Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, May 20, 2017

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1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, May 20, 2017 Kennys Vargas delivers in pinch before Twins beat Royals in 10 innings. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Joe Mauer has shined with glove this season for Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2 Postgame: Bullpen was near-perfect in win; Twins hold off on roster move. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Young Twins star Max Kepler sits and waits for his turn against lefties. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 4 Kennys Vargas, Jorge Polanco send Twins to 4-3 win over Royals. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 What Jose Berrios did Thursday was a rare feat in recent Twins history. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6 Tom Powers: Twins put Brainiac 500 to work on June draft. Pioneer Press (Powers) p. 8 MLB Draft: Questions with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. Pioneer Press (Shipley) p. 9 Twins look to stretch unbeaten streak vs. KC. MLB (Jackson) p. 10 Twins rally in 9th, walk off against KC in 10th. MLB (Bollinger & Jackson) p. 11 Vargas delivers in pinch with tying home run. MLB (Bollinger) p. 12 Twins set to promote Mejia for today's start. MLB (Bollinger) p. 13 GM Thad Levine explains the key to Jose Berrios breakout success with Twins. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 13 Vargas, Polanco combine to steal game away from Royals. Associated Press p. 14 Real or not? Jose Berrios breaks out. ESPN (Schoenfield) p. 15 Kennys Vargas delivers in pinch before Twins beat Royals in 10 innings Phil Miller Star Tribune May 20, 2017 Kennys Vargas hits better than he dances. The Twins are OK with that. Vargas smashed a Kelvin Herrera changeup into the upper deck in right-center field Friday, a tying, pinch-hit, ninth-inning home run that changed a dreary night into a delirious one, and an eventual 4-3, 10-inning Twins victory over Kansas City. Then he performed an impromptu hugging, spinning dance with Eddie Rosario in the dugout. It s good when you hit a home run, Vargas said with his trademark grin. Exciting moment, so we hugged and started circling around. There was plenty of celebration about 15 minutes later, when Jorge Polanco, after relievers Al Alburquerque and Travis Wood walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the 10th, lined a pitch deep enough into left field to score Joe Mauer on a game-winning sacrifice fly, keeping the Twins a perfect 6-0 against Kansas City. The victory also put the Twins an entire month ahead of their pace a year ago: In 2016, they won their 21st game on June 19 to stand This year, they reached 21 victories on May 19, to go and hold on to first place in the AL Central. A big hit, a great win. A great all-around team win, said Hector Santiago, who was his usual playing-with-matches self, putting runners on base in all five innings he pitched, but also never letting the Royals cash in on a big inning. Cheslor Cuthbert drove a two-strike, two-out single to drive in a run in the second inning, and Jorge Bonifacio smoked a two-out line drive into the left field stands to score two more in the third, but Santiago gave up no other runs. Neither did the Twins bullpen, contributing five scoreless innings that gave the Twins their chance, including Brandon Kintzler wiggling out of a 10th-inning jam with a line-drive double play before the Twins capitalized on their walks in the bottom of the inning. It didn t always look so promising, not with the Twins going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, not with the Royals defense shutting down one scoring chance after another.

2 Still, manager Paul Molitor said: The game was staying tight. I felt we had a chance. I kept thinking, we re one inning away from getting back in it. Or just one good at-bat. After Jason Castro singled with one out in the ninth, Molitor sent up Vargas to face Royals closer Kelvin Herrera, the 100-mile-per-hour specialist. I know if I was facing that guy, I wouldn t look for a fastball because I can t hit it anyway, Molitor said. So you might as well look for something slower. Vargas said he was thinking fastball, but made the adjustment when Herrera tried to sneak an 88-mph pitch past him. We re down by two runs, you have to take a hard swing and try to elevate the ball, he said, and the blast was obviously leaving the park from the moment it was hit. I don t know if he was looking for a changeup, but he was all over it, Molitor said. You welcome those comebacks when they happen, because in today s game, with bullpens the way they are, it seems like they re less and less frequent. No kidding. The last time the Twins got a tying/winning, pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning? It came in 2008, when Craig Monroe cracked a three-run shot against the Royals. Joe Mauer has shined with glove this season for Twins Phil Miller Star Tribune May 19, 2017 Eduardo Escobar knew it the moment he let the ball go. It was a bad throw. I thought, That ball is going nowhere [good], the Twins utility infielder said of his off-target, short-hop relay from third base in the ninth inning Thursday. But Joe [Mauer] was able to dig it out. It was a good play. A potential game-saver, considering the tying run was on base for Colorado. It s one of several that Mauer has made this season, already shaping up as his best as an infielder. He s playing some Gold Glove-type first base, Escobar said. Not bad for a 34-year-old former catcher, but the statistics bear out Mauer s improvement. According to FanGraphs Ultimate Zone Rating, Mauer is 2.4 runs better than an average first baseman. That s already easily the best mark since he moved to the position in 2014, and it leads the American League. Only San Francisco s Brandon Belt and Cincinnati s Joey Votto have been better in The numbers jibe with Paul Molitor s observations. He s always had incredibly soft hands as an infielder. His range is partly due to his length he seems to be able to get to that [first-base] line even when he s not playing on it, the Twins manager said. I ve seen him make plays coming off the base in the three-hole. It s one of those stretches where, whatever has been required at the position, he s done at a really high level. And in particular, Mauer has been near-perfect in snagging errant throws, remarkable considering the Twins relatively inexperienced infielders on the left side. Third baseman Miguel Sano has three errors and shortstop Jorge Polanco has two, and I don t know how many Joe has saved them, Molitor said. You re supposed to be able to pick the ball out of the dirt, but I don t think he s missed one. Even some ones that have been really tough they throw with side spin, they hit the cut of the grass, they skim low, they skim high, and he just seems to be able to corral those throws. Throws like Escobar s That was pretty fun for me to catch that one in a big situation, Mauer said or Polanco s on Friday. Mauer jumped off first base to catch the shortstop s wide throw in the third inning, spinning to tag Kansas City s Lorenzo Cain. He s playing a great first base, Polanco said. He gives me the confidence that wherever I throw the ball, he s going to be there. Rotation juggling Adalberto Mejia is in the Twin Cities, ready to be activated to pitch Saturday, but as usual with the Twins rotation, nothing is that simple. Another long, soaking rainstorm is in the forecast, too, raising the possibility of the Twins fifth rainout of

3 But that would give the Twins some options, depending upon when the game is made up. Molitor said he would be OK with a Sunday doubleheader, in which case Mejia could be designated as the 26th player, eligible to play only in the makeup game, without sending a player to Rochester. Or, if the teams choose to make it up when the Royals return on Labor Day weekend, the Twins could simply send Mejia back to Class AAA Rochester. Or they could keep him here to pitch Monday in Baltimore, rather than allow Adam Wilk to make the start. It s all still undecided, that s all I can tell you, Molitor said. Etc. Pitching coach Neil Allen missed Friday s game to attend his son Bobby s high school graduation in Sarasota, Fla. Australian lefthander Lewis Thorpe, one of the Twins top pitching prospects until undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery, gave up one run and two hits while striking out three in four innings Friday for Class A Fort Myers, his first appearance in a game since Aug. 31, Postgame: Bullpen was near-perfect in win; Twins hold off on roster move Phil Miller Star Tribune May 20, 2017 Three quick extras from Friday s dramatic Twins victory: Paul Molitor was understandably pleased with the work of his bullpen, which shut out the Royals for five innings, and only once even allowed a runner to reach second base. Tyler Duffey retired six of the seven batters he faced, the exception being a Miguel Sano throwing error. Matt Belisle gave up a hit, erased on a double play, and Taylor Rogers got three quick outs in the ninth. Brandon Kintzler gave up two hits in the 10th inning, but Ehire Adrianza made a slick play to record a force out, and Kintzler caught a Jorge Bonifacio line drive and doubled Eric Hosmer off second base to end the threat. Our bullpen did a really nice job to keep putting up zeroes, Molitor said. The Twins originally were planning to announce a transaction after the game, removing someone in order to activate Adalberto Mejia to pitch Saturday s game. But with Saturday s game in such doubt forecasts call for near-certain rain all afternoon they decided to hold off and re-evaluate their options when they know whether the game will be played as scheduled. If it s rained out, Mejia could simply become the 26th man in Sunday s makeup game, and the Twins wouldn t have to make a roster move. The night may have gone far differently had the Twins cashed in on their first, best threat, when Miguel Sano led off the second inning against Royals righthander Nate Karns with a sharp single. Max Kepler followed with a cannon-shot to right that initially appeared headed for the seats. But it didn t carry in the 45-degree air, and bounced off the wall, then Jorge Bonifacio s glove. Sano, initially waiting to see if the ball was caught, headed for third and suddenly sped up as third-base coach Gene Glynn waved him home. The Royals made the play perfectly, however, with Bonifacio retrieving the ball and getting it to second baseman Whit Merrifield, who fired a perfect relay to the plate. Salvador Perez was kneeling in front of the plate, where he caught the short-hop in perfect position to tag Sano as he slid head-first. The Twins also came close to a breakthrough in the eighth inning, putting two runners on base, but the Royals Gold Glove left fielder, Alex Gordon, made a diving catch of Kepler s sinking liner to end the threat. Even Kepler couldn t believe it he stood on second base and asked, Am I out? 3

4 Young Twins star Max Kepler sits and waits for his turn against lefties Mike Berardino Pioneer Press May 20, 2017 Last weekend in Cleveland, Max Kepler sandwiched a Saturday afternoon home run between two of his more impressive at-bats against lefthanded pitching. Friday night, the Twins 24-year-old right fielder lined out to first against Indians lefty Boone Logan, one of the nastier situational weapons in the game. Sunday afternoon, Kepler lined a single to left off 6-foot-7 Andrew Miller that certainly got his manager s attention. He hits a rocket against the toughest left-hander in the game or one of them, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. That s the same Miller, by the way, off whom Kepler hit a ringing double this spring during an exhibition game against Team USA s entry in the World Baseball Classic. So where did Kepler, widely considered one of the Twins most promising young talents, find his name on Tuesday s lineup card against Colorado Rockies rookie lefty Kyle Freeland? Among the extra players while switch-hitter Robbie Grossman took his place in right and Eddie Rosario, his fellow young lefty batter, got the start in left. What you always hear about is taking your lumps and letting guys get the experience, Molitor said. I think I ve been a part of that in some ways the last couple years, and I will continue to be open to doing that when it makes sense. With Grossman among the game s most productive hitters against lefties since the start of last season, and Rosario outperforming Kepler against same-sided pitching in that same span 36 points higher in on-base percentage Molitor opted for the tough choice once again. So far, it s been hard to find too much fault with Molitor s lineups as the surprising Twins have stormed to the top of a jumbled race in the American League Central. Kepler s stunted development against lefty pitching, however, has been one of the few areas of genuine concern. You keep the whole room in mind and you keep winning in mind, Molitor said. Part of development is winning, and part of winning is development. It s just kind of walking that line. THE LONG HAUL Ask Kepler how eager he is to convince his manager he s worthy of everyday playing status, regardless of the opposing pitcher s handedness, and his eyes flash. I give my everything, he said. I m as eager as it gets, but it s his decision, you know? If he thinks me getting a day off against a lefty is going to help win the ballgame, then I can t control that. That s his decision. That s why he s got that job. But I m as eager as it gets to learn. Molitor, perhaps sensing this, has made a point of tempering Kepler s eagerness with reminders about the big picture. A two-decade career is more important than a two-week stretch. He s told me before, I m in it for the long haul, which means a lot to me, Kepler said. Especially on days when I m off, he reminds me, I m in it for the long haul. I don t let it get me down but just understand and respect his decision. He wants to win right now. Since debuting at the end of 2015, Kepler has hit just two of his 20 big-league homers against lefties, facing them in just 166 plate appearances as opposed to 414 against righties. He has hit just.195 against lefties with a.261 OBP and a.309 slugging percentage compared with.253/.336/.460 against righties. Rosario, meanwhile, has a.298 OBP and.308 slugging percentage against lefties in that same span, thanks in part to a luck-driven batting average on balls in play that is 100 points higher than Kepler s. That disparity, combined with the high ceiling suggested by Kepler s tools and baseball intellect, have left some Twins fans frustrated by his inability to stay on the field against all pitching. Wouldn t the Twins be better served, some wonder, to let Kepler figure things out against lefties now before he gets typecast as a platoon player? We re trying to build that, Molitor said. I don t know if anyone can project when they re going to figure it out, but we re trying to give them opportunities at different times. We ve kind of mixed and matched our lefties against various lefties depending on who could use the blow and who s got a better chance on that given day. 4

5 A stated preference for spotting Grossman in right field instead of left factors into the equation, as well. But I would love to see in particular Kepler and Rosey get their fair share of at-bats against those guys, because eventually they re going to have to figure that side of it out, the manager said. Entering Thursday s play, Rosario had received nearly 50 percent more chances against lefties (47-32 by plate appearances). Is there something Rosario, 16 1/2 months older than Kepler, has figured out about the challenge that Kepler is still learning? They re two totally different hitters, Molitor said. They have different swings, different paths. I don t want to critique both guys, but we kind of know where their holes are against left-handed pitching is what I ll say. Rosey maybe has gotten a few more games against those lefties so far; I would think that s going to balance out over time. IGNORANCE IS BLISS After struggling against lefties in the low minors, Kepler began to solve the problem late in 2014 at Class A Fort Myers. He built on those gains the following summer during a Southern League MVP season at Double-A Chattanooga, where his right-left splits narrowed significantly. Kepler played both seasons under manager Doug Mientkiewicz, the former big-league first baseman and fellow lefty hitter who actually carried a career OPS that was eight points higher against same-sided pitching. The only reason why I feel I ve started, or anybody has started, to struggle against lefties is everybody talks about lefties on lefties being so hard, Kepler said. When I first got to the States, I d never heard of that: lefties on lefties. I just saw the pitch, faced them, whatever comes, comes. It wasn t talked about, really. Hitting comes easiest, Kepler believes, to those able to keep it as simple as possible. If you re swinging the bat well, you can hit anything, he said. If you re insecure up there, you re going to struggle and the ball is going to look like a seed. It was a beach ball during his Lookouts days, as it was for about a six-week stretch last summer, when he did the bulk of his damage as a Twins rookie. In a span of three days early last July, he homered off lefties Cesar Ramos and Sean Manaea. That year in Double-A I was really confident and feeling good every single day, he said. I didn t really let anything get to me mentally. That s probably what is most (important) in baseball. It s all mental. I just need to get back to being really confident about everything, and then the ball will come to my bat. Kennys Vargas, Jorge Polanco send Twins to 4-3 win over Royals Mike Berardino Pioneer Press May 19, 2017 Down to their final two outs, the Twins summoned Kennys Vargas to roust them from their collective offensive slumber. One easy swing of the big man s bat resulted in a game-tying, two-run pinch homer in Friday s ninth inning off Kansas City Royals closer Kelvin Herrera. The Twins went on to claim a 4-3 win on three walks and Jorge Polanco s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. What can you say? Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Vargas one-out blast. I don t know if he was looking for that changeup or what, but he was all over it. That was just a huge lift. It was just the second blown save in 10 tries for Herrera as the first-place Twins beat the last-place Royals for the seventh straight time. Six of those wins have come this season by a combined score of Vargas fifth homer of the year, all from the left side, traveled an estimated 443 feet and was the second of his career as a pinch hitter. He also went deep in that role on July 2 last season at Texas. Was Vargas looking for that 90-mph changeup from Herrera? Not really, he said. I look for his best fastball all the time, and I just reacted to that changeup. 5

6 Once Vargas connected, the Twins dugout erupted in celebration. I knew I put a pretty good swing; I knew I got that one, Vargas said. Mentally you prepare yourself to take that at-bat. We were down by two runs, so you just have to put a hard swing, try to elevate the ball and try to get a homer. Jason Castro, who singled immediately ahead of Vargas, had the Twins other pinch homer this year on April 22 against the Detroit Tigers. Vargas was then sent up to hit for Byron Buxton with memorable results. When you get Vargy off the bench and you re facing Herrera in the ninth inning, you re just hoping for the best thing, Twins left-hander Hector Santiago said. That was the best possible thing that could have happened. Great swing by him off that guy. Seemingly dragging after a day-night doubleheader Thursday, the Twins again struggled to muster much offense against Royals right-hander Nate Karns and a handful of relievers. Seven more hitless at-bats with runners in scoring position left the Twins 8 for 53 (.151) in the clutch over their past seven games. They have scored a total of 18 runs in that span, their worst seven-game stretch over the first quarter of the season. Only a pair of exemplary pitching performances by young right-hander Jose Berrios and another by staff ace Ervin Santana last weekend in Cleveland enabled the Twins to split their first six games of this scoring drought. Until a week ago, they were averaging 4.74 runs per game. Karns entered with a earned-run average in three outings against the Twins, but aside from Robbie Grossman s leadoff homer in the fourth they were mostly overwhelmed by him across the first five innings. Just three of the Twins 28 outs were made on the ground, two of those by Polanco. The first came in a situation that called for a potential sacrifice fly in the second, after Miguel Sano lined a single and was thrown out at home on Max Kepler s double off the wall in right. It was just the second time this season the Twins had a runner thrown out at home but the third time Sano had been out attempting to advance. Far too often the Twins lofted lazy fly balls into the cool night. When they did hit a ball sharply, Gold Glove left fielder Alex Gordon seemed to catch it. Gordon ran down Eddie Rosario s drive to the warning track in the third, made a diving grab on Jason Castro s sinking liner in the seventh and outdid himself to rob Kepler with another diving catch with two on to end the eighth. He couldn t throw out Joe Mauer at the plate, however, on Polanco s final line drive. Jorge Bonifacio s two-run homer in the third inning continued a troubling recent pattern for Santiago, who has allowed four homers in his past two starts after giving up just three homers through his first 42 1/3 innings. None of that mattered after Vargas late theatrics reminded everyone of the Twins newfound mastery of the Royals. I think going against any team right now we re pretty confident, Santiago said. What Jose Berrios did Thursday was a rare feat in recent Twins history Mike Berardino Pioneer Press May 19, 2017 One day after the best start of Jose Berrios young career, statisticians were still trying to put it in proper context. Set to turn 23 next weekend, the Twins right-hander became the youngest big-league pitcher with at least 10 strikeouts in a game since Not since Francisco Liriano in 2010 had a Twins starter struck out 11 or more without allowing a run. That came at home against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 1 in a 4-0 win. Liriano went seven innings, allowing two hits and two walks on 109 pitches while working to catcher Drew Butera, who coincidentally arrived Friday with his current team, the Kansas City Royals, for a weekend series. Berrios, who lowered his season earned-run average to 0.59 with 7 2/3 shutout innings on Thursday night against the Colorado Rockies, has 6

7 dropped his career ERA through 16 starts to It was a big-time step-up performance, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. The way he threw the baseball, I wasn t totally prepared for what he was going to do here. If Jose can fill out that rotation somewhat similarly to what he s done the first two starts, that will definitely be a big boost for us. Before Berrios gem, the Twins had managed just five games of 10 or more strikeouts in their past 755 attempts, dating to Liriano s last Twins start on July 18, The rest of baseball now has 971 double-digit strikeout performances in that span. Max Scherzer (43), Chris Sale (40) and Clayton Kershaw (36) had accounted for 12.3 percent of those. The last three for the Twins had been by staff ace Ervin Santana, who fanned 10 Royals last Aug. 21 at Kansas City and reached double digits in back-to-back starts against the Houston Astros down the stretch in 2015 (Aug. 30 and Sept. 4). Before that, it took back-to-back showings by Phil Hughes (11 strikeouts) and Trevor May (10) at the Chicago White Sox on Sept , 2014, to end a 10-K drought that stretched on for nearly 26 calendar months. Berrios also joins Brad Radke (2001) and Andrew Albers (2013) as the only Twins pitchers in the past 30 years to work into the eighth inning and win each of their first two starts of the season. YOUNG PITCHERS RETURN Australian lefty Lewis Thorpe returned to the mound Friday at Class A Fort Myers for the first time since elbow problems surfaced during the Midwest League playoffs of Thorpe, 21, had been ranked as high as No. 7 among Twins prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery in April Thorpe worked the first four innings on 49 pitches, allowing two hits (including a solo homer) and no walks while fanning three. Meanwhile, fellow lefty Stephen Gonsalves, limited to one spring outing since early March because of shoulder woes, was due to make his 2017 debut this weekend. Gonsalves, 22, is the reigning Twins minor league pitcher of the year. BRIEFLY Twins pitching coach Neil Allen was due back Saturday after flying home to Sarasota, Fla., to attend the high school graduation of his son Bobby. Bullpen coach Eddie Guardado was set to fill in for Allen on Friday against the Royals. An iffy weather forecast for Saturday afternoon had the Twins already contemplating a possible doubleheader on Sunday, which Molitor would prefer with an off day on May 25 and three doubleheaders already dotting the schedule (June 17, July 1 and Aug. 21). Either way, left-hander Adalberto Mejia is scheduled to be recalled this weekend to start against the Royals. If it s for the second game of a Sunday doubleheader, Mejia could be summoned as the 26th man and shipped back to Triple-A after the game. Reliever Glen Perkins (shoulder surgery) threw a bullpen session of pitches on Friday. 7

8 Tom Powers: Twins put Brainiac 500 to work on June draft Tom Powers Pioneer Press May 19, 2017 To be honest, I ve never actually seen it. Yet down by the boiler room in Target Field, there is a constant whirring sound. And upon closer inspection of an otherwise nondescript door, there is a small device for retina recognition. It s the only way to get in, I imagine. Once, while covertly observing the area, I swear I heard an eerie voice say in a monotone: Good evening Derek shall I sing a song? I strongly suspect this is where Derek Falvey keeps the Brainiac 500 supercomputer that spits out advanced analytic data the information that all the young-and-with-it baseball executives now rely upon. The Brainiac 500 can extrapolate what s likely to happen next based on input data. That s why certain hitters are benched against certain pitchers and why fielders are positioned every which way, among many other things. These super-advanced projections are passed along to manager Paul Molitor if, in fact, that really is Paul Molitor and not a hologram so that he can make the appropriate moves. We can credit Theo Epstein for this. Young Theo is godfather to a generation of geeky general managers. He has been wildly successful with the Red Sox and Cubs by using advanced analytics. Today, batting average and earned-run average are quaint reminders of the old days, when we dealt in generalities. At least for those filling out the lineup cards and making decisions in the dugout. Now it s about BABIP, cfip and Posttunnelbreak. That last one, by definition, tells us how much each spin-induced movement is generated on each pitch between the tunnel point and home plate according to a baseball metrics website. And it s all been swell. The Twins are performing much better this season, partly because of better pitching, partly because a few prospects turned out to be keepers and partly because of the new emphasis on advanced metrics. The Brainiac 500 has replaced all the Commodore 64s that were being used by previous Twins personnel. (The rotary phones and reel-to reel projectors also have been replaced.) Falvey and his right-hand man, Thad Levine, have dragged the team s operations into the 21st Century, and it s going to become more apparent as time passes. Today, the scouts and birddogs with their radar guns and clipboards, and wearing their khakis and sunscreen, are bolstered by the artificial intelligence back at the home office. For the Twins, that s a good thing because the farm system, once the gold standard, has slipped badly. That s especially true when it comes discovering and developing pitchers. The Twins have fanned here in recent years. Of the current starters, Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana were signed as free agents. Hector Santiago and Adalberto Mejia were acquired by trade. In the bullpen, closer Brandon Kintzler, Matt Belisle, Craig Breslow and Drew Rucinski were signed as free agents. Justin Haley, Ryan Pressly and Adam Wilk were acquired via trade. That leaves homegrown relievers Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffy, and starter Jose Berrios. Rogers and Duffy appear to be useful. Berrios has pitched two terrific games in a row after being recalled from the minors. Despite his 2016 calamity 3-7, 8.02 ERA he remains an A-1 prospect. Meanwhile, many of the highly touted pitchers drafted by the Twins have been shut down in their first or second years because of injury or fatigue. Others simply fizzle. This is where the new fellows in the front office can roll up their sleeves and start programming the Brainiac 500. They already have noted that advanced metrics will figure heavily in the process of drafting players this summer. They can take into account spin rate, sliders for strikes that the umpires missed, swings and misses on change-ups with fewer than two outs, durability factors And, with luck, come up with a template for a potentially successful major league pitcher. Then draft 20 of them this summer. For the top pick overall in the June 12 draft, the Twins likely are gathering reams data on Hunter Greene and Brendan McKay, widely considered the two top prospects. The key to getting the team stabilized for the future, though, is to come up with a handful of legitimate pitching prospects each season. The Twins haven t done that in a while. It s very interesting. Best-case scenario is that the Brainiac 500 helps pick several winners. Worst case, well, even if they mess up they can still play Pac-Man on it. 8

9 MLB Draft: Questions with Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey Josh Shipley Pioneer Press May 19, 2017 The Twins have hit the ground running in Derek Falvey s first season as president of baseball operations, largely because of players and a manager signed well before he and general manager Thad Levine got here late last September. Minnesota woke up Friday morning with a one-game lead on Cleveland and Detroit in the American League Central, and while it s not yet June, it s a lot better than the Twins were at any point of a 103-loss season last year. Manager Paul Molitor has one year left on a deal signed under former GM Terry Ryan, and prospects signed under the previous regime Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jose Berrios are playing key roles. In their brief tenure, Falvey and Levine have tinkered, willing to use this season as an extended scouting look at what they ve inherited. But the focus will shift June 12, when the Twins have the first pick in Major League Baseball s amateur draft for the first time since selecting catcher Joe Mauer out of Cretin-Derham Hall in The likely candidates: Louisville double-threat Brendan McKay, Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright and high school phenom Hunter Greene. Their next pick is a competitive-balance selection, 36th overall. Last year s pick, high school infielder Alex Kirilloff, had Tommy John surgery to repair his left elbow in the spring and will sit out this year, but reliever Tyler Jay, sixth overall out of Illinois in 2015, and shortstop Nick Gordon, fifth overall in 2014, are at Class AA Chattanooga and developing. So is Kohl Stewart, a high school pitcher taken fourth overall in 2013, but he s 0-4 with a 5.62 earned-run average in six starts. Deron Johnson, who ran the Twins past nine drafts, was promoted in December to senior adviser of the scouting department, and Sean Johnson, formerly West Coast supervisor, is scouting director. But Falvey and Levine have been personally scouting prospects and will be the ones who ultimately sign off on the selection. With that in mind, the Pioneer Press sat down with Falvey, 34, to talk a little amateur draft. You knew coming in that your first draft would include the No. 1 pick. How much pressure does that put on it? It certainly creates more of a spotlight for it, and maybe more awareness for the amateur baseball draft from a fan perspective than most years. If you re picking 14th, 15th in the draft, no one can really narrow in of those players in the image market because there s less of a spotlight than there is maybe on the football and basketball drafts. So, I get it. I completely understand. But they way I look at it is, the lifeblood of an organization like ours for any organization, for that matter, but particularly for small and mid-size market teams is that you need to build through the draft and through development. So, I look at it as, whether we re picking first, fifth, 10th, 20th doesn t matter; it s important for us to get a lot of value out of each draft. It doesn t just come with Pick 1. We need to be thinking about how we can accumulate as much value as possible. If you have the No. 1 pick, do you want to hit a grand slam? Is there a temptation to say, I m picking Hunter Greene because he can throw 100 mph, and we might get Dwight Gooden? I don t think so. What we need to do is be as thoughtful as possible about lining up the board with the best possible player on top, and there s a risk equation to any player you select. The idea that some players are significantly safer than other players, I m not sure that s entirely true if we look back at the history of the draft. We want to line it up and take the best player that has the best possibility to affect us long term, and sometimes that will be a high school player and sometimes it will be a college player. What I m careful to do right now, and I ve talked with Sean Johnson about this a lot, is let s not make up our minds right now. There s no reason to. No one s forcing us on the clock in the next week. So, let s take the time we have remaining to gather as much information as possible about every player who might be in consideration. How many people do you send out to look at these guys? We ve probably expanded that beyond what is normal in any given year because we have now Deron in a crosscheck role, where he can go from pro to amateur to international, in addition to Sean now as a scouting director. So, we ve added a senior position there to the scouting group. In addition to that, we ve had guys like LaTroy (Hawkins) and Torii (Hunter) and (Michael Cuddyer) watch a lot of video and live. You can do a lot on video nowadays because there s so much available to you, especially on the college kids. You could watch a whole season s worth of outings for a starter. You re not going to miss a single one for a big conference. And then I ve gone out, Thad s gone out. We re going to use as many people as possible. 9

10 Can you tell me how many guys you re looking at? For the Pick 1? I would say, to be honest about it and fair, I would say about five. We want to make sure that we re not ruling anything out. The reason I say that is maybe it is a slightly smaller group than five, but the reality is injuries could occur in the last two weeks, or maybe a kid decides he really wants to go to college, and then you have to have that conversation with a high school player. I never rule anything out in the draft, so I want to make sure even though it s Pick 1 I want to focus on more than just one to three players. It seems like you re not super deep in pitching right now. Do you feel like, We want to get a pitcher here? I feel like that s where you sometimes make mistakes. The interesting thing about the Major League Baseball Draft is that even the best players in the game, the really unique ones, they don t get to the big leagues for at least two or three years, so what your needs are today and what they might be in three years could look very different. So, we want to make sure we don t get too focused on one type of player based on how things are happening at the major league level right now. With McKay, do you feel strongly one way or the other whether he should hit or pitch? That s a fascinating question for a guy like him because there aren t that many guys that have performed the way that he has on both sides. Certainly there have been guys that are two-way players, both pitchers and position players, but I would say there aren t as many guys who clearly fit at the top of the draft in both groupings. We ve scouted him both ways. We write scouting reports as if he s two different people, essentially, in our system, which is rare. We want to make sure we scout both sides of it and then make a decision when the time comes. Can you give me the basic synopsis of why you can t do both in the majors? I think the basic reason is the amount of time and effort guys put into one side of it to become elite, to become the best of the best in the world which is what these guys are at the big-league level. It s an immense amount of time, on the pitching or hitting side. There are only 24 hours in a day, so there s just going to have to be time taken away from one or the other to do the work. Not to say someone might not do it in the future, at some point, but I think just the time and effort you have to put in makes it challenging. You think of how much time, for instance, a hitter works in the offseason on his swing, and how much the strength and conditioning work is geared more toward power and strength and output, from the hitting side, versus maybe flexibility and mobility from the pitching side. There are just so many things you have to make choices on that are independent of what you see for the nine innings (they re playing). Maybe it s too specialized, I don t know Could be. No, that s fair. That s a fair point. Everyone mentions Babe Ruth, but every kid who comes up (from) high school is usually a team s best pitcher and their best hitter, right? I m a big believer in playing more than just baseball. I think that s a good thing to know about amateur players. I think we ve become, just as an industry, more and more players get specialized at younger and younger ages, and you see high school kids now and even before that you re told to commit to baseball, softball, basketball or whatever it is, I like guys playing multiple sports. Twins look to stretch unbeaten streak vs. KC Shane Jackson MLB May 20, 2017 The Royals are expected to activate right-hander Ian Kennedy from the disabled list, while the Twins are slated to promote Adalberto Mejia from Triple-A Rochester, to fill the vacant fifth starter position, for Saturday's middle game at Target Field. With Friday night's 4-3 walk-off win in 10 innings, Minnesota improved to 6-0 vs. Kansas City this season. Kennedy sustained a right hamstring strain against the White Sox on May 4, and he missed his two previous starts, as Chris Young served as the spot-starter. Kennedy is 0-3 with a 3.03 ERA in six starts. He has fanned 31 batters and walked 15 in 35 2/3 innings. However, Kennedy has gone more than six innings just twice this year. Due to off-days, the Twins have been able to work with four starters -- and even sometimes three -- for a stretch. But that will change due to a recent doubleheader and lack of off-days. Mejia, ranked as the Twins' No. 8 prospect by MLBPipeline.com, was removed after three scoreless frames and 33 pitches with Rochester on Tuesday in order to start against the Royals. Mejia has made three starts for the Twins this season, going 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA. 10

11 Things to know about this game The Twins have already seen Kennedy once this season. He held them to two runs on two hits in 5 1/3 innings. Because of the injury, he has made just one start since that meeting on April 28. Kennedy has made nine starts against the Twins in his career, going 4-2 with a 3.74 ERA. In 53 innings, Kennedy has struck out 47 and walked 17. Second baseman Brian Dozier's 20 career at-bats are the most for any Twins batter against Kennedy. Dozier has a career slash of.200/.304/.500 against the right-hander. Eduardo Escobar has a clip of.438/.471/.625 in 16 at-bats. Twins rally in 9th, walk off against KC in 10th Rhett Bollinger & Shane Jackson MLB May 20, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- Pinch-hitter Kennys Vargas hit a tying homer in the ninth and Jorge Polanco came through with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th to lead the Twins to a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Royals on Friday night at Target Field. The Royals were two outs away from their first victory over the Twins in six tries this season, but Vargas connected for a two-run blast off closer Kelvin Herrera. After Twins closer Brandon Kintzler got out of a jam in the 10th thanks to a lineout double play back to the mound, Minnesota rallied in the 10th with the help of three straight walks to open the inning. It set the stage for Polanco's sacrifice fly to left field to score Joe Mauer. "You welcome those comebacks when they happen," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "In today's game with the way bullpens are, it seems like it's less and less frequent around the game. We stayed with it and gave ourselves a chance. Vargy, what can you say? Not sure if he was looking for that changeup, but he was all over it." It spoiled a strong effort from Royals right fielder Jorge Bonifacio, who had a strong all-around game with a two-run homer in the third, a strong relay to get Miguel Sano at the plate in the second and a jumping catch at the wall to rob Brian Dozier of extra bases in the third. Royals right-hander Nathan Karns gave up one run on five hits over five innings to lower his ERA to 4.17, but he was saddled with a no-decision after Herrera couldn't hold the lead. The lone run Karns allowed came on a homer by Robbie Grossman in the fourth. Karns left the game early due to stiffness near the top of his forearm that he felt from the second inning on, but he doesn't think it is anything alarming. "I felt fine, nothing spectacular today," Karns said. "I had great defense today. To be able to get the ball in and get Sano at the plate, that was huge. That killed the momentum for them. It was one of those games where they battled." Twins left-hander Hector Santiago also went five frames, surrendering three runs on eight hits and a walk. He allowed a run in the second on a two-out RBI single by Cheslor Cuthbert after Alex Gordon's single tipped off Mauer's glove at first. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Gordon's terrific snare: The Twins threatened in the eighth against Joakim Soria with two on and two out. Max Kepler laced a sinking liner to left field, but Gordon showed why he's won four Gold Glove Awards, as he made a sliding catch to end the inning. Gordon had to cover 31 feet in three seconds, giving it a catch percentage of 71 percent, which makes it a three-star play, according to Statcast. "We saw some great defense tonight," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I've seen it a thousand times, but it's still every bit as impressive every time to see him make a play like that. Especially those diving plays, because he gets a phenomenal jump on those balls." Sano nabbed at home: Sano opened the second with a single and tried to score from first on a double to right by Kepler. But Bonifacio helped execute a strong relay play with second baseman Whit Merrifield, who fired home to get Sano. Kepler went to third on the throw, but he was stranded after Polanco grounded out with the infield in and Jason Castro flied out to deep center. "We got aggressive on Kep's double early," Molitor said. "They made a really nice relay to cut down that run. And then we couldn't get Kep in, so that was a missed chance." QUOTABLE "He's definitely a force in that lineup. When he's in there, he can impact the game with one swing of the bat like he did today. I think if he's in 11

12 there a lot more and sees more pitches, he could be a great factor for this lineup." -- Santiago, on Vargas SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Bonifacio's blast left his bat at mph with a launch angle of 22 degrees and traveled a projected 381 feet, according to Statcast. It was Bonifacio's third homer, and was the second-hardest hit homer from a Royals player by Exit Velocity this season. WHAT'S NEXT Royals: Right-hander Ian Kennedy is expected to be activated from the 10-day disabled list (right hamstring) to start against the Twins on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. CT. Kennedy is 4-2 with a 3.74 ERA in nine career starts vs. the Twins -- holding them to two runs on a pair of hits on April 28 in Kansas City. Twins: Left-hander Adalberto Mejia will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to start against the Royals on Saturday at Target Field. Mejia posted a 3.48 ERA in four starts with Rochester. Vargas delivers in pinch with tying home run Rhett Bollinger MLB May 20, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- With the way the Twins have rotated designated hitters this season based on matchups, it was Kennys Vargas' turn to open the game on the bench with Robbie Grossman getting the start against the Royals on Friday. It paid dividends early with Grossman hitting a solo homer in the fourth and going 2-for-4 with a walk, and allowed the luxury of having Vargas' power bat available to pinch-hit late in the game. It worked out to perfection. With one out in the ninth, Vargas belted a tying two-run homer off closer Kelvin Herrera to help the Twins in an eventual 4-3 win in 10 innings. It proved the importance of having depth, especially the value of Vargas' power, as the switch-hitter now has five homers and 15 RBIs in 17 games since being called up on April 23. Vargas said he started to prepare himself in the sixth for a potential at-bat, and jumped on a 1-0 changeup that caught too much of the plate. "Mentally, you prepare yourself for the at-bat, and you try to put a hard swing and try to elevate the ball," Vargas said. "Just try to get a homer." The homer was absolutely crushed, leaving the bat at mph and traveling a projected 438 feet into the second deck in right. It was the second-farthest homer Vargas has hit since 2015, per Statcast, as his career best is 451 feet. "I just expect fastball all the time and I just reacted to that changeup," Vargas said. "I knew I put a good swing on it and knew I got that one." Herrera said he was trying to get the ball down to Vargas, but Herrera left it up and Vargas capitalized. Vargas has excelled against changeups this year, hitting.353 against them with three homers after batting.143 with no homers against them last year. "I didn't finish the pitch," Herrera said. "In my mind, I want him to chase a pitch there. He's got pop. That was just poor execution from me." Vargas has tried to balance not playing every day and is hitting.233/.254/.517 after falling into a bit of a slump over the last week. But lefthander Hector Santiago said Friday was indicative of what Vargas can do and why he's on the roster. "When he's in there, he can impact the game with one swing of the bat like he did today," Santiago said. "I think if he's in there a lot more and sees more pitches, he could be a great factor for this lineup. It's tough because we have three guys who can DH and Grossman and [Eduardo Escobar] are swinging it well. But Vargas can come off the bench and do that. But you want to see him do that for four at-bats a night because he has the potential to do that four times." 12

13 Twins set to promote Mejia for today's start Rhett Bollinger MLB May 19, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins officially tabbed left-hander Adalberto Mejia to be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to start on Saturday, but weather could be a factor and the club is still deciding who will start on Monday when a sixth starter is necessary because of Thursday's doubleheader. Mejia, who posted a 3.48 ERA in four starts at Rochester, was tentatively slated to start on Saturday, but manager Paul Molitor made it official on Friday. But the Twins could wait on the weather to make the roster move, as if the game is rained out and there's a doubleheader on Sunday, Mejia could be brought up as the 26th man to start the twin-bill nightcap. "It's something we'd have to consider," Molitor said. In that scenario, a rainout and a doubleheader could help the Twins in terms of roster decisions, as they wouldn't need to option another player to make room for Mejia if he were to start a potential Game 2 on Sunday. They could turn to left-hander Adam Wilk to make a spot start on Monday or recall right-hander Kyle Gibson from Triple-A Rochester, but Gibson is scheduled to start for the Red Wings on Saturday. The Twins would also have to send down a player for Gibson, and don't have any obvious candidates unless they want to option first baseman Kennys Vargas and return to a 13-man pitching staff in the short term. Molitor said if Saturday's game is rained out, he'd rather have a doubleheader on Sunday with Thursday's off-day looming instead of hosting one the next time the Royals come to town from Sept He heard reports about Saturday's forecast, but Molitor remains hopeful they'll find a window to play. "I know it's out there," he said. "I don't know if it'll be as bad as the other day. I'm not sure if there are breaks in it. I hope so. We'd have to bounce back Sunday or push it back later in the summer and we already have three lined up." GM Thad Levine explains the key to Jose Berrios breakout success with Twins Derek Wetmore ESPN 1500 May 19, 2017 Jose Berrios dazzled Rockies hitters and Twins fans alike on Thursday, in just his second start in the big leagues this season. He struggled in 14 starts last year, and despite outstanding minor league stats, Berrios posted an ERA higher than 8.00 with the Twins. This year things look different. Berrios pitched 7 2/3 dominant innings Thursday at Target Field, allowing just 2 hits and no earned runs, to go with his 11 strikeouts and just 1 walk. For the seasons, the young right-hander from Puerto Rico is 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 15 1/3 innings, and owns a 15:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. What s led to the stark turnaround? Well, it begins with hard work from Berrios himself. He works methodically on his conditioning, and after being humbled last year, his confidence, at least outwardly, didn t seem to waver. After he failed to make the team out of spring training, the Twins got a group to together and devised a plan for Berrios. They challenged him to throw more quality strikes inside the strike zone. We gave him some challenges down in Triple-A and he embraced them, and he s come up and it s really translated into a lot of success, Twins GM Thad Levine said in a radio interview on 1500ESPN Friday. What he did [Thursday] was exceptional. A group comprising pitching coach Neil Allen, bullpen coach Eddie Guardado, manager Paul Molitor, CBO Derek Falvey, Levine, other pitching guys within the organization had a meeting of the minds to help Berrios reach his full potential. We devised a plan for him, Levine explained. A huge part of his success in the minor leagues was the ability to miss bats But when you evaluated it a little bit further, we recognized it was from but it was in large regard throwing pitches outside the strike zone. And when he came up the big leagues he wasn t able to get away with those types of things. He was in a lot of hitters counts, and unfortunately big league hitters were taking advantage of that. We really just impressed upon him the importance of throwing quality strikes. [He has great stuff] and he just needed to use it more in the strike zone more often, Levine said. 13