Twins Minor League Report (8/30): Dasan Hill Sets Career-High Strikeouts, Leaves Game with Apparent Injury

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of David Malamut

It was a rough day for the Twins and their affiliates. But usually with the bad comes some good. Usually. For instance, Mick Abel had another rough outing for the Twins. On the other side, Taj Bradley was good. He gave up just one run in and struck out six batters in five innings. Byron Buxton hit his 28th home run. James Outman had two hits, and so did Trevor Larnach after his three hits on Friday night. Maybe most positive, Ryan Fitzgerald pitched a 1-2-3 inning! 

I mention that as a reminder that with the minor league games too, you can find good in the bad most of the time. There were a few rough games in the organization on Saturday night, but in each, there is something to hang onto. 

Wichita was the only affiliate to win on Saturday, but the biggest news of the day came out of Cedar Rapids. 

TRANSACTIONS
None. Really. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Toledo 13
Box Score
Saints Stifled and Tormented in Toledo.  

It was a rough one in Toledo. Pierson Ohl made his first appearance since coming back from the Twins. In three innings, he gave up three runs on four hits. He walked none and had five strikeouts. Jarret Whorff came on for the fourth inning. He recorded just two outs and was charged with six runs on six hits and two walks. 

Marco Raya came on with two runners on and issued a walk to load the bases before he got the final out without additional runs scored. However, he was in early season form unfortunately. In the fifth inning, Raya gave up two runs on two walks and a double. He came back out for the sixth inning. He walked the first two batters he faced before Darren McCaughan came on and struck out the next three batters. 

Raya’s final line was two runs on one hit and five walks in 1 1/3 innings. McCaughan worked two innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. He struck out five. Erasmo Ramirez walked one in a scoreless inning in his first appearance since accepting the assignment to St. Paul. 

The Saints lone run came in the top of the sixth. Payton Eeles led off with a single. With one out, he moved up to second on a Gabriel Gonzalez single. DaShawn Keirsey singled to drive in Eeles with the lone run. 

The Saints had seven hits and two walks. Gonzalez went 3-for-4. Eeles was 2-for-3 with a walk. The bottom four in the Saints lineup accounted for 12 of the Saints 16 strikeouts.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Arkansas 2
Box Score
Wichita Surges Ahead Early and Hangs on to Win 

The Wind Surge jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings. That was about it for the offense, but the pitching staff held on to the lead the rest of the way. 

After a 31-minute rain delay the game started with Alejandro Hidalgo faced three batters in a scoreless top of the first inning. 

In the bottom of the first, Kaelen Culpepper and Kala’i Rosario started things with singles. Hendry Mendez laid down a sacrifice to advance runners to second and third base. Nate Baez grounded to second, and Culpepper beat a throw to the plate leaving runners on first and third. Andrew Cossetti singled to drive in the second run. With two outs, Jake Rucker singled to drive in Baez with the third run. 

Then with one out in the second inning, Maddux Houghton singled. Culpepper followed with a walk. Rosario singled to center to drive in Houghton, and then Mendez singled to drive in Culpepper and make it 5-0. 

That was it for the Surge scoring. Then it came down to the pitching, and they were good. Hidalgo gave up just one run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts and no walks. Gabriel Yanez gave up one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Logan Whitaker and Jaylen Nowlin each struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. Tanner Andrews picked up his second save with a scoreless ninth inning. 

Kaelen Culpepper went 3-for-3 with a walk. Kala’i Rosario was 2-for-5. Hendry Mendez was 2-for-3 with a walk and the sacrifice bunt. Jake Rucker was 2-for-2 with two walks. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 1, Beloit 6
Box Score
Dasan Hill Sets Career-High Strikeout Mark in 3 2/3 Innings, Leaves with Injury

Dasan Hill was back on the mound for the Kernels on Saturday, and he looked really good. The lanky left tossed three scoreless innings and gave up just two hits. He struck out one batter in the first inning, three batters in the second inning, two more in the third inning. In the fourth inning, he gave up a leadoff walk. He proceeded to strike out the next two batters, even though he didn’t quite look right. 

The second strikeout of the fourth inning came on an 84-mph changeup. But when he caught the throw back from the pitcher, he grimaced. He walked across the mound and looked in the dugout. Quickly, pitching coach Argenis Angulo was on the mound talking to the southpaw. Soon after, he called up manager Brian Meyer and the trainer. When the ump got to the mound, Angulo pointed to his elbow. When the manager got to the mound, Angulo pointed at Hill’s outer elbow. The trainer talked to him and checked things out. It didn’t take long for Meyer to look toward his bullpen and call on another pitcher. (the following are screenshots from MILB.com)   

It’s hard to read what happened, to be honest. We're talking about tightness in his forearm; it has to be a must to remove the pitcher from the game immediately. Hill appeared to be disappointed to leave the game, which seems positive. However, the next step will be to get some imaging done. We can hold our collective breaths. 

Brennen Oxford came on to replace Hill with a runner on second base. He gave up a walk and a double steal. That was followed by another walk. And then a balk drove in the inherited runner to score. The next two batters drove in runs with singles to make it 3-0. 

On a positive note, Marek Houston led off the bottom of the fourth with his first Kernels home run. 

And that was about it for the Kernels offense. Jaime Ferrer hit his 18th double, and Poncho Ruiz hit a single. Three hits, two walks. One hit batter. Just one run. 

Spencer Bengard came in to start the fifth inning and gave up two unearned runs over three innings. He had three strikeouts. Nick Trabacchi gave up a run on a solo homer and had two strikeouts in two innings.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 0, Dunedin 6
Box Score
Enrique Jimenez Keeps Hitting, but Mussels Offense Goes Quiet

Enrique Jimenez hit a single and a double in his four at-bats on Saturday night. Those were the only two hits for the Mussels in the game. Yilber Herrera walked and stole base. He had the Mussels only walk in the game. The Mussels had a season-high 16 strikeouts in the game. 

That is the offensive piece of this game recap. (Read that however you will.)

The pitching wasn’t actually too bad. Joel Garcia drops to 0-3 with the Mussels, but he gave up just one run on four hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts. Tyler Stasiowski gave up one run on four hits and a walk over two innings. Jakob Hall gave up only a solo home run in his inning. Will Armbruester was charged with three runs (1 earned) on three hits in the eighth inning. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita): 3-for-3, BB, HBP, 2 R

Pitcher of the Day 
Alejandro Hidalgo (Wichita): 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 63 pitches, 45 strikes (61.6%) 

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 (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K, (played RF)
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, SB, (played 2B)
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 3-for-3, BB, HBP, 2 R (played SS)
#5 - Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, E (caught)
#7 - Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 74 pitches, 45 strikes (60.8%)
#8 - Mick Abel (Minnesota) - 1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 59 pitches, 37 strikes (62.7%)
#11 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 3-for-4, (played LF)
#12 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 53 pitches, 26 strikes (49.1%)
#13 - Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI, K, E (played SS)
#14 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K (played CF)
#17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, K (played 2B)
#20 - Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 2-for-3, BB, SH, BB, RBI (played LF)

SUNDAY PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Toledo (5:05 PM CT) - RHP Pablo Lopez (0-2, 4.35 ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 PM CT) - RHP Ricky Castro (3-3, 5.19 ERA)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (4-5, 4.30 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (11:00 AM CT) - RHP Xavier Kolhosser (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 61-74
St. Paul Saints: 58-71 (25-31 second half, 7th in IL West, 14 GB)
Wichita Wind Surge: 68-57 (31-25 second half, 3rd in Texas Lg North, 4 GB)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 68-57 (28-31 second half, T-3rd in MWL West, 4.5 GB, first half winner)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-71 (22-34 second half 6th in FSL West, 9.5 GB)
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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[Seth Stohs]

Hey all,

I finished writing this around midnight last night... Did I really not publish it until now?!?!

If so, my apologies. 

[thelanges5]

Always appreciate these MiLB game recaps. Ton of names and info to keep track of. 

[Dman]

I hope Hill is alright.  Probably a good time to shut him down no matter what now.  He has had an amazing first pro year for a high school arm.  He greatly exceeded any expectations I had for him this year.  I just hope no ligament damage for his arm.

Gonzalez looks to be conquering AAA.  batting average at .300 and and .800 OPS.  Looking pretty much like he did in his other stops this year.  I am excited for next year to see it all translates to MLB.

Culpepper appears to be back on track.

[Doctor Gast]

Jenkins seems to hit a wall in his projectory in AAA. Small sample size but confident he'll break through. AAA doesn't really breed confidence as far as seeing pitching reinforcements ready to break down the door to MLB. Defense also seems to be lacking at some points.

[tony&rodney]

Always love the minor league reports. Thanks Seth.

Thank you to everyone involved in writing these 6 days per week.

[jkcarew]

Seem to be transitioning Raya to reliever? Maybe not…maybe just ‘stacking’. He can’t seem to get anyone out…or know where his pitches are going on a regular basis, so not sure it matters. The Saints saw our old friend Jordan Balazovic last night. Raya’s path and performance is starting to look too much like Balazovic’s.

[DocBauer]

Not a good day on the farm overall to be sure.

I'm very intrigued about Fedko playing some 1B. Increases roster flexibility, if nothing else, in a potential shot with the Twins. Gonzalez just keeps on hitting! The kid gloves appear to be off Raya and he might still match or exceed his IP in 2024. But I do find it interesting he's been used a lot out of the pen lately. I'd love to see a split in his numbers from the 1st to the 2nd half because it has appeared he's been better the 2nd half.

Some quality hitting at AA was nice to see. K-Pepper looked to be in a slump, or tiring. Nice rebound. Still betting he gets a couple weeks at AAA as their season goes a little longer, and he probably begins 2026 there anyway.

Not sure what to think about Alejandro Hidalgo at this point. He's either looked really solid or just awful. And it can vary game to game. But he's only 22yo...and will be to begin 2026...and is coming off surgery. Hits and BB are too high, but he's also flashed K ability. He'll be at AA to begin next season, and is too young, probably, to move to the pen just yet. But I do wonder if that's where he might end up.

Time to cross fingers on Hill. He was probably going to see his season end soon anyway, but an injury is not the way anyone would like to see it come to a close. Here's hoping it's just a mild strain and nothing worse!

 

[gman]

26 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Not a good day on the farm overall to be sure.

I'm very intrigued about Fedko playing some 1B. Increases roster flexibility, if nothing else, in a potential shot with the Twins. Gonzalez just keeps on hitting! The kid gloves appear to be off Raya and he might still match or exceed his IP in 2024. But I do find it interesting he's been used a lot out of the pen lately. I'd love to see a split in his numbers from the 1st to the 2nd half because it has appeared he's been better the 2nd half.

 

 

Raya Splits

                         G    GS      IP            H      BB    SO          ERA       WHIP

First Half        13     13     40.1          50    26    52          7.59       1.88

Second Half.   11       7     46.2         43    28    40          4.82      1.52

 

 

[DocBauer]

46 minutes ago, gman said:

Raya Splits

                         G    GS      IP            H      BB    SO          ERA       WHIP

First Half        13     13     40.1          50    26    52          7.59       1.88

Second Half.   11       7     46.2         43    28    40          4.82      1.52

 

 

Took me a minute to digest this as it got all messed up on my phone, lol.

Thank you!

I've always stated that despite being on the 40 man, Raya wasn't really expected to contribute until 2026. I still maintain that belief. But the numbers you've shared here definitely show he's on the rise.

[Seth Stohs]

sounds like Hill is just fine. Just had some tightness in his forearm. I don't know if they imaged it. I tried to get the opinion of multiple people but everything came back that he is just fine. 

I still think it'd be OK to shut him down for the season. 

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, jkcarew said:

The Saints saw our old friend Jordan Balazovic last night.

Whoa ... there's an almost blast from the past. Wishing him luck.