Minor League Report (7/31): A New Prospect Approaches

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Ryan Mason promoted to AAA St. Paul
• LHP Evan Sisk added to AA Wichita (received from St. Louis in the J.A. Happ trade)
• RHP Simeon Woods Richardson added to AA Wichita and placed on the Temporary Inactive list (he is pitching for team USA in the Tokyo Olympics)
• RHP Alex Scherff added to AA Wichita and placed on the IL
• OF Gilberto Celestino optioned to AAA St. Paul as Luis Arraez was activated from the IL

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 6
Box Score
Drew Strotman: 4 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Mark Contreras (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI)

A much anticipated prospect made his Saints debut on Saturday.

RHP Drew Strotman, one of the pitchers received by the Twins in the Nelson Cruz trade, started for St. Paul for the first time. It was not smooth sailing for Strotman who gave up four runs while striking out just a single batter. It was not the best of first impressions, but Strotman will certainly have more opportunities to impress in the future.

The Saints offense did its best to back Strotman. The 1-2 punch of Jose Miranda and Mark Contreras combined for two runs and three RBIs as both players bugged Indianapolis’ pitching staff all night. Oh, and Miranda is casually chilling with a AAA batting average in the .350’s. Just FYI.

A few notable relievers threw scoreless outings on Saturday. Ian Hamilton tossed 1 ⅔  innings with no earned runs, Jovani Moran threw 1 ⅓ IP with no earned runs, and Yennier Cano, uh, hurled a single inning without any earned runs. At least one (if not all) of those players will certainly be on the Twins sometime soon.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, NW Arkansas 8
Box Score
Adam Lau: 2 ⅔ IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: B.J. Boyd (7), Jermaine Palacios (13)
Multi-hit games: B.J. Boyd (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Jermaine Palacios (2-for-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI)

Wichita could not hold on to the lead on Saturday. 

B.J. Boyd kicked off the scoring quickly by blasting a lead-off homerun before fans could even reach their seats. It was Boyd’s seventh homer of the season and the hit, yet again, has proved Boyd to be a worthy and useful addition to the Twins’ minor league system.

Boyd was not the only hitter to get in on the homer fun. Jermaine Palacios continued on his path of destruction by sending his 13th shot of the year over the wall in the 4th inning. Last week, I wrote about Palacios as one of, if not the single most pleasantly surprising player in the minor league system. Today was no exception. 

Unfortunately, Boyd and Palacios were essentially the entire Wind Surge offense. Trey Cabbage was the only other player to net a hit in the game, and all four RBIs were the result of either Boyd or Palacios. 

It was no more smooth for Wichita on the pitching side of the equation. All four of their pitchers allowed at least one earned run, with Zach Neff acting as the guiltiest culprit (four earned runs allowed over seven outs). All in all, it was a rather forgettable night for the Wind Surge as they are waiting until the massive prospect reinforcements finally reach Kansas. Evan Sisk, acquired in the J.A. Happ/John Gant trade, made his debut in the Twins organization. He gave up one run over two innings. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 2, Wisconsin 12
Box Score
Cody Laweryson: ⅔ IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Yunior Severino (2-for-3, 2B, R, BB), DaShawn Kiersey (2-for-3, 3B)

Things could have gone better for Cedar Rapids on Saturday.

The first sign that today would not end up being the day for the Kernels occurred in the very first inning. Cody Laweryson was unable to finish his first frame of work due to an apparent injury and had to be replaced by Tyler Palm. Wisconsin took advantage of the unpredicted short start by plating seven runs in the first two innings.

That more or less stood to be the end of the Kernels’ odds of winning. They were able to plate two runs in an attempt to regain something of a lead, but it was to no avail. 

For the sake of having some food news, Breckin Williams and Ryan Shreve combined to allow just a single earned run over three innings of relief. In total, they struck out seven batters.

Mussel Matters

The game between Fort Myers and Clearwater was canceled as Clearwater has been struck by a COVID-19 outbreak. Tomorrow’s match between the two teams has been canceled as well.

Complex Chronicles
FCL Twins 6, FCL Red Sox 4
Box Score
Juan Mendez: 3 ⅔ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kala’i Rosario (2-for-3, R, RBI, BB), Yonardy Soto (3-for-4, RBI)

The FCL Twins turned around their luck and beat the FCL Red Sox on Saturday.

Juan Mendez did his job by holding the Red Sox in check over his 3 2/3 innings of work. Yeah, walking more than you strike out is not generally ideal, but zero earned runs is zero earned runs. You take those.

Samuel Perez was even more impressive as he pitched for four innings to finish off the game, and struck out five while allowing just two baserunners. Now that is a well-earned win.

The win was actually well within hand for the Red Sox. They had put up a four-spot in the 6th inning while holding the Twins scoreless up until that point. However, the Twins broke out for a pair of runs in the 7th, and followed that up with their own four-spot in the 8th. Somehow, they ended up with six runs off of just one extra-base hit.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Samuel Perez
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios

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

#1 – Royce Lewis (Rehab) – Out for season (torn ACL)
#2 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – Injured List (elbow strain)
#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – Did not pitch
#4 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – Injured List (right elbow strain)
#5 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2 R, 2 K
#6 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) – No game
#7 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – Did not play
#8 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) – Did not pitch
#9 – Aaron Sabato (Fort Myers) – No game
#10 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – Did not play

#11 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)
#12 – Bailey Ober (Minnesota) – 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
#13 – Cole Sands (Wichita) – Did not pitch
#14 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) – 1-5, 2 R, K
#15 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) – No game
#16 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) – 0-2, 2 BB
#17 – Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) – 0-4, 2 K
#18 – Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (foot injury)
#19 – Edwar Colina (Rehab) – Injured List (elbow)
#20 – Chris Vallimont (Wichita) – Did not pitch

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (12:05 PM) RHP Tyler Beck
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (1:05 PM) RHP Chandler Shephard 
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (1:05 PM) TBD 
Fort Myers @ Clearwater Canceled