Twins Minor League Report (8/14): Clean Sweep (But Not In A Good Way)

[Matt Braun]

Well, uh, everyone lost on Saturday. Some lost in a closer fashion than others, but they still lost alright. Read all about who performed well in these losses.

TRANSACTIONS

INF Anthony Prato added to A+ Cedar Rapids following rehab assignment
RHP Matt Canterino activated from IL at A+ Cedar Rapids
RHP Ralph Garza Jr. recalled by Minnesota Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 7
Box Score
Starter: Beau Burrows: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: Tomás Telis (8), Nick Gordon (3)
Multi-hit games: Nick Gordon (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI), Tomás Telis (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Damek Tomscha (2-for-4, R)

St. Paul lost their momentum on Saturday.

It began with some Beau on Beau action as both starting pitchers were named “Beau” (seriously). Burrows (or BB, as the cool kids call him), held Indianapolis scoreless over his three innings of work with five strikeouts. Burrows then passed the baton to Jovani Moran who, as usual, shut it down. He struck out three over two innings of work, and could be heard muttering “what else did I have to do to get called up?*”

*I cannot confirm this.

Offensively, St. Paul jumped out in front first. Tomás Telis plopped his eighth homer of the year in the first inning to give the Saints a quick 1-0 lead. Nick Gordon was not to be outdone, and he sent his third home run of the year over the right field wall.

Now, usually I don’t point out defense in these games because, well, who cares. But Nick Gordon played at third base while Jose Miranda played in left field. I assume that this was done out of necessity, but if both players can play at those positions in just a passable manner, then their value to the major league club will be just that much more.

This game revealed one of the problems that can arise in a bullpen game. Burrows and Moran did their part well, but Ryan Mason struggled and it allowed Indianapolis to tie the game in the 7th inning. Indianapolis then jumped on Ian Hamilton in the 8th with a bases-clearing double, and that ended up being all she wrote.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 2, Tulsa 5 
Box Score
Starter: Cole Sands: 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
HR: B.J. Boyd 2 (11, 12)
Multi-hit games: B.J. Boyd (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Ernie De La Trinidad (2-for-3, BB)

The Wind Surge lost on Saturday.

...But not due to Cole Sands. The righty was on his game on Saturday. Of the 17 outs he netted, 10 came via strikeouts. Yeah, that’ll work. It was his first start of the season with double-digit punch outs, and it was also his seventh start allowing one or fewer walks.

They also did not lose because of B.J. Boyd. The free agent signee has been nothing short of elite in his time with Wichita. His OPS on the season is now above .900, and I imagine that one more game like this will finally force Wichita to build a statue in his honor.

It was not enough to top the Drillers, though. Tulsa took out their frustration on Erik Manoah Jr., and put the game out of reach after the 7th inning. Oddly enough, Tulsa only had one more hit than Wichita. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 7 
Box Score
Starter: Sawyer Gipson-Long: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-4, 2 R)

The Kernels lost to a rehabbing major leaguer on Saturday.

Miles Mikolas started for the Chiefs and was excellent. He held the Kernels to three runs over seven innings of work with eight strikeouts to boot. Come on man, go pick on players your own age (I’m sure he will soon).

Sawyer Gipson-Long’s line is misleading. Two of his earned runs came via a two-run homer, while another run scored due to a throwing error by his catcher (not sure why it counts as an earned run, actually). No matter the runs, striking out nine batters over five innings of work is impressive. 

The bats were a bit quiet on Saturday. Every run was scored off the bat of Matt Wallner (a first inning DP, and a 6th inning two-run single), and Edouard Julien was the only batter to net multiple hits. Of course it was Julien. I swear he gets on base twice every time I check the box score.

The game slipped away in the 7th inning as the Chiefs ambushed Osiris German to the tune of three earned runs. Much like how the Saints lost, this proved to be too back-breaking for the Kernels to overcome. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 1, Bradenton 2
Box Score
Starter: Bobby Milacki: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
HR: Aaron Sabato (10)
Multi-hit games: Misael Urbina (2-for-5, 2B)

Fort Myers lost in extra-innings on Saturday.

Bobby Milacki started the Mighty Mussels off right with an excellent start on Saturday. His six strikeouts tied a personal single-game record, and it was his sixth outing in 2021 that ended without a walk. Not bad for a 38th round pick who the Twins signed out of independent ball.

John Stankiewicz, Zaquiel Puentes, and Aaron Rozek carried the weight the rest of the way with five combined innings, and just a single hit allowed. They struck out three in total.

Offensively, things were a bit tough. Misael Urbina was the lone hitter to drop in multiple hits, and just one other batter had an extra-base hit.

But that one batter was Aaron Sabato who, unsurprisingly now, bopped his 10th homer of the year. He had just four home runs coming into the month of August.

It has been great to see Sabato turn the corner like this. No prospect dropped as much as him when we at Twinsdaily updated our top prospect list, and a monster August to cap off his season would go a long way towards regaining his old 1st-round pick status. Will he do it? I suppose we shall see. 

Unfortunately, the Mighty Mussels got Manfred-ed and the very first opposing batter in the bottom of the 10th singled home a run to end the game. I’m sure that they didn’t mind getting out of the way of the tropical storm, though. 

Complex Chronicles
The FCL Twins game was suspended on Saturday, and will be finished on Sunday. A quick scan of the box score reveals that Zander Wiel was in the starting lineup working through a rehab assignment.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cole Sands
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – B.J. Boyd

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL)
#2 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-3, 2 K
#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Did not pitch
#4 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#5 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Elbow Strain)
#6 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-3, BB
#7 – Joe Ryan (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#8 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) - Did not pitch
#9 – Chase Petty (Complex) - 
#10 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) - 1-5, K

#11 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Shoulder Impingement)
#12 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2 RBI, K
#13 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 0-3
#14 – Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#15 – Noah Miller (Complex) - 
#16 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) - 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
#17 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)
#18 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 2B
#19 – Cole Sands (Wichita) - 5 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
#20 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - Did not play

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (11:35 AM) LHP Andrew Albers
Wichita @ Tulsa (12:05 PM) RHP Jordan Balazovic 
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (12:35 PM) RHP Matt Canterino
Fort Myers will not play on Sunday in anticipation of Tropical Storm Fred.

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[Rosterman]

So why not have players get real comfortable in a position that they can play for their career. Why I remember seeing a guy in right field, just the other day, play a inside-the-park home run ball that the regular rightfielder wouldn't have had happen. You bring in someone as a defensive replacement late in a =wipeout game to give the regular a rest. 

[TopGunn#22]

Versatility is the premium value nowadays.  Balazovic AND Canterino (finally healthy) pitch today.  I'll have to pay attention to the minor league scores to see how Wichita and Cedar Rapids do today.

[roger]

Great start from Sands.  Another guy that I keep thinking is a lot like Ober was two years ago.  Great results, but doesn't have the hype of the guys at the top of the prospect lists.

Need Balazovic to repeat his last outing.  As for Canterino, don't know what to expect but happy to see him pitching in a game.  Hopefully, he will have 3 or 3+ effective innings.

[bean5302]

I think versatility is great. This front office lacks understanding versatility is supposed to include competence. I think Falvey jumped forward through the part where Hatteberg had to learn how to play 1B and thought Wash was joking when he said it was incredibly hard to play first base while his hero Billy Beane said its not that hard.

Just moving guys around doesn't make them "versatile" it makes them bad defenders and the Twins have the 3rd worst defense in the game. 

[USNMCPO]

Tulsa has some the UGLIEST uniforms I have seen in a long time. Yuck!