Twins Minor League Report (5/22): Mussels Win in 13 Innings, Wind Surge Win in Walkoff

[Theo Tollefson]

The Twins completed their sweep over the Royals Sunday afternoon. Down on the farm, no series sweeps were in play but the Twins affiliates provided exciting baseball for all their fans on the last unofficial weekend of spring.

 

 

TRANSACTIONS 
The Twins activated Trevor Larnach from the IL and placed Cody Stashak on the IL with shoulder inflammation. 
Kernels placed catcher Jeferson Morales on the 7-day IL with a left oblique strain. Jeff Johnson of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids notes that catcher Patrick Winkel could be coming off the IL and joining the Kernels this week. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 6, Omaha 8 
Box score 
SP: Ronny Henriquez - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Curtis Terry (5)
Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (3-5, R, 2B, SB (10)), Elliot Soto (2-4, RBI (15), K)

After breaking the game open in the top of the first with a 4-0 nothing lead. The Saints fell up short again in another loss against Omaha.

The top of the first was an exciting start for the Saints. Royce Lewis led off with a double and scored in the next at-bat thanks to an RBI single from Alex Kirilloff. Saints left fielder Mark Contreras then drew a walk leading to two runners on for Curtis Terry who drilled a three-run home run to give the Saints their 4-0 lead. 

Ronny Henriquez was on the mound for the Saints and although his teammates gave him a 4-0 lead for his start. Henriquez gave up three runs to the Storm Chasers on two RBI doubles in the first and gave up another run in the top of the second that had the game tied at 4-4. Henriquez cooled off following a rocky first two innings as he surrendered only one hit in his final three innings of work on Sunday. 

The Storm Chasers took their first lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a solo home run from their designated hitters Vinnie Pasquantino. In the seventh inning the Storm Chasers tagged on three more runs to give them a 8-4 lead over the Saints. The Saints were able to tag on two more runs thanks to RBI singles from Cole Sturgeon and Elliot Soto, but it was not enough for a comeback, dropping another game and the series against Omaha.

The Saints return home Tuesday to begin their second homestand against the Indianapolis Indians with an 11:07 a.m. CT start time. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Springfield 1
Box Score 

SP: Danny Coulombe - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: DaShawn Keirsey (2-4, R, 2B)

The Wind Surge’s series finale against Springfield was a low-scoring affair as the Wind Surge came out on top with a walk-off win from Michael Helman. 

The game was started by Danny Coulombe, who was given an inning of rehab work with the Wind Surge. After allowing only one walk, Coulombe completed his afternoon in Wichita and drove to Kansas City to join the Twins for the rest of their ball game. 

Following Coulombe’s one inning of work was Matt Canterino, who was originally planned to be the starter for Sunday’s Wind Surge game. Canterino pitched brilliantly following Coulombe as he pitched four no-hit innings, only walked one batter and struck out six. 

The Wind Surge’s bats were led by left fielder DaShawn Keirsey who went two for four with a double Sunday afternoon and scored the game-winning run from Michael Helman’s single in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Wind Surge begin their next series on the road against the Corpus Christi Hooks Tuesday evening at 6:35 p.m. CT. Louie Varland will be making the start for the Wind Surge on Tuesday. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Lake County 1
Box Score
SP: Brent Headrick 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
HR: Christian Encarnacion-Strand (7)
Multi hit games: Jair Camargo (2-4, R, K)

The Kernels completed their series against the Lake County Captains Sunday and had a strong two pitcher performance from starter Brent Headrick and David Festa. Headrick allowed only one of his three hits given up in the first two innings, and although he did not have any strikeouts, his command of the strike zone was in place with a 70% strike percentage. 

Festa dominated as well, taking on the rest of the game for the Kernels. Festa went for 4.2 innings, three hits, one earned run, no walks, and six strikeouts. The only run that Festa surrendered to the Captains came in the ninth on an RBI single to Captains shortstop Gabriel Rodriguez.

The big hits for the Kernels came in the first three innings scoring one in the first on a Seth Gray bases-loaded walk. Then in the bottom of the second, Christian Encarnacion-Strand slugged his seventh home run of the year for the Kernels to extend the lead to four, nothing. The Kernels then added on their final two runs in the third from a Will Holland single that scored Jair Camargo and Willie Joe Gray Jr. 

The Kernels begin the second series of their homestand on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. CT against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for their first matchup of the season.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 7, Clearwater 6 (13 innings)
Box Score
SP: Jaylen Nowlin 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR:  Noah Cardenas (3)
Multi hit games: Cardenas (3-5, R, HR, 2 RBI (12), BB, K), Keoni Cavaco (2-6, 2 K), Daniel Ozoria (3-5, 2 R, 2B, BB, 2 K)

The Mighty Mussels gave fans extra baseball today as they fought an extra-inning battle with the Clearwater Threshers which ended with a 7-6 score through 13 innings. 

Jaylen Nowlin was the opener for the Mighty Mussels today as they opted to go with a bullpen game for Sunday. Nowlin only went two innings and gave up four of the Threshers five runs in the fourth inning. Nowlin had not pitched for the Mussels since last Sunday, making this his eighth appearance of the season. From there, the only Mussels reliever to give up a run was Niklas Rimmel in the bottom of the ninth which tied the game at five apiece and sent it into extra innings. 

The Mussels bats did not catch on as early as the Threshers did. The Mussels were the first to get a run on the board thanks to a bases-loaded two-run walk from Luis Baez that scored Kala’i Rosario, but the Mussels fell short of capitalizing on the bases-loaded opportunity. Baez drove in two more runs for the Mussels in the top half of the fourth scoring Dillon Tatum and Daniel Ozoria but was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double. 

The Mussels were able to take the lead in the top of the seventh thanks to a two run home run from Noah Cardenas, giving Cardenas his third hit of the game. It wasn’t until the 13th inning when either the Mussels or Threshers scored again. The Mussels tagged on two runs in the top half of the 13th inning thanks to a double from Ozoria that scored Jake Rucker. Ozoria then scored the second run of the inning for the Mussels to give them a 7-5 lead.

Malik Barrington was on the mound to close the game out for the Mussels in the bottom of the 13th inning. Although a Threshers runner reached on an error and scored on an RBI single, Barrington was still able to shut down the Threshers offense and record his second save of the season.  

The Mussels will begin their next six-game series on the road Tuesday against the Pirates Low-A Affiliate the Bradenton Marauders at 5:30 p.m. central time.

 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day –  David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis (St. Paul) 3-5, R, 2B, SB (10)

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 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 3-5, R, 2B, SB (10)  
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-3, BB
#4 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 0-3, K
#8 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - IP, 2 K, SV
#9 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
#10 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) -  0-0, R, 2 BB
#11 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-7, 4 K
#14 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
#16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-4, R
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI (34) 2 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
All Twins Minor League Affiliates are off on Monday and will resume their games on Tuesday, May 24. The only Monday in which there will be minor-league games is July 4th (and some for the Saints in September). 

Indianapolis @ St. Paul (11:07 AM CST) - Cole Sands
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CST) - Louie Varland
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - Aaron Rozek
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 CST) - Pierson Ohl

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games. 

 

 

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[tarheeltwinsfan]

Great report. Thanks. However I would have chosen Canterino instead of Festa for pitcher of the day.  No hits, no runs and 1 walk and 6 SO's over 4 innings.

[darwin22]

Theo: Very nice summary of games throughout our system today.  

A few questions-------for you or others closely following our prospects:

1.  I know only a few games for Lewis back in SP--------but am I correct that Lewis has played 2 of 3 at SS with the other being a start in LF on Saturday?

2.  Has Coulombe already been re-activated to Twins?  If so, has Megill been demoted back to SP?

3.  My main question:  Is is time for Twins mgmt. to DFA Drew Strotman?  After another poor outing today...1 IP....3 hits...3 ER......his ERA has ballooned to 9.72.  Ugh!  Don't have a strong candidate to add at this time, but with Cano's awful performance in KC, which deserves a demotion, an argument can be made to promote Ian Hamilton.  Albeit a small sample size----8 games------Hamilton does have a tidy 1,08 ERA with a K/BB rate of 13-4.  

4.  With another outstanding performance today for Wichita----4 shutout IP/ 6 K's by Canterino-----I'm hoping mgmt is taking a cautious approach with him.  IMO, he needs to stay pitching in Wichita late into the summer with a possible callup to SP.

5.  Is there any talk of moving/promoting Christian Encarnacion-Strand in near future to AA?  He continues to rake and impress at High A Cedar Rapids.  How much more does he have to prove there?

[JimPohlad1]

14 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Theo: Very nice summary of games throughout our system today.  

A few questions-------for you or others closely following our prospects:

1.  I know only a few games for Lewis back in SP--------but am I correct that Lewis has played 2 of 3 at SS with the other being a start in LF on Saturday?

2.  Has Coulombe already been re-activated to Twins?  If so, has Megill been demoted back to SP?

3.  My main question:  Is is time for Twins mgmt. to DFA Drew Strotman?  After another poor outing today...1 IP....3 hits...3 ER......his ERA has ballooned to 9.72.  Ugh!  Don't have a strong candidate to add at this time, but with Cano's awful performance in KC, which deserves a demotion, an argument can be made to promote Ian Hamilton.  Albeit a small sample size----8 games------Hamilton does have a tidy 1,08 ERA with a K/BB rate of 13-4.  

4.  With another outstanding performance today for Wichita----4 shutout IP/ 6 K's by Canterino-----I'm hoping mgmt is taking a cautious approach with him.  IMO, he needs to stay pitching in Wichita late into the summer with a possible callup to SP.

5.  Is there any talk of moving/promoting Christian Encarnacion-Strand in near future to AA?  He continues to rake and impress at High A Cedar Rapids.  How much more does he have to prove there?

We just DFA’ed Vallimont finally and Coloumbe is back but Strotman is still pretty young. His numbers aren’t too encouraging but actually better than last year before today. He’s still more than two years younger than most of the team in St Paul. 
 

CES has to prove he can field. 11 errors at third this season??? I dislike power hitters that can’t field at such low levels. 

[FlyingFinn]

24 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

  I know only a few games for Lewis back in SP--------but am I correct that Lewis has played 2 of 3 at SS with the other being a start in LF on Saturday?

Lewis has played 4 games after being sent down - SS, 3B, LF and SS. Interestingly, he is 6 for 8 while playing SS and 0 for 9 with 5 strikeouts in the other two positions.

With Vallimont DFA'ed, Strotman can't be far behind when we need to DFA someone. He hardly ever pitches a clean inning when I look at the box scores.

[Old Twins Cap]

9 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Lewis has played 4 games after being sent down - SS, 3B, LF and SS. Interestingly, he is 6 for 8 while playing SS and 0 for 9 with 5 strikeouts in the other two positions.

With Vallimont DFA'ed, Strotman can't be far behind when we need to DFA someone. He hardly ever pitches a clean inning when I look at the box scores.

Is Strotman on the 40- man roster?

[RJA]

Nice summary, Theo.  I like that TD rotates the minor league report around its writers as each of you has a little different take.  

Three thoughts.  First, it was great to see Festa perform well in his first appearance after being promoted.  He looked good to my untrained eye with the fastball running to 98 and a nice slider--he struck out the first batter he faced with a great slider.  He is another guy who could rise fast.

Second, I agree with what everyone said about Canterino.  He looked great once again.  I am sure the Twins will be careful with him, but boy, I think he could pitch at Target Field right now.  Great stuff.

Finally, it is nice to see Coulombe back on the mound.  He has very quietly done a good job for the Twins out of the bullpen.  

[Major League Ready]

10 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Theo: Very nice summary of games throughout our system today.  

A few questions-------for you or others closely following our prospects:

5.  Is there any talk of moving/promoting Christian Encarnacion-Strand in near future to AA?  He continues to rake and impress at High A Cedar Rapids.  How much more does he have to prove there?

Actually, CES started off very hot but has not been very good in May.   (.217 / .304 / .391 )  I was hoping he was the 2022 version of Jose Miranda and there is plenty of time for that to happen.  Unfortunately, he is not looking like a guy who should be promoted at the moment.

[Major League Ready]

59 minutes ago, Old Twins Cap said:

Is Strotman on the 40- man roster?

Yes

[Theo Tollefson]

10 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Theo: Very nice summary of games throughout our system today.  

A few questions-------for you or others closely following our prospects:

1.  I know only a few games for Lewis back in SP--------but am I correct that Lewis has played 2 of 3 at SS with the other being a start in LF on Saturday?

2.  Has Coulombe already been re-activated to Twins?  If so, has Megill been demoted back to SP?

3.  My main question:  Is is time for Twins mgmt. to DFA Drew Strotman?  After another poor outing today...1 IP....3 hits...3 ER......his ERA has ballooned to 9.72.  Ugh!  Don't have a strong candidate to add at this time, but with Cano's awful performance in KC, which deserves a demotion, an argument can be made to promote Ian Hamilton.  Albeit a small sample size----8 games------Hamilton does have a tidy 1,08 ERA with a K/BB rate of 13-4.  

4.  With another outstanding performance today for Wichita----4 shutout IP/ 6 K's by Canterino-----I'm hoping mgmt is taking a cautious approach with him.  IMO, he needs to stay pitching in Wichita late into the summer with a possible callup to SP.

5.  Is there any talk of moving/promoting Christian Encarnacion-Strand in near future to AA?  He continues to rake and impress at High A Cedar Rapids.  How much more does he have to prove there?

1. Lewis played a game at third this weekend and I believe that was on Saturday.

2. Coulombe will be reactivated today, can't say for certain if it will be Megill or Cano who gets sent down.

3. Strotman has not been doing well, no. He is still on the 40-man roster but it is hard to say what his future is.

4. Don't worry, Canterino was in consideration yesterday but since he's a top 20 prospect for Twins Daily, I wanted to give recognition to one of the lesser known names in Festa. 

5. I hope Encarnacion-Strand will get promoted soon but I know as much as you do in that timeline. 

[PDX Twin]

Quote

Royce Lewis 111 mph double, @AKirilloff19 103 mph RBI single, a walk to @ContrerasMark5 followed by a 413 foot, 105 mph off the bat 3-run HR by @curtball28, his fifth of the year, lead 4-0 going to bottom 1

Numbers can be useful, but this is just garbage. It fails to describe what happened in a way that allows the reader to see it. Was the double a line drive or a long fly? Was it into the gap or down the line? These are far more useful bits of info than whether it was 111mph or 91mph. Likewise the single and the homerun by someone named Curt Ball who must be new on the roster. 

I have an Einstein quote above my desk to restrain my quantitative propensities: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

[chpettit19]

8 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

Numbers can be useful, but this is just garbage. It fails to describe what happened in a way that allows the reader to see it. Was the double a line drive or a long fly? Was it into the gap or down the line? These are far more useful bits of info than whether it was 111mph or 91mph. Likewise the single and the homerun by someone named Curt Ball who must be new on the roster. 

I have an Einstein quote above my desk to restrain my quantitative propensities: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

It's a tweet. They're limited on how many characters they have. It's 1 of dozens they send out during a game. And the name is a link to that player's twitter page. Not much they can do about the restraints of twitter unless they have roughly $44 billion and want to buy twitter.

[darwin22]

13 hours ago, JimPohlad1 said:

We just DFA’ed Vallimont finally and Coloumbe is back but Strotman is still pretty young. His numbers aren’t too encouraging but actually better than last year before today. He’s still more than two years younger than most of the team in St Paul. 
 

CES has to prove he can field. 11 errors at third this season??? I dislike power hitters that can’t field at such low levels. 

Thanks for the update.  Was unaware that Vallimont was dfa'ed, which is a good thing.  I "think" he was on 40 man, if so, do you (or others) know if Twins filled his slot?

As for CES, I was unaware of his defensive issues.  That absolutely needs to improve before getting a promotion.

[chpettit19]

17 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Thanks for the update.  Was unaware that Vallimont was dfa'ed, which is a good thing.  I "think" he was on 40 man, if so, do you (or others) know if Twins filled his slot?

As for CES, I was unaware of his defensive issues.  That absolutely needs to improve before getting a promotion.

I believe the move was Vallimont DFA and Megill taking the 40-man spot.

[jmlease1]

13 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Lewis has played 4 games after being sent down - SS, 3B, LF and SS. Interestingly, he is 6 for 8 while playing SS and 0 for 9 with 5 strikeouts in the other two positions.

With Vallimont DFA'ed, Strotman can't be far behind when we need to DFA someone. He hardly ever pitches a clean inning when I look at the box scores.

It's probably just SSS noise, but it's not unreasonable to wonder if his relative comfort levels plays into it.

Love seeing good outings from Canterino; the talent is there, the stuff is there, he just need starts and health.

[h2oface]

5 hours ago, PDX Twin said:

Numbers can be useful, but this is just garbage. It fails to describe what happened in a way that allows the reader to see it. Was the double a line drive or a long fly? Was it into the gap or down the line? These are far more useful bits of info than whether it was 111mph or 91mph. Likewise the single and the homerun by someone named Curt Ball who must be new on the roster. 

I have an Einstein quote above my desk to restrain my quantitative propensities: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

I just want to thank Theo and all that write the updates, and encourage them to continue in their own style, let them know they are appreciated, and I, for one, don't see any numbers or other info they chose to report as "garbage".

[h2oface]

Watching the pitching for the last month in AAA, it is amazing the Twins can get any help there. The overall pitching, with a few exceptions, has been horrible at our highest minor league level. Strotman perhaps needs demoted even.

So far, Austin Martin seems highly overrated.

[FlyingFinn]

The first of many reinforcements to come has arrived in St. Paul. Spencer Steer has been called up from Wichita.

[2wins87]

20 hours ago, PDX Twin said:

Numbers can be useful, but this is just garbage. It fails to describe what happened in a way that allows the reader to see it. Was the double a line drive or a long fly? Was it into the gap or down the line? These are far more useful bits of info than whether it was 111mph or 91mph. Likewise the single and the homerun by someone named Curt Ball who must be new on the roster. 

I have an Einstein quote above my desk to restrain my quantitative propensities: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

It's a somewhat new way of looking at things, but 111 mph off the bat is meaningful to teams and also many fans these days.

A very basic rubric:

100+ mph batted ball: well hit

110+ mph: crushed

The launch angle also matters. The fact that it was a double and not HR tells you it wasn't a fly ball. Probably a line drive, or possibly a sharp one hopper down the line. Sure other info could be useful, but I already know he hit the ball extremely hard and I have a pretty good idea of what kind of hit it was.

Also, hate to break it to you but that quote is almost certainly misattributed. Probably Gandhi... maybe Marx.