TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Yunior Severino and Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher C.J. Culpepper have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week six.
The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Brooks Lee and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo have been named Twins minor league Player and
Pitcher of the Week for week five.
The Minnesota Twins have announced that Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and Triple-A St. Paul infielder Michael Helman have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week four. For some reason the Twins did not announce their minor league players of the week last week.
The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids shortstop Ben Ross and Low-A Ft. Myers right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week two.
The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher David Festa and Triple-A St. Paul infielder Edouard Julien have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week one.
David Festa a New Jersey native was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ). MLB Pipeline currently has Festa rated as the Twins 11th best prospect and Baseball America has him rated as the ninth-best prospect in the Twins’ system.
Festa, 23, made the start on Friday for the Wind Surge at Springfield, pitching 5 shutout innings with one hit allowed, no walks and eight strikeouts, earning the win.
Edouard Julien was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 37th round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft from Cardinal Roy SS (Ancienne-Lorette, QC) and the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Auburn University (Auburn, AL). Both MLB and Baseball America have Julien rated as the Twins fourth best prospect.
Julien, 23, a left-handed hitting second baseman, had three hits in 10 at-bats including one home run, two RBI and three walks in his short stint with the St. Paul Saints. Julien was called up by the Twins last night and made his MLB debut today at Target Field against the Chicago White Sox and Lucas Giolito going 0 for 2 with a walk in a Twins 3-1 victory. Congratulations on making your MLB debut Edouard Julien.
It has been a number of years since I have been this excited about the beginning of a new baseball season. I can’t wait for it to begin and it starts tomorrow. There are a number of rules changes that I think will make baseball more fun to watch. There are so many changes in the game this year from bigger bases, shift limits, the pitch timer, limits on throws to first base, and more. The extra-inning rule with the so called “Ghost Runner” was made permanent and I really don’t like that rule at all but you have to take the bad with the good.
One of the other changes that MLB made that I think is fantastic is the schedule change, the number of games still stays at 162 but every team will face every other team at least six times during the regular season so fans will get to see the best players in the game in their home ballpark for a minimum of three games, unless of course they are injured.
Then there are our home town Minnesota Twins who I think are set to earn back the AL Central Division title in 2023 that has eluded them since 2020 and that was only in a 60-game season. The Twins were swamped with injuries last season and finished 78-84 and in 2021 they finished with a 73-89 record. Can they win 15 more games in 2023 than they won lost year? I think they can.
It is the final day of 2023 Spring Training and the Minnesota Twins find themselves in Bradenton, Florida for their final Spring Training exhibition game. So instead of listing some fun facts from the Twins notes for today, I will just include the entire set of today’s notes here. The normal Twins Game notes during the season are a bit more in depth and if you want to check them out daily once the season starts, I will try to get the link out on the site daily.
SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 28th and 29th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games as the Twins and Braves will play a pair of split squad at Hammond Stadium and CoolToday Park in North Port. After today, one more game will be played at Hammond Stadium and two more games will be played on the road. The Twins will complete the exhibition season with a 1:05 pm (ET) game in Bradenton against the Pirates on Tuesday, March 28. After the game, they will fly to Kansas City, hold an optional team workout on March 29 then begin a three-game, four-day series at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2. Rocco Baldelli announced to the media how the starting five will open the season: for the Kansas City series – RHP Pablo López on Thursday, March 30 , RHP Sonny Gray on Saturday, April 1, RHP Joe Ryan on Sunday, April 2. For the Miami series – RHP Tyler Mahle
on Monday, April 3, RHP Kenta Maeda on Tuesday, April 4.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Below is a look at Baseball America’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1 Royce Lewis, 2 Brooks Lee, 3 Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4 Edouard Julien, 5 Connor Prielipp, 6, Matt Wallner, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Louie Varland, 9 David Festa, 10 Simeon Woods Richardson.
Below is a look at MLB’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1. Brooks Lee, 2 Royce Lewis, 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4. Connor Prelipp, 5 Matt Wallner, 6 Simeon Woods Richardson, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Misael Urbina, 9 Matt Canterino, 10 Louie Varland.
PROSPECT SHOWCASE IN TAMPA: The Twins beat the Yankees yesterday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field by a score of 6-4. Pablo López was the starter in his final tuneup of the spring, allowing two runs on two hits in 3 innings pitched. Kenta Maeda made his final official spring appearance in relief, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with five strikeouts. Twins prospects Edouard Julien and Emmanuel Rodriguez both went 2-for-4 with a home run, as Rodriguez’s three-run jimmy jack gave the Twins a ninth inning lead and eventual victory.
Tomorrow’s pitchers: Minnesota: Sonny Gray (R), Cole Sands (R), Jorge Alcala (R), Jhoan Duran (R)
Boston: Chris Sale (L), Kaleb Ort (R), Richard Bleier (L), John Schreiber (R)
TWINS GO ON THE OFFENSIVE AT JETBLUE: The Twins shutout the Red Sox last night at JetBlue Park by a score of 11-0, setting spring highs in runs and hits (15). Joe Ryan (1-1) was the starter and winner, pitching 5 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. Emilio Pagán and Cole Sands each pitched 2 scoreless innings as Sands struck out three of his eight batters faced. The offense recorded 15 hits, highlighted by Trevor Larnach, who went 4-for-4 with his third home run of the spring. Kyle Farmer added a home run, marking his third of the exhibition season. The Twins also recorded eight two-out RBI. Now that what I like to see, good pitching and good hitting.
SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 26th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games. After today, two more games will be played at Hammond Stadium and four more games will be played on the road.
BUCK TRUCK GETTING REVVED UP: Byron Buxton is in the Twins’ starting lineup for the second time this spring, batting leadoff as the designated hitter. He made his official spring debut on Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay, going 1-for-3 with a leadoff double and run scored. Buck has spent most of spring training seeing live pitching on backfields at Hammond Stadium.
Minnesota pitchers today are scheduled to be Tyler Mahle (R), Caleb Thielbar (L), Jhoan Duran (R), Jorge Alcala (R) and Griffin Jax (R).
THE DURANTULA: Jhoan Duran is in his fourth spring training with the Twins. He is scheduled to make his sixth spring appearance today, having pitched 5 scoreless innings so far with two walks and seven strikeouts. Made the Twins Opening Day roster last season for first time in career and spent season in bullpen; used all season in high-leverage situations, ranked sixth among AL relievers in ERA (1.86) and 12th in baseball. Led baseball in pitches of at least 100 miles-per-hour with 392.
TWINS WIN!!: The Twins beat the Rays last night at Hammond Stadium by a score of 5-2, snapping their five-game losing streak and winning for the first time since Monday, March 13, a 1-0 victory over the Yankees in Fort Myers. Sonny Gray was the starter and winner, allowing two runs on five hits in 5 innings pitched, allowing his first runs of the spring on solo home runs by René Pinto and Luke Raley. Jovani Moran and Jorge López made their return from the WBC (Puerto Rico) and each pitched 1 scoreless inning. The offense recorded just four hits, led by Carlos Correa, who went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning. Byron Buxton played in his first official spring training game and went 1-for-3 with a leadoff double and run scored.
SPRING FLING: Tonight the Twins will play the 25th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games. The Twins also played one World Baseball Classic exhibition against Team Dominican Republic March 9, after tonight, three more games will be played at Hammond Stadium and four more games will be played on the road.
NEXT LEVEL JEFF: Ryan Jeffers is playing in his 11th spring game today, he has posted a .916 OPS this spring, including a .333 on-base percentage and a .583 slugging percentage. He made the Twins 2022 Opening Day roster for second time in career (also 2021) and was club’s catcher on Opening Day, April 8 vs. Seattle, going 1-for-2 with a walk. Jeffers posted a 3.59 catcher ERA, lowest of his career.
The Minnesota Twins announced tonight that they have reassigned right-handed pitchers Randy Dobnak and Brock Stewart, catcher Jair Camargo, infielder Andrew Bechtold and outfielder Mark Contreras to minor league camp. The Twins now have 45 active players in camp (13 non-roster): 22 pitchers (5 non-roster), five catchers (3 non-roster), eight infielders (2 non-roster) and 10 outfielders (3 non-roster), plus two players on the 60-day Injured List.