Twins Minor League Report (8/30): The Twins March for Saints

[Ted Schwerzler]

Fort Myers was still off while waiting out a hurricane on Wednesday, but Byron Buxton and Alex Kirilloff made rehab appearances in St. Paul. David Festa took the mound for his Triple-A debut, and both Cedar Rapids and Wichita sought victories.

 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

TRANSACTIONS

• OF Byron Buxton begins rehab assignment with St. Paul
• 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff begins rehab assignment with St. Paul
• INF Kamron Willman reinstated from the development list by Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 6, Columbus 1
Box Score
Quite possibly the most anticipated Saints game of the 2023 regular season took place on Wednesday night. Not only was prospect David Festa making his Triple-A pitching debut, but Alex Kirilloff was in the lineup rehabbing, and he was joined by Byron Buxton playing centerfield. The outfield action was Buxton’s first in more than a full calendar year as he ramps back up to rejoin Minnesota.

After getting top Guardians prospect Bryan Rocchio to ground out on a broken bat, Festa grabbed his first strikeout when he punched out rehabbing major leaguer, David Fry. Festa popped 97 mph multiple times in the first inning. He got Jonathan Rodriguez, another top 25 prospect for Cleveland, swinging to end the frame.

Watching a strike to kick off the at bat, Buxton lined a single to left field and his rehab assignment started off with success. Kirilloff grounded out to the first baseman, on a ball that should’ve been a double play, and Austin Martin stepped in behind the big leaguers.

Putting more traffic on against Jerad Eickhoff, Jair Camargo ripped a single to left and brought home Kyle Garlick for the game’s first run. The lineup turned over and leadoff hitter Andrew Stevenson continued his strong season with a single to drive in both Anthony Prato and Camargo to make the score 3-0.

In the top of the third inning, Columbus got Festa for a homer before Fry bounced a double off the left center wall. Buxton had his first fielding opportunity, but needed to do little more than play the bounce and throw it back into the infield. Kyle Manzardo finished the inning by sending a lazy fly ball to Buxton, and the Twins centerfielder had his first putout since 2022.

It didn’t take long for the Saints to get the run back. Coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, Camargo brought Kyle Garlick around on a single to push the lead back up to three. Buxton drew a walk in his third plate appearance and loaded the bases for Kirilloff with two outs in the fourth inning. He responded with a 105.5 mph single to bring Camargo home and make it a 5-1 game.

Festa worked the fifth inning and struck out his seventh batter to end the frame. After throwing 91 pitches, his night was over. It was a strong Triple-A debut allowing just one run on four hits and a walk. Festa continued to sit around 95 mph late in the game, and navigated a very good Clippers lineup.

A Brooks Lee double in the fifth inning came on a scary scene as Columbus left fielder Micah Pries went down in a heap tracking the ball. He was eventually carted off and replaced by Chris Roller. The Saints had second and third with no one out. Anthony Prato took his spot in the box and lined a ball back up the middle to score Martin and make it 6-1. Yunior Severino watched strike three on a pitch that just tickled the zone for the ABS system, and Camargo went down swinging leaving runners on first and third.

Ronny Henriquez did a great job in relief of Festa on Wednesday night. Although he did walk a pair, the righty didn't allow a hit and struck out three during three scoreless innings of work. He remains on the 40-man roster and could be an option for Minnesota when rosters expand on Friday. Brent Headrick worked the ninth inning and secured Festa's win.

Buxton finished going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, while Kirilloff went 1-for-5 with an RBI and pair of strikeouts. The Saints had 11 hits Wednesday and were led by Stevenson, Prato, and Camargo.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
San Antonio 9, Wichita 2
Box Score
The Wind Surge went with Jaylen Nowlin for the start on Wednesday. Starting strong, he tailed in the middle innings and wound up allowing six runs on eight hits and a pair of walks. Nowlin also struck out two.

San Antonio struck for four during the third inning. Three singles and a sacrifice fly did a number on Nowlin and put Wichita behind. The Missions plated another in the fourth inning and one in the fifth inning to take a comfortable 6-0 lead.

Wichita got on the board in the seventh inning when Willie Joe Garry Jr. doubled home Alerick Soularie. With Dalton Shuffield standing on third and just one out, the Wind Surge had a threat. Michael Helman lofted a sacrifice fly to bring Shuffield in and it was a 6-2 game. San Antonio grabbed a run back against Miguel Rodriguez in the eighth inning, and the lead was again five.

Facing Sean Mooney in the ninth inning, San Antonio grabbed another pair and pushed the tally to 9-2. Wichita had just five hits, with Soularie accounting for two.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Lake County 2
Box Score
Cory Lewis was on the bump Wednesday night for the Kernels, and he was again looking like the star prospect he has been all year. Turning in five scoreless innings, Lewis scattered seven hits but issued no walks while striking out six. He lowered his ERA to 2.53 in the process.

In case you missed the incredible slow-mo video of his knuckleball on Twitter, feast your eyes on this.

Cedar Rapids jumped out to an early lead when Jorel Ortega blasted his eighth home run of the year. The two-run shot also scored Noah Cardenas. After Lewis’ strong start, John Stankiewicz and Malik Barrington gave back both in the seventh inning.

Emmanuel Rodriguez crushed his seventh triple of the season during the eighth inning, and the three-bagger brought Noah Miller home with just one out. Unfortunately the Kernels couldn’t bring him home, and the one-run lead was the only breathing room for the ninth inning. Jackson Hicks came on looking for his first High-A save. Doing it in style, Hicks sat down big prospects Chase DeLauter and Kahlil Watson before ending it with Dayan Frias.

Cedar Rapids recorded just five hits on Wednesday and Rodriguez was responsible for two of them.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Canceled

Fort Myers and Clearwater will kick off their series tomorrow night after Hurricane Idalia disrupted action earlier this week. Thoughts are with everyone down in the southern tip of Twins Territory.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Jair Camargo (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 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 (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2B(5), BB
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, RBI, 2B(11), 3B(7), 2 K
#6 - David Festa (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
#7 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-3, BB, R
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B(5), BB, K
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 2 BB, K 
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 0-4, K
#19 - Cory Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#20 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 1.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - RHP Louie Varland
San Antonio @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper
Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:30PM CST) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Great game by Festa. Very nice to see Buxton and Kirilloff playing again.

Wow, Cedar Rapids is killing their competition. They started off slow this year with all the young guys at 9-12 if my count is correct. Since then, 68-33!

 

[Patzky]

After the big league game a little good cheer is very welcome.

[Trov]

Luplow and Gallo are counting their days on the roster when Buxton and Kirilloff come back no way are those two still on the roster.  

[Dman]

Nice to see a good debut from Festa looks like the lighter workload has him back in better form.  We are going to need close to ready arms next year and he and Varland look like the only one's ready right now.  Hopefully Raya and Nowlin make the jump next year and those High A arms should be in AA next year so hopefully a few more ready by 2025.  

I really like how Andrew Stevenson looks at the plate.  He seems too good to be at AAA to me, but probably not good enough to hold down a starting job at the MLB level.  Still he would be a good 4th outfielder. I wonder if he moves to KC or Colorado or something next year to see if he can make the 40 man for a team with less talent in center.

The Kernals have a 5 game lead in the second half but Peoria has a much easier schedule.  It is a fair bit of ground to make up but the Kernals need some more wins to win their league in both halves.

[HrbieFan]

Festa legit option for the rotation next year? Does his arsenal project to the big leagues as SP? 

[TwinsDr2021]

15 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Festa legit option for the rotation next year? Does his arsenal project to the big leagues as SP? 

To your first question, I am going to say no, in 22 he pitched 103.2 innings and this year is at 85, so I don't think he has a legit chance of being a starter the whole year. With that said I believe he will be pitch for the Twins next year.

[roger]

25 minutes ago, Trov said:

Luplow and Gallo are counting their days on the roster when Buxton and Kirilloff come back no way are those two still on the roster.  

100% agree with you Trov.  But I have this feeling that the Twins are not going to DFA someone like Gallo with ten or so days left in the season.  Expect there is more likely to be some roster engineering that may, or may not involve Gallo.  And who knows, maybe there will be another injury that will open a slot.

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, HrbieFan said:

Festa legit option for the rotation next year?

No, it took him awhile to conquer AA ball. He will need time in AAA next year, especially to start building on his innings pitched in a season so he is ready for the rotation in 2025. With injuries he may get a few starts with the Twins next year and then head back to the Saints.

[D.C Twins]

Buxton in CF.... LET'S F-ing GO!

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, HrbieFan said:

Festa legit option for the rotation next year? Does his arsenal project to the big leagues as SP? 

As TwinsDr said, he will have an innings limit and they will be careful managing him for his long-term durability. I don't think even think Varland starts next year pencilled into the rotation as I expect they will build similar to this year with the young un-established guys waiting in the wings.

That said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was 7th on the depth chart like Varland was this year, so he could be pretty likely to get at least a few starts for the Twins.

Long term, he's got as good a shot at being a starter as any prospect or recent graduate. I've been pretty high on him since he came out touching 98/99 as a starter in low A last year. He has a three pitch mix and I think all of them should play in the majors.  I already mentioned the fastball which averaged 95 last night, still pretty good late season when velocity tends to be down a bit for most pitching prospects.  He absolutely has the ability to sit around 96 and reach back for 99 when fresh, and hopefully he builds up his endurance over time to do that regularly.

I think his changeup might be his best pitch, and it was working really well last night, racking up 12 whiffs on 21 swings.  He was selling the arm action really well and the Columbus hitters were repeatedly swinging out front and over the top of it.  The slider wasn't featured as heavily, but it should also be at least MLB average, and improving breaking balls has been something the Twins have done pretty well at the major league level.

I think the main knock is that he's still really lanky, and seems like a guy who maybe doesn't put on muscle mass easily.  So far he hasn't had an serious injury issues but I think that's why they've been particularly careful with him so far.

[jmlease1]

look at the beautiful lack of rotation on Lewis' knuckler! Love seeing that. Such a cool and weird pitch. My uncle played minor league ball and took us out on the my local field and threw us a few of them when we were kids. We were about as effective flailing at it as chopping a fly in half with a battle axe. I would love to Lewis continue to refine the pitch and have it be part of his arsenal as he advances. So few people throw it now that there's a real advantage there.

[cmoss84]

I coached KamWillman in high school! I had no idea he was in the Twins organization! Let's go buddy!