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Since being recalled back to Minnesota on June 18, Luis Arraez is hitting .389 (28-for-72) with four doubles, one home run, four RBI, 10 runs scored, seven walks, a .443 on-base percentage and a .929 OPS. Among all rookies with a minimum of 70 plate appearances since that date, he ranks first in batting average, second in on-base percentage and tied for third in hits. Arraez has 37 hits through his first 30 career games, tied for fourth most in Twins history through 30: Kirby Puckett (42 in 1984), Kennys Vargas (40 in 2014), Chuck Knoblauch (38 in 1991), Danny Santana (37 in 2014).

His AB this past Tuesday was certainly one of the best ever seen by Twins fans. The Twins were down 3-2 to the New York Mets going into the bottom of the ninth against Mets closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz struck out Miguel Sano swinging for out one and then had to face Jonathan Schoop and on his second pitch Schoop grabbed his ribs and was removed from the game. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in Luis Arraez to face the hard-throwing Diaz with an inherited 0-2 count. Arraez fouled off four pitches while working the count full before taking a walk bringing the Target Field crown to its feet. Mitch Garver singled but Jorge Polanco struck out for the second out of the inning. Marwin Gonzalez reached first base loading the bases on an infield single and Nelson Cruz stepped to the plate with the bases loaded but on a full count he popped up to the Mets third baseman in foul territory retiring the Twins and giving the Mets a 3-2 victory. The Arraez AB is an AB that will go down in Twins lore as one of the best ever.

Looks like second base is all his (Arraez) but he may have to wait until next season. Jonathan Schoop is a streaky hitter but I think he deserves to keep his job at second through this year and having a player like Arraez on the bench is a real luxury.

Kernels pitcher Kai-Wei Teng has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week

The Midwest League and MiLB.com announced recently that Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-pitcher Kai-Wei Teng has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the period ending July 14. The 6’4″ and 260 pound Teng allowed five hits with 10 strikeouts in 6 IP in a no-decision, against Lansing on Sunday. Teng signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Taichung, Taiwan in October of 2017.

The award marks the second consecutive week a Kernels pitcher has been named MWL Pitcher of the Week (Andrew Cabezas) and third Kernel to win MWL weekly honors.

Former Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Grzenda passes away at 82

Joe Grzenda

Former major league pitcher and one-time Minnesota Twins pitcher Joseph Charles Grzenda, 82, of Covington Twp, PA. passed away on Friday, July 12, 2019 at home. Grzenda was born on June 8, 1937 in Scranton, PA. the son of the late Joseph C. and Josephine (Jankowski) Grzenda. Joe Grzenda graduated from Moosic High School in Greenwood in 1955 and went on to serve in the U.S. Army. 

The left-handed Grezenda was first signed in 1955 as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers and worked his way up the Tigers minor league system playing in D, B, AA and AAA ball before finally getting his shot in the big leagues with the Tigers in 1961.

Continue reading Former Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Grzenda passes away at 82

Twins minor league players of the week – Lewis & Colina

A+ Ft. Myers Miracle infielder Royce Lewis and Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Edwar Colina have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Royce Lewis at 2019 Futures game

Lewis, who played in the SiriusXM Futures Game at Progressive Field last Sunday, played in four games for the Miracle late this week, hitting .353 (6-for-17) with two home runs, three RBI and two walks. The 20-year-old Lewis is in his third season of pro ball after having been selected first overall in 2017 by Minnesota. Lewis appeared in 46 games for Ft. Myers last season and has spent all of this season with the Miracle. It is fair to say that Lewis has struggled at times this year hitting only .235 with a .285 OBP and a .649 OPS but he seems to be showing improvement. A handful of players from the 2017 draft have already had a cup of coffee in the big leagues with their parent clubs but with the way Lewis has played this season he has little to no chance of seeing a September call-up.

Edwar Colina

Colina made the start on Wednesday versus Daytona, pitching 7 shutout innings with three hits allowed, no walks and eight strikeouts. The 22-year-old Venezuelan right-hander started the season with the Miracle and in ten starts has 4-2 record with a nice 2.34 ERA. In 61.2 innings Colina has given up only 53 hits and struck out 61 batters. Colina has improved his control this season and has a nifty 4.07 SO/W ratio. The Minnesota Twins signed free agent RHP Edwar Colina to a minor league contract on September 29, 2015.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 7-14-19

This is what baseball has come down to? Oh My!

Credit to Stew Thornley

This is the Twins shift in the game against the Texas Rangers Joey Gallo yesterday. A catcher (Mitch Garver) and pitcher (Devin Smeltzer) and first baseman (Miguel Sano) in their normal positions but no one else is on the dirt. Five outfielders and yet Gallo hits a double off the right field wall, he also had a bunt single. My friend Wayne Hattaway would tell you “this isn’t real baseball”. Everytime you go to a baseball game you have a chance to see something you have never seen before.

 

Twins minor league players of the week – Davis & Rijo

AAA Rochester Red Wings outfielder Jaylin Davis and Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Luis Rijo have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jaylin Davis

In eight games (DH Friday) for the Red Wings, Davis hit .364 (12-for-33) with three
doubles, four home runs, eight RBI, two walks and a 1.128 OPS. Davis, 25, was a 25th round pick by the Twins in 2015 and has hit .284 (81-for-285) with 15 doubles, 17 home runs and 47 RBI in 77 games between Double-A Pensacola and Rochester.

 

Luis Rijo – Credit to Dennis Hubbard/Four Seam Images

Rijo made the start on Thursday vs. Burlington, pitching 7 shutout innings with one hit allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts. The 20-year-old Venezuela native was acquired by the Twins in 2018 from the New York Yankees, in exchange for right-handed pitcher and current Texas Ranger Lance Lynn.

Kernels’ Rijo pops career-high 10 whiffs

Twins Minor League Report, 7-7-19

Fireworks night at Target Field last night

 

The Twins beat the Texas Rangers last night by a score of 15-6 at Target Field. Martín Pérez (8-3) was the starter and winner, allowing four runs on seven hits in 6 innings pitched. The offense recorded 20 hits as each starter in the lineup recorded one hit and at least eight starters had multiple hits.

  • 13 extra-base hits tied a Twins single-game record set earlier this season in game two
    of a doubleheader on April 20 at Baltimore.
  • 20 hits marked a season-high, their most since June 13, 2017 vs. Seattle when they
    set a club-record with 28, it marked the 57th time in club history for the Twins to reach
    20 hits in a game.
  • Nine doubles tied for the most in Senators/Twins history (since 1901), tying the Senators’ nine back on June 9, 1934 (box score) at Boston and Hall of Fame pitcher Left Grove.

Credit to Twins GameNotes

Twins Win!

Do you remember Todd Walker?

Todd Walker – credit Matthew Stockman /Allsport

Todd Walker was a Minnesota Twins first round pick (8th overall) in 1994 out of LSU and signed with the Twins for $815,000. That was a good draft for the Twins as they also got pitcher Travis Miller in round 2, catcher A.J. Pierzynski in round 4, and maybe the best of the group, third baseman Corey Koskie in round 26. 

Walker made his debut on August 30, 1996 at County Stadium against the Brewers and started at third base and then moved to second later in the game. TK had Walker hitting sixth in the line-up and ended the day going 1 for 5 with a run scored in a loss to the Brewers when Marc Newfield hit a walk-off home run off Twins reliever Jose Parra leading off the bottom of the 12th inning. 

Walker shuffled between the big leagues and minors in 96 and 97 but was a Twins starter in 1998-1999. On July 15, 2000 after a slow start and spending time in TK’s doghouse where Walker was a semi-regular resident, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies along with Butch Huskey for Todd Sears and cash. Walker was known for his hitting and not his glove and that didn’t sit well with skipper Tom Kelly. In addition it seemed like TK was not a fan of college players in general. Walker eventually on to the Reds, Red Sox, Cubs, Padres and spent his final season in the big leagues with the A’s in 2007.

All in all Todd Walker spent all or parts of 12 seasons in the big leagues and played in 1,288 games and ended his big league career with a .289 average and a 10.5 WAR.

Baseball America did a “where are you now” article on Todd Walker that you can read here.

 

Twins minor league players of the week – Wiel and Sands

The Twins have named AAA Rochester Red Wings first baseman/outfielder Zander Wiel and A+ Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Cole Sands as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Zander Wiel

In seven games for the Red Wings, the 26 year old Wiel hit .433 (13-for-30) with two home runs, five doubles, eight RBI, 24 total bases and five runs scored, including five multi-hit games. The Tennessee native was drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2015 draft out of Vanderbilt University. This marks Wiels’ third career weekly honor, first since Sept. 4, 2016. Wiel is 6’3″ and goes about and hits and throws tight-handed. Wiel has advanced through the Twins organization and had a taste (15 games) of AAA ball last season and has spent all of this year in Rochester.

 

 

Cole Sands

Sands made one start for the Miracle, throwing 5.0 no-hit inning with six strikeouts last Sunday against Jupiter. Sands, just 21 was a fifth-round selection in the 2018 MLB draft out of Florida State. Sands, a right-hander started his pro career this year in A ball with the Cedar Rapids Kernels and has advanced to A+ Ft. Myers. This is his first weekly honor. Sands signed for a reported (Twins Daily) $600,000 with the slot value being $330,400.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 6-30-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Rooker and Widell

Sorry for the delay in getting these Twins minor league player of the week updates out here on the site. My wife and I were on vacation for a couple of weeks taking a cruise to Alaska on the NCL Jewel out of Vancouver and then we spent a week touring the interior of Alaska. What a beautiful state even it it doesn’t have a big league baseball team. We were there for two weeks and we never saw darkness, it takes a bit of getting used to. Then again if you went in December it would always be dark.

I have missed baseball since you get no news on a cruise ship and the one newspaper I saw in Anchorage on our last day in Alaska has little to no MLB baseball coverage. So let’s see what we missed.

Two weeks ago the Twins named AAA Rochester Red Wings outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker and Rookie-Elizabethton left-handed pitcher Ryley Widell as the organization’s minor league player and pitcher of the week.

Brent Rooker

Rooker, who was drafted 35th overall by the Twins in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, played seven games for the Red Wings this week, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI, four walks and a 1.488 OPS.

The 24 year old Rooker is in a rush to the big leagues having split his 2017 season in Rookie Elizabethton and A+ Fort Myers, 2018 in AA Chattanooga, and 2019 in AAA Rochester. In 55 games in Rochester this year Rooker is hitting .290 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI. This season Rooker has spent his time in LF/DH but he has some played first base in 2017-2018. Might see a cup of coffee at Target Field in September.

Ryley Widell

Ryley Widell, who was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round of the 2017 Draft, pitched in one game this week, Wednesday against Bluefield, allowing just two runs (1 earned) on two hits, with no walks and six strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.

Widell, a 6’3″ lefty pitched in 8 games for Elizabethton in 2017 and missed 2018 due to injury and started this season in Elizabethton again this season.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 6-23-19