Twins Minor League Report (7/24): Very Different One-Run Wins, Transactions and More

[Seth Stohs]

Only the two short-season affiliates played games on Monday, but we have pitching probables, a bunch of transactions, and our encouragement to get out to a minor-league ballpark and see the Twins affiliates this week if you are able to. 

As we jump into another week of six-game series, here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games on Monday. 

  St. Paul Saints: 55-40 
  Wichita Wind Surge: 37-52
  Cedar Rapids Kernels: 56-34
  Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-45
  FCL Twins: 16-18
  DSL Twins: 8-25

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

TRANSACTIONS
  Byron Buxton was placed in the paternity list on Monday.
  Trevor Larnach was called up from St. Paul to take Buxton’s roster spot.
  LHP Jaylen Nowlin was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita.
  RHP Andrew Morris was promoted from Fort Myers to High-A Cedar Rapids.
  Catcher Nate Baez, a 2022 draft pick, began his rehab assignment. His season has been altered by a broken hamate bone.
  OF Argenis Jimenez was released by the Twins. He had been on the FCL Twins roster.
  RHP Alejandro Crisostomo was assigned to the DSL Twins. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
Weekly Matchup - St. Paul, Toledo
The Saints will be hosting the Detroit Tigers Triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mudhens this week at CHS Field. 

Tuesday: RHP Louie Varland
Wednesday: LHP Brent Headrick
Thursday: RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
Friday: LHP Dallas Keuchel
Saturday: RHP Randy Dobnak
Sunday: RHP Louie Varland 

• Tuesday they will be celebrating Christmas in July (sponsored by Hamline University).
• Wednesday is Play Hooky Day, with a 1:07 game time! Cory Cove, Chris Hawkey and “Meatsauce” Paul Lambert from the Power Trip Morning Show on KFAN will be there.
• Thursday is Irish Night (presented by Cub).
• Friday night will have Fireworks (sponsored by Xcel Energy) with music from bands that are no longer together, and everyone in attendance will get an LED light bulb when they leave the ballpark!
• Saturday will be Hottest Day of the Year (presented by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association). Did you know that the highest temperature recorded in Minnesota history is 114.5 degrees? The Saints are celebrating and the first 2,000 fans will receive a blanket!
• Sunday is Copa de la Diversion dia numero dos (presented by Corona Hard Seltzer. This is the second of three nights that the Saints will celebrate the state’s Latino history. The “Saints” will become the “Santos de San Pablo” and wear specialty uniforms. 

If you’re able to, head over to CHS Field this week. Watch the Saints and have a lot of fun. Check out SaintsBaseball.com for more information and tickets. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Weekly Matchup - Wichita, Frisco 

Tuesday: RHP Chad Donato
Wednesday: RHP David Festa
Thursday: RHP Pierson Ohl 
Friday: RHPs Marco Raya and Travis Adams piggyback
Saturday: TBD (could this be the Double-A debut of Jaylen Nowlin?) 
Sunday: RHP Carlos Luna 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Weekly Matchup - Cedar Rapids, Wisconsin
For those interested, and able, you can head over to Appleton, Wisconsin, to check out the Kernels this week. You can also get us scouting reports on Brewers prospects for Brewer Fanatic. 

Tuesday: RHP Cory Lewis
Wednesday: RHP C.J. Culpepper
Thursday: RHP Zebby Matthews
Friday: RHP Kyle Jones
Saturday: LHP Christian MacLeod
Sunday: RHP Andrew Morris

With the addition of Andrew Morris, the Twins 2022 draft class is well represented in the Kernels starting rotation. 

RHP Kyle Jones (7th round)
RHP Zebby Matthews (8th round)
RHP Cory Lewis (9th round)
RHP C.J. Culpepper (13th round)
RHP Andrew Morris (4th round)

LHP Connor Prielipp (2nd round) - Unfortunately, he is back on the Injured List. 

In addition, fellow 2022 draft picks infielders Ben Ross (5th round) and Jorel Ortega (6th round), and catcher Andrew Cossetti (11th round) are with the Kernels. Obviously first-round pick Brooks Lee has been in Double-A Wichita all season, but Competitive Balance pick Tanner Schobel was just promoted to Double-A as well. 

The lefty in the rotation is 2021 fifth-round pick Christian MacLeod. He missed the full 2022 season after having Tommy John and has done a nice job in his return. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Weekly Matchup: Fort Myers, Palm Beach

Tuesday: RHP Miguelangel Boadas
Wednesday: RHP Jose Olivares
Thursday: LHP Jarret Whorff
Friday: RHP Juan Mercedes
Saturday: RHP Ben Ethridge
Sunday: TBD 

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA
FCL Twins 6, FCL Pirates 5 
Box Score
The Twins fell behind early but had just enough two-run innings to pull out a win in the end. 

Lefty Cesar Lares started and gave up four first-inning runs. However, he settled in and gave the team five innings. Overall, he gave up five runs (four earned) on three hits (two homers) and a walk. He notched eight strikeouts. 

Jacob Wosinski came in and struck out three batters over two perfect innings. Yon Landaeta gave up a hit and walked two over the final two innings, but he allowed no runs to score and struck out three batters. 

Already down four runs when they came to the plate in the bottom of the first, the Twins responded with two runs. A rehabbing Dalton Shuffield led off with a walk. Next up was another rehabber. 2022 draft pick Nate Baez has been out all season. This was his first game, and in his first at-bat, he drilled a double that sent Shuffield to third base. Yasser Mercedes walked to load the bases. Shuffield scored the first run on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Baez scored on a Byron Chourio ground out. 

The Twins tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Isaac Pena scored on a Daniel Pena sacrifice fly. Later, Endy Rodriguez scored on a passed ball. 

They fell behind 5-4 in the top of the fifth, but as you know, that was all the team allowed. In the bottom of the eighth, the Twins had their third and final two-run inning to take the lead. Again, the runs scored weren’t anything exciting, but they count just the same. They tied the game when Daniel Pena knocked in Byron Chourio with his second sacrifice fly of the game. Then Jankel Ortiz gave the team the lead on a sacrifice fly that drove in Isaac Pena. 

Dalton Shuffield led off and played second base. He went 1-for-3 with two walks. Nate Baez batted second and played behind the plate the first seven innings.

The Twins had just four hits, but they were patient and took 10 walks in the game. Byron Chourio went 1-for-3 with a walk and his second double. Endy Rodriguez hit his fourth double and walked twice. Isaac Pena and Yasser Mercedes each walked twice.  

COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA
DSL Twins 10, DSL Braves 9
Box Score
While the FCL Twins fought back to grab a one-run win in the late innings, the DSL Twins jumped out to a big lead in the middle innings and held on for a one-run win.

After two innings, the score was tied 1-1. After four innings, they were tied 4-4. The Twins responded with a four-run fifth inning and two more in the sixth frame to take a 10-5 lead. The Braves fought back with two in the eight and two more in the ninth, but ultimately, the Twins finished out a 10-9 win.

Yilber Herrera provided several key hits for the Twins. He drove in a run in the second inning with a double. In the third frame, he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the fifth inning, his 10th double of the season drove in two more runs and gave the Twins a 6-5 lead in the fifth. Later that inning, he scored on a balk. In the game, he went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI.

Moises Lopez went 4-for-4 at the plate (and was hit by a pitch) with three runs scored. He had two stolen bases. In the third inning, he had a two-run single. Jayson Bass went 2-for-3, was hit by a pitch, and scored twice. Ewing Matos went 2-for-3 as well. Dameury Pena went 2-for-3 with a walk and his eighth double> He also stole his ninth base.. Ariel Castro went 1-for-4 with his second triple. 

The pitching side of the ledger wasn’t quite as impressive in this game. Miguel Cordero started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. In three innings, he had four strikeouts. Jose Vasquez gave up two runs on one hit and three walks over two innings. Luis Rincon walked one and struck one batter out in a scoreless sixth inning. Alejandro Crisostomo made his Twins debut. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He left the game with two runners on in the eighth. Jose Ojo came in and allowed both inherited runners to score. He then gave up two runs of his own in the ninth but got the 27th out on a strikeout with the tying run standing at third base. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Co-Hitter of the Day – Yilber Herrera (DSL Twins) - 3-for-4, 2-2B(10), 1 R, 4 RBI. 
Co-Hitter of the Day – Moises Lopez (DSL Twins) - 4-for-4, HBP, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB(5). 
Pitcher of the Day – Jacob Wosinski (FCL Twins) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. 

#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, BB,K. E(5)
#11 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 0-for-2, 2 BB.
#15 - Jordan Balazovic (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. 
#20 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 0-for-4  

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) - RHP Louie Varland (3-1, 3.81 ERA)
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Chad Donato (1-5, 8.59 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40 PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis (3-0, 2.20 ERA) vs Minnesota native Nate Peterson, making his first High-A start.
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 7.56 ERA) 
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 
DSL Twins @ DSL Mariners (10:00 AM CST) - TBD

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

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[gil4]

One-run win was the theme of the day, now that the big club gave away the win and then took it back.  

[Brandon]

Any word on if we will sign Jenkins our first round draft pick since the deadline is later today?

[Doctor Wu]

4 hours ago, Brandon said:

Any word on if we will sign Jenkins our first round draft pick since the deadline is later today?

Not signed yet with only a day left till the deadline? Yikes! Get it done Twins!

[Doctor Wu]

Very happy to see Jaylen Nowlin get promoted! I hope he can thrive in AA. 

[nclahammer]

Seth, I really like what you and TD have done with their Monday minor league reports and updates from FCL & DSL teams.  The preview for this week was outstanding.  I, too, recommend making the short trip to Appleton,WI, to see our Kernels play there.  Pretty nice ballpark I seem to recall and I recommend their brat with mac n' cheese (you'll thank me later.) 

[old nurse]

Jimmenez got 89 AB in complex games  shots can be small His was from an air rifle. 31% k rate

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Seth, Let us know if the Twins call a press conference for today (cough, Walker Jenkins, cough, cough).

[Guest]

I am doubting that the Twins will sign Walter Jenkins by the deadline.  Money shouldn't be an impediment, as the Twins have slightly more than the slot value available.  I have to wonder if the medicals (hips) are a factor.

If they fail to sign, the Twins will receive a compensation pick at #6 next year.  Not exactly ideal, going from #5 with 5 top-talents to #6, but it's better than losing it altogether

[madtowntwin]

1 hour ago, Bill Tanner said:

I am doubting that the Twins will sign Walter Jenkins by the deadline.  Money shouldn't be an impediment, as the Twins have slightly more than the slot value available.  I have to wonder if the medicals (hips) are a factor.

If they fail to sign, the Twins will receive a compensation pick at #6 next year.  Not exactly ideal, going from #5 with 5 top-talents to #6, but it's better than losing it altogether

 

1 hour ago, Bill Tanner said:

I am doubting that the Twins will sign Walter Jenkins by the deadline.  Money shouldn't be an impediment, as the Twins have slightly more than the slot value available.  I have to wonder if the medicals (hips) are a factor.

If they fail to sign, the Twins will receive a compensation pick at #6 next year.  Not exactly ideal, going from #5 with 5 top-talents to #6, but it's better than losing it altogether

Aaron Gleeman reports the signing will occur later today....I imagine the Twins thoroughly explored the "Hip Issues" in the pre-draft process. The only orthopedic issues the young man is going to have will be potential back issues carrying his money to the bank. Let's hope the Walker potentiates his "Stud Status" and fulfills the substantial  investment. 

[FlyingFinn]

23 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

IF Walker Jenkins signs today, how long before we can expect to see reports on his baseball activities?  Does he go right to the rookie league?

The Twins are very cautious about putting high schoolers into games the year they are drafted. Most of them spend most of the time in the Twins training facilities and backfields in Florida and not in actual box scores we can see.