Twins Minor League Report (7/24): Good Day to be a Fan of the Twins Organization!

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 55-45
St. Paul Saints: 48-49
Wichita Wind Surge: 38-54
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 53-37
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 48-41
FCL Twins: 27-31
DSL Twins: 18-17

BUSINESS OF MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL
Remember the limits on minor-leaguers in an organization changed again in 2024. Each MLB team fields five minor-league teams in the United States. There are four full-season affiliates and one “complex” affiliate. Just three years ago (2021), teams were limited to 180 players . This year, that number has been reduced to 165 active players on domestic minor-league rosters. This doesn’t include the Dominican Summer League. In addition, teams can have up to 15 players on the 60-Day (or Full-Season) Injured List. However, players on the 7-Day IL count toward the 165 player limit. 

So, what does this mean? Well, as players come off of the 60-Day IL, if the organization is at 165, someone would need to be released. Also, the Twins just drafted 22 players. As they sign and are placed on rosters, the organization needs to remain at 165 players or fewer. 

I bring this up because there are likely to be several tough releases over the coming weeks. Some of that started yesterday as the Twins released four players from the organization.

You can keep up with the 2024 Twins draft picks here. It was updated with a lot of player signings on Wednesday. Have they signed? How much? Under or over slot? Two signings worth looking at are Competitive Balance pick Dasan Hill and 11th round pick Michael Carpenter. 

PROSPECT RANKINGS
First, if you missed my updated Top 30 Twins prospects blog posted yesterday, please check it out and share your thoughts. 

Twins Daily is in the process of updating our Top 20 Twins Prospect rankings. You can participate in that ranking. Click here to rank your Top 20 Twins Prospects. 

TRANSACTIONS
With the Twins early-afternoon game, RHP Ronny Henriquez was optioned to St. Paul, and David Festa was recalled to be the “bulk” pitcher against the Phillies. In addition, RHP Brock Stewart was added back to the Twins roster. Infielder Diego A. Castillo was DFAd to make room for him. Castillo is likely to clear waivers and remain with the Saints. He had a couple of nice moments, highlights in his brief stint in the big leagues. 

Following the Twins game, Jair Camargo was optioned to Saint Paul. The Twins have an off day tomorrow, but there will certainly be at least one more move made on Friday to make room for the two players in the next paragraph. 

Royce Lewis played in his second rehab game for the Saints, and Jose Miranda played in his first rehab game. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 6, Omaha 2
Box Score
The Saints welcomed Bernie, well, Terry Kiser (of Weekend at Bernie's fame) out to toss the ceremonial first pitch. Also, how is that movie 35 years old!!?? What a classic! 

Caleb Boushley has had a very nice season with the Saints. He’s even been called up to the Twins a couple of times. He is currently off of the 40-man roster but continues to pitch well in St. Paul. On Wednesday, he gave up one run on four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. He is now 9-4 this year with an ERA of 4.47. 

Nick Wittgren came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk in his inning. Matt Bowman gave up two hits in the eighth inning, but no runs. Diego Castillo got the ninth inning and struck out two batters. 

The Saints scored in the first three innings of this game to give them a 4-0 lead. Omaha scored their two runs in the middle innings, but St. Paul scored two more in the eighth inning for the final runs on the game. 

The Twins had two of their players rehabbing at CHS Field on Wednesday. Royce Lewis batted second and was the DH. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a strikeout. He doubled in the first inning and came around to score on a single by Yunior Severino. Jose Miranda batted third and played third base. He went 2-for-4 in the game. 

Severino went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 10th double. Wynton Bernard went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Rylan Bannon went 1-for-3 with two walks. Payton Eeles went 1-for-3 with a walk and his sixth stolen base. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Amarillo 7
Box Score
Let’s just jump right to the eighth inning because that’s where the action really started, at least if you’re a Wind Surge fan. 

The Surge were down 3-0 and had approximately an 11-percent chance of winning. To that point, they had just two hits in the game. However, Tanner Schobel led off the inning with a single, and Ben Ross walked. Suddenly their odds of winning jumped to nearly 18-percent. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third. However, the next two batters struck out without a run scoring, so the odds of winning were down to just under 8-percent. 

That brought Luke Keaschall to the plate. After watching two pitches come in just wide of the plate, he got a pitch right down the middle, and he did exactly what good hitters should do with pitches right down the middle. He launched a ball well beyond the fencing in left-center field to tie the game at 3-3.

While the majority of his home runs have come to lead off the game for his team, this has to be the most clutch to date. Wichita’s Win Probability surged from 8-percent to about 43-percent.  

And then the Sod Poodles scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-3 lead and the Surge were unable to score in the ninth. 

Travis Adams made the start for the Surge and gave his team a Quality Start. In six innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked three and had two strikeouts. Sure, he got a little help from his friends too.

Sometimes that friend can be your 5-8 catcher/outfielder. 

And sometimes it is really nice to have a 6-8 right fielder. 

Cody Laweryson pitched a scoreless seventh inning. However, he was charged with all four run in the eighth inning (three were earned). He exited a 4-3 game, and Miguel Rodriguez got the final two outs. However, that final out came after all three inherited runners scored. 

Keaschall provided the big, timely hit for Wichita, but the team had just five hits and two walks Schobel went 1-for-3 with a walk. Jake Rucker hit his 16th double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2
Box Score
The Kernels spread out their runs. They scored right away, a couple of times in the middle, and maybe most important, they added insurance runs late to take the win down in Davenport.

Cedar Rapids scored the first run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Ricardo Olivar and Gabriel Gonzalez singled. Then with two outs, Rubel Cespedes singled to center to drive in Olivar, but he tried to make it a double and was thrown out. 

Quad Cities scored two runs in the bottom of the third frame to take the lead, but the Kernels responded quickly with a pair in the fourth. With two outs, Nate Baez walked. Misael Urbina followed with an RBI double. Jose Salas came up and singled to center to drive in Urbina with the team’s third run. 

The score remained 3-2 through seven innings thanks to some fantastic pitching from the two Kernels pitchers. 

Let’s jump to the pitching because the Kernels got two very strong performances on Wednesday night. Brooklyn Park’s John Klein improved to 7-2. He tossed the first six innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out seven batters. 

Jarret Whorff came on and was perfect for the final three innings to record his first save of the year. Five of the nine outs came via the strikeout.  

Back to the batters. Where were we? Oh yeah, the score remained 3-2 through seven innings, but that’s when Cedar Rapids added some insurance which, I guess, makes a lot of sense now that I overthink it.

Cespedes led off the eighth with a walk. He advanced to third base on a double by Baez. A wild pitch allowed Cespedes to score the fourth run. Unfortunately, that was followed with two strikeouts and an infield pop up which left Baez stranded at third base. 

On to the ninth inning, with one out, Olivar doubled and moved to third on a ground out. Kevin Maitan wasn’t going to strand him. He (presumably) wanted to get a pitch he could drive into the outfield, deep enough to score Olivar. Instead, on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Maitan got a pitch at the bottom of the zone and hit one far enough into the outfield that it went over the fence in right-center for a two-run homer. That gave the team a more-comfortable 6-2 lead, though on this night, Whorff didn’t necessarily need insurance. It’s still nice to have. 

Olivar led the Kernels offense. He went 4-for-5 with his 16th and 17th doubles. Gabriel Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with his 11th double. Urbina went 2-for-4 with his 12th double. Maitan’s home run was his sixth since joining the Kernels. 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 8, Dunedin 1 
Box Score
With three runs in the third and three more runs in the fourth inning, the Mussels got strong pitching and cruised to a nice win on Wednesday night in Dunedin. How did their pitching staff compare to the previous night’s no-hitter? I think we can say they did quite well!  

Maddux Houghton led off the top of the third inning with his third home run of the season. He found himself down in the count 0-2 but worked it back to full before launching a ball 355 feet onto the berm in left field. 

With one out, Yohander Martinez was hit by a pitch. Walker Jenkins followed with his third home run of the season to make it 3-0. It appears Jenkins might have been guessing slider (or at least something offspeed) as he hit the first pitch out of the yard. 

Dunedin scored one in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. In the top of the fourth inning, Poncho Ruiz singled to right, and Rixon Wingrove singled to left to start the inning. Seeing both record opposite field hits had to make the Mussels coaching staff feel good. After one out, Houghton was able to reach on an error. Ruiz scored and the Mussels had runners on second and third with one out. After a line out for the second out, Martinez walked to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Jenkins went the opposite way for a two-run single that made it 6-1. 

That’s how the score remained until the top of the eighth when, with two outs, Houghton singled to drive in Ruiz. Then in the ninth, Martinez walked and advanced to second and then third on a couple of wild pitches. Jenkins walked. With one out, Brandon Winokur hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in the team’s eighth run. 

Jenkins went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer, and four RBI. Houghton was 2-for-4 with a home run. Martinez reached three times, twice on walks and once when he was hit by a pitch. 

No, No… I didn’t forget to mention the pitching staff that held Dunedin to just one run in nine innings on Wednesday. Sure, it wasn’t a six-inning no-hitter like the Mussels had on Tuesday, but this performance was fantastic. 

Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one run on just one hit, a solo homer, over the first four innings. He walked one and had six strikeouts. Tomas Cleto came on and struck out three batters in 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. Jack Noble got the next four outs, two came on strikeouts. Sam Perez struck out two batters over two perfect innings to close out a very nice, all-around win. 

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Kernels) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K, or 
                                  Jarret Whorff (Kernels) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K. (9 up, 9 down) 
Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (Kernels) -  4-for-5, 2-2B(17), 2 R, or
                              Walker Jenkins (Mussels) - 2-for-4, BB, HR(3), R, 4 RBI 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday.
#1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 2-for-4, BB, HR(3), R, 4 RBI   
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, K 
#4 – David Festa (Minnesota) – 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 73 pitches, 46 strikes (63.0%)
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-5, 2B(11), K   
#8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-for-0, SH    
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) –  1-for-4, HR(5), R, 3 RBI, K  
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, SF, RBI, K .
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-3, BB, R, K 
#18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 3-for-4, BB, 2B(10), R, RBI, K 
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 4-for-5, 2-2B(17), 2 R

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (8-5, 3.79 ERA)
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM CST) – LHP Christian MacLeod (first AA start)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (1-3, 3.90 ERA)
Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Spencer Bengard (6-2, 1.79 ERA) 
FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (9:00 AM CT) - TBD
DSL Marlins @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’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!