Article: Twins Minor League Report (July 26): Pitching Shutouts

[Seth Stohs]

Minnesota Twins Minor League Report for July 26, 2014. The Twins had yet another rough one with the White Sox. Three Twins pitching prospects had impressive, shutout performances. There was a walk-off win for one of the affiliates, and another needed 11 innings to win.Logan Darnell made his first Major League start on Saturday night at Target Field against Chris Sale and the White Sox. It was a David and Goliath matchup, and in this case, Goliath dominated. Darnell’s first inning was terrific. Three ground ball outs and eight pitches. Then things went downhill. In all, he gave up seven runs on 11 hits in five innings.

 

That start may not have been great, but there were three very strong starts in the Twins minor leagues on Saturday night. It was a struggle to figure out who the pitcher of the day should be. Be sure to comment on which one you would pick. And, a Minnesota native provided a walk-off win for one of the Twins affiliates.

 

Here is the Minor League Report for Saturday:

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Indianapolis 0

Box Score

 

It was quite a pitcher’s duel in Rochester on this night and it ended in a walk-off win. Lefty Sean Gilmartin was up for the challenge. He went 7.1 scoreless innings. He gave up just five hits, walked two and struck out four. He was helped by his defense as well. With a runner on third base and one out in the 3^rd inning, Gilmartin got a fly ball to right field. Chris Rahl made the catch and threw home to get the runner for the third out. Righty Stephen Pryor came on for his first Red Wings appearance since coming to the organization earlier this week from the Mariners. He walked one but got the final two outs of the eighth inning. Michael Tonkin came on for the ninth. He made it interesting, giving up a hit and hitting a batter, but he completed the shutout.

 

There wasn’t much offense, but just enough. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Eden Prairie’s Nate Hanson singled up the middle to drive in Eric Farris for the walk-off win. It was one of just four hits for the Red Wings. Deibinson Romero pinch hit in the ninth and walked. It was the 23^rd straight game he’s played in and reached base.

 

Hanson had a slow start in his first ten games after being promoted from New Britain to Rochester. He now has a seven-game hitting streak during which time he is 10-27 (.371).

 

ROCK CATS REVIEW

New Britain 7, Portland 0

Box Score

 

Download attachment: Tyler Duffey 2.JPG

 

Tyler Duffey seems to have found his way in the Eastern League of late. On this night, he went seven innings without allowing a run. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out seven. He improved to 7-2 with a 3.75 ERA. In his last three starts, he has thrown 21.1 innings and given up just three earned runs. He has given up 12 hits, walked just one and struck out 24 in that time. Jim Fuller gave up only a walk in the final two innings.

 

Jorge Polanco made it to New Britain in time to play. He led off and went 1-4 with a double. The middle of the lineup hit well in this one. Cleanup man Kennys Vargas went 2-4 with his 16^th double. Aaron Hicks, batting fifth, went 2-4 with his seventh and eighth doubles and three RBI. Brandon Waring hit his 19^th and 20^th doubles in four at bats. Mike Kvasnicka went 2-4 with his 20^th double. Eddie Rosario added his 11^th double.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 8, Tampa 6 (11 innings)

Box Score

 

Aderlin Mejia had a big game that concluded with a game-winning RBI single in the 11^th inning. He went 2-2 with three walks and his 13^th and 14^th stolen bases. Michael Gonzales went 2-3 with his 21^st doubles and seventh home run. Byron Buxton doubled twice in six at bats. Travis Harrison went 2-6 with his 26^th double. Niko Goodrum went 2-5.

 

Matt Tomshaw made the start. The lefty gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings. Todd Van Steensel threw two shutout frames. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a perfect eighth inning. Tyler Jones gave up two unearned runs on one hit and two walks in the ninth. He did strike out two. Brian Gilbert struck out three over the last two innings. He didn’t allow a base runner.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Dayton 0

Box Score

 

Chih-Wei Hu has been tremendous since his promotion to the Kernels. Saturday’s start was his best yet. The right-hander went six shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out ten. He is now 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA with the Kernels. Jake Reed, the Twins 5^th round pick this summer, struck out three in two perfect innings. Nick Burdi came on and struck out one in his perfect innings. These two have been strikeout guys. Burdi now has 16 strikeouts in eight innings for Cedar Rapids. Reed has 21 strikeouts in 15 innings between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids.

 

The Kernels struck for three runs in the first inning, and that was enough. Engelb Vielma went 2-4. JD Williams hit his 12^th double.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 2, Johnson City 5

Box Score

 

Michael Cederoth was back on the mound for the E-Twins. He went five innings and gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits. He walked one, hit three and struck out two. Cameron Booser gave up two unearned runs on one hit and three walks in two innings. He struck out two. Dereck Rodriguez continued his impressive streak at the start of his pitching career. He has only given up an unearned run in his 16 innings over ten games this season.

 

Pat Kelly went 3-3 in this game with his fourth and fifth doubles. Nick Gordon went 2-4 with his third double. Tyler Kuresa doubled for the ninth time. Max Murphy went 1-3 with a walk.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 3, GCL Red Sox 5

Box Score

 

The GCL Twins won again. Amaurys Minier went 2-3 with his seventh double and two RBI. He was also hit by a pitch. Jarrard Poteete went 2-4 with two RBI.

 

Brandon Easton worked the first four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and three walks. Eduardo Del Rosario threw three innings and gave up just one hit. Trevor Hildenberger worked two perfect innings in relief.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Chih-Wei Hu, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aderlin Mejia, Ft. Myers Miracle

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Indianapolis @ Rochester (12:05 CST) – Kris Johnson

Portland @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez

Ft. Myers @ Tampa (12:00 CST) – Ethan Mildren

Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (1:00 CST) – Stephen Gonsalves

Elizabethton @ Johnson City (3:00 CST) – Sam Gibbons

GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled.

 

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

 

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[Rick Niedermann]

Chih-Wei Hu is making me take notice. I live close to Cedar Rapids and have to get down to see him and Gonsalves soon. With the Big League club struggling so much, it's nice to be able to go see the young guys who could help turn this around in Minnesota.

[drjim]

Tyler Duffey is a legit prospect, really emerged this year.

 

BA is all over him as a sleeper as well. I can't remember exactly what they said, but maybe added a pitch or really refined one.

[scottz]

Pitcher of the Day is pretty easy for me: Chih-Wei Hu! 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K - that gets me fired up. Keep it up, kid! 

[Seth Stohs]

Chih-Wei Hu is making me take notice. I live close to Cedar Rapids and have to get down to see him and Gonsalves soon. With the Big League club struggling so much, it's nice to be able to go see the young guys who could help turn this around in Minnesota.

 

RIck, Sorry I missed you when we were in Cedar Rapids. I got your message after we got back to Cedar Rapids from the Field of Dreams, unfortunately. Hope all is well. Hu is definitely making people take notice. I know a couple of people were very excited when they were able to sign him.

[Twinsoholic]

Hu, Duffy and Gilmartin are all doing well since their promotions. I would give the pitcher of the day to Duffy over Hu, but I understand why someone might go with the Low A starter for his 10 Ks yesterday.

 

In case folks haven't noticed, Cedar Rapids is now only 4 games below .500 after playing well below it all season. Hu is one big reason along with hitting by Garver and Harr and Kanzler and some others, but I also think that Burdi has had a positive impact on the team's surge, closing out games (he had his one stinker first time out, but he has been very impressive since then).

 

If Seth or someone would be up to the challenge, it would be great if someone could talk about some of the pitchers who have been on the minor league rosters awhile who likely will not be on the Twins minor league rosters next year. For example, will Summers still be there? How about Boer? How about Corey Williams who seems to have been hurt for most of the season? Will Bard and Chargois ever pitch meaningful games for the TWins minor league teams and regain prospect status or have their respective injuries done them in? Wimmers seems to be pitching better of late. Will he be a Rule 5 candidate? What about Oliveros and the guy the TWins got from the Mets for Johan (pitching at AAA)? I'm leaving out some guys, but I am interested in how the Twins start thinning out their minor league pitching prospects now that they have been restocking the arms over the last 3-4 drafts.

[halfchest]

I'd love to hear thoughts on Travis Harrison. I glanced at a box score a couple weeks ago and noticed he was hitting around .290 which excited me since I thought last year, man if that guy could get his average up a bit his numbers would look really nice.  Well he's done that but he's also reduced his walk rate and hit only 2 homeruns this year leading to an overall decrease in OPS.  I just looked at him again and a couple things stuck out to me.  He has hit only the 2 homers but already has 26 doubles after hitting only 28 total last year.  I wonder if some of those doubles would be homeruns in other parks as I hear consistently the FSL is pretty pitcher friendly.  

 

The other thing that stuck out is how much his K rate and BB rate have dropped.  Last yer he was striking out almost 28% of at bats and walking just over 15%.  This year he is striking out 18.7 % and walking 10.5 %.  So, is this a good thing for development? or a bad thing?  I like the drop in K's but the loss of homers and BB's is negative.  Just something I noticed and was curious about as he's been this kind of fringy top 10 prospect since he came onto the team.  

[Seth Stohs]

We can certainly talk about those guys. I'd encourage people to ask questions to the Twins Hangouts podcasts. We talk a lot about players that don't get talked about a whole lot. 

 

All those guys you wrote about have been discussed.

 

Corey Williams had Tommy John surgery April 1. Wrote about Chargois and a bunch of other hurt players in a forum posted this morning. Wrote about Harrison in my Q&A on Puckett's Pond (there's a link to it in the minor league forum). I believe in his power despite his numbers.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

So - who is making all these errors for E-Town? I am noticing for the first time on this report the number of unearned runs scored in that game. Is that typical for that level, and does it have to do with factors beyond the player's control? Or is it something to be concerned about regarding the defensive ability of some of the E-Town Prospects?