Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Twins minor league players of the week – Larnach & Duran

Ft. Myers Miracle Trevor Larnach (9) bats in the third inning of a baseball game against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., Sunday, May 5, 2019. (Gordon Donovan)

Ft. Myers Miracles (high A) outfielder Trevor Larnach and Ft. Myers Miracles right-handed pitcher Jhoan Duran have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

In five games for the Miracle, Larnach hit .524 (11-for-21) with two doubles, two
home runs, seven RBI, four runs scored and a 1.427 OPS. The 22-year-old Larnach was drafted by the Twins 20th overall in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft and this marks his second POW honor this season (also May 12).

Larnach raking at a Miraculous rate

 

Jhoan Duran – credit Bill Parmeter of Ft. Myers Miracle

The right-handed throwing Duran made one start for the Miracle coming last Sunday at Daytona, allowing two runs (1 earned) on two hits in 6.0 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts (23 batters faced). Although Duran has an 0-5 record this season with the Miracles, he has started nine games and pitched 42.1 innings allowing just 31 hits and a 3.61 ERA. Duran has struck out 52 but also walked 15 batters.

The 21-year-old was acquired by the Twins at the trade deadline last season from Arizona, in exchange for Eduardo Escobar.

Duran hits new career heights for Miracle

 

Twins Minor League Report, 6-2-19

The only Minnesota Twins minor league team with a losing record at this point is the 20-31 Rochester Red Wings.

Twins minor league players of the week – Jeffers and Schulfer

High A Ft. Myers Miracles catcher Ryan Jeffers and Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed reliever/starter Austin Schulfer have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Ryan Jeffers

The 6’4″ right-handed hitting Jeffers played in six games for the Miracle, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with two home runs, four RBI, three walks and a .478 on-base percentage. Jeffers, 21, was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and signed for a reported $800,000. Jeffers is having a solid season with Fort Myers hitting .283 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 38 games.

Austin Schulfer

The 6’2″ right-handed Austin Schulfer, who was born in Plover, Wisconsin has been used primarily as a reliever in 2019 but has also sport-started three times in the 11 games in which he has appeared this season. In his last start on May 22 Schulfer pitched five scoreless hitless innings in his longest outing of the season while walking one and striking out seven and was credited with the win. 

Season-to-date Schulfer has a 4-2 record and a 2.41 ERA. Schulfer has pitched 33.2 innings this season and has allowed just 16 hits, walked 21 and struck out 47 and batters are hitting just .139 off Schulfer. Schulfer, 23, was drafted in the 19th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and received a $1K signing bonus.

FSL All-Stars

The Florida State League announced that they are sending a league-leading eight Miracle players to the 2019 ASG on June 15 in Jupiter. Manager Toby Gardenhire will lead the South Division, along with Hitting Coach Matt Borgschulte, Pitching Coach Luis Ramirez, Athletic Trainer Ben Myers, and Strength & Conditioning Coach Chuck Bradway. Miracles players named are IF Royce Lewis, OF Trevor Larnach, C Ryan Jeffers, 1B Lewin Diaz, LHP Bryan Sammons, RHP Alex Phillips, RHP Johan Quezada and RHP Tom Hackimer.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 5-26-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Diaz and Cabezas

High A Ft. Myers Miracle first baseman Lewin Diaz and Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Andrew Cabezas have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Ft. Myers Miracle Lewin Diaz (11) bats in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., Sunday, May 5, 2019. (Gordon Donovan)

Diaz played in six games for the Miracle, hitting .333 (9-for-27) with one double, three home runs, six RBI and a 1.037 OPS. Diaz, 22, was signed out of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic in July of 2013 for reported $1.4 million.  Actually all three of his home runs this week came in one game when he became the first Miracle player to ever hit three home runs in a single game. Diaz played in 79 games for the Miracle in 2018 hitting six home runs with a batting average of  just .224 along with an OPS of .598. In his second go around this year, he has appeared in 32 games hitting six home runs while putting up an average of .322 and an .881 OPS. I saw him this past January doing extra work at the ballpark long before spring training started. The man can hit the ball a long way and his first base play is coming along very nicely. 

Cabezas made the start on Wednesday versus Quad Cities, pitching 7 shutout innings with one hit allowed, no walks and nine strikeouts. Cabezas Collars Bandits in Combined Shutout . Cabezas, 22, was drafted by the Twins in the 18th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Miami and signed for a reported $90,000 according to Twins Daily.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 5-19-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Larnach and Balazovic

High A Fort Myers Miracle outfielder Trevor Larnach and High A Fort Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic have been named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Trevor Larnach (click on image to make larger)

In six games for the Miracle, Larnach hit .440 (11-for-25) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, seven runs scored, three walks and a 1.260 OPS. Larnach, 22, was drafted by the Twins in the first round (20th overall) in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon State University and signed for a $2.55 million signing bonus. Larnach in his second season of pro ball is entering the 2019 season as the fifth best prospect in the Twins system by Baseball America.

Jordan Balazovic (click on image to make larger)

 

The Canadian born Balazovic made his FSL debut in start on Sunday at Palm Beach, pitching 7.0 no-hit innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts. Balazovic, 20, was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of  St. Martin Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario and signed for a reported $515,000 signing bonus. The 6’4″ right-hander has been used as a starter since he began pro ball and is rated as the Twins 19th best prospect.

 

Miracle’s Balazovic perfect in FSL debut

Twins Minor League Report, 5-12-19

Twins minor league players of the week are Williams and Alcala

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) infielder Chris Williams and AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-handed pitcher Jorge Alcala have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Chris Williams

In seven games for the Kernels, the 22 year old Chris Williams hit .333 (6-for-18) with three home runs, six RBI, six walks, six runs scored and a 1.333 OPS. The 22-year-old was drafted by the Twins in the eighth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Clemson University as a catcher. In 2019 he has played 8 games at first base, 8 as a DH and caught just 5 games.

Jorge Alcala

Alcala made one start for the Blue Wahoos, coming on Thursday vs. Biloxi, pitching
5 shutout innings with five hits allowed, no walks and eight strikeouts. The 23-year-old, Dominican Republic native, was acquired by the Twins via trade with Houston at the deadline last season, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressly. 

In his fifth pro season Alcala has a career ERA of just 3.32 and in 325.2 innings only given up 257 hits while striking out 326. Although he can use more work on his control, Jorge knows how to keep the ball in the ballpark. You have to like Alcala’s potential.

Both the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos and the High A Fort Myers Miracle are 19-10 and in first place in their divisions.

Twins Minor League Report, 5-5-19

Twins Minor League Players of the Week – Davis & Thorpe

AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Jaylin Davis and AAA Rochester left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe have been named Twins minor league player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jaylin Davis

In six games for the Blue Wahoos, Davis hit .407 (11-for-27) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a 1.148 OPS.

Davis, 24, and in his fourth season of pro ball was drafted by the Twins in the 24th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Appalachian State University. Jaylin Malik Davis was expected to be a top 3-4 round talent coming out of Appalachian State University but was unfortunate to tear the labrum in his right shoulder when diving after a ball during his draft season. Davis missed the rest of 2015 getting the shoulder repaired and letting it heal.

Lewis Thorpe

Thorpe, 23, made one start for the Red Wings on Tuesday vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing one run on three hits in 8.0 innings while striking out 12 batters for the second straight start. Thorpe got off to a rough starts this season allowing 15 runs in his first two starts that lasted a total of 8.2 innings. For the year Thorpe is 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA in 22.1 innings. 7 of his 8 walks this season were in his first two starts. 

Thorpe was signed in 2012 out of Melbourne, Australia at the age of 16 and is in his eighth season of pro ball but he missed 2015 and 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. Thorpe, the 6’2″ lefty was the Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year last season. I would expect Thorpe to make his major league debut with the Twins in 2019.

Wings’ Thorpe ties career high … again

 

Twins Minor League Report, 4-28-19

Twins minor league players of the week are Cabbage & Graterol

Trey Cabbage

Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Trey Cabbage and AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol are the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The soon to be 22 year old Cabbage hit .333 in 27 plate appearances this past week with a triple, three home runs, nine RBI and scored eight times. Cabbage also walked six times and struck out the same number of times. Cabbage was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2015 June Amateur Draft out of Grainger High School in Rutledge, Tennessee as a third baseman but is currently playing corner outfield positions. Andrew Vasquez a LHP remains the only player drafted by the Twins in 2015 to make an appearance in the big leagues to this point. I would expect that Cabbage will be moving up to the A+ Miracles soon.

Brusdar Graterol

Graterol made the start for the Blue Wahoos on Tuesday at Biloxi, pitching 7 shutout innings with one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts. The 20-year-old Calabozo, Venezuela native has gone 1-0, 0.52 ERA (17.1 IP, 1 ER) with six walks, 18 strikeouts and a .121 opponent batting average in three starts for the Wahoos this season.

According to MLB Pipeline Graterol is the Twins third best overall prospect and top pitching prospect who is on a fast track to Minnesota. The Twins signed Graterol out of Venezuela when he was 16 years old for $150,000 as part of their 2014 international class. He was just a teen throwing in the high 80s at the time, nothing special. In February of 2015, they assigned him to the Dominican Summer League. He lasted four starts until he tore his UCL and underwent Tommy John surgery. Here is the rest of the story.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 4-21-19

 

 

 

Twins minor league players of the week – Blankenhorn & Smeltzer

Travis Blankenhorn

The first 2019 Twins position player of the week is A+ Fort Myers Miracles infielder Travis Blankenhorn. Blankenhorn who is playing his fifth season of pro ball appeared in six games this past week hitting .300 with 6 hits in 24 PA’s including a double, a home run and 2 RBI. Blankenhorn also walked four times.  The 22-year-old Blankenhorn has already played second and third base as well as the left field this season.

Travis Blankenhorn was the Minnesota Twins third round draft choice in the 2015 June amateur draft. So far the only Twins draft choice to reach the big leagues from that draft is 32nd round selection LHP  Andrew Vasquez.

Devin Smeltzer

The first 2019 Twins pitcher of the week is LHP Devin Smeltzer of the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos. In his second start of the 2019 season Smeltzer threw 8.1 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8 and earning the win on just 85 pitches (65 strikes). So far this season Smeltzer is 2-0 in 3 starts and has allowed just one earned run in 18 innings on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 21 strikeouts.

Devin Smeltzer was a Los Angeles Dodgers 5th round pick in the 2016 June Amateur draft and traded to Minnesota along with outfielder Luke Raley, second baseman Logan Forsythe in the Brian Dozier deal on July 31, 2018. The Twins used Smeltzer in relief last season at Chattanooga after acquiring him from the Dodgers but this season he is doing what he likes best and that is starting.

Twins Minor League Report, 4-14-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Michael Davis & Andrew Vasquez

The Twins have named A- Cedar Rapids infielder Michael Davis and Twins left-handed pitcher Andrew Vasquez Twins minor league Player of the Week and minor league Pitcher of the Week.

Michael Davis

In seven games for the Kernels, Davis hit .464 (13-for-28) with one double, one triple, three home runs and 13 RBI. The Bedford, Texas native was drafted by the Twins
in the 24th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Tech. Davis appeared in just three games for Elizabethton where he was 6 for 14 with a home run before being bumped up to Cedar Rapids where he has appeared in 42 games and is hitting .294 with 9 home runs and 28 RBI  and playing primarily shortstop.

Prior to getting called up by the Twins, Vasquez appeared in three games for the Red Wings, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings with three walks and 10 strikeouts. The 6’6″ soon-to-be 25 year-old lefty from Rancho Cucamonga, California was drafted by the Twins in the 32nd round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. 2018 was a breakout year for Vasquez who started the season with the A+ Miracle where he struck out 37 in 32.2 innings. Then when the Twins bumped him up to AA Chattanooga he really showed something when he struck out 59 batters in just 31 innings and walked just four. The walk ratio was the big surprise because he has had some control issues in the past. The Twins sent him to AAA Rochester at the end of the season and he appeared in just four games but struck out 12 in just 5.2 innings. The Twins then called him up to Minnesota as a September call-up and made his big league debut on September 1st. Jumping from High A in Ft. Myers to AA, then AAA and then the big leagues in one season is very impressive indeed. It will  be very interesting to see what Vasquez can show us this next month.

Andrew Vasquez in his major league debut on 9/1/2018. Credit to Ricardo Rodriguez of Getty Images

enlarge picture by clicking on the image

 

MLB announced on August 31 that Minnesota Twins Minor League pitcher Alex Banks, who is currently on the roster of the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Twins, has received a 72-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Banks is a 17 year-old right-handed pitcher who was spending his first season in pro ball.

 

Twins Minor League Report 090418

Twins minor league players of the week – Trevor Larnach & Jhoan Duran

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.

 

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