Twins Minor League Report (7/10): That's a Riley Quick Promotion

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Danny De Andrade)

On Friday, the Kernels and Wind Surge announced that RHP Riley Quick was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita. The 36th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of the University of Alabama made his professional debut with Fort Myers in April. He made three starts for the Mighty Mussels, and in eight innings, he gave up no runs and just one hit. He walked three but had 13 strikeouts. The Twins acted Quickly and pushed him to Cedar Rapids. He made 11 starts and worked a total of 41 1/3 innings for the Kernels. His overall numbers don't stand out immediately. He is 0-2 with a 4.14 ERA. He gave up 31 hits (including five home runs). He also had 23 walks (5.0 BB/9) which will have to improve. However, he had 61 strikeouts (13.3 K/9). 

I was curious how the Twins might choose to develop Quick, especially considering he made just one appearance in 2024 at Alabama before having Tommy John surgery. I asked earlier in the season how similar Quick's 2026 timeline might be compared to Blue Jays 2024 top pick Trey Yesavage.

Yesavage started with seven starts for Low-A Dunedin. He had a 2.43 ERA and in 33 1/3 innings, he had eight walks and 55 strikeouts. He moved up to High-A Vancouver (May 20) where he posted a 1.56 ERA in 17 1/3 innings over four starts. He was then promoted to Double-A New Hampshire (June 12) where he pitched 30 innings over eight games (7 starts). He had 11 walks with 46 strikeouts. He moved up to Triple-A Buffalo (August 14) where he made four starts and two relief appearances. In 17 1/3 innings, he had 11 walks and 26 strikeouts. Then he ended the season with three important MLB starts for the Blue Jays (starting September 15) before putting up silly video game numbers in the playoffs. Overall, he threw 98 innings in the minor leagues and was 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA. He gave up 54 hits, walked 41, and had 160 strikeouts. 

TRANSACTIONS   
As expected, the Twins activated catcher Ryan Jeffers and optioned OF Kyler Fedko.

The Twins acquired veteran RHP Tommy Nance from the Toronto Blue Jays along with international bonus pool money. In return, the Twins sent infielder/catcher Ryan Sprock. Sprock was the eighth-round pick in 2025 from Elon University. He was the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month in June and had just been promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids this week. 

Fort Myers LHP Cleiber Maldonado began a rehab assignment in the FCL. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Iowa 7  
Box Score
Things started out quite well for the Saints in Des Moines. It didn’t take long for the Cubs to comeback and eventually take the lead. Then they added on and beat the Saints for the third straight time. 

With one out and runners on first and second, Hendry Mendez singled to left to drive in Matt Wallner. After a wild pitch Gabriel Gonzalez dropped a single into right field to drive in two runs and give the Saints a 3-0 lead. 

Ty Langenberg started and put zeroes on the board in the first, third and fourth innings. However, in 4 1/3 innings, he gave up six earned runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out four. The Cubs scored four in the bottom of the second He also gave up two runs in the fifth inning. Both runs scored after C.J. Culpepper came in. He gave up one run of his own on two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. Raul Brito tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and a walk and had two strikeouts. Alejandro Hidalgo struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning. 

The Saints scored four runs on five hits and four walks in the game. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Mendez was 2-for-4. Walker Jenkins and Aaron Sabato each walked twice. 

The daily Brett Bateman Update informs us that the former Gopher great went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 18th stolen base. He is now batting .306/.434/.411 (.845) on the season.  

For more on Bateman and other prospects in the (former Twins outfield prospect) Jason Kanzler-led Cubs farm system, check out our sister site North Side Baseball.  Many of the Iowa Cubs are in their Top 20 Cubs Prospect rankings. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, Northwest Arkansas 8
Box Score
Another tough loss for the Wind Surge. After a 12-1 win on Thursday, they have lost three straight by a combined score of 12-28. In fact, things have been rough for the Wind Surge for the past two months. Below you’ll find the results of the past nine weeks, nine series. That marks the last time the Wind Surge won a series. And some of the run differentials for those weeks are pretty rough.  

Week            Opponent                   W-L        RS-RA
7/7-7/10        NW Arkansas              1-3        (24-29)
6/30-7/5      Tulsa                            1-5        (34-60)
6/23-6/29   Midland                        1-5        (19-35)
6/16-6/22    Springfield                   2-4       (32-40)
6/9-6/15      Tulsa                             1-5       (39-46)
6/2-6/8        San Antonio                1-5        (15-28)
5/25-6/1      Springfield                   0-5       (22-35)
5/19-5/24    Tulsa                            2-4        (24-40)
5/12-5/17      San Antonio                3-3        (27-27)
5/5-5/10:     Amarillo                       3-2        (41-27)

Through six innings, the Wind Surge were only behind. However, the Naturals scored five runs in the top of the seventh and ran away with another easy win.   

Cory Lewis started for the Wind Surge. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in the first three innings. He had four strikeouts. Darren Bowen gave up one run on three hits over two innings. Jacob Webb came out for the seventh and was charged with five runs on three hits and three walks. He recorded two outs and left with the bases loaded. Nick Mikolajchak allowed two of the inherited runners to score, but he got four outs without any additional runs scored. Kyle Bischoff struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning. 

Caden Kendle’s adjustment to Double-A has gone quite well. On Friday night, he went 2-for-2 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, and stole a base. In his first four games, he is 8-for-13 and hitting .615/.667/.923 (1.590) with a double and a homer.   

Andrew Cossetti had the lone extra-base hit, his seventh double. 

Seven players on the NW Arkansas roster are in the Royals Keep Top 20 prospect rankings. Five of them are pitchers. #14 prospect Felix Arronde started for the Naturals and gave up one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.  

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 18
Box Score
The Kernels offense scored six runs over the first three innings and found themselves losing 10-6. They cut the deficit to 10-8 through five innings. However, the Kernels stopped scoring, and the Cubs added another eight runs. 

In 2025, Danny De Andrade had 43 extra base hits for the Kernels. In 2026, the still-just-22-year-old had just 17 going into Friday night’s game. He went 3-for-5 with his ninth double and his third and fourth triples.   

Jose Salas, who is still-just-23-year-old, was sent back down to the Kernels this week. He went 2-for-5 in this game including a third-inning grand slam. After hitting seven Double-A homers this year, this was his first with the Kernels this year. In fact, Salas hit five homers (and eight doubles) in 48 games for the Wind Surge last year. He’s played in 101 games at Double-A after playing 211 games over the past three seasons in Cedar Rapids. The average hitter in the Midwest League is 22.2, and the average pitcher is 22.9. As we know, fair or not, the “prospects” move on their timeline. The Twins decision-makers felt that Brandon Winokur is ready to be pushed to Double-A for the remainder of the season, so that happens.   

I also see it as an opportunity for Salas to play every day, probably at seven different positions, get regular at-bats, and I won’t be surprised if that happens, the numbers will show up. He’s been pushed way too fast since his time with the Marlins organization. The Padres did the same with his brother Ethan Salas. Maybe moving down, breathing, and seeing some actual success in numbers will spark a resurgence in his prospect status. Or I might just be wrong. 

Graham Brown hit his first Kernels double. Yasser Mercedes doubled for the eighth time in Cedar Rapids. Jacob McCombs added his fourth triple of the season. He was also hit by a pitch three times by three different pitchers in the game. Henry Kusiak and Andy Lugo each walked twice.   

Cesar Lares has really struggled in his return from Tommy John surgery. The lefty gave up five runs (3 earned) on three hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. He left the game in the hands of Nick Trabacchi with two runners on base and both were able to score. Trabacchi also gave up five earned runs of his own on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Lares’s ERA now stands at 15.98 in six starts and just 16 1/3 innings. He’s given up 26 hits, walked 18 times, and struck out 19 batters.

Mitch Mueller came in and struck out three batters over two perfect innings. Christian Becerra gave up three runs on four hits over his two innings. Nolan Santos came in for the ninth, but he gave up five runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk in 2/3 innings. Henry Kusiak came on, faced one batter, and struck him out.  

Five South Bend Cubs players are on the Northside Baseball Top 20 Cubs Prospect rankings.19-year-old Josiah Hartshorn, the #4 prospect, went 2-for-5 with a walk and a triple. #7 prospect Kane Kepley went 1-for-5 with a walk, two runs and two RBI. #14 prospect Ty Southisene is on the injured list. He is on the 7-Day IL right now, but he already has 30 stolen bases in 2026. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Ft. Myers, Bradenton (postponed)
Box Score  
Both games of the doubleheader were postponed by rain. The teams will hope to play two games on Saturday. The other game will be made up as part of a doubleheader in Bradenton at the end of August. 

The pitching probable for one of the Mussels games on Friday was RHP Callan Fang. The scheduled starter for Saturday was RHP Justin Mitrovich. Is it possible that those will be the two starters if the Mussels are able to play their doubleheader on Saturday? If so, you can bet the people involved in baseball in the Pennsbury High School District will be watching. Mitrovich was the Twins ninth-round pick in 2025 out of Elon University. Fang was the Twins 13th round pick in 2025 out of Harvard. However, the two pitchers were teammates at Pennsbury High School. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 3, FCL Rays 9
Box Score  
The Twins scored in three of their nine half-innings. The Red Sox scored in four different innings and had crooked numbers in three of those innings including a four-run fourth inning. The Red Sox scored their nine runs on 12 hits and six walks. The Twins helped them by committing five errors in the game as well. 

In his first rehab appearance, Cleiber Maldonado gave up two runs on four hits in 2/3 inning. He struck out one batter. Jack Walker came in and got the final out of the first inning and then had a scoreless second inning. He had three strikeouts out of the four outs he recorded. Matt Barr was next. The 2025 draft pick gave up four runs (2 earned) on two hits and three walks in two innings. He struck out three batters. Hendry Chivilli worked the final four innings. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts. 

The Twins scored their three runs on six hits and two walks. Miguel Caraballo went 2-for-4 with his ninth double and two RBI. Jhomnardo Reyes hit his 11th double. Yovanny Duran hit his fifth double. Teilon Serrano hit his eighth double. 

DSL Twins 5, DSL Rockies 3
Box Score  
Contrary to the rest of the system, the Twins in the Dominican were able to get out to an early lead, and then they were the team that put together the big inning and hung on for a win.   

Abel Sosa led off the bottom of the second with a triple. After two strikeouts, Jeferson Abreu singled to center to give them the 1-0 lead.

The Rockies tied the game in the top of the third. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jhon Gonzalez led off with a single. He advanced to third base on a single by Enmanuel Merlo who advanced to second on the throw. With one out, Juan Holmann singled to right field. Gonzalez scored. Merlo went to third, and Holman went to second on an error. Anibal Beltre struck out but reached on a wild pitch. Merlo scored and Holmann advanced to third. With two outs, Luis Suarez singled to drive in Holmann. After a pitching change and a wild pitch, Misael Rodriguez singled to left to drive home Beltre. Suarez was thrown out for the third out of the inning. But the four-run fourth inning gave them a 5-1 lead. 

Adrian Martinez started and gave up an unearned run on one hit over 2 2/3 innings. He walked five and had three strikeouts. Jesus Moreno tossed 2 1/3 innings. He gave up no runs, one hit, and had two walks. He had two strikeouts. Wisarly Reinoso made his first pro appearance. He gave up two runs on three hits over 1 2/3 innings. He had one strikeout. Herkyn Taveras came on and got the final out for his second save. 

The Twins had eight hits, and no one had more than one. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, 2B(9), 2-3B(4), 2 R, K

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Mitch Mueller (Cedar Rapids): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 26 pitches, 18 strikes (69.2%)

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) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, K (batted first, played CF)
#5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, (batted first, played SS)
#9 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, R, RBI, K (batted fourth, played LF)
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 K (batted sixth, played 1B) 

#12 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, K (batted second, played CF)
#17 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 32 pitches, 17 strikes (53.1%)
#18 - OF Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(8), R, RBI, SB(23), 2 K (batted first, played CF)
#19 - 1B/3B Billy Amick (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, 2 K (batted fourth, played 3B) 
#20 - 2B/SS Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB (batted fifth, played 2B) 

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, July 11
St. Paul @ Iowa (6:08 pm CT) - RHP John Klein (1-3, 6.39 ERA)
NW Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Preston Johnson (0-for-3, 5.08 ERA)
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 10.32 ERA)  
Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 2:35 pm CT) - RHP Callan Fang (3-1, 1.35 ERA), RHP Justin Mitrovich (1-3, 3.08 ERA) - 
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (9:00 am CT) - 
DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (10:00 am CT) -  

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 46-49
St. Paul Saints: 49-40
Wichita Wind Surge: 28-55
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 34-48
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-36
FCL Twins: 27-23
DSL Twins: 7-20 

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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[thelanges5]

Minor league pitching has been taking a beating lately. Yikes

[FlyingFinn]

Are the runs scored in the minors overall up from previous years? It sure feels like it. Anyone have thoughts on why?

[FlyingFinn]

At least the Wind Surge fans have someone to go watch in this dreadful season, as Riley Quick is coming. Wow, that was a "quick" promotion :)

[bean5302]

32 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Are the runs scored in the minors overall up from previous years? It sure feels like it. Anyone have thoughts on why?

The drafting/development philosophy focused on velocity might be hitting the end of the curve. It sure seems like velo is everything these days. Got a 98mph fastball and one other questionable pitch? Welcome to the upper minors.

[DJL44]

52 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

At least the Wind Surge fans have someone to go watch in this dreadful season, as Riley Quick is coming. Wow, that was a "quick" promotion :)

Feels like a trade partner wants to see how he performs in AA.

[1985Fan]

Looks like Twins are at least trying to improve the BP by adding Nance. Someone will have to be removed to make room. They moved Abel to 60 day IL to make room on the 40 man roster. We’ll see what happens to make room in the BP. 

[bean5302]

8 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Feels like a trade partner wants to see how he performs in AA.

Hopefully, Quick can bring back at least one to two more more lefty DHs who can also either stand at first base or a corner outfield spot.

[bjorks]

31 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

The drafting/development philosophy focused on velocity might be hitting the end of the curve. It sure seems like velo is everything these days. Got a 98mph fastball and one other questionable pitch? Welcome to the upper minors.

As opposed to our MLB philosophy of checking for a pulse and making sure no relievers get DFA’ed without the Twins trading that C. Considerations guy for a crack first 

[rdehring]

Had to be a tough night for De Andrade.  Just had one of the best games of his career and his team loses by a 10 spot.

For those of you who watch a lot of Saints games, is Mendez' defense improving?  Has he been playing mostly left field?  Or is he getting some time at first?  Kid sure seems like he can hit.

[bean5302]

25 minutes ago, bjorks said:

As opposed to our MLB philosophy of checking for a pulse and making sure no relievers get DFA’ed without the Twins trading that C. Considerations guy for a crack first 

Our MLB philosophy has been driven by the way our front office values talent and the overall organizational strategy on how to win baseball games. That same philosophy is how MiLB baseball players get valued. Our MLB team is a result of our front office's strategy.

Play terrible, awful, horrible defense so long as you can stand at 9 different positions and look like you might belong there before any batted balls happen. The ability to stand at random positions is where value comes from!!!

Platoon bats give us an advantage because opposing teams cannot change pitchers.

Switch hitters are always just as good from either side of the plate because... platoon splits are absolute!

Change hitting philosophies every year after the weaknesses of the one size fits all philosophy from the previous year is exposed. Blame it on the hitting coach for teaching the strategy you directed.

Relief pitchers are guaranteed. Any starter in the minors can instantly be an elite MLB reliever.

Pitcher talent is the only thing which matters in MiLB. Polish is not needed. So long as they can get MiLB hitters out, it'll translate to MLB automatically.

Drafting elite pitchers is a waste unless you mean to convert them to a reliever because you forgot you needed some of those after trading them all away. You can just draft an 89mph fastball college arm in round 12, teach them to throw 95 and they'll for sure be an ace. If you do make the mistake of drafting a rotation arm early, trade them to shore up your shortfalls in talent evaluation and payroll allocation to get a year or two of a good starter.

In case it's not evident, I think our front office is devoid of wisdom in how to run a baseball team.

[DataNerd]

1 hour ago, FlyingFinn said:

Are the runs scored in the minors overall up from previous years? It sure feels like it. Anyone have thoughts on why?

Yes, but it depends somewhat on the league.  The big outlier is the A+ leagues, where the Midwest League has had its 3 highest run/9 months, and the South Atlantic League which has had its #1, 2, and 5 (all of this going back to 2005).  In both cases the highest month easily cleared the pre-2026 record (6.00 vs 5.65 and 6.12 vs 5.76).

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

The drafting/development philosophy focused on velocity might be hitting the end of the curve.

It's a great theory and a common complaint, but looking at the extreme A+ leagues, there wasn't an upwards trend in scoring post 2020 before this year.  If you remove this year's data, the trend is actually a slight decrease in run scoring.

There is something that is different in those leagues this year.  I'm guessing that's why Quick quickly got out of there, to get to a more normal environment.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Are the runs scored in the minors overall up from previous years? It sure feels like it. Anyone have thoughts on why?

Yes. There is talk something is up with the balls. 

I feel like I'm the only DeAndrade believer still....

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Feels like a trade partner wants to see how he performs in AA.

I hope not. This team needs pitching prospects. 

[saviking]

We traded Ryan Sprock for Tommy Nance. Have to believe they will consider Nance a key contributor in the bullpen because he's 35 and Sprock was tearing up single A ball. 

I think Sprock was a terrific prospect so this better work.

[strumdatjag]

The Twins minor league pitchers are getting pounded lately.    Look at all the double digit run totals for the opposing teams in recent days.   They need to concentrate on boosting quality pitching depth in the draft and at the deadline!!!