Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/25): Miracle, E-Twins Explode for Double-Digit Runs

[Tom Froemming]

You won’t find many games as one-sided as the ones played by Fort Myers and Elizabethton Friday. Those two clubs socked a combined seven homers, and both won by double-digit margins. The Lookouts and Kernels were also victorious Friday night, but the Red Wings fell in extras despite an impressive performance from Stephen Gonsalves.

 

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT

Buffalo 2, Rochester 1 (11 innings)

Box Score

 

Stephen Gonsalves pitched a great game and Levi Michael hit his first Triple-A home run, but the Red Wings just couldn’t get much of anything going on offense. The Wings had a great opportunity to walk this one off in the bottom of the ninth inning. Matt Hague was thrown out at the plate for the third out as he attempted to score on an Anthony Recker double.

 

 

Gonsalves, making his fourth start for Rochester, gave up one run on seven hits and a walk over 6.0 innings. He struck out six. Nik Turley and Michael Tonkin each pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen before Yohan Pino gave up the game-winning sac fly in the top of the 11th. The Wings went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

 

Rochester fell to 75-57, but still holds a two-game lead of the wild card spot.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 1

Box Score

 

All this team does is win. This one was tied until the bottom of the eighth inning when T.J. White drove in LaMonte Wade to give the Lookouts the lead. Max Murphy added an RBI double to provide an insurance run.

 

Ryan Eades got his first start since July 2 and held Mississippi to one run over 4.0 innings. Cody Stashak, who was making his Double-A debut, was the first man out of the bullpen and was outstanding. He struck out five of the seven batters he faced over his 2.0 scoreless innings. Alex Muren followed with two more innings of shutout ball before Gabriel Moya came in for his 23rd save of the season.

 

White, Murphy and Jonathan Rodriguez each had two hits. Along with sparking the game-winning rally, Wade also drove in Chattanooga’s first run with a sac fly in the fifth inning.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 14, Charlotte 2

Box Score

 

Brent Rooker homered, because that’s what he does. Make that 17 home runs in 58 career games for the Mississippi State product, 10 of which he’s hit for the Miracle. I guess somebody forgot to tell him the FSL is a pitcher’s league. Rooker also had two singles, raising his batting average to .289.

 

But there were plenty of other impressive performances by Fort Myers, which scored six runs in both the first and fourth innings. Jaylin Davis hit two homers and Tanner English blasted a grand slam. Zander Wiel had three hits, drove in three runs and scored twice.

 

Brady Anderson was off to a great start, but exited the game after three shutout innings due to an apparent injury. Tyler Jay came on in relief and completed two full innings for the first time this season. He struck out three batters and allowed just one hit. Jay is up to 5.2 innings on his rehab assignment and has 10 strikeouts and just one walk. Tom Hackimer also threw two scoreless innings and added four strikeouts. In all, the Miracle racked up 13 K's and issued just one walk.

 

This was a big win for Fort Myers, as they extended their lead over Charlotte to 4.0 games in the FSL South division’s second-half standings.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6. Quad Cities 2

Box Score

 

Jimmy Kerrigan sparked the Kernels two-run second inning with a leadoff single and added some insurance runs with a two-RBI base hit in the ninth. In between, both Lewin Diaz and Travis Blankenhorn homered.

 

Charlie Barnes held the River Bandits to one run on two hits over 4.0 innings. He struck out three. Logan Lombana followed with two scoreless innings. Patrick McGuff surrendered a run over his two innings, but also struck out three. Hector Lujan pitched a scoreless ninth inning, lowering his ERA to 1.41.

 

The Kernels were extremely patient in this game. They drew 10 walks, two each for Caleb Hamilton, Shane Carrier and Jordan Gore. Royce Lewis was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and he stole a base.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 12, Bristol 1

Box Score

 

What a dominating performance by the E-Twins. Second baseman Carson Crites led the way by going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer, Jose Miranda also clubbed a three-run homer, his 10th of the season, and Ariel Montesino had a home run, three hits and four RBI.

 

Akil Baddoo was on base in four of his five plate appearances, tallying two singles while picking up a couple of walks. He entered this game with a .421 OBP. Wander Javier also had a couple of hits.

 

Ryley Widel struggled with his control, walking six batters, but he still only gave up one run over his four innings thanks in large part to six strikeouts. Moises Gomez pitched the final five frames, holding Bristol scoreless on two hits while adding another seven strikeouts.

 

The victory improved E-Town’s record to 37-25, and they were able to extend their lead in the Appy League West division to 3.5 games over Johnson City.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Red Sox at GCL Twins (Postponed due to rain)

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves, Rochester (6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jaylin Davis, Fort Myers (3-for-5, 2 HR)

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Buffalo, 5:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.56 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)

Chattanooga at Jackson, 6:05 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.03 ERA, 1.28 WHIP)

Fort Myers vs. Charlotte, 5:05 pm CT, Lewis Thorpe (2.87 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities, 6:35 pm CT, Tyler Wells (2.27 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

Elizabethton at Greenville, 5:00 pm CT, TBD

GCL Twins vs GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT (doubleheader), TBD

 

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

 

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[drock2190]

Gordon has been quiet lately in these reports. Must be going on a pretty good skid in the 2nd half.

[Gagne Fan]

Your love affair for Goncalves is clouding your judgement....

You said he outing tonight was outstanding

 

Look deeper into the actual numbers instead of your opinion

 

1.333 WHIP

7 hits in 6 innings

BABIP .437

BA .304

 

Those numbers do not translate to success at the next level

 

With that many base runners, his luck will soon run out....like in his last start

 

His last start produced:

 

3.67 WHIP

8 hits in 3 innings

BABIP .500

BA .470

 

Allowed more HR's (3) then strikeouts (1)

 

A GAME SCORE of 1

 

In AAA he currently has a home run rate of 2.25/9

[Gagne Fan]

Even more alarming....

 

Of the 23 hits he has allowed in 22 AAA innings pitched, 11 of them are for extra bases.

So 48% of his hits allowed were for extra bases

That is awful no matter how you look at it

 

There are Red Wing pitchers with 40+ IP that have allowed less extra base hits and home runs

[AlwaysinModeration]

Gagne Fan, BABIP is a great stat to provide, because when a ball gets hit into play, over the course of a season and career, about 30% of those balls turn into outs, no matter if you are Pedro Martinez or Mike Pelfrey.

 

So for those starts, Gonsalves should have given up 5 hits in six innings last night, and five hits in the three (lousy) innings he pitched the other day against Louisville.

 

And if he were pitching in front of the Twins defense, as many have speculated he would have been the last couple of times through the Twins rotation (ahem, Tim Melville), there is a good chance some of the extra bass hits he gave up would have found leather.

 

More importantly, Gonsalves has struck out 22 batters and walked 6 in the 22 innings he has pitched in AAA.

 

It's quite possible that he was let down pitching in AAA against Louisville last week, when he very plausibly could have been making his major league debut (in a wild card race, to boot.)

 

No one has argued that Gonsalves is the next coming of Clayton Keisha's, but here's hoping he gets a start for the Twins in the next couple of weeks, and does well as his track record portends.

 

Thanks for the great write up Tom.

[gman]

It's disappointing to realize the regular minor league season ends in about 1 week

 

Saw Curtiss pitch in his ML debut yesterday (on TV). He's listed as the #19 prospect. Hildenberger and Busenitz are not listed at all. Can't wait to see the good relievers make it. Hopefully 2018.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Site not allowing me to edit. Not sure how many extra bass hits he gave up. And about this Clayton Keisha character....

[Gagne Fan]

Hard to find leather when the ball finds the cheap seats !!!

[Gagne Fan]

I guess the Twins FO keeps Heston around so his crappy era of 9.25 makes Goncalves era of 4.09 look good.

Most guys have stupid good success at the AAA level and can't reproduce those results once they get called up....see Turley + Tonkin.

Maybe Goncalves is trying for the opposite.....FYI....that never happens

[Tom Froemming]

 

Your love affair for Goncalves is clouding your judgement....
You said he outing tonight was outstanding

Look deeper into the actual numbers instead of your opinion

You OK, man? Need a hug or something?

 

I said Gonsalves was impressive and great, but sure, I'll say outstanding too. Look deep into the numbers? How about this: he faced 24 men, struck out six of them (25%) and walked just one (4%). He gave up two extra-base hits, one of them to Michael Saunders, an MLB All-Star just last season.

 

If you're going to take issue with that performance from a 23-year-old in Triple A, you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment. 

[Gagne Fan]

More hits than innings pitched in an outing is NEVER great or impressive

You overhype the guy, he's a backend rotation guy at the most....not Sandy Koufax

You guys make me sick giving him pitcher of the day every time he pitches; even when it's mediocre at best.

[Gagne Fan]

I'm not taking issue with his performance, I'm taking issue with you saying it was "great" and "impressive"

[Gagne Fan]

Solid outing would have been more appropriate

 

Even if you know nothing about baseball, the number of extra base hits allowed in AAA is alarming

 

I'm a fan of Goncalves, just not going to overhype him

[Cap'n Piranha]

I don't think you are a fan of Gonsalves, as you're being ridiculously critical. He just moved up a level, it's reasonable to get an adjustment period. As for the stats you provided, the big one that stands out to me is BABIP. A BABIP over .400 is not sustainable, so his one game WHIP is inflated. And you conveniently didn't mention his stellar 1.5 ERA, or 6/1 k/bb ratio. I wonder why.

[puckstopper1]

 

Gordon has been quiet lately in these reports. Must be going on a pretty good skid in the 2nd half.

Drock - I noticed that as well, but the skid has been bad the past 9 games.  Since banging out 5 hits 10 games ago, Gordon is just 6 for 39 (a .154 average), and has is average down to .277.  Perhaps he is wearing down a bit as the season winds down.

[Bob Sacamento]

The GCL double header for today gets rained out and added to Friday (9/1) and Saturday (9/2) for back to back double headers to end the season.  The GCL squad is currently in first place by 5 1/2 games in the South Division and looking at the #2 seed overall with 8 games left in the season.

[howieramone2]

I'm just happy no one is screaming for Gonsalves to pitch game 163.

[Han Joelo]

Nice to see Gonsalves rebound after the last start. Always fun to see guys struggle a bit and the figure stuff out.

 

I'm pretty sure I read that Badoo had the 'tools' when he was drafted, but there was uncertainty as to whether he'd figure out how to use them. I'd be curious if Fangraphs or better yet, TD had an in depth comparative analysis of him vs. similar age/drafted players. Seems like he should shoot up some rankings, anyway. But maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture? At any rate, that Baddoo-Javier-Miranda triumvirate is lethal.

 

Yay for Jay!

[Tom Froemming]

 

More hits than innings pitched in an outing is NEVER great or impressive
You overhype the guy, he's a backend rotation guy at the most....not Sandy Koufax
You guys make me sick giving him pitcher of the day every time he pitches; even when it's mediocre at best.

I don't really care how many singles a guy gives up compared to how many runs are scored against him. I saw the one where Seth compared Johan to Koufax, but must've missed the one where anybody here said Stephen was the next Sandy. We all know he's the next Clayton Keisha, tho

 

If anything on TD makes you sick, you need to take a couple deep breaths, gets some fresh air and pet a dog or something. 

 

Who would you have given pitcher of the day to? Stashak was dynamite and Moya got a big save. Jay pitched well, along with others, but it's tough for me to give it to a reliever or any starter that fails to go five innings. Gomez was great, but that game was so out of hand before he entered it didn't really matter much.

[AZTwin]

It's disappointing to realize the regular minor league season ends in about 1 week

 

Saw Curtiss pitch in his ML debut yesterday (on TV). He's listed as the #19 prospect. Hildenberger and Busenitz are not listed at all. Can't wait to see the good relievers make it. Hopefully 2018.

How did Curtiss look? Heard he has incredible stuff. He's 19 because he's older and a relief prospect. I wouldn't look into that too much for a reliever

[Bob Sacamento]

 

 As for the stats you provided, the big one that stands out to me is BABIP. A BABIP over .400 is not sustainable, so his one game WHIP is inflated. And you conveniently didn't mention his stellar 1.5 ERA, or 6/1 k/bb ratio. I wonder why.

What bothers me is when people use a "long term" statistic in a "short term" duration.  BABIP doesn't normalize/stabilize for a pitcher until around 2000 balls in play.  According to FanGraphs here are the stabilizing thresholds for short sample size for pitching statistics to be of significant.

 

“Stabilization” Points for Pitching Statistics:

 

70 BF: Strikeout rate
170 BF: Walk rate
640 BF: HBP rate
670 BF: Single rate
1450 BF: XBH rate
1320 BF: HR rate

630 BF: AVG
540 BF: OBP
550 AB: SLG
630 AB: ISO

70 BIP: GB rate
70 BIP: FB rate
650 BIP: LD rate
400 FB: HR per FB
2000 BIP: BABIP

 

 

And offensively:

 

“Stabilization” Points for Offense Statistics:

 

60 PA: Strikeout rate
120 PA: Walk rate
240 PA: HBP rate
290 PA: Single rate
1610 PA: XBH rate
170 PA: HR rate

910 AB: AVG
460 PA: OBP
320 AB: SLG
160 AB: ISO

80 BIP: GB rate
80 BIP: FB rate
600 BIP: LD rate
50 FBs: HR per FB
820 BIP: BABIP

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/principles/sample-size/

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Nice to see Gonsalves rebound after the last start. Always fun to see guys struggle a bit and the figure stuff out.

I'm pretty sure I read that Badoo had the 'tools' when he was drafted, but there was uncertainty as to whether he'd figure out how to use them. I'd be curious if Fangraphs or better yet, TD had an in depth comparative analysis of him vs. similar age/drafted players. Seems like he should shoot up some rankings, anyway. But maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture? At any rate, that Baddoo-Javier-Miranda triumvirate is lethal.

Yay for Jay!

The Twins are even surprised with Baddoo, he's added nearly 20 lbs of muscle since being drafted transforming from a quick twitch, burner type hitter that he was in HS to one adding a power component that no one was expecting and a very exciting speed/power combo with plus plate recognition.

[bird]

 

It's disappointing to realize the regular minor league season ends in about 1 week

 

Saw Curtiss pitch in his ML debut yesterday (on TV). He's listed as the #19 prospect. Hildenberger and Busenitz are not listed at all. Can't wait to see the good relievers make it. Hopefully 2018.

 

 

Yeah, it's been the the most promising overall minor league season in my very long memory. I can't produce numbers, but my sense is that the percentage of higher-profile prospects who met or exceeded expectations is extremely high despite some glaring injury problems. I can remember a couple of years when well more than half the prospects making Seth's Top 25 were injury or performance disappointments. Of course, those lists had nobodies like Doug Deeds and David Bromberg on them. There usually aren't any minor league All Stars that can't find a spot on a top prospect list, and this year there are many. 

 

 

[blindeke]

 

I'm a fan of Goncalves, just not going to overhype him

Also not going to spell his name right.

[bird]

 

Solid outing would have been more appropriate

Even if you know nothing about baseball, the number of extra base hits allowed in AAA is alarming

I'm a fan of Goncalves, just not going to overhype him

 

 

Thanks for clarifying that you weren't being overly harsh in your criticism of Gonsalves. It's so comforting to know that you simply meant to be overly harsh in your criticism of a guy who has been taking his own time to write these reports for the benefit of the rest of us.

 

Thanks, Tom. Outstanding reports.

[Han Joelo]

 

The Twins are even surprised with Baddoo, he's added nearly 20 lbs of muscle since being drafted transforming from a quick twitch, burner type hitter that he was in HS to one adding a power component that no one was expecting and a very exciting speed/power combo with plus plate recognition.

Thanks for the reply.  I know there are some underlying things like the plate recognition that you mention, but what else makes Baddoo different from Angel Morales?  I've been burned before...

[Tibs]

 

Solid outing would have been more appropriate

Even if you know nothing about baseball, the number of extra base hits allowed in AAA is alarming

I'm a fan of Goncalves, just not going to overhype him

If you were a fan of Gonsalves, maybe you could actually take the time to give him some respect and spell his last name correctly at least once in all those posts you made.

[ashbury]

Mod note: OK, there's starting to be some piling on versus the poster who remains skeptical about Gonsalves. I ask for some restraint here. Of course, the responses were not totally surprising given the over-the-top tone of the lengthy sequence of skeptical posts, so that needs some toning down too. Kthanks.^*

 

^{* _{Shamelessly stolen from Chief.}}

[AZTwin]

What a defensive play by Royce Lewis. Seems like he should stick

 

http://m.milb.com/video/1772369383/?vref=redirector

[rdehring]

OK, I'll provide support to Gagne. I also saw the words "great game" and thought the writer was being a bit generous.

 

As for calling him up or already having had him pitch for the Twins, get serious. Let the young man pitch out the season at Rochester. Then we will see what the Twins feel about adding him to the roster and calling him up. Personally, I think his future is bright and would do so...even if he doesn't pitch more than a couple innings out of the pen.

 

Has anyone noticed that Javier is hitting just under .400 in August with the month/season nearly over? This kid isn't going to be special, he already is!