Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/19): Jaylin Davis Homers Again, Royce Lewis Has 3-Hit Night

[Tom Froemming]

Jaylin Davis is as close to being automatic as you can get right now. He slugged his 13th home run in what was just his 31st game with Rochester tonight. Royce Lewis also had a nice night, going 3-for-5 to help to lead Fort Myers to a win. Come see what else happened across the system Friday.TRANSACTIONS

LHP Sam Clay was promoted from Pensacola up to Rochester.

Cedar Rapids activated LHP Kody Funderburk from the IL and placed RHP Carlos Suniaga on the IL with a forearm strain.

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Gwinnett 8, Rochester 4

Box Score

 

Drew Hutchison: 5.1 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 66.0% strikes (64 of 97 pitches)

HR: Jaylin Davis (13), Jimmy Kerrigan (3)

Multi-hit games: Davis (2-for-4, HR), Nick Gordon (2-for-3, BB), Wilin Rosario (2-for-4, 2B)

 

The Red Wings managed to tie this game up 4-4 on a Jaylin Davis two-run homer in the seventh. It was Davis’ 13th home run in just 31 games with Rochester, and 23rd of the year overall.

 

Unfortunately, Gwinnett was able to bounce back with two runs in the bottom of that inning. Drew Hutchison had a rough start, but Sam Clay had a very nice Triple-A debut. Clay allowed an inherited runner to score, but pitched around an error and all five outs he recorded were via strikeouts.

 

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Mississippi 4, Pensacola 2

Box Score

 

Charlie Barnes: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 49.4% strikes (41 of 83 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-for-4)

 

Ian Anderson, the No. 26 overall prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, carved up the Blue Wahoos lineup in this one. He struck out 10 batters over seven innings of one-run ball. This was still a 1-1 game heading in to the bottom of the seventh.

 

Charlie Barnes somehow managed to mostly pitch around a career-high six walks and Tom Hackimer pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his first game action in nearly a month.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 6, Florida 5

Box Score

 

Blayne Enlow: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 71.4 % strikes (60 of 84 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (3-for-5, 2B), Ryan Costello (2-for-5)

 

After a rough three months of the season, things are now trending the right direction for Royce Lewis. He had three more hits today, giving him five multi-hit games so far this month. He now has a .302/.387/.472 line (.859 OPS) so far in July.

 

Blayne Enlow got knocked around a bit, giving up five runs (four earned) in his five innings, but the Miracle bullpen was outstanding. Johan Quezada struck out three batters in two one-hit innings before Joe Record picked up a two-inning save, holding Florida hitless while striking out a pair of batters.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Lake County 8, Cedar Rapids 3

Box Score

 

Andrew Cabezas: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 59.0% strikes (49 of 83 pitches)

HR: Gilberto Celestino (5), Gabe Snyder (11), Trevor Casanova (4)

Multi-hit games: None

 

All three of the Kernels’ runs came on solo homers. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and combined for 11 strikeouts as a team.

 

Cedar Rapids entered the bottom of the eighth inning holding a 3-2 lead but that’s when things fell apart. Lake County sent 11 men to bat that inning and ended up scoring six runs.

 

After another solid start today, Andrew Cabezas now has a 1.37 ERA over his last seven starts (39 1/3 innings).

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Greenville 4, Elizabethton 2

Box Score

 

Sawyer Gipson-Long: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

HR: Charles Mack (5)

Multi-hit games: Charles Mack (2-for-3, HR), Max Smith (2-for-4)

 

Sawyer Gipson-Long was electric for Elizabethton today. He gave up only one hit over three scoreless innings and struck out six batters. The 2019 sixth-round pick now has nine Ks in five scoreless innings to start his professional career.

 

The only E-Town runs came on a Charles Mack two-run homer that scored Matt Wallner.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 4, GCL Red Sox 1

Box Score

 

Matt Canterino: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

HR: Wander Valdez 2 (3), Jesus Feliz (2)

Multi-hit games: Jesus Feliz (3-for-4, 3B, HR), Wander Valdez (2-for-3, 2 HR, BB)

 

Five of the six hits for the Twins came from Jesus Feliz and Wander Valdez. Feliz was a double short of the cycle and Valdez hit two home runs.

 

Matt Canterino, the Twins’ second-round pick from this year’s draft, struck out four batters in three shutout innings. Miguel Rodriguez followed with three scoreless innings of his own before Matthew Swain held the Red Sox to one run over the final three frames.

 

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Sawyer Gipson-Long, Elizabethton

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Wander Valdez, GCL Twins

 

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

 

1. Royce Lewis (FM): 3-for-5, 2B, 2 R

2. Alex Kirilloff (PNS): 0-for-4, K

4. Trevor Larnach (PNS): 1-for-4, RBI, 3 K

5. Wander Javier (CR): 0-for-3, BB, K, E (throw)

7: Keoni Cavaco (GCL): 0-for-4, R, K

10. Blayne Enlow (FM): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 71.4 % strikes (60 of 84 pitches)

12. Nick Gordon (ROC): 2-for-3, BB, R, SB, CS

13. Ryan Jeffers (FM): 1-for-4, BB, RBI, R, K

15. Matt Wallner (ELZ): 1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 K

16. Ben Rortvedt (PNS): 1-for-4, K, E (catcher’s interference)

19. Misael Urbina (DSL): 1-for-4, 2B, R

 

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester at Gwinnett, 5:05 pm CT (Devin Smeltzer)

Pensacola at Mississippi, 6:05 pm CT (Jorge Alcala)

Fort Myers at Florida, 5:00 pm CT (Lachlan Wells)

Cedar Rapids at Fort Wayne, 5:05 pm CT (Kai-Wei Teng)

Elizabethton at Bluefield, 5:30 pm CT

GCL Twins at GCL Red Sox, 9:00 am CT

 

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

 

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[h2oface]

How long until Moya is just released?

[Seth Stohs]

 

How long until Moya is just released?

 

I would think quite awhile since he's so young.

[dbminn]

Baseball is hard. Jaylin Davis is figuring it out at the ripe age of 25. Enlow has hit another bump in the road. Royce Lewis tried to change the way he hits, suffered for a while, and now he's back. It's why I enjoy the game. 

 

A nod to Nick Gordon too. I hope better things are to come.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Baseball is hard. Jaylin Davis is figuring it out at the ripe age of 25. Enlow has hit another bump in the road. Royce Lewis tried to change the way he hits, suffered for a while, and now he's back. It's why I enjoy the game. 

 

A nod to Nick Gordon too. I hope better things are to come.

 

Nick Gordon has really played well in 2019. Hopefully Twins fans or those in the game haven't given up on his MLB future. I think it's still quite bright. 

[Twinsoholic]

Look at Cantorino’s pitch count from yesterday: 18 pitches thrown, and all 18 were strikes. I have never seen anything like that for someone who started a game.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Look at Cantorino’s pitch count from yesterday: 18 pitches thrown, and all 18 were strikes. I have never seen anything like that for someone who started a game.

Those are most often inaccurate in the short-season leagues, unfortunately, which is why I don't include them.

[Otto von Ballpark]

How long until Moya is just released?

  

I would think quite awhile since he's so young.

Unless he is added back to the 40-man roster, Moya will be a minor league free agent at the end of this season anyway. So it seems the Twins won't have to release him to be rid of him soon, but nor will they be able to take much advantage of his relative youth anymore.

[ashbury]

  Unless he is added back to the 40-man roster, Moya will be a minor league free agent at the end of this season anyway. So it seems the Twins won't have to release him to be rid of him soon, but nor will they be able to take much advantage of his relative youth anymore.

He's in his age-24 season, so he's not young-young, but he's hardly old for AAA - 3 guys who've pitched for Rochester this season are younger and four are roughly the same age. He hasn't had a bad season since he was 19, and I'm always inclined to assume some undisclosed physical problem when the numbers are anomalous like this. So, to me, there's no urgency to discard him, and I'd be happy to give him another year. It would take a bad 2020 to make me want to be "rid" of him. But, he may indeed choose not to accept a contract renewal if it's offered, and to try his luck in a different organization. And if he's not forecast to help the big club in 2019, then it's not terribly important whether he finishes his season at AAA, at AA, or simply on the shelf.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Nick Gordon has really played well in 2019.

Gordon has a 94 wRC+, his 2nd worst minor league stop to date, ahead of only his 2018 disaster at AAA. Out of 15 Red Wing players with 100+ PA this year, he ranks 12th in wRC+, and 2 of the 3 guys behind him are gone from the org already. (And after a hideous start, Ronald Torreyes might still catch him.) And that's with the benefit of a .360 BABIP for Gordon.

 

Hard to judge defense from afar, but Gordon also has the lowest fielding percentage of their top 3 SS and top 3 2B, although he does lead those SS in range factor.

 

He's still relatively young, and he's light years ahead of his epic 2018 slump, but objectively, it's hard to see how his prospect stock hasn't fallen in 2019 (or hasn't recovered much among those who downgraded him after 2019).

[Otto von Ballpark]

Look at Cantorino’s pitch count from yesterday: 18 pitches thrown, and all 18 were strikes. I have never seen anything like that for someone who started a game.

I think those levels are like MLB spring training: they seem to only log the minimum number of pitches necessary for the PA outcome. So regardless of what pitch sequence actually happens, they log 3 (all strikes) for every strikeout, 4 (all balls) for every walk, and 1 strike for every ball in play.

 

Cantorino had 4 Ks and recorded 5 other outs to complete 3 innings, and gave up 1 hit and no walks. Thus we see (4*3) + 5 + 1 = 18, all strikes.

 

Basically, no one is recording the actual pitches, so the software just makes something up to satisfy itself.

[rdehring]

Not a good day in the win-loss column.  And dang'it, those Red Wings weren't able to win and get back to .500.  Unfortunately, Pensacola's loss means they did get to .500.  Bah humbug!

 

Nice game for Lewis.  Hopefully, he will keep hitting the rest of the year as he has the past several weeks.  Unfortunately, there isn't enough time left to get his traditional stats up where we like to see a big time prospect.  But that's ok if he keeps showing us the first three months are behind him.

 

Wander Valdez is off to a heck of a start in the GCL.  Meanwhile, that other Wander hasn't had a good game since his recent 4 hit night which is looking more like an aberration.  Is it time to start watching that other Wander more closely?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jkcarew]

 

Gordon has a 94 wRC+, his 2nd worst minor league stop to date, ahead of only his 2018 disaster at AAA. Out of 15 Red Wing players with 100+ PA this year, he ranks 12th in wRC+, and 2 of the 3 guys behind him are gone from the org already. (And after a hideous start, Ronald Torreyes might still catch him.) And that's with the benefit of a .360 BABIP for Gordon.

Hard to judge defense from afar, but Gordon also has the lowest fielding percentage of their top 3 SS and top 3 2B, although he does lead those SS in range factor.

He's still relatively young, and he's light years ahead of his epic 2018 slump, but objectively, it's hard to see how his prospect stock hasn't fallen in 2019 (or hasn't recovered much among those who downgraded him after 2019).

The biggest culprit in terms of offensive value seems to be that Gordon has not demonstrated any power this year. Three HR in 268 PA...in the 2019 International league, yet. He was showing signs of that tool emerging back in 2017, but no. Same problem Lamonte Wade has...at least Gordon is a middle infielder.

 

Then again Gordon has a higher SLG than the .401 Luis Arraez showed in his 237 minor-league PA this year So, you never know.

[jkcarew]

In his small-sample (127 PA) AAA season so far, Jaylin Davis has a higher HR-rate (much higher) than Brent Rooker...and a lower K-rate. Meanwhile, we can assume he's a much superior defensive outfielder than Rooker (numbers back this up; Rochester has already played Davis 5 games in CF, etc.). Davis is 4 months older than Rooker. Of course, even if the sample was larger, this doesn't mean much. By all accounts, and despite his swing-and-miss challenges, Rooker was/is the much more polished power-hitting prospect. But still....maybe we should gtk Jaylin Davis all over again?...

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/get-to-know-kernels-outfielder-jaylin-davis-r5199