Twins Minor League Week in Review (4/15-4/21): Mighty Mussels Shutout Parade

MONDAY’S TRANSACTIONS
-St. Paul Saints placed RHP Randy Dobnak on the 7-day injured list.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT
-Prospect Retrospective: Luke Keaschall
-Minor League Report: Mussels Shut Out Bradenton for a Third Time and All Other Games are Washed out
-Twins Minor League Report (4/19): López Sharp in Rehab Start
-Zebby Matthews and the Next Frontier of Pitching Development
-Twins Minor League Report (4/18): Jason Doktorcyk Ks 10
-Mighty Mussels See Early Returns from Twins’ Willingness to Draft High-School Arms
-Twins Minor League Report (4/17): Eli Jones Dominates and Kyler Fedko's Power Surge
-Three Up, Three Down: Fast Start Preferred
-The Twins Have a Stud Pitching Prospect Almost Nobody Is Talking About
-Twins Minor League Report (4/16): Fort Myers Rehabbing Pitchers Dazzle
-Twins Minor League Report (4/15): Zebby Matthews and Travis Adams Blow Away the Iowa Cubs

WEEK IN REVIEW
Triple-A: St. Paul Saints
Overall: 7-10 (5.5 Games Out of First)
Last Week: 2-3

• The Saints were rained out on Sunday, and now have a franchise record five doubleheaders on their 2025 schedule. 
• On Saturday, Pablo López was sharp in his rehab start, as he tossed 4 2/3 innings while allowing one earned run on a solo home run. He threw 63 pitches (43 for strikes) and got eight swings and misses.
• The Saints offense exploded in Friday night’s victory. Eight of nine Saints collected a hit, seven of nine scored a run, and six of nine drove in a run in an 11-8 win.
• Marco Raya made his third start of the season and looked sharp. He’s been on a strict pitch count at the beginning of the year. Across three shutout innings, he gave up four hits while walking one and striking out three. 
• On Wednesday, the Saints slugged four home runs, including back-to-back homers in the eighth from Armando Alvarez and Carson McCusker.
• McCusker was the team’s best hitter this week. He went 7-for-18 (.389 BA) with three home runs, one double, and 8 RBIs. 
• Andrew Morris set a new personal best by topping out at 99.3 miles per hour.
• Zebby Matthews also set a personal best with a 99.5-mph fastball on his final pitch of Tuesday’s game. He went 5 innings, allowing one run on four hits while walking one and striking out seven. He threw 71 pitches, 49 for strikes.
• Travis Adams took over for Matthews and didn’t allow more than one runner in any of his four innings, including retiring eight of nine from the sixth through the eighth innings. He went 4 shutout innings allowing two hits while striking out two in picking up the save.  

What’s Next: The Saints return to action on Tuesday morning at 11:07 a.m. against the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) for the start of a six-game set.

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge
Overall: 8-7 (3.0 Games Out of First)
Last Week: 2-4

• The Wind Surge swept a Saturday doubleheader. A trio of home runs was enough to get by while four Wichita pitchers combined for 13 punchouts.
• Connor Prielipp pitched three innings and allowed one run (a solo home run) on two hits. He struck out five batters and 33 of his 48 pitches were for strikes (68.75%).
• Darren Bowen earned his second win of the season, giving up just two hits with three walks and four strikeouts out of the bullpen.
• Kyler Fedko is tied for the Texas League lead in home runs (4) alongside Tulsa’s Jose Ramos. He finished the week going 6-for-16 (.375 BA) with three home runs, one double, and seven RBI. 
• On Friday, the Wind Surge hit a trio of home runs in a loss. Tyler Dearden, Kala’i Rosario, and Aaron Sabato each connected for a homer. Rosario’s was the strangest as the right-fielder grabbed at the ball and somersaulted over the short wall into the bullpen, where the ball popped out of his glove and flung itself back onto the field of play. After a meeting with all of the umpires, they awarded Rosario a two-run home run, his second long ball of the season.
• Aaron Rozek started Friday’s game and spun a strong five innings as the starter. He gave up just two earned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts, tying the most he’s had in an appearance as a member of the Wind Surge.
• Trent Baker started on Thursday and pitched 4 2/3 innings while allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits with just one walk to a season-high seven strikeouts.
• Aaron Sabato started hot after coming off the IL. He went 6-for-14 (.429 BA) with a double and a home run. 

What’s Next: Wichita will open a six-game home series against the Springfield Cardinals on Tuesday at 6:05 PM CST. 

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels
Overall: 9-5 (1.0 Game Out of First)
Last Week: 3-2

• Like the Saints, the Kernels were rained out on Sunday which shortened their week. 
• Logan Whitaker picked up his first professional win as part of Saturday’s double-header. In two innings, he allowed one run on one hit.
• On Thursday, Charlee Soto was handed his first loss of the season despite pitching well. In four innings, he allowed two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He has a 1.38 ERA for the season. 
• The Kernels had a nail-biting, back-and-forth game on Wednesday. Trailing by a run in the top of the ninth, Cedar Rapids tied the game to force extra innings and won it in the 11th.Khadim Diaw hit an infield fly that dropped in the ninth to score a runner from second. Brandon Winokur lined an RBI double in extra-innings for the win. 
• Paulshawn Pasqualotto gets a lot of credit for the extra-innings victory. In his fourth outing of the year, the right-hander did not allow a run across the eighth, ninth and tenth innings, collecting four strikeouts with just two hits allowed.
• Nate Baez was the team’s best hitter this week. He went 8-for-13 (.615 BA) with one double, four walks, and seven runs scored. 

What’s Next: Cedar Rapids opens a 12-game homestand Tuesday night with the first of six games against Wisconsin at 6:35 PM CST.

Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
Overall: 8-7 (1.0 Games Out of First)
Last Week: 4-2

• On Sunday, the Mighty Mussels tossed their third shutout of the week. It was the second consecutive shutout, as Fort Myers took the series four games to two.
• Mussels’ pitching now has a 2.69 ERA on the season, good for second in all of Class-A, behind just the Stockton Ports of the California League at 2.36. Fort Myers leads all of Class-A with 179 strikeouts on the season.
• Making his first professional start, Fort Myers right-hander Jakob Hall tossed three scoreless frames. The eighth-round pick in 2024 allowed one hit and issued one walk, while punching out a pair.
• Jacob Kisting came on in relief of Hall. He tossed three hitless innings, while hitting a batter and walking another for the only two baserunners of his outing.
• Devin Kirby followed Kisting out of the Mussel bullpen. The knuckleballer tossed a pair of scoreless frames, scattering two hits and striking out one batter.
• Kade Bragg earned his first save of the season as he finished off Sunday’s shutout by striking out the side. It was the second career save for Bragg. 
• Making his first professional start, Cole Peschl picked up the win after five scoreless innings. The 15th-round pick in 2024 surrendered two hits and issued one walk on the night. He struck out six batters while throwing 47 of his 65 pitches for strikes.
• Zander Sechrist closed down the game tha Peschel started. He earned the save after tossing three shutdown innings, allowing two hits while striking out three.
• Jay Thomason was on a tear this week. He had three long balls in the six-game series and they all had an exit velocity of 111 mph. He has now recorded an extra-base hit in four of the five games to start the week. 
• On Friday, Jason Doktorczyk combined for a 10-strikeout performance. He surrendered three unearned runs across five innings, while allowing four hits and no walks. The 10 strikeouts is a new season high for a Mussels’ pitcher.
• Michael Tonkin, on rehab, allowed an unearned run across two innings, while striking out three batters. 
• Eli Jones put together a solid outing on Thursday. He tossed five shutout innings and struck out six batters. He carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning, before a one-out, broken bat single found the grass in center field.
• The Fort Myers pitching staff tied a Mighty Mussels era record with 19 strikeouts on their way to a 1-0 shutout victory over the Bradenton Marauders on Wednesday night. 
• Christian MacLeod, on a rehab assignment from Double-A Wichita, started on the mound for Fort Myers. The lefty spun two perfect innings, striking out four batters in the process.
• Pierson Ohl, also on a rehab assignment from Double-A Wichita, dominated the middle three innings. He allowed the only hit of the night on a bunt single, but fanned eight batters and didn’t issue a walk in his outing.
• Dylan Questad earned a three-inning save to complete the shutout while striking out four and issuing a pair of walks.
• Fort Myers started their week well with a season-high 12 hits on Tuesday night. 
• Michael Carpenter made the second start of his professional career, allowing one run on the solo homer, while striking out three Marauder batters over two-plus innings of work.
• Jose Rodriguez hit his first triple since he hit three in the 2022 Dominican Summer League. The two-run three-bagger was critical to the team’s win on Tuesday. 
• Fort Myers’s bullpen was great on Tuesday. Liam Rocha, Brock Stewart, Kade Bragg, Brady Feigl and Jacob Kisting combined to allow just one earned run while striking out nine hitters across seven frames.

What’s Next: Fort Myers heads on the road for a six-game series against the Clearwater Threshers. 

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects. And, be sure to note the new, updated Top 20 rankings. Roster assignments below are subject to change as some players have yet to be assigned or are in Extended Spring Training. 

1. Walker Jenkins (Wichita): On injured list
2. Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 4-19, 1 RBI, 1 R, 4 BB, 7 K
3. Luke Keaschall (Minnesota): 4-12, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K
4. Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
5. Andrew Morris (St. Paul): 3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
6. Marco Raya (St. Paul): 3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
7. Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): On injured list
8. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 4-23, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 SB
9. Cory Lewis (St. Paul): 2.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER (4 HR), 0 BB, 4 K
10. Connor Prielipp (Wichita): 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
11. Dasan Hill (Fort Myers): Did Not Pitch
12. C.J. Culpepper (Wichita): On injured list
13. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 4-22, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K
14. Eduardo Beltre (DSL Twins): In Extended Spring Training
15. Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers): 2-21, 1 2B, 5 BB, 9 K, 3 R, 1 SB
16. Rayne Doncon (Cedar Rapids): On injured list
17. Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids): 6-18, 1 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB, 7 K 
18. Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 4-25, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 12 K, 0 BB, 2 SB
19. Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids): 5-20, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K
20. Ricardo Olivar (Wichita): 4-13, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Hitter of the Week: Kyle Fedko (Wichita)
6-for-16 (.375 BA), 3 HR, 1 2B, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K, 1.500 OPS

Pitcher of the Week: Jason Doktorczyk (Fort Myers)
5 IP, 0 ER (3 R), 4 H, 0 BB, 10 K

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!