Twins Minor League Report (4/12): Povich Nearly Perfect

[Steve Lein]

Thunderstorms wreaked even more havoc on the Saints on Tuesday than it did the Twins, resulting in their game being called after five innings. Elsewhere on the farm, Cedar Rapids got a tremendous start from a 2021 draftee, and in Fort Myers, there were extra innings. Were the Mighty Mussels able to walk it off at their home opener at Hammond Stadium?

 

TRANSACTIONS

• The Minnesota Twins recalled RHP Griffin Jax to fill in for RHP Jorge Alcala, who was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.
• IF Yunior Severino was played on the 7-day injured list with a left thumb contusion.
• In Fort Myers RHP Malik Barrington was assigned to the roster from the FCL Twins.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Indianapolis 5 (5 innings)
Box Score

While the Minnesota Twins played through the weather in Minneapolis, the Saints weren’t as lucky over in St. Paul for their home opener. The game was delayed after five innings were completed and eventually called. 

Daniel Gossett made his second start and was charged with the loss. He went three innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out one. Drew Strotman went the final two innings and gave up one run on two hits. He struck out three. 

Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 out of the leadoff spot with a pair of doubles. Jake Cave and Mark Contreras collected their other two hits. St. Paul’s lone run came in the second inning after Contreras got caught in a rundown on his single. Cave was able to scamper home from third when the first baseman dropped a throw.

The Saints look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow with Cole Sands on the bump.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 8
Box Score

The Wind Surge got put in a big hole early as the Naturals put eight runs on the board in the first inning. Wichita starting pitcher Brandon Lawson exited the game with an ERA of infinity as he was not able to record an out. He was charged with all eight runs (six earned) thanks to five hits and two walks. 

The Wind Surge finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth as they were able to take advantage of an extra out when strike three got away from the NW Arkansas catcher. The next two hitters drew walks to score their first run before DaShawn Keirsey delivered a two-RBI single to make it 8-3. They’d pull within two runs after five innings when they strung together four singles and a walk to score three more but was as close as they’d get for the rest of the game.

Bryan Sammons, Steven Cruz, Austin Schulfer, and Argenis Angulo were fantastic in relief of Lawson, allowing no more runs to the Naturals the rest of the way. They combined for eight scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks between them, and striking out seven.

Michael Helman finished the game 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. Edouard Julien left the game with an injury in the top of the first after drawing a walk (as he does) and stealing second base. As a team, they managed only six singles, were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base for the game.

Based on the video above, it appears that it may be a high ankle sprain. Looked painful initially, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 1
Box Score

Just three pitches into the game the Kernels took the lead and never looked back in this one. Anthony Prato led off the game with a triple, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand drove him in on the next pitch with a groundout to short for his 16th RBI. It took until the fourth inning for them to add any more, but did so in a big way. With the bases loaded, Seth Gray delivered a two-run double before Jair Camargo clubbed his first home run of the year, a three-run shot to make it 6-0 Kernels.

The Twins 3rd round pick in the 2021 draft, left-hander Cade Povich, made the start for Cedar Rapids and was spectacular over five innings to pick up his first win of the year. He allowed just one hit, walked one, and struck out eight, retiring his last fourteen hitters in a row. Even more impressively, the last six of those came on strikeouts. It was also his 22nd birthday!

Miguel Rodriguez came on for the sixth and went two innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out one. Derek Molina pitched a scoreless eighth and Andrew Cabezas punctuated the win by striking out the side in the ninth. 

The Kernels added two more runs in the sixth thanks to three walks and three wild pitches, and finished the game with nine hits as a team. Jeferson Morales, Wander Javier, and Seth Gray each had two hits.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Jupiter 5, Fort Myers 6
Box Score

Right-hander Marco Raya took the mound for his first professional game, and was solid through the first four innings. He had a pair of strikeouts in a one-two-three fourth before allowing a leadoff home run to start the fifth. The game was tied at three before his day was ended as the next four hitters all reached base. Hunter McMahon came on and escaped the inning without any further damage. In total, Raya went 4 1/3 innings in his debut, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk, while striking out four.

The Mighty Mussels had three runs of their own by that point thanks to a home run from Emmanuel Rodriguez and two-run single from Kyle Schmidt in the fourth. They added a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Ernie Yake to take a 4-3 lead.

McMahon would get the Mighty Mussels through the seventh, allowing one run and striking out four in his 2 2/3 innings. With the score tied at four, Samuel Perez would get them to extra innings.

With the extra runner on second base to start the tenth inning, the Hammerheads took a 5-4 lead after an error and sac fly, but it wouldn’t be enough. Perez finished with three innings pitched, allowing two hits and striking out five.

In the bottom half the Mighty Mussels went the bunting route with Daniel Ozoria, and it turned into a run scoring error to tie the game with the winning run only 90 feet away. The next batter, Kala’i Rosario walked it off with a single to right field to send the fans home happy.

As a team Fort Myers notched fourteen hits and were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the game. Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-5, 2 R, HR), Keoni Cavaco (2-for-4, 2B, SB), Rosario (2-for-5, R, RBI), and Kyler Fedko (2-for-4, 2 R) each had multiple hits.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day - Cade Povich, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 5 IP, H, BB, 8 K)
Hitter of the Day - Seth Gray, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-for-2
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, 2 2B
#9 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 0 H, ER, 2 BB, K (MLB debut)
#10 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, K
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 0-for-1, K
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 4 K
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 2-for-5, 2 R, HR (2), RBI, 2 K
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-0, BB, SB

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Cole Sands (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Matt Canterino (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CDT) - RHP Sean Mooney (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CDT) - LHP Steve Hajjar (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

 

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[RJA]

Good summary, Steve.  Nice to see Povich off to a good start.  Martin really looks out of sync, but I think he will be fine when he settles down.  Cavaco had two hits again, so maybe a good start will help him get on a good development track.  He has great natural ability.  I can't wait for the games tonight with Sands, Canterino, Mooney and Hajjar all on the mound.  Should be a lot of K's tonight.

[roger]

Thanks for today's summary, Steve.  

When the Twins took the two lefties back-to-back in the second and third rounds of last year's draft, I was hoping that for once they could strike gold and one of these guys would be on the fast track to Target Field.  For whatever reason, probably after watching Seth's interviews this winter, Povich seems to me to be the most likely candidate to accomplish that.  His fantastic start last night will keep my dreams (and I expect his) alive for another week.

Isn't it fantastic having four young stars in the lineup every day down at Fort Myers?  Miller, Rodriguez, Cavaco and Rosario are all off to great starts.  And that is fantastic news for Cavaco.  Keep it going boys!

Was also happy to finally see Marco Raya on the mound pitching in a real game.  Sounds like he was very solid, before likely tiring in the fifth inning.  Remain convinced that he and Rosario are the two big finds the Twins got out of that shortened 2020 draft.

[Dman]

Was hoping for a good outing from Povich and he delivered.  Hopefully he gets to AA sooner rather than later. Encarnation-Strand has come back down to earth in a big way with three K's losing that amazing contact he was making on most everything thrown his way.

This Emmanual Rodriguez guy is someone to watch.  He has 6 walks already so his plate discipline is improving and 3 of his 4 hits have been for extra bases including two home runs.  If that eye at the plate continues he looks like a star player to me.

Some decent hitting at A ball this year compared to last years K team.  I think the Twins might have broken Martin.  He is really struggling to start the season.

[Clear Lake Twinsfan]

Not to take anything away from Samuel Perez's performance in extra innings, but I think that I'd have to give Pitcher of the Day to Cade Povich. It was his birthday after all.

 

 

[Steve Lein]

56 minutes ago, Clear Lake Twinsfan said:

Not to take anything away from Samuel Perez's performance in extra innings, but I think that I'd have to give Pitcher of the Day to Cade Povich. It was his birthday after all.

 

 

No, you're right. That's a serious error on my part! I tend to put in guys I think are worthy as the games finish, and that's one I guess I didn't go back and re-evaluate. Oops. It has been updated. 

[Sielk]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I think the Twins might have broken Martin.  He is really struggling to start the season.

I don't think they have broken him, it's still early after all. 

But in my opinion they really need to stop playing him at SS and make him a CF only.

I actually got MiLB.tv after last year's trade deadline and watched almost all of his games. It's rough. His arm is a real problem at SS, both in terms of accuracy and strength, and it leads to a ton of errors. I don't have MiLB.tv this season but what I have seen from Tom's highlights just looks like a player that has lost all his confidence. He's overthinking and rushing even simple plays and it wouldn't surprise me if those issues also have an effect on his hitting.

The Twins should just put him in CF permanently where he looks far more comfortable and have him focus on his hitting. Austin just isn't a SS in my opinion. He might be a passable 2B but honestly, I would prefer him in the OF. His arm won't be a strength there either but a throw that slightly misses won't have such a big negative effect and that alone would probably help him settle down. 

[tony&rodney]

I have been watching the Wichita games and agree with the assessments that suggest shortstop is a stretch for Martin. An athletic outfielder who can have a high on base percentage is valuable. It is  early but Martin looks really uncomfortable at shortstop.