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  • Twins Minor League Report (6/18): Kepler Triples Twice; Lookouts Clinch

    Eric Pleiss

    By Eric Pleiss

    The Twins walked-off the St. Louis Cardinals to split a four-game home-and-home series with the NL Central leaders. Big things happened in the Minnesota Twins farm system as well. Max Kepler is white hot right now, and his team reached a milestone in Chattanooga. Today's Twins Minor League Report.

    Image courtesy of Mark J Rebilas: USAToday Sports

    Twins Video

    RED WINGS REPORT

    Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders @ Rochester

    Box Score

    Scranton (home of one of the world's finest paper companies) scored seven runs (ONLY ONE EARNED), all charged to Red Wings starter Jason Wheeler in the third inning of Thursday night's game in front of 4,431 fans at Frontie Field in Rochester, NY. Wheeler took the loss and dropped to 1-7 on the season, surviving for just 2.2 innings before being lifted for Alex Meyer. Meyer went four innings out of the pen, struck out two, gave up four hits, and was charged with two unearned runs. Logan Darnell came into the seventh, finished up the frame for Meyer, plus the eighth inning. Darnell was charged with one unearned run on a hit, a walk and two strike outs. Mark Hamburger pitched a third of an inning, and Ryan O'Rourke finished the ninth and closed the door on a game that saw the Red Wings give up NINE unearned runs.

    Danny Santana was just 1-5 from the leadoff spot, but his lone hit was a triple. Reynaldo Rodriguez provided most of the Red Wings offense. He was 3-3 with a run scored, a double, a home run and FIVE RBIs. Eric Fryer also had three hits on a 3-4 night with two runs scored and a walk.

    Final: RailRiders 10, Red Wings 7

    LOOKOUTS LOOK-IN

    Jacksonville Suns @ Chattanooga

    Box Score

    Pitching in front of 2,534 friendly faces at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, TN, David Hurlbut earned his third win of the year with seven innings of five-hit baseball. He gave up three runs (two earned) walked one, struck out four, and gave up a home run. Zach Jones pitched an ugly eighth, giving up a pair of runs, and just to make things little more interesting, J.T. Chargois gave up a run in the ninth (and earned himself a save).

    Despite a poor outing form the bullpen the Lookouts held on to win thanks to eight early runs, clinching the Southern League first half title. Max Kepler went 3-4 with two runs scored and a pair of triples. The young German is now hitting .341 on the year and could be in line for a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. Adam Brett Walker was the only other Lookouts hitter with multiple hits, going 2-3 with a run scored and a pair of RBIs, with a home run and a walk.

    The win clinched a spot for the Lookouts in the Southern League Playoffs.

    *With three hits on Thursday (following four-hit games on Tuesday and Wednesday), Max Kepler is now 11-14 in his last three games, and 16-25 (.640) in his last seven games.

    Final Score: Suns 6, Lookouts 8

    MIRACLE MATTERS

    Daytona Tortugas @ Fort Myers

    Box Score

    AAaron Slegers pitched six scoreless innings to the delight of the 2,941 fans at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, FL. Slegers struck out five, walked two, and gave up just two hits to earn a win and even his record at 4-4. D.J. Johnson pitched a pair of scoreless innings and Alex Muren pitched a rocky ninth, giving up a run. The Miracle held on for the win.

    The Miracle were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and knocked off the Dayton Tortugas thanks to some timely hitting from Marcus Knecht. Knecht was 3-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. What a night! The cause was aided by a 2-4 night at the plate from Mitch Garver, who also had an RBI.

    Final score: Tortugas 1, Miracle 4

    KERNELS KORNER

    Burlington Bees @ Cedar Rapids

    Box Score

    Keaton Steele pitched nine scoreless innings for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in front of a home crowd of 4,173 fans at Perfect Game Field and still didn't factor into the decision as the Kernels ultimately fell in eleven innings. Steele gave up just six hits, struck out seven and walked nobody. Michael Theofanopoulos pitched a scoreless tenth but ran into trouble in the eleventh, giving up a couple of runs thanks to an error and a wild pitch.

    When you don't score any runs in an eleven inning game, there isn't a lot to talk about for the guys with the bats. The Kernels managed just five hits off of five different Bees pitchers. Nick Gordon had a pair of singles and was the only Kernels hitter with multiple hits. The other three hits came from Tanner English (1-5), Max Murphy (1-3) and Pat Kelly (1-4).

    Final Score: Bees 2, Kernels 0

    TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

    Hitter of the Day - Max Kepler, Chattanooga Lookouts

    Pitcher of the Day - Keaton Steele, Cedar Rapids Kernels

    FRIDAY'S PROBABLES

    Louisville @ Rochester - Keyvius Sampson vs. Taylor Rogers (6-4, 3.23)

    Jacksonville @ Chattanooga - Austin Brice vs. Alex Wimmers (4-1, 4.84)

    Fort Myers - OFF

    Cedar Rapids @ Clinton - Zach Tillery (4-1, 2.13) vs. Zack Littell [ZACH/K ATTACK!!!]

    Follow Eric Pleiss on Twitter: ERolfPleiss

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    Featured Comments

    DocBauer

    DocBauer 14431

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Look at Trevor Hildenberger's (Cedar Rapids) stats & explain to me "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO AROUND HERE TO GET A STINKIN' PROMOTION???"

    0.52ERA 34.1INNINGS 15 HITS 5BB 43K 7SVO 7SV

     

    Agreed. But then again, the draft was only a week ago, signings have begin, and it's right around now, traditionally, that the Twins make all their second half promotions. There should be a bunch coming real soon.

     

    And on that note, the Lookouts have a top 100 player, a soon-to-be named top 100 player in Kepler, (bank it),and a possibly named top 100 in Polanco, (strong candidate). Would suck for Rochester, but you could almost make the move for all three to skip AAA. Almost.

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    LimestoneBaggy

    LimestoneBaggy 341

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

     

    No.

     

    Drew Butera (2013, 122 PA): .   198 .270 .279 .550
    Chris Hermann (2015, 57 PA): .196 .268 .353 .621

     

    I'm not saying it isn't without it's downsides (few appearances/40 man issues), but I don't think I'd automatically dismiss it as an option. 

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    Steven Buhr

    Steven Buhr 2279

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    I believe that the Midwest League All Star game is on Monday (or something like that), and I would assume that we'll see a few promotions. Hildenberger needs to be one of them.

    MWL first half ends Sunday and the AS game is Tuesday (and I'll be in Peoria to see the festivities).

     

    I agree Hildenberger should be booking a flight for Fort Myers soon after.

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    drivlikejehu

    drivlikejehu 2201

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    I believe that the Midwest League All Star game is on Monday (or something like that), and I would assume that we'll see a few promotions. Hildenberger needs to be one of them.

     

     

    The Twins are looking past his 0.52 ERA and focusing on his bloated FIP of 1.48.

     

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    jokin

    jokin 4237

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    The Twins are looking past his 0.52 ERA and focusing on his bloated FIP of 1.48.

     

    Hildenberger is 24.5 years of age- 2 years too old for A-ball.  There were health issues in college, but the Twins must not think too much of him as a prospect, even after this level of dominance.  If he was, it seems like he should have been moved up already- the ridiculous numbers and his age suggest he should be a guy who plays through 3 levels this year.  24.5 is the average age for pitchers in AA.

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    Seth Stohs

    Seth Stohs 23732

  • Owner

    • Posted

    He was  20-something round pick just one year ago. He went to college for 4-5 years. He's not Nick Burdi or Jake Reed. He'll move up, and he deserves to. But he's not someone we need to worry about age-to-level with. They have years before they need to make a decision on him. He's got a chance to be a 6th-7th inning guy. I don't care if he gets up at 25 or 28. Doesn't matter at all.

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    jokin

    jokin 4237

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted (edited)

     

    He was  20-something round pick just one year ago. He went to college for 4-5 years. He's not Nick Burdi or Jake Reed. He'll move up, and he deserves to. But he's not someone we need to worry about age-to-level with. They have years before they need to make a decision on him. He's got a chance to be a 6th-7th inning guy. I don't care if he gets up at 25 or 28. Doesn't matter at all.

     

     

    Spending his peak physical years in the minors "doesn't matter at all"?   Beg to differ.   I don't like the Twins automatic default to the "take the full 6 years" approach to development, and I'm not a big fan of them having their guys wasting bullets putting up ridiculous numbers at a competitive level they clearly can gain little from.   

     

    Burdi is far from the perfect comp to Hildenberger, but I would tend to think Burdi would have benefited and accelerated his career track by starting out last season in Ft Myers and then on to New Britain to finish up (or done 3 levels).   It's quite possible through the heightened challenge, he would have garnered more experience, feedback and data to put to good use in the offseason on getting more advanced hitters out, and possibly avoided some of this year's bumps in the roads in the process.

     

    Obviously, Hildengerger was only a 22nd rounder, but Mike Fiers of the Brewers was drafted in the same round, exact same height and weight as Hildenberger- but one year older, while playing at a clearly lower college competitive level- Nova Southeastern vs. Cal-Berkeley- as in the case of Hildenberger.  Of course, no pitcher is quite the same, but as Fiers dominated the minors like Hildenberger has, he was quickly advanced to the next level-  3 levels his rookie year, 2 levels (A+ and AA) plus the AFL his second year.  AA and AAA his third year, with a September call-up in that 3rd year as a pro. 

     

    I'd hate to needlessly wait to a 2019 debut for Hildenberger at 28.5 years of age, if, if he could help the Twins as early as late September, 2016 at age 25.5 (I'm sure he wouldn't like it either).   What if he can start meaningfully helping the club at age 26, instead? That matters, alot. The only way to find out for certain if he can or not, is to tweak the developmental philosophy a bit.   I would think a guy sticking around for half a season and producing ungodly GB (56%), LD (9%) and K (34%) rates to go with a 0.54 ERA is just spinning his wheels.

    Edited by jokin
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    sane

    sane 634

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

     

    The Twins are looking past his 0.52 ERA and focusing on his bloated FIP of 1.48.

    With 43 strikeouts, 5 walks and 15 hits allowed in 34 innings, FIP must be an acronym for Fantastically Irrelevant Pitching metric.... (or F-cking Insignificant Pitching metric)

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    Seth Stohs

    Seth Stohs 23732

  • Owner

    • Posted

     

    Spending his peak physical years in the minors "doesn't matter at all"?   Beg to differ.   I don't like the Twins automatic default to the "take the full 6 years" approach to development, and I'm not a big fan of them having their guys wasting bullets putting up ridiculous numbers at a competitive level they clearly can gain little from. 

     

    All I'm saying is that each player is case-by-case. I've been touting Hildenberger getting promoted to over a month. I don't know why he's not up. But I won't pretend I know why he hasn't been moved up. The Twins evaluators know more than I do. There obviously are 

     

    Also, there is no automatic default, as you call it. There are a ton of examples where that isn't the case. 

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    drivlikejehu

    drivlikejehu 2201

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    With 43 strikeouts, 5 walks and 15 hits allowed in 34 innings, FIP must be an acronym for Fantastically Irrelevant Pitching metric.... (or F-cking Insignificant Pitching metric)

     

    I had hoped it would be pretty obvious that was a joke. A FIP of 1.48 is absurdly low.

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    diehardtwinsfan

    diehardtwinsfan 14830

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    I'd add that I don't think the promote them b/c their young argument is necessarily a safe one either.  While it's possible that their velocity is a bit higher at those younger ages, these guys aren't suddenly moving from mid 90s heat to Tommy Milone heat.  You have to do what's in their best interests.  Burdi started out in FTM and got off to a really bad start, so saying he should have started in AA seems odd, especially since his AA start wasn't exactly good either.  People learn things at these stops.  I'd imagine they learn quite a bit. 

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    sane

    sane 634

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

     

    I had hoped it would be pretty obvious that was a joke. A FIP of 1.48 is absurdly low.

    The joke was on me. I didn't realize a FIP of 1.48 was absurdly low, so my knowledge of FIP was also absurdly low.

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