Twins Minor League Report (9/3): Wichita Walks it Off

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Wind Surge wrapped up their weekend with a walk-off victory, and Cedar Rapids added by threes late. Walker Jenkins continues to be great, and Brooks Lee added some excitement as well. Check out all of Sunday’s action within.

 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Columbus 14, St. Paul 6 (F/10)
Box Score
Patrick Murphy drew the start Sunday evening for the Saints. He worked 5 2/3 innings of two-run baseball. Murphy allowed four hits and four walks while striking out five. Bailey Ober was optioned to Triple-A having not pitched since August 27. Without making a start today for St. Paul, it appears the desire to limit his innings is in full swing.

After the Clippers kicked off the scoring in the first inning, Kyle Garlick responded with a single. Anthony Prato was on second base after his double, and he raced around to score and tie the contest. Columbus again added in the second inning, and Alex Kirilloff tied it with his second home run in two days during the third inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, St. Paul grabbed their first lead. Catching the defense napping, Gilberto Celestino brought in Yunior Severino on a bunt to score the Saints third run.

Looking to create some breathing room, the Saints found a few more tallies for the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Brooks Lee, who recently was featured in a great interview by Lou Hennessy, ripped his second triple for St. Paul. Garlick came around to score on the play and make it a 4-2 game. Trevor Larnach then lofted a sacrifice fly deep enough to bring Lee the final 90 feet.

After getting the first two outs in the sixth inning, Murphy gave way to Alex Scherff in relief. The Saints reliever came on and got the final out of the frame, stranding a pair of runners on first and second. After a dropped pop up between the catcher and first baseman that resulted in Celestino being called out for interference, the St. Paul outfielder was tossed and Hernan Perez took over in left field. Looking to keep the lead intact, Austin Brice came on for Scherff with two outs in the top of the seventh and the bases loaded. Johnathan Rodriguez put a charge into one but Perez caught it up against the wall to save the lead.

Columbus got a run back in the eighth inning when Jhonkensy Noel launched a solo shot off of Brice. The Clippers put runners on the corners with two outs, and Toby Gardenhire decided to make a change. Michael Boyle came in to replace Brice, and hung a slider to Guardians prospect Brayan Rocchio. He blasted the pitch for a three-run homer and the Saints lead was gone, now trailing 6-5.

Down to their final out in the ninth inning, Lee stepped in and sent a baseball flying into the night. He launched his second Triple-A homer, and did it with his fourth hit of the night. Looking to make a playoff push, St. Paul had forced extras. Unfortunately Boyle struggled to get outs in the 10th inning and Andrew Bechtold gave up plenty as well. Columbus piled back on to the tune of a 14-6 advantage.

The Saints couldn't get any momentum back going in their half of the 10th inning, and the big Columbus explosion was how things ended. Lee finished with a four-hit night while Kirilloff and Severino each had a pair of their own.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, San Antonio 3
Box Score
Sunday was Travis Adams' turn to take the ball for Wichita. He worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. The Wind Surge starter also gave up three walks, but struck out five.

San Antonio scored first with a pair of first inning runs. It was in the bottom of the second that Wichita provided their first answer. Will Holland doubled for the 10th time this season, and the base hit brought home both Patrick Winkel and Willie Joe Garry Jr. to tie the contest.

After the Missions added a run with a third inning solo shot, the Wind Surge got the run back during the sixth inning. Aaron Sabato stepped in and blasted his 11th home run of the season.

Needing just one run to walk it off, Michael Helman stepped in with runners on 1st and 2nd down to the final out. His single brought Holland across the plate, and the Wind Surge sent fans home happy.

Despite recording nine hits on the day, it was a team effort for Wichita with only Tanner Schobel having a pair to his credit.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 12, Lake County 0
Box Score
Seeking a victory to wrap up the weekend, Cedar Rapids turned to Christian MacLeod on Sunday. He worked five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and a walk. MacLeod also struck out three.

While it took a few innings for the Kernels to get going, they went to work in a big way late. During the fifth inning, Keoni Cavaco launched a three-run shot to score Andrew Cossetti and Jose Salas. A three-run frame in the sixth inning was had on a Salas single to score Jorel Ortega, and a Jeferson Morales double to bring home both Cossetti and Salas.

In the seventh inning, the Kernels continued their run of threes. This time it was Carson McCusker bringing home Ortega on a double before Cossetti scored on a wild pitch. Then Morales grounded out, but not without McCusker coming home in the process.

With no reason to stop adding, Cedar Rapids saw another opportunity for a fourth-straight three-run inning during the eighth. Emmanuel Rodriguez scored on a single by Cossetti, and Salas drove Ortega home on a single of his own. With the bases loaded and Morales batting, his two-out walk brought Cossetti across the plate. Cavaco ended the inning as the next batter, and the 12 runs across four late innings was an impressive bit of production for the Kernels.

Lake County went down quietly during the ninth inning, and Cedar Rapids secured the victory. Salas went 4-for-4 Sunday, while Cossetti added two of his own.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Clearwater 3, Fort Myers 2
Box Score
Ben Ethridge got the start Sunday morning for the Mighty Mussels. He turned in five innings of three-run ball. Ethridge gave up four hits and two walks while striking out five.

Fort Myers scored first when Maddux Houghton stole home. Jay Harry stole second and Clearwater threw down on the play allowing the run to score.

During the fifth inning, Clearwater plated three runs and took the lead. Walker Jenkins, who already tripled in the contest, singled home Dillon Tatum in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game.

The comeback came up short with Fort Myers falling by one. With the loss, Fort Myers saw their eight-game winning streak snapped. Jenkins had two hits, which accounted for half of the Mighty Mussels production on the day. It was also his sixth straight multi-hit game, and he owns a .438/.455/.656 slash line in his first seven games for Fort Myers.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Christian MacLeod (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day – Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB

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) - 4-5, R, 2 RBI, 3B(1), HR(2) K
#2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-4, 3B(1), RBI
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, BB, 2 K
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-3, BB, K
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-3, R, 2 BB, K
#17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 0-4, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35PM CST) - TBD
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35PM CST) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 CST) - TBD
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

SSS but Jenkins is doing incredible in low A with a .438 batting average and 1.111 slugging.

[Dman]

Really nice to see Salas have a 4 for 4 day.  His bat and eye at the plate have been better since his return from the development league.  Hopefully this is him turning a corner and he follows Miller upping his game at the plate.

Rodriguez has really turned things on late as well and is second in the league in OPS.  Ross and Rosario are tied for the lead in HR's and while Cossetti and McCusker don't qualify they both have .900 OPS's.  

Pitching has been great at High A and it seems like the Twins powerhouse team this year.  The starters and pen have all been pretty solid all year and their record shows that.

Helman with the game winning hit. He has had a tough start as he rounds back into game shape so nice to see him turn up clutch with the walk off win.

Fun week for the affiliates and surprisingly Wichita is still in the hunt for second half playoff spot.  Guys just seem to come through as needed and hopefully they get their season record back to .500.  That would be an incredible accomplishment considering where they were at the half way point.

[FlyingFinn]

15 minutes ago, Dman said:

surprisingly Wichita is still in the hunt for second half playoff spot.  Guys just seem to come through as needed and hopefully they get their season record back to .500.  That would be an incredible accomplishment considering where they were at the half way point.

Their pitching went from bottom of the league through most of July to off the charts better than anyone in the league since then. Great job coaches as it is more than just the Raya, Nowlin and Grace callups from High A doing this.

[teufellove]

It's early yet, and not that it matters all that much, but Jenkins will supplant Lee as the #1 prospect and it may not even be close. And that is not a knock on Lee.  

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, teufellove said:

It's early yet, and not that it matters all that much, but Jenkins will supplant Lee as the #1 prospect and it may not even be close.

Not so fast - Lee 4 for 5 today with a triple and homer. Although I do think Jenkins will supplant Lee in the middle of next year................... because Lee is playing for the Twins and is no longer a prospect.

[twinstalker]

3 hours ago, Dman said:

Really nice to see Salas have a 4 for 4 day.  His bat and eye at the plate have been better since his return from the development league.  Hopefully this is him turning a corner and he follows Miller upping his game at the plate.

Rodriguez has really turned things on late as well and is second in the league in OPS.  Ross and Rosario are tied for the lead in HR's and while Cossetti and McCusker don't qualify they both have .900 OPS's.  

Coming in to today, Salas' numbers have been even worse since coming back.  I'd take 4 for 4 in a 12-0 game with a grain of salt. 

Most of the good prospects get promoted and therefore can't put up counting nunbers or qualify for things like OPS lead.  So while I have some hope for EmRod, it's disappointing that the didn't push the Twins to promote him.  He could maybe even have gotten some ABs in the Triple A playoffs had he performed well enough and gotten to AA.  It's been somewhat of a disappointing season from him.

[tony&rodney]

Have really enjoyed watching a pile of games via milb.com (Hi-A, AA, & AAA). Wish the Ft. Myers games were on video.

Cedar Rapids is having fun. Emmanuel Rodriguez started the year very slowly, working his way back from knee surgery. He has come a long way as a player since June and his bat is tremendous. He still needs to work on controlling his swing at times but has improved in that area since early in the year. He has a tendency to go for home runs in blow out games versus having consistent at bats. He also is better in the field and on the bases than expected. 

Wichita has lost most of its best players yet continues to win. Ohl has looked good.

St. Paul has struggled to hold leads lately but had a fun season so far. Austin Martin has come on and Brooks Lee continues to improve at the plate. His swing looks soft on occasions but the kid is strong. David Festa looked excellent last time out, but might improve much more with room to add some meat to those bones. 

I haven't seen Walker Jenkins via game feeds yet, just the video highlights. All of Jenkins, Rodriguez, Lee, and Festa could be ranked in any order among the top Twins prospects. They all look really good and they all have plenty to learn still. 

 

[TWTwinsFan]

Jenkins,Lee are the future, we should move on.

[saviking]

15 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

SSS but Jenkins is doing incredible in low A with a .438 batting average and 1.111 slugging.

I'm going to assume Jenkins will start next seasin at low A but at this rate who knows. 

[TopGunn#22]

The Twins lucked into a top 5 pick in a draft so rich with talent that 5 guys were viewed as potential #1 picks when compared to previous years.  The Twins ended up with Walker Jenkins.  Thank Goodness the FO went with the prevailing logic and didn't try to get too cute to save money for down slot players.  

I don't ever remember a time when SO much young talent was knocking at the door for the Twins.  Maybe the early 80's with Hrbek and Gaetti.  We also traded for Brunansky at that time as well.  Lewis, Lee, Julien, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Ryan, Ober, Duran.  That's just the cream of the crop.  Jeffers is young enough that he could be considered in that group but he's been up for a couple years already.  I'm not even mentioning guys like Festa or Keaschal.  And if Matt Canterino can ever stay healthy he could be in that mix.  

I'm frequently critical of the Twins FO.  But it's hard to deny how well the young talent seems to be developing.  Not all these guys are part of the Falvey & Levine pipeline, but a lot of them are.  

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

The Twins lucked into a top 5 pick in a draft so rich with talent that 5 guys were viewed as potential #1 picks when compared to previous years.  The Twins ended up with Walker Jenkins.  Thank Goodness the FO went with the prevailing logic and didn't try to get too cute to save money for down slot players.  

I don't ever remember a time when SO much young talent was knocking at the door for the Twins.  Maybe the early 80's with Hrbek and Gaetti.  We also traded for Brunansky at that time as well.  Lewis, Lee, Julien, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Ryan, Ober, Duran.  That's just the cream of the crop.  Jeffers is young enough that he could be considered in that group but he's been up for a couple years already.  I'm not even mentioning guys like Festa or Keaschal.  And if Matt Canterino can ever stay healthy he could be in that mix.  

I'm frequently critical of the Twins FO.  But it's hard to deny how well the young talent seems to be developing.  Not all these guys are part of the Falvey & Levine pipeline, but a lot of them are.  

Maybe Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Kepler, Berrios, Polanco wasn't a too shabby group?