Twins Minor League Report (8/22): Carson Tinney Continues to Impress

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carson Tinney)

TRANSACTIONS  
The Twins signed veteran RHP Ron Marinaccio to a minor league contract and assigned him to the Saints. The Reds recently DFAd him. He cleared waivers and elected free agency on Thursday. The Twins signed him on Saturday. He has pitched in 149 big-league games over the past five seasons. He spent three years with the Yankees. He pitched for the Padres some in 2025 and began the season with 33 appearances for San Diego. He then pitched four games for the Pirates and four games for the Reds. He will join the Twins bullpen depth in St. Paul, looking for another opportunity. 

The Saints also placed Kendry Rojas on the injured list with a strained right oblique. 

Catcher David Banuelos was placed on the temporary inactive list. Catcher Ian Daugherty was activated from the Saints development list. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 15, Columbus 11
Box Score
After scoring just one run on Friday night, the Saints offense returned with a vengeance on Saturday. The pitching was certainly not great, but St. Paul had innings with four runs scored and six runs scored. 

The Saints got on the board first in the second inning with a familiar result. Tristan Gray hit a home run for the fourth day in a row. 

Walker Jenkins led off the third inning with a walk. After two strikeouts, he stole second. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Aaron Sabato walked to load the bases. Hendry Mendez responded with a two-run single to right field to make it 3-0.

However, the Clippers scored five runs in the third and three runs in the fourth inning to grab an 8-3 lead. German Marquez started and tossed two scoreless innings before giving up five runs on five hits (including three homers) and a walk in the third inning. He walked three batters in a scoreless first inning. 

Ron Marinaccio made his organizational debut. In the fourth inning, he was charged with three runs on three hits (one homer) in the inning. 

But that Saints offense is potent. They scored six runs in the top of the fifth inning to reclaim the lead 9-8. The inning started with a Ben Ross double. With one out, Emmanuel Rodiguez hit his ninth home run with the Saints. 

With two on and two outs, Cody Morissette doubled to drive in Sabato and Gray. Noah Cardenas followed with his 12th home run of the season to give the Saints the 9-8 lead. 

Woo-Suk Go pitched a scoreless fifth, but when given a lead, he gave up two runs on a hit, a hit batter, and two walks in the sixth inning. 

Down 10-9 through six innings, Sabato led off the top of the seventh inning with a double. He moved to third on a groundout and then scored the 10th run on another grounder. Morissette and Cardenas walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Walker Jenkins walked in the go-ahead run. 

The Saints kept adding on in the eighth. Rodriguez walked and stole second. Mendez walked. Tristan Gray hit into a fielder’s choice, but because of a throwing error, the bases were loaded. Morissett stepped to the plate and launched a grand slam to give his team a 15-10 lead.  

Marco Raya pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He gave up a solo home run and struck out three batters. Matt Bowman struck out three batters in a hitless, scoreless ninth inning. 

Morissette went 2-for-4 with a walk, his 14th double, his 11th home run, and six RBI. Walker Jenkins went 2-for-4, two walks and 15th stolen base. Aaron Sabato went 2-for-5 with a walk and his 27th double. Ross added his 22nd double and a walk. Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with three walks to go with his ninth home run and fifth stolen base. Cardenas walked in addition to his 12th home run of the season. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 7, Frisco 5
Box Score
The Surge scored three in the first and three in the second and then held on, keeping Frisco from completing the comeback.

Jake Rucker led off the game with a walk and went to second on a throwing error. Caden Kendle followed with a walk. Brandon Winokur came up and drove in a run with his second Surge double. Kendle scored on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Spain. Andrew Cossetti walked. A Kyle DeBarge sacrifice fly to drive in Winokur with the third run.

Jay Thomason led off the second inning with a single. He went to third on a Graham Brown double. With one out, Rucker launched his eighth home run to give them a 6-0 lead.

Chris Vallimont started and gave up two runs on six hits. He had five strikeouts with no walks. Darren Bowen came on and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three batters. Jacob Webb got four outs and gave up just one hit. Mitch Mueller struck out three batters over two, one-hit innings. 

In the fifth inning, Caden Kendle hit his eighth home run to add on some insurance. Kendle is now hitting .382 (1.122) walked and homered in the game. 

Rucker had a walk and his eighth home run. Winokur and Brown each hit their second Double-A doubles. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 11
Box Score
Not a great game for the Kernels. They scored three runs despite just three hits and six walks.

For the second straight start, Kolten Smith was unable to complete the first inning. He gave up three runs on one hit, one hit batter, and four walks. Both outs he recorded were on strikeouts. 

Ivran Romero came on and gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits over 2 1/3 innings. Cleiber Maldonado gave up one run on one hit and a walk over two innings. He struck out four batters. Mike McKenna gave up four runs on five hits (two homers). He had three strikeouts and walked none. Michael Hilker tossed two scoreless innings with just a walk and a strikeout. 

The Kernels got on the board in the top of the third innings when Eduardo Tait launched his 21st home run of the season. 

In the top of the fifth, Andy Lugo walked, Yasser Mercedes was hit by a pitch, and Eduardo Tait walked to load the bases. Lugo scored on a sacrifice fly by JP Smith. 

In the sixth inning, Luis Fragoza walked and went to second on a wild pitch. 

Tait went 1-for-2 with two walks and a homer. Luis Fragoza went 0-for-2 but walked twice and stole two bases. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers 5, Palm Beach 2
Box Score
Palm Beach took an early 2-0 lead through the first three innings. In the middle three innings, the Mussels scored two runs. Rains came after seven innings, so the seventh inning is where the game was decided. 

Callan Fang started and gave up one run on two walks over the first two innings. He gave up no hits and struck out three batters. 

Following a nearly 100-minute rain delay, Jackson Sleeper came into pitch. He gave up one run on a solo home run. Over 1 2/3 innings, he gave up just one hit and walked two while striking out two batters. Nick McAuliffe came on and worked 2 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings. He walked two and had three strikeouts. Brian Strange came in for the seventh inning. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and had two strikeouts to earn his first professional save. 

With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Carson Tinney knocked a double. He went to third on a passed ball. Aidan Teel drove him in with a single to center. 

In the sixth inning, Colby Turner and Carson Tinney started things with a single. Teel reached on a fielders’ choice. Tinney stole third base, and Teel stole second. Tinney scored on a sacrifice fly by Isaiah Lane. 

The score was tied 2-2 going into the seventh inning. The first two Mussels batters got out. Murphy Hernandez singled and went to third on a throwing error. (Speed is awesome!) He scored on a Turner single to right. 

Carson Tinney came to the plate and launched a two-run homer to make it 5-2. 

Tinney went 3-for-3 with a walk, his second double, his sixth home run, three runs scored and two RBI. He also stole his first professional base. Turner and Hernandez both went 2-for-4. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day 
Carson Tinney (Fort Myers): 3-for-3, BB, 2B(2), HR(6), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB(1). 
Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-2, 2 BB, HR(21), R, RBI.
Cody Morissette (St. Paul): 2-for-4, BB, 2B(14), HR(11), 2 R, 6 RBI. 

Pitcher(s) of the Day
Mitch Mueller (Wichita): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 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) - 2-for-4, 2 BB, R, RBI, SB(15) (batted first, played DH).
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, HR (2), R, RBI, (batted ninth, played SS)
#6 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, 3 BB, HR(9), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB(5) (batted fourth, played CF)
#7 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 RBI (batted sixth, played LF)
#8 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-2, 2 BB, HR(21), R, RBI (batted second, played Catcher)
#11 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 3-for-3, BB, 2B(2), HR(6), 3 R, 2 RBI, SB(1) (batted third, played Catcher)
#12 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(2), R, RBI, K (batted third, played SS)
#19 - OF Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted first, played DH)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Sunday, August 23
St. Paul @ Columbus (12:05 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (5-6, 6.56 ERA)
Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (7-8, 4.81 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (6:35 pm CT) - LHP Cesar Lares (0-6, 13.18 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:00 pm CT) - RHP Eric Hammond (1-4, 4.76 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 63-67
St. Paul Saints: 72-52
Wichita Wind Surge: 50-67
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 44-73
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-53
FCL Twins: 33-26 (Season Complete)
DSL Twins: 19-35 (Season Complete)

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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[DJL44]

Tristan Gray heating up

[Mike Sixel]

Great read! Timney has been pretty good so far! The power is real. 

It's impossible to know much about a hitter from normal stats in St Paul, I'd guess. 

Kendle is on an amazing run. I have to read about him more. 

[rdehring]

Keep looking at Saints scores and wondering, where the H... has the pitching gone?  

Took a look at Tinney's stats.  Batting .222 with an OBP over .400 and +1.000 OPS.  Roughly 50 at bats is still a small sample, but no longer tiny.  See he has struck out 21 times versus 15 walks.  A quick calculation shows he is striking out a bit less than 30% of PA, not terrible considering some of the other numbers.  Also pleased seeing he is often behind the plate, although I did see him at first base a day or two ago.  Next couple years following this kid are going to be interesting.

[LambchoP]

Hard to not be excited about some of these hitters. Tinney sure looks like he has some legit power. Jenkins and Rodriguez hitting like they want a call to the bigs. 

On the other hand, my god is our pitching crap. We have not one arm in our minor league system we could call up to help the big league club. I really hope they address this somehow in the off-season.

[ashbury]

Quote

The Twins signed veteran RHP Ron Marinaccio to a minor league contract

/ obligatory, I suppose

He's ours now, all ours, through the 2029 season according to his b-r.com page!

His past two seasons in capsule: Picked up on waivers from the Yankees by the White Sox, Purchased by the Padres. Suspended by the league for intentionally hitting a batter.  "Traded" to the Pirates for future considerations. Picked up on waivers by the Reds.  DFAed and passed through waivers, and he elected free agency.  And here we are. 

[DJL44]

Saints at noon today. I will watch some 

[Mike Sixel]

Saints highlights. 

https://www.milb.com/st-paul/video/topic/t1960-default-vtp

You can find others with a quick search. 

[SE23]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Hard to not be excited about some of these hitters. Tinney sure looks like he has some legit power. Jenkins and Rodriguez hitting like they want a call to the bigs. 

On the other hand, my god is our pitching crap. We have not one arm in our minor league system we could call up to help the big league club. I really hope they address this somehow in the off-season.

Don't look now, but Gallagher is getting lit up again today. All of our quality 2027 pitchers are either already on the MLB roster or are on the IL.

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Tristan Gray heating up

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, SE23 said:

Don't look now, but Gallagher is getting lit up again today. All of our quality 2027 pitchers are either already on the MLB roster or are on the IL.

I'm sorry.  It's not my intention to be so negative and downright snide.  But today, looking at last night's pitching results for both the majors and AAA, it feels like an under-engineered roster that has come this far but is starting an inevitable collapse, one that no quantity of Tristan Gray heroics is going to stop.  Kudos to whoever has the magic wand that has held things together this long.

[MeleMouth]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Hard to not be excited about some of these hitters. Tinney sure looks like he has some legit power. Jenkins and Rodriguez hitting like they want a call to the bigs. 

On the other hand, my god is our pitching crap. We have not one arm in our minor league system we could call up to help the big league club. I really hope they address this somehow in the off-season.

That home run by Tinney didn't even look particularly well-hit, as he appeared to be a little under it, but he has such power that it was a gigantic home run for that stadium.

Jenkins and Rodriguez had good days, but IMO it's hard to read too much into a 15-11 game. 

[SE23]

8 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I'm sorry.  It's not my intention to be so negative and downright snide.  But today, looking at last night's pitching results for both the majors and AAA, it feels like an under-engineered roster that has come this far is starting an inevitable collapse, one that no quantity of Tristan Gray heroics is going to stop.  Kudos to whoever has the magic wand that has held things together this long.

I mostly agree with you. I have had no expectations all year that this Twins team is a playoff caliber outfit, and I still feel that way. They might scratch and claw their way into a WC spot by hook and by crook, but that would be a little unexpected fun -- and only possible in a year where most of the league has struggled to reach .500.

However, as we begin to look ahead to 2027 and beyond, I'm optimistic about the Twins' trajectory. Much depends on Ryan's rejuvenation, full recoveries by Pablo, Abel and Festa, and big steps in command/control by guys like Prielipp, Rojas and Matthews. But there's some hope that we can be MUCH better than we have been this year. Especially with a couple of strategic FA signings and a trade or 2 from our prospect capital.

[SE23]

Also, Jenkins just homered again in Columbus

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, SE23 said:

Also, Jenkins just homered again in Columbus

Opposite field and he didn’t even get all of the pitch

[SE23]

25 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Opposite field and he didn’t even get all of the pitch

Just hit his second HR of the day, this one to RF

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, SE23 said:

Just hit his second HR of the day, this one to RF

Grown-up power numbers seemed to be the only thing missing from his minor-league resume.  He's now reached a personal best in HR, in fewer PA than the past two seasons.  Checkbox, checked.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, SE23 said:

I mostly agree with you. I have had no expectations all year that this Twins team is a playoff caliber outfit, and I still feel that way. They might scratch and claw their way into a WC spot by hook and by crook, but that would be a little unexpected fun -- and only possible in a year where most of the league has struggled to reach .500.

However, as we begin to look ahead to 2027 

Yeah, I was commenting on 2026 only.  I'll think up some new snark* if 2027 proves necessary.  😁

* Who am I kidding? It'll be the same-oh same-oh.