Twins Minor League Report (5/24): Royce Lewis Can't Stop Homering

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

TRANSACTIONS
No moves were made on Sunday.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Omaha 5
Box Score
Ty Langenberg: 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HR: Royce Lewis (6), Kyler Fedko (11)
Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB)

The Saints came up short on Sunday.

The day started with the sun rising in the East, so Royce Lewis homered. In six games with St. Paul in 2026, he’s collected eight hits, six of them homers, giving him the hilarious .348/.400/.1.130 slash line. Yes, that’s his slugging, not his OPS. It appears something about the demotion has improved his play.

Will it be enough to earn a spot back on the major league roster? Or, in other words, what exactly does he need to prove to return to the Twins? Bashing the brains out of AAA pitchers is nice and all, but is that all he needs to do?

Speaking of guys homering a lot, Kyler Fedko launched one as well. He now has an OPS of 1.165 in May, even better than what the incoming tweet says. It's unclear whether he can find a spot on the major league roster, and history says the Twins probably won't promote him, but someone somewhere should probably give him a look. Lest his play be wasted in the margins of reports like this. 

Ty Langenberg’s introduction to AAA baseball continued to be rocky; the hurler surrendered three runs in 3 ⅔ frames, giving him a 5.40 ERA at the level with 10 hits allowed across 6 2/3 innings. 

With Carter Jensen now in the big leagues, the Storm Chasers lack an imposing top prospect. Their best youngster is 26th-ranked outfielder Gavin Cross, who was once a big deal, but has struggled mightily at AAA. He collected three hits in four at-bats on Sunday.

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 8, Tulsa 4
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
HR: Maddux Houghton (2)
Multi-hit games: None

A Maddux Houghton grand slam fueled a Wind Surge win on Sunday.

Despite the byline, matters started poorly. Following an ordinary-enough caught stealing of Kyle DeBarge and a swinging strikeout of Garrett Spain, in which there was one close—but correct—called strike, Jaime Ferrer attempted to take his at-bat. Suddenly, the first base coach ejected Spain, and coach Julian Gonzalez—after an impressive George Brett impression following the infamous “pine tar” decision—was tossed as well. What precisely they were upset about, this author could not parse.

Tulsa soon took a 3-0 lead.

But Wichita rallied. They plated a run in the third before loading the bases for Maddux Houghton, now in the game for the ejected Spain. Naturally, he launched one 434 feet, way beyond the bullpens and off the scoreboard for a dramatic grand slam.

Because something nefarious cursed this game, more oddities were afoot, with two runs scoring in the fifth off a truly bizarre play. “Poncho Ruiz advances to 3rd, on a fielding error by left fielder Zyhir Hope” reads the Gameday description, and the casual observer is robbed of an experience. Indeed, Hope butchered what should have been a catch; but only one should have—and would have—scored, had the cutoff Tulsa infielder not committed the rare triple clutch on his relay attempt.

The aforementioned Hope ranks as the 20th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He singled and walked in five plate appearances. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 5
Box Score
Riley Quick: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (3-for-5, 2 2B, R) Brandon Winokur (2-for-3, 2 RBI)

The Kernels surrendered late to lose on Sunday.

It happened. Riley Quick finally bled. His numbers at Cedar Rapids entering Sunday represented a step back from the cartoonish dominance he displayed in April, perhaps not a surprise given the promotion and the high standard he set for himself. And Sunday was the nadir: he surrendered three runs in less than three innings, with a second inning three-run homer proving to be his downfall. It was due to happen eventually. Because he’s Riley Quick, though, seven of his eight outs were on strikes; the only straggler was a soft tapper back to the mound. He should be just fine.

The Cedar Rapids lineup was mostly empty on Sunday: no player south of Khadim Diaw, batting fourth, earned a hit. Marek Houston shined in the leadoff spot, however, counting three hits with two of them being doubles. It’s his second straight Sunday with three hits.

Brandon Winokur was workmanlike in the three-hole, singling twice and driving in two of his teams three runs on the day.

Garrett Horn returned to the mound as a Kernel on Sunday, pitching three shutout innings while striking out two. The lefty was acquired for Danny Coulombe at last year’s trade deadline. 

The Chiefs are an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Once a talent powerhouse, the system has fallen a bit as the once eminent baseball force searched fora new identity in a changing prospect landscape; on Sunday, the best the Chiefs could offer was the franchise's 28th-ranked prospect, Jack Gurevitch. He singled and walked in four plate appearances.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 2, Dunedin 3
Box Score
Kolten Smith: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
HR: Enrique Jimenez (1)
Multi-hit games: Enrique Jimenez (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB), Ryan Sprock (2-for-3, 2B, BB)

The Mighty Mussels were too meager on Sunday.

Enrique Jimenez provided the memorable spark in this one, obliterating a fastball out to right-center in the fourth for his first homer of the season. The 20-year-old Venezuelan is an intriguing prospect: though less heralded than Eduardo Tait, he, too, was a switch-hitting catcher acquired at last year’s trade deadline—and in 23 games for Fort Myers, he nearly walked as much as he struck out while slugging .551. We shall see what he can do this year.

Rehabbing big leaguer Nathan Lukes played for Dunedin on Sunday. He went 0-2 as the DH.

Once again, the opposing team in one of these games claimed a Top 50 prospect. This one was JoJo Parker, a shortstop the Blue Jays took in the first round of the 2025 draft. He went 0-3.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Garrett Horn
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Royce Lewis

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, 2 K
#5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1, K
#7 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 3-5, 2 2B, R, K
#8 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Twins) - 2-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
#13 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-3, BB, K
#15 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, 2 RBI, K
#17 – C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, RBI
#20 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-3 R, 2 BB, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Wichita @ Springfield (4:35 PM) - TBD
FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD

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[RpR]

Waite until the MiIB coaches tell  pitchers where to pitch him.