Twins Minor League Report (9/18): Fedko Homers Again; Saints Lose Again

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Emmanuel Rodriguez)

 

TRANSACTIONS
Christian Vazquez joined the Saints on a rehab assignment. He DHd and batted second. 

RHP Mike Paredes joined the Saints from the Wind Surge roster. John Klein was placed on the Development List.    

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Memphis 10
Box Score
On Thursday, the Saints played an afternoon game in Memphis. Darren McCaughan made the start. He went four innings and gave up four runs on five hits. He had five strikeouts and walked none. 

The Saints got on the scoreboard first. In the top of the third inning, Tanner Schobel led off with a double. He moved up to third base on a fly out. DaShawn Keirsey singled to drive in Schobel. 

Cory Lewis came in to start the fifth inning. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits and two walks. He recorded just two outs. Lefty Aaron Rozek came in with the bases loaded and kept the game close by not allowing the inherited runners to score. Rozek went 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and had four strikeouts. Brooks Kriske pitched the eighth inning and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. 

Down 8-1 going to the eighth inning, the Saints attempted a comeback. Christian Vazquez led off with a walk. Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch. Kyler Fedko followed with a three-run homer to cut the team’s deficit to 8-4, but that’s as close as the team got. Fedko now has 27 home runs to go with 36 stolen bases combined on the season. Can he reach 30-30, needing three home runs over the team’s final three games?

Keirsey was the lone Saints batter with two hits. He also had two stolen bases. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 1-for-4, HR(7), R, 3 RBI

Pitcher of the Day 
Aaron Rozek (St. Paul): 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 44 pitches, 25 strikes (56.8%)

 

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

#5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, BB, K, SB(9)
#19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(7), R, 3 RBI, 2 K (played LF)

FRIDAY PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Memphis (7:05 PM CT) - LHP Connor Prielipp (5.40 ERA)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 66-86
St. Paul Saints: 60-85
Wichita Wind Surge: 76-62
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (finished 2nd in Midwest League playoffs)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 24-32

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

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[Mike Sixel]

Interesting they are bringing back Vazquez. Makes no sense, but whatever. 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

I'm very impressed with Christian Vazquez's motivation to come back this season. I assumed when he was diagnosed that he would be out for the season. The Twins are in need of a backup catcher, and I wouldn't entirely mind if he was brought in with a more reasonable deal than last time, maybe 1 year 4.5-5 million. They could certainly do a lot worse. Kyler Fedko has been raking all season long, and it would be nice to see him getting a call-up for the few remaining games the Twins have this season.

[terrydactyls]

No game today so I'm putting this in the minor league report.  Besides, more of you may read the minor league recap than read the Twins' game review.  And with ten or fewer games remaining, I'm dropping teams that cannot catch the Twins.

P	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Chicago White Sox	57	96	0.373	-
2	Pittsburgh Pirates	65	88	0.425	8.0
3	Minnesota Twins	66	86	0.434	9.5
4	Los Angeles Angels	69	84	0.451	12.0
5	Atlanta Braves	70	83	0.458	13.0
6	Whatever Athletics	72	81	0.471	15.0
7	Baltimore Orioles	72	81	0.471	15.0
8	Miami Marlins	73	80	0.477	16.0
9	St. Louis Cardinals	74	79	0.484	17.0
10	Tampa Bay Rays	75	78	0.490	18.0
11	San Francisco Giants	76	77	0.497	19.0

[nclahammer]

Love the "Whatever Athletics"...nice.

[Patzky]

11 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

I'm very impressed with Christian Vazquez's motivation to come back this season. I assumed when he was diagnosed that he would be out for the season. The Twins are in need of a backup catcher, and I wouldn't entirely mind if he was brought in with a more reasonable deal than last time, maybe 1 year 4.5-5 million. They could certainly do a lot worse. Kyler Fedko has been raking all season long, and it would be nice to see him getting a call-up for the few remaining games the Twins have this season.

I agree on both counts.. someone from the Saints ought to come say hello in Philly and see what the bigs can really be like!

[DJL44]

14 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

I'm very impressed with Christian Vazquez's motivation to come back this season. I assumed when he was diagnosed that he would be out for the season. The Twins are in need of a backup catcher, and I wouldn't entirely mind if he was brought in with a more reasonable deal than last time, maybe 1 year 4.5-5 million. They could certainly do a lot worse. 

Pereda has been much better. Vazquez shouldn’t get more than a minor league contract. He is likely to hit even worse next season. I am guessing he will retire.

[rdehring]

Curious, Seth, why we haven't seen Jenkins in the Saints lineup the last few games?  Has he been playing thru a minor injury?

Mentioned yesterday, but wanted to say thank you to you personally for all you do for us farm club fans.  It has become the highlight of our day since the end of July.  Thanks!

[Otaknam]

Why Fedko is not given a shot after the years he has had is baffling. Not to mention they could use a rough handed bat woth power. Meanwhile, Outman is hitting .150 and strikes out more than Sano’s 45%. This FO has no clue. 

[Jeff K]

15 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

I'm very impressed with Christian Vazquez's motivation to come back this season. I assumed when he was diagnosed that he would be out for the season. The Twins are in need of a backup catcher, and I wouldn't entirely mind if he was brought in with a more reasonable deal than last time, maybe 1 year 4.5-5 million. They could certainly do a lot worse. Kyler Fedko has been raking all season long, and it would be nice to see him getting a call-up for the few remaining games the Twins have this season.

My guess that Vazquez wants to demonstrate that he is recovered from his infection and wants to play somewhere next year.  Preferably for someone else.

[Patzky]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Pereda has been much better. Vazquez shouldn’t get more than a minor league contract. He is likely to hit even worse next season. I am guessing he will retire.

If so, absolutely hire him as a catching coach

 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko is not given a shot after the years he has had is baffling. Not to mention they could use a rough handed bat woth power. Meanwhile, Outman is hitting .150 and strikes out more than Sano’s 45%. This FO has no clue. 

McCusker is sorta fulfilling the Keirsey role right now for no apparent reason. 

[tony&rodney]

53 minutes ago, Patzky said:

McCusker is sorta fulfilling the Keirsey role right now for no apparent reason. 

The Twins want Jenkins, Gonzalez, Fedko, and Rodriguez in the lineup at AAA and Keirsey Jr. still is getting plenty of time. That has not left any plate appearances for others, which is an odd way to stick McCusker at the end of the bench for the Twins. I was hoping that Carson would get 3-4 games in each week in RF or DH, but the Twins are showcasing Larnach and Wallner. McCusker wasn't getting time in the lineup for St. Paul any longer, so it was at least polite to call him up to the top club.

[Patzky]

7 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins want Jenkins, Gonzalez, Fedko, and Rodriguez in the lineup at AAA and Keirsey Jr. still is getting plenty of time. That has not left any plate appearances for others, which is an odd way to stick McCusker at the end of the bench for the Twins. I was hoping that Carson would get 3-4 games in each week in RF or DH, but the Twins are showcasing Larnach and Wallner. McCusker wasn't getting time in the lineup for St. Paul any longer, so it was at least polite to call him up to the top club.

Perhaps he'll be trade bait this off-season.

[tony&rodney]

Just now, Patzky said:

Perhaps he'll be trade bait this off-season.

Who are you referring to when you say "he"?

[Patzky]

Just now, tony&rodney said:

Who are you referring to when you say "he"?

McCusker 

[tony&rodney]

Just now, Patzky said:

McCusker 

Sure, but like Miranda or Julien there isn't any value. I suspect he will be playing for a different organization next year after his release.

Larnach has limited value as well.

What the Twins need to determine is if Wallner has any value to any other MLB team. 

There will be some battles for outfield positions between those already on the roster (Buxton, Larnach, Martin, McCusker, Outman, Wallner), those on IL (Alan Roden), and those currently in the minor leagues ( Fedko, Gonzalez, Jenkins, Keirsey Jr., Rodriguez, Rosario). That is 13 for probably 5 roster spots. Buxton is as close to a lock as one can be, which leaves 4 jobs for the other 12 guys. I expect a couple of players to be let go and a couple more to be traded. The pile left can be divided between AAA and the Twins. This doesn't take into account that the Twins could add a player via trade.

 

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, Jeff K said:

My guess that Vazquez wants to demonstrate that he is recovered from his infection and wants to play somewhere next year.  Preferably for someone else.

Probably true. It also sounded important to Vazquez personally to come back and play to finish the season, so i'm not surprised the Twins would honor that. It's a relatively small thing, but it's all part of the "how do you treat veterans" bit for the franchise that starts to matter when you're trying to get a guy to sign with you. The Twins may have cheap, clueless ownership that doesn't give two craps about the fans, but the organization has a pretty good rep around the league for how we treat players. (despite the fans who keep insisting we drove Sonny Gray away...)

[Larry Janisewski]

9 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

No game today so I'm putting this in the minor league report.  Besides, more of you may read the minor league recap than read the Twins' game review.  And with ten or fewer games remaining, I'm dropping teams that cannot catch the Twins.

P	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Chicago White Sox	57	96	0.373	-
2	Pittsburgh Pirates	65	88	0.425	8.0
3	Minnesota Twins	66	86	0.434	9.5
4	Los Angeles Angels	69	84	0.451	12.0
5	Atlanta Braves	70	83	0.458	13.0
6	Whatever Athletics	72	81	0.471	15.0
7	Baltimore Orioles	72	81	0.471	15.0
8	Miami Marlins	73	80	0.477	16.0
9	St. Louis Cardinals	74	79	0.484	17.0
10	Tampa Bay Rays	75	78	0.490	18.0
11	San Francisco Giants	76	77	0.497	19.0

The only solace I can take from this awful season is Twins are not going to lose 100 games and despite how poorly they have performed they will not finish in last place.

[mrguy]

7 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko is not given a shot after the years he has had is baffling. Not to mention they could use a rough handed bat woth power. Meanwhile, Outman is hitting .150 and strikes out more than Sano’s 45%. This FO has no clue. 

This season is a bust anyway, while you could argue that's a good opportunity to just let some younger guys get MLB experience, you're honestly just using time you don't have to. Guys like Fedko will almost certainly get a tryout opportunity in spring training and will probably be on the lineup next year anyway, so might as well let them have their first MLB experience come in a more hopeful time where they can at least pretend the twins have some fight in them rather than going in during a defeated time for both the team and fans. Plus with only a week left of the regular season, it's not like they're going to really get a ton of experience as most likely bench players, might as well let them be in an environment where they're actually going to be on the field

[FlyingFinn]

8 hours ago, rdehring said:

Curious, Seth, why we haven't seen Jenkins in the Saints lineup the last few games?

He played Wednesday.