Twins Minor League Report (5/27): A Tepid Day on the Farm

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Brandon Winokur)

TRANSACTIONS

In anticipation of the DSL season starting June 1st, players were officially assigned to rosters today. You can check out the Twins’ collection of players here. We now have minor leaguers born in 2009, the Joe Mauer MVP year. And so, the passage of time trudges on. 

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 5, Louisville 10
Box Score
SP: Mike Paredes: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
HR: Ben Ross (3)
Multi-hit games: None

The Saints were outgunned on Wednesday.

Though, Mike Paredes did his best to ensure that wasn’t true. The St. Paul starter was phenomenal, working five innings with seven strikeouts, allowing a lone run on an awkwardly-caromed fly ball turned inside-the-parker from Héctor Rodríguez (more on him soon). Otherwise, Paredes was magnificent. His sweeper ushered Bats’ hitters to the dugout. On 19 offerings at the pitch, Louisville hitters came up empty 12 times. 

Rodríguez remained a nuisance, however, as the inside-the-parker perhaps fueled a vengeful rage to clear the great outfield walls. And so, he did. Twice: once as a part of a three-homer barrage against reliever Alejandro Hidalgo in the sixth, and again in the seventh off Kody Funderburk. He likely possesses one of the rare three-homer games that includes a long-ball that didn’t actually go long. 

The outburst obscured what was once a 5-1 lead for the Saints. In the second Kaelen Culpepper singled home two off this excuse-me poke to center.

Then, an extra base onslaught in the fifth: Gabriel Gonzalez tripled, Kyler Fedko doubled him home, and Ben Ross hit one that remained in the air for about an hour before finally landing safely in the fan section.

Old friend Darren McCaughan started for Louisville.

MLB.com’s 99th-ranked prospect, Edwin Arroyo, played shortstop for the Bats on Wednesday. You may remember Arroyo as one of the critical youngsters netted by the Reds in the Luis Castillo trade in 2022. He went 0-4 in the game.

Wind Surge Wisdom
The Wind Surge did not play on Wednesday.

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 7
Box Score
Jason Doktorczyk: 1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-3), Danny De Andrade (2-for-4, RBI)

The Kernels fell behind early and never recovered on Wednesday.

Three straight run-scoring innings in the early going will get you. Starter Jason Doktorczyk labored for 49 pitches before he could record his first out, portending what would become a poor day on the mound for Cedar Rapids hurlers. Neither Adam Falinski nor Cole Peschl could improve on the situation. And by the time Paulshawn Pasqualotto established order, the deficit was so dire that it no longer mattered.

Brandon Winokur continued his torrid month of May, collecting two singles and swiping a base to extend his hitting streak to six games. He was also hit by a pitch. He’s now slashing .341/.430/.518 in the month, a drastic improvement over his .198/.323/.358 line in April. 

RBIs in this game went to Jacob McCombs and Danny De Andrade, respectively.

Catcher Blake Mitchell ranks as MLB’s 55th-best prospect, and he walked twice in five plate appearances against the Kernels on Wednesday.

Mussel Matters
“Inclement weather and unplayable field conditions” ended matters in Fort Myers before they could begin. A doubleheader is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Mike Paredes
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur

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

#2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
#4 – Connor Prielipp (Twins) - 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
#5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2 K
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4, 3B, R, BB
#15 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3
#19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2B, R

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM) - RHP Ryan Gallagher
Wichita @ Springfield (4:35 PM) - RHP Sam Armstrong
Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - LHP Dasan Hill
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (3:35 PM) - RHP Jason Reitz
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (Game Two) - TBD
FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD

 

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[gil4]

After the big club's performance today, tepid sounds pretty good

[FlyingFinn]

Winokur having a great month after an ice cold start. If he can hit all the way up, he's a Twin some day.