Twins Daily Minor League Report (5/1): Tanner Schobel Celebrates Return to Top 20 Prospect Status with Huge Game for Wichita

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Tanner Schobel)

In February, the Twins Daily minor league writers updated the Top 20 Twins Prospect rankings. Over the past 7-10 days, you have been able to vote, and many of you did. Thank you! 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 13-19
St. Paul Saints: 13-14
Wichita Wind Surge: 15-9
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 15-8
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 13-11
FCL Twins: Season starts on Saturday!!

TRANSACTIONS
Believe it or not, but the Twins made no official transactions before games played on Sunday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 2, Columbus 5
Box Score
The Saints were supposed to play two games on Thursday in Ohio, but you guessed it, Game 2 was postponed due to rain again. The teams will attempt to play two games on Friday afternoon.  

Fortunately, any rain held off until the conclusion of the first game. 

The Saints started out well. Ryan Fitzgerald led off with a single. With one out, Jeferson Morales singled. Carson McCusker put the Saints on the scoreboard with another single, and Mike Ford’s single drove in Morales to give the Saints the 2-0 lead. 

Cory Lewis was on the mound for the Saints, and as a knuckleballer, he can be prone to some tough innings due to bouts with control and command. In the bottom of the first, he began with a walk and then recorded a strikeout. Then a single and a walk loaded the bases. He hit a batter to allow the first run. After another strikeout, he gave up a two-run single to Kody Huff. 

The Saints were down 3-2 after one inning. The bottom of the second inning started better. He got a strikeout and an infield pop out. Unfortunately, a hit batter was followed by three straight singles and the team was down 4-2. 

Lewis was able to throw two zeroes on the board. In all, he gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings. 

Ryan Jensen worked the final two innings and gave up one run on one hit and a walk. 

The Saints had seven hits in the game. Anthony Prato was 2-for-3.

Simply put, the Saints have almost no depth, and that amount dropped again during this game. In the top of the third, Armando Alvarez singled. On a pick off throw to first, Alvarez lunged toward the bag. He appeared to roll his ankle and immediately was off the bag. When the trainer got to him, they checked his ankle and his knee, and kind of everywhere in between. However, he was able to stand up and (very slowly) walk off the field under his own power, but he was definitely limping. 

The next half inning, Alvarez was replaced in the lineup by Emmanuel Rodriguez (in center field), and Dalton Shuffield moved from center to third base. Royce Lewis is with the team, but he had a scheduled off day in his rehab. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Frisco 2
Box Score
The Wind Surge jumped out to an early lead, and the pitching staff was very good in a 5-1, Thursday night down in Texas. 

Leading off the game, Tanner Schobel drilled a 1-2 pitch well beyond the wall in left field to give the team a 1-0 lead. 

With one out in the top of the second inning, Tyler Dearden hit his second homer of the season to make it 2-0. Jorel Ortega followed with a single. He stole second base which proved to be unnecessary when Schobel drilled a 3-2 fastball for a long home run to make it 4-0. 

Ricardo Olivar came up next and on a 1-0 pitch lined his third home run of the season to make it 5-0.   

I’m sure Pierson Ohl appreciated the run support. He tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and had five strikeouts. John Klein came on and was charged with two unearned runs over the next three innings. He had two hits, walked one, and struck out six batters.

Jaylen Nowlin had two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth inning. John Stankiewicz got the final three outs to record his first Save of the season. 

Maybe Schobel got some advanced warning about returning to the Twins Daily Top 20 prospect ranking today. He put on a show. He homered in his first two at-bats and hit a double in his third plate appearance. He went 3-for-5 in the game and now has four doubles and four home runs. He is now hitting .293 with an .851 OPS. 

Ricardo Olivar went 2-for-5 with his third home run. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Wisconsin 7 
Box Score
It was a back-and-forth game between the Kernels and the Cubs. At no point was the game comfortable, at least until the game’s final out was recorded.

Alejandro Hidalgo made the start. He was charged with six runs on six hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts. He gave up single runs in the first and second innings. Then there was a big four-run fifth inning which included homers from a couple of the Cubs top young prospects, Ivan Brethowr and Cristian Hernandez. 

The Kernels were working to keep the game close. In the bottom of the first inning, Kaelen Culpepper singled and Kyle DeBarge walked before successfully completing a double steal. Culpepper scored on a Brandon Winokur ground out that tied the game at one. 

Down 2-1 in the fourth inning, Winokur singled and stole second. He went to third on a throwing error. He scored on a groundout by Gabriel Gonzalez to tie the game at 2-2. 

Then the Cubs put up their four-spot in the top of the fifth frame, but the Kernels tried to match it. The bottom of the fifth started with a Kevin Maitan triple. With one out, Kyle Hess and Culpepper walked to load the bases. DeBarge walked to drive in Maitin. Two more runs scored when Winokur reached on a throwing error. Through five innings, the Kernels were down 6-5. 

Wilker Reyes pitched a scoreless top of the sixth. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Nate Baez homered to tie the game at 6-6.     

Maitan followed with a double. Jaime Ferrer came up and was hit by a pitch in the helmet. He went to the ground, but in time, he remained in the game. Kyle Hess followed with a double to left center field. Maitan scored the team’s seventh run. Ferrer advanced to third base. A few pitches later, Ferrer scored on a wild pitch.           

Reyes gave up a single run in the top of the seventh inning which cut the Kernels’ lead to 8-7. Jacob Wosinski struck out three batters over two perfect innings to give the Kernels the one-run win.  

Maitan’s double was his fourth of the season. The triple was his first. Culpepper went 1-for-2 with two walks. DeBarge walked twice, and he stole his 12th base.     

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Jupiter 5
Box Score
Game 3 of the Salas Brothers Series goes to… Andrew. The speedy 17-year-old centerfielder signed by the Marlins in January went 3-for-5 in this game with an RBI. He also stole three bases. The youngest of the three Salas ballplayers has played in 15 games. He is hitting .360/.508/.420 (.928) with a double and a triple. He is 9-for-11 on stolen base attempts. A sign of maturity is that despite his youth, he had 15 walks and just 13 strikeouts. Despite his 0-for-2 on Thursday, the elder Salas (Jose) has hit .400 with a 1.145 OPS in his rehab time with the Mussels. 

Speaking of rehab assignments, the Hammerheads started young Eury Perez in his second rehab appearance since he had Tommy John surgery nearly two years ago. He got the first outs. 

On the mound for the Mussels was Adrian Bohorquez for his first start of the season. While the results are uninspiring (2.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K), reports noted his increased velocity from where he was at at the end of the 2024 season. Bohorquez threw 48 pitches and 23 of them were four-seam fastballs. They averaged 95.8 mph, and he hit a high of 97.8 mph. Couple that with 16 sliders which averaged 88. Mph and maxed out at 90.6 mph. Just as important, he is able to slow things down with a slow curveball that averaged 78.6 mph. However, part of the development for a young pitcher is finding a consistent release point and tunneling. I think it’s fair to say that it would be noticeable for hitters to see when he is about to throw a curveball.      

Cole Peschl came on and got the final out of the third inning and worked through the sixth innings. In his 3 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs on five hits and two walks, but he also had eight strikeouts.       

Devin Kirby came on for the seventh inning. He was charged with three runs on two hits and a walk… and a hit batter… and two wild pitches in one inning. Kirby allowed a runner in the eighth and then was replaced by lefty Kade Bragg. He got the next four outs, all on strikeouts. He did give up one walk and hit one batter. Hunter Hoopes got the final two outs of the game. 

In the sixth inning, Jose Rodriguez singled to drive in Jay Thomason with the Mussels first and only run of the game. Poncho Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fifth double. Quietly, Ruiz is hitting .339 with a .915 OPS this season. The team was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Tanner Schobel (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2B(4), 2-HR(4), 2 R, 3 RBI

Pitcher of the Day 
Pierson Ohl (Wichita): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 49 pitches, 35 strikes (71.4%)

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

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-1
#7 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, SB(6), (played 3B)
#8 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, SB(1), (played SS)
#10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, RBI, 2 K
#12 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, HBP, 5 K, 79 pitches, 49 strikes (62.0%)
#13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2B(4), 2-HR(4), 2 R, 3 RBI
#14 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, RBI, K, SB(12), (played CF)
#18 - Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, RBI

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (DH @ 4:05 PM CST) - RHP Marco Raya (0-1, 8.00 ERA), RHP Darren McCaughan (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Connor Prielipp (0-1, 4.22 ERA).
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Tanner Hall (1-0, 4.50 ERA).
Fort Myers @ Tampa (11:00 AM CST) - RHP Jakob Hall (1-0, 6.10 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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[DJL44]

Looking over the prospect list, I was surprised to see Yunior Severino. He's a minor league free agent who came back to the Twins after being released. He currently has a lousy .633 OPS at AAA. That's basically the definition of a non-prospect.

I looked over the MLB list to see if someone had been overlooked by the group here. There are many names I'd choose over Severino (Ricardo Olivar, Eduardo Beltre, Dameury Pena, Payton Eeles, Khadim Diaw, Dylan Questad, Adrian Bohorquez) but nobody super exciting. The only conclusion I can draw is the Twins don't really have 20 good prospects in the minors. Hopefully the deadline trades re-stock the farm with talent this summer.

[Doctor Wu]

It's still early in the season, but Cory Lewis is off to a brutal start, He's giving up as many hits as he is striking out batters. I know throwing the knuckleball is going to be a very unpredictable thing to control, but Lewis was able to throw the pitch with better results last season. What's the difference this year?

[mikelink45]

I continue to see McCusker producing and the Twins MLB team not hitting.  Yet we can have Clemens, Gaspar, and Bride while leaving McCusker to spend his hits in AAA.  We did this with Wallner last year.  Try something new - I think we have a number of expendables on the 40 man. 

[Trov]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

It's still early in the season, but Cory Lewis is off to a brutal start, He's giving up as many hits as he is striking out batters. I know throwing the knuckleball is going to be a very unpredictable thing to control, but Lewis was able to throw the pitch with better results last season. What's the difference this year?

He is facing AAA pitching. Last year he pitched mostly in AA and was good.  He had 1 start in AAA and was not good.  The level of hitting is a big jump.  Many are guys that are ready to get to MLB, fighting to get back there, or are fringe guys.  

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Looking over the prospect list, I was surprised to see Yunior Severino. He's a minor league free agent who came back to the Twins after being released. He currently has a lousy .633 OPS at AAA. That's basically the definition of a non-prospect.

I looked over the MLB list to see if someone had been overlooked by the group here. There are many names I'd choose over Severino (Ricardo Olivar, Eduardo Beltre, Dameury Pena, Payton Eeles, Khadim Diaw, Dylan Questad, Adrian Bohorquez) but nobody super exciting. The only conclusion I can draw is the Twins don't really have 20 good prospects in the minors. Hopefully the deadline trades re-stock the farm with talent this summer.

100% Severino is nowhere near my top 30 at this point. Beltre, Olivar and Doncon dropped out of the top 20. All of them have significantly higher ceilings, as does Daiber De Los Santos. And Pena, Diaw, Questad and Bohorquez were all a consideration at #20 for me.                                    

Something to remember for the next vote... if someone isn't available in the listing and is in your top 20, get them added. 

[terrydactyls]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Hopefully the deadline trades re-stock the farm with talent this summer.

Trades?  What trades?  The Twins have the world's greatest bullpen, a starting rotation that the 1970 Orioles would be jealous of, and an offensive juggernaut that boasts six players hitting under .200 and a team WAR of 3.4!  Why would we trade any of this treasure trove of talent?

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Trades?  What trades?  The Twins have the world's greatest bullpen, a starting rotation that the 1970 Orioles would be jealous of, and an offensive juggernaut that boasts six players hitting under .200 and a team WAR of 3.4!  Why would we trade any of this treasure trove of talent?

A bad major league team and a farm system with little talent is a pretty depressing combination.

[Blyleven2011]

24 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

A bad major league team and a farm system with little talent is a pretty depressing combination.

Go a step further , I won't be shy ...

A bad manager and stupid strategy from the front office is also a depressing combination  ...

Schoebal improving this year ...

[bean5302]

This is how I voted:
 

1	Luke	Keaschall	Looks totally legit at the MLB level from a production and tools standpoint.
2	Walker	Jenkins	Injury prone, excellent hit tool, average power w/o room to fill out, corner OF
3	Connor	Prielipp	Elite stuff, injury risk, control/command issues. Bullpen risk, but #1 starter potential.
4	Charlie	Soto	Looks dominant in A+ already, multiple potential plus pitches, seems durable.
5	Dasan	Hill	4 pitch lefty, dominant out of the gate A-ball a19. Sky's the limit. Building a floor.
6	Kyle	DeBarge	Hit/Power tools look good at A+, defensive results at SS dramatically improved.
7	Kaelyn	Culpepper	Hit tool great at the plate, limited power. Better at SS than expected. Could advance fast.
8	Emmanuel	Rodriguez	Power tool not playing against polished pitchers. Injury prone. High risk.
9	Marco	Raya	Good stuff, weak command, likely bullpen arm due to durability concerns.
10	Andrew	Morris	High velo, but can't miss bats. Back end rotation ceiling, probable BP.
11	Carson	McCusker	Huge power, but questionable contact/hit tool. Defensive liability in corner OF.
12	Brandon	Winokur	All the athleticism, but bat may not play.
13	Payton	Eeles	Great story and good hit tool. Below average power. Questions defensively.
14	Cory	Lewis	Middle relief ceiling.
15	Gabriel	Gonzalez	Bat keeps improving, but limited overall ceiling/athleticism.
16	Ricardo	Olivar	Twins desperate for catching, hampering progress with OF. No power, all hit tool in AA
17	Rayne	Doncon	Good, not great tools across the board.
18	CJ	Culpepper	No plus pitches so far, but looks like potentially a back end rotation piece.
19	Eduardo	Beltre	Huge ceiling, but DSL numbers are sketchy to project.
20	Daiber	De Los Santos	Billed as premium SS defense with great tools. Super young, but could pan out.

 

 

 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

A bad major league team and a farm system with little talent is a pretty depressing combination.

I don't think the Twins' system is short on talent, but it seems everybody on the list has big red flags. The top end talent is a bit questionable.

[ryan189]

23 hours ago, bean5302 said:

This is how I voted:
 

1	Luke	Keaschall	Looks totally legit at the MLB level from a production and tools standpoint.
2	Walker	Jenkins	Injury prone, excellent hit tool, average power w/o room to fill out, corner OF
3	Connor	Prielipp	Elite stuff, injury risk, control/command issues. Bullpen risk, but #1 starter potential.
4	Charlie	Soto	Looks dominant in A+ already, multiple potential plus pitches, seems durable.
5	Dasan	Hill	4 pitch lefty, dominant out of the gate A-ball a19. Sky's the limit. Building a floor.
6	Kyle	DeBarge	Hit/Power tools look good at A+, defensive results at SS dramatically improved.
7	Kaelyn	Culpepper	Hit tool great at the plate, limited power. Better at SS than expected. Could advance fast.
8	Emmanuel	Rodriguez	Power tool not playing against polished pitchers. Injury prone. High risk.
9	Marco	Raya	Good stuff, weak command, likely bullpen arm due to durability concerns.
10	Andrew	Morris	High velo, but can't miss bats. Back end rotation ceiling, probable BP.
11	Carson	McCusker	Huge power, but questionable contact/hit tool. Defensive liability in corner OF.
12	Brandon	Winokur	All the athleticism, but bat may not play.
13	Payton	Eeles	Great story and good hit tool. Below average power. Questions defensively.
14	Cory	Lewis	Middle relief ceiling.
15	Gabriel	Gonzalez	Bat keeps improving, but limited overall ceiling/athleticism.
16	Ricardo	Olivar	Twins desperate for catching, hampering progress with OF. No power, all hit tool in AA
17	Rayne	Doncon	Good, not great tools across the board.
18	CJ	Culpepper	No plus pitches so far, but looks like potentially a back end rotation piece.
19	Eduardo	Beltre	Huge ceiling, but DSL numbers are sketchy to project.
20	Daiber	De Los Santos	Billed as premium SS defense with great tools. Super young,

 

[bean5302]

8 hours ago, ryan189 said:

how do you have cory lewis ranked higher then adams please explain

Rankings from 15-30 are pretty much interchangeable. It's not like there's a huge difference between them as they're all long shots to be valuable at the MLB level. Adams' average exit velocity is near 90mph in AAA, and he doesn't miss bats so that's a big problem. It's not going to get better at MLB, and I think Lewis has a higher likelihood of his pitches working out of the bullpen than Adams does as Lewis misses bats at a higher rate so there's less damage from hard hit balls to begin with. Neither one of them is going to be an MLB starter nor are either one of them likely going to be a dominant reliever. 

Cory Lewis is ranked higher by Fangraphs, MLB, Prospects1500, too so if you're surprised with my rankings because you feel strongly Travis Adams should be higher, you could always vent some rage at the entire collective MLB scouting base :)