Minor League Report 9/4 Simeon Woods Richardson Debuts

TRANSACTIONS
OF Trevor Larnach placed on the 7-day IL at AAA St. Paul retroactive to 9/2 (Left-hand contusion)
RHP Alex Phillips placed on the IL at AA Wichita 
RHP Simeon Woods Richardson activated from development list at AA Wichita

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 0, Columbus 5 (7 innings)
Box Score
Beau Burrows: 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints lost firmly on Saturday.

Beau Burrows kicked off a quasi-bullpen game by allowing three home runs in his effort. Really, Columbus just needed one of them, so this was a real rude thing for them to do.

The Saints knocked out just three hits in this game as they were unable to put up any runs against Heath Fillmyer and Kyle Nelson. On the bright side, two of those hits were doubles (by Drew Stankiewicz and Mark Contreras.) 

Ryan Mason’s scoreless outing in relief of Burrows is just about the only solid positive that came out of this game, unfortunately.

This was also supposed to be the first of an eventual doubleheader, but that game actually was rained out, so there will be a doubleheader (attempt, at least) on Sunday. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 0, Arkansas 1
Box Score
Simeon Woods Richardson: 1 ⅓ IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ernie De La Trinidad (2-for-3)

Wichita lost on a walk-off on Saturday.

Simeon Woods Richardson made his debut for the Twins organization on Saturday and, well, the start could have gone better. The righty needed 40 pitches to get four outs and the Wind Surge decided that it was not worth it to push him any farther. The good news is this is probably the worst start he will ever make for the team so, you know, silver linings and all that.

Tyler Beck saved the day in relief of Woods Richardson. He took over and swiftly established order with five shutout innings. Now that’s what we call a good teammate.

Offensively, Wichita could not get anything going. Roy Morales knocked the lone extra-base hit while Ernie De La Trinidad reached base twice. In total, the team struck out 14 times without taking a single walk.

Hector Lujan was pushing to send the game into extras when David Shaeffer sent a homer over the wall to end the game. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 7
Box Score
Aaron Rozek: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: Alex Isola (13), Yunior Severino (3)
Multi-hit games: Alex Isola (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI)

Cedar Rapids won a barn-burner on Saturday.

Aaron Rozek effectively held the River Bandits’ offense at bay for five quality innings. The Burnsville native has pitched quite well this season, and he could potentially find himself placed on the back end of some Twins prospect lists. 

Despite putting up eight runs, the Kernels’ offense was somewhat unusual. They were actually out-hit on the night, but they were able to bunch their scoring and knock in runs when it mattered. Alex Isola continued his ridiculous power stretch with his 13th home run of the season, Yunior Severino blasted a three-run shot of his own, and Edouard Julien set the table for the rest of the offense. All seven RBIs came from Aaron Sabato, Severino, and Isola.

The lesson to take away from this is that if a team wants to win, they should bunch their hits together (wow, what wisdom, Matt.) 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 4, Daytona 6 
Box Score
Cade Povich: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Christian Encarnacion-Strand (3-for-4, R, RBI)

Fort Myers lost a close one on Saturday.

Cade Povich made his Fort Myers debut on Saturday. The 3rd round pick from the 2021 draft impressed with six strikeouts over three innings of work in what was the best outing from any Mighty Mussels pitcher. He will certainly be an interesting arm to keep track of.

Just two players stood out offensively for Fort Myers. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, another 2021 pick, dropped in three singles while Will Holland reached base twice. Unfortunately, it was another game in the system tonight where offense was hard to come by.

Complex Chronicles
FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 4 (8 innings)
Box Score
Brent Headrick: 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Noah Cardenas (1)
Multi-hit games: Argenis Jimenez (2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI)

The FCL Twins were walked-off in “extras” on Saturday.

The pitching effort by the Twins was commendable. Five different pitchers combined to allow just two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings of work. Develson Aria was especially impressive as he threw three shutout innings with six punch outs and only two baserunners allowed.

The struggle was for naught, though. The FCL Red Sox pitching staff pitched just as well as the Twins and the two teams were locked in a Cold War stalemate for much of the game. The game was finally decided when Phillip Sikes knocked in the extra-innings runner in the 8th. 

The good news is that Noah Cardenas, the Twins’ 8th round pick in the 2021 draft, launched his first career professional homer on Saturday. The catcher out of UCLA blasted a solo shot in the 2nd in what was one of two extra-base hits for the team on Saturday.

The FCL Twins were also supposed to play a doubleheader but the second game was rained out as well. Mother nature was not born a baseball fan. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Beck
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Christian Encarnacion-Strand

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 – Austin Martin (Wichita) - Did not play
#3 – Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#4 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
#5 – Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Elbow Strain)
#6 – Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 1-3
#7 – Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did not pitch
#8 – Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (Right Elbow Strain)
#9 – Chase Petty (Complex) - 
#10 – Keoni Cavaco (Fort Myers) - Did not play

#11 – Josh Winder (St. Paul) - Injured List (Right Shoulder Impingement)
#12 – Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) - Did not play
#13 – Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 0-2, BB, K
#14 – Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - Did not pitch
#15 – Noah Miller (FCL Twins) - Did not play
#16 – Brent Rooker (Minnesota) - Did not play
#17 – Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Out for Season (Tommy John surgery)
#18 – Misael Urbina (Fort Myers) - 1-5, 2B, R
#19 – Cole Sands (Wichita) - Did not pitch
#20 – Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM) LHP Tyler Watson
Wichita @ Arkansas (1:10 PM) RHP Jordan Balazovic
St. Paul @ Columbus (2:05 PM) RHP Jason Garcia 
St. Paul @ Columbus (30 minutes following the end of game one) LHP Charlie Barnes
Fort Myers @ Daytona (3:35 PM) RHP Regi Grace