Twins Minor League Report (5/6): Kirilloff Cranks, Wrong End of a No-No

  On 5/7/2019 at 3:20 AM, carlito_b said:

Kiriloff will be at first base for the twins by August

Let's hope!

  On 5/7/2019 at 3:20 AM, carlito_b said:

Kiriloff will be at first base for the twins by August

Are you discounting Sano??

The player at AAA that’s advancing is Luke Raley (OF/1B) with a .275 average including 5 home runs. He’s been on a tear lately.

The talent pipeline is starting to blossom at AA and AAA levels. While I like the potential Rocker provides, don’t sleep on Raley.

Another return from the Dodgers for Dozier trade is Devin Smeltzer. He just advanced to AAA after carrying a .060 ERA at AA Pensacola

All Alex Kirilloff (one r, two Ls, and two Fs) does is HIT! Doesn't matter when, doesn't matter where. He just hits. Hell, he is already 21...... he's getting old. Time to get him up here! We had a Killer on the team once, how about a Kiriller?

Kirilloff goes 0 for 3 in his first game off the IL, then 7 for 15 in his last four games.  One game to shake off the rust and he is back to mid-season form.  Is this kid too good to be real?

Don't understand all of you calling for him to be at first base for the Twins this summer.  Cron has played excellent defense and is on track for another 25-30 home run season.  His average isn't all that high, but he has done a good job.  The spot I see for Kirilloff, hopefully by late summer, is as a rotational first baseman and fourth outfielder.  Giving four players rest should get Kirilloff nearly a full-time job.

You missed mentioning Rortvedt in the write-up, Cody.  He had another multi-hit night with a double.  Also like what I have been seeing from Josh Winder this spring.  May be someone to keep an eye on.

Was not initially a believer in Poppen but he is starting to change my mind.  He has a nice K rate and has continued to produce as he has advanced.  I thought he was known as a pitcher with good control but the only issue I have with him right now is his WHIP which seems to mainly be influenced by the walks he has given up.  14 of them in 19 innings.  So is he effectively wild or does he really have swing and miss stuff?  I guess time will tell but he won't make it to MLB with a WHIP that high so at some point he is going to have to gain better control.  At any rate he seems like a player to watch right now.

4 K's for Baddoo. Yikes

Why do they keep leading him off?It can't be great for Lewis to be batting behind an instant out. He needs a change, and a change of approach.

  On 5/7/2019 at 1:36 PM, dwood627 said:

I don't agree with bringing Kiriloff up as a rotational player. He needs regular at bats at a regular position. Keep it simple, wait until September call ups unless there is an injury or somebody is struggling for him to replace.

There isn't a spot for him in this outfield, this year and probably beyond.  So his position with the Twins will be first base.  As long as Cron is playing as good as he is, he isn't going to be permanently benched.  

But remember Jason Kubel, who was hitting like this in the minors and the Twins got him up before September so he would be available in the playoffs.  See something similar happening with Kirilloff as we get into August.

But like most of you, I see a bat the Twins should get into their lineup before the end of August.  So unless an injury opens a spot, the only way that is going to happen is something like I described.  And yes, I agree he needs to have regular at bats, which this arrangement would get him. 

You didn't mention that Sr. Sano was 0-5 with 2 Ks. Average is now at .091.

  On 5/7/2019 at 2:23 PM, gunnarthor said:

Right now, CJ Cron is posting a 81 OPS+. He's not getting it done. His defense is good but he's not going to stop the Twins from bringing up an uber-prospect, much like Dougie Baseball didn't stop us from bringing up Morneau.

He also has a .200 babip, well below his career norm of .291.  Give him 9 more hits on the year, and all of the sudden he's batting .294 with a .351 OBP and at worst a .500 SLG (assuming all 9 hits are singles.  Since Cron averages 2 bases per hit, his SLG would more likely be .526).  This puts him at an OPS in the .850 to .875 range, which puts him in the mid 40's to mid-50's in the league (somewhere between Yoan Moncada and Kris Bryant), and in the top half of first basemen.

That being said, he is making less hard contact, and more soft contact, which suggests a lower babip might not be an outlier.  I'm in favor of upgrading our first base spot, but it's still possible the upgrade is simply Cron progressing to the mean.

The Prospect Summary has Gordon on the Injured List.   Is that a typo or did he get hurt again?

  On 5/7/2019 at 3:07 PM, segagenesisgenius said:

While true, that only includes his 3 games at AA.  Include his 2 games at high A, and his 2019 average is .313.  Obviously, competition at AA is better than high A, but generally we shouldn't read too much into Sano's stat line after 3 games.  Heck, if he goes 2 for 3 for the next two games (e.g., he does fine, but not outstanding), his batting average will be up to .294.  He is neither out of the woods nor up the river without a paddle.  Too early to tell. 

I hope you are right Sega, but 6 whiffs in 16 plate appearances against inferior arms is very disconcerting.

Does Kiriloff's service time come into play for this year, and if so, what is the date we can bring him up? 

I’ve never been more convinced that a player could stroll into a major league clubhouse and yield positive results than with Kiriloff. The more time passes, the more I believe he could’ve done that from day 1. He’s a natural.

I don’t really buy that you can’t find a spot for him. Between days off in the outfield, first base, and DH, there would be plenty of at-bats to be had in place of Cave/Adrianza and in some cases Gonzalez/Garver/Astudillo. I’m fine with that upgrade across the Board (unless you believe Garver and Astudillo with continue being the bash brothers).

He could be a real game changer down the stretch, and really set this lineup over the top. Kepler, Polanco, Cruz, Rosario, Sano, Schoop, Buxton, Kiriloff, Garver (not necessarily in that order) is scary. He also adds another solid lefty to balance things out.

I’m fine keeping him down for a couple more months to maximize ABs. But, if he keeps this up, get him up in July/August and get him accustomed to big league pitching before September.

  On 5/7/2019 at 5:30 PM, Darius said:

I’ve never been more convinced that a player could stroll into a major league clubhouse and yield positive results than with Kiriloff. The more time passes, the more I believe he could’ve done that from day 1. He’s a natural.

 

So is Guerrero Jr. and the expectation for him is instant success. Of course, he is just getting started but his wRC+ so far is 22.

  On 5/7/2019 at 5:26 PM, Mr. Brooks said:

It's already late enough to gain a 7th year of team control.
Waiting until a week into June would avoid Super 2 status.

If he is hitting .330+ by the time early June rolls around, you have to bring him up. Even if he plays 2 out of every 3 games, either at 1B or OF, he makes a nice impact. 

This might be the perfect situation for it. He can help the Twins make a playoff push, while not being thrown into the fire all together. With so much depth, they can pick and choose when and where to play him and keep everyone fresh.