Our monthly honors.
ROCHESTER
Batter: James Beresford hit .303/.320/.354 in 99 at-bats. For the season, he is hitting .316/.350/.372 in 247 at-bats.
Pitcher: Taylor Rogers was 3-1, 2.40, 1.04 WHIP with 7 walks and 24 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. For the season he is 7-4, 2.96, 1.21 WHIP with 27 walks and 71 strikeouts in 103.1 innings.
CHATTANOOGA
Batter: Max Kepler hit .364/.472/.580 in 88 at-bats. For the season he is hitting .346/.417/.556 in 214 at-bats.
Pitcher: Greg Peavey was 2-1, 1.35, 0.60 WHIP with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts in 20 innings. For the season he is 6-2, 4.66, 1.27 WHIP with 14 walks and 39 strikeouts in 73.1 innings. He has since been promoted to Rochester.
FORT MYERS
Batter: Mitch Garver hit .330/.398/.420 in 88 at-bats. For the season he is hitting .242/.354/.296 in 223 at-bats.
Pitcher: Aaron Slegers was 1-1, 2.13, 1.11 WHIP with 7 walks and 20 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. For the season he is 4-4, 3.27, 1.16 WHIP with 17 walks and 54 strikeouts in 77 innings.
CEDAR RAPIDS
Batter: Alex Real hit .313/.374/.438 in 80 at-bats. Those are also his season number.
Pitcher: Felix Jorge was 0-1, 2.28, 0.87 WHIP with 7 walks and 18 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. For the season he is 3-3, 2.37, 0.91 WHIP with 16 walks and 62 strikeouts in 76 innings.
ELIZABETHTON
Batter: Austin Diemer is hitting .444/.444/.815 in 27 at-bats.
Pitcher: Alexis Tapia is 1-0, 0.82, 0.82 WHIP with 1 walk and 11 strikeouts in 11 innings.
GCL TWINS
Batter: Luis Arraez is hitting .333/.407/.458 in 24 at-bats.
Pitcher: Randy Rosario is 1-0, 0.00, 0.75 WHIP with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts in 8 innings.
DSL TWINS
Batter: Emmanuel Morel is hitting .333/.469/.493 in 75 at-bats.
Pitcher: Jadison Jimenez is 1-2, 2.03, 0.94 WHIP with 7 walks and 35 strikeouts in 31 innings.
I've been intrigued with Kepler ever since we signed him. Looking like it's not going to be too much longer before we see him up north.
(Fun Fact! His name is "Maximilian")
Kepler's journey through the minors:
He (re-?)discovered his power this year. Except for the short time in AZL last fall, the last time he had an OPS even above .800 was when repeating Elizabethton. He's been young at every level so it's quite possible things finally clicked.
I've followed him as well. Got his auto on a Spring Training program this past March, and I thanked him in German ("Excellent -- thanks!")
That's awesome.
I've also been following him since... before he was officially in the minors, I believe. The possibility of him turning into a real major leaguer would be great.
Too bad the field manager who was also born in Germany is no longer with the team.
Well, not TOO bad
Padre - In addition to being one of your Player of the Week last week, Miguel Sano was also the MiLB Southern League Player of the Week.
Sano for the week:
.588/.632/1.235, 4 G, 10-for-17, 5 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K
Goodness...
I considered him for Player of the Month, too. There wasn't a huge difference between him and Kepler.
True, but I'm sure he'll have other chances for the honor. However, when you look at the season he's had compared to Kepler, but with 30 more at-bats ... Max is doing something pretty amazing and deserves the recognition.
For the season, Kepler has been the better hitter. When I do Players of the Month, though, I try to just look at that month. I think the month Kepler had was a little bit better, but not much. For that matter, Adam Brett Walker II had a pretty awesome month, too, one that a lot of times would have been good enough for Player of the Month.
Good stuff as always.
All filed under "A Good Problem to Have".
Yes, but I cross-file it under "Guys Who Should Be in Rochester".
Yes. But I'm a gonna go with "isn't it cool that we are arguing about who should be the Twins' Minor League PotM Because Choices?"