Twins Minor League Report (8/9): Wichita Awakens Late, Wins a Thriller

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Callan Fang)

TRANSACTIONS

No moves were made on Sunday.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Louisville 11
Box Score
Aaron Rozek: 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: Kala’i Rosario (2), Ben Ross (12)
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints were thumped on Sunday.

A day after beating the Bats solidly, the Saints saw their fortunes reversed, as Aaron Rozek surrendered six runs in three innings, and their lineup did little to resist the veteran Kent Emanuel across his six excellent frames. 

Every St. Paul pitcher allowed at least one run on Sunday.

Two homers marked the only runs of the day for the Saints: a fifth inning smash by Kala’i Rosario that closely resembled a torpedo launch, and an eighth inning blast by Ben Ross that cleared the bullpens and the berm before bouncing majestically into the awaiting hands of a victorious fan.

Shortstop Leo Balcazar ranks as the 16th-best prospect in the Cincinnati Reds’ system. He singled twice and walked in five trips to the plate.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 3
Box Score
Preston Johnson: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: Kyle DeBarge (12), Caden Kendle (4), Garrett Spain (18)
Multi-hit games: Caden Kendle (3-for-5, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Garrett Spain (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, RBI, BB)

The Wind Surge rallied late to win on Sunday.

The teams dealt each other two blank frames before Wichita struck for the first run of the ballgame. Staring out at two men on base, Caden Kendle shot a single up the middle, easily scoring Jay Thomason who was stealing on the play, though the trailing Kyle DeBarge—who began his adventure on first—was thrown out with relative ease.

He made up for the play with a solo homer in his next at-bat, sending a hanging 0-2 offering over the left-center wall. 

Unfortunately, the lead quickly evaporated. Sam Armstrong relieved Preston Johnson, and he found the hitters Johnson easily quelled to be in a much more vigorous mood. A walk, a hit by pitch, and a three-run homer flipped the game on its head.

Wichita stood paralyzed by the rally for two innings, striking out four times between the sixth and seventh in what seemed like a meager slide that would carry the team into a loss. But it didn’t. With no buildup, Caden Kendle blasted a solo homer in the eighth to tie the game. Sensing an altered mood, Garrett Spain backed up his buddy, and smacked a homer of his own to give the Wind Surge a lead. 

And they expanded on it. Jake Rucker doubled, Graham Brown walked, and Jorel Ortega cracked a double into the left-center gap to safely deliver both home. Kyle Bischoff slammed the door with two scoreless innings. 

NW Arkansas outfielder Carson Roccaforte is the 16th-best prospect in the Royals system, according to MLB.com. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 1, South Bend 13 
Box Score
Cesar Lares: 2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
HR: Jacob McCombs (7)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels had their clock cleaned on Sunday.

What a strange idiom. Apparently it arrived somewhere in the late 1800s, shot up in popularity after the turn of the century, immediately died down, and slowly crept back into vernacular in the 2000s. And no one seems to know where it originated. Fascinating.

Anyways, matters were grim. Cedar Rapids struggled in all three phases, committing three errors, allowing nine earned runs, and accruing just one run in eight innings before the game mercifully ended when even mother nature determined it necessary to scrub the match from the record books. Multiple Kernels catchers took a beating. Eduardo Tait’s injury forced him out of the game; Luis Hernandez’s portended the game-ending rain.

Cedar Rapids’ lone run was a lead-off blast by Jacob McCombs. They only advanced a runner to second three more times, and no Kernel touched third the rest of the day.

Rehabbing prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez played right field and singled and walked twice in four trips to the plate. 

Iowa first baseman Josiah Hartshorn is the 60th-best prospect in MLB. He homered, doubled, and walked in five plate appearances. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 3
Box Score
Callan Fang: 3 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Yovanny Duran (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI)

The Mighty Mussels snuck in a win on Sunday.

It was a bad day to stand in the batter’s box against Callan Fang. The righty was on his game, twisting Bradenton hitters into the ground with his low 90s heat and collection of breakers. He allowed one hit—a 41.6 MPH nubber that drove into the ground and died before any fielder could reach it. He struck out nine. That bested his career-high mark by four. An excellent game for the 2025 13th-rounder out of Harvard.

The teams were at an impasse for five innings, exchanging zeroes like trading cards as hitters found practicing their craft impossible for some time. 

Perhaps an ejection was the spark the game needed. Mighty Mussels outfielder Bryce Fowler was picked off at second base—or so said the umpire—and he disagreed with the call, earning a ticket for “anywhere but here” as he was ushered out of the game. 

That sparked a three-run rally, with Yovanny Duran singling in one and Colby Turner delivering two home.

Bradenton struck for two in the bottom of the frame, and Fort Myers responded in the eighth with two of their own thanks to a botched fielding effort by pitcher Tony Gonzalez simply summed up as a “fielder’s choice.” A mistake is a choice, so says the box score.

One more Marauders’ run pushed the score to its end game, which is where it stood until one out in the bottom of the ninth, when rain descended upon the field and netted the final two outs for Fort Myers.

Rehabber Nick Yorke singled and walked in four plate appearances for Bradenton.

No member of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospect list played in Sunday’s game.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Callan Fang
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Caden Kendle

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

#2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 1-5 2 K
#4 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-2, 2 BB
#7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4
#11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
DSL Tigers 2 @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD

 

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[Cory Engelhardt]

Anyone else see that Jenkins and Lackey both didn't play and just assume/hope they are both promoted soon respectively?

[wesnewy]

doesn't seem like many of the top 20 guys played today. Kinda weird 

[mnfireman]

12 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Anyone else see that Jenkins and Lackey both didn't play and just assume/hope they are both promoted soon respectively?

Lackey batted 2nd as the DH...

[Cory Engelhardt]

8 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Lackey batted 2nd as the DH...

Yup, you are right. He sat the previous 2 games. My bad.

[weinshie]

2 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Anyone else see that Jenkins and Lackey both didn't play and just assume/hope they are both promoted soon respectively?

But Roden is tearing it up...

[DJL44]

Caden Kendle has been ridiculous in Wichita. I am glad the Cardinals couldn’t get him to sign in 2023.