Twins Minor League Report (7/3): Saints Complete Sweep in St. Paul

[Seth Stohs]

It is rare the full-season minor-league affiliates play on Mondays. They did this week. Find out about a couple of exciting transactions, and six ballgames. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Yoyner Fajardo)

A couple of top Twins prospects were movin’ on up on Monday. The Saints offense was playing in a bizarro world through the first five innings on Sunday, but a couple of big leaguers powered them to another win, their sixth straight. The organization’s home run leader is now in Wichita. Cedar Rapids finished a series filled with nothing but one-run games in Peoria. 

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

St. Paul Saints: 49-31 
Wichita Wind Surge: 32-42
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 45-30
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 37-38
FCL Twins: 10-11
DSL Twins: 6-15

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

TRANSACTIONS
Austin Martin was activated from the 7-day injured list and joined the Saints. 
RHP Marco Raya has been assigned to the Wichita Wind Surge.
To make room, Jose Bravo has been placed on the Wind Surge Development List. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 6, Gwinnett 4
Box Score
Things were looking a little bleak on Monday night in St. Paul. The team had scored ten or more runs in five consecutive games. In this game, the Saints did not have a hit through the first five innings and found themselves down 4-0. 

However, Alex De Goti led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single which was followed by a bunt single by Andrew Stevenson. After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Trevor Larnach singled in De Goti to put the Saints on the board. Kyle Garlick followed with his eighth homer, a three-run shot that tied the game at four.  

That’s how the score remained until the bottom of the eighth. With no one on and two outs, Matt Wallner walked. It was followed by a long home run off the bat of Trevor Larnach. A no-doubter. 

Louie Varland made his second start of the week. He gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked none and struck out five batters. He also kept the ball in the ballpark. 

Cody Laweryson came on to start the sixth inning,and he gave up a leadoff homer. He got Jesus Aguilar out, but then the rains came. It began again about an hour later with Michael Boyle on the mound. He gave up two hits and two walks over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. Kody Funderburk came on and struck out two batters over two perfect innings to take the Win. 

The Saints had just six hits in the game. Trevor Larnach and Kyle Garlick were both 2-for-4 with three RBI each. 

In his Triple-A debut, Austin Martin played second base and batted second. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. He was also caught stealing. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 7
Box Score
This game went back-and-forth with teams exchanging runs. Through seven innings, the game was tied 2-2. 

Lefty Aaron Rozek was on the mound for the Surge. He gave up two runs on five hits. Both runs scored on solo homers. He walked one and struck out three batters. Hunter McMahon came on and tossed scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh innings. 

However, he was charged with three runs on two hits and a walk (intentional). Francis Peguero came in and allowed an inherited runner to score the third run of the inning. 

Down 5-2 going to the bottom of the eighth, Wichita’s offense “Surged” ahead and scored four runs to take a 6-5 lead. With one out, DaShawn Keirsey, Brooks Lee and Alex Isola hit back-to-back-to-back singles to score the first run. Will Holland came in to pinch run for Isola, but I’m pretty sure Isola could have jogged around the bases along with Lee on Yunior Severino’s three-run blast that gave the Wind Surge the 6-5 lead. 

To the ninth inning… Peguero was able to get the first two batters out. Unfortunately, he gave up a double which was quickly followed by a two-run homer by Tyler Tolbert that gave NW Arkansas the 7-6 lead. After another double, Alex Scherff came on and got a strikeout to end the half-inning. 

The Wind Surge tried to put together one more comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Jake Rucker readed on an error and stole second base. Yoyner Fajardo walked. But then #OldFriend Steven Cruz got a strikeout and two infield pop outs to end the game. 

Severino had a walk to go with his 17th home run. In the third inning, Fajardo hit his third homer of the season. Aaron Sabato hit his ninth double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3
Box Score
In this series with a lot of close, low-scoring game, it’s only appropriate that the final game was a one-run game in extra innings. The only negative was that the Kernels came up on the short end this time. 

This time, it was the Kernels who had to mount a comeback. They were down 2-0 heading into the ninth inning. Tanner Schobel led off the inning with a double. With one out, Kala’i Rosario drove in Schobel with a single. Noah Miller pinch ran for Rosario. Two batters later, Jose Salas singled to score Miller and tie the game at two a piece. It sent the game to extra innings. 

Back to the mound. Lefty Christian MacLeod gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Niklas Rimmel came on with the bases loaded and got out of the inning without another run scoring. He struck out two batters over 1 1/3 perfect innings.  Lefty John Wilson struck out two batters over two perfect innings. 

In the 10th inning, three Kernels batters each struck out. Miguel Rodriguez came into the game for the Kernels. He has been terrific this season. After a fly out, the Kernels decided to walk a batter to set up a potential inning-ending double play. Unfortunately, the man who knows the strike zone best, Alex Iadisernia, singled to center which scored the winning run for Peoria. 

Overall, the offense was pretty quiet. They had six hits in total, just three before the ninth inning, and three walks. No one had more than one hit. Schobel’s double was his eighth of the season. Jorel Ortega added his third double since joining the Kernels. 

Earlier, I pointed out that this series was a matchup of two very closely-matched teams. Here’s how close:

• Game 1: Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 6
• Game 2: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3
• Game 3: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 1
• Game 4: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 1
• Game 5: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3
• Game 6: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 
• Wins: Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 3
• Runs: Cedar Rapids 17, Peoria 17 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 5  
Box Score 
Rains have wreaked havoc on a few Mussels games of late. In this game, Jose Olivares  was only able to complete two innings before the rains caused a long rain delay. He gave up a run on three hits. 

Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe started for Lakeland. He gave up two hits in a scoreless first inning but the rains came before he could work a second frame.

Lefty Wilker Reyes gave up two hits and two walks, but he struck out two batters over three shutout innings. Develson Aria came out of the bullpen and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out… You guessed it, two. Johnathan Lavallee gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and two walks over two innings. Zach Veen recorded the final two outs, one on a strikeout. 

It wasn’t a pretty game. The Mussels had three errors in the game. They also had seven hits and walked nine times. Unfortunately, they went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Frustrating when you look back, and the score and see a one-run loss. 

Dylan Neuse went 2-for-3 with two walks and stole his 10th base. Gregory Duran and Kamron Willman both walked twice. Danny De Andrade drove in two runs. He had a single and a walk. Dillon Tatum also had a single and a walk. 

Recently-signed Carson McCusker went 2-for-5, but he helped keep the game close by throwing out two runners at the plate. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 2, FCL Braves 7 (6) 
Box Score
The game had to be cut short after six innings because of lightning rolling into the Fort Myers area. Most likely, the Twins would have found a way to make up the five-run deficit over the final three innings and won, but that’s OK. 

Jose Rodriguez had two of the team’s six hits including his fifth double of the season. Jankel Ortiz came on as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and hit his first professional home run. Andres Centeno had a single and a walk in the game. 

Cesar Lares made the start and it didn’t go well for the southpaw. In just 2/3 of an inning, he gave up four runs on four hits and two walks. Both outs he recorded were on strikeouts (gotta find the positives, right?). He also had two balks and a wild pitch before Yon Landaeta came in with two runners on and got out of that inning without any further damage. However, in the second inning, he was charged with three runs (2 earned) on five walks. He recorded just one out before Juan Mercedes came on with the bases loaded and somehow managed to allow only one inherited runner to score. Mercedes was quite good. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out six batters. Miguel Olivares came on and got a strikeout to end the sixth inning.  

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 2, DSL Cardinals 6
Box Score
A couple of two-run homers led the Cardinals to a win against the Twins on Monday. 

Eduardo Soriano started for the Twins. He was charged with two unearned runs over four innings. He gave up six hits and struck out six batters without issuing a walk. Gerardo Abrego came on and gave up two runs on three hits in the fifth inning. He gave up a home run to Bracewell Taveras. Reynel Garcia worked the next three innings. He gave up a two-run homer to Hancel Almonte, but nothing more (though he did walk three batters. Oscar Paredes then struck out three batters in a scoreless ninth inning. 

Dameury Pena led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his sixth double and the team’s lone RBI. Jayson Bass was also 2-for-4. He stole his 10th base of the year. Ariel Castro went 1-for-1 with three walks.  

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitters of the Day – Trevor Larnach (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2B(13), HR(12), R, 3 RBI
Pitcher of the Day – John Wilson (Cedar Rapids), Kody Funderburk (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 6 batters faced.

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. (Note - our next prospect rankings update will come after the draft.)

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, R.
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, HR(5), R, RBI. 
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) -0-for-3, 2 R, BB, K.
#11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, K, CS(1)
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, K, E(10).
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - R
#14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 6 pitches, 4 strikes.
#15 - Brent Headrick (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (W, 2-0), 12 pitches, 12 strikes.
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-3, 2B(5), R. 
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(17), 2 R, 3 RBI. 

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Iowa (7:08 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-3, 4.62 ERA)
Wichita @ Tulsa (6:35 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.24 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (1-1, 6.33 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:00 PM CST) - RHP Andrew Morris (2-1, 3.48 ERA) 
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (9:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Twins @ DSL Nationals (10:00AM CST) - TBD

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

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[LewFordLives]

"Jose Bravo"....that is an awesome name.

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

"Jose Bravo"....that is an awesome name.

Agreed! Seems like every week I notice a new "cool" name amongst the minor leaguers. But alas, not many can come as close at the late great Urban Shocker. 

[jmlease1]

Really happy to see Austin Martin back with the Saints. Hope his elbow is feeling good and he has a healthy second half of the season. He played really well in the AFL last year and still has oodles of talent.

Congrats to Marco Raya on his promotion! Looking forward to seeing how he does against AA hitters (and hoping he can start getting into the 5th and 6th innings on a consistent basis).

Like seeing Severino have a good contact day, be great if he can string together a bunch more like this and show that he can be successful without just being a K machine. There's real talent there, but it'll be interesting to see how high he can rise with his approach at the plate.

[roger]

Most interesting observation for me today was Miller pinch running for Rosario.  Is he that fast?  Or is Rosario that slow?

[stringer bell]

Larnach is really going well right now, as is Wallner and it happens to correspond with upticks from Gallo and Kepler. 

[jmlease1]

29 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Larnach is really going well right now, as is Wallner and it happens to correspond with upticks from Gallo and Kepler. 

some guys run faster when they're being chased?

I'm still ready to move on from Kepler and give Wallner a chance or Larnach another one.

[Dman]

For all us stat watchers it was interesting to see the Saints go hitless against a really good probably MLB caliber pitcher for 5 innings.  Once he left the bats started heating up and they won the game but it kind of feeds into the fact of why AAA stats can get so inflated as they don't face MLB caliber pitching game in and game out.  Still that lineup at St Paul is MLB caliber as well with Wallner, Celestino, Garlick, Larnach, Williams, Stevenson, and Camargo.  Gonna win a fair number of games with a lineup like that.

 

[stringer bell]

25 minutes ago, Dman said:

For all us stat watchers it was interesting to see the Saints go hitless against a really good probably MLB caliber pitcher for 5 innings.  Once he left the bats started heating up and they won the game but it kind of feeds into the fact of why AAA stats can get so inflated as they don't face MLB caliber pitching game in and game out.  Still that lineup at St Paul is MLB caliber as well with Wallner, Celestino, Garlick, Larnach, Williams, Stevenson, and Camargo.  Gonna win a fair number of games with a lineup like that.

 

Can anyone explain why the Saints have been scoring so many runs? My thought is that with all the major league pitching injuries, there isn't much good pitching left in AAA.

[2wins87]

6 hours ago, roger said:

Most interesting observation for me today was Miller pinch running for Rosario.  Is he that fast?  Or is Rosario that slow?

Miller has solid but not outstanding speed. He also has a high success rate as a basestealer. Rosario is a below average runner I believe.

[2wins87]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Can anyone explain why the Saints have been scoring so many runs? My thought is that with all the major league pitching injuries, there isn't much good pitching left in AAA.

I do think that's part of it, but I'm not really sure that pitchers that have pitched in both leagues have really been much worse in the majors. There could be some minor park effects and the fact that the defense is a bit worse also. The international league has generally had a bit higher run environment in past years.

I think the biggest difference between AAA and the majors this year has got to be the ABS systems in AAA. I think MLB umps expand the zone much more often than they miss strikes. Getting ahead in counts is very beneficial to the hitters, and the walk rates are also quite a bit higher in AAA.

The Saints are one of the better offensive teams in the league, but the run environment is  much higher this year, likely due to the ABS.