Twins Minor League Report (4/14): Hendry Mendez and Eduardo Tait Celebrate Taco Tuesday

[Steve Lein]

Image courtesy of Tim Grubbs, Wichita Wind Surge

TRANSACTIONS

• Yesterday the Wichita Wind Surge placed RHP Ruddy Gomez on the 7-day injured list with a right lat strain. 
• Tuesday’s only move in the system was the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels activating OF Yasser Mercedes from the 7-day injured list. He DH’d and batted fifth in his first game of the season.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Lehigh Valley 11, St. Paul 7
Box Score
The IronPigs jumped out to an early lead against starter Andrew Bash with a two-run first inning, and pushed that advantage to 4-1 in the third to end his start. Bash was charged with four earned runs on five hits and three walks in his three innings, and struck out one.

Walker Jenkins led off the bottom of the first with a loud 112 MPH single into center field, and his groundout in the third scored their first run of the game, but it was an odd four-run fourth inning that put the Saints in the lead briefly.

They hit only one ball out of the infield in the frame, but multiple misplays, deflections, and otherwise fortunate bounces allowed them to station-to-station advance and take a 5-4 lead.

Matt Bowman was the first reliever from the bullpen to start the fourth inning and he pitched two frames. He gave up one hit, one walk, and struck out one. Trent Baker got saddled with the loss and blown save as he gave up three earned runs on four hits and a walk in his one inning. John Brebbia (1 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 2 K), Eduardo Salazar (1 IP, H, BB), and Zak Kent (1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, K) completed the final three innings.

The Saints closed the gap to one after homers from Alex Jackson in the sixth and Alan Roden in the eighth, but Lehigh Valley picked up three insurance runs in the top of the ninth to close the door on any comeback.

Kaelen Culpepper put an end to an 0-for-12 skid with his second double of the year in the sixth inning, and Jackson finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, his first double, and the homer to lead the way for the offense.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Springfield 6, Wichita 18
Box Score
The Wind Surge jumped all over Cardinals pitching and turned this one into a laugher early. They put up crooked numbers in each of the first and second innings, added a single run in the third, then batted around in the fourth to blow it fully open.

Kyle DeBarge led off the bottom of the first with a double, and two batters later Kala’i Rosario put the first run on the board with an RBI single. Billy Amick added an RBI single before Garrett Spain made it 3-0 with an RBI triple.

In the second Hendry Mendez came up with the bases loaded and clubbed a grand slam the opposite way for his first home run of the season to make it 7-0.

Jose Salas contributed a sac fly in the third before the Wind Surge put this one on ice in the fourth. Rosario struck out as the second hitter of the inning with the score 8-0, but later in the frame made it 17-0 with his first home run of the year, a three-run shot for the innings exclamation point. In between Mendez delivered an RBI triple, Billy Amick an RBI double, and Ricardo Olivar a bases-clearing double. The hot-hitting Ben Ross led off the frame with a single and added an RBI version later. Mendez added his second home run of the game in the seventh to account for all the scoring.

Right-hander C.J. Culpepper made the start and went the first four innings. He allowed zero runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out six. Of his 68 pitches, 45 went for strikes (66%) including nine swinging.

Sam Ryan was the first reliever from Wichita and after a scoreless fifth gave up a big sixth inning to Springfield, but it didn’t matter. In 1 2/3 innings he was charged with six earned runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out three.

Spencer Bengard (1 1/3 IP, K) and Alejandro Hidalgo (2 IP, H, 4 K) finished off the final three plus frames.

Ross (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, SB - 10 game hitting streak), Rosario (2-for-3, 3 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 2 K), Mendez (3-for-5, 3 R, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 K), Amick (2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 K), and Olivar (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB) all collected multiple hits.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Quad Cities 10, Cedar Rapids 3
Box Score
Taking the bump for the Kernels on Tuesday was right-hander Jason Doktorczyk who had picked up wins in both of his prior appearances on the season out of the bullpen. Things didn’t go quite the same as the starter in this one.

A triple to start the game turned into a 1-0 lead after one, the River Bandits added three more in the second, and he exited the game in the third responsible for a runner on base that turned into a fifth earned run on the outing. In all he finished 2 1/3 innings, allowing those five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks, while striking out two.

The Kernels offense did take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first as Marek Houston led off with a single, and Eduardo Tait followed with his first home run of the season.

Sam Rochard was the first reliever summoned and finished off the third inning, allowing one hit. Nolan Santos did the bulk work from the bullpen, throwing 3 2/3 innings and being charged with four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks. He struck out two. Jacob Wosinski finished off the final 2 1/3, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out two.

Tait accounted for the Kernels final run, clubbing his second home run of the season and game in the seventh that made it 9-3 at the time. He obviously led the way but Houston (2-for-5, R, K, SB) and Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4) also collected multiple hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Lakeland 3, Fort Myers 0
Box Score
Mighty Mussels starting pitcher Reed Moring began his professional career this season with two appearances (including one start) where he finished four scoreless frames. He kept his 0.00 ERA intact in this one with five scoreless frames against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He scattered six hits and one walk, while striking out six. He threw 70 pitches, with 48 going for strikes (nice), including 16 swinging. That gives him 18 K’s compared to four walks on the season in his 13 total innings.

Unfortunately for him and the Fort Myers faithful, the lineup wasn’t able to manage a single hit while he was on the mound.

Flying Tigers pitching took the no-hitter into the sixth inning, and with two outs Dameury Pena finally broke it up with an infield single. But that was literally it for the lineup on the game.

Relievers Kolten Smith (2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER), Xavier Kolhosser (1 2/3 IP, H, ER, BB, 3 K), Mike McKenna (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K), and Michael Hilker (1 IP, 2 K) finished off the final four innings.

Quentin Young drew two walks, while Yasser Mercedes finished 0-for-4 in his season debut. Mighty Mussels hitters struck out 12 times and finished 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, leaving only six men on base.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Reed Moring, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (5 IP, 6 H, BB, 6 K)
Hitter of the Day – Hendry Mendez, Wichita Wind Surge (3-for-5, 3 R, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 K)

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul): 1-for-5, 2B (2), K
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 1-for-4, BB, K
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-2, 2 R, 2 HR (2), 3 RBI, BB
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 1-for-4, K
#9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, R, K, SB (2)
#13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-3, BB, K, SB (5)
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers): 0-for-2, 2 BB
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita): 3-for-5, 3 R, 3B (1), 2 HR (2), 6 RBI, 2 K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita): 1-for-6, R, 2B (2), 2 K
#18 – C.J. Culpepper (Wichita): 4 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, 4 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP John Klein (1-0, 7.88 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (11:05 AM CDT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (1-0, 1.93 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 PM CDT) - RHP Eli Jones (0-0, 1.20 ERA)
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CDT) - RHP James Ellwanger (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

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[DarrenPS]

Great day for Derek Falvey!

Tait showing up and now is the best hitter OPS wise for the Kernels as one of the youngest players in A+. Mendez is starting to look the part and hopefully moves up to AAA soon.

Is Moring another Twins late round diamond? Hope he gets to move up to A+ eventually to find out. Can Marek keep hitting? I really hope so and think so!

It's early so no need to panic, but it's an unusually high about of K's for Diaw so far. Hope he bounces back soon. Winokur & DeBarge have also gone quiet after awesome starts

[DataNerd]

Between his slider and cutter (which I think both are the same pitch, but MLB list them seperately) Moring got 11 whiffs on 20 swings and 29 pitches.  If he can get the fastball up to average 95+, the fastball/slider will play in MLB.  He's easily in my top 30

[FlyingFinn]

CJ Culpepper with his 2nd great start.

Runs are at a premium in Fort Myers. This is at least the 3rd time they've been 1 hit this year. Look at these batting averages of the guys who played last night (Guess which one is D. Pena):

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Thanks for these minor league reports. Love reading these updates. Culpepper (the pitcher) is indeed looking good thus far. 

[rdehring]

Looking forward to tomorrow's report to see how Ellwanger does.  After watching him on Twins tv in the prospects game versus the Phillies, cannot be more impressed with this young man.

As for last night, biggest smile for me was when I saw Houston having another very good night at bat and on the bases.  Hopefully, he will move up to AA by July.  If he can continue hitting close to what he has, he could find himself with the Twins by summer, 2027.  That's assuming his D is as special as people say as I have never seen him play other than a few chances in the prospects game.

[mark sills]

I really thought this year it would be fun watching the St. Paul games., but the main squad is on fire.

Just the opposite 

[terrydactyls]

So far this season, after 10 game, Houston is hitting .289 with an OPS of .883.  There is hope.

[Scott51104]

Though I have only "seen" Mendez via box scores or these great game re-caps, I am a Mendez fan. Good to see he played a little at first base. I hope he does more of that.

[jmlease1]

Wichita is going to be an interesting group to watch this season. It's not exactly a group of youngsters, overall, but there are some guys who are decent prospects, and some other guys who are trying to regain a little luster to their stock.

Amick is doing fine in his first try at AA, but the K's are a little concerning. DeBarge had a great start, but has really tailed off. Nice to see him smack a double, but 1 for 6 isn't great and he's been looking like end of season DeBarge again, which is worrisome. At least he's still taking walks?

Mendez is doing very well; you'd think he would have been promoted to AAA this season after a successful year, but if he were in Saint Paul, where would he play? (similar issue for Rosario, but he's off to another frigid start to the season. This happened to him last year as well, and it's a little concerning that he's off to such a slow start two seasons in a row)

The Outman Experiment that the MLB club has been mucking around with has impact beyond just MLB; roster spots are valuable and poor use of one can create logjams. Now, the guys in Saint Paul haven't covered themselves in glory so far this season either, but it really shouldn't be a "goal" for guys to not debut until they're 25-27...

[darin617]

Seriously going to use Taco Tuesday as a headline for two Latin American players.

I may be overreacting but we don't any racist type headlines here.

[Steve Lein]

48 minutes ago, darin617 said:

Seriously going to use Taco Tuesday as a headline for two Latin American players.

I may be overreacting but we don't any racist type headlines here.

One of the tweets embedded literally calls the home run an "oppo taco" as well as it being taco night at the ballpark, then the other guy happened to do the same exact thing. Taco Tuesday = 2(HR's)-for-1. Don't make something into racism that is nothing of the sort. Thanks.

Edited Wednesday at 06:36 PM by Steve Lein

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, darin617 said:

Seriously going to use Taco Tuesday as a headline for two Latin American players.

I may be overreacting but we don't any racist type headlines here.

I wasn't thrilled either, but the context of it being taco night helps....