Twins Minor League Report (5/14): Lewis Double Doubles, Graterol Strong

Graterol's stuff looks nasty. I'd like to see the Twins accelerate him up to AAA. If Pineda continues to struggle he should have a MLB tryout sooner rather than later.

It's nice to see Arraez at AAA - if he could get a couple months' worth of experience at AAA, perhaps he could pass up Torreyes as the next infielder up in case of injury.

Boy, that's a lot of injured prospects. It stinks for Gordon because it seemed like he was finally starting to string something together at the plate.

Who are the other two to hit 100 this year?

It really sounds like Addison Reed is done. His fastball was in the 80s in Spring Training and he was getting pounded. He then had an injury to his non-throwing hand and started the season on the IL. It's now seven weeks later and he's still throwing in the 80s. So far during his rehab stint at AAA he's been truly terrible with a 13.5 ERA and a .524 BA against.  I've pretty much lost any hope that he will contribute anything at the major league level this season. 

Fernando Romero doesn't seem suited for work out of the pen. His hype never seemed to match his stuff. His stuff didn't necessarily match his results, and his results didn't even necessarily match his results. He gets hit pretty hard for a potential ace or closer. His fastball is straight and his slider lacks command. Should have been traded while his value was high. Moving him to the pen was a mistake. He's lost considerable value and hasn't been any more effective, actually he's less effective. I'd extend him out to be a starter or long man at this point. If we're in a playoff race, I want to see Graterol or Alcala over Romero, to be honest.

Putting Addison Reed on the active roster would be horrible. Like bringing Perkins back that September when it was so obvious it was over for him. Not now. Not for this team. What a waste of 16 million. The guy was productive for what? a month? Maybe 2? I feel for him, but the only other thing to do would be to IL him for a longer period, like 60 days....

Agree that I would rather see Romero given a chance as a starter. When is Gonsalves supposed to pitch?

Expect Arraez will struggle for a week or two, then be his normal self with a half dozen multi-hit games out of every ten.  Great seeing Rortvedt move up to Pensacola, hopefully, his results with the bat continue as they were in Fort Myers.

What a nice start for Colina.  Could be another arm for a future Twins bullpen?

I read something on one of the posts yesterday about young players signed by the Twins.  One was first name Enmanuel something.  Don't recall reading about him previously.  Was he someone who was signed with the extra dollars they got from that trade this winter?  If not, does anyone know if they have used it?

If they are only going to let Brusdar Graterol pitch around 75 pitches in AA, how is he ever going to be a major league starter, since most are 75 in the 5th?

If they are worried about about his health, why not bring him up to the majors and let him pitch out of the pen?

Rodriguez. We haven't signed him yet. We're the favorites to sign him once the new international signing period begins July 2nd.

Thanks.  So that is unrelated to the Trade earlier this winter.

Between Gordon and Garver - it is a morning of medical research - https://www.wosm.com/wosm-resources/orthopaedic-conditions/adductor-muscle-strain/  Gordon is down for at least two weeks I would imagine - tough for him to progress, having just come off the IL. 

I would imagine Gordon is also worried about Luis Arraez passing him by.  Luis is hitting everywhere he goes - (Astudillo like?).  

Littell seems to have plateaued and then stepped back.  I was looking for more from him this year.  I thought he got rid of the first time in MLB blues and would move up.  Now, if I was given the choice - the next pitcher up would be Graterol.  What he throws is MLB ready and he has passed Stewart, Littell, Gonsalves on the conveyer belt as far as I can judge. And he would have been my pitcher of the day. 

Personally, I would like to see Wade come back up instead of Cave.  I like his bat control and we have enough power in the lineup. 

Fernando Romero doesn't seem suited for work out of the pen. His hype never seemed to match his stuff. His stuff didn't necessarily match his results, and his results didn't even necessarily match his results. He gets hit pretty hard for a potential ace or closer. His fastball is straight and his slider lacks command. Should have been traded while his value was high. Moving him to the pen was a mistake. He's lost considerable value and hasn't been any more effective, actually he's less effective. I'd extend him out to be a starter or long man at this point. If we're in a playoff race, I want to see Graterol or Alcala over Romero, to be honest.

I agree now, but I still believe Romero can do something special.  I see his move to the BP as the equivalent of Sano to RF.  When someone is good at  something, emphasize the skill, not everyone is a Gonzalez or Astudillo.

Nice to see some aggressive May promotions. The Twins often wait for late June.

Is anyone else wondering why the pitch count and innings pitched for Graterol are so low? I never see him pitch past the 5th inning.

not really. And this is a reminder for people already clamoring for him to be the next guy up for the rotation: He missed a full year in 2016. In 2017, he only pitched 40 innings coming off injury. In 2018 (his first year in full-season ball at age 19) he threw 102 innings. He's only made 38 starts in his professional career. That arm is a prize, and if we want him to develop into a top starter let's not get crazy. If he can throw 140-150 innings this year, and stay strong all season, he'll be in a great position for the franchise. at age 21.

Shame about Nick Gordon getting hurt again. Hopefully it isn't lengthy, because he'd gotten off to such a nice start when he finally got back into the lineup. He's shown the ability to really hit when repeating a level, so it's been my hope that last year was an adjustment year and his start was a hopeful sign that might be true. 

The Twins are considered favorites to sign Enmanuel Rodriguez in July. I assume that''s what you saw? 

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/33036-mlbcom-says-twins-favorite-for-enmanuel-rodriguez/http://twinsdaily.com/topic/33036-mlbcom-says-twins-favorite-for-enmanuel-rodriguez/

What I was wondering about, Seth, is whether anyone knows if the Twins spent the International dollar allocation they traded for late last winter?

Jhoan Duran and (I think) Johan Quezada.

If I have another son, his name will be some combination of the letters J, O, H, A, N. I should’ve recognized this sooner.