Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/20): Eades Exceeds Expectations

[Seth Stohs]

It was no surprise that the Twins needed to get an arm to Kansas City after Friday night’s 11 inning, seven hour (with rain and light delays). The specifics may have been a bit surprising. Adalberto Mejia was called up to the Twins, his first big league promotion. Kennys Vargas was the one optioned to Rochester where he’ll have to spend the next ten days.

 

Because of a short start from lefty Hector Santiago, Mejia also made his major league debut with two outs in the fifth inning. He got a groundout to end that inning. He went another two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Following the game, he was optioned back to Rochester. The Twins will promote another pitcher to take his spot before Sunday’s series finale.Because Mejia was promoted, Omar Bencomo was brought back to Rochester to make the Saturday start. The Red Wings also officially announced the signing of veteran Edward Mujica. Also, lefty Randy Rosario was promoted from Ft. Myers to the Chattanooga bullpen. That means that five of the six Miracle starters at the beginning of the season have now made it to Chattanooga.

 

Let’s get to the Saturday game action:

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Gwinnett 5 (7-Rain)

Box Score

 

Omar Bencomo was summoned back to the Red Wings pretty last minute to make this start. He went five innings, though he gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk. He struck out four. Rio Ruiz took him deep twice. Neil Ramirez got the final two outs of the sixth inning before the game was called due to rain.

 

The Red Wings managed just six hits. Wilfredo Tovar went 1-2 with a walk and his 22nd double. He scored the lone run on a single off the bat of Adam Brett Walker.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Montgomery 1

Box Score

 

With Bencomo heading back to the Red Wings, Eades was back into the Lookouts rotation, at least for this start. He was tremendous. He gave up just one hit over six shutout innings. He walked one and struck out four. 51 of his 81 pitches were strikes. Zack Jones gave up a run on a hit in two innings. He walked two and struck out two. Raul Fernandez recorded his third save with a perfect ninth.

 

TJ White had a strong game. The infielder went 3-4 with his fourth double and third triple. Stuart Turner was 2-4 with his 21st double.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 4

Box Score

 

Before they batted, the Miracle were down 4-0, but they clawed their way back and scored seven unanswered runs to claim the win.

 

It was a tough start for Sam Clay. The lefty gave up four runs on two hits and six walks in 4.2 innings. He gave up all four runs right away in the first inning. He struck out four. Luke Westphal came on and walked two and struck out two over 1.1 scoreless innings. Cam Booser struck out five of the six batters he faced in his two perfect innings. Nick Anderson recorded his seventh Miracle save with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.

 

Down 4-0 before they batted, Tanner English and Joe Maloney each hit solo home runs. English was 2-5. The homer was his fourth. Maloney went 2-4 with his fourth homer. He drove in four runs in the game. Chris Ibarra went 2-5 with his third double. Trey Vavra went 2-3 with a walk. Daniel Kihle went 2-4. Nick Gordon added his 22nd double.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 7, Burlington 3

Box Score

 

The Kernels scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead. They added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth and earned the win.

 

Tyler Beardsley started and gave up two runs on four hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out two. Michael Cederoth gave up a run on two hits and a walk over 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Max Cordy got the final two outs of the 8th inning, one on a strikeout. Tom Hakimer gave up a hit and hit a batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

 

JJ Fernandez went 2-3 with his 24th double. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-4. Casey Scoggins went 2-4 with a walk. Brandon Lopez went 1-3 and walked twice. Nelson Molina contributed his 14th double.

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 2, Burlington 4

Box Score

 

While the Kernels beat Burlington on Saturday night, the E-Twins dropped a game in Burlington. Random fun with minor league cities, of course. Miguel De Jesus started. He gave up three runs on three hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out six. Johan Quezada gave up a run on three hits over his two innings. Quin Grogan walked one and struck one out in his scoreless inning.

 

The Twins managed just four hits in the game. Lewin Diaz was 1-3 with a walk and his 14th double. Alex Kirilloff was also 1-3 with a walk. Caleb Hamilton added his fifth double. Roberto Gonzalez doubled for the third time.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 3, Red Sox 1

Box Score

 

Jordan Balazovic put together the best start of his very young professional career on Saturday morning. The young Canadian threw six shutout innings to earn his second win. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out two. Matz Schutt hit two and gave up a hit in a scoreless seventh inning. Juan Gamez made his second pitching appearance. In this one, he gave up a run on two hits and a walk in just two-thirds of an inning. Clark Beeker got the final out of the eighth and then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second GCL save.

 

Juan Miranda went 2-3 with his seventh double. Lean Marrero was 2-4 with his third stolen base. Justin Hazard knocked his fifth double.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ryan Eades, Chattanooga Lookouts

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – TJ White, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Gwinnett (1:05 CST) - LHP Nick Greenwood

Montgomery @ Chattanooga (1:15 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (3:05 CST) - RHP Keaton Steele

Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons

Elizabethton @ Burlington (5:00 CST) - RHP Tyler Wells

GCL Twins - No Game Scheduled

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday's games.

 

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[AZTwin]

Unrelated but it amazes me how much depth we have now. I was re-reading the prospect handbook and saw seths top 30. I realize hindsight is 20-20 but some of those lists a few years back were downright ugly. Those that made the top 5 probably wouldn't be top 10 or top 15 now

[Teddy]

I agree with you AZTwin.

 

What is the reason for the deeper farm system? Is there a new scouting department? Not that I'm aware of.

 

Does that mean that the same old scouting team is simply doing a better job? Or are the coaches doing a better job of teaching than a few years ago? Dare I say that the improved depth is because of Terry Ryan?

[Bob Sacamento]

GCL Notes for 8/20:

 

Jordan Balazovic was impressive in his longest professional outing where he went 6 innings, giving up only 5 hits (all singles), 0 runs, 0 walks and 2 strikeouts.  Currently, Balazovic is not a flamethrower as his fastball was 86-90mph and was sitting 87-88mph on average in the start. The kid had good control of his fastball and was placing it well on the inside half to RHH.  His breaking ball was 79-83 mph with good bend although he left quite a few up in the zone which led to a number of flyballs, his GB:FB rate was 4:11 in the game and 27:24 this season.  Jordan did hit two batters and pitched himself into a jam in the 6th inning but Manager Ramon Borreja let him get out of it himself.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3Uov4ZXPk

 

In the 8th inning with the Twins up 3-0, the went their 31st pick in the 2016 draft Juan Gamez, a recently converted catcher out of NDSU.  This was only Gamez's second professional outing on the rubber after collecting 20 at bats early in the season behind the plate.  He threw better than his overall line for the night of 2/3 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.  Juan's fastball was 90-93 mph with some life on it while his slider was 83-85 mph with sharp break.  His control was a little spotty but about where you would expect someone so green to pitch.  For those who were wondering, he has one college inning under his belt giving up 2 H and striking out 2.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvzRjuvb1Mc

 

The highlight for the 2016 GCL season thus far as been Austrailian softballer turned baseball player Aaron Whitefield.  Whitey is the only regular who is hitting over .300, but he also has the ability to work counts deep as seen in his 14 walks in 151 AB but also his team leading 39 strikeouts.  On the bases the Aussie is fleet footed with a league high 27 stolen bases (27 for 34. The next closest has 20 SB).  Most of that is due to his natural athletic ability and not his basestealing or baserunning acumen.  Of course it doesn't help when you get hosed on the call either though:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVYsU4h_Hvg

 

 

[FanFromPhilly]

Anyone know why Buxton hasn't played the last few days?

[John Kelsey]

 

Anyone know why Buxton hasn't played the last few days?

 

Not sure, but he's back in the lineup today. 

[Darius]

I agree with you AZTwin.

 

What is the reason for the deeper farm system? Is there a new scouting department? Not that I'm aware of.

 

Does that mean that the same old scouting team is simply doing a better job? Or are the coaches doing a better job of teaching than a few years ago? Dare I say that the improved depth is because of Terry Ryan?

Years of high draft picks, because of awful teams, and a little bit of luck.

 

I would say Terry Ryan always had a pretty good system of going out and getting young talent through the draft, etc. His problem, IMO, was how he managed things at the major league level (free agents, trades, call-ups, handling injuries, the country club, etc).

 

Sure, it seems like there are a lot of prospects in the system. But, the Twins organization has shown a total inability to develop players and arrive at their potential as major league players. Also, the system isn't quite as attractive as it was a few years ago with the graduation of top 50 caliber guys like Buxton, Sano, Berrios, Kepler, etc. Whats left is pretty deep, but the highly touted guys with outrageous projections/comparisons aren't there anymore.

[Darius]

Anyone know why Buxton hasn't played the last few days?

I thought it was kind of interesting to see him used as a runner late in games in these summaries. Makes it seem like it's not a worrisome injury issue. Pure speculation.

[drivlikejehu]

 

I agree with you AZTwin.

 

What is the reason for the deeper farm system? Is there a new scouting department? Not that I'm aware of.

 

Does that mean that the same old scouting team is simply doing a better job? Or are the coaches doing a better job of teaching than a few years ago? Dare I say that the improved depth is because of Terry Ryan?

 

What matters is what production you get in the Majors, not how many prospects you feel good about before they get there.

[d-mac]

 

I agree with you AZTwin.

 

What is the reason for the deeper farm system? Is there a new scouting department? Not that I'm aware of.

 

Does that mean that the same old scouting team is simply doing a better job? Or are the coaches doing a better job of teaching than a few years ago? Dare I say that the improved depth is because of Terry Ryan?

 

Depth has improved because we are drafting higher from all the losing. 

[nicksaviking]

 

 

In the 8th inning with the Twins up 3-0, the went their 31st pick in the 2016 draft Juan Gamez, a recently converted catcher out of NDSU.  This was only Gamez's second professional outing on the rubber after collecting 20 at bats early in the season behind the plate.  He threw better than his overall line for the night of 2/3 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.  Juan's fastball was 90-93 mph with some life on it while his slider was 83-85 mph with sharp break.  His control was a little spotty but about where you would expect someone so green to pitch.  For those who were wondering, he has one college inning under his belt giving up 2 H and striking out 2.

 

 

That's interesting. I figured he was just drafted as an organizational catcher as you always need warm bodies to catch all the new pitchers. I wonder at what point in the process the Twins knew they were going to ask him to pitch. And I wonder how they knew he could.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

That's interesting. I figured he was just drafted as an organizational catcher as you always need warm bodies to catch all the new pitchers. I wonder at what point in the process the Twins knew they were going to ask him to pitch. And I wonder how they knew he could.

Good questions, I'll ask him this weekend if I see him.  I too thought it was an odd switch so soon as he's pretty competent behind the plate with his blocking and a really strong arm.  I saw him at the plate and he was just meh, not good or great but he wasn't Shaq Thompson (2012 BoSox 18th Rd pick, in 2012 was 0-39 with 37 K. He's a NFLer w/ a ring now) bad either.

 

Here is Gamez just 7 weeks prior as a hitter:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJFqozDMDeU