Twins Minor League Report (8/21): Penultimate Games for DSL, FCL Twins

[Seth Stohs]

There is a reason they are called the "short-season" rookie leagues. On Tuesday, the DSL Twins and FCL Twins will be playing their final games of the season. It's just fun to use the word "penultimate" in the title or in the articles as much as possible. 

Image courtesy of @flprospectpod on Twitter (graphics by Thieres Rabelo)

It’s Monday which means that we only had the short-season teams in action. Both teams have struggled a bit to put numbers in the Win column this year, so the playoffs are out of their reaches. However, for both teams the prospect got innings and got plate appearances. Some unknown players have played well enough that we will want to consider getting to know more about them in the offseason and following more closely next season. 

Unfortunately, the DSL and FCL Twins seasons come to an end after their games on Tuesday. It’s likely a couple of players will join the Mighty Mussels for the rest of their season. Their final game is scheduled for Sunday, September 10th. It’s even possible a player or two jumps up to play with the Kernels through their playoff run. Their first-round Division Series is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 12th. They’ll be on the road for Game 1 before playing Game 2 (and potentially Game 3) in Cedar Rapids. 

Wichita won’t make the playoffs. Their season ends on Sunday, September 17th. Finally, the Saints final game is scheduled for Sunday, September 24th. Obviously they will need to play later in the season so that the Twins can continue to move guys up and down throughout their final month. 

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

     Minnesota Twins: 65-60
     St. Paul Saints: 69-50
     Wichita Wind Surge: 52-61
     Cedar Rapids Kernels: 71-43
     Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 56-58
     FCL Twins: 24-29
     DSL Twins: 14-37 

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

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Francis Peguero was promoted from Wichita to the Saints.
LHP John Wilson and RHP Niklas Rimmel were released by the Twins. They had both been doing solid work out of the Cedar Rapids bullpen.
LHP Gabriel Yanez and RHP Jackson Hicks were promoted from Fort Myers to the Kernels. . 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul (69-50) @ Omaha (52-63)

Pitching Probables
Tuesday: RHP Louie Varland (7-0, 3.79 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Blayne Enlow (2-5, 9.20 ERA)
Thursday:  LHP Brent Headrick (4-2, 5.01 ERA)
Friday: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (4-6, 5.44 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Randy Dobnak (4-6, 4.79 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Louie Varland (7-0, 3.79 ERA) 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita (52-61) @ Arkansas (63-50)

Pitching Probables
Tuesday: RHP Travis Adams (3-8, 5.86 ERA)
Wednesday:  TBD
Thursday: TBD
Friday: TBD
Saturday: TBD 
Sunday: TBD

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids (71-43) @ South Bend (49-63)

Pitching Probables
Tuesday: LHP Christian MacLeod (4-1, 4.39 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Andrew Morris (3-1, 2.57 ERA)
Thursday: RHP Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.42 ERA)
Friday: RHP C.J. Culpepper (2-0, 2.81 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Zebby Matthews (3-2, 4.84 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Kyle Jones (5-5, 4.41 ERA) 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Daytona (50-61) @ Fort Myers (56-58) 

Pitching Probables
Tuesday: RHP Ben Ethridge (2-5, 2.89 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Jack Noble (0-2, 3.15 ERA)
Thursday: RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 9.72 ERA)
Friday: RHP John Klein (1-1, 4.67 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Jose Olivares (2-4, 6.43 ERA) 
Sunday: TBD 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 10, FCL Orioles (7)  
Box Score
Have a day, Daniel Pena! It’s always fun to see young players get an opportunity to move up from the DSL to the FCL. And while they don’t get enough recognition for success, we try to give them their due. Raise your hand if you had heard about FCL Twins catcher Daniel Pena before you read this paragraph. Now put a finger down if you knew he was 1.) 18 years old, 2.) a catcher, and 3.) from Venezuela. 

On Monday, he powered the FCL Twins to a win. He hit two home runs and is now hitting .278/.376/.474 (.850). He has four doubles, five homers, and maybe more impressive, he has 15 walks to go with 14 strikeouts. 

Jose Rodriguez played first base and went 2-for-4 with a walk. Cole Elvis went 2-for-5. Anderson Nova went 2-for-4 with a walk as well. Jankel Ortiz went 1-for-3 with two walks and a double. He scored three runs. 

Walker Jenkins played his first game at a position other than DH. He played in center field. He went 1-for-4 with a walk. He drove in two runs. 

Jacob Wosinski made the start. He gave up four runs on six hits in three innings. He had five walks and struck out four batters. Carlos Gutierrez went the next 3 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on two hits and two walks. He had an impressive nine strikeouts. Yon Landaeta walked three and gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He had two strikeouts. Miguel Olivares got one out, a strikeout, to end the game and record his second save. 

The two teams were supposed to play two games but the second game was canceled. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 7, DSL Yankees Bombers 8 
Box Score
It’s always important to remember that the further a player is from the big leagues, the less important their actual stats are to a player’s potential or ceiling. The Dominican Summer League is six promotions from the big leagues, the lowest level in affiliated baseball. Why is that important to remember? Well, in January, the Twins signed three players to seven-figure signing bonuses. 

  Ariel Castro (OF): .206/.323/.375 (.698) with seven doubles, four triples, four home runs. 
  Hendry Chivilli (IF): .173/.278/.284 (.562) with one double, one triple, two homers. 
  Carlos Silva (Catcher): .196/.328/.277 (.605) with six doubles, one home run. 

While those numbers aren’t good without any context, but the fact is that they are high profile, very athletic and top prospects. Sometimes just as fun as following those players and understanding the above concept is the reality that a lot of times, an unheralded prospect will spend a year or two in the DSL, advance a year at a time, fighting the odds and making their way to the big leagues. Luis Arraez is a good example of that player. Which players could fit that profile from the 2023 DSL Twins roster? How about: 

  Jayson Bass (OF): .308/.406/.378 (.784) with five doubles, a triple and a homer. (22 BB, 24 K)
  Dameury Pena (IF): .382/.453/.496 (.949) with eight doubles, three triples. (14 BB, 13 K)

It’s also possible that it is someone else completely. 

Anyway, to Monday’s game: 

The Twins fell behind early. Through five innings, the Yankees led 8-1. The Twins scored four in the top of the sixth inning and then two runs in the eighth frame to cut it to 8-7. They were unable to add just one more. 

Juan Cota started and was charged with four runs (2 earned) on four hits and a walk. In four innings, he had seven strikeouts. Reynel Garcia came in and gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in  just 1/3 of an inning. Christopher Dishmey  came on and got two strikeouts to end the fifth inning. Jose Vasquez threw the final three innings. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out five batters. 

Ewing Matos went 3-for-4 with his eighth double. Ariel Castro went 2-for-5 with his fourth home run and three RBI. Yilber Herrera walked three times and stole two bases which gives him 10 on the season. . 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Daniel Pena (FCL Twins) - 2-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 5 RBI
Pitcher of the Day – Jose Vasquez (DSL Twins) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 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. 

#2 - Walker Jenkins (FCL Twins) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 RBI.
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-4, BB, 2 R.

MONDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (2-5, 9.85 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Aaron Rozek (2-3, 6.11 ERA)  
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - LHP Christian MacLeod (4-1, 4.39 ERA)
Dayton @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge (2-5, 2.89 ERA)
FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Twins @ DSL Angels (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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[BH67]

The Wind Surge enter today leading their division of the Texas League in the second half. They're not done yet.

[IndianaTwin]

I’m a big fan of “propreantepenultimate,” as in, “The Twins will travel to Chicago in mid-September for the propreantepenultimate series of the regular season.”

[old nurse]

Solid work at the A+ level will still get players released as it requires more than that for a reliever

[nclahammer]

Here's the correct link for the pitcher John Wilson, who was released by Cedar Rapids.  The John Wilson link in the article died in 1980, although that in itself would likely get you released from your team.

[Doctor Wu]

Thanks for another good roundup. One item that surprised me was the mention of Jenkins playing his first game at a position other than DH, in this case center field. Why were they only using him at DH up to this point? And which position does he fit best looking to the future?

[chpettit19]

Is there any word on Jenkins and/or Winokur being guys that get a little extra run in A ball? I'd think maybe Jenkins DHing up until yesterday was them saving his legs a little to extend his season a couple more weeks at the next level up. Would like to see him get challenged in A ball so he knows what to really focus on in instructs and over the winter.

[tgard]

It might be aggressive, but is there a chance any of this year's draftees get moved up to single A after the short season ends? Would be fun to track these guys a few weeks longer 

[Dman]

I don't understand how Wichita keeps winning.  They only have three top 30 prospect's and the top 30 prospect's they have haven't been good ( Schobel, Raya, Festa). It is a Motley collection of over achiever's at this point and seems unlikely to last.  And yet they are in first place in the second half.  Still a month left of games in the second half so far from a guarantee they stay in first place, but to this point they have given themselves a chance. I'll be watching.

[Seth Stohs]

6 minutes ago, Dman said:

I don't understand how Wichita keeps winning.  They only have three top 30 prospect's and the top 30 prospect's they have haven't been good ( Schobel, Raya, Festa). It is a Motley collection of over achiever's at this point and seems unlikely to last.  And yet they are in first place in the second half.  Still a month left of games in the second half so far from a guarantee they stay in first place, but to this point they have given themselves a chance. I'll be watching.

Isn't it weird that their three best players got moved up to St. Paul (Lee, Keirsey, Severino) and the offense has been terrific, led by Alex Isola who is absolutely on fire. 

Pierson Ohl has been really good on the mound too. 

[Seth Stohs]

17 minutes ago, tgard said:

It might be aggressive, but is there a chance any of this year's draftees get moved up to single A after the short season ends? Would be fun to track these guys a few weeks longer 

Teams typically do that with a few players. Maybe one or two of the college pitchers could move up to Fort Myers for the finals weeks. I wouldn't be shocked if Jenkins and Winokur are on Mussels roster. It's a little less likely any would move up to Cedar Rapids... other than maybe Keaschall and Harry who have been at Fort Myers for weeks already. But CR already has a pretty full infield. (I mean, they could have those two replace Keoni Cavaco and Jose Salas for the final week or so, but I'm not sure there's a big benefit to that.) 

[Mike Sixel]

56 minutes ago, tgard said:

It might be aggressive, but is there a chance any of this year's draftees get moved up to single A after the short season ends? Would be fun to track these guys a few weeks longer 

Not aggressive at all. Many teams have already done this. If the Twins don't, I'll be disappointed. 

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I don't understand how Wichita keeps winning.  They only have three top 30 prospect's and the top 30 prospect's they have haven't been good ( Schobel, Raya, Festa).

Lee, Severino and Keirsey played some of their best baseball at the end of July. After they left, others stepped up (Isola, Sabato, Rucker and Soularie all over 1.000 OPS in the past 15 days and the pitchers as well - Ohl, Grace, Nowlin, Peguero, and Festa have pitched their best of the year at Wichita suddenly with a combined 9-1 record and ERA under 2.00). Maybe it's the unconscious mind thinking, 'our best guys are gone and we can no longer rely on them to carry this team'?? Have to give some credit to the coaches to improve these guys as well. Finally, other teams have also moved up their best players.

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Is there any word on Jenkins and/or Winokur being guys that get a little extra run in A ball? I'd think maybe Jenkins DHing up until yesterday was them saving his legs a little to extend his season a couple more weeks at the next level up. Would like to see him get challenged in A ball so he knows what to really focus on in instructs and over the winter.

Guys who should move up

Endy Rodriguez - he's 20 and killing the rookie league

Jenkins

Winokur

Daniel Pena can be the bullpen catcher

Kyle Bischoff