Twins Minor League Report (6/7): Festa Deals for Saints; Aguiar Goes Deep Twice for Mussels

[Ted Schwerzler]

David Festa continued to make his case for a promotion if and when the Twins need another starter, and despite an ugly loss by the Mighty Mussels, Carlos Aguiar grabbed his first home run of the season during the same game he grabbed his second. 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carlos Aguiar)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 33-30 
St. Paul Saints: 27-31
Wichita Wind Surge: 22-33
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 31-23
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 27-28
FCL Twins: 14-10
DSL Twins: 1-2

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Austin Schulfer was released from St. Paul.
• OF Emmanuel Rodriguez placed on 7 day IL with right thumb sprain.

• RHP Darren Bowen placed on IL with right elbow sprain for Cedar Rapids

SAINTS SENTINEL
Syracuse 3, St. Paul 2 (F/10)
Box Score
Top pitching prospect David Festa got the ball Friday night and was given early breathing room as Tony Kemp smacked his fifth home run of the season. The two-run shot in the second inning scored Michael Helman and put St. Paul on top. Unfortunately, Festa surrendered a pair of runs in the third inning to knot things at 2-2.

The sides remained even through eight innings, and Syracuse got five strikeouts from Matt Festa in two innings of relief work. Ryan Jensen worked a scoreless ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts allowing a chance for St. Paul to walk it off but Edouard Julien struck out to end the inning and send it to extras. Jensen came back out for the tenth inning and got the first out, but a double allowed the inherited runner to score and made it a 3-2 game.

Brooks Lee struck out on a foul tip to start St. Paul's half before a Matt Wallner single pushed Julien to third. Neither Michael Helman or Kemp could make contact and the game ended in a one-run defeat. St. Paul struck out 16 times on the night, and Kemp was the only batter with a pair of hits.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
NW Arkansas 13, Wichita 5
Box Score
Marco Raya was on the bump for Wichita on Friday and went four innings allowing a pair of runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out three while throwing 57 pitches.

Kyler Fedko kicked off the scoring with a second inning homer, his first of the season. The two-run blast scored Aaron Sabato and put Wichita in the lead. Northwest Arkansas brought a runner home in each of the third and fourth innings, but the score remained even through four.

A fifth inning single by Tanner Schobel broke the tie scoring Luke Keaschall, and Sabato’s sacrifice fly brought Jake Rucker in. The two-run inning doubled up the Naturals. They responded with five in the bottom half though, and jumped out ahead.

Rucker scored Fedko with a single in the sixth inning to draw a bit closer, but a five-run seventh inning from Northwest Arkansas all but put the game out of reach at 12-5. They'd add another run in the eighth inning and 13-5 was where the tilt ended. Keaschall, Rucker, and Fedko each had two hits.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Great Lakes 6, Cedar Rapids 0
Box Score
The Kernels sent Jeremy Lee to the mound on Friday and he turned in four innings of one-run work. Lee scattered four hits while giving up three walks and striking out five.

 

Jacob Wosinski gave up four runs on two hits and three walks and recorded just one out. Ricardo Velez struck out three batters over 2 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. Kyle Bischoff gave up one run on two hits and a walk in the eighth. 

Cedar Rapids gave up a run in the third inning, a four-spot in the fifth inning, and another run in the eighth inning. Striking out 13 times, the Kernels mustered just four hits on the night. Agustin Ruiz went 1-for-3 with a walk. Dalton Shuffield had a triple.

 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Tampa 17, Fort Myers 7
Box Score
Still working his way back to regular action, top prospect Walker Jenkins was getting a night off on Friday. Cesar Lares drew the start and opened the evening by striking out the side in the first inning.

Fort Myers got on the board first in the second inning. Maddux Houghton walked to open the frame and then was caught stealing. Isaac Pena walked and successfully stole second. Ryan McCarthy’s double brought him home, and Payton Eeles followed with a single to cash him in as well. With two outs, the Mighty Mussels had plated a pair of runs to lead 2-0. Unfortunately, Lares ran into trouble in the second inning and gave up three runs while getting just two outs. The inning ballooned into a six-run frame and Fort Myers trailed 9-2.

Carlos Aguiar hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning, and the three-run blast scored Houghton, and Isaac Pena to make it 9-5. Paulshawn Pasqualotto struggled during his three innings of work, and nine runs (eight earned) came across. Aguiar launched another homer in the eighth inning, scoring Pena, and giving the Mighty Mussels seven runs, but they still lost by 10.

Aguiar and McCarthy both had a pair of hits while the former drove in five.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Red Sox 7, FCL Twins 2
Box Score
It was a crosstown matchup today with the Red Sox coming from Jet Blue to Minnesota’s complex. Tomas Cleto drew the start and worked three innings allowing a pair of runs. Dylan Questad pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief giving up five runs (four earned) on two hits and three walks.

The Red Sox scored first with a pair of runs in the third inning. Anderson Nova’s fourth inning triple scored the Twins first run with Yilber Herrera coming home. Down 7-1 heading into their last at bats, Yasser Mercedes singled home Bryan Acuna, but the second run was all they could muster. Jayson Bass recorded the only two-hit game for the Twins.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
The Twins were set to play the Rockies but the game was postponed due to rain.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Carlos Aguiar (Fort Myers) - 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 HR(2), 5 RBI, BB, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. 
#2 – Brooks Lee (St. Paul) – 1-4, BB, 2 K
#4 – David Festa (St. Paul) – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
#6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 2-4, R, BB, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-4, BB, 3 K
#12 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 1-3, BB, K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-5, RBI, 2 K
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-1, 2 BB
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-3, 3 K

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Syracuse (6:07 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (3-4, 5.06 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (0-1, 2.38 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Great Lakes (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Miguelangel Boadas (1-4, 6.49 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (0-2, 6.75 ERA)

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

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[mikelink45]

I suspect Festa might be giving Paddock a turn or two off very soon if Paddock had another bad game. 

[Karbo]

Looks like St.Paul has the same "contact" problems as the big club. Maybe it's time to look at the hitting philosophy through the entire system.

[Otaknam]

1 hour ago, Karbo said:

Looks like St.Paul has the same "contact" problems as the big club. Maybe it's time to look at the hitting philosophy through the entire system.

I think you are correct. Now it’s dogmatically adhere to analytics and swing for the fences instead of the old school philosophy of making contact they seem to have completely abandoned. It will be interesting to see how this obsession with analytics affects an on base guy like Austin Martin, whose best tools seem to be to get on base by spraying hits and using his speed to put pressure on the defense. Every team still needs players who can get on base and not just hit home runs. Sadly the Twins haven’t figured that out yet. 

[mikelink45]

22 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

I think you are correct. Now it’s dogmatically adhere to analytics and swing for the fences instead of the old school philosophy of making contact they seem to have completely abandoned. It will be interesting to see how this obsession with analytics affects an on base guy like Austin Martin, whose best tools seem to be to get on base by spraying hits and using his speed to put pressure on the defense. Every team still needs players who can get on base and not just hit home runs. Sadly the Twins haven’t figured that out yet. 

But you can see that the Dodgers and Yankees have seen the value in contact as well as power.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Karbo said:

Looks like St.Paul has the same "contact" problems as the big club. Maybe it's time to look at the hitting philosophy through the entire system.

The difference in hitting philosophies was very apparent in the Yankees' series.

[Doctor Gast]

27 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

But you can see that the Dodgers and Yankees have seen the value in contact as well as power.

 

LAD are great, NYY maybe is starting to value contact after signing Rowson 

[Doctor Gast]

I've had faith in Festa to be ready when needed to be called up to the show. He has progressed & still has room to rise.

[LambchoP]

I think Festa looks ready for a spot start or two to give Paddack a break. Raya on the other hand, not so much. I think if we can build a package around him and one of our outfielders and another prospect to aquire some starting pitching like Luzardo or Crochet I say pull the trigger. We're not even making it to the playoffs the way our starters are pitching....

[saviking]

Seems like the minor league clubs are starting to get clubbed like baby seals. My sense is we have quality through a certain level and then the talent just falls off the table ..

[RpR]

Well Julien went 1 for 5 with 3 Ks and Wallner went 1 for 5 but with only 1 K, while Lee went 1 for 4 with 2 Ks.

Not the supposed "raking" that keeps getting babbled here.

[D.C Twins]

Good Lord.... Jenkins is 18 years old.... he does NOT need a night off on week 2 or 3 coming off the DL

[wabene]

2 hours ago, saviking said:

Seems like the minor league clubs are starting to get clubbed like baby seals. My sense is we have quality through a certain level and then the talent just falls off the table ..

[Linus]

Good to see only one walk for Festa. 

[ToriiRules!!]

17 hours ago, Karbo said:

Looks like St.Paul has the same "contact" problems as the big club. Maybe it's time to look at the hitting philosophy through the entire system.

The offense all around is terrible something needs to change and it starts with Fslvey and Levine and Rocco time to move on from all 3