Twins Minor League Week in Review (7/29-8/5): Dog Days of August Are Upon Us

AWARDS
The past several days, we have been handing out our Twins and Twins Minor League Awards for August. If you missed any of those articles, you can click on them below.

• Minor League Hitter of the Month
• Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month
• Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month 

DRAFT NOTES

On Friday night, the deadline passed to sign 2024 draft picks. The Twins signed 20 of their 22 draft picks including the first 17 players they selected. The two that didn't sign are 16th rounder Aidan Haugh (returning to North Carolina) and 20th rounder Merit Jones (heading back to Utah). 

First-round pick Kaelen Culpepper signed his contract on Friday at Target Field. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before that game. On Saturday, Kyle DeBarge (compensation pick, UL-Lafayette), Billy Amick (2nd round, Tennessee), Khadim Diaw (3rd round, Loyola Marymount) and Jaime Ferrer (4th round, Florida State) were added to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels active roster. All four were in the Mussels lineup on Saturday, but Tropical Storm-turned-Hurricane Debby caused Saturday and Sunday's games to be canceled. 

At last count, the Twins have also signed four players who went undrafted including Ivran Romero whose story will make your eyes sweat, or, if you're more honest, tears will flow. 

Since the draft, @Ted Schwerzler  has done Get to Know 'Em interviews/articles with several of the Twins 2024 draft picks: 

Comp Pick: Kyle DeBarge 
Competitive Balance: Dasan Hill
3rd Round: Khadim Diaw
5th Round: Caden Kendle
7th Round: Eli Jones 
9th Round: Jason Doktorczyk 
10th Round: Peyton Carr 
11th Round: Michael Carpenter 
12th Round: Christian Becerra 
17th Round: Jay Thomason 
18th Round: Michael Ross 
19th Round: Logan Whitaker 

TRANSACTIONS (Monday Transactions) 

• The Twins placed LHP Steven Okert on the Bereavement List. They recalled RHP Josh Winder from St. Paul. 
• IF Yohander Martinez was sent to the FCL Twins roster from Fort Myers. 
• C Wilfri Castro placed on Fort Myers Development. 
• St. Paul C Patrick Winkel activated from the Temporary Inactive List. 
• The Saints also activated DH Alex Isola from the Development List. 
• In addition, IF Kaelen Culpepper and LHP Dasan Hill have been added to the FCL Twins roster. 

WEEK IN REVIEW
Triple-A: St. Paul Saints

• Overall: 54-53 (4-2 last week) Fourth place in the IL West.
• DaShawn Keirsey found himself back in the leadoff spot much of last week. He responded by going 10-for-22, hitting .455/.500/.636 (1.136) with a double and a homer. He walked twice and was 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts. 
• Payton Eeles just might be more than a tremendously inspirational story. He’s flat-out a ball player! In five games last week, he hit .353/.455/.647 (1.102) with a triple, a huge homer, and four RBI. He also had four walks. 
• Veteran Wynton Bernard has really been a nice spark for the Saints. In five games, he hit .304/.360/.565(.925) with a double, triple and homer. Also stole three bases in three attempts. 
• Yunior Severino had a two homer, six RBI game. Edouard Julien .320/.433/.400 (.833) on the week. 
• It appears that Justin Topa’s rehab is reaching its final days. Over last week’s games, Topa pitched three innings over three games. He gave up just two hits and a walk and struck out four batters. 
• Louie Varland put together his best start of the season. He tossed six shutout innings. He gave up just five hits and one walk. He also had eight strikeouts. Could he be called back to the big leagues soon? 
• Ronny Henriquez made a spot start in a bullpen game and worked another more traditional relief appearance. In total, he worked four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and had eight strikeouts! 
• Matt Bowman, Jeff Brigham, Diego Castillo, and Nick Wittgren each pitched two scoreless innings over two appearances during the week. They combined for 12 strikeouts over those eight innings. 
• Also, lefty Brent Headrick is throwing bullpens now in Fort Myers. No updates on his status.  
• What’s Next: The Saints will be back home, hosting the Columbus Clippers for six games at CHS Field. Lots going on throughout the week. On Thursday evening, the Saints will be baseball legend and former Saints player, Joe Black. Friday night will be Scouts Hall of Fame Night, and fireworks. On Saturday, the massaging nun will be there, and the first 1,500 fans will receive a Sister Ros bobblehead!  Click here to see the schedule and order your tickets. 

Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge

• Overall: 43-59 (2-4 last week) Fifth place in the Texas League North
  • 2nd Half: 12-21: Fifth place in TXLN. 
• In his first week of Double-A ball, Ricardo Olivar played in five games. He went 8-for-21 and hit .381/.409/.476 (.885) with two doubles. 
• Ben Ross had a tremendous month of July. In the past week, he continued by hitting .348. Jake Rucker also hit .348 over six games played.
• Travis Adams (the hero) made two starts last week. He went 0-1 despite a 0.75 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. In 12 innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on eight hits and one walk. 
• Cory Lewis came out of the bullpen and earned his first career save. He tossed the final four innings in a game and despite four hits and two walks, he gave up no runs. He had five strikeouts. 
• Lefties Christian MacLeod and Aaron Rozek each made a start. Both went 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs. Both had eight strikeouts. 
• Aaron Sabato went 1-for-17 (.059). Luke Keaschall went 2-for-19 (.105). 
• What’s Next: Traveling to Corpus Christi, Texas, to play six games. 

High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels

• Overall: 55-45 (1-5 last week) Second place in the Midwest League West
  • 2nd Half: 18-18: Second place in the MWLW (5.5 GB) 
• Jose Salas played all six games. He went 6-for-20 and hit a triple. He led the Kernels with a .764 OPS. 
• Mike Paredes pitched five scoreless, one-hit innings of relief in his appearance. He had four strikeouts, no walks. 
• Jordan Carr had one appearance and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out four batters. 
• Spencer Bengard made his Kernels debut and did what he’d been doing all season in Fort Myers. He tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and two walks and had just one strikeout. 
• C.J. Culpepper continued his return with two perfect relief innings and three strikeouts. Nolan Santos struck out two batters in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. 
• Ty Langenberg made one start. He worked six innings and was charged with three runs (1 earned) on six hits. He had no walks and five strikeouts. 
• Kyle Hess went 1-for-16 (.067). In Nick Lucky’s first week in Cedar Rapids, he went 0-for-10 with four walks and five strikeouts. 
• Walker Jenkins' first week in Cedar Rapids? He played in five games and hit .176/.318/.176 (.494). He had two walks
• What’s Next: Cedar Rapids head back on the road. They’ll be playing six games in Peoria, Illinois. The following week, they will return to Cedar Rapids to take on the South Bend Cubs. 

Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

• Overall: 51-46 (1-3 last week) Second place in Florida State League West
  • 2nd half: 20-12, First place in FSL West (1 game lead) 
• Rixon Wingrove led the Mussels offense. In four games, he went 4-for-12 and hit .333/.467/.750 (1.217) with two doubles and a home run. 
• Poncho Ruiz went 5-for-14 and hit .357/.471/500 (.971). When four of the 2024 draft picks were announced as joining the Mussels roster, Ruiz was promoted to Cedar Rapids. In his one game with the Kernels, he went 1-for-3 with a walk. 
• Tanner Hall went six innings in his start. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out nine batters. He also tossed a very rare Immaculate Inning this week.  
• Lefty Wilker Reyes worked in two of the team’s four games. In 3 2/3 scoreless innings, he gave up just one hit, no walks, and he had seven strikeouts! Another lefty, Tomas Cleto also worked in two games out of the bullpen. He gave up just one hit over three shutout innings. He had
• Jack Noble struck out six batters over three scoreless innings in his relief appearance. He gave up just one hit. 
• And, Adrian Bohorquez made his much-anticipated Mussels’ debut. He came on in relief and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked none and struck out for batters. 
• Byron Chourio went 0-for-12 with two walks and seven strikeouts. Yasser Mercedes went 2-for-14 (.143) with two singles. He walked three times. Angel Del Rosario went 1-for-10, though the one hit was a double, and he walked three times. 
• What’s Next: The Mussels will travel to Jupiter to take on the Hammerheads for six games. 

Dominican Summer League: DSL Twins

• Overall: 23-20: Fourth place in Dominican Summer League South
• Ramiro Dominguez went 5-for-8 with three walks and a home run over his three games played. That’s a slash line of .625/.727/1.000 (1.727), if you were wondering.
• Irvin Nunez went 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and five walks (no strikeouts!) for an OPS of 1.381. 
• Luis Fragoza went 4-for-10 (.400) with two walks and a home run. He had a 1.271 OPS and was 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. 
• Daiber De Los Santos played all four games. He went 7-for-19 with four doubles and a home run. He walked four times. He also drove in 10 runs and stole five bases. 
• Victor Leal played in three games and went 5-for-12 (.417) with an OPS of 1.200 and a home run and two walks. 
• Merphy Hernandez played all four games and went 6-for-16 with an impressive nine walks to just two strikeouts. He hit .375/.600/.563 (1.163) with a homer and six RBI. 
• Eduardo Beltre was the TD Minor League Hitter of the Month for July. Last week, he had the seventh-best OPS on the DSL Twins roster (1.038!). In four game, he went just 4-for-17 and hit just .235, but he had four walks, a double, and two home runs. 
• The pitching wasn’t quite as impressive for the DSL Twins last week. However, Sebastian Pulido came on in relief twice and tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out two. 
• Melvin Rodriguez made a start. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits and a walk. In 4 2/3 innings, he had five strikeouts.   

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.

#1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-17, .176/.318/.176 (494), 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K.
#2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 4-for-16, .250/.368/.250 (.618), R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, K
#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Injured List
#4 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 2-for-19, .105/.357/.105 (.462), 5 R, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 2 SB.
#5 – Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) – 1 GS, 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 5 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 8 K
#6 - David Festa (Minnesota) -  2 GS, 1-1, 1.80 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, .147 BAA, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 15 K. (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 9 K vs Cubs)
#7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-20, .150/.292/.200 (.492), 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K. 
#8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – Did Not Pitch. 
#9 - Kaelen Culpepper (FCL Twins) - Officially signed on Friday, placed on FCL Twins roster. 
#10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-0, 8.31 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K.
#11 - Andrew Morris (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K.
#12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 4-for-16, .250/.294/.250 (.544), R, 2 RBI, BB, 4 K
#13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 1 G, 0-0, 1 Save, 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K. 
#14 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 2-for-14, .143/.333/.143 (.476), 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K.
#15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Injured List
#16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - Assigned to Fort Myers. No games yet.
#17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-for-16, .125/.176/.250 (.426), 2-2B, R, RBI, BB, 4 K
#18 - Dasan Hill (FCL Twins) - Placed on FCL Twins roster. 
#19 - C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K.
#20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 1 GS, 0-1, 10.13, 2.25 WHIP, 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K 

Hitter of the Week - DaShawn Keirsey (Saints) 
10-22, .455/.500/.636 (1.136), 2B, HR, 6 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 4-for-4 SB 

Pitcher of the Week - Travis Adams (Wind Surge) 
12.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 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!