Twins Minor League Report (8/23): Garlick Roasts Storm Chasers with Five Hits

[Seth Stohs]

Kyle Garlick and Patrick Murphy had great games for the Saints. The Wind Surge got great pitching, and Alex Isola remains on a huge roll. Cedar Rapids saw an unlikely source lead their offense. There was a pitcher's duel in Fort Myers. Find out what happened in the Twins organization on Wednesday. 

Image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Garlick signed a guaranteed contract to avoid arbitration before this season. Near the end of spring training, he was DFAd and outrighted to the Saints. He has played 14 games with the Twins, and when he was DFAd a second time, he decided to remain in the organization. Last week, the Twins claimed outfielder Jordan Luplow whose skill set is incredibly similar to Garlick's. On Wednesday night, Garlick reminds us that he doesn't want to be (and shouldn't be) forgotten. 

The short-season affiliates’ seasons came to an end on Tuesday. Here are the records of the Twins and their six affiliates through games on Wednesday. 

   Minnesota Twins: 65-62
   St. Paul Saints: 70-51
   Wichita Wind Surge: 53-62
   Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-44
   Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 57-59
   FCL Twins: 25-29 (season complete)
   DSL Twins: 14-37 (season complete)  

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

TRANSACTIONS
-As we learned on Tuesday night, 2023 first-round pick, outfielder Walker Jenkins, was promoted to Low-A Fort Myers on Wednesday. He is expected to be in the lineup on Thursday.
-Lefty Develson Aria and infielder Kamron Willman were transferred to the Development List of Fort Myers.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 6, Omaha 4
Box Score
Kyle Garlick had five hits to help lead the Saints to a two-run win in Nebraska. 

The Saints got off to a fast start. Andrew Stevenson started the game with a double and advanced to third on a throwing error. Austin Martin walked and then stole second base. Garlick ripped a single to center to score Stevenson. Brooks Lee followed with a single that drove in Martin with the second run. Garlick scored on a ground out. 

In the fifth inning, the Saints added another run. Anthony Prato doubled Garlick, who singled, to third base. Garlick scored on a Trevor Larnach sacrifice fly. That gave the Saints a 4-1 lead. Omaha came back and tied the game at 4-4 after eight frames. 

However, the Saints responded in the top of the ninth. With one out, Stevenson got on with a bunt single and his 41st stolen base advanced him to second base. After a pop out, Kyle Garlick came through again with an RBI double. Brooks Lee blooped a single to right field to drive Garlick in with the sixth run. 

Kyle Garlick went 5-for-5 with his 17th double. Andrew Stevenson went 3-for-5 with his 23rd double. Brooks Lee went 2-for-5. Anthony Prato went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 21st double. 

Blayne Enlow served as the Opener. He gave up a hit, walked one, and struck out three batters in two scoreless innings. Patrick Murphy came on and worked the next five innings. He was charged with two runs on three hits (two solo homers). He struck out nine batters. Kody Funderburk came on for the eighth inning and gave up a two-run homer that tied the game at four. However, he worked a scoreless ninth inning. So he had a blown save but then improved to 4-1. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Arkansas 1
Box Score
The Wind Surge scored in four different innings, and they received some great pitching throughout this game to score a really nice win. 

David Festa’s season in Double-A has been filled with ups and downs, but his start on Wednesday night was definitely a positive. The Twins representative in the Futures Game this year gave up one run on just two hits over five innings. He had seven strikeouts without any walks. 

At that point, the bullpen came on and three pitchers each recorded four outs and kept Arkansas off the scoreboard. Lefty Aaron Rozek and right-hander Taylor Floyd each had two strikeouts. Alex Scherff struck out three batters and earned his fourth save. 

This is your Alex Isola Appreciation paragraph. On Wednesday, Isola went 3-for-4 with three RBI. He has now hit in 10 of his past 11 games. He has had seven multi-hit games including five games with three hits. In those 11 games, he is 22-for-42 and has hit .524/.580/.929 (1.509) with two doubles, five homers, and 16 RBI. He has seven strikeouts and just six walks. 

Isola got the Wichita scoring started in the first inning when he drove in Seth Gray with a single. The Surge’s second run came on a wild pitch. In the seventh inning, Isola drove in Tanner Schobel with a single to make it 3-1. The Wind Surge added two insurance runs in the ninth inning. The first came when Yoyner Fajardo scored on a wild pitch. And, of course, it was Isola who drove in the team’s final run with another single to score Gray. 

So, Alex Isola went 3-for-5. Seth Gray was 2-for-4 with a walk. Jake Rucker went 2-for-5. Tanner Schobel walked three times.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 4
Box Score
The Kernels bats were back on Wednesday night. They had three innings in which they scored more than one run. 

However, let’s start on the mound. Andrew Morris improved to 4-1 since joining the Kernels. He gave up three runs on nine hits and a walk. He had a walk with two strikeouts. Jordan Carr gave up one run on two hits (one was a solo homer) over three innings. He had three strikeouts to drop his season ERA to 1.48. John Stankiewicz worked a perfect ninth inning to shut the door. 

The Kernels fell behind 3-0 after two innings. In the top of the third, Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in two runs with his eighth double. 

It’s been a tough year for the recently-turned-20 Jose Salas. He came into the season hitting just .167 this season with the Kernels. Recently, his 17-year-old brother Ethan, who signed with the Padres in January, was promoted to Double-A. Jose Salas remains a solid prospect. He is very young for the High-A level, and he is a prospect that fans should not give up on. In this game, he went 3-for-4 with his 10th and 11th doubles, and he also stole his 18th base. It would sure be nice for him to end the season strong. 

Kyler Fedko went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fifth double. He stole his fourth base. Noah Miller went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. 

As you know, we have a sister site called North Side Baseball which covers the Chicago Cubs organization. South Bend is the High-A affiliate of the Cubs. Here is a quick look at how the North Side Baseball Cubs Top 20 Prospects in this game did in this game.

#3 Matthew Shaw - 1-for-3, HBP
#5 Kevin Alcantara - 1-for-4, K
#11 Moises Ballesteros - 1-for-4, K
#12 James Triantos - 2-for-4, 2 RBI

MUSSEL MATTERS
Daytona 3, Fort Myers 1 
Box Score
There was a pitchers duel in Fort Myers on Wednesday nights. Through seven innings, the score was tied at 1-1. Unfortunately, the Tortugas scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. 

Jack Noble got the start and gave up one run on five hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out two batters. Sam Perez came on and struck out three batters over two scoreless, hitless innings. Juan Mendez pitched the final two innings and gave up those runs. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out five batters. 

The Mussels had seven hits and walked four times. Danny De Andrade went 2-for-4. He also stole his 16th base. Rafael Cruz was also 2-for-4 and drove in the Mussels’ lone run. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Kyle Garlick (St. Paul) - 5-for-5, 2B(17), 3 R, 2 RBI. 
Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 72 pitches, 48 strikes (66.7%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. 

#1 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2 RBI, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(8), 2 RBI, 2K
#6 - David Festa (Wichita) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 B, 7 K, 72 pitches, 48 strikes (66.7%)
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, SB(10)
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 3 BB, R,
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 3 K 
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2B(25), 3 K, OF Assist.
#17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, R, K, SB(16)

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (4-2, 5.01 ERA)
Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-0, 2.08 ERA)  
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.42 ERA)
Daytona @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 9.72 ERA) 

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

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[dukie034]

Do you know if the FCL players will compete against other teams in the fall instructional league? If so, when does that start?

[Doctor Wu]

Thanks for the encouraging report on Jose Salas. As you noted, he's young for the league, and still gaining some much needed experience and confidence. A strong finish for him this season would certainly be nice!

[FlyingFinn]

Has to feel good for Salas to have a 3 hit game. Miller continues his hot August but he's probably not catching Isola for hitter of the month. And Festa is really having better games in August as well.

[Dman]

You don't see many 5 hit nights ever so congrats to Garlick on a dialed in night.  Stevenson continues to be a catalyst for that team and the Saint's bats are hard to hold down in general.

Miller with a .789 OPS for August so far.  He has never had an .800 OPS month I don't believe so that would be a huge accomplishment for a 20 year old at High A and a great way to finish off his year.

I was surprised to see Festa pitch so well. He looked more like himself after they gave him some rest down the stretch.  Would be nice to see him finish strong as he looks like the only arm other than Varland that might be able to help the Twins next year.

Also nice to see De Andrade collect a few more hits.  It looks like he will move up a level next year for sure given how well he has done at A ball this year.  He and Olivar had been the best bats on that team most of the season until some recent draft reinforcement's. Personally I think Olivar could have moved up mid season but with the catcher backlog at High A there just wasn't room for him to catch there and that team is pretty loaded at every position right now.

[roger]

Question, Seth.  Could Murphy be an answer for the Twins bullpen?  Or is it more likely that Varland will be moved into the bullpen a few weeks from now?

Thanks for the report.  Looking forward to seeing how Jenkins does now that he is in A- ball.

[RpR]

Did AAA teams, so connected to the Twins, ever play heads-up games against each other in the past?

 

It would be fascinating to see the Twins go against the Saints, if, Gardenhire could get Baldelli to put Julien and Lewis with the Saints for that game and see how badly the Saints beat the Twins.😁

Next spring, I would not be surprised to see Stevenson and Garlic with the Twins.

I would bet Gordon, Larnach and Celestino's ship for days with the Twins has probably sailed.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 more walks for Martin and a steal .346/.479/.618  slash line for August.   A couple more weeks and we may see him or Stevenson called up.  

[RpR]

8 hours ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

2 more walks for Martin and a steal .346/.479/.618  slash line for August.   A couple more weeks and we may see him or Stevenson called up.  

Not likely, no place for Stevenson, and despite all the brouhaha for Martin, wishful thinking.

Unless the Twins have anothe Sept. collapse, then, horses are out of the barn.

[gman]

Brooks Lee has hit in 11 of his last 12 games, and 12 of 15 overall with St Paul. Doesn't look like 3A pitchers have his number.

[mikelink45]

I have wondered why we chose Luplow over Garlick.  And why Luplow has hit both 3 and 4 in various games. 

[DocBauer]

Good day on the farm. 

I'd love to see Stevenson back for St Paul next year for depth and questions about CF and depth since there are uncertainties about Kepler's option, even though I suspect said option will be picked up. But he might see greater opportunity elsewhere.

Isola, IMO, is a clone of Williams. He CAN catch, but he's not a catcher prospect. But the bat is starting to play as a 1B/DH as the power is starting to catch up with BA and contact/OB. IF the CATCHING part of his games improves, he might challenge Camargo as the 3rd catcher, but he's still a good half season or more from that. I think Williams and Isola should not be ignored, but it's up to them to force their way as both catchers and bats. I think, right now, they are interesting bats but Camargo is an actual catcher prospect.

I believe Festa is a legitimate prospect, with work to be done. They were aggressive with him this year. And while his performance has been a bit unsteady, he's done very well. I'm worried about the Saints rotation for 2024, but I wouldn't mind Festa getting a month or so at AA to begin next season.

[twinstalker]

Quote

(Jose Salas) is very young for the High-A level...

This narrative is based on a comparison to the league's average age.  That's fine if your goal is to find someone who might someday merit a cup of coffee.  I think what anybody really wants is a prospect who's showing that he's possibly a legit starter/contributor at the MLB level.  So, if you're using age to provide an idea where a prospect is at, the standard is much higher than age vs league average.

Yes, Salas is not old.  This is his age 20 season, but he didn't "just" turn 20, as if it were this week, it was four months ago.  A 20 yr old at A+ has a chance, in general, to be considered a real prospect, but he's already old for certain statuses (such as potential superstar, e.g.), and his ops at age 20 is barely over .500, leading a reasonable evaluator to believe he'll be repeating the league in 2024.  If he doesn't smash the league then and get immediately promoted to AA, his chances of being anything much at all for the Twin are reduced greatly.

Let's not let three hits redefine his season.  My only hope is that the Twins found something in Fort Myers that maybe fixed him.

[DJL44]

23 hours ago, gman said:

Brooks Lee has hit in 11 of his last 12 games, and 12 of 15 overall with St Paul. Doesn't look like 3A pitchers have his number.

But his OPS is still pretty low. He's at the right level for his development.