Twins Minor League Report (5/31): Olivar Steals the Show

[Ted Schwerzler]

Ricardo Olivar was the hero on Friday night for the Cedar Rapids Kernels following their walk-off on Thursday. A trio of big rehab assignments continued, and the Twins farm system was in full swing.

 

TRANSACTIONS
None to report

SAINTS SENTINEL
Rochester 8, St. Paul 2
Box Score

It was Louie Varland making the start on Friday night for St. Paul, and he is still looking to find sustained and renewed success at Triple-A since his demotion. Working five innings, Varland gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits. The Saints pitcher walked a pair and struck out six.

Royce Lewis remained in the lineup for the Saints, and will reportedly return for the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday as he makes the short trek from upstate New York into the big city. On the evening he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Down 4-0 through four innings, complete with a bases-loaded walk by former Minnesota prospect Travis Blankenhorn, St. Paul finally answered. Diego A. Castillo doubled home both Tony Kemp and Will Holland to halve the deficit. Rochester continued to add, though, and they pushed it back to an 8-2 tally by the bottom of the seventh inning.

Despite pushing a pair of runners into scoring position during the ninth inning, St. Paul couldn’t cash in on either, and the potential rally never got going. Kemp had three of the team’s seven total hits while also stealing a base.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Springfield 3, Wichita 1
Box Score

Prospect Marco Raya got the start for Wichita, but it was a tough one. Allowing three runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning, that was the only frame he’d be given. Needing 28 pitches to record three outs, Raya was sent to the showers.

Luke Keaschall scored on a Tanner Schobel first-inning groundout to get one back, but the sides then went scoreless. Down to their final three outs, needing a pair of runs, Wichita sent the top of their lineup to the dish. Unfortunately, they went down in order, and that's how this one ended. With just five hits, only Aaron Sabato recorded a pair.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Lake County 4
Box Score

Cedar Rapids turned to Darren Bowen for the start on Friday night. He allowed four hits on seven runs across 4 2/3 innings of work. Bowen didn’t walk anyone and struck out three.

Dalton Shuffield opened the scoring in the second inning with a single that scored Misael Urbina. Ricardo Olivar then homered for the seventh time this season to make it 2-0 in the third inning. Urbina scored on a wild pitch in the third inning to give the Kernels a 3-0 lead before a four-run fifth inning put Lake County on top for the first time.

Urbina continued his productive night with a sixth-inning home run to retake the lead. His two-run shot, the third of his season, scored Rayne Doncon and made it a 5-4 ballgame. Blasting his second shot of the game, Olivar hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, scoring Keoni Cavaco and giving the Kernels a 7-4 cushion. Urbina joined him as the only other Cedar Rapids batter with a pair of hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 8, Bradenton 2
Box Score

Cesar Lares made the start and worked five innings of two-run baseball. Scattering six hits and a pair of walks, the Mighty Mussels starter also picked up six strikeouts on the evening.

Scoreless into the fourth inning, Fort Myers plated the first run of the game. Byron Chourio doubled to score Poncho Ruiz before a Maddux Houghton sacrifice fly scored Rixon Wingrove to make it a 2-0 lead. A fielder error allowed Yohander Martinez to reach and the errant throw scored both Chourio and Ryan McCarthy.

The fifth inning saw Brandeton plate a pair two draw within two, but Chourio scored Brandon Winokur on a single to mitigate the damage. Up 5-2 in the sixth inning, Payton Eeles brought home Houghton on a sacrifice fly before Brooks Lee drove in McCarthy and Martinez with a single of his own. Up 8-2, needing just nine more outs, they found themselves in a good spot.

Tanner Hall and Xander Hamilton both worked a pair of innings to close out the game. Lee, who is continuing his rehab assignment, went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Chourio had two hits as well.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 1, FCL Red Sox 0
Box Score

Rehabbing Twins prospect Cory Lewis drew the start today for the FCL squad. He was great, allowing just a single hit across three innings of work. Lewis walked one but struck out four. Walker Jenkins also continued his rehab assignment, leading off as the designated hitter. He went 1-for-1 with three walks.

The only run of the game came on a Dameury Pena solo shot in the fourth inning. The big fly was his second of the season. Pena also had two hits on the day to lead the team. Tomas Cleo got the win, his first of the season, working three scoreless innings of relief.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Cesar Lares (Fort Myers) - 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR(8)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – FCL Rehab - 1-1, 3 BB
#2 – Brooks Lee (St. Paul) – Fort Myers Rehab - 2-4, 2 RBI
#6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, K
#8 – Austin Martin (St. Paul) – 0-2, 2 BB
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-5, R
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-2, R, 2 BB, K
#12 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 0-2, 2 BB
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-4, RBI, K
#15 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – FCL Rehab - 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 4 K
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-4, 2 K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR(8)

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Rochester (5:45 PM CST) – RHP David Festa (1-1, 2.77 ERA)
Wichita vs Springfield (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Pierson Ohl (3-2, 3.51 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs Lake County (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Bradenton (3:00 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (0-2, 6.35 ERA)

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Lots of mediocre to bad starts from our starters except for Cory Lewis on rehab. The bullpens haven't been great this year, They were tonight except for Josh Winder and Jay Jackson's 4 runs allowed. Everyone else went a combined 23 innings and didn't let up a single run. My favorite reliever is Regi Grace at Wichita.

[tony&rodney]

Marco Raya was sent to the showers .... by the umpire. He was ejected at the close of the first inning. Watching the game it was difficult to understand what was going on with the home plate umpire. He missed a couple of pitches in the top of the first that were absolute middle, middle strikes and then inexplicably called a balk to score a run. Raya was not a happy camper and blue then sent him to the showers. The announcer did not explain anything whatsoever. The Wichita manager, Ramon Borrego, was ejected from the game before it started which may have triggered the umpire. Strange sequence and you could tell the Springfield batters were a little uncomfortable being at the plate when the umpire was angry at Wichita.

[Jocko87]

24 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Marco Raya was sent to the showers .... by the umpire. He was ejected at the close of the first inning. Watching the game it was difficult to understand what was going on with the home plate umpire. He missed a couple of pitches in the top of the first that were absolute middle, middle strikes and then inexplicably called a balk to score a run. Raya was not a happy camper and blue then sent him to the showers. The announcer did not explain anything whatsoever. The Wichita manager, Ramon Borrego, was ejected from the game before it started which may have triggered the umpire. Strange sequence and you could tell the Springfield batters were a little uncomfortable being at the plate when the umpire was angry at Wichita.

Wichita umpires are touchy, or so I'm told.

[Old Crow]

8 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

Wichita umpires are touchy, or so I'm told.

Do minor league umpires rotate teams as in the majors?

[jorgenswest]

I think the struggles of Varland and Wallner are partially an indicator that they are making changes. Change is difficult and takes time. It often requires steps backward before moving forward. Drew MacPhail spoke about the work that they were doing with the two on last week’s Twins Insider. In fact if a player goes down and starts tearing up AAA, I wonder if they are working at all to make the changes necessary to get back to the majors.

They may be sending Julien down to get reset. I hope to see numbers that indicate he is attacking pitching in or near the strike zone rather than taking so many strikes. That change may cause him to struggle some.

[jmlease1]

I'm intrigued by Lares. He's having a very good season in Ft. Myers and seems to have figured some things out. Might be another guy to watch.

Lee and Jenkins both look ready to move back to their proper levels, hope to see that soon.

[LambchoP]

Glad to see Cory Lewis pitching again. Raya seems to be all over the place. Hopefully Festa has another good start tonight. If he continues to pitch well he may get a shot with the twins soon. I think Paddack will need a 15 day break to limit his innings soon.

[DJL44]

Olivar is hitting nearly as well as Keaschall did at the same level. Will he be ready when the Vazquez contract is over?

[Dman]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Marco Raya was sent to the showers .... by the umpire. He was ejected at the close of the first inning. Watching the game it was difficult to understand what was going on with the home plate umpire. He missed a couple of pitches in the top of the first that were absolute middle, middle strikes and then inexplicably called a balk to score a run. Raya was not a happy camper and blue then sent him to the showers. The announcer did not explain anything whatsoever. The Wichita manager, Ramon Borrego, was ejected from the game before it started which may have triggered the umpire. Strange sequence and you could tell the Springfield batters were a little uncomfortable being at the plate when the umpire was angry at Wichita.

That is why they need a challenge system in place.  It stops the Umps emotional side from taking over as he would only be embarrassed to have so many calls overturned.  Hate it when umpires take over games as players work hard to succeed and they can take some of that away when their ego gets in the way.

Interestingly in the Cedar Rapids game both teams lost their 3 challenges by the 6th inning with the umpire winning 6 of the 7 challenges.  Umps can be good too.

 

[Omgbenji]

To me, Raya is a complete non-prospect and certainly not what any of us wants him to be. I think at best, he comes to MLB as a reliever, but as an impact starter? I really don't see it. The severe innings limits, the wildly inconsistent performances, and his physical stature all tell me he's a nobody. Tell me I'm wrong.

[Dman]

15 minutes ago, Omgbenji said:

To me, Raya is a complete non-prospect and certainly not what any of us wants him to be. I think at best, he comes to MLB as a reliever, but as an impact starter? I really don't see it. The severe innings limits, the wildly inconsistent performances, and his physical stature all tell me he's a nobody. Tell me I'm wrong.

I'd say I am pretty disappointed with how his season has started, but a couple of things to remember.  He is only 21 in a league where the average age is about 24 I believe.  So for him just to hold his own there would be an accomplishment.  If you have ever watched him pitch and the movement he gets on his pitches I don't think you would give up on him.

The Twins moved him aggressively, I believe because he was one of the few arms they had at the time that was ready for that level.  He has been dominant at times and struggled at times.  He has mainly struggled to start this year, but there is a lot of time left to turn things around and with his innings limit he should be able to pitch all year.

He obviously has things to work on with pitch mix, pitch location and maybe even pitch refinement to get better.  We are going to need to give him more time to get there.

Its OK to be disappointed. I know I am as I really felt he might break out to some degree this year, but even if he doesn't he has three years yet to figure things out to be at the average age for his level.  Its way too early to give up on him.

[tony&rodney]

25 minutes ago, Omgbenji said:

Tell me I'm wrong.

Watch him pitch for 15 innings (via milb.com) and check back in with your thoughts. No prospect is a sure thing but there is talent to develop in Marco Raya.

[Obsvr]

45 minutes ago, Omgbenji said:

To me, Raya is a complete non-prospect and certainly not what any of us wants him to be. I think at best, he comes to MLB as a reliever, but as an impact starter? I really don't see it. The severe innings limits, the wildly inconsistent performances, and his physical stature all tell me he's a nobody. Tell me I'm wrong.

He may very well not end up as an impact starter...but the talent is there.

If he avoids Tommy John surgey and becomes a high impact bullpen arm...thats an outcome that is just fine.  Jhoan Duran was once a highly touted starting prospect and I don't think anybody cares at this point that he's in the bullpen.

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Olivar is hitting nearly as well as Keaschall did at the same level. Will he be ready when the Vazquez contract is over?

I will be interesting to see if this power surge continues.  8HRs already this year compared to 10 all of last year.  19% K rate which is slightly less than last year so that's good.  It will be telling if they move him to AA in the next month or two.  Good chance he is ready when Vazquez's contract expires If that happens.  Of course, the big question is if his defense is progressing.  The stolen base number are a bit concerning.