Twins Minor League Report (8/27): Emmanuel Rodriguez Returns

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Emmanuel Rodriguez)

TRANSACTIONS
OF Emmanuel Rodriguez sent to A Fort Myers on Rehab
RHP Cory Lewis transferred to development list (AAA St. Paul)
LHP Brady Feigl released (AAA St. Paul)
RHP Pierson Ohl optioned to AAA St. Paul
INF Ryan Daniels transferred to full-season IL (Fort Myers)
RHP Simeon Woods Richardson returned to Twins

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Toledo 1
Box Score
Kendry Rojas: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: José Miranda (7), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (3)
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints came out on top in a close affair on Wednesday.

Kendry Rojas turned in easily his best start as a Saint. The lefty eschewed whatever malaise had cursed him in his last three starts; against the Mud Hens, he mostly avoided the barrel and whiffed five batters over four shutout innings, walking just one. He threw 77 pitches. Some strike-throwing issues persisted—just 46 of his pitches went for strikes—but that’s a nitpicky complaint in an otherwise encouraging outing. 

St. Paul condensed their offense to two critical swings: José Miranda in the eighth, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. in the ninth for insurance. 

Noah Davis earned the game’s final five outs to notch his second save of the season with the Saints. 

Though the Tigers boast tremendous prospect talent, most of their best youngsters are in AA, leaving seventh-ranked Hao-Yu Lee as the highest-ranked player in Wednesday’s game. He collected two hits in four trips to the plate. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 8, Arkansas 5
Box Score
Ryan Gallagher: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
HR: Kala’i Rosario (21)
Multi-hit games: Kala’i Rosario (3-for-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 3 R, RBI), Hendry Mendez (3-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Nate Baez (2-for-5, R), Andrew Cossetti (2-for-4, RBI)

Wichita dropped an avalanche of hits to win on Wednesday.

Ryan Gallagher’s acclimation to the Wind Surge continues to be rough. The UC Santa Barbara product’s ERA with the team now sits at 6.12 after Wednesday’s outing. The problem? A nearly-escaped fifth inning turned nightmare when Hunter Fitz-Gerald homered to push Gallagher from a reasonable two-run start to a less acceptable four mark. Three walks and a run-scoring wild pitch did not help either. Hopefully, his next start gets him back on track.

Fortunately, Wichita’s bats were potent all night. Kala’i Rosario, Hendry Mendez, and Nate Baez—their two, three, and four hitters—all cracked multiple hits; Rosario nearly cycled (again); and Mendez reached base safely all five times.

Rosario is slashing .310/.444/.701 (that’s correct) across 23 games in August. 

Seattle’s sixth-ranked prospect, Michael Arroyo, played second base and collected two hits in five at-bats. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 0
Box Score
Jose Olivares: 4 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Misael Urbina (2-for-3, 3B, RBI), Caden Kendle (2-for-3)

The Kernels won with a shutout on Wednesday.

If you don’t know where the ball is going, then neither does the opponent. Jose Olivares epitomized this philosophy. Walking five likely drove his pitching coach mad, yet results favored the righty; the Sky Carp only once ever sent a man to third base, and never ushered one home off Olivares (or anyone, for that matter.) 

Brennan Oxford, Eston Stull, Julio Bonilla, and Paulshawn Pasqualotto worked to deliver the shutout to its conclusion.

The game’s only run arrived off a Misael Urbina RBI triple. Because an error preceded Urbina’s hit, no pitcher was charged with an earned run, meaning there were no earned runs at all in Wednesday’s game.

Those are Margaritaville jerseys worn in honor of America’s finest proprietor of leisure and beach lethargy, Jimmy Buffett. 

Recent first-round pick and 39th-ranked prospect, Aiva Arquette, went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts for the Sky Carp. 

Mussel Matters
Game One: Fort Myers 5, Dunedin 1 (7 Innings)
Box Score 
Christian Becerra: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Jacob McCombs (2-for-4, RBI), Dameury Pena (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R), Peyton Carr (2-for-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB)

The Mighty Mussels easily took the first of their two games on Wednesday.

Perhaps inspired by the presence of Emmanuel Rodriguez, Fort Myers played a well-rounded ballgame. Christian Becerra spearheaded the pitching effort, covering five frames with a leadoff homer as his lone blemish. The Blue Jays only accrued a trio of singles off the hurler the rest of the way. He struck out three.

Though Dunedin scored first, the Mighty Mussels responded with three scores in the second. Dameury Pena smacked a double to left, then ran home when Peyton Carr smashed a two-bagger of his own. Feeling left out, Yasser Mercedes also doubled. Feeling content with a hit of any variety, Bryan Acuna singled in Mercedes to cap the rally.

RBI singles by Carr and Jacob McCombs in successive innings gave Fort Myers a healthy four-run cushion.

Rodriguez singled, walked, and struck out in four plate appearances. 

No member of Toronto’s top 30 prospect list played in this game. 

Game Two: Fort Myers 1, Dunedin 3 (7 Innings)
Box Score
Michael Ross: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-3, R)

The Mighty Mussels couldn’t complete the doubleheader sweep on Wednesday.

Dunedin jumped on starter Michael Ross for a pair of first inning runs aided by a Bryan Acuna throwing error. A third inning run scored off a balk.

Fort Myers peppered Blue Jays pitchers for seven hits yet couldn’t escape the shutout until they had two outs in the sixth, when Yasser Mercedes smoked a double to score Dameury Pena. 

The aforementioned Pena is slashing .352/.413/.380 in 18 games in August.

Again, no one on Toronto’s top 30 prospect list played in this game. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Kendry Rojas
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kala'i Rosario (honorable mention to Hendry Mendez)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-4, 2 K
#2 – Luke Keaschall (Twins) - 2-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI, 2 K
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 1-5, RBI, K
#4 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Fort Myers) - 1-3, BB, K
#5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#9 – Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
#11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#13 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4
#14 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, 2 K
#20 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 3-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Toledo (5:35 PM) - RHP Andrew Morris
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - RHP Sam Armstrong
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - LHP Garrett Horn
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM) - RHP Eli Jones

View full article

[bunsen82]

Mendez should have been co hitter of the day. 3-3 and 2 BB, 2 runs 2 rbis. Yes Rosario did damage but that’s a perfect day. 

[jmlease1]

Rosario looks like he's finishing the season strong. That awful (and it was truly dreadful) April has pulled down his overall numbers quite a bit, but he's really raking right now. His monthly splits are instructive, I think: when he's taking his walks and not hacking at everything, he does well. If he loses that patience he gets into trouble. He's had 3 good months, a not so good month and an awful one, and in the good ones he's taken 18+ walks. In the bad ones, he's been in single digits. Wonder what his evaluation looks like from the Twins at this point?

I think he has to get added to the 40-man this season or be exposed in the Rule 5? Wonder if they'll try to slip him through? He's not a good defender, and his bat probably isn't going to be good enough to hang on a squad all season, but he's still an interesting prospect.

[Matt Braun]

6 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Mendez should have been co hitter of the day. 3-3 and 2 BB, 2 runs 2 rbis. Yes Rosario did damage but that’s a perfect day. 

Shoot, I meant to have him as an honorable mention. My bad.

[Doctor Gast]

In a low-hitting game, happy to see Miranda & Keirsey got back on track with big clutch HRs to secure the win on Rojas's good outing.

[Matt Braun]

45 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Rosario looks like he's finishing the season strong. That awful (and it was truly dreadful) April has pulled down his overall numbers quite a bit, but he's really raking right now. His monthly splits are instructive, I think: when he's taking his walks and not hacking at everything, he does well. If he loses that patience he gets into trouble. He's had 3 good months, a not so good month and an awful one, and in the good ones he's taken 18+ walks. In the bad ones, he's been in single digits. Wonder what his evaluation looks like from the Twins at this point?

I think he has to get added to the 40-man this season or be exposed in the Rule 5? Wonder if they'll try to slip him through? He's not a good defender, and his bat probably isn't going to be good enough to hang on a squad all season, but he's still an interesting prospect.

Rosario has probably been the most difficult prospect in recent years for me to understand. The good has been great, but the bad has been putrid. I think he has the athleticism to eventually masquerade as a league-average corner defender, yet that isn't a guarantee. All of this is to say I don't envy the position the Twins FO are in when it comes to analyzing his future. 

[Dman]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

Rosario looks like he's finishing the season strong. That awful (and it was truly dreadful) April has pulled down his overall numbers quite a bit, but he's really raking right now. His monthly splits are instructive, I think: when he's taking his walks and not hacking at everything, he does well. If he loses that patience he gets into trouble. He's had 3 good months, a not so good month and an awful one, and in the good ones he's taken 18+ walks. In the bad ones, he's been in single digits. Wonder what his evaluation looks like from the Twins at this point?

I think he has to get added to the 40-man this season or be exposed in the Rule 5? Wonder if they'll try to slip him through? He's not a good defender, and his bat probably isn't going to be good enough to hang on a squad all season, but he's still an interesting prospect.

Yeah Rosario is a tough one.  I've had them adding him and not adding him with his monthly up and down stats.  Still an 1.100 OPS so far for August is hard to ignore.  He's not gonna be a plus defender most likely but he could be neutral or slightly better.  He moves pretty well and has stollen a decent number of bases.  Still it's only AA and he has been inconsistent month to month.  With so many outfielders on the 40 man I don't see them adding him, but he is young enough to be sniped via rule V with a real upside power stroke from the right side.  I still like Fedko's profile better right now as it is more balanced. Position players generally don't get taken, but it only takes one.

[tony&rodney]

At this point, if Emmanuel is healthy, he should play every day for the Saints. EmRod needs to find how to remain in games/ avoid injuries. I'm not questioning that he has been injured badly enough to be sidelined for long stretches, but rather hoping he can find a path/style of playing where he avoids these lengthy IL stints. Both Rodriguez and the Twins need to find out where he is in his development. My best guess is that Emmanuel meets up with the Saints in Louisville next Tuesday. He could bat leadoff for 18 games, DHing once per week and playing in the outfield five times per week. I'm hoping to see some ER plays.

[jmlease1]

26 minutes ago, Dman said:

Yeah Rosario is a tough one.  I've had them adding him and not adding him with his monthly up and down stats.  Still an 1.100 OPS so far for August is hard to ignore.  He's not gonna be a plus defender most likely but he could be neutral or slightly better.  He moves pretty well and has stollen a decent number of bases.  Still it's only AA and he has been inconsistent month to month.  With so many outfielders on the 40 man I don't see them adding him, but he is young enough to be sniped via rule V with a real upside power stroke from the right side.  I still like Fedko's profile better right now as it is more balanced. Position players generally don't get taken, but it only takes one.

I think that's right. If you drop Rosario's dreadful start, his profile looks at least as good as Fedko's at the plate, but April did happen. And while I don't think Fedko should really be playing CF, he's a much better defender than Rosario at this point. I suspect the Twins will try to slip him through in the Rule 5, which is probably fair. Even if he's taken he'll be hard to keep on a 26-man roster.

But I still like a lot of things about Rosario, and finding some RH thump to balance all those LH outfielders could matter.

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

I think he has to get added to the 40-man this season or be exposed in the Rule 5? Wonder if they'll try to slip him through? He's not a good defender, and his bat probably isn't going to be good enough to hang on a squad all season, but he's still an interesting prospect.

They slipped him through last year, but that may have been helped by the fact that he missed like 10 weeks last year with injury. But he's gonna be hard to ignore this offseason. He's got the power (which has always been his thing), but he has more doubles. Still has a ton of strikeouts, but he's stolen like 25 bases this year too. Did he focus on speed and athleticism last offseason? If so, it appears to have worked, at least in the form of steals. I think that's been part of his issue in the outfield too. Being a little quicker and athletic only helps. 

[LambchoP]

Glad E Rodriguez is back. If he can stay healthy and be productive the rest of the year, it will put him in a good position to get called up to the bigs next year.

[big dog]

Emma is back!

But...for how long, Bones? How...long?

 

[DocBauer]

Nice start for Rojas. He's young, has limited IP, and has probably been pushed a little hard to be at AAA at this point. I don't believe he'll be ready to help until mid '26, but he's intriguing for sure.

MacLeod had a nice relief apparance as well. The Lefty was doing well at AA before his promotion. He's been struggling since. I'm not saying he can't still be a potential ML SP, and I never like moving guys too soon, but as a prospect he's got to be behind Prielipp, Rojas, and Hill (who's further down the line). He might be a potential pen conversion option.

I'm also mixed on Rosario a bit, even though I've been championing him for a while. I think recency bias is in play somewhat with an injury affected 2024 and his bad April this season. I see a passable corner OF who might end up as a possible platoon bat. Time will tell. And while I don't like risking losing him to someone who might take a shot...A's, Dirty Sox, etc...I'm 50/50 on protecting him. Would he even stick? So few position players are selected in the rule 5, and even fewer stick.

Nice start for Oliveras at CR. That staff could be AMAZING in 2026!

Ross with another solid start as well. And my "prospect arm crush" Doktorczyk did a nice job out of the pen. I really think he's someone to keep an eye on for 2026.

Solid day on the farm!

[Nashvilletwin]

7 hours ago, big dog said:

Emma is back!

But...for how long, Bones? How...long?

 

It doesn’t matter.  Emma will never be a legitimate every day major leaguer.  Injuries, talent, whatever. Doesn’t matter. Sad, but true.  

[Linus]

I’m glad EmRod is back as we need to see at some point what he can do. I’m not nearly as high on him as most. MLB pitchers will attack him and make him swing. With his swing and miss profile that spells Julien like trouble. And I realize that this is like just my opinion man. Let’s find out.