Twins Minor League Report (7/9): Matthews Meets His Match

Nice to see Keaschall bust out again after a slow week last week. Doncon is looking more and more like a shrewd move as a tack on for taking Margot off the Dodgers hands. It was fun to watch Miller in the field, but Doncon's looking like he's got some real upside.

Promising rehab for Stewart. Velo down 2mph which isn't concerning for first rehab game, 6 whiffs in 8 swings. Getting him back will be a massive boost for the pen

1 hour ago, wabene said:

Nice to see Keaschall bust out again after a slow week last week. Doncon is looking more and more like a shrewd move as a tack on for taking Margot off the Dodgers hands. It was fun to watch Miller in the field, but Doncon's looking like he's got some real upside.

Reminds me of the Twins getting catcher Jair Camargo as a throw in of sorts from the Dodgers in the Kenta Maeda trade.   A very nice under the radar move.

Unless it's for a pitcher with multiple years of control, Keaschall should be untouchable. IMHO, once Lee officially graduates, he's probably a top 3 org prospect and should make top 100 in MLB soon.

I watched Matthews pitch. He threw too many pitches in the 3rd inning and had to come out. The defense was less than stellar. Also, while we always read comments about how a catcher needs to hit at least a little bit, watching Cossetti behind the plate is a reminder of the actual job description of a catcher. Perhaps Cossetti just had a bad day but it was a full on example of how valuable a good catcher is to a pitcher in reverse. 

Along those lines, I wonder if an organization might have more success developing their pitchers if they only used decent catchers. This also begs the question of why more athletic baseball players don't give catching a try. 

8 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I watched Matthews pitch. He threw too many pitches in the 3rd inning and had to come out. The defense was less than stellar. Also, while we always read comments about how a catcher needs to hit at least a little bit, watching Cossetti behind the plate is a reminder of the actual job description of a catcher. Perhaps Cossetti just had a bad day but it was a full on example of how valuable a good catcher is to a pitcher in reverse. 

Along those lines, I wonder if an organization might have more success developing their pitchers if they only used decent catchers. This also begs the question of why more athletic baseball players don't give catching a try. 

I agree about the importance of Catchers, which is why you see some catchers like Vasquez still have jobs despite being terrible at plate.  Most of the time teams take top hitting catchers off the position because it is hell on your knees, and cuts your career short for most players and saps their offense.  Only the HOF guys can stick it out and be good on offense.  Rarely do you see a guy with good arm move to catcher, but more often they get moved off the position.  If you can be a good catcher and stick there it is an easier path to majors, but it is a hard way to get there because of the wear and tear on body.  Not just the knees, but all the foul tips into face, onto hand, legs, everywhere. 

37 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Along those lines, I wonder if an organization might have more success developing their pitchers if they only used decent catchers. This also begs the question of why more athletic baseball players don't give catching a try. 

For young players who are athletic enough to potentially play SS/CF, or for guys who have the potential to be great hitters, moving to C isn't a good move since you aren't going to be playing every day.  

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

I watched Matthews pitch. He threw too many pitches in the 3rd inning and had to come out. The defense was less than stellar. Also, while we always read comments about how a catcher needs to hit at least a little bit, watching Cossetti behind the plate is a reminder of the actual job description of a catcher. Perhaps Cossetti just had a bad day but it was a full on example of how valuable a good catcher is to a pitcher in reverse. 

Along those lines, I wonder if an organization might have more success developing their pitchers if they only used decent catchers. This also begs the question of why more athletic baseball players don't give catching a try. 

Feels like catcher development is something that MLB is struggling with overall. It's so physically demanding, requires a diverse and well-rounded set of skills, and there's a huge mental component on top of it...and that's just the defensive side of things. You also need these guys to develop as hitters and because of the demands of the position it's harder to get them in the lineup as often, so they might not get as many consistent ABs. Tough one to crack from a development standpoint.

I think the Twins have a few options in the system now, but all of them are incomplete in one way or another. But at least they have some guys with upside and possibilities now; things got real thin for a while in the system.

Interesting question on how much impact a quality catcher has on pitching development: The Bull Durham Theory?

Nice to see Stewart, Gabriel Gonzalez and Emmanuel Rodriguez all healthy again. Getting Stewart back will be a real boon for our pen down the stretch and into the playoffs. Hopefully Topa can follow suit.

Great seeing Stewart back on a mound.  Timing seems to be lining up with his return to the Twins right after the break.  With Thielbar returning to what he was in previous years and a healthy Stewart, their bullpen should be SIX deep at the back end...Stewart, Thielbar, Staumont, Alcala, Jax and Duran.  Should be a huge help the last two months of the season.

Add me to those who continue to be impressed with Keaschall.  With Lee looking like the real deal with second base being his most likely home and Keaschall a year or so away, Julien is looking like the odd man out.  Maybe he becomes a platoon partner with Miranda at first?  But it seems more likely to me that when/if he can get his bat going his biggest value to the Twins may be as part of a deal for pitching.  Doubt that happens this month, more likely during the off-season.  Twins traded a starting second baseman two years ago, another last year.  Could Julien be a third former starting second baseman to depart next winter?

Saw that Jenkins was out again yesterday.  Expect they are being ultra careful with his injury.

2 hours ago, Dman said:

Doncon’s misplays at short cost them some runs in the first inning but after that he settled in nicely at short. His defense at short did make me miss Miller on defense though.

That really has been the debate - Miller's A+ defense at SS vs Doncon's A grade hitting. If Miller can hit at all, he's a major leaguer. If Doncon can field at SS, he's a major leaguer. At this point, I get the impression that neither of those will happen. Doncon will have the additional option of playing 3B/2B as he moves up the ladder but he will then have to maintain his A grade hit tool. 

Interesting question marks on that Cedar Rapids team - can Gonzalez field at all to go with his hitting? Can Olivar stick at catcher as his hitting is excellent this year?

Thanks for the in-person report @Dman. Always like these.

2 hours ago, Dman said:

OK who is this Deardon guy?

A number of the Twins free agent signings have really started out great - Eeles, Hess, McCusker, Deardon are ones that I remember. Seems the Twins start them out at a level they can have success and move them up fairly quickly. But that success hasn't always continued, at least not right away, at their new home.

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I watched Matthews pitch. He threw too many pitches in the 3rd inning and had to come out. The defense was less than stellar. Also, while we always read comments about how a catcher needs to hit at least a little bit, watching Cossetti behind the plate is a reminder of the actual job description of a catcher. Perhaps Cossetti just had a bad day but it was a full on example of how valuable a good catcher is to a pitcher in reverse. 

Along those lines, I wonder if an organization might have more success developing their pitchers if they only used decent catchers. This also begs the question of why more athletic baseball players don't give catching a try. 

I doubt there's much of an effect on pitcher development, but they have mostly drafted catchers in the late rounds, and more of them have been bat-first guys who they've tried to develop into better defenders. 

Andrew Bechtold and Charles Mack are two examples of athletic guys that they did try to convert to catchers (they really tried a bit of everything with Bechtold).

Bottom line, it's just a very difficult position to get to major league quality defense.  Clearly harder than SS IMO, and not a lot of the guys catching in the minors will actually go on to be viable major league options.

Cossetti was definitely a bat first guy.  They've done a bunch of work behind the scenes including improving his arm strength to improve his ability to control the run game compared to where it was when they drafted him.  But a catcher needs a lot of skills, so I'd agree that I'm not sure if he'll get all the way to MLB caliber defense (let alone average MLB defense), though certainly they need to give him a shot to keep working at it.

Of the catchers in the system, Camargo and Cardenas are the only two that I feel really confident could be MLB caliber defenders.  Certainly there are other guys that might be able to improve enough to get there, but most of the catchers in the Twins system, and really most other systems, are questionable on the defensive side.

1 hour ago, PDX Twin said:

So ... the end of the inning coincided with the end of the outing?

Pretty much every organization has a policy of pulling pitchers after they go more than 35 pitches in an inning, to protect their arms.

Steve;  Thanks for the analysis for our minor league affiliates.  Attended the game in person last night and getting ready to head out for Game #2, which I hope has a better result.  Would absolutely agree with your point that Hammons Field is as good a AA ballpark in the country.  

Although others have commented on last nights game, I will offer a few observations:

#1  Zebby Matthews is the real deal.  Yes, he had his shortest start of the season, which was a huge bummer for me, for he was extremely unlucky with his 37-pitch 3rd inning.  As noted, he dominated the 1st two innings- striking out 3 on only 23 pitches.  If not for a 2-out little dribbler ground ball single by Tommy Edman  (on a 0-2 count), Matthews would've escaped the inning with under 20 pitches.   I will give Springfield hitters credit for pushing up his pitch count as they hit numerous foul balls and didn't chase borderline pitches.  

If Matthews can get back on track over the next 6 weeks, I'd expect a promotion to SP in September.  'Would be interested to hear your (and others) take on that possibility.

2.  Luke Keaschall:  Looking forward to seeing his progress as he's been the best hitter for this team over the last 2 months.  His lead off HR was impressive as he pulled a 2-strike heater off the fair pole in LF.

Although given credit for three hits---he really only had 2 as the Springfield official scorer was very generous giving him  a hit on a routine groundball their 2B misplayed.

3. Aaron Sabato:  Maybe a better game coming tonight, but Sabato continues, imo, to be one of the biggest BUSTS as a 1st round pick in Twins history.  Having seen Sabato now for 3 straight years (2022 in CR and last 2 years with Wichita), his bat is slow and his propensity to whiff reminds me of Sano.  Box score shows he had a hit, but again that really was an error (groundball in 7th that SF 3B butchered).  Another 2 K's last night.

4. Carson McCusker:  May be not well known by many (26 year-old drafted by MIL in 2017 in 26th round), but he's having a good year for Wichita.  A big dude (6'6/ 250 lbs), McCusker moves well and had 2 hits last night.

Finishing up, what is the status of E-Rod?  I know he's been on IL and think he's been on a rehab assignment with Fort Myers.  His presence in the lineup would be a big upgrade.

Hopefully a better report coming tomorrow after tonights game.

9 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

Bottom line, it's just a very difficult position to get to major league quality defense.  Clearly harder than SS IMO, and not a lot of the guys catching in the minors will actually go on to be viable major league options.

Totally agree. I have been saying for years that catchers are under-appreciated and that the difficulty of the position is many factors harder than any other spot on the diamond. When the discussions about Mauer for Hall of Fame were ongoing, I found it hard to be civil, but just chose to promote his career on its merits. I pitched into my 50s but found the roughly 100 times spent behind the plate to be the most difficult thing in my sporting experiences.

I guess the really good athletes, with a sporadic exception here and there, are pushed to avoid the position. Their knees and legs thank them for decades. 

whatever happened to Emmanuel Rodriquez? The Twins injury update has not been updated since June 7. And I can't find his name in any of the minor league box scores. Is he still injured?