Twins Minor League Report (7/23): Gabriel Gonzalez Provides Pinch-Hit Walkoff Double for Saints

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson (photo of Gabriel Gonzalez)

TRANSACTIONS   
Zach Vennaro was released from the Wichita Wind Surge roster. 

LHP Ross Dunn had his rehab assigned to the FCL Twins.  

RANKINGS
FanGraphs updated their Top 100 prospects and seven members of the Minnesota Twins organization are on the list... And none of them are Emmanuel Rodriguez. I have to think that's a pretty positive sign for the organization.    

2026 Draft Class Update
The Twins have signed all 21 of their 2026 draft picks plus they have signed four undrafted pitchers. If you check the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospect rankings below, you will see that we have now included the 2026 draft picks in our rankings. 

Top (L to R): Jackson Sleeper, Brett Renfrow, Thomas Burns, Carson Tinney, Ethan Wachsmann, Tommy LaPour, Tyler Bryan, Charlie Scholvin, Michael Barnett, Max Bayles, Alec Bouchard, Ryne Palmer, JT Raab, Kole Klecker, Steele Murdock, Ethan Lay. 
Bottom (L to R): PJ Moutzouridis, Hideki Prather, Colby Turner, Aidan Teel, Connor Mattison, Brian Strange, Vahn Lackey, Isaiah Lane, Colter McAnelly. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Columbus 3 
Box Score
While the Twins were playing extra innings in Cleveland, the Saints hosted their Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. On Thursday, the Twins won in extra innings to even the series. In St. Paul, the Saints were able to walk off the Clippers in the bottom of the ninth. They grabbed an early 2-1 series lead with three more games to play. 

Ricky Castro made the start. He tossed three innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out two. Next to the mound was John Klein. He gave up no runs over 1 1/3 innings, though he gave up two hits and a walk. He also struck out three batters. Veteran Eduardo Salazar gave up just one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out two. The Saints then got scoreless innings from Cole Sands (2 BB, 3 K) and Raul Brito (BB, K). Grant Hartwig worked the top of the ninth. He was charged with an unearned run on two hits in the inning. He struck out three but the Saints found themselves down 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth. 

Hendry Mendez lined a single to center to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Kyler Fedko ran for him. Kala’i Rosario singled to left to put runners on first and second with nobody out. He wasn’t credited with a sacrifice, but Cody Morissette advanced both runners with a ground out fielded by the pitcher. Brian Dinkelman turned to his bench. Gabriel Gonzalez pinch hit for catcher Noah Cardenas. He got a pitch over the plate and drilled it to the opposite field gap for a two-run, walkoff double. 

In the top of the third, the Saints fell behind 2-0. But in the bottom of the inning, a double by Morissette was followed by a Cardenas single to make it 2-1. Walker Jenkins and Matt Wallner followed with singles to load the bases. With one out, Tristan Gray lined a single to left to drive in Cardenas and tie the game at 2-2. 

The Saints scored their four runs on 11 hits. Kala’i Rosario went 2-for-3 with a walk. Wallner went 2-for-4. Morissette’s double was his sixth with the Saints. Wallner hit his 10th double. The Gonzalez walkoff double marked his 16th two-bagger of the year. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 1, Midland 2
Box Score
There was a pitcher’s duel in Wichita on Thursday. Unfortunately, the A’s Double-A affiliate had a two-run top of the ninth to end the shutout, take the lead and held on to win. The Surge had won the first two games of the series and carry a 2-1 lead into the weekend. The loss also broke the Wind Surge five-game winning streak since returning from the All-Star break.   

Cory Lewis started and tossed four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one, and had six strikeouts. He also hit a batter. William Fleming gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Marek Houston led off with a single but was caught stealing. Brandon Winokur followed with a single. With two outs and after a pitching change, Andrew Cossetti and Billy Amick to load the bases. Wichita scored the lone Wichita run when the Midland catcher attempted to pick off Winokur at third base and threw the ball away. 

With the lead, Jaylen Nowlin came in and struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning. Spencer Bengard pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but he was charged with two runs on four hits and a walk when you add in the ninth inning. He had four strikeouts but was charged with the loss. 

The Twins scored their one run on five hits and six walks. Marek Houston went 1-for-2 with two walks. He also stole his 14th base for Wichita. That gives him 38 steals overall in 42 attempts. He was caught stealing twice in this game. Tanner Schobel, in his return to Double-A, went 1-for-3 with a walk. Billy Amick walked twice. Caden Kendle added his fourth double and is still hitting .526 with a 1.294 OPS since joining the Wind Surge.  

KERNELS CHRONICLES
Cedar Rapids 3, Dayton 5
Box Score
The Kernels made the long trek to Ohio for the week, and maybe they’re just catching their bearings. They lost the first two games of this series, both losses by one run. 

Dayton scored one run in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and eighth innings. The Kernels scored one run in the third, fifth, and eighth innings. . I guess you don’t always need those crooked numbers to win. 

Kolten Smith gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and two walks over the first four innings. Smith also hit three batters. He struck out five batters. Xavier Kolhosser gave up an unearned run over two innings despite only giving up one walk and no hits. He struck out three batters. Brian Zeldin worked the final two innings and gave up one run on one hit and two walks. He struck out four batters. 

The Kernels scored their three runs on four hits and two walks. They also combined to strike out 15 times in 30 at-bats (33 plate appearances). Andy Lugo walked and was hit by a pitch. Yasser Mercedes knocked his 13th Kernels double and stole his 27th base. That gives him 38 total steals this season, tying him for the organizational lead this year. They are two ahead of FCL Twins outfielder Yovanny Duran. The FCL Twins season came to an end. It’s possible that he will join the Mussels for all or some of the rest of the season. 

Eduardo Tait drilled his 18th home run of the season. I keep hearing that he has had a tough season. Dude is 19 years old and hitting .221 with a .727 OPS. He has 19 doubles, 18 homers and 59 RBI. And he’s 19. Yes, it would be nice to see his OBP higher than .285. He has work to do on defense behind the plate.  He's 19, in High-A, of course he has work to do, improvements to be made. But as a prospect, this is the kind of players every team wants. This is the kind of prospect that you can get a great closer for at the deadline. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Game 1: Fort Myers 0, St. Lucie 1
Box Score
In Thursday’s first game in St. Lucie, the Mussels had just two hits in their shutout, but they also walked nine times in the game. Unfortunately, they were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base. Of the two hits, one was Byron Chourio’s sixth double of the season. He also drew two walks. Irvin Nunez and Ricardo Paez also walked twice in the game. 

Reed Moring started the first game. He gave up one run on eight hits and a walk over the first five innings. He struck out five batters. Michael Hilker pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to drop his season ERA to 1.32. Moring took the loss, but his ERA dropped to 2.60. 

Game 2: Fort Myers 3, St. Lucie 1
Box Score
In Game 2, the Mussels played the home teams as this was a makeup game for a postponed game in Ft. Myers earlier this season. The teams had no more games in Fort Myers, so this was the next-best option. 

The Mussels grabbed a run in the first inning and two runs in the second inning, and that was enough to hang on for a 3-1 win. 

In the first inning, Ramiro Dominguez led off with a walk. Jayson Bass singled him to third. Luis Fragoza came up and grounded into a double play, but Dominguez scored. 

The Mussels second inning began with singles from Quentin Young and Luis Hernandez. Byron Chourio moved them up a bag with a successful sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Harry Genth came up and lined a double to left to drive in both runners and make it 3-0.   

Merit Jones was on the mound to start the second game. He struck out six batters over five shutout innings to improve to 4-1 this season. He gave up four hits and walked none. Brent Francisco gave up one run on one hit over the final two innings to record his second save. He also struck out two batters.    

The Mussels scored their three runs on five hits and two walks. Jayson Bass was 2-for-3 and stole his 21st base. Genth’s double was his seventh with the Mussels this season.   

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 2, FCL Orioles 1
Box Score  
Late last week, we were hoping that this game would still have playoff implications. Their odds weren’t good, but there was still a chance. Unfortunately, by the time the two teams squared off on Tuesday, the Twins had been eliminated. However, it’s still nice to end the season on a high note, with a win. The Twins finished with a record of 33-26. They were one of just five FCL teams to finish with 30 or more wins. Unfortunately, that was behind the FCL Rays (37-20) and FCL Orioles (34-23) in the FCL South Division. The Orioles take the wild card spot in the playoffs. 

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Carlos Taveras got things going with a single. Jhomnardo Reyes drilled his 12th double. A fielding error in the outfield allowed Taveras to score the first run. Darwin Almanzar walked and stole second. On the play, Reyes scored the second run of the inning. 

Lefty Ross Dunn made another rehab start. The left-hander gave up a hit and a walk but no runs in two innings. He had one strike out. Jake Covey came in and gave up the one Orioles run in the third inning. But that’s it. He worked four innings and gave up one hit, hit a batter, and had three walks. He also struck out six batters. Brad Rudis walked one in the seventh but completed the inning to record his second save.  

The Twins scored their two runs on five hits and three walks. Reyes ended his FCL season going 2-for-2 with a walk and a double. Almanzar had a single, a walk and stole his second baseman. 

DSL Twins 4, DSL Tigers 5
Box Score
The Twins fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. They tied the game in the third, but the Tigers immediately with three runs in the bottom of the inning. The Twins cut the deficit to one with a two-run fifth frame, but that’s as close as they could get. 

Enmanuel Mena started. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks. He recorded two outs, both on strikeouts. Yosangel Braffit came in and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out five batters. Alam Soriano came in and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two batters.   

The Twins scored their four runs on seven hits, two walks, and three batters were hit. Luis Duarte went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Fabian Ulloa went 2-for-3 with his fifth double. Jhon Gonzalez hit his third triple. Enmanuel Merlo went 1-for-3 with a walk and his third stolen base. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Jhomnardo Reyes (FCL Twins): 2-for-3, BB, 2B(12), R, 2 CS(12) 
Kala’i Rosario (St. Paul): 2-for-3, BB, R

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Cory Lewis (Wichita): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 75 pitches, 51 strikes (68.0%)
Merit Jones (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 65 pitches, 44 strikes (67.7%)
Reed Moring (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 60 pitches, 44 strikes (73.3%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the 2026 draft picks. 

In addition, keep up with the Twins draft pick signings at our Twins 2026 Draft Board. As you’ll be able to see, all 21 players have signed. They have also signed four undrafted pitchers.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, CS(2) (batted first, played CF)
#2 - C Vahn Lackey (Signed) -
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - Injured List
#4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Injured List
#5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-2, 2 BB, SB(14), 2 CS(2) (batted first, played SS)
#6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch.
#7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, HR(18), R, 2 RBI, K (batted second, DHd) 
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch. 
#9 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch.
#10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3 (batted sixth, played LF)
#11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-1, 2B(16), 2 RBI (pinch hit walkoff winner)
#12 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List. 
#13 - C Carson Tinney (Signed 2026 draft) -
#14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - Did Not Play.
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, 2 K (batted second, played CF)
#16 - RHP Brett Renfrow (Signed 2026 draft) -
#17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-3, BB, 3 K (batted sixth, played SS),
#18 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - Scheduled to pitch Friday. 
#19 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)
#20 - RHP Ethan Wachsmann (Signed 2026 draft) - 

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, July 24
Columbus @ St. Paul (8:07 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (3-4, 6.95 ERA)
Midland @ Wichita (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Preston Johnson (0-3, 4.63 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 6.88 ERA)  
Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:10 pm CT) - RHP Jason Reitz (0-2, 3.14 ERA)  
FCL Twins - Season Complete. 
DSL Twins @ DSL Blue Jays (10:00 am CT) - TBD

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 51-53
St. Paul Saints: 56-42
Wichita Wind Surge: 34-57
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 37-54
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-42
FCL Twins: 33-26
DSL Twins: 10-25 

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 

View full article

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Nice wins across the system. I’m not sure what happened after the all star break, but the pitching at all the minor levels has improved.  Getting people back to the correct levels is likely a key part.  
 

Tait is having a really good year. He also seems to be going on a bit of a heater now.  .250 BA with .300+ OBP with his power and he is still a top 20 prospect.  

[Nashvilletwin]

Fangraphs has ERod pegged correctly.  Sadly, but correctly.

[Coach]

Interesting that Lackey (14) is ranked higher than Cholowsky (19).

[DJL44]

Rosario has seen his OPS go up 90 points since his promotion to AAA. Hitting is too easy at that level.

[Mike Sixel]

48 minutes ago, Coach said:

Interesting that Lackey (14) is ranked higher than Cholowsky (19).

Fangraphs had them 1a and 1b going into the draft. 

[Possumlad]

Also interesting that Jenkins got a huge bump in the Fangraphs rankings. He was 50 FV tier and & ranked in the 30s in the prior update. Huge jump to 60 FV & top 5 overall.

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

When will see some --- or all --- of these newly signed draft picks actually putting on uniforms and playing?

[tony&rodney]

17 minutes ago, Possumlad said:

Also interesting that Jenkins got a huge bump in the Fangraphs rankings. He was 50 FV tier and & ranked in the 30s in the prior update. Huge jump to 60 FV & top 5 overall.

Somebody on the staff watched Walker Jenkins play several times and saw the swing. The prospect ratings have at least a small element of bias based on vague thoughts. Previously, Jenkins was missing time due to injury. He wasn't losing skill. Rather development time is lost when a player is injured which inevitably delays their opportunity to advance. Emmanuel Rodriguez was dropped from the Fangraphs Top 100, almost certainly due to fatigue from the player being injured too often. EmRod has an OBP of  .423 and an OPS of .920 in his baseball experiences. He hasn't forgotten how to get on base or hit. He is out of site and out of mind for many people. Due to the dip, people are willing to trade away or trade for Emmanuel as a calculated risk. The prospect lists are always interesting.

[High heat]

Cory Lewis seems to be getting it back together.  Is there a promotion to AAA in the near future?  He would be an interesting multi inning reliever.

[Dman]

I think Fangraphs is ahead of the game on Houston and Quick.  I still think Houston is light on power as mentioned in his draft year, but Fangraphs is right that he plays really good defense and generally seems to be a .300 hitter.  He's tapped into some HR power and I suspect we'll see more as he gets older, but with a good eye at the plate and solid hit tool I think he belongs in the top 100.

It might be a little early to have Quick in the top 100 given his control problems, but there's no denying the K rate.  He needs to refine his control and command and it looks like that is going to take longer than I thought it might, but he has some really good stuff and I can see that he borderline belongs there.

I kind of get Rodriguez not being on the list.  He has been so injury prone it is just hard to place him.  I have a hard time figuring him out.  Still with age and production he seems top 100 worthy.  I'd just have him more toward the bottom than the top.  He has some warts with K's in zone and that can be problematic at the MLB level.  Still he swings hard and has been productive all the way up.  Will have to wait and see what he looks like at the MLB level now.

That's a nice list for the Twins and bodes well for the future.

[FlyingFinn]

Pitchers duals - refreshing!

[jmlease1]

Excellent news that the entire draft class signed. It should be a surprise, but it is a signal that the Twins are taking care of business correctly, and not screwing around. While it's increasingly unusual to draft someone you can't sign, it does still happen (and may increasingly happen in the NIL era where players may look to pass on going pro earlier because they can still get paid in college).

I'm not complaining about FanGraphs putting 7 Twins on their top 100 either; leaving Rodriguez off is understandable at this point, but 7 plus still having Emma? Good sign for the higher-end talent, and the Twins still have a bunch of guys who will never make their list but could still break out and/or be impactful MLB players. Rojas will fall off soon at this rate, but this is still good.

Houston is starting to make believers out of skeptics (I've been one). I think it was fair to be concerned about his bat; the production in his last season of college did look like it could be a real mirage and he did have to make adjustments at High A. But he's doing the work and so far showing enough pop to go along with good contact skills and understanding of the strike zone to be an effective hitter who won't just get pushed around/ignored. It's still a fairly small sample in AA, but right now he's answering the questions, and instead of looking like a bit of a reach much more like a steal.

Tait is doing ok. He's going to need time and development. Not surprised to see him so high with FanGraphs; they love young players with loud tools and always worry less about production at that level. He's a bit of a boom or bust prospect for me and I always look a bit askance there, but for a 19 year-old catcher in high A, he's doing fine. Plenty to work on, but you can see the potential.

Really looking forward to seeing a few of the new class get on the field. I suspect most of the pitchers won't, but Lackey and some of the other hitters will for sure.

[Connor Gould]

Tait with a .221 ISO while 3 years younger than the average player in the league is a nice way to offset concerns of hitting .221. I wonder if he plays AA next year. I was glad to see Quick make that Fangraphs list, big dude who's getting a ton of K's, the leap to AA will determine if he's a legit top prospect or fringier, but I'm liking it. Also can't recall if I've seen Rojas sneak into a top 100 before, but if he throws strikes and stretches out, he's legit. Nice system.

[bean5302]

Marek Houston now over 100 PA at AA and he's looking legit in terms of production at the plate, though that BABIP is going to be hard to sustain with a low line drive rate. Of course, batted ball data is pretty iffy below AAA. I really like what he's done this year.

Sands topped out at 94.2mph, primarily sitting in the 93s. Doesn't seem like the velo is coming back at the moment, but he pitched on one day of rest. If he feels good, his rehab is honestly over, and while rusty, that's not an MLBPA approved reason to keep him on the IL. I'd expect to see him back on the Twins as soon as this weekend's series against the Athletics.

[rdehring]

Will double down on the question, Seth, if anyone has any idea of when some of the newly signed players will begin playing games?  And where?  Understand most of the pitchers won't pitch this year, so I guess I am asking about Lackey and the other catcher.  Was this the first time the Twins ever went over their signing budget?  If it is, maybe Tom Pohlad is going to make a difference.

Could not agree more with your comments about Tait.  Although it is only what, 30 some at bats, Rosario sure seems to be taking the challenge of AAA head on.  

Interesting day for Houston.  1-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base.  What wasn't normal was being caught stealing twice (his first two in AA), once at second and once at third.  Love a fantastic defensive shortstop with speed who is aggressive on the bases.

[tony&rodney]

Among the players I have been following closely this year (watch parts of many games hoping to catch defensive play, plate appearances, and base running) is shortstop Marek Houston. I have been impressed with his development this season at the dish, first for Cedar Rapids and now playing for Wichita. Houston has been aggressive both at the plate (although being patient to get a pitch to hit) and on the bases. He also plays a fine shortstop imo. People may be stretching when they label him an exceptional defender. I think he should get more notice now that his bat has surfaced but a check of the best minor league shortstops does not mention our Wichita guy. DeBarge seemed to get quite a bit of notice for his glove but he has fallen back a fair amount as he has moved up to AA. My amateur (nobody pays me any longer) view is that Houston is one to watch but folks might temper the expectations a bit. He is good but not in the range of a Noah Miller yet. FWIW, Miller was not making any improvement at the plate with the Twins. Miller is hitting decently now for OKC (LAD AAA club) and continues to field at a high level. 

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Rosario has seen his OPS go up 90 points since his promotion to AAA. Hitting is too easy at that level.

For real. International League teams might want to just swap their pitching staffs with their AA affiliates. AAA International League is an embarrassment to MiLB right now.

[Major League Ready]

3 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Fangraphs has ERod pegged correctly.  Sadly, but correctly.

I hope they are wrong.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

For real. International League teams might want to just swap their pitching staffs with their AA affiliates. AAA International League is an embarrassment to MiLB right now.

Every team seems to be patching together bullpen games full of lousy relievers.

[jmlease1]

30 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

FWIW, Miller was not making any improvement at the plate with the Twins. Miller is hitting decently now for OKC (LAD AAA club) and continues to field at a high level. 

Miller is still a poor hitter: The .745 OPS (as of today) may be a career best, but the team OPS is .821. The PCL is a hitter's league. If Kaelen Culpepper were putting up that kind of OPS in Saint Paul we'd be all thinking he's in a real trouble and not going to hit in MLB.

Miller will likely make it as a utility guy because of the glove, but Houston is already looking like he has more potential to be a complete player and be a starting SS.

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Miller is still a poor hitter: The .745 OPS (as of today) may be a career best, but the team OPS is .821. The PCL is a hitter's league. If Kaelen Culpepper were putting up that kind of OPS in Saint Paul we'd be all thinking he's in a real trouble and not going to hit in MLB.

Miller will likely make it as a utility guy because of the glove, but Houston is already looking like he has more potential to be a complete player and be a starting SS.

The word "decently" was just to qualify that Miller did not hit in the Twins system. Miller's ceiling is as a utility player. I wasn't advancing Miller but in the process of extolling the improvements this season at the plate by Marek Houston, attempting to quiet the hype about Houston's glove which I like but compared as behind Miller's. I much prefer Houston over Miller overall in comparisons at the same age and level of play.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Miller is still a poor hitter: The .745 OPS (as of today) may be a career best, but the team OPS is .821. The PCL is a hitter's league. If Kaelen Culpepper were putting up that kind of OPS in Saint Paul we'd be all thinking he's in a real trouble and not going to hit in MLB.

Miller will likely make it as a utility guy because of the glove, but Houston is already looking like he has more potential to be a complete player and be a starting SS.

The AAA affiliate for the dodgers is known as a bandbox.   They say decrease OPS by a 100 points for a realistic number.   

[chpettit19]

5 hours ago, Possumlad said:

Also interesting that Jenkins got a huge bump in the Fangraphs rankings. He was 50 FV tier and & ranked in the 30s in the prior update. Huge jump to 60 FV & top 5 overall.

Fangraphs doubted his power. He, apparently, put on quite a show in BP before the futures game. They are one of multiple publications that have mentioned it. They now believe in the power. That was their stated biggest reason for the jump. They now believe he can be a true star with the bat by hitting for average and power.

[chpettit19]

5 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

When will see some --- or all --- of these newly signed draft picks actually putting on uniforms and playing?

 

3 hours ago, rdehring said:

Will double down on the question, Seth, if anyone has any idea of when some of the newly signed players will begin playing games?  And where?  Understand most of the pitchers won't pitch this year, so I guess I am asking about Lackey and the other catcher.  Was this the first time the Twins ever went over their signing budget?  If it is, maybe Tom Pohlad is going to make a difference.

Could not agree more with your comments about Tait.  Although it is only what, 30 some at bats, Rosario sure seems to be taking the challenge of AAA head on.  

Interesting day for Houston.  1-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base.  What wasn't normal was being caught stealing twice (his first two in AA), once at second and once at third.  Love a fantastic defensive shortstop with speed who is aggressive on the bases.

Culpepper debuted on 8/9 and Houston debuted on 8/1. Without claiming any inside info, I'd guess we see Lackey sometime next week. Certainly within the next 2.

[Nashvilletwin]

5 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

I hope they are wrong.

I do as well.

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Fangraphs doubted his power. He, apparently, put on quite a show in BP before the futures game. They are one of multiple publications that have mentioned it. They now believe in the power. That was their stated biggest reason for the jump. They now believe he can be a true star with the bat by hitting for average and power.

Yah .... that is a little weird considering Fangraphs has some solid baseball people and someone should have spent at least a few hours watching Jenkins. Yes, Jenkins is still learning the timing of when to launch and when to go for a base hit but he can hit the baseball a long way. Additionally, Jenkins has zero problems with either velocity or breaking balls. He just needs repetitions. The fielding and base running looks fine but we won't know where he grades out there until he has played about 50-100 games in the major leagues. I'm still expecting to see Jenkins by mid August.

[Danchat]

7 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Miller is still a poor hitter: The .745 OPS (as of today) may be a career best, but the team OPS is .821. The PCL is a hitter's league. If Kaelen Culpepper were putting up that kind of OPS in Saint Paul we'd be all thinking he's in a real trouble and not going to hit in MLB.

Miller will likely make it as a utility guy because of the glove, but Houston is already looking like he has more potential to be a complete player and be a starting SS.

Miller is the type of guy I'm fine with trading... but unfortunately all he brought back was Margot.