Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/10): Dozier, Arcia, Batts And More

[Seth Stohs]

I know that this is the Minor League Report, but I’d be remiss to not mention the Brian Dozier walk-off, three-run homer to give the Minnesota Twins an 8-6 win against Detroit. Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Danny Santana all have been in the Twins farm system this year and each contributed in that ninth inning rally. Rule 5 pick JR Graham threw three scoreless innings. Ryan O'Rourke, who began the season in Chattanooga, struck out two in a perfect inning. Another reminder than getting to know these players before they arrive in a Twins uniform is important and fun!There were seven games in the Twins farm system on Friday, plus a bunch of news and transactions. Check it all out below.

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

There was a bit of movement in the Twins farm system on Friday. First, a bit of news. Max Kepler, who has been out for a couple of games with a sore shoulder, has been ruled out of the Futures Game on Sunday. He was replaced by, you guessed it, a Royals’ prospect.

 

With Travis Harrison placed on the disabled list a few days ago and Kepler out, the Lookouts needed some outfield help. The other night, pitcher Tim Shibuya was out in right field for a couple of innings (and actually played well and got an assist). Marcus Knecht was promoted from Ft. Myers to the Lookouts.

 

Also, the Twins signed veteran minor leaguer Shannon Wilkerson to play in the outfield. He was an eighth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2009 and got to AAA with them in 2014. This year, he went unsigned and was playing for the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League.

 

Third baseman TJ White was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers on Friday as well. Twins Daily also learned the Twins third-round pick Travis Blankenhorn was being promoted from the GCL Twins to the Elizabethton Twins.

 

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Game 1 - Rochester 0, Syracuse 4

Box Score

 

Taylor Rogers was on the hill for the Red Wings in game one. The left-hander was charged with four runs on ten hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five. He falls to 7-6 with a 3.19 ERA.

 

The Red Wings hitters managed just three hits in this game. Eric Farris hit his eighth double, the lone extra base hit.

 

Game 2 - Rochester 11, Syracuse 2

Box Score

 

As poor as the offense was in the first game, they made up for it (if that is possible) in game 2. As you might guess, Oswaldo Arcia played a large role in that. He went 2-3 with two walks, his ninth double, his eighth home run and three RBI. In his final plate appearance, he worked a walk with the bases loaded. It brought up Reynaldo Rodriguez who promptly launched a grand slam, his eighth home of the year. Rodriguez had five RBIs in the game. James Beresford went 2-3 with a walk. Chris Herrmann and Wilkin Ramirez each had a double.

 

Logan Darnell made another spot start. The lefty went the first 3.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Mark Hamburger worked the next 2.2 innings and gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs. He struck out three. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless final inning.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 0, Mississippi 9

Box Score

 

This was a reasonably close game until the late innings. Brett Lee gave up nine hits, but just two runs, in four innings. Alex Muren threw two more scoreless innings. Jake Reed came on for the seventh and gave up two runs that inning. He was then charged with two more in the eighth. He gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings. Zack Jones came on for him. He was only able to record one out. He was charged with three runs on one hit and four walks. DJ Johnson got the final out of the eight and pitched a scoreless ninth.

 

Newcomer Shannon Wilkerson led off and went 1-3 with a walk. Marcus Knecht batted sixth and went 1-3 with a walk and a double. Levi Michael also had a double.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 0, Clearwater 3

Box Score

 

Mat Batts just continues to impress. The lefty had another terrific start. In this game, he got a no-decision despite throwing seven shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out ten. It was his second straight game without allowing an earned run. His Miracle ERA drops to 1.71.

 

Brian Gilbert came on for the eighth. He was charged with three runs on two hits and a walk in the inning. Matt Summers gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning.

Not much offense for the Miracle in this one. Tanner Vavra continues to hit well. He went 2-3 with his fourth and fifth doubles of the year. Zach Granite and Jason Kanzler each added a single.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 8

Box Score

 

Zach Tillery has been terrific for the Kernels this year in whatever role he’s been given. He continues to start. In this game, he gave up one run on six hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. He struck out two. Mike Theofanopoulos got the final out of the sixth inning, but not before giving up two hits, three walks and two runs. Jared Wilson gave up two runs on four hits over the final two innings.

 

Tanner English, Max Murphy and Rafael Valera each went 2-4. Murphy has the only RBI for the Kernels in the game.

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 2, Kingsport 3

Box Score

 

The E-Twins fall a game below .500 (8-9). Sam Clay made his first start. The lefty gave up one run on three hits and three walks in just 2.2 innings. He struck out two. 2015 pick Nate Gercken gave up one run on three hits over 4.1 innings. He walked none and struck out three. Alex Robinson got two outs. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out one. Logan Lonbana got the final out.

 

Manuel Guzman led the offense. He went 3-3 with a walk and his fifth stolen base. Tyler Kuresa went 3-4 including his fourth home run of the short season. LaMonte Wade hit his second home run.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 1, GCL Red Sox 5

Box Score

 

Williams Ramirez made the start in this game and was terrific. He threw five shutout innings and gave up just one hit. He walked three, but he struck out seven. Hector Lujan came on to start the sixth. He gave up five runs (three earned) on two hits and two hit batters and recorded just one out. Rich Condeelis went the next 1.2 innings, walking one and striking out one. Max Cordy pitched one scoreless inning.

 

The Twins managed just four hits in this game. Jermaine Palacios went 2-4. Luis Arraez hit his fourth double. Palacios is now hitting .389 while Arraez is hitting .328.

 

The GCL Twins fall to 9-8 on the season.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Mat Batts, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia, Rochester Red Wings

 

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Syracuse (6:05 CST) – LHP Pat Dean

Mississippi @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – TBD

Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario

Johnson City @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (9:00 CST) – TBD

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

 

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[curt1965]

Great job, as usual Seth! I appreciate the transaction section especially! The transaction thread that is running unfortunately is not about that......

[nater79a]

Alright, Cody Stashak pitches Saturday for E-town. He's my sleeper pick from this '15 draft. Been impressive in his first two starts this year.

[Pitz]

A bit surprised to see Blankenhorn promoted, but I won't complain. I'm guessing it probably had more to do with the numbers of corner infielders at the 2 short season clubs. Could it also be an indication that Kolton Kendrick is coming off the DL and making his debut soon?

[Seth Stohs]

It could be. I don't know how long Kendrick was expected out with mono. Also, might allow both Blankenhorn and Cabbage to play third base. 

[clutterheart]

I wish Arcia could translate his AAA dominance to the MLB

[Badsmerf]

Seth, is max murphy the new Eric lis? Seems to hit well but isn't really on national radar.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Seth, is max murphy the new Eric lis? Seems to hit well but isn't really on national radar.

 

Murphy hasn't hit as well as Lis did yet, but he's more of a prospect than Lis probably was... Lis was a plodding 1B/DH type while Murphy is an athletic, OF with good speed. 

Murphy has probably already had more national attention than Lis, except for when Lis homered on ESPN off of Roger Clemens in Clemens' return.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I wish Arcia could translate his AAA dominance to the MLB

 

I mean, Arcia had 30-35 MLB home runs before he turned 24. , so he has shown that he can hit big league pitching.

 

However, his lack of plate discipline/approach is a concern. Even in his 11-12 game hot streak with Rochester right now, he has struck out 12 times (which isn't terrible). He's walked 4 times, but the two last night (reports said) pitchers were totally pitching around him and counts were still going full. So, I'm not certain that the approach has improved. That immense power has always been there. 

 

He's close... but hopefully this has been a good learning thing for him. With Arcia, the feel is that it's more about attitude and approach than anything else. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

Maybe bringing up Arcia, for no other reason than to sit on the bench and see how Sano conducts himself, would be beneficial.

[Twinsoholic]

Any news on Kyle Cody, the Twins Competitive Balance selection between the 2nd and 3rd rounds? He is the only unsigned top10 Twins draft picks. Is there any talk that he won't sign?

 

[USMCTwin]

Any news on Kyle Cody, the Twins Competitive Balance selection between the 2nd and 3rd rounds? He is the only unsigned top10 Twins draft picks. Is there any talk that he won't sign?

This is from Jeremy in the draft thread:

 

Cody had something come up in his physical. So he's currently back in class in Kentucky (from what I understand). From what I can tell, both sides would like to come to an agreement, but I would have a hard time believing he would get anywhere near $800K. If he doesn't get signed, the Twins will get pick #74 in next year's draft.

Cody had something come up in his physical. So he's currently back in class in Kentucky (from what I understand). From what I can tell, both sides would like to come to an agreement, but I would have a hard time believing he would get anywhere near $800K. If he doesn't get signed, the Twins will get pick #74 in next year's draft.

 

 

I feel like that is the hope. It sounds like there is an offer out to Cody and he'll spend the weekend mulling it over. Purely speculative, but I'm guessing it's between $400-500K. If he takes it - and it's not like he's guaranteed to get more next year - that would leave the Twins around $500K to spend. They could offer two guys $350K each. Gut feel says those guys are Wilson and Engelmann.

[Twinsoholic]

Dear USMCTwin

 

Thanks for sharing the information. I've searched for the draft thread and cannot find it. It is probably easy to find, bit I still cannot find it.  

Any pointers to it are much appreciated.

 

 

[USMCTwin]

Dear USMCTwin

 

Thanks for sharing the information. I've searched for the draft thread and cannot find it. It is probably easy to find, bit I still cannot find it.

Any pointers to it are much appreciated.

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/18632-signing-the-draft-piicks/page-3?do=findComment&comment=367453

[nicksaviking]

I wish Arcia could translate his AAA dominance to the MLB

He hasn't had a real chance yet. He's been above league average in his first two years despite being young, injured and yo-yoed up and down.

[Steve Lein]

 

He hasn't had a real chance yet. He's been above league average in his first two years despite being young, injured and yo-yoed up and down.

 

He's actually pretty much been the definition of average. He has been saved only by the HR's.

 

And the injuries are a concern, not a reason for hope.