Twins Minor League Report (4/22): Ricardo Olivar Shoots for the Stars

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Kason Huckabay, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Kala'i Rosario)

 

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Travis Adams transferred to AAA St. Paul on rehab
RHP Raul Brito moved to the Development List. 
RHP Luis García signed and sent to AAA St. Paul
OF/INF Ryan Kreidler optioned to AAA St. Paul
LHP Connor Prielipp recalled by Twins
RHP James Ellwanger placed on 60-day IL with a right elbow sprain
RHP Jose Olivares returned to AA Wichita 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 0, Indianapolis 12
Box Score
Andrew Bash: 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-3, 2B)

It was all bad. Baseball is a genteel game ripe for purple prose and rosy words, yet sometimes someone just gets waxed. That was the Saints’ fate on Wednesday.

Starter Andrew Bash was harassed early. So was reliever Grant Hartwig. By the time Travis Adams entered for his ritual butt-kicking, the scoreboard sang for nine runs—a sour tune turned even uglier by three runs dashed onto the rehabbing righty. Only Aaron Rozek found Wednesday’s matters pleasant. The lefty tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. 

As for St. Paul’s hitters, Walker Jenkins reached base twice, a walk and his second double of the year, Aaron Sabato collected a pair of hits including his third double, and little else of note occurred. The 1984 presidential election held more drama.

Part of the Saints’ struggles may be explained by their opponent: MLB’s 84th-ranked prospect, Hunter Barco. The former second-round hurler tossed five shutout innings with just 64 pitches. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 9, NW Arkansas 7
Box Score
Ty Langenberg: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
HR: Ricardo Olivar 2 (2, 3), Kala’i Rosario (4)
Multi-hit games: Hendry Mendez (2-for-3 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI), Ricardo Olivar (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI)

The Wind Surge won a high-scoring affair on Wednesday.

Good things happen when you score five runs in the first inning. Earl Weaver may have said that once. Ben Ross and Hendry Mendez drilled RBI doubles in the opening frame before Ricardo Olivar blasted a three-run homer to left-center. Three batters walked. Former seventh-overall pick, Frank Mozzicato was down big, early. 

Though the runs would satiate most teams, the Wind Surge continued to add on. Kala’i Rosario singled in a run in the second before smacking a two-run blast in the fifth. It’s hard to find a more non-chalant homer than this one.

Olivar homered once more in the eighth. Perhaps Naturals' pitchers should have stopped throwing him strikes. 

NW Arkansas doesn’t claim a major top prospect. Their best player, center fielder Carson Roccaforte, reached base three times in the game. He’s their 17th-ranked prospect.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 5
Box Score
Dasan Hill: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (3-for-5, 2B, R)

The Kernels suffered an ordinary loss on Wednesday.

Dasan Hill Nolan McLean-ed it; that is to say, he looked incredible through the game’s first three frames before unwinding in the fourth. The first third of the game? Near immaculate. The lefty racked up seven strikeouts, appearing to be the next coming of Randy Johnson, if the Big Unit had been a slender prep Texan. But, that fourth. Hill allowed four hits, the final of which a three-run shot that soiled what was once a great start. So it goes.

Offensively, the Kernels signaled a tepid performance with a third-inning RBI double by Jacob McCombs before concluding their outburst with an Eduardo Tait two-bagger in the seventh; a Marek Houston single in the ninth was their final base runner of the day. 

Rainiel Rodriguez, the 32nd-ranked prospect in baseball, caught for the Chiefs and walked once in four plate appearances. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 2, Dunedin 0
Box Score
Riley Quick: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Eduardo Beltre (2-for-4)

The Mighty Mussels pitched a shutout on Wednesday.

Riley Quick started. That no one scored is no surprise. The Blue Jays started the game with an infield single, then—perhaps in a rage spurned by such insolence—Quick retired the next batters he faced. The rage of the mighty is powerful and us mere mortals are helpless to act in its wake. 

Facing off against Quick was one “Berríos.” Of course, that accented “i” gives away the game: José, the former longtime Twin, started for Dunedin on a rehab assignment. The 31-year-old fired four shutout innings with five strikeouts. He also probably bought his teammates BBQ or something before the game.

Once the Mighty Mussels were done struggling against a literal big leaguer, they found the runs needed to win the game. Two walks and a hit by pitch in the seventh loaded the bases. Yilber Herrera whiffed on three straight heaters. Dameury Pena did not. He smacked the first pitch he saw into right field, scoring the only two runs of the ballgame for either squad.

2025 first-rounder, JoJo Parker, played shortstop for Dunedin, singling and walking in five plate appearances. He is the 39th-best prospect in MLB according to MLB.com. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Riley Quick
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-3 2B, BB
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-3 2K
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5 2B, RBI, K
#5 – Connor Prielipp (Twins) - 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#6 – Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-4
#8 – Kendry Rojas (Twins) - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
#9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 3-5, 2B, R
#11 – Riley Quick (Fort Myers) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 3 K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-3, BB, 2 K
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 2-3, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-5, R, 2B, K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (10:05 AM) - RHP John Klein
Wichita NW Arkansas (7:05 PM) - RHP C.J. Culpepper
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk
Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Matthew Dalquist

 

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[FlyingFinn]

The Ellwanger news is terrible.

[Dman]

43 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Ellwanger news is terrible.

Yeah he was looking great to start the season.  Those hard throwers just seem to end up needing TJ.  We'll see how things work out.  Hopefully rest does the trick.  He's got the stuff to be successful.  Just needs to get healthy.

[DataNerd]

Not sure what else Quick needs to show in Ft Myers.  Sinker at 96, Changeup that misses a ton of bats, Curveball at 2800 RPM and missing bats, cutter that looks solid.  Making a good argument to be the #2 pitching prospect behind Prielipp, and maybe a T100 guy sometime this year.

[D.C Twins]

A Jenkins warm front is definitely moving in.... 

[DJL44]

Dameury Pena is no longer challenged by single A.

[Linus]

Mendez heating up as well. Really wish they would just put him at first base. Houston getting enough hits that AA is possible this year. 

[rdehring]

Was so excited about Ellwanger.  Abel out for however long a week ago, now this young man.  Sure sounds like TJ is next on his agenda.  Will the Twins ever have any luck other than bad luck with their exciting young prospects?  Bah Humbug!

[jmlease1]

Rotten news about Ellwanger. He'd had a really nice start to his pro career and you could see why they drafted him. Hope it's actually just a sprain, but hard not to fear it's much worse and that he'll be looking at surgery. Twins just don't seem to have a lot of good injury luck with prospects.

I know it's tempting to push Quick up, but I think it makes more sense to start stretching him out in Ft. Myers rather than do it in Cedar Rapids. He's looking dominant, but he's also still only throw 8 innings over 3 starts. Considering he only threw 87 total college innings (over 3 seasons), we have to be a little cautious here. But he's got the frame and talent to be terrific. Build him up, maybe promote him at midseason, but I think next season might be the one where he rises super fast and jumps multiple levels in a year.

Like what we're seeing from some of the Wichita bats. Not really sure what the Twins think of Rosario, but he's come out of his cold start faster than last season and looks pretty locked in. Getting Mendez a good amount of time at 1B makes sense, but there is a weird little logjam there. As long as he's in the lineup I'm happy.

Houston is having the kind of season I was hoping he'd have but wasn't sure he would. (so far) It's a long season to go, but he's making good contact, taking some walks, and occasionally punishing a ball. I don't think he needs to become a 20 homer guy, just keep ripping the occasional double or dinger here and there so pitchers can't get away with lobbing one in when behind in the count. Hope he keeps this up!

[LambchoP]

Who is this Ben Ross kid?! Definitely looking like a major break out year if he can keep it up. Good outing for Dasan Hill. All our young pitching prospects have the same profile it seems. Injury prone, hard throwers with nasty stuff but no command. I know it's becoming really common for young pitchers, but if our guys like Prelipp, Abel, Hill, Rojas, Soto, Bradley etc... can learn to harness their stuff and stay healthy, we should have some good young arms to build around.

[Mike Sixel]

12 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The Ellwanger news is terrible.

Agreed. Brutal.

[terrydactyls]

Given the frequency of TJ surgery and the news that RFK Jr is now in favor of immunization, maybe he could mandate TJ surgery for all children at age 10.  Preventative Medicine.

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, Linus said:

Mendez heating up as well. Really wish they would just put him at first base. Houston getting enough hits that AA is possible this year. 

I'd have him in AAA playing first right now. Full time. Do whatever with Fedko or Sabato....