Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/22): Playoff Races Heating Up

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins took a day off on Monday - though you could argue they took a couple days off in Kansas City.

 

Congrats to Stephen Gonsalves on being named Southern League Pitcher of the Week.

 

There was a lot of action on the farm.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Gwinnett 3

Box Score

 

In the Red Wings victory Monday, the offense was very balanced. Eight of the nine batters got hits.

 

Byron Buxton did some good (three hits) and some not-so-good (two strikeouts: one looking and one swinging). Tommy Field hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. Kennys Vargas hit a double and also drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk. Vargas was 1-3 with two walks in his return to AAA. Logan Schafer also went 1-3 with two walks and an RBI.

 

Andrew Albers picked up his 10th win for the Red Wings. He scattered eight hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings, three runners crossed the plate and he struck out seven. Jake Reed struck out two in 1 1/3 perfect innings, and stranded two runners in scoring position. Edward Mujica struck out one in a perfect eighth inning. Alex Wimmers picked up his 11th AAA save. He didn’t have a great outing. After getting a groundout, he walked a batter. Then got the second out with a swinging strikeout. But then he walked another batter before striking out the final batter to end the game.

 

At 72-58, the Red Wings have the fourth-best record in the 14-team International League. Unfortunately, the two best teams are ahead of the Red Wings in the North Division, which leaves the Red Wings five games out of the wild-card race.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 9, Jacksonville 6

Box Score

 

The Lookouts should always feel pretty confident when Stephen Gonsalves is on the mound and Monday night was no different. In six innings, Gonsalves gave up a lone run on only two hits and three walks. He struck out six. How often are games with a sub-1.00 WHIP, an ERA of 1.50 and a K/9 of 9.00 not as good as your recent history? When you you give up your first run on August 22 and you’ve been dealing all year, that’s when.

 

Randy Rosario got a rude welcome to the Southern League. He faced four batters. He gave up hits to two and walks to two. He left with the bases loaded and Todd Van Steensel allowed them all to score. Van Steensel gave up a run of his own in his two innings of work. Raul Fernandez picked up his fourth save for the Lookouts with a perfect ninth inning.

 

The offense blew up for 14 hits and nine runs. Edgar Corcino had three hits including a three-run triple. He scored two runs. D.J. Hicks had three hits, including an RBI double among his two RBI. T.J. White had three hits and an RBI. He hit his fourth triple and stole his eighth base. Zach Granite singled twice (he’s batting .299) and stole three bases (up to 47). Engelb Vielma had two hits and a sacrifice fly.

 

The Lookouts improved to 30-26 in the second half, though that isn’t likely to matter. The first-half champs, the Jackson Generals, are winning the second half as well. The Lookouts are 66-60 overall, which leads Montgomery by a game and a half for the second Southern League North playoff spot.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers - OFF DAY

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 1

Box Score

 

The Kernels got a strong pitching performance on Monday night to improve their record to 69-57.

 

Brady Anderson picked up his second Midwest League win with a six-inning performance where he allowed only an unearned run on five hits. He struck out five. Andrew Vasquez picked up a three-inning save. He gave up a single hit and struck out three. Both pitchers induced a number of ground balls. Anderson got nine outs on ground balls and Vasquez got four.

 

Luis Arraez led the offense (again) with two hits. He played second and batted cleanup. He is now batting .347 on the season. Travis Blankenhorn (DHing) got one hit and walked once (batting .333). Kevin Garcia added a double. J.J. Fernandez scored twice and hit an RBI double. Manuel Guzman didn’t record an at-bat, but drew four walks.

 

The Kernels haven’t clinched a playoff spot yet, but it would take a fairly large collapse to miss the playoffs.

 

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 3, Bristol 0 (Game 1)

Box Score

 

The E-Twins jumped out to an early lead and never looked back behind the superb start of Tyler Wells, who pitched a seven-inning complete game one-hit shutout. Wells struck out 14 (!!!) and walked two. Wells has won his last three decisions and has struck out 56 in 41 1/3 innings since being drafted in the 15th round.

 

Ariel Montesino set the pace offensively, leading off and getting three hits to improve his average to .322. He scored a run and drove one in as well. Lewin Diaz had a pair of hits to increase his batting average to .312. Caleb Hamilton added a double and drove in a run.

 

Both Alex Kirilloff (.332) and Ben Rortvedt (.200) went hitless in the first game.

 

Elizabethton 3, Bristol 2 (Game 2)

Box Score

 

For the second time on Monday, the E-Twins got a great start from their pitcher. Ryan Mason went six innings, giving up two runs in his final frame. He allowed six hits and walked one. He struck out eight and earned his third win. Patrick McGuff picked up his eighth save of the season with a perfect seventh inning that included a swinging strikeout.

 

There wasn’t a lot of offense in game two, but a three-run second inning was enough to earn the win. Hank Morrison drove in Lewin Diaz and Andre Jernigan drove in Mitchell Kranson and Morrison. Kranson added another single later and Alex Kirilloff got his first hit of the game (now batting .332).

 

The E-Twins are now 32-25. They’ve extended their lead to 4.5 games on the third-place Greeneville Astros in a playoff race where the top two teams make the playoffs. They still trail the first-place Johnson City Cardinals by two games.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 6

Box Score

 

The newest Twins, undrafted outfielder Isaiah Aluko set his professional career off with a bang, going 2-4 with a home run in his pro debut. Aluko signed with the Twins last week.

The offense scored four runs on 11 hits, but all of the runs and 10 of those hits came from the 8, 9, 1 and 2-hitters. In addition to Aluko, who played DH and batted eighth, Dane Hutcheon and Aaron Whitefield, the 9-hitter and leadoff hitter, both had three hits including a double. Aluko and Hutcheon scored all four of the team’s runs (two each). Lean Marrero had two singles and two RBI.

 

Like the sun rises in the east, Whitefield stole a base, his 28th of the season (in 41 games). That’s the equivalent of 100 stolen bases in 146 games. Not bad.

 

Taylor Clemensia was charged with his third loss of the season. He gave up five runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out three in 3 1/3 innings. Moises Gomez pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing an inherited runner to score (of Clemensia) and an unearned run. He allowed three hits, a walk and struck out two. Callan Pearce pitched the final two frames. He struck out three, allowing only one hit.

 

With the loss, the GCL Twins fall to 28-23 and drop in to a tie with the GCL Red Sox, who won on Monday. The GCL Twins have eight games left - including two against the Red Sox. In the event the two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, they would play a one-game playoff.

 

Nothing to do with the Twins, but the Northwest division includes the two teams with the best records - both teams are at least five games better than any of the other 15 teams in the whole league - and only one will make the playoffs.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Wells, Elizabethton

Hitter of the Day – Edgar Corcino, Chattanooga

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester at Norfolk (6:05 CST) - LHP Jason Wheeler (10-4, 3.39 ERA)

Chattanooga at Jacksonville (6:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (9-7, 3.67 ERA)

Fort Myers vs Palm Beach (6:05 CST) - TBD

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (5:00 CST) - RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (5-2, 4.00 ERA)

Elizabethton at Bristol (6:00 CST) - TBD

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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[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Thanks again.

 

Haven't seen Park mentioned lately. Is he slumping? Is he being taught to stretch forward for low throws instead of backing into the base path?

[nytwinsfan]

 

Thanks again.

Haven't seen Park mentioned lately. Is he slumping? Is he being taught to stretch forward for low throws instead of backing into the base path?

He's on the DL with a sore wrist.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Another great start for Gonsalves. His ERA is now down to 1.78(!). Now, I really think Gonsalves could be a really good pitcher. But for this year he needs to finish in AA, because he needs to improve his control. His last 3 starts have shown some of his control issues as his balls/strike ratio isn't where it should be. It'd be good for Gonsalves to work on control in the off season as we've seen how the Twins staff "fixes" pitchers with questionable control (Hector Santiago, Jose Berrios). Let Gonsalves start next year in Rochester and then go from there.

[Mr. Brooks]

Another great start for Gonsalves. His ERA is now down to 1.78(!). Now, I really think Gonsalves could be a really good pitcher. But for this year he needs to finish in AA, because he needs to improve his control. His last 3 starts have shown some of his control issues as his balls/strike ratio isn't where it should be. It'd be good for Gonsalves to work on control in the off season as we've seen how the Twins staff "fixes" pitchers with questionable control (Hector Santiago, Jose Berrios). Let Gonsalves start next year in Rochester and then go from there.

I don't want guys throwing strikes all the time. This club's obsession with throwing strikes and pitching to contact is by far my biggest gripe.

You have to be willing to try to make guys chase when in pitchers counts, which means throwing some balls, and issuing a few walks.

[FormerMinnasotan]

I don't want guys throwing strikes all the time. This club's obsession with throwing strikes and pitching to contact is by far my biggest gripe.

You have to be willing to try to make guys chase when in pitchers counts, which means throwing some balls, and issuing a few walks.

I am not suggesting Gonsalves has to have super control, if he has a walk rate around 3 bb/9 innings with his stuff that is fine with me. I was just saying he might want to improve a little so the Twins don't mess with him like they are doing with Berrios and Santiago. If Gonsalves improves on his own he won't need the "corrective" coaching of the Twins MLB staff.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

GCL TWINS TAKES
GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 6
Box Score

The newest Twins, undrafted outfielder Isaiah Aluko set his professional career off with a bang, going 2-4 with a home run in his pro debut. Aluko signed with the Twins last week.
The offense scored four runs on 11 hits, but all of the runs and 10 of those hits came from the 8, 9, 1 and 2-hitters. In addition to Aluko, who played DH and batted eighth, Dane Hutcheon and Aaron Whitefield, the 9-hitter and leadoff hitter, both had three hits including a double. Aluko and Hutcheon scored all four of the team’s runs (two each). Lean Marrero had two singles and two RBI.

Like the sun rises in the east, Whitefield stole a base, his 28th of the season (in 41 games). That’s the equivalent of 100 stolen bases in 146 games. Not bad.

Taylor Clemensia was charged with his third loss of the season. He gave up five runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out three in 3 1/3 innings. Moises Gomez pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing an inherited runner to score (of Clemensia) and an unearned run. He allowed three hits, a walk and struck out two. Callan Pearce pitched the final two frames. He struck out three, allowing only one hit.

With the loss, the GCL Twins fall to 28-23 and drop in to a tie with the GCL Red Sox, who won on Monday. The GCL Twins have eight games left - including two against the Red Sox. In the event the two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, they would play a one-game playoff.

Nothing to do with the Twins, but the Northwest division includes the two teams with the best records - both teams are at least five games better than any of the other 15 teams in the whole league - and only one will make the playoffs.
 

The Twins have been the most aggressive team on the bases this year in the GCL, Whitefield has 8 more SB than his closest competitor.  His rate of 80% is decent (28 for 35) but he's getting by on pure speed, the further he goes he needs better coaching on reading pickoffs and getting better jumps.

 

Aluko is a big boy, the team roster has him at 6'4 240lb, hope to see him play this weekend as the Twins take on the BoSox Friday and Saturday.  Saturday looks like it could be a future impact game as BoSox 2016 1st rounder Jason Groome (and arguably the draft's top pitcher) is tentatively slated to take the mound against 2016 Twins 5th rounder Jordan Balazovic.  

 

Sadly, this will be the last regular season weekend I'll get to see the kids play as the GCL regular season ends on 9/1.