Twins Minor League Report (4/16): Fort Myers Rehabbing Pitchers Dazzle

[Matt Braun]

What evil to send such competency against teenagers. 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Brock Stewart)

TRANSACTIONS
INF Dameury Pena placed on 7-day IL (Fort Myers)

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 6, Iowa 20
Box Score
Andrew Morris: 3 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
HR: Jeferson Morales (1), Carson McCusker 2 (3, 4), Armando Alvarez (1)
Multi-hit games: Carson McCusker (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI)

The Saints allowed a franchise record eight home runs in a thumping on Wednesday.

Andrew Morris had been sharper. The Texas Tech product entered the game without an earned run on his ledger, and exited with an ERA that would make most pitchers blush. It started with a pair of runs in the 1st, before the Cubs pricked and prodded the righty with runs in each subsequent frame he pitched. The chaos—for him, at least—concluded with a Moisés Ballesteros two-run shot in the 4th. The good news? Morris hit 99.3 MPH on the gun. 

The bad news? Well, you can read, and somehow the game devolved from a seven-run punch to a 20-run laugher. Cory Lewis worked a pair of scoreless innings before running face-first into the pitching equivalent of the painted boulders that perpetually fools the Road Runner. A single begat a double, which begat an excruciating sequence in which—across six hitters—four Iowa Cubs took Lewis deep. Anthony Prato, not a pitcher, relieved him. They hit one more for good measure.

There were some signs of life offensively: Jeferson Morales homered back when the game was still winnable, and Carson McCusker blasted a pair of shots late in the game, the second of which was part of a back-to-back effort with Armando Alvarez. 

Cubs starter Cade Horton served as the team’s impact prospect. Ranked 2nd in the system, and 48th overall, the former 1st-round pick tossed five innings allowing just one earned run. He struck out six. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Tulsa 5 (14 Innings)
Box Score
Chase Chaney: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: Kyler Fedko (2)
Multi-hit games: Kala’i Rosario (2-for-6), Jake Rucker (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI), Tyler Dearden (4-for-6)

The Wind Surge fell in a 14-inning marathon on Wednesday.

It took 12 total pitchers, 398 combined pitches, and nearly four hours to determine a winner. Fortune fell in favor of the Drillers. So it goes.

Chase Chaney enjoyed his finest outing of the season, going 4 2/3 innings while allowing a lone unearned run. He gave way to Angel Macuare who continued to buzz through AA hitters with 2 1/3 perfect frames. He has now totaled 6 2/3 scoreless innings in 2025 with nine strikeouts.

Wichita’s bats didn’t have much to offer in support of their pitching at this point; Macuare was able to leave the game tied only thanks to a 7th-inning scrap that concluded with a Jake Rucker sacrifice fly. Two frames later, Kyler Fedko smoked a hanging breaking ball to give the Wind Surge a 3-1 lead.

Tulsa matched with two of their own in the bottom of the 9th to kick off the absurdity. Both teams opted for an empty 10th before scoring in the 11th. The Manfred Men of the 12th and 13th found home plate unattractive; Rubel Cespedes nearly scored once, but was thrown out at the plate. Finally, the Drillers found the end of the game with a leadoff single in the bottom of the 14th. 

The Drillers are a part of the Dodgers system. Typically overflowing with talent, the best LA has to offer has somehow missed Tulsa, Oklahoma; no one in the team’s top 30 appeared for the Drillers on Wednesday.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 7 (11 Innings)
Box Score
Ty Langenberg: 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (3-for-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI, BB), Nate Baez (4-for-5, 2 R), Caden Kendle (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI)

The Kernels came back late to win in extras on Wednesday.

Ty Langenberg was not his best self. In fact, it’s been a rough two games to start the season for the Urbandale native, as his ERA on the year sits at a ghastly 7.50. Fortunately, a two-start sample means almost nothing; he has quite some time to get back on track.

Offensively, the Kernels universe revolved around two players: Brandon Winokur and Nate Baez. The former collected three hits—two of them doubles—and walked while driving in four. Baez kept things simple: if he went to the plate, he singled, which proved fully true when the author wrote that sentence, but was only altered with a fifth at-bat strikeout.

A Khadim Diaw RBI single in the 9th pushed the game to extras, and Winokur’s final RBI of the night broke the tie in the 11th. Gabriel Yanez earned the save.

Kyle DeBarge stole his eighth base of the season, the 3rd-most in the Midwest League. 

Catcher Ryan Campos—ranked as the 18th-best player in the Cardinals system—went 2-5 with a run and a walk. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 1, Bradenton 0
Box Score
Christian MacLeod: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
HR: Jay Thomason (1)
Multi-hit games: None

Mighty Mussels pitching threw a shutout on Wednesday. 

Ok, it’s a little less impressive considering they had a big leaguer and two minor league rehabbers pitch, but, still.

Christian MacLeod was the first rehabber up. The 25-year-old out of Huntsville made quick work of his opponents, dicing up the six hitters he faced with just 26 pitches, He struck out four.

Then Brock Stewart entered. Those poor kids. 13 pitches later, he walked off the mound with three more strikeouts under his belt. He topped out at 95 MPH. 

Pierson Ohl took the mound and proceeded to punch out eight of the ten batters he faced, with his only hit—and the only hit Bradenton earned the entire night—coming from a bunt single. Somewhere, Brian Dozier felt extra red-ass. 

Dylan Questad delivered the game to its finale with a trio of clean frames.

Fort Myers’ offense came via a Jay Thomason solo homer. That was it. They took six walks and singled thrice, but Thomason’s blast represented their only run of the game.

2024 1st-rounder Konnor Griffin was the Marauders' most notable prospect. Ranked 40th in baseball by MLB.com, the DH struck out three times in four at-bats.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#2 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-2, R, 3 BB, K
#3 – Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 0-4, K
#5 – Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 3 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
#9 – Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#13 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB
#15 – Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K
#17 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2 K
#18 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-6, 2 K
#19 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, BB

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (12:08 PM) - RHP Marco Raya
Wichita @ Tulsa (7:00 PM) - RHP Trent Baker
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM) - RHP Charlee Soto
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Eli Jones

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[FlyingFinn]

Some of our top pitchers had an off night - Morris, Lewis, and Bengard. But the poor Bradenton team in low A got to face two AA pitchers and an MLBer. And they pitched like that.

 

[Jocko87]

From what I recall about knuckleballs is sometimes they don’t knuckle. 

[mark allen]

7 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

From what I recall about knuckleballs is sometimes they don’t knuckle. 

15 mile wind out to left field makes hitters confidence go way up and a normal fly ball out is a homer

or off the wall double.

[Doctor Wu]

8 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Some of our top pitchers had an off night - Morris, Lewis, and Bengard. But the poor Bradenton team in low A got to face two AA pitchers and an MLBer. And they pitched like that.

 

Twins Daily must have jinxed Morris after that rave review yesterday!

[Doctor Wu]

Kyle DeBarge stole his eighth base of the season, the 3rd-most in the Midwest League.

I hadn't realized that DeBarge had that much speed. Good to know. 

[MinnInPa]

need to get Stewart up to the Bigs fast and send down Alcala..I knew he would be a problem ...he, as do many Twins pitchers live too much in the middle of the plate

[LambchoP]

Glad Stewart is pitching again, our pen could really use another steady arm. Mccusker sure is hitting like he deserves a call up. Larnach is in a real slump. If it goes on much longer I think a reset in St Paul could do him good. Reward Mccusker with a cup of coffee and see how he does against MLB pitchers. I know he's not on the 40 man, but Bride shouldn't be here long term of we can get some of our guys healthy. Is there any return timeframe for Austin Martin or Payton Eeles? Both these guys could really help. Same with Lewis, I just heard he's still WEEKS away from a rehab assignment. For a sore hamstring? These guys are supposedly pro athletes, and their young guys in their prime. They shouldn't be pulling muscles just running to first base and then taking months off to recover :(

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, mark sills said:

15 mile wind out to left field makes hitters confidence go way up and a normal fly ball out is a homer

or off the wall double.

Ask the Yankees.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, MinnInPa said:

need to get Stewart up to the Bigs fast and send down Alcala..I knew he would be a problem ...he, as do many Twins pitchers live too much in the middle of the plate

The Twins cannot send down Alcala. They would have to put him on waivers if they don't keep him on the roster. He would be picked up immediately.

[SD happy]

I see Luke Keaschall is not in today’s lineup. Not sure if that means anything, but it does make you go hmmm.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, SD happy said:

I see Luke Keaschall is not in today’s lineup. Not sure if that means anything, but it does make you go hmmm.

He's coming off a significant injury, not sure I'd read too much into it? Fun if he comes up, but it also might just be a day off for a guy who had a major surgery last year.

Tough night for the law firm of Morris & Lewis. I'll be interested to see how the react to it. been a while since either of them got beat up like that.

Great to have Brock Stewart actually pitching. Looking forward to getting him back in MLB: be nice to have another guy in the late innings to go to, maybe take a little pressure of Jax.

[jorgenswest]

6 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins cannot send down Alcala. They would have to put him on waivers if they don't keep him on the roster. He would be picked up immediately.

I am sure you are correct but I see he has 2 options with 4.165 years of service on Fangraphs. I guess he must have reached 5 years now and the 4.165 represents the service time entering the year. I think he would have needed 7 days and now would have to give his consent to be optioned.

[tony&rodney]

43 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I am sure you are correct but I see he has 2 options with 4.165 years of service on Fangraphs. I guess he must have reached 5 years now and the 4.165 represents the service time entering the year. I think he would have needed 7 days and now would have to give his consent to be optioned.

Correct. This was noted in March I believe. It is a service time issue more correctly. So Alcala is going to figure it out as a Twin or pitch elsewhere. He is a little bit maddening because his stuff is nearly unhittable at times but then he loses it at other times. Alcala gives managers joy or ulcers.

[twinstalker]

Oof, three of my five favorite pitchers in the system (Morris, Lewis, Bengard) got absolutely drilled.  This was a humbling night for me...and perhaps for them.  /s  I hope none of it's due to injury.  For me that leaves Soto and Dasan Hill as mostly unblemished.

I don't like Raya, and I don't yet know all the new-ish pitchers, but I need to find out the story with Dylan Questad.  He looks interesting from a brief glance.

[jorgenswest]

48 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Correct. This was noted in March I believe. It is a service time issue more correctly. So Alcala is going to figure it out as a Twin or pitch elsewhere. He is a little bit maddening because his stuff is nearly unhittable at times but then he loses it at other times. Alcala gives managers joy or ulcers.

He can also consent to be optioned. I am not sure where the motivation would be other than he would remain on a 40 man roster. In waivers he could risk no one picking up his contract and then not be on a 40. Would that be any motivation?

[FlyingFinn]

5 hours ago, SD happy said:

I see Luke Keaschall is not in today’s lineup. Not sure if that means anything, but it does make you go hmmm.

Great call! I'm really surprised but excited he is being called up to the Twins.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

He can also consent to be optioned. I am not sure where the motivation would be other than he would remain on a 40 man roster. In waivers he could risk no one picking up his contract and then not be on a 40. Would that be any motivation?

Pretty sure Alcala would be claimed quickly. He has a good arm. 

[tony&rodney]

6 hours ago, SD happy said:

I see Luke Keaschall is not in today’s lineup. Not sure if that means anything, but it does make you go hmmm.

Wondered the same and see the announcement now, but was a little surprised. Keaschall has not had the type of at bats we might expect for a guy being called up. I haven't seen who goes down and wonder how he will be used.