Twins Minor League Report (8/14): Carson McCusker and the Wind Surge Doubled Up the Travelers

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 67-53
St. Paul Saints: 56-59
Wichita Wind Surge: 48-62
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 59-49
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 58-47
FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete)
DSL Twins: 27-24 

TRANSACTIONS
The Twins optioned RHP Josh Winder to St. Paul. That allowed them to promote RHP Louie Varland to make the start on Wednesday afternoon. Following the game, Varland was optioned back to St. Paul. A corresponding move will likely be made before Thursday’s game in Texas.

OF Yasser Mercedes was placed on the 7-Day Injured List by the Mussels. 

RHP Omar Montano was signed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he was assigned to the DSL Twins. 

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 6
Box Score
The Saints faced 23-year-old Jared Jones who was making his second rehab start before hopefully getting back to the Pirates. The flame-thrower had a tremendous start to his season and may have been a strong NL Rookie of the Year candidate (with Jackson Merrill) until teammate Paul Skenes arrived on the scene. 

The Saints were able to get to him early and often. With one out in the top of the first inning, Diego A. Castillo, Edouard Julien, and Jair Camargo hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to give them a 2-0 lead. With two outs, the speed of the Saints catchers showed itself. Camargo stole third base. Chris Williams walked and stole second. On a throwing error, Camargo scored from this base to make it 3-0. 

In the top of the third, Castillo led off with a single. One out later, Camargo singled Castillo to third base. After a pop out for the second out, Williams came through with a big, two-run double that made it 5-0. 

Unfortunately for the Saints, and for the second straight night, an early big league just wasn’t enough. That said, lefty Caleb Baragar had a very nice start. He tossed three shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four batters. 

Ryan Jensen came in next and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Hobie Harris allowed an inherited runner to score and one run over his own on three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings. However, through five innings the Saints still clung to a 5-4 lead. That's where the score remained through eight innings thanks to two scoreless innings by Nick Wittgren. 

Diego Castillo came on for the bottom of the ninth, trying to protect a one-run lead. He faced five batters. It went single, single, single, reach on error, walkoff single.

The Saints had nine hits and five of them were doubles. Diego A. Castillo went 2-for-5 with his 19th double. Camargo went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. Payton Eeles went 2-for-4 with his fourth double.  

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 8, Arkansas 4
Box Score
In the top of the first, it was Mariners’ catching prospect Harry Ford who put Arkansas on the scoreboard with a solo home run. Ford is a top 100 prospect. The Twins top catching prospect, Ricardo Olivar, evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning when he connected for his first home run with the Surge.  

Wichita took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Jefferson Morales doubled to drive in Tanner Schobel. Morales then scored on a Carson McCusker double to make it 3-1. In the sixth inning, the lead jumped to 4-1 when McCusker scored on a Tyler Dearden double. 

Cory Lewis made the start for the Wind Surge. He gave up the first-inning Ford homer and that was the only run he allowed over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up five hits, walked three, hit one, and struck out seven batters. 

Regi Grace replaced Lewis with a runner on and got out of the sixth inning unscathed. Unfortunately, in the top of the seventh, he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk. He gave up an RBI triple to Cole Young and then Hogan Windish hit a two-run homer which tied the game 4-4. 

Following the seventh inning stretch, Jorel Ortega gave Wichita the lead back with his ninth homer of the season. 

Miguel Rodriguez came on and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit… though he hit two batters. 

The Surge added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning. McCusker scored again, this time on a single by Aaron Sabato. Later in the inning, Ben Ross (who pinch-ran for Sabato) scored on Noah Cardenas double. Ortega drove in Cardenas with a single to make it 8-4.  

McCusker led the way. He went 4-for-4 with three doubles. He now has 25 on the season. Ortega went 2-for-4 with his ninth homer and two RBI. He also stole his eighth base Dalton Shuffield went 2-for-4. Schobel (17th), Morales (20th), Dearden (7th) and Cardenas (9th) each added a double. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, South Bend 2 
Box Score
Ricky Castro put together his best start since joining the Kernels. He gave up a first inning run, but that was the only run he gave up over six innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and had eight strikeouts. An Illinois native, he went undrafted out of Tulane. He ended the 2023 season with Juliet in the independent Frontier League. He made three appearances with them this spring before the Twins signed him on May 29th. He made just a handful of appearances in Fort Myers before joining the Kernels about three weeks ago.

Down 1-0, the Kernels tied it in the bottom of the first inning. Gabriel Gonzalez hit a one-out single and scored on a Rubel Cespedes double. 

In the bottom of the second, Nick Lucky hit a one-out single and advanced to third on a Misael Urbina single. Lucky scored on a wild pitch. After Kyle Hess walked, Walker Jenkins singled to load the bases. Gonzalez followed with a walk to make it 3-1 Kernels. 

Mike Paredes gave up one run on one hit, a solo homer, over two innings. He had three strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez worked a scoreless ninth inning, although he did hit a batter. 

Gonzalez made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when he singled in Misael Urbina. 

South Bend cut the lead to 4-2 in the eighth inning when Andy Garriola hit his second home run. The Kernels got that run back in the bottom of the eighth. Nate Baez doubled, and after a Lucky single, Misael Urbina hit into a double play that drove in the fifth run. 

Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Nate Baez was 2-for-3 with a walk and his ninth double. Lucky went 2-for-4. The Cespedes double was his 16th of the season. Kyle Hess had three walks in the game.      

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 6, Lakeland 3
Box Score
The Mussels scored single runs in the first, second and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead. In the first inning, Kyle DeBarge scored on a force out off the bat of Billy Amick. In the second inning, Caden Kendle hit an infield single to short, and Daniel Pena scored on the throwing error. In the fifth frame, the Mussels took a 3-0 lead when Brandon Winokur scored on a wild pitch. 

Charlee Soto continued his late-season success with another strong start. He gave up four hits and two walks over five scoreless innings. He had four strikeouts. 

Juan Bonilla worked a scoreless inning in his return from the injured list. 

Tomas Cleto was on the mound next. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning but was only able to get one out. He was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks. Juan Mercedes allowed an inherited runner to score, but he had three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings.  

Lakeland tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning, but the Mussels responded with a three-run inning to take the commanding 6-3 lead. With two outs, Billy Amick doubled and Khadim Diaw walked. Daniel Pena drove in Amick with a single to right. Derek Bender walked to load the bases. Caden Kendle drove in two runs with his third double. 

Brandon Winokur went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 14th double. He also stole his 16th base. Kendle went 2-for-4 with the big, two-run double. Pena went 1-for-3 with a walk. 

DOMINICAN DAILIES
DSL Twins 6, DSL Mets Blue 12
Box Score                                                                                                                                              The game was back and forth through the first six innings when the Twins scored two runs to make it 5-5. Unfortunately, the Mets scored seven runs over the next two innings to take control of the game. 

Anderson Chacon started for the Twins. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk over two innings. He had two strikeouts. Enyer Cepeda pitched the third inning and gave up an unearned run. Manuel Compres gave up a run on one hit and three walks over the next two innings. 

Aaron Carranza came in for the sixth inning. He gave up five runs (# earned) on three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Raymi Castillo got three outs and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. All three outs he got were on strikeouts. Daniel Manzueta got four outs and gave up only one walk.

Nestor Urbina led the offense. He went 3-for-3 with his fourth double. He also stole his seventh base. Ricardo Paez went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fourth steal. Luis Fragoza had a single and two walks.   

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Charlee Soto (Mussels) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 42 strikes (65.6%).
                                Ricky Castro (Kernels) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 84 pitches, 57 strikes (67.9%).
Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker (Wind Surge) - 4-for-4, 3-2B(25), 2 R, RBI 

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

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5, K 
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, BB, R, 2 RBI, K 
#8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) –  5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 42 strikes (65.6%).
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4.
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-for-3, BB, 2B(14), SB(16).
#13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, HB, 7 K, 86 pitches, 54 strikes (63.0%). 
#16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 K, SB(7).
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-5, 2B(17), R, K.

THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Indianapolis (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Aaron Rozek (0-1, 6.38 ERA)
Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (first AA start) 
South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (first High-A start)
Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Jose Olivares (2-1, 2.90 ERA)
DSL Rockies @ 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!