Minor League Update: Who's Having a Great Week?

This week, we have some interesting notes about some of the Twins' very best minor league players, as well as some speculation on what may be happening with others. As usual, some players continue to shine while others struggle mightily. Keep reading to find out more...

1) Miguel Sano - Can we just take a moment to realize how well Sano's been doing so far this season? Over the past week, he hit .371, again just tearing it up in Fort Myers. He's now hitting .359 on the season, with 13 HRs, 36 RBI, and 6 SB. Not bad for a 20 year old kid. His OPS has now climbed to 1.165, and he's really just exciting to watch and definitely a player to look forward to in the coming years with the club.

2) Oswaldo Arcia - This past week, Arcia has seen his average drop a sad amount, as he's gone 0-fer in his past 5 games. He has drawn four walks (3 in Saturday's game against Boston), but he's also struck out 5 times in the same time frame. I'm not really sure what the best move for the Twins is at this point, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with Arcia now that his bat's cooled a bit.

3) Byron Buxton - Buxton continues to be one of my favorites reasons for being able to do the minor league posts. His bat wasn't as hot this week as in the past, but he definitely clinched the title for Most Exciting Moment of the Week with his walkoff grand slam on Thursday night. Want to see a video of the awesome moment? Of course you do! Much obliged, Twinkie Town readers:

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4) Alex Meyer - Meyer started one game this past week, going 5.1 innings and giving up 5 hits (including 1 homer), 2 earned runs, but he did strike out 4. Meyer's ERA is sitting at 3.56 on the season, and in 43 IP, he's struck out 51 batters total. Not bad, but it would be nice to see him going deeper into games, and obviously, giving up fewer runs.

5) Aaron Hicks - The Twins' CF has also had a rough week, only picking up two hits in his past 6 games. Hicks also picked up a walk and a stolen base (not many seen for the big club this season, so that's exciting), and he did limit his strike outs to just 2 over the last week. His season OPS is now .495. Yikes!

7) Kyle Gibson - This week proved to be another great start for the right-handed Gibson. His start on Sunday was more than impressive-9 innings, 3 hits, 8 Ks, and just 2 walks. Oh...and no earned runs. Daaaang. Anyway, Gibson's recent success has made many people question why he isn't being called up for Friday's start and why Samuel Deduno is getting the start instead. While I'll leave that debate up to the professionals, I will note that Gibson's recent history of 'good start-bad start' may have something to do with that decision.

9) Jose Berrios - Berrios had a pretty good start this week, going a solid 6.2 innings in the game on Saturday. He gave up 7 hits, but managed to limit the earned runs and gave up just 2 (only one earned). He struck out 5 batters and didn't walk anyone-always good to see. Berrios' season ERA is now down to 2.86 with 32 Ks in 28.1 IP.

14) Travis Harrison - The Cedar Rapids Kernels' third baseman had a really good week this past week, hitting .333 over the past 7 games (including 9 hits, 2 of those being a home run). Despite his great hitting, he did only pick up 3 RBI, but scored 7 runs, so there is that. Harrison's season OPS is now .848, and will hopefully continue to climb as the season wears on.

16) Mason Melotakis - I haven't covered Melotakis in a few weeks (a sign, perhaps, of his lack of success as of late), so I thought I'd give a quick update: this past week, Melotakis started one game, and went 6 innings, giving up 4 hits and 4 runs (only two of which were earned). He walked one and struck out three, so not a terrible outing, but definitely not his best. The lefty's season ERA has dropped to 3.09, with 33 Ks in 35.1 innings pitched.

19) Michael Tonkin - Tonkin had another good week. He pitched in 3 games, going an inning in each. He gave up two hits in two of the games, and one run (unearned; also earned him the loss for the game), but he also struck out 6 in those same three innings, which is obviously pretty solid. As a relief pitcher, Tonkin has had a really good season for the Rock Cats, and has now brought his ERA down to 2.75, with 23 Ks in 19.2 innings pitched.

23) DJ Baxendale - Another one of my favorite parts of doing the minor league update is getting to follow Baxendale, who is having a hell of a season down in Fort Myers. This week, he pitched in one game, went a solid 7 innings and gave up just 3 hits with no runs (earned or otherwise). He didn't strike out as many as he's previously struck out (just 3), and he did walk 2 batters, but he's still managing to last deep into the game and limit the runs he allows. Also? Still a lot of fun to follow. His season ERA is a ridiculous 1.07 with 44 Ks in 50.1 innnings pitched.

24) Levi Michael - Michael, the Twins' newest 2B prospect, has shown a little pop in his bat this past week, hitting a very solid .294 in his past 6 games, which included 7 hits (3 of them doubles). I'm hearing his range is really good so far, and I think I speak for all Twins fans when I say "please let this kid be a solid MI player for the Twins for many years to come, thank you baseball gods". Anyway, Michael's season OPS is now .679, which will hopefully continue to climb.

Make sure to check back at 11 am CST for today's matchup against the Atlanta Braves!