Twins Minor League Report (4/18): CJ Culpepper Continues

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of CJ Culpepper)

TRANSACTIONS   
Utility man Jorel Ortega was activated from the Injured List. 

RHPs Matt Dalquist and Matt DesMarets joined the Fort Myers roster from the FCL Twins roster. The 23-year-old Dalquist went to UC-San Diego. He signed shortly following the 2025 draft (July 24, 2025) but didn’t make an appearance. DesMarets went to Concordia in California for two years. Then he went to UC-La Verne for the last two years. He went to pitch for Mankato in the Northwoods League last summer. On July 23, 2025, he signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Twins. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 6, Lehigh Valley 10
Box Score
The Saints hit five home runs on Saturday afternoon at CHS Field. The IronPigs had just one. The Saints had just two hits that weren’t home runs. The IronPigs had 15 non-homer hits. So of course, the Saints lost a game in which they homered five times for the first time in their history. 

Andrew Bash started and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks over 2 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Raul Brito came on and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in his 2 1/3 innings. Marco Raya came on to get the final out of the fifth inning and then pitched the sixth inning as well. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out three batters. 

Altavilla struck out four batters over two innings of work. He gave up one run on one hit and a walk. This performance dropped his season ERA to 9.31. Drew Smith gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and a walk in the ninth inning. 

Down 2-0 after just a half-inning, Royce Lewis got the Saints scoring started. He followed a Walker Jenkins walk with a home run into the bullpen. 

In the fourth inning, Tanner Schobel hit his first home run of the season. He crushed it over the batter's eye beyond center field. It gave the Saints a 3-2 lead. 

In the fifth inning, Emmanuel Rodriguez hit his fourth home run, a long blast hit 117.1 mph. That is the highest exit velocity by a Saints hitter in franchise history.     

In the sixth inning, Orlando Arcia lined his third home run of the season. 

Jump ahead to the ninth inning, and Aaron Sabato hit his first home run of the season. He posted an exit velocity of 111.6 mph. 

Schobel went 2-for-3 with a walk and the team’s lone single of the day. David Banuelos replaced Lewis at the DH position. He hit a double, the team’s lone double of the day. Lewis was 1-for-4 in the game. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 6, Springfield 3
Box Score
On Saturday night, it was the Wind Surge that took the early lead. They were also able to hang on.

In the bottom of the second inning, Hendry Mendez hit his third home run of the season to make it 1-0. 

With one out in the bottom of the third, Kyle DeBarge walked and stole second. Ben Ross was hit by a pitch. Kala’i Rosario singled to drive in DeBarge. Rosario stole second, and Mendez followed with a two-run single. Billy Amick doubled to drive in Mendez and give the Surge a 5-0 lead. 

C.J. Culpepper was very good again. He had seven strikeouts over 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and a walk. He reached 75 pitches and dropped his season ERA to 1.62 ERA. 

Aaron Rozek came on to get the final out of the fifth inning. He also threw a scoreless sixth inning. He gave up two runs in the top of the seventh inning but was able to limit any further damage with a double play. Rozek was credited with the Win, his 16th career win with the Wind Surge tying him with Pierson Ohl for the all-time Wind Surge lead. 

In the bottom of the inning, Ben Ross reached on an error. With two outs, Amick drove in Ross to make it a 6-2 game. 

Spencer Bengard gave up a solo homer in the eighth inning, and Sam Ryan struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save. 

Mendez went 2-for-4 with his third homer and three RBI. Amick was 2-for-4 with his third double and two RBI.

They say that all good things must end someday and add something about Autumn leaves needing to fall. Ben Ross’s hitting strike came to an end on Saturday. However, his on-base streak is now 14 games. Ross was hit by a pitch in the third inning. He walked in the sixth inning, and then he stole his eighth base of the season. He also reached on an error in the eighth inning.   

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 8, Quad Cities 14
Box Score
This game was quite the pitcher’s duel through, well, two innings. Quad Cities scored five runs in the third and four runs in the fourth. When the Kernels came to the plate for the bottom of the sixth, they were already down 10-0. 

The Kernels bats showed some life that inning. Well, actually, they did a good job at not swinging. Jaime Ferrer and Marek Houston walked. Then Eduardo Tait was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Khadim Diaw walked to put the Kernels on the scoreboard. Brandon Winokur drilled a double to right field to drive in two more runs. Jacob McCombs was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. A fourth run scored when Andy Lugo grounded into a force out. 

When the Kernels came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, they were down 13-4. Ferrer walked, and Luis Hernandez walked. With two outs, Diaw drove in Ferrer with a single. Miguel Briceno pinch hit and walked to load the bases. McCombs doubled to clear the bases and cut the deficit to 13-8. They re-loaded the bases but didn’t have that one more big hit left.   

Jason Doktorczyk started and gave up five runs on four hits and three walks in three innings. Nick Trabacchi came on and was charged with four runs on six hits (including two home runs) in 1 2/3 innings. Jacob Wosinski had four strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. He gave up one run on one hit and a walk. Brent Francisco worked the final three innings. He gave up four runs on five hits (including two home runs) and a walk. 

The Kernels scored their eight runs on four hits and nine walks. Diaw was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBI. Jaime Ferrer walked three times. McCombs was 2-for-4 with his fourth double and three RBI. The outfielder was the Twins seventh round pick in 2025 out of UC-Irvine. He is currently hitting .324/.425/.618 (1.043) with four doubles, three triples, and 10 RBI. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 2, Lakeland 9
Box Score  
Matthew Dalquist started for the Mussels on Saturday. He gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts and walked none. He threw an impressive 72.4% of his pitches were strikes. 

Adam Falinski came on and got the final out of the fifth inning. He gave up two unearned runs on three hits and a walk over the next two innings. Travis Adams had a strikeout in his 1-2-3 rehab inning. Mike McKenna pitched the ninth inning and was charged with three unearned runs on one hit and two walks. He struck out three batters. 

Down 6-0 going to the bottom of the sixth, Dameury Pena led off with a single to center. Yasser Mercedes followed with his second home run since returning earlier in the week. That’s as close as the Mussels got. 

Pena was 2-for-4 and is hitting .421. Jayson Bass went 2-for-3 with a walk and his third double. He also stole his second base. Ryan Sprock went 2-for-3. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Hendry Mendez (Wichita): 2-for-4, HR(3), 2 R, 3 RBI, K. 

Pitcher of the Day 
C.J. Culpepper (Wichita): 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 7 K, 75 pitches, 46 strikes (61.3%)

 

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) - 0-for-4, BB, R, K (batted first, played CF) 
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - Did Not Play
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, HR(4), R, RBI, 3K (batted third, played RF) 

#4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, HBP, 2 K (batted second, catcher)  
#5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - Did No Play
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, R, 2 K (batted leadoff, played SS)
#10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B(3), 2 RBI, K (batted 4th, played CF).
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 3 K, E(8) (batted fourth, SS)
#15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 2-for-4, HR(3), 2 R, 3 RBI, K (batted fourth, played LF)
#17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, R, 2 K, SB(6) (batted first, played SS)
#18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 75 pitches, 46 strikes (61.3%)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, K (batted third, DHd).
#20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Sunday:
Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (2:07 pm CT) - RHP John Klein (0-1, 7.88 ERA)
Springfield @ Wichita (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (0-2, 7.11 ERA)
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Nolan Santos (0-0, 8.6 ERA)
Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CT) - RHP Kolten Smith (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 11-10
St. Paul Saints: 8-11
Wichita Wind Surge:8-6
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 7-7
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 8-6
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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117.1 mph.

How big a ticket is that on an interstate?