Twins Minor League Report (8/27): Saints Steal Win in Iowa

[Seth Stohs]

In about a year, the country is going to turn its eyes on Iowa for non-sports reasons. On Saturday night, the Saints were in Iowa and managed to steal a victory against the Cubs. Whitey Herzog would be proud! Wichita's balanced offense made a big comeback, and the late-season rains in Florida wreaked havoc again on Saturday. 

TRANSACTIONS 

• OF Leobaldo Cabrera was activated by Wichita. 
• OF Cole Sturgeon was activated by the Wind Surge and then promoted to the Saints. 
• RHPs Ben Heller and Ariel Jurado were also activated by the Saints. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Iowa 3, St. Paul 6
Box score 

Simeon Woods Richardson took the mound for his second Saints start. In 5 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He also struck out eight batters. He earned his first Triple-A wins. Michael Feliz had one walk and one strike out in 1 1/3 innings. Mario Sanchez gave up a run in the eighth frame, but Brad Peacock locked things down in the ninth for his first Save. He struck out two batters in a perfect inning.  

Power and speed can be a great combination, right? The Saints used both to earn the win. The power? Mark Contreras hit a two-run in the fifth inning to put the Saints in the lead for good. It was his 13th home of the year. The speed? In yesterday’s report, we showed the organization’s leaders in stolen bases. In this game, the Saints added an incredible NINE stolen bases to their season total. Contreras stole two bases to go with his home. Michael Helman, who went 2-for-4 with a walk,  led the way with four stolen bases. John Andreoli also stole two bags, and Matt Wallner added one as well. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Frisco 6, Wichita 8
Box Score 

Lefty Aaron Rozek made the start and gave up four first-inning runs. After a scoreless second inning, the first two batters of the third inning reached. Andrew Cabezas allowed one of the inherited to score, so Rozek’s final lie was five runs on nine hits over two innings. Cabezas, other than the inherited runner that scored, tossed two scoreless frames. Francis Peguero gave up one run on a hit and a walk. He had two strikeouts over his two innings. Jordan Gore pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Casey Legumina came on and struck out three batters in a scoreless eighth frame.  

The Wind Surge had a very balanced offensive attack to put up their eight runs. All nine starters had one hit. No one had two, just one hit for everyone. In the first inning, Yunior Severino hit a two-run homer. In the fifth frame, Jair Camargo hit his ninth Wichita homer. The two each drove in two runs, as did Austin Martin who went 1-for-5. 

With an 8-6 lead going to the bottom of the ninth, Blayne Enlow was brought in for the save opportunity. After a leadoff walk, he struck out two batters on his way to a scoreless inning and his second Save. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Lake County 6, Cedar Rapids 0
Box Score

OF Dylan Neuse hit a double. 

OK, that is it for the Hitters portion of the Kernels report. That’s it. One hit, two walks and 12 strikeouts. 

To the defensive portion of this game. OF Dylan Neuse had two outfield assists in this game, twice throwing out runners at first base. The Kernels also had two errors in the game. 

Lefty Jaylen Nowlin made his second Kernels start. He gave up three runs on four hits (2 homers) over five innings. He walked three and struck out six batters. He was replaced by Sean Mooney who gave up three runs on three hits in an inning. Jon Olsen came on and gave up one run on one hit over the final two innings. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Lakeland 2, Fort Myers 6 (Final-6)
Box Score

As per usual at this time of year, the Weather has been the “Winner” in Florida of late. 

As we mentioned yesterday, Brock Stewart started for the Mussels and went the first two innings. He gave up two runs on just one hit. Michael Boyle pitched a scoreless top of the third inning. 

Noah Cardenas hit a solo home run in the second inning, his ninth of the year. In the bottom of the third inning, Misael Urbina led off with a double. Ben Ross drove him in with a double. One batter later, Ross stole third base and then scored on a Cardenas single. Kala’i Rosario followed with an RBI double, his 20th two-bagger of the season. 

And that’s when the game was delayed by rain. It resumed in Ft. Myers on Saturday afternoon. 

After the second out of the bottom of the third inning was recorded, 2022 draft pick Alec Sayre singled to score Rosario. . Later in the game, the Mussels got one more run on the first professional home run from Tanner Schobel. 

In this game, Noah Cardenas went 3-for-3 with a single, double, and home run. 

When the Mussels took the field, they sent Marco Raya to the mound. Raya gave up a single and then was removed from the game with an injury. We are trying to learn more about the specifics. Malik Barrington came on and worked three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one, hit one, and struck out four batters. 

Then the rains came again. The Mussels held the 6-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings, so the game was called complete. Boyle got the Win, and Barrington recorded the well-earned Save. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Malik Barrington (Ft. Myers) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Noah Cardenas (Ft. Myers) - 3-3, 2B (15), HR (9), 2 R, 2 RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-5, 2 RBI, R
#6 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (St. Paul) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (78 pitches, 55 strikes)
#8 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (left with injury)
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-2, 2 BB, K, R, SB
#14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-3, R, RBI, 3 K
#15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, Save 
#18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, RBI, HR(1), 
#20 - Kala'i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2B(20), RBI, K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Here are the start times and probables for Sunday’s games. 

St. Paul @ Iowa (1:08 PM CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez 
Wichita @ Frisco (6:05 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick 
Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (12:00 PM CST) - TBD 
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (DH starting at 10:00 AM CST) - TBD, RHP Regi Grace 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday's games.

 

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Is Wallner stealing 2nd when his teammate steals third? This is about 7 steals for him on the year and he is supposed to be slow.

Argh! What can happen next to our top pitchers in the minors. Raya - one batter and out he comes.

[mikelink45]

Hate to see Raya injured.  But love the speed, is this a preview of where the Twins are going to go next?  Can Rocco handle speed and stolen bases?  Last night we had a sacrifice - anything is possible.

Is Enlow going to continue to drop.  I remember his high prospect rankings the last couple years and wondered why, I feel like this is a better ranking for him, but if we had not made our recent trades he might be at the bottom of the list. 

[roger]

Seth, the box score links for the Saints and Mussels go to August 25.  Think they all went there yesterday.

Any word on when we will see Prielipp pitch?

[terrydactyls]

For Saints games, does the word "home" now mean both home run and homer?  It was used twice so I assume it wasn't laziness.

[FlyingFinn]

59 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Is Enlow going to continue to drop. 

He has been pithing well, mostly out of the pen in August. Maybe to keep down his innings for the year coming off of surgery?? The Twins have some interesting decisions for the 40 man this winter with 3 guys who have been on this year's 40 man roster all year and not pitched a single pitch for the Twins - Balazovic (pitched horribly in AAA), Henriquez (started out terrible but has improved lately, the youngest of these three), and Enlow (best performance of the three but the least innings (I think) and vs. AA batters). They would have to be projected as pitching for the Twins by the middle of 2023 and I don't see all three of these guys doing that. And the Twins will certainly add Canterino to the 40 man and he probably won't pitch for the Twins all next year.

[mikelink45]

51 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

He has been pithing well, mostly out of the pen in August. Maybe to keep down his innings for the year coming off of surgery?? The Twins have some interesting decisions for the 40 man this winter with 3 guys who have been on this year's 40 man roster all year and not pitched a single pitch for the Twins - Balazovic (pitched horribly in AAA), Henriquez (started out terrible but has improved lately, the youngest of these three), and Enlow (best performance of the three but the least innings (I think) and vs. AA batters). They would have to be projected as pitching for the Twins by the middle of 2023 and I don't see all three of these guys doing that. And the Twins will certainly add Canterino to the 40 man and he probably won't pitch for the Twins all next year.

Thanks for the run down.  I agree with what  you say.  Right now none of the pitchers are ready for the majors.  Canterino is really interesting, but I keep wondering why so many of our young pitchers have so much injury problems. 

[wabene]

Surprising to move Enlow to the pen this late. I would doubt is an innings limit thing. My guess is they want to see if he could be useful in that role for the big club down the stretch. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, roger said:

Seth, the box score links for the Saints and Mussels go to August 25.  Think they all went there yesterday.

Any word on when we will see Prielipp pitch?

Prielipp won't pitch in the regular season. He'll debut in the Instructional League. 

[Seth Stohs]

24 minutes ago, wabene said:

Surprising to move Enlow to the pen this late. I would doubt is an innings limit thing. My guess is they want to see if he could be useful in that role for the big club down the stretch. 

I'm guessing it's an innings thing... I'd be very surprised if he'd be considered for a big-league promotion at this point. 

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Hate to see Raya injured.  But love the speed, is this a preview of where the Twins are going to go next?  Can Rocco handle speed and stolen bases?  Last night we had a sacrifice - anything is possible.

Is Enlow going to continue to drop.  I remember his high prospect rankings the last couple years and wondered why, I feel like this is a better ranking for him, but if we had not made our recent trades he might be at the bottom of the list. 

Heard back from a person with knowledge of the situation... Raya left the game due to "sickness", not injury. I don't know any more details than that, but 1.) hopefully he soon feels better, and 2.) if it's not injury, that's a good thing. 

Rocco was a speed and stolen base guys. My guess is he would love to incorporate that more into the game. It's good to see that the players are being allowed to steal so much in the minors. With the bigger bases coming to the big leagues, there should be more steals in the near future. 

I don't think Enlow will, or should, drop much. I am certain they still see him as a starter, and this year was about keeping him healthy and working, and next year is when he can start being more stringently evaluated for performance. 

[Seth Stohs]

11 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Is Wallner stealing 2nd when his teammate steals third? This is about 7 steals for him on the year and he is supposed to be slow.

Argh! What can happen next to our top pitchers in the minors. Raya - one batter and out he comes.

I'm sure some of Wallner's steals are back-end of double-steals, but he's a pretty good athlete. Not a burner, but kind of sneaky fast... Maybe similar to Corey Koskie, who wasn't a burner, but once he got going, he could run a bit, and one year stole a lot of bags. 

Oh, and I am going to comment this a couple of times so hopefully more people will see it. Heard this morning that Raya was removed from the game last night with a "sickness", not an injury. 

[DocBauer]

All due respect to Cave, who came up with a clutch hit late Saturday, I still can't understand why Helman wasn't brought up either in place of Cave or the recently returned Beckham. He's having the best season of his career,  is an actual OF, (unlike  Beckham), can fill infield spots, and is actually RH.

If the Twins were going to clear spots for  and Beckham, I would have rather seen a young talent like Helman get an opportunity. He might surprise, and he was a better fit need wise than either of the other two.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm guessing Enlow will be a starter at the beginning of next year. 

[mikelink45]

39 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Heard back from a person with knowledge of the situation... Raya left the game due to "sickness", not injury. I don't know any more details than that, but 1.) hopefully he soon feels better, and 2.) if it's not injury, that's a good thing. 

Rocco was a speed and stolen base guys. My guess is he would love to incorporate that more into the game. It's good to see that the players are being allowed to steal so much in the minors. With the bigger bases coming to the big leagues, there should be more steals in the near future. 

I don't think Enlow will, or should, drop much. I am certain they still see him as a starter, and this year was about keeping him healthy and working, and next year is when he can start being more stringently evaluated for performance. 

Thanks for that update.  

[wabene]

3 hours ago, DocBauer said:

All due respect to Cave, who came up with a clutch hit late Saturday, I still can't understand why Helman wasn't brought up either in place of Cave or the recently returned Beckham. He's having the best season of his career,  is an actual OF, (unlike  Beckham), can fill infield spots, and is actually RH.

If the Twins were going to clear spots for  and Beckham, I would have rather seen a young talent like Helman get an opportunity. He might surprise, and he was a better fit need wise than either of the other two.

I agree, plus he is a terror on the bases. 

[Steve Lein]

Quote

To the defensive portion of this game. OF Dylan Neuse had two outfield assists in this game, twice throwing out runners at first base. The Kernels also had two errors in the game.

Wait, what?! Was he throwing behind guys, or was it like MVP Baseball '96 right-fielder-glitches getting them at 1B?! ?

Investigation shows both assists came on same odd play: 

[DJL44]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:27 AM, mikelink45 said:

I keep wondering why so many of our young pitchers have so much injury problems. 

Everybody's young pitchers have injury problems

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Everybody's young pitchers have injury problems

Not sure I buy that. Good give me some evidence