Rochester (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.
Category: Twins Minor League Player of the Week
Twins minor league player of the week
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
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
Twins minor league player of the week
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
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
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
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
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.
Twins minor league player of the week
Cedar Rapids (A – Midwest League) pitcher Todd Van Steensel is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The right-handed pitcher made three appearances, recording two saves while striking out five over 3.1 scoreless innings. In 15 appearances this year for the Kernels, the 23-year old Van Steensel has posted a 1.11 ERA (24.1 IP, 3 ER) with 31 (11.5 KO/9) strikeouts and six walks. Van Steensel was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in 2010 out of Sydney, Australia but was released after the 2011 season only to be resigned this past off-season. You can find a story that www.kcrg.com did about a month ago on Van Steensel here. Another story on Van Steensel, this one by the Australian Baseball Digest.
Twins prospect Adam Brett Walker who is currently with the Ft. Myers Miracle participated in the Florida State League Home Run Derby last night and won the title. Walker scored 36 points in the final round of the All-Star Home Run Derby to take the crown. Walker entered the All-Star break with 14 homers and 52 RBI in 64 games. In the actual All-Star Game, the Twins outfield prospect went 3-for-5 with a home run and a double. Adam Walker was the Twins minor league player of the week three weeks ago and you can see that posting here.
Twins Minor League Player of Week
Ft. Myers (High A Florida St. League) pitcher Jose Berrios is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The right-handed pitcher made two starts for the Miracle, going 1-0, 1.20 (15.0 IP, 2 ER) with nine hits allowed, no walks and 22 strikeouts. In 11 starts for the Miracle this season, he has gone 5-2, 2.24 (64.1 IP, 16 ER) with 17 walks and 74 strikeouts. The 20-year-old was drafted by the Twins in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Papa Juar, Puerto Rico. Berrios was the first pick in the supplemental round, a selection Minnesota was awarded after they lost Michael Cuddyer via free agency to the Rockies.
In just his third season of pro ball Berrios has put up some nice career stats. In 41 games Berrios has thrown 198 and 2/3 innings while giving up just 177 hits and striking out 223 batters for an outstanding 2.99 ERA, a WHIP of 1.19 and a record of 15-9. You just sense that Berrios is on the fast track to Minnesota and will be moving up to New Britain soon.
This is the third week in a row that a Ft. Myers Miracle player has won the Twins minor league player of the week honors. The Miracle are 36-25 at this point in the season and in first place in the Southern Division of the Florida State League.