Minor League Report (6/17): Enlow Roughed Up in AAA Debut, Rest of Farm Follows Suit

[Matt Braun]

It's not a great sign when the team that walks away most unharmed had their game canceled for lightning.

TRANSACTIONS
C Kyle Schmidt Transferred from AA Wichita to Low-A Fort Myers
C Frank Nigro transferred from Low-A Fort Myers to the FCL Twins
C David Banuelos activated from IL at AA Wichita
RHP Josh Winder optioned by the Twins to AAA St. Paul
LHP Brent Headrick recalled by the Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 1, Louisville 12
Box Score
Blayne Enlow: 3 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
HR: Trevor Larnach (4)
Multi-hit games: Tony Wolters (2-for-2)

A disastrous 4th inning soiled the Saints’ night on Saturday.

It all happened so fast. Blayne Enlow—freshly promoted and ready for his AAA debut—breezed through three opening frames, even finding time to punch out the great Joey Votto twice. Matt Reynolds may have blasted a solo homer, but life was smooth. 

Then the 4th inning happened. 

A pair of full-count walks set Enlow on edge and teetering; the following two-run single knocked him fully off his perch. From there the walks and hits cascaded, eventually ending with a crescendo when Jose Barrero crushed a three-run homer off the righty to end his night.

The deficit proved far too great for the Saints—and they only received a tepid hitting effort anyways. Despite a lead-off double by Gilberto Celestino to begin the game, Bats starter Michael Mariot cruised through St. Paul’s lineup, only surrendering a Trevor Larnach solo shot during his eight innings on the mound. The homer extended St. Paul’s streak of homering in a game to 22, tied for the second-longest streak in baseball in 2023. 

The Bats’ best prospect, one Christian Encarnacion-Strand—you may know him—racked up three hits and walked, sending his AAA OPS to 1.119. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Midland 7
Box Score
Carlos Luna: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
HR: Pat Winkel (3), DaShawn Kiersey Jr. (8)
Multi-hit games: None

Wind Surge stumbled early, late in Saturday's loss.

Usually, a first-inning homer begets a victory; this game was the exception. Pat Winkel barreled up a fastball at his shoulders, depositing the pitch over the wall in center to hand his team a quick 1-0 lead.

The advantage held for one inning. Midland blasted their own homer before enjoying a Brooks Lee error allowing the chance at more runs; that runner stole second and eventually scored, putting Lee on poor terms with his starter. Carlos Luna allowed his second earned run the following frame when Lawrence Butler homered to extend Midland’s lead to two.

And so it stayed—not large, capable of reaching with normal effort—until DaShawn Kiersey Jr. obliterated his eighth home run of the season. The ball landed 440 feet away.

I waxed a little about Kiersey Jr. last week, and I’ll do it again this week: he’s been smoking AA this season. Is this an aberration—a 26-year-old crushing younger competition—or a true breakout from a talented outfielder? Only a promotion will tell. But it will be a promotion well deserved for the 4th-round pick out of Utah in 2018.

Wichita’s hitting ceased with the homer, though, and a few runs allowed by Jose Bravo in the coming innings put the game too far out of reach for the Wind Surge; Will Holland’s 9th-inning RBI knock could only soften the blow. 

The aforementioned Butler is Midland’s best prospect, according to MLB.com; he added a double to total six bases in Saturday’s match.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 2, South Bend 10
Box Score
Jaylen Nowlin: 2 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: Jeferson Morales (3), Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels continued the streak of losing on Saturday, falling by eight runs to the Cubs.

It was a disaster from the start. Jaylen Nowlin had two outs secured in the opening frame before releasing the pitch resulting in a sudden 2-0 disadvantage. He never recovered, allowing two more runs in the 3rd before exiting the ballgame, turning more than six innings of pitching duties over to Cedar Rapids’ bullpen.

That weight—a punishing endeavor for any collection of arms—was far too mighty, and everyone paid the price. The only relief pitcher to walk away without extra earned runs attached to their name was Niklas Rimmel. He netted two outs.

Cedar Rapids could not match the offensive effort, blasting a pair of homers in the 2nd before halting advances there; all they could offer following their home run outburst was two hits and three walks.

Kevin Alcántara is the 70th-best prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, and he proved the ranking correct—if not a little low—with a monster five-hit outing, including a pair of homers. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 0, Bradenton 3
Box Score
Ben Ethridge: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Alec Sayre (2-for-4), Yohander Martinez (3-for-4), Maddux Houghton (2-for-4)

The Mighty Mussels wrapped up the full-season games by finalizing a straight sweep of the Twins’ system.

Starter Ben Ethridge was solid, allowing a lone solo homer over his four otherwise quality innings of work—including a final striking out of the side in which he caught superstar prospect Termarr Johnson looking at strike three.

The bats couldn’t support him, though. Despite out-hitting the Marauders eight to six, all of Fort Myers’ knocks were singles—poorly coordinated ones, at that—and runners across the frames experienced lonesome frustrations walking back to the dugout empty-handed. The shutout included a 6th inning play in which it appears Rubel Cespedes attempted a steal of home. He was unsuccessful.

Bradenton blasted a second homer in the 7th, and so the game ended—with Fort Myers still seeking a hit with runners in scoring position and the Marauders satisfied with their victory.

Johnson is the 20th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com; he drew a walk in an otherwise silent night at the plate.

Complex Chronicles
Lightning postponed the FCL Twins’ game before it began; the match will be made up as a doubleheader on Friday, June 23rd.

Dominican Dailies
DSL Twins 3, DSL Giants Orange 10
Box Score
Jose Vasquez: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Junior Del Valle (2-for-4, RBI)

The DSL Twins imploded late, quickly losing nuts and bolts in the final frames to turn a tied match into a laugher.

The common issues of DSL players—walks and defense—caused the fiasco: multiple 8th-inning throwing errors aided in expanding the deficit, while Twins pitchers walked eight batters. That’s how it goes when you’re dealing with literal teenagers.

17-year-old Moises Lopez tripled for the second time this season; Dameury Pena earned his fourth double and owns an OPS of 1.016. 

The Twins allowed five steals in the loss.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Carlos Luna
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – DaShawn Kiersey Jr. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-2, R, BB, 2 K
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB
#15 - Brent Headrick (Minnesota) - 2 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#17 - Blayne Enlow (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (12:05 PM) - RHP Aaron Sanchez
Wichita @ Midland (1:00 PM) - RHP Travis Adams
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM) - RHP Kyle Jones
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (11:00 AM) - TBD

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[FlyingFinn]

Our minor league teams have been winning a lot this week and then all of them lose yesterday. Seems like every week we have a clean sweep of the other teams and also a day when we get swept. Kind of odd.

Enlow with a good three innings and then "welcome to AAA!" Let's see how he adjusts next week.

[Nashvilletwin]

Larnach, Wallner and Miranda (and Celestino is probably not that far behind given he plays a premium position of need) have nothing left to prove at the AAA level.  They are at the age with the performance proof that it is time for all of them to get the innings and ABs they need in the majors to be ready to be everyday players for the Twins next season and beyond.

If that is not going to happen because their path is clogged by one year rentals or the organization doesn’t believe in their abilities, then they and their agents should be actively looking hard for a trade that would give them that opportunity. After all, in the last 12 months the Twins minor league prospect who has had the most success is undoubtedly Spencer Steer and that is not lost on them.

I wonder how Steer and CES feel about their trade a year or so in? 

[DJL44]

56 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Larnach, Wallner and Miranda (and Celestino is probably not that far behind given he plays a premium position of need) have nothing left to prove at the AAA level. 

I'd look at it differently. It shows that pitching at the AAA level is much worse than pitching in MLB. I agree that after a certain point (that Larnach has reached) you can't learn anything more in AAA. The stats also show why Larnach is ahead of Wallner in the pecking order - better defensively and offensively. Miranda has a .630 OPS for the Saints - he's not ready for a promotion.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Larnach, Wallner and Miranda (and Celestino is probably not that far behind given he plays a premium position of need) have nothing left to prove at the AAA level.

It also shows that the Twins are deeper. The problem really is the guys we pay high dollars to are not performing to their level.

[roger]

The most interesting thought about Larnach, Wallner, Miranda and Celestino is how the FO is going to manage this situation between next month and spring training.  

The Twins certainly have a few needs, like the bullpen.  And they obviously are stacked at a few positions with talented prospects blocked.  In addition to positioning themselves so they don't lose any good prospects to the Rule 5 draft, the Twins FO needs to include one or more of these guys in a trade.  

I see this coming trade deadline as the Twins not being buyers, or sellers.  Rather I see them working on improving their team thru several interesting moves.  One of the first decisions they need to make are what to do with Keps and Polo regarding their contracts.  If they aren't going to exercise their options, will either or both be moved next month?  May be a much different Twins team come August 1.

[Doctor Wu]

Maybe not much room in  AAA, but Kiersey certainly deserves a promotion. Give him a shot and see if he continues to produce like he has been doing. 

[Major League Ready]

On 6/18/2023 at 11:23 AM, roger said:

The most interesting thought about Larnach, Wallner, Miranda and Celestino is how the FO is going to manage this situation between next month and spring training.  

The Twins certainly have a few needs, like the bullpen.  And they obviously are stacked at a few positions with talented prospects blocked.  In addition to positioning themselves so they don't lose any good prospects to the Rule 5 draft, the Twins FO needs to include one or more of these guys in a trade.  

I see this coming trade deadline as the Twins not being buyers, or sellers.  Rather I see them working on improving their team thru several interesting moves.  One of the first decisions they need to make are what to do with Keps and Polo regarding their contracts.  If they aren't going to exercise their options, will either or both be moved next month?  May be a much different Twins team come August 1.

Kepler will need to have a major bounce back before the team considers exercising his option.  The chances he is here next year are very slim.  Polanco just needs to be healthy.  Larnach and Wallner are not going anywhere because they are needed now and the future.  Celestino isn't bringing anything on trade.  Miranda is the only one with any mystery in terms of what they do with him, IMO.  I can't see them selling low on him.

Over the next 6 weeks I expect they continue to audition Headrick / Winder and DeLeon.  Then, as the deadline nears we shall see how these guys are doing and if the team is looking like they have any chance to make a post season run.