Twins Minor League Week in Review (4/15): Settling In

[Ted Schwerzler]

After all affiliates outside of St. Paul played just a short three-game series to kick off their season, this week was the first six-game series on the farm. There were plenty of highlights, but none have been more rapid fire than what Emmanuel Rodriguez continues to do at Double-A.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Shuffling in St. Paul
Returning home from a weekend in Nashville, there was plenty of roster shuffling for the St. Paul Saints this week. The Twins needed a pitcher for their weekend doubleheader, and Simeon Woods Richardson was called upon. Grabbing his first big league win, Woods Richardson looked to be an entirely different pitcher, and the velocity uptick he showed this spring stayed with him.

In the wake of Carlos Correa injury news, Jair Camargo was also promoted to the majors for the first time, and Rocco Baldelli’s taxed bullpen saw Jorge Alcala go back to St. Paul with Matt Bowman getting his first chance of the season.

Similar to the big league club, it’s been a tough go of it for the Saints lineup out of the gate. Playing against the Iowa Cubs, St. Paul dropped four of the six home contests. The offensive exploding for 13 runs on Sunday was a highlight, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has been a consistent threat for Toby Gardenhire.

Winless for Wichita
A slow start has been the narrative for Wichita, and that didn’t get any easier with Springfield playing host for the past week of games. St. Louis’ Double-A affiliate has started the season strong, and after sweeping the six-game series against Wichita this week, they improved to 9-0. The Wind Surge return home to face Tulsa, and do so with just a 1-8 record.

Although the team results haven’t been great, there is no prospect across the system that has gotten off to a better start than Emmanuel Rodriguez. His 1.594 OPS is otherworldly, and he already has four home runs in just 26 at-bats. His process hasn’t changed at the dish either, and his 11/10 K/BB represents the same strong discipline we saw from him last season with Cedar Rapids.

The catching tandem of Noah Cardenas and Andrew Cossetti have also gotten out of the gate strong. They should be expected to be key pieces in the Wind Surge lineup well after Rodriguez ultimately earns a promotion. The Twins are still handling Marco Raya with kid gloves as he has thrown just six innings across two starts.

Cruising in Cedar Rapids
The reigning Midwest League Champions are looking to repeat this season, and while they started winless on the road in Beloit, all it took was some home cooking to get them going. Winning four of six against Dayton this week, the Kernels evened their record at .500 and can head out against the Timber Rattlers feeling good about themselves.

Luke Keaschall began the year only operating as a designated hitter, but progressed to playing the field on Sunday. His 1.015 OPS trails only Rubel Cespedes to start the season, and he has already launched a pair of home runs. Danny De Andrade went down with an injury this week, and the hope is that it won’t sideline him for too long.

On the mound it’s Andrew Morris that has turned heads. He has a ridiculous 15/1 K/BB across his first ten innings this season, and owns a 0.90 ERA in two starts. Zebby Matthews had a strong showing in his first turn, and John Klein has flashed well also.

Back to the Fort
After starting with a brief three-game set in Fort Myers that saw Walker Jenkins go down with an injury, we haven’t seen Minnesota’s top prospect yet return for the Mighty Mussels. On the round at Clearwater the past week, Fort Myers was able to come away with just two of the six games. Returning home this week against Jupiter, they’ll look to expand on the 2-1 start in Fort Myers.

Rayne Doncon, acquired with Manuel Margot in the Noah Miller trade to the Dodgers, has kicked off the season nicely as he owns a .900 OPS. Maddux Houghton and Brandon Winokur are the only other Mighty Mussels to join Doncon with home runs to this point. Byron Chourio, acquired in the Luis Arraez trade, has got off to a great start too as he owns a .303 average through his first nine games.

A significant amount of professional debuts have taken place in Fort Myers to start the year. Jeremy Lee, Ross Dunn, Charlee Soto, and Paulshawn Pasqualotto have all made impressive starts in the early going. The rotation should be among the highlights of this team as the season goes on.

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[FlyingFinn]

E-Rod and Cespedes are the hitters with great starts with Keashall and Chourio playing well. Prato has an OBP of .500 wtih 12 walks already.

Injured list has a bunch of guys I would like to see - Jenkins, Lee, Helman, Canterino, Headrick, Cory Lewis, and Prielipp. The Twins getting healthy will make the Saints better as well.

[Seth Stohs]

46 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

E-Rod and Cespedes are the hitters with great starts with Keashall and Chourio playing well. Prato has an OBP of .500 wtih 12 walks already.

Injured list has a bunch of guys I would like to see - Jenkins, Lee, Helman, Canterino, Headrick, Cory Lewis, and Prielipp. The Twins getting healthy will make the Saints better as well.

And Prato got spiked and was unavailable to play on Saturday. 

[Dman]

Not too much to say this early.  Some guys are doing well others are struggling to get going.  April is tough month with the colder weather along with stronger winds.  Just tougher to play baseball in those conditions.  Some handle it better than others.

I guess if I had to pick one player besides scorching hot Rodriguez I would say I came away very impressed with Soto.   While his first game was nothing special his second no hit 4 innings was special.  He is just getting started in pro ball and likely to have his ups and downs as he works on things, but watching him work he sure likes the real deal to me.

Would be nice to our injured players back as there are several top guys missing in Lee, Jenkins, Canterino and Prielipp.  Getting those players back would change things.

[KBJ1]

The door is wide open if SWR can duplicate that effort even semi regularly.  We have 4 starters and zero depth.