Twins Minor League Report (5/5): History Made in St. Paul

[Ted Schwerzler]

For the first time in St. Paul Saints history, the challenge system came into play at CHS Field. Instituted this season at the Triple-A level, a rainy evening showcased a way that Major League Baseball may soon change. The rest of the farm was in action as well, and Wichita played two after a postponement yesterday.

Image courtesy of Ted Schwerzler

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Dereck Rodriguez contract purchases by Minnesota from St. Paul
• OF/1B Alex Kirilloff recalled by Minnesota
• OF Trevor Larnach optioned to St. Paul
• RHP Jose Bravo transferred to St. Paul from Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Nashville 3, St. Paul 2
Box Score

After a multitude of roster moves, and rain that delayed the start, St. Paul finally sent Simeon Woods Richardson to the mound. He touched 94 mph in the first inning, and this game was something of historic importance as it represented the first time the challenge system has been used at CHS Field.

On Friday through Sunday games at Triple-A umpires will have more control. While the ABS system is being used on Tuesday through Thursday, the home plate umpire will again call the games during the final three days. Each team gets three challenges (but successful challenges don’t take away from the total), and when one is initiated, the pitch is immediately relayed to the umpire and then put on the videoboard.

The first challenge of the night came when Nashville’s Andruw Monasterio didn’t like a low strike call. He was incorrect, but got revenge on the very next pitch as he blasted a three run homer. Woods Richardson then used St. Paul’s first challenge on a called ball four. He was incorrect and the umpire found himself two for two.

Answering in the bottom half of the second inning, Chris Williams and Andrew Bechtold went back-to-back on a pair of long blasts. Bechtold knew he got all of it, and a fan attempted to grab the dinger in a beer.

As the 3rd inning looked to get underway, the rain came back and the tarp was on. With rain steadily falling and the forecast not looking great for the remainder of the evening, the Saints decided to bang this one on Cinco De Mayo. It will be resumed tomorrow afternoon with a seven inning game to follow.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
NW Arkansas 5, Wichita 1 (Game 1)
Box Score

Playing a twin bill tonight after a rainout yesterday, the Wind Surge kicked off game one with Chad Donato on the mound. He went 3 1/3 innings while allowing five runs on eight hits. Donato did strike out three while not allowing any walks.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. started things well for the Wind Surge when he drove Yoyner Fajardo in on a 1st inning groundout. That was Wichita’s only lead of the contest though as Northwest Arkansas immediately answered with two runs in the bottom half.

Donato was touched up for a two-run homer in the 4th inning that made it 4-1, and a run-scoring triple chased him from the game. Managing just four hits for the game, Alex Isola was the only Wichita player to record a pair of knocks. They would look to forget this one and bounce back in the second game.

NW Arkansas 4, Wichita 3 (Game 2)
Box Score

Carlos Luna was the starter for game two this evening, and the Travelers once again jumped out to a lead. Allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits in the 1st inning wasn’t how he wanted things to go.

Similarly to game one, Keirsey Jr. again drove in a run on a groundout. Fajardo scored and put the Wind Surge ahead. A single and a homer were recorded for Northwest Arkansas in their half of the frame and they had their second 4-1 lead of the day. Wichita did get one back in the 2nd inning, but still trailed by two through four innings of play.

 

Seth Gray did make things interesting with a solo homer in the 6th inning, but Wichita couldn't even it up and they fell twice on the day.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 0
Box Score

Marco Raya was on the bump tonight for the Kernels, and he looked strong in a short outing as he continues to build up. Working three innings, Raya allowed just two hits while striking out three and walking only one. Pierson Ohl then came on as a piggyback starter and continued his strong start to the year.

It was a scoreless game through the first couple of innings until Tanner Schobel came up in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded, Schobel worked a walk and drew an RBI as Kyle Fedko waltzed across the plate. Though they couldn’t push any more across in the 3rd, Schobel picked up another RBI when he lifted a sacrifice fly in the 5th inning. Ernie Yake scampered home and the Kernels doubled up their lead.

Adding again in the 6th inning, Ben Ross singled to right field and Willie Joe Garry Jr. raced home.

The story of this game was certainly how dominant Ohl performed in relief. Working the final six innings, Cedar Rapids saw the righty allow only three hits while punching out nine. Keeping South Bend at bay, he lowered his season ERA to 2.25 and struck out the side to end it in the 9th inning.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Dunedin 7, Fort Myers 6 (F/11)
Box Score

Tonight it was Develson Aria starting for the Mighty Mussels. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and a pair of walks. Aria did strike out five on the evening.

Florida State League reigning player of the month, Andrew Cossetti, singled in the 1st inning to drive in Jorel Ortega. A wild pitch then allowed Dalton Shuffield to score and make it a 2-0 game before the inning ended.

By the end of the 4th inning, Dunedin had taken the lead 3-2. In the bottom of the 5th inning though, Maddux Houghton answered with a two-run blast that scored Alec Sayre and helped Fort Myers to regain the lead.

As the game entered the final innings, it was Dunedin again regaining the lead. A two-run double put them back up by a score of 5-4. Fort Myers had just four hits on the night thus far, and they'd need to find a way to battle back. After a Mike Perez pop out Sayre took a walk to put the tying run on base. Houghton struck out and it was up to Ortega as the last hope. He answered the call and roped his first triple of the season to tie the game and represent the winning run just 90 feet away. Shuffield couldn't bring him home though, and the sides were headed to extras.

Neither team could get anything going in the 10th inning, but Dunedin put the pressure on with a two-run blast in the top of the 11th inning. Houghton didn't have another homer in him but his single scored Rubel Cespedes to bring Fort Myers back within one. Ortega couldn't recapture the magic again, and they Mighty Mussels came up just short.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl (Cedar Rapids) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
Hitter of the Day – Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 3-6, 2 2B, 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) - 3-5, 2 2B, K
#4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
#5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 0-1, K
#6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, K
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Nashville @ St. Paul (2:07PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (6:35PM CST) - LHP Blayne Enlow
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (3:05PM CST) - RHP Jaylen Nowlin
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (5:00PM CST) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Good game by Raya but great game by Ohl, the best of his short career.

[Dman]

Ohl doesn't like to walk anyone so you better be ready in the box.  Really nice job by him tonight.  The guys have to know strikes are coming and if they can't hit him that bodes well for Ohl's future.  I know he doesn't have an elite fastball but he really knows how to pitch.  Hoping he continues to dominate.

A lot of walks (3) but Ross continues to look good at the plate.  He might be a genius pick but the Twins scouting department.  Still has a long ways to go and needs to work on power but he looks like he is going to continue to produce all the way up to me.

[D.C Twins]

Raya Raya-ke-a-me happy!

[milkytoast]

Lee was both 3-5 and 3-6 according to this article. That means, overall, he went 6-11. Hell of a day!

[roger]

5 hours ago, milkytoast said:

Lee was both 3-5 and 3-6 according to this article. That means, overall, he went 6-11. Hell of a day!

He was 1-3 in game one and 2-3 in the second game, 3-6 for the day.  Still hell of a day.  Gotta wonder how good this young man will be as he takes those last two steps?  Amazing considering a year ago he was still in college.

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

Ohl doesn't like to walk anyone so you better be ready in the box.  Really nice job by him tonight.  The guys have to know strikes are coming and if they can't hit him that bodes well for Ohl's future.  I know he doesn't have an elite fastball but he really knows how to pitch.  Hoping he continues to dominate.

A lot of walks (3) but Ross continues to look good at the plate.  He might be a genius pick but the Twins scouting department.  Still has a long ways to go and needs to work on power but he looks like he is going to continue to produce all the way up to me.

I don't know much about Pierson Ohl, but as you noted he seems to have a good idea on how to pitch. I mean, look at that line:

6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

I'd like to see more starters put up numbers like that!

[Hubie29]

I was the one (there may be others) that said Twins hitting would suffer this year and struggle scoring with poor clutch hitting.  I said guys like Larnach are not big league hitters. We will find out Kiriloff is the same.  

[jmlease1]

Brooks Lee continues to look like an outstanding draft pick. He just hits. Real possibility he could be looking at a midseason promotion to AAA, which would be pretty fantastic.

Looking forward to seeing what Raya can do when he's a little more stretched out. The rubber meets the road on him when he's able to go 6 innings, I think. Really like his talent, but 3 inning stints don't tell us much.

[Tibs]

Quite a few doubles for Brooks Lee so far

[pierre75275]

I like the pitch challenge. I can't imagine how long the games would be if this was implemented in MLB and Angel Hernandez is behind the plate.

 

 

[Larry Janisewski]

1 hour ago, Hubie29 said:

I was the one (there may be others) that said Twins hitting would suffer this year and struggle scoring with poor clutch hitting.  I said guys like Larnach are not big league hitters. We will find out Kiriloff is the same.  

You are correct. The lack of hitting is unbelievable. I think the Twins have mustered 17 hits in the last 4 games (they have won 2 of those games).

[LewFordLives]

They need to start getting Brooks Lee some starts at 3B.