Twins Minor League Report (7/28): Merit Jones and Quentin Young Lead Fort Myers over Palm Beach

[Steve Lein]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Quentin Young)

TRANSACTIONS

• The Minnesota Twins recalled RHP Jack Anderson from the St. Paul Saints.
• In perhaps the biggest news of the day, OF Emmanuel Rodriguez was activated from the 60-day injured list and was sent on a rehab assignment with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
• RHP Mitch Mueller was promoted from the Cedar Rapids Kernels to the Wichita Wind Surge.
• In the Midwest League, the Kernels received RHP Reed Moring and LHP Cleiber Maldonado from Fort Myers.
• The Mighty Mussels were assigned RHP Hendry Chivilli from the FCL Twins.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Omaha 6
Box Score
This one was scoreless until the top of the third inning, when the top of the Saints lineup came back around and made something happen. Walker Jenkins followed his first inning double with a walk in his second plate appearance, and this time Kyler Fedko brought him in with a double of his own and 1-0 lead.

Ricky Castro toed the rubber for the visitors and finished the first three innings, the first two of which were scoreless. In the bottom of the third a walk was followed by a two-run homer to put the Storm Chasers in front 2-0. Castro allowed those two runs on three hits and a walk, striking out two.

Alejandro Hidalgo got the next two innings from the bullpen, and gave up one earned run on a solo homer and struck out one.

Down 3-1 in the top of the sixth Matt Wallner led off with a single and came around to score on a double from Aaron Sabato. Ben Ross added a sacrifice fly later to tie the game at three.

It stayed that way until the eighth inning, as Matt Bowman (1 IP, H, BB, K) and Marco Raya each kept Omaha quiet for an inning. Back out for the eighth however, Raya ended up in some trouble. A one-out single, walk, and double put the Storm Chasers back in front, and after a pitching change a two-run single put them up by three. Raya was charged with three earned runs on two hits and a walk in his 1 1/3 innings pitched and took the loss. He struck out two. Grant Hartwig recorded the final two outs, allowing two hits and striking out one.

Jenkins (2-for-3, R, 2B, 2 BB, SB) and Sabato (2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, K) collected half of the Saints eight hits in the game. As a team they finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Kaelen Culpepper finished 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, Springfield 5
Box Score
The Wind Surge travelled east to one of my favorite minor league parks I’ve had the chance to visit, in Hammons Field (now Route 66 Stadium) near the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. When I was travelling there often for work I would always end up requesting a hotel room on the top floor that had a balcony view of the Stadium from a block-and-a-half away for the evenings I didn’t venture inside myself. But I digress.

Hits were hard to come by from both teams in this one, as they combined for just seven total on the game. Unfortunately for the Wind Surge, two of the Cardinals four were of the two-run home run variety. AS a team Wichita finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base.

Starting pitcher Cory Lewis got hit with some bad luck, as all three runs charged against him were of the unearned variety and came in the second inning. A sequence of an error, walk, walk, GIDP, and home run made it 3-0 and Springfield never looked back.

Lewis went four total innings, allowing just two hits but walking three. He struck out five and threw 71 pitches (42 for strikes). Spencer Bengard walked one and struck out two in two innings of relief. Paulshawn Pasqualotto finished the final two innings, allowing two Cardinals insurance runs on two hits and two walks, while striking out two.

The bottom three of the Wichita lineup (Kyle DeBarge, Caden Kendle, and Jake Rucker) each had one hit to account for all of them as a team. DeBarge hit his 19th double, Rucker his fifth home run. Everybody in the lineup struck out at least once, with them totaling 16 on the night as a lineup. Kendle’s hit did extend his hitting streak to 14-games, so there was something positive.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Peoria 8, Cedar Rapids 6 (10 innings)
Box Score
Left-hander Cesar Lares made the start for the Kernels and was rudely greeted by the Chiefs. A first inning solo home run and second inning three-run shot put them up 4-0 early. Lares settled down a bit and was able to finish four innings without any further damage. He was charged with four earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out two.

The Kernels finally got on the scoreboard after the Chiefs starting pitcher’s night was finished after five. Singles from Danny De Andrade, Quinn McDaniel, and Dameury Pena got their first run of the game across home plate. Henry Kusiak followed with a double to score two more. Andy Lugo tied the game at four with an RBI single.

Fellow lefty Ross Dunn went the next two innings after Lares, retiring all six hitters he faced, including three via strikeout. Brian Zeldin came on to start the seventh but back-to-back walks to start the inning were followed by a two-run triple to put Peoria back up by two. Zeldin got a strikeout before Ivran Romero was summoned and retired the next two hitters to keep his team in striking distance.

The lineup did so in the bottom half. Eduardo Tait delivered a one-out single, and De Andrade followed with his 10th home run of the season to tie it back up.

Zeldin had a one-two-three top of the eighth and then turned it over to Yehizon Sanchez in the ninth. Both teams went scoreless in their at-bats, sending it to extra innings. Peoria took advantage, getting an RBI single to score the ghost runner, before an RBI triple made it 8-6. Sanchez got them out of that jam, but in the bottom half the Kernels went down in order.

De Andrade led the way by going 3-for-5 with the home run, scored two runs, and drove in two. Jacob McCombs (2-for-5, 2B, 2 K) and Tait (2-for-5, R) also had multiple hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Palm Beach 3, Fort Myers 9
Box Score
The Mighty Mussels welcome the Palm Beach Cardinals to Hammond Stadium this week, and sent right-handed pitcher Merit Jones to the mound to kick off the series on Tuesday.

Jones achieved multiple Mighty Mussels single season distinctions in his excellent five innings, climbing their career innings pitched and strikeout lists.

He scattered three hits and no walks in his five innings, punching out seven. His lone run allowed was unearned due to an error in the fourth inning. He threw 74 pitches, with 48 going for strikes (65%), including 14 swings and misses. In the month of July Jones made six starts totaling 24 2/3 innings. He allowed just two earned runs on 21 hits, walked 8, and struck out 30. Sounds like a “Pitcher of the Month” to me!

His lineup had his back as well. Quentin Young got them on the board in the bottom of the second with his 13th home run of the season to make it 2-0. In the bottom of the fifth they tacked on five more. Young got it started with a triple. He scored on a single from Irvin Nunez. Merphy Hernandez and Ramiro Dominguez each followed with a double. Jayson Bass added the exclamation with his 13th homer, making it 7-1 Mighty Mussels.

Relievers Billy Oldham (1 IP, 2 BB, K), Brent Francisco (2/3 IP, H, 2 R (1 ER)), and Mike McKenna (2 1/3 IP, H, BB, 3 K) held it down for the final four innings to give Jones his fifth win of the season.

In the bottom of the eighth JP Smith II added a pair of insurance runs with his 12th home run of the season to make the final of 9-3.

Young led the way with three hits in four at-bats, scoring two runs and driving in two. Dominguez (1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K), Bass (1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K), and Smith II (1-for-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K) each drove in a pair of runs.

Emmanuel Rodriguez got the start in center field and batted second in the lineup in the first game of his rehab assignment. He played the first five innings and finished 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.

DOMINICAN DAILY
DSL Twins 6, DSL Rangers Red 7
Box Score
Down 6-1 heading into the seventh inning, the Twins made a valiant comeback to tie it up, before falling by one run to the Rangers Red squad.

Fernando Hernandez got the start as an opener, and struck out one in a one-two-three first inning. Juan Collado (3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (1 ER), BB, 4 K) and Agustin Campusano (3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, K) then each went three-plus innings to finish it out, but each allowed multiple runs.

The Twins got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third. Jendy Martinez drew a walk, stole second base, and advanced to third on a throwing error. Jhon Gonzalez then delivered an RBI single to make it 4-1.

The Rangers broke through against Collado in the fifth, thanks in part to a pair of errors which meant just one of his runs in the frame were earned. The Rangers took a 6-1 lead in the sixth against Campusano.

In the top of the seventh the Twins loaded the bases with one out before an error allowed two runs to score. A balk brought in a third run as the closed the deficit to two. In the top of the eighth Martinez hit his first professional home run to tie the game at six, a two-run shot.

In the bottom half it was a walk and a double against Campusano that put the Rangers back in front for good.

Both teams had just five hits, but also combined for 14 walks (10 from the Twins) and eight errors (3 from the Twins). In addition to his first homer, Martinez also drew three walks and scored three runs to lead the way. Luis Duarte finished 1-for-2 and drew three walks as well.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Merit Jones, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (W, 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 7 K)
Hitter of the Day – Quentin Young, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, K)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 2-for-3, R, 2B, 2 BB, SB (10)
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul): 0-for-5, 2 K
#4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (Rehab w/Fort Myers): 0-for-3, 2 K
#7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, R
#11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 0-for-4
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita): 0-for-4, 2 K
#17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Fort Myers): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B (4), HR (13), 2 RBI, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (12:05 PM CDT) - RHP Trent Baker (3-3, 6.29 ERA)
Wichita @ Springfield (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Preston Johnson (0-3, 4.99 ERA)
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 PM CDT) - RHP Kolten Smith (0-2, 4.09 ERA)
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CDT) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

View full article

[FlyingFinn]

13 homers in that Fort Myers league certainly is impressive for Q. Young as that isn't known as a homer league.

[DJL44]

Let’s get Rodriguez through his rehab and into a Twins uniform before he gets hurt again.