Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/26): Vargas Homers Twice

[Jeremy Nygaard]

The Twins are finishing up their series with the Dodgers on Wednesday night, hoping to avoid a sweep.

 

A few moves were made on Wednesday as well: The Lookouts released catcher Dan Rohlfing. Taking his place is the newly-acquired Anthony Recker.

 

Fort Myers added pitcher Eduardo Del Rosario from Cedar Rapids. The Kernels also placed pitcher Griffin Jax on the military leave list. They will likely be looking to E-town for rotation replacements. Elizabethton also is down one in their rotation after the recent trade of Huascar Ynoa.

 

Let’s check in on all of Wednesday’s games.RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 7, Indianapolis 1

Box Score

 

Home runs were the name of the game for the Red Wings on Wednesday. Mitch Garver hit his 15th AAA home run this year in the first inning. Niko Goodrum extended the lead to 3-0 with a solo home run in the second inning. Kennys Vargas hit two home runs, a solo and three-run shot, in the later innings to extend the lead even further.

 

Vargas led the team with four RBI. Matt Hague had two doubles and scored both times. J.B. Shuck had three hits including a double.

 

Dillon Gee pitched well, striking out seven over six innings, allowing only one run on six hits. Jake Reed hit a batter, but then got five straight groundball outs in his two innings of work. John Curtiss closed the game, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning

 

At 59-44, the Red Wings are four games behind Lehigh Valley in the wild card race.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 3

Box Score

 

The story of the night was Michael Kopech, stud prospect for the White Sox, who will be a thorn in the Twins' side for a long time. He struck out twelve and spit flames.

 

Jonathan Rodriguez provided most of the offensive punch for the Lookouts with two hits (one double), a walk and the team's only RBI. Levi Michael had two singles. Carlos Paulino had one. Nick Gordon drew two walks and scored the team's only run.

 

Kohl Stewart allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks. He struck out two. Raul Fernandez pitched two scoreless innings. Ryan Eades gave up a run in his two innings of work.

 

At 24-8, the Lookouts have a nice cushion as division leaders.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 5

Box Score

 

The Miracle took a one-run lead in the top half of the fourth inning, but allowed five runs in the bottom half to create a deficit from which they couldn’t recover.

Sean Poppen made his fifth start since his promotion and had the roughest outing of his young career. In five frames, he gave up five runs on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out four.

 

Keaton Steele struck out one in three scoreless innings.

 

Offensively, the bats were quiet. Tanner English and Zander Wiel each doubled. Wiel drove in Mitch Kranson, who had walked, in the fourth. Jermaine Palacios drove English in with a groundout in the ninth. Brian Navarreto provided the only other base hit.

 

The 19-13 Miracle have gone through a cold stretch and now find themselves 1.5 games out of first place.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids at Peoria - POSTPONED (RAIN)

 

A doubleheader will start at 5:30 on Thursday.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 0, Pulaski 1

Box Score

 

Not a lot to say about this two-hour, action-starved game.

 

Nick Brown gave up a solo home run in the fourth inning, allowing the game’s only run. He yielded only three hits and a walk over six innings, striking out four, but took the loss. Charlie Barnes pitched two innings in relief, striking out one.

 

Offensively, the E-Twins only had four hits: A double by Shane Carrier, his seventh, and singles by Mark Contreras, Rainis Silva and T.J. Dixon. Though they drew four walks, the team hit a collective 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, sealing their fate.

 

The E-Twins have a 1.5 game lead at 20-14.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 1, GCL Orioles 12

Box Score

 

Another game that was lacking in offense for the good team.

 

Four hits produced one (unearned) run. Three of those hits came off the bat of leadoff hitter Emmanuel Morel, two of which were doubles. He scored the only run. But the rest of the lineup went 1-24 (a single by Jared Akins) and that was all she wrote.

 

Glen Perkins did throw another inning. He allowed a hit, a walk and struck out one.

Blayne Enlow piggybacked him and threw 3.2 innings, allowing a run on one hit. He struck out three.

 

The trio of Matt Jones, Jose Bermudez and Juan Mojica was bad. Eleven runs on 10 hits and seven walks over four and a third innings. I’m going to leave the specifics out - someone’s family might be reading - but if you’re into blood and gore, you can click the box score above.

 

The GCL Twins drop to 16-11.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Nick Brown, Elizabethton

Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, Rochester

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Indianapolis (6:05 CST) - RHP Kyle Gibson (0-2, 2.92 ERA)

Chattanooga vs Birmingham (6:15 CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (4-1, 2.95 ERA)

Fort Myers at Lakeland (5:30 CST) - RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (5:30 CST) - RHP Tyler Beardsley (3-4, 5.98 ERA)

Cedar Rapids at Peoria (Game 2) - LHP Evan Sanders (1-2, 8.40 ERA)

Elizabethton at Pulaski (6:00 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons (1-0, 1.83 ERA)

GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 AM CST) - TBA

 

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

 

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[D.C Twins]

Dear Twins,

 

That “ding” you keep hearing every day is the MiLB oven timer going off…. I’m ready and the Twins bench and offense are hungry!

 

Yours Truly,
Mitch Garver

[T_J]

I like it when you guys mention when they go up against other teams top players and how they did. I just don't have the time to keep up with other teams prospects and it's also nice to see how the local prospect do against upper echelon guys from around the league. 

[Mr. Brooks]

Another typical Stewart outing, 4 bb, 2 k.

[gil4]

 

Chattanooga x, Birmingham x

 

10-10 tie?    

 

 

[AZTwin]

Who determines promotions? Is it the Overall Twins GM or is at the affiliate level where they look down to the next level to see who they want. Or is it a combination of both (I.e. Recommendation and Twins GM makes final call)

[jimbo92107]

Hey, I just realized that if Griffin Jax declared himself to be trans-gender, he could be back in the Twins system by next week! Hooray for bigotry!

[Seth Stohs]

 

Who determines promotions? Is it the Overall Twins GM or is at the affiliate level where they look down to the next level to see who they want. Or is it a combination of both (I.e. Recommendation and Twins GM makes final call)

 

Brad Steil is the minor league coordinator. It's his job to promote (or demote) players. Obviously he reports directly to the GM or CBO or both, and I'm certain they have discussed philosophies and strategies for making those decisions. He travels to the affiliates quite a bit and he obviously gets input from the coaching staffs for those teams. 

 

The GM/Front Office of the affiliates has absolutely nothing to do with baseball decisions. That's all up to the Twins, since they are their "property" and they pay them and such. 

[h2oface]

Every time I see Kohl Stewart's name now, I think of #4/2013 Kohl Stewart, or #32/2013 Aaron Judge. I wish I could stop doing that. The whole league missed it.

[mikelink45]

We have such a weak bench that with Buxton and Sano down we have Escobar hitting fourth against the Dodgers.  Can't someone figure this out.  We have minor league options for those spots. 

[Steve Lein]

 

I like it when you guys mention when they go up against other teams top players and how they did. I just don't have the time to keep up with other teams prospects and it's also nice to see how the local prospect do against upper echelon guys from around the league. 

 

That's two days in a row a "top" prospect pitcher dominated one of our affiliates. Glasnow vs. Rochester on Tuesday, Kopech yesterday. I always try to make mention if they're facing off against a well known guy, so I'm glad you take notice!

[Steve Lein]

 

Every time I see Kohl Stewart's name now, I think of #4/2013 Kohl Stewart, or #32/2013 Aaron Judge. I wish I could stop doing that. The whole league missed it.

 

To be fair, no one was expecting that from Judge. Sickels had a long Twitter discussion around the All-Star game basically saying he never saw this in him.

 

Had him as a B/B- prospect (#10 in their system) coming into the year. Part of what he said:

 

"massive power (at least a 60, some say 70) in 6-7, 275 pound frame, but strikeout problems are equally massive; had made progress with his swing in Triple-A but major league hitters exposed more holes; may struggle to hit .230 but will crush mistakes."

[ThejacKmp]

 

Every time I see Kohl Stewart's name now, I think of #4/2013 Kohl Stewart, or #32/2013 Aaron Judge. I wish I could stop doing that. The whole league missed it.

 

Yeah, you can't do that in baseball. It's so hard to project guys five or six years away. Kohl Stewart was a solid pick, the results turning out subpar doesn't mean the process was bad. There's a whole lot of luck in baseball development.

[PDX Twin]

 

We have such a weak bench that with Buxton and Sano down we have Escobar hitting fourth against the Dodgers.  Can't someone figure this out.  We have minor league options for those spots. 

 

I'd love to see Vargas at SS!

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Every time I see Kohl Stewart's name now, I think of #4/2013 Kohl Stewart, or #32/2013 Aaron Judge. I wish I could stop doing that. The whole league missed it.

 

You might have a point if Judge went 6th... but every team passed on him... and for good reason.

[Mr. Brooks]

You might have a point if Judge went 6th... but every team passed on him... and for good reason.

I'm guessing that's what he meant when he literally said, "the whole league missed it", in his post.