Tag: John Curtiss

Looking at Minnesota Twins drafts this century

With the June Amateur Free Agent draft just a month or so away maybe it is time to look back and see who the Twins have drafted this century that has made an impact on the Minnesota Twins major league team. We all know that very few prospects make it to the big leagues and even fewer are stars, here is how the Twins have fared. Keep this in mind before you get overly excited about the Twins picks in this years drafts.

 

Twins draft choices since 2000

 

2000 draft – 52 drafted, 30 signed and 5 put on a Minnesota Twins uniform

Best Twins player – Jason Kubel (OF) was a 2nd round selection picked out of high school and debuted on August 31, 2004 and had a career WAR of 4.1. RETIRED

Wore a Twins uniform briefly – Josh Rabe (OF), J.D. Durbin (RHP), Adam Johnson RHP was 1st rounder and second pick overall) and Jason Miller (LHP)

2001 draft – 50 drafted, 33 signed, 3 put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and 1 played in big leagues for another team

Joe Mauer

Best Twins players – Joe Mauer (C) a Minnesota native was the number one overall pick out of Cretin High School and he debuted on April 5, 2004 and played with Minnesota throughout his career that ended after the 2018 season. Won an MVP, six time All-Star, five time Silver Slugger, three time Batting Champion and three time Gold Glove winner. Career WAR of 55.0. RETIRED

Best Twins players – Nick Blackburn was a collegiate right-handed pitcher drafted in round 29 and debuted on September 7, 2007. Blackburn pitched his entire career for the Twins from 2007-2012. RETIRED with a 3.1 career WAR.

Wore a Twins uniform briefly –  Jose Morales (drafted as a shortstop but switched to catcher).

Played in big leagues for another team – Kevin Cameron (RHP).

Continue reading Looking at Minnesota Twins drafts this century

What have the last ten years of Twins drafts produced

In the last ten years the Twins have had four winning seasons and made the playoffs three times but in those seven play-off games their record is 0-7. So why the dry spell after the Twins had winning teams in 7 of 9 years before that? 

If you look at the Twins drafts from 2009 thru current you might find your answer. The way baseball works you can’t expect your draft choices to produce in the big leagues for three or four years and it has been that way since who knows when. That baffles me because the NFL takes it players straight out of college, some after just three seasons and the next year they are professionals in the NFL. The NBA does it the same way but takes the cream of the crop college players after just one collegiate season and moves them to the pros. Baseball on the other hand is convinced that players out of high school or college can’t play in the big leagues. Oh, a handful of them have but for the most part you have to spend a few years in the minors and work you way up the ladder. 

Continue reading What have the last ten years of Twins drafts produced

Twins organization All-Stars by MiLB.com

Stephen Gonsalves (Credit: Brian McLeod/MiLB.com)

A lot of our readers are not only interested in the Minnesota Twins history but also want to know something about the Twins future, so now and then we throw them a bone and point them to a story that caught our fancy and maybe it is something they too might enjoy.

In the “Down on the Farm” section on the right hand side of the home page is a headline that reads “Twins’ Gonsalves, Curtiss ready to contribute“, it is nice piece by MiLB.com about Minnesota Twins prospects that are getting close to putting on a Twins uniform or may have already worn out briefly. The article puts together a Twins organization All-Stars about players in the Twins farm system that have stood out in 2017. If you have any interest in the Twins future you might want to check this story out.

If you want to check out Organization All-Stars for the other MLB teams, go here. The “Down on the Farm” headlines are often very interesting and it might be something that you might enjoy looking at if you have not done so.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week – John Curtiss

John Curtiss

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) right-handed pitcher John Curtiss has been named Twins minor league Player of the Week. Curtiss saved three games for the Lookouts, pitching 3.0 scoreless innings with one walk and six strikeouts in three games. The Dallas native was drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas and signed for a reported $266,900 signing bonus.

Here is what one scouting report has to say about John Curtiss:

The former Texas Longhorns closer put together 61 strong innings in 2016, primarily at High A Fort Myers, and followed-up his regular season campaign with a solid AFL performance that saw him strike out almost two batters per innings pitched. Curtiss can work 95-to-97 mph with good life down in the zone and will also show a mid- to upper-80s slider that will flash. The arm generally works well and our looks in the AFL prompted a Joe Nathan (RHP, Giants) comp on the strapping righty. While control has been an issue in the past, Curtiss tightened up his execution in 2016. If he can maintain that his momentum heading into 2017 he could emerge as a quality late-inning arm for the Twins, logging innings in Minneapolis as early as this upcoming summer.

In 2017 the 6’4″ Curtiss has pitched 17+ innings and allowed just one run (unearned), allowed 10 hits and struck out 25 batters. The downside about Curtiss is that he has walked 10 batters. Unless he falls apart or gets hurt, you have to figure on seeing John Curtiss at Target Field this year, at least for a cup of coffee in September.

Medi-facts –  Underwent Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2012 and sat out the entire 2013 season while at Texas. Missed much of the 2015 season with a concussion.

Twins Minor League Report 05292017

An interesting read about Rochester manager Mike Quade and batting orders today in the Democrat & Chronicle: Baseball managers use Sabermetrics to construct batting order

Twins minor leaguer’s Arizona bound

AFL 25 Years Logo_FNL2016 Arizona Fall League participants were announced a couple of days ago, the Twins will be sending catcher Mitch Garver, outfielder Tanner English, infielder Nick Gordon, right-handed pitcher John Curtiss and left-handed pitchers Mason Melotakis and Randy Rosario. Ivan Arteaga will serve as pitching coach and the Twins players will be part of the Surprise Saguaros along with players from the Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, and Pirates and will start play on October 11 versus Mesa.

There are six teams in the Arizona Fall League: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros. The roots of the Arizona Fall League go back several years, when the Major Leagues wanted to create an easily accessed off-season league. A concern was that some of the best ball players left to play winter ball out of the country, such as in the Caribbean and there was no way to monitor them.

Major League Baseball created a league that it could govern and monitor, it would be better organized. If a player was injured, proper care and treatment would be on hand. With the Arizona Fall League, managers, coaches, scouts and league officials could participate.

2016 Arizona Fall League Schedule

UPDATE: Stephen Gonsalves was added as a Twins participant.