Twins Minor League Report (7/17): Return to Work: Twins Organization Goes 7-0 on Friday!

TRANSACTIONS   
The Twins have made several moves since last Sunday when the full-season teams last played. We have been updating those in the daily minor league reports throughout this week. However, they made a few more announcements on Friday, mostly some player rehab assignment movement.

Twins RHP Cole Sands had his rehab moved from Fort Myers to the Saints. 

Saints RHP Julian Merryweather’s rehab was moved to Fort Myers. 

After being optioned before the All-Star break, Eric Orze was activated by the Saints. 

Wichita infielder Jake Rucker had his rehab moved from the FCL Twins.   

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Louisville 1 
Box Score
The pitchers seemed to have the advantage at CHS Field on Friday night. Maybe pitchers had a chance to completely rest their arms. Maybe hitters just hadn’t seen any live batting practice. The Bats scored in just one of their nine innings on offense. The Saints also scored in just one of the innings that they batted. Fortunately, that was a pretty powerful inning. 

But let’s start with the pitching. Jake Anderson made his first start in the Twins organization. The right-hander went three shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out one batter. 

Cole Sands came on and worked two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked a batter, but he struck out three batters. 

Lefty Aaron Rozek came in and gave up one run in 2 2/3 innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and had two strikeouts. The lone run scored on a Michael Chavis home run. 

Cody Laweryson came on and got the final out of the eighth inning and threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record the Save. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Cody Morissette led off the inning with a nine-pitch at-bat. On a 3-2 pitch, he crushed a 95-mph fastball 469 feet and well beyond the wall in right field. It was his seventh home run in 21 games since joining the Saints. 

With one out, nine-hitter Noah Cardenas launched his seventh home run of the season. After watching two mid-80s sliders be called strikes, Cardenas got a 95-mph fastball almost literally right down the middle and hit it into the bullpen. 

Leadoff man Walker Jenkins came to the plate. The first pitch was called a strike. Jenkins challenged the pitch and it was overturned. On the next pitch, he turned on a 95.5 mph fastball that was barely on the inside corner. He launched the ball at 32 degrees and 105.7 mph, and it traveled 417 feet and gave the Saints a 3-0 lead. 

Noah Cardenas was the only Saints batter with more than one hit. He was 2-for-4 with a homer. Aside from the three, fifth-inning homers, the only other extra-base hit was a Kyler Fedko double. Orlando Arcia walked twice. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 10, Arkansas 4
Box Score
The Wind Surge started the scoring with three runs in the top of the first. The Travelers tied the game at three. However, Wichita went on to score seven more runs while giving up just one more and ran away with the win. 

The first two batters in the top of the first inning got out. Garrett Spain walked. Billy Amick was hit by a pitch, and Brandon Winokur singled to load the bases. As quickly as the bases filled, Kyle DeBarge cleared them with a double down the left field line.   

Ty Langenberg made the start. He gave up three runs on six hits over the first three innings. He had three strikeouts and no walks. All three runs scored in the bottom of the second inning. Hunter Gregory had two strikeouts in a perfect fourth inning. 

In the top of the fourth, Jay Thomason led off with a double. With one out, Khadim Diaw was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Diaw stole second base, and on the play, Thomason stole home to put the Surge back in fourth place. Diaw went to third on a wild pitch. Billy Amick singled to center to drive in the fifth run. 

The score remained 5-3 until the top of the seventh. With one out, Marek Houston flew out to center, deep enough to drive in Jaime Ferrer with the sixth run. After Diaw walked and Spain singled, the bases were loaded. Amick came through again with a two-run single to make it 8-3. 

In the top of the eighth, Jay Thomason came through with a two-run single to drive in DeBarge and Caden Kendle and make it 10-4. 

Sam Armstrong came in for the fifth inning and worked three innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out three batters. Darren Bowen and Kyle Bischoff each pitched a scoreless inning to close the door on a Wind Surge win!   

The Surge scored their 10 runs on 16 hits, six walks, and four hit batters. Kyle DeBarge went 3-for-5 with a walk, his 17th double and his 21st stolen base. Jay Thomason went 3-for-5 with his second double and his fourth and fifth steals. Brandon Winokur went 3-for-6. Billy Amick went 2-for-3 with two walks, was hit by a pitch and Garrett Spain went 2-for-5 with a walk. Caden Kendle was 2-for-4 and was twice hit by a pitch. Khadim Diaw had a single, a walk and was hit by a pitch. 

KERNELS CHRONICLES
Cedar Rapids 9, Beloit 1
Box Score
The Kernels grabbed the first lead in the bottom of the first inning. They put three on the scoreboard and just kept adding on, scoring in four of their final five at-bats. The other noteworthy key to this game is the pitching. The Kernels pitchers were very good, allowing just one run on four hits in nine innings. 

Kolten Smith started and gave up one run on three hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters. Christian Becerra walked one and struck one out in 1 1/3 scoreless innings to get the Win. Nolan Santos struck out one over two perfect innings. Nick Trabacchi worked the final two innings. He gave up no runs, one hit, and one walk to finish the win.  

All nine hitters in the lineup contributed. The Kernels scored nine runs on 14 hits, six walks, and three hit batters. All nine batters had at least one hit. The team had two homers and three doubles. 

In the first inning, they got doubles from Eduardo Tait doubled with one out and Jacob McCombs doubled to drive him in.   

The team’s third double came in the bottom of the fourth. Henry Kusiak doubled, scored when Dameury Pena reached on an error. Graham Brown followed with a two-run homer to give the Kernels a 4-1 lead. 

The final extra base hit came in the top of the fifth inning. McCombs led off the inning with a long home run. McCombs went 3-for-5 with his 11th double and his fifth home run. 

Eduardo Tait was 2-for-4 with a walk and his 18th double. He was also hit by a pitch. Dameury Pena went 2-for-5. Andy Lugo was also 2-for-5. Graham Brown went 1-for-3 with two walks and his fourth homer. Yasser Mercedes went 1-for-4 with two walks. Henry Kusiak was 1-for-3 with a walk, his seventh double and was hit by a pitch. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Lakeland 5, Fort Myers 9
Box Score
The Mussels returned and participated in arguably the most entertaining game of the day. Simply, it went back and forth. The Mussels took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Tigers tied it in the second. The Mussels took a 4-2 lead in the fourth and made it 5-2 in the sixth, but the Tigers responded with three runs in the top of the seventh to tie it at 5-5. However, after the 7th Inning Stretch, the Mussels scored four runs to take the lead and ultimately the win at 9-5. 

Ramiro Dominguez led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk. Jake Rucker doubled him to third base. Luis Fragoza flew out to center field to drive in Dominguez with the first run. JP Smith followed with a second sacrifice fly to drive in the rehabbing Rucker.   

Reed Moring made the start and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in the first 3 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Callan Fang came on next and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and had five strikeouts. 

Fang got the first out of the seventh inning. Dylan Questad came on and walked a rehabbing Gleyber Torres. After a wild pitch and a walk and another wild pitch, runners were on second and third. A two-run double drove in two runs and cut the Mussels lead to 5-4. Michael Hilker came in and allowed the inherited runner to score the tying run before getting the final out of the top of the seventh. 

Luis Fragoza reached on catcher’s interference. JP Smith followed with his 11th home run to give the Mussels the 7-5 lead.   

Luis Hernandez singled, and then with one out Irvin Nunez walked. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third.  With two outs, Merphy Hernandez drove in both of them with his third double of the season.

Michael Hilker pitched a scoreless eighth inning before the rehabbing Julian Merryweather struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning. 

Hernandez went 3-for-3 with a walk, his third double, his 26th and 27th stolen base. Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a walk. Rucker hit a double as did Luis Fragoza hit his 13th double. JP Smith hit his 11th homer and drove in three runs.

Family Fun at the Hot Corner: In a fun story, Jake Rucker’s rehab moved from the FCL to the Mighty Mussels this week. The third baseman is 26 and was the Twins seventh round pick in 2021 out of Tennessee. The third baseman for the Flying Tigers is Carson Rucker. The 21-year-old was the team’s fourth round draft pick in 2023 out of Goodpasture Christian High School in Madson, Tennessee, a suburb on the north end of Nashville. Yes, the two are brothers, and I would imagine that is pretty cool for the whole family.   

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 7, FCL Red Sox 2
Box Score  
Going into the games on Friday, the FCL Twins were 2 1/2 games behind the FCL Orioles for the Wild Card spot in the FCL playoffs. The Twins did their part on Friday by winning. However, so did the Orioles. 

On the surface, this looks like a very well-played and well-pitched game for the FCL Twins. The Twins scored in each of their first four innings at the plate including two crooked numbers. On a high level, the Twins pitchers gave up two runs on just one hit. Because of the win, maybe I just shouldn’t mention that Twins pitchers also walked 11 batters. Or maybe we shouldn’t mention that the Red Sox went 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts. Or maybe we can call it a great job of working out of some bad self-inflicted situations to hold the Red Sox to just two runs. The Red Sox were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. 

Matt Barr started and gave up an unearned run on one hit over two-plus innings. He walked four and had four strikeouts. Barr faced one batter in the third inning, but Geromy Villoria came in and walked a batter but recorded three outs without allowing the inherited runner to score. Hendry Chivilli came in to start the fourth inning. He was charged with one run on zero hits over 2 2/3 innings. He walked five batters and had two strikeouts. Jack Walker got the final four outs, two of them on strikeouts. 

The Twins scored their seven runs on six hits and seven walks. They also stole six bases in the game. Bryan Acuna went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Darwin Almanzar went 0-for-0 but walked three times. Yovanny Duran led off and went 1-for-3 with a walk, his fourth triple, and his 31st and 32nd steals. Jose Barrios was 0-for-1 with two walks. Daniel Pena had a single, was hit by a pitch and stole a base.

Remaining Schedules:
FCL Twins: Friday (Home vs Red Sox, Win), Saturday (@ Red Sox), Monday (@ Pirates), Tuesday (Home vs Orioles), Thursday (@ Orioles).
FCL Orioles: Friday (Home vs Pirates, Win), Saturday (@ Pirates), Monday (@ Rays), Tuesday (@ Twins), Wednesday (Home vs Braves), Thursday (Home vs Orioles) 

DSL Twins 10, DSL Phillies 7
Box Score
The Phillies started this game with a 5-0 lead after just two innings. Both teams scored two runs in the fourth inning which made it 7-2 Phillies. The Twins then scored three runs in the fifth frame and five runs in the top of the seventh inning to win it 10-7.  

Adrian Martinez started and gave up five runs on three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. He had two strikes. Juan Germosen came on and gave up a hit which allowed his inherited runner to score. He got the final out of that second inning. Sebastian Echavarria worked the middle three innings. He gave up two runs on two hits and three walks. Alwin Morillo struck out one in a perfect inning. Juan Quinones gave up a hit in a scoreless seventh frame. 

The top of the fourth began with two strikeouts. Abel Sosa then doubled. He went to third base on a single by Enmanuel Merlo. After Anibal Beltre walked to load the bases, Jefferson Abreu singled to drive in two runs.

In the top of the fifth inning, Nolwer Barboza led off with a single. He went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jendy Martinez, who also reached base when the first baseman forgot to catch the ball.  Juan Holmann singled to drive in Barboza.  Holmann stole second. The pitch was a passed ball which allowed Martinez to score. With Enmanuel Merlo drove in Holmann with a double which made it 7-5. 

That’s how it stood going to the seventh inning. Martinez led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Holmann walked. Jhon Gonzalez doubled to drive in Martinez with the sixth run. After a pitching change, Abel Sosa singled to left to drive in Holmann and Gonzalez and give the Twins an 8-7 lead. Merlo singled. A wild pitch put runners on first and second. On a second wild pitch, Sosa scored the ninth run, and later Merlo scored on another wild pitch.

The Twins scored their 10 runs on 10 hits and five walks. Enmanuel Merlo went 3-for-4 with his third double.  Abel Sosa went 2-for-4 with his third double. Jeferson Abreu was 2-for-4. Juan Holman was 1-for-3 with a walk and his 14th stolen base. Jendy Martinez walked twice. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day  
Kyle DeBarge (Wichita): 3-for-5, BB, 2B(17), R, 3 RBI, K, SB(21)
Billy Amick (Wichita): 2-for-3, 2 BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI
Jay Thomason (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2B(2), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB(5)
Jacob McCombs (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, 2B(11), HR(5), RBI, 2 R.
Merphy Hernandez (Fort Myers): 3-for-3, BB, 2B(3), R, 2 RBI, 2-SB (17),
Enmanuel Merlo (DSL Twins): 3-for-5, 2B(3), 2 R, RBI, K 

Pitcher(s) of the Day 
Jake Anderson (St. Paul): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K, 40 pitches, 28 strikes (70.0%)
Callan Fang (Fort Myers): 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K. 44 pitches, 28 strikes (63.6%)

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

In addition, keep up with the Twins draft pick signings at our Twins 2026 Draft Board.

#1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(4), R, RBI, K (batted first, played CF)
#4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB, HBP, 2B(18), 2 R, RBI, (batted second, DHd) 
#5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 0-for-4, SF RBI, BB, K (batted first, played SS)
#9 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted fifth, played DH)
#10 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, K (batted sixth, played 1B)
#12 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 3-for-6, R, 3 K (batted fifth, played 3B)
#13 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, HBP, 2 R, SB(4), (batted second, played catcher)
#14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-3, K (batted sixth, played SS) 
#18 - OF Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 BB, RBI, K (batted first, played RF)
#19 - 1B/3B Billy Amick (Wichita) - 2-for-3, 2 BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI (batted fourth, played DH) 
#20 - 2B/SS Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 3-for-5, BB, 2B(17), R, 3 RBI, K, SB(21) (batted sixth, played 2B) 

UPCOMING PROBABLES
Saturday, July 18
Louisville @ St. Paul (DH @ 4:37 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (2-4, 7.44 ERA), RHP Ricky Castro (2-1, 4.50 ERA)
Wichita @ Arkansas (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Riley Quick (First AA Start)
Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (DH @ 4:30 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 8.36 ERA), RHP Justin Mitrovich (first High-A start)  
Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (5:05 pm CT) - RHP Jason Reitz (0-1, 2.84 ERA)  
FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00 am CT) - 
DSL Twins - No Game Scheduled, Sunday All Star game. 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 49-49
St. Paul Saints: 51-41
Wichita Wind Surge: 30-56
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 36-49
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 47-38
FCL Twins: 31-24
DSL Twins: 9-23 

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!