Twins Minor League Report (5/8): Rain Rain, Go Away

[Matt Braun]

A pair of starting pitchers on the 40-man roster were set to make their 2021 debuts on Saturday but only two games were able to be played in full due to rain. All of that and more in this edition of the minor league report.

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Donny Breek transferred to A Fort Myers
• RHP Anthony Escobar transferred to A Fort Myers
• RHP Sean Mooney of A Fort Myers placed on the 7-day IL (right shoulder strain), retroactive to May 7
• OF Jimmy Kerrigan promoted to AAA St. Paul from AA Wichita
• RHP Derek Law of AAA St. Paul contract selected by Minnesota Twins
• RHP Cody Stashak optioned from Minnesota Twins to AAA St. Paul

Saints Sentinel

The St. Paul Saints game was suspended in the 5th inning due to rain. The club announced that the game will be continued at some point but that exact date is yet to be seen.

 

The Saints were winning 8-1 when play was halted. It was not a completed game but the link to the box score can be found here.

Wind Surge Wisdom

Wichita 9, Springfield 3
Box Score
Dakota Chalmers: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Aaron Whitefield (2-for-4, 2 R), Jose Miranda (3-for-5, 2 RBI), Mark Contreras (3-for-6, 3B, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Gilberto Celestino (2-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI)

Dakota Chalmers made his 2021 debut in a way that best encapsulated his status as a prospect. His five strikeouts represented his upside while his four walks reflected an occasional lack of command. At any rate, Chalmers possesses the kind of arm that coaches dream on and it will be exciting to see what he can do the rest of the season. Here is a piece of the sort of knee-buckling stuff that Chalmers can unleash: 

An Ernie De La Trinidad double in the 2nd inning kicked off the scoring for the Wind Surge and he was later brought home thanks to a Damek Tomscha single.

While De La Trinidad and Tomscha may have started the scoring, the bulk of the runs came from four other batters. The combination of Aaron Whitefield, Jose Miranda, Mark Contreras, and Gilberto Celestino proved to be too much to handle. Those four hitters totaled 10 hits, five runs, and six RBIs en route to the six run victory. 13 total hits were dropped by the Wind Surge with eight walks sprinkled around to supply a great number of men on base.

Hector Lujan and Zach Neff made sure that the offense’s efforts would not go to waste. The two relievers combined for 4 2/3 shutout innings with just three total Cardinals finding their way on base during both relievers’ tenures on the mound. Neff would have likely finished the game but was pulled before the final out with an apparent injury. Hopefully all is well with Neff.

Kernels Nuggets

The Kernels were rained out on Saturday and will play a doubleheader on Sunday with game two starting 30 minutes after the final out of game one. Remember that all doubleheaders in the minors are seven inning affairs.

Mussel Matters

Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 7
Box Score
Steven Cruz: 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
HR: Willie Joe Garry Jr. (2)
Multi-hit games: Kyle Schmidt (2-for-4), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-4)

Saturday was Steven Cruz’s first start for a full-season team. His debut for the Might Mussels was messy as he struck out five batters but also walked four and was unable to pitch beyond the 2nd inning. It was a rough start but Cruz flashed some high-velocity potential. Just check out these two pitches below (and how about that flow!):

The Mighty Mussels were at risk of being shut out by the Bradenton Marauders before Willie Joe Garry Jr. decided that he had had enough of their shenanigans and he blasted a two-run homer in the 7th inning. The homer was Garry Jr’s. second of the year as the soon-to-be 21-year-old looks to get off to a hot start in 2021.

The 7th inning as a whole nearly became the turning point of the game for the Mighty Mussels. Twin first-round picks Keoni Cavaco and Aaron Sabato both drew back-to-back walks to bring up the tying run to the plate but Edouard Julien struck out swinging to end the rally.

Speaking of Cavaco, his walk was supported by two singles that moved his batting average on the season to .350. Yes, the sample is small, but it is great that Cavaco is starting the season off with a bang as his 2019 was relatively disappointing and he never got a proper 2020 season to prove his worth. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

The loss moved the Mighty Mussels to 3-2 on the season as they look to stay above .500 with a potential revenge victory on Sunday.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Zach Neff
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mark Contreras

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota) – Injured List (wrist)
#2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for Season (torn ACL)
#3 - Trevor Larnach (Minnesota) – 0-4, HBP
#4 - Ryan Jeffers (St. Paul) – Suspended game
#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Suspended game
#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Injured List (back)
#7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 2-4, BB, 2 K
#8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K
#9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – No game
#10 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – No game
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Wichita) – 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
#12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – Suspended game
#13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – No game
#14 - Misael Urbina (Complex) – N/A
#15 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch
#16 - Edwar Colina (Rehab) - 60-Day IL (elbow)
#17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) – 0-3, BB, K
#18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A
#19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – 3-6, 2 RBI, K
#20 - Bailey Ober (St. Paul) – Suspended game

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Fort Myers @ Bradenton (12:05 PM) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long
St. Paul @ Omaha (1:05 PM) - LHP Andrew Albers
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM) - RHP Matt Canterino
Wichita @ Springfield (6:05 PM) - RHP Josh Winder

View full article

[nclahammer]

My favorite read every morning with my cup of coffee, finding out how "The Kids" did in the minors for the Minnesota Twins.  So good to have this feature back, thank you Twins Daily.

[Huskertwin]

I also enjoy reading these minor league game summaries and I know it's a lot of work to put those together on a daily basis, so thanks to Matt, Allen, David, Ted, Steve and anyone else involved. Also, it's nice to have the video clips available.

 

I also just subscribed to MiLB.TV to be able to watch as many of the games as I can this year. It seems like a bargain ($39.95/year - $20 with a promo since I also subscribe to the MLB.TV package) to be able to check all 4 levels of the Twins (and other teams) minor league teams.

[D.C Twins]

Sabato.... yikes!

[darwin22]

If memory serves regarding Sabato's start to season....."Yikes" is an understatement as he's 1-18 (.056) with a huge number of whiffs.

 

Did Falvey have Sano tutoring him in ST?

[Otto von Ballpark]

I also just subscribed to MiLB.TV to be able to watch as many of the games as I can this year. It seems like a bargain ($39.95/year - $20 with a promo since I also subscribe to the MLB.TV package) to be able to check all 4 levels of the Twins (and other teams) minor league teams.

Thanks for the tip! Looks like you don’t even need MLB.TV to get that $20 price on MILB.TV at this link:

 

http://www.milb.tv/yearlydiscount

 

And it appears you can stack a 35% military or student discount, which could make it as cheap as $13?

 

You do have to create a free MILB.TV account first if you don’t have one already (it is a separate account system from MLB.TV/MLB.com).

[launchingthrees]

Small sample still but Jose Miranda learning how to hit would be a welcome addition to the farm system.