Twins Minor League Week in Review (7/22-7/28): Walker Jenkins Promoted, Complex Complete, Splits All Around

[Ted Schwerzler]

There were plenty of splits during the last week of minor league action. A few key prospects came up big, and a veteran arm pitched lights out for St. Paul. The FCL season came to an end, and postseason positioning is taking shape.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

TRANSACTIONS:

• C/OF Ricardo Olivar promoted to Wichita.
• OF Walker Jenkins promoted to Cedar Rapids.
• C Michael Clayton promoted to Cedar Rapids. 

Jenkins Promoted!
After injuring his hamstring in the first game of the season, Jenkins missed some significant time out of the gate for Fort Myers. When he returned, it was clear his approach was solid as he showed a strong grasp for Low-A. Across 33 games, he posted an .817 OPS with a 17/28 K/BB. Reaching High-A at Cedar Rapids is a nice boost for the 2023 first round pick. 

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 22, DSL Arizona Black 7
Box Score

A nine-run first inning will generally provide a laugher of an outcome. Of course. that's what happened for the DSL Twins, but they continued to pile on with 22 runs. In the first inning, Daiber De Los Santos was 2-for-2 and launched a grand slam. The home run was his fifth of the season.

The Twins put up another gaudy number with eight runs in the third inning. The scored a paltry one apiece in each of the fourth and fifth innings, and then capped things off with three more in the sixth inning. De Los Santos had a truly remarkable stat line going 4-for-6 with four runs, nine(!!) RBI, and a walk. He doubled twice on the day as well.

Victor Leal, Luis Fragoza, and Ruben Velazquez all had two hits as well. The Twins scored their runs on just 14 hits, but drew 17 walks while striking out just six times. The went 9-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Arizona dropped to 8-31 on the year, which is indicative of this result.

WEEK IN REVIEW
Triple-A: St. Paul Saints

• Overall: 50-51 (3-3 last week) Third place in the IL West
• Overview: Splitting a series with Omaha, the Saints saw old friend Tyler Duffey in the opposing dugout.
• Patrick Winkel went 6-for-13 in four games of action. He had a home run and drove in a team-high five runs. His slash line resulted in a 1.154 OPS.
• Dalton Shuffield jumps all over the place when needed. He played all six games last week and batted .313. He had a triple and home run.
• Wynton Bernard continues to play well for St. Paul and swiped three bases in three tries.
• Adam Plutko was incredible pitching six innings of one-hit baseball while striking out eight.
• Randy Dobnak continues to be great for St. Paul and struck out five in seven innings. 
• Louie Varland had 13 strikeouts in 11 innings across a pair of starts last week.
• Yunior Severino played in just two games as he is dealing with a minor elbow injury. He should be back this week.
• What’s Next: A series with the worst team in the IL West is on deck with St. Paul traveling to Des Moines against the Cubs.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge

• Overall: 41-55 (3-3 last week) Fifth place in the Texas League North
• Overview: Wichita went to Amarillo and split a series with the Sod Poodles.
• Ben Ross played in all six games. He went 7-for-20 and hit .350/.458/.750 (1.208) with two doubles, two homers and four walks. It brings his season batting average over .200. 
• Tyler Dearden was playing for Lew Ford. After six years in the Red Sox org, he started this year with 55 games playing for Lew Ford in the indy Atlantic League. He posted a 1.000+ OPS there, then 1.000+ in Cedar Rapids and now over 1.000+ in Wichita. 
• Tanner Schobel went 5-for-18 with three runs this week across five games. He had a double, triple, and homer.
• Luke Keaschall hit just .240 but he hit three homers and drove in seven runs.
• Marco Raya had among his best starts of the season with a five inning scoreless effort. He gave up just a single hit and struck out five.
• Andrew Morris struck out six across four innings. He worked as a bulk reliever in his appearance this week.
• What’s Next: Welcoming the Naturals to Wichita, the Wind Surge host the third place Texas League North foe.

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels

• Overall: 54-40 (3-3 last week) Second place in the Midwest League West
• Overview: Splitting a series with Quad Cities, the Kernels stayed put in the standings.
• Rubel Cespedes hit .364 across six games going 8-for-22. His 12 total bases led the team, and so too did his six RBI.
• Kevin Maitan had a pair of doubles as well as a home run for the Kernels this week.
• Gabriel Gonzalez had just one extra-base hit, a double, but batted .300 on the week across six games. He drew six walks and stole a pair of bases
• Darren Bowen turned in a four inning scoreless start allowing just two hits and striking out three.
• C.J. Culpepper came back from a lengthy IL stint and worked two perfect innings, striking out three.
• Connor Prielipp was also back from a rehab assignment and made a two inning start striking out four.
• John Klein’s seven strikeouts during his six inning start were a team high.
• What’s Next: Cedar Rapids returns home and hosts Great Lakes. The Loons are third in the Midwest League East standings.

Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

• Overall: 50-43 (4-2 last week) Second place in Florida State League West
• Overview: The Mighty Mussels upward trend continues and they continue to climb the standings.
• Nick Lucky played in six games this week and scored four runs while walloping a pair of homers.
• Maddux Houghton batted .353 across six games while scoring seven runs. He had a home run as well.
• Walker Jenkins had a few key hits, including a home run, while leading the team with eight RBI. Brandon Winokur homered twice.
• Yasser Mercedes joined Fort Myers with the FCL season wrapping up and went 1-for-14 in his first three games.
• Spencer Bengard had another scoreless outing. Although he had just one strikeout, the Fort Myers pitcher allowed only two hits and a walk across five innings.
• Justin Topa couldn’t get to St. Paul with flight issues, so he made another scoreless relief appearance on his rehab assignment.
• Wilker Reyes and Paulshawn Pasqualotto both struck out a team-high six hitters.
• What’s Next: St. Lucie comes to Fort Myers this week, and they are currently the Florida State League’s worst team.

Complex League: FCL Twins

• Overall: 28-31 Fourth place in Florida Complex League South
• The FCL team wrapped up their season and unfortunately missed out on postseason play.
• Ariel Castro finished by going 3-for-7 with an RBI. He walked twice as well. The top international prospect signing posted a .666 OPS during his first season stateside.
• Bryan Acuna was 2-for-8 in the final week and had a pair of walks. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s brother had a .753 OPS this season in the FCL. That’s nearly a 200 point jump from what he did in 40 FCL games last year as a 17-year-old.
• Dylan Questad finished on a high note, working two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts in his last start.

Dominican Summer League: DSL Twins

• Overall: 19-19 Sixth place in Dominican Summer League South
• Eduardo Beltre had a pair of home runs with a pair of doubles. He batted .462 with a 1.577 OPS.
• Merphy Hernandez also hit .462 last week while recording a pair of doubles and a triple.
• Anderson Ramos got a win pitching three perfect innings of relief while striking out four.
• Jose Vasquez pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and struck out a team-high six batters.

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 5-19, 3 R, 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, K
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 5-23, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
#4 – David Festa (Minnesota) – 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 6-20, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 6 BB, 6 K, 2 SB
#6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB 5 K
#7 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 1-9, 2 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, K
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 6-25, 5 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 5-24, 4 R, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
#11 – Simeon Woods Richardson (Minnesota) – 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 5-18, 3 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
#14 – Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) – 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#15 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 5.0 IP, 3 H , 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
#17 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 3-8, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
#19 – C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 5-20, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, 3 K, SB

Hitter of the Week - Maddux Houghton (Fort Myers) - 6-17, 7 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, 3 SB

Pitcher of the Week - Adam Plutko (St. Paul) - 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

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[FlyingFinn]

Great news about Jenkins and Olivar, both getting promoted.

As for hitters who struggled last week - in St. Paul, Chris Williams went 1 for 17 after having a great week just the prior week. Camargo went 1 for 12 last week and Keirsey is 6 for 36 over the past couple weeks.

For Wichita, our once promising catchers, Cardenas and Cossetti, continue to struggle, combining to go 3 for 27 last week. Nate Baez hitting in Cedar Rapids isn't any better as he is 2 for his last 22. And Jose Salas hitting struggles continue, 3 for 16 last week. 

I will be very interested to see if they pitch to Jenkins more in Cedar Rapids and, of course, how he does.

[Doctor Wu]

7 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Great news about Jenkins and Olivar, both getting promoted.

As for hitters who struggled last week - in St. Paul, Chris Williams went 1 for 17 after having a great week just the prior week. Camargo went 1 for 12 last week and Keirsey is 6 for 36 over the past couple weeks.

For Wichita, our once promising catchers, Cardenas and Cossetti, continue to struggle, combining to go 3 for 27 last week. Nate Baez hitting in Cedar Rapids isn't any better as he is 2 for his last 22. And Jose Salas hitting struggles continue, 3 for 16 last week. 

I will be very interested to see if they pitch to Jenkins more in Cedar Rapids and, of course, how he does.

Yes, both promotions are warranted. Hopefully, Jenkins continues to make strides at the next level. No real need to rush him, but also no need to keep him treading water at a lower level longer than necessary. 

[jmlease1]

Best part of this week was seeing the top 20 prospect list and realizing that they all played. Huzzah for health!

[DJL44]

5 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Best part of this week was seeing the top 20 prospect list and realizing that they all played. Huzzah for health!

Look again. #3, #12 and #16 are absent.

[jmlease1]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Look again. #3, #12 and #16 are absent.

dammit, I thought the full list was up there in print. I got too excited when I saw Priellipp on the list...

[LambchoP]

Haven't heard much about Plutko, SP for the Saints? Between him, Mathews, Morris, and Festa we should have some decent competition for final two rotation spots next year. I just hope we can turn one of these guys into a TOR type starter. We seemingly have a huge supply of number 4 -5's....

[bean5302]

25 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Haven't heard much about Plutko, SP for the Saints? Between him, Mathews, Morris, and Festa we should have some decent competition for final two rotation spots next year. I just hope we can turn one of these guys into a TOR type starter. We seemingly have a huge supply of number 4 -5's....

Adam Plutko is a 32 year old MLB journeyman who came back after washing out of MLB in 2021. Plutko pitched very well in Korea from 2022-2023, giving him a MiLB opportunity back here in the states. I'm not sure he'll stick in baseball or not. He might be serviceable as a spot starter, but I don't think he'd get anything better than a MiLB contract around the league. He's been better than his prime in some ways (walks), but he lost some K rate he had back with Cleveland in the minors.