Twins Minor League Report (6/22): The Marco Raya Rollercoaster Is Back on Track

[Tom Froemming]

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 37-40
St. Paul Saints: 33-40
Wichita Wind Surge: 37-32
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 41-28
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 29-38
FCL Twins: 23-11
DSL Twins: 3-11

TRANSACTIONS
Fort Myers activated OF Jose Rodriguez from the temporary inactive list.

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 3, Toledo 2 (10 innings)
Box Score
How do we get this version of Marco Raya more often? He threw 51 of his 76 pitches for strikes. That’s 67 percent strikes from a guy who entered today’s game with a 58 strike percentage on the year. As a result, Raya had averaged 6.4 BB/9 entering this outing. Today, he only issued one walk.

When Raya is sharp like this, it’s a sight to see. Over five innings, he only surrendered three hits and struck out eight batters. Raya topped out at 96.3 mph with his fastball, but featured his curveball, throwing that pitch 21 times and getting six swinging strikes. On the outing, Raya racked up 12 swinging strikes.

Unfortunately, the St. Paul lineup couldn’t provide Raya with any support and Travis Adams surrendered a pair of runs the inning after Raya’s exit. Adams did eventually settle in, however, as he delivered four innings of two-run ball despite walking four batters.

The Saints lineup eventually got it together, too. Yunior Severino led off the seventh inning with a walk, then Will Holland hit a double. After Diego Cartaya struck out, Edouard Julien was intentionally walked to load the bases. That proved to be an act of overconfidence, as Anthony Prato drew a five-pitch walk to push across the first Saints run of the game. Ryan Fitzgerald ended the potential rally by grounding into an inning-ending double play.

With the Saints trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Yunior Severino belted a leadoff, game-tying homer. The exit velocity on the opposite field blast was 105.0 mph and the projected distance was 420 feet, the second-longest home run hit across all of Triple-A today. Severino also boasted the hardest hit ball of the day at the level, a lineout he drove 110.7 mph. The dude is strong.

In a 2-2 game in the bottom of the 10th inning, Toledo turned to Riley Unroe on the mound. On one hand, he’s a position player. On the other hand, he picked up a win on the mound against the Saints earlier in the week after recording the final six outs for Toledo. So I guess it’s difficult to view that strategy as ridiculous when it was recently effective. 

Unroe was able to retire the first batter he faced, but Aaron Sabato ended the nonsense by hitting a 45 mph lob that was about a foot outside the other way for a walk-off single. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Arkansas 9, Wichita 2
Box Score
This game got out of hand in a hurry. Wichita starter Darren Bowen gave up five runs in the first inning before Joel Cesar surrendered four more in the fourth, putting the Wind Surge in an early 9-0 hole. To make matters worse, the lineup went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Kaelen Culpepper went 1-for-5 as the leadoff man and committed a fielding error at shortstop. Walker Jenkins hit third and was 1-for-4 with a double. Gabriel Gonzalez had yet another strong performance, going 3-for-4 with a walk. He’s hitting .358/.430/.473 (.902 OPS) in 27 games since being promoted to Wichita.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 3, Cedar Rapids 2
Box Score
The Kernels had great scoring chances in both the eighth and ninth innings, but could not find a way to scratch across the game-tying run. Jaime Ferrer had the only Cedar Rapids RBI, as he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Their other run came when Caden Kendle stole third base and scored on a throwing error. 

The eighth opened with singles from Danny De Andrade and Misael Urbina. A Kyle Hess single loaded the bases with one out, but they failed to capitalize. Cedar Rapids also led off the ninth inning with back-to-back singles, this time coming from Poncho Ruiz and Justin Connell. They came up empty once again.

On a more positive note, Cole Peschl continues to be a dependable arm. He gave up three runs on four hits, but also delivered 5 1/3 innings and didn’t issue a walk. Peschl has gone at least five innings in four consecutive starts. He's not exactly an ironman, but that kind of consistency seems to be becoming more rare these days.

The newly-acquired Andy Lugo was the offensive star for Cedar Rapids. He was 3-for-4 with a double and stole two bases. Lugo, acquired from Boston in the Jorge Alcala trade, has hit .370/.452/.593 (1.045 OPS) in his first eight games in the org.

Kyle DeBarge stole his 38th base of the season in this one. He’s now 38-for-39 in stolen base attempts over 62 games played this season. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Lakeland 8, Fort Myers 4
Box Score
This was a back-and-forth affair with Lakeland delivering a knockout blow late. The Flying Tigers broke a tie to go up 5-4 in the seventh inning before breaking out with a three-run eighth inning.

Billy Amick, in the fifth game of his rehab assignment, was 2-for-4 and played a full game at third base. He also had the two highest exit velocities of this game, hitting a double at 105.3 mph along with a 102.8 mph single. 

Former indy baller Blaze O’Saben was 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a stolen base for the Mighty Mussels. Dameury Pena also had a multi-hit game and stole a base.

Fort Myers starter Eli Jones surrendered four runs on seven hits over three innings while also walking three batters and hitting another. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY 
Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, St. Paul (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K)
Hitter of the Day: Andy Lugo, Cedar Rapids (3-for-4, 2B, 2 SB, R)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 

1. Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, K
4. Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita): 1-for-5, 2 K
10. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-5, K, SB (38)
11. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
13. Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 3-for-4, BB, R
18. Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 0-for-3, RBI, K
19. Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-5, K
20. Payton Eeles (St. Paul): 2-for-3, BB

TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Twins at FCL Rays, 11 am CT: TBD
DSL Twins at DSL Phillies White, 10 am CT: TBD

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[Doctor Wu]

An excellent and very encouraging outing from Marco Raya. With the sad state of pitching on the big league club lately, we may need him back at Target Field very soon. Let's just hope he's turned a corner and can contribute like we expect he can.  

[Doctor Wu]

Kyle DeBarge stole his 38th base of the season in this one. He’s now 38-for-39 in stolen base attempts over 62 games played this season. 

Now that is an impressive stat!

[thelanges5]

We have some speed in the minors. The big club is slow and that speed is a welcome sight. 

[rdehring]

What does the future hold for Gonzalez?  Sure is looking like he could be something special.  At least his bat does.

Will second the above comments about DeBarge and speed. 

[terrydactyls]

Blaze O'Saben?  He should be promoted to the Twins based on his name alone.

[jmlease1]

Amick looks ready to return to Cedar Rapids, I'd say.

Raya did great. But he needs to do this in 3 of his next 4 as well. Time to show some consistency. The talent and stuff are there, but he's got to do it more than one time in a row.

I'll admit, I don't even care what Walker Jenkins stats are for the rest of the month, just that he's playing. :P I suspect he'll be fine if the ankle is ok and he can stay on the field. Should be fun to see him in Culpepper this summer in AA. (best part of the rain delays was getting some Wichita action during the broadcast) 

Every time I check the prospect reports GG has another fine day, it seems! He's really in a nice groove, and it's fun to see. If he keeps rolling like this, the Polanco trade will end up working just fine, frankly.

[Mike Sixel]

I wonder if GG should be getting time at first? Or can he actually stay in the OF?

[jmlease1]

53 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I wonder if GG should be getting time at first? Or can he actually stay in the OF?

I think he can hold down a corner spot. It'll be a little iffy at times because he's below average to average out there, but he's not a butcher. He's also probably a little short for 1B? I'd like to see him stick in LF as much as possible and see if they can improve his route-running through repetition and just let him get comfortable there. Obviously, his bat is his path to MLB, but he can be as good as someone like Larnach out there. He certainly better than Delmon or Willingham. (IMHO)

He's a really tough out right now, and it's fun to see.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Blaze O'Saben?  He should be promoted to the Twins based on his name alone.

Tony O says "Go Blaze"

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I wonder if GG should be getting time at first? Or can he actually stay in the OF?

He absolutely should get a look. All corner outfielder should get a look. There are plenty of opportunities to look outside of games and hopefully a lot of reps in practice before playing a position in a game. He throws right handed so he should have had a look at 3B also. I am pretty certain the Mariners and Twins have taken a look. First base takes skill and talent. Many corner outfielders are there because they don’t have the feet and hands to play first base. Some guys have the feet and hands but poor arm or range so they fit at first but not corner outfield.

Cedar Rapids has used nine players at first base this year. Wichita has used 8 players. They are giving many players time at 1B. I really doubt they overlooked Gonzalez.

[Larry Janisewski]

7 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Kyle DeBarge stole his 38th base of the season in this one. He’s now 38-for-39 in stolen base attempts over 62 games played this season. 

Now that is an impressive stat!

38 steals by DeBarge is 1 more than the Twins have as a team.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

I think he can hold down a corner spot. It'll be a little iffy at times because he's below average to average out there, but he's not a butcher. He's also probably a little short for 1B? I'd like to see him stick in LF as much as possible and see if they can improve his route-running through repetition and just let him get comfortable there. Obviously, his bat is his path to MLB, but he can be as good as someone like Larnach out there. He certainly better than Delmon or Willingham. (IMHO)

He's a really tough out right now, and it's fun to see.

Jenkins is likely your LF of the future. Hence my question. I have no idea, btw, hence my question. Thanks. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

You keep moving Garbriel Gonzalez up the ladder.  He is absolutely spraying the ball in AA right now.  .358 average and a .430 OBP in 27 games.  The only thing missing right now is the home runs.  He had 5 in A ball in similar amount of games.   He is the closest thing to an Arreaz we have had in a while with more pop.   This is the version of player we wanted when we traded for him from Seattle.  

[Doctor Wu]

17 hours ago, Larry Janisewski said:

38 steals by DeBarge is 1 more than the Twins have as a team.

Wow, that's put things in perspective even more. And if we take away Buxton's steals, the total is even more meager. 

[LambchoP]

Nice to see Raya have a nice outing, hopefully he can build on it. Gonzalez is looking like a true prospect. If he keeps it up I can see a promotion to AAA late this year with a possible MLB debut next year. Not too much power, but could be a great table setter at the top of a lineup. Culpeper seems like a solid hitter as well. DeBarge has been fun to watch. The twins desperately need more speed and athleticism like this kid!