What's all the buzz about in Wichita?

[Chris Hove]

With the Twins still struggling to win games, there hasn't been much excitement lately. However, there's one team that's currently loaded with talent and brings an excitement that Twins fans can follow. This team features a blend of top prospects on the pitching staff and at the plate. The Double-A Wichita Wind Surge are currently thirteen games into the second half with a 9-4 record after finishing in second place, 37-32, in the first half.

One player who didn't have much of an impact in the first half but is expected to in the second is last year’s top Twins draft pick, Kaelen Culpepper, who was called up with two games left in the first half. Culpepper had a tremendous first half, batting .293, and showed off his power potential by hitting nine dingers in 54 games played. He helped guide the High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels to a first-half championship before being promoted to Double-A.

Culpepper was recently named to the MLB.com Top-100 Prospects list at #96. He also earned the honor of being selected for the 2025 All-Star Futures Game. He's off to a decent start in AA after 14 games, slashing .333/.412/.433. At the age of 22, Culpepper has a lot more room to grow and develop his power, which he has already shown in his first two years in the minor league system.

Another Culpepper, this time pitcher C.J. Culpepper, ranked #10 in the Twins organization, according to MLB.com. He struggled last year in Double-A before being shut down due to a forearm injury. He had trouble ramping up in spring training and was put on the IL with an undisclosed injury, but he is back pitching for the Wind Surge.

The Twins will be very cautious with the 23-year-old going forward. He has made four starts for Wichita, totaling 11.2 innings, and has only let up one earned run, but left after just one inning in his last start. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and build on his success as he has done so far.

The rest of the Wind Surge’s rotation includes Mike Paredes, John Klein, Christian MacLeod, and Twins Daily’s #1 Twins pitching prospect, Connor Prielipp. The 24-year-old Paredes is 9-0 on the season. He's fresh off being named Texas League Pitcher of the Week. Although he has made only two starts, he would lead the Texas League in multiple categories, although he's not yet qualified due to his limited number of starts. He has a 1.92 ERA, a Whip of 1.02, and also holds opponents' batting averages to .199 in 64.2 innings this season. His 3.39 FIP would also rank in the top 10 in the League.

John Klein, 23, has been spectacular in his seven starts this year, including only surrendering three runs in his last four starts. He also ranks in the top five in almost every pitching category: 3.22 FIP and a 21.0% K-BB ratio over 63.2 innings.

Christian MacLeod is one of the older starting pitchers on this list at 25 years old. Still, despite his age, he has had a very successful minor league career, accumulating over 202 innings, mostly at the High-A and Double-A levels. He had some injury concerns in early June, but is now back and pitching well for the Wind Surge. Over his 13 starts at Fort Myers, St. Paul, and Wichita, he commands a 1.69 ERA and a 2.83 FIP. He has a curveball and changeup that get the hitters whiffing at a lot of pitches in two-strike counts.

At 24, Connor Prielipp needs the innings to show that he can make an impact in Double-A and, most importantly, at the next level. The innings will come slowly, and he will be eased along due to his previous arm issues. He still has a lot to prove, having pitched only 30 innings in his first two minor league seasons, but the talent is there. His three-pitch mix gets a lot of swings and misses. The most crucial part is that if he's healthy, he should only continue to improve. His fastball has averaged around 94 MPH, touching 97 mph, and that wasn't at full speed. His slider and changeup both possess a significant amount of deception and generate a high miss rate, as evidenced by his 49K in 40 IP this year.

https://www.milb.com/wichita/video/connor-prielipp-k-s-six

Let's keep the hype going with some more exciting talent. This outfield group, with the addition of Gabriel Gonzalez, has been imposing and turning a lot of heads in the minor leagues.

Kyler Fedko is leading the Texas League in HR, R, RBI, and OPS. He also ranks second in wOBA and Top-5 in stolen bases—very much improved numbers from last year. At the age of 25, Fedko has logged over 1,100 at-bats in his minor league career, which can only help him as he works his way up to Triple-A.

https://x.com/WindSurgeICT/status/1939424325095788788

Turning 21 in January, Gonzalez has finally found his groove both at the plate and in the field, as he seems to have put his injury history and high strikeout rate behind him. Gonzalez was promoted to Wichita in mid-May, and he has not missed a beat. Although his power numbers are down so far, his walks are up, and his strikeouts are down, which has led to a 92-point increase in his OBP. He's hitting balls in the gap, which accounts for his .344 BA. Besides his batting average, he has been an above-average fielder, only making one error in the outfield over 250 innings of work.

How about an under-the-radar guy like Kala'i Rosario? After a tough start to the season, the 23-year-old has followed it up with two good months, including hitting for the cycle against Springfield. He leads the team in hits (72) and also comes in second in numerous offensive categories. He's fit in nicely in the cleanup spot for a very deadly lineup.

Now we get to the guy that everyone has been talking about since he was drafted fifth overall by the Twins in 2023, Walker Jenkins. The #1 prospect in the Twins system and #15 overall on MLB.com is the youngest non-pitching prospect in the Twins' top 10 at the age of 20. Yes, he was hurt again this year and missed about two months, but he finished his rehab with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels back in mid-June. He's healthy and playing every day for the Wind Surge. He's a great contact hitter, and the home runs should slowly develop as he grows into his body. He has also demonstrated his speed, successfully stealing nine bases out of ten attempts. To add to his potential, he has made some fantastic catches this year.

The excitement is there for this Wichita team, as four out of the Twins' top-10 prospects are currently at Double-A. It's rare to have all that talent on one team. It will be interesting to see who gets the call-up to the next level. That will be determined by health and what the Twins ultimately do at the trade deadline.

 

 

 

 

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[1985Fan]

Great to see some of these prospects  performing well. I hope they let these guys play every day to get AB’s and innings pitched under their belts before trying to rush them up to AAA. Please teach the players defensive and baserunning skills so they’re prepared for promotion, and possibly the big leagues one day. Need players that play defense well, instead of playing multiple positions mediocre or poorly. 

[DocBauer]

A really good collection of talent there currently. And when the season started I was worried about them since they had so many injured arms. 

Surprised Olivar wasn't mentioned in the OP.

What else does Fedko have to do to get ready for AAA? It's not ad if St Paul's OF is so deep they're blocking him.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

We'd better be careful or MLB will want to break up this dynasty. Just kidding. Great article which gives us Twins' fans lots of hope.

[darwin22]

Great write up Chris on the numerous prospects that are producing for the Wind Surge.

I know selfish on my part, but I'm hopeful that all of these guys are still playing for the Surge in mid August as I have a 2-game road trip planned to see them in Springfield, Mo against the Cardinals AA affiliate.

 

[Fatbat]

Fedko should be promoted to see if he can handle AAAA pitching. His defense is plenty good with a large sample size. 

[Whitey333]

Always interesting articles on our prospects.  Every year it's the same thing.  Great prospects to eventually help the Twins.  Almost none of them will make it.  That's just the nature of the business I guess.  Over hype and hope.  At least the top players that don't make it will have their bonus money to "survive" on.  For me although it's fun to follow some of these can't miss prospects it just keeps reminding me of all the bs the organization throws out there.  Good luck prospects.  I really do hope many of you make it.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, Whitey333 said:

Always interesting articles on our prospects.  Every year it's the same thing.  Great prospects to eventually help the Twins.  Almost none of them will make it.  That's just the nature of the business I guess.  Over hype and hope.  At least the top players that don't make it will have their bonus money to "survive" on.  For me although it's fun to follow some of these can't miss prospects it just keeps reminding me of all the bs the organization throws out there.  Good luck prospects.  I really do hope many of you make it.

What percentage of MLB players were once prospects?  It's a mathematical certainty that a small percentage of prospects will become MLB players.  Nobody here refers to prospects as can't miss.  I am not sure why people being hopeful for prospects is an issue given the only way the twins or any other team with average or below average revenue can possibly build a contender is to develop prospects.  Complaining that people are encouraged by prospect performance that suggests our organization might outperform those low odds and building a contender makes absolutely no sense.

[madtowntwin]

I'm a "Pepper" - He's a "Pepper" - Wouldn't you like to be a "Pepper" to....Draft day today. Additional talent to add system wide. Exciting. Win Twins!!

[Chris Hove]

On 7/12/2025 at 4:59 PM, DocBauer said:

A really good collection of talent there currently. And when the season started I was worried about them since they had so many injured arms. 

Surprised Olivar wasn't mentioned in the OP.

What else does Fedko have to do to get ready for AAA? It's not ad if St Paul's OF is so deep they're blocking him.

Good, that you brought up Olivar. He's not forgotten, as he's been a big part of this team. I had to get the main guys on board, and I didn't want the article to be too long, but yes, you're right about Olivar.

 

I think they're taking their time with Fedko, given that this has been one of the most considerable one-year improvements, so maybe they want to see more? The Saints have a lot of OF talent they like, but you have to consider Morales and others who were released; who knows who will be the next call? The Saints have been pretty active in promoting players. We will see. Thank you.

[Chris Hove]

On 7/12/2025 at 9:54 PM, darwin22 said:

Great write up Chris on the numerous prospects that are producing for the Wind Surge.

I know selfish on my part, but I'm hopeful that all of these guys are still playing for the Surge in mid August as I have a 2-game road trip planned to see them in Springfield, Mo against the Cardinals AA affiliate.

 

Thank you; hopefully, you'll see a few of them!