Fan favorite La Tortuga stole the headlines yesterday when he was optioned to Triple- A after the Twins win. The move wasn’t surprising to most, and was necessary for expanding the bullpen to make room for another reliever (who was later revealed to be Ryan Eades), but sending down the man who refuses to strike out was not the easiest of decisions. How Astudillo did in his first game in the minors in 2019, some more dingers hit by some of the usual suspects, a homer that was especially grand, and much more in this edition of the minor league report.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Wander Javier)

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C Willians Astudillo optioned to AAA RochesterRHP Ryan Eades contract selected by MinnesotaRochester 6, Pawtucket 2Randy Dobnak: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 61.1% strikes (55 of 90 pitches)HR: Drew Maggi (6), Wilin Rosario (7)Multi-hit games: Willians Astudillo (3-for-4, RBI, BB), Wilin Rosario (2-for-3, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB), Drew Maggi (2-for-2, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB)The Red Wings pushed their win streak to six games thanks to a consistent offensive attack and a great start from Randy Dobnak who now holds a 2.55 ERA in his time at AAA.Fan favorite Willians Astudillo was demoted to AAA yesterday and apparently took the news in stride as he collected three hits and somehow walked in his first game back in the minors.Four Red Wings hitters (Astudillo, Rooker, Rosario, Maggi) reached base multiple times and all but three hitters reached base at least once during the game.Trevor Hildenberger was called on in the ninth to end the game and gave up a homer in his sole inning of work. His AAA ERA now sits at 8.44 and I truly hope that he can put it back together soon as he has shown that he can be a dominating reliever in the majors.Pensacola 2, Biloxi 5Charlie Barnes: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 60.3% strikes (44 of 73 pitches)HR: Jaylin Davis (9)Multi-hit games: Michael Davis (2-for-4, 2B)Despite great showings from the Davis brothers (note: Michael and Jaylin are not actual brothers to the best of my knowledge), the Blue Wahoos fell to the Shuckers by a score of 5-2.It was a close 2-1 affair until the Shuckers were able to break through with three runs off Jeff Ames in the bottom of the eighth inning. A Travis Blankenhorn RBI double in the top of the ninth would trim the lead to just three, but the Blue Wahoos were unable to score again by the time their outs ran out.Side-arming reliever Tom Hackimer came into the game in relief of Charlie Barnes and threw a pair of scoreless innings to bring his AA ERA down to a microscopic 1.08.In the end, the Blue Wahoos' inability to get a hit with RISP helped do them in as they went a combined 1-for-8 in opportunities where a man was in scoring position.Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 2Cole Sands: 5 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 62.2% strikes (51 of 82 pitches)HR: Lewin Diaz (13), Jose Miranda (4), Trey Cabbage (2)Multi-hit games: Lewin Diaz (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB), Trevor Larnach (2-for-4), David Banuelos (2-for-4, RBI)Lewin Diaz continued to make an absolute mockery of the very concept of A+ by launching his 13th homer of the year in support of yet another multi-hit game for the slugging first baseman. The only reason why he hasn’t been promoted to AA is because his bus ticket to Pensacola was lost in the mail (or probably some actual legit reason, who knows). Perhaps the Twins want to give Alex Kirilloff that playing time at first base. In any case, it seems like Diaz will be moving up sooner rather than later because A+ pitchers cannot stop him, they can only hope to contain him.Not to be outdone by Diaz, the baby bombas, Jose Miranda and Trey Cabbage, both launched home runs of their own as every Miracle run came off a hot, fresh, and piping tater.Cole Sands was dealing early in the game but was removed after the first out in the sixth because of a cut in his pitching hand. Hopefully it is more precautionary than anything and Sands can get back out there soon.Aaron Whitefield swiped his 19th base of the season which puts him just behind Vidal Brujan for the FSL lead (Brujan has 21 steals).You also may or may not be surprised by this little tidbit from Marshall Kelner:Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 7 (10 innings)Josh Winder: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 63.6% strikes (63 of 99 pitches)HR: Wander Javier (2)Multi-hit games: Andrew Bechtold (3-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB), Gabe Snyder (2-for-5, 2B, R), Estamy Urena (2-for-3, RBI)The Kernels won quite the game this Saturday that took an extra inning to end and went berserk in the bottom of the eighth.Josh Winder was nothing short of outstanding in his start as he went seven full innings without surrendering so much as an extra-base hit, much less a run.The game was a seemingly normal 2-0 affair heading into the bottom half of the eighth but the Chiefs took advantage of Brian Rapp’s wildness by scratching four runs across thanks in part to a hit-by-pitch, walks, and some singles.All seemed lost heading into the ninth but the Kernels were able to put some men on before Gabriel Maciel singled one of them home, giving the Kernels a deficit of just one run. Jacob Pearson struck out, Gilberto Celestino walked, and the bases were loaded for Wander Javier. What did Wander Javier do with those loaded bases? He unloaded them along with himself as he blasted a grand slam to give the Kernels a 7-4 lead.But, the baseball gods were not done as the Chiefs took advantage of some wildness this time from Alex Schick in the bottom of the ninth and tied the game right back.The 10th started with a man on second base and the Kernels were able to take advantage thanks to an Andrew Bechtold RBI single. The Chiefs were not able to capitalize like the Kernels did as Derek Molina slammed the door shut and ended the inning without even allowing the free runner to advance.Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Josh WinderTwins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Drew MaggiHere’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:#1 - Royce Lewis (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4#2 - Alex Kirilloff (Pensacola) - Injured list#3 - Brusdar Graterol (Pensacola) - Injured list#4 - Trevor Larnach (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-4#5 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB, K#6 - Brent Rooker (Rochester) - 1-for-3, 2B, R, 2 BB, 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) - Did not play#12 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Injured list#13 - Ryan Jeffers (Ft. Myers) - Did not play#14 - Ben Rortvedt (Pensacola) - 1-for-3, 2B, BB, 2 K#15 - Yunior Severino (Cedar Rapids) - Injured list#16 - Gilberto Celestino (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, BB#17 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - With the Twins-did not pitch#18 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - Did not play#19 - Jorge Alcala (Pensacola) - Did not pitch#20 - Jose Miranda (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, HR, R, RBIRochester @ Pawtucket: (12:05 P.M.) - RHP Chase De JongPensacola @ Tennessee (2:35 P.M.) - RHP Jorge AlcalaFort Myers @ Lakeland (12:00 P.M.) - RHP Edwar ColinaPeoria @ Cedar Rapids Game 1 (1:00 P.M.) - RHP Andrew CabezasPlease feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games.