Twins minor league players of the week are Julien & Varland

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Double-A Wichita infielder Edouard Julien and right-handed pitcher Louie Varland.

Edouard Julien was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Auburn University (Auburn, AL). Julien was born in Quebec, Canada and ended up playing college ball all the way down south at Auburn, a draft-eligible sophomore who signed with the parent Minnesota Twins in 2019 as an 18th-round draft pick for a $493,500 bonus, way over the slot dollar amount of $125,000 for every player picked after the 11th round.

Julien, 23, played in six games for the Wind Surge this week, hitting .348 (8-for-23) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, five walks, and a .464 OBP, an .826 SLG and a 1.290 OPS. Even though Julien has visited the IL twice this season he has appeared in 53 games and is slashing .287/.429/.466. Drafted as a power hitting third baseman, Julien has been playing mainly second base at Wichita this season. Video clip of Julien having a 7 RBI game.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Ohl & Wallner

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl and Double-A Wichita outfielder Matt Wallner.

Pierson Ohl was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ). Reports have Ohl receiving a signing bonus of $100,000 to sign with Minnesota. According to Twins Daily, Ohl’s pre-draft scouting report cited a fastball that operated in the high 80s and low 90s, with plus command. Additionally, Ohl carries a curveball and an above-average changeup which serves as his best secondary offering.

This past week Ohl, 22, made one start for the Mighty Mussels on Thursday at Lakeland, allowing one run on three hits in 6 innings pitched, with one walk and eight strikeouts. On the season the 6’1″ Ohl has thrown 44 innings in 11 starts and allowed 51 hits and struck out 51 batters.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Kirilloff & Festa

Twins minor league players of the week are outfielder-first baseman Alex Kirilloff who has been playing in AAA St Paul and High-A Cedar Rapids RHP David Festa. I apologize for the delay in getting this out this week.

Alex Kirilloff was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (15th) of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Plum HS (Pittsburgh, PA). This is Kirilloff’s second minor league player of the week honor in 2022, he also won on May 22.

Kirilloff made his big league debut with the Twins on September 30, 2020 in a playoff game against the Houston Astros. Kirilloff spent 59 games with the Twins last season before being sidelined with a wrist injury and started 2022 with the Twins before the wrist injury resurfaced.

Kirilloff has been hot of late while rehabbing with the AAA St. Paul Saints and last week played in five games, hitting .474 (9-for-19) with one double, four home runs, nine RBI, a .565 on-base percentage, a 1.158 slugging percentage and a 1.723 OPS. In 131 at bats with the Saints this season Kirilloff had a slash line of .359/.465/.641. He was recalled by the Twins on June 17.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Varland & Steer

The Minnesota Twins have named Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Louie Varland and Triple-A St. Paul infielder Spencer Steer as the Twins minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week. The Twins are lucky to have a number of their minor leaguers knocking on the Target Field door.

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, a St. Paul native signed for a $115,000 signing bonus.

Last season Varland was 10-4 with a nifty 2.10 ERA in 20 games and 103 innings. Varland gave up just 82 hits and struck out 142 and posted a 1.087 WHIP. The 6’1″ right-hander was rewarded by the Minnesota Twins by being named their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2021 after splitting time between Fort Myers and and Cedar Rapids. This past week Varland, 24, made two starts (6/4 vs. Frisco and 6/10 at Arkansas) for the Wind Surge, going 1-0, 1.64 ERA (11.0 IP, 2 ER) with eight hits allowed, two walks and 18 strikeouts. In 2022 Varland is 5-1 with a SO/9 ration of 10.7 and a 1.200 WHIP. Looks like he will be able to come home to pitch soon.

Louie Varland makes himself next Twins pitching prospect to watch out for (Patrick Reusse)

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Twins minor league players of the week are Rodriguez & Hajjar

This week the Minnestoa Twins have named Low-A Fort Myers outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez and left-handed pitcher Steve Hajjar as the minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Emmanuel Rodriguez a Santiago, Dominican Republic native was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 2019. Rodriguez was a top 10 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 international prospects list for 2019-20 when the signing period opened up in July of 2019. The Twins were all in, giving the toolsy outfielder $2.75 million to sign. MLB currently has Rodriguez as the Twins 17th best prospect.

Due to some injury issues Rodriguez did not make his pro debut until 2021 with the FCL league Twins. Rodriguez who bats and throws from the left-side made a big splash with 10 home runs in 37 games. This past week Rodriguez, 19, played in four games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .636 (7-for-11) with one double, two triples, two home runs, five RBI, six walks, a .765 OBP, a 1.636 SLG and a 2.401 OPS. This years slash line is .280/.495/.568. Rodriguez is a very interesting young prospect to follow.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Hajjar & Cavaco

The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are LHP Steve Hajjar and shortstop Keoni Cavaco. Both are playing for the Low-A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

Steve Hajjar was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI). After being selected #61 overall in last July’s draft, Hajjar a Massachusetts native received a $1.13 million signing bonus and spent the rest of the summer in Fort Myers working out with other prospects. MLB Pipeline has Steven Hajjar as the Twins 20th best prospect.

Hajjar, a 6’5″ lefty began his pro career this year with the Low-A Fort Myers Might Mussels and has seven starts so far. According to Primetimesportstalk.com, “Hajjar has a decent fastball and loopy curveball, but his best pitch is his changeup, which comes in with a lethal delivery and just fades at the end to baffle batters. He also employs a slider that can be lethal, though he opted to use it less in 2021; this could have been his best pitch if he used it more.” Hajjar’s slider is supposedly a “gyro” slider and you can read more about that and other things that Primetimesportstalk.com had to say about Hajjar here.

Hajjar, 21, started for the Mighty Mussels on Thursday at Bradenton, pitching 5.2 shutout innings (82 pitches-56 strikes), with two hits allowed, one walk and a career-high tying 10 strikeouts. Over his last three starts, Hajjar has dropped his ERA from 3.77 to 2.17, and over his last two, the lefty has struck out 16 while walking only two.

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Former Twins pitcher David West passes away at the age of 57

David West was born on September 1, 1964, in Memphis, TN, to Eugene C. West and Vivian Womble West. David passed away in Palm City, Florida from brain cancer on May 14, 2022.

West fell in love with baseball at an early age. According to Ripbaseball.com, West excelled in American Legion ball, playing for Millington Telephone, but the big left-hander with the 90 mile-per-hour fastball had to wait a bit to play at Craigmont High School. He was declared scholastically ineligible and missed his first two seasons of high school ball. After his Senior season he was named to second team of American Baseball Coaches Association High School All-America squad.

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Twins minor league players of the week are Kirilloff & Povich

This weeks Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are AAA St. Paul outfielder Alex Kirilloff and High-A Cedar Rapids left-handed pitcher Cade Povich. This is the second time that Povich has earned this honor this season.

Alex Kirilloff was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (15th) of the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Plum HS (Pittsburgh, PA). Kirilloff made his big league debut on September 30, 2020 and has 69 major league games on his resume.

Kirilloff, who was optioned to St. Paul from Minnesota on May 14, played in six games for the Saints, hitting .458 (11-for-24) with one double, one home run, four RBI, three walks, a .519 on-base percentage, a .625 slugging percentage and a 1.144 OPS. On Wednesday at Omaha, he went 4-for-6 with a double, a home run and three RBI. Kirilloff has struggled with a wrist issue off and on in his short big league career. Kirilloff missed most of last season due to surgery on the troublesome wrist but the issue resurfaced again this year. This may be something that Kirilloff will have to learn to play with. In 14 games with the Saints Kirilloff has a slash line of .340/.450/.420. I expect we will see Kirilloff back at Target Field soon.

Rehabbing with Saints, Alex Kirilloff just trying to stay on the field

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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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