Minor League Report 4/23 Emmanuel Rodriguez Does it Again

[Matt Braun]

Twins’ minor league teams split the night, going 2-2 with some good, some bad, and some ugly... All that and more in this edition of the minor league report.  

 

TRANSACTIONS
C José Godoy selected by Minnesota Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 2, Toledo 5
Box Score
Jake Faria: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: Royce Lewis (2)
Multi-hit games: Curtis Terry (2-for-4, 2B)

The Saints lost a winnable game on Saturday.

Starter Jake Faria carried the torch for the first few innings of the game, racking up five strikeouts over four solid frames with one earned run to his name. He was not as efficient as he probably would have liked, however, and was pulled from the game after 76 pitches.

The game sat at a 1-0 standstill heading into the 6th inning before Royce Lewis strode up to the plate and absolutely molly whopped crushed destroyed obliterated annihilated the baseball to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. 

The lead was short-lived. Chi Chi Gonzalez, pitching in relief of Faria, allowed a two-run triple and RBI single that gave the Mud Hens a lead they would never relinquish. Drew Strotman pitched an inning with no earned runs. 

The offense outside of Lewis’ blast was sparse. Curtis Terry and Elliot Soto provided a double each, while Chance Cisco was the only hitter outside of Terry to reach base twice. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Midland 15
Box Score
Brandon Lawson: 1 1/3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B), Michael Helman (2-for-4, RBI, 2B)

Wichita was clobbered on Saturday. It was one of those days where showing up to the diamond felt like a mistake; The Wind Surge fell into a deficit in the first inning and never recovered.

Wichita pitchers allowed 17 hits, 14 earned runs, and 10 walks. Alex Scherff was the only pitcher not to allow a baserunner. It would be for the best if we ended the discussion on pitching there.

Wind Surge hitters were somewhat more successful. While they only knocked around three extra-base hits, they struck out just four times; poor BABIP proved to be their downfall more than anything.

Edouard Julien was the most prolific hitter of the bunch, dropping in three hits while scoring half of Wichita’s total runs. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3
Box Score
Sawyer Gipson-Long: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Anthony Prato (2-for-2, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 2B), Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B), Will Holland (2-for-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2B)

The Kernels continued their dominant start to the season on Saturday.

Unusually mortal, Sawyer Gipson-Long did not over-match hitters like he usually does. The righty trudged through four innings while Peoria hitters frustrated him by scoring in three of those frames. It was a rare off-day for a pitcher who had been so great for most of last season and the beginning of this one.

The Kernels offense had his back, though. They pecked away at the Chiefs’ lead, scoring in five separate innings to culminate in six runs total—more than enough needed to win the game. Aaron Sabato and Will Holland were the most consistent culprits, twice plating runners and twice knocking in hits.

In relief of Gipson-Long, Bradley Hanner, Melvi Acosta, and Osiris German combined to toss five scoreless innings, ensuring the win for Cedar Rapids.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 7, Dunedin 3
Box Score
David Festa: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: Kala’i Rosario (1), Emmanuel Rodriguez (5), Kyler Fedko (2)
Multi-hit games: Noah Miller (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B), Dylan Neuse (2-for-5)

The Miracle won solidly on Saturday.

David Festa continued his incredible start to the season with four shutout innings. It was not the cleanest performance—he needed 70 pitches to net 12 outs—but the start lowered his season ERA to 1.93. 

Much like the Kernels, Fort Myers hitters backed up their pitchers. The New Bash Brothers, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kyler Fedko, both launched homers in their effort to discredit the entire concept of pitching in general. Oddly enough, all of Fort Myers’ runs came via a homer or a bases-loaded BB.

Walks proved to be the defining aspect of the game, as the Mighty Mussels took eight of them in the game; that’s how they plated seven runs off eight hits. 

The barrage of relievers—Jaylen Nowlin, Malik Barrington, Regi Grace, Matthew Swain—worked five innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs to carry the team to victory. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – David Festa, Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels 
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Edouard Julien, Wichita Wind Surge 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, R
#2 – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
#3 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-for-4
#10 – Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B, K
#11 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-1
#15 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, HR
#18 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#19 – Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (1:05 PM) - RHP Daniel Gossett
Midland @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - LHP Aaron Rozek
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (11:00 AM) - RHP Travis Adams 

View full article

[Major League Ready]

It would appear removing the big leg kick has Lewis on the ball and it has not reduced his power.  This could be the development of the year.  Man, I hope this version of Royce Lewis continues to show-up.  Now, we need last year's Jose Miranda to return.

[mikelink45]

It appears that Rodriguez is ready for a bigger challenge and an upper League

[nclahammer]

Cue the Carly Simon because when it comes to covering the Minnesota Twins minor leagues, "Nobody does it Better" than Twins Daily.

[roger]

So good to see Julien with games like yesterday.  Also saw he had his second stolen base of the young season.  

Should he continue to play this well with the Twins, say by next year, can you imagine how exciting and scrappy they would be with Buxton, Arraez, Lewis, Martin and Julien?  Now that’s the type of team/baseball I like to watch.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

It appears that Rodriguez is ready for a bigger challenge and an upper League

Based on 12 games? 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, nclahammer said:

Cue the Carly Simon because when it comes to covering the Minnesota Twins minor leagues, "Nobody does it Better" than Twins Daily.

Uffdah... I thought you were going to say "You're so Vain." 

[nclahammer]

4 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Uffdah... I thought you were going to say "You're so Vain." 

You are right though in that "You probably think this song is about you", but in a good way.

[RJA]

Great summary.  Boy, that Lewis shot was incredible.  I guess that answers the question as to whether he can hit with more power as he matures as a player.  I will be interested to see if Adams continues to pitch well today.  Thus far, he has looked very sharp.

[HrbieFan]

Lewis is going to have a meteoric rise in the mid-season top 100. He can absolutely hit! D play isn't fabulous, but neither is Correa 

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Based on 12 games? 

Sure why wait? Some players have so much talent that they bust out early and I love to see him challenged and keep growing 

[Seth Stohs]

2 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Sure why wait? Some players have so much talent that they bust out early and I love to see him challenged and keep growing 

Last week (4/11-18), CES hit .273/.333/.545 (.878) with 2 homers, 2 BB, 7 K. 

Coming into today, this week he has hit .381/.381/.429 (.910) with 1 double, 0 BB, 7 K. 

If it wasn't for his first three games when he went 10-14 (.714), would we be so quick to assume he should move up? He's doing just fine. He's doing well. But the 2 BB to 16 K ratio doesn't scream promotion. Since the first two games, CES is sixth on the Kernels roster in OPS. 

 

[Centerfield]

I enjoy these minor league updates. It would be interesting to know when the teams are playing against high ranking prospects.

Ex: Saints faced #3 prospect in baseball.

Thanks for the great work.

[Seth Stohs]

1 minute ago, Centerfield said:

I enjoy these minor league updates. It would be interesting to know when the teams are playing against high ranking prospects.

Ex: Saints faced #3 prospect in baseball.

Thanks for the great work.

Good point... And frankly, I know the Top 100 guys, but that's about it... I'll encourage our writers to point out those kinds of things. 

[wabene]

Since the sky fell on Sabato last year apparently he has pushed it back up into place with no further incident. Cavaco may have given him a leg up, eh?

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Last week (4/11-18), CES hit .273/.333/.545 (.878) with 2 homers, 2 BB, 7 K. 

Coming into today, this week he has hit .381/.381/.429 (.910) with 1 double, 0 BB, 7 K. 

If it wasn't for his first three games when he went 10-14 (.714), would we be so quick to assume he should move up? He's doing just fine. He's doing well. But the 2 BB to 16 K ratio doesn't scream promotion. Since the first two games, CES is sixth on the Kernels roster in OPS. 

 

I will take your word for this. I tend to be aggressive in my mind about promotions and demotions

[D.C Twins]

I was regularly hard on Lewis for his batting problems in A and felt that many were too overoptimistic about his potential. 

He is proving me wrong and I'm lovin' it!

(Now Sano can feel free to prove me wrong that it is time for him to play elsewhere! :)

[gman]

E.Rod. 19 years old. 14 games, 16 walks, 8 extra base hits. 5 Homers. Good start. Worth following.

I hope it's real.

[nicksaviking]

On 4/24/2022 at 11:29 AM, Seth Stohs said:

Last week (4/11-18), CES hit .273/.333/.545 (.878) with 2 homers, 2 BB, 7 K. 

Coming into today, this week he has hit .381/.381/.429 (.910) with 1 double, 0 BB, 7 K. 

If it wasn't for his first three games when he went 10-14 (.714), would we be so quick to assume he should move up? He's doing just fine. He's doing well. But the 2 BB to 16 K ratio doesn't scream promotion. Since the first two games, CES is sixth on the Kernels roster in OPS. 

 

I think he was talking about Emmanual Rodriguez, not Encarnacion-Strand.

And boy, as much as the power for Rodriguez is exciting, holy cow, 16 BB in 64 PA for a 19-year-old is nuts. The ability to be patient and draw walks has to be one of the best indicators of future success.

14 games isn't many, but 20-year-olds at the MLB level aren't exactly uncommon anymore. None of the league's top young hitters spent a full year in low A ball. If he keeps hitting, I'd be disappointed if he's not in position to at least start next year in AA.