Twins Minor League Report (8/1): A Laugher in the Dominican

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Aaron Sanchez contract selected by Minnesota Twins from Triple-A St. Paul
• OF Mark Contreras recalled from Triple-A St. Paul
• RHP Yennier Cano optioned to Triple-A St. Paul
• C Jose Godoy DFA'd by Minnesota Twins

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 11, FCL Orioles 7
Box Score

Former New York Yankees pitcher Ben Heller continues to build back up in the minors. Having not pitched since 2020, he remains with the FCL club. Today he worked two innings giving up an earned run on no hits while walking four and striking out three.

Down 1-0 after the first inning, Malfrin Sosa put the Twins in the lead in the third with a two-run blast, his first of the year. Allowing the Orioles to take back the lead in the bottom half, the Twins broke out in a big way during the 4th inning.

With the bases loaded Breilin Ramirez walked and pushed Wilfri Castro across the plate. Malfrin Sosa then grounded out but drove in Rafael Cruz to retake the lead 4-3. Willie Joe Garry Jr. lifted a single to left, scoring Yonardy Soto and a Ricardo Olivar single then brought Sosa across the plate.

After the Orioles cut the lead back down to one, 6-5 through six innings, Castro singled home Olivar and Danny De Andrade to again provide some breathing room. In the 8th inning, Olivar crushed his fourth homer of the year, a three-run shot, to make it 11-5 and hopefully put things out of reach. Unfortunately the Orioles had other plans and added two in the 8th inning and two in the 9th inning making it 11-9.

Another update on the card market similar to Carlos Aguiar's Bowman's from a couple of weeks ago. Although he's been quite lackluster thus far this season, a hot streak could help out the desirability for Sosa. He's repeating the FCL again this year, and put up a .683 OPS in 18 games last season. Ideally Minnesota would've liked to see a step forward, but he's still quite young and should get a look at Fort Myers next season.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Rockies 22, DSL Twins 13
Box Score

Only in the Dominican Summer League do you see scores like this (unless you remember that Toronto Blue Jays bludgeoning of the Boston Red Sox recently). The Twins starter Oscar Paredes only recorded two outs while giving up six runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks.

It’s impressive that the Twins were able to generate 13 runs on fourteen hits while taking only four walks. Infielder Harold Grant stood out as the lone batter to record three hits on the day. He did blast his third homer of his career in the process. Both Isaac Pena and Junior Del Valle had two hits.

The inning that did the Twins in was an 11-run outburst during the top of the 5th inning. The Rockies recorded 19 hits on the day and drew another seven walks. This likely isn’t one these prospects will want to remember for long.

Most of today's starters were lifted as this one got out of hand. Yasser Mercedes continues his strong year and had one hit. He owns a .921 OPS. Jose Rodriguez was hitless today, but his OPS remains at .999 on the year. Grant is just 17 and the .925 OPS he owns benefitted from the nice outing today.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Ben Heller (FCL Twins) - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (FCL Twins) - 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(4), BB, K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05PM CST) - TBD
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05PM CST) - TBD
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) - TBD
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games! It sure is exciting to have all four Twins full-season affiliates and the two Complex Season affiliates back and playing.