Twins Minor League Report (7/11): Walker Returns to Lineup, Schobel Homers Twice

[Ted Schwerzler]

It was a home run party in Wichita. The Mighty Mussels got a pair of their best prospects back. The Complex League squad saw Yasser Mercedes continue to show out. Check out the action tonight.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 53-40
St. Paul Saints: 44-45
Wichita Wind Surge: 36-48
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 49-33
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 42-39
FCL Twins: 23-26
DSL Twins: 15-11

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP David Festa optioned to St. Paul
• OF Wynton Bernard assigned to St. Paul
• OF Tyler Dearden transferred to Wichita from Cedar Rapids
• 1B Aaron Sabato placed on IL by Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL
Louisville 3, St. Paul 2
Box Score

Louie Varland drew the start tonight for St. Paul and turned in 5 2/3 innings. He didn’t allow a single run and worked around two hits and three walks. Varland also struck out six. The Bats did St. Paul in by getting Ryan Jensen and Jeff Brigham for runs.

DaShawn Keirsey put the Saints up 1-0 in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Yunior Severino. His hit was the first of the game for St. Paul. After Louisville added three, St. Paul entered the ninth inning needing a pair. Recently-added Wynton Bernard singled home Anthony Prato and became the go-ahead run. St. Paul couldn’t cash him or Edouard Julien in though, and they fell a run short.

Severino’s triple was the only extra base hit, and Bernard had the only other knock.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Springfield 6, Wichita 4
Box Score

Travis Adams started and was cruising for the Wind Surge, until he wasn’t. Working 4 2/3 innings, he couldn’t get the final out in the fifth inning. 

Luke Keaschall kicked off the game with a solo shot, his fourth dinger at Double-A. Springfield answered with a run of their own in the bottom half. Tanner Schobel went yard in the second inning, and Jorel Ortega hit a big fly in the third inning. Up 3-1, the fifth inning saw the Cardinals push three across and take their first lead of the night.

Schobel went deep for a second time in the seventh inning to tie the game, but Springfield answered with a pair of runs to make it a 6-4 game. Wichita couldn’t crawl back in the ninth inning and came up a pair of runs short.

Keaschall continued to hit, recording three. Schobel had two, with both leaving the yard. Tyler Dearden, who was promoted today, went 2-for-4 with a double.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 2 (F/10)
Box Score

Ty Langenberg took the ball for the Kernels on Thursday and worked six strong innings. Allowing just two runs on six hits and a walk, the Cedar Rapids starter gave his lineup a shot.

Beloit plated a pair in the first inning to take a lead, and it wasn’t until the fourth inning that Cedar Rapids answered. Jose Salas drove home Kevin Maitan on a bases loaded walk, and Dillon Tatum scored Misael Urbina by beating out a throwing error from the shortstop.

Going to extras, the Kernels stepped up first. Ricardo Olivar singled home Salas before scoring himself on Rubel Cespedes’ single. Up 4-2, they needed to hold on through the bottom half.

Kyle Bischoff capped off his two innings of work by locking down the victory. He didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out . Olivar and Kyle Hess each had a pair of hits. Each of Cedar Rapids’ six hits were singles.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Daytona 15, Fort Myers 4
Box Score

It was a noteworthy night for Fort Myers as they got Brandon Winokur back off the injured list after being hit by two pitches in the same spot. Walker Jenkins also returned to the lineup after being scratched on Tuesday. Unfortunately that’s where the good news ended.

Ross Dunn allowed three runs while working just 1 2/3 innings while Jack Noble gave up seven runs (four earned) across his 2 1/3 innings of work. Julio Bonilla surrendered three in just one frame, and by the end of the fifth inning Fort Myers was down by 11.

Poncho Ruiz brought Jenkins home on a first inning double play before Rixon Wingrove drove in Byron Chourio with a single to make it 2-0 in the first inning. That was the Mighty Mussels lone lead of the ballgame. Carlos Aguiar homered in the sixth inning, his fourth of the season, to make it 13-3. Daytona got two more in the eighth inning and it was an ugly 15-3 game. Byron Chourio brought in Angel Del Rosario in the ninth inning to give Fort Myers their fourth run, but that’s where it ended.

Chourio, Wingrove, and Del Rosario each had two of the ten total hits for the Mighty Mussels. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Rays 7, FCL Twins 3
Box Score

Dylan Questad drew the start and turned in three innings. He allowed two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out four.

The Rays got up early but Yilber Herrera put the Twins on the board with his first triple of the season. Scoring Hendry Chivilli, they were down 2-1 in the second inning. Amilcar Vasquez scored on a fourth inning wild pitch to tie it and Chivilli scored again with Anderson Nova reaching on an error. Up 3-2, the Twins had their first lead of the game.

The Rays responded with runs in the fifth and sixth innings to regain the lead by a 5-3 tally. Adding another pair in the eighth the final score settled at 7-3.

Yasser Mercedes continues to crush the FCL and had another pair of hits. His 12th double pushed his OPS to .979 on the season. Chivilli also recorded two hits on Thursday, with both being doubles.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Phillies White 1, DSL Twins 0
Box Score

Leonardo Rondon started for the Twins and worked five innings of one-run ball. He allowed just two hits and gave up only two walks. Rondon struck out four during the outing.

A third inning throwing error by Victor Leal, when trying to nab a base stealer, led to the game’s only run. The Twins had three hits with Eduardo Beltre getting the only extra-base knock, a double. Nestor Cafe worked a scoreless inning of relief, striking out a pair.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR(4)

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) – 1-4, R, BB
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-5
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 3-4, R, RBI, HR(4)
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-4, K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR(4)
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-3, R, 3B, BB
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 2-5, R, RBI, K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CST) – RHP Adam Plutko (3-1, 4.95 ERA)
Wichita @ Springfield (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (0-2, 5.12 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-3, 5.02 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Daytona (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (0-0, 4.70 ERA)

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

View full article

[DaveW44]

Is it time to trade Keaschall for a sore armed pitcher at the deadline?

[Doctor Wu]

Nice to see a lot of balls being hit over the fence in Wichita! And an encouraging outing from Varland. Thanks for another good report!

[Dman]

Really happy to see Schobel hitting the ball with authority.  I know he is better than his .600 OPS.  Hoping he continues this trend and masters AA.  For Keaschall all I can say is the guy is having an amazing first full year as a pro.  Not many guys make it to AA and dominate the way he has so far in his first taste of pro pitching..  Very impressive stuff as he looks to be on the Brooks Lee track.

Nice to see Deardon moved up and getting a couple of hits at a higher level.  I think he will do well there and that lineup needs help as it is.

[LambchoP]

Keaschal sure looks like the real deal, moving really quickly through the minors. He's probably our best trade chip besides the untouchable guys like Jenkins, Lee and E Rodriguez.

[chpettit19]

22 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Keaschal sure looks like the real deal, moving really quickly through the minors. He's probably our best trade chip besides the untouchable guys like Jenkins, Lee and E Rodriguez.

I'd argue Keaschall should be an "untouchable" guy every bit as much as those other 3. If he can play OF, which he's doing now, he can save us from future Margot and Garlick situations where we're rostering guys who can only hit lefties and do nothing else on a major league field. Keaschall is less than a year older than Emma and dominating at the same level while looking like he'll get to AAA sooner because of Emma's injury. Which isn't his first. I actually think Keaschall should be ahead of Emma on the Twins prospect list, although, in the same tier. And I'm more of a tier guy. I think those 4 are tier 1, and that'd be your "untouchable" list.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, chpettit19 said:

I'd argue Keaschall should be an "untouchable" guy every bit as much as those other 3. If he can play OF, which he's doing now, he can save us from future Margot and Garlick situations where we're rostering guys who can only hit lefties and do nothing else on a major league field. Keaschall is less than a year older than Emma and dominating at the same level while looking like he'll get to AAA sooner because of Emma's injury. Which isn't his first. I actually think Keaschall should be ahead of Emma on the Twins prospect list, although, in the same tier. And I'm more of a tier guy. I think those 4 are tier 1, and that'd be your "untouchable" list.

Agreed. He's untouchable, unless you get a great pitcher back. No way I'm trading him. He's doing what we wanted Jenkins to do. 

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed. He's untouchable, unless you get a great pitcher back. No way I'm trading him. He's doing what we wanted Jenkins to do. 

I haven't seen him much in the OF, but if he can be an average defender out there he may be what they hope(d) Martin would/will be.

[jmlease1]

Keaschall has been doing everything you'd hope for in his first full pro year. He's hitting like crazy, looks polished and is handling the changes in level without a problem. It's absolutely great. Full marks. Is he the fill-in for Brooks Lee in the Futures Game? He deserves it, though there are other contenders.

I'm going to be very interested to see how Severino finishes out July. he had a monster June, but he's drifted back down (not that he's been bad). If he puts up an OPS over .800 for July, that would be a good sign for him.

I mostly want good healthy stretches for as many of our top prospects as possible TBH.