Minor League Report (7/21): Rixon Wingrove Bashes; Zebby Debuts for the Saints

[Matt Braun]

And a whole bunch of dudes make their claim for hitter of the day. 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS

RHP Ronny Henriquez recalled by Twins 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 10, Toledo 3
Box Score
Zebby Matthews: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB (naturally), 6 K
HR: Chris Williams (12)
Multi-hit games: Rylan Bannon (2-for-6, 2 R, RBI), Yunior Severino (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB), Chris Williams (4-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB), Wynton Bernard (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI)

The Saints offense stayed hot on Sunday.

The leading story should have been Zebby Matthews’ AAA debut, but when a team dumps over another squad like this, the lineup steals the show. And what a show it was: Chris Williams went 4-for-4 with a walk, the first five batters in the Saints lineup reached base multiple times, and St. Paul scored double-digit runs for the second game in a row. Madness. 

That Williams homer—as the tweet says—ties him with Mark Contreras for the franchise lead. 

The aforementioned combo of DaShawn Keirsey Jr. , Rylan Bannon, Yunior Severino, Williams, and Wynton Bernard totaled 11 hits and reached base 15 times. That’ll score some runs. 

The outpouring of runs shouldn’t take away from the fact that Matthews pitched well in his first taste of AAA. Staked to a 3-0 lead before he even threw a pitch, the righty nabbed two quick outs, gave up a pair on a massive homer, and settled into standard Matthewsian efficiency, pounding the zone while halting any other scoring effort. He struck out six and topped out at 96.4 MPH.

He turned the ball over to Brock Stewart, who mowed down the Mud Hens in order with just 11 pitches. He may be ready to rejoin the Twins; just a guess.

Zack Weiss, Ryan Jensen, and Hobie Harris carried the effort the rest of the way, ensuring no funny business would soil St. Paul’s excellent, commanding victory. 

The Mud Hens are led by Jace Jung, brother of Josh, both belonging to a family that favors alliteration. Detroit’s 3rd-ranked prospect doubled once in four trips to the plate. Former 1st overall pick Spencer Torkelson walked once in four plate appearances. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Frisco 1
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 4 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (3-for-3, 2B, RBI)

The Wind Surge won a pitching duel on Sunday.

Cory Lewis looked like the Cory Lewis of old. Following a horrifying seven-earned run outing, Lewis locked in and overwhelmed, punching out five over 4 ⅓ innings with a lone earned run. He threw 71 pitches. 

Lewis’ relatively curt outing put the much-maligned Wind Surge bullpen in a tight spot. They needed to accrue 4 ⅔ innings somehow. Taylor Floyd was first up, and he crushed his assignment, finishing Lewis’ while adding a full scoreless frame for good measure. John Stankiewicz worked around minor traffic jams to deliver the game to Wichita’s current quasi-closer, Cody Laweryson. He finished the deed, flipping to Luke Keaschall to end the game.

In an offensively-deficient game, Wichita’s lone runs came when three (!!!) hit by pitches begat a 1st inning sacrifice fly and RBI infield single by Ben Ross. That was it. The Wind Surge reached 2nd base only two more times in a game that made the deadball era look like the 2019 season.

Abimelec Ortiz, Frisco’s rightfielder, is the Rangers’ 11th-best prospect. He went 1-4 with two strikeouts. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 5
Box Score
Jordan Carr: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Rubel Cespedes 2 (9, 10)
Multi-hit games: Rubel Cespedes (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI)

Wisconsin-based baseball came out on top once again on Sunday. 

Don’t blame Jordan Carr, though. The lefty from Baltimore almost entirely neutralized the Timber Rattlers, allowing just one hit over five innings of work. Naturally, that one hit proved to be a run-scoring knock; only the finest fortune for the Twins franchise. Still, Carr struck out four and exited the game with the lead.

That lead was entirely created by Rubel Cespedes. He cracked a solo homer in the 3rd and decided to make it a two-fer with another shot in the 5th. Four more bombs will set a season-high for the Dominican lefty.

Unfortunately, no other Kernel saw the ball like Cespedes, leaving a vast chasm where any sort of offense went to die. Non-Cespedesian entities earned just four hits—all singles—and failed to claim a hit with a runner in scoring position. Cedar Rapids’ first three hitters combined to go 1-for-13 with two walks. 

The impotence put the Kernels' bullpen in a tight spot; just one false move could cause certain death, and it did. The typically excellent Jarret Whorff surrendered three runs (just one earned), ironically largely due to an error by Cespedes. 

Nolan Santos made his A+ Ball debut, pitching a scoreless 8th inning.

Wisconsin’s centerfielder, Luis Lara, is the Brewers’ 8th-ranked prospect. He singled once in four trips to the plate. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 10, Daytona 6
Box Score
Cesar Lares: 2 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: Carlos Aguiar (5), Rixon Wingrove (6)
Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2 BB), Rixon Wingrove (3-for-4, HR, 3B, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Matthew Clayton (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Carlos Aguiar (2-for-4, HR, R, 5 RBI)

Fort Myers’ bats exploded on Sunday.

It’s typically a good sign when your first two hitters take six at-bats in one game. Yes, the runs came easy for the Mighty Mussels; they put up four in the first act, rested in the second, and came back with maliciousness for one final blow late in the game, giving them a series sweep of the Threshers.

In a day full of big bats, Rixon Wingrove’s proved the most potent. He nearly hit for the cycle—and it was the single, of all things, he missed out on. No matter: he settled for three extra-base hits, two walks, and four runs scored, a tremendous engine in a great offensive machine. The 24-year-old Australian is now hitting .264/.366/.488 in 34 games with Fort Myers.

 

Walker Jenkins, Matthew Clayton, and Carlos Aguiar were the overqualified sidekicks of the day. Jenkins reached base four times; Clayton, the same; and Aguiar knocked in five runs, three of which scored on one swing.

Oh, and Nick Lucky took three walks and stole a trio of bases. 

Rehabbing big leaguer Rodolfo Castro collected two hits and a walk for the Threshers.

Philadelphia’s number six prospect, infielder Devin Saltiban, took two walks and DH’d. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rixon Wingrove (but shoot, take your pick)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 2-4, R, RBI, 2 BB, K
#2 - Brooks Lee (Twins) - 1-4, RBI, BB
#5 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 2 K
#8 - Austin Martin (Twins) - 0-3, 2 K
#9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-2, R, BB
#10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 0-5, 3 K
#13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, RBI, K
#14 - Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#15 - Cory Lewis (Wichita) - 4 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
#18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, 2 K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
DSL Twins @ DSL NYY Yankees (10:00 AM) - TBD
FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM) - TBD

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[tony&rodney]

Matthews looked good. He gave up two hard hit balls in the first inning but settled in nicely. Matthews is a big dude. It seems like he could go a few more innings but I guess the org looks carefully after these arms. I always thought the sixth and seventh innings were good for learning how to pitch. Matthews surely is going to get a bunch more eyes if he continues his season with his current mo.

[mikelink45]

Who comes up to fill the TBD slot?  Who has earned it/

[FlyingFinn]

Listened to some of the Saints game. The catcher was challenging ball calls by the ump a number of times and getting them reversed to strikes for Zebby.

[FlyingFinn]

Now that Diego Castillo has stayed up with the Twins for several days, I really question why Severino wasn't the player called up. He's been hot and has the better bat.

[Dman]

Nice to see Wingrove get some love.  Kind of Babe Ruth type body, but he can hit the ball hard.  He's been an important bat for the Muscles.  Hope he keeps it up.

Man I was ready to give up on Williams in June after putting up three pretty bad months in a row at AAA.  When he is hot is really hot as his July line leaves him with a 1.244 OPS carried by a.800 SLG.  I guess he is back.

 

[ashbury]

I pay pretty good attention to prospect lists but Rixon Wingrove was a name that made me think I was being hoaxed.  😀  Let's hope to see a lot more games like this one, so he can move up the farm system ranks.

[roger]

Interesting seeing Keaschall at first base.  Has been there several times of late.

Looks like Zebby dealt with some early butterflies, then settled in nicely.  Was thinking of former Twins starters who came straight from AA to the show.  Was it Radke?  Maybe Kyle Lohse?  Can't remember, but I know there were a couple good ones.  With yesterday behind him, Zebby has some time at AAA.  Guess the TBA can't be Zebby because they need him on Wednesday.  With Funderburk on the IL, assume that Stewart will be with the Twins tonight.

After another game getting on base four times, checked Jenkins' numbers.  Kid has 33 walks compared with 18 strikeouts.  Does anyone know, at low A ball pitchers pitching around him? 

[LambchoP]

Will be interesting to see who they call up to take Paddacks rotation spot. My guess is Festa. Hopefully he can do a bit better than his first call up. Zebby sure does look like the real deal and should compete for a rotation spot next year for sure, if not sooner. As someone else said above, I definitely would have rather seen Severino get the call up over Diego Castillo. At least Severino can run into a few home runs....

[Linus]

I really hope Lewis can make it to the show just to be able to watch the knuckleball. 

[SaberNerd]

SSS but in his 10 July games Jenkins has a .343/.540/.457 line with 15BB/6K.  Not the power we are hoping for yet, but his approach looks to be too good for low A.

[twinstalker]

14 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Now that Diego Castillo has stayed up with the Twins for several days, I really question why Severino wasn't the player called up. He's been hot and has the better bat.

"Been" being the key word.  It's now been almost a month of meh.

[JD-TWINS]

22 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Now that Diego Castillo has stayed up with the Twins for several days, I really question why Severino wasn't the player called up. He's been hot and has the better bat.

Assuming, with what you said here, it’s a defensive reasoning.

[JD-TWINS]

Matthew’s:

I’m always a detractor of looking at MiLB numbers and projecting them into the Show. That said, he sure is impressive! Almost never walks a guy - 96MPH plus - strikes guys out at a good rate………he may be the fastest climber in Pro Ball this year? Could see him in Minneapolis in another 3 weeks……..he’s only got so many available innings for the year …..,may not be able to waste them “learning” in St Paul 

[JD-TWINS]

23 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Who comes up to fill the TBD slot?  Who has earned it/

No responses……that’s not good!! Gotta think it’s a coin toss between Varland & Festa - right?

Do they ever give Dobnack a shot to see if he can catch fire for 2-3 starts? Don’t think his stuff plays but neither did Kuechel’s last year.

[Matt Braun]

On 7/22/2024 at 6:55 AM, roger said:

Interesting seeing Keaschall at first base.  Has been there several times of late.

Looks like Zebby dealt with some early butterflies, then settled in nicely.  Was thinking of former Twins starters who came straight from AA to the show.  Was it Radke?  Maybe Kyle Lohse?  Can't remember, but I know there were a couple good ones.  With yesterday behind him, Zebby has some time at AAA.  Guess the TBA can't be Zebby because they need him on Wednesday.  With Funderburk on the IL, assume that Stewart will be with the Twins tonight.

After another game getting on base four times, checked Jenkins' numbers.  Kid has 33 walks compared with 18 strikeouts.  Does anyone know, at low A ball pitchers pitching around him? 

I'd say it's more that A-ball pitchers can't command for squat. Putting an advanced, disciplined machine in the same level as them is a recipe for hilariously lopsided BB/rates.