Twins Minor League Report (8/2): Fort Myers Collects a 20-Piece

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carson Tinney)

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Raul Brito released
RHP Xavier Kolhosser placed on 7-day IL (A+ Cedar Rapids)
LHP Michael Carpenter activated from 7-day IL (Cedar Rapids)
INF Jay Thomason activated from temporary inactive list (AA Wichita)
RHP Jack Anderson optioned to AAA St. Paul
C Enrique Jimenez transferred to 60-day IL (Cedar Rapids)

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 4, Omaha 2
Box Score
Trent Baker: 2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Walker Jenkins (3-for-5), Hendry Mendez (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI)

The Saints were victorious on Sunday.

It was an ordinary, garden-variety win. Not that there’s anything wrong with such a thing. The Saints’ pitching staff allowed a smattering of baserunners, but found outs at critical junctures, holding the Storm Chasers to a meager 1-8 showing with runners in scoring position. Ruddy Gomez was probably the happiest of the bunch. He washed away his two-run Saints debut earlier in the week with a scoreless inning and the win. Julian Merryweather nailed down the save.

75% of St. Paul’s runs came on a two-out rally in the third. A pair of strikeouts appeared to steer the frame into empty territory. Then, Kaelen Culpepper smacked a double and Matt Wallner walked. Kyle Fedko bulleted a double into the left field corner to score them both; Hendry Mendez swapped places with his outfield brethren on a double of his own. 

Mendez added on with a final insurance sacrifice fly in the ninth, which proved unnecessary when the aforementioned Merryweather quickly earned the game’s final three outs. 

Vibes surrounding the win were neutered when, with two outs in the ninth, Kyler Fedko chased a ball hit into the left field corner and crumpled on a non-contact play. He lay hidden behind the wall for some time as his teammates gathered to check on the outfielder, who had to be helped onto his feet before he was carted off the field.

Omaha is an affiliate of the Royals system, which claims four players on MLB.com’s top 100 prospect list. None played in this game; the best youngster the Storm Chasers had to offer was the franchise’s 26th-ranked player, outfielder Gavin Cross. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 2, Springfield 9
Box Score
Cory Lewis: 4 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
HR: Caden Kendle (2), Jaime Ferrer (5)
Multi-hit games: None

The Wind Surge were thumped on Sunday.

Caden Kendle and Jaime Ferrer hit home runs in the third. The Ferrer homer was the final hit Wichita earned on the day.

Wichita hitters took six walks—demonstrating that they weren’t helpless on Sunday—though, for whatever reason, getting hits to fall proved difficult. Just one of 13 balls in play resulted in a knock. 

Jaylen Nowlin was the only Wind Surge pitcher to escape without an earned run attached to him. 

MLB’s 12th-overall prospect, catcher Rainiel Rodriguez, collected three hits, including a homer and a double. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3
Box Score
Ivran Romero: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Eduardo Tait (2-for-4, BB), Jayson Bass (2-for-5, K), Graham Brown (3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI)

The Kernels squandered a winnable game on Sunday.

Runs were hard to come by for Cedar Rapids. 11 hits—five of them doubles—should score a team more than two runs; yet the team found placing men on far easier than bringing them home, and a rough 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position did not help their chances of winning.

The first run came on a Jose Salas sacrifice fly in the second. The next arrived on a Graham Brown double that eked beyond the third baseman and slowly tucked itself into the left field corner.

Perhaps no sequence better encapsulated Cedar Rapids’ futility with men on than the ninth. Eduardo Tait singled and was pulled for a pinch-runner. Yasser Mercedes slammed a double into center. With men on second and third with no one out, Danny De Andrade went down swinging. No matter. They still had two outs to play with. Jayson Bass hit a dribbler fielded by the pitcher, who spun around and caught Byron Chourio advancing too far after third. A weak rundown ended with the lead running Chourio out, as the trailing Mercedes—who tried to run to third—scampered back to second, resulting in the team losing their man on third and an out without any other advancement. Salas then grounded out to end the game.

The Kernels bullpen combined to pitch 5 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and one hit allowed. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez was scratched from the lineup with thumb soreness. Like us all, he’s day-to-day. 

Chiefs’ center fielder Tai Peete clocks in as the 16th-best prospect in the Cardinals’ system. He singled and walked in four trips to the plate.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 20, Palm Beach 3
Box Score
Merit Jones: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
HR: Carson Tinney (1), Luis Fragoza (11)
Multi-hit games: Ramiro Dominguez (2-for-6, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Vahn Lackey (2-for-5, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB), Carson Tinney (2-for-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Colby Turner (2-for-3, 2B, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB), Aidan Teel (3-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Luis Fragoza (3-for-6, HR, R, 5 RBI), Charlie Scholvin (3-for-4, R)

The Mighty Mussels crushed their opponents on Sunday.

Do you think Fort Myers is enjoying the injection of college talent? The 2026 draftees combined for 12 hits, 14 runs, and nine RBIs on Sunday as they spearheaded the third Fort Myers 20-run game since 1992. 

Though attention will obviously go to what occurred in the batter’s box, the mound provided some history as well: starter Merit Jones collected his 102nd strikeout of the season, the most in a year for Fort Myers since the ditched the “Miracle” moniker after 2020. He’s also second in innings pitched with 93 ⅔. After the game, the righty said “[the records are] truly a blessing,” and that he’s grateful to “have gotten so many opportunities here.” He also leads the FSL in innings pitched this year.

Alright, on to the offensive explosion. What a melee. Fort Myers piled up 10 runs in the second alone, with a Carson Tinney vapor shot and a Luis Fragoza grand slam serving as the biggest knocks of the frame.

That Tinney blast—a 114.9 MPH projectile that stayed in the air for maybe four seconds—was hit harder than any Twins batted ball this year. 

On top of the 18 hits, Fort Myers also took nine walks and endured five hit by pitches. The only inning where a Mighty Mussels batter didn’t reach base was the ninth—and that was only because they didn’t play a bottom of the ninth. 

Five runs scored in the eighth thanks to an assembly line of walks, hit by pitches, and two singles. Three in the seventh concluded matters with Colby Turner and Aidan Teel, brother of Kyle, earning RBIs on doubles.

Matthew Dalquist and Michael Hilker combined for five shutout innings out of the bullpen, striking out nine.

Cardinals DH Yairo Padilla is the 13th-ranked player in the system. He went 0-4 as the DH.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matthew Dalquist
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson Tinney

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:

#1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 3-5, K
#2 – Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 2-5, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
#3 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-4, 2B, 2 R, BB, 2 K
#5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K
#7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, BB
#8 – Kendry Rojas (Twins) - 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
#10 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K
#11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB
#13 – Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 2-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
#15 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, K

MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
DSL Phillies @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD

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[Cory Engelhardt]

These are awesome, and I gotta say, seeing Vahn Lackey's name in these writeups is pretty great after reading about him for the last 3 months leading up to the draft. Fun times. Thanks!

[Dman]

Tinney has some serious power.  Nice to see him get to it.  It's a small sample size but he has a pretty hefty K rate, but a nice walk rate rate as well.  Will be interesting to see how much contact he can make.

They said Turner has a hot bat at Michigan and he has the highest OPS in the early going.  Surprised at how well Scholvin has done as well with a 1.000 OPS.  Nice to see these guys hitting well right away.

My guy Fragoza continues to mash as well.  Congrats to Merit Jones.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Tinney's home run today was the hardest hit ball in the Twins organization this year. 115 mph. Oh my gosh. I apologize for questioning his being the second pick by  the Twins in this year's draft. I was wrong. Get him a big first baseman's mitt and start the shift to 1B for him immediately. Lackey and Tait can handle the Twins'  catching in the future., beginning in 2028.  

[Permanent Twins Fan]

7 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Tinney's home run today was the hardest hit ball in the Twins organization this year. 115 mph.

E-Rod hit one 117.1 on April 26, but Tinney's is still really impressive. He definitely has a ton of power. Hopefully he can cut the strike out rate as well. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

3 minutes ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

E-Rod hit one 117.1 on April 26, but Tinney's is still really impressive. He definitely has a ton of power. Hopefully he can cut the strike out rate as well. 

Thanks for the correction Permanent.

[Jeff K]

Tait is heating up.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Tait has had a good couple of weeks.   Lots of hits and some power.  Will see what happens when Lackey comes up.  I think he could really help Tait on the defensive side.   

As to the drafted players holy smokes everyone of them has seemed to have hit their stride.   I expected Lackey and Tinney to do well.  Tinney started a little slow but thats a heck of a home run.  However the Twins didn't take another hitter until the 11th round then took, Teel, Turner, Lane and Schlovin.   In a few games all 4 have looked like they belonged.  Schlovin had quite the day - 3 for 4 with 2 HBP which is par for the course with him (I think 13% of his college at bats ended in HBP).   If you can find some decent picks on the back half of the draft you are doing well, and the initially returns sure looks good.  It helps having some professional batters in the lineup like Lackey - but there appears to be plenty of talent in this group.  I was interested to see Prather but so far nothing.   

I know there was a little consternation on trading Reyes who had a good FCL year, and struggled in his cup of coffee at A ball and I knew a couple publications had him high on our list, but the player that has really impressed me from the international side is Fragoza.  He continues to rake at A ball.  They say he is 6' 2" now but he is crushing the ball in A ball.    

[bean5302]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

Tinney has some serious power.  Nice to see him get to it.  It's a small sample size but he has a pretty hefty K rate, but a nice walk rate rate as well.  Will be interesting to see how much contact he can make.

They said Turner has a hot bat at Michigan and he has the highest OPS in the early going.  Surprised at how well Scholvin has done as well with a 1.000 OPS.  Nice to see these guys hitting well right away.

My guy Fragoza continues to mash as well.  Congrats to Merit Jones.

Yeah, not impressed with Tinney's initial games. He's been very passive at the plate and he was missing on in zone pitches too much. He's also been hosed on some calls, but still, have to swing more. Glad to see him actually swing the bat (and make contact) when he did. He's going to need to adjust that approach quite a bit unless it was part of his strategy to get a feel for the level or something unusual.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

Yeah, not impressed with Tinney's initial games. He's been very passive at the plate and he was missing on in zone pitches too much. He's also been hosed on some calls, but still, have to swing more. Glad to see him actually swing the bat (and make contact) when he did. He's going to need to adjust that approach quite a bit unless it was part of his strategy to get a feel for the level or something unusual.

Hasn't played in a bit and transitioning to the wood bat.  In his 4th game he looked pretty comfortable.  He has gotten just as many walks as strikeouts.    

[Mike Sixel]

Hahaha, people judging a guy in a four have sample.......

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Hahaha, people judging a guy in a four have sample.......

I am just surprised how well they have done after having a bit of a break and transitioning to wood bats.   In either case you can judge 115 mph and the hardest hit ball in Fort Myers in 11 years.  That is something no other Twins player in the system has done this year.   Even in a small sample,  this is the type of player Tinney has been,  High walks, high SO's with plenty of power.    

The other thing is in my observations Tinney isn't as bulky as a I thought he would be for 230-240 lbs.  He looks plenty athletic and actually already an MLB build for catcher.    

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Hahaha, people judging a guy in a four have sample.......

what judgement are you talking about?

[D.C Twins]

Lacky getting comfy... 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Whats the over/under on how many runs the Mighty Mussels score tonight?   I say 8 would be the number.  I think they go over at 10/11.