Twins Minor League Report (6/21): Schobel Powers Kernels to Another Win

[Seth Stohs]

There are four games scheduled in the Twins minor leagues on Wednesday. Both "Complex" teams did not play. St. Paul and Cedar Rapids played already, and Ft. Myers and Wichita will play tonight. Get an early start talking about the day in the Twins organization. 

St. Paul got a terrific start from Randy Dobnak, and three home runs, but they coughed up the lead late. Were they able to record a win? And the Cedar Rapids Kernels just keep rolling along with different heroes most every night.  We will update this article throughout the evening during and after the Wichita and Fort Myers games. We'll also update the standings as games go final. 

St. Paul Saints: 41-29 
Wichita Wind Surge: 28-36
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 39-26
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-32
FCL Twins: 6-5
DSL Twins: 3-9

Let’s get to the report. Please remember to check back throughout the night for updates, especially when the Fort Myers and Wichita games go final. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
Fort Myers placed RHP Miguelangel Boadas on the Development List.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Toledo 5
Box Score
Randy Dobnak was in 2019 form in this game. He was throwing two-seamers and sliders that were darting in or just outside of the strike zone. This game was played with the electronic strike zone, and he was living near the corners. He gave up one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six batters and didn’t issue a walk. “Dobber” threw 84 pitches and 61 of them were strikes. He also got nine ground outs. Very encouraging outing. With a runner on and two outs in the seventh, Kody Funderburk came on and got an inning-ending strikeout. 

Andrew Stevenson got the Saints on the scoreboard in the third inning with a two-run homer that also drove in Anthony Prato (who walked twice and stole two bases during the game). It was the former Nationals’ sixth home run of the year. 

An inning later, Matt Wallner drilled his ninth Saints’ homer of the season, a 109 mph blast to centerfield that made it 3-0. Wallner went 2-for-4 in the game and is now hitting .296 with a .960 OPS. 

The Mudhens got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. However, Chris Williams came to the plate in the top of the seventh inning. He got a hanger from Sam Clay, and he destroyed it to make it 4-1. After hitting six home runs last week, the reigning International League Player of the Week has homered in each of the first two games of this series. He now has 15 homers this season. He is now hitting .289 with an OPS of 1.025 after going 1-for-3 with a walk in this game. 

That’s where the game turned. In the eighth inning, Funderburk got another strikeout, but he also gave up a double. Austin Schulfer came in and walked the first batter he faced. With two on, Justyn-Henry Malloy crushed his 11th home run of the season to tie the game at four. 

The Saints went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. Schulfer started the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 walk. That was followed with a single that put runners on first and third. Corey Joyce came up and hit a deep fly ball down the right field line. Wallner caught it but had no chance to throw out the runner at home. The Mudhens win on a walkoff.  

The Saints had more opportunities, but they went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, Arkansas 5
Box Score
Pierson Ohl made his third Double-A start. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. 55 of his 79 pitches were strikes. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge offense was unable to generate much offense on this night. 

Hunter McMahon completed the sixth and worked two more innings. He gave up only a solo home run. Francis Peguero gave up a run on three hits in the ninth. 

The Wind Surge did have base runners in this game. The first eight batters in their lineup had at least one hit. Pat Winkel led the way with three hits. Seth Gray had two hits. Alerick Soularie went 1-for-2 and walked twice. However, all hits were singles, and the team went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position to strand 12 runners. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 2
Box Score
Tanner Schobel’s season started out slow, but he has seen his batting average, OPS and power production increase over the past month. After Beloit scored one in the top of the first inning, Schobel led off the bottom of the first with his seventh home run. Then, down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Schobel came to the plate with Andrew Cossetti on base and crushed another homer well beyond the wall in left field that gave the Kernels a 3-2 lead. Schobel went 2-for-4 on the day. He is now hitting .276 with an OPS at .800 for the season. 

Lefty Christian MacLeod continues his return from March 2022 Tommy John surgery. In this game, the former Mississippi State start gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three batters. 

The bullpen really pitched great on Wednesday. Orlando Rodriguez came on and was really good. Through three innings, he gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and struck out two. John Wilson came on to start the eighth inning. He gave up a walk and a single, but got out of the inning unscathed. Miguel Rodriguez got the ninth inning. He gave up one hit, but had a relatively easy inning to pick up his seventh save. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk. He stole his eighth base. Jeferson Morales went 2-for-3

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers @ Tampa 
Box Score 
The Mighty Mussels  game in Tampa was postponed due to wet conditions. The game will be made up Thursday as part of a doubleheader. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
No Games in the Florida Complex Leagues on Wednesdays. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
No Games in the Dominican Summer League on Wednesdays. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul Saints) - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6K, 84 pitches, 61 strikes.
Hitter of the Day – Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2-HR (8), 2 R, 3 RBI, K 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday.

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-5, K. 
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, 2B(2), R, PO 
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, BB, SB(8).   
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-for-3, R, 2B(7)
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(9), R, RBI. 
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K, E(9) 
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-5, RBI, K.  

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-1, 24.00 ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.09 ERA) 
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (1-1, 6.39 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Tampa (DH @ 5:30 PM CST) - RHP Andrew Morris and RHP Jose Olivares
FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals (10:00AM CST) - TBD

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

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[Dman]

Schobel has really turned it on in the month of June with a 306/405/574 slash line which gives him a 979 OPS for the month of June so far.  He batted .300 in May with an .800 OPS as well so if not for a really bad April and early May his numbers would be outstanding.  His current .800 OPS puts him tied for 10th in the Midwest league just a tick below 1st round pick Jayce Jung who has 3 more more HRS (11) than Schobel but Schobel is hitting better.  Right now he looks like a really good pick for a supplemental 2nd rounder.

Chris Williams and Matt Wallner appear to be in a Home Run battle.  They just keep on hitting long balls and getting on base.  I agree with OP that Dobnak had a day.  He was randy and looked like the old Randy keeping things down in the zone with little or no damage.  Hope he keeps that up.  We could use him as a reliever if not a starter.

That High A lineup is looking pretty strong with Rosario, Schobel, Cardenas, Cossetti, Rodriguez, Morales and Ross.  All those hitters have been tough outs this year.  Miller and Salas bats are bordering on inept but hoping to see improvement in the second half.  

[Mike Sixel]

I'm hoping cossetti moves up again this year in a month or so.....

[mikelink45]

Wallner frustrates me. If he didn't consistently hit so well. I might not be so mad at the front office for keeping him down and keeping the unproductive bets and the major league lineup

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Wallner frustrates me. If he didn't consistently hit so well. I might not be so mad at the front office for keeping him down and keeping the unproductive bets and the major league lineup

Does Wallner frustrate you or did you mean you're frustrated with how the FO is handling Wallner?

[mikelink45]

3 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Does Wallner frustrate you or did you mean you're frustrated with how the FO is handling Wallner?

Yes - it was tongue in cheek - I am impressed that Wallner plays through being ignored.

[Seth Stohs]

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm hoping cossetti moves up again this year in a month or so.....

Based on what?? 

[FlyingFinn]

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm hoping cossetti moves up again this year in a month or so.....

Cardenas would be more likely to move up than Cossetti. He has a .406 OBP and I believe his D is pretty good.

[Mike Sixel]

37 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Based on what?? 

Performance? Age. 

[Seth Stohs]

50 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Performance? Age. 

But he hasn't really hit yet in Cedar Rapids. He's had a couple of good games. He can also work with pitchers in CR that he didn't work with in CR. I'd say Cardenas would be the catcher to move up if Wichita had a need. Cossetti is 23 and just got drafted a year ago. There's no rush. Vazquez and Jeffers aren't going anywhere. Camargo's at AAA, Winkel is at AA. He and Cardenas at High-A. 

[roger]

Take a look at ERod’s numbers in June.  Looking like the player we hoped he would be.  
 

Add me to the list of those who would prefer either Wallner or Larnach with the Twins and Gallo gone.

[jmlease1]

15 minutes ago, roger said:

Take a look at ERod’s numbers in June.  Looking like the player we hoped he would be.  
 

Yep, he's definitely on a roll in June. He's still so young, so it's great to see him back on track and looking recovered from the injury.

Schobel is on a heater right now, and could get an early promotion too. He's improved every month at the plate and looking like a dangerous player. It'll be interesting to see how he does when he faces more advanced pitchers, but nice to see a 2nd round pick doing well early.

Really nice wave of position players at Cedar Rapids right now: Rosario, Rodriguez, Schobel, Cossetti, and Cardenas are all looking good, and there's still tons of potential in Urbina, Salas, and Miller. (I'm not sure how Morales fits in; at 24 and repeating a level he needs to be crushing it...but catchers often develop later) But there's a ton of talent on that roster and players that are going to be pushing for promotion.

[weitz41]

I'm going to have to add Williams to the list of guys in AAA that we need to see in Minneapolis...  

CES: .416/.675 OBP/SLUG, 23/53 BB/K

CW: 396/.629 OBP/SLUG, 27/62 BB/K

Oh, and he can be our 3rd catcher...

[chpettit19]

13 minutes ago, weitz41 said:

I'm going to have to add Williams to the list of guys in AAA that we need to see in Minneapolis...  

CES: .416/.675 OBP/SLUG, 23/53 BB/K

CW: 396/.629 OBP/SLUG, 27/62 BB/K

Oh, and he can be our 3rd catcher...

While I would be interested in seeing what a red hot Williams may look like in the majors, Kyle Farmer has nearly 3000 professional innings at catcher, so we're in pretty solid shape in terms of a 3rd catcher right now. Williams has 900 innings for reference. 

[weitz41]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

While I would be interested in seeing what a red hot Williams may look like in the majors, Kyle Farmer has nearly 3000 professional innings at catcher, so we're in pretty solid shape in terms of a 3rd catcher right now. Williams has 900 innings for reference. 

I can't argue with that. That part was more about position flexibility than anything else. I expected people to react to the CES/Williams numbers. 

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Really nice wave of position players at Cedar Rapids right now: Rosario, Rodriguez, Schobel, Cossetti, and Cardenas are all looking good, and there's still tons of potential in Urbina, Salas, and Miller.

The only guys I care about in A+ are guys that are 21 or younger, if you are older than should you should be playing really well. (I give the two catchers a bit of a break because they do tend to take longer)

Unless of course the thought on a older guy is he is a year or so away from the majors. I want difference makers, not just role players in the majors.

[TwinsDr2021]

11 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

 Cossetti is 23 and just got drafted a year ago. There's no rush. Vazquez and Jeffers aren't going anywhere. Camargo's at AAA, Winkel is at AA. He and Cardenas at High-A. 

He is 23 in A+, so 24 in AA, 25 in AAA, if that is the case he is more of just a minor league roster filler, he was a 11th round pick so that the most likely outcome no matter where he is playing. But IMO when you draft these older players they need to move along quickly so they can be trade bait, aren't blocking younger higher end talents (I am saying he is) or be moved on from. 

Why is 26 year old Keirsey in AA, I assume it is because Contreras (28), Larnach(26), Wallner (25), Stevenson(29) would be blocking his playing time? Why are Larnach and Wallner in AAA, because they are blocked by Kepler and Gallo. It is a domino effect and then trade assets turn into less of an asset, and you still end up trading the younger guys off anyway and when the mid 20's fail to produce to (which they do more likely than not) you get into the position the Twins are in.

My two cents on why people want to see some quick movement from some of the younger guys and maybe the fact way too many people talk about the need to percolate in the minors for seemingly years while other teams are getting their young high end talent to the majors at 20,21,22 years old to the majors and playing well.

 

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

The only guys I care about in A+ are guys that are 21 or younger, if you are older than should you should be playing really well. (I give the two catchers a bit of a break because they do tend to take longer)

Unless of course the thought on a older guy is he is a year or so away from the majors. I want difference makers, not just role players in the majors.

Schobel was just drafted in 2022 and is in high A at 22. By your formulation basically every college player we draft has to start their career in AA or they don't matter. This is Schobel's first season in full-year baseball, starting at Cedar Rapids is just fine.

Everyone wants "difference makers" but age doesn't decide that, and I'd rather the team make decisions about where to place a player be done based on their individualized development track, not their age.

[TwinsDr2021]

4 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Everyone wants "difference makers" but age doesn't decide that, and I'd rather the team make decisions about where to place a player be done based on their individualized development track, not their age.

Yes he just turned 22 about 20 days ago, so he would be, so he would be included in the 21 and under, but if there is hope he will be a above average player, he should be moving quickly. For example do great this year, moved to 22 next year and hopefully up and down the following years.

[ziggy]

I attended the Kernels game tonight (June 23).

They looked hungover. Made 3 errors(if there was an honest scorekeeper) many bad at bats and poor pitching. A couple of homers was the only highlight. Marco Raya gave up a ton of hard hit balls and the following pitchers did not impress.  Miller had a couple of decent plays at shortstop and has really nice hair.  They scored 5 runs after the game was out of hand to make the score much closer than the game felt.

This review written by someone that has a hard time following the batted ball........

[Mike Sixel]

On 6/22/2023 at 8:56 AM, TwinsDr2021 said:

The only guys I care about in A+ are guys that are 21 or younger, if you are older than should you should be playing really well. (I give the two catchers a bit of a break because they do tend to take longer)

Unless of course the thought on a older guy is he is a year or so away from the majors. I want difference makers, not just role players in the majors.

So guys one year out of college should be in AA or aren't going to be good?

[TwinsDr2021]

13 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

So guys one year out of college should be in AA or aren't going to be good?

if your hope for a player is to be a difference maker better than average manager league player, then you want the guys at 22 to be in AA yes, because they can be just a call away from the majors around age 22/23.

If you want a player like players that go one level a year and end of in the majors late 24 early 25 then bounce between the majors and the minors for a year or two and end up a role player/utility guy then by all means cheer for the older guys that are in A ball because in all be the rare cases that is best case scenario.

Schobel ( who I lumped into the 21 year old group) is on the same path as Larnach and should end the year in AA Putting him possibly in the majors at 23 if brought up next year, or early 24 if brought up early 25.

I can also see why the current Twins FO might like the idea of holding guys back a bit, because if they come up to early they become FA in the prime of their career and get the big money, but if you can hold back to age 24/25 they don't become FA agents until they are 30 greatly reducing their salary potential.

In the last few years they haven't brought up any real young players. Graterol was 20 in 19, Arraez was 22, and Celestino was 22 in 21. Other than that everybody has been at least 23. Now that might say more about their drafting philosophy than anything but it sure is nice having a 19/20 year old prospect waiting in the wings and pushing their way towards the majors.

[Mike Sixel]

53 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

if your hope for a player is to be a difference maker better than average manager league player, then you want the guys at 22 to be in AA yes, because they can be just a call away from the majors around age 22/23.

If you want a player like players that go one level a year and end of in the majors late 24 early 25 then bounce between the majors and the minors for a year or two and end up a role player/utility guy then by all means cheer for the older guys that are in A ball because in all be the rare cases that is best case scenario.

Schobel ( who I lumped into the 21 year old group) is on the same path as Larnach and should end the year in AA Putting him possibly in the majors at 23 if brought up next year, or early 24 if brought up early 25.

I can also see why the current Twins FO might like the idea of holding guys back a bit, because if they come up to early they become FA in the prime of their career and get the big money, but if you can hold back to age 24/25 they don't become FA agents until they are 30 greatly reducing their salary potential.

In the last few years they haven't brought up any real young players. Graterol was 20 in 19, Arraez was 22, and Celestino was 22 in 21. Other than that everybody has been at least 23. Now that might say more about their drafting philosophy than anything but it sure is nice having a 19/20 year old prospect waiting in the wings and pushing their way towards the majors.

This front office has spent more money than any Twins FO.... They aren't holding guys back for money.