Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/2): Kirilloff, Rooker Provide Power

[Seth Stohs]

The big league club found another way to lose a game. It’s a good thing we all have the minor league box scores and games to watch and follow, right? The Red Wings had a big night against a rehabbing big leaguer. A couple of the Twins’ big power hitting prospects had big games. Royce Lewis. Alex Kirilloff. Brent Rooker. Byron Buxton. Each of them had a noteworthy night.Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Monday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

 

TRANSACTIONS

• The Twins activated SS Jorge Polanco from the restricted list.
• To make room for Polanco on the 40-man roster OF Ryan LaMarre was designated for assignment.
• To make room for Polanco on the 25-man roster, SS Ehire Adrianza was placed on the disabled list
• In addition, Adalberto Mejia was optioned back to Rochester with RHP Zack Littell being recalled from the Red Wings.
• Following the game, the Twins optioned Littell to Rochester. Another arm will be brought up for Tuesday's game.
• Monday was July 2nd, the first day of the 2018-19 international signing period. The Twins already used $2.5 million of their cap to sign Yunior Severino. On Monday, they signed OF Misael Urbina from Venezuela for $2.75 million

 

AWARDS

• Lewis Thorpe was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Southern League.
• Jordan Balazovic was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Midwest League.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Pawtucket 2

Box Score

 

The Red Wings went with a bullpen game on the mound, and the bullpen did very well. Four pitchers combined to give up just two runs on the way to a Red Wings win. DJ Baxendale made the start. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the first three innings. He struck out three. Luke Bard tossed the next three innings. He gave up two hits, but no runs, while striking out one. Jake Reed was next and he walked one and struck one out over two scoreless innings. John Curtiss finished with a scoreless ninth inning. He both walked and struck out one batter.

 

Most of the Red Wings offense came in the first three innings when they scored five runs off of rehabbing Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz. Byron Buxton got things going with a leadoff home run. In the second inning, Edgar Corcino hit his first Triple-A home run, and LaMonte Wade added a solo home run in the third inning.

 

Vargas went 2-for-5 on the game. He added his ninth double to this tenth home run and drove in three runs. Corcino went 2-for-4. Gregorio Petit went 2-for-4 with a walk. Buxton went 1-for-4 with a walk and his second home run of the Red Wings season. He also struck out twice.

 

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Tennessee 5 (10 innings)

Box Score

 

The Lookouts scored a run in the top of the 10th inning. Unfortunately, they gave up two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a loss.

 

Lewis Thorpe was back on the mound the day that the Southern League named him its pitcher of the week. The southpaw gave up one run on three hits and a walk over the first 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three. Unfortunately, the rains came, and Thorpe’s night was done. Andrew Vasquez, another talented left-hander, came on and got the team through the fifth inning. He gave up just one hit and struck out four. Cody Stashak was very impressive in his outing. He got six outs and five came via the strikeout. Williams Ramirez did not have an impressive outing. He faced three batters. Two got hits and one walked. He was replaced by Ryne Harper, but two of Ramirez’s runs scored. Harper went 2 2/3 innings. He didn’t give up a run until the two runs in the 10th inning.

 

Brent Rooker led the offense. He hit his 14th home run and his 18th double. Alex Perez went 2-for-5. Tanner English was 2-for-4 with his second home run of the season.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 11, Charlotte 3

Box Score

 

The Miracle bats were busy on Monday night. Alex Kirilloff led the way. He went 3-for-5 with his first Miracle triple. He drove in three runs. He also stole his first base with the Miracle. Mark Contreras had two hits, a walk and his 11th double. He stole his eighth base. Travis Blankenhorn had two hits including his 16th double. Miguel Sano went 2-for-4 with a walk. Aaron Whitefield was 2-for-4 with his fourth steal and scored three runs.

 

Andro Cutura went the first three innings for the Miracle. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. Hector Lujan went the middle three innings. He gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs. Ryan Mason recorded his fourth save. He gave up two runs on four hits over three innings. He walked one and struck one out.

 

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 9

Box Score

 

Tyler Watson returned to the Kernels from the Miracle. He threw two scoreless innings to start, but then he gave up six runs (five earned) in the third inning. In total, he gave up six hits and walked two in 2 2/3 innings. Melvi Acosta gave up an unearned run on three hits over 3 1/3 innings. He struck out six without walking any. Jared Finkel went the final two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out three.

 

Jacob Pearson got the Kernels off to a good start. He homered in the top of the first inning to give the team a 1-0 lead. It was his third homer. He added a single as well. Royce Lewis extended his on-base streak to 15 games. He went 2-for-5. Jean Carlos Arias hit his 10th double.

 

 

E-TWINS E-TALK

Elizabethton , Princeton

Box Score

 

This game has been postponed by rain. The teams will try to play two games on Tuesday.

 

GCL TWINS TALK

GCL Twins 12, GCL Orioles 2

Box Score

 

The GCL Twins improved to 7-5 with a big win against the Orioles. Six Twins had multi-hit games. Yeltsin Encarnacion led off and went 2-for-5 with a walk. Tyler Webb went 2-for-4 with a walk. He scored three runs. Janigson Villalobos went 2-for-4 with two walks and his second double. Victor Tademo had a single and a double. Edgar Herrera went 2-for-4 with a walk. Estamy Urena went 2-for-5 with his second and third doubles.

 

Zach Featherstone returned to the mound and started with a 1-2-3 first inning. Michael Montero came on and threw the next four innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out one. Dylan Stowell threw two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He struck one out. Osiris German struck out three over the final two innings. He walked just one.

 

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Alex Kirilloff, Ft. Myers Miracle (3-5, 3B(1), 3 RBI, SB(1))

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Cody Stashak, Chattanooga Lookouts (2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. Please note that we will be updating our Top Prospect rankings so this list will be updated soon.

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, K

#2 - Fernando Romero (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-5

#4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#5 - Alex Kirilloff (Ft. Myers) - 3-5, 3B(1), 3 RBI, K, SB(1)

#6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season

#7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 2-5, 2B(18), HR(14), R, 2 RBI, K

#8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch

#9 - Brusdar Graterol (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2B(13), BB

#11 - Zack Littell (Minnesota) - 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP

#12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

#13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, BB

#14 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-4, HR(2), R, RBI

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 2-5, R, K

#17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 2-6, 2B(16), 2 RBI, K

#18 - Yunior Severino (Elizabethton Twins) - Did Not Play

#19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch

#20 - Felix Jorge (Chattanooga) - Disabled List, began rehab on June 19. DFAd over the weekend.

 

 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Pawtucket (5:15 CST) - RHP Fernando Romero (1-1, 2.33 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Tennessee (6:00 CST) - RHP Omar Bencomo (5-2, 3.19 ERA)

Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:35 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker (3-5, 3.63 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (5-2, 4.14 ERA)

Elizabethton @ Princeton (6:00 CST) - RHP Pedro Garcia (1-1, 9.00 ERA)

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

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have.

 

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[nater79a]

Interesting note on Cody Stashak in the Chattanooga game --  in the sixth inning he had four, count 'em four(!), strikeouts thanks to a passed ball on a strike three.  Don't see that everyday! 

[h2oface]

Thanks again....... 

Oh.... the Cedar Rapids link is the Fort Myers game again.

Here is the link of the game.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2018_07_02_cedafx_wisafx_1

[rdehring]

Hindsight is always 20-20, but have been wondering for awhile whether the Twins would be better off with Vargas on the bench/DH rather than Morrison.

 

Seems that Sano is starting to heat up.  Do you have any reports on the progress, if any, of his conditioning program?

 

Was also good seeing that Whitefield had a nice game.  Really like his upside.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Thanks again....... 

Oh.... the Cedar Rapids link is the Fort Myers game again.

Here is the link of the game.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2018_07_02_cedafx_wisafx_1

 

Corrected.. thank you!

[Seth Stohs]

 

Hindsight is always 20-20, but have been wondering for awhile whether the Twins would be better off with Vargas on the bench/DH rather than Morrison.

 

Seems that Sano is starting to heat up.  Do you have any reports on the progress, if any, of his conditioning program?

 

Was also good seeing that Whitefield had a nice game.  Really like his upside.

 

Regarding Vargas/Morrison... Impossible to know. Vargas has been pretty terrible all year in AAA compared to Morrison being pretty much terrible 85% of the MLB season.

 

Nothing specific on Sano's program. Some video of his home run made it look like he might be a little thinner, but hard to tell.

 

[rdehring]

 

Regarding Vargas/Morrison... Impossible to know. Vargas has been pretty terrible all year in AAA compared to Morrison being pretty much terrible 85% of the MLB season.

 

Nothing specific on Sano's program. Some video of his home run made it look like he might be a little thinner, but hard to tell.

Have been wondering about Vargas, Seth.  Would he be hitting better if he hadn't been waived all over the place last spring and no longer on the 40-man?  One can argue that he needed to dig deep and work to get back in the hunt.  But after several years of going back and forth, even when hitting well with the Twins, he may have just given up!  Don't know?

[jmlease1]

Kirilloff seems to be adapting to high-A just fine...would like to see Royce Lewis get the same kind of opportunity this year, but maybe the minor knee trouble has the Twins thinking they don't want him to try to press with a new level while he works through it?

[Drew]

I love it when a prospect moves up a level and doesn't seem overly challenged by it. It's only 11 games but Kiriloff seems to fit right in at high A. Interested to see how quickly he can move next year. I think he could be the next Jason Kubel (but the edition that comes with real human knees)

[ashbury]

I think he could be the next Jason Kubel (but the edition that comes with real human knees)

Kubel's knee was all too human. That's why it blew out.

[Brandon]

When the new prospect list comes out, will the top 20 list here get updated to the new list?

[jud6312]

It's just nice to see that anemic hitting, at least at the lower levels, isn't caused simply by collecting a paycheck from the Twins.

 

Seeing some of these young guys perform gives me hope for the future ... even though I think we had that same hope when the current batch of MLBers was on the rise.

[nater79a]

Too early to give Kirillofff a look in the Arizona Fall League this October?  Or is 2019 a better bet?

 

Have a feeling he could handle it.

[slash129]

With Nick Gordon petering out at AAA, Fernando Romero likely soon to lose his prospect status and Gonsalves still dealing with command issues, Kirilloff has to be the #2 prospect pretty soon.

[John Kelsey]

 

With Nick Gordon petering out at AAA, Fernando Romero likely soon to lose his prospect status and Gonsalves still dealing with command issues, Kirilloff has to be the #2 prospect pretty soon.

 

Graterol is in that discussion as well. 

[Mr. Brooks]

With Nick Gordon petering out at AAA, Fernando Romero likely soon to lose his prospect status and Gonsalves still dealing with command issues, Kirilloff has to be the #2 prospect pretty soon.

Romero has already lost his prospect status.

Kiriloff and Graterol have already passed Gordon and Gonsalves in my book, not sure which one I'd rank #2, that's a tough choice.