Twins Minor League Report (9/8): Pitching Dominates While Saints Still Slug

[Ted Schwerzler]

At the lower levels of the farm pitching was the narrative on Friday. St. Paul continued to pound out runs, and there was plenty of action to check in on throughout the Twins farm system on Friday.

 

TRANSACTIONS

• 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff activated off rehab assignment from St. Paul. 1B/OF Joey Gallo placed on IL with a "foot contusion." 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 7, Louisville 6
Box Score
Randy Dobnak was on the bump Friday for the Saints and worked five innings. He worked three strong innings before the Bats plated four in the fourth inning and ruined his line. Giving up six hits, Dobnak allowed six runs and four walks. He did strike out six on the evening as well.

After scoring double-digits Thursday night, St. Paul didn’t waste time putting runs up on Friday. Brooks Lee opened the scoring with a first inning triple, his third, that brought home Michael Helman. Trevor Larnach then lifted a sacrifice fly that allowed Lee to jog the last 90 feet home.

After a rehabbing Joey Votto doubled in the bottom of the first inning to tie things up, the Saints went back to work in the second inning. Chris Williams ripped a single that scored DaShawn Keirsey Jr. before Tony Wolters brought home Gilberto Celestino on a single of his own.

In the third inning the Saints kept the runs coming when Wolters homered for just the third time this season. The three-run shot scored Anthony Prato and Williams to push St. Paul’s lead to 7-2.

Louisville came charging back with four runs in the fourth inning against Dobnak. Jonathan India’s double plated two of the four, and the Saints lead was down to one. Austin Schulfer and Cole Sands both worked scoreless relief outings to keep the score as-is headed to the ninth inning.

Former Twins reliever Alan Busenitz pitched the ninth inning for Louisville, and he got two outs before walking Celestino. Sands stayed on to finish the ninth inning and slammed the door. St. Paul got a three-hit game from Helman, while both Prato and Wolters added two of their own.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Corpus Christi 8, Wichita 2
Box Score
Marco Raya was taking another turn on Friday for the Wind Surge, and he worked 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Raya allowed only two hits while issuing no free passes. He struck out three during the outing.

This one was a pitcher’s duel for much of the game. Willie Joe Garry Jr. grounded into a double play, but Aaron Sabato did come home and that gave Wichita a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Hooks did tie it up in the bottom of the eighth against Regi Grace, and then a two-run homer put Corpus Christi ahead 3-1.

Corpus Christi added another run on a solo blast in the sixth inning to make it 4-1, and a run in the seventh inning made it 5-1. Wichita needed to find an answer, and soon. Instead of responding with a run, the Wind Surge gave up three Corpus Christi runs in the eighth inning, only pushing the comeback reality further away. They couldn't find an answer in the ninth inning and a close game ballooned to a blowout.

Looking to make things a bit more respectable, Yoyner Fajardo reached on an error in the ninth inning that allowed Dalton Shuffield to score. Although he didn't record a hit, Fajardo extended his on-base streak to 22 games.

Schobel recorded two hits on the night. Alex Isola also had two hits, going 2-for-2 after he took over for Sabato.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Wisconsin 2, Cedar Rapids 1
Box Score
Zebby Matthews was on the bump for Cedar Rapids on Friday. He turned in three scoreless innings allowing just a single hit, and a pair of walks. Matthews also struck out three Wisconsin batters. 

Mike Paredes worked two scoreless innings of relief, and then Gabriel Yanez turned in a pair of scoreless frames of his own. For some reason, Emmanuel Rodriguez was lifted for a pinch hitter in the third inning, and that will definitely be something to monitor.

No one pushed across a run until the eighth inning when Noah Miller reached on an error that allowed Jeferson Morales to score. Ricardo Velez got the ninth inning and looked to slam the door. Wisconsin evened the score when Eric Brown Jr. singled in a run, and then Velez balked with Brown Jr. at third base to give away the victory. Only Luke Keaschall and Kyler Fedko recorded hits for the Kernels Friday night.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 7, Bradenton 5
Box Score
Matt Gabbert, who signed with the Twins out of indy ball with Boise in the Pioneer League, made his first start Friday for the Mighty Mussels. He turned in five scoreless innings allowing just a single hit and a pair of walks. Gabbert also punched out six.

The Mighty Mussels didn’t score until the fourth inning, but they added in a big way. Nate Baez singled home Ricardo Olivar and Danny De Andrade. Rubel Cespedes followed with a triple to drive in Baez, and Alec Sayre lofted a sacrifice fly to bring home Cespedes and make it a 4-0 game.

In the fifth inning, Fort Myers tacked on more. Olivar doubled home both Jay Harry and Walker Jenkins to make it a 6-0 game. Cespedes then grabbed another hit, this time a single, and Olivar raced across the plate.

The Marauders scored five in the eighth inning, and Fort Myers saw their lead quickly shrinking. Samuel Perez held on though, and the Mighty Mussels grabbed the victory. Both Baez and Cespedes had a pair of hits on the evening. Although Walker Jenkins didn’t record a hit, he did reach base with a walk.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Matt Gabbert (Fort Myers) - 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Tony Wolters (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, 4 RBI, HR(3), 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, R, RBI, 2 BB, 3B(3)
#2 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 0-3, R, BB, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - BB
#4 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#8 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-4
#10 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3
#14 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 0-5, K
#17 - Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 1-5, R

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15PM CST) - RHP Bailey Ober
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (7:05PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 CST) - RHP John Klein
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (5:00PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Raya closing out the year well. Hopefully he has another game but Wichita just gave up a 3 game lead this week.

[Blyleven2011]

Raya drafted in 2020 , 

Injuries or just bringing him along really slow , he didn't start professionally until  2022 ...

When do we have to protect him from the rule 5 draft ???

[Daniel Anderson]

In an article on MLB.com Jim Callis just named Brooks Lee the favorite for AL rookie of the year in 2024.

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Raya drafted in 2020 , 

Injuries or just bringing him along really slow , he didn't start professionally until  2022 ...

When do we have to protect him from the rule 5 draft ???

December 2024 is when he's eligible for the R5 draft.