Twins Minor League Report (5/31): Another No-No in Ft. Myers and Stranger Things for St. Paul

Of course, the big news has to be that the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels, coming home after a 5-1 road trip, got a combined no-hitter on Tuesday night. It is their second no-no of the season, and their third since last September. 

The Saints roster has been decimated by the Twins injuries and Covid situations (IL spots and upcoming Toronto series) that it has hurt the Saints roster immensely. They get it. Their job is to play players and have them ready when needed, but Tuesday was beyond that. The Saints started four catchers in the game, and ultimately, two of them played positions that they haven’t played before. When one of them was drilled by a line drive in foul territory, the team lost the DH and four pitchers came to the plate. Oh, by the way, the Saints won by 10 runs! 

Wichita’s game was suspended in the second inning. Cedar Rapids played a morning game in Lansing, and they may wish it had been rained out. But, Anthony Prato just keeps getting the job done. 

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS

• With Carlos Correa placed on the Covid-IL, the Twins selected the contract of infielder Jermaine Palacios.
• RHP Jorge Alcala was set to begin a rehab assignment with the Mighty Mussels on Tuesday, but with a long rain delay, they pushed it back a day. 
• IF/OF Michael Helman was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul 
• Cole Sands was the Twins' 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader. He started Game 2 and was returned to the Saints. 
• IF Tim Beckham was activated by the Saints, good news after watching him limp off the field on Sunday. 
• The Twins acquired OF John Andreoli from the Phillies in a trade. Andreoli is a veteran with time in the big leagues with three organizations including the Padres in 2021. He played for the Rochester Red Wings in 2019's second half. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 13, Iowa 3 
Box Score

Jermaine Palacios was called up to the Twins. Alex Kirilloff, Mark Contreras, and Yennier Cano are traveling with the Twins as part of their ‘taxi squad.’ That put Toby Gardenhire in a tough position while trying to figure out a lineup for Tuesday night in Iowa. As the Saints Twitter pointed out, they started four catchers at various positions. 

Caleb Hamilton started at third base. Roy Morales started in left field. David Banuelos started out as the DH but moved to second base. And, Jose Godoy was actually behind the plate. 

Hamilton left the game and the Saints lost their DH. Dereck Rodriguez pinch ran and got one at-bat. JC Ramirez, Tyler Viza, and Austin Schulfer each got an at-bat too. 

Spencer Steer went 3-for-5 with a walk and two doubles and three RBI. Jake Cave went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBI. More catchers… David Banuelos went 2-for-3 with two walks and a two-run homer, and Jose Godoy added a three run homer. 

Jordan Balazovic started and was charged with three runs (2 earned) on five hits (including two homers) in 3 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five batters. JC Ramirez threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Tyler Viza, Jharel Cotton, and Ian Hamilton each pitched a scoreless innings to close out the game. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita, Frisco (Suspended in the 2nd inning due to weather)

The Wind Surge returned from Corpus Christi to start a series against Frisco. Well, the series started, but in the second inning, the game was suspended by weather. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 1, Lansing 6
Box Score

In the third inning, Anthony Prato hit his seventh home run of the season to give the Kernels the first lead of the game, 1-0. From there on, however, it was all Lugnuts! 

Cade Povich made the start. He was charged with two runs on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six batters. Derek Molina came on and allowed both of Povich’s runs to score, plus two of his own before getting out of the fifth. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. Tyler Palm worked the final two innings. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk.  

The Kernels had just four hits, and the Prato homer was the long extra base hit. The team actually struck out 15 times in the game. Alerick Soularie went 1-for-2 with two walks. Kyler Fedko also walked twice. 

In his first plate appearance, Aaron Sabato was hit on the arm with a pitch and removed for precautionary reasons. He should return to the line up in the next day or two.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, Tampa 0
Box Score

If you’re wanting to beat the Yankees… Low-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons, the best way to do that might be to not allow any runs. The Mighty Mussels did one better on Tuesday night. They didn’t give up a hit either! 

After a 2-hour and 16-minute rain delay, it was determined that the teams would play a seven-inning game. Mike Paredes made the start. He went the first six innings. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and struck out five batters. Hunter McMahon pitched the seventh inning and struck out three batters to give the Mussels the second no-hitter of their season already. It is also the third no-hitter for Ft. Myers in less than nine months. 

Paredes, the team’s 18th round pick in 2021 out of San Diego State started the season in the Mussels bullpen. This was just his fifth start of the season. He hit career-highs in innings (6) and pitches (69). 

Paredes noted following the game, “I was just mixing pitches pretty well with (Dillon) Tatum behind the dish, putting down the right fingers at the right times and keeping them off balance.”

McMahon got the final outs of the Mussels no-hitter earlier this season, and did so again on this night. He walked the first batter he faced, but then followed by striking out the next three batters. And Dillon Tatum has been the catcher in both games, which absolutely needs to be noted. 

Following the game, the backstop said, “We’ve been trying to get our guys to be aggressive in the zone with all of their stuff. Mike and Hunter both did a really good job of all of that. They have some good pop in the middle of the order. Hats off to them.”

Pitching coach and former big-leaguers Carlos Hernandez is the one (along with manager Brian Meyer) who was there for all three no-hitters. After Tuesday’s game, he said, “We are always trying to push guys to attack the strike zone,” pitching coach Carlos Hernandez said. “It’s always fun to watch them do their thing. We are here to guide them, but at the end of the day, it’s them making their own decisions out there.”  

Paredes wanted to get the seventh inning, but as pitching coach Jared Gaynor said, “At this level, we’re about developing them to become big-league pitchers. It’s not worth pushing their pitch counts for the sake of throwing a no-hitter in Low-A,” He continued, “Our goal is for these guys to move up. We’re always worrying about their workload and where they’re building up. I know it’s tough to take a guy out with a no-hitter at 69 pitches, but with where he’s at at this stage of the season, it was the right time to take him out.”

Oh, that’s right, the Mussels used hitters in this game too, and those hitters provided some run support to the tune of five runs. All five runs came in the fifth inning. Jake Rucker started things out with his eighth double which drove in Tatum and Dylan Neuse. Emmanuel Rodriguez followed with his fifth double which drove in Rucker. And Noah Cardenas followed with his fourth double which scored Rodriguez. Cardenas scored later on a wild pitch. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Mike Paredes (Ft. Myers) - 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 3-5, BB, 2-2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Shhhh… don’t tell anyone… you get a sneak peek… It’s June 1st, so today the Twins Daily Prospect Report is changing today. Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Tuesday. Of note, Joe Ryan, Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran - All Top 10 Prospects in May - are no longer deemed “prospects” as they have passed those thresholds. 

#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-1 (played SS) - Game Suspended in 2nd)
#3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) -  Game 2: 0-for-3 
#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (87 pitches, 53 strikes)
#5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (24 pitches, 11 strikes - Game Suspended in 2nd)
#7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 3-5, BB, 2-2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K (played 2B/SS)
#8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-1, 2 BB, 2B(6), R, RBI 
#9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-3, K 
#11 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (84 pitches, 45 strikes)
#15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-1 - Game suspended in 2nd) 
#16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-1 - Game suspended in 2nd)
#17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (91 pitches, 54 strikes)  
#18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Iowa (12:08 PM CST) - RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-2, 3.44 ERA) 
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-0, 7.59 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (3-2, 2.15 ERA) 
Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - LHP Steve Hajjar (2-1, 2.17 ERA) 

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