Seth Stohs

Hence is goal for the upcoming season and one of the things he worked on in the offseason was throwing more strikes. The walks are what have hurt his WHIP. No, he's never going to have Joe Ryan's control, but Ryan won't have Nowlin's strikeout-ability. And yes, he ended last year with three starts in High-A... He knows he's got work to do...

Jaylen Nowlin is one of the most intriguing prospects in the Minnesota Twins organization. He's left-handed. He throws hard. Good secondary pitches. Get to know him a bit in a new Twins Spotlight. Image courtesy of William Parmeter Jaylen Nowlin grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents encouraged him to play many sports and keep busy, so he did, and in doing so developed some great friendships. Once he reached high school, his focus turned solely toward baseball. That decision appears to be the right one for the talented lefty. At Westlake High School, he teamed with Lawrence Butler, one of the top prospects in the Oakland A’s organization. He had committed to West Virginia, but the A’s selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. He had a solid season in the High-A Midwest League in 2022 and a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Butler was added to the 40-man roster last November and has a chance to debut in 2022. Through seven spring training games, he is 8-for-14 (.571) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run. With a few players who are now pros and several who played in college, how good was their team? Nowlin admitted, “Shockingly, not that good. We had the talent, but we definitely lacked the discipline. We had a lot of fun, but discipline was probably our weakest point.” In the summers, Nowlin and Butler played on a local team in regional and national Perfect Game tournaments and did very well. Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom led the team. His son, Marquis Grissom, Jr., was on the team. He went to Georgia Tech and was drafted by the Nationals in 2021. Also on the team was 2022 National League Rookie of the Year, Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris. Harris was called up to Atlanta from Double-A at the end of May, and he went on to use an incredible toolset to hit for average, showed his power, and showed great speed on the bases and in center field. Marvin Freeman spent parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues. He was the pitching coach on the team. Along with Grissom, they provided some much-needed mentorship. “Those two have really pushed my career along since I was like 14 years old. Marvin Freeman is the best pitching coach I could ever ask for. He is just a guru with it. He knows how to make everything make sense, help out, and have all the cues. Without him, I would be a different pitcher right now.” Nowlin recalls, “There was a lot of competition on the team and a lot of competition that we placed against.” He later said, “We did some damage in those Perfect Game tournaments. We were a deep team, pretty much an all black team. A deep team too. We had a lot of talent.” Jaylen Nowlin has been around excellent players for a long time. He was putting up a quality resume in his own right. He had committed in high school to Jackson State but instead went to Chipola College in Florida, one of the best junior colleges nationally every year. In 2021, Nowlin pitched in 16 games and 42 innings. He walked too many (24), but he struck out an incredible 59 batters (44% of batters faced). Nowlin said of the experience, “That’s where my development really took off. I struggled early on, but the pitching coach got to me, and that’s when we started hammering down on just throwing strikes.” He committed to pitching at the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2022. But then came the draft. He was at home with his parents and a few friends. It took awhile, but finally, in the 19th round, he heard his name called as the pick of the Minnesota Twins. He quickly signed and got to work. He pitched in just one FCL game during the season. It was during Instructs that Nowlin started to make his name known. Reports were that the lefty was hitting 97 with his fastball and showing a sharp slider. The southpaw started his first full minor-league season in Fort Myers. He pitched in 19 games, including 11 starts. He was part of one of the two Mighty Mussels no-hitters. David Festa started it. Nowlin pitched in the middle, and Hunter McMahon finished it off. “Once I came in, I just came in and threw. I had no idea that they had no hits at that point until I came out and Hunter came in. I was just going in there, doing my job, like normal. Once we finished the game and they started throwing the water everywhere, I was still pretty much confused.” He ended the season with three starts for Cedar Rapids before their playoff run. “I was happy to be able to make that step, just to reach another level. I just want to be able to continue to progress every year, get better as much as I can, and move up as fast as I can. So moving up to Cedar Rapids was a great experience for me, and I was very appreciative of it.” Nowlin has a three-pitch mix primarily. His fastball sits in the mid-90s but has reached 97 at times. He’s got a good, sharp slider, and he also throws a changeup. He says he also likes to throw a two-seamer every once in a while too. Along with stuff, Nowlin thinks he’s got the right mentality. “It’s me throwing every single pitch I have with conviction. It’s just trying to let everything eat, throw it down the middle, and see if they can hit it. I like to test batters to see if they can hit it. I try not to do too much. Keep everything simple. Shove it right down the middle and see if they can beat me.” Combined, he threw 71 innings and had a remarkable 111 strikeouts (14.1 K/9). He also had 36 walks, which is more than he would want and something to focus on in the offseason. Lowering that walk rate is just one of his goals heading into the 2023 season. And in the offseason, he spends a lot of time with his friends. “We’re a tight group. Me, Mike, Marquis, Lawrence. We’re a tight group. We work out together in the offseason. We’re always with each other, playing a game together, working out, or just chilling at each other’s houses.” Nowlin says he is ‘definitely a goal guy, highly goal oriented. Keep progressing. Get to Double-A as fast as I can. Move up as much as I can this year. Get better every day.” Jaylen Nowlin has been in Fort Myers preparing for the season since mid-January. His strikeout rate and stuff have him entering most Top 30 Twins prospect rankings. He and fellow 2021 Day 3 draft pick David Festa are two Twins pitching prospects to move up most in 2022. Can Nowlin take another big step forward in 2023? For more Jaylen Nowlin content on Twins Daily, click here. View full article

Jaylen Nowlin grew up playing ball in the baseball hotbed around Atlanta. He was the Twins 19th round pick in 2021 out of Chipola JC where he began showing his ability to miss a lot of bats. He split the 2022 season between Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids. In 71 combined innings, he had an incredible 111 strikeouts. Jaylen recently joined Seth on Twins Spotlight to discuss his pitches, his goals, where he learned to love baseball and his friend group that includes some great baseball players and prospects. View full video

That's the risk you take when making those kinds of trades. You take a shot. You give up too much to get help. The Twins insisted on guys with more than just a two month window. Hopefully Mahle is healthy, but they traded from positions of strength for a guy who, when healthy, is a solid #2. Miranda was the future at 3B. That made Steer expendable. And CES is a DH, so while he can mash, he really can't play in the field. That's not worthless, but it is what it is. Did they give up too much? Sure, they gave up their #6, #12 and #20 prospect at the time of the deal.

Travis Adams was the Twins 6th round pick in 2021 out of Sacramento State. A fantastic control pitcher, Adams is well respected within the organization. Along with control and command, Adams was hitting 97 mph with his fastball late in the 2022 season. Find out more about his baseball background, what improvements he has made since joining the organization, what he's worked on this offseason, his goals for 2023, and much more in this Twins Spotlight. View full video

Sometimes there are minor leaguers that, for whatever reason, don’t get the hype and prospect status that they probably should. I think it’s fair to say 2021 draft pick Travis Adams fits that category. Read the article below and listen to his Twins Spotlight interview and try not to get excited about his potential. Image courtesy of William Parmeter Last month, Twins Daily posted our Top 30 Twins prospects. You won’t find Travis Adams ’ name in it. Of the 10 Twins Daily writers that provided their Top 30 Twins prospects, Adams appeared on just one person’s list, and that was at #28. He wasn’t in Baseball America’s Top 30 Twins prospects. His name does not appear among the Top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline. MLB.com posted an article that mentioned 11 players to follow outside of the Top 30. No, Adams wasn’t mentioned. Adams was not a huge prospect growing up in southern California and attending Palm Desert High School. Several of his teammates from high school are playing pro ball, and more played college baseball too. In a tournament, his team played one game against Royce Lewis and his JSerra teammates. He didn’t have many scholarship offers coming out of high school, but he was thrilled when Sacramento State offered him because he loved that part of the state and had family there. Adams grew up a Giants fan and enjoyed watching Barry Bonds, Buster Posey, and some of those strong San Francisco teams. “They were my first and only offer. I wanted to give the opportunity to them. I was still early in my development. I was still small. I was only throwing 85. They believed in me at a young age.” However, he matured, got bigger and stronger, and went to a school with an opportunity to pitch right away. As a freshman, he pitched in 15 games which included nine starts. He made four starts in 2020 before Covid canceled the season. He went 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA. Following his sophomore season, Adams played in the Northwoods League for Wisconsin Rapids. “That was super fun, getting to travel and go out to Wisconsin and be with a host family. It was my first time playing summer ball and being with a host family, so it was totally different for me. I had an absolute blast. I enjoyed playing every day. It felt like minor-league baseball.” He continued, “The atmosphere and the fans we had there were great. It was a blast with all the guys I got to play with from all over the country and from different schools.” He made 14 starts in his junior season and went 6-3. In his three seasons at Sacramento State, Adams tossed 151 innings. He had 130 strikeouts with a remarkable 25 walks (1.5 BB/9). The scouts attended most of his games with their radar guns behind home plate. He also went to the combine and met with a lot of teams. He recalls going through a physical with the Twins there, but in general, the Twins didn’t show more, or maybe even as much, interest as other teams. “I really didn’t talk to the Twins very much. I was actually shocked on draft day when I got the phone call from them. There really wasn’t much contact between me and them prior to the draft.” He was at his parents' home in southern California, surrounded by family, some friends, and his girlfriend. When he got the call from the Twins and heard his name on the online draft, his phone started to blow up with calls and text messages. “It was just a great and blessed day,” he recalls. Adams quickly reported to Fort Myers, did some physicals, signed, and then began life as a professional. While he pitched in one game toward the end of the 2021 season, that draft year is used to let those college pitchers get some rest and learn about how the Twins work, the stats and technology they use, and develop relationships with players and coaches. He noted that he appreciated the value of the Trackman system over the Rapsodo system he had used in college. He specifically liked using the Force Plate Mound to see how his body moves and handles various stresses. Some of the things he has worked on throughout the offseason, mechanical improvements to increase velocity and consistency, are based on lessons learned from that technology. He began the 2022 season in Fort Myers. He made 15 starts and went 4-5 with a 3.50 ERA. In 69 1/3 innings, he walked 15 batters and struck out 69. He moved up to High-A Cedar Rapids to end the season and made seven starts. In 31 1/3 innings, he walked 11 and struck out 39 batters. To do the math for you, Adams had 108 strikeouts and 26 walks over 100 2/3 innings. He was one of seven pitchers to reach 100 minor-league innings in 2022. His 22 starts were tied with Simeon Woods Richardson, just one behind the 23 starts made by Louie Varland and Brent Headrick. Level-headed, the 23-year-old right-hander said, “I learned that you just have to take it start by start. If you have a bad start, you can’t get too low on it. If you have a great start, you just have to be even-keel throughout the entire season. If you get too high on the highs and too low on the lows, it’s going to be very hard on you and stressful.” With a solid first full minor-league season under his belt, he entered the offseason with some things to work on. There were a couple of mechanical things that he focused on to help him as he moves forward in his career. He throws a four-seam fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball. He says the fastball “will sometimes cut, sometimes run, just kind of do its own thing from time to time.” Minor-league camp officially opened on March 1st, but he has been in Fort Myers since mid-January getting himself ready for the 2023 season. And now that he has that great control and command, and a fastball that hit 97 mph late in the season in Cedar Rapids last year, don’t be surprised when you see him rise up the prospect rankings at Twins Daily and other places too. For more Twins Daily content on Travis Adams, click here. View full article

It happens. It was late in the game. There was a high sky, and Keirsey made a nice catch to stay with it, and then it the wall . He threw it in and there was a throw home. I think Caleb Hamilton just deserves a lot of credit.

As Cody and I were talking about this series, we talked about looking at it for 2023 and also more long-term. With 6 starters (and a few others in consideration), it may make more sense for some of these guys to come up in the second half and help the bullpen, or provide some late innings. Then long-term, that can certainly change.

I LOVE the pitch clock, in theory. Love the better pace of play. Don't like seeing games end because a batter didn't look up at the pitcher early enough. But I'm all for pace of play. And, to steal a bit from Trevor Plouffe, we've got to let it play out. The umps are calling it a lot the first weekend of spring games. Will they still be calling it that tight on Opening Day? Should they? They'll work through it and figure it out. Nothing to worry about with Megill yet. If it's still that off in 3 weeks, we worry. I think he's got an option left... But, it was interesting that Brent Headrick came in for two innings before Megill and was really impressive touching 95, I believe... Obviously he's not in the running for a bullpen spot. He'll start in Wichita, but that was good to see, especially against the Phillies starters.

How much does it hurt the Twins? Exactly the same as every other team... As others point out, the rule is the rule for everyone. Moving people over and driving them in is the goal. I used to be a traditionalist. I still would like to see them play the 10th inning (or even the 11th) straight up, but I don't mind this rule at all at this point.

Always searching for more pitching, on Sunday, the Twins claimed right-hander Dennis Santana off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. Image courtesy of Eric Canha, USA Today According to a tweet from Star-Tribune beat writer Phil Miller, the Minnesota Twins have claimed right-hander Dennis Santana from the Braves. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the Twins have shifted shortstop Royce Lewis to the 60-Day Injured List. The 26-year-old from the Dominican has well over three years of service time in the big leagues. Signed by the Dodgers way back in 2013, Santana made his big-league debut for Los Angeles in 2018. He worked 3 2/3 innings in one game. In 2019, he pitched in three games, and in 2020, he worked in 12 games. In 2021, he pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers before being traded to the Rangers. He finished the season with 39 games in Texas. Last year, he pitched in 63 games for the Rangers. In total, he has pitched 139 big-league innings and has an ERA of 5.12. He has just under a strikeout per inning while walking one every other inning. Therein lies the issue. Shortly after the season, he was acquired by Atlanta. However, it is important to note that Santana is out of minor-league options. So, he will have to make the Twins roster or be put on waivers in an attempt to keep him in the organization. He has a nice pitch profile. Last year, his average fastball was about 97 mph. His big pitch is his mid-80s slider, which he threw about 40% of the time. He also has a decent, 90-mph changeup. Again, adding a young guy with a big arm. If needed, he could be DFAd and you hope he stays in the organization. Or maybe Pete Maki finds something to make him a consistent bullpen weapon. The addition of Jeff Hoffman is interesting. No, not because he was the ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, but he is a 30-year-old who has spent a lot of time in the big leagues. He pitched in 68 games for the Rockies between 2016 and 2020. He has pitched for the Cincinnati Reds the past two seasons. He was a starter earlier in his career, so he's got a full pitch-mix. His fastball averages about 94 and he throws it a lot. He also has a curveball in the mid-to-upper 70s, a low-to-mid 80s slider, and a changeup that he probably throws too hard. Feel free to discuss this transaction in the COMMENTS below. View full article

It's an interesting question. It's a question of ceiling vs likelihood of reaching it (in this case, solely based on Lewis's injuries). Another way to look at it... Would Twins fans rather have Jose Miranda at 3B or Spencer Steer? Where would Miranda rank on a prospect list now since he's younger than Steer and has achieved more as of now. I think the Twins were probably nice to Steer, using a high quality person and player from a position of depth (along with Encarnacion-Strand) to add a upper-rotation quality pitcher. But... Steer is a really good ballplayer. The Twins love him. He's got power and speed and a good glove and can play multiple positions. I think he'll have a long, quality career. If Steer was still with the Twins, I think I'd rank him third or fourth, maybe just ahead of E-Rod and ahead of Edouard Julien due to his defensive capabilities. That said, Lewis's ceiling is really, really high...

I watched a few innings of Skenes last weekend. He just made throwing 99 look easy. Nice slider too. .

While you were driving home from work, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Minnesota Twins have signed veteran infielder Donovan Solano to a major-league contract. Details still unknown. Image courtesy of Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports The Twins front office started the offseason by dealing Gio Urshela to the Los Angeles Angeles. Soon after, the traded recent-40-man roster addition Casey Legumina to the Reds for infielder Kyle Farmer. The latter was the likely primary shortstop until the Twins were able to bring back Carlos Correa on a six-year, $200 million deal. That moved Farmer into more of a utility role, able to play all four infield spots, potentially a little outfield, and be the third catcher. Jose Miranda was moving to third base. Jorge Polanco will be at second base. The hope is that Alex Kirilloff will be the primary first baseman. The infield depth was solid, especially considering Royce Lewis could return to the lineup by mid-summer, about the time that prospects such as Austin Martin and Brooks Lee might be deemed ready for the big leagues. In fact, the front office used that depth to acquire starting pitcher Pablo Lopez from the Marlins, with a couple of prospects, in exchange for Luis Arraez. So, it is certainly intriguing that the Twins would add the 35-year-old Donovan Solano on a big-league deal. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== The timing is certainly interesting. It could make a logical, overthinker like myself to wonder if there is an injury. Or, could a trade be coming? Those are logical thoughts. It's also possible that they believe that he can play enough places to make himself a solid contributor in a role. Let's start by looking back at the career of Donovan Solano to this point. While he's played in the big leagues, maybe some don't follow the National League or teams with homes outside of Minneapolis. The St. Louis Cardinals signed him when he was 16 years old in 2004. He remained in their organization through the 2011 season, having spent some time at Triple-A. As a minor-league free agent, he signed with the Florida Marlins. The Marlins called him up in late May and he played in 93 games for them. He topped the 100-games-played plateau in 2013 and 2014 despite playing multiple positions. In 2016, he played in 55 games with the Marlins before being released. He signed with the Yankees for the 2016 season and played in nine games while wearing the pinstripes. In 2017, he spent his whole Age-29 season at Triple-A. The Dodgers signed him in 2018 and he again played in Triple-A. He was kind of at a career crossroads. The Giants signed him in 2019 and sent him to Triple-A, but something happened. He got called up and in 81 games, he hit .33 with 13 doubles and four home runs. In the Covid-shortened 2020 season, he hit .326 with 15 doubles and three home runs in 54 games. He won a Silver Slugger Award. In 2021, he played in 101 games for the Giants and hit .280 with 17 doubles and seven home runs. Last year, he signed with the Reds, and in 80 games, he hit .284 with 16 doubles and four homers. He was a teammate in 2022 with Tyler Mahle and Kyle Farmer. Farmer and Solano both played around the infield for the Reds last year, especially after the team called up Spencer Steer in August. While he has played all four infield positions, he has primarily played second base in the big leagues. 368 of his 463 career starts (79.5%) have come at second base. If you've been listening to the Gleeman and the Geek podcast or John's recent Caretaker audio posts, you know that the Twins have said that Jorge Polanco will be brought along slowly and as his knee is ready. Speculation (fair or not) might be that the Twins just want to make sure they have another option there. While we don't know the dollars of the deal, it won't be real high. Last year, he made $4.5 million with the Reds. This late in spring training, odds are that you can guess the Twins will play him maybe half of that and possibly provide incentives to it. The other side of the transaction is also not yet known. The Twins roster is already at 40 players. To make room for Solano, someone will need to be removed from the 40-man roster. Most likely, the Twins will make room for Solano by placing Royce Lewis (or maybe Chris Paddack) on the 60-Day IL. (This post will be updated as we learn more about the transaction.) Your turn. Share your thoughts on this free-agent signing. Do you think it's a good move? Do you think it indicates something else? Leave your COMMENTS below. View full article

Link Another Souhan article that's worth checking out. In this article regarding Nick Gordon, he leads this article with an interesting (and true) thought, "Nick Gordon's development into a valuable super-utility player became one of the highlights of the Twins' 2022 season. To reward him, they traded for two players to reduce his role." They added Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Farmer who can be backups at multiple positions too. A big part of the conversation - as it usually does - goes to his weight. He noted that earlier in his career, he was playing at 185. However, his bouts with gastritis had him down to below 160 pounds. They figured it out and he got some medications to help, but he also completely changed his diet. So, what do you see Nick Gordon's role on the 2023 Twins roster? Where will he get most of his playing time?

Link Jim Souhan wrote about Matt Wallner's background and got some fun quotes about playing at home. How he gets to the big leagues in 2023 will be interesting. Consider that Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Byron Buxton, and Michael A. Taylor will be on the roster. Nick Gordon is out of options and broke out in 2022. He'll be on the roster. Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff are in the picture. Matt Wallner, Gilberto Celestino and Mark Contreras will bein St. Paul getting ready to help if needed. As we know, Wallner has struck out a lot and did so in his month in the big leagues last year. But his manager says that he has something that should really help him when he does come up. What are your hopes and expectations for the 2023 season for Wallner?

Link Jim Souhan started covering the Twins as a beat writer about 30 years ago. He has covered Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter. Now, he's writing about Royce Lewis and using those two players for the type of player and leader that Royce Lewis can and will be. It's his personality. It's his joy. It's his work ethic. It's his charisma. It's that he doesn't care where he plays, just that he can help the team win, and win championships. Having known Royce going back to 2018, there's no question he has an "It Factor." He gets it, and he truly loves the game. It was good to see video of him running some sprints. Here are a couple of the quotes from the article that illustrate these things.

Olivar finished runner-up in the Twins Daily short-season minor league hitter of the year voting, just behind Jose Rodriguez, and just ahead of Yasser Mercedes. As for the future of Twins catching... I mean, not a lot of catcher prospects, but... Christian Vazquez just signed for 3 years and Jeffers is under control for 3-4 more years. Guys like Tony Wolters and Graysen Greiner and Chance Sisco are always available in the offseason. David Banuelos will get job offers for a long time because he's so good behind the plate. And I really like Jair Camargo and was glad he came back. I think I had him in the mid-40s... I see a lot of Jeferson Morales in him. And, his age doesn't matter at all.

Obviously this is very much negative... and from Falvey's quote it doesn't look great. But we don't know the full story. Could be wrong place, wrong time. Could have been trying to help a friend. Could have been anything.