Twins Minor League Report (5/3): Walker Jenkins Injury Sours Dramatic Saints Win

[Matt Braun]

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

TRANSACTIONS

INF Murphy Stehly assigned to Double-A Wichita

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 8, Iowa 7
Box Score
SP: Andrew Bash: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
HR: Ben Ross (1), Ryan Kreidler (4)
Multi-hit games: Ryan Kreidler (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB), Orlando Arcia (3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI), Alex Jackson (2-for-4, 2B, R)

The Saints hung on in a wild one on Sunday.

Andrew Bash was magnificent in his start. The righty authored his finest appearance as a Saint, collecting six strikeouts across three innings with just a hit and a walk earned against him. Even the walk ended up not mattering; Bash immediately picked off the runner.

Evidently, the Saints felt inspired by their starter’s dominance, as they scored a flurry of runs in the game’s opening act. Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia collected RBI knocks in the first, then—in an effort to diversify their offensive ability—St. Paul flexed some power. Rather, Ben Ross popped his biceps; the shortstop sent a three-run homer over the elevated right-center wall, his first AAA blast.

Aaron Sabato then tripled (!?!?) with the help of an odd carom, and scored off a Tanner Schobel sacrifice fly. That’s six runs across three innings.

Times were good, and vibes were great until disaster struck in the sixth: while making an excellent running catch, Walker Jenkins collided with the outfield wall. He was pinch-hit for the next half-inning.

The injury must have caused a dire grief to fall upon the Saints, as they nearly blew their tremendous lead. St. Paul pitchers coughed up runs in every inning from the sixth through the ninth, resulting in Grant Hartwig standing on the mound in the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs in a one-run game. St. Paul was once up 7-1. Hartwig ran the count full to Eric Yang—of course—before blowing a 93 MPH sinker past the batter for the game’s final out. There’s no such thing as an easy win. 

Cubs prospect Kevin Alcántara ranks third in their system; the 23-year-old outfielder homered once in five at-bats. The lanky outfielder homered for the third straight game and hit one in four of the five games he played this week. He leads the International League with 12 homers. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, Arkansas 8
Box Score
C.J. Culpepper: 2 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
HR: Murphy Stehly (1), Ricardo Olivar (7)
Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (3-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Jorel Ortega (2-for-3, R, BB)

The Wind Surge were bested on Sunday.

Lazaro Montes followed up his three-homer decimation of the Wichita pitching staff with a first-inning two-run shot. Perhaps C.J. Culpepper’s wisest option was to flash four fingers and move on with his day.

While the Wind Surge answered back with three unanswered runs to take the lead—thanks to a Murphy Stehly solo shot, and a two-run single by Hendry Mendez—the Travelers fought back with a furious vengeance (or, they should be referred to as the “Mad Mallards,” as that was the name the team took on for the day. No reason was given for why the waterfowls were so upset.)

Aaron Rozek took over for the blonde hurler but surrendered two runs in as many innings. Darren Bowen allowed a score as well. Jarrett Whorff escaped unharmed, but Luis Quiñones and Kyle Bischoff couldn’t say the same. By the time the dust settled, the Mad Mallards had crossed home plate eight times off the strength of 15 hits. 

The aforementioned Montes is the 37th-ranked prospect in MLB, thanks in large part to his titanic power, which—as Wichita pitchers now know—can be game-breaking.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 6, West Michigan 5 (10 Innings)
Box Score
SP: Ivran Romero: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
HR: Miguel Briceno (3), Eduardo Tait (5)
Multi-hit games: None

The Kernels won on a walk-off on Sunday.

So, they did on Wednesday as well; something about this author possesses Cedar Rapids to be victorious in dramatic fashion. 

For a time, it appeared this outcome was out of reach for our heroic ears of corn. They entered the ninth down 4-1, as a Miguel Briceno solo shot provided the team’s only run.

Yet, the team rallied, coming alive for three runs in a do-or-die scenario, merely three outs away from failure. Eduardo Tait homered. Then Brandon Winokur singled, Jacob McCombs did the same, and a stolen base/throwing error combo allowed Winokur to cut the deficit to one with the trailing runner advancing to third. A simple Rayne Doncon infield hit completed the comeback.

The Whitecaps plated their complimentary Manfred runner but did no more—a missed opportunity for the away team as Cole Peschl’s wildness could have portended more. 

Cedar Rapids’ rally in the 10th was furious. Marek Houston was hit by a pitch, and Tait chopped a grounder the opposite way, pushing the third baseman to “oley” the game-tying run. Danny De Andrade singled in the winning run two batters later. 

MLB’s 30th-ranked prospect played for the Whitecaps on Sunday. Shortstop Bryce Rainer was Detroit’s first-round pick in 2024; he’s developed into one of the finest infield youngsters the sport has to offer. He doubled once in five at-bats. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 2, Daytona 5
Box Score
SP: Justin Mitrovich: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ryan Sprock (2-for-4, 2 R), Quentin Young (4-for-4, 2B)

The Mighty Mussels struggled to find offense on Sunday.

“Not I,” said Quentin Young, probably. The 19-year-old collected a career-high four hits, totaling half of the team’s knocks on the day. The outburst was a nice pick-me-up for the youngster, as he entered the day slashing .184/.263/.276 on the season. Unfortunately, the bottom third of the Fort Myers lineup couldn’t take advantage of the clogged bases; they went a combined 1-for-11 on the day, which is somehow better than the first five hitters, as they put up a 1-for-16 mark. 

Justin Mitrovich made his Twins system debut. The 2025 ninth rounder out of Elon posted an impressive Freshman season in 2023, holding a 3.68 ERA across 63 ⅔ innings with 66 strikeouts. His next two years were forgettable—and his 2024 summer league foray was dreadful—but the Twins still saw enough in the righty out of Trenton to select him in last year’s draft. Our scouting report on him can be found here. You can also see his 45-minute Twins Spotlight interview here. 

And in his first start, he was great. Mitrovich scattered three singles and two walks across his four frames, punching out five with just 60 pitches. He never allowed a baserunner to reach third.

Ryan Sprock, Fort Myers’ DH in the game, was a teammate of Mitrovich's in college, and the Twins selected him one round before the hurler.

Cincinnati’s ninth-ranked prospect, pitcher Sheng-En Lin, entered as a reliever and tossed four innings while allowing one run. He struck out four. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Justin Mitrovich
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar

PROSPECT SUMMARY

Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-2, R, BB
#4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, HR, R, RBI
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-2, K
#9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, K
#12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
#13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, R, 2 K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 4-4, 2B
#16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-3, 2 RBI
#18 – C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 2 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-0, R

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 am CT): TBD 

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[mikelink45]

Losing Walker is devastating - I wanted him called up and I do not want him to have a Buxton health record. 

[RpR]

He is young , he will heal.

[FlyingFinn]

Mendez plays almost exclusively LF and DH. With Roden, Rodriguez, and Jenkins hurt, he has to get called up to AAA, correct?

[Linus]

Unfortunate about Jenkins.  He was starting to heat up with the bat.