Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/31): Tremendous Pitching Trio

[Cody Christie]

Logan Darnell became the ninth Rochester Red Wings player to honored with a weekly award from the International League. Pat Dean (2x), Tommy Milone (2x), Tyler Duffey, Oswaldo Arcia, Reynaldo Rodriguez and Byron Buxton have all been honored this year.

 

Darnell won two times this week and led the league with 17.0 innings pitched and 17 strikeouts. On Monday night, he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning as part of a Rochester shutout. Saturday was much the same story as he allowed just one run on five hits over 8.0 innings. Since joining the starting rotation on August 13, Darnell has allowed just two earned runs on 14 hits in 28.0 innings of work.

 

Did anyone for Rochester get this week off to a good start? Read on to find out.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Pawtucket 2

Box Score

UPDATE: Reports out of Rochester have Michael Tonkin, Eric Fryer, Danny Santana, and Kennys Vargas being called up with the possibility of others joining them once the MiLB season finishes.

 

In what could be his last start at Triple-A, Jose Berrios continued his recent hot streak. Over six innings, he allowed one earned run, a solo home run, on four hits with five strike outs and no walks. In his last ten starts with Rochester, Berrios has a 2.30 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 12 walks in 62.2 innings.

 

Another potential September call-up, Danny Santana, had a big night at the plate and a poor night in the field. He was the only Red Wings player with multiple hits as he finished 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI. On the defensive side, he committed two throwing errors. Aaron Hicks cracked a double in four trips to the plate for the team's only other extra-base hit.

 

Aaron Thompson allowed a run on one hit in 1.1 innings of work. He was credited with his fifth hold. Mark Hamburger collected his first save after getting the last five outs of the game. He allowed two hits and struck out one.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 5 (10 Innings)

Box Score

In his last start, Aaron Slegers walked off the mound after being beat around for six runs in four innings of work. That version of Slegers didn't show-up versus Birmingham. In his fifth start at the Double-A level, he went seven strong innings by allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks. In four of his five appearances since being promoted, he's gone at least six innings and allowed three earned runs or less.

 

Alex Wimmers was able to get two outs in the bottom of the ninth but a clutch double plated a pair of runs and Slegers masterful start did not figure into the final decision. Brandon Peterson replaced Wimmers for the tenth and allowed a lead-off triple as Shannon Wilkerson was removed after crashing into the wall trying to make a game-saving catch on the play.

 

Before being injured, Wilkerson scored two runs out of the lead-off spot and was helped out by a 2-for-4 night from Jorge Polanco as the number two hitter. Adam Brett Walker smacked his 30th double and drove in his 101st RBI during the team's big three-run sixth inning.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 0, Peoria 1

Box Score

While a lot of fans might have been focused on the start by Jose Berrios, Felix Jorge was on the mound for Cedar Rapids and he's in the midst of a strong season. He pitched into the seventh inning and the only run scored against him was unearned. He struck out six and walked one but the Kernels didn't give him any run support. It was his fourth straight quality start.

 

Michael Theofanopoulos was asked to get the final four outs of the game. He didn't allow a batter to reach base and he struck out three. It was his fourth consecutive appearance without allowing a run after allowing runs in four out of his five appearances prior to starting his current streak.

 

The Kernels offense was lacking after scoring an eye-popping 23 runs last Monday against the same squad. Austin Diemer went 2-for-3 and TJ White reached base twice but the team didn't give themselves a lot of scoring opportunities. Cedar Rapids left seven men on base and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 6, Greeneville 5 (10 Innings)

Box Score

The E-Twins used the committee approach on the mound on Monday night. Cody Stashak pitched the first three innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked one. Logan Lombana tossed the next three frames and he put up three zeros while striking out a pair of batters. Tyler Stirewalt struck out four in his three innings but he allowed two runs to score in the ninth to see the E-Twins lead disappear.

 

It looked like the game was over as the E-Twins trailed by one in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. AJ Murray pinch-hit for Lewin Diaz and he was able to get into scoring position with his 10th double. A wild pitch and a fielding error allowed the tying run to score before heading to extra-innings.

 

Jermaine Palacios doubled with one out in the 10th. Manuel Guzamn grounded out to second base but Palacios was able to advance to third on the play. LaMonte Wade could have played the hero but a wild pitch allowed Palacios to score from third to end the game in the Twins favor.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Danny Santana, Rochester Red Wings

 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Scranton/WB (6:05 CST) – RHP Michael Bowden

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:05 CST) – TBA

Fort Myers @ Jupiter (4:05 CST) – TBA

Fort Myers @ Jupiter (Game 2) – TBA

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:00 CST) – TBA

Elizabethton vs. Bristol (6:00 CST) – TBA

 

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[Sweetwater]

Gonna be interesting to see where Felix Jorge ranks among prospects after the season.

[70charger]

Any news on Wilkerson? Is he okay?

[BoomBoom]

I think Wilkerson was taken out for multiple reasons.  They brought in a 5th infielder to stop the winning run from scoring and he was probably a little shaken up.  I think he's OK by the way he jogged off.

 

I hope Walker can get that 1 more HR.  30 doubles and 30 home runs is a nice season.  He also tied the Chattanooga Lookouts RBI single season record at 101.   I'm sure his 62 XBH are a club record too.  Congrats ABW

 

[Badsmerf]

Jorge used to be my adopt a prospect. I think he has a good shot to make it, but I'm not sure how much upside he has. This is certainly an encouraging year for him.

[HitInAPinch]

Question:  Should we be concerned about ABW2's low BA and really high K's?  His OPS is a solid above average, maybe even borderline very good.  His BB's are pretty good, considering he's K'd 187 times.

 

I'm kinda hoping he has potential to approximate another Sano.....

[Steve Lein]

ABW had the average up around .270 entering July, which was encouraging. Then he went almost a month without a HR and the average and slugging plummeted. The on-base percentage has remained around .315 though, so he's been drawing more walks.

[Seth Stohs]

 

ABW had the average up around .270 entering July, which was encouraging. Then he went almost a month without a HR and the average and slugging plummeted. The on-base percentage has remained around .315 though, so he's been drawing more walks.

 

Yeah, his walk rate jumped from 7.5% to about 9.4% (as of a couple days ago), and that's encouraging... though his K-Rate jumped from 28% to 35%

 

It's been a very good year for him. 

[clutterheart]

 

Yeah, his walk rate jumped from 7.5% to about 9.4% (as of a couple days ago), and that's encouraging... though his K-Rate jumped from 28% to 35%

 

It's been a very good year for him. 

 

Really?  I think its a discouraging year.  He still shows his power but he is not becoming a better baseball player.  His flaws are still there and he seems to be either unwilling or incapable to fix them.

 

His lack of development is a big problem.

[DJL44]

Kuo Hua Lo - any reason why he repeated Betsy for the 3rd time this year? He dominated but was pretty good last season.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Really?  I think its a discouraging year.  He still shows his power but he is not becoming a better baseball player.  His flaws are still there and he seems to be either unwilling or incapable to fix them.

 

His lack of development is a big problem.

 

It takes time to put this stuff together.  Just b/c a guy can hit 30 HRs in AA doesn't mean he's going to do well in the majors.  He's being more selective, quite possibly at the instruction of his coaches.  It might take some time for him to put it all together, but that K rate needs to go down and that BB rate needs to go up. 

[Steve Lein]

 

Really?  I think its a discouraging year.  He still shows his power but he is not becoming a better baseball player.  His flaws are still there and he seems to be either unwilling or incapable to fix them.

 

His lack of development is a big problem.

 

You can look at it that way, or you can look at it this way:

 

In 2013 with Cedar Rapids (Low-A), he hit: .278/.319/.526, with 31 2B's and 27 HR's.

 

In 2014 with Fort Myers (A+), he hit: .246/.307/.436, with 19 2B's and 25 HR's.

 

In 2015 with Chattanooga, he's (now) hit: .241/.313/.499, with 30 2B's and 29 HR's.

 

To me, that says he's been making strides each year, because his production has stayed similar each season, all while moving up to a new, higher and tougher level each year.

 

It's very hard to stand out in power in the FSL, the league leader this year has 14 HR's, and the top slugging percentage in the league matches Walker's .436 of last year.

[clutterheart]

 

 

 

To me, that says he's been making strides each year, because his production has stayed similar each season, all while moving up to a new, higher and tougher level each year.

 

 

No they don’t.  His stats show a stagnant player with a stagnant approach.  No matter how many fluff pieces are thrown out there praising Chad Allen, Walker is not improving.
His power is elite and I love it.  But he is not taking the steps needed to become a better baseball payer.
I am sorry this has turned into yet another Walker thread…

[Steve Lein]

 

No they don’t.  His stats show a stagnant player with a stagnant approach.  No matter how many fluff pieces are thrown out there praising Chad Allen, Walker is not improving.
His power is elite and I love it.  But he is not taking the steps needed to become a better baseball payer.
I am sorry this has turned into yet another Walker thread…

 

I don't disagree to an extent, but to ignore the fact he's kept the same numbers while moving up levels ignores what he has done in an "improvement" sense to maintain them.

 

By this type of logic, his numbers should be considerably worse at the higher levels. They are not.

 

(and this is coming from a guy who hasn't been known to defend Walker for similar reasons to your own)

Edited September 1, 2015 by Steve Lein

[TRex]

 

No they don’t.  His stats show a stagnant player with a stagnant approach.  No matter how many fluff pieces are thrown out there praising Chad Allen, Walker is not improving.
His power is elite and I love it.  But he is not taking the steps needed to become a better baseball payer.
I am sorry this has turned into yet another Walker thread…

So the only acceptable way for Walker to have a 'non-discouraging' year is to completely correct his one major flaw? A flaw which, if corrected, would make him a top-10 prospect in all of baseball? Wow, tough crowd!

 

What would be your scathing review of the plethora of mediocre years for the relief corps, or pretty much anyone not named Berrios or Kepler?  How would you describe Buxton's year?

[BoomBoom]

 

So the only acceptable way for Walker to have a 'non-discouraging' year is to completely correct his one major flaw? A flaw which, if corrected, would make him a top-10 prospect in all of baseball? Wow, tough crowd!

 

 

I agree with everything you just said.  Wow, tough crowd

[70charger]

 

No they don’t.  His stats show a stagnant player with a stagnant approach.  No matter how many fluff pieces are thrown out there praising Chad Allen, Walker is not improving.
His power is elite and I love it.  But he is not taking the steps needed to become a better baseball payer.
I am sorry this has turned into yet another Walker thread…

 

Now hang on. His OBP has gone up every year at every level. And although his SLG went down at a notorious pitchers' league, it's been pretty (league-corrected) consistent every year at every level.

 

Now, I'm a skeptic. I think the jump to MLB will be bigger and more formidable than every jump he's ever made. But there is absolutely, 100%, something to be said for maintaining the same power-heavy and OBP-okay pace he's maintained year-in-and-year-out. Every single level has been the level he shouldn't be performing at. And yet, here he is. 

 

If somebody was "stagnant," they'd be doing super well at A-, okay at A+, and pretty bad at AA. What Walker has been doing is super well at A-, super well at A+, and super well at AA. 

 

You can disagree that it will continue (and I myself don't necessarily agree that it will), but stagnant!? Only if you believe that Cedar Rapids is the same thing as Chattanooga. And I don't.

 

Much as I dislike the "fan club," Walker hasn't done a single thing to discourage the club from moving him up every single year. This is the next step in his development, and I can't see why he doesn't deserve it.

Edited September 3, 2015 by 70charger