Twins Minor League Report (6/13): Saints Blast Off, Keaschall Keeps Rolling

[Ted Schwerzler]

The St. Paul Saints set a new franchise record on Thursday night and multiple players got in on the multi-home run game. Luke Keaschall continues to hit no matter where he is, and the Twins farm produced plenty of solid performances.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 37-32 
St. Paul Saints: 30-35
Wichita Wind Surge: 24-36
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 34-25
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 28-29
FCL Twins: 14-12
DSL Twins: 4-3

TRANSACTIONS

• Recently released RHP Austin Schulfer has signed a minor-league deal with the Detroit Tigers
• OF Alex Kirilloff optioned to Triple-A St. Paul
• Util Austin Martin recalled by Minnesota Twins
• RHP Austin Brice transferred from Double-A Wichita to St. Paul

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 18, Louisville 4
Box Score

Scott Blewett started what was a bullpen game for Toby Gardenhire’s squad, and he did wonderfully. Working three innings of scoreless baseball, the traditional reliever allowed just two hits while walking none and striking out four. Jordan Balazovic struck out five in three innings of one-run baseball as he came on in relief.

The scoring started early for St. Paul with Brooks Lee blasting his first home run of the season as the second hitter of the game in the bottom half.  He also flashed the leather tonight. The recently returned Jair Camargo singled home Matt Wallner and Michael Helman to make it 3-0 before a Tony Kemp single plated Yunior Severino. Diego A. Castillo then drove in Camargo with a base hit of his own and Lee grabbed his second hit of the inning to drive in Kemp and make it a 6-0 game after one.

In the second inning, Severino launched his 11th home run of the season to give the Saints a 7-0 lead, and Helman matched him with his 11th dinger in the fifth inning to make it 8-0. Not to be outdone, Severino went yard again, and his fifth inning home run was the 12th of the year and put St. Paul up 9-0.

Wanting to get in on the home run barrage, and maybe with some frustration being passed over for a call up, Wallner went yard for the 12th time this season to make it 10-0 in the sixth inning. Camargo followed his lead, with Helman on, and it was a 12-0 tally.

After a Bats run in the seventh inning, Wallner went yahtzee again in the seventh inning, and the big fly brought Lee home in the process. Helman found his second big fly to make it 15-1, and the Saints had a victory well secured. A second Rece Hinds home run gave Louisville a pair back, but Helman doubled home Edouard Julien in the ninth inning before Severino plated Helman and Wallner with a single. Up 18-3, this one was over.

Former Saints infielder Hernan Perez drove in a ninth inning run for Louisville, but there was never going to be a realistic comeback attempt. The Saints recorded 22 hits, and Severino, Wallner, and Helman each had a pair of home runs. Wallner and Helman each recorded four hits on the night, while Lee, Severino, and Kemp each had three.

The 22 hits set a franchise record, while the eight home runs tied one.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Midland 8, Wichita 5
Box Score

Pierson Ohl drew the start on Thursday for the Wind Surge, and he went four innings while allowing three runs on six hits. Ohl walked one and didn’t record a strikeout.

Luke Keaschall has been handling his own since earning a promotion to Double-A, but needing his first home run, he grabbed it on the first pitch of the night. Launching a solo shot in the first inning, Wichita was on the board.

Midland grabbed a run in the third inning to tie things at one, but the Wind Surge answered with a crooked number. Jorel Ortega scored on a wild pitch before Jake Rucker singled home Keaschall, and Jeferson Morales brought Rucker in on a single of his own. Up 4-1, things were looking good for Wichita.

By the seventh inning, Midland had knotted things at four and it took another Rucker single scoring Ben Ross to give the good guys a lead. The 5-4 tally wouldn’t hold with Midland plating a pair in the eighth inning, and Wichita was looking at a three run deficit headed into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Unable to claw back, Keaschall and Rucker combined for seven of the nine team hits to power the lineup. Morales and Ross each added one as well.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Lansing 8, Cedar Rapids 0
Box Score

Jacob Wosinski took the ball in a bullpen game for the Kernels, and he worked a pair of scoreless innings. Working around two hits and a walk, he didn’t strike out anyone. Jarret Whorff was tagged for four runs during 2 2/3 innings of work, and that was enough to do Cedar Rapids in.

Three Lugnuts pitchers combined to not only shut out the Kernels, but also pitch a no-hitter. Ricardo Olivar, Rayne Doncon, and Keoni Cavaco each drew a walk but they were the only baserunners of the game.

Striking out 11 times on the evening, and with both Rafael Marcano and Sheldon Reed giving up runs in relief, Cedar Rapids will seek a better result on Friday.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Set for a doubleheader after previous postponements, the Mighty Mussels continue to be rocked by weather. Changing the schedule around, Fort Myers will play a doubleheader on both Friday and Sunday. The sixth game of the series is being canceled and will not be made up.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Pirates 8, FCL Twins 2
Box Score

2023 draft pick Dylan Questad started for the Twins andset had a tough outing. Allowing four runs before completing the first two innings of the game, he was up against it early. Going back out for the third inning, Quested couldn’t record an out and finished his day allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks. He struck out three.

Eduardo Soriano took over and allowed a run to make it a 7-0 game, but he gave up just two hits and a walk while striking out three over two innings of work. Devin Kirby pitched three innings and scattered five hits, allowing two runs (one earned), while striking out three.

Getting on the board for the first time, Jayson Bass reached on a throwing error that scored Yasser Mercedes and gave the Twins a run. A Ricardo Pena ground out brought home Ariel Castro and they had a pair of runs to work with.

The Twins couldn’t mount a comeback in the seventh inning and that’s how this one ended. Being outhit 13-3, they just never gave themselves a chance. 

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 7, DSL Yankees 2
Box Score

Melvin Rodriguez drew the start on Thursday for the Twins and he was great over four innings of work. Allowing one run on three hits and a walk, he also struck out five during the outing.

A first inning error on a Merphy Hernandez batted ball allowed both Daiber De Los Santos and Ramiro Dominguez to score. The Twins gave a run back in the second inning, but they went to work again in the fifth inning.

Nestor Urbina doubled for the first time this season and scored Davirik Fuenmayor in the process. A dropped third strike allowed De Los Santos to reach base with Nestor Urbina coming home on the passed ball. Yandro Hernandez grabbed his first triple to bring De Los Santos home, and a wild pitch scored both him and Luis Fragoza. 

Although the Yankees got a run back in the sixth inning, the 7-2 score would hold up. No Twins recorded multiple hits, but they made plenty of the three errors and capitalized on their situation to come out on top.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Scott Blewett (St. Paul) - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Michael Helman (St. Paul) 4-5, 5 R, 3 RBI, 2B(12), 2 HR(12), 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) – 3-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR(1), K
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 2-4, RBI
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 4-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B(4), HR(1), K
#11 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Minnesota) –
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-1, BB
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 3-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR(12), BB, 2 K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-3, BB, K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CST) – RHP David Festa (1-2, 3.56 ERA)
Wichita vs Midland (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (0-1, 4.99 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (0-2, 9.39 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Lakeland (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (7.31 ERA)

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

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[Jocko87]

Can't wait for the Austin Schulfer regret piece. 

I guess we know where all the hits came from.  Stolen from Cedar Rapids. 

[bjorks]

Happy to see Keaschall continuing to rake! Works his tail off all day, everyday. 

[High heat]

You have to think Wallner will be the next call up back to MN bat has really gotten hot lately.

[Doctor Gast]

The Saints really exploded! Wallner did very well but most importantly no SOs! He should be called up soon, along with Lee. Blewett & Balazovik pitched well in the BP game. Twins should try it sometime.

[Otaknam]

Nit picking here. But I wish the AA announcer would use present tense instead of future tense in describing action, which is more professional. For example, when describing a home run, “It’s gonna get out of here!” when it already has.  Almost every call is in future tense. That’s not the key to moving on up in play by play, IMO. The only surprise is that management hasn’t expected this. 

[2wins87]

12 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

Nit picking here. But I wish the AA announcer would use present tense instead of future tense in describing action, which is more professional. For example, when describing a home run, “It’s gonna get out of here!” when it already has.  Almost every call is in future tense. That’s not the key to moving on up in play by play, IMO. The only surprise is that management hasn’t expected this. 

I see your point, but I generally enjoy hearing Tim Grubb's call.  He had to rush through that one as Keaschall homered on the first pitch while he was still finishing up introducing the lineup.  I think Grubb is among the more entertaining minor league announcers though.

[Old Twins Hat]

Got to add the name Blewett to my list of unfortunate baseball names.

 

[Dman]

5 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Got to add the name Blewett to my list of unfortunate baseball names.

 

Speaking of Blewett he has pitched really well this year so far.  2,41 ERA 36 K's in 32 IP, 1.07 WHIP.  Those are really good numbers.

[2wins87]

Missing the first FCL game.

Adrian Bohorquez pitched another 4 scoreless innings, no walks, 3 Ks.  His strike throwing really improved drastically from last year.  Now has a 30% K rate with just a 4.3% BB rate.  Apparently touched 97 earlier this year.  I think he's a top 30 prospect for me now.

Yasser Mercedes and Bryan Acuna continue to be very good their second time through the FCL.  Both should get some exposure to low-A when the FCL wraps up, if not sooner. 

Dameury Pena hasn't played in a while so probably dealing with an injury though there's nothing on the transaction log.  Hopefully nothing too serious.

 

[Dman]

Keaschall is sure making Baseball America look like they know more than other sites by having him in their top 100.  After his 4 for 5 night he has his OPS in AA up to .900 again.  Pitchers don't like to see him in the box,  If they can get Rodriguez back healthy that AA lineup could be trouble.

Schulfer always seemed close, but not quite good enough.  Would take some big change for him to make it somewhere else, but he is pretty much buried in this system so I can see why they let him go and good for him to catch on somewhere else.  That elusive some nasty pitch is out there.  Hope he finds it.

[LambchoP]

Michael Helman sure has established himself as a big bat to watch this year. I think s trade may be coming. Maybe we leverage some of our infielders to get some legit pitching. Looks like we have a bit of a logjam with too many infielders hitting well. We've got Lee, Severino, Helman, Keaschal.... We're not moving Lee but I could see them building a package with Severino and maybe an outfielder like Kiriloff or Larnach . Wallner sure seems to have figured it out in St Paul, I expect to see him called up soon 

[Mike Sixel]

Fangraphs says they were considering keaschell for the top 100, and haven't done Minnesota's list yet. I'm guessing he's there now.... Dude can really hit. 

[jkcarew]

It’s never going to happen…but if it were left to purely baseball considerations, I’d move the complex to Arizona in a heartbeat. The schedules are ridiculous in Florida. This year is worse than normal…but not that much worse. Always an issue.

Also…what’s the explanation for some complex teams playing 9-inning games and some only 7-inning games (talking about 7-inning games that are NOT make-up games)??

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

It’s never going to happen…but if it were left to purely baseball considerations, I’d move the complex to Arizona in a heartbeat. The schedules are ridiculous in Florida. This year is worse than normal…but not that much worse. Always an issue.

Also…what’s the explanation for some complex teams playing 9-inning games and some only 7-inning games (talking about 7-inning games that are NOT make-up games)??

Agreed. 

[KBJ1]

Hellman has labored in the minors for a long time. He deserves a call up, even if it's just a cup of coffee as the extra man for a double header. 

Severino, Rodriguez,  Keirsay, Wallner also are close.

Kemp should even be considered as he couldn't do any worse than Farmer right now.

Willie Castro is getting burnt out and while I have been a big supporter of Martin, it's time to give a power hitter a shot at LF.

Martin can come back up if Buxton goes down with injury.

[RpR]

4 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

The Saints really exploded! Wallner did very well but most importantly no SOs! He should be called up soon, along with Lee. Blewett & Balazovik pitched well in the BP game. Twins should try it sometime.

Yeah and Joey Gallo went 4 for 4 once last year too.

[roger]

Always like to check to see who played where.  See they continue having Lee at shortstop.  Both Keaschall and Julien were at second base.  Twins will likely have a very good second baseman next year.  Who is anyone's guess?

Took a look at Wallner's numbers.  Still striking out about 35% of the time.  Isn't it likely 35% would be closer to 50% back with the Twins?  Just like Julien should stay down there until he figures out how to do something other than looking at strike three, Wallner should stay in St. Paul until he figures out how to reduce the number of K's.  By a lot!

[strumdatjag]

5 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Got to add the name Blewett to my list of unfortunate baseball names.

 

He should never be a closer.   Blewett is a worse name for a closer than Grant Balfour!

[FlyingFinn]

4 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Michael Helman sure has established himself as a big bat to watch this year.

Anyone could have taken Helman in the Rule 5 draft this year. Age and recent injuries probably prevented that. He has played a lot of SS this year due to Lee's injury but he is really a super utility like Willi Castro. My impression is that his defense is pretty good. At AAA, when healthy all year, he should hit about .300 with 20 HR's and 20 SB's. Just seems like a guys that should be in MLB but never gets a chance. I actually don't think the Twins would get much in trade for him and I don't think he will be called up unless Castro is injured or there are a slew of injuries.

[DocBauer]

The approach that Wallner has...as does Julien...is sound; don't swing at crap, and wait for something you like...while tiring out the pitcher...and then hit the ball HARD when you see something you like. It works best when you have a good eye. Wallner has a good eye. The problem is if you are getting nothing but breaking pitches, you're going to have to change your selectivity process. The K's aren't just because he swings and misses, but BECAUSE he is a patient hitter. You're going to have some 3-2 type of counts and you aren't always going to win those with a hit or BB. But MAN, I love that swing! I feel like any time he gets any decent wood on a ball it's got a very good chance for a hit or more. I'm really hoping he finds the right balance of patience vs aggressiveness soon and gets back up to the Twins. Ditto Julien, of course.

Helman is a very good and very well rounded and very versatile ballplayer. He's just never gotten his ML shot yet as he was a late bloomer and while having the best year of his career last season, he hit the IL 3 different times. And he STILL put up good numbers. I'm hoping he still gets a shot at some point, but I'm just thinking it might be time for him to move on to another organization for a better opportunity. But I bet the Twins would like to have him back.+

I don't expect Severino to get a call up this season, but his recent turn around is very encouraging.

That HR Keaschall looked it went "plaid" it got out of the park in such a hurry! AA for the rest of the year and AAA to begin 2025 with a call up sometime in the 2nd half?

[Dman]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Fangraphs says they were considering keaschell for the top 100, and haven't done Minnesota's list yet. I'm guessing he's there now.... Dude can really hit. 

TBH it seemed a little early to have a second round pick in the top 100 with not even one full pro year yet.  However, it sure looks like BA is going to be right. 

AA is no easy jump Schobel, Cardenas, Cossetti, Ross and Ortega have all bottomed out there.  With Ross the worst qualified hitter in the Texas league in OPS and Ortega not far behind.

Still a lot of season left, but the way Keaschall makes contact appears to be special.  Will have to wait and see though.

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, RpR said:

Yeah and Joey Gallo went 4 for 4 once last year too.

It's true! Gallo went 4-4 with a BB on 8/12/23!
That was one of 8 multi-hit games for Gallo last year. Wallner has 2 of those in his past 10 games.
Gallo also got hits in back to back games 11 times last season. Wallner's done that 8 times in his past 10 games.

Last 10 = .341/.420/.818 OPS 1.238, 10.0% BB, 24.0% K
Last 20 = .269/.370/.641 OPS 1.011, 13.0% BB, 22.8% K
Last 40 = .233/.330/.533 OPS .863 11.9% BB, 31.2% K

It's clear Wallner has heated up in AAA and probably gotten past his mental wall.

[RpR]

4 hours ago, bean5302 said:

It's true! Gallo went 4-4 with a BB on 8/12/23!
That was one of 8 multi-hit games for Gallo last year. Wallner has 2 of those in his past 10 games.
Gallo also got hits in back to back games 11 times last season. Wallner's done that 8 times in his past 10 games.

Last 10 = .341/.420/.818 OPS 1.238, 10.0% BB, 24.0% K
Last 20 = .269/.370/.641 OPS 1.011, 13.0% BB, 22.8% K
Last 40 = .233/.330/.533 OPS .863 11.9% BB, 31.2% K

It's clear Wallner has heated up in AAA and probably gotten past his mental wall.

Wallner is facing AAA pitchers so what; Stevenson ate AAA pitchers for breakfast last year. That sadly mean nothing in the bigs.

Did Gallo ever have a major leage batting average of .080?

[bean5302]

14 hours ago, RpR said:

...Did Gallo ever have a major leage batting average of .080?

Over 33 plate appearances? Yeah. Every year for 5+ straight years.
2024 4/16-5/18 35 PA .071 AVG, wRC+ 34
2023 4/29-5/10 35 PA .036 AVG, wRC+ -3
2022 6/18-7/2 35 PA, .034 AVG, wRC+ -14
2021 8/28-9/6 38 PA, .065 AVG, wRC+ 26
2020 8/22-9/1 33 PA, .038 AVG, wRC+ -11