Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Twins minor league player of the week (again) – Daniel Palka

Daniel Palka
Daniel Palka

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) outfielder Daniel Palka is the Twins minor league Player of the Week for the second time this season. Palka played in seven games for the Lookouts, hitting .320 (8-for-25) with two triples, four home runs, 11 RBI, six walks and eight runs scored. Palka was acquired this off-season from Arizona, in exchange for catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann. Palka has played in 58 games this season, hitting .273 (60-for-220) with nine doubles, three triples, 15 home runs and 48 RBI.

The write-up for the first time he won the award in 2016 can be seen here.

Twins Minor League Report June 12, 2016

Twins minor league player of the week – Trevor Hildenberger

Trevor Hildenberger
Trevor Hildenberger

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) right-handed pitcher Trevor Hildenberger is this weeks Twins minor league Player of the Week. The 6’2″ Hildenberger appeared in three games for the Lookouts, pitching 3.0 scoreless innings, with no hits allowed, no walks, two strikeouts and two saves. In 2016 Trevor has appeared in 20 games between Chattanooga and Ft. Myers Twins (High A) this season, posting a 1.32 ERA (27.1 IP, 3 ER) with three walks, 25 strikeouts and 10 saves.

The 25-year-old Hildenberger is in his third season of pro ball and has never finished a season with an ERA higher than 3.32 and has been used strictly as a reliever. Trevor has exceptional control and has a career WHIP of 0.856 and a SO/9  rate of 10.2.

He was drafted by the Twins in the 22nd round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Cal-Berkeley.

Twins minor league player of the week – Byron Buxton

Byron Buxton 2015Rochester Red Wings (AAA) outfielder Byron Buxton is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Buxton played in six games for the Red Wings hitting .478 (11-for-23) with three doubles, three home runs, five RBI, eight runs scored and three walks with a 1.087 OPS. Buxton has played in 27 games for the Red Wings this season, hitting .345 (38-for-110) with nine doubles, two triples, six home runs and 13 RBI. The Twins recalled Buxton to Minnesota on May 31.

Previous 2016 winners of this award: infielder Nick Gordon, left-handed pitcher Stephen
Gonsalves, outfielder Daniel Palka, right-handed pitcher Yorman Landa, catcher A.J. Murray and infielder Kennys Vargas.

Twins Minor League Report May 29, 2016

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Kennys Vargas

Kennys Vargas 2016Rochester Red Wings (AAA) first baseman Kennys Vargas is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Vargas played in five games for the Red Wings hitting .440 (11-for-25) with two doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, six runs scored and one walk. Vargas has played in 42 games for the Red Wings this season, hitting .252 (37-for-147) with six doubles, six home runs and 25 RBI. Kennys Vargas was signed by the Minnesota Twins as a non-drafted free agent on Feb. 25, 2009. Vargas has spent parts of 2014 and 2015 with the Twins but there does not appear to be a spot for him now which I think is kind of a shame.

 

Other news from the Twins minor league organization

Walker, Adam Brett 2016For the second time this week, Triple-A Rochester had a player accomplish something that hadn’t been done since 1990. Saturday night in Durham, Adam Walker became the first Red Wing to hit three home runs in a game since Leo Gomez did so on April 9, 1990 at Pawtucket. Walker set a career-high with the three homers, becoming just the second Rochester player (Gomez) to accomplish the feat in the last 40 years. Earlier this week, Kennys Vargas homered in four consecutive games, the first Red Wing to do so since Sam Horn in June, 1990.

Adam Brett Walker’s three home runs propel Wings to 12-2 win

There are some good stories at the end of the attached Twins minor league report PDF including an interesting look at Tommy John types of injuries.

Twins Minor League Report May 22, 2016

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – A. J. Murray

A. J. Murray 2016Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) catcher A.J. Murray is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. The 23-year-old Murray played in five games for the Kernels, hitting .565 (13-for-23) with three doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, eight runs scored, two walks and a .600 on-base percentage. On Friday, Murray, a right-handed batter went 5-for-5 at Wisconsin, hitting two home runs with five RBI, five runs scored and a walk.

Murray was originally drafted in 48th round of 2012 draft by Houston Astros but chose to attend Georgia Tech instead. A.J. was the team captain and third-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference last year as a senior. Murray’s late father, Michael, played minor-league ball in the Chicago White Sox system in 1984 as a 1B/3B. Murray was drafted by the Twins in the 14th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. The Twins took Murray as a catcher, which is interesting because he didn’t catch a lot in college, mainly rotation between right field, first base, designated hitter and catcher.

Twins Minor League Report May 15, 2016

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Yorman Landa

Yorman Landa 2016Ft. Myers Miracle (High A) right-handed pitcher Yorman Landa is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Landa made three relief appearances for the Miracle, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings, with two hits allowed, no walks, five strikeouts and two saves. Landa who is in his sixth season in the Minnesota organization has appeared in 10 games for the Miracle, going 2-1, 2.77 ERA (13.0 IP, 4 ER) with two saves, four walks and 13 strikeouts. The 21-year-old was originally signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent September 9, 2010 out of Santa Teresa, Venezuela.

Twins Minor League Report 05082016

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Daniel Palka

Daniel Palka
Daniel Palka

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) outfielder Daniel Palka is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Palka played six games for the Lookouts, hitting .619 (13-for-21) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and six walks. In 20 games for Chattanooga this season, the left-handed hitting Palka has hit .338 (27-for-80) with seven doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI.

The 24-year-old Palka was acquired by the Twins via trade with Arizona on November 10, 2015, in exchange for catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann. Palka was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Georgia Tech where he was named first team All-American by Baseball America and NCBWA in 2013. Palka led the ACC with a career-high 17 homers while batting .342 with 13 doubles, three triples and 66 RBIs in 2013.  Palka also pitched and was 2-1 with a 0.69 ERA in eight games. Daniel Palka signed with Arizona for $550,000.

Daniel Palka happy to have fresh start with the Lookouts

 Twins Minor League Report 05012016

Twins minor league player of the week – Stephen Gonsalves

Stephen Gonsalves
Stephen Gonsalves

Ft. Myers (High A) left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Gonsalves made the start Tuesday night vs. Jupiter, allowing two runs (1 earned) on five hits in 7.0 innings pitched, with one walk and eight strikeouts, earning the win. Gonsalves has made three starts for the Miracle this season, going 1-1, 1.89 ERA (19.0 IP, 4 ER) with four walks and 18 strikeouts.

The 6’5″ Gonsalves was drafted (a real steal) by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. Gonsalves entered the season as the Twins ninth best prospect by Baseball America.

Personally I think that Gonsalves can turn out to be as good a pitching prospect if not better than Jose Berrios. The 21-year-old Gonsalves is in his 4th year of pro ball and his record so far stands at 20-8, with a 2.55 ERA along with a WHIP of 1.08. In 247.1 innings he has struck out 258 batters and allowed only 177 hits. I really don’t understand why Gonsalves is even in High A, he should be in AA as he has proven in 2015 that he can handle High A.

Twins Minor League Report 04242016

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – Nick Gordon

Nick Gordon 2016Ft. Myers (High A) infielder Nick Gordon is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. Gordon played in six games for the Miracle, hitting .444 (12-for-27) with five doubles, one home run, four RBI, five runs scored, one walk and two stolen bases. Gordon spent 2015 with Cedar Rapids (Low A), hitting .277 (133-for-481) with 23 doubles, seven triples, one home run, 58 RBI, 79 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. The 20-year-old is the younger brother of Dee and the son of Tom “Flash” Gordon and was drafted by the Twins in the first round (5th overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Olympia (FL) High School and was signed by Minnesota for $3,851,000. Gordon entered the season as the Twins fourth best prospect by Baseball America.

Nick Gordon, son of Tom, brother of Dee, leads Fort Myers Miracle

Twins Minor League Report 4 17 16

Twins minor league player of the week

Brett Lee 2015Chattanooga (AA) left-handed pitcher Brett Lee is the Twins minor league Player of the Week. The 6’4″ 200 pound Lee made one start for the week, that coming last Sunday at Birmingham, pitching a 7.0-inning complete game shutout with two hits allowed, two walks and eight strikeouts, earning the win. Lee has made 21 starts between Chattanooga and Single-A Ft. Myers this season, going 7-7, 3.64 ERA (128.2 IP, 43 ER) with 40 walks and 64 strikeouts.

The soon to be 25 year-old Lee was the Pirates 40th round pick in 2009 and the Dodgers 33rd round selection in 2010 but chose not to sign. The Pensacola, Florida native then was drafted by the Twins in the 10th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Petersburg College and signed for $150,000.

Twins Minor League Report 09062015