Twins minor league players of the week are Lee & Festa

The Minnesota Twins have named Double-A Wichita infielder Brooks Lee and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher David Festa as the club’s minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Brooks Lee was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (8th) of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, CA). Lee, whose draft slot was estimated to be worth $5.4 million, received a signing bonus worth $5.675 million. Lee’s scouting report is interesting and you can see it here. MLB Pipleline has Lee as the Twins top prospect and currently rated number 33 in MLB overall.

Lee, 21, played in four games for the Kernels (including all 3 playoff games), going 4-for-15 with two doubles, two RBI and three walks. He was promoted from High-A Cedar Rapids yesterday afternoon after hitting .289 (28-for-97) with four doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI and an .848 OPS in 25 games for the Kernels. The San Luis Obispo, California native switch-hitting shortstop has played in just 29 professional games and is already at AA-Wichita. Just 4 games with the Rookie Twins and 25 games at High-A Cedar Rapids. Talk about being on the fast track to Minnesota!

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Twins minor league players of the week are Balazovic & Cavaco

The Minnesota Twins have named Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic and Low-A Fort Myers infielder Keoni Cavaco as the club’s minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week.

Jordan Balazovic was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from St. Martin SS (Mississauga, ON). At one point he was as high as number 3 on the MLB Twins Pipeline but now finds himself at number 15. The soon to be 24 year-old is spending his sixth season in the minors (no minor league ball in 2020).

Balazovic, who turns 24 on Saturday, made two starts for the Saints, going 0-0, 1.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 1 ER) with four walks and 15 strikeouts. Balazovic has had a disappointing 2022 season with his last two starts being arguably the best he has had all season. He started the season on the IL and with the AAA-Saints he has made 18 starts and has an 0-6 record with a 8.16 ERA. In his 18 starts he has pitched 56 innings (3.11 innings per start) and he has given up 89 hits while striking out 61 batters. His last start was the first time he has ever pitched 5 innings in pro ball and he has not thrown as many as 80 pitches in his career. He is relatively young but has to turn things around soon if he wants to be a big league pitcher.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Wallner & Headrick

The Minnesota Twins have named Triple-A St Paul outfielder Matt Wallner and Double-A Wichita left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick as their minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Matt Wallner a Forest Lake, Minnesota native was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Forest Lake HS (Forest Lake, MN) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (39th-competitive balance) of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS). Wallner is a repeat winner this year having also won this award trice earlier this season. MLB Pipeline currently has Wallner rated as the Twins 5th best prospect.

Wallner, 24, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .409 (9-for-22) with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight RBI and seven walks. He recorded the first cycle in Saints history on Thursday night against Omaha and finished the game with five hits.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Varland and Winkel

The Minnesota Twins announced that Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and High-A Cedar Rapids catcher Pat Winkel have been named Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week.

Louie Varland was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Concordia University (St. Paul, MN). Varland and this St. Paul native signed for a $115,000 signing bonus. Varland is a repeat winner this season having already won this award thrice earlier this season. Varland is currently rated as the Twins 10th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

Varland, 24, made one start for the Saints on Thursday at Iowa, pitching 6 shutout innings, with three hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts. We may or may not see Varland in September. MLB Rosters will expand on September 1, when all teams must carry 28 players on the active roster through the end of the regular season.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Holland & Gossett

The Minnesota Twins have named Double-A Wichita shortstop/outfielder Will Holland and right-handed pitcher Daniel Gossett as their Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Will Holland was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Auburn University (Auburn, AL). Holland reportedly signed with the Minnesota Twins, per MLB.com, for a $575,000 signing bonus. That is well above the slotted value of $360,800 for the 149th overall pick. Holland was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Wichita on August 11th.

Holland, a 24 year-old Atlanta, Georgia native, played in six games for the Wind Surge, hitting .316 (6-for-19) with one double, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored, five walks, a .458 on-base percentage, a .684 slugging percentage and a 1.143 OPS. Although being used primarily in the outfield, the right-handed hitting Holland still plays some shortstop now and then but has not played that position with Wichita. In just 11 games with Wichita, Holland has a slash line of .333/.488/.697.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Varland and Prato

The Minnesota Twins have named Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and Double-A Wichita infielder/outfielder Anthony Prato as their minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week.

Louie Varland was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Concordia University (St. Paul, MN). Varland and this St. Paul native signed for a $115,000 signing bonus. Varland is a repeat winner this season having already won this award twice earlier this season. Varland is currently rated as the Twins 11th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

Varland, who was promoted from Double-A Wichita on August 8, made his first AAA start for St. Paul on Friday night against Columbus, pitching 5.1innings, with one hit allowed, two walks and eight strikeouts, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It will be interestig to see if this Minnesota native makes his MLB debut yet this season.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Helman & Ohl

The Twins announced that Triple-A St. Paul infielder/outfielder Michael Helman and Low-A right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Michael Helman was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas A&M University (College Station, TX). According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, Helman agreed to a deal with a signing bonus with $220,000. That was above slot value as Minnesota had room with their bonus pool to offer him extra money. Helman started 2022 in AA Wichita and was bumped dup to AAA St. Paul at the end of May.

Helman, 26, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .333 (10-for-30) with two doubles, one triple, four home runs, seven RBI, seven runs scored, an .867 slugging percentage and a 1.222 OPS, including a five-hit game on Tuesday at Omaha. The 6’1″/195 Helman has played all four infield position as well as CF and LF for the Saints this season. Helman is slashing .287/.357/.505 with the Saints.

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Twins MiLB players Cesar Lares & Ricardo Olivar win July pitcher & player of the month awards

Minor League Baseball yesterday announced the Player and Pitcher of the Month Award winners for July in each of the 14 leagues in Major League Baseball’s player development system. Two Minnesota Twins farmhands were recognized in their respective leagues.

DSL left-handed pitcher Cesar Lares went 1-0 with a 0.43 ERA in five starts as he allowed just 10 hits and six walks in 21.0 innings while striking out 36. Lares held opponents to a .135 average. Lares, 19, was signed by the Twins as an international free agent out of Maracay, Venezuela, on May 3, 2022 for a $10K signing bonus. Lares is 6’0″/155.

FCL Twins catcher/outfielder Ricardo Olivar batted .344/.444/.721 and led the league in doubles (8), triples (3), total bases (44), slugging percentage (.721) and OPS (1.165). He was third in average (.344) and on-base percentage (.444) and was fifth in home runs (three). Olivar, 20, was signed by Minnesota as an international free agent out of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on July 2, 2019. Olivar is 5’10″/176.

Jose Miranda named AL Rookie of the Month

Jose Miranda

According to the Minnesota Twins Game Notes, Jose Miranda has been voted the American League Rookie of the Month for July. He earned his first career monthly award and is Minnesota’s first Rookie of the Month winner since his All-Star teammate Miguel Sano in August 2015. The 24-year-old posted a slash line of .353/.405/.603 with 13 runs scored, 24 hits, two doubles, five home runs and 19 RBI over 20 games played. He recorded three hits in three consecutive games from July 24-27, becoming the first Twins rookie to post such a streak since Danny Valencia logged four consecutive three-hit games in July 2010. He hit .426 with 20 hits during a 13-game span from July 5-27, scoring 10 runs with six extra-base hits and 15 RBI during the stretch. Congratulations to Jose Miranda.