This week's Minor League Report will be kind of brief, so apologies in advance [Edit: It won't be brief. Stay tuned later for Jesse's Part II!]. Today, I will be covering the Twinkie Town top 10 minor leaguers (good and bad this time around), and later today, Jesse will have #11-25 for your entertainment pleasure. Let's hop right into this, shall we?
1) Miguel Sano - Sano's bat definitely cooled down a bit this week, which was probably inevitable. He hit just .167 over his past 6 games, with 3 doubles and 3 RBI, but also 9 strikeouts. Sano did manage to earn himself the golden sombrero on May 23, going just 1-for-4 with a double and 3 Ks. Hopefully things will improve over the next week for the young prospect.
2) Oswaldo Arcia - Arcia had a really rough week, getting sent back down to AAA Rochester, and on top of that, going on the DL for a shoulder injury. Injury to insult? Either way, Arcia wasn't playing well with the club in Minnesota, and he didn't have very good games when he got back to Rochester, prompting the club to look closer at his shoulder injury. He went 0-fer in both of his AAA games, and had just one hit (granted, it was a home run) with the Twins against the Braves on the 22nd. Hopefully the injury report that comes back on Arcia will be not-horrible and we can stop worrying.
3) Byron Buxton - Buxton continued his incredible season this past week, hitting .321 over his last seven games. In the first game of a doubleheader on May 27, Buxton went 3-for-3 with a walk, stolen base, RBI, and run scored. It's not unusual for him to have a great game, by any means, but I think this continued success means we'll be seeing him moving up sooner rather than later. Buxton's season OPS is now at .992.
4) Alex Meyer - Over the past week, Meyer had two pretty rough starts. His first, on May 22, was a 6.2 inning effort, where he gave up 6 hits and 5 runs (though, to be fair, only 3 of them were earned). In that game, he did walk three batters, but he also struck out seven. His game on May 27 was not better by any means -- 5 innings, 2 hits, 4 earned runs (4 walks...), and 5 Ks. Not his best effort, but hopefully he'll be able to bounce back in his next start. Meyer's season ERA is now 3.95 with a 2-3 W-L record and 63 Ks in 54.2 innings pitched.
5) Aaron Hicks - Once again, I'll note that Hicks is having a pretty rough season at the plate. While only a couple of the major-league Twins players are not being awful at the dish anyway, Hicks is still struggling pretty mightily. Over his past 7 games, he's had just 5 hits compared to his 7 strikeouts. It's tough to say what the Twins should do with Hicks, because there aren't exactly a ton of options for CF, but his struggles are not always overshadowed by his flashes of brilliance. Hicks' season OPS is now sitting at .510. Ouch.
6) Eddie Rosario - Despite only playing in 3 games this past week, Rosario did really well at the plate, hitting .417 over those three. Not one for power hitting (just 3 home runs all season), Rosario is good at getting himself on base (and also at not striking out-only once in the past week did a pitcher actually K him) with singles hitting (JOE MAUERER!). His season OPS (.834 -- not awful, but not great) isn't too impressive, but if he continues to hit well and limit his strikeouts, he'll still be valuable offensively and defensively.
7) Kyle Gibson - While Twins fans continue to wonder why Gibson isn't getting called up, the 25-year-old righty continues to pitch some darn good games in Rochester. This week, he pitched a gem, throwing 8 innings of 2-hit ball, allowing no runs to score and just 3 walks while striking out 7. I feel that, at this point, most of us know what Gibson is capable of, and I hope to see him getting some time in in the Cities soon. Gibson's season ERA is now 2.82, with 53 Ks in 60.2 innings pitched.
8) Max Kepler - We are still waiting for Kepler to play a game in 2013.
9) Jose Berrios - Berrios had his second rough start in a row on May 25. He went just 5 innings, and gave up 4 runs (only 1 earned run...) on 9 hits. The number of hits is alarming, but he did only walk one batter and struck out 8 others, so those numbers give a lot less to be concerned about. Berrios' season ERA is now 2.70, with a 3-2 W-L record and 40 Ks in 33.1 innings pitched.
10) Trevor May - May had one start this past week, throwing 5 innings on May 26. He gave up 6 hits and 3 runs -- only 2 earned (lots of unearned runs given up in the minors this week...) -- including a home run. He walked 3 and only struck out 2, which is, you know, not a great BB/K ratio, but probably puts him right in line with other Twins starters (oh, the pain). May's start was not his best, and that's 3 weeks in a row of "not great" starts for the 22-year-old. His season ERA is now 3.88, with a 4-2 W-L record and just 40 Ks in 53.1 innings pitched.
Remember to check back later today for Jesse's follow-up with the remainder of the Twinkie Town top 25 minor leaguers!