Twins Minor League Report (9/13): Marco Raya Goes 5 Scoreless; Walker Jenkins Tallies 1st Double-A Hit

[Tom Froemming]

The final weekend of Wind Surge baseball in 2024 kicked off with a great performance by Wichita. Marco Raya turned in one of his better starts of the season while Walker Jenkins got the monkey off his back, recording his first Double-A hit. Those two helped lift Wichita to a convincing victory tonight. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey - Wichita Wind Surge

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 78-69
St. Paul Saints: 68-73
Wichita Wind Surge: 57-79
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-63 (season complete)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 66-59 (season complete)
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete)

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Columbus 11, St. Paul 1
Box Score
Saints starter Aaron Rozek managed to get through the first three innings without allowing any damage, but the Clippers would not be held down for long.

Rozek surrendered two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth before being replaced by Kody Funderburk. The second appearance of his rehab assignment did not go well. Funderburk surrendered six runs on four hits (one of them a homer) and two walks while only recording two outs.

The Saints lineup was also quiet. It was a tough night for St. Paul, but Austin Martin played well in his first game back with the Saints since mid-June, going 2-for-3 with a walk.

After the game had been blown wide open, Ryan Jensen and Stephen Okert pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively. This marked Okert’s first outing since coming off the temporary inactive list. 

Not a lot of positives to pull out of this one, but in case you missed it, the Saints social team did share a nice Payton Eeles feature that included some of an interview and highlights.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 9, Tulsa 1
Box Score
Marco Raya had one of his better and longer starts of the season tonight, delivering five shutout innings and striking out five batters. Raya struggled with his control at times, walking three batters while throwing 56.7% of his pitches for strikes (38 of 67 pitches), but did a great job navigating out of jams. 

Tusla put a runner into scoring position with one out in both of the first two innings. Raya induced a 5-4-3 double play in the first inning and his catcher, Andrew Cossetti, gave him a hand by throwing out a baserunner in the second.

After being challenged in those first two frames, Raya cruised. He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced. Tonight marks the fifth time in 24 starts this season that Raya completed five or more innings. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft.

Wichita scratched across a run in the first inning before adding four more runs in the second. That rally featured a Ben Ross two-run homer and Walker Jenkins’ first Double-A hit. It wasn’t much to look at — a swinging bunt, essentially — but at least that box is checked. Jenkins also drew a pair of walks and played right field tonight.

In addition to helping guide Raya behind the plate, Cossetti was a tough out. He drew a seven-pitch walk, slapped a two-run triple the other way, walked again, smoked a two-run double off the wall and then was finally retired on a groundout in the ninth inning. In addition to Cossetti, there were also multi-hit games from Kala’i Rosario, Ales Isola and Jorel Ortega.

Jacob Wosinksi was the first arm out of the Surge pen and provided two perfect innings. Cody Laweryson couldn’t quite complete the shutout, but did keep the damage to one run while covering the final two frames.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY 
Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, Wichita
Hitter of the Day: Andrew Cossetti, Wichita

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. 

#1 Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2K
#2 Brooks Lee (Minnesota): 1-for-3, 2 RBI
#10 Marco Raya (Wichita): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 67 pitches
#15 Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 K
#17 Tanner Schobel (Wichita): 1-for-3, 2 BB, 3 R, K

TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul at Columbus, 6:05 pm CT: Andrew Morris
Wichita vs. Tulsa, 6:05 pm CT: C.J. Culpepper

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[mark sills]

Andrew Morris starting tomorrow for St Paul seems like a mistake.

[mikelink45]

I like it when the prospect list shows success in each player

[gman]

Does anyone remember why Raya was (is) considered a top pitching prospect? What are his best picthes?

[terrydactyls]

10 hours ago, mark sills said:

Andrew Morris starting tomorrow for St Paul seems like a mistake.

Why?

[LambchoP]

Raya will for sure be added to the 40 man this off-season. Even if I believe his prospect ranking is a little high. Guys got great stuff,but pretty horrible command. He walks 2-4 guys each outing. He's also only gone five innings or more 5 times all year. Maybe next year everything clicks and he can hone in his stuff, but right now he looks like a future bullpen piece, which can still be valuable. Good for Jenkins getting his first AA hit. Does he start there out of the gate next year? Think it depends how he fares the rest of the season. He sure does walk a lot, hopefully he doesn't turn into a Julien and watch strike three go by 4 times a night lol. I think he'll be fine. Imagine an OF of Buxton, Jenkins, Wallner, Rodriguez. Not to mention Larnach, Mccusker, Keirsey, Martin, Castro. They're building quite the position players depth for OF and in the IF. Hopefully that means the few pennies they'll have to spend can be used on pitching. We could use one solid SP and two or three good relief arms, preferably two lefties.

[LambchoP]

And it sure looks like Funderburk isn't going to get a call up and be our lefty reliever for the playoffs. He's been dreadful since coming off the IL. With him getting shelled in AAA along with Okert, looks like we're stuck with Theilbar the rest of the season. I really hope they can sign at least two solid lefties for our pen next year. Theilbar will be gone and Okert and Funderburk inspire zero confidence. Aroldis Chapman shouldn't be too expensive after a down year this year ....

[D.C Twins]

9 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Raya will for sure be added to the 40 man this off-season. Even if I believe his prospect ranking is a little high. Guys got great stuff,but pretty horrible command. He walks 2-4 guys each outing. He's also only gone five innings or more 5 times all year. Maybe next year everything clicks and he can hone in his stuff, but right now he looks like a future bullpen piece, which can still be valuable. Good for Jenkins getting his first AA hit. Does he start there out of the gate next year? Think it depends how he fares the rest of the season. He sure does walk a lot, hopefully he doesn't turn into a Julien and watch strike three go by 4 times a night lol. I think he'll be fine. Imagine an OF of Buxton, Jenkins, Wallner, Rodriguez. Not to mention Larnach, Mccusker, Keirsey, Martin, Castro. They're building quite the position players depth for OF and in the IF. Hopefully that means the few pennies they'll have to spend can be used on pitching. We could use one solid SP and two or three good relief arms, preferably two lefties.

Raya = Late Inning Bullpen in MLB

[DJL44]

12 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Theilbar will be gone

I would not be shocked to see Thielbar come back to the Twins on a minor league deal.

[DocBauer]

Nice to see Raya finish the season strong. Have to remember he just turned 22yo a little over a month ago, and his career got off to a slow start by being drafted during covid and then having a shoulder issue that delayed him another full season. I'm betting he begins 2025 back in Wichita, but probably with no, or fewer, restrictions on his pitch counts. It's time to let him loose.

Wichita might not be quite as strong as St Paul in the rotation to begin next year, but it could be really close. Now, if they could get some offense, they could be dangerous.

[SaberNerd]

6 hours ago, gman said:

Does anyone remember why Raya was (is) considered a top pitching prospect? What are his best picthes?

The main reason he was ranked highly is that people think he could have 4 average or better pitches; Slider is probably the best, fastball/curve/change more average.  The past year or so people have started to sour on the changeup and his command, along with a growing disbelief that he can handle a starter's workload.

Early on in his career, he reminded people of Berrios.  Now, he looks like a bullpen arm, but with the slider he could be a really good one.

[mark sills]

6 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Why?

He pitched five innings Thursday

[Jeffreybuffalo7]

20 hours ago, mark sills said:

Andrew Morris starting tomorrow for St Paul seems like a mistake.

Why?