Steven Buhr

I'm wondering... Gonsalves only threw 4 innings last night because of the suspension due to weather. The game will be picked up on Monday in Peoria with CR hitting in the bottom of the 4th. That would be Gonsalves' 4th day since his start. Keeping in mind, the Kernels use a 6 man rotation, he would probably be doing a bullpen session on Monday anyway, would they consider letting him go ahead and pitch a couple of innings (maybe the 5th and 6th) in the game when it resumes? His next scheduled start would be Wednesday, also at Peoria. I'm guessing the answer is, "no," since they have guys like Zach Tillery who can give them several innings in relief in these situations, but it was just a thought.

I'm not as familiar with the QC roster as I am the Kernels', but yes, they have a number of the Astros' 2014 draft picks, as well as a few guys who were drafted or signed as HS players 2-3 years ago.

Really good. While the Kernels were hot, QC was reeling off something like 12-13 wins in a row. They had three studs promoted at the same time a week or so ago and just kept on winning. QC starts a 3 game series in CR on Friday.

Pondering the road not taken is just something humans are prone to doing. It's not really an issue for Twins fans because it's not like the Twins had the option of taking Correa. But the Astros chose Correa over Buxton, for reasons that were as much about finances as ability, and the debate about that strategy was immediate. If both turn out to be All-Stars, none of it matters. And that's not at all an unlikely scenario.

Buxton and Correa will probably forever be linked and compared because of the circumstances of their draft order. The obvious difference in their development, so far, is the "lost year" Buxton had in 2014. It would be very interesting to know where Buck would have been this year had he not been injured for so much of last summer. I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility that, with a full 2014 of develoment, he could have been the Twins opening day CF this season. How would that have compared with Correa's development path?

For your entertainment, video clips from last night's Kernels game: Max Murphy double: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cLtQJlIh7k&feature=player_detailpage Followed immediately by Zack Larson RBI double, which drove in Murphy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1TLtrGhmZA&feature=player_detailpage

Vavra has had some succes, Kuresa not as much, so far. All things being equal, you typically see the early promotions coming from the group of guys who returned to the MWL to start the year after spending a fair amount of time here the prior season. Thus, my sense that Murphy and Larson would head the list of possible promotions among position players. They were both off to slow starts, though, so they'll need more than a couple weeks of hot hitting to really earn promotions. Of course, injuries at any level create opportunities borne of need, rather than performance, so you never know.

Max Murphy has been on a tear the past couple weeks, as has Zack Larson to a somewhat lesser degree. Both guys spent time in CR a year ago, so you would think the Twins are just waiting for them to put together several good weeks before moving them up.

I find it interesting that, of all the guys Seth mentioned as deserving to be considered for promotion, Pinto is the only position player. There are a couple others in his "also deserving consideration" paragraph, but the list is clearly pitcher-heavy. There seem to be relievers at pretty much every level that are off to relatively dominant starts to their seasons, which would make the dominos-effect at each level manageable. Good to have some options in that area.

A couple of years ago, someone in the Twins organization explained to me why they don't promote a hitter based on a hot first month or so of the season. They want to see how the guy fares when opponents' starting pitchers get to see him a second time. Pitchers make adjustments and they like to see how those adjustments affect the hitter & whether he can, in turn, make his own adjustments. Might not be as big a deal for a guy like Hicks who is certainly no stranger, at this point, to AAA pitchers. On the other hand, Rochester will be playing a few teams for the second time over the next couple weeks. Personally, I'd like to see him promoted to the Twins so we can find out what he's capable of. It would make some sense to me, at the same time, to promote Buxton to AAA and see what he can do there for a few weeks. If it's a couple more weeks before those transactions happen, I won't throw a fit. If those two OFs keep producing and it's mid July before the promotions happen, that would be frustrating to me.

A year ago, Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher Michael Cederoth was neither a Minnesota Twins prospect, nor was he a starting pitcher. But times change. Cederoth was wrapping up his college career at San Diego State in May of 2014, looking forward to entering the June amateur player draft and getting his professional career started.The 6’ 6” tall pitcher spent his junior season as the team's closer and his 20 saves tied the Aztecs school record. A year later, he's a starting pitcher in the Kernels' rotation with a 1-2 record, a 3,75 ERA and 24 strikeouts in the same number of innings pitched over five starts. On Saturday, he threw six innings, giving up just two runs, in the Kernels' 5-2 win over Beloit in the first game of their doubleheader sweep over the Beloit Snappers. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15c-600x400.jpgMichael Cederoth (photo by Steve Buhr)Cederoth was the Twins’ 2014 third-round draft pick last June and soon after found himself in the starting rotation for the Twins' rookie-level team in Elizabethton, Tennessee. At San Diego State, Cederoth pitched for the late Tony Gwynn, who lost his battle with cancer last year. His face lights up when asked about playing for the Hall of Famer. “Wow. I mean, imagine playing for any HOF baseball player. It’s something that every kid wants to be when they grow up and to have that as a coach at the college level is a great opportunity. I was blessed with the fact that he gave me the opportunity to play underneath him and I’ll never forget all the memories I got with him and playing underneath him.” What can a pitcher learn from a guy who made his fame and fortune swinging a bat, rather than throwing the ball? Plenty, according to Cederoth. “We definitely picked his brain. You’ve got one of the best hitters in baseball ever to play the game. Of course you’re going to want to know what’s in the hitter’s mind, so it really helps having that as a pitcher. Because we know what we’re doing out there – we want to know what (hitters) are thinking and he’s the best guy to ask.” Cederoth had a reputation with scouts as being a hard-thrower (occasionally hitting 100 mph on the radar gun) who could be a fast-rising pitcher with the right organization. One national prospects writer even projected him to have the potential to reach the big leagues as a bullpen arm by the end of 2015. Instead, Cederoth is spending 2015 in the class-A Midwest League with the Kernels as the Twins attempt to make a starting pitcher out of him. And that’s just fine with Cederoth. “He wants to do it,” Kernels pitching coach Henry Bonilla said, of Cederoth. “He definitely wants to be a starter. I think he enjoys the nuances that go with it. He has to prepare every day for that one day that he gets his day (to pitch).” When you ask Cederoth, he makes it clear he’s dedicated to whatever role the Twins see as the best fit for him within the organization. “Growing up, I’ve always been however I’m needed, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “If they want me to be a starter, then I’m going to do my best to be a starter. If tomorrow they tell me they want me to be relief, then I’m going to do my best to be a reliever,” he added. “They’re giving me this opportunity so I’m going to show them, ‘OK, If you want me to be a starter, I’m going to try my best to be the best starter I can be.’” It’s not like the starting pitcher role is totally foreign to Cederoth, after all. Cederoth was a successful starting pitcher his first two years at San Diego State and converted to the bullpen for his final year on the Aztecs’ staff. The Twins have made a practice, in recent years, of drafting strong-armed college relievers and giving them experience in a starting rotation, at least at the lower minor league levels. Bonilla admitted that helping a pitcher make that transition isn’t always easy. “It’s a problem if the kid doesn’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s a little harder when you try to make a guy a starter and he wants to be a 1-2 innings blowout kind of guy.” Bonilla also provided some insight to the organization’s thinking when they consider whether to try to turn a successful college reliever in to a professional starter. “A lot of times you’ll see a guy and you’ll go, 'OK, at worst, he’s going to be a reliever. Let’s see what we’ve got.’” Bonilla thinks Cederoth definitely has the potential to make it as a starter because he not only has the high-velocity fastball in his arsenal, but is developing other quality pitches, as well. “He’s got a mix (of pitches) to him. He can spin the ball. He’s got both the curveball and slider and with that velo, can he maintain it?” And if, later, it turns out Cederoth returns to the bullpen, the effort has not been in vain, according to the pitching coach. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CederothBP-400x600.jpgMichael Cederoth (photo by Steve Buhr)“The good thing about it, as a reliever he’ll get 1-2 innings of experience at a time. Here he’s getting 6 innings, 7 innings, 100 pitches at a time. It gets him out of his element. A lot of these guys, they’re comfortable doing one thing. When they’re uncomfortable, you see their true colors. So you’ll see him starting something new and he really has to adjust, you can see his mental capacity and what he really is. “He (Cederoth) is doing a really good job of transferring to the starting position. It’s hard.” For his part, Cederoth isn’t interested in even discussing any potential Plan B the organization might have. “I really didn’t think about that,” he said. “I can’t think about that. They didn’t tell me that. Honestly, they told me they want me to be a starter and I’m really trying to be the best starter I can be. I’ve been working a lot and trying to hone my mechanics and my delivery.” Having served in both roles in college, Cederoth is more prepared to make the switch than other college relievers who have seldom started a game above the high school level. He came in to the process already aware of adjustments he needed to make. “A lot of it is routine, that’s really the similarity,” he explained. “But the difference is, what are the routines? So that is really what I had to transition with. I knew how to do a routine, I knew how to get in to a routine, but now it’s the routine as a starter. “As a reliever, every day could be your day. So every day is kind of the same thing. As a starter, you have a routine. Every day is different, but it’s the same thing every week. The game you’re starting you throw 6 innings. The next day, what’s that day? And then the following day after that? “As a reliever, you might have to pitch that day so you do everything you can to get ready to pitch that day. Did you pitch that day? Well you have to do the same thing the next day. If you pitched that day, well, you might have to pitch the next day. So, it’s the same thing every day. That’s really the physical part.” There are differences in the mental approach, as well, according to Cederoth. “As a reliever, your job is to come in there and get three, six, maybe nine outs. At most nine outs, hopefully. Because you want to throw the next day,” he explained. “As a starter, you want to flip the lineup at least twice. It’s really a chess game. You’ve really got to plan out how you’re going to pitch. What did you give the guy his first at-bat? What did he show you when you threw this pitch? You’ve got to keep that in the back of your head. “It’s not just a bulldog mentality of go after him bang - bang - bang. You have to plan out what kind of game you’re going to go in to and what kind of hitters they have, unless you’re just gifted with the fact that you can just do the same thing over and over again and get guys out. If you’re on your game, then great, then you can do that. When you’re not always on your ‘A’ game, you’ve got to deal with what the day gives you.” Tall pitchers, like Cederoth, often are challenged to develop consistent, repeatable deliveries and that’s something he’s working on with Bonilla this season. He’s also working to improve his secondary pitches. “Curveball and change up right now. My curveball has come a long way,” Cederoth said, of the pitches he’s specifically working to integrate in to his game plans. “You’re facing guys twice. You go fastball – slider to one guy. Maybe the next time you face him, you throw a curveball at him. Completely change their whole game plan.” Striking out batters has never been an issue for Cederoth and through five starts for the Kernels, he has averaged more than a strikeout per inning. Ultimately, however, the ability to develop several effective pitches will likely determine whether Cederoth – or any starting pitcher – will have success in a big league rotation. He’s well aware of that. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15a-600x400.jpgMichael Cederoth (photo by Steve Buhr)“There’s some guys that can survive on just three pitches,” he said, adding, “I believe that I can get four good pitches. My change up is something that I’m really trying to get. If I can get that down, I can have more success getting early outs and dropping my pitch count. That’s been my problem, the pitch count. So getting that quick out, just getting a guy to roll over, is something I’m really trying to work on. Right now, it’s not totally ready, but it will be soon.” Cederoth is also working on his mechanics with his pitching coach and he’s clearly pleased to be getting another opportunity to work with Bonilla, who had the same role for the Twins’ rookie-level team at Elizabethton a year ago. “Don’t get me wrong, I had amazing pitching coaches in college, but when I came to Elizabethton last year, I worked with Henry Bonilla. We had a great relationship in rookie ball. “My problem has always been my balance in my drive leg. There’s so much going on in my wind up that it’s not always consistent. My body is leaning a different way every time instead of always going toward home. I’ve always had to try to adjust in mid pitch and that’s why I’ve been so inconsistent. So what we’ve focused on (is) the plant leg getting right and make sure everything is going towards home. “So, yes, mechanically, I’m becoming a little more sound and I’m happy about it.” Click here to view the article

A year ago, Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher Michael Cederoth was neither a Minnesota Twins prospect, nor was he a starting pitcher. But times change. Cederoth was wrapping up his college career at San Diego State in May of 2014, looking forward to entering the June amateur player draft and getting his professional career started. The 6’ 6” tall pitcher spent his junior season as the team's closer and his 20 saves tied the Aztecs' school record. A year later, he's a starting pitcher in the Kernels' rotation with a 1-2 record, a 3,75 ERA and 24 strikeouts in the same number of innings pitched over five starts. On Saturday, he threw six innings, giving up just two runs, in the Kernels' 5-2 win over Beloit in the first game of their doubleheader sweep over the Beloit Snappers. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15c-600x400.jpg Michael Cederoth Cederoth was the Twins’ 2014 third round draft pick last June and soon after found himself in the starting rotation for the Twins' rookie-level team in Elizabethton, Tennessee. At San Diego State, Cederoth pitched for the late Tony Gwynn, who lost his battle with cancer last year. His face lights up when asked about playing for the Hall of Famer. “Wow. I mean, imagine playing for any HOF baseball player. It’s something that every kid wants to be when they grow up and to have that as a coach at the college level is a great opportunity. I was blessed with the fact that he gave me the opportunity to play underneath him and I’ll never forget all the memories I got with him and playing underneath him.” (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) What can a pitcher learn from a guy who made his fame and fortune swinging a bat, rather than throwing the ball? Plenty, according to Cederoth. “We definitely picked his brain. You’ve got one of the best hitters in baseball ever to play the game. Of course you’re going to want to know what’s in the hitter’s mind, so it really helps having that as a pitcher. Because we know what we’re doing out there – we want to know what (hitters) are thinking and he’s the best guy to ask.” Cederoth had a reputation with scouts as being a hard-thrower (occasionally hitting 100 mph on the radar gun) who could be a fast riser with the right organization. One national prospects writer even projected him to have the potential to reach the big leagues as a bullpen arm by the end of 2015. Instead, Cederoth is spending 2015 in the class A Midwest League with the Kernels as the Twins attempt to make a starting pitcher out of him. And that’s just fine with Cederoth. “He wants to do it,” Kernels pitching coach Henry Bonilla said, of Cederoth. “He definitely wants to be a starter. I think he enjoys the nuances that go with it. He has to prepare every day for that one day that he gets his day (to pitch).” When you ask Cederoth, he makes it clear he’s dedicated to whatever role the Twins see as the best fit for him within the organization. “Growing up, I’ve always been however I’m needed, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “If they want me to be a starter, then I’m going to do my best to be a starter. If tomorrow they tell me they want me to be relief, then I’m going to do my best to be a reliever,” he added. “They’re giving me this opportunity so I’m going to show them, ‘OK, If you want me to be a starter, I’m going to try my best to be the best starter I can be.’” It’s not like the starting pitcher role is totally foreign to Cederoth, after all. Cederoth was a successful starting pitcher his first two years at San Diego State and converted to the bullpen for his final year on the Aztecs’ staff. The Twins have made a practice, in recent years, of drafting strong-armed college relievers and giving them experience in a starting rotation, at least at the lower minor league levels. Bonilla admitted that helping a pitcher make that transition isn’t always easy. “It’s a problem if the kid doesn’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s a little harder when you try to make a guy a starter and he wants to be a 1-2 innings blowout kind of guy.” Bonilla also provided some insight in to the organization’s thinking when they consider whether to try to turn a successful college reliever in to a professional starter. “A lot of times you’ll see a guy and you’ll go, ‘ok, at worst, he’s going to be a reliever. Let’s see what we’ve got.’” Bonilla thinks Cederoth definitely has the potential to make it as a starter because he not only has the high-velocity fastball in his arsenal, but is developing other quality pitches, as well. “He’s got a mix (of pitches) to him. He can spin the ball. He’s got both the curveball and slider and with that velo, can he maintain it?” And if, later, it turns out Cederoth returns to the bullpen, the effort has not been in vain, according to the pitching coach. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CederothBP-400x600.jpg Michael Cederoth “The good thing about it, as a reliever he’ll get 1-2 innings of experience at a time. Here he’s getting 6 innings, 7 innings, 100 pitches at a time. It gets him out of his element. A lot of these guys, they’re comfortable doing one thing. When they’re uncomfortable, you see their true colors. So you’ll see him starting something new and he really has to adjust, you can see his mental capacity and what he really is. “He (Cederoth) is doing a really good job of transferring to the starting position. It’s hard.” For his part, Cederoth isn’t interested in even discussing any potential Plan B the organization might have. “I really didn’t think about that,” he said. “I can’t think about that. They didn’t tell me that. Honestly, they told me they want me to be a starter and I’m really trying to be the best starter I can be. I’ve been working a lot and trying to hone my mechanics and my delivery.” Having served in both roles in college, Cederoth is more prepared to make the switch than other college relievers who have seldom started a game above the high school level. He comes in to the process already aware of adjustments he has needed to make. “A lot of it is routine, that’s really the similarity,” he explained. “But the difference is, what are the routines? So that is really what I had to transition with. I knew how to do a routine, I knew how to get in to a routine, but now it’s the routine as a starter. “As a reliever, every day could be your day. So every day is kind of the same thing. As a starter, you have a routine. Every day is different, but it’s the same thing every week. The game you’re starting you throw 6 innings. The next day, what’s that day? And then the following day after that? “As a reliever, you might have to pitch that day so you do everything you can to get ready to pitch that day. Did you pitch that day? Well you have to do the same thing the next day. If you pitched that day, well, you might have to pitch the next day. So, it’s the same thing every day. That’s really the physical part.” There are differences in the mental approach, as well, according to Cederoth. “As a reliever, your job is to come in there and get three, six, maybe nine outs. At most nine outs, hopefully. Because you want to throw the next day,” he explained. “As a starter, you want to flip the lineup at least twice. It’s really a chess game. You’ve really got to plan out how you’re going to pitch. What did you give the guy his first at bat? What did he show you when you threw this pitch? You’ve got to keep that in the back of your head. “It’s not just a bulldog mentality of go after him bang - bang - bang. You have to plan out what kind of game you’re going to go in to and what kind of hitters they have, unless you’re just gifted with the fact that you can just do the same thing over and over again and get guys out. If you’re on your game, then great, then you can do that. When you’re not always on your ‘A’ game, you’ve got to deal with what the day gives you.” Tall pitchers, like Cederoth, often are challenged to develop consistent, repeatable deliveries and that’s something he’s working on with Bonilla this season. He’s also working to improve his secondary pitches. “Curveball and change up right now. My curveball has come a long way,” Cederoth said, of the pitches he’s specifically working to integrate in to his game plans. “You’re facing guys twice. You go fastball – slider to one guy. Maybe the next time you face him, you throw a curveball at him. Completely change their whole game plan.” Striking out batters has never been an issue for Cederoth and through five starts for the Kernels, he has averaged more than a strike out per inning. Ultimately, however, the ability to develop several effective pitches will likely determine whether Cederoth – or any starting pitcher – will have success in a big league rotation. He’s well aware of that. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cederoth15a-600x400.jpg Michael Cederoth “There’s some guys that can survive on just three pitches,” he said, adding, “I believe that I can get four good pitches. My change up is something that I’m really trying to get. If I can get that down, I can have more success getting early outs and dropping my pitch count. That’s been my problem, the pitch count. So getting that quick out, just getting a guy to roll over, is something I’m really trying to work on. Right now, it’s not totally ready, but it will be soon.” Cederoth is also working on his mechanics with his pitching coach and he’s clearly pleased to be getting another opportunity to work with Bonilla, who had the same role for the Twins’ rookie level team at Elizabethton a year ago. “Don’t get me wrong, I had amazing pitching coaches in college, but when I came to Elizabethton last year, I worked with Henry Bonilla. We had a great relationship in rookie ball. “My problem has always been my balance in my drive leg. There’s so much going on in my wind up that it’s not always consistent. My body is leaning a different way every time instead of always going toward home. I’ve always had to try to adjust in mid pitch and that’s why I’ve been so inconsistent. So what we’ve focused on (is) the plant leg getting right and make sure everything is going towards home. “So, yes, mechanically, I’m becoming a little more sound and I’m happy about it.”

White and Gordon combine to play excellent defense on the left side of the Kernels' infield. I don't think we should minimize the effect that has had on the outstanding stat lines for CR's pitching staff.

As others are, I'm just enjoying the ride right now. It has been far too infrequent the past few years when a Twins fan could smile and enjoy supporting a team that was having some level of success. I'll take it while I can get it. I am in the camp, however, of those who sense this year has some level of hope that I haven't felt for several years. In the past, when you'd think about, "what if (insert unexpectedly hot mediocre veteran name here) begins to regress?" the answer was often, "If that happens, we're screwed." It would inevitably happen and the Twins were inevitably screwed. Now, the answer might be Rosario, Hicks, Meyer, Buxton, etc. And that list would include at least one prospect at virtually every position. Not to mention that we don't have to speculate about whether the Twins will go out and acquire a legit starting pitcher to bolster the rotation in July - Ervin Santana WILL be added to the rotation. I don't know if it's time to take the Twins seriously if, by "seriously" you mean, "serious postseason contenders." It's premature to do that, I imagine. But it's time to pay attention to the Twins. We're starting to see their future and that's worth watching.

He's been pretty consistently sitting low 90s, up a few ticks from a year ago. His manager believes he'll add more velo and eventually be a "94-95 guy." He worked out harder over the offseason than he ever has before. Will be real interesting to see what another year like that will do with his fastball. As for his pitch mix, he tends to be almost strictly fastball-change up the first time through the opponents' order. As he starts facing the same guy the 2nd or 3rd time, he's more likely to show the breaking balls. I like the approach and it has obviously been effective.

Guess when they promoted to article status, they cut the links Back-flip: https://youtu.be/vqVqvXisUVk Web Gem: https://youtu.be/Nf7qV2eF_I8

You might not guess it just to look at him, as he patrols center field for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but there’s a good chance that Tanner English is among the most athletic ballplayers on the roster.Sure, he measures just 5’ 10” tall and is listed at just 160 pounds, but don’t let his size fool you. English has athletic skills. For example, how many of his teammates do you think could do a standing back-flip in the middle of the field? More to the point, how many do you think have actually DONE a standing back-flip in the middle of the field? Now that he’s trying to earn a living playing ball, you might not see English repeating the feat, but, as this video proves, he has certainly demonstrated he’s capable of it. Yes, you may have noticed that the back-flip wasn’t the only oddity in that video, from his time with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2013. English also was the pitcher who recorded the final out of that game. Neither pitching nor back-flips have been part of the 22-year-old’s repertoire since he signed with the Twins after being drafted in the 11th round last summer following a three year career at the University of South Carolina. “No, the team we were playing that night in the Cape, that was their last game and we were going in to the playoffs,” English explained, while laughing. “Our bullpen was kind of spent and we had about a two-hour rain delay that night, so our coach was looking for people who could pitch. Me and another outfielder said, ‘Hey, sign us up. We’ll do it.’ I just got up there for fun and threw some strikes.” And the back-flip? Again, the laugh, before the explanation from English. “We were kind of messing around the whole game, playing rain-delay games and stuff. Then a whole bunch of the guys on the team bet me I wouldn’t do it (the back-flip). So I showed them that I would. I proved them wrong.” English isn’t looking to make a name for himself as a pitcher – or a gymnast – at this point. Instead, he’s continuing to build his reputation on being a reliable center fielder who gets on base regularly and knows how to move along the basepaths once he does. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/EnglishSB2015-600x400.jpgTanner English (2) with a successful stolen base (Photo: SD Buhr)In fact, English is tied for the most stolen bases for the Kernels this season with seven swiped bases. He's likely to pull in to the lead, too, since the player he's tied with is Zach Granite, who was promoted to class high-A Fort Myers last week. As for his skills in the field, English’s outfield defense has already landed him on ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays of the Day,” for the diving catch captured in this video: “That was probably my number one goal, going to college,” he recalled. “’Man, I just want to get on ESPN’s Top 10 one time.’ I had a couple of opportunities to do that, so that was pretty cool.” For some young players, playing in front of a few thousand people on a night that Cedar Rapids’ Veterans Memorial Stadium is packed is a new experience, but that’s nothing unusual for English. South Carolina’s baseball program has been a big-time Division I program for years and English got to experience the thrill of playing in the finals of the 2012 College World Series with the Gamecocks as a freshman. “That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life,” English recalled, despite the fact that his club lost to Arizona in the finals. “Shoot, 30,000-plus fans at the game, everyone was going nuts. I know that every kid that plays college baseball, that’s their dream is to get there and I’m one of the rare few that can say that (he) got to play there and play for a championship.” With the promotion of Granite to Fort Myers, English is likely to be the primary leadoff hitter for the Kernels. It’s a role he feels he’s ready for. “I’ll hit wherever they want me to hit,” English said. But he’s aware his role is changing following Granite’s promotion and he’s working with Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins to be prepared to be the club’s table-setter at the top of the lineup. “Really just trying to shorten things up, because I have a tendency to get a little bit long and try to hit the ball a lot further than I should, obviously, now as the leadoff hitter. That’s one of the big things I’ve been working on with Tommy and Jake (Mauer).” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15b-600x400.jpgTanner English (Photo: SDBuhr)Watkins believes English can handle the spot at the top of the Kernels’ batting order. “Yeah, I think so. I’m a big fan of his. He’s got tools," Watkins said, of English, over the weekend. “We’re trying to get him to trust himself – believe in his abilities. He can play baseball." “I think there is a difference when you lead off," Watkins added, "but just talking to Tanner about slowing things down a little bit and not using his body as much. He’s been doing a good job with that. Hopefully, he just keeps getting better – keep progressing on cutting the body down and using his hands a lot more.” English acknowledged that he and his fellow position players are going to need to step up their games if the Kernels are going to be successful. Early in the season, the club’s pitching has largely been carrying the bulk of the load on the field, while the offense has been sporadic. English is confident the hitting will come around. “We probably need to stop missing our pitch, as a team. We have great hitters on the team, but I don’t think we’re hitting to our fullest potential right now. We just need to get to a point where everyone’s in that groove and feeling comfortable and getting to where we can barrel everything up. “I know that baseball is hard, but just kind of do a better job in certain situations.” If he and the Kernels can do that, the Kernels' chances of competing for a third straight Midwest League Championship will improve significantly, but don't expect to see English doing any celebratory back-flips on the field. Then again, don't bet him that he won't do it. Click here to view the article

You might not guess it just to look at him, as he patrols centerfield for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but there’s a good chance that Tanner English is among the most athletic ballplayers on the roster. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15a-600x400.jpg Tanner English (Photo: SD Buhr) Sure, he measures just 5’ 10” tall and is listed at just 160 pounds, but don’t let his size fool you. English has athletic skills. For example, how many of his team mates do you think could do a standing back-flip in the middle of the field? More to the point, how many do you think have actually DONE a standing back-flip in the middle of the field? Now that he’s trying to earn a living playing ball, you might not see English repeating the feat, but, as this video proves, he has certainly demonstrated he’s capable of it. Yes, you may have noticed that the back-flip wasn’t the only oddity in that video, from his time with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2013. English also was the pitcher who recorded the final out of that game. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) Neither pitching nor back-flips have been part of the 22-year-old’s repertoire since he signed with the Twins after being drafted in the 11th round last summer following a three year career at the University of South Carolina. “No, the team we were playing that night in the Cape, that was their last game and we were going in to the playoffs,” English explained, while laughing. “Our bullpen was kind of spent and we had about a two-hour rain delay that night, so our coach was looking for people who could pitch. Me and another outfielder said, ‘hey, sign us up. We’ll do it.’ I just got up there for fun and threw some strikes.” And the back-flip? Again, the laugh, before the explanation from English. “We were kind of messing around the whole game, playing rain-delay games and stuff. Then a whole bunch of the guys on the team bet me I wouldn’t do it (the back-flip). So I showed them that I would. I proved them wrong.” English isn’t looking to make a name for himself as a pitcher – or a gymnast – at this point. Instead, he’s continuing to build his reputation on being a reliable center fielder who gets on base regularly and knows how to move along the basepaths once he does. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/EnglishSB2015-600x400.jpg Tanner English (2) with a successful stolen base (Photo: SD Buhr) In fact, English is tied for the most stolen bases for the Kernels this season with seven swiped bases. He's likely to pull in to the lead, too, since the player he's tied with is Zach Granite, who was promoted to class high-A Fort Myers last week. As for his skills in the field, English’s outfield defense has already landed him on ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays of the Day,” for the diving catch captured in this video: “That was probably my number one goal, going to college,” he recalled. “’Man, I just want to get on ESPN’s Top 10 one time.’ I had a couple of opportunities to do that, so that was pretty cool.” For some young players, playing in front of a few thousand people on a night that Cedar Rapids’ Veterans Memorial Stadium is packed is a new experience, but that’s nothing unusual for English. South Carolina’s baseball program has been a big-time Division I program for years and English got to experience the thrill of playing in the finals of the 2012 College World Series with the Gamecocks as a freshman. “That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life,” English recalled, despite the fact that his club lost to Arizona in the finals. “Shoot, 30,000-plus fans at the game, everyone was going nuts. I know that every kid that plays college baseball, that’s their dream is to get there and I’m one of the rare few that can say that got to play there and play for a championship.” With the promotion Granite to Fort Myers, English is likely to be the primary leadoff hitter for the Kernels. It’s a role he feels he’s ready for. “I’ll hit wherever they want me to hit,” English said. But he’s aware his role is changing following Granite’s promotion and he’s working with Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins to be prepared to be the club’s table-setter at the top of the lineup. “Really just trying to shorten things up, because I have a tendency to get a little bit long and try to hit the ball a lot further than I should, obviously, now as the leadoff hitter. That’s one of the big things I’ve been working on with Tommy and Jake (Mauer).” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/English15b-600x400.jpg Tanner English (Photo: SDBuhr) Watkins believes English can handle the spot at the top of the Kernels’ batting order. “Yeah, I think so. I’m a big fan of his. He’s got tools," Watkins said, of English, over the weekend. “We’re trying to get him to trust himself – believe in his abilities. He can play baseball." “I think there is a difference when you lead off," Watkins added, "but just talking to Tanner about slowing things down a little bit and not using his body as much. He’s been doing a good job with that. Hopefully, he just keeps getting better – keep progressing on cutting the body down and using his hands a lot more.” English acknowledged that he and his fellow position players are going to need to step up their games if the Kernels are going to be successful. Early in the season, the club’s pitching has largely been carrying the bulk of the load on the field, while the offense has been sporadic. English is confident the hitting will come around. “We probably need to stop missing our pitch, as a team. We have great hitters on the team, but I don’t think we’re hitting to our fullest potential right now. We just need to get to a point where everyone’s in that groove and feeling comfortable and getting to where we can barrel everything up. “I know that baseball is hard, but just kind of do a better job in certain situations.” If he and the Kernels can do that, the Kernels' chances of competing for a third straight Midwest League Championship will improve significantly, but don't expect to see English doing any celebratory back-flips on the field. Then again, don't bet him that he won't do it.

Video of TJ White's game winning run on Pat Kelly's sac fly to give the Kernels a 7-6 13 inning win. https://youtu.be/YG6ttraX93g

Curtiss now listed as tonight's starter for the Kernels on their website. Miles Nordgren no longer shows up on their roster, so assume he was sent back to EST (he was calle up when Curtiss went on the DL).

Talked to him briefly last night. He's still scheduled to start Friday in CR. Suspect the "TBA" for tonight's starter in indicative that they're hoping to have John Curtiss reactivated from the DL (concussion) to make that start. Otherwise, could be Tillery, would be my guess.

I understand. And guys this young can certainly go either way. At the very least, I can tell you there is more velocity from this staff than has generally been the case & they are getting swings and misses.

Fair question. Based on early returns, it looks like most of the MWL's best offensive lineups are in the Eastern Division, so the Kernels haven't faced them. That's why I've been looking forward to this Quad Cities series, because the Bandits have been very good offensively. CR is 1/3 of an earned run better than the next best team ERA and has 19 more strikeouts than the 2nd best mark in the league. Too early to tell if they've dominated lineups because they're so good or because those lineups are that bad, but it's encouraging when the success is broadly spread over almost the entire staff.