Twins Minor League Report (8/13): Lewis Thorpe Appears on Verge of Twins Return

[Tom Froemming]

Lewis Thorpe had an encouraging performance in what was his fourth appearance since being activated off the IL. Read all about that and more in Friday night’s edition of the minor league report.

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Orlando Rodriguez of Fort Myers placed on the 7-day IL.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 7, Indianapolis 5
Box Score
Lewis Thorpe: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Multi-hit games: Jose Miranda (3-for-5), Tomas Telis (2-for-5, HR), Mark Contreras (2-for-5), Gilberto Celestino (2-for-5, 2B), Jimmy Kerrigan (2-for-4)
HR: Kerrigan (16), Telis (7)

Lewis Thorpe looked comfortable and confident tonight. He was throwing his curveball and changeup early in counts, then working in high fastballs to try to finish hitters off. He threw 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes (64.1%) and was efficient enough to record two outs in the sixth inning. This was a jump up from the 58 pitches he threw in his last outing for the Saints.

The Twins are clearly viewing Thorpe as a starting pitcher at this point. It would make sense for him to make another start with the Saints, stretching out another 15-20 pitches, but with Michael Pineda exiting his start early, Thorpe may be looked upon as a potential replacement.

The St. Paul lineup was patient with 36-year-old knuckleballer Steven Wright, who threw 97 pitches in four innings. Along with the five batters who had multiple hits listed above, Nick Gordon also reached twice, drawing a pair of walks, and stole a base. He played center field tonight.

Yennier Cano had an eventful ninth inning, giving up a run on three hits, but locked down the save by striking out the final two batters he faced, stranding runners at second and third base.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Tulsa 4, Wichita 1
Box Score
Austin Schulfer: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Multi-hit games: B.J. Boyd (2-for-4), Jermaine Palacios (2-for-3)
HR: None

The Surge were scheduled to play a doubleheader today but more inclimate weather resulted in the first game being postponed, leaving one seven-inning game left to be played. Neither team scored through seven, however, so this one went into “extra” innings.

B.J. Boyd singled home the Wichita bonus runner in the top of the inning. The Wind Surge were an out away from victory but a ground ball got by first baseman Andrew Bechtold for a game-tying single and the next batter hit a walk-off home run.

Tyler Beck was turning in an impressive Double-A debut before things fell apart with two outs in the eighth inning. He was attempting to cover the final four frames, and had struck out five of the first 15 batters he faced.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 3
Box Score
Jon Olsen: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Multi-hit games: Yunior Severino (4-for-5, 2B), Jefferson Morales (2-for-4)
HR: Matt Wallner (10)

Yunior Severino and Jeferson Morales have been huge boosts to the Kernels since being called up from Fort Myers. After a four-hit night, Severino is hitting .439 with a 1.147 OPS in his first 15 games with the club. Morales hasn’t been around as long, this was just his fourth game with Cedar Rapids, but he has a .563 average with a 1.463 OPS.

Matt Wallner hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. It was his 10th homer of the year and 18th as a pro, just the fourth that’s come against a lefty.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 9, Bradenton 1
Box Score
Casey Legumina: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Multi-hit games: Keoni Cavaco (2-for-6), Jesus Feliz (2-for-5, 2B), Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2-for-4, BB)
HR: Will Holland (8)

Every member of the Fort Myers lineup reached base and everyone but Jesus Feliz also struck out. The team combined for 10 hits, eight walks and 14 strikeouts. Keoni Cavaco had a multi-hit game, but he also struck out four times. Here’s his two-run single in what was a big five-run inning for the Mussels.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher: Lewis Thorpe, St. Paul
Hitter: Yunior Severino, Cedar Rapids

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Take note that we have finished our midseason update, so there is a new list! Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Prospects performed:

#1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL)
#2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain)
#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – DNP
#4 – Matt Canterino (Fort Myers) – DNP
#5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 3-for-5, R
#6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – 2-for-6, 2 RBI, R
#7 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, R
#8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – DNP
#9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – 1-for-6, RBI
#10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, HR, BB, HBP, 2 RBI, R
#11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)
#12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – DNP
#13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – DNP
#14 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) – 4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
#15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – DNP
#16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 0-for-3
#17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5
#18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – DNP
#19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow)
#20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – DNP

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Fort Myers at Bradenton, 11 am CT: Bobby Milacki
St. Paul at Indianapolis, 6:05 pm CT: Beau Burrows
Cedar Rapids at Peoria, 6:35 pm CT: Sawyer Gipson-Long
Wichita at Tulsa, 7:05 pm CT: Cole Sands

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[AceWrigley]

Severino is on fire!

[bean5302]

Thought I caught a Lewis Thorpe fastball reading of 88mph for a split second on that Twitter link? I hope that's not the case. The biggest concern on Thorpe is the velocity. At 88mph, he doesn't have the stuff to play at MLB. He needs to be up in the 90-92mph range or he's not worth looking at because he'd just be throwing batting practice.

Palacios with 2 hits and 2 stolen bases, but not enough for the Wind Surge. It's becoming comical at this point.

 

[beckmt]

Palacios has played well since rejoining the Twins orgainization.  Whether or not it will be enough to make the 40 man is to be seen. 

[beckmt]

It's bad when it is better to read the minor league report than listen or watch the major league club.

[mikelink45]

I am not confident with Thorpe and keep hoping another young pitcher would pass him by.  

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I am not confident with Thorpe and keep hoping another young pitcher would pass him by.  

well, I think that's about to happen. It's now or never on Thorpe, I think, so if he's healthy let;s see if he can go in MLB. we won't learn much more about him in AAA. But if he can get it done in MLB, a lefty with his talent could be very useful. Every time I've thought he was ready to get it in gear he's had some significant setback, so I'm not getting my hopes up but it's not like he doesn't have talent. But if he can't show it soon, he's going to get passed up by the law firm of Balazovic, Duran, Woods-Richardson, Canterino, Ryan and Winder...

[Tibs]

3 hours ago, beckmt said:

It's bad when it is better to read the minor league report than listen or watch the major league club.

 

[roger]

Was thinking about Thorpe along the same lines as you, Tom.  With Pineda injured last night and Thorpe pitching a gem in St. Paul, will be shocked if he doesn't start next time Pineda is scheduled.  It is really important for this young man to have six weeks to show whether he can or cannot be a big league starting pitcher.  After all the wasted opportunities over the last couple years, lets see what he has.  If he doesn't impress the rest of this season on the mound at Target Field, I suspect his spot on the 40-man will be gone.

Was surprised to see that Miranda didn't have another two hit night, getting three.  Will join the chorus here and elsewhere singing the Miranda anthem...why aren't you at Target Field?

Severino sure likes playing ball in Iowa.  Lets hope that he keeps it up for the rest of the season as the Kernels fight for a playoff spot.  Would be nice if the Twins could benefit from Atlanta's cheating by getting another second baseman with a great bat.  Does anyone know if he is better defensively than Arraez?

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, roger said:

...Severino sure likes playing ball in Iowa.  Lets hope that he keeps it up for the rest of the season as the Kernels fight for a playoff spot.  Would be nice if the Twins could benefit from Atlanta's cheating by getting another second baseman with a great bat.  Does anyone know if he is better defensively than Arraez?

Arraez is an average 2B at the MLB level despite the constant Twins fan bashing. He's just as good as Polanco because Arraez has a steady glove where Polanco is notoriously error prone despite his great range. Severino is probably about the same potential as Arraez. Below average-ish speed/range, well above average arm for 2B, but the Twins keep shifting Severino around and his error rate is very poor.