Twins Minor League Report (9/7): E-Rod and Eeles Spark Saints Win

[Seth Stohs]

The Saints had a big inning and held on. The Surge got great pitching but no offense in a pitchers' duel. There was an unlikely final score in Cedar Rapids in another pitchers' duel. Out of playoff contention, the Mussels returned to the Win column. 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

Doesn't it seem like the minor-league season just started? On Sunday, the Mighty Mussels and Kernels will play their final games of the 2024 season. The Wind Surge have one more week, so it will be interesting to see if any Kernels or Mussels head there to get another week of playing time. The Saints will have two more weeks of games. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 76-66
St. Paul Saints: 66-70
Wichita Wind Surge: 55-76
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-62
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 65-59
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) 

TRANSACTIONS
Trevor Richards was placed on the Temporary Inactive List with the Saints.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 8, Iowa 6 
Box Score
The Saints scored six runs in the second inning to take the lead. They added on a couple and found a way to hang on at the end. 

The second inning began with a Carson McCusker single. He was forced out at second on a Jair Camargo grounder. Chris Williams walked, and Patrick Winkel singled to drive in Camargo with the first run. Rylan Bannon drove in Williams with his 19th double. Payton Eeles reached on a fielder’s choice. Diego A. Castillo walked to load the bases. That was followed by an inside-the-park grand slam by Emmanuel Rodriguez. That’s a fun way to finish out a six-run inning. 

Aaron Rozek made the start for the Red Wings. He made it a Quality Start. He was charged with three runs on six hits and two walks over six innings. He had seven strikeouts on his way to his first Saints Win! 

Nick Wittgren gave up one run on three hits over two innings. He had four strikeouts and a walk. Hobie Harris gave up two runs in the ninth inning but got the third out with the Saints still winning. 

Payton Eeles hit his fifth Saints homer in the fourth inning to make it 7-1. 

In the sixth inning, Bannon hit a one-out triple and scored on an Eeles single. That gave them an 8-2 lead. 

Eeles led the way. He was 3-for-5 with his ninth double and fifth home run. He is hitting .302 with a .909 OPS. He also stole his 13th base. Bannon hit his 19th double and second triple. Williams was 1-for-2 with two walks. Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with two walks and his first Saints home run. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 0, Frisco 1
Box Score
This game truly was a pitchers’ duel. Pierson Ohl was terrific, but he gave up a first-inning solo home run to Alejandro Osuna. He went 5 2/3 innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He had six strikeouts with no walks. Regi Grace came on and got four outs. Ricardo Velez got the final three outs. 

Unfortunately, the Wind Surge went scoreless and had just three hits and three walks. The 15 strikeouts by Wind Surge hitters didn’t help. Jacob deGrom started for the RoughRiders and gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. He had five strikeouts. 

Kyler Fedko’s 14th double was the lone base runner the team got against deGrom. Alex Isola and Jake Rucker each hit a single.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 11, Wisconsin 0  
Box Score
This was quite the pitchers’ duel in eastern Iowa on Saturday night. Wisconsin starter Tyler Wehrle threw five scoreless innings. 

Connor Prielipp started for the Kernels. In three innings, he gave up zero runs, zero hits, and he walked zero. Of the 10 batters he faced, he recorded six strikeouts.

Ricky Castro came in and tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one, and he had eight strikeouts. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Kevin Maitan drove in Agustin Ruiz with his 13th double. That gave the Kernels a 1-0 lead which proved to be all they needed on this night. 

However, just for fun, they decided to put a 10-spot on the board in the bottom of the eighth which made it look much worse than it really was. Kaelen Culpepper and Rayne Doncon began the inning with singles. Nate Baez followed with a single to center that drove in Culpepper. After a line out, Kevin Maitan singled to load the bases. Jose Salas lined a single to right to make it 3-0 Kernels. Kyle Ness reached on an error. With the bases still loaded, Walker Jenkins singled to center to drive in three runs. Culpepper followed with a triple that scored Jenkins and made it 8-0. 

After Doncon reached on another fielding error, Baez launched a two-run home run to make it 10-0.

Baez went 2-for4 with a walk. The homer was his 12th of the season. Maitan and Salas were both 2-for-4. Culpepper went 2-for-5 with his first triple. Jenkins was hit by a pitch and had a walk to go with his three-run single.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, Lakeland 4
Box Score
The Mussels remained in playoff contention until Friday night. They were able to hang on for a one-run win in their penultimate game of the season. 

The Mussels took the early lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Jay Thomason led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. He scored on a single by Caden Kendle. 

Back-to-back walks by Byron Chourio and Angel Del Rosario loaded the bases. Kyle DeBarge grounded to shortstop, but the ball was booted and made it 2-0. Khadim Diaw grounded back to the mound, there was a force out at second, but the Twins 3rd round pick beat the throw to first which allowed the third run to score.  

Adrian Bohorquez started and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and had four strikeouts. 

Devin Kirby came in for the fourth inning and gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in the inning. Cleiber Maldonado tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and had two strikeouts. Jack Noble came on and gave up one run over the final three innings to record the save. He gave up four hits, but struck out five batters without issuing a walk. 

In the top of the sixth inning, the Mussels reclaimed the lead. With one out, DeBarge tripled and scored on a Brandon Winokur single. 

The added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning, which proved to be important. With one out, Daniel Pena reached on an error. Thomason doubled him to third, and Kendle drove him in. 

The Mussels scored their five runs on seven hits and nine walks (and two hit by pitches). Kendle was 2-for-5. Thomason hit his first career double and walked twice. Diaw walked once and was hit by a pitch. The team was just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day - Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2B(9), HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, SB(13).
Pitcher of the Day - Connor Prielipp/Ricky Castro (Cedar Rapids) - 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K, 120 pitches, 89 strikes (74.2%) 

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI.   
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-4. K (SS) 
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, HR(1), R, 4 RBI, K.
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-5, K    
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 3B(1), 2 R, RBI, 2 K.  
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K.
#15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K.
#16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, 3B(3), R, RBI, 2 K. 
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 3 K.
#20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. 45 pitches, 34 strikes (75.6%) 

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
Wichita @ Frisco (6:05 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-1, 8.25 ERA)
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (0-2, 6.28 ERA) - Final Game. 
Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (11:00 AM CST) – TBD - Final Game. 

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

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[mikelink45]

I am excited to see Eeles in the majors - I hope things open up for him, but right now I do not see how he will fit with the team we have.  Who goes if he stays?

Some logjams coming - good ones. 

[Doctor Gast]

Pretty exciting Saints' game, with exciting performance from Emma & Eeles. Amazing performance from Preillip, what they are doing with him seems to be working as far as his performance & keeping him on the mound.

[Doctor Wu]

Thanks for the report. Prielipp looking very good again. Wow! Hopefully, he stays healthy and he will be allowed longer innings pitched next season. Some good stats, plus triples by Culpepper and DeBarge. Encouraging play by the young prospects!

[nclahammer]

40 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

Thanks for the report. Prielipp looking very good again. Wow! Hopefully, he stays healthy and he will be allowed longer innings pitched next season. Some good stats, plus triples by Culpepper and DeBarge. Encouraging play by the young prospects!

Fantastic report Seth.  Another good start for Prielipp, who has really only had one bad one this summer for the Kernels.  You have to remember that this year is like a rehab season for him; this is the most innings he's pitched (23.1) since 2020 when he was on the mound for Alabama (21.0.)

Heading down to Cedar Rapids with some friends today to catch Jenkins, Culpepper, and company in the season finale'.   LOTS of exciting young players down on the farm for the Minnesota Twins.

[Ghost of Kirby Puckett]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am excited to see Eeles in the majors - I hope things open up for him, but right now I do not see how he will fit with the team we have.  Who goes if he stays?

Some logjams coming - good ones. 

He'll fit the same way Nick Punto fit. A little piranha!! That's who he reminds me of with more pop. This team could use that fire right now. 

You can see it in the body language of the team. Long season. Struggling. Injuries. Probably easier next year after they shave the roster and 40 man down. 

[jkcarew]

Eeles is the minor league player (hitter) of the year for the Twins, right? Nobody who completed anything close to a full season is even close.

The good fans of Wichita were short-changed this season. Pretty much terrible offense for almost the entire year…and downright unwatchable since ERod went down…and that was over 3 months ago.

[DaveW44]

Man, seeing Prielipp get healthy and deal like he has this year is awesome. 
look forward to seeing him progress the next couple of years. This kid has high, high upside!

[Old Twins Hat]

Help me now.  Eeles is what, 5' 6".

He hits an opposite field homer to left at 430 feet?

C'mon.  That just can't be.

[roger]

I can't remember ever seeing a grand slam that was inside the park.  Can you remember any, Seth?

Three innings from Prielipp with all zeros, 75% strikes and 6 K's is flat out amazing.  Great seeing him edge above 40 pitches per start.  Question, Seth, what is the velocity on his fastball?  

And yes, it is time for all of us to get on the Connor Prielipp band wagon.  Biggest question is how soon that wagon will arrive at Target Field?  Late next year?  In 2026?

[LambchoP]

Eeles sure keeps on hitting like he wants to be in the bigs. I think his speed, energy, contact skills and stolen bases could really be a spark plug. Not sure how his defense is but he's got to be better than Julien right? I'm guessing that's how he fits onto the Twins roster, taking second base over for Julien. An infield of Lewis, Lee, Eeles, Correa, Miranda and Keaschal seems pretty legit. Not to mention Severino and a few other young guys waiting in the wings.

[LambchoP]

As far as Prelipp goes, he's looking like one of our better pitching prospects. If this year is basically a rehab year then starting 25 in AA could give him a legit shot at a bullpen role towards the end of the year and if he can stay healthy, maybe a starting role in 26.

[bean5302]

Eeles is listed anywhere from 5'5 to 5'8 depending on your source, but he's always listed at like 180lbs.

Saints = 5'5"
Kernels = 5'7"
Costal Carolina = 5'7"
Chicago Dogs (Indy) = 5'7"
Cedarville University = 5'8"