Twins Minor League Report (3/29): Walker Jenkins, Ryan Kreidler Lead Saints to Sunday Win and Series Sweep.

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

 

TRANSACTIONS
Wrote about the Twins signing Drew Smith to a minor-league deal. Sunday he was added to the Saints roster. Catcher David Banuelos was placed on the development list to make roster room. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 1
Box Score
Saints Complete 3-Game Sweep

Jenkins Returns
The plan for Walker Jenkins’ playing time has been laid out through next weekend. He played seven innings on Friday night. He didn’t play on Saturday. On Sunday, he played seven innings. In the top of the eighth frame, his spot in the lineup came up with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Kyler Fedko pinch hit for him and took over in center field. 

Jenkins led off the game with a double off of the wall just to the left of dead center field. A couple of batters later, his hamstring was tested. Kaelen Culpepper lined a single to left. Jenkins rounded third and sprinted home. He dove in but was easily out. More importantly, Jenkins was just fine. He walked in his next plate appearance and lined an RBI single. He flew out to right field in his final at-bat. 

Morris Makes 2026 Saints Debut
The goal when the game started was for Morris to go about four innings, and then John Klein would come in and hopefully go three innings. 

Well, Morris went 3 2/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He had one walk and one strikeout. He was at 57 pitches, likely within a handful of his Start #1 limit.  Certainly Morris was not in mid-season form. No one would expect him to be. But he only had three whiffs over those 57 pitches. 

Per StatCast, Morris threw 23 four-seam fastball (40%). He averaged 95.7 mph with the pitch and got nine called strikes. He maxed out at 97.3 mph. So velocity-wise, he’s where he needs to be and has been. He also threw 10 curveballs (18%), eight sinkers (14%), six changeups (11%) and five cutters and five sweepers (9%).

Saints Score First Again, Take Early Lead
Noah Cardenas led off the top of the second by being hit by a pitch. Tanner Schobel walked. With one out, Jenkins walked to load the bases. Gabriel Gonzelz grounded toward second. Jenkins was out at second, but Gonzalez beat the throw to first and the Saints had their first run. 

With one out in the third inning, Ryan Kreidler doubled to left. With two outs, Schobel walked again. Aaron Sabato followed with a single to left to drive in the second run. Jenkins followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.   

 

Klein Time
Indications and some quotes indicate that Minnesotan John Klein will be used in the three-to-four inning, twice per week role for the Saints this year. The goal for this game, his first outing of the season, was to go about three innings. He went 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two, and had four strikeouts. He threw 48 pitches and 31 of them were strikes (64.6%).

Half of his 48 pitches were four-seam fastballs. He averaged 95.6 mph with a max of 96.9 mph. He threw 14 curveballs (29%). That pitch averaged just under 81 mph, a really nice velocity drop. Same thing with his seven changeups (15%). It averaged 86.8 mph, about nine mph less than his fastball. Finally, he added three cutters. However, he was only able to record four whiffs.  

I Can Hit Too, Really!
We’ve all seen Ryan Kreidler’s career number in MLB. Simply, he hasn’t hit. He has a .138 batting average and .208 on-base percentage over his 188 big-league at-bats. However, it doesn’t take watching him play all over the diamond that you appreciate just how terrific he is defensively.      

And (Alert: Small Sample Size Warning), Kreidler hit his first double and first home run of the season. Through the first three games, Kreidler is 5-for-10, hitting .500/583/.900 (1.483). The 28-year-old from UCLA has good size. He’s 6-4 and about 210 pounds. 

 

 New Vets Get Their First Chance
When the Twins bring in a new veteran on a minor-league contract, they get them in the game right away! 

John Brebbia came in for the sixth inning. He got two outs relatively quickly. Then came Dominic Fletcher. 15 pitches later, Brebbia won that mini-battle and ultimately tossed a 1-2-3 inning. He threw eight four-seam fastballs and eight sliders. StatCast said that he threw two cutters and one sinker, one changeup, and one sweeper.   

 

Drew Smith came in and pitched the eighth inning. He faced just three batters, but he definitely used his defense. Konnor Griffin led off the inning with a double to the gap in right-center field, but with a perfect relay from Fedko to Culpepper to Kreidler to nail Griffin at third base. A huge play in a three-run game.   

 

Smith followed it up by walking a batter, but he followed by getting a double play to end the inning. 

Grant Hartwig got a strikeout to end the eighth inning on Friday. He came and despite two walks tossed a scoreless inning to record the save.

Defensive Alignment
It’s only been three games, and the lineup may look different starting Tuesday at CHS Field when the Saints take on the Woo Sox for six games. Here’s a quick look (again, just three games): 

Saints Players	3/27	3/28	3/29
Walker Jenkins	CF	DNP	CF
Kaelen Culpepper	SS	3B	SS
Gabriel Gonzalez	DH	LF	RF
Emmanuel Rodriguez	RF	CF	DH
Alan Roden	LF	RF	LF
Orlando Arcia	2B	SS	DNP
Eric Wagaman	1B	1B	DNP
Ryan Kreidler	3B	2B	3B
Alex Jackson	C	DNP	DNP
Kyler Fedko	DNS (CF)	DH	DNS (CF)
Noah Cardenas	DNP	C	C
Tanner Schobel	DNP	DNP	2B
David Banuelos	DNP	DNP	Dev List
Aaron Sabato	DNP	DNP	1B

WIND SURGE WISDOM
The Wind Surge season begins on Friday, April 3rd, when they play host to the NW Arkansas Travelers for three games. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
The Kernels also begin their 2026 season on Friday. They will host Peoria for three games. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers will also begin their season with a three-game home series. They will host the Clearwater Threshers. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Ryan Kreidler (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(1), HR(1), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. 

Pitcher of the Day 
John Klein (St. Paul): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 48 pitches, 31 strikes (65.6%%)

 

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

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, BB, 2B(1), RBI (played CF, batted 1st)
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, K (played SS, batted 4th)
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 K (DHd, batted 5th)
#4 - C Eduardo Tait (TBD) - DNP
#5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - DNP
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (TBD) - DNP
#7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, RBI (played RF, batted 2nd)
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring)
#9 - SS Marek Houston (TBD) - DNP
#10 - RHP Charlee Soto (TBD) - Injured List
#11 - RHP Riley Quick (TBD) - DNP
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 57 pitches, 36 strikes (63.2%)
#13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (TBD) - DNP
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (TBD) - DNP
#15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP
#16 - OF Hendry Mendez (TBD) - DNP
#17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (TBD) - DNP
#18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (TBD) - DNP
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (TBD) - DNP
#20 - RHP James Ellwanger (TBD) - DNP

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Tuesday:
Worcester @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - LHP Christian MacLeod 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 1-2
St. Paul Saints: 3-0

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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[Blyleven2011]

Thanks for the update , nice to see the saints off to a great start ...

Kreidler hitting probably isn't sustainable , I dont know what his minor league stats are , always heard he was a glove first player ...

Back to 6 game series again ...

[tony&rodney]

Tristan Gray had a sweet bat for the Twins today. I was mildly surprised the Twins chose Gray over Kreidler because Ryan is a far superior defender. Kreidler easily catches the ball that fell for a double between the lumbering Larnach, the retreating Lewis, and Gray. We shouldn't expect Kreidler to hit too much, but his glove is real.

Morris looked good. Batters pop up quite a bit against him. Morris could use a little more movement on his fastball. He was 96-97 most of the time but did not put batters away. He is still learning but looks good. Klein also looked good. The Pittsburgh prospects are highly regarded. Konnor Griffin is crazy talented. A feather for the Saints to sweep Indianapolis.

[Rosterman]

In some ways, the playing lineup looks mroe exciting to watch than the one that will be at Target Field.

Almost wish they had just rostered another relief arm and let Abel start in St. Paul. I do hope they will allow 3-4 arms go upwards towards 100 pitches as the month turns into May. Yes, John and Conrad could both become multi-inning relief pitchers, at best. But would like to see the Twins develop potential repalcements for 2027.

[tony&rodney]

50 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

In some ways, the playing lineup looks mroe exciting to watch than the one that will be at Target Field.

Depending on personal preference for the type of baseball an individual likes to watch, I would suggest that the Saints are a clear bet to be more entertaining from the standpoint of fielding, running, throwing, and hitting. The AAA players are still learning skills needed to be successful at the MLB level though, so it is a nuanced argument. 

I have enjoyed all three of the Twins games and all three of the Saints games (one on TV, other on computer). The Saints brand has been more exciting but MLB is obviously a higher quality, more fine-tuned quality of baseball.

[DarrenPS]

Wind Surge & Mighty Mussels begin their seasons on Thursday, FYI. Kernels begin their season on Friday

[nclahammer]

Way to hit the cut off man Saints and get the runner at third.   Good fundamental baseball and it drives me crazy when it doesn't happen in the pros.

[jmlease1]

Just stay healthy, Jenkins. You too, Rodriguez.

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Just stay healthy, Jenkins. You too, Rodriguez.

and you to Culpepper.

[Senior Softball Guy]

FYI/The relay throw was Fedko to Shobel to third.....just sayin'.

[rdehring]

Will be interesting how Wichita does this year.  Not a lot of top prospects on that team.  On the other hand, Cedar Rapids looks a lot like the Saints, loaded.

Recall that a 2025 draft pick, Ellwanger, pitched very well in the prospect game a few weeks ago against the Phillies.  Don't see him on any roster.  Does anyone know where he is headed?  Also, when does the FCL begin play?

[gman]

Looks like both the Saints and Cedar Rapids players have room to move up when they prove they are ready. Should prove to be an entertaining year even if no championships are coming to the Twins.

[DocBauer]

With Rojas out temporarily with an injury, I find it interesting that MacLeod has been moved temporarily in to the rotation. And I'm a little surprised about Klein. I'm not saying he doesn't have the stuff to be a SP, but I just have a feeling he could be an excellent power arm in the pen. But with Rojas out for the moment, would he be better used as a temporary starter while still following the 4 IP plan? 

While a SSSS it's nice to see Jenkins back and playing and performing. K-Pepper off to a nice start as well. But we all know 3 games doesn't mean much. But St Paul should be really fun to watch this season!

[DocBauer]

8 hours ago, rdehring said:

Will be interesting how Wichita does this year.  Not a lot of top prospects on that team.  On the other hand, Cedar Rapids looks a lot like the Saints, loaded.

Recall that a 2025 draft pick, Ellwanger, pitched very well in the prospect game a few weeks ago against the Phillies.  Don't see him on any roster.  Does anyone know where he is headed?  Also, when does the FCL begin play?

If you look at MILB.COM right now at the roster, I'm not sure it's 100% accurate as I'm not sure the roster is entirely set just yet. But it's probably close.

The starting staff isn't exactly loaded, but there's some solid arms there in there including CJ Culpepper, Gallagher, Hidalgo, Langenberg, and Jose Oliveras who I thought would begin the season at A+.

A couple od those arms are primed to be bullpen converts, probably, in the next year or so. But a couple have a chance to remain as starters.

Interesting enough, there's actually a handful of arms in that pen that have a chance to reach the ML level, which is something you don't often see. Bengard is an innings eater with solid WHIP and K numbers that kind of flys under the radar. Nowlin is a late round pick LH who frustrates because he has a funky delivery and solid stuff, but remains inconsistent. Whitaker had a really good 2025 out of the pen. But Hoopes is the arm to watch. He is an interesting story of a LIVE ARM who was signed out of the Independent Leagues and BLEW AWAY A- and A+ in 2025, went to the AFL where he didn't fare so well, and could be a 2026 surprise if he gets off to a good start.

Lineup wise, there was NO ROOM for Rosario, Mendez, or Olivar, DESPITE great 2025 seasons. (Goes back to poor Twins roster management, and a crowded St Paul roster). But it appears Amick and DeBarge are listed currently on the roster. Belief in them taking the next step? There are a handful of others that I'm not getting in to right now. I'll save that for the final TD breakdown. But I think it's a pitcher heavy roster, even if most of the pitchers aren't top prospects.