Twins Minor League Report (8/7): Did JP Smith Homer Again Today?

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Jeff Hanisch-IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

You won't find too many photos of players in big-league uniforms in the Twins Minor League Reports. We are thankful for the photographers in the various minor-league cities who help us get photos of the minor leaguers in their minor league uniforms. 

However, once in a while it's good to remember what goal each and every minor league baseball player aspires to, and that's to get to the big leagues. On Friday, Kaelen Culpepper got that opportunity. He found out the night before. Let his family know so they could make arrangements to get to Milwaukee. He met the team in Milwaukee and found himself in the Twins lineup, playing shortstop and batting seventh. And in his second at-bat, he crushed a ball for his first hit, his first home run, his first run scored, and his first RBI. 

TRANSACTIONS   
There were several transactions throughout the organization. 

The Twins placed RHP Joe Ryan on the injured list and recalled RHP Zebby Matthews. 

The big news was that the Twins called up shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to make his big-league debut. To make room on the 26-man roster, infielder Tristan Gray was optioned to St. Paul. To make room for Culpepper on the 40-man roster, RHP Taylor Rashi was DFAd. 

Just days after being DFAd and subsequently released, the Twins brought RHP Cody Laweryson back on a minor-league contract and assigned him to the Saints. He’s on the Injured List with a right shoulder impingement. 

Down in Ft. Myers, RHP Jake Covey joined the Mussels from the FCL Twins roster. To make room, RHP Dylan Questad was released. The 21-year-old from Waukesha was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2023 from Waterford High School. In the 2024 FCL, he posted a 10-48 ERA . In 2025 at Fort Myers, he went 4-7 with a 6.87 ERA. He then went to the AFL and had a 15.19 ERA in 5 1/3 innings. He pitched to a 11.81 ERA over 15 games with the Mussels.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Louisville 1  
Box Score
There wasn’t much offense at CHS Field on Friday night. The Saints had just five hits in the game, but they had a couple of really big hits. The Bats, well, they did even less. 

The Saints got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fourth inning. With Matt Wallner on base, Aaron Sabato drilled his 21st home run to make it 2-0.     

Two innings later, Ben Ross was on base when Wallner drilled his 21st Saints home run of the season and gave the Saints a 4-0 lead.         

Meanwhile, the Saints pitchers were nearly unhittable, literally. Kendry Rojas made the start for St. Paul and faced just nine batters over three perfect innings. He had five strikeouts.   

Ricky Castro came in to start the fourth inning. With one out, he issued a walk but quickly got out of that inning. That was the lone baserunner over three scoreless innings. You see what was going on. However, in the top of the seventh, Castro gave up a leadoff, line-drive single. It was immediately followed by another single. Castro then coaxed a double play that scored a run, but it was followed by a strikeout and the threat ended. 

Next up was Jack Anderson. He gave up a two-out single in the eighth inning and a two-out walk in the top of the ninth inning, but he gave up no runs and held the team’s 4-1 win for the final two innings. 

Wallner was 2-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. He hit his 21st home run and stole his sixth base. He now has 60 RBI. Sabato hit his 21st homer and he’s got 64 RBI. Cody Morissette had the only other extra base hit, his 12th double. Noah Cardenas reached twice, on a single and a walk. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, NW Arkansas 6 (8 innings)
Box Score
The Surge jumped to an early lead but immediately gave it back. The Royals affiliate added two more and then the rains came. It was called with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Naturals the 6-3 win. 

Andrew Cossetti led off the top of the second inning with a walk. With one out, Kyle DeBARge singled him to second. With two outs, Jake Rucker drilled his sixth Surge homer of the season to give Wichita a 3-0 lead.     

Riley Quick was on the mound for the Surge. Given the early lead, Quick gave up a single and a walk. However, he got a strikeout and an infield pop out without runners advancing. However, he followed that with a second walk. Then came a two-out, two-run single. Even then, the Surge still had the lead. However, the next play involved both a fielding error and a throwing error which let one more run score and kept the inning going. One more single and the Surge found themselves down 4-3. 

To his credit, Quick was able to complete four innings. Two of the four runs ere unearned. He gave up four hits, walked two and had two strikeouts. 

Paulshawn Pasqualotto came on and was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. He had three strikeouts. William Fleming struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh inning. Kyle Bischoff got two outs in the eighth inning before the rains came and the game was called. 

The Surge had six hits and two walks. Cossetti had both walks. Marek Houston hit his 10th double, and Brandon Winokur hit his first Double-A double. 

Cedar Rapids 15, Peoria 2
Box Score
I know what you’re thinking. Same thing I was thinking. Did JP Smith hit another home run today? Well, we will get to that. 

In his first Midwest League start, Merit Jones tossed four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and had four strikeouts. 

The Kernels got on the board first in the top of the fifth when Yasser Mercedes drove in Jose Salas on a double. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in Mercedes with a single to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead. 

Ross Dunn came in for the bottom of the fifth inning. He hit a batter, got a fly out, walked a batter, got a line out. The Cubs scored their first run on a Dunn throwing error. He then gave up an RBI single that tied the score at 2-2. Michael Ross came in and got the final out. 

The Kernels came back right away in the top of the sixth inning. With two on and two outs, Jose Salas hit his fifth home run since returning to the Kernels. 

Later in the inning, Rodriguez walked with the bases loaded to make it 6-2 Kernels. 

Teams like adding some insurance runs in the late innings. JP Smith led off the top of the ninth inning with a walk. With one out, Quinn McDaniel walked. Salas drove in a run with a double.  With two outs, McDaniel scored the team’s eighth run on a wild pitch. Ricardo Pena and Yasser Mercedes walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Rodriguez had another bases-loaded RBI walk. Eduardo Tait followed with a single to drive in the 10th run. 

That brought JP Smith to the plate, and brings us back to our question at the beginning of this section. To this point, the answer was No. But then… 

 

Following the Smith grand slam, Jayson Bass followed with his first Kernels home run.   

Michael Ross came up big. He worked the final 4 1/3 innings and gave up no runs, just one hit, just one walk, and he had four strikeouts. The Kernels had 15 runs on 12 hits, two hit batters, and 11 walks. 

JP Smith was 2-for-4 with two walks and his third home run. It was his third straight game with a homer and three homers in four Kernels games. Yasser Mercedes went 2-for-3, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, and hit his 17th double. Emmanuel Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. Jose Salas was 2-for-4 with a walk, his second double, and his fifth home run. Ricardo Pena was 1-for-3 with two walks. Eduardo Tait went 2-for-6 with his 21st double. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Game 1: Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 4
Box Score
I’ve never claimed to be cool. However, in the Mussels game, I found this strange, even if it really isn’t. Fort Myers scored zero runs in the top of the first. Bradenton scored one run in the bottom of the first. Fort Myers scored two runs in the top of the fourth, and then Bradenton scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Mussels scored four runs in the top of the fifth. Apparently, neither team wanted to put a five on the scoreboard, so the Mussels won 6-4. 

Matt Barr made the start in Game 1. In three innings, he gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. He struck out two batters. Matthew Dalquist worked the final four innings without giving up any more runs. He gave up two hits, walked one, and he had three strikeouts.

In the top of the fourth inning, Luis Fragoza led off with a single. With one out, Quentin Young came up and crushed a first-pitch home run. The ball left his bat at a 30-degree angle and at 115.8 mph and traveled 412 feet from home plate. 

Down 4-2, the Mussels came to the plate in the top of the fifth. With one out, Bryce Fowler walked. Isaiah Lane tripled to drive in Fowler. Carson Tinney walked. 

With two outs, Yovanny Duran came to the plate and hit his first Florida State League home run to give his team a 6-4 lead. He took a 2-2 sinker above the strike zone and lined it at 99.6 mph 382 feet. 

Lane went 2-for-4 and it was his second triple. Tinney walked twice. Fragoza and Fowler each had a single and a walk.

Game 2: Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 7
Box Score
There weren’t any obvious strange, random number sequences in the Game 2 summary, and frankly, it wasn’t as good of a game for the Mussels. Through 3 1/2 innings, they held a 3-1 lead, but the Marauders  scored the final six runs in this game. 

The third Mussels run came in the top of the fourth inning when Aidan Teel stole second and  Merphy Hernandez stole home. 

The Mussels took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Merphy Hernandez drove in Ramiro Dominguez and Irvin Nunez with a single. 

The Mussels scored their three runs on six hits and four walks. Teel was 0-for-1, but he walked three times. Dominguez was 2-for-3 with his 22nd double. He also had two stolen bases and has 21 on the season. Hernandez was 2-for-3.He stole three bases and has 33 on the season. 

Cristian Hernandez started and gave up an unearned run on one hit and two walks. He had five strikeouts. Adam Falinski gave up one run on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. Melvin Rodriguez went 1 1/3 innings and gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits. Brent Francisco got the final two outs. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, BB, 2B(2), HR(6), 3 R, 4 RBI, K 

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Kendry Rojas (St. Paul): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 39 pitches, 27 strikes (69.2%) 
Merit Jones (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 63 pitches, 34 strikes (54.0%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Help us update the Top 20 prospects list now that the trade deadline is passed.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (batted first, played CF)
#2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - Game 2: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K (batted second, played catcher)
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI (batted seventh, played SS) 
#4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in Cedar Rapids: 1-for-3, 2 BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI (batted second, LF)
#5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(10), K (batted first, played SS)
#6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 52 pitches, 31 strikes, 59.5%
#7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-6, 2B(21), R, RBI, 2 K (batted third, catcher)
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 39 pitches, 27 strikes, 69.2% 
#10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (Batted fifth, played LF) .
#13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, K (batted third, DH)
#14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K (batted second, DH)
#15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(1), 2 K (batted third, played CF) 
#17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 1-for-3, HR(14), R, 2 RBI, K. (batted sixth, played 3B),

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, August 8
Louisville @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - RHP Trent Baker (3-3, 5.80 ERA) 
Wichita @ NW Arkansas (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Chris Vallimont (1-3, 3.86 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (1-0, 3.55 ERA) 
Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:05 pm CT) - TBD
DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (DH @ 9:00 am CT) - No Game 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 58-59
St. Paul Saints: 65-46
Wichita Wind Surge: 40-64
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 40-64
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 56-48
FCL Twins: 33-26
DSL Twins: 13-31 

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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[tarheeltwinsfan]

Wow. What a great report about some awesome minor leaguers. 

[DJL44]

I still don’t understand what they are doing with Rojas. I thought they sent him down to stretch him out as a starter. I think there were games he threw more than 39 pitches in the MLB bullpen.

[terrydactyls]

Why was Rojas pulled after only 39 pitches?

[tony&rodney]

I watched Rojas and Quick each pitch an inning. The differences are pretty stark at this time. Rojas looks unhittable; he belongs on the Twins roster. It takes time to stretch out a pitcher. We shouldn't be sure that is the plan. He does need to pitch as often as is practical. Quick looks like he has everything to learn. The delivery and execution of pitches is all over the place. The last time Dasan Hill pitched he was working almost exclusively on throwing breaking pitches and changeups. Perhaps Quick needs to focus on one pitch at a time too.

[Major League Ready]

25 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Why was Rojas pulled after only 39 pitches?

They said during the broadcast that they want to pitch him every four days and they planned the game for 3 innings for Rojas.   My guess is that they are hoping that getting him out there more frequently will improve his consistency.  He looked really good last night so perhaps it's working.

[terrydactyls]

45 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

They said during the broadcast that they want to pitch him every four days and they planned the game for 3 innings for Rojas.   My guess is that they are hoping that getting him out there more frequently will improve his consistency.  He looked really good last night so perhaps it's working.

I hate when they adhere to a plan whether it makes sense or not.  Why not let him continue until he hits a pitch count limit?

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

They said during the broadcast that they want to pitch him every four days and they planned the game for 3 innings for Rojas.   My guess is that they are hoping that getting him out there more frequently will improve his consistency.  He looked really good last night so perhaps it's working.

So the plan is to prepare him for a role that doesn’t exist in the regular season.

[Sampson5]

Twins really have no idea what to do with rojas ... Has the stuff of a top of the rotation arm but yeah let's pitch him 3 innings every 4 days instead of either turning him to a high leverage reliever or a starter . Personally think they should be stretching him out as a starter to plan for a injury or a starter bring ineffective down the stretch if he was gonna be doing this he should be in the twins bullpen imo

[lukeduke1980]

Call up Sabato 

[Mike Sixel]

I have no idea why Rodriguez isn't in St Paul or Minnesota at this point. I mean I do, I just fundamentally disagree with the approach. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Sad about Dylan Questad. Really loved getting him in that draft. Baseball is hard

[Wedman13]

This report is epic.  Circa 2005 Sethspeaks.

i too am curious about Questad.  I know he had injuries, and the numbers you posted were brutal.  But why release such a young guy?  Not dying on the vine for this one but it struck me..

thanks for 20+ years of awesome coverage Seth