Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/25): Lachlan Wows

[Jeremy Nygaard]

While the Twins are enjoying their last scheduled off day until the middle of August, the system was keeping busy.

 

The Red Wings placed Logan Darnell on the disabled list with a shoulder strain and activated outfielder Reynaldo Rodriguez, who was getting re-acclimated to baseball in Fort Myers. Fort Myers activated reliever Brian Gilbert and placed Yorman Landa on the disabled list, leaving them one short of a full roster.First-round pick Alex Kirilloff is getting some prospect love, being named Appy League Batter of the Week. Don’t look now, but once Jose Berrios exhausts his prospect eligibility, Kirilloff, Nick Gordon and Tyler Jay may be in a three-way race to be the team’s next #1 prospect (at least on the list that I put together).

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Pawtucket 7

Box Score

 

Back-to-back bombs from Adam Brett Walker and Byung Ho Park was too little for the Red Wings, as they dropped to 60-44, two games out of the wild card race.

 

Park, Walker, Tommy Field and Wilfredo Tovar each had two hits on Monday. Walker’s home run was his 20th on the season. He also added his 18th double. Park hit his sixth AAA home run and now has 18 combined on the season. Park doubled for the third time.

 

Nick Greenwood made a respectable start, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out three. D.J. Baxendale struggled mightily, blowing the lead without recording an out. He allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits and took the loss. Marcus Walden struck out one in two innings and Alex Wimmers struck out two in one inning.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga - OFF DAY

 

The Lookouts open a series with the Smokies tomorrow.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 2

Box Score

 

Nick Gordon giveth. And Nick Gordon taketh away.

 

After an eighth-inning error allowed two runs to score, Nick Gordon probably felt like a goat. What an inopportune time to commit his 19h error of the season which wrecked a shutout.

 

Of course, two outs in the bottom of the eighth, with the score tied, Gordon turned into a hero. He drove in the go-ahead and eventual winning run. Gordon is currently batting .301.

 

Tanner Witt, Joe Maloney and A.J. Murray all doubled. T.J. White and Alex Perez both drove in a run.

 

Keaton Steele pitched seven shutout innings with four strikeouts. Todd Van Steensel was charged with a blown save due to the error, but recovered for the win. Because pitcher wins! John Curtiss then picked up his first save of the season.

 

At one game over .500 on the season, the Miracle are now 17-15 in the second half. They trail the division leader by 2.5 games.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Dayton 0

Box Score

 

On Friday, Sam Gibbons had his best start of the season. On Monday, country-mate Lachlan Wells had arguably the best start for any Twins-affiliated team all season. Though his fastball only touched 90 mph, the whole repertoire was working for the diminutive southpaw from Newcastle as Wells threw 66 strikes (97 pitches) in eight innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits and a walk. After allowing a single in both the first and second inning, Wells retired the next 12 in the lineup before hitting a batter. His walk came with two out in the seventh, a runner he promptly picked off.

 

Wells struck out nine, missing his career mark of 10, which came in Wells’ first professional outing in June of 2015 in the GCL.

 

Tom Hackimer picked up his second save in four opportunities. He walked a batter but got a strikeout to end the game.

 

Offensively the Kernels did enough to win - but not by much - and did it all in the fifth inning. Chris Ibarra walked to lead off the inning. J.J. Fernandez and Rainis Silva both singled to load the bases. The first run of the game scored on a Manuel Guzman sacrifice fly. Casey Scoggins drove in the Kernels second and last run of the game with a single.

 

Zander Wiel added a double, his 22nd, in the sixth.

 

On the season, the Kernels are 54-46. Their second-half record is 18-13, but they trail Clinton by 4.5 games.

 

Side note: I just returned from a three-game trip to watch the Kernels in Cedar Rapids. I’ll be sharing my #notascout reports on my takeaways from the weekend on Wednesday.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 6, Pulaski 1

Box Score

 

Yesterday, Tyler Beardsley wasn’t a name that typical readers would look twice at. He might have changed that on Monday evening. In 6 1/3 innings, Beardsley struck out 13 and only walked one. Beardsley didn’t start in college and possessed a K/9 around 4.5. So while this may be an anomaly, it’s an attention-getter that will at least make fans take a second look.

 

Alex Robinson struck out three in relief and Colton Davis closed the game out with a 1-2-3 ninth.

 

Travis Blankenhorn led the charge with a 2-run home run and a 3-run home run in consecutive innings. According to a tweet from his agent, Blankenhorn passed a runner on his 3-run home run, so evidently his run doesn’t count and he was charged with an out.

 

Brandon Lopez had another two-hit day to raise his average to .365. Mitch Kranson (who caught Beardsley) also had a multi-hit game including a RBI and a double. Roberto Gonzalez singled twice.

 

The E-Twins improve to 15-16.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 7, GCL Orioles 2

Box Score

 

The GCL affiliate got a very night showing from the piggybacking duo of undrafted free agents Bo Hellquist and Tyler Fox. Hellquist, a lefty, threw the first five innings and earned the win. Fox picked up the save for pitching the last four. Their lines were almost identical: both gave up a run on three hits and both struck out four. Hellquist issued a walk and Fox allowed a solo home run.

 

The Twins tallied 11 hits, led by three singles by Gorge Munoz. Aaron Whiteside had two hits, but the most damage was done by Joe Cronin, who hit his first two professional extra-base hits: a two-run home run in the fourth and a double in the eighth. He also reached base when he was hit by a pitch. Tyree Davis added a double. Both Akil Baddoo and the rehabbing Heiker Meneses drove in a pair of runs as well.

 

Interestingly, the Orioles used former Twin Sam Deduno for an inning on a rehab assignment. He struck out one.

 

The GCL Twins are 13-14.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Lachlan Wells, Cedar Rapids

Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Elizabethton

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester at Pawtucket (6:05 CST) - LHP Andrew Albers (9-3, 3.14 ERA)

Chattanooga vs Tennessee (6:15 CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart (4-4, 3.35 ERA)

Fort Myers vs Palm Beach (6:05 CST) - LHP Randy Rosario (5-3, 3.79 ERA)

Elizabethton at Pulaski (6:00 CST) - LHP Domenick Carlini (1-4, 5.11 ERA)

GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles (11:00AM CST) - TBD

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

 

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[GMinTraining]

IMPRESSIVE MONTHS of  JULY in ROCHESTER

[bA / OBP / SLG / OPS]

 

.292 -     .370 -      .615 -  .    985  - (PARK) 

 

.350  -     .418 -      .650 -      1.068  - (ABW II)

 

.311 -      .391 -      .590 -      .981  - (PALKA)

 

AAA adjustments at their best

[Bill Tanner]

Jeremy, the Cedar Rapids score wasn't updated.  Should have been CR 2, Dayton 0.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Jeremy, the Cedar Rapids score wasn't updated.  Should have been CR 2, Dayton 0.

 

Updated... thank you for pointing that out.

[Dman]

Ok so I will admit I did do a triple take on Tyler Beardsley.  I checked where he was drafted, stats, etc.  I mean 2 K's per inning isn't easily done.  So I was pretty impressed by his outing.  The things about E-town though is that stats don't seem to mean much there.  Also he is pretty old for the league as there are a fair number of High schoolers so competition is mixed.

 

He did peak my interest and I will be keeping an eye on him.  Hopefully the Twins found something in this kid but there is a long way to go.

[DJL44]

Yes, you have to be careful getting too excited about stats in Elizabethton. Look at Pat Dean's 2010 line for example.

[amjgt]

 

IMPRESSIVE MONTHS of  JULY in ROCHESTER

[bA / OBP / SLG / OPS]

 

.292 -     .370 -      .615 -  .    985  - (PARK) 

 

.350  -     .418 -      .650 -      1.068  - (ABW II)

 

.311 -      .391 -      .590 -      .981  - (PALKA)

 

AAA adjustments at their best

 

I was just thinking about this this morning....

 

I'm not scouting scale expert, but I assume each of those guys would be at least 70 on the Power tool, and maybe borderline 80.

 

Interesting to see 3 of those guys on the same AAA team at the same time. I suspect they will all remain there until Rochester's season is done, but I suppose if Park is deemed to have "figured it out" he might get the call back up, especially if Vargas comes back to earth.

[Seth Stohs]

Here is the tweet on Blankenhorn's "strange" home run situation that I received from his agent during the game. 

 

 

 

[Trov]

 

IMPRESSIVE MONTHS of  JULY in ROCHESTER

[bA / OBP / SLG / OPS]

 

.292 -     .370 -      .615 -  .    985  - (PARK) 

 

.350  -     .418 -      .650 -      1.068  - (ABW II)

 

.311 -      .391 -      .590 -      .981  - (PALKA)

 

AAA adjustments at their best

 

I like the improvements of the players overall.  Park may have relaxed down in AAA or he may just be a AAAA player, which would not surprise me either.  Sure he will have a HR here or there in MLB but overall will be over-matched with the pitchers there.  Palka and ABW will both have to cut down on K-rate, as both have risen at each level.  ABW has more speed than Palka I am guessing, reflective of his SB in the minors, and success of it, but do not know how their defense is.  Overall the twins have about 4 players at one position and none of them have jumped out as the front runner moving forward.  I would expect a lot of jumping around for Park, Varges, Palka, and ABW all bouncing up and down to DH next year.  This is if Sano picks up his defense at third and Molitor does not decide he is to liable at third, then we will have a lot of power off the bench rotating through, when Sano is full time DH.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Nice start for Wells. He seems like an interesting prospect. Doesn't seem tall or big with an upper 80's to low 90's fastball, good change, and a decent curve. He is only 19, so I think he could improve some over the next few years. I just wonder how much of a ceiling he realistically has. A 1.57 ERA is impressive and his first 6 starts in Ceder Rapids look much better than Thorpe's first 6 starts in Ceder Rapids in 2014.

[bluechipper]

 

I like the improvements of the players overall.  Park may have relaxed down in AAA or he may just be a AAAA player, which would not surprise me either.  Sure he will have a HR here or there in MLB but overall will be over-matched with the pitchers there.  Palka and ABW will both have to cut down on K-rate, as both have risen at each level.  ABW has more speed than Palka I am guessing, reflective of his SB in the minors, and success of it, but do not know how their defense is.  Overall the twins have about 4 players at one position and none of them have jumped out as the front runner moving forward.  I would expect a lot of jumping around for Park, Varges, Palka, and ABW all bouncing up and down to DH next year.  This is if Sano picks up his defense at third and Molitor does not decide he is to liable at third, then we will have a lot of power off the bench rotating through, when Sano is full time DH.

Regarding defense, I would have to assume Palka is better, given the reports that we've seen from Walker and his awful throwing arm. Palka also stole 24 bases last year, so he must have some speed and athleticism.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Ok so I will admit I did do a triple take on Tyler Beardsley.  I checked where he was drafted, stats, etc.  I mean 2 K's per inning isn't easily done.  So I was pretty impressed by his outing.  The things about E-town though is that stats don't seem to mean much there.  Also he is pretty old for the league as there are a fair number of High schoolers so competition is mixed.

 

He did peak my interest and I will be keeping an eye on him.  Hopefully the Twins found something in this kid but there is a long way to go.

 

Couple of notes on Beardsley...

 

Talked to a scout who says Beardsley "keeps getting better" and has a "fresh arm" and one of his teammates just said he was "locked in."

 

Interesting too that the guy who caught him hasn't caught much.

[GMinTraining]

Palka - 43 for 60 (72% rate)

 

Walker - 41 for 53 (77% rate)

 

Both are pretty successful at stealing bases.  Smart if not fast

 

Buxton - 107 for 136 (78% rate)

[drivlikejehu]

 

Yes, you have to be careful getting too excited about stats in Elizabethton. Look at Pat Dean's 2010 line for example.

 

For sure, though interestingly most of the Twins' young hitting prospects that did well there continued to have success at higher levels, including the Majors in a good % of cases (jury is still out on some of course).

[FormerMinnasotan]

I guess the bigger question about Lachlan Wells is, will Wells be a Tommy Milone clone or a Lewis Thorpe clone. Wells has done great so far in A ball, but I have a hard time being over excited in him as a prospect with reports of his lack size.

[dougkoebernick]

was at the kernels game - Wells was tough.