Twins Minor League Report (4/13): We Are Talking About the Same Sport, Correct?

TRANSACTIONS

-OF Mark Contreras promoted from A+ Fort Myers to AA Pensacola. Jaylin Davis was placed on the Injured List.

-RHP Jacob Blank promoted from rookie ball extended spring training to A+ Fort Myers

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 18, Lehigh Valley 20 (10 innings)

Box Score

Yes, you are reading that correctly, that is an 18 to 20 game that occurred today ...

Chase De Jong: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 63.8% strikes (46 of 72 pitches)

HR: Ronald Torreyes (2), Zander Wiel 2 (2), Willin Rosario (3), Wynston Sawyer (1), Brent Rooker (3)

Multi-hit games: John Andreoli (2-for-5, 2 2B), Willin Rosario (4-for-7, HR), Brent Rooker (3-for-6, HR), Wynston Sawyer (3-for-3, HR, 2 2B), Randy César (3-for-5), Zander Wiel (4-for-5, 2 HR, 2B)

Truly, one only needs to take a glimpse at the box score to capture the essence of one of the more absurd baseball games to ever be played, not just including the minor leagues, but of all time. In total, the damage was a ridiculous 15 home runs combined between the two teams and 38 runs scored in 10 innings. The major league record for home runs in a game is 12 if you wanted a frame of reference.

In a game where a “safe lead” would be considered outright laughable by those playing, over a full mile of home run distance was blasted out of Frontier Field. Those in a 10-mile radius of the stadium who enjoy the art of pitching keeled over left and right as homer after homer was launched in an attempt to confuse those whose job it is to observe the results and force those poor individuals to declare the box score to be broken.

No pitcher who was forced into this onslaught left without scars as each pitcher gave up at least one unearned run and only the lucky Edubray Ramos was left without an earned run to his name. The “winner” of this game, Josh Martin, was touched for three runs over his two innings of work along with a blown save, a shining example of why pitching wins is a flawed stat.

Red Wings starter Chase De Jong was tossed in the fourth inning along with manager Joel Skinner in what was probably an act of grace towards both individuals by the home plate umpire.

Home runs by Zander Wiel and Ronald Torreyes in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Red Wings a slim one-run lead heading into the ninth that was eliminated by a game-tying shot from Jan Hernandez. A 10th inning three-run home run by Sean Rodriguez would be the final blow needed to end the game as the Red Wings could only respond with a Willin Rosario RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

Here is video evidence of the carnage, avert your eyes pitching lovers:

https://twitter.com/RocRedWings/status/1117198871707492353

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 0, Jacksonville 1

Box Score

Griffin Jax: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 63.5% strikes (47 of 74 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

Stop me if you have heard this already, but the Pensacola Blue Wahoos saw yet another strong start from one of their starting pitchers, this time from RHP Griffin Jax who threw six shutout innings. I’ll let the Blue Wahoos themselves tell you how electric their starting pitching has been so far:

https://twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall/status/1117237264076214272

The Blue Wahoos offense could not do much as they scattered three hits across the nine frames along with three walks that amounted to zero runs.

An eighth inning RBI single by the Jumbo Shrimp proved to be the only run in the ballgame as both squads decided to be the exact opposite of the Red Wings game earlier.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Clearwater 0

Box Score

Bailey Ober: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 77.7% strikes (49 of 63 pitches)

HR: Ryan Jeffers (1)

Multi-hit games: Aaron Whitefield (2-for-4, 2B), Lewin Diaz (2-for-4)

The Fort Myers Miracle secured an away series win against the Clearwater Threshers with a clean 3-0 shutout, their third shutout of the week.

RHP Bailey Ober continued to dominate hitters as he threw six efficient shutout innings to go on top of the six shutout innings he threw in his last start, giving him a predictable ERA of 0.00 on the season. After a great 2018 season at A+ for Ober and now these two strong performances, maybe it is time to consider whether he should be in the top 20 prospects list.

The game was a 0-0 stalemate until the top of the sixth inning when Aaron Whitefield hit a double and Royce Lewis thought that he too would like to be on second base, so he hit a double of his own, scoring Whitefield on the play.

That run would have been all the Miracle needed to win, but such a future would be too boring for Ryan Jeffers, so when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with Lewin Diaz at first base, he determined that a two-run home run now would be the best time for his first homer of the year, and so he made it be as he blasted a homer, giving the Miracle a 3-0 lead that would hold until the end of the game.

Here’s Marshall Kelner on just how dominant the Miracle pitching was:

https://twitter.com/MarshallKelner/status/1117231399352844288

https://twitter.com/MarshallKelner/status/1117233897165787136

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 1

Box Score

Josh Winder: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 64.0 % strikes (57 of 89 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels and Bees felt the cosmic shift that was the Red Wings and IronPigs game and decided to off-set it with a nice, close, low-scoring game that would cleanse the pallet of pitching lovers everywhere.

Even the runs that were scored were done so in an unusual way with a second inning Kernels run coming from a wild pitch that scored Michael Davis and a seventh inning throwing error that scored Trey Cabbage. While the Bees might be upset at how these runs went down, at the end of the day, a run is a run and a win is a win.

The Kernels pitching trio of Josh Winder, Brian Rapp, and Joe Record combined to strike out 15 total Bees while allowing only four hits, one of the extra-base variety.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Bailey Ober

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel (special shoutout to the rest of the Red Wings offense)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, RBI

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured list

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 2 K

#5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Season has not started

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 3-for-6, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB, 3 K

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Did not play

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured list

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, K

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0 for 3, K

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Lehigh Valley @ Rochester (12:00 P.M. CST) - LHP Justin Nicolino

Jacksonville @ Pensacola (1:05 P.M. CST) - RHP Andro Cutura

Fort Myers @ Clearwater (12:00 P.M. CST) - LHP Charlie Barnes

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 P.M. CST) - RHP Andrew Cabezas

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games.

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!