Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/24): Kernels and GCL Twins Provide Bright Spot On Sad Thursday Night

[Eric R Pleiss]

The Twins gave one away in Chicago because they couldn’t manage to score many runs. It must have been a theme for the Twins affiliates on Thursday night, as most of the teams struggled to put guys on base, and paid the price.

 

Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday.Transactions: The Twins recalled Zack Granite from Rochester, and to take his place, the Red Wings grabbed Levi Michael from Chattanooga.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Scranton/WB 8 @ Rochester 3

Box Score

 

The Scranton RailRiders chased Red Wings starter Chris Heston after he faced eight batters in the fourth without recording an out. Heston’s line on the afternoon was 3.0+ IP, eight hits, seven runs (six earned), two walks, a strike out, and two home runs. Not a great day. Luke Bard came in to stop the damage, but the Wings were already in a deep hole. Bard went 2.2, and he gave up a run on four hits, walked one and struck out five. Mason Melotakis gave the Wings 2.0 innings of hitless baseball, but he walked three against just one strikeout. Jake Reed finished the game with 1.1 innings of one-hit ball.

 

The Wings only recorded six hits, one each from Niko Goodrum, Daniel Palka, Leonardo Reginatto, J.B. Shuck, Anthony Recker, and Engelb Vielma. ByungHo Park was 0-4 with 3 K's.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Mississippi 6 @ Chattanooga 2

Box Score

 

Just four hits for the Lookouts in a game in which they trailed 6-0 before they did anything with the bats. Jonathan Rodriguez led the Lookouts with a 2-3 night on a two-run homer, a double and a walk. What a day for the kid! Nick Gordon was 1-4 and Max Murphy was 1-3 with a walk, the only other players with hits for the Lookouts on Thursday.

 

Fernando Romero was chased after just five innings. He gave up nine hits, six runs (five earned), walked no one and struck out three. Todd Van Steensel gave the Lookouts 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, and then Randy Rosario and Nick Anderson each pitched in 1.0 innings of scoreless, hitless ball.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 5 @ Clearwater 8

Box Score

 

The Miracle gave up a five-spot in the bottom of the third inning that ultimately kept them from winning on Thursday night. Starter Clark Beeker survived the third and finished the fourth inning, but the damage was done, and the Miracle could not overcome the hole. Beeker went 4.0 innings, gave up 13 (THIRTEEN) hits, seven runs (all earned) and he walked and struck out one. Williams Ramirez gave up a run over 2.0 innings, and Michael Theofanopoulos gave the Miracle 2.0 no-hit innings, walking one and striking out four.

 

With the bats, the Miracle did enough to keep the game close, but they were just 1-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding six runners. Brent Rooker was 2-4 with three RBI, a two-run homer and a run scored. Dude is raking! Nelson Molina had the other RBI for the Miracle on Thursday, going 1-4 with a double and a strikeout.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 6 @ Kane County 3

Box Score

 

The Kernels used a balanced attack, and three runs in the top of the ninth inning to put away the Cougars, 6-3. The Kernels collected 11 hits, with no one having more than two, and six walks. Aaron Whitefield was the best hitter on the night, with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. But he gave a little back with a throwing error from Center Field and he was caught stealing!

 

Anthony Marzi went 5.0 innings, gave up just three hits, one run, and walked and struck out two. Colton Davis picked up both a blown save and a win with 3.0 innings of four-hit, two-run baseball. He walked one and struck out two. Eduardo Del Rosario earned his first save for the Kernels, pitching a scoreless ninth.

 

E-Twins E-Notes

Bristol 10 @ Elizabethton 2

Box Score

 

Classic butt-kicking in Elizabethton. The Twins gave up five in the fifth, four in the eighth and another in the top of the ninth just to make sure the game was out of reach. They surrendered 16 hits en route to giving up 10 runs, all earned. Bailey Ober fell to 2-2 after 5.0 innings of seven-hit, five-run baseball. He walked none and struck out seven, but just could not keep the ball from being hit all over the place. Juan Gamez did well enough with 2.1 innings of relief, giving up just one run on two hits. But Jose Martinez gave up four runs before he was lifted after 1.0 innings, giving up seven hits. Ricky Ramirez finished the game with 0.2 innings of scoreless ball.

 

Not much doing with the sticks, as the Twins spread out their five hits between just three players. Two each for Jose Miranda and T.J. Dixon, and both with triples! The other hit was off the bat of DH Wander Javier, a single. The Twins struck out 11 times as a team against just two walks.

 

GCL Twins Takes

GCL Twins 7 @ GCL Orioles 1

Box Score

 

With the game tied 1-1 after five innings, the Twins put two on the board in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to take the game 7-1. The Twins were outhit 7-13, but used three Orioles errors to earn three unearned runs to knock the game open. Colton Burns led the Twins with a 2-3 night that included a pair of walks. And Ricky De La Torres was 1-5 but he had a two-run homers and a pair of runs scored to go along with three strikeouts.

 

Starter Carlos Suniaga moved to 4-0 with 5.2 innings of one-run baseball. He gave up nine hits, but didn’t walk anyone, and struck out four. He was replaced by Kevin Marnon who recorded a 10-out save. Marnon gave up four hits, but likewise did not walk anyone, and had five strikeouts of his own.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Carlos Suniaga, GCL Twins

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

 

 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

 

Buffalo @ Rochester (6:05pm) – Stephen Gonsalves (1-1, 5.06)

Mississippi @ Chattanooga (6:15pm) - TBD

Charlotte @Fort Myers (6:05pm) – Brady Anderson (6-8, 4.16)

Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:35pm) – Charlie Barnes (2-0, 3.18)

Bristol @ Elizabethton (6:00pm) – Ryley Widell (0-2, 2.08)

GCL Red Sox @ GCL Twins (11:00am) - TBD

 

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

 

Click here to view the article

[rdehring]

In the real world, when could Rooker get to the Twins? Is next September likely? Sooner?

[drjim]

In the real world, when could Rooker get to the Twins? Is next September likely? Sooner?

Best case scenario strikes me as about August 1 next year. Would have to start at Chattanooga and really rake and have an opening.

 

I would assume the front office enters the season with no plan to use him, but that can change with performance.

[Seth Stohs]

My guess is Rooker starts next season in Chattanooga. If he's playing great there (maybe as judged by strikeout rate, or not necessarily some obvious line), and there would be a need in MLB, it could happen by June, but they also need to be smart with him. 

[drivlikejehu]

I'd be shocked if Rooker was up before next September. The more immediate concern is his 28% strikeout rate in high-A . . . he has adjustments to make.

[Dman]

So with the Cedar Rapids win does that mean all the affiliates will have winning records this year?  Is there a chance that all the affiliates will qualify for the playoffs?  Pretty fun year to follow all the teams.  Typically the talent pools up in two maybe three leagues but not all.  I wonder if there has ever been a year like this one for the Twins affiliates?

[Vanimal46]

It may be time to shift Romero to the bullpen the rest of the season. He's been struggling quite a bit lately. 

[Kernels Fan]

Any reason Lachlan Wells has been sitting on the Kernels roster (of 26 actives) for the past few days?

 

[Seth Stohs]

 

Any reason Lachlan Wells has been sitting on the Kernels roster (of 26 actives) for the past few days?

 

No one is real sure... MILB.com has him listed in their transactions too, but no one seems to know why. 

[Deduno Abides]

Rooker is interesting. At the same age, ABW3 had the same K rate in Ft. Myers, albeit over a full season and in his third year in the system, but Rooker has better HR and BB rates and advanced stats rate his offense much better. If he can improve his K rate, he could really be something. Maybe over the winter, whoever is working with Rosario could work with Rooker. If he makes similar improvements, look out!