Twins Minor League Report (7/12): Marek Houston is Incredible

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Marek Houston)

 

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Jack Anderson claimed and optioned to AAA St. Paul

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Iowa 4
Box Score
Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: Kyler Fedko (16), Ben Ross (8)
Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Aaron Sabato (3-for-5, R), Ben Ross (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB)

The Saints eked out a win on Sunday.

The Cubs struck first, with James Triantos jumping on an Aaron Rozek fastball in the second, launching the pitch above the elevated wall in left field. St. Paul was in a responding mood, however, as the Cubs could only celebrate having the lead for five batters before they suddenly were at a disadvantage. How? A Matt Wallner hit by pitch—shocker—an Aaron Sabato single, and an Orlando Arcia double smoked down the left field line.

One inning later, Ian Daugherty extended the lead with his first AAA hit.

Moisés Ballesteros struck back with a solo homer—these Cubs seem to favor the long ball—which perhaps gave Kyler Fedko a wild idea. Why doesn’t he homer, too? Brilliant. 

Seeing some logic in this thinking, Ben Ross, too, homered, giving St. Paul their fifth and final run of the day.

Iowa struck for two in the ninth, but Trent Baker steeled himself, remained resolute, and whiffed Christian Betancourt on three pitches to end the game.

The aforementioned Triantos ranks as the seventh-best prospect in the Cubs system, and he added a double in a 2-4 day.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 8, NW Arkansas 5
Box Score
Chris Vallimont: 3 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Jaime Ferrer (3), Marek Houston (2)
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI)

The Wind Surge rode an explosive offense to victory on Sunday.

Someone let Marek Houston know that Twins Daily writers are running out of superlatives to shower him with. His supernova season remains shining and dominant: on Sunday, he collected three hits—two for extra bases—and took a walk, his first time reaching base four times in a game at AA. Watch him uncork one over the berm and into the scattered fans in left field:

Art.

Further down the lineup, Jaime Ferrer also had a potent day at the ballpark. He actually preceded Houston’s bomb with a tank out to right-center—a blast self-evidently impressive yet accentuated even further by the fact that he scored a direct hit onto the bouncy house beyond the outfield wall. 

Ruddy Gomez dominated the game’s final two frames, striking out three without allowing a run. His season ERA sits at 2.30. 

Billy Amick’s 61 RBIs are good for sixth-most in the Texas League. 

The outfielder Carson Roccaforte is the 16th-ranked player in the Royals system. He tripled once in five trips to the plate. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 2, Iowa 5
Box Score
Dasan Hill: 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: Jose Salas (3)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels struggled to get their bats going on Wednesday.

Four hits. Two walks. Hey, at least half of their knocks went for extra-bases! They plated two, at least, as Jose Salas blasted a solo homer and Henry Kusiak drove in the aforementioned Salas with a double socked into the left-center gap. 

Pitching wise, Dasan Hill put forth one of the strangest pitching lines you’ll ever see. No hits? Two earned runs? Spread across two innings? The first score came on a walk, balk advancement, stolen base, and RBI grounder sequence, while the second arrived on a walk, two steals, and run-scoring wild pitch progression. Both unusual events. Occurring in back-to-back frames. It’s been that kind of season for the young lefty. 

Yasser Mercedes stole his 36th base of the season, the 21st most of all qualified batters across all of MiLB, which totals 1,321 players. 

Kane Kepley, the fifth-ranked prospect in the Cubs system, tripled once in three at-bats on Sunday. His alliterative name remains exceedingly pleasant to write. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 5
Box Score
Merit Jones: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Luis Fragoza (10)
Multi-hit games: Luis Fragoza (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI)

The Mighty Mussels found little offense and lost on Sunday.

Though most of the bats oscillated between cold and tepid, Luis Fragoza continued to be a right-handed firecracker. The 19-year-old blasted one way out to left-center, not quite hammered enough to cause the outfielders to remain stationary yet crushed enough that they realized how feeble their efforts were before they could even touch the warning track. He also doubled in the ninth.

Fragoza might be the breakout Twins hitter of the low minors. He’s slashing a robust .343/.392/.650 in 137 at-bats for the Mighty Mussels this season, again, as a 19-year-old in his first taste of pro ball above the rookie levels. 

On the mound, Merit Jones enjoyed arguably his best start of the season, going five shutout innings with four strikeouts to lower his season ERA below “4”. He threw 58 pitches and earned eight swings-and-misses. 

The Marauders are, naturally, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, though this author must note a "marauder" sounds far more intimidating than a pirate, even if the words are synonymous. Anyways, their best prospect was the 21st team-ranked Edgleen Perez, who went 1-4 from the catcher position.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Merit Jones
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Marek Houston

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - DNP (went 0-2 with two walks in the Futures Game)
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2 K
#5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB
#8 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-4, 2 K
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 0-2, 2 BB
#13 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-4, BB
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-4, K
#18 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4
#19 – Billy Amick (Wichita) - 1-2, R, RBI, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Twins @ FCL Braves (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Rangers Red (10:00 AM) - TBD

 

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[D.C Twins]

My irrational optimism for Houston is getting hard to control.... he is going to be the Twins star SS for a decade... right....Right?.... RIGHT?!?!?!

[Mike Sixel]

28 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

My irrational optimism for Houston is getting hard to control.... he is going to be the Twins star SS for a decade... right....Right?.... RIGHT?!?!?!

This pick is looking very good! 

[HerbieFan]

Is there a point where we stop the Culpepper Watch and start the Marek Houston Watch?????  

In all seriousness, Houston's glove and, apparently his bat, make him the shortstop of the future.  

[wesnewy]

Marek will be in St Paul by season end

[Danchat]

Looks like Fedko is right back where he left off at AAA... but thanks to his 20 PAs in the majors, there will be no faith from the fans in him if he ever gets called up again.

[Sampson5]

I'm ready for Houston to be up in St Paul !! I mean way he's dominating AA gotta think that by the end of the years he's up with St Paul maybe even sooner if he continues this level of production 

[AlLagoon]

Got to watch Houston for a couple games with the Kernels, and man he just looks the part in the field.

The hitting and base running haven't slowed a bit since his promotion.

Poor man's Trea Turner?

[DJL44]

34 minutes ago, AlLagoon said:

Got to watch Houston for a couple games with the Kernels, and man he just looks the part in the field.

The hitting and base running haven't slowed a bit since his promotion.

Poor man's Trea Turner?

The guy with the 736 OPS in Double-A? That’s the guy everyone thinks is on the fast track to AAA?

[AlLagoon]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The guy with the 736 OPS in Double-A? That’s the guy everyone thinks is on the fast track to AAA?

After just 16 games, 2 years younger than league average. More than holding his own. A+ to AA is a big jump.

I never said anything about AAA. They have a pretty good shortstop up there already. 

 

[DataNerd]

56 minutes ago, AlLagoon said:

Got to watch Houston for a couple games with the Kernels, and man he just looks the part in the field.

The hitting and base running haven't slowed a bit since his promotion.

Poor man's Trea Turner?

Houston has nowhere near Turner's power but is a better defender.  My comp would be Dansby Swanson with half a grade more hit but a full grade less power.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, DataNerd said:

Houston has nowhere near Turner's power but is a better defender.  My comp would be Dansby Swanson with half a grade more hit but a full grade less power.

That’s Andres Gimenez

[stringer bell]

His nice game today puts Houston’s OPS at .844. He did have two hitless games prior to today. A plus fielding everyday shortstop would do wonders for the Twins’ team defense. I suppose Culpepper will get a chance, but his future could be somewhere other than SS. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Why was Houston playing second base today?

[tarheeltwinsfan]

43 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The guy with the 736 OPS in Double-A? That’s the guy everyone thinks is on the fast track to AAA?

Who are you referring to? Who has the .736 OPS in AA?

[tarheeltwinsfan]

47 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The guy with the 736 OPS in Double-A? That’s the guy everyone thinks is on the fast track to AAA?

?

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Is there a point where we stop the Culpepper Watch and start the Marek Houston Watch?????  

In all seriousness, Houston's glove and, apparently his bat, make him the shortstop of the future.  

I agree and I need to ask why Houston was playing second base today?

[DJL44]

5 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Who are you referring to? Who has the .736 OPS in AA?

Marek Houston