The future is now for 25 yr old lefthander, Mason Melotakis, who turns 26 on June 28th, 2017. Melotakis was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Northwestern State University, Louisiana.

 

 

He underwent "Tommy John Surgery" in 2014 and returned to action in 2016. Melotakis posted an impressive 2.97 era over 33.1 innings, while striking out 42 batters for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts. That trend continued into the Arizona Fall League, where "Melo" lit up one batter per inning, striking out 11 over 11. He only gave up one walk.

 

 

Most recently, Melotakis was involved in a bizarre pregame ejection on Friday, April 21st when he and Biloxi reliever Matt Ramsey participated in stare-down from their respective bullpens after the conclusion of the National Anthem. These shenanigans have been occurring more an more frequently, since this highly publicized standoff prior to a Dodgers/Cardinals game 6 standoff in the 2013 NLCS. This time the umpires weren't playing as the boys' standoff looked like it would keep the game from starting on time. Blue moved fast on the ejection, and both teams wasted one reliever from their respective bullpens before play had a chance to begin.  http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v31157945/nlcs-gm6-van-slyke-kelly-start-game-with-standoff

 

Melotakis has yet to surrender an earned run over 6.2 innings in 2017, while striking out 8 and walking only one batter. Many are hoping for a quick promotion to AAA Rochester, with greater hopes that the future might be now for another promising flamethrower, sidetracked by setbacks, but back on schedule to make an impact in a Twins uniform at some point this year.

I just hope he learned his lesson about what it means to be a professional. Frankly, I think this is a great way to stop that nonsense by the umpires. They are pro athletes. Not in junior high school.

I hope he keeps it up down there and gets to the bigs sooner than later. We could use him and his upside arm.

Friday Weekly Update:

 

Mason Melotakis' 2017 scoreless streak has reached 8.2 innings, with one inning of work on 4/24 & 4/26.

I am a firm believer in quick promotions.  Why blow out the arms in the minors?  With our current bullpen he could replace all but Kinzler and be at minimum an easy replacement.  Young live arms need to be throwing from the MLB mound when they have the record that Mason has.  Give him something new to stare at. 

Friday Weekly Update:

 

The scoreless streak continues to climb up to 11.2 innings pitched for Twins Daily's April Relief Pitcher of the Month, Mason Melotakis. http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/twins-minor-league-relief-pitcher-of-the-month-april-2017-r5546

 

Melotakis made two relief appearances this past week, both against the Jackson Generals. He provided his second two-inning relief stint of the season on 4/28, followed by a one-inning affair on 5/1. Opponents are batting .128 against the left-hander, with a 0.51 WHIP. 

 

If there is any small cause for concern, it may be that Melo hasn't registered a strikeout over the past five innings pitched, bringing his SO/9 number for 2017 down to 6.2, the lowest of his minor league career. It would be nice to see Melotakis hump it up and start missing bats again.

 

I am a firm believer in quick promotions.  Why blow out the arms in the minors?  With our current bullpen he could replace all but Kinzler and be at minimum an easy replacement.  Young live arms need to be throwing from the MLB mound when they have the record that Mason has.  Give him something new to stare

 

I agree I would like to see him moved up to AAA soon. Maybe as Rochester and Minnesota juggle arms over the weekend, a spot might open up.

 

Friday Weekly Update:

 

The scoreless streak continues to climb up to 11.2 innings pitched for Twins Daily's April Relief Pitcher of the Month, Mason Melotakis. http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/twins-minor-league-relief-pitcher-of-the-month-april-2017-r5546

 

Melotakis made two relief appearances this past week, both against the Jackson Generals. He provided his second two-inning relief stint of the season on 4/28, followed by a one-inning affair on 5/1. Opponents are batting .128 against the left-hander, with a 0.51 WHIP. 

 

If there is any small cause for concern, it may be that Melo hasn't registered a strikeout over the past five innings pitched, bringing his SO/9 number for 2017 down to 6.2, the lowest of his minor league career. It would be nice to see Melotakis hump it up and start missing bats again.

 

 

I agree I would like to see him moved up to AAA soon. Maybe as Rochester and Minnesota juggle arms over the weekend, a spot might open up.

I would certainly like to see him instead of Rucinski.  Get the young arms in their.  

 

Mason Melotakis' scoreless inning streak was broken a week ago, with a self-inflicted wild pitch that scored Montgomery Biscuit's Michael Russell in the 11th inning. Unfortunately, Melotakis has begun a new streak since throwing away the tying run in extra innings--giving up runs in three consecutive games.

 

Three nights later, Melotakis blew his first save of the 2017 season, When Luke Bard fell into trouble, Melotakis came in to close out the 8th inning. Instead, he walked a batter, then gave up a double, allowing Bard's runner to score, and the recipient of his free pass. Melotakis struck out the final batter of the inning--putting him in line to win the game when the Lookouts came back in the 8th.

 

Finally, things went from bad to worse on 5/17 when Melotakis relieved Felix Jorge with the bases loaded in the 7th inning against the Birmingham Barons. He gave up a grand slam to Hunter Jones on a 1-0 pitch. Melotakis retired the next batter, but then surrendered a single, and another two-run homer to right off Jake Peter's bat. Melotakis, again, managed to strike out the final batter he faced, but the damage was done.

 

Melotakis' ERA has gone from 0.00 to 2.65 in 3.1 innings.

 

 

That second homerun is the only HR Melotakis has allowed to a LHB in his time at AA, which goes back to 2014, pre-injury. Some 150 AB against LHB.

It's been a little over two weeks since my last Melo update. He has appeared in only three games since his May 17th meltdown. Melotakis registered four K's over those three appearances, surrendering four hits, one walk, and one earned run.

 

One can speculate about the light workload:

 

1) Is this a post-injury precaution, either something tender after the long 5/17 outing? Or something about post-Tommy John leariness?

 

2) Is there an internal message from management to keep Melotakis and other relievers fresh for a later call-up, either to Rochester, or hopefully Minnesota? 

 

3) Other thoughts?

Mason Melotakis was called up to AAA, and made his first appearance yesterday (6/19). He pitched a clean inning, with one strikeout. Melotakis leaves behind impressive numbers from his with Chattanooga, posting a 2.42 ERA, and a .923 WHIP over 26 innings. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/twins-designate-alex-wimmers-mason-melotakis.html