Twins Minor League Report (5/22): Gasp! Zebby Matthews Issues Walk, Ty Langenberg Sets Career-High

[Seth Stohs]

I think Meatloaf would agree that a 51:1 ratio is still pretty good.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Ty Langenberg)

Birthday boy Zebby Matthews gave up one earned run and struck out eight batters, and yet he wasn't named the Pitcher of the Day. Payton Eeles and Kyler Fedko each had three-hit games, but someone else was named Hitter of the Day. Find out how the four full-season Twins affiliates played on Wednesday. Before we do that, take a look at the affiliates' updated re

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 26-23 
St. Paul Saints: 19-25 
Wichita Wind Surge: 16-24 
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 25-15
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 18-23
FCL Twins: 8-4  

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

TRANSACTIONS
In a rarity, there were no transactions made on Wednesday (at least officially).  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul, Buffalo (suspended, top of third)
Box Score
It was a very good start for the Saints in Buffalo on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, we won’t get to see how it finishes until Thursday. 

Just a few things to note. 

    -The game will resume on Thursday morning with two outs in the top of the third inning. Matt Wallner will be on second base and Yunior Severino (who is 2-for-2 so far in this game) will be on first base. 

   -Veteran Tony Kemp gave the Saints a 3-0 lead in the top of the second innings when his third home run since joining St. Paul. Severino and Chris Williams scored on the play. 

   -Randy Dobnak started and pitched two innings. He gave up one hit and walked one batter. He also struck out two batters. 

   -The game will resume on Thursday at 10:05 (central time). The regularly-scheduled game will be seven innings and will begin 30-minutes after the resumed game is completed. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, San Antonio 4 (10 innings)
Box Score
Zebby Matthews was on the mound again for the Wind Surge in this game. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits over six innings. He had one walk and struck out eight batters. He ended up with a no decision, but his Surge ERA is now 1.02. 

And yes, I can try to just pass by it, but you read it correctly. Zebby Matthews issued a walk for the first time this year. With the six innings, he now had 51 strikeouts and one walk overall this season in 40 1/3 innings. Ray-Patrick Didder walked to lead off the top of the fifth inning. That means that Matthews went 38 1/3 innings before that first walk. Amazing, truly! 

John Stankiewicz struck out two, and walked one batter over two scoreless, hitless innings. 

Wichita got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Emmanuel Rodriguez led off with a walk. Tanner Schobel’s eighth double advanced E-Rod to third base. Next up was Noah Cardenas who doubled to score both runners. 

San Antonio tied it in the fourth, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Wind Surge reclaimed the lead. Kyler Fedko led off with a single. He advanced to third on a single by Rodriguez. Tanner Schobel hit a fly ball to center field, deep enough to drive in Fedko with the go-ahead run. 

Taylor Floyd came in for the ninth inning. He started things off with a walk, but that was followed by a force out for the first out. Floyd then issued another walk, but it was followed with a strikeout for the second out. However, Floyd hit a batter to load the bases. Ramon Borrego turned things over to veteran Jared Solomon. Unfortunately, he walked the first batter he faced which tied the game. He kept it tied by getting a ground out to end the ninth. As the inning came to a close, Solomon was ejected. 

The Kernels went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth inning. Regi Grace came into the game for the 10th inning. He got a pop out for the first out, but Cole Cummings dropped a soft bloop single into left field to score Clay Dungan with the go-ahead run. That was it for the scoring, but the Wind Surge had to score a run to keep the game going or score two runs to win. 

Schobel started the inning at second base. After a strikeout, Kala’i Rosario singled on a ground ball off of the pitcher. Unfortunately, a double play ended the game. 

Kyler Fedko went 3-for-4. Rosario was 2-for-4. Jeferson Morales was 2-for-4 with his seventh double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3
Box Score
Both teams scored a run in the first inning. Both teams scored a run in the fifth inning. Peoria messed up the plan when they scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to end the game. 

Luke Keaschall continued to rake and get things going right away. For the fourth time this season, he led off the first inning of a Kernels game with a home run. In this game, he went 3-for-5 and drove in both runs. In the fifth inning, he hit a single to drive in Nate Baez who had tripled. Baez was 2-for-4 in the game. Rayne Doncon added his first Kernels double. 

John Klein made the start for the Kernels. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters. Jacob Wosinski got five outs. He finished the sixth, the seventh and got one out in the eighth. Kyle Bischoff got the final two outs of the eighth inning without allowing any runs. However, in the bottom of the ninth inning, a double was followed by a walkoff single by William Sullivan. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Daytona Beach 1
Box Score
The Mussels scored first and early, but not often. Fortunately, it was just enough to earn a win on Wednesday. 

In the top of the first inning, Payton Eeles singled and stole second base. Byron Chourio walked. Brandon Winokur flew out to left field, deep enough for Eeles to tag and advance to third base. Then came a double steal. Chourio stole second base and Eeles stole home for the first run. Chourio stole third base (his eighth of the season) and scored on a ground-rule double by Kyle Hess. 

That was it for the Mussels scoring. They had base runners but went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. 

Eeles led the way. He was 3-for-4 with his fourth double. He had three steals and now has six since joining the Mussels.  Hess and Maddux Houghton each had a double.

Fortunately, the Mussels got great pitching from a couple of 2023 Day 3 draft picks. Ty Langenberg started and gave up one run on five hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out a career-high nine batters. The Urbandale, Iowa, native has been getting better with each start. A suburb of Des Moines, Langenberg's family is likely looking forward to getting him back in-state. I’m sure those in Cedar Rapids are looking forward to him playing for the Kernels after he spent three years in Iowa City pitching for the Hawkeyes. 

Xander Hamilton has had some ups and downs already this season, but when he’s on, he can dominate. He faced nine batters over the final three innings, five on strikeouts to earn the save. 22 of his 27 pitchers were strikes. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, HR(6), R, 2 RBI, K.   
Pitcher of the Day – Ty Langenberg (Fort Myers) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 82 pitches, 57 strikes (69.5%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the just-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. 

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, R
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-for-2 before game suspended
#9 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, HR(6), R, 2 RBI, K
#10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4.
#11 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Minnesota) - 4 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 77 pitches, 48 strikes (62.3%)
#12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-for-5, K
#13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(8), R, RBI, K
#14 - Zebby Matthews (Wichita) - 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. 80 pitches, 55 strikes (68.8%)
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-for-2, R before game suspended.
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, K (played LF)

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Buffalo (10:05 AM CST) - Conclusion of Game 1, Game 2: RHP Adam Plutko (first Saints start) 
San Antonio @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-2, 4.76 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM CST) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (1-0, 3.38 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (11:00 AM CST) - RHP Tanner Hall (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM) - TBD

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Eeles and Hess, two free agent pickups during the season this year, have really started out well. They are carrying the Fort Myers hitters right now. 

Nice starts by our pitching - Matthews, Klein, Langenberg and even Dobnak for his short stint.

[tony&rodney]

Impossible to tell where the 2-2 pitch by Jared Solomon was. The umpire was lined up with the pitch location and it very clearly looked like it was a strike directly in front of him. Solomon pumped his fist and the catcher did too as he came out from behind the plate thinking the game was over. The umpire called a ball though and the ensuing reactions were not good. Solomon screamed at the umpire and gestured as well and then proceeded to throw ball four. Solomon should have been ejected before the pitch but got his money's worth after the ground ball out. People make mistakes. It was an odd sequence. For those who do not watch minor league games it might help to know that the minor league players rarely react to any calls on the field. It is rare to see a player argue or make any displays to an umpire. The minor leagues are all about development and the players are taught to just accept the calls and move on.

[Dman]

Nice to see Zebby not missing a beat at AA.  As he moves up he is going to need to walk some guys.  Can't be in the zone all the time.  His walk rate even from last year is impressive.  Zebby and Ohl should get along well at AA as they love to attack hitters.

With Doncon at High A now I have to believe Keaschal will make the jump to AA fairly soon.  While there doesn't appear to be much room at AA for him with both Ortega and Ross struggling at AA it seems like they could move one of them around to make room.

[Dman]

34 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Impossible to tell where the 2-2 pitch by Jared Solomon was. The umpire was lined up with the pitch location and it very clearly looked like it was a strike directly in front of him. Solomon pumped his fist and the catcher did too as he came out from behind the plate thinking the game was over. The umpire called a ball though and the ensuing reactions were not good. Solomon screamed at the umpire and gestured as well and then proceeded to throw ball four. Solomon should have been ejected before the pitch but got his money's worth after the ground ball out. People make mistakes. It was an odd sequence. For those who do not watch minor league games it might help to know that the minor league players rarely react to any calls on the field. It is rare to see a player argue or make any displays to an umpire. The minor leagues are all about development and the players are taught to just accept the calls and move on.

While I agree the Minor's are all about development and an umpires call doesn't "really" matter.  We all have competitive spirits and would like the rules applied evenly.  That is why at least having the opportunity to have a few challenge calls per game would be nice.  It can save the umpire and the players some angst while trying to get the call right.  I also think the challenge system helps keep an umpires ego in check as he looks bad when the call is wrong versus unchecked he controls with no checks and balances.

[FlyingFinn]

26 minutes ago, Dman said:

With Doncon at High A now I have to believe Keaschal will make the jump to AA fairly soon.

I'm thinking the Twins want that shoulder healthy before moving him up. Rucker is playing well and Schobel is going to play. Rucker is repeating AA so I'm not sure the Twins see him as a legit MLB prospect. Ross and Ortega's #'s are both disappointing after good to great #'s at A ball. But that's what happens when players hit AA. Keaschall and Schobel will get their 5 games per week and everyone else has to capitalize on any time they get to play.

[Jocko87]

ESPNs Kiley McDaniel's updated top 50 prospects is out and E-Rod is #10. 😲

Walker at 9 and Lee at 27.

[jmlease1]

Keaschall is making it look like he doesn't have anything left to learn in A-ball and should probably get a promotion to AA fairly soon. pretty impressive at 21. Glad to see Doncon moving up as well and looking forward to seeing how he performs.

It's great to see Matthews having strong early success at AA. Happy 24th, mah dude! happy to have him out of A-ball and going against better hitters and working in a hitter-friendly environment in the Texas League. If he's able to thrive there it's a good sign, because there should be plenty of hitters who are advanced enough to be a challenge. So far, it's been about as good as you could possibly ask.

Wichita has 5 interesting starting pitching prospects right now with Matthews, Raya, Ohl, Nowlin, and Morris and that's without Lewis throwing an inning. Fun group, glad to see them all in AA.

[tony&rodney]

10 hours ago, Dman said:

While I agree the Minor's are all about development and an umpires call doesn't "really" matter.  We all have competitive spirits and would like the rules applied evenly.  That is why at least having the opportunity to have a few challenge calls per game would be nice.  It can save the umpire and the players some angst while trying to get the call right.  I also think the challenge system helps keep an umpires ego in check as he looks bad when the call is wrong versus unchecked he controls with no checks and balances.

I am a big proponent of the challenge system. While Emmanuel Rodriguez still has plenty to learn in baseball he would benefit enormously from a challenge system.