With the minor-league season now turning the calendar to May, we take a look at the past week for our second installment of the Twins' minor-league stars of the week, which identifies the top pitcher and catcher at each of Minnesota's four main minor-league affiliates: Triple-A Rochester, Double-A New Britain, High-A Fort Myers and Low-A Cedar Rapids. This week's FOXSportsNorth.com Minor League Player of the Week is Chattanooga first baseman Dalton Hicks, who put on a power display in the past week.
TRIPLE-A ROCHESTER
Player of the Week: OF Aaron Hicks
2015 stats: .310/.398/.493, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 2 SB
Recent highlights: Hicks began the season at Triple-A Rochester after failing to make the Twins' 25-man roster. Minnesota wanted the 25-year-old Hicks to find consistency at the plate, something he couldn't do in his first two major-league seasons. He's done exactly that thus far with Rochester. Entering Friday, Hicks is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak -- he's hitting .400 during that stretch, several of which were attended by Twins general manager Terry Ryan. Hicks has only had two games out of 18 this year that he hasn't reached base, an encouraging sign for an organization that has been waiting for Hicks to figure things out offensively.
Twins GM Terry Ryan said: "He had a couple real good games, and he had a couple that weren't so good. There was a game that he drove the ball well, took three quality at-bats. Not singles; they were extra-base hits, which was encouraging. Maybe more encouraging is they were from the left side of the plate, which is a good thing."
Pitcher of the Week: LHP Taylor Rogers
2015 stats: 2-0, 2.00 ERA, 23 K, 10 BB in 27 IP
Recent highlights: Rogers, an 11th-round pick from the University of Kentucky back in 2011, has found success early in his first season at Triple-A Rochester. His most recent outing came on Monday against Columbus, in which Rogers allowed just one run and only two hits over eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.00 through four starts. Rogers has struck out at least six batters in three of his four outings.
DOUBLE-A CHATTANOOGA
Player of the Week: 1B Dalton Hicks
2015 stats: .333/.436/.576, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 2B in 18 games
Recent highlights: Hicks has been on a powerful streak over the past week. All three of his home runs this season have come since Saturday, and he homered on back-to-back days Saturday and Sunday against Tennessee. Hicks also had a four RBI game on Tuesday in Chattanooga's 7-6 loss to the Smokies. This is the first season at Double-A for the former Central Florida product.
Pitcher of the Week: RHP Zack Jones
2015 stats: 0-0, 1.29 ERA, 13 K, 1 BB, 5 saves in 7 games
Recent highlights: While Chattanooga's starting pitchers struggled a bit this past week, the Lookouts' bullpen was solid. That effort was anchored by Jones, Chattanooga's closer, who had three saves in the last week. In those three outings he allowed just one base runner -- a walk -- and struck out three. Jones is averaging nearly two strikeouts an inning (13 K in 7 IP). A fourth-round pick out of San Jose State back in 2012, Jones is in his first season at the Double-A level. So far, so good for the right-hander.
HIGH-A FORT MYERS
Player of the Week: OF Chad Christensen
2015 stats: .288/.365/.394, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 2B in 17 games
Recent highlights: Fort Myers' offense has continued to struggle -- the Miracle rank dead last in the Florida State league in batting average (.217) and are second-to-last in runs scored (69) -- Christensen has found some consistency at the plate. Over his last six games, Christensen is batting .357 (10-for-28) with a home run. This marks his first season at High-A Fort Myers after playing for Low-A Cedar Rapids last year.
Pitcher of the Week: RHP Chih-Wei Hu
2015 stats: 3-0, 1.50 ERA, 28 K, 3 BB in 24 IP
Recent highlights: Hu is the first player to repeat as a star of the week, as he was also Fort Myers' pitcher of the week last week. It's hard to argue with the results the Taiwan native is having, though. His latest start Thursday against Charlotte in which he struck out eight and gave up just one run on four hits in six innings to earn his third straight victory. Hu's WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is down to 0.71 on the season, tops among all Fort Myers starters.
LOW-A CEDAR RAPIDS
Player of the Week: CF Zach Granite
2015 stats: .358/.463/.463, 5 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B in 19 games
Recent highlights: Granite, a 14th-round pick in 2013, is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, during which he's hitting .361 (13-for-36). That average has been even better over the last week as he's batted .400 (8-for-20) in his last six games. Granite's strong play early in the season earned him a promotion -- he was elevated to High-A Fort Myers on Friday.
Pitcher of the Week: RHP Felix Jorge
2015 stats: 1-1, 1.50 ERA, 24 K, 5 BB in 18 IP
Recent highlights: No pitcher was a clear standout for Cedar Rapids this week, but Jorge gets the nod almost as much for his recent outing as for his entire body of work so far this season. Jorge earned the loss on Saturday against Kane County, but he wasn't helped out much by his offense as the Kernels lost 2-1. In that start, the 21-year-old Jorge struck out five and allowed just four hits in six innings.
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
