Twins Minor League Report (7/4): Walker Jenkins Provides Fireworks for Wichita

[Tom Froemming]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (image of Walker Jenkins)

This holiday edition of the Minor League Report is a bit stripped down from what you’re used to here at Twins Daily. For more info on the individual games, click the links to the box scores in the results section below.

RESULTS
Gwinnett 4, St. Paul 3
Wichita 14, Tulsa 2
Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 3
Bradenton 14, Fort Myers 1
FCL Twins: Postponed due to rain
DSL Twins 16, DSL NYY Bombers 5 (completion of June 16 game)
DSL NYY Bombers 9, DSL Twins 5

TRANSACTIONS
Emmanuel Rodriguez’s rehab assignment was moved from the FCL Twins to the Mighty Mussels.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY 
Pitcher of the Day: Marco Raya, St. Paul (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K)
Raya continues to show he’s put a disastrous start to the season behind him. Tonight, he completed six innings for the first time this season, and has now gone at least five frames in four of his last five starts.

Things didn’t get off to an encouraging start, as Raya loaded the bases in the first inning. He worked out of the jam and experienced little turbulence from there. He helped his own cause by fielding his position very well tonight. He made a great play coming in off the mound to his right and started two double plays. 

Raya got nine swinging strikes and topped out at 96.2 mph. His feature pitch tonight was the sweeper, which he deployed 24 times, but he also threw 19 curveballs. Raya threw 52 of his 86 pitches for strikes (60.5 percent) and walked four batters, so it wasn’t all sterling, but tonight was another big step in the right direction. This was the first time Raya completed six innings since August 9, 2024, and the first time he has done so in Triple A. His ERA on the season is still ugly, but Raya has surrendered six earned runs over his last 24 2/3 innings, a 2.19 ERA.

Hitter of the Day: Walker Jenkins, Wichita (2-for-3, HR, 3 BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, K)
Not only did Jenkins crush a three-run homer to center field, but he was also only retired once in six trips to the plate tonight. After striking out in the first inning, Jenkins hit an RBI single in the second and his three-run homer in the third. At that point, Tulsa pitchers wanted nothing to do with him. He walked in the fourth, sixth, and ninth innings. 

Jenkins’ big game was part of a huge offensive outburst by the WInd Surge, as they scored 14 runs on 16 hits and nine walks. In 16 games with Wichita this season, Jenkins has hit .271/.419/.424 (.843 OPS), with 14 walks, 15 strikeouts and seven stolen bases.

STARTING PITCHERS
Marco Raya (St. Paul): 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
C.J. Culpepper (Wichita): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Cole Peschl (Cedar Rapids): 6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Eli Jones (Fort Myers): 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Omar Montano (DSL, Game 1): 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Santiago Castelllanos (DSL, Game 2): 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

NOTES: C.J. Culpepper squatted for a moment on the mound a couple of times between pitches during the first inning. It’s difficult to even speculate why that might have been. Perhaps his legs were feeling stiff; maybe he had an uneasy stomach. Whatever the issue was, Wichita manager Brian Dinkleman decided he’d rather be safe than sorry.

HOME RUNS
Walker Jenkins (Wichita), second with Wichita and third of the season.
Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita), first with Wichita, sixth of the season.
Justin Connell (Cedar Rapids), first of the season.

MULTI-HIT GAMES
Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2B, HR, BB
Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 2-for-3, HR, 3 BB
Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 2-for-6
Rubel Cespedes (Wichita): 2-for-5, 2B
Andrew Cossetti (Wichita): 2-for-4, BB
Ben Ross (Wichita): 2-for-4
Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-3, BB
Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, SB (45)
Caden Kendle (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, 2B
Teilon Serrano (DSL): 2-for-5, 2B
Yovanny Duran (DSL): 3-for-4, 2 3Bs, SB (1)
Jhomnardo Reyes (DSL): 3-for-5, SB (3)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 

1. Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 2-for-3, HR, 3 BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, K
3. Emmanuel Rodriguez (on rehab with Fort Myers): 1-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI, K
4. Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita): 1-for-5, BB, RBI, K
9. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-3, BB, 2 R
10. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, SB (45), K
11. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
12. Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, K
13. Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2B, HR, BB, R, 2 RBI
14. CJ Culpepper (Wichita): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
18. Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 1-for-3, 2 BB, SB (9), 3 R, RBI, K
19. Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, 2 K
20. Payton Eeles (St. Paul): 0-for-4

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 42-46
St. Paul Saints: 37-46
Wichita Wind Surge: 44-35
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 45-34
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-45
FCL Twins: 26-14
DSL Twins: 7-17 

TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul at Gwinnett, 6:05 pm CT: Randy Dobnak
Wichita vs. Tulsa, 6:05 pm CT: Christian MacLeod
Cedar Rapids vs. Quad Cities, 6:35 pm CT: Alejandro Hidalgo
Fort Myers vs. Bradenton, 5:05 pm CT: Dasan Hill
FCL Twins vs. FCL Red Sox, 9 am CT: TBD
FCL Twins at FCL Red Sox, Game 2: TBD
DSL Twins at DSL White Sox, 9 am CT: TBD

 

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[jmlease1]

Love seeing that from Walker Jenkins! Stay healthy, dude, because you are a player.

Excellent to see Raya getting back on track. He really struggled early in the season, but he's looking a lot more like the top prospect he's been touted as. Considering where our starting pitching depth is right now, his success could end up being imprtant.

DeBarge and GG with multi-hit games again. Ho hum. :P

[FlyingFinn]

And Raya shouldn't even have given up that run. Runner on 1st and he takes off for 2nd. Raya steps off and throws to 1st. Wrong base as the runner easily made it to 2nd. Then, he scored on a sac fly two batters later. Raya also threw more than 82 pitches for the first time in his career.

[Dman]

The 4 walks and only three K's dampens my enthusiasm for Raya's outing some, but yeah just nice to see him go 6 innings and keep runs off the board.  If he can truly turn things around in the second half it really, really helps with the pitching depth outlook for the Twins.

I don't know what more to say about Gonzalez except that I think Mariners fans are going to be upset with that Polanco trade.  Gabby still has to make it, but he seems to be covering every part of the zone and his eye at the plate has dramatically improved IMO. I wanted him traded last year. I guess I can eat my crow now.

That AA team is thick with solid bats.  They lost Schobel and Sabato and continue to keep getting hits. 7 of 9 hitters at AA have OPS's in the high 700's to 900's on that team.  We have hitter's hopefully we can get more arms.

I know Jenkins homer was the highlight but I am just as impressed that he took 3 walks.  They didn't want to pitch to him and he didn't expand the zone just took his walks.  That is nice to see because they'll know they have to throw in the zone to get him out if they can that is.

[DJL44]

8 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

And Raya shouldn't even have given up that run. Runner on 1st and he takes off for 2nd. Raya steps off and throws to 1st. Wrong base as the runner easily made it to 2nd. Then, he scored on a sac fly two batters later. Raya also threw more than 82 pitches for the first time in his career.

He doesn't have to put up many more starts like that and he'll get a shot. They might go to him the next time through the rotation. Better make it quick though, Zebby could be back by the end of the month.

[DJL44]

I actually prefer this format.

[DJL44]

7 hours ago, Dman said:

I don't know what more to say about Gonzalez except that I think Mariners fans are going to be upset with that Polanco trade. 

Mariners fans are already upset with the Polanco trade. They got diddly squat.

[DJL44]

Austin Martin has hit .323/.389/.452 since he came back from injury and no errors in the field while rotating between LF, CF and 2B.

[annismark]

Polanco has 12 HR this year, .759 OPS and a 13.4% strikeout rate...would be about our 2nd best hitter.

[stringer bell]

49 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Mariners fans are already upset with the Polanco trade. They got diddly squat.

Polanco has given the Mariners a 120 OPS+ this season, which isn't nothing. He's compiled .7 WAR.

Topa has been a mild positive this year, nothing special. The WAR (which I think is unreliable for relief pitchers) is .2.

Gonzalez will determine whether the trade is a success for the Twins.

[stringer bell]

Are the Twins trying to send Emma a message. It seems they have slow-walked his rehab for what seems a minor injury. 

[stringer bell]

33 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Austin Martin has hit .323/.389/.452 since he came back from injury and no errors in the field while rotating between LF, CF and 2B.

I believe Martin is a better fit for this team than Keirsey Jr. He would get playing time, especially against left handed pitching and he is about the equal of Keirsey in base running. He's not the fielder that Keirsey is, but I think he can hit in the majors.

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Polanco has given the Mariners a 120 OPS+ this season, which isn't nothing. He's compiled .7 WAR.

Topa has been a mild positive this year, nothing special. The WAR (which I think is unreliable for relief pitchers) is .2.

Gonzalez will determine whether the trade is a success for the Twins.

Polanco was signed as a free agent by the Mariners this offseason. His 2025 performance is completely irrelevant to the trade.

The Twins traded away one season of Polanco to the Mariners. He put up a 651 OPS for $11.25M.

[stringer bell]

Nice to see Jenkins have a big game. I'm sure the Twins would like to see him dominate AA for a month and get a taste of AAA this season. His numbers are OK, but nothing that screams "superstar" so far. 

[Bodie]

25 minutes ago, annismark said:

Polanco has 12 HR this year, .759 OPS and a 13.4% strikeout rate...would be about our 2nd best hitter.

Seatle fans, and the Mariners might just have standards...

[mikelink45]

26 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I believe Martin is a better fit for this team than Keirsey Jr. He would get playing time, especially against left handed pitching and he is about the equal of Keirsey in base running. He's not the fielder that Keirsey is, but I think he can hit in the majors.

It is the fielding that keeps Keirsey on the team.  Late game defense is highly valued.

[mikelink45]

I really enjoyed this format.  Great to see such succinct looks at the individual players through their game statistics.  Thanks. 

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, mikelink45 said:

It is the fielding that keeps Keirsey on the team.  Late game defense is highly valued.

It is hard to carry a player for 3-4 innings of defense a week.

[rdehring]

34 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Are the Twins trying to send Emma a message. It seems they have slow-walked his rehab for what seems a minor injury. 

Could that be because they have better rehab facilities in Fort Myers and want to keep guys there a few extra days?

[Major League Ready]

5 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

It is the fielding that keeps Keirsey on the team.  Late game defense is highly valued.

I would assume Kiersey goes back down When Keaschall is ready which should be relatively soon.  Martin is the guy earning a spot but I don't see room unless they trade Castro.

[rdehring]

Took a look at Jenkins other data.  In only 16 games (74 PA) back at AA, he has 15 K's and 14 walks.  Also is 7 of 7 in stolen bases.  Know nothing about his D other than people have said it is very good.  Seems like he is developing into a very good complete player, something the Twins haven't had a lot of when Buxton isn't playing.

[stringer bell]

3 minutes ago, rdehring said:

Took a look at Jenkins other data.  In only 16 games (74 PA) back at AA, he has 15 K's and 14 walks.  Also is 7 of 7 in stolen bases.  Know nothing about his D other than people have said it is very good.  Seems like he is developing into a very good complete player, something the Twins haven't had a lot of when Buxton isn't playing.

I think the projection as a five-tool guy is why he has stayed as high on the prospect list as he has. He's still really young and there might be a real jump in his numbers in the next twelve months. The Twins definitely need more guys who can win games with their bat, glove and legs. They have carried far too many guys who are bat-first or bat-only.

[stringer bell]

17 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

It is the fielding that keeps Keirsey on the team.  Late game defense is highly valued.

Agree that there is value in having a good defender to play defense in the late innings. But Keirsey's struggles at the plate (I'm being kind) really negate his strengths. 

[stringer bell]

38 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I would assume Kiersey goes back down When Keaschall is ready which should be relatively soon.  Martin is the guy earning a spot but I don't see room unless they trade Castro.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Keaschall start a rehab pretty soon, but I think he will need a while to ramp up. If he had to break a bone, it's too bad it was his throwing arm because he hasn't been able to strengthen his arm after last year's TJ surgery.

[LambchoP]

I would also much rather see Martin up instead of Keirsey. Martin can do all the things Keirsey can but would also be a better hitter. Keirsey is an automatic out and has not even been that great of a base stealer despite his speed. 

[Linus]

4 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I believe Martin is a better fit for this team than Keirsey Jr. He would get playing time, especially against left handed pitching and he is about the equal of Keirsey in base running. He's not the fielder that Keirsey is, but I think he can hit in the majors.

Completely agree. 

[DJL44]

6 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I wouldn't be surprised to see Keaschall start a rehab pretty soon

He is going to face Zebby in a simulated game soon, then head to Fort Myers.

[Fatbat]

There are a few guys ahead of Kyle Debarge that need to keep ahead of him in development or he will simple run past them. That kid is a down and dirty ball player. 
then there is Brandon Winoker. What a freak! When he dials in & lowers the K rate, he will be an absolute beast. 
Emma and Jenkins will stay healthy and make a statement in the 2nd half…. For the Saints!