Twins Minor League Report (9/19): Saints Fall Short on Arms

[Ted Schwerzler]

With the Wichita Wind Surge regular season over, only the St. Paul Saints were in action tonight. Short staffed from a pitching perspective, the Saints got behind and never rallied.

 

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Tyler Beck added to Triple-A St. Paul from Double-A Wichita

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Indianapolis 9, St. Paul 1
Box Score

Tonight Austin Schulfer started for the Saints but threw to just three batters after a throw from catcher Ryan Jeffers hit him in the back of the head. He did walk off under his own power and indications are that he should be fine. Tyler Beck, recently added from Double-A Wichita having pitched just one inning this year due to injury, then gave up five runs on four hits and four walks across 1 2/3 innings.

Indianapolis tagged St. Paul pitching for one run in the 1st inning, five runs in the 2nd inning, one run in the 4th inning, and another in the 6th inning before the Saints could answer.

Wander Javier lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring John Andreoli to break up the shutout, but that was the end of their scoring. Indianapolis wiped that away with a run in the 8th inning and they completed the 9-1 victory.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
The regular season is over for the Wichita Wind Surge. Winning the finale, they finished the season 78-59. After going 35-33 in the first half, it was a 43-26 second half record that vaulted the Wind Surge into the Texas League Division Series.

Wichita will play host to the Tulsa Drillers, who went just 29-40 in the second half after a near opposite 40-27 mark in the first half. Wichita has been a dominant 26-10 at home during the second half while Tulsa has gone just 13-23 on the road.

Second rank Twins Daily prospect Brooks Lee was recently promoted to Wichita and will provide a significant boost to the lineup. Edouard Julien and Alex Isola have also been catalysts for the Wind Surge this season. With Kody Funderburk going in the final, he would seem unlikely to pitch in the series. Twins rookie Louie Varland’s brother Gus Varland has pitched 70 2/3 innings for Tulsa this year and should appear in the series.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Evan Sisk (St. Paul) - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day – John Andreoli (St. Paul) - 2-3, R, BB

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:

#9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-3, K
#16 - Ronny Henriquez (Minnesota) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:35PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - RHP Brent Headrick

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

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[puckstopper1]

Glad to see that Jeffers caught and Larnach played nearly a full game in the field.

It is too late for them to help this season, but it would be good to have them healthy going into next season.

[Coach Wheels]

How close is Woods Richardson to being a part of Twins rotation or bullpen?

Do you see the Twins sticking with their philosophy on starting pitching next year or will they look to lengthen the starts for 3 or 4 of their rotation guys?

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Coach Wheels said:

How close is Woods Richardson to being a part of Twins rotation or bullpen?

Do you see the Twins sticking with their philosophy on starting pitching next year or will they look to lengthen the starts for 3 or 4 of their rotation guys?

Woods Richardson needs to be added to the 40-man roster after the season. I could see him getting one start with the Twins or spending a week with the Twins in the bullpen or something. 

I think their philosophy is to take care of their pitchers, so how far they go into the game likely depends on how efficient they are and where they're at health-wise. If Sonny Gray is at 100% health, and he's pitching well, they'll let him get to 95-105 pitches. Same with Mahle. Same with probably Joe Ryan. Bailey Ober had leg issues this year, but as long as he's healthy, he has typically been very efficient. Louie Varland was throwing 90-100 pitches all season this year. 

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, Coach Wheels said:

Do you see the Twins sticking with their philosophy on starting pitching next year or will they look to lengthen the starts for 3 or 4 of their rotation guys?

The Mets just pulled Max Scherzer after 6 perfect innings and 65 pitches. This is not just a Twins philosophy.