Twins Minor League Report (6/22): Six Wins on Saturday

[Ted Schwerzler]

The St. Paul Saints nearly matched the Minnesota Twins ten runs, and the farm system as a whole picked up a Saturday sweep with every level grabbing a victory.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (Image of Yunior Severino)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 42-35 
St. Paul Saints: 38-35
Wichita Wind Surge: 30-38
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 39-27
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 33-34
FCL Twins: 17-17
DSL Twins: 7-8

TRANSACTIONS

• OF DaShawn Keirsey Jr. activated from IL by St. Paul
• LHP Wilker Reyes transferred from FCL to Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 9, Toledo 7
Box Score

St. Paul turned to Caleb Boushley for the Saturday start, and while earlier rain looked to threaten action, the game started on time. Boushley worked six innings of scoreless baseball and gave up just three hits while walking four.

Facing big league pitcher Matt Manning, the Saints wasted no time putting runs on the board. Yunior Severino singled home both Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee in the first inning before Matt Wallner drove home Alex Isola and Tony Kemp with a second inning single.

Returning to the lineup after being out since May 26, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. made his presence felt with a third inning solo shot, and Kemp followed his lead with one of his own. Severino blasted a dinger in the fifth inning to make it 7-0 before a Patrick Winkel single scored Diego A. Castillo.

Winkel scored Keirsey on a seventh inning ground out to make it 9-0. Austin Brice and Nick Wittgren made a meal of the ninth inning, allowing a combined seven runs and allowing the tying run to step in, but St. Paul held on for the win. Julien had four hits while Severino was 4-for-5 on the evening. Keirsey and Kemp both had three hits of their own.

Jordan Balazovic worked a scoreless inning of relief while striking out a pair.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 8, Arkansas 3
Box Score

Playing their final game of the first half, Jaylen Nowlin made the start for Wichita. He worked 4 2/3 innings allowing three runs on four hits and five walks. He struck out seven.

The Wind Surge kicked off the scoring with a big third inning, and their eight spot largely put the game out of reach. Luke Keaschall brought in Dalton Shuffield with a single before Tanner Schobel brought home Jorel Ortega. Jefferson Morales singled home Keaschall, and Aaron Sabato drove home Schobel with a single. Noah Cardenas plated Morales with a bases loaded walk, and Carson McCusker brought in Sabato, Jake Rucker, and Cardenas with a bases-clearing double.

Arkansas plated a trio of runs during the fifth inning, but still trailing by five, they were staring at a loss. John Stankiewicz worked 2 1/3 scoreless while striking out three, and Regi Grace pitched a pair of scoreless innings of his own.

Sabato and Rucker both grabbed a pair of hits while Shuffield drew two of the four Wichita walks. Of the eight hits, only McCusker’s double was for extra-bases.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 3
Box Score

Ty Langenberg worked five innings allowing just a pair of runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

Giving up a pair of first inning runs, the Kernels answered with one of their own in the second inning. Nate Baez hit his ninth home run of the season to halve the deficit at 2-1. Ricardo Olivar hit his tenth home run in the third inning, and the two-run shot scored Rayne Doncon to give Cedar Rapids their first lead.

The fifth inning saw Cedar Rapids add again. This time Olivar doubled home Kyle Hess before Kevin Maitan plated Olivar on a single. Up 5-2, the Kernels scored their sixth run in the seventh inning when Rubel Cespedes brought Doncon home on a single.

Peoria scored a pair in the eighth inning, but that wasn’t enough to bring them back. Olivar and Doncon both had a pair of two-hit nights. With each recording an extra-base hit. Langenberg grabbed his second victory of the season with Gabriel Yanez earning his fourth save.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, St. Lucie 0
Box Score

Charlee Soto was on the bump Saturday and he turned in the best start of his professional career. Going four innings scoreless, he allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out five.

Yohander Martinez started the scoring with a fourth inning single to score Maddux Houghton and give Fort Myers a 1-0 lead. In the sixth inning Poncho Ruiz came home on a wild pitch before Martinez drove home Houghton again with his second single of the game. Cole Elvis scored Nick Lucky with a single and the Mighty Mussels went up 4-0.

Walker Jenkins, playing as the designated hitter, got his first dinger of the season with a ninth inning solo shot to make it 5-0. Martinez and Byron Chourio both had a pair of hits while Xander Hamilton earned a win working three scoreless innings of relief. Nolan Santos worked a pair of scoreless relief innings and struck out four.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 0
Box Score

Liam Rocha started for the Twins and worked four scoreless innings. He scattered three hits and walked two while striking out four. Cleiber Maldonado got the win working three scoreless innings of relief, and Devin Kirby finished off the shutout with two scoreless innings of his own.

Anderson Nova opened the scoring with a second inning ground out that scored Hendry Chivilli. A fifth inning double from Bryan Acuna scored Javier Roman and Nova to make it 3-0, and a bases loaded walk to Ariel Castro scored Amilcar Vasquez.

Roman had a pair of hits. Rehabbing prospect Gabriel Gonzalez was 1-3 with a walk.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 7, DSL Phillies White 4 (F/6)
Box Score

Santiago Rojas started for the Twins and turned in four innings of four run (three earned) baseball. He walked three but struck out five during the outing.

Down 1-0 when coming up to the plate, the Twins took a first inning lead. Yandro Hernandez singled home Daiber De Los Santos before scoring himself on a wild pitch. The Phillies tied it at two in the second inning, but the Twins went back to work during the third inning.

Murphy Hernandez scored Luis Fragoza on a ground out before Eduardo Beltre raced home on a wild pitch. After the Phillies tied it at four in the fourth inning, the Twins put them away in the fifth inning. Hernandez scored on a wild pitch and Victor Leal scored on a Ruben Velazquez sacrifice fly. Another wild pitch scored Ricardo Paez and the Twins held on 7-4.

The Twins scored seven runs despite having just two hits thanks to drawing 11 walks.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Caleb Boushley (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 4-5, R, 3 RBI, HR(14)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. 
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 1-5, R, RBI, HR(1), K
#2 – Brooks Lee (St. Paul) – 1-3, R, 2 K
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – IL
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – Rehab with FCL - 1-3, BB
#7 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 1-1
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-5, R, RBI, 2 K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-5, R, RBI, K 
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 4-5, R, 3 RBI, HR(14)
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR(10), 2B,(11), K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Toledo (2:07 PM CST) – RHP Louie Varland (2-5, 5.31 ERA)
Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (3-5, 5.19 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (1:05 PM CST) – RHP John Klein (4-1, 4.66 ERA0
Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (11:10 AM CST) – RHP Jose Olivares (1-1, 2.75 ERA)

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Keirsey returns for the Saints and plays DH. Picks up right where he left off with his hitting. That is a very nice lineup. The Twins hitters are currently doing well (including Margot and Farmer) so I just don't see Lee, Julien and/or Wallner moving up in the short-term. Speaking of Julien, he's 11 for his last 34 if I'm counting correctly. 

Very nice pitching - best outing ever by Charlee Soto. Boushley did great and Langenberg did good. Anyone notice on Nowlin - was he great for 4 innings and then couldn't find the strike zone? See he had 4 shutout innings and couldn't get out of the 5th.

Quality bullpen guys - Grace, Yanez and Velez. Wonder if we can move any of them up the ladder.

[Dman]

Boushley with the Zebby today. No walks, 3 hits, no runs. With his pitch count he was in line to go all 9 but a long bottom on the 7th got him pulled.  The announcers said likely since he is on the 40 man they wouldn't want to take any chances with his arm.  Having already gone 7 it seemed like the pen could mail it in, but Brice couldn't find the strike zone and Wallner lost fly ball in left and things turned in a hurry. 

Boushley with really nice numbers at AAA this year so I can see why they put him on the 40 man, but a 90mph fastball makes it tough to see him as anything but an emergency arm.  Still nice to have arms stashed away as you never know when you might need them and he has been consistently good this year.

Severino goes 4 for 5 and while he had a miserable 2 months at the plate he has his numbers back to an .800 OPS on the year.  It has taken a June line of .462 BA, .600 OBP and .788 SLG to get there for a 1.388 OPS, but that is just how hot he has been at the plate in June. 

His walk rate is at 15% for the year and the K rate still at 30%, but hopefully that will come down some.  Will have to wait and see.  Still it looks like Severino's bat is back. Hopefully for the rest of the season.

Also Kudos to Jenkins on his Home Run.  Nice to see the power is still there. Hopefully this kick starts the bat for him as well.

 

[Blyleven2011]

Lots of good pitching and offense ...

Twins win 10-2 ...

Affiliates sweep the day with 6 wins ,  Makes you feel good  ...

Thanks for the highlights  ...

[Dman]

21 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

 

Very nice pitching - best outing ever by Charlee Soto.

His best outing was April 13th. 4IP no hits, no runs, 1 walk and 7K's.  That outing got me pretty excited about him.  His issue seems to be control which makes sense for such a young arm.  Nice to him have a good game and it looked like the change up was working for him again in this one. 

Gotta love an 18 year old at A ball with an 11.13 K/9. I am sure the Twins don't care about the ERA and more about developing pitches, but nice to see him with a good game.  When he keeps the walks and hits down we'll know he is on his way up. Only two hits today but 3 walk in 4 innings is too many. His changeup has to be plus if not plus plus.  He has good velocity with the fastball.  It looks like he needs to work on controlling the slider and I think he is going to be very, very good.  Maybe they work on a cutter as well as that seemed to help Matthews this year. At any rate this is likely a learning year and he is still doing very well.

 

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

with the Zebby

"Doing the Zebby" has a nice ring to it!

[jmlease1]

Nice to see Severino on such a heater. It seems unlikely that Santana will be back next year, so there should be an opportunity at 1B for him, and the fact that he's a switch-hitter would be another nice add even as a bench bat. Having a couple of effective switch-hitters in your lineup can really help keep things balanced and make it harder to attack by the other team's bullpen, so hopefully Severino has figured something out and can keep rolling. 

Considering how the LH OF have let the side down a bit this season, have to wonder if Kiersey might get his shot? Not being on the 40-man might be the biggest barrier at this point, but you have to wonder if he keeps hitting and stays healthy what he'll have to do.

[Doctor Gast]

Bousley got the job done with only 3hits & 0HRs. Hot/ cold Balazovik had an impressive 1 inning. Good to see Keirsey back & starting where he left off. 

Good to see any good results from Soto in his early career. Jenkins HR swing was very smooth.

[stringer bell]

A couple of disparities between the writeup and the box score--Boushley had zero walks in the box score and the report says four and Julien had a 2-5 day while the writeup says he had four hits. 

Boushley is doing what he can to get another chance to impress with the Twins. He's been both good and consistent, challenging Festa for the best stats in the Saints rotation. Keirsey is also doing all he can do to get a chance. I think it's a tough pull for him because Wallner, Julien and (perhaps later) Kirilloff are all on the major league (40-man) roster and may all merit another chance before he could make his major league debut. 

Top prospect Jenkins hasn't been blowing up for the Mussels, so maybe a big fly will get him going. Also good to see Soto with a nice outing. I know he's a long way from the majors, but he's a top prospect and it is good to see him thrive at his level. 

Severino has been on a real hot streak. I was afraid that he would have to be sent to AA when he struggled early, but his numbers are now acceptable after a slow start. 

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Nice to see Severino on such a heater. It seems unlikely that Santana will be back next year, so there should be an opportunity at 1B for him, and the fact that he's a switch-hitter would be another nice add even as a bench bat.

I don't see it unless the Twins are moving other players out of his way with trades. Unless we are moving Lewis to the OF (doubtful at this point), Miranda needs a spot. With Lee coming by 2025, Julien needs a spot (I think he is figuring things out and will return to 2023 form). If Kirilloff is still around, where does he play. All three of these guys (not including Severino) project towards 1B/DH with only Kirilloff able to play in the OF. The Twins play everyone and love flexibility on the bench. Severino isn't good on defense and doesn't play a lot of positions. We'll see. Things happen. I just don't see his path to the Twins.

[LambchoP]

Looking like we've got a real good lineup down there in St Paul. Keirsey, Severino and Wallner hitting for power. Brooks Lee playing for a promotion. Will be interesting who the twins decide to keep and who can be trade bait. Everyone knows we need starting pitching. If Miranda will be our first baseman next year, does that make Severino expendable? Do they view Keirsey as a possible Kepler replacement? Wil be an interesting deadline:)

[roger]

Great seeing Keirsey back on the field.  Remain hopeful that when the next outfielder is needed from St. Paul he is the one getting the call.

Also great seeing Jenkins get his first big shot of the year.  Kid missed a lot of time.  Makes sense it will take a few weeks to get his bat going.  Also liked Soto's outing.  One heck of a prospect.

Saw a brief mention above, but Regie Grace is again having a very nice season.  Could see him with the Twins beginning later next year. 

[SotaSports in NM]

Ricardo Olivar just keeps chugging away. He's had a pretty consistently very good year with the OPS staying right around 900. Would love for him to keep it going and turn into a real prospect with his versatility (if he can continue improving as catcher).

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, SotaSports in NM said:

Ricardo Olivar just keeps chugging away. He's had a pretty consistently very good year with the OPS staying right around 900. Would love for him to keep it going and turn into a real prospect with his versatility (if he can continue improving as catcher).

He's 2 months away from age 23 in A+ ball so you'd have to think the Twins are looking to promote him after the all star break the way he's hitting.

That said, he's miserable at controlling the run game. Not sure if that's fixable at this point. Arm and pop time are the big factors at play, and the results don't suggest progress or projectability here. It looks like the Twins are trying to keep his bat in the lineup by giving him about 1/3 of his playing days as a LF/DH.