Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Twins minor league players of the week are Wallner & Headrick

The Minnesota Twins have named Triple-A St Paul outfielder Matt Wallner and Double-A Wichita left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick as their minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Matt Wallner a Forest Lake, Minnesota native was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Forest Lake HS (Forest Lake, MN) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (39th-competitive balance) of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS). Wallner is a repeat winner this year having also won this award trice earlier this season. MLB Pipeline currently has Wallner rated as the Twins 5th best prospect.

Wallner, 24, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight RBI and seven walks. He recorded the first cycle in Saints history on Thursday night against Omaha and finished the game with five hits.

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Twins MiLB players Cesar Lares & Ricardo Olivar win July pitcher & player of the month awards

Minor League Baseball yesterday announced the Player and Pitcher of the Month Award winners for July in each of the 14 leagues in Major League Baseball’s player development system. Two Minnesota Twins farmhands were recognized in their respective leagues.

DSL left-handed pitcher Cesar Lares went 1-0 with a 0.43 ERA in five starts as he allowed just 10 hits and six walks in 21.0 innings while striking out 36. Lares held opponents to a .135 average. Lares, 19, was signed by the Twins as an international free agent out of Maracay, Venezuela, on May 3, 2022 for a $10K signing bonus. Lares is 6’0″/155.

FCL Twins catcher/outfielder Ricardo Olivar batted .344/.444/.721 and led the league in doubles (8), triples (3), total bases (44), slugging percentage (.721) and OPS (1.165). He was third in average (.344) and on-base percentage (.444) and was fifth in home runs (three). Olivar, 20, was signed by Minnesota as an international free agent out of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on July 2, 2019. Olivar is 5’10″/176.

The Twins and the trade deadline

Falvey and Levine

Are the Minnesota Twins going to make some trades at the up-coming trade dealine? Of course they will. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have made no secret that a teams front office is not doing their job if they they fail to make changes at the deadline either through buying or selling.

I can’t see any way that the Twins will be sellers this year, why would they put up a white flag when they are in first place by a couple of games in a weak division. The team is not drawing well for a first place team and they certainly don’t want to squash any momentum they may be building from a fan perspective after signing Carlos Correa. Rumors have circulated recently that they might trade Correa. That is one of the dumbest things I have heard in a long time, why would you be paying Correa, one of the best players in the game, $35 million and then trade him for prospects just because he has an opt-out clause? Sure, he might, but that is a chance you took when you agreed to put that clause in his contract.

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Twins leaders in multi-hit games

The Minnesota Twins have had some great hitters over the years and several of them have gone on to the Hall of Fame. It is time to take a look at these hitters and see who has the most multi-hit games on their Twins career resume. The lone active Twins player on the list is Jorge Polanco and he is moving up the list. Are there any players on this list that surprise you? The leader of course is non other than Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

Kirby Puckett
Query Results Table
Rk Player From To Count of
multi-hit

 

games

 Ind. Games Link
1 Kirby Puckett 1984 1995 702 Games List
2 Rod Carew 1967 1978 617 Games List
3 Joe Mauer 2004 2018 575 Games List
4 Tony Oliva 1962 1976 562 Games List
5 Kent Hrbek 1981 1994 469 Games List
6 Harmon Killebrew 1961 1974 410 Games List
7 Justin Morneau 2003 2013 363 Games List
8 Chuck Knoblauch 1991 1997 348 Games List
9 Torii Hunter 1998 2015 346 Games List
10 César Tovar 1965 1972 322 Games List
11 Gary Gaetti 1982 1990 310 Games List
12 Zoilo Versalles 1961 1967 279 Games List
13 Roy Smalley 1976 1987 270 Games List
14 Jacque Jones 1999 2005 267 Games List
15 Michael Cuddyer 2002 2011 263 Games List
16 Cristian Guzmán 1999 2004 240 Games List
17 Bob Allison 1961 1970 235 Games List
18 Brian Dozier 2012 2018 231 Games List
19 Brian Harper 1988 1993 226 Games List
20 Rich Rollins 1962 1968 224 Games List
21 Tom Brunansky 1982 1988 208 Games List
22 Jorge Polanco 2015 2022 205 Games List
23 Greg Gagne 1985 1992 204 Games List
24 Earl Battey 1961 1967 202 Games List
25 Eddie Rosario 2015 2020 199 Games List
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 7/13/2022.

Twins pitchers you may not have heard of

The Minnesota Twins have gone through a lot of pitchers over the years, 476 pitchers have taken the bump wearing the Twins uniform from 1961-2021. Many of these pitchers have come and gone over the years and many Twins fans have either never heard of them or have long since forgotten them.

Today I just want to take a look at pitchers that have pitched for Minnesota but have no record, meaning that they have neither been credited with a win or a loss for the Minnesota Twins in a game in which they appeared. Turns out the leader in this “category” for the Minnesota Twins is Erik Schullstrom who appeared in 46 games without earning a win or a loss.

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Former Twins pitcher David West passes away at the age of 57

David West was born on September 1, 1964, in Memphis, TN, to Eugene C. West and Vivian Womble West. David passed away in Palm City, Florida from brain cancer on May 14, 2022.

West fell in love with baseball at an early age. According to Ripbaseball.com, West excelled in American Legion ball, playing for Millington Telephone, but the big left-hander with the 90 mile-per-hour fastball had to wait a bit to play at Craigmont High School. He was declared scholastically ineligible and missed his first two seasons of high school ball. After his Senior season he was named to second team of American Baseball Coaches Association High School All-America squad.

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Twins release Lewis Thorpe

Lewis Thorpe

The Minnesota Twins have released left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe. A native of Australia, Thorpe was signed by the Twins in 2012 to a $500K signing bonus as a 17 year-old.

Thorpe made his major league debut with the Twins on June 30, 2019 at Guaranteed Rate Field in a start against the Chicago White Sox. Thorpe pitched five innings and left the game trailing 2-0 after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven and was credited with the loss.

The lefty could never put it together in the big leagues with the Twins and appeared in 24 games and 59.1 innings between 2019-2021 and posting a 3-5 record with a 5.76 ERA. It is probably best for all concerned for Thorpe to look for other opportunities and see if a change of scenery can perhaps get him back on track. Good luck Lewis!

Twins fans might not recognize their team

Minnesota Twins fans might not recognize their team this season when they go out to Target Field. The Twins have so many new players you will need to spend a few bucks and buy a scorecard just so you know who is playing where. Twins fans are already wondering who secretly snuck in during the dark of night this off-season and bought this Twins team from the Pohlad’s and has told Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to get off their butts and start putting together a winning team, money is no object. How else do you explain the Twins signing Carlos Correa to a three-year deal at $35.1 million per year? And the trades? What the heck is going here in fly over land?

The rumors were running wild last night as I went to bed that the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres were talking let’s make a deal. The Padres have an excess of starting pitchers and the Twins are in need of starters so it looks like a match made in heaven. When I got up this morning I found out that a deal had indeed been consummated with the Twins getting starting right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack and right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan from San Diego in return for closer Taylor Rogers and first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker. The Twins will also receive a player to be named later and will send cash to San Diego in the deal. That cash amount apparently covers all of Rogers salary but $700,000 in 2022. Rogers can become a free agent after the 2022 season.

Taylor Rogers

Lots of Twins fans are not happy to see Rogers, the Twins closer traded. Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick in the 2012 draft, the same year the Twins drafted Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey. Rogers made his big league debut in April of 2016. Rogers has been a solid reliever ever since and he took over the closing chores in 2019. Rogers was named to his first All-Star team last season but suffered a finger injury in late July and he missed the rest of the 2021 season. Rogers has a twin-brother Tyler who pitches for the San Francisco Giants.

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Here is my WAG for 2022

The hapless 2021 Minnesota Twins finished with 73-89 record and were dead last in the AL central Division finishing one game worse than the Kansas City Royals and four games worse than the Detroit Tigers.

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Former Twins pitcher Fred Lasher passes away at 80

Fred Lasher was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 19, 1941 and passed away in Altoona, Wisconsin at the age of 80 on February 27, 2022. Lasher grew up playing basketball and baseball for Poughkeepsie High School and the local Poughkeepsie YMCA. As a high school senior, Lasher had a 7-0 record and threw a no-hitter.

Lasher was invited to participate in a local All-Star game against some New York Yankee rookies that was attended by major league scouts. Joe Gall a scout for the Washington Senators liked what he saw and signed Lasher to his first pro contract in January of 1960 and Lasher was assigned to Wytheville Senators of the Appalachian League. He was known for a sidearm/submarine pitching delivery that earned him the nickname “The Whip,” and he picked up that delivery as a child by throwing rocks at his parents’ house.

Fred Lasher

Lasher attended his first big league spring training in 1963 as a talented but very raw pitcher, with a sidearm fastball but no curveball, and occasional control problems. The coaches taught him a three-quarters overhand delivery for his curve. After putting up good numbers in the spring, Lasher became a surprise addition to the Twins’ pitching staff.

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