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With the minor league seasons (unfortunately) coming to a close for all of the Minnesota Twins’ affiliates, Twins Daily kicked off the final week of minor league coverage with th players of the year series on Sunday. Today we continue by getting to the full season affiliates and the 2019 Relief Pitcher of the Year Award. Previous 2019 Awards: Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year: Matt Wallner Short-Season Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Cody Laweryson Previous Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitchers of the Year: 2015 & 2016: Trevor Hildenberger 2017: John Curtiss 2018: Andrew VasquezFor the first time since Twins Daily’s MiLB writers have been voting on this particular award, there wasn’t much of a consensus for the top spot, whereas in the past if it wasn’t unanimous, it was relatively close. All three of the past four winners (one repeated) of this award have also gone on to pitch in the major leagues, so winning the award has been, to a degree, predictive of future success. The system wasn’t littered with as many pure strikeout relievers as they had last year, but there were still several standouts as the MLB bullpen got plenty of reinforcements throughout the year from the minors, including one who appears high on this list. Six Twins Daily Minor League writers voted for the various awards this year. For the relief pitcher of the year, we each voted for five players. The player who was voted as #1 received five points, #2 received four points and so on with the #5 vote receiving one point. Results were tabulated and can be found below. Short profiles of our top five performers are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Others Receiving Votes Tom Hackimer, Fort Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos – 36 Games, 6-2, 1 Save, 2.54 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 56.2 IP, 33 H, 27 BB, 75 K (11.9/9IP)Adam Bray, Pensacola Blue Wahoos/Rochester Red Wings – 35 Games (9 starts), 4-4, 1 Save, 2.61 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 93.0 IP, 76 H, 26 BB, 83 K (8.0/9IP)Hector Lujan, Fort Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos – 33 Games, 2-4, 6 Saves, 2.76 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 58.2 IP, 57 H, 15 BB, 55 K (8.4/9IP)Melvi Acosta, Fort Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos – 28 Games (8 starts), 7-5, 4 Saves, 3.24 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 86.0 IP, 87 H, 29 BB, 79 K (8.2/9IP)Alex Phillips, Fort Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos – 42 Games (1 start), 5-3, 9 Saves, 2.96 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 67.0 IP, 48 H, 21 BB, 74 K (9.9/9IP)Sam Clay, Pensacola Blue Wahoos/Rochester Red Wings – 45 Games (1 start), 4-4, 10 Saves, 3.25 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 69.1 IP, 70 H, 28 BB, 72 K (9.3/9IP)Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Here are the top five vote getters for Twins Daily’s Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Award. #5 – Zach Neff, Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle: 38 Games (1 start), 6-3, 8 Saves, 2.97 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 72.2 IP, 63 H, 24 BB, 89 K (11.0/9IP) Neff was the Minnesota Twins 31st round selection in the 2018 draft out of Mississippi State University after spending the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Austin Peay University. After signing last year, he reported to the Elizabethton Twins before getting a late bump to finish with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. That’s where he began the 2019 season, and he was dominant with the Kernels, posting a 2.31 ERA and striking out 11.5/9IP through mid-June before being promoted to the Miracle. As to be expected, he wasn’t as good in the Florida State League but still struck out 10.4/9IP and racked up six of his eight saves while finishing the game in 13 of his 19 appearances with Fort Myers. As a left-hander he carried reverse splits on the year, holding righties to a .569 OPS versus .622 from lefties, but (literally) the only difference was in slugging percentage, as his only home run surrendered on the year was to a left-handed hitter. In the monthly awards during the season, Neff received honorable mention once and was #3 for the month of June, where he had a 1.40 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in eight appearances. #4 – Derek Molina, Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle: 26 Games, 2-1, 11 Saves, 2.85 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 41.0 IP, 31 H, 11 BB, 61 K (13.4/9IP) Taken in the 14th round of the 2017 draft, Molina has steadily climbed the ladder in his two full seasons, appearing with Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids in 2018, and the Kernels and Miracle this season. At each stop, he’s had great strikeout numbers and ERA’s, but this year he also added control to his game by cutting his walk rate nearly in half from the year prior. After striking out 46 hitters in 29 2/3 innings with the Kernels to start the year, he was promoted to the Miracle to finish his season. If not for a shoulder injury that ended his season on July 12th, he may have been much higher on this list. That’s because what’s truly amazing about Molina’s season, is if you take out the first two games he pitched, and his last, these were his numbers on the year: 0.50 ERA, .183 BAA, .458 OPS allowed, and 53 K’s in 35 2/3 innings pitched. He appeared on the monthly award list in May (#4), and took home the top honor in June. #3 – Moises Gomez, Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle: 32 Games, 1-4, 10 Saves, 3.59 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 52.2 IP, 28 H, 21 BB, 78 K (13.3/9IP) I’ll admit I was a little surprised Gomez didn’t appear on more ballots from our voters, but of the three he did, I wasn’t the only one who ranked him #1. What stood out for me is that he maintained a sub-1.00 WHIP while having a K-rate north of 13/9 innings on the season and allowing just a .155 batting average and .507 OPS to opposing hitters. He was even more oppressive to same-sided hitters, holding righties to a .464 OPS and striking out 40.8% of them. He did not throw his first pitch until the calendar turned to May, but from then on, he was a model of consistency along with periods of dominance. In no single month did hitters post a batting average higher than .184 while in the month of June he had a 0.51 WHIP in 15 2/3 innings, and followed that up in July by posting a 1.93 ERA. It’s no coincidence those were the months he appeared on the award lists at #2 and #4 respectively. #2 – Cody Stashak, Pensacola Blue Wahoos/Rochester Red Wings: 33 Games, 7-3, 4 Saves, 3.21 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 53.1 IP, 45 H, 9 BB, 74 K (12.5/9IP) After being selected in the 13th round of the 2015 draft out of St. Johns, Stashak began his professional career as a starting pitcher, and a pretty good one at that. Over his first three steps on the organizational ladder he combined to go 19-11 with a 3.28 ERA. But when he made it to Double-A, the Twins shifted him to the bullpen and something crazy happened: his strikeout rate nearly doubled from subpar into elite territory. He set a career high in this number during the 2019 season with his 12.5K/9IP mark, and he rode that from Pensacola all the way up to 12 appearances (to this point) with the Twins. It’s a career path that should remind you a lot of Taylor Rogers’, and that’s definitely something to be excited about. He was especially dominant this season when he reached the Rochester Red Wings and triple-A’s “juiced ball,” which you probably wouldn’t have expected. With the Red Wings he racked up five wins with a 1.44 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 14 games, striking out 34 in 25 innings along the way. During the season he appeared on the monthly award lists in April (#5) and July (#3) #1 – Anthony Vizcaya, Fort Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos: 41 Games (2 starts), 3-3, 11 Saves, 1.82 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 74.1 IP, 51 H, 30 BB, 83 K (10.0/9IP) For the second year in a row, the winner of this award has the initials “AV,” as Andrew Vasquez took home this award for the 2018 season. Given this recent history, my advice to Twins scouts would be to keep these initials in the back of their mind when scouring the college ranks, independent leagues, and Latin winter leagues for new prospects. Vizcaya got his professional career started in the Cleveland Indians organization, but floundered in rookie ball for two seasons before ending up playing sporadically back home in Venuzuela from 2015 to 2018. Twins pro scout Rafael Yanez liked something he saw from Vizcaya during his 2018 season there and the organization signed him in January. He hit the ground running in Fort Myers, serving as their closer to start the year and picking up seven saves in fifteen appearances before being promoted to Pensacola. He took flight at that point, improving his ERA from 2.22 with the Miracle to 0.78 with the Blue Wahoos. In his last eight appearances in the Florida State League and first six appearances in the Southern League, he pitched to the tune of a 0.00 ERA, .159 BAA, and struck out 34 in 24 1/3 innings along with picking up seven saves. He had only two appearances on the season where he surrendered more than one earned run and closed out the 2019 campaign with another stretch of twelve games where he didn’t allow an earned run and held opponents to a .508 OPS against. As a right-handed pitcher, he also held reverse splits on the year as he was lethal against lefties, holding them to a .152/.259/.202 slash line and only four extra-base hits (zero homers) in 117 plate appearances. He frequented the monthly award lists during the season, appearing on the lists for May (#2), June (honorable mention), and taking home the top honor in August for that stretch mentioned above. Congratulations to Anthony Vizcaya for being named Twins Daily’s 2019 Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year and for also making a big impression in his return to affiliated baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization! The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Moises Gomez, 2) Cody Stashak, 3) Alex Phillips, 4) Derek Molina, 5) Anthony VizcayaCody Christie – 1) Anthony Vizcaya, 2) Alex Phillips, 3) Sam Clay, 4) Zach Neff, 5) Derek MolinaTom Froemming - 1) Cody Stashak, 2) Anthony Vizcaya, 3) Zach Neff, 4) Derek Molina, 5) Hector LujanSteve Lein – 1) Moises Gomez, 2) Anthony Vizcaya, 3) Tom Hackimer, 4) Derek Molina, 5) Cody StashakTed Schwerzler – 1) Melvi Acosta, 2) Sam Clay, 3) Adam Bray, 4) Hector Lujan, 5) Moises GomezMatt Braun – 1) Zach Neff, 2) Derek Molina, 3) Cody Stashak, 4) Sam Clay, 5) Hector LujanFeel free to discuss! What do you think of our rankings? How would your ballot look? Who did we totally miss out on? Click here to view the article

In recent days, we have announced our choices for the August Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month (Zander Wiel) and Starting Pitcher of the Month (Bailey Ober). Today, we will discuss the relief pitchers who ended the season strong, and there were a lot of very good performances. For instance, one pitcher had 20 strikeouts and zero walks this month, and can be found in the Honorable Mentions. Previous 2019 Relief Pitchers of the Month: April: Ryan Mason, Pensacola Blue Wahoos May: Hector Lujan, Ft. Myers Miracle June: Derek Molina, Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle July: Joe Record, Ft. Myers Miracle August: Keep ReadingBefore we get to our Top 5 relievers in the Twins system in August, here are several Honorable Mentions. Jovani Moran - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 7 G, 2.13 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 8 H, 7 BB, 15 KCalvin Faucher - Ft. Myers Miracle - 7 G, 1.54 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 16 KMoises Gomez - Ft. Myers Miracle - 8 G, 3.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 13.2 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 23 KNate Hadley - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 8 G, 3.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 11 H, 5 BB, 15 KTyler Beck - Elizabethton Twins - 8 G, 1.23 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 14.2 IP, 14 H, 4 BB, 19 KBenjamin Dum - Elizabethton Twins - 8 G, 3.21 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 14 H, 0 BB, 20 KRyan Shreve - Elizabethton Twins - 6 G, 2.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 20 H, 2 BB, 20 KBradley Hanner - GCL Twins - 5 G, 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 13 KNiall Windeler - GCL Twins - 5 G, 1.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 10 K.THE TOP FIVE RELIEF PITCHERS #5 - Preston Guilmet - Rochester Red Wings - 8 G, 2 GS, 2.33 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 19.1 IP, 15 H, 2 BB, 27 K The 32-year-old Guilmet made his MLB debut in 2013. He played for four MLB teams between 2013 and 2015. Then he returned to the big leagues and played for two more MLB teams in 2018. He signed early in the offseason with the Twins hoping for an opportunity to make it to the big leagues again, for a seventh team. That didn’t happen as Guilmet struggled some, especially early in the Red Wings season. However, he finished the season with a strong month. Call me impressed with the two walks to 27 strikeouts ratio. In addition, opponents hit just .214 with a .547 OPS against him during the month. #4 - Jonathan Cheshire - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 10 K Cheshire was the Blue Jays 37th-round pick in 2017 out of college. Toronto released him in early June and the Twins signed him in late July. The 24-year-old made a solid first impression in the Twins organization by posting a 0.00 ERA over his first full month in the organization. Opponents hit .205 off of him with a .510 OPS. #3 - Gabriel Moya - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 5 G, 1 GS, 1.69 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 13 K The Twins acquired Moya just over two years ago from the Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher John Ryan Murphy. He helped Chattanooga to a Southern League title that year and earned a promotion to the Twins. He spent time with the Twins last year. Unfortunately, he began the 2019 season hurt and when he went to Rochester, he really struggled. He ended up back in Double-A to end the season. But, he pitched well. Most important is that he didn’t issue walks and was back to recording strikeouts. Opponents hit just .179 with a .456 OPS against him. He is now off of the Twins 40-man roster, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the still just 24-year-old lefty resurfaces in the big leagues in 2020. #2 - Jorge Alcala - Pensacola Blue Wahoos/Rochester Red Wings - 10 G, 1.10 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 11 H, 4 BB, 18 K It was a generally tough season for the hard-throwing right-hander. The Twins finally made the decision to move him to the bullpen in July, and he had mixed results. However, he and Brusdar Graterol were promoted to Triple-A Rochester in mid-August. Graterol was good, but Alcala was fantastic. With the Red Wings, he pitched in 7 2/3 innings over five games. He didn’t give up a run, gave up just four hits, walked two and struck out 11 batters. For the month, opponents hit .186 with a .526 OPS against him. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Pensacola Blue Wahoos – RHP Anthony Vizcaya - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 13 K Every year there are a number of great stories in any MLB organization. One such story in the Twins organization in 2019 is that of Anthony Vizcaya. He signed with Cleveland in 2011 from Venezuela. However, he was released in 2014 after posting an ERA over 10 in the advanced rookie league. Since that time, he has only played in the Venezuelan Winter Leagues, and event that was very limited. He didn’t play during the 2017-18 season but returned last winter. He pitched in eight games, but it was enough to catch the eye of Twins pro scout Rafael Yanez who recommended the Twins sign him. They did, and he has been terrific all year. He posted a 2.22 ERA over 15 games with the Miracle. In 28 1/3 innings, he struck out 35 batters. He has now pitched in 26 games for the Blue Wahoos and has a 0.78 ERA. In his 46 Double-A innings, he has struck out 48 batters. Combined, he has 11 saves. In August, he was at his finest. The 25-year-old did not allow a run in eight games and 14 innings. Opponents hit just .149 with a .370 OPS against him. It’s a great story, but those great stories are always even a little more fun when they pan out with a successful season. ------------------------------------------------------- As you can see, there were several strong relief pitcher performances in August. These guys are all worthy of some recognition. It was a good month for each of these pitchers mentioned today. Congratulations to Anthony Vizcaya, the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for August 2019. Click here to view the article

Generally speaking, players drafted in a given year are just getting adjusted to playing pro baseball, on and off the field. This year, several of their 2019 college draft picks have advanced to Cedar Rapids already. 14th-round pick Cody Laweryson made one start for the Kernels and tossed five scoreless innings. He's back with Elizabethton, and on Monday night he struck out 15 batters in six shutout innings. That kind of performance gets your recognized on Twins Daily, and I have a feeling that the Twins personnel who gets reports from the minor league coaching staff took notice of that performance too!Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday, starting with some awards and the transactions of the day. TRANSACTIONS The Red Wings announced that LHP Stephen Gonsalves ended his rehab and was transferred to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.Also, OF Brent Rooker began a rehab appearance with the GCL Twins.OF Nelson Roberto was promoted from the DSL to the GCL.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Buffalo 5 Box Score Charlie Barnes made the start for the Red Wings. He gave up five runs on nine hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out two. Fernando Romero, Jake Reed and Sam Clay each threw a scoreless inning. Drew Maggi went 2-for-4 with a walk. Mike Miller was 2-for-4. Zander Wiel was also 2-for-4 and added his 38th double of the year. BLUE WAHOOS BITES Pensacola 4, Jackson 2 Box Score The Wahoos used a three-run bottom of the eighth inning to take the 4-2 win. Travis Blankenhorn, LaMonte Wade and Mark Contreras each knocked in a run in the inning. It was a bullpen game for Pensacola on Monday. Adam Bray started and gave up two runs on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three batters. Anthony Vizcaya tossed scoreless 3 1/3 innings. He gave up just two hits, hit a batter and struck out two. Jovani Moran struck out three batters over the next 1 2/3 innings, and Jonathan Cheshire got the final four outs, two on strikeouts. Wade went 1-for-3 with a walk and the ninth-inning ground rule double. Ryan Jeffers added his fifth double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers, Dunedin Box Score A scheduled doubleheader with the Blue Jays was again rained out. They are hoping to play doubleheaders each of the next two days. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 6 (11 innings) Box Score The Kernels fell behind late, tied it in the bottom of the ninth, then tied it again in the bottom of the tenth. Unfortunately, they did not have an answer in the 11th inning to take the loss. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and down by a run, Spencer Steer doubled in a run, but a runner was thrown out at home to send the game to extra innings. Steer then scored on a ground out in the 10th inning to tie the game and send it to the 11th. Steer led the offense. He went 2-for-5 with his 10th and 11th doubles. Wander Javier went 2-for-3 with two walks and his ninth double. Gabe Snyder also had two hits. Kody Funderburk started. The southpay gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five batters. Nate Hadley came on and gave up just one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He struck out two. Ricky Ramirez worked one inning and gave up a run on two hits and a walk. Alex Schick worked three innings. He gave up an unearned run in the 10th and another in the 11th. (As you know, that means that the runners that started the inning on second base scored.) UPDATE - I apologize for not providing the Byron Buxton update initially. Here it is. He did not play last night due to wet playing conditions. He is expected to start, and play CF, for the Kernels tonight (Tuesday). E-TWINS E-NOTES E-Twins 1, Greeneville 0 Box Score Right-handed pitcher Cody Laweryson was the Twins 14th-round pick in June out of the University of Maine. On Monday night, he tossed six shutout innings. He gave up just three hits and didn’t issue a walk. He also struck out 15 batters in the game. Owen Griffith came on and worked the final three innings, keeping the shutout, and recording his first pro save. He gave up just one hit and struck out five batters. The Twins got their lone run when Janigson Villalobos hit his sixth double of the season to drive in Anthony Prato with the game’s only run. Will Holland went 2-for-3 and stole his eighth base. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins, GCL Rays Box Score The game was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Twins leading 2-0. The full story will come in Tuesday’s minor league report. However, a couple of quick notes from the early innings. First, non-drafted free agent Evan Gillespie tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out four batters. Luke Raley was 1-for-2 as he continued his rehab. He played center field. Brent Rooker made his first rehab appearance. He was 1-for-2 before the rains came. He played left field. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Cody Laweryson, Elizabethton Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Wander Javier, Cedar Rapids Kernels PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) - 0-3, R, 2 K, SB(5) #2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-3, BB #3 - Brusdar Graterol (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - 1-4, 2 K #5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, 2 BB, 2B(9) #6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - Game suspended #10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Rained Out #11 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List (lower leg contusion) #13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - 1-3, R, 2B(5) #14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) - No Game Scheduled #15 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - 0-6, 2 K #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Injured List #17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured (Tommy John) #18 - Jorge Alcala (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch #19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - Season Complete #20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - 0-4, R, K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (6:35 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart (8-5, 5.23) Jackson @ Pensacola (6:35 CST) - RHP Bailey (2-0, 0.64 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (DH @ 1:00 CST) - LHP Lachlan Wells (2-4, 4.15 ERA), TBD Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - RHP Luis Rijo (7-2, 2.82 ERA) Greeneville @ Elizabethton (5:30 CST) - TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00 CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games or any other minor league topics you would like. Click here to view the article

Over the weekend, we handed out our choices for the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month (Lewin Diaz) and Starting Pitcher of the Month (Jordan Balazovic). Today, we will discuss the relief pitchers. Which bullpen arms had a strong May? Previous 2019 Relief Pitchers of the Month: April: Ryan Mason, Pensacola Blue WahoosBefore we get to our Top 4 relievers in the Twins system in May, here are several Honorable Mentions. Adam Bray - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 9 G, 2.53 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 21.1 IP, 17 H, 4 BB, 22 KSam Clay - Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 10 G, 1.10 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 16.1 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 18 KZach Neff - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 8 G, 1.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 22 K THE TOP FOUR RELIEF PITCHERS #4 - Derek Molina - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 7 G, 0.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 19 K Molina was the Twins 14th-round pick in 2017 out of Merced College where he was a two-way player. He was the team’s shortstop and pitched as well. The Twins liked his arm a lot and drafted him as a pitcher only. He throws hard and has a good breaking ball. After a slow start to his season, Molina was fantastic in May. Opponents hit just .167/.255/.190 (.446). When he throws strikes consistently, good things happen. #3 - Tom Hackimer - Ft. Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 13.1 IP, 7 H, 6 BB, 20 K After four seasons at St. Johns, Hackimer was the Twins fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. He was promoted fairly quickly and even pitched in the Arizona Fall League. However, he was sidelined by injury through much of 2018 and his season ended early with a biceps surgery. He returned in 2019 and has been great. He began with the Miracle, however, after one May outing, he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola where he remained nearly unhittable. Opponents hit just .156/.296/.156 (.452) off of him in the month. He had 20 strikeouts in just 13 1/3 innings and he could advance another level this season. #2 - Anthony Vizcaya - Ft. Myers Miracle/Pensacola Blue Wahoos - 7 G, 1.59 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB,14 K Vizcaya is potentially one of those feel-good stories that we all enjoy so much. He was originally signed in 2011 by Cleveland. He was in their organization through the 2014 season, peaking in the advanced rookie New York-Penn League. And then he was out of affiliated baseball until the Twins signed him this spring. He pitched some in the Venezuelan Winter League, but not a lot. However, he throws hard and has proven it was worth a shot for the Twins. He began the season in Ft. Myers and was promoted to Double-A Pensacola late in May. For the month, opponents hit just .160/.189/.200 (.389) off of the right-hander. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Ft. Myers Miracle – RHP Hector Lujan - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 16 K Lujan was the Twins 35th-round pick in 2015 out of Division III Westmont College in California where he teamed with the Twins 32nd-round pick that year, Andrew Vasquez. Lujan has really improved since signing with the Twins. He now has a fastball that reaches to 95-96 mph and much improved breaking pitches. He took off late in the 2017 season when he became the Cedar Rapids closer and led the organization in saves. He was also the recipient of the 2017 Harmon Killebrew Award for Community Service for Cedar Rapids. He pitched well in 2018 in Ft. Myers. He posted a 2.64 ERA over 71 2/3 innings. Almost inexplicably, he remains with the Miracle. Through another 36 2/3 innings this year, he has a 2.21 ERA. In May, opponents hit just .151/.179/.219 (.398) against him. He walked three batters in the month, and all three were intentional. There were some really solid relief pitcher performances in May throughout the Twins minor league system.There were several players with 0.00 ERAs. It was a good month for each of these pitchers mentioned today. Congratulations to Hector Lujan, the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May 2019. Click here to view the article

Jake Cave hit a walk-off single for Rochester against old friend Buddy Boshers, and no, there’s nothing wrong with Jordan Balazovic. His start for Fort Myers was severely shortened due to a rain delay. Every affiliate won tonight, three of them by a single run. Come check out what else happened Friday night.TRANSACTIONS -RHP Cole Sands has been promoted from Cedar Rapids up to Fort Myers. -RHP Tanner Howell was activated from extended spring training and assigned to Fort Myers. -Fort Myers also placed RHP Ricky Ramirez on the 7-Day IL due to lumbar back spasms. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Buffalo 4 (10 innings) Box Score Lewis Thorpe: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches) HR: John Andreoli (6) Multi-hit games: Jake Cave (2-for-5) The Wings trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in this one, but battled back and ended up winning on a Jake Cave walk-off single. Buddy Boshers was on the mound, which is notable not only because he’s a former Twin, but also because Cave delivered against a lefty. Mitch Garver caught all nine innings, was 1-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Lakeland 3 Box Score Melvi Acosta: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 57.1% strikes (36 of 63 pitches) HR: Aaron Whitefield (4), Ryan Jeffers (5) Multi-hit games: Whitefield (2-for-5, 2B, HR), Jeffers (2-for-5, HR), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, BB), Hunter Lee (2-for-4) As I mentioned in the intro, Jordan Balazovic started this game. He struck out a couple batters in 1 1/3 innings of perfect ball before a rain delay forced him out of this game. Once play resumed, Melvi Acosta took over for the Miracle. Aaron Whitefield hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Whitefield also doubled and scored on a Hunter Lee two-run single in the eighth in what was another nice night for the Miracle lineup. Ryan Jeffers hit his fifth home run, Trevor Larnach reached safely in three of his five plate appearances and Lewin Diaz had a single and a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 5 Box Score Tyler Palm: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 61.3% strikes (46 of 75 pitches) HR: Andrew Bechtold (4) Multi-hit games: Ben Rodriguez (2-for-3, BB) The Kernels were trailing 4-3 after a busy first three innings, but things stayed that way until the eighth. Beloit retired the first two Cedar Rapids hitters, then melted down. Four straight walks followed by a fielding error by the pitcher resulted in a three-run inning for the Kernels. Jose Martinez was great over the middle innings for Cedar Rapids, throwing four one-hit innings while striking out four batters. Zach Neff gave up an unearned run over the final two frames and earned his first save of the season. The bats didn’t do a lot of damage. They combined for just five hits, and Andrew Bechtold’s solo home run was the only that went for extra bases. But they also drew six walks, two of which came from Jacob Pearson. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Martinez, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jake Cave, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 0-for-5, 3 K 2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-1, 2 BB, E (fielding at 1B) 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 2-for-4, BB, K 8. Lewis Thorpe (ROC): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 66.3% strikes (55 of 83 pitches) 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-for-3, BB, R, RBI, 2 K 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-5, HR (5), R, RBI 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-3, 2 K 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 0-for-5 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 1-for-4, HBP 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-5, R, K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Buffalo, 6:05 pm CT (Sean Poppen) Pensacola vs. Mississippi, 6:05 pm CT (Jeff Ames) Fort Myers at Lakeland, 5:00 pm CT (Jhoan Duran) Cedar Rapids at Beloit, 6:30 pm CT (Josh Winder) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article