Twins Minor League Report (5/14): Teilon Serrano's Big Day

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Zach Del Bello (photo of Billy Amick)

Happy Birthday to Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau! May 15th! No, I'm not one that pays attention to birthdays of ballplayers, but The Young'n happened to be born on May 15th as well. On Thursday night, she graduated (with honors) from a Minnesota trade school. On Friday, she turns 20. Yup, proud dad who continues to realize that he is getting old.

So, I apologize for posting this a little late tonight and maybe not being as detailed as I try to be. I definitely welcome questions and comments about Thursday's games and encourage anyone who was at the games to give us reports too.  

TRANSACTIONS   
Early on Thursday morning, the Twins optioned OF Matt Wallner and RHP Travis Adams and recalled UT Ryan Kreidler and RHP Zebby Matthews. Zebby pitched really well.  

OF Kala’i Rosario was placed on the 7-Day Injured List. 

Fort Myers C Enrique Jimenez began his rehab in the FCL on Thursday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul, Columbus 
Box Score
The rains came down in St. Paul and Mother Nature won on this night. The two teams will attempt to play a doubleheader on Friday at CHS Field. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 7, San Antonio 0
Box Score
Shutouts are always good. They’re rare, especially in the minor leagues. Let’s start there. Sam Armstrong started and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, and had four strikeouts. Ricky Castro came on and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two, and had four strikeouts. Jaylen Nowlin and William Fleming each threw a scoreless innings.  

The Wind Surge bats scored their seven runs in the middle inning. They put a “2” on the scoreboard three times. 

In the third inning, Kyle DeBarge came to the plate with the bases loaded. He drove in two runs with his fourth double of the season. 

Caleb Roberts led off with his first home run since joining the Surge over the weekend. 

It was DeBarge again in the fifth inning. He hit another double which drove in Ricardo Olivar with the fourth run. DeBarge later scored on an Andrew Cossetti sacrifice fly to make it 5-0. 

Finally, in the top of the sixth, Garrett Spain walked with two outs and scored when Billy Amick launched his 11th home run of the year. 

DeBarge went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Amick was 2-for-5 with his fifth double, 11th homer, and two RBI. He was also hit by a pitch early in the game. Olivar went 2-for-3 with a walk. 

Check out the Top 20 Padres Prospects according to our sister site, Padres Mission. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 3, Fort Wayne 11
Box Score
Ivran Romero made the start for the Kernels and took one for the team. He gave up 10 runs (9 earned) on nine hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. Nolan Santos came in and gave up one run on two hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three batters. Adam Falinski struck out four batters and had one walk over two scoreless, hitless innings. 

Miguel Briceno had two of the Kernels’ five hits, his second and third doubles. Jay Thomason went 1-for-2 with two walks, a triple, and two RBI. 

Check out the Top 20 Padres Prospect according to our sister site, Padres Mission. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 0, Bradenton 6
Box Score  
The Mussels lineup was quiet on Thursday night in Bradenton. They managed just five hits in the game, but they also had five walks. The batters combined for 15 strikeouts. Henry Kusiak had two walks. Harry Genth and Byron Chourio each went 1-for -3 with a walk. Genth stole his 11th base. 

Ramon Villanueva made the start. The 19-year-old gave up two runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. He had two strikeouts. Jonathan Stevens gave up four runs on four hits and recorded four outs. Kolten Smith worked the final 3 2/3 innings and He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out four batters.   

COMPLEX CHRONICLE
FCL Twins 5, FCL Rays 2
Box Score  
Yordi Jose started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits. In 3 2/3 innings, he walked four and had two strikeouts. Rainer Marin kept an inherited runner from scoring. He recorded four outs and gave up no runs, two hits and no walks. Geremy Villoria came on and the youngster gave up three hits and a walk, but no runs, over 1 2/3 innings. Hendry Chivilli recorded the final out of the seventh inning. He tossed two more scoreless innings to record his second save of the year. He walked two and had three strikeouts. 

The best news of the day is probably that catcher Enrique JImenez made his first appearance of the year, a rehab appearance. He has missed most of spring training and the first six weeks of the season with a fractured finger. You recall he came to the Twins last summer from the Tigers organization in exchange for RHPs Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak. In this game, he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. The results obviously don’t matter, but it’s great to see him starting to get games. He caught the first five innings before being replaced by Miguel Caraballo.

Down 2-0 going to the bottom of the fourth, the Twins cut their deficit in half. Jhomnardo Reyes walked, and Luis Fragoza singled. Teilon Serrano drove in Reyes with the run. 

The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jose Barrios and Yovanny Duran singled. With two outs, Jhomnardo Reyes reached on a two-base error that drove in both runners. 

The bottom of the sixth inning began with back-to-back doubles by Fragoza and Serrano. The latter scored on a Ricardo Pena single to make it 5-2. 

Serrano led the offense with a 4-for-4 day with his first double and first stolen base. Coming into the game, he was just 1-for-23 with a triple and 14 strikeouts this season. Fragoza went 2-for-4 with his third double. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Teilon Serrano (FCL Twins): 4-for-4, 2B(1), R, 2 RBI, SB(1)

Pitcher of the Day 
Sam Armstrong (Wichita): 4 IP, H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 51 pitches, 31 strikes (60.8%)

 

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) - Rained out
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb)
#4 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#5 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4 (batted second, played catcher). 
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#7 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4 (batted first, played SS)
#8 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch
#9 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 43 pitches, 23 strikes (53.5%)
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - No Game Scheduled.
#11 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch                                         
#13 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - Rained Out.
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 3K (batted sixth, played SS).
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. 
#16 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - No Game
#17 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - No Game. 
#18 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4 (batted third, played CF)
#20 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2-2B(5), R, 3 RBI, K (batted fourth, played SS)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, May 15:
Columbus @ St. Paul (4:37 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (0-0, 0.00 ERA, RHP Mike Paredes (2-1, 4.58 ERA)
Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-3, 4.28 ERA)
Fort Wayne @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Michael Ross (0-3, 4.29 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 pm CT) - TBD
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00 am CT) - TBD  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 20-24
St. Paul Saints: 21-19
Wichita Wind Surge: 17-18
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 20-16
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 20-16
FCL Twins: 5-4
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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[Wedman13]

Billy Amick is the most underrated prospect in our system.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Another fun report, Seth. Thanks! Good to see DeBarge getting a couple of big hits. It's cool that he is stealing bases at a good clip this season, but he needs to get on base more often. When I saw the headline, my first thought was: who is Teilon Serrano? That was not a name I knew. But that's also why I  enjoy reading these minor league reports, so that I CAN learn more about these prospects. Keep it coming!

[MinnInPa]

3 hours ago, Wedman13 said:

Billy Amick is the most underrated prospect in our system.

agreed  ...and Winokur, with a 42% K rate is in top 20 ..got news for yah ....if you are k-ing over 40% of the time in A ball..  the Bigs are not in your future

[rdehring]

Congrats to your daughter for her recent successes.  To many of us, Seth, you are still a young man!

I don't recognize most of the names on that FCL roster.  But I recall that Serrano was one of their big signings, wasn't he?  Great seeing him have a game like last night.  Hopefully, he is turning a corner, and his bat will start producing.

Also huge night for DeBarge.  You know how I love defense and speed, so he has become one of my favorite prospects.  We need to remember the MiLB season is still very young.  Hopefully, last night is a sign DeBarge is beginning to settle in at AA. 

 

[bunsen82]

Thats a heck of a day for Teilon after his early season has gone similarly to Amicks AFL experience last fall.   It happens.   The Twins signed Teilon for $1 million in 2024 international draft after the Dodgers dropped their commitment to sign Roki Sasaki.  We will see if this gets him going.  

Next thing is Amick.  Say what you will the kid is punishing the ball.  The power that he was drafted for is finally showing up.  I said he really looks valuable if he can get his batting average to .260 to .280.   His slash line is .256/.352/.570.  He is beginning to blend the contact approach from last year with his power approach from college.   My guess is he was messing with his swing in the AFL.  

As to Winokur.  Thats not quite a fair take.  1st off -  he has a high strike out rate, that will likely always be a part of his package.   However he is still growing and maturing into his body,  no different than someone like Aaron Judge.  With a big body like that you have a massive strike zone compared to other players.   2 is Winokur takes time to get into a groove.  His strikeouts were rough to start the season.  We are halfway through May SSS, but for May his SO rate is 30%.  His slashline for May is a ridiculous .405/.496/.595  and he is playing really good defense and moving around really well.  Let alone he is doing this at age 21.   If people want to write off a 21 year old that appears to really be dialing in,  be my guest.  Thats the last thing I would ever do.  He has a ton of volatility in the ultimate product but his ceiling is upper echelon.  We took a lottery ticket on him and Young last year.  Ideally you want one of them to pan out.  

1 other note.   We might actually have some pitchers coming up through the international side.   Might have to watch that some more.  Also glad to see Jiminez is making it back healthy.  We really need to get several of these pitchers and hitters healthy in the Minor and Major leagues.  

[jmlease1]

Amick is doing great right now, hope it continues. He needs to hit to advance, but I like how he's responded to adversity.

DeBarge really needed a day like this. Hope he strings together a few more. I don't think he needs to be swinging out of his shoes and trying for homers, but he's got to hit, and it needs to be a little more than the occasional single too.

14 out of the top 20 didn't play for various reasons. That's less fun. Hope the injured guys get back to health soon. Would love to get an update on Soto for example. It's been 13 months since he pitched in a game, and if he's going to be out for much longer he really needs to be moved down as a prospect. Yes, he's still young, but if you can't play...what kind of prospect are you? I love his arm, but it's been a long absent stretch.

Speaking of which: Matt Canterino is eligible to come off the 60-day IL for Saint Paul next week; any chance he might be ready and get to pitch again? I'm rooting for this dude. He's not a prospect any longer, and you can project or plan on anything for him...but he's still trying to make it happen and if he can ever get healthy he's got the tools to make it to MLB. I hope he does. (and I will never not blame Rice for wrecking his arm)

[bunsen82]

Jason Reitz is pitching for FCL.  The next one to get back is Matt Barr from a broken arm.   

[jkcarew]

Is Bryan Acuna nursing an injury in Fort Myers? Because if he’s healthy, he’s getting the non-prospect treatment. 13th in team PA, losing infield innings to at least one 23 year old, and now also to a 25 year old independent league pickup. He’s been there all season, but rarely gets to play back-to-back games. Still 20, repeating A-, but performing relatively well (OPS well above 800, albeit with a very high BABiP), still K’ing a bit too much, but hitting the ball hard and getting BB’s at a high rate. What gives?

[jkcarew]

On the Saints website, they’re promoting tickets for this very long homestand with a photo of Walker Jenkins…he who 1000% will NOT appear during the homestand…the name JENKINS prominently stitched on the back of the jersey as he completes a swing. This is…

a) Lazy

b) Honest mistake by intern

c) Sleazy

d) Indication they consider fans ignorant

e) Necessary, because the only other available photo is of Rodriguez.

f) Necessary, because a photo of Wallner hasn’t been edited yet

g) e and f

[Steve Lein]

16 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

On the Saints website, they’re promoting tickets for this very long homestand with a photo of Walker Jenkins…he who 1000% will NOT appear during the homestand…the name JENKINS prominently stitched on the back of the jersey as he completes a swing. This is…

a) Lazy

b) Honest mistake by intern

c) Sleazy

d) Indication they consider fans ignorant

e) Necessary, because the only other available photo is of Rodriguez.

f) Necessary, because a photo of Wallner hasn’t been edited yet

g) e and f

While the timing stinks with him being injured, Saturday's game is Walker Jenkins bobblehead giveaway.

[jkcarew]

51 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

While the timing stinks with him being injured, Saturday's game is Walker Jenkins bobblehead giveaway.

Makes sense in that context…though my post was mostly tongue-in-cheek.

[Wedman13]

8 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Thats a heck of a day for Teilon after his early season has gone similarly to Amicks AFL experience last fall.   It happens.   The Twins signed Teilon for $1 million in 2024 international draft after the Dodgers dropped their commitment to sign Roki Sasaki.  We will see if this gets him going.  

Next thing is Amick.  Say what you will the kid is punishing the ball.  The power that he was drafted for is finally showing up.  I said he really looks valuable if he can get his batting average to .260 to .280.   His slash line is .256/.352/.570.  He is beginning to blend the contact approach from last year with his power approach from college.   My guess is he was messing with his swing in the AFL.  

As to Winokur.  Thats not quite a fair take.  1st off -  he has a high strike out rate, that will likely always be a part of his package.   However he is still growing and maturing into his body,  no different than someone like Aaron Judge.  With a big body like that you have a massive strike zone compared to other players.   2 is Winokur takes time to get into a groove.  His strikeouts were rough to start the season.  We are halfway through May SSS, but for May his SO rate is 30%.  His slashline for May is a ridiculous .405/.496/.595  and he is playing really good defense and moving around really well.  Let alone he is doing this at age 21.   If people want to write off a 21 year old that appears to really be dialing in,  be my guest.  Thats the last thing I would ever do.  He has a ton of volatility in the ultimate product but his ceiling is upper echelon.  We took a lottery ticket on him and Young last year.  Ideally you want one of them to pan out.  

1 other note.   We might actually have some pitchers coming up through the international side.   Might have to watch that some more.  Also glad to see Jiminez is making it back healthy.  We really need to get several of these pitchers and hitters healthy in the Minor and Major leagues.  

Thank you for this.  I had never heard of Teilon Serrano before.  Great stuff