Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/10): Kepler, Buxton Rock Rochester

[Cody Christie]

Byron Buxton and Max Kepler were demoted to Rochester where the organization hoped for them to play everyday and start to build some confidence on the offensive side of the ball. Buxton has had quite the offensive stretch as he entered play on Tuesday hitting .352/.421/.676 so far in the month of May. This includes three home runs and a pair of doubles.

 

Kepler's time in Rochester hadn't been as bold as Buxton. Since leaving Minnesota, he has hit .196/.300/.333 with four extra-base hits and six strikeouts. He has coaxed eight walks but his other offensive numbers are a little lower than most would like to see.

 

Would Buxton continue his hot hitting? Could Kepler break out of his cold streak? Keep reading to find out.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 9, Gwinnett 3

Box Score

Byron Buxton had multiple hits for the second consecutive game. It was his sixth time in the last nine game that he has more than one hit. Max Kepler had a three-hit night and reached base in four of his five at-bats. Kennys Vargas walked four time including twice in the team's huge seven-run fourth inning. Stephen Wickens was the only Red Wings player who didn't reach base and he struck out three times.

 

Tommy Milone made his first appearance in Rochester after starting the season in the Twins rotation. He pitched into the sixth before running into a little bit of a jam and turning things over to the bullpen. Milone struck out five, walked none, and was charged with one earned run. J.T. Chargois made his Triple-A debut by striking out two and allowing a two-run double. Marcus Walden and Ryan O'Rourke didn't allow a base-runner in the last 2.2 innings.

 

It was the fourth straight win for the Red Wings. James Beresford extended his on-base streak to 13 games. Rochester is now a game over .500 (17-16) and three games out of first in the International League North.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 9, Pensacola 10 (11 Innings)

Box Score

In a crazy, back-and-forth game, the Lookouts had to score seven runs in the final three frames to come back and force extra-innings. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Walker singled to center. During the next at-bat, he stole second and the catcher threw the ball away. This allowed Walker to scamper all the way home and score the tying run. Walker had already scored an important run in the eighth inning after leading off the frame with a single.

 

Chattanooga outhit the Blue Wahoos 18-14 but Pensacola cracked five home runs. Travis Harrison went 4-for-5 with a walk but he failed to collect an extra-base hit. DJ Hick drove in two as part of a three-hit night. Leonardo Reginatto went 3-for-6 with his seventh double.

 

Nick Greenwood started and allowed five earned runs on nine hits including two home runs. Corey Williams relieved Greenwood and didn't fare much better as he was charged with three earned runs. Jake Reed had a roller coaster ride as he struck out three and walked three in two innings of work but only allowed one hit and one run.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Bradenton 6

Box Score

The score might make the game look closer than it was as the Miracle were outhit 13 to 3 in this one. Kohl Stewart surrendered seven of the 13 hits as he collected an out in the seventh inning for the first time this year. He was charged with three runs, two earned, while striking out four and walking none across 6.1 innings but he left the game with his team up 2-1. Raul Fernandez finished the seventh and eighth as he allowed a solo home run. Yorman Landa struck out one and walked one as he gave up multiple earned runs for the first time this season.

 

Trey Vavra picked up his sixth double of the season and scored a run. Alex Real doubled and was one of two Miracle players to reach base twice. Max Murphy was the other player to reach twice and he drove in one of the team's two runs. Overall, the club went 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.

 

With the loss, the Miracle drop to four games over .500 at 18-14. Over the club's last seven games, they are 5-2. Tomorrow night's game will be the third in this back-and-forth home-and-home series with Bradenton. Fort Myers is tied with Charlotte at the top of the Florida State League South.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 0, Kane County 2 (7 Innings)

Box Score

Because of rain, the Kernels were forced to push back Monday's game and play it as part of a double-header on Tuesday evening. Cody Stashak pitched into the sixth inning for the fourth consecutive start and he hasn't allowed more than two earned runs during that stretch. In this game, he pitched six innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts. His ERA dropped to 1.95 on the season but he still took the loss. Michael Cederoth allowed one one hit and struck out a pair during his inning of work.

 

Offensively, there wasn't much to talk about. The Kernels reached base three times in the entire game. Luis Arraez went 1-for-3 out of the lead-off spot. LaMonte Wade is hitting .352 after a 1-for-3 game. Catcher Rafael Valera drew the team's only walk. It's hard for any team to score runs when they only get two chances to bat with runners in scoring position.

 

Cedar Rapids 3, Kane County 2 (7 Innings)

Box Score

Miles Nordgren hadn't allowed an earned run in almost a month (April 17) but that streak came to an end on Tuesday. He still made quite the effort as he struck out nine and didn't walk any in five innings pitched. Two runs were scored against him but only one was earned. Michael Theofanopoulos was outstanding in relief as he struck out the side in the sixth.

 

After struggling for any hits in the first game of the night, the Kernels had double-digit hits. A.J. Murray was 3-for-3 with a double and his first triple of the season. With two hits in this game, Luis Arraez finished the night 3-for-7 with a double and an RBI. Brian Olson scored a pair of runs and reached base twice.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day- Miles Nordgren, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day- Max Kepler, Rochester Red Wings

 

WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Gwinnett (6:05 CST)- LHP Andrew Albers (0-0, 5.56 ERA)

Chattanooga vs. Pensacola (6:15 CST)- LHP David Hurlbut (2-1, 6.59 ERA)

Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST)- LHP Tyler Jay (2-2, 3.86 ERA)

Cedar Rapids vs. Kane County (12:05 CST)- RHP Randy LeBlanc (3-2, 1.16 ERA)

 

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

 

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[Mr. Brooks]

Still no word on Meyer? If he's being blocked at AAA by Andrew Albers I think I'm gonna lose it.

[beckmt]

We need to move some of Fort Myers starters to Chatanooga.  Seem to have 6 in the rotation and Chatanooga needs starting help as most of their starters seem to be orginization filler.

[Pitz]

Travis Harrison is hitting .432 in the month of May (9 games) and has raised his average from .230 to .297.

Unfortunately the other numbers during this stretch aren't all that impressive. Only 1 extra base hit, 2 BBs, and 10 Ks.

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Still no word on Meyer? If he's being blocked at AAA by Andrew Albers I think I'm gonna lose it.

 

He's not being blocked.

[Vanimal46]

Very glad to read about Buxton's success in AAA so far! 

13  7 hits against Stewart? Woof. But still good that he only gave up 2 runs. Must have pitched out of a lot of jams. Was the other team just finding holes in the defense last night? Or were they getting hard hits against Stewart?

EDIT: I should read more carefully. Carry on. 

Edited May 11, 2016 by Vanimal46

[jokin]

 

Very glad to read about Buxton's success in AAA so far! 

13 hits against Stewart? Woof. But still good that he only gave up 2 runs. Must have pitched out of a lot of jams. Was the other team just finding holes in the defense last night? Or were they getting hard hits against Stewart?

 

Note:

 Only "seven of the 13"

[jokin]

Pretty clean game by Stewart, 63 strikes/37 balls 4 K 0 BB

[Vanimal46]

 

Note:

 Only "seven of the 13"

Woops. Teach your children to read carefully folks! 

[HitInAPinch]

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

[jokin]

 

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

 

Sounds a little self-congratulatory and of course, begs the question:

 

"Why didn't Bruno tell this to Buxton himself when he was up here?"

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

Who told him to ditch the leg kick in the first place?

[John Kelsey]

I know Stuart Turner is the guy most are looking at to fill the Twins catching void, but I think Mitch Garver is going to be the guy. 

[HitInAPinch]

 

Who told him to ditch the leg kick in the first place?

 

I don't know if anyone told him to ditch the kick or if Buxton just did it himself.  If I were to guess, I'd say the 2nd, but probably not intentionally.  Just kinda drifted away from it.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Sounds a little self-congratulatory and of course, begs the question:

 

"Why didn't Bruno tell this to Buxton himself when he was up here?"

He did in Spring Training, if memory serves.  I don't know why Buxton stopped.

[jokin]

 

He did in Spring Training, if memory serves.  I don't know why Buxton stopped.

 

Bruno is paid to know why.

[Taildragger8791]

 

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

 

Hopefully that helps him make better contact, but that would only be half the equation with Buxton. His primary hurdle to another call-up is still going to be pitch recognition and handling breaking balls. K-rate and BB-rate are the key metrics for him to demonstrate MLB readiness. But it's fun to see him hitting again, that's for sure.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Bruno is paid to know why.

and hence the discussion with the MiLB staff  [ Chad Allen? ] to get him back on the program.

[jokin]

 

and hence the discussion with the MiLB staff  [ Chad Allen? ] to get him back on the program.

 

I know we're going to go round in circles here, but I stand by my original statement... Smalley credited Buxton's sudden resurgence towards Bruno with an apparently sudden brilliant insight- "Restore the leg kick"-  to which I say, "Isn't he looking at daily video on each players ABs?" Buxton struggled for the entire month of April, both with the Twins and in Rochester; it seems like the process of getting back on the program should have started in the first week of April- and not taking credit for getting back on the program in the second week of May.

[Mike Sixel]

so you're saying Smalley isn't the most independent journalist ever?

[mlhouse]

Kohl Stewart Scouting Report  (Reposted from another thread)

Watched Stewart's start tonight v. Bradenton

Fastball:  His fastball is probably a major league level pitch right now. In the first and second inning it was sitting (via Hammond Stadium radar gun) at 93/94.  Innings 3-4-5 it was more like 92/93 but he actually improved his velocity in the 6 and his short stint in the 7th. 

A+ hitters rarely pulled the ball against his fastball.

His control on the fastball was impeccable.  Stewart did not walk a batter in 6.1 innings, I think only had a couple of 3 ball counts and no 3-0 counts.  He often was sitting in the 1-2 pitchers advantage.

Slider: His slider is in the speed range of 86-88, with 86 being the most common velocity.  This is his problem pitch and the reason why Stewart does not generate a lot of strikeouts.  His slider is too much in the plane and his release point is too high, leaving the pitch up in the zone way too often. Sometimes he seemed to let up on the slider when he was ahead in the count and even when he had the ball-strike count to his advantage his slider was hit way too hard.

Curve:  I believe it was a curveball but I could not see the break.  Early in the game he threw his curve for strikes and the batters reaction seemed to indicate a well thrown curve.  These pitches were clocked at 79 mph and for the first 3 innings it seemed that every pitch in this speed zone were thrown for called strikes.  Later in the game the 78-79 mph pitch was not as consistently in the strike zone.

Stewart is a tremendous athlete for a baseball pitcher.  On a sacrifice bunt play the hitter bunted between him and the 3rd baseman (who should have got the ball).  The ball rolled past the mound.  Stewart recovered from charging the bunt, fielded the ball, and threw the baserunner out at 2nd base.  I have never seen a pitcher make a play like that. 

Stewart also had very quick feet on his pickoff turn.  HIs pickoff throws were very accurate.

Stewart was a very emotional player in the dugout.  If runners reached base during the inning it impacted him.  His discussions with pitching coach Henry Bonilla did not always look pleasant and I think Kohl likes to vent a bit judging from the smiles that Gonslaves gave after Stewart cooled down.

Overall:  While this might sound like an overstatement for a pitcher with a 2.02 ERA, the slider is a major problem.  Stewart can use change of speeds to keep hitters off balance but very few hitters did not make contact against him and while some of the 7 hits against him were pretty weak, some of the outs were very well hit, particularly since he was so consistently ahead in the count.  A pitcher with his velocity and command should not be hit as hard on 0-2, 1-2, and 2-2 counts like he was tonight. 

If the slider can be given some grip and he can keep it down in the strike zone Stewart can project to a high level major league pitcher because of his tremendous control.  One issue might be that he throws from too much of a 3/4 angle and to make it to the top part of the rotation they might need to move his arm position up 5 degrees.  This would help his slider and his fastball and generate more movement and less contact.  However, I think they are reluctant to do this to prevent injury.

[Badsmerf]

Interesting report. A good fastball with great command can go a long way. What happened to the advertised wipe out slider? At this point i think his floor is raised, with ceiling remaining high. I'd rather have a guy with a great fastball and improving secondary stuff than the other way around ( Meyer).

[DocBauer]

No matter how terrible, disappointing or gut - wrenching this season has been, I still keep envisioning an Aug. 1st lineup with Buxton in CF, Kepler in RF, Sano at 3B, Arcia/Rosario in LF, Polanco in the middle infield, Murphy as the primary C after his AAA success and promotion, and Berrios starting the game.

[SirLoin]

Buxton struck out once.  Clearly he's a bust.

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I know Stuart Turner is the guy most are looking at to fill the Twins catching void, but I think Mitch Garver is going to be the guy. 

 

I think Mitch Garver is strongly making his case.

[SirLoin]

 

I think Mitch Garver is strongly making his case.

 

How is his defense?

[jokin]

 

No matter how terrible, disappointing or gut - wrenching this season has been, I still keep envisioning an Aug. 1st lineup with Buxton in CF, Kepler in RF, Sano at 3B, Arcia/Rosario in LF, Polanco in the middle infield, Murphy as the primary C after his AAA success and promotion, and Berrios starting the game.

 

I concur with this paraphrase of Hamlet reality check proviso-

 

"Perchance to dream?"--> Twins Way Reality--> "Ay, there's the rub... what dreams may come... must give us pause... respect the calamity that may come instead"

[nicksaviking]

 

Sounds a little self-congratulatory and of course, begs the question:

 

"Why didn't Bruno tell this to Buxton himself when he was up here?"

 

I'm not saying it's right, but as we've seen how the young guys are used, clearly the folks in the MLB dugout are quite resistant to being used for developmental instruction, it seems they would prefer that done on the farm. I'd guess the Twins didn't want Buxton to "work on" anything at the MLB level as they feel that should be done at the subordinating affiliates, and the big club should be all about the Wins and Losses.

 

I don't at all agree with this considering the record, but that's what it looks like to me.

[Seth Stohs]

 

How is his defense?

 

He's thrown out 8 of 10 would-be base stealers so far this year. He's got a strong arm. He's still not perceived to be as strong as Turner, but I think it's a lot closer than people want to think.

[jokin]

 

 

I think Mitch Garver is strongly making his case.

 

Terrific month of May for Garver after a slow start. OPS .822

 

Question-

 

Who gets the callup to Rochester first?

 

1) Garver. The hitting-challenged Red Wings are second to last in team hitting stats and could probably use Garver's bat.

 

2) Turner. The threadbare AAA level catching situation would be exacerbated even further should Murphy be called back to the Twins.

 

Shouldn't at least one of these guys be working ASAP with the near-major league ready arms? Not so many of those in Chattanooga, especially among the SPs.