Twins Minor League Week in Review (4/30-5/6): Farm Getting into Full Swing

[Ted Schwerzler]

Minnesota Twins affiliates were in full swing this past week, and they were joined by the Complex League team kicking off their schedule. The first short-season league joining the action means minor-league baseball is all systems go.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

Minnesota’s Florida Complex League team has some notable names on both sides of the roster. Recently signed Adam Plutko is ramping up in Fort Myers. Having pitched in the KBO last year, and not having a spring training, he’ll need some time before being reassigned. Another pitcher of note is 2023 draft pick Dylan Questad.

On the hitting side of things, the names that will jump off the page include Bryan Acuña, the brother of Ronald Acuña Jr. He’s also joined by substantial international free-agent signing Hendry Chivilli . Ariel Castro was another notable international free agent who will be in the outfield, and Yasser Mercedes is starting there, as well.

A notable promotion occurred on Monday, when Cedar Rapids starter Zebby Matthews earned a ticket to Double-A Wichita. After throwing over 60 innings at the High-A level last season, he came out of the gate firing this year. His 1.59 ERA across four starts was impressive, but the 28/0 K/BB was especially exciting. He'll likely finish the season playing for the Wind Surge. Taking his spot on the roster, Cedar Rapids activated C.J. Culpepper.

Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato also completed a rehab assignment and has been transferred to Wichita. Left-handed pitcher Wilker Reyes has been added to Fort Myers from the Complex League squad.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Pirates 4, FCL Twins 1
Box Score

Eider Machuca was on the bump to make his 2024 debut (and his first start Stateside) after spending the past two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. Across 2 2/3 innings, Machuca gave up a pair of runs on three hits but struck out five.

Bryan Acuña doubled in the first Twins run in the third inning, to score Dameury Pena and bring the deficit to just one. The Twins gave up another pair of runs the rest of the way and couldn't find a way to push anything else across. The team finished with just three hits on the day; Acuña was the only player to record an extra-base hit. He also drew two walks. Ezequiel Ventura struck out five while allowing just a single hit across 3 1/3 innings of relief work.

WEEK IN REVIEW
Triple-A: St. Paul Saints

• Overall: 13-18 (3-3 last week) Ninth place in the IL West
• Overview: The Saints didn’t make up much ground in the standings last week, but did move into 9th place. A .500 record on the week had them treading water.
• 🔥Diego A. Castillo had a crazy 1.064 OPS across five games last week. A big amount of that was walk-aided; he drew six of them.
• 🔥Michael Helman had a team-high three doubles while posting a 1.017 OPS in his five games.
• 🔥Jordan Balazovic continues to strike out a ton of batters. He worked 3 1/3 innings this week, with five strikeouts.
• 🔥Matt Wallner clubbed three home runs en route to a .961 OPS
• 😏Justin Topa continues to work back toward a Twins debut. He worked three innings this week, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits.
• 🥶Anthony Prato continues to draw walks, but went just 4-for-19 at the dish.
• 🥶Joe Gunkel continues to struggle on the bump. He turned in just 2 2/3 innings during his lone start and gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits.
• What’s Next: Heading to Ohio, the Saints will play the second-best team in the IL West, squaring off with 19-14 Toledo.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge

• Overall: 9-17 (2-3 last week) Fifth place in the Texas League North
• Overview: Rain washed out the final game of the series, but Wichita took a pair while in NW Arkansas
• 🔥Kala’i Rosario paced the Wichita lineup with a .944 OPS in four games this week. His three doubles were a team high.
• 🔥Aaron Rozek worked a piggyback start going five scoreless innings with a 4/2 K/BB giving up just a single hit.
• 😏Emmanuel Rodriguez continues to be an on-base machine. His .859 OPS was solid, and he owned an even 5/5 K/BB.
• 🥶Ben Ross played in all five games during the week but he posted just a 2-for-18 (.111) tally with the bright spot being a double.
• 🥶A.J. Alexy and Mike Paredes both gave up six runs in their lone outing of the week.
• What’s Next: Headed home to host Arkansas, the Wind Surge will be looking to knock off the second-best team in the Texas League North.

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels

• Overall: 15-11 (5-1 last week) Fourth place in the Midwest League West
• Overview: Playing six games against Peoria, the Kernels came up just a single win shy of a series sweep.
• 🔥Danny De Andrade hit a team-best two home runs this week while playing in all six games.
• 🔥Darren Bowen was lights-out, working 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just a single hit and striking out eight.
• 😏Andrew Morris had to work around seven hits during his six-inning start, but he struck out nine.
• 😏Misael Urbina had just five hits on the week, but four were doubles.

• 🥶Juan Mendez was roughed up for five runs (two earned) on eight hits. His two appearances spanned 1 1/3 innings.
• What’s Next: Traveling to South Bend for a road series, the Kernels face the fifth-place Midwest League West team.

Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

• Overall: 9-18 (1-5 last week) Fourth place in Florida State League West
• Overview: After a few 2-4 weeks of late, the Mighty Mussels fell further with an ugly road trip winning just one game to avoid the sweep.
• 🔥Poncho Ruiz posted a .941 OPS across five games this week while recording a pair of doubles and four walks.
• 🔥Cesar Lares worked a scoreless six inning start. He struck out just two but allowed no hits.
• 🔥Spencer Bengard paced the Mighty Mussels pitching staff with seven strikeouts in 3 1/3 of relief work.
• 😏Rayne Doncon had just four hits in six games this week, but two of them were of the big fly variety.
• 🥶Ty Langenberg struggled in his start turning in five innings but allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits.
• 🥶Maddux Houghton struggled going 4-for-24 with a 7/2 K/BB in six games.
• 🥶Charlee Soto turned in his worst professional start allowing eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
• What’s Next: Returning home against Dunedin, the Mighty Mussels will square off against a Blue Jays team that’s third in the Florida State League West 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 3-13, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K
#5 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
#6 – David Festa (St. Paul) – 8.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 18 K
#7 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 4-10, 2 2B, RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 SB
#9 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 3.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 5-22, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 4 K
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 4-18, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, 5 K
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 6-22, 2 2B, RBI, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 SB
#13 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 4-14, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 5-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 5-22, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 10 K
#19 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 4-17, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 4 K
#20 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Minnesota) – 3.2, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Hitter of the Week - Michael Helman (St. Paul) - 6-20, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 8 K, SB

Pitcher of the Week - Darren Bowen (Cedar Rapids) - 5.2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

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[mikelink45]

Thank you - none of our pitching prospects looked really good last week.  Let's root for Zebby!

[FlyingFinn]

Nice to see Michael Helman have a great week. It's possible he can be a cheaper version of Willi Castro. But first he needs to stay healthy and dominate AAA. Then, he needs a chance to show he play MLB and isn't just a AAAA player. 

Great to see Zebby Matthews moved up. Wichita needs more good pitchers and this is one.

[Dman]

Happy to see Zebby get the promotion.  It's nice to see one arm just utterly dominant at one of the levels. With no walks and just K'ing guys straight up there wasn't much left to work on in high A IMO.  It will be really interesting to see how well his stuff translates to AA.  K's are going to be harder to come by from AA to AAA to MLB as the hitters are improved all the way up.  Hoping he is another later round success story.

[Ted Schwerzler]

5 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Thank you - none of our pitching prospects looked really good last week.  Let's root for Zebby!

Glad to see C.J. is being activated too

[Ted Schwerzler]

4 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Nice to see Michael Helman have a great week. It's possible he can be a cheaper version of Willi Castro. But first he needs to stay healthy and dominate AAA. Then, he needs a chance to show he play MLB and isn't just a AAAA player. 

Great to see Zebby Matthews moved up. Wichita needs more good pitchers and this is one.

I loved what Helman and Prato did last year at Triple-A. If either of them can replicate it, that would be a great outcome.

[Ted Schwerzler]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Happy to see Zebby get the promotion.  It's nice to see one arm just utterly dominant at one of the levels. With no walks and just K'ing guys straight up there wasn't much left to work on in high A IMO.  It will be really interesting to see how well his stuff translates to AA.  K's are going to be harder to come by from AA to AAA to MLB as the hitters are improved all the way up.  Hoping he is another later round success story.

The Twins have done a good job with later round arms of late. Would be nice to see Zebby substantiate that as well. The command will come into focus as he moves up and has to attack the zone differently.

[Seth Stohs]

6 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Nice to see Michael Helman have a great week. It's possible he can be a cheaper version of Willi Castro. But first he needs to stay healthy and dominate AAA. Then, he needs a chance to show he play MLB and isn't just a AAAA player. 

Great to see Zebby Matthews moved up. Wichita needs more good pitchers and this is one.

Injuries and Opportunities are sometimes the difference between being able to say "I'm a big leaguer" versus "I reached AAA." 

Unfortunately for Helman, he's been the one injured when there have been opportunities. He missed most of the 2023 season with a couple of different injuries. This year, I can't help but wonder if he would have been called up to take Correa spot on the roster (instead of Jair Camargo) if he hadn't been hurt that same day. (It would have made more sense from a roster-building standpoint) 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

The Twins have done a good job with later round arms of late. Would be nice to see Zebby substantiate that as well. The command will come into focus as he moves up and has to attack the zone differently.

That, or he will need to remind himself that he doesn't need to attack too much differently and that his stuff with his current location is really really good. I think a lot of times, pitchers move up and start to over think, and think that they need to change and adapt to the new level. And, of course there will need to be adjustments, that's part of baseball. But he needs to stay true to knowing that his pitches along with the command will work. 

[LambchoP]

If Darren Bowen keeps this up dnd continues to develop, the Polanco trade starts to look a whole lot better. ERod continues to mash. I wonder when he'll get moved up to AAA? If he also dominates there I could see a September call up in his future...

[Mike Sixel]

28 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

If Darren Bowen keeps this up dnd continues to develop, the Polanco trade starts to look a whole lot better. ERod continues to mash. I wonder when he'll get moved up to AAA? If he also dominates there I could see a September call up in his future...

Given how polanco is playing, it's a good trade right now ...

Happy they promoted someone this early in the year, I'd like to see more....