Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/28): Darnell Throws A Gem

[Seth Stohs]

It was a long day for those who follow the Twins minor leagues. The Miracle played a game at 10:30 eastern time. The Red Wings played at 1:00 eastern. Then there were two night games. There was an incredible pitching performance in Rochester, though the three other starters on the day struggled. Of course Daniel Palka kept hitting while a couple of other top prospects had multi-hit games with extra-base hits.Continue to to read all about the events in the Minnesota Twins minor leagues on Thursday.

 

 

TRANSACTIONS

 

Early on Thursday morning, the Kernels announced the RHP John Curtiss and OF Max Murphy had been promoted to Ft. Myers. OF Daniel Kihle moved up to Cedar Rapids from extended spring. Kuo Hua Lo was also promoted from extended spring training, though he was never actually sent back to Ft. Myers after being “demoted” a few days earlier.

 

Though there was no announcement, LHP Mason Melotakis was back pitching for Chattanooga on Thursday which means he was removed from the DL.

 

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 4, Buffalo 0

Box Score

 

The story of this game, without question, was left-hander Logan Darnell. Left off the Twins 40-man roster this offseason, Darnell cleared waivers and was happy to stay with the Twins. He had a strong spring training and was one of the last cuts. On this day, Darnell needed just 105 pitches (71 strikes) to complete nine innings of shutout ball. He gave up four hits, walked four and struck out none.

 

Byron Buxton went 2-5. He had a triple late in the game. Earlier in the game, he had a double but was thrown out trying to turn it into a triple. To make things even, he also threw out a guy trying to advance to third in the game too. Wilfredo Tovar went 2-3 with a walk and his seventh stolen base. Adam Brett Walker and Juan Centeno each went 2-4. Stephen Wickens knocked his first home run of the season, his first AAA homer.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Montgomery 6

Box Score

 

DJ Baxendale gave up four first-inning runs and another in the second, but then responded with four scoreless innings. In total, he gave up five runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out five. Mason Melotakis returned from the DL and pitched a scoreless inning. Despite allowing one hit he needed just seven pitches. Trevor Hildenberger made his AA debut with a scoreless inning. He struck out two. He also needed just 12 pitches and ten were strikes. Nick Burdi gave up one run on two hits in an inning.

 

Offensively, Daniel Palka was about it. He went 2-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. Travis Harrison drove in the lone run with an RBI double. Pitching for Montgomery was former Twins prospect Chih-Wei Hu. The right-hander from Taiwan gave up one run on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out four.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Jupiter 12

Box Score

 

The Miracle played a 9:30 game in Jupiter. It didn’t go well for top picher Tyler Jay. The left-hander gave up six runs (5 earned) on ten hits in 4.1 innings. He walked none but also struck out none. Luke Bard came on and gave up two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings. Brian Gilbert then gave up four runs on three hits and three walks in 1.2 inning. Todd Van Steensel came in and got the final out.

 

Nick Gordon led the offense by going 2-4 with his second triple. He had two errors in the field, giving him six on the season. Logan Wade added his second triple of the year. Chad Christensen knocked his second home run. Alex Real was 2-3 in the game.

 

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, West Michigan 6

Box Score

 

Down 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Kernels loaded the bases. JJ Fernandez singled in the game-tying run. After a pitching change, a wild pitch scored the winning run.

 

The game started out poorly. Sam Gibbons went the first five innings. He gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits and five walks. He struck out one. Logan Lombana came in and calmed things. He worked three scoreless innings, striking out four batters. Nick Anderson struck out one in a scoreless inning.

 

JJ Fernandez came up with the big hit. It was the third hit for him on the day. Jermaine Palacios and Christian Cavaness each went 1-3 with a walk.

 

Daniel Kihle made his Kernels debut. Unfortunately, early in the game, he had a collision with Jermaine Palacios on a pop fly in the outfield. Kihle left the game. LaMonte Wade came on, playing for the first time in five days due to a hamstring injury. Still not 100%, Wade went 1-2 with a walk.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Logan Darnell, Rochester Red Wings

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Byron Buxton, Rochester Red Wings

 

 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (DH 4:05 CST) - (LHP Pat Dean, LHP Taylor Rogers)

Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut

Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:35 CST) – RHP Keaton Steele

South Bend @Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – LHP Sam Clay

 

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

 

Click here to view the article

[clutterheart]

Man I know errors are not a predictive stat but....

Gordon's got a lot of errors, Vielma's got a lot of errors

 

Escobar is about to ask for a raise!

[Han Joelo]

Isn't this now 10 AB's in a row without a K for Buxton?  Good for him.

 

Some unusual pitching lines.  Seems telling that Darnell pitched a complete game without one strikeout.  Good ol' pitch to contact!  There IS something to be said for it.

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 12:51 PM, Han Joelo said:

Isn't this now 10 AB's in a row without a K for Buxton?  Good for him.

 

Some unusual pitching lines.  Seems telling that Darnell pitched a complete game without one strikeout.  Good ol' pitch to contact!  There IS something to be said for it.

 

Without looking, it might be 12...  It's a good start, for sure... especially after the first game in which he was 1-7 with three strikeouts.

 

There absolutely is something to said about knowing how to "pitch" rather than just throw. AAA hitters are very good hitters and that Buffalo lineup is full of big leaguers. I definitely think we get worked up too much about strikeouts, sometimes... That kind of stuff matters in terms of elite or top prospect types.  But being a smart pitcher and getting quick outs is a good thing too.

[operation mindcrime]

Why play Wade if he's not 100% healthy? \m/

[HitInAPinch]

For Buxton, it isn't the lack of K's or the number of hits that are important.  He has done that in past MiLB seasons.  It's the number of walks [i.e. pitch recognition] that are the most important.

[tobi0040]

Really glad Buxton is dominating. Let's give him at least three weeks down there, if not longer.

 

The worry is the struggles continue, like they did for Arcia last year. Glad to see that hasn't been the case so far.

[nytwinsfan]

Here is what I don't get about Buxton. I understand that the majors are a step (maybe a huge step) up from the AAA and certainly AA. I really do get that. I get that pitch recognition matters at the MLB level more, because the pitchers are more precise and the average pitcher is coming at you a few MPH faster. But its not like Buxton went from being a .800 OPS hitter to being a .680 OPS hitter. He went from an .867 OPS in the minors last year (and .872 in the minors for his career) to a .555 OPS in the majors. He went from being dominant to being terrible on the offensive side. It has to be at least partially nerves or trying too hard or something he's doing different at the major league level. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense.  Or at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

Edited April 29, 2016 by nytwinsfan

[DJL44]

I want to see Buxton bunt for a hit. He needs to develop that part of his game.

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 1:25 PM, operation mindcrime said:

Why play Wade if he's not 100% healthy? \m/

 

There was thought of him playing last night. They were thinking they would give him one more day or so - from what I've heard... 

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 2:22 PM, nytwinsfan said:

Here is what I don't get about Buxton. I understand that the majors are a step (maybe a huge step) up from the AAA and certainly AA. I really do get that. I get that pitch recognition matters at the MLB level more, because the pitchers are more precise and the average pitcher is coming at you a few MPH faster. But its not like Buxton went from being a .800 OPS hitter to being a .680 OPS hitter. He went from an .867 OPS in the minors last year (and .872 in the minors for his career) to a .555 OPS in the majors. He went from being dominant to being terrible on the offensive side. It has to be at least partially nerves or trying too hard or something he's doing different at the major league level. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense.  Or at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

 

He's played 3 games in Rochester, and I wouldn't say he's dominating, yet. He's doing fine. He's getting the extra base hits, and that helps that slugging percentage, but it's all speed based. I've watched most of his at bats so far, and I wouldn't say he looks right yet. Numbers are obviously fine, but process still needs lots of work.

[bluechipper]

How do you throw a shutout in the minor leagues without recording a strikeout? 

 

Also, 10 hits in 4.1 innings for Tyler Jay, with 0 strikeouts. I was not expecting Jay to be off to such a rough start.

[tobi0040]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 3:08 PM, Seth Stohs said:

He's played 3 games in Rochester, and I wouldn't say he's dominating, yet. He's doing fine. He's getting the extra base hits, and that helps that slugging percentage, but it's all speed based. I've watched most of his at bats so far, and I wouldn't say he looks right yet. Numbers are obviously fine, but process still needs lots of work.

 

But I think it is fair to say his minor league OPS was inflated due to speed before as well.  That is nothing new. 

 

I do enjoy the perspective though.  It will be interesting in 2-3 weeks to see what his stats are with two strikes.  HIs MLB numbers were completely and utterly awful with 2 strikes.

 

 

[jokin]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 3:27 PM, bluechipper said:

How do you throw a shutout in the minor leagues without recording a strikeout? 

 

Also, 10 hits in 4.1 innings for Tyler Jay, with 0 strikeouts. I was not expecting Jay to be off to such a rough start.

 

This is just his first really bad game, up to now the strikeouts have been there for him. I think it's going to take at least half a season to make the full adjustment to starting instead of relieving.

[Taildragger8791]

I think with Buxton we need to significantly devalue the AAA numbers results (except BBs & Ks) and focus more on the eye test. He's going to get hits, 2Bs, and 3Bs based on his speed against the lower quality defense & pitching. For him it's all about recognizing which pitches to swing at and working the count better. He hasn't had to do that yet because his speed bails him out.

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 3:27 PM, bluechipper said:

How do you throw a shutout in the minor leagues without recording a strikeout? 

 

 

You have to 'pitch' really, really well, hit spots, work fast, avoid hard contact, all of that. To me, doing that is far more impressive than some big strikeout games.

[bluechipper]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 6:26 PM, Seth Stohs said:

You have to 'pitch' really, really well, hit spots, work fast, avoid hard contact, all of that. To me, doing that is far more impressive than some big strikeout games.

That's all true, and I probably get caught up in strikeout numbers a little too much, but Darnell is averaging 2.4 K/9 this year... I don't think that's going to work, especially if we're thinking about how he would perform in the MLB if he gets another chance.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 6:26 PM, Seth Stohs said:

You have to 'pitch' really, really well, hit spots, work fast, avoid hard contact, all of that.

Also defense, luck.

[Otto von Ballpark]

And take a look at the opposing lineup Darnell was facing.  Leadoff man Alexi Casilla!  Basically zero current prospects, Jesus Montero is only one with an OPS over .700, and the last 5 guys in that lineup each have OPS figures below .550 right now.  (You know how bad Buxton has looked at the plate in MLB so far?  Career MLB OPS .555)

[Mr. Brooks]

  On 4/29/2016 at 6:26 PM, Seth Stohs said:

You have to 'pitch' really, really well, hit spots, work fast, avoid hard contact, all of that. To me, doing that is far more impressive than some big strikeout games.

Disagree. Most of the time it's just really good babip luck in a very small sample size (1 game).

[DocBauer]

Darnell is a bit of an enigma at this point. He had a really fine 2014 at Rochester, and while K king, he did garner a few SO's. I thought we might have a function 5th SP who could end up being a nice long-middle man who could spot start. But then he had a pretty rough 2015 before a late season rally that earned him a September promotion. Unfortunate, he got very ill and couldn't play. After a solid ST, despite low K totals thus far, he's off to a quality start in 2016. I'm not saying he has monster stuff, but I'm still wondering if there is a viable LH arm for a bullpen there.

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/29/2016 at 6:39 PM, bluechipper said:

That's all true, and I probably get caught up in strikeout numbers a little too much, but Darnell is averaging 2.4 K/9 this year... I don't think that's going to work, especially if we're thinking about how he would perform in the MLB if he gets another chance.

 

It's OK to separate the two topics. The K-rate usually does relate to big league opportunity and usually success... but I don' think that needs to take away from a really impressive performance. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

  On 4/30/2016 at 12:06 AM, Mr. Brooks said:

Disagree. Most of the time it's just really good babip luck in a very small sample size (1 game).

 

I don't care... Dude threw a nine-inning, complete game shutout. Yup, he used his defense.