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| 1 | Byron Buxton | CF | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Buxton has been hitting off of a tee, taking dry swings, and shagging balls in the outfield. There's no timetable on his return, but he hasn't been ruled out. Which is good news. | |||
| 2 | Miguel Sano | 3B | New Britain (AA) |
| Frank Thomas is listed at BaseballReference.com has being 6'5" and 240 pounds. Sano is listed at 6'4" and 235. Thomas was freaking massive, you guys. Sano isn't far off. And he plays third base. | |||
| 3 | Alex Meyer | RHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| In Meyer's two starts since our last update he's had one good game and one bad one. His good game, which came on Saturday, saw him give up one run in six innings. He only struck out three but he also gave up just three hits. Meyer's season line includes a 3.61 ERA in 77.1 innings, 86 strikeouts, 68 hits, and 35 walks. | |||
| 4 | Eddie Rosario | CF/2B | New Britain (AA) |
| Rosario has been in a slump for the Rock Cats, now hitless since Tuesday. His season line is down to .233/.283/.314 in 86 at-bats. He's still logged just 21 games since returning to Double-A, so it's early. He's been splitting his time between center field (12 games) and second base (8 games), while also getting in a little time in left field. | |||
| 5 | Kohl Stewart | RHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| Stewart seems to be in a competition with Jose Berrios for the best pitcher in the system not named Meyer or May, as in his last ten games he's posted a 1.98 ERA in 50 innings. In his last four outings, Stewart has struck out 13 in 21 innings and allowed seven runs (just four earned). He's allowed just two homers all season, in 64 innings. | |||
| 6 | Josmil Pinto | C | Rochester (AAA) |
| Although he's cooled off a bit (just 2-for-15 in his last six games), Pinto is continuing to display power and patience at the plate. He's hitting .282/.417/.513 with five extra-base hits in 39 at-bats with nine walks and six strikeouts. The question, though, is how he's doing behind the plate. So far he's caught seven of his 12 games in Triple-A, and he's caught one of three runners attempting to steal. | |||
| 7 | Jose Berrios | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| At this point Berrios is more or less a video game player. His most recent start, which was yesterday, saw him strike out seven in seven innings, walking one and allowing five hits en route to two runs. He took the loss, but that's hardly meaningful. Berrios has now struck out 105 in 90.1 innings and is the owner of a 2.09 ERA this season. Lower that to 1.38 if we're just talking about his last ten games. | |||
| 8 | Jorge Polanco | SS/2B | Minnesota Twins (MLB) |
| Did you guys know Polanco was with the Twins over the weekend? He appeared in all four games, starting in Sunday's win over the Rangers, collecting just as many extra-base hits in seven plate appearances (two, a double and a triple) than Pedro Florimon has in 86 plate appearances. He should be sent back down to Fort Myers at some point today, BUT WHAT IF HE DOESN'T? | |||
| 9 | Max Kepler | CF/LF/1B | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Guess who's back, and guess who's hitting? Kepler returned the day of our last minor league report, and has hit in seven of those nine games (9-for-35, .257), including a homer and two doubles. The moderate uptick in performance has boosted Kepler's triple slash to .225/.310/.351 in 54 games this year. He needs to keep it going. | |||
| 10 | Lewis Thorpe | LHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| It isn't that Thorpe has really looked bad in his four starts, as much as he's looked inexperienced. In total he's logged 18 innings for the Kernels, striking out 7 and walking 10. For an 18-year old at this level I have to think it's more about experience and learning to adapt than it is about the numbers, but hopefully as we get further into the summer we start to see improvement in those numbers, too. | |||
| 11 | Trevor May | RHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| May was moved to the 7-day disabled list on June 26, but it sounds like it's nothing serious and that the Twins are just giving him a few days off. He should make his next appearance around the end of this week and still be ready to participate in the Future's Game. | |||
| 12 | Adam Brett Walker | RF | Fort Myers (A+) |
| It continues to be a hard season for Walker, who is 5-for-27 (.185) since our last minor league report. He did add another home run, bumping his organization-leading total to 15. It's worth noting that Walker is hitting .250/.297/.471 versus left-handed pitching. The real issue, though, is contact. Walker is striking out in 27% of his plate appearances. | |||
| 13 | Felix Jorge | RHP | Elizabethton (R) |
| Short seasons are now underway, and Jorge has made two starts, logging ten innings without allowing a run. He's struck out seven and walked two while giving up just five hits. That's a great rebound after his disappointing debut in Cedar Rapids. | |||
| 14 | Stephen Gonsalves | LHP | Elizabethton (R) |
| Gonsalves, like his teammate Jorge, has also made two starts this season for ten innings of work while allowing five hits. He's struck out 13, walked one and allowed two earned runs. This is a fantastic start to the season for the young lefty, who turns 19 in just a few days. | |||
| 15 | Michael Tonkin | RHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| Tonkin is back on track, making four scoreless appearances since our update 11 days ago. On the season he's struck out 19 in 18.2 innings, allowing five earned runs off 18 hits and four walks. | |||
| 16 | Travis Harrison | 3B | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Harrison ran his hitting streak to 13 games before it expired on him, and on the season owns a solid .273 batting average. The issue is that there still isn't any power (just two doubles in his last ten games, still just one home run this year), and he's also stopped taking walks. His last free pass came 11 games ago, a streak which has now run to 37 plate appearances. | |||
| 17 | Danny Santana | CF/SS | Minnesota (MLB) |
| Santana hit the disabled list late last week pulling into second base. | |||
| 18 | Kennys Vargas | 1B | New Britain (AA) |
| After streaking into the second half of June in the midst of a hot streak the likes of which are uncommon at any level, Vargas has cooled off significantly. He's hitting just .171 with six walks, five strikeouts, and zero extra base hits in his last ten games. It's hardly made a dent in his season line, though, which is still an outstanding .307/.382/.504. | |||
| 19 | Ryan Eades | RHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| The last time we covered our Top 30, we noted how Eades had made his best start of the season to date. The trend hasn't continued. His start on June 22 was over four innings and saw no runs scored, but he also walked four. On Saturday he struck out five and didn't walk anyone, but also gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings. Opponents are hitting .318 off of him this year, and he owns a 6.17 ERA in 14 starts. | |||
| 20 | Zack Jones | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Still out, injured. | |||
| 21 | Fernando Romero | RHP | Cedar Rapids (A) |
| Romero has made just one start since out last update, allowing one run in three innings while striking out and walking two. He's allowed four runs in 12 innings of work so far for the Kernels. The Twins are clearly bringing the 19-year old along slowly. | |||
| 22 | Sean Gilmartin | LHP | New Britain (AA) |
| Three starts into his first spin through Rochester, Gilmartin's last two starts haven't been as good as his first. In total he's owning a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings, but he's allowed 18 hits and four walks, striking out just seven. At 24, it would be good to see him put up two or three good starts in a row at some point. | |||
| 23 | Stuart Turner | C | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Turner is 5-for-15 since our last update, including a home run, double, and triple. And a stolen base, which is a fun bonus. He's upped his triple slash to .240/.314/.389. Behind the plate, he's caught 37% of base stealers | |||
| 24 | Amaurys Minier | 3B | GCL Twins (R) |
| Minier's season is finally underway, and in six games he's 6-for-20 with four walks, six strikeouts, a home run, and two doubles. It's impossible to put too much into that performance, but you have to love a .300/.423/.550 line. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what Minier can do this season as an 18-year old after scuffling for the GCL Twins in 2013. (Well, scuffling except for his power.) | |||
| 25 | D.J. Baxendale | RHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Baxendale's up and down season continues, and he follows up a pair of strong efforts with a five-run performance in his last outing last Tuesday. In four starts for the Miracle Baxendale has struck out 13 in 20.2 innings, but he seems hittable. He owns a 5.23 ERA in Fort Myers. | |||
| 26 | Niko Goodrum | SS | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Goodrum switched back to his natural position of shortstop after Polanco was called up to the Twins on Thursday. Unfortunately the numbers aren't getting better for him. While Goodrum has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, the 8-for-31 streak (.258) isn't doing much for his bottom line. He does okay if he puts the ball in play, judging by his .319 BABIP which isn't terrible, but it does seem like he has a hard time doing that. | |||
| 27 | Mason Melotakis | LHP | Fort Myers (A+) |
| Every time we check in on Melotakis he seems to be doing better in the bullpen. He owns a 1.20 ERA in his last ten relief appearances, but on the season his numbers as a reliever as very solid: 35 strikeouts in 38.1 innings for a 3.05 ERA. He still struggles with command, judging by the 18 walks, but by continuing to accrue ground balls he does a fine job of mitigating the big innings. | |||
| 28 | Lewin Diaz | OF | DSL Twins (Summer) |
| Diaz's results are inconsistent, but that's to be expected from a 17-year old. He doesn't turn 18 until November. So far he's hit .205/.225/.308 in ten games, including 11 strikeouts and a walk. | |||
| 29 | Logan Darnell | LHP | Rochester (AAA) |
| Darnell threw a one-run complete game yesterday, lowering his season ERA to 3.12 in 14 starts. He continues to be a viable arm to call up at any time, although at this point I'm not sure what kind of circumstances would need to conspire to make that happen. | |||
| 30 | Adrian Salcedo | RHP | New Britain (AA) |
| Salcedo continues his efforts to salvage what had been a miserable season, and is now the proud owner of a seven-game scoreless streak. His season ERA is still awful at 5.97, but it looks like the Twins are going to give him the chances to bring it down. One of the biggest reasons for his success over his last seven games is the fact that he's not getting knocked around: four hits in those seven appearances, compared to 36 in his previous 16. Let's see how it goes. | |||