Twins Minor League Week in Review: Wind Surge Power

Be sure to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday, and then jump into the minor league week. 

Before we get started, let’s check out the FCL Twins game and the transactions from Monday. 

TRANSACTIONS

• LHP Denny Bentley was promoted from Ft. Myers to Cedar Rapids. 
• Ft. Myers added catcher Patrick Winkel (2021 9th round pick), outfielder Kyler Fedko (2021 12th round pick), second baseman Alerick Soularie (2020, 2nd round pick) and RHP Matt Mullenbach (signed as free agent earlier this year).  

FCL Twins Talk
FCL Twins 1, FCL Pirates 5
Box Score 

Twins Competitive Balance pick Noah Miller made his professional debut today. He walked in his first plate appearance. He then got out twice before singling in his final at-bat of the day. He is a career-.300 hitter as a professional. In addition, eighth-round pick Noah Cardenas was added to the FCL roster. 

A rehabbing Zander Wiel went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. Also rehabbing is Gabe Snyder. He went 2-for-4 with a double. 

Juan Mendez has been good for the FCL Twins to this point. On Monday, he gave up five runs on four hits and two walks and recorded just one out. Jackson Hicks came on and gave up three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out six batters. Danny Moreno struck out three batters over three perfect innings. Rafael Feliz struck out the side in the final inning. 

With that, let’s look at Week 15 in the Twins minor leagues: 

RESULTS
Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (4-2 @ Indianapolis), overall (48-41)
Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (3-3 @ Tulsa), overall (52-38)
High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (4-2 @ Peoria), overall (49-41)
Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (1-3 @ Bradenton), overall (44-41) 
Complex League FCL Twins: Week (2-3), overall (9-22)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. 

• Twins Minor League Week in Review: Walkoff Wins of Change in Wichita  
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 25-21
• Tuesday: Balazovic Gets Back on Track 
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 20-16
• Wednesday: Who Didn’t Homer? 
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 15-11
• TD Interview: Mike McCarthy, St. Paul Saints Pitching Coach 
• Trio Hinting at Twins Pitching Pipeline 
• Thursday: Morales Dominates, Saints’ Bullpen Bears Down 
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 10-6
• Friday: Lewis Thorpe Appears on Verge of Twins Return 
• TD Top Twins Prospect Rankings (Post Draft and Trade Deadline: 5-1
• Saturday: Clean Sweep (But Not in a Good Way) 
• Sunday: Smashing Sunday 
• Twins 40-Man Roster Crunch? Perhaps Not 

Highlights

We will start with the Twins choices for the organizational hitter and pitcher of the week, and then mention several other Twins prospects who had good Week 15 performances

Twins Player of the Week: Yunior Severino, Cedar Rapids Kernels      

Severino has made a lot of money in baseball. He first received a seven-figure signing bonus with Atlanta. After Atlanta was found to be working illegally, Severino became a free agent and kept that signing bonus. Then the Twins gave him a bigger seven-figure signing bonus.

He has fought some injuries in his time with the Twins, but after his recent promotion to the Kernels he has been very good. Last week, he played in six games and hit .480/.552/.720 (1.272) with three doubles and a home run. In 17 games with Cedar Rapids, he has hit .424/.493/.591 (1.084) with eight doubles and a home run. 

Twins Pitcher of the Week: Ben Gross, Cedar Rapids Kernels         

After three years at Princeton, Gross went to Duke for his senior season and became the Twins 10th round in 2019. In his start this week, he gave up two runs on six hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out 13 batters.  

Overall this season with Cedar Rapids, he has pitched in 15 games (14 starts) and is 5-1 with a 3.25 ERA. In 72 innings, he has walked 20 and struck out 92 batters. 

Other Strong Performances this Week

St. Paul Saints

As per usual, Jose Miranda had a highlight week. In six games, he hit .462/.517/.808 (1.325) with three doubles and two homers. Jimmy Kerrigan played in four games and hit .353/.353/.941 (1.294) with a double, three homers and eight RBI. Tomas Telis played five games and hit .375/.400/.667 (1.067) with a double and two homers. Glberto Celestino played five games and hit .316/.458/.579 (1.037) with two doubles and a home run. 

Kyle Barraclough pitched in three games and 3 1/3 innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out seven batters. After a bad start with the Twins, Beau Burrows struck out five batters in three scoreless innings for the Sains. Rafael Garza pitched three scoreless innings and had a save for St. Paul before coming up and tossing two scoreless for the Twins. 

A certain highlight was the return of lefty Lewis Thorpe who made a start and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Andrew Albers made two starts. In 13 innings, he gave up three earned runs (2.08 ERA). On Sunday, he tossed eight scoreless innings. 

Wichita Wind Surge

Zach Neff gave up just one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings over two outings. Alex Phillips tossed 4 1/3 scoreless, no-hit innings. Bryan Sammons made a start and gave up a single and a walk over five scoreless innings. He struck out five. Austin Schulfer threw four innings in his start and struck out four batters. Cole Sands gave up two runs on five hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings in his start. He struck out 10 batters. The Wind Surge lead the AA-Central division with 941 strikeouts, second most in all Double-A ball. 

The Wind Surge hitters combined for 21 home runs during the week and a league-leading 33 homers in 13 August games! BJ Boyd had a huge week! He has an 11 game hitting streak. In six games last week, he hit .385/.407/1.077 (1.484) with six homers and 12 RBI! Roy Morales played four games and hit .385/.467/.692 (1.159) with a double and a homer. Jermaine Palacios played all six games. He hit .348/.400/.652 (1.052) with a double and two homers. Leobaldo Cabrera played just three games. He went 4-for-9 (.444) with a double and two home runs. Trey Cabbage played all six games. He hit just .208, but he hit four home runs. 

Cedar Rapids Kernels

The start of Matt Canterino on Sunday sure was exciting. In his first game back with the Kernels after about 10 weeks away with injury. He worked three innings and recorded eight strikeouts. He walked one. Of the ten batters he faced, he struck out eight! 

Cody Laweryson worked four scoreless innings and struck out six batters. He gave up just one hit. Zach Featherstone pitched three innings over two games. He had a save and struck out five batters over three scoreless innings. Melvi Acosta had a save and struck out four batters in four innings. Derek Molina (2 2/3 innings), Tyler Palm (2 innings) and Ryan Shreve (2 innings) each struck out four batters and didn’t allow a run. Breckin Williams struck out three batters over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. 

Jefferson Morales played in four games and hit .500/.500/.813 (1.313) with two doubles and a homer. Four of his eight hits came in one game. Michael Helman played in five games and hit .313/.421/.625 (1.046) with two doubles and a home run. Edouard Julien played in all six games and hit .333/.517/.524 (1.041) with a double and a homer. He also had eight walks. 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels

There were only four games, but Aaron Sabato had a really good week. On the week, he hit .294 (5-for-17). Those five hits? A double and four home runs, a slugging percentage of 1.059 (1.427 OPS). 

Aaron Rozek struck out six batters over four, two-hit innings. Sean Mooney made one start and tossed three perfect innings. He struck out six batters. Casey Legumina returned to the mound too, and gave up just one hit over three innings. He struck out three batters. Bobby Milacki gave up one run on three hits over four innings. He struck out six batters. 

FCL Twins 

Giovahnniey German was fantastic again. In his start, he tossed five no-hit, no-run innings. He walked three and struck out seven. Jackson Hicks worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and struck out six batters. Matt Mullenbach struck out four batters in three scoreless innings. Danny Moreno pitched twice, and he gave up a run on no hits, two walks and struck out four. 

Wander Valdez had a big week. In four games, he hit .429/.438/.643 (1.080) with a homer. 

Lowlights

We are talking about small samples for these six-game weeks, so it’s important not to make any big decisions or develop a full impression on a player from this small size. It’s just a reminder of the fact that baseball is hard, and all players have good and bad stretches.  

St. Paul Saints

Yennier Cano gave up three runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Ryan Mason gave up four runs on two hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. 

Keon Broxton went 0-for-10 in three games. He had seven strikeouts. 

Wichita Wind Surge

Chris Vallimont had a rocky start. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up six runs on five hits and three walks. Evan Sisk gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Jhonleider Salinas gave up three runs on a hit and three walks in one innings. Mitchell Osnowitz gave up two runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning. Erik Manoah gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. 

Caleb Hamilton went 0-for-9. Austin Martin went 3-for-23 (.130) with a homer and a walk. Aaron Whitefield went 3-for-14 (.214). 

Cedar Rapids Kernels

Osiris German gave up five runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter in two innings. Tyler Watson was charged with five runs on six hits a hit batter and two walks over 2 1/3 innings. 

Wander Javier continues to struggle. In six games, he went 2-for-24 (.083) with a triple. He also struck out 13 times in 26 plate appearances. Seth Gray went 3-for-26 (.115) with a homer. He struck out 10 times. 

Ft. Myers Might Mussels

Matthew Swain gave up four runs on two hits and four walks in just one innings. Landon Leach had a rough start. He gave up three runs over two innings. He gave up zero hits, walked three and hit five batters. Orlando Rodriguez gave up four runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batter in 2 2/3 innings. 

Charlie Mack has been quite good of late, but in four games, he went 1-for-17 (.059). 

Prospect Summery

This Prospect Summary shows our Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings following the draft and trade deadline.

#1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL)
#2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 12 games, .256/.429/.372 (.801) with 2 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI, 7 BB, 9 K.
#3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 14 GS, 65.0 IP, 66 H, 24 BB, 72 K, 3.74 ERA, 1.38 WHIP
#4 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (Wichita) - Has not pitched since Olympics.
#5 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – 5 G, 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on IL with a right forearm strain) 
#6 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 88 games, .346/.409/.602 (1.011) with 22 doubles, 24 homers, 66 RBI, 33 BB, 54 K
#7 - Joe Ryan (St. Paul) - Has not pitched since Olympics
#8 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 5 GS, 21.0 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 43 K, 0.86 ERA, 0.67 WHIP
#9 - Chase Petty (Complex) - Has yet to pitch.
#10 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 49 games, .245/.313/.328 (.641) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 21 RBI, 17 BB, 66 K, 5 SB 

#11 - Josh Winder (St. Paul) - 14 GS, 72.0 IP, 55 H, 13 BB, 80 K, 2.63 ERA, 0.94 WHIP
#12 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 39 games, .268/.339/.536 (.875) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 10 homers, 30 RBI, 13 BB, 60 K.
#13 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), St. Paul (12 games, .277/.358/.511 (.869) with 2 doubles, 3 homers, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 11 K), Minnesota (22 games, .140/.183/.298 (.482) with 3 BB, 13 K)
#14 - Drew Strotman (St. Paul) - 3 GS, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 11 K, 6.28 ERA, 1.40 WHIP.
#15 - Noah Miller (Complex) -  Has yet to play.
#16 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (58 games, .239/.368/.566 (.934) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 37 BB, 74 K), Minnesota (28 games, .198/.252/.423 (.676) with 7 doubles, 6 homers, 10 RBI, 6 BB, 36 K)
#17 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (underwent Tommy John surgery on June 9th)
#18 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 76 games, .195/.293/.298 (590) with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homer, 48 RBI, 37 BB, 61 K, 12 SB)
#19 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 13 G, 12 GS, 54.0 IP, 38 H, 22 BB, 74 K, 2.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP
#20 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 83 games, .255/.358/.506 (.865) with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 21 homers, 50 RBI, 45 BB, 74 K) 

LOOKING AHEAD

Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (Landon Leach, Aaron Rozek, Casey Legumina, Sean Mooney, TBD, Bobby Milacki):
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids:(Ben Gross, Louie Varland, TBD, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Matt Canterino, Cody Laweryson)
Wichita @ Springfield: (Chris Vallmont, Tyler Beck, Austin Schulfer, Cole Sands, Jordan Balazovic, Chris Vallimont)
Iowa @ St. Paul: (TBD, Lewis Thorpe, Beau Burrows, Joe Ryan, Andrew Albers, Drew Strotman): 

Feel free to ask any questions you like.