Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/22): Gibbons Continues To Impress

[Seth Stohs]

One of the best things about following the minor leaguers every day throughout a season and from year to year has to be seeing improvement of young, talented players. Each year there are players who go from relatively unknown to worth watching. One of those guys this year is Australian right-hander Sam Gibbons. He was on the hill again tonight for Cedar Rapids and put up another strong start.He wasn’t the only story of the night, so continue reading for everything that happened on Saturday in the Twins minor league system.

 

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

There was just one transaction in the Twins system on Saturday:

• · To make room for AJ Achter in Rochester, Adrian Salcedo was sent back to Chattanooga.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 11

Box Score

 

Michael Bowden had an opt-out date on Saturday. He was also scheduled to start. Darren Wolfson tweeted earlier in the day that it sounds like he will not opt-out. On this night, he gave up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out six. Cole Johnson came on. He was charged with one run on three hits in 1.1 innings, though he allowed two inherited runners to score as well. Tim Shibuya gave up three runs on three hits in his inning of work.

 

Eric Fryer led the offense. He went 3-4 with his first triple. Xavier Avery went 2-3 with a walk and his third triple. Danny Santana went 2-4 with his eighth double. Danny Ortiz was also 2-4.

 

Oswaldo Arcia came into the game without a hit in his previous 24 at-bats. According to a tweet from Brandon Warne, he was 4-64. He went 0-3 in his first three at-bats on this night, but in the ninth, he hit his 11^th Red Wings home run off former All-Star Andrew Bailey. Hopefully it can jump-start something, anything.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 6, Pensacola 10

Box Score

 

Jason Wheeler made the start for the Lookouts. The southpaw went the first 5.1 innings. He gave up five runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. He was really hurt by the long ball. He was “taken yard” three times. Alex Wimmers came on and got the next five outs and he was charged with two runs on three hits. DJ Johnson pitched an inning and gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk.

 

The offense put up some runs, but it just wasn’t enough. Stephen Wickens remained hot. He went 2-5 with his 14^th double. Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his fourth triple. Stuart Turner went 1-1 and walked three times. Max Kepler was 1-4 with a walk and his 32^nd double. Jorge Polanco, who played shortstop for the second straight game, walked twice and stole his 17^th base.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 0, Bradenton 5

Box Score

 

Mat Batts wasn’t his normal self in this start. He gave up four runs on seven hits in just five innings. He walked one and struck out three. Todd Van Steensel came on and gave up one run on one hit in two innings. He struck out two. Tyler Jay pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one.

 

The Miracle offense didn’t show much, as you’d expect when the team gets shut out. Mitch Garver was 1-3 with a walk. Jason Kanzler hit his seventh triple.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Clinton 0

Box Score

 

Sam Gibbons has become one of the most reliable starters on Jake Mauer’s Cedar Rapids Kernels team. On Saturday, he worked eight shutout innings. He allowed the only hit in the fifth inning. He did not walk a batter and he struck out a career-high 12 batters.

 

However, through eight innings neither team had scored a run. In the top of the ninth, Brett Doe knocked his 11^th double and drove in Edgar Corcino and TJ White to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead.

 

Mike Theofanopoulos came on and pitched a perfect ninth for the first save of his career. Gibbons improved to 7-3 and reduced his ERA to just 2.72.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 3, Pulaski 4

Box Score

 

Onesimo Hernandez was the Appy League Pitcher of the Week last week. This start didn’t go as well for the right-hander. He gave up four runs on nine hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out six. Anthony Mciver came on and struck out four over three shutout innings. He gave up two hits.

 

Daniel Kihle led the offense. He went 2-4 with his seventh double. Jermaine Palacios doubled for the ninth time. Rainis Silva added his fifth double.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 8

Box Score

 

The Twins held a 2-1 lead after seven innings, but one of their more reliable relievers had his first really rough outing.

 

Jovani Moran started and threw four shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out four. Moises Gomez came in. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk. Max Cordy threw two shutout innings. Miguel Gonzalez gave up two runs on five hits in his inning. Johan Quezada came on. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in just one-third of an inning. Callan Pearce came in, but he gave up the inherited runners and one more run on three hits.

 

Luis Arraez went 2-3 with a walk and his 15^th double. He also stole his seventh base. Bryant Hayman hit his second triple. Jorge Andrade went 1-3 with a walk and his 10th stolen base.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Sam Gibbons, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Harrison, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (12:05 CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers

Tennessee @ Chattanooga (4:15 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc

Elizabethton @ Greeneville (5:00 CST) – TBD

GCL Twins – No Games Scheduled

 

 

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below

 

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[Bickle19]

Haven't seen Gordon in the Kernels lineup lately? Did I miss something?

[clutterheart]

Is Walker hurt or something? His is slugging % in July and August is not what we should expect. We all knew he would fall back a bit but not this much.

[Guest]

 

 

Haven't seen Gordon in the Kernels lineup lately? Did I miss something?

 

Gordon played Friday night. Assuming Saturday was just a routine day off.

[twinssouth]

Since 8/1, Wimmers has been in the bullpen, are they watching innings or is he out of the rotation, did I miss something

[Clyde123]

 

Is Walker hurt or something? His is slugging % in July and August is not what we should expect. We all knew he would fall back a bit but not this much.

 

His regression seems to coincide with the promotions of Buxton and Sano.  Maybe he is not getting at-bats in as many favorable situations.  Just a theory.  No empirical evidence.

[stringer bell]

 

His regression seems to coincide with the promotions of Buxton and Sano.  Maybe he is not getting at-bats in as many favorable situations.  Just a theory.  No empirical evidence.

Walker has slumped, but seems to be picking it up in the last week or so. His counting numbers are terrific, but the BA and OBP have dropped. Interestingly, Kepler has performed better since Sano and Buxton exited (and Polanco temporarily).

[Mike Sixel]

Since 8/1, Wimmers has been in the bullpen, are they watching innings or is he out of the rotation, did I miss something

I have no information. But I would move him to the bullpen full time at this point.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I have no information. But I would move him to the bullpen full time at this point.

 

I agree.. It was his first full season back from Tommy John, so I'm glad they gave him another shot to start. But if he has a big league future, it'd likely be in long relief. He certainly had a couple of stretches that showed he could fill that kind of role.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Gordon played Friday night. Assuming Saturday was just a routine day off.

 

Yup, he's back in the lineup today as well.