Twins Minor League Week in Review (5/22-5/28)

[Jeremy Nygaard]

For the second week in a row each affiliate either played .500 baseball or within a game of .500. There were some more big performances and we’re starting to see some performance-triggered promotions. 
 

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro (photo of Hernan Perez)

Don’t forget to read Nick’s Week in Review to catch up on the Twins week.

TRANSACTIONS 

• None as of publishing.

RESULTS

• Tuesday (5/23): Carlos Aguiar Flexes His Mussels
• Wednesday (5/24): A Walkoff, a Blowout Win, a Loss, and a Rainout
• Thursday (5/25): Sanchez Slings for Saints
• Friday (5/26): Pitching Continues To Be Solid, Even in Losses
• Saturday (5/27): The Dog Days Are Over; a Near Clean Sweep for Minnesota's Affiliates
• Sunday (5/28): Royce Lewis Catches a Flight

MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT 

• Carlos Aguiar Slugging His Way Into the Top Prospect Conversation
• Playing at 120 Percent, Royce Lewis is Ready for his Return to the Big Leagues
• These 3 Minnesota Twins Prospects Are Off to Disappointing Starts in 2023
• Blayne Enlow is Out to Prove He Belongs
• Is Royce Lewis Going to be Here to Stay?

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

• Iowa @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - TBD
• Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) -RHP Blayne Enlow (2-1, 3.02 ERA)
• Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (5:00PM CST) - RHP Jaylin Nowlin (2-3, 3.75 ERA)
• St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD

WEEK IN REVIEW 

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints (Week: 4-2)

• Overall: 27-22, 2.5 games back in the International League West. 
• Overview: A good week with four wins over Omaha only kept pace with the Iowa Cubs.
• 🔥: It hasn’t been a good year for Aaron Sanchez , but he had a very good start last week pitching six shutout innings.
• 🔥: Hernan Perez and Andrew Stevenson both had huge weeks at the plate. Perez totaled 17 total bases on 10 hits in 20 at-bats with 10 RBI and Stevenson had 18 total bases on the nine hits and scored nine runs. 
• 🥶: Simeon Woods Richardson threw 8 1/3 innings over two starts and allowed 11 earned runs on 16 hits and five walks. He only struck out four. A hard reset may be in order.
• 🥶: Jose Miranda is floundering. Four singles in 24 at-bats. Six strikeouts. One walk. Two runs batted in and one run scored. 
• What's Next: A trip to Buffalo (24-27) for six games. Both teams are 5-5 in their last ten.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge (Week: 2-4)

• Overall: 20-24, 9.5 games back in the Texas League North.
• Overview: A poor week against Springfield dropped the Wind Surge even further behind Tulsa. 
• 🔥: DaShawn Keirsey led the offense with nine hits (and three doubles). Brooks Lee had eight hits and hit his fourth home run of the season.
• 🔥: Aaron Rozek pitched seven one-run innings and struck out five while only walking one and allowing just three hits.
• 🥶: Will Holland was 3-for-16, but his three hits were two doubles and a triple. He struck out five times.
• 🥶: Andrew Cabezas struggled in his lone appearance of the week. He allowed four runs on four hits and three walks while only retiring three batters. 
• What's Next: Wichita will host first-place Tulsa (30-15), who is on a six-game winning streak. Though dominant at home, the Drillers are only 8-10 on the road.

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

• Overall: 25-20, 1.0 game up in the Midwest League West. 
• Overview: A 3-3 week was enough to propel the Kernels past a struggling South Bend team (losers of five straight). But Quad Cities has gone from 12-21 to 24-21 and are now just a game behind Cedar Rapids.
• 🔥: Marco Raya was perfect in his three innings, striking out five. 
• 🔥: Jordan Carr pitched six innings and earned a win. He allowed only an unearned run on four hits and two walks. He struck out six.
• 🔥: Kala’i Rosario and Noah Miller led the offense. Rosario had two home runs among his six hits. Miller had seven hits including three extra-base hits.
• 🤩: Andrew Cossetti gets a write-up almost every week, so we should mention his promotion. He got three hits in 13 at-bats including two doubles. 
• 🥶: Pierson Ohl had an interesting start. He was one out short of pitching six innings. He struck out seven… but he allowed nine hits and two walks which turned into seven runs (six earned). 
• 🥶: Jose Salas . Man, it’s been a rough start for Salas. Nine strikeouts in a 2-for-20 week. 
• What's Next: A road trip to Lansing (21-24). The Kernels have a better road record so far this year, so hopefully they can keep the lead in the West Division.

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels (Week: 3-3)

• Overall: 25-20, 6.5 games behind Clearwater in the Florida State League West. 
• Overview: Fort Myers split with a decent Dunedin team and made up a half-game in the standings. 
• 🔥: Ricardo Olivar’s nine hits were tied for an organizational high this past week. But his solid performance may have been overshadowed by Carlos Aguiar’s three-home run game and Jorel Ortega continuing to impress with his bat (two home runs) and legs (three stolen bases).  
• 🔥: Zebby Matthews earned a promotion with six strikeouts in five shutout innings. He allowed two hits.
• 🥶: Maddux Houghton struck out six times in 10 hitless at-bats. 
• 🥶: Jose Olivares is the youngest pitcher on the staff, but allowing seven runs on six hits (three home runs) isn’t great.
• What's Next: It should be a big week for the Mighty Mussels. St. Lucie (13-31) is the worst team in the entire league… but they are coming in with a three-game winning streak.

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, videos, and more. (Season-long stats will be in parenthesis.)

• 20. Michael Helman, UTIL, St. Paul: On the Injured List with a dislocated shoulder. (.333/.434/.711. 1.145 OPS)
• 19. Yunior Severino, 3B, Wichita: 7-24, 3 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K. (.279/.355/.526. .881 OPS), played his first game at second base this past week after playing exclusively at third base all season.
• 18. Jose Rodriguez, OF: Extended Spring Training
• 17. Blayne Enlow, RHP, Wichita: 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 6 H, ER, 1 K. (1.13 WHIP, .237 BAA)
• 16. Matt Canterino, RHP: Still recovering from Tommy John surgery.
• 15. Brent Headrick, RHP, St. Paul: 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), HRA, 2 BB, 3 K. (1.41 WHIP, .292 BAA)
• 14. Jordan Balazovic, RHP, St. Paul: 0-0, 7.36 ERA, 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB,  3 K. (1.37 WHIP, .227 BAA)
• 13. Noah Miller, SS, Cedar Rapids: 7-21, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, R, 4 K, SB. (.216/.293/.302. .595 OPS), played shortstop in four games (35 total) and committed no errors in 21 chances (four errors in 151 total chances); played no games (six total) at second base (no errors in 16 total chances).
• 12. Jose Salas, INF, Cedar Rapids: 2-17, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB, 9 K. (.154/.231/.215. .446 OPS), didn’t play shortstop (three errors in 29 chances in nine games total), played one game (nine total) at third base with one error in five chances (three errors in 22 total chances). He played four games (18 total) at second base with no errors in 12 chances (one error in 72 total chances).
• 11. Austin Martin, SS: Martin is still recovering from an arm injury.
• 10. Yasser Mercedes, OF: Extended Spring Training
• 9.  Matt Wallner, OF, St. Paul: (.271/.392/.486. 878 OPS); Minnesota: 7-11, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, SB (.368/.520/.579. 1.099 OPS)
• 8. David Festa, RHP, Wichita: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K. (1.49 WHIP, .260 BAA)
• 7. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, St. Paul: 0-1, 11.88 ERA, 8.1 IP (2 starts), 16 H, 11 ER, HRA, 5 BB, 4 K (1.88 WHIP, .329 BAA); Minnesota: (2.14 WHIP, .350 BAA)
• 6. Marco Raya, RHP, Cedar Rapids: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 5 K. (0.74 WHIP, .138 BAA)
• 5. Connor Prielipp, LHP, Cedar Rapids: On the injured list, but expected to resume throwing. (1.75 WHIP, .294 BAA)
• 4. Edouard Julien, 2B, St. Paul: (.287/.442/.481. .923 OPS), has played all 27 games at second base and has committed two errors in 119 chances; Minnesota: 4-17, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K. (.224/.316/.510. .826 OPS)
• 3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Cedar Rapids: 3-22, 2B, HR, 6 R, RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, SB. (.160/.316/.362. 678 OPS)
• 2. Royce Lewis, SS: St. Paul: 5-17, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K, SB. (.333/.395/.692. 1.087 OPS), played one game (four total) at shortstop and committed no errors in four chances (no errors in 12 total chances). Lewis played one game (four total) at third base and committed one error in five chances (one error in eight total chances).
• 1. Brooks Lee, SS, Wichita: 8-26, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K, CS. (.261/.335/.418. .753 OPS), played five games (38 total) at shortstop and committed no errors in 25 chances (three errors in 161 total chances). Lee has committed one error in three chances in one game at third base this season.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (as voted on by fans on Twitter)
PITCHER -  Marco Raya, Cedar Rapids (Raya 42%, Matthews 35%, Rozek 15%, Sanchez 7%)

HITTER -  Hernan Perez, St. Paul (Perez 68%, Rosario 23%, Keirsey 5%, Olivar 3%)

Who would have been your picks? Any early season surprises or disappointments? Ask questions and discuss the Twins prospects in the COMMENTS below. 

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[Dman]

Happy to see Miller getting the bat going again.  Once he establishes the hit tool he will be a legit MLB shortstop.  Still a long ways to go but making contact with good results is very encouraging.

I don't know much about Matthews but I do love to see dominant pitchers move up.  High A should be a better challenge for him.  Moving up early he will have a shot at AA late in the year if he continues to perform.  

Olivar sure can hit but he does need to work on that K rate.  I think he was in a slump there for a bit but hopefully he continues to perform more consistently as he adjusts to this level.

Pitching hasn't been as good in the system this year especially at the upper levels.  Hopefully that will change.  Short season is close to starting and I am very interested to see how some of those players perform.

 

[mikelink45]

Thanks for the review.  Interesting to see the prospect list.  There seems to be some guys who are going to have to drop down or off the list with the next revision.   Soon Lewis will not be eligible and if the Twins are smart Wallner will also move up and off the list.

The pitchers - Balazovic and Headrick and Richardson are not blossoming - so who is next to be a call up?

[DocBauer]

Great to see Cossetti and Mathews move up so quickly. They sure seem ready and need the challenge. I can only assume Cory Lewis and Zach Veen aren't following them immediately as you can't just promote half the team all at once. 

And Ortega should be right behind those guys. So far, the 2022 draft is looking awfully good, even with Prielipp off to a guarded start.