Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/25) Bring in the Ambulance for All but Those Who Wander

[Matt Braun]

What had seemed like a normal day in the land of the Twins’ minor league system was struck by an unfortunate slew of eventual IL stints and two major surgeries. But in some good news, a highly touted prospect was able to make his 2019 professional debut. All that and more in this edition of the Minor League Report.TRANSACTIONS

-RHP Melvi Acosta promoted from A+ Fort Myers to AA Pensacola

-RHP Randy Dobnak promoted from AA Pensacola to AAA Rochester

-INF Wander Javier activated for A Cedar Rapids

 

Injuries:

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Suspended vs Pawtucket

 

The Red Wings got out to a quick 6-1 lead vs Pawtucket in support of Randy Dobnak’s first AAA start before the rain came in and forced a suspension in the bottom of the second. The game will be made up as a doubleheader tomorrow and the first game will continue as normal as a nine inning game while the second game will be a seven inning affair.

 

The Red Wings were wearing Hustlers jerseys which became a feature on ESPN and the clip can be found here:

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 1, Tennessee 5

Box Score

 

Melvi Acosta: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 70.8% strikes (46 of 65 pitches)

HR: Travis Blankenhorn (7)

Multi-hit games: Alex Kirilloff (2-for-4), Ernie De La Trinidad (2-for-3)

 

The Blue Wahoos could not get much going offensively outside of a leadoff home run from Travis Blankenhorn and fell to the Tennessee Smokies. The only other extra-base hit was a double from Jaylin Davis.

 

After Melvi Acosta made his AA debut by throwing four innings to start the game, Adam Bray came in and continued his excellent season by firing off four scoreless innings that came with three punch outs and just one hit.

 

Alex Kirilloff had a multi-hit game which was good to see, hopefully he’ll be back doing Alex Kirilloff things very soon.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Daytona 0

Box Score

 

Jordan Balazovic: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 66.3 % strikes (59 of 89 pitches)

HR: Lewin Diaz (9)

Multi-hit games: Lewin Diaz (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Aaron Whitefield (2-for-3, R, BB)

 

Two weeks ago when I last wrote one of these, I typed in that Lewin Diaz had hit his third homer of the season, today he hit his ninth, that is quite the progression and it is great to see. In fact, Diaz tied the Miracle record for home runs hit in a single month.

 

 

Jordan Balazovic took the mound for his fourth A+ start and the Daytona hitters most likely did not sleep the night before in terror of who was waiting for them on the mound today. The good news for Daytona is that they only struck out three times against him but the bad news is that they forgot to score and so Balazovic ended with seven shutout innings.

 

Anthony Vizcaya took over after Balazovic and finished off the game with a pair of scoreless and hitless innings that came with two punch outs and it put a nice bow tie on the shutout for the Miracle pitching.

 

Earlier on Saturday, the FSL All-Star rosters were announced and the Miracle had eight selections-the highest for any team in the FSL. Those players can be found here:

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 9, Peoria 8

Box Score

 

Cole Sands: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 64.8% strikes (59 of 91 pitches)

HR: Gilberto Celestino (2), Ben Rodriguez (3)

Multi-hit games: Jared Akins (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R), Gilberto Celestino (3-for-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Andrew Bechtold (3-for-3, R, RBI, BB), Gabe Snyder (2-for-3, 2 RBI, BB)

 

Wander Javier made his 2019 professional debut along with his first game above of rookie ball today in the Kernels game vs the Chiefs. He started his day out with a HBP (stop hitting him please) and finished his day without a hit.

 

The Kernels offense was popping all day as only three innings ended without the Kernels offense scoring a run and six different players collected at least one RBI in the game.

 

The Kernels headed into the bottom of the eighth down a run but knotted the game at eight thanks to a Gilberto Celestino single before Ben Rodriguez launched the walk-off homer in the ninth to give the Kernels the win.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jordan Balazovic

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Gilberto Celestino

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, K

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 2-for-4, K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 3 K

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, 2 K

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 0-for-3, 3 K

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Suspended game

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Tommy John surgery

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Suspended game

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - No IL yet but needs rest

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 2K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did not play

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - With the Twins-did not pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Did not play

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, K

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Pawtucket @ Rochester Game 1: (4:05 P.M. Game 2 will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of game 1)

Pensacola @ Tennessee (1:00 P.M.)

Fort Myers @ Daytona (5: 35 P.M.) - RHP Jhoan Duran

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Josh Winder

 

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

 

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[ashbury]

 

Injuries make me so angry!

[twinsfanstreif]

I feel bad for all these long term injury guys. It's easy to just read an injured list and think "bummer, oh well" but there's all sorts of stories about the hardship and tough journey these injuries can cause, it's not as easy as "well, get em next year!" I feel for these guys and I hope they can recover and have great support in the process.

[diehardtwinsfan]

what a crappy day... two Tommy Johns and a 3rd guy flirting with it.

[jmlease1]

That's a really rough list of injuries! Hope Graterol's shoulder issues aren't serious, but we did hear some scouting reports that were concerned because hes a max effort guy to get that blazing speed. (No, that doesn't mean we should have already called him up to get what we could before the injury)

 

Injuries are going to happen, unfortunately. For the Twins, it makes it harder to do a deal in June to add pieces, I think. Injured guys lose value (fairly or not) and its harder to send out some of the healthy guys before you really start worrying about leaving the cupboard bare if you strip out too many guys and have your prospect list dominated by guys coming off injury.

 

Baddoo should have a shot to come back from his TJ in time for spring training; position players came rehab that one faster. Really tough break for Tyler Wells, good luck to him.

 

Gonsalves injury...man, I dunno. Maybe this is where we find out whether the medical/training staff still needs more housecleaning/buffing up. Hope theyre right and the ligament really is intact, but how many times have we heard in the past "He just need a couple more weeks of rest" that turns into 2 months that turns into major surgery? Yuck.

[clutterheart]

Have to wonder if injuries to Wells and Gonsalves are related to the staff changing their delivery. There were a more than a few articles touting pitcher's "biomechanics" this spring.

 

Pete Maki's methods might deserve scrutiny.

[benji21]

What a disaster of a minor league season so far. Injury after injury and abysmal performance from our top guys?? What is happening this season?

[mikelink45]

It is always nice when the MiLB players make all star teams, but the line for Royce is 223 .294 .321 .615 which is not all star in my mind, unless the rest of the league SS are really terrible.

 

 

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Happy to see Johan Quezada make the All Star team

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

 

Have to wonder if injuries to Wells and Gonsalves are related to the staff changing their delivery. There were a more than a few articles touting pitcher's "biomechanics" this spring.

Pete Maki's methods might deserve scrutiny.

 

I can't remember two injured pitchers in a single season ever before

[Mike Sixel]

Good luck to all of them!

[Seth Stohs]

 

Gonsalves injury...man, I dunno. Maybe this is where we find out whether the medical/training staff still needs more housecleaning/buffing up. Hope theyre right and the ligament really is intact, but how many times have we heard in the past "He just need a couple more weeks of rest" that turns into 2 months that turns into major surgery? Yuck.

 

The medical staff, including the doctors, don't just guess on the ligaments. That shows up in the MRI, doesn't it?

 

Gonsalves isn't going to be "just a couple more weeks."

 

And we have seen stress reactions of the elbow before. I believe that is what Burdi had, and I feel like there have been others. Some have turned into Tommy John. Others didn't. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Have to wonder if injuries to Wells and Gonsalves are related to the staff changing their delivery. There were a more than a few articles touting pitcher's "biomechanics" this spring.

Pete Maki's methods might deserve scrutiny.

 

I have a not-so-glowing opinion on that... but it's hard to know with any certainty. Tommy John surgeries have happened every year and in some cases, it may have just been a matter of time. 

 

But I think that there may be cases where this push for velocity may not be best for a pitcher's arm. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

What a disaster of a minor league season so far. Injury after injury and abysmal performance from our top guys?? What is happening this season?

 

The Minnesota Twins have the best record in baseball and that's fun.

 

But yes, it hasn't been a good start to the Twins minor league season with all of the injuries. As for performances, it's so important not to worry about numbers in the lower levels. It's about developing, and sometimes experiencing difficulties and struggles are part of that. Buxton never really struggled until he got to the big leagues. But in time his athleticism pushed him to (hopefully) stardom. Hopefully the struggles of Lewis will help him long-term too. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

It is always nice when the MiLB players make all star teams, but the line for Royce is 223 .294 .321 .615 which is not all star in my mind, unless the rest of the league SS are really terrible.

 

Depends on your definition of "star" and what that means in minor league baseball. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

I can't remember two injured pitchers in a single season ever before

 

I mean, last year Lachlan Wells, Randy LeBlanc and Zach Featherstone had Tommy John surgery. 

 

2017: Burdi, O'Rourke, May, Kirilloff, De Jesus

2016: Cutura, Benninghoff (had it right after the draft)

2015: Graterol, Thorpe, Hermsen, Farfan, Aponte

2014: Melotakis, R. Rosario, Romero, C Williams, Sano, Stirewalt

2013: Chargois, Stuifbergen

 

Could go back further, and I'm sure there are a few that were missed here. And, it's pretty similar to most organizations. 

[adorduan]

 

The medical staff, including the doctors, don't just guess on the ligaments. That shows up in the MRI, doesn't it?

 

Gonsalves isn't going to be "just a couple more weeks."

 

And we have seen stress reactions of the elbow before. I believe that is what Burdi had, and I feel like there have been others. Some have turned into Tommy John. Others didn't. 

I don't think there is any guessing. I had a MRI on my elbow about 2 weeks ago for elbow pain that happened at the gym.  the doctor could see where I had partially torn tendons in my elbow in the MRI. I'm pretty sure ligaments are the same way.

[gman]

Ouch, Ouch & Ouch. But on the brighter side Diaz may be turning into the hitter we thought we'd signed 6 years ago.

[dbminn]

In 2017, 26 percent of all major league pitchers had underwent Tommy John surgery in their careers. 

 

https://tht.fangraphs.com/ten-interesting-facts-about-tommy-john-surgery/

 

Teams should review their training programs, especially when velo increase is a major focus. But every team struggles with this.

[Darius]

Another bad day from Lewis (on paper, maybe he sting the ball 3 times).

 

Maybe Lewis getting an All-Star nod (somehow) will remind him he’s good at baseball and get him going.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Darius

[108Stitches]

I had a feeling Wells was much worse than we were told. That SUCKS. Title says it all..... literally bring the ambulances

[70charger]

 

I mean, last year Lachlan Wells, Randy LeBlanc and Zach Featherstone had Tommy John surgery. 

 

2017: Burdi, O'Rourke, May, Kirilloff, De Jesus

2016: Cutura, Benninghoff (had it right after the draft)

2015: Graterol, Thorpe, Hermsen, Farfan, Aponte

2014: Melotakis, R. Rosario, Romero, C Williams, Sano, Stirewalt

2013: Chargois, Stuifbergen

 

Could go back further, and I'm sure there are a few that were missed here. And, it's pretty similar to most organizations. 

 

I'm like 97% sure Raymond Luxury Yacht was being sarcastic in responding to a previous poster, but thanks for laying it all out like that. This was a sucky report for injuries, but it doesn't seem like it's time to hit the panic button yet.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I'm like 97% sure Raymond Luxury Yacht was being sarcastic in responding to a previous poster, but thanks for laying it all out like that. This was a sucky report for injuries, but it doesn't seem like it's time to hit the panic button yet.

 

Very possible he was, but it did get me thinking, so I had to go do some digging. This list was just Tommy John surgery... I know there have been some shoulder surgeries as well.