Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/4): The Force is Strong with Buxton

[Cody Christie]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

 

Actually these games happened in our galaxy and they took place tonight but it's still May 4th. The major league version of the Twins was hosting a Star Wars themed night including a Phil Hughes bobblehead with him dressed as a Jedi Knight.

 

Down on the farm, there was a trio of games with the Twins affiliates facing off against some of the best young players in the galaxy. Would the Rebels be able to come out victorious? Or would the evil Empire reign supreme?

 

Fire up your light sabers and let's find out.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester- Scheduled Off Day

 

The Red Wings entered their off day on a high note after winning the final two games of their weekend series with Norfolk. Rochester has won seven of their last nine and they currently have a 14-9 record. Entering play on Monday, the team was tied with Pawtucket for second place in the International League North Division, a half game behind Buffalo for first.

 

Of qualifying players, James Beresford leads the team with a .345 batting average. Aaron Hicks is off to a good offensive start as he leads the team in slugging percentage (.494), OPS (.869), triples (3), and RBI (13). Reynaldo Rodriguez has the most doubles with six and Brock Peterson has hit four home runs to lead the team.

 

On the pitching side, Taylor Rogers has pitched the most innings (34.0 IP) and he's tied with Alex Meyer for most strikeouts (28). Pat Dean has the lowest ERA (1.98) and WHIP (1.06) of the Red Wings starters. Before being called up, Michael Tonkin collected five saves out of the bullpen. Lester Oliveros was also been very effective with a 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and 22 strikeouts in only 12 innings.

 

Rochester starts a tough series on Tuesday in Indianapolis, the leaders of the International League West.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 2, Jacksonville 0

Box Score

Earlier in the day on Monday, Byron Buxton was named Southern League Player of the Week. In the last week he raised his average from .190 to .287 and this was part of a seven-game hitting streak. In five of the seven games during the stretch, he recorded multiple hits including one game with two triples and a double. He also stole five bases and scored 11 runs last week which is the highest total in all of minor league baseball in that span.

 

Buxton played hero later in the day as well. After the Lookouts had been held to one hit through eight innings. Buxton stepped into the box with one runner on in the bottom of the ninth. He crushed his third home run of the season to left field for a walk-off home run. Miguel Sano had the only other hit of the night, his third straight game with a hit.

 

DJ Baxendale started the contest and pitched six shutout frames. He had to wiggle out of a few jams with five walks and three hits but he used five strikeouts to help his cause. In three of his five starts this season, he has pitched at least six innings and allowed no runs. D.J. Johnson kept the shutout going with two innings of work. Zack Jones earned his first win with two strikeouts in the ninth inning.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 0, Bradenton 3

Box Score

The Miracle offense struggled on this night as there were no extra base hits and the team went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Fifteen straight batters were sent down at one point. Zach Granite was the lone player with multiple hits. Alex Swim, Chad Christensen and Bryan Haar all added one hit. Swim is in the midst of a nine game hit streak.

 

Luke Westphal was charged with his second loss even though he allowed only one earned run in just over four innings. He danced around eight hits and two walks but limited the runners crossing the plate. Alex Muren tossed 2.2 shutout frames and struck out three. Todd Van Steensel allowed two run on a home run in the eighth inning.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 9, Wisconsin 3

Box Score

The Kernels offense was popping on Monday evening as the team combined for nine runs on nine hits. T.J. White reached base four times and knocked two doubles. Max Murphy drove in three runs as part of a two-hit effort. Jorge Fernandez managed only one hit but it was his first triple. Zack Larson and Trey Vavra both scored a couple of runs.

 

Jared Wilson earned his third victory after going six innings and giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out seven and walked two. Zach Tillery threw two perfect frames with four strikeouts. He's allowed one hit or less in five of his six appearances and every outing has been multiple innings.

 

It was only the second win in the last six games for the Kernels. Cedar Rapids is tied with Burlington for second palce in the Midwest League Western division. Quad Cities sits five games up in the division with only six losses so far.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – DJ Baxendale, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Byron Buxton, Chattanooga Lookouts

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler

Chattanooga- Scheduled Off Day

Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers

Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 CST) - LHP Mat Batts

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games.

 

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[jokin]

Buxton OPS now .880  What a difference a week can make.

[Gagne Fan]

Actually in all 5 of Baxendale's 2015 starts he has not allowed a run, earned or unearned, thru the first 6 innings....he is only 2-0 because the Lookouts average 1 run for his last 4 starts...

Interesting stat, he is the only Twins Minor League pitcher whose team has NOT lost on the day he was the starting pitcher.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Gagne Fan

[Gagne Fan]

Don't look now... Bax has been named Twins Daily POD after all 5 of his starts !!!

[Seth Stohs]

He's really good when healthy and he has that slider going. I'm excited to see what will happen if he can stay healthy all year. 

[clutterheart]

 

He's really good when healthy and he has that slider going. I'm excited to see what will happen if he can stay healthy all year. 

 

He is?

I was under the impression he is a soft tosser who has to have perfect control to be effective.

Is he even hitting 90 mph on his FB yet?

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

Hmm... Rochester is in town this week.  Might have to go. 

[TRex]

Video of Byron Buxton's 'No Doubter':

http://www.wdef.com/content/sports/localsports/story/Lookouts-Byron-Buxton-With-Walk-Off-Winning/Mq989H3d0EeZ1gfpO3Alww.cspx

 

Sorry, don't know how to embed... but if Mods want to help, that would be great!

[ExpectMorePayLess]

Is there any word on how Levi Michael is doing?  He was just starting to heat up.  

 

He was carted off the field.  Appeared to be a knee issue based on announcer last night and above video.  Any news?

[Steve Lein]

 

Is there any word on how Levi Michael is doing?  He was just starting to heat up.  

 

He was carted off the field.  Appeared to be a knee issue based on announcer last night and above video.  Any news?

 

Only report I've seen is at the end of this article:

 

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/professional/story/2015/may/05/sizzling-starlookouts-center-fielder-byrbuxtr/302426/

 

Sprained ankle. Definitely looked worse than that in the video.

[jokin]

 

Video of Byron Buxton's 'No Doubter':

http://www.wdef.com/content/sports/localsports/story/Lookouts-Byron-Buxton-With-Walk-Off-Winning/Mq989H3d0EeZ1gfpO3Alww.cspx

 

Sorry, don't know how to embed... but if Mods want to help, that would be great!

 

As injury prone as Buxton was in 2014.....   didn't Buxton see/remember Kendrys Morales breaking his leg after jumping up and stomping on home plate after a walk-off homer for the Angels?  Cringe-inducing, especially after watching Michaels' injury- which looked pretty horrific. 

[Sam Morley]

just watched the video of the Buxton dinger. Noticed Mentkeiwitz coaching third. Is that normal?

[Monkeypaws]

Wow, glad to see Buck putting some fuel into the hype machine ... we need it!

[James]

 

just watched the video of the Buxton dinger. Noticed Mentkeiwitz coaching third. Is that normal?

As far as I know, most, if not all, minor league managers act as base coaches during games.

 

I hope Michael is ok.  That looked rough.  I was happy that he was finally starting to get something going.  Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.