Twins Minor League Report (7/25): Randy Dobnak Does it Again, Yasser Mercedes Promoted

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 56-45
St. Paul Saints: 49-49
Wichita Wind Surge: 38-55
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 53-38
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-41
FCL Twins: 28-31 (Season Complete) 
DSL Twins: 18-18

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Jay Jackson has been released from St. Paul by Minnesota
• C Jair Camargo was optioned to St. Paul and activated. 
• The Twins signed minor-league veteran RHP Mason Fox out of the independent Atlantic League. He was in the Padres organization from 2018 through 2023, which he missed due to injury. He was assigned to the Wind Surge. 
• Wichita placed LHP Jaylen Nowlin on the 7-Day IL.
• OF Yasser Mercedes promoted to Low-A Fort Myers

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Omaha 2
Box Score
Randy Dobnak drew the start on Thursday for the Saints. He was passed over for David Festa with the Twins on Wednesday, but he showed up in a big way against the Storm Chasers. He worked seven innings, and came out for the eighth, before bowing out. Ronny Henriquez gave up an inherited runner to tally one for Dobnak, but the Saints starter scattered seven hits while walking none and striking out five.

Alex Isola scored DaShawn Keirsey Jr. on a single in the first inning before Patrick Winkel drove him home to make it 2-0. Dalton Shuffield scored the third run on a second inning wild pitch and a rehabbing Jose Miranda made it 4-0 in the fourth on a double that scored Keirsey Jr.

A Payton Eeles single scored Winkel in the fifth inning to make it 5-0, and a couple of less than notable Omaha runs weren’t going to change the outing. Winkel finished with three hits while Shuffield tripled and Miranda doubled to record the extra-base knocks.

The Saints moved back to .500, and Dobnak dropped his ERA to 3.61 on the season. The expectation should be that Miranda is on a flight to rejoin Minnesota.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Amarillo 3, Wichita 2
Box Score
Christian MacLeod made his Double-A debut for Wichita and worked 4 2/3 innings. He was charged with three runs on four hits and four walks. He also struck out four but allowed a pair of home runs.

Down 3-0 after the third inning, Wichita had work to do. It wasn’t until the ninth inning that they answered, It began with a Tanner Schobel triple. Tyler Dearden and Andrew Cossetti scored, but the tying run was stranded 90 feet from home.

Dearden and Schobel both had a pair of hits on the evening. Luke Keaschall and Dearden drew a walk each to represent the pair for Wichita.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Quad Cities 5, Cedar Rapids 3
Box Score
Jeremy Lee was on the bump for the Kernels and he punched out six while allowing just a single earned run on four hits across 5 2/3 innings on Thursday night. Nolan Santos came on for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while striking out three.

Kyle Hess singled home Misael Urbina in the third inning to score the game’s first run before Jay Harry drove home Kevin Maitan in the sixth inning. After the River Bandits got on back in the bottom of the frame, Hess scored on a seventh inning wild pitch to make it 3-1. A ninth inning grand slam by Shervyen Newton walked off the good guys and gave Quad Cities a 5-3 win.

Hess was joined by Gabriel Gonzalez as the only batters to record a pair of hits. Hess’ double was also the lone extra-base hit of the evening and Gonzalez was nabbed trying to steal.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Dunedin 2
Box Score
Spencer Bengard worked five innings of scoreless baseball. The Mighty Mussels starter gave up just two hits while walking one and striking one out. Juan Mercedes and Kyle Bloor also worked scoreless relief outings.

The sides were even until the fifth inning when Byron Chourio doubled home Maddux Houghton to break the scoreless tie. Brandon Winokur launched his sixth home run of the season to make it 2-0 in the sixth inning and then the seventh inning got wild. Playing in his first Low-A game, Yasser Mercedes reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Houghton, Yohander Martinez, and Chourio. WinZzce fly to score Mercedes and make it a 6-0 game.

The Blue Jays plated a pair in the ninth inning, but it was ultimately too little, too late.

Chourio and Matthew Clayton both had a pair of hits for Fort Myers. Mercedes went 0-for-5 with a run and a walk in his Mighty Mussels debut. 

COMPLEX CHRONICLES
FCL Twins 1, FCL Orioles 0
Box Score
Dylan Questad started and worked two innings of scoreless baseball. He gave up a single hit and struck out two. The Twins allowed just three hits across seven shutout innings as a team. The struck out five and walked only one.

Dameury Pena opened the scoring with a third inning sacrifice fly that scored Omari Daniel. That wound up being the only run of the game. Pena didn’t record a hit but did tally a walk.

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Marlins 8, DSL Twins
Box Score
It was a back and forth tilt on Thursday for the Twins and Marlins. The Twins wound up using six different pitchers, and none threw more than two innings. Sebastian Pulido and Aaron Carranza were the only arms to work scoreless outings.

After getting behind in the first inning, the Twins responded with a three-spot to take the lead. The Marlins jumped back ahead 4-3 in the third inning, but the Twins evened it up in the bottom half. Tied at six after the top of the eighth inning, the Twins scored a run in the bottom and grabbed the lead again at 7-6. Aiberson Ventura balked with runners on the corners to give up the lead again, and the Twins needed a run in the ninth to walk it off.

Despite pushing Merphy Hernandez to second in the bottom of the ninth, the Twins couldn’t get him home. Extras were needed to settle things. The Marlins got one in the tenth and the Twins couldn’t answer, ultimately coming up one run short.

Daiber De Los Santos and Merphy Hernandez recorded a pair of hits, while the Twins had eight hits on the day. Hernandez scored a pair of runs, as did De Los Santos. Drawing six walks, Carlos Silva and Luis Fragoza each recorded a pair of them. The Twins didn’t have an extra-base hit, but both Hernandez(3) and De Los Santos(2) stole multiple bases.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul) - 7.0+ IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. 
#5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-4, BB, K
#9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 0-3, BB, K
#10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
#13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 2-4, 2 RBI, 3B, K
#20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 1-5, K

FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul vs Omaha (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Adam Plutko (4-1, 4.44 ERA)
Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (0-3, 5.83 ERA)
Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-5, 6.46 ERA)
Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (2-0, 4.85 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’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!