Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/18): Valera Leads Kernels to Victory

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins have been bitten by the injury bug early in the season and that has resulted in a Rochester roster that has been depleted of their two top hitting prospects. Max Kepler was recalled when Danny Santana injured a hamstring running last week and word started to trickle out on social media this afternoon that Jorge Polanco would be replacing Trevor Plouffe, who is likely to hit the disabled list before Tuesday's game with Milwaukee.

 

Here's Monday's action around the farm.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Pawtucket 3 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

The 3,320 people in attendance were treated to a duel between two highly-regarded pitchers (who are no longer considered “prospects”).

 

Tyler Duffey completed seven innings (104 pitches, 69 strikes) in picking up a no-decision tonight. He gave up one run on seven hits. He struck out six and, most importantly, walked only one. He lowered his ERA to 1.72.

 

Rochester scored their only run on a 389-foot third-inning home run by Reynaldo Rodriguez. Rodriguez also had a first-inning single and was the only Red Wing to have a multi-hit game. He did strike out twice, though, and the team combined for 12 strikeouts.

 

Adam Brett Walker returned to the lineup for the first time since April 10, but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter. David Murphy, who has a May 1st opt-out, also went 0-for-4. Stephen Wickens delivered his first AAA hit and stole his first AAA base.

 

Brandon Kintzler pitched two shutout innings before giving way to J.R. Graham in the 10th inning. After connecting for a leadoff single, the PawSox sacrificed the runner to second and Graham coaxed a fly out for the second out of the innings. Then the wheels fell off. Graham threw a wild pitch and then walked Rusney Castillo to put runners on first and third. A Blake Swihart single put the PawSox ahead with runners on first and second. Castillo and Swihart successfully pulled off a double-steal and Graham walked the next two runners to push another run across the plate. Buddy Boshers had to record the last out.

 

The trio of Wilfredo Tovar, Wickens and Darin Mastroianni - all of who had a hit - went down 1-2-3 to end the game.

 

The Red Wings fall to 4-7 early in the season.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Mississippi 5

Box Score

 

An eighth-inning rally ended in a double-play and the Lookouts dropped Monday’s game to the Braves.

 

D.J. Baxendale took the loss, allowing two runs in six innings on five hits. He struck out six. Brandon Peterson struggled in his inning, giving up three hits and walking two. He surrendered three runs. Brett Lee struck out two in a perfect frame.

 

Stuart Turner hit an eighth-inning two-run home run, his first of the season, and now sports a .360 average. Mitch Garver got the Lookouts on the board with a two-out RBI single in the fourth-inning. Levi Michael contributed two hits in the team’s six-hit effort. Travis Harrison added a single and a stolen base.

 

The Lookouts drop to 4-8.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 1, Daytona 4

Box Score

 

The Miracle struck first, getting Chris Paul on base when he was hit. Paul advanced to third on Ryan Walker’s single and scored on an Alex Real groundout. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much offense after that.

 

Nick Gordon led off the fourth inning with a triple, which extended his hitting streak to six games. He’s also hit safely in ten on his eleven games. You could say that Nick Gordon is swinging a hot bat and you wouldn’t be wrong.

 

The third and final hit was a single in the 6th inning by Chad Christensen. Tanner English stole his fourth base of the season.

 

Randy Rosario threw 48 strikes in 78 pitches. He was relieved in the sixth inning after allowing five hits and two runs. He walked three and failed to strike out any. It was a far cry from his season debut last week when he struck out eight - and walked none - in six shutout innings.

 

Todd Van Steensel allowed one hit and collected five outs. Luke Bard struggled in his frame, giving up three hits and two runs.

 

With the loss, the Miracle fall to 7-5.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 3

Box Score

 

Cody Stashak made the first full-season start of his career and didn’t disappoint. He struck out five in six one-run, three-hit innings (on only 77 pitches). That’s two runs in ten innings combined so far this season.

 

The offense was equally impressive. Seven runs on 10 hits and five walks, and all but the eight- and nine-hitters contributed in the hits column. Rafael Valera, getting his at-bats as the DH, doubled twice and added a single. He scored once.

 

LaMonte Wade continued to tear up low-A pitchers. He’s hit safely in all 12 games he’s played. On Monday, it was two hits, two runs and an RBI. While Wade is hitting .409, the 2-for-4 night actually dropped his OBP from .469 to .463 and saw his OPS drop by 20 points and now sits at 1.099.

 

Max Murphy and Jermaine Palacios each stole a base.

 

Michael Theofanopoulos struck out three in two innings. Nick Anderson allowed two runs (one earned) in his inning of work.

 

The Kernels improve to 8-4.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Cody Stashak

Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera

 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Pawtucket @ Rochester (5:35PM CST) – LHP Pat Dean (0-2, 2.06 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Mississippi (7:00PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (1-0, 4.00 ERA)

Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 2.25 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (11:30AM CST) – RHP Randy LeBlanc (1-1, 2.45 ERA)

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games.

 

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[jsteve96]

Valera has been interesting, lots of XBH blowing up that OPS.. not too often do you see a little middle infielder with 6XBH outa 8 hits..

 

I have a feeling LaMonte Wade may find himself in the twins top 10 prospects by midseason and possibly a top 100 by the end of the year.. gonna be fun to watch how he can keep it up.

 

Also i saw today Chih Wei Hu has 9 shut out innings and 14 strike outs. I still think that trade bites us in the ass.

[clutterheart]

Any injury updates on guys like

Walker?

Burdi?

Vielma?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Any injury updates on guys like
Walker?
Burdi?
Vielma?

 

Walker played on Monday night for the first time in 8 days. He went 0-4, but it's good that he's back on the field. I tweeted a week ago that Burdi threw an inning in Extended Spring Training and felt fine. I saw that he threw again one of the last couple of days. Seems to have gone well. No update on Vielma yet.

[clutterheart]

 

Walker played on Monday night for the first time in 8 days. He went 0-4, but it's good that he's back on the field. I tweeted a week ago that Burdi threw an inning in Extended Spring Training and felt fine. I saw that he threw again one of the last couple of days. Seems to have gone well. No update on Vielma yet.

 

Youre the best Seth.

Thanks!

[clutterheart]

 

Valera has been interesting, lots of XBH blowing up that OPS.. not too often do you see a little middle infielder with 6XBH outa 8 hits..

 

I have a feeling LaMonte Wade may find himself in the twins top 10 prospects by midseason and possibly a top 100 by the end of the year.. gonna be fun to watch how he can keep it up.

 

Also i saw today Chih Wei Hu has 9 shut out innings and 14 strike outs. I still think that trade bites us in the ass.

 

Wade needs to face better competition before he can be fairly evaluated.

 

I also was bummed about that trade, but Jepsen has contributed to the big league club and so far the trade is working out for the Twins and the Rays.  Seems like a pretty fair trade in my book so far.    

[Seth Stohs]

 

Wade needs to face better competition before he can be fairly evaluated.

 

I also was bummed about that trade, but Jepsen has contributed to the big league club and so far the trade is working out for the Twins and the Rays.  Seems like a pretty fair trade in my book so far.    

 

I agree. I didn't like the trade at the time. Not only Hu, but I really liked Alexis Tapia too.  But, it's hard to say that it wasn't a good deal for the Twins. 

 

Think about how many pitchers Hu would be behind in the Twins SP pecking order. 

[markos]

 

Think about how many pitchers Hu would be behind in the Twins SP pecking order. 

If he keeps throwing 14K shutouts, that list is awfully short.

 

LaMonte Wade strikeout update: 48 PAs, 4 Ks (8.3%), 6 BBs (12.5%). 

[goulik]

I think Wade needs to go up a level sooner than later based on his hitting. He's putting up video game numbers again but that would mean moving other pieces higher up the food chain who may not be ready for those moves. Scouts really don't seem to think he's going to be able to continue to hit at higher levels. What does he need to do to change those reports?

 

Seeing him thrown out going from second to third with one out and no one on first Saturday made me question his base running. Is that an aberration for him or is that an area he needs to work on?

Edited April 19, 2016 by goulik

[Jeremy Nygaard]

All the reports I got about Wade after he was drafted were pretty glowing. Had he not been injured during the season, he would have went higher. The David DeJesus comp was thrown out a number of times. He's a player, for sure.

[Seth Stohs]

 

If he keeps throwing 14K shutouts, that list is awfully short.

 

LaMonte Wade strikeout update: 48 PAs, 4 Ks (8.3%), 6 BBs (12.5%). 

 

True enough... I wonder how many more 14K shutouts he'll have this year... 

 

Wade's got such a great approach!

[Seth Stohs]

 

I think Wade needs to go up a level sooner than later based on his hitting. He's putting up video game numbers again but that would mean moving other pieces higher up the food chain who may not be ready for those moves. Scouts really don't seem to think he's going to be able to continue to hit at higher levels. What does he need to do to change those reports?

Seeing him thrown out going from second to third with one out and no one on first Saturday made me question his base running. Is that an aberration for him or is that an area he needs to work on?

 

Hit at higher levels. 

 

He's had a very good first 12 games. Let's see where he is in 12 more games. I believe in Wade, but like we wouldn't make too much of a prospect having a slow first 12 games, we need to be a little careful with a hot first 12 games. 

 

He likely needs to work on everything. Without having seen the play, I can't really speak to the specifics. Like I've written before, in talking to Mike Radcliff down on the back fields this spring, he says Wade doesn't have any high-end tools, but he also doesn't really have a real big weakness either. 

[SirLoin]

One has to be pleased with the start Nick Gordon has gotten off to this season at the plate.  How has his play in the field been so far?

[Seth Stohs]

I think 3 errors, but he's been playing quite well with the glove. 

[Pitz]

 

One has to be pleased with the start Nick Gordon has gotten off to this season at the plate.  How has his play in the field been so far?

According to the box score, he committed his third error yesterday. Of course errors don't tell the whole story of one's defense, so take that for whatever its worth. I haven't seen him play but all the reports I've read don't seem to raise any concerns about his SS defense - solid glove/arm though not spectacular.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Wade may get that promotion sooner than later.  I think if he's continuing to destroy low A, he will be in Fort Meyer by say mid-may.  At this point, it can definitely be an SSS issue.  He's got a real good plate approach though, and if he continues to show success in high A, he's going to be on a lot of lists.

[benji21]

How are Blankenhorn and Cabbage doing so far this season.  I haven't noticed their name in any reports yet.  Are they cold, or at EST?  I was intrigued by their selections last year, I hope they have some success.

[Seth Stohs]

 

How are Blankenhorn and Cabbage doing so far this season.  I haven't noticed their name in any reports yet.  Are they cold, or at EST?  I was intrigued by their selections last year, I hope they have some success.

 

How are Blankenhorn and Cabbage doing so far this season.  I haven't noticed their name in any reports yet.  Are they cold, or at EST?  I was intrigued by their selections last year, I hope they have some success.

 

They're both at EST. I did have two people tell me that Cabbage hit his first EST home run yesterday. 

[jsteve96]

 

I agree. I didn't like the trade at the time. Not only Hu, but I really liked Alexis Tapia too.  But, it's hard to say that it wasn't a good deal for the Twins. 

 

Think about how many pitchers Hu would be behind in the Twins SP pecking order. 

he'd be in AA, so really only behind Berrios and maybe Meyer

[Seth Stohs]

 

he'd be in AA, so really only behind Berrios and maybe Meyer

 

And Santana, Hughes, Nolasco, Gibson, Tommy Milone, Tyler Duffey... 

 

And prospect-wise, he'd be behind Gonsalves, Stewart and Jay.

[jsteve96]

 

And Santana, Hughes, Nolasco, Gibson, Tommy Milone, Tyler Duffey... 

 

And prospect-wise, he'd be behind Gonsalves, Stewart and Jay.

something wrong with Depth, Seth? most likely one or 2 will bust, Ricky Nolasco pitches like a girl and I think the jury might be out on Hughes.. but yes he'd be behind those 3 prospect wise

[Seth Stohs]

 

something wrong with Depth, Seth? most likely one or 2 will bust, Ricky Nolasco pitches like a girl and I think the jury might be out on Hughes.. but yes he'd be behind those 3 prospect wise

 

Nothing wrong with depth at all, but to get something (Jepsen) they had to give up something (Hu, Tapia).  I hated the trade at the time too. I know my tweet when I was sitting in a Chipotle and read the news was not very positive. Ha!