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In this week's Get to Know 'Em podcast, learn more about former Minnesota Twins Right-handed Pitcher AJ Achter and one of baseball's top prospects, Royce Lewis.In this week's episode, you will see two guys with different pathways to the big leagues. AJ Achter was drafted in a round that doesn't even exist anymore. Royce Lewis was the first overall pick in the 2017 draft. AJ Achter worked his way up the ladder and pitched in parts of three major-league seasons. Royce Lewis is working his way up the Twins ladder. We talked to Achter about his time in a Twins unirform and his path to the big leagues. We talked about his relationship with teammates and some of the impressive teammates that he has had. We also talked about his transition from player to pitching coach at Eastern Michigan University. We talked to Royce Lewis about his spring training, what he worked on this offseason and many random questions about his life away from baseball. Be sure to subscribe to the Get To Know 'Em Podcast on iTunes. Click here to view the article

Relief pitchers can get a tough rap, with one bad outing resulting in inflated numbers that they have to work to improve for the rest of the season. With a limited amount of appearances to leave their mark, relievers need to show their stuff in short appearances in order to continue their path to the major leagues. The Twins Minor League Report authors each voted for the five awards being handed out this week. Today, we'll take a look at the top relief pitchers in the Twins minor league system for 2015. We each voted for out top six performers in this category.You'll see short profiles of our Top 6, but first, here are some honorable mentions. Honorable Mention Michael Theofanopoulos - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 37 G, 5-3, 3.82 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 68.1 IP, 68 H, 29 BB, 74 KCameron Booser - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 32 G, 1-2, 3.72 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 46.0 IP, 31 H, 40 BB, 64 KNick Burdi - Chattanooga Lookouts/Fort Myers Miracle - 43 G, 5-6, 3.82 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 63.2 IP, 52 H, 35 BB, 83 KAlex Muren - Chattanooga Lookouts/Fort Myers Miracle - 44 G, 3-3, 3.03 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 71.1 IP, 62 H, 24 BB, 54 KRandy LeBlanc - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 33 G, 9-5, 3.03 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 89.0 IP, 78 H, 28 BB, 69 KLuke Bard - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 28 G, 7-1, 2.41 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 52.1 IP, 45 H, 15 BB, 47 KRELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEARHere are the top six vote-getters for the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. #6 - JT Chargois - Chattanooga Lookouts/Fort Myers Miracle - 48 G, 2-1, 2.63 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 48.0 IP, 38 H, 25 BB, 53 K In his first professional action since the Appalachian League in 2012, Chargois made a strong impression back on the mound. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2013 and he enter the season with a lot of buzz out of the Instructional League. In his second appearance back on the mound, he was lit up for four earned runs on five hits while only recording one out. Over his next 14 appearances with Fort Myers, Chargois did not allow an earned run while holding opponents to a .137/.214/.196 batting line. His streak continued after being promoted to Chattanooga and it only came to an end after two months and 20 appearances. He ended the year with another impressive run as he gave up one earned run on 11 hits over his last 19.2 innings with 24 strikeouts. #5 - Todd Van Steensel - Fort Myers Miracle - 46 G, 2-4, 2.32 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 66.0 IP, 53 H, 32 BB, 81 K Van Steensel started back in the Florida State League after finishing the 2014 campaign with the Miracle. Fort Myers relied a lot on the Australian native throughout the year as he compiled the best professional numbers of his career. He got off to a strong start in the month of April with a 1.35 ERA and 22 strikeouts in just over 13 innings. June was also be a good month as he held opponents to a 0.796 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. Right-handed batters actually hit worse against the righty as their OPS was 17 points lower. He led the Miracle in saves, games finished, appearances, and he finished second on the team in strikeouts even though he never made a start. #4 - AJ Achter - Rochester Red Wings - 43 G, 4-2, 2.63 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 48.0 IP, 28 H, 13 BB, 47 K The Twins have gotten quite the run out of the 46th round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Achter has made appearances with the big league club in each of the last two seasons and he continued to improve himself in the minor leagues. Throughout the entire season, he only allowed opponents to hit over .190 against him in one month (June) and that was the month he made his fewest number of appearances. Achter put up some crazy numbers in May (12 appearances) with a 0.75 ERA and a 0.42 WHIP while opponents hit .103/.125/.179 against him. He tied for Rochester's team lead with 14 saves and lead the relief pitching core with 48 total innings. #3 - Brandon Peterson - Chattanooga Lookouts/Fort Myers Miracle - 41 G, 2.07 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 61.0 IP, 44 H, 28 BB, 77 K After some up and down appearances through the first month of the season, Peterson hit a nice groove near the beginning of May and stretched it all the way to July. During that time he didn't allow a run over 26.0 innings while striking out 33 and holding opponents to a .103/.161/.115 batting line. During that stretch he was promoted from Fort Myers to Chattanooga where he'd finish the season. His time in the Florida State League was outstanding as he posted a 0.85 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. The jump to the Southern League saw his ERA jump to 3.38 and his WHIP bump up 55 points. Peterson was almost a year and a half younger than the other pitchers at Double-A so it was an overall very impressive season. #2 - Michael Tonkin - Rochester Red Wings - 33 G, 2-1, 1.10 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 41.0 IP, 25 H, 5 BB, 46 K Tonkin hasn't been able to stick at the big league level over the last handful of years but he showed that he can thoroughly dominate hitters at the Triple-A level. Tonkin changed rosters nine different times this year including one stretch where four straight appearances on different teams between Rochester and Minnesota. From June 30 to August 29, he allowed two earned runs in 28.0 innings with 28 strikeouts and two walks. Opponents hit .160/.186/.202 against him during that stretch and Rochester handed over the closer role to him to end the year. Even with all the trips to Minnesota, Tonkin stilled tied Achter for the Rochester team lead with 14 saves and he had the best ERA of any pitcher on the staff. Tonkin doesn't have much left to prove at Triple-A so it will be up to the Twins to find him a big league role for 2016. Relief Pitcher of the Year - Trevor Hildenberger - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle - 41 G, 3-2, 1.55 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 64.0 IP, 39 H, 7 BB, 80 K Hildenberger, a 22nd round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, spent all of his debut season pitching for the Twins two rookie league affiliates. His numbers were good but that can be expected for an experienced college pitcher going against younger hitters. He finished the 2014 season with a 2.48 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings. This year would be a test as he would be asked to make the jump to the full season leagues and test his stuff against some older competition. He wasted very little time making his mark in Cedar Rapids. In the month of April, he allowed one earned run on six hits in ten innings with 13 strikeouts. He continued his masterful mound performance into May as he didn't allow a run for the entire month while striking out 23 in 18.2 innings. In fact, Hildenberger had a stretch from April 19 to June 21 (31.1 IP) where he allowed one run on 11 hits with 40 strikeouts and four walks. Batters could only compile a .107/.148/.117 line against him and he struck out 36% of hitters during this impressive run. Hildenberger's numbers jumped up a little during his 13 appearances in the Florida State League and he has been older than the competition at every stop along the way. Next year will be huge for him as he will likely spend some time back in the Florida State League before making a jump to the higher levels of the minors. It was a very impressive season but there's still room for him to grow in the coming years. THE BALLOTS In an attempt to be transparent, here are the ballots from our Twins Daily minor league writers. Seth Stohs - 1.) Trevor Hildenberger, 2.) Michael Tonkin, 4.) AJ Achter, 4.) Brandon Peterson, 5.) Todd Van Steensel, 6.) JT ChargoisJeremy Nygaard - 1.) Trevor Hildenberger, 2.) Michael Tonkin, 3.) AJ Achter, 4.) Todd Van Steensel, 5.) JT Chargois, 6.) Nick BurdiCody Christie - 1.) Trevor Hildenberger, 2.) AJ Achter, 3.) Brandon Peterson, 4.) Todd Van Steensel, 5.) Cameron Booser, 6.) JT. ChargoisSteve Lien - 1.) Trevor Hildenberger, 2.) Michael Tonkin, 3.) Brandon Peterson, 4.) AJ Achter, 5.) JT Chargois, 6.) Todd Van SteenselEric Pleiss - 1.) Trevor Hildenberger, 2.) Brandon Peterson, 3.) Michael Tonkin, 4.) Michael Theofanopoulos, 5.) JT Chargois, 6.) Todd Van SteenselFeel free to start the discussion and explain who you think should be on the ballot Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins bullpen has been a problem for the last couple of months. Finding a bridge from the Twins starters to All-Star closer Glen Perkins has been a challenge. As the July trade deadline is now one week away, we are likely to hear lots of rumors involving relievers, but there are a few guys in the minor leagues who warranty consideration for a big league bullpen gig, including right-handed starter Tyler Duffey.Duffey began the 2014 season with four starts in Ft. Myers. He moved up to Double-A and then ended his season with three starts in Triple-A Rochester. He earned an invitation to big league camp, but then he began this season back in Double-A, this time with Chattanooga. He had to be disappointed, but he handled it well. He made eight starts and went 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 52.2 innings. He earned a promotion back to Triple-A Rochester. In his first four starts for the Red Wings, he went 0-4 with a 5.64 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in just 22.1 innings. Opponents hit .312/.340/.387 (.727) against him. However, he has made some adjustment and in his seven starts since then he is 4-1 with a 0.74 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP over 48.1 innings. Opponents have hit just .174/.230/.236 (.466). While with Chattanooga, he had a streak of 16.2 innings without allowing a run. With the Red Wings, he had a streak of 33.2 innings without allowing an earned run. In most recent Twins seasons, Duffey would likely already be making starts in Minnesota. However, the Twins starting rotation has been strong this season. Even if the Twins were to remove a starter from their current rotation, Trevor May would be the guy who would jump back into the starting rotation. No offense to Taylor Rogers or JO Berrios (who had another strong start on Thursday), but if the Twins needed a starter from Rochester, Duffey would have to be the choice. That brings us back to the Twins struggling bullpen. Is it time for the Twins to give Tyler Duffey an opportunity in their bullpen? Duffey has been primarily a starter in the Twins minor league system. You recall, however, that the Twins drafted Duffey in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. At Rice University, he was a reliever. He was a co-closer with JT Chargois (current closer in Chattanooga). In other words, the bullpen role would not be unfamiliar to him. If the Twins were to call up Duffey in the next couple of weeks to pitch out of their bullpen, it wouldn’t have to mean that he would need to remain a reliever. Depending on the Twins offseason, he could be moved back to the starting role in the 2016 season if that makes sense. It would be a move to help them in their hopes to make the playoffs in 2015. That isn’t to say that you call him up and immediately throw him into the eighth inning. The goal would simply be for him to help bridge the gap from starter to Perkins. There are games when they need a guy to finish the sixth or pitch a couple of innings. Duffey can do that. His transition to starter happened in the Twins minor leagues in 2013, his first full pro season. As he told Twins Daily in a spring training interview, “Except for a summer when I went to the Cape and somebody got sick and I made a couple of starts, but other than that, I was a closer/second-inning panic guy to come in and throw four innings.” His stuff is ready for the big leagues as a starter. As a starter, he works with a fastball in the low-90s. His best pitch is his 12-6 curveball. He also has a decent change-up. In his limited time in pro ball when he has worked out of the bullpen, his fastball has touched 97. He said that one of the keys to his success has been his sinker. He is a ground ball pitcher. Duffey is not currently on the Twins 40-man roster. He would need to be added, though I’m sure the Twins could find someone to remove from the roster if a move were needed. There are relievers in Rochester who have pitched well in AAA and deserve an opportunity as well. Michael Tonkin has been back and forth between the Red Wings and Twins for the last three years. At some point, they just have to give him an opportunity and stick with him for an extended period of time. He is out of options in 2016. If there is a most-deserving reliever in Rochester, it has to be AJ Achter. The former 46th round draft pick has been consistently terrific since being moved to the bullpen before the 2012 season. He debuted last September with the Twins. With the Red Wings this year, he is 4-2 with a Twins minor league-leading 14 saves. He has a 2.81 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP in 41.2 innings for the Red Wings. He’s walked just 2.6 per nine innings while striking out 9.3 per nine innings. Starter Taylor Rogers, a southpaw, has limited left-handed AAA hitters to just a .189/.206/.197 (.403) line this year. With Brian Duensing improved of late and Ryan O’Rourke doing very well in his two weeks with the Twins, particularly against lefties, Rogers should continue to start for Rochester. However, he should also be a strong consideration for September recall. JO Berrios is certainly the top prospect in Rochester. The 21-year-old dropped his AAA ERA from 5.60 to 4.01 with seven shutout innings on Thursday. He has very good stuff and will likely be considered for a promotion in August as well. He doesn’t need to be added to the Twins 40-man roster until after the 2016 season, but if the Twins believe he can help them win in 2015, they won’t hesitate to promote him. AJ Achter should already be in the Twins bullpen. Tyler Duffey should be strongly considered as a bullpen arm down the stretch for the Minnesota Twins. If you’ve endured the past four seasons as a Twins fan, this dilemma – plenty of deserving candidates for promotion to the Twins – is more than welcomed! 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The Minnesota Twins’ bullpen has been a mess for the last six weeks. For the first six weeks of the season, guys like Blaine Boyer and Aaron Thompson were incredible, helping the Twins to a great month of May. They could do no wrong. Did the clock strike midnight on them? Did they get over-used, and over-exposed? Quite possibly. Following their walk-off win on Monday night, the Twins announced that Thompson had been optioned to AAA-Rochester and the contract of lefty Ryan O’Rourke had been selected. He was the first guy on my list of possible left-handed relievers called up to replace Thompson or Duensing. So yes, there could still be another left-hander added. And they could use right-handers.The Twins made one move on Monday night, but the bullpen is still full of questions. Today, I’m going to write about the internal options for the Twins bullpen should they go that direction. Left-Handed Relief Pitchers RYAN O’ROURKE O’Rourke, the 27-year-old from Massachusetts absolutely dominated same-sided hitters in 2014 at New Britain. He has done very well again in 2015 against left-handers in AAA. Right-handed bats have hit him very well, so O’Rourke should be considered a LOOGY. Of the 36 lefties he’s faced this year, he has struck out 20 of them. (O’Rourke was added to the 40-man roster on Monday night and will join the Twins at Target Field on Tuesday.) CALEB THIELBAR After spending all of 2014 and the final four months of 2013 in the Twins bullpen, Thielbar began the 2015 season in Rochester. He did come up for a six-game stint, but he is back with the Red Wings. He has struggled. In 26 innings, he has walked 17 and struck out just 13. Lefties have posted a .548 OPS on him this year. He remains on the 40-man roster. LOGAN DARNELL Darnell made four starts and three relief appearances for the Twins in 2014. This spring, he was moved to the bullpen exclusively. He has worked 30 innings over 23 appearances and has a 2.40 ERA despite a 1.57 WHIP. However, since May 19, he has given up an earned run in just one out of 11 outings including 23 strikeouts in 19 innings. Left-handers are hitting .306/.364/.306 (.670) against him. He is on the 40-man roster. Right-Handed Relief Pitchers AJ ACHTER Coming into Monday night, Achter had a 2.15 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. In 37.2 innings, he had just ten walks and 38 strikeouts. He was 13 for 13 in save opportunities. On Monday night, he gave up four runs on five hits in one inning, but that was really his first clunker of the year. Achter has been the most consistent relief pitcher in the Twins minor leagues since moving to the bullpen in 2012. He pitched in 11 innings over seven games last year with the Twins. All he does is get people out. He remains on the 40-man roster. MICHAEL TONKIN If anyone would benefit from frequent flyer miles, it’s Tonkin. He has been up and down from Minnesota to Rochester a dozen times over the last three seasons. In 50 big league games, he has a 3.92 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. He also has walked too many and given up the long ball too often. In 17.2 innings at Rochester this year, he has walked three and struck out 27. At some point, the Twins need to just let him pitch in the big leagues and see what they have. He will be out of options in 2016, so they do need to figure out if he can produce in the big leagues. He is on the 40-man roster. ALEX MEYER The progression of Meyer has been well documented here in the pages of Twins Daily. After just nine games in the bullpen, the Twins called him up. It didn’t go well. His struggles with control of the strike zone were apparent. He was sent back to Rochester to continue to work from the bullpen. As a starter, opponents had an OPS of .845. As a reliever, it’s been .672. It’s clear how much movement he gets from his fastball and slider. The Twins can be patient with him. He is on the 40-man roster. MARK HAMBURGER Hamburger was one of the bigger stories of spring training. He made it to the final week of big league camp before being sent to Rochester where he began the season as a starter. After four starts, he had an ERA of 6.30 in 20 innings. He has made 22 appearances out of the bullpen since then and has a 3.47 ERA. He is not on the 40-man roster. SCOTT ATCHISON Over the weekend, the Twins quietly signed 39-year-old Atchison a few days after he was released by Cleveland. He has been placed on the Chattanooga roster for now. He pitched in the big leagues in parts of nine seasons between 2004 and 2015. He is a good reminder of the nature of most relievers. In 2014 with Cleveland, he posted a 2.75 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 72 innings over 70 games. In 23 games (19.2 innings) this season he posted a 6.86 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Most likely, he has an opt-out date and will have to be called up or lost. He is not on the 40-man roster. LESTER OLIVEROS After missing all of 2013 because of Tommy John surgery, he returned and was cautiously used in 2014. He ended the season with the Twins. He wasn’t 100% in spring training and began the season in Rochester. He got off to a fast start, but his performance has leveled off. Overall, he has a 3.79 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 35.2 innings. He has walked just 13 and struck out 46. Opponents posted an OPS of .947 off of him in June, and he missed seven days because he was suspended for throwing at an opposing batter’s head. He is not on the 40-man roster. STEPHEN PRYOR Pryor came to the Twins from the Mariners last August in exchange for Kendrys Morales. He didn’t get a September call-up. He was invited to big league spring training. However, he has been on the disabled list all season. Over the weekend, he began a rehab stint in the GCL. He has made two appearances and would likely go to Rochester (or even Chattanooga) before going further. He is not on the 40-man roster. Starting Pitchers TAYLOR ROGERS Rogers has been a starter since he was drafted in the 11th round out of Kentucky. In four seasons, he is 33-21 with a 2.96 ERA. More relevant to the here and now, he is 7-5 with a 3.04 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with Rochester. With so much starting pitching depth, the bullpen is an option for Rogers. A quick look at his AAA splits this year shows that he has been really dominant against lefties. They are hitting .178/.197/.186 (.383). He has given up no home runs, two walks and 36 strikeouts. Right-handers have hit .296/.352/.423 (.775) with six home runs, 25 walks and 41 strikeouts. He is not on the 40-man roster, but he will need to be added following the season, so if he continues to pitch well, he could find himself In the Twins bullpen. TYLER DUFFEY Duffey has been the one example of drafting a college reliever and trying to make him into a starter can be successful. He was a co-closer at Rice with JT Chargois. Since going pro, he has primarily started. He began this season with eight starts in Chattanooga and posted a 2.56 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He now has made eight starts in Rochester and has a 2.44 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He’s got good control, throws strikes, and has a good mix of pitches. However, as a reliever, he can hit 97 which would make his secondary pitches look even better. Again, due to the Twins starter depth, Duffey may need to come up as a reliever. Like Rogers, he was a spring training invite and would need to be added to the 40-man roster following the season. He could come up before that. JOSE BERRIOS Berrios was recently promoted from AA to AAA. After 15 starts, an 8-3 record, a 3.27 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP with the Lookouts, he moved up to Rochester where he made his first start on Friday. He is clearly the Twins top starting pitcher prospect. He has great stuff, fastball, change-up and breaking pitches. He could come in out of the bullpen (which would be short-term) if the Twins remain in the pennant race. A September call up may be less likely as he doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2016 season. So there you have it, the internal options that are there should the Twins decide to make more changes in the bullpen without trading away prospects and talent. We’ll be back later in the week to talk more about the Twins bullpen. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins had one of the greatest months in franchise history in May, going 20-7 and putting themselves in the conversation for the American League Central Division. Unfortunately, they've gone 10-16 since then with only a couple games left in June and now see themselves 5.5 games back of the Kansas City Royals in the division and 1 game back of an American League Wild Card spot. The bats have quieted down in June and the bullpen has come back down to earth. A big reason for the 20-win month of May was that everything seemed to be clicking. Starting pitching was very good (3.66 ERA, 1.19 WHIP), the offense was scoring 5.15 runs per game and the relievers were finding ways to get guys out and get the game to closer Glen Perkins. In June, the starting pitching has actually been better (3.43 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) but the offense has only scored 3.38 runs per game and the bullpen has been one of the worst in baseball, 13th in the AL & 27th overall. In May, the bullpen was 8th in the AL & 14th overall. The primary relievers other than Glen Perkins have been Blaine Boyer, Aaron Thompson, Ryan Pressly & Casey Fien when it comes to close games. You can put Brian Duensing in there too but he’s primarily a lefty one-out guy (a LOOGY.) Looking at those names doesn’t bring a lot of confidence in getting the job done for a lot of reasons. The main reason is most of them are not power pitchers with the ability to strikeout hitters when they need to. Ryan Pressly and Casey Fien have that ability but Pressly is still developing at the major league level and Fien has been dealing with injuries most of the season. Aaron Thompson started out great and that curveball was helping him get guys out but it hasn’t been as sharp lately and the hitters have adjusted to his stuff and he’s now getting hit hard, really hard. Blaine Boyer started out terrible and was everyone’s pick to be sent down, released or just shown the door one way or another. Everyone wondered how he was still on the roster but then Boyer the Destroyer showed up and he was lights out in May as the setup man in the 8th inning. Now, he’s getting hit around a little bit again and fans are starting to wonder why the Twins haven’t done anything about it. To me, baseball is not really a game where making quick judgements of players works. You set your lineup, pitching rotation and bullpen and see how it goes for awhile and tweak it as you need to. The bullpen and relievers are probably the hardest to figure out because they could have one bad outing and you don’t know how that will affect them the next time they pitch. Relievers aren’t guaranteed to pitch the next day or even the day after that. They don’t know the next time they’ll get on the mound. A hitter will get in the next game or have another at-bat coming within a few innings. A starting pitcher knows he’s pitching every fifth day so they can prepare for it. How does that change how a relief pitcher pitches when he gets in a game? Nobody could’ve guessed that Blaine Boyer would turn into the Destroyer the way he began the season. You have to give a player some time to play through their struggles and figure things out. We don’t know if there was something wrong with him injury wise or if he was just struggling with command because he’s changing the grip on a pitch or still working on that pitch. Can the Twins do anything to change their bullpen situation? They can look in the minors for some relief (pardon the pun) but there’s really not much in AAA Rochester to help them out. The only option I see is A.J. Achter, who is currently the closer for the Red Wings. In 34.2 innings in AAA this season, A.J. is 3-2 with 12 saves and he’s allowed only 14 hits and 9 runs (5 HRs) with 7 walks and 34 strikeouts. He was up with the Twins at the end of last season as a September call-up. He pitched in only 7 games but got his first major league win in the last game he pitched on September 26th. His fastball only touches 90 but he also has a cutter, a slider and a changeup. There’s the option of trying to pick up a reliever via trade. The starting rotation will start to get crowded pretty quickly with Ervin Santana coming back shortly so what better time to get something from Mike Pelfrey’s great season or Tommy Milone pitching well lately. They could always trade some prospects for something too. There’s also the option of moving one of the starters into the bullpen but that doesn’t usually help the late innings of a game. Starters going to the bullpen usually end up being long relievers so that won’t help. It may be just a wait and see approach for the time being. We’ll find out. That’s my TwinsTake! What’s your TwinsTake? Let us know what you think in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+. Our Takes, Your Takes, TwinsTakes.com!

Another week has passed. For the three Minnesota Twins affiliates (Cedar Rapids, Ft. Myers and Chattanooga) that play in leagues with two halves, the first half is coming down to the wire. Playoff spots are up for grabs, and two of the affiliates are in the running. The seasons are over 50 games deep, almost 40% of the season complete. Here is the Minnesota Twins Minor League Leader Board through games played on Friday, June 5.STANDINGS But first, here is a quick look how the teams stack up in their leagues: Rochester is 30-23 and in first place in the International League North Division. They are 1.5 games ahead of Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Chattanooga is also 30-23. They have a percentage-points lead for first place over Tennessee (who is 31-24). Ft. Myers has been struggling of late. They are 25-30, 12 games back of a playoff spot. Their elimination number is just 4. Cedar Rapids is 35-20, best in the organization. However, they are three games back of Quad Cities in the Midwest League’s West Division. They are, however, seven games ahead of third place Burlington. Burlington’s elimination number (or the Kernels’ magic number to make the playoffs) is nine. HITTERS As you can see, some players have now passed 200 plate appearances for the season. The sample size is starting to get larger. Many of the same names are appearing on these lists. Feel free to comment below on what stands out to you. Plate Appearances: Zach Granite (238), Byron Buxton (236), Niko Goodrum (235), Jorge Polanco (219), Nick Gordon/Max Murphy (217) Batting Average: Trey Vavra (.346), James Beresford (.335), Alex Swim (.327), Jorge Polanco (.309), Zach Granite (.306), Max Kepler (.296) On-Base Percentage: Trey Vavra (.406), Zach Granite (.382), James Beresford (.376), Travis Harrison (.374), Alex Swim (.356), Miguel Sano (.355) Isolated Discipline: Mitch Garver (.139), Tanner English (.114), Niko Goodrum (.113), Miguel Sano (.102), Stuart Turner (.100), Travis Harrison (.093) Slugging Percentage: Adam Brett Walker (.555), Trey Vavra (.538), Miguel Sano (.506), Danny Ortiz (.503), Byron Buxton (.481), Max Kepler (.467) Isolated Power (IsoP): Adam Brett Walker (.304), Miguel Sano (.253), Danny Ortiz (.218), Byron Buxton (.217), Trey Vavra (.192), Max Kepler (.171 OPS: Trey Vavra (.944), Adam Brett Walker (.863), Miguel Sano (.861), Danny Ortiz (.836), Byron Buxton (.807), Max Kepler (.801), Hits: Alex Swim (65), Jorge Polanco (64), Zach Granite (63), Byron Buxton (56), Trey Vavra (54), James Beresford (53) 2B: Max Kepler (17), Travis Harrison (15), Danny Ortiz (14), Adam Brett Walker/Zach Larson/Bryan Haar/Reynaldo Rodriguez (12). 3B: Byron Buxton (11), Max Murphy/Tanner English (5), Aaron Hicks/TJ White (4), Levi Michael/Max Kepler/Pat Kelly (3) HR: Adam Brett Walker (14), Miguel Sano (10), Danny Ortiz (7), Trey Vavra/Josmil Pinto/Byron Buxton (6) Runs: Byron Buxton (40), Zach Granite (38), Adam Brett Walker (36), Nick Gordon (35), Max Murphy (34), Travis Harrison/Miguel Sano (33), RBI: Adam Brett Walker (42), Byron Buxton (35), Danny Ortiz (34), Miguel Sano/Zack Larson (33), Trey Vavra (28), Travis Harrison (27) SB: Tanner English (17), Byron Buxton (16), Zach Granite (14), Nick Gordon (13), Engelb Vielma (12), Niko Goodrum/Jorge Polanco (11). STARTING PITCHERS (>40 IP) Innings: Taylor Rogers (70.0), JO Berrios (69.1), Tyler Duffey (64.1), Pat Dean (61.0), Greg Peavey (59.1), Jason Wheeler (56.0) ERA: Stephen Gonsalves (1.15), Chih-Wei Hu (1.95), Mat Batts (2.19), Pat Dean (2.36), Felix Jorge (2.62),Tyler Duffey (2.80) WHIP: Stephen Gonsalves (0.80), Felix Jorge (0.98), Chih-Wei Hu (1.03), Mat Batts (1.07), Pat Dean (1.13), Tyler Duffey (1.14) K/9: Stephen Gonsalves (12.6), Alex Meyer (10.3), JO Berrios (10.0), Mat Batts (9.1), Tyler Duffey (8.8), Chih-Wei Hu (8.7) BB/9: Aaron Slegers (1.7), Pat Dean/Greg Peavey/Felix Jorge (1.8), Mat Batts/Tyler Duffey (2.0) Strikeouts: JO Berrios/Stephen Gonsalves (77), Tyler Duffey (63), Mat Batts (54), Taylor Rogers/Todd Van Steensel (50) Wins: Stephen Gonsalves (6-1), JO Berrios (6-3), Jared Wilson/Chih-Wei Hu (5-1), Pat Dean/Taylor Rogers (5-3) RELIEF PITCHERS (>17 IP, Games: AJ Achter (23), Alex Muren/Brandon Peterson/JT Chargois/Todd Van Steensel (19), Madison Boer/Zack Jones (18). Innings: Todd Van Steensel (33.1), Madison Boer (32.0), Alex Muren (31.2), Trevor Hildenberger/Mike Theofanopoulos (30.2), Randy LeBlanc (29.0) ERA: Trevor Hildenberger (0.59), Cameron Booser (0.74), Brandon Peterson (0.94), AJ Achter (1.90), Alex Muren (1.99), JT Chargois (2.04) WHIP: AJ Achter/Trevor Hildenberger (0.59), Brandon Peterson (0.98), Cameron Booser (0.99), Zack Jones (1.00), Tim Shibuya (1.05) K/9: Todd Van Steensel (13.5), Cameron Booser (13.3), Brandon Peterson (13.2), Lester Oliveros (12.0), Trevor Hildenberger (11.7), Cole Johnson (11.1) BB/9: Trevor Hildenberger (1.2), AJ Achter (1.9), Tim Shibuya (2.0), Lester Oliveros (2.7), Zack Jones (2.8) Saves: AJ Achter (9), Zack Jones (7), Michael Tonkin (6), Cameron Booser/Trevor Hildenberger/Todd Van Steensel (5), JT Chargois (4). There you have it. The Twins Minor League Leader Board through Friday, June 5. What are your thoughts? What surprised you? Click here to view the article

Relief pitchers seem to go under the radar when they do their jobs well. On the occasions when they don’t do their job well, then they get noticed. Here at Twins Daily, we want to make sure that the relief pitchers get some positive recognition. Instead of just doing a Minor League Pitcher of the Month, we separate the starters and the relievers because many relievers deserve to be noticed for positive reasons.There were a lot of very strong May performances out of the bullpen at the Twins affiliates. Below, you’ll find the Top 6 Relief Pitchers for the month, but first a few relievers worthy of mention: RHP Nick Burdi – 8 G, 2-0, 2.03 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 13 H, 3 BB, 15 KRHP JT Chargois – 9 G, 0-0, 2 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 11 KRHP Madison Boer – 8 G, 2-2, 2.55 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 17.2 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 10 KLHP Mike Theofanopoulos – 9 G, 1-0, 1.56 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 17.1 IP, 12 H, 8 BB, 16 KRHP Zach Tillery – 7 G, 2 GS, 1-1, 1 Save, 1.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 19.0 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 19 KNow let's get to the Top 5 Minnesota Twins Minor League Relief Pitchers for May 2015: Number 5 – Cedar Rapids – LHP Cameron Booser - 9 G, 0.68 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 9 BB, 17 K The Twins signed the left-hander as a non-drafted free agent late in 2012. He turned 23 at the beginning of May. He was terrific in April and even better in May. Overall, he has a record this year of 1-0 with five saves. He has an overall ERA of 0.77 with a WHIP of 0.99. As noticeable, he has struck out 35 batters in 23.1 innings, a rate of 13.5 per nine. He will have to improve his control as he has walked 13 batters. However, his stuff is tremendous and opponents have just ten hits off of him all year. He is blessed with a fastball that easily reaches into the upper 90s and even touches triple figures at times. When I talked to him in Cedar Rapids, he fully acknowledged that he was still learning how to pitch, and that is very exciting. Number 4 – Chattanooga – Zack Jones - 9 G, 1.74 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 10.1 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 9 K Though he hasn’t been talked about as much as some of the other relievers who began the season in Chattanooga, he has been Doug Mientkiewicz’s most consistent, reliable bullpen arm all season. Overall, he is 3-1 with 7 saves. In 17.1 innings (over 16 games), he has a 1.56 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. The biggest improvement this year has been his control. He’s walked just five batters through the season’s first two months. Blessed with a fastball that sits between 95 and 98, Jones was the Twins fourth-round pick in 2012 out of San Jose State. He missed most of last season due to an aneurysm in his right shoulder. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Brandon Peterson - 11 G, 1.10 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 8 H, 8 BB, 25 K Peterson was the Twins 13th round pick in 2013 out of Wichita State. The Savage, MN, native was our choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2014. He returned to the Miracle to start this season and continues to dominate the league. Overall, he is 1-0 with two saves in his 18 appearances. He has posted an ERA of 1.00 and WHIP of 1.04 in his 27 innings. He has struck out 13.0 per nine innings, which is the same rate he had in 31 games with the Miracle last year. His lone flaw to this point is 15 walks in 27 innings which will need to be addressed. Number 2 – Rochester – AJ Achter - 12 G, 0.75 ERA, 0.42 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 11 K Michael Tonkin and Ryan Pressly were promoted. People talked about Lester Oliveros. All the while, AJ Achter outperformed them all in Rochester. When Tonkin promoted to the Twins, Achter took over as the Red Wings closer and did very well. He was 7-7 in save opportunities. On the season, he has pitched 21.2 innings in 21 games. He is 3-2 with the seven saves. He has a 2.08 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. He’s walked just five and struck out 20. The 26-year-old debuted with the Twins last September and deserves to be back up with the team in 2015. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Cedar Rapids – Trevor Hildenberger - 9 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 23 K Hildenberger was a close runner-up for this award in April, and he dominated the Midwest League in May as well. Not only did he not allow any runs, but opponents hit just .083/.113/.100 (.213) against him. He has worked a few times for just one inning, but for the most part, he is throwing two or three innings at a time. He currently has a streak of 25 innings without allowing a run and has given up just one run in 28.2 innings through the season’s two months. I’m going to make a paragraph just for his 2015 season numbers, just because they are so ridiculous. In 14 games and 28.2 innings, he has an ERA of 0.31 and a WHIP of 0.49. He has been successful using two fastballs (two-seam and four-seam), a changeup and a slider. Hildenberger pitched for four seasons at Cal-Berkeley, so he is already 24-years-old. It is inexplicable to me why he remains in Cedar Rapids, but he is taking it all in stride. He told Twins Daily, “I try not to worry about moving up or not. I just keep getting the next hitter out no matter where we are or what the situation is.” Most likely the day after the Kernels either clinch a playoff berth or after an All- Star game appearance, he will find himself packing and heading back to Ft. Myers, this time to join the Miracle. Who knows? It could be even sooner. Hildenberger was the Twins 22nd round pick last year out of Cal-Berkeley. He pitches from an interesting angle. “I would describe myself as sidearm. I know my release point can rise up from time to time, but I definitely categorize myself as sidearm.” The right-hander hasn’t always thrown from the side. “It started back at the end of my third year at Cal Berkeley when my teammate wore the wrong number jersey to practice. My pitching coach, Mike Neu, commented on what he pictured when he saw my teammate’s number. I asked him what he pictured when he saw my number 26, and he said a sidearm pitcher because UCLA and Washington both had sidearm relief pitchers with the number 26. At that point in time I had thrown a cumulative 12 innings in three years and was clearly not effective enough to compete. So he asked me to throw a bullpen from a lower arm angle. I obliged not realizing it was a permanent change. He liked what he saw and sent me off to summer ball in Bend, Oregon, in the summer of 2012 to refine my new style and experience some growing pains.” As a senior in 2014, he pitched in 28 games. He was 3-3 with 10 saves and a 2.83 ERA. In 47.2 innings, he gave up 41 hits, walked 11 and struck out 48. It was enough to get him drafted by the Twins where he has continued to work on his new delivery while experiencing a ton of success. In that same 2014 draft, the Twins selected Hildenberger’s teammate, LHP Michael Theofanopoulos. If nothing else, the Twins have an advantage on other organizations should a Scrabble tournament be played where only names of players in their organization can be used. It was a positive for both to come to professional baseball together as teammates. “Theo and I were lucky to be drafted together by the same team in the same year. We had known each other for the previous four years playing at Cal together and were friends coming into the draft. It made the transition from college to professional baseball easier and gave me a no-brainer catch partner when we first started. We lived together last summer in the GCL and in instructional league, and now we live together with the same host family here in Cedar Rapids. It's nice to have someone who knows your pitching history to discuss outings or mindsets so candidly.” Hildenberger worked with pitching coach Ehren Wasserman in the GCL last year and has been working with Kernels pitching coach Henry Bonilla this season. He says that he has been able to learn from each. “Luckily, Wass was a sidearm pitcher who pitched with the White Sox in the major leagues, so I was able to learn specific tips to help me improve my slider and fastball command. Henry has taught me a mindset that has helped me become successful at this level. To keep attacking hitters with the same pitch or location until they prove they have made an adjustment. He stopped me from overthinking as I did in 2014 and allowed me to become more relaxed and confident in my approach.” The Kernels are 32-18 at this stage of the season, and as you would expect with a record like that, the clubhouse has a terrific atmosphere. “The Kernels Clubhouse is extremely loose right now (May 31). We're competing with everyone we play. Our starting pitching has been outstanding. Our defense kept us in games. Our bullpen has been magnificent. And our offense has led the way with timely hitting. As a staff, we are aggressive and relaxed, knowing our defense will back us up and our hitters will provide enough offense to win. It’s extraordinarily fun to come to the ballpark every day knowing the starter and every guy in the ‘pen will do his job, giving us a chance to win. Booser, Theo, LeBlanc, Bard, Velez, and Cederoth have all dominated lately, allowing us to win tight games.” Speaking of dominating, did I mention yet that Hildenberger, through two months and 28.2 innings with the Kernels, has an ERA of 0.31 and a WHIP of 0.49? He’s also giving up 3.5 hits per nine, 0.9 walks per nine and striking out 11.9 batters per nine innings. However, Hildenberger has bigger goals for 2015 than just dominating for two months or (gasp) a Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month award. He started with team goals before considering his personal goals. “My goal is to make the playoffs this year. Last year, I spent with the GCL Twins, and we missed out on the postseason. When I got called up to Elizabethton, I got a taste of what the playoffs were like. So hopefully we can keep winning games and clinch a playoff berth in the first half. Personally, my goal is to be in Fort Myers (High-A) by the end of the season and help them reach the postseason as well. Being an older guy, I know getting drafted at 23 isn't exactly an advantage, and that you have to perform right away. Hopefully I can continue the success I've had early here in 2015 and advance towards the ultimate goal of helping the Twins bring a World Series championship to Minnesota.” Count me in on someone that would love to see that as well! Congratulations on a great month of May and a great two month start to the season, Trevor Hildenberger. I’m thinking the Miracle bullpen will be adding a side-armer very soon. So what do you think? I’ve ranked the top five bullpen arms in the Twins organization in May, along with another five that deserve to be recognized for their May performance as well. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Be sure to check back later for the Starting Pitcher and Hitter of May. 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Following Rochester’s 4-0 win against Toledo on Monday night, Democrat and Chronicle Red Wings beat writer Kevin Oklobzija tweeted, “Aaron Hicks is headed to the #MNTwins.” His manager Mike Quade called it “a no-brainer, really.” Although there isn’t a consensus among Twins fans about Hicks’ readiness, his time and opportunity are upon us. On Monday, Hicks went 2-4 with a double to raise his batting average to .336 on the season. He will likely be in Detroit on Tuesday night and make his 2015 debut with the Twins. No corresponding move has been announced by the Twins at this time.There are certainly some options. The easiest might be optioning Eddie Rosario back to Rochester. The other potential moves would likely involve a player being designated for assignment. The Twins could choose to DFA Jordan Schafer who has struggled mightily until the last ten games of the season. They could DFA Shane Robinson who they signed on a minor league free agent deal before the season, though he has played well and is terrific defensively. They could option or DFA Doug Bernier as well in hopes he returns to Rochester unclaimed. Of course, there could also be an “injury” that we are not currently aware of.The Twins will announce that move sometime before the Twins and Tigers start their series. However there are other players in Rochester who are playing very well and could be candidates for promotion to the big league club if they continue to play well and the Twins have a need. As we are now in the middle of May, we could also see some promotions throughout the minor league system. Below are some candidates for promotion: Rochester Red Wings C – JOSMIL PINTO With his 0-4 on Monday night, the 26-year-old Pinto’s batting average has dropped to .290. He has been struggling the last few games, with just one hit in his last four games, 14 at-bats. His overall numbers are .290/.383/.419 (.803). He has three doubles and three home runs as well. Defensively, at 26, he is what he is. That is, a DH or pinch hitter, who can be an emergency catcher. Best case, he can be an offensive backup catcher. RH RP – AJ ACHTER He has been pushed into the closer’s role for the Red Wings since Michael Tonkin’s promotion. Achter is currently 3-2 with two saves. He’s got a 2.40 ERA and an impressive WHIP of just 0.67. In 15 innings, he has given up just five hits, walked five and struck out 13 batters. Though he may not profile as an eighth or ninth inning guy, the 26-year-old could certainly fill a role in a big league bullpen. RH RP – LESTER OLIVEROS Oliveros has been talked about already this year due to his impressive strikeout rate. Though it has regressed toward the mean, his K-rate is now at 14.1 per nine innings. In ten appearances, he is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. In his 14 innings pitched, he has just four walks and 22 strikeouts. The 27-year-old is not on the 40-man roster. Other Notes: Beyond those three, obviously lefties Tommy Milone and Caleb Thielbar would be ready to contribute at any time. James Beresford is still hitting nearly .350, but he likely would need an injury to Brian Dozier to get a promotion. Eric Fryer has an OPS over 1.000, but he has not played a lot. Chattanooga Lookouts There are several others who may not be pushing for a big league promotion, but they could be ready to move up a level. RH SP – TYLER DUFFEY Duffey ended the 2014 season with three starts in Rochester, but he begins the 2015 season back in AA with the Lookouts. The 24-year-old started the season with three strong starts. He had a couple of rough starts, but even in them he was able to eat innings by keeping his pitch count down. In 38.2 innings, he has eight walks and 37 strikeouts. RH RP – ZACK JONES The issue for Jones through his career has been lack of control. Through ten games and ten innings, he has issued just one walk to go with 17 strikeouts. He is 2-0 with six saves. He has posted a 0.90 ERA and a 0.70 WHIP. 2014 was a tough year for the hard-thrower due to an aneurysm and a blood clot, but he has come back strong. Other notes: DJ Baxendale is 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA in 36.1 innings through his first six starts. After being hurt most of the last two seasons, I think he just needs to keep working and getting innings under his belt with the Lookouts. JO Berrios is 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA in his six starts. In 36 innings, he has 45 strikeouts. He also has a WHIP of 1.33. His biggest trouble to this point has been that he has struggled in the fifth and sixth innings of games. He went eight innings in his most recent start, so he may not be far off. Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano have started to shake the rust and turn things around in the last couple of weeks, but they still need more time and more at-bats. Another month from now, we could be writing about promotions for each of them. Ft. Myers Miracle Tim Shibuya was our Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for April. He was promoted to AA Chattanooga on May 1. Soon after, Madison Boer was also promoted. Here are others deserving for promotion. RH RP – BRANDON PETERSON A year ago at this time, Minnesotan Brandon Peterson earned his promotion from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. He returned to the Miracle to start this season. In 11 appearances this year, he has a 1.62 ERA. In his 16.2 innings, he has 12 walks and 23 strikeouts. RH RP – TODD VAN STEENSEL Todd Van Steensel was still in extended spring training at this time last year. He moved up to Cedar Rapids and quickly moved up to the Miracle. He has posted a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings. He has 11 walks and 29 strikeouts. The Australian is in his second tour of duty in the Twins organization after they released him three years ago. He came back last year and was a different pitcher. Others: Chih-Wei Hu is 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA in five starts. In 26 innings, he has walked four and struck out 30. In another month, if he’s putting up numbers even close to what he has so far, he is a candidate for a promotion. Lefty Brett Lee missed the first three or four weeks of the season, but he’s posted a 2.95 ERA since his return. He could move up to Chattanooga after a few more starts. Cedar Rapids Kernels RH RP – TREVOR HILDENBERGER After four years at the University of California (Berkley), Trevor Hildenberger was the Twins second round pick a year ago. He’s already 24 and dominating the Midwest League. In 18 innings over nine games, he has posted a 0.50 ERA, a 0.50 WHIP and a two walk to 23 strikeout ratio. The side-winding right-hander throws pretty hard, and he’s ready to move up a level. LH RP – CAMERON BOOSER Booser is a great story, one we’ve written about here at Twins Daily. He just turned 23 and is healthy for the first time since his high school days. Blessed with a fastball that reaches into the upper-90s, the southpaw is intimidating and has been dominant. He has pitched 14 innings over nine games. He is 1-0 with three saves. He has a 0.64 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP and a strikeout to walk ratio of 25 to 6. LH SP – STEPHEN GONSALVES Gonsalves was the Starting Pitcher of the Month in April. He is now 3-1 with a 1.41 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP for the Kernels. The lefty’s only loss on the season came when the Kernels were no-hit in a game. In 32 innings, he has walked seven and struck out 43. Gonsalves is advanced on the mound considering his age. He made eight starts for the Kernels a year ago. He should be well-equipped to advance. LH SP – MAT BATTS Yes, he writes for Twins Daily on occasion, but he has always been really good at his full-time job too. The 23-year-old lefty has started the season 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA. In 30.2 innings, he has given up 21 hits, walked six and struck out 28 batters. He made six appearances for the Kernels a season ago. Others: Jared Wilson is 25-years-old and being given an opportunity to start for the Kernels. He is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA. If he were to move up, it could be out of the bullpen. Zach Tillery is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning, but he would likely be given an opportunity to start first. Aaron Hicks has been promoted. We don’t know the other half of that move yet but in the near future we will find out. It will be interesting to see if others throughout the organization start moving as well. Click here to view the article

Yesterday, we named JO Berrios as the Minnesota Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. Today, we will be diving into the top relief pitchers for the season. Clearly the Twins have made it a focus tto obtain power arms in recent years, particularly in the draft. Many of them have moved up the system and are performing very well. Hopefully several of those power arms will quickly work their way up the farm system to the majors.It’s been a very good year for relievers in the Twins minor leagues. I think we need to recognize several more pitchers who have had terrific seasons. HONORABLE MENTION Jim Fuller – New Britain Rock Cats (3-1, 1 save, 2.41 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 56.0 IP, 48 H, 30 BB, 68 K)Ryan Pressly – Rochester Red Wings (1-4, 6 saves, 2.98 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 60.1 IP, 55 H, 21 BB, 63 K)Jared Wilson – Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-4, 2.95 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 58.0 IP, 46 H, 25 BB, 56 K)Nick Burdi – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle (2-0, 5 saves, 2.66 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 20.1 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 38 K)Brandon Bixler – Cedar Rapids Kernels (7-4, 2.68 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 74.0 IP, 49 H, 37 BB, 77 K)Chris Mazza – Cedar Rapids Kernels (4-4, 2.79 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 48.1 IP, 47 H, 11 BB, 62 K)Dallas Gallant – Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-1, 5 saves, 0.64 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 12 H, 9 BB, 46 K)Michael Tonkin – Rochester Red Wings (3-4, 2.80 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 45.0 IP, 41 H, 12 BB, 46 K)Feel free to debate them, or ask any questions you may have. Relief Pitcher of the Year #6 – Alex Muren – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle (4-2, 1 save, 2.77 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 74.2 IP, 65 H, 12 BB, 55 K) Muren was the Twins 12th round pick in 2012 out of Cal State-Northridge. He has worked out of the bullpen since signing and despite not having a huge fastball, he has put up solid numbers all the way through. In 2014, he began in Cedar Rapids. The 22-year-old posted a 2.89 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in 56 innings over 29 games in Cedar Rapids. He was promoted to Ft. Myers where he posted a 2.41 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP. He averaged just 6.6 strikeouts per nine innings, but he doesn’t hurt himself with walks, having given up just 1.4 walks per nine innings. Muren is successful because he has been able to coax about 2.8 ground balls per flyout and keet the ball in the park. #5 – Jake Reed – Elizabethton Twins/Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-0, 8 saves, 0.29 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 31.0 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 39 K) Should Reed be on this list since he only started pitching in late June? Well, just take a look at those numbers again and tell me that we shouldn’t find some place for him in the top 6. Including the playoffs, he ended the season by tossing 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings. The 21-year-old was the Twins 5th round pick this June out of the University of Oregon. He is blessed with a mid-90s fastball and good secondary stuff too. Like fellow 2014 pick Nick Burdi, Reed could move up quickly in the Twins farm system. In fact, he will be participating in the Arizona Fall League this year. #4 – AJ Achter – New Britain Rock Cats/Rochester Red Wings (4-4, 7 saves, 2.17 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 78.2 IP, 47 H, 25 BB, 80 K) Achter won this award in 2012, his first year as a reliever. Last year, he was the runner up to Tyler Jones. This year, he falls to #4 on the list, but he is doing it at the highest level. He was the Reliever of the Month the first two months of the season. And on September 1st, he learned that he was headed to the big leagues. Achter was the lone representative of the Rochester Red Wings in the AAA All-Star game. He pitched in every role for the Red Wings this season. He was the closer, a set up man, a long reliever and even made a spot start. He has three or four pitches and when he has control, he can be very good. #3 – Todd Van Steensel – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle (1-0, 9 saves, 1.39 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 58.1 IP, 38 H, 24 BB, 71 K) It’s been an interesting ride for Van Steensel the last five years. He signed with the Phillies and pitched in the GCL in 2009. He was released, but he signed with the Twins and pitched at Elizabethton in 2011. The Twins released him after that season. Then, he pitched in the Netherlands and in his native Australia. He became a reliever, started throwing harder and the Twins gave him another opportunity before spring training this year. He began the season at extended spring training but was soon promoted to Cedar Rapids where he became a late inning man. In 34.2 innings, he walked just nine and struck out 45. He posted a 1.30 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He was promoted to Ft. Myers where he fit into the sixth and seventh innings. With the Miracle, he worked 23.2 innings and struck out 26. The 23-year-old has a big, tall leg kick and then throws a low-to-mid 90s fastball with a sharp slider. #2 – Lester Oliveros – New Britain Rock Cats/Rochester Red Wings (4-3, 18 saves, 1.64 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 65.2 IP, 44 H, 27 BB, 88 K) Oliveros came to the Twins in August of 2011 in the Delmon Young trade. In September of 2012, he had Tommy John surgery and aside from a few rehab appearances, he missed the entire 2013 season. The Twins chose to start him off in New Britain where he dominated as the team’s closer for the season’s first half. In 24 games and 30.1 innings, he posted a 0.89 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He walked 14 and struck out 36. He was just as good in Rochester where in 24 games, he worked 35.1 innings. He walked 13 and struck out 52. He finished the season very strong in August and earned his September recall to the big leagues. Relief Pitcher of the Year – Brandon Peterson – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle (2-1, 4 saves, 1.56 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 57.2 IP, 37 H, 19 BB, 84 K) In June of 2010, Brandon Peterson was finishing his senior year in high school. He was Burnsville high school’s shortstop and their top pitcher. His team played in the Minnesota state high school championship game. They lost 5-3, but Peterson became the first high school player to hit a home run at Target Field. Now Peterson’s ultimate baseball goal is to pitch in Target Field and attempt to not give up home runs for the Minnesota Twins. After two years at Des Moines Area Community College, Peterson went to Wichita State where he had a strong junior season in 2013 with the Shockers. After the season, he was the Twins 13th round draft pick. Since signing, he has been a strikeout machine. In 27.1 innings with Elizabethton last year, he struck out 40. He began the 2014 season in Cedar Rapids where he pitched in just nine games. In 12.2 innings, he walked just two and struck out 19. He posted a 0.71 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He was quickly promoted to Ft. Myers. In 45 innings, he walked 17 and struck out 65. He posted a 1.80 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He did not give up a home run all year. Though he did not get as much name recognition as teammates like Nick Burdi and Zack Jones late in the season, Peterson was a vital man in the seventh and eighth innings for the Miracle. Peterson throws a fastball that sits 92 to 93 mph and occasionally touches 95. He also has a slider in the low 80s. ---- Congratulations again to Brandon Peterson and all of these relief pitchers who had some terrific seasons of the bullpen in the Twins farm system. We’ll be back tomorrow with the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Year. Click here to view the article

It’s hard to believe that we are already nearly two months through the minor league season. However, it is time to hand out some awards. Today, I’ll name the choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. There are fewer candidates this month, yet there were a couple tremendous performances by relievers. The two at the top of the list actually ended the month with promotions to the next levels on their journeys up the ladder. Let's get to the Top 4 Relief Pitchers in May:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 4 – New Britain – AJ Achter – 1.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 9 K In 2012 Achter was my choice for Twins' Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He split last year, pretty evenly, between Beloit and Ft. Myers. This year he began the season in New Britain, from where he was promoted last week. The former 46th round draft choice out of Michigan State started the season slowly, but came on in May. For the year, he has now given up 21 hits in 27.2 innings while striking out 26. When Michael Tonkin was promoted to Rochester last week, Achter took over the closer role for the Rock Cats. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Zack Jones – 0.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 3 H, 11 BB, 16 K Zack Jones was the winner of this award last month. This month his numbers were nearly identical to last month's. He throws gas, and he’s still working on a hard slider. He is really hard to hit. I mean, 98 mph heat is tough to square up on. He doesn’t give up hits and he gets strikeouts. However, the difference between April and May for Jones was an increase in the number of walks. Likely the reason he remains with the Miracle is to continue working on his slider and his control of the strike zone. Number 2 – New Britain/Rochester – Michael Tonkin – 0.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 20 K Tonkin is the brother-in-law of former Twins OF/DH Jason Kubel, but in the past 12 months he has made a name for himself. He split 2012 between Beloit and Ft. Myers. Last year he was runner-up to Achter in my Reliever of the Year balloting. He moved up to New Britain this year and there, after not allowing an earned run, earned a promotion to Triple-A at the end of the month. He has come into two games for the Red Wings since his promotion. In the first, he threw one pitch and gave up an RBI single before leaving. In his second AAA game, he came on and threw two pitches before giving up a game-winning single to Gordon Beckham. Tonkin is a very good bullpen prospect. He throws hard and gets a bunch of sink on his pitches, producing ground balls and strikeouts. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in a reliever. Not bad for a 30th round draft pick. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Greg Wagner/Fort Myers Miracle Ft. Myers/New Britain – Cole Johnson – 0.68 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 14 K Johnson was born in Wisconsin and went to college at Notre Dame. He was the Twins 44th round pick in 2011. A year ago, he was still waiting for an assignment in Extended Spring Training. It was not until the short-season teams started that Johnson was assigned to the Beloit Snappers. He pitched well and was one of their starters in the playoffs. He was assigned to Ft. Myers this spring where he had been overshadowed by bigger name players, but he was nothing short of remarkable. In fact, despite not having as much publicity as others in the Miracle bullpen, it was Johnson who was the first promoted to AA. He was charged with one run in his final appearance of the month, but he’s shown that he can pitch. Again, we wonder how the Ft. Myers Miracle have been so good this year. They have the hitting prospects in Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas surrounded by other solid players; they also have good starting pitching and a dominant bullpen. While Zack Jones and Corey Williams get a lot of the credit in the Miracle pen, Johnson had been steady and consistent all season. We hope June will be a very good month for the relievers on the Twins minor league affiliates. As always, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. View full article

This afternoon, MLB announced the rosters of the Futures Game, which will be played on July 14th, two days before the All-Star Game in New York. The Twins will have one player on the World team and one player on the USA team. It likely will come as no surprise that Miguel Sano (Dominican Republic) will be playing on the World team and Byron Buxton (Georgia, USA) will play for the US team. Last year, Oswaldo Arcia was the lone Twins representative. He hit a double in the game against Pirates pitching prospect Jameson Taillon. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Buxton, the Twins' first overall pick in 2012 out of high school, was promoted to Ft. Myers on Sunday after hitting .341/.431/.559 (.990) with 15 doubles, ten triples and eight homers in Cedar Rapids. He drove in 55 runs from the leadoff spot and scored 68 runs. He also stole 32 bases. photo by Jim Crikket Sano, the highly-touted Dominican third baseman, hit .330/.424/.655 (1.079) with 15 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs and 48 RBI with the Miracle before being promoted to New Britain two weeks ago. He has now hit three home runs (and has three triples) in seven games with the Rock Cats. Buxton and Sano are consensus number one prospects in all of baseball and good representatives of the organization. In other All Star news today, the Eastern League announced its all-stars that will play in New Britain in mid-July. Catcher Josmil Pinto, outfielder Danny Ortiz, shortstop Danny Santana, reliever AJ Achter and starting pitcher Trevor May were named to the roster. This comes after the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Ft. Myers Miracle each sent nearly double-figure players to the Midwest League and Florida State League All-Star games, respectively. The future sure looks bright! View full article

After looking at the Outfielders, Infielders, Catchers and Starting Pitchers, our final Spring Training Organizational Depth Chart will take a look at the relief pitchers in the Twins farm system. The bullpen was one of the better areas for the Twins in 2012, and could be again in 2013 although there are questions. The Twins have added some power arms in recent drafts, several are starting to move up the system.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As we have done in the previous depth charts, we’ll try to project where these bullpen pitchers will start the season. There will likely be seven or eight relievers on each team, and maybe a few Disabled List spots as injuries pop up. Some of these guys could get an opportunity to start at some point during the season. So let’s get to it. Here are the Relief Pitchers in the Minnesota Twins organization: Minnesota Twins Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, Casey Fien, Alex Burnett, Josh Roenicke, Tim Wood, Ryan Pressly, (Anthony Swarzak – DL) Perkins takes over as the full-time closer after spending most of the second half of the 2012 season working in the role. Jared Burton was a minor league free agent last year at this time. He made the roster, spent the whole season, pitched terrific and earned a multi-year contract. Brian Duensing is another lock in the bullpen. Hopefully he will just be left in the bullpen and allowed to get left-handed hitters out. Casey Fien was another minor league free agent a year ago. He had a great spring, got a mid-season promotion to the Twins, pitched very well and is pitching well again this spring. After those four, it is a bunch of question marks. Frankly, Alex Burnett has an option and has been pitching horribly again this spring. Josh Roenicke is out of options, and he has pitched well with the exception of last night. Tim Wood was pretty good, but he also had one hiccup. He is also out of options. The Twins used the 4th pick in the Rule 5 draft to take Ryan Pressly from the Red Sox organization. He will need to make the roster, or he’ll have to be offered back to the Red Sox unless they can work out a trade. Anthony Swarzak had his Twins Fest wrestling around rib injury, and he is yet to throw in a game. He will likely begin the season on the Disabled List. He’ll have to pitch well and he is also out of options. Rochester Red Wings Tyler Robertson, Caleb Thielbar, Anthony Slama, Bobby Lanigan, Jason Lane, Bryan Augenstein, Shairon Martis, Luis Perdomo, Mike O’Connor (Deolis Guerra, Esmerling Vazquez, Rich Harden, Rafael Perez, Dan Sattler, Lester Oliveros – DL) Tyler Robertson is the guy on this list that has a very good chance of making the Twins Opening Day roster. He struckout the side in his major league debut ast summer. Thielbar had the big breakout season last year after signing with the Twins from the St. Paul Saints in August of 2011. He made the 40 man roster and struggled in spring games, but he should surface with the Twins sometime in 2013. Anthony Slama got another chance in big league camp this year. He deserves a shot again sometime this year, but his spring showing to this point has not left a good impression so far. Bobby Lanigan finished the 2012 season with Rochester after finally moving to the bullpen. Perdomo was one of the best relief pitchers in the Twins farm system in 2012 and earned his promotion to the Twins. He is back off of the 40 man roster. Martis is pitching for Team Netherlands in the WBC. He came to the Twins in a trade during the 2012 season and started for New Britain and for the Red Wings. Bryan Augenstein was a minor league free agent who was invited to big league spring training, but he has already been sent down. Jason Lane has 64 doubles and 61 home runs in the big leagues, but he has not played spent a day in the big leagues since 2007. Since 2009, he has been pitching in the minor leagues including the last three years in the Pacific Coast League. He ended last season with Sugar Land where he was managed by Gary Gaetti and played with the likes of Aaron Bates, Scott Kazmir and a couple of games with Roger Clemens. Reports indicated that the lefty threw quite hard. He went 9-5 with a 3.17 ERA. Deolis Guerra will be out for at least half of the season due to the clot found in his shoulder. He should be having surgery soon. Rich Harden had shoulder surgery and missed all of 2012. He will be rehabbing for a while yet and should be brought back slowly. The Twins also signed Rafael Perez who had surgery late last season, and he will be moved slowly as well. Will he actually get a chance to start? Maybe, but he has a good track record in the bullpen. Esmerling Vasquez did a nice job in Rochester last year both in the bullpen and then as a starter. He came back to Twins spring training. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder strain and was sent back to the minor league side. Dan Sattler signed with the Twins from the Saints early last year, and he pitched in Ft. Myers, New Britain and Rochester. Shortly after moving up to the Red Wings, he underwent Tommy John surgery. Lester Oliveros had Tommy John surgery in September and will likely miss much of the 2013 season. New Britain Rock Cats Michael Tonkin, Bruce Pugh, Dakota Watts, Andrew Albers, Edgar Ibarra, Dan Turpen, Marty Popham, Jose Gonzalez, Cole Nelson, (Aaron Thompson – DL) Of all the young players to show up at spring training this year, Michael Tonkin was one that clearly stood out to the media and to the manager. The tall, hard-throwing righty with a sharp slider should move quickly. Bruce Pugh has always been live-armed, but in 2012, he finally put it all together. For the third year, he pitched at both Ft. Myers and New Britain, but he was terrific. Likewise, it has been a roller coaster for Dakota Watts. He began the season with some tendonitis, but he really stepped up during the season. He pitched very well in Venezuela this past winter too, again showing off the mid-to-upper 90s velocity. Albers pitched well for the Twins and did a nice job with Team Canada in the WBC. He was my relief pitcher of the year in the Twins system in 2011, and last year he started for the Rock Cats. Edgar Ibarra has very good stuff. The lefty re-signed with the Twins and now that he is being a reliever, he could take off. Turpen throws hard, and although he limited his walks early in the season, by season’s end, he was walking a ton again. He ended last year at Rochester. Popham was a Twins minor league Rule 5 pick in December of 2011. He began the season in the Ft. Myers starting rotation and ended the season in the Rock Cats bullpen. Jose Gonzalez has been a closer on the teams he’s pitched on until last year in Ft. Myers. He had his ups and downs, but the hard-throwing left-hander with a terrific slider ended the season with New Britain. Nelson came to the Twins in the Delmon Young trade in August of 2011. The tall lefty from Minnesota struggled with injury and didn’t pitch well with the Miracle last year. He will likely need to make the Rock Cats roster. Thompson pitched for the Rock Cats last year before and after his 50 game suspension. Ft. Myers Miracle AJ Achter, Miguel Munoz, Nelvin Fuentes, Ryan O’Rourke, Corey Williams, Steven Gruver, Zach Jones, JT Chargois, Cole Johnson, Patrick Arnold, (Dallas Gallant, Manuel Soliman, Jhon Garcia – DL) As good as Tonkin was in 2012, AJ Achter was my choice for Twins minor league relief pitcher of the year. He spent the first half of the season learning the bullpen at Beloit. He was an All-Star and was promoted to the Miracle where he was much better. He should move up to New Britain quickly. Chargois was the Twins 2nd round pick last year out of Rice. He is one who could move quickly, if healthy. Zach Jones was the team’s 4th round pick. He was clocked at 98 and 99 consistently in Beloit last season, and frequently hit 100. Control and a second pitch, and he could move up quickly. Patrick Arnold was a minor league free agent signed for depth. Miguel Munoz was hurt and rehabbed most of the 2011 season. Last year, he was slowly brought back with the Miracle. When healthy, he throws hard and has a chance to be very good. From the left side, there are some very good options. Williams led the organization in saves last year with 17. Though he didn’t pitch real great, he does have great stuff and throws hard. Nelvin Fuentes works slow and doesn’t throw real heard, but he find a way to keep hitters off of their feet. When I saw Ryan O’ Rourke pitch in Beloit in 2011, my immediate comment was that he could get big league left-handed hitters out already because of his tremendous slider. He struggled at times in 2012, but he has a chance to fill a role as he moves up. Gruver started about half of the season last year in Beloit and did well. He also pitched well out of the bullpen and has earned a chance to move up. Garcia had Tommy John surgery last June and will likely rehab much of this season. Soliman had labrum surgery last season and is already throwing to hitters this spring. Gallant pitched some for Beloit last year, but just recently, he had an ulna nerve transposition and finds himself rehabbing again. Cedar Rapids Kernels Tim Atherton, Tyler Jones, Chris Mazza, Ricardo Arevalo, Josh Burris, Andrew Ferreira, Tyler Herr, Travis Huber, Kaleb Merck, Alex Muren, Luis Nunez, (Tim Shibuya – DL) Tim Atherton was with the Twins as a hitter a few years ago. He got in trouble, got released and then in late 2010, he was re-signed by the Twins as a pitcher. He throws hard and has a couple of good pitches. He walks too many, but he can miss bats. Tyler Jones came up to Beloit early in the 2012 season after being drafted in the 11th round in 2011 from LSU. He started for the Snappers most of the season. Mazza was a 27th round pick of the Twins in 2011, but he signed late. He pitched in both Twins rookie league teams and pitched very well. Arevalo signed with the Twins in 2009 and combined to go 0-8 in two seasons with the DSL Twins. In 2011, he was 0-4 with the GCL Twins. In 2012 at Elizabethton, he finally got that first win in his first start but then last his next three decisions. He pitched out of the bullpen for the E-Twins in the playoffs and does throw quite hard. Burris was the team’s 17th round pick in 2011. He made his pro debut in 2012 at Elizabethton and went 7-0 with a 1.75 ERA out of the bullpen. He struckout 40 and walked 21 in 36 innings. He throws hard but most talk about his big 12-6 curveball. Ferreira was the Twins 32nd round pick last year from Harvard. He pitched ten innings in ten games for the E-Twins. He went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, walked seven and struckout 13. Herr was the Twins 44th round pick in 2009 out of his Texas High School. He spent two years in the GCL, and last year he went 3-0 with a 2.56 ERA in 31.2 innings at Elizabethton. He pitched in Australia this winter. When the Twins drafted Huber in the 23rd round last year from Nebraska, it was the third time he was drafted. He pitched nine games in Elizabethton. Merck was the Twins 33rd round pick last year out of TCU. He pitched in 16 games for E-Town last year and struckout 28 and walked six in 24.1 innings. Muren was the Twins 12th round pick last year from Cal State-Northridge. He posted a 1.46 ERA with a 0.86 WHIP in 24.2 innings despite striking out just 12. After going 5-0 with five saves and a 1.67 ERA in the GCL in 2011, Nunez went 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in Elizabethton in 2012. The lefty throws very hard. Shibuya was the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year in 2011 in his debut pro season. He pitched alright early in the season for Beloit. Unfortunately, soon after he threw a complete game shutout, he started to feel pain in his shoulder. He did have surgery in October and hopes to pitch early in the season. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Angel Mata, Hung-yi Chen, Gonzalo Sanudo, Gerardo Ramirez, Melciades de la Cruz, Carson Goldsmith, Trent Higginbotham, Andre Martinez Mata went 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA last year in Elizabethton. He has moved up one level each of the last three years, so it is possible that he’ll move up to Cedar Rapids. Either way, they’ll continue to monitor his innings because he has a great arm. Chen signed from Taiwan late in 2010. He went 0-4 with a 4.33 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) with the GCL Twins. Last year, he stayed in the GCL and pitched in 16 games out of the bullpen. Chen has a strong arm and great control and I think he can be a starter down the road again. Sanudo has pitched the last two years in the GCL, but he made great strikes in 2012 when he posted a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Most impressive, he walked just two and struckout 33 in 36 innings. Fellow Mexican Gerardo Ramirez has pitched with Sanudo the last two years. He struggled to a 6.62 ERA, but somehow had a 4-1 record. After a year in the DSL, de la Cruz came to the States last year and posted a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings in the GCL. He struckout 34. Goldsmith was the Twins 28th round pick last year out of Northwestern State University of Louisiana (same school as Mason Melotakis). He pitched in just three games before being shutdown with arm issues. Higginbotham was the Twins 26th round pick in 2011 out of high school and the Twins went well over slot to sign him. He debuted with the GCL Twins in 2012 and posted a 7.71 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP in 23.1 innings. The Twins were willing to go over slot to sign Andre Martinez, but when his physical turned out a shoulder issue, the Twins were able to sign him for below slot. TOP PROSPECTS 1.) Michael Tonkin, 2.) JT Chargois, 3.) Corey Williams, 4.) Josh Burris 5.) Angel Mata, 6.) Bruce Pugh, 7.) AJ Achter, 8.) Tyler Jones,. SUMMARY The Twins bullpen was very good last year. They should be solid in the 8th and 9th innings again, but there are some question marks at the back of the bullpen which will be figured out. There are also some powerful arms in the Twins farm system. Guys like Dakota Watts and Bruce Pugh and Matt Hauser are close and ready to move up quickly. They have some talented left-handers. And, although we talk about those hard-throwing college relievers that the Twins drafted in 2012 that are going to get a chance to start, there are others like JT Chargois and Zack Jones who could move up quickly in the bullpen. And, if those starters prove better in the bullpen, they too could move quickly. There are a lot of talented bullpen arms in the system. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! View full article

The All-Star breaks are all over, and there was a full schedule in the Twins' minor league system Thursday. A couple old college teammates helped the Kernels provide most of the organization’s offense on the day. Also, a couple now-former Twins were on the mound. However, on this day, Taylor Rogers stole the show with one of the best pitching performances by a Twins pitcher this season. See below for more. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Also last night, I was a guest on Twins Minor League Weekly podcast and answered several questions on players throughout the Twins farm system, so check that out here. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system Thursday: Rochester 4, Syracuse 11 Box Score The pitching wasn’t good and the offense managed just five hits on this night. Logan Darnell got the start and in 1.2 innings, he was charged with six runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out one. Luis Perdomo came on and went the next 1.1 innings. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks while striking out one. AJ Achter came on and provided three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. Blake Martin came on and yielded one run on three hits and a walk in two innings; he struck out two. Edgar Ibarra then made his AAA debut. He walked one and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Deibinson Romero had just one hit, but it was a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year. Chris Parmelee batted third and played first base. He was 1-3 with a walk. Eduardo Escobar went 0-3. He batted seventh and played second base. New Britain 3, Binghampton 4 Box Score Nick Blackburn made his second start for the Rock Cats. He gave up one run on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Ryan O’Rourke came in for his AA debut. He struck out two in his first inning and then struck out the side in his second inning. It was a pretty impressive debut! He turned over a 3-1 lead to closer Matt Hauser. Unfortunately, the right-hander gave up three runs on three hits and two walks and recorded just two outs. BJ Hermsen came on to close out the inning. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 and drove in a run. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with his second Rock Cats home run and two RBI. Ft. Myers 1, Dunedin 0 Box Score Taylor Rogers was the story in this one. The lefty out of Kentucky who was taken by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2012 draft was tremendous. He faced just 30 batters in a complete game shutout. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out eight. He improved to 8-3 and dropped his Miracle ERA to 2.63. Rogers needed every inning to be a shutout inning since the Miracle bats were so quiet. They managed just five hits. In the sixth inning, JD Williams doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Byron Buxton. Photo by Linwood Ferguson/Ft. Myers Miracle Cedar Rapids 9, Lake County 7 Box Score The Kernels have continued to lose great hitters to Ft. Myers, but they have so many that they’re still scoring like crazy. Jonathan Murphy led the way in this game. The outfielder went 3-5 with his third double and first home run with the Kernels. He drove in three runs. His college teammate, Adam Walker, went 2-5. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with a walk and two runs driven in. Photo by Cedar Rapids Kernels Josue Montanez started and went the first six innings. He gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits, three of which were home runs. He walked three and struck out six. Hudson Boyd came on and gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He walked none and struck out two. Madison Boer gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs, in the ninth inning for the save. He struck out two. Game 1 – Elizabethton 2, Bristol 1 Box Score Rained out a night earlier, the E-Twins had a double header on Thursday. Of course, Game 1 included a rain delay of nearly an hour and a half. Felix Jorge returned to form in the first game. The hard-throwing righty gave up one run on five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six. He was replaced by Carson Goldsmith who struck out two in a scoreless inning. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a perfect seventh for the save. The E-Twins managed just three hits in this game. In the sixth inning, a Bryan Haar sacrifice fly scored Carlos Avila with the team’s first run to tie the game. Zach Granite then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Game 2 – Elizabethton 2, Bristol 1 Box Score Josh Burris started the second game. He gave up two runs on three hits in four innings; he walked four and struck out five. Ethan Mildren gave up one hit in a scoreless fifth inning. In the sixth, Aaron Slegers came on and gave up one hit in a scoreless inning, striking out one. Andrew Ferreira pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Javier Pimentel went 2-3 with his first two triples of the year; the first plated the two E-Twins runs. Bryan Santy went 3-3. Bryan Haar was 2-4 with his third double and fourth home run. GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 4 (Game Suspended in 7th by Rain) Box Score This game was not completed, but enough happened that we’ll mention the highlights in the rain-suspended game. Lewis Thorpe went the first four innings, giving up three runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out six. Sam Gibbons came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. Derrick Penilla then gave up one run on one hit and one walk in one inning. Yes, he had one strikeout. And then the rains came. Amaurys Minier had his third triple. Brian Navaretto hit his fourth double. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article