Twins Minor League Report (6/5): Kyler Fedko, Marek Houston, and Abel Sosa Home Twice on Friday

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Kyler Fedko)

TRANSACTIONS   
On Friday, the Twins signed another pitcher out of the independent leagues. Halton Hardy was pitching for the Gastonia Ghost Peppers in the Atlantic League. In 21 innings this season, the 24-year-old has 23 strikeouts to just four walks. An Athens, Georgia, native began his college career in 2021 at Division II Francis Marion. He pitched there for two years and was still there in 2023 when he missed the season with injury. In 2024, he transferred to Division I Kennesaw State and shifted from starter to reliever. That’s the role he’s carried into the professional ranks. 

In addition, Saints catcher Ricardo Olivar was moved from the 7-Day Injured List to the 60-Day Injured List after having knee surgery this week. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 8  
Box Score
Ricky Castro started for the Saints and gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in just 2 2/3 innings. He had six strikeouts. C.J. Culpepper came on and gave up one run on two hits and two walks and 1 1/3 innings. Kody Funderburk gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning (though, if you watched that inning, the defense was not helpful). Jake Higginbotham made his first Saints appearance. He gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, and then he struck out the next four batters. Grant Hartwig struck out three batters in 1 2/3 innings. Andrew Bash pitched a scoreless ninth inning. 

Kyler Fedko hit his 12th and 13th home runs of the 2026 season. 

An inning later, Kaelen Culpepper reclaimed the team’s home run lead by hitting his 14th homer. He was 2-for-4. 

The Saints went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. The loss ended the team’s five-game winning streak. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 0, San Antonio 2
Box Score
Jose Olivares made the start for the Wind Surge. He gave up one run on five hits in four innings. Darren Bowen gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. Hunter Gregory made his Twins org debut with a scoreless inning. Jaylen Nowlin gave up one run in his inning. Yehizon Sanchez gave up two hits and two walks but somehow did not give up a run in his inning. 

The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Be sure to check out one of our DiamondCentric sites, Padres Mission. Also, check out how many of these Missions players appear on the Padres Mission Top 20 Prospect Rankings. Miguel Mendez is one of their top pitching prospects. He tossed five scoreless inning on Friday night. 

The Wind Surge were shut out and had just three hits. They did walk seven times though. They were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. Jaime Ferrer hit a double. Kala’i Rosario walked three times. 

This weeks’ fourth Salas-palooza event found the Wind Surge shortstop as the winner. Jose Salas went 1-for-1 with two walks and his third double. He also stole his 13th base. The younger brother, Ethan Salas, went 0-for-5 in the game. And he was the catcher when Jose stole his base. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 8, Wisconsin 3                                                                                                                                                                          Box Score
The TimberRattlers roster is loaded with prospects, some pitchers but the lineup has a lot of potential big leaguers. Be sure to go to our sister site, Brewer Fanatic, and check out how many of their top prospects play for Wisconsin.  

Riley Quick set the tone for the Kernels in this game. The right-hander tossed the first four innings and gave up one run on two hits. He had six strikeouts and issued no walks. He threw strikes and worked efficiently. 

Brian Zeldin came on and tossed two innings of one-run ball. He gave up a solo home run. Yes, to Andrew Fischer. Nick Trabacchi gave up one run on one hit and a walk over three innings and was credited with the win. 

Marek Houston led the offense in this game. He went 3-for-5 with his fourth and fifth home runs and three RBI. He also stole his 15th base. 

The Kernels scored their eight runs on eight hits and nine walks. Quinn McDaniel went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Khadim Diaw was 1-for-2 with three walks. Brandon Winokur and Yasser Mercedes each walked twice. Winokur stole his 13th and 14th bases. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers 9, Lakeland 7
Box Score  
Through six innings, the Mussels were behind 6-2. The Mussels scored three in the seventh inning and two runs in the eighth inning. Lakeland scored one in the bottom of the eighth and the game was tied at 7-7. Both teams went scoreless in the ninth inning. The Mussels scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning 

With two outs in the seventh inning, Dameury Pena doubled, Ramiro Dominguez singled, and then Enrique Jimenez hit a three-run home run.

In the eighth inning, Luis Fragoza hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run blast that gave the Mussels the 7-6 lead. 

In the top of the 10th, Henry Kusiak doubled to drive in Jayson Bass, the inning’s Manfred Man. Kusiak then scored on a Fragoza double. 

Reed Moring started and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk over five innings. Dylan Questad gave up three runs on three hits in 1/3 of an inning. Brent Francisco struck out two batters in 1 1/3 innings. Jonathan Stevens gave up an unearned run on two walks in his inning. Mike McKenna got four outs. Mitch Mueller recorded his third save with a perfect 10th inning. 

Luis Fragoza went 2-for-5 with his sixth double and fourth home run. Jimenez went 2-for-5 with his second home run and three RBI. Dameury Pena went 2-for-6 with his fifth and sixth doubles. Henry Kusiak was 1-for-3 with two walks and his fifth double. Ramiro Dominguez was 2-for-5. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLE
FCL Twins 6, FCL Red Sox 1
Box Score  
A month into the season, Santiago Castellanos made his 2026 debut. He gave up one run on two walks in his inning. He had one strikeout. Santiago Rojas came in and struck out seven batters over four scoreless innings of one-hit ball. Jake Covey made his affiliated ball debut, his first appearance in a Twins uniform. He tossed two scoreless innings and gave up two hits, a walk and hit a batter. He had three strikeouts.

The Twins had a five-run fourth inning to take control of this game. Ricardo Pena led off that inning with a walk. Yilber Herrera reached on an error. Ricardo Paez walked to load the bases. Daiber De Los Santos walked to bring in a run. Victor Leal walked to bring in a run. After a pitching change, there was a strikeout for the first out. Then Yovanny Duran walked to bring in a third run. Teilon Serrano then his a sacrifice fly. Finally, when Jhomnardo Reyes walked, and the sixth run scored on a wild pitch. 

Yilber Herrera went 2-for-3. He had two of the team’s three hits. Ricardo Pena had two of the team’s seven walks. 

DSL Twins 21, FCL Marlins 10
Box Score  
Each team got three possessions. Miami scored on a touchdown and added a field goal. Minnesota was able to score touchdowns each time they had the ball. Oh wait, this is baseball. 

This was not a pretty game. The TWins scored multiple runs in all six innings in which they batters. They scored three in the first, three in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, eight in the fifth and three in the sixth. Frankly, the Marlins were throwing position players starting in the fifth inning. 

Adrian Martinez started and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out three batters. Herkyn Taveras gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Juan Collado gave up four runs on one hit and five walks. He had three strikeouts over two innings. Cristian Alvino gave up two hits in a scoreless seventh frame.

Abel Sosa led the way. He went 4-for-4 with his first two home runs, four runs scored and seven RBI.  Daiyer Barboza went 1-for-1 with three walks. Juan Holmann was 1-for-3 with two walks and his second home run. Jhon Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with two walks, four runs scored. Luis Suarez went 2-for-4 with three RBI. 

(Note: If you want to see the home runs, here is the checklist and timelines):
Abel Sosa: 3:56:20
Juan Holmann: 4:16:55
Luis Suarez 4:28:50
Abel Sosa: 5:00:44 

DSL Marlins vs DSL Twins 6/5/2026 - YouTube                                             

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Abel Sosa (DSL Twins): 4-for-4, BB, 2 HR(2), 4 R, 7 RBI.
Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 3 RBI, SB(15)
Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2 HR(13), 2 R, 2 RBI
Luis Fragoza (Fort Myers): 2-for-5, 2B(6), HR(4), R, 4 RBI

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 52 pitches, 38 strikes (73.7%)
Santiago Rojas (FCL Twins): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 

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) - 2-for-4, HR(14), R, RBI. (batted first, played SS
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) - Had surgery.
#4 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch.
#5 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, R, K (batted second, played catcher).
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch.
#7 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, 2-HR(5), 2 R, 3 RBI, SB(15) (batted first, played SS)
#8 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 52 pitches, 38 strikes (73.1%)
#9 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Injured List.
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - Did Not Play   
#11 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch
#13 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-4, BB, R (batted second, played LF)
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play.
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 K, 2 SB(14) (batted third, played 3B)
#16 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch
#17 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 30 pitches, 16 strikes (53.3%)
#18 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-2, 3 BB, R (batted fourth, played C) 
#20 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - Did Not Play.

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, June 6:
Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (0-0, 3.50 ERA)
San Antonio @ Wichita (4:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (1-1, 5.31 ERA),
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - LHP Cesar Lares (first MWL start)
Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (5:00 pm CT) - RHP Merit Jones (1-1, 3.32 ERA)
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (9:00 am CT) - RHP Melvin Rodriguez (1-0, 6.55 ERA)
DSL Angels @ DSL Twins (9:00 am CT) - RHP Sebastian Echavarria (1st pro start)  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 29-35 (3rd place (of 5) in AL Central, 6.5 GB))
St. Paul Saints: 32-28 (4th place (of 10) in IL West Division, 5.0 GB))
Wichita Wind Surge: 22-31 (5th place (of 5) in TL North Division, 12.0 GB))
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 27-28 (4th place (of 6) in MWL West Division, 7.5 GB))
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-23 (2nd place (of 6) in FSL West Division, 3.0 GB))
FCL Twins: 12-12 (4th place (of 6) in FCL South Division, 4.5 GB))
DSL Twins: 1-3 

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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[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Houston looks ready to move up to AA. Ive read here his glove is MLB ready. He's holding his own at High A. 

Culpepper looks ready for a call up too. 

Im still waiting for Tait to show me something.  I thought he was highly touted for his bat and the glove at C was questionable? The Twins FO put a lot of pressure on him to be the catcher of the future trading away Duran for him. Im hoping he can live up to it. 

[saviking]

TWINS JUST CUT OUTMAN!!! 

OH, HAPPY DAYS 😊 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

5 minutes ago, saviking said:

TWINS JUST CUT OUTMAN!!! 

OH, HAPPY DAYS 😊 

Royce Lewis call-up was the corresponding move

[purplesoldier4u]

This may be Royce's last shot here, I hope he does great. BTW, get Fedko and KC up here, lads!

[D.C Twins]

My irrational exuberance meter for Houston as the Twins future All Star SS is off the charts right now!