Twins Minor League Report (4/26): Top Prospects on the Bump

[Ted Schwerzler]

With a pair of affiliates rained out on Friday night, it was just Wichita and Fort Myers in action. Both had a top Twins pitching prospect on the bump, and they were expected to provide the highlights for the night.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Sheldon Reed transferred to Cedar Rapids from Wichita
• RHP Mike Paredes has been reinstated from the IL by Wichita
• RHP Nick Wittgren signed as an MiLB free agent and was assigned to Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL
With thunderstorms expected in the area, St. Paul and Rochester postponed Friday’s action. The teams will play a Saturday doubleheader kicking off at 1:07pm.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 7, San Antonio 1
Box Score
Marco Raya was on the bump for Wichita, and 44 pitches were deemed his max after just 2 1/3 innings. Giving up a single run on one hit, he walked three while also striking out three.

Seeking their second consecutive road victory, Wichita jumped out to an early lead with a two-run first inning. Noah Cardenas singled home Tanner Schobel before Carson McCusker singled in Cardenas.

After giving a run back in the second inning, Wichita created some distance in the 3rd inning. Andrew Cossetti singled to drive home Schobel for his second run of the evening and a Jake Rucker double brought Cossetti and Kala’i Rosario home.

In the fourth inning it was Rosario driving home Cardenas with a single to make it a 6-1 game. Continuing to add, Kyler Fedko recorded his first double of the season in the fifth inning, and Ben Ross was able to cross the plate in the process. Up 7-1, Wichita was in a good spot.

Heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, the Wind Surge were still hanging onto their 7-1 lead, and in position to claim their second consecutive road victory. Wichita pitchers had allowed just three hits to San Antonio on the night. Despite allowing a couple of runners to reach, the Wind Surge slammed the door and grabbed the victory.

Cardenas, Cossetti, and McCusker each had a pair of hits for Wichita. Rucker and Fedko were the only players to record extra-base hits with each grabbing a double.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit and Cedar Rapids were postponed on Friday due to rain. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:05pm.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Palm Beach 5, Fort Myers 3
Box Score
Charlee Soto got the start Friday night for the Mighty Mussels and worked three innings. He allowed two runs, neither earned, on five hits. Soto didn’t walk anyone and struck out three. Working the slow buildup that Minnesota keeps their top pitching prospects on, he threw 49 pitches, of which 33 were strikes.

After giving up a pair of runs in the 1st inning, and two more in the sixth inning, Fort Myers found themselves down late. The Mighty Mussels cracked the scoreboard for the first time in the eighth inning when Poncho Ruiz drove in Isaac Pena on a groundout.

Palm Beach got the run back in the ninth inning, but Fort Myers attempted to make things interesting in the bottom half. Jose Rodriguez cracked his sixth double to score Brandon Winokur and Rafael Cruz singled home Rodriguez. The 5-3 tally was as close as it got though and Fort Myers fell short.

Rodriguez was the only Fort Myers hitter with a pair of hits on the night, and the lineup posted an ugly 15/1 K/BB.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day – Andrew Cossetti (Wichita) - 2-4, R, RBI, BB, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#5 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3K
#7 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-3, BB, K
#9 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-4, R, 2 K
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K
#13 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 1-4, R, RBI, BB

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Rochester (DH at 1:07 PM CST) – RHP Louie Varland (0-0, -.-- ERA), RHP Randy Dobnak (1-3, 5.23 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Jaylen Nowlin (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs Beloit (DH at 12:05 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (0-2, 8.59 ERA), RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 3.68 ERA).
Fort Myers vs Palm Beach (5:05 PM CST) – RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto (0-1, 2.57 ERA)

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

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[LambchoP]

What is up with Raya? 44 pitches only? When are they gonna let him pitch?

[Ted Schwerzler]

56 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

What is up with Raya? 44 pitches only? When are they gonna let him pitch?

They aren't. Apparently the plan is to keep all top prospects below 60 pitches or so until they start to actually build up. See Festa. Even less for a guy that has had an injury history or gotten off behind. Changing of the times.

[h2oface]

26 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

They aren't. Apparently the plan is to keep all top prospects below 60 pitches or so until they start to actually build up. See Festa. Even less for a guy that has had an injury history or gotten off behind. Changing of the times.

That way they will finally be ready when they are 25-26, just like the Twins seem to like them.

[FlyingFinn]

Soto is 3 years younger than Raya and throws more pitches. Both pitched good but Raya is a relief pitcher only, in my mind, right now. At least with Festa, we are increasing his workload slowly.

[NotAboutWinning]

Seems like a very sound approach to limit the count for young pitchers. The object is to refine their technique, not eat innings in minor league games.

[terrydactyls]

Paul Skenes is the #1 pitching prospect.  He's averaging two strike outs per inning, has only allowed one run so far this season, and is about to join the Pirates.  He's also only three months older than Maya.  He's averaging just 3.33 innings a game.  Sounds absurd to me but I guess that's the way it's done now.

[FlyingFinn]

32 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Paul Skenes is the #1 pitching prospect.  He's averaging two strike outs per inning, has only allowed one run so far this season, and is about to join the Pirates.

That's a very good comparison, same age. Skenes threw 46 pitches in his first outing and is up to 71 pitches in his last outing. Raya also threw 46 in his first outing and 44 in his last outing. Festa has gone from 49 to 64.

[DJL44]

8 hours ago, LambchoP said:

What is up with Raya? 44 pitches only? When are they gonna let him pitch?

He might get more innings if they moved him to the bullpen

[DJL44]

6 hours ago, h2oface said:

That way they will finally be ready when they are 25-26, just like the Twins seem to like them.

After they've used up all of their options

[BSLinPA]

49 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

After they've used up all of their options

Remind me again,.......who are the subsequently successful Twins-drafted pitchers that we've lost under Falvey because they were out of options?   

[jmlease1]

8 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

They aren't. Apparently the plan is to keep all top prospects below 60 pitches or so until they start to actually build up. See Festa. Even less for a guy that has had an injury history or gotten off behind. Changing of the times.

Well, I guess we'll see if this strategy works? (they sure aren't pushing it to 60 for Raya, though) I understand about the concerns related to injury for pitchers, especially starters. But much as I don't want to see anyone's arm get wrecked by throwing too many pitches in the minors and avoiding having guys keep throwing after a high stress inning certainly makes some sense...I do worry that we're putting guys in a position where they never learn how to work through 6+ innings and get through an inning without max effort on every single pitch.

It's a little disheartening to see a supposed top prospect like Raya in AA and still getting pulled after 45 pitches or so. It's one thing for Soto at not even 19 and down in low-A and another for Raya at 21 in his 3rd pro year at AA. JMO. But it's still early, so maybe they're going to work him up more as the season goes along. (and they hopefully know a heck of a lot more than me about this)

[roger]

Interesting conversation above, especially regarding Raya.  What crossed my mind as I read this is that Raya was drafted four years ago.  Considering how little we have seen of him, having been around for four years is a bit surprising. 

[Guest]

I don’t see this as a bad strategy for the modern starter that is really only tasked with completing five to six innings. So often we say we don’t want young pitchers to “waste their bullets in the minors”. Well this is a way to limit wear on their arms while they are more than a season from the majors.

[D.C Twins]

So... we have established that Raya is a great bullpen prospect....

... as for a SP prospect... we won't know until he actually practices doing SP like things...

AA seems like a place where people should have started to do SP like things if the plan is for them to be a SP in the MLB. 

Until then..... still a bullpen prospect... sorry... 

[Dman]

I don't know I kind of feel like April is just a tough baseball month.  The weather can be cold, windy and rainy.  It can be hard to stay warmed up and most pitchers have to slowly ramp up.  Raya hasn't thrown a ton of innings in his career as it is so if they plan to pitch him all year something is going to have give so might as well start him out slow to start the season in the less than ideal for baseball April conditions. That way he should be able to start all year instead of shutdown early due to an innings limit.

Last night he didn't pitch particularly well anyway giving up three free passes in less than three innings.  It didn't look like ha had the control and command to make it very far anyway.  IMO I think the slow start (lack of innings) makes some sense especially if you are concerned about a slightly framed 6' foot pitcher that has has arm issues in the past.

[DocBauer]

13 hours ago, LambchoP said:

What is up with Raya? 44 pitches only? When are they gonna let him pitch?

I can't explain Raya specifically, but I read an interview/article on a different website where Festa stated he had just thrown his last, or was about to throw his last, game where he would be held at 70 pitches or less. Obviously 44 pitches is quite a bit less than 44. But how a guy looks, and if he throws 30 pitches or close to in a single inning sometimes also factors in to how long he's allowed to go.

The point being that while different arms might be treated on a different schedule, they are using the first month of the season as part of a ramp up with the idea of going additional innings and pitches allowed per game. 

So based on what Festa stated, we should start seeing some extensions in May and beyond.