Matt Braun

LaVelle

Come on, you must read something while waiting for game two to start. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS RHP Louie Varland recalled as the 26th man Saints Sentinel St. Paul 6, Louisville 3 Box Score Caleb Boushley: 6 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: Edouard Julien (2), Matt Wallner 2 (15, 16) Multi-hit games: Matt Wallner (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Yunior Severino (3-for-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI), Alex Isola (2-for-5, R), Anthony Prato (2-for-5), Will Holland (2-for-4, RBI) The Saints swept the Bats on Sunday. Caleb Boushley continued to impress on the mound. The 30-year-old native of Hortonville, Wisconsin, worked 6 ⅔ innings, allowing three runs while punching out a trio in a start that came one out away from tying his season-high in frames. No matter; he’ll settle for his seventh win (against just one loss) and the seventh-best ERA amongst qualified International League hurlers. Starting opposite Boushley was Brandon Leibrandt, son of Charlie. In a cruel nod to Father’s Day, Matt Wallner played the role of Kirby Puckett: the lefty walloped a pair of homers, the first a 481-foot rocket the cameraman could only catch after it bounced off the scoreboard. The second was a more casual shot off reliever Alex Young. Edouard Julien and Yunior Severino also cracked long balls off of Leibrandt. Somewhere, Charlie likely shuttered and cursed Bobby Cox for putting him into that damn game in the first place. The laser show perfectly complemented St. Paul’s relief effort, as Scott Blewett, Ryan Jensen, and Ronny Henriquez combined to shut out the bats for the game’s final seven outs. Henriquez needed just seven pitches to elicit three outs. Wallner is slashing .397/.453/.931 in June. Yes, that is his slugging percentage at the end. The Bats are led by Noelvi Marte, the 28th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He went 0-for-4. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Midland 0 Box Score Jaylen Nowlin: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: Aaron Sabato (6) Multi-hit games: Kyler Fedko (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Aaron Sabato (3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI) Wichita shut out the RockHounds on Sunday. For eight innings, it was the Jaylen Nowlin show. The lefty shed his usual brand of pitching and, for an afternoon, became a modern Tom Glavine, mowing down Midland’s hitters with shocking efficiency and a plethora of ground balls; he exited the game with just 84 pitches. A 5th-inning infield single that went nowhere served as the lone runner to reach base against him. Pure dominance from the 23-year-old. Cody Laweryson pitched a perfect 9th to conclude the shutout. The Wind Surge offense didn’t need to do much, but they decided to go above and beyond in support of their dealing starter. Kyler Fedko plated a run with a 1st inning single and coaxed home two more runs with a knock in his next at-bat. Then, Aaron Sabato entered: Minnesota’s 1st round pick in 2020 blasted an RBI double in the 5th before clearing the wall in right-center for his second extra-base hit of the day. He also walked. And he stole a base. For real. The RockHounds are led by Oakland’s 11th-ranked prospect, Colby Thomas. He—like nearly every other hitter—went 0-3. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Lansing 8 Box Score Ty Langenberg: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K HR: Nate Baez 2 (6, 7), Rubel Cespedes (8) Multi-hit games: Ricardo Olivar (2-for-4, R, BB), Rubel Cespedes (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI), Nate Baez (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB) The Kernels hung on in a thriller. Urbandale, Iowa native Ty Langenberg earned the nod for his home-state team for the first time in his career. After decimating A-Ball in May and early June, Langenberg greeted the next level with a promising yet lukewarm start. He struck out seven but walked three. He allowed just a trio of hits but matched them in runs. Ultimately, it was ok showing for a player likely battling nerves and excitement on top of the hitters in the batter’s box. Speaking of hitting, the Kernels did a lot of it on Sunday: Cedar Rapids cracked 10 hits, took four walks, and scored nine runs, six of which came in the 3rd. Nearly everyone got in on the fun; centerfielder Kyle Hess was the only batter who didn’t reach base. The most prolific hitter of the day was easily Nate Baez, who—despite now only claiming 12 professional home runs—scored his third career multi-homer game. Half of his home runs have come in just three games! The righty out of Arizona State is slugging .788 in June. Entering the 8th with a 9-3 lead, Cedar Rapids nearly melted down and lost a guaranteed win when Sheldon Reed and Ricardo Velez (he is human, after all) allowed five runs in the final two frames. In fact, all three of Velez’s runs came with no one out; he then settled down to coax a pair of groundouts and a game-winning strikeout. The Lugnuts are the A+ affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, so while the Twins and A’s duked it out over the weekend, the Kernels became familiar with Henry Bolte, the franchise’s 10th-ranked prospect. The outfielder singled twice in five trips to the plate. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 6 (Seven Innings) Box Score Jose Olivares: 4 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Payton Eeles (2-for-3, 2B, 3 R) The Mighty Mussels lost the first game of their doubleheader on Sunday. Starter Jose Olivares was cromulent—somewhere in the realm of acceptable but not quite good. His command oscillated early before escaping altogether in his final two frames. Those innings saw a mess of baserunners, stolen bases, and a few too many free passes for manager Brian Meyer. Olivares exited, and an error brought home a fourth (but unearned) run against his ledger. Stolen bases were a problem all day: Lakeland stole seven bags against the Mighty Mussels (in just seven innings!), exposing a flaw in Fort Myers’ base running strategy. The bats were mostly silent, but they nearly scored enough to threaten the Flying Tigers’ lead thanks to a chaotic 5th. Yohander Martinez singled, Payton Eeles singled, advancing an extra base for both men off a Lakeland error, Walker Jenkins sent those runners to home and third, respectively, with a sacrifice fly, and Eeles scored on a balk. Now, that’s the kind of manufacturing that would make Henry Ford proud. The shenanigans ended there, though, and two more Flying Tigers runs iced the game. Eeles—apparently the second coming of Chuck Knoblauch (hopefully just on the field)—scored three runs and pushed his Fort Myers OPS to .990. He also stole a base. The 5’7” infielder plucked from Indy ball has been a terror since joining the organization in early May. The Flying Tigers are led by Max Clark, the 3rd overall pick from the 2023 MLB Draft. He lived up to the billing, cracking a homer while swiping his 17th base of the season. Game Two: Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 6 (Seven Innings) Box Score Tomas Cleto: 1 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Mighty Mussels came up empty in game two, as well. While the Twins found success against a lefty named “Sears,” Fort Myers could elicit no such luck; Lakeland’s hurler, Andrew, held his opponents at bay, totaling five innings with just two earned runs against him. Oakland’s JP allowed two runs after just two batters. Tomas Cleto could not match his mound foe. He was wild early and pitched himself out of the game after acquiring just four outs. Paulshawn Pasqualotto entered to establish some sort of order, but he too struggled to quell Lakeland’s bats; he allowed a pair of runs thanks to a 4th inning homer. Fort Myers’ offensive display was brief. If you blinked, you could have missed it. They flashed discipline by taking five walks, but their bats only found three hits, none of them of the run-scoring variety. Clark flashed his prospect status once again, singling thrice while stealing two more bases. What a terror. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jaylen Nowlin Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nate Baez PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, K #2 - Brooks Lee (St. Paul) - 1-5 R #9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 0-4, 3 K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI, K #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, R, BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (9:00 AM) - TBD DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (Game Two) - TBD FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Not that they have to continue wearing the jerseys. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (For real) Home Runs: Max Kepler (5) Top 3 WPA: Max Kepler (.621), Jhoan Duran (.445), Jose Miranda (.153) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Donned in a uniform that can only be described as the result of the Mariners creating a soccer kit, the Twins entered Friday’s game with a unique pressure. Sure, their rival Guardians appeared incapable of losing, but a real problem underscored the match: they needed to win with their City Connect jerseys. You can’t look weird and play bad. That’s uncouth. Minnesota had to establish an attitude of dominance—and they needed to do it now. That mandate flailed early. Simeon Woods Richardson pitched perhaps a little too much; his 1st inning was a series of extended plate appearances, dunked changeups, and anxious vibes that clearly rattled the otherwise smooth and collected rookie. He entered the frame with a 2.84 ERA. He left it a few ticks higher. With men on each base, Woods Richardson delivered Shea Langeliers a lethargic cement mixer of a slider and watched in horror as he deposited it 408 feet out to left field. 4-0 A’s. The Twins haven’t even hit. And so they didn’t, for a time. Minnesota batters thrice hit into double plays against starter Mitch Spence, struggling to turn on his odd cutting-fastball with any sort of authority. With the exception of Byron Buxton—who absolutely clobbered an RBI triple off the righty in the 2nd—the Twins mostly found gloves and false hope in the game’s first five innings. Perhaps, then, some big thank-goodness-someone-finally-came-through knock was in the works for Minnesota. Runners don’t remain stranded forever; given enough chances, even the coldest batter will find a cookie, some pitch they’ve handled for as long as they can remember, and turn fortunes around. That hit came in the 6th, and Max Kepler was its architect. Staring down a .158/.214/.184 month of June, Kepler lit up on the first he saw, whacked a slider, and delivered just enough oomph on the ball to clear the high wall in right-center, tying the game on one critical blow. If that somehow wasn't dramatic enough, the rest of the game surely satisfied your unrealistic palate. The Twins immediately surrendered the lead when Brent Rooker—evidently feeling a type of way against his former team—cracked a triple into center to score the go-ahead run. Buxton made a valiant effort. To no avail. Rooker hit it too tall. Minnesota stayed at bay in the 7th but decided to strike in the 8th; a horrible error, hit-by-pitch, walk combo reminded the team they were indeed playing the Athletics—and the threat coaxed manager Mark Kotsay into smashing his let-Mason-Miller-save-my-ass button, summoning his closer a frame earlier than usual. It kind of worked. The young righty walked in the tying run but lured tepid contact to walk away with nothing more. The 9th melted into the 10th, and suddenly, we entered a strange present: the Manfred Man zone, where runners earn bases for free. This bizarro baseball could spell disaster for home teams, but the Twins simply let Jhoan Duran, in his second inning of work, cut down Oakland in order. So he did; the free runner didn't even budge. And—fueled by their pitching dominance—Minnesota culled a win from their fortunes and needed just one pitch to do it: Scott Alexander intentionally walked Carlos Correa, and his opening pitch to Kepler was scalded beyond Oakland first baseman Tyler Soderstrom. Austin Martin, the free runner, booked it around the bases, sliding into home as the throw could only reach the catcher's glove a few ticks too late. Twins win. Notes: Max Kepler's homer gave him 81 in his Target Field career, passing Brian Dozier for the most homers hit in the stadium by one player. Kepler's four RBIs give him 493 in his career, passing Dozier once again, this time for 12th all-time for RBIs hit in Twins history. Kepler is 87 away from tying the next hitter, Michael Cuddyer. Carlos Santana's 8th-inning walk earned him his 1,045th career RBI, passing Ron Fairly for 264th all-time in MLB history. Byron Buxton's 24th career triple ties Shane Mack for 21st place in Twins history. Rod Carew claims 1st place with 90 three-baggers. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Athletics are set to play the third game of their series on Saturday. Bailey Ober will start opposite Joey Estes. First pitch is at 1:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Also, if I had a nickel for every former Twins 1st-round pick that played against a team in the system today, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS There were no moves made on Sunday. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Syracuse 7 Box Score Scott Blewett: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K HR: Yunior Severino (10), Michael Helman (10) Multi-hit games: Michael Helman (3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 3 RBI, Yunior Severino (3-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Will Holland (2-for-3, 2B) The Saints banged out 12 hits but could not make them count on Sunday. It took until the fourth pitcher of the game before Toby Gardenhire found a hurler capable of keeping runs off the board. Starter Scott Blewett couldn’t do it, Jordan Balazovic wasn’t the right man either, and Josh Winder allowed a flurry of hits during his time on the mound. By the time Jeff Brigham and Kody Funderburk blanked the Mets, seven runs were on the board, and the damage was too serious for St. Paul’s bats to overcome. But they tried. They sure tried. Former Twins first-rounder Tyler Jay started for Syracuse and allowed a homer to deep center by Yunior Severino. Michael Helman followed with a shot off Jon Duplantier. But, the runs nearly ceased there. Helman came back to drive in a run with a later double; every other inning was a series of frustration and emptiness, with runners reaching base and subsequently jogging back to the dugout before they could touch home. The Saints loaded the bases in back-to-back innings and failed to score a single run. Once again, St. Paul threatened with some action in the 9th, but—in a continuation with Sunday’s theme—Patrick Winkel could not keep the threat alive, and he whiffed on three pitches to strand a pair of runners. When asked about Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien, Toby Gardenhire stated that "[b]oth those guys are kind of searching right now, they're trying to figure it out. It's tough. You know, you go up to the Big Leagues [where] they've had success. And then they come down and right now it's just they're trying to work through some stuff. They're both really good players, and they're both really good hitters the big thing is just for them to keep getting in the work because eventually we know both those guys will be back." (Quote via our on-hand journalist, Theo Tollefson.) Luisangel Acuña—the brother of some famous baseball player; the name will come to me eventually—is the 5th-ranked prospect in the Mets system. He walked and struck out twice in five plate appearances. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, NW Arkansas 3 Box Score Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K HR: Jeferson Morales (3) Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB) The Wind Surge were walked off in tragic fashion. Daniel Zebulon Matthews yet again graced the mound with his presence on Sunday. The righty from North Carolina is essentially royalty at this point; his 2024 ERA is 1.38, he’s walked just two batters all season, and his WHIP is 0.69. By themselves, these would be impressive stats. When combined, they are simply Zebby. And he did what he does. Twins Daily's May MiLB Starting Pitcher of the Month diced up the Naturals, breezing through seven frames of shutout ball with just 87 pitches. No runner sniffed second base. He whiffed eight. At this point, his utter dominance and cartoonish numbers are as assumed and consistent as the moving of the seasons. Unfortunately, regality wasn’t in the cards for the Wind Surge lineup (save for Jeferson Morales). Wichita put together so little that it could have easily been interpreted as nothing: their lone runs came when Morales delivered a two-run homer over the left field wall. A lead, for a time. But Wichita’s bullpen had to get involved. Taylor Floyd quickly surrendered the advantage, and John Stankiewicz—one of the few men Ramon Borrego could trust in a time like this—handed over the walk-off the following frame. Second baseman Peyton Wilson serves as the Royals’ 22nd-ranked prospect. He walked once in four trips to the plate. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Great Lakes 6 Box Score Jordan Carr: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: Agustin Ruiz (3), Nate Baez (4) Multi-hit games: Agustin Ruiz (2-for-5, HR, 2 R, RBI), Rayne Doncon (4-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI), Jose Salas (3-for-5, R, RBI), Nate Baez (3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, 4 RBI) The Kernels built a major comeback on Sunday. Agustin Ruiz hit a 1st inning homer. Then, the trouble began. The Loons—evidently annoyed at their immediate deficit—responded with a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame, putting starter Jordan Carr on the ropes quickly. To his credit, he responded about as well as a hurler could: he allowed just one more run before calling it a day after the 5th. The lefty whiffed five and walked one. Cedar Rapids scored as well, keeping the game within striking distance before the bats fell dormant for the entirety of the second act. Hope was hard to find at the start of the 8th; the Loons carried a 6-3 advantage, and outs became precious. There was no breathing room. Any rally needed to be efficient and decadent. That’s when the **** hit the fan: the Kernels loaded the bases, and Rayne Doncon partly cleared them with a two-run single, setting the stage for precisely the kind of late-game heroics needed in a moment like this. Jose Salas singled in the tying run and swiped second. Nate Baez—with two strikes and two outs against him—cracked the heartbreaker, a go-ahead double that plated an insurance run for good measure. Doncon added on with an RBI knock in the 9th. Mike Parades held on to carry the game to a victorious ending. Thayron Liranzo, the Loons 1st baseman, is the 6th-ranked player in the Dodgers system, and he singled twice in four at-bats. Also, the Great Lakes’ leadoff man may have looked familiar: Noah Miller—once a 1st round pick for the Twins—singled and walked over five plate appearances. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Tampa 8 Box Score Spencer Bengard: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: Brandon Winokur (5) Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (3-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB) Fort Myers lost handily on Sunday. Brandon Winokur was the star of the show offensively. The lanky 19-year-old out of Huntington Beach reached base four times, cracking a pair of singles, walking once, and blasting an opposite-field homer to give him a potent all-around performance. It was the third time in his professional career totaling six bases in a game. The good news ended somewhere around there, though, as only one Mighty Mussels pitcher knew how to keep runs off the board. Spencer Bengard—so brilliant in May—labored through three inefficient innings before giving way to an ineffective combined bullpen effort. Everyone outside of Danny Moreno probably wished they didn’t pitch that day. It was just one of those games. And the bats outside of Winokur likely felt spurned and disappointed as well; Fort Myers struck out 15 times and totaled just five hits, not a great ratio. The offense beyond the Payton Eeles, Walker Jenkins, and Winokur top three accounted for 13 of those Ks and just one hit. Jenkins is slashing a lopsided .222/.391/.278 in five games since rejoining the Mighty Mussels. Tampa DH Roderick Arias is the Yankees' 4th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He doubled and walked twice on Sunday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Zebby Matthews Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) - 1-4, RBI, BB #9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-3, R, BB, K #10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 3-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB #12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-3, BB #13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-3, BB, 2 K #14 - Zebby Matthews (Wichita) - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 8 K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, HR, R, RBI, K #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS DSL Phillies Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Although, maybe someone should think twice about this lineup. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports (Jun 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Home plate umpire Paul Clemons (104) ejects Minnesota Twins assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon (not pictured) from the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning at PNC Park.) Box Score Joe Ryan: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Royce Lewis (-.214), Max Kepler (-.195), Carlos Santana (.111) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) For those who remembered their Apple TV+ login from three weeks ago when they paid for, and immediately cancelled their subscription just to watch Cleveland dance all over the Twins, your reward was this: a clash of Central squads hovering around .500. Neither team has been particularly dominant; the Pirates—despite possessing a trio of pretty incredible young hurlers—sit in the doldrums of the NL Central, which isn’t quite the insult it used to be. They have talent. Oneil Cruz is a freak of nature. Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are borderline stars. But the quagmire that has cursed the franchise since the days of Ray Searage’s pitch-to-contact success still remains, and the years have only proved that they do not yet know how to overcome themselves The Twins nearly started the game well. Following a Trevor Larnach double and a Carlos Correa walk, Minnesota enjoyed a special opportunity to crack a good pitcher in Mitch Keller early. The runs were basically accounted for. Royce Lewis was next, after all. But Lewis flew out to center, and the next two batters—Max Kepler and Ryan Jeffers—were caught window-shopping to end the frame without a score. Oh well. Joe Ryan was starting, anyway. Pittsburgh shouldn’t score much. His opening frame came and went with little fanfare. Byron Buxton made an incredible diving catch for the first out. These things happen. And overall, Ryan pitched like himself—profoundly effective and occasionally prone to allowing monster homers. He reached the end of the 7th inning for the fourth time since the beginning of May, punching out eight while allowing just two hits and two walks. Unfortunately, one of those hits flirted with the Allegheny River, and those two walks portended a sacrifice fly. Timing was not on Ryan’s side. In a bizarro reversal of fates, timing was on Keller’s side. The 2023 Diamond Award recipient slipped through Minnesota’s grasp multiple times. Twins hitters totaled seven hits and a pair of walks against the Cedar Rapids native, but a damaging break-the-game-open style of knock eluded them. They ran into outs on the base paths and struck out twice with the bases loaded, sending assistant hitting coach Derek Shoman to the showers early (do coaches shower after games?) when he beefed with home plate umpire Paul Clemons’ strike zone. He was right. Clemons’ feel for the zone stunk. The ejection fueled nothing, though, as Minnesota's bats continued to come up empty, even as Pittsburgh's starting pitcher melted into their relievers. In fact, things only got worse: Connor Joe blasted an insurance homer off Griffin Jax in the 8th. The game reached its final, measly end when a lame rally attempt ended with a lazy flyout. Twins lose. Notes: Joe Ryan's eight strikeouts give him 463 in a Twins uniform, four away from passing Tyler Duffey for 28th all-time. Max Kepler is slashing .059/.111/.118 in June. Alex Kirilloff batted in his hometown, PNC Park, for the first time in his career. Jose Miranda is hitting .292/.346/.542 in his last seven games. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Pirates will play the second game of their series on Saturday, with first pitch coming at 3:05. Simeon Woods Richardson toes the rubber opposite of the mercurial and unpredictable TBD (also known at Quinn Priester, unless the Pirates do something creative). Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

After acknowledging the starting pitchers, we turn our attention to those who enter a little later in the game. Image courtesy of David Malamut (@MWLArchives on X) Let’s clear something up right away: I don’t like using ERA to rank relievers. It stinks. We’re dealing with astronomically small sample sizes, and a significant portion of a reliever’s job—stranding runners—isn’t included in that classic acronym. I think more accurate ways to measure a bullpen arm’s mettle are with strikeouts—dominance—and WHIP. That being said, if an ERA is low enough, I'll respect the performance and give the hurler credit. Understand this, and my list makes a lot more sense. Anyways, here are the honorable mentions: Xander Hamilton, A Fort Myers - 2.93 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 1.11 WHIP, 30.2 K% Hamilton made a serious bid for the list, but others threw more innings or allowed fewer baserunners. 19 Ks buoyed the righty from Appalachian State University's profile. Taylor Floyd, AA Wichita - 1.74 ERA, 10 1/3 IP, 0.77 WHIP, 30.8 K% Floyd put up a sparkling ERA but lacked the frames to claim a better ranking. Nolan Santos, A Fort Myers - 2.56 ERA, 17 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 25.7 K% His WHIP disqualified him from reaching higher, but Santos did total a healthy amount of innings while going 3-for-3 in save opportunities. He’s yet another 2023 selection to be mentioned on our pitching rankings. Hobie Harris, AAA St. Paul - 2.25 ERA, 12 IP, 0.67 WHIP, 37.2 K% Harris had probably the best month a reliever can have while allowing three homers. He struck out a platoon’s worth of batters, but I needed to see a few more innings to place him on the list. Jacob Wosinski, A+ Cedar Rapids - 1.04 ERA, 17 ⅓ IP, 0.92 WHIP, 23.2 K% Wosinski earned an honorable mention due to a below-average strikeout rate compared to some of the other arms on this list. John Stankiewicz, AA Wichita - 0.90 ERA, 10 IP, 0.60 WHIP, 23.5 K% Stankiewicz allowed just one run the entire month, but he only totaled 10 innings. 5. Aaron Rozek, AA Wichita - 1.75 ERA, 25 2/3 IP, 1.01 WHIP, 16.5 K% Despite making one start, Rozek tossed as many innings as Darren Bowen and allowed just five earned runs the entire month—three of which came in that lone start. He was otherwise brilliant; the Burnsville native held batters to a .216 batting average and never pitched fewer than four innings in any of his appearances. (He’s also very active on Twitter if anyone cares to ask him questions about pitching or coffee) 2024 is the 28-year-old's fourth season in the Twins system. His early strikeout promise quietly tapered off as he moved through the levels, but the lefty has had extended, awesome play at times—and May is an example of what Rozek can do when everything goes right. 4. Samuel Perez, A Fort Myers - 2.95 ERA, 18 1/3 IP, 1.31 WHIP, 34.6 K% I desperately wanted to rank Perez higher. Lefties who punch out over a third of the batters they face don’t grow on trees. Lefties who do that while accruing more than three outs in each one of their appearances may as well be considered an endangered species. Perez is one of those rare players still left in the wild. Eight walks is eight walks, though, and I couldn’t overlook that when making the list. Originally a member of the Angels system, Perez signed with the Twins four separate times since 2021, essentially just renewing his lease every time the season ended. It’s a wonder why he hasn’t found a more stable situation; the Venezuelan owns a career 2.39 ERA across 244 1/3 minor league innings and has struck out more than a batter an inning. He’s now being stretched out as a starter; he may soon join the pitchers mentioned on our list a few days ago. 3. Jordan Carr, A+ Cedar Rapids - 1.71 ERA, 21 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 20.9 K% Carr is basically a Kernels staple at this point. After cruising with a 1.48 ERA with them last season, he returned and bounced back from a poor April to return to his usual, assumed, somewhat boringly great self. The Baltimore native crushed the AFL after his season ended last year—notable in the fact that no pitcher does that—and looks primed for a return to Wichita. His experience there last year was… not good. It’s best not to mention his numbers. Maybe an older, more seasoned Carr is ready to perform at AA. 2. Gabriel Yanez, A+ Cedar Rapids - 0.59 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 21.3 K% Gabriel Yanez allowed one run in the month of May. He’s allowed three runs the entire year. It’s June. What strikes me the most about Yanez is his unique ability to pound the zone with his breaking ball. Throwing a slider for strikes is a cheat code in the low levels of the minors; you can watch in real-time as a 21-year-old realizes the offering he thought slipped out of Yanez’s hand is actually spinning in for a strike. It’s enough to make a hitter reconsider his career choice. Yanez rode that breaker to a tremendous month; he surrendered just nine hits while often working in a multi-inning role. Perhaps the zenith of his May came on its final day when he channeled his inner Goose Gossage to cleanly deliver the game to its final four outs, quietly retiring eight men over just 33 pitches. That's the kind of effort that earns a 2nd overall ranking on this list. 1. Ricardo Velez, A+ Cedar Rapids - 0.69 ERA, 13 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 35.8 K% Yanez and Velez—a lockdown two-some you don’t see too often, regardless of level. Velez was basically Yanez but with more whiffs; the righty struck out 19 in May, one more than Carr despite throwing eight fewer innings. The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma has been a strikeout machine since joining the Twins system, with 104 punchouts over just 78 2/3 innings. He’s added a new wrinkle this year, though: hitters are putting the ball on the ground over half the time against Velez, essentially assuring that batters will either miss or burn some worms. That’s a tough combo. Kernels manager Brian Dinkelman has almost strictly utilized Velez as a true closer; the righty's earliest foray into a game came once in the 6th inning. Outside of that, he's been a third-act monster, hammering home saves while somehow earning five wins in the month of May alone. For this dominance, Velez takes home his second consecutive non-existent trophy as Twins Daily's Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month. View full article

Blame minor league pitching usage and our human desire to label things

Only three starts for Morris. In hindsight, he probably should have been an honorable mention fighting for that fifth spot, but I need more frames to rank him higher.

Read and rejoice in the minor league hurlers who stood out in the month of May. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge It’s time once again to spotlight and celebrate the handful of pitchers in Minnesota’s farm system who stood above their peers and dominated all who entered the batter’s box. Now, starting pitcher designation is strange in the minors—hurlers are often brought in during the middle innings but still rack up frames like a starter—so I like to use the Potter Stewart method of defining a starter: I know it when I see it. For the most part, this philosophy does the trick. How did I decide my rankings? First, I look at who struck out the most batters—punchouts are always outs, after all—before considering a combination of ERA and innings pitched to differentiate between the candidates. Innings mean a lot to me; a pitcher with a low ERA but a vast chasm where their frames should be are like empty calories. I want a guy who can sustain his play over a long period of time. With that out of the way, let’s look at the honorable mentions. Spencer Bengard, A Fort Myers - 1.31 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 2.49 FIP I nearly left Bengard off the list because he technically only made two starts, but those numbers are far too good to ignore. The righty out of Cal Baptist (same alma mater as C.J. Culpepper) went six shutout on May 7th and nearly copied the start with a six-inning, one-run appearance on the 21st. A victim of labeling and designations, Bengard will have to settle for an honorable mention. Adrian Bohorquez, FCL Twins - 3.00 ERA, 15 IP, 3.11 FIP The 19-year-old out of Venezuela was remarkably consistent in May; all three of his starts went for four innings, he never walked more than one batter in any outing, and only five runs scored on his watch the entire month. Keep an eye out for Bohorquez. David Festa, AAA St. Paul - 3.44 ERA, 18 ⅓ IP, 3.70 FIP I was this close to putting Festa on the list, but—as much as I love the strikeouts—I couldn’t ignore his relatively mild innings total and simply passable ERA. If only his May 5th start wasn’t so disastrous. Jaylen Nowlin, AA Wichita - 2.88 ERA, 25 IP, 4.18 FIP Leaving Nowlin off the list was the toughest choice of the month—and I’m still not entirely sure I got it right. Nowlin gobbled 25 innings in May, but his dazzling ERA is undercut by his ghastly walk rate, which was high enough to reign in his ranking. Consider this to be the 5.5 spot. The List: 5. C.J. Culpepper, A+ Cedar Rapids - 3.00 ERA, 18 IP, 2.54 FIP, 29.7 K% Oh, there you are, Culpepper. The righty missed the first month of the season and returned to whiff nearly 30% of batters while issuing just three free passes. It appears rust was never a worry. The zenith of his play was his May 23rd start, in which he cruised through six perfect innings with eight strikeouts, earning him Midwest League MiLB Pitcher of the Week, Twins MiLB Pitcher of the Week, and Yeah, This Guy Obviously Kicked Butt honors. Unfortunately, any excitement surrounding Culpepper’s incredible month exited when he hit the IL on Saturday with the worst four words a pitcher can hear: a right forearm strain. Hopefully, the righty can avoid serious surgery. 4. Cesar Lares, A Fort Myers - 2.73 ERA, 26 ⅓ IP, 4.27 FIP, 25.2 K% Lares had the good fortune of timing in the month of May. You don’t see five-start months in the low levels of the minors too often, especially for a hurler as young as Lares—and he took full advantage of his luck, never allowing more than three runs in any of his outings. The beauty of his month is in choice: was his best start the 11-strikeout performance on the 12th, or was it either of his six-inning, zero-earned-run outings surrounding the punchout fest? His only real blot was hit by pitches. Lares plunked nine and hit at least one batter in each start. A few fewer free passes and the lefty will be an easy candidate for a higher placing in future months. 3. Pierson Ohl, AA Wichita - 2.20 ERA, 28 2/3 IP, 3.50 FIP, 25.2 K% It is a genuine pleasure to watch Ohl pitch. Few pitchers in the system can consistently match his play. The 14th-rounder out of Grand Canyon University clearly already understands his game at a high level as he dips, dives, and attacks hitters with gumption unseen outside of the most revved-up closer. It’s art. To live in the zone as consistently as he does is outstanding; hitters know he’s going to throw a strike, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Given Minnesota’s troubles with the back end of their starting rotation, a future where Ohl subs in for a few starts down the stretch doesn’t seem far-fetched. Louie Varland’s struggles leave a wide-open gap behind Festa as the next man up; could Ohl be the one who steps up? 2. Ty Langenberg, A Fort Myers - 2.93 ERA, 27 2/3 IP, 2.47 FIP, 31.6 K% Langenberg struck out 37 batters over 27 2/3 innings in May. That’s a 268-strikeout pace over 200 frames. What else is there to say? The University of Iowa product is likely the most unfamiliar name on the list: drafted just last year, Langenberg barely played pro ball in 2023 and greeted 2024 with a disastrous five-inning, five-run outing. Undeterred, he smoked the competition in May, reaching five innings in all five of his starts with one lone clunker—a forgettable May 4th outing. Maybe he’s only hittable on the first start of the month. Yet again, the college-arm-turned-overwhelming-pro pipeline the Twins perfected appears to have given us another pitcher to consider. It’s getting difficult to keep track of these guys. 1. Zebby Matthews, AA Wichita - 1.21 ERA, 29 2/3 IP, 1.43 FIP, 33.3 K% Do you guys see all those “1’s?” This wasn’t even a battle; the only choices were for 2nd through 5th place. Matthews thoroughly crushed his competition in May, striking out batters while walking them at a hilarious 18-to-1 pace. That’s two walks and 36 whiffs. I mean, would it have been better just to stay in the dugout? Almost all of this came following a promotion, by the way. A promotion to a level known for hitting. Doesn’t matter. Matthews held steady in his run prevention while still punching out batters at the rate of an elite reliever. Oh, and he didn’t walk a batter until the 22nd. It’s abundantly clear now that Matthews is one of Minnesota’s finest pitching prospects, and he can now claim ownership of two Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month awards. View full article

So did Kala'i Rosario, but Wallner's team actually won, so. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS C Jair Camargo transferred to Mighty Mussels from FCL Twins on Minor League rehab Saints Sentinel St. Paul 8, Rochester 1 Box Score Randy Dobnak: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K HR: Matt Wallner (9) Multi-hit games: Tony Kemp (3-for-6, 2B, 2 R), Matt Wallner (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI), Yunior Severino (2-for-4, RBI, BB), Alex Isola (2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Diego A. Castillo (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB) The Saints smoked their opponents on Sunday. Hitters up and down the lineup enjoyed the day; nearly every player reached base at once, and six did so multiple times. Including a pair of hit by pitches, St. Paul touched 1st base safely 20 times during the game. That’ll score some runs. The biggest bat of all belonged to Matt Wallner, who blasted his 9th Saints homer just above the fence in left-center field before finishing his day with an RBI double that nearly knocked down the wall. Extra points go to Tony Kemp for netting his second three-hit game in the series against Rochester. Red Wings pitchers likely ushered him to the team bus with fanfare and delight. The offensive flurry accentuated a tremendous pitching effort by the Saints. Randy Dobnak enjoyed a sporadic relationship with the strike zone, walking more than he struck out, but only allowed one run during his time on the mound. Nick Wittgren, Ryan Jensen, and Kody Funderburk mowed down the Red Wings in his absence, needing just 41 combined pitches to work three scoreless frames. Former Twin Travis Blankenhorn doubled and walked in four plate appearances. Darren Baker, son of Dusty, walked twice and stole three bases. Yes, that’s the same son who J.T. Snow saved during the 2002 World Series. He is Washington’s 24th-ranked prospect. Royce Lewis singled and walked in five plate appearances. Sunday was the sixth game of his rehab assignment. He is expected to join Minnesota for their game on Tuesday. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Springfield 6 Box Score Andrew Morris: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (5) Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3), Aaron Sabato (2-for-4, R), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, HR, 2B, R, RBI), Kyler Fedko (2-for-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB) The Wind Surge imploded late on Sunday. Andrew Morris dazzled in his second AA start. The righty out of Texas Tech fired off six innings of one-run ball, punching out three as he limited the Cardinals to three hits and two walks. He threw 80 pitches. A runner reached second only twice on his watch. Kala’i Rosario brought the thunder offensively, banging his fifth homer of the year on a no-doubt wait-is-that-kid-wearing-a-Brian-Urlacher-jersey shot in the 4th. He also hit his 14th double of the season earlier in the game. Wichita entered the 9th tied with Springfield before Miguel Rodriguez loaded the bases with no one out. After coaxing a pop out, Rodriguez fired him to Bryan Torres, who shot a sky-scraping fly ball into center that Kyler Fedko never got a good glimpse of. Both fielder and ball drifted back before the object rocketed back to earth, clanking off the wall and clearing the bases as Fedko scrambled to throw the ball back to the infield. Springfield scored once more in the inning for good measure. The game ended on a double play off the bat of Jake Rucker—the fourth turned by the Cardinals that day. Springfield starter Max Rajcic is the Cardinals’ 14th-best prospect, according to MLB pipeline. He allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Lake County 8 Box Score Miguelangel Boadas: 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Jose Salas (2-for-3, BB), Dillon Tatum (2-for-3, 2 2B, RBI) The Kernels never had a chance on Sunday. Errors and walks defined the match’s opening act; a Jay Harry error begat a double and a wild pitch, allowing a self-inflicted run to score before the team could even hit. Dillon Tatum knotted the score with his first double of the year, but Cedar Rapids soon melted down and put the game far out of reach. Miguelangel Boadas began the 3rd with a walk, a walk, a walk, a fielding error that scored two, a walk, and an RBI groundout before Brian Dinkelman pulled the plug on his starter, showing mercy to a hurler clearly out of whack. One more grounder scored a fifth run attributed to Boadas (only two were technically earned, even though it was Boadas himself who committed the run-scoring blunders. And that’s about it. The Kernels committed six total errors in a game whose high point was when Keoni Cavaco took the mound in the 9th and struck out a batter. Somehow, it was one of the better pitching displays by Cedar Rapids, outside of Ricardo Velez’s assumed dominance. Outfielder Jake Fox is Cleveland’s 18th-ranked prospect. He cracked an RBI double and walked in five trips to the plate. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 1 Box Score Samuel Perez: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Payton Eeles (2-for-3, R, BB) The Mighty Mussels won a squeaker on Sunday. Starter Samuel Perez was dynamite. The lefty from Venezuela needed just 51 pitches to finish four frames of work, striking out five in the process while allowing just two baserunners. The start was nothing new, really; Perez’s career ERA sits at 2.39 through 244 1/3 innings in the Twins’ system. Sunday was only his fourth start, though. I think he’s earned a few more. Ben Ethridge, Aaron Holiday, and Jack Noble worked to deliver the pitching staff a combined 0 earned run performance. The bats were persistent but poorly-timed. A pair of early runs portended an ugly 1-for-12 showing with runners in scoring position. The lineup knocked around seven hits and took four walks, but the big blast never came; even those two aforementioned runs scored via a sacrifice fly and a groundout. Still, Payton Eeles reached base three times, and Brooks Lee cracked his first extra-base hit since joining the Mighty Mussels on his rehab assignment. Jair Camargo—also on a rehab assignment—singled and struck out twice as the designated hitter. Shalin Polanco, Pittsburgh’s 15th-ranked prospect, walked twice and stole two bases for the Marauders. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Matt Wallner PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2B, R, BB, K #9 - Luke Keaschall (Wichita) - 1-5, 2 K #11 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Twins) - 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K #12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-4, HR, 2B, R, RBI, K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 2-4, RBI, BB, K MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM) - TBD FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (Game Two) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Nationals (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

I imagine getting Sands some mojo against a weaker part of Houston's lineup matters more than using Staumont just for the sake of it. Just my two cents, though.

Is it that hard to beat a Texas-based sports team? Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Pablo López: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (5), Carlos Santana (8) Top 3 WPA: Pablo López (.224), Willi Castro (.131), Carlos Correa (.097) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) “These aren’t the same Astros,” cried the ink of countless writers, unaware that their observations of a team that didn’t quell until Game Seven of the ALCS only fuels the terrible monster. For years, Houston has been a supernatural baseball force. Minute Maid Park curses all; playing in that park—under the superficial lights, drenched in a mildly stale aesthetic—feels akin to facing the final boss in a video game so unfair that most never even bother to play. Just ask Carlos Correa. The Astros should never be underestimated until the day they retire Jose Altuve’s number. But maybe the prognostications are finally correct. Houston entered Friday seven games under .500. Their starting rotation is a sad imitation of themselves. Justin Verlander is nearly as old as JFK was when he took the oath of office. The sheen of intimidation that had followed those orange jerseys no longer strikes as deeply—can the Twins take advantage of their weakened foe? For Pablo López, the game was a return to his greatest conquest; just six months ago, he climbed the same mound and fired off seven scoreless innings in the finest moment of Twins baseball since a random collection of misfits and weirdos made the ALCS 22 years ago. He was brilliant. The Astros had no answer. He nearly matched that outing on Friday, albeit with quieter fanfare and a little less dominance. The Pablo López of May 31st, 2024, commanded his stuff well enough—to a point that usually earns a hurler a win—in a start that reversed the fortune of those that came before. His ghastly ERA fell, and inklings of the ace we fell in love with last year showed through; he ended the start with a lone earned run allowed and six strikeouts. Perhaps most encouraging, he shed a middle-inning mess and appeared to grow in strength as the start went on; the Astros never seriously rallied after the 4th inning. Minnesota kicked off the scoring with a third-inning skirmish. Not quite an ambush, the Twins plated a pair when Willi Castro led off the frame with a triple, eventually scoring when Correa slashed a double to right center. Alex Kirilloff beckoned home another run with a sacrifice fly. Alex Bregman brought the game within a run the following frame with a cheeky homer—it’s always the short home runs that feel the most insolent—before the Twins shortly ensured the Astros shenanigans of old would not wreck their lead. Castro walked, Jose Miranda walked, and Trevor Larnach worked Houston’s starter, Ronel Blanco, for about a million pitches. Nothing he threw was good enough. Larnach spoiled more pitches than a crusty CFO. Finally, on the 9th offering of the at-bat, the lefty found a hittable pitch: a lethargic slider spinning mildly in the middle of the zone. The offering landed 401 feet away. 4-1 Twins. The rest of the game was ancillary to what came before; Minnesota plated more runs as their pitchers continued to cruise, but a serious threat to their authority never came; all Houston could do was wilt. Carlos Santana homered during the muck. The game continued to slither and melt as second-tier relievers, only trusted in unserious situations, racked up the out totals, finally pushing the game to its assumed conclusion when Cole Sands punched out Mauricio Dubón. Notes: Carlos Santana's 309th career homer ties him with Edgar Martínez for 146th all-time. Trevor Larnach's 25th career Twins homer ties him with Rich Becker, Robbie Grossman, and Denny Hocking for 84th place on the all-time Twins home run list. Pablo López's six strikeouts give him 309 in his Twins career, good for 59th place on Minnesota's all-time strikeout leaderboard. Willi Castro's fourth triple ties him for, ironically, fourth place in MLB for three-baggers hit. Jarren Duran leads with eight. Carlos Correa passed Curt Flood and Eduardo Escobar (for real) in career RBIs with his 637 run batted in. He stands at 789th all-time in MLB history. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Astros will play the second game of their series on Saturday, with Joe Ryan set to face off against Framber Valdez. First pitch is at 3:10. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

That's... exactly what I advocated for? Is it wrong to point out that he's been terrible in May but is otherwise a very talented pitcher? I feel like we're on the same page here.

Oh, and Luke Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez went deep, but you probably already knew that. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS RHP Jay Jackson clears waivers, likely to report to AAA St. Paul soon. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 3, Buffalo 8 Box Score Louie Varland: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K HR: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (8) Multi-hit games: Royce Lewis (2-for-5, 2B, R), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI), Michael Helman (3-for-4) St. Paul’s pitching betrayed them on Sunday. It’s been a tough season for Louie Varland. He’s halved his MLB ERA with the Saints, but efficiency remains a critical Achilles heel; three of his last four starts have seen hit totals of at least seven. Buffalo banged out eight on Sunday. The big one came in the 3rd, when Addison Barger smoked a liner that just barely cleared the wall, giving him a three-run home that counts all the same. The blast overshadowed a homer hit the previous half-inning by DaShawn Keirsey Jr. Is it his time? Thoughts vary. At least, that’s what 80 comments tell me. His production cannot be denied, however, as the homer fueled a multi-hit outing that saw his 16th successful stolen base of the season. Respectful deke attempt there. Royce Lewis played his second straight rehab game for the Saints, collecting a pair of hits while satisfying the Twins front office with his plodding baserunning; no steals were attempted during the filming of this game. Nick Wittgren struck out a pair of batters in a scoreless inning. His ERA sits at 2.63 since joining the Twins organization. Buffalo shortstop Leo Jimenez is Toronto’s 5th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He singled and walked in four plate appearances. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, San Antonio 1 Box Score Pierson Ohl: 6 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: Emmanuel Rodriguez (8) Multi-hit games: Emmanuel Rodriguez (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB), Jeferson Morales (2-for-4, R, RBI), Jorel Ortega (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) Pierson Ohl spearheaded a Wichita victory on Sunday. The start embodied the best Ohl has to offer as a pitcher: he earned four 1-2-3 innings, struck out five, and only allowed a run when he finally broke down in the 7th. He threw 85 pitches. The start lowered his season ERA to 3.51—the 4th lowest of any pitcher in the Texas League with at least 40 innings pitched. Somehow, Logan Evans has a 1.39 ERA in that godforsaken pitching environment. Oh, and only one pitcher in the league has pitched more innings (Gunnar Hogland; 48 ⅔ IP to 49 ⅔ IP. 2024 might be the best we’ve seen from Ohl in his professional career so far (and maybe he should be a top-20 prospect!) Speaking of unsurprising things, Emmanuel Rodriguez hit a lead-off homer. He torched a liner into right and nearly knocked down an entire row of stands with a bomb reminiscent of prime Robinson Canó’s low-lining screamers. He also singled and walked. Totally normal player doing totally normal stuff. Taylor Floyd and Jared Solomon combined to carry the game to a (relatively) unpainful conclusion. Solomon allowed a pair of runners, but that’s just par for the course for Wichita’s bullpen in 2024. Tanner Schobel played in the outfield for the first time in his professional career. Are the Twins preparing for a Luke Keaschall promotion? Missions’ catcher Brandon Valenzuela is San Diego’s 11th-best prospect. He went 0-4 with a strikeout. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 2 Box Score Jeremy Lee: 3 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: Luke Keaschall (7), Nate Baez 2 (2, 3), Multi-hit games: Luke Keaschall (2-for-5, HR, R, RBI), Nate Baez (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI) The Kernels easily handled their opponents on Sunday. The Wind Surge weren’t the only team to start their game with a homer; Luke Keaschall obliterated the third pitch of the game, blasting his seventh homer of the season over the left-center wall. He’s hitting .335 on the season. Midwest League pitchers may soon petition the Twins to give him a promotion. It was his sixth leadoff home run of the season. Cedar Rapids continued the rally, turning a pair of singles into a second run thanks to a Misael Urbina sacrifice fly. South Alabama product Jeremy Lee—an alma mater brother with Luis Gonzalez, Lance Johnson, and Twins legend P.J. Walters—made his Kernels debut on Sunday. He breezed through his first two frames before finding trouble in the 3rd and 4th; that final frame proved to be his last, as Juan Mercedes entered the game following a two-out walk. The 13th-round pick lowered his minor league ERA to 2.03. Mercedes opened for what became a tremendous showing for the Cedar Rapids bullpen: four relievers combined for 5 ⅓ innings with one earned run, striking out five in the process. The work culminated in a dominant 9th by Gabriel Yanez, who dropped his season ERA to 1.29. Though Keaschall began the game with a homer, the offensive star proved to be Nate Baez, a 2022 12th-round pick from the same college as Keaschall. Baez blasted a pair of homers to claim his second career two-homer day. He only has eight career home runs! Apparently, he only hits them in bunches. (For those counting at home, that means that Kernels who went to Arizona State outscored the Chiefs on Sunday.) Peoria is the A+ affiliate for the St. Louis Cardinals, and their starter—Cooper Hjerpe—is a former 1st round pick and their 6th-best prospect. He went four innings and allowed two earned runs. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 7, Daytona 4 (10 Innings) Box Score Charlee Soto: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Gregory Duran (3-for-5, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI) The Mighty Mussels outlasted the Tortugas on Sunday. Starter Charlee Soto was… dull, I suppose. He labored through two-plus innings—tossing 40 pitches in the process—before earning the hook with an opening-batter walk to start the 3rd. He also plunked a pair. Hopefully, Sunday is a critical lesson for the 18-year-old hurler; he’s too talented to continue to pitch so poorly. The truncated start begat a three-man effort to deliver Fort Myers to the end of the game. 2023’s 14th-round pick, Xander Hamilton, enjoyed the finest outing of them all; he struck out five over 2 ⅓ innings and held the Manfred Runner at bay in the 10th. Fort Myers turned in a strange offensive performance. You don’t often see a team score seven runs despite going 3-16 with runners in scoring position. The Mighty Mussels collected nine hits and seven walks, but the big, relaxing thank-god-someone-broke-the-curse knock didn’t occur until deep into the game. With two on, staring at two outs and two strikes, Gregory Duran smacked a triple to crack the game open. He later scored on a wild pitch. Three Mighty Mussels runs scored with a hit. DH Ricardo Cabrera serves as the 9th-best prospect in the Reds’ system. He singled and struck out in five at-bats. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Pierson Ohl Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nate Baez PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB, K #7 - Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K #8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 2-5, 2B, RBI #9 - Luke Keaschall (Cedar Rapids) - 2-5, HR, R, RBI, 2 K #10 - Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) - 0-5, R, 3 K #12 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-4, 2 K #13 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 0-2, BB, K #18 - Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, 2 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Rochester (3:05 PM) - RHP Randy Dobnak St. Paul @ Rochester (Game Two) - TBD Wichita @ Springfield (7:05 PM) - TBD Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - TBD Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - TBD FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Yeah, that phrasing sucked. Just changed it.