Twins Minor League Report (8/14): Lopez, Chivilli Lead DSL to Wins, Winokur Leads FCL to Win

[Seth Stohs]

It's Monday. Brandon Winokur continues to rake early in his pro career. Wins have been difficult to come by this season for the DSL Twins, but the got two on Monday! 

Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Sunday. 
   Minnesota Twins: 62-58
   St. Paul Saints: 66-47 
   Wichita Wind Surge: 47-60
   Cedar Rapids Kernels: 66-42
   Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-56
   FCL Twins: 21-27
   DSL Twins: 14-33 

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

TRANSACTIONS
With Brent Headrick returning to the Saints, Carlos Luna has been returned to Wichita.
Fort Myers placed infielder Kamron Willman on the injured list.
RHP Pierce Banks was released by the Twins. He had been pitching in the FCL.
RHP Orlando Rubio was released by the Twins. He has been in the Dominican Summer League. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 5, FCL Braves 13 
Box Score
Brandon Winokur just keeps raking in the FCL. In this game, he went 2-for-3. He was hit by a pitch, hit his third double and then hit his fourth home run. 

Unfortunately, the Twins fell behind early. When they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, they were already down 11-0. Jacob Wosinski started and ate this one. He gave up nine runs (just four earned) on seven hits and three walks. Three of the hits were home runs. He had six strikeouts. Yon Landaeta gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Michigan State alum Kyle Bischoff finished the game with three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four batters. 

Anderson Nova went 2-for-4. Jose Rodriguez hit his 10th double of the season. Byron Chourio and Walker Jenkins each went 0-for-4 with a walk. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 6, DSL Reds 1 (completion of suspended game from last week)
Box Score
This game actually started a week ago. However, after one-and-a-half innings, lightning and storms caused the game to be suspended. Because they were scheduled to play again, they finished the suspended game and then played a second game. 

Juan Cota started the original game, and he was able to continue when the game resumed. In total, he gave up just one run on four hits over six innings. He struck out five batters and walked none. Jose Ojo came on and got a three-inning save. He gave up just one hit and had one strikeout.

Before the rains came, Yilber Herrera had led off the game with his second triple of the season. Denyerbe Gervis followed with a sacrifice fly. 

The game was tied at one through five innings. In the top of the sixth, Herrera led off with a single but was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double. Gervis then walked and advanced to third base on a Jayson Bass single. He then scored on a Moises Lopez single. Bass scored on a sacrifice fly by Ewing Matos. 

Lopez provided insurance in the eighth inning as well. Gervis and Bass walked before Lopez uncoiled on a three-run homer that concluded the scoring. Lopez went 2-for-3 with a walk. The homer was his fourth of the season. He had four RBI. 

Bass went 2-for-4 with a walk. 

DSL Twins 8, DSL Reds 6 
Box Score 
In the regularly-scheduled game, the Twins scored four runs in the first inning and then four more runs in the fourth inning. That proved to be just enough in the seven-inning game. 

The first inning began with singles from Ariel Castro and Hendry Chivilli. Dameury Pena reached on an error by the center fielder which allowed both runners to score. Pena advanced to third base on a line-drive single by Moises Lopez. A single by Junior Del Valle drove in Pena from third base. Finally, Juan Hernandez knocked in Del Valle with a double. 

Jose Vasquez started on the mound. He gave up two runs on three hits and three walks. Jose Betancourt came in and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in one inning. He also threw three wild pitches. Christopher Dishmey gave up two runs on three hits and a walkover two innings. He had three strikeouts. 

Because of that, the Twins found themselves down 6-4 going to the bottom of the fourth. Juan Hernandez and Jesus Peraza began the inning with back-to-back singles. Angel Trinidad was hit by a pitch to load the bases. He had to leave the game, replaced by Jayson Bass. After a pitching change, Castro struck out. However, Hendry Chivilli crushed a grand slam to give the Twins their 8-6 lead. 

Alejandro Crisostomo tossed two scoreless innings to finish the win and earn his second save. He gave up just one hit and had one strikeout.  

Chivilli led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his second homer of the season and four driven in. Lopez stayed hot. He went 2-for-3 with his sixth double. Juan Hernandez went 2-for-3 and his double was his third of the year. Jesus Peraza went 2-for-3. Ariel Castro went 2-for-4.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Moises Lopez (DSL Twins) - 4-for-6, BB, 2B(6), HR(4), R, 4 RBI, 2K
Pitcher of the Day – Juan Cota (DSL Twins) - 6 IP, 4 H, R, 0 BB, 5 K.

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. The rankings will again be updated soon. You can help us by providing your rankings in this fun-to-use tool.

#2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 0-for-4, BB, R, K
#13 - Brandon Winokur (FCL Twins) - 2-for-3, HBP, 2B(3), HR(4), 2 R, 2 RBI,
#20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-for-4, 2B(10), R, RBI,  

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (4-5, 4.14 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (4-3, 3.50 ERA)  
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - TBD vs Minnesotan Nate Peterson.
Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (4:00 PM CST) - TBD
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (5:05 PM CST) - TBD 
DSL Angels @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Winokur is really off to a fantastic start. I expected more early struggles with the bat from him.

[tony&rodney]

38 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Winokur is really off to a fantastic start. I expected more early struggles with the bat from him.

Some high school kids are exposed to very good pitching, which gives them a solid base from which to begin their careers. The trick is for these young players to stay within themselves with a disciplined approach. That is more difficult, especially for a young athlete who has had a ton of success. Winokur is having some fun right now - good to see/read about.

[Dman]

Not sure where I read it but I thought Winokur was likely gonna take time to get to his game power and was more of a power over hit type player.  Right now I think he might be more impressive than Jenkins in a SSS.  4 Home Runs already for an 18 year old first pro exposure playing against pitchers much older than he is.  I kind of expected a Cavaco type start so he has exceeded my expectations by a long shot.

He wasn't in many draft top 100 lists that I saw either except for MLB.COM which is another reason I thought he might be more of a project.  Throw in the fact it sounds like he can play short right now and his versatility is Lewis like.  Really excited about this kids potential as his only question mark was the bat and that looks better than advertised to me so far.

[twinstalker]

It's really sad that Charlee Soto is #6 before he's done anything.  But that's the state of the Twins org right now.  Wallner (#5) has graduated, and Raya has done very little to deserve #4, so I'm imagining Soto moves up.  And I can't argue when he does.  

[Doctor Wu]

I'll add a big "YES!" to the other posts that are impressed with Winokur so far. As noted, it often takes time for some of these high school picks to adjust to the pros, but Winokur is doing mighty fine thus far. Very happy to have him in the organization. 

[Steve Lein]

11 hours ago, Dman said:

Not sure where I read it but I thought Winokur was likely gonna take time to get to his game power and was more of a power over hit type player.  Right now I think he might be more impressive than Jenkins in a SSS.  4 Home Runs already for an 18 year old first pro exposure playing against pitchers much older than he is.  I kind of expected a Cavaco type start so he has exceeded my expectations by a long shot.

He wasn't in many draft top 100 lists that I saw either except for MLB.COM which is another reason I thought he might be more of a project.  Throw in the fact it sounds like he can play short right now and his versatility is Lewis like.  Really excited about this kids potential as his only question mark was the bat and that looks better than advertised to me so far.

Winokur is going to be an interesting one to follow. He's a big kid already, and he's only 18 so I suspect he's going to get even taller. I like that he plays SS and the athleticism is definitely there, but in terms of the position, he's pretty much already outgrown it (think Oneil Cruz on the Pirates, the tallest SS in major league history at 6'7"). So a few of things he has no control over working against him there, but he's playing in the outfield already too. Definitely a great start!

[Dman]

57 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

Winokur is going to be an interesting one to follow. He's a big kid already, and he's only 18 so I suspect he's going to get even taller. I like that he plays SS and the athleticism is definitely there, but in terms of the position, he's pretty much already outgrown it (think Oneil Cruz on the Pirates, the tallest SS in major league history at 6'7"). So a few of things he has no control over working against him there, but he's playing in the outfield already too. Definitely a great start!

Agree odds are slim he plays short long term but he does have the tools to play there as he has plus speed and a plus arm.  I haven't seen in action yet so don't know how he sets for throws or how natural he might look there defensively but he has the tools to play there IMO.  Right field would also be a good use of his tools since he runs well and a plus arm.

I shouldn't get too excited about the kid as this is just a small blip stat wise and the K rate and lack of walks is still concerning but he has impressive power for an 18 year old.