Twins Minor League Report (5/13): Tornado Warning of Bats in Wichita

[David Youngs]

Coming off their first win at Riverfront Stadium, the Wind Surge showed up at the plate on Thursday. It was an eventful night of baseball in the Twins organization, let's dig in. 

 

TRANSACTIONS

• Minnesota Twins sign IF Daniel Delscalso to a minor league contract (will report to St. Paul)
• Minnesota Twins signed 2B Sherman Johnson and RHP Rob Whalen to a minor league contract (will report to Wichita)

 

SAINTS SENTINEL

Iowa 7, Saint Paul 3

Box Score

A night after their first ever win as the Twins AAA affiliate, the Saints were exorcised by the I-Cubs thanks to solid pitching and explosive offense from the Chicago affiliate. 

Fresh off his time with the parent club, Nick Gordon did not disappoint for the Saints. ‘Flash G’ kicked off the game with a triple off the wall on a 1-0 pitch. Gordon also singled in CF Jimmy Kerrigan in the fifth with a single. 

First basemen Damek Tomscha proved to be the other offensive threat for the Saints at the plate. Tomscha smacked a double to kick off the fifth and was later driven in thanks to a Kerrigan double. Tomscha’s leadoff success continued in the seventh, when he nailed an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for his first homer of the year.

Starting pitcher Bailey Ober was excellent, touting a scoreless four-inning outing. Ober struck out five, walked one, and gave up two hits on his second start of the year. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM

Wichita 9, Amarillo 8

Box Score

Coming off their first ever win at Riverfront Stadium in beautiful Wichita, the Wind Surge brought their bats to the park on Thursday night. So did the Sod Poodles (yes, you read that correctly).

Yet even an early inning deficit couldn’t dethrone the moment of the Wind Surge as they posted a nail-biting 9-8 win over Amarillo in the Jayhawk State. 

After giving up a three-run first inning, Wichita surged ahead thanks to four-run third inning and three-run eighth. 

The Wind Surge saw seven players record hits on the night. Yet it was Jermaine Palacios’ third inning three-run shot that made the most noise. Palacios’ bomb was the first homer in Wind Surge history. The SS has now hit safely in every single game so far this year. Get that man an ice cold Surge soda pop!

Even after the milestone moonshot, the Wind Surge were still trailing. That changed in the eighth, when Caleb Hamilton drew a five pitch bases-loaded walk to bring in the go-ahead run to make it 8-7. Jose Miranda followed suit with another five pitch bases-juiced walk to grab some insurance for Wichita, scoring Palacios. Palacios’ run would prove to be enough, as Wichita reliever Josh Mitchell (1-0) punched his way through the final two innings to give the Wind Surge their second straight win. 

Outside the chalk lines at Riverfront Stadium, exciting news was in full force. Just before first pitch, Wind Surge OF and former Twin Aaron Whitefield was named AA Central Hitter of the Week. 

While many Twins mans know the Aussie for his important work in patching a Buxton-less outfield last season, Whitefield has made a name for himself at the plate this year. In the past week Whitefield went 12 for 27 with two HR and 7 RBI at the dish. Whitefield is slashing .343/.410/.629 on the year. Well done, mate

Yet perhaps the finest accolade of recent Wind Surge history came from the life of catcher David Bañuelos. David and wife wife Jessica welcomed their son Ezekiel to the world on Tuesday. We’ll see if he follows in his father’s footsteps. Welcome to the Twins family, Ezekiel!

 

KERNELS NUGGETS

Quad Cities 5, Cedar Rapids 4

Box Score

Cedar Rapids looked to gain revenge against one of the hottest teams in baseball with an in-state showdown on Thursday night in Davenport, Iowa. And while the Kernels put together a wealth of threats at the plate, the River Bandits were able to squeak out their sixth consecutive win. 

In a matchup that featured ample strikeouts from pitchers in both dugouts, the River Bandits were able to prevail in a game that so no runs after the third inning. 

Despite the loss, the Kernels saw niblets of brilliance in the first three innings. The Kernels kicked off the party with a pair of second inning doubles from Trey Cabbage and Alex Isola to give the Kernels an early lead. 

After Quad Cities responded with two runs in the bottom of the second, the Kernels racked up three runs in the third thanks to singles by Spencer Steer, Matt Wallner, Jair Camargo and a walk from Seth Gray. 

Unfortunately for Cedar Rapids, the River Bandits matched ever offensive punch from the Kernels with just as many runs and a stellar seven strikeout outing from reliever Zach Haake. 

RF Trey Cabbage posted the most impressive night at plate for the Kernels, knocking two hits, one run, and one RBI.

MUSSEL MATTERS

Fort Meyers 5, Clearwater 3

Box Score

Coming off a gritty one-run win on Wednesday, the Mighty Mussels entered Thursday evening looking to surpass the .500 mark against Philly Low-A affiliate Clearwater. 

Highly-touted prospect Aaron Sabato kicked off the night with a laser to right field, scoring Jefferson Morales to put the Mussels up 1-0. Despite a tough start, Sabato has began to hit his stride, knocking in a run and two hits on Wednesday night in addition to two hits on Thursday.

Following Sabato’s kickstart to the game, Clearwater punched in two runs to take a 3-1 lead after seven innings. 

Those runs didn’t discredit a stellar performance on the bump from Mussel starting pitcher Miguel Rodriguez. The Venezuelan pitched four shutout innings, striking out four and only giving up one hit, while walking two. 

When it mattered most, the Mighty Mussels showed up. Down by two in the eighth, Misael Urbina knocked a single up the middle to score Kyle Schmidt and Edouard Julien. Later in the inning, Keoni Cavaco punched an infield hit to score the go-ahead run along with an insurance run thanks to a throwing error.

Cavaco’s go-ahead hit adds to his already impressive 2021 campaign. The Twins Daily #7 prospect is slashing .333/.415 (.887) on the year and has no signs of stopping. 

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day- Bailey Ober (Saint Paul)- 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K

Hitter of the Day- Jermaine Palacios (Wichita)- 2-for-4, 2 R, 3 H, 3 RBI

 

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) – 1-for-4, 2B, R, BB, 2 K

#4 - Ryan Jeffers (St. Paul) – 0-for-4, 4 K

#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Did not pitch

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Injured List (back)

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 1-for-5, RBI, K

#8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, K

#9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Did not pitch

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

#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Wichita) – 0-for-1, HBP (left game, arm)

#12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 0-for-3, BB, K

#13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5, R, RBI, 3 K

#14 - Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB

#15 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#16 - Edwar Colina (Rehab) - 60-Day IL (elbow)

#17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) – Did not play

#18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A

#19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – 0-0, RBI, BB

#20 - Bailey Ober (St. Paul) – 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 5 K

 

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Iowa @ St. Paul (7:05PM CST) – RHP Andrew Albers (0-1, 10.13 ERA)

Amarillo @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Josh Winder (0-0, 1.86 ERA)

Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30PM CST) – LHP Kody Funderburk (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Clearwater @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) – RHP Bradley Hanner (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

 

Chime in with your thoughts!

 

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[operation mindcrime]

Congrats to David and Jessica Banuelos on the birth of their son!

[puckstopper1]

Jeffers 0-4 with 4 K's.

OUCH!

[Seth Stohs]

Fun to see Urbina, Javier and Sabato doing well and helping the team toward a win. 

It's also a good reminder of how quickly things/stats can change really quickly this early in the season...

 

[PDX Twin]

The Internet says that "sod poodle" an old name for a prairie dog. Kind of makes up for losing the Jumbo Shrimp and the Iron Pigs as opponents.

[MN_ExPat]

11 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Fun to see Urbina, Javier and Sabato doing well and helping the team toward a win. 

It's also a good reminder of how quickly things/stats can change really quickly this early in the season...

 

Amen.  It's really great to see the minors going again.  Something really special about the players and the leagues.

[Alex Schieferdecker]

How soon until Bailey Ober gets a shot? I know his stuff looks like it shouldn't play, but you can't ignore the numbers.

[darwin22]

True story......I've been following the Wind Surge all season, especially after taking in 2 of their games last week at Springfield--noticed they were trailing 7-1 in the 3rd after another poor start from Dakota Chalmers (not good), but kept checking back in as their hitters showed some true grit and fight in the games I saw last week.  Sure enough, the Surge answered back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to cut deficit to 7-5.  A De La Trinidad HR in 4th sliced the lead to 1 run and then the BULLPEN completely went into shutdown mode over the next 5+ innings.  3 runs in 8th gave Surge the lead and they held on to win in the 9th.  Hmm........an offense that fights back and a bullpen that can throw up some zeroes-----what a concept!

[Clear Lake Twinsfan]

Honorable mention pitcher of the day to Cedar Rapids' Tyler Beck who matched Ober's 4 innings pitched with a line of 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts.

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, puckstopper1 said:

Jeffers 0-4 with 4 K's.

OUCH!

Him and Keon Broxton both earned the golden sombrero last night. 

[Seth Stohs]

58 minutes ago, Alex Schieferdecker said:

How soon until Bailey Ober gets a shot? I know his stuff looks like it shouldn't play, but you can't ignore the numbers.

He is on the 40-man roster, so it could happen ahead of, say, Griffin Jax. 

I would assume he is currently behind Thorpe and Dobnak for next-man-up. 

[Seth Stohs]

30 minutes ago, Clear Lake Twinsfan said:

Honorable mention pitcher of the day to Cedar Rapids' Tyler Beck who matched Ober's 4 innings pitched with a line of 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts.

I saw him pitch once last week in Cedar Rapids... I was watching  from the 1B line, and he was throwing something that seemingly was baffling hitters because they were all swinging over it. Found out he's throwing a slider, a changeup and a low-90s fastball. He looked good. 

[Musk21]

56 minutes ago, Alex Schieferdecker said:

How soon until Bailey Ober gets a shot? I know his stuff looks like it shouldn't play, but you can't ignore the numbers.

I was wondering the same thing. Why is he so low on the prospect rankings? Is his stuff not expected to translate to MLB?

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
Mino	Mino	Mino	Minors		17	3	.850	2.34	36	33	188.2	155	55	49	11	24	231	0.949	7.4	0.5	1.1	11.0	9.63
2017	21	Elizabethton	Rk	MIN	2	2	.500	3.21	6	4	28.0	24	10	10	2	3	35	0.964	7.7	0.6	1.0	11.3	11.67
2018	22	Cedar Rapids	A	MIN	7	1	.875	3.84	14	14	75.0	71	32	32	7	9	88	1.067	8.5	0.8	1.1	10.6	9.78
2019	23	3 Teams	A+-AA-Rk	MIN	8	0	1.000	0.69	14	13	78.2	55	12	6	2	9	100	0.814	6.3	0.2	1.0	11.4	11.11
2019	23	Pensacola	AA	MIN	3	0	1.000	0.38	4	4	24.0	10	2	1	1	2	34	0.500	3.8	0.4	0.8	12.8	17.00
2019	23	Fort Myers	A+	MIN	4	0	1.000	0.99	8	8	45.2	39	8	5	1	6	53	0.985	7.7	0.2	1.2	10.4	8.83
2019	23	Twins	Rk	MIN	1	0	1.000	0.00	2	1	9.0	6	2	0	0	1	13	0.778	6.0	0.0	1.0	13.0	13.00
2021	25	St. Paul	AAA	MIN	0	0		1.29	2	2	7.0	5	1	1	0	3	8	1.143	6.4	0.0	3.9	10.3	2.67

[jdoffing11]

How much longer do you think they’ll keep trying to make Dakota Chalmers as a starter work? I’d love to be proved wrong but it seems pretty clear at this point that it’s not happening, and the major league bullpen could use some help. 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Musk21 said:

I was wondering the same thing. Why is he so low on the prospect rankings? Is his stuff not expected to translate to MLB?

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
Mino	Mino	Mino	Minors		17	3	.850	2.34	36	33	188.2	155	55	49	11	24	231	0.949	7.4	0.5	1.1	11.0	9.63
2017	21	Elizabethton	Rk	MIN	2	2	.500	3.21	6	4	28.0	24	10	10	2	3	35	0.964	7.7	0.6	1.0	11.3	11.67
2018	22	Cedar Rapids	A	MIN	7	1	.875	3.84	14	14	75.0	71	32	32	7	9	88	1.067	8.5	0.8	1.1	10.6	9.78
2019	23	3 Teams	A+-AA-Rk	MIN	8	0	1.000	0.69	14	13	78.2	55	12	6	2	9	100	0.814	6.3	0.2	1.0	11.4	11.11
2019	23	Pensacola	AA	MIN	3	0	1.000	0.38	4	4	24.0	10	2	1	1	2	34	0.500	3.8	0.4	0.8	12.8	17.00
2019	23	Fort Myers	A+	MIN	4	0	1.000	0.99	8	8	45.2	39	8	5	1	6	53	0.985	7.7	0.2	1.2	10.4	8.83
2019	23	Twins	Rk	MIN	1	0	1.000	0.00	2	1	9.0	6	2	0	0	1	13	0.778	6.0	0.0	1.0	13.0	13.00
2021	25	St. Paul	AAA	MIN	0	0		1.29	2	2	7.0	5	1	1	0	3	8	1.143	6.4	0.0	3.9	10.3	2.67

Despite silly numbers,  Ober doesn't rank higher because he doesn't top 90 often.  I tweeted last night that the Saints broadcast had him as high as 92. But that's probably 2-3 mph fast.

But... he's got size and extension,  and his spin allows him to be successful with 88 up in the zone.  Will that transfer to MLB? TBD.

[AceWrigley]

14 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Despite silly numbers,  Ober doesn't rank higher because he doesn't top 90 often.  I tweeted last night that the Saints broadcast had him as high as 92. But that's probably 2-3 mph fast.

But... he's got size and extension,  and his spin allows him to be successful with 88 up in the zone.  Will that transfer to MLB? TBD.

Yeah, that "88 up in the zone" could be a big problem. When it comes to velocity, hasn't Astudillo shown us that heat ain't everything?  ?

[SirLoin]

35 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Despite silly numbers,  Ober doesn't rank higher because he doesn't top 90 often.  I tweeted last night that the Saints broadcast had him as high as 92. But that's probably 2-3 mph fast.

But... he's got size and extension,  and his spin allows him to be successful with 88 up in the zone.  Will that transfer to MLB? TBD.

Would he be worth a shot in the bullpen?  Or is he more suited to starting since he doesn't throw gas?