Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/27) Griffin Jax or Kai-Wei Teng? Why not both?

[Matt Braun]

It was yet another great day in the Twins’ minor league system as they received some great pitching performances from some under-the-radar arms and a major promotion was announced. All that and more in this edition of the minor league report.TRANSACTIONS

 

Twins acquired RHP Sergio Romo, RHP Chris Villamont and a PTBNL from the Marlins in exchange for 1B Lewin Diaz.

 

OF Jake Cave optioned to AAA Rochester

 

LHP Devin Smeltzer optioned to AAA Rochester

 

RHP Cody Allen reinstated from the Temporary Inactive List

 

LHP Gabriel Moya transferred to AA Pensacola

 

OF Jimmy Kerrigan transferred to AA Pensacola

 

RHP Dakota Chalmers returned to A+ Fort Myers from rehab assignment and activated

 

OF Aaron Whitefield transferred to A+ Fort Myers from AA Pensacola

 

2B Yunior Severino sent to GCL Twins for rehab assignment

 

1B Taylor Grzelakowski sent to GCL Twins for rehab assignment

 

SS Royce Lewis promoted to AA Pensacola

 

https://twitter.com/...294494201470976

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Indianapolis 7 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

Kohl Stewart: 4 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 60.3% strikes (44 of 73 pitches)

HR: Jaylin Davis (14), Drew Maggi (10)

Multi-hit games: Jaylin Davis (2-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI)

 

The Red Wings lost an extra-innings affair this Saturday.

 

It was another game that needed to be played so it was another game where Jaylin Davis hit a home run. This was his fourteenth homer in just his thirty-eighth game at AAA, that’s almost a sixty homer pace over a full season, ridiculous. This one was off top prospect Mitch Keller as well.

 

 

Cody Allen worked a pair of scoreless innings with two strikeouts, he may still be a potential cog in the Twins bullpen later in the season despite being passed up recently for other players.

 

Jeremy Bleich made his Rochester debut and pitched a scoreless inning that came with two strikeouts.

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 7, Jacksonville 1

Box Score

 

Griffin Jax: 7 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 65.5% strikes (57 of 87 pitches)

HR: Mark Contreras (7), Jimmy Kerrigan (7), Ryan Jeffers (1), Ivan De Jesús Jr. (1)

Multi-hit games: Ryan Jeffers (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI), Jimmy Kerrigan (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, RBI),

 

The Blue Wahoos won a comfortable game this Saturday against the Jumbo Shrimp.

 

Griffin Jax gave up a homer in the 1st inning but that was basically it as he silenced the Jumbo Shrimp offense the rest of the way. I watched some of the game and his command looked great while the slider was sharp, somehow he may be one of the more underrated arms in the Twins system which is wild to say about a guy with an ERA of 2.34 at AA.

 

The Blue Wahoos offense refused to be shown up as they combined for four homers and seven runs in support of Jax. Ryan Jeffers was the biggest bat as he not only hit his first AA home run but also added a pair of singles for a nice three-hit performance.

 

Andrew Vasquez came on in relief of Jax and ended the game without allowing a run, a good step in the right direction.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 4, Lakeland 3

Box Score

 

Bailey Ober: 6 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 70.5% strikes (62 of 88 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Aaron Whitefield (2-for-4, RBI), Jacob Pearson (2-for-4, 2B, RBI), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, R, RBI), David Banuelos (2-for-4, 2B, R)

 

The Miracle won a close game this Saturday.

 

Bailey Ober made his first home start since being activated from the IL and he was dominant as he allowed no earned runs in his start while striking out nine. When he has been healthy, he has been impressive to watch.

 

 

All of the damage offensively came in the middle and a bit lower down in the lineup as each batter 4-7 had a single RBI in a collective effort to put together the runs needed to win the game.

 

Jacob Pearson was one of the batters with a multi-hit game and he now holds an OPS of .804 at A+ since being promoted, he also stole a base.

 

In total, the Miracle pitchers struck out twelve Lakeland batters while only walking one.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Clinton 0

Box Score

 

Kai-Wei Teng: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 66.7% strikes (60 of 90 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Spencer Steer (2-for-4, 2B, R, BB), Trevor Casanova (2-for-4, 2B, RBI), Alex Isola (2-for-4)

 

Hey look, the Blue Wahoos were not the only Twins minor league team with a great pitching performance! Kai-Wei Teng was electric as he threw seven scoreless innings en route to probably his best performance to date.

 

Spencer Steer continues to be otherworldly as he had yet another multi-hit effort. His OPS at Cedar Rapids now sits at 1.029 and honestly that might not even fully reflect how well he has done so far.

 

In addition to the Kernels’ eight hits, they also walked six times, giving them an impressive fourteen times on base in the game.

 

How do you win games? Well just put up offense and have a great start from your starter, seems simple enough, more teams should try this.

 

E-Town E-Notes

Elizabethton 0, Bristol 1

Box Score

 

Prelander Berroa: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Will Holland (2-for-3)

 

The Elizabethton Twins lost a close game this Saturday.

 

Elizabtheton’s hitters had just four hits total and none went for extra bases. They also struck out ten times and took no walks.

 

Will Holland had the best game of any Elizabthton position player as he knocked two singles and stole a base.

 

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Twins 14, GCL Red Sox 13 (11 innings)

Box Score

 

Donny Breek: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Francisco Martinez (2-for-5, 3B, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB)

 

The GCL Twins had one absolutely wild game against the GCL Red Sox that included twenty-five total hits in the game. Somehow, neither squad hit a homerun so it was all the balls in play that ended up doing the damage.

 

Yunior Severino played in first game since April, he went 0-for-2 before being replaced but this is just the start of his rehab assignment so his playing time will be ramped up soon before hopefully joining the Cedar Rapids Kernels soon.

 

Yennier Cano threw two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts, a much better outing than his first GCL appearance a few days ago that was disastrous.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kai-Wei Teng

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ryan Jeffers

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

 

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

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-for-5, K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - IL

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) - 0-for-5, 3 K

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

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL Twins) - 0-for-3, BB, K

#8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured list

#9 - Jhoan Duran (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#11 - Lewis Thorpe (Twins) - Did not pitch

#12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 1-for-5, 2B, R, 2 K

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) - 3-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI

#14 - Luis Arraez (Twins) - Did not play

#15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 K

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

#17 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Out for year with Tommy John surgery

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

#19 - Misael Urbina (DSL Twins) - 0-for-5, 2 K

#20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - IL

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Indianapolis @ Rochester (12:05 A.M.) - RHP Randy Dobnak

Pensacola @ Jacksonville (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Jhoan Duran

Lakeland @ Fort Myers(12:00 P.M.) - LHP Lachlan Wells

Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Austin Schulfer

Elizabethton @ Bristol (5:00 P.M.) - LHP Ryley Widell

 

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

 

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[puckstopper1]

Anyone hearing about any progress on Rooker?  

[rdehring]

Jax, Ober, and Teng may be under the radar to you, but sure as heck aren't under my radar.  I will be surprised if we do not see Jax pitching for the Twins at some time during the 2020 season.

 

The other high spot for me yesterday was seeing Severino in the GCL game when I checked their box score last night.  This kid got paid like a top prospect, twice.  Lets get him playing so he can move up that ladder.

 

Saw that Javier was 0-2 yesterday, but walked twice scoring two of the Kernel's three runs.  Speaking of Javier, will the Twins be promoting a shortstop from Cedar Rapids to take Lewis' spot?  If so, could it be Javier?  Would they promote someone drafted last month?  Someone like Steer?

 

 

[Doctor Wu]

Fun to see Jaylin Davis continuing his recent hot streak. Has he turned into a real prospect at this point?

[Doctor Wu]

Another player catching my eye in the recaps lately is Prelander Berroa. Not sure what his overall outlook will be, but I love that name!

[DocBauer]

Not to nit-pick, but Over should have been in the headline as well.

 

Three outstanding performances. A good month plus until the end of the milb season. If Over can stay healthy the rest of the way, I wonder where he may rank on prospect lists.

[Dman]

Always nice to see great pitching performances.  Would be nice to have difference maker pitchers making their way to the MLB club.  Really nice night for all the affiliates lets keep this up.  Lots of fun when players are performing and winning as well.

[Dakota15]

I might have missed this, but is Gonsalves expected back soon?

[cjj td]

And if you want beef, then bring the ruckus... Wei Teng guy ain't nothing to F with.

[Danchat]

It's nice to see Jax and Ober doing well. Teng is a name I'll be adding to the memory banks.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I might have missed this, but is Gonsalves expected back soon?

 

No. He's started throwing again, but it'll take some time.  Bullpen is a possibility this season.

[bird]

 

Another player catching my eye in the recaps lately is Prelander Berroa. Not sure what his overall outlook will be, but I love that name!

 

 

You'll also like the fact that he can't watch TV without parental guidance.

[Roaddog]

Jax has been a favorite of mine since he was drafted. Glad to see him to be able to pitch on a regular schedule

[gil4]

Do we know the status of Jax' military commitment?

Edited July 28, 2019 by gil4

[mlhouse]

One thing I am happy about this season with minor league development is that the team seems to be much more aggressive with promotion within the system.  That is a good thing.   

[ashbury]

And if you want beef, then bring the ruckus... Wei Teng guy ain't nothing to F with.

Is that some of that new rap music the young kids are singing these days? I'm hip to it, daddio.