Twins Minor League Report (7/27): DSL Twins Thrashed, What's Next?

[Nate Palmer]

TRANSACTIONS
St. Paul transferred RHP Raul Brito to the Development List.
OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Wichita from the Saints.
RHP Ruddy Gomez assigned to St. Paul from Wichita.
The Twins released OF Maddux Houghton (Wichita) and RHP Nick Trabacchi (Cedar Rapids).
Cedar Rapids activated LHP Ross Dunn from the 60-Day Injured List. 
RHP Matthew Dalquist and IF Bryan Acuna activated from the Fort Myers Injured List. 
UT Harry Genth was placed on the 7-Day IL. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
The Saints had a successful week, going 4-2 last week hosting Columbus. This week, St. Paul hits the road to take on the Omaha Storm Chasers. When Omaha visited St. Paul in the middle of June, the Saints and Storm Chasers split the series, but the series did include the opening 21-2 thrashing the Saints handed to the Storm Chasers. 

From a prospect perspective, Omaha continues not to roster much, as a bulk of the Royals talent resides in the lower levels. According to our sister site, Royals Keep, RHP Ben Kudrna is the top talent to keep an eye on as the organization's #18 prospect. Kudrna will not be taking the mound as he is still recovering from olecranon stress fracture fixation surgery. 

There will be plenty of old friends to visit while in Omaha, as the Storm Chasers roster includes Dan Altavilla and Justin Topa. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
The Wind Surge also had a very successful week as they wrapped up a 5-1 series hosting Midland. Wichita will head to Springfield this coming week to take on the Cardinals. The Cardinals roster two top-100 prospects in C/1B Rainiel Rodriguez and LHP Liam Doyle. 

In 52 games at Double-A, Rodriguez has hit .268/.360/.449 (.809 OPS) with nine home runs. Doyle has started 16 games this season, holds a 4.91 ERA, 27.9% K-rate, and a 13.9% walk-rate. A third prospect to pay attention to is LHP Brandon Clarke. Clarke is working his way back from injury and hasn’t pitched much this season but can top 100 mph and even up to 103 mph. 

KERNEL CHRONICLE
A trip to Dayton did not treat the Kernels well as they went 1-5 over the last week. As they return home to Cedar Rapids, Peoria will make their way to town. Back in May, the Kernels went 2-4 against Peoria mid-May. 

The Peoria Chiefs, also of the Cardinals system, carry one top-20 prospect on their roster. That is SS/OF Tai Peete, who has hit .283/.352/.579 (.931). The Chiefs also roster Midwest League Player of the Week Jack Gurevitch, who after a hot week is hitting .308/.377/.552 (.929) in 54 games this season. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
After a 4-3 week in St. Lucie, Fort Myers will return home to host Palm Beach. The Cardinals round out what will turn out to be a trifecta of Twins-Cardinals affiliate matchups this week. SS Yairo Padilla is the highest-ranked Cardinals prospect on the Palm Beach roster. The switch hitter has played 12 games at Single-A and is hitting .304/.373/.522 (.894 OPS) along with seven stolen bases. 

FCL TWINS
Season completed.

DSL TWINS
Twins 0, Giants Black 10
Box Score

The DSL Twins played the only game across the organization Monday, and it was a rough one. With a final score of 10-0, it is tough to find many highlights for the Twins side of the equation. The third inning was specifically a tough one. In all, four of the Giants 10 runs were scored. Arthur De La Cruz was on the mound for the first run-scoring hit, which was a double off the bat of Diego Alambarrio. De La Cruz was one of Twins pitchers hit the hardest, logging 1 ⅓ inning while allowing four hits, four runs, three earned, two walks, while striking out two. 

Miguel Martinez came on in relief for De La Cruz, but more runs were to be scored. This time by way of an Alexander Camacaro two-run home run. That led to Martinez almost perfectly matching De La Cruz as the hardest-hit pitcher of the day, also logging 1 1/3 innings, two hits, four runs, three earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. 

The second inning was one of the most promising offensive innings for the Twins. Luis Duarte was hit by a pitch. It was followed by a Jeferson Abreu single, and a Luis Suarez walk to load the bases with one out. Misael Rodriguez was not able to punch through against the Giants and grounded into a double play, getting Giants pitcher Randry De Leon out of the jam he had found himself in. 

SS Anibal Beltre had the best day offensively, going 2-for-3 and was the only hitter to collect more than one hit. Overall, seven hits by the Twins weren’t completely awful, but the team could never get them strung together to score any runs. Juan Quinones did come into the game late and shut down the Giants offense. Quinones pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowed two hits, no runs, two walks, and struck out one batter. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Anibal Beltre: 2-3, 1 K 
Juan Quinones: 2 ⅓ IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K

TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW
#1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .190/.227/.238, .465 OPS, 1 2B
#3- Kaelen Culpepper (Saints)- .182/.250/.273, .523 OPS, 1 2B
#5- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .500/.571/.909, 1.481 OPS, 3 2B, 2 HR
#7- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)- .250/.321/.583, .905 OPS, 1 3B, 2 HR
#8- Kendry Rojas (Twins)- 6 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
#9- Dasan Hill (Kernels)- 2 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
#10- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- .313/.389/.500, .889 OPS, 1 HR
#11- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .250/.308/.500, .808 OPS, 3 2B
#14- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- .316/.381/.684, 1.065 OPS, 4 2B, 1 HR
#15- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .389/.455/.722, 1.177 OPS, 2 HR
#17- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .185/.233/.444, .678 OPS, 1 2B, 2 HR
#18- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5  IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul Saints @ Omaha- RHP Ricky Castro
Wichita Wind Surge @ Springfield- RHP Cory Lewis
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids Kernels- LHP Cesar Lares 
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers Mighty Mussels- TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Rangers Red- TBD

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[Mike Sixel]

I thought maybe the new signees would be starting this week, at least the non pitchers. 

[Yoke]

Surprised Rosario was sent back down to Wichita. Maybe it’s a temporary thing to get another pitcher up, but it seemed like he was doing well.

[BrumatyQ]

4 hours ago, Yoke said:

Surprised Rosario was sent back down to Wichita. Maybe it’s a temporary thing to get another pitcher up, but it seemed like he was doing well.

Could just be a roster move. If he keeps hitting like he has, I wouldn't expect him to stay in Wichita for long.

[jmlease1]

8 hours ago, Yoke said:

Surprised Rosario was sent back down to Wichita. Maybe it’s a temporary thing to get another pitcher up, but it seemed like he was doing well.

Yeah, that surprised me too. It was a small sample, but Rosario was making lots of contact and controlling the zone pretty effectively, even if there wasn't as much of his usual power in AAA yet. Bit surprised to see him only get a few weeks and then pushed back down. Not sure we learn much more about him in Wichita. He's no longer a significant prospect, but he does have some qualities.

[rdehring]

When looking at yesterday's score and the DSL Twins record only one word comes to mind, "Ouch."

Just when you think Houston is doing everything one could wish for, he puts up a week like this.  Still believe he will likely stay in Wichita until late in the season.

Does Rosario being sent back to Wichita indicate the Saints may be getting one of their injured corner outfielders back?  Maybe EmRod?

[gman]

11 hours ago, Yoke said:

Surprised Rosario was sent back down to Wichita. Maybe it’s a temporary thing to get another pitcher up, but it seemed like he was doing well.

I think it is because he won't have much available playing time for the Saints as opposed to the Wind Surge.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

When looking at yesterday's score and the DSL Twins record only one word comes to mind, "Ouch."

Just when you think Houston is doing everything one could wish for, he puts up a week like this.  Still believe he will likely stay in Wichita until late in the season.

Does Rosario being sent back to Wichita indicate the Saints may be getting one of their injured corner outfielders back?  Maybe EmRod?

That's my guess, or they just want to free up playing time? I too was surprised, but I don't think he's making the TWins any time soon, so I'd have kept him in AAA and traded him (likely as part of a package). 

[FlyingFinn]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

That's my guess, or they just want to free up playing time? I too was surprised, but I don't think he's making the TWins any time soon, so I'd have kept him in AAA and traded him (likely as part of a package). 

Agreed on the playing time as the Twins aren't ready to bring up Jenkins yet. Good news for Rosario - the Twins like him enough to want him to play every day. Bad news - he's the odd man out when everyone is healthy for the Saints right now.

[Coach]

Making room for Marek.