Twins Minor League Report (4/15): James Ellwanger Favors Zeroes

TRANSACTIONS
OF Caden Kendle transferred to Temporarily Inactive List (Cedar Rapids)
RHP Travis Adams added to Fort Myers on Major League rehab
RHP Billy Oldham transferred from 7-day IL to 60-day IL (Fort Myers)
INF Bryan Acuña placed on 7-day IL with left hamstring strain (Fort Myers)
INF Ramiro Dominguez promoted to Fort Myers 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 9, Lehigh Valley 7
Box Score
John Klein: 3 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: Gabriel Gonzalez (3), Emmanuel Rodriguez (3)
Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Alan Roden (3-for-5, R, RBI), Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB)

The Saints were victorious in a run-happy game on Wednesday. 

If John Klein was hoping to flush away the memories of the April 5th start that has bloated his early-season ERA, he’ll need to look towards next week for better luck. The Brooklyn Park native started powerfully, punching out five of the first six batters he saw. But the 96 that startled hitters at the start of the game slipped to the 94, 93 range—evidently the difference between dominance and hittability. Óscar Mercado took him yard in the third. Felix Reyes ended his night with a two-run bomb in the fourth. So it goes.

St. Paul’s bats came to rumble, though, and fight they did: Tanner Schobel drew blood with an RBI double in the second, and Emmanuel Rodriguez drilled a frozen rope to left-center in the third to score a second run.

Then, floodgates. Carnage. Schobel singled, Walker Jenkins wore a pitch, and Kaelen Culpepper doubled to score both men.

Alan Roden dinked one between the wide swath of real estate between the third baseman and the shortstop, setting up Gabriel Gonzalez to hop all over a hanging curveball slapped with a sticky note that said “hit me” on it.

Lehigh Valley clawed back with four runs stacked onto Dan Altavilla and Marco Raya—two hurlers who now have season ERAs above 10. 

But the IronPigs never took the lead. Rodriguez hammered a homer for insurance, and Drew Smith navigated around a few ninth-inning base runners to save the game.

Nobody in Philadelphia’s top-30 prospect list played in the game. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 5, Springfield 3
Box Score
Ryan Gallagher: 4 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: Ben Ross 2 (2, 3), Kala’i Rosario (2), Jose Salas (1)
Multi-hit games: Ben Ross (2-for-2, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB)

Wichita bludgeoned four homers in a satisfactory win on Wednesday.

Coming off a start where he was great, Ryan Gallagher was good. The righty surrendered a first-inning homer—perhaps setting the tone for the rest of the day—before settling into an even if not mildly inefficient rhythm. Runners reached in four of the five frames he appeared. He walked two. The UC Santa Barbara product walked off the mound needing 70 pitches to net 13 outs. 

The other pitcher netted in the Willi Castro trade, Sam Armstrong, relieved Gallagher, and was also acceptably, overwhelmingly competent. He allowed one run over 3 ⅔ frames, though matched walk and strikeout totals with two apiece.

Now, the fun stuff: the homers. The Wind Surge were in a bopping mood on Wednesday. Ben Ross kicked off the slugfest with a lead-off shot, making sure a hanging slider landed where all lethargic breaking stuff should go to die. Then, Kala’i Rosario spotted an outside fastball that looked like it belonged in the opposing team’s bullpen; so that’s where he sent it. 

Ross returned in the third to smack an opposite-field shot in the direction of five fans who believed their minded business was safe in right field. They were wrong.

Jose Salas also homered, but the mighty Powers That Be who control the Wichita Twitter account deemed his blast too boring to post. Poor guy.

Aaron Rozek earned the save in his 126th career minor league game. He now has 465 ⅓ innings under his belt in the Twins organization, the 40th-most for the franchise dating back to 2006. Who’s the lucky hurler at the top of the mountain? Pat Dean with 866. 

Springfield sent the famous switch-pitcher, Jurrangelo Cijntje, to the mound on Wednesday. Ranked as baseball’s 82nd-best prospect—and standing as one of the only men we’ve ever seen who can capably throw with both hands, Cijntje pitched the entire game righty. The Cardinals should be tried for being boring sticks in the mud. 

Kernels Nuggets
Weather intervened on the planned Kernels game; they will play a doubleheader on Thursday.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 3 (10 Innings)
Box Score
James Ellwanger: 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
HR: Eduardo Beltre (2)
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-5), Quintin Young (2-for-5), Yasser Mercedes (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB), JP Smith II (2-for-5, R), Eduardo Beltre (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI)

The Mighty Mussels won on a walk-off on Wednesday.

One of these days, James Ellwanger will allow a run. Maybe. Perhaps not. The 3rd-round Dallas Baptist supernova has totaled 11 ⅔ pro innings now—not once has he seen a runner cross home. He may not know such a thing is possible. Wednesday also saw a no-hit outing, though at the expense of three walks. 

Unfortunately, the Mighty Mussels found Lakeland pitching to also be unfriendly. They racked up runners to no avail, only breaking through when their eighth man to reach base actually came around to score (a previous misadventure with Quinten Young and Yasser Mercedes resulted in the former being thrown out trying to score from second on an infield single.) That sixth inning score was your typical walk/steal/advance-on-a-flyball/run-plating wild pitch sequence. Mercedes was the protagonist.

Lakeland realized that homers—especially with someone on base—are way more efficient than going to Station to Station with Bowie or a 21-year-old Latin ballplayer, so they crushed a two-run shot in the seventh. 

Fort Myers clawed back with an even more turgid progression, turning two singles, a walk, and a challenged (yet confirmed) walk into the game-tying score. 

In extras, Lakeland plated their customary Manfred Man, which would have won them the game if Eduardo Beltre didn’t sit on a 3-0 fastball and crush the offering out to left field to win the game.

MLB’s 30th-ranked prospect, infielder Bryce Rainer, singled and walked in five plate appearances. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – James Ellwanger
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ben Ross

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, RBI
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 3 K
#15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B
#20 – James Ellwanger (Fort Myers) - 4 ⅔ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 PM) - LHP Connor Prielipp
Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Mike Paredes
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (4:30 PM) - LHP Dasan Hill
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (Game Two) - TBD
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Riley Quick

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!