Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/11): Ryan Eades' Best Professional Start

[Eric R Pleiss]

The Twins used an off-day on Thursday to make a couple of roster moves. Tim Stauffer was designated for assignment and Michael Tonkin was recalled to take his place. Eddie Rosario returned from the paternity list and Jorge Polanco was optioned back to Chattanooga to make room. The Twins start a series against the Texas Rangers on Friday evening.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders

Box Score

 

Danny Santana was 1-3 with a walk on Thursday. In three games at AAA Danny Santana has as many walks (1) as strike outs (1). Improvement! Unfortunately, even a productive Danny Santana at the top of the order did not do much to help the Red Wings. Danny Ortiz was 2-4 with a double, and old friend James Beresford led the way for Rochester on Thursday night. He was 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Beresford is having what could be the best season of his career, hitting .330 with an OBP over .370. He's riding an unsustainably high BABIP to get there, and he isn't showing any power (and never has), but he is playing well this year. If Brian Dozier hadn't turned into the current version of Brian Dozier over the past couple of seasons, you would probably have seen Beresford in Minneapolis by now.

Starting pitcher Tyler Duffey's record dropped to 0-4 with the loss on Thursday. He was tagged for seven runs, all earned, over five and a third. He gave up nine hits, walked one, and struck out one. His 5.64 ERA looks ugly, but he's made just four starts in AAA this year and this clunker moved his ERA up almost two full runs. After Duffey, Logan Darnell pitched one and two third scoreless before yielding to Ryan O'Rourke for the eighth inning. O'Rourke gave up a pair of runs, one earned, on three hits, but the game was already well out of hand.

 

Final: Red Wings 2, Railriders 9

 

LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

Chattanooga @ Birmingham Barons

Box Score

 

Byron Buxon remained hot, going 2-3 with a pair of walks and another triple, his twelfth of the year. The recently returned Jorge Polanco was back in the lineup and was 1-4 with a walk. Miguel Sano bopped a home run, his eleventh, and Max Kepler was 2-4 with a double. With all of those studs doing their job, it is surprising that the Lookouts only managed to score one run. The bottom of the lineup really hurt them on Thursday. The six through nine hitters were a combined 0-14 with four strikeouts on Thursday night.

 

Brett Lee was cruising through six scoreless innings until he ran into a seventh inning buzzsaw. In the seventh, Lee walked the leadoff hitter, who was then sacrificed over. After that, with one out, Lee gave up back-to-back-to-back singles and was replaced by Cole Johnson with runners on second and third, but only two runs in. Johnson gave up a single and a double to the next two hitters, allowing both inherited runners, plus one of his own, to score. Johnson then pitched a scoreless eighth, but the damage was done.

Final: Lookouts 1, Barons 5

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 1 (13 innings)

Box Score

 

Anytime you're playing a double-header, even with shortened 7-inning double- headers in minor league baseball, you hope to get a strong performance from your starting pitcher so you can save your bullpen for the second game. The Miracle received a great start from Ryan Eades. Seven innings, six hits, one run, one walk and seven strike outs for the starting pitcher. Eades' best start since the Twins drafted him out of LSU was not enough, as the Miracle scored only one run of their own. So into the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth innings the bullpen carried the Miracle. Brian Gilbert pitched 1.2 scoreless. Matt Summers did excellent work with 2.1 scoreless. Corey Williams pitched the twelfth and picked up the win when the Miracle scored in the top of the thirteenth, and Brandon Peterson picked up his third save of the year, striking out a pair of Flying Tigers to close out the game.

 

The Fort Myers hitters were stymied by the Lakeland pitchers, picking up just eight hits in 47 at-bats to go along with 15 strikeouts. Ryan Walker was the only Miracle hitter with multiple hits, 2-6 with a run scored. Marcus Knecht was 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout heading into the thirteenth when he roped a double to score Ryan Walker from first, giving the Miracle the decisive run.

Final: Miracle 2, Flying Tigers 1

 

Fort Myers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers - Game 2

Box Score

 

The Miracle had five more hits in six fewer innings of baseball in the bottom-half of the double header. Marcus Knecht rode his game-winning hit in the first game to a 2-4 game. Ryan Walker, who scored the winning run in the first game, also had a nice evening going 3-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Logan Wade, not to be outdone, was also 3-3 with a pair of runs scored, but he also had a double and three RBIs.

 

Kohl Stewart had a nice outing, despite a couple of defensive miscues that led to some unearned runs. Stewart pitched six innings, gave up only one earned run, walked three and struck out one. He picked up his second victory of the year for the Miracle to move to 2-4. Luke Westphal pitched the seventh, giving up a couple of hits, but preserving a four-run lead to give the Miracle a double-header sweep!

 

Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zummerman had this note on Twitter, "Tonight's total broadcast length was 7:17. Many people were still at work when the pregame started (4:40) and asleep when it ended (11:57).

 

The Miracle have now won five straight games and are 30-30.

 

Final: Miracle 7, Flying Tigers 3

 

KERNELS KORNER

Great Lakes Loons @ Cedar Rapids Kernels - Postponed

 

Sorry beer drinkers, rain will keep you from $2 beers on Thirsty Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts

Pitcher of the Day - Ryan Eades - Fort Myers Miracle

 

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

 

Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre - Lester Oliveros (2-1, 2.67) vs. Jose De Paula

 

Chattanooga @ Birmingham - Alex Wimmers (3-1, 5.58) vs. Tyler Danish

 

Fort Myers @ Bradenton - TBD vs. TBD

 

Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 1) - Grant Holmes vs. Dereck Rodriguez (0-1, 12.00)

Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (Game 2) - Joe Broussard vs. Keaton Steele (2-1, 4.79)

 

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[Mike Sixel]

Thanks for the update. The time for Buxton is now, imo.

[GACbaseball]

Great to see Stewart pitching well, but would love to see his strikeouts go up... not a great sign if he's not missing any bats in A ball

[nytwinsfan]

So is Polanco going to be able to stick at SS or what? Maybe it is just me, but this seems like the elephant in the room.

 

All these major league commentators who saw Polanco have one bad outing in the field (his first start ever in the majors) seem convinced he won't, but I honestly think their opinion is worthless. They haven't seen him play day in and day out, when he isn't incredibly nervous for his first start ever. I'm not saying he necessarily will stick at SS,and the number of errors he has racked up suggests he has work to do, but the rush to write him off seems way to quick to me. I just wish some of these commentators who focus almost exclusively on the major leagues would talk to some people who have followed Polanco in the minors this year, in order to get a better assessment based on a larger sample size. Moreover, even if Polanco's defense at SS ends up being subpar, are we convinced the loss of value there isn't more than made up by his offensive value? If Escobar regains last year's form, then sure, that makes more sense (I don't have high expectations for Santana). But otherwise, I'm not sure we have a better option. Polanco probably is ideally a plus second baseman, but with Dozier the Twins best hitter for the near (and possibly medium) term, and Polanco's skills generally undervalued by the market in terms of trade value, it isn't clear to me that keeping him at SS in the hopes that his defense will improve to serviceable isn't the best option.

 

I probably could have started a new thread about this topic, but I honestly think this might be the best place for it. If the moderators or site owners disagree, let me know and I can delete and repost as a separate thread.

[Mike Sixel]

who should those people talk to?

 

I do agree, 1 game is nothing to draw a conclusion from.....

[Seth Stohs]

 

Thanks for the update. The time for Buxton is now, imo.

 

I said on a radio interview that I will be surprised if it's more than two weeks.

[Seth Stohs]

Worrying about what Polanco did in a one-game call up is silly. He was likely excited, nervous, all that. 

 

Worrying about whether Polanco can stick at shortstop is legit but based on his play at the position starting last year when he was moved there full time. He's had a lot of errors and his arm strength has always been a question. 

 

That said, Dozier's at 2B, so they need to stick with Polanco at SS as long as they can. I always go back to David Eckstein. He was always good enough to play SS when he was young and made all the routine plays for a World Series championship team. Polanco can do that. 

[nytwinsfan]

 

    who should those people talk to?

    I do agree, 1 game is nothing to draw a conclusion from.....

 

Well, for one, the coaches at Chattanooga, but also scouts, and commentators, national or local, that follow the Lookouts. A number of people on this website have written about Polanco's defense. I can't find the thread where it happened, but I had a long discussion with someone on twins daily who had just seen Polanco play in person and thought his defense had improved immensely, and that many of his errors were mostly about poor decisions (e.g., rushing a throw when there was little chance to get the runner out, etc.). Obviously that is also a small sample size and not a professional scout, so it shouldn't be taken as gospel either.

 

I just find it frustrating that some of the same people who are always talking about how we shouldn't draw conclusions from small sample sizes, are the very same ones concluding that Polanco has no chance to stick at SS based on a very very very small sample size.

[clutterheart]

Stewart is getting a good amount of ground balls and if he could get a SO an inning he would be a great prospect.  

 

I have never seen him pitch but I would guess he is just throwing the ball and not pitching.  His good stuff forces batters to put a bad swing on the ball and get a lot of GB outs. As he meets better hitters that will bite him in the ass.  

 

His FIP is decent

His ERA is OK

His BB Rate is decent

He doesn't give up much HR

He is young enough but he has 156 IP in his career so the "inexperienced" excuse is going away

His K rate is pretty stinky

 

Basically Kohl has been a decent pitcher with stuff that the scouts love but he is not getting the results that befit his draft status.  I am not ready to throw in the towel on the guy but it would be nice to see him improve after the All-Star break (or his next start)

[nytwinsfan]

 

Basically Kohl has been a decent pitcher with stuff that the scouts love but he is not getting the results that befit his draft status.  I am not ready to throw in the towel on the guy but it would be nice to see him improve after the All-Star break (or his next start)

 

Has anyone (coach, etc.) given any explanation for why the strikeouts are so low? Is it lackluster velocity, movement, pitch selection? I agree it is definitely way too early to give up on him. For sure.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Well, for one, the coaches at Chattanooga, but also scouts, and commentators, national or local, that follow the Lookouts. A number of people on this website have written about Polanco's defense. I can't find the thread where it happened, but I had a long discussion with someone on twins daily who had just seen Polanco play in person and thought his defense had improved immensely, and that many of his errors were mostly about poor decisions (e.g., rushing a throw when there was little chance to get the runner out, etc.). Obviously that is also a small sample size and not a professional scout, so it shouldn't be taken as gospel either.

 

I just find it frustrating that some of the same people who are always talking about how we shouldn't draw conclusions from small sample sizes, are the very same ones concluding that Polanco has no chance to stick at SS based on a very very very small sample size.

 

so a random guy on the internet should reach out to minor league coaches and national scouts? is that realistic, in your mind?

[Mike Sixel]

 

Has anyone (coach, etc.) given any explanation for why the strikeouts are so low? Is it lackluster velocity, movement, pitch selection? I agree it is definitely way too early to give up on him. For sure.

 

too early to give up, not to early to be disappointed so far......but this is his 2nd year in life being dedicated to baseball. Next year, imo, is the year where it would make sense to either be thrilled, or quite worried.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Thanks for the update. The time for Buxton is now, imo.

7 game hitting streak and he's taking some walks.  If he keeps it up for another week, promote to AAA and see what he does against more advanced pitching.

[Linus]

 

So is Polanco going to be able to stick at SS or what? Maybe it is just me, but this seems like the elephant in the room.

 

All these major league commentators who saw Polanco have one bad outing in the field (his first start ever in the majors) seem convinced he won't, but I honestly think their opinion is worthless. They haven't seen him play day in and day out, when he isn't incredibly nervous for his first start ever. I'm not saying he necessarily will stick at SS,and the number of errors he has racked up suggests he has work to do, but the rush to write him off seems way to quick to me. I just wish some of these commentators who focus almost exclusively on the major leagues would talk to some people who have followed Polanco in the minors this year, in order to get a better assessment based on a larger sample size. Moreover, even if Polanco's defense at SS ends up being subpar, are we convinced the loss of value there isn't more than made up by his offensive value? If Escobar regains last year's form, then sure, that makes more sense (I don't have high expectations for Santana). But otherwise, I'm not sure we have a better option. Polanco probably is ideally a plus second baseman, but with Dozier the Twins best hitter for the near (and possibly medium) term, and Polanco's skills generally undervalued by the market in terms of trade value, it isn't clear to me that keeping him at SS in the hopes that his defense will improve to serviceable isn't the best option.

 

I probably could have started a new thread about this topic, but I honestly think this might be the best place for it. If the moderators or site owners disagree, let me know and I can delete and repost as a separate thread.

I think the concern specifically is arm strength, not that he won't clean up his fielding.  SS is a tough position and requires a set of skills that are pretty elite.  Its tough to be a good SS in the big leagues without a strong arm.  It changes your positioning, limits your range, just generally diminishes the number and variety of plays you can make.

[gunnarthor]

On Stewart, a few months ago Klaw mentioned in a chat that Stewart was really raw - more of a "thrower than a pitcher" was his phrase.  He said the Twins were doing "one hell of a job" with his development and, at the time, the fear of lack of strike outs wasn't anything to worry about.

 

I'm not sure if enough time has passed to change that view.  My thoughts are similar to clutter and mike - he's a good talent but really inexperienced.  He mostly played football and had enough natural ability in baseball to get by on working on it for 3 or 4 months a year.  Now he's playing against better competition and learning to pitch, rather than throw.  It's a learning curve.  I'm concerned about the strike outs but smarter people than me don't seem to be worried so let's just hope he stays healthy and continues to learn how to pitch.

[Steven Buhr]

 

too early to give up, not to early to be disappointed so far......but this is his 2nd year in life being dedicated to baseball. Next year, imo, is the year where it would make sense to either be thrilled, or quite worried.

I think that's fair, regarding Stewart. I wasn't at all concerned about the lack of Ks last year. I'm a little (but not a lot) more concerned that they haven't picked up this year. By next year, assuming he's in AA, if he's still not getting more Ks, I'll probably be more troubled by that.

 

Honestly, though, I'm more concerned that he has not been able to stay healthy in either of his first two years of full-season baseball. I don't know what the reasons are, whether it's just freak stuff that happens to pitchers at times, or whether it's something more likely to become a recurring issue through his career.

 

Guess I'm saying I have more faith in coaches being able to "cure" a low K rate than I have in medical science being able to cure consistent arm problems.

[jokin]

Thanks for the update. The time for Buxton is now, imo.

7 game hitting streak and he's taking some walks.  If he keeps it up for another week, promote to AAA and see what he does against more advanced pitching.

Yep. I would have started a "Byron Buxton How Soon Is Now?" thread, except I generally assumed that that was obvious (based on the dissension to that premise in the major league thread... and I guess in this thread, seems I was mistaken).

 

Here's his slash line over his last 200 PAs (April 27- 45 games):

 

.309/.375/.537/(.912) wOBA .410

 

And besides being back to putting up video game-like numbers, he's been fully healthy at the top of the order, playing in all but one game for Chattanooga.

 

On this one, there's no Trevor Plouffe/Joe Mauer/Torii Hunter blockage questions.... So... What's holding this one up?

[John Kelsey]

Why the hell is Oliveros starting again for Rochester today? 

 

The guy hadn't started a game at any level since 2006 and now he'll be starting his fourth game in a row. Call up a starter from Chattanooga (probably would be Berrios) or move Hamburger or Meyer back to the rotation. I have no idea what they're thinking here. 

[jokin]

Why the hell is Oliveros starting again for Rochester today? 

 

The guy hadn't started a game at any level since 2006 and now he'll be starting his fourth game in a row. Call up a starter from Chattanooga (probably would be Berrios) or move Hamburger or Meyer back to the rotation. I have no idea what they're thinking here.

It looks like Oliveros is the new Hamburger. He's clearly well down the Twins RP depth chart- it seems that the impression he left last fall in his major league stint has long carryover value. I'm guessing he'll opt for free agency to see if he has a better shot at a major league roster somewhere else in 2016.

[nytwinsfan]

 

so a random guy on the internet should reach out to minor league coaches and national scouts? is that realistic, in your mind?

 

No, I said Twins commentators who are skeptical of Polanco's ability to play defense at SS (such as Aaron Gleeman, Derek Wetmore -- not some random guy) should reach out to them.

Edited June 12, 2015 by nytwinsfan

[Hrbowski]

Stewart had a really good game, and he apparently wasn't pleased with the umpire's zone. He was mostly throwing 90-92, but FSL radar guns are a bit behind, plus he was throwing a good changeup.

[Mike Sixel]

 

No, I said Twins commentators who are skeptical of Polanco's ability to play defense at SS (such as Aaron Gleeman, Derek Wetmore -- not some random guy) should reach out to them.

 

ah, my bad, I thought you meant us all here .....kind of feel silly for the whole conversation now!

[Eric R Pleiss]

They might like him as a potential long man.  He has stuff when it is working.  Maybe just stretching him out.  Who is the Twins long man right now?  Might be a void to fill.

It looks like Oliveros is the new Hamburger. He's clearly well down the Twins RP depth chart- it seems that the impression he left last fall in his major league stint has long carryover value. I'm guessing he'll opt for free agency to see if he has a better shot at a major league roster somewhere else in 2016.

 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

Worrying about what Polanco did in a one-game call up is silly. He was likely excited, nervous, all that. 

 

Worrying about whether Polanco can stick at shortstop is legit but based on his play at the position starting last year when he was moved there full time. He's had a lot of errors and his arm strength has always been a question. 

 

That said, Dozier's at 2B, so they need to stick with Polanco at SS as long as they can. I always go back to David Eckstein. He was always good enough to play SS when he was young and made all the routine plays for a World Series championship team. Polanco can do that. 

 

I like his bat. I can't say much more than that. Did he not have an error in this game too?

 

On the longterm, with Dozier blocking Polanco at 2B...how feasible is that Dozeir could play a serviceable 3B? Does he have the arm for it? Just curious.

 

Yes, I know that we CURRENTLY have Plouffe there and playing well, as well as Sano at 3B in AA. However, there is certainly no guarantee that Plouffe continues to play good defense and its not like his bat is that good and consistent that we should count on offense from him in the future. And of course Sano is no guarantee to stick at 3B, and he could be shifted to 1B or a corner OF spot in the future too. We have to assume that the future composition of this team will change. We can't assume that Joe will block everyone at 1B forever.

 

Polanco at 2B, Dozier at 3B, and FA defensive specialist at SS? I just personally feel that if you aren't going to get first or second tier production out of your 1B that you are better off just getting an elite defensive SS instead. I don't think Polanco, Santana, or Escobar should be considered great hitters, and they are certainly flawed defensively. 

 

Longterm this is, not for now. I don't see the Twins making any changes at SS with both Santana and Polanco being young. Maybe Polanco's bat is better than I consider it, but I just don't think his bat makes up for his glove at this point. Keep in mind, our staff or pen is allergic to striking guys out, so the more glove the better.

 

 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

"Kohl Stewart had a nice outing, despite a couple of defensive miscues that led to some unearned runs. Stewart pitched six innings, gave up only one earned run, walked three and struck out one."

 

Yikes, not too promising. I guess we can hope that he can be a Gibson or Hudson, but  definitely disappointed with his numbers and development the past few years. I have a feeling that he will continue to plummet down or off of prospect lists. 

 

My hope is that they are forcing him to pitch a certain way and making him hold off on his stuff, but I doubt this is the case. The sample size is getting larger by the day, and K%'s tend to stabilize quickly and not jump up or down too much from year to year, and this is all happening in A ball. Does anyone know what his velocity was coming in and what its been sitting at currently? What type of pitches are he throwing and frequency? Kinda stopped even getting excited to check the boxscores when he pitches. 

 

Dufey? Well, it was fun while it lasted, but hope he can turn it back around.

 

At least Buxton is giving us hope again, and that is the most important piece anyway, right? Sano is doing well too, so happy thoughts.

[Eric R Pleiss]

Am I the only person that wants to talk about Ryan Eades?  I know he wasn't an exciting draft pick two years ago, and he hasn't done much of anything, but hey look what he did last night!

[John Kelsey]

 

Am I the only person that wants to talk about Ryan Eades?  I know he wasn't an exciting draft pick two years ago, and he hasn't done much of anything, but hey look what he did last night!

 

http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq295/tugger29/Animated%20Gifs/anchormanhooray.gif

[Mike Sixel]

Funny, I was just coming on to say I forgot that part before, congrats to Eades.

[jokin]

Am I the only person that wants to talk about Ryan Eades?

If and until he can get on a sustained run like last night... Yes, yes you are.

[benji21]

This. As you said, he was not anything near an exciting pick and has underwhelmed at every turn. Show me a few starts in a row with a decent K rate and I may take note, but probably not. He's filler at this point, maybe makes the bugs in the pen.