Minor League Report (5/12): Wichita Plates 11, Cesar Lares Strikes Out the Same

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TRANSACTIONS
1B/OF Gregory Duran activated from 7-day IL (Fort Myers)

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Toledo 4
Box Score
Joe Gunkel: 3 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (2-for-5, 2B), Tony Kemp (2-for-4, 2B, R), Patrick Winkel (2-for-4, 2 RBI)

A four-run 6th inning spearheaded a Saints victory on Sunday.

In an introduction to how the rest of the system played on Mother’s Day, the Saints found a way to win despite not hitting a homer. No one did. In the entire system. Three of the four teams still walked away victorious.

The rub? A well-balanced offense: St. Paul banged out nine hits, took six walks, and scratched and clawed their way towards five runs, just enough to take home the win. Most of the action came in the 6th, immediately after Toledo starter Ty Madden exited the game. Facing Wilmer Flores (no, the other Wilmer Flores), Matt Wallner walked, Alex Isola doubled, Yunior Severino singled, Tony Kemp doubled, and Patrick Winkel singled in succession, plating four runs with such a systematic perfection that Henry Ford would be proud.

The pitching effort was a different story. Joe Gunkel could only reach the fourth, necessitating an entourage of short-term hurlers to follow. Ironically, the worst performance went to the pitcher credited with the “W”: Josh Winder allowed a pair of runs and walked three, but because of an outstanding sense of timing, he laid claim as the man on the mound during St. Paul’s offensive breakthrough. 

Hobie Harris took home the hard-earned save with a trio of splitters, all of them good enough to fool Parker Meadows to nail the 27th out.

Former Twin Gio Urshela singled thrice for the Mud Hens.

On Sunday, the aforementioned Madden was Detroit’s finest prospect. He struck out seven over five innings, allowing just one earned run.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 11, Arkansas 1
Box Score
Jarret Whorff: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Aaron Sabato (2-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI), Jake Rucker (2-for-4, R, 3 RBI), Jorel Ortega (2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI)

The Wind Surge bludgeoned their opponents on Sunday.

It was an all-around onslaught: each batter reached base at least once, everyone scored a run, and only two players went home without a higher RBI count than they entered with. Somehow, no one homered. Runs came organically and ethically. Alerick Soularie stole home.

A special shoutout goes to Aaron Sabato, who doubled twice to move his season batting average to .350. He also struck out three times. You take the good with the bad. 

The impressive scoring should not overshadow a tremendous group pitching effort by the Wind Surge bullpen. Everyone pitched. I think Jon Rauch even snuck out there. Five relievers combined to work six innings, allowing just one hit and a lone walk along the way (thanks, Jared Solomon).

John Stankiewicz lowered his season ERA to 1.46.

The Travelers sent one of baseball's best catching prospects out to play on Sunday. Seattle’s Harry Ford ranks as the 34th-best overall prospect across the minors. He singled twice and struck out.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Iowa 2 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Christian MacLeod: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (2-for-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB)

The Kernels won using Manfred ball on Sunday.

Lefty Christian MacLeod started for the first time in nearly a month, tossing 30 pitches, earning 15 strikes, and leaving after just two frames. He looked rusty. Rusty is better than injured, though, and MacLeod should pitch better in the coming weeks.

MacLeod gave way to a bevy of relievers, none of whom allowed an earned run for the next eight innings. Jordan Carr ate up 3 ⅔ innings. Jacob Wosinski tossed in four outs. Ricardo Velez topped them all; he pitched three perfect frames with four strikeouts and an unearned run, giving him an unusual 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER line. So it goes with the Manfred runner.

Fortunately, the Kernels built up a big enough lead to make that one run insignificant. Give thanks to Ricardo Olivar: unsatisfied with a walk and a hit already under his belt, the catcher blasted a critical two-run triple to the right field to give Cedar Rapids a two-run advantage. He later scored on an error. 

Iowa’s DH Jefferson Rojas is the Cubs’ 8th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He went 0-5 at the plate.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Dunedin 4
Box Score
Cesar Lares: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Rayne Doncon (3-for-4, BB), Poncho Ruiz (2-for-2, 2B, RBI, BB) 

A three-run opening frame buried Fort Myers on Sunday.

There’s no recovering from damage already done, but Cesar Lares got as close as one can to rectifying his mistakes. A disastrous 1st inning did not portend a terrible outing; rather, the 20-year-old lefty hunkered down and crushed Dunedin’s lineup with an 11K outing, turning heads and swings with a dastardly slider. He earned 16 swings and misses. Somehow, he found the time to pick off two runners as well. 

It was not quite enough, though, as—despite acquiring more hits than their opponents—the Mighty Mussels couldn’t time their knocks well enough, leading to just three runs, all coming in the 7th. The batter of the game nod could go to either Rayne Doncon or Poncho Ruiz: Doncon reached base four times, but Ruiz added a double to his ledger.

Gregory Duran singled and scored a run in his first game since April 30th.

Toronto’s 20th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Arjun Nimmala, homered and singled in four trips to the plate.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cesar Lares
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#7 - Austin Martin (Minnesota) - 0-2
#11 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-4, R, RBI
#12 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, RBI, BB
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-4, R, RBI, BB
#15 - Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5
#16 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2 RBI, 3 K
#19 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (11:07 AM) - TBD
Wichita @ Tulsa (7:00 PM) - RHP Pierson Ohl
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM) - TBD
FCL Twins @ FCL Rays (11:00 AM) - TBD

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