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Jhoan Duran had another great start, Brent Rooker, Travis Blankenhorn, Lewin Diaz and Jose Miranda all hit home runs, Drew Maggi mashed a pair of taters and the Cedar Rapids bullpen provided seven no-hit innings. Come see what else happened down on the farm Friday night.TRANSACTIONS -LHP Devin Smeltzer was optioned back to Rochester. -C Trevor Casanova joined Fort Myers from extended spring. -OF/1B Trey Cabbage also re-joined Fort Myers from the suspended list. RED WINGS REPORT Game 1: Rochester 19, Pawtucket 4 (7 innings) Box Score Kohl Stewart: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 58.5% strikes (55 of 94 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Luis Arraez (3-for-4, 2B, BB), Wilin Rosario (3-for-5, 2B), Nick Gordon (2-for-6, 2B), Zander Wiel (2-for-3, BB, HBP), Jake Cave (2-for-5, 2 2B), Wynston Sawyer (2-for-5, 2B) How do you score 19 runs in a seven-inning game without the benefit of a home run? Well, drawing nine walks helps. So does going 12-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Every single hitter in Rochester’s lineup reached base at least twice. Luis Arraez and Wilin Rosario both tallied three hits. Arraez drove in five runs from the leadoff spot while Rosario had four RBIs. Drew Maggi reached safely in four of his five plate appearances, hitting a double to go with three walks, and score three runs. Zander Wiel also reached base in four of his five plate appearances (two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch). Brent Rooker scored three runs … lots of crooked numbers. Kohl Stewart, the beneficiary of all that run support, improved to 5-3 on the year. Game 2: Rochester 7, Pawtucket 4 (7 innings) Box Score Zack Littell: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 81.1% strikes (30 of 37 pitches) HR: Drew Maggi 2 (5), Rooker (7) Multi-hit games: Cave (2-for-4, 2B), Maggi (2-for-3, 2 HR) The Wings trailed 4-2 entering the final inning, but Drew Maggi hit a game-tying home run, his second of the game, and Brent Rooker blasted a three-run homer to push Rochester ahead. Duran held Jupiter to one run on six hits over seven innings and struck out four. In his last three starts, Duran’s surrendered just 10 hits and three earned runs over 20 innings. Jose Miranda hit his third homer of the year, drew a walk and scored twice. Trey Cabbage hit a double and drove in a pair of runs in his return to the Miracle. Royce Lewis got a single, stole his 11th base of the season and scored a run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 3 Box Score Tyler Palm: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 61.7% strikes (37 of 60 pitches) HR: None Multi-hit games: Yeltsin Encarnacion (2-for-5), Gabriel Maciel (2-for-4) Cedar Rapids stumbled a bit out of the gates, falling behind 3-0 after the first three innings, but they sure did finish strong. Carlos Suniaga, Jose Martinez and Moises Gomez combined to no-hit Peoria over the final seven innings of this game. Suniaga, the first man out of the bullpen, struck out five batters over his three innings. Martinez also delivered three innings before Gomez came in for the save in the ninth. The bats had a nice rally in the fourth inning to get rolling. With one out, Jared Akins and Chris Williams drew back-to-back walks. Jacob Pearson hit an RBI single before Andrew Bechtold provided a run-scoring ground out. Gabriel Maciel tied the game with an RBI single. Things stayed knotted up until the eighth inning. Gilberto Celestino hit a leadoff double and was driven home on a Williams triple. Celestino also helped provide an insurance run in the ninth, hitting a sacrifice fly. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jhoan Duran, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Drew Maggi, Rochester TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-4, R, SB, K 4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 1-for-4, 2B, R, K 6. Brent Rooker (ROC): 2-for-6, HR (7), 3 BB, 4 R, 5 RBI, K, HBP 7. Jhoan Duran (FM): Jhoan Duran: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 65.9% strikes (60 of 91 pitches) 11. Nick Gordon (ROC): 3-for-10, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB 13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 0-for-2, K 14. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 0-for-4, K 16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 1-for-4, 2B, R, RBI 17. Zack Littell (ROC): 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 81.1% strikes (30 of 37 pitches) 18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 2-for-6, 3 BB 20. Jose Miranda (FM): 1-for-3, HR (3), BB, 2 R, RBI SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Pawtucket, 5:15 pm CT (Randy Dobnak) Pensacola at Biloxi, 6:35 pm CT (Charlie Barnes) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:00 pm CT (Cole Sands) Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 6:35 pm CT (Josh Winder) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Elizabethton lost a wild Game 2 of the Appalachian League Semifinals, but the E-Twins can still advance to the finals if they win Sunday evening. Chris Williams was the offensive star of the night, though Luke Raley also had an excellent game, while Carlos Suniaga and Edwar Colina delivered the strongest pitching performances. Come check out what else happened around the minor league system Saturday night.TRANSACTIONS -Tyler Duffey, Johnny Field and Andrew Vasquez were all called up to the Twins. Zack Littell is also expected to get called up for Sunday’s game. -Omar Bencomo and Dietrich Enns were both promoted up from Chattanooga to Rochester. -Bryan Sammons was activated from the DL and assigned to Chattanooga. He made his Double-A debut tonight. RED WINGS REPORT Lehigh Valley 2, Rochester 1 Box Score SP: Fernando Romero (3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Kennys Vargas (2-for-4) Fernando Romero struggled to find the strike zone and the Red Wings’ lineup couldn’t get much going. Romero walked five batters in his three innings of work, throwing 38 of his 73 pitches for strikes in the process (52.1 percent). Rochester’s only run was scored in the first inning. Nick Gordon hit a two-out triple and scored on a Kennys Vargas single. D.J. Baxendale pitched a scoreless inning before Dietrich Enns held the IronPigs scoreless over the final five frames. Byron Buxton did not play. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 7, Chattanooga 5 Box Score SP: Bryan Sammons (4.0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) HR: Andy Wilkins (12) Multi-hit games: Luke Raley (3-for-5, 2B, 3B), Brian Navarreto (3-for-3, 2B, HBP) This was Bryan Sammons’ Double-A debut, and he got beat around a little bit (see above), though the six strikeouts are encouraging. Luke Raley, who will be representing the Twins in the Arizona Fall League this year, was a home run shy of the cycle and Brian Navarreto had a three-hit night as well. Andy Wilkins continued to provide power for the Lookouts. He hit his 12th home run in what’s been just 130 plate appearances for Chattanooga. Brent Rooker, who will also be participating in the AFL, was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. MIRACLE MATTERS Clearwater 5, Fort Myers 2 (10 innings) Box Score SP: Edwar Colina (6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) HR: Jose Miranda (3) Multi-hit games: None The Miracle took a 2-0 lead, but the Threshers tied it up on a two-run homer in the sixth, then scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning. It was a rough night for the Fort Myers lineup, as Nos. 1 and 2 hitters Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff combined to go 1-for-10 with a pair of strikeouts and the team combined to go 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Edwar Colina had a great night, striking out nine batters over 6 2/3 innings. Ryan Mason followed with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball before Hector Lujan gave up the runs in the 10th. This loss dropped Fort Myers to a game behind the Charlotte Stone Crabs in the Florida State League South standings. The Miracle play their final regular season game tomorrow. Lewis joined the Twins pregame broadcast on FSN for an interview, check it out: KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 2 Box Score W: Carlos Suniaga (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) SV: Jared Finkel (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (2-for-5, 2B), Trevor Larnach (2-for-3, 2B, BB), Ben Rodriguez (2-for-4, 2B), Ariel Montesino (2-for-3, BB, 2 SB) The Kernels did most of their damage tonight in the third inning. Ariel Montesino led things off with a walk, stole second base and advanced to third on a ground out. Michael Helman was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. That Montesino-Helman combo was able to pull off a double steal, giving the Kernels their first run. Trevor Larnach hit a double that plated another run, and then scored on a Ben Rodriguez double to give Cedar Rapids a three-run inning. This was the first time Carlos Suniaga, who spent much of the early season as a reliever, pitched more than five innings. He went seven innings, remarkably needing just 83 pitches to do so, 61 of which were strikes (73.5 percent). E-TWINS E-NOTES *Appalachian League Semifinals* Kingsport 7, Elizabethton 6 (10 innings) Box Score SP: Luis Rijo (5.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Chris Williams (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 BB), Alex Robles (2-for-3, 2 2B, BB) Elizabethton could have punched its ticket to the Appalachian League Finals, but they fell just short in a wild game. Kingsport jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the E-Twins even had the chance to bat. E-Town chipped away with runs in the second and fourth inning. The game-tying run came across thanks to a wild pitch. The catcher’s return throw attempting to get Ricky De La Torre got past the pitcher. Lean Marrero tried to score all the way from second base, but the pitcher retrieved the ball, tossed back to the catcher and caught Marrero to end the inning, leaving the game tied 3-3. And that’s how things would remain through nine innings. I was disappointed to see the new extra innings rule in which a runner starts on second base was carried forward to postseason play, and it certainly made an impact in this one. After combining to score six runs through nine innings, a total of seven runs were scored in the 10th. Kingsport tallied four runs in the top of the 10th, but the E-Twins nearly came back to tie it up again, scoring three runs before recording the first out of the inning. Elizabethton got the tying run all the way to third base, but couldn’t seal the deal. This was such an odd game. The E-Twins managed their six runs on just seven hits (Kingsport had 15), were only credited with four RBIs (the K-Mets committed four errors) and they also racked up 13 strikeouts. Chris Williams was, of course, a beast. In his five plate appearances, he had two doubles and two walks. After taking over for starter Luis Rijo, Kody Funderburk delivered four scoreless innings before running into all that trouble in the 10th. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Carlos Suniaga, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Chris Williams, Elizabethton TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed 1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-5, K 2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 0-for-5, K 3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): Did not pitch. 4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 1-for-4, 3B, R, 2 K 5. Stephen Gonsalves (MIN): Promoted to the Twins. 6. Trevor Larnach (CR): 2-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI, R 7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 1-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, SB 8. Akil Baddoo (CR): Did not play. 9. Wander Javier: Out of for the season 10. Zack Littell (MIN): Promoted to Twins. 11. Blayne Enlow (CR): Did not pitch. 12. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 0-for-4, 2 K 13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 1-for-3, BB, K 14. Lewis Thorpe (CHAT): Did not pitch. 15. Ben Rortvedt (FM): Did not play. 16. Yunior Severino (ET): 0-for-4, BB, R, 3 K 17. Lewin Diaz (FM): Out for the season. 18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): 1-for-4, 2B, BB, RBI, 3 K 19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 0-for-4 20. Luis Arraez (CHAT): 1-for-4, R, K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley, 5:05 pm CT: Omar Bencomo Chattanooga at Jackson, 2:05 pm CT: TBD Fort Myers vs. Clearwater, 11:00 am CT: Brusdar Graterol Cedar Rapids at Beloit, 2:00 pm CT: Randy Dobnak Elizabethton vs. Kingsport, 5:00 pm CT: Andrew Cabezas Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games. Click here to view the article

Yesterday, Nick Anderson was named our Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month. Today, we’ll find out which starters had solid performances in August. There have been some months where it’s been difficult to decide the winner. There have been months with strong performances but an easy choice at the top. This month, there were several solid performers, but the choice wasn’t easy. You’ll see that there are several relievers who made starts due to injury, prepping for playoffs, promotions, shutdowns or other reasons.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 KNick 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. Click here to view the article

At the end of June each year, the short-season minor leagues begin. The GCL Twins stay in Ft. Myers, and the Elizabethton Twins take the long bus ride to Tennessee. In 2017, both of these teams made the playoffs. The E-Twins just won their seventh Appalachian League title since the turn of the century. At Twins Daily the last couple of seasons, we have added two annual awards for the short-season Twins players. Tomorrow we’ll hand out the award for the top hitter in the short-season teams, but today, we’ll start with the pitchers. Last year, the Twins Daily Short-Season Pitcher of the Year was Huascar Ynoa. He had spent that summer in the GCL, and he began 2017 with Elizabethton. However, at the July trade deadline, he was traded to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Jaime Garcia.As you’ll see below, there were several pitchers on the Twins short-season teams who put together real solid seasons. Of course, we are generally talking about a limited number of innings due to their seasons being just two months long. One poor outing can have an effect on their overall numbers. Seven Twins Daily Minor League writers were asked to vote for the various awards. For the short-season 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 are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Others Receiving Votes: Jared Finkel - Elizabethton Twins - 17 G, 2-1, 3 Saves, 2.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 33.0 IP, 33 H, 7 BB, 29 KBryan Sammons - Elizabethton Twins - 7 G, 3 GS, 2-0, 1.46 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 24.2 IP, 14 H, 7 BB, 31 K (does not include stats at Cedar Rapids)Derek Molina - GCL Twins - 10 G, 2 GS, 1-0, 4 Saves, 1.08 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 21 K.Randy Dobnak - Elizabethton Twins - 5 G, 3 GS, 2-0, 1 Save, 2.39 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 26.1 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 22 K (does not include stats at Cedar Rapids)Pedro Garcia - GCL Twins - 10 G, 3 GS, 6-2, 2.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 48.2 IP, 26 H, 17 BB, 41 KNick Brown - Elizabethton Twins - 11 G, 7 GS, 3-1, 1 Save, 3.93 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 50.1 IP, 49 H, 15 BB, 54 KShort-Season 0Pitcher of the Year Here are the top five vote-getters for Twins Short Season Minor League Pitcher of the Year. #5 – Edwar Colina, Elizabethton Twins: 12 G, 11 GS, 3-5, 3.34 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 59.1 IP, 48 H, 29 BB, 56 K. Colina signed with the Twins in September 2015. He spent 2016 in the Dominican Summer League and went 1-3 with a 2.30 ERA. He came to the States this spring and made the jump up to Elizabethton. The Caracas native turned 20 in May and pitched well enough to be named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year. At 5-11 and stocky, Colina has proven durable. He’ll certainly need to work on his control, but he’s got good stuff. #4 – Brusdar Graterol, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 10 G, 7 GS, 4-1, 2.70 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 40.0 IP, 26 H, 13 H, 45 K. Another Venezuelan, Graterol signed with the Twins in February of 2015. At 16, he made four appearances in the Dominican Summer League before coming to Minnesota to undergo Tommy John surgery. That cost him the 2016 season. But he returned for Instructs and impressed, touching triple-digits with his fastball. This spring, shortly before coming to spring training, he broke his hand. However, he was ready by the short-season. He made five appearances in the GCL and posted a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings. He was promoted to Elizabethton where he made five starts and posted a 3.92 ERA. Graterol did not turn 19 until the end of August. He has the kind of stuff that could see him rise up prospect rankings. #3 – Carlos Suniaga, GCL Twins: 12 G, 6 GS, 4-0, 1 Save, 1.58 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 51.1 IP, 37 H, 12 BB, 42 K. Another right-hander from Venezuela, Suniaga came to the States in 2017. He also signed with the Twins in February of 2015. In 2016, he went 7-3 with a 2.03 ERA in his second season in the DSL. That earned him an opportunity in the States. He actually started the season by making one appearance in Elizabethton (3.1 scoreless innings). He was sent back to the GCL where he made 11 appearances (including six starts) and posted a 1.69 ERA. #2 – Blayne Enlow, GCL Twins: 6 G, 1 GS, 3-0, 1.33 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 20.1 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 19 K. The first draft of Sean Johnson as scouting director was certainly interesting. The Twins were able to save a bit on the top overall pick, Royce Lewis, and with the added funds, they were able to offer Enlow for a well-over slot value of $2 million. The Louisiana prepster had a commitment to play at LSU, but he instead signed with the Twins. Enlow was brought along slowly. While he was used primarily out of the bullpen, or at least was used after a rehabbing pitcher, there is no question that the 18-year-old will be developed as a starter. He showed good control and an ability to miss bats. He throws in the low-90s and is said to have a terrific curveball. He’s got good size, and has a real chance to be a special pitcher. Like Graterol, Enlow should find his name among the top Twins prospect this offseason. Pitcher of the Year – Jovani Moran, Elizabethton Twins:. 11 G, 3-1, 0.36 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 24.2 IP, 12 H, 6 BB, 45 K. The Twins drafted Jovani Moran in the seventh round of the 2015 draft out of the Carlos Beltran Academy in Puerto Rico. The left-hander pitched as a starter that season in the GCL. Unfortunately, he missed the 2016 season after having bone chips removed from this throwing elbow. This year he jumped up to Elizabethton and worked out of the bullpen where he absolutely dominated. Maybe you noticed, but 45 strikeouts in 24.2 innings equates to a K-rate of 16.4 per nine innings. He gave up just one earned run the entire season. His manager with the E-Twins was Ray Smith this year. Of Moran, Smith said, “We didn’t want to force anything with Jovani due to his arm issues last year. I’ve never seen him being utilized in a starting role, but with this ‘stuff’ being so good, it might turn out to be his role once it’s decided that his arm will continue to be 100%” Moran was used in the playoffs too and dominated even more. He pitched twice in the two-game sweep in the Appalachian League championship series. Combining the regular season and playoffs, Moran’s numbers are incredible. Smith added, “Obviously he was dominant for us out of the ‘pen. Good intangibles. Fields his position. Mature approach.” It was a fantastic season for Jovani Moran and the Elizabethton Twins. He’s a very intriguing prospect and 2018 ought to be quite interesting. Will he continue to work in the bullpen? Will he get an opportunity to start? To the questions, well, I’ll agree with Ray Smith when he said, “Glad his uniform says ‘TWINS’ on the front of it!” There you have it, the top pitchers in the short season leagues for the Minnesota Twins in 2017. The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Jovani Moran, 2) Blayne Enlow, 3) Carlos Suniaga, 4) Brusdar Graterol, 5) Bryan SammonsJeremy Nygaard – 1) Jovani Moran, 2) Blayne Enlow, 3) Brusdar Graterol, 4) Edwar Colina, 5) Nick BrownCody Christie – 1) Carlos Suniaga, 2) Blayne Enlow, 3.) Jovani Moran, 4) Derek Molina, 5) Jared FinkelTom Froemming - 1) Jovani Moran, 2) Carlos Suniaga, 3) Blayne Enlow, 4) Brusdar Graterol, 5) Bryan SammonsSteve Lein – 1) Jovani Moran, 2) Carlos Suniaga, 3) Brusdar Graterol, 4) Blayne Enlow, 5) Bryan SammonsEric Pleiss – 1) Jovani Moran, 2) Carlos Suniaga, 3) Blayne Enlow, 4) Edwar Colina, 5) Pedro GarciaTed Schwerzler - 1) Blayne Enlow, 2) Carlos Suniaga, 3) Jovani Moran, 4) Jared Finkel, 5) Randy DobnakFeel free to discuss. What do you think? How would you rank them? How would your ballot look? Click here to view the article

Adalberto Mejia had been sidelined for nearly a month due to a biceps injury, but he was sharp in his first rehab outing for Rochester. Stephen Gonsalves didn’t fare quite so well. It wasn’t a great night for the Lookouts, either, but the Miracle turned their first triple play in franchise history and won in extras. Cedar Rapids, who had Torii Hunter as a guest in their dugout, got a big game from the new-look Royce Lewis in a blowout victory. Both E-Town and the GCL Twins were victorious, as well.Transactions Randy Dobnak was promoted to Cedar Rapids from Elizabethton. An undrafted free agent this year, Dobnak had a 2.39 ERA over 26.1 innings with the E-Twins. RED WINGS REPORT Scranton 8, Rochester 4 Box Score Mejia, seeing his first live game action since Aug. 8, struck out four batters over three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked a batter. He only required 36 pitches, 23 of which were strikes (63.9 percent). While that performance was encouraging, Stephen Gonsalves didn’t have the best of nights. Making his first relief appearance since 2013 (in order to accommodate Mejia’s rehab start), Gonsalves got just two outs and gave up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks. He’s up to 14 earned runs over 22.2 innings for the Red Wings (5.56 ERA). Jake Reed managed to throw 2.1 shutout innings, and the Rochester bats battled back to within a run of the RailRiders, but Alex Wimmers also had a rough night. He gave up four runs in the bottom of the seventh, two coming on a Tyler Austin homer. Niko Goodrum hit a two-run triple and J.B. Shuck was the only Wings player with two hits. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 4, Chattanooga 0 Box Score The Lookouts just couldn’t get anything going. The game got off to an ominous start, as the Generals struck out the side in the top of the first. Chattanooga only got a runner as far as third base once. Ryan Eades made the start, and gave up a run over four innings. Keaton Steele was the first man out of the pen and gave up two unearned runs over two innings thanks to errors by Nick Gordon and Brian Navarreto. Randy Rosario took care of the final two frames. He walked four batters and gave up a single in the eighth inning, but managed to give up just one run. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 and Jonathan Rodriguez and Brian Navarreto each had a double. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 3 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle squandered a 3-0 lead, but ended up taking this one in extras. Sean Miller opened the 10th inning with a single, advanced to second on a Tanner English sac bunt, moved up to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly from Brandon Lopez. How’s that for small ball? With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, St. Lucie managed to get the first two batters of the inning on. But the Miracle went around the horn to complete the first triple play in their 26th year in existence. It went third baseman Brandon Lopez to second baseman Sean Miller to first baseman Chris Paul. Clark Beeker gave up three runs over five innings, but he also hit Tim Tebow with a pitch. That’s gotta be worth something, right? Alex Robinson provided two scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Jay added two perfect innings of his own, striking out two batters in the process. Michael Kohn earned his first save with a scoreless bottom of the 10th inning. Chris Paul was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer. Zander Wiel was 2-for-4 with a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 11, Burlington 1 Box Score Torii Hunter had quite the impact on his visit to Cedar Rapids. Royce Lewis’ exaggerated leg kick is no more, and the Kernels scored seven runs in the first inning. OK, who knows if Torii had anything to do with either of those things, but it was pretty cool to see him in the dugout. The big blow of that first inning was a Trey Cabbage bases-clearing double. Travis Blankenhorn drove in five runs, including two on his 13th homer of the season, and also stole his 12th base. Royce Lewis had three hits, including a triple, and a walk. Ben Rortvedt also had a three-hit night. Tyler Watson, making his fifth start since coming over in the Brandon Kintzler trade, held the Bees to one run on three hits over 5.0 innings. He had six strikeouts and walked three batters. Max Cordy and Evan Sanders each pitched two scoreless innings of relief. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Kingsport 3 Box Score Yet another victory for the Appy League West division champs. Rainis Silva had four hits, Gorge Munoz hit a homer and Akil Baddoo was 2-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBI and a run scored. Baddoo’s slash line is now an eye-popping .361/.484/.590 for Elizabethton. Starter Ryley Widell, the Twins seventh-round pick this year, gave up a pair of runs over four innings. With eight more strikeouts, he’s up to 41 in 29.2 innings pitched (12.6 K/9), but he also walked four batters, and is up to 20 on the season. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 1 Box Score This game was scoreless heading into the eighth inning, but the Twins took advantage of a couple of errors committed by the Rays over the final two frames. In fact, none of the four runs scored in this game were credited to the pitcher as earned as the Rays committed four errors in the game. The Twins only committed three. Carlos Suniaga gave up just two hits over 6.0 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.69. His catcher, Kirby Camacho, reached safely in three of his four plate appearances, recording a single and two walks. The 19-year-old hasn't shown much power yet, but his OBP is up to .394 and he has more walks (13) than strikeouts (9). Humberto Maldonado had the Twins only extra-base hit, a double, and Ricky De La Torre had the team's only multi-hit game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Carlos Suniaga, GCL Twins (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Travis Blankenhorn, Cedar Rapids (2-for-5, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, SB) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Scranton, 6:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.55 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 6:15 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.03 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) Fort Myers at Jupiter, 5:30 pm CT, TBD Cedar Rapids vs. Burlington, 6:35 pm CT, Tyler Wells (2.21 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) Elizabethton at Kingsport, 5:30 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Rays, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

The Twins two first-round draft picks this year both had strong days on Wednesday, making Twins fans start to wonder when they will move up a level. One Red Wings player participated in the AAA All-Star Game. The Kernels kept a streak going. A good or a bad one? The E-Twins got a big win, and the GCL Twins put together a complete team win (pitching, offense and defense).Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Wednesday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester Box Score - AAA All Star Game Wednesday marked the third and final day of the International League’s All-Star break. The AAA All-Star game was played in Tacoma, Washington. The Red Wings had two players named to the International League’s roster. Drew Rucinski is one, and Zack Granite was the other. However, with Granite’s call up to the Twins, he did not participate in the All-Star festivities as he remains on the big league roster. Since the Twins DFAd him and sent him back to Rochester, Rucinski has been remarkable. Since the beginning of June, he has pitched in ten games for the Red Wings. He has given up zero runs in 16.2 innings. He has given up nine hits, walked none and struck out ten. In short, he’s been fantastic. He started the sixth inning for the IL and got two outs. He gave up a hit before being replaced, though the runner was stranded. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Pensacola 3 (12 innings) Box Score The Lookouts needed some bonus baseball to determine this one. Down 2-0, the Lookouts scored three runs in the fifth inning. Nick Gordon singled in a run right before LaMonte Wade knocked in two runs with his 15th double. Felix Jorge made his first Lookouts start in weeks. His past two starts have been in the big leagues for the Twins. On this night he gave up two runs (one earned) in six innings. He walked three and struck out three. Raul Fernandez came in next. He gave up the tying run on two hits and two walks over the next four outs. Todd Van Steensel was able to keep the game tied through the ninth inning. Nick Anderson struck out three batters over the next two innings. Nick Gordon led off the 12th inning by being hit by a pitch. Wade bunted him to second. Jonathan Rodriguez walked to set up a double play, but Andy Wilkens came through with an RBI double. Max Murphy followed with sacrifice fly to score Rodriguez. With a two-run lead, Luke Bard was brought into the game. A groundout was followed by a double. However, he got a line out and a strikeout to record the save. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers , Charlotte Box Score Game postponed by rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, West Michigan 2 Box Score It’s safe to say that the Kernels offense is struggling right now. After being shut out on Wednesday night, they have not scored in 19 innings. On this night, they had just four hits. Trey Cabbage led the way with two hits, including his first double with the Kernels. Lefty Domenick Carlini started and provided the Kernels with a quality start. He gave up two runs on six hits over the first six innings. He struck out five without issuing a walk. Patrick McGuff struck out five (and walked two) over two scoreless, hitless innings of relief. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 9, Burlington 3 Box Score The E-Twins used a five-run second inning to jump out to an early lead and held on throughout the game. Brent Rooker’s sixth home run was the big hit early. He went 1-3 with two walks and his second stolen base. Jose Miranda also homered, his fourth of the season. Mark Contreras went 2-4 with a walk. Ariel Montesino went 2-4 with a walk, his first E-Twins double and first E-Twins stolen base in 2017. Moises Gomez was the beneficiary of the offensive output. The right-hander went the first 5.1 innings. Despite giving up ten hits, he held Burlington to three runs (two earned). He struck out four, with no walks. Ricky Ramirez was the Twins 15th round pick this year out of Fresno State. He recorded his first pro save with 3.2 shutout innings. He gave up just one hit and struck out two. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 14, GCL Orioles 0 Box Score It was a great all-around game for the GCL Twins.There was plenty of offense. There was some fantastic pitching. There was even a triple play. Let’s start with the offense. Humberto Maldonado led the way. He went 3-4 with his first two doubles and his first home run. He drove in four runs. Royce Lewis had another strong game. He went 2-4 with two walks and three runs scored. He also stole his fifth and sixth bases. He is now hitting .340. Victor Tademo went 2-4 with two walks and his second double. Alex Robles and Ben Rodriguez each had two hits. Akil Baddoo added his fourth double. Darling Cuestro hit a double, his first hit in the States. Carlos Suniaga started and gave up just two hits over six shutout innings. He struck out six without walking any. He improved to 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA with the GCL Twins. Matz Schutte threw the final three innings. He walked two and struck out two. With runners on first and second and nobody out in the seventh, there was a ground ball to Royce Lewis. He fielded it, tagged one runner, threw to second and the triple play was complete on the throw to first base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Carlos Suniaga, GCL Twins Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Humberto Maldonado, GCL Twins THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) - RHP Bartolo Colon Jacksonville @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (DH at 3:30 CST) - LHP Lewis Thorpe, RHP Brady Anderson Wisconsin @ West Michigan (6:00 CST) - LHP Evan Sanders Elizabethton @ Burlington (6:00 CST) - RHP Melvi Acosta GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00 am CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday’s games. Click here to view the article

I've been a Twins fan my whole life. About 6 years ago I started paying more attention to the minor league system, and found myself getting excited about the potential of young guys. As I started to pay more attention, I found myself looking further down the pipeline to the Dominican Summer League stats to see who might be the next guys to show up on prospect lists. Of course information is pretty scarce on a majority of these players and scouting reports seems non-existent except for the higher bonus guys. While scouting box scores and stat lines is always precarious, one guy caught my eye. That player was mentioned by Miguel Sano as one to watch for this most recent spring - Alexis Tapia. Tapia will likely be heading to the Appy League next week, but has pitched 2 innings in relief for Fort Myers this year as well. And while he certainly has a work a lot to prove given that he is still in the rookie levels, I am pleased to see him getting some attention. Why did he catch my eye in 2013 in the DSL box scores? A combination of his size (6'2" 190ish) and an excellent K/BB ratio (31/5). Tapia showed well in the GCL last year as well and hopefully the 19 year old will continue to develop and give Twins fan another pitcher to dream on. As I look at this years DSL squad and some of the early season returns, there are a few pitchers with similar characteristic to those that drew my attention to Tapia. Of course, we are still dealing with extremely small sample sizes, but so far so good. While Huascar Ynoa gets more attention due to his larger signing bonus, here are a few others to keep an eye on: (Click on their name to go to their respective MILB player pages) Brusdar Graterol : The 6' 1" 180lb Venezuelan righty has pitched 10 innings across 3 outings and amassed 15 strikeouts to just 1 walk, an impressive start for the youngster who is still only 16 years old! Carlos Suniaga : Another Venezuelan righty, Suniaga turned 18 last month and is 6'2" 187. In 12.2 innings he has struck out 11 and walked only 1. Miguel De Jesus : Miguel is a bit older at 19 and comes from the Dominican Republic. He's 6'2" 175 and also throws right handed. He has been dominant though, with 22 K's and only 1 BB in 15.2 innings. His WHIP is a ridiculous 0.45 and he has yet to allow a run. Due to his older age, perhaps we could see De Jesus make a few appearances in the GCL this season. Luis Bellorin : Luis is another Venezuelan. He's 17 years old 6'1" 167. He's a bit smaller and his walk numbers aren't quite as good as the others on this list. In 14.1 innings, he has walked 6 and struck out 12. Again, the numbers aren't quite as exciting, Luis is unique to the others in an exciting way due to the fact that he's a southpaw. It will be interesting to see how these young guys develop. Obviously, they've got a long way to go to even get on the prospect radar, let alone a big league roster. However, their numbers this year suggest the Twins have done a pretty good job of adding some upside arms in the international market.