Twins Daily Minor League Report (4/24): Wichita's Road Woes; Rodriguez Exits Early

[Seth Stohs]

The Wind Surge fell to 0-8 on the road so far this season with a loss in San Antonio. A bigger story, however, is that after a seventh-inning stolen base, Emmanuel Rodriguez left that game with an unknown injury. Hopefully it's just precaution, but certainly something to watch in the coming days. Anthony Prato and Jair Camargo starred for the Saints. The Kernels got a nice win thanks to terrific pitching and some big doubles. The Mussels got a huge double, but it wasn't enough. Find out all you need to know from the Twins minor leagues on Wednesday. 

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 10-13 
St. Paul Saints: 9-13 
Wichita Wind Surge: 4-13 
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 8-8 
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 7-10    

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

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Ty Langenberg was activated by the Mighty Mussels. LHP Ross Dunn was placed on their development list. 

Wichita RHP MIchael Paredes began a rehab assignment with Fort Myers. 

Following the Twins win against the White Sox, the Twins announced officially that RHP Simeon Woods Richardson will be called up and start on Thursday afternoon. To make room, RHP Ronny Henriquez has been optioned to St. Paul.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Rochester 7
Box Score
This week, the Saints are hosting the Rochester Red Wings, the affiliate they called home for nearly two decades before minor-league’s 2021 realignment. The Saints took the first game, but the Red Wings responded by taking Game 2 on Wednesday night. 

The Saints sent 32-year-old veteran Joe Gunkel to the mound to start this one. Gunkel has been playing in Japan since 2020. In this game, he was charged with seven runs on nine hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. The Red Wings scored three times in both the second and fourth innings. 

Scott Blewett came on in relief and gave up one hit and two walks over the next 2 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. Ryan Jensen struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning. Josh Staumont had a quiet ninth frame. 

It was a tale of two lineups for the Saints. The top three batters in the lineup combined to go 8-for-12 with three walks, four runs and four RBI. Batters four through nine combined to go 1-for-22 with three walks, eight strikeouts and one run. 

Anthony Prato was the leadoff hitter. He went 3-for-3 with two walks. All three of his hits were doubles, and he scored three runs. DaShawn Keirsey batted second. He went 2-for-4 with a walk. Batting third was Jair Camargo. He went 3-for-5 in the game. He had an RBI double that short-hopped the fence in right-center field. He then had an RBI single to right field. Later in the game, he crushed a long, two-run homer into the Saints bullpen. Camargo also stole a base. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, San Antonio 9                                                                                                                                                                         Box Score
The Wind Surge sent Travis Adams to the mound. He worked five innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits. He had one walk and three strikeouts. Scott Engler came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits in one innings. He also hit two batters. Rafael Marcano replaced Engler with a runner on base in the seventh. He got two outs, but walked two batters. He left the game with the bases loaded. Hunter McMahon came in and allowed all three runners to score. The five-run seventh for San Antonio. McMahon tossed a scoreless eighth inning. 

The Wind Surge took the early lead in this game. Carson McCusker singled to score Andrew Cossetti with the first run. Then Tanner Schobel singled to drive in McCusker and Jorel Ortega and make it 3-0. 

Through four innings, the Surge led 3-2. In the fifth frame, a Jeferson Morales single scored Tanner Schobel. Then Emmanuel Rodriguez scored on a force out by Kala’i Rosario. 

Down 9-5 going into the ninth, the Wind Surge added a sixth run, but the comeback fell short. Jake Rucker grounded into a force out that scored Alerick Soularie. 

Schobel went 2-for-5 with his third double. Morales went 2-for-5. McCusker was 2-for-5 as well. Rosario hit his fourth double. Cossetti hit his first triple of the season. Wichita had eight walks. Rodriguez, Ortega, and Ben Ross each walked twice.

The Wind Surge fall to 0-8 in road games this season. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez left the game after his stolen base in the top of the seventh inning. No update on an injury at this time. Hopefully just being cautious. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 1 
Box Score
The Kernels got a strong start and effective bullpen work to secure the win in this game. Brooklyn Park native John Klein started and gave up one run on three hits over five innings. He had one walk and six strikeouts. The lone run he allowed was a solo homer to Beloit’s Brett Roberts. 

The Kernels took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning. Agustin Ruiz hit his first home run in the Twins organization to make it 1-0. Soon after, Gabriel Gonzalez drove in Luke Keaschall with a double.  

It was that same combination that gave the Kernels an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gonzalez hit his second double of the game, seventh of the season, to again drive Keaschall in and make it 3-1 Kernels. 

Juan Mercedes struck out three batters over two scoreless, one-hit innings. Jacob Wosinski struck out three batters over the final two innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. 

Gonzalez led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with the two doubles and two RBI. Keaschall went 2-for-4. He stole two bases to give him eight on the season. Jay Harry went 2-for-4 with his fifth double. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 5
Box Score
Jeremy Lee, the Twins 13th-round pick last summer out of South Alabama, made the start for the Mussels. He was charged with two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six batters but walked none. 

Aaron Holiday, the 13th round pick of the A’s in 2021 out of Old Dominion, came on and got the final two outs of that fifth frame. He signed with the Twins at the end of March. The 23-year-old was hitting 95 on the radar gun in this game. 

Mike Paredes made his first appearance of the season in a rehab capacity. He worked two innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had three strikeouts without a walk. Danny Moreno worked the final two innings. He gave up a run on three hits. 

Down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Rafael Cruz came up with the bases loaded. His third double of the season drove in Angel Del Rosario, Gregory Duran, and Jose Rodriguez all scored to give the Mussels the 3-2 lead. O’neil’s brother is hitting just .224 on the season, but he has at least one hit in 10 of the 12 games he has started.  

 

The Mussels had just five hits in the game. Cruz and Brandon Winokur each had a double. Catcher Matthew Clayton had two hits. Clayton is an interesting story. A Team USA player in high school, he went to college at Nevada-Reno where he played for five seasons. Following his 2023 season, he spent the summer playing for Glacier in the independent Pioneer League. He signed with the Twins in January.  

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day – Anthony Prato (St. Paul) - 3-for-3, 2 BB, 3-2B(4)  
Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Cedar Rapids) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, BB, 6 K, HBP, 78 strikes, 50 pitches.  

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

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, SB(9), left after SB (injury).
#4 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-4, 2-2B(7), 2 RBI, K 
#7 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) - 1-for-2, 2B(5), R, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-4, 2B(4), K
#11 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B(3), R, 2 RBI, 2 K
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 SB(8)
#13 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(4), RBI
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-3, BB, 3 K
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 0-for-5, 3 K.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
Rochester @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) - RHP Caleb Boushley (2-1, 5.14 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (0-2, 6.00 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (DH at 6:05 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (2-0, 2.70 ERA), RHP Miguelangel Boadus (1-1, 5.06 ERA)
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (6:05 AM CST) - LHP Cesar Lares (0-0, 3.12 ERA) 

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

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[Patzky]

Hope the news on Emmanuel is better today. Seems like a productive evening for the young talent!

[FlyingFinn]

#1, #2, and #3 prospects all injured. That has to be something no other team can match.

Wichita is in Groundhog's Day. Decent starting pitching by Adams, sizeable lead midway through the game, and the bullpen blows it bigtime. Though he doesn't wish to be right, @Dman continues to be right about their pen.

[Dman]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

#1, #2, and #3 prospects all injured. That has to be something no other team can match.

Wichita is in Groundhog's Day. Decent starting pitching by Adams, sizeable lead midway through the game, and the bullpen blows it bigtime. Though he doesn't wish to be right, @Dman continues to be right about their pen.

Yeah Wichita could easily be a .500 team without all the pen blowouts.  Not sure I understand why the arms there don't seem to be ready.  Not that the hitting has been great as Rodriguez is the only player with an OPS over 800, but it seems like the bats are starting to heat up.  It looks like it is going to be one of those years where they are just snakebit and can't catch many breaks. Fortunately still lot's of good prospects to watch there.

[Dman]

I have been down on the bullpen's of most of the affiliates but Cedar Rapids had two really good pen arms going last night.  Mercedes looked pretty good and Wosinski looked pretty dominant.  I don't think I know who Wosinski is as I  don't believe he was drafted.  Still he has gone 10 innings without giving up a run with a really good K rate and I am pretty sure I saw at least half a dozen if not more swing and misses on pitches in the zone last night.  He is a big guy at 6'8", but he seemed like he had excellent control. He is old for the level but if he keeps this up maybe they can move him up to AA as they really needs good pen arms.

[Seth Stohs]

Age to level of competition is only important in prospect rankings. 

It is especially unimportant with minor league relief pitchers. Wosinski is another guy they pulled out of the USPBL. 

[MMMordabito]

Not encouraging

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

Not encouraging

Here are all of his batted ball events since being sent down:

EV	Result
83.5	Groundout
85.7	Single
110.8	Homerun
107.2	Groundout
103.3	Single
108.6	Lineout
74.7	Lineout
54.7	Groundout
106.1	Lineout
87	Flyout
57.4	Popout
84.7	Lineout
111.3	Double
94.2	Flyout
94.4	Lineout

He has struck out a bit much, but I do think the process has still been much better than the results so far.  I'm hopeful that he's close to finding it again.

[SotaSports in NM]

Severino has been disappointing me with his response to the challenge of being a Miguel Sano type of bat. I wasn't very hopefully to begin with, but the comp popped back in my head with the Angels series coming up.

[jmlease1]

Keaschall seems to be rolling right along. saw he got CF duty, anyone know how he looked out there? I'm glad to see him getting regular time in the field, be interesting to see how much time he spends in CF this season.

[wabene]

Keaschall has got my attention. People have tended to compare him to Schoebel which I don't see. 5'9" 170 vs 6' 200+. Keaschall can hit and looks like an athlete to me. Former wrestler. I see a fast mover.

[Dman]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Keaschall seems to be rolling right along. saw he got CF duty, anyone know how he looked out there? I'm glad to see him getting regular time in the field, be interesting to see how much time he spends in CF this season.

I didn't watch the whole game on MiLB.tv but he looked OK out there.  He didn't have any real challenging plays that I saw and the balls hit his way he handled fine.  He doesn't look like he will be elite out there to me, but he handled it well from what I saw in that game.  Too early to tell if that is a position he excels at down the road but IMO he looks better at second base.  

Was impressed with the throws Harry made from the SS position.  Not sure what his range is or how he would fare with more challenging ball in play, but I thought he looked good at Short in a SSS.