Twins Minor League Report (4/19): Mussels Save the Day

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Twins affiliates were on the wrong side of some lopsided results on Friday, but it was the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels saving the day for the system.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Josh Staumont activated from IL and optioned to St. Paul. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Indianapolis 7, St. Paul 2
Box Score

After pitching for the Twins against Detroit during his last time out, Simeon Woods Richardson was back on the bump Friday for St. Paul. He worked five innings and allowed a pair of runs on six hits and a walk. Woods Richardson struck out four and continued his solid start to the year.

Tony Kemp kicked off the scoring with a 2nd inning home run, but Indianapolis evened the score at one in the bottom half.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. picked up his fourth double of the season in the 4th inning, and it drove in Max Kepler. St. Paul once again had reclaimed the lead.

Things went downhill from there as St. Paul allowed Indianapolis to tie things in the 5th inning, and then a five-run 8th inning spelled disaster. Hobie Harris took the loss giving up the damage on two hits and three walks.

Keirsey Jr. was the only Saints hitter to record a pair of hits. Austin Schulfer made his second appearance of the season and worked two scoreless innings with a strikeout.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Tulsa 5, Wichita 0
Box Score

Playing as their alter ego Chili Buns moniker, Wichita sent top pitching prospect Marco Raya to the bump. Once again he was handled cautiously, working just three innings and throwing 44 pitches. He gave up no runs on two hits while walking none and striking out four.

The sides stayed even at zero through the first four innings, but Tulsa broke through in the 5th inning. Jumping out by a 2-0 lead, they grabbed another run in the 6th inning and two more in the 8th inning. Wichita wasn’t able to push anything across on their five hits.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Wisconsin 13, Cedar Rapids 3
Box Score

Miguelangel Boadas was on the bump for Cedar Rapids, but after 33 pitches to get just one out and allowing four runs, he was out of the game. Wisconsin tagged Boadas for two hits and a pair of walks.

Gabriel Gonzalez scored on a first inning balk, but the lead was quickly wiped away by the Timber Rattlers eight-spot in the bottom half. Wisconsin added another three runs in the 2nd inning, and a single tally in the 3rd inning to make it a 12-1 game before Cedar Rapids had a chance to catch their breath.

Agustin Ruiz singled home Danny De Andrade in the 4th inning for the Kernels second run of the game, and Ricardo Olivar scored Luke Keaschall in the 8th inning to make it 12-3. With the Timber Rattlers scoring again in the bottom of the 8th inning, Cedar Rapids stared at an eventual ten-run defeat.

The Kernels had just six hits on the evening, and Jay Harry’s double was the only one to go for extra bases.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 16, Jupiter 1
Box Score

Cesar Lares got the start Friday for the Mighty Mussels. He worked four innings of scoreless baseball, and while he walked three hitters, he danced around the traffic. Lares gave up only a single hit while striking out two.

It didn’t take long for Fort Myers to get on the board with Brandon Winokur singling home Rayne Doncon in the 1st inning. A 3rd inning balk with Doncon at the dish brought home Wilfri Castro and the Mussels had a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Rafael Cruz singled home Poncho Ruiz before he stole third base and an errant throw allowed him to come home and make it a 4-0 game. Jupiter got a run back in the 5th inning, but it was all Fort Myers from there.

Maddux Houghton singled in Gregory Duran, and Brandon Winokur blasted his second homer of the season. With Doncon and Houghton on the bases, Winokur’s three-run shot made it an 8-1 contest. Fort Myers added runs in the 6th inning with Jose Rodriguez scoring both Duran and Houghton before Ruiz’s double brought Winokur and Rodriguez in. Up 12-1, this tilt was already a laugher.

For good measure the Mighty Mussels added four runs in the 7th inning to get to their eventual 16-1 winning total. Duran singled home Del Rosario, and Isaac Pena drew a bases loaded walk to plate Castro. Ruiz then also walked, scoring Duran, and a wild pitch allowed Doncon to race home for good measure.

Fort Myers generated their 16 runs on 13 hits. Duran, Houghton, Winokur, and Ruiz each had two hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 2-3, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(2), BB

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 1-3, BB
#4 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, R
#5 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-3, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(2), BB
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-3, BB
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 1-2, R, 2 BB
#13 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 0-4
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, R, K
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 0-4, K
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, RBI
#20 – Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:35 PM CST) – RHP Caleb Boushley (1-1, 7.20 ERA)
Wichita vs Tulsa (6:05 PM CST) – RHP A.J. Alexy (0-1, 7.71 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (1:10 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Jupiter (5:05 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (0-0, 2.57 ERA)

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

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[D.C Twins]

How many pitches did Raya through in his high school games?

I suspect more than 44.... I'm all for load management but it seems extreme with Raya . 

I doubt they are saving inning for big league bullpen in September/October.... and at the rate the season is going that would be superfluous at this point

[mikelink45]

I am joining D C Twins in wondering what they are really doing with Raya.  Is he going to be a starter?  Does he have some ailment that we don't know?  Will his arm fall off if he goes 4 or 5 innings?  If he eventually goes down with T.J. will we drop this limitation?

 

[FlyingFinn]

Love the headline. Thought the same thing when I looked at the scores last night.

"542 foot blast with an exit velo of 236 mph. " Are you sure they didn't click on kilometers? Someone could get killed by that kind of hit.

Raya has pitched so good this year. To only be allowed 44 pitches in his 4th game IIRC really means the Twins are concerned about something with him. He's at a high level for his age but his innings/pitch count is like no other for us.

[Doctor Wu]

12 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am joining D C Twins in wondering what they are really doing with Raya.  Is he going to be a starter?  Does he have some ailment that we don't know?  Will his arm fall off if he goes 4 or 5 innings?  If he eventually goes down with T.J. will we drop this limitation?

 

I'm puzzled by the innings/pitches limit on Raya too. I could understand the team doing it last year, but why again this season too? Is he really that fragile?

[Major League Ready]

59 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

I'm puzzled by the innings/pitches limit on Raya too. I could understand the team doing it last year, but why again this season too? Is he really that fragile?

It's possible they are working on something(s) between starts and they are managing the overall load.

[Otaknam]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I am joining D C Twins in wondering what they are really doing with Raya.  Is he going to be a starter?  Does he have some ailment that we don't know?  Will his arm fall off if he goes 4 or 5 innings?  If he eventually goes down with T.J. will we drop this limitation?

 

 

39 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

It's possible they are working on something(s) between starts and they are managing the overall load.

My question as well. Why is their top pitching prospect limited to three inning and under 50 pitches? There must be an injury concern that they are not willing to disclose. Why isn’t someone asking this question of the FO?

[Jocko87]

Chilli buns? Wichita, what the F are you doing?

[Major League Ready]

27 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

 

My question as well. Why is their top pitching prospect limited to three inning and under 50 pitches? There must be an injury concern that they are not willing to disclose. Why isn’t someone asking this question of the FO?

My guess is that reporters don't ask because the subsection of fans that are curious about how they are handling Raya is a very small minority.  

[Jeff K]

While on the topic of starting pitchers, I thought the Twins should have saved SWR to start instead of Varland this weekend.  Varland has proven that he is good once through the order.

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

While on the topic of starting pitchers, I thought the Twins should have saved SWR to start instead of Varland this weekend.  Varland has proven that he is good once through the order.

I tend to agree... I suspect that Varland will ultimately be a valuable bullpen piece.

The problem is that the offseason starting pitching 'plan' by the FO makes keeping Varland a starter this year mandatory whether it is his optimal spot or not....

[jkcarew]

A lot of losing (and poor hitting results) in the org this spring.

[jkcarew]

4 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

It's possible they are working on something(s) between starts and they are managing the overall load.

Good point. I hope this is the case.

[jkcarew]

3 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

My guess is that reporters don't ask because the subsection of fans that are curious about how they are handling Raya is a very small minority.  

Yeah. I wouldn’t expect the Twins beat writers or the local columnists to be on it.

But I would expect the experts/bloggers…local and national…that produce prospect rankings for profit, to get on it at some point. They’ve all universally proclaimed him a top starting prospect.

[Jeff K]

19 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

I tend to agree... I suspect that Varland will ultimately be a valuable bullpen piece.

The problem is that the offseason starting pitching 'plan' by the FO makes keeping Varland a starter this year mandatory whether it is his optimal spot or not....

yup; i think the big mistake this off season (once the budget was set), was not pursuing a middle rotation starter through trade or late signing.  It seems the Twins wanted to make Varland happy and keep him as a starter.  He was soooo impressive late last season as a reliever.