Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/7): Melville Masterful Again

[Seth Stohs]

Good thing that the Twins won on Monday night against the Brewers because their five affiliates that played all lost. That isn’t to say there weren’t some solid performances. And, as we know, winning isn’t the most important thing in the minor leagues. Player development is. But, learning how to win and being part of that atmosphere can be an important part of development. This year, the combined record of the Twins affiliates ranks second in baseball to the Yankees organization. There are a lot of really good things going on in the Twins minor leagues.Find out everything and more that happened happened in the Twins system on Monday.

 

Let’s start with the transactions of the day:

• As we heard on Sunday night, LHP Stephen Gonsalves and RHP Luke Bard have been promoted to AAA Rochester. On Monday morning, more parts of the transaction were announced:
• OF Edgar Corcino was sent back to the Lookouts. With Zack Granite returning to the Red Wings, and Daniel Palka now healthy, and JB Shuck in the picture, it makes sense to send Corcino to Chattanooga where he will play. Also, as mentioned yesterday, LaMonte Wade was placed on the disabled list.
• RHP DJ Baxendale was also sent from the Red Wings to the Lookouts.
• The other part of the move is Sam Clay’s promotion from Ft. Myers to Chattanooga.His season has been half-interesting, half-remarkable. In his first outing, he gave up six earned runs on 0.2 inning. Then he went 13 games (24.1 innings) without allowing a run. He then gave up one run in back-to-back games. Since then, he’s pitched in 20 games (31.0 IP) without allowing a run.
• Also, about a week ago, the Twins released infielder Zaino Henriquez from the Dominican Summer League roster. The Curacao native did a Q&A with Jeremy before the 2015 season. He had signed with the Twins in August 2015 at the age of 16.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 1, Columbus 4

Box Score

 

Tim Melville was on the mound for the Red Wings, and as he has been since signing from the Atlantic League, he was very good. The right-hander gave up one run on one hit over seven innings. He walked three batters, but he struck out nine. When he left the game, it was tied at one.

 

Drew Rucinski entered and because of an error, he was charged with three unearned runs on four hits in the eighth inning. He struck out two. Michael Tonkin came on and struck out the side in the ninth.

 

Daniel Palka went 2-4. The Red Wings run scored on a single off the bat of Matt Hague. It scored Niko Goodrum, who had knocked his 23rd double.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 3, Jackson 9

Box Score

 

It was another Fernando Romero outing, which is normally a very good thing. On this night, Romero had one of those clunkers that every pitcher experiences. He gave up single runs in the first and second innings before giving up four runs in the third. He settled down and ended his night with two scoreless innings. In all, he gave up six runs on nine hits over five innings. He walked none and also struck out none.

 

Dereck Rodriguez made his second straight appearance out of the bullpen. He gave up three runs on seven hits in his three innings. He struck out three. Todd Van Steensel dropped his season ERA to 1.45 with a scoreless ninth inning.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 5

Box Score

 

Take away the bottom of the third, and the Miracle would have posted a win, even a shutout, but that’s not how it works. Eduardo Del Rosario started, and he gave up five runs on six hits and four walks. The damage all came in that third inning. Williams Ramirez struck out two over two scoreless innings. Then Michael Theofanopoulos struck out one over two scoreless innings.

 

The Miracle tried to come back. Brent Rooker went 2-4, and his three-run homer in the sixth inning cut the Miracle deficit to just 5-4. But they were unable to push another run across the plate. Mitchell Kranson and Brandon Lopez each had two base hits. Jaylin Davis and Tanner English each added a double.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 7

Box Score

 

The game was close throughout until a four-run eighth inning gave the TimberRattlers the final margin of victory.

 

Ben Rortvedt and Trey Cabbage combined to give the Kernels their two runs. In the second inning, Rortvedt doubled and later scored on a Cabbage single. Again in the fourth, Rortvedt doubled, his 14th of the year. Two batters later, Cabbage knocked him in with a sacrifice fly. Eight of the nine Kernels hitters had at least one hit, but they were only able to score the two runs. 12 strikeouts may have played a factor in that too.

 

Tyler Beardlsey started and went the first 4.2 innings. He was charged with three runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out two. Patrick McGuff came on and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out two. Colton Davis has been arguably the most consistent Kernels reliever all year, but it started out rough. The first batter of the eighth inning homered, and they added three more runs off of the Kernels reliever. His ERA jumped from 2.52 to 3.18 in this outing.

 

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton, Bluefield

Box Score

 

The game was postponed by rain.

 

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 0, GCL Orioles 6

Box Score

 

There was very little offense for the Twins in this game. Alex Robles had the lone hit for the team. Colton Burns had the lone walk.

 

Henry Centeno made his third rehab appearance. He went 2.2 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He struck out three without issuing a walk. Jordan Balazovic came on and gave up five runs (three earned) on eight hits in 3.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two. Taylor Clemensia threw two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit, walked one and struck out one.

 

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tim Melville, Rochester Red Wings.

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brent Rooker, Ft. Myers Miracle

 

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Columbus @ Rochester (6:05 CST) - LHP Hector Santiago

Jackson @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Felix Jorge

Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 CST) - RHP Brady Anderson

Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (7:05 CST) - LHP Bryan Sammons

Elizabethton @ Bluefield (DH at 4:05 CST) - RHP Melvi Acosta, RHP Nick Brown

GCL Orioles @ GCL Twins (11:00 am) - TBD

 

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

 

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[Taildragger8791]

I was hoping to see Jake Reed out there in the last couple days. It looked like they were finally building him up towards a promotion this season when finally he pitched on one day's rest, even going more than one inning at a time. Did he not feel rebound well from that?

[Gagne Fan]

Baxendale gets demoted with a 2.98 era

Second best numbers out of the pen in their last 10

What a joke

[Gagne Fan]

1.8 era in his last 10

[Mr. Brooks]

  On 8/8/2017 at 2:04 PM, Gagne Fan said:

Baxendale gets demoted with a 2.98 era

Second best numbers out of the pen in their last 10

What a joke

Well ERA alone tells me almost nothing, especially for a relief pitcher.

Im guessing they are also looking at his 15 bb's to only 40 k's in 54 innings and realizing that he's probably been pretty lucky.

 

And also that he's not really a prospect, and the minor leagues are about developing your actual prospects, not worrying about results from your filler.

[John Kelsey]

Good to see Clay get promoted. 

[h2oface]

"Drew Rucinski entered and because of an error, he was charged with three unearned runs on four hits in the eighth inning. He struck out two."

 

Interesting spin on this. Because of an error? I see it as because he gave up 2 singles with 2 out before the errant throw, and two singles after it. A pitcher has the responsibility to pitch well, even with an error behind him. The error let in one run. The next single let in the other two. Sure they were officially unearned. But this was all about a pitcher imploding with 2 outs. That is the real, complete spin.

[old nurse]

 

  On 8/8/2017 at 10:57 PM, h2oface said:

"Drew Rucinski entered and because of an error, he was charged with three unearned runs on four hits in the eighth inning. He struck out two."

 

Interesting spin on this. Because of an error? I see it as because he gave up 2 singles with 2 out before the errant throw, and two singles after it. A pitcher has the responsibility to pitch well, even with an error behind him. The error let in one run. The next single let in the other two. Sure they were officially unearned. But this was all about a pitcher imploding with 2 outs. That is the real, complete spin.

There is no spin. Unearned runs have been that way for a very long time. That is the way it works. with ERA. The fielder makes the play, they are out of the inning. There is no implosion. FIP says the pitcher was unlucky in giving up single. Implosion would be a 3 run HR.

Edited August 8, 2017 by old nurse

[h2oface]

 

  On 8/8/2017 at 11:04 PM, old nurse said:

There is no spin. Unearned runs have been that way for a very long time. That is the way it works. with ERA. The fielder makes the play, they are out of the inning. There is no implosion. FIP says the pitcher was unlucky in giving up single. Implosion would be a 3 run HR.

 

4 hits after 2 outs....... we think differently and have different standards. i will change imploding to 'being responsible'... at least for the last two runs, and it was also him that allowed the first one on base with two outs, but I won't assign responsibility to him for that.....