Buddy Boshers didn't last long on that callup. He pitched Sunday -- long enough that he wouldn't be available for a day or two -- and was shipped back down Monday. Nick Tepesch was called up, and Ryan O'Rourke was put on the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.
Tepesch was apparently nearing his opt-out date. He was putting up better numbers than Boshers in Rochester, and he's a better fit for the long man role anyway.
O'Rourke is making little progress with his arm injury and is to get a second opinion today from the Rangers team doctor. The lefty hasn't pitched off a mound in six weeks.
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MLB issued a one-game suspension for Miguel Sano.for his role in Saturday's fracus. He's appealing the suspension, so that's in abbyance.
What frequently happens in these cases is that the Twins and Sano will pick a game that they plan to rest him in anyway and drop the appeal. Reading between the lines, that may not happen this time. They may think they have a legitimate chance to win that appeal.
I do find it amusing that the Twins TV crew seems absolutely intent on ignoring the underlying trigger of the sequence of events: Justin Haley hitting JaCoby Jones in the face with a pitch. Matt Boyd at least kept his pitch below the shoulders.
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Chih-Wei Hu, the Taiwanese righty the Twins signed, then traded as a Class A pitcher to Tampa Bay for Kevin Jepsen in 2015, made his major league debut Monday. I wish him well; I said at the time of the trade that I was lukewarm on it, having already made an emotional investment in Hu after seeing his Low A debut in 2014 while recognizing the Twins need for immediate bullpen help at the time. It was, and remains, a justifiable trade.
The Twins got what they were after in 2015 from Jepsen; he almost got them into the playoffs. He crashed and burned the next year, of course, and he doesn't appear to be in organized ball this year.
Showing posts with label Chih-Wei Hu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chih-Wei Hu. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Monday, July 4, 2016
Goodbye, Jepsen (and Hu)
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| Kevin Jepsen: Walks up, strikeouts down, ERA bloated. |
I have nothing good to say about Jepsen's pitching this season. He was every bit as bad as his 6.16 ERA suggests. Of course, he was very good last season when the Twins really needed somebody to step up in the late innings.
The Twins twitterverse the past week or so had a number of people bemoaning and second-guessing last year's trade in which the Twins surrendered Chih-Wei Hu and another minor leaguer for Jepsen. At the time I pronounced myself lukewarm about the trade, and by the offseason deemed it the right thing to have done even though the Twins missed the playoffs.
Today it's more difficult to defend the trade. Hu is having a fine season at Double A and is to pitch for the World Game in the Futures Game on Sunday. And Jepsen ... well, the Twins are going to pay him more than $2 million not to pitch for them the rest of the year.
But had the Twins not made that trade, the same people complaining today about giving up Hu would have been complaining last year about the lack of a move. The Twins took a risk in hopes of making the playoffs. Jepsen did what they needed him to do in 2015, and they still missed.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Notes from the weekend
I said last week that the Monday print column would be about the trade of Oswaldo Arcia, and so it is. A tangent or two I didn't follow in that piece:
I expected that Tampa Bay would try to protect its pitchers by restricting Arcia to designated hitter. But his first two games with the Rays came in right field.
Arcia drove in four runs in those two games. The Rays lost them both anyway; they have lost 11 in a row, a depth even the Twins haven't plumbed this year.
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One of my first thoughts at the news that Arcia had been traded to Tampa Bay for a player to be named was: "Maybe they can get Hu back."
Chih-Wei Hu is the Taiwanese right-hander the Twins sacrificed last year to get Kevin Jepsen from the Rays. I hadn't checked in on him this year, so that thought prompted a stat check.
Conclusion: Not very likely. Hu, now 22, plays for Montgomery in the Double A Southern League (same league the Twins have their Double A affiliate in), and he put up a 2.34 ERA in his first 13 starts. He also has one Triple A appearance, which didn't go as well as his one Triple A appearance last year did.
Arcia will have to be mighty productive in Tampa Bay to merit an upper-level prospect as productive as Hu has been.
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Tyler Duffey had been pretty brutal in recent starts, but he sure had a good one Sunday: two hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in eight innings.
Whatever inclination the Twins might have had to move Duffey out of the rotation has probably been shut down now.
I expected that Tampa Bay would try to protect its pitchers by restricting Arcia to designated hitter. But his first two games with the Rays came in right field.
Arcia drove in four runs in those two games. The Rays lost them both anyway; they have lost 11 in a row, a depth even the Twins haven't plumbed this year.
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One of my first thoughts at the news that Arcia had been traded to Tampa Bay for a player to be named was: "Maybe they can get Hu back."
Chih-Wei Hu is the Taiwanese right-hander the Twins sacrificed last year to get Kevin Jepsen from the Rays. I hadn't checked in on him this year, so that thought prompted a stat check.
Conclusion: Not very likely. Hu, now 22, plays for Montgomery in the Double A Southern League (same league the Twins have their Double A affiliate in), and he put up a 2.34 ERA in his first 13 starts. He also has one Triple A appearance, which didn't go as well as his one Triple A appearance last year did.
Arcia will have to be mighty productive in Tampa Bay to merit an upper-level prospect as productive as Hu has been.
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Tyler Duffey had been pretty brutal in recent starts, but he sure had a good one Sunday: two hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in eight innings.
Whatever inclination the Twins might have had to move Duffey out of the rotation has probably been shut down now.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
From the Prospect Handbook: Chih-Wei Hu
Last summer the Twins traded Chih-Wei Hu, a right-handed pitcher from Taiwan, and another minor league arm to Tampa Bay for Kevin Jepsen. Jepsen fit an immediate purpose for the Twins, and he figures to be a crucial component in their 2016 bullpen. Hu put up good numbers for Fort Myers in the Florida State League and then spluttered when he shifted to the Tampa Bay affiliate in the same circuit,
Hu did not make the Twins Top 30 (or 31) list last winter. He's No. 16 on the Rays list in this year's Handbook. Baseball America grades him as a "50 High" -- the 50 is on the scouting scale of 20 to 80, and the "high" refers to his risk. (No pitcher in A ball is going to have a risk rating lower than "high.") 50 High is the same grade BA gives Twins pitching prospects Kohl Stewart, Steven Gonsalves and Nick Burdi, who rate as the Twins No, 8, 9 and 10 prospects.
The grade suggests that Hu, had the Twins retained him, would rank somewhere between No. 8 and No. 16 in the Twins system. Nos. 14 and 15, Taylor Rogers and J.T. Chargois, are graded as "45 Medium," meaning that their ceilings are a bit lower but they are more advanced, but it's still an equivalent grade; No. 16, Adam Brett Walker, is a 45 High, and Hu would clearly go above him.
My subjective guess is that Hu would have been put lower in the Twins group -- somewhere with Rogers and Chargois rather than with Stewart and Gonsalves. The Rays have a good and deep farm system; prospects with an equivalent grade to Hu can be found as low as No. 22 in the Tampa Bay list.
I liked Hu when I saw him make his Cedar Rapids debut in 2014. While trading him for Jepsen was a certainly the right move given the Twins situation last July and remains a defensible move, there's a decent chance the Twins will someday wish they'd given up somebody else in that deal.
Hu did not make the Twins Top 30 (or 31) list last winter. He's No. 16 on the Rays list in this year's Handbook. Baseball America grades him as a "50 High" -- the 50 is on the scouting scale of 20 to 80, and the "high" refers to his risk. (No pitcher in A ball is going to have a risk rating lower than "high.") 50 High is the same grade BA gives Twins pitching prospects Kohl Stewart, Steven Gonsalves and Nick Burdi, who rate as the Twins No, 8, 9 and 10 prospects.
The grade suggests that Hu, had the Twins retained him, would rank somewhere between No. 8 and No. 16 in the Twins system. Nos. 14 and 15, Taylor Rogers and J.T. Chargois, are graded as "45 Medium," meaning that their ceilings are a bit lower but they are more advanced, but it's still an equivalent grade; No. 16, Adam Brett Walker, is a 45 High, and Hu would clearly go above him.
My subjective guess is that Hu would have been put lower in the Twins group -- somewhere with Rogers and Chargois rather than with Stewart and Gonsalves. The Rays have a good and deep farm system; prospects with an equivalent grade to Hu can be found as low as No. 22 in the Tampa Bay list.
I liked Hu when I saw him make his Cedar Rapids debut in 2014. While trading him for Jepsen was a certainly the right move given the Twins situation last July and remains a defensible move, there's a decent chance the Twins will someday wish they'd given up somebody else in that deal.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Hello, Jepsen; good-bye, Hu
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| Chih-Wei Hu with Cedar Rapids in 2014. |
The trade addresses the biggest need on the roster. I'm lukewarm on it only because I had already developed an emotional investment in Hu, who I saw last summer in his full-season league debut in Cedar Rapids. Having been impressed by him before I ever read a scouting report gives me a sense of discovery. (Tapia is a Venezuelan pitching at Elizabethton; I don't know enough about him to say anything beyond: He's a 19-year-old arm in Rookie ball, and good luck with that.)
But really, I cannot complain about this deal. Jepsen isn't a big name, but he does fill an immediate need: He's a power arm who has pitched in late innings for the Angels and the Rays. This is the kind of trade I said Friday morning I was looking for.
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| Kevin Jepsen, 31, has a 2.81 ERA with the Rays this season. |
Having praised Hu, I have a hard time seeing where he would fit in a future Twins rotation. As matters stand, the Twins have seven big-league starters (counting Trevor May in the bullpen and Ricky Nolasco on the disabled list). Of those seven, only Mike Pelfrey is not under team control for not just 2016 but 2017. Plus the Twins have Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey pushing at the door from Triple A. Even at the High-A level where Hu's been so effective this year, the Twins have a bunch of starting prospects -- Eades, Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, Tyler Jay, Aaron Slegers, Mat Batts -- who certainly aren't markedly worse pitchers than Hu and most of whom got bigger bonuses when they signed.
I'm not eager to give up Hu. But this deal helps the chances of the 2015 team snagging that wild card berth, and it doesn't do obvious damage to the long-term outlook.
Later on Friday, the Twins demoted both Danny Santana and Jorge Polanco, a pair of moves that opened roster slots for Jepsen and Trevor Plouffe, back after the birth of his son Teddy. I'll probably use the Monday print column to comment on that.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Following up: Chih-Wei Hu
The news that Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco are going on rehab assignments this week in Cedar Rapids prompted a few minutes thought of darting down to take in some games in CR.
That notion didn't take hold, but I did take a peek at how the Kernels have fared since my trip there last month.
The Kernels were, when I arrived, playing poorly; they were near the bottom of the second-half standings, and they lost the first game I saw.
And then they started winning. It's purely coincidence that their hot streak started while I was there, of course. And the Kernels are now in second place in the division (second half standings), just a half game out of first. (Overall, they're still below .500 for the season, but not by much).
A lot of players had something to do with that streak, but as I reviewed some of the stats my eye was caught by Chih-Wei Hu, the 20-year-old Taiwanese pitcher I saw in the second game of my visit. That game was his first start in the Midwest League, and he got a no-decision. He's had four starts since then, gone six innings in each (as he did in that debut), and gotten the win in each.
He's 4-0, 1.50, with just 18 hits allowed in 30 innings and a very nice 29 strikeouts to just six walks. He has yet to allow a home run. I may be overly impatient, but it doesn't look from those numbers as if Midwest League hitters are presenting much of a challenge for Hu.
Hu has yet to take a loss in pro ball. He was 2-0 last year with the Gulf Coast Twins in the lowest level of U.S. minor leagues, 1-0 with Elizabethton this year before being promoted to Cedar Rapids, and now 4-0 with the Kernels.
Hu doesn't have great velocity, but I heard Brad Steil, the Twins director of minor league operations, on the radio cite his movement and his curve ball and note that he has two changeups. This intrigues me; a lot of pitchers struggle to master one change of pace, and Hu has two different ones.
This, for me, is one of the fun aspects of parachuting into a minor league city and taking in a few games. Hu is not a hyped prospect; as I noted last month, at least seven pitchers on the Cedar Rapids roster got bigger bonuses than he did. But he caught my attention, and if he keeps getting the outs, he'll start getting some attention.
That notion didn't take hold, but I did take a peek at how the Kernels have fared since my trip there last month.
The Kernels were, when I arrived, playing poorly; they were near the bottom of the second-half standings, and they lost the first game I saw.
And then they started winning. It's purely coincidence that their hot streak started while I was there, of course. And the Kernels are now in second place in the division (second half standings), just a half game out of first. (Overall, they're still below .500 for the season, but not by much).
A lot of players had something to do with that streak, but as I reviewed some of the stats my eye was caught by Chih-Wei Hu, the 20-year-old Taiwanese pitcher I saw in the second game of my visit. That game was his first start in the Midwest League, and he got a no-decision. He's had four starts since then, gone six innings in each (as he did in that debut), and gotten the win in each.
He's 4-0, 1.50, with just 18 hits allowed in 30 innings and a very nice 29 strikeouts to just six walks. He has yet to allow a home run. I may be overly impatient, but it doesn't look from those numbers as if Midwest League hitters are presenting much of a challenge for Hu.
Hu has yet to take a loss in pro ball. He was 2-0 last year with the Gulf Coast Twins in the lowest level of U.S. minor leagues, 1-0 with Elizabethton this year before being promoted to Cedar Rapids, and now 4-0 with the Kernels.
Hu doesn't have great velocity, but I heard Brad Steil, the Twins director of minor league operations, on the radio cite his movement and his curve ball and note that he has two changeups. This intrigues me; a lot of pitchers struggle to master one change of pace, and Hu has two different ones.
This, for me, is one of the fun aspects of parachuting into a minor league city and taking in a few games. Hu is not a hyped prospect; as I noted last month, at least seven pitchers on the Cedar Rapids roster got bigger bonuses than he did. But he caught my attention, and if he keeps getting the outs, he'll start getting some attention.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Minor league trip: Chih-Wei Hu
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| Chih-Wei Hu works against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. (Photo by Linda Vanderwerf) |
Hu had a rough introduction to the Midwest League. The Kernels committed three throwing errors in the first inning. One of them was his; the others came from the third baseman and the left fielder. Hu gave up three runs on four hits and all those errors in the first inning, all the runs unearned.
And that was pretty much all he gave up. Hu followed that first inning with five scoreless frames, allowing just one more single and walking one. He struck out five.
In comparison to Ryan Eades, the pitcher the previous night, Hu didn't display the top velocity or the slow speeds that got Eades nine strikeouts. He also gave up fewer hard-hit balls. Hu pounded the strike zone and worked a full inning deeper into the contest.
And the Kernels somehow managed to win a game in which they committed five errors.
The Twins gave Hu a $220,000 bonus when they signed him in 2012, so they have a bit of an investment in him, but he isn't a truly high-profile prospect. Just eyeballing the Kernels roster, I can pick out at least seven pitchers who got bigger bonuses.
Which is fine. It takes a lot of pitchers for an organization to find one viable major leaguer. There's a ghastly attrition rate at this level of the minors.
Hu has a long way to go to beat those odds. Thursday was a step in that direction.
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