Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Riley Quick)

 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins signed utility man Henry Kusiak away from Lew Ford and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. 

In a Ducks press release, Ford said, "Henry was outstanding both at the plate and in the field during the season's first week. He has earned this opportunity, and we wish him the best of luck int he Twins organization. 

In the first five games of his season, Kusiak hit .474 with a 1.395 OPS. He hit two home runs including one that traveled 419 feet. He has two doubles and two stolen bases. While he has played all around the diamond, the 25-year-old was playing right field in a game earlier this week and made a diving catch in Trevor Bauer's no-hitter. 

Kusiak played at Missouri Southern from 2020-2024. He played 77 more games in 2024 for Windy City of the Frontier League. In 2025, he was named the Rookie Hitter of the Year in the American Association and a league All Star when he hit .309/.377/.481 (.858) with 16 doubles and 12 home runs. 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Iowa 11
Box Score
Sam Gallagher: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
HR: Kyler Fedko (7), Aaron Sabato (2)
Multi-hit games: Ryan Kreidler (2-for-4, 2B, R)

This author wrote “it was all bad” for last week’s Saints game. Well, this one was only slightly better. Ryan Armstrong found the AAA confines unfriendly and cold; he was roughed up for three runs across three frames as he battled his command. The struggles were passed to Marco Raya, who coughed up a trio of runs across two innings. Travis Adams, Dan Altavilla—both additions to the list of those victimized by Iowa hitters. Grant Hartwig was the only pitcher not to allow a run, and even he walked a pair.

The Saints did lead at one point. Ryan Kreidler doubled to start the second, and Emmanuel Rodriguez singled him home. Then, Kyler Fedko stepped up to the plate and smoked his seventh home run of the season.

Aaron Sabato connected on a long ball in the seventh, yet all he did was cut the deficit from eight to seven. 

The Cubs don’t boast an especially powerful farm system, but they did send one of their finer products to the field in Kevin Alcántara. The outfielder singled and walked in four plate appearances. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 5, Arkansas 1
Box Score
Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge (2-for-4, R)

An explosive sixth inning led the Wind Surge to victory on Wednesday.

Ron Gardenhire would have been proud of the offensive showing. Three singles and a walk scored the first run. Two RBI groundouts brought the total to three—the latter of which existed only because of Kyle DeBarge’s madman dash home as seen below. One more walk then begat a two-run single by Jorel Ortega. That’s five runs scored with just singles, free passes, and grit.

Alejandro Hidalgo might be up to something this season. In 11 ⅔ innings out of the bullpen, the righty has 23 strikeouts, an unbelievable rate even over a short sample. Four gopher balls have ballooned his ERA to 5.40, but the radical whiff increase is something to keep an eye on.

The Travelers are a part of the juggernaut Mariners farm system. A constant stream of talent, Arkansas claims two Top 100 players in Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo. The former went 0-4 while the latter went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 4, West Michigan 3
Box Score
Riley Quick: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
HR: Jay Thomason (2)
Multi-hit games: Khadim Diaw (4-for-4, 2B, R, RBI)

The Kernels won on a walk-off home run on Wednesday.

Do you think Riley Quick is bored? What with the immediate, outright dominance and all that. “I thought pro-ball was supposed to be difficult,” he demurs while twisting a hitter into knots with a breaker. Perhaps even the lone allowed baserunner was a gift; he was erased with a double play one batter later, anyway. The righty out of Alabama has now tossed 12 innings in the Twins system. He has relinquished two hits, walked three, and has struck out 18. 

Cedar Rapids plated two in the fourth on a Rayne Doncon double before adding on with a Khadim Diaw RBI knock in the sixth. It was part of an incredible day for Diaw: the catcher went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and three singles. He alone collected half of the Kernels’ hits in the game.

One of those non-Diaw knocks was also the game’s biggest: pinch-hitter Jay Thomason stepped up to the plate in the ninth with the score tied. He fell down 0-2. A foul kept him alive, and two balls pushed the count even. One more foul begat the golden swing. Thomason smacked a hanging breaking ball deep to right field, hitting the pitch just hard enough to clear the wall for a walk-off homer.

Bryce Rainer is ranked as the 30th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He reached base all four times, collecting two hits while walking twice.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 6, Daytona 12
Box Score
Eric Hammond: 2 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB)

Fort Myers jumped out to an early lead, plating three in the second. Ian Daughtery provided the initial RBI knock, before he, too, touched home—along with Byron Chourio—after a Yasser Mercedes single. 

The Mighty Mussels’ Twitter account hints toward future endeavors. This was their last post until announcing the game’s end.

Daytona bludgeoned Eric Hammond for four runs (three earned) in the second, then returned for another four-run frame, this time almost entirely credited to poor Adam Falinski. In fact, the first four Fort Myers hurlers of the night left the game with more earned runs than they started with.

Runs in the fourth and sixth helped pretty the lipstick on this metaphorical pig, but the inevitable result remained unchanged. 

Byron Chourio and Bryan Acuña were on-base fiends at the end of the lineup, combining to reach base six times with five runs scored. Chourio also stole his seventh base of the season.

Cincinnati’s second-round pick in 2024, infielder Tyson Lewis, is their third-ranked prospect, and he singled once in four at-bats.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Riley Quick
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Khadim Diaw

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-4, K
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-5, 2 K
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, RBI, 3 K
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, K
#9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2 K
#11 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
#13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, 3 K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-5, 3 K
#15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-4, R, K
#17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-4, R
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 4-4, 2B, R, RBI

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37 PM) - RHP Matt Bowman vs #OldFriend LHP Charlie Barnes 
Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Sam Armstrong
West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 PM) - RHP Eli Jones
Fort Myers @ Daytona (5:35 PM) - RHP Matthew Dalquist

 

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[Blyleven2011]

The hype of our farm system prospects just doesn't seem to inspire confidence ...

Here's to better days ahead  ...

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Very impressive outing for Riley Quick, indeed! And how about Diaw going 4-for-4?! But which position will Diaw eventually end up playing? Looking at this year's stats, I see that he has been a catcher 9 times, in the outfield 10 times, and 4 times serving as DH. We need more catchers, sure, but seems like Tait might have the inside track by 2028. What about Diaw?

[thelanges5]

Riley Quick to the Twins bullpen?

[D.C Twins]

Uff Da!  (my prospect summary for the day)

 

[mikelink45]

The biggest take away beside Quick hope was the performance of the Saints BP = the three pitchers that seem destined to come to the Twins BP were all roughed up.  Maybe thelanges5 is right - get Quick into the BP quick.

[Dman]

Let's see what Quick can do for a month at high A and see if he moves to AA right quick.  Once there he would be just a step away from helping the MLB club.

[rdehring]

Great seeing Diaw with a big game.  Also good seeing DeBarge with a multi-hit outing.  And thanks for the video of his dash home.  

Quick made what, four starts in Ft. Myers before moving up?  Four or five starts for the Kernels should put him in Wichita by Memorial Day.  Should he continue his dominance, he could be in St. Paul by the All-Star break and the Twins by September.  Wouldn't it be great for the Twins to find lightening in a bottle, just once.  Please!

[stringer bell]

Lots of strikeouts for the hitting prospects. That can't be good. 2-33 with 17 Ks for the top nine hitting prospects. Ouch. The best bullpen arm in St. Paul is ................................Matt Bowman? I'm counting Rojas as a starter, but he may well end up in the BP for the Twins when a lefty reliever is gone. 

[stringer bell]

40 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

The biggest take away beside Quick hope was the performance of the Saints BP = the three pitchers that seem destined to come to the Twins BP were all roughed up.  Maybe thelanges5 is right - get Quick into the BP quick.

If moving the needle from 60 wins to 65 matters, yeah move guys like Quick to the bullpen. One guy won't change things much. Two or three maybe. I really like the young arms that have pitched for the Twins--Prielipp, Rojas, Bradley, Abel--and adding another would be great. However, I don't think 2026 is salvageable. 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

Riley Quick to the Twins bullpen?

I hate to say this, but I can't imagine him being any worse than what we have now. At least he is a lively arm.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

The hype of our farm system prospects just doesn't seem to inspire confidence ...

Here's to better days ahead  ...

Riley Quick.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Very impressive outing for Riley Quick, indeed! And how about Diaw going 4-for-4?! But which position will Diaw eventually end up playing? Looking at this year's stats, I see that he has been a catcher 9 times, in the outfield 10 times, and 4 times serving as DH. We need more catchers, sure, but seems like Tait might have the inside track by 2028. What about Diaw?

What about #3 selection in the 2026 draft,  Lackey, a catcher from Georgia Tech?

[jmlease1]

Hard not to be impressed with Quick so far. He's pitched so little overall (only 87 college innings total) that you have to temper the expectations a little bit, and I have to believe that the Twins will be very careful about his workload this season...but this is a fantastic start. He's even been efficient: only needed 41 pitches to get through 4?!? This guy might rack up 4-5 inning starts on a 50 pitch limit!

Hey, love to see the early promotion. I thought they might keep him in Ft. Myers this season, just to better monitor his health and workload, but at this rate he might land in Wichita before the season's done. Good for him.

Diaw is an interesting prospect. Off to a bit of a slow start at the plate, but his approach has been pretty good. Trying to recall another catcher/CF combo outside of Biggio...and I hate comping an A-ball guy to a Hall of Famer, you know? But it's unusual and speaks to his athleticism. He's not super young like Tait, so he needs to get moving a bit. Be interesting to see where his bat lands by the end of May.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Great seeing Diaw with a big game.  Also good seeing DeBarge with a multi-hit outing.  And thanks for the video of his dash home.  

Quick made what, four starts in Ft. Myers before moving up?  Four or five starts for the Kernels should put him in Wichita by Memorial Day.  Should he continue his dominance, he could be in St. Paul by the All-Star break and the Twins by September.  Wouldn't it be great for the Twins to find lightening in a bottle, just once.  Please!

A ball to MLB has happened before but we would all be gobsmacked for it to happen. Garrett Crochet came up as a 1 inning relief pitcher and transitioned later into being a starting pitcher. 

[rdehring]

2 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

A ball to MLB has happened before but we would all be gobsmacked for it to happen. Garrett Crochet came up as a 1 inning relief pitcher and transitioned later into being a starting pitcher. 

I was thinking of Chris Sale when I wrote that.  If memory serves, he pitched for the Sox late in his draft season.  Could the Twins be so fortunate?  We can dream, can't we?

[DataNerd]

Looking back at MLB.com writeup on Quick

Quote

Though Quick's fastball and slider grade as plus-plus at their best and he can back them up with a quality changeup, he doesn't miss nearly as many bats as his pure stuff indicates he should

Yeah, he's fixed that.  Outside of the top 4 college pitchers taken in last years draft (picks 2, 3, 5, and 11), he's looked like the next best one.

[arby58]

7 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

The hype of our farm system prospects just doesn't seem to inspire confidence ...

Here's to better days ahead  ...

I still think Emma is the quickest call up, and it is hard to find anything in his numbers so far in 2026 that doesn't inspire confidence. 101 PAs, 15 R, 6 HR, OPS of .925 and a decent outfielder.

[DJL44]

Raya does not seem to have any idea where the ball is going.

If you were a Joey Gallo hater, you probably aren’t going to like Emmanuel Rodriguez. He swings really hard, hits the ball really hard, strikes out 30% of the time and plays good defense. Gallo put up 15 WAR from ages 23-27. I hope Rodriguez is that successful.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Seems like Quick should be moved up to AA soon. Very nice work so far. Diaw having a great game, too. 

What is going on with the pitchers in AAA? Almost all are failing miserably in their current roles. Maybe we should call over to Long Island one more time and see if Bauer wants to be in St Paul. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

I was thinking of Chris Sale when I wrote that.  If memory serves, he pitched for the Sox late in his draft season.  Could the Twins be so fortunate?  We can dream, can't we?

Another good example. Sale spent two years in the bullpen before he became a starter. Worth thinking/ dreaming about.