Twins Minor League Report (4/19): López Sharp in Rehab Start

[Cody Christie]

Pablo López looked sharp in his rehab start with the Saints while two other affiliates completed double headers. Let’s find out which prospects stood out in Saturday’s action.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (Photo of Yasser Mercedes)

Like the Twins, many of the organization’s affiliates are attempting to climb their way back to the .500 mark. It’s a long season and the team’s have to get into the season’s groove to start stacking wins. Before we get into tonight’s action, let’s check out how the team’s current records and what transactions took place leading into Saturday’s games. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 7-14
St. Paul Saints: 7-10
Wichita Wind Surge: 8-7
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 9-5
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 7-7

TRANSACTIONS
-RHP Pablo López assigned to the Saints on Major League rehab.
-LHP Kody Funderburk optioned from Minnesota to St. Paul.
-RHP Huascar Ynoa released by the Minnesota Twins organization.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 0, Iowa 1
Box Score
Pablo López took the mound in a rehab start for the Saints and did everything he needed to do to prove he’s ready to rejoin the Twins. In 4 2/3 innings, he allowed one earned run on a solo home run where he left a fastball near the top of the zone. He threw 63 pitches, 43 for strikes and got eight swings and misses. His 18 fastballs averaged 94.5 miles per hour and he topped out at 96 mph. He threw 16 of 22 sweepers for a strike, his highest usage pitch.

The Saints offense was relatively quiet until the ninth inning. Mickey Gasper smacked a two-out double into the gap to finish the night 2-for-4. Daulton Shuffield replaced Gasper at second to have a little more speed on the bases. Emmanuel Rodriguez stepped in and singled on the first pitch. On the play, Shuffield tried to score but was thrown out at the plate to end the game. 

It was the 10th 1-0 game in Saints franchise history and they have gone 3-7. Luckily, the Saints will have Daniel Zebulon Matthews on the mound for Sunday’s series finale.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Tulsa 1 (Game 1- 7 Innings)
Box Score
Wichita rode a three-run inning to scrape out a close ball game. Ricardo Olivar started the frame with a solo home run, his first long-ball of the season. With two outs in the frame, Tanner Schobel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rubel Cespedes singled on a 2-1 pitch to drive in a pair of runs and push the lead to 3-0.

Connor Prielipp and Darren Bowen combined to hold the Tulsa lineup at bay. Prielipp pitched three innings and allowed one run (a solo home run) on two hits. He struck out five batters and 33 of his 48 pitches were for strikes (68.75%). Bowen tossed four scoreless frames while allowing two hits with three walks and four strikeouts. 

Offensively, Cespedes reached base four times going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. Kyler Fedko was the only other batter to reach base multiple times. He went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.

Wichita 7, Tulsa 0 (Game 2- 6 Innings)
Box Score
Both teams struggled to score for the first three innings. In the fourth, Tanner Schobel singled to lead off the inning. He moved to third on a ground out and a balk. Ben Ross singled in the game’s first run. The fifth inning opened with three straight walks before the game’s biggest hit. Allan Cerda connected for a grand slam, his first home run of the year. One inning later, Kyle Fedko added to his hot start to the season with a two-run homer. His OPS is nearly 1.300 for the year as he has gotten on base over 50% of the time. He is tied for the Texas League lead in home runs. 

John Kelin was very efficient in four shutout innings. He limited Tulsa to one hit while striking out four and lowering his season ERA to 2.19. The game entered a rain delay with the Wind Surge batting in the sixth inning and was called after a 30+ minute delay. Today’s doubleheader also was the first that Wichita has swept since the Wind Surge did so on June 6, 2024.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 13, Peoria 6 (Game 1- 9 Innings) 
Box Score
Game one of the team’s double-header was the completion of a game from April 18th that was suspended due to rain in the fourth inning. Cedar Rapids was already leading 8-3.

In the originally scheduled game, Misael Urbina had smacked a three-run home run in the second inning. In the third inning, Kevin Maitan doubled to push the lead to 6-3. Things got a little crazy when the rain started falling in the fourth. Billy Amick singled, Gabriel Gonzalez was hit by a pitch, and Khadim Diaw singled to load the bases. Nate Baez drove in two runs with a double but Diaw was thrown out at home on the play. Then the umps stopped the game. 

When the game resumed, the Kernels added some insurance in the seventh inning. Kyle DeBarge connected for his first home run of the season, a two-run shot. Brandon Winokur and Billy Amick earned back-to-back walks before Gonzalez cracked a bases clearing double. 

Alejandro Hidalgo had started the game on Friday. He pitched three innings and was charged with three earned runs on three hits. He struck out four and walked one. Logan Whitaker picked up his first professional win. In two innings, he allowed one run on one hit. Juan Mendez and Samuel Perez pitched shutout innings to end the game. 

Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 1 (Game 2- 7 Innings) 
Box Score
Cedar Rapids completed the double-header sweep with an efficient 4-1 victory. Danny De Andrade doubled in the second inning after a pair of walks. Kevin Maitan reached on a fielder’s choice that stretched the lead to 2-0. In the sixth inning, Maitan smacked a ground-rule double to add an insurance run. Later in the frame, Kyle DeBarge capped the team’s scoring with a sacrifice fly. Cedar Rapids was limited to three hits and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. 

Tanner Hall was credited with his first victory after allowing one run on two hits over five innings. He walked four and struck out three. Gabriel Yanez pitched a perfect sixth inning for his first hold of the year. Jacob Wosinski gave up a single in the final inning but struck out the last batter on three pitches to end the game. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 8, Bradenton 6
Box Score
Fort Myers burst out of the gate with a five run first inning and never looked back. Yasser Mercedes doubled to start the game and came around on a Daniel Pena double two batters later. Miguel Briceno kept the double party happening to plate the third run of the inning. Angel Del Rosario and Yohander Martinez both had RBI singles to cap the five run frame. 

The Mighty Mussels were quiet until the sixth inning. Martinez and Mercedes drew walks to put ducks on the pond. Jay Thomason cracked a two-out homer to push the score to 8-0. It was his third 111 mph exit velocity home run of the series.

Three Fort Myers pitchers combined for the shutout. It was their second shutout in the series. Cole Peschl collected his first professional win after tossing five shutout frames. He scattered two hits while striking out six and only walking one. Ivran Romero pitched a perfect sixth frame with two swinging strikeouts. Zander Sechrist picked up a three inning save as he limited Bradenton to two hits and struck out three. 

Mighty Mussels pitchers combined to strikeout 11 Marauder batters, extending their Florida State League-leading total to 173 on the season. The Mussels team ERA now sits at a league leading 2.89, nearly a full run better than the next closest team at 3.68.

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day
Nate Baez (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-7, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

Pitcher of the Day 
Cole Peschl (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 65 pitches, 47 strikes (72.3%)

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - Injured List (ankle)
#2 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K
#3 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - Called Up to the Big Leagues.
#4 - Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#5 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#6 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (wrist)
#8 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-8, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
#9 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#10 - Connor Prielipp (Wichita) - 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 5 K, 0 BB
#11 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - Did Not Pitch.
#12 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Injured List
#13 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-7, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
#14 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - No games yet.
#15 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K
#16 - Rayne Doncon (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (oblique)
#17 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-7, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB 3 K
#18 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-for-7, 5 K
#19 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-8, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, K       

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Minnesota @ Atlanta (12:35 PM CST) - RHP Joe Ryan (1-1, 2.45 ERA)
St. Paul @ Iowa (1:08 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (2-1, 1.80 ERA)
Wichita - Scheduled Off Day
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (2:05 PM CST) - RHP Jose Olivares (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (11:05 AM CST) - RHP Jakob Hall (0-0, 12.27 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the roster, and discuss Saturday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

 

 

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[RpR]

Saints look a lot like the Twins.

[FlyingFinn]

Lots of great pitching up and down the minors. Great to see Prielipp throw well again. Darren Bowen was a hard thrower whose stats didn't look good last year. Now, he's got great #'s. Has he turned the corner? Do we have another good pitcher here? SSS I know.

[LambchoP]

So far in 7 innings Prelipp has 13 K's to only 1 walk. I think he could certainly be a weapon in our pen in the second half if he can stay healthy.

Gabby Gonzalez just keeps on hitting. Does he get a bump to AA at some point? Why hasn't Beltre played yet? His crazy power had me intrigued last year, I was curious to see what kind of numbers he would put up playing everyday.....

[Dman]

5 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Lots of great pitching up and down the minors. Great to see Prielipp throw well again. Darren Bowen was a hard thrower whose stats didn't look good last year. Now, he's got great #'s. Has he turned the corner? Do we have another good pitcher here? SSS I know.

I watched Bowen for one game and he looks very confident on the mound this year and has been better at attacking early and often.  I didn't get the feeling he had elite stuff and yet he pretty much shut the other team down except for giving up a home run which he has a few times already.  

You look at his numbers and they arev all better than last year even after moving up a level so that is good.  Still the K rate could be higher and his FIP and xFIP seem to indicate regression in those numbers especially ERA.  

I like that his WHIP is in a much better place so far this year and while I have seen him give up some hard hit balls for the most part he has been excellent when on the mound.  Too early for me to say he can keep this up but if he does that would be massive improvement from last year and likely put him on track for a MLB debut at some point.

[MattyMattsonali]

7 at bats and only 5 strikeouts for Rosario.  I don't think Twins need to worry about finding a spot on the 40 man for him anytime soon. 

Is Morneau the last power hitter for the Twins who didn't fall off a cliff in AA or AAA, or am I forgetting someone?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

4 hours ago, MattyMattsonali said:

7 at bats and only 5 strikeouts for Rosario.  I don't think Twins need to worry about finding a spot on the 40 man for him anytime soon. 

Is Morneau the last power hitter for the Twins who didn't fall off a cliff in AA or AAA, or am I forgetting someone?

Matt Wallner slugged .500ish in the international league and continues to do so.

remember minor leagues vary greatly league to league. The Twins affiliates change every few years, which skews some of the points of reference. Read the Terry Tiffee article for a good perspective.