Minor League Report (7/31): Big Game Jermaine Shines, Sabato Smashes Two Homers

[David Youngs]

Offense was on display across the Twins' minor league organization on Sunday, leading to wins for all four teams that played. Read all about Jermaine Palacios' walk-off, Aaron Sabato's monster day, Carlos Aguiar's near-cycle, and much more!

TRANSACTIONS

• Minnesota Twins sent LHP Caleb Thielbar on a rehab assignment to St. Paul Saints.

SAINTS SENTINAL
St. Paul 8, Iowa 4 (10 innings)
Box Score

Ice in his veins. 

Knotted at four with two outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning, "Big Game" Jermaine Palacios broke on the draw. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Palacios launched a ball over the left-center field wall and onto the outfield concourse to walk off the Saints in the series finale against Iowa. 

Palacios wasn't the only offensive star on the day; St. Paul mounted a crucial three-run third inning thanks to an RBI single from Spencer Steer and a two-run homer courtesy of Jake Cave . The 29-year-old may have gray hair on that luscious beard, but his swing looked as ageless as ever over the past week. Cave hit safely in all six games against the I-Cubs and recorded multi-hit performances in three of those six games. His whopping on-base streak may have ended earlier this month but Cave has recorded an impressive July, slashing .263/.388/.563 with six homers, 18 RBI, and 17 runs. 

Palacios' statement of a game didn't just feature his walk-off grand slam. Trailing 4-3 in the eighth innings, Palacios lined a double to right field that scored Cave from second base. 

Palacios and Cave certainly stole the show at the plate, yet Sunday's matinee featured a flurry of quality pitching performances. Starting pitcher Ariel Jurado allowed just one run on three hits while striking out seven through four innings. The Aguadulce, Panama native was perfect in the walks category and his seven strikeouts were a season-high. 

Making his first appearance upon return from the IL Twins' bullpen staple Caleb Thielbar tossed a perfect fifth inning, drawing a groundout and pop out along with a strikeout. 

After a pair of scoreless innings from Tyler Thornburg and Ian Hamilton, RHP Michael Feliz put the nail in the coffin for the Saints, pitching a perfect ninth and tenth inning. 

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WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Northwest Arkansas 3
Box Score

Speed kills. 

Scoring off of two wild pitches, Deshawn Keirsey Jr. touted a multi-hit game with a triple to propel the Surge to a Sunday afternoon victory over Northwest Arkansas in Wichita. 

Keirsey Jr. got the party started in the second inning when he took a 2-1 pitch to right field for a leadoff triple (3). Just two batters later, Keirsey Jr. scooted home when a pitch to Ernie Yake squeaked to the right of the Travelers' catcher. 

Wichita remained silent until putting together a massive four-run eighth inning. Keirsey Jr. led off that inning with a walk and scored on another wild pitch. The mishap wasn't Northwest Arkansas' only in the inning: on a double steal from Edouard Julien and Yake, a botched throw allowed Yake to score from third. Chris Williams and Yake both tallied RBI singles to contribute to the four-run frenzy. 

Keirsey Jr. wasn't too shabby in the field either, robbing an extra-base hit to record the final out of the sixth inning. 

Highly-touted pitching prospect Simeon Woods-Richardson returned to the bump for the first time since June 11, pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. Woods-Richardson allowed four hits and walked three while striking out four. Not a bad first day back at the office for a guy who will certainly play a critical role for the organization's pitching staff in years to come. 

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KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 9, Wisconsin 2
Box Score

Runs were the main course for the Kernels on Sunday afternoon in Cedar Rapids. Thanks to a three-hit, two-homer, five RBI showing from slugger Aaron Sabato, the Kernels notched their 59th win of the season. 

Sabato got things started right away with a two-run shot in the first inning to put Cedar Rapids on the board. Just four pitches later, Yunior Severino launched a ball over the center-field wall to give the Kernels a 3-0 lead. Sabato struck again in the third inning with an RBI double that scored Jake Rucker (who also scored on Sabato's first-inning bomb). 

The party continued in the fifth. With Rucker on base, Sabato took a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall to give the Kernels a 7-0 lead. 

Sunday continued a red-hot July for Sabato. Hitting safely in seven of his last eight games, Sabato is slashing .273/.375/.709 in the month of July. Sabato now has two three-hit games on the season and Sunday marked the first time that Sabato has mashed two homers and a double in his time with Cedar Rapids. 

Cedar Rapids used five pitches to defeat the Timber Rattlers. Starting pitcher Orlando Rodriguez pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out one. Red-hot Bobby Milacki (W, 5-0) followed Rodriguez with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball while striking out two. Milacki now has an impressive 1.97 ERA on the season. 

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MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 8, Tampa 6
Box Score

Despite falling to an early 3-0 deficit, the Mussels used six extra-base hits to power past the Tarpons to cap off the week in the Sunshine State. Five Mighty Mussels tallied multi-hit games and left-fielder Carlos Aguiar tallied a double, triple, and homer in Sunday's victory. 

Aguiar put the Mussels on the board in the fourth inning with a solo homer on a 1-1 pitch. Misael Urbina followed suit with a two-run RBI single to knot the game at three. 

The fun came in the sixth. Leading off for Fort Myers, Aguiar punched a 1-1 pitch to right field for a leadoff triple that eventually turned into a 'little league home run' when Tampa's second baseman botched a throw on the relay, allowing Aguiar to score. The play was critical, as Fort Myers' next three batters struck out. 

It may not count as a homer, but hey, a run's a run, no matter how it happens!

Knotted in a dog fight, the Mussels provided enough insurance in the eighth inning to secure the win. Following an RBI single from Daniel Ozoria, Urbina launched a two-run homer over the left-field wall to seal the deal for Fort Myers. 

The Mussels went all out from the bump in their victory over the Tarpons, using six different pitchers. Starting pitcher Jordan Carr lasted two innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Reliever Niklas Rimmel (W, 4-1) was rock-solid on the back end of the game, pitching 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball while walking two and striking out three. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day: Aaron Sabato (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, 2 HR, 2B, 3 R, 5 RBI
Pitcher of the Day: Ariel Jurado (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed.

# 5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) 2.2 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K
#6 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R
#12 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-4, 2 K
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-2, R, 3 BB, K
#16 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Wichita) - 1-for-2, BB, K
 

MONDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles 11:00am CST
DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins 9:00am CST

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[FlyingFinn]

Sabato is the minor league version of Miguel Sano's prior years. Start out dreadfully slow and then get hot in the middle of summer. Last year was the same thing for Sabato.

Urbina and Severino continue their recent hot streaks. Twins radio announcers said SWR's IL stint was Covid.

I'm always reading things into the box scores, usually wrong, but ECS gets taken out of the game for a pinch runner. Injury or is he getting traded..............or just strategy I haven't seen used with him before?

[blindeke]

Is Theilbar the only player to have played for both the unaffiliated Saints and the AAA Saints?

[tony&rodney]

Ok, so we all knew Jermaine Palacios was a pure glove shortstop and we also saw how excellent his defensive skills are for a brief time earlier this year with the Twins. But, did anyone predict the power, batting average, and OPS? JP has torn up the pitchers in AAA for a while now. Is it possible that this guy has figured it all out and is going to flourish as an MLB shortstop?

[tony&rodney]

56 minutes ago, blindeke said:

Is Theilbar the only player to have played for both the unaffiliated Saints and the AAA Saints?

I was curious about that too. Isn't is something how Thielbar has reinvented himself and stayed relevant?

[ashbury]

I just learned a new phrase, "broke on the draw." 

Except, I don't know what it means. 

Google was surprisingly unhelpful, if it's a card playing or horse racing idiom like I was expecting.  Just tie-breaker?

FWIW the phrase showed up a bunch of times, as news aggregators relayed your TD article already.

[dougd]

Enlow's 3IP, 5K, 0 walks, 0 runs was encouraging.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Ok, so we all knew Jermaine Palacios was a pure glove shortstop and we also saw how excellent his defensive skills are for a brief time earlier this year with the Twins. But, did anyone predict the power, batting average, and OPS? JP has torn up the pitchers in AAA for a while now. Is it possible that this guy has figured it all out and is going to flourish as an MLB shortstop?

Palacios is no longer a pure glove shortstop. He carried an OPS north of .800 almost every month last year in AA. Also, the fielding reports and stats reflect Palacios as a potentially acceptable shortstop, not a stud there anymore. In any case, I'd like to see him get extended playing time considering he's playing on his 2nd year of MiLB free agency and the Twins burned one of his options this year. It'd sure be nice to find out whether or not Palacios is a serviceable MLB shortstop.

[bean5302]

Woods-Richardson gave up 2 hits and 3 walks rather than 4 hits. He had 4 strike outs. That said 5 batters put on base in 2.2 innings 1.87 WHIP isn't a smooth start. Good news Woods-Richardson was apparently able to consistently work out of trouble and make pitches when he needed to, though.

[bean5302]

Sabato's walk rate was down to 10.2% in July with a corresponding drop off in his K rate to 28.8%. His power is the real deal, but with so much swing and miss in his game and no defensive value, I don't know. It's hard to get back on the bandwagon. Based on his comments and previous walk and strike out numbers, it feels like he's feasting on mistake pitches, and those mistakes get less and less frequent as the levels pick up.

[stringer bell]

14 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Palacios is no longer a pure glove shortstop. He carried an OPS north of .800 almost every month last year in AA. Also, the fielding reports and stats reflect Palacios as a potentially acceptable shortstop, not a stud there anymore. In any case, I'd like to see him get extended playing time considering he's playing on his 2nd year of MiLB free agency and the Twins burned one of his options this year. It'd sure be nice to find out whether or not Palacios is a serviceable MLB shortstop.

I don’t think the Twins burned an option. His time in the majors was as a COVID list replacement IIRC. I think there is a reasonable chance that he’ll be added to the 40-man roster and given a chance to make the 2023 Twins if Correa opts out. 
 

In the SSS of both players’ major league time, I liked Palacios’ defense better than Royce Lewis’  defense at short. 

[Omgbenji]

Whoa, out two months with Covid for SWR? Yikes. 
 

also, as good a game as sabato had, I still think he’s a non prospect. How can you be so “hot” for a month and only average .273? This dude can’t put the bat on the ball. He’ll get carved to pieces as he advances. And, only two 3-hit games?

[MplsFan]

Ok I’ll bite: who is Ariel Jurado?

[Seth Stohs]

8 hours ago, dougd said:

Enlow's 3IP, 5K, 0 walks, 0 runs was encouraging.

He had a long bout with Covid. So did Wood Richardson. It's just great seeing them back on the mound. 

[roger]

Agree it is great having both Enlow and SWR back pitching.  Excellent 3 innings from Enlow.

Will second those comments above about Palacios.  Have been saying for several weeks that should Correa opt out, as expected, I put JP at short until Lewis is healthy.  Then let the two battle it out for the starting job.  Who knows, maybe JP will end up being a long term shortstop with a great glove who hits around .270ish.  That works for most teams.  In any case, the kid has to be added to the 40-man come November.

[Steve Lein]

"Highly-touted pitching prospect Simeon Woods-Richardson returned to the bump for the first time since June 11, pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. Woods-Richardson allowed four hits and walked three while striking out four. Not a bad first day back at the office for a guy who will certainly play a critical role for the organization's pitching staff in years to come. "

Both Blayne Enlow and Simeon Woods Richardson returned to the mound earlier in the week on Tuesday, as an FYI.

[bean5302]

11 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I don’t think the Twins burned an option. His time in the majors was as a COVID list replacement IIRC. I think there is a reasonable chance that he’ll be added to the 40-man roster and given a chance to make the 2023 Twins if Correa opts out. 
 

In the SSS of both players’ major league time, I liked Palacios’ defense better than Royce Lewis’  defense at short. 

Transactions history show him added to the 40 man and optioned to AAA.

[Mike Sixel]

I always had doubts about Wallner, but this is worse than I figured. Is he pressing?

[RpR]

Palacios wasn't the only offensive star on the day; St. Paul mounted a crucial three-run third inning thanks to an RBI single from Spencer Steer and a two-run homer courtesy of Jake Cave . The 29-year-old may have gray hair on that luscious beard, but his swing looked as ageless as ever over the past week. Cave hit safely in all six games against the I-Cubs and recorded multi-hit performances in three of those six games. His whopping on-base streak may have ended earlier this month but Cave has recorded an impressive July, slashing .263/.388/.563 with six homers, 18 RBI, and 17 runs. 

[FlyingFinn]

32 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Transactions history show him added to the 40 man and optioned to AAA.

Covid related. Didn't count as using up an option.

[bean5302]

48 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Covid related. Didn't count as using up an option.

Can you link to that rule? It allowed Palacios to be moved off the 40 man without exposing him to waivers. I didn't find the part which also nullified using the option. The COVID protocols are a mess and really should be kicked to the curb.

[tony&rodney]

It is fun to follow the minor leagues. When i lived in Florida years ago i took the kids to Florida State League games on a regular basis.

I do subscribe to milb.com but don't watch very many games or some might say that i watch too many.

Sabato and Cavaco are different players but really a damnation of the usage of high daft picks for those years. Still, we all know that drafts are tough sledding. Hopefully some of the drafted guys work out, but I'm beginning to think that Palacios is the biggest prospect in the system for 2023.