Twins Minor League Report (7/7): Delays Drag Down Night

[Ted Schwerzler]

Today prospects Spencer Steer and Matt Wallner were announced as Futures Game participants prior to their contests. Unfortunately weather caused issues for both Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers, although St. Paul did come out with a win.

Transactions:

• Spencer Steer and Matt Wallner named to Futures Game roster.

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 5, Louisville 4
Box Score

Star pitching prospect Jordan Balazovic got the start tonight for St. Paul. He went just two innings throwing 49 pitches. Balazovic gave up three runs on six hits while striking out three. This is now the fifth straight start in which Balazovic has been limited to less than 50 pitches.

Tim Beckham, who has been red hot since joining the Saints, started the scoring with a solo blast in the top of the 1st inning. After giving up three runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, St. Paul had work to do. Caleb Hamilton doubled home Michael Helman in the 6th inning to bring the good guys back within one, and then Helman drove in Jake Cave on an 8th inning sacrifice fly to tie it. Standing on third, Braden Bishop raced home after a passed ball and the Saints had regained the lead.

Providing a bit of breathing room, Bishop singled in the top of the 9th inning to score Elliot Soto and give St. Paul a two-run lead. That was necessary as a Louisville solo shot in the 9th inning brought the lead back down to one.

Beckham and Helman had two-hit nights for the Saints while Ronny Henriquez was great in relief working four scoreless innings and striking out four.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Amarillo 6, Wichita 3
Box Score

Sawyer Gipson-Long took the ball tonight for Wichita and worked four innings. Amarillo hit him around a bit as the Turbo Tubs starter gave up five runs on nine hits. Gipson-Long did avoid free passes while fanning four.

Former Twins backstop Juan Centeno started the damage when he hit a solo shot in the 2nd inning. From there it would be 5-0 before Wichita got on the board. Playing as the Turbo Tubs tonight, Chris Williams erased the zero with his 10th homer of the season. Leobaldo Cabrera then singled to drive in Andrew Bechtold and make it a three-run game.

After giving up a 7th inning solo shot, the Turbo Tubs found themselves behind by four runs and the only comeback they could muster was a wild pitch allowing Wallner to scamper home after a leadoff double in the 9th inning. Seven of the nine Wichita batters recorded hits tonight, but Cole Sturgeon and Matt Wallner were the only batters to have two.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Postponed

The Kernels game was postponed tonight due to wet field conditions. It will be played as part of a double header on Saturday.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Tampa 3, Fort Myers 2 (F/6)
Box Score

Originally scheduled for a double header with two 7-inning games, the Mighty Mussels had another weather delay tonight that changed things to one 9-inning affair. Jaylen Nowlin drew the start for Fort Myers tonight and worked four innings of three-hit baseball. He did allow three runs but posted four strikeouts while walking two.

The Mighty Mussels waited out a delay only to find themselves playing just six innings after all. Keoni Cavaco smacked his 5th dinger of the season, driving in Noah Cardenas, to make it 2-0 in the top of the 2nd inning. Unfortunately, that was the lone production for Fort Myers, and a three-run 5th inning for Tampa did them in.

Five hits were scattered throughout the lineup tonight, but three of them went for extra bases with Kala’i Rosario recording a triple.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Orioles 6, FCL Twins 4
Box Score

Miguel Sano played first base today for the FCL Twins and went 1-for-3 with a run scored. He also struck out once. Sano continues to progress through what’s expected to be a lengthy rehab assignment. Yonardy Soto, Ricardo Olivar, and Fredy Michel all had two-hit games.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 8, DSL Phillies Red 3
Box Score

Yasser Mercedes had a three-hit game with a double while Isaac Pena was 4-for-5 in the contest. The Twins pounded out 16 hits and tagged each of the three different Phillies pitchers for multiple runs.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Michael Helman (St. Paul) - 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, K

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:

#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 2.0 IP,, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-4, BB, 2 K
#9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 1-3
#13 - Ronny Hendriquez (St. Paul) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 2-4, 2B, R, BB, K
#16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-4, BB, 3K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:05PM CST) - RHP Aaron Sanchez
Amarillo @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - LHP Blayne Enlow
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - RHP Sean Mooney
Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) - TBD

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

 

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[Rosterman]

Let's make Henriquez a long-relief arm!

 

[Sielk]

Great report, as always. What do you know about José Rodríguez? I feel like I notice him in the box score every game.

I mean, it's only 23 games in the DSL and you don't want to overreact to that. But he is also one of the younger players of the most recent class (born June 2005, just turned 17) and that's quite a start he has had, especially since so many international players seem to struggle in their first taste of pro ball.

In those 23 games he's a decent AVG and OBP and six homers, which seems like remarkable power for a kid that young. K% is also reasonable. Maybe someone to keep an eye on?

Meanwhile, at AAA... Is Ronny Henríquez finally turning a corner? That would be such a positive development after he and Balazovic got absolutely destroyed in every start for most of the season so far (and for Balazovic that's still true, unfortunately). Fingers crossed!

[chpettit19]

What is up with Balazovic? Has anyone been watching the games? Is he hurt? Can he just not locate stuff? Why is he so bad now?

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

What is up with Balazovic? Has anyone been watching the games? Is he hurt? Can he just not locate stuff? Why is he so bad now?

He's had a really disappointing year. I know he was battling an injury early (knee?) and I'm guessing adjusting to that has thrown off his mechanics, but it's still not great. This is why you need 10 good prospects to find 5 (3?) guys to fill a rotation. Still too early to give up on him, because the talent is there, but he was someone we all thought was going to be pushing for a shot in MLB this season and right now it looks like he'll never see Target Field this year.

Another fine outing for Wallner, guess being named to the Futures Game didn't get in his head! Pleased to see his success.

[MN_ExPat]

42 minutes ago, JLease said:

He's had a really disappointing year. I know he was battling an injury early (knee?) and I'm guessing adjusting to that has thrown off his mechanics, but it's still not great. This is why you need 10 good prospects to find 5 (3?) guys to fill a rotation. Still too early to give up on him, because the talent is there, but he was someone we all thought was going to be pushing for a shot in MLB this season and right now it looks like he'll never see Target Field this year.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

What is up with Balazovic? Has anyone been watching the games? Is he hurt? Can he just not locate stuff? Why is he so bad now?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing myself.  Something seems "off" with him, and I'm really hoping that it isn't some internal "demons" that he's battling in addition to any possible physical ails.  Lord knows those can destroy a player's soul even faster than an injury.

I for one will continue to say a prayer for him that he can find himself and stay healthy (mentally and physically) because he seems like a genuinely good kid.

[Alex Schieferdecker]

I don't understand what the Twins are trying to do with Balazovic.

If he's hurt, why not let him rest? If he's struggling for other reasons, why not let him recover his form in Wichita?

What is being gained by sending him out every week to get shelled at AAA? Feels like they keep trying the same thing and hoping for different results, but the results have been consistent and bad.