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Futures Game
Buried somewhere deep beneath the streaming super highway, MLB’s yearly Futures Game played out, with the NL team handily beating the AL team 5-0. More important to us Twins fans: RHP David Festa pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and a strikeout of Milwaukee uber-prospect Jackson Chourio on three-straight sliders. He touched 97.6 MPH with his fastball.
Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Iowa 2
Box Score
Brent Headrick: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
HR: Anthony Prato (4), Chris Williams (16)
Multi-hit games: None
A breakout seventh inning led the Saints to victory on Saturday.
It wasn’t working. No matter the start, and no matter the strategy, Simeon Woods Richardson couldn’t get anyone out. The top prospect entered the weekend with a 7.27 ERA on the year at AAA—and had peripherals unable to offer him any comfort. The Saints offered a solution: Brent Headrick would start the game—acquiring as many outs as he could—allowing Woods Richardson to enter facing a Cubs lineup tuned into a left-hander.
It worked. Not only did Headrick crush his outing, Woods Richardson had one of his finest performances all year, punching out seven batters over five innings of work with a lone homer as his only blemish. This may be the blueprint needed for the talented youngster.
The bats, while not overwhelming, were well-coordinated, leading to five runs off of six hits—more than enough to best the Cubs. Austin Martin plated the first run with a double into the right-center gap, marking St. Paul’s only score until the third act.
Patience begat rewards, with an Anthony Prato moonshot finally breaking the stalemate.
And fruit continued to bear, turning a 3-1 advantage into a 5-1 lead after Chris Williams cracked a homer out to the right-center power alley.
The Cubs played feisty to end the game, scoring a second time to bring the game within three. With two runners on, Josh Winder snapped off a high curve—thought too high by the home plate ump. Williams, the catcher, disagreed. He quickly called for a challenge, and the robots agreed with his assessment, ending the game on a call overturned.
Of course, one could opine about the minors having a better strike/ball system than MLB, but that’s better saved for later.
The best Cubs prospect in Saturday’s game was Chase Strumpf. Ranked 23rd in the system by MLB.com, Strumpf struck out three times and committed an error. (Strumpf was the shortstop at JSerra High School which is why Royce Lewis played third base his first three years of varsity baseball.)
Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Tulsa 3
Box Score
Travis Adams: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: Seth Gray (5), Aaron Sabato (5), Alerick Soularie (6)
Multi-hit games: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (3-for-5, 2B)
The Wind Surge came back late to win on Saturday.
Travis Adams was fine—maybe not great—over his five innings of work, allowing three runs against a surprisingly disappointing Drillers lineup. The 23-year-old started the season poorly, but now has back-to-back five inning starts with one and three runs allowed respectively.
His bullpen had his back as well, as Regi Grace and Alex Scherff combined to toss four scoreless frames, carrying Wichita to the finish line as their bats came alive to win it.
First it was Seth Gray—sudden and violent—blasting a ball over the centerfield wall to start the scoring, then Aaron Sabato shot one the other way to tie the game at two; Alerick Soularie’s skyscraper gave Wichita the lead for good.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. collected three hits and stole his 28th base of the season.
The Drillers are led by Diego Cartaya, the Dodgers next big catcher in their efficient development system. He singled and walked in four trips to the plate.
Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 8
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Tanner Schobel (14), Noah Miller (3)
Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (3-for-4, 2B, 3 R), Noah Miller (2-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI), Noah Cardenas (2-for-5)
The Kernels scored four in the 1st, but couldn’t hold on in a thriller.
It was an ambush. Tanner Schobel blasted a fastball 420 feet away into centerfield, surging ahead to first place on the Midwest League homer leaderboard. A few batters later, Noah Miller became the one jogging safely around the bases—and his homer plated three runners, leading to a commanding 4-0 advantage.
Unfortunately, Cory Lewis wasn’t sharp. The typically tough righty mis-fired and battled, leading to an inflated pitch count as the River Bandits spit on obvious balls and waited out hittable strikes. He was out after three.
Malik Barrington held down the fort for two frames, handing the game off to Alejandro Hidalgo. His Mr. Hyde appeared. A laborious sixth shifted favor towards the River Bandits; a two-run seventh ended the game for good.
While Cedar Rapids scored twice after their initial outburst, their bats couldn’t break through to save their lost lead, and the Kernels ended up falling with a bases-loaded groundout in the 9th.
Gavin Cross—Kansas City’s best prospect—singled once and plated two runs.
Mussel Matters
Wet playing conditions ended this game before it began, and the Mussels will play a double-header on Sunday.
Complex Chronicles
The FCL Twins did not play on Saturday.
Dominican Dailies
DSL Twins 10, DSL Rockies 11 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Miguel Cordero: 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
HR: Carlos Silva (1)
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI), Moises Lopez (3-for-4, 2B, 3B, R, 4 RBI), Carlos Silva (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI)
The DSL Twins lost a classic, sloppy DSL game on Saturday.
These things happen when your starting pitcher is 16-years-old (born in 2006; hope that doesn’t ruin your Sunday). Miguel Cordero peppered the plate, making judicial use of his allotted targets to fire off four walks and five runs allowed. In his defense, his defense failed him for a few of those runs. Also in his defense, he’s two years away from being legally allowed to vote.
The DSL Twins offense was prolific, plating 10 runs off of eight hits and seven walks, leaving just five men on base. Dameury Pena, Moises Lopez, and Carlos Silva (not that one) were your stars: the trio combined for seven knocks—with four going for extra-bases.
Lopez served as a complex hero, though, as he drove in four runs and gave a few back with a pair of errors.
TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carlos Silva
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-4, 2B, R
#7 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
#8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (Futures Game)
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-5, RBI
#11 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2B, RBI, K
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR, R, 4 RBI, K
#15 - Brent Headrick (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (1:08 PM) - RHP Louie Varland
Wichita @ Tulsa (1:05 PM) - LHP Aaron Rozek
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM) - LHP Christian MacLeod
Fort Myers @ Tampa (10:00 AM) - RHP Jose Olivares
Fort Myers @ Tampa (30 minutes later)
Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!
View Twins Top Prospects
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