Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): Walker Powers Rochester

[Cody Christie]

Mayday, Mayday!

 

Ok, maybe there isn't anything to panic about at this point. I mean it's still early in the minor league campaign but the calendar did turn to May on Sunday. Most of the Twins' affiliates are attempting to find themselves in this early part of the year. Sunday's games were a microcosm of the season so far; there was some good pitching and not much timely hitting.

 

Would that trend continue on Sunday or would there be a different story line to follow?RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Scranton/WB 0

Box Score

Old friend Anthony Swarzak made one mistake in his return to Rochester and Adam Brett Walker made him pay. In the midst of a scoreless pitchers duel, Walker stepped in against Swarzak and belted his third home run of the season. Walker finished the day 2-for-3 with a home run and a double. Wilfredo Tovar followed up his strong performance from Saturday with a 1-for-4 day including his eighth steal.

 

David Martinez started for Rochester and pitched into the eighth frame. He struck out six and walked one while lowering his ERA to 2.84. Buddy Boshers was asked to get outs in parts of two innings for his first hold of the year. J.R. Graham earned his third save as he didn't allow a base runner to reach.

 

The Red Wings begin a seven-game road swing on Monday with a three-game series in Syracuse before heading to Pawtucket for four games. Rochester trails Syracuse, the current leaders of the International League North, by three games. The Chiefs are 11-4 at home this season and Rochester is 4-5 on the road.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Montgomery 0

Box Score

After being nearly no-hit on Saturday night, the Lookouts returned the favor with a shutout on Sunday afternoon. Aaron Slegers was masterful as he scattered five hits over eight shutout frames. He struck out five and walked one for his second win. It was the first time he made it through eight innings since July 13 of last season with the Miracle. J.T. Chargois walked two batters in the ninth but was still able to keep the shutout alive and earn his fifth save.

 

Zach Granite singled to start the bottom of the first and stole second for his tenth steal of the season. Following a Daniel Palka strikeout, Mitch Garver drove in Granite with a single to right. It was an early 1-0 lead and that's all the team would need. Granite finished the day 2-for-4 and Palka reached base two times. The team's five through nine hitters failed to collect a hit.

 

These same two clubs will finish off their five game series on Monday. Both teams have won a pair of games so far. The Lookouts are 4-2 over the last week and sit five games out of first place in the Southern League North.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Charlotte 2

Box Score

For the second straight day, the Miracle offense couldn't get going against the Stone Crabs pitching staff. Trevor Plouffe continued his rehab and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Between his first two games, he has gone 1-for-8. Trey Vavra collected three hits before being removed for a pinch runner in the late innings. The team's only run was scored on a solo home run off the bat of Max Murphy. Fort Myers was limited to two at-bats with runners in scoring position and neither one resulted in a hit.

 

Randy Rosario was charged with his second loss of the season after surrendering two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. In both of his losses this season, he has pitched into the sixth inning and allowed a total of four earned runs. Luke Bard and Brandon Peterson shut down the Stone Crabs the rest of the way. Bard didn't allow a hit in 1.2 innings while Peterson hasn't allowed a run since moving from Chattanooga to Fort Myers.

 

The Miracle finish off their nine-game road trip with a three-game series at Palm Beach. The club has gone 3-3 so far on the trip and they have yet to play Palm Beach this season. It's a critical first-half series as the Miracle currently trail the Cardinals by one game in the Florida State League South standings.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids --, South Bend --

The finale of this three game series between the Kernels and the Cubs was cancelled on Sunday due to rain. This was the only scheduled series between these two teams so there will not be a make-up game. Each team won a game in the series so they will end the year with a 1-1 head-to-head record. Cedar Rapids starts a six-game road trip with a three-game series against Lansing. Cody Stashak, who was supposed to start Sunday's game, will get pushed to Monday night.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day- Aaron Slegers, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day- Adam Brett Walker, Rochester Red Wings

 

MONDAYS'S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Syracuse (5:35 CST)- LHP Jason Wheeler (0-0 1.29 ERA)

Chattanooga vs. Montgomery (1:15 CST)- RHP Ryan Eades (0-2, 8.00 ERA)

Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 CST)- LHP Stephen Gonsalves (2-1, 1.44 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 CST)- RHP Cody Stashak (2-0, 1.13 ERA)

 

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

 

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[bluechipper]

Wow these offensive performances are rough.

 

Byron Buxton with another 2 strikeouts. Max Kepler is hitting .185.

 

Things are pretty bleak in all things Twins right now.

[jokin]

 

Wow these offensive performances are rough.

 

Byron Buxton with another 2 strikeouts. Max Kepler is hitting .185.

 

Things are pretty bleak in all things Twins right now.

 

*** Except for many great minor league SP/RP performances, + Gordon, Palka and Wade???

[bluechipper]

 

*** Except for many great minor league SP/RP performances, + Gordon, Palka and Wade???

That's definitely true. The one player performance that drags my overall view down though is Buxton's bad start. That, along with the poor offensive minor league production, combined with the Twins awful start is leading to a somewhat negative view on things.

[Seth Stohs]

Trust me... as I'm researching the April awards, you've got it exactly right. 

 

*** Except for many great minor league SP/RP performances, + Gordon, Palka and Wade???

 

[jsteve96]

 

Wow these offensive performances are rough.

 

Byron Buxton with another 2 strikeouts. Max Kepler is hitting .185.

 

Things are pretty bleak in all things Twins right now.

Kepler has had too few AB's for you to judge a .185 avg... might be .285 next sunday with how few AB's he's had

[terrydactyls]

Buddy Boshers keeps showing up in your reports in a positive way.  Is he a possibility for a trip to the big leagues?

[Halsey Hall]

Three nice ERA's starting today. Not much hitting to be found in the entire organization though.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Kepler has had too few AB's for you to judge a .185 avg... might be .285 next sunday with how few AB's he's had

 

Exactly... I mean, if he goes 4-4 today, he's hitting .290. Not that he will, but 27 at bats is FAR too few to worry about anything...

 

As for Buxton, a 3-3 game puts him at .286 and a 5-5 puts him at .324. 

 

Not that we expect those things to happen... because baseball is not easy... but let them play 3-4 weeks before worrying about anything too much. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Buddy Boshers keeps showing up in your reports in a positive way.  Is he a possibility for a trip to the big leagues?

 

If he keeps pitching like he did in April, he'll have to be considered at some point. 

[jokin]

 

If he keeps pitching like he did in April, he'll have to be considered at some point. 

 

Seth, how much info do you have on Boshers?  Looking at his career stats, he looks like one of those decent-stuff teasers that a club might take on chance on "fixing" (former 4th round pick is nothing to sneeze at). High K rate/High BB rate. Through April in Rochester, his control has shown a marked improvement vs. his career numbers.

[Vanimal46]

Any predictions on the date that Chargois gets the call to AAA?