Twins Minor League Report (5/31): A Saintly Shutout

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Travis Adams recalled by Twins
RHP Ricky Castro promoted to AAA St. Paul
RHP Mike Paredes selected by Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Louisville 0
Box Score
Trent Baker: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
HR: Matt Wallner (1)
Multi-hit games: Matt Wallner (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI)

The Saints pitched a combined shutout on Sunday.

Though Trent Baker appeared first, he was a false starter: indeed, C.J. Culpepper and Ricky Castro teamed up to provide bulk frames in this match. The day was a triumph for both pitchers; for Culpepper, as it was easily his best appearance as a Saint; and for Castro, who performed better for St. Paul than he did during his substitute teaching foray in late April. Combined, they totaled six shutout innings with eight strikeouts.

The big blast in the game came from Matt Wallner, who popped his first longball since his demotion. And it was a vintage sight: a fastball coming in at 98 that left the bat with screaming, evil intentions.

Héctor Rodríguez, who doubled twice and singled once on Sunday, ranks as the Reds’ fifth-best prospect, according to MLB.com. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Game One: Wichita 3, Springfield 4 (8 innings)
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Andrew Cossetti (3), Jose Salas (5)
Multi-hit games: Andrew Cossetti (2-for-2, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB)

This was a continuation of Saturday’s game, which was suspended after six innings. Perhaps matters should have been forgotten about entirely: Wichita returned to the field and found the grass unfriendly and the dirt cruel. The squandered an opportunity with two men in scoring position in the eighth, before losing outright when third baseman Murphy Stehl airmailed his toss to second in an effort to turn two. Fun stuff.

Game Two: Wichita 5, Springfield 6
Box Score
Jose Olivares: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
HR: Caleb Roberts (2)
Multi-hit games: Garrett Spain (2-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB), Caleb Roberts (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB)

The Wind Surge were walked off on Sunday.

You don’t see many shutout outings with more balls than strikes, yet that’s exactly what Jose Olivares delivered, shutting out the Cardinals for four frames despite having 29 of his 56 pitches fall safely outside the strike zone. “Effectively wild,” you may call it. 

The Wind Surge offense laid dormant for six innings, putting men on in nearly every frame without successfully advancing anyone home.

Ironically, the seventh seemed like it would be more of the same, as a leadoff single was erased by a double play. Back-to-back walks returned hope, and singles from Garrett Spain and Kala’i Rosario placed two runs on the board.

That broke the dam: Caleb Roberts cracked a solo homer in the eighth, and Kyle DeBarge drew two more home with a double later in the inning. The Wind Surge led 5-1.

Such a lead ordinarily should have been safe, but the bottom of the ninth proved to be no ordinary inning, as a flurry of singles, and a sacrifice fly suddenly cut the deficit in half. No matter. Jarrett Whorff needed just one more out to escape the inning—and the game—with the lead. He reared back and fired a slider—one of the cement mixing variety—and Miguel Ugueto blasted the offering out to left field to catapult the Cardinals into the lead. An imminent win turned sour in seconds.

Springfield catcher Rainel Rodriguez clocks in as the game’s 24th-best prospect. He went 0-4. 

Rehabbing big leaguer Lars Nootbaar DH’d for Springfield, walking twice in five plate appearances. That sounds like Lars Nootbaar, alright. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 1
Box Score
Garrett Horn: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Quinn McDaniel (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB)

The Kernels crushed their opponent on Sunday. 

Marek Houston established the game’s story immediately, walking and on five pitches before reaching third on a pair of wild pitches. He finished his hero’s journey around the bases thanks to a Khadim Diaw sacrifice fly.

And he wasn’t done: the shortstop stepped to the plate in the second with two one, and he brought both home with a sharp double into the left field corner.

Seven of Cedar Rapids’ nine batters reached base on Sunday.

Quinn McDaniel continues to be a force in the Twins organization. He’s played just 15 games but has collected 26 hits—that’s as many as Cal Raleigh across his 41 major league games this year. The indy-ball signing rapidly earned a promotion to Cedar Rapids; a ticket to Wichita may arrive in no time. On Sunday, he singled twice and walked.

Garrett Horn made his second start for the Kernels since returning from injury, and he was once again extremely effective, whiffing five over three innings. He allowed one run. Including his rehab outings, the lefty allowed just one earned run and three hits across 12 frames in May.

Catcher Blake Mitchell ranks as the 54th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He went 0-4 on Sunday with a pair of strikeouts.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 4
Box Score
Reed Moring: 3 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Quentin Young (5)
Multi-hit games: Graham Brown (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI)

The Mighty Mussels scored five unanswered to win on Sunday.

As always, disaster started with Nixon. Chirinos, in this case. The Hammerheads catcher may not be a crook, but he helped Jupiter steal three runs in the second, when a walk portended a Henry Kusiak throwing error, which portended a pair of run-scoring hits. Jupiter was playing chess while Fort Myers was stuck with checkers.

The gaffe snapped the Mighty Mussels back into focus. Quentin Young got the team on the board with a skyscraping opposite-field blast in the third, and Luis Fragoza slugged in a pair on a double two innings later.

Suddenly, Fort Myers was only down by one. Suddenly, Jupiter looked meek. A Yilber Herrera sacrifice fly in the seventh evened the score—and Graham Brown snuck one up the middle one frame later to complete the comeback.

Michael Hilker and Mike McKenna combined to retire 15 consecutive Hammerheads to end the game. 

Andrew Salas—brother of Padres prospect, Ethan, and Wind Surge, Jose—ranks as the Marlins’ 11th-best prospect. He went 1-for-4 with a double. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – C.J. Culpepper
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Caleb Roberts

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

#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2 BB, K
#5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, K
#7 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-2, 2B
#13 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-4, BB, K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, K
#15 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, BB, K
#17 – C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-2, R, 2 RBI, BB
#20 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-8, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Rangers Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD

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!