Twins Minor League Report (7/19): Several Top 20 Twins Prospects Have a Big Day

[Seth Stohs]

We have an updated Top 20 Twins Prospects rankings now available, and several from that list had big games. Check out all that happened in the Twins farm system on Wednesday. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Tanner Schobel)

Before we start talking about Wednesday's games, here are the updated records for the Twins six affiliates. 
St. Paul Saints: 54-37 
Wichita Wind Surge: 35-50
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 52-34 
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 42-44
FCL Twins: 14-15
DSL Twins: 7-23

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

TRANSACTIONS
It’s unusual, but there were no transactions in the organization on Wednesday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 9, Omaha 4
Box Score
The Saints scored in four of the first five innings, but the four-run fifth inning is what made this a rather relaxed win. 

Let’s start with the pitching though. Louie Varland was back on the mound to start this one. The St. Paul native gave up two runs on five hits over six innings. He had three strikes and did not issue a walk.

Aaron Sanchez tossed two scoreless innings before giving up a two-run homer in the ninth. But he earned the three-inning save. 

The Saints got a run in the first inning on a Chris Williams double. In the second, Austin Martin walked with the bases loaded to give the team a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning, it was a double by Andrew Stevenson that scored Ernie Yake. 

Then came the fifth inning. With a 3-1 lead, Mark Contreras ripped a two-run homer. It was his ninth blast of the year. Incredibly, Austin Martin had another bases-loaded walk which was followed by a wild pitch to score Alex De Goti. The 7-1 lead was a great thing.

In the top of the ninth, Martin came to the plate with runners on second and third, and he added his third RBI, this time on a sacrifice fly. A couple batters later, it was Williams that had a bases loaded walk to score the Saints ninth run. 

Williams went 2-for-3 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and his ninth double. He also stole a base for the third time this year. Andrew Stevenson went 3-for-4 with his 15th double. He was also hit by a pitch twice (so was Anthony Prato). He stole his 32nd base of the year. Martin added a third walk in the game as well. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Amarillo 7
Box Score
Going into the seventh inning, this game was tied at two. The Wind Surge scored three runs, but the Sod Poodles countered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. They added a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Surge loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, but a pop out and a ground out later, the game was complete. 

Brooks Lee remained hot. In this game, he went 3-for-4 with a walk, his league-leading 30th double, and his 10th home run. 

Tanner Schobel made his Double-A debut. His first at-bat came in the first inning with an RBI single. He went 2-for-4 in the game with two RBI. DaShawn Keirsey walked twice in the game. 

Chad Donato started and gave up two runs on five hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out five batters. Curtis Taylor came in and struck out the side in the sixth frame. Taylor Floyd came in to start the seventh inning. However, he gave up four runs on four hits (including a three-run homer). He got one out on a strikeout but he was replaced by Hunter McMahon who got the final two outs of the seventh and pitched the eighth inning as well. He was charged with a run on two hits and a walk. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 6
Box Score
Let’s start at the end. This was a back-and-forth game, but as the Kernels came in to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, they were down by a score of 6-5 to Peoria. Mikey Perez led off the inning with a walk and with one out advanced to second on a wild pitch. Noah Miller then walked. That brought up Emmanuel Rodriguez who put together a picturesque swing and drilled a liner over the shortstop and into the left-center field gap. Perez scored the tying run, and Miller advanced to third. Rodriguez dove headfirst into second with a double. 

That brought Kala’i Rosario to the plate. He got jammed on a fastball, but because the infield was in, it dropped just beyond the second baseman which allowed Miller to score the game-winning run. And then the Kernels rejoiced. 

The Kernels got things going on the scoreboard in the second inning on a strange play. With the bases loaded, Andrew Cossetti drilled a single to left field. Jorel Ortega scored. Noah Cardenas scored on an error by the left fielder. Then when the pitcher backed up the ball, he made a throw that went quite errant and allowed Cossetti to score as well. A Little League Home Run! 

Cory Lewis made the afternoon start for the Kernels. The righty gave up three runs on three hits and two walks over five innings. He had two strikeouts. Mike Paredes came on and worked the next three innings. He was charged with three runs (2 earned) on three hits. He had five strikeouts without any walks. John Stankiewicz tossed a scoreless top of the ninth inning to take the Win. 

Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with two walks and the clutch double, his sixth of the year. Cossetti went 1-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 9
Box Score 
The Mighty Mussels took advantage of some wildness early in the game to grab a 4-0 lead after one-and-a-half innings. Unfortunately Ft. Myers was equally - ok, even more - wild as the Marauders. 

Miguelangel Boadas started and gave up three runs on two hits, four walks, and two hit batters in just 2 1/3 innings. Of the seven outs he recorded, five of them came on strikeouts. Samuel Perez came in and stranded an inherited runner. He worked two innings and was charged with three unearned runs on just one hit and one walk. 

Danny Moreno came in with two runners on and both scored. He gave up another run of his own before getting the final two outs of the fifth inning. Gabriel Yanez came in and gave up a solar homer over his 1 2/3 innings of work. Develson Aria got the final four outs, but not before he gave up one more run. Perez, Moreno and Aria each hit a batter as well. 

Ricardo Olivar was the team’s leadoff hitter. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 16th double of the season. Yohander Martinez went 2-for-2 with two walks in the game. Danny De Andrade went 2-for-5. Dylan Neuse drove in two runs on his 10th double of the year. Carson McCusker walked three times, including once with the bases loaded. Rubel Cespedes walked twice, also once with the bases loaded. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitters of the Day – Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(30), HR(10), 3 R, RBI. 
Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 95 pitches, 65 strikes (68.4%) 

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 Top 20 Prospect Rankings have been updated. Click the above link to see who moved up or down, and where the 2023 draft picks slot in.)
#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(30), HR(10), 3 R, RBI
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for3, 2 BB, 2B(6), RBI.
#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 0-for-2, BB, K. 
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 3 BB, 3 RBI, SF
#10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-for-4, HBP, 2 RBI
#16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, K, GW RBI
#17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K. E(11)

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (3-1, 3.81 ERA)
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.03 ERA)
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares (2-3, 6.71 ERA) 
FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Giants Black @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM 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]

Brooks Lee apparently not happy about not being invited to the Futures Game as he is on fire since then. E-Rod great clutch hit and multi-hit game tonight.

[tony&rodney]

Is Brooks Lee getting very comfortable with professional baseball? When should he expect to be pushed to AAA? Could Lee handle MLB pitching? Or do the Twins wait for Lewis to return?

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Is Brooks Lee getting very comfortable with professional baseball? When should he expect to be pushed to AAA? Could Lee handle MLB pitching? Or do the Twins wait for Lewis to return?

Wait for Lewis to return, i assume. Lee has had a good week since returning from the All Star break. Before that, he was very solid, but not knocking at the Triple-A door. Certainly not the big-league door. This week, he's hit for more power, so at this point, seems he could move up to AAA anytime. 

[tony&rodney]

Just an observation - Brooks Lee looks ready for AAA. Watching his at bats this season on numerous occasions this season (milb.com), Lee has turned from softer contact to driving the ball with authority on a consistent basis. I'm not seeing his games in person and thus not fully in tune with his progress, but Lee seems ready for AAA.

[Dman]

25 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Just an observation - Brooks Lee looks ready for AAA. Watching his at bats this season on numerous occasions this season (milb.com), Lee has turned from softer contact to driving the ball with authority on a consistent basis. I'm not seeing his games in person and thus not fully in tune with his progress, but Lee seems ready for AAA.

Lee had some tough BABIP luck the beginning of this season hitting line drives right at guys.  HIs K rate and Walk rate never really wavered the ball just wasn't dropping in as much as hoped.  The more recent Harder contact has helped as well and while doubles are great, home runs are even better and hitting them generally gets you to MLB faster.  Lee has double digit HR's not elite by any stretch but like most of his game rock solid.  Nice to see the numbers finally working in his favor a little bit.

Personally given the consistent approach at AA I think he technically is ready for MLB right now but no reason to hurry him and getting used to a lot of the junk stuff AAA pitchers throw would be a good final test.  Hopefully they move him up in August so that he has a chance to maybe help the team down the stretch or at least early next year.

[Dman]

Schobel not slowing down at AA.  Nice to him off to a good start. He and Lee with 5 of the 7 hits for Wichita last night.  Quite the one, two punch.

Nice to see Varland have his control back.  Not sure if he was over throwing or what the deal was, but he went through a tough stretch.  Hopefully he is back on track now. 

Larnach went 0 for 5 and left 8 men on base last night.  That is not going to help him get called back up.  He did take a walk though so that's good.

Rodriguez has a game changer swing and seems to be back to the hitter he was last year.  A .940 OPS in June and .850 OPS to start July.  That double in the 9th was clutch.

Rosario slumping in July but got the game winning hit.  He hits that ball hard but a lot of outs to deep left.  Needs to get a bit more of the barrel on some of those and his numbers change big time.

Olivar not having the same level of success he had in the FCL but he still is the best hitter on his team except for maybe McCusker who is old for the level.  So far in July he has an .880 OPS.  Taking plenty of walks as well and looks like a well rounded hitter.  Not sure how well he catches but if he can play there his bat really plays up.  

Things are looking up for lot's of bats hoping guys stay hot.

[jishfish]

48 minutes ago, Dman said:

Personally given the consistent approach at AA I think he technically is ready for MLB right now but no reason to hurry him and getting used to a lot of the junk stuff AAA pitchers throw would be a good final test.  Hopefully they move him up in August so that he has a chance to maybe help the team down the stretch or at least early next year.

This is my thought as well. I think maybe once Polanco finishes his rehab assignment in a week or so, Lee will be the one to get the call. I would love for Lee to be in contention for an opening-day roster spot next year, especially with the draft pick compensation if he were to light it up and win rookie of the year. 

I think two months at AAA to end the year would be perfect, especially if we can start getting him some time at 2B/3B. He seems like a guy who might take a month or so to adjust to the MLB level, and as soon as he gets comfortable is just a locked in cog in the lineup. Still can't believe he fell to #8!

[FlyingFinn]

37 minutes ago, Dman said:

Larnach went 0 for 5 and left 8 men on base last night.  That is not going to help him get called back up.

One of the most disappointing players this year. For the last month, he is hitting below the Mendoza line. At this time, the only reason he would get called up ahead of Stevenson is because he is actually on the 40 man roster.

[roger]

Is exciting to see Varland have a good start after too many so-so at best outings.  Expect most big league pitchers have been sent back to AAA to fine-tune their game several times before sticking in a starting rotation.  Doubt Varland's name is written in ink as part of the Twins starting rotation for 2024, but should be one of two or three guys who will provide depth when spring training arrives.

Saw what Lee did last night and was thinking he sure has been hot for awhile.  See all the comments above, yet, no one mentions that exactly a year ago Lee was a brand new draft pick who was signing his contract and getting ready for his professional debut.  Kid has come a long way and sure seems to have a fantastic future.    

 

[jmlease1]

Great to see Brooks Lee on fire like this. He's having a fine season and looking very much like the prospect we want him to be. (30 doubles in 77 games is a LOT. Love it) I go back and forth between promoting him right now. He seems capable of going up another level, but at the same time this is his first full season in pro ball and he's doing great at AA already. I guess this is one of those ones where I'll defer to the development staff and be ok with whatever call they make, whether it's pushing him up to AAA or letting him roll in AA. So far he's doing great, and I'm very happy to see it.

Schobel got off to a nice start. I didn't expect him to be scared of AA, but I'm sure it felt good to get a couple of knocks out the gate. He's been moved fairly aggressively and responded well. very curious to see what his ceiling is as a player.

E-Rod is having an interesting season. I have some concerns about his ability to make consistent contact, but the ball jumps off his bat and he's certainly very willing to take a walk. I suppose the biggest thing he needs is ABs and continued good health. He didn't have a major knee injury, but any surgery sets a player back. I can definitely see why he's so highly regarded as a prospect.

[Steve Lein]

Holy cow, what's the distance on a "solar homer"?! 😉

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Is Brooks Lee getting very comfortable with professional baseball? When should he expect to be pushed to AAA? Could Lee handle MLB pitching? Or do the Twins wait for Lewis to return?

I'll disagree somewhat with Seth's assessment. Lee is ready for everything as a hitter from the left side, certainly triple-A. Would like to see a bit more from him on the right-side, but only 19% of his plate appearances have come from there, so it's not like the difference is unexpected. 

If he's not moved up to triple-A when all the new draftees start getting into game action, I'll have questions.

[Otaknam]

11 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Wait for Lewis to return, i assume. Lee has had a good week since returning from the All Star break. Before that, he was very solid, but not knocking at the Triple-A door. Certainly not the big-league door. This week, he's hit for more power, so at this point, seems he could move up to AAA anytime. 

Lee is a doubles machine, a sign of a good hitter. Now just add a little more loft to those doubles and he’ll be a 25 home run player. 

[Trov]

The only reason Lee will not be up at AAA soon is they organization feels they cannot find regular playing time at the preferred position they want to get him innings at.  In terms of the bat, no reason he should not be moving up. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Trov said:

The only reason Lee will not be up at AAA soon is they organization feels they cannot find regular playing time at the preferred position they want to get him innings at.  In terms of the bat, no reason he should not be moving up. 

Which is odd. It's not like the SS in AAA is going to the majors....is he? Miranda will be the 3B there soon.....but just put Lee at SS there. 

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, Steve Lein said:

Holy cow, what's the distance on a "solar homer"?! 😉

I'll disagree somewhat with Seth's assessment. Lee is ready for everything as a hitter from the left side, certainly triple-A. Would like to see a bit more from him on the right-side, but only 19% of his plate appearances have come from there, so it's not like the difference is unexpected. 

If he's not moved up to triple-A when all the new draftees start getting into game action, I'll have questions.

I agree with this, and I'll note that the International League is much more similar to the MLB in terms of left-handed pitching (at least 25% or so).

The Texas League is weirdly short on LHPs this year, so if they want him to see more lefties a promotion would be the way to do it.

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Lee is a doubles machine, a sign of a good hitter. Now just add a little more loft to those doubles and he’ll be a 25 home run player. 

100% When I'm looking at minor leaguers and prospect rankings and such, one of the first things I look at is doubles... Doubles can turn into homers, and if not, doubles are still a good thing. 

[Doctor Gast]

10 hours ago, Dman said:

Olivar not having the same level of success he had in the FCL but he still is the best hitter on his team except for maybe McCusker who is old for the level.  So far in July he has an .880 OPS.  Taking plenty of walks as well and looks like a well rounded hitter.  Not sure how well he catches but if he can play there his bat really plays up.  

Just watch Olivar play on Tom's podcast. Was very impressed by plays he made due to his quickness & being heads up at catcher.