Twins Minor League Report (8/30): Marco Raya and Christian MacLeod Combine to Lead Surge to Win

[Seth Stohs]

St. Paul and Fort Myers were supposed to play doubleheaders on Friday. The Saints got their games in. The Mussels did not and now will hope to play two games on Saturday and Sunday. The Wind Surge had two pitching prospects lead Wichita to a win. Find out all that happened in the organization on Friday. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Marco Raya)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 73-61
St. Paul Saints: 62-67
Wichita Wind Surge: 53-71
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 64-58
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-53
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) 

TRANSACTIONS
After missing more than two months with a fractured elbow and a couple of rehab games in Fort Myers, Kala’i Rosario is with the Wichita Wind Surge. 

OF Tyler Dearden has been assigned to Cedar Rapids. 

RHP Travis Adams, who has been fantastic for the past couple of months in Wichita, has been promoted to the Saints.   

SAINTS SENTINEL
Game 1: St. Paul 5, Omaha 6 
Box Score
Walks will haunt! I mean, yeah, they’re annoying, but they don’t always haunt. But sometimes they do, and in Game 1 on Friday night in Omaha, the Saints were haunted by walks. 

Randy Dobnak made the start. He completed four innings and gave up four runs on four hits. He had six strikeouts, but he also issued five free passes. Giovanny Gallegos came in to start the fifth inning and faced six batters. He walked four of them. Ryan Jensen came in and got the third out of the fifth inning without further damage. Diego Castillo pitched a perfect sixth inning. But when you walk nine batters in less than five innings, you don’t really give yourself a chance. 

That said, the Saints bats sure tried to stay in it. They just fell short. Down 2-0, the Saints scored two runs in the top of the third. Anthony Prato singled, and Michael Helman doubled him to third to start the inning. Brooks Lee grounded out which scored Prato. DaShawn Keirsey followed with an RBI double to tie the score at 2-2. 

Omaha responded with two in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth, Jeferson Morales doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball. He scored on a Chris Williams groundout. 

With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Yunior Severino doubled. After a pitching change, he advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jair Camargo single to tie it 4-4. 

But the Gallegos four-walk fifth inning allowed two more runs to score for Omaha. So, down by two runs going to the seventh inning, the Saints got a two-out single from Severino, and then another from Camargo. Payton Eeles singled to drive in Severino with the team’s fifth run, but that was it. The Saints fell one run short. 

Severino went 3-for-4 with his 16th double. Camargo went 2-for-4. Prato went 2-for-2 with a walk. Halman hit his 15th double. Keirsey’s double was his 19th of the season. Morales hit his third double since joining the Saints last Saturday. Lee, who is on a rehab assignment, went 0-4 with one strikeout and an RBI. 

Game 2: St. Paul 8, Omaha 3
Box Score
In Game 2, the Saints sent Andrew Morris to the mound. He pitched well, and the offense gave him plenty of early run support. 

Let’s start with Morris. The 22-year-old tossed five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and had four strikeouts to earn his first Triple-A win. 

In the top of the second, the Saints got on the scoreboard with four runs. Severino led off with a walk. With one out, Rylan Bannon walked. Morales singled to right but Severino was thrown out at home. So no runs scored and two outs. Patrick Winkel followed with a single to score Bannon. Prato walked to lead the bases. Payton Eeles came up with the big hit of the game. His bases-clearing triple gave the Saints a 4-0 lead. 

The top of the third inning began with a Keirsey single. Severino walked, and a double steal put runners on second and third. Ultimately, did it matter? Well, Carson McCusker followed with a three-run homer to make it 7-0 Saints. Then, with one out, Morales singled and stole second. He advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Prato. 

Josh Winder came in for the sixth inning and gave up two runs on four hits. He had one strikeout. Caleb Baragar gave up an unearned run on one hit in the sixth inning. He had two strikeouts.  

McCusker went 2-for-4 with his second Saints homer. Morales was 2-for-3 and stole his first base for St. Paul. Eeles had a walk to go with his three-run three-bagger. And it was his third Saints triple. Yunior Severino walked twice. Keirsey’s stolen base was his 34th. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, Springfield 1
Box Score 
Wichita had an offensive burst in the three middle innings, and they received a great start and long relief appearance to really earn a nice win. 

Marco Raya started and gave up one run in the first five innings. He gave up three hits, walked three and had five strikeouts. He threw 74 pitches. 

Christian MacLeod earned a four-inning save. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and had six strikeouts. Following the game, MacLeod told Twins Daily, “All four pitches were working well tonight. I thought I did a good job of mixing all four of them and attacking the zone. I would just say mixing all of my pitches and not being predictable has led to success over the past few months.”

The Surge got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Tanner Schobel singled, and Alex Isola walked. They each moved up a base on a balk. Aaron Sabato singled to drive in Schobel and tie the game at 1-1. 

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Jorel Ortega singled. After a second out, Kala’i Rosario singled. Next, Jake Rucker doubled to drive in both runners and give the Surge a 3-1 lead. 

The bottom of the sixth inning began with two strikeouts. Kyler Fedko walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Dalton Shuffield walked. Fedko then scored on a double off the bat of Ortega. Noah Cardenas followed with a two-run double that made it 6-1 Surge. 

In his first game since injuring his elbow in early June, Rosario was back in the Wichita lineup. Maybe attempting to get him as many ABs as possible, he was in the leadoff position. He went 2-for-4 with his 16th double. Ortega went 2-for-3 with his 13th double. Rucker drove in two runs with his 21st double. Cardenas drove in two runs with his 10th double.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 7 
Box Score
A six-run third inning made all the difference in this game. The Kernels attempted a late-inning comeback, but it fell plenty short. 

In the top of the third inning, the Kernels tied the score at 1-1 when Walker Jenkins doubled to score Jose Salas. 

Jeremy Lee started the game giving up just one run over two innings. However, things just fell apart in the bottom of the third. The inning went single, single, double, single, walk, three-run homer, and walk. Lefty Samuel Perez came in and kept the Lake County hitters off balance. Lee’s final line was seven runs on eight hits and two walks in 2+ innings. Perez struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. 

Nolan Santos then struck out three batters in two scoreless, hitless innings. Xander Hamilton struck out one batter over two perfect innings. 

Down 7-1 going to the eighth, Rixon Wingrove led off that inning with his fourth home run since joining the Kernels. Jose Salas was hit by a pitch. He scored on a Kyle Hess double. With two outs, Gabriel Gonzalez doubled to drive in Hess with the third run of the inning, but that was it, and that’s how it ended. 

Jenkins was 2-for-4 with his 10th double. The Australian Wingrove went 2-for-4 with his fourth homer. Hess hit his ninth double, and Gonzalez’s double was his 18th of the season.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers, Clearwater (Game Suspended, 2nd inning)
Box Score
The Threshers and Mussels were supposed to play two games on Friday night after they were rained out on Thursday. Unfortunately, after just an inning-and-a-half yesterday, the rains came and the game was suspended and will resume as part of a doubleheader on Saturday. Game 2 is scheduled to be played as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. At least, they hope to. We’ll write more about this game tomorrow. The only real note at this point was that young Anthony Narvaez started for the Mussels. He issued one walk and had a strikeout in two scoreless, hitless innings. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Who gets your vote?
Marco Raya (Wichita) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 74 pitches, 46 strikes (62.2%)
Christian MacLeod (Wichita) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 55 pitches, 34 strikes (61.8%)
Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 75 pitches, 50 strikes (66.7%).

Hitter of the Day – Who gets your vote?
Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-for-6, 2 BB, 2B(16), 3 R
Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 2-for-7, 3B(3), BB, 4 RBI, 2K.
Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(2), R, 3 RBI.
Anthony Prato (St. Paul) - 3-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 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 Friday.

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, 2B(10), RBI.  
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – Rehab St. Paul: Game 1: 0-for-4, RBI, K. 
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Rehab in FM: 0-for-1 (in Suspended Game)
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, 2B(18), RBI.    
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K.  
#10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.  74 pitches, 46 strikes (62.6%)
#11 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Game 2: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. 75 pitches, 50 strikes (66.7%)
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-1 (in Suspended Game). 
#15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B(16), R,
#16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 0-for-1, K. (in Suspended Game).
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-4, R 2 K.

SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Omaha (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Aaron Rozek (0-4, 6.55 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (1-4, 2.96 ERA) 
Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (6:00 PM CST) – LHP Connor Prielipp (0-1, 4.73 ERA)
Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (2:35 PM CST) – completion of Game 1 (TBD), RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 2.19 ERA) 

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

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[mikelink45]

McCusker has become what they hoped Sabato would be.  I think he will be coming to Mpls soon.  

Adams is a good story and might be moving behind Morris for the next and line slot.

Another good report.

[FlyingFinn]

Prato and MacLeod would get my votes.

Why didn't we send Emma Rodriguez to Cedar Rapids for rehab, where they can actually play baseball games?

I would move MacLeod up to St. Paul. Not sure what Wichita is going to have left for pitching as they have lost almost an entire starting rotation to promotion. And how were they not winning the league this year with Matthews, Morris, Adams and MacLeod! I know, bullpen blowing games and Rodriguez injured. Still...........

[Blyleven2011]

Good report , lots of promotions this year means we just might have some good prospects , get rid of the veterans and let the kids play , could be more exciting baseball  having the youth playing hard to stay in the show ...

Does keirsey Jr  have a hitting streak  , seems like he gets hits every game  or does something to get written about  ...

Keirsey Jr will be a good player for some team next year , older but still a prospect until released ...

[terrydactyls]

Carson McCusker:  the Twins' Aaron Judge (sort of).  😇

[tony&rodney]

Seems crazy to think that Carson McCusker is the most exciting player for the Saints. The swing improvements are continual and his athleticism is impressive. What a story.

Morris looks very deceptive. The hitters seem to be comfortable and then take awkward swings. Is it an odd arm angle? The breaking stuff has late movement for sure. He has had a wonderful year.

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Carson McCusker:  the Twins' Aaron Judge (sort of).  😇

Exactly the swing on that HR .... thought the same thing.

[LambchoP]

Nice to see Morris and Raya pitch good games. I worry about the walks though. Not just these two, but it seems to be an organization problem. Other than Zebby it seems all our top pitching prospects have the same story. Great stuff, lots of K's, but a ton of walks. Maybe it's just the last skill pitchers develop these days.

Keirsey and Eeles just keep on hitting. I hope we don't lose these guys in the off-season, they could be good depth pieces for us. Everyone knows you can NEVER have too much pitching, but with the Twins injury problems and injury prone stars, you can NEVER have too much depth in the field either.

[Doctor Gast]

Raya & MacCloud are very encouraging. MacCloud going 4 innings in relief seems to work well!

On the other hand, Lee going 0-4 with Dobnak & Winder's poor outings are downers.

[saviking]

Man, this Andrew Morris kid from Texas Tech is only 22 and has already made it to AAA with a spectacular ERA wherever he's been. He'll be in the majors next year for sure, so now we have 

Lopez, Ober, Ryan Festa, Mathews, Verlander, and Morris as starting pitchers. I suggest we try and trade Paddock away ..

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Why didn't we send Emma Rodriguez to Cedar Rapids for rehab, where they can actually play baseball games?

Fort Myers has all the injury rehab facilities.

[DJL44]

34 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Keirsey and Eeles just keep on hitting. I hope we don't lose these guys in the off-season, they could be good depth pieces for us.

Eeles is not eligible for the Rule 5 draft until December 2027. Keirsey will be a minor league free agent if they don't add him to the 40 man roster.

[Fatbat]

9 minutes ago, saviking said:

Man, this Andrew Morris kid from Texas Tech is only 22 and has already made it to AAA with a spectacular ERA wherever he's been. He'll be in the majors next year for sure, so now we have 

Lopez, Ober, Ryan Festa, Mathews, Verlander, and Morris as starting pitchers. I suggest we try and trade Paddock away ..

You spelled SWR wrong.  Macleod will likely get to AAA in ‘25 and not just for 1 fill in game like this season.  Just 2 seasons pitching as a pro and he is killing it in Wichita.

[DJL44]

Ugly performance from Winder as he's being considered for a callup. He'll be 28 and out of options next season. Might be time to move on.

[jmlease1]

Walker Jenkins has definitely found his groove in Cedar Rapids. Not bad at all for 19. He's a heck of a prospect.

Happy to see Rosario back in Wichita and getting some hits right away. I still like him as a player, and it's been a bummer he's missed so much time.

I still don't know what to think about Raya. He's been ok this year in AA, he's been pitching deeper into games...compared to last year, at least. He can hunt Ks effectively, but is giving up too many free passes and looks more hittable. Really not sure what his future is.

[Mike Sixel]

They really can't count on games in Florida. No idea what to do about that. I doubt they move to Arizona. 

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Walker Jenkins has definitely found his groove in Cedar Rapids. Not bad at all for 19. He's a heck of a prospect.

Happy to see Rosario back in Wichita and getting some hits right away. I still like him as a player, and it's been a bummer he's missed so much time.

I still don't know what to think about Raya. He's been ok this year in AA, he's been pitching deeper into games...compared to last year, at least. He can hunt Ks effectively, but is giving up too many free passes and looks more hittable. Really not sure what his future is.

Raya is 22, I think it's a matter of patience . 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Raya is 22, I think it's a matter of patience . 

I think I heard the same thing about Balazovic

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, DJL44 said:

I think I heard the same thing about Balazovic

I mean, sure, most of the time it doesn't work. That's the nature of baseball. I guess we could just give up on him. 

[Dman]

MaCleod has been consistently impressive.  Hard to believe he is not in the top 30 at this point. FIP and XFIP don't agree with his ERA so probably some regression there, but the K rate is really good for that level.  Kind of like Headrick in 2022 it looks like MaCleod might end up looking to good to not be on the 40 man.  I think they will have to protect him from Rule V at this point.

I agree with @FlyingFinn they should probably move him up to AAA so he can get a few more innings as he started late this year.  I don't know what he throws or if he has a plus pitch, but the results are impressive and he is a lefty.

McCusker's 40% K rate last year made it tough to consider him as a viable hitter, but he moved that down to 27% at AA which is a much tougher level.  With the K rate drop and the walk rate up his slugging was the lowest it has been but still almost at .500 which is very, very good for AA.  He has rounded out his hitting profile and deserved the promotion to AAA.  It feels like he has figured more of the breaking stuff out and that bodes well for his future success.   He is an incredible athlete with a ton of power.  It would be awesome to have a right handed version of Wallner if he makes it.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Other than Zebby it seems all our top pitching prospects have the same story. Great stuff, lots of K's, but a ton of walks. Maybe it's just the last skill pitchers develop these days.

For pitchers with decent stuff, it is the last skill to develop, at least for the overwhelming majority. It is also the first thing to go ... well, command in the strike zone. 

[SaberNerd]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Nice to see Morris and Raya pitch good games. I worry about the walks though. Not just these two, but it seems to be an organization problem. Other than Zebby it seems all our top pitching prospects have the same story. Great stuff, lots of K's, but a ton of walks. Maybe it's just the last skill pitchers develop these days.

We are nowhere near an organizational problem for walks compared to the rest of baseball, and it's closer to an organizational strength.  Average BB% in the minors is around 11% for each league the Twins have a full-season team in; Raya only walks slightly more batters than league average and Morris has walked less than average at AAA (with a 5% at A+/AA).  Matthews had the best command of any legitimate prospect in the minors this year.  We also have the 2nd lowest BB% in MLB

[jorgenswest]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Ugly performance from Winder as he's being considered for a callup. He'll be 28 and out of options next season. Might be time to move on.

Did you watch the game?

Winder did give up 4 hits. All were weak (below 80 mph) that landed in front of the outfielders. Maybe an average major league center fielder or left fielder gets to one or two of those.

To me an ugly performance is when hitters are barreling up hitting several balls hard or when a pitcher can’t find the strike zone. If you come in with an 8-0 lead, throw strikes and avoid hard contact you did your job.

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

If you come in with an 8-0 lead, throw strikes and avoid hard contact you did your job.

The Twins have enough relievers who can come in with an 8-0 lead and throw strikes. They don't need another low-leverage guy.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

Did you watch the game?

I watch way too much milb and often ask myself this question when reading comments. Statistics, even the most specific of ones, will never replace actually watching a game. The camera angles are often different and never as complete as MLB, but occasionally a wide angle tells a viewer quite a bit.

I'm not real big on Winder but I actually thought he did exactly what any manager would want - throw strikes. The contact was poor. I really didn't think he was trying for swing and miss due to the score. If he was, he should not have been.

[mikelink45]

5 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Nice to see Morris and Raya pitch good games. I worry about the walks though. Not just these two, but it seems to be an organization problem. Other than Zebby it seems all our top pitching prospects have the same story. Great stuff, lots of K's, but a ton of walks. Maybe it's just the last skill pitchers develop these days.

Keirsey and Eeles just keep on hitting. I hope we don't lose these guys in the off-season, they could be good depth pieces for us. Everyone knows you can NEVER have too much pitching, but with the Twins injury problems and injury prone stars, you can NEVER have too much depth in the field either.

I am hoping the Twins let Keirsey go to a team that will play him.

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

I watch way too much milb and often ask myself this question when reading comments. Statistics, even the most specific of ones, will never replace actually watching a game. The camera angles are often different and never as complete as MLB, but occasionally a wide angle tells a viewer quite a bit.

I'm not real big on Winder but I actually thought he did exactly what any manager would want - throw strikes. The contact was poor. I really didn't think he was trying for swing and miss due to the score. If he was, he should not have been.

The comment about ugly got to me. I should probably have just ignored it. I just these guys work their tails off for a chance. Someone could probably get on Keirsey also for not being aggressive on those balls to centerfield but it is an 8-0 lead. Better to play deep and keep the ball in front of him. There are times for aggression on defense and times when a pitcher needs to miss bats. This wasn’t that time.

[Walser]

7 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Carson McCusker:  the Twins' Aaron Judge (sort of).  😇

I think of him as the Twins' Judge and Eeles as their Altuve.

[DJL44]

25 minutes ago, Walser said:

I think of him as the Twins' Judge and Eeles as their Altuve.

Please tell me there is a photo on the internet of them standing next to each other.

[Brandon]

Would it be better to let Walter Jenkins spend the last week of the season in AA or should he finish the season in High A?  I think Cedar Rapids has a playoff spot.  I could be wrong.  but getting to see what AA is like going into the offseason could be beneficial too.  just wondering your thoughts,