Twins Minor League Report (7/13): Down 8-0, Kernels Mount Crazy Comeback; Zebby Matthews Dominant in Rehab Outing

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Rubel Cespedes)

The draft is starting, and there were some really interesting games in the Twins minor leagues. 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins sent Zebby Matthews to St. Paul to start his rehab assignment.
Fort Myers catcher Rafael Escalante was activated from the Injured List and then released.   

DRAFT
The 2025 draft started on Sunday evening with the first three rounds. Here are the players drafted by the Twins. Hopefully the guys who will be signing in the next couple of weeks and we'll start tracking. 
1st Round (16): SS Marek Houston, Wake Forest - talented fielding shortstop, good athlete, really increased his power in 2025. 
Comp Balance (36): RHP Riley Quick, Alabama - 6-6, 260 pounds, averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball. Had SEC offers out of high school for baseball and football. 
2nd Round (54): SS Quentin Young, Oak Christian School (California) - 6-6 shortstop, nephew of Delmon and Dmitri Young.
3rd Round (88): RHP James Ellwanger, Dallas Baptist - throws really hard. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 2, Iowa 8
Box Score
There was no score in this game as a couple of intriguing young starters faced off. For the I-Cubs, Ben Brown gave up just two hits over five shutout innings. He had five strikeouts and no walks. Zebby Matthews made his first rehab start, and it went well. He gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. He walked none and had an impressive nine strikeouts. 

At that point the game started for the hitters, the I-Cubs hitters in particular. Jose Urena came on to start the fifth inning. He gave up four runs on four hits and three walks over two innings. Kody Funderburk gave up one run on three hits and a walk over his two innings. Jarret Whorff gave up three runs on five hits in the top of the ninth inning. 

Down 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Payton Eeles put the Saints on the scoreboard with an opposite field, solo home run. Eeles had two of the Saints six hits. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Noah Cardenas hit his fifth homer since joining the Saints last month. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, San Antonio 7
Box Score
Two batters into this game into the bottom of the first inning and the Surge had a lead. Walker Jenkins led off with a walk and scored on Gabriel Gonzalez’s 17th double.

John Klein started for Wichita. He began by putting three zeroes on the board. Unfortunately, he was hit around a bit and gave up a home run in a four-run fourth inning. He gave up four runs on four hits over four innings. 

Jaylen Nowlin came on and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the fifth inning.  

The Surge cut the deficit to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run shot by Rubel Cespedes, his sixth homer of the season.

Mike Paredes came on for the sixth inning. He worked three innings and gave up two runs, both on solo homers. Jacob Wosinski pitched a scoreless ninth inning. He had three strikeouts. 

Cespedes and Gonzalez were both 2-for-4. Kyler Fedko added his 12th double. Walker Jenkins went 0-for-3, but he walked twice. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 10, Peoria 8 (10)
Box Score
Peoria’s bats got going early in this game. Slowly the Kernels tried to work their way back. Was it too little too late?

Alejandro Hidalgo started. He was charged with three runs on two hits and three walks in just two-thirds of an inning. He had already reached 36 pitches. Jeremy Lee came on. He was charged with five runs (just 2 earned) on three hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. Next on the mound was Tanner Hall. He gave the Kernels 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and had one strikeout. Nick Trabacchi was brought in to start the sixth inning. He tossed two scoreless innings and had three strikeouts. 

Down 8-0 going to the fifth inning, the Kernels started their comeback. Andy Lugo led off with a single. Caden Kendle came on and hit his sixth home run of the season. Maddux Houghton walked and stole second base. He scored on a Luke Napleton single up the middle. 

Jump to the top of the seventh and the Kernels doubled their pleasure and added two more runs. With one out, Danny De Andrade hit his 18th double. Two batters later, Jaime Ferrer’s 11th double drove in the team’s fourth run. Andy Lugo followed with his sixth double to drive in Ferrer and make it an 8-5 game. 

The top of the eighth started with a walk by Houghton. Napleton was then hit by a pitch. Billy Amick walked to lead the bases, and Danny De Andrade worked a walk to make it 8-6. Brandon Winokur followed with an infield single that made it 8-7. Jaime Ferrer hit into a double play, but it scored the game-tying run. 

Hunter Hoopes was perfect over two innings and had four strikeouts. 

To extra innings, we go. In the top of the 10th inning, Napleton was the Manfred Man. Billy Amick grounded to short. The throw was made to third base, but Napleton was safe on an error. De Andrade flew out, and Napleton was thrown out at the plate for a double play. Rally over? Not quite. Amick went to second on the throw, so when Winokur followed with a single, he scored the go-ahead run. He went to second on a wild pitch. Ferrer singled and Winokur scored. 

The Kernels took a 10-8 lead to the bottom of the 10th inning. The leadoff man grounded out to first base off of Kade Bragg with the Manfred Man advancing to third. After a walk, Bragg recorded a strikeout for the second out. Then, almost inexplicably, they attempted a steal, but Ferrer threw him out to end the game. 

Winokur went 3-for-6 with his 17th double. Lugo was 3-for-5 with a walk. Ferrer went 2-for-6 with his 11th double. De Andrade doubled for the 18th time this season and walked twice. Billy Amick, Kyle Hess and Maddux Houghton each walked twice. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 0, Clearwater 7
Box Score
Mussels pitchers gave up runs early and often, and their bats were unable to get anything rolling on Sunday. 

Michael Ross made the start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and three walks over four innings). He had four strikeouts. Jakob Hill came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk. He had one strikeout. Ivran Romero and Darren Oxford each pitched a scoreless inning. 

The Mussels got runners on base. They had seven hits and walked five times. All nine batters got on base at least once. The top three in the lineup each walked once. The bottom six hitters each had at least one hit. The last two hitters, Angel Del Rosario and Yohander Martinez, each contributed a single, a walk, and a stolen base. It was Del Rosario’s 31st steal of the season.

Unfortunately, they went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Daniel Perez had two hits in the game. The lone extra-base hit was a double by Byron Chourio, his second of the season. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids):  3-for-6, 2B(17), R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Pitcher of the Day 
Zebby Matthews (St. Paul): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 56 pitches, 38 strikes (67.9%)

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R (played CF) 
#9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-6, 2B(17), R, 2 RBI, 2 K (played 3B)
#12 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 BB, 2 R, K (played 1B)
#13 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B(17) (played LF)
#18 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, K (Catcher)
#19 - Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 BB, 2B(18), R, RBI, K
#20 - Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI K (played 2B)

MONDAY SCHEDULE
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Tigers (10:00 AM) - TBD 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 47-49
St. Paul Saints: 42-49
Wichita Wind Surge: 46-41
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 51-35
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 36-49
FCL Twins: 32-16
DSL Twins: 10-20

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

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[FlyingFinn]

Nice to see Zebby pitch like AAA isn't where he belongs.

[DJL44]

I would not be surprised to see Gonzalez in St. Paul in August, if not sooner. He's up to 200 plate appearances of hitting the snot out of the ball in Double-A.

[Dman]

Nice to see Zebby back.  Hopefully he stays healthy the rest of the way.

Happy Eeles is hitting HR's.  I think once he gets going with the power he will get his chance,

I know we all have seen Winokur in the box scores getting hits, but do you realize he has a 1.080 OPS in July?  It is only a couple of weeks, but his bat has been getting better the last month.  Hoping this is the breakout we have been waiting for.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I know we all have seen Winokur in the box scores getting hits, but do you realize he has a 1.080 OPS in July?  It is only a couple of weeks, but his bat has been getting better the last month.  Hoping this is the breakout we have been waiting for.

Winokur still has plenty of contact and pitch recognition improvements to make. Still, he is my favorite player to watch. I try to catch as many plate appearances as I can of Winokur. The kid is learning. The k-rate is down 2% and the BB-rate is up 1+%. He steals bases, hits for extra bases, reached base on errors, and is a tremendous defensive player with a rocket arm. I'm willing to be patient (think 2028). Fun player.

[Doctor Gast]

Zebby is doing well, starting his rehab.

Draft: My picks 1st round who rose to where Twins would pick before the draft, Bremner & Hall. Went surprisingly, #2 &  #9 respectfully. I would have picked Cunningham instead of Houston, IMO, Cunningham has more upside as a SS prep, but I'm OK with Houston, who, as a college SS, is more polished. My 1st choice at compensation was Bodine (C), a fast riser who went well earlier than Twins' selection. My 2nd choice was Stevenson (C), who I was hoping he'd dropped to the Twins. But SEA picked him just before the Twins. I tuned out after that.

[Trov]

11 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I would not be surprised to see Gonzalez in St. Paul in August, if not sooner. He's up to 200 plate appearances of hitting the snot out of the ball in Double-A.

He may stick down there for rest of season to try to get AA into post season.  Organizations like to get players into the post-season to get those extra games, but get the players to play in them too.  

[Major League Ready]

11 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I would not be surprised to see Gonzalez in St. Paul in August, if not sooner. He's up to 200 plate appearances of hitting the snot out of the ball in Double-A.

They have three guys at Wichita who could move up in the not-too-distant future if they think Fedko who turns 26 at the end of the season is still a prospect,   Some of it depends on if they trade anyone at the deadline.   I could see them sending Fedko to AAA and Martin up to the Twins if Castro or Larnach is traded.  Fedko's OPS is .997 since 6/20 and .865 for the year.

[LambchoP]

Fedko, Culpeper and Gonzalez are all tearing up AA and should move up the prospect rankings while Rodriguez and some of our pitchers moves down. Do we have any info on E Rod's new injury? Is this what we can expect from him, 2-5 IL trips each year? That's not good for one of our top 5 prospects but also not uncommon for this organization unfortunately.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

They have three guys at Wichita who could move up in the not-too-distant future if they think Fedko who turns 26 at the end of the season is still a prospect,   Some of it depends on if they trade anyone at the deadline.   I could see them sending Fedko to AAA and Martin up to the Twins if Castro or Larnach is traded.  Fedko's OPS is .997 since 6/20 and .865 for the year.

I think that's right: some of these folks are much more likely to get moved up to AAA if the Twins trade away some position players at the deadline and open up MLB slots for guys like Martin, Julien, etc. I think the Twins want guys like GG and Culpepper playing every day and will be less concerned whether they do it in AA or AAA, but just want them getting consistent ABs and time in the field.

Fedko's case is a little more interesting, as he's 26 and hasn't really been on the prospect radar. I'd say he's more likely to get a move to test how he does at a higher level.

Interesting how the breakout prospects this season have been mostly on the position side.

Thrilled to see Zebby looking good. The sooner we can get him back to take the Adams slot, the better.