Matt Braun

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Rayne Doncon) TRANSACTIONS LHP Kody Funderburk optioned to AAA St. Paul LHP Kendry Rojas recalled INF Quinn McDaniel signed* Another Indy Ball Star? On Sunday, news broke that the Twins plucked Quinn McDaniel from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. A 5th-round 2023 draftee, McDaniel spent two forgettable seasons in Eugene, Oregon, for the Giants' A+ ball squad before striking a path to indy ball. He obliterated the competition. McDaniel was hitting the days in the year, .365 in 14 games before the Twins handed him a minor-league contract. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Las Vegas 2 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K HR: David Bañuelos (1) Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-5, 3 RBI), Ryan Kreidler (2-for-3, 2B, BB), Ben Ross (2-for-4, 2B, R) “This is bat country.” Perhaps, Mr. Thompson, but the bats of this series aren’t from the hallucinations of a drug-fueled madman: rather, the Saints’ wooden cylinders were as real and potent as the mescaline favored by Raoul Duke and his associate. And no one in this story made a beast of himself (except for maybe Aaron Sabato on Tuesday.) Ryan Gallagher earned the start for the Saints. Though the high-flying ways of the PCL clipped the wings of others before him, the UC Santa Barbara product proved to possess a steeled mettle: he overcame a minor kerfuffle in the first to give his team 3 ⅔ effective frames, punching out six. He threw 74 pitches. St. Paul supported their hurler early, scoring three in the second inning. Every run came off a rare bases-clearing single from Kaelen Culpepper. Credit goes to Harry Genth for busting it from first with a speed and vigor unseen outside a Mint 400 Motorcycle race. Because no Saints game can exist without a blast these days, David Bañuelos shot one over the left-center wall in the ninth off former Twin Who Got Away, Nick Anderson. It’s a mystery what Brian Schales is up to these days. The Aviators are an affiliate of the Team Formerly Known as the Oakland Athletics. Their fifth-ranked prospect, Henry Bolte, singled once in four at-bats, a notable outcome given he entered the day 12 for his last 12 with nine extra-base-hits, five of them homers. Wind Surge Wisdom Unending rain canceled the Wichita game on Sunday. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 10, Quad Cities 5 Box Score Dasan Hill: 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K HR: Rayne Doncon 2 (4, 5), Jay Thomason (4), Jaime Ferrer (9), Brandon Winokur (3) Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Miguel Briceno (2-for-4, R), Rayne Doncon (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) The Kernels bashed their way to victory on Sunday. Rayne Doncon started matters with a second-inning blast, soon followed by Jay Thomason, whose homer was so powerful it emitted an “outfielder stopper” 15 feet away from the track. A confused fisherman will find the ball in the coming days. Jaime Ferrer’s three-run blast in the third gave Cedar Rapids a 5-0 advantage. The Kernels allowed the River Bandits to tie the game—how generous of them—before unleashing a second barrage upon their pitchers. Brandon Winokur joined the fun with his third homer of the season, before Doncon gave the left-field children another souvenir. Christman-born starter Dasan Hill put forth his best start of the season. The talented lefty suffered a dreadful April, allowing 15 runs in 16 innings, but evidently remained sanguine. On Sunday, he earned seven of his 11 outs on whiffs in his first scoreless outing of the year, though control remained an issue, as he walked three. The start was nonetheless a positive outcome for the youngster from Grapevine. Catcher Blake Mitchell is ranked as the 58th-best prospect in MLB, according to the league’s website. He went 0-3, with three strikeouts, a sacrifice fly, and a walk. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Tampa 3 Box Score Matthew Dalquist: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI), Jayson Bass (2-for-3, R, RBI), Byron Chourio (2-for-4) The Mighty Mussels took an early lead and never looked back on Sunday. Has Matthew Dalquist turned a corner? The 18th-round righty found April cold, chilly, and unforgiving; his ERA in the month sat at 5.40, and his WHIP neared 2.00. Through two May starts, though, he has allowed just two runs across nine frames, pushing his ERA down to a serviceable 4.03 mark. That’ll do just fine. Fort Myers’ offense started immediately. Dameury Pena—after taking a strike on a pitch timer violation—chopped an infield single, and Bruin Agbayani walked. A Ramiro Dominguez flyout did nothing to stop the momentum: Hungry Kusiak shot a single into left field to draw Pena home. Agbayani then scored on a wild pitch. Pena proved to be a magnet for scoring runs, as he singled in another score the following frame. Spoiler: Pena earned a second RBI on a fielder’s choice in the fourth. Even Rickey Henderson would have been impressed by his leadoff production (he also stole a base!) A middle-innings Tampa skirmish brought the score within one, yet Fort Myers plated an insurance run in the eighth off a Jayson Bass sacrifice fly. The Tarpons never scored again. The Tarpons are a part of the Great Yankees Talent Machine, the development system that pumps out major leaguers with brutal efficiency. On Sunday, they sent forth lefty Henry Lalane, their 14th-ranked prospect. He surrendered four earned runs in 3 ⅓ innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dasan Hill Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rayne Doncon PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-5, 3 RBI #4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, K #6 – Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4 #8 – Kendry Rojas (Twins) - 3 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K #9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, K #12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K #13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K #18 – C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K #19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-0 #20 – James Ellwanger (Fort Myers) - IL MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of © Ken Blaze | 2026 May 8 Box Score Connor Prielipp: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Home Runs: Byron Buxton (12) Bottom 3 WPA: Connor Prielipp (-.240), Ryan Jeffers (-.190), Matt Wallner (-.160) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ah, the first Apple TV game of the year. How well did you do in finding a way to watch the game? This author—who is 27 years old, by the way—struggled to use their fiancé’s email to sign up for a free trial solely for this game. The process took ten minutes. We needed her face ID three times. The dinosaurs feel more relatable with each passing day. At least we were rewarded with baseball played by the 2026 Twins. Byron Buxton doubled to lead off the game—a false hope, as he remained at the base, cursed to watch his teammates fail to even advance him to third. In poetic juxtaposition, the Guardians scored their first baserunner—and many more (man, two em dashes so early seem a little aggressive, but we’ll work with it). Steven Kwan singled, and Connor Prielipp doinked a slider off Angel Martínez’s foot. José Ramírez chopped a grounder that should have netted at least one out, yet Luke Keaschall positioned himself too close to the dashing Martínez, who blinded the young second baseman, allowing the ball to escape him entirely and roll softly, harmlessly into the outfield, scoring one. Rhys Hoskins added on with a sacrifice fly. The damage would have been rationalized if Travis Bazzana didn’t soon clobber a hanging Prielipp slider to make the first an Officially Disastrous frame™. Cleveland led 4-0. And Cleveland starter Parker Messick was in no mood to relinquish that advantage. The 25-year-old Mark Buehrle impersonator tore through the Twins lineup. No runner again reached second base until the sixth; he simply didn’t allow it. Rather, the lefty worked at his accelerated pace, changed speeds, and kept Minnesota’s batters guessing, often incorrectly. But fortune changed in the sixth. Austin Martin “doubled” on a 56-degree chip shot over the first baseman’s head, enabling Ryan Jeffers to shoot an RBI single to right field. Impossibly, the Twins totaled three more consecutive hits without scoring another run; the lethargic Jeffers was thrown out at home following a Keaschall knock. “You know how to avoid getting thrown out at home? By blasting one out of the park?” -Byron Buxton, probably. The homer brought the game within one. Which was as close as things would get. Cleveland added on in the seventh and eighth to stretch things to a 6-3 advantage over the Twins. Minnesota put men on the corners with no one out in the ninth to spice matters up late, but a Jeffers double play neutered the rally. They fell one batter later. Notes: Byron Buxton is tied for fourth in the AL with 12 homers. Over his last 15 games, Buxton is slashing .284/.324/.687. Austin Martin's .464 OBP leads the AL (min. 110 plate appearances). Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Guardians will meet on standard TV for an early-evening Saturday affair. Joe Ryan is scheduled to start opposite Tanner Bibbee. First pitch is at 5:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Banda 0 19 0 20 22 61 Funderburk 0 0 17 0 22 39 Orze 0 16 0 0 16 32 Topa 0 0 32 0 0 32 Klein 0 0 0 31 0 31 Garcia 0 13 14 0 0 27 Rogers 0 0 0 26 0 26 Morris 0 0 14 0 0 14 Gómez 0 0 0 0 2 2 View full article

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Yasser Mercedes) TRANSACTIONS RHP Sam Armstrong placed on 7-day IL (AA Wichita) RHP Grant Hartwig activated from development list (AAA St. Paul) OF Emmanuel Rodriguez placed on 7-day IL (AAA St. Paul) INF Harry Genth promoted from A Fort Myers to AAA St. Paul RHP Christian Roa DFA’d Saints Sentinel St. Paul 11, Las Vegas 2 Box Score SP: Mike Paredes: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K HR: Orlando Arcia (6), Ben Ross (2), Aaron Sabato (6) Multi-hit games: Orlando Arcia (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI), Aaron Sabato (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI) They say the PCL is a hitter’s paradise. Well, this amorphous “they” might be on to something. The Saints scored in three consecutive innings, as Orlando Arcia homered, Ben Ross homered, and Aaron Sabato… singled, giving St. Paul a trio of runs early. Then, the floodgates. All that was dammed and protected broke free in a furious seventh. Sabato started the frame with a homer—because the power-hungry first baseman had gone all of a few hours without doing so and felt a need to punish—before a Ben Ross walk started the sequence. A Kaelen Culpepper walk, and a Ryan Kriedler single stuffed the bags full. Gabriel Gonzalez brought in a run on a walk. Arcia doubled. Hendry Mendez and Alex Jackson brought the run total to 10; Ross then capped the flurry by reaching on an error. The Saints bullpen pitched five shutout innings with six strikeouts and one hit allowed. They did not walk a batter. Sabato entered the game with a .679 slugging percentage on the season. Hendry Mendez reached base three times in his Triple-A debut. The tremendously named Henry Bolte is the Athletics' fifth-ranked prospect. He homered once in five at-bats. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 1, Amarillo 3 Box Score SP: Ty Langenberg: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Wind Surge struggled mightily on offense on Wednesday. They actually took the first lead, plating a run in the second with the aid of a Sod Poodles error. That was it. If a Wichita Lineman were listening in the wires for another score, he would be disappointed. Maybe he should take that small vacation, after all. Instead, Wind Surge hitters suffered through a whiff-fest that would eventually grow to 17 punchouts. They had two hits and walked twice. Once again, this author finds himself fascinated by Alejandro Hidalgo. He’s allowed an unfathomable six homers in his 14 ⅔ innings in 2026, yet he’s also struck out 27 batters. Once the home run rate stabilizes, we could be looking at a breakout for the 22-year-old. Sod Poodles third baseman Jansel Luis ranks as the 13th-best prospect in the Diamondbacks system. He singled once in three at-bats. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 4 Box Score SP: Riley Quick: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) The Kernels couldn’t pull themselves out of a deficit on Wednesday. So, Riley Quick is human, after all. The righty entered the game with a 0.00 ERA, perhaps believing he may never allow a run again. The leadoff hitter sent his second pitch out of the park. So, it goes. Quick surrendered another score in the second. His season ERA is now 1.13. Unforgivable. The Kernels’ first run of the game arrived in the fifth, when Eduardo Tait and Brandon Winokur smacked back-to-back doubles. The sixth-frame run was a Jacob McCombs special: the outfielder singled, stole second, then stole third and trotted home when catcher Blake Mitchell presumably fired the ball wildly into center field attempting to nab Rayne Doncon running for second (this author can’t speak for certain, as the highlight only shows a camera statically stuck on McCombs trotting home with ease.) The aforementioned Mitchell is ranked as the 63rd-best prospect in MLB. He walked twice in four plate appearances. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 3, Tampa 4 Box Score SP: Matthew Dalquist: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: Yasser Mercedes (5) Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-4, RBI, BB), (Ryan Sprock 2-for-2, R, 2 BB) The Mighty Mussels stumbled late on Wednesday. Starter Matthew Dalquist had his best start in the Twins system. The 5’10” hurler danced through five quality innings, whiffing four while allowing just one run. The start chopped almost a full run off his season ERA and dropped his WHIP from 1.80 to 1.53. The vibes were great for the 18th-rounder out of UC San Diego. Fort Myers started quickly with a rocket off Yasser Mercedes’ bat, his fifth homer of the season. Returning in the fourth, Dameury Pena singled to left, plating Ryan Sprock before Mercedes took over the game once more. He warped the entire fabric of the match around his speed. The outfielder stole second, swiped third (without a throw), then broke for home and slid in safely, even allowing Sprock to reach second on the play. That’s four bases, and a run he created with just his speed and madman baserunning. Players went 0-4 on ABS challenges in the game. Starter Mac Heuer is the 24th-best prospect in the Yankees system; he went 2 ⅔ innings with one earned run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matthew Dalquist Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Yasser Mercedes PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, 2 BB, K #4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2B, R, 2 K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-4, R, RBI, BB, K #11 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K #12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - ⅔ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K #13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, 2B, RBI, K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-3, BB, K #15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K #16 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K #17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K #19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 3 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Las Vegas (9:05 PM) - RHP Andrew Bash Wichita @ Amarillo (6:35 PM) - RHP Jose Olivares Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk Tampa @ Fort Myers (5:35 PM) - RHP Merit Jones FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of CJ Culpepper) TRANSACTIONS INF Murphy Stehly assigned to Double-A Wichita Saints Sentinel St. Paul 8, Iowa 7 Box Score SP: Andrew Bash: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K HR: Ben Ross (1), Ryan Kreidler (4) Multi-hit games: Ryan Kreidler (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB), Orlando Arcia (3-for-5, 2B, R, RBI), Alex Jackson (2-for-4, 2B, R) The Saints hung on in a wild one on Sunday. Andrew Bash was magnificent in his start. The righty authored his finest appearance as a Saint, collecting six strikeouts across three innings with just a hit and a walk earned against him. Even the walk ended up not mattering; Bash immediately picked off the runner. Evidently, the Saints felt inspired by their starter’s dominance, as they scored a flurry of runs in the game’s opening act. Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia collected RBI knocks in the first, then—in an effort to diversify their offensive ability—St. Paul flexed some power. Rather, Ben Ross popped his biceps; the shortstop sent a three-run homer over the elevated right-center wall, his first AAA blast. Aaron Sabato then tripled (!?!?) with the help of an odd carom, and scored off a Tanner Schobel sacrifice fly. That’s six runs across three innings. Times were good, and vibes were great until disaster struck in the sixth: while making an excellent running catch, Walker Jenkins collided with the outfield wall. He was pinch-hit for the next half-inning. The injury must have caused a dire grief to fall upon the Saints, as they nearly blew their tremendous lead. St. Paul pitchers coughed up runs in every inning from the sixth through the ninth, resulting in Grant Hartwig standing on the mound in the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs in a one-run game. St. Paul was once up 7-1. Hartwig ran the count full to Eric Yang—of course—before blowing a 93 MPH sinker past the batter for the game’s final out. There’s no such thing as an easy win. Cubs prospect Kevin Alcántara ranks third in their system; the 23-year-old outfielder homered once in five at-bats. The lanky outfielder homered for the third straight game and hit one in four of the five games he played this week. He leads the International League with 12 homers. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 4, Arkansas 8 Box Score C.J. Culpepper: 2 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: Murphy Stehly (1), Ricardo Olivar (7) Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (3-for-4, HR, R, RBI), Jorel Ortega (2-for-3, R, BB) The Wind Surge were bested on Sunday. Lazaro Montes followed up his three-homer decimation of the Wichita pitching staff with a first-inning two-run shot. Perhaps C.J. Culpepper’s wisest option was to flash four fingers and move on with his day. While the Wind Surge answered back with three unanswered runs to take the lead—thanks to a Murphy Stehly solo shot, and a two-run single by Hendry Mendez—the Travelers fought back with a furious vengeance (or, they should be referred to as the “Mad Mallards,” as that was the name the team took on for the day. No reason was given for why the waterfowls were so upset.) Aaron Rozek took over for the blonde hurler but surrendered two runs in as many innings. Darren Bowen allowed a score as well. Jarrett Whorff escaped unharmed, but Luis Quiñones and Kyle Bischoff couldn’t say the same. By the time the dust settled, the Mad Mallards had crossed home plate eight times off the strength of 15 hits. The aforementioned Montes is the 37th-ranked prospect in MLB, thanks in large part to his titanic power, which—as Wichita pitchers now know—can be game-breaking. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, West Michigan 5 (10 Innings) Box Score SP: Ivran Romero: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: Miguel Briceno (3), Eduardo Tait (5) Multi-hit games: None The Kernels won on a walk-off on Sunday. So, they did on Wednesday as well; something about this author possesses Cedar Rapids to be victorious in dramatic fashion. For a time, it appeared this outcome was out of reach for our heroic ears of corn. They entered the ninth down 4-1, as a Miguel Briceno solo shot provided the team’s only run. Yet, the team rallied, coming alive for three runs in a do-or-die scenario, merely three outs away from failure. Eduardo Tait homered. Then Brandon Winokur singled, Jacob McCombs did the same, and a stolen base/throwing error combo allowed Winokur to cut the deficit to one with the trailing runner advancing to third. A simple Rayne Doncon infield hit completed the comeback. The Whitecaps plated their complimentary Manfred runner but did no more—a missed opportunity for the away team as Cole Peschl’s wildness could have portended more. Cedar Rapids’ rally in the 10th was furious. Marek Houston was hit by a pitch, and Tait chopped a grounder the opposite way, pushing the third baseman to “oley” the game-tying run. Danny De Andrade singled in the winning run two batters later. MLB’s 30th-ranked prospect played for the Whitecaps on Sunday. Shortstop Bryce Rainer was Detroit’s first-round pick in 2024; he’s developed into one of the finest infield youngsters the sport has to offer. He doubled once in five at-bats. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 2, Daytona 5 Box Score SP: Justin Mitrovich: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Ryan Sprock (2-for-4, 2 R), Quentin Young (4-for-4, 2B) The Mighty Mussels struggled to find offense on Sunday. “Not I,” said Quentin Young, probably. The 19-year-old collected a career-high four hits, totaling half of the team’s knocks on the day. The outburst was a nice pick-me-up for the youngster, as he entered the day slashing .184/.263/.276 on the season. Unfortunately, the bottom third of the Fort Myers lineup couldn’t take advantage of the clogged bases; they went a combined 1-for-11 on the day, which is somehow better than the first five hitters, as they put up a 1-for-16 mark. Justin Mitrovich made his Twins system debut. The 2025 ninth rounder out of Elon posted an impressive Freshman season in 2023, holding a 3.68 ERA across 63 ⅔ innings with 66 strikeouts. His next two years were forgettable—and his 2024 summer league foray was dreadful—but the Twins still saw enough in the righty out of Trenton to select him in last year’s draft. Our scouting report on him can be found here. You can also see his 45-minute Twins Spotlight interview here. And in his first start, he was great. Mitrovich scattered three singles and two walks across his four frames, punching out five with just 60 pitches. He never allowed a baserunner to reach third. Ryan Sprock, Fort Myers’ DH in the game, was a teammate of Mitrovich's in college, and the Twins selected him one round before the hurler. Cincinnati’s ninth-ranked prospect, pitcher Sheng-En Lin, entered as a reliever and tossed four innings while allowing one run. He struck out four. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Justin Mitrovich Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-2, R, BB #4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, HR, R, RBI #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-2, K #9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, K #12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K #13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, R, 2 K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 4-4, 2B #16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-3, 2 RBI #18 – C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 2 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K #19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-0, R MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 am CT): TBD View full article

Cheap punching bag. Don't take it too seriously. Meant to be in the vein of Bert's "California math."

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 ⅔ IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Home Runs: Byron Buxton (9) Bottom 3 WPA: Simeon Woods Richardson (-0.410), Ryan Jeffers (-0.090), Josh Bell (-0.090) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) One day after the Great Night in Minnesota Sports, life went on. The Twins - by far the least glorious member of the previous day’s winning association - returned to Target Field to play the Blue Jays. Champagne and celebrations occurred elsewhere; at the ballpark, it was business as usual. That business was spearheaded by Simeon Woods Richardson, owner of the starting rotation’s most ghastly ERA. 2026 hasn’t been kind to him: the young righty has seen his swing-and-miss ability plummet while his earned runs have ballooned. He entered the day with 15 strikeouts. All season. Across 30 innings. Even a product of the public education system could see he had issues. Would they continue on Friday? The two teams exchanged a gentleman’s shutout first inning before Toronto struck in the second. Two singles and a wild pitch placed runners at second and third. A chopper hit to Josh Bell should have cut off the runner to home. It did not. Bell unleashed a Tyler Rogers sinker that grew wings and flew beyond the grasp of catcher Victor Caratini, forcing the poor backstop into a Daulton Varsho collision as the ball caromed out of bounds, allowing the trailing runner to score as well. The blunder gave the Blue Jays the early advantage, but Minnesota had a trick up its sleeve: Byron Buxton. Although considering his name was on the lineup hours before the game started, precisely how tricky his appearance was appears dubious. In any case, Buxton stepped up to the plate in the third, correctly guessed how a Patrick Corbin breaker would spin, and blasted the low-and-inside offering just over the left field wall, scoring two. The good news ends there. For a time. The Blue Jays flocked with two more in the fourth, two in the fifth, and… one in the seventh. Kazuma Okamoto homered twice. Woods Richardson tried in vain to find an offering that would fool Toronto’s hitters, yet hard contact followed him with each selection. He continued to stumble with two outs in the fourth before Derek Shelton called it a day for the hurler and went to his bullpen. Meanwhile, Twins hitters could do little. Not nothing, but only a little. Corbin proved too tricky on Friday. As did Toronto’s onslaught of relievers—Minnesota did load the bases against Jeff Hoffman in the eighth, but a sacrifice fly served as the only run they could net off the struggling former closer. They probably should have done more. Toronto sent Louis Varland out for the ninth. They didn't just rub salt in the wound: they widened the gash before dropping enough sodium to salt McDonald's French Fries for the next decade. Despite a pair of baserunners, Minnesota couldn't get a rally going, and they fell to the Blue Jays in a sloppy contest. Notes: Byron Buxton collected his 800th career MLB hit on Saturday. He has the 24th-most in Twins history. Austin Martin's .484 OBP leads MLB (min. 90 PA) Brooks Lee is slashing .296/.345/.556 over his last seven games. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Blue Jays continue their Great Northern Battle with a mid-day foray on Saturday. Connor Prielipp starts opposite Dylan Cease. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUES WED THUR FRI TOT Orze 0 0 28 0 33 61 Morris 40 0 0 19 0 59 Banda 0 0 22 14 0 36 Rogers 14 0 13 0 8 35 Garcia 0 23 0 0 9 32 Funderburk 0 15 0 0 0 15 Sands 0 13 0 0 0 13 Topa 0 0 0 12 0 12 View full article

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Riley Quick) TRANSACTIONS The Twins signed utility man Henry Kusiak away from Lew Ford and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. In a Ducks press release, Ford said, "Henry was outstanding both at the plate and in the field during the season's first week. He has earned this opportunity, and we wish him the best of luck int he Twins organization. In the first five games of his season, Kusiak hit .474 with a 1.395 OPS. He hit two home runs including one that traveled 419 feet. He has two doubles and two stolen bases. While he has played all around the diamond, the 25-year-old was playing right field in a game earlier this week and made a diving catch in Trevor Bauer's no-hitter. Kusiak played at Missouri Southern from 2020-2024. He played 77 more games in 2024 for Windy City of the Frontier League. In 2025, he was named the Rookie Hitter of the Year in the American Association and a league All Star when he hit .309/.377/.481 (.858) with 16 doubles and 12 home runs. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Iowa 11 Box Score Sam Gallagher: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K HR: Kyler Fedko (7), Aaron Sabato (2) Multi-hit games: Ryan Kreidler (2-for-4, 2B, R) This author wrote “it was all bad” for last week’s Saints game. Well, this one was only slightly better. Ryan Armstrong found the AAA confines unfriendly and cold; he was roughed up for three runs across three frames as he battled his command. The struggles were passed to Marco Raya, who coughed up a trio of runs across two innings. Travis Adams, Dan Altavilla—both additions to the list of those victimized by Iowa hitters. Grant Hartwig was the only pitcher not to allow a run, and even he walked a pair. The Saints did lead at one point. Ryan Kreidler doubled to start the second, and Emmanuel Rodriguez singled him home. Then, Kyler Fedko stepped up to the plate and smoked his seventh home run of the season. Aaron Sabato connected on a long ball in the seventh, yet all he did was cut the deficit from eight to seven. The Cubs don’t boast an especially powerful farm system, but they did send one of their finer products to the field in Kevin Alcántara. The outfielder singled and walked in four plate appearances. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 5, Arkansas 1 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge (2-for-4, R) An explosive sixth inning led the Wind Surge to victory on Wednesday. Ron Gardenhire would have been proud of the offensive showing. Three singles and a walk scored the first run. Two RBI groundouts brought the total to three—the latter of which existed only because of Kyle DeBarge’s madman dash home as seen below. One more walk then begat a two-run single by Jorel Ortega. That’s five runs scored with just singles, free passes, and grit. Alejandro Hidalgo might be up to something this season. In 11 ⅔ innings out of the bullpen, the righty has 23 strikeouts, an unbelievable rate even over a short sample. Four gopher balls have ballooned his ERA to 5.40, but the radical whiff increase is something to keep an eye on. The Travelers are a part of the juggernaut Mariners farm system. A constant stream of talent, Arkansas claims two Top 100 players in Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo. The former went 0-4 while the latter went 1-for-3 with a walk. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, West Michigan 3 Box Score Riley Quick: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Jay Thomason (2) Multi-hit games: Khadim Diaw (4-for-4, 2B, R, RBI) The Kernels won on a walk-off home run on Wednesday. Do you think Riley Quick is bored? What with the immediate, outright dominance and all that. “I thought pro-ball was supposed to be difficult,” he demurs while twisting a hitter into knots with a breaker. Perhaps even the lone allowed baserunner was a gift; he was erased with a double play one batter later, anyway. The righty out of Alabama has now tossed 12 innings in the Twins system. He has relinquished two hits, walked three, and has struck out 18. Cedar Rapids plated two in the fourth on a Rayne Doncon double before adding on with a Khadim Diaw RBI knock in the sixth. It was part of an incredible day for Diaw: the catcher went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and three singles. He alone collected half of the Kernels’ hits in the game. One of those non-Diaw knocks was also the game’s biggest: pinch-hitter Jay Thomason stepped up to the plate in the ninth with the score tied. He fell down 0-2. A foul kept him alive, and two balls pushed the count even. One more foul begat the golden swing. Thomason smacked a hanging breaking ball deep to right field, hitting the pitch just hard enough to clear the wall for a walk-off homer. Bryce Rainer is ranked as the 30th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He reached base all four times, collecting two hits while walking twice. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 6, Daytona 12 Box Score Eric Hammond: 2 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB) Fort Myers jumped out to an early lead, plating three in the second. Ian Daughtery provided the initial RBI knock, before he, too, touched home—along with Byron Chourio—after a Yasser Mercedes single. The Mighty Mussels’ Twitter account hints toward future endeavors. This was their last post until announcing the game’s end. Daytona bludgeoned Eric Hammond for four runs (three earned) in the second, then returned for another four-run frame, this time almost entirely credited to poor Adam Falinski. In fact, the first four Fort Myers hurlers of the night left the game with more earned runs than they started with. Runs in the fourth and sixth helped pretty the lipstick on this metaphorical pig, but the inevitable result remained unchanged. Byron Chourio and Bryan Acuña were on-base fiends at the end of the lineup, combining to reach base six times with five runs scored. Chourio also stole his seventh base of the season. Cincinnati’s second-round pick in 2024, infielder Tyson Lewis, is their third-ranked prospect, and he singled once in four at-bats. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Riley Quick Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Khadim Diaw PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-4, K #2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-5, 2 K #3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-4, R, RBI, 3 K #4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, K #9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 2 K #11 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K #13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, 3 K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-5, 3 K #15 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K #16 – Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-4, R, K #17 – Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-4, R #19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 4-4, 2B, R, RBI THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37 PM) - RHP Matt Bowman vs #OldFriend LHP Charlie Barnes Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Sam Armstrong West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 PM) - RHP Eli Jones Fort Myers @ Daytona (5:35 PM) - RHP Matthew Dalquist View full article

Image courtesy of © Pablo Robles-Imagn Images Box Score Taj Bradley: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K Home Runs: Brooks Lee (4), Royce Lewis (3) Bottom 3 WPA: Taj Bradley (-0.180), Byron Buxton (-0.140), Victor Caratini (-0.120) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Hey, it’s Tropicana Field again. The stadium with the ambience of an aquarium-themed bowling alley. Oh how we missed ye. Hemingway himself would turn silent in the presence of such architecture. Absent the quality of their arena, the Rays offer an always-competent opponent, especially with Drew Rasmussen on the mound. Will the Twins eschew their post-Mets blues? We shall see. We start with a commentator's curse: Cory Provus—otherwise a quality voice of Minnesota ball—tempted fate and creation with an utterance; that Taj Bradley had faced the most batters in the big leagues in 2026 without allowing a homer. Junior Caminero was at bat. Bryan Woo was the second-place hurler. When the 2-1 fastball finally landed, the Seattle starter was the leader. That’s a kangaroo court fine in any society. The homer dampered what was perhaps an emotional start for Bradley, given that he took the Tampa Bay mound as an opponent for the first time in his career. Oh well. Sentimentality is for the arts. Indeed, Bradley found his former home cold and unforgiving: a Tropicana-special chopped grounder in the third scooted into left field, portending a trip around the bases, a second run for the Rays. Jonathan Aranda then homered in the fourth. Brooks Lee answered with a solo shot in the fifth, but that dastardly Aranda sent a ball flying into the right field bleachers once more—this time off a curveball. Perhaps flashing four fingers is the best way to pitch to him. Camerino too. Rush taught us that choosing not to decide is still a choice; well, opting to send a man to first for free is a method of pitching as well. Yet, it wasn’t one Bradley opted for. Instead, the dynamic bat-speed maniac manning third for Tampa Bay obliterated a ball a mere 435 feet in the seventh, a good five yards shorter than the homer he previously blasted. In about four more flyballs, Minnesota will have him kept in the yard. Royce Lewis sent one caroming off the left field foul pole in the ninth, but the rally was too little, too late: Minnesota couldn't overcome the deficit they built, falling to the Rays 6-2 to start the series. Notes: Brooks Lee is slashing .308/.400/.462 in his last seven games. Austin Martin's .514 OBP is the highest in MLB (min 70 PA). Royce Lewis' 49 homers since the start of 2022 are the fifth-most on the Twins. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Rays will meet at Tropicana Field once more for a 3:10 battle, with Bailey Over set to start opposite Shane McClanahan. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Morris 47 0 0 0 37 0 84 Banda 0 0 18 0 9 7 34 Topa 0 0 17 17 0 0 34 Acton 29 0 0 0 0 0 29 Sands 0 0 23 0 0 0 23 Orze 0 0 0 11 0 10 21 Rogers 8 0 0 12 0 0 20 Funderburk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article