Minor League Recap (8/5): Offensive Explosion

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Cole Sands promoted from Triple-A St. Paul to Minnesota Twins
• RHP Aaron Sanchez cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to St. Paul
• RHP Jharel Cotton cleared waivers and accepted his assignment to St. Paul

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 15, Omaha 6
Box Score

The Saints bat’s exploded for 15 runs and 17 runs Friday night to win their 50th game of the season. 

Six St. Paul batters contributed multiple hits, led by Jermaine Palacios’ four in five at-bats; he hit two doubles and scored five runs. Matt Wallner hit his first Triple-A home run, crushing it to deep center field. He also added a double and three RBI. Roy Morales also hit a home run and drove in five runs.

Dereck Rodriguez pitched six innings, struck out four and did not allow a run. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, San Antonio 0
Box Score

A prototypical Simeon Woods Richardson start and a lockdown performance by the bullpen allowed the Wind Surge to squeak past the Missions.

Woods Richardson was wild but effective during his four innings, striking out three and walking two while allowing only two hits. His ERA dropped to 2.92 on the season and he now has 62 strikeouts and 24 walks in 61 2/3 innings. 

The Twins pitching prospect has had an interesting season. While his surface-level numbers are impressive, some advanced metrics suggest that he’s been skirting by with smoke and mirrors. Entering Friday night, Woods Richardson owned a 4.90 xFIP and 15.9% K-BB%. However, one plus is that he continues to keep the ball in the ballpark. He’s only surrendered four home runs all season and 16 in 239 minor league innings. 

At the plate, Edouard Julien led the way, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Chris Williams went 1-for-4 with a double and scored the game’s only run.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Beloit 2
Box Score

The Kernels got a heck of a performance from their 6-7-8-9 hitters to help drive them to a win over the Sky Carp. 

Pat Winkel, Jeferson Morales, Mikey Perez, and Will Holland combined to go 7-for-14 with a double, home run, and five RBI; the rest of the lineup combined to hit 3-for-18 with six strikeouts.

It was also a group effort for the Kernels on the mound, as four pitchers—Travis Adams, Matt Mullenbach, Bradley Hanner, and Miguel Rodriguez—combined to strikeout nine and walk none across their nine innings of work. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 3, F/10
Box Score

It was a sloppy game in Fort Myers as the Marauders and Might Mussels combined to commit five errors and draw 11 walks. Unfortunately, Fort Myers was unable to come out on top, dropping this one in 10 innings.

Rubel Cespedes led Fort Myers at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Kala’i Rosario and Misael Urbina each went 1-for-4 with a double.

Jonathan Lavallee pitched a hitless four innings to begin the game for the Might Mussels, but John Wilson was touched for two runs and five hits over the next two innings. Malik Barrington was saddled with the loss after allowing two unearned runs in 10th inning.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Red Sox 6, FCL Twins 4
Box Score

Despite picking up nine hits and five of them going for extra bases, the FCL Twins fell to the FCL Red Sox yet again on Friday. 

2022 Competitive Balance selection Tanner Schobel picked up his first professional hit—a double—and also drove in an RBI. Brooks Lee led off and also hit a double.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Tigers 19, DSL Twins 6
Box Score

Yasser Mercedes continued his hot summer on Friday, going 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored, upping his batting average to .342 and OPS to .962. Jose Rodriguez went 1-for-5 and contributed his 13th double. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#4 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 K
#8 - Noah Miller (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, RBI, R
#15 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 2-for-3, BB

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Ariel Jurado (0-2, 6.00 ERA) 
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-2, 3.89 ERA)
Cedar Rapids vs. Beloit (6:35 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (6-1, 2.58 ERA)
Fort Myers vs. Bradenton (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Mike Paredes (7-2, 2.19 ERA)