Tag: Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins minor league players of the week – Diaz and Cabezas

High A Ft. Myers Miracle first baseman Lewin Diaz and Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Andrew Cabezas have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Ft. Myers Miracle Lewin Diaz (11) bats in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., Sunday, May 5, 2019. (Gordon Donovan)

Diaz played in six games for the Miracle, hitting .333 (9-for-27) with one double, three home runs, six RBI and a 1.037 OPS. Diaz, 22, was signed out of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic in July of 2013 for reported $1.4 million.  Actually all three of his home runs this week came in one game when he became the first Miracle player to ever hit three home runs in a single game. Diaz played in 79 games for the Miracle in 2018 hitting six home runs with a batting average of  just .224 along with an OPS of .598. In his second go around this year, he has appeared in 32 games hitting six home runs while putting up an average of .322 and an .881 OPS. I saw him this past January doing extra work at the ballpark long before spring training started. The man can hit the ball a long way and his first base play is coming along very nicely. 

Cabezas made the start on Wednesday versus Quad Cities, pitching 7 shutout innings with one hit allowed, no walks and nine strikeouts. Cabezas Collars Bandits in Combined Shutout . Cabezas, 22, was drafted by the Twins in the 18th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Miami and signed for a reported $90,000 according to Twins Daily.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 5-19-19

Twins minor league players of the week are Cabbage & Graterol

Trey Cabbage

Low A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Trey Cabbage and AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol are the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The soon to be 22 year old Cabbage hit .333 in 27 plate appearances this past week with a triple, three home runs, nine RBI and scored eight times. Cabbage also walked six times and struck out the same number of times. Cabbage was drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2015 June Amateur Draft out of Grainger High School in Rutledge, Tennessee as a third baseman but is currently playing corner outfield positions. Andrew Vasquez a LHP remains the only player drafted by the Twins in 2015 to make an appearance in the big leagues to this point. I would expect that Cabbage will be moving up to the A+ Miracles soon.

Brusdar Graterol

Graterol made the start for the Blue Wahoos on Tuesday at Biloxi, pitching 7 shutout innings with one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts. The 20-year-old Calabozo, Venezuela native has gone 1-0, 0.52 ERA (17.1 IP, 1 ER) with six walks, 18 strikeouts and a .121 opponent batting average in three starts for the Wahoos this season.

According to MLB Pipeline Graterol is the Twins third best overall prospect and top pitching prospect who is on a fast track to Minnesota. The Twins signed Graterol out of Venezuela when he was 16 years old for $150,000 as part of their 2014 international class. He was just a teen throwing in the high 80s at the time, nothing special. In February of 2015, they assigned him to the Dominican Summer League. He lasted four starts until he tore his UCL and underwent Tommy John surgery. Here is the rest of the story.

 

Twins Minor League Report, 4-21-19

 

 

 

Twins minor league pitcher Alex Schick suspended 50 games

Alex Schick

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced yesterday that three Minor League players have been suspended following their violations of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

One of the three was Minnesota Twins Minor League pitcher Alex Schick, who is currently on the roster of the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League, has received a 50-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Amphetamine, a stimulant in violation of the Program.

Schick is a 24-year-old RHP drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 2016 June amateur free agent draft and signed for a reported $400,000. Schick last pitched in 2017 for Cedar Rapids and spent 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Alex Kirilloff named player of the month in FSL

Alex Kirilloff credit Getty Images

Minor League Baseball announced the Player of the Month Award winners for each of the 16 leagues for the month of July. A+ Ft. Myers outfielder Alex Kirilloff led the Florida State League in average (.396), hits (40), total bases (62), extra-base hits (16), slugging (.614) and OPS (1.036) and he finished second in runs (20) and third in RBI (20). Kirilloff had 13 multi-hit games in July, including six straight, and had a 13-game hitting streak from July 13–29. He also won the Midwest League Player of the Month Award in May with Cedar Rapids. Kirilloff, 20, was selected by the Twins in the first round (15th overall) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Plum High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Is it possible that Kirilloff who turns 21 in November makes his first appearance in a Twins uniform in 2019? Don’t forget that he missed all of 2017 with TJ surgery and only has 635 AB’s on his professional resume.

Twins minor league players of the week – LaMonte Wade & Bailey Ober

The Twins have named AAA Rochester Red Wings outfielder LaMonte Wade and Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Bailey Ober minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

LaMonte Wade

Wade played in six games for the Red Wings, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with two triples, two home runs, four RBI, two walks and a .440 on-base percentage. Wade started the season in Chattanooga where he hit .298 with 7 home runs, 27 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 171 PA’s. I should also note that he had 26 walks as compared to 20 strikeouts, a rare plus now days. So far in Rochester Wade is hitting .261 with 3 homers and 11 RBI in 109 PA’s and his walks still outnumber his KO’s. The 24-year old Wade is in his fourth season of pro ball and was a ninth round selection by the Twins in the 2015 June draft from the University of Maryland.  

Bailey Ober

Ober made one start for the Kernels, coming on Thursday vs. Wisconsin, allowing one run on three hits in 7.0 innings pitched with no walks and 12 strikeouts, earning the win. The soon to be (July 12) 24-year old right-handed Ober has spent all season in Cedar Rapids and has a 5-1 record with a 4.87 era in 11 starts. The 6’8″ 215 pound Ober has 64 strikeouts in 57.1 innings but he has also given up 60 hits. The Twins 12th round selection in 2017 from the College of Charleston already has a Tommy John surgery on his resume that caused him to miss the 2015 season while in Charleston.

 

Sean Miller

MLB announced on July 7 that  third baseman Sean Miller of the Minnesota Twins has been suspended for 50 games under baseball’s minor league drug program following second positive tests for drugs of abuse. Miller 23, was a 10th-round draft pick in 2015 and is on the roster of Chattanooga of the Double-A Southern League, where he is hitting .220
with one homer and eight RBIs in 150 at-bats. He started the season at Double-A, and batted .091 with one RBI in 10 games with Triple-A Rochester of the Triple-A International League, then was sent back down in late May.

 

Twins Minor League Report 070818

Twins minor league players of the week – Caleb Hamilton & Bryan Sammons

The Twins have named High-A Ft. Myers Miracle infielder Caleb Hamilton and Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels left-handed pitcher Bryan Sammons minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Caleb Hamilton

The 23-year-old Hamilton played in four games for the Miracle, hitting .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and five runs scored. Hamilton was the Twins 23rd round pick out of Oregon State University in 2016 and was selected as a shortstop. The Twins turned Hamilton into a catcher in 2017 and that is now his primary position although you can also find him at third base and first base. Last year he caught, pitched an inning and played every position but center and right field. In 185 career games Hamilton has a .211 batting average.

Bryan Sammons

The 6’4″ lefty Sammons made one start for the Kernels on Monday against Beloit, pitching 8.0 shutout innings with five hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. The 23-year-old Sammons attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  In 12 starts this season Sammons is 4-4 with a 2.69 ERA and has allowed just 56 hits in 67 innings while striking out 58 batters. Sammons gave up 5 earned runs in his first start of the season but has given up 3 or less in every star since. Sammons was an eighth round Twins selection in 2017 and signed for a reported $10,000. Looks like the Twins might have gotten a bargain here.

 

Twins Minor League Report 063018

Twins minor league players of the week – Robby Rinn and Jordan Balazovic

The Twins have named Single-A Cedar Rapids first baseman Robby Rinn and Single-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Robby Rinn

In four games for the Kernels, Robby Rinn hit .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, one home run, three RBI and scored five runs. Rinn, now 25 was drafted by Kansas City in the 25th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and was acquired via trade this past May in exchange for cash.

Jordan Balazovic

Jordan Balazovic, 19,  who was recently assigned to Cedar Rapids made one start for the week, coming Monday at Wisconsin, allowing one run on three hits in 7.0 innings pitched and 11 strikeouts. The 6’4″ Oakville, Ontario native is a right-hander and was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and signed for a reported $515,000. Twins Daily did a nice piece on Balazovic that is worth checking out.

 

Twins Minor League Report 061718.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

 

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

Twins minor league players of the week – Royce Lewis & Stephen Gonsalves

The Twins have named Single-A Cedar Rapids shortstop Royce Lewis ML Player of the Week and Triple-A Rochester left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves ML Pitcher of the Week.

Royce Lewis

Royce Lewis hit .304 (7-for-23) with four runs and four RBI in four games for the Kernels (had 4-hit game previous week). For the season, Lewis is hitting .316 with one double, one home run and 10 RBI. 

Lewis, who was ranked Baseball America’s top prospect in the Twins system, was drafted by the Twins first overall in last June’s MLB Draft out of JSerra Catholic High School (San Juan Capistrano, CA). According to MLB.com (Jim Callis) Lewis signed a deal for $6.725 million, a record for a high school player. Lewis is represented by Scott Boras. The 6’2″ right-handed Lewis will turn 19 on June 5.

Gonsalves, a 6’5″ left-hander was promoted from Double-A Chattanooga this week to AAA Rochester, made one start for the Lookouts on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits in 5.0 innings pitched with nine strikeouts. In Chattanooga, Gonsalves was 3-0 in 4 starts with a 1.77 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. 

Stephen Gonsalves

Gonsalves, Baseball America’s fourth best prospect in the Twins system,
was drafted in the fourth round in 2013 out of Cathedral Catholic High School (San Diego, CA).

I think that Gonsalves will be a star sooner than later and I fully expect him to be a starter in the Twins rotation this season. He is going to be a “good” one, the only reason the Twins were able to get him in the fourth round was because of this issue.

 

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