Article: Four-Bagger: Jorge, Gordon, Garver and Bullpen Arms

[Seth Stohs]

I know. I know. Nick Nelson writes the Three-Bagger articles from time to time, so I couldn’t steal that title. So, I’m one-upping him with a Four-Bagger today. Today, there are just a few topics that may not have larger articles, but each deserves to be discussed.The other difference is that these topics will mostly be minor league related. Let’s get to them.

 

 

FELIX JORGE TO MAKE MLB DEBUT

 

Felix Jorge was supposed to make a start for the Chattanooga Lookouts on Thursday night. Instead, he was replaced by Kohl Stewart who has spent nearly two months on the disabled list. But the situation was bigger than that. Moments before the Twins game at Fenway Park on Thursday, Mariana Guzman who writes and tweets at Twins Latinos, posted the following:

 

 

Several minutes later, Mike Berardino tweeted that Jorge would start one of the games of Saturday’s doubleheader in Kansas City. Most likely, Jorge will be added as the 26th man and then return to Chattanooga the next day.

 

Just two days ago, I wrote about three Lookouts starters who have really been pitching well of late. Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Felix Jorge were all discussed.

 

Jorge is 8-1 with a 3.26 ERA so far this year. In 85.2 innings, the-23-year-old has walked 22 and struck out 61. He’s got a solid three-pitch mix. He likes to attack the bottom of the strike zone with a fastball that sits 90-92, but can touch 94 too. It’s exciting and fun to watch big league debuts. No question, Jorge will be nervous, so it’s really hard to know how he’ll do. We will be watching!

 

 

NICK GORDON TO PLAY IN FUTURES GAME

 

On Wednesday afternoon, we learned that Nick Gordon would represent the Minnesota Twins on Team USA in the Futures Game next weekend in Miami. He is the lone Twins minor leaguer on the roster.

 

If the Twins were just going to get one representative, clearly Gordon was the right person. The game is about top prospects, for the most part, and Gordon is certainly that for the Twins. He is having a great season with the bat for the Chattanooga Lookouts. In 70 games this year in the Southern League, he has hit .306/.375/.481 (.856) with 21 doubles, six triples and six home runs. His stats are starting to match his prospect status, which is very exciting.

 

Who was snubbed? Well, a quick look at the other Twins top prospects shows that maybe one was the right number. Stephen Gonsalves probably hasn’t pitched enough this year. Felix Jorge probably isn’t the big prospect nationally. Same with a Mitch Garver. Alex Kirilloff and Tyler Jay are hurt. I think Fernando Romero would have been a strong case to pitch for the World Team, but it seems that Twins fans have a higher sense of his potential than the national people.

 

It’s been a big year for Gordon. After a solid season in Ft. Myers last year, he was invited to play in the Arizona Fall League where he played quite well. He was invited to big league spring training where he didn’t get a lot of game time but said he gained a lot of confidence from the experience. He was chosen a Southern League All-Star recently. He has gained patience at the plate, and he has increased his power output.

 

 

GARVER QUIETLY PLAYING GREAT

 

On Wednesday, Drew Rucinski and Zack Granite were named International League All-Stars. Granite is the talk of Twins Territory right now as he has a batting average near .370. He has an 11-game hitting streak and has hit in 28 of his last 29 games.

 

Wednesday afternoon, Mitch Garver went 2-5. On the season, he is now hitting .278/.387/.486 (.873) with 16 doubles and seven homers. He now has a 14-game hitting streak. He caught on Wednesday, but he has also played five games at first base and now six games in left field.

 

With Jason Castro signed for three years, and Chris Gimenez playing more than expected, Garver becoming more versatile can only make him more valuable to the team.

 

 

BULLPEN OPTIONS

 

The Twins bullpen has been a big topic all season. Brandon Kintzler’s put in a performance worthy of All-Star consideration in the first half. Taylor Rogers has certainly taken another step forward in his development and reliability. Tyler Duffey has generally been good too. After that, lots of questions.

 

In the last couple of weeks, the Twins have finally promoted Alan Busenitz and Trevor Hildenberger. They’re both 26 and were dominating AAA

 

But there is more there. First, Ryan Pressly has pitched better down there and may be ready to come back to the Twins in the near future. Michael Tonkin was DFAd and outrighted in mid-May, but since then he has been good most of the time.

 

Those are two names who we have seen quite a bit in person, or at least on FSN. There are a couple others who are not in the big leagues yet, but they are trying to make the decision difficult.

 

Jake Reed strained his side on the final day of spring training. After several games in Chattanooga, he moved up to Rochester recently. John Curtiss put up silly numbers in Chattanooga during the first three months of the season. He has been dominant with the Red Wings after giving up two runs (both in one game) during the first 2 ½ months of the season. These two have to be close.

 

Twins Twitter and the Twins Daily forums were not happy when the Twins DFAd Mason Melotakis. On Wednesday, we learned that he cleared waivers. While it’s telling that 29 other teams passed on him, Melotakis seems to still have some upside. Reports of a sub-90 mph fastball certainly is discouraging, but maybe he’s still coming back from his Tommy John surgery.

 

Meanwhile we saw Randy Rosario promoted directly from Chattanooga. Luke Bard is also with the Lookouts and he has 57 strikeouts in 34.2 innings and a K/9 of 14.9.

 

 

QUICK HITS

• OF Brent Rooker, the Twins compensation pick between the first and second rounds, has missed three straight games in Elizabethton. On Thursday night, he was in Los Angeles for the Golden Spike Awards, given to the top amateur baseball player in the country each year. Brendan McKay was the winner, but Rooker - with his SEC Triple Crown - was a finalist.
• 1500ESPN’s Jake Depue asked manager Paul Molitor before the game on Thursday about Zack Granite and Stephen Gonsalves.
• Miguel Sano will participate in the home run derby in Miami. This weekend, we’ll find out if he or Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez will be the starting third baseman for the American League in the All-Star game. Whoever is not chosen the starter should be chosen as a reserve.
• Byungho Park is now hitting .245 in Rochester after going 2-5 on Thursday. That may not sound great (it’s not), but it’s a big improvement over where he was. Following an 0-4 game on June 14, Park was hitting .189/.262/.326 (.588) in 34 games. However, in his last 15 games, he is hitting .375. So, there appears that some adjustments have been made.
• Similarly, Kernels catcher Ben Rortvedt is hitting .210/.291/.295 (.586) in 52 games after a 2-5 game on Thursday. Not earth-shattering, but consider that through his first 23 games this year, he was hitting .108/.169/.145 (.313). In 27 games since then, he has hit .297 (28-94). The 2016 second-round pick has come a long way with the bat in the last five or six weeks. He deserves a lot of credit, but Tommy Watkins and the Twins minor league personnel deserve a lot of credit for sticking with him and continuing to play him a lot rather than just send him to extended spring training.
• Infielder Andre Jernigan was just promoted to Cedar Rapids on Thursday. He was a 2016 Twins draft pick after a strong career at Xavier University. Did you know that he is the nephew of former NBA player Bonzi Wells? (That's the kind of fun information you can find in the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2016.)
• Finally, on Thursday night, I joined Travis Aune and Seth Toupal on their Minnesota Sports Weekly podcast. We talked about Twins for quite a while, and I even shared some thoughts (knowledge, if you will...) on the Vikings and Timberwolves too. Listen here.

So there is your four-bagger, with some bonus material. Please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

 

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[mikelink45]

I really enjoy this kind of update.  It is disappointing to realize that all our attention and anticipation over players in the system is not shared by the larger national press, but still you give us some really good news to work with.  I would love to see Felix really shine and force the Twins to think about him as more than a 26th man.  It would be great to see both he and Gonsalves in the rotation and move on from Gibson and Santiago. 

 

Granite is a really interesting player and how the Twins handle him is intriguing.  He needs to be rewarded with some MLB time and I hate to have to wait until an injury on the Twins to bring him up.  Vargas has not produced so much that he has a protected roster spot and Grossman is the ideal DH and backup 1B with Granite rotating with the starting three outfielders we would lose no speed or defense. 

[beckmt]

Vargas is still a power bat and homerun threat off the bench.  He is the only one the Twins have at this time.  If the Twins fall out of contention, Granite could probably come up in the wave of players Twins need to take a look at,  do not think it will happen sooner.

[jmlease1]

The potential reinforcements rising up in the system in the bullpen are why you don't trade a good prospect for MLB bullpen help. Yes, the back end of the bullpen has really struggled this year, but there's cheap, young, talented options that are close.

 

Unfortunately, that doesn't fix the rotation, which still needs significant work but we seem to be taking the smart approach.

 

I hope Park can get it figured out in AAA and be a contender for the DH spot next year.

 

Granite has to be a part of the OF next season. A mix-n-match outfield of Buxton, Granite, Kepler, and Rosario would be stellar defensively and certainly has the talent to be a plus unit offensively as well. Imagine the speed and fun you'd have with Buxton & Granite hitting 1-2!

[Darius]

If they really want to give Granite a shot, I think they should take a shot at trading Rosario or Grossman. There may be a serviceable starter or quality bullpen arm to be had out there somewhere.

[melshmeister]

This is my hope...

 

Fernando Romero was to be the Twins International rep, but the Twins requested he be held back because they intended to call him up to join their bullpen for the rest of the season. With his innings count 2 starts away from a career high, now is the time to slow his roll, which means a new role.

[Seth Stohs]

 

This is my hope...

 

Fernando Romero was to be the Twins International rep, but the Twins requested he be held back because they intended to call him up to join their bullpen for the rest of the season. With his innings count 2 starts away from a career high, now is the time to slow his roll, which means a new role.

 

There's no reason that he shouldn't get to 130-140 innings this year. I think bringing him up to the bullpen now/soon wouldn't be right for his long-term. I would like to see this scenario play out when he gets to 130 innings or so though.

[bluechipper]

I'm looking forward to Felix Jorge's start on Saturday. It should be interesting to see how his high contact minor league approach is able to translate to the MLB.

[Deduno Abides]

Great decision to pitch Jorge. Fits well with the theme of the year: let's see what we have.

 

Don't convert Romero to the bullpen until he's shown he's not starter material. So far, he looks darn good as a starter. Bringing him up to pitch 25 bullpen innings the rest of the year would do little for the team and would slow, if not harm, his development. Keep him on the path.

 

Next year, hopefully Burdi and Jay will be back and reassert themselves as leading relievers, and Reed will establish himself as a key member of the bullpen. If that happens, sending Romero to the bullpen could waste a good starter.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Great decision to pitch Jorge. Fits well with the theme of the year: let's see what we have.

Don't convert Romero to the bullpen until he's shown he's not starter material. So far, he looks darn good as a starter. Bringing him up to pitch 25 bullpen innings the rest of the year would do little for the team and would slow, if not harm, his development. Keep him on the path.

Next year, hopefully Burdi and Jay will be back and reassert themselves as leading relievers, and Reed will establish himself as a key member of the bullpen. If that happens, sending Romero to the bullpen could waste a good starter.

 

Do you realize the Cardinals and other teams sometimes have a guy pitch out of the bullpen to get their first taste of the majors? This isn't about "converting" him.....

[caninatl04]

I am pleasantly surprised that Garver's isoOBP is around .110. By my math, that means he walks once every 9 PAs. That's great for a catcher.

 

Is ByongoHo

[Deduno Abides]

Do you realize the Cardinals and other teams sometimes have a guy pitch out of the bullpen to get their first taste of the majors? This isn't about "converting" him.....

Yes, Mike, I am aware. Earl Weaver was a proponent, also. David Price and Brandon Finnegan also got their first tastes as late season relievers on championship teams. That doesn't mean the time is right to put Romero in the Twins' bullpen.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Yes, Mike, I am aware. Earl Weaver was a proponent, also. David Price and Brandon Finnegan also got their first tastes as late season relievers on championship teams. That doesn't mean the time is right to put Romero in the Twins' bullpen.

 

I wouldn't do it yet, either. I thought you were saying not at all this year.....if not, my bad.

[Thrylos]

Good stuff.   One thing: Tonkin has not been "very good" in AAA.   His problem has always been that he cannot get lefties out.  In his MLB career lefties have been hitting .317/.382/.649 off Tonkin (and righties .246/.319/.346).   I don't have the full slash against him in Rochester this season, but LHBs BA against him is .333 (vs. .128 against RHBs) and his WHIP against LHB is 2.33 (vs. 0.75 vs RHBs.)

Same old ROOGIE.   If he cannot get AAA LHBs out, he does not belong to AAA, much more to the majors.

[Deduno Abides]

I wouldn't do it yet, either. I thought you were saying not at all this year.....if not, my bad.

 

If Romero's AA/AAA season is about done AND the Twins feel his arm could make a difference in terms of making and succeeding in the playoffs, or that the experience would better prepare him for next year, have at it.

[Deduno Abides]

Vargas is still a power bat and homerun threat off the bench.  He is the only one the Twins have at this time.  If the Twins fall out of contention, Granite could probably come up in the wave of players Twins need to take a look at,  do not think it will happen sooner.

 

Vargas looks great. . . sometimes, but generally he looks like Adam Dunn, except without the walks and with fewer homers.

[jimbo92107]

 

Good stuff.   One thing: Tonkin has not been "very good" in AAA.   His problem has always been that he cannot get lefties out.  In his MLB career lefties have been hitting .317/.382/.649 off Tonkin (and righties .246/.319/.346).   I don't have the full slash against him in Rochester this season, but LHBs BA against him is .333 (vs. .128 against RHBs) and his WHIP against LHB is 2.33 (vs. 0.75 vs RHBs.)

Same old ROOGIE.   If he cannot get AAA LHBs out, he does not belong to AAA, much more to the majors.

Maybe Tonkin needs to change something, like stand on the first base side of the rubber against lefties. Or change his arm angle. I was a Tonkin fan for a while, but lately I've run out of patience. Maybe he needs a fresh start elsewhere. 

[DocBauer]

Absolutely live updates like this! We get the daily milb game recaps with various tidbits. And we get various articles as well. But "quick hitters" like this give us a bunch of nice information in bunches. Love it!

 

1* Granite and Garber both deserve to be up. There's just no room right now when you see how the overall player roster is constructed, their potential, and how everyone is contributing. But it's a nice problem to have.

 

2* Live the Jorge move and think it makes sense. He's young talented, on the 40 man, a lot of this season is about evaluation and promotion, this offers him a taste of the league for a day, and how could he do any worse than some of the street FA that have had a shot?

 

3* Still think Pressly could be a factor and welcome addition at some point. Despite his good guy nature, veteran leadership and the such, Belisle being good 70% of the time and just awful the other 30% has got to give way to someone else.

 

Despite awful luck with Burdi, Jay and Chargois this season, Reed and Curtiss are picking up the slack and making moves. (Bard is a little further behind). There is still some real hope for some young guns to assist the pen this season and going forward, even with the mentioned setbacks.

[Eephus]

This reads like a Sid Hartman column. All that's missing is a close personal friend reference and jottings instead of quick hits. I like it!

[Doug ogilvie]

Rucinski All Star

1.65 ERA, .77 WHIP, .193 BA, 29 K vs 3 BB in 32.2 innings. Currently 17.1 scoreless streak.