Wind Surge v Travelers Jun 18, 2024
Wind Surge v Travelers
Jun 18, 2024
Author: 3-1Count.com
An overcast day with a steady breeze is about perfect for a summer daytime baseball game in the south. And that is exactly what we had today at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, AR. There was a swirling wind coming off of the Arkansas River and it was mostly blowing in. And this made a notorious pitchers park that much more difficult to score runs in.
The Wichita Wind Surge (AA Minnesota Twins) are in for a six game series against the Arkansas Travelers (AA Seattle Mariners). Today is game one of a series that features quite a few significant MLB prospects on both teams. This is a series I’ve been looking forward to so I’ll cut the preamble and get right to the player highlights.
Luke Keaschall is the player I was most interested in seeing this week. I’ve written about him several times recently and if you’re following you know how much I liked him out of the draft. Today made my first in-person look at Keaschall and what I saw is an even more physical player than I expected. He’s listed 6’0 190 lbs and is every bit of that and likely more. Strong and athletic Keaschall moves well and has an explosiveness to him.
Keaschall played CF today and looked good enough there. He didn’t get a lot of action so my read was limited. This is a versatile player that has played 1B, 2B, and CF this year and also played a couple games at 3B last year. I could see him coming up to the big leagues in a utility type role but also wonder if he might just predominantly play in the OF. I’ve used a Spencer Steer CIN comp on Keaschall before and still think it applies. Keaschall has more speed and Steer likely more in-game power. Both are total gamer types, versatile but without a clearly defined defensive home.
On the day Keaschall was 1 for 4, ripping a clean single past the diving Cole Young at SS. Keaschall made solid contact his other three at bats, pulling the ball each time. Having seen only limited film of Keaschall previously I am not yet clear on whether he generally looks to pull or if that’s just what was offered to him today.
Jeferson Morales C/OF isn’t a player that was on my radar coming into today. He hit third for the Wind Surge and had a nice oppo double in the first so I dug in a bit to see what he is about. At 25 he’s a bit old for the level and he is a smaller player listed at 5’8 and 170. Morales has been in the Twins organization since 2018 and has delivered a wRC+ of 120 or higher at every stop except a 69 game stretch in High A during 2022. There seems to be some power, some speed, and a solid approach at the plate. At a minimum I’m curious to watch him the rest of the series.
Aaron Sabato 1B came up four times today and was 0 for 4 with a K. While he battled a bit in his at bats the swing and approach just didn’t stand out. Sabato has really struggled with the strikeout since he was taken in the 1st rd of the 2020 draft. There’s power there, and he is obviously very strong. I’ll get a longer look over the course of this week but in general Sabato’s profile presents a challenge for big league success. He’s a RH first baseman with contact issues, lacking a strong hit tool, and he also doesn’t move particularly well.
Andrew Cossetti C was not in the lineup today. I’ve wanted to get a live look for some time and hopefully he will be behind the plate or at 1B for most of the games this week. So stay tuned for some video and thoughts on Cossetti.
One last player that grabbed my attention from the Wind Surge is pitcher Aaron Rozek. He entered the game in the 4th and pitched 5 strong innings, giving up 6 hits, one run, and striking out 6. The big lefty threw 86 pitches and 64 were for strikes. Including strikes on 20 of his first 22 pitches. Managers absolutely love guys that can come in and throw strikes and Rozek did that in a big way today. Rozek pitched at Minnesota State before joining the Twins organization in 2021. He was a starter for much of his early pro career and then began relieving last year. Now hehas done so in 8 of his 11 outings this year. Rozek looks like he has a swing man profile atm and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him make a big league appearance this year based upon team need.
Switching over to the Travelers seeing Ben Williamson penciled in at leadoff caught my attention immediately. Williamson isn’t your traditional speed guy to hit at the top of the order. What he is however is a hitter with an advanced approach at the plate and a willingness to work the count. I’m talking in just about every at bat. I have seen Williamson go 5, 6, 7 pitches deep in an at bat so many times this year. And once again, he saw 7 pitches in each of his first two at bats today. This puts Williamson in a position where he’s more likely to get a pitch he can drive and it also means a ton to his teammates. They get a long look at the pitcher and benefit from this as well as benefiting from the pitchers advancing pitch count.
Williamson was 0 for 3 on the day but he did draw a walk and score one of the Travelers 3 runs. I like the move to hit Williamson leadoff, particularly when you have Cole Young and Harry Ford hitting behind him. Thats an advanced plate approach from all three hitters at the top of the lineup and adds a lot of stress to the opposing pitchers.
Cole Young has heated up with the weather. Since May 1 Young is hitting .297 with 23 runs, 19 RBI and 6 of his 7 home runs. My primary concern with Young has been whether he would impact the ball. He generally has good at bats, is walking nearly 12% of the time and striking out less than 16%. The power is to his pull side and I’ve been unsure as to how often he might be able to get to it. Well, he certainly got to it today. Young hit this deep shot off Corey Lewis in the first.
Young ended the day 2 for 4 with the home run, a single, 2 RBI, a run scored and a strikeout. It was good work and pulls his average up to .278 with a .784 OPS. I keep reminding myself that Young is young (I know, I know) for the level and has yet to turn 21yo.
Harry Ford always seems to be on base multiple times in a game. And today was no different as he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a K. Ford’s average is only .259 but his OBP is now approaching .400 again. There have been trade rumors around Ford and I certainly don’t know what will happen between now and the deadline. He’s the kind of player I want on my team and I believe he could offer position versatility if the opportunity allowed. That said, he would also draw a significant return in a trade and the Mariners do need help with the offense.
Something I didn’t expect in the 8th inning today was to see Logan Evans take the mound in relief for the Travelers. Evans has been a starting pitcher over his first 15 pro appearances. But this is now the 5th outing in a row that Evans has come from the pen. I’ve not seen anything on this but suspect the Mariners are prepping him for a possible big league relief role this year. They have one of the best rotations in baseball and depth to spare on top of that. So the move, on a shorter term basis, could make sense.
Today’s final score was Travelers 3 and Wind Surge 2. The game lasted just under 2 1/2 hours and featured just 13 combined hits. Entering tomorrow’s play the Travelers sit 35-28 and the Wind Surge 27-37.
That’s a wrap for todays game. I’ll continue to post on X (formerly Twitter) and offer additional thoughts here as the week unfolds.
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