Matt Braun

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images Box Score Joe Ryan: 5 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Matt Wallner (6) Bottom 3 WPA: Justin Topa (-.081), Carlos Correa (-.060), Harrison Bader (.051) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Fresh off an impotent Reds series only saved by a third-game offensive explosion, the Twins look to be wandering in the desert. That extended winning streak earlier in the season is about as old as the Magna Carta; recent play revealed the same mucky inconsistency that has plagued the team since the pandemic. With a red-hot Brewers team in town, and their young fireballer Jacob Misiorowski on the mound, Minnesota possessed the chance to secure a potentially fortune-altering win. Joe Ryan started, which means we had front-row seats to observe The Experience in action. Words fail to capture the full essence of The Experience—it must be observed to be fully understood—but here’s a quick selection of Ryan’s mound antics: He continuously pitched unphased by the pitch clock and its consequences, often letting the timer tick close to 0 before snapping into his windup. He walked away from the mound before a check-swing appeal was made to the first base umpire. (The batter was called out.) He coiled himself into a crouch when a first-pitch curve fell too high in the zone. (It was just a called strike.) He pulled a sweeper and dropped an f-bomb loud enough for the broadcast to clearly pick up. And all of that came just in the third inning. There is no one like him and there will never be anyone like him again. Ryan’s actual production betrayed his entertainment. In fact, he capitulated. The righty walked three, and while he struck out seven, Milwaukee pounced on their opportunities, pushing across a fourth-inning run off a Jackson Chourio walk, before Chourio doubled in a score in the sixth and eventually touched home himself after Ryan had left the game. Oh, and that Misiorowski fellow from before? You may want to memorize how to spell his last name: he is nasty beyond belief. The heater routinely hit 100+. The slider sat at 94.7. The slider. He cut through the Twins' lineup with the ease of prime Nolan Ryan. The best strategy for attacking Misiorowski proved to be forcing him to sit for about 30 minutes in the seventh as Justin Topa and Joey Wentz both failed to produce any sense of relief in their pitching. Coming out of that break, Misiorowski lost his no-hitter by walking Byron Buxton on four pitches, then allowed his first major-league hit (in the second start of his career) off a Matt Wallner sky-scraping two-run shot. This game does occasionally have a sense of humor, you know. Milwaukee immediately responded by striking Wentz for four more runs in the eighth. Then Jonah Bride pitched to add levity to the situation. No one laughed. He allowed five runs and struck out Eric Haase. Ok, that one was pretty funny. The Brewers countered with their own position player pitcher, a much giddier Jake Bauers. Something vaguely resembling baseball occurred, and the game finally reached its inevitable conclusion. Notes: Attendance for the game was 28,011, but it felt like most of them were down the third base line behind the Brewers' dugout. They also seemed to enjoy their trip to Target Field. The cynical ninth inning did have one benefit: Brooks Lee singled versus Bauers to extend his hit streak to 19 games. Joe Ryan's 621 strikeouts are the 16th-most in Twins history. He's 94 away from tying Eric Milton. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Brewers play again on Saturday with first pitch coming at 1:10 PM. Simeon Woods Richardson will start opposite Joe Quintana. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge TRANSACTIONS INF Tanner Schobel transferred to 60-day IL (St. Paul) LHP Richard Lovelady released (St. Paul) Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Toledo 6 Box Score Travis Adams: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K HR: Edouard Julien (4), Carson McCusker (13) Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB), Carson McCusker (2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI), Jeferson Morales (2-for-4, 2B) The Saints’ comeback fell short on Saturday. Old (old, old, old) friend Dietrich Enns started for the Mud Hens. That’s right, we’re throwing it back to the Jaime García trade. The lefty—now a 34-year-old with a pinch of salt in his beard—allowed a trio of runs while racking up 10 strikeouts. The first of those scores came in the fourth when Edouard Julien bashed a solo homer to center, and the second run arrived one pitch later; this time via a Carson McCusker blast. McCusker added an RBI knock in the fifth. Travis Adams had seen better days on the mound. Toledo tagged him for a trio of runs during the game’s crucial transition from its early to mid stages, cutting his start off after four innings. He threw 66 pitches. Still, the game was tied heading into the eighth. Heading into his second inning of work, Kyle Bischoff loaded the bases with one out, necessitating Cody Laweryson to attempt to save the day. He did not. Akil Baddoo blasted a back-breaking double that staked the Mud Hens to a 6-3 lead. St. Paul clawed back in the ninth—and Julien even drove in a run on a single—but McCusker struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the game. Old friend-ish Akil Baddoo went 3-4 with a triple and a double. He drove in four. Toledo second baseman Hao-Yu Lee is ranked as the 6th prospect in the Tigers organization. He walked once in five plate appearances. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 4, Arkansas 5 (10 Innings) Box Score Christian MacLeod: 2 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (7) Multi-hit games: None The Wind Surge were walked-off in extras on Wednesday. The Travelers celebrated Christian MacLeod’s return from the IL with rude intentions and poor manners. Blake Rambusch greeted the lefty with a leadoff triple; he later scored on a sacrifice fly. Again, in the second, the frame’s first hitter clocked MacLeod for an extra-base hit—this time a double—before eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly. A third and final run in the third chased MacLeod from the game. Relievers entering under dire straits aren’t supposed to cruise for an extended outing, but evidently nobody told Pierson Ohl of this. He pitched brilliantly. An unearned run was his only blemish; he otherwise struck out seven over 3 ⅓ innings. His season ERA dropped to 2.08. Wichita’s most potent offensive inning came in the fourth. Kala’i Rosario blasted a solo shot to kick off the scoring. Ricardo Olivar struck out, but Rubel Cespedes doubled and advanced on a grounder while Ben Ross walked and stole second. With two runners dying to come home, Jose Salas smacked a single into center to tie the game. Olivar singled in Walker Jenkins in the fifth to cap Wichita’s scoring. The Wind Surge failed to plate their Manfred Man in the 10th, while Arkansas laid down a sacrifice bunt turned game-winning play in the bottom of the inning when Salas fielded the ball and overshot Jake Rucker covering first. Walker Jenkins arrived back in a Wichita uniform with typical flair. He walked twice, singled, and stole two bases. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners. Always a hotbed for talent, they sent forth their 15th-ranked prospect, Brandyn Garcia, who pitched the aforementioned scoreless 10th. Kernels Nuggets The Kernels were rained out on Wednesday. They will play a doubleheader on Thursday, June 19th. Mussel Matters Game One: Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 5 Box Score Christian Becerra: 2 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K HR: Daniel Pena (2) Multi-hit games: Byron Chourio (3-for-4, R) Fort Myers fell in a game that started on Tuesday. Steve Lein covered that part of the match here. The extra day did little to affect Fort Myers’ fortunes. Starting at the bottom of the third with runners on second and third, Billy Amick struck out before Dameury Pena summoned home a run off a groundout. Bryan Acuna then punched out. That concluded the last serious scoring threat the Mighty Mussels produced. Matters on the mound went better. Jason Doktorczyk pitched as the pseudo-starter. He was brilliant. Early command issues begat six dominant, scoreless frames, as the righty’s six-pitch mix befuddled hitters. He topped out at 91.8 and elicited 13 swings and misses across 71 pitches. On a day when his team needed length, Doktorczyk couldn’t have performed much better. Byron Chourio singled thrice and stole a base. Rehabbing minor leaguer, Billy Amick, singled and struck out twice in three at-bats. Lakeland is an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and they offered the phenomenally named Franyerber Montilla—their 11th-ranked prospect—as their finest youngster. He went 3-4 with two doubles, two runs, two RBIs, and a walk. Game Two: Fort Myers 1, Lakeland 6 (7 Innings) Box Score Matt Gabbert: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Bryan Acuna (2-for-3) The Mighty Mussels came up short in the second game of their doubleheader. There was a point in which Fort Myers was winning. For about half an inning. A curt lead indeed. A Peyton Carr walk and two productive groundouts moved the 1st baseman to third; he then scored on a fielding error. That’s when the trouble began. Starter Matt Gabbert had expertly held the Flying Tigers at bay, yet Brennen Oxford entered a much more hostile environment. Lakeland bludgeoned him for four runs in a frame he would not escape, portending Fort Myers’ impending doom. They would tack on two more runs in the seventh. The Mighty Mussels and Flying Tigers combined for a hit by pitch, three walks, and five strikeouts across 58 plate appearances, a remarkable display of putting the ball in play. Yet again, Montilla was Lakeland’s best prospect, and, yet again, he went off, homering and singling in four at-bats. He may need a bump in his ranking. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jason Doktorczyk Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 1-3, R, 2 BB #13 – Billy Amick (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2 K #14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 0-4, K #18 – Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 1-4, 2 K #19 – Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 2-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, K #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, BB, K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Andrew Morris Wichita @ Arkansas (6:35 PM) - RHP John Klein Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (4:05 PM) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (Game Two) - TBD Lakeland @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM) - RHP Michael Ross FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM) - TBD FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (Game Two) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Miami (9:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of © Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Box Score Chris Paddack: 4 IP, 12 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 1 K Home Runs: Willi Castro (7), Royce Lewis (2), Ty France (5) Bottom 3 WPA: Chris Paddack (-.378), Ryan Jeffers (-.063), Carlos Correa (-.055), Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Friday was supposed to be a celebration for Chris Paddack. The native Texan—self-evident in demeanor and appearance—hadn’t pitched in his home state since his relief outing in the 2023 postseason in the same stadium he found himself in today. Friends were here. Family was here. He was on a hot streak. The stage looked set for the righty to showcase his stuff to the people that knew him best. And the Astros figured him out like he was a half-bit magician’s cheap trick. The pummeling never stopped; it only lessened. Houston started the carnage with a trio of runs in the first and returned to clock Paddack for a pair in the second. The third? Unrelenting. Three more runs. Score-wise, the fourth served as a break; yet, the lone run plated that frame was a Jose Altuve short-porch shot that would have been an out had he hit it in any other stadium. There’s something akin to gallows humor there. The baseball gods see no need to soften their mockery. By itself, the poor pitching outing would be a difficult obstacle to fight. And overcome, the Twins offense did not. In his sixth career MLB start, lefty Colton Gordon baffled Minnesota’s hitters. Some batters are likely still shaking their heads in disbelief. He cruised in a way rookies rarely do—the luxury of being up five runs before facing the other team’s number-nine hitter. They did get him, though. Willi Castro smoked a laser beam in the fourth to get the Twins on the board, and Royce Lewis cracked a hanging breaking ball 425 feet for the team’s second run. The game crawled through its middle and late stages with dull inevitability. The outcome was never in question. Yet, a cadre of relievers were forced to ignore the futility of their effect on the course of events and throw fastballs and stuff. So, they did. Occasionally a run scored. It's unclear how much anyone cared. Actions only proved critical when Lewis pulled up lame on a single before immediately leaving the game. Apparently, physical pain needed to match the ego pain Minnesota felt on Friday. Notes: Chris Paddack's 12 allowed hits tied a career-high. Willi Castro is slashing .314/.402/.549 since returning from the IL on May 6th. Danny Coulombe allowed his first earned run of the season. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Astros return Saturday with an exciting pitching matchup. Two Cy Young contenders, Joe Ryan and Hunter Brown, will take the mound. First pitch is at 3:10 PM. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

I would probably give it to his May 24th start. 4 shutout innings, no walks, or hits, and seven strikeouts.

Image courtesy of David Malamut (photo of Ty Langenberg) TRANSACTIONS No moves were made on Wednesday. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 4 Box Score Marco Raya: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI) The Saints eked out a win on Wednesday. God only knows what got into Marco Raya. The 22-year-old entered the day with an ERA north of 10 on the season. His WHIP was 2.21. You get the idea. He was perhaps more effectively wild than truly dominant—as evident by the three walks and hit by pitch—but he stopped Indianapolis from scoring at each turn, and deserved a win for his efforts. That didn’t happen, unfortunately. St. Paul staked him to a lead with a four-walk first inning before pouring on in the sixth. With two outs in the frames, the Saints went double, walk, double, double to add three runs to the lead. RBIs went to Jeferson Morales and Tanner Schobel. Then, disaster. Alex Speas imploded. Nothing worked. Cody Laweryson had to enter early to save his comrade, but the damage had been done; the lead was no more. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. saved the day in the seventh, though, singling in Payton Eeles to give St. Paul an advantage that would stick for good. Cody Laweryson lowered his season ERA to 2.28. Rehabbing big leaguer Joey Bart went 1-2 for Indianapolis. Wednesday was set to be a special day. Pirates product and MLB.com’s #2 prospect, RHP Bubba Chandler, started for Indianapolis. Yet, the righty struggled with command in his opening inning and exited with more walks than outs (four to two.) So it goes. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 0, Corpus Christi 11 Box Score Darren Bowen: 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The Wind Surge were bludgeoned on Wednesday. There were no good vibrations. From the opening frame, Wichita suffered a deficit that grew and grew, eventually swelling into an 11-run rain cloud that covered them for more than half the game. Only one pitcher—Joel Cesar—left the game with a lower ERA. Offensively, Wichita failed to score a run, yet, their process was better than it appeared. They took seven walks while striking out just eight times. Just two batters failed to reach base. Still, zero runs are zero runs. Hopefully, the hits land easier on Thursday. Corpus Christi is a member of the Astros organization, and they offered their 10th-best prospect, Luis Baez, on Wednesday. He went 0-5. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 0 Box Score Ty Langenberg: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Danny De Andrade (2-for-3, 3B, R, RBI, BB), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI), Caden Kendle (2-for-2, 2B, R, RBI, BB) The Kernels shut out their opponent on Wednesday. Wouldn’t it be nice if pitching was as easy as Ty Langenberg made it look? The Iowa product scattered an assorted collection of base runners across his six innings of work, but—like a swatter to a fly—stopped all of them in their tracks. Only twice did someone reach scoring position. He threw 86 pitches. Cedar Rapids opted for a triples-heavy approach on offense. Unusual decision. The results can’t be argued against: Danny De Andrade, Jaime Ferrer, and Justin Connell all claimed a three-bagger, and all three eventually scored. De Andrade's was his fifth of the season, the most in the Midwest League. Connell perhaps deserves his own paragraph. Born in Spain, he marinated in the Nationals system between 2017-2023, with AA marking the height of his professional career. He opted for Indy ball, and the Twins plucked him from the York Revolution after he slashed .370/.535/.712 in 101 plate appearances in 2025. Might he be the next Carson McCusker? We shall see. Peoria is an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. While they usually offer an impressive selection of prospect talent, the best they had on Wednesday was their 29th-ranked player, outfielder Zach Levenson. He walked once in four plate appearances. Mussel Matters The Mighty Mussels were rained out on Wednesday. They will play a doubleheader on Thursday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Ty Langenberg Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Danny De Andrade PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #6 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 2 RBI #7 – Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K #9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, 3 K #11 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 2B, BB, K #14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 1-3, BB #17 – Tanner Schobel (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB #19 – Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 0-5, 2 K #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 0-2, 2 BB THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Indianapolis (5:05 PM) - RHP Andrew Morris St. Paul @ Indianapolis (Game Two) - RHP Randy Dobnak Corpus Christi @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - TBD Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 PM) - RHP Chase Chaney Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (Game Two) - RHP Jeremy Lee Fort Myers @ Dunedin (3:00 PM) - RHP Michael Ross Fort Myers @ Dunedin (Game Two) - TBD FCL Pirates @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Rockies (10:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Well, 1. Catching depth in the Twins system isn’t particularly good. 2. He’s the closest to the majors. 3. His 2025 so far is just a 14 game sample. The only one in competition with Cartaya is Cardenas, whom Cartaya is two years younger than.

Interesting question. I guess a lot of it depends on how much of a "catcher" Ricardo Olivar really is. I'd go Cartaya, Cardenas, Diaw, Olivar, then Cossetti. That sounds about right to me but it's also difficult to understand and evaluate catcher defense in the minors.

Well if the Dodgers have taught us anything, it's that Louisville catchers are the way to go.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Andrew Cossetti) TRANSACTIONS OF Byron Chourio activated from 7-day IL (Fort Myers) RHP Travis Adams optioned to AAA St. Paul C Noah Cardenas promoted from AA Wichita to AAA St. Paul RHP Simeon Woods Richardson recalled from AAA St. Paul C Nate Baez promoted from A+ Cedar Rapids to AA Wichita RHP Trent Baker promoted from AA Wichita to AAA St. Paul INF Bryan Acuna promoted from FCL Twins to A Fort Myers C Luke Napleton promoted from A Fort Myers to A+ Cedar Rapids Saints Sentinel St. Paul 3, Indianapolis 2 (10 Innings) Box Score Travis Adams: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Edouard Julien (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) The Saints fell in extras on Tuesday. Travis Adams earned his second start of the season. The righty had known bulk appearances all year—he has yet to see an outing last fewer than two frames—yet the timing of his return to the rotation feels notable given the suddenly shrinking depth of starting pitchers available to the Twins. And, Adams pitched well, allowing a lone earned run across four innings with four strikeouts. The Saints offense was… concise? They certainly weren’t overwhelming. Before the ninth, a St. Paul runner reached second base just once, when an Anthony Prato HBP moved Carson McCusker to scoring position in the fifth. But they did get off the schneid eventually. McCusker walked and scampered to second off a wild pitch to set up Edouard Julien with a chance to tie the game. He looped a fly ball to left. A defeated bat toss ensued. The ball continued to fly, though, propelled by a chaotic force just nefarious enough to make Indianapolis’ left fielder miss the catch. In extra-innings, St. Paul would add a run with a Payton Eeles sacrifice fly, but Indianapolis scored twice, with the dagger arriving in the form of a swinging nubber hit too slow for Kyle Bischoff to field and throw out the runner at home. Noah Cardenas made his AAA debut with a single and a walk in five plate appearances. Rehabbing big leaguer Michael Tonkin tossed a scoreless inning. He struck out one and topped out at 93.8 MPH. Indianapolis is an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and second baseman Nick Yorke is ranked as the franchise’s 6th-best prospect. He singled in four at-bats. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 8, Corpus Christi 2 Box Score Pierson Ohl: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K HR: Andrew Cossetti 2 (6, 7), Aaron Sabato (9), Rubel Cespedes (4) Multi-hit games: Gabriel Gonzalez (2-for-4, R, BB), Aaron Sabato (2-for-5, HR, 2B, R, RBI), Rubel Cespedes (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI), Andrew Cossetti (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Ben Ross (3-for-4, RBI) A home run explosion helped the Wind Surge win on Tuesday. The first homer to drop actually wasn’t one from Wichita. Edwin Diaz, unrelated, drove a Pierson Ohl delivery over the wall in left-center to start the scoring. Then, in the second, Andrew Cossetti dropped his first of the day way out to center field. A second Corpus Christi homer pushed the Hooks into the lead, but that concluded their offense for the day. The Wind Surge? Barely even started. In the fourth Aaron Sabato cranked his ninth homer of the season and Ben Ross singled in Rubel Cespedes to take the lead. One frame later, Cespedes switched scoring a run for knocking one in. Kyler Fedko added on in the sixth. Finally, in the seventh, Cespedes demolished his fourth homer of the season, and Cossetti concluded his offensive barrage with a massive shot to go back-to-back with his teammate. Cole Percival, Jacob Wosinski, and Michael Martinez combined for five scoreless innings in relief of Ohl. They punched out five and allowed two hits. Corpus Christi is connected to the Houston Astros. No longer the talent firestorm of a system that dominated MLB for years, they nonetheless offered their 10th-ranked player, outfielder Luis Baez, who went 0-4, with three strikeouts. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 6 (10 Innings) Box Score Cole Peschl: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K HR: Brandon Winokur (6), Caden Kendle (3) Multi-hit games: Caden Kendle (2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI) The Kernels claimed victory in extras on Tuesday. Somehow, Cedar Rapids only had four hits. Four. And they scored seven runs. How is that possible? One of them, a Justin Connell double, plated Rayne Doncon in the second. Doncon reached base via a walk—the first of eight for the Kernels on the day. In the sixth, a Kyle DeBarge walk begat a Brandon Winokur home run. Cedar Rapids is halfway through their allotted hits for the day. Considering how effective that play was, the Kernels ran it again the next frame, with Poncho Ruiz walking to place Caden Kendle as the man to leave the stadium. Cedar Rapids is 75% of the way through their allotted hits for the day. DeBarge walked and stole two bases in the eighth before Jay Thomason brought him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Funny enough, Cedar Rapids’ final hit of the day came in the ninth with an ultimately harmless single from Kendle. So, how did they eventually win? How about a 10th inning that went fielder’s choice, groundout, intentional walk, and walk-off sacrifice fly. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to lower his season ERA to 0.96. Kyle DeBarge stole his 31st, 32nd, and 33rd bases of the season. St. Louis’ 18th-ranked prospect—catcher Ryan Campos—singled in five at-bats. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Dunedin 4 Box Score Eli Jones: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K HR: Jefferson Valladares (3) Multi-hit games: None The Mighty Mussels won narrowly on Tuesday. Early scoring proved to be the key to winning. Jefferson Valladares smoked his third homer of the year in the second, ushering in a scrappy three-run third which saw a flurry of singles, BBs, and one critical error give Fort Myers a 4-0 lead. Bryan Acuna collected his first A-ball hit in the melee. A fifth and final run came in the eighth thanks to a double steal. Though starter Eli Jones had to battle through his start, Christian Becerra and Ruddy Gomez combined for four frames of one-run ball to carry the game to its conclusion. Rehabbing minor leaguer Walker Jenkins singled, walked, stole two bases, and struck out twice in four plate appearances. He played center field for seven innings. The Dunedin Blue Jays don’t offer a tremendous collection of prospect talent; second baseman Sam Shaw is the best they have on hand. Ranked 24th in the organization, he doubled once in three at-bats. Complex Chronicles FCL Twins 0, FCL Pirates 11 Box Score Yoel Roque: 0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The FCL Twins were smoked on Tuesday. Yoel Roque failed to record an out in his start. Will Armbruester relieved him and performed admirably in recovering from the curt outing, netting seven outs with just one earned run. He whiffed three. Two batters—Yandro Hernandez and Ricardo Perez—recorded a hit for the FCL Twins, both singles. The team also took four walks. Eduardo Beltre stole his 10th base of the season, tying him for 11th-most in the FCL. Rehabbing minor leaguer, Yasser Mercedes, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Dominican Dailies DSL Twins 2, DSL Mets 3 (8 Innings) Box Score Jeicol Surumay: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K HR: None Multi-hit games: None The DSL Twins lost in extras on Tuesday. Jeicol Surumay delivered three quality innings in his start, as he rebounded from allowing a run in the first, eventually finishing the day without another score on his ledger. The DSL Twins plated a pair of runs in the fourth when Carlos Taveras tripled in a run before jogging home on a balk. Haritzon Castillo singled, walked, and stole a base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Travis Adams Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Andrew Cossetti PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed. You can vote/rank your Top 20 Twins prospects now by clicking here. #1 – Walker Jenkins (rehab with Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, BB, 2 K #6 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-5, K #9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, HR, R, 2 RBI #11 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, 3 R, 3 BB, K #14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 2-4, R, BB #16 – Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - 0-1, BB #18 – Yasser Mercedes (rehab with FCL Twins) - 0-3, 2 K #19 – Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 0-3, BB, 2 K #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B, R, BB, K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Indianapolis (12:35 PM) - RHP Marco Raya Corpus Christi @ Wichita (12:05 PM) - RHP Darren Bowen Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 PM) - RHP Ty Langenberg Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images At-bats don’t exist without context. Hitters bring to the plate scouting reports, understandings from their previous entanglements with a hurler, and knowledge from plate appearances taken earlier in the day. Matt Wallner entered the game Saturday with a single and a walk against Kevin Gausman in five matchups, and had grounded out and walked against the hurler prior to the two facing off again in the sixth inning. For pitch selection purposes, Gausman is a simple one to analyze. He’ll throw an occasional slider to keep a hitter honest, but is otherwise a fastball/splitter specialist. For a hitter, that makes sitting on a pitch easy. In practice, matters are more complicated, as evidenced by his 3.36 ERA since 2020. Here’s a selection of two swings Wallner took off him earlier in the game: MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fVlFGVVZGMEFYZ2NBRGdCWFVBQUhCVkFIQUZsVFVsWUFDd0JUQndZR0FnZFZDQVFD.mp4 MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fQkFkWUJRSlFWbE1BREFBQVh3QUhVMVZWQUZrQkFWa0FCQUFIQ1ZkUVUxSldVZ3BX.mp4 Two middle-middle fastballs. Two aggressive hacks. Absolutely nothing to show for it. I don’t think you need a damage heat map to know that throwing a pitch to Wallner there is a bad idea. Yet, Gausman escaped unharmed both times—he even earned a whiff in a previous at-bat, on a third heater chucked down the middle. Sometimes, that’s how it goes. Fast-forward to the sixth, and Gausman was near the end of his start when Wallner stepped into the batter’s box again. Knowing the swings Wallner took off his fastball—and knowing that Wallner was likely to sit on the heat again—Gausman offered the lefty his signature pitch: MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fVWdOVkJnRUdWZ01BQ0FNRVh3QUhWVk5XQUFBR1VGQUFCZ1pUVWxjSEFRc0FCZ3RU.mp4 Wallner barely taps it foul, as he clearly swings like a fastball is coming. It isn’t a great pitch—splitters generally don’t want to live too much in the zone—but it wrinkled just enough to elude Wallner’s barrel, handing the veteran pitcher the advantage. I find Wallner’s post-swing demeanor hilarious: he walks away disgusted by the notion that Gausman wouldn’t challenge him with a heater. Still, it’s 0-1, and time for another pitch: MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fQlFSWFhWTlJBQU1BRHdSUVZnQUhWd1JWQUZrQUJRVUFBbFFHQ0ZkWFV3ZFRBMVJT.mp4 That’s why Gausman is a 13-year player with Cy Young votes in three separate seasons. Oddly, his splitter took a horizontal shape here. Usually, it’s a pitch that drops vertically, yet this thing took off running like it missed its exit on the highway. No matter. Wallner took a hack that had little shot of connecting, and his deficit moved to 0-2. MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdnRFVnVUdBRk1BRFZaVUJRQUhWd1ZXQUFNTVcxQUFDMXdGQkFwVFZ3RUVVUUJT.mp4 Well, if two splitters lead to an 0-2 count, why not go to the well once more? It wasn’t the best split of his career, and the location was a touch too low to render as “nasty,” but that’s a pitch that could coax a swing from a more foolish hitter. Wallner was not that. He identified the split and took it easily. Given the sequence of this at-bat and the ones that came before it, Wallner was in a pickle. Gausman hadn’t strongly favored the splitter in their previous encounters, yet he hadn’t seen anything straight so far, and the man on the mound is the type of pitcher to spam splitters until he nets the result he wants. So what would he see next? Another split? Or the first fastball of the plate appearance? MTZxbjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFRQ0J3QURBQUFBQ3dNQkFBQUhCZzllQUFOWEFBTUFWZ2RYVXdwWEFGRlFWQWRV.mp4 He got it. He didn’t get all of it. But he got it. Catcher Tyler Heineman clearly wants to change Wallner’s eye level with a fastball either at the top of the zone or just above it. That, by itself, could have been the out-pitch. If Wallner did foul it off or take it for a ball, though, then a splitter was certainly arriving next. Instead, Gausman pulls the pitch to the center of the zone, and Wallner—determined not to simply foul a hittable fastball like before—elevates and celebrates for his fourth homer of the year. Matt Wallner is a world-class hitter. For some reason, power hitters often receive less credit than contact hitters in our shared baseball discussion regarding the finest batters in the league. Make no mistake, though: Wallner is an elite craftsman of hitting. He has a supernatural ability to pull any pitch for a flyball, and his plate discipline separates him from someone like Miguel Sanó, who often ran into trouble tapping into his awesome power potential. He’s a consummate pummeler of baseballs, who has even shaved off some strikeouts while taking more walks. His ceiling is seemingly endless—and this homer from June 7 demonstrates that a pitcher can only make so many mistakes before he punishes them. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images Box Score Bailey Ober: 7 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (10) Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-.283), Harrison Bader (-.147), Kody Clemens (-.141) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Early results favored Minnesota. Trevor Larnach found a 2-0 fastball to his liking and obliterated the pitch 421 feet out to right center to start the scoring. He made the great right-center wall look tiny. The next frame, Brooks Lee singled sharply and Royce Lewis blasted a double into left-center to place two men in scoring position. Kody Clemens grounded out productively. Christian Vázquez smoked a run-scoring double. The Twins' offense was moving; it seemed like the team was going to roll into a straightforward victory. An uneventful third begat a fortune change. That 3-0 lead—appearing even greater thanks to a feeling of untapped potential—lost potency in a second. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was hit by a Bailey Ober pitch, which looked innocuous enough; Addison Barger’s two-run homer the very next pitch completely altered the tenor. Suddenly, Minnesota’s lead looked slim. The good vibes from earlier were completely gone. One inning later, Ober allowed a single and a frankly catchable double that Matt Wallner bailed on to place two runners on. Bo Bichette—famous for his contact and unusual swing choice—dropped the droopiest single man could conceive into center to plate both Blue Jays. Those three previous runs never felt further away. A George Springer homer extended Toronto’s lead to two. All the while, the frames for Minnesota’s hitters melted into themselves; the Blue Jays “starter,” Paxton Schultz, gave way to Eric Lauer, who gave way to Mason Fluharty, who gave way to [insert every other pitcher here] with each subsequent reliever holding the once seemingly potent offense scoreless. And then the Blue Jays plated a sixth run in the eighth. Sure. The Twins finally fought back. At least a little. Larnach and Ty France reached base, auguring Rocco Baldelli to pinch-hit Ryan Jeffers against the lefty Brendon Little. He worked the count full before a curve below the zone inspired umpire Jordan Baker to punch him out. The pitch wasn’t a strike. The only solace Jeffers could take was in offering his displeasure to Baker. He was then ejected. So it goes. Royce Lewis later singled to bring the game within two, yet the sense of missed opportunity hung over the team as the game lurched into the ninth inning. That sense was well-placed: Minnesota never offered a legitimate threat on the lead again. Jeff Hoffman walked one on his way to striking out the side to send the team home wondering what happened to the feeling they conjured after such a successful start to the game. Notes: Lewis, whose slump has increasingly become a concern in Twins Territory, may have broken out of it tonight. Lewis was 3-3, with a double, an RBI and a run scored Attendance for the Toronto series is typically high, as Canadians often travel to Target Field to see their team. With the ongoing trade dispute with Canada, there was some question if that would be the case this year. If it slowed visitors down, it's not apparent. Tonight's attendance was 26,847, and the Friday night game for last year's Blue Jays game, on August 30th, was 24,623. Larnach is five homers away from tying a single-season career-high. Byron Buxton played his 820th game as a Twins, the 27th-most in team history. He's 12 away from tying Jorge Polanco. Post-Game Interview: What’s Next? The Twins and Blue Jays continue their melee with a Saturday scrum starting at 12:10 PM. Chris Paddack will start opposite Kevin Gausman. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Before we get to the list, let me quickly explain how I like to analyze starters. My balancing has shifted: previously, I emphasized innings, but I think that led me to overvalue older pitchers and downplay efficiency. You'll see that has changed in this list. I've rewarded pure dominance, as I questioned how much I should value extra innings if the tradeoff is much worse run prevention. Finally, defining a "starting pitcher" in the minors is somewhat nebulous, as bulk hurlers will often get time in as a starter, and reliever depending on what the team needs. My line is this: a relief outing isn't completely thrown out, but it weighs less than a start. Let's get to the honorable mentions. Honorable Mentions: Dasan Hill, A Fort Myers - 1.93 ERA, 9 ⅓ IP, 5.14 FIP, 31.6 K% Dasan Hill survived an injury scare early in the month to continue baffling A-ball hitters as a teenager. That innings total is far too low, though, so he will have to settle for an honorable mention. Also, cut down on the walks, please. Andrew Morris, AAA St. Paul - 3.81 ERA, 26 IP, 4.93 FIP, 19.1 K% I don’t know if Andrew Morris deserves to be here given that he allowed a .349 batting average in May, but his run prevention was mostly solid, and he was legitimately nasty on the 18th, so here he sits. Eli Jones, A Fort Myers - 3.74 ERA, 21 ⅔ IP, 3.52 FIP, 23.3 K% An 8th-rounder out of the University of South Carolina in 2024, Eli Jones augured mild April success with a respectable May, totaling a pair of five-frame, one-earned run starts in the month. Chase Chaney, A+ Cedar Rapids - 3.52 ERA, 23 IP, 4.79 FIP, 17.3 K% Chase Chaney was a Cedar Rapids workhorse in May, pitching at least five innings in every start, with a trio of outings going six. There’s a dearth of Twitter videos from him this year, but his former team has a deep supply of cinematic shots of him pitching, so please enjoy. 5. Jeremy Lee, A+ Cedar Rapids - 3.12 ERA, 17 ⅓ IP, 2.26 FIP, 19.2 K% Our first member of the list proper, Jeremy Lee rebounded from a dreadful April—one that saw three games with an ERA over 13—to post a truly impressive May. He tossed five innings of one-run ball on the 4th, stumbled a little on the 10th, and returned for an outing on the 16th shockingly similar to his one to start the month. He concluded May with a pair of solid relief outings. Add it all up and you get one of the best starting pitcher performances in the system. He only walked one batter all month! Lee joined the Twins 13th-round pick out of South Alabama in 2023 (somehow he’s not the only Alabamanian who made the list). You may remember the school as the alma mater of Twins' 70's catching stalwart Glenn Borgmann. Lee crushed his competition at Fort Myers in 2024, yet found Midwest league hitters uninviting. Repeating the level might be the catalyst needed to jumpstart for success for the righty. 4. Trent Baker, AA Wichita - 3.18 ERA, 22 ⅔ IP, 2.32 FIP, 28.9 K% Trent Baker might be the story of the minors so far. A Rule 5 pick from the Cardinals organization—on the minor league side, that is—Baker slid gracefully into the Wind Surge rotation, where he holds a season ERA of 2.84 across 44 ⅓ innings with peripherals that support his performance. The turning point for Baker appears to be refined command. He walked 12% of batters in 2024 with the Cardinals’ AA team. So far, that total has been halved—he sits at 6% as of the beginning of June. And he was tantalizingly close to ending May with an even stronger bid for starter of the month. His first four starts were excellent, but a four-run four-inning appearance on the month’s final day knocked his stats to merely great, not transcending. Still, his play so far has been inspiring. He looks to be a rock in the Wichita rotation. 3. Aaron Rozek, AA Wichita - 2.52 ERA, 25 IP, 2.95 FIP, 21.0 K% Finally, a Minnesotan. The Burnsville lefty has been a regular in the Twins organization since being plucked from indy ball in 2021. Wherever the team needs him, he’s there: Rozek has at least 50 innings at three separate levels, with the bulk of his work coming as a Wichita Wind Surge. Shoot, he might even qualify for a pension with them at this point. Rozek’s calling card has been length. Few in the system can gobble frames like he can. May was no different: he totaled the second-most innings of all pitchers mentioned in this article, accruing at least 13 outs in every outing. He topped out with a six-inning start on the 9th. He’s also one to consistently tweet baseball thoughts if you’re interested in reading what a ballplayer has to say about the game. Rozek was close to taking one of the top two spots. The question asked is this: how valuable is 6 ⅔ innings with about a 5.45 ERA, or 10 ⅔ innings with about a 4.36 ERA? Those are the totals that separate him from the players ahead. It’s an interesting debate, and I fell on the side of efficiency. 2. Christian MacLeod, AA Wichita - 1.47 ERA, 18 ⅓ IP, 3.09 FIP, 24.7 K% It appears that Christian MacLeod decided allowing runs is for suckers, and MacLeod is no sucker. His season ERA is a miniscule 0.95, albeit across just 28 ⅓ innings as he started 2025 injured. Still, his numbers cannot be denied, and May was a deeply impressive month for the lefty. A champion with the Mississippi State Bulldogs, MacLeod joined the Twins as a 5th-round pick in the 2021 draft. His pitching quality is evident; yet, injuries limited him to enter the season with just 164 ⅔ minor league innings. The lack of workload is the main factor that kept him on the outskirts of major prospect conversations. He was a tertiary mention at best. He’s clearly healthy now. MacLeod started the month with a relative stinker before rattling off three straight scoreless starts, allowing just five hits in 11 ⅔ innings. Control was the only bugaboo in his game: the 25-year-old walked 13% of hitters in the month, as it seemed like the best strategy a batter could employ against him was to wait out a possible free pass. It hardly mattered; just three runners scored against him. He was so good that I’m still not entirely sure I made the correct decision in anointing him only the second-best starter of the month. 1. David Festa, AAA St. Paul - 1.26 ERA, 14 ⅓ IP, 1.35 FIP, 36.6 K% Given his status at the beginning of the month, I’m sure David Festa himself wouldn’t have predicted that he’d win this award. The righty dominated 5 ⅔ frames with one earned run on May 6th, then missed his next start due to ominous “arm fatigue.” Fans groaned and prepared for the worst. Yet, the malaise subsided after two weeks, and Festa returned for 3 ⅔ successful innings, again allowing a lone earned run. A phenomenal five-shutout inning start on the 29th concluded what eventually became a tremendous month for the youngster—one that saw a critical adjustment integrate flawlessly into his game. Festa’s four-seam fastball had proven irresistible to major league hitters, who battered the offering with Ted Williams-like vigor. The pitch clearly wasn’t going to cut it, so Festa and the Twins worked to add a sinker into his mix. Evidently, he felt uncomfortable with the pitch early on, as he threw it just 10 times in the bigs, but recently he’s let the new weapon rip; Festa threw 22 of them in his last start—a third of all his pitches that day—as opposed to just 11 four-seamers. We will see what the pitch will do in the majors. Minor leaguers, however, have spoken through Festa’s stats, and they tell us this: they would rather see the New Jerseyian practice his craft in the big leagues. View full article

Image courtesy of © Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Box Score Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (8), Willi Castro 2 (3, 4), Carlos Correa (5) Top 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (.404), Carlos Correa (.304), Willi Castro (.165) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Ah, the infamous West Coast trip. The great equalizer. Tales of the Pacific are often apocryphal, but there is indeed a sense that it offers a litmus test for a team’s gumption: exit with a few wins under your belt, and you’re probably fine; lose too many times, and the squad’s acumen is in question. Early reports did not favor the Twins. Zebby Matthews surrendered a leadoff infield hit and a line drive single from old friend Jorge Polanco. By themselves, these two outcomes would be problematic; exacerbated in this instance was the existence of Cal Raleigh, mean and homer-hungry, ready to step into the batter’s box. He needed just one pitch. A cutter. A bad one. So bad that Matthews shunned the offering for two innings. The home run was Raleigh’s 20th of the season 3-0 Mariners. But it got worse before it got better - or even before the inning ended. It was 4-0 Mariners when Randy Arozarena deposited a Matthews' fastball just beyond the left field wall For three innings, it seemed like Minnesota was better off ceding the game. Bryan Woo diced through the lineup with little resistance, as a Trevor Larnach single in the first stood as the only baserunner the team could muster off the righty. The rhythm was contagious. The outs were too easy. Twins hitters must have felt they were gripping sand instead of a bat. Yet, action arose immediately, summoned by Larnach, who evidently finds Woo’s famous fastball rather ordinary: he smacked it into the right field seats on the first pitch of the at-bat. Ryan Jeffers felt inspired. He took a Woo sinker and drilled a double into the left-field corner; Brooks Lee ushered him home two batters later with an RBI groundout. Suddenly, the lead didn’t appear so great. And, suddenly, Matthews was dealing. That disastrous first gave way to a successful second, which begat a clean third. Before long, the middle innings arrived to uneventful fanfare—excellent news for a pitcher. In fact, Matthews dominated the sixth so well that Rocco Baldelli sent his youngster out for one more frame. It worked. Two groundouts and a strikeout constituted the finality of the longest start of his MLB career. While still in line for the loss, Matthews’ deficit was just one as he left, as Willi Castro hit a solo shot about half a foot far enough to elude Leody Tavares’ glove in right field in the top of the seventh. That's when the game ceased to be anything ordinary or easy to digest. **** got crazy. Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer to give Seattle what must have felt like an indomitable lead: Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz had a 0.00 ERA, after all. Might as well turn the TV off. Well, the Twins were feeling spicy. Ty France singled, yet two strikeouts put Minnesota's WPA at 1.1%. Castro homered again. That bumped odds to... 3.5%. Certainly possible; highly unlikely. Byron Buxton singled and stole second. That raised an eyebrow. And, somehow, Larnach scooped one of Muñoz's famous sliders, and drove the pitch into center, sending Buxton scampering home to tie the game. Jhoan Duran worked a 1-2-3 ninth to send the game into extras. If the previous inning was wild ****, the 10th was the unhinged bananas that usually only exists on Comedy Central in the wee hours of the morning. It started when Carlos Correa stroked a two-run homer on the first pitch in extra innings. Then Brooks Lee singled. Then came two outs. Then. Then. Then. Four more runs. Varied in nature. Potent all the same. Buxton singled home two. Larnach—I mean, just build the statue already—brought in a pair as well. The lead swelled to six as Minnesota left the top of the 10th with an unthinkable 12-6 lead. At one point, they had two outs in the bottom of the ninth with just three runs. Brock Stewart closed out the Mariners in the 10th, not even allowing the ghost runner to score. Twins win. Notes: Matthews' seven innings were an MLB career-high. His previous best was five. The Twins are 20-7 when Jhoan Durán appears in a game in 2025. Willi Castro hit two homers in a game for the first time since May 27th, 2023. Trevor Larnach accrued four hits in a game for the first time since August 21st, 2024. Post-Game Interview: Let's hear from Carlos: What’s Next? The Twins and Mariners match up for an evening Fox showcase, with first pitch set at a merciful 6:15 PM. Bailey Ober will start opposite Bryce Miller. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet View full article

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (Gabriel Gonzalez) TRANSACTIONS RHP Christian Becerra activated from 7-day IL (Fort Myers) RHP Devin Kirby released (Fort Myers) 3B Caleb McNeely assigned to A Fort Myers OF Blaze O’Saben assigned to A Fort Myers Saints Sentinel St. Paul 5, Omaha 2 Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K HR: Matt Wallner (4) Multi-hit games: Jeferson Morales (2-for-3, 2 R, BB), Anthony Prato (3-for-3, R, RBI, BB) The Saints cruised to a win on Wednesday It was a day in which baseball was played, which means Matt Wallner hit a homer. International League pitchers keenly await his return to the bigs. Like the others before it, this one was no cheapie: the ball left Wallner’s bat at 108.8 MPH and landed 406 feet away. He is slugging .952 with the Saints. Simeon Woods Richardson commanded the ball well in yet another impressive outing with St. Paul. The righty followed up a six-inning one-run start on the 22nd with a six-inning two-run start on Wednesday in which he struck out five. He topped out at 94.9 MPH. The rest of St. Paul’s offense came off an Anthony Prato RBI single in the fourth, and a Mickey Gasper run-scoring knock in the sixth. Travis Adams carried the game to its ending with three quality innings, striking out two while allowing just two baserunners. The Storm Chasers are the AAA team for the Kansas City Royals, and employ the 10th-best prospect in baseball, Jac Caglianone. The human firecracker has obliterated minor league baseball in 2025; he’s slashing .326/.387/.599 after Wednesday. He doubled and singled twice in four at-bats on Wednesday. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, Tulsa 10 (10 Innings) Box Score Ricky Castro: 3 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Gabriel Gonzalez (4-for-4, 2 2B, R), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, R, RBI, BB) Wichita fumbled in extra innings on Wednesday. The opening frame—typically a genteel affair—was anything but. Ricky Castro allowed a double to the leadoff hitter, who later became a run when an infield tapper and subsequent error by Jorel Ortega ushered him home. A sacrifice fly soon brought the deficit to two. A third-inning run portended an ugly three-score fourth that Castro would not escape. Singles, walks, steals, errors. No Driller dominated with damage; rather, they scrapped and bothered with gnat-like intensity. Then, something funny happened. Though they were down six runs, the Wind Surge gathered themselves and composed a seven-run frame. Ricardo Olivar doubled, then Kala’i Rosario doubled, then Jorel Ortega doubled. A Tyler Dearden grounder to push the inning to two outs hardly mattered. Jake Rucker singled and stole second, auguring three consecutive base on balls for Tanner Schobel, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Kyler Fedko. With the bases juiced, Rubel Cespedes unleashed a liner to right that brought all three runners home safely. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Cespedes; he was thrown out at second to end the inning. Still, the Wind Surge somehow held the lead. That lead lasted two batters. The following half-inning, Driller John Rhodes homered on the first pitch he saw. So it goes. Both teams shifted into neutral, watching the frames fade into each other as each scoring threat suffered the same muffled fate; no one scored for the rest of the game’s scheduled run time. Things finally changed in the 10th, with Tulsa furiously plating a trio of runs. Exhausted and demoralized, Wichita fell without even plating their free runner. Wichita swiped six bases on Wednesday, with five different players earning at least one steal. The Drillers are affiliated with the Dodgers. Although they’ve often stood as the zenith in the organization’s powerful prospect factory, the best they could offer Wednesday was the team’s 25th-ranked player, Peter Heubeck. He allowed five runs across 3 ⅔ innings. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 1, Lake County 0 Box Score Jose Olivares: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K HR: Kaelen Culpepper (1) Multi-hit games: None The Kernels tossed a shutout on Wednesday. Kaelen Culepper hit a lead-off homer. Thus concludes the game’s action. Cedar Rapids would go on to put just five more runners on base, while Lake County totaled the same. Only four runners reached second base; just once did a player greet the third baseman. It was a lonely day to be an infielder. Jose Olivares was the star of the pitching show, tossing five efficient innings with seven strikeouts. 46 of his 69 pitches went for strikes, a notable achievement given that the righty walked four men in two prior May outings, and entered the day with more free passes than innings in the month. Wednesday was a convincing rebuke of his previous command issues—and he put his team in an excellent position to win. Jack Noble graced the mound next, offering a pair of scoreless frames in support of the shutout effort. Spencer Bengard arrived next, and, what, was he going to spoil the fun? Nope. He put up a 1-2-3 eighth to place the pressure on Jacob Wosinski. The Grand Rapids native surrendered a single, but erased that runner and concluded the game with ground ball double play. Kyle DeBarge stole his 26th and 27th bases of the season. He leads the Midwest League. The Lake County Captains are an affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. Their 6th-ranked prospect, 2023 first-rounder and DH Ralphy Velazquez, walked once and struck out twice in four plate appearances. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Bradenton 8 Box Score Dylan Questad: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Payton Eeles (2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI) A five-run fifth blew up Fort Myers’ chances of winning on Wednesday. Dylan Questad didn’t receive much help, but he also did it to himself. The righty walked four in a five-run/three-earned outing that saw him fail to exit to fourth. The worst of it was in the third when Konnor Griffin stole second and advanced to third off a throwing error by Jefferson Valladares. He eventually scored. Then, wouldn’t you know it, the same exact thing happened the following inning, this time with Eddy Rodriguez as the beneficiary of Valladares’ wildness. That’s in part how Questad could allow five runs without giving up a hit with a runner in scoring position. The totality of Fort Myers’ offense on Wednesday was tepid but focused enough to plate a respectable five runs. They scored their first run off a Daniel Pena RBI double in the fourth and touched home once more with a fielder’s choice. In the fifth, Valladares worked to make up for his mistakes with an RBI double; he later scored when Payton Eeles called him home with a double of his own. Their final run came in the eighth thanks to Angel Del Rosario taking the hero’s journey around the bases with no help needed by his teammates. He singled on a bunt before swiping second and third in the same at-bat. Perhaps irked by the pest, Bradenton catcher Axiel Plaz attempted to pick him off but sent the ball sailing into no-man’s land. Del Rosario scampered home unscathed. Angel Del Rosario’s 20 steals are the 2nd-most in the Florida State League. Rehabbing minor leaguer Payton Eeles played shortstop and went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. The aforementioned Griffin was a 2024 first-round draftee and is currently the 37th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Olivares Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Gabriel Gonzalez PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #3 – Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-3, R, 2 K #6 – Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, K #9 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, BB, 2 K #11 – Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, 3 K #14 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 4-4, 2 2B, R #17 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-4, R, BB #19 - Carson McCusker (Minnesota) - 1-1 (first MLB hit) #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-5, 2B THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM) - RHP David Festa Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - RHP Darren Bowen Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - RHP Cole Peschl Bradenton @ Fort Myers (5:30 PM) - RHP Eli Jones FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (11:00 AM) - TBD View full article

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images The Twins and Zebby Matthews had a problem. The righty flashed legitimate strikeout potential in 2024, but the whiffs came with a Blylevian barrage of homers; batters found the stands 11 times across just 37 ⅔ major-league frames. That’s a 58-home run pace across 200 innings. And the type of pitch didn’t matter. The fastball? Obliterated. The cutter? Crushed. Spencer Horwitz even put one on the board against a curveball. Tough. If this trend continued, the team would have to hand out helmets and oversized gloves to fans every day when Matthews pitched. Unless he wanted to waste his prime years on the Saints, something needed to change. Early tendencies in his pitch mix indicate an evolution is currently underway. Matthews’s curveball and changeup—which accounted for 15% of his offerings in 2024—have been almost fully abandoned this season, in favor of a four-seam/cutter/slider three-piece selection. He’s thrown the hook and the cambio just seven total times in 152 pitches over two starts. That’s probably a good call. The curve yielded a .385 xwOBA last year, and the change sat at a .365. A league-average number is .327. Remember that you read wOBA like OBP, meaning Matthews turned hitters into Bobby Witt Jr., and Brent Rooker, respectively, with those two offerings. For the short term, I think this mix change makes sense. A part of the pitching milieu these days is focused on having hurlers throw as many types of pitches as possible, but if those offerings aren’t cutting it, there’s little point in throwing them. The simplified approach has also sharpened his pitches: while the slider and cutter bled into each other at times in 2024, his 2025 plot reveals two solidly separate offerings. Just as saliently, Matthews’s velocity is noticeably up compared to 2024, with his heater sitting at 96.6 MPH and the slider and cutter up a tick, as well. Here's what he looked like last year. And here's the (you know, hopefully) new and improved version. Now, I was concerned his new, tighter movement distribution and more linear approach might make him susceptible to platoon splits. We know that, inside of each pitcher lives two individuals, and who they reveal is based on batter handedness. Indeed, pitchers like Sonny Gray, Pablo López, and Bailey Ober (not Joe Ryan, really, but that’s just how he rolls) throw different pitches based on which batter’s box the hitters step in. Matthews doesn’t do that. Or, at least, his measures are less extreme. He trades about 10% of his four-seamers for cutters against lefties, but is otherwise shockingly agnostic on the matter. It’s worked for him, though, because his command of the cutter and slider to lefties has been pristine, and the verticality of his slider makes the pitch less susceptible to platoon splits. Just look at how he turned Brice Turang into mincemeat with the pitch: eUxONjNfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdNQVZsSURWZ0VBVzFjS1hnQUhBQTRDQUZnQUFWSUFBd0VIQVFGV0FBcFRDQVZU.mp4 Ok, and we’ll embarrass Vinnie Pasquantino as well: MTZxRGdfVjBZQUhRPT1fQmxKUkJnRlZVRmNBV3dSUkF3QUhBd0FGQUFNSFVWVUFCbDBCQUZVTkJnRUdCMUZl.mp4 So far, Matthews has faced 14 lefties and struck out six of them. He’s also allowed five singles and a walk, but only two of the hits were struck well. I think his process here is especially intriguing, and we should keep an eye on whether he can keep whiffing lefties at such an extreme rate. Long term, I’m unsure of the viability of a right-handed pitcher having nothing moving arm-side. The guys who successfully eschew having such an offering—rare in nature, but existing nonetheless—do so by dominating in other ways. Dylan Cease’s slider might be the best in baseball. Nick Pivetta works with an extreme vertical approach and a variety of breaking ball shapes. Can Matthews sharpen his slider to reach Cease’s level? It’s unlikely. I think he’ll need a sinker or a re-worked changeup. Hitters are just too good. They won’t be fooled for long by a small movement profile. Though his season ERA sits at 7.71, even higher than his 2024 mark, Matthews is not the same pitcher he was last year. His velocity is up. He largely eliminated two impotent offerings. I don’t think it’ll be enough to launch him into dominance, but it should at least allow him to reach a higher level. He looks primed to take a step forward. We shall see what comes next. View full article