Minor League Report (5/4): Headrick Fans Ten, Bats Burst in Lowertown

[David Youngs]

After an injury-ridden 2021, Cedar Rapids pitcher Brent Headrick was electric on Wednesday night. Combine that with an offensive clinic in St. Paul and a nail-biter in Florida, it was an exciting evening across the farm. 

 

 

 

TRANSACTIONS
Ft. Myers announced after their game that infielder Jesus Feliz is going on the 7-Day IL with a right elbow strain. 

SAINTS SENTINAL
St. Paul 8, Iowa 1
Box Score

The bats were alive in Lowertown on Wednesday night. Combined with rock-solid pitching, St. Paul used seven hits, two homers, and a pair of doubles to pummel the I-Cubs. 

The Saints flooded the bases right out of the gate thanks to a pair of first-inning walks from Jake Cave and Curtis Terry. Two batters later, Mark Contreras mashed a three-run homer over the right-field wall to give St. Paul a 3-0 lead. 

St. Paul scored on a similar sequence to put two more runs on the board in the second inning. After Derek Fisher was hit by a pitch Elliot Soto crushed his first homer of the year to put St. Paul up 5-0. The team would tack on two more runs in the fifth. Terry opened the floodgates with an RBI double that scored Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff to give the Saints a 7-1 lead. Lewis and Kirilloff teamed up to add another run in the seventh when Lewis scored on a Kirilloff single. 

Starting pitcher Ronny Henriquez was admirable on the night, allowing only one run through 3 1/3 innings. JC Ramirez was even more impressive in relief tossing 3 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball while striking out three. The tandem of Drew Strotman and Yennier Cano teamed up to pitch a perfect final two innings to seal the deal. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
POSTPONED

For the second time in recent days, Wichita’s Wednesday night game was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow evening. The highly-anticipated matchup of brothers Louie and Gus Varland will take place in game one. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 0
Box Score

An outstanding starting pitching performance and a myriad of insurance runs propelled Cedar Rapids to a shutout win over rival Quad Cities. 

Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Brent Headrick was incredible, tossing six innings of scoreless ball. The Braidwood, Illinois, native only surrendered one hit and one walk while fanning a season-high ten strikeouts past the Quad Cities batting order. Headrick has at least five strikeouts in each of his five starts this season and an impressive 38 in total on the young season. 

Cedar Rapids broke the chess match in the sixth inning. After reaching on a thrower error, Kennie Taylor would find his way around the bases thanks to a Jeferson Morales single, a sac-fly by Anthony Prato, and an RBI single from Christian Encarnacion-Strand. 

The Kernels would tack on a trio of insurance runs in the seventh. After reaching on a Fielder’s Choice, Alerick Soularie stole second base and would advance to third courtesy of a Will Holland single. The former Tennessee Volunteer then scored thanks to a wild pitch. 

The bases weren’t clear for long; thanks to the same players that manufactured the run in the sixth inning. After consecutive walks from Taylor and Morales, Prato laced a triple to center field that scored both men to give the Kernels a 4-0 lead. That lead would hold true to the final strike thanks to an efficient bullpen outing courtesy of Orlando Rodriquez and Andrew Cabezas. 

MUSSEL MATTERS 
Fort Myers 3, Lakeland 4
Box Score

Despite multiple comeback efforts, the Mussels dropped a tight game in the Sunshine State. The Mussels rebounded to tie the game in both the sixth and ninth innings but ultimately fell short in extra innings. 

Aside from giving up two runs in the first, starting pitcher David Festa was solid through four innings, striking out five and only walking one. Regi Grace followed suit by pitching three innings of scoreless ball, striking out three, and walking one. 

Down two for the first five innings, Fort Myers fought back with a stellar sixth inning. Highly-touted prospect Noah Miller kicked off the inning with his first triple of the year. Two batters later, Kyler Fedko reached on a Fielder’s Choice that would allow Miller to score from third. Fedko would advance to second thanks to a Lakeland error on the play and a balk in the next at-bat.

With two outs, Keoni Cavaco came in clutch with a sharp double to score Fedko from third and give the Mussels a slight lead. The double added his stellar night at the plate. Prior to the at-bat, Cavaco laced a triple in the first. 

After Lakeland regained the lead in the eighth, the Mussels scrapped back a run in the ninth to tie it up on a wild span of events. With one out Mikey Perez went to first and was later advanced to second thanks to a bunt from Ernie Yake. Yake would eventually be caught stealing second on a play that moved Perez to third and resulted in the ejection of Mussels skipper Brian Meyer. 

After a pair of substitutions, Perez bolted home to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at three and send the game to extra innings. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day: Elliot Soto (St. Paul)- 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K
Pitcher of the Day: Brent Headrick (Cedar Rapids) - 6.0 IP, O R, H, BB, 10 K

PROSPECT SUMMARY

#1 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, K
#3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-for-4
#10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, SB, B, K
#11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, 3B, BB, 2 SO
#14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 3.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 4 K
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-1, 4.70 ERA)
Doubleheader Game One :Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Louie Varland  (2-1, 3.05 ERA)
Game Two: Following Game One
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CDT) - RHP Sean Mooney (0-0, 2.08 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CDT) - TBA

 

 

 

 

 

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[Olpnch]

What is the story with Brent Headrick? Does anybody know what his velocity sits at? Just from the small clips I've seen, it looks like his pitches can sneak up on hitters. His K/9 is more than solid. Is this a GUY, or a guy?

[Dman]

Seth what is the skinny on Headrick.  He looked kind of bad last year, giving up more hits than innings pitched.  Has he gained more velocity or is he just picking his spots better this year.  He had a good K rate last year but this year is even better and the WHIP is fantastic.  Any insight?

[RJA]

I know it is early, but Headrick is doing two things of note this year more than in his injury year of 2021.  One, he is allowing fewer hits, and two he is not walking anywhere near as many batters.  In the latter case, he is walking 1.9 per 9 this year compared to 5 per 9 in 2021.  It might be that 2021 was an aberration due to injury as this years walks are closer to his numbers in college.  My guess is they will move him up soon when a spot opens in Wichita.

[2wins87]

10 hours ago, Olpnch said:

What is the story with Brent Headrick? Does anybody know what his velocity sits at? Just from the small clips I've seen, it looks like his pitches can sneak up on hitters. His K/9 is more than solid. Is this a GUY, or a guy?

Sounds like he was sitting around 93 in this start.

He is old for the level, but I think we should have learned from guys like Ober, Winder, and maybe Varland next not to sleep on their mid-round college pitching picks.  He's probably top of the list for a promotion.  If he's made some refinements and is able to carry his success into AA then sure, he could be a GUY.

 

[RJA]

I wasn't sure so I checked and I believe Headrick is Rule 5 eligible this fall, so it might be a good idea for the Twins to promote him and see how he does.  Lefties with his strikeout totals would be attractive in the draft I would think, but the TD staff is better equipped to make a judgment on that than I am.

[roger]

1 hour ago, RJA said:

I wasn't sure so I checked and I believe Headrick is Rule 5 eligible this fall, so it might be a good idea for the Twins to promote him and see how he does.  Lefties with his strikeout totals would be attractive in the draft I would think, but the TD staff is better equipped to make a judgment on that than I am.

At first I thought no way RJA, as he is so new to the organization.  But I guess college players drafted in 2019 are eligible for the Rule 5 this year.  Wow, not a lot of time for these guys to prove themselves with the wasted 2020 season.

Was great seeing Lewis with a couple hits and hitting over .300.  Going to be interesting to see when something opens up for his first taste.  With him playing shortstop every day, doesn't seem the Twins are grooming him for another position.  Kind of sounds like they are thinking he will be their shortstop in 2023?  Had been thinking maybe even August, 2022, but with the way the Twins are playing they aren't going to be sellers this summer!

Also good to see Kirilloff with a couple hits.  AK is hitting mostly singles, hopefully the power will return once he feels more confident that his injury is behind him.  Hopefully, that will be soon as the Twins really need him to man first base.

Don't know what to think about Headrick?  Is he this year's Louie Varland?  Although the season is still very young, sure seems like the kid has a big league future.  Isn't it exciting following a lot of the pitchers the Twins have drafted in the second thru ninth rounds the past few years?  Their plan seems to be working.

[jmlease1]

8 minutes ago, roger said:

At first I thought no way RJA, as he is so new to the organization.  But I guess college players drafted in 2019 are eligible for the Rule 5 this year.  Wow, not a lot of time for these guys to prove themselves with the wasted 2020 season.

Was great seeing Lewis with a couple hits and hitting over .300.  Going to be interesting to see when something opens up for his first taste.  With him playing shortstop every day, doesn't seem the Twins are grooming him for another position.  Kind of sounds like they are thinking he will be their shortstop in 2023, or August 2022?

Especially tough on guys who had injuries last year: you can be looking at 2 "wasted" years

[MN_ExPat]

- The highly-anticipated matchup of brothers Louie and Gus Varland will take place in game one 

I'm really interested to see this game tonight.  Should be fun to watch... maybe not so much for Ma' and Pa' Varland, but the rest of us may enjoy it .

Then again, I often tell my children to go out into the back yard and fight to see who is our favorite... ?, so who knows.

[David Youngs]

Game postponed ?  Tomorrow though!

 

6 hours ago, MN_ExPat said:

- The highly-anticipated matchup of brothers Louie and Gus Varland will take place in game one 

I'm really interested to see this game tonight.  Should be fun to watch... maybe not so much for Ma' and Pa' Varland, but the rest of us may enjoy it .

Then again, I often tell my children to go out into the back yard and fight to see who is our favorite... ?, so who knows.