Twins Minor League Report (7/28): CJ Culpepper Returns; Walker Jenkins Jolts Mussels

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Twins farm has been getting healthy of late and Sunday was the return of C.J. Culpepper. Walker Jenkins played hero for Fort Myers. Rayne Doncon had a day as well.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 58-46
St. Paul Saints: 50-51
Wichita Wind Surge: 41-55
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 54-40
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 50-43
FCL Twins: 28-31
DSL Twins: 19-18

TRANSACTIONS

• INF Diego A. Castillo reports to St. Paul and is added to the roster
• C Alex Isola placed on development list by St. Paul

SAINTS SENTINEL
Omaha 9, St. Paul 1
Box Score

Louie Varland looked to turn in another solid start for St. Paul. He worked five innings and gave up three runs on four hits and four walks. Varland struck out six, but got taken deep twice.

Patrick Winkel drove in Wynton Bernard in the second inning to match Omaha at one, but then things went off the rails. The Storm Chasers put up eight unanswered runs. Recently returned reliever Diego Castillo allowed five runs on three hits and two walks while getting just one out in the eighth inning. Although offense was a struggle, Chris Williams showed off his arm in a big way.

St. Paul had only six hits on the day, and two came from both Diego A. Castillo and Dalton Shuffield. Edouard Julien was back after his demotion for Jose Miranda, and he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 10, Amarillo 8
Box Score

The well-traveled Aaron Rozek started tonight for the Wind Surge. Having bounced between Double and Triple-A all year, he continues to get the job done. Wichita got seven innings of three-run baseball. Rozek gave up six hits but walked none and struck out six.

After a pair of scoreless innings, Wichita went to work in the third frame. Jake Rucker singled home Ben Ross before Tyler Dearden doubled home Rucker and Jorel Ortega. Carson McCusker's 20th double of the season brought home Dearden and made it a 4-0 ballgame. The Sod Poodles answered with a pair in the bottom of the fourth inning, but then their bats went dormant.

Luke Keaschall brought home Ortega with a fifth inning single and McCusker tripled him in. Up 6-2 through five innings, this one had the makings of being a laugher. The Wind Surge added again in the seventh inning. Rucker launched his sixth dinger of the season, and the two-run shot scored Keaschall. Aaron Sabato doubled home Jeferson Morales, and Ross followed with a doubled to bring him home as well. The second four-run frame of the game made it a 10-2 game.

Amarillo scored a run in the seventh inning before putting up five more in the ninth inning. It made what looked like a blowout a much tighter contest, but Wichita was able to slam the door. The 12 hits by the Wind Surge were distributed among eight of the starters. Rucker, McCusker, Ross, and Ortega each had a pair. An ugly stain on the victory was a lopsided 15/2 K/BB for Wichita.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 3
Box Score

C.J. Culpepper got the start in his return from the injured list. He threw two perfect innings and struck out three. Jordan Carr took over for 6 1/3 innings of bulk work to get the win. He allowed three runs on five hits but also struck out five.

Rayne Doncon provided some run support early with a single to score Kevin Maitan. Gabriel Gonzalez then scored on a third inning sacrifice fly from Rubel Cespedes to make it a 2-0 lead.

After a bit of a lull, Gonzalez drove in another run with an eighth inning single that scored Dillon Tatum. Doncon homered in the ninth inning and brought home Cespedes to make it 5-0. Quad Cities launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, but that was where the rally ended.

Cespedes, Doncon, and Tatum all had two hits on the day. Gonzalez picked up his fifth steal of the season.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Dunedin 3
Box Score

Cesar Lares drew the start on Sunday afternoon for Fort Myers. He allowed three runs (two earned) across 3 2/3 innings. Lares scattered five hits while striking out three and not allowing any walks.

Down 2-0 after the first inning, Fort Myers responded quickly. In the second inning Yohander Martinez singled in Nick Lucky to give the Mighty Mussels their first run. Walker Jenkins then ripped a liner to drive in Martinez and Angel Del Rosario putting Fort Myers on top.

In the third inning Fort Myers added again to provide some breathing room. Daniel Pena drove in Brandon Winokur with a single and then scored on a Del Rosario ground out. Up 5-2 through three innings, the Mighty Mussels were in a good spot.

Dunedin got a run back on a fourth inning solo shot, but Jenkins answered with another for Fort Myers in the sixth inning. His single scored Maddux Houghton and made it a 6-3 game, which is where it would end. Kyle Bloor, Samuel Perez, and Xander Hamilton closed out the game with scoreless relief work. Jenkins, Winokur, and Martinez each had a pair of hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day – Rayne Doncon (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, R, HR(7), 3 RBI, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Sunday. 
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 2-5, 3 RBI
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-3, RBI, 2 K
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, R, RBI, BB, K
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 1-3, R, RBI, BB, 2B
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – In Progress 
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-5, R, 2 K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – In Progress 
#19 – C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) – RHP Caleb Boushley (9-4, 4.47 ERA)
Wichita vs NW Arkansas (7:05 PM) - RHP Travis Adams (4-6, 4.83 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs Great Lakes (6:35 PM CST) – TBD
Fort Myers vs St. Lucie (6:05 PM CST) – TBD

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

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[Blyleven2011]

Good to see culpepper and Lewis  back healthy and pitching again  ...

 

[Dman]

Nice to see Doncon with 2 hits and one of them a Home Run.  I was starting to get a little worried about him making contact after an 0 for 5 last night and he hasn't had the same level of plate discipline as earlier in the year.  Kind of feels like maybe they have turned him loose to get to his power?  He has been getting more extra base hits recently.

Happy to see Culpepper back and I hope that forearm issue does not return. Three K's in 2 innings work with no hits, no walks and no runs. Doesn't get better than that if you are on a pitch count.

[bean5302]

3 ER in 5 innings isn't good. That's a 5.40 ERA, and Varland owned a 1.60 WHIP, also very poor thanks to 4 walks and 4 hits in just 5 innings. He's cooked as a starter and the sooner the Twins move him out of the rotation, the sooner St. Paul has room for Andrew Morris.

[Mike Sixel]

Time to promote Jenkins already. he's not learning anything in low A ball at this point.

[bean5302]

Nice to see Jenkins producing some XBH, even if today's 2B was really a single and a throwing error. Jenkins' ISO is starting to climb back up to respectable. Gabriel Gonzalez has been hitting the ball much better as of late as well. It's good to see. Unfortunately Emmanuel Rodriguez's day to day status continues as he just can't seem to shake that nagging thumb sprain.

[nclahammer]

Culpepper was doing his best M. C. Hammer impersonation on Sunday ("Can't touch this") and really looked sharp.   If he and Prielipp can stay healthy and if Walker Jenkins get promoted, things could bode quite well for the Kernels during the second half.

[mikelink45]

11 hours ago, bean5302 said:

3 ER in 5 innings isn't good. That's a 5.40 ERA, and Varland owned a 1.60 WHIP, also very poor thanks to 4 walks and 4 hits in just 5 innings. He's cooked as a starter and the sooner the Twins move him out of the rotation, the sooner St. Paul has room for Andrew Morris.

I agree and would have pointed out the same thing, but you beat me to it.  Varland and Julien are both losing their luster as other players are rising.

[jmlease1]

11 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Time to promote Jenkins already. he's not learning anything in low A ball at this point.

I'd agree if he had been playing consistently in the field. Only been in CF 4 times in July, which suggests they're watching him carefully after the injury to make sure he's fully healthy. I'm ok with them doing that in Ft. Myers where they have a more extensive organization and medical setup. (we've had so many top prospects deal with significant injuries that I'm happy to be cautious there) From a hitting perspective, though I agree: he's ready for promotion.

Happy to see Culpepper back; looks like he had no problems easing his way back in, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how a regular start goes. If he and Cory Lewis can stay healthy and finish the season strong it'll be a good sign for the Twins pitching pipeline.

[LambchoP]

Varland is not a starter. Moving him to the bullpen and trying him as a reliever is the only way to get any value out of him going forward. It doesn't need to be a defeat, if he can be a hard throwing set up kind of guy like he was late last year, that's very valuable to a team like the Twins that will need to rely heavily on our bullpen in the playoffs. Not sure what to do with Julien, he looks absolutely lost. Maybe send him all the way back to A ball like they did with Sano years ago? He clearly needs to rework his approach and swing. At this point I think it's fair to say Keaschal has surpassed him on the IF depth chart.