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.

Twins minor league players of the week are Henriquez & Palacios

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez and infielder Jermaine Palacios and both are with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints.

Ronny Henriquez was signed as international free agent by the Texas Rangers on July 3, 2017. Barely 5-10 and 150 pounds when he signed in 2017, he received just $10,000. But as a 17-year old he could already hit 93 with his fastball. Henriquez was acquired by the Minnesota Twins over the 2021 offseason in a trade with Texas, along with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, in exchange for catcher Mitch Garver. At the time of the trade Henriquez was rated the Rangers 15th best prospect. He is currently rated as the Twins 11th best prospect. This is the second time ths season Ronny Henriquez has won this award.

Henriquez, 22, appeared in one game in relief for the Saints this week versus Iowa, pitching 4 shutout innings, allowing five hits, no walks and four strikeouts. The Bonao, Dominican Republic native has gone 1-1, 3.12 ERA (26.0 IP, 9 ER) with eight walks and 29 strikeouts in his last six games (4 starts) for the Saints. Henriquez is currently on the Twins 40-man roster.

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The Twins and the trade deadline

Falvey and Levine

Are the Minnesota Twins going to make some trades at the up-coming trade dealine? Of course they will. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have made no secret that a teams front office is not doing their job if they they fail to make changes at the deadline either through buying or selling.

I can’t see any way that the Twins will be sellers this year, why would they put up a white flag when they are in first place by a couple of games in a weak division. The team is not drawing well for a first place team and they certainly don’t want to squash any momentum they may be building from a fan perspective after signing Carlos Correa. Rumors have circulated recently that they might trade Correa. That is one of the dumbest things I have heard in a long time, why would you be paying Correa, one of the best players in the game, $35 million and then trade him for prospects just because he has an opt-out clause? Sure, he might, but that is a chance you took when you agreed to put that clause in his contract.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Encarnacion-Strand & Mooney

Double-A Wichita infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Sean Mooney are the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK). Encarnacion-Strand bats and throws right-handed. Reports had him signing for the exact slot bonus of $442,000. MLB Pipeline now has Christian Encarnacion-Strand rated as the Twins 24th best prospect after starting 2022 as the 29th best prospect.

Encarnacion-Strand, 22, played in six games between Cedar Rapids and Wichita, hitting .375 (9-for-24) with three doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI, a .464 on-base percentage, a 1.125 slugging percentage and a 1.589 OPS. Christian was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Wichita on July 14. The Twins’ No. 24 prospect notched the first cycle in franchise history for the Double-A Wind Surge, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored, to lead his team to an 11-1 rout of visiting Arkansas.

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Twins leaders in multi-hit games

The Minnesota Twins have had some great hitters over the years and several of them have gone on to the Hall of Fame. It is time to take a look at these hitters and see who has the most multi-hit games on their Twins career resume. The lone active Twins player on the list is Jorge Polanco and he is moving up the list. Are there any players on this list that surprise you? The leader of course is non other than Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

Kirby Puckett
Query Results Table
Rk Player From To Count of
multi-hit

 

games

 Ind. Games Link
1 Kirby Puckett 1984 1995 702 Games List
2 Rod Carew 1967 1978 617 Games List
3 Joe Mauer 2004 2018 575 Games List
4 Tony Oliva 1962 1976 562 Games List
5 Kent Hrbek 1981 1994 469 Games List
6 Harmon Killebrew 1961 1974 410 Games List
7 Justin Morneau 2003 2013 363 Games List
8 Chuck Knoblauch 1991 1997 348 Games List
9 Torii Hunter 1998 2015 346 Games List
10 César Tovar 1965 1972 322 Games List
11 Gary Gaetti 1982 1990 310 Games List
12 Zoilo Versalles 1961 1967 279 Games List
13 Roy Smalley 1976 1987 270 Games List
14 Jacque Jones 1999 2005 267 Games List
15 Michael Cuddyer 2002 2011 263 Games List
16 Cristian Guzmán 1999 2004 240 Games List
17 Bob Allison 1961 1970 235 Games List
18 Brian Dozier 2012 2018 231 Games List
19 Brian Harper 1988 1993 226 Games List
20 Rich Rollins 1962 1968 224 Games List
21 Tom Brunansky 1982 1988 208 Games List
22 Jorge Polanco 2015 2022 205 Games List
23 Greg Gagne 1985 1992 204 Games List
24 Earl Battey 1961 1967 202 Games List
25 Eddie Rosario 2015 2020 199 Games List
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 7/13/2022.

Twins pitchers you may not have heard of

The Minnesota Twins have gone through a lot of pitchers over the years, 476 pitchers have taken the bump wearing the Twins uniform from 1961-2021. Many of these pitchers have come and gone over the years and many Twins fans have either never heard of them or have long since forgotten them.

Today I just want to take a look at pitchers that have pitched for Minnesota but have no record, meaning that they have neither been credited with a win or a loss for the Minnesota Twins in a game in which they appeared. Turns out the leader in this “category” for the Minnesota Twins is Erik Schullstrom who appeared in 46 games without earning a win or a loss.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Henriquez & Wallner

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Triple-A St. Paul right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez and Double-A Wichita outfielder Matt Wallner.

Ronny Henriquez was signed as international free agent by the Texas Rangers on July 3, 2017. Barely 5-10 and 150 pounds when he signed in 2017, he received just $10,000. But as a 17-year old he could already hit 93 with his fastball. Henriquez was acquired by the Minnesota Twins over the 2021 offseason in a trade with Texas, along with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, in exchange for catcher Mitch Garver. At the time of the trade Henriquez was rated the Rangers 15th best prospect.

Henriquez, 22, appeared in one game in relief this week for the Saints on Thursday at Louisville, pitching 4 shutout innings with four hits allowed, no walks and four strikeouts. Henriquez is 1-1, 3.80 ERA (23.2 IP, 10 ER) with eight walks, 27 strikeouts and a .236 opponent batting average in his last five games (3 starts) for the Saints. Henriquez’s numbers on the season are not nearly as good as he is 1-3 in 9 starts (13 appearances) with a 6.15 ERA and a 1.500 WHIP and his SO/W ratio is 2.71. Henriquez is on the Twins 40 man roster and according to MLB Pipeline he is the Twins 11th best prospect.

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