Twins Minor League Report (5/18): Keaschall, Olivar Power Kernels Win

[Seth Stohs]

In general, it was a pretty disappointing day in the Twins organization, especially on offense. However, a couple of Kernels really put up some great at-bats on Saturday. And a lefty starter continues to be incredibly intriguing. There were some transactions to go with reports from six games. Find out all that happened in the Twins Minor League Report. 

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

As you likely noticed, on Friday night and Saturday, we had some rather annoying and frustrating website issues. Fortunately, we believe those have been resolved, and we won’t have any issues for a long time. Because of that, I’m going to encourage you to check out Friday’s Minor League Report because it was written and ready to post on Friday night but didn’t get published until Saturday afternoon. .  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 24-18 
St. Paul Saints: 18-24 
Wichita Wind Surge: 16-21 
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 23-14
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 15-23
FCL Twins: 7-3  

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins activated OF Byron Buxton from the Injured List and optioned OF Austin Martin to St. Paul.
The Twins released RHP A.J. Alexy .
Wichita activated RHP Travis Adams from the 7-Day IL.
Fort Myers placed OF Jose Rodriguez on the 7-Day IL and activated infielder Yohander Martinez. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Resumed Game: St. Paul 4, Omaha 2
Box Score
This game started on Friday night but in the middle of the fourth inning, it was tied 2-2 at that time so the game was suspended and started again on Saturday afternoon. 

On Friday, David Festa gave up two runs on four hits and two walks over four innings. He had four strikeouts. When play resumed on Saturday, Ronny Henriquez came in and struck out three batters over two scoreless, one-hit innings. Scott Blewett faced six batters over two perfect innings. He had two strikeouts. Jorge Alcala came on and threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his first Saints save of the season. 

The Saints got their two runs on Friday in the second inning when Tony Kemp hit his second homers since joining the team last month. Alex Isola scored on it. Isola reached on a double. 

With the score still tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Michael Helman’s sixth homer of the season scored DaShawn Keirsey ahead of him and gave the team a 4-2 lead. 

Helman played the hero. He had two of the team’s four hits including the game-winning homer. Keirsey reached base on a walk and was hit by a pitch. 

Game 2: St. Paul 2, Omaha 4
Box Score
Earlier this week, we learned that the Twins signed veteran left-handed pitcher Caleb Baragar to a minor-league deal and assigned him to St. Paul. He made his first start in the regularly-scheduled game on Saturday. 

An error cost him a bit in a three-run second inning. He was charged with three runs (1 earned) on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. He had six strikeouts and no walks. Austin Schulfer came on and got the final out of the fourth inning, stranding two baserunners. Nick Wittgren gave up a hit and issued a walk in a scoreless sixth inning. Hobie Harris worked the seventh inning and gave up one run on a solo homer. 

Down 3-0, Chris Williams put the Saints on the board when he hit his third home run of the season. In the bottom of the third frame, Michael Helman hit a solo home run to make it 3-2. 

That was it for the Twins scoring. Again, they had just two runs, and Michael Helman had two of the team’s four total hits (including another homer). 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Tulsa 4                                                                                                                                                                                      Box Score
The Surge certainly put themselves in a good position to steal a win in Oklahoma, but the ninth-inning threat came up just short. 

The teams exchanged runs in the second inning. Jake Rucker drove in Kala’i Rosario with a line drive single to left field. Tulsa scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Wind Surge responded in the top of the seventh frame with two runs of their own. 

Jorel Ortega’s first home run of the season drove in Rucker and tied the game at 3-3. However, Tulsa added a run in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-3. Yes, I will get to that final play… 

But first… Travis Adams came off of the IL to make the start. He gave up one run on three hits over three innings. He had two strikeouts and no walks. Regi Grace gave up two hits and a walk, but he struck out two batters over his two scoreless innings. Jarret Whorff came in for the sixth inning. A walk, an RBI double, and an RBI single gave Tulsa that 3-1 lead. 

Ortega tied it, and Whorff went back out for the seventh inning. The right-hander walked the bases loaded. Miguel Rodriguez came in. He walked the first batter he faced to force in the go-ahead run for Tulsa. But Rodriguez settled in. He got a ground out to third, an out recorded at home. He got a strikeout for the second out and a fly out for the third out. Holding them to one run here was a very impressive feat.  

Alright, let’s go to the bottom of the ninth. Resetting the table, the Wind Surge were down 4-3. Jake Rucker led off with a walk, and Alerick Soularie came on to pinch run. Ortega singled with Soularie going to third. Ortega moved up to second on the throw. Runners on second and third, no out, down a run. The pitcher left the game with an injury. Emmanuel Rodriguez pinch hit for Ben Ross. Unfortunately, he struck out. Carson McCusker pinch hit for Kyler Fedko, and he struck out. Finally, Jeferson Morales struck out to end the game. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Quad Cities 6
Box Score
The Kernels jumped ahead early. Through four innings, they had a 6-0 lead. However, Quad Cities scored four runs in the top of the eighth and two runs in the top of the ninth to tie it. Of course, that allowed the Kernels to win in a walk off! 

Luke Keaschall gave the Kernels the very early lead with a home run to lead off the bottom of the first. With one out, Rubel Cespedes hit a triple and scored on a single to left by Jay Harry. 

The Kernels added two more in the third inning. Ricardo Olivar hit a one-out, solo home run to make it 3-0. With two outs, the Kernels got singles from Harry and Kevin Maitan. Misael Urbina followed with a single to center to drive in Harry with the fourth run. 

In the fourth frame, the Kernels powered their way to two more runs. With two outs, Keaschall hit another solo homer, his fifth of the season. Olivar followed with his second homer of the game and fifth home run of the season. 

Let’s jump over to the Kernels’ pitching on Saturday. Lefty Christian MacLeod made the start. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, issued a walk, hit a batter and had one strikeout. He reached the 50 pitch count, with 30 strikes.

Jordan Carr came on and had a very nice appearance. He worked the next 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out five batters. 

That brings us to the eighth inning, the Kernels still holding that 6-0 lead. Sheldon Reed came into the game. He gave up four runs on three hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning. Following a three-run homer off the bat of Kale Emshoff, Juan Mercedes came into the game. He got an infield pop out and a strikeout to end the eighth inning. 

Mercedes came back out for the ninth inning. He got two outs, but he gave up two singles. With two runners on, Brian Dinkelman went to his best bullpen arm, Ricardo Velez. He gave up a single to load the bases. Then Brett Squires then hit a two-run single to tie the game at 6-6. After a walk, Velez got the final out of the inning. 

That brings us to the bottom of the ninth inning. Rubel Cespedes lined a single to right. After a fly out The New Guy - aka Kevin Maitan - lined a triple to left field that drove in Cespedes with the winner. 

The Kernels scored their seven runs on 14 hits and three walks. Eight of the nine Kernels batters had at least one hit. The top five hitters each had at least two hits. Leadoff man Luke Keaschall led the way with a 3-for-5 day which included his fourth and fifth home runs. He also stole his 13th base. Olivar was 2-for-5 with his fourth and fifth homers of the year. Rubel Cespedes went 2-for-4 with a walk and his second triple. Jay Harry went 2-for-5 with a stolen base. Kevin Maitan went 2-for-5 with the walk-off triple. 

Check out David Malamut's photos from the Kernels game on Saturday. Follow him on X at @MWLArchives. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 5
Box Score
A four-run seventh inning for Lakeland made all the difference in this game. Other than that inning, the Mussels got some very good pitching. Frankly, the offense just didn’t do enough. 

So let's start with the pitching. Left Cesar Lares was on the mound and he was very, very good again. Lares went the first six innings. He was charged with an unearned run on five hits, two walks, and two hit batters. He had three strikeouts. 

Xander Hamilton came in to start the seventh inning, but he was charged with four runs on two hits and three walks without recording an out. He left the game with the bases loaded. Sam Perez came in and allowed two inherited runners to score, but otherwise gave up no runs on just one hit in his two innings. 

Byron Chourio had one of the team’s three hits and drove in a sixth-inning run with a ground out. In the seventh innings, Poncho Ruiz singled to center to drive in Brandon Winokur who worked two walks in this game. Gregory Duran had the other hit for Fort Myers. Rayne Doncon also had two walks in the game.  

In addition to lack of hits, the Mussels had three caught stealing. Because of that, the team was just 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left just two runners on base. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 1, FCL Red Sox 7
Box Score
A five-run second inning by the Red Sox proved to be well more than enough to take down the FCL Twins on Saturday. 

19-year-old Dylan Questad was the Twins fifth round pick a year ago out of high school in Wisconsin. On Saturday, he made his third professional appearance and his first start. He went 1 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on two hits and four walks. He had three strikeouts. He left the game with two runners on base. Liam Rocha came in and allowed both to score before getting that third out of the second inning. 

Rocha settled in and ended up giving up one run on five hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Alejandro Crisostomo struck out four batters over two innings. He gave up one run on no hits. He walked two and hit a batter. 

Similar to several of the above games, the FCL Twins offense just did very little. Ricardo Pena had two of the team’s three hits. Dameury Pena had the other one. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI.  
Pitcher of the Day – Cesar Lares (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 82 pitches, 52 strikes (63.4%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. Also, our Top 20 rankings will be updated on Monday, so be sure to check back and see how different it looks. 

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - 0-for-1, K 
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, CS
#11 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, SB(13)
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) -  1-for-3, BB, 2B(12), R  
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - Game 1: 0-for-4, 2K, Game 2: 0-for-3, K. 
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, K

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Omaha @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) - RHP Caleb Boushley (4-1, 4.54 ERA) (likely to change)
Wichita @ Tulsa (1:00 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (2-2, 3.65 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) - RHP Darren Bowen (2-2, 4.43 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (11:00 AM CST) - LHP Ross Dunn (0-3, 2.37 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics!  

 

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[DJL44]

Severino is having an awful season. 

[LambchoP]

E-Rod and Keirsey Jr are looking real good this year. Would be nice to know what's up with Walker Jenkins. Strained hamstring on day one and nothing since? This was supposed to be his first full year and it's looking more and more like we won't see him until real late or next year, bummer. I haven't been too impressed with Festa or Raya either. Festa can't control the walks and Raya apparently can't throw more than 30-40 pitches. Rather it's fatigue or managers babysitting him I'm not sure...

[Doctor Gast]

I'd like some help with Olivar. I've heard that he has an above-average arm from somebody & below-average arm from others. I do not know if that below-average report is due to his low throw-out rate (because of a technic problem) or indeed he has a below-average arm. If it's a technic problem, that can be fixed if it's an arm problem then that's more complicated.

[Omgbenji]

Hellman never gets any talk about a promotion to the Twins, but when healthy, he seems like he consistently hits and hits for power. I'd like to see him get a chance at some point this year. 

Also, not too impressed with ERod this year with his awful contact abilities.

[D.C Twins]

Free Cespedes!

[D.C Twins]

9 minutes ago, Omgbenji said:

Hellman never gets any talk about a promotion to the Twins, but when healthy, he seems like he consistently hits and hits for power. I'd like to see him get a chance at some point this year. 

Also, not too impressed with ERod this year with his awful contact abilities.

ERod is getting pitched around in AA. 

He should have been up in AAA weeks ago so he could practice hitting MLB-like pitchers who would actually give him challenging pitches to hit IN THE ZONE.

Overall Twins have been waaaaaaaay to slow with a few promotions.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Omgbenji said:

Hellman never gets any talk about a promotion to the Twins, but when healthy, he seems like he consistently hits and hits for power. I'd like to see him get a chance at some point this year. 

FWIW nobody else in MLB seems to be interested in giving Helman a chance.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

ERod is getting pitched around in AA. 

He should have been up in AAA weeks ago so he could practice hitting MLB-like pitchers who would actually give him challenging pitches to hit IN THE ZONE.

Overall Twins have been waaaaaaaay to slow with a few promotions.

If the problem is he is getting pitched around then he needs to learn how to take his walks. If he's expanding the zone to try to hit garbage that is a big problem. My guess is he's at exactly the right level for his development.

[FlyingFinn]

Helman is really hitting lately, maybe the Twins minor league hitter of the week. Needs to sustain this to have a chance to get called up. Margot would probably have to be bad enough to be DFA'd for Helman to get a chance. Because Brooks Lee is injured, Helman is forced to play a lot more SS right now.

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Raya apparently can't throw more than 30-40 pitches.

Check the pitch count in the box score. Raya is up to 60 pitches.

[DocBauer]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Helman is really hitting lately, maybe the Twins minor league hitter of the week. Needs to sustain this to have a chance to get called up. Margot would probably have to be bad enough to be DFA'd for Helman to get a chance. Because Brooks Lee is injured, Helman is forced to play a lot more SS right now.

Check the pitch count in the box score. Raya is up to 60 pitches.

Agree Helman needs to keep it up to get a shot. He also needs to stay healthy. IMO, would have been up last season...terrific numbers...but had a trio of injuries. Slow start this season, but AVG up to .235 now, OB at .350, and an .850 OPS. He's got solid XB/HR power and good speed and is a very good career SB option.

Guy might not be great anywhere but he plays 7 different spots for the Twins affiliates. I'd really like to see he and Keirsey both get a shot as 27 and 27yo late bloomers who have both been very productive the past couple of seasons after finally "figuring it out". I only care if a guy can perform, I don't care about age. Both might wash out. Both might become very good bench parts of the Twins over the next couple of seasons.

When I watch how bad Margot has been, and I watch Kirilloff struggle to find himself again, I can't help think about giving a couple guys a shot to see if they can make it. More speed and athleticism on the Twins wouldn't be a bad thing. 

[Fatbat]

Erod and Keaschall need to be promoted.