Twins Minor League Report (4/27): Saints March Home Early

[Ted Schwerzler]

Kicking the action off early today, the St. Paul Saints played a morning game against the Rochester Red Wings. With the other Twins affiliates set to taking the field later in the evening, Toby Gardenhire’s club secured a victory right away. 

 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Mark Contreras)

TRANSACTIONS

• LHP Kody Funderburk promoted to St. Paul
• RHP Josh Winder activated off IL by Minnesota
• LHP Brent Headrick optioned to St. Paul
• RHP Andrew Cabezas reinstated from development list for Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 5, Rochester 1
Box Score

Playing an early morning contest against the former Twins affiliate today, Louie Varland was on the mound for St. Paul. Having worked recently with Minnesota, it was evident that Varland sought to overpower the competition. Working 5 1/3 innings, Varland allowed one run on four hits. He walked two, but struck out eight and continues to pile them up at Triple-A.

Before Varland ever took the mound, Mark Contreras stepped in for the Saints and blasted a three-run homer. Edouard Julien and Michael Helman drew walks to get on ahead of him, and Contreras continued his hot hitting with the fourth dinger of his season.

Alex Kirilloff continued his rehab assignment in this one for St. Paul, and he went 1-for-4 while being hit by a pitch. Kirilloff did play first base today, and attempted to steal a base. He continues to look good and is trending toward a return for the Twins.

Although St. Paul didn’t rack up hits today, the pitching continued to be impressive when Cole Sands took over for Varland. Working 2 2/3 innings, he allowed a single base runner on a walk and punched out four. Sands worked efficiently as well throwing 32 pitches, of which 20 were strikes.

This game remained close up until the 9th inning went a bit awry for Red Wings reliever Gerson Moreno. Matt Wallner was hit by a pitch before both Mark Contreras and Andrew Bechtold drew walks. Tony Wolters singled to drive in Wallner, and then Edouard Julien took a bases loaded walk to bring Contreras across the plate.

Contreras just keeps on hitting, and his 2-for-3 day represented half of St. Paul’s hits. He’s pushed his OPS up to .942 to begin the year.

Tomorrow’s game will be the first time St. Paul sees the challenge system being implemented for 2023. With all other contests now using the ABS system to call balls and strikes, it will be interesting to see how batters and pitchers adjust.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 12, Springfield 11
Box Score

The Wind Surge turned to Aaron Rozek tonight and while he did rack up five strikeouts, he also allowed five runs on seven hits. With three walks added in, there was significant traffic on the basepaths all night.

Springfield took the lead with a pair of first inning runs. Wichita immediately answered though, and four runs came across in the home half of the inning. Jake Rucker started things off with a two-run double, scoring Brooks Lee and Yoyner Fajardo. Then DaShawn Keirsey Jr. plated Rucker on a single of his own, and Pat Winkel lifted a single to score Keirsey Jr. before the inning came to a close.

Rozek’s unraveling came in the top of the 4th inning when he allowed a sacrifice fly and a two run single. Still, with plenty of game left, the Wind Surge had time to claw back. Before being able to add again on their own, Wichita saw Springfield add another pair in their half of the 5th inning.

As he did earlier in the game, Keirsey Jr. came through big time. Fajardo and Yunior Severino stood at 2nd and 3rd base just long enough for the Wichita outfielder to hit his third homer of the season. Tying things up at seven, it was a whole new ballgame in the 5th inning.

With the game quickly careening towards extras, Springfield made sure to do their part. Jacob Buchberger singled off reliever Alex Scherff and drove in Pedro Pages to take a late lead. Needing an immediate answer, Alex Isola singled to lead off the inning. He was lifted for Alerick Soularie and after a pair of pickoff attempts, Soularie was caught attempting to swipe second base. Winkel answered drawing a walk before Will Holland singled to put runners at first and second. Anthony Prato singled to load the bases for Brooks Lee, and it was up to the top prospect to come through. Springfield made a pitching change and Logan Sawyer was on to shut down the potential threat.

Lee got a bender up in the zone and crushed it 97 mph to right center and cleared the bases. Fajardo followed him with a single to plate Lee, and the five-run inning was massive. Fajardo stole second to put himself in scoring position, and Rucker's third hit of the night brought him home. Now up 12-8, the Wind Surge had the opportunity to close this one out in the 9th inning.

Osiris German did give Springfield breathing room as a runner came around to score on Nick Dunn's triple, and then a sacrifice fly brought him home. A solo blast then made it a one-run game, and the five run 8th inning became more necessary than nice. German did record the final out, and this one ended as a one-run win in a game that had 23 runs scored on 28 hits.

 

Wichita put up 16 hits in this one, and multi-hit games were had by Fajardo, Rucker, Keirsey Jr., Winkel, Holland, and Prato.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, West Michigan 1
Box Score

Alejandro Hidalgo made another start tonight for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and he has done a good job of limiting damage since being acquired in the Gio Urshela trade. Tonight he went three innings allowing a single run on three hits. He did walk three batters and struck out one.

Runs were at a premium this evening, especially for the Kernels who mustered just one hit through six innings. After getting behind on a West Michigan single in the 3rd inning, Misael Urbina launched his first homer of the year to put Cedar Rapids on the board. His 5th inning solo shot knotted things at 1.

In the 7th inning, with things still tied at 1, 2022 Twins draft pick Tanner Schobel stepped in and launched his third home run of the season. With Noah Cardenas and Kala'i Rosario on, the three-run blast gave Cedar Rapids some much needed breathing room.

The Cedar Rapids bullpen was great all night as Mike Paredes, John Stankiewicz, and Miguel Rodriguez combined to go six innings allowing a hit a piece, and each registering at least one strikeout.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, Daytona 1
Box Score

Dealing with a brief delay, Jose Olivares only went one inning for the Mighty Mussels before Ben Ethridge was inserted in relief. Olivares did allow a run on a single hit, but Ethridge locked things down going three scoreless innings allowing just a single walk and fanning four.

After a rain delayed start, Olivares allowed a single in the bottom of the first. Carlos Jorge then stole second base, moved to third on a fly out, and scored on an infield ground ball. Things stood pat for both teams from that point until Ricardo Olivar stepped in during the top of the 7th inning. With the bases loaded, he lifted a grand slam scoring Dylan Neuse, Luis Baez, and Danny De Andrade. Fort Myers had their first lead of the evening, and it came with some breathing room.

Following Ethridge's lead, Zach Veen was amazing in relief. He worked three innings of his own, allowing just a hit and a walk, while picking up five strikeouts. The bullpen keeping the Mighty Mussels in this one to give them a chance was huge. Not ready to be done adding on offense late, Mikey Perez singled in Carlos Aguiar in the 8th inning to make it a 5-1 game.

Samuel Perez entered in the 8th inning for Fort Myers and he worked two scoreless innings to close this one out. Aguiar was joined by Rubel Cespedes as the only Mighty Mussels to record multiple hits on the day.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Hitter of the Day – Mark Contreras (St. Paul) - 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR(4), BB

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) - 1-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, BB
#2 - Royce Lewis (IL) - Knee
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - IL Abdomen
#4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 0-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, K
#6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - IL Elbow
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3
#9 - Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
#10 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - IL Elbow
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-3, R, HBP, 2 K
#12 - Yasser Mercedes - Extended Spring Training: starting this week, the Twins extended spring team will get started. Each week, they will play four games against the Red Sox team, get two days of practice, and Sundays off. 
#13 - David Festa (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#15 - Matt Canterino (IL) - Tommy John
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - IL Elbow
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR(3)
#19 - Jose Rodriguez (EST) - Same as Mercedes. 
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, RBI, (HR), 2 K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Rochester (5:05PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
Springfield @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD
West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya
Fort Myers @ Daytona (5:35PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews

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

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[Dman]

Glad to see Funderburk finally end up at AAA where IMO he should have started the year.  His strand rate, WHIP and FIP are a little concerning but he has improved his K rate considerably so far this year and his ERA of 1.00 means he has been getting outs when he needs them.  I think he has been a very under rated player throughout his time in the minors.  IMO he works best as a pen arm but we will see.  He has been fine as starter to this point as well.  Congrats to Kody on the promotion and now he is just one step away from making the MLB club.

[Monkeypaws]

What's up with Prielipp's elbow?

 

Never like the sound of that.

[tony&rodney]

I think the ABS system is used in Rochester, but not league wide and not in St. Paul.

Correct?

[Ted Schwerzler]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

I think the ABS system is used in Rochester, but not league wide and not in St. Paul.

Correct?

It wasn't installed last homestand. It will be ready to go when they return next week.

[Ted Schwerzler]

3 hours ago, Monkeypaws said:

What's up with Prielipp's elbow?

 

Never like the sound of that.

Yeah, not ideal.

Austin Martin with this long going without an update isn't good either.

[tony&rodney]

30 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

It wasn't installed last homestand. It will be ready to go when they return next week.

Thank you.

[FlyingFinn]

Is Olivares hurt? Why would only go one inning? If it was the rain, just postpone him until another game.

Lee, Severino and Festa have been the 3 Wind Surge players that I have thought could make the Twins some day. I like Kiersey and am thinking he has enough different tools to be the next one to have a chance. Would love to see him in St. Paul in the middle of the year.

The late round pick, Paredes, continues to impress as he did last year.

[jkcarew]

Ricardo Olivar: Catcher, Centerfielder

Now, there’s something you don’t see every day.

[Jocko87]

9 hours ago, Monkeypaws said:

What's up with Prielipp's elbow?

 

Never like the sound of that.

Looks like normal extra patient approach to me.  No surprises yet.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Thanks Jocko, that sounds much less dire.

[DJL44]

Mark Contreras is a good benchmark for how well a prospect needs to hit to get promoted. Nobody think Contreras will hit well enough at the MLB level to contribute so Kirilloff and Julien probably need to perform better than Contreras if they want to force a promotion.

[roger]

Won four on Tuesday, then lost four on Wednesday.  Great to come back with four wins yesterday.

Was last night Miller's first game at second base?  Also saw AK was hit by a pitch.  I pray it wasn't in his hand/wrist.  Was it?  Did he stay in the game?

[Ted Schwerzler]

58 minutes ago, roger said:

Won four on Tuesday, then lost four on Wednesday.  Great to come back with four wins yesterday.

Was last night Miller's first game at second base?  Also saw AK was hit by a pitch.  I pray it wasn't in his hand/wrist.  Was it?  Did he stay in the game?

Was in the shoulder right about his pad. Stayed in the game and was no worse for the wear.

[roger]

42 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Was in the shoulder right about his pad. Stayed in the game and was no worse for the wear.

Thanks, Ted, that is great news.  Expect he will be with the team when they go to Chicago on Monday.

[2wins87]

13 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Is Olivares hurt? Why would only go one inning? If it was the rain, just postpone him until another game.

Lee, Severino and Festa have been the 3 Wind Surge players that I have thought could make the Twins some day. I like Kiersey and am thinking he has enough different tools to be the next one to have a chance. Would love to see him in St. Paul in the middle of the year.

There was another delay for lightning after the first inning also.  Probably long enough that they didn't want to fire him back up again.

***

Keirsey got derailed by injuries so much in his early career that I still have hope for him to be a late bloomer.  He has the defense to be a good depth option and has been healthy and reasonably productive over the past year plus.

Festa should be expected to be a big part of the team in a year or two, and Severino is putting himself on that level as well.

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, roger said:

Was last night Miller's first game at second base?

I noticed at least one other game at 2B. Seems like they have him there once per week or so.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

The Connor Priellip news is even better than expected.  First its just generalized soreness,  secondly he is more advanced than they had expected at this point.  Meaning he is progressing faster and/or possibly has a higher ceiling than they had anticipated.  Looks good to me.  I think we will see a lot more kid gloves from this organization dealing with injuries and rehabbing from them in the future.  

[Jocko87]

14 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

The Connor Priellip news is even better than expected.  First its just generalized soreness,  secondly he is more advanced than they had expected at this point.  Meaning he is progressing faster and/or possibly has a higher ceiling than they had anticipated.  Looks good to me.  I think we will see a lot more kid gloves from this organization dealing with injuries and rehabbing from them in the future.  

I don't know that its kids gloves so much as measured.  With a goal of doing it one time only.  They probably could have done this without the IL and we would have never known.  Polanco is a good early win for this training staff with a seemingly similar methodology.  I was initially concerned with Polo because nothing had been done, no procedure etc but really its what I would want from my own doctor.  Now is the time to rest, do these strengthening exercises, avoid these motions etc.  I had a similar, lower level experience with bad tennis elbow from my golf swing (I have a bad golf swing🤷‍♂️) I wanted the shot like a dummy but followed the docs instructions and cleared it up with movement therapy and rest.  A couple golf lessons have kept it from coming back for the most part.