Twins Minor League Report (6/28): Bailey Ober and Kaelen Culpepper Return to Action

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Kyle DeBarge)

TRANSACTIONS
SS Kaelen Culpepper activated from 7-day IL (St. Paul)
RHP Bailey Ober sent to A+ Cedar Rapids on rehab

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 0, Louisville 3
Box Score
Kendry Rojas: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints were shut out on Sunday.

“Two hits??” Well, you know the rest of the line. The outcome was perhaps unsurprising given that the Bats saw 7 1/3 of their innings come from rehabbing big leaguers: the first 6 1/3 from a Hunter Greene who looked quite healthy, according to the poor souls in the Saints’ lineup, with one more frame coming from old friend Emilio Pagán.

To their credit, St. Paul’s pitchers matched the electric Greene, at least for a time. Kendry Rojas kicked off matters with three wonderfully efficient innings, striking out three while not walking a batter for just the second time this year. 24 of his 33 pitches went for strikes. Glorious.

Ryan Gallagher attempted to continue the effort, though it was apparent from the start that his outing would be shakier than his predecessor’s. He allowed three straight hits to load the bases, only escaping on a force play at home and a strikeout. An ordinary fifth gave way to a sagging sixth, in which Gallagher’s command abandoned him altogether, turning into a three-walk, one hit by pitch quagmire that brought in the game’s first run.

There was good news on Sunday. Kaelen Culpepper played for the first time in over two weeks, going 0-for-4 as the DH. With Walker Jenkins also in the lineup, this marked the first time the two top prospects played in the same game since May 2nd.

The Bats are led, prospect-wise, by Héctor Rodríguez, the fifth-ranked player in the Reds’ system. The outfielder collected two hits and a walk in four plate appearances. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 5, Midland 10
Box Score
Chris Vallimont: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: Kyle DeBarge (8)
Multi-hit games: Garrett Spain (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI), Kyle DeBarge (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Jay Thomason (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI)

The Wind Surge were thumped on Sunday.

Fortunate favored neither squad initially. An early RockHounds lead was erased with a three-run third, the result of a rally that saw run-scoring doubles by Garrett Spain and Kyle DeBarge, and an RBI single from Jay Thomason. That lead, in turn, lasted one half-inning, and the new Midland advantage held all the way until the sixth when DeBarge cleared the center field wall for his eighth homer of the season.

The dam finally broke not long after. A ridiculously good Ruddy Gomez outing gave way to a Kyle Bischoff appearance he would likely prefer to forget, as he was pounced for four runs across four hits. Jaylen Nowlin fared little better as he oversaw two more runs that gave Midland a double-digit total on the day.

By total bases, it was DeBarge’s best day since his May 21st game against Tulsa in which he homered, doubled, and singled. The game was a nice respite for the infielder, as he has slashed a tepid .189/.277/.324 in June. 

The Rockhounds are an affiliate of the franchise formerly known as the Oakland Athletics (now just the Athletics as MLB would like us to forget that place and city is an integral part of a team’s culture). Superstar prospect Leo De Vries didn’t play, leaving seventh-ranked Devin Taylor the best youngster on the field for Midland. The outfielder singled twice and walked once in five plate appearances. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 8
Box Score
Bailey Ober: 3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: Graham Brown (2)
Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-5, 2 R), Danny De Andrade (3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB), Miguel Briceno (2-for-4, 2B)

The Kernels were walked off on Sunday.

But before that—Bailey Ober! He’s back! The big righty took the mound in an organized game for the first time since May 30th. And he looked… rusty. Drenched on cobwebs and slowed by whatever mixed metaphors you prefer. Wisconsin’s leadoff hitter took him deep, and the lineup never let up on the rehabber, nailing him for seven hits across his 3 1/3 innings of work. He threw 57 pitches. One must imagine it won’t be long before he’s back with the Twins.

Cedar Rapids was cursed by a lineup that wasn’t the sum of its parts: every batter outside of Yasser Mercedes reached base at least once, yet they could only total four runs. The culprit? A dreadful 3-for-16 showing with runners in scoring position. One of those hits was this Graham Brown screamer, though.

A mention should go to Danny De Andrade for breaking free from a horrendous 3-for-29 slump over his last nine games in a 3-for-4 outing with a double and a walk. 

The Timber Rattlers are spearheaded by the 16th-best prospect in baseball, infielder Luis Peña, who went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 5
Box Score
Merit Jones: 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: Luis Fragoza 2 (7, 8)
Multi-hit games: Ramiro Dominguez (2-for-4, 2 R), Jayson Bass (2-for-4, R, RBI), Luis Fragoza (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI)

The Mighty Mussels slipped through with a win on Sunday.

Mercy for any who finds themselves opposing Luis Fragoza these days. He is a force. The right-hander has taken exception to the concept of pitching as a fundamental; he is slugging .615 in June, an impressive feat for any player at any level, let alone a 19-year-old who first donned a Fort Myers jersey on May 20th. Sunday was the zenith of his brutality: he blasted a pair of homers onto the left-field berm. The first landing between four youths who wisely dispersed in respects for the incoming ballistic; the latter a shot that safely cleared the greenery and only offered a threat to the stationary fence and man-made objects who had no choice but to accept the punishment.

Another hero from the day was Ryan Sprock, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his work since May ended. He’s been a maestro at the plate. The righty is slashing .417/.543/.625 in June with 19 walks to four strikeouts. Real grown man against kids' stuff. His 18-game hitting streak snapped the game before, but he still holds 30 knocks in the month. Entering Sunday, Rhys Hoskins in 234 plate appearances has 33 hits all year! This will go down as a historic month for the Twins prospect. 

Once more, this author would like to spotlight the position-player-turned-pitcher, Hendry Chivilli, who provided three more than respectable innings of one-run ball on Sunday, striking out three in his second straight successful outing, a step towards flushing away his disastrous June 16th adventure on the mound. He holds a 3.69 ERA stretched across 31 2/3 innings between the FCL and A-ball.

Shortstop Antonio Jimenez ranks as the 15th-best prospect in the Mets system. He went 0-for-5 for St. Lucie on Sunday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kendry Rojas
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Luis Fragoza

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-3, K
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-4, K
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 2 K
#5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-3, R, 2 BB, K
#7 – Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#8 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-3, K
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, 2 R, K
#13 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, K
#15 – Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
#18 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 3 K
#19 – Billy Amick (Wichita) - 0-5, 2 K
#20 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Twins @ FCL Pirates (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL NYY Yankees (10:00 AM) - TBD

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[Linus]

Nice to see Rojas pitching with control. Thats the only thing keeping him from being a good big league pitcher. 

[weitz41]

A lot going right in A ball. Maybe another wave coming from there? The Tubo Tubs seem to be 5 runs and no pitching or 1 run and great pitching. Saints' offence seems to have taken the day off..