Twins Minor League Report (8/19): A Wind Surge Classic in Sweltering Heat

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Charisma Jones (photo of Riley Quick)

 

TRANSACTIONS

No moves were made on Wednesday.

Saints Sentinel

The Saints echoed traffic on Wednesday, with a start-stop nature that eventually resulted in the game being suspended in the bottom of the third. Unlike Traffic, they were not Feelin’ Alright. Play will resume on August 20th. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 9, Frisco 8
Box Score
Riley Quick: 4 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
HR: Garrett Spain (22)
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-5, 2B, R), Kyle DeBarge (2-for-5, R, 3 RBI), Jay Thomason (2-for-2, R, RBI, 3 BB)

“Now we’ve got that damned Cowboy,” exclaimed Senator Mark Hanna when President William McKinley’s death thrust the youthful Theodore Roosevelt into the highest office in the land. Though his ascent to power was under shocking a macabre haze, the nation’s 26th President would go down as one of its finest, embodying the spirit and vigor of the nascent west with a unique character that continues to reverberate throughout the ages.

The Rough Riders were, of course, a volunteer cavalry in the Spanish-American war, led by former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned his office to fight in Cuba (and he may not even be the most famous Roosevelt to hold the position). Their charge up San Juan Hill remains a defining and iconic story; with the heroic Roosevelt charging head-first into battle, as if death were a mere minor obstacle to be trampled and overcome, much like other challenges in the New York native’s life.

So, why does Frisco carry his namesake? Other than the fact that his men consisted of many Texans, the connection between the parent Rangers and the Rough Riders as  bandolier-strapped enforcers of justice seems to be the key. And also the fact that the affable, outgoing President remains an easily identifiable figure in American culture doesn’t seem to hurt (look, considering some of the stuff minor league teams pull, the logic here isn’t as strained as you may think). 

The Wind Surge won in a thriller on Wednesday.

Meager his introduction to AA may have been, Riley Quick revealed why he’s such a well-regarded prospect. The righty punched out eight across 4 ⅓ innings, driving boring sinkers into right-handed hitters while corkscrewing batters off all handedness with dastardly breaking balls. The strikeout total was his highest since whiffing nine on June 11th.

Marek Houston started matters with a single of Ben Anderson, twin brother of Ian—not the Jethro Tull guy—and advanced to third on a stray pickoff attempt. A Brandon Winokur walk put men on the corners; a Caden Kendle double plated one; a Kyle DeBarge single added two more. Winokur knocked in Houston the second for a fourth run.

The RoughRiders marked Quick with his lone blemish when he unleashed a run-scoring wild pitch in the third, a score soon matched by the Wind Surge in the fifth off a DeBarge groundout.

Sitting at 5-1, Frisco pounced on the incoming Sam Armstrong for a four-run flurry, sending the right-hander in a tizzy as Quick’s hard work was quickly rendered obsolete.

The wonderfully powerful Garrett Spain kicked off a seventh-inning response, shooting an opposite field blast sailing into an empty and sad-looking Peak Porch.

Two more came around to score in the frame off a Graham Brown single.

Unfortunately, Frisco responded. Despite the 100+ degree temperatures, no one was content with packing it in and going home. They matched the Wind Surge volley with one swing: a three-run blast that could have defeated the morals of a lesser-inclined squad.

Once more, Wichita went to work. Spain walked. An error allowed him to reach third. Hoping to end things for good, Jay Thomason grounded a sharp bounding ball through the middle, easily ushering in Spain to give the team a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Mitch Mueller slammed the door in the ninth.

Superstar prospect Sebastian Walcott DH’d for the RoughRiders on Wednesday. The 9th-overall youngster on MLB.com’s top 100 list went 0-5 with a pair of strikeouts. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 5 
Box Score
Reed Moring: 3 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
HR: Irvin Nunez (1)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels were solidly beat on Wednesday.

No one knows quite how Reed Moring did it. Six hits and four walks across 10 outs should have resulted in at least one run, if not a bushel of scores. Yet, the magician out of Santa Cruz navigated and tamed the flames, somehow escaping with the squeaky clean line of a perfectly efficient hurler.

Ross Dunn wasn’t so lucky; the fires from before singed him for three earned runs, ballooning his ERA as the burning metaphor reached its logical conclusion. 

Irvin Nunez socked a solo homer for the Kernels’ lone run of the day. 

Byron Chourio enjoyed a relatively tepid, yet still successful day at the plate for the Kernels, doubling and walking to push his A+ slash line to .318/.423/.682 in 11 games. The same goes for JP Smith II, whose hit-and-a-walk outing moved his Cedar Rapids line to .333/.464/.644 in 14 games.

You may recognize the name Starlyn Caba. The shortstop was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia before the 2025 season. He collected two hits and walked twice in five plate appearances.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Palm Beach 8
Box Score
Matt Barr: 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: Colby Turner (1)
Multi-hit games: Colby Turner (3-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI)

The Mighty Mussels were bested on Wednesday.

Don’t blame Colby Turner, mighty in stroke and singular in vision was he. The 12th-rounder out of Michigan waited through a rain delay—sitting, pondering how he may look to start the game as the leadoff hitter—and pounced on the first pitch he saw, lasering the offering 107.5 MPH out to left field. The ball may have left a vapor trail as it sliced through the air. 

The run portended two disastrous early frames, in which Matt Barr surrendered four runs in the second, and Melvin Rodriguez saw three more touch home in the third. Though the Cardinals would only score once more, the damage had been done.

Fort Myers tacked on a run in the sixth off a Vahn Lackey RBI groundout and pushed two more across in the eighth thanks to a moon-scraping triple by Aidan Teel. 

Quentin Young accomplished a dubious feat on Wednesday, collecting his 29th, and 30th errors of the season. Billed a raw prospect, the youngster may need an entire McCormick factory’s worth of seasoning on defense. 

Palm Beach centerfielder Alexander Frias ranks as the fourth-best prospect in the Cardinals system. He went 1-5 with two strikeouts.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Riley Quick
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Colby Turner

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

#2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Twins) - 3-4, R
#4 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-5, 2B, R
#5 – Riley Quick (Wichita) - 4 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
#8 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#11 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-4, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
#18 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#19 – Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, 4 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (11:05 AM) - RHP Trent Baker
Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM) - RHP Preston Johnson
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:05 PM) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez
Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 PM) - RHP Cristian Hernandez

 

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[Dman]

Nice to see Quick with a dominant outing at AA.  He's no Zebby when it comes to walks, but he sure has had the stuff to K batters from his first start in pro ball.  Really excited about Quick, but the lack of control worries me. More work to do, but he sure look like a front of the rotation starter if he can find some decent control.

Kendle 2 for 4 with walk.  Both extra bases a double and home run to keep his BA at .,400 and up his OPS 1.151 at AA.  He's been on a heater since July and doesn't appear to be slowing down.  If they move some guys from AAA to MLB I wonder if Kendle gets a shot at AAA this year.

[terrydactyls]

The paragraph about Colby Turner was quite melodious, but no where did you mention that the 107.5 MPH laser beam didn't just go to left field.  It left the park.  It would have been nice if you had mentioned that minor detail.