Minor League Report 6/12 Rehabbing Big Leaguers and another Breakout?

[Matt Braun]

Byron Buxton and Luis Arraez both continued their rehab assignments as the teams in the Twins’ system took care of business on Saturday. Read all about it and more in this edition of the minor league report.

TRANSACTIONS

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Saints Sentinel

St. Paul 9, Omaha, 5

Box Score

Andrew Albers: 5 ⅓ IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

HR: Tomás Telis (4)

Multi-hit games: Tomás Telis (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI)

Omaha had been a juggernaut squad coming into Saturday but evidently no one told the Saints.

St. Paul kicked off the scoring quickly thanks to a J.T. Riddle double in the 1st that plated two. Tomás Telis then provided the next three runs off of a 3rd inning single and a 5th inning two-run bomb. 

Omaha made it a game with some shenanigans in the 6th that brought them within a run but some minor defensive errors in the bottom half of the inning gave St. Paul a comfortable lead again. Oh, and Byron Buxton absolutely clobbered a two-run double.

 

Ian Hamilton continued to be an absolute menace to hitters as he threw 1 ⅔ shutout innings with three punchies. It seems inevitable at this point that he will join the Twins at some point in 2021. 

Buxton in total went 1-4 with a double, two runs, two RBIs, and a walk. Luis Arraez went 1-4 with a single, two runs, an RBI, and a walk. 

Wind Surge Wisdom

Wichita 4, Tulsa 2

Box Score

Austin Schulfer: 4 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

HR: Peter Monney (2)

Multi-hit games: None

It was a close game between the Wind Surge and the Drillers but the ways both teams reached their run totals were completely different.

The Drillers took a 2-0 lead thanks to runs in back-to-back innings starting with a 4th inning double and concluding with a 5th inning single. 

Two runs is typically nothing to be impressed by but the Wichita bats were stifled for most of the night. In fact, The Wind Surge were no-hit until Ernie De La Trinidad dropped a single in the 7th inning. That would not be the only hit of the inning. Aaron Whitefield found green with the bases loaded and knotted the game at two. 

The recently written about Jovani Moran pitched two easy shutout innings in relief of Shulfer and punched out four in his effort. His season ERA is now down to a blasphemous 0.77. 

The game marched on to extra-innings and the Wind Surge were able to score a run thanks to some Manfredball a well-earned grounder and a sacrifice fly by Whitefield. Although, they were apparently unimpressed with scoring solely through that manner so Peter Mooney launched a solo shot to give them a second, more legitimate extra-innings run. 

Kernels Nuggets

Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 1

Box Score

Ben Gross: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

HR: Wander Javier (4)

Multi-hit games: Seth Gray (3-for-4, R), Wander Javier (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Trey Cabbage (2-for-5, R, RBI), Alex Isola (2-for-4, RBI), Michael Helman (2-for-4, 2B, RBI)

Is it a good thing when your 2-6 hitters all have multi-hit games? I’m asking for a friend.

It was a 0-0 stalemate for three innings before the Kernels reached their tipping point and decided to try this “scoring runs” thing. I don’t know, it might be just a fad. Trey Cabbage singled home Wander Javier before Michael Helman singled home Cabbage in return. 

But the scoring was not over yet. Javier continued his streak of destruction with a two-run homer in the 5th that gave Cedar Rapids a 4-0 lead. There has been much said about Javier’s status as a prospect but it certainly seems as if he has figured out something recently. Or, at the very least, he has selectively chosen to destroy the ball on the day this writer covers the minors.

Why limit all the talk to the batters, though? Ben Gross saw more traffic than I-5 in Los Angeles during the day as he allowed seven baserunners over his four innings of work. Still, he was able to stop any runners from crossing the plate. The trifecta of Jordan Gore, Zach Featherstone, and Melvi Acosta allowed just one run over the final five innings of the game.

One more win and the Kernels will reach .500. I’ll let the Kernels’ Twitter account describe where they are as a team.

Mussel Matters

Fort Myers 1, Jupiter 0

Box Score

Brent Headrick: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

It was the definition of an offensive struggle for both Fort Myers and Jupiter on Saturday.

Miracle starter Brent Headrick dropped the metaphorical hammer on Jupiter all night. The lefty struck out eight hitters over his five innings of work while holding a clean WHIP of just 1.00. That is what we in the business like to refer to as a “good start” (note: I am in no business where this is true but I thought it sounded snazzy so).

After Headrick, Osiris German and Denny Bentley combined for four shutout innings of their own to keep the Hammerheads bats at bay. In total, Fort Myers pitchers combined to allow seven baserunners against 14 strikeouts. 

Fort Myers was finally able to plate a run in the 9th. A Charles Mack walk was followed by a Nick Anderson double and a Ruben Santana grounder provided the only run of the ballgame. Hey, why waste runs that you don’t need?

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brent Headrick

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tomás Telis

PROSPECT SUMMARY

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

#1 - Alex Kirilloff (Minnesota) – 0-3, BB

#2 - Royce Lewis (Rehab) - Out for Season (torn ACL)

#3 - Trevor Larnach (Minnesota) – 1-3, R, K

#4 - Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota) – Did not play

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

#6 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#7 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – IL (concussion)

#8 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 1-2, 2 BB, K

#9 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – IL (right elbow strain)

#10 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – IL (Tommy John surgery)

#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – Did not play

#12 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 1-5, 2B, 4 K

#13 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – IL (wrist sprain)

#14 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 1-3, BB, K

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

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

#17 - Ben Rortvedt (Minnesota) –  1-3, 2B, R, RBI

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

#19 - Jose Miranda (Wichita) – 0-4

#20 - Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – Did not pitch

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Fort Myers @ Jupiter (10:00 AM) - TBD

Wichita @ Tulsa (12:05 PM) - RHP Josh Winder

Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 PM) - RHP Luis Rijo

Omaha @ St. Paul (1:05 PM) - LHP Charlie Barnes

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[darwin22]

Matt:  Thanks for the report tonight-------made even better by fact that all 4 affiliates won tonight.  Especially nice to see Wind Surge break their 5 game losing streak with a come from behind 4-2 victory over Tulsa.  Any victory over a Dodgers team is a good thing.

[jmlease1]

I think one of the biggest challenges in the minors this year is going to be deciding on mid-season promotions. There might be a bit of a logjam as they try to work through everyone coming off a non-season. Normally, someone like Javier might be really pushing to move up to better competition at AA now that he's showing something in high A at 22...but finding room is a big tougher.

[roger]

First thing I do on every report is go to the Cedar Rapids box score to see what Javier did.  Another great night at the plate for this young man.  Should he continue hitting like he has, this just may be the best story of 2021 in the entire Twins organization.  Should this talented young man figure it out and someday become a very good shortstop at Target Field, his recent turn would be huge, HUGE!

Not to long ago the May pitching awards didn't include a single pitcher from Fort Myers.  Seems like every day of late they play in a low scoring game.  Headrick was amazing last night in a 1-0 win.  Expect we will read more about he and other Mighty Mussel (I really hate that name) starters as the summer moves on.

[Aerodeliria]

It seems like Rooker really is an all or nothing in every at bat. Four more Ks and a double--it's very Sano-like.

Thanks for the update.

[jmlease1]

11 hours ago, Aerodeliria said:

It seems like Rooker really is an all or nothing in every at bat. Four more Ks and a double--it's very Sano-like.

Thanks for the update.

fair amount of similarities, frankly. Rooker's issue is entirely whether he will make enough contact for it to matter that he makes really hard contact. He doesn't have Sano's control of the strike zone (yet) and weirdly is probably less valuable defensively even though he can play OF and Sano definitely can not. Because Rooker is...not good out there. It's not looking like he's going to make enough contact to be a real MLB player, but more of a AAAA guy. Still a little time to find out, but it's not looking great.