Twins Minor League Report (6/22): Walker Jenkins Back with Saints, Marek Houston and Kala'i Rosario Promoted

[Nate Palmer]

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Marek Houston)

TRANSACTIONS
St. Paul Saints activated OF Walker Jenkins from the 7-day injured list.
OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to St. Paul Saints from Wichita Wind Surge.
St. Paul Saints sent RHP Eduardo Salazar on a rehab assignment to Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
SS Marek Houston assigned to Wichita Wind Surge from Cedar Rapids Kernels.
UT Jay Thomason assigned to Wichita Wind Surge from Cedar Rapids Kernels.
Cedar Rapids Kernels activated RHP Adrian Bohorquez from the 7-day injured list. 
2B Dameury Pena assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Might Mussels. 
SS Henry Kusiak assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from St. Paul Saints.
SS Harry Genth assigned to Fort Myers Mighty Mussels from St. Paul Saints.

SAINTS SENTINEL
The Saints had a 3-3 week, highlighted by two high-scoring games, including a franchise-record-tying 21-run game on Tuesday. This week, the Saints head out of town to Louisville to take on the Bats, the Cincinnati Reds affiliate. 

Tuesday, the Saints will run into a rehabbing Hunter Greene, giving some of the Twins top bats another opportunity to prove themselves against proven MLB pitching talent. OF Hector Rodriguez will likely pose a challenge for Saints pitchers. Rodriguez is hitting .292/.369/.540 (.908), and 17 home runs in 2026. 

Another top 10 prospect talent on the Bats roster is RHP Jose Franco. The 25-year-old has appeared in nine games this season, starting four for the Bats, and carries a 5.40 ERA. Franco has traditionally had a K% in the mid-20% range, much like his 26.6% this season at Triple-A. In a stint with the Reds, it did dip considerably to 16.5%. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
As the Wind Surge hosted the Spring Field Cardinals this past week, they were only able to pull out a 2-4 record. The Wind Surge will go on the road this week to take on the Midland RockHounds, an Athletics affiliate. 

Wichita will have a chance to see a nationally renowned Top 10 prospect in SS/3B Leo De Vries. The 19-year-old is hitting .282/.375/.432 (.807), with nine home runs this season. Joining De Vries is organizational Top 10 position player OF Devin Taylor. The left-hander is hitting .295/.407/.461 (.868), with 10 home runs. 

Rounding out the prospects to watch for Midland is LHP Jamie Arnold. Arnold has started 13 games in 2026, put together a 4.64 ERA, and a 23.3% K%. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE
Over the past week, the Kernels went 2-3 while facing Beloit. The Cedar Rapids club will make the trip up to Wisconsin to take on the Timber Rattlers of the Milwaukee Brewers organization. The Kernels will see the Brewers' number 2 prospect, according to our sister site Brewer Fanatic, Luis Pena. Pena is also ranked as a Top 25 prospect nationally and is hitting .325/.443/.442 with a .885 OPS. 

C Marco Dinges joins Pena as a prospect to watch and is ranked ninth by Brewer Fanatic, hitting .261/.387/.459, .846 OPS, with eight home runs. He just returned to the lineup after a short suspension.

The #12 prospect is 19-year-old former first-round pick has had a very nice start to his season. In 42 games, he is hitting .282/.394/.595 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 13 stolen bases. 

Moving to the pitching side, we find Brewer Fantatic’s number ten prospect Bishop Letson. Over 12 starts this year, he is 3-3 with a 4.60 ERA. In 47 innings, he's got 47 strikeouts, but also 28 walks.  JD Thompson the #18 prospect. The lefty has been on the IL since his last start, June 2, in Cedar Rapids, when he left the game with two outs in the second inning. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
The Mussels had a successful week, going 4-2 and carrying an impressive home run streak with them along the way. 

Fort Myers welcomes the St. Lucie Mets into town for this week's series. The Mets will bring with them 18-year-old SS Elian Pena with them. Pena is a left-handed batter who is hitting .267/.256/.252 with a .768 OPS this season. He ranks as the organization's #3 prospect at Grand Central Mets (a DiamondCentric site). 

Outfielder Randy Guzman ranks 15th in the organization. However, he has been on the Injured List since June 6. 

FCL TWINS
Twins 5, Rays 7 (10 innings) 
Box Score
It took extra innings to find a winner between the Twins and Rays on Monday morning. The Twins had to recover from a 5-2 deficit after the fifth. In the sixth inning, the lead was chipped away at by a pair of RBI singles from Jose Barrios and Jhomnardo Reyes to help bring the Twins within one run at a 5-4 score. Reyes was 2-for-6 on the day and accounted for two of the Twins RBIs. 

Yovanny Duran hit the RBI single that tied up the game 5-5 in the eighth inning. The centerfielder was 3-for-6 at the plate. He stole his 15th base. Joyner Perez and Victor Leal each hit a double.

Each Twins pitcher gave up at least one run, but Halton Hardy had the most success on the afternoon, giving up three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Hardy also struck out nine total batters while only walking one.  Matt Barr started as his rehab continues. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters. 

DSL TWINS
Twins 12, Miami 15
Box Score
There was a lot of scoring between the Twins and Miami. As a team, the Twins put more runners on base by being patient and taking 13 walks. They also had eight hits. LF Ashwar Sprok was the only Twin with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI, and one walk. 

Jhon Gonzalez hit a double. Luis Suarez added another double for his lone hit, but the first baseman also took a walk and scored both times he was on base. RF Abel Sosa had the final extra-base hit for the Twins with a triple and three RBI. Daiyer Barboza led the Twins offense. He was 1-for-2 with four walks. He stole two bases. Jendy Martinez was 1-for-2 with two walks. Luis Duarte walked three times. 

As expected, the pitching was not clean in a game in which the opponent scored 15 runs. The only pitcher to put a zero in the earned run column (he did allow an unearned run) was Jeremy Jimenez, who went 1 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out one. The Marlins had 14 stolen bases, and the Twins helped them by committing six errors. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Yovanny Duran: 3-for-6, 1 RBI
Halton Hardy: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW
#1- Walker Jenkins (Rehab-Kernels)-.455/.500/.727, 1.227 OPS, 1 HR
#4- Connor Prielipp (Twins)- 1 GS, 6 IP 9 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 3 BB
#5- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)-  .333/.333/.792, 1.125 OPS, 3 HR, 2 2B
#7- Marek Houston (Kernels)- .308/.550/.462, 1.012 OPS, 2 2B
#8- Riley Quick (Kernels)- 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
#10- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .440/.517/.640, 1.157 OPS, 1 HR, 2 2B
#12- Andrew Morris (Twins)- 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
#14- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .250/.296/.708, 1.005 OPS
#15- Brandon Winokur (Kernels)- .375/.474/.438, .911 OPS. 1 2B 
#16 Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
#17-C.J. Culpepper (Saints)- 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
#19- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- .353/.560/.353, .913 OPS
#20- Kyle DeBarge (Wind Surge)- .125/.125/.500, .625 OPS, 1 HR

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul Saints @ Louisville- RHP Ricky Castro
Wichita Wind Surge @ Midland- RHP Preston Johnson
Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Wisconsin- TBD
St. Lucie @ Fort Myers Mussels- TBD
FCL Braves @ FCL Twins- TBD
DSL Colorado @ DSL Twins- TBD

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[Sampson5]

If Tait has another good week or 2 I'd also promote him up a level . Love seeing Houston get up to AA looks to be fully on the Culpeper development timeline  should hopefully be sometime next season when twins will have elite SS defense once again 🙏 also Rosario finally getting promoted is fun always cool to see prospects make it to St Paul gotta think at some point here one of the outfield prospects is in the majors probably roden hope it's Jenkins but he's probably gonna need a month or good play before that's a real option unfortunate he missed so much time he'd probably currently be in the mlb had he stayed healthy .seems like fedko is a placeholder especially if he don't start taking advantage of his limited abs . 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Glad to see reliever Ricky Castro getting to start against Louisville for the Saints today. I guess it will be a game of relief pitchers or he is working as an opener for the Saints today. Castro is one of my favorites. He reached out to my 19 year old grandson during my grandson's torn labrum surgery and rehab. Jacob Benbow is a lefthanded pitcher for his college team. Castro told me he would be praying for my grandson and then he communicated with my grandson. Castro is a class act. I am really pulling for Ricky Castro to make it to the majors soon.

[mikelink45]

How long before Morris plays himself off the prospect list? 

Some nice stats by the batters.  Everyone says Roden or Walker comes up - how about bringing Gonzales back?

[Dman]

Happy to see Houston get promoted to AA.  This is the step that will show just how ready or not ready the bat is.  Lot's of bat's struggle at AA.  Hoping he stays on the Culpepper path, but we'll see.

Since the weather warmed up Thomason has been on a tear.  A much deserved promotion for him as well.  

Man, Rosario has been the odd man out for so long it's nice to see him finally get to AAA.  I think he'll do just fine there.  Gonna be interesting to see if the Twins think he is worthy of a 40 man spot or let him ride into Rule V. 

Also nice to see Pena move up.  He can hit but his OPS is not where you'd like to see it.  Power should come in time and it is time for him to move up. A little surprised Sprock wasn't moved up as he has had a hot bat for a while now.  Maybe they want him to catch more?  Hard to say.  Was also wondering if they would promote Fragosa a little early but I guess they are gonna give him some more time. Maybe after Kendle gets healthy and moves up then they'll move Fragosa.

I thought they also might move Amick up, but probably just fine to leave him at AA with the in zone swing and miss issues.

At any rate happy to see some promotions and here's hoping those players have no issues adapting to the next level. 

 

[jmlease1]

Congrats to Rosario on the promotion! He's worked hard to try and add things to his game, and while I think he's still a flawed player who might not be more than organizational depth, he's earned the promotion to AAA. You never know, he could figure some more things out, and his power production is real. Having a RH OF/DH slugger in AAA is not a bad thing.

Congrats to Marek Houston on his promotion, who has done a wonderful job of quelling my fears about his bat. Here's hoping he continues to make me look like a fool in AA while continuing to showcase his wonderful glove. AA should be a good challenge for him, will be interested to see how his hitting does. Definitely earned his promotion, no scholarships here, and I approve.

Glad to see Walker Jenkins back in Saint Paul. Here's hoping he stays healthy and starts forcing some decision-making about the future of the OF by crushing every pitcher he sees and avoiding things like walls. Let hope spring eternal!

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Houston finally moving up. Him and Diaw should tear it up in AA now. 

Ive noticed a team wide pitching problem. Every level seems to have an elevated ERA. Even the highly touted prospect pitchers seem to be struggling. Is it an organizational philosophy issue or...?  

[tarheeltwinsfan]

27 minutes ago, Dman said:

Happy to see Houston get promoted to AA.  This is the step that will show just how ready or not ready the bat is.  Lot's of bat's struggle at AA.  Hoping he stays on the Culpepper path, but we'll see.

Since the weather warmed up Thomason has been on a tear.  A much deserved promotion for him as well.  

Man, Rosario has been the odd man out for so long it's nice to see him finally get to AAA.  I think he'll do just fine there.  Gonna be interesting to see if the Twins think he is worthy of a 40 man spot or let him ride into Rule V. 

Also nice to see Pena move up.  He can hit but his OPS is not where you'd like to see it.  Power should come in time and it is time for him to move up. A little surprised Sprock wasn't moved up as he has had a hot bat for a while now.  Maybe they want him to catch more?  Hard to say.  Was also wondering if they would promote Fragosa a little early but I guess they are gonna give him some more time. Maybe after Kendle gets healthy and moves up then they'll move Fragosa.

I thought they also might move Amick up, but probably just fine to leave him at AA with the in zone swing and miss issues.

At any rate happy to see some promotions and here's hoping those players have no issues adapting to the next level. 

 

Great post.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins have been intentional about how they move prospects. One trend we may see more in focus this year and moving forward that differs to an extent from past practices is an increased attention to which players play good defense. The bats are important to be sure, but the club may be moving away from players who cannot field a position at an above average level. Perhaps my preference for a sound defender at all fielding positions makes for an obvious bias but those prospects who are more DH than glove will need to far outpace the competition to receive promotions. It will be something to watch in any event. 

Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper only need to hit the ball hard and display consistently strong plate appearances before they earn a promotion. Marek Houston will find out if he has the bat to continue his steps in his career. Ka'lai Rosario will need to bash and faces a tough path as one of several players working to earn a shot at a DH position in the future. 

One has to wonder how the Twins will view the coming trade deadline in early August. Could we see a few surprising transactions?

[bean5302]

48 minutes ago, Dman said:

Happy to see Houston get promoted to AA.  This is the step that will show just how ready or not ready the bat is.  Lot's of bat's struggle at AA.  Hoping he stays on the Culpepper path, but we'll see.

Since the weather warmed up Thomason has been on a tear.  A much deserved promotion for him as well.  

Man, Rosario has been the odd man out for so long it's nice to see him finally get to AAA.  I think he'll do just fine there.  Gonna be interesting to see if the Twins think he is worthy of a 40 man spot or let him ride into Rule V. 

Also nice to see Pena move up.  He can hit but his OPS is not where you'd like to see it.  Power should come in time and it is time for him to move up. A little surprised Sprock wasn't moved up as he has had a hot bat for a while now.  Maybe they want him to catch more?  Hard to say.  Was also wondering if they would promote Fragosa a little early but I guess they are gonna give him some more time. Maybe after Kendle gets healthy and moves up then they'll move Fragosa.

I thought they also might move Amick up, but probably just fine to leave him at AA with the in zone swing and miss issues.

At any rate happy to see some promotions and here's hoping those players have no issues adapting to the next level. 

 

If Houston's bat looks like it has in Cedar Rapids again at AA this year, he'll be a top 10 MLB prospect. How exciting would that be?

[terrydactyls]

17 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

One has to wonder how the Twins will view the coming trade deadline in early August. Could we see a few surprising transactions?

From your lips (PC) to Pohlad/Zoll's ears.

[Jeff K]

The Twins have some nice problems as our hitting prospects are mostly performing and moving up.  The outfield at St. Paul is just plain jammed with guys who are close, if not ready, for the bigs.  Like most, I'm excited to see Marek Houston called up to AA.  I wonder how long it will be before Brandon Winokur moves up as well.  Back to the outfield, I am starting to think that after Jeffers, Larnach may well be the Twin most likely to be traded to free up OF space.  He has certainly enhanced his trade value this season.  

[rdehring]

Fantastic news that Houston is moving up.  If he hits anywhere near what he did for the Kernels, he will confirm that he will be the Twins shortstop for much of the next decade.  If not, maybe not.

Hopefully, Jenkins will come back to the Saints hitting like Roden has.  As mentioned above, should Larnach be moved next month could the Twins have Roden/Jenkins in their corner outfield spots the last two months of the season?  Us old guys can dream, can't we? 

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, rdehring said:

Fantastic news that Houston is moving up.  If he hits anywhere near what he did for the Kernels, he will confirm that he will be the Twins shortstop for much of the next decade.  If not, maybe not.

Hopefully, Jenkins will come back to the Saints hitting like Roden has.  As mentioned above, should Larnach be moved next month could the Twins have Roden/Jenkins in their corner outfield spots the last two months of the season?  Us old guys can dream, can't we? 

I don't think Larnach is going anywhere if they continue to flirt with a wild card spot, not to mention if they do move him it'll probably be within a few days of the deadline, so he's gonna be here for the next month at least.

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I don't think Larnach is going anywhere if they continue to flirt with a wild card spot, not to mention if they do move him it'll probably be within a few days of the deadline, so he's gonna be here for the next month at least.

If they want to add relief pitching for the stretch run, it makes sense to deal Larnach.

[rdehring]

58 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

If they want to add relief pitching for the stretch run, it makes sense to deal Larnach.

I think you nailed what the Twins plan may be or should be at the deadline.  Yes, they should be sellers.  But also, buyers with most trades bringing back something the club needs to compete this year.  Gotta believe the top of that list is a couple solid relievers.

[AceWrigley]

6 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Houston finally moving up. Him and Diaw should tear it up in AA now. 

Ive noticed a team wide pitching problem. Every level seems to have an elevated ERA. Even the highly touted prospect pitchers seem to be struggling. Is it an organizational philosophy issue or...?  

Every minor league thinks they are the Pacific Coast League this year, ERA's 5 plus everywhere.

[Mike Sixel]

Rosario will be traded for a RP. That's my prediction. 

[Danchat]

43 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Rosario will be traded for a RP. That's my prediction. 

Feels like they need to move one of their OFs for a reliever... hopefully one that isn't a rental. Heck, I'd dangle Roden out there, might as well cash him in for something if they aren't going to use him.

[Mike Sixel]

5 hours ago, Danchat said:

Feels like they need to move one of their OFs for a reliever... hopefully one that isn't a rental. Heck, I'd dangle Roden out there, might as well cash him in for something if they aren't going to use him.

Agreed, though I'd promote him and demote Fedko....