Twins Minor League Report (4/23): Gonsalves Gon' Save Us

Your Cedar Rapids link is going to a game on April 16, 2015, against Peoria.

Good choice of Gonsalves for pitcher of the day.

As noted on another thread, his no-hitter was broken up by a bunt single, and he promptly plunked the next hitter. Gonsalves perhaps has a chip on his shoulder for lasting until the fourth round.

I am not sure what inning the bunt was, but that would have violated one of those unwritten rules, everyone writes about. After a certain time you don't bunt your way out of a no hitter. I am likely in the minority here, but I think those rules are ok, as long as you follow ALL of them, including the one about not hitting anyone above the waist.

Its hard to not be disappointed by the offense at Chattanooga. But both Buxton and Sano have rust on them and are young for the level so patience is needed.

But f they are still struggling in July it will be time to panic.

Harrison is looking pretty good though.

Gonsalves for Cy Young!

Mmmmmm.....maybe a little premature?

MiLB had a nice write-up yesterday about Gonsalves where he talked about how training with and learning from Strasburg and Shields in the offseason really helped him. In the story, it also mentioned that his fastball is in the low 90's, with a decent change, and he has an iffy slider and curve.

As for the bunting to break up a no-hitter being against the unwritten rules, that is the stupidest thing ever. The pitchers job is to get outs, and the hitters job is to avoid making outs, however he can. If you don't want to give up a bunt single, then play a bunt defense. Otherwise, get over it and move on.

Its hard to not be disappointed by the offense at Chattanooga. But both Buxton and Sano have rust on them and are young for the level so patience is needed.
But f they are still struggling in July it will be time to panic.
Harrison is looking pretty good though.

Yeah, it would be one thing if they were so-so, but they both have performed miserably so far. Their talent will probably shine through eventually, but when I'm looking out my window at snow flakes, I'd love a day-brightener from our two best prospects.

We have no idea if the HBP was retaliatory, do we? 

Yep, the franchise has pretty much most of their offensive prospect eggs in that one Lookout basket.  Especially considering the offensive black hole in the next class coming after them at Ft Myers.  With all of those relief pitchers drafted recently with the top picks, the Miracle are in last place in the FSL in BA (.216) and OPS (.589) and the Kernels are only doing a little better than that.

It's true that both Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids have a lack of elite hitters, and it's showing up in the stats you chose to share about Fort Myers. However, the last time I looked, Cedar Rapids ranked 5th out of 16 teams in team OPS.

The bright side for both teams is that their team ERA's are among the two best in their leagues, and we're talking about 12 teams in the FSL and 16 teams in the MWL.

At Fort Myers, their three top position prospects, Garver, Vielma, and Goodrum, are all doing poorly so far. At Cedar Rapids, Nick Gordon is holding his own, JJ Fernandez is injured and Max Murphy has been anemic so far. They're not going to be explosive teams offensively, even if the guys mentioned here come alive and Minier and Diaz get promoted.

It's not the "relief pitchers" that are shining at those two levels. The best performances have come from Hu, Eades, Sleger, Gonsalves, Jorge, and Bats, and none of them are converted relievers.

"against the unwritten rules"

Ever notice how many of the unwritten rules are just macho stupidity?

What?? Scott McGregor, the old Orioles southpaw, apparently is still in pro ball w/ AAA Syracuse? What's next, Mike Boddicker kicking it around this summer in the Cape Cod League?!

Cedar Rapids is currently OPSing @ .659, which is 7th in the Midwest League.  Beyond Gordon and possibly Fernandez and the Zachs, I'm hard-pressed to find many potential major league hitters there, but I would defer to Jim Crikket on that front.

Thank you for that important correction. I was wrong when I said the Kernels were 5th out of 16 teams in OPS. This morning they're actually tied for 6th, .003 percentage points behind the 5th place team. My bad.

I base my observations about the talent on a given team to a large extent on the rankings given out by those who claim an expertise. Like you, those dozen and a half rankers are hard-pressed to find much elite offensive talent in either A+ or A-. Gordon is the only player ranked in anyone's top ten. No other position player on either team has a top 25 ranking from more than two rankers.

In each of our last few drafts, there has been a consistent balance of pitching and position draftees, so the lack of elite offensive talent can't simply be traced to the emphasis on drafting those hard-throwing relievers. My suspicion is that we're seeing a bit of a drought when it comes to American hitting talent. If we examine this year's draft thread, we'll see maybe a half-dozen offensive players being mentioned among the top prospects, and it's conceivable the experts are having trouble finding two dozen position players worthy of even a second round selection. It appears that hitting is a problem league-wide at the A level, and isn't just a Twins problem.

Cedar Rapids is currently OPSing @ .659, which is 7th in the Midwest League.  Beyond Gordon and possibly Fernandez and the Zachs, I'm hard-pressed to find many potential major league hitters there, but I would defer to Jim Crikket on that front.

The Kernels have been a middle of the pack offensive team in the MWL, so far. A little streaky. They have beaten up on some teams and then been real silent against others.

In additio to the guys you mentioned, I've liked what I've seen at the plate from the two 1Bs, Trey Vavra and Tyler Kuresa, as well as Tanner English. It's still early, though. With their pitching, they don't have to score a ton of runs to win.

Also, going back to comments about the Miracle, just to be fair, keep in mind that a couple of those "relief pitchers drafted recently with top picks" are already up in Chattanooga. I'll also be surprised (and disappointed) if Kanzler, Garver and a couple other hitters don't start to figure things out soon. A lot of slow starts on that team, though, I grant.

Regarding the comments on Gonsalves, I saw observations/questions that refer to him as a "great kid" and someone "with a chip on his shoulder." I would opine that both are true. Throw in that lefty 93 mph fastball with movement and there's really not much you wouldn't like in a 20 year old.

I hate the plunking. It's immature. The other team got a hit by bunting.....that's called smart, not rude. 

If it is a bunt in the 9th of a perfect game and your team is down by more than 4 that might be considered rude.   If it is the 9th inning of a perfect game and you are down by 3 or less and you think bunting is the best way to get on base but you don't do it out of respect for the other team's pitcher you should be fined and traded in that order.  Just my opinion.