Twins Minor League Report (8/16): Matt Wallner Record-Tying Homer Gives Saints a Win; Colby Turner Rakes for the Mussels

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Colby Turner)

 

TRANSACTIONS   
Three straight days with no transactions in the organization. Hard to believe. I would expect we will hear a few interesting transactions on Monday. 

We know that Catcher Alex Jackson has been outrighted to St. Paul. I believe that he has the choice to go to St. Paul or become a free agent.  

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 2, Iowa 1  
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: German Marquez: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 57 pitches, 33 strikes
Multi-Hit Games: None.
HR: Matt Wallner (22) 
Veteran German Marquez made his first start in the Twins organization. He started with three zeroes before giving up a run in the fourth inning. 

Matt Wallner provided the offense. He drove in a run on a ground out in the first inning. Then when he came to bat in the fourth inning, he launched a long home run, tying the franchise-record 22nd home run of the season. 

The Saints bullpen was incredible. Aaron Rozek walked three and struck out three over three scoreless innings. Garrett Acton walked one and struck one batter out over a scoreless, hitless inning. Marco Ray came on for the ninth inning. He gave up two hits, walked a batter and struck out one batter, but he kept the Cubs from scoring to earn his third Saints save. 

Walker Jenkins and Ben Ross each went 1-for-3 with a walk. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 2, Corpus Christi 5
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Ty Langenberg: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 55 pitches, 37 strikes 
Multi-Hit Games: Caden Kendle (2-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI, K) 
2B: Caden Kendle (9)
The Wind Surge got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when Jaime Ferrer singled to drive in Garrett Spain. 

In the third inning, Jorel Ortega scored on Kendle’s ninth Surge double. 

However, the Hooks scored five runs over the next two innings and held on for the win. 

Hunter Gregory came into a 2-2 game in the fifth inning. He was charged with three unearned runs in the inning. Spencer Bengard gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. Jacob Webb and Kyle Bischoff each threw a shutout inning with two strikeouts. 

KERNEL NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 5
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Kolten Smith: 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 9 pitches, 7 strikes (77.8%)
Multi-Hit Games: JP Smith (2-for-3, BB)
2B: Quinn McDaniel (8)
HR: Danny De Andrade (12)
Joey Chestnut was in Cedar Rapids on Sunday afternoon. Following the game, he dominated local media personalities with his ability to eat kolaches. 

The Rattlers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and held on to it throughout the game. The Kernels scored one in the ninth, but that clearly wasn’t enough. 

Ivran Romero came into the game after Smith departed. He went two innings and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Yehizon Sanchez was next. He gave up two runs on two hits and four walks over 2 1/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Mike McKenna gave up a hit and walked two batters over two scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. 

At that point, the Kernels were out of pitchers. Quinn McDaniel came into the game to start the eighth inning. That inning started with three consecutive walks to load the bases. However, he responded by getting an infield pop-out and a double play groundout to end the inning. He gave up one run in the ninth inning. His final line was two innings, one hit, one run, five walks, and no strikeouts. And I’m thinking his teammates and coaching staff were thrilled with that. 

Danny De Andrade hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to avoid a shutout. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers 9, Clearwater 4
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Callan Fang: 4+ IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 75 pitches, 47 strikes (62.7%)
Multi-Hit Games: Colby Turner (3-for-5, R, 4 RBI), Bryce Fowler (2-for-4, HBP, RBI), Hideki Prather (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R)
2B: Luis Fragoza (18), Quentin Young (12), Hideki Prather (1) 

Merphy Hernandez led off the home half of the first inning by being hit by a pitch. He stole second and went to third on a Colby Turner single. Hernandez scored on a balk. Turner went to third on a wild pitch. Fragoza walked. A successful double-steal saw Turner score to make it 2-1. Isaiah Lane walked. Aidan Teel drove in Fragoza with a single. Lane was caught stealing home. With two outs, Fowler drove in the fourth run, Teel, with a single. 

Fang gave up single runs in the first and third innings. He completed four innings. He faced three batters in the fifth inning without getting an out. He left with two runners on base and Jake Covey allowed one of the runners to score, but he got out of the fifth inning with the Mussels still leading 7-4. Covey tossed four scoreless relief innings to earn the win. Hendry Chivilli worked a scoreless ninth inning. 

The Mussels scored their nine runs on 12 hits, seven walks, and three hit batters. They added another eight stolen bases to their league-leading total. 

Along with the three who had multi-hit games, Luis Fragoza was 1-for-2 with two walks. Isaiah Lane walked twice. Teel, Young, and Charlie Scholvin each had one hit and one walk. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Colby Turner (Fort Myers): 3-for-5, R, 4 RBI. 

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Jake Covey (Fort Myers): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 

 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects. See how they did today.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB (batted first, played CF)
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - 2-for-4, 2B(1), K (batted ninth, played SS)
#4 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-3, SH, CS(6), 2 E, (batted first, played SS)
#6 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2K (batted third, played LF) 
#17 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain)
#18 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(12), RBI (batted sixth, played DH)
#19 - OF Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, K, (batted first, played CF)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Monday, August 17
DSL Twins @ DSL Marlins (10:00 am CT) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 60-65
St. Paul Saints: 69-50
Wichita Wind Surge: 45-67
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 44-68
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 62-50
FCL Twins: 33-26
DSL Twins: 17-34 

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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[IndianaTwin]

If Alex Jackson chooses to become a free agent, he sacrifices his salary. Not likely to happen. 

[Coach]

 Caden Kendle!

[Senior Softball Guy]

Perhaps the coach staff as told Mr. Jackson that he will be part of the catching tandem if he stays.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

If Alex Jackson chooses to become a free agent, he sacrifices his salary. Not likely to happen. 

This. 

[ashbury]

7 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

We know that Catcher Alex Jackson has been outrighted to St. Paul. I believe that he has the choice to go to St. Paul or become a free agent.  

 

He has the choice to throw away about $150,000 of guaranteed money if another team puts him on their major league roster at MLB minimum; more like $300,000 if all he can garner is someone else's minor league contract for the rest of 2026.  Or, he can go to St Paul and watch the $300K get direct-deposited in his bank account through the end of September.

How many long, sleepless nights will he lose while making this difficult decision?

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

He has the choice to throw away about $150,000 of guaranteed money if another team puts him on their major league roster at MLB minimum; more like $300,000 if all he can garner is someone else's minor league contract for the rest of 2026.  Or, he can go to St Paul and watch the $300K get direct-deposited in his bank account through the end of September.

How many long, sleepless nights will he lose while making this difficult decision?

This aged well.  🙂  Austin Martin to the IL, so whom do they bring up to take that spot on the 26-man?  Why, Alex Jackson of course, thus filling the 40-man slot he just vacated. 

You can't make this stuff up.

[DJL44]

8 minutes ago, ashbury said:

This aged well.  🙂  Austin Martin to the IL, so whom do they bring up to take that spot on the 26-man?  Why, Alex Jackson of course, thus filling the 40-man slot he just vacated. 

You can't make this stuff up.

Is Jackson going to actually play in the outfield? He seems like 10th on the depth chart for outfielders. Is Roden or Larnach going to get the playing time vs LHP? What a weird move.

[Major League Ready]

Kendle with another good game.  2 hits and a walk.  This guy has my attention.  

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Kendle with another good game.  2 hits and a walk.  This guy has my attention.  

What do we know? Like, I know the name....

[h2oface]

Wallner historically starts slow. But it seems a waste to bury him for Roden. He obviously has heated up. 

[strumdatjag]

I’d like German Marquez to make a comeback, as well as Max Kepler.   Just think of the upcoming momentous occasion when German pitches to a German.   It’s probably happened already.