Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month - July 2024

[Seth Stohs]

The top five Twins minor league hitters for the month of July all have different experiences and at different levels. From Rookie Ball to Triple A. From a player who has been in the organization for six years, and one who signed less than four weeks ago. 

July is a very interesting month, in my opinion, in minor-league baseball. While transactions tend to start in mid-to-late June, there are a lot of promotions, demotions, additions and releases in July. The past three years, the draft has been a huge part of the month. The All Star break covers not only the big leagues but also minor leaguers get four days off too. There are lots of legitimate reasons for numbers to fluctuate during the month. 

One good example of this is a guy who you won’t see below, not in the top 5 and not among those honorably mentioned. Yasser Mercedes played 15 games for the FCL Twins to end their season. In those games, he hit .327/.411/.633 (1.044) with nine doubles and two homers. Incredible numbers, and notably, he had seven walks and nine strikeouts. However, the FCL season came to an end, and he was (rightfully) promoted to the Mighty Mussels so that his season could continue. He played five games with the Mussels and went 2-for-23, hitting .087/.160/.087 (.247) with no walks and 13 strikeouts. 

So, what’s more important? Being written about in your favorite Twins website for having a strong final three weeks of the FCL season, or the organization wanting to continue your season and push his development. We all know that answer, so I’m still going to mention Yasser Mercedes. Well, not after this point, but he got two paragraphs! 

What a great month for hitters in the Twins minor leagues! Unfortunately, it was one of the worst hitting months for the big league hitters.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• IF Ben Ross - Wichita Wind Surge - 21 G, 25-for-77, .325/.388/.494 (.882) with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 R, 11 RBI, 6 BB, 19 K.
• 1B/2B/CF Luke Keaschall - Wichita Wind Surge - 20 G, 22-for-76, .290/.426/.513 (.939) with 2 doubles, 5 home runs, 15 R. 12 RBI, 12 BB, 14 K.
• IF/OF Nick Lucky - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/Cedar Rapids Kernels - 19 G, 17-for-62, .274/.384/.565 (.948) with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 10 R, 10 RBI, 9 BB, 24 K. 
• OF Walker Jenkins - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/Cedar Rapids Kernels - 17 G, 18-for-62, .290/.451/.419 (.871) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 12 R, 15 RBI, 18 BB, 10 K. 
• 1B Kevin Maitan - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 22 G, 23-for-85, .271/.319/.506 (.825) with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 R, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 24 K.  
• 1B Yunior Severino - St. Paul Saints - 18 G, 21-for-73, .288/.361/.507 (.868) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 12 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 21 K
• C Ricardo Olivar - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Wichita Wind Surge - 21 G, 24-for-77, .312/.407/.442 (.848) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 14 R, 8 RBI, 13 BB, 14 K. 

THE TOP FIVE HITTERS

Number 5 - Wichita Wind Surge - OF Carson McCusker - 22 G, 24-for-84, .286/.384/.548 (.931), 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 10 R, 17 R, 13 RBI, 10 BB, 22 K.
After four years at Oklahoma State, McCusker went undrafted in 2021. He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with Tri-City in the independent Frontier League. That’s where he began the 2023 season as well, but after 37 games, he was hitting .433/.480/.822 (1.302) with 10 doubles and 17 home runs. The Twins noticed and signed him. He started with the Mighty Mussels and then contributed to the Kernels championship season to end the 2023 season. 

This season McCusker, who turned 26 in May, has spent the full season at Double-A Wichita. In 79 games, he has hit .274/.360/.446 (.806) with 20 doubles, two triples and nine home runs. He’s played an equal number of games in left field and right field while also DHing in about 25% of games. At 6-8, he looks the part of long-time Cleveland and Milwaukee slugger Richie Sexson. He has immense power potential to go with quite a bit of swing and miss. 

In July, McCusker was tied for the Twins minor-league lead with 17 runs scored. He ranked second in the organization with 24 hits, eight doubles, and four home runs. 

Number 4 - St. Paul Saints - C/1B Chris Williams - 20 G, 18-for-67, .269/.363/.627 (.989), 3 doubles, 7 home runs, 17 R, 14 RBI, 9 BB, 26 K.
Williams was the Twins eighth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Clemson. He was always a solid contributor as he moved up the organization. He made his first Triple-A appearance in 2022. In 42 games with the Saints, he had 10 home runs. Last year, he hit 21 homers in 95 games for the Saints. With 12 homer runs this season in St. Paul, he has passed Mark Contreras for the all-time Saints lead in home runs (yes, going all the way back to 2021). 

A slugger, Williams has played several positions this season to give him at least some extra theoretical flexibility. Along with 31 starts behind the plate, 11 starts in lefty field and six starts at first base. The past two seasons with the Saints, he had made 81 starts at first base with a combined 31 starts behind the plate. Reports indicate that he has made himself into a really solid defensive catcher, a guy that pitchers want to throw to

In July, Williams led the Twins minors in home runs (7), runs scored (17) and slugging percentage (.627). He was top three in OPS (.990) and RBI (14).   

Number 3 - St. Paul Saints - C Patrick Winkel - 14 G, 18-for-50, .360/.396/.580 (.976), 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 R, 12 RBI, 3 BB, 13 K.
The Twins have very aggressively pushed Winkel since he was the team’s ninth round draft pick in 2021 out of U-Conn. That summer, he played in 21 games in Fort Myers. In 2022, he missed the first month or more but played 54 games for the Kernels. In 2023, he hit .266/.362/.424 (.787) with 16 doubles and 10 homers in 88 games for Wichita. This year, the Saints pushed him straight to Triple-A. In 58 games with the Saints, he has hit .234/.292/.366 (.657) with 12 doubles and five home runs. 

In July, Jair Camargo spent a bit of time with the Twins which gave Winkel the opportunity to play a bit more, and he took advantage. While he is certainly known mostly for his plus-defensive skills behind the plate, he generally will take solid plate appearances. He gets a bit of a boost by me for being a catcher. 14 games is about what a catcher is going to get in the system, unless he gets some DH games.   

In July, Winkel had the second-highest Batting Average (.360), the third highest slugging percentage (.580), and the fourth-highest OPS (.976). 

Number 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Wichita Wind Surge - OF Tyler Dearden - .400/.456/.550 (1.006), 9 doubles, 7 R, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 13 K.
Way back in 2017, the Boston Red Sox drafted Tyler Dearden out of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The 29th round pick decided to sign. He spent that summer in the GCL. 2018 he spent with Lowell in shortened NY-Penn League. In 2019, he moved up to full-season ball, playing 60 games for Greenville. After a lost 2020 season, he returned to Greenville but they were now the organization’s High-A affiliate. He posted a .897 OPS  and hit 20 doubles and 24 home runs in 97 games. In 2022, he played 94 games for Double-A Portland and hit .263 (.763) with 16 doubles and eight homes. He spent much of the 2023 season with Portland and got into two games for Triple-A Worcester. 

He became a free agent in the offseason and didn’t find a team to sign him. So, he went to the Atlantic League and signed with Long Island and the Fighting Lew Fords. OK, it’s the Long Island Ducks, and Lew Ford is their manager. In 55 games, he was hitting .361/.410/.634 (1.044) with 19 doubles and 12 homers when the Twins came calling. He signed on July 3 and spent five games with the Kernels (1.193 OPS) before moving up to the Wind Surge on July 11. In 11 games, he had hit .357/.429/.500 (.929). That’s a pretty solid first month in a new organization for the 26-year-old. 

In July, he led the Twins minor leagues in batting average (.400) and doubles (9). He was second in OBP (.456) and OPS (1.006) as well as hits (24). 

And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is:
DSL Twins - OF Eduardo Beltre - 21 G, 19-for-58, .328/.474/.586 (1.060), 3 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 R, 14 RBI, 12 BB, 20 K.
Our choice for Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for July will not even turn 18 until mid-October. Eduardo Beltre was one of the top international prospects to sign in January. The Twins signed him out of the Dominican Republic for $1.5 million. 

Beltre’s season started a couple of weeks late due to a minor shoulder issue. However, right from the start, his bat was strong.

In July, he led the organization with a .474 on-base percentage and a 1.060 OPS. He was second with a .586 slugging percentage and four home runs. He was third in batting average (.328) and RBI (14). 

In my personal rankings, I included Beltre at #30 recently. That is probably a bit too low.  

We want to congratulate DSL Twins Eduardo Beltre, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for July 2024. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions.

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[tony&rodney]

As someone who watches way too much minor league baseball (via milb.com), I love the minor league articles. I follow the teams pretty closely. The raw play of the minors is quite different from the finished excellence of the major leagues, which makes me appreciate how accomplished the best players are at the highest level.

McCusker is always worth watching. He has improved quite a bit this year. It was good to see Ben Ross have a good month because he was totally struggling. If people have not seen Luke Keaschall play, he is worth a look. 

Thanks for this article.

[FlyingFinn]

Patrick Winkel's month snuck up on me. Didn't realize he was hitting that well. Keep that up as Cardenas and Cossetti have fallen on hard times at AA since April. We need some hitting from good defensive catchers, which I think Winkel is (but I'm just going off memory and didn't look up any #'s).

[Karbo]

Does anyone know if Edwardo Beltre is related to HOFer Adrian Beltre?

[mikelink45]

I love seeing our catcher prospects and wonder how close WInkel is to surpassing Camargo.  Is there an MLB future for Chris Williams?  

[Dman]

Looking forward to seeing what Beltre can do in the FCL next year. His writeup from BA seemed to indicate a lot of swing and miss but his strikeouts to walk ratio is really good and he has hit for power all season so far. Kind of hoping for a Right handed Rodriguez, but we'll have to wait and see.  Nice to see a super young guy topping the list.

[FlyingFinn]

5 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Is there an MLB future for Chris Williams?

No, IMO. It would have to be at catcher and he is not good there defensively. Hitting is good but not consistent enough to an MLB DH or 1B (not sure that his defense is great there either).

[gman]

Seems our best DSL prospects have had rough first years in the FCL. Even if Beltre stumbles in his first year in the FCL I'll watch for him in 2026 and later. It looks like he has the ability to make a name for himself.

[Jocko87]

6 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

No, IMO. It would have to be at catcher and he is not good there defensively. Hitting is good but not consistent enough to an MLB DH or 1B (not sure that his defense is great there either).

But if he can be a functional lefty (heh) fielder his bat has a chance to play.  Plenty of at bats for a solid bat that can catch, play 1B/DH and lefty field. 

It may not be with the Twins, but it's a deep lineup to crack. The MLB future might be AAAA with someone else but he does have a chance.

[twinstalker]

Yeah, I've had Beltre ahead of a lot of guys in the org, though admittedly I wouldn't be able to tell you how he hits a breaking ball.  I do know he doesn't strike out, and that's huge.  I've got him around 20 due to DSL and SSS but would expect that to zoom up next year if he handles the FCL.  I've questioned the "17" a few times, but that's just because his production and peripherals seem...well, older.

edit:  Hadn't check his stat line in a while.  He's striking out plenty now, more than plenty.  It makes more sense than getting an overlooked "next Juan Soto," which is what everything looked like until a week or so ago.