Article: Twins Daily Minor League Report (4/21): Berrios Dominates And Jay Lights Up Radar

[Seth Stohs]

Last year the Twins selected Tyler Jay, a college closer from the University of Illinois, with their first selection in the draft. Jay spent the rest of 2015 in the bullpen, but has been stretched out and is starting games for the Fort Myers Miracle. You will find more about his start below, but I wanted to lead with this gem from Seth Stohs,

Quote

"Per @ZimGlish, Tyler Jay just threw 94 on his 92nd pitch of the evening. Just completed five innings at 93 pitches."

Sounds like Jay is having no problems maintaining his velocity late into his start.Transaction Report: The Chattanooga Lookouts activated shortstop Engelb Vielma from the disabled list and to make room for him on the roster catcher Carlos Paulino was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings.

 

Continue reading to find out more details about Thursday in the Twins farm system:

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Pawtucket Paw Sox @ Rochester

Box Score

 

Jose Berrios had his best start of the season and helped the Red Wings snap a five-game losing streak. Berrios pitched 7.0 innings, gave up just two hits, walked only one and struck out seven. Berrios' ERA on the year is now just 1.06. Pitching like this, it cannot be much longer before Twins fans see Berrios in the big leagues. Berrios was finished after the seventh and Brandon Kintzler pitched 1.1 innings of shutout ball before handing things over to Taylor Rogers to finish off the game and preserve the shutout. Neither Kintzler or Rogers struck out a batter, nor walked one.

 

The Red Wings only needed one run with the way the pitching staff shut down the Paw Sox, but the Wings put up five runs (three earned), for good measure. The Red Wings used a fairly balanced attack as every hitter had either or a hit or a walk, and seven of the nine hitters had either a run scored or an RBI. Kennys Vargas , who was 1-4 on the night with an RBI and a strikeout, hit a double. Vargas has a 16/4 strikeout-to-walk ratio right now, and is hitting just .184 with four extra-base hits all year, all doubles. John Hicks was 2-3 and scored a run on a solo home run. And Heiker Meneses was 1-4 with four strike outs but also recorded a triple.

 

Final: Paw Sox 0, Red Wings 5

 

 

LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

Chattanooga @ Mississippi Braves

Box Score

 

Not to be totally outdone by Jose Berrios and Tyler Jay, Ryan Eades had a nice evening on Thursday night as well. Eades pitched five innings of one-run ball, struck out five, and gave up just four hits and one run. Despite giving up the one run, Eades was tagged with the loss as the Lookouts' bats were unable to make sense of Braves starter Brandon Barker. After Eades left the game down 1-0, Reliever Brett Lee gave up three runs in the sixth to put Chattanooga in a 4-0 hole with just nine outs left to play with. Brandon Peterson pitched the final two innings for the Lookouts, striking out one and facing the minimum in both the seventh and eighth innings.

 

Two Lookouts hitters had multi-hit nights, Daniel Palka who was 2-3 with a walk, and Levi Michael, 2-3 with run scored. The freshly activated Engelb Vielma was 0-4 hitting in the ninth spot. None of the Lookouts seven hits were for extra bases and they managed just three walks against eleven strikeouts.

 

Final: Lookouts 2, Braves 4

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Jupiter Hammerheads @ Fort Myers

Box Score

 

Despite throwing gas deep in his start against the Hammerheads, the Miracle's Tyler Jay's first inning sunk Fort Myers on Thursday night, losing the series in the process. Jay was tagged for three runs in the top of the first after a walk to the leadoff hitter and three straight singles to begin the game. Tyler Jay finished the game with 5.0 innings pitched, giving up five hits, three runs, three walks and he struck out six. Raul Fernandez pitched 2.0 innings of scoreless relief before turning things over to Luke Bard for the eighth, striking out two of the three hitters he faced. Todd Van Steensel pitched the ninth and gave up a leadoff walk and eventually balked in a run.

 

The Miracle actually outhit the Hammerheads 9-7, but were just 1-9 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine men on base. Chris Paul was 3-5 with two doubles and an RBI to lead the Miracle attack. Trey Vavra, 2-4 with a run scored, was the only other Miracle hitter with multiple hits.

 

Final: Hammerheads 4, Miracle 2

 

 

KERNELS KORNER

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton LumberKings

 

Postponed due to rain, the game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.

 

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Hitter of the Day - Chris Paul - Fort Myers Miracle

Pitcher of the Day - Jose Berrios - Rochester Red Wings

 

FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

 

Buffalo @ Rochester (5:35pm, MiLB.tv) - Chris Leroux vs. Logan Darnell (0-2, 6.17)

 

Birmingham @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) - Tyler Danish vs. Jason Wheeler (0-1, 2.65)

 

Charlotte @ Fort Myers (6:05pm) - Brent Honeywell vs. Keaton Steele (0-1, 2.53)

 

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (6:30pm) - Sam Gibbons (1-1, 4.66) vs. Nick Wells

 

 

Please ask questions and discuss the Thursday games.

 

-ERolf

 

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[jsteve96]

Vielma was 1-4 btw, not 0-4.

 

Disappointing no prospects to watch tomorrow besides Gordon and Wade. Gordon finally got quiet. hopefully he ends this mini slump fast not a month long one like last year

[Linus]

I think is interesting that Jay throwing 94 on his 93rd pitch is a big deal when the rest of his line wasn't good. And that he used 93 pitches to get through 5 innings.

[Eric R Pleiss]

 

I think is interesting that Jay throwing 94 on his 93rd pitch is a big deal when the rest of his line wasn't good. And that he used 93 pitches to get through 5 innings.

Sure, he struggled in the first inning, and didn't have all of his stuff, but for a guy that was pitching an inning at a time a year ago, throwing gas after 90 pitches is a good sign.  Maybe this guy won't be the disaster pick so many feared on draft day.

[nytwinsfan]

 

I think is interesting that Jay throwing 94 on his 93rd pitch is a big deal when the rest of his line wasn't good. And that he used 93 pitches to get through 5 innings.

Umm, the guy is starting for literally the third game of his career, and the biggest question mark for relief pitchers who transition to starters is obviously whether they can maintain their velocity later into games, so yeah, throwing 94 on his 93rd pitch is a BFD. The rest of his line wasn't great, but he recovered from a bad start, an indication (albeit just one data point) of having the mental fortitude to be a starting pitcher. And again, I'm not sure if you fully grasp the importance of this key point, but this was the THIRD START of his career.  He now has a 3.60 ERA with 17 Ks and 7BBs in 15 innings. Not bad for a guy who just turned 22 in his first full year of professional ball (at high A) transitioning from a reliever to starter.

[Seth Stohs]

Second straight start that Jay struggled early and showed the fortitude to get through 5 innings. Pretty impressive this early. He's got a chance.

[twinssouth]

Totally agree with nytwinsfan, having this LEFTY converted college reliever to starter throwing gas on 93rd pitch is a BFD. If he continues to make this kind of progress, I could see him ending the year in AA

[markos]

 

Umm, the guy is starting for literally the third game of his career, and the biggest question mark for relief pitchers who transition to starters is obviously whether they can maintain their velocity later into games, so yeah, throwing 94 on his 93rd pitch is a BFD. 

I disagree with this on two different levels. First, the biggest question mark is durability - will his arm/shoulder will hold up to throwing 90+ pitches every five days for six month. Second, throwing a single pitch at 94 doesn't necessarily mean that he maintained his velocity. What was his fastball sitting at for that inning? If he was mostly 90-91 with one pitch at 94, that is very different than if he was 92-93. And one pitch doesn't really indicate how well his overall stuff held up. Was his slider still sharp? Was his command good? In the College World Series game he started last year, his velocity was fine throughout the game, but his slider got flat and his command deteriorated. 

 

Hitting 94 is better than not hitting 94, so I agree that it is a good thing. But I just don't think that single pitch, in and of itself, is very helpful in determining how Jay is transitioning to the starter role. A little helpful, better than the alternative, but not a huge deal without more context.

[nicksaviking]

The season is young but it's interesting to see that Daniel Palka's K rate has remained the same despite the promotion.

 

It's still high at 28% but that's what it was in High A, for comparison, Adam Walker was at 28% in High A and jumped to 34% upon his AA promotion. We'll have to see how the rest of the year plays out, but that's encouraging seeing as the strikeouts where his biggest bugaboo.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I disagree with this on two different levels. First, the biggest question mark is durability - will his arm/shoulder will hold up to throwing 90+ pitches every five days for six month. Second, throwing a single pitch at 94 doesn't necessarily mean that he maintained his velocity. What was his fastball sitting at for that inning? If he was mostly 90-91 with one pitch at 94, that is very different than if he was 92-93. And one pitch doesn't really indicate how well his overall stuff held up. Was his slider still sharp? Was his command good? In the College World Series game he started last year, his velocity was fine throughout the game, but his slider got flat and his command deteriorated. 

 

Hitting 94 is better than not hitting 94, so I agree that it is a good thing. But I just don't think that single pitch, in and of itself, is very helpful in determining how Jay is transitioning to the starter role. A little helpful, better than the alternative, but not a huge deal without more context.

 

He was sitting 93-95 the whole game. It's not like 94 came out of nowhere.  Being able to maintain that velocity for that many pitches is a big deal. 

 

This is a process, so as others have said, being able to do this in start 3 is big. He's got four pitches and he's working on all of them while learning this new role. I think he's doing great, especially having started slow the last two games.

[jokin]

 

The season is young but it's interesting to see that Daniel Palka's K rate has remained the same despite the promotion.

 

It's still high at 28% but that's what it was in High A, for comparison, Adam Walker was at 28% in High A and jumped to 34% upon his AA promotion. We'll have to see how the rest of the year plays out, but that's encouraging seeing as the strikeouts where his biggest bugaboo.

 

It's also good to see him moved up in the lineup and Maloney moved down. Things might improve for Palka even more if when Gordon is moved to AA and bats in front of him and Garver and Hicks step up their production levels behind him.

[Seth Stohs]

 

It's also good to see him moved up in the lineup and Maloney moved down. Things might improve for Palka even more if when Gordon is moved to AA and bats in front of him and Garver and Hicks step up their production levels behind him.

 

Palka has batted third in every game in which he has started. Maloney did the first two games when Palka was out. Maloney has been batting 6-7 since, most night. 

[Darius]

...And these innings from Berrios continue to get wasted at AAA while the Twins are getting absolutely nothing from 3/5 of their current starting rotation, and nose diving to the bottom of the standings. The same could be said for Duffey (who looks to finally be getting the call to spot start, and will be right back down).

 

It's crazy to think that Berrios has anything left to prove at this point.

 

Honest question: Does anyone think, even at his worst, that Berrios isn't one of the best 5 starters in this organization right now? I'd really like to try and understand the rationale behind this line of thinking.

[Darius]

Any idea of how many pitches it took Berrios to get through 7?