Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/31): Jay Simply Dominates

[Cody Christie]

Tuesday was a roster movement day in the Twins system. The move most of Twins Territory will focus on is top-prospect Byron Buxton being recalled by the big league club. Buxton had been destroying the baseball at Triple-A and a hamstring injury to Danny Santana opened a roster spot.

 

At Rochester, Buxton's roster space was filled by left-handed pitcher Dan Runzler who had been on the DL. One of the team's other top prospects, Kohl Stewart, was also promoted from Fort Myers to Chattanooga. The Miracle also sent outfielder Austin Diemer to extended spring training.

 

Fort Myers filled their roster by adding right-handed pitcher Luke Bard from Chattanooga and right-handed pitcher Randy LeBlanc from Cedar Rapids. Left-handed reliever Cam Booser was also activated by Cedar Rapids

 

Would any of these new faces make an impact in their new places? You'll have to read on to find out.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Indianapolis 9

Box Score

The suddenly Buxton-less Red Wings line-up had to search out other options to fill his offensive void. Eddie Rosario hit his first Triple-A home run of the season as part of a two-hit night. Buck Britton and Wilfredo Tovar joined Rosario in the multi-hit category and Tovar swiped a pair of bases. His 16 steals were tied with the league leaders in the International League as play started on Tuesday. Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco each cracked his fourth double of the season.

 

Jose Berrios had dominated Triple-A all season so maybe it was time for a clunker. He pitched five innings and allowed seven runs on 10 hits. He struck out six and walked two. Of his 86 pitches, 58 were for strikes and he surrendered two home runs. David Martinez finished out the last three innings by allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts.

 

The loss dropped the Red Wings to 29-23 as they sit a half game behind the Scranton/WB RailRiders for first place in the International League North. In the last week, Rochester has played Indianapolis five times and lost three of those games.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 10, Birmingham 6

Box Score

The Lookouts found themselves in the midst of back-and-forth contest where either squad could have come out on top. DJ Hicks had a solid night at the plate as he went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Travis Harrison and Leonardo Reginatto both collected triples as part of a multi-hit evening. Mitch Garver scored two runs and drove in another run and Stuart Turner finished 2-for-4.

 

D.J. Baxendale started and allowed five runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Corey Williams kept the team in the game by only allowing one batter to reach base in 1.2 innings while striking out two. Mason Melotakis gave up a solo home run as the Lookout lead shrunk to one run. Trevor Hildenberger pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to close out the game.

 

With the win, Chattanooga improved to 23-28 as they have won four of their last six games. The Jackson Generals have jumped out to an 8.5 game lead in the Southern League North. The Lookouts currently sit 10 games out of first place.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 4, St. Lucie 0

Box Score

Tyler Jay was simply dominant on this night. For the second straight start, he set a career-high in strikeouts and he collected double digits in strikeouts for the first time. Jay threw 98 pitches (73 strikes) across eight shutout innings. He struck out 11 and walked one while limiting the Mets to two hits that were both singles. Yorman Landa finished out the ninth to complete the shutout as the two pitchers faced one batter over the minimum.

 

Fort Myers wasted little time jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning to support Jay. Most of the damage was done as Alex Real walked with two out to put runners on first and second. Edgar Corcino tripled to drive in the first two runs. Chris Paul followed this with a single to cap off the inning and put the Miracle up for good.

 

Every hitter in the line-up reached base with the exception of Trey Vavra. Engelb Vielma and Tanner Witt both reached base three times. Witt drove in the team's fourth run and Vielma stole his first base. Paul finished the night 2-for-4. The win ended a three-game losing streak for Fort Myers.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 2 (10 Innings)

Box Score

In his last start, Sam Clay got beat up and didn't make it out of the third inning. A very different pitcher took the mound on Tuesday night. Clay pitched seven shutout innings by allowing one hit and striking out eight. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and his seven scoreless innings were a career high. In two of his last three starts, he has pitched at least seven innings and allowed one run or less.

 

The rest of the Kernels pitching staff wasn't so good. Sam Gibbons had to wiggle out of a sticky situation in the eighth inning before leaving the tying run at second. Williams Ramirez wasn't as lucky as he allowed the tying run, his first earned run of the season, to score in the bottom of the ninth. In his first appearance with the club, Cam Booser took the loss as he was only able to record one out in the tenth.

 

Cedar Rapids went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the club couldn't manage a single extra-base hit. Sean Miller collected three of the team's eight hits and the only RBI. Nelson Molina went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Alex Perez reached base twice out of the lead-off spot.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day- Tyler Jay, Fort Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day- DJ Hicks, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Indianapolis (12:35 CST)- LHP Logan Darnell (5-4, 3.74 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (12:30 CST)- LHP Nick Greenwood (2-1, 4.50 ERA)

Fort Myers vs. St. Lucie (6:05 CST)- RHP Keaton Steele (1-4, 4.03 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (7:00 CST)- RHP Fernando Romero (2-0, 0.90 ERA)

 

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

 

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[Einstein1]

Another scoreless inning from Trevor Hildenberger.  Any chance he gets to AAA this season?  

[Tommygun921]

It's great to see Jay not only doing well in his transition to starting but being dominate.

[Seth Stohs]

I think there is a chance, though I think he's in a good place right now. He was a late bloomer, per se, and kind of has now caught up with many from his own age. He just throws so many strikes, it's a wonder he doesn't get hit a bit more... but yes, he could get up to AAA this year. 

 

Another scoreless inning from Trevor Hildenberger.  Any chance he gets to AAA this season?  

 

[Vanimal46]

Jay seems to be picking up on things quickly. Any chance he's considered for the FSL All-Star Game?

[nicksaviking]

 

I think there is a chance, though I think he's in a good place right now. He was a late bloomer, per se, and kind of has now caught up with many from his own age. He just throws so many strikes, it's a wonder he doesn't get hit a bit more... but yes, he could get up to AAA this year. 

 

He did have a 10.6 H/9 in Ft. Myers so it looks like his current AA pace is a bit of a mirage, on the other hand his 2015 numbers in this department were pretty strong.

 

What's happened to Levi Michael though? I thought last year he started to figure it out, but now repeating AA nothing is going well for him.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Jay seems to be picking up on things quickly. Any chance he's considered for the FSL All-Star Game?

 

I would think there would be a very good chance.

[Seth Stohs]

 

He did have a 10.6 H/9 in Ft. Myers so it looks like his current AA pace is a bit of a mirage, on the other hand his 2015 numbers in this department were pretty strong.

 

What's happened to Levi Michael though? I thought last year he started to figure it out, but now repeating AA nothing is going well for him.

 

Note that he was only in FM for like 3 weeks this year and maybe a month last year. He was terriifc in the AFL. Then again, he throws so many strikes, he'll give up some hits.

 

As for Michael, he was pretty good the last two years, when healthy... this year he's healthy and just not being played every day any more. 

[Mike Sixel]

Jay's performance so far looks pretty nice. Impressed. 

[d-mac]

I think it's time Jay gets promoted to AA, along with Gonsalves. A bit surprising that Stewart got the call first. His last handful of starts haven't been great and his K% has started to slide back to where he had been previously. Jay and Gonsalves just have better numbers.

 

It's a bit of a bummer with what's happened to Berrios since he was sent down. He's really struggled throwing strikes- that's never been an issue in his career. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

It's a bit of a bummer with what's happened to Berrios since he was sent down. He's really struggled throwing strikes- that's never been an issue in his career. 

 

It was going on all spring and in his first two Rochester starts this season - before his call up. But yeah, in previous years, it wasn't an issue.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Jay seems to be picking up on things quickly. Any chance he's considered for the FSL All-Star Game?

He's gotta seem like a lock, the FSL AllStar game is in little more than 2 weeks, 6/18.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

It was going on all spring and in his first two Rochester starts this season - before his call up. But yeah, in previous years, it wasn't an issue.

He seemed like he would fly open and the ball would miss outside a lot when he was up before. Like his arm was not catching up with his body fast enough. Wonder if this is where a lot of his balls are coming from.

[Badsmerf]

Jay is really pitching well right now. At some point the twins need to make room for him, gonsalves, and jorge! Good problem to have, can't remember the last time 4 sp at a certain level were dominating.

[Pitz]

I have a pretty good guess about who will be the TwinsDaily SP of the month for May.

 

(Although there is actually some fairly stiff competition.)

[theJemmer]

I've been thinking that Berrios would be helped by tightening up his windup a bit.  His arm swings very low and behind him during his windup.  I'd wager a little less arm swing would improve his accuracy - hopefully without reducing speed or inducing arm problems.

[Pius Jefferson]

The FSL is very pitching friendly so are there any indications this is  more than competing in a pitchers league?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

The FSL is very pitching friendly so are there any indications this is  more than competing in a pitchers league?

 

It's likely both talent and the league.  It's a pitching friendly league, but it isn't as though Jay, Stewart, and Gonsalves have been below average or something across the league.  They've all done quite well. 

[ashbury]

I guess it's time I put behind me the initial skepticism of the drafting of Jay, and accept he's a legitimate starting pitching prospect. A long way to go until fruition as a major leaguer, same as with any legitimate prospect, but a good pick.