Twins Minor League Report (6/28): Camargo Walkoff Highlights Huge Offensive Day for Twins... Minor Leaguers

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins were shutout by the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon and scored just three runs in the three-game series. The Twins full-season minor-league affiliates got one extra day off this week, and when they returned on Wednesday, all three teams scored at least a dozen runs. There were great performances for all three teams, and Jair Camargo had his biggest hit of the season. 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson (photos of Jair Camargo)

While the Minnesota Twins offense completely sputtered in Atlanta this week, their three minor-league affiliates that returned to action on Wednesday all scored at least a dozen runs. 

Like the big-league schedule, the minor league affiliates are now in their second halves. So, they got an extra day, but it's really not that simple. It was an extra day off, but instead of playing Tuesday through Sunday this week, the series will be played Wednesday through Monday. They won't get a day off at all next week as they will all play on Tuesday, July 4th. 

So again, the big-league club has been struggling, but thankfully we've got the minor leagues to talk about too... and I'm sure you're enjoying the great 2023 MLB Draft coverage that @Jeremy Nygaard and @Jamie Cameron have been providing. 

Finally, before we get started, if you missed yesterday's First-Half Awards article, click here to see who we voted the top hitter, starting pitcher, and relief pitcher in the Twins minor leagues in the first half. And if you missed the interview with DaShawn Keirsey, Jr, click here. 

Here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games on Wednesday. 

St. Paul Saints: 44-31 
Wichita Wind Surge: 29-40
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 42-27
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 36-34
FCL Twins: 9-7
DSL Twins: 5-12

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins had RHP Cole Sands begin his rehab assignment with the Saints.
RHP Ronny Henriquez was also activated from the 7-Day IL and back in the Saints bullpen.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 12, Gwinnett 9
Box Score
It wasn’t a great game for the Saints as they began their season’s second half, but in the end, it couldn’t have ended any better. 

Louie Varland was the Saints starter in a matinee game at CHS Field. It would be fair to say that it didn’t go really well. The St. Paul native was charged with six runs on six hits (including two homers) and five walks. He had four strikeouts. Just 52 of his 95 pitches were strikes (54.7%). However, when he left the game, the Saints were ahead 8-6 that’s to a five-run third inning. 

Left Michael Boyle came on and got four outs. Then Cole Sands tossed a perfect inning. Patrick Murphy came on and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in the eighth inning and suddenly the Saints were down 9-8. 

Fortunately, Kody Funderburk struck out two batters in the top of the ninth inning to set things up. 

But let's go back to the beginning. The Saints took the early lead when Jose Miranda crushed his third Saints home run.

However, in the top of the second, Gwinnett scored four runs. But the Saints came back with two in the bottom of the season thanks to a single from Anthony Prato and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Elliot Soto. In the top of the third, Braden Shewmake hit a solo homer to make it 5-3. 

The Saints responded with a five-run third inning. The scoring started with a bases-loaded walk by Chris Williams. Jair Camargo then drove a two-run single. Prato drove in Williams with a force out before Soto singled in Prato to give the Saints the 8-5 lead. 

Alright, let’s jump back to the ninth inning. Matt Wallner led off with a groundout. Kyle Garlick singled, but Gilberto Celestino grounded out for the inning’s second out. However, Trevor Larnach and Andrew Bechtold walked to load the bases and bring up Camargo. On the first pitch, Camargo crushed his third grand slam of the season to give the Saints a 12-9, walkoff win. The ball left his bat at 109.6 mph and traveled 442 feet. 

Jair Camargo went 2-for-5 in the game and drove in six big runs. The home run was his 12th of the season. Kyle Garlick and Gilberto Celestino both went 2-5 as well. Trevor Larnach was 0-for-2 but walked three times. Chris Williams was 1-for-2 and walked twice.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 15, NW Arkansas 8
Box Score
An extra day off at home was maybe just what the Wind Surge needed as their offense broke out in this one, scoring 15 runs with 18 hits.  All nine Wichita batters had at least one hit. Seven of the nine had two hits in the game, and Brooks Lee led the way with three hits and a walk in the game. The team scored in five of the first six innings, but it was an eight-run fifth inning that broke it open. 

David Festa made the start and was charged three runs on five hits over four innings. He had four strikeouts. Francis Peguero tossed a scoreless fifth inning. Regi Grace gave up three runs on three hits (including two homers) and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Alex Phillips gave up two runs on five hits, but he got the final five outs. 

The game time temperature in Wichita was 102 degrees, and there was a 15 mph wind blowing out to left field. The Wind Surge bats were hot, in at least some part due to the wind.

Lee went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 24th double. He hit his sixth home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning. 

Alex Isola went 2-for-5 with his 12th double. Aaron Sabato hit his eighth double and his first triple. DaShawn Keirsey went 2-for-4. Will Holland hit his sixth and seventh doubles and walked. He also stole two bases to give him a dozen on the year. Yoyner Fajardo went 2-for-4 and stole his 21st bag of the season. David Banuelos batted ninth and went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth home run since joining the Wind Surge. Yunior Severino drilled his 14th and 15th home runs of the season and drove in four runs. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids, Peoria
The Kernels traveled to Peoria to start a new series. However, due to poor air quality, the game was postponed. It will be made up on Thursday as part of a doubleheader, starting at 5:00. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 16, Lakeland 2  
Box Score 
Apparently the extra day off was just what all three of the Twins full-season affiliates that played on Wednesday needed. St. Paul scored 12 runs. Wichita scored 15 runs, and Fort Myers was on top of the leaderboard with 16 runs scored. As an aside, you may have heard that the Twins offense was shutout on Wednesday in Atlanta. Maybe they all need a two-day break! 

Anyway, this is the minor-league report. Let’s keep it positive. Back to the Mighty Mussels… you might be surprised to learn that the score of this game was 2-2 going into the bottom of the sixth. That’s when Fort Myers put up an 11-spot in that inning. 

Gregory Duran has only been up with the Mussels for three weeks. He had a breakout game on Wednesday. He went 3-for-3 with two walks, his fourth double, and his second home run. He scored four runs and drove in five runs. He batted eighth for Fort Myers in this game. The nine hitter, Maddux Houghton, went 4-for-5 with his second double and third triple. He scored twice and knocked in four runs. That is some pretty strong offensive performance from the bottom of the lineup. 

They were helped because sixth hitter, Kyle Schmidt, went 1-for-3 and walked twice and scored twice. Seven hitting, Dylan Neuse, went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.

Ricardo Olivar was leading off. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and his ninth double. Danny De Andrade batted second and went 2-for-6 with his ninth double and his sixth home run. He drove in four runs and scored twice.  

Andrew Morris made the start for Fort Myers. He was charged with one run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Unfortunately, a nearly two hour rain delay ended his outing. Samuel Perez improved to 4-1 thanks to tossing 3 1/3 innings in which he gave up only an unearned run on three hits. The soft-tosser struck out five batters and issued no walks. Danny Moreno threw two scoreless innings and Johnathan Lavallee struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Samuel Perez (Fort Myers) - 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Hitters of the Day – Gregory Duran (Fort Myers) - 3-for-3, 2 BB, 2B(4), HR(2), 4 R, 5 RBI

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) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(24), HR(6), 2 R, 4 RBI.
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 3 K
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-for-1
#8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 69 pitches, 47 strikes.
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, K. 
#14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 18 pitches, 12 strikes. 
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2-HR(15), 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Gwinnett (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (3-3, 5.02 ERA) vs RHP Dereck Rodriguez
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (0-2, 6.61 ERA) 
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (DH starting at 5:00 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-4, 5.15 ERA), TBD
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge (0-4, 2.97 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Giants Black @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! 

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[FlyingFinn]

The best team in baseball at hitting homers with the bases loaded, the Saints. One of the worst at getting any hits with the bases loaded, the Twins. Not sure if we want to bring all of the Saints up or does that just spoil them and they would quit doing that with the Twins.

What a night for the #8 and #9 hitters for Fort Myers - a combined 7 for 8 with 9 rbi's! Maybe it's a deep lineup. Ahhh, no. They raised their batting averages to .222 and .230. Yikes, what was it before last night.

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

The best team in baseball at hitting homers with the bases loaded, the Saints. One of the worst at getting any hits with the bases loaded, the Twins. Not sure if we want to bring all of the Saints up or does that just spoil them and they would quit doing that with the Twins.

What a night for the #8 and #9 hitters for Fort Myers - a combined 7 for 8 with 9 rbi's! Maybe it's a deep lineup. Ahhh, no. They raised their batting averages to .222 and .230. Yikes, what was it before last night.

Bring up some of those Saints bats! I'm willing to take a chance at this point.

 

[Doctor Wu]

Good to see Henriquez taking the mound again. We need some healthy arms in the pen!

[2wins87]

Severino with a homer from both sides of the plate. Lee about a foot away from doing the same.

Good night for the bats, indeed.

[roger]

My question, does Camargo strike out enough to qualify for a promotion to the Twins?

Thru all the excitement, Regie Grace had a tough night out of the pen.  Was wondering if going 2+ innings was part of the problem.  Expect someone knows, is this the first time he went that deep?

[2wins87]

7 minutes ago, roger said:

Thru all the excitement, Regie Grace had a tough night out of the pen.  Was wondering if going 2+ innings was part of the problem.  Expect someone knows, is this the first time he went that deep?

Grace was a starter prospect 2 years ago and has gone two or more innings pretty regularly this year.

The list of relief prospects that looked good in A ball only to get shelled in AA or AAA is very very long.  It's still early in his AA career so I'm not saying that's what happening, just that around 100 innings in A/A+ is a tiny, not very predictive sample.