Twins Minor League Report (7/2): Minnesota Farm Provides Some Early Fireworks

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins farm system was in action today and this series is the first in which the full-season leagues will play on a Monday this season. Getting action in the heart of the summer, there were plenty of strong performances to take note of.

Image courtesy of Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS

• 3B Jose Miranda recalled by Minnesota Twins

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 11, Gwinnett 5
Box Score

It was Simeon Woods Richardson's turn on the bump today for the Saints. He worked five innings allowing three runs on six hits and four walks. He did grab a strikeout on the day, but command was not something he showed a ton of.

Needing to find power before rejoining the Twins, Trevor Larnach tapped in with his fifth home run to open the scoring in the first inning. His solo shot made it 1-0. After giving up a run in the second inning, Andrew Stevenson stepped in and clubbed a grand slam to make it 5-1. Jair Camargo, Anthony Prato, and Elliot Soto all scored on the big fly.

Gwinnett added a pair in the third inning, but St. Paul kept tacking on as well. Camargo recorded his tenth double to drive home Chris Williams and make it a 6-3 game. In the fourth inning Larnach singled in Soto and the Saints now led 7-3.

Larnach then singled in Soto to score in the sixth before Andrew Bechtold homered in the seventh making it 9-3. The Saints gave up a run during the eighth inning, but Chris Williams and Mark Contreras added runs on a sacrifice fly and a homer.

Even allowing a ninth inning run, St. Paul held on for an 11-5 win. Larnach clubbed three hits on the day, with Jair Camargo, Bechtold, and Soto all grabbing two hits apiece.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
NW Arkansas 7, Wichita 4
Box Score

Travis Adams got the start this afternoon for the Wind Surge and was strong over five innings. He allowed just a single run on two hits while striking out seven and allowing no walks.

Kicking off the scoring in a big way, Wichita put up a four-spot during the second inning. Jake Rucker recorded his first triple of the season to score both Aaron Sabato and Yoyner Fajardo. With the bases loaded, Brooks Lee was hit by a pitch and drove in Rucker the hard way. Patrick Winkel then drew a walk scoring Ernie Yake, and it was a 4-0 lead for the Wind Surge.

Despite giving up runs in fifth and the seventh, Wichita attempted to hang on. Taylor Floyd made it a bit dicey in the ninth inning after walking a pair, but he got a strikeout before Jordan Brink came on. NW Arkansas drew within one during the ninth inning, and they loaded the bases just before Tyler Tolbert blasted a grand slam to make it a 7-4 lead. Wichita had gone full-on meltdown and gave this one away.

Rucker's triple was the lone extra-base hit for Wichita, and no player recorded more than one hit.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Peoria 3, Cedar Rapids 2
Box Score

 

Cory Lewis was the Kernels starter tonight and he continued his season of dominance. Working 5 2/3 innings allowing just a single run on four hits and a walk, Lewis also struck out three. He owns a 0.87 ERA through four starts at High-A.

Tanner Schobel continued to wield an incredibly hot bat when he blasted his 12th home run of the season. The third inning homer brought in Kyle Fedko and made it a 2-0 game. Unfortunately Cedar Rapids gave up a run in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings to sink them in the game.

Both Schobel and Ben Ross recorded a pair of hits on the evening.

 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Lakeland 9, Fort Myers 8
Box Score

Fort Myers put Miguelangel Boadas on the bump to start today, but he lasted just two innings as a five run second did him in. Allowing four earned runs on five hits, he also walked four while striking out just one.

After Boadas got knocked around in the second inning, the Mighty Mussels answered during the bottom half with three runs of their own. Ricardo Olivar doubled for the 12th time this season, and he cleared the bases bringing in Kyle Schmidt, Dylan Neuse, and Maddux Houghton.

Lakeland added another run in the fifth inning, but Fort Myers did their best to draw close again. Olivar tripled for the first time this season driving in Luis Baez, and a Danny De Andrade brought Olivar in on a sacrifice fly. After giving up a sixth inning run, Carson McCusker homered for the first time since joining the organization. Neuse then scored after he stole second base on a throwing error, and the Mighty Mussels knotted things at seven in the eight inning.

Luke Gold homered in the 10th inning to give Lakeland a two-run lead, and Neuse's single scoring Cespedes was not enough to draw even. Olivar recorded three hits on the evening as the lone Fort Myers batter to record more than two hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Travis Adams (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (Fort Myers) - 3-4, R, 4 RBI, BB, 2 2B, 3B

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:

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-3, RBI
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-1, K
#7 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, K
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-3, BB, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Gwinnett @ St. Paul (6:07PM CST) - RHP Louie Varland
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35PM CST) - RHP Aaron Rozek
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (5:30PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares

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

 

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[jmlease1]

As a college pitcher, the hope is that Lewis would come in and dominate and rise quickly through the ranks. So far, he has done exactly that. The only concern to date is how deep he's going into games; at Ft. Myers he was only averaging 4 1/3 per start. It's good to see him getting through the 5th more often now, but it's something that's still worth keeping an eye on. every other metric is looking good and he's setting himself up to be in AA no later than next season. be great if he can finish the season with 20+ starts and push 100 innings with these kinds of results.

I wonder what the plan is on Yunior Severino? 2nd half call up to AAA? Wait until after the trade deadline to see where they have room for him to get consistent playing time? not sure he has all that much more to prove in Wichita.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

As a college pitcher, the hope is that Lewis would come in and dominate and rise quickly through the ranks. So far, he has done exactly that. The only concern to date is how deep he's going into games; at Ft. Myers he was only averaging 4 1/3 per start. It's good to see him getting through the 5th more often now, but it's something that's still worth keeping an eye on. every other metric is looking good and he's setting himself up to be in AA no later than next season. be great if he can finish the season with 20+ starts and push 100 innings with these kinds of results.

I wonder what the plan is on Yunior Severino? 2nd half call up to AAA? Wait until after the trade deadline to see where they have room for him to get consistent playing time? not sure he has all that much more to prove in Wichita.

Kyle Jones was also drafted in 2022 out of college (like Lewis and Culpepper). He's been at Cedar Rapids the whole season. So, yes, Lewis has been tremendous for four starts, it's OK to let them get 8-10 starts at any given level before a promotion because they're not all going to be great starts. And if they are... that's great! And they're even more ready for that promotion. 

Severino... I do think that there can be room in the St. Paul defense to get him there sometime in the 2nd half, so I think that's possible. Maybe even Schobel jumps up to Double-A at that time. 

[DocBauer]

And for goodness sake, get Keirsey up to AAA. I know they are loaded in the OF, but he's just too good for the AA level and not getting any younger.

Best start of the season for Travis Adams?

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Kyle Jones was also drafted in 2022 out of college (like Lewis and Culpepper). He's been at Cedar Rapids the whole season. So, yes, Lewis has been tremendous for four starts, it's OK to let them get 8-10 starts at any given level before a promotion because they're not all going to be great starts. And if they are... that's great! And they're even more ready for that promotion. 

Severino... I do think that there can be room in the St. Paul defense to get him there sometime in the 2nd half, so I think that's possible. Maybe even Schobel jumps up to Double-A at that time. 

I'd 100% do that last paragraph.....

[jorgenswest]

7 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

I wonder what the plan is on Yunior Severino? 2nd half call up to AAA? Wait until after the trade deadline to see where they have room for him to get consistent playing time? not sure he has all that much more to prove in Wichita

He might try to cut down on his strike out rate. He 96 strike outs in 259 at bats. He also needs to get better defensively. It looks like they see him at 3B instead of 2B. He is going to need the time to get to a passable level at that spot. There is space at 3B in AAA but the strikeout and walk rates need to get better.