Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/3): Brusdar Cruises, Severino Soars

[Ted Schwerzler]

There was lots of action on the farm for the Twins system today as all of the teams had games. Yunior Severino highlighted the offense as he paced an Elizabethton scoring outburst, while Brusdar Graterol turned in one of his best starts in a Miracle uniform. A couple of the new Minnesota acquisitions put their stamp on the organization, and plenty of top prospects got into the box scores.TRANSACTIONS

Minnesota Twins

Claimed RHP Oliver Drake

Claimed INF Johnny Field

Rochester Red Wings

C Juan Graterol reinstated from DL

RHP D.J. Baxendale placed on DL

RED WINGS REPORT

Pawtucket 7, Rochester 4

Box Score

Stephen Gonsalves was the starter for this one, but Nick Anderson played the role of opener. Gonsalves was tasked with coming in needing to get the final out of the second inning, and threw five and one-third innings. He allowed two earned runs on five hits while walking three and striking out a like number.

 

Pawtucket got out to a 2-0 lead that was wiped away in the fourth inning. Willians Astudillo crushed his 11th homer of the year, and brought both Taylor Motter and Tyler Austin to the plate with him. Motter then walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to push the lead out to 4-2.

Pawtucket chipped away, adding runs in both the 7th and 8th innings. Recently signed big league veteran Brandon Phillips took Tyler Duffey deep for a three-run bomb to walk it off.

Rochester can exact revenge tomorrow night in game two of the series.

 

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 6, Mississippi 1

Box Score

Dietrich Enns got the start in this one for the Lookouts, and thanks to five strong innings of one-run baseball, he picked up his first win of the season for the Lookouts. Recently promoted Tyler Wells piggybacked Enns in this one, and he was able to pick up a save in his Double-A debut. Working four hitless innings Wells recorded seven strikeouts and allowed no hits and just two walks.

 

Chattanooga got on the board first thanks to Tanner English’s 15th double of the season. Plating Jaylin Davis and Jordan Gore, the Lookouts led 2-0 in the second. Newly acquired Luke Raley got Chattanooga going in the third, as he launched his first homer in his new organization. The two-run shot scored Brent Rooker as well. Davis then did some damage of his own, recording his ninth double of the season and pushing Chris Paul across the plate. After three, it was a 5-0 Chattanooga lead.

 

In the seventh Davis recorded another RBI on a single that scored Raley. The 6-1 lead would hold up the rest of the way, and wound up being the final tally as well. Having taken the first two games of the series, Chattanooga will look to keep things rolling tomorrow night in game three of the five game set.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 7, Florida 1

Box Sore

Brusdar Graterol took the ball in this one, and he did not give it up for six innings. Allowing just one unearned run on five hits, the Twins stud pitching prospect fanned five and walked none.

 

After heading into their first raps trailing by a run, the Miracle got their own bats going. Royce Lewis led off with a walk, made second on a walk to Ernie De La Trinidad, stole third and then came across to score following a throwing error on the play at third. Alex Kirilloff made sure to get in on the action as well. His double to left field scored De La Trinidad and the Miracle had their first lead of the ballgame.

 

The score sat at 2-1 all the way until the seventh inning. Robbie Rinn drove in both Ryan Costello and Travis Blankenhorn on his single past the shortstop. With a 4-1 lead, Fort Myers wasn’t quite done. In the eighth, De La Trinidad picked up his first double allowing Lewis to tally the fifth run. Ryan Costello then picked up his first Florida State League homer, and did so with Taylor Grzelakowski on base. Up 7-1, that’s where this one ended.

 

These two teams will meet again tomorrow evening for game two of the three game series.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Peoria 5, Cedar Rapids 1

Box Score

Starting for the Kernels tonight was Twins pitching prospect Blayne Enlow. He made it to one out into the sixth inning, and allowed five earned runs on nine hits. Across his 74 pitches, Enlow was able to get three strikeouts while just walking one.

 

Scoring was tough to come by early on in this one as neither team got on the board until the fourth inning. Ryan Jeffers notched his sixth double, driving in Jose Miranda for Cedar Rapids. That sixth inning run was the Kernels' first of the contest, and had them down 2-1. That was all the offense the club could muster however, generating just five hits on the evening.

The bats will look to wake up a bit more this weekend as Cedar Rapids returns home to host Beloit.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Elizabethton 7, Pulaski 6

Box Score

Andrew Cabezas was on the mount for the E-Twins in this one, and both teams did plenty of damage at the plate. Scoring a combined 13 runs on 18 hits, the lineups had their way with opposing pitchers this evening.

 

Right away in the first inning, Yunior Severino got things going with a solo shot, his fourth of the year. In the second, Jared Akins extended the lead with a sac fly to score Gilberto Celestino. Continuing their trend, Elizabethton added two more in the third thanks to an RBI single from Trevor Larnach and an RBI single from Celestino.

 

After giving up a run in the bottom half of the third, Elizabethton got it right back on a Severino RBI single in the fourth. Now leading 5-1, the cushion was starting to grow. Pulaski battled back however, and they tied the game at five in the bottom of the sixth inning.

 

Robert Molina picked up his first home run of 2018; a two-run shot, to give the away team a 7-5 lead in the eighth. Pulaski got one back in the bottom half, but Zach Neff was able to slam the door to pick up his fourth save.

 

Game two of this three game set will take place tomorrow night.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 8, GCL Red Sox 0

Box Score

 

With 10 hits on the day, eight of the nine starters for the Twins recorded a base hit. Christian Cavaness launched his first homer of the season, and Kidany Silva’s fifth double was the only other extra-base hit on the day. The GCL Twins tallied eight runs split between the second and third innings of this one and never looked back.

 

These two teams will switch home fields and do it again tomorrow.

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Brusdar Graterol 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Yunior Severino 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR(4)

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 1-2, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB

2. Alex Kirilloff (FM): 1-5, RBI, 2B

3. Brusdar Graterol (FM): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

4. Nick Gordon (ROC): 0-4, 2 K

5. Stephen Gonsalves (ROC): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

6. Trevor Larnach (ET): 1-5, RBI

7. Brent Rooker (CHAT): 0-2, R, 2 BB

8. Akil Baddoo (CR): 1-4, K

11. Blayne Enlow (CR): 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

13. Travis Blankenhorn (FM): 1-4, R, BB

16. Yunior Severino (ET): 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR(4)

18. Ryan Jeffers (CR): 2-2, RBI, 2 BB, 2B

19. Jacob Pearson (CR): 0-3, BB

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Pawtuckett, 5:15 pm CT: Kohl Stewart (0-3, 3.60 ERA)

Chattanooga vs. Mississippi, 6:15 pm CT: Omar Bencomo (6-5, 3.90 ERA)

Fort Myers vs. Florida, 5:00 pm CT: Andro Cutura (3-6, 4.89 ERA)

Cedar Rapids vs Beloit 6:35 pm CT: Jordan Balazovic (5-2, 3.74 ERA)

Elizabethton at Pulaski, 6:00 pm CT: Carlos Suniaga (1-1, 6.30 ERA)

GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 10:00 am CT: TBD

 

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games.

 

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[Seth Stohs]

1,000th career win at E-Town for Ray Smith... 

[Dman]

First things first, congrats to Ray Smith!

 

Wells impressed me tonight.  He just moved up a level and didn't cave.  In fact he didn't even give up a hit.  I am excited that he might be a pretty good pitcher in the future.

 

Graterol was impressive as well.  Just 19 and starting to dominate high A that is pretty cool.

 

Love what most of the new guys are doing in the system.  Was happy to see Raley get a homer another hit and a walk.  His OPS looks much better now.

 

This system has so many fun guys to watch right now it's crazy.  I think most all the Minor league teams are going to be fun to watch this year and next year as well.  Hoping to see some elite pitching come through this system as we have several young pitchers with potential.

[108Stitches]

Wells. 7 k in 4 with NO hits? In AA debut!? Why didn’t he start though? Is he a reliever now in AA?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Wells. 7 k in 4 with NO hits? In AA debut!? Why didn’t he start though? Is he a reliever now in AA?

 

They've had so much rain (and rain outs) the last few days. I'm sure they were just piggybacking them intentionally.

[diehardtwinsfan]

That Jeffers kid just knows how to hit... I do hope he can stick behind the plate. 

[MN_ExPat]

I concur, Jeffers has been flat out raking.   It's impressive and encouraging to see him hit the ground running in his professional debut.

[MN_ExPat]

Although on a sad note, Kirillof's average has tanked down to .369... so sad to see.   I'm thinking that the Twins need to cut bait and move on. 

[slash129]

Gordon ... SMH.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Nice 1st appearance for Wells. If he keeps this up I think he might be a Corey Kluber or even Jake Arietta type of pitching prospect. It may seem crazy, but if Wells pitches good enough to get from AA to AAA by about mid season or so next year he could conceivably be a September call up next year.

 

As for Enlow, I’m not too impressed. I certainly hope he improves his K rate as it looks a shade of Kohl Stewart as of now. I guess as of now Enlow is slightly overrated just as Stewart was when they were in A ball. Hopefully by next year Enlow can improve and improve his K numbers while pitching for Ft Myers.

[rdehring]

I have always believed that the step that ends so many careers is the move up to AA.  Well, Tyler Wells sure doesn't think so.  Yes, it was only one outing against a sub-.500 team, but congrats for a hell of a pitching performance.

 

And kudos also for TD's pitcher of the day, Brusdar Graterol.  If this kid keeps this up, he just may become a true ACE.  Kind of like that guy getting some award at Target Field tonight.  Wouldn't it be something if the Twins could have two ACES a few years out. [i am assuming Berrios is/will be the other]  

 

With pitchers like Graterol and a lineup including Lewis, Kirilloff, Blankenhorn, Gryz and that new guy, the Miracle just might overcome a 1.5 game deficit and battle themselves into the playoffs.

 

Saw the comments above about Enlow.  Not concerned because I expect he too is beginning to tire as the season wears on.  Had a wonderful stretch of five games where he gave up one or no runs.  Not so good the last two outings.  Yet, looking at last night he put up zeros early in the game, then a run in the 4th and 5th innings before giving up a three spot in the 6th.  Tells me the he is tiring as the season and games roll on.  

 

I continue to be impressed with Yunior Severino.  Thanks to Atlanta cheating, the Twins may have found a future star.  Two plus million for Severino and another big check for that kid from Venezuela looks to me like the Twins did very well with this year's International budget.  I love the changes that were put in place in the last CBA for International signings.  Will keep the big spenders from 'bending' the rules to out spend most of the teams by a lot.  Expect we will see the effect that has on the talent level for teams like the Yankees over the coming years.

[ashbury]

RED WINGS REPORT

Pawtucket 7, Rochester 4

Stephen Gonsalves was the starter for this one, but Nick Anderson played the role of opener. Gonsalves was tasked with coming in needing to get the final out of the second inning, and threw five and one-third innings. He allowed two earned runs on five hits while walking three and striking out a like number.

 

Pawtucket got out to a 2-0 lead that was wiped away in the fourth inning. Willians Astudillo crushed his 11th homer of the year, and brought both Taylor Motter and Tyler Austin to the plate with him. Motter then walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to push the lead out to 4-2.

Pawtucket chipped away, adding runs in both the 7th and 8th innings. Recently signed big league veteran Brandon Phillips took Tyler Duffey deep for a three-run bomb to walk it off.

Rochester can exact revenge tomorrow night in game two of the series.

I was in attendance at Pawtucket last night, so let me offer some additional impressions and details.

 

First, a minor correction: the Red Wings' final run scored on a wild pitch. The bases were not loaded when Motter walked, but when ball-four skittered past Mike Ohlman, Edgar Corcino on third scored anyway. He was there because of another wild pitch on the previous batter.

 

I don't have a lot to say about Pawtucket's players in this game, as I really don't follow the Red Sox and definitely have no clue about their prospect pipeline, but I must mention starter Mike Shawaryn. He was much, much better than his line score indicates, pitching perfect innings his first time through the lineup, in his very first appearance at AAA at age 23. He probably had only that one really bad pitch, to Astudillo, and the additional run came in the seventh as described above after he was out of the game. Looks like the Red Sox have found a way to feed their farm system with 5th round draft picks. Maybe having a short-season single-A team for college draftees is their secret sauce, hint hint.

 

Anderson wasn't very effective for us in his stint as "opener", but the run scored in the bottom of the first was as much due to runners taking advantage of Jeremy Hazelbaker's arm as the base hits themselves. Tony Renda's "double" should have been a single but the word apparently is out and he challenged the center fielder and won. And then what seemed like a harmless single by Rusney Castillo plated Renda, with the throw from CF taking way too long to get there. I'm guessing there's a reason Hazelbaker was available for cash. Anyway, Anderson then permitted a single to Sam Travis, so the run probably would have scored anyway. So, not a good start to the game for either guy.

 

Nick Gordon also had a stinker of a game. No errors in the scoresheet, but his opportunities to impress, on a couple of plays that major league shortstops would likely make, went unclaimed. One was a grounder to his right that I thought he would get to but didn't. Another was one where he had to come in, but his throw was high and pulled Austin Tyler Tyler Austin off of first base. What's more, he looked feeble at the plate, striking out twice and making two easy outs in the air. Mrs Ash remarked that he might do better if he didn't have his pant legs pulled up so high - I think he should take Mrs Ash's scouting advice to heart as she is rarely wrong about anything. In any case, do NOT bring this guy up now, and probably don't bring him up for a September look-see either. Maybe he'll be ready someday, but he is not, today.

 

Speaking of Austin Tyler Tyler Austin, I thought he acquitted himself well. He didn't get any base hits, but one of his outs was a sharp liner to third base in the eighth, and he walked which resulted in a run when Astudillo hit a homer. The first baseman also got three chances to field popups, all in the final two innings - indeed he notched the last putout before the fatal home run.

 

Speaking of liners to third, Astudillo scorched an even tougher one to Tony Renda's right in the sixth inning. You simply can't play a liner better than Renda did, leaving his feet and stretching to full extension to barely snag that rocket. Beautiful play. Kudos to him.

 

Speaking of Willians Astudillo, that home run to left in the fourth inning was a rocket too - a no-doubter. It was one of the few bright spots in the game for my team. He was unremarkable in left field, making the easy fly outs and handling the base hits in his direction. However, what stood out to me was how very slowly he moved when going to his position, and slow coming back to the dugout. He exerted effort on balls in play, as I said, but I don't recall someone taking that much time to and from. It's like he's the anti-Charlie Hustle (which itself is not originally a compliment, so I'm not sure what bearing it has).

 

Speaking of home runs, how about that Tyler Duffey? On that last batter, it was a 2-2 count, with curveballs missing twice. I don't often try to guess pitches, but I was sure it would be a fastball, and mentioned to Mrs Ash that they should come back with another curve instead. I'd go with another curve even on 3-2, too, and if it was a walk, so be it - there were two out. Nope, flat, 91-MPH, nothing fastball. Brandon Phillips was sitting on it, just like me. Ain't I smart? Ball game. There was of course also the dong by Josh Ockimey that tied it in the eighth. Duffey is another of the disappointments this franchise has suffered in the past few years. It won't surprise me if he's non-tendered this off-season - this guy never progressed beyond being a two-pitch pitcher, and now he's down to one. He's cooked. Or, if some other team signs him and gets something out of him, a hard look needs to be taken at the coaching and why they didn't help him find answers.

 

Speaking of fastballs, Stephen Gonsalves.... oops never mind. He may have reached 90 or 91 on the radar gun display, but generally sat at 88 or 89. I can't identify off-speed pitches, one from another, but he had a variety that would register at 79 or 74 or even 69 - a knuckler? Visibly slow, and entertaining, from our excellent first-base-side cheap-seats. That much differential from the fastball is said to become counter-productive, but he's getting AAA guys out. The homer in the third inning to the aforementioned Tony Renda was a cheapie to right, barely clearing the 325 foot mark, so I don't hold that against him. He weakened in the 7th, walking the first two batters, and was bailed out slightly by an ill-advised stolen base attempt by the PawSox' Mike Miller - down two runs, you need to be awfully sure you can take the base, and he was out by a mile thanks to an accurate throw by Juan Graterol. Gonsalves might have gotten out of it unscored-upon, had Gordon made the play previously mentioned. It's unclear to me that Gonsalves's stuff is going to play, in the majors, but if this is who he is, let's bring him up now, or in September, and start to find out. Unlike Gordon, he's mastered his game, such as it is. If he bombs, there will still be time to option him to the minors mid-2019 and try to retool his entire game in some manner.

 

Speaking of ill-advised baserunning, with the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Edgar Corcino got a clean single to left leading off, and was (wait for it) out by a mile trying to stretch it to a double. Left fielder Kyle Wren had come up with the ball practically by the time Corcino rounded first. There was time to go a third of the way and then change his mind. Nope. As events played out (which of course might not have), we would have had bases loaded with one out, with the top of the order coming up. And that lone out was thanks to a possibly game-saving snag by PawSox right fielder Aneury Tavarez near the foul line on a drive by Graterol. Of course the top of our order was third baseman Taylor Motter followed by Gordon, and Motter actually did strike out looking, which brings us to Gordon, so never mind.

 

Speaking of never mind, when we didn't score in the top of the ninth, and I saw Duffey coming out again, I said to Mrs Ash, this won't take long. It took longer than I expected, five batters. Good for him, I guess.

 

Speaking of good, despite the ragtag nature of our lineup, and the generally negative results, I enjoyed the evening a lot. McCoy Stadium gets a lot of criticism locally, but as far as I can see it's only because there are no luxury boxes to make the team more profitable. The park has been kept up, and I have yet to have a poor experience there. It's my east coast version of the Oakland Coliseum - a straight ahead old school place to watch a baseball game, in my book. The site-grilled Italian sausage with onions and green peppers never fails to satisfy, likewise the Foolproof Backyahd [sic] IPA available on draft which leaves me pleasantly sleepy.

[Han Joelo]

According to Ash, it sounds like the Twins will need to keep Gonsalves, in order to avoid having to face him.

 

Gordon's socks should be worn to reflect his current energy level, like on a video game.  Clearly, it sounds like he is in low energy mode.  In fact, it might be so low his shoes should be flashing.

 

Both these guys sound like the types of players you use to acquire a half-season of Manny Machado or whomever, if you are in the hunt.  In June...

[twinstalker]

It could be my mistake, but I think you've forgotten to change Nick Gordon's line this week.

 

For years now I've failed to understand what's supposed to make him a top prospect. As far as I've seen for 4+ years, he's a middle infielder who sucks at being a middle infielder, so why give him credit for being a middle infielder?

 

Most of all, it's seemed clear for the last year that his bat is not special in any real way. My prediction to league-mates in my simulation leagues is that it will take him four more years or so to establish himself as a second-division regular. This is not a top prospect, despite the fact prospect lists don't seem to grasp that. I put him behind Severino, and I don't know a thing about Severino's bat or fielding. I cry when I think we could have taken Trea Turner (though not as bad as I cried when we took Tyler Jay over Andrew Benintendi, someone I'm sure Ryan and Co. didn't even know was available as a sophomore-eligible).

 

I think you can maybe excuse putting Gordon in your top 10-12 Twins list because he will get a shot for sure, but #2 or #4? Sorry, I have a lot of vitriol for the 20+ years of the Ryan administration and their decisions.

 

How Terry Ryan took Alex Kirilloff, we'll never know. (/endrant)

[ashbury]

Speaking of liners to third, Astudillo scorched an even tougher one to Tony Renda's right in the sixth inning. You simply can't play a liner better than Renda did, leaving his feet and stretching to full extension to barely snag that rocket. Beautiful play. Kudos to him.

Speaking of Renda, he just got the call to the big club, with both Kinsler and Pedroia on the DL now. 2B is where he has most of his experience, and he's been swinging the bat well in 2018, so good luck to him!

 

Maybe the Sox are now wishing they had traded for Iron Man Dozier instead?