Tag: Pensacola Blue Wahoos

Twins minor league players of the week – Kirilloff & Ober

The Twins have announced that outfielder Alex Kirilloff and Bailey Ober have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Alex Kirilloff

Kirilloff, 21, played in seven games for Double-A Pensacola this week, hitting .444 (12-for-27) with one double, one home run, five RBI and a 1.075 OPS. Kirilloff was drafted by the Twins in round one and 15th overall in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and represented the Twins at the SiriusXM Futures Game in Cleveland this summer.

Kirilloff is in his fourth season of pro ball but he missed all of 2017 due to TJ surgery. The slugging left-hander has never hit below .306 in the pro’s but is hitting only .282 this year after injuries early in the season hampered his swing. A star in the making, I’m sure we would all love to see a sneak peak of Alex at Target Field this season but I think that is unlikely to happen, next year at some point for sure.

Bailey Ober

Ober, 24, made one start for the Blue Wahoos on Wednesday at Mississippi, pitching 7 shutout innings with three hits, no walks and 12 strikeouts. In his two starts at Pensacola, the big 6’9″ right-hander is 2-0 with 14 innings pitched, 20 KO’s, 5 hits allowed, 1 walk and 1 earned run allowed.

Ober was drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of College of Charleston.

Twins Minor League Report, 8-25-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Larnach & Balazovic

Trevor Larnach (click on image to make larger)

Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week honors have been announced and  AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Trevor Larnach and High-A Ft. Myers Miracle right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic have been named.

In five games for the Miracle, Larnach hit .412 (7-for-17) with two home runs, five RBI, four walks and a 1.289 OPS. The 22-year-old was selected by the Twins 20th overall in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon State University. After signing with Minnesota the left-handed hitting Larnach started with rookie league Elizabethton and finished the season with Low-A Cedar Rapids. This year he started in High-A Ft. Myers and was promoted in mid-July to AA Pensacola. At the present rate on the fast track I would expect Larnach to at least make an appearance for the Twins in 2020.

Jordan Balazovic – click on image to make it larger)

Balazovic made the start on Thursday vs. Jupiter, pitching 5 shutout innings with two
hits allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts. The 20-year-old 6’5″ right-hander was selected by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Martin SS in Mississauga, Ontario. Balazovic pitched one perfect inning at the SiriusXM Futures Game this July at Progressive Field.

Balazovic carving path into Twins’ Future

 

Twins Minor League Report, 8-11-19

Twins minor league players of the week – Celestino & Colina

Twins have named Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Gilberto Celestino and  AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos right-handed pitcher Edwar Colina Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Gilberto Celestino

In six games for the Kernels, Celestino hit .385 (10-for-26) with three doubles, one home run, four RBI, one walk with a 1.023 OPS. Celestino had a rough April but has been coming on since then. This year in 369 AB’s he is hitting .249 with 6 home runs and 39 RBI. The 20-year old right-handed hitting Celestino is already in his fourth season of pro ball. Celestino was acquired by the Twins along with right-handed pitcher Jorge Alcala near the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Pressly.

Edwar Colina

Colina made his first AA start on Thursday for the Blue Wahoos against the Mobile BayBears, pitching 7 innings (CG), allowing one unearned run with three hits allowed, one walk and 10 strikeouts. Colina was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent at the end of September in 2015. Keep an eye on Colina….

Lewis goes yard again in Miracle’s win – Top Twins prospect provides support for righty Colina’s gem

Twins Minor League Players of the Week – Davis & Thorpe

AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos outfielder Jaylin Davis and AAA Rochester left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe have been named Twins minor league player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jaylin Davis

In six games for the Blue Wahoos, Davis hit .407 (11-for-27) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a 1.148 OPS.

Davis, 24, and in his fourth season of pro ball was drafted by the Twins in the 24th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Appalachian State University. Jaylin Malik Davis was expected to be a top 3-4 round talent coming out of Appalachian State University but was unfortunate to tear the labrum in his right shoulder when diving after a ball during his draft season. Davis missed the rest of 2015 getting the shoulder repaired and letting it heal.

Lewis Thorpe

Thorpe, 23, made one start for the Red Wings on Tuesday vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing one run on three hits in 8.0 innings while striking out 12 batters for the second straight start. Thorpe got off to a rough starts this season allowing 15 runs in his first two starts that lasted a total of 8.2 innings. For the year Thorpe is 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA in 22.1 innings. 7 of his 8 walks this season were in his first two starts. 

Thorpe was signed in 2012 out of Melbourne, Australia at the age of 16 and is in his eighth season of pro ball but he missed 2015 and 2016 due to Tommy John surgery. Thorpe, the 6’2″ lefty was the Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year last season. I would expect Thorpe to make his major league debut with the Twins in 2019.

Wings’ Thorpe ties career high … again

 

Twins Minor League Report, 4-28-19

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 players of the week – Blankenhorn & Smeltzer

Travis Blankenhorn

The first 2019 Twins position player of the week is A+ Fort Myers Miracles infielder Travis Blankenhorn. Blankenhorn who is playing his fifth season of pro ball appeared in six games this past week hitting .300 with 6 hits in 24 PA’s including a double, a home run and 2 RBI. Blankenhorn also walked four times.  The 22-year-old Blankenhorn has already played second and third base as well as the left field this season.

Travis Blankenhorn was the Minnesota Twins third round draft choice in the 2015 June amateur draft. So far the only Twins draft choice to reach the big leagues from that draft is 32nd round selection LHP  Andrew Vasquez.

Devin Smeltzer

The first 2019 Twins pitcher of the week is LHP Devin Smeltzer of the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos. In his second start of the 2019 season Smeltzer threw 8.1 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8 and earning the win on just 85 pitches (65 strikes). So far this season Smeltzer is 2-0 in 3 starts and has allowed just one earned run in 18 innings on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 21 strikeouts.

Devin Smeltzer was a Los Angeles Dodgers 5th round pick in the 2016 June Amateur draft and traded to Minnesota along with outfielder Luke Raley, second baseman Logan Forsythe in the Brian Dozier deal on July 31, 2018. The Twins used Smeltzer in relief last season at Chattanooga after acquiring him from the Dodgers but this season he is doing what he likes best and that is starting.

Twins Minor League Report, 4-14-19