Article: Twins Minor league Report (8/11): Gonsalves Aces Barons

[Steve Lein]

As you will find out reading the rest of this report, I don’t have to say much more in this opening other than pitching was fantastic on this night throughout the Twins’ affiliates after the clunkers the MLB team put on display in their double-header.

 

They were 6-0 on the day (7-0 if I include the DSL), and you can check out all the standout pitching performances, including Stephen Gonsalves achieving “Ace” status by taking down his fifth Southern League opponent, the Birmingham (Red) Barons, in dominating fashion, by reading on!RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Syracuse 3

Box Score

 

Rochester took an early lead in the first inning, thanks to a solo home run from Daniel Palka, his seventh with the Red Wings and twenty-eighth of the season. After that, it was a pitcher’s duel until the seventh inning.

 

Red Wings starter Nick Greenwood went those first seven innings. Through the sixth, he had scattered just five hits in keeping the Chiefs off the board. Logan Schafer added a solo home run of his own in the top of the seventh for a 2-0 lead, but in the bottom frame the Syracuse lineup finally got to Greenwood.

 

A single, double, and two-run single tied the game before Greenwood induced a double play ball to end the inning and his night. All told, he pitched seven innings, with two earned runs allowed on eight hits while striking out four. He factored into the decision as in the top of the eighth Byron Buxton led off with a single and later scored after some small ball to put Rochester back out front 3-2.

 

Sean Burnett came on and pitched a scoreless eighth, “retiring” all four hitters he faced as his lone strikeout ended up with the runner on first. He was credited with his ninth hold.

 

The Red Wings pushed their lead to 5-2 in the top of the ninth thanks to an RBI double from Mitch Garver and RBI single from Leonardo Reginatto.

 

Twins organization newcomer, Pat Light came on for the ninth and picked up his ninth International League save of the year and second with the Red Wings. Hopefully that was a good enough consolation prize, as he perhaps was supposed to be on his way to Minnesota earlier in the day. He allowed three hits and one run two score in the ninth, but also recorded all of his outs via strikeout.

 

Rochester got multi-hit efforts from Palka (2-5, R, HR, RBI), Reynaldo Rodriguez (2-4, RBI), and Schafer (3-5, 2 R’s, HR, RBI) to lead their offense and improve to 66-53 on the season.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 1

Box Score

 

The Lookouts got a dominating starting performance out of lefty phenom Stephen Gonsalves in this one, who finished it for his first nine inning complete game of his career. Interesting enough, it was also the first time he had ever finished more than seven innings in a game.

 

He allowed just one unearned run in the second inning thanks to a Heiker Meneses error that put a runner on second to start the inning. The rest of the game he allowed just two hits and two walks, and racked up eight strikeouts. From the third through the end of the ninth he faced the minimum, picking up three double-play balls to assist along the way. He improved his record with the Lookouts to 5-1, and lowered his ERA to 2.01.

 

In support of Gonsalves catcher Stuart Turner had a big game, going 3-4 with a double and two RBIs. Travis Harrison scored two runs and added a double. Edgar Corcino had two hits including an RBI triple. They scored four of their seven runs in the fourth inning, and added a single run in the sixth and two in the eight for the final score. Zach Granite stole his 40th base of the year.

 

Is it too early to discuss Gonsalves to AAA?! Outside of one short appearance on July 6^th in which he allowed six runs, Gonsalves has allowed just two, zero, zero, one, two, one, and zero runs in each of his other starts with Chattanooga not including today’s gem. He is striking out 10.6/9 IP in AA.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Charlotte 0, Fort Myers 1

Box score

 

Not to be outdone by Gonsalves, the Miracle also got a fantastic outing from Cody Stashak in his second game in the Florida State League. He went the first seven innings, holding the Stone Crabs to just four hits and one walk. He struck out two and improves to 2-0 with Fort Myers.

 

The Miracle’s lone run came in the seventh inning to break the stalemate, as Tanner Witt led off with a double and scored on a double play ground out off the bat of Alex Perez.

 

Fort Myers got two hits on the game from Nick Gordon and Witt. Both of Witt’s hits were doubles to give him nine on the season.

 

Randy Rosario finished the game’s final two innings, and picked up his first FSL save of the season in the process. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out two.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Kane County 0

Box Score

 

Like their high-A friends, the Kernels also blanked their opponent on this night.

 

Eduardo Del Rosario went the first five innings in this one and scattered five hits and a walk. He ran his pitch count a little high, at ninety-four four five innings, but went deep into several counts that mostly ended with strikeouts. He had eight for the game.

 

The Kernels scored both their runs in the second inning, after Travis Blankenhorn led off the frame with his first Midwest League double. Later with the bases loaded and two outs, an error on a Luis Arreaz fly ball to left field scored both runs.

 

Nelson Molina and Blankenhorn each had two hits on the game to lead the lineup.

 

Cedar Rapids got two scoreless innings of relief from both Williams Ramirez (2.0IP, H, BB, 2 K’s) and Anthony McIver (2.0IP, H, 3 K’s). Ramirez got his fourth hold, and McIver his seventh save.

 

The victory was manager Jake Mauer’s 300^th with the Kernels, and they improved their record to 62-53 on the season and at 26-20 in the second half currently reside in second place in the Western division.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Kingsport 2, Elizabethton 5

Box Score

 

In keeping with the day’s theme, the E-Twins also got a strong effort from their starting pitcher on Thursday night. In this one, it was right-hander Alex Schick.

 

Kingsport took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks in part to an errant pickoff throw from Schick, but he settled in after that, scattering for hits and two walks in his six innings. He struck out five and improves to 4-1 with Elizabethton.

 

He got plenty of offensive support, as Elizabethton scored two runs in the second, and three in the third to take the lead for good. The big blow was a two-run home run of the bat off Mitchell Kranson, his second of the year. Manuel Guzman added two hits, including a double. The bottom third of the order consisting of Trey Cabbage, Caleb Hamilton and Robert Molina each added an RBI.

 

Quin Grogan pitched into the ninth inning, but was lifted after allowing two runners on and uncorking a few ill-timed wild pitches. His final line included 2.1 innings pitched and one run allowed on one hit and one walk, while striking out one. Hector Lujan finished the ninth for his second Appalachian League save. He retired both men he faced on groundouts, but the first of those scored the run credited to Grogan.

 

Elizabethton improves to 25-22 on the short season, and are 1.5 games back of Johnson City for the West Division lead.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

Twins 4, Orioles 3

Box Score

 

It was a team effort on the pitching front for the GCL Twins in this one, as they used five pitchers on the night, with all of them recording a win, hold or save in their stats.

 

Justin Fox got the Wwn as the starter. He went five innings, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out three.

 

Daniel Martinez, Garrett Kelly, and Callan Pearce all picked up holds for their efforts. Martinez pitched a scoreless sixth, Kelly a scoreless seventh and eighth, and although he was charged with two runs (one earned) Pearce also was credited with a ‘H’ after Zach Strecker came on with the tying runner on first in the ninth.

 

Strecker got the save by striking out the first batter he faced, and getting a fly out to end the game.

 

The Twins scored single runs in each of the third, fourth, seventh, and ninth innings to give themselves enough cushion. No hitter had more than one hit, but Gorge Munoz, Brian Olson, and Lean Marrero each had doubles, and Aaron Whitefield slugged his second home run of the season to lead the offense.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Stephen Gonsalves, Chattanooga Lookouts (CG-W, 9.0IP, 0 ER’s, 3 H’s, 2 BB, 8 K’s)

Hitter of the Day – Logan Schafer, Rochester Red Wings (3-4, 2 R’s, HR, RBI)

 

Also a special shout-out to the DSL Twins centerfielder, Humberto Muldanado, who was 3-5 with three runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and three RBI’s to lead the DSL Twins to a 12-8 victory against the DSL Orioles2.

 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (6:05PM CST) – LHP Jason Wheeler (9-3, 2.97 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Birmingham (7:055PM CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers (8-6, 3.59 ERA)

Charlotte @ Fort Myers (6:05PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (3-2, 2.79 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30PM PM CST) – RHP Miles Nordgren (3-61, 3.16 ERA)

Kingsport @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Sean Poppen (2-3, 3.34 ERA)

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00AM CST) – TBD

 

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

 

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[dgwills]

Keep it up Gonsalves. We need you buddy

[clutterheart]

Im no expert on injuries but 101 pitches in a blow out win seems excessive.

[AZTwin]

Excessive? Isn't 100 still usually the norm pitchers get to? Thought it use to be 110. 90-100 is standard. If he's rolling, give him the complete game. Can't baby them in minors and expect them to deliver in big leagues

[Mave]

Kirilloff has played in 39 games. He has at least 1 hit in 34 of them.

Only 3 hitless games in the last month.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Kirilloff has played in 39 games. He has at least 1 hit in 34 of them.

Only 3 hitless games in the last month.

 

I tend not to read everything in these (though I love them). I scan through checking for names I'm interested in - Palka and the relievers in AAA, Gonsalves/Stewart/Jorge/Jay in A/AA, Garver and Nick Gordon etc. I've definitely added Kirilloff to my list these past few weeks.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Im no expert on injuries but 101 pitches in a blow out win seems excessive.

It is out of the ordinary. Here's a quote from Gonsalves in the milb.com game story: 

 

"I was going out with 91 pitches, and I think normally there's a Twins rule that you're not allowed to start an inning after 85 pitches," Gonsalves said. "Doug was confident in me and I appreciate that. I was waiting, watching him out of the corner of my eye in the dugout. He walked by and was sitting by the water jug, taking little glances at me."

[wavedog]

After the double-header drubbing nice to see such well pitched performances in the minors.   

[Steve Lein]

 

Im no expert on injuries but 101 pitches in a blow out win seems excessive.

 

Nope. And I absolutely hate the idea of 100 being some type of limit.

 

It's not the overall volume of pitches that worries me for injuries, it's the short-term volume.

 

For instance, in this game, Gonsalves averaged 11.2 pitches per inning. Anything less than 15 in an inning is pretty efficient. You get near 10 that's extremely efficient. It's when you start throwing 20 or 30 plus pitches in an inning, and for multiple innings, when things can go bad in my opinion.

 

Gonsalves was never stressed in this one, I absolutely would not be worried about that.

 

 

[gunnarthor]

I'm really excited to see what his scouting reports are and how the prospect gurus rank him this offseason. The stat line is fantastic.

[nicksaviking]

 

It is out of the ordinary. Here's a quote from Gonsalves in the milb.com game story: 

 

"I was going out with 91 pitches, and I think normally there's a Twins rule that you're not allowed to start an inning after 85 pitches," Gonsalves said. "Doug was confident in me and I appreciate that. I was waiting, watching him out of the corner of my eye in the dugout. He walked by and was sitting by the water jug, taking little glances at me."

 

I have to admit, good or bad, hearing Doug Mientkiewicz disregard organizational directives makes me laugh. Would he have done the same thing if Ryan was still in charge and the front office wasn't so unstable? He too likely assumes that his next ?boss? likely is not currently employed with team.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I've got to think Gonsalves starts in AAA next season...  His walk rate has jumped a bit in AA, but so has his K rate.  He might be knocking on the door next year as an early 40 man add.

[Han Joelo]

Unfortunately for Gonsalves, completing the game only served to lower his K/9, which will be a net loss for scouts.  I kid.

 

2 of the 4 strikeouts recorded by Stashak and Rosario came courtesy of an old friend on a rehab assignment.  You'd never guess who.

 

Great day!  Del Rosario keeps climbing my Intrigue-O-Meter, he is already high on my list of fun aliases to use when ordering pizza.

 

Prospect lists are interesting.  A high school outfielder picked 14 spots ahead of Kiriloff debuts at #30 overall, while he is unranked (I probably have that all wrong)…should be interesting to see post-season lists.

[Clear Lake Twinsfan]

Has Randy Rosario been moved to the bullpen in an effort to control his innings this season or is he now being viewed more as a reliever than a starter?

[DocBauer]

absolutely Gonsalves to AAA to begin 2017

[Trov]

Gonzalves may even threaten the rotation next year depending on who is the GM.  I don't expect it, but we cannot assume a new GM will operate like Ryan and sit guys in minors as long.  Not saying he should come up, but you never know what will happen. 

[Steve Lein]

 

Has Randy Rosario been moved to the bullpen in an effort to control his innings this season or is he now being viewed more as a reliever than a starter?

 

Definitely to limit his innings. He's exceeded his career high in Innings pitched by 50% already, and that's with only 90 innings.

[bluechipper]

 

Has Randy Rosario been moved to the bullpen in an effort to control his innings this season or is he now being viewed more as a reliever than a starter?

I would guess it's more of an innings limit, as he only threw 61.2 innings last year, and he's already up to 90.2 this year.

 

He has some pretty low K numbers this year as a starter too, 6.1 K/9, so he might be better off in the bullpen.

[nyazbeck]

With Albers and dean up who is added to Rochester to complete the rotation