Twins Minor League Report (9/2): Kala'i Rosario and Kaelen Culpepper Power the Wind Surge, Olivares Shuts Down the River Bandits

[Steve Lein]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Jake Rucker)

• With the major league squad, RHP Mick Abel was optioned back to the St. Paul Saints while the Twins recalled OF DaShawn Keirsey Jr, RHP Noah Davis, and RHP Travis Adams.
• For the Cedar Rapids Kernels OF Caden Kendle was placed on the 7-day injured list and, in his place, IF Billy Amick was activated from it.
• Down in the Florida State League SS Yilber Herrera was assigned back to the FCL Twins. They then were assigned 2025 draftees RHP Michael Hilker, RHP Merit Jones, SS Bruin Agbayani, and SS Quintin Young to bolster their roster.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 7, Louisville 9
Box Score
Lefty Kendry Rojas took the bump for the Saints on Tuesday in their series opener with the Mets, but he is going to want to forget this one pretty quickly.

He was only able to record one out, throwing 40 pitches (22 for strikes) in the first that ended with Louisville up 7-1. He was charged with those seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks. His lone out came on a strikeout of Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

Darren McCaughan cleaned up the mess in the first and finished two more scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and walked two in 2 2/3 innings, striking out four.

The Saints did strike first in the top of the first when Payton Eeles led off with a double. Kyler Fedko brought him in three batters later with an RBI single. Fedko drove in their second run of the game in the third on another single.

The Bats added two more in the bottom of the fourth against Christian MacLeod, but he was able to complete three innings in relief. He allowed five hits, one walk, and struck out three. Cody Laweryson finished off the final two innings, allowing no runs on one hit and one walk, while striking out three.

The Saints did make it close in the end, scoring three in the sixth and one in each of the eighth and ninth frames. In the sixth it was a double from Carson McCusker, an error, and three walks that allowed them to close the lead to four. In the eighth Jose Miranda led off with a double and scored on an Eeles groundout. Walker Jenkins led off the ninth with his first triple as a member of the Saints.

He scored on a McCusker single. The Saints did get the tying run on base, but Miranda went down swinging to end the game.

The Saints got multi-hit efforts from Fedko (2-for-5, 2 RBI), McCusker (2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, K), and Miranda (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K). Jenkins batted third playing center field and had three hits in his five at-bats.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Tulsa 2, Wichita 12
Box Score
The Wind Surge battered the Drillers with an eight-run third inning to pick up their seventh win in a row and pull within one game of a playoff spot in the Texas League. 

Starting on the mound for Wichita at home was Ryan Gallagher, and backed by that big inning picked up his fourth win of the season. He finished five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk. He struck out eight and 59 of his 84 pitches went for strikes (70.2%).

With Tulsa up 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Wind Surge sent 11 men to the plate that culminated in a grand slam from Jake Rucker to put them up by seven. There were two singles, two errors, and four walks that contributed the tally.

Ben Ross added an RBI double in the fifth, and Kaelen Culpepper his 10th home run of the season for the Wind Surge in the sixth to make it 10-2. Kala’i Rosario got into the fun in the eighth, launching his 25th home run of the season, a Wind Surge franchise record, to make the final score.

The bullpen trio of Darren Bowen (2 IP, H, 4 BB, 2 K), Logan Whitaker (IP, 2 H, K), and Hunter Hoopes (IP, K) kept the Drillers in check for the rest of the game after Gallagher’s fine start.

The Wind Surge were outhit 9-6, but took advantage of eight walks from Tulsa pitchers and the big inning to win this one handily. Rosario had two hits in five at-bats, scored two runs, and drove in three. Culpepper scored three runs out of the leadoff spot, finishing 1-for-4 with the homer, a pair of walks, and stole his ninth base.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 1
Box Score
Kernels pitching owned the night on Tuesday, as the good guys outhit the hosting squad 10-2 on the game.

Jose Olivares made the start, and was excellent for the first six innings. After a pair of errors and a double in the first that led to the River Bandits lone run, he retired the next seven before a two-out walk in the third. He allowed his second walk of the game in the fifth, but struck out the side in the sixth to end his dominance with an exclamation point. His 10 strikeouts on the game set a new career high, and of his 85 pitches, 59 went for strikes (69%), including a whopping 21 swings and misses. He evened his record at 6-6 on the season.

After the defensive miscues in the bottom of the first, the Kernels had Olivares back in the top of the second. Danny De Andrade delivered a one-out double to put a runner in scoring position. Rayne Doncon brought him in with an RBI single. With two outs, Jefferson Valladares delivered a single to move Doncon up a base, and Marek Houston’s grounder to short was misplayed for a run-scoring error and 2-1 lead that would hold up for all the final seven-plus innings.

That was because reliever Matt Gabbert didn’t miss a beat following Olivares to begin the seventh. He retired his first seven before a one-out single in the ninth. Just like Olivares, he responded by bearing down and striking out the final two hitters of the contest. He picked up his first save of the season with Cedar Rapids, with his three scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and struck out five, including nine more swings and misses on his 33 total pitches (27 for strikes).

Doncon led the way with three hits in four at-bats and scored a run. Jaime Ferrer added a double to the effort. Eduardo Tait and Houston each picked up a hit. Valladares finished 2-for-4.

MUSSEL MATTERS
St. Lucie 11, Fort Myers 6
Box Score
After five innings the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels led this one 6-4, but the St. Lucie Mets had other plans for the rest of the game.

The Hammond Stadium faithful were treated to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Enrique Jimenez launched his sixth home run in just 19 games with the team.

This number is even more noteworthy, as team leader Yasser Mercedes has 10 homers in 92 games on the season.

In the bottom of the fourth the Fort Myers offense pushed across three runs after Jimenez led off with a single. Eduardo Beltre was hit by a pitch and Ryan Sprock drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Mercedes provided a sac fly to score their second run of the game, before JP Smith II sent a two-RBI single into left field for the one run lead.

Starting pitcher Michael Ross got the home team through five innings and left with the score 6-4 Mighty Mussels. He was charged with those four runs (three earned) on four hits and a pair of walks. He struck out one. 

Dylan Questad came on to start the sixth inning, and a leadoff triple followed by an RBI double snowballed into a 6-6 tie after six. Questad gave up one more run in the seventh and began the eighth, but wasn’t able to record another out. When it was all said and done Questad had given up six runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out three. Brent Francisco got them through the eighth, but allowed a pair of inherited runners to score and one of his own to make the final score. He struck out three. Xavier Kolhosser got the ninth, walking one and striking out one.

Jimenez (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB) and Smith II (2-for-4, 2 RBI) each had two hits in the loss. 2025’s second round draft pick, Quintin Young made his professional debut at shortstop, batting second. He finished 0-for-4 with a walk and scored three runs, but also struck out three times. Bruin Agbayani batted leadoff and played second base, finishing 2-for-5 with a run scored. While the home team hit .500 (2-for-4) with runners in scoring position, they managed far less opportunities than the Mets (5-for-20) as they allowed 11 stolen bases to the opposition.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Jose Olivares, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 6 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 10 K)
Hitter of the Day – Kala’i Rosario, Wichita Wind Surge (2-for-5, 2 R, HR (25), 3 RBI, K)

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 3-for-5, R, 3B
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita): 1-for-3, 3 R, HR (10), RBI, 2 BB, SB (9)
#5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-5, 2 K
#9 – Kendry Rojas (St. Paul): 1/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, K
#11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 0-for-5, RBI
#13 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, K
#14 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, 2 K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3, K, SB (64)
#19 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 0-for-4, BB, K
#20 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita): 0-for-5, R, K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (11:05 AM CDT) - RHP Andrew Morris (4-4, 4.12 ERA)
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CDT) - LHP Garrett Horn (0-1, 2.87 ERA)
St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CDT) - RHP Eli Jones (2-10, 5.44 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

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[Danchat]

Yikes, not good for Rojas. 7 runs to 1 out...

At this point I'd rather see Laweryson in the major league pen compared to the bodies they're throwing out there. They have nothing to lose at this point.

[FlyingFinn]

Olivares certainly has some great games where he looks like a future MLB pitcher. If only he can get more consistent with those games.

[D.C Twins]

Just the SOUND of the ball off the bat of Jenkins....

Stay heathy young man and the rest will definitely take care of itself... and fast

[jmlease1]

Nice little breakout game for Captain America. Wasn't worried at all. Just stay healthy mah dude.

Rosario sure looks locked in right now and is finishing off his season with a bang. His horrific April looks more and more like an outlier. Heck, he's even swiping bases: he's gone from single digits to 20+. Be interesting to see if that still plays up as he moves up. No question he's in AAA next season.

Good to see Amick back off the IL. Bummer that he's missed so much time this season; think he could have gotten pushed up to AA if he'd been healthier.

[Old Crow]

It's a lot more fun watching the minor leaguers.

[rdehring]

Doubt every game will be like last night, but Jenkins seems to be settling in after his first week at AAA.

And who is this Jiminez guy down in Fort Myers?  Kid is tearing the cover off the ball.  Found it interesting that he was at first base last night.  He and Tait just might play well together.  Has Tait also played at first?  Or will he be a DH when not behind the plate?

[terrydactyls]

Two items.

1. An eight-run inning with three hits and a four walks.  No that's a minor league rally!

2. The Twins need to sign the Louisville right fielder.  He looks like he would fit in with the rest of the Twins' right fielders.

[jmlease1]

17 minutes ago, rdehring said:

And who is this Jiminez guy down in Fort Myers?  Kid is tearing the cover off the ball.  Found it interesting that he was at first base last night.  He and Tait just might play well together.  Has Tait also played at first?  Or will he be a DH when not behind the plate?

Pretty good start for a guy we got in the Paddack deal. He's definitely still a catcher...it'll be interesting to see how they manager Jimenez and Tait going forward and if they end up playing at the same level next season. But he's been raking in the FSL and that's not easy to do. Still a pretty small sample size, but it's encouraging that in his first taste of A-ball he hasn't flinched at all at the plate.

Wouldn't be a shocker if he started next season back in Ft. Myers, but I don't think that's a knock on him. He'll only be 20 and this is his first experience above rookie ball.

[bunsen82]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Nice little breakout game for Captain America. Wasn't worried at all. Just stay healthy mah dude.

Rosario sure looks locked in right now and is finishing off his season with a bang. His horrific April looks more and more like an outlier. Heck, he's even swiping bases: he's gone from single digits to 20+. Be interesting to see if that still plays up as he moves up. No question he's in AAA next season.

Good to see Amick back off the IL. Bummer that he's missed so much time this season; think he could have gotten pushed up to AA if he'd been healthier.

Rosario's only question is whether he would be subject to the rule 5 draft and at this point I don't see anyway the Twins leave him of the 40 man.  Even if you think this year is a mirage,  you use him as trade chip.   He could get you a decent reliever.   

Jenkins just let him get comfortable and continue to rake.  Not that it matters if he ends the season strong my guess is a top 5 prospect heading into next season.  

What Jimenez is doing is remarkable.  He was an average bat at the international league level,  gets bumped to A ball.  It should be a struggle and he is now morphed into an elite eye (20BB) and an elite masher.  We are starting to get beyond small sample sizes.  He is ripping a home run about every 2-3 games.  That swing didn't even look like he got all of it.  I am curious how far he rises on the lists.  I put him right around 15 - similar to Winokur.   

[BSLinPA]

I see old friend Chase Petty got the W vs St P in spite of giving up 5 runs in 5.1 IP.   He's 5-11 for Louisville with an ERA of 5.74. 

In 6 innings with the MLB Reds he's given up 14 Hits and 14 Runs.  At 22 years old he has time, but work remains.

I remain happy with the Sonny Gray trade.

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Heck, he's even swiping bases: he's gone from single digits to 20+. Be interesting to see if that still plays up as he moves up.

I'm quite sure it won't continue in MLB, if Rosario makes it there. Julien stole 34 bases in 2021 in A ball and then 19 bases in 2022 with Wichita. Now, he gets pinch ran for with the Twins. I was excited that he could steal bases for the Twins. I've learned that a lot of these bases are stolen on the minor league pitchers not holding the runner well or the catchers arms not being great at that level.

[Steve Lein]

56 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Jenkins just let him get comfortable and continue to rake.  Not that it matters if he ends the season strong my guess is a top 5 prospect heading into next season.    

I wouldn't be so sure Jenkins is going to be in the top 5 anywhere. He had a decent fall from early season lists this year (where he was borderline top 10) after being injured and taking a while to really start hitting with any authority when he came back. He's the only player with a ⬇️ arrow on the first page of Fangraph's "the board" (at #28).

While I think those drops are influenced a bit for the wrong reasons at this point—and he came on really good in Wichita for about a month before his promotion—it will take a bit more time for those lists to catch back up.

In his first 19 games of July his OPS was only .744, and that's the player that he looked like (his OBP and SLUG were the same, while Wichita as a team leads the Texas League with a .786 OPS). In his next 21 games before the promotion to St. Paul he pumped that OPS to 1.121 (!), and that's also definitely what he looked like. So him being really good this year is only a recent development, IMO.

If he ends this year hitting well with the Saints he can probably get back to where he started the year, and I personally would be pretty happy with that!

[bunsen82]

1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

I wouldn't be so sure Jenkins is going to be in the top 5 anywhere. He had a decent fall from early season lists this year (where he was borderline top 10) after being injured and taking a while to really start hitting with any authority when he came back. He's the only player with a ⬇️ arrow on the first page of Fangraph's "the board" (at #28).

While I think those drops are influenced a bit for the wrong reasons at this point—and he came on really good in Wichita for about a month before his promotion—it will take a bit more time for those lists to catch back up.

In his first 19 games of July his OPS was only .744, and that's the player that he looked like (his OBP and SLUG were the same, while Wichita as a team leads the Texas League with a .786 OPS). In his next 21 games before the promotion to St. Paul he pumped that OPS to 1.121 (!), and that's also definitely what he looked like. So him being really good this year is only a recent development, IMO.

If he ends this year hitting well with the Saints he can probably get back to where he started the year, and I personally would be pretty happy with that!

I am using the MLB rankings where he is 14.  There is only 3 players ahead of him that I would leave ranked ahead of Jenkins.  He should be above De Vries, Walcott, Made, Chandler (or he falls off), Basallo (or falls off), Max Clark, Painter, Emerson, De Paula and Eldridge.  

[Steve Lein]

1 minute ago, bunsen82 said:

I am using the MLB rankings where he is 14.  There is only 3 players ahead of him that I would leave ranked ahead of Jenkins.  He should be above De Vries, Walcott, Made, Chandler (or he falls off), Basallo (or falls off), Max Clark, Painter, Emerson, De Paula and Eldridge.  

Yup, he started the year at #3 on that same list, hence why I mentioned the falls. That was the highest I remember him being on any list. Keith Law started him at #5, and in the midseason update was #11.  Fangraphs had him at #17 and is now #28. Just a couple of examples of why I say I could expect him to be "borderline top 10." But also, that is kind of semantics, as I do think he can start 2026 where he did 2025 and get more helium to rise to where you state.

[Obsvr]

Jenkins really has nothing left to prove.

[bunsen82]

14 minutes ago, Obsvr said:

Jenkins really has nothing left to prove.

I am not ready to say that after 1 good game in AAA.  

[DocBauer]

Too bad a horrendous pitching performance at AAA overshadowed some good player performances. Personally, I could care less if Jenkins starts next season with the Twins or the Saints. The talent is real. It's only a matter of what date he debuts. No matter how excited I am about him, I can wait until June 1st or July 1st if that's what's best for him. We're talking about a 21yo who might be a generational Twin.

Great start at Wichita by Gallagher. I've noticed Bowen has been coming out of the pen these days. He was inconsistent this season, but has flashed at times. I wonder if this is an innings concern or a permanent move. Hoopes with ANOTHER good appearance out of the pen. And Whitaker is a 2024 draft choice that I have largely forgotten about. Take away 2 appearances and 4 IP after being drafted, and this is almost a rookie pro season for him. He's a big kid with solid numbers this year. The K's have to come up for him to have a chance as a 25yo professional "rookie" late round pick. But I find it interesting that while AAA had a poor pen for this season, AA and below has a collection of interesting arms that might actually have potential as future pen arms.

Rosario keeps producing. I doubt he maintains his sudden rise as a base stealer going forward. But it's a further indicator he's not some slow, lumbering power bat. And he's got a good arm from every report I've ever heard. I think his defense hinges on better reads and routes. How well he hits  RHP will determine his future, IMO. He might be a quality RH bat in the OF, DH, or even 1B. He's starting to look a 40 man add this offseason.

A tremendous start by Olivares for CR! The consistency isn't there yet, but the talent sure is. How good might CR's rotation be in 2026 with him, Bohorquez, Soto, and Hill as a starting point? Wow!

The Box Score for Ft Myers lists Sprock as the catcher and Jiminez as the 1B. Is that maybe an error? Or are they looking at Sprock as a possible catcher conversion candidate?

Considering Jiminez had a solid 2024, I was surprised the Tigers had him repeating this season in the FCL level. Very happy to see the Twins move him directly to A- after the trade. What's surprising to me is both leagues are still dealing with the "dead air" of Florida in the summer. But he's been performing better at the higher level so far. 

Not hard to get excited about the catcher position in the Twins minors with Cardenas rebounding from a bad 2024, the addition of Diaw and Ferrer in last year's draft, and then adding Tait and Jiminez in trades recently.

 

[Danchat]

10 hours ago, BSLinPA said:

I see old friend Chase Petty got the W vs St P in spite of giving up 5 runs in 5.1 IP.   He's 5-11 for Louisville with an ERA of 5.74. 

In 6 innings with the MLB Reds he's given up 14 Hits and 14 Runs.  At 22 years old he has time, but work remains.

I remain happy with the Sonny Gray trade.

Yup, there's a reason why they say "there's no such thing as a pitching prospect". It's for the better that they ended up trading their top three highest drafted pitchers in 2021 (Petty, Hajjar, Povich).