Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/18): Sands, Kernels Dominate on Mound

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins scored 18 runs. The two Twins minor league affiliates that have been very good this year both got shut out. The Red Wings got a good start. But most surprising, the Kernels had an offensive outburst, scoring eight runs. As impressive, three Kernels pitchers struck out 20 batters in nine innings. And, frequent Minor League Report star Luis Arraez made his major league debut late in the Twins game and recorded his first big-league hit, a double.Find out everything that happened happened in the Twins system on Saturday, starting with the transactions of the day.

 

 

TRANSACTIONS

• Rochester announced the outfielder Brent Rooker has been placed on the injured list with a wrist injury. Taking his spot on the Red Wings roster is infielder Victor Tademo from extended spring training.
• As a non-transaction, but an interesting note, LHP Stephen Gonsalves joined the Red Wings in Durham on Sunday.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 3, Durham 4

Box Score

 

The Red Wings took a 3-0 lead after scoring two runs in the top of the fifth inning. However, the Durham Bulls scored one run in each of their final four innings to take the win and push the Red Wings to 14-24 overall.

 

Lewis Thorpe started and was good. He gave up one run on five hits and a walk over the first five innings. He struck out eight. Ryan Eades came on and gave up a solo home run in the sixth and seventh innings. Fernando Romero pitched the bottom of the eighth frame and gave up a run on one hit and two walks.

 

Luke Raley went 2-for-3 and added his fourth stolen base. Tomas Telis went 2-for-4. LaMonte Wade was 1-or-3 with two walks.

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 0, Mobile 3

Box Score

 

The Southern League is unique among minor leagues in that it only has five-game series. Through their first eight series, the Blue Wahoos had yet to lose one. However, with their loss on Saturday, it assured their first losing series of the season. They fall to 26-17.

 

Minnesotan Adam Bray was used as an opener for the second straight time. He gave up one run on two hits over two innings. He struck out three without issuing a walk. Jorge Alcala came on as the primary pitcher. He was charged with two runs over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits and uncharacteristically walked four batters. He also struck out nine batters. Jeff Ames struck out three over two scoreless innings to end the game.

 

The Wahoos, with partial owner Bubba Watson watching, managed just two hits in this game. Mitchell Kranson had a single, and Travis Blankenhorn went 1-for-3 with a walk.

 

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 0, St. Lucie 9

Box Score

 

The Miracle celebrates Major League as Roger Dorn (or maybe you prefer Corbin Bernsen was in attendance on Saturday night to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

 

 

However, on the field things did not go well for the Miracle as they were shut out. Jose Miranda went 2-for-4. Ryan Jeffers had a single and a walk. Trevor Larnach walked twice. Aaron Whitefield walked three times.

 

Melvi Acosta made another spot start. In 4 2/3 innings, he was charged with seven runs (just three earned) on seven hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out four. Kody Funderburk made his first Miracle appearance since being promoted from extended spring training on Friday. He threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and a walk while striking out two. Ricky Ramirez was charged with two runs on four hits in the final inning.

 

The Miracle fell to 25-16 on their season.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 8, Clinton 2

Box Score

 

In what has been a pretty rare occurrence, the Kernels had a big day offensively. Jared Akins kept hitting. He went 3-for-5, scored three runs and stole two bags. Gabriel Maciel went 3-for-5 with two RBI and his fifth stolen base. Andrew Bechtold hit his seventh double and his first triple. Albee Weiss went 2-for-4 with a walk.

 

Cole Sands started and struck out ten batters in five innings. He gave up only one run despite eight hits. But he didn’t hurt himself with any walks. Austin Schulfer kept the theme going with eight strikeouts in three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked one. Jose Martinez gave up a run on two hits in the ninth inning. He struck out two more batters, giving Kernels pitchers 20 strikeouts in the game.

 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

 

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day - Cole Sands, Cedar Rapids Kernels

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jared Akins, Cedar Rapids Kernels

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 0-4, K

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Did Not Pitch.

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 0-2, 2 BB

#5 - Wander Javier (EST) - Injured (quad), return...unknown

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured (wrist)

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch.

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (90 pitches, 60 strikes)

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Injured List

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Injured List (adductor)

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured List, late-May return possible

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, BB

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - Did Not Play.

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

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, RBI, 2 K

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did Not Pitch.

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-3, 2 BB, R, K

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K (89 pitches, 53 strikes)

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 2-4

 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Durham (4:05 CST) - RHP Zack Littell (2-2, 4.50 ERA)

Mobile @ Pensacola (1:05 CST) - RHP Brusdar Graterol (5-0, 1.69 ERA)

St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (12:00 CST) - LHP Tyler Watson (1-4, 5.46 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Clinton (2:00 CST) - RHP Josh Winder (2-1, 2.97 ERA)

 

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

 

Click here to view the article

[mikelink45]

Our prospect list looks more like the IL list.  And those who are active are showing minimum life.  Good thing that we are looking good in MLB - Graterol is the only one I would have expectations for if he was called up. Who else?  Wade keeps going, but I do not think the Twins have a high rating for him and Arraez was not on the list.  

[AZTwin]

Wow I know they like Victor Tademo but that is quite the jump from extended spring training to AAA for the 19 war old. Probably be a short stint

[Han Joelo]

Tademo is a guy that intrigues me.  Has he been hurt to start the year?  For some reason I feel like there was an injury situation with the Miracle last year, and he was a guy they pulled right from the Rookie team and plugged into high-A.  And that he held his own.  But maybe I'm thinking of a different player.  

 

Nice start for Thorpe, another clunky finish for Romero.  I'd hoped Romero could fall into that young, flamethrowing bullpen arm role, but I'm starting to fear he is miscast.  At any rate, he's looking like a non-factor this year to me.

[rdehring]

So happy to see the good Lewis Thorpe back on the mound for Rochester.  A bit concerned that he only went 5.0 innings, but 8 K's will go a long way to getting up to 90 pitches quickly.  Now lets see him get on a roll and have two, three more games like this.

 

My concern is Romero who thru 27 pitches to get thru one inning.  This kid has fantastic stuff, just can't seem to take that final step.  Can we assume that Gonsalves will be activated any day?

 

There is an old farmer saying that, "the cream always rises to the top."  Well in Rochester, the cream is certainly looking like Luke Raley.  They are what, a third thru the season?  Project out his numbers and you have a .300 average, high .800's OPS and 20 home runs. 

 

Nobody knows more about these minor league kids than you, Seth.  Would really be curious to know your thoughts and expectations about Sands?  

[Seth Stohs]

 

Wow I know they like Victor Tademo but that is quite the jump from extended spring training to AAA for the 19 war old. Probably be a short stint

 

It's weird to me because he did the same last year. Later in the year, he went to Ft. Myers and Rochester and then ended the year in Cedar Rapids and played in the playoffs because of the Bechtold concussion.

 

However, as poor as the Kernels offense is, Tademo sits in Extended Spring Training but is the guy sent to AAA for a short-term stint? Definitely confusing to me. 

[Seth Stohs]

 

So happy to see the good Lewis Thorpe back on the mound for Rochester.  A bit concerned that he only went 5.0 innings, but 8 K's will go a long way to getting up to 90 pitches quickly.  Now lets see him get on a roll and have two, three more games like this.

 

My concern is Romero who thru 27 pitches to get thru one inning.  This kid has fantastic stuff, just can't seem to take that final step.  Can we assume that Gonsalves will be activated any day?

 

There is an old farmer saying that, "the cream always rises to the top."  Well in Rochester, the cream is certainly looking like Luke Raley.  They are what, a third thru the season?  Project out his numbers and you have a .300 average, high .800's OPS and 20 home runs. 

 

Nobody knows more about these minor league kids than you, Seth.  Would really be curious to know your thoughts and expectations about Sands?  

 

It's a long season... As long as  he's healthy, Romero will figure things out. 

 

I think Gonsalves is close. 

 

Raley is legit and he's being noticed, from what I've heard. Puts up nubers and really hustles and works hard. That's the stuff that'll get noticed. 

 

Sands is interesting. He was drafted last year out of FLorida State in the 5th round, but they just shut him down at the end of the year. He sits 92-94 from what I've seen.  From the picture with this article, he's big and strong. He has a good pitch-mix. I mean, he's a legit prospect based on his draft status and where he pitched. Probably not a top-of-rotation guy (or he'd have been drafted higher), but you never know. I always think it's lazy to say that a pitcher's most likely MLB role is as a reliever. Why? Because it's really hard to get to MLB as a starter and stick. But my reason for saying that is that from what I have seen (which is admittedly minimal as a pro but I also watched some college video), he is kind of a max effort guy... 

[gunnarthor]

Off topic but it might be interesting to get a thread updating how some of our non-top 20 prospects are doing. Guys like Cabbage, Blankenhorn, Jax, Balazovic, Raley all seem to be having nice years.

[ChrisKnutson]

Everytime Romero’s pitched for the Twins this year, it seems as though he just can’t find the strike zone, and I have a feeling that it’s because of his max effort delivery. It just doesn’t look natural as it should be.

 

Honestly, It’s really a shame to see someone so talented struggle like this in the minors. Which is why I think it’s time for the FO to finally concede on this experiment and have him start again. It’s what he’s done his entire career, and has seen plenty of success in doing so, not just in the minors, but as recently as last season in the majors.

 

Since the bullpen has been doing a good enough job so far, I’d say now’s a pretty good time to get him stretched out in Stewart’s rotation spot.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

There is an old farmer saying that, "the cream always rises to the top."  Well in Rochester, the cream is certainly looking like Luke Raley.  They are what, a third thru the season?  Project out his numbers and you have a .300 average, high .800's OPS and 20 home runs. 

Of course, there are 27 players on track for 20+ HR in the 14 team International League. Last year, only 5 guys hit 20 HR. Yes, some got promoted midseason before they could reach 20, I'm sure, but the offensive explosion in the IL due to the juiced ball is huge.

 

I don't mean to pick on Raley, but relative to league (wRC+), his 2019 hitting performance at AAA is still slightly worse than his 2018 hitting performance at AA, or his 2017 hitting performance at A+. And that's before accounting for the greater dependence on BABIP (Raley has a .403 BABIP right now -- I know some guys can maintain higher BABIPs in the minors, but that's Danny Santana 2014 level).

 

That said, he's still having a solid season (especially given it's his first at AAA) and he might be a useful piece, but he's not really experiencing the kind of breakout that normally might be suggested by his AVG, OPS, and HRs.