Twins Minor League Report (4/13): The Mussels Flex Their New Starter and the Kernels Hang Ten...on Beloit

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 5-11
St. Paul Saints: 5-7
Wichita Wind Surge: 6-3
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 6-3
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 4-5

TRANSACTIONS
The whole organization is starting to feel the pressure of the losses and the injuries that continue to plague all levels of the game. The club made more roster changes in wake of Jose Miranda’s demotion and more injuries. 

The Mussels have eight players on the Injured List and are bringing guys up from the Complex across the parking lots starting with right-handed pitcher Xavier Kolhosser. On Sunday, he made his pro debut as the starting pitcher for the Mussels. 

First baseman Kevin Maitan has been transferred from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Maitan is 24 years old and has played in three games so far this season, going 3-for-10, but has a strong presence defensively at first base. The former Top 100 prospect played for the Kernels last year after the Twins signed him out of independent ball. 

Wichita pitcher Jarret Whorff with the Surge after one day up at St. Paul. He threw three innings, allowing two runs. 

The Twins optioned infielder Jose Miranda after Saturday’s game against Detroit. Infielder Brooks Lee was called up to the Twins after completing his rehab assignment.

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Omaha 5
Box Score
Darren McCaughan returned to St. Paul. The 29-year-old had a nice showing in the majors and continued that during his Sunday start on the mound. McCaughan gave up six hits on the day, and two walks, but only allowed an unearned run. 

The bats of the Saints fell silent after two runs in the bottom of the third when Emmanuel Rodriguez hit a double that drove in Luke Keaschall and Jeferson Morales, giving the Saints a temporary one-run lead over the Storm. 

The next four innings moved fast, remaining scoreless from both sides. The top of the eighth is when the Saints pitching lost momentum. Huascar Ynoa loaded the bases and gave up four runs that started with an errant throw on a sac-bunt. Ryan Jensen ended the inning with a swinging strikeout from Harold Castro. 

The Saints had a small rally in the ninth inning. Armando Alvarez drove in Mike Ford to keep things interesting at 5-3, but it wouldn’t be enough. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 5, Midland 2
Box Score
The first few innings both teams attempted to get on the board first. Both pitchers were locked in and their defensive assists helped create quick, effortless outs. 

The first run of the game was a two out, solo home run from Midland’s Brennan Malone off Darren Bowen to get Midland up 1-0. Bowen gave up just the one run on four hits and a walk. He had four strikeouts and threw just 66 pitches, 42 of those being strikes. Bowen was replaced after four innings by Mike Paredes.

The Surge caught up to Midland in the fourth inning. Allan Cerda ripped a hard hit line drive to right field for a triple to start the inning. Tanner Schobel came to the plate and for lack of better terms “does what he does” and hit a sac-fly to score Cerda to even up the score 1-1. 

The Surge lineup continued to produce and got some insurance runs in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch scored Cerda to put the Kernels in a one run lead, 2-1. The Kernels got two more runs on a Jake Rucker single, pushing up the lead to 4-1 before Midland made a pitching change that finally resulted in the third out, but not before a double from Andrew Cossetti scored Rucker to give the Kernels the 5-1 lead. 

Midland tried to get runs going in the eighth inning, but the Surge pitching staff kept the inning to only one run. 

The Surge are missing some key players, including a number of impactful prospects including Walker Jenkins and several pitchers. Those injuries had a huge impact on the lineup, but clearly the Surge powered through and came away with a series win, only allowing one win to Midland.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 10, Beloit 7
Box Score
The Kernels started out this bookend game to the series hot. 

The Kernels completely obliterated the Sky Carp’s pitcher in the first inning. To put it plainly, the Kernels hung seven in the first inning. The lineup showed exactly how small ball should be played. The inning started with singles by Kyle DeBarge and Brandon Winokur. Billy Amick walked before Gabriel Gonzalez drove in two runs with a single. Following a balk, Khadim Diaw hit a single to score Amick. Kernels 3-0. 

The chaos continued for Sky Carp. Diaw stole second base, but on a throwing error Gonzalez scored. Diaw made it home on a double from Danny De Andrade The Kernels were up 5-0 and there were still no outs.  

Nate Baez grounded out, but Misael Urbina followed with an RBI single that made it 6-0. Caden Kendle was hit by a pitch. DeBarge knocked his second single of the inning to drive in the seventh run of the inning. Brandon Winokur reached on a walk before the final two outs were recorded.

The Kernels added another run in the second inning. De Andrade doubled and three Cedar Rapids batters were hit by pitches in the inning.  

The Kernels took advantage of every single opportunity to steal, walk and put the ball into play. Sky Carp pushed three runs across in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Brandon Winokur stole second base, but more important, DeBarge was on third base and scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-3.

By the time the fifth inning rolled around the Kernels were up 9-3, all but two in the line-up had a run scored in the game. Six players had at least one RBI during the game. The runs on the board make those left behind on base easier to stomach. Through six, the Kernels had left eleven on base, but were able to capitalize on the stolen bases and errors by Sky Carp. 

In the top of the eighth, Juan Mendez came in to relieve Juan Mercedes who gave up three more runs allowing Sky Carp to inch closer to closing the gap. 

Kyle Hess led of the bottom of the eighth with a double. He later scored the Kernels’ tenth run on a Brandon Winokour ground out to first base. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 2, Tampa 4
Box Score
Both pitchers for the day were making their pro debut. 

Xavier Kolhosser had a rough first appearance with the Mussels. The Twins 13th round pick from 2024 out of St. John’s pitched three innings and gave up four runs, three hits (2 home runs), and three walks. Not ideal for a first start, but after the first inning, Kolhosser settled in and didn’t give up anymore damage and ended with six strikeouts in three innings. 

Pitcher Devin Kirby came in to relieve Kolhosser. The damage was done in the first inning, so the goal was to keep any further damage. Kirby has had three games this season, rocking a 0-0 record and a 9.00 ERA, doesn’t show the consistency that Kirby has but he got a chance to do that today. 

Kirby pitched two innings, with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts. He did not allow any runs, got out of a potential run situation and lowered his ERA to 3.00 at the end of his appearance. Kirby has been putting in the work and gave the Mussels the chance to bounce back.  

The lack of runs, do not account for the lack of hits, newly minted Tampa starter, Gage Ziehl, kept the Mussels from gaining any momentum to create runs. The Mussels were continually getting the bat on the ball. 

Jay Thomasson, Daniel Pena, Isaac Pena and Byron Chourio were the biggest producers of the game. Isaac Pena registered a single right at the top of the sixth followed by Chourio getting on base with a walk advancing Pena to scoring position. Pena continued to advance on a sac-fly from Thomasson. Tampa’s pitcher rattled at this point and let the rest unravel by hitting his second player Aaron Sabato and then walking in the run Isaac Pena getting the Mussels on the board 1-4. 

The Mussels tried to rally back, only securing one more run in the bottom of the ninth, losing the game 4-2. 

The team went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. While the reporting on these numbers may seem fruitless, it does speak a lot to the situational hitting of the team and the defense that they are up against. There are a lot of hits that continue to happen, across all levels of the club where there are lots of bats on balls, but they struggle to produce runs, fizzling out to ground outs, soft hits to the infield and sac-flies. 

The hope is that as the days go on, the consistency will help them find a way to convert to runs.

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day 
Gabriel Gonzalez (1H, 1R, 2RBI, 2BB, 0K) Gonzales was a playmaker Sunday. He was always on base to help with steals, scoring and a place holder to keep the score up. Gonzales continues to grow his stats and his impact on the team.

Pitcher of the Day
Mike Paredes (0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K; 0.00 ERA) came after four innings and only one run given up by Bowen. Parades had three scoreless innings getting his first win of the season. He has a total of eight innings pitched, seven strikeouts and a .60 Whip. His pitching more than likely kept the opposing team from adding more runs.

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - Injured List (ankle)
#2 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0R, 1H, 2RBI, 0BB, 2K
#3 - Luke Keaschall (St. Paul) - 1R, 0H, 0RBI, 1BB, 0K
#4 - Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Didn’t Pitch
#5 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#6 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#7 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (wrist)
#8 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1R, 2H, 1RBI, 2BB, 0K
#9 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - Didn’t Pitch
#10 - Connor Prielipp (Wichita) - Didn’t Pitch
#11 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - Didn’t Pitch
#12 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Injured List
#13 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 2R, 2H, 1RBI, 2BB, 0K
#14 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - No games yet.
#15 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - Didn’t Play
#16 - Rayne Doncon (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List (oblique)
#17 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) -1R, 0H, 0RBI, 3BB, 2K
#18 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Didn’t Play
#19 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 1R, 1H, 2RBI, 2BB, 2K
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 0H, 0R, 0W, 2K  

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
NY Mets @ Minnesota (7:40 PM CST) - Joe Ryan (1-1; 2.65 ERA)
Saints @ Iowa (6:38 PM CST) - Zebby Matthews (1-1; 1.80 ERA)
Wichita @ Tulsa (6:05 PM CST) - Ricky Castro (0-1, 20.25 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (7:35 PM CST) - TBD
Bradenton @ Fort Myers (7:05 PM CST) - TBD 

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the roster, and discuss Sunday’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!