Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Twins minor league player of the week

Jake Reed
Jake Reed

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A) pitcher Jake Reed is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Reed, a 6’2″ right-hander made three appearances for the Kernels, tossing 4.0 shutout innings with no hits allowed no walks and six strikeouts while earning two saves. The Twins fifth round pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft has made 18 appearances for Cedar Rapids and Elizabethton combined, going 3-0, 0.32 ERA (28.0 IP, 1 ER) with two walks and 37 strikeouts.

The 21 year-old La Mesa, California native attended the University of Oregon from 2012-14 and switched from starter to closer in his final season. Reed went 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA and 13 saves in 31 games in his first season as a reliever for the Ducks. He started 17 games in each of his first two seasons with the Ducks and went 8-4 with a 2.92 ERA as a freshman and 6-6 with a 3.50 ERA as a sophomore. Reed was a Chicago White Sox 40th round pick in 2011 but chose not to sign. The Twins reportedly gave Reed a $350,000 signing bonus, slightly under slot.

Twins minor league player of the week

Stephen Gonsalves
Stephen Gonsalves

Cedar Rapids (Low A ball)  pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The 20 year-old Gonsalves made a start on Friday against Peoria, tossing 7.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, no walks and five strikeouts, earning the win. The Twins fourth round pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft has gone 2-2, 1.57 ERA (23.0 IP, 4 ER) in five starts for the Kernels this season. The 6’5″ left-handed Gonsalves was promoted from Rookie league Elizabethton in late July, where he was 2-0, 2.79 ERA (29.0 IP, 9 ER) in six starts.

Gonsalves was projected at one time to be the best left-handed pitcher in the 2013 draft but fell all the way to round four where he was selected by Minnesota. Why did he drop so dramatically? You can read the story here. The exact cost of Gonsalves’ suspension will never be known, but the 15th pick of this year’s (2013) first round earned a $2.25 million bonus, while the 33rd and final pick signed for $1.65 million. Kohl Stewart, the Twins’ pick at No. 4 overall, received a $4,544,400 signing bonus Wednesday. Gonsalves received $700,000, still far above his slot projection of $468,200.

Twins minor league player of the week

Danny OrtizRochester (AAA-International league) outfielder Daniel Ortiz is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In six games with the Red Wings, he hit .455 (10-for-22) with three doubles, a home run, and five RBI. Ortiz, a left-handed batter also walked twice and scored seven runs to go with a .500 on-base percentage. The 24-year-old Cayey, Puerto Rico-native was selected by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2008 First Year Player Draft out of Benjamin Harrison (PR) High School and signed for a $253,000 bonus.

Twins minor league player of the week

Chih-Wei Hu
Chih-Wei Hu (Photo credit to Becky Evans/Cedar Rapids Kernels)

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Low A – Midwest League)  pitcher Chih-Wei Hu is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In two starts for the Kernels, he went 2-0, allowing one run in 12.0 innings, five hits, two walks and 14 strikeouts. The Taichung, Taiwan-native is 4-0, 1.50 ERA (30.0 IP, 5 ER) with 29 strikeouts and six walks in five starts for the Kernels this season. T

The 20-year-old right-hander was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in August of 2012. Only in his second season of pro ball, Hu has a career record of 7-0 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. He has been a starter in 13 of his 20 games and he has struck out 84 batters in 82.2 innings. The man has not lost a game since he started pitching professionally, he was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week last week.

Hu continues winning ways with Kernels by Mark Emery of MiLB.com

Twins minor league player of the week

Tim Shibuya
Tim Shibuya

Ft. Myers (High-A) pitcher Tim Shibuya is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In two starts for the Miracle, he went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA (14.0 IP, 2 ER) with 11 hits allowed, three walks and 11 strikeouts. The 24-year-old right-hander has appeared in 26 games (8 starts) for the Miracle, going 7-3, 2.98 ERA (81.2 IP, 27 ER) with 10 walks allowed and 54 strikeouts. The 6’1″ Shibuya was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of California-San Diego.  Tim was a two-time All-American as a Triton in 2010 and 2011, and the program’s all-time leader in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.

Here are a couple of links about Tim Shibuya that you might enjoy:

Miracle pitcher Tim Shibuya excels at fielding

Q&A with Tim Shibuya

 

Twins minor league player of the week

Byron Buxton
Byron Buxton

Ft. Myers outfielder Byron Buxton is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In six games for the Miracle, he hit .500 (12-for-24) with two home runs, one triple, four RBI, eight runs scored and five walks. Buxton homered in back-to-back games July 17 & 18 at Daytona, including four hits on the 18th. The 20 year-old Buxton has played in just 13 games this season, missing time with an injured left wrist but is hitting .280 (14-for-50) with one double, one triple, three home runs, six RBI and five walks for the Miracles this season. You have to figure Buxton will be moved up to New Britain soon.

Not that long ago Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune did a nice piece on Buxton that you can view here. Depending on what site you choose to read, Buxton is either the number one or number two prospect in all of baseball. Will the Twins have the stones to put Buxton in  a Twins uniform later this season? If they do, they will have a sellout crowd on their hands, probably the only way they will get one this year.

Twins minor league player of the week

Mike Kvasnicka trying to make a "circus" catch
Mike Kvasnicka trying to make a “circus” catch this past April (Photo by Derek Davis of Portland Press Herald)

New Britain (AA – Eastern League) outfielder Mike Kvasnicka (kwas-NIK-ah) is the Twins
Minor League Player of the Week. The Lakeville, MN native played in seven games for the Rock Cats, hitting .407 (11-for-27) with two doubles, one home run, five RBI and three runs scored. Mike was acquired by the Twins from the Astros for pitcher Gonzalo Sanudo on March 25, 2013.

Kvasnicka was the Astros supplemental first round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Kvasnicka is the highest drafted Golden Gopher player since Glen Perkins was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2004 in the first round. He is also the highest selected Minnesota position player since Brent Gates, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with 26th overall pick in the first round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft. Kvasnicka is the first Golden Gopher to be drafted by the Houston Astros. Various reports had Kvasnicka receiving a $936,000 signing bonus.

Mike was drafted as a third baseman from the University of Minnesota despite having never played the position more than a handful of times. Kvasnicka was primarily a catcher in college but did occasionally mix in some starts as an outfielder. The Twins have been using the 25-year old switch-hitting Kvasnicka strictly as an outfielder in 2014 playing him in all three outfield positions.

In his fifth season of pro ball, Kvasnicka has a career batting average of .256 with 41 home runs in 1,585 at-bats.

Twins minor league player of the week

Doug Bernier
Doug Bernier

Rochester (AAA – International League) infielder Doug Bernier is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The 34-year old played in seven games for the Red Wings, hitting .370 (10-for-27) with one double, two home runs, 10 RBI, five runs scored and drew two walks. Bernier was acquired by the Twins as a minor league free agent February 1, 2013. He appeared in 33 games for the Twins last season, hitting .226 (12-for-53).

Bernier was originally signed by the Colorado Rockies as an undrafted free agent in 2002. Although Bernier has only seen big league action with the Rockies and Twins in a total of 35 games, he has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees organizations.

Twins minor league player of the week

Taylor Rogers
Taylor Rogers

New Britain (AA – Eastern League) left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The 23-year old lefty made one start for the Rock Cats June 25 vs. Altoona, tossing 8.0 innings allowing one run on six hits while striking out 11 but suffered the loss. In 15 starts this season, he has posted a 7-4 record with a 3.90 ERA. Rogers was drafted in the 11th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of University of Kentucky and signed with the Twins for a reported $100,000 bonus.

Taylor Rogers was named a postseason Florida State League All-Star after compiling an 11-7 record and 2.88 ERA for the Ft. Myers Miracle in 2013. Rogers struck out 83 batters in 130.2 innings and posted a very nice 1.16 WHIP. He ranked second in the Florida State League in ERA and third in wins. His three complete games and two shutouts topped the league. Rogers throws a fastball which is clocked in the low 90’s, a change-up and a slider.

Twins minor league player of the week

DJ Baxendale
DJ Baxendale

Ft. Myers (High A – Florida State League) pitcher D.J. Baxendale is the Twins Minor League  Player of the Week. The right-handed pitcher made one start for the Miracle June 18 vs. Bradenton, tossing 6.0 shutout innings with four hits allowed, no walks and five strikeouts, earning the win. DJ  (Douglas James) was drafted in the 10th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of University of Arkansas and signed for a reported $125,000.

The 23 year-old Baxendale finds himself in Ft. Myers again after starting the season in AA – New Britain and struggling with 5.76 ERA and an 0-3 record. Baxendale was promoted to New Britain last season from Ft. Myers but also found tough going then with a 5.63 ERA and a 5-7 record.