Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/26): Bailey 0.00ber

[Tom Froemming]

Bailey Ober pitched six more scoreless innings tonight for Fort Myers, keeping his ERA at a perfect 0.00 through 24 frames so far this season. Jordan Balazovic also impressed, once again, for Cedar Rapids. Come check out what else happened down on the farm Friday.TRANSACTIONS

Matt Magill was activated from his rehab assignment and has joined the Twins. In 5 1/3 innings with Rochester, he had eight strikeouts and only gave up one run on two hits and a walk.

 

Left-handed pitcher Daniel Camerena was transferred from Rochester to Pensacola.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Pawtucket 17, Rochester 5

Box Score

 

Chase De Jong: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 51.5% strikes (17 of 33 pitches)

HR: Zander Wiel (5), Tomas Telis (3)

Multi-hit games: Telis (3-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 R), Wiel (2-for-4, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R), LaMonte Wade (2-for-4)

 

Chase De Jong could use a hug. After being outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster earlier in the day, De Jong got rocked in his start Friday evening. He gave up seven runs, all earned, while recording just one out. And if you see Ryan Eades, offer him a warm embrace as well.

 

Eades was the first man out of the pen. He gave up seven more runs over an inning and a third. The Red Wings were trailing 16-0 after the top of the second inning. Ouch.

 

Catcher Tomas Telis, who signed as a minor league free agent this winter, had a three-hit game highlighted by his third home run. He’s hitting .325 with a .989 OPS so far this season. Zander Wiel had a triple and his fifth home run.

 

Tyler Duffey struck out four in 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his return to Triple A. Andrew Vasquez and Austin Adams each turned in a pair of scoreless innings.

 

Brent Rooker was out in left field for the first two innings of this game, but when his spot in the lineup came up in the bottom of the second he was removed from the game. I’ll try to circle back and see if I can find more details as to why once the Twins game is over/recap is all done.

 

UPDATE: It's believed that Rooker may have aggravated a hamstring injury that had kept him out of a few games earlier, but nothing official.

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Jackson 12, Pensacola 7

Box Score

 

Jorge Alcala: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 57.1% strikes (40 of 70 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Jaylin Davis (4-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R), Luis Arraez (2-for-4, BB, RBI, R), Tanner English (2-for-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R), Drew Maggi (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R)

 

Jorge Alcala made such a good first impression in 2019, heading into this start 4-0 with an excellent 1.02 WHIP and eye-popping 8.33 K:BB ratio, but everything took a turn for the worse tonight.

 

The Blue Wahoos jumped out to a 3-0 lead but Alcala couldn’t take advantage. He gave up three runs in the third inning then two more in the fourth before even recording an out that inning. He was his own worst enemy. Alcala walked three batters, hit another, was called for a balk and committed a fielding error. I feel like that has to be some sort of pitcher’s nightmare bingo or something.

 

Tyler Jay allowed two runners he inherited from Alcala to score and it appeared the rout was on. Jackson opened up a 9-3 lead, but Pensacola would not go down quietly. They rallied back to pull within two runs, but the Generals responded with a three-run inning of their own.

 

Jaylin Davis had a big night, going 4-for-5, and is now hitting .351 with a .962 OPS on the season. Travis Blankenhorn started at second base and went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in his Double-A debut.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 4, Palm Beach 3

Box Score

 

Bailey Ober: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 74.0% strikes (54 of 73 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Akil Baddoo (3-for-5), Ryan Jeffers (2-for-5, 2B), Michael Helman (2-for-4)

 

What an incredible way to open a season. With six more scoreless innings, Ober is now up to 24 innings and he has yet to give up an earned run. He struck out five batters and walked one tonight, putting him up to 26 strikeouts against just three walks on the season.

 

Runs have been incredibly tough to come by for Fort Myers, as they’ve scored just 19 runs over their past nine games. The Miracle scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning. Ryan Jeffers got things started with a leadoff double, Michael Helman drove him in on a single and a Ryan Costello hit-by-pitch followed by an Aaron Whitefield walk loaded the bases with no outs.

 

Mark Contreras came up and grounded out to first base, but a throwing error on the double-play attempt allowed two more runs to score. To top it off, an errant pickoff attempt allowed Whitefield to score. So not exactly an offensive explosion that inning, but this team will take any runs it can get.

 

Johan Quezada gave up a two-run homer in the eighth and Tom Hackimer walked the bases loaded to open the ninth, but the Miracle turned a double play. The runner at third successfully tagged up to score on a fly to left field, but the trail runner was thrown out trying to advance to third on a relay from Contreras to Jeffers to third baseman Jose Miranda. Hackimer was ejected before he could finish wiggling out of his own jam. Hector Lujan was pressed into action and struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6, Kane County 2

Box Score

 

Jordan Balazovic: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 67.1% strikes (55 of 82 pitches)

HR: Joe Cronin (1)

Multi-hit games: Cronin (3-for-4, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R), Gabe Snyder (2-for-4, 2B, R)

 

This was Jordan Balazovic’s fourth start of the season. He’s given up no more than four hits, two runs and has had at least seven strikeouts in all four. He surrendered his first home run of the season tonight, but that was the only earned run he gave up in his six innings. Balazovic has now struck out 33 batters and walked just four in his 20 2/3 innings (8.25 K:BB ratio).

 

Balazovic exited this game with the Kernels trailing 2-0, but a Joe Cronin two-run homer evened things up in the seventh. Cedar Rapids added three more runs in the eighth, thanks to a Gilberto Celestino RBI double and a David Banuelos two-run single. Cronin was a hit shy of the cycle, and it's not the one you're probably thinking. He was 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and that home run. It's not often you see a guy fall a single short of a cycle.

 

Jacob Blank pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and Joe Record was perfect over the final 1 1/3 frames to earn his fourth save. Record has a 0.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts and just one walk in six innings so far. He was drafted in the 28th round back in 2017, but he had elbow and knee injuries that prevented him from making his pro debut until this year. He appears intent on making up for lost time.

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Bailey Ober, Fort Myers

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Joe Cronin, Cedar Rapids

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed

 

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-for-5, 2 K

4. Trevor Larnach (FM): 0-for-4, BB, 2 K

6. Brent Rooker (ROC): Removed in the second inning prior to his plate appearance.

10. Akil Baddoo (FM): 3-for-5, SB

13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 2-for-5, 2B, R

16. Gilberto Celestino (CR): 1-for-4, 2B, BB, RBI, R, 2 K

18. LaMonte Wade (ROC): 2-for-4, BB, K

19. Jorge Alcala (PNS): 3.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

20. Jose Miranda (FM): 0-for-1, BB

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs. Pawtucket, 12:05 pm CT (TBD)

Pensacola at Jackson, 6:05 pm CT, (Brusdar Graterol)

Fort Myers vs. Palm Beach, 5 pm CT (Charlie Barnes)

Cedar Rapids at Kane County, 1 pm CT (Cole Sands)

 

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

 

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[Seth Stohs]

"Brent Rooker was out in left field for the first two innings of this came, but when his spot in the lineup came up in the bottom of the second he was removed from the game. I’ll try to circle back and see if I can find more details as to why once the Twins game is over/recap is all done."

 

May have re-aggravated his hamstring injury playing in the outfield in the first inning. Not official, but told that's likely what happened. 

[Danchat]

Yikes, AAA pitching has been dreadful so far. De Jong has truly bombed out.

 

On the other side of things, I think Wade is almost ready for the majors, but things are a bit crowded up there. Both he and Cave deserve to be reserver OFs on major league squads, methinks.

[jimbo92107]

Sounds like Bailey Ober and Jordan Balazovic could be candidates for a bump to the next level up. I know it's early, but I'm just saying... ;-)

[dbminn]

Cedar Rapids won but we can't be sure about the relief pitchers' performances. All that was left was a Blank Record.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Cedar Rapids won but we can't be sure about the relief pitchers' performances. All that was left was a Blank Record.

 

Oh my.... well done... 

[rdehring]

Double ouch at AAA and AA.  Alcala needs to get back on track or the Pressley trade is gonna be a clunker.

 

Looks like it is going to be a fun summer whenever Ober and Balazovic are starting.  Does anyone have a crystal ball that will tell us if one of these guys develops into that true ACE the Twins really need?

 

See that Helman had a 7 game hitting streak that was broken a couple games ago.  Good seeing him starting to get on track as he has hit everywhere he has been.

[Danchat]

 

Double ouch at AAA and AA.  Alcala needs to get back on track or the Pressley trade is gonna be a clunker.

 

Looks like it is going to be a fun summer whenever Ober and Balazovic are starting.  Does anyone have a crystal ball that will tell us if one of these guys develops into that true ACE the Twins really need?

 

See that Helman had a 7 game hitting streak that was broken a couple games ago.  Good seeing him starting to get on track as he has hit everywhere he has been.

Eh, it's one bad game, plus I think Alcala is going to end up in the bullpen in the majors. That's just my hunch.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Bailey Ober was my Adopt-a-Prospect selection for 2018. Wish I had stuck with it!!

[Seth Stohs]

 

Double ouch at AAA and AA.  Alcala needs to get back on track or the Pressley trade is gonna be a clunker.

 

Looks like it is going to be a fun summer whenever Ober and Balazovic are starting.  Does anyone have a crystal ball that will tell us if one of these guys develops into that true ACE the Twins really need?

 

See that Helman had a 7 game hitting streak that was broken a couple games ago.  Good seeing him starting to get on track as he has hit everywhere he has been.

 

Alcala had a bad game after four good games... nothing to see here.

 

Balazovic is the one with the higher ceiling. But Ober was the freshman of the year his first year of college. Unfortunately since then he hasn't been healthy. But we saw last year before the elbow scare late last year what he is capable of, and he's taking that to a new level this year. He's got the size... Again, probably not a future ace, but he can be a big leaguer.

 

Helman is definitely one of those guys that isn't going to excite you much when you watch him but then you watch him over and over and realize just how good he is. He doesn't have any elite tools, but he does everything pretty well.