Twins Minor League Report (4/8): Respect Ryan Gallagher

[Matt Braun]

TRANSACTIONS

No moves were made on Wednesday.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Toledo 3 (12 Innings)
Box Score
Matt Bowman: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: Gabriel Gonzalez (2)
Multi-hit games: None

It was a bullpen game for the Saints. Matt Bowman “started”—something he’s only done once in the big leagues—and passed the ball down the line after two shutout innings. Raul Brito covered the next three frames with cromulent professionalism; he allowed one run with four strikeouts. A remarkably beardless John Brebbia added a pair of scoreless innings to the mix, which begat Marco Raya who—wouldn’t you know—pitched two empty frames. By the time Dan Altavilla entered, the path from the bullpen to the mound was a trench.

Despite the heroic efforts by the hodgepodge of relievers, Saints hitters couldn’t adequately support the cause. They slogged. Toledo pitchers earned whiffs in bunches. For about two turns of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” a Gabriel Gonzalez RBI groundout in the first stood as their only run.

Early extras Manfred runners did nothing to incite offense in either team. Toledo loaded the bases with no one out in the 10th, but Altavilla wriggled out of the situation with the tie intact. The two squads exchanged runs in the 12th before Gabriel Gonzalez finally pushed forth a vigorous offense outburst, slamming a hanging breaker just inside the foul pole.

The Mud Hens fired back with a run, but the single score was all they had left in them; Trent Baker allowed no further damage and locked down the victory for the Saints.

Two former Twins farmhands pitched for the Mud Hens: Sawyer Gipson-Long, and Bryan Sammons. 

The Saints struck out 20 times and recorded just five hits.

Max Clark—MLB’s eighth-best prospect—played center field for Toledo, collecting three hits and a walk.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 2, Arkansas 1
Box Score
Ryan Gallagher: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

Wichita squeaked out a win on Wednesday.

Arkansas batters were putty in Ryan Gallagher’s hands; the UC Santa Barbara product surrendered just one hit across five shutout frames, punching out six in what was one of his finest starts since joining the Twins organization last July. The righty only allowed a runner to reach scoring position twice.

Ty Langenberg followed suit with even more overwhelming stuff, earning six of his eight outs via the K. In total, Wichita hurlers earned 15 strikeouts on Wednesday.

The Wind Surge plated their two runs with a fifth-inning rally. With one out, Maddux Houghton doubled, and Kyle DeBarge walked to set up Ben Ross with an opportunity to put Wichita on the board. He came through, singling to left to plate Houghton, as DeBarge scampered to third. Hendry Mendez then summoned DeBarge home with a sacrifice fly. 

Wichita stole three bases on Wednesday, pushing their season total to 12, good for the 2nd-most in the Texas League.

Kyle DeBarge walked three times. His season OBP is .458.

The Travelers are an affiliate in the juggernaut Mariners farm system. Always a talented group, Arkansas put forth a pair of top-100 prospects: Lazaro Montes, ranked 40th; and Michael Arroyo, ranked 63rd. Montes went 0-3, with a walk and three strikeouts, while Arroyo also fell hitless in three at-bats, though was hit by a pitch.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 9
Box Score
Brent Francisco: 2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
HR: Rayne Doncon (1), Jaime Ferrer (1)
Multi-hit games: None

Matters started poorly. Starlyn Caba clubbed a first-pitch homer off starter Brent Francisco, portending a trio of runs allowed in the second, and a ghastly five-run endeavor smeared on reliever Sam Rochard. That’s nine earned runs before some fans could even finish their first beer. 

Fortunately, Kernels hitters had some fight in them. Rayne Doncon pre-empted the five-run disaster with a three-run blast. Khadim Diaw singled in a run in the fourth, and Caden Kendle drove in another in the fifth. 

The bats started to lose juice, though, eventually tiring as a Jaime Ferrer solo shot in the eighth marked the team’s final run. 

Every hitter in the Kernels lineup outside of Marek Houston reached base at least once. 

The Sky Carp are an affiliate of the Miami Marlins. Their seventh-ranked prospect, Starlyn Caba, played shortstop, going 2-4 with a homer, two runs, two RBIs, and a walk.

Mussel Matters
The Mighty Mussels were postponed due to rain. They will play a doubleheader on Thursday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Gallagher
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kyle DeBarge

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-5, R, BB, K
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, BB
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-6, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 3 K
#9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K
#13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, R, BB, 2 K
#15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 0-2, RBI, K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-2, R, 3 BB, K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, RBI, 2 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (5:35 PM) - RHP John Klein
Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM) - RHP C.J. Culpepper
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:05 PM) - LHP Dasan Hill
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (3:00 PM) - RHP James Ellwanger
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (Game 2) - RHP Riley Quick

 

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[Dman]

Dominant game from Gallagher giving up only one hit.  A little lucky as there were some deep fly balls and one really hard hit ball right at someone.  Still his bendy stuff and ability to go high and low in the zone make him tough to hit when he is hitting his spots.

Langenberg with 6 K's in a little over two innings.  He came out really strong, but the stuff wasn't as crisp the more pitches he threw.  Might need more time to build up but he looks like a classic relief arm to me.  We'll see how things go.  Nice to see him getting those K's though.

Nice to see Gabby showing some power and helping the Saints grab a much needed win.  Hoping more of those AAA bats warm up.

[jmlease1]

Gallagher is off to a nice start. Be nice if he turns out to be somebody? He'll have to watch the free passes, but everything else is going nicely so far.

Liking the usage of Winokur so far this season: split between 3B and CF seems good and he could actually have a future at either, so I like seeing him work there. Think this means the SS experiment is done?

I like seeing DeBarge draw a bunch of walks, but I will be watching to see where the batting average is shaping up by midseason. Solid start for him overall, and he's a guy I was skeptical of going in. Would love to be proven utterly and total wrong about him.

Less thrilled with an ofer from Houston, but again: let's see where he's at with the bat around midseason. One bad game in what's been a good start isn't anything to panic over.

[nova_twins]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Less thrilled with an ofer from Houston, but again: let's see where he's at with the bat around midseason. One bad game in what's been a good start isn't anything to panic over.

lol. If going hitless in one game was abnormal, baseball would be a very different game. Typical batting average of .500

[twinstalker]

Willi Castro comes through for the Twins again!

[bunsen82]

Is Gabriel Gonzalez not a top 20 prospect?  

[Matt Braun]

15 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Is Gabriel Gonzalez not a top 20 prospect?  

Yes, he is #7, I just erased him for some reason. Should be fixed now.