Young Twins Tracker: Kepler walks off Red Sox

By foxsports
Published

The Minnesota Twins are reshaping their franchise with an injection of youth and prospects.

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 ninth edition of the Young Twins Tracker.

IN THE MAJORS

Byron Buxton (age 22)

Last week: 7 games, 26 PA, 24 AB, .167 BA, .231 OBP, .375 SLG, .606 OPS

Season (Triple-A): 29 games, 129 PA, .336 BA, .403 OBP, .603 SLG, 1.007 OPS, 9 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 4 SB, 11 BB, 26 SO

Season (MLB): 32 G, 107 PA, 99 AB, .212 BA, .248 OBP, .374 SLG, .621 OPS, 11 R, 21 H, 7 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 SB, 4 BB, 42 SO, 66 OPS+, 0.1 WAR, .351 BAbip

Notable: Buxton hit his first home run of the season on Monday, a line drive to left field in the sixth inning.

 

Max Kepler (age 22)

Last week: 7 games, 28 PA, 25 AB, .240 BA, .321 OBP, .440 SLG, .761 OPS

Season (Triple-A): 30 G, 128 PA, 110 AB, .282 BA, .367 OBP, .455 SLG, .822 OPS, 16 R, 31 H, 4 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB, 16 BB, 14 SO

Season (MLB): 23 G, 67 PA, 60 AB, .200 BA, .284 OBP, .333 SLG, .617 OPS, 5 R, 12 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 0 SB, 7 BB, 18 SO, 68 OPS+, 0.2 WAR, .268 BAbip

Notable: Kepler's first major-league homer was a big one, as Kepler walked off the Boston Red Sox on Sunday with a three-run shot in the 10th inning.

 

Miguel Sano (age 22)

Last week: N/A

Season: 50 G, 211 PA, 179 AB, .235 BA, .341 OBP, .458 SLG, .799 OPS, 25 R, 42 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 11 HR, 27 RBI, 1 SB, 29 BB, 71 SO, 117 OPS+, 0.9 WAR, .313 BAbip

Notable: Sano remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, but encouraging reports suggest that he's making progress.

 

DOWN ON THE FARM

Jose Berrios (age 22/Triple-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 1-0, 5 ER, 6.1 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K

Season (Triple-A): 8 games (8 starts), 47 2/3 IP 5-2, 3.59 ERA, 1.217 WHIP, 9.6 K/9

Notable: Berrios pitched for the first time since June 6 on Saturday, allowing five runs on seven hits through 6 1/3 innings of work against the Toledo Mud Hens. "La Machina" logged five strikeouts against just two walks.

 

Nick Burdi (age 23/Double-A)

Last week: N/A

Season: 3 games (no starts), 1-0, 9.00 ERA, 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1.32 WHIP

Notable: The Chattanooga Lookouts placed Burdi on the seven-day disabled list May 5 for a bone bruise on his right arm. He hasn't pitched since April 28.

 

Stephen Gonsalves (age 21/High Single-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 8 K

Season: 11 games (11 starts), 65 2/3 IP 5-4, 2.33 ERA, 43 H, 19 R, 2 HR, 20 BB, 66 K, 0.959 WHIP

Notable: Gonsalves matched his season high with eight strikeouts in a loss to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, while his 2.33 ERA is second amongst Fort Myers' starters.

 

Nick Gordon (age 20/High Single-A)

Last week: 6 games, 24 AB, 7 H, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 6 SO, 1 SB, .292 BA

Season: 53 games, 210 AB, .286 BA, .336 OBP, .405 SLG, .741 OPS, 24 R, 60 H, 11 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 9 SB, 11 BB, 43 SO

Notable: Gordon remains the Miracle's leader in hits (60) and triples (4), while he now ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.405).

 

Tyler Jay (age 22/High Single-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 3 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Season: 11 games (11 starts), 60 2/3 IP, 56 H, 21 R, 5 HR, 18 BB, 61 K, 2.97 ERA

Notable: It was a rough week for Jay, who made it through just three innings in a loss to Lakeland, his worst start of the season.

 

Alex Meyer (age 26/Triple-A)

Last week: N/A

Season (Triple-A): 3 games (2 starts), 1-1, 1.04 ERA, 17 1/3 IP, 0.865 WHIP, 11 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 19 K

Season (MLB): 2 games (1 starts), 1-1, 12.27 ERA, 3 2/3 IP, 3.273 WHIP, 8 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 15 K

Notable: Rochester placed Meyer on the seven-day disabled list last Friday with right shoulder inflammation. He hasn't pitched in a game since his May 3 start for the Twins.

 

Jorge Polanco (age 22)

Last week: 6 games, 22 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SO, .136 BA

Season (Triple-A): 35 G, 131 AB, .298 BA, .367 OBP, .473 SLG, .840 OPS, 15 R, 39 H, 7 2B,  5 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 16 BB, 26 SO

Season (MLB): 13 games, 32 PA, .231 BA, .344 OBP, .462 SLG, .805 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 4 BB, 3 K, 120 OPS+, .217 BAbip, 0.3 WAR.

Notable: Polanco's connected for just three hits in six games last week, his worst slump since his move back to Triple-A in late May.

 

Eddie Rosario (age 24/Triple-A)

Last week: 5 games, 16 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 3 SO, 1 SB, .375 BA

Season (Triple-A): 24 games, 97 AB, .330 BA, .353 OBP, .557 SLG, .910 OPS, 32 H, 10 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 16 R, 16 RBI, 2 SB, 4 BB, 15 SO

Season (MLB): 32 games, 121 PA, .200 BA, .218 OBP, .313 SLG, .532 OPS, 4 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 15 R, 9 RBI, 3 SB, 3 BB, 31 K, .244 BAbip, 45 OPS+, -0.7 WAR

Notable: Rosario has now reached base in 11 straight games, and continues to excel at the Triple-A level.

 

Kohl Stewart (age 21/Double-A)

Last week: 2 game (2 start), 1-1, 0.71 ERA, 12 2/3 IP, 10 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 K

Season (Single-A): 9 games (9 starts), 3-2, 2.61 ERA, 51 2/3 IP, 39 H, 19 R, 2 HR, 19 BB, 44 K, 1.12 WHIP

Season (Double-A): 3 games (3 starts), 1-1, 3.14 ERA, 14 1/3 IP, 14 H, 8 R, 1 HR, 4 BB, 9 K, 1.256 WHIP

Notable: After logging just five outs in his first Double-A start Stewart put together a pair of solid outings last week, pitching into the sixth inning.

 

Adam Walker (age 24/Triple-A)

Last week: 5 games, 17 AB, 5 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 9 SO, 1 SB, .294 BA

Season (Triple-A): 55 games, 193 AB, 42 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 29 R, 31 RBI, 22 BB, 96 SO, 3 SB, .218 BA

Notable: Walker is now tied for the International League lead in home runs with 13.

 

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