Cedar Rapids Kernels begin 2nd half wondering who will remain here

CEDAR RAPIDS — Now we wait for the inevitable.

Roster changes are part of the deal in the Midwest League. Players get promoted, demoted or simply let go.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels didn't have a whole lot of movement in the first half of the Midwest League season, with 33 players seeing time here. Only 13 guys had first-half at-bats.

The lone transaction involving position players came in late May when outfielder Shane Carrier was sent to Minnesota Twins extended spring training, with outfielder Hank Morrison taking his place from extended. That's been it.

You can expect that to change, though, probably sooner than later. Kernels Manager Tommy Watkins didn't have any inside knowledge Sunday afternoon after his team clinched an MWL playoff berth with a 16-3 win over Burlington but figured it was time for a couple of his position players, and perhaps pitchers, to go to high-Class A Fort Myers.

'I think a lot of guys have improved a lot,' said Watkins, whose club begins the second half with a four-game series at Quad Cities beginning Thursday night. 'I think we've got a group of guys who play the game hard. We've taken bumps and bruises at times overall, but it's been fun to watch. We may be losing some guys soon. Not sure, yet. But we'll just put guys in here, try to get them better, go day by day.'

If anyone moves up, you'd have to figure it will be shortstop Jermaine Palacios. He leads the Kernels in virtually every offensive statistical category, from batting average (.322) to on-base percentage, to slugging percentage, to OPS.

Palacios has improved so much from last season, when he was C.R.'s main shortstop. It would seem time for him to go to the next level.

You wonder if it's time for outfielder Jaylin Davis to get a crack at the Florida State League, too. Another guy who spent time here last season, he's another guy whose game has drastically improved overall.

Davis is hitting .267 with a team-best 12 home runs and 41 RBIs.

Palacios was joined in the starting lineup for the Western Division at Tuesday night's MWL All-Star Game by first baseman Lewin Diaz, third baseman Travis Blankenhorn and designated hitter Mitchell Kranson, which shows you their overall first-half play. Teammates Sean Poppen and Clark Beeker also participated, combining for 1 2/3 shutout pitching innings.

Watkins said Palacios was his team's first-half MVP and mentioned Poppen, Beeker and Tyler Wells as guys he would consider to be the pitching MVP. It'll be interesting to see if any, or all, of those guys get the call to Fort Myers.

Nine of Poppen's 12 starts were quality, Beeker went 6-2 with a 2.99 earned run average in the first half and Wells was dominant (1.89 ERA in 10 starts, with 80 strikeouts in 57 innings), minus the two weeks he spent on the disabled list with a minor shoulder problem.

'I think we had a good first half,' Blankenhorn said. 'I think early in the year, we had some games where it seemed like we lost in the ninth inning, but I think we've had a good year, have played well as a team. We slowed down a little here at the end of the first half, and that can't happen. I'm just thankful enough that we were still able to get into the playoffs.'

Cedar Rapids finished with a 39-31 first-half record. With a postseason berth wrapped, the big second-half emphasis will be individual development.

It'll be interesting, for instance, to see how catcher Ben Rortvedt does. The 2016 second-round draft pick struggled mightily at the plate as a 19-year-old, though he was coming on the final two or three weeks, hitting his first professional home run in the first-half finale.

'Not worry too much about stats,' said Rortvedt of his second-half goals. 'The first half, I was worried too much about how I was doing stat wise. You just try and get better every day, and the stats will take care of themselves. Every day, just get better, take better ABs (at-bats) and help the team win.'

This was Watkins' first season as a professional manager, after several years as a hitting coach in the Twins system. He and his coaching staff of Brian Dinkelman (hitting) and J.P. Martinez (pitching) certainly have proven themselves.

The Kernels have been affiliated with the Twins for five years and have qualified for the MWL playoffs all five years now.

'Hard act to follow following Jake Mauer,' Watkins said of his predecessor, who led Double-A Chattanooga to a first-half division championship in the Southern League. 'I think it's always satisfying making it to the playoffs. We've got a great staff in Dink and J.P. They do a good job, so that makes my job easier. Looking forward to (the playoffs).'

And a strong second half.

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