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  • Twins Minor League Report (5/18): Enlow Excites Again

    Ted Schwerzler

    By Ted Schwerzler

    It was a good night on the farm for the Twins affiliates, and Blayne Enlow continues to impress. Keeping him in the organization has worked out well this year, and seeing Emmanuel Rodriguez return from the IL has been a promising development as well.

    Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Blayne Enlow)

    Twins Video

    TRANSACTIONS

    • Alex De Gotti reinstated from Development List for Triple-A
    • Ryan LaMarre reinstated from Development List for Triple-A
    • Elliot Soto placed on IL for Triple-A with right thigh strain
    • Alerick Soularie placed on Temporary Inactive List

    SAINTS SENTINEL 
    Columbus 2, St. Paul 1
    Box Score

    Brent Headrick took the ball tonight for the Saints, and having gotten work for the Twins already this season, his goal was to hold serve and show he belonged. Working six innings of two-run baseball, Headrick did just that. He gave up only four hits while walking none and striking out seven on the evening. Ronny Henriquez, who was recently optioned following a rehab assignment, worked two hitless innings with four strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk.

    After getting behind on a second inning double, the Saints answered with a Hernan Perez sac fly that drove in Andrew Stevenson. Making it a 2-1 game, that’s as close as the good guys would get.

    Rehabbing Royce Lewis went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on the evening. Only Edouard Julien was able to pick up a pair of hits. With Kyle Garlick kept off of the lineup card, it stands to reason he’ll be called up for Minnesota in place on Nick Gordon on Friday.

    WIND SURGE WISDOM
    Wichita 6, Arkansas 2
    Box Score

    Making another start for the Wind Surge, Blayne Enlow was again dominant. Lasting 5 1/3 innings, the right-hander allowed only a single run on six hits while punching out ten. The run came on a solo blast and he dropped his ERA to 3.28 in the process.

    Anthony Prato put Wichita on the board in the third inning with a two run blast that scored Will Holland. Robbie Tenerowicz made things interesting in the 4th inning with a solo blast, but from there the Wind Surge ran and hid.

    David Banuelos blasted his third homer of the season in the fifth inning to make it 3-1, and then he drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth inning to plate Alex Isola and make it 4-1. Jake Rucker lifted a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to make it 5-1 and Wichita was able to weather an eighth inning solo blast by Jonatan Clase.

    Banuelos was again involved in run production when his eight-inning double play pushed DaShawn Keirsey Jr. across the plate. Not necessarily needing the breathing room, it was 6-2 Wichita.

    Yunior Severino grabbed a pair of hits on the evening and his lone multi-hit effort was enough to get it done.

    KERNELS NUGGETS
    Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 4
    Box Score

    The Kernels turned to Jaylen Nowlin tonight and he gave them six innings of solid work. Allowing just three runs on six hits, the Cedar Rapids starter issued no free passes while punching out four.

    All of the Peoria runs off of Nowling came in the first inning. Getting behind 3-0 in the opening frame, he had work to do. Buckling down, Nowlin allowed the offense to pick him up.

    In the bottom of the second inning Jose Salas singled in Kala’i Rosario to get on the scoreboard. Then Willie Joe Garry Jr. plated Noah Miller on a groundout before Jeferson Morales singled in Salas to bring Cedar Rapids even.

    Having scuffled since being activated from the injured list, Emmanuel Rodriguez made his presence known with a solo blast that put the good guys ahead. An inning later, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Tanner Schobel singled to drive in Morales and make it a 5-3 lead. Ben Ross scored on a sixth inning wild pitch, and while Cedar Rapids gave a run back in the seventh inning, they still led by enough to make this one predictable.

    Rodriguez grabbed a pair of hits on the evening and he was joined by Rosario in that column.

    MUSSEL MATTERS
    Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 1
    Box Score

    C.J. Culpepper started tonight’s game for the Mighty Mussels but he went just a single inning while allowing no baserunners and punching out one. Ricky Mineo then came in and pitched 2 2/3 innings while allowing just a single run on four hits. He struck out three and the one run came on a solo shot from Lakeland’s Mike Rothenberg.

    It took a bit for the Mighty Mussels to answer but Mikey Perez singled in Alec Sayre in the sixth inning to even things up. Perez then showed up again in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly that plated Maddux Houghton and Fort Myers found themselves ahead.

    TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
    Pitcher of the Day – Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
    Hitter of the Day – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R, RBI, HR(4), BB

    PROSPECT SUMMARY
    We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. 

    Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

    #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, K
    #2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-3, K 
    #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R, RBI, HR(4), BB
    #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2B, 2 K
    #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, RBI, K
    #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 3-4, K
    #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, K
    #17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 2.0 IP, 4 K
    #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, RBI, BB

    FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
    St. Paul @ Columbus (6:05PM CST) - RHP Aaron Sanchez
    Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP David Festa
    Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya
    Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30PM CST) - TBD

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

    Ted Schwerzler - A blogger for nearly a decade, passion for baseball and the Minnesota Twins runs deep.
    Follow Ted Schwerzler on Twitter: tlschwerz

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    FlyingFinn

    FlyingFinn 1,508

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Wow, some really good pitching tonight. Enlow goes into the 6th with 10 SO's and no walks. Headrick with 7 SO's and no walks. Nowlin was on the ropes in the first inning, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. 1 hit the rest of the way. 4 SO's and amazingly for him no walks (see a trend with our starters tonight). It feels like Nowlin always pitches two totally different games within each game, always having a bad inning and then being great the rest of the way. To complete our night of no walks by our starters in 18 plus innings, Culpepper also had 0 walks. Okay, so he pitched one inning due to the lightning delay.

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    Doctor Wu

    Doctor Wu 1,028

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    • Posted

    7 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

    Wow, some really good pitching tonight. Enlow goes into the 6th with 10 SO's and no walks. Headrick with 7 SO's and no walks. Nowlin was on the ropes in the first inning, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. 1 hit the rest of the way. 4 SO's and amazingly for him no walks (see a trend with our starters tonight). It feels like Nowlin always pitches two totally different games within each game, always having a bad inning and then being great the rest of the way. To complete our night of no walks by our starters in 18 plus innings, Culpepper also had 0 walks. Okay, so he pitched one inning due to the lightning delay.

    I've liked what I've seen, or rather read, about Nowlin so far this year. He strikes me as one of those sneaky good prospects that could end up being a good bullpen piece in the future. For those that have actually seen him pitch, or know more about him, what is your opinion of his chances?

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    nclahammer

    nclahammer 605

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    6 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

    Whats a turbo tub?

    I asked myself the same question before our baseball road trip to Wichita last year from Red Wing, MN.     Every Thursday home game, the Wichita Wind Surge tranform into their alter ego, the Turbo Tubs.     So I looked it up on their team website and here's what they said about the name.

    "The Turbo Tubs identity is a tribute to Wichita with distinct identifiers specific to the city. The wind sail and jet engines propel the porcelain bathtub onward, paying homage to the tub races once held on the Arkansas River. The troll found along the water walk, near the Keeper of the Plains, takes charge as captain, bringing to life the fable tales heard by young and old throughout the community. The branding also includes a color palette of the one-of-a-kind sunsets uniquely occurring in the Midwest geographical region."   

    The Arkansas River runs right by their ballpark.  On a personal note, I love the Turbo Tubs jerseys, and purchased a game worn/team issued jersey from their team shop last year.  If you road trip to Wichita, I highly recommend eating at Bite Me BBQ.

    So now you know.

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    Dman

    Dman 7,668

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    Kalai Rosario creeping toward the .300 mark for batting average.  Only 20 years old and performing well at High A he is looking like he could be a fast mover.  He turns 21 in July and I wonder if he can get promoted to AA around that time.  He would be young for the level but it would be nice to have a strong right handed outfield bat close to ready.  He looked good this spring against MLB or near ready MLB pitchers so it seems like he has figured some things out.

    Severino continues to hit.  Would be nice to see a few more walks but I guess when the hits are there swinging away works as well.  Hoping the bat stays hot.

    Enlow was amazing.  I have to say I was worried after last year and even more worried when they took him off the 40 man.  Still early but the signs are encouraging that he still can be a starter or long reliever at the MLB level.  Hoping he just gets stronger as the year goes on.

    Wallner with a nice game at the plate.  When he is on he is on.  I still like the bat but he has let K rate rise again and like Rooker until that is under control I just don't see it translating to MLB.  Hopefully that gets better as the year goes on.

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    jmlease1

    jmlease1 6,864

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Great to see Enlow healthy and pitching to his talent. He will be back on the 40-man after this season, and I will be surprised if he doesn't finish the year at AAA. He'll fit in nicely as rotation depth for next season and I think we will see him get his first chance in MLB in 2024.

    Severino still makes me nervous with the Ks, but he's doing everything else right at the plate. Be very interesting to see where he lands at the end of the season.

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    roger

    roger 3,625

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    What a great night for Enlow, and the Twins.  With 10 K's, looks like this young man may be close to being all the way back from his injuries.  Also, have been waiting for a night from ERod like last night.  Could this be the start of his getting back on track?

    Only question I have from last night is why Lewis was removed after 3 AB?  Was it just part of his schedule coming back?  Or was it something to be concerned about?  If Polo goes on the IL today, does Julien get the call?

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    Jocko87

    Jocko87 671

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    2 hours ago, nclahammer said:

     

    I asked myself the same question before our baseball road trip to Wichita last year from Red Wing, MN.     Every Thursday home game, the Wichita Wind Surge tranform into their alter ego, the Turbo Tubs.     So I looked it up on their team website and here's what they said about the name.

    "The Turbo Tubs identity is a tribute to Wichita with distinct identifiers specific to the city. The wind sail and jet engines propel the porcelain bathtub onward, paying homage to the tub races once held on the Arkansas River. The troll found along the water walk, near the Keeper of the Plains, takes charge as captain, bringing to life the fable tales heard by young and old throughout the community. The branding also includes a color palette of the one-of-a-kind sunsets uniquely occurring in the Midwest geographical region."   

    The Arkansas River runs right by their ballpark.  On a personal note, I love the Turbo Tubs jerseys, and purchased a game worn/team issued jersey from their team shop last year.  If you road trip to Wichita, I highly recommend eating at Bite Me BBQ.

    So now you know.

    I live here and those references are things but would never think to assemble them in that order.

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    2wins87

    2wins87 1,482

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    3 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

    I've liked what I've seen, or rather read, about Nowlin so far this year. He strikes me as one of those sneaky good prospects that could end up being a good bullpen piece in the future. For those that have actually seen him pitch, or know more about him, what is your opinion of his chances?

    Fastball is low to mid 90s topping out around 95 to 96 which is pretty good for a lefty.  I think both his slider and changeup could be above average pitches, so he should have a chance as a starter.  Still needs to improve his command quite a bit for that to happen.

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    2wins87

    2wins87 1,482

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    • Posted

    1 hour ago, roger said:

    Only question I have from last night is why Lewis was removed after 3 AB?  Was it just part of his schedule coming back?  Or was it something to be concerned about?  If Polo goes on the IL today, does Julien get the call?

    Don't know for sure but he hasn't played back to back games yet and has been lifted after around 7 innings in each of them, so I'm fairly sure it's just the build-up process.

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    2wins87

    2wins87 1,482

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Haven't watched an Enlow start yet this year so I'll want to try to do that soon.  IIRC he was getting into the mid 90s fairly regularly before his TJ and he was much more in the low 90s when I watched him last year.  I wonder if the velocity has come back a bit more.  Seems like his stuff may be more or less back to it's peak so he could be an additional depth piece this year.

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    2wins87

    2wins87 1,482

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Very nice outing by Henriquez last night after a shaky looking start to his season.  Hopefully he can string together some more good outings and maybe become a bullpen option later this year.

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    Steve Lein

    Steve Lein 3,261

  • Twins Daily Contributor

    • Posted

    2 hours ago, Dman said:

    Wallner with a nice game at the plate.  When he is on he is on.  I still like the bat but he has let K rate rise again and like Rooker until that is under control I just don't see it translating to MLB.  Hopefully that gets better as the year goes on.

    Just highlighting this comment to ask, has everyone seen what Brent Rooker is doing this year? 👀

    If you haven't, he's a legitimate early MVP candidate. 

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    chpettit19

    chpettit19 10,256

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

    Just highlighting this comment to ask, has everyone seen what Brent Rooker is doing this year? 👀

    If you haven't, he's a legitimate early MVP candidate. 

    I've been tracking him, and he's, unfortunately, coming back to earth pretty hard in May. Most definitely still a respectable hitter this month, but nothing like his MVP worthy April. Slugging down to .410 this month, but still taking his walks and keeping his OPS up in the .750 range. I hope he's found something and becomes a nice big leaguer, though. Seems like a hard worker, and a good kid.

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