Twins Minor League Report (7/14): Big Innings Decide Friday Games in Minors

[Seth Stohs]

Friday was a very busy day throughout the Twin entire system. Big innings defined the day for most of the offense

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Marco Raya)

The Minnesota Twins got tor runs off the batted of                                        

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

St. Paul Saints: 52-35 
Wichita Wind Surge: 34-47
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 50-32 
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 42-40
FCL Twins: 12-15
DSL Twins: 7-20

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

TRANSACTIONS
Following the Twins win in Oakland, Dan Hayes tweeted that Jose Miranda will be going on the injured list. Matt Wallner will join the team in Oakland. 

Lefties Zach Neff and Josh Mitchell were deemed recovered from their Tommy John surgeries. They pitched in a couple of rehab games… and on Thursday, the Twins released them. 

Right-hander Juan Mercedes was promoted from the FCL Twins to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. John Klein was sent back to the FCL. 

RHP Eduardo Soriano was promoted from the DSL to the FCL Twins. 

In fun, former Twins prospect transactions, 2015 fourth-round pick Trey Cabbage was called up to the Angels and activated before Friday night’s game. In the game, he hit for second baseman Michael Stefanic

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Durham 8
Box Score
The Saints open up their “second half” at CHS Field.  They fell behind early but quickly caught up and went ahead only to give up five in the ninth to fall to the Bulls. 

Louie Varland made the start. He was charged with three unearned runs on eight hits over the first four innings. He struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. Josh Winder came on and struck out three batters over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Michael Boyle had a walk and a strikeout and recorded three outs. Patrick Murphy got the final out of the eighth inning. Then he came out for the ninth and gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Austin Brice came on with two runners on base and allowed both to score. 

Anthony Prato got St. Paul on the board in the second with a two-run homer, his fifth since joining the Saints. In the third frame, Andrew Stevenson’s 10th homer tied the game at 3-3. Stevenson gave the team the 4-3 season with a single that drove in Prato. Gilberto Celestino gave the Twins another run in the seventh inning with a ground out that scored Stevenson. 

Stevenson went 3-for-5 in the game from the leadoff spot. Jair Camargo had two hits. Prato his his ninth double and fifth homer during his five weeks with the Saints. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Springfield 4
Box Score
Like the Saints, the Wind Surge got a lead going into the late innings. Unfortunately, a big-inning was enough to give the team a loss. 

The Wind Surge powered their way to an early lead. Patrick Winkel drilled his fourth homer of the season in the second inning. 

In the fifth frame, DaShawn Keirsey hit his 10th home run. Aaron Sabato made it a 3-0 lead with a single that scored Yunior Severino. 

Highly-regarded Marco Raya made his second Double-A start and it went quite well. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up no runs. He gave up just one hit and one walk, and he struck out four batters. He was more efficient with his pitches and was able to almost get through the fourth inning. He threw 51 pitches in the game. Isaac Mattson came on and walked two batters but no runners crossed the plate before he got the final out. 

David Festa returned to the team after his scoreless inning in Saturday’s Futures Game in Seattle. He got back in the action with two perfect innings. Three of the six outs came on strikeouts. However, Regi Grace came in for the seventh inning. He’s been the best reliever in the organization all season and really had his first rough outing of the year. He gave up four runs on four hits and a walk and recorded just one out. Denny Bentley came on and allowed an inherited runner to score, but he was able to provide five outs without any additional runs scoring. Alex Scherff struck out two batters in a one-hit ninth. 

Keirsey and Winkel each went 2-for-4 in the game with the home run. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 15, Beloit 2
Box Score
The Kernels went to their old stomping grounds (well, the Twins old Midwest League affiliate grounds) and used a couple of big innings to record an easy win in the new stadium. 

Jorel Ortega put the Kernels on the scoreboard with a solo homer, his second since joining the team. He also kicked off a big, eight-run fourth inning when he singled with the bases loaded to score Kala’i Rosario. Misael Urbina walked to score Noah Cardenas. Jose Salas drove in Noah Miller on a fielder’s choice. Willie Joe Garry’s single then drove in Ortega to make it 5-0. 

Leadoff man Tanner Schobel kept things going with a two-run double to give the Kernels a 7-0 lead. Emmanuel Rodriguez followed with a triple and then scored on a Rosario sacrifice fly that made it 9-0 after four innings. 

Beloit hit a couple of solo homers in the bottom of the fifth frame, so that Kernels wanted to get that back… and more. 

In the top of the sixth, Rosario singled in Rodriguez with the 10th run. Then Noah Miller drove in Rosario with a single. Jorel Ortega’s second homer of the night (and third in his short time with the Kernels). The three-run shot made it 14-2. 

The Kernels added one more in the seventh inning as well. 

Zebby Matthews was one out from qualifying for the Win. He gave up two solo homers in the fifth inning, the only runs he gave up in 4 2/3 innings. (56 of his 80 pitches (70%) were strikes.) He struck out five and didn’t issue a walk. Malik Barrington “vultured” the Win to improve to 4-0. That said, he struck out three batters over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked one batter. Finally, John Wilson struck out two batters over two scoreless innings to close the door. 

The Kernels got contributions from everyone. Misael Urbina was the only player without a hit, but he had a bases-loaded walk. Noah Miller was the lone player with just one hit. Seven hitters had at least two hits

Jorel Ortega, the team’s sixth-round pick a year ago, finished the game going 4-for-5 with the two home runs. He scored three runs and drove in five runs. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with a walk and his third triple. He also stole his 11th base. Rosario went 2-for-4 with a walk. Noah Cardenas went 2-for-5 with a walk and his 14th double. Jose Salas was also 2-for-5. Willie Joe Garry was 2-for-4 with a walk. Tanner Schobel went 2-for-6 with his ninth double. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 2
Box Score 
Ft. Myers took the early lead and then had a big-inning late and held on for the win. 

Right-hander Ben Ethridge, the Twins 15th-round pick in 2022 from Southern Miss, finally earned his first Win of the season and as a professional. Coming into the night, he was 0-4 despite an ERA of just 2.49 and a WHIP at 1.06.  After beginning the season in the bullpen, this was his sixth consecutive appearance as a start. 

I could argue that his Friday night start was his best yet, but he’s had a few good starts. In this game, he tossed five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out two batters. He dropped his season ERA to 2.23. 

Wilker Reyes struck out four batters over the next two innings. He gave up no hits and no runs and walked two batters. Ricardo Velez pitched a scoreless eighth inning but gave up a two-run homer in the ninth.

The Twins signed Carson McCusker recently after spending three seasons with Tri-City in the Frontier League. That was after four seasons at Oklahoma State. In the first inning, he gave the Mussels a 2-0 lead with his fifth home run in his 10th game. He went 3-for-4 and is now hitting .439 with a 1.270 OPS. 

The Mussels grabbed some insurance runs in the eighth inning, turning a 2-0 lead to a 6-0 lead. Rubel Cespedes hit his 19th double which scored two runs. Rafael Cruz drove Cespedes in with a single. Ricardo Olivar concluded the scoring by knocking in Cruz with the fourth run of the inning.  

Danny De Andrade went 2-for-5 with his 11th and 12th doubles. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 9 FCL Red Sox 8 
Box Score
In a day filled with big innings, it was very true in the FCL game on Friday. The Twins had a four-run second inning and kept piling on runs including two runs in the top of the ninth. That gave them a 9-2 lead, but the Red Sox countered with six runs in the bottom of the ninth. Thankfully the Twins stopped the bleeding just in time. 

In this game, it was all about the offense. Yasser Mercedes is a top ten Twins prospects according to Twins Daily and other places. But he got off to a very slow start in his Stateside debut. Coming into Friday’s game, Mercedes was hitting just .157/.228/.255 (.483) with two doubles and a homer. He had played in just 13 games. In this game, we were reminded of the talent that he has. He went 4-for-5 with his second and third home runs. He stole his fourth base. He scored three runs and drive in four runs. After this game, he is still hitting just .214 with a .685 OPS. Not great, but adding .200 points of OPS in one day is a good start. 

Keoni Cavaco was sent back to the FCL Twins after hitting below .200 with the Kernels in the first half. It appears to be an opportunity for a restart for Cavaco, a chance to play against a lower level of competition, hopefully experience some success, gain some confidence, work on some things, and then see where it goes. In his second FCL game, he had a single, double and triple over five at-bats. He scored two runs and drove in three runs. 

Harold Grant  went 2-for-5 and his two-run homer in the ninth inning proved to be more important than originally thought. It was his second homer. 

Brayan Medina made the start. In 4 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked four batters and struck out three batters. Cleiber Maldonado then struck out five batters over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Lopez came on and worked a scoreless eighth inning. However, in the ninth frame, he gave up six runs on five hits and two walks. Yon Landaeta came on with two runners on base and both scored. However, he struck out two batters and was able to get the third out before the Red Sox were able to tie it up. 

The Twins scored runs in four of the first five innings. Normally that, and the nine runs that came with it, would be considered good. And it is. However, when the pitchers give up runs in each of the five innings, and 17 runs in those innings, it isn’t great. 

Jeicol Surumay started. In 1 2/3 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on three hits and three walks. Cristian Hernandez came on and was charged with eight runs (5 earned) on eight hits and three walks over 2 1/3 innings. Eider Machuca came on and gave up five runs (4 earned) on three hits and a walk and recorded just one out (despite two strikeouts!). Jose Ojo came and allowed one inherited runner to score. But he got five outs without any more runs crossing the plate. 

The best news to come out of this game was the return of Hendry Chivilli. He hadn’t played since opening day, June 5. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Dameury Pena went 2-for-2 Ariel Castro went 2-for-4. Yilber Herrera was 1-for-3 with a walk. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitters of the Day – Jorel Ortega (Cedar Rapids) - 4-for-5, 2 HR(3), 3 R, 5 RBI. 
                                  Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 4-for-5, 2 HR(3), 3 R, 4 RBI, SB(4).
Pitcher of the Day – Ben Ethridge (Fort Myers) - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K. 77 pitches, 46 strikes (59.7%) 

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
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 3B(3), 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 K, SB(11).
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-for-3, 2B(11), RBI, K.  
#6 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 3 2/3 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 4 K, 51 pitches, 34 strikes (66.7%).
#8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 25 pitches, 16 strikes (64.0%).
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB,K. E(5). 
#10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 4-for-5, 2 HR(3), 3 R, 4 RBI, SB(4).
#11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, K, SB(1) (2B, batted second)
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, R, RBI, K.
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, BB, 2 R, RBI, BB, 3 K. 
#14 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. 17 pitches, 11 strikes (64.7%)
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-for-5, K.
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(12), R, 2 K..

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Durham @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (3-1, 4.05 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (1-2, 4.73 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Kyle Jones (4-4, 4.53 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CST) - LHP Jarrett Whorff (2-0, 1.71 ERA) 
FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Guardians Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD

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

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[nclahammer]

Excellent report Seth.  Yah, a Trey Cabbage sighting.  Good for him.  I always liked Cabbage when I saw him play for Cedar Rapids with the Twins.  He flashed some potential with the Kernels playing thirdbase and later Wind Surge.  I believe he left the organization as a minor league free agent after his 2021 season in Wichita when he blasted 18 homeruns.    His last name always reminded me of 1970s-80s Minnesota Twin thirdbaseman  Mike Cubbage.

[mikelink45]

Quote

Jose Miranda will be going on the injured list. Matt Wallner will join the team in Oakland. 

I am ofter confused by the Twins.  Does this mean that Wallner will play 3rd base?  No equivalency here. I want Wallner up, but I want Gallo (I know he was a hero yesterday) or Kepler gone. 

 

[FlyingFinn]

McCusker was signed about the time Ortega got moved up and seems to have taken his place as the star hitter with Fort Myers.

[terrydactyls]

8 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am ofter confused by the Twins.  Does this mean that Wallner will play 3rd base?  No equivalency here. I want Wallner up, but I want Gallo (I know he was a hero yesterday) or Kepler gone. 

 

The front office bowed to the enormous pressure put on them by the people of Twins Daily.

[Jocko87]

Was nice to get out to see Raya and Festa in person last night. Raya looks very efficient.  I was wondering if he would look high effort at his size but the delivery seems very smooth and easy. Sat comfy at 95 and the change at 88 got some Bugs Bunny swings. Firm pitch count limit still, he was not appearing to tire when he came out.

Festa was fun, easy 97. Looks good too.

Brooks Lee looks like Brooks Lee. Robbed by a really good catch on the line out to right.

Yunior played functional 2nd base.

[roger]

Thanks for the report, Seth, is really good having MiLB back after the break.

Great seeing Raya with a superb outing, albeit another shorter one.  Understand that is likely by design considering how little he has pitched in past years.

Not surprised by the Wallner callup, but his D is still a concern.  Looked at how the 3 runs scored last night against Varland.  Inning began with an error in right field by Wallner.  Didn't see the game, so I don't know the specifics.  But Louie would have been out of the inning after striking out the fourth hitter of the inning.  With Buxton as the every day DH, just don't see where Wallner will get his playing time unless his defense has improved.

Also fantastic seeing ERod with a big night out of the break.  As for Hitter of the Day, only one word to day...WOW!

[Dman]

I went to the Cedar Rapids game in Beloit and they did not disappoint.  The top three hitters in the lineup Schobel, Rodriguez and Rosario have one thing in common they all hit the ball very hard.  Schobel's first hit was almost right at the 3rd baseman but it was hit so hard he didn't have a chance to get it.  The whole lineup is good but those three seem on a different level.

Emmanual Rodriguez's first two at bats were ugly.  I get that every batter has tough at bats but I didn't like the aggressive approach he took striking out both times.  It worked for his triple though as he ambushed a first pitch fastball that went all the way to the wall.

Rosario has huge legs and he leans back heavily on his right leg as he gets ready to swing.  He hit some hard long balls right at the left fielder that if he could put just a bit more juice on them would have left the park.  He is fun to watch in the box.

I guess I never realized how small Ortega was.  I mean I knew he was small but I thought he might be a bit more thick as well not that he is skinny just didn't expect to see what I saw and he was ready to hit tonight and with power as I believe he had the only two HR's for the Kernals and he almost had three as one was just wide of the foul pole.  He has some pop in that small frame and it was raining so not easy to push balls out last night but he was the only who did.  Pretty impressive for a little guy.

Was not overly impressed with Matthews.  Beloit was hitting balls hard from the first pitch, but fortunately they hung up long enough for the outfielders to grab them and he finally ran out of luck in the 5th when he gave up two home runs.  I will say when he rears back with that 94mph fastball it makes a pop in the glove and several hitters were late on that pitch.  I think he does end up a reliever unless he can come up with something more to keep hitters off the fastball.  He pitched well I was just hoping for more.

It was funny to see Beloit have their right fielder almost in center when Miller was up to bat.  They know he can't pull the ball and is often late on good fastballs.  He needs to put some muscle on or find a way to speed up that swing at least from the left side or he is only going to be able to use half the field.  He didn't have many plays to make in the because it was mostly fly balls with Matthews pitching.

All in all they played really well Beloits pitcher mowed them down the first time through the order except Ortega who hit a HR, but he lost his control after that (possibly because of the rain) and the Kernals took advantage of that with a big 8 run inning.  It was fun to watch them do so well.  I left before their big 5 run inning as the rain was too much for me even though a small drizzle to start it came down harder at times.  The Kernals have a really tough lineup to beat and the pitching is good too.  Might be the most fun affiliate to watch with all the talent down there.

 

[Major League Ready]

Since June 1 Andrew Stevenson is hitting 388 with a 1.125 OPS.  Wow!  Anthony Prato's OPS since being promoted to AAA in 1.037.  Anyone seen him in the OF?

[roger]

Want to double down on Bigfork’s question, Seth.  I recall that Miranda’s shoulder was barking in spring training.  Have you heard anything about how it was after the season began?  Is it possible that is the reason he has been such a disappointment at the plate this year.

[MN_ExPat]

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Seth, do we know what kind of injury Miranda has and about how long he expects to be on the IL?

Watching the game last night, I heard something about his shoulder... but didn't catch any other details.

[Seth Stohs]

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am ofter confused by the Twins.  Does this mean that Wallner will play 3rd base?  No equivalency here. I want Wallner up, but I want Gallo (I know he was a hero yesterday) or Kepler gone. 

 

They've got Solano and Farmer and Castro to play 3B. They're just bringing up another bat. 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Seth, do we know what kind of injury Miranda has and about how long he expects to be on the IL?

it's his shoulder again. No timelines given. 

[Seth Stohs]

38 minutes ago, roger said:

Want to double down on Bigfork’s question, Seth.  I recall that Miranda’s shoulder was barking in spring training.  Have you heard anything about how it was after the season began?  Is it possible that is the reason he has been such a disappointment at the plate this year.

I don't think so, unless it's the reason he's returned to swinging at pitcher's pitches. 

 

[ashbury]

36 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

They've got Solano and Farmer and Castro to play 3B. They're just bringing up another bat. 

The Twins haven't taken "positional flexibility" to extremes, but the FO certainly prioritizes it during roster construction and it shows up at times like this.  They do apply some foresight.

[Dman]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Since June 1 Andrew Stevenson is hitting 388 with a 1.125 OPS.  Wow!  Anthony Prato's OPS since being promoted to AAA in 1.037.  Anyone seen him in the OF?

You look at Stevenson's stats from when he was with Washington and he has always been a good hitter.  Doesn't look like he has the greatest arm for center but he runs really, really well.  Sure seems like he could be an option at the MLB level especially with the way is playing right now. 

Kinda wish some of these guys that are playing well at AAA could get a chance but even though their stats are elite that group has been shut down when the other team has a good pitcher on the mound so not so sure how it all would translate to MLB.  Still it makes you wonder.

Always loved Prato.  Lot's of things to like about his game especially in a utility role but that area is pretty blocked right now as well.  Just gotta keep playing well and the HR's have to help his cause.

[RD Wussow]

Love the report...any comment on you believe Andrew Morris in Ft. Myers is doing so far? E.g., any predictions where he might be next year? Rollie Wussow

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

They've got Solano and Farmer and Castro to play 3B. They're just bringing up another bat. 

Then I hope they play him and give him a chance to make a difference. 

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

Always loved Prato.  Lot's of things to like about his game especially in a utility role but that area is pretty blocked right now as well.  Just gotta keep playing well and the HR's have to help his cause.

I don't think the Twins see Prato as a prospect. He hit .171 in more at bats in Wichita this year. Very much like Shuffield last year, they just move him to wherever they need him. Like Shuffield, he oddly goes and hits way better at AAA than he did at the lower level. Still think the Twins move him down if they need roster space with the Saints rather than up to the Twins when a utility guy is needed.

[Major League Ready]

4 hours ago, Dman said:

You look at Stevenson's stats from when he was with Washington and he has always been a good hitter.  Doesn't look like he has the greatest arm for center but he runs really, really well.  Sure seems like he could be an option at the MLB level especially with the way is playing right now. 

Kinda wish some of these guys that are playing well at AAA could get a chance but even though their stats are elite that group has been shut down when the other team has a good pitcher on the mound so not so sure how it all would translate to MLB.  Still it makes you wonder.

Always loved Prato.  Lot's of things to like about his game especially in a utility role but that area is pretty blocked right now as well.  Just gotta keep playing well and the HR's have to help his cause.

I have only seen Stevenson play a couple times so I am pretty much looking at his stats and 70 grade speed.  The speed suggests he should be decent defensively.  I look at the numbers and he hit really well in small samples in 2019 and 2020 at the ML level and then fell flat in 2021 but it was only 213 ABs.   If he keeps us this pace you have to believe he gets a shot or perhaps traded to someone else who wants to give him a shot.  

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Does this mean that Wallner will play 3rd base?

No, it looks like Wallner is up to keep the bench warm.

[Seth Stohs]

6 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

I don't think the Twins see Prato as a prospect. He hit .171 in more at bats in Wichita this year. Very much like Shuffield last year, they just move him to wherever they need him. Like Shuffield, he oddly goes and hits way better at AAA than he did at the lower level. Still think the Twins move him down if they need roster space with the Saints rather than up to the Twins when a utility guy is needed.

Prato is a prospect who has worked his way up the system. Shuffield is not.