Young Twins Tracker: April 28 edition

By foxsports
Published

Top prospect Miguel Sano is contributing at the major-league level after years of anticipation, while prospective ace Jose Berrios has finally arrived. Others such as Byron Buxton and Max Kepler are knocking on the door, while others are working their way through the minors.

Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports North will take a closer look at some specific young players -- as well as noting others who might be stepping up -- measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress. Please note the glossary of advanced stats at the bottom of the story.

This is the second edition of the Young Twins Tracker.

IN THE MAJORS

Jose Berrios (age 21)

Season (Triple-A): 3 games (3 starts), 2-0, 1.06 ERA, 17.0 IP, 0.941 WHIP, 8 H, 0 HR, 8 BB, 20 K

Season (MLB): 1 game (1 start), 0-1, 11.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2.0 WHIP, 6 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 K

Notable: Berrios made his MLB debut on Wednesday, starting in a 6-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Alex Meyer (age 26)

Season (Triple-A): 3 games (2 starts), 1-1, 1.04 ERA, 17.1 IP, 0.865 WHIP, 11 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 19 K

Notable: Meyer was called up by the Twins on Monday.

Jorge Polanco (age 22)

Last week: 3 games, 5 AB, .200 BA, .286 OBP, .400 SLG, .686 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 0 SO

Season (MLB): 4 games, 8 PA, .167 BA, .250 OBP, .333 SLG, .583 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 0 SO, 63 OPS+, .143 BAbip, -0.0 WAR.

Notable: Polanco has appeared in four games for the Twins this season, and was recalled alongside Berrios on Monday.

Eddie Rosario (age 23)

Last week: 6 games, 27 AB, 3 R, 7 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 7 SO, .259 BA, .259 OBP, .370 SLG

Season: 20 games, 77 PA, .208 BA, .240 OBP, .361 SLG, .601 OPS, 2 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 8 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 3 BB, 9 K, .245 BAbip, 67 OPS+, -0.5 WAR.

Notable: Rosario homered in Minnesota's 6-5 win over Cleveland on Tuesday.

Miguel Sano (age 22)

Last week: 7 games, 26 AB, 3 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 11 SO, .308 BA, .455 OBP, .577 SLG

Season: 22 games, 93 PA, .247 BA, .376 OBP, .403 SLG, .779 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 8 R, 10 RBI, 0 SB, 16 BB, 31 SO, 120 OPS+, .372 BAbip, 0.1 WAR.

Season: Sano notched the game-winning hit in a 6-5 win over Cleveland on Tuesday, the first of his career.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Nick Burdi (age 23/Double-A)

Last week: 2 games (0 starts), 1-0, 9.00 ERA, 2 IP, 1.50 WHIP, 2 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 1 K, .250 OBA

Season: 2 games (0 starts), 1-0, 9.00 ERA, 2 IP, 1.50 WHIP, 2 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 1 K, .250 OBA

Notable: Returned from the disabled list last Friday and threw a scoreless inning Saturday. Gave up two runs in one inning on Monday.

Byron Buxton (age 22/Triple-A)

Last week (Triple-A, MLB): 5 games, 24 AB, 3 R, 5 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 12 K

Season (Triple-A): 2 games, 12 AB, .250 BA, .250 OBP, .333 SLG, .583 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 3 K

Season (MLB): 17 games, 49 PA, .156 BA, .208 OBP, .289 SLG, .497 OPS, 4 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 5 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 2 BB, 24 K, 38 OPS+, .333 BAbip, -0.0 WAR.

Notable: The Twins optioned Buxton to Rochester on Monday after he struck out in nine of his 12 major-league at-bats this past week.

Stephen Gonsalves (age 21/High Single-A)

Last week: 1 games (1 starts), 1-0, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Season: 4 games (4 starts), 2-1, 1.44 ERA, 25 IP, 0.72 WHIP, 12 H, 2 HR, 6 BB, 24 K, .141 OBA

Notable: In his last 20 innings, Gonsalves has allowed just one earned run and six hits while striking out 18.

Nick Gordon (age 20/High Single-A)

Last week: 5 games, 20 AB, 2 R, 7 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K

Season: 18 games, 75 AB, .333 BA, .367 OBP, .467 SLG, .834 OPS, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI, 4 SB, 3 BB, 13 K.

Notable: Gordon reached base in four of five plate appearances Tuesday.

Tyler Jay (age 22/High Single-A)

Last week: 1 games (1 starts), 0-1, 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER 0 HR, 3 BB, 6 K

Season: 3 games (3 starts), 1-1, 3.60 ERA, 15 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 11 H, 2 HR, 7 BB, 17 K, .193 OBA

Notable: Jay made  just his third career start this past week after spending 2015 as a relief pitcher.

Max Kepler (age 22/Triple-A)

Last week (Triple-A, MLB): 5 games, 13 AB, 2 R, 1 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K

Season (Triple-A): 4 games, 14 AB, .071 BA, .211 OBP, .071 SLG, .282 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 1 K

Season (MLB): 9 games, 14 PA, .167 BA, .286 OBP, .333 SLG, .619 OPS, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 2 BB, 5 K, 74 OPS+, .286 BAbip, 0.1 WAR.

Notable: The Twins also optioned Kepler to Rochester on Monday after he went 1-5 with a double in the majors this past week.

Kohl Stewart (age 21/High Single-A)

Last week: 1 games (1 starts), 1-0, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER 0 HR, 3 BB, 5 K

Season: 4 games (4 starts), 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 23.1 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 14 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 26 K, .171 OBA

Notable: Stewart has a 4.33 strike out to walk ratio.

Adam Walker (age 24/Triple-A)

Last week: 6 games, 26 AB, 5 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 11 K

Season: 12 games, 48 AB, .250 BA, .280 OBP, .479 SLG, .759 OPS, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB, 2 BB, 19 K.

Notable: Had four hits with three RBI on Tuesday. Struck out six times in his past two games.

A glossary of some of the advanced statistics used:

OPS: On base percentage + slugging percentage

OPS+: OPS compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark

sOPS+: OPS for the split (in our case the last 7 days) compared to the league's split OPS (100 being average).

BAbip: Batting average on balls in play.

WHIP: Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched.

ERA+: ERA compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark

FIP: Fielding Independent Pitching. Measures a pitcher's effectiveness at presenting home runs, walks and hit by pitches while causing strikeouts. The MLB average FIP is the same as the MLB average ERA.

WAR: Wins Above Replacement value. Represents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player would add (we are using WAR from baseball-reference.com).

Statistics courtesy baseball-reference.com and milb.com