Twins Minor League Report (8/21): Jake Rucker, Carson McCusker Provide Power Surge

[Seth Stohs]

Two Wind Surge hitters knocked two homers on Wednesday. Two Twins affiliates had to play some extra innings. Several firsts for some 2024 draft picks. Check out all that happened throughout the Twins minor league system on Wednesday. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Jake Rucker, Carson McCusker)

Two extra-inning games. Two 2024 draft picks hit their first pro home run during the Mussels doubleheader. Another 2024 draft pick recorded his first double in High-A. The Wind Surge were powered by two hitters who each hit two home runs. Pitching wasn't real strong on Wednesday, but there was certainly some hitting.  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 71-56
St. Paul Saints: 57-64
Wichita Wind Surge: 49-67
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 61-53
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 61-51
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) 

TRANSACTIONS
In a rarity, there were no transactions in the Twins minor league system on Wednesday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 7, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 6 (10 innings)
Box Score
The Saints got on the scoreboard first, but over the first six innings, they fell behind 6-1. However, the Saints got a big blast in the seventh and another run in the eighth frame to tie the score at 6-6. See how it ended below. Were the Saints able to end their 10-game losing streak? 

The Saints took the lead in the top of the first inning. Payton Eeles led off with his sixth double. Saints manager Toby Gardenhire was ejected from the game. Originally, Eeles shot was called a home run, but after the umpires met, they changed it to a ground-rule double. Diego A. Castillo singled him to third base. Castillo stole second. Eeles scored on a sacrifice fly by DaShawn Keirsey. However, Castillo was thrown out trying to advance to third base. 

Louie Varland started for the Saints and went five innings. He gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. He had three strikeouts. Josh Winder gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the sixth inning. At that point, the Saints were down 6-1. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Patrick Winkel led off with a double. Anthony Prato reached on an error. A pitching change was made. #OldFriend Nick Burdi came out and Oddanier Mosqueda came into the game. Eeles walked to load the bases. Castillo made it a game again by launching a grand slam to cut the deficit to 6-5. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Rylan Bannon pinch hit and led off with a single off the pitcher. Bannon went to second base on a bunt by Prato and a ground out by Eeles. Castillo came up, but he struck out. However, he reached first base, and Bannon scored, when strike three resulted in a passed ball. The game was tied 6-6. 

Hobie Harris worked two scoreless innings. Caleb Baragar pitched a scoreless ninth inning and a scoreless 10th inning. 

The Saints started the bottom of the 10th inning with Jair Camargo at second base. Chris Williams successfully advanced him to third base with a bunt. Bannon was intentionally walked before Prato came up and laced a single to right to drive in the winning run. 

Diego A. Castillo went 2-for-4 with a walk and his seventh home run of the season. He also stole his 11th base. Prato went 2-for-4. Winkel went 2-for-3 with his 15th and 16th doubles. Eeles went 2-for-4 with a walk. (if you missed our interview with him from Monday, click here.) 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 10, Midland 11 (11 innings)
Box Score
This game was very back-and-forth. Wichita had three, three-run innings. Midland had two, three-run innings, but also a two-run inning, and three, one-run innings including in the bottom of the 11th inning as they got the walk-off win over the Surge. 

Midland took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. In the top of the third inning, the Surge tied it up. With one out, Dalton Shuffield walked and stole his fourth base. He moved up to third base on a Jorel Ortega single. Tanner Schobel walked to load the bases. Jake Rucker unloaded them with a bases-clearing double. 

Then Midland scored two in the bottom of the third inning and another in the fourth. Down by three runs again, Wichita responded in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Schobel walked. Jake Rucker emptied the bases again with a two-run homer. 

With two outs, Carson McCusker’s 12th home run of the season tied the score at 6-6. 

Then it was time for Wichita to surge into the lead. In the top of the seventh inning, the Surge took a three-run lead. With one out, and no one on base, Jake Rucker just went ahead and drove in himself with his second home run of the night. Andrew Cossetti followed with a single, and McCusker knocked his second home run of the night. That gave the Wind Surge a 9-6 lead. 

C.J. Culpepper made his second Double-A start. He gave up four runs on two hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Regi Grace got the next four outs. He was charged with two runs on three hits.

Pierson Ohl came on and tossed three scoreless innings. However, in the eighth inning, he was charged with three runs (2 earned) which made it a 9-9 game after eight innings 

Taylor Floyd got the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless ninth frame to send it to extra innings. 

In the top of the 10th, Ben Ross was the Manfred Man on second base. Jeferson Morales walked, and then Aaron Sabato walked to load the bases. With one out, Shuffield flew out to center, deep enough for Ross to coach. Ortega walked to re-load the bases. 

Jarret Whorff came in for the 10th inning and immediately threw a wild pitch to advance a runner to third. A double scored him, and an infield single put runners on first and third with nobody out. Somehow, Whorff got out of it with a ground out, a strikeout and a fly out.

The Surge went 1-2-3 in the top of the 11th inning. Brennan Milone doubled to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning to score Jack Winkler and end the game. 

Rucker led the offense going 3-for-6 with his 20th double, his eighth and ninth home runs, and six RBI. McCusker hit his 12th and 13th home runs. Cossetti went 2-for-4. Morales was 2-for-4 with a walk.        

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Dayton 4 
Box Score
Rubel Cespedes gave the Kernels an early lead, but the team was unable to hold small leads early and then late. 

Leading off the top of the second inning, Cespedes connected for his 12th home run of the season. Two innings later, Cespedes put the Kernels up 2-0 with a single to drive in Walker Jenkins.

Dayton’s Leo Balcazar homered in the bottom of the fourth to make it 2-1. Then two innings later, he tied the score at 2-2 with an RBI single.

The score remained 2-2 until the eighth inning. In the top of the frame, Kaelen Culpepper led off with his first Kernels hit, a double to left. Jenkins walked. A wild pitch advanced both runners a base. Culpepper scored on a ground out by Gabriel Gonzalez, but the team now held a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, the Reds High-A affiliate scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and held the Kernels scoreless in the ninth inning. 

Tanner Hall made his second Kernels start. He gave up two runs on two hits over 5 1/3 innings. He had three walks and four strikeouts. Mike Paredes was charged with two runs on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. Paredes started the bottom of the eighth but wasn’t able to get an out. Gabriel Yanez came in and gave up one hit to allow an inherited runner to score. 

Cespedes went 3-for-4 with his 12th homer and two RBI. Walker Jenkins hit his seventh double, and Misael Urbina hit his 15th double. Unfortunately, the Kernels went just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Game 1: Fort Myers 1, Tampa 4
Box Score
Charlee Soto started for the Mussels. He gave up three runs in four innings, all scoring in the second inning. He allowed seven hits, walked one and had six strikeouts. 

Ben Ethridge worked the final two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. 

The Mussels got on the board in the fourth inning when second-round pick Billy Amick hit his first professional home run. 

Kyle DeBarge reached base twice, once on a single and once via a walk. Ceden Kendle hit his sixth double since joining the Mussels. 

Unfortunately, base runners were at a premium for the Mussels in Game 1. They were just 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. 

Game 2: Fort Myers 1, Tampa 4
Box Score
The Mussels’ offense was much better in Game 2. In fact, they had five runs in the first three innings of the game. Unfortunately, a 5-0 lead could not be held as the Yankees affiliate scored seven straight runs to grab the win.  

Fort Myers manufactured a first-inning run. Kyle DeBarge singles and stole his 11th bag. He advanced to third when Brandon Winokur grounded out to second base on a 1-2 pitch. Billy Amick grounded to the shortstop who threw home but not in time to get the speedy DeBarge.  

In the second inning, Jay Thomason hit the first home run of his professional career.   

Maddux Houghton followed with a walk and his 18th stolen base. With two outs, Winokur drove him in with a single to center that made it 3-0 Fort Myers. 

Khadim Diaw, the catcher/center fielder drafted in the third round this year from Loyola Marymount, led off the inning with a single. He stole second base and advanced to third on a Jaime Ferrer double. After an infield pop out, Diaw scored on a wild pitch. Thomason then drove in Ferrer with a single that made it 5-0. 

Unfortunately the Mussels managed just one more hit over the final four innings. 

Cesar Lares started the game with three scoreless innings. However, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits, a walk, and two hit batters in 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Juan Mercedes came in with two runners on, and he stranded them. He went a total of 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on one hit, one walk, and one hit batter. He had three strikeouts.

Jaime Ferrer went 3-for-3 with his sixth double. Jay Thomason went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Tanner Hall (Cedar Rapids) - 5 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 75 pitches, 46 strikes (61.3%).
Hitter of the Day – Jake Rucker (Wichita) - 3-for-6, 2B(15), HR(8), 3 R, 2 RBI. 

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, BB, 2B(7), R, K 
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4, RBI.   
#8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – Game 1: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 72 pitches, 43 strikes (59.7%)
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2B(1), R, K.
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – Game 1: 0-for-3, 2K, Game 2: 1-for-4, RBI.  
#16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - Game 1: 1-for-2, BB, CS(1), Game 2: 1-for-4, R, SB(11), 3 K. 
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 2 BB, 2 R, K.
#19 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 2 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 62 pitches, 37 strikes (59.7%)   

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Caleb Boushley (9-5, 4.73 ERA)
Wichita @ Midland (7:00 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (4-7, 4.08 ERA) 
Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Ty Langenberg (4-2, 4.50 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Tampa (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Jose Olivares (2-1, 2.57 ERA) 

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games!

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[FlyingFinn]

@Seth Stohs - did Olivar get injured as it looks like he was hit by a pitch and pulled from the game?

[SF Twins Fan]

@Seth Stohs - Where would you rank Payton Eeles as a Twins prospect?  He's moved up from A to AAA and consistently hit well.  Does he have a defensive position?

[DJL44]

Is Emmanuel Rodriguez season over or is there a chance he plays with St. Paul in September? He would be a good choice for the AFL to get some extra reps. Not sure if he's eligible. Kalai Rosario is another who has missed a lot of time this summer.

[LambchoP]

Seems kind of alarming to me how poorly all of our young pitchers can control the zone. I know it's common for minor leaguers to have poor command, but it seems everyday I read about our top pitching prospects walking 3, 4, 5 batters an outing.

On the other hand, it sure looks like the new Culpeper kid can really hit. Should be fun watching him and Jenkins move up together.

Eeles sure looks like a solid player too. I see he plays SS, but I haven't watched him play so not sure how good he is there. Looks like he can really hit and be a menace on the bases. Over .300 AVG with 30 SB. Twins are always in need of speed and SB potential. Does he get added to the 40 man anytime soon? Would hate to see another team snag him in the off-season in the rule 5 draft. Although I will say I'm not exactly sure how that all works..

[roger]

Don't know what you were drinking last night, Seth?  But your prospect summary for Jenkins makes no sense.  He didn't have 2 home runs or 6 RBI.  He also wasn't 1-4.  The box score says he was 1-3 with a walk and yes, the hit was a double.  Good news is there have been lots of doubles of late.

Remember watching Winder pitch for the Twins last week, or maybe earlier this week.  Though he really had good stuff.  Then he and Varland both go out and aren't all that sharp last night.  Really wish both of these young men would be consistently good when down in the minors.

[FlyingFinn]

10 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Seems kind of alarming to me how poorly all of our young pitchers can control the zone. I know it's common for minor leaguers to have poor command, but it seems everyday I read about our top pitching prospects walking 3, 4, 5 batters an outing.

Check out Matthews and Morris walk rates, among the best in all of the minor leagues. That's why they are our top pitching prospects.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

@Seth Stohs - did Olivar get injured as it looks like he was hit by a pitch and pulled from the game?

Haven't heard anything yet, but most likely it's just precautionary. 

[MMMordabito]

Love that Eeles clip. Love the Eeles story.

Free Payton Eeles! 

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

Eeles sure looks like a solid player too. I see he plays SS, but I haven't watched him play so not sure how good he is there. Looks like he can really hit and be a menace on the bases. Over .300 AVG with 30 SB. Twins are always in need of speed and SB potential. Does he get added to the 40 man anytime soon? Would hate to see another team snag him in the off-season in the rule 5 draft. Although I will say I'm not exactly sure how that all works..

He isn't eligible for the Rule 5 until 12/2027.  Hopefully, he'll get invited to big league camp in the spring and have a real shot at proving himself.  There should be some opportunities with Farmer, Margot, Kepler and Santana all hitting free agency.  Castro will hit free agency in 2026, so that could open another opportunity.

[SaberNerd]

Eeles just continues to surprise.  Steamer projection currently has him at a 104wRC+ for the majors, and while there are definitely concerns about low exit velocities, I'd easily have him as a top 30 guy.  For the offseason 40-man, it likely makes sense not to call him up to save a spot.

Soto was better than his line had him.  Gave up 5 hits on balls hit <=85mph, only 2 balls hit >=95mph.  Only 1 FB allowed.

Not liking DeBarge striking out this much.  Going from 10% his Jr year to 24% at A, and with below average power he can't afford to strike out much.

[jmlease1]

deBarge has 11 steals in 14 games and has only been caught once. That's fun! New part of his game, or just something he wasn't allowed to show off as much in college? No complaints, I'm always happy to see aggressive baserunning paired with efficiency!

[Mike Sixel]

18 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

deBarge has 11 steals in 14 games and has only been caught once. That's fun! New part of his game, or just something he wasn't allowed to show off as much in college? No complaints, I'm always happy to see aggressive baserunning paired with efficiency!

Low minors are awful at holding runners on and throwing. I think we'll know more as he advances. 

[Dman]

5 hours ago, SF Twins Fan said:

@Seth Stohs - Where would you rank Payton Eeles as a Twins prospect?  He's moved up from A to AAA and consistently hit well.  Does he have a defensive position?

I know this was directed at Seth, but it looks like he declined to answer so I'll give my two cents mainly because I have been giving it a lot of thought as well.

I don't think most sites will have Eeles in their top 30 for a variety of reason that likely include.  Really small sample sizes at every level he has played.  Unknown guys that aren't drafted generally are slow to move onto lists because a fair bit of the time they come down to earth after teams find weaknesses to exploit.  It is just safer to wait and see rather than look like an idiot believing in a pop up player if he doesn't pan out.

To be honest the sample size is still too small, but I am not afraid to be a believer and my reasons are as follows.  Every level he has been at he has a fairly equal walk to K rate. His batting average has been pretty much the same at each level and his BABIP is normalized except for low A where it is high, but he had his best slugging percentage at that level.  He also has kept his OPS at essentially .900 for each level.  Eeles has been remarkably consistent at each level he has been at with an approach that has given him consistent results.  That leads me to believe he sort of is who he is and that looks like an elite bat to me.

Having said all that teams haven't seen him that much. They will likely develop better strategies to get him out.  I've seen recently that they are pitching him away more instead of inside.  We'll have to see if he can adapt to the different approaches teams throw at him and small sample sizes dont'\won't account for that just yet.

Still I currently have him as 23 on my top 30 list ahead of guys like Schobel, Gonzalez, Amick, Diaw and Cespedes.  If his numbers continue to stay close to where they are now at the end of year I would move him inside the top 20 and possibly just outside the top 10.  If he continues to be this consistent after a couple of months into next year I could see him inside the top 10 maybe top 5 if some guys graduate off this list.  There are too many unknowns to rate him highly yet, but he has put himself in a spot to break into the top 30 which is amazing in itself especially for an undrafted player.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Low minors are awful at holding runners on and throwing. I think we'll know more as he advances. 

Fair. and there are some other players on the roster with excellent success rates. But it does seem notable that he's already 6th on the team in steals and all of the guys ahead of him have 2-5 times as many games.

I think it'd be a good add to his game if he's able to be a consistent threat on the basepaths.

[SF Twins Fan]

26 minutes ago, Dman said:

I know this was directed at Seth, but it looks like he declined to answer so I'll give my two cents mainly because I have been giving it a lot of thought as well.

I don't think most sites will have Eeles in their top 30 for a variety of reason that likely include.  Really small sample sizes at every level he has played.  Unknown guys that aren't drafted generally are slow to move onto lists because a fair bit of the time they come down to earth after teams find weaknesses to exploit.  It is just safer to wait and see rather than look like an idiot believing in a pop up player if he doesn't pan out.

To be honest the sample size is still too small, but I am not afraid to be a believer and my reasons are as follows.  Every level he has been at he has a fairly equal walk to K rate. His batting average has been pretty much the same at each level and his BABIP is normalized except for low A where it is high, but he had his best slugging percentage at that level.  He also has kept his OPS at essentially .900 for each level.  Eeles has been remarkably consistent at each level he has been at with an approach that has given him consistent results.  That leads me to believe he sort of is who he is and that looks like an elite bat to me.

Having said all that teams haven't seen him that much. They will likely develop better strategies to get him out.  I've seen recently that they are pitching him away more instead of inside.  We'll have to see if he can adapt to the different approaches teams throw at him and small sample sizes dont'\won't account for that just yet.

Still I currently have him as 23 on my top 30 list ahead of guys like Schobel, Gonzalez, Amick, Diaw and Cespedes.  If his numbers continue to stay close to where they are now at the end of year I would move him inside the top 20 and possibly just outside the top 10.  If he continues to be this consistent after a couple of months into next year I could see him inside the top 10 maybe top 5 if some guys graduate off this list.  There are too many unknowns to rate him highly yet, but he has put himself in a spot to break into the top 30 which is amazing in itself especially for an undrafted player.

I should have left the question open to everyone, so thanks for the response!  It'll be interesting to see how he finishes the season and how he does at the beginning of next season.  He has completely skipped AA and done well.  Assuming he doesn't completely slump he'll likely start next season at AAA I'd imagine, so he'd be available for a call up once he's added to the 40 man.

[Mike Sixel]

Can Eeles play defense? 

[Dman]

6 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Can Eeles play defense? 

Defense is so hard to judge unless you can watch a guy almost every inning of every game because I don't see many errors or miss played balls that much.  My eye test says he looks OK at second.  He has good speed for second. I don't think he will be an elite defender anywhere as he looks more average at best to me, but as I said it's so hard to judge that kind of stuff. 

I like that they are giving him some time in left field. He has good speed for an outfield spot.  I think that is his best bet to break in.  Depending on how things go it might be between him and Jullien down the line at some point.

Hopefully Seth answers your question as he is pretty connected and he just interviewed him.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Dman said:

Defense is so hard to judge unless you can watch a guy almost every inning of every game because I don't see many errors or miss played balls that much.  My eye test says he looks OK at second.  He has good speed for second. I don't think he will be an elite defender anywhere as he looks more average at best to me, but as I said it's so hard to judge that kind of stuff. 

I like that they are giving him some time in left field. He has good speed for an outfield spot.  I think that is his best bet to break in.  Depending on how things go it might be between him and Jullien down the line at some point.

Hopefully Seth answers your question as he is pretty connected and he just interviewed him.

I can't recall, lefty or righty? (I could probably look that up faster than type all this :) )

[cmoss84]

Culpepper reminds me a bit of Justin Upton. 

[DJL44]

36 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I can't recall, lefty or righty? (I could probably look that up faster than type all this :) )

Bats L, Throws R. Not a strong arm so 2B/LF. His listed height is shorter than David Eckstein.

[Seth Stohs]

14 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Is Emmanuel Rodriguez season over or is there a chance he plays with St. Paul in September? He would be a good choice for the AFL to get some extra reps. Not sure if he's eligible. Kalai Rosario is another who has missed a lot of time this summer.

Why would Rodriguez play in St. Paul in September. I mean, f he plays, that might be the only option. Just depends on if he can squeeze a bat or catch a ball without it hurting. 

Rosario fractured elbow. Not sure how long the recovery is on that. Both are so young. No problem with them getting healthy and going back to Wichita to start next year. 

The Twins aren't exactly in need of outfielders right now. 

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Why would Rodriguez play in St. Paul in September. I mean, if he plays, that might be the only option.

Exactly, that's the only option for him to get more at-bats this season. He's been out 2 months.