Twins Minor League Week in Review (3/31-4/9)

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins top four affiliates have all been in action over the last week. The Saints were the first teams to get started and the rest just wrapped up their first series on Saturday (and had the day off on Sunday). All will be back in action on Tuesday. 

Image courtesy of © Dave Nelson-USA TODAY Sports (Brooks Lee and Edouard Julien)

If you missed it, read Nick's Twins Week in Review after you've read about the minor league week.

TRANSACTIONS 

• With no Monday Minor League Report, we will include all transactions that we've missed. But with the lack of games on Sunday, there haven't been any moves.

RESULTS

• Friday (3/31): Saints Battle, but Fall Short in Season Opener
• Saturday (4/1): Four Homers Lead St. Paul to First 2023 Victory
• Sunday (4/2): Saints Take Series One
• Thursday (4/6): Affiliates Get Underway 
• Friday (4/7): Everyone Gets a Win! 
• Saturday (4/8): Connor Prielipp Debuts in Twins' System; Zebby Matthews Silences for Fort Myers
• Sunday (4/9): Saints Bested on Easter

MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT 

• Wind Surge Roster Preview
• Kernels Roster Preview
• Mighty Mussels Roster Preview

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

• St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:05PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (0-0, 11.25 ERA)
• NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD
• Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (season debut)
• Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:30PM CST) - RHP Tomas Cleto (season debut)

WEEK IN REVIEW 

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints (Week: 4-4)

• Overall: 4-4, 2.0 games back in the International League West. 
• Overview: After dropping the season opener, the Saints were able to get back on track with two wins before Minnesota weather pushed the home opener back and forced the team to play five games in four days, alternating between losing and winning.
• Hitters: The veteran outfield of Mark Contreras, Kyle Garlick and Ryan LaMarre have led the offense. But all eyes will be on newly-minted Top 100 prospect Edouard Julien, who already has two home runs and an OBP of .417. Matt Wallner was recalled to Minnesota to replace the injured Max Kepler.
• Pitchers: Bailey Ober has not been as sharp as he was this spring, already walking five in 6 2/3 innings. But aside from Louie Varland, pretty much everyone has struggled. We're going to chalk this up to early-season cold weather and just assume that since Varland is "one of us" that weather will never effect him.
• What's Next: a trip to Indianapolis (5-4), including a 10:05 am start time on Wednesday morning, if you're into that sort of thing.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge (Week: 2-1)

• Overall: 2-1, 1.0 game back in the Texas League North.
• Overview: Hard to complain about starting your season with a series win, especially when you don't hit very well (.204/.286/.245),
• Hitters: Newcomer Yoyner Fajardo has been Wichita's best hitter through the first series. Fajardo joined the Twins after previously being in the Pirates organization. Last season, Fajardo tore up high-A ball (1.059 OPS) while primarily playing second base and right field. He's logged all of his innings for the Wind Surge in left field so far. Having just turned 24, Fajardo is still young enough to catch some prospect-watchers' attention... but we are talking about only three games. Brooks Lee is name to watch for this team and you'll be able to follow his progress in each one of these reports.
• Pitchers: The Twins traded away so many prospect that would be at this level (or higher), but managed to hold on to David Festa, who was nearly perfect in his debut. Blayne Enlow also had a nice performance (six strikeouts in five innings) in his second go-around at AA.
• What's Next: The Wind Surge will welcome Northwest Arkansas (1-2) to Wichita for a six-game set that begins on Tuesday. 

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels (Week: 3-0)

• Overall: 3-0, tied for first in the Midwest League West
• Overview: A sweep on the road over Peoria is a great way to start a season: two one-run wins before finishing it out in a convincing four-run win.
• Hitters: Slow starts for big names like Emmanuel Rodriguez (.093) and Misael Urbina (.182), but others - like Keoni Cavaco, Noah Cardenas and Noah Miller - stepped up. Despite striking out 41 times in three games, the Kernels put together 16 runs on 25 hits (with only two home runs). A strikeout ended exactly one-third of the team's at-bats, so that's something to keep an eye on.
• Pitchers: A mixed bag of results for the three starters. Jaylen Nowlin didn't give up any runs, but walked three in four innings. Kyle Jones struck out six and walked none in 5.1 innings. Connor Prielipp was up-and-down in his long-awaited professional debut. 
• What's Next: Six games of home-cooking against Quad Cities (0-3). Book your trip to Cedar Rapids soon while they have all the prospects.

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels (Week: 2-1)

• Overall: Season: 2-1, tied for first in the Florida State League West
• Overview: After dropping the opener to Dunedin on Thursday, the Mighty Mussels came back to win the series with victories on Friday and Saturday. The team got help from appearances from Jorge Polanco and Josh Winder. 
• Hitters: 2022-draftee Dalton Shuffield kept the power going by hitting his first home run - and Fort Myers only home run - this season after swatting four last year in 25 games. Shuffield was one of hit hitters with multiple hits in the opening series. Jorel Ortega had two doubles. The team was also successful in all six of their steal attempts.
• Pitchers: A trio of last year's draft picks made the starts for the Mighty Mussels. Zebby Matthews (8th round) struck out seven in five scoreless innings. Andrew Morris (4th round) also struck out seven, but allowed three runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Cory Lewis (9th round) had a rough pro debut.
• What's Next: A trip north up the coast to Clearwater (2-1) to begin a six-game series on Tuesday.

PROSPECT SUMMARY

This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week. The Prospect Tracker will be updated on the first of each month throughout the season. Notice that these pages now include stats and splits, as well as past article links, video and more. (Season-long stats will be in parenthesis.)

• 20. Misael Urbina, OF, Cedar Rapids: 2-11, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K. (.182/.357/.273. .630 OPS) 
• 19. Jose Rodriguez, OF: Extended Spring Training
• 18. Tanner Schobel, 2B, Cedar Rapids: 3-14, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 4 K. (.214/.214/.429. .643 OPS), played two games at second base (one error in 11 chances) and one game at third base (no errors in no chances). 
• 17. Ronny Henriquez, RHP: On Minnesota’s injured list with elbow inflammation.
• 16. Jordan Balazovic, RHP, St. Paul: 0-0 (6.75 ERA), 1.1 IP, H, ER, 2 BB. (2.25 WHIP, .250 BAA)
• 15. Matt Canterino, RHP: Still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• 14. Noah Miller, SS: 5-15, 2B, RBI, 2 R, 5 K. (.333/.333.400. .733 OPS), played shortstop in all three games and committed no errors in 17 chances.
• 13. David Festa, RHP, Wichita: 1-0 (0.00 ERA), 5.0 IP, H, 8 K. (0.20 WHIP, .067 BAA)
• 12. Yasser Mercedes, OF: Extended Spring Training
• 11. Matt Wallner, OF, St. Paul: 5-20, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 9 K. (.300/.364/.650. 1.014 OPS) Recalled to Minnesota
• 10. Austin Martin, SS: Martin is still recovering from an arm injury.
• 9. Louie Varland, RHP, St. Paul: 1-0 (1.80 ERA), 5.0 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 9 K. (1.00 WHIP, .222 BAA)
• 8. Jose Salas, INF: 1-8, R, BB, 3 K (.125/.222/.125. .347 OPS), played one game at second base (no errors in four chances) and one game at third base (no errors in five chances). 
• 7. Connor Prielipp, LHP, Cedar Rapids: 0-0 (6.75 ERA), 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. (1.75 WHIP, .294 BAA)
• 6. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, St. Paul: 0-1 (4.91 ERA), 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, HR, 2 BB, 6 K. (1.64 WHIP, .267 BAA)
• 5. Edouard Julien, 2B, St. Paul: 8-29, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 9 R, 7 BB, 12 K, 1/1 SB. (.276/.417/.517. .934 OPS), played two of three games at second base and committed one error in 28 chances. (DH in the other game.)
• 4. Marco Raya, RHP: Getting a late start to the season after some arm soreness.
• 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Cedar Rapids: 1-11, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K. (091/.267/.273. .540 OPS) 
• 2. Royce Lewis, SS: Lewis is still recovering from his second ACL surgery. 
• 1. Brooks Lee, SS, Wichita: 4-13, 2B, RBI, 4 R, BB, 2 K. (.308/.357/.385. .742 OPS), played all three games at shortstop and committed no errors in 12 chances. 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK will return next week when all teams have a full week of action.

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the players and the teams in the COMMENTS below.

 

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[roger]

Isn't it great that the minor league teams are back playing.  I saw that players got a significant raise.  Do you know if the DSL also got a raise?  And if so, what was it?

Reading your Top 20 recap, the highlight for me was Miller's bat and that he is their regular shortstop.  The low spot is that Canterino is on the IL.  Do we know if he will be back before the end of the season?  Still believe this kid can and will be special.  With all his lost time, it may be in the bullpen.  But the Twins bullpen will always need another Duran type arm.

With all the new data that us old timers don't understand, I got a good smile out of your mentioning that old, old stat......errors for the middle infielders.  

[LonelyseatinMOA]

Balazovic is cooked then?

[Dman]

Always nice when pitchers are ready to go at the start of season, Varland, Festa and Matthews all looked great out of the gate.  Have to say Festa was fantastic.  He just needed to shore that third pitch and ring guys up when he gets to two strikes.  If he keeps this up could he be mid rotation starter material?

Garlic still looks too good to be at AAA as does Jullien.  They just need to keep doing what they are doing and I am sure they will get there.  I have been watching Fajardo who seems like Schuffield type player with really good bat to ball skills. Not sure what other tools he brings but if the bat plays all the way up he could be something. So far Miller getting hits which is what he needs to do.  I am still concerned about power as even his one double was dribbled to the outfield.  Still early and the weather far from ideal.

Lot's of players doing well can't wait for the sample sizes to expand and see who pushes their way up.