Twins Minor League Report (6/18): Walker Jenkins Returns to Wichita

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

TRANSACTIONS
INF Tanner Schobel transferred to 60-day IL (St. Paul)
LHP Richard Lovelady released (St. Paul)

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Toledo 6  
Box Score
Travis Adams: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: Edouard Julien (4), Carson McCusker (13)
Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB), Carson McCusker (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI), Jeferson Morales (2-for-4, 2B)

The Saints’ comeback fell short on Saturday.

Old (old, old, old) friend Dietrich Enns started for the Mud Hens. That’s right, we’re throwing it back to the Jaime García trade. The lefty—now a 34-year-old with a pinch of salt in his beard—allowed a trio of runs while racking up 10 strikeouts.

The first of those scores came in the fourth when Edouard Julien bashed a solo homer to center, and the second run arrived one pitch later; this time via a Carson McCusker blast. 

 

 

McCusker added an RBI knock in the fifth.

Travis Adams had seen better days on the mound. Toledo tagged him for a trio of runs during the game’s crucial transition from its early to mid stages, cutting his start off after four innings. He threw 66 pitches. 

Still, the game was tied heading into the eighth. Heading into his second inning of work, Kyle Bischoff loaded the bases with one out, necessitating Cody Laweryson to attempt to save the day. He did not. Akil Baddoo blasted a back-breaking double that staked the Mud Hens to a 6-3 lead.

St. Paul clawed back in the ninth—and Julien even drove in a run on a single—but McCusker struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the game. 

Old friend-ish Akil Baddoo went 3-4 with a triple and a double. He drove in four. 

Toledo second baseman Hao-Yu Lee is ranked as the 6th prospect in the Tigers organization. He walked once in five plate appearances. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Arkansas 5 (10 Innings)
Box Score
Christian MacLeod: 2 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: Kala’i Rosario (7)
Multi-hit games: None

The Wind Surge were walked-off in extras on Wednesday. 

The Travelers celebrated Christian MacLeod’s return from the IL with rude intentions and poor manners. Blake Rambusch greeted the lefty with a leadoff triple; he later scored on a sacrifice fly. Again, in the second, the frame’s first hitter clocked MacLeod for an extra-base hit—this time a double—before eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly. A third and final run in the third chased MacLeod from the game.

Relievers entering under dire straits aren’t supposed to cruise for an extended outing, but evidently nobody told Pierson Ohl of this. He pitched brilliantly. An unearned run was his only blemish; he otherwise struck out seven over 3 ⅓ innings. His season ERA dropped to 2.08. 

Wichita’s most potent offensive inning came in the fourth. Kala’i Rosario blasted a solo shot to kick off the scoring. Ricardo Olivar struck out, but Rubel Cespedes doubled and advanced on a grounder while Ben Ross walked and stole second. With two runners dying to come home, Jose Salas smacked a single into center to tie the game. 

 

 

Olivar singled in Walker Jenkins in the fifth to cap Wichita’s scoring.

The Wind Surge failed to plate their Manfred Man in the 10th, while Arkansas laid down a sacrifice bunt turned game-winning play in the bottom of the inning when Salas fielded the ball and overshot Jake Rucker covering first.

Walker Jenkins arrived back in a Wichita uniform with typical flair. He walked twice, singled, and stole two bases. 

The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners. Always a hotbed for talent, they sent forth their 15th-ranked prospect, Brandyn Garcia, who pitched the aforementioned scoreless 10th. 

Kernels Nuggets

The Kernels were rained out on Wednesday. They will play a doubleheader on Thursday, June 19th. 

Mussel Matters
Game One: Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 5
Box Score 
Christian Becerra: 2 ⅔  IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
HR: Daniel Pena (2)
Multi-hit games: Byron Chourio (3-for-4, R)

Fort Myers fell in a game that started on Tuesday. Steve Lein covered that part of the match here. 

The extra day did little to affect Fort Myers’ fortunes. Starting at the bottom of the third with runners on second and third, Billy Amick struck out before Dameury Pena summoned home a run off a groundout. Bryan Acuna then punched out. That concluded the last serious scoring threat the Mighty Mussels produced.

Matters on the mound went better. Jason Doktorczyk pitched as the pseudo-starter. He was brilliant. Early command issues begat six dominant, scoreless frames, as the righty’s six-pitch mix befuddled hitters. He topped out at 91.8 and elicited 13 swings and misses across 71 pitches. On a day when his team needed length, Doktorczyk couldn’t have performed much better. 

Byron Chourio singled thrice and stole a base.

Rehabbing minor leaguer, Billy Amick, singled and struck out twice in three at-bats. 

Lakeland is an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and they offered the phenomenally named Franyerber Montilla—their 11th-ranked prospect—as their finest youngster. He went 3-4 with two doubles, two runs, two RBIs, and a walk. 

Game Two: Fort Myers 1, Lakeland 6 (7 Innings)
Box Score
Matt Gabbert: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Bryan Acuna (2-for-3)

The Mighty Mussels came up short in the second game of their doubleheader. 

There was a point in which Fort Myers was winning. For about half an inning. A curt lead indeed. A Peyton Carr walk and two productive groundouts moved the 1st baseman to third; he then scored on a fielding error. 

That’s when the trouble began. Starter Matt Gabbert had expertly held the Flying Tigers at bay, yet Brennen Oxford entered a much more hostile environment. Lakeland bludgeoned him for four runs in a frame he would not escape, portending Fort Myers’ impending doom. They would tack on two more runs in the seventh.

The Mighty Mussels and Flying Tigers combined for a hit by pitch, three walks, and five strikeouts across 58 plate appearances, a remarkable display of putting the ball in play.

Yet again, Montilla was Lakeland’s best prospect, and, yet again, he went off, homering and singling in four at-bats. He may need a bump in his ranking. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Doktorczyk
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 1-3, R, 2 BB
#13 – Billy Amick (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2 K
#14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 0-4, K
#18 – Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 1-4, 2 K
#19 – Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 2-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, BB, K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Andrew Morris
Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM) - RHP John Klein 
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit  (4:05 PM) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (Game Two) - TBD
Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Michael Ross
FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM) - TBD
FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (Game Two) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Miami (9:00 AM) - TBD

 

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[ryan189]

funny adams seen better days allowed 3 hits a infield hit a jam shot and a fly balls to left that should of been caught that turned into a triple .was a little more wild but had 5ks got to love these write ups tell me you didn't watch the game.

[Linus]

5 hours ago, ryan189 said:

funny adams seen better days allowed 3 hits a infield hit a jam shot and a fly balls to left that should of been caught that turned into a triple .was a little more wild but had 5ks got to love these write ups tell me you didn't watch the game.

So you are expecting the writer to watch 6 different games in one day in order to do the write up?  Relax. 

[ryan189]

29 minutes ago, Linus said:

So you are expecting the writer to watch 6 different games in one day in order to do the write up?  Relax. 

well if your writing about something and expressing your opinion I do. sorry I offended you maybe you should relax.

[stringer bell]

Lovelady did very well for the Saints. He was released because he activated his contract opt-out. Perhaps a mistake to let him go?

[jmlease1]

Glad to see Walker Jenkins back in AA. Hope he stays healthy for the rest of the season.

Julien seems to be getting back on track in AAA. Wonder if/when we will see him back in MLB? I'm rooting for him, and if someone gets hurt in the infield, he might get another chance. Bride has done so little, I wouldn't mind seeing Julien get another shot to hit in MLB again. He at least might have a future with the Twins and Bride doesn't. Hell, Julien runs the bases pretty well.

[Doctor Wu]

12 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Lovelady did very well for the Saints. He was released because he activated his contract opt-out. Perhaps a mistake to let him go?

Yeah, he has a bit of MLB experience, so it DID seem like he might have been a player we could have used for some sort of time with the club. No major loss, but if we need arms he could have been handy to keep around. 

[Doctor Wu]

Schobel now on the 60-day IL?! I obviously missed something: what happened?

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Schobel now on the 60-day IL?! I obviously missed something: what happened?

Hit by pitch. Broken bone. 

[Doctor Wu]

On 6/20/2025 at 10:25 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Hit by pitch. Broken bone. 

Thanks for the update. Hope he makes it back before the end of the season.

[nclahammer]

On 6/19/2025 at 5:53 PM, ryan189 said:

well if your writing about something and expressing your opinion I do. sorry I offended you maybe you should relax.

Really ryan189?   Reporting on six games all going on pretty much simultaneously and your expectation is that every at bat of every game be watched (and then critiqued) in order to do a write up on the game?  Adams gave up three runs on three hits and walked a couple of batters.   If you were to ask Travis Adams I bet he would agree, "Travis Adams had seen better days on the mound."   Maybe adding a comment that Adams may have had some tough luck during the game is one thing, but I think you went a little too far attacking the credibility of a TD writer over somethign so very petty.  Thank you Matt Braun and the Twins Daily staff for providing the most thorough coverage of the Minnesota Twins minor league system.  Keep up the good work.

[ryan189]

4 hours ago, nclahammer said:

Really ryan189?   Reporting on six games all going on pretty much simultaneously and your expectation is that every at bat of every game be watched (and then critiqued) in order to do a write up on the game?  Adams gave up three runs on three hits and walked a couple of batters.   If you were to ask Travis Adams I bet he would agree, "Travis Adams had seen better days on the mound."   Maybe adding a comment that Adams may have had some tough luck during the game is one thing, but I think you went a little too far attacking the credibility of a TD writer over somethign so very petty.  Thank you Matt Braun and the Twins Daily staff for providing the most thorough coverage of the Minnesota Twins minor league system.  Keep up the good work.

attacking the credibility my god i think that's a little dramatic