Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/2): Sweep!

[Tom Froemming]

Four games, four total runs scored against the Twins minor league teams on Friday night. There were a couple of shutouts, plenty of noteworthy pitching performances and a pair of speedsters had super games.

 

Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Friday.Transaction Alert

The Red Wings added Ryan Pressly, reinstated Engelb Vielma from the temporary inactive list (paternity leave) and sent Nik Turley back to Chattanooga. Also, Rochester won't be needing to make room for Jason Wheeler, as he has been traded to the Dodgers.

Award Announcement

John Curtiss was named the Southern League Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. In eight games, 9.1 IP, Curtiss had a 0.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, gave up just four hits and struck out 12.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Norfolk 2

Box Score

 

David Hurlbut gor off to a rocky start, giving up two runs in the first, but the Wings staff shut out the Tides from there on. The Rochester bats managed to string together a four-run third inning despite not recording an extra-base hit in that frame.

 

Zack Granite led off the game with a triple, drew a walk in that big third inning and added a double in the fifth. He scored three runs on the night. Matt Hague and Tommy Field also had multi-hit games.

 

Despite his early struggles, Hurlbut turned in a quality start. Over six innings he gave up six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out two. Drew Rucinski followed with clean innings in the seventh and eighth before Michael Tonkin pitched a perfect ninth inning.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Birmingham 2

Box Score

 

Felix Jorge continued to roll, as he pitched into the seventh inning for the fourth-consecutive start. He also tied a season high with six strikeouts. Heading into the seventh frame, Jorge had a two-hit shutout in the works. After giving up a solo home run and a single, his night was done.

 

Jake Reed was thrown right into the fire for his 2017 debut, and struggled to find the zone. He walked three-consecutive batters, causing the runner he inherited from Jorge to score, before finally recording the final out of the inning on a strikeout. I’d relay Reed's radar gun readings, but let’s just say the Birmingham gun was unreliable.

 

With the game tied in the top of the eighth, Edgar Corcino hit a leadoff single and later came around to score on a Dan Gamache double. Corcino was the only Chattanooga batter to record a multi-hit game, bumping his average up to .301 on the year.

 

Nick Gordon hit his 15th double of the season, putting him in a tie for the Southern League lead. Seth Stohs recently provided an update of his prospect rankingswhich had Gordon at the top spot.

 

John Curtiss pitched a perfect ninth inning, picking up his 26th strikeout (over 18.2 IP) and 10th save of the season. All it took was 10 pitches, eight of which were strikes.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 0

Box Score

 

Daniel Kihle’s two-run homer was the difference maker in this pitcher’s duel. Dereck Rodriguez, Williams Ramirez and Alex Muren combined to shut out the Marauders. Rodriguez went six innings, gave up just three hits (all singles) and a walk while striking out six.

 

You’d be hard pressed to find a pitcher in the Twins system who’s had a better year than Rodriguez. He lowered his ERA to 2.66 and his WHIP is at 1.07 for the season. He has nearly five times as many strikeouts (49) as walks (10) and has averaged a hair over six innings per start.

 

Second baseman Alex Perez was 1-for-2, drew the Miracle’s only two walks of the game and scored on the Kihle homer.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 0

Box Score

 

Domenick Carlini had his best start of the season, limiting the Bees to three hits and two walks over six innings while tallying two strikeouts. Patrick McGuff (0.1 IP), Max Cordy (1.2 IP) and Hector Lujan (1 IP) secured the shutout, giving Carlini his third win. Lujan also picked up his third save.

 

The Kernels failed to record an extra-base hit in this one, but managed to string together some runs thanks in large part to Aaron Whitefield’s speed. The Aussie outfielder led off the third inning with a walk, went first-to-third on a Travis Blankenhorn single, then scored the first run of the game on an Ariel Montesino sac fly.

 

In the fifth inning, Whitefield hit an RBI single, stole second base (his 12th of the season) and scored on a Blankenhorn sac fly. That’s right, he scored from second base on a sac fly. The win put Cedar Rapids up to 32-23 in what is shaping up to be a special first season under rookie manager Tommy Watkins.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher(s) of the Day – Felix Jorge (6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K) & Dereck Rodriguez (6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aaron Whitefield (1-for-2, BB, RBI, 2 R, SB)

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Norfolk, 6:05 pm CT, Aaron Slegers (3.81 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

Chattanooga at Birmingham, 6:30 pm CT, TBD

Fort Myers at Palm Beach, 4:30 pm CT, David Fischer (3.35 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids at Burlington, 6:30 pm CT, Clark Beeker (2.50 ERA, 0.99 WHIP)

 

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

 

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[jimbo92107]

Why isn't Derrick Rodriguez listed as a prospect? 

 

And how does a guy tagging up on second base score on a sac fly? Oh, I bet I know, somebody pegged a wild throw past the cutoff man...

[Han Joelo]

I too was curious about that Sac Fly score by Whitefield. Game log was no help. The Cedar Rapids write up only said this: "Whitefield scored another run during a sacrifice fly...". During? Hmm.

 

One guy threw 134 mph last night, another ran 134 mph.

[mikelink45]

Please explain to my why Curtiss has not been called up.  With someone this hot why aren't we seeing him in our frustrating MLB bullpen?

[Linus]

I agree about Curtiss. He throws hard doesn't walk many and is handling the pressure of closing. Haley is worth a chance but not Curtiss?

[Oldgoat_MN]

Curtiss is new to AA where he has pitched 17.2 innings this year.

Outstanding innings!

If the results continue to be what he has been getting I expect they will move him up soon.

[Tibs]

How is Jake Reed not in the MLB bullpen when he is throwing 134 mph? Do Falvey and Levine have any idea at all about what they are doing?

[Tom Froemming]

 

Why isn't Derrick Rodriguez listed as a prospect? 

 

And how does a guy tagging up on second base score on a sac fly? Oh, I bet I know, somebody pegged a wild throw past the cutoff man...

D-Rod is more of a control/contact management guy who has yet to reach the upper minors at 24-years-old. Not taking anything away from him, but when guys like Eduardo Del Rosario, Tyler Wells and Aaron Slegers are barely cracking Top 40 lists it's tough to find a spot for Rodriguez, though I'm sure he's getting real close.

 

This is as close of a description of the play as I can find, from the Cedar Rapids radio play-by-play man:

 

One guy threw 134 mph last night, another ran 134 mph.

Ha! It's too bad the Kernels were the only one of the Twins affiliates not on MiLB.tv last night. I'd love to see that run from Whitefield and share it with you guys. Oh well.

 

Please explain to my why Curtiss has not been called up.  With someone this hot why aren't we seeing him in our frustrating MLB bullpen?

Only thing I can think is they're not sure he's ready and aren't willing to burn an option year to find out. But you can't really ask anymore out of a reliever, he's been brilliant. 

 

I agree about Curtiss. He throws hard doesn't walk many and is handling the pressure of closing. Haley is worth a chance but not Curtiss?

All comes down to roster rules/control. The team doesn't have the luxury of sending Haley down. He's either in the majors or back to Boston. Kinda a sucky situation, but that's how it goes sometimes.

 

Curtiss is new to AA where he has pitched 17.2 innings this year.

Outstanding innings!

If the results continue to be what he has been getting I expect they will move him up soon.

Agreed. If he keeps taking care of business, everything else will work itself out.

 

How is Jake Reed not in the MLB bullpen when he is throwing 134 mph? Do Falvey and Levine have any idea at all about what they are doing?

#FreeReed #RocketReed #The134mphMan

[bird]

Word has it that Reed's 134MPH fastball maintained its velocity all the way to the backstop.

 

John Curtiss? He fell to the 6th round in the 2014 draft because he sat out all of 2013 after Tommy John surgery. He also missed the better part of 2015 with the Twins My guess is that concerns about him recovering his health supercede thoughts about pushing him along more aggressively. He's making a seamless adjustment to AA, which is very heartening. I would guess that after the draft, when they populate the low minors with all the new guys, that Curtiss will be on the move barring...I won't say it.

 

Derek Rodriguez is one of four Miracle players named to the All-Star game, along with the injured Chris Paul, Sam Clay, and Brian Navarreto. None of these prospects earned a spot among Seth's mid-season Top 40. The system lacks marquee names, but it is far from being bad.

[ashbury]

Please explain to my why Curtiss has not been called up.  With someone this hot why aren't we seeing him in our frustrating MLB bullpen?

I have high hopes for Curtiss and he's close to ready for a promotion, but I have qualms. Until a few games ago he was walking a lot of guys.

 

He retired the bottom of the order yesterday. Not his fault, because that's when the manager put him in. There's something about pitching the ninth inning that is good practice for a prospect. But I want to see him against the best AA hitters for a little while longer, too.

 

I tried to look at other game logs for him but bb-ref.com seemed to be missing the recent few I wanted. Maybe after I can look in detail, I'll feel better about him.

[caninatl04]

Fastest Pitch? Well that would be Sidd Finch 168 miles an hour. Unless George Plimpton was kidding.

[mikelink45]

 

D-Rod is more of a control/contact management guy who has yet to reach the upper minors at 24-years-old. Not taking anything away from him, but when guys like Eduardo Del Rosario, Tyler Wells and Aaron Slegers are barely cracking Top 40 lists it's tough to find a spot for Rodriguez, though I'm sure he's getting real close.

 

This is as close of a description of the play as I can find, from the Cedar Rapids radio play-by-play man:

 

Ha! It's too bad the Kernels were the only one of the Twins affiliates not on MiLB.tv last night. I'd love to see that run from Whitefield and share it with you guys. Oh well.

 

Only thing I can think is they're not sure he's ready and aren't willing to burn an option year to find out. But you can't really ask anymore out of a reliever, he's been brilliant. 

 

All comes down to roster rules/control. The team doesn't have the luxury of sending Haley down. He's either in the majors or back to Boston. Kinda a sucky situation, but that's how it goes sometimes.

 

Agreed. If he keeps taking care of business, everything else will work itself out.

 

#FreeReed #RocketReed #The134mphMan

I would hate to think that keeping Haley justifies not have our best arms in MLB.

[diehardtwinsfan]

DRod isn't really a prospect because of his age.  He started out as a CF and eventually transitioned to pitching.  He's done well, and I have to think he will get promoted as we near the ASB...  The Twins will need to add him to the 40 man this offseason if they want to keep him in the org, so I think some aggression will be warranted...  If he continues what he's doing in FTM in AA, we might have that dark horse pitching prospect we talked about at the beginning of the season.