Twins Minor League Week in Review: Kernels with the Sweep

[Seth Stohs]

The Cedar Rapids swept their Week 10, six-game series at home against Peoria. It’s just the second six-game sweep in the Twins organization this season. There were more transactions, lots of highlights (and a few lowlights), All Star and draft festivities and more in this week’s Twins Minor League Report. 

Be sure to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday, and then jump into the minor league week. 

Before we get started, let’s check out the Transactions and the FCL Twins game on Monday: 

• On Sunday after the Kernels’ game, Jeff Johnson tweeted the LHP Kody Funderburk and RHP Jordan Gore were being promoted to Double-A Wichita. 
• While not official, we know that RHP Louie Varland has been promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids. I believe there is at least one more right-handed pitcher being promoted to the Kernels, but I haven’t seen anything official yet. 

FCL Twins Talk

The FCL Twins game was postponed by rain (again). 

 

With that, let’s look at Week 10 in the Twins minor leagues: 

 

RESULTS

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (3-3, at Iowa), overall (28-31)

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (2-4, hosting NW Arkansas), overall (33-27)

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (6-0, hosting Peoria), overall (34-26)

Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (3-3 at St. Lucie), overall (34-26) 

Complex League: FCL Twins went 1-2 in Week 2, overall (3-6)
 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. 

• Twins Minor League Week in Review: Awards, Rankings, Playoffs and Prospects  
• TD Midseason Top 20 Twins Prospect Rankings: 1-5
• Tuesday: Blowout Blasts and Extra-Inning Drama 
• Kernels’ Backstop Alex Isola is Catching On
• Wednesday: Bullpens Bear Down 
• Thursday: Wander Walks it Off
• Twins Minor League Pitching Report: Jordan Balazovic 
• Friday: The Night of the Blowout 
• Saturday: Jordy Blaze Does it Again
• Sunday: A Mixed Bag 
• Twins Select RHP Chase Petty
• Twins Select SS Noah Miller 
• Twins Excited about Day 1 Picks, Chase Petty and Noah Miller 
• Draft Day 2 Thread 
• Twins Select LHP Steven Hajjar 

 

Highlights

We will start with the Twins choices for the organizational hitter and pitcher of the week, and then mention several other Twins prospects who had good Week 10 performances

 

Twins Player of the Week: Michael Helman, Cedar Rapids Kernels     

Michael Helman played in five games last week for Cedar Rapids. He hit .313/.421/.375 (.796) with a double and three stolen bases. The Twins’ 11th round pick in the 2018 draft from Texas A&M has hit .213/309/.404 (.713) with 10 doubles and eight home runs over 53 games. 

 

Twins Pitcher of the Week: Jovani Moran, Wichita Wind Surge      

During Week 10, Moran pitched just once, but the lefty tossed three scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He struck out five batters without issuing a walk. Moran was the Twins 7th round pick in 2015 out of high school in Puerto Rico.  

Other Strong Performances this Week

St. Paul Saints

Ian Hamilton just continues to pitch great. Last week, he had just one appearance, but he tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. Beau Burrows made his first Saints start and gave up three hits over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Matt Shoemaker tossed three scoreless relief innings in his Saints debut. Andrew Albers was the Saints pitcher of the week. He made two starts and went 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA. In 12 innings, he gave up just one run on nine hits. He walked three and struck out 15 batters.  

Willians Astudillo started hitting again. In five games, he hit .350/.381/.550 (.931) with a double and a homer. Damek Tomscha played in four games and went 5-13 (.385) with a double and three walks. Sherman Johnson went 3-10 over four games but had a triple and three walks as well. 

 

Wichita Wind Surge

Jordan Balazovic was really good again. The Canadian top prospect went six innings in his start last week. He gave up five hits, but no runs, and he struck out seven batters. Adam Lau worked twice out of the bullpen and tossed 4 1/3 innings of two-hit ball. It’s been a struggle for Minnesotan Jordan Milbrath, but he struck out six batters over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit. Another Minnesota, recently-signed Aaron Rozek (Burnsville) tossed three scoreless innings in his Wind Surge debut to record a win. He gave up just two hits. Zach Neff continued to pitch well, giving up just one run over five innings

Andrew Bechtold has quietly put together a solid season. Last week, he played all six games and hit .350/.458/.950 (1.408) with four home runs. He now has 11 doubles and ten homers on the season. BJ Boyd, who played college football before deciding to give baseball another try this year, had a strong week. He hit .333/.409/.556 (.965) with a double and a big grand slam. Roy Morales went 7-for-18 (.389) during the week.  

 

Cedar Rapids Kernels

The Kernels went 6-0 due, in large part, to great pitching. Eleven Kernels pitchers gave up zero runs on the week. Jordan Gore struck out eight batters over four, one-hit innings. Kody Funderburk gave up two unearned runs over six innings in his start. Tyler Beck tossed 4 2/3 innings of two-hit ball in his start. Owen Griffith struck out five batters over four scoreless innings. Erik Manoah, Jr. struck out five over 4 1/3 one-hit innings. Derek Molina struck out six batters in his five innings of work. Ryan Shreve gave up only an unearned run over five innings. Tyler Watson made a spot start and worked four scoreless innings. Breckin Williams joined the team and had two scoreless appearances.  

Max Smith led the Kernels offense last week. In five games, he hit .357/.550/.929 (1.479) with two doubles, two homers and also six walks. Wander Javier played all six games. He hit .261/.357/.652 (1.009) with a double, a triple and two home runs. Jair Camargo played in four games. He hit .250 but had a single, a double and two home runs. 

 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels

Osiris German was fantastic again. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out six batters. Matthew Swain had another good week. He went 3 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings. He walked two and struck out three batters. 

Yunior Severino played in four games, and he hit .412/.474/.941 (1.415) with three doubles, two homers and seven RBI. He leads the Twins minor leagues with 48 entering the week. Willie Joe Garry played in all six games. He hit .421/.593/.684 (1.277) with a double and two triples. He also walked seven times and stole five bases. Aaron Sabato hit .273/.448/.500 (.948) with two doubles, a homer and seven walks. Keoni Cavaco returned to action and played in all six games. He hit .348/.483/.435 (.918) with two doubles. He walked six times. 

 

FCL Twins 

Playing time has been sparse for the FCL Twins. First, with so many players, guys play about half of the time, and there has been a lot of rain in southwest Florida which has cost them games. Eight players are tied for the lead in games played last week, with three…

For the week, Alexander Pena went 5-for-7 (.429) with a double. Luis Baez went 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and a triple. Emmanuel Rodriguez hit .273 over three games, but he hit the team’s lone home run. It was his first as a professional. Kala’i Rosario went 4-for-13 (.308) with a triple. 

Landon Leach has had a hard time staying healthy, but he is back now. He made a start last week and tossed three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. 

 

Lowlights

Reminder: We are talking about small samples for these six-game weeks, so it’s important not to make any big decisions or develop a full impression on a player from this small size. It’s just a reminder of the fact that baseball is hard, and all players have good and bad stretches.  

 

St. Paul Saints

Chandler Shepherd has been much better of late. However, last week, he gave up nine runs (7 earned) on 13 hits and a walk in just four innings during his start. Veteran Nick Vincent gave up two runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter in his 1 1/3 innings over two appearances. Ian Gibaut gave up three runs on six hits and two walks over his 2 1/3 innings. 

JT Riddle’s struggles continued. Over five games, he went 3-for-18 (.167). Brent Rooker had a rough week. He played all six games and went 4-for-23 (.174) with a double. 

 

Wichita Wind Surge

The sometimes roller coaster season of Austin Schulfer had a valley last week. After tossing just over 20 consecutive scoreless innings, he gave up six runs (4 earned) on five hits and two walks in just one inning. Alex Phillips gave up nine runs on nine hits over his three innings. Jhonleider Salinas gave up five earned runs on six hits over his 3 1/3 innings. 

Spencer Steer had his first rough week of the year. Over six games, he went 2-for-23 (.087) with a home run. Trey Cabbage went 2-for-18 (.111) with 13 strikeouts. Caleb Hamilton went 0-for-11 over his four games. 

 

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Zach Featherstone had a rough week. He gave up five runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter in just two innings. However, he went 1-0 and recorded a Save. Baseball, eh? 

Yeltsin Encarnacion went 0-for-10. Daniel Ozoria was 1-for-11 (.091). Kyle Schmidt went 1-for-9 (.111).   

 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels

After a couple of terrific weeks, Sawyer Gipson-Long had a rough start last week. He gave up six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter in just 2 2/3 innings. Juan Pichardo gave up four runs on four hits and five walks in just 3 1/3 innings.   

Newcomer Jesus Feliz just joined the Kernels after recovering from Tommy John surgery and getting in a handful of games in the FCL. In five games last week, he went 4-for-23 (.174).   

 

Trending Storyline 

The Major League Baseball All Star Game is tonight. Nelson Cruz made the team, and on Monday night, it was announced that Denver native Taylor Rogers was added to the AL team as well. 

But All Star weekend is a big event. The Futures Game is one of the best parts of the weekend. Top prospects from each organization compete and really just get recognized and seen by a national audience. 

LaTroy Hawkins was the manager for the American League team. His team gave up a lot of home runs in the game. Hawkins said later, “You forget, I’ve seen a lot of home runs in that place.” 

Righty Josh Winder represented the Twins in the game. He faced three batters. He gave up a long home run to Cubs’ prospect Brennan Davis. Then he got a ground out. He struck out the third batter he faced on a nasty slider that got away from the catcher and the batter reached first base. 

Just three batters? “We are trying to get everybody into the mix. Seven innings. You’ve got nine pitchers. Just making sure everybody got a chance to pitch during the Futures Game.” Hawkins continued, “I told the guys in the clubhouse, I’d like to win this game, but the most important thing is for you guys to leave here they way you came… healthy. And we accomplished that.” 

Saints pitching coach Cibney Bello was the bullpen coach for Hawkins as well. 

For Winder, it was a great opportunity. He said on Monday, “It was an honor to be invited to the game and an incredible experience. The whole weekend was surreal. Being around so much talent on the baseball field was awesome, and I look forward to running into some of those guys down the road. 

Winder flew back to the Twin Cities on Monday afternoon and will rejoin the Saints this week.

Josh Winder wasn’t the only Twins prospect in Denver. Ft. Myers catcher Charles Mack was allowed by the organization to be in Denver with his younger brother Joe Mack and family at the draft. Joe Mack was the 31st overall pick to the Miami Marlins. 

First, Charles played in three games before heading to Denver. He hit .455/538/.727 (1.266) with a home run over 11 at bats. 

Joe Mack and Twins top pick Chase Petty have known each other for awhile, and they stole the show on night one of the draft. Their “draft bromance” was fun to watch and are going by #ShakeAndBake 

After Joe Mack was drafted, he was again interviewed and Petty appeared for more comedy ensued. 

Joe Mack said Charles has given him some advice, “Stay relaxed. Just work hard, grind it out and everything will happen. And, whatever happens, happens for a purpose.” 

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

We have now updated this Prospect Summary to show our Midseason Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings… 

 #1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL)

#2 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – 5 G, 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on IL with a right forearm strain)  

#3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 7 GS, 30.1 IP, 31 H, 8 BB, 40 K, 3.56 ERA, 1.29 WHIP 

#4 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 4 GS, 18.0 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 35 K, 1.00 ERA, 0.72 WHIP (went on the IL with right elbow strain)

#5 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 59 games, .340/.407/.589 (.996) with 12 doubles, 16 homers, 47 RBI, 24 BB, 36 K

#6 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 37 games, .275/.359/.355 (.714) with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 16 RBI, 17 BB, 44 K, 6 SB 

#7 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), Minnesota (17 games, .146/.180/.313 (.493) with 2 BB, 9 K)

#8 - Josh Winder (St. Paul) - 12 GS, 62.1 IP, 44 H, 13 BB, 75 K, 2.17 ERA, 0.91 WHIP 

#9 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 59 games, .194/.382/.313 (.695) with 12 doubles, 4 homers, 23 RBI, 57 BB, 81 K

#10 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 17 games, .333/.384/.621 (1.005) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 28 K. (on IL after having hamate bone surgery)

#11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (underwent Tommy John surgery on June 9th) 

#12 - Bailey Ober (St. Paul) – St. Paul (4 GS, 16.0 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP), Minnesota (8 GS, 33.0 IP, 34 H, 11 BB, 37 K, 5.45 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) 

#13 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 7 GS, 31.2 IP, 22 H, 18 BB, 42 K, 2.84 ERA, 1.26 WHIP (about to go on the IL)

 #14 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (52 games, .231/.365/.511 (.876) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homers, 34 BB, 65 K), Minnesota (8 games, .103/.133/.241 (375) with 1 double, 1 homer, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 13 K)

#15 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 52 games, .211/.315/.299 (614) with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homer, 35 RBI, 29 BB, 47 K, 9 SB)

#16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 57 games, .259/.382/.495 (.877) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homers, 32 RBI, 40 BB, 46 K) 

#17 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 55 games, .223/.289/.431 (.721) with 10 doubles, 5 triples, 8 homers, 34 RBI, 17 BB, 77 K) 

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

#19 - Edwar Colina (Minnesota) - 60-Day IL (had surgery on his right elbow to remove bone chips)

#20 - Chris Vallimont (Wichita) - 10 GS, 41.2 IP, 36 H, 22 BB, 67 K, 3.67 ERA, 1.39 WHIP

LOOKING AHEAD

Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (Brent Headrick, Sawyer Gipson-Long, TBD, Bobby Milacki, Miguel Rodriguez, TBD): 

Cedar Rapids @ South Bend:(Cody Laweryson, Tyler Beck, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD)

Tulsa @ Wichita: (Austin Schulfer, TBD, Jordan Balazovic, Bryan Sammons, Chris Vallimont, Austin Schulfer) 

Columbus @ St. Paul: (Charlie Barnes, Griffin Jax, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD): 

 

Feel free to provide some feedback below regarding these reports. What do you like to read? What types of information would you like added? Also, feel free to ask any questions you like. 

 

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[roger]

Thanks for the report, Seth.  The highlights for me were a six game sweep by the Kernels and Winder being back on the mound in the Futures Game after what could have been a really bad outcome from being hit in the head/neck with that line drive.

Have a questions about a couple kids.  I see Rozek was signed as a 25-year old free agent.  I see he is a local kid but know nothing about what he has been doing before signing?  The other is the Pena kid that is tearing it up for the FCL (I need to get used to that name) Twins.  I see he was an International signing, but know very little about him.  Was he one of the top kids signed that year?  Was there some hype surrounding the Twins getting him?

[Seth Stohs]

55 minutes ago, roger said:

Thanks for the report, Seth.  The highlights for me were a six game sweep by the Kernels and Winder being back on the mound in the Futures Game after what could have been a really bad outcome from being hit in the head/neck with that line drive.

Have a questions about a couple kids.  I see Rozek was signed as a 25-year old free agent.  I see he is a local kid but know nothing about what he has been doing before signing?  The other is the Pena kid that is tearing it up for the FCL (I need to get used to that name) Twins.  I see he was an International signing, but know very little about him.  Was he one of the top kids signed that year?  Was there some hype surrounding the Twins getting him?

Rozek went to Minn St Mankato. He was pitching in the independent Frontier League the past couple of years. He's 25 and tops out around 88-89. Left-handed. 

Pena... don't know much, but he got something around $200,000, so he was a prospect, but not a 7-figure prospect. 

[FanFromPhilly]

Any idea when Duran is expected back?

[Seth Stohs]

23 minutes ago, FanFromPhilly said:

Any idea when Duran is expected back?

I believe they weren't going to let him throw for 5-6 weeks, and that was probably 2-3 weeks ago. It'll be a while. 

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Landon Leach!!!

[Dman]

Really happy to see Bechtold have a great week and solid season so far.  Hoping he has figured some things out with the bat as it is the only thing holding him back.  Walk rate is good at 10% K rate just a tad high but not over the dreaded 30% range yet.  BABIP is good.  Honestly if he just keeps going like he is and takes 5% off of the K rate he has a chance to make it.  Would like to see that slugging higher and OPS in the mid 800's for this level but he is getting really close.  He is already a good defender just needs that bat to get him where he wants to go.

Severino was another guy I was worried about early as he got off to a really slow start he had a 596 OPS in May. After the first week of June things finally started to click and his OPS for June was 829.  A big improvement but it looks like he is starting to add power to his game as he has 3 of his 6 HR's in July and while July isn't over he currently has a 930 OPS for the month.  I don't know what the Twins are doing with their 2nd baseman but they appear to be the best hitters in the system with Miranda, Steer, Julien and now Severino all starting to live in the 900 OPS zone.

Very happy to see Louie get moved up.  Should have happened a month ago.  I wish I could say I saw him as a player who would break out but I pretty much labeled him a bust after the draft.  At best he looked like reliever material to me.  I guess that is why you wait to see how these guys develop after they get drafted.  He used his time wisely and has a chance to be a very good pitcher as long as he stays healthy.