Tag: Marco Raya

Cespedes & Raya named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

On July 28th the Twins announced that High-A Cedar Rapids infielder Rubel Cespedes and Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week. Yes, I am behind again.

Rubel Cespedes was signed by the Twins out of the Dominican Republic as part of the 2019 international class. Cespedes spent 2019 & 2021 in the rookie league and then spent 2022 2023 in Low A ball. The 23 year old left-handed hitter is playing at first, second and third base but most of his time has been at the hot corner. Cespedes seems to be having a breakout season in 2024 and thus far is slashing .287/.359/.448. The Azua, Dominican Republic native Cespedes, played in six games for the Kernels, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with three home runs, eight RBI, three walks and a 1.264 OPS, including a two-homer game on Sunday vs. Wisconsin.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS (Laredo, TX). Raya had committed to Texas Tech but signed with the Twins instead for a bonus of $410,000. The Laredo, Texas native is ranked as the club’s eighth-best prospect by MLB.com and third best pitcher. For more info on Raya please go here. I think Raya could have an exciting future if he can stay healthy. Raya has not pitched more than 65 innings in pro ball but he is currently at 63.1 innings so hopefully he can be stretched out some this year. That said, the Twins treat him with kid gloves. Raya, 21, made the start on Friday at Amarillo, pitching a season-high 5.0 scoreless innings, with one hit allowed, no walks and five strikeouts. I believe this is his second pitcher of the week award this year.

Twins Minor League Report, 7-31-2024

Doncon & Raya named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers infielder Rayne Doncon and Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent SS Rayne Doncon to a minor league contract for a signing bonus of $497,500 in January of 2021. Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Manuel Margot and cash to the Minnesota Twins for Noah Miller (minors) on February 26, 2024. This past week Doncon, 20, played in six games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .304 (7-for-23) with four doubles, two RBI, five walks, a .414 on-base percentage and an .892 OPS. Doncon is a San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic native. Doncon hit 14 home runs in 2023 but struck out 103 times and hit just .213 in 473 PA’s. Photo credit to William Parmeter.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS (Laredo, TX). Raya had committed to Texas Tech but signed with the Twins instead for a bonus of $410,000. Raya, 21, made the start on Friday versus Tulsa, pitching 3 scoreless innings in a start, with two hits allowed, no walks and four strike-outs. He has now posted a 2.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 2 ER) with no walks and 11 strikeouts in three starts for the Wind Surge this season. The Laredo, Texas native is ranked as the club’s sixth-best prospect by MLB.com and fifth-best by Baseball America. For more info on Raya please go here. I think Raya could have an exciting future if he can stay healthy.

Twins-Minor-League-Report-4-19-2024

Twins minor league players of the week are Lee & Raya

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Double-A Wichita infielder Brooks Lee and Wichita right-handed pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week 15.

Brooks Lee was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (8th) of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, CA). Lee, whose draft slot was estimated to be worth $5.4 million, received a signing bonus worth $5.675 million. Lee’s scouting report is interesting and you can see it here. MLB Pipeline has Lee as the Twins top prospect and currently rated number 18 in MLB overall and is currently rated as the Twins best prospect. This is the second time Lee has won the award this season.

Lee, 22, who has been on a tear of late slashed .429/.429/.929 (6-for-14) with one double, two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored and a 1.357 OPS in three games for the Wind Surge. On the season, Lee’s slash line is .282/.361.468 . I would think that Lee will get a taste of playing some ball at Target Field before the 2023 comes to an end. I can’t wait to see him play in the bigs.


Surging Lee finding power stroke in Double-A

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Twins minor league players of the week are Marco Raya & Chris Williams

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Marco Raya and Triple-A St. Paul catcher/first baseman Chris Williams as their minor league Pitcher and Player of the Week for week eleven.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS in Laredo, Texas. Raya was committed to Texas Tech but signed with Minnesota instead for $410,000 according to MLB. Raya signed in 2020 but spent all of 2021 on the injured list with various injuries and didn’t throw his first pitch in a pro game until 2022. Raya has had one visit to the IL this season. MLB Pipeline has Raya as the Twins 6th best prospect. Go here of more info on Raya.

Raya, 20, made one start for the Kernels on Friday vs. South Bend, allowing one run on two hits in 3.0 innings pitched, with no walks and six strikeouts. Raya also had a 46% whiff rate. Seems the Twins have a close watch on his pitch count, he has not gone more than four innings in any game. B-R Game logs for 2023

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Twins minor league players of the week are Ricardo Olivar & Marco Raya

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers catcher/outfielder Ricardo Olivar and High-A Cedar Rapids pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week for week eight. Twins Rookie and DSL leagues begin play on June 5th.

The Barquisimeto, Venezuela native was signed by the Twins as an international free agent on July 8, 2019 for just $20,000. MLB Pipeline currently shows Olivar as the Minnesota Twins 26th best prospect. For more info on Olivar go here.

Olivar, 21, hit .600 for the week, including a home run, a double and a 1.600 OPS for the Mighty Mussels. On the season the right-handed hitting Olivar is slashing .282/.355/.422. The Twins have the 5’10” (176 lbs) Olivar playing catcher and outfielder and he has even played two games in centerfield.

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Twins fun facts from Twins 3/24 & 3/25 ST notes

SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 28th and 29th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games as the Twins and Braves will play a pair of split squad at Hammond Stadium and CoolToday Park in North Port. After today, one more game will be played at Hammond Stadium and two more games will be played on the road. The Twins will complete the exhibition season with a 1:05 pm (ET) game in Bradenton against the Pirates on Tuesday, March 28. After the game, they will fly to Kansas City, hold an optional team workout on March 29 then begin a three-game, four-day series at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2. Rocco Baldelli announced to the media how the starting five will open the season: for the Kansas City series – RHP Pablo López on Thursday, March 30 , RHP Sonny Gray on Saturday, April 1, RHP Joe Ryan on Sunday, April 2. For the Miami series – RHP Tyler Mahle
on Monday, April 3, RHP Kenta Maeda on Tuesday, April 4.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Below is a look at Baseball America’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1 Royce Lewis, 2 Brooks Lee, 3 Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4 Edouard Julien, 5 Connor Prielipp, 6, Matt Wallner, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Louie Varland, 9 David Festa, 10 Simeon Woods Richardson.

Below is a look at MLB’s top ten Twins prospects entering the 2023 season: 1. Brooks Lee, 2 Royce Lewis, 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, 4. Connor Prelipp, 5 Matt Wallner, 6 Simeon Woods Richardson, 7 Marco Raya, 8 Misael Urbina, 9 Matt Canterino, 10 Louie Varland.

PROSPECT SHOWCASE IN TAMPA: The Twins beat the Yankees yesterday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field by a score of 6-4. Pablo López was the starter in his final tuneup of the spring, allowing two runs on two hits in 3 innings pitched. Kenta Maeda made his final official spring appearance in relief, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with five strikeouts. Twins prospects Edouard Julien and Emmanuel Rodriguez both went 2-for-4 with a home run, as Rodriguez’s three-run jimmy jack gave the Twins a ninth inning lead and eventual victory.

Tomorrow’s pitchers: Minnesota: Sonny Gray (R), Cole Sands (R), Jorge Alcala (R), Jhoan Duran (R)
Boston: Chris Sale (L), Kaleb Ort (R), Richard Bleier (L), John Schreiber (R)

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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