Twins Minor League Report (5/22): Matt Wallner Homers Twice in First Rehab Game with Saints

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

From yesterday's Twins Minor League Report, one of the big talking points in the comments was Connor Prielipp being placed on the Development List. It's a fair conversation, and because of his injury history, Twins fans will find reasons to be concerned. The general purpose of the Development List is to provide a way for teams to manage some aspect of a players development. If we're being completely honest, a lot of times the "DL" is often used as a spot for carrying an extra player in case there is a midweek injury, like the taxi squad. 

In the past, the Twins have used it when they have six or seven starters on a roster, they would alternate placing pitchers. The pitcher continues to work, and throw bullpens and go about their routines, just in a controlled environment in the bullpen.

As it relates to Prielipp, he has been working three or four innings each of his starts. He's been limited to 40 pitches and then 50 pitches as the season has moved from month one to month two. If there was an injury, he would be put on the injured list. If I had a guess, I would guess that Prielipp, along with a couple of pitching coaches and coordinators and members of the front office, met during spring training to discuss how the season might play out. They get on the same page about pitch counts and ups and downs. They likely agree that after X number of starts, we're going to put you the Development List for a week. 

We can guess (and maybe assume) that he'll continue on his same schedule, his same between-starts routine. On the day he would have normally started, maybe he throws a simulated game, but just 40 pitches. And that continues until he gets activated in a week to make his next start. It's also possible that they told him not to pick up a ball for four days, and maybe a pitching coordinator and a front office person and an analytics person and a video person will meet for a couple of days and determine how they want to proceed over the next couple of months.   

The first two months of the season and of their plan has seemingly gone quite well, and everyone (Twins, Twins fans, Prielipp) wants to see continued health for the talented southpaw. 

---

Alright, keep the conversation going in the comments below. Let's get to today's minor league report. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 27-22
St. Paul Saints: 23-21
Wichita Wind Surge: 23-19
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 24-16
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 19-23
FCL Twins: 8-5
DSL Twins: Scheduled to start on June 2.  

TRANSACTIONS
After being the Twins 27th man on Wednesday, Mickey Gasper was optioned to St. Paul. So was infielder Ryan Fitzgerald, the 30-year-old who made his MLB debut last weekend for the Twins. 

With those two returning to St. Paul, infielder Jake Rucker was returned to Wichita after two days with the Saints.    

SAINTS SENTINEL
Game 1: St. Paul 3, Norfolk 8 
Box Score
The purpose of the minor leagues is to prepare players for the big leagues. Due to rain, Matt Wallner’s rehab assignment had to wait a day due to rain, but he started his preparation for his return to the big leagues in Game 1 on Thursday. Leading off the game, he grounded out to first base. In his second at-bat, Wallner crushed the first pitch, a fastball up-and-in, 95.8 mph at 34 degrees and it traveled 362 feet. 

In his third at-bat, he was called out on strikes. His fourth at-bat came in the bottom of the seventh inning with Patrick Winkel on first base. On a 1-2 pitch, he kept his hands back nicely on a changeup and crushed a 90 mph changeup 112.4 mph at 20 degrees, and it landed 409 feet from home plate in dead center. 

Now for the rest of the game. Well, Wallner had two of the Saints five hits, the only extra base hits. Wallner had all three of the team’s RBI. Jose Miranda and Eduard Julien each had first-inning singles. Jeferson Morales walked twice. 

Unfortunately, the pitching wasn’t quite as good in Game 1. Cory Lewis made the start. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Ryan Jensen then gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit (a homer). He had two strikeouts. Randy Dobnak struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Tyler Beede got the final inning and gave up a run on two hits (including a homer).  

Game 2: St. Paul 3, Norfolk 2 
Box Score
With a short start and three relievers used in Game 1, the Saints really needed a strong start in Game 2. Enter Simeon Woods Richardson for his first start since his demotion recently. 

The young right-hander gave up just one run on four hits and a walk over six innings. He had eight strikeouts and was in control the whole game. Anthony Misiewicz gave up a solo homer to Chadwick Tromp in the seventh, but struck out two on the way to his fifth save of the season. 

The Saints got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning when Emmanuel Rodriguez hit his fourth home run of the season. (104.8 mph, 32 degrees, 388 feet) 

In the fifth inning, Will Holland led off with a double. He advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Saints added an insurance run that they wound up needing. Armando Alvarez singled to lead off and moved up a base on a passed ball. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jair Camargo walked to lead the bases. Holland then flew out to the warning track in right field to drive in Alvarez and make it 3-1. 

The Saints had just six hits in game two. Of course, Mickey Gasper had two of them. Rodriguez hit the home run and walked two times. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, San Antonio 1
Box Score
It was a pitcher’s duel near the Alamo on Thursday night. 

Ricky Castro had his best start of the season. He gave up one run, on a first-inning solo homer by Francisco Acuna, over the first five innings. He gave up just four hits and walked none. 

Pierson Ohl came on and gave up one run on three hits over three innings. He had no walks and struck out three batters. 

The Wind Surge went scoreless until the top of the seventh inning. Aaron Sabato led off with his third home run of the season. 

Unfortunately, the Missions scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth and the Surge were unable to counter. 

Wichita had just seven hits and one walk in the game. Newcomer Gabriel Gonzalez led the way. He went 3-for-4. He is 5-for-11 through his first three Double-A games. 

San Antonio is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Be sure to check it out and tell your friends from San Diego! 

Henry Baez is a Top 15 Padres prospect. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in this game. He gave up just three hits, walked one, hit one and had six strikeouts. Other Top 20 Padres prospects who played on Thursday night include RHP Bradgley Rodriguez, first baseman Romeo Sanabria.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Fort Wayne 1 
Box Score
This was really a nice, clean win for the Kernels. A lot of times, the Kernels have won by just bashing the baseball, but in this game, they got enough key hits, and they got a really nice pitching performance from the starter and the bullpen. 

Hard-throwing Jose Olivares got the start. He gave up one run in the bottom of the first inning. He gave up three hits, walked four and had six strikeouts. It was his third start in which he recorded six strikeouts. He reached his pitch count limit and then was replaced by lefty Kade Bragg. He was fanatic, notching five strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless, two-hit innings. Cole Percival kept it going. He had four strikeouts over two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and a walk. Paulshawn Pasqualotto had a walk and a strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning to record his fourth save. 

The Kernels scored their first run in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. Jaime Ferrer led off with a single. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper singled, and a throwing error allowed Ferrer to score and Culpepper to get all the way to third base. 

In the top of the fourth inning, the Kernels grabbed a 2-1 lead. Nate Baez led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. Khadim Diaw hit an infield singled Baez moved up to third. Caden Kendle drove a single to left to bring in Baez and give the team a lead. 

It remained a one-run game until the top of the eighth inning when Brandon Winokur led off with a walk. Nate Baez drilled a double and Winokur raced all the way home to make it 3-1. 

Nate Baez and Khadim Diaw each hit their fourth doubles of the season. Quietly, Baez is now hitting .337 with a .922 OPS. He was 1-for-3 with a walk. Diaw was the lone Kernel hitter with more than one hit. He was 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. He is hitting .306 with a .906 OPS. 

Fort Wayne is the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Be sure to check it out and tell your friends from San Diego! 

Leo De Vries is the consensus top prospect in the Padres system. The 18-year-old shortstop is the youngest player in the Midwest League right now. He had a single and a walk on Thursday night. Third baseman Rosman Verdugo is the third youngest in the league. He ranks just outside of the Padres top 20 but should move up. He had an RBI single in this game. Clark Candiotti had nine strikeouts and one walk over 4 2/3 innings to start in this game. He appears in some Top 30 Padres prospect rankings.                                                                                                                                                                                        

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Lakeland 4
Box Score
It was a tough night for the young Mussels, taking on the Lakeland Flying (and rehabbing) Tigers. Such is life in Low-A. The top three hitters for the Tigers were Wenceel Perez, Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling. And frankly, the Mussels have done fairly well against that group this week. 

Dylan Questad started and gave up four runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had three walks to go with six strikeouts. 

Tyler Stasiowski came on and allowed an inherited runner to score but then went 2 1/3 innings without allowing another run. He had three strikeouts. Ivran Romero hit a batter in an otherwise clean eighth inning. 

The Mussels had just one run on three hits and two walks in the game. In the fifth inning, Maddux Houghton scored on a Jefferson Valladares double. 

Rayne Doncon was 1-for-4 in his rehab appearance. Payton Eeles had a scheduled off day.  

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 10, FCL Pirates 2
Box Score
The Twins scored first in the bottom of the first inning, and then took the lead for good in the third frame. And then they just added on. 

The FCL Twins got an FCL run in the first inning. Two hit batters, a stolen base, and two walks. 

In the third inning, Ramiro Dominguez reached on an error. With two outs, Ariel Castro hit his first home run of the season. 

The fourth inning began with a couple of walks, and an infield single loaded the bases. With two outs, Dominguez hit his fourth double of the season to clear the bases and give the Twins a 6-2 lead. 

It was another FCL inning for the Twins in the fifth inning. A walk. A hit batter. A double steal. A throwing error. A hit batter. A steal. And then three straight strikeouts. 

Jump to the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Castro hit his second home run of the game and the season to make it 8-2. 

The eighth inning began with a walk. Javier Roman followed with his first homer of the season to make it 10-2. 

To summarize, the Twins scored 10 runs on five hits, seven walks, and five hit batters. 

Rehabbing Christian Becerra started and struck out five batters over the first two innings. He gave up one run on three hits. Melvin Rodriguez came on and gave up one run over the next four innings to earn his first Win of the season. Mitch Mueller and Ruddy Gomez struck out four batters over the final three scoreless innings.  

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Ariel Castro (FCL Twins): 2-for-3, 2-HR(2), 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, SB(1) .

Pitcher of the Day 
Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. 88 pitches, 59 strikes (67.0%)

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

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 2 K, Game 2: 1-for-1, 2 BB, HR(4), R, RBI,
#6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K. 
#9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, R, K  
#11 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K.
#12 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 78 pitches, 41 strikes (52.6%)
#14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 3-for-4.
#16 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - 0-for-5, 2 K 
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 2 K.  

FRIDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
Kansas City @ Minnesota (6:10 PM CT) - RHP Pablo Lopez (2.40 ERA)
Norfolk @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP David Festa (2-1, 3.60 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CT) - RHP Darren Bowen (2-0, 2.89 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Fort Wayne (4:35 PM CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-2, 7.52 ERA), TBD
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CT) - RHP Eli Jones (1-3, 4.41 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00 AM CT) - TBD  

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

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[High heat]

What are Richard’s Olivar weaknesses and issues behind the plate? 
Why doesn’t he get more games catching? 

If it’s issues that can’t be fixed or improved to big league standard why not move him and let him work permanently in the OF?  
 

 

[Doctor Gast]

Great job, Seth. IMO, maybe C Lewis needed to go to development instead. Wallner's 2 HRs were very encouraging. Saints scored 3 runs in both games, the difference was a good outing by Simmy & finally great to see Miranda at 1B. We need a verified long RP (quit using Alcala as a pseudo one). Bring up Simmy & figure out who that should be.

Impressive defensive play by Olivar. Is he finally being developed as a catcher?

 

[Doctor Wu]

5 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Great job, Seth. IMO, maybe C Lewis needed to go to development instead.

Something seems definitely "off" with Cory Lewis this season. Woeful stats thus far. But on the positive side, another very thorough roundup of the minor league action. Thanks again for keeping us updated!

[Linus]

46 minutes ago, High heat said:

What are Richard’s Olivar weaknesses and issues behind the plate? 
Why doesn’t he get more games catching? 

If it’s issues that can’t be fixed or improved to big league standard why not move him and let him work permanently in the OF?  
 

 

These are the questions many of us have about Twins development philosophies. 

[Linus]

Missions is a very cool name. 

[thelanges5]

Festa slated to start tonight. He hasn’t pitched since 4/23 due to arm fatigue.  Hope he’s healthy and gets back on track tonight.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, High heat said:

What are Richard’s Olivar weaknesses and issues behind the plate? 
Why doesn’t he get more games catching? 

If it’s issues that can’t be fixed or improved to big league standard why not move him and let him work permanently in the OF?  
 

 

He doesn't get more games behind the plate because they have 3 catching prospects all getting roughly equal time.  Like you, I would like to see a scouting report on Twins catching prospects or better yet, one of the player development staff interviewed on a podcast.  Twins catching prospects could be question #1.

Of the AA catchers, Olivar and Cardenas seem to be better prospects than Cossetti.  Hopefully, we will see one of those two moved up to AAA by mid season.  That would at least give them a shot at earning the back-up role when Vazquez becomes a free agent.  My limited knowledge of their defensive ability is that Cardenas is the better defender but that comes from a very SSS watching them in Milb TV.  Perhaps someone who has seen them more can weigh in.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, High heat said:

What are Richard’s Olivar weaknesses and issues behind the plate? 
Why doesn’t he get more games catching? 

If it’s issues that can’t be fixed or improved to big league standard why not move him and let him work permanently in the OF?  
 

 

a25 Cardenas (C) - .243/.391/.419 wRC+ 128 (16 games 144 innings caught 36% CS)
a25 Cossetti (C/1B) - .211/.341/.394 wRC+ 106 (14 games 113 innings caught 12% CS)
a23 Olivar (C/OF) - .298/.367/.450 wRC+ 124 (13 games 106 innings caught 25% CS)

For whatever reason cannot be comprehended, the Twins are desperate to retain Winkel and Camargo rather than releasing them or pushing them lower in the system. Cardenas and Olivar have both controlled the run game well, with Cardenas being well above average.

Olivar is the only prospect among them due to age, but Cardenas has some history of hitting well (was bad last year.).

[Blyleven2011]

Wallner attacked the ball in rehab AAA , SWR pitched well in AAA  ...

Hope it's just a shut down for rest on preilipp,  they tend not to tell us the whole truth ...

Great write up on MiLB player and rehab player ...

[DJL44]

Interesting that TwinsDaily is creating sister sites for other teams. I am not particularly interested in those, but I would be interested in an MLB aggregated site for the other teams in baseball that takes the best articles from each team and curates them. We lost a lot when Baseball Think Factory shut down.

[madtowntwin]

Activate Wallner and what reciprocal action to the Twins present roster will there be?? Connor is on a very short medical leash with intense observation for any ache or pain...

[thelanges5]

2 minutes ago, madtowntwin said:

Activate Wallner and what reciprocal action to the Twins present roster will there be?? Connor is on a very short medical leash with intense observation for any ache or pain...

McCrusher goes back down. 

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

a25 Cardenas (C) - .243/.391/.419 wRC+ 128 (16 games 144 innings caught 36% CS)
a25 Cossetti (C/1B) - .211/.341/.394 wRC+ 106 (14 games 113 innings caught 12% CS)
a23 Olivar (C/OF) - .298/.367/.450 wRC+ 124 (13 games 106 innings caught 25% CS)

For whatever reason cannot be comprehended, the Twins are desperate to retain Winkel and Camargo rather than releasing them or pushing them lower in the system. Cardenas and Olivar have both controlled the run game well, with Cardenas being well above average.

Olivar is the only prospect among them due to age, but Cardenas has some history of hitting well (was bad last year.).

Cardenas only has 74 Abs.  It would make sense they want to see a bit more before promoting him given he did not perform offensively last year.  I can see them waiting a month.  They need to promote the right guy because the player they promote is going to be their best internal candidate to replace Vasquez.   I would like to see Cossetti's ABs come at 1B until they decide who gets promoted.  That would increase the ABs for Cardenas and give Cardenas and Olivar more reps behind the plate.

[D.C Twins]

It's pretty wild that Sabato is still in the organization.... 

[mickster]

41 minutes ago, madtowntwin said:

Activate Wallner and what reciprocal action to the Twins present roster will there be?? Connor is on a very short medical leash with intense observation for any ache or pain...

McCusker to St. Paul

[Dman]

I feel like a 900 OPS over a few months generally shows dominance at that level.  It's not easy to get to 900.  It takes consistency and the ability to get extra base hits. The Kernals have 4 guys with a 900 OPS right now and a 5th in DeBarge who has dropped just below that level. 

Not included in the five mentioned is Gonzalez who also had a 900 OPS at High A who currently has a 900 OPS at AA where his bat continues to stay hot.

I'm not sure there is room for all 5 players at AA so it is going to be interesting to see how that shakes out.  If I am Ross or Cespedes or Cossetti at AA and possibly Rucker or Prato at AAA. I am looking over my shoulder right now. 

 

[LambchoP]

Wallner looks good so far, will be nice to get his bat back in the lineup, even at the expense of Mccusker, who we barely got to see. Gabby Gonzalez is crushing it this year, hopefully he can keep it going making a MLB call up next year possible. I'd also like to see Olivar getting more reps at catcher. He seems to be the only decent hitting catcher we have, better numbers than Camargo and Cartaya at least. SWR looked great. If they feel confident in Zebby/Festa in the 5th rotation spot, does Sim factor into the bullpen as a long man? Lewis, Morris and Raya have not looked good at all this year and seem a long way from contributing to the big league club 

[bean5302]

53 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Cardenas only has 74 Abs.  It would make sense they want to see a bit more before promoting him given he did not perform offensively last year.  I can see them waiting a month.  They need to promote the right guy because the player they promote is going to be their best internal candidate to replace Vasquez.   I would like to see Cossetti's ABs come at 1B until they decide who gets promoted.  That would increase the ABs for Cardenas and give Cardenas and Olivar more reps behind the plate.

I'd be fine DFA'ing Vazquez so Baldelli can't use him and promoting Cardenas to MLB for that matter. Cardenas is 25. Sink or swim. I'm sick of the Twins log jamming players until they have gray beards.

[bean5302]

51 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

It's pretty wild that Sabato is still in the organization.... 

It's a function of the new CBA for MiLB and higher pay, IMHO. Players who aren't good enough no longer have a real incentive to move on to the private sector. It puts the onus on the teams to declare "enough" and release guys. Sabato is good enough to hold down a MiLB roster filler position in AA or probably good enough to play Indy Ball or make it in the Mexican or Korean leagues if he wants to continue playing.

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Interesting that TwinsDaily is creating sister sites for other teams. I am not particularly interested in those, but I would be interested in an MLB aggregated site for the other teams in baseball that takes the best articles from each team and curates them. We lost a lot when Baseball Think Factory shut down.

Mo mo mo  nnnnny

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Interesting that TwinsDaily is creating sister sites for other teams. I am not particularly interested in those, but I would be interested in an MLB aggregated site for the other teams in baseball that takes the best articles from each team and curates them. We lost a lot when Baseball Think Factory shut down.

Would also be nice because, let's be honest, there's not THAT much to discuss around ONE major league franchise. Anything more than 1 article a day is basically overkill, which is not to begrudge the content but just pointing out that it just results in the same article being written over and over again, and more interesting topics going into less depth than they could. 

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, mickster said:

McCusker to St. Paul

Yeah, and then he can come back when Clemens inevitably cools off and he is once again worthy of a DFA. 

 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

Cardenas only has 74 Abs.  It would make sense they want to see a bit more before promoting him given he did not perform offensively last year.  I can see them waiting a month.  They need to promote the right guy because the player they promote is going to be their best internal candidate to replace Vasquez.   I would like to see Cossetti's ABs come at 1B until they decide who gets promoted.  That would increase the ABs for Cardenas and give Cardenas and Olivar more reps behind the plate.

Agreed

[mickster]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I'd be fine DFA'ing Vazquez so Baldelli can't use him and promoting Cardenas to MLB for that matter. Cardenas is 25. Sink or swim. I'm sick of the Twins log jamming players until they have gray beards.

Vazquez is too valuable right now.   The Catcher of future may not even be in the farm system yet.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

It's a function of the new CBA for MiLB and higher pay, IMHO. Players who aren't good enough no longer have a real incentive to move on to the private sector. It puts the onus on the teams to declare "enough" and release guys. Sabato is good enough to hold down a MiLB roster filler position in AA or probably good enough to play Indy Ball or make it in the Mexican or Korean leagues if he wants to continue playing.

I think that's somewhat true, but in Sabato's case he also doesn't turn 26 until June, and as first-round pick hopefully was able to sock some money away. Can't really blame a guy for continuing to chase a dream, especially when he's still in his mid-20's. He's been a professional for 5 seasons, but for a former college player he's not actually that old. No one will consider him a prospect, but if he wants to keep playing and he's hitting like he has been this season, he could end up in AAA as minor league depth as early as this season. Be fun if he turned out to be a late developer and figured it out enough to at least get a call-up to MLB.

I'm certainly much happier to have minor league players paid better and put the onus on the teams to decide if they're no longer going to be in the organization over it being a question of "damn, I can't make rent if I want to keep playing the game I love" for the player.

[DJL44]

10 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Would also be nice because, let's be honest, there's not THAT much to discuss around ONE major league franchise. Anything more than 1 article a day is basically overkill, which is not to begrudge the content but just pointing out that it just results in the same article being written over and over again, and more interesting topics going into less depth than they could. 

I don't want to see a minor league report for every team or even a game recap for every team (keep those on the individual sites), but articles like the one analyzing Correa's swing should have appeal to a broader audience.

I was looking up the Fangraphs data on Ty France's ranking among 1B and I said to myself "Who the hell is Jonathan Aranda?". I would read the "Who the hell is Jonathan Aranda?" article. I'd read an article about how well (or not well) Altuve has adjusted to LF. Stuff like that.

[Seth Stohs]

5 hours ago, High heat said:

What are Richard’s Olivar weaknesses and issues behind the plate? 
Why doesn’t he get more games catching? 

If it’s issues that can’t be fixed or improved to big league standard why not move him and let him work permanently in the OF?  

I don't think Olivar is a plus-plus defensive catcher, but he's solid, and this year, he's throwing out more runners. I had to look to see what the actual breakdown of catching has been. 

Noah Cardenas - 16 starts
Andrew Cossetti - 14 starts
Ricardo Olivar - 13 starts 

I think it's fair to say that Noah Cardenas is the best of the three defensively. Olivar is solid defensively. Cossetti can hit for a lot of power. 

Total games played for these three: 

Noah Cardenas - 22 games
Andrew Cossetti - 22 games
Ricardo Olivar - 32 games. (13 games catching, 8 games in left field, 11 games as DH)

We know that this front office and player development believes in trying to keep their catchers fresh. It's a long season. Gotta keep their legs strong. Remember, they're working on defensive skills most days before the game (especially if they're not catching in the game), catching bullpens, working with pitchers and more. 

So Olivar is catching about 30%, and he's near the top of their lineup in 80% of their games. 

[Seth Stohs]

5 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Great job, Seth. IMO, maybe C Lewis needed to go to development instead. Wallner's 2 HRs were very encouraging.

 

I would not be surprised to see that happen. It could be multiple things. First, he missed quite a bit of time last year with some arm issues, so it's fair to ask if he's at 100% It's also possible that the injury pushed some mechanical change that's a work in progress. It's also possible that his knuckleball is going through a time of less movement. Sometimes, it's important for a pitcher to work through those struggles and find ways to make something else work when the other piece isn't working. Lewis is a smart person, a smart pitcher, so I'm sure he's spending a lot of time checking out video and release points and spin rates, and it's also possible that he's tipping a pitch or something that Triple-A hitters have found. Could be several things. 

[NYCTK]

23 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I don't want to see a minor league report for every team or even a game recap for every team (keep those on the individual sites), but articles like the one analyzing Correa's swing should have appeal to a broader audience.

I was looking up the Fangraphs data on Ty France's ranking among 1B and I said to myself "Who the hell is Jonathan Aranda?". I would read the "Who the hell is Jonathan Aranda?" article. I'd read an article about how well (or not well) Altuve has adjusted to LF. Stuff like that.

The thing about such diligent minor league reports is fans develop too lofty of expectations on the minor league players that are performing well. Carson McCusker would still be highlighted, while a player like Billy Amick wouldn't get a write up proposing he's a likely call up or the future at 1B based on a 500 BABIP in high A. 

I'd rather learn about a player like Manzardo before or around his call-up instead of a player that likely doesn't even get to 50 PAs in the bigs.