Twins Minor League Report (4/19): Jimmy Kerrigan Comes a Single Shy of the Cycle

I like that Kerrigan kid.  What a start he's having!  

The only trouble is, when I first heard of him, I got him mixed up with this guy...

Question from last nights wrap:  Noticed that Alex Robles was assigned to Fort Myers Miracle from Elizabethton (even though E-Town hasn't started yet).  Are players in extended spring training technically still on the roster of the affiliate that they finished up with last season?  

Wells rocking a .57 whip. Leads the league. And Kerrigan batting over 400 still. Impressive as hell.

The Kernels got "rained out" on a sunny 50 degree afternoon.....

Despite pushing the scheduled start time back by an hour, the Snappers grounds crew apparently couldn't get the field in suitable conditions for the game to be played. The 3rd base area was basically a mud pit, and there were still a few small snow piles in center field at the 5pm rescheduled start time. 

And as bad as the field was, the Grandstand was even worse, with 3 inches of snow over large parts of the covered metal bleachers that hadn't been shoveled at all. If they would have played, I don't know how they get through the game without a fan getting hurt!

But at least the Kernels got to enjoy a 3 hour bus trip to play a little catch in the outfield and have some of the pitchers do some bullpen work, and I suppose Toby Gardenhire got a reminder that things haven't changed much in Beloit since he was a Snappers player a decade ago.

There’s Luis!!!

The Kernels got "rained out" on a sunny 50 degree afternoon.....

 

Despite pushing the scheduled start time back by an hour, the Snappers grounds crew apparently couldn't get the field in suitable conditions for the game to be played. The 3rd base area was basically a mud pit, and there were still a few small snow piles in center field at the 5pm rescheduled start time. 

 

And as bad as the field was, the Grandstand was even worse, with 3 inches of snow over large parts of the covered metal bleachers that hadn't been shoveled at all. If they would have played, I don't know how they get through the game without a fan getting hurt!

 

But at least the Kernels got to enjoy a 3 hour bus trip to play a little catch in the outfield and have some of the pitchers do some bullpen work, and I suppose Toby Gardenhire got a reminder that things haven't changed much in Beloit since he was a Snappers player a decade ago.

Thanks for all that information.  I drove past Beloit about 45 minutes before the first game was scheduled to start.  It was 51 degrees with a bright sun and not a cloud around.  I was certain the would get the double header in.  Might have been better for the official report to read "wet grounds" rather than rained out!  But maybe they don't do that.

Beloit has a 1 man grounds crew. they just don’t support the team well

It'll be interesting. According to a press release (I think that's where I saw it), Beloit and Cedar Rapids play just once more in the first half, a three-game series. The Midwest League has a rule that says teams can play doubleheaders on three straight games. So, they'll likely play those doubleheaders and then cancel the third game. Maybe they'll add it to the second-half schedule, but I don't know for sure. 

What I was told by a member of the Snappers staff is they can play up to 2 Doubleheaders in 3 days and up to 3 over 5 days. However, I've also seen plenty of cases where they simply cancel games, and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of those games does get cancelled, especially when nearly every team in the league already has a long list of double headers now on their schedule. 

Looking at the schedule, both the Snappers and Kernels do have a scheduled off day on June 4th, right before starting their next series at Cedar Rapids (and both teams will already be in Iowa on 6/3), so it would be possible for them to squeeze in 6 games over 4 days, if they do need to make up all the games. 

Suniaga did well enough for a kid who got jumped up.  According to my quick search, he was the TD #3 Short Season Pitcher of the Year in 2017, mostly pitching in the GCL, with a short stretch at Etown.  This may just be a short term fill in deal for him, but way to go seizing the opportunity.

Beloit has a 1 man grounds crew. they just don’t support the team well

How much longer is Beloit going to keep a team?  What would it take for the likes of Rochester to get a team, or Mankato?  Basically, just get Minnesota a Midwest League team.  Loaded question, and tons of reasons why it wouldn't work.  But what if it did work?

Those have been topics for a long time. I believe the Midwest League's offices are in Beloit, so that was always part of the concern. 

Actually they aren't anymore. They were for years, because longtime Commissioner George Spelius was from Beloit, but he retired in 2015, and passed away in 2016.

The MWL offices are now in South Bend, which also happens to be where current Commissioner Richard Nussbaum lives.

How much longer is Beloit going to keep a team?  What would it take for the likes of Rochester to get a team, or Mankato?  Basically, just get Minnesota a Midwest League team.  Loaded question, and tons of reasons why it wouldn't work.  But what if it did work?

2020 could be the end of the line for Beloit. That's when the current major/minor league agreement ends, and when MiLB could easily take the franchise away. It won't happen until then, because the team is community owned and does just enough to break even, despite the abysmal leadership at the top of the franchise.

As far as what it would take to get a team to Minnesota: A miracle. The midwest league simply isn't coming to Minnesota . As has been discussed numerous times, the MWL footprint has been moving away from Minnesota for 2 decades, and even more importantly, when you've got the Northwoods League - that doesn't have to deal with the April and May games that are brutal even when you don't have a year as bad as this one - there's just no compelling reason for anyone to try and bring MiLB to Minnesota. 

It seemed to me that I was reading TJ Whites name a lot so far this year so I looked up his stats.

In 45 at bats, 5 White has 11 hits and 21 total bases. He has hit 1 double and 3 home runs accumulating 7 RBI's in 13 games to go with 5 runs he has scored. He has a .244/.277/.467 slash for a .743 OPS.

Huh... Nothing too exciting...