Article: Twins Minor League Report (4/18): Balazovic Strong, Stewart Struggles

[Cody Christie]

Have you ever wanted your own airplane? Well, the Twins’ Double-A affiliate was sort of able to accomplish this on Thursday. There’s more to the story below. Also, there was plenty of action throughout the Twins’ system. Two teams tried to mount comebacks, while another took advantage of the opportunities provided by the other team.TRANSACTIONS

ACTIVATED: C David Banuelos from the 7-day injured list for Cedar Rapids

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 6

Box Score

Rochester outhit the IronPigs (10 to 7) and scored a late run to make things interesting, but it wasn’t enough. The club didn’t take advantage of some opportunities as they left eight runners on base and went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

 

Kohl Stewart took his bumps and bruises in this one as he couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning. He allowed six runs on six hits including two home runs. He struggled to find the zone for most of the night as he threw 100 pitches and only 52 of them were for strikes. After a promising first start of the season, Stewart has thrown clunkers his last two times out.

 

Rochester continued to rely on the long ball in this game. With three solo shots on Thursday, Rochester has hit 22 home runs to produce 33 of the 62 total runs scored this season. LaMonte Wade, Tomas Telis, and Jordany Valdespin joined the home run parade. Also, Telis and Valdespin each added a double.

 

DJ Baxendale pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings by only allowing one hit. He struck out six and walked one. Matt Magill took the final frame and didn’t allow a runner. He had one strikeout and he has yet to allow a run this season.

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola --, Biloxi – (Postponed-Rain)

The Blue Wahoos and the Schuckers were postponed on Thursday due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a double-header on Friday, April 19 with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 CST. Pensacola currently has a 9-4 record and they are in first place by two games in the Southern League South.

 

In other news, the Blue Wahoos have teamed up with Silver Airways for a Kazoo- themed airplane. Kazoo is the name of the Blue Wahoos mascot. Silver Airways has flights from Pensacola to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Orlando.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 3, Charlotte 6

Box Score

Fort Myers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but a six-run deficit was too much to overcome. Tyler Watson started and pitched into the sixth inning for the second consecutive game. He allowed two runs on three hits while striking out five and walking one.

 

Anthony Vizcaya took over for Watson and struggled in parts of two innings. He allowed four runs on four hits as Charlotte pushed their lead to 6-0. Calvin Faucher had a very nice bounce back game. In his last appearance, he allowed three runs while only recording one out. Tonight, he pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts and two walks.

 

In the bottom of the ninth, Akil Baddoo lead off with a triple and was driven home on a Lewin Diaz groundout. Jose Miranda followed with a double before Trevor Larnach singled to put runners on the corners. A double from Ryan Jeffers scored a run and there were still runners on the corners. Ben Rortvedt would ground out to score another run and Michael Helman recorded the game’s final out.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, Beloit 2

Box Score

Cedar Rapids jumped out to an early 4-0 thanks to some miscues by the Snappers. With one out, Gabe Snyder was hit by a pitch. Trey Cabbage followed and reached base on an error by the shortstop. Jacob Pearson struck out for the second out of the inning and it looked like Beloit might get out without allowing a run.

 

However, Gilberto Celestino and Andrew Bechtold knocked back-to-back singles to push across a pair of runs. Celestino then stole third but it wouldn’t matter because David Banuelos tripled to score two more runs and put Cedar Rapids up 4-0.

 

Cedar Rapids allowed a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, but the club got those runs back in the bottom of the frame. The Kernels were able to do this without recording a hit. Celestino and Bechtold walked to start the inning. With Banuelos batting, an error by the third baseman loaded up the bases. Michael Davis drew a walk to score one run and a wild pitch put the score at 6-2.

 

Jordan Balazovic pitched five strong innings. He struck out eight, walked one, and limited the Snappers to two runs (one earned). He has allowed two runs or fewer in every start this season. His eight strikeouts tonight were the fewest he’s had all year (nine strikeouts in both previous starts). Jose Martinez pitched two shutout innings and struck out one. Joe Record collected the final six outs with four strikeouts.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

TD Pitcher of the Day- Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids (5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 1 BB)

TD Hitter of the Day- Tomas Telis, Rochester (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, R)

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) – Did not play

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured List

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - No Game

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, R

#5 - Wander Javier (EST) - No Game

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) – Did not play

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) – Did not pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) – 1-3, 3B, R, K

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, 2B, RBI, K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-4, RBI

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, RBI, 2 K

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) – Did not pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) – 2-4, HR, R, RBI, BB

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) – No Game

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) – 1-4, 2B, R, K

 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – RHP Zack Littell (0-2, 7.71 ERA)

Pensacola @ Biloxi (5:35 CST) – RHP Griffin Jax (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Pensacola @ Biloxi (Game 2) – TBD

Fort Myers vs. Charlotte (5:30 CST) – RHP Bailey Ober (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Cedar Rapids vs. Beloit (6:35 CST) – RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

 

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

 

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[DocBauer]

Seems Watson, who I felt disappointed in last season, is off to a good start.

 

I know he is young and needs work and time, but I'm starting to really like Balazovic.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Seems Watson, who I felt disappointed in last season, is off to a good start.

Worth noting that the FSL, never a hitter's league, is even more extreme right now. As I posted yesterday:

 

".627 league OPS so far this year, down from .691 last year."

 

Watson is almost 22 years old, 4 years pro, and still in high-A, so I'd hope he could do pretty well in the FSL. He's also Rule 5 eligible after this season.

[scottz]

I always like the minor league reports, but I like them even more so far in 2019. It seems like every day, I get to the "Probable Starters" section and see names that I'm interested in. Every day.

[rdehring]

Disappointing how Stewart has been throwing this spring.  After the progress he made last September, was hoping that he would step up and claim the right to be the first starter called up when needed.  Games like yesterday certainly aren't good.

 

McGill is on a 20-day rehab assignment, right?  Or is it 30-days for pitchers?  Assume he will join the Twins when ready as there are a couple guys at the end of the pen who have been struggling.  Doubt he has options if they would prefer he stay in Rochester, or does he?

 

Looks like Balazovic is confirming that surprising report from Keith Law (it was him, wasn't it?).  Love it when we have starters step up and make us all take notice!  Now will one of them please hurry to the Twins and be lights out so we can really feel good?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

McGill is on a 20-day rehab assignment, right?  Or is it 30-days for pitchers?

Up to 20 days for position players, up to 30 days for pitchers.

 

Magill was actually healthy for most of spring training -- he made 5 appearances, up through March 13th. So I suspect he won't need to full rehab period. (Although one could argue he's marginal enough that he should use it, to postpone the roster decision.)

[rdehring]

 

Up to 20 days for position players, up to 30 days for pitchers.

 

Magill was actually healthy for most of spring training -- he made 5 appearances, up through March 13th. So I suspect he won't need to full rehab period. (Although one could argue he's marginal enough that he should use it, to postpone the roster decision.)

My thoughts also, spycake.  

 

I recall Magill being a pleasant surprise last year, pitching better than most of us expected.  If he can get back to that, deserves a spot in this bullpen.  Question is who goes down as I doubt they will want to cut to 12 position players with Sano scheduled to return early/mid next month.  The bottom three in the pen are Duffey, Harper and Mejia.  Of those, I would think Mejia has been the biggest problem.  But he is the only lefty available other than Rogers and doesn't have options remaining.  So that means Harper or Duffey.  Duffey has pitched better this time up, other than one pitch yesterday.  And Harper has been a real surprise.  Gonna be interesting decision, but this bullpen must get better.  And yes, for whatever reason I have been thinking that Magill's name was McGill.....DAH!

Edited April 19, 2019 by rdehring

[AlwaysinModeration]

Kind of wondering if Balazovic need to start being listed as an honorable mention in the top 20 prospects listing at the bottom. He’ll be joining that list soon enough. And I guess it doesn’t really matter; he always seems to get listed as the pitcher of the day when he pitches anyway.