Twins Minor League Report (5/8): Orlando Arcia, Billy Amick Power Saints, Surge to Friday Wins

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Elisa Chavez (photo of Aaron Rozek)

TRANSACTIONS   
Fort Myers placed RHP Eric Hammond on the 7-Day Injured List with a right eye contusion.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 7, Las Vegas 4  
Box Score
Zebby Matthews was strong and efficient on Friday night. Orlando Arcia led the offense. Overall, this was a very nice win for the Saints. For the Aviators, lefty Gage Jump (a Top 60 overall prospect in baseball) started. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs (5 earned) on six hits and five walks. He had eight strikeouts. 

The Saints got ahead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Gabriel Gonzalez and Kyler Fedko walked. Arcia singled to right to drive in Gonzalez and give the team the 1-0 lead. 

The third inning began with Tanner Schobel reaching on a two-base error. Kaelen Culpepper singled to left with Schobel advancing to third base. Gonzalez drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. Kyler Fedko just missed a home run and had to settle for an RBI triple. Arcia followed with his seventh homer of the season to give the Saints a 5-0 lead. 

Let’s jump to the top of the fifth inning. Arcia led off the inning by crushing a ball well beyond the fencing in left field. It was his second homer of the game and eighth of the season. It also gave the Saints a 6-2 lead. 

With two outs in the eighth inning, Fedko singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Arcia followed with an RBI single to left giving him four RBI in the game. 

Zebby Matthews was really good, and he was very efficient. Overall, he tossed eight innings. He was charged with three runs on 10 hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts including getting two strikeouts to end a threat in the bottom of the eighth inning, both on 96+ mph fastballs. 

Through six innings, he had thrown just 65 pitches. Through seven innings, he had thrown 74 pitches. Through eight innings, he threw 95 pitches, and 69.5% of them were strikes. 

Drew Smith gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning.  

Not a Twins guy, but I have to write about the game that A’s top ten prospect Henry Bolte had. Leading off for the Aviators, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. He played in 34 games for Las Vegas last season and hit .300/.404/.433 (.837) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. He was also 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts. Friday night was Bolte’s 35th game with the Aviators in 2026. He is hitting .329/.401/.604 (1.005) with five doubles, three triples, and 10 homers. He is also 16-for-17 in stolen base attempts. 

He was the A’s second round pick in 2022 out of Palo Alto High School in northern California. Bolte and Blue Jays prospect Josh Kasevich (currently with Triple-A Buffalo) are racing to become the high school’s fifth major-league player. Brothers Mike Brewer (Royals) and Tony Brewer (Dodgers) and Stu Pederson (Dodgers) combined to play in 44 MLB games between 1984 and 1986. The fourth player from the high school to play in the big leagues is Joc Pederson who is playing in his 13th MLB season in 2026. He is the son of the aforementioned Stu Pederson. Based on his Triple-A numbers, it looks like the Bolte family might be the third Palo Alto High School family to have big-league service time. The Kasevich’s may just need to accept being fourth.  

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Amarillo 4
Box Score
The night before, the offense set several franchise records for runs scored, hits, homers, and more. On Friday night, they showed they can slowly and methodically come back from a deficit to win a close game. As was generally the theme of the night, there was some really solid pitching throughout the system on Friday. 

Lefty Aaron Rozek started and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one, and struck out five batters. He’s been terrific since rejoining the Twins organization. His ERA with the Surge is down to 2.45.    

Wichita got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, Kyle DeBarge singled. He stole second and then third base. And then Billy Amick drove him in with his fourth double of the year. 

In the top of the sixth, the Wind Surge added on. Garrett Spain led off with a walk. With two outs, he had moved to second base. Amick came to the plate and hit his ninth home run of the season to give his team a 3-0 lead.  

Jarret Whorff came in and pitched a scoreless fifth inning. However, he was charged with four runs on three hits and two walks, and he recorded just one out in the bottom of the sixth. He left the game with the bases loaded and a 3-2 lead. William Fleming came on and allowed two of the three inherited runners to score and give the Sod Poodles a 4-3 lead. The tying run scored when he hit a batter. The second scored on a soft groundout.  

Fleming’s pitching line doesn’t look bad. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. 

With two outs in the top of the eighth, Ricardo Olivar notched his seventh double of the season. Guess who followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4? Of course, it was Billy Amick. 

With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Andrew Cossetti homered to center, his first homer of the season. It couldn’t have come at a better time! 

Sam Ryan struck out three batters over the final two innings. He faced the minimum. 

Amick went 3-for-4 with his fourth double and ninth homer and the team’s first four RBI of the game. He has seven homers in his past 13 games. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 2
Box Score
The Kernels were shut out in Quad Cities on Thursday night, and they didn’t exactly start Friday night on fire. However, some late runs were not only good for their psyches but also led them to a win. 

The Kernels got on the scoreboard first in this game. With two outs in the top of the third inning, Jacob McCombs singled. He went to second on a balk and scored when Brandon Winokur reached on an errant throw.  

The Kernels have pitched well and did so again on Friday. Ivran Romero got the start and worked three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, but he didn’t hurt himself with any walks. He had four strikeouts. Yehizon Sanchez came in and had three strikeouts over two scoreless, one-hit innings. 

Cole Peschl threw the sixth inning. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. The game was tied 1-1 through seven innings.

Jump to the top of the eighth inning, and the first two Kernels batters struck out. McCombs was hit by a pitch, and he scored from first on Winokur’s seventh double of the season. 

Nick Trabacchi put zeroes on the board in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings. He walked one, but he gave up no hits and struck out four batters. 

The top of the ninth started out well. Khadim Diaw led off with his fourth double. Jaime Ferrer followed with his seventh home run of the season. That gave the Kernels a little cushion, a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. 

Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one run on one hit in the ninth to record a relatively stress-free fourth save of the year thanks to the insurance runs. 

Winokur went 2-for-4 with a double. Cedar Rapids had just five hits in the game and no walks. They were helped by three hit batters.   

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 6
Box Score  
This was a really well-pitched game for both teams, especially through five innings. Tampa took the lead in the sixth. They put together a big inning and held on to win game four of this series. 

Again, we will start with the pitching. Ramiro Villanueva is back and healthy and pitching like he wants to move into the Twins Top 40 rankings! After missing the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, he has impressed in his first few Mighty Mussels starts. That held true on Friday night. The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked three, and had four strikeouts. Of course, it’s no surprise what his one issue has been in his return so far. It’s common for control to come back a little slower for some. In 10 innings so far, though, he’s given up one earned run on six hits. He has walked nine and struck out 12 batters. Not bad for a 19-year-old with three professional innings pitched (in the DSL in 2024) under his belt. 

Kolten Smith came in and worked the middle three innings. He started with two scoreless innings (two hits, four strikeouts), but he was charged with the four runs in the sixth inning (four runs, four hits, two walks, two strikeouts). 

It likely won’t surprise you to see how the Mussels scored their two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bruin Agbayani led off with a double. He came around to score on Yasser Mercedes' sixth home run of the season. It cut the deficit in half, but Fort Myers was unable to complete a comeback. 

Xavier Kolhosser pitched the final three innings. He gave up two unearned runs on two hits and no walks. He struck out four batters. 

Five Mussels hitters had one hit. Agbayani’s double and Mercedes’ home run were the only extra-base hits. Ramiro Dominguez had both a single and a walk, and he stole his second base of the season. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLE
FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 0
Box Score   
The FCL Twins jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added one more run in the fourth. Three pitching prospects combined for the seven-inning shutout. 

Let’s start with the pitching, as I really think all three pitchers are legitimate prospects. (Each ranks in my current Top 65 Twins prospects.) Melvin Rodriguez started and gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. He had one strikeout. Geromy Villoria came on and gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out two batters. Hendry Chivilli finished the game with three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one, and had two strikeouts to earn the save. 

Yovanny Duran led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple. After two strikeouts, Joyner Perez singled to center to drive him in. After a wild pitch, Daiber De Los Santos singled to right to make it 2-0. Perez and De Los Santos each finished their day 1-for-2 with a walk. 

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Ricardo Paez knocked his first home run of the season to make it 3-0. It marked his first home run in the States. Last year, in 39 games in the FCL, he hit .242 and got on nearly 40% of the time, but he had no home runs. In 2024, he had two home runs in 36 games for the DSL Twins. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Orlando Arcia (St. Paul): 4-for-5, 2 HR(8), 2 R, 5 RBI.
Billy Amick (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2B(4), HR(9), R, 4 RBI.

Pitcher of the Day 
Aaron Rozek (Wichita): 4 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 63 pitches, 38 strikes (60.3%)

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) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder)
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, 2 K (batted first, played 2B)
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb)
#4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4 (batted third, DH).  
#5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, HBP, 6 K. 93 pitches, 61 strikes (65.6%)
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch. Scheduled to start Sunday.
#7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, SF RBI, K (batted second, played 1B)   

#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch.
#9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. Missed third straight game.
#10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#11 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch                                        
#13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2B(7), RBI, CS(2) (batted second, played SS)
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 3 K, E(13) (batted sixth, played 3B).
#15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch.
#16 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, BB, 3 K (batted fifth, played LF)
#17 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, K, 2 SB(9) (batted second, played SS)
#18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch.
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B(4), R, HBP (batted first, played Catcher)
#20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, May 9:
St. Paul @ Las Vegas (9:05 pm ET) - RHP Trent Baker (2-2, 9.42 ERA)
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Ricky Castro (1-0, 4.63 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (5:30 pm CT) - RHP Eli Jones (1-1, 4.70 ERA)
Tampa @ Ft. Myers (5:05 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (9:00 am CT) - TBD 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 16-23
St. Paul Saints: 18-18
Wichita Wind Surge: 16-15
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 16-15
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 17-14
FCL Twins: 3-2
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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[big dog]

OK, let's bring Gonzalez up to play first base. I saw one play, I'm sold. Time to start playing for next year.

[mikelink45]

Time to bring Zebby back and give SWR a reset in the pen.

[Major League Ready]

4 hours ago, big dog said:

OK, let's bring Gonzalez up to play first base. I saw one play, I'm sold. Time to start playing for next year.

I have been watching the Saints games and Gonzalez looks like he can stick at 1B which is a nice development but he is not hitting.  (.643 OPS).  They are not going to dump Bell just yet or perhaps ever if history replays itself.  However, if they could somehow move Bell, Sabato would be a lot more likely to get a shot.  He has been red hot.

[FlyingFinn]

The Saints headline has them losing 7-6. They actually won 7-4.

[jaimedude]

I would give Gonzalez  a shot at first base. Most teams would instead of limping a long with Clemmens and Caratini but the Twins will continue this charade. Not sure why Clemmens has so much equity with Twins organization, he is older,  a lousy, limited streaky  hitter and just not that good a defender. A lot of Royce Lewis hate, and he has bern struggling, but he isn't making all the defensive errors that Keaschall and Lee are, and Clemmens has had almost many at bats with worse results.  Wallner had been given way more chances to prove that he can turn the corner and he still cannot hit a lick besides meaningless home runs when team is getting pasted.  Wallner needs a change of scenery and the Twins need to find out what they have in the Saints outfielders before they all become stale. Wallner shelf life is expiring before us. RBI situations always find Wallner and he continues to be a bust. 

[Blyleven2011]

Thanks Seth  ...

Great game for Matthew's and Arcia  , Matthew's slow start was awful but he seems to have corrected the issues , maybe it's time to bring him up , Arcia is hitting AAA pitching well above average  , couldn't hurt to shore up some defense with him and if he hits that's a plus  ...

Why are the twins reluctant to improve the team  , we have players in AAA that could help at the MLB level ...

[jmlease1]

Hopefully Zebby is finding a groove and getting back on track. He's still got plenty of talent and with SWR struggling so much, we may need him sooner rather than later.

Can we just promote Mercedes already? Time to see what he does in Cedar Rapids.

Have to be pleased with Amick so far. Would like to see more walks, fewer K's, but he's responded well and is showing some nice pop in the bat. He's taking to his first taste of AA pretty well, and after that awful showing in the AFL you had to wonder. To me it's a good sign that he was able to flush that and get back to work.

Sick and tired of our top prospects getting hurt.

[Jeff K]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Thanks Seth  ...

Great game for Matthew's and Arcia  , Matthew's slow start was awful but he seems to have corrected the issues , maybe it's time to bring him up , Arcia is hitting AAA pitching well above average  , couldn't hurt to shore up some defense with him and if he hits that's a plus  ...

Why are the twins reluctant to improve the team  , we have players in AAA that could help at the MLB level ...

I'd like to see Culpepper brought up and Lewis sent down, but you can certainly make a case for Arcia instead; especially if you want to give Culpepper more time at AAA.

[killercarewoliva]

7 hours ago, big dog said:

OK, let's bring Gonzalez up to play first base. I saw one play, I'm sold. Time to start playing for next year.

and also Arcia former All-Star hitting 310 with power. I think third base would be a good place for him right now. what are we waiting on? currently at third we're in a over one year funk. send him down to help him out. get it back or but not be be at the major League level. trying to get it right. we need production.

[Major League Ready]

5 minutes ago, killercarewoliva said:

and also Arcia former All-Star hitting 310 with power. I think third base would be a good place for him right now. what are we waiting on? currently at third we're in a over one year funk. send him down to help him out. get it back or but not be be at the major League level. trying to get it right. we need production.

Arcia is a better SS than Lee so it would be more likely Lee slides to 3rd and Arcia plays SS.  I like the idea.  We are better short-term and if Arcia plays well he could be a decent trade piece at the deadline.  That would give Culpepper a little more time to work on his approach at AAA.  His defense looks ready to me.   

[jkcarew]

Currently there are a handful of org players that have committed as many as 5 errors this season. A slightly smaller handful has committed 6. Brandon Winokur has 7 errors. No one has more than that, except…

Quentin Young committed his 13th last night. Yikes. As the saying goes…he better hit.

[jkcarew]

Scouts have always said Gonzalez has a cannon for an arm. Plus outfield arm but not the range to go along with it.

[rdehring]

Will second the above comments about Zebby.

Has anyone else noticed that Winokur has heated up of late?  Saw he was at shortstop last night.

[Wedman13]

3 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Hopefully Zebby is finding a groove and getting back on track. He's still got plenty of talent and with SWR struggling so much, we may need him sooner rather than later.

Can we just promote Mercedes already? Time to see what he does in Cedar Rapids.

Have to be pleased with Amick so far. Would like to see more walks, fewer K's, but he's responded well and is showing some nice pop in the bat. He's taking to his first taste of AA pretty well, and after that awful showing in the AFL you had to wonder. To me it's a good sign that he was able to flush that and get back to work.

Sick and tired of our top prospects getting hurt.

Billy Amick is the most underrated player in the twins system.

[Mike Sixel]

Winokur will never play shortstop for the twins. I truly am baffled they refuse to put him at a position he might play, so he can get good at it. Just mind boggling.

[Wedman13]

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

Currently there are a handful of org players that have committed as many as 5 errors this season. A slightly smaller handful has committed 6. Brandon Winokur has 7 errors. No one has more than that, except…

Quentin Young committed his 13th last night. Yikes. As the saying goes…he better hit.

He's 6'6, growing into his body and just turned 19.  Will he be Ozzie Smith? No.  Will he stick at short?  Doubtful bit you may want to let it bake a bit longer....

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Wedman13 said:

He's 6'6, growing into his body and just turned 19.  Will he be Ozzie Smith? No.  Will he stock at short?  Doubtful bit you may want to let it bake a bit longer....

Why play him at short at this point? There is almost zero chance he'll ever play there. Imagine if they'd have moved Martin to the of sooner....

[Blyleven2011]

43 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Winokur will never play shortstop for the twins. I truly am baffled they refuse to put him at a position he might play, so he can get good at it. Just mind boggling.

It's the twins way

[jkcarew]

5 hours ago, Wedman13 said:

He's 6'6, growing into his body and just turned 19.  Will he be Ozzie Smith? No.  Will he stick at short?  Doubtful bit you may want to let it bake a bit longer....

Zero chance he plays short. Zero. The same could be said for Winokur, and during his age-19 season at Fort Myers he committed a lot of errors, but not anywhere close to the rate Young is making them.

[Wedman13]

3 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Zero chance he plays short. Zero. The same could be said for Winokur, and during his age-19 season at Fort Myers he committed a lot of errors, but not anywhere close to the rate Young is making them.

Well if he's anything like Delmon I'm not sure I want him in the outfield. :)  I don't see an issue with him cutting his teeth at the toughest position then moving.  At Winokurs age though I would think a move makes sense.  But what do I know.

[Seth Stohs]

23 hours ago, big dog said:

OK, let's bring Gonzalez up to play first base. I saw one play, I'm sold. Time to start playing for next year.

Not yet, dude's hitting like .180. However, I'd play him at 1B 3-4 days per week for the next month and see where he's at. I've watched him a bit there this year. He's been fine on pop ups. He's been fine one good throws. I've only seen him field a couple of grounders, and that's been fine. I haven't seen him have to scoop baseballs. So yeah, I'd update his usage at 1B and maybe see if Mauer and/or Morneau can work with him in St. Paul a few times. 

[jmlease1]

17 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Zero chance he plays short. Zero. The same could be said for Winokur, and during his age-19 season at Fort Myers he committed a lot of errors, but not anywhere close to the rate Young is making them.

Twins even moved Sano off SS by 19. 

I guess I can live with it if they feel like they need a little more time on Young to make it an easier transition for him off the position. Managing the psyche of a young player and so forth. But he simply shouldn't leave the FSL still thinking he'll ever play SS as a pro.

The Winokur decision is baffling to me as well. DeAndrade is a better SS than he is and the Twins have looked for reasons not to play him at SS it seems, yet keep running Winokur out there. It had looked like they were finally moving past it with Houston on the squad, but here we go again. He should be working at 3B, CF, or possibly 1B all positions he might actually play if his hit tool develops enough consistency to be a real guy. (personally I think it's CF with his speed, arm, and athletic tools, but YMMV)

Most of the time I'm ok with leaving a guy at a position for as long as possible, but some of these guys just aren't going to stick at SS and everyone knows it. Unless they have some secret study that shows that repeated reps at SS in A-ball will improve their ability to play their eventual position by AAA, I think they can make some of these calls a little sooner.

[killercarewoliva]

On 5/9/2026 at 12:01 PM, Major League Ready said:

Arcia is a better SS than Lee so it would be more likely Lee slides to 3rd and Arcia plays SS.  I like the idea.  We are better short-term and if Arcia plays well he could be a decent trade piece at the deadline.  That would give Culpepper a little more time to work on his approach at AAA.  His defense looks ready to me.   

Yes, that would be correct. I was just trying to get somebody at third base in place of Lewis