Twins Minor League Report (8/21): Pablo Lopez Rehabs, Walker Jenkins Homers, and Mussels Win in Wild Walkoff

[Seth Stohs]

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

TRANSACTIONS
None .No Transactions on Thursday. Well, other than Pablo Lopez officially starting his rehab in St. Paul. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 0, Round Rock 6
Box Score
Rehab Night in St. Paul; Offense Takes the Night Off  

The Saints fans got to see a couple of rehabbing big leaguers on Thursday night. Pablo Lopez had not pitched in a game that counts since June 3 in Sacramento. He made the start for the Saints and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. He threw 45 pitches. 25 were strikes.   

Trent Baker came on and got the final out of the second inning and worked a scoreless third inning. In the fourth inning, the rehabbing Simeon Woods Richardson entered the game. In 3 1/3 innings, he gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits. He walked one and had four strikeouts. 40 of his 64 pitches were strikes. 

Marco Raya was next. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning and then worked the eighth and ninth inning too. He gave up one run (on a solo homer) on two hits and a walk. 

The Saints were shutout for the first time in months (at least in a nine-inning game). They certainly had opportunities. While they had just six hits, they also walked eight times. However, they went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Eight of the hitters in the lineup had either a walk or a hit. Noah Cardenas was 0-for-1 but had three walks. Will Holland went 2-for-3 with a walk. Jhonny Pereda and Anthony Prato each had a hit and a walk. Holland, Prato and Pereda each had a double. 

DK Doing DK Things 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Midland 9
Box Score
Jenkins, Salas Go Deep, But Surge Can't Overcome Gallagher's Tough Night  

One night after Darren Bowen recorded just two outs before being ejected, Wichita manager Brian Dinkelman certainly wanted to get a little length out of his starter. Because of that, to some degree, Ryan Gallagher had to take one for the team. He gave up four runs in the first inning and eight runs (7 earned) over four innings. He gave up 10 hits, walked one and had just one strikeout. 

Lefty Kade Bragg gave up one run on two hits over his three innings. Jaylen Nowlin worked the final inning and gave up one walk to go with three strikeouts. 

The Wind Surge actually got on the scoreboard first. With one out in the top of the first inning, Walker Jenkins knocked his seventh Surge homer of the season. 

Down 9-1 going to the seventh, Wichita scored two more runs on a Jose Salas, two-run homer. That was it for the scoring. 

Jenkins went 2-for-3 with a walk and his home run. Salas went 2-for-4 with his fourth Surge homer. Rubel Cespedes hit his 21st double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 2, South Bend 6
Box Score
Kernels Start Quick, but Cubs Storm Back 

The Kernels scored one run in each of the first two innings of this game. Then the Cubs responded with six straight runs. 

Caden Kendle led off the game by being hit by a pitch. With one out, Eduardo Tait walked. Brandon Winokur drove in Kendle with a single. 

With one out in the second inning, Jefferson Valladares singled. Kendle singled to advance him to second base. With two outs, Tait dropped a single into left field to drive in Valladares and make it 2-0. 

Jose Olivares made the start. He got the first seven batters that he faced out. He then walked the eighth and ninth batters before giving up his first hit, and his first run of the game. He worked a perfect fourth inning, but in the fifth, he gave up a second and third run before coming out of the game. Brennen Oxford came on. Cubs prospect Cristian Hernandez stole two bases and scored on a wild pitch. His run was charged to Olivares. In 4 1/3 innings, Olivares gave up four runs on four hits. He walked three and had six strikeouts. Oxford allowed the inherited runner to score but got the two outs to end the fifth inning without further damage. 

Spencer Bengard gave up one run on two hits and a walk over his two innings. Then Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one run on two hits in his inning. He had two strikeouts. 

Caden Kendle went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Eduardo Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Brandon Winokur went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Misael Urbina went 0-for-1 but walked three times. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 12, Tampa 11 (10 innings)
Box Score
Mussels Survive 11 Steals, Five Errors in Walkoff Win. 

This was a back-and-forth game throughout, but in the extra frame, the Mussels ended it with a walkoff. The Mussels scored in six of the first seven innings. The score was 5-5 after two innings. It was 8-8 after four innings. Through six innings, it was 10-10. Through eight innings, it was 11-11. 

This was certainly not a pretty game. The Mussels scored their 12 runs on 13 hits, 11 walks, and two hit batters. Tampa had 11 runs on 13 hits and three walks. Fort Myers helped them by committing five errors. The Tarpons helped themselves with 11 stolen bases. Fort Myers stole four bags. 

A rehabbing Tanner Schobel led off and went 1-for-4 with two walks and a double. Jacob McCombs was 2-for-6 with two stolen bases. Enrique Jimenez went 2-for-4 with two walks and a two-run triple. Dameury Pena was 2-for-6 and his leadoff single in the 10th inning provided the walkoff. Eduardo Beltre was 1-for-3 with three walks and a stolen base. Ian Daugherty went 2-for-4 with a walk. Yilber Herrera walked twice and stole a base.

Jonathan Stevens started for the Mussels. In two innings, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on five hits. He walked one and struck out five batters. Xavier Kolhosser gave up three runs on five hits over his three innings. He had three strikeouts to go with no walks. Tyler Stasiowski was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk over two innings. Brent Francisco was charged with an unearned run on one hit and one walk. He had six strikeouts and earned the win. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Walker Jenkins (Wichita): 2-for-3, BB, HR(7), R, RBI, K
Enrique Jimenez (Fort Myers): 2-for-4, 2 BB, 3B(1), 2 R, 2 RBI, K
Eduardo Beltre (Fort Myers): 1-for-2, 3 BB, 2 R, RBI, SB(5), K

Pitcher of the Day 
Brent Francisco (Fort Myers): 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 44 pitches, 30 strikes (68.2%)

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 2-for-3, BB, HR(7), R, RBI, K (played RF)
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, R (played 2B)
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K (played SS)
#5 - Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB, RBI (catcher)
#12 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 30 pitches, 23 strikes (76.7%)
#13 - Marek Houston (Fort Myers) - 0-for-5, 2 K (played SS)
#14 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, RBI (played 3B)
#20 - Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K (played LF)

FRIDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
Minnesota @ Chicago (6:40 PM CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-4, 5.06 ERA)
Round Rock @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CT) - RHP Andrew Morris (3-4, 4.28 ERA)
Wichita @ Midland (7:00 PM CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (1-1, 5.63 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CT) - LHP Garrett Horn (0-0, 3.52 ERA)
Tampa @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CT) - LHP Michael Carpenter (0-5, 4.61 ERA)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 58-69
St. Paul Saints: 55-66
Wichita Wind Surge: 61-56
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 65-52
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 46-68
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete)

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

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[Fatbat]

Now that Jenkins is healthy and seems like he is going on a heater, what the chance that he finishes the last 2-3 weeks of ‘25 in St.Paul?

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Fatbat said:

Now that Jenkins is healthy and seems like he is going on a heater, what the chance that he finishes the last 2-3 weeks of ‘25 in St.Paul?

It's a .900 OPS at AA.  It doesn't look like he is having much trouble there.  I'd think they let him finish out the AA season and then send him to AAA to get his feet wet there, but we'll see.

[Dman]

Kind of a disappointing night other than Jenkins.  I guess Jimenez and his triple was exciting.  I am surprised he is keeping that OPS around 1.000, but it's nice to see.

I finally could understand what they were saying about Smith II in the writeups.  In one plate appearance he swung at three pitches all out of the strike to get himself out.  So I don't think he has the best eye at the plate.  Makes sense they kept him a A ball despite his fast start.

Dang Gallagher was brutal.  It's the second game where his stuff was super hittable.  Arm probably wearing down, but that was not a good outing. Still pretty amazing for an arm to reach AA in there first season especially as a later round pick.

Eeles came up in a a couple of big spots and killed rallies.  He just hasn't had the same magic this year.  He rolls so many balls to the second baseman on the ground.  It would be nice if he could hit the ball in the air more.  Feels like he just isn't healed completely from that knee surgery or he needs to make some serious adjustments.

Pretty rough night for most affiliates except Fort Meyers.  that is the most offense I have seen from them in quite a while. 

[DJL44]

6 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

#13 - Marek Houston (Fort Myers) - 0-for-5, 2 K (played SS)

I think he's at Cedar Rapids

[jmlease1]

Good game for Tait, but he's been scrabbling lately. He clearly still needs development time. 

Jenkins is having a very good season, marred only by a little injury trouble. It's great to see him hitting for more power without sacrificing his batting average, and still taking his walks. He's looking very dangerous out there. I don't that it matters that much whether he finishes his season in AA or AAA at this point? I guess if the AAA season runs later I'd be happy to see him come up to Saint Paul and get some more game action in, and maybe get a jump on next season.

[rdehring]

Considering how long he was out, a reasonable outing for Lopez.  Not so much for Woods Richardson, although we don't know how worn down he is physically. 

Agree with the above comments that Jenkins is sure looking like a real prospect.  Hopefully, the Twins won't screw him up.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

I think he's at Cedar Rapids

thanks for keeping me on my toes... I tout and promote the promotions, write about them in the "Transactions" section... and then forget to change that. Thank you! 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Considering how long he was out, a reasonable outing for Lopez.  Not so much for Woods Richardson, although we don't know how worn down he is physically. 

Agree with the above comments that Jenkins is sure looking like a real prospect.  Hopefully, the Twins won't screw him up.

The big inning off of SWR last night started with a fielding error on Sabato. Things could have been completely different. That said, yeah, he was hit pretty hard, but he was throwing strikes, mixing it up some and looked much better than the numbers indicated. 

 

[rdehring]

9 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

The big inning off of SWR last night started with a fielding error on Sabato. Things could have been completely different. That said, yeah, he was hit pretty hard, but he was throwing strikes, mixing it up some and looked much better than the numbers indicated. 

 

Thanks, Seth.

That entire physical problem with SWR is just plain weird.  Is it correct that he had a parasite that was removed by some procedure?  That is almost too difficult to understand.  Together with Vazquez going to the hospital for some time with an infection in his shoulder.

[bunsen82]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

It's a .900 OPS at AA.  It doesn't look like he is having much trouble there.  I'd think they let him finish out the AA season and then send him to AAA to get his feet wet there, but we'll see.

In either case my guess is he goes back up as a top 10 prospect again.  he drops because he isn't healthy then performs in the second half and goes back up.  

Tait, Winokur,  Jenkins and Jimenez all with great days.   Pretty impressive for 4 of your highest ceiling players to have great days.  Meh for the rest other than Pablo giving it a go.    I really want to see the pitching performances improve.  Maybe we have to wait til next year for the reinforcements from the draft class.    We have a ton of talented prospects that will be going to A and/or A+ ball.    

[RpR]

The Twins minor league teams , seem, to have a fair number of good fielding players that have a serious problem hitting in the Bigs.

[Danchat]

Funny to see the AAA pitching staff throw out far more talent than what we're getting in the average Twins game when Ryan and Ober aren't pitching... 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

Dang....I wish i didn't even read that recap....depressing for the most part.  

[terrydactyls]

Does Doughty (Mussels catcher) have a broken throwing arm?

[Palindrome Bob]

55 minutes ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

Dang....I wish i didn't even read that recap....depressing for the most part.  

Indeed.

Ian Daugherty's performance at C (11 SBs allowed, 3 errors on throws) makes me grateful they traded for a few catching prospects after they didn't draft any this summer. I thought Daugherty was a fine undrafted free agent pickup at the time -- college catcher and all -- but yikes, that's a nightmarish box score for him, on a day where's there's competition for that honor.

And nice to see Holland get back above the Mendoza line. I've always liked him, and I can't help but think that he'd have made his major league debut by now if he'd been healthy during the earlier Gasper/Fitzgerald/Bride roster churn. At this point, I hope he's around in 2026 to audition for a Castro-style super utility role, and provide depth in St. Paul, if not.