Twins Minor League Report (4/15): James Ellwanger Favors Zeroes

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Eduardo Beltre)

TRANSACTIONS
OF Caden Kendle transferred to Temporarily Inactive List (Cedar Rapids)
RHP Travis Adams added to Fort Myers on Major League rehab
RHP Billy Oldham transferred from 7-day IL to 60-day IL (Fort Myers)
INF Bryan Acuña placed on 7-day IL with left hamstring strain (Fort Myers)
INF Ramiro Dominguez promoted to Fort Myers 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 9, Lehigh Valley 7
Box Score
John Klein: 3 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: Gabriel Gonzalez (3), Emmanuel Rodriguez (3)
Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Alan Roden (3-for-5, R, RBI), Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB)

The Saints were victorious in a run-happy game on Wednesday. 

If John Klein was hoping to flush away the memories of the April 5th start that has bloated his early-season ERA, he’ll need to look towards next week for better luck. The Brooklyn Park native started powerfully, punching out five of the first six batters he saw. But the 96 that startled hitters at the start of the game slipped to the 94, 93 range—evidently the difference between dominance and hittability. Óscar Mercado took him yard in the third. Felix Reyes ended his night with a two-run bomb in the fourth. So it goes.

St. Paul’s bats came to rumble, though, and fight they did: Tanner Schobel drew blood with an RBI double in the second, and Emmanuel Rodriguez drilled a frozen rope to left-center in the third to score a second run.

 

 

Then, floodgates. Carnage. Schobel singled, Walker Jenkins wore a pitch, and Kaelen Culpepper doubled to score both men.

Alan Roden dinked one between the wide swath of real estate between the third baseman and the shortstop, setting up Gabriel Gonzalez to hop all over a hanging curveball slapped with a sticky note that said “hit me” on it.

Lehigh Valley clawed back with four runs stacked onto Dan Altavilla and Marco Raya—two hurlers who now have season ERAs above 10. 

But the IronPigs never took the lead. Rodriguez hammered a homer for insurance, and Drew Smith navigated around a few ninth-inning base runners to save the game.

Nobody in Philadelphia’s top-30 prospect list played in the game. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 5, Springfield 3
Box Score
Ryan Gallagher: 4 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: Ben Ross 2 (2, 3), Kala’i Rosario (2), Jose Salas (1)
Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (2-for-2, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB)

Wichita bludgeoned four homers in a satisfactory win on Wednesday.

Coming off a start where he was great, Ryan Gallagher was good. The righty surrendered a first-inning homer—perhaps setting the tone for the rest of the day—before settling into an even if not mildly inefficient rhythm. Runners reached in four of the five frames he appeared. He walked two. The UC Santa Barbara product walked off the mound needing 70 pitches to net 13 outs. 

The other pitcher netted in the Willi Castro trade, Sam Armstrong, relieved Gallagher, and was also acceptably, overwhelmingly competent. He allowed one run over 3 ⅔ frames, though matched walk and strikeout totals with two apiece.

Now, the fun stuff: the homers. The Wind Surge were in a bopping mood on Wednesday. Ben Ross kicked off the slugfest with a lead-off shot, making sure a hanging slider landed where all lethargic breaking stuff should go to die. Then, Kala’i Rosario spotted an outside fastball that looked like it belonged in the opposing team’s bullpen; so that’s where he sent it. 

 

Ross returned in the third to smack an opposite-field shot in the direction of five fans who believed their minded business was safe in right field. They were wrong.

Jose Salas also homered, but the mighty Powers That Be who control the Wichita Twitter account deemed his blast too boring to post. Poor guy.

Aaron Rozek earned the save in his 126th career minor league game. He now has 465 ⅓ innings under his belt in the Twins organization, the 40th-most for the franchise dating back to 2006. Who’s the lucky hurler at the top of the mountain? Pat Dean with 866. 

Springfield sent the famous switch-pitcher, Jurrangelo Cijntje, to the mound on Wednesday. Ranked as baseball’s 82nd-best prospect—and standing as one of the only men we’ve ever seen who can capably throw with both hands, Cijntje pitched the entire game righty. The Cardinals should be tried for being boring sticks in the mud. 

Kernels Nuggets
Weather intervened on the planned Kernels game; they will play a doubleheader on Thursday.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 (10 Innings)
Box Score
James Ellwanger: 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
HR: Eduardo Beltre (2)
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-5), Quintin Young (2-for-5), Yasser Mercedes (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB), JP Smith II (2-for-5, R), Eduardo Beltre (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI)

The Mighty Mussels won on a walk-off on Wednesday.

One of these days, James Ellwanger will allow a run. Maybe. Perhaps not. The 3rd-round Dallas Baptist supernova has totaled 11 ⅔ pro innings now—not once has he seen a runner cross home. He may not know such a thing is possible. Wednesday also saw a no-hit outing, though at the expense of three walks. 

Unfortunately, the Mighty Mussels found Lakeland pitching to also be unfriendly. They racked up runners to no avail, only breaking through when their eighth man to reach base actually came around to score (a previous misadventure with Quinten Young and Yasser Mercedes resulted in the former being thrown out trying to score from second on an infield single.) That sixth inning score was your typical walk/steal/advance-on-a-flyball/run-plating wild pitch sequence. Mercedes was the protagonist.

Lakeland realized that homers—especially with someone on base—are way more efficient than going to Station to Station with Bowie or a 21-year-old Latin ballplayer, so they crushed a two-run shot in the seventh. 

Fort Myers clawed back with an even more turgid progression, turning two singles, a walk, and a challenged (yet confirmed) walk into the game-tying score. 

In extras, Lakeland plated their customary Manfred Man, which would have won them the game if Eduardo Beltre didn’t sit on a 3-0 fastball and crush the offering out to left field to win the game.

MLB’s 30th-ranked prospect, infielder Bryce Rainer, singled and walked in five plate appearances. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – James Ellwanger
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ben Ross

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, RBI
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 3 K
#15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B
#20 – James Ellwanger (Fort Myers) - 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 PM) - LHP Connor Prielipp
Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Mike Paredes
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (4:30 PM) - LHP Dasan Hill
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (Game Two) - TBD
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Riley Quick

 

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[Vanimal46]

E-Rod is ready for the bright lights any day now. 

[tony&rodney]

Fun read. Emmanuel, as you correctly state, is a prospect precisely because his bat can produce loud velocity. He needs to put in a strong month before he receives serious consideration. 

Ellwanger wants to visit Iowa by May. Let him. Cedar Rapids isn't a bad place.

Funny hat that Culpepper wore to the Twins game today. I wonder if any Twins folks (player or others) will be catching a Saints game on their day off tomorrow.?

[Patzky]

Ellwanger is an exciting guy to watch! Continued success to all our minor leagues. 

[FlyingFinn]

Ben Ross looks to be in the lead now for minor league hitter of the month for the Twins. Ellwanger for the pitchers, though I'm not sure Moring has given up a run either.

[Old Twins Hat]

Who is Ben Ross and why is he not a top 30 prospect?  Doesn't he lead AA hitters in a bunch of categories?

[roger]

Ellwanger didn’t disappoint.  Great night on the hill tonight with Priellip, Hill and Quick.

[Hrbeks Divot]

Excellent article, Matt. Statistical recap with some fun mixed into the piece!

[Dman]

Ellwanger with that bendy curve I think, is what was baffling hitters.  He also did a nice job getting them to hit balls into the dirt.  The stuff looks good.  I mean not many pitchers have a .79 WHIP with more walks than hits given up.  He has only given up 3 hits in 11.2 innings.  That is incredibly stingy.

I haven't seen a bat as hot as Ross in a long time.  I mean he is hitting everything hard. On top of it just a 12% K rate and a nice 14% walk rate.  He has it all working right now.  If he has figured something out he is a legit shortstop candidate along with Culpepper and company,  Still a small sample, but he is looking great to start the season.

I am hoping the 19 year old Beltre to continues to find contact.  It would be nice for the Twins to finally have a young International signing ready to move up quickly.

 

[rdehring]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Ellwanger with that bendy curve I think, is what was baffling hitters.  He also did a nice job getting them to hit balls into the dirt.  The stuff looks good.  I mean not many pitchers have a .79 WHIP with more walks than hits given up.  He has only given up 3 hits in 11.2 innings.  That is incredibly stingy.

I haven't seen a bat as hot as Ross in a long time.  I mean he is hitting everything hard. On top of it just a 12% K rate and a nice 14% walk rate.  He has it all working right now.  If he has figured something out he is a legit shortstop candidate along with Culpepper and company,  Still a small sample, but he is looking great to start the season.

I am hoping the 19 year old Beltre to continues to find contact.  It would be nice for the Twins to finally have a young International signing ready to move up quickly.

 

Any information on Ross's defense at short?

[jorgenswest]

10 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

E-Rod is ready for the bright lights any day now. 

He is on his last option. Sometimes it takes a AAA reset. Let’s bring him up now so there is space for that reset if need later in the year. He doesn’t need to take the Outman role if he that is the roster spot he takes. Play him In RF with a day in CF and a day off each week. Bell would need to play 1B more often.

[karcherd]

Please keep Culpepper at short, quit moving him around.  Let him try to excel at one position, if he comes up, Lee can move around.

[Mike Sixel]

Ellwanger might have stuff that is just too good for this level.....and should move up a level. He isn't 18.,....

[DataNerd]

4 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Who is Ben Ross and why is he not a top 30 prospect?  Doesn't he lead AA hitters in a bunch of categories?

He's 24 and in his 3rd season at AA.  Hit .212 and .219 his first 2 years

[jkcarew]

Jenkins is starting to remind me of Maurer…but not in a good way.

He’s taking 93 mph fastballs on the inside half of the plate and hitting them to left field. That approach is great if you’re hitting 340-360 with it as Maurer was in his prime. But, through 154 AAA plate appearances Jenkins is hitting 233 with 2 home runs.

Not saying he’s flaming out as a prospect. He’s 21. Small sample, but it’s been slow going so far at the AAA level for him. Doesn’t seem real close to being a needle mover in the bigs quite yet.

Meanwhile, loving ERod’s work on trimming the K-rate. 25% vs  32% last year. Small sample, baby steps. But, in watching him, he really does seem to be trying to tweak the approach. More aggressive earlier in the count.

[Mike Sixel]

20 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Jenkins is starting to remind me of Maurer…but not in a good way.

He’s taking 93 mph fastballs on the inside half of the plate and hitting them to left field. That approach is great if you’re hitting 340-360 with it as Maurer was in his prime. But, through 154 AAA plate appearances Jenkins is hitting 233 with 2 home runs.

Not saying he’s flaming out as a prospect. He’s 21. Small sample, but it’s been slow going so far at the AAA level for him. Doesn’t seem real close to being a needle mover in the bigs quite yet.

Meanwhile, loving ERod’s work on trimming the K-rate. 25% vs  32% last year. Small sample, baby steps. But, in watching him, he really does seem to be trying to tweak the approach. More aggressive earlier in the count.

If he's 2/3 the hitter Mauer was we'd be ecstatic. Unreal. That siad, I was hoping he'd be hitting a lot better by now....sigh. 

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, DataNerd said:

He's 24 and in his 3rd season at AA.  Hit .212 and .219 his first 2 years

In fact Ben Ross is almost 25, and this is the 4th season he's spent time in AA (he had a cup of coffee in 2023 as well). He's reaching the "up or out" stage of his minor league career, but maybe he's figured something out.

[Seth Stohs]

5 hours ago, rdehring said:

Any information on Ross's defense at short?

I've tweeted this general tweet a bunch of times over the last 2-3 seasons. 

 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Jenkins is starting to remind me of Maurer…but not in a good way.

He’s taking 93 mph fastballs on the inside half of the plate and hitting them to left field. That approach is great if you’re hitting 340-360 with it as Maurer was in his prime. But, through 154 AAA plate appearances Jenkins is hitting 233 with 2 home runs.

Not saying he’s flaming out as a prospect. He’s 21. Small sample, but it’s been slow going so far at the AAA level for him. Doesn’t seem real close to being a needle mover in the bigs quite yet.

Meanwhile, loving ERod’s work on trimming the K-rate. 25% vs  32% last year. Small sample, baby steps. But, in watching him, he really does seem to be trying to tweak the approach. More aggressive earlier in the count.

I never understood it when he was playing, and I certainly don't get it for a first-ballot Hall of Famer... and no disrespect, jkcarew, you're not the only one... where does the extra R on Mauer come from? Where did "Maurer" come from?

As for Jenkins, since even before they drafted him, video showed us his swing was so similar to Mauer's. Jenkins has a good approach at the plate, but he's 21. He hasn't hit for a lot of power, but it's in there and we've seen it a few times. That'll come. 

Is Konnor Griffin a needle mover yet? Not really, although he'll have his moments, but they're calling him up so later this year or next year, when Skenes, Chandler, Keller, Jones, etc., are at full-go, he'll be ready to participate.  

[Matt Braun]

8 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Who is Ben Ross and why is he not a top 30 prospect?  Doesn't he lead AA hitters in a bunch of categories?

With an enormous amount of respect to Mr. Ross, whose athletic abilities dwarf mine by cartoonish magnitudes, he's in his third go-around at AA, and is almost 25 now. It's possible he figured something out. I would be skeptical, though. 

[Linus]

EmRod has a nice compact swing. That ball jumped off his bat. 

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

I never understood it when he was playing, and I certainly don't get it for a first-ballot Hall of Famer... and no disrespect, jkcarew, you're not the only one... where does the extra R on Mauer come from? Where did "Maurer" come from?

 

But, I literally said the approach is GREAT when you can hit 340-360 with it. But that’s really really hard. Especially now when you face 3 different pitchers a game. Not sure the approach is ideal today for anyone not named Joe Mauer.

[jmlease1]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ellwanger might have stuff that is just too good for this level.....and should move up a level. He isn't 18.,....

Could be, but the BB make me a little nervous. I won't make a fuss if he stays in FL for another few weeks. Nice start by him, though.

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, jkcarew said:

But, I literally said the approach is GREAT when you can hit 340-360 with it. But that’s really really hard. Especially now when you face 3 different pitchers a game. Not sure the approach is ideal today for anyone not named Joe Mauer.

He was wondering how Maurer vs. Mauer became a thing. @Seth Stohs it comes from the same place as the extra R for Warshing clothes or Warshington DC? LOL

[bean5302]

Jenkins showing a little more velo this year with a 112.0 exit velocity shot already. That's creeping up there into the 60 grade raw power area after his best of 110.1 last year at AAA. He's not making a lot of quality contact right now, but it's only 50 PA. I'll be concerned at 200 PA, but not much before then.

Emmanuel Rodriguez is my biggest concern in the minors. He's already burned this 3rd option and the Twins didn't trust him in the big show this past offseason or out of Spring Training. He's cut down his K rate yet again this year, now to a reasonable level. The walks vanished with it, but I think this is a more sustainable approach. Seeing the power return as well. If Emma can keep that K rate down in the 25% range and manage to produce, the Twins are going to have to give him an extended look in the big show. Outman is clearly the guy who needs to get cut, but Emma needs to be playing every day when he comes up. I'm just not sure where the plate appearances are going to come from.

[rdehring]

20 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

I've tweeted this general tweet a bunch of times over the last 2-3 seasons. 

 

Thanks Seth, that comment gave me a good smile.  You have to remember that some of us old fahrts don't have Twitter (is that what it is still called?), or any other social media stuff.  Heck, I'm still trying to learn how to take a picture with that new I-phone I have now had for three years.  Or is it four?