Minor League Report (4/2): Columbus UNO Reverses Saints with a Shutout

[Matt Braun]

I guess it's only fair they get one. 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Darren Bowen assigned to Wichita
RHP Joel Cesar assigned to Wichita
LHP Jaylen Nowlin assigned to Wichita
RHP Randy Dobnak outrighted to St. Paul

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 0, Columbus 2
Box Score
Andrew Morris: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Carson McCusker (2-for-4, 2B), Jeferson Morales (2-for-4, 2B)

On the heels of a historic back-to-back shutout streak, Andrew Morris was set to carry a special torch. Could the top prospect add a third day to St. Paul’s cavalcade of “0’s?”

Spoiler alert: he was great. The Clippers scattered five hits and a walk across his five frames—including loading the bases against the Texas Tech product in the 4th—but Morris’ gumption reigned supreme; he hunkered down and stifled Columbus’ bats at every turn. He walked off the mound with four strikeouts and 69 pitches thrown. 

Cory Lewis relieved Morris for just his third professional appearance out of the bullpen. Begin speculation now. Given the Saints’ stacked rotation, it seemed like someone was due to be the odd man out; Wednesday’s game may reveal Lewis to be that individual. But the inning he entered didn’t seem to impact his play: Lewis tossed 1 ⅔ shutout innings with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. And in case you were wondering, he threw eight knuckleballs, coaxing four swings, with two of them coming up empty. 

Unfortunately—as George Harrison told us in 1970—all things must pass, and the Saints’ scoreless streak finally came to an end on Wednesday. In the 8th, Jacob Bosiokovic allowed a pair of singles, a sacrifice fly, a stolen base, and a concluding single to mark St. Paul’s 1st and 2nd runs allowed on the season. So it goes.

The Saints couldn’t muster any offense in support of the pitching effort. Eight walks and seven hits portended a deadly 1-for-11 performance with runners in scoring position. Just brutal stuff.

The 9th was a good microcosm of the forces affecting St. Paul’s hitters. Jeferson Morales doubled and Ryan Fitzgerald walked. At this point, the Saints held a 1-in-4 chance of winning. Almost all of it was wiped out with a back-breaking Austin Martin double play; Emmanuel Rodriguez struck out two batters later to conclude the game.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker/Jeferson Morales

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#2 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K
#3 – Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2BB
#5 – Andrew Morris (S. Paul) - 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K 
#9 – Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - 1 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (5:15 PM) - RHP Marco Raya

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[tony&rodney]

Morris looked pretty good. He seemed like he was working on cutters and a few other pitches. The clippers couldn't do anything with his fastball, which was at 97 several times.

Austin and Emmanuel seemed like they were trying too hard; over-swinging. Too many batters left on base and empty at bats. McCusker hit a couple very hard. 

I'm not liking the ABS challenge system at all. Either use it all the time or dump it altogether. I know ... 3 games in is a quick call. 

[Doctor Gast]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Morris looked pretty good. He seemed like he was working on cutters and a few other pitches. The clippers couldn't do anything with his fastball, which was at 97 several times.

Austin and Emmanuel seemed like they were trying too hard; over-swinging. Too many batters left on base and empty at bats. McCusker hit a couple very hard. 

I'm not liking the ABS challenge system at all. Either use it all the time or dump it altogether. I know ... 3 games in is a quick call. 

I agree with the game summary & I'd prefer the straight ABS for reasons I've stated many times before, but IMO the challenge system is better than nothing & hopefully, we will adopt the straight ABS system as soon as possible. Our superior hitters couldn't get anything going tonite against Columbus' pitching last night with 8 BB & 7 hits. Wish I could have watched the game.

[Trov]

So far our stacked rotation is living up to their potential.  Only 1 trip through so far, but all our starters have yet to give a up run. 

[LambchoP]

St Paul starters are looking great so far. Festa, Mathews, Morris and Lewis. Nice to finally have some pitching depth. Who is this Morales guy? Saw him racking up hits in ST. Think he's a Castro type guy in the field playing multiple IF spots and corner OF spots. I wonder if he'll be a call up option when we need an infielder and Keaschal isn't available?

[Fatbat]

Great rotation!  Lets see if Raya can continue the trend!

[Steve Lein]

"Given the Saints’ stacked rotation, it seemed like someone was due to be the odd man out; Wednesday’s game may reveal Lewis to be that individual."

Nothing to see here.

The Saints had two games rained out on opening weekend, which means they're two days behind their pitching schedule. Travis Adams piggy-backed Matthews on Tuesday, now Lewis gets that deal with Morris in this one.

With Raya going today they should be back on the normal schedule. Festa, Adams, and Zebby are the scheduled guys over the next 3 so the 6-man rotation is back on.

[Steve Lein]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm not liking the ABS challenge system at all. Either use it all the time or dump it altogether. I know ... 3 games in is a quick call. 

Did you not watch it at all last year? I think it's great, especially from a fan perspective! The general consensus is the challenge version is what players and teams prefer as well.

At one Saints game last year I was at the umpire had an especially bad day. One inning had like 9 challenges between the two teams, and if that many are happening it means the ump was getting them all wrong. He was catching a lot of flack from the fans and the teams. Was kinda hilarious, and he got a big cheer when he finally got one right.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

Did you not watch it at all last year? I think it's great, especially from a fan perspective! The general consensus is the challenge version is what players and teams prefer as well.

At one Saints game last year I was at the umpire had an especially bad day. One inning had like 9 challenges between the two teams, and if that many are happening it means the ump was getting them all wrong. He was catching a lot of flack from the fans and the teams. Was kinda hilarious, and he got a big cheer when he finally got one right.

Yes, I did. I watch too much milb. I'm in favor of using the ABS system full time. The reason I dislike the two challenges system is because we see a pile of bad calls after a team runs out of challenges. Last night McCusker had two bad calls against him in the same at bat. My suggestion if the ABS is not used at all is to grade the umpires and have a system of rewards in place for the best umpires and retrain or demote those umpires not doing a decent job. 

FWIW, I believe challenges calling for video reviews should be changed as well. I would allow 10 seconds for a challenge and allow 30 seconds for the review once the guys in New York have the video up. The 3-5  minute reviews are tedious.

[Doctor Wu]

Another terrific summary, Matt. I especially liked the way you added a musical angle:

Unfortunately—as George Harrison told us in 1970—all things must pass, and the Saints’ scoreless streak finally came to an end on Wednesday. In the 8th,

[Danchat]

I'm a fan of putting starters in the pen and seeing what happens. Even if Cory Lewis still has a chance to be a major league starter, why not keep him in the pen for a bit and see if he thrives? Some or even the majority of these guys are going to end up in the pen, why not fast-track it a bit? It's more than likely we will need bullpen help from the minors as the season goes on.