Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/4): Beeker the Streaker

[Tom Froemming]

Clark Beeker threw 8.2 shutout innings for Cedar Rapids tonight, extending his scoreless streak to 25.2 innings. It was in an epic pitcher’s duel, which the Kernels unfortunately lost 2-0 in 10 innings.

 

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT

Game 1: Syracuse 2, Rochester 1 (7 innings)

Box Score

 

Dietrich Enns’ Minnesota org debut will go down as a complete game. Sure, it was only a six-inning outing, but it still counts. Enns, whom the Twins acquired from the Yankees in the (second) Jaime Garcia trade, gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four.

 

Niko Goodrum hit his 22nd double of the year and drew a walk. Engelb Vielma hit his eighth two-bagger since being called up from Chattanooga. Daniel Palka was 1-for-2 with a walk.

 

Both managers got ejected from this one, in separate incidents/innings and even by different umpires. Had to make it a little awkward to go back out there for Game 2.

 

Game 2: Rochester 3, Syracuse 2 (7 innings)

Box Score

 

Mitch Garver was 2-for-3 with a double and sparked the game-winning rally. With the score tied in the top of the seventh (and final) inning, Garver hit a leadoff single. That was followed by a Leonardo Reginatto double. Consecutive walks by Niko Goodrum and J.B. Shuck forced in the go-ahead run.

 

Nik Turley got off to a great start, striking out three batters in three scoreless innings, but a rain delay knocked him out of the game. Drew Rucinski gave up two runs over 2.1 innings. Jake Reed pitched 1.2 scoreless innings for his first win of the season.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Jackson 1

Box Score

 

Nick Gordon hit his eighth home run and Stephen Gonsalves pitched 6.2 shutout innings to help lift the Lookouts to victory. Gordon also stole his 13th base and drew a walk. He has five more homers than he’s ever hit in a season, and both his current OBP (.357) and slugging percentage (.431) would represent career highs by a large margin.

 

Gonsalves has been incredibly consistent this season. Tonight was his 13th start. You know how many times he’s given up four runs? Zero. Tonight was just his second scoreless outing, however, and the second consecutive game he’s pitched into the seventh inning.

 

Third baseman T.J. White has also been essential to the special season Chattanooga is putting together. He was 2-for-2 tonight with a double, a homer and two walks. Max Murphy also had a pair of hits. Todd Van Steensel continued his excellent season by striking out a pair of batters over 1.1 scoreless innings. Gabriel Moya, recently acquired in the John Ryan Murphy trade, gave up a solo homer, but managed to earn the save.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 5, Jupiter 0

Box Score

 

Lewis Thorpe struck out nine batters over five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits and walked three. Thorpe threw 97 pitches on the night, 59 for strikes, as he lowered his ERA to 2.79 on the season. The nine K's was a season high, and Thorpe has now racked up 64 strikeouts in 58.0 innings this season. Here’s what Thorpe told Seth Stohs of Twins Daily after his outing:

 

“Slider was working tonight. And the fastball. It wasn't really the plan but in the first two innings we figured out they were gonna be aggressive.”

 

The K's kept coming, as Michael Theofanopoulos had four over his two innings and Williams Ramirez had three over his two frames. So it was a 16-strikeout game for the Miracle pitching staff. Plus, catcher Kevin Garcia was 2-for-4 with a couple of RBI. Nelson Molina was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

 

This was a huge win for Fort Myers, as it put them a half game in front of Jupiter for the Flordia State League South division lead. After finishing the first half two games under .500, the Miracle are 25-16 so far in the second half.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Kane County 2, Cedar Rapids 0 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

Clark Beeker was phenomenal, as he’s been all season for the Kernels. The Davidson product pitched 8.2 shutout innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk. He gave up four hits, all singles. He gave up a two-out single in the top of the ninth after he had surpassed the 100-pitch mark, so it seemed logical that was as far as he was going to pitch in this one.

 

This was the 24-year-old’s third-straight scoreless start. He pitched a complete game shutout on July 29 after throwing six shutout innings in July 23. Unfortunately, Cedar Rapids just couldn’t get anything going offensively. Seth also found time to catch up with Beeker tonight, here’s what he had to say about his marvelous performance:

 

“The game plan was very similar, mix in all counts and use the changeup early to set up the fastball later in at-bats. It was the third time facing these guys so I had a decent idea of how I wanted to pitch some of their hitters.

 

I'd be lying if I said I completely ignored the scoreless streak, but I try not to think too much about it. I just know if I put up scoreless innings, it gives our team the best chance to win and keeps the bullpen fresh.”

 

Colton Davis gave up a couple of runs in the top of the 10th inning, but it appeared for a moment the Kernels might mount a comeback. Ben Rortvedt drew a leadoff walk. After Trey Cabbage struck out, Hank Morrison hit a deep fly out to center field. Jordan Gore singled, but Rortvedt was thrown out at the plate for the game’s final out. That run wouldn’t have mattered much, so it was a bit of a head-scratcher.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 10, Burlington 5

Box Score

 

Catcher Robert Molina had a big game, going 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Akil Baddoo was on base four times, hitting two singles to go with a pair of walks. Multi-hit games also came from Shane Carrier, J.J. Robinson, Ariel Montesino and T.J. Dixon.

 

Brusdar Graterol, who turns just 19 later this month, picked up his first Appy League victory, giving up a pair of runs over five innings. He struck out three batters. Randy Dobnak, who was recently signed out of the United Shore League, earned the save by throwing the final four innings. He gave up three runs and struck out five.

 

E-Town improved to 27-15 on the season, extending their lead in the Appy League West to 4.5 games.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 9, GCL Red Sox 8

Box Score

 

Jean Carlos Arias, a 19-year-old Dominican center fielder, was 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Emmanuel Morel, Benjamin Rodriguez, Alex Robles and Jared Atkins all had two hits a piece. Rodriguez drove in three runs. Altogether, the Twins had 14 hits, eight walks and stole five bases. They were also 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

 

Royce Lewis had his second-straight three walk game, stole his 11th base (in 13 attempts) and scored a pair of runs. He’s now played 30 games. He has 32 hits, 16 walks and 34 runs scored. Lewis’ slash line is .291/.405/.445 (.850 OPS).

 

Carlos Suniaga started and gave up two runs (one earned) over five innings. The Twins built an 8-4 lead before their bullpen sputtered a bit, letting the Red Sox back in this game.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Clark Beeker, Cedar Rapids (8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K)

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: T.J. White, Chattanooga (2-for-2, HR, 2B, 2 BBs

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Syracuse, 6:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.34 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Chattanooga vs. Jackson, 6:15 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:05 pm CT, Anthony McIver (2.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Cedar Rapids at Wisconsin, 6:35 pm CT, Anthony Marzi (2.27 ERA, 0.95 WHIP)

Elizabethton vs. Burlington, 5:00 pm CT, Bailey Ober (0.00 ERA, 0.55 WHIP)

GCL Twins vs, GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT, TBD

 

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

 

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[ThejacKmp]

God, there's just so much to like in this. It's like a college reunion but with all my favorite prospects doing well.

[ThejacKmp]

Is Clark Beeker a real prospect in anyway? Pretty old for low A Ball and obviously drafted in the 33rd but his numbers look good (again, he's super old for Rookie ball so hard to take beating up on high school kids too seriously).

 

I want him to be for the name. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by ThejacKmp

[diehardtwinsfan]

lots of good pitching... no complaints there.

[rdehring]

Also a great night from Lewis Thorpe. Really good to see him getting back to the pitcher he was before missing over two years.

 

Thought Seth's recent piece about the Rule 5 was interesting. I count 6 pitchers at Chattanooga (Romero, Jorge, Gonsalves, Stewart, Rodriguez and Littell) who all need to be protected. Add Thorpe and you have 7. With the Twins able to have at the most 23 pitchers on their 40-man, there is no way you can have 7 who are all starters at AA or A+. Gonna be real interesting to see who makes the cut and how these new guys handle this.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Is Clark Beeker a real prospect in anyway? Pretty old for low A Ball and obviously drafted in the 33rd but his numbers look good (again, he's super old for Rookie ball so hard to take beating up on high school kids too seriously).

 

I want him to be for the name. 

In 19 starts he has a 2.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 6.0 K:BB ratio. He's holding opposing hitters to a .221/.257/.333 line (.590 OPS). Personally, I don't care if he's 24 or 34, that kind of performance certainly demands some attention.

 

This is his first full professional season, so it doesn't seem all that weird he's in Cedar Rapids. In fact, the prospect handbook projected him to spend most of this season in EST/E-Town. Being a 33rd rounder as a fifth-year senior, no, it's not likely he'll skyrocket up the prospect rankings, but I would still consider him a "real" prospect.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Very encouraging start from Royce Lewis. At this point, it seems unlikely he would be promoted to E-Town, which makes me wonder; will he start in E-Town next year, or will the Twins challenge him, and move him right to Low A?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Very encouraging start from Royce Lewis. At this point, it seems unlikely he would be promoted to E-Town, which makes me wonder; will he start in E-Town next year, or will the Twins challenge him, and move him right to Low A?

E-Town's season wouldn't start until after the 2018 draft, so he would definitely start in Cedar Rapids next year.

[blindeke]

 

Also a great night from Lewis Thorpe. Really good to see him getting back to the pitcher he was before missing over two years.

Thought Seth's recent piece about the Rule 5 was interesting. I count 6 pitchers at Chattanooga (Romero, Jorge, Gonsalves, Stewart, Rodriguez and Littell) who all need to be protected. Add Thorpe and you have 7. With the Twins able to have at the most 23 pitchers on their 40-man, there is no way you can have 7 who are all starters at AA or A+. Gonna be real interesting to see who makes the cut and how these new guys handle this.

 

This is the reason that I don't understand why we're putzing around with Bartolo, when we could be figuring out some of the solutions for at least one or two of the pitchers on the cusp.

[gunnarthor]

Nice outing for Thorpe. It'll be interesting to read the scouting reports on him this offseason. He was a top 100 prospect years ago for BP - I believe the guy who made the list is now with the Cubs FO.

[Seth Stohs]

 

In 19 starts he has a 2.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 6.0 K:BB ratio. He's holding opposing hitters to a .221/.257/.333 line (.590 OPS). Personally, I don't care if he's 24 or 34, that kind of performance certainly demands some attention.

 

This is his first full professional season, so it doesn't seem all that weird he's in Cedar Rapids. In fact, the prospect handbook projected him to spend most of this season in EST/E-Town. Being a 33rd rounder as a fifth-year senior, no, it's not likely he'll skyrocket up the prospect rankings, but I would still consider him a "real" prospect.

 

I agree with all of this. (though Jeremy must have written the projection. Ha!! I figured he'd be in Cedar Rapids all year). When I saw him in early May, he was topping out at about 88, but I've talked to a couple of people and they say that he really just needs an opportunity in Ft. Myers. Until then, he keeps pitching. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Very encouraging start from Royce Lewis. At this point, it seems unlikely he would be promoted to E-Town, which makes me wonder; will he start in E-Town next year, or will the Twins challenge him, and move him right to Low A?

 

My guess is he'll join Cedar Rapids for the playoffs and start there in 2018. 

[Badsmerf]

Any word on Thorpe's velocity? I haven't been paying much attention to the minor leagues this year.