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After posting out Twins Daily Minor League Hitter and Starting Pitcher of the Month of June over the past few days, today we will look at the relief pitchers who got their jobs done during the month. There were a bunch and like the starters, you could make arguments for several of these guys to claim the title. But who won? In case you missed them here are the previous June winners: Hitter of the Month: Daniel Palka, Chattanooga Lookouts. Starting Pitcher of the Month: Felix Jorge, Ft. Myers Miracle. So, who will join them in the June Twins Minor League Awards? Continue reading to find out.First, a couple of relievers worthy of mention: RHP Todd Van Steensel (Ft. Myers Miracle) – 6 G, 1-1, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 8.1 IP, 2 H, 7 BB, 11 KRHP Marcus Walden (Rochester) - 12 G, 0-0, 1 save, 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 13.0 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 12 KTHE TOP FIVE RELIEF PITCHERS Number 5 - Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – LHP Michael Theofanopoulos - 10 G, 0.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 10.2 IP, 6 H, 5 BB, 11 K Theofanopoulos was the recipient of this award last month when he put together a really strong May. He was very good again in June despite the fact that he was promoted around the middle of the month. In fact, he went five outings in the FSL before allowing a run to score. The 23-year-old lefty was the Twins 30th round pick in the 2014 draft out of Cal-Berkeley. Overall this season, he is 3-1 with three saves, a 1.91 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has struck out 11.5 per nine overall on the season. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – RHP Kuo Hua Lo - 7 G, 0.82 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K Lo has been a bit under the radar as a prospect signing signing with the Twins in 2011 from Taiwan. After a year in the GCL, he spent three seasons in Elizabethton. Last year, he finished with a 1.44 ERA and was the top relief pitcher in the league. Overall this year, he is 0-0 with a 1.10 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP for the Kernels in 32.2 innings. He has 30 strikeouts, but he also has 22 walks. He can be tough to hit. His fastball will touch 92-93 mph, but he throws a variety of pitches, some barely registering 70 on the radar gun. Number 3 – Chattanooga – RHP JT Chargois - 10 G, 1.38 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 13.0 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 12 K Yes, I admit, I took out his disastrous MLB debut in which he struggled to throw strikes and when he did, it got hit hard. I included only his Rochester numbers since this is a minor league award. Chargois continued to be very good. He hasn’t allowed runs. He hasn’t hurt himself with a lot of walks. The 25-year-old has generally been dominant all season. In 30 total minor league game this year, he has a 1.57 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, just 2.6 BB/9 and 11.5 K/9. The 2012 second round pick is finally healthy and really there is no reason that he shouldn’t spend the entire second half of the season in the Twins bullpen. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – RHP Yorman Landa - 7 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 12 K The Twins signed Landa from Venezuela in 2010. Following a successful return to action in Cedar Rapids last year, he was added to the Twins 40-man roster. Though he didn’t pitch much in June, he was tremendous when he was on the hill. In fact, he was a late add to the FSL All-Star Game roster and pitched in the game at Hammond Stadium. He pitched a scoreless inning, but as notable, he hit 100 mph on the radar gun on four pitches. The last time he gave up a run was May 26th, ten outings ago. He has given up just one hit over his past nine innings (six outings). Overall this season, Landa is 2-1 with seven saves. He has a 2.39 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9 and 9.0 K/9. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Chattanooga Lookouts – RHP Trevor Hildenberger - 9 G, 0.87 ERA, 0.58 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 14 K For the second straight month, a Cal-Berkeley alum is our choice for Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month. It’s an award that Trevor Hildenberger has won several times. Hildenberger was the Twins Daily Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2015. Some may have thought that he was just successful in the low minor leagues due to his age. However, he pitched well in the Arizona Fall League last year against (and with) guys his own age. This year, he quickly moved from Ft. Myers up to AA Chattanooga and his success has just continued. He made just six appearances and needed 9.1 innings of 0.96 ERA to convince the powers-that-be to move him up to Chattanooga. He has now pitched 28.1 innings over 23 games with the Lookouts. He has a 0.95 ERA and an incredible 0.67 WHIP in the Southern League. He has walked just four batters and struck out 31. He has to have the Twins brass thinking about him as a possible option for Rochester at this point. Who knows? We may see him at Target Field yet this year. As you can see from his June stats, he was tremendous. He worked a lot of innings and allowed very few base runners. He walked just one and struck out 14 in 12.2 innings. He also represented the Twins and the Lookouts at the Southern League All-Star Game and, as you’d expect, didn’t give up a run. The former 22nd round pick from Cal-Berkeley had a win or a save in all nine of his outings during the month. He may fit into that mold of Pat Neshek or Darren O’Day in that he throws from the side, and from multiple angles. He gets good movement on his breaking pitches, but also a lot of run on his fastball. He is the rare side arm pitcher who often can touch 93 on the radar gun. While he may not show up on Top 10 prospect lists, Trevor Hildenberger is a guy who has a chance to be a big-time contributor to the Minnesota Twins in the not-too-distant future. There were several very strong relief pitcher performances in June. Feel free to agree or disagree with the order, if you like, but congratulations to each of these individuals on an excellent month of may. Congratulations to the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month for June 2016, Trevor Hildenberger. Click here to view the article

This week, we have handed out the Twins Daily Minor League Awards, and today we get to the final award. Yesterday, Jeremy wrote about the top performing short-season hitters. Today, we will look at the Twins short-season pitchers who put up great numbers. There were several quality arms who spent time with the GCL Twins and the Elizabethton Twins.First, a reminder of our previous awards: Hitter of the Year – Max KeplerStarting Pitcher of the Year – JO BerriosRelief Pitcher of the Year – Trevor HildenbergerShort-Season Hitter of the Year – Jermaine PalaciosShort profiles of our top five are to follow, but first, some players worthy of Honorable Mention. Honorable Mention: Lachlan Wells, GCL Twins: 10 G, 9 GS, 5-2, 2.09 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 47.1 IP, 35 H, 11 BB, 49 K.Cody Stashak, Elizabethton Twins: 10 GS, 5-2, 3.43 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 44.2 IP, 39 H, 11 BB, 53 K.Miles Nordgren, Cedar Rapids Kernels/Elizabethton Twins: 17 G, 11 GS, 1-3, 2.62 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 72.0 IP, 82 H, 13 BB, 42.Pitcher of the Year Here are the top six vote-getters for Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. #4 (Tie) – Eduardo del Rosario, GCL Twins/Elizabethton Twins: 11 GS, 3-2, 2.81 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 51.1 IP, 42 H, 9 BB, 53 K. Eduardo del Rosario signed with the Twins in 2012 out of the Dominican Republic. He spent one season in the Dominican Summer League. He came to the States in 2014. As a 19-year-old, he went 4-1 with a 3.49 ERA in 17 games out of the bullpen. He returned to the GCL this year, but this time he was given an opportunity to start. He went 3-2 with a 1.90 ERA in 10 starts before finishing with one start in Elizabethton. He continued to be a strike-thrower. #4 (Tie) – Kuo Hua Lo, Elizabethton Twins: 19 G, 14-1, 1.44 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 31.1 IP, 15 H, 8 B, 43 K. Lo was signed by the Twins in June of 2011 out of Taiwan. He spent one season in the GCL, but he has spent the last three seasons in Elizabethton. As a 20-year-old in 2013, he went 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 38 innings. In 2014, he was 3-0 with a 3.98 ERA. This year, he was the Appalachian League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He was incredibly dominant. He gave up less than a hit every other inning. He had decent control, and he became a big strikeout pitcher. #3 – Andro Cutura, Elizabethton Twins: 11 GS, 3-2, 1.34 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 60.2 IP, 46 H, 15 BB, 49 K. Cutura was the Twins seventh-round pick in 2014 out of Southeastern Louisiana. However, he didn’t pitch last year due to injury. He was slowed in spring training and went to extended spring training. The 22-year-old has very good control and does a very good job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. With health, he will start 2016 in Cedar Rapids, but could pitch at a couple of levels. #2 – Dereck Rodriguez, Elizabethton Twins/Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle: 15 G, 14 GS, 6-4, 3.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 75.1 IP, 74 H, 19 BB, 66 K. Rodriguez was the Twins sixth-round pick in 2011 out of high school in Florida. The son of Ivan Rodriguez was drafted as an outfielder and spent that summer and the next in the GCL. He hit .222 with 11 doubles and three homers in 2013 in Elizabethton. After that season, he became a pitcher. In 2014, he went 2-2 with a 1.05 ERA in 17 games out of the bullpen for the E-Twins. In 2015, he became a starter and pitched well. While waiting for the Appalachian League season to start, he pitched in one game (two shutout innings) for the Miracle. He also went up to Cedar Rapids and gave up seven runs in seven innings over two starts. He was the opening night starter for the E-Twins and pitched well enough to be named the Appalachian League’s Pitcher of the Year. He was 6-3 with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Genetics has provided him with a very strong arm. Patience will be needed to keep pushing forward. Starting Pitcher of the Year – Williams Ramirez, GCL Twins: 11 G, 10 GS, 4-3, 1.05 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 51.1 IP, 25 H, 20 BB, 58 K. The Twins signed Ramirez in December of 2012 out of San Juan, Dominican Republic. He had only just started pitching. Previously, he was an outfielder and third baseman. He began pitching just over three years ago. He has a very strong arm and a good feel for his secondary pitches. He just had never pitched before. He turned 23 late in the season, but with the arm he has, he remains at least an intriguing prospect. He spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He went 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 2013 as a 20-year-old. In 2014, he went 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA. In his first six games this year, he gave up just one run in 26.1 innings (0.34 ERA). Opponents hit just .088/.207/.113 (.319). Then in his final five games started, he posted a 1.80 ERA in 25 innings despite a 1-3 record. In his starts, he never gave up more than two earned runs. Clearly he will need to work on his control, but there is strong potential for him to become special. There you have it, the top pitchers in the short season. What do you think? How would you rank them? The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Williams Ramirez, 2.) Eddie del Rosario, 3.) Miguel Gonzalez, 4.) Kuo Hua Lo, 5.) Andro CuturaJeremy Nygaard – 1) Dereck Rodriguez, 2.) Williams Ramirez, 3.) Andro Cutura, 4.) Cody Stashak, 5.) Miguel GonzalezCody Christie – 1) Williams Ramirez, 2.) Dereck Rodriguez, 3.) Eduardo del Rosario, 4.) Andro Cutura, 5.) Kuo Hua LoSteve Lein – 1) Williams Ramirez, 2.) Kuo Hua Lo, 3.) Cody Stashak, 4.) Andro Cutura, 5.) Miguel GonzalezEric Pleiss – 1) Andro Cutura, 2.) Williams Ramirez, 3.) Dereck Rodriguez, 4.) Miles NordgrenFeel free to discuss. How would your ballot look? Click here to view the article

In the last several days, we have posted our Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher and Hitter of the Month of August. There have been a lot of strong candidates for each category and that remains the case as we look at the top performing relief pitchers for August. There are a couple of 2015 draft picks, some guys who have been around a long time, and a guy who has a really long last name.There were a lot of very strong August performances out of the bullpen at the Twins affiliates. Below you’ll find the Top 5 Relief Pitchers in August, but first a few relievers worthy of mention: RHP Yorman Landa – Cedar Rapids – 7 G, 1-1, 0.71 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 13 H, 4 BB, 12 KRHP Jake Reed – Ft. Myers – 9 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 7 KLHP Corey Williams - Chattanooga – 10 G, 0-0, 1.54 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 4 H, 8 BB, 11 KTHE TOP FIVE Number 5 – Cedar Rapids Kernels – LHP Mike Theofanopoulos - 7 G, 1.59 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 15 K The Twins drafted the southpaw with their 30th round draft pick in 2014 out of California where he teamed with Trevor Hildenberger and Chris Paul. He turned 23 years old in early August and put together arguably his best month of the season. Opponents hit just .222 off of him in the month. He isn’t a flame-thrower, but he has some deception and enough movement to miss bats. In 68.1 innings this season, he has walked 29, but he’s also struck out 74 batters. Number 4 – Elizabethton Twins – Logan Lombana - 7 G, 1.35 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 17 H, 3 BB, 23 K Lombana is on this list, in large part for the sheer number of innings that he pitched for the E-Twins. Twenty innings in one month as a reliever is pretty impressive. The three walks to 23 strikeout ratio is also very impressive. Lombana was the Twins 25th round draft pick this year out of Long Beach State. Overall this year, he went 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 15 games (32 innings) for the E-Twins. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Tyler Jay - 8 G, 1.13 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 12 K The Twins first-round pick from Illinois struggled in his jump from the Big 10 to the Florida State League. Through July 31, he pitched 8.1 innings and gave up nine runs (7 earned) on 13 hits and five walks. However, things were much better in his second month. The Twins are always cautious with their current-year picks, so Jay pitches about every fourth day and only for one inning. He greatly improved his walk to strikeout rate and was much more successful. Number 2 – Chattanooga – JT Chargois - 9 G, 0.87 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 10.1 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 11 K What a story JT Chargois has and will have later in life to tell. The Twins second round pick in 2012 out of Rice, he had pitched in just 12 games as a professional and none in the last two seasons due to elbow injury and surgery. He impressed at Instructional League last year, touching triple digits. The goal was likely to get him through this season healthy, and he has done that. He posted a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings in Ft. Myers before moving up to Double-A Chattanooga. There, he has posted a 3.52 ERA in 30.2 innings. However, it is important to note that he has allowed just one earned run in his last 17.2 innings. He definitely is one to watch in 2016. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Elizabethton Twins – Kuo Hua Lo - 9 G, 1.98 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 13.2 IP, 8 H, 6 BB, 23 K Lo was signed by the Twins as a free agent from Taiwan in 2011. He pitched in the GCL in 2012. He has spent the last three seasons with the Elizabethton Twins. As a 22-year-old this year, he has pitched very well. In fact, last week, he was named to the Appalachian League post-season All-Star list as the top reliever. Domination would be a good word to describe his August, striking out almost two batters per inning. In 19 games and 31.1 innings this season, he gave up just 15 hits, walked eight and struck out 43 batters. He is 4-1 with seven saves. He has a 1.44 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. After three years in the Appy League, he has earned an opportunity in the Midwest League. So what do you think? I’ve ranked the top five bullpen arms in the Twins organization in August, along with several more that deserve to be recognized for their great final month to the 2015 season. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Click here to view the article

There were two outs in the top of the tenth. Johnson City Cardinals relief pitching had allowed just one hit since the seventh and the momentum of the game over the previous few innings had the small gathering of Twins rooters sitting on the first base side of the tiny press box just waiting for the next out and for Johnson City to take the game as they had the previous two nights. Kamran Young stepped to the plate to face Harley Holt. Young had struggled all night. He was 0-5, and had added a pair of strikeouts to his 43 previous on the year. But this at-bat was different, He singled, the E-Twins had a base runner but there were still two outs for LaMonte Wade. It only took one pitch, LaMonte Wade turned on a fastball and pulled it over the right field wall, a no-doubter. Elizabethton led and Kuo Hua Lo trotted back out for another inning of work. Lo struck out the side. Twins wins 4-2. It was the squad’s first win at Johnson City this season and the victory knotted the season series at five games a-piece. It also stopped Johnson City’s 5 game winning streak. Tonight’s game was another in the series between the two rivals that was so well played on both sides that extra innings were almost expected instead of forced. Several factors went into why tonight’s game was so important. But the fact that the rest of the division was idle because of rain that miraculously somehow missed the Baseball Grounds on Legion Street allowed the E-Twins to have a better appearance in the standings with the last place Bluefield Blue Jays coming to town tomorrow. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching Tonight’s contest was a good old-fashioned pitchers duel, fitting for a match-up between two of the longest continually affiliated clubs in minor league baseball. Sam Clay gets better each time he takes the mound for Elizabethton. He struck out eight, allowed Johnson City’s two runs but it was a quality start that kept the club in the game with Johnson City getting equally effective starting pitching. C.K. Irby was a solid middle man, ironic because he went into the tenth. C.K. yielded just one hit, striking out four. His replacement with two out in the tenth was Kuo Hua Lo, and again the Taiwan native delivered. Lo came in and got the final out of the tenth, fended off a Johnson City rally in the eleventh, and with a two run lead struck out the side to earn the win in the twelfth. Tonight was the first time I have seen Lo pitch with a radar gun displayed for all to see. Lo does not have overpowering stuff, but his off-speed selections are almost unhittable. Lo has only surrendered two earned runs on the year in eleven appearances. He leads the league in opponent batting average for a reliever at .115, he gave up a single hit in 2.2 IP tonight. He earned player of the game honors on the broadcast tonight after he earned the win. Timely Hitting Elizabethton hitters have struggled hitting with men in scoring position and with the bases loaded all season. Looking at the box score tonight, one might assume that tonight was another example of that phenomenon. The fact of the matter tonight is that the Twins hitting was so scattered that the team scored in every inning that they strung together multiple hits. The E-Twins created each of the four runs they scored. LaMonte Wade hit a one out double in the sixth, Chris Paul knocked him in from second. The team added a second run off a Jermaine Palacios single in the seventh, the team put Olsen into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. LaMonte Wade had a chance to hit his home run in the twelfth because Kamran Young got a two out single. The team took advantage of situations that Johnson City made mistakes, and while the box score says the team hit 2-10 with runners in scoring position the team made the most of the chances they got off Cardinal pitching. There just were not a lot of chances tonight. The K-Kings Despite the win, the team still struggled in one key statistic. The strikeout. Johnson City pitching was equally effective as the Betsy staff. Twins batters struck out ten times tonight, but the concerning part of that statistic is that Amaurys Minier and Kamran Young accounted for two each. Young redeemed himself with the single that allowed Wade to blast the home run, but Minier finished the game 0-5 to move his average to .189. Minier and Young have combined to strike out 93 times. That stat is good enough for 27.51% of the team’s season total of 338 strikeouts. Young has shown defensive worth, while Minier has showed the ability to blast the ball into next week. The problem is that Minier has not done it recently, and the team has other options. This will be a storyline for the remainder of the season, and I will be watching closely. Returning Home in a Better Spot in the Standings Elizabethton enters a three game series with Bluefield in a three-way tie for third in the division, 2.5 games back of Greeneville. This is largely because the remaining three teams in the division waited out rain tonight and never took the field. Tomorrow the team opens a three game set with Bluefield, two of which we will have on the network. Elizabethton won opening night in Bluefield. They fell the following evening after the Twins closer took the ball and walked the winning run in. I left town before the third game of the set, but the E-Twins fell again. The teams met in June, the calendar has turned to August. Elizabethton is a different club in many ways. Most of the faces from the starting line-up are either playing other roles or have moved on elsewhere. I hope any new readers we have on the blog that will be henceforth posted on Twins Daily enjoy my takes. I am invested in this club and hope all those interested in information on the club can get it. The Elizabethton Twins Radio Network will be on the air tomorrow from Joe O’Brien Field at 6:45 p.m. eastern with our Clubhouse Show followed by first pitch at sometime shortly after 7:00 p.m. eastern. We can be heard locally on WBEJ AM 1240, FM 107.9 and anywhere in the world online at WBEJ.com. There should be a link on MILB.com. I love Twitter feedback and I can be reached @ETwinsonRadio and on my personal account @EvanCEllis. I appreciate all feedback via comment as well. Thank you for your time. Until Tomorrow Night, Go Twins.