Twins Minor League Report (7/20): Full-Season Affiliates Look to Build on Strong Weeks, Rookie League Teams Both Tagged for 10 Runs.

TRANSACTIONS
DSL Twins activated RHP Camilo Made.
Minnesota Twins optioned SS Tristan Gray to St. Paul Saints.

SAINTS SENTINEL
The Saints rebounded tremendously coming out of the All-Star break, sweeping the Louisville Bats 4-0 over the weekend. The Saints will return home this week to take on Columbus, whom they split their late-May series with earlier this season. The Clippers, of the Cleveland Guardians organization, will bring with them two top-100 talents. 

1B/LF Ralphy Velazquez has split his season between Double-A and Triple-A, now playing 42 games with the Clippers. Triple-A competition has proven to cool him a bit initially, as the 21-year-old is now hitting .273/.357/.422 (.780 OPS). Switch-hitting Angel Genao will also make the trip to St. Paul and has been hitting well after his mid-season promotion to Triple-A as he slashes .305/.390/.486 (.876 OPS)

C/LF Cooper Ingle is a top-10 organizational prospect for Cleveland. At 24 years old and in part of a second season at Triple-A, Ingle has put together very positive numbers, hitting .295/.422/.570 (.992 OPS). Those numbers were enough to give Ingle a brief stint in the big leagues. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
The break also proved effective for the Wind Surge, as they went 3-0 over their short series with Arkansas. The Wind Surge will now take on the Midland Rockhounds at home, who had Wichita’s number last time in a 1-5 series at the end of June. 

Top nationally ranked prospect, SS Leo De Vries, has only improved on his hitting numbers, which now sit at .292/.384/.455 (.839 OPS). The same trend is true for OF Devin Taylor, whose numbers have improved to .338/.400/.610 (1.010 OPS) in his 33 games at Double-A. The final top Athletic prospect to keep an eye on is LHP Jamie Arnold, whose ERA has dropped from 4.64 to 4.11 since last facing the Wind Surge. 

KERNEL CHRONICLE
Cedar Rapids split their four-game series with Beloit over the weekend and now travel to Dayton for a full six-game series. The Cincinnati Reds affiliate boasts one borderline top-10 prospect. That prospect is 20-year-old 3B/SS Tyson Lewis. Lewis is a short 13 games into his High-A career and is batting .288/.327/.442 (.770 OPS) with two stolen bases (9 total between Low and High-A). 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers only managed to go 1-2 against Lakeland in their three-game set, but there was a fun family rivalry between the Rucker family.

Now the Mussels will travel to St. Lucie. The Mets affiliate still boasts Elian Pena as their most intriguing prospect. Pena is hitting similarly to what he did last time the Mussels saw St. Lucie with a slash line of .261/.387/.352 (.739 OPS).  

FCL TWINS
Twins 4, Pirates 10
Box Score

The Monday loss officially eliminated the FCL Twins from playing in the FCL playoffs this year. They are one of five teams with more than 30 wins. Unfortunately, the Wild Card will also come from the same division. The two remaining games with the Orioles will no longer have playoff implications. 

The Twins were neck and neck with the Pirates for most of the game, but the seventh inning turned ugly as the Pirates put a crooked six on the scoreboard. In the top of the third inning, Yovanny Duran was able to put up the Twins second run after scoring on a wild pitch. Duran had a productive day going 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs scored. Ironically, both of Duran’s runs scored came on wild pitches. 

After the Pirates tied the game up in the fourth inning, the Twins came up in the top of the fifth and Teilon Serrano singled to score 2B Bryan Acuna. Acuna was 1-for-4, with a walk, and a run scored on Monday. Serrano also added a walk to his single that scored Acuna. 

Melvin Rodriguez got the start for the Twins and had a productive start even if that is not reflected in the final score. Rodriguez went 4 ⅔ innings, allowed five hits, two earned runs, two walks, while striking out four. Carter Joljes, who ended up as the pitcher of record, pitched 1 ⅓ innings of relief, allowing five hits, seven runs, four earned runs, issued two walks, and recorded one strikeout. 

DSL TWINS
Twins 1, Marlins 10
Box Score

In a 10-1 loss, it is hard to find anything positive, but there are a few highlights over what will ultimately go down as a tough loss. Miguel Martinez got the Twins started with a clean first inning, allowing no hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. That was the only inning Martinez pitched, seemingly acting as an opener for the Twins against the Marlins. 

Jesus Moreno tackled a bulk of the Twins pitching innings, and he was the first pitcher the Marlins got to, although not until Moreno’s third and final inning of work. Moreno held the Marlins scoreless for two innings, but in the end his stat line was three innings pitched, five hits, five runs, four earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. 

Offensively, the Twins scored their one run right after the Marlins exploded for five in the fifth inning. It was the often-impactful Luis Duarte who singled to drive in Misael Rodriguez to bring the score to 5-1. Rodriguez was subbed into the game for Juan Holmann, who didn’t record an at-bat and went 2-for-3 to raise his average to .302. Jendy Martinez also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk. Anibal Beltre was the third Twins player to have a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with a strikeout. Six of the Twins seven hits Monday were evenly divided up between Martinez, Rodriguez, and Beltre.

Daiyer Barboza and Abel Sosa were the Twins representatives in the DSL All-Star Game Sunday. Sosa entered the game but did not record an at-bat. Barboza did not show up in the box score for the game. 

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Misael Rodriguez: 2-3, 1 R, 1 K 
Melvin Rodriguez: 4 ⅔ IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K

TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW
#1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .286/.412/.643, 1.055 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR
#4- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)-  .308/.400/.692, 1.092 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR
#5- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .214/.294/.214, .508 OPS
#6- Riley Quick (Kernels)- 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
#7- Kendry Rojas (Twins)- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
#8- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- ..125/.125/.125, .250 OPS
#10- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .417/.417/.500, .917 OPS. 1 2B
#12- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .400/.375/.400, .775 OPS 
#13- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- .385/.529/.385, .914 OPS
#14- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .167/.286/.167, .452 OPS
#15- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
#17-C.J. Culpepper (Saints)-1 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 
#18- Yasser Mercedes (Kernels)- .294/.400/.412, .812 OPS, 2 2B
#19- Billy Amick (Wind Surge)- .250/.428/.333, .771 OPS, 1 2B
#20- Kyle DeBarge (Wind Surge)- .429/.500/.714, 1.214 OPS, 2 2B, 1 3B

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Columbus @ St. Paul Saints- RHP Jack Anderson
Midland @ Wichita Wind Surge- TBD
Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Dayton- RHP Ivran Romero 
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels @ St. Lucie- RHP Eric Hammond
FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins - TBD

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