Twins Minor League Report (8/3): Barboza's Inside the Park Home Run and Recent Draft Picks' First Week of Pro Ball

[Nate Palmer]

TRANSACTIONS
St. Paul Saints placed LF Kyler Fedko on the 7-day injured list.

ST. PAUL SAINTS SENTINEL

The Saints split their series in Omaha at 3-3 and will now turn their attention to hosting the Louisville Bats. The Saints will see some considerable prospect talent from the Reds system barring any roster action. 

On the hitting side, outfielder Hector Rodriguez will bring his strong hitting to town. The lefty is hitting .274/.347/.533 (.881 OPS). Fellow outfielder Carlos Jorge joins Rodriguez. Jorge has played 22 games at Triple-A and is being challenged a bit as he is hitting considerably below his Double-A numbers at .267/.305/.378 (.683 OPS).

On the pitching side is old friend Chase Petty, whom the Twins traded to the Reds to acquire Sonny Gray. Petty was optioned back to Triple-A this past Thursday. Petty holds a 4.50 ERA in the majors this season, but hasn’t been able to maintain the same sort of K-rate in the majors as he has in the minors. His K-rate drops down to 10.8% when putting on a Reds uniform.  

WICHITA WIND SURGE WISDOM

Springfield had the upper hand over Wichita this weekend, with the Wind Surge only managing one win out of the six played. They will look forward to facing NW Arkansas and seeing if they can collectively turn things around this week. The Wind Surge will see outfielder Carson Roccaforte, who ranks ninth on Royals Keep’s top prospect list. The 24-year-old is hitting .247/.334/.506 (.841 OPS). 

There is also a trio of pitchers just outside the top ten on Royals Keep's list. Left-hander Justin Lamkin, in only two starts thus far, has a 3.97 ERA at Double-A and a 34.9% K-rate. Right-hander Drew Beam is headed in the wrong direction with a 7.13 ERA. Lastly is Felix Arronde, who in 17 starts has a 5.77 ERA, 20.1% K-rate, and 11.1% walk-rate. 

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS CHRONICLE

Cedar Rapids spent a lot of time losing this last week; in fact, the entire week was filled with a loss. They will turn the page and visit South Bend and take on the Cubs. Unfortunately for the Kernels, South Bend isn’t exactly an easier matchup, largely because of some high-end organizational prospect talent. 

That includes a top-50 prospect nationally and North Side Baseball’s number two prospect, Josiah Hartshorn. At High-A, Hartshorn has hit .279/.377/.532 (.909 OPS) with 11 home runs. There is also number six prospect, outfielder Kane Kepley, who is hitting .254/.435/.414 (.849 OPS). 

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS MATTERS

Fort Myers went 3-3 over the past week while visiting Palm Beach. What was exciting about the past week in Florida was that many of the Twins top draft picks from this year's draft began to play in real games at this level. First-round pick Vahn Lackey was able to show off all the tools that led to him being the Twins pick. 

Carson Tinnney, the other catcher taken in the second round, quickly showed off the power that made him intriguing regardless of what position he ends up at as he develops. 

 

The Mussels will hope some of their new talent will help them improve on their performance against Bradenton, whom they travel to face off against this week, and last time went 1-4 against. Middle infielder Johan De Los Santos continues to be the most exciting prospect for the Pirates on Bradenton’s roster. His adjustment to the level has not gone smoothly as he is hitting .218/.258/.310 (.568 OPS). 

DSL TWINS
Twins 4, Phillies 6
Box Score

The Phillies jumped on Twins starter Agustin Campusano in the second inning to take an early 3-0 lead. The Phillies didn’t hit Campusano with any big blasts in the inning, with Nelson Prieto’s double being the loudest hit. Instead, it was a series of singles, sacrifices, a throwing error, and a balk that put them on the scoreboard. 

The Twins did answer in the second, taking advantage of an Abel Sosa walk and an Anibal Beltre hit-by-pitch. That led to a strange series of events centered around a ground out by Fabian Ulloa, which led to Sosa scoring the Twins a run to make it 3-1. It was in that same play that the inning eventually ended, as the Phillies recorded the final two outs after the run-scoring hit. Sosa did score two runs on Monday after reaching base on two walks. 

Daiyer Barboza may have had the most exciting hit of the day, recording an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning, bringing the score to 5-3 in the Phillies favor. That was Barboza’s only hit of the day alongside two walks, bringing his year-long OPS to .870. In the next inning, Enmanuel Merlo tripled to put himself in position to score off of a single by Beltre. Merlo added a walk to his triple. The Twins did finish the day with eight total walks, doubling up their four hits. 

Miguel Martinez gave the Twins two solid innings out of the bullpen Monday. The right-hander pitched two innings, gave up two hits, walked no one, and struck out three batters. Campusano was charged with four earned runs while giving up five total, walked one batter, and struck out one batter. The Twins were very much in this game most of the way, but in the end could not overcome the early second inning runs. The team will look to rebound against Mets Orange tomorrow. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Daiyer Barboza: 1-2, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 HR
Miguel Martinez: 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW
#1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .368/.478/.474, .952 OPS, 2 2B
#2- Vahn Lackey (Mussels)- .286/.500/.286, .786, 2 SB
#3- Kaelen Culpepper (Saints)- .190/.227/.238, .465 OPS, 1 2B, 1 SB
#4- Emmanuel Rodriguez (Rehab)- .286/.333/.429, .762 OPS, 1 3B
#5- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .318/.375/.727, 1.102 OPS, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 SB
#6- Riley Quick (Wind Surge)- 2 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
#7- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)- .296/.321/.444, .766 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR
#8- Kendry Rojas (Twins)- 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
#9- Dasan Hill (Kernels)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
#10- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- .353/.429/.647, 1.076 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR
#11- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .000/.125/.000, .125 OPS
#13- Carson Tinney (Mussels)- .167/.474/.417, .890 OPS, 1 HR
#14- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- .375/.444/.375, .819 OPS
#15- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .150/.292/.300, .592 OPS, 1 HR, 1 SB
#17- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .385/.500/.769, 1.269 OPS, 1 3B, 1 HR
#18- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Louisville @ St. Paul Saints- LHP Aaron Rozek
Wichita Wind Surge @ NW Arkansas- RHP Chris Vallimont
Cedar Rapids Kernels @ South Bend- TBD
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels @ Bradenton- RHP Eric Hammond
DSL Twins @ DSL Mets Orange- TBD

View full article