Minor League Report (8/25): Varland Continues Dominance

[Theodore Tollefson]

Thursday night was a tough night for the Twins organization all around. The Twins were on the verge of being swept by Houston (and when you read this, it likely has happened). Meanwhile, all of their minor-league affiliates lost all of their games without tallying more than five hits total in any of their games. The one bright spot in the minor league games was Louie Varland continuing his surge of dominance for his hometown team with his third start in a Saints uniform. 

TRANSACTIONS 

   The Twins signed OF Billy Hamilton to a Minor League deal and assigned him to the Florida Complex League.
   Just days after the Twins released him, the team signed free agent RHP Michael Feliz to a minor-league contract and assigned him to St. Paul Saints. 
   RHP Josh Winder was assigned to Low-A Fort Myers on Minor League Rehab.

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Iowa 2, St. Paul 1
Box Score 
SP: Louie Varland - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
HR: None
Multi-Hit games: David Bañuelos (2-3, RBI (20), K)

The Saints entered their third game against the Cubs in Des Moines Thursday night down 2-0 in the series. The team looked to North St. Paul native Louie Varland to lead the team to their first win since Sunday afternoon at home. 

St. Paul would strike first in the top of the second on a David Bañuelos RBI single that scored Nash Knight from second. That would be all the Saints needed while Varland remained on the mound.

Varland dominated for the Saints in his third start since being called up to Triple AAA. He only allowed four base runners on three singles and a walk. Varland also retired nine consecutive batters before giving up his last hit of the night with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. He also struck out nine batters for the evening. 

The former Golden Eagle has yet to surrender a home run to an opposing batter since being called up to the Saints. In fact, Varland’s last home run surrendered came on July 29 against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. 

Unfortunately for Varland, the Saints bats did not produce any runs following his removal from the game. The Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly off of Evan Sisk. Then in the bottom of the ninth with Brad Peacock on the mound, the Cubs designated hitter Matt Mervies walked-off the Saints with a solo homer in the 2-1 loss. 

The Saints start at 7:08 p.m. CT for their game Friday night against the Cubs with Ronny Henriquez on the mound for them. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Frisco 2, Wichita 1
Box Score 
SP: Daniel Gossett -  5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-Hit games: Will Holland (2-3, R, 3B) 

The Wind Surge came into Thursday’s game having won the night before 4-0 against Frisco. Daniel Gossett made his first start since his no-hitter for the Wind Surge Thursday night and continued off the success he had that night. 

The bid for back-to-back no-hitters for Gossett ended in the first inning when he gave up a hit with two outs. That did not stop him from tossing a great outing. He went five innings and gave up only two additional hits and one run. He struck out two. Gossett’s command of the zone kept the Wind Surge in the game where the team's bats were silenced.

Wichita scored the first run of the game on an RBI fielder's choice hit by Austin Martin in the top of the third. Frisco came along to tie the game off Gossett with a sacrifice fly out to center field. 

Martin’s RBI single accounted for the only run of the game for the Wind Surge. The game went into extra innings, but lefty Bryan Sammons walked consecutive batters in the bottom of the 10th inning to load the bases. Wichita dropped the game with a walk-off walk.  

The Wind Surge start their game against Frisco at 7:05 p.m. CT Friday night and left Kody Funderburk will make the start. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Lake County 8, Cedar Rapids 4
Box Score
SP: Luis Rijo 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Pat Winkel (6), Seth Gray (15)
Multi-Hit games: Winkel (2-3, R, HR 2 RBI (28))

Cedar Rapids entered Thursday night dropping their first two games against the Lake County Captains and were hoping to keep themselves from a three-game losing streak with Luis Rijo on the mound.

Unfortunately for the Kernels, the Captains got to Rijo early in the game. Rijo surrendered three runs (two earned) against the Captains, all in the bottom of the third inning. He was removed after giving up four straight hits with two outs in the inning. Derek Molina got the Kernels out of the inning. 

The Captains managed to create more damage against the Kernels relievers in the fifth adding two more runs, and then the sixth inning when they scored three more. 

The hitters for the Kernels were quiet until the seventh inning. They managed two runs thanks to catcher Pat Winkel’s two-run shot. They made a small comeback but were still down 8-2 following the inning. 

When the Kernels looked to be down and out of the game in the top of the ninth, Seth Gray hit a two-run homer. Even with the extra pop at the plate, the Kernels still dropped the game 8-4. 

The Kernels will play their next game against the Captains early Friday evening with a 5:35 CDT start time. David Festa will make the start for the Kernels. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Game 1 : Lakeland 6, Fort Myers 3
Box Score
SP: Josh Winder 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR:  Misael Urbina (5)
Multi-Hit games: None

The Mighty Mussels played two games against the Lakeland Flying Tigers Thursday and game one had Josh Winder on the mound for the start of his rehab assignment. Winder did not fare well in the two innings he pitched. He allowed four runs on three hits and two walks. 

The good news out of Winder’s bad rehab start is his fastball velocity averaged 92.7 mph while his max velocity hit 94.7 mph. 

The Mighty Mussels bats looked like their Major League big brothers as they only tallied two hits in the first game. One was a leadoff solo home run by center fielder Misael Urbina. 

Johnathan Lavallee came on to pitch following Winder’s removal from the game. Lavallee threw three innings and gave up two earned runs on a walk and two hits but struck out four in his relief outing. 

Game 2 : Lakeland 1, Ft. Myers 0 
Box Score
SP: Pierson Ohl 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR:  None
Multi-Hit games: None

In Game 2. the Mussels had Pierson Ohl on the mound for his 17th start of the season. Ohl went four strong innings and allowed only one run on four hits. He struck out five. 

The Mussels bats only managed three hits while being shut out. 

Fort Myers has only one game against Lakeland on Friday which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT. Marco Raya will make the start for the Mighty Mussels 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  Louie Varland (St. Paul)  - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Hitter of the Day – Pat Winkel (Cedar Rapids - 2-3, R, HR, 2 RBI (28)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. 

Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, K
#4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-3, RBI (22), K
#7 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 0-2, R, BB, K, Game 2: 0-3, BB
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-3, HBP, K
#12 - Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
#14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-3, BB
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - Game 2: 0-3, 3 K
#20 - Kala'i Rosario (Fort Myers) - Game 2: 1-3

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
All Twins Minor League Affiliates play night games on Friday. Here are the start times and probables for their games. 

Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - Ronny Henriquez vs Matt Swarmer
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Kody Funderburk vs. RHP Zak Kent 
Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (5:35 PM CST) - David Festa vs TBD
Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - Marco Raya vs TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday's games

 

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[ashbury]

Am I just engaging in selective memory or are we back to wins being very difficult for our farm teams to come by?

[FlyingFinn]

33 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Am I just engaging in selective memory or are we back to wins being very difficult for our farm teams to come by?

In Wichita's case,  yes. They have won 15 of 19 (15-6 for the month).  If you only look a week back, yes, none of our teams have done great. For the month, most are a little below .500 after a bad few games this week.

St. Paul - 10-11 for the month.

Cedar Rapids - 9-12 for the month.

Fort Myers - 9-13 for the month.

Combined - 43-41 for the month.

Not much to complain about on our pitching tonight though as Varland, Gossett, Ohl and some bullpen guys had a good night.

[D.C Twins]

They let Varland pitch past the 5th inning AND more than 80 pitches?!?!

I just hope that doesn't get the AAA manager fired!

[bean5302]

Varland has been everything you might hope for and more at AAA. There's nothing not to like. Elite strikeout rates, excellent walk rates, reasonable BABIP and strand rates. It might be worth calling his number now so he's playoff eligible and move Chris Archer to the pen.

[mikelink45]

Our minor league teams really are weakened by the trades (let's hope the trades lead us to first place).  I just looked at mlb.com's new prospect rankings for the team.  What interested me the most was the fact that we have Austin Martin and Balazovic dropping - 12 and 15.  Wallner has left Sabato in the dust (still do not understand that pick).    Noah Miller dropped to 16. 

The second observation is that I do not know many of these prospects. 

[Dman]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Varland has been everything you might hope for and more at AAA. There's nothing not to like. Elite strikeout rates, excellent walk rates, reasonable BABIP and strand rates. It might be worth calling his number now so he's playoff eligible and move Chris Archer to the pen.

I will second this. Varland has been the most consistent pitcher in the upper levels this year.  I know there are pitchers coming back from injury but it would be nice to see what he can do at the MLB since this team isn't going anywhere anyway.

[mikelink45]

Another prospect rating -  Jim Bowden on the Athletic has his new top 50 Brooks Lee is number 27.  The Guardians have 3 in the top 50 - numbers 12,38,40.  The only other Central team with a player listed are the Tigers with number 44. 

I hope we have more rise - because as a 500 team we are in that middle grounds where we need a constant influx of new players either by trade or promotion. 

[Linus]

Nitpick here. A fielders choice is not a hit. 

[RJA]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Varland has been everything you might hope for and more at AAA. There's nothing not to like. Elite strikeout rates, excellent walk rates, reasonable BABIP and strand rates. It might be worth calling his number now so he's playoff eligible and move Chris Archer to the pen.

I agree with your comment.  And, what has impressed me since he has been at St. Paul is that he has improved his walk rate--something like 3 in 17 innings.  If he could maintain that, with his stuff, he could do well at Target Field.

[twinsfan02]

57 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Our minor league teams really are weakened by the trades (let's hope the trades lead us to first place).  I just looked at mlb.com's new prospect rankings for the team.  What interested me the most was the fact that we have Austin Martin and Balazovic dropping - 12 and 15.  Wallner has left Sabato in the dust (still do not understand that pick).    Noah Miller dropped to 16. 

The second observation is that I do not know many of these prospects. 

We only lost 2 notable hitting prospects. Our system was awful before the trades with guys underperforming and injuries.

[Karbo]

Call up Varland! Demote Megill or cut Pagan. Like Dman says, move Archer to the pen. If he can't or won't, drop him.

[adjacent]

I was looking at the box of the Saints game. The hitters are awful in general. I guess anyone that was a little better is playing with the Twins alteady.  The injury toll in the outfield has been atrocious.

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, twinsfan02 said:

We only lost 2 notable hitting prospects. Our system was awful before the trades with guys underperforming and injuries.

We also lost Petty who would have been a ranked prospect.  And the two hitters would have looked good - I was really rooting for Steer. 

[bean5302]

Speaking of Petty, I'd be surprised if he wasn't in AA next year. 5 starts in A+ with a 10.38 K/9 a 2.91 BB/9 and a 3.17 FIP. He's dominated his last 3 starts. That one could cost Falvey his job.

[Mike Sixel]

27 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Speaking of Petty, I'd be surprised if he wasn't in AA next year. 5 starts in A+ with a 10.38 K/9 a 2.91 BB/9 and a 3.17 FIP. He's dominated his last 3 starts. That one could cost Falvey his job.

So, go into this year without Gray? Yikes. You have to give up talent to get talent. It was a good trade. I guess they could have punted this year, and not made the trade. That would have been safer for their jobs, I'd guess 

[gman]

Billy Hamilton signing. They could have used him all year. Unfortunately, he can't hit. But it sound like a Buxton replacement for the rest of the year(I hope not).

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

So, go into this year without Gray? Yikes. You have to give up talent to get talent. It was a good trade. I guess they could have punted this year, and not made the trade. That would have been safer for their jobs, I'd guess 

Were there perhaps other assets the Twins had on the MLB or MiLB system which could have been used to secure a starting pitcher as good or better than Gray? 

Yeah, that's what I thought...

This false dilemma is awful common on the boards lately.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, gman said:

Billy Hamilton signing. They could have used him all year. Unfortunately, he can't hit. But it sound like a Buxton replacement for the rest of the year(I hope not).

Nick Gordon is the Buxton replacement for the rest of the year. Billy Hamilton is an emergency depth/defensive replacement/pinch runner type.

[jmlease1]

Love seeing continued success for Varland. He's really done the work and gone from a lottery ticket to a real prospect. not sure I'd burn his time right now, considering starting pitching isn't really the problem right now and with other pitchers still expected back from injury. But he's positioned himself to contend for a spot in the rotation next year and I hope he keeps pushing. (Right now I'd have next year's rotation starting out the year as Mahle, Gray, Ryan, Maeda, and Ober but if Varland keeps rolling and Ober struggles to stay healthy, he could push his way in there)

The Twins 2019 draft is really turning out well, even with Cavaco doing little to justify his high draft status and Canterino unable to stay healthy (those bastards at Rice should be ashamed). Wallner, Laweryson, Varland, Julien, and Isola all look like guys who will be MLB contributors, and that's not counting Steer & Gipson-Long, who were traded for additional value. Makes me feel good about the team's ability to develop draft picks, especially this was a draft class that lost the 2020 season for development.

[jkcarew]

I said Varland was massively overrated at #12…benefitting from the “one of us” mentality.

I’d love to continue to eat those words.