Twins minor league players of the week are Festa and Steer

This weeks Minnesota Twins players of the week are Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher David Festa and AA Wichita infielder Spencer Steer.

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). Festa signed with the Twins for a $125,000 signing bonus.

Festa, 22, pitched very briefly in 2021 appearing in two games with the FCL Twins and two games with the Low-A Fort Myers Might Mussels throwing a total of 8.1 innings. The big 6’6″ right-hander has again started this season with the Mighty Mussels. This past week Festa started the Mighty Mussels no-hitter versus the Palm Beach Cardinals, pitching 6 innings with two walks allowed and a career-high 11 strikeouts. Sitting consistently at 96 mph and topping out at 98, Festa needed 82 pitches to complete six innings for the first time in 14 professional starts. The performance was a continuation of what has been a sizzling start to the 2022 campaign for the right-hander. Through five starts, Festa has surrendered just four earned runs while running a 33-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 24 innings. The Verona, N.J., native is holding opponents to a .148 average and one extra-base hit.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Miller & Headrick

This weeks Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Low-A Fort Myers infielder Noah Miller and High-A Cedar Rapids left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick.

Noah Miller was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (36th) of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Ozaukee HS (Fredonia, WI). Miller had committed to play at Alabama before signing with the Twins for $1.7 million. Noah Miller is currently rated as the Twins ninth best prospect in 2022.

Miller (6’1″/190) has been playing at shortstop in the Twins system and reportedly had elite fielding and offensive skills. I saw Miller play in a Twins ST exhibition game this spring and he is fun to watch in the field. Miller is a switch-hitter and started his pro career in 2021 with the FCL Twins and in 2022 started with the Low-A Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels.

Miller, 19, played in five games for the Mighty Mussels this past week, hitting .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, three RBI, four runs scored, four walks, a .636 on-base percentage, a .636 slugging percentage and a 1.581 OPS.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Legumina & Wallner

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are pitcher Casey Legumina and outfielder Matt Wallner.

Casey Legumina, a 6’2″ right-handed pitcher was drafted by the Blue Jays (25th round) in 2016, again by the Indians (35th round ) in 2018 and finally by the Minnesota Twins in in the 8th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA). Legumina signed for $250,000, well above the $173K slot value according to Twins Daily. In 2018 Legumina was a closer for Gonzaga with 13 saves and in 2019 pitched in just two games, both starts.

Legumina spent all of 2021 in Low A Fort Myers except for one start in High A Cedar Rapids. This year the 24-year old Legumina started the season in Cedar Rapids and has three starts there. His last start for the Kernels on Wednesday at Beloit was his best this season, pitching five shutout innings (81 pitches) with one hit allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts in a no-decision. A nice piece on Casey Legumina by Phil Miller this past March.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Steer & Raya

Spencer Steer a California native was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Oregon (Eugene, OR). There can’t ever have been a more fitting player to wear the Twins’ logo across his chest. Not only does Steer have a twin brother, but his two older brothers that are also a pair of twins. Baseball America had him signing with Minnesota for $575,000. MLB Pipeline currently has Steer rated as the tenth best Twins prospect.

Steer is a 24-year old right-handed hitting infielder who has been playing second base, third base and shortstop this season at AA Wichita. Last season Steer split his time with High A Cedar Rapids and AA Wichita and hit 24 home runs and had 66 RBI and had a slash line of .254/.348/.454.

This past week Steer played in six games for the Wind Surge, hitting .417 (10-for-24) with three doubles, six RBI, six walks, a .533 on-base percentage and a 1.075 OPS.

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Twins release Lewis Thorpe

Lewis Thorpe

The Minnesota Twins have released left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe. A native of Australia, Thorpe was signed by the Twins in 2012 to a $500K signing bonus as a 17 year-old.

Thorpe made his major league debut with the Twins on June 30, 2019 at Guaranteed Rate Field in a start against the Chicago White Sox. Thorpe pitched five innings and left the game trailing 2-0 after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven and was credited with the loss.

The lefty could never put it together in the big leagues with the Twins and appeared in 24 games and 59.1 innings between 2019-2021 and posting a 3-5 record with a 5.76 ERA. It is probably best for all concerned for Thorpe to look for other opportunities and see if a change of scenery can perhaps get him back on track. Good luck Lewis!

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

The 2022 MLB minor league season is underway and the Minnesota Twins have selected their first minor league players of the week and they are both from the High A Cedar Rapids Kernels and were both drafted in 2021. Congratulations to infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand and left-handed pitcher Cade Povich.

Cade Povich was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Lincoln, NE). The 6’3″ lefty was born in Reno, Nevada in 2000, that should make some of us feel old. According to Jim Callis, Povich “signed for $500k, throws strikes, keeps 88-90 mph fastball off barrels, mid-70s downer curveball.” MLB Pipeline has Cade Povich rated as the Twins 27th best prospect.

Povich is just in his second year of pro ball and pitched in just his fifth professional baseball game. On his 22nd birthday Povich started and pitched five shutout innings (69 pitches) for the Kernels allowing just one hit while striking out eight including the final six batters he faced. Povich walked just one notching his first pro ball win. Povich’s birthday brilliance, clutch hitting leads Kernels to 8-1 win at Quad Cities

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 has Christian Encarnacion-Strand rated as the Twins 29th best prospect.

Christian was blistering hot out of the gate this season, just his second in pro ball. Cedar Rapids Kernels third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a franchise Opening Day record nine RBI to lead the Kernels to a 12-5 win in Friday’s opener against the Beloit Sky Carp. Encarnacion-Strand, 22, played in seven games for the Kernels to start the season, hitting .467 (14-for-30) with two doubles, five home runs, 20 RBI, seven runs scored and a 1.033 OPS making him the only player in minor league or major league baseball to reach the 20-RBI plateau so far this season. Christian Encarnacion-Strand Drives in Nine, Homers Twice in 12-5 Kernels Win

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Twins fans might not recognize their team

Minnesota Twins fans might not recognize their team this season when they go out to Target Field. The Twins have so many new players you will need to spend a few bucks and buy a scorecard just so you know who is playing where. Twins fans are already wondering who secretly snuck in during the dark of night this off-season and bought this Twins team from the Pohlad’s and has told Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to get off their butts and start putting together a winning team, money is no object. How else do you explain the Twins signing Carlos Correa to a three-year deal at $35.1 million per year? And the trades? What the heck is going here in fly over land?

The rumors were running wild last night as I went to bed that the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres were talking let’s make a deal. The Padres have an excess of starting pitchers and the Twins are in need of starters so it looks like a match made in heaven. When I got up this morning I found out that a deal had indeed been consummated with the Twins getting starting right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack and right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan from San Diego in return for closer Taylor Rogers and first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker. The Twins will also receive a player to be named later and will send cash to San Diego in the deal. That cash amount apparently covers all of Rogers salary but $700,000 in 2022. Rogers can become a free agent after the 2022 season.

Taylor Rogers

Lots of Twins fans are not happy to see Rogers, the Twins closer traded. Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick in the 2012 draft, the same year the Twins drafted Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey. Rogers made his big league debut in April of 2016. Rogers has been a solid reliever ever since and he took over the closing chores in 2019. Rogers was named to his first All-Star team last season but suffered a finger injury in late July and he missed the rest of the 2021 season. Rogers has a twin-brother Tyler who pitches for the San Francisco Giants.

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Here is my WAG for 2022

The hapless 2021 Minnesota Twins finished with 73-89 record and were dead last in the AL central Division finishing one game worse than the Kansas City Royals and four games worse than the Detroit Tigers.

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Former Twins pitcher Fred Lasher passes away at 80

Fred Lasher was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 19, 1941 and passed away in Altoona, Wisconsin at the age of 80 on February 27, 2022. Lasher grew up playing basketball and baseball for Poughkeepsie High School and the local Poughkeepsie YMCA. As a high school senior, Lasher had a 7-0 record and threw a no-hitter.

Lasher was invited to participate in a local All-Star game against some New York Yankee rookies that was attended by major league scouts. Joe Gall a scout for the Washington Senators liked what he saw and signed Lasher to his first pro contract in January of 1960 and Lasher was assigned to Wytheville Senators of the Appalachian League. He was known for a sidearm/submarine pitching delivery that earned him the nickname “The Whip,” and he picked up that delivery as a child by throwing rocks at his parents’ house.

Fred Lasher

Lasher attended his first big league spring training in 1963 as a talented but very raw pitcher, with a sidearm fastball but no curveball, and occasional control problems. The coaches taught him a three-quarters overhand delivery for his curve. After putting up good numbers in the spring, Lasher became a surprise addition to the Twins’ pitching staff.

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Twins shock everyone with their Carlos Correa signing

Carlos Correa

News broke just after midnight that the Minnesota Twins had signed free agent shortstop Carlos Correa to a $105.3 million three-year deal with opt outs at the end of each season. The deal has not been confirmed by the Twins ballclub but Correa has confirmed it. Twins fans were shocked and amazed as was I with the signing this morning.

After the Twins acquired shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Texas a few days ago and less then 24 hours later traded him to the Yankees, most Twins fans were baffled. Then news came out that the Twins were interested in FA shortstop Trevor Story and fans were excited but days went by and nothing happened until this mornings breaking news about Correa. I don’t think there was a single fan in Twins Territory that thought that the Twins would even consider going after Correa.

Even if Correa was to leave after just one season via his opt out it would give Royce Lewis and Austin Martin more time to develop and give the Twins more time to determine if either one could be a long term answer to the shortstop job. In the mean time it will be fun to watch Carlos Correa, the 2015 ROY, two-time All-Star and last years Gold Glove winner play shortstop in Minnesota. If you are looking for something to be critical of, it would be that he has just played more than 110 games twice in his seven big league seasons.

The FA signing of Correa was the latest in a series of moves made by Falvey and Levine in the last week that included trades with the Rangers, Yankees, and Reds. When you watch a Twins game this season in person or on TV you may need a scorecard to identify the players. I would say that we will see more moves before the season starts on April 7 when the Twins face the Mariners at Target Field.