Playoff berth secured, Cedar Rapids Kernels begin 2nd half

CEDAR RAPIDS — You knew the roster was good. Especially from a position-player standpoint.

It was just that it was rarely ever fully intact.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels won the Midwest League Western Division first-half championship Thursday night, sweeping Beloit in a road doubleheader to clinch. The Kernels (40-26) came from just off the pace to nip Quad Cities by a game, after the River Bandits led almost the entire way.

An impressive achievement for a baseball club that always seemed to have someone on the injured list. Or 12 someones, as the second half of the 132-game regular season began Friday night at Beloit.

“Winning is never easy,” said Manager Brian Meyer. “I told the guys after the game that every single one of them ... they have overcome a lot of adversity, both on and off the field, and they persevered. They kept playing the game the right way, and they got rewarded for it. The game knows when you do things the right way. You are able to get rewarded for it. I’m so happy for all the guys. It’s been a long time coming for them.”

Cedar Rapids went into April’s opening night with 10 of the parent Minnesota Twins’ top 30 prospects, according to www.mlbpipeline.com. Eight of those 10 prospects were position players.

But the top one, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, last year’s first-round draft pick of the Twins, was limited right away due to a hamstring injury incurred in spring training. The pattern began.

Culpepper also dealt with a wrist problem that briefly put him on the IL but recovered and had a late two-run home run Thursday night that won Game 2. He was promoted Friday to Double-A Wichita, after hitting .293 in 54 games, with nine homers, 34 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

  Buy Photo

Infielder Billy Amick hit a ton in April but went on the injured list with an oblique injury May 2 and hasn’t played since. Infielder Kyle DeBarge, another key lineup cog, missed a week with a wrist thing, infielder Rayne Doncon barely played in the first half with multiple maladies.

Catcher-outfilder Khadim Diaw broke the thumb on his right hand trying to throw out a basestealer at second base, his hand colliding with the bat of an opposing hitter after a swing and miss. He’s out long term.

Charlee Soto is the top pitching prospect on the Kernels, flashed 100 miles per hour with his fastball in three starts but went on the IL with a forearm strain and isn’t close to returning. Ludicrous stuff.

But others made up for their absences, such as catcher Nate Baez, who went from afterthought to middle-of-the-order guy who was among the MWL’s best hitters before receiving a recent promotion to Double-A. Brandon Winokur, another top prospect, has gotten hot the last couple of weeks, hitting big home runs in a pair of wins this week at Beloit.

“I think we talked about it at the beginning of the year, that just shows you the depth of our roster. I think that depth really showed. When you’re missing guys ... there were guys who stepped up,” Meyer said. “You look at (outfielder) Misael Urbina, the last couple of weeks has put really good at-bats together. He’s been here for a while. But he gives a next-man-up mentality, and that’s something we talk about with Draw MacPhail, our farm director. He’s always trying to improve the roster.

“You bring guys in like (outfielder) Justin Connell and Poncho Ruiz, who caught nine games in 10 days for us, caught 14 innings yesterday. Just a warrior. It’s a testament to the scouting department, to Drew for having the right guys here to have that mentality of ‘Hey, we’re going to go out and we’re going to try and win this thing every day.’”

It’ll be interesting to find out who plays for the Kernels in the second half and for how long. Culpepper could be followed to Wichita by DeBarge, for instance.

The pitching staff should remain pretty much intact, barring injuries at other levels. Starters Jose Olivares and Alejandro Hidalgo have shown promise, and former Iowa Hawkeye Ty Langenberg has put together a couple of real good starts in a row.

Regardless, Cedar Rapids knows it has secured a postseason spot when the Midwest League playoffs arrive in September. That’s for the 11th time in 12 years as a Twins affiliate.

Not bad.

“I think (winning) is definitely part of development,” said Meyer, in his first season here. “You’ve got to teach guys how to play together to win the game. That’s what you are ultimately trying to do at the big league level, win a World Series, and if you can establish that culture down in the minor leagues of guys playing together and learning each other and winning and having fun, that carries up into the big leagues.

“You look at some of those Twins teams of the early 2000s. All those guys came up together as minor leaguers ... Guys get more comfortable (with each other), guys get more relaxed, and you are able to teach them what winning baseball is. Winning baseball doesn’t mean that you are always going to come out on top, but you keep developing them from a fundamental standpoint, from the smaller parts of the game that lead to winning baseball.”

  Buy Photo

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com