Twins Minor League Report (5/5): Saints Come Marching In

Hoping for a breakout from Charlie Barnes. This lefty with a big bender might find something this year. How much fun could that be?

Looking forward to seeing The Dobnak pitch tonight.

I was wondering about Cavaco's bat and he is off to a good start.  I was also curious about Juliens eye at the plate and he had three walks yesterday so happy to see he has some plate discipline.  Holland has been good to start the season as well.  Hopefully those guys keep it going.  Hunter McMahon was really working the corners of the zone last night.  He looked good for his first time out.  

It was the Wallner show for Cedar Rapids as he had all the RBI's until the 9th inning.  That was a heck of a game for him and I haven't been his biggest fan, but don't forget about Steer either as he has been an on base machine to start the year.

Good to see Miranda finally getting those balls over the fence.  That is what we have been waiting for.

It is early but nice to see some of the top prospects doing well.

I am most interested in following Keoni Cavaco this year.  He did terrible in his short season then no season so I want to see how much he developed.  I hope he gets up to high A by end of season.  He is the biggest wild-card of prospects right now in my opinion. 

Would like to see Ryan Mason moved up swiftly if he continues to have dominant late inning outings like what seems to have happened last night.

I don't think anyone in the organization has more tools than him... He's really impressive. 

Does this include Buxton?  If so--wow!

Great night when the home teams are 4-0.

Watched the Wichita game, well almost all of it. Although they won, was not excited about what I saw. Yes, Miranda had the one big hit. Aaron Whitefield had two hits and his speed in left field held two batters who hit hard balls down the left field line to singles. Other than that, nothing stood out as players that I would be excited about as future Twins. Heck, the only reason they won was because the Springfield pitchers walked 8 batters.

Lujan had a very nice inning plus and I didn't see their closer in the ninth...who struck out the side.

Wallner was fantastic. After the game, he talked about simplifying his approach. He took some huge swings in his first at bat and struck out. He said that he tried to homer that at bat and "you saw how that worked out." But to get the homer off the lefty and then a huge three-run homer in a huge spot to turn a two-run deficit into a one-run lead was fantastic. That one left the bat at 107 too... Just crushed!

 

I asked Dinkelman about Steer too, about his professional at bats. He's just a good player. Asked if he profiles as a utility player (because he played 2B the first game and SS the second game), Dinkelman said that he probably profiles as a second baseman going forward, but they're obviously going to make sure he's comfortable at all three infield spots and get him time at each. His at bats are incredible. 

 

I came away impressed with Jordan Gore as well. Yes, he gave up a game-tying homer, but it was on a 97 mph fastball in. So, not even a bad pitch. But, he was also throwing a bunch of changeups and curve/sliders that looked good. Easy to see why he's getting this opportunity to pitch. Spin rates are good. Just very impressive. 

Seth thanks so much for providing greater context to those players.  I was down on Wallner to some degree because of his 2019 K rate.  Not permanently down but had my concerns about contact so it was great to see him have such a special game.  I hope he keeps that swing simple and keeps the K rate down. If can do that he will be a very dangerous hitter.

I got see Steer in 2019 in Beloit and he went 0 for 3 that night.  Still he took great at bats.  Didn't appear to swing at anything outside the zone and was one of the few batter to make contact and not K.  It was a tough night as I think they lost 11 to 0 or something like that but even at 0 for 3 he was a bright spot.

I don't know much about Gore as a pitcher but have to admit I was a little disappointed with the HR ball.  I know it happens but it did spoil his debut a little.  I hope he is the next Joe Nathan but guessing he has a ways to go. 

Thanks again for the insight you provide on the players.  It is easy to get lost in the statistics and lose sight of the human player.  I appreciate that you bring that back to stat watchers like me.

Great night when the home teams are 4-0.

 

Watched the Wichita game, well almost all of it. Although they won, was not excited about what I saw. Yes, Miranda had the one big hit. Aaron Whitefield had two hits and his speed in left field held two batters who hit hard balls down the left field line to singles. Other than that, nothing stood out as players that I would be excited about as future Twins. Heck, the only reason they won was because the Springfield pitchers walked 8 batters.

 

Lujan had a very nice inning plus and I didn't see their closer in the ninth...who struck out the side.

I tend to agree with your assessment.  There isn't much for hitters at AA but the pitching is likely the best in the system so there's that.  Gonna need to hope some of those HIgh A hitters perform well and move up quickly as there lot's of bats in AA that have a history of struggling.  Granted they still have a chance to come around it is just that it appears unlikely to change or be good enough.  Would love to see David, Ernie, Aaron, Andrew and Jermaine turn things around but they have pretty much been bat liabilities to this point. They will need to step up if this team is going to win games.  It is mainly Celestino and Miranda with the greatest chance to do well but even they have struggled at times.  Like I said earlier AA looks starved for elite bats.

Glad to see Cavaco get off to a good start, even if it has only been two games. I'm sure that was a very long wait for him after his performance in the GCL.

Great night when the home teams are 4-0.

 

Watched the Wichita game, well almost all of it. Although they won, was not excited about what I saw. Yes, Miranda had the one big hit. Aaron Whitefield had two hits and his speed in left field held two batters who hit hard balls down the left field line to singles. Other than that, nothing stood out as players that I would be excited about as future Twins. Heck, the only reason they won was because the Springfield pitchers walked 8 batters.

 

Lujan had a very nice inning plus and I didn't see their closer in the ninth...who struck out the side.

Late posting to Wind Surge 5-4 win on Wednesday night as I didn't have my account log in info with me.

Anyway, attended game with my spouse (Cardinal fan) after driving down from KC area.  

I would echo many of your sentiments as Surge definitely benefited from poor defense (2 errant pick off throws for errors) and the 8 walks you mentioned.

I would add the following impressions:

Hitters

Celestino:  Had a rough game going 0-3 with 3 K's with 2 of those whiffs coming with a runner on 3B with less than 2 outs.  He did draw 2 walks though.

Jose Miranda:  Showed some serious "oppo power" with his 2-out,  2-run HR to RF to give 2-0 lead in top of 3rd.  Also drew a walk.

Aaron Whitefield:  Had a nice game going 2-3 with an RBI triple in the 7th. Drew a walk and also stole a base.  He had a "sip of coffee" with the Twins in 2020 getting 1 AB.  Looks like he's added some weight without sacrificing any of his speed.

Team RISP:  Not good......1-7

Team K's:  Also not good-----13 whiffs in 34 AB's--------sounds like another team many of us know...huh??

Pitching

SP Bryan Sammons: Big LH (6'4/235lb) was 8th rd pick in 2017 out of Western Carolina.  He pitched well in 2019 starting 24 games between high A (Fort Myers) and AA Pensacola.

Pitched much better than his final line indicated (3 ER in 4.1 IP).  Sammons was pulled in 5th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out after his pitch count hit 70.  When hooked, he allowed 5 hits, but had ZERO walks and had struck out 6.  His final line---2 additional ER was due to RP Neff allowing a 2-out, 2 strike 3-run HR to Cardinals 9-hole hitter.

RP:  Ryan Mason:  A little older dude-------26, drafted in 2016 out of Cal.  RHP with good size like Sammons (6'6/215) who pitched to a 2-0 record in 2019 with AA Pensacola recording 7 Sv's in 8 opportunities over 15 games.

I was impressed with Mason as he recorded the SV getting the final 4 outs of the game--3 by strikeout.  Mason consistently hit 95mph on the gun. He struck out  #3 Cardinal prospect (#38 overall MILB) Nolan Gorman to end the 8th with a runner on 1B.  Then had a solid 9th with 2 more K's and a popup to end the game.