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 fourth edition of the Young Twins Tracker.
IN THE MAJORS
Jose Berrios (age 21)
Last week: 1 games (1 start), 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K, .381 OBA, .409 OBP, .762 SLG, 1.800 WHIP, 209 sOPS+, .462 BAbip,
Season: 6 games (6 starts), 3-1, 3.45 ERA, 31 1/3 IP, 1.309 WHIP, 11.2 K/9, .223 OBA, .336 OBP, .375 SLG
Notable: Berrios allowed one run over his first four innings Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles before yielding back-to-back home runs to Manny Machado and Adam Jones. He displayed his best control to date in the major leagues, walking just one batter while throwing 61 strikes on 93 pitches.
Jorge Polanco (age 22)
Last week: 3 games, 9 PA, 0 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, .167 BA, .444 OBP, .333 SLG, .778 OPS, 117 sOPS+, .250 BAbip
Season: 8 games, 18 PA, .154 BA, .333 OBP, .308 SLG, .641 OPS, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 2 K, 81 OPS+, .167 BAbip, -0.1 WAR.
Notable: Polanco was awarded an RBI this past Saturday when Chris Sale hit him with a pitch with the bases loaded. He also doubled in the Twins' 7-2 loss to the White Sox for his only hit of the week.
Eddie Rosario (age 24)
Last week: 3 games, 11 PA, .273 BA, .273 OBP, .364 SLG, .636 OPS, 72 sOPS+, .333 BAbip
Season: 27 games, 102 PA, .198 BA, .220 OBP, .323 SLG, .543 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 11 R, 7 RBI, 2 SB, 3 BB, 24 K, .229 BAbip, 48 OPS+, -0.6 WAR.
Notable: Rosario has hit safely in his past four games and scored in his past two. Still, he's nowhere near his .267/.289/.459 slash line of last season.
Miguel Sano (age 23)
Last week: 5 games, 20 PA, .105 BA, .100 OBP, .263 SLG, .363 OPS, -6 sOPS+, .077 BAbip
Season: 33 games, 138 PA, .227 BA, .326 OBP, .378 SLG, .704 OPS, 6 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 14 R, 13 RBI, 0 SB, 18 BB, 45 K, 96 OPS+, .324 BAbip, -0.3 WAR.
Notable: He hit a solo homer on his 23rd birthday Wednesday but that was just one of two hits last week and his first homer in 16 games.
DOWN ON THE FARM
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 on May 5 for a bone bruise on his right humerus.
Byron Buxton (age 22/Triple-A)
Last week: 7 games, 28 AB, 9 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 8 R, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 SB, .321 BA
Season: 32 games, 127 AB, .250 BA, .310 OBP, .440 SLG, .749 OPS, 9 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 20 R, 10 RBI, 3 SB, 9 BB, 41 K.
Notable: Buxton had arguably his best week of the season and, times perhaps most importantly, struck out just five times. He has three straight multi-hit games and homered this past Sunday.
Stephen Gonsalves (age 21/Single-A)
Last week: 1 game (1 starts), 6 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA.
Season: 6 games (6 starts), 4-1, 1.21 ERA, 37 1/3 IP, 0.830 WHIP, 18 H, 2 HR, 13 BB, 35 K, .143 OBA.
Notable: Gonsalves dominated in his lone start this past week, picking up his third straight win. He's allowed just one run over his past 18 1/3 innings.
Nick Gordon (age 20/Single-A)
Last week: 1 game, 3 AB, 1 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K, .333 BA.
Season: 24 games, 97 AB, .309 BA, .350 OBP, .443 SLG, .793 OPS, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 15 R, 10 RBI, 4 SB, 4 BB, 18 K.
Notable: Came off the seven-day disabled list Wednesday and went 1-for-3 while playing shortstop.
Tyler Jay (age 22/Single-A)
Last week: 1 game (1 starts), 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA.
Season: 6 games (6 starts), 3-2, 3.03 ERA, 32 2/3 IP, 1.194 WHIP, 29 H, 2 HR, 10 BB, 30 K, .232 OBA.
Notable: Hasn't allowed a run in his past two starts (13 1/3 innings) and has won them both, after losing two straight in late April.
Alex Meyer (age 26/Triple-A)
Last week: N/A
Season: 5 games (3 starts), 1-2, 3.00 ERA, 21 IP, 1.286 WHIP, 19 H, 1 HR, 8 BB, 24 K, .241 OBA.
Notable: Has not pitched since the Twins optioned him to Rochester.
Kohl Stewart (age 21/Single-A)
Last week: 1 games (1 start), 0-1, 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2.84 ERA.
Season: 6 games (6 starts), 2-1, 2.08 ERA, 34 2/3 IP, 0.981 WHIP, 24 H, 1 HR, 10 BB, 33 K, .192 OBA.
Notable: Allowed a season-high seven hits in his loss this past week, facing a 26 batters and throwing 101 pitches.
Adam Walker (age 24/Triple-A)
Last week: 7 games, 22 AB, 3 H, 2 R, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 11 K, .136 BA.
Season: 27 games, 96 AB, .219 BA, .290 OBP, .406 SLG, .696 OPS, 4 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 13 R, 10 RBI, 2 SB, 10 BB, 44 K.
Notable: Has hit safely in his past three games though has struck out six times. Batting just .200 with 19 strikeouts in 11 games in May.
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
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