Twins Minor League Report (5/29): Rosario Slam Powers Surge to Win

[Seth Stohs]

The Saints got an early lead and a very efficient pitching performance from their staff on Wednesday. Wichita found itself in a pitchers' duel, but a top prospect helped the team to a win in grand style. Cedar Rapids had some chances to make a big comeback but fell short. The same can be said in Fort Myers where the Mussels had great chances in each of the final three innings. Find out all that happened in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

There were some big, huge home runs on Wednesday in the Twins minor leagues, but there was also some really good pitching. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 28-23 
St. Paul Saints: 24-28
Wichita Wind Surge: 19-27 
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 28-18
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 20-27
FCL Twins: 11-6  

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

TRANSACTIONS
The Saints placed OF DaShawn Keirsey on the 7-Day IL with a left calf strain. 2B/OF Yoyner Fajardo was activated from the development list. 

Wichita placed RHP Zebby Matthews on the Development List. 

The Twins signed 24-year-old RHP Ricky Garcia from the independent Joliet Slammers. An Illinois native, he spent three seasons at Purdue (2020-22) and then spent a year at Tulane. He went undrafted and pitched for Joliet in 2023. He had made three appearances with Joliet this year before signing with the Twins earlier this week. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Rochester 0
Box Score
The Saints got off to a fast start, and they got a nice start, and some terrific bullpen work on Wednesday night in The Rochester.

With one out in the first inning, Michael Helman singled. Matt Wallner followed with a walk. Clean-up hitter Yunior Severino then hit a three-run homer. 

Adam Plutko had a nice 3-0 lead before he even took the mound, but he did quite well too. The veteran tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out four batters. And, he did so on just 45 pitches. 

“Efficiency” or “Efficient” is a good word to describe the Saints pitchers in this game. Jeff Brigham made his first appearance since coming off of the IL. He needed 12 pitches to work a perfect fifth inning. Ronny Henriquez gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. He did so on 29 pitches. Scott Blewett used 25 pitches to work the final two innings. Combined, the Saints pitchers needed just 111 pitches for a nine-inning shutout. 

In the sixth inning, Alex Isola hit a solo homer to make it 4-0. The following inning, Austin Martin and Wallner worked walks and Severino drove in Martin with the fifth run of the game.  

Severino led the way. He was 2-for-5 with four RBI. His home run was his eighth of the season. Isola’s home run was his fifth in a Saints uniform. Helman was also 2-for-5. Wallner had a double to go with two walks. 

Austin Martin walked twice in the game. In nine games since he was optioned to St. Paul, this was the first time he didn’t have at least one hit. Over those nine games, he is 10-for-29 (.345) with 11 walks to just one strikeout. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Springfield 2
Box Score
This was quite the pitchers’ duel between Wind Surge lefty Jaylen Nowlin and Cardinals’ prospect Ian Bedell. Bedell game up just two hits and two walks and struck out nine batters through seven innings. 

Nowlin gave up two hits and walked three over 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He had two strikeouts. He also picked off a baserunner at first base. Austin Brice came in with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, but got the final out. He then worked a scoreless seventh inning despite giving up two hits. He had three strikeouts. 

Let’s jump to the bottom of the eighth inning. Springfield turned to former Twins pitching prospect Ryan Shreve. With one out, Kyler Fedko doubles. Luke Keaschall hit an infield single. After a strikeout for the inning’s second out, Tanner Schobel walked to load the bases. 

That brought up Kala’i Rosario who had yet to put a ball in play in the game. He struck out his first two at-bats before walking in his third plate appearance. The Hawaiian fell behind 0-2, but he took two close pitches just off the outside corner at the very bottom of the strike zone. With a 2-2 count, got what appears to be a slider that didn't slide. Rosario did not miss it. He crushed a long home run, a grand slam that turned a scoreless game into a four-run lead for the Surge.  

Jared Solomon pitched a scoreless top of the eighth and came out for the ninth inning. He started with a strikeout. Then a single… a walk… and another single drove in the first run. 4-1 Surge. The next batter singled to center to cut the lead to 4-2. 

Taylor Floyd came in and immediately threw a wild pitch. A stolen base put the tying run on second base. But Floyd came through with a strikeout and a soft ground ball toward the first base line that he fielded and tagged out the runner to end the game.  

The Wind Surge had five hits and three walks in the game. Fedko went 2-for-3 with his fifth double. He also had a great diving catch in center field earlier in the game. Rosario’s huge home run was his fourth of the season. Keaschall went 1-for-3 with a walk. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez missed his second straight game with what is being deemed a “minor injury.” He is said to be day-to-day. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 6
Box Score
In his previous start, C.J. Culpepper threw six perfect innings. 18 up, 18 down. This start didn’t go as well for the right-hander. In the first innings, the leadoff batter singled. That was followed by another single. After a strikeout, he gave up another single to load the bases. The fifth batter, Jake Fox, followed with a two-run single. After a second strikeout, he got a pop out to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the first inning, the Kernels cut the lead in half. Jay Harry led off with a single. He stole second and scored on a Rubel Cespedes double. 

Culpepper responded in the second inning by striking out the three batters he faced. However, with one out in the third innings, he hit a batter and followed that with a walk. Fox reached on a fielder’s choice/error to load the bases. A two-run single by Jose Devers was followed with an RBI groundout that made it 5-1 Lake County.  

Culpepper got through the third inning but was replaced by Rafael Marcano in the fourth. The lefty Rule 5 pick gave up a hit and two walks but struck out two over two scoreless innings. A.J. Labas came in and tossed two scoreless innings as well. 

It took a bit, but the Kernels did try to make a comeback. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ricardo Olivar hit a solo home run, his sixth of the season to cut the deficit to 5-2. In the eighth inning, Dillon Tatum hit a one-out home run, his second of the season.That was followed by singles from Harry and Olivar. After a pitching change, Cespedes walked to load the bases. Agustin Ruiz grounded out to score Harry from third and make it a 5-4 game. 

That is as close as the game got. Jacob Wosinski pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but he gave up one run in the ninth for the final score of 6-4. 

Harry played center field and went 2-for-4. Olivar was 2-for-4 with the home run. Cespedes’s double was his 11th. Rayne Doncon hit his second Kernels double, his 15th overall this season.   

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 3
Box Score
When you hear the phrase “just one bad pitch,” it is used when a team loses because of a home run that was the difference in the game, and the cliche could be used in this scenario, if you wanted. Of course, it’s not a truth, especially in a game in which the Mussels pitches combined for seven walks. But one pitch was the difference in this game, in a way. We’ll get to that. 

In the third inning, Payton Eeles hit a solo home run to give the Mussels a 1-0 lead. The home run was majestic, launched at an angle of 43 degrees.  

21-year-old Jose Olivares was on the mound to start for Fort Myers. He tossed four innings and gave up just one hit. He had four strikeouts but also three walks. Jack Noble threw two scoreless innings, but then the top of the seventh started with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt advanced runners to second and third, Braylon Bishop came to the plate. Noble fell behind 2-0 on a slider and a changeup…

Then Bishop did what Bishop should have done with a 92-mph fastball right over the middle of the plate. He hit the ball 101.6 mph at a 34 degree launch angle and it landed well beyond the outfield fencing.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mussels attempted a comeback. Two walks and a wild pitch left runners on second and third with one out. After a strikeout, another walk loaded the bases, but a strikeout ended that threat. 

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the rehabbing Brooks Lee singled. He advanced to third base on a Brandon Winokur double. After a strikeout, Rixon Wingrove drove in Lee with a ground out to make it 3-2. 

Then in the bottom of the ninth, the Mussels had a runner on and one out. Eeles singled and Lee walked to load the bases with one out. Unfortunately, the game ended on a double hitter. 

Lefty Samuel Perez did a nice job out of the bullpen. He gave up one hit and walked one batter but tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He had five strikeouts. 

Eeles was 2-for-4 with a walk. The homer was his second. Lee DHd and went 2-for-4 with a walk. He also stole a base. Winokur’s doubles was his 12th of the season.  

Both teams had opportunities to do much more damage. Bradenton went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. The Mussels were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. The difference in the game was, to some degree, the one bad pitch. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day - Yunior Severino (Saints) - 2-for-5, HR(8), R, 4 RBI, 2 K.   
Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin (Wind Surge) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, HBP, 2 K, 86 pitches, 44 strikes (51.2%)

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

#2 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, BB, R, SB(1) (DH, Rehab in FM)
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R,
#9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, R, K, 
#10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, 2B(12), K
#12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(4), R, 4 RBI, 2 K.
#13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, R
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, HR(8), R, 4 RBI, 2 K.
#19 - C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 K, 53 pitches, 39 strikes (73.6%)
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, HR(6), R, RBI, K

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Rochester (10:05 AM CST) - RHP Jordan Balazovic (2-2, 5.40 ERA) 
Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Travis Adams (2-3, 5.14 ERA)
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, 2.89 ERA)
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (11:00 AM CST) - LHP Cesar Lares (1-1, 2.31 ERA)
FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 

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

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[Jocko87]

Every time I look up Jaylen Nowlin is just so solid.

Anything on why Zebby went on the development list?

[Doctor Wu]

4 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

Anything on why Zebby went on the development list?

I'm wondering the same thing. He had been pitching well, and now on this weird new "list." And yes, Nowlin is catching my eye too. Seems like his control is better this year, or am I the one off base?

[FlyingFinn]

4 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

Anything on why Zebby went on the development list?

I've seen guys go on this list and come off 3 or 4 days later. Seems like sometimes it is used for roster juggling reasons. Just guessing.

[roger]

So glad to see Lee back on the diamond.  Will St Paul be his next stop Seth?

[Dman]

Man Eeles has been swinging like a 1st round draft pick.  I'm sure they love him at A ball but he could be a good guy to replace Keaschal at High A and being that he is older wouldn't hurt to move him tad faster than most guys.  HIs approach looks sound and he seems to make solid contact with 6 double, 2 triples and 2 HR's in the few weeks he has been around.

[LambchoP]

I sure hope Keirsey, E-ROD and Mathews aren't too hurt. It's nice when all of our top prospects are both healthy and producing. Until this injury I was hoping for a Keirsey Jr call up which would open up an every day spot at AAA for Rodriguez.

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

I'm wondering the same thing. He had been pitching well, and now on this weird new "list." And yes, Nowlin is catching my eye too. Seems like his control is better this year, or am I the one off base?

Little off-base, I'm afraid. He's still running a BB/9 of 4.5 (which is not good) and is actually slightly above his career average of 4.3. I mean, he's been a bit better than he was in Wichita last season...but worse than in Cedar Rapids last year, so it's something of a wash. I'd argue he's still got the same issues on his control, but he's been effective at run prevention despite it. That WHIP is just not sustainable.

Hope Matthews is ok. Any roster move like that makes me twitchy, especially with our pitchers, lol.

keaschall seems to be doing fine in AA so far. How much longer will Brooks Lee stay in Ft. Myers, I wonder? Until they have him in the field a few more times?

[bean5302]

I heard Rodriguez's arm is off, but he replied "I've had worse!" so the Twins labeled it a minor injury.

In regard to Zebby Matthews, the development list has usually been used to give a pitcher a little innings break. The IL has a minimum return time, but I don't think the development list does so Matthews could just have a start pushed back or he could just be clearing some temporary space on the roster with all the guys moving around? It's not like he's been pitching too many innings.

[Dman]

31 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I heard Rodriguez's arm is off, but he replied "I've had worse!" so the Twins labeled it a minor injury.

In regard to Zebby Matthews, the development list has usually been used to give a pitcher a little innings break. The IL has a minimum return time, but I don't think the development list does so Matthews could just have a start pushed back or he could just be clearing some temporary space on the roster with all the guys moving around? It's not like he's been pitching too many innings.

I was thinking an arm break as well. I think he has 5 innings or more every time out and not sure what they feel his innings limit will be, but maybe best to skip a start to keep him on track to pitch the whole season within the innings limit they have for him.

[twinstalker]

3 hours ago, Dman said:

Man Eeles has been swinging like a 1st round draft pick.

Like a first round pick three years ago who decided to go way back to low A just for the hell of it.  But, yeah, no real point in keeping him there.  K rate is a touch higher than you'd hope, given his profile, age, and league, but I'd rather see at A+ whether it's sample size variation.  Good to see him park one.  No power threat, no MLB future.

[Guest]

A lot of comments about the Development List. Maybe a staff writer could make an article out of it explaining who is on it (anybody from SD knows we're on it) and how the Twins are using it. I have done a cursory look on the Twins website and can not find this list. Does anybody know if it is on the interweb somewher?

[Doctor Wu]

20 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Little off-base, I'm afraid. He's still running a BB/9 of 4.5 (which is not good) and is actually slightly above his career average of 4.3. I mean, he's been a bit better than he was in Wichita last season...but worse than in Cedar Rapids last year, so it's something of a wash.

Thanks for that information. Yes, my assumption was most definitely off base! Here's hoping that he actually does get a better handle on his control .