Twins Daily Minor League Report (5/11): Carson McCusker Crushes Again, Jay Thomason Comes Through

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photos of Eli Jones and Jay Thomason)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 21-20
St. Paul Saints: 20-15
Wichita Wind Surge: 19-14
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 20-12
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 15-18
FCL Twins: 5-1
DSL Twins: Scheduled to start on June 2.  

TRANSACTIONS
There were no transactions announced on Sunday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Buffalo 2
Box Score
This has been a series of wild games. Two games ended in walkoff homers. This weekend, the Saints won two games by one run. 

Travis Adams has primarily been working as the back-end of piggyback situations this season. On Sunday, he made a start. He went four innings and gave up two runs on three hits and three walks. He had one strikeout. When the backend of the piggyback guy started, it was all hands on deck for the Saints bullpen, and five relievers combined to get the job done. 

With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Mickey Gasper homered again! He had four homers this week against Buffalo, and six home runs in 10 Triple-A games played. 

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Carson McCusker hit his 10th home run of the season to make it 2-0 Saints. After his 12-game hitting streak came to an end on Saturday, he quickly started a new streak.  #McCrusher hit this ball 115.0 mph. 

 

Adams gave up two runs in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run single by Damiano Palmegiani. 

Jeferson Morales singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and advanced to second on a fielding error. Jair Camargo singled to center to drive in Morales and give the Saints a 3-2 lead.       

 

And that was it for the scoring for both teams. Brady Feigl struck out two in a scoreless fifth inning. Kyle Bischoff, Richard Lovelady, Ryan Jensen, and Anthony Misiewicz each struck out one batter in a scoreless inning. It marked the fourth save for Misiewicz.   

The Buffalo Bisons are the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Check out our sister site, Jays Centre, and their Top 20 Blue Jays prospect rankings. Outfielder Alan Roden, 25, made the Jays opening day roster. He was optioned to Buffalo early this week and joined the Bisons in St. Paul on Thursday. He went 1-for-5 in that first game. Then over the next two games, he went 7-for-9 with a double, triple, homer and five RBI. He went 2-for-5 on Sunday. Going 10-for-19 (.526) with a (1.392) OPS over your first four games after a demotion is a good way to show management you want to get back!   

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 4
Box Score
The Wind Surge fell behind early, came back and took the lead in the fourth only to see the game tied up in the bottom of the eighth. That’s when the Surge bats’ responded in support of the team’s bullpen that had a solid day.

Down 2-0, Ben Ross led off the top of the second with his third home run of the season. In the third, they loaded the bases, but didn’t score.       

 

In the fourth inning, Kyler Fedko led off with a walk. Noah Cardenas doubled to drive in him. After a Tyler Dearden walk and a Jake Rucker single loaded the bases again, Tanner Schobel flew out to center to drive in Cardenas. 

Darren Bowen made the start for the Wind Surge. He gave up two runs on one hit and one walk over three innings. John Klein worked the middle three innings without allowing a run. He gave up two hits and a walk and struck out two. Cody Laweryson got the next four outs and was charged with an unearned run. Jaylen Nowlin got the final five outs, three on strikeouts, to end the game. He allowed the tying run in the eighth inning. 

Noah Cardenas led off the top of the ninth inning with his second home run of the season. With one out Jake Rucker singled off of the pitcher. Tanner Schobel singled. Next up, Ricardo Olivar drove in Rucker with a double. Rubel Cespedes flew out, deep enough to allow Schobel to score the third run of the inning.         

 

Nowlin gave up a run on a wild pitch but held on for the Win. 

Noah Cardenas hit his third double and second home run of the season. Schobel was 2-for-3 with a walk. Rucker was 2-for-4. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Beloit 5
Box Score
After a rare loss on Saturday night, the Kernels found a terrific (nearly-grand) way to start things on Sunday afternoon. The game started with walks to Kaelen Culpepper and Caden Kendle before Brandon Winokur was hit by a pitch. Gabriel Gonzalez flew out to deep-enough left field to drive in Culpepper with the game’s first run. After a strikeout, Khadim Diaw came up and crushed a three-run homer to give the Kernels a 4-0 lead. 

But you knew it wasn’t going to be just that easy all day. Beloit scored one in the bottom of the first. Gabriel Gonzalez hit his third homer of the season in the third inning to make it 5-1. 

However, Beloit responded with two in the bottom of the third and one in the bottom of the fourth and it was again a one-run game at 5-4.   

The Kernels got some help in the top of the fifth. Brandon Winokur reached on a single with one out. The pitcher attempted to pick him off but threw wildly. Then the first baseman got to the ball, he made an errant throw too and Winokur scored all the way from first. 

The Sky Carp scored one in the bottom of the sixth, but both bullpens locked it down from there and the Kernels won their 20th game of the season.

Ty Langenberg worked the first three innings. He was charged with three runs on six hits and two walks and a hit batter. He had four strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez worked an inning and gave up an unearned run on two walks. Paulshawn Pasqualotto worked the next three innings. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out three. Samuel Perez started the eighth inning and got two outs. Jacob Wosinski came on and got the final out of the eighth without allowing the tying run to score. He also tossed a quiet ninth to earn his fifth save. 

Jaime Ferrer went 2-for-3 with a walk and his third double. Nate Baez went 2-for-4. Winokur went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Kendle walked three times, and Culpepper had a single and a walk. Gonzalez’s homer was his third of the season, and Diaw’s was his first.

Kyle DeBarge missed his second straight game after leaving Friday’s game after being hit by a pitch.                 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 7
Box Score
The Mussels got a strong start from an intriguing 2024 draft pick The offense scored in four different innings, but the bullpen had one rough inning and that was the difference in this ballgame. 

Eli Jones was the Twins seventh round pick in 2024 out of South Carolina. In this game, he gave up one run on three hits. He walked one and had three strikeouts. The run came on a Jean Joseph solo home run in the fifth inning. 

Things got interesting in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff man Byron Chourio had to leave his first at-bat with injury. Maddux Houghton came in for him and worked a single. He moved to second on a passed ball and scored the first run of the day on Jay Thomason’s eighth double.   

 

The Mussels added a run with two outs in the second inning. Angel Del Rosario’s second double of the season drove in Jefferson Valladares from second base. In the fourth inning, it was Houghton who drove in Yohander Martinez to make it 3-0. 

So through five innings, the Mussels held a 3-1 lead. The game was turned over to the bullpen, starting with Devin Kirby. The oft-used knuckleballer had a rough outing. He recorded just one out and was charged with four runs on two hits, a walk and a fielder’s choice. Ivran Romero came on with two runners on and gave up a single that scored both of them. Romero stayed on and worked 2 1/3 innings without being charged with a run of his own. He had three strikeouts. Tyler Stasiowski got the final four outs, three of them on strikeouts, but he gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits. 

The Mussels added a run in the seventh when Thomason scored on a wild pitch, but that was as close as they were able to make it. 

Thomason continues to be the one hitter in the Mussels regular lineup that hits consistently. In this game, he was 3-for-3 with a walk and his eighth double. The other player to hit relatively consistently is Houghton. He went 2-for-5 in this game and is hitting .277. With the younger prospects needing to play, Houghton usually comes off the bench and provides value. 

After his fast start, Byron Chourio is now hitting just .196 (though his on-base percentage remains at .381). Jose Rodriguez is hitting just .123 in his second season with the Mussels. He hit a double on Sunday. And Yasser Mercedes has really struggled in adapting to the full-season affiliate. He is hitting just .132 after going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts on Sunday. 

Those three are usually in the top four batters in the Mussels lineup, and they need to be from a Player Development standpoint. Chourio and Rodriguez are still 19 while Mercedes is 20. Meanwhile, Thomason turned 23 last month and was the Twins 17th round pick last summer after four years in the United States Air Force Academy. He hit 58 home runs over the last three seasons in college. And frankly, he is right where he should be as a late round pick last year. He’s showing Twins decision makers that he probably needs to move up in the near future. But it’s why we always need to take a little deeper look. This week, this team faced Blue Jays top pitching prospects Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephens, both with three years of Division I ball under their belts. Mercedes hit a long homer off of Yesavage. 

The Dunedin Blue Jays are the Low-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Check out our sister site, Jays Centre, and their Top 20 Blue Jays prospect rankings. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Jay Thomason (Fort Myers): 3-for-3, BB, 2B(8), R, RBI, SB(14)

Pitcher of the Day 
Eli Jones (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. 69 pitches, 40 strikes (58.0%)

 

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

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K
#6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, R, 2 K, 2 SB(6). 
#9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, HBP, 2 R, K
#14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, HR(3), R, SF, 2 RBI.
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) -2-for-3, BB, R, RBI.
#18 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 0-for-5, 4 K.
#19 - Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(10), R, RBI, K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, RBI.  

NEXT GAME SCHEDULE
Monday
FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CST) - TBD 
Tuesday
Minnesota @ Baltimore (5:35 PM CDT) - Simeon Woods Richardson (2-2, 4.01 ERA)
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:38 PM CDT) - TBD
Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 PM CDT) - TBD.
Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CDT) - TBD.
Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CDT) - TBD.
FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CDT) - 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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[Dman]

Thomason looks more than ready to move up, but not much room in the infield for the Kemal's.  .The only player from the Kernal's that seems ready to move up would be Baez but he is a catcher.  With Salas back they technical have 4 shortstops plus Amick and Doncon whenever those two come back.  SO he might have to stay at Fort Meyers a bit longer than maybe he needs to.

I don't know how much more McCusker can do to earn that callup.  10 Home runs already. and he has been striking out less these past few games as well.  Maybe no room with Bader and Larnach hitting pretty well right now?  Hope he keeps it up.  Would like to see if it translates to the bigs.

[rdehring]

Got a couple questions, Seth.

First, McCusker deserves a shot with the Twins.  But looking at their current roster, how can they fit him in?  The only move I can see is flipping him with Kearsey.  But as we saw yesterday, Kearsey does some things very well for the Twins.

Also a bit intrigued by Diaw.  Kid is hitting well in his first full season.  But, as with all catchers what is his defense like?  With a couple years of experience, can he be an adequate big league catcher?  Or better than adequate?

Also great seeing Winokur's bat come alive.  Thanks for the report, Seth.

[jmlease1]

11 hours ago, Dman said:

I don't know how much more McCusker can do to earn that callup.  10 Home runs already. and he has been striking out less these past few games as well.  Maybe no room with Bader and Larnach hitting pretty well right now?  Hope he keeps it up.  Would like to see if it translates to the bigs.

I think McCusker just has to keep sustaining it and hope for an opportunity. If he were on the 40-man, he might have gotten a look already? But OF just isn't where we're short right now, especially with Castro back. Would he provide more offense than Keirsey? Almost certainly, but Keirsey is mostly being used as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement right now anyways, which isn't something McCusker brings to the table. And when the Saints are collectively putting up a .797 OPS, McCusker's 1.058 does lose a little of its luster. Mickey Gasper looked overmatched in MLB, then immediately started destroying AAA pitching again. The step from AAA to MLB is treacherous.

Hope DeBarge comes back soon; hate seeing guys miss extended time from getting HBP. Good to see GG hit another dinger too. I think seeing where his power production is at will determine how quickly he gets bumped to Wichita, but he's on a nice path so far.

[jorgenswest]

If the Twins believe that McCusker is ready there is definitely a place for him. Castro can play 2B and Clemens or Bride can be moved to clear a spot for him. Those two combined for 4 starts since the return of Lewis and Castro. Those starts could have been given to McCusker.

I don’t know if McCusker’s strikeout and walk rates are going to work at the major league level. I am curious to find out though. You can be successful in the majors combining a low average with a high ISO. Most of those players also combine a high strike out rate with a high walk rate. McCusker doesn’t have that high walk rate.

Can he match Seiya Suzuki or would he match Jhonkensy Noel?

[LambchoP]

I'd love to see how Mccusker does in the bigs. If they don't want to lose Keirsey as the pinch runner/late game sub, then they can get rid of Bride or Clemens. The IF is set with Lewis and Castro back. Between DH at bats and a few starts in the OF, they should be able to find plenty of at bats for the big man. Give him his shot. Adding a major power threat could really lengthen this lineup.

[D.C Twins]

E Rod worries me... lots of walks and SO... can he consistently make hard contact on pitches in the zone?

[Doctor Wu]

21 hours ago, rdehring said:

Also a bit intrigued by Diaw.  Kid is hitting well in his first full season.  But, as with all catchers what is his defense like?  With a couple years of experience, can he be an adequate big league catcher?  Or better than adequate?

I'm intrigued by Diaw's potential too, but I also don't know much about his defensive skills behind the plate. Nevertheless, we still need more catching depth, so I'll be following his season.