Twins Minor League Report (4/6): Affiliates Get Underway

[Ted Schwerzler]

The St. Paul Saints were officially joined by the rest of the full season minor league Minnesota Twins affiliates today in kicking off their regular seasons. While St. Paul had to wait a couple of days for weather delays, everyone was all systems go on the farm Thursday.

 

Image courtesy of Ted Schwerzler

TRANSACTIONS

• 2B Jorge Polanco assigned to Fort Myers for rehab assignment
• RHP Oliver Ortega (shoulder strain) placed on IL for St. Paul
• RHP Owen Griffith placed on IL for Cedar Rapids
• LHP Christian MacLeod placed on IL for Cedar Rapids
• RHP Mikey Paredes placed on IL for Cedar Rapids
• RHP Marco Raya placed on IL for Cedar Rapids
• LHP Zarion Sharpe placed on IL for Cedar Rapids
• RHP Zaquiel Puentes (forearm) placed on IL for Fort Myers
• C Nate Baez (hamate) placed on IL for Fort Myers
• RHP Logan Campbell (Tommy John) placed on IL for Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Iowa 12, St. Paul 11
Box Score

After a few days worth of postponements the St. Paul Saints finally got to usher in their 2023 regular season. Although it wasn’t quite the warm weather baseball fans had been hoping for, 37 degrees and sunshine was a good deal better than what Minnesota has seen in recent days.

Bailey Ober got the start for St. Paul with the rotation being shuffled a bit. Louie Varland will go tomorrow with Jordan Balazovic starting one of the Saturday doubleheader games. Twins Daily’s Theo Tollefson provided an in depth game recap for St. Paul’s home opener and you can check that out here.

Also, Edouard Julien rakes.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Springfield 1
Box Score

Blayne Enlow got the Opening Day start for the Wind Surge. After an offseason in which he was removed from the 40-man roster, and a spring where he saw up and down results, a strong season could vault him right back into the Twins plans. Working five innings of one-run ball, Enlow's only damage was a solo shot by Cardinals prospect Irving Lopez. He punched out six and walked just one while allowing four hits.

For the Wind Surge, they got on the board first this season and it was DaShawn Keirsey Jr. driving in Brooks Lee with a single in the 1st inning. It wasn't until the 7th inning that the Wind Surge would jump ahead. Alerick Soularie took advantage of an error to score Keirsey Jr. before Lee singled scoring Soularie for the lead. Yunior Severino then singled to drive in Lee and the score was pushed to 4-1.

 

Up by three in a save situation Alex Scherff stepped up for the first save opportunity of the year. Pedro Pages flew out in this first at bat before Justin Toerner went down on strikes. Todd Lott entered the box having gone 0-for-3 on the night and his ground out to Aaron Sabato gave the Wind Surge a victory.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 2
Box Score

On the road in Peoria, Jaylen Nowlin took the ball for the Kernels. An underrated pitching prospect, he went four innings allowing just a single unearned run. Nowlin punched out four and walked three but gave up only a single hit. Finishing with 73 pitches, it was a good first start of the year.

After getting behind by a run in the 3rd inning, Cedar Rapids answered with a run of their own in the 6th inning. Misael Urbina put the ball in play and reached on a fielder's choice while Emmanuel Rodriguez scampered across the plate.

Peoria retook the lead in the 7th inning but that was short lived as the Kernels had a quick answer. Noah Cardenas blasted his first home run of the season to tie things, and former first round pick Keoni Cavaco singled to drive in Jose Salas. Acquired in the Luis Arraez trade, Salas has quickly made his presence felt in Twins Territory.

Miguel Rodriguez was given the Kernels first save opportunity for the season and he immediately punched out two. Osvaldo Tovalin stepped in for Peoria and grounded out to end the game allowing Cedar Rapids an opportunity to open with a win.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Dunedin 4, Fort Myers 2 (F/6)
Box Score

The story here was Minnesota Twins second basemen Jorge Polanco starting a rehab assignment. Despite missing the vast majority of spring training, he was batting second and playing second for the Mighty Mussels on Opening Day. A tarp pull had to happen because Southwest Florida weather exists, but Polanco got five innings in and went 1-for-3 at the plate.

2023 draft pick Cory Lewis made the start and worked 4 1/3 innings. He did allow four runs on six hits, but struck out four while walking just two. Zach Veen took over in relief.

Dunedin plated runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings, but Fort Myers answered in the 3rd inning. Dalton Shuffield, who played briefly at Triple-A last year, launched his first dinger of the season. After Dunedin added another pair, it was Dylan Neuse that lifted a sacrifice fly in the 5th inning to score Mikey Perez and make it a 4-2 ballgame.

Thanks to the rain, this one was called after just six innings and everyone was cheated out of a full game to start the season.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-5, 2B, R, 4 RBI, K

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:

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, BB, K
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 2-5, HR(2), 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, K
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, BB, K
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-5, 2B, R, 4 RBI, K
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, RBI, BB

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37PM CST) - RHP Louie Varland
Wichita @ Springfield (6:35PM CST) - RHP David Festa
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35PM CST) - RHP Kyle Jones
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! 

 

 

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Very good starts for Enlow (who indeed is a starter again instead of a reliever) and Nowlin. Julien, Garlick and Wallner all hit well for the Saints. Brooks Lee started well. Cardenas is one of the catchers I am watching and he hit a late game-tying homer among his two hits. Cavaco with the game winner, maybe giving him some confidence. And it was Miller at SS (and leading off) with Salas at 3B for those of us curious where they would play for the Kernels.

[Ted Schwerzler]

50 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

And it was Miller at SS (and leading off) with Salas at 3B for those of us curious where they would play for the Kernels.

Miller is going to play shortstop as long as he's elite there I think (and he is).

[Danchat]

I didn't realize Headrick started the year in AAA, that's quite the promotion after just 10 games pitched in AA.

[Mike Sixel]

Did we know Raya was hurt? I likely just missed it.

Encouraging performance by Enlow!

[Doctor Wu]

7 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Did we know Raya was hurt? I likely just missed it.

Encouraging performance by Enlow!

That's the first I noticed that Raya was on the IL also. Any details? Hope it's nothing long-term. 

[nclahammer]

Excellent report Ted.  Right behind my coffee, the minor league report is probably my favorite thing in the morning.   Good to see how the kids are progressing.  I sure hope the new minor league pay scale kicked in on day one for them.

[Dman]

Seth mentioned Raya's situation in the Kernals  Roster post. Sounded like some slight shoulder issue no real details given but he made it sound not serious FWIW.  

Nowlin looked really good.  Really had the hitters guessing with two strikes.  Control seemed pretty good this game and he gave up no earned runs so a really nice first time out.  Miller still getting a lot of weak contact but he did manage a single in this game.  I know it is early but was hoping he would come out stinging the ball this year.  Rosario didn't get a hit but he looked good at the plate and the two walks he took bode well for him taking that next step.  He looks pretty locked in this year hoping for good things. Cardenas sure seems like a difference maker in the batters box.  Very solid numbers last year and he was a tough out last night as well.

I thought AA would have a hard time picking up wins since there are very few top 30 prospects there but they did well last night.  I didn't watch Enlow pitch much and to be honest I thought he would give up four to five runs but he pitched really well.  Man he looks like a beast on the mound so hopefully he has a great season.  Lee with two hits and a walk doing his thing but I am intrigued by the new guy the Twins brought in Fajardo.  I saw him in spring training and he looked good there and he got two hits along with Lee last night.  His older stats are nothing special but he sure seems to have good bat to ball skills. I was surprised to see Funderburk in a relief role but maybe that is the fastest way for him to make it to the Majors?

Lewis didn't pitch as well as I had hoped but just his first pro start so not much to say.  Schuffield once again proving he belongs higher up as he homered in his first at bat.  Too bad the game got cut short but that will be an interesting league to watch and see who breaks out.

[Cory Engelhardt]

I clicked on Kyle Jones' link as he is listed as the pitcher for Cedar Rapids above. It lists Kyle as a 2b/ss still in college. I think the starting pitcher isn't that player. FYI

[4twinsJA]

Look forward to this update daily, got to watch some of games on MiLB TV. Julien struggled in the field. Hoping Enlow can get things going this year, good first start. CR going to be fun to follow with all the prospects.

[HrbieFan]

ML baseball is back baby! Love following the hopes and dreams of these young men.  While the Twins have graduated and traded away some studs the past year, I am excited for the future of the Twins.  The top 10 is loaded with lottery ticket arms and bats 

[Major League Ready]

Anxious to see what Preilipp can do this year but Nowlin is also one of the guys I will track this year.  Seems like he could be great if he can just develop a little better command.  Ricardo Olivar is really interesting too.  

[jmlease1]

In a surprise to basically no one, Brooks Lee looks great in his first real game of the year. Love that guy.

Bummed about Raya starting the season on the IL, hope it's nothing serious. He's an exciting young pitcher! On the other hand, Enlow did well, which is nice to see. He's had some rough injury luck and missing 2020 because of the pandemic certainly hurt him as well. Glad we were able to hold on to him when they pulled him off the 40-man and maybe he can get back on track.

Good to see Polanco starting a rehab assignment as well. certainly suggests that he's not all that far off and that this isn't something that's going to keep him out until June.

[roger]

3 hours ago, nclahammer said:

Excellent report Ted.  Right behind my coffee, the minor league report is probably my favorite thing in the morning.   Good to see how the kids are progressing.  I sure hope the new minor league pay scale kicked in on day one for them.

Yes, that was fantastic news a few days ago.  I may be wrong, but seemed that the kids at the lower levels will be doubling their earnings, or more.  Saw that they now will be getting paid year-round.  Curious how that will work.  Will it be the same pay in winter as when they are playing?  Or will it be higher during the season?

Add me to those who noted that Miller was at short, Salas at third and Cavaco at first.  And congrats to Enlow making their opening day start.

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

I thought AA would have a hard time picking up wins since there are very few top 30 prospects there but they did well last night.  I didn't watch Enlow pitch much and to be honest I thought he would give up four to five runs but he pitched really well.  Man he looks like a beast on the mound so hopefully he has a great season. 

I did watch a good chunk of his start.  Didn't see any velocity but he seemed to have the curve working pretty well.

[Doctor Gast]

Tough game in St. Paul, but overhaul went well as to be expected. Noah Cardenas is on my watch list, looking for a break out. Throwing out runners will be a concern, expect the coaches really working on the pop time of all the catchers.