Twins Minor League Report (7/30): Kyle DeBarge Inches Towards History

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of David Malamut (photo of Kyle DeBarge)

TRANSACTIONS
LHP Jaylen Nowlin transferred to AAA St. Paul
RHP John Stankiewicz transferred to AAA St. Paul
RHP Connor Gillispie outrighted to AAA St. Paul
RHP Pierson Ohl optioned to AAA St. Paul
RHP Noah Davis recalled by Twins
RHP Logan Whitaker transferred to AA Wichita

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Toledo 4 (8 Innings)
Box Score
Darren McCaughan: 5 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints lost in a rain-called game.

Frankly, the rain didn’t mask any particularly intriguing performance. Carson McCusker doubled in a run. José Miranda knocked in two in the sixth. Payton Eeles reached base three times. Darren McCaughan threw 97 pitches. This concludes the notable events and outcomes from the game. 

Eeles is slashing .333/.415/.444 in 22 games in July. 

Old friend Akil Baddoo went 0-4 for the Mud Hens.

Luke Keaschall is slashing .205/.304/.205 in his rehab assignment. 

Third baseman Hao-Yu Lee is the seventh-best prospect in the Tigers' system. He singled once in four trips to the plate.

Wind Surge Wisdom

The Wind Surge were rained out on Wednesday. They will play two on Thursday. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 7, Lansing 3
Box Score
Chase Chaney: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
HR: Brandon Winokur (14)
Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, BB), Billy Amick (2-for-4, R, BB), Andy Lugo (2-for-3, R)

The Kernels cruised to a win on Wednesday.

It always helps to start the game with a four-spot. A trio of singles, and Kyle DeBarge’s 53rd stolen base of the season, plated a run and left two more men waiting on the basepaths. They didn’t stay there long. Brandon Winokur worked the count to 2-0 before smoking a three-run shot over the left field bleachers. That’s back-to-back games with a homer for the 20-year-old. And he tied a career-best with 14 long balls on the year.

A Maddux Houghton knock in the fifth plated another run; a second man touched home off a wild pitch. A Jay Thomason sacrifice fly in the eighth capped the scoring for the night. 

Cedar Rapids walked a preposterous 10 times against just four strikeouts. Extreme patience or a result of unseasoned A+ ball pitchers? Sometimes these things happen in the lower levels of the minors.

Kyle DeBarge stole his 53rd and 54th base of the season. The Twins franchise single-season record is 62, set by Chuck Knoblauch in 1997. The organization's minor league record dating back to 2006—the extent that Fangraphs’ data reaches—is 56 by Zack Granite in 2016. 

In his Kernels debut, Ruddy Gomez pitched a pair of scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

No player ranked in the Athletics’ top-30 played on Wednesday.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 4
Box Score 
Adrian Bohorquez: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
HR: Yasser Mercedes (8)
Multi-hit games: None

The Mighty Mussels were nearly no-hit on Wednesday.

For seven full innings, Fort Myers didn’t have a hit. They had two runs—give thanks to a boatload of free passes and a sacrifice fly—but a baseball falling safely onto the Earth eluded them. As you may presume, this wasn’t dominance; the Mighty Mussels took six walks and were hit by two pitches by the time Yasser Mercedes strode to the plate in the eighth. Then, the 20-year-old put the whole thing to bed, launching a solo shot deep into the Florida night to ensure history would not be made in this game.

Though he walked off the mound with two runs on his ledger Adrian Bohorquez continued to flash the strikeout stuff that put him on the prospect map last year. The righty whiffed eight in his start, the second time he had done so in 2025, and walked just one, a critical development given his early-season issues with free passes. He ends July with a 0.90 ERA in the month, along with 20 strikeouts in 20 innings and just five walks. 

A final ninth-inning rally fell short as Jefferson Valladares smashed a grounder directly towards second baseman Wyatt Sanford with one out and the bases loaded, leading the infielder to snag the ball, step on second, and end the game with an easy throw to first. 

Like the Kernels, the Mighty Mussels walked more than they struck out on Wednesday, doing so at a seven-to-five clip.

Eduardo Beltre went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his Fort Myers debut. 

Pittsburgh’s sixth-ranked prospect, Edward Florinto, played center field, going 0-3, with a strikeout. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Adrian Bohorquez
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#2 – Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 0-3, R, BB
#11 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB
#14 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, 2B, 2 R, BB
#16 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, R, BB
#19 – Eduardo Beltre (Fort Myers) - 0-3, BB, 2 K

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM) - RHP Marco Raya
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM) - RHP John Klein
Wichita @ Amarillo (Game Two) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg
Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk
DSL Twins @ DSL Phillies Whites (10:00 AM) - TBD

 

View full article

[FlyingFinn]

Just when it looks like Martin, Keaschall and Julien could be called up, they go 0 for 11. Julien has been especially hot and suddenly has the highest OPS in the lineup but tonight was not his night, striking out 4 times.

[bunsen82]

Debarge, Amick and Winokur are continuing to rake. 

[mikelink45]

Time to give Eeles a look in Minneapolis.  He has earned a chance and no one else is forcing their way onto the roster at this time. 

Noah Davis should go down - who comes up?  What will the BP look like without Duran?  I hated to see him go.  I would have made Ryan, Duran, and Buxton my three untouchables, but too late now.  Is Varland the new closer?  Jax has not looked good.

Finally isn't it time for the SP in the minors to go five innings?  Unless there are delays they are already warmed up and one more inning now and another by the end of August should be fine.

[gman]

I expect Abel, the new #6 prospect, to slide into the Twins rotation. They have the rest of this years schedule to work with him on what he needs. Tait is listed at #4, but if Keaschall plays the rest of the way for the Twins, he may move up to #3. Or then again Tait and Abel may slide down the list after being re-evaluated.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, gman said:

I expect Abel, the new #6 prospect, to slide into the Twins rotation. They have the rest of this years schedule to work with him on what he needs. Tait is listed at #4, but if Keaschall plays the rest of the way for the Twins, he may move up to #3. Or then again Tait and Abel may slide down the list after being re-evaluated.

Gleeman posted on X that the Twins are assigning Abel to AAA, not the majors, fyi.

[MinnInPa]

10 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Debarge, Amick and Winokur are continuing to rake. 

really like Amick... dont see DeBarge or Winokur becoming more than AAA players w no impactful MLB career.. Amick, Culpepper, Jenkins, Gonzales, and Keashall have a chance

[rdehring]

Thanks for the information, Matt, about stolen base records for the organization.

Gotta believe DeBarge is going to blow past Granite's 56 and Knoblach's 62.  Hopefully this kid can hit enough to make it those next three steps.  Also remain hopeful that the organization will have made changes by the time he gets here to both play him and let him run when he is on base.

I see Culpepper has some speed as does Jenkins.  If this group can get together and Buxton is still here in say two or three years, the Twins could again be exciting to watch.

[FlyingFinn]

7 minutes ago, MinnInPa said:

really like Amick... dont see DeBarge or Winokur becoming more than AAA players w no impactful MLB career..

We are total opposites here. I think high A is similar to college ball and suspect Amick will struggle in Wichita. At a minimum, I think DeBarge makes it to MLB as baserunning/stealing specialist. Hope for a lot more though. Winokur - didn't like his slow start this year but he is young and has picked up speed, especially on the power side. I'm liking him more every day.

[MinnInPa]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

We are total opposites here. I think high A is similar to college ball and suspect Amick will struggle in Wichita. At a minimum, I think DeBarge makes it to MLB as baserunning/stealing specialist. Hope for a lot more though. Winokur - didn't like his slow start this year but he is young and has picked up speed, especially on the power side. I'm liking him more every day.

I just think Winokur is just gonna be another K King... if you cant hit .250 plus in A  AA  i just dont see any potential to get to the majors and be an impact player..if he s getting fooled by A and AA pitchers ..w how is he ever gonna hit Major league pitching?? I hope you are right though??? 

[Danchat]

They have 3 roster spots to fill in the majors... have to imagine Ober will be back and Martin will take Bader's spot.