Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/15): Gibson Ks 10

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins completed a series victory in Cleveland and returned home to rest before welcoming the Colorado Rockies and then the Kansas City Royals to Target Field. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next six days as rain is forecasted nearly every day while the Twins are back in town.

 

Though the Twins were off, there were plenty of transactions throughout the system. The Red Wings welcomed RP Michael Tonkin (outrighted) and SS Engelb Vielma (from AA). They released 1B/OF Ben Paulsen. The Lookouts added OF Ryan Strausborger (activated and sent from AAA) and 3B TJ White (activated). Fort Myers added OF Tanner English from Chattanooga and released P Chris Anderson. Cedar Rapids activated RP Zach Tillery.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 0, Lehigh Valley 1

Box Score

 

The Red Wings offense only managed two hits: a Zach Granite two-out single in the third inning and a leadoff double off the bat of Tommy Field in the seventh. Field didn’t score as #oldfriend came Casey Fien came in and abandoned him at third base (after he advanced on a wild pitch).

 

Engelb Vielma went 0-3 with a strikeout in his AAA debut.

 

Kyle Gibson took a hard-luck loss and dropped to 0-2 with Rochester. He allowed six hits, four walks and only a lone run - though a solo home run - while striking out 10.

 

Kevin Chapman struck out three getting five total outs and Drew Rucinski struck out two in his inning of work.

 

Rochester drops to 17-15.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 6, Birmingham 0

Box Score

 

Chattanooga led a close game throughout before adding four insurance runs late and winning a game that was closer than the final score makes it appear.

 

Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an Edgar Corcino sac fly. Corcino scored the second run after singling and eventually crossing home on a Travis Harrison sac fly.

 

The four runs in the eighth came by way of two singles, four walks and a hit by pitch.

 

T.J. White was 2-4 with an RBI in his return to the lineup.

Randy LeBlanc picked up the win, scattering seven hits and a walk in six shutout innings. Miraculously, he didn’t strike out a single batter.

 

Randy Rosario struck out four in three no-hit innings.

 

The Lookouts jump to 22-16 and are among the leaders in the Southern League North (unfortunately the best four teams in the Southern League are all in the Northern Division).

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 7, Clearwater 3

Box Score

 

Max Murphy and Bradley Strong both hit solo home runs, Zander Wiel and Nelson Molina tripled, and Alex Perez, Chris Paul, Tanner English and Brian Navarreto all doubled in an extra-base hit barrage at the Lee County Sports Complex. No one drove in more than one run and no one scored more than once in a balanced offensive attack.

 

Cody Stashak struggled through four innings - five hits and four walks - but only allowed two runs while striking out three. Jonny Drozd allowed five hits in two innings; one runner scored and Drozd struck out four. Williams Ramirez struck out two in the final frame.

 

Fort Myers is now 18-20 on the season.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 12 (GAME ONE)

Box Score

 

Cedar Rapids scored seven third-inning runs, but Peoria scored in six of the seven innings to win game one going away.

 

Jermaine Palacios scored in the first inning after being hit by a pitch. He also walked to start the third inning. Lewin Diaz doubled him home to score the first run of that frame. Travis Blankenhorn, who also walked, scored as well. Diaz scored on Jaylin Davis’s ensuing double. Davis scored on a Ben Rortvedt single. Aaron Whitefield hit a sac fly to score Alex Perez, who walked. Christian Cavaness later homered to bring in Rortvedt. When all was said and done, the Kernels had an 8-3 lead… but their offense was done. And their pitching was done in.

 

Eduardo Del Rosario gave up three home runs - seven runs total - on five hits and three walks. He struck out one in five innings, but was still in line for the win.

 

Logan Lombana took care of that, allowing four runs, including a home run, in 1.2 innings. He couldn’t finish the game and Alex Robinson got the final out, but not before giving up a three-run home run to close the book on Lombana.

 

Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 0 (GAME TWO)

Box Score

The Kernels went with the bullpen approach in the second half of the doubleheader and got much better results. Max Cordy struck out three in three innings, allowing three hits and a walk. Colton Davis picked up the win striking out two in two innings and only allowing a single hit. Tom Hackimer earned his fifth save of the year. Hackimer struck out three, issuing a walk and a hit in two innings.

 

Offensively, the bats did little, but enough to win. Jermaine Palacios hit his third home run of the year in the fifth inning. Mitch Kranson doubled. Diaz, Caleb Hamilton and Cavaness added singles. Cavaness also stole his third base of the season.

 

The Kernels improve to 21-16.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Randy LeBlanc, Chattanooga

Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Cedar Rapids (maybe only 1-5 on the day, but scored every time he got on base - three times - and continues to be a catalyst for their offense)

 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) - LHP David Hurlbut (2-2, 1.59 ERA)

Chattanooga vs Birmingham (6:15 CST) - LHP Matt Tracy (2-3, 4.40 ERA)

Fort Myers vs Clearwater (5:35 CST) - RHP David Fischer (2-2, 3.54 ERA)

Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (6:35 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley (3-2, 4.34 ERA)

 

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

 

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[nater79a]

Good to see TJ White off the DL and healthy again. Never seems to have gaudy numbers offensively but he always seems to be in the middle of things and helping his team in a lot of different ways.

[Han Joelo]

Gibson's strikeouts jump out. So do his walks.

Rosario intrigues me.

What's up with Del Rosario?

Jermaine...hope they don't trade him for Kevin Jensen or something.

[HitInAPinch]

Well, I don't give Gibson that much credit when he allows 6 hits and 4 walks in 6.1 innings.  Not to be mean here, but hope he can drive up some value so he can be traded for something respectable.  Thou the Twins could really use another guy that can rack up innings, Gibson seems to be trending in the wrong direction.

 

Don't know if this is a fair comparison or not, but here we go:  Berrios dominated AAA.  

[Otto von Ballpark]

Don't know if this is a fair comparison or not, but here we go: Berrios dominated AAA.

Tommy Milone too. The Twins need a starter for Saturday, though...

[Shaitan]

I wouldn't expect anything respected for a veteran who was demoted to AAA at any point in the year. I'd expect an A baller "with upside," (like the Lohse trade) though maybe you could get a AA player if the market for SP is strong.

[diehardtwinsfan]

The Twins are better off fixing Gibson, as they won't get anything in a trade. 

[zenser]

I noticed Crawford is hitting .155 for Leigh Valley.  I am sure that is driving the Philly fans nuts.  Isn't he a top 10 prospect?

[TRex]

Randy Rosario is frequently left out of the 'Chattanooga has a great bullpen' discussion, but is having a great season. He has yet to be adopted, but is a hard-throwing (94-95 mph) left-hander, is on the 40-man roster, and is averaging 2.4 innings per outing (i.e. definitely a candidate for long reliever).

 

Here is MLBpipeline blurb:

 

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45
The Twins have unfortunately had to deal with more than their fair share of helping young talented arms rehab from Tommy John surgery. Rosario had his back in 2014, and the organization liked what they saw upon his return a year later. He was added to the 40-man roster following the 2015 season. Developing mostly as a starter, Rosario moved to the bullpen late in 2016, with the switch allowing the left-hander to reach Double-A for the first time.

The hope was that Rosario's stuff would play up in shorter stints out of the pen and that's exactly what happened. His fastball sat at 94-95 mph and frequently touched 96-97 mph. His slider remains an up-and-down pitch. At times, he'll show a really good one in the mid 80s, but at others, it will have inconsistent break. That should come in time and with more innings, something he missed a lot of because of the elbow injury.

Part of the reason Rosario was moved to the pen was because he's on the 40-man roster and there's a certain timetable to get him up to Minnesota. A hard worker, Rosario should figure out his new role and get there in the near future.

 

Seth's "get to know" article is here.

[DocBauer]

I agree fixing Gibson brings greater value than a trade at this point. The hope is for Mejia to be ready by mid season, (possibly Slegers), but they will need a 5th starter way before then. I hate rainouts, but if one did happen, could it provide a rotation boost as we wouldn't need the 5th starter for another week and give Gibson at least one more AAA start to work on things?

 

Sorry to see Tanner English struggle at AA this season. I had high hopes for him. Hopefully he can get right and get back up again.

[Vanimal46]

 

Tommy Milone too. The Twins need a starter for Saturday, though...

 

Hate to say it, but I think I'd go with AAAA filler or a bullpen game on Saturday. Much like Berrios earlier this year, Gibson has goals to accomplish in AAA before getting the call to Minnesota again. I doubt he's accomplished those goals in 2 starts. 

[yarnivek1972]

I agree fixing Gibson brings greater value than a trade at this point. The hope is for Mejia to be ready by mid season, (possibly Slegers), but they will need a 5th starter way before then. I hate rainouts, but if one did happen, could it provide a rotation boost as we wouldn't need the 5th starter for another week and give Gibson at least one more AAA start to work on things?Sorry to see Tanner English struggle at AA this season. I had high hopes for him. Hopefully he can get right and get back up again.

A postponement in the Rockie series would likely mean a double header this week. They won't bring Colorado back unless they have no choice. Tonight should be okay. Tomorrow looks iffy. Could mean a double header Thursday. The Rockies go to Cincy next, so an evening game departure would be okay.

[Steve Lein]

 

I noticed Crawford is hitting .155 for Leigh Valley.  I am sure that is driving the Philly fans nuts.  Isn't he a top 10 prospect?

 

Baseball America had him down to #19 in their latest update, but was pretty much a top 10 going into the season everywhere.

 

He has come out on fire in a couple seasons and earned quick promotions (was repeating where he had finished the year before), but has hit a pretty big brick wall in AAA.

 

To compare to one of our SS prospects, Nick Gordon is a better hitter right now I think, but they still give Crawford the upside advantage as he has also been very good at getting on base before AAA.

 

Crawford is also the better defender of the two (quite easily, I think). But right now, I'd be betting on Gordon more, he's shown more ability with the bat than just being able to get on base and his numbers are trending up, not down like Crawford's.

[jwb1226]

Anyone have the reasoning for bringing Vielma up to AAA instead of Gordon?  Have they been in AA the same amount of time or has Vielma been there longer?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Anyone have the reasoning for bringing Vielma up to AAA instead of Gordon?  Have they been in AA the same amount of time or has Vielma been there longer?

 

Vielma was in Chattanooga all of last season and has been hitting well this year. Now they can both play more SS. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Is Gordon turning into an elite prospect? We're up to 158 PAs of .850 OPS baseball and he's always been considered a polished defender at short.

 

I always considered Gordon something of a high floor, low ceiling guy relative to his draft position but I'm starting to think I was wrong in the good way.

 

Including a truncated first month after the draft, Gordon has four months of .800+ OPS baseball in his professional career. Provided he doesn't completely collapse in the next two weeks, two of those months are April and May of 2017.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Gordon is looking pretty good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  He has a .391 BABIP this year, and his ISO bump is largely dependent on triples.  His BB% is up, but his K% is too, and his SB are way down.  He's still a solid prospect, no doubt, but I think it's early to suggest he's ascending to elite status.

[Steve Lein]

 

Is Gordon turning into an elite prospect? We're up to 158 PAs of .850 OPS baseball and he's always been considered a polished defender at short.

 

I always considered Gordon something of a high floor, low ceiling guy relative to his draft position but I'm starting to think I was wrong in the good way.

 

Including a truncated first month after the draft, Gordon has four months of .800+ OPS baseball in his professional career. Provided he doesn't completely collapse in the next two weeks, two of those months are April and May of 2017.

 

I've been saying that I think his bat was being underrated going into this year. Really good "hitter" and he's adding some developmental wrinkle to that with his strikezone control.

 

Had just 23 walks all season at Fort Myers last year, in 116 games. Has 15 walks in just 35 games so far this year (and 2 more intentional ones).

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I've been saying that I think his bat was being underrated going into this year. Really good "hitter" and he's adding some developmental wrinkle to that with his strikezone control.

 

Had just 23 walks all season at Fort Myers last year, in 116 games. Has 15 walks in just 35 games so far this year (and 2 more intentional ones).

Based on the numbers, he looks like an extremely rounded hitter. I always thought that would be the case with Gordon, but I thought he'd be a .750-.775 rounded hitter, not an .850 rounded hitter.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Has 15 walks in just 35 games so far this year (and 2 more intentional ones).

IBB are included in total walks, so it's not "2 more".  It's actually 2 less "real" walks.  Which is worth noting, because it cuts his 9.5% BB% down to 8.3%.  Still a big improvement on 2016, although he was at 7.3% in 2015.

[Mike Sixel]

I still think he's a slightly above average MLB SS for a long time. Not elite, but good. Which is great, that's a very nice player to have. I'd rather Trea Turner was here, and had been for 2 years now, but whatever.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Based on the numbers, he looks like an extremely rounded hitter. I always thought that would be the case with Gordon, but I thought he'd be a .750-.775 rounded hitter, not an .850 rounded hitter.

I think he is still in that range.  Seems unlikely that he finishes at .850 this year, based on components thus far.  Just regressing his BABIP to .355 (which would still be a career high for him), which is simply taking away 4 singles from his 2017 line, and he'd be having a .798 OPS so far.  Downgrade two triples to doubles (which would give him a career normal triples rate, and a career high double rate) and he'd be at .784.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Randy Rosario is frequently left out of the 'Chattanooga has a great bullpen' discussion, but is having a great season. He has yet to be adopted, but is a hard-throwing (94-95 mph) left-hander, is on the 40-man roster, and is averaging 2.4 innings per outing (i.e. definitely a candidate for long reliever).

Would still like to see more K's from Rosario, even if it mean throwing fewer innings, but he is definitely better in the pen this year than starting last year.

 

I think Rosario's injury in 2014 will make him eligible for a fourth option year in 2019, but still, it would be nice to see some urgency in potentially getting near-future MLB contributions from someone among our bullpen prospects.

[howieramone2]

 

Gordon is looking pretty good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  He has a .391 BABIP this year, and his ISO bump is largely dependent on triples.  His BB% is up, but his K% is too, and his SB are way down.  He's still a solid prospect, no doubt, but I think it's early to suggest he's ascending to elite status.

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

[yarnivek1972]

Would still like to see more K's from Rosario, even if it mean throwing fewer innings, but he is definitely better in the pen this year than starting last year.

 

I think Rosario's injury in 2014 will make him eligible for a fourth option year in 2019, but still, it would be nice to see some urgency in potentially getting near-future MLB contributions from someone among our bullpen prospects.

I have never heard of such a thing. Perhaps if it is a new rule.

[bluechipper]

Kyle Gibson's start doesn't encourage me much. The thing he's supposed to be working on is attacking the strike zone. I wonder how many of those 10 K's would turn into even more walks if he were facing more disciplined MLB hitters.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I have never heard of such a thing. Perhaps if it is a new rule.

Players get a fourth option year if they've used all 3 of their options before they have 5 "full" pro seasons.  "Full" generally means above short-season leagues (i.e. rookie ball) but there is a disabled list component too, and I think Rosario would be eligible based on his 2014 not being "full" (he spent fewer than 30 days active before spending the rest of the season on the DL).

 

http://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3521

[Darius]

Walks are still a little concerning. But only 6 hits and 10 Ks means his "stuff" was probably good.

 

It can't be emphasized enough how huge it would be if he could figure some things out, and come back up and pitch well for a sustained period of time. Could be the difference between pretender and contender.

[nater79a]

 

I noticed Crawford is hitting .155 for Leigh Valley.  I am sure that is driving the Philly fans nuts.  Isn't he a top 10 prospect?

 

Wow. Wasn't Crawford like top-5 as little as a year ago? Man...

[nater79a]

 

A postponement in the Rockie series would likely mean a double header this week. They won't bring Colorado back unless they have no choice. Tonight should be okay. Tomorrow looks iffy. Could mean a double header Thursday. The Rockies go to Cincy next, so an evening game departure would be okay.

 

You don't think they'd try to shoehorn in a makeup game later in the season on a dual off day for both teams. Doubt they'd do a day-night doubleheader on the Rockies getaway day. Traditional double header, I guess, is possible but that affects the cash register (cha-ching!).