Twins Minor League Report (6/22) Wind ‘Em Up And Let Her Fly

TRANSACTIONS

-INF Jose Miranda placed on the temporary inactive list

-RHP Sean Poppen optioned to AAA Rochester

-RHP Andro Cutura transferred to AA Pensacola

-RHP Cody Allen reportedly signed to a minor league deal, no assignment or official announcement yet

https://twitter.com/DanHayesMLB/status/1142570022562402304

Not a transaction, but Jordan Balazovic recently moved into the MLB pipeline top 100 list which gives the Twins 5 prospects on the list now (Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Brusdar Graterol, Trevor Larnach, Jordan Balazovic).

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1142290230361411584

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 0, Toledo 2

Box Score

Devin Smeltzer: 4 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 66.3% strikes (57 of 86 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: None

The Red Wings were involved in a low-scoring affair on Saturday which I thought was illegal to do at AAA this year but evidently it is allowed, go figure.

The Red Wings were only able to scratch across three hits along with three walks and a hit-by-pitch with just one of those hits going for extra bases.

Devin Smeltzer was unable to complete five innings but Cody Stashak, Gabriel Moya, and Ian Krol were able to pick it up after him by not allowing any runs over 3- 1/3 in relief while punching out five.

BLUE WAHOO BITES

Pensacola 2, Jacksonville 3

Box Score

Charlie Barnes: 4 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 67.6% strikes (50 of 74 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Lewin Diaz (3-for-4, 2B, RBI)

The Blue Wahoos lost a close one this Saturday by just a single run.

Lewin Diaz was promoted a few days ago and naturally he has struggled early as he adjusts to the new level… Or not. Diaz went 3-for-4 and his OPS at AA so far is a blistering 1.230, it would be hard to make a case that any other hitter in the Twins system has had a better year than Diaz as he just continues to rake.

Anthony Vizcaya took the hard-luck loss as he worked 2 1/3 in relief and gave up just a single run. Unfortunately, that was the go-ahead run and Vizcaya therefore had to take the loss. He still holds 0.64 ERA on the season at AA however so he should not feel too bad.

The starter for the Jumbo Shrimp was top prospect Sixto Sanchez who was acquired by the Marlins over the offseason. Sanchez did not disappoint as he allowed just two runs over seven innings. But this is a report for the Blue Wahoos, so the compliments will end there.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 7

Box Score

Jordan Balazovic: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 64.0% strikes (55 of 86 pitches)

HR: None

Multi-hit games: Gabriel Maciel (2-for-2, 2 R, BB, 2 HBP), Royce Lewis (2-for-5), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB)

The Miracle lost a rough game on Saturday that was not without a few great individual performances.

The top of the Miracle lineup got the job done as the first four batters in the lineup reached base a combined eleven times. After that, the 5-9 batters combined for just three times where a base was reached safely and that came with nine strikeouts.

No one told Gabriel Maciel that A+ is supposed to be harder than A because he reached base every single time he came to the plate on Saturday and is off to a flaming start at A+ that comes with an OPS of 1.188 in his small sample.

Jordan Balazovic labored somewhat but still ended his outing with just a single earned run given up over his five innings of work. Joe Record and Calvin Faucher were not as good as they gave up a combined five earned runs in two innings after Balazovic was taken out.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 5

Box Score

Josh Winder: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 65.2% strikes (60 of 92 pitches)

HR: Trevor Casanova (1)

Multi-hit games: None

Josh Winder was great yet again as he continues to rack up the quality starts with great peripherals. His season ERA now sits at an elite 2.66 which is the sixth lowest among qualified starters in the Midwest league.

Trevor Casanova blasted his first home run of the year as the association of hitters in the Twins system named “Trevor” continue to impress this year. Casanova was also the only Kernel batter to reach base multiple times in the game.

The game was close late but some sloppiness from the Kernels defense allowed the tying run to score in the seventh thanks to an error and the Kernels were walked-off in the ninth because of a stolen base by Peoria that happened to coincide with a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score.

E-Town E-Notes

Elizabethton 1, Kingsport 5

Box Score

Ryan Shreve: 3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 77.1% strikes (37 of 48 pitches)

HR: Charles Mack (1)

Multi-hit games: None

The other Twins (junior Twins? Diet Twins? I’ll think of more), fell to Kingsport this Saturday to fall to 2-3 on the season so far.

The lone little Twins’ run came from Charles Mack’s first professional home run which came in the first inning.

Freshly drafted Spencer Steer recorded his first professional hit in the fifth inning with a sharp infield single.

The little brother Twins struck out twelve Kingsport hitters over eight total innings but they just could not quite get the BABIP to go their way.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Josh Winder

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Lewin Diaz

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, K

#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - 1-for-4, 2B

#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list

#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K

#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K

#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 1-for-3, 2 K

#7 - Jhoan Duran (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#8 - Lewis Thorpe (Rochester) - Did not pitch

#9 - Blayne Enlow (Ft. Myers) - Did not pitch

#10 - Akil Baddoo (Ft. Myers) - Tommy John surgery, out for year

#11 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-for-4, K

#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list

#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, RBI, BB, K

#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 0-for-3, BB

#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list

#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI

#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - With the Twins-did not pitch

#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 0-for-3, BB

#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch

#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - Temporary inactive list

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Toledo (3:05 P.M.) - LHP Lewis Thorpe

Pensacola @ Jacksonville (2:05 P.M.) - RHP Jorge Alcala

Fort Myers @ Jupiter (12:00 P.M.) - RHP Cole Sands

Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (5:05 P.M.) - RHP Andrew Cabezas

Elizabethton @ Kingsport (3:00 P.M.) - LHP Brent Headrick

Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games.