Twins Minor League Report (6/14): Williams Power Propels Saints Offense... Again!

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Would love an update on Martin.... There are some guys really playing well right now. 

I would too.

I've tried searching for any news to figure out why his rehab assignment was shut down last week but haven't found anything.

Doesn't help that his name is so similar to Aston Martin.

Happy about Cossetti's progress. Also interested in Martin's progress & how soon is Richardo Olivar ready to return to action. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez finally has the average over .200. He has cut the strike outs down a little bit but he has a long way to go and much work to accomplish with the bat.

38 minutes ago, Dman said:

Really nice job by Rozek for the Surge.  I tend to underestimate him but he generally keeps the score close and pitches well.

Half the time. He is terribly inconsistent. One game is great and the next terrible and it keeps going like that, which is why his ERA is high.

I believe the Twins have only two catchers on the 40-man right now.  They have dodged the bullet with neither of their two guys getting injured.  Expect Wolters will be added and called up should someone get hurt.  But longer term, is either Williams or Camargo good enough to be that third man, say next year?  I took note that you referred to Williams as a first baseman.  Is that because he was playing first yesterday?  Or do you not view him as an option behind the plate?

Have been noticing that Brooks Lee has been hitting a lot of doubles.  Isn't setting the world on fire with his average, but considering he was finishing his college career a year ago a mid-.260's average at AA may be good.  Also elated that ERod has been hitting very, very well the last month or so.

Cossetti is an interesting prospect. He's unlikely to make any national lists (too old, no pedigree, etc) but catchers sometimes develop later and if he can keep hitting as he advances through the minors and stick at catcher as a good receiver back there he could get very interesting. Took Mitch Garver a while to make it to the majors, but that worked out pretty well for the Twins.

Soularie is having a decent season at AA as well. I think if he's going to K this much that he's going to need to show most consistent pop in his bat, but it'll be fun to see where he finishes the year. He struggled at the plate last season, so it's nice to see him doing better even after moving up a level again.

I would like Brooks Lee to keep pushing the average up, but it's good to see him knocking doubles out there. I'll be interested to see how his splits wind up by the end of the season; so far he's been significantly better hitting from the left side; if he can tick up the OBP and SLG a bit from the right I'll be feeling more confident about his ability to be weapon from both sides of the plate in the future.

Cory Lewis is putting up some eye-popping numbers in first year as a pro: 72 Ks in 49 IP, opponents hitting just .174 against him.

46 minutes ago, roger said:

I believe the Twins have only two catchers on the 40-man right now.  They have dodged the bullet with neither of their two guys getting injured.  Expect Wolters will be added and called up should someone get hurt.  But longer term, is either Williams or Camargo good enough to be that third man, say next year?  I took note that you referred to Williams as a first baseman.  Is that because he was playing first yesterday?  Or do you not view him as an option behind the plate?

I have no inside knowledge but honestly I think Camargo, not Wolters, would be the emergency add and call-up right now.

Camargo has a good arm and has always been good at controlling the run game.  I think he is fairly solid at other defensive aspects behind the plate.  Maybe there would be questions about how well he can call a game and handle the pitching staff.  I don't know that he has an issues with that, but it is the one area where Wolter's veteran-ness would give him an edge.

At the plate, Camargo's slash line is never going to be particularly pretty, since swing and miss is just a part of his game.  He's improved at being a little less aggressive this year so that is good.  But when he makes contact, his exit velos are impressive, very much on par with Wallner's, and the two of them are at least a head above every other hitter on the Saints in that area.

I kind of think his ceiling is as a 3rd catcher because he's going to strike out a ton.  But he will also crush some pitches here and there, and if they needed him I think he could do that in the majors right now.

For Williams, I think it's pretty clear from his playing time that the Twins don't really think of him as a catcher anymore.  He's only caught 16 innings this year.

58 minutes ago, roger said:

Expect Wolters will be added and called up should someone get hurt.  But longer term, is either Williams or Camargo good enough to be that third man, say next year?

Agreed on Wolters. Camargo as a catcher, yes. Williams as a catcher, no. That is a big problem for him to get called up which is the same problem Isola has. If either was a good catcher, they would be on track for MLB.

1 minute ago, 2wins87 said:

I have no inside knowledge but honestly I think Camargo, not Wolters, would be the emergency add and call-up right now.

I disagree because Wolters will simply be DFA'd when our catchers are healthy and probably get to go back to St. Paul. Camargo is playing well enough that the Twins may not want to DFA him as someone else may claim him. This is all about the 40 man roster. Camargo is better but is actually too good and young IMO. The odd reality of the roster games all teams have to play.

7 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

I disagree because Wolters will simply be DFA'd when our catchers are healthy and probably get to go back to St. Paul. Camargo is playing well enough that the Twins may not want to DFA him as someone else may claim him. This is all about the 40 man roster. Camargo is better but is actually too good and young IMO. The odd reality of the roster games all teams have to play.

I suppose the 40-man could be a concern.  Probably depends on the nature of the injury and expected timeline.

I think Alcala could probably be put on the 60 day IL at any point too, since his stress fracture sounds like a very tricky injury and he's already at the point where he'd get to 60 days in a full length rehab stint, which seems likely given his ineffectiveness early this year.

28 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Tony Wolters isn't on the 40-man roster either. 

They would find a spot for him and DFA him when the regular catchers are healthy and a spot is needed on the 40 man. They did that with Godoy and other veteran catchers last year.

4 hours ago, Dman said:

Man the Saints are a lot of fun to watch.  Always seems to be a lot offensive action. If the pitching was a bit better that team would be a juggernaut.  Williams has his confidence back and seems to think he can put everything over the fence right now.  He isn't just taking wild swings either as he walked after starting 1-2 in the count so he has patience and a good eye at the plate.  I know he will have to show this batting mastery for a longer amount of time and just 1st baseman types are not easily added to the 40 man but he is looking good right now with the best OPS on the team that don't have small sample sizes.

Really nice job by Rozek for the Surge.  I tend to underestimate him but he generally keeps the score close and pitches well. I still see him as a pen arm but he keeps doing well as a starter.  Was great to see Lee with a couple of nice hits.  His over all number look really strong with a good walk rate excellent K rate in the teens and BABIP is a normalized. 320 but the slugging is going to have to be better to get from good to great.  He still looks rock solid but needs a bit more time to tap into more power.

Lewis was outstanding again.  It feels like he could pitch at AA easy right now. If he keeps this up maybe he gets promoted to AA in mid July.  Would be nice to have another diamond in the rough find.

Cossetti's bat is finally starting to pick up at High A.  Hopeing he gets back to his .900 OPS ways and finds his way to AA later in the year. He looks like he might be a find as well.

Fun night on the farm with 3 solid wins.  Hoping they keep it going.

Oakland would take Williams in a heartbeat   , he's there kind of player ,,,

Twins would only have a dh spot for him  unless of course there are injuries  ...

Williams was drafted tge same year as jeffers  I believe  ...

If there is a need at catcher the Twins should call up Wolters because he is more ready to help the team win with both the bat and the glove. The Twins are fortunate to have the veteran off the 40 and in AAA as the third catcher.