jorgenswest

A Michigan native, Kyle Jones is a four-year senior from the University of Toledo. A starting pitcher for the Rockets, Jones was a workhorse throwing 91 1/3 innings this past season. He posted a 4.24 ERA alongside 11.3 K/9. He became the third pitcher Minnesota selected in the 2022 MLB draft, and was noted as a high-character guy by a few different people I reached out to.
I caught up with Jones after his selection to ask a few questions and introduce him to Twins Territory.
Twins Daily: Working as a starter this season for Toledo, what does your repertoire look like and what is your best pitch?
Kyle Jones: As a starter this year for Toledo, I worked with a four-seam fastball, spike curveball, and splitter. This summer I have been working on adding a cutter to my arsenal as well. My best pitch has always been my curveball since it has been hard with late break. My splitter played pretty well this year in spots and I’m excited to gain confidence with it.
TD: How do you set yourself up to attack hitters? What type of pitcher would you describe yourself as and what goes into your preparation?
KJ: I try to get ahead in the count as early as possible to reduce walks and let my offspeed work. I see myself as a pitchability guy since I can get swings and misses on my offspeed and fill up the strike zone. I stick to my weekly routine as much as possible to make sure that I am ready to go whenever I get on the mound. This includes mobility, conditioning, lifting, and a weekly bullpen.
TD: The 114 strikeouts across just 91 1/3 innings are more than impressive, but then paired with just 25 walks, your ability to command the zone looks even better. What do you think can separate you as a pitcher in professional baseball?
KJ: I think that being able to throw three pitches for strikes without walking many will be a separator for me professionally. I also think that being routine-oriented can help me stay healthy and consistent throughout the season.
TD: Minnesota is trending towards an organization that heavily employs advanced analytics. What is your background with using the data and incorporating it into the way you pitch?
KJ: I love having access to analytics whenever I have the chance. In the past, I have done pitch design sessions and training with Rapsodo which has been great for me to learn about my arsenal and metrics. Being at a mid-major, we do not always have access to Trackman data during the season, but I try to use it whenever I have the chance. I am really looking forward to diving deeper into the analytical part of pitching and am excited that the Twins will be able to provide that.
TD: What do you know about the Minnesota Twins? Have you ever been to Target Field?
KJ: Growing up in Detroit, I had watched the Tigers play the Twins, but have never been to Minnesota or Target Field. I know they have been playing some good baseball recently and am excited to contribute to the organization!
TD: What is something you want Twins Territory to know about you as a person or player?
KJ: I just want to say that I can’t wait to get down to Fort Myers and get going with the Twins. I also want to give a shoutout to my family for all the love and support throughout my career as well as to all my coaches who have gotten me to where I am today.
 

Once again, the St. Paul Saints were the only Twins minor league team in action on Wednesday. That didn't stop them from putting on an offensive clinic. 
The Wind Surge, Kernels, and Mussels will all kick off their season on Friday. That's when the Twins will play their first game as well after it was postponed from Thursday. 
TRANSACTIONS
The Twins placed LHP Lewis Thorpe, RHP Ronny Henriquez, and RHP Jake Petricka on Developmental List. 
SAINTS SENTINAL
St. Paul 7, Louisville 4
Box Score Fresh off their first W of the season, the Saints were the true bearers of lumber against the Louisville Bats on Thursday evening. The Saints got the party started with a three-run first inning and never looked back, notching their second win of the young season. 
The hype around the talented Saints roster has been exponentially leading up to the 2022 season. Wednesday evening showed why. 
On the third pitch of the game, Jose Miranda launched a 2-0 pitch over the left-field wall to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. The MLB.com Top 100 prospect launched 30 homers between AA Wichita and AAA St. Paul last season and his Wednesday dinger will likely be the first of many. 
2017 first-round pick Royce Lewis followed suit with a double to center on an 0-2 pitch to keep the momentum going. Lewis recorded his first hit of the season last night in the season opener and it’s safe to say that all of Twins Territory is thrilled to see Lewis’ play and personality back on the diamond. 
Touted for his impressive speed, Lewis followed suit by stealing third base (2) and was eventually driven in alongside Mark Contreras by a Jake Cave double (1) to give the Saints a 3-0 lead. 
Miranda continued his solid evening by knocking in Curtis Terry on an RBI single in the fourth inning. Jermaine Palacios also scored in the first thanks to a catching error by Louisville first basemen Jake Bauers. 
St. Paul tacked on two more runs in the seventh. After an infield single by Lewis, Contreras launched an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall to give the Saints a 7-3 lead. The shot was Contreras’ first of the young season. 
The Goose is Loose
A former member of the Red Sox organization, RHP Daniel “Goose” Gossett was rock-solid in his first outing for the Saints. Despite a rocky third inning, Gossett gave up no runs on one hit in the first two innings and retired the first two batters in the fourth inning before being removed. 
Newcomer JC Ramirez (W, 1-0) came in after Gossett and was rock solid for 2.1 innings. The Managua, Nicaragua native struck allowed no runs on three hits with three strikeouts, allowing the Saints offensive opportunities to pad their lead. 
The tandem of Jovani Moran and Juan Minaya (S, 1) tackled the final seven outs, allowing only two combined hits. Minaya struck out four batters to earn his first save of the year. 
Larnach Out
Just hours before first pitch, the Saints announced that top prospect Trevor Larnach had been removed from the lineup and replaced by Mark Contreras (who had a stellar evening). Pre-game, Saints manager Toby Gardenhire told broadcaster Sean Aronson that he had some muscle tightness and with the wet field conditions (both of the first two games have been delayed), they removed him from the lineup. 
That didn't stop Twitter from being curious. Then Ken Rosenthal tweeted out during the Saints game that the Twins were working on acquiring San Diego starting pitcher Chris Paddack. And while some believe Larnach could be headed to Southern California, Rosenthal followed up by saying that the Padres are interested in Twins reliever Taylor Rogers. 
Will Larnach's promising future remain in Minnesota? It seems likely, but only time will tell. 
WIND SURGE WISDOM
The Wind Surge will begin their season on Friday at home against the Tulsa Drillers. The Surge will send top prospect Matt Canterino to the mound for the season opener. Canterino was 1-0 with a 0.78 ERA in 2021 before being sidelined with an elbow injury. 
The return of one of the most exciting pitchers in the Twins organization should be electric.  In the meantime, be sure to check out the Wind Surge roster preview.
KERNELS NUGGETS
The Kernels announced on Wednesday that LHP and Burnsville, MN native Aaron Rozek will take the bump for Cedar Rapids' opener on Friday against Beloit. Signed to a minor-league contract last season, Rozek went 3-2 with a 2.40 ERA between Fort Myers, Cedar Rapids, and Wichita in 2021. 
Be sure to take a look at the Cedar Rapids roster in advance of their opener on Friday.
MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers hits the road to Clearwater to open their 2022 season against the Threshers on Friday. There should be quite a few of the Twins 2021 draft picks on their roster, which has yet to be officially announced.
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - JC Ramirez, St. Paul Saints (W, 2.1 IP,  3 H, BB, 3 K)
Hitter of the Day - Jose Miranda, St. Paul Saints (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI,  2 K)
PROSPECT SUMMARY
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 SB (3), 2 K
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI,  2 K
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 0-for-5,  2 K
THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Cole Sands
 

Initially, I was excited about the Twins receiving a catcher via trade. After losing Mitch Garver via trade, receiving a catcher in a later trade made sense. That excitement cooled when looking at Gary Sanchez's offensive and defensive numbers. I quickly realized that he has not been good.
He has had some moments of improvement and growth, but overall, nothing shows he is worth hanging onto. With everything he's had stacked against him, a change of scenery, moving from the Bronx Bombers to the Twins, maybe just what revives his career. As I break down his defensive and offensive woes, I also found that his hard work ethic, along with fresh hitting and catching coaches, maybe just what Sanchez needs to make a comeback.
Replacing a fan favorite
When news broke of Mitch Garver's trade to the Texas Rangers, there was a collective shock and sadness from Minnesota baseball fans. The trade was hard to digest, but the Twins had an everyday shortstop and still had Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate. Just as fans were coming to terms with that trade, and then excited by the Sonny Gray trade, an even more shocking trade came to light. 
Late Sunday night, the Twins sent Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and the newest acquisition Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. The initial assumption was that the Twins might use Sanchez in a trade for pitching, but with Garver and Rortvedt on new teams, Gary Sanchez will likely be one of the Twins' catchers. 
There is no doubt that Garver showed big improvements over his time with the Twins, both offensively and defensively. Because of that, as well as his presence in the media and on Twitter, he became a fan favorite, The idea that Gary Sanchez of the hated Yankees is replacing a fan favorite may not be sitting well with many Twins fans. 
Defensive Struggles
It will take a lot of change for Twins fans (or coaches or pitchers) to be comfortable with Sanchez behind the plate. His defensive metrics show that he struggles with pitch presentation. The numbers tend to improve and improve more as he works on his positioning and framing. They will have to improve for him to keep playing. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gary-sanchez-596142?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb

The 6'2", 230-pound catcher has been tagged "The Worst Catcher in Baseball," and we can see why if you go solely on his defensive metrics. Watching the video helps as well.
Gary Sanchez's pitch framing and balance issues have been the bane of his existence in New York. A catcher's success is based on his positioning behind the plate in an effort to effectively frame a pitch, which seems to be Sanchez's biggest downfall. He has consistently had a problem maintaining his balance on his left side, leading to dropping down to his knees, which has allowed a lot of passed balls. With framing and receiving, he sits back on his heels with his seat below knee level, and he's moving to the ball with his whole body. 
Gary Sanchez Catching Problems Dissected
Because of his positioning, Sanchez catches the ball with large swiping motions instead of small movements receiving the ball. There is no thought that he will ever win any Gold Gloves behind the plate. Last season, he spent time in on the New York bench, including during the playoffs. The Yankees invested in help for Sanchez that may have helped him get started in the right direction, even if it was too little too late. 
Offensive Struggles
Even though he wasn't what the Yankees were hoping for after his rookie season in 2017, the team continued to give him chances because of his offensive performance early in his career. Gary Sanchez is fantastic offensively, he is an All-Star, but the past two seasons, on top of his defensive struggles, he has still struggled offensively. 
The one-time All-Star has slumped recently in numbers. The one thing that Sanchez is very capable of is hitting home runs. Last year Sanchez hit 23 home runs, one of them being a clutch grand-slam to win the game on September 5th, 2021, to beat the Orioles. 
I hope that Sanchez is willing to do whatever it takes to improve and give the Twins the edge they are deserving. The Yankees saw enough potential in Sanchez to invest time and coaching to improve his skills and get back to where he was before his injuries in 2018.
Willingness to do the work
The Yankees hired a catching coach, Tanner Swanson (the former Twins minor league catching coordinator), specifically to work with Sanchez. Swanson previously helped Mitch Garver improve, and it seems that the catcher whisperer had done it again. While working with Swanson, Sanchez had a vast improvement cutting down on passed balls based on changing his position behind the plate. 
Sanchez does have an impressive pop time of 1.93 seconds (League average is 2.01 seconds) and a cannon for an arm. When he is set right, and in a good rhythm, Sanchez quickly gets people out almost anywhere on the field, which is a defensive dream.
After working with Sanchez for some time, Tanner Swanson told AP News, "I think overall just a much more confident version of the Gary Sánchez than we saw in 2020," Swanson said. "He has attacked the offseason and been accountable for his performance in 2020. I think he's in a perfect place, and his process is sound. I've been pleased."
With Swanson at the helm, Sanchez learned how to use minimal glove movement to improve his strike count by reaching from below the strike zone and making small quick movements to steal the 'low-strike,' a technique Swanson also worked on with Mitch Garver, Ben Rortvedt, and other catchers in the Twins organization. As Sanchez continued to work on his defense, it was clear that he was not improving much. When he stopped being productive with the bat too, he needed to move on from the Yankees. 
Gary Sanchez is not a lost cause yet; perhaps a change of scenery by moving to Minnesota, a new catching coach, and a second chance would benefit the catcher. 
Why I Believe Gary Sanchez Can Have a Big Comeback Season
The Twins have hired several new coaches in the offseason, but two will be especially instrumental in working with Sanchez. David Popkins is the new hitting coach, and on December 10th, the Minnesota Twins hired a new coach, former big-league catcher Hank Conger who has been coaching in KBO since before the pandemic.
Hank Conger is a former MLB catcher who bounced around as a coach in the minors for three seasons after his 2015 season with the Astros. He has spent the past two years as a coach in Korea for the Lotte Giants. While this will be his MLB debut as a coach, the resounding applause of his hire is promising for the Twins and, hopefully, the catcher core. 
Conger has seen a lot of change from when he was drafted and began in professional baseball to now. Pitch framing is his most significant focus. All of his managers were former catchers; Conger was able to get many perspectives that he credits with who he was as a catcher and how he is now as a catcher's coach. 
When it comes to pitchers and hitters that come up, Conger's focus is on how he can help the catchers have all the information on his pitchers and the opponent's hitters. Information comes from scouting reports or in-game information. The relationship with the pitchers is just as crucial to Conger as it should be to the catcher. 
The catcher-pitcher relationship is the most important relationship on the field; from game management to communication, there must be trust between the two players and, most importantly, hard work. 
Sanchez is no stranger to hard work with pitchers; in fact, he's previously worked with Sonny Gray, the most recent Twins pitching acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds, and they have a history. Both players played for the Yankees in 2018, but the relationship was not productive. Gray had Sanchez as a catcher, but after a string of miscommunication and inconsistent tempo between the two, Gray opted for Austin Romine as his catcher. That did not stop Sanchez from wanting to improve. 
Gary Sanchez spent a lot of time watching Gray and Romine from the dugout, learning the pitcher and catcher's pitches, personality, and tempo. The hope is that the reunion in a new environment will work together with the help of the pitching and catching staff to create the tempo they couldn't find in 2018. 
Be ready for a big season
Sanchez is no stranger to powerful hitting and elite catching. The past two seasons, he certainly has struggled to find his stride. Whether it was a case of being in his head or his mechanics, there is an opportunity here in Minnesota for Sanchez to start fresh. 
If Sanchez can improve his form behind the plate and framing, he just might become a dangerous weapon for the Twins, both defensive and offensively. He already possesses the power at the plate with his swing to be a part of the beloved "bomba-squad." Whether as the DH or behind the plate, he has the potential to be a significant asset on this squad.
The Twins organization is set up for players to succeed. They are finding the coaches and players to grow a successful team, and if he puts in the work to be successful, and with the new rotation of pitchers and coaching staff, Sanchez will have a chance to shine.  
 

(For the record, I did not intend for this to be a pseudo-response to Nick Nelson’s article from the other day, but it worked out like that.)
In all likelihood, Kenta Maeda’s Tommy John surgery has ended any chance he has of pitching to any significant degree in 2022. There remains an outside chance that he can return in nine months, but even that heavily optimistic prediction shortens his 2022 season. Because of this, the potential Twins starting rotation in 2022 as of this very moment will consist solely of players with little MLB playing time and John Gant. And John Gant is not a starter. You, yes, you, my good reader, have about as much playing time as any of these other guys. Sure, Bailey Ober has flashed some ability; but the names after him are either questionable or dreadful. It is an unsustainable rotation. The natural thought would be then to sign an entire stable of starters. Just line up pitchers and send them through in such rapid fashion that FDR’s 100 days would appear to have run at a snail’s pace. 
But this would not be a good idea. First, which teams have built a successful starting rotation on such short notice? Yes, the Giants have found success this season with this method, but they are the exceptions. Look down the list of the top rotations by fWAR. Almost every team has a foundation of starters who were either developed internally or acquired before this last off-season. Teams like the Giants are relatively rare in building a starting rotation; most great units require a more solid base. The Twins, by comparison, would have to sign four starters (or three and pray that someone fixed Randy Dobnak) and assume that Bailey Ober will be available for 160+ quality innings next season. Not a great plan.
Secondly, let’s think big picture. What good would a patchwork rotation be in 2022? There remain significant questions regarding the stability of this current core of players. The central nucleus of names is getting older. Considering that this same group of players has struggled early in 2021, why should we believe the situation will suddenly be any better? Will Miguel Sanó abruptly learn plate discipline? Will Max Kepler’s BABIP finally go above .250? I think not. The moves made by the front office signal to me that they do not plan on seriously competing until 2023. They traded José Berríos, a starter under control for 2022, for prospects. Yes, it was also because the deal was great for them, but the main driver, I believe, was a fundamental belief that this team, as currently constructed, will come up short in any effort in 2022 without heavenly intervention. Why else would they also peddle core players like Byron Buxton and Kepler? 
One of the other main tenants in the belief of a 2022 surrender is the prospect situation. It isn’t the lack of quality of prospects; they have those. It’s when they should make their MLB debuts. According to MLB.com, nine of their top 10 prospects will likely debut this year or next year. According to Fangraphs, it is nine of 11. Neither of these lists includes Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach, who, while no longer prospects, will become long-term players in their own right who can (and will) replace current names. These soon-to-be-Twins reflect a conscious effort to have 2022 be a messy season in which the Twins can figure out which players will contribute in 2022 and beyond. Call up all the kids, see what they can do, then decide from there. There will be no competing next season.
Now, while this should prevent the Twins from going all-in on starters, they should not utterly abstain from signing. They should target a younger long-term arm like Jon Gray, Eduardo Rodriguez, or even a more prominent name like Marcus Stroman. These players can bring an essential veteran presence while not presenting the same risks that an older (but probably better) pitcher like Zack Greinke or Justin Verlander will have. If the team wants to sign a player of that magnitude, it makes more sense to do so after 2022, when the genetic makeup of the team makes more sense. 
This line of thought does raise one more important question. If the team only signs one major starter, where does the rest of the money go? Their theoretical spending limit will be significant after this season. While I would love to give Mr. Pohlad a chance to purchase another absurd yacht or buy off a state senator or something, I don’t believe that money should go to waste. Perhaps the team could look towards signing one of the many All-Star shortstops available this off-season or decide to hand out an early extension to one of their numerous pre-arb players. I know that advocating for minimal movement on the rotation front while inking a high-caliber position player to a long-term deal seems like a strange idea, and it is. The key phrase is “long-term”; I’m thinking about building a better 2023 team, not a better 2022 team, and a burnt contract year is just the cost of investing. 
I get it, though. This team has not won a playoff game since the Bush administration, and it feels that it may be asking the world of some to hold off another season before diving headfirst back into the fray. No one wants to do that. This idea comes from the same desire that every other Twins fan possesses; we want this team to succeed. We want to finally shed the pressure that is years of unmatched playoff ineptitude. All I am asking is that the team realizes the poor situation that 2022 will likely be and instead decide to take a better-calculated shot at playoff success with a more solid foundation underneath them. What good will one more poorly constructed hopeful playoff run do? Plan for a better future.