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  • Twins Minor League Report (4/30): The Stars Shine Bright


    Eric Pleiss

    I just do not understand how baseball works. The Twins got all over perennial Cy Young candidate Chris Sale on Thursday night en route to trouncing the Chicago White Sox 12-2. Sale was out after just three innings and he had given up nine runs, the most in his career. Trevor May gave up just a pair of runs despite scattering ten hits, but couldn't finish the sixth inning.

    Image courtesy of Seth Stohs

    Twins Video

    Down in the minor leagues it was a little bit of a mixed bag on Thursday evening. Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano all had notable performances, as well as a great pitching performance from Chih-Wei Hu. But Nick Burdi struggled again, and Dalton Hicks and Adam Brett Walker II combined to go 0-9 with seven strikeouts.

    RED WINGS REPORT

    Columbus Clippers @ Rochester

    Box Score

    At home at Frontier Field, in front of just shy of 4,000 fans, Mark Hamburger and the Rochester Red Wings came back from an early deficit to move to 12-8 on the season. The Red Wings chased the Clippers' starter Jordan Cooper after 3.2 innings, sending him to his first defeat of the season, surrendering nine hits and four runs (three earned). Those nine hits were part of a season high outburst of 17 hits for Rochester. Hamburger gave up three early runs (two earned) but hung around to finish the sixth, throwing 110 pitches, but just 65 for strikes. Hamburger walked three and struck out six and gave up just five hits. Lester Oliveros, who many have been clamoring to have join the Twins' bullpen, worked two innings of relief, striking out four, but he walked two and gave up a run. Ryan O'Rourke pitched the ninth to finish the game for the Red Wings.

    It was a pretty balanced attack from the Rochester hitters with eight of nine starters picking up at least one base hit, and seven of nine picking up two or more. Aaron Hicks led off for the Red Wings and extending his hitting streak to 11 games by going 3-5, bringing his average up to .310 on the year. Eddie Rosario had three hits of his own, 3-5 with a pair of RBIs. How nice would those two look in the Twins outfield right now?! Despite the season-high 17 base hits, the Red Wings managed just two extra-base hits, a double apiece from Reynaldo Rodriguez and James Beresford. Rochester was 7-18 with men in scoring position and still managed to strand twelve runners.

    Final Score: Clippers 4, Red Wings 8

    LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

    Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga

    Box Score

    Former first-round draft pick Alex Wimmers had the start for Chattanooga on Thursday evening and pitched well through the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up three runs and leaving with two outs in the sixth. His line for the night included eight hits, two walks, four strikeouts and four earned runs. Wimmers was replaced by D.J. Johnson who held the Suns scoreless through the seventh. Nick Burdi came on in the eighth, but struggled again, giving up two runs. He struck out one and walked one. Burdi's ERA is now 10.13, fairly disappointing for a guy who many suggested could slot right into the Twins bullpen before the end of 2015. Those two runs gave Burdi the loss on the evening, his third of this young season. Dallas Gallant pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game.

    Byron Buxton continues to heat up, he went 2-4 with a triple and a walk, plus two stolen bases. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a solo home run and a walk, but he also had a pair of strikeouts. In all, the Lookouts struck out thirteen times, including four for Dalton Hicks as part of an 0-5 night and three from Adam Brett Walk as part of his 0-4 night.

    Final Score: Suns 6, Lookouts 4

    MIRACLE MATTERS

    Charlotte Stone Crabs @ Fort Myers

    Box Score

    Chih-Wei Hu continues to impress every time out. On Thursday night in Fort Myers he mowed down the Stone Crabs, struck out eight, walked two, and gave up two runs (just one earned) on four hits. Hu is now 3-0 on the season and his ERA is down to 1.50. Todd Van Steensel pitched two scoreless innings of relief and struck out four to pick up his second hold of 2015. J.T. Chargois gave up a hit, a walk, an unearned run, struck out a batter and earned his second save of the year, throwing 19 pitches in the ninth.

    The Miracle scored five runs, all earned, on just eight hits despite being 0-9 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 runners. In the first inning the Miracle scored a run without any hits thanks to a couple walks, a groundout and an eventual sac fly from Mitch Garver. Niko Goodrum hit his third home run of the year, a two-run round-tripper off of German Marquez in the third inning. Right fielder Chad Christensen had a perfect night for Fort Myers, going 3-3 with a double.

    Final score: Stone Crabs 3, Miracle 5

    KERNELS KORNER

    Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities River Bandits

    Box Score

    The Kernels could not figure out how to attack the River Bandits pitching, picking up just four hits on the evening. The trio of Brock Dykxhoom, Jose Montero and Joshua James kept the Kernels guessing all night long. No Kernels hitter had multiple hits and only Max Murphy (1-3 with a double and a walk) reached safely twice. Shortstop of the future, Nick Gordon, was 0-3 with a strike out and a walk. Zach Granite, Cedar Rapids' leadoff hitter, was 1-4 and extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first inning double.

    Kernels starter John Curtiss only made it through the fourth inning. He gave up six hits, three earned runs, struck out four and served up a pair of home runs. Samuel Clay and Zach Tillery each pitched two innings of relief and both gave up only one hit. Clay, however, also walked three hitters and was charged with an earned run.

    Final Score: Kernels 2, River Bandits 4

    TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

    Hitter of the Day - Byron Buxton - Chattanooga Lookouts

    Pitcher of the Day - Chih-Wei Hu - Fort Myers Miracle

    FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

    Norfolk @ Rochester - Mike Wright vs. Pat Dean (2-0, 0.90)

    Jacksonville @ Chattanooga- Jake Esch vs. Tyler Duffey (0-2, 3.16)

    Fort Myers @ Charlotte - Ethan Mildren (0-2, 5.28) vs TBD

    Clinton @ Cedar Rapids - Daniel Missaki vs. Stephen Gonsalves (2-0, 0.90)

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    "Huuuuuuu are you? You. You. Huuuuuu are you?"

     

    May, Meyer and Berrios. A little further down the line; Stewart, Thorpe, (ouch! Still hurts) and Gonsalves. Seems like we need to make room for Hu in these top pitcher conversations.

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    Very happy to see Hicks hot and reportedly making plays in the OF. I think he's right where he should be and needs to be for now, especially considering the past couple of seasons and his new leg kick. I just hope the Twins can resist brining him up too soon by either making a trade or getting Sam Fuld-like fortunate on the waiver wire again.

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    interesting to see some power from Goodrum, especially in Ft Myers. Seems like with all of the other talent in the system, he's kind of fallen out of prospect status. he might shoot right back into the picture if his power is for real.

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    Very happy to see Hicks hot and reportedly making plays in the OF. I think he's right where he should be and needs to be for now, especially considering the past couple of seasons and his new leg kick. I just hope the Twins can resist brining him up too soon by either making a trade or getting Sam Fuld-like fortunate on the waiver wire again.

     

    That's such a tough thing to know... is he on a hot streak (he's done that before), or have his alterations physically, mentally, mechanically started to take and he can carry it to the big leagues. Obviously there's no way to know that officially, but the Twins should be cautious...

     

    That said, he's earning his way up, and that's great to see!

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    In the long run I think Hicks is going to be at least a partial platoon player, where Molitor tries to limit his exposure against strong RHP.  But the good news is we have plenty of left-handed OF options, including Arcia, Schafer, Rosario and Kepler here or on the way. And Rosario and Kepler are guys with some positional flexibility.

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    The young men in the minor leagues are doing big things, day after day. I look forward to some of these older wasted roster space guys, and guys with terrible struggles, getting sent down/released to make room for the future.

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    I knew you would betray Chattanooga Chatter for Lookout Lookins. It ate away at you didn't it? Having one city name ruining the pattern of all team names? Fair enough. 

     

    It had to be done.  I'm hoping the rest of the MiLB report guys jump on board.  Also going with Kernels Korner.  I'm rogue.

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