Twins Minor League Report (4/17): Saints, Wind Surge, Kernels Conclude Week with Wins

[Theo Tollefson]

Although the Twins suffered another bad loss at the hands of the Boston Red Sox, the Twins minor-league affiliates had better games on Sunday afternoon as the Saints, Wind Surge, and Kernels all won their games. The Mighty Mussels lost but played a close game that went down to the final pitch.

 

TRANSACTIONS 
There were no transactions in the Twins' minor leagues on Sunday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 1
Box Score
SP: Jake Faria - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-4, R, RBI (5)), David Banuelos (2-3, 2B, R, RBI (3))

The Saints finished their first homestand against the Indianapolis Indians winning 5-1 Sunday thanks to a strong start from Jake Faria and five scoreless innings from the bullpen. 

The offense cooled off from Saturday’s 16-13 victory over Indianapolis. The scoring started for the Saints with an RBI double from catcher David Banuelos in the bottom of the third driving in second baseman Elliot Soto. Two at-bats later, Royce Lewis drove in Banuelos to make it a 2-1 Saints lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Saints were able to tack on two more runs thanks to a groundout from left fielder Jake Cave that scored Lewis. In the next at-bat, designated hitter Chance Sisco reached base on an error that scored first baseman Curtis Terry, making it a 4-1 Saints game. The final run of the game came again from the bat of Cave as he had another ground out that scored center fielder Mark Contreras, tallying the final run of the Saints 5-1 victory.

Faria showed great improvement in his second start for the Saints Sunday, decreasing the number of walks he surrendered from five last Sunday against Louisville to two today. After completing four innings, Faria was once again replaced by Chi Chi Gonzalez. Gonzalez took on the next three innings for the Saints keeping Indianapolis hitless and only allowing two base runners on walks. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Northwest Arkansas 1
Box Score
SP: Brandon Lawson - 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
HR: Matt Wallner (1), Michael Helman (1)
Multi-hit games: Kevin Merrell (2-4, 2 RBI (3), K)

After starting the season 0-3, the Wind Surge have gone 4-2 and won this week's series against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The final score for the Wind Surge on Sunday was the exact same as the Saints with the 5-1 victory over the Naturals.

The Wind Surge had a strong outing from starter Brandon Lawson. He provided the rotation 3 2/3 innings pitched against the Naturals allowing nine base runners but somehow giving up only one run. The Wind Surge bullpen only allowed three base runners in the remaining 5 1/3 innings of the game. 

On the offensive side, Wind Surge right fielder Matt Wallner and third baseman Michael Helman each hit their first home runs of the season to give the Wind Surge insurance runs. Shortstop and Wind Surge newcomer Kevin Merrell had his first multi-hit game of the season going 2-for-4 and driving in a couple of runs.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2
Box Score
SP: Aaron Rozek 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Charles Mack (3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (5)), Anthony Prato (2-5, 2 RBI (10) 2 K), Kennie Taylor (2-3, R, 3B (1), BB, K)

The Kernels took home their seventh win of the season on Sunday to finish out their series against the Quad Cities River Bandits. Aaron Rozek made his second start of the season for the Kernels and pitched a phenomenal five innings allowing only three base runners, and one unearned run while striking out seven batters. 

Even with Christian Encarnacion-Strand out of the lineup for the Kernels on Sunday, their bats were still able to produce a high-scoring game. The hitting surge for the Kernels was led by Charles Mack who went 3-for-4 and brought his batting average for the season up to .533 in 15 at-bats. Also keeping up his hot streak for the Kernels was Anthony Prato who had two hits and two runs batted in to bring his RBI total to ten in the Kernels' first nine games. 

The bullpen pitched an effective game after Rozek’s departure having four different relievers come in for an inning each. The Kernels bullpen totaled four innings pitched, four hits, one run, five strikeouts and no walks Sunday afternoon. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 4
Box Score
SP: Travis Adams 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
HR:  Jake Rucker (1)
Multi-hit games: Mikey Perez (2-4, R, K), Ernie Yake (2-4, R, K)

The Mighty Mussels were the only Twins affiliate to drop a game on Sunday. The Mussels were trailing the Jupiter Hammerheads 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. They were able to score two runs and make it a close game until the final out.

Mussels starter Travis Adams once again had a great start for his teammates going five innings, allowing only three base runners, and striking out seven. The Hammerheads were able to score three runs against Mussels reliever Jaylen Nowlin in his second inning of work in the top of the seventh. Coming out of the bullpen for the Mussels after Nowlin was Regi Grace who only gave up one run in his 2 1/3 innings pitched. 

On the offensive side Mussels' third baseman Jake Rucker hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth that brought the Mussels a run away from tying the game. :Left fielder Kyler Fedko went hitless during Sunday’s game but reached base twice on walks, maintaining his OPS at 1.238 for the season. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  Travis Adams (Ft. Myers) - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Hitter of the Day – Charles Mack (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (5)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins' top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. 

Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:
#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-5, SB (6), K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, RBI (5)
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K, SB (2) 
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-3, R, HR (1), RBI (2), BB, K
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-4 

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, April 19. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). 

St. Paul @ Toledo (5:35 PM CST) - 
Midland @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Matt Canterino
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - 
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (6:30 PM CST) - 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games as the second weekend of the minor and major league seasons has concluded. 

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[HrbieFan]

At what point is Royce cled up to inject some life into this offense? I know they want him to get reps at SS, but dang we could use that bat in the OF! 

[Major League Ready]

6 hours ago, HrbieFan said:

At what point is Royce cled up to inject some life into this offense? I know they want him to get reps at SS, but dang we could use that bat in the OF! 

I sure hope the organization is not that short-sighted.  His development into our SS for the next decade is crucial to this team becoming a legit contender.  He is right where he needs to be.   Not only does he need to get reps at SS, but he is also working on swing changes and do that at the ML level is not a good idea. The best case scenario is he keeps this up consistently and replaces Correa when he opts out or is traded at the deadline.

[wsnydes]

7 hours ago, HrbieFan said:

At what point is Royce cled up to inject some life into this offense? I know they want him to get reps at SS, but dang we could use that bat in the OF! 

It's only been 9 games.  I know that the offense has been an issue, but to start reshuffling the deck at this point is rather premature.  Calling up a very important prospect because of it is as well.  Plus, he needs the reps at SS and he's clearly not going to get those while Correa is healthy.

And after not playing for 2 years, Lewis has only played in 10 games.  While his performance is encouraging so far, that's hardly a large enough sample to say that he's ready.

[RJA]

I agree with those who would leave Lewis where he is so he can gain confidence and get the necessary reps at short.  The Twins lineup is underperforming all across the board, so I don't think adding Lewis would solve the problem anyway.  What the Twins lineup needs is professional hitters who learn and adjust instead of the swing and miss group they have now--Sano, Sanchez, Kepler, Jeffers, etc.--and for Correa and Polanco to get on track and Buxton to get back.  If the Twins bullpen continues to struggle, it will be interesting to see if one of the relievers at St. Paul--Cano, Minaya, etc.--gets the call.  I suspect they will make some kind of change if the bullpen doesn't turn around soon.

[Minderbinder]

Nice job on the summary.  Noticed that Lewis may have jettisoned his high leg kick in favor of a Buxton-like rhythmic sway.  The results thus far are good.  There are several positions to plug him in, but I'm betting they don't call him up until mid-summer.   

[wsnydes]

Nice to see Martin starting to warm up a bit after a slowish start too.  I'm not advocating for it now, but I wonder if there's a chance that he'd get promoted while Lewis is still in St. Paul.  It'd be pretty fun to see both of those guys tearing up the bases.

[DJL44]

Royce Lewis is doing well but so is Jake Cave against the same teams. The 6 and 7 game series against the same AAA teams will require more patience before jumping to conclusions. The Saints have played two teams so far.

The only reason to promote anyone in the minors before they've had 150 plate appearances at that level is due to injury.

[Dman]

Interesting to me that both Rodriguez and CES were rested going into the day off.  I guess they want to keep those two in tip top shape?  Fort Meyers could have used Rodriguez's bat as they looked a little anemic without him in the lineup.

Adams had a nice night on the hill.  7 K's in 5 innings keeping that ERA at a cool .90 with an even better WHIP to match at .60.  I wasn't a fan of the pick when the Twins made it.  Kind of thought he might be the weak link in their draft but he is off to a great start.

When Prato is healthy he is a pest in the box and on the bases.  His over 1.000 OPS is nice and it almost seems like it should be higher as it feels like he is on base all time.  Mack is finally finding more contact and his 1,469 OPS puts him right there with Emmanual Rodriguez and CES.  There are some Pretty impressive hitters at High A right now.

Lewis with another multi-hit game keeping that OPS above 1.000 along with Contreras, Cave and surprisingly Baneulos.  Miranda continues his slow start.  Might have to wait for the weather to warm up before he gets going.

[jmlease1]

41 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Royce Lewis is doing well but so is Jake Cave against the same teams. The 6 and 7 game series against the same AAA teams will require more patience before jumping to conclusions. The Saints have played two teams so far.

The only reason to promote anyone in the minors before they've had 150 plate appearances at that level is due to injury.

That's the wrong comp, though, not a reason to discount Lewis' hitting. Cave pounding on AAA pitchers as someone who has spent significant time in MLB is a good thing. Lewis matching that is excellent. Just because Twins fans have PTSD about jake Cave doesn't mean that him hitting well in AAA so far is a sign that Lewis' success to date is somehow a mirage.

(and no, I don't want to add Cave to the MLB roster)

[wsnydes]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Royce Lewis is doing well but so is Jake Cave against the same teams.

I'm not sure how these are related.  One does not effect the other.

That said, the sample size isn't sufficient enough to glean anything significant from.  So, you're correct that patience is still required.

[Seth Stohs]

7 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

I sure hope the organization is not that short-sighted.  His development into our SS for the next decade is crucial to this team becoming a legit contender.  He is right where he needs to be.   Not only does he need to get reps at SS, but he is also working on swing changes and do that at the ML level is not a good idea. The best case scenario is he keeps this up consistently and replaces Correa when he opts out or is traded at the deadline.

100% correct. Plus, nothing should really ever be decided based on two good weeks... what's nice to know is that if Correa missed two weeks (hope not!), I think they could feel fairly comfortable bringing him up. But, that said, getting him a ton of ABs and reps at shortstop all season is very important. 

It's why it's too bad that Larnach has been forced to the big leagues last year and now again this year. 

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, wsnydes said:

I'm not sure how these are related.  One does not effect the other.

That said, the sample size isn't sufficient enough to glean anything significant from.  So, you're correct that patience is still required.

Super small sample size so any attempt at analysis is shaky, but I'll point out that both have benefited from a little "luck" in the form of high BABIP.  To his credit, Cave has built a high OPS without benefit of one HR.  But Cave's BABIP is a totally unsustainable .500 while Lewis's is "only" .429.  Normalizing to a more typical .300, Cave's gaudy 1.040 OPS looks more like .624, while Lewis's looks as if it would normalize to around .800 OPS if present performance continued (which it never does).

Way overthinking this of course, but the two aren't especially good comps at the moment, and Lewis looks better than Cave.  Thank goodness - parallels between Royce Lewis and Jake Cave are fighting words!

[2wins87]

The rest of tomorrow's starting pitcher assignments are out: Sands, Canterino, Povich, Raya.

All worth a watch. Could be a fun night on the farm.