Twins Minor League Report (4/10): Kyler Fedko, John Klein Lead Wichita to Comeback Win, Saints Offensive Juggernaut Returns

[Seth Stohs]

Might I recommend that you grab a cup of coffee and then come back and read this. It's long, but there are tons of notes on the Twins minor league action from Thursday night. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (Kyler Fedko, John Klein)

It became official following the Twins loss in Kansas City on Thursday afternoon. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli acknowledged the rumors that Pablo Lopez is going on the Injured List with his hamstring strain. David Festa, who was scheduled to start on Friday night in St. Paul, will instead start for the Twins at Target Field against the Tigers. The other Twins starters will be pushed back one day. While nothing official, there have been rumors that Zebby Matthews could make a start for the big league club within the next series or two.

That is certainly one way to take advantage of the Twins perceived starting pitcher depth. It may be best for the Twins both long-term and short-term. 

There was another day of games, and another injury to worry about. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 4-9
St. Paul Saints: 4-5
Wichita Wind Surge: 3-3
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 3-3
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 2-4

TRANSACTIONS
On Thursday afternoon, the Cedar Rapids Kernels announced that RHP Jack Noble has been placed on the 7-Day IL with a right biceps strain. In addition, LHP Ross Dunn was placed on the 7-Day IL with a strained forearm.

A couple of Wind Surge pitchers began their rehab assignments in Fort Myers. Lefty Christian MacLeod and right-hander Pierson Ohl each threw two innings for the Mighty Mussels.

RHP Darren McCaughan cleared waivers on Thursday. He was outrighted to the Saints but elected to become a free agent. He can, of course, still re-sign with the Twins, but for a few days, he can chat with 29 other teams too. I was personally impressed with the movement he got on all of his pitches. Hopefully he comes back to the Twins. 

Friday morning update: 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 13, Omaha 4
Box Score
The Saints had a six-run second inning and kept adding on as they scored a season-high 13 runs in the win. There were some strong performances, but it wasn’t all good news. 

Let’s start on the mound. Marco Raya started and gave up one run on three hits and two walks in two innings. He had four strikeouts. He likely would have started the third inning, but the combination of a very long bottom of the second inning and the fact that he was already at 50 pitches made a move make sense. 

Huascar Ynoa came out of the bullpen and tossed a 1-2-3 third inning. Travis Adams came in for the fourth and he took the team to the seventh inning. He gave up three runs on four hits (including a home run), but in a blowout, most importantly, he issued no walks. Anthony Misiewicz came on and issued a walk before ending the seventh frame with a strikeout. Kody Funderburk struck out two batters in a perfect eighth inning, and Jacob Bosiokovic duplicated that performance in the ninth. 

The Saints got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Austin Martin doubled and went to third base on an infield single by Emmanuel Rodriguez. Martin scored on a ground-rule double by Jeferson Morales. 

The Saints took advantage of some wildness in their big inning. Carson McCusker was hit by a pitch and went to second when Diego Cartaya walked. With one out, Luke Keaschall walked to load the bases. Martin came up and singled on a ball that Nick Gordon dove for but could only knock down. 

With two outs, Armando Alvarez walked to drive in Cartaya. Morales reached on an error that scored Keaschall and Martin. After a pitching change, Yunior Severino doubled to drive in Alvarez and Morales to make it 7-1 Saints. 

 

ith one out in the bottom of the third, Ryan Fitzgerald had an infield single and stole second base. With two outs, Martin lined a single to center to drive in the team’s eighth run. He followed with a stolen base. 

Singles by Morales and Severino started the fourth. The bases were loaded with nobody out after Carson McCusker walked. After a strikeout and a pitching change, Fitzgerald singled in a run and Keaschall hit a deep sacrifice fly to score the second run and put the Saints in double digits. Martin flew out to the warning track in center to end the inning. 

Here’s where there is some negative info to go with the position. At this point, Austin Martin was 3-for-4 with a double and several more at-bats. However, in the top of the fifth, Royals minor leaguer John Rave ripped a shot to the right-center field gap. Martin took off for it, but halfway there he grabbed at his right hamstring and went to the ground. It was a triple, which ultimately isn’t important. Martin left the game with help from the trainer and Toby Gardenhire. No word yet on severity, but it didn’t look real good. 

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The Saints scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on an Emmanuel Rodriguez RBI double and an Armando Alvarez RBI single. 

Along with Martin, Severino had three hits and a walk. Fitzgerald, McCusker, Morales, Rodriguez all had two hits. Rodriguez and Keaschall each had two walks. The Saints had 16 hits and nine walks in the game. 

Not that it matters when you score 13 runs, but the Saints were 10-for-28 with runners in scoring position. Yes, 28! They left 14 runners on base. 

Also of note, Brooks Lee did not play. It was a scheduled off day on his rehab schedule.

Defensive Play of the Game comes from the Sire of Fort Myers, the versatile Jeferson Morales. 

 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Midland 2
Box Score
Minor-league veteran Chase Chaney started for Wichita. He gave up two runs on five hits in three innings. (Actually both runs scored in the first inning.) He walked two and had three strikeouts. 

Fortunately the bullpen provided much-needed relief the rest of the game. Brooklyn Park’s John Klein came  in and tossed three scoreless inningsIn fact, he gave up just one walk and had five strikeouts to earn his first Double-A win. 

“My mindset was just go out and attack every hitter and keep the game close for our offense,” noted the Iowa CC alum. “I was able to get ahead of guys early which opened up more pitch options with two strikes. My fastball had good life tonight, and that was my main focus this offseason… continuing to build velocity.” 

John Stankiewicz came on and struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Cody Laweryson earned his second save of the season. That’s eight shutout innings to earn the win. 

Wichita had opportunities to score more runs. They left two runners on base each of the first two innings. They had a runner thrown out at third base for the third out in the third inning. In the fifth inning, the Surge finally got on the scoreboard. Kyler Fedko led off with a double. Ricardo Olivar reached on a fielder’s choice that didn’t record an out. Tanner Schobel then grounded toward shortstop. The out was made at second base, but Fedko scored when the throw to first base was errant. With two outs, Ben Ross lined a single to right field to drive in Schobel with the second run, tying the game. 

In the sixth inning, Jake Rucker singled with one out. Fedko followed with a line-drive double down the third base line that drove in Rucker with the go-ahead run. 

Fedko led the offense from the nine-hole in the lineup. He went 3-for-4 with his first two doubles of the season. It was a great performance for Fedko, taking advantage of his opportunity in the lineup. Thursday was just his second start of the season. Following the game, the 25-year-old from UConn said, “(I’m) just so, so, so happy to be on the field. Trying to enjoy every second of it and get some swings off!”

In his previous start, he was 0-for-1 but walked three times and scored three runs. 

Eighth-hitter Jake Rucker was 2-for-4. Ben Ross, who made the start in center field, went 2-for-4 with a double. 

The team did have some clutch moments in the fifth and sixth innings, but overall, the Surge were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Beloit 8
Box Score 
It was a tale of two halves. In the first half of this game, Beloit hitters beat the Kernels pitchers. In the second half of the game, the Kernels hitters beat the Sky Carp pitchers. But, in baseball, there is only one winner, so which team’s half was a little better than the others? Were the Kernels able to complete the comeback?

Iowa native, and University of Iowa alum, Ty Langenberg made his first start of the season for the Kernels. He had to work, but somehow managed to only give up three runs (2 earned) on five hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Jeremy Lee came on and was charged with five runs on four hits (including a homer) and three walks. 

Switch!

Jose Mercedes came on and tossed two scoreless, hitless innings. Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He had three strikeouts. 

Believe it or not, the Kenrels actually grabbed the first lead of the game. Billy Amick singled in Brandon Winokur on a single up the middle in the bottom of the first inning. Then in the bottom of the second inning, Nate Baez hit a long home run through the wind which tied the game at 2-2. 

Beloit scored the next six runs and heading into the bottom of the fifth inning held an 8-2 lead. 

Switch!

The Kernels started to claw back. In the fifth inning, Khadim Diaw scored on a Baez ground out. In the sixth inning, Gabriel Gonzalez doubled to drive in Amick. Then Diaw singled to score Gonzalez and make it 8-5. 

In the seventh inning, Brandon Winokur lined a single to right field to drive in Baez and make it 8-6 Sky Carp. Winokur excitedly ran down the first-base line, arms in the air. Not only had he cut the team’s deficit, but he ended a personal 0-for-21 streak at the plate. 

It got very interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Amick singled off the pitcher to drive in Baez to make it 8-7. A new pitcher came in and got the final out on a force out. 

Amick and Gonzalez, the team’s third and fourth place hitters, remain red hot. Amick was 3-for-4 with two walks and two RBI. Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Kyle DeBarge went 2-for-5 with a walk out of the leadoff spot. Diaw went 2-for-5. Baez went 1-for-3 with three walks and a homer. He scored three times. 

Still, the Kernels had chances. They went 5-for-19 (19!) with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base. My suggestion, keep getting that many on base! Good things will happen. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Tampa 4
Box Score
This was certainly a game of surprise and adjustments for Mussels manager Seth Feldman. First, the Twins had two Double-A pitchers work the first four scoreless innings. Lefty Christian MacLeod walked two and struck out four batters over two hitless innings. Pierson Ohl gave up one hit and one walk, and struck out two batters, in his two innings. 

That’s when 2024 draft pick Jakob Hall came in. He was expected to provide the bulk innings. Instead, he gave up one run on two hits and a walk before leaving the field with an unknown injury. Non-drafted 2024 signee Hunter Hoopes came on and did a nice job. He was able to eat the next 2 1/3 innings without giving up a base runner. Liam Rocha worked the eighth inning and gave up two runs on one hit (a homer) which put the Mussels down 3-1. 

With pitching somewhat limited and usually “designed” in advance, someone needed to take the ninth inning. Feldman turned to right-handed pitcher/outfielder Maddux Houghton. He came in and threw some nice 42-45 mph “sinkers”, but he gave up one run on a hit batter and a couple of singles.

Offensively, the Mussels managed a not-so-mighty one run on five hits. They did walk five times as well but were unable to come up with a big hit. They went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. 

Fort Myers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Dameury Pena scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Aaron Sabato.

Minor-league Rule 5 pick Miguel Briceno played shortstop. He went 2-for-4 with his first double. Byron Chourio, Dameury Pena each had a single and a walk in the game. Those two also combined on a great defensive play that kept the Tarpons off the scoreboard.

Defensive Play of the Day (Part 2): With a runner on first base, the batter lined a ball off of the right field wall over Chourio’s head. He played it perfectly, fired the ball into Pena who turned and threw home. Poncho Ruiz made the catch, mini-dive, and tag to record the out. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day - Kyler Fedko (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2-2B(2), R, RBI
Pitcher of the Day - John Klein (Wichita): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 50 pitches, 31 strikes (62%)

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

#2 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2 BB, 2B(2), 2 R, RBI, 2 K, SB(1)
#3 - Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, SF, RBI, K
#6 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 50 pitches, 28 strikes (56%)
#8 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, BB, R, RBI, 2 K, E, played SS.
#13 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, BB, K, played LF.
#15 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, 2 K
#17 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, 2 BB, R, 2 RBI
#18 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 3 K
#19 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, BB, 2B(4), R, RBI,
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-4        

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) – TBD (Festa was the probable, but he’s starting for the Twins on Friday night instead.)
Midland @ Wichita (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Trent Baker (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Charlee Soto (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CST) - Eli Jones (0-1, 6.23 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the roster, and discuss Thursday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

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[Mike Sixel]

Man, I feel for Martin....

Thanks for another excellent report.

[tony&rodney]

Carson McCusker is looking good.

[FlyingFinn]

Kudos to Severino and Amick and their hot hitting starts. While other hitters are having slow starts, they have done great. The Twins haven't shown any trust in Severino (in signing Ty France for 1B, about the only position he has a chance to play MLB at) and I was very surprised he resigned with the Twins.

[nclahammer]

The best part of waking up, coffee in your cup and Twins Daily.  Thanks Seth & crew.

[mikelink45]

6 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Carson McCusker is looking good.

I think there's a DH spot in Minneapolis that he could

[Doctor Gast]

As always an enjoyable MiLB report, Seth.

Martin with a .526 OBP is phenomenal. Twins needed to play him at 2B & get him up as soon as possible! & then this happens. Hope it's minor, the Twins will have to wait to get the spark they need.

For Raya, I trust the process.

[tony&rodney]

36 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

As always an enjoyable MiLB report, Seth.

Martin with a .526 OBP is phenomenal. Twins needed to play him at 2B & get him up as soon as possible! & then this happens. Hope it's minor, the Twins will have to wait to get the spark they need.

For Raya, I trust the process.

Austin Martin went down in a heap after reaching for his hamstring and hopping for a few steps. He was in quite a bit of pain and had to be helped off the field. We should wait for the report but it sure looked bad.

[USNMCPO]

Raya is looking more and more like a bull pen guy to me. The Twins have protected him pretty much his whole pro career and never really stretch him out. Great read Seth. Thank you

[Trov]

10 for 28 with RISP is actually pretty good.  That is like .357.  You cannot be upset if a team is hitting .357 with RISP.  

[Trov]

Will the Twins ever extend Raya pitch count? I get there may have been a reason in this game, but if you cannot pitch even 5 innings on average in a minor league game, how could you expect he ever do that in major league game?  I think it is time to just say he is a pen guy and do that, or let him loose and actually try to pitch.  The whole plan of trying to keep him healthy by pitching 50 pitches and 2 innings will not help us long term. 

[Jeff K]

Truly sad for Austin Martin as I think he earned his way back to the Twins before the injury.

[LambchoP]

I know it's still early and the Twins won't make this call for awhile, but Raya sure seems like he's destined for the pen. Maybe he learns to be more efficient and keeps a rotation spot but right now he looks like a reliever. Good to see Gabby Gonzalez get off to a good start after a down year last year. Besides Topa, Gonzalez is our only hope of getting something out of the Polanco trade last year. Martin sure looked like he figured things out at the plate and was primed for a call up. He would hit and field much better than Julien and Gasper at second base so of course he got hurt. Hopefully he won't be out too long but it didn't look good. Two weeks in and we're already dipping in to our pitching pipeline. How long until we start calling up some position players to try and get some offense?

[rdehring]

Thanks, Seth.

Again injuries seem to be the topic of the day.  Martin goes down after playing very well for the Saints.  Add Jenkins recent trip to the IL to the list and it is sad, so sad for Twins fans.

 

[terrydactyls]

First Royce Lewis, the Pablo Lopez, and now Austin Martin hit the IL with hamstring pulls.  I can hear Oprah yelling "You pulled a hammie!  You pulled a hammie!  Everyone pulled a hammie!"

Don't players stretch out any more?  Or is body building to hit home runs the primary warm up routine?

[jmlease1]

Huge bummer for Martin, who didn't pout about going back to AAA but instead put his energy on the field, hitting well and showing improvement in the field. Sucks to see him going down like that, especially when he's on a heater.

Glad to see Winokur get a hit (his reaction tells me the ofer was getting in his head) and hopefully that gets him started. He's been very cold so far.

GG and Amick are both off to great starts in Cedar Rapids, which is very nice to see. GG looks healthy and his power production is back to where we thought it would be. he seems like someone who if he stays healthy and on track will be looking at a midseason promotion. Amick is doing almost everything you could ask for from a draft pick in his first full year pro season; the only possible concern is the K's but it's a small thing for a guy who's hitting so well.

[DJL44]

Maybe Fedko gets a chance at AAA with the opening in the outfield.

[Seth Stohs]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Carson McCusker is looking good.

He hits the ball so hard! 

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, Trov said:

Will the Twins ever extend Raya pitch count? I get there may have been a reason in this game, but if you cannot pitch even 5 innings on average in a minor league game, how could you expect he ever do that in major league game?  I think it is time to just say he is a pen guy and do that, or let him loose and actually try to pitch.  The whole plan of trying to keep him healthy by pitching 50 pitches and 2 innings will not help us long term. 

Fair question, but it seems to work for him. Each pitcher is different. The Twins would be wise to do a similar path with Prielipp. 

However, it's also noteable that there is value in having a reliever that can look really good for 3 innings at a time. Could be piggy backing. Could be long relief. Could be once through the order. As he continues to grow and mature, this can always change. By the end of last year, he was throwing 5. 

 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

I know it's still early and the Twins won't make this call for awhile, but Raya sure seems like he's destined for the pen. Maybe he learns to be more efficient and keeps a rotation spot but right now he looks like a reliever. Good to see Gabby Gonzalez get off to a good start after a down year last year. Besides Topa, Gonzalez is our only hope of getting something out of the Polanco trade last year. Martin sure looked like he figured things out at the plate and was primed for a call up. He would hit and field much better than Julien and Gasper at second base so of course he got hurt. Hopefully he won't be out too long but it didn't look good. Two weeks in and we're already dipping in to our pitching pipeline. How long until we start calling up some position players to try and get some offense?

DBo did toss 5 scoreless innings in his double-a debut on Tuesday night. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, rdehring said:

Thanks, Seth.

Again injuries seem to be the topic of the day.  Martin goes down after playing very well for the Saints.  Add Jenkins recent trip to the IL to the list and it is sad, so sad for Twins fans.

And Ross Dunn and Jack Nobel being placed on the IL after pitching on Tuesday. On Thursday, it was Jakob Hall, along with Martin. They've being cautious with Jenkins and Culpepper.                                                                                                                       

[jkcarew]

7 hours ago, USNMCPO said:

Raya is looking more and more like a bull pen guy to me. The Twins have protected him pretty much his whole pro career and never really stretch him out. Great read Seth. Thank you

As a person that feels the same regarding Raya, last night there were at least some extenuating circumstances to explain another short outing.

The bottom of the second inning took forever…forever…and the weather was atrociously cold and damp. This was an instance where I think any of the starting prospects would have been pulled.

Having said that, he was really inefficient in his two innings. 50 pitches. He was all over the place…threw 22 pitches that were called balls in the two innings, and probably bailed out by guys chasing on another 5 at least. Again, conditions were bad…so, hard to take anything away from the outing. See him in a week, I guess.