Minor League Report (7/8): Wander Walks it Off

[Ted Schwerzler]

There were a couple of gaudy box scores on the farm tonight for the Twins, but it was down in Cedar Rapids where a walkoff blast from Wander Javier that the highlight of the evening came from.

TRANSACTIONS

• Twins traded cash considerations with Rangers for RHP Joe Kuzia and assigned him to Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL

St. Paul 10, Iowa 3

Box Score

Charlie Barnes toed the rubber for the Saints tonight and went 5 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out four. Thanks to the lineup putting up 10 prior to his departure, St. Paul was well in the lead.

The Saints did all over their damage in the 3rd and 4th innings. Willians Astudillo kicked off the scoring with a double as St. Paul had the bases loaded. A Mark Contreras triple then plated Astudillo before Damek Tomscha drove in Contreras with a single, and Jimmy Kerrigan cleared the bases with his 7th homer.

In the 4th the Saints got a pair of homers from Drew Maggi (a two-run shot plating Jose Miranda) and Astudillo on a solo blast. Miranda keeps hitting and nabbed a two-hit night out of the leadoff spot while he was joined by Astudillo, Contreras, and Tomscha with two hits apiece.

Ian Hamilton and Kyle Barraclough combined to finish the final 3 2/3 innings allowing just a single hit and punching out four.

WIND SURGE WISDOM

NW Arkansas 10, Wichita 1

Box Score

This one wasn’t pretty for Wichita as they surrendered a six spot in the top half of the first inning. Austin Schulfer has had better outings, and he allowed six runs (four earned) while recording just three outs.

Wichita scored their lone run on an Aaron Whitefield double, his eighth, in the 4th inning. Jermain Palacios scored and that was the extent of the offense with Wichita generating just a grand total of two hits.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 1

Box Score

Tyler Beck got the start for Cedar Rapids tonight and turned in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball allowing just two hits. Derek Molina followed him for 2 1/3 innings allowing a single hit and punching out four. This one stayed even at 0-0 through nine complete innings.

Peoria pushed across their free runner in the 10th prior to Michael Helman driving in Seth Gray in the bottom half. Ryan Shreve then blanked the Chiefs in the 11th and allowed Cedar Rapids an opportunity to win it. Shortstop Wander Javier stepped in with Jair Camargo and Gray both on base, he then blasted his 7th homer of the season to walk it off for the home team.

Helman was the only Kernels batter to record two hits on the evening.

MUSSEL MATTERS

Fort Myers 9, St. Lucie 6

Box Score

Sawyer Gipson-Long began this one on the bump for Fort Myers, but unfortunately, he lasted just 2 2/3 innings giving up six runs on five hits. The bullpen came in and slammed the door however, with three different pitchers combining to allow just a single run.

Aaron Sabato opened the scoring for the Mighty Mussels with a solo homer, his fourth longball of the season. Then after getting behind 6-1 in the 3rd, Fort Myers went to work. Charles Mack swatted a three run bomb before Misael Urbina drove in Willie Joe Garry Jr. on a sac fly. Jeferson Morales then collected his 14th double allowing Keoni Cavaco to score and the game was even at six headed to the bottom of the 7th.

In the 8th Cavaco recorded his 4th double of the year scoring Mack, and Morales sped around the bases for an inside-the-park homer in the 9th.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES

FCL Twins 11, FCL Orioles Orange 8

Box Score

Kala’I Rosario just keeps crushing for the FCL squad. He had another two-hit effort today and now owns a 1.029 OPS on the season. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with his second homer and tallied four RBI to drive the victory home.

Shortstop Luis Gomez tallied three hits on the afternoon, and the trio of Wilfri Castro, Rubel Cespedes, and Luis Baez all picked up a pair of hits on their own. Castro and Baez both collected triples today.

On the bump, Develson Aria picked up the victory working 1 2/3 scoreless in relief while punching out four. Matt Mullenbach worked 2 1/3 scoreless while striking out three, and Ramon Pineda grabbed his second save of the season working 1 2/3 innings.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day – Derek Molina (Cedar Rapids) 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Hitter of the Day – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Take note that we have finished our midseason update, so there is a new list! Here is a look at how the Twins Daily Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL)

#2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain)

#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#4 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (right elbow strain)

#5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 2-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K, 2 2B

#6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B

#7 – Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – 0-3, R, K

#8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – Did not pitch

#9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – 2-5, R, RBI, K, HR(4)

#10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (hamate bone surgery)

#11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)

#12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – Did not pitch

#13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch

#14 – Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – 0-4, R, BB, 2 K

#15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – 1-3, RBI, BB

#16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 0-4, K

#17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 1-5, R, 3 RBI, K, HR(7)

#18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (foot injury)

#19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow)

#20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – Did not pitch

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

St. Paul @ Iowa (7:08 PM CST) – RHP Chandler Shepherd (3-3, 5.85 ERA)

NW Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) – RHP Jason Garcia (1-1, 4.82 ERA)

Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – LHP Kody Funderburk (1-3, 3.66 ERA)

Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (5:10PM CST) – RHP Louie Varland (3-2, 1.91 ERA)

FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00AM CST)- TBD      

 

Feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games

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[darwin22]

Ted:  Nice report on tonight's games across the board.  A few observations:

#1  Assuming Pineda can show some semblance of production in his starts after the ASB and gets dealt------its TIME that Charlie Barnes gets a promotion to starting rotation for Twins.  5-2 record with a decent ERA (3.88), respectable WHIP (1.26) and an excellet (50-19) K to BB rate, imo, warrants this opportunity. If Griffin Jax and Lewis Thorpe can get starts for the Twins, why not Barnes?

#2  Disappointed to see the Wind Surge struggle in their series so far vs. NW Arkansas.  I may be out on a limb here, but I'd much rather see Celestino getting regular ABs with Wichita than very sporadic ABs with Twins.  I know FO is concerned about risking another Kepler injury and is reluctant to give Gordon consistent starts with Buxton still out.  I stand by my comment- Celestino needs to be sent down either to Saint Paul or Wichita.  Broxton has has a recent uptick with his bat and would serve Twins well defensively in CF and as a RH bat option off the bench.

#3  What does Ian Hamilton have to do to get promoted to Twins?  Another excellent out tonight------2.1 shutout IP with 2 whiffs, 0 walks, which lowered his ERA to 1.08.  Is a 3rd LH RP in Coulombe that important in bullpen?  Hamilton deserves a promotion.

#4  Nice to Wander Javier walk things off tonight for the Kernels.  Looking forward to checking Javier and others out this weekend as I'm planning a Sunday road trip up to Cedar Rapids.

[Dman]

Nice to see Miranda having another good night. Doesn't look like AAA pitching is slowing him down. While I don't know much about his defense at third they do have this highlight on his MiLB page which makes me think he will be OK there.

Good to see Javier have another walk off hit he had been slumping pretty badly so hopefully this gets him back on track.

Barnes has been as consistent as I have ever seen him this year.  Guessing that if the Twins can get rid of Happ Charlie gets the call.  They need to know if he can make it or not and this is the best year to do it.

[roger]

Thanks for the report, Ted.  Another great day at the plate for Rosario.  Long way to go before he is close to MLB, but the kid is sure off to a great start.  Also great seeing Mack and Garry, Jr. with big games.  Ton of talent and potential, but both are so very raw.

Love seeing Javier with a big walk-off hit.  Maybe that will be the start of another hot streak to get his numbers and confidence up.  Miranda sure should be getting the Twins attention hitting this well at AAA.  Also great seeing La Tortuga smashing the ball all over CHS Field.  Great guy to have in the organization!

Sure seems like Moran is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Twins organization.  He has to get promoted so he has some AAA experience if they have any intention of bringing him up some time after the trade deadline...and soon.  What does this kid need to do to get some R-E-S-P-E-C-T?

[AceWrigley]

Vive Sabato!

 

[jmlease1]

7 of the top 20 on the injured list, 2 are major injuries and there's a couple more elbow injuries in there to pitchers which make me nervous. That's...not great? Can we just get some health, please?

Hope Sabato's game is a sign of the breakout he needs, because so far this season his talent and projection are not matching up to the production. 

Miranda is crushing it. Great to see his breakout and his ability to sustain it with a change in level, that's a great sign. I think he gets a shot in MLB this season if Donaldson is traded and his evolution as a player makes it a lot easier to move on from Donaldson. Would I feel comfortable with 3B being held down by a combination of Miranda and Arraez next year? I think I would. He could be a legit part of a lineup core with Kirilloff and Larnach.

[D.C Twins]

We need to trade Donaldson just to clear room for Miranda....seriously.

When does Moran get a look? What more does he need to do?

[Alex Schieferdecker]

11 hours ago, darwin22 said:

#3  What does Ian Hamilton have to do to get promoted to Twins?  Another excellent out tonight------2.1 shutout IP with 2 whiffs, 0 walks, which lowered his ERA to 1.08.  Is a 3rd LH RP in Coulombe that important in bullpen?  Hamilton deserves a promotion.

I asked Aaron Gleeman about this on Twitter a week ago and he pointed out to me that Hamilton was averaging almost a walk an inning. Since that conversation, he's thrown four and a third walkless innings, so if he keeps that up, a promotion will follow quickly.

[Tom Froemming]

Here's a highlight of the Wander Javier walk-off homer and the nice at-bat that led up to it:

 

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

Willins was fun to watch again tonight! A fan favorite in Des Moines, too! 

I couldn't agree more about Charlie Barnes  If he can't make it as a starter, how about as a two-pitch lefty out of the bullpen? He was good again last night.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

[bean5302]

Glad to see a few games out there by Cavaco, and glad to see him hitting the ball. Cavaco performing well would sure be a big relief to the scouting department and front office!

[roger]

Thanks for that video, Tom.  One heck of an at bat.  And this kid has such a beautiful swing.  He's got to take that last step, and when he does look out!