Twins Minor League Report (8/10): Jenkins' Power Surge, Culpepper's Promotion and a Strong Week for the Twins' Affiliates

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St. Paul Saints activated CF Emmanuel Rodriguez from the 60-day injured list.

ST. PAUL SAINTS SENTINEL
The Saints were so close to a series sweep at CHS Field against the Louisville Bats. They took the first five games of the week, before dropping Sunday’s series finale. They did so despite the roster taking a hit, with Twins Daily’s number three prospect Kaelen Culpepper being promoted to the majors. Walker Jenkins provided the biggest highlight of the week with a two-homer game on Thursday, building on his own strong case to follow Culpepper onto the Twins roster. They Saints will now head south as they take on the Iowa Cubs this week, where the St. Paul offense will be tested.

North Side Baseball’s top pitching prospect (and number three overall prospect), Jaxon Wiggins, has struggled in Iowa. He’s sporting a 9.82 ERA across 22 innings, having allowed more than a hit AND walk per inning on average. The stuff is still there though, as he’s racked up 28 punchouts, and the Saints will have to worry about more than just him. A trio of major leaguers in Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Daniel Palencia are currently rehabbing in Iowa, and all will present challenges to St. Paul’s bats.

Offensively, the Cubs are led by right fielder Kevin Alcantara. Alcantara, who has bounced between Triple-A and the majors, is slashing .270/.364/.548 (.912 OPS), and has logged 31 extra-base hits across 63 games. Third baseman BJ Murray is also swinging a hot bat, slashing .296/.407/.489 (.896 OPS), and 40 extra-base hits.

WICHITA WIND SURGE WISDOM
It was a strong week for the Wind Surge, taking four out of six against NW Arkansas. They’ll now travel to Texas this week to take on the Corpus Christi Hooks. The Hooks are home to the Houston Astros’ number three prospect (according to MLB Pipeline), catcher Jason Schiavone, who’s slashing .246/.384/.384 (.768 OPS), along with 16 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases. 

The Hooks’ pitching staff is led by right-hander Brett Gillis, who has posted a 3.57 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP across 16 starts, as well as a 20.1% strikeout rate and an 8.2% walk rate.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS CHRONICLE
The Kernels are coming off a series split in South Bend against the Cubs. They’ll now turn their attention to hosting the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this week. 

The Timber Rattlers’ offense is headlined by a pair of Brewer Fanatic’s top five prospects, including their number two – shortstop Luis Pena. Across 46 games, he’s slashing .315/.402/.455 (.857 OPS), along with 15 extra-base hits and 25 stolen bases. He’s joined by outfielder Braylon Payne, who has already posted a 20-20 season, along with a .960 OPS.

Their pitching staff is led by Brewer Fanatic’s number 14 prospect, Josh Knoth. Knoth currently owns a 4.85 ERA across 52 innings for the Timber Rattlers, along with a 26% strikeout rate. 

FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS MATTERS
Fort Myers continued the trend of strong performances, taking four of six in Bradenton, Florida against the Marauders. While neither of the Twins’ top two draft picks (catchers Vahn Lackey and Carson Tinney) had particularly strong weeks at the plate, it was a successful week for the team. They’ll now take on the Clearwater Threshers this week, as they return to Fort Myers.

The Threshers are home to a pair of top 10 Phillies’ prospects (according to MLB Pipeline), one of whom being their number six prospect: Alirio Ferrebus. Ferrebus is slashing .324/.375/.520 (.895 OPS).

On the pitching side, the Mighty Mussels will get to see Philadelphia’s number seven prospect: left-hander Cade Obermueller. Across 35 2/3 innings, Obermueller owns a 2.78 ERA, along with an outrageous 35.3% strikeout rate. 

DSL TWINS
Twins 4, Tigers 3
Box Score

The Twins fell behind 2-0 early Monday, but rallied twice to come away with a 4-3 victory over the DSL Tigers 2. The win moves the Twins to 16-31 on the season.

The Twins got on the board in the third inning when Fabian Ulloa doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Jendy Martinez after Daiyer Barboza singled. An inning later, Enmanuel Merlo singled and stole second before Jeferson Abreu launched his fourth home run of the season with two outs, putting Minnesota ahead 3-2.

Detroit tied the game in the sixth, but the Twins immediately regained the lead in the bottom half. Jhon Gonzalez opened the inning with a double, and after an Abel Sosa single, Merlo grounded out to bring Gonzalez home. Gonzalez and Barboza each finished 2-for-3, while Merlo went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a run, and a stolen base. Abreu added two RBI of his own.

Wisarly Reinoso earned his first win of the season after recording the final out of the sixth, and Arthur De La Cruz struck out two in a scoreless seventh to earn the save. The Twins finished with eight hits while holding Detroit to five. They’lll take on DSL Miami tomorrow.

TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Jeferson Abreu: 1-2, 1 H, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
Arthur De La Cruz: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K

TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW
#1 - Walker Jenkins (Saints) - .304/.304/.696, 1.000 OPS, 2 HR
#2 - Vahn Lackey (Mussels) - .154/.353/.308, 2 2B
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Saints) - 462/.500/.769, 2 2B, 1 3B
#4 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Rehab) - .375/.565/.438, 6 BB, 2 K
#5 - Marek Houston (Wind Surge) - .143/.280/.191, 10 K, 4 BB
#6 - Riley Quick (Wind Surge) - 4 IP, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 BB
#7 - Eduardo Tait (Kernels) - .177/.222/.235, 1 2B, 1 RBI
#8 - Kendry Rojas (Saints) - 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 K
#10 - Hendry Mendez (Saints) - .200/.333/.333, 2 2B, 2 RBI
#11 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints) - .467/.467/.733, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
#13 - Carson Tinney (Mussels) - .083/.353/.083, 5 BB, 4 K
#14 - Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge) - .389/.542/.667, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI
#15 - Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge) - .238/.261/.286, 8 K, 0 BB
#17 - Quentin Young (Mussels) - .357/.333/.786, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI
#18 - Ryan Gallagher (Saints) - 6 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul Saints @ Iowa – LHP Kendry Rojas
Corpus Christi @ Wichita Wind Surge – TBD
Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids Kernels – LHP Michael Carpenter
Clearwater @ Fort Myers Mighty Mussels – TBD
DSL Twins @ DSL Miami – TBD

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!