Twins Minor League Report (4/11): Late-Inning Surge Leads Wichita to Easy Win in Northwest Arkansas

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Braeden Botts (photo of Garrett Spain)

Cedar Rapids got the day started with a noon game. The Wind Surge's late offensive explosion meant that the day in the Twins minor leagues system ended well after 9:00 pm in the central time zone. Long day, but there were some intriguing storylines and performances up and down the proverbial organizational 

TRANSACTIONS
On Friday night, it was announced that RHP Cody Laweryson (right forearm strain) and 3B Royce Lewis (knee sprain) were going on the injured list. On Saturday morning, the team reported the corresponding moves. The Twins called up RHP Andrew Morris and utilityman Ryan Kreidler. 

The Saints activated catcher David Banuelos from the Development List. LHP Kendry Rojas was activated from the 7-Day IL (hamstring). He will start for the Saints on Sunday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 0, Toledo 3
Box Score
Of the 17 half-innings played in this game, zero runs were scored in 16 of them. The only negative was the bottom of the fifth inning when Zebby Matthews gave up three runs.

Blame Ben Malgeri! No, not really. The Tigers 26-year-old right field prospect led off for the Mudhens. In the bottom of the first, he led off with a single. Matthews proceeded to get the next nine batters out. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Malgeri tripled, but Matthews got Max Clark to pop out to end that threat. 

In the fourth inning, Matthews gave up a leadoff single to Gage Workman, but a force out, a line out, and another force out meant another zero was placed on the board. 

In the fifth inning, Matthews got a bit bombarded. Teri Cruz led off with a single. Cal Stevenson followed with a groundball single. Cruz advanced to third, He scored on a bloops single to right field by Max Burt. That brought Malgeri to the plate again. This time Matthews got him to strike out. There was a way out of the inning with limited damage. But Max Clark came to the plate. Matthews got him to hit a ground ball to first base. Kyler Fedko fielded it, made a nice throw to second base where Kaelen Culpepper caught it and threw back to first base. Matthews was there, at the base, seemingly in good position, but he didn’t catch the ball. Matthews was charged with the error. Stevenson scored on the play to make it 2-0. After a wild pitch, Clark scored on a Gage Workman single that made it 3-0. 

In total, Matthews gave three runs (2 earned) on seven hits. In five innings, he had five strikeouts and no walks. Two-thirds of his 78 pitches were strikes. His average fastball came in at 95.2 mph, but he did hit 96.7. The strikeout he recorded to end the bottom of the fifth included three fastballs over 96 mph. He had 11 whiffs, though just one out of 17 swings at his fastball.

Jon Brebbia came on in relief. He faced eight batters. He walked two of them and struck out the other six. 

Dan Altavilla walked one and had one strikeout in a scoreless eighth frame. 

The Saints offense didn’t help. They managed just two hits and two walks in the game. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Tanner Schobel each had a single. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 12, Arkansas 5
Box Score
This started as a very competitive game. In fact, the score was tied at 2-2 through six innings. The Surge scored two runs in the top of the seventh and then broke things open with an eight-run eighth inning.

Wichita scored first with a two-run top of the fourth inning. Garrett Spain singled to drive in Hendry Mendez and Billy Amick. 

Mike Paredes started and worked the first four innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked none and had seven strikeouts. The only blemish was a solo homer by Hunter Fitz-Gerald in the bottom of the fourth. 

Ruddy Gomez came in and worked a scoreless fifth inning. He gave up two singles to start the bottom of the sixth. At that point, it was clear that something happened to his powerful right arm. The catcher came out. The manager came out. When the trainer came out, it didn’t take long before they took Gomez out of the game. We hope for the best. 

Lefty Aaron Rozek made his first appearance since rejoining the Twins organization and the Wind Surge earlier this week. Rozek walked one but got a couple of ground balls. Unfortunately, the second involved a throwing error that allowed the tying run to score. 2-2 through six innings. 

With one out in the top of the seventh, Jake Rucker walked and stole second. Maddux Houghton singled on a ground ball to third base. Houghton then stole second base. A wind pitch allowed Rucker to score.  With two outs, Ben Ross came through with a single to left to make it 4-2. He has at least one hit in all eight Wind Surge games this season. 

Rozek got two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but he also gave up two singles and hit a batter which loaded the bases. Luis Quinones was summoned from the bullpen, and he needed three pitches to record a strikeout and end the threat. 

Then came the top of the eighth frame. Garrett Spain led off with a single. Ricardo Olivar doubled him to third base. After a strikeout, Jake Rucker grounded to shortstop. The throw came to the plate and Spain was safe. Houghton singled to drive in Olivar. He stole second. Rucker and Houghton scored on a Kyle DeBarge single which made it 8-2. Ben Ross lined a single to center to make it 9-2. After a pitching change, Hendry Mendez singled to right. After a strikeout, Mendez stole second. Finally, on the seventh pitch to him, Spain added a three-run homer to make it 12-2. 

Quinones came out for the bottom of the eighth. After a walk, he struck out the next two batter. The right-hander was charged with three runs allowed. Darren Bowen came on and gave up a two-run single that scored two of the inherited runners. He then got a strikeout to end the eighth with the Surge leading 12-5.  Bowen tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3
Box Score
The Twins used their seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft on right-hander Eli Jones from the University of South Carolina. The assumption was (by many) that he would start the 2025 season with the Mighty Mussels but move up to Cedar Rapids relatively quickly. That’s not what happened. Instead, he made 18 starts and five relief appearances for Fort Myers. He went 2-10 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. In 100 innings, he had 40 walks, 10 hit batters, and 84 strikeouts. 

Still, he advanced to High-A Cedar Rapids to start the 2026 season. He’s thrown in just three games and accumulated 15 innings so far, but he is 0-0 with a 1.20 ERA and a 0.40 WHIP. 

On Saturday, he tossed five innings and gave up one run on one hit. He walked none and had four strikeouts. He threw 71.4% strikes (44/63). The only run he allowed came in the first inning. Juan Matheus hit a one-out triple and scored on a Cam Cannarella sacrifice fly. 

The first time through the Kernels lineup, only nine-hitter Jaime Ferrer reached base. He was hit by a pitch. However, the Kernels got on the board in the fourth frame. Eduardo Tait led off with a single. Khadim Diaw followed with a two-run home to give the Kenels the 2-1 lead. 

Jacob McCombs delivered his third triple of the season on a play that saw two Sky Carp collide in the outfield.  

Jones was replaced by Yehizon Sanchez in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up an unearned run, but don’t feel too sorry for him. He gave up a one-out single. He made a throwing error trying to pick off the runner, and then the run scored on a wild pitch. That tied the game at 2-2. 

Sanchez started the seventh inning as well, but he walked the first two batters he faced.Sam Rochard came on and did what any wise pitcher would… he caused the hitter to hit a ground ball to Marek Houston who started a double play. He then got JSerra alum Cody Schrier to fly out to end the inning with the game still tied. 

Rochard struck out two batters in a perfect bottom of the eighth inning as well. He got to start the ninth inning as well. He got the first out but then gave up an infield single to Juan Matheus who went to second on a balk. Following a walk, Brian Meyer turned to Jacob Woskinski. On his second pitch, Brandon Compton lined a single to center to drive in the winning run for Beloit. 

Cedar Rapids had just four hits in the game. They also had just one walk compared to 12 strikeouts. Tait was 1-for-3 with a walk. McCombs hit his third triple of the young season, and Diaw recorded his first home run of the year.

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 7
Box Score  
Joel Garcia made the start for the Mussels. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on four hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. He gave up three runs in the second inning, and two more before exiting in the fourth. 

That’s when Merit Jones came into the game. The Twins thought that Jones was ‘the quality of being particularly good or worthy’ of being drafted not once, but twice. The Twins selected him in the 20th round of the 2024 draft. Instead of signing, he returned to the University of Utah. A year later, the Twins selected him again, this time in the 14th round after an impressive showing in the MLB Draft League. In this outing, he worked four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked one and had four strikeouts. 

Mike McKenna came in to get the final two outs. 

Acuna was the big reason the Mussels got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning. He walked and stole second base. With two outs, Irvin Nunez and Dameury Pena walked to load the bases. A fielding error allowed Acuna to score. 

Through four innings, the Mussels were down 5-1. Acuna started the top of the fifth with a single. Jorel Ortega doubled to drive him in and make it 5-2. 

Fast-forward to the top of the seventh. The Mussels were losing 7-2. Yilber Herrera led off the inning with his first home run of the season. Acuna followed with a single but was erased on a double play. Irvin Nunez walked and went to second on a Dameury Pena single. Ryan Sprock doubled to drive in the team’s fourth run. 

The Mussels had nine hits and walked seven times. Acuna had two singles and two walks and a stolen base. Herrera went 2-for-4 with a homer. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Garrett Spain (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2 R, HR(2), 5 RBI, K
Bryan Acuna (Fort Myers): 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, SB(1)
Ben Ross (Wichita): 3-for-5, BB, 2B(4), 2 RBI, 2 SB(4), K

Pitcher of the Day 
Eli Jones (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 63 pitches, 45 strikes (71.4%)

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) - Did Not Play  
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K (led off, played SS)
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, K (batted fourth, played CF)
#4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, R, K (batted second, DHd)  
#5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch 
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (Batted third, played LF)
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Activated Saturday. Will start Sunday.
#9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K (led off, played SS)
#10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Called up to Twins. Did Not Pitch
#13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K, SB(4) (batted fourth, played 3B). 

#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play.
#15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2 R, K, SB(1) (batted third, played LF) 
#17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-for-5, BB, R, 2 RBI, K, CS(2), E(3) (led off, played 2B)
#18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, HBP, HR(1), 2 RBI, R, RBI (batted third, catcher)
#20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Sunday:
St. Paul @ Toledo (1:05 pm CT) - LHP Kendry Rojas (first start of season)
Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-1, 2.25 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Michael Ross (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (11:30 CT) - RHP Kolten Smith (0-0, 0.00 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 8-7
St. Paul Saints: 5-8
Wichita Wind Surge: 3-5
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 5-3
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 5-3
FCL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, May 4)
DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) 

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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[Permanent Twins Fan]

Suprisingly Kyle Debarge has already been caught stealing twice after being sucessful on his first 30+ attempts last season. Nice to see Wichita have a good offensive day, but the bats in St. Paul have been really sluggish to start the season. I would love to see one of the Twins big four prospects at AAA force their way up to the big leagues, but it isn't happening right now. 

[Jack Pine]

For some reason your site won't load due to an ad blocker.  If I remove it the site is unreadable due a bombardment of ads.  

[jmlease1]

DeBarge has been a little all over the place to start the season. Good to see him get some hits back on the board after a rough series vs Arkansas. He can't seem to do much against LHP this season and not being able to mash LHP dragged him down a bit last season too. Another error early in the season to go with getting nabbed on the bases isn't great.

Diaw's going to be interesting to watch this season; Tait will get more attention, but there might be something there with Diaw and he could move quickly.

[roger]

Zebby doing great until running out of gas sounds like someone destined for the Twins bullpen.  Hopefully soon.

[nclahammer]

Another very thorough report on the prospects down on the farm.   I like how in the prospect summary, you also list where they were int he batting order.   A nice little added detail...thank you.

[mikelink45]

I enjoy these reports and getting to know so many names.  But my big disappointment is AAA where I thought Matthews would prosper and Walker, Gonzales, Rodriguez and Culpepper would rake and force the team to call them up.

I also find it fascinating to see Tait and Diaw on the same team, seemingly in a contest to see which one will be in MLB as a catcher first.  So far the 19 year old Tait is 

182

.367

.227

.594

 

And the the 22 year old Diaw is 

.250

.400

.393

.793

[bean5302]

Nice to see Matthews trending in the right direction. Also, great to see Kendry Rojas activated from the IL in St. Paul. While the MLB depth was considered a potential strength for the Twins before Lopez went down this spring, going past 1-2 starters at AAA exposed a pretty soft underbelly in the the Saints rotation quality.

I also like to see how well Raya is responding in the bullpen so far this year. Lots of K's not a ton of walks and nearly 60% ground balls. Still only 5.2 innings, but it's good to see.

 

[Dman]

Some players just aren't at their best in cold weather and it looks like St Paul has a lot of them, lol.  As mentioned by others I am surprised by the mediocre play of the starters which was supposed to be a strength and most hitters haven't faired well either.  I do think the cold plays into it, but for a team that on paper looked like a juggernaut this has been a disappointing start to the season.

Nice to see Witchita getting some hits.  They don't have a ton of great arms for starters and to have the bats cold as well could make that team tough to watch.

[jkcarew]

The “absolutely loaded” Saints are absolutely underwhelming so far.

Better outing from Matthews…still basically all of his AAA outings last year were better than last night’s. Don’t know what’s going on with him.

[stringer bell]

I'll echo earlier comments on this thread. St. Paul was supposed to be all that and right now they aren't. So far, no one has forced their way to promotion, with Gonzalez and Jenkins off to really slow starts. 

[RpR]

Jenkins did not play yesterday and he may be earning a return to AA for a bit.