Twins Minor League Report (4/25): Royce Lewis Rehabs; Cole Peschl Demands Attention

[Tom Froemming]

Royce Lewis is back … with the Saints. He started a rehab assignment in St. Paul Friday and checked a lot of boxes. He hit, he played the field, he ran the bases and, most importantly, he came out of it unscathed.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Royce Lewis)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 10-16
St. Paul Saints: 10-12
Wichita Wind Surge: 11-8
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 11-7
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 10-9 

TRANSACTIONS
- Royce Lewis joined St. Paul on a rehab assignment.
- The Twins outrighted catcher Diego Cartaya off the 40-man roster, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Cartaya is 2-for-25 with 18 strikeouts in 29 plate appearances for the Saints so far this season, so it was a good time to try to pass him through waivers. He’ll remain with St. Paul but is no longer occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. The Twins haven’t made a corresponding move yet.
- LHP Aaron Rozek was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul.
- IF Dalton Shuffield was transferred to the development list.

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Game 1: Indianapolis 10, St. Paul 0
Box Score
Royce Lewis checked all the boxes. He was 1-for-3 at the plate with a double he hit 101.4 mph, so it was great he had the opportunity to run the bases. That he played the field in his first game back was noteworthy in itself, but he didn’t exactly excel defensively tonight.

Playing third base, Lewis’ first chance came in the second inning. He had to range into foul territory to grab a ground ball hit 106.7 mph. He unleashed a two-hopper throw across the diamond that first baseman Yunior Severino couldn’t scoop. To add injury to insult, Severino hurt himself on the stretch and had to exit the game. Later in the second inning, Lewis had to come in on a sky-high chopper and whiffed while trying to catch it on the way down. 

Both those chances for Lewis were scored singles, and while they weren’t routine, you’d expect the average MLB third baseman to make those play. It’s fair to expect Lewis to be a bit rusty, but I don’t think that’s going to help Marco Raya feel any better about it.

While Raya was his own worst enemy tonight, he could have used some extra help. He lasted just 1 2/3 innings after throwing only 30 of his 55 pitches for strikes and walking three batters. He gave up seven runs on six hits.

Back to Lewis, he made a nice pick and on-the-run throw to record the final out of the fifth inning. He also ended the top of the sixth inning with a 5-1 putout, so it’s not as if he didn’t make any plays in the field. Royce hit his double in the bottom of the sixth and ran the bases, but after that his night was over. He did not play in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader, as was to be expected. 

Another rehabbing Twin appeared in this game: Michael Tonkin. He surrendered a pair of homers over his 1 1/3 innings. He also gave up two home runs in his first rehab appearance for St. Paul. Tonkin threw 40 pitches — 26 of them for strikes — and topped out at 93.3 mph. That’s closer to what his fastball averaged last year, though velocity is never going to be his calling card.

Game 2: St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 0
Box Score
The legend of Darren McCaughan continues! He made a great impression in his brief three-game cameo with the Twins earlier this month and continued to impress in his outing for the Saints tonight.

McCaughan pitched five innings of shutout, one-hit ball while racking up seven strikeouts and issuing a pair of walks. He’s only given up one unearned run over 12 innings with the Saints this year. The 29-year-old righty only topped out at 91.7 mph, but he got 12 whiffs, including a handful with his four-seam fastball.

After getting shutout in the first game, the Saints got on the board early in Game 2. Patrick Winkel crushed a home run in the second inning that had an exit velocity of 107.4 mph. The score remained 1-0 until Carson McCusker drove in a run on a single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Another run came across on a wild pitch to give St. Paul some more insurance.

Lefty Anthony Misiewicz completed the seven-inning shutout by covering the final two frames and picking up a pair of strikeouts in the process. He earned his second save of the season.

Emmanuel Rodriguez did not play in either game today due to a left thumb strain, per Theodore Tollefson of Zone Coverage.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Springfield 1
Box Score
Productive outs were the difference for the Wind Surge tonight. It’s not easy to only get four hits, go 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and still win, but they pulled it off.

Kyler Fedko led off the second inning with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and then scored on a ground out to give Wichita a 1-0 lead early. With the score knotted at 1-1 in the seventh, Aaron Sabato drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, got to third on a ground out to the first baseman and scored on a sac fly. It was a grind, but that was all the offense the Wichita pitching staff needed.

Darren Bowen continued his hot start to the season by delivering five innings of one-run ball. He gave up four hits — all singles — and did not walk a batter. Bowen had three strikeouts and needed just 55 pitches to complete five frames. He has a 1.50 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 18 innings for the Wind Surge. Pretty impressive for his first impression in Double-A.

In his first game back from rehab assignment, Pierson Ohl struck out four batters over three one-hit innings of shutout ball. Joel Cesar protected the one-run lead in the ninth and picked up his second save of the season.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Wisconsin 1, Cedar Rapids 0
Box Score
Alejandro Hidalgo fell off the radar to some degree, as he missed the entire 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. There have been some rough edges to his performance so far upon his return, but he’s also been very tough to hit.

Hidalgo only surrendered one hit over five shutout innings for the Kernels tonight. He struck out seven and walked four. He’s struggled with command, but opponents have only hit .164 off him and Hidalgo has struck out 25 batters in 16 innings. The Twins acquired him in November of 2022 in a trade that sent Gio Urshela to the Angels.

Hits were incredibly tough to come by in this game for both teams. The only run scored of the entire game was driven in on a double play. Danny De Andrade had the only Cedar Rapids extra-base hit, a double. He also drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth after falling behind 0-2, advanced to second base on an error and stole third, but the Kernels couldn’t bring him around to score.

Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched a scoreless inning for Cedar Rapids. The 2023 12th-round pick hasn’t surrendered a run in 10 innings pitched so far this season.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Clearwater 4, Fort Myers 3
Box Score
The Mussels carried a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning in Clearwater tonight, but could not seal the deal. Clearwater ended the shutout that inning, tied it up in the seventh inning and walked it off in the ninth.

Things were going good for Fort Myers in the early going largely due to Cole Peschl, who is doing his best to demand some attention. The Twins 15th-round pick out of Campbell University in North Carolina, Peschl delivered five shutout innings while striking out nine batters. He hasn’t given up a run over his first 14 innings of pro ball and has 19 strikeouts. 

Peschl got 19 whiffs, 12 of them on his slider. Per Statcast, the right-hander threw 26 sliders, 22 cutters, 17 four-seamers, 12 curveballs and three changeups. He topped out at 93.1 mph. 

Getting hits continued to be a challenge for young Yasser Mercedes, but he managed to draw a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch. He also stole four bases. Four! Mercedes is up to nine steals in 18 games so far this season and he hasn’t been thrown out. Last year, he went 21-for-26 in stolen base attempts over 61 games.

Jay Thomason had the only Fort Myers extra-base hit, a double. He hit two balls in excess of 104 mph tonight, and has been consistently taking some of the biggest swings of anybody I’ve seen in the system so far this year. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY 
Pitcher of the Day: Cole Peschl, Fort Myers (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K)
Hitter of the Day: Patrick Winkel, St. Paul (2-for-5, 2B, HR, R, RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. And, you can help us update our Top 20 prospects by ranking your top 20 Twins prospects. Voting has started. Rank now. 

3. Luke Keaschall (Twins): 0-for-0, HBP (exited after being hit by a pitch on his right wrist, fractured)
6. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 1 K
8. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, SB (5)
15. Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers): 0-for-2, 2 BB, HBP, 4 SB (9), K
17. Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, 2 K
18. Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 1-for-4, K
19. Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4

TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs. Indianapolis, 2:07 pm CT: LHP Aaron Rozek
Wichita vs. Springfield, 4:05 pm CT: LHP Connor Prielipp
Cedar Rapids vs. Wisconsin, 1:05 pm CT: RHP Tanner Hall
Fort Myers at Clearwater, 5:30 pm CT: LHP Dasan Hill

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[Dman]

Correct me if my memory is faulty but wasn't Peschl a late sign and from a smaller school?  His college stats didn't look great to me either. 5.48 ERA, more hits given up than innings pitched.  K/9 was solid but that was about it.  The Twins really have something going with those small school finds where they can improve the pitching mechanics.  He keep this up though May and he will moving onto Cedar Rapids. He has been a really fun arm to follow so far.

Bowen with another good outing as well.  He looks like he wants to move up too.  If he stops giving up too many home runs it looks like he is going to be in AAA before too long as well.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Correct me if my memory is faulty but wasn't Peschl a late sign and from a smaller school?  His college stats didn't look great to me either. 5.48 ERA, more hits given up than innings pitched.  K/9 was solid but that was about it.  The Twins really have something going with those small school finds where they can improve the pitching mechanics.  He keep this up though May and he will moving onto Cedar Rapids. He has been a really fun arm to follow so far.

From Tom's article, he was a 15th round pick from Campbell. 

[Linus]

I believe Bowen was the last piece in the Polanco trade. It would be ironic if he ends up being the most valuable piece in the trade.  He’s had a good year to date. 

[FlyingFinn]

McCaughan is pitching so well that we may not be able to DFA him again if the Twins call him up. Oddly, this makes it harder to call him back up to the big leagues.

[LambchoP]

Wow Tonkin looks like he needs WAY more rehab time. 4 homers in two appearances? I guess he'd fit in with the Twin's pen. At least Maccaghen looks good. I say call him up again. We can't continue to use 4-5 relievers every game. We really need a reliever to go multiple innings after our starter goes 4-5 innings. He could be it. I say call up him and send Alcala down for awhile. Then, send Keirsey down and give Mccusker a chance until Wallner is back.

[bean5302]

50 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

Wow Tonkin looks like he needs WAY more rehab time. 4 homers in two appearances? I guess he'd fit in with the Twin's pen. At least Maccaghen looks good. I say call him up again. We can't continue to use 4-5 relievers every game. We really need a reliever to go multiple innings after our starter goes 4-5 innings. He could be it. I say call up him and send Alcala down for awhile. Then, send Keirsey down and give Mccusker a chance until Wallner is back.

Very concerning results with Tonkin, but he lost out on a lot of ST. Velo way down in his first game, but it popped back. I think these are tune up games for him.

What we need is a starter who can give us 6 innings reliably, like most MLB starters who go at least 6 innings in at least 1/2 their starts.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

I say call up him and send Alcala down for awhile.

Can't do that unless you never want to see Alcala again. Another team will gladly take Alcala. He's got the stuff and thus somebody will stash him on the back end of the roster until he figures it out. 

[djvang]

"It’s fair to expect Lewis to be a bit rusty"

That's not rust. It's what he is.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

McCaughan is pitching so well that we may not be able to DFA him again if the Twins call him up. Oddly, this makes it harder to call him back up to the big leagues.

This is silly, imo. He's more valuable a few days in Minnesota than full time in St Paul. I find this whole dance by then just off. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

I believe Bowen was the last piece in the Polanco trade. It would be ironic if he ends up being the most valuable piece in the trade.  He’s had a good year to date. 

I don't think he was, and obviously no one would say that. 
DeSclafani was about the money. 
Topa was about a present-day return.
Gonzalez was the highest upside prospect. 
Bowen was a strong arm with potential to start. 

[Seth Stohs]

25 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Can't do that unless you never want to see Alcala again. Another team will gladly take Alcala. He's got the stuff and thus somebody will stash him on the back end of the roster until he figures it out. 

Alcala has two options remaining, so they would have to DFA him to send him down. 

[FlyingFinn]

1 minute ago, Seth Stohs said:

Alcala has two options remaining, so they would have to DFA him to send him down. 

I thought Alcala had reached 5 years of service earlier this year. Thus, he could elect free agency (and probably would), and another team like the White Sox surely would sign him to an MLB contract. Did I hear wrong on that?

[jkcarew]

Emmy Rodriquez continuing to show zero power. Now more thumb issues.

Nothing to see here.

[Linus]

1 minute ago, jkcarew said:

Emmy Rodriquez continuing to show zero power. Now more thumb issues.

Nothing to see here.

Yea his hitting profile always had a low floor so to speak. AAA and major league pitchers aren’t going to walk him nearly as much and will force him to swing the bat. The question then becomes does he swing and miss a lot or connect for enough power. I’ve always felt fan expectations have gotten a little ahead of him. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

This is silly, imo. He's more valuable a few days in Minnesota than full time in St Paul. I find this whole dance by then just off. 

He’s more valuable in St. Paul in case someone gets hurt at MLB level. If they bring him up now, who does he displace? Seems any body knocked off the 26 man gets DFA’d and scooped up by another club………can’t just “knee jerk add” without considering the roster moves and risks elsewhere.

[D.C Twins]

Tonkin doing Tonkin things... someone please explain to me why he was earmarked to be on the MLB team this season

[D.C Twins]

5 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Wow Tonkin looks like he needs WAY more rehab time. 4 homers in two appearances? I guess he'd fit in with the Twin's pen. At least Maccaghen looks good. I say call him up again. We can't continue to use 4-5 relievers every game. We really need a reliever to go multiple innings after our starter goes 4-5 innings. He could be it. I say call up him and send Alcala down for awhile. Then, send Keirsey down and give Mccusker a chance until Wallner is back.

Tonkin is just not a good MLB pitcher rehab or no rehab

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

He’s more valuable in St. Paul in case someone gets hurt at MLB level. If they bring him up now, who does he displace? Seems any body knocked off the 26 man gets DFA’d and scooped up by another club………can’t just “knee jerk add” without considering the roster moves and risks elsewhere.

Sure, but they did this all last year with one guy keeping bad pitchers up because they didn't want to lose him.... I'm not saying willy nilly do stuff, I'm saying if they need a guy, he should be up. 

[JD-TWINS]

16 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Sure, but they did this all last year with one guy keeping bad pitchers up because they didn't want to lose him.... I'm not saying willy nilly do stuff, I'm saying if they need a guy, he should be up. 

Certainly if they need a guy - at this point, today, I don’t know who he’d replace…….if somebody goes south then sure thing.

[bean5302]

On 4/26/2025 at 11:25 AM, FlyingFinn said:

I thought Alcala had reached 5 years of service earlier this year. Thus, he could elect free agency (and probably would), and another team like the White Sox surely would sign him to an MLB contract. Did I hear wrong on that?

@DJL44 commented on this last year.

Alcala shows 4yrs 165days on Fangraphs. Real, real close to 5yrs (172 days), but not quite. The Twins manipulated his service time at the very end of last year to get him under the wire, and they might be trying to avoid a grievance hearing.