Twins Minor League Report (4/23): Jhoan Duran Begins Rehab Assignment

[Steve Lein]

There was a pair of 1-0 games in the system on Tuesday night, but the big story was over in St. Paul as the Saints bats exploded against the Minnesota Twins’ former affiliate, and Jhoan Duran made his first appearance of the season at CHS Field.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of DaShawn Keirsey Jr.)

 

TRANSACTIONS

• On Monday, the Twins optioned C Jair Camargo and Louie Varland back to triple-A, while selecting the contract of RHP Ronny Henriquez from the Saints. Jhoan Duran also began his rehab assignment in St. Paul. IF Dalton Shuffield was assigned back to Wichita, and LHP Brent Headrick was transferred from the 7-day IL to the 60-day, putting another potential rotation reinforcement out of commission for a bit longer.
• Down in Fort Myers the Mighty Mussels placed OF Byron Chourio on the 7-day injured list, along with being assigned RHP Kyle Bloor and C Matthew Clayton.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Rochester 9, St. Paul 15
Box Score
The Saints got on the board first, and often, against the Twins former affiliate at CHS Field in St. Paul on Tuesday.

In the first DaShawn Keirsey Jr. got the hitting started with a one-out triple and would score the game’s first run on a Jair Camargo single. In each of the next two innings they tacked on four more.

Yunior Severino led off the second with a hard single off the center field wall. With two outs Will Holland drew a walk before Diego Castillo drove in one with a single. Anthony Prato followed with another walk and Keirsey Jr. sent a liner through the infield to score two more. Camargo added the fourth run with a broken bat RBI single to make it 5-0 after two.

In the third, Severino and Tony Kemp started the inning with a pair of walks, and Yoyner Fajardo cashed them all in with his fourth home run of the young season.

In interesting stats to me, last year with Wichita, Fajardo hit nine total home runs in 527 plate appearances. He’s had 64 plate appearances so far this season, which puts him on a pace to hit 33 home runs in the same number of plate appearances as last year.

After his early triple, Keirsey Jr. also singled and doubled in his next two at-bats, putting himself a home run away from the cycle after just three innings.

Big right-hander David Festa took to the CHS Field bump on Tuesday, looking to continue his early-season dominance. He kept it scoreless through the first three innings, working around a double in the first and a bases-loaded jam in the third. A leadoff home run in the fourth put a blemish on his night, but he struck out the next hitter to end his outing. In all, Festa finished 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out five. He threw 64 pitches, with 46 going for strikes (72%), including 12 swinging, with eight of those coming on his slider.

Ryan Jensen finished off the fourth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one in 2/3 of an inning, and that led to Jhoan Duran coming on for the fifth inning.

While he recorded all three of his outs with K’s, Duran also gave up four hits, two earned runs, and threw 27 pitches in his first live outing of the season. He got five swings and misses, but all four hits left the bats of Red Wings hitters at scorching rates, including one at 113.0 MPH from Washington Nationals top prospect James Wood. Duran topped out at 99.0 MPH with his fastball while throwing primarily curveballs in his appearance. These are all signs of him working on some things after starting the year on the injured list.

From there the Saints just kept on hitting. Matt Wallner clubbed a two-run double in the fifth, and Holland added an RBI triple in the sixth as the two big hits that pushed their lead to 14-3.

The Saints bullpen couldn’t let it be that easy, however, as the Red Wings exploded for six runs in the seventh to draw this one out. Austin Schulfer (1 IP, H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) and Michael Boyle (1 IP, 3 H, 3 R (one earned), 2 BB, K) were the victims of that outburst. Hobie Harris put an end to the misery for both teams, finishing it out with two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, walking two, and striking out two.

The only hitter in the Saints lineup to go hitless was newcomer Tony Kemp, but he also drew two walks and scored two runs. Holland scored four runs from the bottom of the order, while Keirsey Jr. (who couldn’t hit that homer), Fajardo, and Diego Castillo each had three RBI. Be sure to check out the box score to see all the strong offensive nights from Saints players!

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 0, San Antonio 1
Box Score
It was a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in San Antonio Tuesday evening, with the teams combining for just nine total hits on the game. Combined they were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.

Wind Surge starter Jarret Whorff went the first 3 2/3 innings, allowing the only run of the game on three hits while striking out five. That run came in the bottom of the first inning when a two-out double scored a run all the way from first.

The Wichita offense threatened with multiple baserunners in the third and fourth innings, but they weren’t able get the big hit to push a run across. Their only extra-base hit of the game came off the bat of Emmanuel Rodriguez in the fifth but was later thrown out at home to end the inning.

Lefty Aaron Rozek finished off the rest of the game after Whorff, going 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out two.

Rodriguez finished 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot. Noah Cardenas finished 1-for-3 and drew a walk.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 4, Cedar Rapids 5
Box Score
Looking to get back on track after a five-run and ten-hit outing his last time out, Andrew Morris took the hill for Cedar Rapids at home. He recovered quite well, picking up his first win of the season with six shutout innings. He allowed five hits, walked one, and struck out five.

The Kernels lineup struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning. A single from Danny De Andrade was followed by a hit-by-pitch to Jose Salas before they executed a double-steal, and a throwing error scored the first run of the game. Misael Urbina followed with an RBI, and it was 2-0 Cedar Rapids.

In the bottom of the fifth Gabriel Gonzalez hit a double in front of the fourth home run of the season from Rubel Cespedes for a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, De Andrade singled, stole another base, and scored on a Salas single for the five-run lead.

The bullpen almost lost Morris his chance at a win, when Juan Mendez came in for the seventh. Before it was over, he was charged with four earned runs on three hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. Gabriel Yanez escaped further damage and added a scoreless eighth inning. Ricardo Velez closed the door in the ninth to pick up his second save.

Cespedes (2-for-4, R, HR (4), 2 RBI, BB), De Andrade (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 SB (4)), and Urbina (2-for-4, RBI, 2 K, 2 SB (4)) each had two hits in the win. Salas, De Andrade, and Urbina each had two stolen bases.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Palm Beach 0, Fort Myers 1
Box Score.
This game was almost a carbon copy of Wichita’s game down in San Antonio, right down to the total time of game at two hours and six minutes. But at least in this one, the good guys came out on top.

Both teams combined for just nine hits, went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base.

The Mighty Mussels got five dominant innings from left-hander Ross Dunn, who allowed just two hits, walked one, and struck out eight. 58 of his 77 pitches went for strikes (75%), including 15 swinging. Samuel Perez (2 IP, H, K) and Julio Bonilla (2 IP, H, K) each added two scoreless frames out of the bullpen.

In the bottom of the fourth the Mighty Mussels did threaten after a two-out double from Jose Rodriguez, but he was thrown out at home on a single from Poncho Ruiz to keep the game tied.

With the score still 0-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Brandon Winokur did whatever he could to give his team, and Ruiz, another chance. He led off the frame with a single, stole his fourth base of the season to put himself in scoring position, and Ruiz came through with another single to walk it off for Fort Myers.

Ruiz finished 2-for-3 with a walk and the game winning RBI. Maddux Houghton added a double to the effort.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Ross Dunn, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (5 IP, 2 H, BB, 8 K)
Hitter of the Day – The St. Paul Saints (13-for-34, 15 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, HR, 15 RBI, 10 BB, 8 K, 2 SB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 2-for-4, 2B, K
#4 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, R, 2B (5), BB
#6 – David Festa (St. Paul) – 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 5 K
#7 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – Scored the winning run (pinch ran in the 9th)
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, R, 2 K
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, K
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-3, BB, 3 K
#13 – Kala’I Rosario (Wichita) – 1-for-4, 2 K
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 SB (4)
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4, 2 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Rochester @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) – RHP Joe Gunkel (0-2, 6.39 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (1-1, 7.71 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP John Klein (0-0, 3.75 ERA)
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (1-1, 2.63 ERA)

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

 

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[Cory Engelhardt]

Is there any update on Walker Jenkins? When will he be back and able to play? Thanks!

[FlyingFinn]

Cespedes and E-Rod battling it out for minor league hitter of the month.

Keirsey playing well. Fajardo seems to have switched from high average, low HR player to the reverse. I'm sure he's trying to add power to his game because he probably needs it to make to MLB.

What do we know about Jarret Whorff? He has had a great month of April but doesn't seem to go very deep into games (not as restricted as Raya of course).

[mikelink45]

The big news of the day for me is the fact that we actually let one - just one - starter go more than 3 1/3 innings.  A five inning start for Dunn! Maybe he is going to be a starter and all the others just long men out of the pen.

[TwinsDr2021]

Festa already being 24, it seems they are not really stretching him out to be a starter, shouldn't minor league pitchers be facing guys multiple times so they can learn or the team can learn how to navigate a lineup more than once?

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

SSS-  but is Cespedes figuring it out?  Dunn is starting to lead the charge on the 2023 drafted SP.  I still have high hopes for this group of arms, and honestly Dunn has a very high ceiling.   Really the minor performances overall have been very good.  Need players to continue to get healthy and players to get to their correct levels.  I am still optimistic about the Twins season,  but very optimistic about our farm system.  They continue to draft quality players.   2023 is looking like a banner year.  Walker, Soto, Keashall, Winokur are all looking very very good.    

[DJL44]

Every start from Festa makes it look more and more likely that his future is in the bullpen.

[Tibs]

3 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Is there any update on Walker Jenkins? When will he be back and able to play? Thanks!

No update yet

“Nothing new on Jenkins other than still recovering from the hamstring,” Falvey said. “Standard hamstring strain.”

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/twins-prospects-injury-updates?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

[jmlease1]

Twins seem to be pretty high on De Andrade; I'll be interested to see if he can hit enough as he keeps moving up in the organization.

Cespedes is having an excellent start to the season at Cedar Rapids. He's a little old for the level, but it is his first experience at high-A, so maybe this is a breakout opportunity.

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Festa already being 24, it seems they are not really stretching him out to be a starter, shouldn't minor league pitchers be facing guys multiple times so they can learn or the team can learn how to navigate a lineup more than once?

I agree, unless the Twins are really thinking about his overall innings count for the year and think they are going to need him to pitch in MLB. That's the only reason I can see this. Festa was pitching six innings in several starts in 2022. No known injuries with the Twins in his minor league career to my knowledge.

[LambchoP]

A little worrisome that Duran was topping out at "only" 99. Then again it was his very first rehab appearance... When will we see Canterino back, I think he could be a real bullpen weapon if he could ever stay healthy 

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Festa already being 24, it seems they are not really stretching him out to be a starter, shouldn't minor league pitchers be facing guys multiple times so they can learn or the team can learn how to navigate a lineup more than once?

Overall... totally agree.

Last night though, he didn't do himself any favors averaging ~20 pitches an inning. He needs to get more efficient to start long term.

But again... overall.... totally agree

[D.C Twins]

Rozek local MN kid still hanging in there at 28 y/o!

[Steve Lein]

4 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Is there any update on Walker Jenkins? When will he be back and able to play? Thanks!

They talked about him, and several other injuries, for a minute on the Saints broadcast, but not much to share. Didn't sound like he has started any activities yet.

[Steve Lein]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Festa already being 24, it seems they are not really stretching him out to be a starter, shouldn't minor league pitchers be facing guys multiple times so they can learn or the team can learn how to navigate a lineup more than once?

I think this is becoming, in general, a plan to keep guys like Festa who should pitch in the majors this year, ready for longer. i.e.: available for more innings later in the season instead of using them up early. But, I think there are major detriments to this from a development standpoint as well. How do you know how they will handle and order the third time around, etc... if they never see it.

I certainly would like a guy like him (who is older than Simeon Woods Richardson, as an example) to be pitching longer, but we'll see if this plan works out. 

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Every start from Festa makes it look more and more likely that his future is in the bullpen.

Not going to lie, I see a lot of similarities to Jordan Balazovic. But Festa also hasn't hit a wall yet, so still plenty to like. 95+ MPH as a starter has been rare for the Twins, and his slider was excellent yesterday. Per baseballsavant, he threw 26 on the game, getting 8 swings and misses on it.

[Mike Sixel]

54 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Twins seem to be pretty high on De Andrade; I'll be interested to see if he can hit enough as he keeps moving up in the organization.

Cespedes is having an excellent start to the season at Cedar Rapids. He's a little old for the level, but it is his first experience at high-A, so maybe this is a breakout opportunity.

I'm also high on him, and expect him to be a MLB player. 

[Steve Lein]

37 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

A little worrisome that Duran was topping out at "only" 99. Then again it was his very first rehab appearance... When will we see Canterino back, I think he could be a real bullpen weapon if he could ever stay healthy 

Definitely first appearance stuff. As I mentioned, he threw a ton of curveballs (over half his pitches) so he's working on some things. 

It was also 40 degrees so I'm not too concerned about this in his first game of the season.

I will note that all four hits allowed were scorched. Exit velocities of 98.9 MPH up to 113.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Tibs said:

No update yet

“Nothing new on Jenkins other than still recovering from the hamstring,” Falvey said. “Standard hamstring strain.”

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/twins-prospects-injury-updates?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Sigh. Was really hoping he'd explode up the system this year. 

[TwinsDr2021]

5 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

I think this is becoming, in general, a plan to keep guys like Festa who should pitch in the majors this year, ready for longer. i.e.: available for more innings later in the season instead of using them up early. But, I think there are major detriments to this from a development standpoint as well. How do you know how they will handle and order the third time around, etc... if they never see it.

I certainly would like a guy like him (who is older than Simeon Woods Richardson, as an example) to be pitching longer, but we'll see if this plan works out. 

It just kind of like these older prospects are held down a bit, and when they are brought up have to figure it out at a time they should be thriving and moving into their primes knowing what is what. But since they are on the older side and like all pitcher (or most) struggle a couple of times and then get designated to the pen because then they are actually old. (Jax was done with chances at age 27 and 14 starts, Sands was done getting chances at age 25, Winder at age 26,) I get these three all had other things going on Military, injuries)

[DJL44]

5 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

Not going to lie, I see a lot of similarities to Jordan Balazovic. But Festa also hasn't hit a wall yet, so still plenty to like. 95+ MPH as a starter has been rare for the Twins, and his slider was excellent yesterday. Per baseballsavant, he threw 26 on the game, getting 8 swings and misses on it.

How good was his slider in the 5th inning? We'll never know because they won't let him pitch into the 5th inning.

[Steve Lein]

Just now, DJL44 said:

How good was his slider in the 5th inning? We'll never know because they won't let him pitch into the 5th inning.

Exactly...

I can see he was throwing that pitch more than anything else in the 3rd and 4th innings if that means anything to you, hah!

[roger]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

A little worrisome that Duran was topping out at "only" 99. Then again it was his very first rehab appearance... When will we see Canterino back, I think he could be a real bullpen weapon if he could ever stay healthy 

Read in the strib this morning that Canterino has begun throwing, ie, playing catch.  So it will be awhile, but not the whole season.  And in 100% agreement that the Twins bullpen can use this young man whenever he gets 100% healthy.

And thanks, Steve.  Love these reports you guys give us every day.

Had to look up who in the heck Whorff was.  Am I correct that he was a 5 year college guy, using his COVID year?  Then wasn't drafted, played a year of independent ball before the Twins signing him last year.  Considering his experience in the system, a bit surprised that he is all the way up to AA.  Is he a legit prospect for the Twins?

[LA Vikes Fan]

Thanks for the updates. Question - is Keirsey not in the top 20 prospects? It would be great to be able to follow his daily performances since he appears to be the most likely next one up to the MLB team when we need an OF.  

[bean5302]

My opinion has been Festa = Strotman for a long while now. Can't or won't throw strikes. I liked seeing only 1 BB in 3.1 innings last night, but not the 4 hits which came along with the lack of walks. WHIP is one of the most important stats for me. Festa's WHIP is 1.33, 2.25, 2.62, 1.00, 1.50 in his starts so far with 64, 57, 69, 50, 49 pitch counts. Great for 3 innings! Not so great if you need a guy to be a starter who will go 5.0+ and 90+ pitches. How will the Twins even know if he can hold velocity after 70 or 80 pitches to be a legit starter? I do not care for the handling of these guys. Festa's outings last year: bold where there was a change of more than 20% from previous
51, 72, 83, 79, 81, 71, 70, 68, 62, 75, 78, 78, 69, 35, 25, 50, 64, 63, 45, 66, 73, 92, 91, 61
Like WTF? Maybe you'll pitch the equivalent of 2.0 innings, maybe you'll pitch 6.0?

[bean5302]

1 minute ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Thanks for the updates. Question - is Keirsey not in the top 20 prospects? It would be great to be able to follow his daily performances since he appears to be the most likely next one up to the MLB team when we need an OF.  

7th professional year in baseball, a27 season, looked like a bust from 2019-2022, didn't hit well in AAA last year.

[Steve Lein]

24 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Thanks for the updates. Question - is Keirsey not in the top 20 prospects? It would be great to be able to follow his daily performances since he appears to be the most likely next one up to the MLB team when we need an OF.  

He is not currently in our Top 20. I'm guessing he got plenty of votes in the top 30's we submitted, but not enough to crack our list. Great defender, lots of speed, some power. He's definitely up there on the depth chart but is also about to turn 27.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

I think this is becoming, in general, a plan to keep guys like Festa who should pitch in the majors this year, ready for longer. i.e.: available for more innings later in the season instead of using them up early. But, I think there are major detriments to this from a development standpoint as well. How do you know how they will handle and order the third time around, etc... if they never see it.

I certainly would like a guy like him (who is older than Simeon Woods Richardson, as an example) to be pitching longer, but we'll see if this plan works out. 

If Bailey Ober doesn’t see the 3rd time through - generally - no reason to think Festa would get exposed to that in ‘24 in the Show.

Speaking of Ober, he’s just into his first,  entirely full season. He threw a bit in ‘22 but was nicked up some. Started in AAA last year and then got in 143 innings with the Big Club. He seems to be on a good trajectory and seems like a fixture in rotation going forward…..he’s 28!……….Festa will be fine - he’s 24. Am hoping for start in June and a couple or more in July/August/September maybe 40-50 innings. That would be helpful and a good initiation.

SWR up to maybe 60-70 innings. Varland back at some point for another 60-70 innings.

Fingers crossed for health!!!

[JD-TWINS]

31 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

7th professional year in baseball, a27 season, looked like a bust from 2019-2022, didn't hit well in AAA last year.

I thought he had an above .800 OPS last year? Maybe not at AAA?

[Steve Lein]

13 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

I thought he had an above .800 OPS last year? Maybe not at AAA?

.850 with Wichita, .739 with the Saints (league average OPS was .794 in International League last season). Had a higher OBP in triple-A, but slugging fell off. That's looking fine at .533 so far this season.

Edited April 24, 2024 by Steve Lein