Minor League Report (9/1): Plucky Saints Swipe a Win in Omaha

TRANSACTIONS
Y’all ready?
OF Nick Lucky activated (A Fort Myers)
SS Kevin Maitan activated (A+ Cedar Rapids)
3B Billy Amick placed on 7-day IL with left rib strain (A Fort Myers); move is retroactive to August 31st
INF Michael Helman selected by Twins
RHP Diego Castillo selected by Twins
INF Brooks Lee completed rehab assignment, returned to Twins
RHP Caleb Boushley DFA’d

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Omaha 3
Box Score
Travis Adams: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints came back late to best the mighty Storm Chasers on Sunday.

St. Paul sent a special starter to the mound. After returning to Wichita for a second-straight season, Travis Adams shaved nearly two runs off his ERA and cut his WHIP to acceptable levels. August was an especially dominant month; the righty allowed two earned runs. The entire month. Two. The exceptional performance earned him a promotion to St. Paul—and today’s match marked his AAA debut.

It went ok. Real life is often less fun than fiction. Omaha—heartless and evil as they are—ambushed him in the opening frame, dropping three runs on the Palm Springs native before he could even earn a second out.

That was the worst of it, though, and Adams settled into a relative groove, holding the Storm Chaser offense at bay through the next four innings. In fact, the Saints never gave up another run; Jeff Brigham, Giovanny Gallegos, and Hobie Harris smothered their opponents with four combined frames, six strikeouts, and just one hit allowed. 

That bought plenty of time for the Saints offense to kick into action. They struck in the 5th with a droopy RBI knock from Diego A. Castillo and another well-placed single from DaShawn Keirsey Jr.

Then—with two on in the 7th—Castillo knotted the game with a sacrifice fly, and Yunior Severino gave St. Paul their first lead with a double into the corner.

The aforementioned reliever triumvirate took over, crushed any and all hope, and St. Paul walked away the victors of a thrilling, impressive win. 

The Storm Chasers are the AAA affiliate of the Royals, whose farm system leans young. Their best prospect on Sunday was the last one mentioned in MLB Pipeline’s top 30: RHP Eric Cerantola. He allowed two runs and took the loss. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Springfield 5
Box Score
Pierson Ohl: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kala’i Rosario (2-for-5), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, 2B, R)

Too little, too late: Wichita’s third-act comeback attempt came up short on Sunday.

Starting for the first time since June 25th, Pierson Ohl looked like his old self. Always one for modesty, Ohl delivered a minimalist pitching line, allowing just two hits—a pair of singles—without a run or a walk. He struck out one. After a disastrous start to the season, you may have forgotten about the young righty, which portended a month-and-a-half absence, but he may be back on the horse now; we’ll see how he throws down the stretch.

The Wind Surge bats, once again, were sparse. That’s been a common theme for them this year. Sunday looked to be the zenith of their un-offensive nature, with the Cardinals holding them hitless until the 6th, but a furious 8th snapped them into place. 

Kala’i Rosario singled, Tanner Schobel doubled, and Alex Isola drove both runners in with a single up the gut. Aaron Sabato cracked a double to right to put the tying run in scoring position, but Andrew Cossetti was caught window-shopping to kill the rally. 

Springfield responded with a fifth and final run to put the game solidly out of reach.

Cardinals’ DH, Leonardo Bernal, is the 9th-best prospect in St. Louis’ usually excellent system. He collected an RBI and a single in four at-bats. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Lake County 6
Box Score
Ricky Castro: 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Jose Salas (4), Kyle Hess (2)
Multi-hit games: Rixon Wingrove (2-for-4, 2B, RBI)

A middle-inning melee did the Kernels in on Sunday.

Starter Ricky Castro continued his A+ culture shock, allowing four earned runs across 4 ⅓ frames with as many walks as strikeouts. Command eluded him, and his inefficiency could only be rivaled by the country's muckiest bureaucracy; Castro needed 86 pitches to coax his 13 outs. His Kernels ERA is now 4.94.

Cedar Rapids’ offense was… concentrated. Perhaps mild if you don’t care to be kind. Rixon Wingrove doubled home a run in the 4th to kick off the scoring, but the well ran dry after back-to-back blasts by Jose Salas and Kyle Hess the following frame. In fact, a Kernel runner only reached scoring position once more when a Gabriel Gonzalez single advanced Walker Jenkins to second in the 8th. It was a solid opportunity to make Lake County sweat a little. Kaelen Culpepper struck out, and Rubel Cespedes popped out to end the threat.

The game ended Jenkins’ 10-game hitting streak

Recent 1st overall pick and current 12th overall prospect, Travis Bazzana, homered and reached base three times in five plate appearances.

MUSSEL MATTERS
The Mighty Mussels were supposed to play a doubleheader on Sunday, but action never came to fruition; unplayable field conditions rendered both matches unplayable. The games are canceled and will not be made up later. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kyle Hess/Jose Salas

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) - 1-4
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, K
#15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-5, R, K
#17 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-4, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (4:07 PM) - TBD
Wichita @ Frisco (6:05 PM) - RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-1, 10.13 ERA) 

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!