Twins Minor League Report (4/21): Double Walk Offs and Shoving Smeltzer

[Ted Schwerzler]

Although the St. Paul Saints didn't get a win tonight Devin Smeltzer looked like a star on the mound for the Twins Triple-A club. The Kernels walked it off twice and the Wichita Wind Surge put up runs in droves. It was an exciting night on the farm.

 

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Jharel Cotton cleared waivers and was assigned to the St. Paul Saints
• LHP Lewis Thorpe was released from the organization.

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Toledo 2, St. Paul 1
Box Score

Playing the fastest game in St. Paul Saints franchise history, lasting just two hours and seven minutes, the good guys lost by a 2-1 tally. Devin Smeltzer drew the start and was again good in this one. He went five innings allowing just two runs on five hits while punching out eight and walking one. His ERA on the season sits at 1.29.

After getting behind 2-0 in the third inning, St. Paul answered with a run in the 4th inning. Derek Fisher hit into a force out but allowed Jake Cave to score, cutting the lead in half. Unfortunately, that’s where the production ended and a four-hit night for the Saints produced nothing else on the scoreboard.

Fisher was the lone Saints batter to record two hits on the evening. Both Royce Lewis and Curtis Terry drew two walks to reach base a handful of times.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 15, Midland 1
Box Score

Chris Vallimont drew the start tonight for Wichita and worked four innings of one-run ball. He gave up three hits while walking three and striking out six. With Wichita plating six runs in the first two innings, that one run of opposing production didn’t much factor into the equation.

Dennis Ortega began the scoring with a line-drive single plating Austin Martin and Cole Sturgeon. A Michael Helman at-bat complete with a throwing error then allowed Spencer Steer to score in the first inning as well. Doubling up the score in the second inning was accomplished on a Martin double that scored Andrew Bechtold, a wild pitch to score Martin, and an Ortega double that drove in Steer.

The fifth inning saw another outburst for the Wind Surge in which they were able to double their early-inning tally. Kevin Merrell launched his second homer of the season before Martin drove in Bechtold on a single. Steer then ripped his 7th double, this one clearing loaded bases, and pushing the score to 11-1. Ortega then drove in Steer with a single and the blowout was fully on.

Bechtold had contributed plenty on his own this evening and a sixth-inning solo blast for his second dinger of the season made it 13-1. Still supplying pressure, Sturgeon singled in the eighth inning driving in Bechtold and DaShawn Keirsey to extend the lead further making it 15-1.

A whole handful of Wind Surge batters had multi-hit nights including Martin (3), Sturgeon (3), Steer (2), Ortega (3), and Bechtold (2, plus three walks).

KERNELS NUGGETS
Game 1: Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 2 (F/8)
Box Score

Tonight’s twin bill saw Sean Mooney start game one. He went five strong innings and allowed just one run on four hits while walking and striking out two.

Cedar Rapids opened up the scoring in the first inning when Seth Gray singled to drive in Jeferson Morales. After giving back the lead, Cedar Rapids jumped ahead in the eighth inning. Hot-hitting Christian Encarnacion-Strand beat out a fielder’s choice to drive in Willie Joe Garry Jr. Morales then lofted a sacrifice fly to center deep enough to score Anthony Prato and the Kernels walked it off in game one.

Morales and Gray were the lone hitters to record double-digit efforts in the front half of the evening.

Game 2: Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 3 (F/8)
Box Score

Casey Legumina started game two tonight for the Kernels and he worked 4 2/3 innings allowing just two runs on five hits. Legumina also punched out three batters while walking one. As a whole, it was a strong bounce-back start.

After getting down 2-0 in the fifth inning Cedar Rapids rallied. Morales grounded out but drove in Prato to halve the deficit in the 6th inning. The next at-bats saw Garry Jr. drive in Will Holland allowing the home team to knot things at two. Headed to extras, Cedar Rapids watched Peoria push across a run in the top half of the 8th inning but this one was far from over.

Encarnacion-Strand was standing on first base after a single, and a Morales ball back up the middle resulted in a force out at second base. Prato started the inning at second base and went to third on the play, but then scored on an errant throw by the second basemen. Camargo then launched one off the base of the right field wall and Morales scored the winning run coming around from first base. For the second time on the night, Cedar Rapids walked off Peoria.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Dunedin 5, Fort Myers 2
Box Score

The Mighty Mussels turned to Pierson Ohl this evening and he gave them four innings of work while allowing just two runs, one earned. Despite five hits, Ohl walked just one and punched out four batters on the night.

After getting down 1-0, Fort Myers responded with a two-spot in the fourth inning. Mikey Perez drove in Kyler Fedko with a single before a Ernie Yake sacrifice fly scored Jesus Feliz. The lead wouldn’t last however as Dunedin knotted things in the bottom half of the inning. 

Unfortunately, that’s where the production ended for Fort Myers and two runs were all they could muster in this contest. Seven of nine starters recorded a base hit while everyone reached base, but no one put up a multi-hit effort.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Devin Smeltzer (St. Paul) - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 2-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB

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) - 3-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, K
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 0-2, 2 BB, 2K
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B, BB
#5 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
#7 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, 2K 
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-5, 4 K
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, BB, K
#16 - Ronny Hendriquez (Development List) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (47 pitches, 28 strikes)
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 2-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05PM CST) - RHP JC Ramirez 
Midland @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Louie Varland 
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Brent Headrick
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30PM CST) - RHP John Stankiewicz 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates back and playing.

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[tony&rodney]

15 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

After a Morales single pushed across the tying run in Prato, Encarnacion-Strand stood at second base.

That is what the guy wrote on Gameday. Actually, Morales hit a ball back up the middle off of the pitcher to the second baseman who stepped on second to force out Encarnacion who had singled the Manfredball runner Pratto to third base and then the 2B made a poor throw to first. Morales was safe at first and Pratto scored the tying run. Then Carmargo hit one off the base of the fence in rightfield and Morales scored from first base. The players celebrated wildly. Two walkoffs - fun night.

Thank you for writing the summaries. They are excellent.

Encarcion swings a pretty mean bat right now. He is a free swinger.

[Danchat]

Interesting to see Smeltzer pitching well as of late, with Thorpe going in the opposite direction and getting axed. I wouldn't be surprised if Smeltzer gets called up for mop up work in the near future, when we're back to 26 man rosters.

[stringer bell]

Another good game for Martin and he played center field. 

[roger]

Thanks for the updates, but Wichita and FM box scores are from earlier games.

Agree that Smeltzer should be with the Twins soon.  See him in a role similar to Winder, piggy backed with pitcher X.

[Major League Ready]

24 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Another good game for Martin and he played center field. 

He has 9 hits and 5 walks in his last 27 PAs.  ?

[Trov]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Another good game for Martin and he played center field. 

He started off a little slow, but picking it up.  I have huge expectations for his hitting game, just where he will play on defense will be the question.  He bat should play at the majors.  

[Dman]

First let me say I am sad to see Thorpe go.  He brought a lot of hope with him at the lower levels that we might have a strong lefty starter.  He piled up the K's and kept the velocity up through 2019 and then things started to fall a part.  Whether it was injury or that he just peaked is hard to say.  His velocity was down from when he was younger and he started giving up too much hard contact.  The Twins gave him a long time to try and get things right even keeping him on the 40 man all winter but he never quite found the stuff he once had.  I wish him well and hope things still work out well for him.

Smeltzer appears to back to his old self.  At some point the Twins will need to put him back on the 40 man.  He was great this spring and has been very good at AAA as well.  At the very least they could use him as a long man lefty reliever.

The way the season started I thought the AA lineup was going to be the weak link.  With the weather warming so have the bats warmed up and Martin is now closing in on an 800 OPS after a brutal start to the season.  Steer is still the best bat at least for the moment.  Everyone up and down the lineup is hitting except Wallner who has a .073 batting average and 47% K rate.  He can't hit a slow pitch softball right now and has been a rally killer automatic out so far this season.

Vallimont still looks Shaky out there to me.  3 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings is not ideal.  Hoping he can straighten things out as the weather warms up.

The pitching is good and the hitting is good at High A so it is no wonder that they are 10-2 at this point.  It is a tough lineup with Prato and CES at the top.  Sawyer Gipson-Long and Povich are two best pitchers and Headrick has been right there with them to this point.  Still Mooney, Legumina and Laweryson are pretty solid as well.  As long as this team stays together they should be tough to beat.

The muscles need to find their bats if they want to win more games.  With Rodriguez in an 0 for 9 slump the other bats need to heat up.  The only consistent bat in that lineup seems to be Fedko. 

Varland at AA and Headrick and High A should be more must watch Twins affiliate baseball.
 

[jmlease1]

I don't think we're going to see Smeltzer any time soon, frankly, even with him pitching well. he's in place as starter depth and insurance, and until someone else gets hurt for an extended period, I wouldn't expect to see Smeltzer coming back up to relieve this early in the season. Good for him for getting back on track.

Wallner is off to a brutal start to the season. He's not making any contact at all, the K rate is absurdly high, and yesterday was another rotten performance at the plate. He probably needs a day off or two and a complete reset, because right now he's looking horrid. (in my mind he's too old to send back to high A; not sure beating up on younger pitchers who are still figuring out how to control their stuff and learn to pitch will help him) I have to say I'm surprised at how poorly he's doing: after his performance in the AFL, I thought he would transition to AA better than this. It's still early, but this is not good for him.

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, roger said:

Agree that Smeltzer should be with the Twins soon.  See him in a role similar to Winder, piggy backed with pitcher X.

Probably better for Winder’s development for him to get regular work in the St. Paul rotation. I think a Winder for Smeltzer swap makes perfect sense. 

[roger]

6 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Probably better for Winder’s development for him to get regular work in the St. Paul rotation. I think a Winder for Smeltzer swap makes perfect sense. 

Could not agree more, stringer.  Get Winder back to starting every fifth game, although one advantage is that his current work load will keep his innings down a bit this year.  

[4twinsJA]

If Twins looking for 2 inning RP, why not Smeltzer. Pitch him every 3-4 days, left handed and good change of pace from power pitchers. Watched Henriquez pitch, looks good, may be another piece for bulllpen when he is ready.

[stringer bell]

Just now, 4twinsJA said:

If Twins looking for 2 inning RP, why not Smeltzer. Pitch him every 3-4 days, left handed and good change of pace from power pitchers. Watched Henriquez pitch, looks good, may be another piece for bulllpen when he is ready.

I noticed Henriquez’ first outing was very good

[Mike Sixel]

Please put Martin in left field, in Minnesota. That is all. 

[stringer bell]

46 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Please put Martin in left field, in Minnesota. That is all. 

I'd like Larnach to have a fair shot, but Martin gives them speed and versatility in the outfield. With work, he could develop into a plus plus defender, I think. 

[tony&rodney]

Martin could move up to AAA. He doesn't look like power is in his immediate future but he barrels the ball and gets on base a ton, and brings athleticism to the field with his agressive running. The Twins could use a couple of athletes as soon as possible, whenever that works. Polanco, Gordon, Buxton, and Kepler are it right now and the Twins can count on Correa to play a wonderful shortstop and he will hit. We all hope Kirilloff, Sano, Arraez, Urshela, Larnach, & Garlick hit but they are mostly station to station. Jeffers and Sanchez get a bye because they are catchers. 

[Mike Sixel]

26 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I'd like Larnach to have a fair shot, but Martin gives them speed and versatility in the outfield. With work, he could develop into a plus plus defender, I think. 

I'm ok with that, but I'd rather Larnach was DH or RF and LF and DH (can he play first?).

Martin would be a plus defender in LF, and IMO an on base machine. I'm also ok if they just move him to AAA (where the variance in pitching quality is lower) for now.

[LA VIkes Fan]

It looks like the worm is turning in baseball away from the power laden lineups of the past living or dying with the home run to more old timey situational baseball. that means we need more athletes and fewer boom or bust HR guys.  Martin may be that kind of athletic guy. Let's at least give him a shot at AAA to see. No reason to be paying Cave every day there, he's not going to help the big club. Put Martin in LF in AAA and see what he can do. If he succeeds, we've increased our options at the MLB level. If he fails. he goes back to AA and we haven't lost anything since Cave is not in the Twins future. 

[PDX Twin]

59 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

It looks like the worm is turning in baseball away from the power laden lineups of the past living or dying with the home run to more old timey situational baseball. that means we need more athletes and fewer boom or bust HR guys.  

That will make me enjoy the game more!

[cheeseheadgophfan]

They need Carlos Correa to play like a 30 mill/per year shortstop.  

[RpR]

24 minutes ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

They need Carlos Correa to play like a 30 mill/per year shortstop.  

He is, as long as he plays like Ozzie Smith, he was not hired as a Designated batter. (if they do not get a hit, they are just batters.)

[cheeseheadgophfan]

12 minutes ago, RpR said:

He is, as long as he plays like Ozzie Smith, he was not hired as a Designated batter. (if they do not get a hit, they are just batters.)

C'mon....he's not being paid $30 million per season to hit under .200 and be almost hitless with runners in scoring position.  

[RpR]

17 minutes ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

C'mon....he's not being paid $30 million per season to hit under .200 and be almost hitless with runners in scoring position.  

He is paid that so we do not have a Polanco level defense at Short Stop.

[nicksaviking]

Just noticed Martin's BBR photo. That's a very unfortunate colored bandana he's wearing under that photoshopped hat.

[Major League Ready]

3 hours ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

C'mon....he's not being paid $30 million per season to hit under .200 and be almost hitless with runners in scoring position.  

It's been 13 games.  Mookie Bets is hitting 178 with a wRC+ of 61.  Mitch Garver's wRC+ is 71.  Josh Donaldson is 78.  Glebor Torres is at 56.  Goldsmidt and Bichette are at 50.  Marcus Semien is at 42 and Joey Gallo is at 29.  They had a 3 week spring training.  We can condemn Correa or all of them 50 or 60 games from now if they continue at this pace but 13 games is nothing.