Twins Minor League Report (7/8): (Jayson) Bass Pro Shots

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Jayson Bass)

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Matt Bowman signed and sent to AAA St. Paul

OF Caleb Roberts was placed on the Wichita Injured List. 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 1, Iowa 3
Box Score
Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints found little offense on Wednesday.

Years in the future, when the woes and misdeeds of people of the present have dissipated, turned to a fine sand and silt, returned to the Earth and settled, others will look back upon these times with questions. Some inquisitions will be more serious than others. “How did they live?” “Were they a perfect people?” Certainly not, though they tried. “And who was that pitching all those games for the Twins minor league system?”

Oh, that’s just Aaron Rozek. He’s up to 527 2/3 innings since the start of 2021. Travis Adams is in second with 416 1/3.

Lethargic they may have been, the Saints got out to a quick start, with a spanked Walker Jenkins double kicking off the game; he soon scored on a sacrifice fly. They never scored again.

The Cubs were not biting on Rozek’s hook. Both in a real and metaphorical sense. His adroit fisherman sense proved lackluster, and he suffered an ultimate humiliation in the second with a Cristian Betancourt three-run homer. Iowa also never scored again.

The Saints’ bullpen—an effort on Wednesday composed of Raul Brito, Cody Laweryson, and Alejandro Hidalgo—was excellent. They combined for five shutout innings with six strikeouts and one hit allowed. 

Rehabbing big leaguer Ryan Jeffers went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. 

Cubs left fielder Jonathan Long is a player of note. He ranks as the franchise’s sixth-best prospect and went 0-for-3, with a walk and a strikeout.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 7
Box Score
Chris Vallimont: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Brandon Winokur (1), Garrett Spain (14)
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-5, RBI), Garrett Spain (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI)

A late Wind Surge comeback fell short on Wednesday.

Scoreboards are expensive, Mr. Winokur; don’t expect this reckless insolence to be forgotten, whether it be your first AA homer or not. And look at the confused children that could have been hurt!

After Winokur established what a pro-ball homer could look like, Garrett Spain expanded on the topic, taking an uppercut swing that could only be described as “ferocious” given his 5’9” 180 pound body. The ball might argue the man’s stature makes no difference; it was tattooed with a mighty force. 

What is there left to say about Marek Houston? Minnesota’s first round pick in 2025 has been a savant, with brilliance at shortstop and a contact, scrappy offensive profile that might satisfy the Nick Punto hole left in all of our hearts. On Wednesday he collected two hits, stole two bases, and made a dazzling play on the diamond. 

Houston is slashing .302/.367/.415 in 13 games with the Wind Surge.

Drew Beam—a sentence an architect might say when talking about their day—is the 10th-ranked prospect in the Royals system. The right-hander pitched seven innings with three earned runs, striking out seven.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 3, Iowa 2
Box Score
Riley Quick: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
HR: Yasser Mercedes (6)
Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI)

Yasser Mercedes led the Kernels to victory on Wednesday.

It started like a lamb and ended like a lion: the spry Mercedes first reveled in his quickness, knocking an infield single to start the game before swiping second base. He arrived at third on a groundout and reached home on a fielding error. A journey unique only to speedsters.

But only a speedster, he is not. Mercedes is a man of dimensions, though he chose not to reveal this fact until late in the game. He grounded out twice and stepped up to the plate once more in the eighth inning. To his right, the game-tying run on first. Only one out. Simply pass the buck? No. Mercedes uncorked a mighty hack and blasted a shot to left-center, clearing the outfield wall while slingshotting the Kernels into the lead.

Riley Quick. Four walks? A man of your talents? The righty was otherwise excellent, allowing just one earned run over four frames, with one hit. He struck out five. 

And reliever Ivran Romero was even better. He hadn’t touched five innings in over a month, despite the fact that 10 of his last 11 appearances were starts. No matter. The San Diego product buzz sawed through the Cubs lineup, setting down the final 10 batters in order for the game’s well-deserved win. He also struck out five with just one earned run against him.

The wonderfully alliterative Kane Kepley stands as the fifth-ranked prospect in the Cubs’ system. The outfielder went 0-for-5.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 6
Box Score
Jason Reitz: 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: Jayson Bass 2 (11, 12), Byron Chourio (6)
Multi-hit games: Jayson Bass (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Luis Fragoza (2-for-4), Byron Chourio (2-for-2, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB)

The Mighty Mussels came up just short on Wednesday.

A day for sons of J. The starter—with the traditional spelling—accrued 3 ⅓ innings, allowing a lone run while whiffing three. His season ERA with Fort Myers now sits at 2.84. The one who garnishes the name with a flavorful “y” had a power stroke and a hunger for homers. His first, a liner that landed nowhere near any creature with a pulse; the second a more traditional fly ball that once again eluded a carbon-based lifeform and had to settle for the dull thud of a cold, empty chair.

Sandwiched between the Bass blasts was a rally that had, for a time, given the Mighty Mussels a lead. Byron Chourio observed that homering was fun, and decided to do so himself for the sixth time this season. Ricardo Pena followed with a walk, Merphy Hernandez tripled into the right-center gap, and Miguel Briceno squeezed a grounder hit just hard enough beyond the second baseman to plate Hernandez. 

Unfortunately, the Fort Myers bullpen—and some horrid defense—doomed our protagonists. The team’s third and final error of the game preceded a lengthy rain delay, forcing the players to ponder their defensive miscues knowing that two runners on base lurked in their future whenever Mother Nature was finished pausing the match. Play resumed. The first batter struck out. The second plated two unearned runs. So it goes.

Edgleen Perez, Bradenton’s catcher, is ranked as the 20th-best prospect in the Pirates’ system. He singled once in five trips to the plate.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ivran Romero
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jayson Bass

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B, R
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, K
#5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-5, RBI
#6 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
#8 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, 3 K
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, HR, R, RBI, 2 K
#13 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 0-3, BB
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K
#18 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
#19 – Billy Amick (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#20 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM) - RHP Ryan Gallagher
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - RHP Sam Armstrong
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP Kolten Smith
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Reed Moring
FCL Twins @ FCL Rays (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL NYY Bombers (10:00 AM) - TBD

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