Twins Minor League Week in Review (6/12-6/25)

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The minor-league review is back after a one-week hiatus. Now that we’ve reached the halfway point - some levels have started their second halves already - let’s take a look at what we’ve missed.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

Since it’s a unique time of the season, full-season affiliates don’t play again until Wednesday and because we didn’t have the same recap last Monday, this week’s report will look a little bit different. Next week’s will be back to the normal report. 

Stats will be from the last 15 days.

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

WEEK IN REVIEW 

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints

• Overall: 43-31 
• Overview: The Saints finished the season a half-game out in the International League West, but five games behind first-half IL champ Norfolk. Norfolk will advance to the IL best-of-three League Championship Series. The best second-half record - aside from Norfolk - will advance to play Norfolk. All teams start with a clean slate.
• 🔥: Chris Williams went on a run that was quite impressive. In his last two weeks, he’s hit eight home runs and driven in 18 runs, along with scoring 14 runs of his own. Only three teammates scored more runs than he had home runs. And only two teammates drove in more runs than he had home runs. He also managed nine walks, but did strike out 14 times. He’s seen a little time behind the plate this year, but has mostly played first base. 
• 🔥: Randy Dobnak has battled injuries for quite some time, but his last three starts have been glimpses of the old Randy. In 12 innings, he’s struck out 13 while only walking one. Though he’s allowed 14 hits, he’s only allowed one earned run. 
• 🔥: Andrew Stevenson’s been overshadowed by Williams, but has been on a nice run himself. Over his last 10 games, he has three home runs, two triples, a double and 12 singles. He’s also stolen four bases and has walked five times while only striking out four times.
• 🔥: Kody Funderburk ended out the first half with six performance spanning 7 1/3 innings. He struck out 12, walked two and only allowed a single run on four hits.
• 🔥: Matt Wallner has put up a .279/.439/.488 line while Jose Miranda hasn’t been as good at .268/.348/.439.
• 😉: Dallas Keuchel threw four innings of one-run ball in his organizational debut. 
• 🥶: Aaron Sanchez struggled over his last three starts. He walked 13 and yielded 16 hits that resulted in 14 earned runs over 12 1/3 innings. 
• 🥶: Trevor Larnach has struck out time 14 times in 30 at-bats since being sent down. His .639 OPS doesn’t have a great path to go anywhere but up.
• What's Next: The Saints will kick off their second half against Gwinnett on Wednesday.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge

• Overall: 28-40
• Overview: Wichita finished with the lowest winning percentage in the Texas League.
• 🔥: DaShawn Keirsey slashed .319/.396/.596 over his last 12 games and 47 at-bats. He homered three times, stole three bases and both walked and struck out six times. He’s more than deserving of a promotion, but there’s a logjam of outfielders at St. Paul, so he’ll have to remain in Wichita until there’s room. 
• 🔥: Aaron Rozek struck out 11 in 10 2/3 innings. He allowed only two runs on four hits and two walks (and two hit batters). 
• 🔥: When Alerick Soularie is healthy, he’s very good. He hit three home runs and added a double in 32 at-bats the last two weeks. He also stole three bases with more walks (7) than strikeouts (5). 
• 🤔: Regi Grace is something. He’s got serious stuff, but he walked four in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven.
• 🤔: Yunior Severino gets a lot of hits (12 in 43 at-bats), but also strikes out a ton (14 in 42 at-bats).
• 🤔: Pierson Ohl completed 12 innings in his two starts. He only allowed 10 hits and a walk for a WHIP of 0.92, but he struggled keeping the ball in the yard, surrendering three home runs and having an ERA of 5.25.
• 🥶: David Festa allowed seven runs on 10 hits and four walks in 11 1/3 innings. He did strike out 15 though.
• 🥶: Yoyner Fajardo’s season started with a bang, but he’s cooled off. In his last 10 games, he’s got an OPS of .512.
• What's Next: Wichita’s second-half will start at home against Northwest Arkansas. 

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels

• Overall: 2-1 in the second half. 
• Overview: The Kernels clinched a post-season berth on account of winning the Midwest League Western Division with a 40-26 record.
• 🔥: Emmanuel Rodriguez is the team’s top prospect and he’s starting to play like it. Sixteen hits in 46 at-bats over his last 12 games, including three doubles, a triple and three home runs. He drove in nine, scored 14 and stole four bases. He still struck out a lot (12 times), but drew nine walks.
• 🔥: Cory Lewis has made three starts since his promotion. In the last two weeks, he made two of those starts and allowed five hits and three walks in 10 innings. He struck out 12 and allowed a single earned run. 
• 🔥: Kala’i Rosario continues to tear up High-A. Three more home runs, two more doubles, double-digit runs and RBI in his last 11 games… and more walks (12) than strikeouts (8).
• 😉: Newly-promoted Jorel Ortega only has 20 at-bats, but he has an OPS north of 1.000 so far.
• 🥶: Keoni Cavaco ended his half 1-for-11 and was placed on the Development List.
• 🥶: Jaylen Nowlin allowed 11 runs on 15 hits and seven walks in 8 2/3 innings. He struck out 11. 
• What's Next: The Kernels will visit Peoria this week.

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels

• Overall: 1-1 in the second half.
• Overview: Fort Myers finished 34-32 in the first half, but missed the playoffs by 10.5 games.
• 🔥: Rubel Cespedes has three home runs in his last 12 games. He also leads the team with nine RBI, five doubles and 13 total hits.
• 🔥: Ben Ethridge (12 2/3 innings, six hits, two walks, eight strikeouts), C.J. Culpepper (11 innings, six hits, three walks, 12 strikeouts), Andrew Morris (11 innings, six hits, three walks, eight strikeouts) all started multiple games and had WHIPs below 1.00 and opponent batting averages under .170.
• 🔥: Jorel Ortega (before promotion), Maddux Houghton and Danny De Andrade all had 10 hits over the last 12 games. 
• 🥶: Rafael Cruz and Dylan Neuse both had sub-.200 batting averages over the last 12 games.
• 🥶: Develson Aria allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings over two starts.
• What's Next: Fort Myers will host Lakeland.

Rookie: FCL Twins

• Overall: 9-5, 1.5 games behind the FCL Pirates in the FCL South. 
• Overview: Riding a four-game winning streak and being tied for least runs allowed are two signs of a good baseball team.
• It’s hard to look at individuals even over a two-week period because they’re given so much time off. Only three players played nine games, so we’ll focus on those three hitters.
• 🔥: Jose Rodriguez and Isaac Pena both had 11 hits and are hit .297 and .314, respectively. 
• 🔥: Luis De Leon struck out 20 in 14 innings. He allowed nine hits and seven walks. 
• 🤔: Bryan Acuna was brutal in his first handful of games but has rebounded nicely with eight hits in his last eight games. He did strike out 10 times though. 

Rookie: DSL Twins 

• Overall: 5-10, 6-5 games back in the DSL South. 
• Overview: Going .500 for 10 games is considerably better than the 0-5 start.
• The filter isn’t working properly, so I can only see full-season stats.
• 🔥: Dameury Pena  has 18 hits in his first 12 games. He’s batting .391 and has four walks and four strikeouts. He’s listed as a second baseman. Is that enough to make a really early player comparison? 
• 🔥: Yilber Herrera has walked 15 times already. He’s only struck out seven times and despite only having eight hits on the year, he’s scored 13 runs.
• 🔥: Miguel Cordero has 19 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings and WHIP of 1.11.
• 🥶: Cristian Hernandez has made three starts spanning 9 1/3 innings. He’s allowed 15 earned runs on 16 hits and eight walks. 
• 🥶: Ariel Castro and Moises Lopez both have 22 strikeouts and sub-.200 batting averages.

PROSPECT SUMMARY will return next week as will the PLAYERS OF THE WEEK as we will go in-depth with half-season awards later this week.

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[Dman]

Really enjoy these reports!!  Rosario still no top prospect love and he is young for his level at 20 years old and is at the top of league in OPS and HR's.  K rate to walk ratio is solid as well.  He should be in TD's top 20 prospects by now if you ask me and Twins top 30 at MLB.com.  I know he doesn't play up the middle like Miller and Salas but he is essentially the same age (slightly older)  and performing much better offensively which is a must to reach MLB.  He kept those number the entire first half so time to show him some prospect love IMO.

Jose Rodriguez hasn't slowed down in the FCL.  Hoping he keeps that bat hot and is on his way to A ball at some point. A lot of interesting bats in the FCL this year especially outfielders. Should be a nice group at Fort Meyers next year.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

Rosario still no top prospect love and he is young for his level at 20 years old and is at the top of league in OPS and HR's.  K rate to walk ratio is solid as well.  He should be in TD's top 20 prospects by now if you ask me and Twins top 30 at MLB.com. 

You're right. I'll have Rosario in my Top 20 in my next update, I'd assume.

There will be some first-half awards getting posted in the next couple of days. I voted Rosario as my #1 hitter; curious to see where he ends up when all the votes are counted.

[Mike Sixel]

Love these updates! thank you