Minor League Report (5/12): Wichita Plates 11, Cesar Lares Strikes Out the Same

[Matt Braun]

Good luck picking a hitter of the day. 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Rayne Doncon)

Be sure to vote now for the Twins Top 20 prospects. You can rank the prospects here. 

TRANSACTIONS
1B/OF Gregory Duran activated from 7-day IL (Fort Myers)

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Toledo 4
Box Score
Joe Gunkel: 3 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (2-for-5, 2B), Tony Kemp (2-for-4, 2B, R), Patrick Winkel (2-for-4, 2 RBI)

A four-run 6th inning spearheaded a Saints victory on Sunday.

In an introduction to how the rest of the system played on Mother’s Day, the Saints found a way to win despite not hitting a homer. No one did. In the entire system. Three of the four teams still walked away victorious.

The rub? A well-balanced offense: St. Paul banged out nine hits, took six walks, and scratched and clawed their way towards five runs, just enough to take home the win. Most of the action came in the 6th, immediately after Toledo starter Ty Madden exited the game. Facing Wilmer Flores (no, the other Wilmer Flores), Matt Wallner walked, Alex Isola doubled, Yunior Severino singled, Tony Kemp doubled, and Patrick Winkel singled in succession, plating four runs with such a systematic perfection that Henry Ford would be proud.

The pitching effort was a different story. Joe Gunkel could only reach the fourth, necessitating an entourage of short-term hurlers to follow. Ironically, the worst performance went to the pitcher credited with the “W”: Josh Winder allowed a pair of runs and walked three, but because of an outstanding sense of timing, he laid claim as the man on the mound during St. Paul’s offensive breakthrough. 

Hobie Harris took home the hard-earned save with a trio of splitters, all of them good enough to fool Parker Meadows to nail the 27th out.

Former Twin Gio Urshela singled thrice for the Mud Hens.

On Sunday, the aforementioned Madden was Detroit’s finest prospect. He struck out seven over five innings, allowing just one earned run.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 11, Arkansas 1
Box Score
Jarret Whorff: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI), Jake Rucker (2-for-4, R, 3 RBI), Jorel Ortega (2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI)

The Wind Surge bludgeoned their opponents on Sunday.

It was an all-around onslaught: each batter reached base at least once, everyone scored a run, and only two players went home without a higher RBI count than they entered with. Somehow, no one homered. Runs came organically and ethically. Alerick Soularie stole home.

A special shoutout goes to Aaron Sabato, who doubled twice to move his season batting average to .350. He also struck out three times. You take the good with the bad. 

The impressive scoring should not overshadow a tremendous group pitching effort by the Wind Surge bullpen. Everyone pitched. I think Jon Rauch even snuck out there. Five relievers combined to work six innings, allowing just one hit and a lone walk along the way (thanks, Jared Solomon).

John Stankiewicz lowered his season ERA to 1.46.

The Travelers sent one of baseball's best catching prospects out to play on Sunday. Seattle’s Harry Ford ranks as the 34th-best overall prospect across the minors. He singled twice and struck out.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Iowa 2 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Christian MacLeod: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (2-for-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB)

The Kernels won using Manfred ball on Sunday.

Lefty Christian MacLeod started for the first time in nearly a month, tossing 30 pitches, earning 15 strikes, and leaving after just two frames. He looked rusty. Rusty is better than injured, though, and MacLeod should pitch better in the coming weeks.

MacLeod gave way to a bevy of relievers, none of whom allowed an earned run for the next eight innings. Jordan Carr ate up 3 ⅔ innings. Jacob Wosinski tossed in four outs. Ricardo Velez topped them all; he pitched three perfect frames with four strikeouts and an unearned run, giving him an unusual 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER line. So it goes with the Manfred runner.

Fortunately, the Kernels built up a big enough lead to make that one run insignificant. Give thanks to Ricardo Olivar: unsatisfied with a walk and a hit already under his belt, the catcher blasted a critical two-run triple to the right field to give Cedar Rapids a two-run advantage. He later scored on an error. 

Iowa’s DH Jefferson Rojas is the Cubs’ 8th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He went 0-5 at the plate.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Dunedin 4
Box Score
Cesar Lares: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Rayne Doncon (3-for-4, BB), Poncho Ruiz (2-for-2, 2B, RBI, BB) 

A three-run opening frame buried Fort Myers on Sunday.

There’s no recovering from damage already done, but Cesar Lares got as close as one can to rectifying his mistakes. A disastrous 1st inning did not portend a terrible outing; rather, the 20-year-old lefty hunkered down and crushed Dunedin’s lineup with an 11K outing, turning heads and swings with a dastardly slider. He earned 16 swings and misses. Somehow, he found the time to pick off two runners as well. 

It was not quite enough, though, as—despite acquiring more hits than their opponents—the Mighty Mussels couldn’t time their knocks well enough, leading to just three runs, all coming in the 7th. The batter of the game nod could go to either Rayne Doncon or Poncho Ruiz: Doncon reached base four times, but Ruiz added a double to his ledger.

Gregory Duran singled and scored a run in his first game since April 30th.

Toronto’s 20th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Arjun Nimmala, homered and singled in four trips to the plate.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cesar Lares
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#7 - Austin Martin (Minnesota) - 0-2
#11 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-4, R, RBI
#12 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, RBI, BB
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-4, R, RBI, BB
#15 - Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5
#16 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2 RBI, 3 K
#19 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (11:07 AM) - TBD
Wichita @ Tulsa (7:00 PM) - RHP Pierson Ohl
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM) - TBD
FCL Twins @ FCL Rays (11:00 AM) - TBD

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[FlyingFinn]

We need more good LH pitchers in the organization. Could Cesar Lares be one? Maybe..............

[darwin22]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

We need more good LH pitchers in the organization. Could Cesar Lares be one? Maybe..............

Very true!   

What is the status of (perpetually injured) Conner Prelip?  Assuming he's in the same boat of Matt Canterino.

[Dman]

I don't know if anyone has watched him pitch before and I did not watch todays game, but seeing him in the past he looks like a typical lefty to me. His K 9 was 6 per per nine until today where he moved it to just over 9 per 9 which is solid.  I don't think he throws real hard but haven't checked the numbers. 

That being said 11 K's is really hard to do without a good pitch.  That slider must be something special.  He is fairly young for the level being just 20 years old although he turns 21 in July.  There are things to like and after todays start if he keeps those K's coming maybe the Twins have something?

Olivar doesn't get enough respect IMO.  He has a rock solid batting line, 17% walk rate, 19% K rate. He hits for decent average at .280 and the slugging is good as well at .463.  Currently his OPS is higher than Keaschal and they are at the same the level and Olivar plays the more demanding catcher position along with some other positions to keep his bat in the lineup.  If you watch this kid he just looks so focused and never seems to panic at the plate. I think the Twins have a really good hitter there.

[Doctor Wu]

I think Jon Rauch even snuck out there.

Whoa ... this time machine is making me dizzy!

[FlyingFinn]

9 hours ago, Dman said:

Olivar doesn't get enough respect IMO.

Yea, probably should have put him in my rankings. What's your order for Twins minor league catchers in likelihood of making MLB? I have Camargo (cup of coffee already), Cardenas, Olivar and Cossetti (little older I think). I've soured on Winkel as his hitting #'s aren't good in what's known as a hitting league.

[jmlease1]

Looks like the conversion to the bullpen is working for Stankiewicz. Be nice if he could tick those Ks up a little higher, but the WHIP is impressive and he's always been good at keeping the ball in the park. Curious to see how he does in Wichita this season and what kind of future he has as a bullpen piece.

Good for Sabato in having a strong start to his season at AA, but it's only 5 games. Maybe he can earn a promotion if he can keep this up into July, but there's a reason he slid through the Rule 5 draft.

[Dman]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Yea, probably should have put him in my rankings. What's your order for Twins minor league catchers in likelihood of making MLB? I have Camargo (cup of coffee already), Cardenas, Olivar and Cossetti (little older I think). I've soured on Winkel as his hitting #'s aren't good in what's known as a hitting league.

That is exactly what I have right now.  It is so hard to get info on a catchers defense, but from what I understand Cardenes looks like the best one of bunch.  That being said not sure how he compares to Camargo.

Olivar and Cossetti seem to have more defensive concerns. I saw Winkel at game a few years back and his ability to throw to second was horrible back then but his bat was solid.  He is the only one that hits from the left side so I assume they will want to keep him in the system.  He is really  struggling with bat this year though.  

While I don't see an All Star catcher in there if Olivar and Cossetti are viable I like the Twins catching prospects.  Cardenas, Olivar and Cossetti all have solid batting lines across the board.  Defense will be the deciding factor IMO.

[MN_ExPat]

Whorff... Son of Moog!!

[roger]

Keep seeing Doncon's name in these reports and knew nothing about him.  Checked and see that he came along from the Dodgers with Margot in the Miller trade.  Interesting.

Other than he is young, 20, and he was just acquired from the Dodgers, still no nothing else.  Kid seems to be hitting very well.  Does anone have more information about this young prospect?