Twins minor league players of the week – Brent Rooker & Tyler Wells

The Twins have named Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) outfielder Brent Rooker and Ft. Myers Miracle (High A) right-handed pitcher Tyler Wells as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

In six games for the Lookouts, Rooker hit .450 (9-for-20) with one double, one triple, one home run, six RBI, eight walks and a .586 on-base percentage. The former Mississippi State Bulldog was drafted by the Twins in the Competitive Balance Round A (35th overall) last season.

Brent Rooker

This season in Chattanooga, Rooker has played in 58 out of their 62 games and is hitting .269 in 250 plate appearances with 8 home runs, 36 RBI with a .791 OPS. Rooker has struck out 68 times. Although he has appeared as a corner outfielder a handful of times this season, his primary position appears to be first base.

Rooker is also an impressive athlete, and he was a three-sport star at Evangelical Christian School in Germantown, Tennessee. Rooker hit .430 with nine home runs as a senior. He also led his high school to the Division 2-A State Championship Game in football, collecting 3,300 yards of total offense with 33 touchdowns, and he was named a 2013 Tennessee Mr. Football finalist after setting 18 school records. He also played basketball.

Tyler Wells

Wells made one start for the Miracle last week, allowing one run on two hits in 8.0 innings pitched with one walk and seven strikeouts, earning his fourth win (4-3). The University of Cal-Berkeley alum was drafted by the Twins in the 15th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft.

This season the 6’8″ Wells has nine starts for the Miracle and has a 2.86 ERA and a 0.932 WHIP primarily because he has given up just 31 hits in 44 innings. During his short pro career, the right-handed Wells has always allowed fewer hits than innings pitched when you look at his yearly numbers. 

 

Twins Minor League Report 061018.pdf

Cedar Rapids Kernels have two starters in Midwest League All-Star game

The Midwest League recently announced the rosters for the 54th Midwest League All-Star Game, scheduled for June 19th at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing, MI. The Cedar Rapids Kernels have two starters and two reserves selected to the team. The All-Stars were nominated and selected by the field managers of the 16 Midwest League teams.

Royce Lewis was selected as the starting shortstop for the MWL West squad and OF Alex Kirilloff was named a starting outfielder, pitchers Brusdar Graterol and Jared Finkel were selected as reserves for the MWL West squad.

Royce Lewis
Alex Kirilloff
Brusdar Graterol
Jared Finkel

 

Congratulations to Eddie Rosario

Eddie Rosario’s bat that hit the third home run is headed the the Twins archives. Credit-Dan Hayes

 

Congratulations to Minnesota Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario on becoming the first Minnesota Twins player in franchise history to hit three or more home runs in a game on two occasions.

Rosario did it for the first time on June 13, 2017 at Target Field against the Seattle Mariners and again less than a year later on June 3, 2018 again at Target field but this time the Cleveland Indians were the victims.

The Minnesota Twins and their predecessor Washington Senators have never had a player hit more than three home runs in a game but their players have hit three home runs in a game on 11 occasions and as mentioned earlier, Rosario is the only player to do it more than once.

Before the Washington franchise moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season, two Senators players had hit three home run in a single game, Jim Lemon on August 31, 1956 at Griffith Stadium against the New York Yankees and Goose Goslin on June 19, 1925 against the Cleveland Indians at Dunn Field. Lemon played for the Minnesota Twins from 1961-1963.

Twins opponents have hit three or more home runs in a game against the Twins a total of 26 times and no player has done it more than once.

List of franchise players who have hit 3 or more home runs in a single game

Twins minor league players of the week – Jose Miranda & Omar Bencomo

The Twins have named Low A Cedar Rapids infielder Jose Miranda and AA Chattanooga
right-handed pitcher Omar Bencomo as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jose Miranda

In eight games for the Kernels, Miranda hit .414 (12-for-29) with four doubles, one home run and nine RBI. The Manati, Puerto Rico native was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft. The soon to be 20-year-old Miranda is a right-handed batter and is in his third season of pro ball. This season Miranda is playing second base and third base.

According to a 2016 Rhett Bollinger article, Miranda, who was selected from Leadership Christian Academy with the 2016 number 73 overall pick in Lottery Round B, projects to be a power-hitting third baseman. The Twins saved slot money by signing him for $775,000, as the pick had a value of $878,500.

Omar Bencomo

The 29-year-old right-handed Bencomo made two starts, one for the Lookouts and one for the Red Wings, going 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (13.0 IP, 1 ER) with five hits allowed, two walks and 11 strikeouts.

The Valencia, Venezuela native first started playing pro ball in 2007 and signed with the Twins as a minor league free agent on January 19, 2018. Bencomo has been used both as a starter and a reliever over the years but he has been a starter for Chattanooga and Rochester since the end of April. Bencomo was promoted to Rochester on May 30th.

 

Twins Minor League Report 060218

Ft. Myers Miracle have four players named as All-Stars

Florida State League All-Stars were announced yesterday and the Ft. Myers Miracle will have four representatives. Left-handed pitcher Andrew Vasquez, infielder Travis Blankenhorn and outfielders Jimmy Kerrigan and Jaylin Davis.

Andrew Vasquez is 0-1 with a 0.66 ERA in 15 relief appearances, 30 strikeouts and eight walks in 27.1 innings pitched. Vasquez was selected in round 32 of the 2015 June amateur draft.

Jimmy Kerrigan is hitting .289 with six home runs and 21 RBI in 40 games. Kerrigan was signed by Minnesota as a minor league free agent in July 2017.

Jaylin Davis is hitting .273 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 42 games with five outfield assists. Davis was a 24th round selection in the 2015 June amateur draft by the Twins.

Travis Blankenhorn (2nd All-Star selection – Midwest League in 2017 with Low-A Cedar Rapids) is hitting .255 with six home runs and 22 RBI. Blankenhorn was a Twins 3rd round pick in the 2015 June amateur draft.

Andrew Vasquez
Jimmy Kerrigan
Jaylin Davis
Travis Blankenhorn

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Falvey and Levine should DFA Molitor

Paul Molitor

Should Derek Falvey and Thad Levine be looking for a new manager for the Minnesota Twins? I know, I know, they signed him to a new deal after last season right after the Twins made the playoffs after a seven-year absence.

I can’t believe that Paul Molitor is their guy, and they in essence had no choice but to sign Molitor or get run out-of-town. The Twins are playing terribly, way below expectations in spite of good starting pitching. The bullpen started out decent but Molitor’s bullpen management quickly put an end to that.

You can’t put all the blame on Molitor but you can’t get rid of the players so the easiest thing to change is the manager. This team needs new leadership before the problem gets even more serious. The team doesn’t look like it is having fun or even takes the losses very seriously. Come on now, eight walk-off losses in 50 games, that is crazy.

Too many injuries? Every team has injuries, you just need to know how to manage them. Miguel Sano has been terrible so far and I think a part of that is because of Jorge Polanco being out due to suspension and not much can be done about that. Sano and Polanco are best buddies from way back and when I watched them this spring they were like joined at the hip, if you saw one you saw the other.

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine

Falvey and Levine aren’t blameless in this fiasco this year either. If Polanco is out, and Nick Gordon is tearing it up in AA and now hitting well in AAA why not bring him up and see what he can do and see if he can kick-start this anemic offense? It obviously is not breaking any barriers to bring up a guy from AA with little to no time in AAA.

Having said all this, Falvey and Levine deserve a chance to determine their own fate and that is difficult to do if you don’t have “your guy” managing your team. I know that Paul Molitor was a heck of a ballplayer, is in the Hall of Fame and is a local boy made good but that does not necessarily make him a good manager. Thank him for his service and let’s move on. Baseball is about winning, if you can’t do the job, its next man up. I am waiting to see of Falvey and Levine will “man up”.

 

Twins minor league players of the week – Ben Rortvedt & Sean Poppen

Ben Rortvedt

The Minnesota Twins have named Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher Ben Rortvedt and High A Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Sean Poppen as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

In six games for the Kernels, the left-handed hitting Rortvedt hit .391 (9-for-23) with one triple, two RBI, two runs scored, one stolen base and four strikeouts. The 20-year old Rortvedt is repeating Cedar Rapids this season and is hitting .270 as compared to .224 last year.  His caught stealing percentage has also improved from 38% to 44% this year. He could be moving up to Ft. Myers soon.

The Verona, WI native is in his third season of pro ball after being drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Verona High School and signed for a reported $900,000 signing bonus.

Sean Poppen

Sean Poppen made one start for the Miracle on Tuesday allowing one run on five hits in 7.0 innings pitched (ND) with seven strikeouts versus Bradenton. The 6’3″ right-hander is in his third year of pro ball and has been used almost exclusively as a starter. In his three seasons-to-date he has a 13-10 record with a 2.95 ERA and has given up 208 hits in 226 innings while striking out 223 batters.

The Virginia native was drafted by the Twins in the 19th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Harvard.

Chesapeake’s Sean Poppen – from Harvard to minor-league baseball

 

Twins Minor League Report 052718

Not all first round picks are born to be stars

For some baseball fans the MLB June Amateur Draft is one of the highlights of the season. They can’t wait to see who their favorite team drafts and then can’t wait to see that player wear their favorite team colors. Who knows, maybe their team just landed the next great baseball superstar, but few consider the fact that even first round selections can turn out to baseball “duds”.

If you pick a player in round one you expect him to be a bona-fide big league star, an All-Star type of player. Sadly, a lot of them will not meet those expectations for one of many different reasons.

The 2018 June Amateur Draft is just around the corner so it is time to take a look at the Minnesota Twins previous first round selections for the last ten years and see how they are doing.

 

The Minnesota Twins have had 18 first round selections in the last ten years (2008-2017). 

  • Three of the picks are playing for the Minnesota Twins at this time. Gibson, Buxton and Berrios
  • One of the picks is playing for another big league team. Hicks
  • One of the picks was selected in the Rule 5 draft, pitched briefly in the big leagues but was returned to the Twins minor league system. Bard
  • Seven of the picks are in the Twins system and still have a shot at wearing Twins colors at some point in the future. Lewis, Rooker, Kirilloff, Jay, Gordon, Stewart and Bard
  • Three of the picks are no longer with the Minnesota organization and are playing in the minors elsewhere. Michael, Harrison and Wimmers
  • Four are no longer playing pro baseball. Boyd, Bashore, Gutierrez and Hunt

 

Twins first round picks for last 10 years

2017 – Royce Lewis (shortstop) – First pick overall out of high school. Has been at Cedar Rapids (Low A) all season and is hitting .315 with a .368 OBP in 124 at bats with one home run and 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts. Signing bonus – $6.725 million

2017 – Brent Rooker – (outfielder) – 35th selection overall out of college. Has spent the season in Chattanooga (AA) and is hitting .233 in 163 at bats with four homers and 20 and has struck out 53 times. Has shown power in the past but no so much this year. The Twins seem to be grooming him to play first base. Signing bonus – $1.935 million

2016 – Alex Kirilloff – (outfielder) – 15th overall pick out of high school. Missed all of 2017 with TJ surgery and has played with Cedar Rapids all of this season hitting .325 in 151 at bats and a slick .959 OPS. Signing bonus – $2,817,100 million

2015 – Tyler Jay (LHP) – Selected sixth over all out of college. Pitched as a starter in 2015 and 2016 and strictly a reliever since. Injuries have plagued Jay and last season he pitched a total of just 11.2 innings for three different teams. He also pitched in the AFL where he threw 9.2 innings and had a 5.59 ERA. This year in AA Chattanooga he has thrown 14 innings striking out 9, walking 5,  has allowed 16 hits and has an ERA of 1.93. Signing bonus – $3,889,100 million

2014 – Nick Gordon (shortstop) – Selected fifth overall out of high school. The son of Tom “Flash” Gordon is in his fifth season of pro ball and was just promoted to AAA Rochester after hitting .333 in AA Chattanooga with 7 stolen bases, 10 doubles and 5 homers in 162 at bats. I would expect to see him put on a Minnesota Twins uniform at some point this season. In my opinion with Jorge Polanco suspended and the team hitting poorly why not bring Gordon up and see if he can provided a spark? Signing bonus – $3.851 million

2013 – Kohl Stewart (RHP) – Selected fourth overall out of high school. Finished the 2017 season in AA Chattanooga and is calling it home again this season. Has a 3-1 record but sports a 4.70 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 41 hits in 38.1 innings. Injuries has also plagued Stewart in his career. He is going to need a breakout season real soon…. Signing Bonus – $4.544 million

2012 – Byron Buxton (outfielder) – Selected second overall out of high school and has been with the Twins off and on since his big league debut in June of 2015. Great outfielder with speed to burn but hitting has been sub par. For a second overall pick you have to consider him “disappointing” so far. Signing bonus – $6 million

2012 – Jose Berrios (RHP) – Selected 32nd overall out of high school in Puerto Rico and debuted with Minnesota in 2016. Berrios is having a great season in 2018 with the Twins. Looks to be the ace the Twins hoped he would be. Signing bonus – $1.55 million

2012 – Luke Bard – (RHP) – Selected 42nd overall out of college and has had some injury issues including TJ surgery that caused him to miss all of 2014. Selected by the Angels as a Rule 5 selection last November and pitched 11.2 innings with 13 strikeouts in the bigs but was returned to Minnesota in late April and is pitching in AAA Rochester and I would not be shocked to see him at least get a cup of coffee with the Twins in 2018. Signing bonus – $1.227 million

2011 – Levi Michael – (shortstop) – Selected 30th overall out of college and was released by Minnesota after the 2017 season and currently playing AA ball in the New York Mets system. Signing bonus – $1.175 million

2011 – Travis Harrison – (Third Baseman) Selected 50th overall out of high school and released by Minnesota after the 2017 season and currently playing in an Independent league. Signing bonus – $1.050 million

2011 – Hudson Boyd (RHP) Selected 55th overall out of a Ft. Myers high school and signed for one million dollars and was released by Minnesota in 2014. Boyd had many issues including his weight, booze, and attitude. A major flop! Signing bonus – $1 million

2010 – Alex Wimmers (RHP) – Selected 21st overall out of college. Pitched in a total of 24.2 innings for the Twins between 2016 and 2017 and posted a 1-3 record with a 4.38 ERA but those 19 walks were horrific and he is now in the Marlins system where at last look he had a 9.82 ERA. Signing bonus – $1.332 million

2009 – Kyle Gibson (RHP) – Selected 22nd overall out of college. Debuted with Minnesota in 2013 and has been in the starting rotation since 2014. Signing bonus – $1.8 million

2009 – Matt Bashore (LHP) – Selected 46th overall out of college. Missed all of 2010 with TJ surgery and released by the Twins after the 2011 season. Bashore pitched a total of 18.2 innings in the Twins minor league system before the organization gave up on him and out of baseball after the 2012 season. Signing bonus – $751,500

2008 – Aaron Hicks (outfielder) – Selected 14th overall out of high school and opened the season in Minnesota as the starting center fielder in 2013. Hitting woes caused the Twins to give-up on Hicks and trade him to the New York Yankees for catcher John Ryan Murphy in November 2015 but he too turned out to be a dud and was sent packing to Arizona. Hick is still playing with the Yankees in a semi-regular role. Signing bonus – $1.78 million

2008 – Carlos Gutierrez (RHP) – Selected 27th selection overall out of college and advanced as high as AAA in the Twins system before he moved on to the Cubs in 2013 but left pro ball after that season. Signing bonus – $1,290 million

2008 – Shooter Hunt (RHP) – Selected with the 31st pick overall out of college and didn’t get higher than high A in Ft. Myers before moving on to a different career after the 2011 season. Signing bonus – $1.080 million

Continue reading Not all first round picks are born to be stars

Twins minor league players of the week – Brent Rooker & Brusdar Graterol

The Twins have named Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts outfielder Brent Rooker and Single-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Rooker

In seven games, the 23-year-old Rooker hit .290 going 9 for 31 with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and a .303 on-base percentage. It appears that the Twins are turning the right-handed hitting/throwing Rooker into a first baseman/DH after drafting him as an outfielder. In 39 games this season for Chattanooga he has played 21 games at first, 12 games as a DH and just 6 games if left field. We might just be looking at the Twins next first baseman. Rooker, who Baseball America has rated as the Twins seventh best prospect  is off to a slow start at Chattanooga this season just hitting .235 with a .270 OBP with just 4 home runs in 163 PA’s. The former Mississippi State outfielder was selected 35th overall in last year’s draft in Compensation Round A.

Graterol

Graterol made one start this week for the low-A Kernels, pitching 5.2 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and 10 strikeouts versus Quad Cities earning his first win of the season. Graterol threw 76 pitches, 55 for strikes. In 14.1 innings this year he has allowed just 8 hits, one walk and struck out 21 batters and has a 0.63 ERA. WOW! The right-hander is just 19 and was signed by the Twins for $150,000 on August 29, 2014 from Calabozo, Venezuela as part if their 2014 International signing group.

Graterol pitched in just four games in 2015 before tearing his UCL and under-going Tommy John surgery causing his to miss almost two seasons of baseball. Prior to this season Graterol has pitched just 51 innings of pro ball. Entering this season, Baseball America named Graterol the fourth best prospect in the Twins system. 

The Twins pitching prospect you didn’t know you wanted

Twins Minor League Report 052018

 

Twins Mr. Everything Passes Away

Francis Ralph Quilici was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 11, 1938 and passed away on May 14, 2018 in Burnsville, Minnesota from kidney disease complications. The out-going Frank Quilici always had a smile on his face and was always willing to talk baseball.

After high school Quilici went to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, but his stay there was short, just one semester due to financial difficulties. He returned to Chicago and got a job and continued playing ball. Frank caught a break when a scout told him he could help him walk-on to the baseball team at Western Michigan.

Quilici took advantage of the offer and his freshman roommate turned out to be none other than Jim Bouton. Quilici hit .400 his Junior year and was named second-team All-American. The New York Yankees offered Quilici a $28,000 signing bonus but Frank passed it up keeping his promise to his father that he would finish school. In his Senior year Quilici was named first team All-American with a .369 average. Western Michigan had some good baseball teams and finished fifth in the 1959 and 1961 seasons.

The Yankees lost interest in Quilici but Minnesota Twins scout Dick Wiencek who also signed Bert Blyleven, Graig Nettles, Dick Woodson and others quickly signed Quilici to  a $15,000 bonus after graduation and the Twins sent him off to the Class D- Appalachian League Wytheville Twins to start his pro career in 1961, There, Quilici played with future Twins like Tony Oliva, Jim Manning, Ted Uhlaender, and Bill Whitby. Quilici worked his way up through the Twins system with stops in places like Erie, Wilson, Charlotte, and Denver. Quilici, known more for his glove work than his bat,  spent the entire 1964 season with the AA Charlotte Hornets playing in 140 games and hitting a respectable .261 average with 25 doubles and 60 RBI. That season earned him his first spring training invite in 1965 with the parent club Minnesota Twins. 

Guido, as Frank was known, started the 1965 season with the AAA Denver Bears under manager Cal Ermer. Quilici was playing well in Denver in 1965 hitting .277 in July when the Twins came calling. The Twins had Jerry Kindall playing second base but he was hitting under .200 and then suffered a leg injury so Quilici was on his way to Minnesota to start his big league career. The Twins were losing to the California Angels 5-1 at Met Stadium in the first game of a double-header when Manager Sam Mele had Quilici enter the game as the second baseman in the top of the eighth inning. In his first big league at bat in the ninth inning off Bob Lee, Frank fouled out to the first baseman.

In the second game of the DH Quilici started at second base hitting lead-off and hit a double to left off Angels starter Ken McBride for his first big league knock and ended up scoring later in the inning on a bases loaded double by Bob Allison. 

Quilici’s first taste of the big leagues was one for the ages as the Minnesota Twins won the American League pennant and went on to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series and Frank went on to start at second base in all seven games. In game one, Quilici tied an MLB record when he had two hits (double and a single) off future Hall of Fame Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale in the third inning when the Minnesota lads scored six times and went on to an 8-2 win.

Quilici spent all of 1966 with the AAA Denver Bears where he played for manager Cal Ermer. Ermer said that Quilici was a “winner” and when Ermer replaced the fired Sam Mele as Twins skipper early in 1967 it didn’t take Ermer long to bring Frank up to the big leagues again but now as more in a utility player role. Quilici played for Minnesota through the 1970 season and appeared briefly in the 1970 ALCS series against the Baltimore Orioles.

On the eve of the 1971 season the Minnesota Twins released the soon-to-be 32-year-old Frank Quilici but his tenure with the Twins organization did not end as Twins owner Calvin Griffith offered him a job as a Twins coach under manager Bill Rigney. On July 6, 1972 Twins owner Calvin Griffith sent Bill Rigney packing after a 36-34 start to the 1972 season and moved the 33-year-old Quilici into the managers seat where he would be the youngest manager in baseball. Frank Quilici managed the Twins to a 280-287 record from 1972-1975 before he too was let go by Griffith. But Frank didn’t go far as he was hired as a broadcaster to team up with the great Herb Carneal to do Twins games on the radio from 1976-1977 and again from 1980-1982. After that Quilici took a position at Western Diversified Insurance where he would go on to become a VP. Baseball and the Twins called him back in 1987 to team up with Dick Bremer to do some Twins TV broadcasting.

Frank Quilici remained a Minnesota Twins ambassador and a baseball fan his entire life and devoted a lot of his time to the community and charitable causes. Frank had a kidney transplant in 2012 and was honored with the Kirby Puckett Award for Alumni Community Service in 2013 for his passion in promoting organ donorship. He was also a former member of the board of directors for the Twins Community Fund, the Killebrew Foundation and a number of other boards.

Frank Quilici is survived by his wife Lila and children, Kelly, Kolleen, Tony and Nick and numerous grand-children.

I had a few opportunities to work with and talk with Frank for some interviews I did with him back in 2009 when I first met him and he was a wonderful person who loved baseball and most of all loved life and enjoyed his time with family and friends to the very end. We will all miss you Frank Quilici!

Frank Quilici Obituary

Frank Quilici Obituary

Minnesota Twins Press Release

SABR Bio

Frank Quilici article by Pat Reusse