Twins Minor League Report (4/6): Winning Ways Powered Affiliates

TRANSACTIONS
No transactions on Saturday. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Nashville 0
Box Score

Plenty of intrigue lies on how well the St. Paul Saints rotation comes out of the gate. With the Twins rotation expected to have depth issues, it will be some of these arms that can step up. Among them is Brent Headrick, and for the second straight outing, he was solid. Working a scoreless five innings, Headrick gave up just a pair of hits, scattered three walks, and struck out seven.

Scoring kicked off in the 3rd inning when Yoyner Fajardo hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot, to put the Saints on the board. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. followed his lead and went back-to-back with his own jack in the very next at bat. 

The sides settled in trading zeroes for a bit, but the new Castillo announced his presence in the 6th inning. Diego A. Castillo, singled with Jose Miranda at third base, and St. Paul’s lead grew to 3-0. Patrick Winkel was stranded 90 feet from the plate to end the inning. After Ronny Henriquez blanked the Sounds over two innings, St. Paul pulled a fast one and put reliever Diego Castillo into the game as well.

Hobie Harris came on for the save in back-to-back nights and, despite issuing a pair of walks, slammed the door once again. The Saints turned seven hits, two of which came from Fajardo, into four runs. The lineup watched as their pitchers punched out ten to keep them in command.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 13, Frisco 3
Box Score

Hoping to exact revenge for the Opening Day loss, Wichita turned to Travis Adams on the bump. He put the Wind Surge in a great place by working five innings of two-run baseball. Both were unearned tallies, and came on a hit and a walk. Adams struck out four.

Responding to the RoughRiders pair of 3rd inning runs, Wichita doubled up the output. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in the first Wind Surge run when Kyler Fedko touched home on his single to center field. Tanner Schobel then clubbed a double off the wall to bring in both Alerick Soularie and Rodriguez on the knock. A Kala’i Rosario single scored Schobel, and the four-run frame was the first crooked number of the night for the home team.

Not to be outdone in the 3rd inning, Wichita upped the ante in the 5th inning. Andrew Cossetti scored Soularie and Rodriguez on a line drive single, and Ben Ross then singled to right bringing Cossetti home. With a 7-2 lead, Jefferson Morales lined another base hit to center, this one good enough to bring Rosario and Ross across the plate. By the time the inning came to an end, Wichita had a seven-run margin and comfortable 9-2 lead.

Of course, it always makes sense to add more, and Schobel did just that with a run-scoring single in the 5th inning that brought Rodriguez home to score his third run of the game. Even the one-run response by Frisco in the top of the 6th inning kept it a 10-3 game.

After demolishing Arizona Fall League pitching for dingers, Rosario picked up where he left off, launching his first of 2024. The three-run blast in the bottom of the 8th inning made it a 13-3 game as he brought home both Schobel and Cossetti on the big fly. Wichita finished with 14 hits and all nine batters reaching base. Schobel and Rosario both had three hits while Rodriguez and Cossetti added a pair of their own.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Beloit 2, Cedar Rapids 1
Box Score

The Kernels sought to get their first win of the season after dropping a tilt on Opening Day. John Klein put them in a great position to do it, and his five innings were the highlight of this one. Allowing just three hits and a walk, he struck out six and held Beloit scoreless.

Agustin Ruiz plated the game’s first run in the second inning when the Cedar Rapids right fielder lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring Jay Harry. Despite cruising through the rest of the contest, things went pear-shaped in the 9th inning.

Kyle Bischoff came on looking to grab the save. After striking out the first batter, he saw, a pair of walks was followed by a wild pitch and a walkoff single to give the Sky Carp their second win of the season.

Cedar Rapids mustered just four hits on Saturday, and no one came away with a pair. The Kernels also didn’t record an extra-base hit.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Tampa 4
Box Score

After dropping their Opening Day tilt, Fort Myers was ready to even the score on Saturday. Charlee Soto made his official professional debut, and the Twins pitching prospect worked three innings allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk. He struck out three and threw 28 of his 44 pitches for strikes.

Walker Jenkins was not in the lineup for the Mighty Mussels after exiting just an inning into his 2024 season. The injury appears to be of the mild sort, and is a hamstring issue, but it’s a wait-and-see scenario for the Twins top prospect.

The Tarpons raced out to a 3-0 lead through the first three and a half innings, but Fort Myers showed up offensively during the bottom of the 4th inning. With runners on the corners, Carlos Aguiar took off for second base. Seeing the throw through, shortstop Brandon Winokur raced home and grabbed the first Mighty Mussels run. Billed as a toolsy prospect during draft time, Winokur has flashed that with power, speed, and positional flexibility during his early pro career.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, Fort Myers got even for the first time in the game. Rayne Doncon, acquired alongside Manuel Margot from the Los Angeles Dodgers, singled and scored Byron Chourio. Winokur then lifted a sacrifice fly later in the frame to plate Doncon and even the score at three.

A 6th inning Isaac Pena single scored both Chourio and Poncho Ruiz to give Fort Myers a 5-3 lead, their first of the day. A fielding error by center fielder Jackson Castillo helped to allow additional time for the Mighty Mussels to motor around the bases. If there was any doubt added by a 7th inning Tarpons run, Doncon dispelled it during the 8th inning with his first double of the season. Ruiz scored again, and the 6-4 lead was enough to seal this one for Fort Myers’ first win of the year. 

Jeremy Lee came on in relief of Soto and provided four innings of one-run baseball. He walked three, but gave up just two hits and struck out six. The effort earned him his first professional win. Nolan Santos earned his first professional hold, and Xander Hamilton recorded his first professional save.

Fort Myers got hits from seven of their nine starters in the contest, and Chourio, Doncon, and Ruiz had a pair apiece.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 3-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(1)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) – 2-3, 3 R, RBI, 2B(2), 2 BB
#4 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, BB, K
#9 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-3, R, RBI, 2B(1), SB(1)
#11 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B (1)
#12 – Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) – 1-3, BB, K
#13 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 3-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR(1)
#15 – Danny De Andrade (Cedar Rapids) – 0-3, BB, K
#16 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) –
#17 – Matt Canterino (IL) – Shoulder injury
#18 – Connor Prielipp (IL) – UCL Surgery

SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Nashville (2:05 PM CST) – RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Frisco @ Wichita (1:05PM CST) – RHP Pierson Ohl (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Christian MacLeod (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Fort Myers @ Tampa (11:05 AM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games!

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!