Twins Minor League Report (4/13): The Mussels Flex Their New Starter and the Kernels Hang Ten...on Beloit

[Sherry Cerny]

The season of injuries is having impacts on the affiliates and while the bats are struggling on some teams, other teams are starting to figure it out. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Darren Bowen)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 5-11
St. Paul Saints: 5-7
Wichita Wind Surge: 6-3
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 6-3
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 4-5

TRANSACTIONS
The whole organization is starting to feel the pressure of the losses and the injuries that continue to plague all levels of the game. The club made more roster changes in wake of Jose Miranda’s demotion and more injuries. 

The Mussels have eight players on the Injured List and are bringing guys up from the Complex across the parking lots starting with right-handed pitcher Xavier Kolhosser. On Sunday, he made his pro debut as the starting pitcher for the Mussels. 

First baseman Kevin Maitan has been transferred from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Maitan is 24 years old and has played in three games so far this season, going 3-for-10, but has a strong presence defensively at first base. The former Top 100 prospect played for the Kernels last year after the Twins signed him out of independent ball. 

Wichita pitcher Jarret Whorff with the Surge after one day up at St. Paul. He threw three innings, allowing two runs. 

The Twins optioned infielder Jose Miranda after Saturday’s game against Detroit. Infielder Brooks Lee was called up to the Twins after completing his rehab assignment.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Omaha 5
Box Score
Darren McCaughan returned to St. Paul. The 29-year-old had a nice showing in the majors and continued that during his Sunday start on the mound. McCaughan gave up six hits on the day, and two walks, but only allowed an unearned run. 

The bats of the Saints fell silent after two runs in the bottom of the third when Emmanuel Rodriguez hit a double that drove in Luke Keaschall and Jeferson Morales, giving the Saints a temporary one-run lead over the Storm. 

The next four innings moved fast, remaining scoreless from both sides. The top of the eighth is when the Saints pitching lost momentum. Huascar Ynoa loaded the bases and gave up four runs that started with an errant throw on a sac-bunt. Ryan Jensen ended the inning with a swinging strikeout from Harold Castro. 

The Saints had a small rally in the ninth inning. Armando Alvarez drove in Mike Ford to keep things interesting at 5-3, but it wouldn’t be enough. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Midland 2
Box Score
The first few innings both teams attempted to get on the board first. Both pitchers were locked in and their defensive assists helped create quick, effortless outs. 

The first run of the game was a two out, solo home run from Midland’s Brennan Malone off Darren Bowen to get Midland up 1-0. Bowen gave up just the one run on four hits and a walk. He had four strikeouts and threw just 66 pitches, 42 of those being strikes. Bowen was replaced after four innings by Mike Paredes.

The Surge caught up to Midland in the fourth inning. Allan Cerda ripped a hard hit line drive to right field for a triple to start the inning. Tanner Schobel came to the plate and for lack of better terms “does what he does” and hit a sac-fly to score Cerda to even up the score 1-1. 

The Surge lineup continued to produce and got some insurance runs in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch scored Cerda to put the Kernels in a one run lead, 2-1. The Kernels got two more runs on a Jake Rucker single, pushing up the lead to 4-1 before Midland made a pitching change that finally resulted in the third out, but not before a double from Andrew Cossetti scored Rucker to give the Kernels the 5-1 lead. 

Midland tried to get runs going in the eighth inning, but the Surge pitching staff kept the inning to only one run. 

The Surge are missing some key players, including a number of impactful prospects including Walker Jenkins and several pitchers. Those injuries had a huge impact on the lineup, but clearly the Surge powered through and came away with a series win, only allowing one win to Midland.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 10, Beloit 7
Box Score
The Kernels started out this bookend game to the series hot. 

The Kernels completely obliterated the Sky Carp’s pitcher in the first inning. To put it plainly, the Kernels hung seven in the first inning. The lineup showed exactly how small ball should be played. The inning started with singles by Kyle DeBarge and Brandon Winokur. Billy Amick walked before Gabriel Gonzalez drove in two runs with a single. Following a balk, Khadim Diaw hit a single to score Amick. Kernels 3-0. 

The chaos continued for Sky Carp. Diaw stole second base, but on a throwing error Gonzalez scored. Diaw made it home on a double from Danny De Andrade The Kernels were up 5-0 and there were still no outs.  

Nate Baez grounded out, but Misael Urbina followed with an RBI single that made it 6-0. Caden Kendle was hit by a pitch. DeBarge knocked his second single of the inning to drive in the seventh run of the inning. Brandon Winokur reached on a walk before the final two outs were recorded.

The Kernels added another run in the second inning. De Andrade doubled and three Cedar Rapids batters were hit by pitches in the inning.  

The Kernels took advantage of every single opportunity to steal, walk and put the ball into play. Sky Carp pushed three runs across in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Brandon Winokur stole second base, but more important, DeBarge was on third base and scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-3.

By the time the fifth inning rolled around the Kernels were up 9-3, all but two in the line-up had a run scored in the game. Six players had at least one RBI during the game. The runs on the board make those left behind on base easier to stomach. Through six, the Kernels had left eleven on base, but were able to capitalize on the stolen bases and errors by Sky Carp. 

In the top of the eighth, Juan Mendez came in to relieve Juan Mercedes who gave up three more runs allowing Sky Carp to inch closer to closing the gap. 

Kyle Hess led of the bottom of the eighth with a double. He later scored the Kernels’ tenth run on a Brandon Winokour ground out to first base. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Tampa 4
Box Score
Both pitchers for the day were making their pro debut. 

Xavier Kolhosser had a rough first appearance with the Mussels. The Twins 13th round pick from 2024 out of St. John’s pitched three innings and gave up four runs, three hits (2 home runs), and three walks. Not ideal for a first start, but after the first inning, Kolhosser settled in and didn’t give up anymore damage and ended with six strikeouts in three innings. 

Pitcher Devin Kirby came in to relieve Kolhosser. The damage was done in the first inning, so the goal was to keep any further damage. Kirby has had three games this season, rocking a 0-0 record and a 9.00 ERA, doesn’t show the consistency that Kirby has but he got a chance to do that today. 

Kirby pitched two innings, with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts. He did not allow any runs, got out of a potential run situation and lowered his ERA to 3.00 at the end of his appearance. Kirby has been putting in the work and gave the Mussels the chance to bounce back.  

The lack of runs, do not account for the lack of hits, newly minted Tampa starter, Gage Ziehl, kept the Mussels from gaining any momentum to create runs. The Mussels were continually getting the bat on the ball. 

Jay Thomasson, Daniel Pena, Isaac Pena and Byron Chourio were the biggest producers of the game. Isaac Pena registered a single right at the top of the sixth followed by Chourio getting on base with a walk advancing Pena to scoring position. Pena continued to advance on a sac-fly from Thomasson. Tampa’s pitcher rattled at this point and let the rest unravel by hitting his second player Aaron Sabato and then walking in the run Isaac Pena getting the Mussels on the board 1-4. 

The Mussels tried to rally back, only securing one more run in the bottom of the ninth, losing the game 4-2. 

The team went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. While the reporting on these numbers may seem fruitless, it does speak a lot to the situational hitting of the team and the defense that they are up against. There are a lot of hits that continue to happen, across all levels of the club where there are lots of bats on balls, but they struggle to produce runs, fizzling out to ground outs, soft hits to the infield and sac-flies. 

The hope is that as the days go on, the consistency will help them find a way to convert to runs.

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day 
Gabriel Gonzalez (1H, 1R, 2RBI, 2BB, 0K) Gonzales was a playmaker Sunday. He was always on base to help with steals, scoring and a place holder to keep the score up. Gonzales continues to grow his stats and his impact on the team.

Pitcher of the Day
Mike Paredes (0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K; 0.00 ERA) came after four innings and only one run given up by Bowen. Parades had three scoreless innings getting his first win of the season. He has a total of eight innings pitched, seven strikeouts and a .60 Whip. His pitching more than likely kept the opposing team from adding more runs.

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - Injured List (ankle)
#2 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0R, 1H, 2RBI, 0BB, 2K
#3 - Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 1R, 0H, 0RBI, 1BB, 0K
#4 - Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Didn’t Pitch
#5 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#6 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#7 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (wrist)
#8 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1R, 2H, 1RBI, 2BB, 0K
#9 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#10 - Connor Prielipp (Wichita) - Didn’t Pitch
#11 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - Didn’t Pitch
#12 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Injured List
#13 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 2R, 2H, 1RBI, 2BB, 0K
#14 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - No games yet.
#15 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - Didn’t Play
#16 - Rayne Doncon (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (oblique)
#17 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) -1R, 0H, 0RBI, 3BB, 2K
#18 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Didn’t Play
#19 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 1R, 1H, 2RBI, 2BB, 2K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 0H, 0R, 0W, 2K  

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
NY Mets @ Minnesota (7:40 PM CST) - Joe Ryan (1-1; 2.65 ERA)
Saints @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) - Zebby Matthews (1-1; 1.80 ERA)
Wichita @ Tulsa (6:05 PM CST) - Ricky Castro (0-1, 20.25 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:35 PM CST) - TBD
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (7:05 PM CST) - TBD 

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

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[mikelink45]

Good report, but I hate to see all the injuries on the prospect list.

[Doctor Gast]

Just a note. I was very impressed with FA RH Allan Cerda (CFer) during ST. I thought he had an outside chance of making the team. Because of our depth at CF, Cerda was rewarded by being demoted to AA. That had to really hurt & affect him. IMO, Cerda is a keeper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Doctor Wu]

Good roundup! But another request for articles this season: could we have captions with the photos, telling us who the player in the main photo is?

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

Just a note. I was very impressed with FA RH Allan Cerda (CFer) during ST. I thought he had an outside chance of making the team. Because of our depth at CF, Cerda was rewarded by being demoted to AA. That had to really hurt & affect him. IMO, Cerda is a keeper.

What in his career would lead even him to think he would have gone to AAA? He wasn't even a Non-Roster Invite to spring training. 

What he is is a big, strong kid who is very athletic. Still just 25. But watching much of the Wind Surge games already this year, Cerda is not a good outfielder, and there is a ton of swing and miss. In spring games, we saw some power, and he certainly is strong. 

But, all that said, I like the minor-league signing. Looks like he must have been hurt the last couple of years. Not many ABs, so while it's been a rough start in Wichita, it's possible he's just getting his feet back under him... and maybe, just maybe, it all comes together for him. 

[rdehring]

Thanks a ton for the report, Sherry.

Good to see Winokur get a couple hits after his slow start.  He is such an exciting young prospect.  On the flip side, see that Sabato is hitting .118 all the way back at low A ball.  Such a disappointment for a first round pick.

 

[terrydactyls]

47 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

Good roundup! But another request for articles this season: could we have captions with the photos, telling us who the player in the main photo is?

This is my 4th consecutive year asking for this to happen.  Do you think that maybe the TD staff doesn't read our comments?

Reading the minor league report is always my favorite thing on TD.  Normally, the report is fairly well constructed and written.  Today's - not so much.  It seemed like it may have been a rush job to get it published.  There were many partial sentences and clauses that left me wondering what the writer's intent was.  And there were many (too many to list) illogical/incorrect statements.  Two examples are:

1.  In the Kernals game, the writeup tells us that a balk moved Amick and Gonzales to second.  Two people moving to 2nd?  That would be the quintessential example of two players piggy backing.  But also impossible.

2.  Also in the Kernal's writeup, in the 8th inning, the Kernals brought in a Juan Mendez who gave up 3 runs.  According to the author, this allowed the Carp to "inch closer to reducing the gap which had ballooned to 6-3, in favor of, but slightly threatened Kernals."  If the score had been 6-3 and the Carp scored three runs, wouldn't the score be tied?  BUT WAIT!  The Kernals were ahead 9-3 in the 5th inning (according to the previous paragraph), so all of this makes no sense.

There were many more examples like this but my texting finger is starting to hurt.

[Dman]

Amick has been impressing me with his approach at the plate to start the year. He was so feared by the Skycarp that they walked him with runners in scoring position because he has been so clutch in those situations. Taking walks is important as he isn’t expanding the zone and he had three of them in his first four at bats. Unfortunately he K’d in his next two at bats, but I just like that his approach has been sound as I had concerns he might be a K machine. He is showing good patience with a 20% walk rate.

While he might not be as flashy Caden Kendle has a 1.000 OPS to start the season and his underlying stats look really good with a K rate below 20 and a fairly normalized BABIP of .360 so his .304 batting average seems close to sustainable. Still working on SSS, but he seems to be one of the better bats along with Amick.

Bowen has looked really good on the mound so far.  If he can stop giving up HR’s he looks like he could be something. Maybe the next big something. Can’t give up a HR every game though.

[jmlease1]

9 minutes ago, rdehring said:

Thanks a ton for the report, Sherry.

Good to see Winokur get a couple hits after his slow start.  He is such an exciting young prospect.  On the flip side, see that Sabato is hitting .118 all the way back at low A ball.  Such a disappointment for a first round pick.

 

Sabato is on a rehab assignment, isn't he? sadly, there's been very little to suggest he's going to make it.

Winokur was ice cold to start, much better lately. he's definitely got some work to do, but he's also the youngest hitter on the roster, so grace is warranted.

Really like what we're seeing out of GG to start the season. Hopefully he stays healthy and keeps swinging a hot bat. be nice to get some real value out of the Polanco salary dump. (congrats to Jorge for having a good start at the plate this season as well, though I don't think it's going to end well for them if he plays too much 3B...)

Looks like CHS Field and the International League are still pretty hitter-friendly environments? not a great start for E-Rod in Saint Paul, and clearly getting Cartaya right is going to be a process. but it makes it harder to evaluate someone like McCusker, i think, who appears to be hitting well...but is it enough to give him a look at some point? Just don't know with the inflated numbers at CHS, especially with guy who isn't going to give you anything else.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Just a note. I was very impressed with FA RH Allan Cerda (CFer) during ST. I thought he had an outside chance of making the team. Because of our depth at CF, Cerda was rewarded by being demoted to AA. That had to really hurt & affect him. IMO, Cerda is a keeper.

Another reason why spring training stats should be ignored. Cerda is on his 4th season of not hitting at Double-A. He can be released at any time without any worry.

[Dman]

14 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

This is my 4th consecutive year asking for this to happen.  Do you think that maybe the TD staff doesn't read our comments?

Reading the minor league report is always my favorite thing on TD.  Normally, the report is fairly well constructed and written.  Today's - not so much.  It seemed like it may have been a rush job to get it published.  There were many partial sentences and clauses that left me wondering what the writer's intent was.  And there were many (too many to list) illogical/incorrect statements.  Two examples are:

1.  In the Kernals game, the writeup tells us that a balk moved Amick and Gonzales to second.  Two people moving to 2nd?  That would be the quintessential example of two players piggy backing.  But also impossible.

2.  Also in the Kernal's writeup, in the 8th inning, the Kernals brought in a Juan Mendez who gave up 3 runs.  According to the author, this allowed the Carp to "inch closer to reducing the gap which had ballooned to 6-3, in favor of, but slightly threatened Kernals."  If the score had been 6-3 and the Carp scored three runs, wouldn't the score be tied?  BUT WAIT!  The Kernals were ahead 9-3 in the 5th inning (according to the previous paragraph), so all of this makes no sense.

There were many more examples like this but my texting finger is starting to hurt.

Yeah the minor league report is my favorite thing to read as well because there generally are positives to talk about among the four teams playing. It looks like they got mixed up talking about the Kernals in the Windsurge section as well.

I watched most of the games so I could understand what “really” happened, but it was a tough read for me. Since I watch or keep track of box scores not a huge deal for me, but if you don’t do that I think you could be very confused reading this one.

[LambchoP]

Gonzalez continues to keep hitting, maybe he moves up a level at some point. In AAA it seems Rodriguez, Keaschal and Morales are the Twins' best chances of hitting reinforcements. Hopefully all three can stay healthy and keep hitting. I know Ryan Jenson doesn't have the best control but he seems to be a K machine. I remember him having great stuff 99-100 mph fastball when he was with the big club. Do we see him at the back of the pen at some point along with Dobnak and Mccaghan?

[BaseballDad]

So...the Cedar Rapids Kernals are now a "Double A" affiliate?  I'm sure Kernals management would like to be informed of their "promotion".

I've been ready Twins Daily since the inception and am a serious follower of the Twins and their system.  This is easily one of the worst written articles/recaps I've read at this site.  One would think a middle school student put this article together.  Reading this recap was painful and certainly does not inspire me to trust anything written by this author. 

Please keep your standards high if you wish to retain loyal readers.

[Seth Stohs]

4 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

This is my 4th consecutive year asking for this to happen.  Do you think that maybe the TD staff doesn't read our comments?

Yeah, I miss that sometimes. I try to remember to add the name of the player for most minor leaguers. 

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Gonzalez continues to keep hitting, maybe he moves up a level at some point. In AAA it seems Rodriguez, Keaschal and Morales are the Twins' best chances of hitting reinforcements. Hopefully all three can stay healthy and keep hitting. I know Ryan Jenson doesn't have the best control but he seems to be a K machine. I remember him having great stuff 99-100 mph fastball when he was with the big club. Do we see him at the back of the pen at some point along with Dobnak and Mccaghan?

For the Saints? Yes. 

For the Twins? In an emergency. 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

Me thinks this summary was AI-generated?????

[Seth Stohs]

26 minutes ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

Me thinks this summary was AI-generated?????

No, it wasn't... 

I just realized what happened. As several noted, this was difficult to edit. I tried a couple of times...then what I eventually did was copied the copy and put it into another document. Then I did all the editing there. The intent would be to then put the updates back into the site, clean it up/format and then publish. 

I just realized a few minutes ago, that I didn't plug my edited version back into the site. I did it very early this morning. Not an excuse, but I'm not a morning person. 

So, now the article has been updated AND edited. The fault here is mine, not Sherry's. My apologies all!