Minor League Report (6/24): Saints Knock Around 14 Hits in Otherwise Quiet Day on the Farm

[Matt Braun]

St. Paul had more multi-hit batters than not; don't ask about the rest of the farm. 

 

TRANSACTIONS
OF Kyle Garlick cleared waivers and returned to the Saints. 
INF Michael Helman transferred to 60-day IL (left shoulder dislocation)
RHP Alex Scherff transferred to AA Wichita

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 7, Toledo 5
Box Score
Aaron Sanchez: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Andrew Stevenson (3-for-4, 3B, 2 R, RBI, BB), Jose Miranda (2-for-5, 2B, R), Matt Wallner (2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB), Andrew Bechtold (2-for-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI), Jair Camargo (2-for-4, 2B)

The Saints stomped 14 hits on the Mud Hens, besting Toledo in an offensive flurry.

It didn’t appear that St. Paul’s bats were set to thrive like this. The early goings were rusty, slow. They mustered one run before the fifth before finally breaking through on a two-run knock by Matt Wallner (who also doubled and walked—mentioned for no particular reason). The seventh inning proved to be the critical frame; neither Anthony Misiewicz or old friend Matt Wisler could halt St. Paul’s bats from knocking around a trio of extra-base hits. They ended up scoring four—just enough to win the game.

Aaron Sanchez was Aaron Sanchez, necessitating St. Paul’s multi-inning specialists to cover a significant innings total to win the game. They did. Josh Winder, Oliver Ortega, and Patrick Murphy combined to allow one run in the following five frames; Winder was especially crucial, striking out three over two scoreless innings.

The Saints turned three double plays on Saturday.

Gilberto Celestino stole his second base of the season; he stole five bases in 2022.

Justyn-Henry Malloy is Detroit's seventh-best prospect and he singled in five trips to the plate.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Arkansas 7
Box Score
Jose Bravo: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: David Bañuelos (5)
Multi-hit games: None

A middle-inning streak of bleeding runs cost Wichita the game on Saturday.

There’s nothing wrong with allowing runs in back-to-back innings; doing so in five straight frames is a cause for concern, though. Starter Jose Bravo and reliever Hunter McMahon couldn’t find the cure for their ails, finding Arkansas capable of ambushing them with no outs and two outs all the same.

Wichita’s bats held steady for a little while but could not match their opponents’ outburst. A David Bañuelos bomb followed by a Brooks Lee RBI single in the third knotted the game, but that was close as they would get in Saturday’s affair; Arkansas’ pitchers were simply too good. Even their fourth and final run came via an error.

Lee was characteristically inconsistent in the field, committing his 11th error of the season while also turning in a doozy of a defensive gem with this spinning throw:

Hopefully the good continues to overtake the bad with him.

Yoyner Fajardo swiped his 20th base on Saturday.

Jonatan Clase—Seattle's 11th-best prospect—struck out in a pinch-hitting appearance. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids’ game was suspended in the third inning and will be continued on Sunday. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 7, Tampa 9
Box Score
Develson Aria: 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
HR: Danny De Andrade (5), Rafael Cruz (4)
Multi-hit games: Danny De Andrade (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI), Rafael Cruz (2-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Mikey Perez (3-for-4, 2 R, BB)

An eighth-inning blowup soiled a potential victory for the Mighty Mussels. 

It was an offensive display of immense strength; Danny De Andrade and Rafael Cruz spent the first-half of the game flexing their muscles with a pair of solo homers—and an RBI double by Cruz that gave Fort Myers the lead.

It wouldn’t last, though. Starter Develson Aria was deeply inefficient, requiring far too early bullpen support. The first arm—Jarret Whorff—did his job marvelously, striking out four over 3 2/3 scoreless innings to hand the rest of his reliever brothers a great chance at keeping the game in hand. They didn’t. Zach Veen and A.J. Labas allowed multiple runs to score on each of their watches, giving Tampa their late victory.

Mikey Perez netted three hits in the game and stole his 19th base of the season for good measure. 

New York’s 19th-best prospect, outfielder Anthony Hall, homered and singled, raking in four RBIs on the night. 

Complex Chronicles
The FCL Twins did not play on Saturday.

Dominican Dailies
DSL Twins 5, DSL Angels 9 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Jose Vasquez: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-3), Ricardo Pena (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Ewing Matos (2-for-4)

The DSL Twins played a typical low-scoring affair on Saturday before radically altering course, leading to 10 total 10th-inning runs. 

21-year-old Yency De Jesus carried the torch on the mound, tossing five nearly spotless frames with four strikeouts to deliver his team into extras with ease.

It was an adventurous day on the bases for Ewing Matos; the right fielder stole a base but was picked off twice, likely in moments of extreme anticipation for his next steal. 

Perhaps only Ricardo Pena could claim a more frustrating day on the field as the catcher made two throwing errors and allowed a pair of pitches to reach the backstop on his watch. Still, this is the DSL, and these mistakes are bound to happen as the players learn the more precise nuances of the game; they’ll get better eventually. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Yency De Jesus
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Cruz

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-4, K
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-5, 3 K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB, K
#14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - ⅔ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 0-4, 4 K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (3:05 PM) - LHP Dallas Keuchel
Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 PM) - RHP Travis Adams
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM) - RHP Mike Paredes
Fort Myers @ Tampa (11:00 AM) - RHP C.J. Culpepper

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[FlyingFinn]

Those Saints can really hit. Stevenson, Miranda and Wallner combine for 7 hits in the top 3 spots in the order. 

[Althebum82]

Yeah, the Twins/Saints have had a lot of patience and loyalty with Aaron Sanchez.  He has served a purpose and filled a role that most likely no other organization would offer him.  He seems to have reached the point where he is now blocking others from gaining experience as a AAA starter (maybe even Winder, although he has been used exclusively in the bullpen this season).  This needs to be Sanchez's last on-field season for this franchise.  

[mikelink45]

I have a trade. Kepler for Wallner!   I agree with another post, it's time for Sanchez be released and bring up some of the younger arms to fill the rotation.  

[FlyingFinn]

4 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Yeah, the Twins/Saints have had a lot of patience and loyalty with Aaron Sanchez.  He has served a purpose and filled a role that most likely no other organization would offer him.  He seems to have reached the point where he is now blocking others from gaining experience as a AAA starter (maybe even Winder, although he has been used exclusively in the bullpen this season).  This needs to be Sanchez's last on-field season for this franchise.  

Exactly who are you bringing up from Wichita? Who is Sanchez blocking (Winder is a reliever now)? Festa is reported to have good stuff but has struggled with one bad inning in many games this year. He needs more time in Wichita. We traded away Haijar and Povich (bad trades but I would have done them at the time) who would be at that level. Enlow is already pitching for the Saints. Sanchez purpose is to be ready for an emergency start for the Twins. He gets added to the 40 man roster, pitches, and then gets DFA'd and probably returns to St. Paul. We can't do that with guys like Enlow as they will get claimed by another team.

[jmlease1]

It'll be interesting to see how DeAndrade's season ends up. He's hitting decently so far this season, but goodness he's got to get those Ks under control or he's going to get annihilated by more advanced pitchers. Glad to see him drop a bomb out there.

Wallner really has nothing left to prove in AAA at this point, but until Kepler or Gallo get hurt again there's no spot for him in MLB. (and Kepler has actually been playing well the last couple of weeks, go figure)

[Nashvilletwin]

50 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

and Kepler has actually been playing well the last couple of weeks, go figure)

Good, now maybe we can trade him for the bucket of balls we seemingly haven’t been able to get for the past 9 months.

Wallner and Larnach have nothing left to prove in St. Paul.  Along with Miranda, I’d be begging to be traded if I were them.  It’s time to fish or cut bait and let those three get their major league careers started with a team willing to show the confidence, patience and commitment they need and deserve.  

[D.C Twins]

That defensive play by Lee fired me up! 

[Dman]

Generally don't wait for an 0 for 5 night to brag on a guy but Cespedes is having a very good June with a .300/407/586 slash line which gives him a .993 OPS for June thus far.  Granted his overall numbers haven't picked up much because he had a comically low  .370 OPS for the month of May and that is OPS not batting average. A lot of tough at bats in May but hopefully he is on to something and turning a corner as it would be nice for him to up his prospect status.  

Lot's of good hitters at St. Paul there games are really fun to watch as they are always just one big inning away from blowing games open.  Fun year to be a Saints fan.

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

Generally don't wait for an 0 for 5 night to brag on a guy but Cespedes is having a very June with a .300/407/586 slash line which gives him a .993 OPS for June thus far. 

Good call. Cespedes with a 2B and HR among his 3 hits today.