Twins Minor League Report (7/20): A Little Bit of Everything

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins farm system had a little bit of everything today with some strong pitching performances as well as a few notable days at the plate. Check them all out withing.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Juan Mendez reinstated from the 7 day IL by Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 6, Omaha 5
Box Score
Brent Headrick was on the bump tonight for the Saints and he turned in somewhat of a mixed bag. Despite allowing just a single run on one hit, he also had no strikeouts and issued four free passes.

Rehabbing Twins infielder Jorge Polanco made an appearance in the field, playing second base, and he batted in the two-hole. Omaha got ahead in the second inning when former Twins infielder Jermaine Palacios drove in Brewer Hicklen. He then doubled the lead with his ninth homer of the season, a fifth inning solo shot.

Trevor Larnach put the Saints on the board in the sixth inning with his eighth homer of the year, and that power is something Minnesota would like to see more of.

During the seventh inning St. Paul took the lead, adding again with some power. Andrew Bechtold’s ninth homer scored Jair Camargo before Kyle Garlick doubled home both Alex De Goti and Austin Martin. Now up 5-2, the Saints were in a good position.

After allowing a run to Omaha in the eighth inning, St. Paul responded with Garlick’s second double of the game. The ninth inning two-bagger brought home recently promoted Ernie Yake and made it a 6-3 game. Omaha answered with two runs in the ninth despite having two outs, but Patrick Murphy slammed the door before the tying run could be scored.

Martin had two hits on the night as did Garlick. Polanco went 0-for-3, with a walk.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Amarillo 1
Box Score
David Festa went tonight for the Wind Surge, and despite lasting only three innings, he was great. The Twins prospect allowed only two hits and gave up a single walk while striking out six on the evening.

Getting on the board first, Wichita loaded the bases in the first inning and Aaron Sabato drew a walk allowing Yunior Severino to stroll across the plate. In the seventh inning Severino launched his 18th homer of the season, and the eighth inning saw Jake Rucker send a two-run shot to left center, bringing home Yoyner Fajardo as well.

Up 4-0, Wichita was on cruise control. Denny Bentley and Regi Grace both worked scoreless appearances for the Wind Surge, shutting things down and keeping the lead in tact. Alex Scherff did give up a run in the ninth, but that's where this one ended.

Severino finished with three hits on the day while Fajardo and Rucker both had two of their own.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 9, Peoria 3
Box Score

The Kernels sent C.J. Culpepper to the mound tonight and he turned in five innings of shutout baseball. The Cedar Rapids starter allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four and keeping his ERA at 0.00.

Cedar Rapids scored the game’s first run when Emmanuel Rodriguez raced home on a first inning wild pitch. THey added in the fourth inning after Andrew Cossetti blasted his fourth dinger, this one a grand slam, scoring Ben Ross, Jorel Ortega, and Misael Urbina.

In the fifth inning Cedar Rapids tacked on again when Ross ripped a double to bring home Kala’i Rosario, and Noah Cardenas singled in Ross. Up 7-0, this one looked to be in the bag. Peoria did plate two in the sixth inning on a home run, but Keoni Cavaco erased one with his fourth home run of the year, a sixth inning solo shot.

Peoria clawed back with a run in the seventh inning, but Cedar Rapids plated another on an Ortega sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to score Noah Miller. The tilt ended without ever being close.

Rodriguez recorded three hits while Ben Ross had two of his own on the evening.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 11, Bradenton 7 (F/10)
Box Score
Jose Olivares took the ball tonight for Fort Myers, and while he only worked 4 2/3 innings, he gave up no runs on two hits and four walks. Working around the damage, Olivares struck out eight on the night.

The Mighty Mussels took a first inning lead when Ricardo Olivar recorded his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot. They then added two more when Rafael Cruz blasted a two-run shot to left center in the second inning. Gregory Duran scored on the play and it was a 3-0 game.

In the fourth inning, Duran homered, and his third of the season was a solo blast to make it 4-0. Bradenton didn’t find the scoreboard until the seventh inning, and they were able to plate just a single run. Fort Myers answered with a Cruz single in the eighth inning that scored Kyle Schmidt and Duran. A 6-1 game at this point, it appeared to be a rout.

Deivis Nadal was not satisfied with the effort and blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to bring the Marauders within one. Despite being outhit 13-5, they were within striking distance. Ricardo Velez then gave up a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth allowing Bradenton to tie things up at six.

Needing extras to sort everything out, Fort Myers made use of the inherited runner and then some. Schmidt’s single plated Dylan Neuse before Cruz drove home Schmidt with a single of his own. Yohander Martinez drove a sacrifice fly to score Duran, and Carson McCusker singled home Cruz. Before the inning wrapped up, Rubel Cespedes singled home Olivar and it was an 11-6 lead. Fort Myers did give one back in the bottom half, but their lead was far too much to overcome.

McCusker, Cespedes, Schmidt, Martinez, and Olivar grabbed a pair of hits with Duran netting three and Cruz grabbing four. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Pirates 8, FCL Twins 7
Box Score
It was Brayan Medina’s day on the mound, he of the Taylor Rogers trade to San Diego. Going five innings, Medina allowed just two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. He did strike out four.

After trailing initially, the Twins scored on a bases loaded walk from Jose Rodriguez during the third inning. Alec Sayre came home, and then Isaac Pena scored on a wild pitch. Allowing another run in the bottom half, the Twins replicated their run in the fourth inning. This time Jankel Ortiz drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Endy Rodriguez. Andres Centeno then scored on Sayre’s at bat.

In the fifth inning it was Yasser Mercedes making his mark. A longball for his fifth homer of the year made this a 5-2 game, and a Rodriguez double brought home Daniel Pena pushing the score to 6-2.

Heading to the ninth, the Pirates had nearly come all the way back making it just a one-run game. Thankfully Rodriguez singled in Pena to provide necessary breathing room as the Pirates closed the gap to one again in the bottom of the ninth. Needing to close it out, Bryan Acuna made a throwing error allowing two Pirates runs to score, and the Twins found themselves getting walked off.

Rodriguez’s four hit day was just a home run shy of the cycle. He accounted for half of the team’s hits.

DOMINICAN DAILY
DSL Giants Black 18, DSL Twins 13
Box Score
It was one of those days in the Dominican Summer League where both teams erupted for a plethora of runs. Cristian Hernandez lasted just three innings as the Twins starter allowing six runs on three hits and four walks.

Despite scoring double-digits, Javier Roman was the only Twins player to hit a home run on the day. Star international free agent signing Ariel Castro went 2-for-6 with a double, pair of runs scored, and three RBI on the day. Roman put up three hits in the losing effort and drove in four runs. Angel Trinidad also had a nice game with three hits, including two doubles.

Hendry Chivilli did play today and was 0-for-4 with two runs on a pair of walks. The teams combined to score 31 runs on 29 hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Rafael Cruz (Fort Myers) - 4-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR(5), K

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) - 1-5, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, R, 3B, BB, K
#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 2-4
#7 - David Festa (Wichita) - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-5, R, 2 K
#10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K
#11 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 1-5, R, RBI, HR(4), K
#16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, BB, K
#17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 3-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR(18)
#19 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 3.0 IP, H, R, ER, 4 BB

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30PM CST) - TBD

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

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[Althebum82]

Oddly, this is Polanco's second rehab assignment this season with the Saints and he has struggled both times.  Last time, though, when promoted he made an immediate positive impact upon his return to the big club so hopefully history will just repeat itself.  It is clear, though, that this time the Twins should not send Julien back down.  Will one play 2B and the other one move to 3B (Polanco does have some experience but it was 7 years ago and he is playing 2B/DH so far on rehab)?  Can Buxton finally play defense so that Julien can DH?

[FlyingFinn]

Anyone know why Festa is getting the Raya treatment lately (and it seems some other starters are also throwing less pitches per game now)? 3 great innings, 50 pitches and he is done. Seems like last year he was throwing 5 or 6 innings at this time of year. Equally great job by Bentley and Grace in relief though.

[Doctor Wu]

The Kernels sent C.J. Culpepper to the mound tonight and he turned in five innings of shutout baseball. The Cedar Rapids starter allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four and keeping his ERA at 0.00.

Best stat of the day! 

[Doctor Wu]

It was Brayan Medina’s day on the mound, he of the Taylor Rogers trade to San Diego. Going five innings, Medina allowed just two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. He did strike out four.

Thanks for that reminder! I had forgotten that we got more than Paddack and Pagan in that trade. It could still turn out in our favor, especially if Paddack bounces back successfully from TJ later this season. And hey, this Medina might turn into something too. 

[Doctor Gast]

I've been a big fan of Richardo Olivar, a catcher that can play anywhere in the OF, that leads off, strong arm, nice swing, gets on base & steal bases. He had a great season last year and figured he'd be slow to acclimate to pitcher dominating Florida league. He was a little slow but is doing pretty well with a 104 TB.

I finally saw some clips of Olivar from Tom's podcast. He was pretty impressive defensively. Making heads up plays and quick athletic plays that a traditional catcher wouldn't come close to make. I'm sure he still has a lot to learn but he has the tools to become an excellent catcher.

[roger]

Good seeing Martin with 2 hits for the Saints.  Also interesting that he was in center field.  Always get a smile when I see Palacios in a game against one of our minor league teams.  Trading him even up for Odorizzi however many years ago was a fantastic trade.  Which was the better trade with Tampa Bay, Palacios for Odorizzi or Cruz for Ryan?

Also good seeing ERod with another big 3-4 night, as the Kernels just keep on winning.  Keep'em coming young man.  They won the first half.  Are they also in first during the second half?

[2wins87]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Anyone know why Festa is getting the Raya treatment lately (and it seems some other starters are also throwing less pitches per game now)? 3 great innings, 50 pitches and he is done. Seems like last year he was throwing 5 or 6 innings at this time of year. Equally great job by Bentley and Grace in relief though.

Partly, pitching in the futures game messed up his schedule.  I would have expected him to be closer to normal by now though.

He is still very lanky so maybe they do want to protect him in the same way as Raya.

[Cornholio]

4 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

The Kernels sent C.J. Culpepper to the mound tonight and he turned in five innings of shutout baseball. The Cedar Rapids starter allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four and keeping his ERA at 0.00.

Best stat of the day! 

Seems like we should be talking about CJ Culpepper more. Awesome start to his pro career.

[jmlease1]

Severino is having a terrific season; the Ks are still a little worrisome, but ever since moving up to High A he's really shown his power potential. If there's room for him to play consistently in AAA, I'd like to see what he could do up a level.

Happy to see Austin Martin get a couple of hits, but even happier to see him playing. Hope his health stays good. He's had some rotten luck, but I believe in his talent.

Cossetti seems to have settled in at Cedar Rapids just fine. He's a very interesting prospect to me: he's never going to hit national lists because of age, but if his hit tool continues to play and he can be a viable catcher...that's a nice player to have coming along in the system. He's looking like someone who is in AA next season, and that's excellent news.

[Althebum82]

16 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Oddly, this is Polanco's second rehab assignment this season with the Saints and he has struggled both times.  Last time, though, when promoted he made an immediate positive impact upon his return to the big club so hopefully history will just repeat itself.  It is clear, though, that this time the Twins should not send Julien back down.  Will one play 2B and the other one move to 3B (Polanco does have some experience but it was 7 years ago and he is playing 2B/DH so far on rehab)?  Can Buxton finally play defense so that Julien can DH?

Today Rocco stated that Polanco will be getting reps at 3B while on assignment, and that they do not intend to hurry his return.