Twins Minor League Report (8/27): Ramiro Dominguez Makes Grand Entrance in Cedar Rapids

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Ramiro Dominguez)

I was going to start this article today with what is now the third paragraph. But then I took about a second and thought. Hmmm, the Minnesota Twins are calling up their top prospect on Friday. Maybe that should be the introductory paragraph. 

It was clear that Jenkins would be a big leaguer. It was always a matter of when, and not if. Even this year, he had a couple of stints on the Injured List, first with a hamstring strain and later a shoulder issue. That delayed him, but when he played, he did everything. Well, almost everything. The one thing he had really not shown yet was in-game power. Sure, he hit some homers, and some of them went a long way. And then came August. Jenkins played in 18 games for the Saints. He had multi-hit games in 11 of them. He had his first three multi-homer games this month. He hit eight home runs including five of them in the past six games. In August, he hit .411/.488/.795 (1.283) with two doubles, a triple, eight homers and 13 RBI. He also walked 11 times and had seven stolen bases. There’s no way to know how Jenkins will perform in his first month in the big leagues, but he should be coming into the league with a lot of confidence.  

I know he’s no longer a Twins pitching prospect, but lefty Dasan Hill was a nice addition to the Twins organization the past couple of years. He had a big breakout season in 2025, and despite struggles in 2026, remained a very intriguing prospect. The Twins were able to acquire RHP Jeff Hoffman in large part due to including Hill in the trade package. 

On Thursday, Hill posted a video on YouTube. In it, he mentioned his love for the Twins organization, teammates and coaches and trainers and everyone. He had an immediate reaction to the trade, clearly still reeling from the surprise. He then talked about his transition over to the Blue Jays organization. He’s excited, of course. He also broke down a recent outing that he had. I definitely encourage people to take the 13ish minutes to watch his YouTube video. 

TRANSACTIONS  
The recently-signed veteran RHP Ron Marinaccio was placed on the temporarily inactive list. 

Infielder Ramiro Dominguez was promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. RHPs Rainer Marin and Aidan Russell were promoted from the FCL to Fort Myers.   

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Toledo 9
Box Score
The Twins made the decision to call up Walker Jenkins from the Saints. Emmanuel Rodriguez has been showing all of his skills and tools in recent weeks as well. On Thursday night, Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with his fifth double and his 10th home run. He played left field, and it will be interesting to see if he gets to the big leagues too before the season ends. 

Tanner Schobel went 2-for-3 with a walk and his sixth home run, a two-run shot in the fifth inning. Tristan Gray went 2-for-4. Those three accounted for six of the team’s seven hits. Matt Wallner walked twice.

The Wind Surge went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but it didn’t matter on this night.  

Ricky Castro started for the Saints and was charged with five runs on five hits. In 3 1/3 innings, he walked three and had six strikeouts. Alejandro Hidalgo gave up two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. He had four walks and two strikeouts. Eric Orze calmed things with 2 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Marco Raya gave up two runs on one hit and two walks in his inning. He struck out three batters. Woo-Suk Go struck out two in a perfect ninth inning. If the Twins were to need to make a 40-man roster move on Friday, Go could be gone. In nine games with the Saints, he is 2-1 with a 12.54 ERA. In 9 1/3 innings, he’s given up 13 earned runs on nine hits and 11 walks. The 28-year-old also struck out nine batters.    

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 4, Arkansas 8 (10 innings) 
Box Score
The Surge took an early lead in the third inning. From there it was back and forth. Through nine innings, the game was tied 3-3. Arkansas scored five runs in the top of the 10th frame to take the commanding lead. The Kernels scored in the bottom of the 10th but fell far short. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Marek Houston notched a one-out single. With two outs, Brandon Winokur’s ninth Surge homer gave Wichita a 2-0 lead. On Thursday night, Winokur set his career high with his 18th home run. On Friday, he added to that total with his 19th overall home run of the season. 

Ty Langenberg got the start for Wichita and continued to pitch well. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk over five innings. He had five strikeouts. 

Wichita added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but they could have had more. Jaime Ferrer and Graham Brown started the inning with singles. Quinn McDaniel drove in Ferrer with a double to make it 3-1. Runners were on second and third base with nobody out. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out, and a ground out ended the inning. 

Spencer Bengard came in and gave up just one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out two batters. Jaylen Nowlin gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks in the top of the eighth which tied the game at 3-3. Mitch Mueller came on and pitched a scoreless ninth inning. He went out for the tenth inning and faced five batters. He got no outs. He gave up five runs (3 earned) on two hits and two walks. Kyle Bischoff came on and got three outs, two on strikeouts. He also walked one batter. 

Brandon Winokur drove in the Wichita Manfred Man to make it 8-4, but that was as close as it got. Winokur went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs, all with two outs. Kyle DeBarge went 2-for-4 and stole his 32nd and 33rd bases of the season. McDaniels’ double was his second with Wichita.

For the second time since joining Wichita, Marek Houston was ejected. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 10, Lake County 11
Box Score
Through four innings, the Kernels found themselves behind by a score of 8-3. By the end of the seventh inning, Cedar Rapids had a 10-8 lead. Unfortunately, a three-run eighth inning gave the Captains a one-run lead that they held onto. 

Merit Jones started and was charged with eight runs (7 earned) on nine hits and four walks. Michael Ross came in and worked the final five innings. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out four batters. 

Byron Chourio led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. He stole a base and Vahn Lackey walked. With two outs, Danny De Andrade hit his 14th home run to give his team the early 3-2 lead.   

Andy Lugo led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk. Ramiro Dominguez walked to the plate. He had flown out in his first at-bat with the Kernels, in the second inning. Wearing the #2 on his white Kernels jersey, he lined a first-pitch fastball over the wall in left field. It hit the foul pole and cut the Kernels deficit to three.   

The bottom of the sixth inning began with walks by JP Smith and Danny De Andrade. With one out, Irvin Nunez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then, with two outs, #2 stepped to the plate again. On a 2-1 pitch, Dominguez crushed another ball. There was no question if it was fair or foul, and it was no question if it was deep enough. He turned a three-run deficit into a one-run lead with the blast. Dominguez ended the day 2-for-4 with six RBI. In 90 games for Fort Myers, he hit nine homers. A quick search on this site for articles in which Ramiro Dominguez is tagged brings back 18 results including a reminder that he was the Twins Daily 2025 FCL Hitter of the Year. 

As noted, the Kernels gave up three runs in the eighth and took the tough loss. We reached out to the Kernels, but we have not yet heard back from them at the time of publication. We wanted to address the rumors that the Kernels are thinking about giving Dominguez the number 3 on his uniform for the game on Friday. There were also some reports that first baseman JP Smith offered to give up #46 to Dominguez right before Merit Jones offered him uniform #51. We’ll be sure to follow up. No, not really. 

Danny De Andrade went 3-for-3 with two walks, his 14th home run and four RBI. Byron Chourio went 2-for-5. Vahn Lackey had his first hitless game since joining the Kernels. He was 0-for-1 with four walks. 

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The photo at the top of this article is one of nearly 5,000 photos that David Malamut of Malamut Photography took at last night's Kernels game in Cedar Rapids. David can be seen at most Kernels home games, and we are lucky enough to be able to use some of his great photos. And, if you're planning on going to Cedar Rapids, or maybe at Twins Fest, you can order some photos from David himself. You can check the home page and find links to the 2026 games (and further back). You can also use the search functionality and type in names of current or past Kernels players and find their photos. The current Kernels roster has Top 20 prospects like Vahn Lackey, Eduardo Tait, and Yasser Mercedes. Marek Houston, Riley Quick, Khadim Diaw, Enrique Jimenez, Brandon Winokur are Top 20 prospect who were with the Kernels earlier this year. Caden Kendle and Adrian Bohorquez were in Cedar Rapids until recently.  Want to see more Ramiro Dominguez photos, check out Thursday's Kernels game photos.

And if you're a fan of minor leaguers from other organizations, you might be able to find them. For instance, on Thursday, Brewers slugging prospect Andrew Fischer hit three homers, his 41st, 42nd and 43rd of the season. A search of the Malamut Photography site shows us that he's posted 85 photos of the Brewers 2025 first-round pick. 

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MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 2
Box Score
The Mussels got off to an early lead and then held on for the win.  

Merphy Hernandez led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple. Carson Tinney followed with a walk. With one out, Isaiah Lane drove in Hernandez with a single. 

Bryce Fowler led off the second frame with a double. Quentin Young followed with an RBI single to left to make it 2-0. 

The third inning began with a Tinney walk. Colby Turner hit a ground rule double to advance Tinney to third base and then scored on a passed ball. Walks by Lane and Fowler loaded the bases. Young hit a fly ball to center field, deep enough to drive in Turner with the team’s fourth run. 

Cristian Hernandez started and gave up one run on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked one and had six strikeouts. Rainer Marin gave up two hits and a walk over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Adam Falinski gave up one run on three hits and two walks in his two innings. Nick McAuliffe tossed two scoreless innings to record the save. 

Lane was the lone Mussel batter to record a multi-hit game. He was 2-for-3 with a walk. Fowler’s double was his second, and Turner’s double was his fifth of the season. Tinney went 1-for-3 with two walks.   

Merphy Hernandez went 1-for-2 with three walks and his second triple. He stole his 45th and 46th bases of the season. That pushed him past Ben Revere in 2009 for second-most steals in franchise history (dates back to 1992). It is fairly unlikely that Hernandez will surpass the current leader and jump into the #1 spot. That belongs to outfielder Anthony Felston who, in 1998, stole 86 bases for the Miracle. Felston was the Twins 34th round pick in the 1996 draft out of the University of Mississippi.  Felston stole 86 bases and was caught 26 times in 114 games in his age-23 season. Hernandez will not turn 20 until mid-December and has 46 bases in 56 Mussels games. (It’s also important to note that the Miracle were the organization’s High-A affiliate until the 2021 season when it became the Low-A affiliate.)    

A quick search of Twins Daily, brings back these articles in which Hernandez was tagged.  

COMPLEX TOPICS
The Florida Complex League and the Dominican Summer League seasons are complete. On Thursday, 

The FCL Twins Yovanny Duran was named an FCL All Star outfielder.   

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day 
Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-3, 2 BB, HR(14), 2 R, 4 RBI, SB(1)
Ramiro Dominguez (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, 2-HR (2), 2 R, 6 RBI
Murphy Hernandez (Fort Myers): 1-for-2, 3 BB, 3B(2), R, K, 2 SB(46) 
Brandon Winokur (Wichita): 3-for-5, HR(9), R, 3 RBI
Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(5), HR(10), R, RBI 

Pitcher(s) of the Day
Ty Langenberg (Wichita): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 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 (Minnesota) - Did Not Play. Called up to Twins.
#2 - C Vahn Lackey (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-1, 4 BB, R, SB(2) (batted second, played catcher)  
#3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - No Game.
#4 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, K, ejected in 8th (batted first, played SS)
#5 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - Did Not Play.
#6 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B(5), HR(10), R, RBI (batted second, played LF)
#7 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2 K (batted fifth, played DH)
#8 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5 (batted third, played DH)
#9 - 1B/OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (batted third, played 1B)
#11 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, R, K (batted second, played Catcher)
#12 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 3-for-5, HR(9), R, 3 RBI (batted third, played CF and SS)
#18 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-3, 2 RBI, SF, SB(8) (batted seventh, played SS)

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Friday, August 28
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 pm CT) - RHP German Marquez (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Chris Vallimont (2-3, 4.86 ERA)
Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (2-1, 3.08 ERA)
Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Matthew Dalquist (3-3, 4.66 ERA) 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 64-70
St. Paul Saints: 73-55
Wichita Wind Surge: 51-70
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 45-76
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 67-55
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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[terrydactyls]

Why was Houston ejected?  Is this going to be a concern?

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Another terrific roundup! This is my first Merphy Hernandez sighting and I'm impressed by his stolen base numbers. Other than having plus speed, what sort of prospect is he?

[Linus]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Why was Houston ejected?  Is this going to be a concern?

To be ejected twice in a relatively short period of time is very strange. 

[TCanWins]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Why was Houston ejected?  Is this going to be a concern?

Apparently he was ejected for directing a personal insult at an umpire, after he struck out on a check swing. Hope it isn't a trend 😬

[Trov]

I know it has only been 3 games for Lackey at High A, but they are a crazy 3 games in terms of numbers.  He has an OBP of .750 OPS of 1.972.  7 Walks with no K's is just nuts, plus he has 2 HR and 2 Stolen bases.

Of course this is not going to continue, but it shows what the kid could be capable of. His start to Low was not great, but people need to remember he did not play baseball for several weeks, most likely given like a week to ramp up and go out there.  It is not like before when the draft was in June and some players were still playing college ball and transitioned right into pro. 

[Dman]

Great to see Duran make the FCL All Stars.  He has the Wheels for center field which is nice as we don't have a ton of those types of players.  It's been a tougher transition to A ball for him, but at least he get some experience there.  He's only 18 and off to good start.

[Strombomb]

1 hour ago, TCanWins said:

Apparently he was ejected for directing a personal insult at an umpire, after he struck out on a check swing. Hope it isn't a trend 😬

I don't believe that is correct. He was ejected on July 21, 2026, after turning back to the dugout and questioning a seventh-inning strikeout on a check swing. Last night's box score states "Wind Surge shortstop Marek Houston ejected by 3B umpire Cas Cousins (8th)."

unless they were very similar incidents of course. That would be very disconcerting because he didn't learn his lesson:(

Edited Friday at 02:21 PM by Strombomb

[rdehring]

Another great read, Seth.  Thanks for all the information all of you give us every day.

See Twins pitchers gave up 9-8-11 and 2 runs today, that's 7.5 runs per game.  It seems nearly every day one of the teams gives up double digit runs, often mid-to-upper teens or beyond.  Some days more than one joins in.  I understand other factors such as defense play a role in giving up runs, but it is clear pitchers in the Twins organization aren't doing a great job, at least many of them.  I don't follow other teams like I did 20-30 years ago.  My question, Seth, is whether scoring like this is common throughout all of minor league baseball?  If so, any clue why pitching has deteriorated to these levels?

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, rdehring said:

Another great read, Seth.  Thanks for all the information all of you give us every day.

See Twins pitchers gave up 9-8-11 and 2 runs today, that's 7.5 runs per game.  It seems nearly every day one of the teams gives up double digit runs, often mid-to-upper teens.  Some days more than one joins in.  I understand other factors such as defense play a role in giving up runs, but it is clear pitchers in the Twins organization aren't doing a great job, at least many of them.  I don't follow other teams like I did 20-30 years ago.  My question, Seth, is whether scoring like this is common throughout all of minor league baseball?  If so, any clue why pitching has deteriorated to these levels?

They take all their best pitchers out after 3 innings and give their worst pitchers the other 6 innings. This is inevitable.

[DJL44]

Any chance Caden Kendle gets Walker Jenkins spot in St Paul?

[Steve Lein]

Kernels having a weird week. Fall behind big, come back to take the lead each time, then lose it in the end. In true baseball fashion, wouldn't surprise me if their game today is 0-0 after nine 😅

[Mike Sixel]

Awesome to call out the photographer, Seth. Well done. 

[Althebum82]

Thank you for the background on Anthony Felston.  I had to look him up.  According to Baseball Reference it appears he struggled a bit in his second season of AA New Britain (1999) and then his career ended.   I could not find where he played in any other country.  What amazing stolen base totals, though!

I also see that Ben Ross got the starting assignment in CF with no Jenkins in the line-up.  I have only thought of him as an infielder....so is his skill set in CF more like Keaschall or more like Clemens?

[bean5302]

Tinney was 0/11 in stolen base prevention. He's now 3/17 meaning he's starting to more reliably showcase the arm over the past couple games. Really nice to see. Seems like he's also adjusting to the poor quality of location on pitches coming his way in A-ball as he's reducing the K rate and seeing the hits start coming.

Sounds like the umpire was on a power trip ejecting Houston.

Emma should definitely be called up and Roden sent down.

[jkcarew]

Twins have a few 18-19 ish international guys having very very good years. Mostly hitters. They just aren’t necessarily the ones that we would have thought back when they signed. Exhibit 1001 16 years old is a bit absurd. That might change this winter.

[Seth Stohs]

13 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Why was Houston ejected?  Is this going to be a concern?

I didn't go back to the video, but he struck out in the bottom of the 7th, and then the third base ump tossed him, I believe, when he was one his way back out to the field. 

I'm guessing it isn't anything to worry about, but it is worth noting. 

[Seth Stohs]

12 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Another terrific roundup! This is my first Merphy Hernandez sighting and I'm impressed by his stolen base numbers. Other than having plus speed, what sort of prospect is he?

I mean, "Speed" is absolutely his game. He's young, thin and fast. That said, he's got maybe four homers this year and a couple went a long way. But definitely he's a solid centerfielder and has a good arm. Lots of growing and developing to do, but he's been productive each of his pro seasons. 3 years, 3 levels. 

[Seth Stohs]

9 hours ago, Strombomb said:

I don't believe that is correct. He was ejected on July 21, 2026, after turning back to the dugout and questioning a seventh-inning strikeout on a check swing. Last night's box score states "Wind Surge shortstop Marek Houston ejected by 3B umpire Cas Cousins (8th)."

unless they were very similar incidents of course. That would be very disconcerting because he didn't learn his lesson:(

It's not a huge deal. I did go back and watch the first one. He didn't do much. In fact, I recall tweeting something like, "That was the most laid back, calm ejection I'd ever seen."