Twins Minor League Report (5/10): Long-Time Twins Prospects/Teammates Dual in Toledo

[Ted Schwerzler]

Randy Dobnak and Ty Langenberg put up strong pitching performances for the Twins on the farm Friday, while Maddux Houghton recorded the third walkoff of the series for Fort Myers.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Randy Dobnak and Bryan Sammons with the 2018 Cedar Rapids Kernels)

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Regi Grace activated from injured list by Wichita
• RHP Travis Adams placed on injured list by Wichita
• RHP Christian MacLeod reinstated from the 7 day IL by Cedar Rapids
• RHP Jeremy Lee reinstated from the 7 day IL by Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Toledo 1
Box Score

Facing former Twins prospect Bryan Sammons, Randy Dobnak was on the bump for the Saints Friday. The St. Paul starter was incredible on Friday night working six scoreless innings with seven strike outs. Dobnak gave up five hits and walked two, but he left in line for the win. Sammons gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings, but he also had nine strikeouts in the game. 

For the first three innings of the game, neither team was able to get on the board. Then in the 4th inning Yunior Severino hit his fifth home run of the season. The three-run shot also plated Anthony Prato and Alex Isola to put St. Paul up 3-0.

The Mud Hens did score a run against Diego Castillo in the 9th inning, but that was as close as they would get. Prato had a pair of hits for St. Paul and Chris Williams reached base twice on walks.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Arkansas 5, Wichita 4 (F/11)
Box Score

Pitching prospect Marco Raya was on the bump Friday for the Wind Surge. He worked four innings allowing two runs on four hits. He gave up a pair of walks but struck out four on the evening.

A second-inning home run, with a runner on, was the only runs of the game through the first seven innings. Arkansas was able to get up and keep the Wing Surge down. Emmanuel Rodriguez didn't yet make an appearance in the box score, but he definitely brandished his arm from the outfield.

Facing a loss, the Wind Surge came back in the bottom of the 9th inning. Ben Ross grounded out but score Kala'i Rosario in the process. Jorel Ortega then singled home Alerick Soularie to knot things up and send it to extras. Arkansas grabbed a run in the top half of the frame to put the pressure on. Wichita had runners on first and second before recording an out after Noah Cardenas was plunked by a pitch. With two outs Carson McCusker took a walk to load the bases and it was on Jake Rucker to make something happen. He worked a full count before drawing a game-tying hit by pitch and turning it over to Aaron Sabato. Logan Gragg came on in relief and got the Wind Surge first baseman to ground out and send the game into the 11th inning.

Miguel Rodriguez remained on for the 11th inning and immediately gave up a run-scoring double. The runner was bunted over then came in on a single to make it a 5-3 game. Wichita answered in the bottom half with an Ortega single to score Sabato, and a Rodriguez walk loaded the bases with no outs. Cardenas went down on three straight pitches and then Cossetti went down in similar fashion. Down to their final out it was on Rosario to come through. He grounded out and the comeback came up short.

Rosario and Ortega each had two hits in this game.

KERNELS NUGGETS
South Bend 7, Cedar Rapids 6
Box Score
Coming off a great start his last time out, Darren Bowen was on the bump for Cedar Rapids. He worked 4 1/3 innings allowing three runs on four hits. Allowing three walks, he also struck out six while giving up a big fly.

The Kernels scored first with Misael Urbina ripping his second home run of the season. The 4th inning blast brought in Rubel Cespedes to make it 2-0. Keoni Cavaco lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jose Salas and make it 3-0.

After giving up a homer in the 4th inning, Cedar Rapids went back to work in the 5th inning. Danny De Andrade doubled home Luke Keaschall and Ricardo Olivar, giving Cedar Rapids a 5-1 lead.  De Andrade then came around to score the sixth run on a throwing error on a pickoff play.

Adding two in the bottom of the 5th inning and four in the bottom of the 7th inning, South Bend worked their way back against Cedar Rapids and took the lead 7-6. The Kernels couldn’t find a tying or go-ahead run, and that’s how the game would end.

Cedar Rapids posted seven hits, but only Keaschall had two on the evening. Olivar drew a pair of walks. Gabriel Gonzalez remained out of action.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 3
Box Score
Ty Langenberg worked for the Mighty Mussels on Friday and it was his best start of his professional career. Working six scoreless innings, he allowed just two hits with a pair of walks while striking out seven.

Angel Del Rosario broke the scoreless tie in the 5th inning with a single that scored both Brandon Winokur and Isaac Pena. Out to a 2-0 lead, the Mighty Mussels had some breathing room. Rayne Doncon then singled home Payton Eeles in the 6th inning to give Fort Myers a 3-0 lead.

Adding two in the bottom of the 8th inning, and another in the 9th inning, Dunedin knotted things at three. Looking to walk things off in their half of the 9th inning, Maddux Houghton doubled in Omari Daniel and the 4-3 walkoff was secured. 

Despite totaling eight hits on the night, Doncon was the only Fort Myers batter to record a pair.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 6 , FCL Red Sox 5
Box Score
The recently-signed veteran Adam Plutko made his Twins organization debut for the FCL club on Friday. Signed after spending last season in the KBO, he will need something of a spring training buildup. Working a single inning, he gave up one (unearned) run on one hit while striking out one.

Trailing 1-0 through after the top of the 1st inning, Dameury Pena ripped his first home run of the year to tie the ballgame. Ariel Castro then singled in Harold Grant on a ground out to give the Twins the lead.

Boston tied things in the 2nd inning, but the Twins answered again when a double steal had Yilber Herrera grabbing second and Jayson Bass coming across the plate. Bass then made his presence felt in a big way during the 3rd inning. His second double of the season cleared packed bags scoring Grant, Castro, and Hendry Chivilli to make it a 6-2 game.

The Red Sox plated three runs in the 6th inning to draw within one, but that’s where the game ended as the Twins held on. Pena and Chivilli both had a pair of hits on the afternoon.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day –  Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, 2 2B, R

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 0-5, BB, 2 K
#5 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
#7 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-3
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-4, R, SB, 3 K
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-3, BB
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, 2 2B, R
#13 - Kala'i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-4, R, 2B(11), BB
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, R, 2 RBI, 3 K
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR(5), K
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-2, R, 2 BB

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (4:05 PM CST) – RHP David Festa (0-1, 3.75 ERA)
Wichita vs Arkansas (6:05 PM CST) –RHP Aaron Rozek (1-1, 0.53 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (3:05 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 3.65 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Dunedin (5:05 PM CST) – TBD

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

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[Jocko87]

Was at the Wind Surge game tonight and it was pretty fun.  Ugly, but fun.

Raya was not sharp.  Decent but not sharp.  The home run he gave up was an absolute bomb.  It just felt like he was nibbling a bit.  Solid cruise at 96 but apparently he's made out of fine china.  He gave up a triple in the first that Emma had in his glove and popped out but it was at the 400' marker.  Nice try by Emma banging the wall but the glove didn't hold it.

Impressive was Jaylen Nowlin, 5 1/3, 8K's into extra innings on 75 pitches.  Nothing hit hard and just good solid pitching, his run was the Manfred man.  I would like to nominate him for pitcher of the day.

Most of the comeback was fueled by a wild Arkansas pitcher, some decent at bats to take walks but the Arkansas game thread had to be a mess.  Wichita offense was offensive mostly, they had very good chances to win three innings in a row.

Carson McCusker is a very large human.  His double to right was hit hard but slightly misplayed to get over the right fielders head.  It's a loud out in the bigs.  He does look like a ballplayer though, moves well, decent arm the one time he really tried to get someone. 

Emma didn't do much with the bat, took a called strike three with a runner on third to end the 9th.  It was right down the middle from my seat.  Then in the 11th, they obviously pitched around him and blew gas past everyone else.

Cardenas HPB was in the head, looked like the bill of the helmet.  The helmet flew 20 ft.  He jumped up right away and waved off trainers.

 

[FlyingFinn]

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

I don’t see how it could be significantly different. Woods Richardson isn’t struggling significantly more in the majors and really isn’t probably that different from Varland or Festa. Miranda and Martin have been both levels and don’t seem that different from the ends of a major league roster. Is it possible there are more injuries at both levels this year? More injuries drain AAA and teams might elect to move up older organizational players or sign journeymen minor league players to fill those holes in order to keep their prospects developing at lower levels. That might have a small effect.

[Yoke]

Is 4 innings and 56 pitches a high for Raya?

 

At some point, they’ve got to let the guy push it a bit. Wish the plan for him was more public, just to know if he’s going to get to 100 pitches in a start sometime before getting called up.

[terrydactyls]

"Ariel Castro singled in Harold Grant with a ground out"??

How do you accomplish both in one at bat?

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

This is the time of year when AAA is mostly has-beens and AA has the real prospects. Injuries have depleted the pitching depth in AAA but teams are hesitant to move the younger guys up as they build up innings.

If this is true it's important to take offensive numbers at AAA with a grain of salt. Drop 150 points from the expected OPS in the majors.

[ladrossetwin]

I would like to see a spot added where the minor league injuries and rehab progress are tracked.  I'm not sure how much info is available, but just for instance with Canterino and Prielipp I have no idea where they are in their recovery process and when thy might be coming back.

[Yoke]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

Ken Rosenthal actually just wrote an article about this. It was talking about how pitching quality is so much worse at AAA, so once you get called up, it’s harder than ever. 
 

“Through Monday, the average Stuff+ of every pitch in the majors was 100. At Triple A, it was 86, down from 95 last season. Among major-league starting pitchers, that’s roughly the difference between Mitch Keller and Griffin Canning. Only 29 starters out of 142 have thrown 20+ innings with a worse than 86 stuff.”

(https://theathletic.com/5481059/2024/05/09/mlb-top-hitting-prospects-majors/?source=user_shared_article if you subscribe to The Athletic)

[mikelink45]

For me the answer to your question is yes. The other s until they get a chance in the majors have not reached the level that woods Richardson has. He's demonstrated that he can pitch up here and that's a big deal

[Ricky Vaughn]

Its been a few years now since the minor leagues were downsized. So a smaller pool of players to draw from. Not saying that is the only reason but it may play a role.

[ashbury]

9 minutes ago, Ricky Vaughn said:

Its been a few years now since the minor leagues were downsized. So a smaller pool of players to draw from. Not saying that is the only reason but it may play a role.

Did the teams make sure to cut good players along with the bad when they downsized?

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

some of it is probably cyclical and will bounce back next season (or maybe even this one), but teams are also incentivized to not stash their best prospects in AAA in order to gain an extra year of team control the way they used to, so that might have some impact as well.

Kala'i Rosario is having a solid season so far in AA. He's not destroying everything in his path like Emma, but he's not doing badly at all for his age-21 season in AA. He's a guy I keep watching.

[stringer bell]

Triple A has seemed a long way from the majors for a while IMHO. The Twins have had a large number of players at AAA put up great numbers, but they aren't able to carry that over to the majors. Two examples in recent years are Andrew Stevenson and Tim Beckham. 

[Mike Sixel]

4 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

They eliminated a level of ball, and more guys are in AAA that would be at lower levels. I think fangraphs had something on this a couple weeks ago. 

[Mike Sixel]

58 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Did the teams make sure to cut good players along with the bad when they downsized?

It's weird, but I've read in several places it is the downsizing.....

[DocBauer]

Not a great start by Raya, but he's clearly been moved to the 55-60 pitch range hisnlast couple of starts. (Festa up to 70 now). So I can see the method to the madness with how he's being brought along.

Nowlin is someone I've been watching close for some time. I have little doubt he's going to be a ML pitcher in the near future. The question remains if he can have enough control/command to stay in the rotation with his velocity and good secondary stuff, or will he have to move to the pen due to lack of said control/command?

Good for Dobnak!

Great start by Langenberg.

Doncon is making the Dodgers/Margot trade look better.

 

[Obsvr]

5 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

There is a really good article on the Athletic that speaks to this.  It's a larger piece on why younger players are struggling at their first crack in the bigs.  The gist is that...every pitcher in the MLB is a MLB pitcher where that isn't anywhere close to being the case in Triple A.  They had a quote from JD Martinez who is on a rehab assignment asking him how he felt and said something to the effect of "I feel fine, but I haven't see any real velocity yet".  They also discuss the contraction and consolidation of the minor leagues and this has bounced out older guys that are AAAA caliber.

Good read if you have sub.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

It's weird, but I've read in several places it is the downsizing.....

I'd enjoy reading something that actually persuades, concerning the direction of cause and effect.  Correlation not being causation, and all that.  (The above-mentioned Athletic article doesn't sound like it addresses this particular tangent exactly.)

More plausible to me would be that fewer and fewer youths are playing baseball, and the downsizing of the minors reflects that reality, up and down the farm system; sure, you can find warm bodies to fill any number of rosters but what is the point?  But I don't have any actual data, nor any inside sources to confer with.

[bigdave]

On 5/11/2024 at 6:21 AM, FlyingFinn said:

The Twins radio announcers said on Thursday that the quality gap between AAA and MLB has never been larger. They said this was coming from them talking to players and personnel from a number of teams. I'm wondering if anyone might have a reason for that.

After watching the Saints, I agree. There isn't anyone on their infield that ever belongs in the majors. There are a few pitchers with promising arms, but it's not an overabundance of talent.

[stringer bell]

21 hours ago, ashbury said:

More plausible to me would be that fewer and fewer youths are playing baseball, and the downsizing of the minors reflects that reality, up and down the farm system; sure, you can find warm bodies to fill any number of rosters but what is the point?  But I don't have any actual data, nor any inside sources to confer with.

I think that is true in the United States. The increased number of international players (particularly Hispanics) indicates to me that there are still plenty of youths playing baseball. 

 

[ashbury]

57 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I think that is true in the United States. The increased number of international players (particularly Hispanics) indicates to me that there are still plenty of youths playing baseball.

Excellent clarification.