Twins Minor League Week in Review: Debuts, Promotions and Lots of Wins

Be sure to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday, and then jump into the minor league week. 

Before we get started, let’s check out the FCL Twins game and the transactions from Monday. 

TRANSACTIONS

There were several announced transactions on Monday’s minor league off day, and don’t be surprised if there are more tomorrow. 

• OF BJ Boyd was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul. 
• 1B Aaron Sabato was promoted from Ft. Myers to Cedar Rapids. 
• IF Christian Encarnacion-Strand, the Twins 4th round pick in the July draft, was assigned to Ft. Myers. 
• IF Jake Rucker, the Twins 7th round pick in the July draft, was assigned to Ft. Myers.
• C Kole McKinnon returns to Ft. Myers after rehabbing in the FCL.  
• OF Max Smith (Cedar Rapids) was released .   
• C Allante Hall (FCL Twins) was released.
• RHP Hector Andrade (DSL Twins) was released. 

FCL Twins Talk
FCL Twins 5, FCL Orioles 6
Box Score 

This game was shortened to seven innings due to the rains. Jackson Hicks made the start. He was charged with four runs on three hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out four batters. Ricardo Velez went the next two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out three batters. Cole Bellair struck out four batters over the final two innings. He didn’t give up a hit or issue a walk. 

Carlos Aguiar went 2-for-2 with a walk and his fourth home run. Emmanuel Rodriguez added his sixth homer of the season, and he threw out a runner trying to advance to third base. Kala’i Rosario had a two-run single. Noah Miller went 1-for-4. Zander Wiel went 1-for-3, and Gabe Snyder went 0-for-2 with a walk, as the first basemen continued their rehab on Monday.  

With that, let’s look at Week 16 in the Twins minor leagues: 

RESULTS

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (5-2, hosting Iowa), overall (53-43)
Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (5-1 @ Springfield), overall (57-39)
High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (4-2, hosting Wisconsin), overall (53-43)
Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (3-3 @ Dunedin), overall (47-44) 
Complex League FCL Twins: Week (3-3), overall (12-25)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. 

• Twins Minor League Week in Review: Wind Surge Power 
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline): Recap
• Hard Lessons Learned in Trevor Larnach’s Rookie Campaign 
• Tuesday: We Will, We Will, Walk-Off You 
• Scouting Twins Prospects: RHP Ben Gross
• Wednesday: Affiliates Blast Off 
• Thursday: Oh, ho, ho, it’s Maggi(c)! 
• Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton Highlight an Eventful Night at CHS Field 
• Friday: Ryan Dazzles in Saints Debut 
• Saturday: You Have the Right to be a Hitting Machine 
• Miranda: 3 Ways to Get Him to Minneapolis 
• Sunday: Wichita Bats Surge, Buck Go Boom 

Highlights

We will start with the Twins choices for the organizational hitter and pitcher of the week, and then mention several other Twins prospects who had good Week 16 performances

Twins Player of the Week: BJ “Bossman” Boyd, Wichita Wind Surge       
After spending seven seasons in the Oakland A’s organization, reaching Triple-A in 2018 at 24, BJ Boyd decided to go a different direction. In 2019, he headed to college and played football. He played well enough that he was getting several calls from Division I schools. Then the pandemic hit. This spring, he was sitting at home when the Twins called. He signed and was sent to Double-A Wichita in late May. He has been incredible since. In 66 games, the outfielder has hit .313/.369/.543 (.912) with 12 doubles, 15 homers and 60 RBI for the Wind Surge. 

And on Tuesday, he will return to Triple-A after earning his promotion. 

Twins Pitcher of the Week: Joe Ryan, St. Paul Saints   
He was a strong starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays. Then he headed to Tokyo to pitch for Team USA. That’s where he found out he had been traded to the Twins in the Nelson Cruz trade. He responded by going 2-0 and helping Team USA to a silver medal at the Olympics! Then he came back, packed up, came to Minnesota and threw a couple of bullpens before making his first start in the Twins organization on Friday night in St. Paul. I think it’s fair to say that it went well. He struck out the first six batters he faced and nine batters in four innings. He gave up just one run, on a solo homer.  

Ryan was the Rays seventh-round pick in 2018 out of Cal State-Stanislaus. He appeared in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect rankings after he led minor league baseball with 183 strikeouts in 2019. That season, between two levels of A ball and Double-A, he went 9-4 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Before heading to Japan, he pitched in 12 games for Triple-A Durham and was 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA and 0.79 WHIP. In 57 innings, he had 10 walks and 75 strikeouts. 
 

Other Strong Performances this Week

St. Paul Saints

Drew Maggi continues to have a strong showing in 2021. Last week, he played in five games and hit .357/.526/.571 (1.098) with a homer and five RBI. He also stole three bases. Gilberto Celestino played in all six games and hit .294/.478/.588 (1.066) with two doubles and a homer. He also walked six times with just four strikeouts. Tomas Telis also played all six games. He hit .440/.462/.600 (1.062) with a double and a homer. Jimmy Kerrigan played in just three games but hit .364 with a homer.  

Ian Hamilton worked 5 1/3 innings over three games last week. He went 1-0 with a save. He gave up no runs on one hit. He walked one and struck out seven. Yennier Cano tossed 3 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings. He walked three and struck out four. Chris Nunn struck out four batters over 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Ryan Mason struck out six batters over 3 1/3 scoreless innings.  

Wichita Wind Surge

Leobaldo Cabrera played in five games. He hit just .263 (5-for-19), but he hit a double and three homers, and drove in nine runs. He posted a 1.164 OPS. Spencer Steer played in just four of the games. He hit .389/.450/.667 (1.117) with two doubles and a homer. 

Tyler Beck gave up five hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out six batters. Jordan Balazovic struck out six batters over six shutout frames. More impressive that he didn’t give up any runs when he also gave up four hits and five walks. Jordan Gore recorded a Save and worked 2 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. 

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Michael Helman continued to show some surprising, and impressive power. Last week, he hit .261/.393/.783 (1.175) with four home runs. He also walked five times and stole two bases. Edouard Julien had a nice week. He hit .412/.615/.529 (1.145) with two doubles and nine walks. He also stole two bags. Matt Wallner played five games and hit .350/.458/.650 (1.108) with three doubles and a homer. No extra base hits, but Wander Javier hit .350 (7-for-20). 

Sawyer Gipson-Long made one start. In six innings, he gave up only an unearned run on three hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Louie Varland became the first Kernels starter to record an out in the 7th inning when he tossed seven full innings. He gave up one run on six hits. He struck out six batters without a walk. Ben Gross worked five innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out six batters. Denny Bentley made his first two High-A appearances. He gave up two hits over four scoreless innings. He struck out five batters without issuing a walk. Zach Featherstone struck out six batters over 3 1/3 hitless innings. He walked one. Ryan Shreve struck out eight batters over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits and walked none. 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels

Jesus Feliz has really come on of late. In six games last week, he hit .333/.481/.762 (1.243) with three home runs. He also walked five times and stole two bases. Patrick Winkel has a strong first full professional week. The catcher played four games and hit .400/.526/.600 (1.126) with a homer and four walks. 

Steven Cruz had a terrific week. He worked five innings over two outings. He gave up just an unearned run on two hits and a walk. He also struck out ten batters. Randy Dobnak’s rehab appearance was three perfect innings with five strikeouts. Casey Legumina gave up one run over four innings. He struck out seven batters. Juan Pichardo pitched twice and gave up one run over four hits in four innings. He struck out eight batters. 

FCL Twins 

Luis Gomez went 5-for-9 (.556) with three doubles in his four games. Carlos Aguiar went 5-for-13 (.385) with three homers and six RBI. Rubel Cespedes went 2-for-9 (.222) over three games this week, but both hits were home runs. Wander Valdez played in five games. He hit .333/.412/.600 (1.012) with a double and a home run. Kala’i Rosario hit .368 with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI. 

Wilker Reyes went 1-0. He gave up five hits but no runs over five scoreless innings. Giovahnney German threw four hitless, scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. (although he did walk six batters). Malik Barrington recorded a save in his professional debut. He gave up one hit over three scoreless innings. He struck out six batters.  
 

Lowlights

We are talking about small samples for these six-game weeks, so it’s important not to make any big decisions or develop a full impression on a player from this small size. It’s just a reminder of the fact that baseball is hard, and all players have good and bad stretches.  

St. Paul Saints

Ben Rortvedt has certainly had some moments since returning to the Saints. This past week, he went 1-for-13 (.077) with five strikeouts. Sherman Johnson went 1-for-10 (.100), and Drew Stankiewicz went 2-for 16 (.125), though he did have four walks and a homer.  

Robinson Leyer gave up five runs (4 earned) on four hits and two walks over two innings. Nick Vincent got DFAd by the Twins and then gave up five runs (4 earned) on four hits (2 homers) and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. 

Wichita Wind Surge

Ernie de la Trinidad went 2-for-13 (.154) in his three games. Jermaine Palacios played all six games and went 3-for-19 (.158), though he had two doubles.

Chris Vallimont made two starts last week. He gave up ten earned runs on ten hits (4 homers) and six walks in just nine innings.   

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Gabriel Maciel played in four games and went 2-for-14 (.143). Seth Gray went 3-for-20 (.150) over five games. He did have a double and a homer and six RBI. 

Andrew Cabezas gave up six runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings in his start. Tyler Watson gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels
Will Holland played in five games and went 0-for-17. Misael Urbina went 3-for-24 (.125) over six games.

Trending Storyline 

Here is a quick look at how Twins minor leaguers rank against all minor leaguers. 

• Jose Miranda: Batting Average (.342, 5th), Slugging Percentage (.590, 10th), OPS (.995, 8th), Hits (135, 1st),  Home Runs (25, 3rd), RBI (72, 11th), Runs (79, 2nd) Extra Base Hits (48, 8th), Total Bases (233, 1st). 
• BJ Boyd: Batting Average (.319, 16th), 
• Trey Cabbage: Home Runs (23, 10th), RBI (71, 15th) 
• Spencer Steer: Home Runs (22, 18th), Runs (70, 17th), 
• Austin Martin: On-Base Percentage (.429, 15th), Hit By Pitch (22, 3rd), 
• Wander Javier: Triples (10, 2nd), 
• Edouard Julien: Walks (90, 1st), Runs (75, 6th), Stolen Bases: (31, 19th), Number of Pitches (1820, 1st)... 
• Aaron Sabato: Walks (73, 5th), 
• Yunior Severino: Doubles (27, 13th), 
• Ben Gross: ERA (3.16, 8th), WHIP (1.19, 18th), Winning Percentage (.833, 3rd), 
• Drew Strotman: Winning Percentage (.700, 13th), 

PROSPECT SUMMARY

This Prospect Summary shows our updated Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings. 

#1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL)
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 17 games, .262/.444/.377 (.821) with 4 doubles, 1 home run, 10 RBI, 12 BB, 13 K.
#3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 15 GS, 71.0 IP, 70 H, 29 BB, 78 K, 3.42 ERA, 1.39 WHIP
#4 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) - Has not pitched since the Olympics.
#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – 5 G, 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on IL with a right forearm strain) 
#6 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 95 games, .342/.405/.590 (.995) with 23 doubles, 25 homers, 72 RBI, 36 BB, 58 K
#7 - Joe Ryan (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 9 K, 2.25 ERA, 0.50 WHIP
#8 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 5 GS, 21.0 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 43 K, 0.86 ERA, 0.67 WHIP
#9 - Chase Petty (Complex) - Has yet to pitch.
#10 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 54 games, .247/.305/.321 (.626) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 23 RBI, 17 BB, 78 K, 5 SB 

#11 - Josh Winder (St. Paul) - 14 GS, 72.0 IP, 55 H, 13 BB, 80 K, 2.63 ERA, 0.94 WHIP
#12 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 44 games, .277/.354/.549 (.903) with 10 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers, 35 RBI, 17 BB, 65 K.
#13 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), St. Paul (18 games, .281/.395/.531 (.926) with 4 doubles, 4 homers, 15 RBI, 11 BB, 15 K), Minnesota (22 games, .140/.183/.298 (.482) with 3 BB, 13 K)
#14 - Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - 5 GS, 24.0 IP, 28 H, 10 BB, 18 K, 5.63 ERA, 1.58 WHIP.
#15 - Noah Miller (FCL Twins) - 5 games, .222/.286/.222 (.508) with 2 BB, 8 K
#16 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (58 games, .239/.368/.566 (.934) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 37 BB, 74 K), Minnesota (32 games, .200/.273/.408 (.681) with 7 doubles, 6 homers, 10 RBI, 8 BB, 41 K)
#17 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (underwent Tommy John surgery on June 9th)
#18 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 82 games, .190/.289/.294 (583) with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 5 homer, 49 RBI, 41 BB, 65 K, 12 SB)
#19 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 14 G, 13 GS, 55.1 IP, 41 H, 24BB, 75 K, 2.93 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
#20 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 87 games, .262/.363/.515 (.878) with 14 doubles, 2 triples, 22 homers, 53 RBI, 46 BB, 78 K) 

LOOKING AHEAD
Bradenton @ Ft. Myers: (Matt Mullenbach, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD):
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit:(Louie Varland, Tyler Watson, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Cody Laweryson, Ben Gross, Louie Varland)
Tulsa @ Wichita: (Austin Schulfer, Cole Sands, Jordan Balazovic, TBD, TBD, Austin Schulfer)
St. Paul @ Toledo: (Beau Burrows, Joe Ryan, TBD, TBD, Drew Strotman, Beau Burrows): 

Feel free to ask any questions you like.