Twins Minor League Report (7/12): Connor Preilipp Begins his Comeback

[Ted Schwerzler]

It was a tough night for the Twins farm system when looking for wins. The best news is that pitching prospect Connor Prielipp emerged from the darkness and made his first appearance of the season.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 53-40
St. Paul Saints: 44-46
Wichita Wind Surge: 35-46
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 49-34
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 42-39
FCL Twins: 24-26
DSL Twins: 15-12

TRANSACTIONS

• C Jair Camargo recalled by Minnesota.
• INF Luke Keaschall placed on temporary inactive list by Wichita (Futures Game).
• RHP Darren Bowen activated from IL by Cedar Rapids.
• LHP Connor Prielipp assigned to FCL for rehab assignment.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Louisville 5, St. Paul 1
Box Score

David Festa was back on the mound for the Saints, and his schedule was a bit disrupted after the promotion to Minnesota. He lasted just two outs and needed 39 pitches to get them. The top prospect gave up two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. Festa struck out two.

Down 5-0 through the first eight innings, the Saints grabbed their first run with Edouard Julien scoring. Wynton Bernard reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, and St. Paul had at least avoided the shutout. It was the Saints fourth straight loss.

The Saints couldn’t get anything else done, and their five hits weren’t enough to force a comeback. No one recorded multiple hits, but Edouard Julien did reach base three times with a hit and two walks. Yunior Severino’s double was the lone extra-base hit.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Springfield 9, Wichita 7
Box Score

Marco Raya drew the start and worked 4 1/3 innings allowing four runs. Raya gave up seven hits, walked one, and struck out four. He threw 77 pitches on the evening.

Jake Rucker took over leadoff duties with Luke Keaschall away for the Futures Game. Tyler Dearden scored him on a sacrifice fly during the first inning to put the Wind Surge up 1-0.

Springfield responded with a run in the second inning, and two more in the third inning to go up 3-1. With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Noah Cardenas drew a walk to score Carson McCusker. A passed ball allowed Tanner Schobel to score and tie the game.

A bad fifth inning allowed the Cardinals to put up four runs, and make it a 7-3 contest. That didn’t last long however, as Cardenas decided to swing with the bases chucked in the sixth inning. His grand slam brought home Dearden, Schobel, and Ben Ross to tie things up.

Springfield pushed a pair across in the eighth inning and Wichita needed to plate two in order to tie it up. The Wind Surge got a runner with Rucker's leadoff single, but then a Jeferson Morales lineout and Dearden double play ended the game. Wichita scattered eight hits with Rucker, Dearden, and Cardenas each grabbing a pair.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 9, Cedar Rapids 4
Box Score

Making his return from the injured list, Darren Bowen gave up six runs on six hits while getting just one out. Walking one, he couldn’t avoid bats and gave up all of the damage on just 28 pitches.

Down by six after the first inning, Cedar Rapids had plenty of work to do. Through four innings, and trailing 8-0, the Kernels got on the board in the fifth inning. Nate Baez blasted his tenth home run of the season. Jose Salas drove in Jay Harry with a single, and Ricardo Olivar drove in the third run on a sacrifice fly that scored Agustin Ruiz.

The Sky Carp tacked on a ninth run in the eighth inning to widen the lead. Ruiz drove in Kevin Maitan with a single in the ninth inning, but Cedar Rapids fell five runs short. The Kernels recorded eight hits Friday, but three of them came from Ruiz, including a pair of doubles.

Rafael Marcao and Juan Mercedes both threw scoreless outings of relief and struck out three apiece.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Looking to get the bad taste of their 11-run loss to Daytona out of their mouth tonight, Fort Myers will need to wait another day. Rain postponed the contest and it will be made up as a doubleheader tomorrow.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 2
Box Score

It was a big day for the FCL team as Connor Prielipp made his 2024 debut. Starting a rehab assignment and looking to establish health, he was dominant on the bump. Working two innings, the former Alabama hurler struck out six and walked just one. Adrian Bohorquez worked three innings in relief and got the win. He allowed two runs on three hits but walked no one and struck out four.

Down 2-0 after six innings, the Twins responded with a four-spot in the seventh inning. Yasser Mercedes drove in Anderson Nova on a single before Javier Roman ripped a triple with the sacks packed. Mercedes, Bryan Acuna, and Jayson Bass all scored to make it a 4-2 game. Cleiber Maldonado worked two scoreless innings of relief and picked up his fourth save.

The Twins managed just four hits but did the most with them.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Marlins 7, DSL Twins 6
Box Score

Melvin Rodriguez turned in a tough start and took the loss. Across five innings of work, he allowed five runs on six hits. Rodriguez walked two and struck out three. 

The Marlins were up 5-0 by the third inning, and the Twins went into the ninth inning trailing by three. They got two back on a Daiber De Los Santos single that scored Luis Fragoza and Nestor Urbina, but he was thrown out trying to stretch for a double. Victor Leal hit his second home run of the season during the contest.

De Los Santos was the only batter to record multiple hits, and Leal’s home run was the only one that went for extra bases.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Connor Prielipp (FCL Twins) - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Noah Cardenas (Wichita) - 2-3, R, 5 RBI, 2B, HR(3), 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 (Minnesota) – 0-1
#4 – David Festa (Minnesota) – 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, K
#6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K
#17 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – Rehab with FCL - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-3, BB, K, 2B
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, RBI, 2B, 2 K

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (7-5, 3.92 ERA)
Wichita @ Springfield (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (0-1, 1.88 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Christian MacLeod (3-1, 2.92 ERA)
Fort Myers vs Daytona (5:05 PM CST) – RHP Charlee Soto (0-3, 6.39 ERA)

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

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[Jocko87]

Wait, Prielipp just miraculously appears on rehab and strikes out 6 in 2 innings? 

Tendons, don't fail me now!

[Mike Sixel]

I wasn't sure he'd every pitch again. Good for him. Good health and luck!

[Guest]

Prielipp sighting!  Excellent, because the rest of the SP prospects had a lousy showing.

[Doctor Gast]

Great to finally get Prielipp on the field. Tremendous outing! We have to find a way to keep him there. & Canterino?

Julien  2ABs 1 hit 2BB  0 Ks , that's what I want to see from him at this point.

[DJL44]

5 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Julien  2ABs 1 hit 2BB  0 Ks , that's what I want to see from him at this point.

901 OPS over his last 104 plate appearance. 

[Dman]

Happy to see Prielipp back and with a cherry on top dominating in his first outing at the FCL.  Hoping he can pitch pain free the rest of this year and give us hope for 2025.

[wabene]

9 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

901 OPS over his last 104 plate appearance. 

Ok so about 100 points short of target.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, wabene said:

Ok so about 100 points short of target.

Sure, but he's trending up and he can contribute with Lewis and Farmer both on the injured list.

[LambchoP]

Great to see Priellip back. Hopefully we can do the same for Canterino eventually. It's too bad, but it sure seems like Festa and Raya are really struggling and may be folding a bit under the pressure of being a top prospect. I think if a team is willing to offer up a controllable starting pitcher then we should build a package around one or both of Festa and Raya. Seems to me Zebby Mathews and Morris have both passed up the other two on our pitching prospect lists 

[roger]

Add me to the list of those who are ecstatic seeing Prielipp back on a mound and blown away by the results.  OK, it's only the complex league, but for practical purposes this was his professional debut.  Now, they need to get Canterino back so he can help the Twins in 2025.

Both Festa and Varland were counted on to help the Twins this year.  Looks like that ain't happening.  Makes SWR's year all the more important.  

[ashbury]

13 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 2
Box Score

It was a big day for the FCL team as Connor Prielipp made his 2024 debut. Starting a rehab assignment and looking to establish health, he was dominant on the bump. Working two innings, the former Alabama hurler struck out six and walked just one. 

The box score and play-by-play have it a little different.  He gave up a leadoff single, and the runner then went to third on a stolen base combined with a throwing error.  After a strikeout, there was a HBP followed by a steal of second.

After that, it was 5 straight strikeouts.  All the outs were scored on a swing and a miss (one was a dropped third strike that had to be finished 2-3).

Yes, excellent overall first-outing.  Chances are he doesn't languish at the Coast League level too long.

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

901 OPS over his last 104 plate appearance. 

Good to hear. He may the trade chip this year with the way Lee, Lewis, and Miranda are playing above him and Keaschall and Schobel below him. He may be the surplus to trade from and possibly get us a solid starting pitcher. Even better, package him with a lower minors guy with upside and get a starter controllable beyond 2024. Like Julien but it's hard to see where he plays in the next few unless there's another bad injury.   

[D.C Twins]

Yikes... after seeing Festa and Raya's performance last night, I had to re-read Seth's article on prospect non-linear progress.....

[Dman]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

Yikes... after seeing Festa and Raya's performance last night, I had to re-read Seth's article on prospect non-linear progress.....

It seems like this is the time of year arms get "tired" or hitters catch up.  I think they get a break over the all star game and we'll probably see guys get skipped for a few turns.  Feels like Zebby was wearing down some as well.  It's a long season for arms.