Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/12): The Buck Starts Here

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The organization had a trio of hitters recognized in their leagues on Wednesday: Kennys Vargas was named Hitter of the Week in the Southern League. Vargas has since been promoted to Rochester. Tanner English and LaMonte Wade took the honors in the Midwest League and the Appalachian League, respectively.

 

Former Twin Alexis Tapia, who was pitching for Elizabethton before being included in the Kevin Jepsen trade, was recognized for his week in the Appalachian League as well. In his first start with the Tampa Bay organization, Tapia pitched six shutout innings, allowing only three hits while striking out eight.

 

Did you see what Miguel Sano and Aaron Hicks did for the Twins in their win against the Rangers? If not, you need to get some highlights pronto.

Let’s check Wednesday’s action on the farm.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Buffalo 5

Box Score

 

Rochester’s comeback fell one run short, but Byron Buxton is the story. He was 4-5 tonight (and now batting .458 in AAA) with four singles. He scored twice and also struck out once. Vargas had three hits including two doubles and drove in two. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a three-run triple.

 

Taylor Rogers lost his tenth game of the season, pitching five innings (10 hits, two walks) and allowing five runs. He threw 83 pitches (55 strikes). Alex Meyer pitched the final three innings. He allowed a run, but allowed only two hits and no walks (though he did throw two wild pitches). He struck out two. Something worth watching: He threw 56 pitches (stretching him out?) with 36 of them finding the strike zone.

 

Rochester drops to 60-58.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 2, Tennessee 4 (13 innings)

Box Score

 

The Lookouts dropped to 62-50 with an extra-inning loss.

 

Max Kepler led the offense (again) with two hits, including his 28th double. He drove in a run and recorded an outfield assist. Stephen Wickens also had two singles and his 14th stolen base. The team went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base.

 

Greg Peavey pitched a two-hitter over eight innings, but the two runs were too many. He struck out three and gets a no-decision. J.T. Chargois walked one in the ninth. D.J. Johnson struck out four in three big innings. Adrian Salcedo allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in the 13th.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, St. Lucie 0

Box Score

 

A Chad Christensen sac fly that followed a Ryan Walker triple was the difference in Wednesday’s Miracle victory that helped improve the team to 63-54. Walker’s three-bagger was the only extra base hit of the six hits the Miracle scratched out. Engelb Vielma stole his 28th base.

 

Kohl Stewart picked up his fifth win. He allowed eight hits and a walk, while striking out five over 6.2 shutout innings. Corey Williams struck out two in recording four outs. Trevor Hildenberger picked up his first FSL save.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Lake County 6

Box Score

 

T.J. White accounted for the only Kernel extra-base hit (a double) among their five hits. Nick Gordon was 1-4 with a walk. Tanner English swiped two bags and has 37 on the year. Offensively, Cedar Rapids was 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

 

Felix Jorge picked up a no-decision. He struck out six in six innings, allowing three hits and a walk. Unfortunately, one of those hits was a three-run blast. Jared Wilson was charged with the loss. He gave up three runs in two innings.

 

The Kernels are 67-48 on the season.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 1, Greeneville 4

Box Score

 

The offense of the E-Twins was very quiet on Wednesday. Only Travis Blankenhorn got a hit. Jermaine Palacios snapped a 15-game hitting streak with an 0-4 performance. He also committed his eighth error in the Appy League.

 

Sam Clay didn’t allow an earned run over seven frames, but the two unearned runs hung him with a loss. He struck out four and walked one. Alex Robinson recorded four outs, but walked four and allowed two runs to score. Josh Guyer recorded two outs, one by strikeout.

 

Elizabethton drops to 25-25

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 5, GCL Rays 2 (Game 1) (7 innings)

Box Score

 

The GCL affiliate took the first game of a doubleheader. Two big innings accounted for all five runs. Eight of the nine starters got hits, led by Robert Molina, Ruar Verkerk and Ariel Montesino all having two-hit games. Interestingly, the top four hitters - Christian Cavaness, Luis Arraez, Josmil Pinto and Kolton Kendrick - all doubled. Cavaness drove in two runs. Molina and Verkerk accounted for the other two RBI.

 

Williams Ramirez allowed two unearned runs over 4.2 innings. He struck out four. Hector Lujan got the win, striking out one in 2.1 scoreless, one-hit innings.

 

GCL Twins 0, GCL Rays 1 (Game 2) (9 innings)

Box Score

 

The bats fell cold in the second game, getting shut out on five hits. Trey Cabbage had two singles. Christian Cavaness doubled. Cavaness also stole his third base of the season.

 

Max Cordy (4 IP) and Brandon Paulson (2.2 IP) had identical lines: one hit, three walks, four strikeouts. Johan Quezada walked two and retired four. Moises Gomez was charged with the loss, allowing a walkoff home run in the ninth inning.

 

The GCL Twins split the doubleheader and are 23-20.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Greg Peavey, Chattanooga

Twins Daily Minor League Hitters of the Day – Byron Buxton, Rochester

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester at Buffalo (11:35 CST) – LHP Pat Dean

Rochester at Buffalo (Game 2) – TBD

Chattanooga vs Tennessee (6:15 CST) – LHP Brett Lee

Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach (6:05 CST) – LHP Luke Westphal

Cedar Rapids at Lake Country (6:00 CST) – RHP Zach Tillery

Elizabethton at Bristol (6:00 CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez

GCL Twins at GCL Rays (11:00 CST) - TBD

 

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

 

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[nater79a]

Nice to see Sam Clay have a few solid turns through the rotation for E-Town. 

 

First 3 starts (since joining the rotation July 10th):

0-2  7.71 ERA  9.1 IP  10 hits  10 R (8 earned)  8 BB  10 SO

 

Last 3 starts:

1-1  0.94 ERA  19 IP  14 H   4 R (2 earned)   1 BB  19 SO

 

Quite the turn-around. The dramatic drop in his BB/9 rate really stands out for me.  Maybe something has clicked for the former Yellow Jacket? 

 

[Tuba]

Williams Ramirez? So we have Kennys and now Williams. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

Interesting note about Meyer pitching 3 innings. Still hoping he gets a shot in the rotation.

[Badsmerf]

Stewart with another nice start. I really think the trade deadline start had him rattled. Besides that start he's looked really good lately. The k rate is creeping up and he continues to not give up xbh. With a gb ratio like his, I think his results are only going to get better the higher he goes.

[twinssouth]

TN seems to have the Lookouts number this year. Hope you're right about Meyer. Former No. 1 pick Levi Michael batting 248, no need to add anything further.

[gil4]

 

TN seems to have the Lookouts number this year. Hope you're right about Meyer. Former No. 1 pick Levi Michael batting 248, no need to add anything further.

 

Dozier is also batting .248, and he's an all-star.  You might want to add something further.

[gil4]

 

Williams Ramirez? So we have Kennys and now Williams. 

With Vargas it's easy to explain - when he was born he was so big his mother said "It feels like there are two of him". (One of our kids was like that)  I don't know anything about Ramirez - maybe he had a talent for making a mess in two rooms at the same time. ("Honey, the Williams were at it again.") (At least one of our kids was like that, too.)

[puckstopper1]

The box score shows that Buxton was 3-5 last night.  Also the Red Wings rally that fell short was against Joba Chamberlain who now has a spiffy 14.4 ERA and 2.6 WHIP at AAA.  I hope the Blue Jays aren't relying on him for anything the rest of the season.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Dozier is also batting .248, and he's an all-star.  You might want to add something further.

 

Like that Michael walked three times in the game maybe?

[Seth Stohs]

 

The box score shows that Buxton was 3-5 last night.  Also the Red Wings rally that fell short was against Joba Chamberlain who now has a spiffy 14.4 ERA and 2.6 WHIP at AAA.  I hope the Blue Jays aren't relying on him for anything the rest of the season.

 

Pretty much sure their additions of LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe will outweigh their flyer on Joba Chamberlain. 

[USMCTwin]

 

The box score shows that Buxton was 3-5 last night.  Also the Red Wings rally that fell short was against Joba Chamberlain who now has a spiffy 14.4 ERA and 2.6 WHIP at AAA.  I hope the Blue Jays aren't relying on him for anything the rest of the season.

 

What a strange career he has had. I know it is often referenced that other teams bring up starters and use them in the bullpen and then make a successful transition back to the rotation, but is he an example of it blowing up? It's just fascinating that he was formerly ranked #3-5ish top prospect in all of baseball and had the stats in the minors to back it up, the Yankees tried to protect him with the "Joba Rules", but for one reason or another it just hasn't clicked at all in the majors.

 

I'm not trying to say teams/Twins shouldn't bring up starters in the bullpen, merely trying to figure out what went terribly wrong in this instance.

[Badsmerf]

Man.... Joba was do hyped back in the day. Reminds me of lastings milledge, and Fernando Martinez. Such hype, and absolutely no results. These guys were all rumored in the Santana trade saga. Turns out, twins received the best player of the bunch, just traded him too early.

[clutterheart]

Man.... Joba was do hyped back in the day.

I never trust Yankee prospects. They are often overhyped. Even prospect watchers seem to buy into the NYC hype machine.

[twinssouth]

Dozier is also batting .248, and he's an all-star.  You might want to add something further.

 

 

Ok, I'll think about it.

[DocBauer]

Ladies and Gentlemen...Twins fans of all ages...introducing your Twins primary starter in RF for 2016....Max Kepler!

[DJL44]

 

Ladies and Gentlemen...Twins fans of all ages...introducing your Twins primary starter in RF for 2016....Max Kepler!

 

You misspelled Miguel Sano