Twins Minor League Report (9/10): Jenkins' Double-A Debut

TRANSACTIONS
In addition to the promotions announced yesterday to the Wichita Wind Surge that included top prospect OF Walker Jenkins and RHP Jacob Wosinski, there were a few moves in Triple-A in advance of Tuesday’s game in Columbus, Ohio.

• The Minnesota Twins sent LHP Kody Funderburk on a rehab assignment with the Saints.
• OF Maddux Houghton was also assigned to St. Paul from the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
• RHP Kyle Bischoff was assigned from the Wind Surge.

The seasons of the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are over, and for the first time since 2018, the Kernels won’t be in the Midwest League playoffs. The Kernels finished the second half 30-36, eight games back of the West Division winning Quad Cities River Bandits of the Kansas City Royals organization. They finished the first half of the season in second place at 37-27, four games behind the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Mighty Mussels finished their second half 35-25, just a half-game behind the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Detroit Tigers Single-A affiliate, who took four of six games against Fort Myers last week to clinch the division. Fort Myers finished the first half with a 31-34 record, which was good for fourth place in the division. Their last playoff appearance was in 2022.

Onto Tuesday’s games!

SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 7, Columbus 4
Box Score
Taking the mound for the second time with the Saints since being placed on the injured list all the way back in April, was lefty Brent Headrick. He allowed a walk in the first inning, but erased it with a double-play ball for a scoreless inning.

In the second he allowed a leadoff single, and two batters later a two-run home run for an early 2-0 Clippers lead. Headrick was back out for the third, but reached his pitch count after two batters and was relieved by Ryan Jensen. In all, Headrick threw 2 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks. He threw 49 pitches, with 27 going for strikes (55%).

The Saints got a one-out triple from Jeferson Morales in their second inning, but weren’t able to string anything together to bring him in. They made up for that, and then some, in the third.

Diego Castillo got them on the scoreboard with a one-out solo home run to center, his eighth of the season.

Yunior Severino followed with a single in front of consecutive walks to Emmanuel Rodriguez and Carson McCusker to load the bases. Chris Williams then tied the game at two with an RBI single. Morales then hit a liner at third base that was misplayed, allowing Rodriguez to score to take the lead, but the Clippers did record a force out at second. Rylan Bannon then delivered a double to make it 4-2, before Anthony Prato traded places with him to drive in two more and put the Saints out front by four. Payton Eeles then committed a cardinal sin, grounding out to first to end the inning, meaning he unfortunately made the first and final out of the frame in the same manner. I think we can forgive him.

St. Paul’s lineup added a single run in the fourth after Severino clubbed his 19th double of the season. A hard single from McCusker drove him in, putting them out front 7-2.

Out of the bullpen, Jensen recorded the final out of the third then gave way to the rehabbing Kody Funderburk for the fourth. Funderburk pitched a one-two-three inning, picking up a strikeout on his final hitter. Then Randy Dobnak took over the rest of the way.

Over the final five innings Dobnak allowed two earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks. He struck out four. He retired the side in order in two of his innings, and allowed just a walk in another. Of his 76 pitches, 47 went for strikes (62%) and he improved his Triple-A record to 12-6 on the season.

The Saints got multiple hits from Castillo (2-for-5, R, HR, RBI, K, SB), Severino (2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K), and Morales (2-for-4, R, 3B, RBI, K). Six different hitters scored a run, and six different hitters had an RBI in the win.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Tulsa 5, Wichita 4
Box Score
Lefty Jaylen Nowlin toed the rubber for the Wind Surge on Tuesday, and delivered a strong outing, but the biggest storyline here was the Double-A debut of soon-to-be number one prospect in all of baseball, Walker Jenkins.

He was in the leadoff spot playing center field, and in his first at-bat took a cut at the first pitch he saw…and popped it up to the third baseman. It was a really high pop-up, if that matters. One of those “had the height…” ones. In his second at-bat, he swung and missed at a couple of changeups, but laid off everything else and drew a walk.

Nowlin completed the first five innings, being charged with two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks, while striking out five. The Drillers scored single runs in each of the third and fourth innings while Nowlin was on the mound. In the third he was ambushed with a home run on the first pitch of the frame. In the fourth, a pair of leadoff walks preceded a two-out error from Nowlin that allowed a run to score. Of his 84 pitches in the game, 51 went for strikes (61%), including 12 swinging. 

Wichita matched Tulsa in each of the third and fourth frames, with single runs of their own. Their first run came after Jorel Ortega was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a single from Ben Ross. They tied the game back up at two in the fourth after Andrew Cossetti and Kyler Fedko each drew two-out walks. Ortega then brought in the run with an RBI single. Ross followed with a single that loaded the bases for Jenkins, but he would ground out to end the inning.

The Wind Surge took a 3-2 lead in the sixth after Cossetti led off the inning with a booming double to left. Unfortunately, he got caught in no-man's land on a chopper back to the pitcher, and was tagged out. But he did give Kyler Fedko enough time to take his place at second base. After a fly out, Ross clubbed another double to score Fedko before Jenkins again grounded out to end the threat.

The recently-promoted Jacob Wosinksi made his Double-A debut after Nowlin was done, pitching the sixth and seventh innings. He worked around a two-out single and a walk in the sixth, then delivered a one-two-three seventh, including a pair of strikeouts.

Regi Grace came on for the eighth with the 3-2 lead, but after it was done the Wind Surge were down 5-3. A leadoff walk led to a two-run homer, and another walk would come around to score on a single after that. He struck out one.

The Drillers brought in the 100 MPH throwing Juan Morillo to start the eighth inning, and the Wind Surge threatened with singles from Cossetti and Kyler Fedko, but a double-play ball shut it down just as quick as it started.

Cody Laweryson pitched a one-two-three top of the ninth, keeping Wichita within two with the top of the lineup and Jenkins getting one more chance. While Jenkins couldn’t quite do enough with a 100 MPH fastball, grounding out to third, Kala’i Rosario turned one of the same pitches into a 110 MPH solo home run, pulling them within one.

Unfortunately Jake Rucker flew out to end the game.

It wasn’t flashy at the plate for Jenkins in his Double-A debut by any means, as he finished 0-for-4 with a walk and will look for his first hit tomorrow. Ross led the way out of the nine-hole, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Rucker added a double to the effort. As a team the Wind Surge finished 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day - Jaylen Nowlin, Wichita Wind Surge (5 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 5 K)
Hitter of the Day - Ben Ross, Wichita Wind Surge (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K)

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

#1 – Walker Jenkins (Wichita) – 0-for-4, BB
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-4, K
#3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, R, BB, K
#15 – Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) – 1-for-5, R, HR (7), RBI, 3 K

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
St. Paul @ Columbus (5:15 PM CDT) - RHP Caleb Boushley (9-5, 4.95 ERA)
Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CDT) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’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!