Twins Minor League Report (4/11): A Night for the Andrews

[Ted Schwerzler]

Trevor Larnach kicked off his season with a rehab appearance for Fort Myers, and Caleb Thielbar continued to work his way back with St. Paul. It was a night for the Andrews though, with pitcher Morris dominating for Cedar Rapids, and hitter Cossetti crushing with Wichita.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP John Stankiewicz transferred from Cedar Rapids to Wichita
• OF Trevor Larnach assigned to Fort Myers on a rehab assignment

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Iowa 2
Box Score

Top prospect David Festa took the ball for St. Paul on Thursday and it wasn’t a lengthy outing. Working just 2 2/3 innings, Festa struggled with command as he threw just 37 of his 69 pitches for strikes. Despite the off night that included three hits and four walks, he still allowed only a single run and struck out four.

After getting down early with the Cubs scoring a run in the 1st inning, St. Paul wasn’t able to answer until the 6th inning. It came in a big way, however, as Diego A. Castillo homered to center for his first of the season. The three-run shot scored Jair Camargo and Anthony Prato, putting the Saints up 3-1.

Rehabbing Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar worked two nearly flawless innings, only interrupted by a solo shot from Ali Sanchez in the 7th inning. Otherwise he struck out four, walking none, and throwing 21 of 28 pitches for strikes. St. Paul quickly negated that tally in the bottom of the 7th inning as well. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit a solo shot to center for his second dinger of the season, and Patrick Winkel lofted a sacrifice fly to score Michael Helman and make it a 5-2 game.

As has been the case for the Saints this season, it was Hobie Harris on to grab the save. He made quick work of the Cubs and held onto the victory. Both Keirsey Jr. and Prato recorded multi-hit games tonight for St. Paul

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Springfield 7, Wichita 6 (F/10)
Box Score

Jarret Whorff got the ball tonight for the Wind Surge. Although he allowed only a single run, command was a bit spotty as he walked three and gave up another three hits. Still, he exited with the Wind Surge in position to pull out a win.

Wichita scored first when Carson McCusker sent a single to right and brought Andrew Cossetti home. That held until Whorff’s allowed solo shot to R.J. Yeager in the 4th inning. Cossetti then put the good guys back out front with his first home run of the season, and the 5th inning blast brought breathing room as Emmanuel Rodriguez came jogging around as well.

A five-run bottom of the 5th inning for Springfield wiped away Wichita’s lead and made it a 6-3 game, but there was still time for a response. It was Cossetti again, this time in the 7th inning, that drove in another run. His single to center brought home Rodriguez for a second time and made it a 6-4 game.

Continuing to claw their way back, the other part of the dynamic Wichita catching duo stepped up in the 8th inning. Noah Cardenas ripped a line drive dinger to left, and it was suddenly just a one run game. Down 6-5, the Wind Surge had three outs left to make it even. After working through a scoreless bottom of the 8th inning, Wichita came up looking to do damage. Rodriguez stepped in as the first batter and smoked a homer to right, his second of the season, and this one of the game-tying variety. The rest of the side went down in order, but extras were within view.

Jared Solomon came on to replace Hunter McMahon needing to grab three outs and he sent Springfield down in order. Free baseball was coming on Thursday night. Kala'i Rosario began the 10th inning as the placed runner, but was caught stealing on a McCusker strikeout. Just like that, Wichita was without a scoring opportunity and had only a final out in the inning. Cardenas popped out, and it would be on the pitching and defense to generate another opportunity.

After getting the first out of the inning, Solomon worked a seven-pitch at bat against Cardinals Chandler Redmond, but a single to right field was enough to walk it off for Springfield. The comeback got there, and then fell short for Wichita. Cossetti led the lineup with three hits, and both Rodriguez and Kyler Fedko had a pair apiece.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Dayton 4
Box Score

A night after getting their first victory of the season it was the Kernels looking to make it two in a row. With Andrew Morris on the mound their chances were good, and that was before he went out and dominated as he did Thursday. Working six innings of one-run baseball, Morris allowed only three hits (two on broken bats) and walked none. He punched out nine on the evening and now owns a 15/1 K/BB across his first 10 innings this year. 

After the game, Morris told Seth Stohs, "I feel like everything was working. I probably could have thrown more fastballs. I was breaking out the cutter. I've never really thrown a true cutter. I was throwing that a lot, and it was working well, getting some broken bats and some strikeouts." 

He said it was the first time he's thrown a cutter in games. "I've always been really good at throwing accidental cutters, but now it's using it intentionally. It was working well for Zebby yesterday, So I thought it would be good to work on. It was good to get feel for that and trust that a little bit." 

Manager Brian Dinkelman noted that he's started this year looking a lot like he did late last season in his time with Cedar Rapids. "Good velo. Curveball. Changeup, a little cutter also this year. He's running it up there with the velo, some good carry on his fastball. He looked good tonight. Good outing for Andrew." 

Still operating solely as the designated hitter, Luke Keaschall blasted his first homer of the season. The leadoff shot to open the bottom of the 1st inning put Cedar Rapids ahead early. 

After Cam Collier evened things for Dayton in the 4th inning, the Kernels responded with a three-spot in the 5th inning. Dillon Tatum scored on a throwing error following a Jay Harry grounder, and Ricardo Olivar made it hurt by driving him in with a single to center. Jose Salas then singled to score Olivar and the Kernels had a 4-1 lead.

Looking to grab the final six outs and secure the victory, Dayton had other plans, putting up a three-run inning of their own in the 8th. With the score knotted at 4, it was a brand new ballgame.

Not looking to play extras, Cedar Rapids made full use of the bottom of the 8th inning. Keoni Cavaco notched his first hit of the night, a two-run double to bring home both Salas and Misael Urbina. A Keaschall single followed to drive in Agustin Ruiz and Cavaco, making it a four-run inning and an 8-4 ballgame. 

Cavaco, Salas and Urbina are all among the youngest Kernels players this year. Each of them struggled at the plate last year and return to Cedar Rapids this year, Still young for the level. Dinkelman said, "You have to have short memory in baseball. That's for sure. Hopefully those guys can turn it around this year and kind of forget about last season, keep working and get better and learn from what happened last year. Keoni's got off to a nice start for us this year and that big hit tonight. Salas had a nice game for us again tonight." 

Cavaco had two hits on Wednesday night and the big double on Thursday. Salas went 2-for-4.  

Kyle Bischoff stayed on for the 9th inning looking to wrap it up, and his finished the night with a strikeout, his second of the outing. Keaschall and Salas both had multi-hit affairs for the Kernels, and while the former is definitely itching to get back into the field, it's clear the bat plays just fine as a designated hitter too.

It was a rough night for Danny De Andrade. In his first plate appearance, he was hit in the left elbow area. He had the elbow guard on, but it didn't appear to work as the Kernels' infielder reacted as if he got hit in the funny bone. The next time he came to the plate, he hit a ground ball and hustled to first. He nearly beat the throw but was called out. He appeared to trip over the base and went to the ground, clearly in pain. He was helped off of the field to the dugout, putting very little weight on his left foot. At this point, he appears to have rolled the ankle, and if so, that might be the best-case scenario. The fear is it could be a knee injury or a torn achilles tendon. After the game, he was limping but had his ankle taped. My assumption is that he would be considered day-to-day, but that is based on reaction, response, concern level of the staff, etc. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Clearwater 10, Fort Myers 5
Box Score

It was a night of big league excitement down in Florida with both teams having rehabbing major leaguers going. Taijuan Walker was on the mound for Clearwater, and worked four innings of two-run baseball against the Mighty Mussels. Trevor Larnach kicked off his rehab assignment working his way back to St. Paul, or possibly Minnesota.

Ross Dunn made his second professional appearance and looked for similarly positive results. Working three innings tonight, he gave up one run on four hits while walking two and striking out four.

Larnach kicked off the scoring in the 3rd inning with a double off of Walker. Both Yohander Martinez and Cole Elvis came in and the Mighty Mussels had a 2-0 lead. The bottom half saw Clearwater answer with a run of their own. Then, in the 5th inning, the Threshers took the lead on a pair of solo homers.

Like Clearwater did earlier, Fort Myers answered quickly. In the 6th inning Rafael Cruz singled to center with the bases loaded. Both Byron Chourio and Larnach scored with Jose Rodriguez moving to second. The runners ultimately found themselves stranded, but the Mighty Mussels were back on top 4-3.

Back and forth the sides went again after Clearwater evened it in the bottom of the 6th inning, and Fort Myers jumped ahead with a Chourio groundout, scoring Angel Del Rosario in the 7th inning. That’s where the wheels fell off for Fort Myers. The Threshers put up a four-spot in the bottom half of the inning, and then added another pair in the 8th inning. On 13 hits, Clearwater put up 10 runs and won by a 10-5 tally.

Despite plating five runs in the contest, Fort Myers was able to generate only five hits, two of which came from the rehabbing Larnach.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris (Cedar Rapids) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
Hitter of the Day – Andrew Cossetti (Wichita) - 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR(1)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 2-4, BB, 2B(3), HR(2), 3 R, RBI, 
#6 – David Festa (St. Paul) – 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-4
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-4, BB
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR(1), BB, SB
#13 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 1-5
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 0-1
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 0-4, K
#17 – Matt Canterino (IL) – Shoulder injury
#18 – Connor Prielipp (IL) – UCL Surgery
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Iowa (6:37 PM CST) – RHP Joe Gunkel (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
Wichita @ Springfield (5:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs Dayton (6:35 PM CST) – RHP John Klein (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Clearwater (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (1-0, 2.25 ERA)

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

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Andrew Morris is looking good. It could be a good battle to see who gets promoted first - him, Zebby Matthews or CJ Culpepper. 

E-Rod won it for the Kernels in the championship last year. He beat the Yankees in spring training 2023 with a homer. He sure seems to have a flare for the dramatic and clutch situations don't seem to faze him. Kind sounds like Royce Lewis, and the Twins could sure use more clutch players.

Sorry to see De Andrade go down. 

[Doctor Gast]

Good to see our best defensive catcher in the system, Cardenas continue his clutch hitting. Seems like Salas & Cavaco been moved off their positions SS to 2B & 3B to 1B as expected. Although very different hitters, E Rodriguez like E Rosario have a flare for dramatics.

[Dman]

Nice to see Keaschall getting hot at the plate.  Was wondering if that injury was going to linger.  He is a big part of that lineup so getting him going is important.  Now we just need Jay Harry to heat up especially if De Adrade is going to be down for a while.

[Ghost of Kirby Puckett]

Emmanuel Rodriguez is a man amongst children. Physically he looks more mature and stronger right now, not that he hasn't always resembled a tree stump, and I mean that in a good way!  I rarely get very bullish on guys because its the hardest game on earth and most fail, including myself. But I'm beyond fully confident predicting that it's just a matter of when he shows up and is an impact bat for 10 years at Target Field.

He reminds me of 2009 Jason Kubel at the plate. Similar builds. That lightning fast, compact swing that generates incredible exit velocity. And again, I hate comparing because no two are alike and Kubel after his knee injury had nowhere near Erods speed or anything close to his obp skills, but I'd be over the moon if his career plays out at a level near that 2009 season. I am beyond excited for his arrival.

I don't think I'm more excited about any current prospect from any of the major teams in Minnesota with the exception of the incredible Danila Yurov, who will be another absolute superstar like his soon to be teammate Kaprizov. Jenkins probably moves to the top of this list if he can stay healthy. 

[roger]

Crazy looking at how hot the first four hitters are in Wichita's lineup.  WOW!

Also liked that Larnach got back in action, albeit at Fort Myers.  Considering the struggles Wallner is having, Larnach sure has a chance to get hot and find himself back in left field for the Twins.  Question, will he?

[saviking]

Rosario .. It's nice having a good RIGHT handed outfielder being developed in our organization. He's worth his weight in gold . 

[DocBauer]

Keirsey is starting to look for real.

Do we dare hope that this is the future of Emma? Because he's looking GOOD. What did I hear, his swing % is actually DOWN from last season, but his CONTACT rate is actually up.

Nice to see Balazovic actually have a nice game. 

BTW...the links for Wichita and Cedar Rapids go to different games.

[jmlease1]

Emma is off to a rollicking start in AA, and I love it. He's really got everything cooking to start the season: 5 of his 7 hits are for extra-bases, he's still collecting his walks nicely...dude is even a perfect 4-4 on SBs! the jump from A-ball to AA can be a hard one, and it doesn't seem to have fazed him a bit. roll on mah dude.

Morris is interesting, and threw well. He was way too hittable last season in his first taste of high-A, and while he didn't get punished for it much last season I'm sure he knew he had to do better. So far, the result are what you want to see: he's keeping guys off the bases, striking out a ton of guys, and looking good. I like that he finished 6 this time out; it would be great to see  him get deeper into games and consistently show he can go into the 6th or 7th inning.

Could this be the year Cavaco figures it out? (I'm not putting money on it) Nice to see him actually hitting, but at 23 he needs to get out of A-ball.

[DanFordWasThe Man]

Emmanuel Rodriquez started slow last year, but finished strong. What if he just doesn't like the cold?

Whether it's the cold, or just the time to get the timing kicked in, Em has a recent history of starting a bit tepid, but turning it on come June and beyond to make the year end numbers one Twin fans can dream and drool on. One only has to look at the middle of June last year to see this pattern. On June 15th, he was batting .197/.352/.380 Not horrible, but not top prospect levels, either. But the year earlier, down in Florida, aka the Sunshine State, he was batting .272/.492/.551 on June 8th, before his season was cut short. 

This season in Wichita (in a generally warmer league) he's off to a red hot start, batting .409 with a 1.441 OPS as I type this. Yes, I know, it's a SS. But something to watch. As is he, for sure.