New Britain (AA) catcher Chris Herrmann is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 19-25. Herrmann, 24, played in five games for the Rock Cats and went 9-for-19 (.474) with two doubles, three RBI’s and four runs scored. Chris had back-to-back four hit games on May 21-22. Herrmann was first picked by the Baltimore Orioles in round 10 of the 2008 MLB draft but chose not to sign with the O’s. Herrmann, who was then drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2009 First-Year Player draft after being drafted out of the University of Miami. Although drafted as a catcher, Herrmann spent 2009 as an outfielder before starting to catch in 2010 and in his 330 minor league games todate, Herrmann has actually played more game in the outfield (145) then he has caught (137). The 6′ and 200 pound lefty handed swinging Herrmann has a career minor league batting average of .259 with 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases.
This Day in Twins History – May 24, 1972
In one of the best pitching duels in Twins history, the Twins Jim Kaat and the Kansas City Royals Dick Drago go hammer and tong for 11 scoreless innings before the Twins Danny Thompson doubles to center to lead off the top of the 12th inning off Drago and then Rod Carew singles him home for the games only run. The Twins Wayne Granger comes in to shut down the Royals 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th for the save.
Drago was the tough luck loser pitching all 12 innings, facing 43 batters, giving up 6 hits, one walk while striking out 13 Twins batters. Kaat pitched 11 innings for the win and held the Royals to 5 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 7 of the 40 Royals he faced. The game took 3 hours and 15 minutes and only 8,381 fans saw a pitching duel for the ages at Municipal Stadium that day. Boy, if they counted pitches back then the old clicker would have really had a good work-out.
Interesting facts about the MLB first-year player draft
The first-year player draft was initiated in 1965 and since then a total of 60,428 players have been drafted. During that time, a total of 8,493 players (14.05%), which includes drafted players, non-drafted players and foreign-born players, have appeared in at least one Major League game.
Since the first-year player draft was initiated in 1965, 21 players that were drafted went straight to the big leagues to start their professional careers with out playing in a minor league game. Most eventually ended up spending time in the minors. The only Minnesota Twins player to accomplish this feat was LHP Eddie Bane. The Twins drafted Bane out of Arizona State University in June of 1973 and Bane his big league debut at Met Stadium on July 4th. Bane ended up spending parts of three seasons in the big leagues with Minnesota and had a 7-13 big league record between 1973, 1975 and 1976. Former Twins pitcher RHP Mike Morgan was picked by the Oakland A’s out of high school in 1978 and went straight to the big leagues too.
Since the drafted was put in place, the Minnesota Twins have had more first round picks, 58, than any other big league team. Oakland is closest with 53 first round picks and Tampa has the least with 18.
The very first pick in 1965 was ASU outfielder Rick Monday who went on to have a long career. The first player to made it to the big leagues out of this draft was RHP Joe Coleman the 3rd over all pick with the Washington Senators.
The Twins very first rounder in 1965 was shortstop Eddie Leon out of the University of Arizona but he chose not to sign with the Twins. The following season (1966) the Twins picked 3B Bob Jones in round 1 and 20th over all and he never appeared in a big league game. The Twins picked Steve Garvey in round 3 in 1966 but he chose to go to college before starting his long 19 year pro baseball career.
In 1967 the Twins picked Steve Brye in round 1 and 19th over all and he became the first Twins drafted player to play for the Twins when he debuted in 1970 and went on to play for Minnesota between 1970-1976.
The Twins have had the first over all pick twice, once in 1973 when they took RHP Tim Belcher who chose not to sign with Minnesota and catcher Joe Mauer whom they took first in 2001.
In 1978 the Twins picked shortstop Lenny Faedo with their first pick and he played for the Twins from 1980-1984. A number of pretty good players were picked later, HOF Cal Ripken was picked in the 2nd round that year, Kent Hrbek in the 17th round and HOF Ryne Sandberg was picked in round 20. You never know…..
The last high school player to be picked 1st over all is shortstop Tim Beckham picked by Tampa in 2008.
24 drafted players have gone on to be selected to the Hall of Fame. To this point no player selected 1st over all has ever gone on to have a HOF career. The Twins have drafted two players who have gone on to HOF careers, Bert Blyleven in 1969 and Kirby Puckett in 1982.
Since 1965, 33.8% of the picks have been RHP, 13.6% have been LHP, 10.2% have been catchers, 24% have been infielders, and 18.2% have been outfielders.
64% of the players drafted in 2011 went on to sign big league contracts.
Of the 638 players on the 2012 Opening Day rosters, 23.5% were drafted 1-30 over all and 378 or 59.2% were drafted 1-150 over all (basically the first 5 rounds).
These facts have been derived from the 2012 First-Year Player Draft Selection Guide.
This Day in Twins History – May 22, 1981
Third base coach Billy Gardner, 53, replaces the fired John Goryl as manager of the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota (11-25) had lost 8 consecutive games and 13 out of its last 15 games. Gardner will go on to manage the Twins until June of 1985 and compiles a 268-353 record and his best finish is in 1984 when the team plays 81-81 ball and finishes in third place. During his stay with the Twins, he was widely credited for helping the development of the group of young players that would form the core of the World Series-winning team of 1987, players such as Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunansky, who were all rookies in 1982. Gardner was one of the original Twins coming over from Washington after the 1960 season and played 45 games in a Twins uniform in 1961.
Goryl, 47, who managed the team since August 1980, became the second AL West manager to be fired this season, joining Maury Wills formerly of the Seattle Mariners. Goryl managed the Twins for just a total of 73 games and had a 34-38 record over parts of two seasons. Goryl played 2B, SS, and 3B for the Twins from 1962-1964.
How well have AL Central teams drafted in the last 10 years
The 2012 first-year player draft will take place June 4-6 and begins with the first round and compensation round A on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m. ET. The first night of the event will be broadcast live on MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com. The Twins will have the second over-all pick in what is widely being reported as lower in quality than what has been available in the last few years. There appears to be no clear-cut choice for the number 1 overall pick this year, no Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper. It will still be interesting to see who is picked first and who the Twins will pick next. A lot of the reports have Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton as the best player available but yet most of the so called experts agree that the Houston Astros who have the first pick will pass on Buxton. So what do the Twins do if Buxton is available when it comes their time to pick? I just can’t see the Twins passing on Buxton if he is available, no matter how much the Twins may need pitching. You can never have too many 5-tool players and if you do indeed have to many outfielders in a few years, you can always make a deal. It will be interesting to see what the Twins will do.
But this piece is not about what will happen in 2012, it is about what has transpired in the draft from 2002 through 2011 for the teams in the AL Central Division. Over the 10 years I am covering here, each team has drafted about 500 players give or take depending on compensatory picks and picks lost due to free agent signings. The chart I have put together shows how many players drafted by the Central division teams have made it to the big leagues regardless if it is with the team that drafted them or if they made it to the bigs with another team. Keep in mind too that I am not taking into consideration the fact that some of these players chose not to see with the original team that may have drafted them. For example, Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum was picked by the Cubs in 2003 in round 48 and by the Indians in round 42 in 2005 and chose not to sign until he was picked in rond 1 and 10th over all by the Giants in 2006. Keep in mind too that I do not differentiate between appearing in 1 big league game or 500 big league games, all I am tracking here is how many of each Central Division draft picks made it to the Show by year drafted as of May 20, 2012.
P = pitchers, H = hitters
| YEAR | TIGERS | WSOX | INDIANS | ROYALS | TWINS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 P, 0 H | 2 P, 0 H | 1 P, 0 H | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 3 P, 0 H | 0 | 1 P, 1 H | 2 P, 0 H | 0 P, 1 H |
| 2008 | 3 P, 2 H | 1 P, 2 H | 1 P, 2 H | 0 P, 2 H | 0 |
| 2007 | 3 P, 2 H | 3 P, 0 H | 1 P, 1 H | 2 P, 1 H | 0 P, 1 H |
| 2006 | 3 P, 2 H | 3 P, 0 H | 4 P, 1 H | 3 P, 1 H | 3 P, 5 H |
| 2005 | 4 P, 8 H | 4 P, 3 H | 3 P, 5 H | 0 P, 1 H | 5 P, 3 H |
| 2004 | 4 P, 2 H | 6 P, 3 H | 3 P, 2 H | 3 P, 1 H | 4 P, 3 H |
| 2003 | 5 P, 2 H | 1 P, 2 H | 2 P, 4 H | 2 P, 5 H | 3 P, 3 H |
| 2002 | 3 P, 4 H | 10 P, 2 H | 3 P, 1 H | 3 P, 4 H | 4 P, 5 H |
| TOTALS | 52 – 30 P, 22 H | 42 – 30 P, 12 H | 36 – 19 P, 17 H | 30 – 15 P, 15 H | 40 – 19 P, 21 H |
It appears that the Twins either have not drafted well in recent years or it is taking longer for the players they draft to get to the big league level. No pitcher drafted by the Twins between 2007 – 2011 has reached the majors and only 2 hitters picked in that time frame have made a big league debut and they would be Ben Revere picked in 2007 and Brian Dozier chosen in 2009. During that same time frame the Tigers have had 15 players (11 pitchers and 4 hitters) debut, the White Sox have had 8 players (6 pitchers and 2 hitters) debut, the Indians have had 8 players (4 pitchers and 4 hitters) debut and the Royals have had 7 players (4 pitchers and 3 hitters) debut in the big leagues.
Other points I find interesting is that 12 players (4 pitchers and 8 hitters) from the Detroit Tigers 2005 draft have reached the big league level and that 12 players (10 pitchers and 2 hitters) from the 2002 draft by the White Sox have reached the promised land. The best the Twins have done is 9 players from their 2002 draft. This chart kind of shows how few players that are drafted ever reach the big leagues at all and how long it does take for those that do make it. It was fun doing the research on a cool wet day when the Twins were getting trounced 16-4 in Milwaukee, I hope that you enjoyed it.
This Day in Twins History – May 20
1962 – The Twins split a double header at Yankee Stadium losing the first game 4-3 and winning the second game 4-2. Twins reliever Ray Moore becomes the first Twins pitcher to lose and win a game in the same day. There is a nice SABR Biography of “Farmer” or” Old Blue” that you can read here.
1970 – Rod Carew becomes the first Twins player to hit for the cycle when he accomplishes that rare feat in a 10-5 win over the Royals in Kansas City.
1984 – Boston’s Roger Clemens strikes out 7 batters in 7 innings en route to his first ML victory, 5-4 over the Twins.
1986 – The Twins trade pitcher Eric Broersma to Oakland for pitcher Keith Atherton.
1989 – Danny Gladden ties a major league record when get gets 7 official at bats against the Texas Rangers in a 9 inning game. Randy Bush ties a Twins record with 8 RBI’s in a 19-3 win at Arlington Stadium.
1994 – The Twins are hot having won 9 out of their last 10 games and are beating the Boston Red Sox 10 to 1 after 4 1/2 innings at the Metrodome. Then in the bottom of the fifth the Twins send up 16 batters, get 10 hits (8 singles, 1 double, and 1 home run), 2 walks, a hit batter, score 11 runs and leave 2 on base against three Red Sox pitchers and take a 21 – 1 lead and they hold on for a 21-2 victory. Now that is a fun inning if you are a Twins fan.
1995 – Minnesota Twins outfielder Marty Cordova ties a rookie record of home runs by hitting home runs in five consecutive games.
2005 – In an amazing pitching performance, Carlos Silva beats the Brewers 7-1 at the Metrodome with a 74 pitch complete game win in a game that lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.
2011 – The funeral for Harmon Killebrew was held at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona. Several hundred mourners, including past and present members of the Minnesota Twins, attended the service on a gorgeous sunny morning. The Twins just happened to be in town because they were scheduled to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in their first interleague play of 2011. Current Twins Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, and Justin Morneau, as well as manager Ron Gardenhire, were pall bearers, along with ex-Twin Paul Molitor and Killebrew’s former teammates Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Frank Quilici. Bert Blyleven, now a Twins broadcaster, was the only non-family member other than the pastor to speak at the service. A private burial is planned for Monday, May 23 in Killebrew’s hometown of Payette, Idaho.
Twins Minor League Player of the Week
The Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 12-18 is New Britain (Eastern League – Double-A) right-handed pitcher B.J. (Brett Joseph) Hermsen. Hermsen, 22, made 2 starts for the Rock Cats, going 2-0 allowing just four runs over 14.2 innings. BJ struck out five and did not walk a batter in either start. Hermsen, who was drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2008 First-Year Player draft, entered the season having appeared in 56 games (53 starts) in the Twins minor league system after being drafted out of West Delaware High School in Iowa where he played on the varsity team all four years and was also an All-State athlete in football and basketball. When he wasn’t pitching for his high school team, he was usually playing shosrtstop and was a pretty good hitter ending his high school career with 57 homeruns, which was 5th all-time in Iowa history. The 6’5″ Hermsen throws in the high 80’s, usually around the 86-89 mark and throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, along with a curveball and change-up.
This Day in Twins History – May 19
1961 – Outfielder Dan Dobbek hits the Twins first grand slam home run at Metropolitan Stadium. The unlucky hurler is Kansas City Athletic pitcher Ed Rakow. 1961 was Dobbek’s first and last season in Minnesota and he only had 125 at bats as a Twin hitting .168 with 4 home runs. In January of 1962 the Twins traded Dobbek to Cincinnati for catcher Jerry Zimmerman.
1990 – Twins outfielder John Moses makes his second appearance as a Twins pitcher in Fenway Park in a 13-1 loss to the Red Sox. John pitched one inning allowing two hits and one run. This is the sixth time that a Twins position player has turned pitcher. Red Sox RF anf former Twins player Tom Brunansky has a huge day going 5 for 5 with a double and 2 home runs, scoring three times and knocking in 7 more.
2008 – The Twins beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 in 12 innings at the Metrodome. After blowing a lead, the Twins scored one in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the score at 6 apiece. The Twins give up their DH in the 10th inning and Twins reliever Bobby Korecky is forced to hit in the bottom of the 11th and delivers a single in what turns out to be the only time that a Twins pitcher has had a base hit in the Metrodome. The Twins end up scoring on a walk-off double by Howie Clark in the 12th inning. Korecky also gets the victory, his first major league win.
According to Elias
Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe hit back-to-back home runs off Tigers starter Doug Fister in the third inning and the Twins were never caught, posting a 4-3 win over the Tigers. Fister had allowed only two home runs is his previous 55.2 innings at Comerica Park, and he had allowed homers to consecutive batters only once before in his major-league career–to a different pair of Twins, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel (May 31, 2010). Source: Elias
According to Elias
Derek Lowe threw a six-hit shutout in the Indians’ 5-0 victory over the Twins in Minnesota yesterday. Lowe’s gem snapped a streak of 214 consecutive starts without pitching a shutout. That was the fourth longest active streak entering Tuesday’s action, behind Freddy Garcia (247), Kevin Millwood (238) and Jeff Suppan (218). Prior to Tuesday, Lowe’s last shutout came on August 31, 2005 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Only three players other than Lowe that were in the starting lineup for that game are currently on a major-league roster: Jerry Hairston Jr., Jayson Werth and Jason Repko (currently on the disabled list). Source: Elias