Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/7): Buxton, Kepler, Vargas Excel

[Seth Stohs]

It was a busy and full day for the Minnesota Twins minor league teams: transactions early and some impressive performances from some top prospects. Byron Buxton made his AAA debut and did well. Oswaldo Arcia’s slump continued. Max Kepler had another big day. Two hitters finished just a home run away from the cycle. Which top prospect hit his first home run of the year? I don’t want to spoil too much, so just keep on reading.TRANSACTIONS

Late on Friday night, Twins Daily learned that Jake Reed has been demoted to Ft. Myers.

 

Ft. Myers officially announced the Aaron Sleger promotion. Alex Swim was again placed on the disabled list. They also announced that they had signed 26-year-old right-hander Omar Bencomo. The Venezuelan spent 2007 through 2011 in the Rays system, peaking in the Midwest League. He was 6-1 with a 3.19 ERA with Laredo and Wichita in the American Association.

 

Cedar Rapids announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Nick Anderson. He went to Mayville State (ND) University and was the Brewers 32^nd round pick in 2012. He was pitching for the Frontier Greys of the Frontier League. He was 2-0 with a 0.65 ERA and 13 saves in 27.2 innings. He had walked six and struck out 35.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Charlotte 9

Box Score

 

Byron Buxton was the star of this show, at least for a while. It’s fair to say that Matt Tuiasosopo was the star by game’s end, and as important, Charlotte topped the Red Wings.

 

Pat Dean started for the Red Wings. The left-hander was charged with eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits. He walked one and struck out two. Cole Johnson gave up a run on one hit in his inning. Logan Darnell tossed a scoreless eighth. Tuiasosopo hit a three-run homer in the first inning, a solo homer in the second inning, and a three-run homer off of Johnson in the seventh inning.

 

Buxton made his AAA debut on this night in North Carolina. He had singles in his first two at-bats and ended the game 3-5. He is a career .600 hitter in AAA. Danny Santana also went 3-5 in the game and stole his fifth base. He has been really struggling – just 2 for 20 – since his demotion a week ago. Carlos Paulino, the lone catcher on the Red Wings roster for the game, went 2-4. Oswaldo Arcia went 0-4 and is now two for his last 38 (.053).

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Mobile 6

Box Score

 

The Lookouts tried to give this one away, but got the 27^th out just in time.

Brett Lee started for the Lookouts. He gave up three runs in the second inning. That was it. The left-hander went eight innings. He gave up those three runs on seven hits. He struck out five without issuing a walk. He improved to 3-4 with a 3.73 ERA with Chattanooga.

 

The Lookouts were down 3-2 going into the bottom of the sixth, but they put up three runs then, followed by two in the seventh to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Alex Muren came on to start the ninth. He gave up two hits and a walk before being replaced by closer JT Chargois. He got two outs, but then gave up a single and a double to cut the lead to 7-6. With runners on second and third, Chargois got a big strikeout to end the game. He gets credit for his ninth save of the season.

 

Kennys Vargas went 3-3 with a single, double and triple (his second of the week!). He also walked twice. Max Kepler went 2-4 with a walk, his 26th double and his seventh home run. Dalton Hicks went 2-5. Jorge Polanco went 1-3 with two walks.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 13, Palm Beach 5

Box Score

 

The Miracle offense was consistent, scoring in five separate innings in this game. Five runs in the ninth gave them some insurance. Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit. Aderlin Mejia went 4-6. Engelb Vielma went 3-5 with a walk. He also stole his 27^th base of the year. Logan Wade went 3-5 with a single, double (14) and triple (2). Mitch Garver went 2-5 with a walk and his fourth home run. Jason Kanzler went 2-5 with his fifth triple. Ryan Walker had two hits, and Tanner Vavra was 1-3 with two walks.

 

Lefty Luke Westphal started and gave up two runs on six hits over 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Zack Jones came on and went 2.1 innings. He gave up just one hit and struck out four. Brian Gilbert gave up one run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Trevor Hildenberger gave up two runs on three hits in the ninth.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 5, Bowling Green 7

Box Score

 

The Kernels gave up a five-spot in the sixth inning. They tried to claw back, scoring two in the seventh and one in the eighth, but they came up short in their comeback attempt.

 

Randy Rosario was on the mound at the start of the game. He gave up two runs in the first inning, but he settled in and threw four straight scoreless. However, in the sixth, he gave up four more. Overall, he was charged with six runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk. Jared Wilson came on and gave up one run on two hits and a walk over the next 2.1 innings. He struck out three. John Curtiss made his return to the Kernels and struck out one in a scoreless inning. The TrackMan system that was in Cedar Rapids had him hitting 95 mph.

 

Nick Gordon has been hitting well since late May. On this night, he went 3-5 with his first home run of the season. It was his second career homer as he had one in Elizabethton last year. Rafael Valera went 3-4. TJ White went 2-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 5, Bluefield 0

Box Score

 

Dereck Rodriguez was terrific again. The right-hander threw another five shutout innings in this game, dropping his season ERA to just 1.22. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five. Anthony Mciver relieved and got Rodriguez out of the sixth inning, getting three outs before the two inherited runners had a chance to score. Logan Lombana came on and recorded his first professional save. He gave up just one hit over three shutout innings. He struck out five.

 

The Twins scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. One came on a wild pitch, another came on a Chris Paul double, and the third on a Travis Blankenhorn single. They added two more runs in the eighth inning, both on wild pitches.

 

The E-Twins had seven hits and five walks in the game. Paul went 1-3 with a walk and his seventh double. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-3 with a walk.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

Game 1 – GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 3

Box Score

 

The Twins headed over to jetBlue Stadium in Ft. Myers to take on the GCL Red Sox in two games. Lewin Diaz led the offense. He went 2-4 with his first homer of the season and four RBI. Blake Schmit, still rehabbing, went 2-3 with a run batted in.

 

Jose Martinez started for the Twins. He gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out five. Rich Condeelis went the next two innings. He didn’t give up a run or a hit. He walked one and struck out two. Hector Lujan picked up his first career save, striking out two in his one-hit inning.

 

Game 2 – GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 2

Box Score

 

In the second game, they got good pitching, but no runs. Max Cordy started and gave up one run on four hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out five. Matz Schutte came on and gave up a run on four hits in two innings. Brandon Poulson walked one batter in his scoreless inning.

 

Trey Cabbage went 2-3 in the game. Luis Martinez walked twice and hit a double. Luis Arraez added a double.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Logan Lombana, Elizabethton Twins

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05 CST) – RHP JO Berrios (2-1, 3.58 ERA)

Mobile @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP DJ Baxendale (4-3, 3.99 ERA)

Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (4:35 CST) – RHP Omar Bencomo

Bowling Green @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc

Bluefield @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – RHP Onesimo Hernandez (3-0, 4.50 ERA)

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (DH @ 9:00 CST) – TBD

 

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below.

 

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[wyatt827]

Kepler and Vargas are in your headline but nothing about them in the article

[Seth Stohs]

 

Kepler and Vargas are in your headline but nothing about them in the article

 

Oops!! I guess I forget to write a whole paragraph... my bad! Should be there now!

[HitInAPinch]

I don't know what to do about Arcia.  Change of scenery may be the best option.

 

"He is a career .600 hitter in AAA."  FUNNY!  Can anyone point me to video of Buxton's AB's?

[BoomBoom]

Is this progress?

ABW II has 9 BB in the last 10 games and 11 Ks.  In the month of August he has more BB than Ks.  All that said - as he works on his BB/K ratio and makes those improvements, he is also batting  .091 over those 10 games (3 for 33).  He has 2 RBI and scored only twice despite the high walk rate.  It is obvious, that as ABW II works on his faults (zone discipline), his lack of production has been detrimental to his teams success of late.  The Lookouts are starving for offense ala the Twins.  Improved contact rate and improved zone discipline don't necessarily convert to success.  Or does it in the case of ABW II?  Personal Success or Team Success?  How to continue to Do You as you work on those flaws.  That's the ticket, and not always an easy one when trying to win too.   4 home runs in last 40 days when he use to average 1 home run per series?  

 

Is this progress?

[Seth Stohs]

I look at it as progress... He's getting there. If he can have even a little bit of plate discipline, he could be a strong big league contributor. 

 

Let's also be fair and note that he probably isn't being pitched to as much. Sano, Buxton and others are gone from the lineup. And their whole team is struggling.

[BoomBoom]

 

Let's also be fair and note that he probably isn't being pitched to as much. Sano, Buxton and others are gone from the lineup. And their whole team is struggling.

I think he is just laying off pitches better.  He was never affected by Buxton and Sano in line up.  He always hit after them and usually in the 7th hole when they were there.  He has never had the luxury of being pitched to in his minor league career because of someone behind him or in front of him for that matter.  Sano has had the likes of Buxton, Rosario, and Polanco batting immediately in front of him (base stealing threats).  He also has had the likes of Vargas, Kepler, and Walker batting behind him.  Walker has never really had that type of protection (so to say) on a consistent basis.  They don't have to throw him fast balls because of a base threat in front of him or worry about putting him on because of a HR threat behind him. Long story short.  I think he is just laying off pitches better.

[nater79a]

Assuming they stay on the same development path it'll be interesting who moves off 3B first - Trey Cabbage or Travis Blankenhorn.  Right now it doesn't really matter as they are just trying to get some at-bats, plus Cabbage is in the GCL and Blankenhorn at E-Town. But I could see a conflict as early as next season if they are both on the Cedar Rapids club at some point. 

 

Granted, one of the two could take off like a rocket and be playing two levels above the other. Then they each could still play 3B, I guess. I think either one of them could move to the OF or 1B.  Will be fun to watch in the future.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I think he is just laying off pitches better.  He was never affected by Buxton and Sano in line up.  He always hit after them and usually in the 7th hole when they were there.  He has never had the luxury of being pitched to in his minor league career because of someone behind him or in front of him for that matter.  Sano has had the likes of Buxton, Rosario, and Polanco batting immediately in front of him (base stealing threats).  He also has had the likes of Vargas, Kepler, and Walker batting behind him.  Walker has never really had that type of protection (so to say) on a consistent basis.  They don't have to throw him fast balls because of a base threat in front of him or worry about putting him on because of a HR threat behind him. Long story short.  I think he is just laying off pitches better.

 

And, assuming that is the case - and it probably is - that is wonderful progress. If he can stick with that approach, his athleticism an talent will take over and that will be huge.

 

Also, I would say that his RBI total would have been affected by those in front of him in the lineup. 

[BoomBoom]

 

Also, I would say that his RBI total would have been affected by those in front of him in the lineup.

 

No doubt

[Badsmerf]

Hopefully this is ABW trying to adjust. He needs to. I don't mind him striking out, but 30+% is too high to be a successful MLB player. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

Yes I think it's progress, though let's be realistic and note it's 10 games.  He's got to learn about what not to swing at before he starts taking those monster hacks again.  It might mean a bad year while he's figuring some of that out, but if it clicks, look out.