Front Page: Twins Minor League Report (7/31): Barnes and Jeffers Headline Wahoos, Vets Pace Red Wings

[Ted Schwerzler]

After weeks of trade speculation it had to be nice for a handful of Twins prospects to breath a sigh of relief. No one playing in action on the Twins farm tonight had been dealt and the focus could be back 100% on the task at hand. Veterans paced the action for Rochester while a duo of prospects shined in a tough luck loss for Pensacola. Read all about it below.TRANSACTIONS

Minnesota Twins

Acquired RHP Sam Dyson

Rochester Red Wings

RHP Cody Allen released

OF Jaylin Davis traded to San Francisco

RHP Ryan Eades reinstated from IL

RHP D.J. Baxendale placed on the IL with groin strain

Pensacola Blue Wahoos

RHP Marcos Diplan acquired from Milwaukee

Cedar Rapids Kernels

RHP Kai-Wei Teng traded to San Francisco

Elizabethton Twins

RHP Prelander Berroa traded to San Francisco

 

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 6, Scranton/WB 1

Box Score

 

Adam Bray took the ball to start this contest and he turned in four solid innings allowing just a single run (unearned) on two hits. He struck out three and walked just one. Rochester had to get this victory without their hottest hitter over the past couple months with Jaylin Davis being included in the package sent to San Francisco.

 

Thankfully the Red Wings wasted little time in the run scoring department. A four-run first inning was punctuated with a two run homer for Alejandro De Aza, his third of the season. He’s batting .300 with a .910 OPS in 14 games since signing with the organization.

 

Wilin Rosario blasted his 15th homer of the year in the 3rd to add another run, and Jake Cave drove in the sixth of the game on an RBI single in the 4th. Returning from the injured list and working in relief, Ryan Eades picked up the victory with a scoreless 5th inning.

 

BLUE WAHOOS BITES

Jacksonville 4, Pensacola 3

Box Score

 

Charlie Barnes started in this one and went six innings. He gave up four runs but just one was earned, and he struck out seven walking just one. He’s now got just a 2.91 ERA through 12 Double-A games.

 

Pensacola scored first on an error to open the game. Alex Kirilloff raced home to start the evening. After giving up four in the bottom of the third, the Blue Wahoos needed to crawl back in it. The only runs they could must however came on Ryan Jeffers 2nd Double-A dinger, a two-run shot in the 8th.

 

Both Jeffers and Kirilloff enjoyed two-hit games.

 

MIRACLE MATTERS

Game Postponed

 

Twins first basemen C.J. Cron was to begin a rehab assignment with the Miracle tonight to test out his thumb injury. Unfortunately that was thwarted with the postponement.

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Beloit 12, Cedar Rapids 5

Box Score

 

Lefty Kody Funderburk was tonight’s scheduled starter and a tough outing made it a quick evening. Coming up an out short of three innings, the southpaw gave up 10 runs (seven earned) on eight hits. After making it through two innings with just a 2-0 deficit, Cedar Rapids allowing a nine spot in the bottom of the third.

 

Needing a response the Kernels bats stayed cold most of the night. Albee Weiss provided the first runs on his second Cedar Rapids homer in the 5th, but the team didn’t strike again until the 9th. Trailing by ten, Alex Isola followed up a balked in run with a two-RBI double to draw within seven. The rally ended there though.

 

These two square off again tomorrow night so Cedar Rapids can look to exact some revenge in short order.

 

E-TWINS E-NOTES

Burlington 7, Elizabethton 6

Box Score

 

The E-Twins turned to Andriu Marin as their starter tonight and he was bounced after recording a single out in the 5th inning. Giving up five runs on four hits, the bright spot was a six strikeout performance with just two walks.

 

Marin was staked to a six run lead with Elizabethton doing all of their damage in the opening frame. Parker Phillips drove in the first run with a single to center. A sac fly from Trevor Jensen and a single from Anthony Prato then made it three to night. Janigson Villalobos roped his 3rd double of the year, this one with the bases loaded, to double up the margin.

 

After Marin ran into trouble in the 5th, the E-Twins lead was cut down to just one. Failing to add more as the game went on, Burlington creeped back in to knot things up in the 7th and take the lead in the 8th.

 

Elizabethton will be looking forward to the trip out of town and some home cooking following the three game sweep.

 

GCL TWINS TAKES

GCL Twins 7, GCL Braves 4

Box Score

 

Niklas Rimmel drew the start today for the GCL club and turned in four innings of work. He gave up two runs on three hits while walking and fanning four apiece. His ERA now sits at 2.92 across 24.2 IP this season.

 

Yunior Severino, rehabbing for Cedar Rapids, started the game with a leadoff triple. Keoni Cavaco wasthen hit by a pitch in the next at bat, and things spiraled quickly for the Braves. When the dust settled following the first frame the GCL Twins had put up five runs.

 

Serving as the DH Jeferson Morales blasted a two-run shot in the third (his third of the season), to give the away club a 7-5 advantage. The GCL Braves would attempt a comeback plating two in the 7th but that was where this one ended.

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Charlie Barnes (Pensacola) 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 ER 1 BB 7 K

Hitter of the Day – Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR(2)

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Royce Lewis (Pensacola) – 1-4, BB

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) – 2-3, R

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Rehab assignment with GCL

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Pensacola) – 1-3, R

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-4, R, K

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Fort Myers) - Did not pitch

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (GCL) – 0-3, R, HBP

#8 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - Injured List (groin)

#9 - Jhoan Duran (Fort Myers) - Did not pitch

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Fort Myers) - Did not pitch

#11 - Lewis Thorpe (Minnesota) - Did not pitch

#12 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) – 2-4, R, 2B

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Pensacola) – 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR(2)

#14 - Luis Arraez (Minnesota) – Did not play

#15 - Matt Wallner (Elizabethton) - 0-4, R, BB, 3 K

#16 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) – Did not play

#17 - Akil Baddoo (Fort Myers) - Injured List (Tommy John surgery)

#18 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#19 - Misael Urbina (DSL) – 0-3, BB

#20 - Travis Blankenhorn (Pensacola) - Injured list

 

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester (11:35AM CST) - RHP Kohl Stewart (5-5, 6.38 ERA)

Birmingham @ Pensacola (6:35PM CST) – RHP Griffin Jax (4-3, 2.34 ERA)

Dunedin @ Fort Myers DH (3:30PM CST) - RHP Cole Sands (4-2, 2.41 ERA)/TBD

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:30PM CST) – RHP Luis Rijo (4-6, 2.55 ERA)

GCL Braves @ GCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD

 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!

 

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[Monkeypaws]

Nick Gordon has 29 doubles, 14 steals in 18 attempts, a .304 average, an OPS over .800, and is still just 23.

 

He has also spent more time at short than second this season.

 

I'm kind of glad he's still a Twin prospect.

[Dman]

I went to Beloit with my 8 year old son to watch the Kernals get shellacked.  I guess I am a good luck charm for the Snappers.

 

It looked like Kody might have been OK had Wander not almost airmailed a throw he had plenty of time to make and made the first baseman leap for the ball taking his foot off the bag.  Things just seemed to unravel from there.

 

Cabezus is a plucky guy but he looks far more suited to the pen than starting.  He also gave up some pretty loud contact but was far superior to Kody this night.

 

Funny thing is I think Casanovo pitched better than both of them and he is the catcher.

 

Wander didn't look good in the field at all and while he batted OK it seems like he has a crap load of work to do if he wants to be even a good not great player at this point.  I know he is young but he has bust written all over him from what I saw.  He doesn't look great defensively at short either.  Honestly I don't think I would have him in my top 30 right now and if I did it would be in the high 20's.  Maybe he just had a bad game but I didn't like what I saw tonight.

 

Ricky De La Torri one of my favorite players looked liked he couldn't make contact with a ball in a softball beer league, but he did look good defensively at third base.  He was swinging at air all night.  Some one needs to work with him on that swing you can't miss the ball as much as he does and consider that a competitive at bat.

 

Isola, Akins and Weiss looked decent at the plate but lots of popups and long fly balls for them tonight and only one went over the fence.  They are all long shots but they look like they can make it to the next level.

 

The only guy that looked really good at the plate I mean really good was Spencer Steer.  Good eye with the strike zone, always making contact, actually had a clue at the plate.  I know he went 0 for 3 but he looked good.  He looked like a player that could move up. 

 

Everyone needs to improve quite a bit from what I saw hopefully things start to click for some of those young guys.  I really want to see them succeed but what I saw tonight was pretty discouraging over all.

[Cast of Thousands]

 

Nick Gordon has 29 doubles, 14 steals in 18 attempts, a .304 average, an OPS over .800, and is still just 23.

 

He has also spent more time at short than second this season.

 

I'm kind of glad he's still a Twin prospect.

He's batting .419 in his last 10 games and is having a really, really good season up to this point.  And yes, still only 23.  40 games at SS and 28 games at 2B, about a dozen errors on the year, not great, but not terrible either.

 

Good for him, and good for the Twins.  Here's hoping he keeps developing and moving forward.  

[jokin]

 

I went to Beloit with my 8 year old son to watch the Kernals get shellacked.  I guess I am a good luck charm for the Snappers.

 

It looked like Kody might have been OK had Wander not almost airmailed a throw he had plenty of time to make and made the first baseman leap for the ball taking his foot off the bag.  Things just seemed to unravel from there.

 

Cabezus is a plucky guy but he looks far more suited to the pen than starting.  He also gave up some pretty loud contact but was far superior to Kody this night.

 

Funny thing is I think Casanovo pitched better than both of them and he is the catcher.

 

Wander didn't look good in the field at all and while he batted OK it seems like he has a crap load of work to do if he wants to be even a good not great player at this point.  I know he is young but he has bust written all over him from what I saw.  He doesn't look great defensively at short either.  Honestly I don't think I would have him in my top 30 right now and if I did it would be in the high 20's.  Maybe he just had a bad game but I didn't like what I saw tonight.

 

Ricky De La Torri one of my favorite players looked liked he couldn't make contact with a ball in a softball beer league, but he did look good defensively at third base.  He was swinging at air all night.  Some one needs to work with him on that swing you can't miss the ball as much as he does and consider that a competitive at bat.

 

Isola, Akins and Weiss looked decent at the plate but lots of popups and long fly balls for them tonight and only one went over the fence.  They are all long shots but they look like they can make it to the next level.

 

The only guy that looked really good at the plate I mean really good was Spencer Steer.  Good eye with the strike zone, always making contact, actually had a clue at the plate.  I know he went 0 for 3 but he looked good.  He looked like a player that could move up. 

 

Everyone needs to improve quite a bit from what I saw hopefully things start to click for some of those young guys.  I really want to see them succeed but what I saw tonight was pretty discouraging over all.

 

This Kernels team hasn't had anyone jump off the page statistically all season, until Steer arrived.

 

How did Steer look in the field?

 

I ask this because looking at the 2B/3B/SS options currently at Fort Myers, it doesn't appear that any of the above should be blocking Speer from a promotion to A+ level in August. His plate numbers this year and his remarkable improvement in his junior year at Oregon suggest he's made a quantum leap forward in 2019 offensively.

 

The big drawback is his apparent lack of power. Does his glove work suggest he can provide quality help to the Twins in a "Adrianza utility role with a better bat" in the next couple of years?

[rdehring]

The Red Wings certainly are going to miss Davis, as are we fans.  Any word if Raley is near a return as he could be a very good replacement.  And kudos to Gordon who seems to have forgotten that he normally went into a slump this time of year.

 

The Kernels are going to miss Teng.  Expect his exit will hurt come playoff time.  On the other hand, am glad it is Teng who is gone and not Escobar.  Really appreciate Dman's first hand report of the Kernels, even though his comments about Javier were more than disappointing.  

[Dman]

 

This Kernels team hasn't had anyone jump off the page statistically all season, until Steer arrived.

 

How did Steer look in the field?

 

I ask this because looking at the 2B/3B/SS options currently at Fort Myers, it doesn't appear that any of the above should be blocking Speer from a promotion to A+ level in August. His plate numbers this year and his remarkable improvement in his junior year at Oregon suggest he's made a quantum leap forward in 2019 offensively.

 

The big drawback is his apparent lack of power. Does his glove work suggest he can provide quality help to the Twins in a "Adrianza utility role with a better bat" in the next couple of years?

 

He made a nice play ranging far to the first base side during the game but not many balls were hit to him so it is hard to say just how good he is defensively.  There were a couple of balls hit past him but the Snappers were just pounding the ball so not much of chance to do anything about those.

 

It looked like he might have been working on his power stroke as I believe most of his outs were fairly long fly balls.  He didn't seem to have the power of Akins, Isola, Weiss or Snyder so I think your assessment of not great power is likely correct but really hard to tell from limited at bats in just one game.

 

The thing that impressed me was his ability to swing at pitches in the zone and get contact.  So many of the others wiffed on a lot of pitches but he always seemed to find ways to contact the ball and he didn't strike out when I watched him.  To me he had the best approach at the plate and always seemed able to put the ball in play. Even though he didn't get a hit in this game he was the most impressive batter on the team IMO.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

He's batting .419 in his last 10 games and is having a really, really good season up to this point.  And yes, still only 23.  40 games at SS and 28 games at 2B, about a dozen errors on the year, not great, but not terrible either.

 

Good for him, and good for the Twins.  Here's hoping he keeps developing and moving forward.  

I'd just like to see him finish at something that resembles his season to date. He usually drops off around now. 

[jkcarew]

Javier has a month-plus remaining in his 4th professional season, and he's just passing 400 plate appearances. I think it's going to be hard to tell for a while if he's going to be a bust...or simply a late-developer based on the extreme injury issues he faced early on.

 

Meanwhile, I wish there was a lower league for the high school kids that sign. Part of the problem is that I don't think there are enough HS kids that sign any more. The GCL is mostly 2nd/3rd-year HS signees and late-drafted college guys. Many (most?) of the first-year HS signees are not Lewis or Kirilloff...they're not ready for the GCL, let alone the Appy or Midwest leagues. Case in point...Keoni Cavaco. I'd like to see him playing games regularly, and I'd like to see him succeeding some when he plays them. Neither of those things are happening at this point.

[Danchat]

Nick Gordon has 29 doubles, 14 steals in 18 attempts, a .304 average, an OPS over .800, and is still just 23.

 

He has also spent more time at short than second this season.

 

I'm kind of glad he's still a Twin prospect.

I wonder what the plan for him is. He seems ready to try and take on MLB pitching, but we have no room for him.

[drivlikejehu]

 

He's batting .419 in his last 10 games and is having a really, really good season up to this point.  And yes, still only 23.  40 games at SS and 28 games at 2B, about a dozen errors on the year, not great, but not terrible either.

 

Good for him, and good for the Twins.  Here's hoping he keeps developing and moving forward.  

 

Relative to his league, Gordon's offensive performance in Rochester is similar to what Lewis did in Ft. Myers. 

[railmarshalljon]

 

I wonder what the plan for him is. He seems ready to try and take on MLB pitching, but we have no room for him.

 

I'm OK with these kinds of problems.