Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/15): Moves and Wins

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Two more days until the Twins get back in action on Friday. Most affiliates were back on the field on Wednesday, with the exception being the Red Wings. The Triple-A All-Star Game was held on Wednesday night.

 

Lots of moves on Wednesday: The Lookouts released both 1B Mike Gonzales and RP Scott Atchison. While Atchison didn’t have an opt-out in his contract, he didn’t expect to still be in the minors, so he asked for and was granted his release.

 

The Miracle received C Brett Doe from the Kernels. The Kernels activated P Chris Mazza and P Yorman Landa, put C Jorge Fernandez on the DL and received 1B Tyler Kuresa from E-Town. P Carlos Aponte and 16-year-old P Brusdar Graterol were both promoted from the DSL to the GCL. Fernandez will miss the rest of the season after breaking his hand punching a wall according to Kernels beat writer Jeff Johnson.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester off day

 

AAA All-Star Game

Box Score

 

Rochester had three representatives play for the International League All-Stars.

 

James Beresford started at second base and batted second. He nearly homered in his first at-bat, but instead settled for a triple and scored the game’s first run. He got another hit and finished 2-3.

 

Taylor Rogers pitched the fourth inning and allowed a walk in a scoreless frame.

 

A.J. Achter retired the one batter he faced and, because of the IL All-Stars comeback, earned the win.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 6, Biloxi 5 (11 innings)

Box Score

 

The Lookouts gave up a bunch of runs early, but came back in a back-and-forth game that ended after 11 innings.

 

Alex Wimmers allowed three first-inning runs (on two home runs), but that was it over his five innings. He allowed eight hits and a walk. He struck out two. After D.J. Johnson pitched a scoreless sixth, Brandon Peterson allowed two runs in two innings of work. Jake Reed followed with two innings of scoreless ball to earn the win. J.T. Chargois closed it out for the save in the 11th inning.

 

The Lookouts scored three runs in the third inning. It started with a throwing error that allowed Levi Michael to reach base. He advanced on a Shannon Wilkerson single and scored on a Stephen Wickens double. After Travis Harrison walked, Kennys Vargas came to the plate with the bases loaded. An error by the third baseman allowed Wilkerson to score. Marcus Knecht had a two-out single that scored Wickens, but Harrison was thrown out at home to the end the inning.

 

Vargas was replaced by Niko Goodrum in the fifth inning after grounding into a double play. Smart money is not on a promotion, but instead on Big Spoon not running it out and feeling Dougie Baseball’s wrath.

 

Chattanooga added another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Levi Michael. Their fifth run came in the eighth inning when Niko Goodrum singled, stole second then stole third and then scored on a ABW2 sac fly. That’s how you #manufactureruns.

 

There was a weird moment in the 10th inning when a power surge knocked out a bank of lights, caused the radio broadcast to go out for a few innings and the entire stadium to flicker. The umpires and managers decided to play on.

 

In the 11th, Goodrum again reached base on a walk and advanced on a Walker fly ball. This time, though, he was be thrown out at 3rd base when Knecht hit it to the shortstop. Knecht advanced to third on a Stuart Turner single and scored the eventual winning run on a passed ball.

 

Chattanooga, which has already qualified for the playoffs, is currently in last place in the Southern League North and is 5-13 after Wednesday night’s win.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Brevard County 3

Box Score

 

Chih-Wei Hu pitched six one-run innings, allowing seven hits while striking out three. He gave way to the bullpen in a tie game. Zach Jones, making his first high-A appearance after being activated and sent down by Chattanooga, struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning.

 

Tyler Jay got his first professional decision. But it wasn’t what he wanted. And it wasn’t pretty. He gave up three hits and walked a batter. Two runs crossed the plate and Jay’s ERA has risen to 8.10. It was 77 degrees at today’s game, so let’s blame it on the heat. He’s a cold-weather guy…

 

Alex Swim, professional hitter, went 3-4 with a double. He accounted for half of the team’s hits. Zach Granite drove in the team’s only run.

Fort Myers is 12-8 in the second half, one game behind Palm Beach, but in a three-way tie for second place.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 5, Burlington 2

Box Score

 

The Kernels got strong efforts from their pitching staff and the offense was able to muster enough juice late in the game to improve to 12-8 in the second half of the season.

 

Felix Jorge wasn’t his best, but was still plenty good enough. His four walks were a season high. In fact, he had only walked three batters once in his previous 14 starts. He three strikeouts matched his second lowest output of the season. His three hits allowed in six innings, though, were enough to keep Cedar Rapids in a good position to win Wednesday’s ball game.

 

Jorge gave way to Yorman Landa. Landa was making his first appearance back with the Kernels after rehabbing a lat strain with the GCL affiliate. He struck out the side in the seventh, touching 98 mph on the gun.

 

Michael Theofanopoulos and Trevor Hildenberger held Burlington scoreless over the final two frames. Hildenberger now sports a fancy 0.82 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and a 12.06 K/9. Know of any teams that could use bullpen help?

 

Offensively, Rafael Valera was the star. He drove in Edgar Corcino in the first inning and then drove in two more runs in the seventh inning. He finished 4-4 with three RBI. Nick Gordon had two hits, a stolen base and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Corcino added two hits, two runs and a stolen base.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 4, Danville 3

Box Score

 

The E-Twins were able to come back from an early deficit to reach .500 again, 20 games into the season.

 

Despite giving up eight hits, starter Alexis Tapia was able to get through five innings surrendering only three runs (two earned). He walked one and only struck out two. It was enough to get the E-Twins to the strong bullpen trio of Tyler Stirewalt (one hit, two walks and a strikeout in 1.1 innings), C.K. Irby (strikeout in 1.2 perfect innings) and Kuo Hua Lo (hit and strikeout in the final inning) and give the team a chance to win.

 

E-Town was able to come back in the third and fourth innings before taking their first lead in the fifth inning. Danville tied it up in the bottom of the fifth and Elizabethton scored the winning run in the top of the ninth.

 

In the third, a LaMonte Wade single drove in Kamran Young who had tripled.

 

In the fourth, A.J Murray led the inning off with a walk. He advanced on a Rainis Silva single before scoring on a wild pitch.

 

Manuel Guzman scored the go-ahead run in the fifth after reaching base on a single. He advanced to third on a Young single and came home on Wade’s sacrifice fly.

 

LaMonte Wade drove in Guzman again in the ninth with a double after Guzman walked to lead off the inning.

 

The same two teams play again tomorrow night.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins vs GCL Rays

Postponed

 

The 12-8 Gulf Coast League affiliate had their game postponed until tomorrow due to rain.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera, Cedar Rapids

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – TBA

Chattanooga at Biloxi (7:10 CST) – LHP Brett Lee

Ft. Myers at Brevard County (5:35 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades

Cedar Rapids vs Burlington (6:35 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren

Elizabethton at Danville (6:00 CST) - RHP Miles Nordgren

GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (9:00 CST, Game 1) - TBA

GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (Game 2) - TBA

 

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

 

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[lightfoot789]

Biloxi throws Willy Peralta tomorrow in rehab game.  17 game winner last year in MLB.

 

Chattanooga gets to him early and often

[big dog]

Wow, I wish I hadn't sprung for that Scott Atchison jersey...

[Shane Wahl]

Jesus that was a lot to digest. Bad about Jorge Fernandez! Also, Vargas is on a downward spiral.

[Otwins]

I went to the triple A all star game.  Beresford hit the ball hard twice. If the wind wasn't blowing across from right his ball would have gotten out. Would have been his first of the year. That being said the ball should have been caught.  The right fielder Peter O'Brien looked very good at the plate but he needs to be a DH.  Made another error later in the game that they did call an error. Rogers changes speeds well as he pitched between 74-88 mph.  Does not seem to me to have the stuff for a MLB starter. He does remind me of Mark Buerhle so that would be very good if he can have half his success.  Achter got my wife's favorite player Cheslor (first name) to pop out and win me a side bet so I have a new favorite minor league reliever- Achter.

[jokin]

 

Jesus that was a lot to digest. Bad about Jorge Fernandez! Also, Vargas is on a downward spiral.

 

FWIW, LEN3 predicted he's likely done as a Twins major leaguer.

[clutterheart]

It would be interesting to know what happened with Vargas. I have heard rumblings he did/said something while at AAA. Its surprising because he came off as a guy with a good head on his shoulders. But right now the speculation is his attitude is souring. Unless something changes he could be a DFA candidate.

[pierre75275]

I think we have many more chances to give Vargas before we give up on him. See Hicks, Perkins, and dozier

[Platoon]

I think we have many more chances to give Vargas before we give up on him. See Hicks, Perkins, and dozier

Concur. We have very short memories, and sometimes less patience. There is a good chance we will be having a form of this discussion in less than a month over Sano. While I believe you go with the young talent if it's upside is substantially better than the middling veteran, I never expect it to be w seamless, or painless transition. It's all about the long game, not the initial SSS.

[TRex]

Hey Jeremy,

You post great write-ups, thanks! Two points:

 

Alex Smith = Alex Swim (auto-correct?)

 

When you say Landa "struck out the side in the seventh, touching 98 mph on the gun", are you talking about the CR stadium gun, which is believed to be 2-3 mph slow?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Apparently I'm getting into Fantasy Football mode. Yes, Smith is Swim.

 

It was Johnson who tweeted 98 mph, so I'm assuming he's using the stats available in the booth, not the stadium gun.

[Pitz]

Very surprised to see Graterol promoted to GCL at only 16. He hasn't pitched in any DSL games since June 20th. But he has put up impressive numbers in a small sample striking out 17 and walking 1 in 11 innings. does this mean the Twins regard him higher than Ynoa?

[TRex]

 

Apparently I'm getting into Fantasy Football mode. Yes, Smith is Swim.

It was Johnson who tweeted 98 mph, so I'm assuming he's using the stats available in the booth, not the stadium gun.

Look at me... not even satisfied with a 98mph anymore ! Do you think they will try to stretch him out a bit and use him as a starter again next year?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Very surprised to see Graterol promoted to GCL at only 16. He hasn't pitched in any DSL games since June 20th. But he has put up impressive numbers in a small sample striking out 17 and walking 1 in 11 innings. does this mean the Twins regard him higher than Ynoa?

 

I wouldn't jump to that... more ready for GCL, maybe... 

 

But this is very aggressive. Very, very few 16-year-olds play in the GCL. In fact, only players born between July 1 and August 25th (or whenever the GCL season ends) are even capable of playing in that league at age 16.

[big dog]

 

FWIW, LEN3 predicted he's likely done as a Twins major leaguer.

Wow- where did you see that?  That's a wild call.  I wonder what's going on with him (KV, I mean).

[DJL44]

"Chih-Wei Hu pitched six one-run innings"

 

I read this as Hu giving up a run every inning for six innings. Had to read it twice.

[Mike Sixel]

Short memories on Vargas? He wasn't much of a prospect. He was called up last year in an emergency. I think the short memory is of his success last year being a bit of a fluke, personally.

[big dog]

 

Short memories on Vargas? He wasn't much of a prospect. He was called up last year in an emergency. I think the short memory is of his success last year being a bit of a fluke, personally.

True,  but he did have some success, and he's not quite 25.  I am surprised to hear him described as a likely washout so soon. 

[HitInAPinch]

I remember Kennys wasn't on the prospect list.  I'm not quite ready to give up on him.  If it's an attitude issue, I'd stay out of the way and leave that to Mientkiewicz.

[diehardtwinsfan]

yeah, I seem to remember some guy named Glen Perkins who had an attitude issue too...  If that's Vargas' problem, he's out of luck b/c the Twins hold his rights for the time being. 

[jokin]

 

Wow- where did you see that?  That's a wild call.  I wonder what's going on with him (KV, I mean).

 

On the radio, and he said it before Sano got off to his great start. I'm guessing his source(s) on the Twins being so down on Vargas are from the inside and that there's more to that May demotion and his time in AAA (why bounced all the way down to AA?) that hasn't been made public.  Granted, they may have wanted to keep him separated from Arcia, but it didn't sound like Neal was just making something up out of whole cloth.  It appears that the onus is now on Vargas to make something happen, only now he's behind both Sano and Arcia on the DH depth chart, and he's currently treading water in Chattanooga, at best.

[Seth Stohs]

I need to step in here... Vargas not running out a double play was purely speculation. If it is also fact, it does not make him an attitude-issue guy. It's a mistake and a correctable mistake.

 

Who knows? He may have been hustling so much and popped his hamstring lunging to 1B. We don't know (unless it's been reported somewhere).

 

I've never been real high on Vargas, but his performance last year, power potential and the fact that he's not 25 yet means he should be given some time and patience.

[jokin]

 

I need to step in here... Vargas not running out a double play was purely speculation. If it is also fact, it does not make him an attitude-issue guy. It's a mistake and a correctable mistake.

 

Who knows? He may have been hustling so much and popped his hamstring lunging to 1B. We don't know (unless it's been reported somewhere).

 

I've never been real high on Vargas, but his performance last year, power potential and the fact that he's not 25 yet means he should be given some time and patience.

 

I would hope they give him time and patience, as well.  But given the obvious philosophical discord on his hitting approach, I fear the Twins reach the conclusion that, given the upcoming offseason roster crunch and redundant DH options, that his spot needs to be taken by someone else- and they try to trade him.

Edited July 16, 2015 by jokin

[TRex]

 

I would hope they give him time and patience, as well.  But given the obvious philosophical discord on his hitting approach, I fear the Twins reach the conclusion that, given the upcoming offseason roster crunch and redundant DH options, that his spot needs to be taken by someone else- and they try to trade him.

What "philosophical discord" are you referring to? It's not like he is David Arias; he seems to use the whole field. And I don't recall the Twins being down on him for lack of contact; and his SO and W:SO rates in the minors weren't ABWII-like.

 

Did I miss something?

[Seth Stohs]

No, I don't think that the Twins have any issue with Vargas, other than poor performance. I don't think they'd trade him for nothing, but I think they're fully aware of his limitations.

[Guest]

 

Apparently I'm getting into Fantasy Football mode. Yes, Smith is Swim.

It was Johnson who tweeted 98 mph, so I'm assuming he's using the stats available in the booth, not the stadium gun.

I would just confirm that the "slow" scoreboard MPH readings hit 96 mph more than once on Landa's pitches, which would put him at about 98. And he was consistently within a couple mph of those readings. Pretty impressive.

 

JJ was up in the pressbox with the TrackMan guy next to him, so he had access to fully accurate data and you can trust the 98 mph reading he Tweeted.

Edited July 16, 2015 by SD Buhr

[jokin]

 

What "philosophical discord" are you referring to? It's not like he is David Arias; he seems to use the whole field. And I don't recall the Twins being down on him for lack of contact; and his SO and W:SO rates in the minors weren't ABWII-like.

 

Did I miss something?

 

Yes.   

 

On the day of the demotion... here's this tweet from Molitor:

 

"Paul Molitor on Kennys Vargas' mentality before demotion to AAA: "Right now, it’s cluttered." Says its patient one at-bat, aggressive next."

 

And this tweet from Vargas:

 

"Vargas, after being sent down: 'We’re looking for [me to] produce. Produce means runs & RBIs. You don’t want me to hit a lot of [singles].'"

 

And he obviously hadn't been doing that since the start of May... this tweet from Berardino:

 

"Over past 13 games, Vargas had lifted his batting average by 89 points, his OBP by 67 points and his SLUG by 133 points.

Rochester-bound."

 

 

Aaron Gleeman recaps the month of May leading up to his first demotion, and the lack of an obvious rationale on behalf of the Twins for doing so:

 

 

 

 

He got off to a brutal start this year, hitting .172 in April, but the Twins stuck with Vargas and he hit .366 with two homers, two doubles, and a .956 OPS through a dozen May games ... at which point they demoted him to Triple-A.

There was some writing on the wall, as manager Paul Molitor repeatedly benched Vargas during his hot streak, but demoting a player in the midst of a productive stretch following an extended slump is odd timing to say the least. Odder yet, Vargas' good stretch came immediately after the Twins worked with him to adjust his swing mechanics. It paid off, as Vargas notched 14 hits in 10 starts this month and also delivered a pinch-hit homer. And now he's in Rochester.

Vargas' strike zone control absolutely needs improvement after striking out 93 times compared to just 17 non-intentional walks in 82 games for the Twins and further developing that skill against minor-league competition could be a good idea. Which is why it was surprising when the Twins promoted Vargas from Double-A to majors last year and why the timing of this year's demotion, rather than the demotion itself, is what stands out now.

What also stands out now is the Twins' lack of other appealing designated hitter options. Several times Molitor benched Vargas in favor of Eduardo Nunez and Eduardo Escobar, a pair of utility infielders who each have a career OPS below .700 in the majors and the minors. Now that Vargas is out of the mix Nunez and Escobar figure to see even more action as left fielders and designated hitters, which is a weird thing to do intentionally.

Here's how Vargas, Nunez, and Escobar have hit in their respective Twins careers:

                    AVG      OBP      SLG      OPS
Kennys Vargas      .266     .309     .425     .734
Eduardo Nunez      .265     .291     .403     .694
Eduardo Escobar    .260     .300     .379     .679
In performing poorly enough to get demoted back to the minors Vargas still easily out-produced Nunez and Escobar. And unlike either Nunez or Escobar, there's actually evidence within Vargas' track record as a minor leaguer to suggest he's capable of producing more. 

It'd be one thing if the Twins demoted Vargas and replaced him with another young hitter with DH-caliber potential like Josmil Pinto or if Oswaldo Arcia was due to return from the disabled list shortly and they wanted to work him back into the lineup at DH. But to demote Vargas now, when he was seemingly getting on track, and to give his at-bats to a pair of utility infielders is a thought process begging to be questioned.

 

[TRex]

 

Aaron Gleeman recaps the month of May leading up to his first demotion, and the lack of an obvious rationale on behalf of the Twins for doing so:

I am sorry, I thought the 'philosophical discord' you were speaking of had to do with Vargas and the Twins. I have not seen any quotes attributed to the 'Big Spoon' objecting to his handling by the Twins.

 

Now that I see the 'philosophical discord' is between you/Aaron Gleeman and the Twins I understand completely.

[jokin]

 

I am sorry, I thought the 'philosophical discord' you were speaking of had to do with Vargas and the Twins. I have not seen any quotes attributed to the 'Big Spoon' objecting to his handling by the Twins.

 

Now that I see the 'philosophical discord' is between you/Aaron Gleeman and the Twins I understand completely (#asexpected)!

 

What in the world are you talking about?  

Did you notice and comprehend any of the facts presented?  

And that virtually every journalist covering the Twins has discussed this curious situation in detail, from the beat writers at both newspapers, the radio commentators, all the way to the bloggers, and to TD writers, as well?

You didn't notice any of the disconnect starting in Spring Training on what Molitor and Brunansky publicly stated that they wanted from Vargas regarding both his ongoing approach at the plate, as well as treating batting practice less as Home Run Derby and more as the place to prepare for what they were asking from him in game situations?  

And what Vargas was doing instead?

And the curiously contradictory tweet with the quote from Vargas about hitting singles too often, even though his power production had in fact, gone way up in May?

And being continually benched in May in favor of utility players frequently DHing, even as he was clearly emerging from his slump and making the type of contact that the coaching staff was supposedly looking for from him?

And playing sporadically yet again after his second call-up?

And that LaVelle E Neal reported after his second demotion that it was very likely that this was the last time that Vargas would ever be called up to the Twins?

 

No reason to get personal.  

 

 

Edited July 17, 2015 by jokin

[Seth Stohs]

 

Yes.   

 

On the day of the demotion... here's this tweet from Molitor:

 

I have never heard anywhere that Molitor is in Twitter. Do you have his handle? That would surprise me a lot.