Twins Minor League Report (6/6): Six Games/Six Wins

Was at the Miracle game and Jordan Balzovic pitched the best game I have seen for the Miracle.  He was simply outstanding for the first 5 innings plus.  

While he gave up 5 hits, two were infield squibs that barely made it past the pitchers mound and one was a dying duck flare hit the opposite way by a hitter who was just blindly swinging.   He only walked one batter and struck out 7.  Up until the 6th inning, if they did not strike out, it was one collection of weak hit balls after another.

His fastball was very, very impressive.  I try to describe a pitchers fastball with a little system I develped that gives the range of speeds.

In the first two innings he was 94-94-94-95-96 (meaning the bulk of his fastballs were 94, some 95, touch 96).  Note:  I think the Hammonds Field radar gun is a bit fast.

Third and 4th inning  93-94-94-94-95.

Fifth you could tell he was tiring a bit:  93-93-94-94-94  He literally had his first 3 ball at bat in this inning.

And in the 6th he was 92-93-93-93-94

He pitched in all of the speed ranges with the mid-90 fastball.  With his fastball at 93-96, he also throws a slider in the  87-90 mph range.  Then a curve in 82-84 and looks like a change upat 78-80.  He threw all of these pitches for strikes and hit almost all of his marks.   What was really impressive to me was at least 3 of the 7 strikeouts were looking and almost all of the looking strikeouts were 94-96 mph fastballs he just burned by the batter who looked on helplessly.  

I was also impressed with how he won every battle.  There were a couple of batters that fouled off 2-strike pitch after pitch. The batters were just hanging on as Jordan powered fastball after fastball into the zone and they could not handle it.  Finally, he threw a curve and struck them out.  

While I would like to see his 6 inning endurance hold better, he is 20 years old and at 6-4, only 175 lbs.  As he matures he should be able to maintain his fastball velocity later into the game.  A couple of more outings like this and I think they need to move him up to AA.    I am telling you, this guy is a top 10 prospect and probably the #2 pitching prospect in our system behind Graterol.  I have seen Thorpe, Stewart, and several others at Ft Myers, and  Balazovic was much more impressive than any of them.

Other notes:

Lewin Diaz absolutely crushed a home run over the Truly Nolen 2018 FSL Championship banner in center field.  The guy is really flashy (he has huge earings in both ears and lots of chain) and holds his hands really low.  If he had a more conventional hitting approach he might be a much more solid prospect.  Im just not certain you can hold your hands just above your waist and hit higher level pitching.

Ryan Jeffers is a good hitter that has some potential to move up the ranks, but he is never going to be a major league catcher.  The team should use him there in the minors so he can serve as a backup catcher, but he doesn't have the movement skills.  

Royce Lewis might be slumping a bit, but he is going to be a solid player.  The ball jumps off his bat and he is a really solid leader.  He keeps his teammates loose. 

Jake Cave is on an absolute tear. Could he possibly be used in a trade package? Seems like our outfield is pretty stacked at the moment.

Isn't it a fantastic day when the Twins go 6-0.  Does that include the DSL 3-2 win or are you including the Twins, Seth?

And thanks for the first hand report on the Miracle and Balazovic from MLHouse.  It is great seeing Lewis get three hits, maybe his bat will take off for the rest of the season.

As the Twins search for pitching, could Poppen be part of their future?

Jake Cave is on an absolute tear. Could he possibly be used in a trade package? Seems like our outfield is pretty stacked at the moment.

I was reading an article about the Phillies options for CF with McCutcheon out, and kept thinking about what a great opportunity that would be for Cave.  However, I doubt they are trading major league ready pitching for him.  So meanwhile, he will have to remain as young quality depth.

mlhouse, you can see by the number of likes to your post that we absolutely eat up these first-hand reports! Yours was so excellent! Please do us an enormous favor and do it often!

While I would like to see his 6 inning endurance hold better, he is 20 years old and at 6-4, only 175 lbs.  As he matures he should be able to maintain his fastball velocity later into the game.  A couple of more outings like this and I think they need to move him up to AA.    I am telling you, this guy is a top 10 prospect and probably the #2 pitching prospect in our system behind Graterol.  I have seen Thorpe, Stewart, and several others at Ft Myers, and  Balazovic was much more impressive than any of them.

6'4" 175 is a string bean.  I assume he's above his listed weight.  Did he look bigger or is he really that skinny?

mlhouse, you can see by the number of likes to your post that we absolutely eat up these first-hand reports! Yours was so excellent! Please do us an enormous favor and do it often!

Yes! +1 ... UpVote ... This!

 If he had a more conventional hitting approach he might be a much more solid prospect.  Im just not certain you can hold your hands just above your waist and hit higher level pitching.

That type of hitting stance always makes me raise an eyebrow as well, but some have had success.  Alex Rios comes to mind.  Our own Marwin Gonzalez holds that bat pretty low as a lefty as well.

Jake Cave is on an absolute tear. Could he possibly be used in a trade package? Seems like our outfield is pretty stacked at the moment.

I would want it to be an above value offer for him .... I wouldn't want him to be a throw in .... The thing with Cave is that he is basically a plug-and-play if any of the big three go down .... Obviously, Gonzalez fills in as the fourth right now, but his value would be lower if he was forced to be a starting OF and not available to swiss-army around the field ... I also think Cave is a better OF than Marwin (didn't check if numbers back that up)

6'4" 175 is a string bean.  I assume he's above his listed weight.  Did he look bigger or is he really that skinny?

He is thin.  But throws hard and he is just 20 years old.

That type of hitting stance always makes me raise an eyebrow as well, but some have had success.  Alex Rios comes to mind.  Our own Marwin Gonzalez holds that bat pretty low as a lefty as well.

The kid has been in the organization for almost 6 years now and has over 1,500 plate appearances.  You would think they would have adjusted that bit by bit.  

He is a big kid, but he looks very athletic.

Great pitching and timely hitting. And as for defense, we tend to throw words around like spectacular when players make good catches, but Kerrigan's catch really was spectacular. If you have played in the outfield, you know how tough catches are when you have to dive full-length across  your body (opposite your glove, i.e., backhand) because the ball disappears completely from your view. That was really a highlight reel grab.

Can anyone tell me how hard Poppen throws? Is he primarily a fastball and slider type of pitcher? That was a pretty dominating performance.

Jake Cave is on an absolute tear. Could he possibly be used in a trade package? Seems like our outfield is pretty stacked at the moment.

The problem is he is 26 with 1 year of service time under his belt.  Teams that are selling would most likely be looking more so for younger players, at least I would if I was GM.  Any team that is looking to add now will not want to drop a good pitcher.  I would love to see Twins sell high on him and maybe get minor league arm Twins think can step in, but not expecting him to be involved in any major deals.