10:00am: The Twins have called up Wade and placed utilityman Willians Astudillo on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain.
7:11am: The Twins are calling up outfield prospect LaMonte Wade Jr. from Triple-A Rochester, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News first suggested Wade would receive a promotion). Wade is already on the Twins’ 40-man roster, though they will need to make a corresponding 25-man move.
The 25-year-old Wade’s first major league call-up comes as first-place Minnesota is dealing with injuries in its outfield. Starting center fielder Byron Buxton and the outfield-capable duo of Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza have all landed on the injured list over the past two weeks. The club also saw No. 1 left fielder Eddie Rosario suffer an ankle sprain in Wednesday’s win over Tampa Bay, though manager Rocco Baldelli indicated afterward it’s not a serious injury, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Wade joined the Twins as a ninth-round pick in 2015. He debuted in Rochester last season and has since posted a .238/.366/.351 line with nine home runs and 11 stolen bases in 590 plate appearances. While that’s not stellar aggregate production, Wade’s plate discipline and on-base skills have opened eyes this year. The lefty swinger has collected more walks (50) than strikeouts (42), which has helped lead to a lofty .395 OBP. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen credited Wade’s walk-drawing ability and “rangy, corner outfield defense” when they ranked him as the Twins’ 16th-best prospect back in April.
Good to see another Terp in the majors.
Nice! Too bad they can’t call up Juan Dixon or Lonnie Baxter
I’m surprised they didn’t call up Brent Rooker.
I don’t think rooker is on the 40 man
and Rooker isn’t very good in the outfield.
For a powerful lineup that obviously lacks true OBP guys (other than Kepler), it’s nice to finally see both Arraez and Wade get their chances.
If you consider the Twins record, that should prove that powerful lineups are better true OBP guys. They still decide the winner of games based on who scores the most runs, not who gets on base the most. At least they do until Manfred changes that too.
Gotta get on base to score. Of the teams that are at or below MLB average for OBP, only one is in the top 15 for runs scored per game. That’s Oakland and they are 14th.
I really look forward to seeing Kiriloff soon.
You won’t for a while, he just spent two weeks on the IL and that was after spending a month on the IL to start the year. The Twins will want him getting AB’s everyday so he’ll be in the minors all year until maybe September but even then I doubt it because they probably wont need him and why waste service time if you dont have to?
Yeah I know. I get it about the rules and all. And My man is pretty fragile. But he can rake. That’s bottom line.
I don’t believe September callups count towards service time, but I may be wrong.
I believe they do…..
i dont think the players association would be happy about that.
Correct, they do count.
I stand corrected. Thanks. I guess I was thinking that since the days on active roster in September don’t count towards the 45 day limit to lose rookie eligibility, that the rules with arb service time followed the same guidelines.
Kiriloff won’t be seen until the end of next year, I’d expect. He’s lost way too much time this year already, and he’s barely getting a feel for AA right now.
That sucks too because he’d be itching for a spot late this year sans injuries. Hopefully he can avoid the plague next year. What’s anyone’s take on Keoni Cavaco? Not to get off subject but jw
Kirilloff’s been essentially holding his own against AA pitching. Whether it’s from nagging injuries or needing to make an adjustment, he needs another 200 PA of dominating before I think the Twins would move him up to AAA. Since Kirilloff has struggled, I can’t see a possibility the Twins would skip AAA, either.
Nobody knows anything tangible about Cavaco. Looks like an athletic lottery ticket which is just what you’d expect from a draft pick.
Wow thanks for all the info man. I watched a few Cavaco vids and they all seemed to highlight the obvious (HR’s, etc.). Maybe teams are taking more high end gambles on these ‘athletic lottery tickets’ considering how the Jo Adell situation has worked out
Well, it’s not like I provided a ton of insight, lol. The vast majority of high school position players are going to be considered an athletic lottery tickets by nature as they generally take at least 3-6 years to make MLB.
Cavaco was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Twins, which is the lowest of the Rookie Ball leagues (the Elizabethon Twins are considered a step up in Rookie Ball) and the Twins have been playing him at shortstop. Prospects who are considered advanced generally start at Low-A, which would be the Cedar Rapids Kernals for the Twins. The bottom line is the Twins appear to feel he’s really raw right now, and that’s to be expected considering his draft position and age.
I wouldn’t expect to see him in Low A until next year even if Cavaco really does well. A fairly aggressive timeline might be:
2019 – GCL (R)
2020 – APL (R) / Low A
2021 – Low A / High A
2022 – High A / AA
2023 – AA / AAA
2024 – AAA / MLB
I think Wade is being brought up to showcase him for a trade. He doesn’t really fit into the Twins’ outfield unless they trade Cave, and Wade isn’t a preferred choice to play CF.
Really nice to see him up, though. He’s been a fun player to follow in the minors with that walk to strike out ratio, and up until AAA, a high batting average as well.
Cave is horrible. Long looping swing. Must have learned from LoMo last year.
Cave is horrible? You mean like horrible as in better than the average hitter in MLB last year while also playing a defensive premium position horrible? Or maybe hitting 30% better than the average player in AAA this year horrible? Perhaps it’s horrible as in having never been a below average for his level hitter in his 8 year pro career until this small sample size.
Cave probably isn’t a good long term option as a starting outfielder, but he’s hardly horrible. At the worst, he looks like a competent, low cost, controllable 4th outfielder.
You didn’t mention the long looping swing that he chuckingly learned from Logan Morrison last year. That swing is horrible.
It will be nice to see Kirloff in Washington and Scherzer with the Twins. Go get em Falvey!
I don’t see the pohlads taking on his kind of contract. Maybe someone cheap and controllable. I think they know the rotation will be very different next year. If they can fix it now they will.
$20 + million is a lot when their getting production out of properly scouted players for cheap.
Still odo, Perez, and Pineda could very bell be gone next year. Graterol is still a couple years out. Maybe Stewart gets a longer look next year, but it’s pretty rough. Some that looked to knocking the door last year have taken steps back.
I’d be cool with a rental like madbum, but it would be nice to snag a longer term piece. Miami says they’re willing to sell, but those pieces might be way too young.
Would’ve preferred to see Jaylin Davis or Brent Rooker but the 40-man likely weighed heavily into the decision.