Twins Minor League Report (5/6): Jorge Continues To Impress

TRANSACTIONS

It was another busy day of transactions. It feels like we have started many transactions with that sentence, but Friday was very busy. In the afternoon, the Twins announced the following:

• Ervin Santana was coming of the disabled list. He will start on Saturday.
  
• John Ryan Murphy was optioned to Rochester.
  
• Ryan O’Rourke and JR Graham was designated for assignment. To review, this means that they have been removed from the 40-man roster. The other teams will have a chance to claim them. If they go unclaimed, they can be outrighted to Rochester.
  
• Darin Mastroianni and Juan Centeno were added to the 40-man roster and called up.
  
• We also learned, from Mike Berardino, that Casey Fien and Tommy Milone were played on irrevocable waivers and those waivers end on Saturday afternoon at which point they will be off of the 40-man roster. I would speculate that Brandon Kintzler and Buddy Boshers are be the most logical call-ups to replace them.
  

There were also a couple of minor league transactions:

• Catcher Brett Doe went through minor league spring training, but he was released very late in camp. When offered, he accepted a role as the bullpen catcher for the Rochester Red Wings. With Centeno called up to the Twins, the Red Wings needed a catcher and they called out to the bullpen. Doe was added to the Red Wings roster and will - at least temporarily - be their backup catcher.
  
• Nick Burdi was placed on the Chattanooga disabled list. He is being shut down again, this time with a bone bruise at the bottom of his right humerus. It is on the outside of his pitching elbow. Per Mike Berardino, an MRI showed no damaged other than the bone bruise.
  
• The Twins signed LHP Nick Greenwood, a 28-year-old who had been 3-0 with the new New Britain franchise which is in the Atlantic League. He had time the last two years with the St. Louis Cardinals, though he spent most of his time at AAA Memphis. He will begin with the Lookouts.
  

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 7 , Pawtucket 5 (10 innings)

Box Score

This game didn’t get really interesting until the 8th inning. In the bottom of the inning, Pawtucket scored two to take a 4-1 lead. However, in the top of the 9th frame, the Red Wings scored four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the ninth, the PawSox scored a run to send it to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, the Red Wings scored two runs to take a 7-5 lead.

Byron Buxton got the Red Wings off on a good note. He led off the game with his second home run. He was 2-5 with a walk as well. Buck Britton went 4-5. Carlos Paulino went 1-3 with two walks. Adam Brett Walker went 0-1 with four walks.

Andrew Albers made his second start. The lefty went six innings. He gave up two runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out five. Alex Wimmers gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Buddy Boshers got the final out of the eighth inning, but he gave up the run in the ninth frame. Marcus Walden got the 10th inning and went 1-2-3 to end the game and record the save.

Red Wings manager Mike Quade was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a balk call.

Also, after the Red Wings took the lead in the 9th inning, Jorge Polanco was removed from the game. Could it have been ‘for defensive purposes’ that Polanco was replaced by Heiker Meneses in the field? Sure. But with it being likely that Eduardo Escobar will go on the disabled list, it’s more likely that Polanco will make his third trip to the big leagues already this year.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 4, Mobile 3

Box Score

Omar Bencomo signed late last year with the Twins and pitched for Ft. Myers. He pitched really well in Venezuela this past winter and returned to the organization. At the end of spring training, he went to extended spring training and waited for an opportunity. With so much activity in the system, the Twins pushed him to Chattanooga. In his second start, he gave up just one run over six innings. He allowed three walks, walked one and struck out five. Jake Reed came on and gave up two runs on four hits in 1.1 innings. He walked one and struck one out. JT Chargois got the final five outs. He gave up one hit and a walk but no runs, to record his sixth save. The outing dropped his season ERA to 0.84.

Travis Harrison went 2-4 with a walk. Stuart Turner went 2-4. Zach Granite was 2-5 with his 11th and 12th stolen bases. Mitch Garver added his sixth double.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, St. Lucie 1

Box Score

Old Reliable, Felix Jorge, was on the mound for the Miracle on Friday night. The right-hander improved to 2-2 with a 1.38 ERA on the season with another strong performance. He gave up one run on five hits over seven innings. He walked none and struck out seven. 72 of his 99 pitches were strikes. Yorman Landa came on and struck out three over the final two innings for his second save. He gave up just one hit.

Edgar Corcino’s hot streak remained. He went 2-3 with a walk and his second stolen base. The Miracle had just six hits. Kevin Garcia had the only extra-base hit, his first double of the year.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Great Lakes 2

Box Score

Sam Clay continued to pitch well, but this time it wasn’t enough to help the Kernels to a win. The lefty gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out nine. Miles Nordgren came on and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out two.

JJ Fernandez had a strong game. He went 3-4 including his second home run of the season. Rafael Valera went 2-5.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Ft. Myers Miracle

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – JJ Fernandez, Cedar Rapids Kernels

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Pawtucket (DH @ 4:05 CST) - RHP David Martinez, LHP Jason Wheeler

Chattanooga @ Mobile (7:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers

St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario

Cedar Rapids @ Great Lakes (6:05 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games.