Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/28): Return of the Mack (to Rochester)

[Tom Froemming]

Byron Buxton, whose walk-up song is Mark Morrison’s 1996 hit “Return of the Mack,” made a triumphant return to Rochester. He opened his rehab assignment by slugging a lead-off homer, then helped spark a game-winning rally in extra innings.

 

Also tonight, Royce Lewis picked up two more hits, Fernando Romero dazzled, Gabriel Moya impressed in his Twins org debut, Tim Melville struck out 11 batters and Joe Cronin had a big game.Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Toledo 1 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

Buxton popped the leadoff homer and Red Wings starter Tim Melville had a no-hitter through 4.2 innings, but Rochester couldn’t muster any more offense. Melville eventually gave up a run in the seventh, and the game went into extras.

Buxton led off the 10th with a single, and after Mitch Garver struck out, Matt Hague singled to advance Byron to second. Niko Goodrum struck out, but ByungHo Park delivered the go-ahead hit, a two-run double. The Wings added two more runs, as Daniel Palka tripled and Tommy Field hit a single.

 

Melville was marvelous, striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings in this one. He lowered his ERA to 2.44 over his 48 innings with the Red Wings. He was pitching with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League earlier this year. Mason Melotakis pitched two perfect innings to pick up the W.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 2

Box Score

 

Jonathan Rodriguez, who has a strong case to be the Southern League MVP this season, had yet another great night. The 27-year-old hit his 15th homer and 24th double of the season on a three-hit night in which he also scored three runs. Rodriguez entered the evening as the league leader in OPS by 21 points. The Twins signed Rodriguez as a minor league free agent over the winter.

 

Fernando Romero went five innings yet again tonight, but it may not have been due to any kind of limits this time. There was a rain delay in the middle of the fifth, so it was a logical point to call it a night for the 22-year-old Dominican sensation. As we’ve come to expect at this point, Romero was outstanding. He struck out nine batters and surrendered one run on just three hits while issuing one walk.

Gabriel Moya, acquired from Arizona for Joh Ryan Murphy, made his Twins organization debut. He struck out the side in the eighth inning and walked a batter. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two.

 

Nick Gordon hit a double, drew a walk and scored a run. He also made a throwing error, his 21st error of the season. (UPDATE The official scorer has changed that play to a hit, so Gordon is still at 20 errors.) Fun fact: the Southern League record for errors in a season by a shortstop is 56. The player? Former Twins center fielder Otis Nixon in 1981.

 

Andy Wilkins, Ryan Walker and Levi Michael all had two-hit games. T.J White hit a bases-clearing triple. Catcher Brian Navarreto hit his first career homer at the Double A level.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 0

Box Score

 

Brady Anderson turned in a terrific start, the Fort Myers bullpen dominated and the offense manufactured a pair of runs. Anderson gave up five hits and a walk over 5.2 innings while striking out three batters.

 

Andrew Vasquez, who has dominated like very few other pitchers in all of minor league baseball this season, struck out four batters over 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He’s now pitched 23.2 scoreless innings for the Miracle, and has 38 Ks against just four walks. Sam Clay finished things off in the ninth, striking out the side for his eighth save.

 

Tanner English had a great game out of the leadoff spot. He drew three walks, stole second base twice and scored a run. The Miracle scored their runs on an error on a pickoff throw and a sacrifice fly.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3

Box Score

 

Shortstop Joe Cronin hit a three-run homer and ended the night 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. That led a big offensive night for the Kernels, as Trey Cabbage also had three hits and Caleb Hamilton, Christian Cavaness and Gorge Munoz each had two hits.

 

Domenick Carlini gave up three runs, one earned, over 5.0 innings. Ryan Madson was the first man out of the bullpen, and threw 3.0 scoreless innings, giving up a couple of hits while tallying three strikeouts. Hector Lujan earned his 10th save with a scoreless ninth inning.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 5, Princeton 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)

Box Score

 

Bryan Sammons, the Twins eighth-round pick in this year’s draft, pitched 5.0 shutout innings. He gave up three hits, struck out six and didn’t walk anyone. Sammons, a lefty out of Western Carolina, has now pitched 24.2 innings and has only surrendered four earned runs (1.46 ERA).

 

Colton Waltner, a 21st rounder in this year’s class, hit his first professional home run and stole a base. Shane Carrier had a pair of hits, boosting his average to .339, and Andrew Bechtold hit a double, drew a walk and scored twice.

 

Elizabethton 3, Princeton 0 (Game 2, Suspended after 2 innings)

Box Score

 

The Twins were off to an excellent start in this one, but more rain came through and forced this game to be suspended. Jose Miranda and Carrier both hit homers and Bechtold had a triple. Edwar Colina had thrown two shutout innings with four strikeouts.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Red Sox 12, GCL Twins 7

Box Score

 

The Twins built a 7-4 lead in this one, but typically rock solid bullpen arms Vadim Balan and Zach Featherstone combined to give up eight runs (five earned) over just 1.2 innings. Alex Robles had the big blast in this one, clubbing a three-run homer. The 22-year-old right fielder had a monster game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI.

 

Royce Lewis had yet another big game, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run. This was his 25th professional game, he’s gotten multiple hits in 12 of them. Petru Balan started for the Twins and gave up three runs on four hits over 3.0 innings.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Tim Melville, Rochester (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI)

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Toledo, 6:05 pm CT, Hector Santiago (6.75 ERA, 1.75 WHIP)

Chattanooga vs. Birmingham, 6:15 pm CT, Felix Jorge (4.01 ERA, 1.43 WHIP)

Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:15 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (3.06 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids vs Clinton, 6:35 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.51 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

Elizabethton at Princeton, 6:00 pm CT, TBD

GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games.

 

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[Seth Stohs]

Ironically, Otis Nixon's nephew played in Chattanooga last year... 

[Seth Stohs]

Reports I've been told on Tim Melville say he's one to watch. Sits 93-96 and maintains it. That's a very nice indy league signing.

[Han Joelo]

Was this planned for Buxton? I thought they skipped the rehab assignment. Regardless, good game for him.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Looks like it's time to promote Romero, actually they should have done it around the All Star break. I mean he's earned it on preformance alone. I just find it puzzling they can't make room for him and Stephen Gonsalves in Rochester when they are pitching well enough for said promotion.

Edited July 29, 2017 by FormerMinnasotan

[jsteve96]

I'm guessing Graterol will get to pitch one of the 2 games for Etown so that will be exciting to see. Jose Miranda and Andrew Bechtold dominating, I love seeing that. time for the next level to help CR in the playoffs.

[gman]

Are they waiting for waiting for Andrew Vasquez to dominate before they promote him?

 

Will Chris Paul make it back this year?

[Otto von Ballpark]

It took Romero 94 pitches to get through those 5 innings. I am pretty sure he was done for the night regardless of any rain delay.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Melville's stat line looks particularly good for this game, but keep in mind Toledo has the worst offense by far in the IL. (Also they are the oldest offense by far -- good job, Tigers!)

[mikelink45]

It is always pleasing to read about good pitchers in the Twins system, just frustrating to not see them get a chance to outperform Colon and the other fillers. 

[Gagne Fan]

7 of the 9 starters for Toledo have seen Big League time

Melville was phenomenal last night

As well pitched of a game as I've seen in s long time

[Otto von Ballpark]

7 of the 9 starters for Toledo have seen Big League time

 

Primarily because they are old. Not sure it is a great achievement to put away the likes of 35 year olds Omar Infante and Brendan Ryan. And Jacoby Jones, who struck out 3 times last night, has a 45% K rate in his MLB career to date...

 

That's not to take away from Melville's season, though. He has a string of solid starts against some better teams too. Just cautioning against reading too much into the 11 Ks last night (his previous season high was 6).

Edited July 29, 2017 by spycake

[Oldgoat_MN]

Jonathan Rodriguez is 27 years old. He's not just hitting with a good OPS, he has a .316 BA.

Why leave a 27 year old in AA ball when he is dominating like this?

Is he just MiLB filler?

[bird]

7-1 in the minors yesterday. The Twins (affiliates) sure know how to win.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Jonathan Rodriguez is 27 years old. He's not just hitting with a good OPS, he has a .316 BA.

Why leave a 27 year old in AA ball when he is dominating like this?

Is he just MiLB filler?

Pretty sure that, yes, he is filler. It is his 4th year in AA, which probably explains some of the success. He had a taste of AAA last year and only posted a 102 wRC+ which probably didn't impress as a 1B...

[h2oface]

How long does Royce need to stay at such a low level of competition?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Jonathan Rodriguez is 27 years old. He's not just hitting with a good OPS, he has a .316 BA.

Why leave a 27 year old in AA ball when he is dominating like this?

Is he just MiLB filler?

 

He was brought in on a minor league deal this offseason after a lot of years with the Cardinals organization... yes, he's organizational filler, but when a guy puts up numbers... he could move up... but he's not going to play ahead of Park or Vargas or Hague, etc.

[bighat]

 

How long does Royce need to stay at such a low level of competition?

 

Wouldn't mind seeing him move up soon. I believe his rookie-league manager has already said that Royce should be in Cedar Rapids and has already proven himself worthy of a promotion.