Minor League Report (4/14): St. Paul's Bats Come Alive

[Matt Braun]

Someone, please send a good luck charm to Wichita.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Yunior Severino)

TRANSACTIONS
LHP Caleb Thielbar completes rehab, rejoins Twins
RHP Simeon Woods Richardson optioned to AAA St. Paul
RHP Jorge Alcalá optioned to AAA St. Paul

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 13, Iowa 11
Box Score
SP: Caleb Boushley: 4 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
HR: Diego A. Castillo (2), Yunior Severino (2), Chris Williams (1)
Multi-hit games: Diego A. Castillo (4-for-5, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI), Yunior Severino (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI), Chris Williams (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Tanner Morris (3-for-5, 2B, R), Yoyner Fajardo (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI)

One did not have to search for runs in this game. 

The Saints kicked off the havoc with their very first batter; Diego A. Castillo launched a solo homer to lead off the game, starting a streak where at least one run was scored in every inning, no exceptions. The mayhem peaked in the 3rd for St. Paul, when a three-run homer from Yunior Severino and a two-hit inning from Castillo marked a six-run bludgeoning of the Cubs' pitching staff.

That was a step too far. Iowa decided to answer back. They clawed through the middle and late innings, scoring in four straight frames to turn what was once a laugher into a legitimate competition. Jordan Balazovic and Hobie Harris caught the worst of it; both pitchers exited the game with a season ERA of 8.10 following their outings.

Ronny Henriquez finally established some version of order, giving up just a solo homer in his two innings of work.

Iowa's Patrick Wisdom collected two hits and walked twice while on his rehab assignment.

Right fielder Owen Cassie is the Cubs' 3rd-best prospect. He went 0-6 with two RBIs.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 7, Springfield 8
Box Score
SP: A.J. Alexy: 3 ⅔ IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 2 K
HR: Carson McCusker (1), Jeferson Morales (1)
Multi-hit games: None

The Wind Surge collapsed late on Sunday.

It once looked promising. Wichita held a 7-2 advantage going into the game’s third act—a lead even the most anxious manager could feel safe with. Their bats had been patient and potent; a pair of runs in the 2nd begat a Jeferson Morales grand slam in the 4th, as walks clogged the bases, and critical hits emptied them.

The runs were needed because A.J. Alexy was not sharp. His six walks pushed his season total to an unthinkable 12 over just seven innings of work. That wildness was effective, though, and Springfield could only muster one hit against him. You can't hit what isn't in the zone. 

The Cardinals finally attacked in the 8th, piling onto Jared Solomon with a barrage of hits, capped by a go-ahead three-run homer off the bat of Matt Lloyd. Wichita couldn’t answer, dropping their record to an abysmal 1-8 to start the year. 

Former Twins farmhand Ryan Shreve tossed a pair of scoreless innings for the Cardinals.

Springfield’s starter, Edwin Nuñez, was the best prospect on the Cardinals on Sunday. He pitched 2 ⅔ innings and allowed two earned runs. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Dayton 2
Box Score
SP: C.J. Culpepper: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Luke Keaschall (2), Jay Harry (2)
Multi-hit games: Luke Keaschall (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB)

Despite totaling just four hits, the Kernels won on Saturday.

It helps when two of those are homers; Luke Keaschall blasted his second homer of the year with a 1st-inning shot, and Jay Harry cracked a go-ahead three-run bomb in the 7th. Keaschall’s season OPS is now 1.015. He also swiped his fifth base of the season.

C.J. Culpepper was his usual, reliable self, allowing a quick run in the 1st before settling down for four solid frames. He struck out three and walked one over 52 pitches. Juan Mercedes, pitching in relief, was maybe even better: he earned eight outs to usher the game through the middle innings, and the only run scored on his watch came on brutal defense ahead and behind him. Ricardo Olivar airmailed the throw on a steal. Willie Joe Garry Jr. overran the ball. The runner—perhaps confused as to why his path home was uncontested—scored easily.

Mercedes shook off the defensive lapse, and Jordan Carr danced around command issues to end the game with a Kernels victory.

Cam Collier, once desired by the Twins in the 2022 draft, was the best prospect on the field for Dayton on Sunday. He singled once in four at-bats and knocked in a run. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Clearwater 5
Box Score
Paulshawn Pasqualotto: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Mighty Mussels stumbled on Saturday.

It was all TJayy Walton’s fault. Clearwater’s left fielder cracked a double and a homer on his way towards five RBIs—every run the Threshers scored on Saturday. Maybe they should have just walked him.

His terror partially soiled Paulshawn Pasqualotto’s first professional start. The 2023 12th-round pick dominated in his outing last Sunday, perhaps inspiring the Mighty Mussels to push him into the rotation. He topped out at 94.6 MPH and punched out six batters over four innings of work.

All of Fort Myers’ offense came during a hectic 3rd inning: Threshers’ pitcher Mavis Graves quickly struck out two batters before melting down and allowing a walk, three hits, a balk, a wild pitch, and one final walk to end his game. 

Rehabbing big leaguer Trevor Larnach went 0-4 with three flyouts and a groundout. 

Recent promotee Gregory Duran hit a ball 107.5 MPH, the hardest hit ball of the game for either team.

The aforementioned Walton is the Threshers’ highest-ranked prospect; he is ranked 18th on MLB Pipeline’s list of Phillies prospects. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – C.J. Culpepper
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Diego A. Castillo

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#4 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4
#7 - Austin Martin (Minnesota) - 1-4, K
#12 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, HR, R, RBI, BB
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-4, BB, K
#14 - C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
#16 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI
#19 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2B, R, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:05 PM) - RHP Randy Dobnak 
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:45 PM) - TBD
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

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[FlyingFinn]

Culpepper with a nice first start. Can we just send him, Morris, and Matthews to Wichita and do all piggy-back games rather than ever using the Wind Surge bullpen. Yikes, we have a bad bullpen in Wichita.

[Matt Braun]

35 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Culpepper with a nice first start. Can we just send him, Morris, and Matthews to Wichita and do all piggy-back games rather than ever using the Wind Surge bullpen. Yikes, we have a bad bullpen in Wichita.

Just a bad pitching staff in general. A 6.84 ERA, a 1.80 WHIP, and just 54 strikeouts to 48 walks. Woof. 

[FlyingFinn]

38 minutes ago, Matt Braun said:

Just a bad pitching staff in general. A 6.84 ERA, a 1.80 WHIP, and just 54 strikeouts to 48 walks. Woof. 

Starters - 4.71 ERA. Relievers - 9.00.

[Dman]

I am one of Paulshawn's biggest fans, but he did not look sharp today. His results were fine, but if he wants to move up he is going to need to be better than he was today.  That being  said other than Soto he looks like one of the more consistent arms they have in A ball right now.  Hall might have a great changeup but he can't seem to get swings with it right now and can't find the zone. Dunn doesn't have overpowering stuff, has been hittable and walks too many.  The K rate is nice, but the WHIP is concerning.  Langenburg doesn't walk anybody but giving up 9 hits in 5 innings isn't gonna get it done.  I know we are just getting started but right now  the teenager Soto looks like the best of the bunch at A ball at least to start the season.

Keaschall and Harry carried the day with enough run support for the win.  Two nice bats from last years draft appear to be adjusting well to high A.  Nice to  see Culpepper with a solid start.  That is quite the starting staff they have at high A.

Nice to the St Paul bats break out, but man for pen arms so close to the majors you'd think they could do better than give up so many runs game in and game out.  Oh well  lot's of room for improvement I guess.

 

[mikelink45]

Do we have an organizational rule that SP can't go more than 4 innings now?  

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Do we have an organizational rule that SP can't go more than 4 innings now?  

I hope it's not a minor league development rule. We see our starters going 6 or more in MLB, and while I get not wanting to overstress young arms and build them up, at a certain point they do have to get some game experience in trying to pace themselves through longer stretches.

nice game by Keaschall. He's on a roll right now at the plate. Hasn't seen much time in the field though...wonder why?

[nicksaviking]

13 hours ago, Matt Braun said:

Just a bad pitching staff in general. A 6.84 ERA, a 1.80 WHIP, and just 54 strikeouts to 48 walks. Woof. 

They haven't pitched well, but Raya is the pitcher I'm most excited about at any level. Ohl was solid in Wichita last year too, I'd expect him to bounce back, even if his strikeout numbers aren't terribly exciting.

[nicksaviking]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Do we have an organizational rule that SP can't go more than 4 innings now?  

The Twins aren't the only team doing this. Looking at the top pitching prospects leaguewide, it looks like tons of the top guys threw fewer innings in 2023 than they did in 2022.

I'm guessing the rash of injuries and the new pitch clock has gotten teams to think about slowing things down. Maybe even thinking about not wasting innings in the minors when they could later be used at the MLB level.

[mikelink45]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

The Twins aren't the only team doing this. Looking at the top pitching prospects leaguewide, it looks like tons of the top guys threw fewer innings in 2023 than they did in 2022.

I'm guessing the rash of injuries and the new pitch clock has gotten teams to think about slowing things down. Maybe even thinking about not wasting innings in the minors when they could later be used at the MLB level.

I always thought that Feller was right when he said you build arm strength by throwing the ball.  With all the rash of injuries I do not think saving innings when you are good helps and I do not blame the pitch clock.  I blame the excessive pressure to throw max every pitch.  Pacing is also pitching. 

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I always thought that Feller was right when he said you build arm strength by throwing the ball.  With all the rash of injuries I do not think saving innings when you are good helps and I do not blame the pitch clock.  I blame the excessive pressure to throw max every pitch.  Pacing is also pitching. 

Yeah, that's the big issue, but I don't see how that's fixable at this point. The hitters have adjusted to this new age, nasty stuff, if you take three MPH off your fastball or reduce your spin rate on the breaking pitches they'll be hitting .400 with 50 HR.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, that's the big issue, but I don't see how that's fixable at this point. The hitters have adjusted to this new age, nasty stuff, if you take three MPH off your fastball or reduce your spin rate on the breaking pitches they'll be hitting .400 with 50 HR.

That is the conundrum the league faces. They keep watching star arms fall, but there's no chance the players or teams change their pitching strategies because they'd turn every lineup into Betts-Ohtani-Freeman on repeat. No idea how they fix it.

[nicksaviking]

7 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

That is the conundrum the league faces. They keep watching star arms fall, but there's no chance the players or teams change their pitching strategies because they'd turn every lineup into Betts-Ohtani-Freeman on repeat. No idea how they fix it.

Sometime down the line starting pitchers in MLB will become RBs in the NFL, no one will pay them because they're used up before they hit their second contract. Kids will all want to be hitters, not pitchers. 

Can't wait until the average score is 17-15.

[chpettit19]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

Sometime down the line starting pitchers in MLB will become RBs in the NFL, no one will pay them because they're used up before they hit their second contract. Kids will all want to be hitters, not pitchers. 

Can't wait until the average score is 17-15.

Softball style.