Twins Minor League Report (4/30): Rain, Rain Go Away

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Cole Sands promoted to Minnesota Twins
• RHP John Stankiewicz promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids
• C Chance Sisco placed on IL (left knee strain)

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Game 1: Nashville 7, St. Paul 3
Game 2: Nashville 12, St. Paul 3 (Final, 5 innings)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

The Saints wrapped up the game from the previous evening and got demolished through five innings of the one scheduled for Saturday before the rain mercifully ended their misery. The Sounds launched four home runs off the St. Paul pitching staff, who surrendered 19 total runs—all of them earned.

The only member of the Saints with a notable performance at the plate was top prospect Royce Lewis. Across the two games, Lewis walked five times, stole his fifth base of the season, and drilled his third home run to raise his slash line to .320/.441/.587 with a 6:5 K:BB ratio in 21 games.

With Lewis’s sustained elite performance out of the gate, the conversation now turns from “Is he still good?” to “When will he be called up?” While his play has certainly warranted said conversation, the fact of the matter is that he likely won’t appear in a Twins uniform any time soon.

There are a few reasons for this, the most important being that the Twins likely want him to get as many reps as possible. Prior to the season, Lewis had not appeared in a game since he dominated the Arizona Fall League in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a torn ACL. He’s accumulated only 93 plate appearances thus far since his return, which is a miniscule amount in the grand scheme.

Additionally, the Twins—who have won eight of their last nine contests—would have no place to play him regularly. Lewis has only appeared at shortstop and designated hitter for St. Paul and the Twins currently have those positions locked up by Carlos Correa and a bevy of hitters. Lewis could theoretically play in any of the three outfield positions—though he has only ever played six games in the outfield, all in center, during his minor league and fall league career—but as of this writing Trevor Larnach and Max Kepler are crushing baseballs, Alex Kirilloff is on the verge of returning from the IL, and Byron Buxton is the best baseball player on the planet. There just isn’t room for Lewis on the soon-to-be 26-man roster at the moment.

Lewis will get his time in the sun, just don’t expect it to be anytime soon, barring catastrophe. Let him rip, let him get comfortable, he’ll be a Major Leaguer soon enough.

TJ White hit his fifth homer of the young season. Corey Ray and Mark Mathias each hit their first home runs for Nashville. Brice Turang added a double. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 9, Arkansas 4
Box Score

The Wind Surge scored five runs in the first inning to propel them to victory over the Travelers. 

Matt Wallner smashed two home runs and drove in three runs to lead Wichita offensively. The Forrest Lake native began the season on a freezing cold 3-for-42 streak, but has 10 hits in his last 19 at-bats with three home runs and nine RBI.

Wallner possesses the most raw power in the Twins system having hit 27 home runs in 150 minor league games. He’s likely destined to be a designated hitter at the MLB level should he reach that point as his defense in right field remains suspect at best; in many respects, he profiles similar to that of former Twin Brent Rooker.

Alex Isola (1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) and DaShawn Keirsey (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) were the only other Wichita athletes to convert extra base hits. 

Ben Gross started on the bump for the Wind Surge but was knocked out after three innings. He surrendered four runs—three earned—and issued four walks. Luckily for Wichita, Kody Funderburk, Bryan Sammons, Steven Cruz, and Austin Schulfer shut down the Arkansas offense, striking out 10 and allowing only six runners to reach base.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 7, Cedar Rapids 1
Box Score

The Kernel’s hot offense was quieted and their pitching was hit relatively hard Saturday night as Cedar Rapids fell convincingly to the Sky Carp.

Sawyer Gipson-Long got the start for the Kernels and while he wasn’t at his sharpest, he did perform better than his rather pedestrian stat line (4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). The Beloit batters had a difficult time making hard contact against Gipson-Long’s fastball-slider mix with only a handful of balls reaching the outfield. Gipson-Long—one of the most underrated pitching prospects in the Twins system—has posted a 20:3 K:BB ratio to go along with a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings this spring.

Aaron Rozek came on in relief for Gipson-Long and pitched uncharacteristically poorly, serving up two home runs in 2 2/3 innings and issuing only his second walk of the season. Tyler Palm pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and allowed only one hit and run.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-4) and Seth Gray (2-for-4) were the lone Kernels to register multiple hits. Wander Javier (1-for-4, 2B, R) provided the team’s sole extra-base knock. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers vs. Clearwater, Rained Out x2

While the Mighty Mussels games were canceled on Saturday, that didn’t stop the team from announcing some good news. Jordan Balazovic will be making a rehab start for the team on Sunday.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Hitter of the Day – RF Matt Wallner (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#1 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-for-5, R
#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, HR, RBI, 5 BB, SB
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 2-for-6, 2B, RBI
#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - IL (Will pitch Sunday for Fort Myers)
#5 - Joe Ryan (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - Jhoan Duran (Minnesota) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
#8 - Simeon Woods Richardson - Did Not Pitch
#9 - Josh Winder (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#10 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, BB, R
#12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
#13 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#14 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch
#15 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play
#16 - Ronny Hendriquez (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#17 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - IL 
#18 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 1-for-5
#19 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 BB
#20 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs. Nashville ( PM CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez (1-0, 0.77 ERA)
Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 PM CST) - RHP Chris Vallimont (0-2, 12.19 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 PM CST) - LHP Cade Povich (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
Fort Myers vs. Clearwater (1:00 PM CST) - RHPs Sonny Gray and Jordan Balazovic will be making rehab starts.