Twins Minor League Report (9/7): Walker Jenkins Hits 1st AAA Homer; Andrew Cossetti and Ben Ross Power the Surge to a Huge Win

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Ben Ross)

The Kernels played their final game of the regular season on Sunday. On Tuesday, they start their playoff run. The Mighty Mussels season came to an end on Sunday with another rain out which is certainly unfortunate. Wichita has its work cut out for them if they want to earn a playoff spot, but there Sunday win was absolutely huge for a number of reasons. And the Saints, well, hey, Walker Jenkins is going to make his CHS Field debut with the Saints on Tuesday night! 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins played catcher Ryan Jeffers on the 7-Day Concussion List on Sunday, retroactive to Friday. The Twins Also DFAd RHP Brooks Kriske. Taking those spots on the big-league roster are OF Carson McCusker and RHP Pierson Ohl.

Wichita placed C/1B Nate Baez on the 7-Day IL.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Louisville 6
Box Score
Jenkins Drills First Triple-A Home Run, Saints Lose 9th Straight

Walker Jenkins hasn’t played in a home game for about a month. His last two series with the Win Surge were away from Wichita, and his first two weeks with the Saints have been spent in Toledo and Louisville. On Tuesday night, he will make his CHS Field debut. Tickets available! 

On Sunday, Jenkins had three more hits. In his six games played in Toledo, he had one hit in 20 at-bats. This week in Louisville, he went 13-for-25 (.520). He had at least one hit in all six games. He had at least two hits in five of the six games. He had three hits in two of the games. That is a pretty good week of baseball. Consider this, coming into the week, he was hitting .050. Heading into his first series in St. Paul, he is now hitting .311/.404/.489 (.893) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run. 

The Saints winning percentage this season is lower than the Twins winning percentage, but this can be a fun team to watch. This week, you can watch several of the Twins Top 20 prospects. Walker Jenkins (#1) and Gabriel Gonzalez (#10) are top ten Twins prospects in the lineup. Kyler Fedko (#19) has forced his way into the Top 20 with a tremendous season. Andrew Morris (#16) is expected to make the start on Tuesday which likely means that he will start next Sunday too. Mick Abel (#6), Connor Prielipp (#7), and Kendry Rojas (#9) are likely going to each get a start while Marco Raya (#15) has been working out of the bullpen the last few weeks.

Two pitchers from Minnesota are on the Saints roster. Lefty Aaron Rozek has been an innings-eater in the organization for a few years now. John Klein was recently promoted to Triple-A and had his best outing last week. 

There are several players that we have seen with the Twins like DaShawn Keirsey, Jonah Bride and Jose Miranda. Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato has hit 13 homers with the Saints since coming up from Wichita. Tanner Schobel has been a Top 20 prospect. He just returned after missing about three months of the season with injury. And, Twins Daily readers love following Payton Eeles and his remarkable story.

Oh, and since the Mighty Mussels season is over, I think we should expect to see Emmanuel Rodriguez return to the Saints. He is currently the #5 Twins prospect. 

Six home games left for the Saints. If you can get to CHS Field for a game or six, that’d be great. Check out the schedule here. 

---

Oh, yeah, back to the game. Kendry Rojas was on the mound to start for the Saints. The lefty walked two in the first innings, but a double play helped get out of that inning without giving up a run. In the second, he walked two and gave up a single run. In the third inning, a single and two walks, but no runs. So, Rojas went three innings and gave up just one run on three hits despite six walks. 

Jarret Whorff pitched the fourth inning and gave up one run on a hit and a walk. Marco Raya gave up four runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts, but two of the hits were home runs. Cody Laweryson came in and got the final four outs without any further damage.

Jenkins had three of the Saints’ nine hits. Jonah Bride went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double. Fedko hit his eighth double since joining the Saints. St. Paul went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.  

Chase Petty faced his former organization for the second time this week. In this game, he gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He is 6-11 with a 5.48 ERA at Triple-A this season. Petty made his MLB debut in last April. In it, he gave up nine earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He made another start in May. He went three innings and gave up four runs on six hits and six walks. He made one other appearance out of the Reds bullpen. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and a hit batter in 2/3 of an inning. He is 0-3 with a 19.50 ERA in the big leagues. Dude is just 22 years old with good stuff. He’ll have a nice career.  

Also, Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a double and a home run. This year, he has 202 minor-league at-bats and hit .252/.321/.520 (.841) with 19 doubles and 10 homers. In 151 big-league at-bats, he has hit .208/.234/.377 (.611) with six homers. He has been injured quite a bit the last couple of years yet he is still just 25 years old. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 12, Tulsa 11 
Box Score
Cossetti, Ross Power Wind Surge to Season’s Biggest Win  

When the week started, Wichita was two games behind Tulsa in a race for one playoff spot. On Sunday, the Wind Surge gave up a six-run lead, but Ben Ross saved the day with a walkoff home run in the  bottom of the ninth inning to keep the team’s hope alive. 

Ryan Gallagher made the start. He was charged with three runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. He left the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. Gabriel Yanez came in and got the third out without additional damage. The lefty tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out two batters. 

Wichita got on the scoreboard in the third inning, but it did not start out well. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper worked a 3-2 count before being hit by a pitch on the wrist area of his left hand. Clearly in a lot of pain, the decision was made to remove him from the game (obviously the right and easy decision despite the relative importance of the game for the Wind Surge). 

    

photos are screenshots from milb.tv. 

Jose Salas entered the game for him. He went to second on a ground out. Hendry Mendez then lined a single to right to drive in the team’s first run. Ricardo Olivar walked. Next, Andrew Cossetti hit a three-run homer to give his team a 4-3 lead. 

Wichita added on in the fifth frame. Kala’i Rosario led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Then Hendry Mendez switched places with him with his first triple with the Wind Surge. After one out, Cossetti came up and walked. Soon after, Mendez scored on a balk which also moved Cossetti to second base. Following a second out, Jake Rucker walked before Maddux Houghton singled to center to drive in Cossetti with the team’s seventh run. 

John Stankiewicz came into the game for the seventh inning and gave up two runs on one hit and one walk. The first run scored on a “disengagement violation.” The second run of the inning scored on a wild pitch. 

With just a two-run, 7-5 lead, the Surge responded with four more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Olivar led off with a single. Cossetti came to the plate and drilled another home run, his 13th of the season. 

Ben Ross followed with a walk. With one out, he stole second base, and Houghton doubled to make it 10-5. With two outs, Salas drove in the 11th run with a single. 

Hunter Hoopes, who has quietly been one of the best relievers in the Twins minor leagues this season, came in for the eighth inning to protect a six-run lead. He got two fly outs to right field to start the inning, and then things went weird. First, he hit a batter. Then he walked three straight batters to make it 11-6. That was followed by a soft single to left to drive in two runs and make it 11-8. With two runners on, Jaylen Nowlin came in. The first batter he faced hit a triple which cut the Surge lead to 11-10. Nowlin then coaxed a flyout to end the inning. 

Nowlin returned for the top of the ninth, trying to hold on to a one-run lead. With one out, he issued a walk, but he got the second out right away on a ground out. He then threw two wild pitches which allowed the tying run to score. However, he got a strikeout to end the inning. 

Ben Ross came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He didn’t wait long. He got a first pitch that was up in the zone (or maybe a bit above the zone) and drilled a long home run beyond the left field wall to give the Wind Surge a huge win.  

Andrew Cossetti went 2-for-4 with a walk, his 12th and 13th home runs, and five RBI. Hendry Mendez went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Maddux Houghton went -for-4 with his sixth double. Ross’s home run was his 12th of the season. 

With the win, the Wind Surge take the Propeller Series. It’s the first time that Wichita has won the season series with Tulsa since 2021. That might just be really important over the next week. 

The Wind Surge really needed that win. That would have been a bad loss. With the win, the series ended in a 3-3 tie. So, with one week left to play The Wind Surge are again two games behind Tulsa for the final playoff spot. The Wind Surge will head down to Texas to take on Corpus Christi.  

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 4
Box Score
Kernels Fall Way Behind Early, Score Late 

Early in the game, both teams put up multiple single-run innings. Quad Cities notched the lone ‘crooked’ number, and it was enough to give them a slight advantage in the final regular-season game for both teams. 

After four strikeouts on Saturday night, Kyle DeBarge led off the game on Sunday afternoon with his eighth home run of the season. 

The River Bandits evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. However, in the top of the third, Danny De Andrade started the inning with a triple. With one out, Poncho Ruiz doubled to give the Kernels a 2-1 lead. 

The River Bandits evened the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Misael Urbina walked. He went to third on a Ruiz single and scored on a single by Jaime Ferrer to make it 3-2 Kernels. 

The River Bandits didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth, or the bottom of the sixth inning. However, they scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Kernels were unable to tie the score or reclaim the lead. 

Spencer Bengard started and went the first 3 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Matt Gabbert went the final 4 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks. 

Poncho Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. DeBarge hit his eighth home run, but he also walked and stole his 66th base of the season. 

Brandon Winokur and Marek Houston did not play. Presumably they will be ready to go on Tuesday in Beloit.  

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers, St. Lucie
Box Score
It’s Florida, It’s Sunday, It Rains.  

For the third straight Sunday, the Mighty Mussels game has been cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions. It is especially unfortunate as that was the final game of the season for Fort Myers. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Andrew Cossetti (Wichita): 2-for-4, BB, 2-HR(13), 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 K.

Pitcher of the Day 
Gabriel Yanez (Wichita): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 26 pitches, 20 strikes (76.9%)

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) - 3-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI (played RF-CF)
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, R, 2-SB(11), K (played 2B)
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-1, HBP (left game in 3rd inning) (played SS)
#9 - Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 1 K, 67 pitches, 33 strikes (49.3%)
#10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, (DHd)
#15 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 51 pitches, 31 strikes (60.8%)
#17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(8), R, RBI, SB(66), 2 K (played CF)
#18 - Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, K (played SS)
#19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, K (played LF)

THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) - TBD
Tuesday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (4-4, 4.73 ERA)
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP Andrew Morris (4-4, 4.08 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD
Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:00 PM CT) - TBD
Wednesday
Minnesota @ LA Angels (3:07 PM CT) - RHP Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.92 ERA)
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP John Klein (0-3, 5.60 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD
Thursday
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - TBD 
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD
Game 2: Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) - TBD  
Friday
Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP Mick Abel (7-2, 2.19 ERA)
Wichita @ Corpus Christi (7:05 PM CT) - TBD
Game 3 (if needed): Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) -   

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 63-80
St. Paul Saints: 58-78 (25-38 second half)
Wichita Wind Surge: 72-60 (35-28 second half)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, playoffs))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete)
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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[Linus]

I don’t believe that in 50+ years of following baseball Ive seen a pitcher give up 6 walks in 3 innings. 

[tony&rodney]

Wichita has had some crazy games this year. I hope they can sweep the last series, but they seem short of pitching.

Jenkins must love horse racing because he sure loved Louisville. Walker had started to hit a number of loud outs in Toledo but he was really hot the last week. I hope he can keep the show going for Saints fans.

The Kernels look a little discombobulated lately but if Winokur and few others can get hot they could take the series versus Beloit.

Where will Emmanuel Rodriguez play this week?

Thanks for the extended reports Seth. I have been watching more and more minor league games and always appreciate the write-ups.

[jkcarew]

Nobody can convince me that basing your development in Florida…much less the golf coast of Florida…isn’t a material disadvantage relative to Arizona. Fort Myers has barely played half of scheduled innings over the last couple of weeks. Many games from this stretch and others won’t be made up with the season ending this week. And when games have been able to be made up, it accounts for 14 innings of baseball where 18 were scheduled.

I realize they don’t immediately go to their apartments and start playing video games during these days off. But nothing fully can replace development during live competition. Also, slows/interrupts rehab assignments.

[Mike Sixel]

10 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Nobody can convince me that basing your development in Florida…much less the golf coast of Florida…isn’t a material disadvantage relative to Arizona. Fort Myers has barely played half of scheduled innings over the last couple of weeks. Many games from this stretch and others won’t be made up with the season ending this week. And when games have been able to be made up, it accounts for 14 innings of baseball where 18 were scheduled.

I realize they don’t immediately go to their apartments and start playing video games during these days off. But nothing fully can replace development during live competition. Also, slows rehab assignments.

Agreed

[Danchat]

Reading these reports is much more enjoyable reading than the major league summaries, and that's regarding the subject quality, not the writing quality. 

[FlyingFinn]

Saints fans, this may be your only chance to see Jenkins at the Saints stadium. A couple more weeks like this and it's more likely he starts next year at Target Field.

[DJL44]

I hope Raya makes his debut if Topa goes on the IL. Even if it goes poorly it would be more useful than bringing back Davis.

[HrbieFan]

Sabato and Fedko get passed over again for McClusker, I don't get this FO! McClusker is a good story, but his bat and D are not MLB quality.  Any reason Lawerson isnt getting a look with the big club? We have trash in the bullpen in Minneapolis, why not try out the young arms? 

[rdehring]

Jenkins' best game at AAA last night got me thinking about a callup.  Will the Twins bring him up when the AAA season ends?  But then I looked at when he was drafted to see that he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man this year.  Expect that may be a big reason for them to not bring him over later this month.

Lots to like about Rojas, however, six walks in three innings isn't one of them.  See that DeBarge extended his organizational stolen base record to 66 last night.  Also noted he was in center field.  For those of you who have seen him play, is his speed that special?

See that several of you are wondering where EmRod goes this coming week.  I have a similar question, will Jiminez move up to Cedar Rapids for the playoffs?  Would be fun seeing he and Tait in the same lineup.

[DJL44]

24 minutes ago, rdehring said:

Jenkins' best game at AAA last night got me thinking about a callup.  Will the Twins bring him up when the AAA season ends?  But then I looked at when he was drafted to see that he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man this year.  Expect that may be a big reason for them to not bring him over later this month.

I don't think Jenkins will be added to the MLB roster until March 25 of next season.

[jmlease1]

Rojas should not be in AAA. There was little reason to move him in there (especially with so many starters already as options) and all he's done at AAA is get his brains beat in. It's not like he'd proven mastery over AA; dude only had 4 starts there for Toronto before they called him up for 1 start. To me, this screams of "we need to prove that we were right about trading away Varland!" rather than doing what's best for his development...and one thing this front office has shown is that they're not great at admitting that they've made an error. He's got great talent, but needs real work. He should have gone to Wichita from the jump and if they wanted to see more of him this season he could have finished in AAA since the season runs longer. or send him to the AFL if they want him to get some additional work. But this has been dumb.

Walker Jenkins is ripping it up and I'm not the least bit surprised. It's why there wasn't any reason to panic by the slow start as he got acclimated. That said, I don't see any good reason to call him up to MLB for the last dregs of this wasteland of a season. All we'd be doing there is a PR stunt, and I doubt it would do anything for his development. Keep the stink of this season off our best prospect. (and frankly don't give the short-attention span fans any reason to turn on him if he doesn't immediately smash it) Start him with the Twins in 2026 and give him a shot at Rookie of Year and give us all some hope, but he doesn't need to be part of the dumpster fire of 2025 to save a flailing front office and an embarrassing ownership.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, HrbieFan said:

Sabato and Fedko get passed over again for McClusker, I don't get this FO! McClusker is a good story, but his bat and D are not MLB quality.  Any reason Lawerson isnt getting a look with the big club? We have trash in the bullpen in Minneapolis, why not try out the young arms? 

It doesn't really matter at this point. McCusker is on the 40 person roster and neither of Fedko nor Sabato are on that list. The Twins are not shy about playing less than MLB quality bats and defense.  Laweryson is also not on the 40 roster. After the Angels series in L.A. the Twins close with the Diamondbacks, Yankees, Guardians, Rangers, and Phillies. Things could get rough. Let's hope the players are up for the challenges.

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, HrbieFan said:

Sabato and Fedko get passed over again for McClusker, I don't get this FO!

McCusker was on the 40 man roster and they may as well give him a shot before he's DFA'd after the season ends. He and Sabato seem fairly superfluous to me... I'd rather see Fedko than Outman but we know where their investment lies. My guess is we see Fedko in 2026, I dunno on Sabato. I just don't believe in him.

23 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Rojas should not be in AAA. There was little reason to move him in there (especially with so many starters already as options) and all he's done at AAA is get his brains beat in.

Agreed, it seemed quite aggressive to start him at AAA. Maybe they start him back in AA to begin 2026 and make him earn the promotion to AAA.

[jmlease1]

2 minutes ago, Danchat said:

McCusker was on the 40 man roster and they may as well give him a shot before he's DFA'd after the season ends. He and Sabato seem fairly superfluous to me... I'd rather see Fedko than Outman but we know where their investment lies. My guess is we see Fedko in 2026, I dunno on Sabato. I just don't believe in him.

right. McCusker also plays OF and Sabato doesn't.

I have zero interest in seeing any more of the unfortunately named Outman, but I don't know if it makes that much difference getting Fedko a cup of coffee at the end of this gross season or not. I guess I'd rather make sure there's no doubt that guys like Outman aren't around in 2026?

I don't really believe in Sabato either, though I respect how he's ground his way up to AAA after having real struggles to adapt. But I'd rather take a look at Sabato at 1B than waste time with Clemens, who is a truly inconsistent player and has such a dreadful OBP that I doubt the occasional home run barrage is worth it in the end.

[Jasper]

Called up McCusker for one last look before they remove him from the 40 man roster. It is the Twins way.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

It's time to call up Walker Jenkins. The front office needs to do something to get fans in seats, and I think a lot of people would show up to see Jenkins debut. 

 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

I don't really believe in Sabato either, though I respect how he's ground his way up to AAA after having real struggles to adapt. But I'd rather take a look at Sabato at 1B than waste time with Clemens, who is a truly inconsistent player and has such a dreadful OBP that I doubt the occasional home run barrage is worth it in the end.

Sabato has a .304 OBP in AAA with 14 walks to 73 Ks. If you don't like players with a bad OBP who occasionally hit dingers, then you're not going to like Sabato.

[D.C Twins]

Only question left is does Jenkins take over for Buck in CF or does buck stay in CF and Jenkins to the corner?

[D.C Twins]

33 minutes ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

It's time to call up Walker Jenkins. The front office needs to do something to get fans in seats, and I think a lot of people would show up to see Jenkins debut. 

 

Seriously... Only Jenkins has the ability to save attendance next year... 

[jmlease1]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Sabato has a .304 OBP in AAA with 14 walks to 73 Ks. If you don't like players with a bad OBP who occasionally hit dingers, then you're not going to like Sabato.

It's why I'm skeptical about Sabato! Historically, Sabato has done better at taking walks than he's shown so far in AAA, but it's a huge question mark and a reason why he's not getting a look I'm guessing. But he's at least got the unknown factor going for him and hits RH. I'm certainly skeptical about him, but I'm pretty convinced about who Kody Clemens already is, and it shouldn't be starting at 1B for the Twins.

[DJL44]

13 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Only question left is does Jenkins take over for Buck in CF or does buck stay in CF and Jenkins to the corner?

Jenkins will take a corner. Which corner is still unknown. Typically the next best fielding OF gets RF, but RF is a short porch at Target Field and the Twins put Bader in LF. However, Austin Martin is a much better fit for LF than RF.

I would start the season with Jenkins in LF, Buxton in CF and Rodriguez in RF with Martin on the bench and Wallner as the DH. The Twins might prefer to platoon Roden and Martin in LF and put Jenkins in RF.

[ashbury]

15 hours ago, Linus said:

I don’t believe that in 50+ years of following baseball Ive seen a pitcher give up 6 walks in 3 innings. 

It's been done a Lucky 13 times in the majors by Twins pitchers, most recently Chris Archer in 2022.  Trevor May, back in his days as a starter, did it in 2014.

It's true that none of those 13 achieved what Rojas did: limit the damage to only 1 run scored.  Joe Decker and Roger Erickson managed to escape with just 2.

I thought it was interesting, anyway.  If Stathead (b-r.com) made it as easy to look up minor league results as for the majors, I'm sure there would be plenty of such outings to be sifted through.

https://stathead.com/tiny/wx0sV

(And none of this of course disputes what you have personally 'seen.' 😀 )

[DocBauer]

If Iived in the Twin Cities I'd definitely be taking in some games. Despite the poor record, there are some very good players sitting there for fans to watch.

At 20yo and newly arrived at AAA, a slow start by Jenkins didn't bother me. He'll make his debut in 2026 and whether it's opening day or June 1st just doesn't concern me. He's going to be there. But then he has a week or scorched earth and you start to wonder a bit about 2026. But he won't be added to the 40 man because they don't need to. It saves a spot for someone else in the meantime. And there's no reason to bring him up after 1 good week to the bonfire that is the remainder of this season.

Should Rodriguez finish this year healthy...knock on wood...and have a healthy, productive ST, I'd give him the job in LF for opening day and let him run with it for as long as possible. WEEKS if he needs a legitimate re-set, and for YEARS if he grabs the position and holds it. His clocking has been ticking for 2 years now. 

He and Jenkins can BOTH cover Buxton in CF when needed, and they could each play both corners very well. LF has more ground to cover, and you'd like the stronger arm in RF. HOWEVER, BOTH Rodriguez and Jenkins have the speed and the arm to succeed in EITHER corner spot. I'm just guessing Rodriguez...again, the option clock is ticking...who is slightly older and has more AAA time might be the 1st one up. So I put him in LF with Wallner in RF. 

When Jenkins is ready and up...would they actually open with TWO rookie OF?...he slides in to RF and Wallner becomes the primary DH but still sees time in the corner OF spots.

That just seems the logical way for this to play out. But it could go the opposite direction and I'd be just fine with that!

[DocBauer]

Back to the OP again.

I'm happy McCusker is getting a shot before the season is done. But I'm completely baffled by this decision. He's been better lately, but when he was brought up the 1st time he was HOT, and they basically never played him. This seems to indicate they don't have a lot of faith in him. Or, did they not want to play him because they were still IN the hunt at the time?

But now that he's been slumping, they are ignoring Fedko and all his steam...someone who is younger and would probably be a better fit for 2026 as a more versatile and athletic player...and bringing up the somewhat struggling McCusker. Why? One last shot for McCusker? Just BECAUSE he's on the current 40 man? Fedko could be added easily. I simply don't understand a lot of the moves the FO is making!

Ohl back up is a positive move.

Agree Ross should have been moved straight across to AA after the trade. There's challenging a young arm, and then there's PUSHING a young arm.

Olivar seems to have been slumping as of late. Nice to see him have a good game. Personally, I've never been as high on him as most. He can hit, make decent contact, can run a bit, but he doesn't have any singular defining bat skill. Does he actually hit enough for LF? And he seems like a #3 catcher unless his defense behind the plate has really improved this season. His career high of 18% CS isn't very impressive. I have him behind Fedko, Gonzalez, and Rosario as RH bats at this point.

Despite season numbers that aren't very good, is it my imagination or has Cossetti's bat come alive over the past couple of months? I still have serious doubts about him behind the plate, but if his bat starts to find itself, he might yet be a 1B option in the near future who can be a "built in" #3 catching option.

Every couple of games, it seems Ross has a big hit and contribute to a win. But then you look again at his overall numbers and they remain poor. He's got the athleticism to play almost anywhere on the dirt, or the grass, and has some speed and pop. Is there enough pure talent there for him to EVENTUALLY figure out the hitting side of things and be a late developing Super Utility player one of these days?

Really hoping Wichita can finish strong enough to join Cedar Rapids in the playoffs!

In regards to all the rainouts in Florida affecting development, it IS an issue. But while Mother Nature is fickle, I really don't recall ever having a season with THIS many rainouts. But I will say the one ADVANTAGE to having rookie and A- teams in Florida, with it's dead air, is if your hitters can actually hit there, they should be that much better in Iowa for A+

[LambchoP]

There are a lot of hitters in AA and AAA to be very excited about. Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Fedko, Rosario, Culpeper, Eeles. What I worry about is the pitching. Seemingly every arm we have at our top levels either cannot throw strikes or are getting lit up all year. If all our starters who looked good last year like Adams, Morris, Lewis continue to get worse we're in trouble. Especially when you consider that none of the arms we picked up at the deadline have looked anywhere near serviceable other than maybe Bradley. But again, waaay too many walks. Seems to be a team problem with all our young guys 

[DocBauer]

My apologies, but I forgot to mention Sabato as he was brought up a few times.

Clemens, if brought back, and I believe he will be, could be a serviceable LH bench bat at potentially 5 positions if he can basically reproduce what he's done as a Twin with a .700 OPS hitter with power. (5 positions because he's played some 3B previously and should do so again next ST to if he can handle it). But he is NOT a starting player, and shouldn't be in 2026.

That is the ONE SINGULAR SPOT where the Twins could actually make a move to help solidify the INF and the lineup.

But I don't think Sabato is the answer at this time. With all due respect to his hard work and 2025 season, his OB% numbers have fallen flat since he joined St Paul. He doesn't have to be protected and won't be selected in the rule 5 draft. What he HAS DONE is raise himself from a #1 pick bust who was lucky to have a job this season, to someone worthy of having a AAA contract in 2026 and the opportunity to raise his game ONE MORE NOTCH to be in consideration for a call up next season. While he's getting long in the tooth, he still might have a shot at a career if he can take that last AAA step.

[Trov]

I hope we can get Jenkins to sign a 7 year deal so we can avoid the having him sit for like 2 weeks in AAA while he "gets more experience" next year.  

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

My apologies, but I forgot to mention Sabato as he was brought up a few times.

Clemens, if brought back, and I believe he will be, could be a serviceable LH bench bat at potentially 5 positions if he can basically reproduce what he's done as a Twin with a .700 OPS hitter with power. (5 positions because he's played some 3B previously and should do so again next ST to if he can handle it). But he is NOT a starting player, and shouldn't be in 2026.

That is the ONE SINGULAR SPOT where the Twins could actually make a move to help solidify the INF and the lineup.

But I don't think Sabato is the answer at this time. With all due respect to his hard work and 2025 season, his OB% numbers have fallen flat since he joined St Paul. He doesn't have to be protected and won't be selected in the rule 5 draft. What he HAS DONE is raise himself from a #1 pick bust who was lucky to have a job this season, to someone worthy of having a AAA contract in 2026 and the opportunity to raise his game ONE MORE NOTCH to be in consideration for a call up next season. While he's getting long in the tooth, he still might have a shot at a career if he can take that last AAA step.

Please don't bring Clemens back. He's nearly my age and replacement level at best..... I'm just such not a fan of this FO.....fedko isn't young, get him here.  

[DocBauer]

24 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Please don't bring Clemens back. He's nearly my age and replacement level at best..... I'm just such not a fan of this FO.....fedko isn't young, get him here.  

Mike, I understand. At this point in the season, with all due respect for McCusker, I would have brought Fedko up as well.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Clemens. But a LH bench bat who can play decently at a few spots and POTENTIALLY have a league average. 700 OPS actually has value.

Unfortunately, Schobel was having the kind of breakout season hoped for before injury. K-Pepper is probably a couple of months from debuting. Fitzgerald is a career AAAA player, but one who MIGHT serve a role to begin 2026. While I'm an Eeles fan and believer, he's still got to prove himself. 

Basically, the Twins need to improve 1B. Period! Hopefully they will. (I've written about this at length). But most of the other 1B and INF prospects are a year away besides Culpepper and maybe Eeles. And even IF the Twins fulfilled my dream scenario and signed Josh Naylor for 1B, there still remains a hole for a solid bench player.

Might they find/sign someone better than Clemens on the cheap? Absolutely. But if he could maintain a .700 OPS with power off the bench and be OK at a few spots? I think he's at least bringing back to see.