Twins Minor League Report (7/9): Sano Shows Power, Extra Inning Thrillers

[Andrew Mahlke]

Miguel Sano hit the first two home runs of his rehab assignment. Marco Raya was on the bump again. Will Holland made one of the best catches you may see in the Twins system all year. St. Paul and Wichita each played extra-inning games. Read about all of this and more in Saturday’s Minor League Report!

 

Let’s see what happened this Saturday in the Twins organization.

TRANSACTIONS

• 2B Nash Knight was assigned to Wichita from Round Rock Express (Rangers organization)
• RHP Luis Rijo was assigned to FCL from Cedar Rapids, after being removed from the 60-Day IL. 
• OF Misael Urbina was assigned to Fort Myers from FCL Twins

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 9, Louisville 10
Box Score

The Saints lost a heartbreaker on Saturday night. This game had so many lead changes; it was unfortunate to see St. Paul come out on the losing end.

Aaron Sanchez took the hill for the Saints in this one. He threw six innings, allowing three runs while striking out four, keeping the Saints in the game and giving them a chance to win. Sanchez allowed three early runs to Louisville, so the Saints were in an early hole.

Michael Helman singled in a run to give the Saints their first run of the night and cut the deficit to two. A few innings later, John Andreoli hit a solo shot, his seventh of the year, to cut the deficit down to just one run heading into the bottom of the sixth.

The Saints brought in recently DFA’d reliever Juan Minaya to try to keep it a one-run game heading into the eighth inning. Unfortunately, he allowed four runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the Saints down by five runs, seeming like an insurmountable deficit.

With six outs to go and needing five runs, the Saints started a comeback. Tim Beckham, Mark Contreras, and Jermaine Palacios all had two-out RBI singles in the top of the eighth, and Caleb Hamilton hit an RBI double to close the gap to just one run.

After Drew Strotman threw a scoreless top of the eighth, the Saints tied the game in the top of the ninth when Jake Cave hit a sac-fly to score Andreoli. Evan Sisk continued to have an outstanding season when he threw a scoreless ninth to bring his season ERA down to 1.01 in 35 innings.

The Saints took advantage of the runner on second base rule in the tenth when Curtis Terry doubled in the go-ahead run, and Roy Morales scored a run with a single to give the Saints a two-run lead with three outs to go.

Ian Hamilton came on for the tenth and got two quick outs before an RBI single brought the game to 9-8. Louisville brought on a pinch hitter who quickly got to two strikes but hit a walk-off homer to give Louisville the come-from-behind victory.

Helman, Terry, and Andreoli all had multi-hit performances to lead the offense in this game as the Saints fall to 40-42 on the season.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Amarillo 6
Box Score

In another extra-inning affair, the Wichita Wind Surge fell in a heartbreaker to the Amarillo Sod Poodles, 6-3.

Kody Funderburk took the ball for Wichita, and he was excellent once again, throwing five innings without allowing an earned run. He now has a 2.78 ERA in 55 innings in 2022.

Andrew Bechtold started the scoring in the bottom of the fourth when he singled to score Edouard Julien. The RBI was Bechtold’s 30th of the year.

After Funderburk committed an error, the Sod Poodles capitalized with a sac-fly to tie the game at one in the top of the fifth. However, the game didn’t stay like that for long, as Wind Surge newcomer Nash Knight blasted a homer into the left-center field bullpen just one half-inning later.

In the top of the seventh, Cody Laweryson allowed his first home run of the year in 45 innings to former Twin catcher Juan Centeno. The game remained deadlocked at two through the ninth inning, thanks to two scoreless innings of relief from Alex Scherff.

In extra innings, the Wind Surge did not fare well as Melvi Acosta allowed three hits and two walks, which led to the Sod Poodles scoring four runs to take a four-run lead with three outs to play.

Julien hit an RBI single in the bottom of the tenth, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Sod Poodles (great name, by the way) as Wichita fell 6-3 to bring their record to 40-39.

KERNELS NUGGETS 
GAME 1
Cedar Rapids 5, Quad Cities 1
Box Score

The Kernels were in control in game one of this doubleheader as they cruised to an easy 5-1 victory.

Sean Mooney started on the hill for Cedar Rapids, going three innings, allowing one unearned run while striking out three.

Alerick Soularie and Yunior Severino homered in their first at-bats to give the Kernels an early 2-0 lead. The homers were Soularie’s ninth and Severino’s fourth of the season.

In the top of the fourth, Will Holland made one of the year's best catches. Rubendy Jaquez hit a scorching line drive to center, and Holland initially didn’t get a good jump but made up for it with incredible speed and a great diving catch to prevent extra bases.

The Kernels tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-run double from Seth Gray and an RBI single from Wander Javier to increase the lead to four.

Orlando Rodriguez got the win for the Kernels, throwing 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief while striking out three batters. The win was Rodriguez’s first of the year.

Soularie and Gray each had multi-hit games to lead the offense to an easy win to at least guarantee a doubleheader split.

GAME 2
Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 5
Box Score

The Kernels had a rough go of things in the second game of this double-header, as they couldn’t get much going offensively after a tough start.

The Twins Daily June Minor League Pitcher of the Month Aaron Rozek made a start for Cedar Rapids in game two. He had a rough start to the game, allowing five first-inning runs before eventually settling down. He went three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out three.

This first-inning deficit was too much for the Kernels to overcome, as they could only muster up two runs on three hits in seven innings for the loss. Wander Javier, Kyler Fedko, and Jeferson Morales picked up the lone hits for Cedar Rapids in a pretty uneventful game.

Bradley Hanner, Tyler Palm, and Matt Mullenbach were great out of the bullpen for Cedar Rapids, combining for four scoreless innings with ten strikeouts as they looked dominant.

The Kernels had to settle for a doubleheader split on the day, and their record fell to a very impressive 48-32.

MIGHTY MUSSELS MATTERS 
Fort Myers 8, Tampa 3
Box Score

The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels continued their winning ways Saturday, picking up a sizable victory over Tampa by a score of 8-3. Twins Daily’s #9 prospect Marco Raya made a start on the mound for the Mighty Mussels, and he had his usual strikeout stuff, going four innings while allowing two runs and striking out six. Raya has 52 strikeouts in 43 innings at Fort Myers this year and has yet to turn 20 years old.

The Mighty Mussels needed a response, with Raya giving up two early runs. They got a big one in the top of the fourth when Keoni Cavaco hit a solo shot, and Carlos Aguiar hit a two-run shot to give them the lead.

After taking the lead, the Mighty Mussels never looked back, outscoring Tampa 5-1 the rest of the game to coast to an 8-3 win. Aguiar added his second homer of the game in the top of the eighth inning to add a little extra insurance.

Pierson Ohl got the win in relief of Raya, throwing five innings of one-run ball with ten strikeouts as he completely baffled Tampa.

Aguiar went 3-for-4 with a pair of homers to lead the offense in this one. Cavaco, Mikey Perez, and Rubel Cespedes all had two-hit performances to add to the Fort Myers offensive show. Fort Myers improves to 44-32 on the year with the win.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 12, FCL Red Sox 9
Box Score

Rehabbing first baseman Miguel Sano played his fifth game with the FCL Twins and had his best performance, going 2-for-4 with two homers and not striking out. This is excellent progress for Sano, who the Twins hope can significantly impact the lineup after the all-star break.

Ricardo Olivar added three hits to lead the offense, while Breilin Ramirez and Danny De Andrade each added two hits.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 4, DSL Cubs Red 0
Box Score

Cesar Lares was dominant on the mound for the DSL Twins, throwing five scoreless innings while striking out six batters to pick up the first win of his professional career.

On the offensive side, Yasser Mercedes hit his first professional homer in the first inning of this game, while Rafael Cruz continued his offensive tear by hitting his fourth homer of the year. Cruz is now hitting .333/.441/.613 (1.054) with four homers in 75 at-bats this year.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl (Fort Myers) - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K
Hitter of the Day – Carlos Aguiar (Fort Myers) - 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR

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:
#8 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, R, BB
#9 - Marco Raya (Fort Myers) - 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 BB
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
#16 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, BB

NEXT DAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (12:05 PM CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (5-2, 4.98 ERA)
Amarillo @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) - RHP Daniel Gossett (1-1, 1.96 ERA) 
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 PM CST) - RHP John Stankiewicz (2-4, 6.32 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Tampa (11:00 AM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games!

Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!

 

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[mikelink45]

Has anyone seen Aaron Sabata lately, I understand we once chose him in the first round?  

I am looking for a lot of movement in the Twins system and am glad Steer and Wallner are getting recognition.

[Rosterman]

Who will Sano replace on the 26-man roster is the question?

[roger]

Good to see Sano getting his swing back.  Assume he will move up to the Mussels for a few games before heading north to St. Paul.  
 

Took notice of Olivar the other day and see he had another big game yesterday.  See he played left field and runs well enough to leg out a triple.  Gotta follow a catcher who can both hit and run.

[h2oface]

I see Hamilton is practicing up for a late inning role on the big team........

[puckstopper1]

3 hours ago, Rosterman said:

Who will Sano replace on the 26-man roster is the question?

My thought exactly.  Barring injury there is no room for Sano on the roster unless the Twins drop a pitcher...

[Dman]

4 hours ago, Rosterman said:

Who will Sano replace on the 26-man roster is the question?

That is a good question.  I could see the Twins sending Celestino down as he has options and is a right handed bat and they can use Gordon in center to sub for Buxton at least short term.  Still even if they find room on the 26 man who can he replace in the lineup?  

When the Twins face Lefties they can use Urshela at 3rd, Miranda and 1st and Garlic in the DH spot as he mashes lefties.  When the pitcher is a righty they have Arraez or Kirilloff at 1st and DH with Gordon or Kirilloff in left.  I guess they could maybe use Sano in the DH spot more but there might be better hitters for that spot and it would mean Buxton and Correa wouldn't DH anymore so his bat better be productive.  

He needs to come up hot and stay hot to stay in the lineup and the Twins will lose some flexibility just putting him on the 26 man but they can do it.

[bean5302]

Who does Sano replace? I expect the odd man out will be Celestino. With Gordon and Buxton on the roster and St. Paul just 30 minutes away along with Celestino scuffling at the plate recently, he's probably first on the list to go down. Garlick's 30 years old at this point, he doesn't take walks and has no speed. He's an easy roster cut as well, IMHO.

[bean5302]

Of course, that assumes the Twins don't just DFA Sano. I don't wish him bad luck or any negativity, but Sano has a lot to prove and doesn't have any time to do it. Hitting bombs off Rookie Ball pitchers at least suggests he has his timing back. It's probably just a matter of conditioning at this point and the 20 day rehab assignment is up in 14 days... how much conditioning can you improve in two weeks? I guess a bit, but the best place to improve conditioning is Ft. Myers... where the lowest level of play happens to be. There isn't sufficient time to demonstrate any ability at St. Paul and condition in Ft. Myers.

[Seth Stohs]

13 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Has anyone seen Aaron Sabata lately, I understand we once chose him in the first round?  

I am looking for a lot of movement in the Twins system and am glad Steer and Wallner are getting recognition.

Sabato was placed on the IL on Friday. 

[mikelink45]

2 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Sabato was placed on the IL on Friday. 

Thank you.  He is the selection I question the most. His 214/340/386 line is pretty weak  - I hope it is injury related, but last years 189/365/386 line makes me think he just does not have it like Wallner does. 

[Seth Stohs]

6 hours ago, Rosterman said:

Who will Sano replace on the 26-man roster is the question?

Not even worth worrying about yet. They'll use his full 20 days allowed for rehab, I'm sure. Who knows what will happen in the next 2 1/2 weeks, injury, etc. 

[rv78]

Hopefully he will be included in a package with a prospect or two for bullpen help before the trade deadline. Problem solved.