Twins Minor League Report (5/20): Connor Prielipp Shows Off While Rain Wreaks Havoc Elsewhere

[Steve Lein]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Connor Prielipp)

TRANSACTIONS
There were no new transactions in the system on Tuesday ahead of the affiliates series opening games.

SAINTS SENTINEL
Norfolk @ St. Paul, Postponed (Rain)
The opening game of their series against the Tides was postponed on Tuesday as the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was mired in rain. It is the 12th game the Saints have had postponed on the season. This one is scheduled to be made up as part of a doubleheader at CHS Field on Thursday.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, San Antonio 5
Box Score
Top pitching prospect Connor Prielipp was tapped to start the series opener for the Wind Surge, and he looked every bit the part in his 3 2/3 innings. Prielipp has been on a strict pitch count of about 50 so far on the season, and reached exactly that number in this one. 36 of those went for strikes (72%), while by my count he induced 12 swings and misses and hit 97 MPH on the San Antonio radar gun. 

He struck out two Missions hitters in each of his first three innings, though the home team was able to get him for a run in the second with a double and a single for a 1-0 lead.

The Wind Surge got that run back in the top of the third when the first three hitters of the inning reached base to load the bases. A Rubel Cespedes ground ball went for a double-play that limited the damage, but this did allow the tying run to score.

In the bottom of the fourth Prielipp retired the first two hitters of the inning, but gave up a solo home run to end his day. In all, Prielipp allowed three hits, two earned runs, and struck out six. 

He gave way to John Klein who went the next 3 1/3 innings. He allowed a solo home run himself, two other hits, a walk, and struck out three.

Down 2-1 to begin the seventh, Noah Cardenas led off with a single to put the tying run on base. A Ben Ross single and walk to Tanner Schobel loaded the bases, and with two outs Kyler Fedko cashed them in with a bases clearing double to put the Wind Surge out front 4-2 and stay hot.

John Stankiewicz kept them in front with a one-two-three eighth inning, including two strikeouts, before Jarret Whorff was summoned to close it out in the bottom of the ninth. A pair of singles and a sac fly tied the game at four, but a flyout gave Whorff a chance to salvage extra innings. Instead, a double into the right-field corner walked it off for the Missions.

The Wind Surge got three hits from Tanner Schobel batting in the leadoff spot, and he also scored two runs, drew a walk, and had an injury scare on a collision in shallow center, but stayed in the game. Ricardo Olivar drew three walks and stole a base. The visitors were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but had done enough to steal game one before the San Antonio rally. Gabriel Gonzalez went 1-for-4 in his first game in double-A.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Fort Wayne 1 (5 innings)
Box Score
The Kernels matchup with the TinCaps started with a delay, and ended after another one, but they made it through five innings so it was made official.

After the initial delay, Kaelen Culpepper got it started with a bang, sending the first pitch of the game over the left-field fence for his fifth home run of the season.

Tanner Hall made the start on the road, and worked around some trouble through four innings to pick up his second win of the season. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and three walks, striking out two. Samuel Perez came on for the fifth and worked a one-two-three inning, striking out two.

The lineup for the Kernels extended their lead to five with a four run fourth inning. Brandon Winokur got it started with a 113.5 MPH triple and scored on an RBI single from Nate Baez. Khadim Diaw drew a walk before Caden Kendle brought in another run with a double. A walk from Jaime Ferrer loaded the bases, and a groundout and single from Culpepper would each bring in a run to put them out front 5-0.

The TinCaps run versus Hall came in the bottom of the fourth and gave the final score before the rain cut things short after five innings were complete.

Culpepper led the way for Cedar Rapids going 2-for-3 with the home run, two-RBI, and his eighth stolen base on the season out of the leadoff spot.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 3, Lakeland 13
Box Score
Right-hander Adrian Bohorquez took the pill for the Mighty Mussels on Tuesday, but unfortunately it was the wrong prescription. The Tigers bludgeoned him for eight earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings. He gave up four in the first, and four in the second on five hits and three walks. He struck out two. Jakob Hall came on in the second and stabilized things some, but it was already too little, too late.

In his 4 1/3 innings, Hall was charged two earned runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out five. Tyler Stasiowski gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits in his lone inning of work. He struck out two.

Fort Myers got on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning thanks in part to an error from Lakeland. Daniel Pena drew a walk, but was forced out on a grounder from Jose Rodriguez. The double-play throw from second went wide and Rodriguez moved to second, however. Miguel Briceno then brought him in with an RBI single that made it 4-1 at the time.

They added two more runs in the fifth when the rehabbing Payton Eeles led off with a single. Two batters later Yasser Mercedes drilled a double into left to score Eeles, but Rodriguez would get run down trying to take third. Singles from Poncho Ruiz and Pena around a wild pitch scored the second run of the inning. That would be it for the Mighty Mussels offense. Despite matching the Tigers with 11 hits on the game, the home team was the only one that was able to string them together in bunches.

Hunter Hoopes got the final inning and was the only one to come out unblemished. He retired the side in the eight, striking out two.

Dameury Pena (2-for-5, K) and Ruiz (2-for-4, R, 2B, K) were the only Fort Myers hitters with multiple knocks. Maddux Houghton also contributed a double. Eeles played the first five innings in left field, and finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and a walk in the fourth game of his rehab assignment.

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Braves 4, FCL Twins 5
Box Score
The Braves ambushed Twins starter Yoel Roque in the top of the first, who was only able to record one out before they went reaching into their bullpen. The first batter was retired on a flyout, but the next four all reached base (three singles and a walk) for the first run of the game. Will Armbruester then came on and allowed all three inherited runners to score as the Braves went ahead 4-0 after the top half of the game.

Armbruester went on to retire the next six hitters he faced to complete 2 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits in the first, but nothing else, and struck out two. Sebastian Pulido pitched the fourth inning and also set them down one-two-three, picking up a K in the process.

In the bottom of the fifth the Twins lineup finally broke through after a leadoff double from Irvin Nunez. Bryan Acuna promptly brought him home with an RBI single to make it 4-1.

Miguel Cordero came out of the bullpen to start the fifth inning and went the final three innings, retiring all nine hitters he faced to continue the trend. He struck out five and Ambruester, Pulido, and Cordero combined to set down the final 19 Braves hitters in the game after they scored four in the opening frame.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth thanks to a two-out rally. Jayson Bass led off with a walk before Ricardo Pena and Ricardo Paez were both retired. Then Victor Leal was hit by a pitch and Nunez drew a walk to load the bases. A wild pitch scored the first run of the inning and Acuna drew another walk to reload the pond with ducks. Eduardo Beltre then cleared them with his first double of the season to put them up 5-4.

Cordero picked up his first win of the season thanks to the late comeback. Acuna (1-for-3, R, RBI, BB), Pena (1-for-2, BB), and Nunez (1-for-2, R, 2B, BB) each reached base twice in the win.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Connor Prielipp, Wichita Wind Surge (3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K)
Miguel Cordero, FCL Twins (W, 3 IP, 5 K)
Hitter of the Day – Kaelen Culpepper, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, SB)

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

#5 – Connor Prielipp (Wichita): 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K
#6 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-3, R, HR (5), 2 RBI, SB (8)
#9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3, R, 3B (1), K
#11 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-3, 2 K
#14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 1-for-4
#16 – Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins): 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, K
#18 – Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 0-for-2, 3 BB, 2 K, SB (2)

WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLES
Norfolk @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CDT) - RHP Cory Lewis (1-3, 9.27 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CDT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (2-1, 3.94 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Fort Wayne (5:35 PM CDT) - RHP Jose Olivares (0-1, 5.19 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CDT) - LHP Michael Carpenter (0-2, 7.45 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

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[Mike Sixel]

Eeles in LF?

Culpeper looking good right now. 

[dxpavelka]

How many dead pitchers are turning over in their graves when they hear about a 50 pitch limit?

[Otaknam]

37 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

How many dead pitchers are turning over in their graves when they hear about a 50 pitch limit?

Normally I would agree with this sentiment. But for a guy like  Prielipp, who has had multiple serious arm injuries, it makes sense. The issue I have is the analytics to not let a starter face a lineup a third time. Imagine doing that to Gibson, Koufax, Clements, Blyleven, or dozens of great starters in the past. Sometimes the manager has to show confidence is his starters and not just manage by algorithm, IMO. 

[SF Twins Fan]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

How many dead pitchers are turning over in their graves when they hear about a 50 pitch limit?

Prior to this season he's thrown a total of 58 innings across 5 years.  They have to try and build his arm strength back up...  It would be incredibly dumb to let him go out for 7 innings and 100 pitches each time out.  It would have likely been back on the IL by now.   

[bean5302]

Prielipp can be moved to AAA any time now. His control and command were excellent yesterday. He was pounding the zone and painting the edges (just like he was, but getting bad calls the game before). I don't think there's a good reason to keep him in AA at this point. Prielipp's striking out 12.13 K/9 (32.6%) and only walking 1.96 BB/9 (5.3%). The marks are elite. This is about the time last year where the Twins opened up Marco Raya to 60 pitches, up from 50. Raya was stretched to up to 80 pitches after the All Star Game. Prielipp should get the same treatment. Gotta see if he can handle the starter workload. Either he can or he can't.

Speaking of AA promotions, both Cardenas and Olivar look like better catching options than what we have at AAA...

[Steve Lein]

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Prielipp can be moved to AAA any time now. His control and command were excellent yesterday. He was pounding the zone and painting the edges (just like he was, but getting bad calls the game before). 

He was getting bad calls in this one, too. This was the most egregious to me, but there were multiple others I noted as well.

 

[jmlease1]

Congrats to GG on his first AA hit! Nice to see him up in Wichita; I thought they might give him another few weeks in Cedar Rapids since he missed so much time with injury last season, but clearly they had seen enough and gave him the promotion. He certainly was looking ready. Should be fun to see how he does there: AA can be a big change.

So happy to see Prielipp staying on the mound and getting the opportunity to show his talent. Can't blame the Twins at all for being cautious with him considering the significant arm injuries and surgeries he's already had, but the talent is clearly there. Just hope it's not going to be a Canterino situation where every time he starts showing off his skill and stuff another arm injury sends him back to the IL. With the way they're trying to build him back up, it's probably a little more complicated to make decisions on when to promote him. While I'm super excited by his talent, we do need to remember that his career high for innings pitched is 23 1/3, including college. He's 1/3 of an inning away from that.

[rdehring]

Interesting seeing that Prielipp gave up the home run to his last hitter as he was approaching 50 pitches.  Expect he needs a couple more starts with a 50 pitch limit before moving up to maybe 60.  Doubt he will go beyond that as I HOPE the Twins plan is to move him up to the Saints soon.  That will put him in a position to join the Twins in August.  Could be a fantastic reliever, one who can go two+ innings, for the playoff run.

Gotta love Culpepper as the kid is flat out lighting it up.  Looks like time for a move to Kansas, at least to me.

Although his first starts haven't all been awesome, excited to see Carpenter pitching tonight.

[LambchoP]

Nice to see Prelipp dominating. I'm ok with them taking his build up slow. If he keeps pitching well after moving up to AAA, maybe he gets a call up to the twins to pitch in relief. Would be nice to have a lefty in our pen who can rack up the K's. Culpeper has looked great this year, I wonder when he joins Gonzalez in AA? Olivar has looked good there too, he seems like he may be a better long term option at catcher than Cartaya or maybe even Camargo? They should start having him catch daily and see if he can stick at the position. Unless a trade or FA signing happens, the Twins are going to need an MLB catcher next year to pair with Jeffers.

[DocBauer]

I'm fully on board the Prielipp hype train. He's got a special arm. Was this maybe his best outing of the season so far? I'm 100% in agreement on the 50 pitch limit. There's just no reason to push his arm too soon, too fast. And we're only coming to the end of May. There's still a good 3 months plus in the MILB season and he'll probably be at 60 pitches soon.

Considering how well he's doing, I can't imagine he won't be at St Paul come July 1st. But another month at AA won't depress me at all. Its all about build up and repetition and growing confidence. Ramp him up to 60 pitches in June, hit AAA in July, and then probably back him down late August due to IP with the possibility of throwing 1 inning at a time for the Twins to close out the season.

I'm not banking on him being part of the Twins pen late in the year, but he could be. Then, in 2026, he begins the season in St Paul in the rotation to continue his IP build up.

[FlyingFinn]

15 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

How many dead pitchers are turning over in their graves when they hear about a 50 pitch limit?

How many live former pitchers are saying, "If that coach didn't ask me to pitch when my arm was hurting or throwing 150 pitches every game when I was young, could I have had a long major league career..............."

[dxpavelka]

Feels like every pitcher in the minors has had multiple serious arm injuries.  Might be from being coddled.  If they don't want to throw the damn ball pick up a first baseman's mitt.

[dxpavelka]

22 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Normally I would agree with this sentiment. But for a guy like  Prielipp, who has had multiple serious arm injuries, it makes sense. The issue I have is the analytics to not let a starter face a lineup a third time. Imagine doing that to Gibson, Koufax, Clements, Blyleven, or dozens of great starters in the past. Sometimes the manager has to show confidence is his starters and not just manage by algorithm, IMO. 

Feels like every pitcher in the minors has had multiple serious arm injuries.  Might be from being coddled.  If they don't want to throw the damn ball pick up a first baseman's mitt.

 

 

[dxpavelka]

21 hours ago, SF Twins Fan said:

Prior to this season he's thrown a total of 58 innings across 5 years.  They have to try and build his arm strength back up...  It would be incredibly dumb to let him go out for 7 innings and 100 pitches each time out.  It would have likely been back on the IL by now.   

Wanna bet he ends up there anyway?

[dxpavelka]

8 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

How many live former pitchers are saying, "If that coach didn't ask me to pitch when my arm was hurting or throwing 150 pitches every game when I was young, could I have had a long major league career..............."

There hasn't been a pitcher throw a hundred and half pitches at any level of baseball since your grandmother was in the big leagues.

[SF Twins Fan]

1 hour ago, dxpavelka said:

Wanna bet he ends up there anyway?

No. Why would I ever want to do that? What a weird question to ask someone. Why would I ever hope a twins player gets injured.

[madtowntwin]

Keep it going Connor - Brick by Brick***Pitch by Pitch - You're making WI Proud! Win Twins!!

[FlyingFinn]

9 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

There hasn't been a pitcher throw a hundred and half pitches at any level of baseball since your grandmother was in the big leagues.

100% incorrect. I was on a youth baseball board 10-15 years ago. We didn't have any pitch limits. Of the 40 or so managers, about 4 would their best pitcher throw 150 pitches in a game. They ranged from 8 years old to 15. When asked why they had their pitcher throw so many pitches, they would say things like, "there's no rule against it," "I threw that much when I was their age," or "I don't have other kids who can throw strikes." Really, they were playing to win. Cal Ripken baseball changed their rules during that time and put different pitch limits for each age to stop managers like these from abusing the young pitchers arms.

[jkcarew]

Prielipp has a 4.30 ERA. He’s getting hit plenty right now at the AA level. Let him be. He’s not “dominating” the level regardless of how his results are spun here. Yes, he’s doing fine. But, let’s see if he can stay healthy and be stretched out later this year.

[dxpavelka]

15 hours ago, SF Twins Fan said:

No. Why would I ever want to do that? What a weird question to ask someone. Why would I ever hope a twins player gets injured.

who said anything about HOPING a Twins player gets injured.  My point was / is that if you continue to coddle them they will end up being Matt Canterino

[bean5302]

On 5/22/2025 at 6:59 PM, jkcarew said:

Prielipp has a 4.30 ERA. He’s getting hit plenty right now at the AA level. Let him be. He’s not “dominating” the level regardless of how his results are spun here. Yes, he’s doing fine. But, let’s see if he can stay healthy and be stretched out later this year.

Many people are more concerned with him striking out 33% and walking 5% since we're dealing with just a 23.0 inning sample size. Both are outstanding. The elevated BABIP against and his propensity to give up the gopher ball are not currently concerning me because of the sample size.