Twins Minor League Report (9/27): Wind Surge Battle for Texas League Title

[Steve Lein]

In a must-win game for the Wichita Wind Surge to keep their Texas League Championship hopes alive, they got a dominating start from Brent Headrick when they needed it. Would it be enough?

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Brent Headrick)

TRANSACTIONS
There were no transactions in the organization ahead of Tuesday’s games.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Omaha 3, St. Paul 10
Box Score

The St. Paul Saints took care of business on Tuesday, riding home runs from David Banuelos, Andrew Bechtold, and Roy Morales to a 10-3 victory in their penultimate game of the season against the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Right-hander Jordan Balazovic got the start, and was solid over five innings, allowing his only run of the game on a solo homer in the fifth inning. In all, he completed five frames, allowing three hits, walking three, and striking out five. While it wasn’t the season Balazovic or fans were hoping for, he did finish the season much better than he started. 

Over his final five starts, he allowed two or fewer runs in four of them and struck out 30 over those 21 innings.

St. Paul got the scoring started in the third inning thanks to an RBI triple from Dalton Shuffield, followed by an RBI double from Michael Helman.

Cole Sands came on for the start of the sixth inning and would complete three frames, being charged win a blown save but also the win for his efforts. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out three.

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, David Banuelos tied the game with a solo home run, before the Saints exploded in the eighth inning. They sent 10 men to the plate, and seven of them scored thanks in large part to the home runs from Bechtold and Morales.

Evan Sisk then shut the door with a perfect ninth, striking out two, to close out on a high note in a season full of them for Twins Daily’s 2022 Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year.

Bechtold (2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Banuelos (2-for-3, 3 R, HR, RBI), and Shuffield (2-for-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI, SB) had multiple hits in the game. Morales drove in three, and Nash Knight added a double.

WIND SURGE WISDOM - Texas League Championship Series (Game 2 of 3)
Frisco 7, Wichita 5 (10 innings)
Box Score

Down 1-0 in their League Championship Series, the Wichita Wind Surge called upon Brent Headrick to keep their title dreams alive. He would be facing off against 2021’s number two overall draft pick, Jack Leiter of the Frisco RoughRiders.

Though Leiter had success against Wichita during the regular season, allowing just two earned runs and striking out 16 across two games and 11 innings, Austin Martin and Edouard Julien were ready for him on this night.

Martin led off the bottom of the first with a double to center field, and Julien followed with a double into the right-center gap to make it 1-0 early.

In the second inning, Leobaldo Cabrera, Martin, and Julien all drew walks to end Leiter’s night after just 1 2/3 innings. They were not able to score any of those runners after his exit, but they wouldn’t need any more for the first seven innings.

That’s because Headrick was the pitcher who looked like the top prospect in this one. 

He tied his career high for strikeouts in finishing seven shutout innings. He allowed just three hits, walked none, and punched out 11 in a dominating effort. Of his 95 pitches, 64 went for strikes (67%) and included 15 swinging strikes. He struck out multiple hitters in each of the second, third, fourth, and sixth innings to keep his team in the lead.

From the second through the seventh inning, the Wind Surge had opportunities to extend their lead, but couldn’t take advantage, leaving eight men on base in that timeframe. 

Bullpen stalwart Cody Laweryson came on for the eighth inning, but after striking out the first hitter he faced ran into some trouble. A walk followed by a double resulted in the RoughRiders first run of the game, and an error on the play put the tying run 90 just feet away. A sac fly to the next batter tied the game at two before Laweryson was able to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the eighth the Wind Surge were able to manufacture a run to retake the lead, but again squandered opportunities to put the game away. Brooks Lee led off with a single, Anthony Prato drew a walk, then a bunt from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. led to a throwing error and a 3-2 lead.

It wasn’t enough again, as Casey Legumina allowed a leadoff single, then a two-out walk, and another single to tie it at three. A pair of walks in the bottom half gave Wichita a chance, but it would go to extra innings.

Back out for the tenth, Legumina recorded one out but an RBI single put the RoughRiders out front for the first time in the game, then a walk brought in Alex Phillips to try and keep it close. Three consecutive singles broke it open for Frisco, and they’d take a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the tenth.

With the runner starting on second base, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. led off with a two-run home run to make it 7-5, and they’d get the tying run into the batter's box, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas Rangers organization, are your 2022 Texas League Champions, rallying late to steal the game after Headrick’s fantastic outing.

Martin finished the game 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and drew three walks. Julien was 2-for-5 with a double, RBI, and walk. Brooks Lee finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and walk. Keirsey Jr. also chipped in two hits on the game, including his 2-run home run.

Despite the loss, congratulations on a great season to the Wichita Wind Surge!

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Brent Headrick, Wichita Wind Surge (7 IP, 3 H, 11 K)
Hitter of the Day - David Banuelos, St. Paul Saints (2-for-3, 3 R, HR, RBI, K)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#2 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 3-for-4, R, BB
#4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-3, R, 2B, 3 BB, K
#9 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 K
#11 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K
#14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
#17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - W, 3 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 3 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CDT) - RHP Randy Dobnak (1-2, 7.04 ERA)

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

 

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Headrick was dominant last night against some of the Rangers top rated minor league hitters (the Wind Surge bullpen....not so much). Martin and Julien were on base a lot but nobody could knock them in. Keirsey with a bunt single which led to an error and what appeared to be the winning run scoring. He then hit a 426 foot bomb in the 9th. Overall, the Wind Surge play much more like most TD fans want the Twins to play (skip the blown saves part).

[nclahammer]

Congrats on a terrific season Wind Surge.  I had the chance to catch a couple of games in person down in Wichita and they're a fun team to watch.

[weitz41]

Great season by the Wind Surge. Just came up a couple wins short. Good to see Balazovic have a decent outing to close out his season. Shuffield has played well (.855 OPS) for a fill in. Not everything went well in the bigs but plenty of players to be excited about on the farm. Headricks, SWR, Julien, Lee, Varland, Laweryson, Sisk and even Martin. (after returning from IL) Those are just the ones I can think of in AA and AAA. Plus some of the guys we traded at mid season. We may not have a top 5 farm system but seems to me there's plenty of players on the cusp of contributing to the Twins when called on.

[mikelink45]

Cole Sands seems to be in the Twins BP plans, but he has not looked the part of being a valuable arm going forward.

Brooks Lee has definitely shown his value and could be flying through the organization.

[Trov]

Lee, Martin, Julien, and Lewis will all be fighting for at-bats at MLB level in next year or two.  Similar to when we thought we had a vast amount of corner OF, DH, 1b guys a couple years ago.  One reason we were able to trade Steer, who would have been right in that same mix with the 4 mentioned above.  

Similar to our glut of corner OF guys it will shake out, but hopefully not because of injuries.  You can throw Gordon into the mix too after this season he had.  I have high hopes for Lee and Lewis as stars, with Martin as a good on-base guy that can steal.  Julien may be able to hit, but his limited defense may be his shortfall if he does not overhit.  

[RJA]

I was really impressed with Headrick last night--that is the best he has pitched all year, and that means something as he has had a nice year.  I especially like the fact he showed up big time in an elimination game with a lot of pressure on him.  I think that says a lot about his character and his competitiveness.  He will be fun to watch next year.  I don't know what more Julien can do to show he is a prospect--300 average, 441 OBP, 931 OPS, 98 walks, etc.  I hope he lights up the AFL this fall and shows that he can play second base and/or third base.  He struggles against lefties, but absolutely kills right handed pitching so he might be a great platoon piece at second and/or third.  Finally, Lee looks like the real deal and I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up at Target Field later next year.  

[roger]

Great seeing Balazovic with a solid start, very solid.  Also continue shaking my head at what Shuffield is doing.  Is he for real?

And what a great night in Wichita from the middle infielders.  Martin was 1-3 with 3 walks, Julien 2-5 with a walk and Lee was 3-4 with a walk.  Toss Lewis into that group and the Twins have four very interesting middle infielders.  Hopefully, more than two force them to look for other spots to get them into future Twins' lineups.