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Before we get to our Top 4 starting pitchers for the month of April, here is a list of a couple others who deserve to be recognized for a solid final month of the season. HONORABLE MENTION Randy LeBlanc - Chattanooga Lookouts - 5 GS, 28.1 IP, 3-1, 2.22 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 30 H, 8 BB, 22 K Fernando Romero - Rochester Red Wings - 4 G, 3 GS, 21.0 IP, 0-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 17 H, 10 BB, 20 K. THE TOP FOUR STARTING PITCHERS #4 - LHP Anthony Marzi - Ft. Myers Miracle - 4 G, 3 GS, 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 18 H, 4 BB, 20 K Anthony Marzi got the Opening Night start for the Miracle, and he’s been good since. He did pitch once out of the bullpen, but that was just piggybacking a Phil Hughes rehab start. Marzi was a graduate of the University of Connecticut in 2014. He went undrafted, but that winter he signed with the New York Yankees. In 2015, he pitched in six games for the GCL Yankees before being released in March of 2016. He tried out for the independent New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League and did well in 2016 and 2017. In late June 2017, he was signed by the Twins because they needed starters in Cedar Rapids. He made nine starts for the Kernels and pitched well enough that his final regular season start came for the Ft. Myers Miracle. While the left-hander does not throw hard or miss a lot of bats, he can be effective by hitting his spots. He has been able to do that since signing. #3 - Tyler Wells - Ft. Myers Miracle - 4 GS, 2-1, 3.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 17.1 IP, 11 H, 4 BB, 18 K Wells had a terrific month. He’d done a terrific job of limiting base runners. He doesn’t give up a lot of hits, and he doesn’t hurt himself with walks. Wells was the Twins 15th-round pick in 2016 draft out of Division II Cal State - San Bernadino. He ended that season strong in Elizabethton, and last year he went 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA in Cedar Rapids, though he was limited to 75 innings due to a couple of injuries. Wells went to work this offseason and lost 25 pounds and came to spring training in great shape. #2- Stephen Gonsalves - Chattanooga Lookouts - 4 G, 3-0, 1.77 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 20.1 IP, 11 H, 10 BB, 25 K Gonsalves is not a new name to these monthly starting pitcher awards. He’s won several of the monthly awards, and he was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in both 2016 and 2017. After his 2017 season, the Twins added him to the 40-man roster. He went to his second straight big league spring training. It was a bit of a surprise that he was sent to AA Chattanooga to start the season. It was much less surprising to see him put up really impressive numbers through his first four starts. It’s also not surprising that his first start of May was with the Rochester Red Wings (or that he threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings). The former fourth-round pick from San Diego is on track to make his major league debut sometime in 2018. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester Red Wings - RHP Aaron Slegers - 4 GS, 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 24.0 IP, 19 H, 3 BB, 14 K Speaking of guys who have been mentioned in these reports a lot, Aaron Slegers was twice a Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month in 2017. He even made three big league starts. He was the runner-up for Starting Pitcher of the Year. And he has started out 2018 very well as well. Slegers threw six innings in all four of his starts. He had four quality starts and twice he didn’t give up a run. He even got to spend one day in the Twins bullpen in New York, called up in case a long reliever was needed. Slegers was the Twins fifth-round draft pick in 2013 out of Indiana University where he had been been the Big 10’s Pitcher of the Year. He has moved up one level each year and has developed well at that pace. After debuting in 2017, Slegers returns to Rochester where he will continue to pitch in hopes of more of those call-ups. Congratulations to our Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of April, Rochester starter Aaron Slegers. Feel free to discuss and ask questions.

Before we get to our Top 5 starting pitchers for the month of August, here is a list of a couple of others who deserve to be recognized for a solid final month of the season. HONORABLE MENTION Charlie Barnes - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 GS, 17.0 IP, 2-0, 3.71 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 12 H, 6 BB, 15 K Nick Brown - Elizabethton Twins - 5 GS, 28.0 IP, 3-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 28 H, 7 BB, 26 K. Felix Jorge - Rochester Red Wings - 6 GS, 37.0 IP, 2-2, 3.16 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 37 H, 10 BB, 29 K. Lewis Thorpe - Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts - 6 GS, 30.0 IP, 2-0, 2.70 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 25 H, 12 BB, 36 K. THE TOP FIVE STARTING PITCHERS #5 - DJ Baxendale - Chattanooga Lookouts - 7 G, 4 GS, 0-0, 1.99 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 22.2 IP, 20 H, 4 BB, 21 K In late July, Baxendale was sent from Rochester to Chattanooga despite putting up decent numbers out of the bullpen. With the Lookouts, he has also made some spot starts and long relief outings. And he’s pitched well, as you would hope, against AA competition after success in AAA. But maybe a step back is exactly what Baxendale will need to take a step forward. In August, batters hit just .244/.273/.317 (.590) off of him. He had nearly a strikeout an inning and showed good control. #4 - Randy Dobnak - Elizabethton Twins - 5 G, 3 GS, 2-0, 1.69 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 26.1 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 22 K Shortly after the rookie league seasons began, the Twins made a call to Randy Dobnak. The Pennsylvania native attended Alderson Broaddus University in West Virginia. He went undrafted, so he signed with the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. Six weeks later, he signed with the Twins and was sent to Elizabethton. He was very good. As you can see, he made starts after beginning in the bullpen. He threw strikes, he missed some bats, and opponents just .198/.252/.313 (.565) against him during the month of August. He made his first start for the Kernels in September and will work with them in the playoffs. #3 - Anthony Marzi - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4 GS, 2-0, 1.57 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 17 H, 9 BB, 13 K Marzi was a graduate of the University of Connecticut in 2014. He went undrafted, but that winter he signed with the New York Yankees. In 2015, he pitched in six games for the GCL Yankees and then was released in March of 2016. He tried out for the independent New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League and did well in 2016 and 2017. In late June, he was signed by the Twins because they needed starters in Cedar Rapids. He made nine starts for the Kernels and pitched well enough that his final regular season start came for the Ft. Myers Miracle. While the left-hander does not throw hard or miss a lot of bats, he can be effective by hitting his spots. He has been able to do that since signing. #2- Carlos Suniaga - GCL Twins - 5 G, 3 GS, 2-0, 1.07 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 21 H, 4 BB, 19 K The Twins signed Suniaga out of the Dominican in September of 2014. He spent the last two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. Still just 20, Suniaga began the season with one appearance in Elizabethton before joining the GCL Twins for the rest of the season. He pitched well, particularly in August. He worked a lot of innings. He threw strikes. He had a solid strikeout rate. Opponents hit just .223/.272/.330 (.602) off of him in the month. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Chattanooga Lookouts - RHP Zack Littell - 7 GS, 5-0, 2.81 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 33 H, 18 BB, 33 K Zack Littell was the 11th-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2013 out of high school in North Carolina. He spent a year in the rookie Arizona League (similar to the GCL). Then he spent a season in the Appalachian League. Then he spent the 2015 season in the Midwest League. That’s where he began the 2016 season again, and things went much better. He took his step forward. He split the season between the Midwest League and the Florida State League. Last offseason, he was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees organization in exchange for lefty reliever James Pazos. He began this season in the Florida State League. For Tampa, he went 9-1 with a 1.77 ERA. He was promoted to AA Trenton of the Eastern League. There, he went 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA. He was supposed to make a start in late July but was scratched. Hours later, news came out that he had been traded, along with lefty Dietrich Enns, in exchange for Jaime Garcia. He was assigned to Chattanooga in the Southern League. For the Lookouts, he has gone 5-0 with a 2.81 ERA. So overall this season, he has gone 19-1 with a 2.12 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. In 157 innings, he has given up 135 hits, walked 41 and struck out 142 batters. He was good in August too, posting a 5-0 record. Opponents hit just .223/.324/.331 (.655) off of him. The Twins will most likely add him to the 40-man roster in November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Congratulations to our Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month of August, Chattanooga starter Zack Littell. Feel free to agree or disagree with the order, if you like. It wasn’t as easy a decision as you might think. There were several solid starters in August.

Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS There were a handful of transactions in the Twins system on Sunday. Following the Twins win on Monday night, Kennys Vargas was optioned to AAA Rochester. Ehire Adrianza was activated from the disabled list to take his spot. Infielder Leonardo Reginnato was placed on the disabled list for the Red Wings. The Red Wings also announced that Justin Haley will be making a rehab start for them on Tuesday. He made one appearance in the GCL, and earlier in the week, he made a start with the Miracle. Chattanooga announced the Twins’ signing of catcher Carlos Paulino. He spent the past two seasons in the Twins organization, splitting time between the Lookouts and Red Wings. He signed with the Marlins before this season but was released recently. Brian Navarreto was sent from Chattanooga back to Ft. Myers. Felix Jorge returned to the Lookouts, with Alex Muren sent down to Ft. Myers. Also, Chattanooga's Ryan Eades was named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week. He pitched twice and recorded five hitless innings. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 12, Lehigh Valley 3 Box Score On Monday night, the Red Wings won for the 16th time in their last 19 games. Aaron Slegers posted another quality start and the bats certainly showed up on this night. Slegers won for the fourth straight time. The right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits over the first 6.2 innings. He walked two and struck out six to improve to 8-4 with a 4.08 ERA. Drew Rucinski got the next four outs. John Curtiss came on for the ninth inning. He gave up a hit, but he struck out two in a scoreless inning. Mitch Garver got the offense going. He went 2-4 with a walk, his 17th double and his eighth home run. Matt Hague was also 2-4 with a homer, his seventh, and three RBI. John Ryan Murphy went 2-5. Zack Granite is hitting .363 after a 1-5 game. He stole his 15th bat. Byungho Park has been on fire the last couple of weeks. He went 3-5 with his fourth homer and three RBI. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Mississippi 2 Box Score It was another start for Stephen Gonsalves, which means that Stephen Gonsalves put together another quality start. The left-hander gave up two runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out six without issuing a walk. He improved to 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA. Gonsalves was replaced by Todd Van Steensel whose season's ERA dropped to 1.72 with two more scoreless frames. He struck out three. Nick Anderson recorded his first AA save with a perfect ninth which included a strikeout. The offense did little early in the game. In fact, they had just two hits until the seventh inning when they put a three-spot on the board. The big hit again came off the bat of Levi Michael.He hit a three-run homer, his fourth of the season. They added another run in the eighth for the final tally. Edgar Corcino went 2-5 with his 14th double. Nick Gordon was 2-4. Alex Perez went 2-4 with his first AA double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, St. Lucie 7 Box Score The game ended well after midnight in Ft. Myers. The start of the game was delayed, and then there was a longer delay in the third inning. On Sunday, the Miracle used an 11-run eighth inning to earn a big win. They used a big inning again on Monday to come back and win another game. Down 7-4 going into the bottom of the 7th inning, the Miracle scored six runs to take a three-run lead. Cody Stashak started and went the first three innings. Given a 4-1 lead, he loaded the bases in the top of the third. Tim Tebow launched a double to the fence in left center field to tie the game. (Tebow went 1-2 with 2 walks) That’s when the rains came. When the game continued, Williams Ramirez came into the game. He threw two shutout innings. Tom Hackimer worked the next two innings. He struck out two but was charged with an unearned run. Andrew Vasquez recorded his first Miracle save with two shutout innings. Zander Wiel went 2-5 with his 15th and 16th doubles. Kevin Garcia went 2-5 with a triple. Jaylin Davis went 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Mitchell Kranson and Jermaine Palacios were both 2-5. Max Murphy went 1-3 with two walks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Clinton 0 Box Score A night after Griffin Jax shut out Clinton in his first Kernels start, lefty Anthony Marzi started another shutout for the team. Signed over the weekend from the independent New Britain Bees, Marzi threw the first 6.2 innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out eight batters. His pitching coach, JP Martinez, was impressed. “Marzi forced the ball inside all night which he told me he likes to. So his plan lined up with what we had on their hitters. He creates some deception, throws across his body and fills the zone. Push-pull with his changeup was good, and he put some right-handed hitters away with his slider, which was nice to see.” Ryan Mason came on and got the next four outs. Hector Lujan recorded his eighth save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including a strikeout. Lujan took over closer’s duties about a month ago, and he has been terrific. It’s a role he has enjoyed. “The biggest thing I've felt that has helped me get comfortable in these games is just having the mentality of attacking and getting ahead of hitters. Being able to get ahead in the count with any pitch depending on the hitter and what his approach has been the whole game. All in all, I'm just trying to be able to get out there and do what I can to help get a team W.” Martinez noted that Lujan was displaying some of the traits of a closer all season, even before claiming the role. “Hector has been poised and aggressive whenever we’ve thrown (in) him all year. He picked up a cutter in the offseason, and we’ve worked hard to refine it. It has become his bread and butter and is pretty firm, sitting 87-89. He’s got a lively fastball at 93-96, so it’s tough for guys to get comfortable against him. I’ve been really happy with his mentality, his work ethic, and his composure in those tight spots.” Ben Rortvedt drove in the first run with a single. He was 2-4. Lewin Diaz drove in the other run with a single. He also was 2-4. Joe Cronin was 2-4 with a triple. Lean Marrero was also 2-4. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Danville 1 Box Score The E-Twins turned the tables in Danville on Monday night after Danville won on Sunday by the same score. Edwar Colina was very good. The right-hander gave up up one run on three hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out seven. The bullpen finished the job. Converted catcher Juan Gamez struck out two over two perfect innings. Jose Martinez struck out one in the ninth. 2017 ninth-round pick Mark Contreras went 3-5 with his first two doubles and his first triple as a pro. TJ Dixon went 2-5 with his first triple. Carson Crites went 2-6. Kolton Kendrick and Trey Cabbage both had a single and two walks. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 3 (10 innings) Box Score Right-hander Tyler Beardsley hasn’t pitched in a game since he started for Cedar Rapids in May 21. On Monday, he made a rehab appearance in the GCl. He threw two scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out three. Beardsley noted, "It felt good to be back out there competing. I've put a lot of hard work in these last six weeks to get back on the mound." Amilcar Cruz worked the next two innings. He gave up no runs on two hits, walked one and struck out two. Next to the mound for the Twins was Brusdar Graterol. He gave up two runs on four hits over five innings. He walked just one and struck out eight batters. Royce Lewis is now hitting .360 after this 2-5 game. He added his fourth double. Alex Robles went 2-4 with his second double. Ben Rodriguez added his first pro double. The game was tied going into the bottom of the 10th inning. Vadim Balan entered the game. He hit the first batter. The next guy laid down a bunt. Balan fielded it and threw it away. The runner came around from first base to score and end the game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Anthony Marzi, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mark Contreras, Elizabethton Twins TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - RHP Justin Haley Tennessee @ Chattanooga (5:15 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart Ft. Myers @ Tampa (6:00 CST) - TBD Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST) - RHP Eduardo Del Rosario Princeton @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - RHP Huascar Ynoa GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (9:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games.