Twins Minor League Report (8/28): Byron Chourio, JP Smith Power Kernels Win

TRANSACTIONS  
I’m not sure if you have heard yet, but the Minnesota Twins called up OF Walker Jenkins to the big leagues (officially on Friday). To make room on the 26-man roster OF Alan Roden was optioned to St. Paul. To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Woo-Suk Go was Designated for Assignment. 

RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto was promoted to St. Paul for the second time this season. 

RHP Finnegan Wall moved from the FCL Twins roster to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. 

The Kernels placed RHP Brian Zeldin on the 7-Day Injured List.    

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 1, Toledo 4
Box Score
To say this wasn’t a great game for the Saint is probably an understatement. Well, the pitching wasn’t actually too bad.  

German Marquez provided the Saints with innings in this game. He gave up four runs, but he gave the team six innings. He gave up eight hits, walked four and had four strikeouts. 

C.J. Culpepper struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. Julian Merryweather gave up two hits but no runs in a scoreless ninth frame. He had one strikeout.

The Saints went scoreless through the game’s first eight innings. They did score a run in the bottom of the ninth when Tanner Schobel drove in Kala’i Rosario with a fielder’s choice grounder. 

The Saints scored their one run on five hits and four walks. They were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. That’s understandable when a team strikes out 19 times. All 10 Saints batters that played in the game struck out at least once. Four Saints batters struck out three times.  

Kala’i Rosario went 2-for-4 with his second double. He also stole his second base. Tristan Gray had the only other extra base hit, his third Saints double. Emmanuel Rodriguez was 0-for-2 but walked twice. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 3, Arkansas 5
Box Score
Chris Vallimont made the start for the Surge. The veteran gave up one run on three hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out four batters. Sam Armstrong went the next four innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He struck out six batters and walked none. Darren Bowen walked two and had a strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning. 

The issue was that, like the Saints, the Wind Surge scored in just one of nine innings. Down 4-0 going to the bottom of the seventh inning, Wichita scored three runs after the 7th Inning Stretch. 

Jaime Ferrer led off the seventh by being hit by a pitch. Graham Brown followed with his third Double-A home run which cut the deficit in half. 

With two outs, Jake Rucker walked. Brandon Winokur singled him to third. Rucker scored on a Garrett Spain single to make it 4-3. That’s as close as they got. 

Wichita had three runs on six hits and four walks. Caden Kendle went 2-for-2 with a walk. Brown’s home run was his third Double-A homer. Spain and Andrew Cossetti each had a single and a walk. They were just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. 

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 8, Lake County 3
Box Score
The Kernels fell behind early in this game. Justin Mitrovich started and gave up one hit, walked three and hit one batter. He recorded just two outs, one on a strikeout, but he was already at 39 pitches, so he came out with the bases loaded. Finnegan Wall came in with the bases loaded and walked the first batter he faced before getting the first inning’s final out. All three runs were charged to Mitrovich. Wall went 2 1/3 innings and gave up no runs of his own. He gave up three hits and walked a second batter. Not a bad first professional appearance, especially with what he came into. 

Down 3-0 after one inning, the Kernels bullpen was really good the final eight innings. Yehizon Sanchez and Brent Francisco each tossed two scoreless innings. Sanchez gave up one hit, hit one batter, and walked one. He struck out two batters. Francisco gave up four hits and had four strikeouts. 

Cole Peschl and Michael Hilker each tossed a scoreless innings. Peschl had one strikeout and Hilker had two strikeouts. 

The Kernels got on the scoreboard in the second inning. With two outs, Ramiro Dominguez walked. He advanced a base on a Byron Chourio single. Irvin Nunez reached on an error to load the bases. Jacob McCombs then reached on another fielding error which allowed two runs to score. 

In the bottom of the third inning, JP Smith knocked his sixth home run since joining the Kernels earlier in the month. He had 15 home runs with Fort Myers.  The solo homer tied the score at 3-3.   

The middle innings were quiet, but the Kernels took their first lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Chourio started the inning with a single to left. He stole second and went to third base on a throwing error. Chourio scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of McCombs. 

The Kernels broke things open in the bottom of the eighth inning, doubling their scoring output from the previous seven innings. Eduardo Tait led off with a single. He went to third on a Smith single and a throwing error. With one out, Jayson Bass singled in Tait to make it 5-3. 

With two outs, Chourio stepped to the plate and launched a three-run homer to make it 8-3. Batting eighth, Chourio went 3-for-4 with his third home run, three runs scored and three runs driven in. He also stole his sixth base.   

McCombs went 2-for-3 with his fifth triple. Smith was 2-for-3 with a walk and his sixth Kernels homer.  

The photo of Byron Chourio at the top of this article is one of nearly 4,000 photos that Dee Malamut of Malamut Photography took at last night's Kernels game in Cedar Rapids. You will see Dee at most Kernels home games, and we are lucky enough to be able to use some of his great photos. And, if you're planning on going to Cedar Rapids, or maybe at Twins Fest, you can order some photos from Dee himself. Check out the home page and find links to the 2026 games (and further back). You can also use the search functionality and type in names of current or past Kernels players and find their photos. The current Kernels roster has Top 20 prospects like Vahn Lackey, Eduardo Tait, and Yasser Mercedes. Marek Houston, Riley Quick, Khadim Diaw, Enrique Jimenez, Brandon Winokur are Top 20 prospect who were with the Kernels earlier this year. Caden Kendle and Adrian Bohorquez were in Cedar Rapids until recently.  Want to see more Chourio, or JP Smith photos, check out Friday's Kernels game photos.

And if you're a fan of minor leaguers from other organizations, you might be able to find them. For instance, Royals outfield prospect Carson Roccaforte was recently promoted to Triple-A Omaha. A search of the Malamut Photography site shows us that he's posted 30 photos of a Top 10 Royals prospect. 

MIGHTY MATTERS
Fort Myers, Bradenton (Cancelled)
Box Score
The Mussels game on Friday night (and the postgame fireworks) was cancelled when rains made Hammond Stadium unplayable. With the season winding down, the game was cancelled rather than postponed as it won’t make a difference for the playoffs. Saturday and Sunday are the final two home games for the Mussels 2026 season. 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter(s) of the Day 
Byron Chourio (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-4, HR(3), 3 R, 3 RBI, SB(6)

Pitcher(s) of the Day
Finnegan Wall (Cedar Rapids): 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 64-71
St. Paul Saints: 73-56
Wichita Wind Surge: 51-71 (Final Game 9/13)
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 46-76 (Final Game 9/6)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 67-55 (Final Game 9/6)
FCL Twins: 33-26 (Season Complete)
DSL Twins: 19-35 (Season Complete)

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 

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!