Minor League Report (6/30): Jenkins, Culpepper and Especially Fedko Lead Wichita to a Win

[John Bonnes]

Image courtesy of courtesy of Ed Bailey

TRANSACTIONS
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Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Louisville 8
Box Score
Randy Dobnak: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

HR: Carson McCusker (16)
Multi-hit games: Austin Martin (2-for-4, 1 R), Jeferson Morales (2-for-4, 2B)

The St. Paul Saints dropped the series finale 8–3 to the Louisville Bats on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field. They fell behind early and were unable to recover, despite a late homer from Carson McCusker. Louisville struck quickly, scoring twice in the first on a two-run homer by Edwin Ríos and adding single runs in the second and third, including Ríos's second homer of the game. Starter Randy Dobnak allowed four runs over four innings.

The Saints didn’t record a hit until the fourth, when Austin Martin singled and McCusker drew a walk. Both were stranded. St. Paul finally broke through in the eighth. After a hit-by-pitch and a Martin single, McCusker launched his 16th homer of the season to right-center, trimming the deficit to 8–3.

Royce Lewis, on a rehab assignment and starting at third base, grounded out in the first, struck out in the fourth, and grounded into a forceout in the fifth. He was removed for Anthony Prato, who entered on defense in the eighth.

The Saints put together a final rally in the ninth, with a walk by Aaron Sabato and a double from Jeferson Morales, but stranded both runners as the game ended on a lineout and back-to-back strikeouts.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, Springfield 4
Box Score

Christian MacLeod: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: Kyler Fedko (17)
Multi-hit games: Gabriel Gonzalez (3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI), Ricardo Olivar (2-for-4), Ben Ross (2-for-4)
The Wichita Wind Surge rallied late to beat the Springfield Cardinals 7–4 on Monday, scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth to erase a two-run deficit.

Springfield opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning, helped by a throwing error by catcher Ricardo Olivar. Wichita responded in the bottom of the frame, though, when Gabriel Gonzalez doubled and scored on two wild pitches during Walker Jenkins’s at-bat. 

After the Cardinals added a run in the third inning, Wichita trimmed the deficit in the bottom of the third. Gonzalez singled to left, driving in Ben Ross and moving Kaelen Culpepper to second. Both teams then went scoreless until the eighth, when Jeremy Rivas hit a solo home run to left-center with two outs, extending Springfield’s lead to 4–2.

But Wichita answered with a game-changing bottom of the eighth. Kyler Fedko hit a three-run home run to left-center, scoring Jenkins and Kala’i Rosario to take a 5–4 lead.

Later that inning, Ben Ross singled home Ricardo Olivar, and Jose Salas doubled to score Nate Baez, pushing the final to 7–4.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 6, South Bend 1
Box Score
Alejandro Hidalgo: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Danny De Andrade (2-for-3, 2B, 1R), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI), Justin Connell (2-for-4, 2B, 1 RBI)

The Cedar Rapids Kernels earned a 6–1 victory over the South Bend Cubs, fueled by a five-run bottom of the eighth inning.

South Bend took an early lead, but Cedar Rapids tied it in the fourth when Danny De Andrade doubled and later scored on a two-out single by Jaime Ferrer. The Kernels took the lead for good in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Misael Urbina grounded to the shortstop, but the attempt at a double-play misfired in the worst possible way. 

The Kernels added some insurance runs In the eighth. Urbina led off with a double and scored on a single by Kyle DeBarge, who then stole second. Ferrer followed with a two-run double, and Justin Connell added an RBI double to cap the rally and make it 6–1.

Brandon Winokur recorded a hit, an RBI groundout, and a strikeout. Cedar Rapids turned a double play in the eighth and held South Bend scoreless over the final six innings.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 1, Tampa 3
Box Score 
Christian Becerra: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
HR: nope
Multi-hit games: Dan Pena (2-for-4)
The Tarpons scored once in the sixth and twice more in the seventh to beat the Mighty Mussels 3–1 on Sunday afternoon. 

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, when Jakob Hall walked Engelth Urena, who moved to second on a passed ball and came around to score on a two-out single by Hans Montero against reliever Josh Bortka, giving Tampa a 1–0 lead. They extended the lead by two runs in the seventh off of Bortka and reliever Tyler Stasiowski.

The Mussels got on the board in the ninth. Daniel Pena singled, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a single to left by Javier Roman.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ricky Castro, Wichita (3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day –Gabriel Gonzalez, Wichita (3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI)

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects.
#1 – Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B, 1R, 2 K
#4 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-4, BB
#9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 1R, 2 K
#10 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-1 1R
#12 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2 K
#13 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI
#18 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 2-4
#19 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, 2B, 1R

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MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Tigers 2 (10:00 AM) - TBD

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St Paul @ Gwinnett (6:05 PM) - TBD
Wichita @ Tulsa (8:05 PM) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM) - TBD
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM) - TBD
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Cardinals @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD

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[DJL44]

Gabriel Gonzalez just keeps on hitting.

[Dman]

Man Gonzalez is just going crazy at AA.  This is supposed to be the jump that stalls your development and he just keeps on hitting.  If he keeps it up they should send him to AAA at the end of July.  Just crazy what he is doing at 21 years old.  K rate at AA 10% Walk rate 10%. BABIP is high so regression is coming, but still those are really nice numbers all the way around for AA.

[FlyingFinn]

Gonzalez vs. Fedko for Twins minor league hitter of the year so far, with apologies to Kaelen Culpepper and McCusker.

[rdehring]

Great seeing Jenkins with a home run a few days ago and double yesterday.  Seems like he is settling in and we're starting to see some of that anticipated power.

Gonzalez sure has been opening a lot of eyes.  At least mine.  Was also reminded when I linked to his data page that the kid is only 21.  Continue to find it hard to believe that he moved up to AA and his numbers got better.

[LambchoP]

Encouraging to see these hitters doing so well. This Fedko kid seems like he came out of nowhere! Gonzalez is on a season long tear. Hasn't slowed down in the least in AA and if he keeps it up he should see St Paul soon. Culpeper looks like our SS of the future and DeBarge is swiping bags like Ricky Henderson! Mccusker and Martin are both playing like they want a call up.

Now if we could only see some of this kind of success with our pitchers our upcoming talent would be in great shape. As it is, we have no real pitchers in the upper minors that look anywhere close to MLB ready. I really hope they can pick up some young pitching at the trade deadline by selling off all our expiring contracts.

[Fatbat]

Some great ball being played in the minors.  A lot of summer left so we will see who keeps crushing the whole season.  Fedko and Gonzalez are very nice surprises!