Minnesota Twins Minor League Stars of the Week

This week we go into the Minnesota Twins minor league organization to find the shining talent that we name the Minor League Stars of the Week.  Read on to see who we have named for this week's stars and take a moment to answer the poll and comment on any other players you feel that should have been named.

• Cedar Rapids (A - Low) - Max Murphy (OF) - Our star of the week from Cedar Rapids is also the Midwest League Player of the Week for the week ending May 10th and with the numbers he has been putting up this past week, it's easy to see why Max is our star as well as the MWL Player of the Week.  In six games last week, Murphy hit .400 (10-25), stroked two doubles, a triple, and a home run, along with driving in nine.  The 5th round pick from the 2014 draft had a slugging percentage of .464 and a .680 OBP for an overall very solid week as Murphy helped the Kernels continue their winning ways.  Max is the fourth Kernel to win the MWL Player of the Week honor in 2015 and with the Kernels winning 8 of their last 10 games, Murphy has been a large contributor to their success.
• Fort Myers (A - High) - Alex Swim (C) - This week's star of the week from the Miracle has been quietly putting together a very solid season at the High A level and has continued that play over the past week.  When Minnesota Twins catching prospects are currently mentioned, the names are usually Stuart Turner, Mitch Garver, and Jorge Fernandez but one that is starting to make a name for himself is Alex Swim.  Swim has put together a nice season in Fort Myers hitting .344 on the season, with 11 RBI and 13 runs scored.  Alex hasn't cooled off much at all as in the past week he hit .400 (12-30) and drove in a pair or runs.  Couple that with the success of the staff for Miracle and all things point to Alex becoming one of the Twins top catching prospects.
• Chattanooga (AA) - D.J. Baxendale (P) - While much of the talk from Chattanooga this season has either been about J.O. Berrios or Byron Buxton, this week's star of the week for the Lookouts is another arm that Minnesota Twins fans should start to get accustomed to and that's D.J. Baxendale.  D.J. is off to a very strong start to his 2015 season with a 3-0 record but more importantly are the supporting numbers.  Baxendale has pitched 36.1 innings in six starts and has a sharp 1.24 ERA to go with a .219 batting average against.  He's also doing a good job of putting hitters away with 34 SO over those 36.1 innings.  In his last two starts this past week, Baxendale is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings and 10 K's in those two starts.  This is another arm that we could possibly see in Rochester before the end on 2015.
• Rochester (AAA) - Aaron Hicks (OF) - Our star of the week from Rochester is Aaron Hicks, who on Monday received his call back to Minneapolis so hopefully for Aaron, this is the last time for a long time that he is named the star of the week for the Red Wings.  This was a well deserved award though for Hicks as he has been playing great defense and hitting the cover off of the baseball.  This past week Hicks hit .450 (9-20), with 5 runs scored and had a seven game hitting streak for the Red Wings before being called up to the Twins after Monday night's game.  The season has been a strong one for Aaron in Rochester as going into Monday's game he was hitting .330 with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs, 13 RBI, and 2 stolen bases.  Hicks has been putting together a solid all-around game at the plate and with his defense could be a valuable tool for the Twins outfield if he can keep it going at the major league level.