Twins Minor League Report (6/7): St. Paul Shuts Out Once Again

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Zach Del Bello (photo of Jorel Ortega)

TRANSACTIONS
No moves were made on Sunday.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 0
Box Score
John Klein: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-for-4, 2B, R), Tanner Schobel (2-for-4)

The Saints shut out their opponent on Sunday.

It was a surprisingly tame match for International League standards. Indianapolis simply never got anything going against St. Paul’s litany of pitchers. John Klein? Effective, if not wildly so with three hits and three walks against him. Ty Langenberg? The star of the show. The one who delivered 2 1/3 efficient frames in arguably his best showing in a Saints uniform. Marco Raya? Even more efficient by netting two shutout frames with just 13 pitches. Then Kody Funderburk and C.J. Culpepper finished the job, with both hurlers needing fewer than 10 pitches to do so. St. Paul as a whole threw 110 pitches. It was as if the entire Indianapolis lineup had a tee time to make.

The pitching success rendered St. Paul’s relatively meager offensive showing more than enough to claim the win. Tanner Schobel brought in a run in the fourth off an infield single—and though the lineup could have napped at the plate the rest of the game and still won—they tacked on thanks to a two-run single by Aaron Sabato in the fifth.

Sabato ended play with a .975 OPS on the season, the eighth-best mark in the International League. 

Third-ranked Pirates prospect Hunter Barco provided bulk innings for Indianapolis, tossing four frames while surrendering three earned runs. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 4, San Antonio 7
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: Billy Amick (14), Jorel Ortega (2)
Multi-hit games: Jorel Ortega (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI)

The team soon to be formerly known as the Wind Surge came up short on Sunday.

Donning the moniker “Turbo Tubs” that will eventually become the team’s permanent name, Wichita didn’t appear especially turbo-ed, though they had chances (whatever that means). They plated a trio of runs off starter Ian Koenig, yet are likely kicking themselves for not scoring more, as the righty walked five in a scattershot outing. Instead, all the Wind Surge could muster against the starter was one run in the second, and two in the fifth.

That’s Billy Amick in there somewhere amongst the rain haze, we promise.

Amick now has 14 homers on the season, as he’s now tripled what was his career long ball total at the season’s start. His meager .212 batting average betrays a healthy .341 OBP and a robust .475 slugging percentage, giving him a prototypical slashline for a slugging corner infielder. 

Jorel Ortega added on in the sixth with a solo homer, his second shot of the season. Only former Volunteers could go long on Sunday, evidently. 

Unfortunately, Wichita pitching matched the sloppiness of the endured weather. Cory Lewis continued to struggle in his attempt to rebound from a disastrous 2025 season; his AA ERA this year sits at 5.60, a disappointing number given his mark across 66 innings with the team two years ago was 2.59. Sam Ryan coughed up three runs in his lone inning of work. Then Nick Mikolajchak became the third pitcher to fail in shutting out the Missions. Zach Vennaro and Paulshawn Pasqualotto finally delivered zeroes, but by then, it was too late.

Uber prospect turned ordinary top-100 guy, Ethan Salas, caught for the Missions, collecting two hits in five at-bats. 

Kernels Nuggets
The Kernels started play on Sunday before rain quickly squashed any hopes of completing nine innings. The game was canceled and will not be made up later. 

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 3, Lakeland 5
Box Score
Ramiro Villanueva: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Ryan Sprock (2-for-3, 3B, R, 2 RBI), Graham Brown (2-for-4, RBI), Luis Fragoza (2-for-4)

The Mighty Mussels were bested late on Sunday.

Perhaps the second inning best portends how the game was to go: Ryan Sprock led off the frame with a triple, only to be stranded as his next two friends went down whiffing, and the third flew out. Then pitcher Ramiro Villanueva walked two—and nearly escaped the inning without allowing a run—only for a single to plate both runners. Villanueva also balked. It didn’t end up mattering. But a balk always foretells grave matters.

And if it wasn’t for Sprock, the Mighty Mussels would have walked away from Sunday embarrassed instead of merely beat. The DH lived up to the position’s namesake: he added a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and drove in another run with a single in the eighth. Then he stole second. That’s a lot of bases, and a significant amount of runs, given that Fort Myers only scored thrice, credited to just one player. 

Graham Brown added on with a game-tying single, yet the Mighty Mussels pitching that bent all game finally broke for good, surrendering two in the bottom half of the frame in what became the game’s deciding effort.

Dameury Pena stole his 17th base of the season, tying him for the 10th-most in the Florida State League. 

Lakeland DH Nick Dumesnil ranks as the Tigers’ 23rd-best prospect. He walked twice in four plate appearances. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ty Langenberg
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jorel Ortega

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#4 – Connor Prielipp (Twins) - 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
#10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-2, R, 2 BB
#12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
#13 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-4, K
#14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 3 K
#17 – C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
#20 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-4, BB, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Mets Orange (10:00 AM) - TBD

 

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[Sampson5]

Marco raya starting to really look like a interesting pen option honestly just dfa the guy they got from pirates and get him up with the twins although I get wanting to slow play him with a few pitchers getting close now but he's gotta get a chance in the next month or so if he continues pitching great . The big league roster so depressing to watch these days I wish they'd just call up a prospect to at least make the loses interesting by having a top prospect in the lineup lol

[jmlease1]

I get that the Twins don't consider Sabato or Fedko to be real prospects at this point...but at what point to you just give them a chance anyways? Is it after the trade deadline and a sell-off? I get the 40-man issue makes it harder to pull them up and they're hoarding those slots for players they think have higher upside or fill more immediate needs...but both of those guys are doing about everything you could ask for of them.

Interesting question for these kinds of borderline dudes...who might just be AAAA players (too good for AAA, not really good enough for MLB) but you just don't know. Twins were willing to roll with Outman for quite a long time, much to the frustration of fans. Is it familiarity breeding contempt? Those guys have been in the organization so long they know all their flaws intimately and it blocks out their assets?

 

[rdehring]

Like many of you, I thought the Twins made a great pick when Marco Raya was drafted during that crazy Covid year.  Continued to be a big fan year after year as his performance was for the most part disappointing as he moved up to higher levels.  He now finds himself one step away in AAA.  I don't want to compare him to the average age in AAA because I expect many older players drags the average higher.  In any case, 23 is still young for a prospect one step away.

After reading the article and above comments, took a look at his splits this season.  He was absolutely terrible in April (11.68 ERA) before having an ok May (4.08 ERA).  It is only two games and 3+ innings, however, he has been unhittable in June.  Should he keep pitching anywhere near as well as the last couple games, he just may have earned a callup come early July.  In a year when the Twins must build their entire bullpen, Raya certainly has an excellent opportunity.  Hopefully, he meets that challenge.

Speaking of relievers.  Does anyone have any information on where Matt Canterino is in his attempt to return to the mound?

[D.C Twins]

The Twins really need to give Fedko a chance or free him to find another opportunity if they do not believe in him. 

I have no idea if he can play in the MLB, but I do know that there is nothing left to do at AAA... so.....

 

[Dman]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

I get that the Twins don't consider Sabato or Fedko to be real prospects at this point...but at what point to you just give them a chance anyways? Is it after the trade deadline and a sell-off? I get the 40-man issue makes it harder to pull them up and they're hoarding those slots for players they think have higher upside or fill more immediate needs...but both of those guys are doing about everything you could ask for of them.

Interesting question for these kinds of borderline dudes...who might just be AAAA players (too good for AAA, not really good enough for MLB) but you just don't know. Twins were willing to roll with Outman for quite a long time, much to the frustration of fans. Is it familiarity breeding contempt? Those guys have been in the organization so long they know all their flaws intimately and it blocks out their assets?

 

Yeah I've been thinking about this as well. I'd think they likely compare to Michael Helman or Spencer Steer.  Helman had a .745 OPS last year playing in Center field for Texas.  Steer was a little under that in 24 and 25.  Both those players showed power late and had good approaches so I think Fedko and Saboto could do something similar.  Thing is every now and then you get a Merrifield or Rooker who exceed those expectations.

Hard to say what they can be until given a shot.  They aren't getting any younger.  Maybe take a shot and see what you have and be willing to let them go if it doesn't work out.  Can't keep them down there until their almost 30 and expect to get much value from them. I don't expect to see them until after the trade deadline so we'll see how they look until then, but I agree there isn't much more they can do to prove they deserve a shot.

This team is getting younger and I'd kind of like to see them stay that way and try to develop the younger players, as it feels like they could have a strong core for a while if several of them work out.  I also think the guys coming up will provide better defensive value than some of the older players they have. We'll see what they decide to do, but it might be hard to work in Sabato and Fedko. 

[LambchoP]

I am also curious about Canterino. Wasn't he supposed to be pitching again this year, or did he finally hang up the cleats after another injury?

[Palindrome Bob]

3 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

I get that the Twins don't consider Sabato or Fedko to be real prospects at this point...but at what point to you just give them a chance anyways? Is it after the trade deadline and a sell-off? I get the 40-man issue makes it harder to pull them up and they're hoarding those slots for players they think have higher upside or fill more immediate needs...but both of those guys are doing about everything you could ask for of them.

Interesting question for these kinds of borderline dudes...who might just be AAAA players (too good for AAA, not really good enough for MLB) but you just don't know. Twins were willing to roll with Outman for quite a long time, much to the frustration of fans. Is it familiarity breeding contempt? Those guys have been in the organization so long they know all their flaws intimately and it blocks out their assets?

 

Maybe it's about who's filling similar roles on the MLB roster, and how long of a leash those players have.

With Sabato, it's probably Bell. Bell very likely won't finish the year on the Twins for one reason or another, so that'll open a spot for a hitter like Sabato, who I imagine can't be worse than Bell at 1B defense. Sadly for Sabato, there's a good chance the Twins would promote Gabriel Gonzalez in the event of a Bell trade or release, given he's on the 40 already. 

Regarding Fedko -- probably Kreidler? He's on the Twins roster for his defense and versatility, and since by some measures he was the worst hitter in MLB going into the year, his offense has to be called a pleasant surprise. If Kreidler's hitting reverts to the mean, and if Kyler stays hot, it seems arguably more likely than a Sabato promotion, given how badly the Twins need people on their roster who can play CF, especially after the the Outman DFA.

Last note -- I can't believe how bad the offense is in Wichita. Of course, they can't help that their three best hitters played well enough to get promoted to AAA, but it doesn't look like Amick or Rosario will be joining them anytime soon, barring injuries.
Obviously Wichita is going to get a significant influx of talent next year, but folks like Sabato and Fedko may very well get a chance to get another year older at AAA and be an opportunistic phone call away. If they can keep their offense sharp into next year -- and not fade out like recent previous AAA repeats Yunior Severino, Will Holland, and Jeferson Morales -- I'd have to think they'd at least give the new GM less reason to look outside the system at journeymen role players. They also have to stay healthy -- I have to think Holland would have earned his cup of coffee last year if he hadn't been injured and forced the organization to reckon with Jonah Bride and Ryan Fitzgerald when infield injuries on the MLB squad piled up.

Anyone here old enough to remember Bernardo Brito knows that it's possible. Stay healthy, stay good, you might get your shot.







 

[Fatbat]

Last I heard, Canterino was still rehabbing. Its been awhile….