Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/24): Extra Frames, Milestones And Shutouts

[Seth Stohs]

Minor League seasons are coming to an end quickly. Next Thursday marks the final regular season games for the two Twins short season teams. The full season seasons come to an end on Labor Day, though the final Miracle game is on the Sunday before Labor Day. Playoff spots are still up for grabs for the Twins affiliates.

 

Also over the next week, we’ll start hearing about September call-ups, but we’ll also hear more about which players will represent the Twins in the Arizona Fall League.On that note, the Red Wings played plenty of bonus baseball. The Lookouts had a big offensive night. The Miracle and the Kernels each got great pitching performances. One of the top 2016 draft choices had his best game as a pro. It was a full day, six games in the Twins farm system. Read on for the entire minor league report.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Norfolk 3 (13 innings)

Box Score

 

There was bonus baseball down in Norfolk on Wednesday. Byron Buxton’s eighth home run gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Unfortunately, that was it for the Rochester run-scoring. Kennys Vargas walked twice. Wilfredo Tovar and Adam Brett Walker each had a single and a walk.

 

David Hurlbut continues to impress in his AAA starts. On this night he gave up two runs (1 earned) on eight hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out four and dropped his ERA to 2.70. Neil Ramirez threw a scoreless eighth inning. Alan Busenitz gave up two hits and walked two over two scoreless innings. Edward Mujica gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Jake Reed got the 13th inning. He gave up a run on two hits and a hit batter to take the loss with one out in the bottom of the inning.

 

Norfolk’s left fielder, LJ Hoes, worked a scoreless top of the 13th inning and recorded the win in the game.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 9, Jacksonville 3

Box Score

 

Kohl Stewart improved to 8-6 with the Lookouts with another quality start. A look into the numbers and you have to wonder how. Stewart went six innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked five and struck out just two. His ERA with Chattanooga is now just 3.14.

 

Brandon Peterson struck out two over two scoreless innings. Luke Bard worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

 

Stuart Turner led the strong Lookouts offensive attack. He went 4-5 with his 22nd double, his sixth home run and two RBI. Zack Granite went 3-5. He stole two bases and now has 50 on the season. Edgar Corcino went 2-5. He had a bases-clearing triple in the team’s five-run seventh inning. Levi Michael went 2-4 with his second homer of the year.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Palm Beach 0

Box Score

 

Mad Money Miles Nordgren recently returned to the Miracle, and on Wednesday he put together his best start yet and recorded his first Florida State League win. Nordgren gave up just one hit over six shutout innings. He walked one and struck out two. Cam Booser got two outs in the seventh inning, but he walked three to load the bases. Nick Anderson got the final out of the seventh and worked two more scoreless innings to record his seventh save of the season. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out three.

 

The Miracle had just four hits in the game. Their run scored when AJ Murray doubled home Daniel Kihle. It was Murray’s tenth Miracle double. Murray went 2-4 in the game. Alex Perez walked twice.

 

Check out this defensive play by Center Fielder Tanner English.

 

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 0

Box Score

 

The Kernels got a terrific pitching performance, giving up just two hits in the shutout. 2016 draft pick Sean Poppen went the first four innings. He gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out five. Michael Cederoth came on and went the next three innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out five. He improved to 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA. Tom Hackimer hit a batter over two scoreless innings to pick up his fourth save with the Kernels.

 

Rainis Silva went 2-3 with his second double and an RBI. Travis Blankenhorn hit his fourth double since joining the Kernels. Luis Arraez hit his 28th double of the season.

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 3, Burlington 8

Box Score

 

The Twins fell behind early and weren’t able to put together enough offense for a comeback. Alex Schik started. He gave up six runs (five earned) on five hits (including two home runs) and four walks. He struck out five in his five innings. Alex Robinson came on and gave up two runs on one hit, three walks and two hit batters in 1.1 innings. All four outs came via strikeout. Quin Grogan gave up just a walk over 2.2 scoreless innings finish things out. He struck out three.

 

Ben Rortvedt had his best game in an Elizabethton uniform. He went 3-3 with a walk. Shane Carrier went 2-4 with his 14th double and second triple. Amaurys Minier and Caleb Hamilton each hit their seventh double. Ariel Montesino added his fourth double.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 14

Box Score

 

Minnesota-Duluth’s Bo Hellquist was back on the mound on Wednesday. He gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in five innings. He struck out six. Safe to say that this wasn’t the best performance for right-hander Daniel Martinez. He gave up eight runs on seven hits and a walk. He recorded just one out. Onas Farfan hit a batter but got the final two outs of the inning. Mat Jones came on and gave up four runs on two hits and two walks. He got just two outs, both came on strikeouts. Matz Schutte walked one and got four outs.

 

Jorge Munoz went 2-2 with two doubles his 11th and 12th of the season. Lean Marrero went 2-3. They combined for four of the team’s five hits on the day.

 

For the Orioles, Brian Duensing threw one inning in his rehab outing. He gave up one hit, no runs and walked one.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Miles Nordgren, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Stuart Turner, Chattanooga Lookouts

 

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Rochester @ Norfolk (11:05 am CST) - RHP Omar Bencomo

Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (6:05 CST) - RHP Ryan Eades

Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero

Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – LHP Lachlan Wells

Burlington @ Elizabethton (6:00 CST) - RHP Jose Martinez

GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins - TBD

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

 

Click here to view the article

[Squirrel]

I'm in Fort Myers right now and was at the Miracke game last night. That video doesn't come close to showing how great a catch that was by Tanner English.

[roger]

Arraez seems to get a hit or two every night.  Has he had any slumps this year, Seth?

 

Great seeing Turner having a great August.  And is it best to describe Stewart as 'efficient?'

[Seth Stohs]

 

Arraez seems to get a hit or two every night.  Has he had any slumps this year, Seth?

 

Great seeing Turner having a great August.  And is it best to describe Stewart as 'efficient?'

 

He went 0-9 over a two-game stretch once... Ha!! He hasn't gone cold for too long at any point this season. At the end of April, he went 0-10 over three games. He typically has an 0-fer and backs it up with a multi-hit game.

 

Turner is definitely not one to give up one.

 

 

[gunnarthor]

I really thought we'd figure out what Stewart is this year.  To dominate AA he'd obviously have to improve his krate or he'd crash and burn but nope.  Apparently, he's quite the ground ball machine.  Still, he's very young for his league so there's time for the strike outs to come.  The rest looks good.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

I really thought we'd figure out what Stewart is this year.  To dominate AA he'd obviously have to improve his krate or he'd crash and burn but nope.  Apparently, he's quite the ground ball machine.  Still, he's very young for his league so there's time for the strike outs to come.  The rest looks good.

Looks like he's turning into a "Twins pitcher"- pitch to contact, groundball inducing, pound the strikezone, lower pitch count.  Only part he hasn't had this year is the low walk rate.  What he's doing now in AA is very reminiscent to what he did last year in Ft Myers.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

I'm in Fort Myers right now and was at the Miracke game last night. That video doesn't come close to showing how great a catch that was by Tanner English.

Bobblehead Election night giveaway tonight at the Miracle game, sadly no players just Trump and Hillary

[Squirrel]

Bobblehead Election night giveaway tonight at the Miracle game, sadly no players just Trump and Hillary

Yeah, I know. Sadly will have to miss the big event but would have loved to get a Hillary bobblehead. I can't imagine they will have 1000 people show up given last night's attendance.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Yeah, I know. Sadly will have to miss the big event but would have loved to get a Hillary bobblehead. I can't imagine they will have 1000 people show up given last night's attendance.

Four years ago, Obama v Romney there was a line at the door and they sold out of bobbleheads quickly.  I don't close my office til 6 but may just have to pop in to get a Trump bobble and put that baby up on ebay.  Last time I sold my Romney for $100 and kept wife's Obama

[Seth Stohs]

 

I really thought we'd figure out what Stewart is this year.  To dominate AA he'd obviously have to improve his krate or he'd crash and burn but nope.  Apparently, he's quite the ground ball machine.  Still, he's very young for his league so there's time for the strike outs to come.  The rest looks good.

 

It's still way too early to give up on him because of his ground ball tendencies, but there's no doubt that the K-rate continues to be a concern, and the walk rate continues to increase. 

 

I expect him to spend all of 2017 in Chattanooga, and I think that's just fine since he doesn't even need to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2017 season. There's absolutely no reason to rush him at all. They knew he was a talent, but a project, when the selected him... 

[gunnarthor]

 

It's still way too early to give up on him because of his ground ball tendencies, but there's no doubt that the K-rate continues to be a concern, and the walk rate continues to increase. 

 

I expect him to spend all of 2017 in Chattanooga, and I think that's just fine since he doesn't even need to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2017 season. There's absolutely no reason to rush him at all. They knew he was a talent, but a project, when the selected him... 

No, I wasn't implying it was time to give up on him.  I'm surprised that many of the concerns/questions we had last year haven't been answered this year, even though he's pitching nicely in AA.  I'm really interested in what the scouting reports and prospect gurus think of him this offseason.

 

He also seems to remain healthy and pitching a lot of innings, which is nice.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Stewart doesn't seem nearly as good as Gonsalves. It really isn't that close. I mean both don't give up home runs and both have higher walk rates, but Gonsalves has a higher k rate and is practically the same age as Stewart. Idk, at best Stewart looks like a mid rotation starter in the bigs.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

It's still way too early to give up on him because of his ground ball tendencies, but there's no doubt that the K-rate continues to be a concern, and the walk rate continues to increase. 

 

I expect him to spend all of 2017 in Chattanooga, and I think that's just fine since he doesn't even need to be added to the 40-man roster until after the 2017 season. There's absolutely no reason to rush him at all. They knew he was a talent, but a project, when the selected him... 

 

I'd note that there was a substantial improvement in the K rate in his second go around at A+.  I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the same thing next year. Moving up a level is hard. There are adjustments that need to be made.

[bluechipper]

 

Looks like he's turning into a "Twins pitcher"- pitch to contact, groundball inducing, pound the strikezone, lower pitch count.  Only part he hasn't had this year is the low walk rate.  What he's doing now in AA is very reminiscent to what he did last year in Ft Myers.

He seems like a Kyle Gibson pitcher to me. A heavy fastball, with mediocre secondary pitches. I'm assuming he's nibbling around the zone and trying to get guys to chase, as evidenced by the high walk numbers.

[Deduno Abides]

Nick Blackburn had better K and BB rates than Stewart. In fact, it could be argued that Dewon Brazelton had similar, but slightly better, stats at similar levels, although Stewart is younger. Unless something improves, those could be his upside comps.

[Deduno Abides]

Buxton: three more K's. Hopefully, with Terry Ryan gone, he will no longer be promoted based on what he could be, but instead based on what he is, which is someone who needs more seasoning. Mike Cameron is a good comp - power, strike outs, defense- and he didn't become an MLB regular until he was 24, after dominating AA at 23 and having a good 30 game stretch at AAA to start his age 24 year.

[bluechipper]

 

Buxton: three more K's. Hopefully, with Terry Ryan gone, he will no longer be promoted based on what he could be, but instead based on what he is, which is someone who needs more seasoning. Mike Cameron is a good comp - power, strike outs, defense- and he didn't become an MLB regular until he was 24, after dominating AA at 23 and having a good 30 game stretch at AAA to start his age 24 year.

16 K's in his last 38 AB's, and hitting .237 over that 10 game span. Why can't we have nice things?

[GMinTraining]

 

Buxton: three more K's. Hopefully, with Terry Ryan gone, he will no longer be promoted based on what he could be, but instead based on what he is, which is someone who needs more seasoning. Mike Cameron is a good comp - power, strike outs, defense- and he didn't become an MLB regular until he was 24, after dominating AA at 23 and having a good 30 game stretch at AAA to start his age 24 year.

2 homers in last 2 days.  gettin there slowly

[Tom Froemming]

 

I really thought we'd figure out what Stewart is this year.  To dominate AA he'd obviously have to improve his krate or he'd crash and burn but nope.  Apparently, he's quite the ground ball machine.  Still, he's very young for his league so there's time for the strike outs to come.  The rest looks good.

Been working on this for a few weeks and think I finally figured him out ... Kohl Stewart's a witch. Only way to explain it. Seriously though, you'd almost rather see him get shelled every once in awhile so he'd be forced to adjust. But with the results he's getting, why would he change anything?

[jimbo92107]

Stuart Turner swinging a hot bat, yeah baby! I'm hoping this guy can start really hitting, so he can finally move up and out of the minors. Twins could really use a defensive ace behind the dish. But we don't want another Drew Butera 2.0.