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Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/12): Mad Maxes

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Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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In a first here this season in the Twins Minor League Reports, we are going to have a Vote for Hitter of the Day. Max Kepler and Max Murphy both had big days for their respective teams. Read today’s articles, the contributions of each and then please vote for your hitter of the day in the comments section below.

 

One team’s winning streak ended. One batter’s hitting streak was extended. There were two extra innings games; one of them ended on a walk-off home run.Continue reading for all of the news and notes from a full, five-game night in the Twins minor league system. And then, be sure to vote in the comments for your hitter of the day.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 0, Toledo 8

Box Score

 

Taylor Rogers has been terrific all season. He started this game with four shutout innings. However, in the fifth inning, he had his first really rough inning of the season. He gave up five runs in the inning, the big hit being a grand slam. Overall, he went five innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out seven.

 

Lester Oliveros struck out two in a perfect sixth inning. Caleb Thielbar had a one, two, three inning. Tim Stauffer made his first rehab appearance and got two groundouts and a fly out. Ryan O’Rourke gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in the ninth inning. He struck out two.

 

There wasn’t much offense for the Red Wings on this night. They had just four hits. Argenis Diaz had two hits. James Beresford had the lone extra-base hit, a double.

 

The Red Wings fall to 17-14 on the season.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 2, Birmingham 3 (8 innings)

Game 1 – Box Score

 

Knowing that the team would be going with a bullpen game in the second game, Tyler Duffey needed to pitch deep into game one of the double header. He did just that. He pitched seven innings. He was charged with two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out five. However, the game was tied after seven innings, so Zack Jones came in to start the eighth inning. On a 1-1 pitch to the first batter he faced, he gave up a game-ending home run to Joey DiMichele.

 

The Lookouts had just six hits in the game. Max Kepler went 2-3 with his fifth double. Miguel Sano doubled for the sixth two-base hit of the season.

 

Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 0

Game 2 – Box Score

 

When a minor league team goes with a bullpen game, you never know what you’re going to get. In this game, manager Doug MIentkiewicz got everything he could have hoped for. Madison Boer made the start and worked the first three innings without allowing a run. He gave up just one hit and struck out five. Cole Johnson came on to pitch the next two innings. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out two. D.J .Johnson came on and got his second save of the week. He worked the final two innings. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two.

 

The Lookouts had seven hits in the second game. Max Kepler again led the way. He went 3-3 and added two stolen bases. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with his sixth double and his sixth stolen base.

 

In the two games, Sano went 1-6. Byron Buxton was 0-8 on the day. His streak of consecutive games with an RBI ended at ten.

 

In his first seven games with the Lookouts, Max Kepler hit just .185. In his ten games since, he is hitting .432 (16-37). Overall, he is now hitting .328.

 

With the split, the Lookouts record now stands at 19-13.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 4, Dunedin 2

Box Score

 

The Miracle had a winning streak end on Monday but put another one in the win column on Tuesday. Alex Swim extended his hitting streak to 16 games with another 2-4 game. He is hitting .411 (30-73) in that stretch. It was his fifth multi-hit game in his last six games. He is now hitting .349 on the season.

 

Swim wasn’t the only hitter to contribute to the Miracle win. Zach Granite was 0-1, but he walked twice, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases. Chad Christensen went 2-4 with a steal. Michael Quesada went 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Mitch Garver went 2-3 with a walk and his first stolen base of the season. Michael Quesada went 2-3 and was hit by a pitch.

 

Aaron Slegers started for the Miracle and worked the first five innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out six batters and got seven groundouts. Brandon Peterson struck out two over two scoreless innings. J.T. Chargois struck out two in the eighth inning. Todd Van Steensel recorded his fourth save, striking out two in the ninth frame.

 

The Miracle are now 15-17 on the season.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 5 (11 innings)

Box Score

 

It took 11 innings, but the Kernels seven-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night.

 

Mat Batts started for the Kernels. He started with three scoreless innings. However, uncharacteristically, he lost his control starting in the fourth inning. He gave up just one run in the fourth despite giving up a single and walking three. He came out for the fifth inning, but after giving up a single, throwing a wild pitch and walking a batter, he was replaced by C.K. Irby who got out of the inning allowing only one run (one of Batts’ runners).

 

Irby went two innings and gave up no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out three. Mike Theofanopoulos worked a scoreless seventh inning. In the eighth inning, he got two outs, but there were two runners on when Cameron Booser was summoned from the bullpen. The power-lefty got a strikeout to end the threat and hold the Kernels lead.

 

Holding a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth, Booser gave up a single, a walk and a single to tie the game at two. He walked another but was able to get a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the inning with the game still tied. He came back to strike out the side in the 10th inning. Sam Clay pitched the 11th inning and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk to take the loss.

 

Max Murphy was the hitting hero for the Kernels again. He hit a two-run homer (second of the year) in the fourth inning that temporarily gave the Kernels a lead. He added two doubles in the game as well and has five on the season. In his last nine games, Murphy has hit .474 (18-38) with four doubles, a triple and two home runs. Through the first 19 games of the season, he was hitting just .173 (13-75). After Tuesday, he is hitting .274 overall.

 

Zack Larson went 2-5 with his fourth double. Rainis Silva hit his second double. The Kernels had ten hits, but they also struck out 19 times in the 11-inning game.

 

The seven-game winning streak came to an end, but the Kernels are still 20-12 on the season.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Madison Boer, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Twins Daily Vote (Please vote in the Forum below. Here are the candidates):

 

Max Kepler – Chattanooga Lookouts (5-6, 2B, 2 SB)

Max Murphy – Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 2-2B, HR)

 

 

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Toledo @ Rochester (12:35 CST) – LHP Tommy Milone

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (11:00 am CST) – RHP JO Berrios

Dunedin @ Ft. Myers (9:35 am CST) – RHP Chih-Wei Hu

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 CST) – RHP John Curtiss

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Tuesday games.

 

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clutterheart First Round Pick

clutterheart

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Max Murphy has got my vote! He's one of my favorite minor leaguers.

 

Really?  Why?  He is a an OK filler type but....he is 22 repeating Low A with a .761 OPS.  I get the fact there is not a lot to be excited about in the position players at Cedar Rapids but what about him makes you excited?

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clutterheart First Round Pick

clutterheart

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Murphy was just drafted last year and spent a month in Cedar Rapids. That's not'repeating' in my opinion. It'a like saying Berrios was 'demoted' to AA this year after finishing last year in AAA.

Murphy has all the tools. There is a LOT to like about hom.

 

As a 4 year college  21 year old he had 32 games in Low A and posted a .709 OPS.  Now he is at the same level again but one year older and played 28 games and has a .761 OPS.

Those stats are not great for a low A corner outfielder with his age/experience level.

 

I am sure he has a good backstory and he is fine organizational filler.  I was just surprised someone would call him a "favorite" because for me, it would be surprising if he makes it to AA.  - I hope I am wrong!

 

 

Edited by clutterheart
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Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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As a 4 year college  21 year old he had 32 games in Low A and posted a .709 OPS.  Now he is at the same level again but one year older and played 28 games and has a .761 OPS.

Those stats are not great for a low A corner outfielder with his age/experience level.

 

I am sure he has a good backstory and he is fine organizational filler.  I was just surprised someone would call him a "favorite" because for me, it would be surprising if he makes it to AA.  - I hope I am wrong!

 

It's also OK to have 'favorites' who aren't the top prospects. 

 

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TRex Draft Eligible

TRex

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Murphy!

 

I go with Seth's philosophy on 'Hitter of the Month'... that it is stat-based and not prospect-based.

 

However, how can you not be excited to see Kepler on such a hot streak! I think the one thing that was always hinted at, but was never on view for a full season, is that Kepler's 'sweet' left-handed swing would allow him to compete for batting (average) titles.

 

He and Oswaldo Arcia are polar opposites (IMHO). Arcia has a violent swing and will definitely produce power, but his 'Kirby-esque' ability to put the bat on the ball allows for the potential of a high batting average. Kepler, however, has a more balanced swing but also has the size to develop a great deal of power (remember, the MLB player he likens his game to is Josh Hamilton).

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Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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I've said it before, but Max Kepler reminds me so much of Justin Morneau. Height/Weight wise, but even just looks. Left-handed bats. Sweet, but powerful swings.

 

Kepler is much more athletic. He can really run at his size. It is nice to see some numbers show up and kind of validate that it's not just tools but he's really talented.

 

As for Max Murphy, he's a borderline top 30 Twins prospect for me. I know there are some (I'm looking at you Jeremy!) who have him ranked much higher. He's definitely a sleeper and one to watch.

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nater79a Draft Eligible

nater79a

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Berrios pitching an absolute gem through 5 innings so far. 0R, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks and on only 55 pitches. Nice to see. 

 

Next couple innings are key for Berrios.  It's where he's been running into trouble on occasion.

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bulldozier14 Prep Ball

bulldozier14

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Next couple innings are key for Berrios.  It's where he's been running into trouble on occasion.

Agreed. I'm watching, and he handled the 6th very well- just gave up a hit on a weakly hit ball to left. I'm pretty sure the radar gun is broken because it randomly flashes numbers like 134, but if not he's sitting around 88-90 with the fastball. Seems odd. 

 

He's at 71 after 6 and made it through the 8th last start. Good chance he does again, which is awesome. 

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Steve Lein Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

Steve Lein

Twins Daily Contributor
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I've said it before, but Max Kepler reminds me so much of Justin Morneau. Height/Weight wise, but even just looks. Left-handed bats. Sweet, but powerful swings.

 

Kepler is much more athletic. He can really run at his size. It is nice to see some numbers show up and kind of validate that it's not just tools but he's really talented.

 

Love Kepler, one of my favorites to track. Have since watching him outplay everyone on the diamond for a week down in Spring Training a few years ago.

 

And this was on the Beloit roster that had Sano, Vargas, and Rosario. And Kepler didn't even end up playing on that roster that season.

 

http://twitpic.com/8zswq4

 

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