Twins Minor League Report (9/4): Ryan Sprock Powers Mussels; Billy Amick Doubles his Homer Total; Sam Armstrong Dominates

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Sam Armstrong)

TRANSACTIONS
These transactions often come in a few days after they happen, but in recent days, the Twins have released four players from the DSL Twins roster. They released pitchers Brandy Ceballos, Jeicol Surumay, and Marlon Mirabal, and outfielder Cristian Bonifacio. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 2, Louisville 4
Box Score
Saints Face Old Friend, Old Friend Wins

There was no score through two innings. Then the Saints scored two in the top of the third. With one out, Walker Jenkins beat out a slow roller to second base for a single. Gabriel Gonzalez followed with a single to right. Jenkins went to third, and when the throw went beyond the third baseman, he ran home with the first run. After an Aaron Sabato single, Gonzalez scored on a single by Carson McCusker to give the team a 2-0 lead.   

John Klein was on the mound to start for the Saints. He put two zeroes on the board. Then with the lead, he got the first two outs of the third inning. However, a double, a hit batter, and a walk loaded the bases. After a wild pitch, a two-run single gave the bats the 3-2 lead. 

He gave up a single to lead off the bottom of the fourth, but he responded by striking out the next three players, each with big-league service time. On the night, Klein went four innings. He gave up three runs on four hits, a walk, and a hit batter. He also had seven more strikeouts. Overall this season, the 23-year-old has 121 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings. 

Unfortunately, the Saints offense was done scoring runs. Jarret Whorff came on and gave up one run on two hits over two innings. He struck out three batters. Pierson Ohl tossed two scoreless innings and struck out two batters. 

Hitting third and fourth in the Saints lineup, Walker Jenkins and Gabriel Gonzalez went 2-for-4. Each hit his third double with the Saints as well. Jhonny Pereda was also 2-for-4. 

By the way, the starting pitcher for Louisville in this game was #OldFriend Charlie Barnes. The southpaw was the Twins fourth-round pick in 2017 out of Clemson. In 2021, he pitched for the Saints and then made nine appearances (8 starts) for the Twins. He signed with the Lotte Giants for the 2022 season. Over three seasons, he went 32-28 with a 3.42 ERA. He made eight more starts for the Giants this season before he had a shoulder injury. Because Korean teams can only have three “foreign” players, if a guy gets hurt, he is usually released. That’s what happened to Barnes. In early August, he signed a minor-league deal with the Reds.  

He’s been building back up over his first three starts. On Thursday against his former team, he gave up two runs on eight hits over six innings and earned the Win.  

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Game 1: Wichita 2, Tulsa 0 
Box Score
Armstrong, Paredes Combine for Two-Hit Shutout 

The Twins traded two months of Willi Castro in exchange for two Double-A starting pitchers. In Game 1, Sam Armstrong started and was fantastic! He tossed five innings of shutout baseball. He gave up just one hit and one walk ,and he had four strikeouts. 

The Wind Surge gave him a little run support in the first inning. Kaelen Culpepper led off with a single. With one out, he went to third on a single by Hendry Mendez. Ricardo Olivar put the team on the board with another single to make it 1-0. With two outs, Ben Ross singled to center which drove in Mendez and made it 2-0. 

That was it for Surge runs scored, so fortunately Armstrong was great. The final two innings went to a reliever who has been great all season, Mike Paredes. He struck out four batters and maintained the shutout to record his sixth save of the season. 

Culpepper went 2-for-3. Ross was also 2-for-3. 

Game 2: Wichita 5, Tulsa 14
Box Score
Kaelen Culpepper Drills 20th HR of Season in Loss 

C.J. Culpepper has been really good in most of his starts this season. In August, he had three starts in which he gave up zero runs. His previous three starts all went five innings. On Thursday, we were reminded that he is human. He gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks over just 3 2/3 innings. Four of those runs came in the fourth inning. He had three strikeouts. 

John Stankiewicz has been strong since was signed after the 2020 draft. He gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Jaylen Nowlin came on and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Jacob Wosinski gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in his inning. Thankfully, as part of the doubleheader, it was just a seven-inning game. 

In this game, the Surge faced lefty Jackson Ferris, one of the top pitching prospects in the Dodgers system. 

Down 2-0 going to the bottom of the third inning, Maddux Houghton cut the lead in half with his first Wichita homer. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper hit his 11th Wind Surge homer to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Drillers scored the next seven runs which made it 9-2. The Surge got a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Kala’i Rosario drove in Kyle Hess. 

Fast-forward to the bottom of the seventh inning. Now down 14-3, Wichita added two runs to their total. Kaelen Culpepper led off with a walk and scored on Kala’i Rosario’s 27th double. Ricardo Oliver and Andrew Cossetti walked to load the bases before Ross drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly. 

Rosario was 2-for-4 with a double and his 26th stolen base. Nate Baez was 2-for-3 with a walk. Kaelen Culpepper was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run. In addition to it giving him 11 with the Surge, he had nine in Cedar Rapids. A little math tells us that he has now reached 20 home runs this season, joining Kyler Fedko (26), Kala’i Rosario (25), Carson McCusker (22), and Aaron Sabato (21) as Twins prospects to reach that milestone this season.

The doubleheader split means that there is no change in the standings. Heading into the weekend, Tulsa is 35-25 and Wichita is 34-26. Springfield is four games ahead of Tulsa, but they won the first half title. So, Tulsa and Wichita are facing each other for three more games. 

Next week is the final week of the regular season. The Wind Surge will play at Corpus Christi. They are 23-37 in the second half. Tulsa will be hosting Arkansas next week. They are 30-30 in the second half. Should be fun to watch, and great for the minor leaguers to get to play “playoff-like” baseball games late in the season.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 5 (10 innings)
Box Score
Amick, Urbina Power Kernels to Win 

This was a back-and-forth game in Davenport on Thursday night, and it wasn’t decided until 10 innings were completed. The game started with two scoreless innings, but then the Kernels broke the tie in the top of the third when Misael Urbina led off the inning with his fourth home run of the season. 

Billy Amick pushed the lead to 2-0 an inning later when he led off with his third homer of the year. 

Adrian Bohorquez started for the Kernels and went the first five innings. He started with four zeroes and then gave up a run in the fifth inning. Over those five innings, he gave up just the one run on two hits and a walk. He also had five strikeouts. 

Jacob Kisting started the sixth inning. He only recorded one out. He gave up two runs and left the game with the bases loaded. Nick Trabacchi came on and got the final two outs, but not before two inherited runners scored. 

Heading to the seventh inning, the River Bandits had a 5-2 lead. In the top of the seventh, Eduardo Tait led off with a double, his eighth in 28 games with the Kernels. He moved to third base on a ground out and scored on a single by Danny De Andrade. After a pitching change, Poncho Ruiz singled. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Urbina singled to drive in two runs and tie the game at 5-5.  

Brennen Oxford came in and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Ruddy Gomez struck out four batters over two hitless innings. That sent the game to extra innings. 

In the top of the 10th, Urbina started at second base. Jaime Ferrer’s 20th double drove him in to make it 6-5. Ferrer advanced to third base on a deep fly ball to center by Jefferson Valladares. Kyle DeBarge walked, and Ferrer scored on a wild pitch. Bill Amick provided the final punch with his fourth Kernels home run which made it 9-5. 

Paulshawn Pasqualotto started the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk. After a line out, he struck out the next two batters to give the Kernels another win. 

Amick went 2-for-5 and doubled his season home run total to four. He drove in three runs. Urbina went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. De Andrade went 2-for-5. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 3
Box Score 
Sprock Drives in 4 to Lead Mussels; Hilker Dominant Pro Debut 

The St. Lucie Mets were the division champs in the first half and in the second half and likely are the favorites when the Florida State League playoffs start next week. In this game, the Mets scored two right away in the top of the first inning. 

The Mussels got on the board in the bottom of the third innings when Ian Daugherty hit his second home run to make it 2-1. 

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Quentin Young and Enrique Jimenez walked. With two outs, Ryan Sprock knocked his second pro homer to give the Mussels a 4-2 lead.   

Christian Becerra made the start and tossed the first four innings. He gave up two runs on six hits. He also struck out four batters. 

2025 draft pick Michael Hilker came in for the fifth inning. He had two strikeouts and fielded a bunt. He got another strikeout in the sixth inning. The first pro outing for Hilker was certainly a success. Six batters faced. Six outs. Three strikeouts. Oh, and the first Win as a pro. 

Ian Daugherty led off the fifth inning with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Bruin Agbayani walked. Quentin Young drove in the fifth run with a sacrifice fly. Enrique Jimenez singled Agbayani to third base. After Eduardo Beltre walked to load the bases, there was a pitching change. Ryan Sprock came to the plate and took a walk to drive in the sixth run of the game. 

Zander Sechrist gave up an unearned run on two hits in the seventh inning. Sam Rochard struck out two batters over the final two innings to record his second save. 

Ryan Sprock went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, and an RBI walk. Quentin Young recorded his first professional hit, a solid single to right field. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-5, 2 HR(4), 2 R, 3 RBI, K.
Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita): 3-for-6, BB, HR(11), 3 R, RBI, K.
Ryan Sprock (Fort Myers): 2-for-3, BB, HR(2), R, 4 RBI, K. 

Pitcher of the Day 
Sam Armstrong (Wichita): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 61 pitches, 39 strikes (63.9%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice the updated Top 20 prospect rankings. There were a few guys who moved a few spots and there are some new names at the back end. 

#1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B(3), R, 2 K. (played CF)
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 4-for-5, 2 R, RBI, SB(9), (played 2B)
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - Game 1: 2-for-3, R; Game 2: 1-for-3, BB, HR(11), 2 R, RBI, K (played SS both games)
#4 - Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 2B(8), R, 2 K (caught)
#5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in FM: 0-for-4, 3 K (played CF)
#10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B(3), R, K (DHd)
#13 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5 (played SS)
#17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, R, K, CS(8) (played CF)
#18 - Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, R, RBI, K (played SS)
#19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, K, OF Assist (played LF)
#20 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 3 2/3 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 73 pitches, 49 strikes (67.1%) 

TOMORROW’S PITCHING PROBABLES
St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CT) - RHP Mick Abel (7-2, 2.22 ERA)
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CT) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-3, 11.49 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CT) - RHP Chase Chaney (7-4, 3.56 ERA)
St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CT) - LHP Michael Carpenter (0-6, 5.18 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 62-78
St. Paul Saints: 58-75 (25-35 second half)
Wichita Wind Surge: 71-58 (34-26 second half)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 71-58 (29-31 second half)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 51-72 (24-35 second half)
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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[FlyingFinn]

I forget - was it Wichita or Cedar Rapids that won the 1st half and is going to the playoffs? If it wasn't Wichita, do they have a shot at winning the 2nd half title?

[rdehring]

Wasn't that long ago that we were concerned Culpepper was wearing down from the long season.  Sure seems to have found another gear the last week or so.

Another two hit night from Jenkins.  But what I really liked was his beating out an infield grounder and taking third forcing a mistake by the defense.  Too few of the top Twins prospects play with speed.  Love it!

Also see that Jiminez was at first base again last night.  With this pair of young catchers on the horizon, appears the Twins are working hard to be able to regularly play both when they arrive at Target Field. 

Was nice seeing last night's outing from Armstrong.  Wasn't he considered a throw in from the Castro trade? 

[rdehring]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

I forget - was it Wichita or Cedar Rapids that won the 1st half and is going to the playoffs? If it wasn't Wichita, do they have a shot at winning the 2nd half title?

Don't know about Wichita, but Cedar Rapids did win their first half.

[jmlease1]

The formula for Bohorquez is pretty simply: command your pitches well enough so you don't walk 3-4 guys and let your stuff carry you and he has success. Nice to see him continuing to develop. He's done pretty well since hitting Cedar Rapids, and hopefully they'll be able to stretch him out a little more next season.

Kaelen Culpepper definitely looked like he might be hitting a wall in August; it was easily his worst month, with everything going in the wrong direction: less contact, more K's, fewer walks, no power. Good to see him having a good week and hopefully finishing strong. If the biggest thing he has to work on in the offseason is building up stamina and learning how to handle the grind of the long season, I think we're in a great place.

I'm hoping Rosario can keep raking and finish up Sept strong as well. Needs to make sure he keeps taking his walks; he seems to be a player that gets out of whack when he starts swinging at everything, but he's done a good job this season of pulling himself out of slides and his august was awesome. I'd rather see him on the 40-man than a retread like Outman.

Happy to just see Amick back playing, but the homers are a nice bonus. Hopefully he's feeling good and can get some ABs in. Have to wonder if he might be a candidate for the AFL, since he missed a big chunk of time?

[bunsen82]

Amick has had small sample size this year,  and the hit tool has been much better than advertised.  He was supposed to be a power hitter so was wondering whether we just weren't going to see the power.  Last night is a start.  If he can combine the power and the increased hit tool,  you have something.  He is playing a lot more 1st base this year than I anticipated with pretty decent metrics at 3rd.  

[Dman]

Hard to believe Klein isn't in the top 30.  His numbers at AA were really good and he is at AAA at 23  which a pretty young age for a pitcher especially an undrafted one.  Morris was more consistent at AA with a better walk rate but Klein has a better K rate with more control issues.  Still he doesn't appear to be far behind Morris and he isn't even ranked. It's getting to be a tough top 30 to crack, but I still think he belongs there.

 

[Dman]

29 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Happy to just see Amick back playing, but the homers are a nice bonus. Hopefully he's feeling good and can get some ABs in. Have to wonder if he might be a candidate for the AFL, since he missed a big chunk of time?

Maybe it's the injuries but I feel like Amick has been under-rated this year. I think going into the year we were worried about him just making contact at the pro level and he has a .300 average with a good walk rate and not too out of line K rate.   Yeah he was supposed to hit more HR's, but I have to believe they wanted to see less in zone swing and miss and I am guessing he modified his approach some to get there.  His contact rate still isn't even in zone as he has a very high BABIP sustaining his numbers.  Still I am bullish on him and have no concerns about him getting to power when he wants to.  I would like him to work on more in zone contact, but maybe he just focuses on power now.  Hard to say.  At any rate its been a small sample size, but he has had a great first pro year.

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

I forget - was it Wichita or Cedar Rapids that won the 1st half and is going to the playoffs? If it wasn't Wichita, do they have a shot at winning the 2nd half title?

Cedar Rapids.

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, rdehring said:

Don't know about Wichita, but Cedar Rapids did win their first half.

Wichita's playoff hopes are spelled out in their section above. 

[FlyingFinn]

59 minutes ago, Dman said:

Maybe it's the injuries but I feel like Amick has been under-rated this year.

Some others have commented that they don't get too excited about college players succeeding at A ball. I think I agree. AA is another story. Culpepper's success there plus he can play defense at SS is what really gets me excited. First, can Amick hit at AA. Then, can he play decent defense anywhere?

[jmlease1]

10 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Some others have commented that they don't get too excited about college players succeeding at A ball. I think I agree. AA is another story. Culpepper's success there plus he can play defense at SS is what really gets me excited. First, can Amick hit at AA. Then, can he play decent defense anywhere?

I think that's fair for low-A, but they're playing with their peers for the most part at High-A. Is AA a bigger and better test? Sure.

Amick has done fine, but not staying on the field has put him behind a bit. Think he's shown enough at 3B to keep getting reps there, and I have no problem with him splitting time between 3B and 1B while we see if his bat plays. He's got a lot more value if he can be passable at 3B even if he's likely to be primarily a 1B. Overall he's done fine for his first full season as a pro, just wish he hadn't gotten hurt. Hate seeing prospects getting set back by injury.

[Obsvr]

#FreeWalkerJenkins

 

[Steve Lein]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

Maybe it's the injuries but I feel like Amick has been under-rated this year. I think going into the year we were worried about him just making contact at the pro level and he has a .300 average with a good walk rate and not too out of line K rate.   

He definitely has kind of done a 180 on what was his "hitting profile" when drafted. I think it's great for his development!

And while I agree with the under-rated comment to an extent, you may be pleasantly surprised by this link: https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/3b/

 

[mrguy]

6 hours ago, Dman said:

Hard to believe Klein isn't in the top 30.  His numbers at AA were really good and he is at AAA at 23  which a pretty young age for a pitcher especially an undrafted one.  Morris was more consistent at AA with a better walk rate but Klein has a better K rate with more control issues.  Still he doesn't appear to be far behind Morris and he isn't even ranked. It's getting to be a tough top 30 to crack, but I still think he belongs there.

 

John Klein is someone I see at least getting a non roster invite with the season he's had. 3rd most strikeouts in the entire twins franchise this season only behind Joe Ryan and Zebby, which is not bad company to be in, doing it across AA and AAA. I don't know if he's got the control to be ready for the majors yet, but he at least has earned enough consideration to give him a shot in Spring Training. 

[dxpavelka]

Did anyone foresee Culpepper hitting 20 home runs in his first full pro season?