Twins Minor League Report (7/12): Bride, Julien, McCusker Power Saints to Win on Busy Day in Twins System

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (photo of Dasan Hill)

The Twins and all six of their affiliates played on Saturday. Before we start, here are a few notes:

- Congratulations to Travis Adams on recording his first MLB Win on Saturday. He worked four innings in the middle of the Twins 12-4 win over the Pirates and gave up two runs (1 earned). 

- Kaelen Culpepper represented the Minnesota Twins organization on Saturday afternoon in the Futures Game in Atlanta. He went 0-for-1 in the game and played second base. 

- Sunday night is the start of the 2025 MLB Draft. Be sure to check in with Twins Daily throughout the day as rumors are discussed, and then when the draft begins, we'll be writing about the Twins selections. And, by the end of Monday night, we will have another 20 or so players to Get to Know! 

TRANSACTIONS
The Saints placed RHP Cody Laweryson on the 7-Day Injured List with a right forearm strain. 

Not Twins-related, but former, long-term Twins minor leaguer Jeferson Morales signed with Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. On Friday night, he played his first game for them. He went 4-for-4 with a double, a homer, and five RBI.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 10, Iowa 9
Box Score
The Saints and I-Cubs kept exchanging two and three run innings. The Saints took a 10-5 lead into the ninth inning. They gave up four runs but barely held on for a one-run win. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. He hit a hard grounder down the first base line. The first baseman dove and deflected it toward the infield tarp down the right field line. By the time it was retrieved, two runs had scored. . 

Jonathon Long hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to give the I-Cubs a one-run lead. However, in the bottom of the third, Carson McCusker and Jonah Bride hit back-to-back homers to reclaim the lead.   

 

Later in the inning, Emmanuel Rodriguez left an at-bat early with injury and was removed from the game. 

The Saints added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two on, Will Holland, who replaced Rodriguez, hit a three-run homer to give the Saints a 7-3 lead. 

The Cubs scored two runs in the sixth inning to make it 7-5, but again the Saints responded quickly. In the bottom of the sixth, the inning started with a walk by Anthony Prato and singles by Payton Eeles and Mickey Gasper to load the bases. Edouard Julien walked to make it 8-5. Jonah Bride doubled in two runs and gave the team a 10-5 lead. 

Recently-claimed Connor Gillispie started and gave up three runs on three hits and three walks in five innings. 

Trent Baker gave up two runs on four hits and three walks in two innings. He had three strikeouts. Erasmus Ramirez worked a scoreless eighth frame, but over his two innings, he was charged with four runs (3 earned) on three hits and a walk. 

Julien went 2-for-3 with two walks. Carson McCusker went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 18th home run. Jonah Bride was 2-for-3 with two walks, his second double and his first Saints home run. Will Holland’s fifth homer drove in three runs. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, San Antonio 4
Box Score
There was a strong pitcher’s duel in Kansas on Saturday night. Through seven innings, the game was tied at 1-1. The Missions scored three runs in the eighth inning to take control and held on to top the Surge. 

C.J. Culpepper continues to be worked into the rotation slowly. On Saturday, he tossed two scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one and had three strikeouts. Ricky Castro came in and gave up one run on five hits over the next 5 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts and no walks. John Stankiewicz gave up one run on one hit over the next 1 2/3 innings. Cole Percival (aka, Son of Troy) gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Walker Jenkins drove in Nate Baez with a sacrifice fly to tie the ballgame at 1-1. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jenkins drove in Jose Salas with a double, his fourth of the season, to make it 4-2, but that was as close as the Wind Surge got.   

 

Jenkins drove in the team’s two runs. Gabriel Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with his 16th double. 

Salas walked twice. Kyler Fedko and Ricardo Olivar each had a single and a walk. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 2  
Box Score
The Kernels scored three runs in the first inning, added on in the middle, and held on at the end to win again on Saturday. 

With one out in the top of the first inning, Caden Kendle singled and went to second on a Brandon Winokur walk. Kendle scored on a single by Poncho Ruiz. Winokur scored on a sacrifice fly by Misael Urbina. Andy Lugo drove in Ruiz with a triple that made it 3-0. 

In the third inning, Brandon Winokur launched his 12th home run of the season to make it 4-0. 

 

In the fourth frame, Jaime Ferrer doubles. He scored on a Justin Connell single. 5-0 Kernels, but was it enough? Let’s see if the pitching was able to hold on. 

Ty Langenberg put together the best start of his season. Over six innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He had one walk, hit a batter and had seven strikeouts.     

 

Logan Whitaker gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one hit and no runs in the ninth inning to close the door.

Caden Kendle led the offense. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 16th double. He came to the plate for a fifth plate appearance in the ninth but didn’t like a call and was ejected by the home plate umpire.   

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 7, Clearwater 2
Box Score
The Mussels got off to a fast start on Saturday night with a three-run first inning. They added one throughout and got a very solid pitching performances from young Dasan Hill and Jason Doktorczyk.

Let’s start with the pitching. Lefty Dasan Hill was very solid on this night. He gave up an unearned run on two hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had six strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk. His fastball consistently touched 96 mph. 

 

Doktorczyk got the final out of the fifth inning. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up one run on two hits. He walked one and had four strikeouts. 

With one out in the top of the first inning, Bryan Acuna singled. Byron Chourio walked. Caleb McNeely homered to dead center to give the team a quick 3-0 lead. It marked his third homer since joining the team last month.   

 

Yasser Mercedes led off the third inning with a walk. He stole second, his 26th steal of the season. He advanced to third on a wild pitch. McNeely followed with a solid single to right to drive in Mercedes and make it 4-0. 

McNeely began the top of the sixth inning with a walk. He went to second when Blaze O’Saben walked. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. Angel Del Rosario singled off of the shortstop's glove to drive in McNeely. Jose Rodriguez then singled to drive in O’Saben. A few pitches later, Del Rosario scored the seventh run on a wild pitch. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
Game 1: FCL Twins 7, FCL Red Sox 4
Box Score
In the first game, the Twins got strong pitching early and late, and a couple of crooked numbers in the middle innings to take the win.

Former shortstop Hendry Chivilli had his best pitching performance of the year. He tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and one walk, and he had four strikeouts. 

The Twins scored four runs in the top of the third inning. First, Yilber Herrera singled to drive in Yandro Hernandez. With two outs and the bases loaded, Irvin Nunez walked in a run. Luis Fragoza followed with a single that scored Ramiro Dominguez and Daiber De Los Santos to make it 4-0. 

In the fourth, Eduardo Beltre hit a two-run homer to make it 6-0. 

Juan Cota came in and was charged with four runs (3 earned) on three hits. Over two innings, he had a strikeout and walked four batters. Through six innings, the Twins held a 6-4 lead. 

In the top of the seventh inning, the Twins added an insurance run. With no one on and two outs, Fragoza singled, and soon after, scored on a Yandro Hernandez single. 

Anderson Ramos came in to protect the lead and tossed two scoreless innings to record his sixth save. He walked one and had two strikeouts.

Beltre led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his fifth home run. He scored two runs and drove in two runs. Fragoza went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Hernandez went 2-for-3 with a walk. He scored two runs and drove in another.  

Game 2: FCL Twins 1, FCL Red Sox 3
Box Score
The second game saw solid pitching, but the offense didn’t help as much as needed. Xavier Kolhosser started and gave up an unearned run on two hits and two walks over the first two innings. Miguel Cordero came in for the middle innings and was fantastic. He faced nine batters and got all of them out including three on strikeouts. Will Armbruester gave up two runs on four hits over the final two innings. He had two strikeouts. 

The Twins batters combined for four hits and seven walks. Their lone run came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Yandro Hernandez walked, and after a pitching change, Eduardo Beltre came in as a pinch-hitter. He hit his ninth double of the season to drive in Hernandez and cut the deficit to just 2-1. 

With the tying run on second, Twins hitters followed with two pop ups and a strikeout without tying the game. 

Ramiro Mendoza and Isaac Pena each had a single and a walk. Hernandez walked twice. 

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 11, DSL Tigers 4  
Box Score
Watch Game
When Rainer Marin gave up four runs in the first inning, there was a bit of “Here we go again!” Instead, he went three more innings without allowing a run. Then Aaron Carranza tossed two scoreless innings, and Nelson Cafe completed the final inning with another zero on the board. 

In the meantime, the Twins scored 11 unanswered runs to win a lopsided game of their own. 

The bottom of the third frame started with a run on two walks and two errors. Haritzon Castillo broke up the no-hitter with a two-run single to center to make it 4-3. There was a pitching change. After a fly out, Yovanny Duran singled and Pablo Castillo walked. Jamesson Val followed with an RBI single that tied the game. Next, Cristian Bonifacio singled to drive in Duran. After a force out, Teilon Serrano was hit by a pitch to drive in the sixth run. 

The Twins added a run in the fourth inning. Jhomnardo Reyes hit his sixth triple of the season, and Duran drove him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4. 

They added on in the fifth inning. Val led off with a walk and scored on Bonifacio’s second home run of the season. Jose Barrios singled and advanced to third base on two wild pitches. After Haritzon Castillo walked and stole second, Reyes doubled to drive in both of them and make it 11-4. 

The Twins scored their 11 runs on eight hits, 10 walks and two hit batters. Reyes again led the way. He went 2-for-4 with his fourth double and sixth triple and two RBI. Bonifacio was 2-for-3 with his second homer and three RBI. Val and Barrios each hit a single and walked twice. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Edouardo Beltre (FCL Twins):  4-for-5, 2B(9), HR(5), 2 R, 3 RBI
Honorable Mention:
Jhomnardo Reyes (DSL Twins): 2-for-4, 2B(4), 3B(6), R, 2 RBI
Cristian Bonifacio (DSL Twins): 2-for-4, HR(2), 1 R, 3 RBI, K
Caleb McNeely (Fort Myers): 2-for-4, BB, HR(3), 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K, SB(13)
Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2B(16)
Edouard Julien (St. Paul): 2-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, K.
Jonah Bride (St. Paul): 2-for-3, 2 BB, 2B(2), HR(1), R, 3 RBI, K. 

Pitcher of the Day 
Dasan Hill (Fort Myers): 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 80 pitches, 53 strikes (66.3%)
Honorable Mention
Ty Langenberg (Cedar Rapids): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 88 pitches, 58 strikes (65.9%)
Miguel Cordero (FCL Twins): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (9 up, 9 down)
Hendry Chivilli (DSL Twins): 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 40 pitches, 26 strikes (65.0%) 

 

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(4), SF, 2 RBI, K (played CF)  
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, 2 RBI, K (left in 3rd with injury)
#4 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-1 in the Futures Game (played 2B)
#6 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 80 pitches, 53 strikes (66.3%)
#9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(12), 2 R, RBI, K (played SS)
#10 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, K, SB(46) (played 2B)
#13 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2B(16) (played RF)
#14 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 28 pitches, 20 strikes (71.4%)
#15 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - Game 1: 3-for-4, HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, Game 2: 1-for-1, PH 2B(9), RBI. 
#18 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB (DHd)
#20 - Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (played SS)

 

SUNDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
Pittsburgh @ Minnesota (1:10 PM CT) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.08 ERA)
Iowa @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CT) - RHP Jose Urena (0-1, 2.31 ERA)
San Antonio @ Wichita (1:05 PM CT) - RHP John Klein (6-4, 3.25 ERA)   
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (2:05 PM) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-2, 4.94 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM) - RHP Michael Ross (2-3, 3.61 ERA)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 47-48
St. Paul Saints: 42-48
Wichita Wind Surge: 46-40
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 50-35
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 36-48
FCL Twins: 32-16
DSL Twins: 10-20

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Saturday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

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[Patzky]

Ohh Emm.

[FlyingFinn]

Sabato batting #8 in the lineup tells me the Twins have no plans to bring him up this year (and this is the area he usually bats). Could also say they won't add him to the 40 man roster. Usually those types of guys bat in the top four spots to get extra AB's.

[Doctor Gast]

IMO, Saints need a lot of runs to win their games because their pitching & defense overall have been disappointing.

[Dman]

Beltre is starting to come on strong.  It was a .770 OPS in June and in July so far he has an .896 OPS. Those are pretty darn good numbers for an 18 year old in the FCL.

Also nice to see Chivili Pitching well.  If he turns into a solid arm that would really help as he is the same age as Hill and Soto with Bohorquez age 20.  That could be a nice wave of young arms coming up together.

Really, really nice to see Hill with no walks.  It shows several things.  His stuff plays at that level so he can afford to be aggressive.  He is gaining control of pitches and finally with that he is lasting longer in outings as he is more efficient.  Hoping he can continue to have that kind of success the rest of the year.

Langenburg had a great outing, but I am going to nitpick it a bit. I didn't see the first few innings he pitched, but what I did see left me feeling he was more effectively wild than good.  Lot's of uncompetitive pitches in the dirt in front of the plate.  I get there is strategy to that getting hitters to look at low strikes, but I came away feeling like he is the 5.00 ERA pitcher that he is. Maybe I missed how dominant he was early as he had several K's early, but his last three innings weren't that great IMO.  Still it was a really good outing for him and he didn't give up any runs until his last inning.  I just didn't see the dominance when I was watching.

Gonzalez is going crazy.  Is he gonna hit .400 at AA?  He is at .370 right now.  It's 43 games now at AA if he stays this hot to the end of the month send that kid to AAA pronto. Heck send him now he looks ready.

The April and May swoon for Julien appears to be over his June OPS was .917 and his current July OPS is .990.  I think he's got his groove back.  Don't know if there is room on 26 man right now, but it sure is nice to see him back to the hitter he was.

[HrbieFan]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Sabato batting #8 in the lineup tells me the Twins have no plans to bring him up this year (and this is the area he usually bats). Could also say they won't add him to the 40 man roster. Usually those types of guys bat in the top four spots to get extra AB's.

I don't get it! The young man deserves a chance, unless the the stats we are seeing are hollow. Do any of you analytic geeks see any major red flags in his numbers? France has disappeared the past month, time to see what a replacement can do.

 

 

[HrbieFan]

Who is the next RP in the Twins pipeline? Over the past 4 years we have graduated Duran, Jax, Sands and Varland from the minors and they all have been successful with the big club. Besides Prielipp, I am not reading about any arms being projected to the pen anytime soon. 

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Gonzalez is going crazy.  Is he gonna hit .400 at AA?  He is at .370 right now.  It's 43 games now at AA if he stays this hot to the end of the month send that kid to AAA pronto. Heck send him now he looks ready.

I think he's ready too! Amazing numbers lately. 

[DJL44]

$4 tickets were too good to pass up so I ended up a the Saints game last night. It was "bring your dog" night but my dog is very bad around other dogs, very old and struggling with the smoke in the air so he stayed home.

Jonah Bride was good on both sides of the ball, made a couple good defensive plays.

I was excited to see Emmanuel Rodriguez. He has a very explosive swing. The first hit he had pinballed off first base (the actual base) and the umpire before ending up in RF. Unfortunately, I think he hurt himself swinging and missing in his second at-bat. That usually means a core injury.

Trent Baker was not good; he kept falling behind batters at the bottom of the Cubs' order. Gillispie was meh but he threw strikes.

Jose Miranda looks lousy. His batting average has slipped below .200 now. He's not squaring up pitches  consistently and when he does they go right to a fielder.

McCusker has a lot of levers to pull in the same direction but when he makes contact it is loud. Eeles must live in the weight room when he's not on the field. His lower half is huge for his height.

Sabato missed a backhand scoop on a ball in the infield. Not an easy chance, but something a top fielding 1B would have converted. He's at the right level for his development - no reason to rush him.

Gasper had a nice block behind the plate, otherwise I hardly noticed him which is good for a catcher.

I didn't get to see Austin Martin. Does he get Saturday nights off?

 

[NotAboutWinning]

Went to my first Saints game of the season last night. Usually exciting to watch young players on their way to the show. None of that. Lots of AAAA guys, failed prospects and roster fillers. If the Twins are going to turn their season around, it will be with the players they have... No sparks coming from this group 🫤

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, HrbieFan said:

I don't get it! The young man deserves a chance, unless the the stats we are seeing are hollow. Do any of you analytic geeks see any major red flags in his numbers? France has disappeared the past month, time to see what a replacement can do.

 

 

He's doing great this season, but Sabato has a lot more failure on his resume than success, so the Twins are unlikely to jump him to MLB, add him to the 40-man, and drop him into a playoff race based on a small sample in AA & AAA. his walks have slipped a little and he's not hitting RHP particularly well (he is annihilating LHP, which which will be intriguing). Julien is much more likely to get a recall since he's already on the 40-man.

There's also the basic reality that this Twins regime simply does not let go of depth for nothing, and they definitely do not flip on a veteran after a bad month. France has enough track record in MLB that if the Twins cut him, he'll be gone from the organization and they simply are uninterested in losing assets like that when a vet has a bad run. It's also why some of us are unhappy any time they sign a marginal veteran in the offseason, because we know the leash will be very very long.

[rdehring]

Loved your lead, Seth, Saturday in the Park.  That was Chicago, right?

Gotta like how Jenkins is having a solid game followed by another solid game, with a couple big nights mixed in.  The good news is that he is playing.  Unfortunately, EmRod is out again.

Like what I am seeing from Winokur as the summer wears on.  Was a bit surprised to see that yesterday's home run was number 12 to go with 47 rbi.  Should he end the year with 20 or so home runs and 75-80 rbi, that's a heck of a year considering how young he is.  I see the FCL club is winning two-thirds of their games.  Am I correct to assume they are in first place?  Or not?

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

$4 tickets were too good to pass up so I ended up a the Saints game last night. It was "bring your dog" night but my dog is very bad around other dogs, very old and struggling with the smoke in the air so he stayed home.

Jonah Bride was good on both sides of the ball, made a couple good defensive plays.

I was excited to see Emmanuel Rodriguez. He has a very explosive swing. The first hit he had pinballed off first base (the actual base) and the umpire before ending up in RF. Unfortunately, I think he hurt himself swinging and missing in his second at-bat. That usually means a core injury.

Trent Baker was not good; he kept falling behind batters at the bottom of the Cubs' order. Gillispie was meh but he threw strikes.

Jose Miranda looks lousy. His batting average has slipped below .200 now. He's not squaring up pitches  consistently and when he does they go right to a fielder.

McCusker has a lot of levers to pull in the same direction but when he makes contact it is loud. Eeles must live in the weight room when he's not on the field. His lower half is huge for his height.

Sabato missed a backhand scoop on a ball in the infield. Not an easy chance, but something a top fielding 1B would have converted. He's at the right level for his development - no reason to rush him.

Gasper had a nice block behind the plate, otherwise I hardly noticed him which is good for a catcher.

I didn't get to see Austin Martin. Does he get Saturday nights off?

 

Great Post! Thanks!

[LambchoP]

Gabby Gonzalez has had a monster year. If they keep it up I don't see why him and Culpeper couldn't get some time in AAA later this year. Very promising start for Hill. Him and Prelipp could be a nasty 1-2 lefty punch. What's up with E Rodriguez? Will he ever be healthy, or are we looking at a kid so I jury prone he'll never play a full season? If he is this prone to getting hurt this young, I can't imagine he'll get MORE durable as he gets older. Do we look to trade him? Hold onto him for another year and see if he can make the big leagues before trying to shop him?

[DocBauer]

Rodriguez hurt again? (Silent scream).

Getting really hard to ignore Julien. But where does he fit with Keaschall probably back in 2-3 weeks?

There's no need to rush Culpepper or Gonzalez to AAA. But if they keep this up, they should at least get a cup of coffee there to end the year, if not a couple of weeks. Ditto for Fedko, who I think should have already been promoted.

Been a very disappointing season for Langenberg so far. But how your season finishes is more important than how it starts, yes?

Great start by Hill. Can't call his rookie season as anything but a success. Seems as though Doktorczyk...a personal pick of mine as someone to watch...has been on a pretty solid role as of late.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm all in on pushing GG to AAA soon. This would allow them to potentially deal Larnach or Wallner in the off season. I remain hopeful Julien can be up, or dealt for another real prospect. 

Cannot believe ERod is hurt again. 

[Guest]

ERod has spent more time on the IL than off it.  Soft.

[jmlease1]

18 hours ago, Minderbinder said:

ERod has spent more time on the IL than off it.  Soft.

Yes, because getting injured is a mark of character. I'm sure if he just cared more he wouldn't get hurt. 🙄 #sarcasm