Twins Minor League Report (7/31): Palacios Continues To Crush

All that and more can be found as you work your way through today’s minor league report.

TRANSACTIONS

The trade deadline came and passed on Friday afternoon, and the Twins minor league system was affected. The Twins acquired RH RP Kevin Jepsen from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for RHP Chih-Wei Hu and RHP Alexis Tapia.

With Jepsen joining the Twins on Saturday, along with the return of Trevor Plouffe from the paternity list, the Twins needed to take two players off of the 25-man roster. Danny Santana has been optioned to Rochester and Jorge Polanco has been optioned to Chattanooga.

Also, hot-hitting GCL shortstop Jermaine Palacios was promoted to Elizabethton. So was catcher Brian Olson. Infielder Ariel Montesino was sent down to the GCL Twins.

Also, a week ago, the Twins signed outfielder Christian Cavaness. He was an NAIA All-American and Lindenwood University-Belleville player but went undrafted. He was playing for the Bend Elk in the college West Coast League and after a tryout, signed with the Twins. Two years ago, the Twins signed LHP Cameron Booser from the same team as a non-drafted free agent. Cavaness came on as a pinch runner on Saturday, his first pro appearance.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 8, Syracuse 3

Box Score

Taylor Rogers evened his season record at 8-8 on Friday night. The southpaw gave up three runs on four hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out eight. Mark Hamburger struck out two over two perfect innings. Aaron Thompson walked one in a scoreless ninth.

The Red Wings got a lot of contributions in this win. James Beresford went 2-5 with his 18^th double. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-5 with his 25^th double and 12^th home run. Danny Ortiz had two hits, including his 26^th double. Chris Herrmann went 2-3 with his first home run. He also stole his second base. Argenis Diaz was 2-3 with a walk.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Chattanooga 1, Pensacola 4

Box Score

Greg Peavey made his first start since returning from Rochester. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in 6.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Jake Reed pitched an inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and three walks. DJ Johnson got the final five outs.

The Lookouts managed just five hits in the game. Max Kepler’s tenth triple drove in the team’s lone run. Shannon Wilkerson hit his fourth double.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Ft. Myers 1, Daytona 8

Box Score

Kohl Stewart spent the last several days reading rumors that he might have been traded. His start was pushed back a day to occur after the trade deadline. Finally able to focus on pitching, Stewart had a rough one. He gave up seven runs on seven hits, a walk and two hit batters in 5.1 innings. He struck out one. Zack Jones struck out three of the five batters that he faced. Tyler Jay gave up one run on one hit and a walk in his inning.

The Miracle mustered just three hits. Engelb Vielma hit his ninth double. Ryan Walker hit his third double.

KERNELS NUGGETS

Cedar Rapids 1, Kane County 6

Box Score

The Kernels had nine hits, but 13 strikeouts ended several threats. Edgar Corcino and Brett Doe each went 2-4. Tanner English hit his 15^th double.

Randy Rosario started and was charged with four runs on six hits. He gave up nine hits, walked one and struck out four. Mike Theofanopoulos gave up one run on two hits in two innings. He struck out two.

E-TOWN E-NOTES

Elizabethton 6, Burlington 12

Box Score

After hitting .421/.472/.589 (1.061) in 26 GCL games, Jermaine Palacios was promoted to Elizabethton. He started out with a bang. He went 3-5 with a three-run homer and added another RBI. Of course, it wasn’t all great. He had two errors at shortstop in the game.

Amaurys Minier went 2-4 with his seventh and eight doubles. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-3 with a walk and his third double. Brad Hartong hit his second double.

Cody Stashak started and gave up three runs on five hits in just three innings. He struck out three. Anthony Mciver came on and gave up four runs on six hits and a walk in just 1.2 innings. He struck out one. Tyler Stirewalt gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits in three innings. He struck out two. Josh Guyer went the final 1.1 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.

GCL TWINS TAKES

Game 1 – GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 1

Box Score

Williams Ramirez takes the loss in this one, though he continues to pitch great. He gave up one run on two hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out eight. His falls to 3-1 with a 0.57 ERA in 31.1 innings. Again, he will turn 23 in one week, so I asked about him. Turns out that he is a converted third baseman who had done almost no pitching growing up. He has a strong arm and good feel for his secondary pitches, but he’s still quite raw. He’s certainly making a strong impression. Johan Quezada, another strong-armed right hander, came on and struck out two (and walked one) in two innings.

Unfortunately in the first game, the GCL Twins – like the big league club – managed just one hit, a Ruar Verkerk single. In some good news, infielder Blake Schmidt returned to the field. He went 0-1 with a walk in his first game since he was hit in the face with a pitch in Cedar Rapids. He required surgery and has been working to come back for a month.

Game 2 – GCL Twins 10, GCL Red Sox 2

Box Score

After getting just one hit in the first game, the Twins put up ten runs. They had eight hits but were also helped by 10 walks. Luis Arraez went 2-4 with two RBI. Kolton Kendrick went 1-2 with three walks. Robert Molina and Ariel Montesino each walked twice as well.

Jose Martinez started and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out two. John Curtiss continues to rehab. He threw two perfect innings.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Martinez, GCL Twins

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jermaine Palacios, Elizabethton Twins

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Syracuse @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey

Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – RHP Alex Wimmers

Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers

Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – RHP Sam Gibbons

Burlington @ Elizabethton (5:00 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez

GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox (9:00am CST) – TBD

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