Twins Minor League Report (7/1): Saints March On, Ross Powers Another Kernels Win

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins won. The Saints offense continues to dominate. CJ Culpepper and Jack Noble made their first starts for new teams. Three-hit games. Extra-inning homers. Quality Starts. Another strong day in the Twins minor leagues. Proceed. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Yunior Severino) and Steve Buhr, Twins Daily (photo of Ben Ross)

First things first... a quick shout out to the social media teams of the St. Paul Saints and Wichita Wind Surge. They do a great job of posting video tweets of highlights from their teams shortly after they happen. They allow those who don't have MILB dot TV to see video of the prospects. And, we definitely like to share those tweets here. So, Thank You Saints and Surge Social Media teams!! 

The Twins got an incredible start from Bailey Ober and a home run from Joey Gallo and picked up their second straight win in Baltimore.

A quick look at the Twins bullpen shows that they have decided that relying on their pitching development and pipeline for outs late in games is what they need to do. On Saturday, it was Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran, two home-grown arms, that maintained Ober's shutout. They stood by Jovani Moran, a seventh-round pick in 2015 from Puerto Rico, this spring. And they have started using Jordan Balazovic in some big moments. Brent Headrick has been used in long relief. Cole Sands is on as rehab assignment. And Josh Winder has had a couple of solid outings since he has been back. 

Here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games on Saturday. 

St. Paul Saints: 47-31 
Wichita Wind Surge: 32-40
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 45-28
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 37-36
FCL Twins: 10-10
DSL Twins: 6-14

Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. 

TRANSACTIONS
LHP Josh Mitchell began his rehab assignment with the FCL Twins on Saturday. Since the Twins selected him in the minor-league Rule 5 draft in December 2020, he has needed to have Tommy John surgery twice. The southpaw was touching triple digits at times when healthy, so we certainly wish him the best in his return. 

RHP Miguelangel Boadas was activated from the Injured List for Fort Myers. 

In less than encouraging news, Royce Lewis had to leave Saturday’s Twins game with an oblique strain. The team announced immediately after the game that he would need to be placed on the Injured List. 

While nothing has been announced officially, Jose Miranda was removed from the Saints lineup on Saturday and presumably will join the Twins in Baltimore on Sunday.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 10, Gwinnett 6
Box Score
When the Saints scored their fourth run of the sixth inning, they reached double digits in runs scored for the fourth consecutive game. 

Dallas Keuchel made his second Saints start, his first at CHS Field. A quick look at his line score shows that he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked four and struck out three batters. He needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning and 23 pitches in the second inning. He was just a handful of pitches shy of the number he threw in his first Saints start. He had a quick third inning and finished the fourth inning with 75 pitches. He had a walk and then a strikeout in his 86th pitch of the day, and Toby Gardenhire came to take him out. 

More on Dallas Keuchel: The 35-year-old whose wife is on Seasons 2, 3 and 4 of Succession threw 32 sinkers and topped out at 88.0 mph. His average sinker was 86.9 mph. He threw 24 cutters. He hit 85.2 mph and averaged 84.0 mph on average. He threw 23 changeups, the fastest was at 80.9 mph and averaged 78.9 mph. He also threw seven sliders. In total, he got 33 swings and eight whiffs (24%). And just three balls were hit hard, each on the ground. 

Lefty Michael Boyle came on and got the final two outs of the fifth frame. Then Cole Sands came in and struck out five batters over two scoreless innings in his rehab outing. Connor Sadzeck came into a 10-0 game in the eighth inning. He gave up four runs on four hits (including two homers) and a walk. Kody Funderburk came on to get a strikeout to end the inning. He went out for the ninth and made it interesting. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. But, he was able to finish the game, with some help from the umpires. 

Now, let’s talk Hitters. The Saints got on the board with a Chris Williams sacrifice fly that scored Trevor Larnach. In the fifth frame, Anthony Prato and Elliot Soto hit back to back homers.

Kyle Garlick and Larnach had back-to-back singles before Jair Camargo drove in the inning’s third run with a ground rule double. Chris Williams followed with a double of his own to drive in two more runs and give the Saints a 6-0 lead. 

The following inning, Gilberto Celestino singled in Prato. It was followed by a Garlick single that scored Soto. Finally, Larnach doubled high off the right-center field wall to score two more runs and put the Saints in double digits. 

Kyle Garlick went 3-for-5 with his sixth double. He made a rare start at first base. Trevor Larnach was also 3-for-5 with his fifth double and two RBI. Jair Camargo, on his 24th birthday, went 2-for-5 with his eighth and ninth doubles. Matt Wallner went 2-for-5. Elliot Soto went 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season. Anthony Prato went 2-for-3 with a walk, and his third homer with the Saints. 

Prato has been an incredible story this year. Finally healthy, he had a breakout in 2022 between Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He began the 2023 season with the Wind Surge and in 43 games, he hit .171 with five extra base hits and an OPS of .553. In fact, when he was promoted to the Saints, he was on an 0-for-22 stretch. In 17 games with the Saints, he has hit .362/.493/.638 (.1.131) with seven doubles, three homers, and 13 walks to just 11 strikeouts. He is also 5-for-5 in steal attempts.

Finally, check out the center field defense from Gilberto Celestino. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 4
Box Score
The Wind Surge fell behind 3-1 early, but a three-run fourth inning and two more runs in the fifth frame were enough to win their fourth straight game. 

Wichita got a little help throughout their lineup. The first eight batters in the lineup each had one hit. Yunior Severino got the scoring started in this game when he hit his 16th homer of the season in the bottom of the first inning. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Seth Gray walked with the bases loaded to score Aaron Sabato. Then Brooks Lee singled to score Jake Rucker and Alerick Soularie to give the Surge a 4-3 lead.

An inning later, Aaron Sabato hit a two-run homer to push the lead to 6-3. 

Sabato’s home run was his fourth of the season. David Banuelos hit his third double, and Seth Gray drilled his second triple of the season. 

Jose Bravo made the start. He gave up three runs on four hits (two homers) over five innings. He struck out three and issued no walks. After Bravo gave up a leadoff single in the sixth, lefty Denny Bentley came on and gave up a single before getting two outs, one on a strikeout before Regi Grace came on with two runners on base. 

Grace got the final out with no further damage. In the seventh inning, Regi Grace struck out the side. In the eighth inning, he gave up a double, followed by a single. However, Grace picked the runner off at first and then struck out the next two batters to end the inning. 

Francis Peguero came on for the ninth inning. He gave up a leadoff single, but then got the next three batters out to record his first save. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 2
Box Score
This game was certainly a pitcher’s duel. The Kernels scored one run in the first inning, and Peoria scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings. As they continue to do, the Kernels found another way to win a ballgame. 

Ben Ross hit his 13th double of the season in the bottom of the first inning to score Tanner Schobel. Then he came to the plate to lead off the top of the 10th inning with Kala’i Rosario acting as the Manfred Man on second base. Ross drilled his 12th home run to drive in two runs. He went 2-for-5 in the game, but those two hits and six total bases and three runs batted in were pretty large. 

C.J. Culpepper made his first Midwest League start and was fantastic. The right-hander worked the first six innings. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out two batters. Mike Paredes came on and worked the final four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits over four innings. He struck out four batters and didn’t issue a walk to improve to 4-1 on the season. 

It’s not that the Kernels offense didn’t show up. They had 11 hits and walked seven times in the game. Unfortunately, they went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. 

Andrew Cossetti went 3-for-5. Noah Miller went 2-for-4 with a walk. Tanner Schobel went 1-for-3 with two walks. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 0-for-1, but he walked four times as well. 

In addition to the walks, Rodriguez had a nice day in center field. With runners on first and third and nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, Jeremy Rivas hit a fly ball to center. Rodriguez made the catch and threw a strike to Cossetti to nail the runner at home.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 6  
Box Score 
The game started almost two hours late, but it was a good game after all. Down 6-0 during the seventh-inning stretch, the Mussels mounted a comeback but fell just short to take the loss. 

Jack Noble made his first start for Ft. Myers. In five innings, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits, two hit batters, and two walks. He had one strikeout. Danny Moreno came in and allowed an inherited runner to score and three runs of his own over the next two innings. Jackson Hicks walked two and struck out three over two hitless, scoreless innings. 

The Mussels had five hits in the game and walked five times. In fact, when they scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, they got a sacrifice fly before two runners scored on wild pitches. In the eighth, Francis Florentino singled in Danny De Andrade for the fourth run, but that was it for the game. 

With some recent injuries, the Twins have had to fill the Ft. Myers roster with some players from the independent leagues. Florentino went 1-for-3 in this game. He signed last week from the United Shores Professional Baseball League. Kamron Willman played second base. He’s already had a walkoff hit for the team. He signed out of the Pioneer League. And Carson McCusker , a former Brewers draft pick, signed this week from the Frontier League. He made his debut in the organization and was hitting fourth in this game. He went 1-for-4. The Twins are scouting players all over the country and beyond. 

Austin Martin led off and played left field. He went 0-for-5 in this contest. Kyle Schmidt went 2-for-4, and Rubel Cespedes walked twice. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 4, Red Sox 7  
Box Score
After playing two games on Friday at JetBlue, the Twins and Red Sox played their Saturday game on Bill Smith Field in the CenturyLink Sports Fields. 

John Klein started and gave up four runs on seven hits (including two homers) and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. Jeferson Lopez stranded two runners in the fourth, but then gave up three runs on two hits (including one homer) and two walks in the fifth inning. Josh Mitchell came on for his first rehab appearance. He gave up a hit but struck out two batters in a scoreless sixth inning. Pierce Banks struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning. 

Down 7-0 going into the final half inning (bottom of the seventh), catcher Daniel Pena ripped a grand slam. It was his third homer of the season. It was his second hit of the game. Andres Centeno walked twice. Bryan Acuna went 1-for-2 with a walk. 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 3, DSL Angels 13
Box Score
The Twins scored their three runs over the first three innings, and then it was all Angels who broke things open with a seven-run seventh inning. 

Yency De Jesus started and gave up four runs on six hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three batters. Jose Ojo got four outs without allowing a run. Jose Vasquez gave up eight runs on five hits and four walks over just 1 2/3 innings. He also hit two batters, had two balks, and threw a wild pitch. Jose Betancourt came on and worked the final 2 1/3 innings. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk. 

The Twins had nine hits and four walks, but they went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 stranded. Carlos Silva had a single and a walk. The Twins had four walks, one each from Denyerbe Gervis, Dameury Pena, Moises Lopez, and Junior Del Valle. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitters of the Day – Ben Ross (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2B(13), HR(12), R, 3 RBI
Pitcher of the Day – CJ Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 71 pitches, 43 strikes (60.6%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. (Note - our next prospect rankings update will come after the draft.)

#1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2-RBI, K.
#2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-2, K (left game, oblique injury, will be ILd)
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-1, 4 BB, K, 2 OF Assists.
#4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, K
#9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, K
#11 - Austin Martin (Rehab Ft. Myers) - 0-for-5, K
#12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, K, CS(8)
#13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB 
#18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 0-for-3, BB, K
#19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR(16), R, RBI, 2 K. 

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Gwinnett @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 7.47 ERA)
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams (2-6, 6.17 ERA) 
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis (3-0, 0.60 ERA)
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (5:00 PM CST) - RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 4.38 ERA) 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! 

 

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[Doctor Wu]

Thanks for another great report, along with the videos too.  I love reading and watching these highlights. Very encouraging to see so many of our prospects performing well, and guys like Culpepper getting moved up and still looking impressive. Hey, even an old guy like Keuchel had a good game. Even after losing players like Steer, Encarcion-Strand, and others in trades last year, we still seem pretty well stocked with quality prospects. 

[jmlease1]

Glad to see Austin Martin playing again. Was concerned that the "rest and rehab" plan for his elbow had fallen apart when he went back on the injured list, so it's good to see that he might be catching a break there. 

I know Keuchel doesn't rely on velocity to get outs, but it's hard to get too excited about a guy throwing mid-80's, even if he's the king of not giving up hard contact. To me, he's a "break glass in case of emergency" option rather than someone we should seek to add to MLB.

[FlyingFinn]

So odd that the Saints score double digits every game now and the Twins struggle to get 2 runs each game lately. And the Kernels pitching is dominant. They keep adding the Fort Myers best starters and they perform well one level up. Culpepper was great in his debut.

[Mike Sixel]

36 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

So odd that the Saints score double digits every game now and the Twins struggle to get 2 runs each game lately. And the Kernels pitching is dominant. They keep adding the Fort Myers best starters and they perform well one level up. Culpepper was great in his debut.

What's odd? The saints have AAAA and MLB players facing AAA pitchers. They should score. Not that I love the roster decisions, but this idea that AAA pitching is anywhere near MLB keeps coming up 

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Glad to see Austin Martin playing again. Was concerned that the "rest and rehab" plan for his elbow had fallen apart when he went back on the injured list, so it's good to see that he might be catching a break there. 

I know Keuchel doesn't rely on velocity to get outs, but it's hard to get too excited about a guy throwing mid-80's, even if he's the king of not giving up hard contact. To me, he's a "break glass in case of emergency" option rather than someone we should seek to add to MLB.

He was back on the injured list after a collision, not for his arm. We think