Twins Minor League Report (3/29): Walker Jenkins, Ryan Kreidler Lead Saints to Sunday Win and Series Sweep.

TRANSACTIONS
Wrote about the Twins signing Drew Smith to a minor-league deal. Sunday he was added to the Saints roster. Catcher David Banuelos was placed on the development list to make roster room. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 1
Box Score
Saints Complete 3-Game Sweep

Jenkins Returns
The plan for Walker Jenkins’ playing time has been laid out through next weekend. He played seven innings on Friday night. He didn’t play on Saturday. On Sunday, he played seven innings. In the top of the eighth frame, his spot in the lineup came up with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Kyler Fedko pinch hit for him and took over in center field. 

Jenkins led off the game with a double off of the wall just to the left of dead center field. A couple of batters later, his hamstring was tested. Kaelen Culpepper lined a single to left. Jenkins rounded third and sprinted home. He dove in but was easily out. More importantly, Jenkins was just fine. He walked in his next plate appearance and lined an RBI single. He flew out to right field in his final at-bat. 

Morris Makes 2026 Saints Debut
The goal when the game started was for Morris to go about four innings, and then John Klein would come in and hopefully go three innings. 

Well, Morris went 3 2/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He had one walk and one strikeout. He was at 57 pitches, likely within a handful of his Start #1 limit.  Certainly Morris was not in mid-season form. No one would expect him to be. But he only had three whiffs over those 57 pitches. 

Per StatCast, Morris threw 23 four-seam fastball (40%). He averaged 95.7 mph with the pitch and got nine called strikes. He maxed out at 97.3 mph. So velocity-wise, he’s where he needs to be and has been. He also threw 10 curveballs (18%), eight sinkers (14%), six changeups (11%) and five cutters and five sweepers (9%).

Saints Score First Again, Take Early Lead
Noah Cardenas led off the top of the second by being hit by a pitch. Tanner Schobel walked. With one out, Jenkins walked to load the bases. Gabriel Gonzelz grounded toward second. Jenkins was out at second, but Gonzalez beat the throw to first and the Saints had their first run. 

With one out in the third inning, Ryan Kreidler doubled to left. With two outs, Schobel walked again. Aaron Sabato followed with a single to left to drive in the second run. Jenkins followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0.   

Klein Time
Indications and some quotes indicate that Minnesotan John Klein will be used in the three-to-four inning, twice per week role for the Saints this year. The goal for this game, his first outing of the season, was to go about three innings. He went 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two, and had four strikeouts. He threw 48 pitches and 31 of them were strikes (64.6%).

Half of his 48 pitches were four-seam fastballs. He averaged 95.6 mph with a max of 96.9 mph. He threw 14 curveballs (29%). That pitch averaged just under 81 mph, a really nice velocity drop. Same thing with his seven changeups (15%). It averaged 86.8 mph, about nine mph less than his fastball. Finally, he added three cutters. However, he was only able to record four whiffs.  

I Can Hit Too, Really!
We’ve all seen Ryan Kreidler’s career number in MLB. Simply, he hasn’t hit. He has a .138 batting average and .208 on-base percentage over his 188 big-league at-bats. However, it doesn’t take watching him play all over the diamond that you appreciate just how terrific he is defensively.      

And (Alert: Small Sample Size Warning), Kreidler hit his first double and first home run of the season. Through the first three games, Kreidler is 5-for-10, hitting .500/583/.900 (1.483). The 28-year-old from UCLA has good size. He’s 6-4 and about 210 pounds. 

 New Vets Get Their First Chance
When the Twins bring in a new veteran on a minor-league contract, they get them in the game right away! 

John Brebbia came in for the sixth inning. He got two outs relatively quickly. Then came Dominic Fletcher. 15 pitches later, Brebbia won that mini-battle and ultimately tossed a 1-2-3 inning. He threw eight four-seam fastballs and eight sliders. StatCast said that he threw two cutters and one sinker, one changeup, and one sweeper.   

Drew Smith came in and pitched the eighth inning. He faced just three batters, but he definitely used his defense. Konnor Griffin led off the inning with a double to the gap in right-center field, but with a perfect relay from Fedko to Culpepper to Kreidler to nail Griffin at third base. A huge play in a three-run game.   

Smith followed it up by walking a batter, but he followed by getting a double play to end the inning. 

Grant Hartwig got a strikeout to end the eighth inning on Friday. He came and despite two walks tossed a scoreless inning to record the save.

Defensive Alignment
It’s only been three games, and the lineup may look different starting Tuesday at CHS Field when the Saints take on the Woo Sox for six games. Here’s a quick look (again, just three games): 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
The Wind Surge season begins on Friday, April 3rd, when they play host to the NW Arkansas Travelers for three games. 

KERNELS CHRONICLE 
The Kernels also begin their 2026 season on Friday. They will host Peoria for three games. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers will also begin their season with a three-game home series. They will host the Clearwater Threshers. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Ryan Kreidler (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(1), HR(1), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. 

Pitcher of the Day 
John Klein (St. Paul): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 48 pitches, 31 strikes (65.6%%)

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

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, BB, 2B(1), RBI (played CF, batted 1st)
#2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, K (played SS, batted 4th)
#3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 K (DHd, batted 5th)
#4 - C Eduardo Tait (TBD) - DNP
#5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - DNP
#6 - LHP Dasan Hill (TBD) - DNP
#7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, RBI (played RF, batted 2nd)
#8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring)
#9 - SS Marek Houston (TBD) - DNP
#10 - RHP Charlee Soto (TBD) - Injured List
#11 - RHP Riley Quick (TBD) - DNP
#12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 57 pitches, 36 strikes (63.2%)
#13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (TBD) - DNP
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (TBD) - DNP
#15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP
#16 - OF Hendry Mendez (TBD) - DNP
#17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (TBD) - DNP
#18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (TBD) - DNP
#19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (TBD) - DNP
#20 - RHP James Ellwanger (TBD) - DNP

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Tuesday:
Worcester @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - LHP Christian MacLeod 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 1-2
St. Paul Saints: 3-0

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!