Twins Minor League Report (6/18): Balazovic Debut for Twins

[Ted Schwerzler]

After plenty of anticipation, Jordan Balazovic made his Minnesota Twins debut. While he's not the same prospect that was once thought of as a legit starter, the scoreless outing was an impressive one. More action on the farm within.

Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Jordan Balazovic promoted to Minnesota
• Minnesota Twins end OF Gilberto Celestino’s rehab assignment and option him to St. Paul

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 12, Louisville 5
Box Score

Aaron Sanchez took the ball today for St. Paul and worked five innings. He gave up five runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks. Command was not at all to be found, but he did strike out three. Making it five, and benefitting from the bats, he did get his fourth win.

The Saints jumped out to an early lead when Matt Wallner drove in Andrew Stevenson on a first inning sacrifice fly. Trevor Larnach then followed suit to score Jose Miranda and make it a 2-0 game.

After St. Paul gave up the lead in the second inning, they put up a five-spot during the third inning to take the lead for good. Miranda’s second homer was a two-run blast making it 4-3, then Mark Contreras went yard to drive in Larnach on his seventh home run. Andrew Bechtold rounded out the scoring with a single to score Jair Camargo and make it a 7-3 game.

In the fourth inning Wallner ripped his 17th double to drive in Stevenson. As Max Kepler continues to struggle for the Twins, Wallner stays putting on the pressure. A Contreras ground out made it a 9-3 lead.

Adding again in the fifth inning, Stevenson singled in Bechtold and gave the Saints a ten-spot. Louisville did answer with two in the bottom half, but the sixth inning saw Anthony Prato drive in Wallner, and Bechtold drove in Larnach. The 12-5 score is where this ended.

Stevenson grabbed three hits today with both Miranda and Bechtold having a pair each.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Midland 3
Box Score

The Wind Surge went with Travis Adams today. He lasted three innings, giving up three runs on three hits, and a pair of walks. Adams did strike out one but also allowed a pair of home runs. Wichita’s bullpen saw five relievers combine for six scoreless innings allowing no hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

Seth Gray kicked off the scoring when his fifth double brought home DaShawn Keirsey Jr. in the first inning. Getting behind 3-1, Wichita answered during the fifth inning. David Banuelos blasted his fourth homer before Gray singled in Keirsey to even things at 3-3. Aaron Sabato put the Wind Surge ahead when his seventh double scored Yunior Severino. A wild pitch put Wichita up 5-3 and that’s where the score held.

Both Severino and Gray recorded a pair of hits today. Brooks Lee had the day off.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 14, South Bend 2
Box Score

A slight rain delay kept these teams off the field, but this one eventually got underway. It was Kyle Jones on the bump for Cedar Rapids this afternoon and the lineup gave him breathing room with seven early runs. He went four innings of scoreless baseball allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four.

After a scoreless first inning, Jose Salas reached on a fielding error that allowed Noah Miller to score. ANother fielding error, this on an Andrew Cossetti batted ball, gave Salas the opportunity to score and make it a 2-0 game.

In the fourth inning it was the same culprits with Salas recording his second homer of the season, and the three run shot brought home both Miller and Misael Urbina. Cossetti then launched his third High-A homer to make it 7-0.

 

The fifth inning saw more corn cob action with the Kernels scoring five. A Noah Miller double brought in Kala’i Rosario before an Urbina single scored Noah Cardenas and Miller. Kyler Fedko then drove in Urbina with Tanner Schonel lifting a single of his own to plate Salas.

South Bend did answer with two in the seventh inning, but Schobel and Emmanuel Rodriguez each drove in a run during the bottom half to make it a 14-2 game.

Even with Cedar Rapids grabbing 14 runs on 13 hits, it was just Cardenas, Miller, Urbina, and Salas grabbing multiple hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 3
Box Score

Fort Myers had Develson Aria on the mound this afternoon. It was a short outing as he lasted just two innings while giving up three runs on three hits. He also walked three and struck out that same amount.

The Mighty Mussels scored first when Yohander Martinez recorded his first home run during the second inning. Mikey Perez was on, making it a two-run blast. By the fourth inning Bradenton had added four of their own and doubled up the Fort Myers score. Jorel Ortega did single in Maddux Houghton in the fifth inning, but that was as close as they would get.

With only six hits on the day, Martinez and Houghton were the only players to record a pair of hits today.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K
Hitter of the Day – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, HR(2)

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:

#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-2, RBI, K
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-4, R, BB, 2 K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B, K
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR(2), K
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, 2B(5)
#14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 2-3, R, BB

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05PM CST) - TBD
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) - TBD

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

View full article

[D.C Twins]

Congrats to Blaze! 

I am impressed with how he responded to his Spring training setback. Hopefully, he/we will look back at the incident as pivotal in his development into an MLB pitcher with a long career!

[Danchat]

It's inexcusable that Wallner isn't in the majors right now. Kepler is a sub replacement level hitter and the team needs a jolt, and we may as well figure out if Wallner can handle the majors now rather than later. 

[weitz41]

A lot of great performances on the farm today. Congrats to Blaze.

Not to the game thread to see if there's any new FIRE this guy of CUT that guy!

[Elite Benchwarmer]

It's great to see Urbina and Salas have strong days at the plate for CR.  They both have real potential, but we haven't seen much from them yet this year.  Hoping their bats heat up for the rest of the summer!

[Rosterman]

Except for shortstop, the Saints have a pretty powerful lineup. 26 stolen bases for Stevenson, and we keep bringing up Garlick?

 

Yes, there aren't alot of rotation hopefuls as the Twins have to continue to hope for Winder, Henriquez, DObnak and Simeon Woods Richardson to make it worthwhile to stay with the organization. There are some relief pitcher possibilities that might be the next coming of Pagan.

 

Why aren't the Saints selling out every single game these days, like the old days?

 

[FlyingFinn]

CES was only 6 for 24 (3 hits in 1 game) with 7 SO"s and one RBI for the series. Good job pitching to him this week. 

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, Elite Benchwarmer said:

It's great to see Urbina and Salas have strong days at the plate for CR.  They both have real potential, but we haven't seen much from them yet this year.  Hoping their bats heat up for the rest of the summer!

Especially happy to see Salas come alive after a very slow start this year. Hope to see more hits,  homers or otherwise, from him for the rest of this season. 

[jmlease1]

9 hours ago, Rosterman said:

 

Why aren't the Saints selling out every single game these days, like the old days?

 

Prices are higher, parking is harder? They still seem to be doing fine for AAA.

Congrats to Balazovic for making it to MLB and having a good first outing. He's had a long and complicated road, and it's good to see him doing well especially after the messy spring training.

[Blyleven2011]

The fifth inning saw more corn cob ...

Tell the truth and shame the devil ,,,   have you called the kernels  corn cobs before or did you use my nickname from yesterday's post ...

A writer writes ....

[TwinsDr2021]

57 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Prices are higher, parking is harder? They still seem to be doing fine for AAA.

Didn't realize it was $40 for roaming seats and up to 80 for a seat.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Prices are higher, parking is harder? They still seem to be doing fine for AAA.

There are also a lot more Saints games. AAA has 150 games versus the American Association which only plays 100 games. That's 25 extra home dates to sell; 50% more tickets available.

[Dman]

12 hours ago, Rosterman said:

Except for shortstop, the Saints have a pretty powerful lineup. 26 stolen bases for Stevenson, and we keep bringing up Garlick?

 

Stevenson had a slow start to the year but he is making me a believer.  He and Keirsey seem like very similar players.  Stevenson's one chance in the Majors didn't go all that well but he sure looks too good for AAA.  I was wondering the other day if he was going to be the backup center fielder if the Twins didn't sign MAT.  Probably would hit about the same maybe a little worse and without MAT's HR's but still a solid backup\4th outfielder.  

At any rate he is buried right now especially with Celestino on his way back but he is having a very nice season at AAA this year.  I wonder if another team will be interested in trying to grab him around the deadline.

[ashbury]

33 minutes ago, Dman said:

Stevenson had a slow start to the year but he is making me a believer.  He and Keirsey seem like very similar players.  Stevenson's one chance in the Majors didn't go all that well but he sure looks too good for AAA.  I was wondering the other day if he was going to be the backup center fielder if the Twins didn't sign MAT.  Probably would hit about the same maybe a little worse and without MAT's HR's but still a solid backup\4th outfielder.  

At any rate he is buried right now especially with Celestino on his way back but he is having a very nice season at AAA this year.  I wonder if another team will be interested in trying to grab him around the deadline.

Stevenson has the misfortune to bat lefthanded, behind at least one likely-better and definitely-younger guy (Wallner), in an organization that prioritizes handedness at least as much as the average one does.  His ability to play CF might be his one edge.  If Buxton needs to go on the 60-day IL I wonder if he gets his chance, sooner than Celestino who I think is still kind of marginal despite one hot game out of 5 at AAA so far.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Stevenson had a slow start to the year but he is making me a believer.  He and Keirsey seem like very similar players.  Stevenson's one chance in the Majors didn't go all that well but he sure looks too good for AAA.  I was wondering the other day if he was going to be the backup center fielder if the Twins didn't sign MAT.  Probably would hit about the same maybe a little worse and without MAT's HR's but still a solid backup\4th outfielder.  

At any rate he is buried right now especially with Celestino on his way back but he is having a very nice season at AAA this year.  I wonder if another team will be interested in trying to grab him around the deadline.

If MAT is really injured and ends up on the IL from yesterday's HBP, who do the Twins bring up, Celestino or Stevenson (of note is that Buxton couldn't even make it out to CF for the 9th inning yesterday in an emergency situation as we inserted a pitcher into the batting lineup, losing our DH) . I'm thinking the callup has to be able to play a decent CF. The 40 man roster may dictate the move even though Stevenson looks much more ready to help out right now.