Minor League Report 5/19/23: Prospects Put on a Show

TRANSACTIONS

• Shortstop Royce Lewis continues to rehab in St. Paul
• Outfielder Kyle Garlick, recalled by the Twins
• RHP Andrew Morris is reinstated from the 7-day IL after a bicep strain
• Infielder Keoni Cavaco has been activated from the 7-day IL
• Ernie Yake has been placed on the Development List

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 8, Columbus 1
Box Score
The Saints struck first blood tonight in Columbus with a solo home run from Chris Williams to go up 1-0 on the Clippers. The Clippers answered in like, but the Saint offense continued to give Clippers starting pitcher Zach Plesac a difficult time with another solo home run from Royce Lewis, who has been rehabbing with the Saints the past week. The Saints continued to take advantage of Plesac's pitching, scoring 4-1 by the fourth.

Lewis continues to not only improve after missing time for an ACL injury, but his bat has been a considerable contributor to the Saint's run count since coming up. Lewis has less than 20 days left on his rehab assignment, and Twins fans are clamoring for the shortstop to make his appearance at the club level with all the injuries mounting in Minneapolis. Lewis has a .400 BA and is responsible for five RBI in four games. 

Saints starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez struggled early on, allowing three walks and loading the bases but got himself out of a jam, only allowing one of those to turn into a run. He settled down after a rough inning and stayed in the game for five innings, keeping tight control of the strike zone and the Clipper's runs. Sanchez and the bullpen didn't allow any more runs throughout the game, giving the offense free reign to create more chaos, and what do you know? Lewis took advantage of that, getting his second home run of the night and his third since returning to St. Paul, extending the lead to 5-1. 

The Saints got three more insurance runs (two at the top of the ninth) before the game ended to gave Sanchez his second win. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 10, Arkansas 14
Box Score 
Wichita and Arkansas battled a long game throughout the late evening on Friday. Going pitch-for-pitch and hit-for-hit, the two teams stayed in sync for the first three innings with a score of 0-0, 2-2, and 4-4. Wichita starting pitcher David Festa had a rough night on the mound. Only staying in for 2.1 IP, Festa gave up five runs, only walked one, and had one strikeout. Right-hander Seth Nordin came in to clean up the inning and minimize the damage but walked three and allowed one run. Festa and Nordin gave up six earned runs together and only had one strike, giving the Travelers every opportunity to run up the score. 

The Surge was not alone, though, in their pitching woes. The offense got the same opportunity due to Arkansas' starting pitcher Emerson Hancock, who, like Festas, rarely struggles on the mound. Hancock could not strike out any of the Surge line-ups, walking five and giving up six runs to the Surge. Two of those runs from Alex Isola, who has reached base now in 16 consecutive games and has a seven-game hit streak. One of Isola's runs came in the fourth inning to break the tie-game giving the Surge a one-run lead. 

The Surge and Travelers game did not move swiftly. Each team had a considerable amount of hits, but as many hits as they had, both teams also left 32 players on base between the two of them. The pitch clock was not able to save this game’s time. The Travelers 11 hits and left 20 on base by the top of the seventh inning, but somehow managed a three run lead (11-8) over the Surge. 

The Surge bullpen simply couldn’t hold it together. The Travelers dug deep into the Surge bullpen and just exploited them at every opportunity, running up the score with the Surge unable to catch up. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 4
Box Score 
The Cedar Rapids Kernels are stacked with talent. Seven of the twenty Twins Daily prospects are in Cedar Rapids, which shows. The starting pitcher, Twins Daily #4 prospect Marcus Raya put on another clinic tonight in Peoria with three clean innings, not allowing any runs and striking out two.

Raya only threw 61 pitches before being replaced by RHP Kyle Jones in the fourth. Jones allowed one earned run in the fifth, a run from a series of unfortunate events on a fielding error by Kernel's third baseman, Ben Ross, allowing him to make it to first and secure second. However, Jones controlled the damage with routine outs to end the inning. 

The Kernels took advantage of the opportunity to get on the board in the fourth inning, earning four runs and forcing Peoria to pull their starting pitcher. Four of the Twins Daily top 20 prospects, Tanner Schobel, Misuel Urbina, Noah Miller, and Jose Salas, took turns securing runs for the Kernels, generating five of the seven RBI throughout Friday's game. The Kernels went up on the Chiefs, scoring four earned runs in the second and the fourth innings.

The Chiefs weren't willing to go down without a fight and came out swinging in the eighth inning with a pair of singles and then took Jones for three runs on a wild pitch closing the gap 4-8. 

Right fielder Kal'ai Rosario has been a huge part of the offensive results for the Kernels throughout May. Rosario ended April with over 20 strikeouts, straddling the Mendoza line with a .215 BA and .311 OBS.

Fast forward to the later part of May, as of Friday night's game, the Hawaii native still has a high strikeout ratio, but his batting average has increased to .393 BA and his OBS to .507. In Friday night's game against the Chiefs, Rosario earned two runs and drove in two RBI to help secure the win for the Kernels. 

Mussels Matters
Fort Myers 6, Lakeland 7
Box Score
The Mussel's pitching struggled tonight after a solid win in Lakeland on Thursday night. By the third inning, the Mussels starting pitcher Andrew Morris allowed three earned runs in one shot on a three-run home run from Lakeland's Peyton Graham, pulling ahead of the Mussels 3-2. 

A.J. Labas came in for Morris in the bottom of the third to minimize the damage but had his struggles coming into the fourth inning, allowing three earned runs himself. Two stolen bases from Peyton Graham and Luke Gold were compounded by fielding errors that allowed Lakeland to run the score up to 6-3. 

The two pitchers combined gave up six runs in the third and fourth inning, nullifying Mussel's three earned runs over the last three innings. 

The Mussels offense couldn't generate runs and was stifled throughout the six innings, only getting four hits total, leaving 14 on base. In the act of mercy, mother nature intervened to help the Mussels out with a temporary rain delay to gather themselves. Returning from the rain delay, the Mussels' Carlos Aguiar cleared the bases with a sharp line drive to right field, tying up the score to level the playing field. 

The Mussels fought back hard, and it looked like the game may have gone into extra innings, but Lakeland had just enough left in them to generate one more run to pull ahead and stay there to beat the Mussels 7-6. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Sanchez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, 2 R (both home runs), 1K, 2 RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
The Twins Prospect Tracker  is the best way to see how each of the Twin's top prospects performed during their games, but in case you wanted a quick look, Here is how each of the top 20 performed today: 

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - Did Not Play
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 3-for-4, 2 RBI
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI,1 BB,1 K
#4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3.0 IP, 2K 
#5 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-1, RBI, 1 BB, K
#6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch 
#7 - Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List 
#8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI, BB, 1 K
#9 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - SP 4/22/23
#10 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - Injured List 
#11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, RBI, BB, 1K
#12 - Yasser Mercedes (Extended Spring Training)
#13 - David Festa (Wichita) - 2.1 IP, 5H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
#14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 1 RBI,1 BB, K
#15 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Injured List 
#16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - SP 5/20/23
#17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul ) - Did Not Pitch
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, RBI, BB, 2 K
#19 - Jose Rodriguez (Extended Spring Training) - 
#20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 1 RBI, BB, 1K

SATURDAY SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS: 
St. Paul @ Columbus (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-1, 2.89ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST): RH Aaron Rozek (0-1, 8.10ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:35 PM CST) - Jordan Carr (1-1, 2.25ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:00 PM CST) - Cory Lewis (4-1, 2.43ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss today's game!