Twins Minor League Report (7/31): Yunior Severino Powers Saints to Afternoon Win

[Seth Stohs]

On Wednesday afternoon, the Saints got a big win down in Des Moines. On the east side of Iowa, the Kernels had a rough game, but the organization's top prospect notched a couple of firsts for his career. 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

The Minnesota Twins, St. Paul Saints, and Cedar Rapids all played on Wednesday afternoon. The Twins got a nice win. The Saints powered their way to a big win. And, well, things really didn't go well in Cedar Rapids, but there were a couple of a 'Firsts" for Walker Jenkins. 

A quick look at their scores, and clearly things didn't go well for Fort Myers and Wichita, but there were a handful of individual performances to be excited about. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 59-48
St. Paul Saints: 52-51
Wichita Wind Surge: 41-57
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 55-41
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 50-45
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 21-19 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins placed RHP Brock Stewart on the 15-Day Injured List. The move made room on the roster to officially add RHP Trevor Richards. 

RHP Jarret Whorff was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Wichita. RHP Regi Grace was activated from the Injured List. 

OF Nick Lucky and RHP Spencer Bengard were promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. 

RHP Adrian Bohorquez and LHP Cleiber Maldonado were assigned to Fort Myers from the Florida Complex. 

Kernels RHP A.J. Labas was released by the organization. Veteran RHPs Scott Engler and Jared Solomon were release from the Wichita offense. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 11, Iowa 0
Box Score
The Saints jumped out to a quick lead. They scored in the first three innings of the game and had a 6-0 lead at the point. And, especially considering that it was a Bullpen Game for the Saints, they could not have asked for anything more.

Ronny Henriquez started. He gave up just two hits over three scoreless innings. He had six strikeouts and no walks. Hobie Harris came in. He had three strikeouts and a walk over two scoreless, hitless innings.

Things started out well in the top of the first. DaShawn Keirsey led off with a walk. After a strikeout, Yunior Severino connected for his 17th home run of the season to make it 2-0 Saints. 

The first two Saints batters of the top of the second got out. Keirsey singled and stole second base. He went to third on a throwing error. Edouard Julien walked and stole second base. With runners on second and third, Severino came up again and crushed his 18th home run of the season to make it 5-0 Saints. 

In the top of the third inning, Wynton Bernard led off with a home run to make it 6-0. 

After a couple of zeroes were placed on the board, DaShawn Keirsey led off the top of the sixth inning with his 11th home run which made it 7-0 Saints. 

Nick Wittgren took over and threw a scoreless eighth frame.  

The Saints added some extra, extra insurance in the top of the ninth. With the bases loaded, Julien drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Severino added an RBI double. Jair Camargo drove in two more runs with his 10th double. 

Diego Castillo gave up one hit but tossed a scoreless ninth inning to maintain the shutout. 

Severino went 3-for-6 with his 11th double, his 17th and 18th home runs and six RBI. Keirsey went 2-for-4 with two walks and his 11th home run. Bernard went 2-for-5 with a walk and his fifth home run. Pat Winkel was 2-for-6. Payton Eeles was 2-for-4 with a walk. Julien had a double and two walks. 

#OldFriend Gilberto Celestino who was just traded to the Cubs from the Pirates last week, went 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts. For our friends at North Side Baseball, the positive for the Iowa Cubs was that reliever Daniel Palencia tossed two scoreless innings. He had three strikeouts and reached 100 mph with most fastballs. The one that hit Jair Camargo was "only" 99.2 mph. Moises Ballesteros went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Owen Caissie went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Both are Top 5 Cubs prospects. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, NW Arkansas 9
Box Score
When you see a score like this one, one immediately thinks that it was pretty bad. But, even in a bad final score, a lot of really good things happened. 

First, Christian MacLeod's second Wind Surge start was strong. In 5 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on four hits (2 homers) and two walks. He also had eight strikeouts. 

Second, in his second Double-A game, Ricardo Olivar went 5-for-5 with two doubles. 

Third, Ben Ross's terrific month of July ended with another three-hit game and a .210 season batting average. When July began, he was hitting just .169. However, the fact that he plays tremendous defense around the infield kept him in the lineup and everyone knew he'd eventually figure it out. He also stole his 12th base of the season. 

The Wind Surge had 16 hits in the game. Jake Rucker went 2-for-5 with his 17th double. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-4. Tanner Schobel, Kyler Fedko, and Tyler Dearden each hit a double. 

To the other side, the Surge went 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.

Should I mention that Olivar had two errors behind the plate?

Travis Floyd came in after MacLeod. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over 1 1/3 innings. John Stankiewicz gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in one inning. Kyle Bischoff then was charged with two unearned runs on one hit in the ninth inning. 

By the way, game-time temperature in Wichita was 103 degrees. Yuck! 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Great Lakes 15
Box Score
While the second-inning is when Jeremy Lee gave up runs, the first inning provided a look at what was to come. Lee started the game with two walks. He got an out on a fielder’s choice, but then issued another walk to load the bases. Fortunately, he was able to get another ground ball and the team recorded a double play to end the inning unscathed. 

He wasn’t as fortunate in the second inning. It started with a single which was followed by back-to-back walks to load the bases. A third straight walk gave Great Lakes the 1-0 lead. Then came a two-run double, and Jacob Wosinski was brought in with runners on second and third and nobody out. A Noah Miller groundout drove in the fourth run. Wosinski got a strikeout for the inning’s second out. However, after a walk, the fifth run scored on an errant pickoff throw.

The final line for Lee included five runs (4 earned) on two hits and six walks in one inning. Wosinski allowed both inherited runners to score, but he gave up only an unearned run on one walk over 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. 

In the bottom of the third inning, already down 6-0, the Kernels put a couple of runs on the board. With one out, Walker Jenkins singled and stole second. Gabriel Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and the two runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. A Rubel Cespedes ground out gave the Kernels their first run. Rayne Doncon signed to drive in the second run  

Gabriel Yanez then gave up four runs (2 earned) on five hits in 1 1/3 innings. Juan Mendez walked two and struck out two batters over two scoreless, hitless innings. Matthew Clayton was picked to be the position-player pitcher. In the eighth inning, he gave up three runs on five hits. In the ninth inning, he gave up two more runs on just one more hit. He hit a batter. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kyle Hess scored on a Dillon Tatum single. Way too little. Way too late. 

Misael Urbina went 2-for-3 with a walk. Kyle Hess had the lone extra-base hit, his fifth double. Walker Jenkins had his first Midwest League hit and stolen base. 

#OldFriend Noah Miller went 1-for-4 with a walk, his 13th double, a run and two RBI. He was also hit by a pitch. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 8 
Box Score
Fort Myers hosted the Mets Low-A affiliate from across the state. A four-run third inning gave the team a lead but they quickly fell behind. Through five innings, the game was tied at 6-6, but after that it was two, single-run innings from St. Lucie which gave them the win.

Down 2-0 going to the bottom of the third, Maddux Houghton reached on an error. He stole second and later scored on a passed ball. Next, Byron Chourio walked. Yohander Martinez reached on an error. Chourio scored on a fielder's choice off of the bat of Yasser Mercedes. Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Mussels a 3-2 lead. Finally, Brandon Winokur singled to drive in Mercedes with the fourth inning. 

Going to the bottom of the fifth inning down 6-4, Angel Del Rosario led off with a walk. Poncho Ruiz singled Del Rosario to third. Winokur drove in a run with another single. After two outs, Ruiz scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 6-6. That was about it for the Mussels on offense. 

Lefty Ross Dunn, a 10th round pick last summer, was charged with six runs (4 earned) on seven hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Kyle Bloor came on and gave up a run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings. Xander Hamilton gave up one run on three hits over two innings. Sam Perez had two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. 

Winokur went 2-for-5 with the two RBI. Ruiz was also 2-for-5. Del Rosario was 1-for-3 with a walk and his fifth double.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Bullpen Game Pitchers (Saints) - 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K
Hitter of the Day – Yunior Severino (Saints) - 3-for-6, 2B(11), 2-HR(18), 3 R, 6 RBI, 
                                Ricardo Olivar (Wind Surge) - 5-for-5, 2-2B(2), R, RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. Rankings to be updated shortly. 

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5, R, 2 K   
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-4
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-2, BB, HBP, R 
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, R, SB(7)  
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 0-for-3, BB, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-for-5, 2 RBI, K. 
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-5, 2B(15), R, RBI, K
#18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-for-6, 2B(11), 2-HR(18), 3 R, 6 RBI, K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 5-for-5, 2-2B(2), R, RBI 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) – RHP Adam Plutko (3-7, 5.34 ERA)
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (5-2, 1.28 ERA)
Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-5, 5.94 ERA)
St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (2-0, 5.61 ERA) 

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

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[Dman]

It has not been a particularly great year consistency wise for Severino. Still he brought his K rate down to under 30% and upped his walk rate 14% this year.  He traded that for losing some HR power and if he hadn't been an absolute K machine early in the year his numbers might look better.

I'm still a big believer in his hit tool and power.  I like him at 1st and DH even if Miranda might be a better option in both spots.  I like the fact he is a switch hitter.  I still think there is Wallner type power that he can tap into.  Can he do it against higher end pitching consistently enough?  I don't know, but I am happy to see him playing well the last few months.

[Mike Sixel]

14 minutes ago, Dman said:

It has not been a particularly great year consistency wise for Severino. Still he brought his K rate down to under 30% and upped his walk rate 14% this year.  He traded that for losing some HR power and if he hadn't been an absolute K machine early in the year his numbers might look better.

I'm still a big believer in his hit tool and power.  I like him at 1st and DH even if Miranda might be a better option in both spots.  I like the fact he is a switch hitter.  I still think there is Wallner type power that he can tap into.  Can he do it against higher end pitching consistently enough?  I don't know, but I am happy to see him playing well the last few months.

One advantage he has over Miranda is health, apparently. You can't win games from the IL. I like Miranda a lot, but I'd give Severino a shot at some point. 

[strumdatjag]

MLB is closer to having its first Klingon player: Jarrett Whorff promoted to AA!

and in the words of Whorff: “I am Klingon.  If you doubt it, a demonstration can be arranged.” 
MAKE IT SO!!!!

[cmoss84]

Could Severino be a Farmer replacement? Do we still have Farmer?

[FlyingFinn]

2 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

Could Severino be a Farmer replacement? Do we still have Farmer?

No. Correa could be a Farmer replacement. Severino is very limited on defense. Miranda is really blocking him at this point. We have plenty of third basemen. Santana is playing well at 1B and therefore Miranda needs to play DH more often.

[cmoss84]

19 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

No. Correa could be a Farmer replacement. Severino is very limited on defense. Miranda is really blocking him at this point. We have plenty of third basemen. Santana is playing well at 1B and therefore Miranda needs to play DH more often.

Wasn't really talking about Severino taking Correa's job. I was talking about dropping Farmer for Severino. Hell, Farmer might even slide through waivers and go to AAA.

You'd rather have Farmer than Severino? I guess I'm not following...

[FlyingFinn]

Just now, cmoss84 said:

You'd rather have Farmer than Severino? I guess I'm not following...

For the most part, they don't play the same position (and the top 3 third basemen are Lewis, Miranda and Castro). Not sure either Farmer or Severino belong on the roster right now. The question is do we want Farmer or Martin? And do we want Severino or Miranda? Miranda is the easy answer. The Twins even brought up Diego Castillo over Severino and Severino was already on the 40 man roster. With all of this, I don't see Severino on the Twins this year.

[cmoss84]

58 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

For the most part, they don't play the same position (and the top 3 third basemen are Lewis, Miranda and Castro). Not sure either Farmer or Severino belong on the roster right now. The question is do we want Farmer or Martin? And do we want Severino or Miranda? Miranda is the easy answer. The Twins even brought up Diego Castillo over Severino and Severino was already on the 40 man roster. With all of this, I don't see Severino on the Twins this year.

Severino has played more at 2B than any other position in minors. Not saying that's where they want him...but he is an infield utility minus shortstop. Maybe it comes down to Julien v Severino (and Farmer)?

[Heistyman]

Holy Cow Olivar gets the HOT start in AA !!!

[FlyingFinn]

7 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

Severino has played more at 2B than any other position in minors.

Technically correct. But in 2024, Severino has played 66 games at 1B, 8 games at 3B, and 16 games at DH. He isn't a utility infielder. The Twins probably don't even consider him a third baseman with this defensive distribution (even while Lewis was injured), which may be why Diego Castillo was called up before Severino.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Any word on when any of the recent draft picks will debut? Debarge and Amick specifically signed a bit ago. Figured maybe they could debut here in the next week or so. Thanks!

[cmoss84]

51 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Technically correct. But in 2024, Severino has played 66 games at 1B, 8 games at 3B, and 16 games at DH. He isn't a utility infielder. The Twins probably don't even consider him a third baseman with this defensive distribution (even while Lewis was injured), which may be why Diego Castillo was called up before Severino.

You choose Farmer...I choose Severino.  I guess we can leave it there. All good.

[wabene]

Two games in Ricardo Olivar obviously masters AA. MOVE HIM UP, AAA is calling. 

FREE RICARDO OLIVAR!!

September with the big club! 

The Twins can't let another MAJOR TALENT rot in the minors!

 

 

 

[wabene]

^^^^^ is this guy for real?

[cmoss84]

Also...this guy

6' 190lbs, Switch hitter, Santo Domingo, DR

Would maybe benefit from this guy

5'10 210lbs, switch hitter, Santo Domingo, DR

[cmoss84]

1 hour ago, wabene said:

^^^^^ is this guy for real?

Crazy to believe a young guy with potential should get a chance over Farmer...I know. Must be off my meds.

[roger]

Thanks for the report, Seth.  First thing I did was check the Cedar Rapids box score to see if Prielipp pitched.  He didn't.  Then went to the end of your report to see if he was starting today, he isn't.  

Assume your mention of a couple of firsts for Jenkins were his first hit and first run scored?  Guessing it also was his first stolen base?

[LambchoP]

Severino and his raw power look real nice right now. Led the minors with 35 hr last year, might hit another 30 this year. If he can keep his strikeouts within reason maybe he takes the first base job next year. Santana isn't resigning. Severino has the typical 1b power. Switch hitter. Him at 1st, Lee/Julien at second. Correa at SS and Lewis/Miranda at third. Not a bad infield. If Severino isn't in our long term plans, I would think he'd have a lot of interest from other teams as a good trade piece. Personally, I'd love to see if his crazy power translates to MLB and he hits 30 homers for us. Or, he turns into a k machine, Sano 2.0?

[roger]

57 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Severino and his raw power look real nice right now. Led the minors with 35 hr last year, might hit another 30 this year. If he can keep his strikeouts within reason maybe he takes the first base job next year. Santana isn't resigning. Severino has the typical 1b power. Switch hitter. Him at 1st, Lee/Julien at second. Correa at SS and Lewis/Miranda at third. Not a bad infield. If Severino isn't in our long term plans, I would think he'd have a lot of interest from other teams as a good trade piece. Personally, I'd love to see if his crazy power translates to MLB and he hits 30 homers for us. Or, he turns into a k machine, Sano 2.0?

Does anyone know how good Severino is defensively?  Was a pleasant surprise this year watching Santana play there.  He really is excellent.  On the other hand Miranda needs a lot of work and AK hasn't had the time healthy to improve over being acceptable.

[cmoss84]

7 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

Also...this guy

6' 190lbs, Switch hitter, Santo Domingo, DR

Would maybe benefit from this guy

5'10 210lbs, switch hitter, Santo Domingo, DR

That's right folks! We are talking about Yunior and Carlos Santana!

DFA Farmer. Give Severino a cup of coffee and a chance with Oy Como Va. If it works out...great. If not, move on to "plan F."

[Danchat]

Farmer can at least handle SS and is trusted at 3B, two things that Severino can't do. As it was already mentioned, Diego Castillo got the call-up despite needing to open a 40 man spot when they could have just brought Severino up. He is a 1B type and I'm not sure if his bat will play in the majors. We've had plenty of back end of the top 30 prospects who could hit for power in AAA but couldn't do anything in the majors... I'd like to think Severino can be better than but I dunno. He is gonna strike out a lot, that is for sure.

[cmoss84]

8 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Farmer can at least handle SS and is trusted at 3B, two things that Severino can't do. As it was already mentioned, Diego Castillo got the call-up despite needing to open a 40 man spot when they could have just brought Severino up. He is a 1B type and I'm not sure if his bat will play in the majors. We've had plenty of back end of the top 30 prospects who could hit for power in AAA but couldn't do anything in the majors... I'd like to think Severino can be better than but I dunno. He is gonna strike out a lot, that is for sure.

Like...Brent Rooker?

Dude can get on base too...36%

[Danchat]

3 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

Like...Brent Rooker?

Dude can get on base too...36%

Yeah, perhaps. It's not like all of the power-first prospects fail but it took him until age 28 to break out. Rooker was a fairly highly regarded prospect whereas Severino has bounced around the #20-30 range in the organization. No reason to give up on him, but I remain skeptical.

[Doctor Wu]

22 hours ago, wabene said:

Two games in Ricardo Olivar obviously masters AA. MOVE HIM UP, AAA is calling. 

FREE RICARDO OLIVAR!!

September with the big club! 

The Twins can't let another MAJOR TALENT rot in the minors!

 

 

 

Great date at bat, but this was noted too:

Should I mention that Olivar had two errors behind the plate?

[Doctor Wu]

Great game for Henriquez too. Three impressive innings as a starter. But was starting him just one of those "opener" sort of things, or will they attempt to try and use him as a starter more often?