Tag: Fort Myers Mighty Mussles

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 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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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 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 announce 2021 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year

In a Press Release this morning the Minnesota Twins announced that infielder Jose Miranda has been named the 2021 Sherry Robertson Award winner as the Twins Minor League Player of the Year and right-handed pitcher Louie Varland has been named the 2021 Jim Rantz Award winner as the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

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Twins Minor League POW are Alex Isola and Cade Povich

The week 19 Minnesota Twins Players of the week are catcher Alex Isola with High-A Cedar Rapids and Low-A Fort Myers LHP Cade Povich. The 2021 baseball season is winding down but players continue to show their stuff.

Alex Isola was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 29th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX). Signing bonus was reported as $70,000.

Isola, 23, played in five games for the Kernels, hitting .417 (10-for-24) with five home runs, eight RBI, a 1.042 slugging percentage and a 1.458 OPS. The California native homered in four of the five games, including a two-homer game on Friday at Wisconsin. For the season Isola is slashing .247/.351/.435 with 17 homers and 51 RBI in 93 games.

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Twins Minor League POW are Christian Encarnacion-Strand & David Festa

Week 18 brings us another week closer to the end of the 2021 baseball season but we still have players playing their hearts out. This weeks Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Low-A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3B/1B Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Rookie level pitcher David Festa.

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Twins Minor League POW are Jose Miranda & Sawyer Gipson-Long

In week 9, the Minnesota Twins have named AAA St. Paul infielder Jose Miranda and Low-A Fort Myers right-handed pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long as the Twins minor league Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week — both repeat winners. This starting to be a habit for Miranda.

Miranda

Jose Miranda split the week between the AAA St. Paul Saints and AA Wichita Wind Surge, earning the promotion to St. Paul on Monday. In his Triple-A debut on Tuesday vs. Omaha, he went 5-for-6 with one double, three home runs and six RBI. He combined to hit .407 (11-for-27) with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI in six games. The Manatí, Puerto Rico native was selected by the Twins in the second round (73rd overall) out of Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo, PR. This is actually the fourth time that Miranda has been the Twins Player of the week in 2021. MLB now has Miranda listed as the 16th best Twins prospect in their MLB Pipeline. For those of you that have not heard, Yes, Twins prospect Jose Miranda is the cousin of Lin-Manuel Miranda — the famous actor and playwright. No, Jose Miranda hasn’t seen his cousin’s best-known work, “Hamilton.”

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