Twins Minor League Report (5/23): Carlos Aguiar Flexes His Mussels

[Steve Lein]

Minnesota Twins affiliates managed to win just one of their series-opening games on Tuesday, but the one that did, accomplished that behind a home run outburst in a single inning, and the muscles of a single player.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carlos Aguiar)

TRANSACTIONS

• With OF Trevor Larnach heading to the IL with the Minnesota Twins, #OneOfUs OF Matt Wallner was recalled to the majors from the St. Paul Saints in his place. In an odd scheduling quirk, Wallner started (and finished) Tuesday’s game for the Saints, and was available for the Twins vs. San Francisco at Target Field (where he was hit by a pitch in a pinch-hit appearance).
• In double-A, the Wind Surge activated OF Alerick Soularie and 1B Aaron Sabato, while also transferring OF Armani Smith to the Development List.
• The Cedar Rapids Kernels released C Charles Mack, and in his place assigned early-season standout C Andrew Cossetti from Fort Myers.
• In a corresponding move with Cossetti’s promotion, C Frank Nigro was assigned to the Mighty Mussels from the FCL Twins roster.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Omaha 6, St. Paul 1
Box Score
In a matinee affair at CHS Field in St. Paul, the Storm Chasers rode a pair of major league rehabbers to a 6-1 victory on Tuesday.

Omaha starting pitcher Daniel Lynch has made 42 starts for the Kansas City Royals over the last two years (including a 1-3 record against the Twins in seven starts) but has not appeared in the majors yet this season as he returns from injury. He took his Twins organization frustrations out on the Saints this afternoon, spinning six innings of shutout baseball, allowing just three hits and striking out five.

In opposition, St. Paul sent right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson to the hill, looking to get on track in his 2023 campaign. Unfortunately, he didn’t come close to matching his fellow major leaguer. He pitched into the fifth inning, but finished his day with four-plus innings pitched, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out three. After the outing, his triple-A ERA sits at 7.12 and you have to hope his stuff takes over sooner rather than later.

On the offensive side, the rehabbing Drew Waters was also a menace to the Saints. He finished 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot, proving to be a catalyst for the Storm Chasers all game.

The home team didn’t cross the plate until the ninth inning, when Matt Wallner led off with a single, moved to third on a Chris Williams double, and scored on a groundout off the bad of Andrew Bechtold. The Saints managed just six hits on the game, with Williams’ double being the only extra-base-hit. Ryan LaMarre finished 2-for-4, but as a team, St. Paul went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left only seven men on base for the game.

After Woods Richardson’s four-plus innings, Patrick Murphy (2 IP, BB, 4 K), Kody Funderburk (1 1/3 IP, BB, 3 K), and Austin Schulfer (1 2/3 IP, 2 H, ER, K) finished out the game for the Saints pitching staff.

In #OldFriend news, lefty Evan Sisk pitched two innings of relief for the Storm Chasers, allowing one hit, walking two, and striking out two of his former teammates.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Springfield 8
Box Score
The Wichita Wind Surge visit Springfield, Missouri, this week, a town I have spent quite a bit of time in, to face the Cardinals at the underrated Hammons Field downtown.

Unfortunately, they and starter Carlos Luna were greeted by the Texas League’s home run leader, Chandler Redmond, and the rest of the Cardinal faithful. Redmond clubbed two home runs in the contest, driving in four, to take down Wichita.

Starter Carlos Luna went the first four innings, surrendering one of those homers and allowing four total earned runs on six hits, while striking out two. Hunter McMahon gave up one run on three hits in two innings. Lefty Michael Boyle was the next victim for Redmond, resulting in three earned runs on three hits and one walk in his lone inning. He struck out one. Osiris German finished off the game for the Wind Surge with a scoreless bottom of the eighth, striking out one.

All three of Wichita’s runs came in the fourth inning as they closed the early Springfield lead to 4-3. Jake Rucker, Yunior Severino, and Alex Isola loaded the bases with singles to start the inning, and Anthony Prato drove in two with a single of his own before a sac fly from Alerick Soularie capped their scoring.

Rucker finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, and Isola 2-for-4 with a double and run scored to lead the lineup.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Wisconsin 8, Cedar Rapids 4
Box Score
In positive notes from this game, starter Pierson Ohl was able to finish 5 2/3 innings for the Kernels, though most of those came after he had already allowed five runs in the first two. From the third through the fifth, Ohl had seemed to settle in, taking advantage of the Timber Rattler's aggressive nature, but a pair of two-out walks in the sixth finally ended his night. Charlie Neuweiler came on from the bullpen and gave up a single, and both those runners then scored after a throwing error from outfielder Willie Joe Garry Jr. In all, Ohl was charged with seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and two walks, but did notch seven punch-outs.

Neuweiler went on to finish 2 1/3 innings, retiring seven in a row, and allowed just the one hit, while striking out three. Matthew Swain came on for the ninth and gave up an unearned run after a pair of singles and an error, striking out two.

Emmanuel Rodriguez tied the game at one in the bottom of the first with a solo home run, his fifth of the season. In the bottom of the sixth Noah Cardenas led off with a double and was driven in by Garry Jr. with a single. The Kernels added single runs in the seventh and ninth innings thanks to Kala’i Rosario, with an RBI single and solo home run, respectively.

Despite being outhit 12-8, the Kernels had 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position compared to the Timber Rattler's five, but the visiting team picked up four hits compared to their two in those situations.

Rosario (2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K) and Cardenas (2-for-4, R, 2B, BB) each had two hits in the game, while Tanner Schobel, Garry Jr. (2), Ben Ross, and Rosario picked up stolen bases.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 13, Dunedin 3
Box Score
The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels blew out the Dunedin Blue Jays on Tuesday night behind a big fifth inning in which 14 batters stepped to the plate, and five of them hit home runs.

Before we get to that, however, Dunedin had taken the lead against Fort Myers starter Develson Aria, who allowed three earned runs on two hits and a pair of walks, while striking out just one. The Mighty Mussels had two runs of their own to that point thanks to a solo home run from Carlos Aguiar to lead off the fourth, and a Dylan Neuse RBI single later in the frame.

Aguiar’s first blast was a harbinger, both for his team, and himself. Because in the fifth inning, he and the squad flexed every mighty muscle they had.

Jorel Ortega led off with a solo home run, his third of the season. After a Danny De Andrade single, Ricardo Olivar and Aguiar went yard back-to-back. Two batters later, Rafael Cruz hit his first home run of the year, a two-run shot. Three singles, a walk, and wild pitch later, Aguiar clubbed his third home run of the game, and second of the inning, a three-run shot to make it 13-3 in the visiting team's favor.

After that outburst, the Fort Myers bullpen trio of Ricky Mineo (W, 2 IP, 2 BB, 2 K), Danny Moreno (2 IP, H, 2 K), and Jackson Hicks (1 IP, H, BB, K) shut out the Blue Jays the rest of the way.

Joining Aguiar (3-for-5, 3 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI) with multiple hits in the contest were Ortega (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB), Olivar (2-for-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K), Cruz (2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K) and Neuse (3-for-4, R, RBI, K). All hitters in the starting lineup except Rubel Cespedes reached base at least once and scored a run. Be sure to check out this one’s box score to catch it all.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Patrick Murphy, St. Paul Saints (2 IP, BB, 4 K)
Hitter of the Day - Carlos Aguiar, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (3-for-5, 3 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, BB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K
#2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab-St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI, BB, K
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#7 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 4+ IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul / Minnesota) - 1-for-4, R, K / HBP (pinch-hit appearance)
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-3, R, BB, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CDT) - LHP Brent Headrick (1-1, 4.94 ERA)
Wichita @ Springfield (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Blayne Enlow (1-1, 3.28 ERA)
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids  (12:05 PM CDT) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-3, 4.06 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (6:00 PM CDT) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Wood-Richardson has not been good this year. He sure could use a good game soon.

My belief is if the organization has a future Twins catcher, he is with Cedar Rapids. Both Cardenas and Cossetti look like they have a chance to hit well enough and it sounds like they can play defense. Some could certainly argue that Olivar is the guy with Fort Myers and Winkel bats LH and could be a possibility if he can improve his caught stealing #'s.

[mikelink45]

SWR has really disappointed and should drop on the prospect lists.  Not sure what is going on, it reminds me of Balazovic last year.  

So glad Cossetti was moved up. 

I do hope Wallner catches fire - Larnach is down three years in a row. 

 

[Dman]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Wood-Richardson has not been good this year. He sure could use a good game soon.

My belief is if the organization has a future Twins catcher, he is with Cedar Rapids. Both Cardenas and Cossetti look like they have a chance to hit well enough and it sounds like they can play defense. Some could certainly argue that Olivar is the guy with Fort Myers and Winkel bats LH and could be a possibility if he can improve his caught stealing #'s.

I agree that both Cardenas and Cossetti look like the best bet's for offensive catchers that can make it.  Winkel is having a solid year with the bat so far but I watched him when he was at Cedar Rapids behind the plate and his throws to 2nd were awful. For someone who has been a catcher that long that seems to be a huge weakness to his game and a bad one given the changes to the game.

Camargo is another catcher with a chance but he is very boom bust with the bat.  However, the bar for catcher offense is low these days.  Still I like the potential of Cossetti and Cardenas the best right now as well.  Will also be interesting to see what Baez can broing to the table after he recovers from hamate issue.

[jmlease1]

Cossetti earned the promotion, glad to see it. Looking forward to seeing how he does against better competition. If he can keep hitting and stick at catcher, he's going to jump up on the TD prospect lists. (Unless he goes absolutely berserk as a hitter he'll never crack the national lists; he'll be considered to be too old)

Did someone slip Kala'i Rosario the TD updated prospect list? he seems to be taking his exclusion personally. :P It'll be interesting to see if he can keep this up and/or get an early promotion to AA. He's doing a great job taking walks, he's making consistent contact, and the power seems to be developing nicely. Emmanuel Rodriguez may be the higher rated prospect, but Rosario is out-performing him so far at the same age. (to be fair, Rodriguez is still working his way back from a not-insignificant injury) I would have no complaints about having two 20 year-old corner OFs (one from the right and one from the left-hand side) pushing each other through the system!

A little worrisome that all of the Twins infield prospects at high A are scrabbling at the plate right now (Tanner Schobel is the "star" with a .684 OPS; neither Salas nor Miller are hitting a lick. and not that he's really a prospect any longer, but Cavaco is sadly looking like a total bust again after showing a little improvement last season in Ft Myers). It's still early, but it would be nice if at least one of these guys showed they had a capable bat.

[Dman]

I feel bad for Mack but he just hasn't hit well his entire pro career.  His highest OPS of .723 isn't even close to what Cossetti is doing right now.  Cossetti has a real solid approach so far with as many walks as K's a good batting average and slugging percentage.  So well rounded there was nothing left to work on in Fort Myers.  Congrats to him on moving up.

Aguiar really upped his OPS with that three homer game as it lifted his average and slugging. The K rate is down to 31% which might not seem great but considering it was 43% last year at this level that is quite an improvement so far. A few more walks would convince me he knows the strike zone well but he has a power bat and has to find a way to hit enoung to make it all work.  He is off to a good start this year.

Was also happy to see Ortega back into the .900 OPS range.  I assume he will move up later in the year as he looks pretty solid right now.

I know Neuse might be an after thought given he is 24 but he is hitting well with a .321 average. His slugging isn't great but walks, K's BA. OBP all look really good to me.  Will be interesting to see how they handle Neuse and Schuffield.  Although Schuffield has been scuffling for a while now.

Lot's of fun seeing the Muscles have a great offensive night and move some the numbers in a positive direction.  Looks like the pitching matchup's for today are must watch MiLB.TV.  Hoping for better results today.

[ashbury]

20 minutes ago, Dman said:

I feel bad for Mack but he just hasn't hit well his entire pro career.  His highest OPS of .723 isn't even close to what Cossetti is doing right now. 

I came here to lament Mack's demise as well.  I expected something from him when he was drafted.  Ft Myers has always had a reputation of being a hard place for the hitters, so the .723 OPS didn't bother me, his being a high-school draftee and all, as I don't hold the same bar for catchers as at the offense-minded positions.  But he hasn't hit a lick at Cedar Rapids where I think of bats as sometimes coming alive, for two seasons now, and I guess his work behind the plate wasn't good enough to save him.

Mack's only 3 months older than Cossetti, but the difference in bat looks pretty undeniable and that spelled the end.

I bet he catches on (heh) with another organization, assuming he still wants to go through the grind and all that.

[FlyingFinn]

21 minutes ago, Dman said:

Was also happy to see Ortega back into the .900 OPS range.  I assume he will move up later in the year as he looks pretty solid right now.

But, to where? I don't think Miller and Salas are moving anywhere this year. Maybe Schobel moves to Wichita to make room for him but I'm not sure that is a great idea.

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I came here to lament Mack's demise as well.  I expected something from him when he was drafted.  Ft Myers has always had a reputation of being a hard place for the hitters, so the .723 OPS didn't bother me, his being a high-school draftee and all, as I don't hold the same bar for catchers as at the offense-minded positions.  But he hasn't hit a lick at Cedar Rapids where I think of bats as sometimes coming alive, for two seasons now, and I guess his work behind the plate wasn't good enough to save him.

Mack's only 3 months older than Cossetti, but the difference in bat looks pretty undeniable and that spelled the end.

I bet he catches on with another organization, assuming he still wants to go through the grind and all that.

Yeah I really liked the pick when the Twins made it and his build looked like it was built for power.  I think he started off hot last year got injured and never got hot again.  I thought maybe he would be better this year but right now all the catchers even Jeffeson Morales are swinging a better bat than Mack right now.  Even the hit challenged Banuelos has a 900 OPS in a SSS.  The only bat worse is Camargo but he is at AAA.  Time was no longer on his side and kind of running out of room to keep him.  I agree I think he can catch on with another team and I still think he has chance to be a decent catcher but the four guys he is competing against for a spot all look much better in the batters box right now.  

You are right Cossetti won't catch on to prospect lists as he is too old unless they can get him all the way up AA this year which is doubtful.  Doesn't really matter though as long as he makes it to MLB that would be a win especially for an 11th round choice.

[Dman]

8 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

But, to where? I don't think Miller and Salas are moving anywhere this year. Maybe Schobel moves to Wichita to make room for him but I'm not sure that is a great idea.

I am hoping Schobel can show enough to get moved up but that might take longer than hoped.  Also wondering if they would drop Miller or Salas back to Fort Myers to work on contact skills because both those guys have trouble making contact,  Especially Salas.  I liked the idea of the Twins challenging the young guys and I would give it more time to see if they take off but IMO at some point the better player needs to move up.  That looks like Ortega to me right now.

[FlyingFinn]

44 minutes ago, Dman said:

I feel bad for Mack but he just hasn't hit well his entire pro career.

Very SSS but I listened to a couple games online in which Mack was catching this year. He was missing catching strike pitches and the announcers were saying he wasn't doing well defensively. After that, I thought Cossetti was sure to take his spot at some point this year.

[ashbury]

2 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Very SSS but I listened to a couple games online in which Mack was catching this year. He was missing catching strike pitches and the announcers were saying he wasn't doing well defensively. After that, I thought Cossetti was sure to take his spot at some point this year.

Announcers often have insights from coaching personnel, so this sounds like a definite nugget.  Thanks.

[2wins87]

Nice to see Cossetti getting a pretty early promotion, I'm going to be very interested in how he does against tougher competition.  There were no nits to pick with his batting line in low-A except for his age.

I think Rafael Cruz could be on the verge of an offensive breakout in low-A.  The strikeouts are an issue and his numbers haven't been good yet but he is hitting the ball very hard quite often.

 

[twinstalker]

When are the Twins going to call up Brooks Lee?  Seems like he'd be a good fit.

[Doctor Wu]

22 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

SWR has really disappointed and should drop on the prospect lists.  Not sure what is going on, it reminds me of Balazovic last year.  

So glad Cossetti was moved up. 

I do hope Wallner catches fire - Larnach is down three years in a row. 

 

Yeah, the dismal performance of SWR thus far had been very disappointing. I had high hopes that he would tear it up in AAA and earn another promotion to the show. Other than odd relief appearance earlier this season, it looks like that won't happen this year. 

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, twinstalker said:

When are the Twins going to call up Brooks Lee?  Seems like he'd be a good fit.

2024. I love Brooks Lee but look at his #'s in May. I believe the batting average is below .200. He needs time in the minors.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

2024. I love Brooks Lee but look at his #'s in May. I believe the batting average is below .200. He needs time in the minors.

I think the earlier comment might have been a "the twins offense is garbage right now and so is Brooks Lee at the plate" bit of snark.