Twins Minor League Report (4/30): A Clean Sweep

TRANSACTIONS
RHP Cole Percival signed and assigned to A+ Cedar Rapids
RHP Agustin Campusano assigned to DSL Twins
RHP Michael Ross activated from 7-day IL (A Fort Myers)
RHP Will Armbruster assigned to FCL Twins
RHP Matt Canterino re-signed and assigned to they 7-Day IL of AAA St. Paul 

So concludes our right-handed pitcher update.

Saints Sentinel
St. Paul 8, Columbus 7 (11 Innings)
Box Score
Andrew Morris: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
HR: Mike Ford (5)
Multi-hit games: Ryan Fitzgerald (2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB), Mike Ford (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI), Patrick Winkel (2-for-5, 2B)

The Saints won in extras on Wednesday.

Who cursed Andrew Morris? After starting the season with back-to-back scoreless starts, the righty experienced his second clunker in his last three outings. The damage was immediate and consistent; he didn’t see his first 1-2-3 frame until the 4th, which proved to be his final inning. The good news is that he still struck out five and only walked one.

St. Paul’s offense favored democracy; only two starters went home without a hit, and five batters drove in at least one run. Most potent was the Carson McCusker/Mike Ford/Armando Alvarez run at the lineup’s heart; the three hitters combined for six RBIs, four hits, and three runs. 

Ford sure hits them high.

The Saints and Clippers traded Manfred Man runs in the 10th before St. Paul scored again in the 11th and held their counterparts at bay to win the game.

Rehabbing big-leaguer Royce Lewis went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. He played nine innings at third base before being lifted for a defensive substitute. 

Rehabbing big-leaguer Michael Tonkin appeared for the first time since April 25th. He threw two innings, allowing a run while striking out two and walking two.

Columbus is the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. First baseman C.J. Kayfus—ranked eighth on the team—served as their finest prospect. He homered and singled in five at-bats. 

Wind Surge Wisdom
Wichita 7, Frisco 0
Box Score
Trent Baker: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
HR: Aaron Sabato (2), Kyler Fedko (5)
Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (2-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Aaron Sabato (2-for-3, HR, 2B, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB)

The Wind Surge smoked their competition on Wednesday.

Already one of April’s top performers, Trent Baker added to his resume with five brilliant innings, punching out four while blanking the RoughRiders. He allowed just three baserunners. It’s hard to make a better organizational impression than Baker, who joined the Twins following four seasons with the Cardinals. He was also a Mankato MoonDog back in 2019!

Baker handed the ball to Mike Paredes, who continued the pitching vibes with three shutout frames of his own. Joel Cesar concluded things to give Wichita their second shutout in five days (the other was also a 7-0 victory.)

Offensively, the Wind Surge scored early and often. Aaron Sabato blasted an opposite-field homer in the 2nd to kick off the festivities, and Andrew Cossetti singled in a run two frames later.

In the sixth, Kyler Fedko launched a moonshot to plate a third run, soon to become four after a Ricardo Olivar RBI knock in the seventh.

The eighth is when things got absurd. Four consecutive walks augured a run, which soon stacked into three with a Tanner Schobel single and Olivar sacrifice fly. 

The 16th-best prospect in MLB, Sebastian Walcott, played shortstop for Frisco on Wednesday and went 0-for-4 at the plate. 

Kernels Nuggets
Cedar Rapids 4, Iowa 3
Box Score
Chase Chaney: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
HR: Brandon Winokur (1), Kyle DeBarge (3)
Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI), Billy Amick (2-for-4)

The Kernels squeaked out a win on Wednesday.

Starter Chase Chaney’s outing was unique; unique in that starters in April don’t often reach six innings in the minors; unique in that he walked more than he struck out; and unique in that he only needed 78 pitches to do so. We may never see a start quite like this again—and the good news is that he also excelled in run prevention, with only two men scoring against him.

Nate Baez kicked off the scoring with an RBI double in the second, before Brandon Winokur extended the lead with a two-run shot the following frame, his first homer of the year.

The runs portended an extended streak of emptiness from both squads: starting with the fourth inning and running until the eighth, neither team scored, and they only ever mildly threatened to do so. Sometimes a man reached second. That’s as far as he would get. Lonely was the base paths; dull was the adventure. But that would eventually change.

In the eighth, Carter Trice homered for Iowa to knot the game at three, inspiring Kyle DeBarge to respond with an absolute tank. Minor-league cameras are never great, yet they usually at least find some semblance of the ball; good luck seeing where this one went.

Spencer Bengard shut the door in the ninth to cap off a brilliant three-frame outing out of the bullpen. His minor-league ERA over 110 career innings is now 2.05.

The best of the baby Cubs is mostly waiting on the franchise’s AAA squad, but Iowa does enjoy the presence of Jefferson Rojas, the team’s 7th-ranked prospect. He singled and drove in a run in four trips to the plate.

Mussel Matters
Fort Myers 6, Jupiter 5
Box Score
Michael Ross: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HR: None
Multi-hit games: Will Holland (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI), Poncho Ruiz (3-for-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB)

The Mighty Mussels walked off their opponent on Wednesday. 

Given his prolific day at the plate, it was only fitting that Poncho Ruiz was the man to deliver the win for Fort Myers: the catcher reached base all five times he stepped up to the plate, thrashing a pair of doubles and a single while working a pair of walks. Three of the game’s six runs scored thanks to his hits. The final two were ushered home off his game-winning smack deep into the left-center gap.

That was Fort Myers’ first walk-off since Brandon Winokur’s game-ending homer on August 27th, 2024. 

Starter Michael Ross made his second professional appearance on Wednesday, and his first since hitting the IL on April 6th. The Samford product—alma mater of just two big leaguers—worked two inefficient innings with an earned run allowed, displaying the kind of rust expected from a hurler who hadn’t pitched since the beginning of the month. 

Outside of Ruiz, the Mighty Mussels were remarkably balanced offensively: eight of the nine starters reached base at least once, and they took seven walks as a team. Ruiz wasn’t even the only batter to walk twice; Jose Rodriguez accomplished the same feat. 

As a team, Fort Myers went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position, which is ghastly, but it's also kind of impressive that they hit 17 times with someone in scoring position. 

The Hammerheads are an affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They employ the talents of the team’s 7th-ranked prospect, outfielder, and former 1st-rounder P.J. Morlando. He doubled and walked in five plate appearances. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trent Baker
Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Aaron Sabato ft. Poncho Ruiz and Kyle DeBarge

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed:
#5 – Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
#7 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4
#8 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
#13 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI
#15 – Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 0-4, R, BB, 2 K
#17 – Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4
#18 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-5, 4 K
#19 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 2-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus Game One (11:05 AM) - RHP Cory Lewis
St. Paul @ Columbus Game Two - RHP Marco Raya
Wichita @ Frisco (6:35 PM) - RHP Pierson Ohl
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo
Jupiter @ Fort Myers (5:05 PM) - TBD

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!