Seth Stohs

getting Genth a couple of ABs and innings in another blowout.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Jayson Bass) TRANSACTIONS The Twins placed RHP Taj Bradley on the Injured List with a sore right pectoralis muscle. Taking his place on the roster is RHP Travis Adams. In addition, Dan Hayes reports that LHP Kendry Rojas is with the team, on the taxi squad, and could be activated before Sunday’s game. The Twins have now signed their third player from Lew Ford’s Long Island Ducks. They have signed catcher Caleb Roberts. In 15 games this season for the Ducks, the 26-year-old is hitting .339 with an OPS of .948. He is expected to report to the Wichita Wind Surge. Roberts was the fifth-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2021 out of North Carolina. He ended the 2022 season with nine games in Double-A Amarillo. In 2023, he hit .278/.382/.523 (.906) with 23 doubles, eight triples and 17 homers. He played 42 games in left field, caught 30 games and made starts at first base (7) and right field (6). He went to the Arizona Fall League that season. He returned to Amarillo in 2024, and in 113 games, he hit .243/.339/.454 (.793) with 20 doubles, four triples, and 20 homers. In that season, he caught 62 games and played one game each at first base and left field. Then for some reason, he returned to Amarillo in 2025. In 104 games, he hit .237/.327/.388 (.715) with 21 doubles, three triples, and 10 homers. He only caught one game (and just two innings) that season. He started 64 games in left and a dozen in right field. RHP Yael Retituyo was released from the DSL Twins roster. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 13, Las Vegas 8 Box Score It was a bullpen game for the Saints on Saturday, but as they have been most games of late, the Saints offense continues to put up big numbers. In fact, the Saints scored at least two runs in five of the first six innings. In the first inning, Gabriel Gonzalez walked with one out. With two outs, Orlando Arcia remained hot, driving his ninth double of the season off the wall in left field to drive in Gonzalez with the game’s first run. Arcia scored when Kyler Fedko reached on an error. The first two batters in the third inning got out, but Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia followed with singles. An errant pickoff throw allowed both runners to advance. Fedko lined a single to center to drive in both runners and make it 4-1. The top of the fourth inning began with an Aaron Sabato home run. It was his seventh home run of the season and fifth this week in Las Vegas. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper doubled and went to third on a fly out. Ryan Kreidler drilled his fifth home run of the season to give the team a 7-3 lead. Trent Baker started and went the first two innings. He gave up a solo home run to Michael Stefanic in the second inning. Raul Brito pitched the next two innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits (including a solo home run by Henry Bolte). The top of the fifth inning began with walks by Kyler Fedko and Hendry Mendez. Alex Jackson drove in Fedko with a single to center. With one out, Ben Ross drove a double off of the wall in the left center field gap to drive in two more runs and make it 10-3. Aaron Sabato came to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning. He muscled a soft liner into center field to drive in Fedko and Mendez. Marco Raya worked the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He had three strikeouts. Grant Hartwig gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Jon Brebbia got the final five outs, though he gave up a run on three hits. He struck out three. The Saints added one run in the eighth inning on Alex Jackson’s sixth home run. Aaron Sabato went 2-for-5 with his seventh home run and three RBI. He has had 12 RBI in these five games in Vegas. He is 10-for-22 this week with two walks, two doubles, five home runs and 12 RBI. When the week began, he was hitting .229/.296/.458 (.754). Following Saturday night’s game, he is now hitting .300/.359/.700 (1.059). Ben Ross went 2-for-3 with two walks and his fifth double. Alex Jackson went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth homer. Ryan Kreidler went 2-for-5 with a walk and his fifth home run. Orlando Arcia went 2-for-4 with his ninth double. Hendry Mendez went 2-for-4 with a walk. Kyler Fedko went 1-for-4 with two walks and stole his fifth base. Gabriel Gonzalez also walked twice. Last night, I wrote about A’s prospect Henry Bolte. On Friday night, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. On Saturday night, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. He had singles in his final two at-bats on Thursday night. He set the franchise record with hits in 12 straight at-bats. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 7, Amarillo 9 (10 innings) Box Score The Wind Surge jumped out to an early lead in this game. A five-run first inning is always helpful, but they also scored a sixth run in the top of the second for an early 6-0 lead. What could go wrong? With one out in the first, Kyle DeBarge walked and stole second base. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch, but there were two outs. Billy Amick came up and grounded to third base, but a fielding error allowed Amick to reach and DeBarge to score the first run. More importantly, the inning continued and the Wind Surge took advantage. Jake Rucker lined a single. Andrew Cossetti singled to center to drive in Amick with the second run. Murphy Stehly reached on a throwing error. Rucker scored on the play. Cossetti scored on a Jorel Ortega single. Then Maddux Houghton singled in Stehly and the Surge had a 5-0 lead. The second inning began with a DeBarge walk. Ricardo Olivar singled. They each advanced on a double steal. DeBarge scored the sixth run on a sacrifice fly by Jake Rucker. The Sod Poodles fought their way back with two runs in their half of the second and single runs in the third and fourth innings. The Wind Surge added a run in the top of the fifth frame. Rucker singled and stole second. Cossetti walked. After a pitching change, the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Rucker scored on a Jorel Ortega sacrifice fly to bump the lead to 7-4. Ricky Castro started and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. He struck out four. Jacob Wosinski came on and gave up just one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. Alejandro Hidalgo pitched a scoreless sixth inning, but he gave up three runs (2 earned) in the seventh inning. He gave up five hits and walked two over his two innings. Jaylen Nowlin struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Tied at seven, the game went to the 10th inning. The Wind Surge were unable to even move the Manfred Man to third base. In the bottom of the 10th, Kyle Bischoff came on and gave up a leadoff, two-run homer to end the game. The Wind Surge had nine hits in the game. Ricardo Olivar, Jake Rucker, Andrew Cossetti, and Maddux Houghton each had two hits. DeBarge walked twice and stole his 10th and 11th bases. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 3 Box Score There was a lot of good pitching in this game. Of the 18 half-innings, 14 of them resulted in zero runs. The River Bandits started the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Kernels got on the board with four runs in the top of the third inning. Brandon Winokur was in the leadoff spot for the Kernels for the first time. He led off the first inning with a single and then led off the third inning with a single. Eduardo Tait singled, and Khadim Diaw walked to load the bases. Jaime Ferrer grounded out but Winokur scored the first run. Danny De Andrade followed with the game’s biggest hit. He launched his third home run of the season to the berm beyond the fence in left field. Quad Cities cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Young Ramon Ramirez hit his fifth home run. The 20-year-old backstop was 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, and a home run. He is the #7 prospect at Royals Keep. In the top of the eighth, Khadim Diaw led off with a walk. Jaime Ferrer stayed hot, hitting his eighth home run of the season. Eli Jones tossed the first five innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and had six strikeouts. Nolan Santos went three innings and gave up just one run on one hit, a solo home run. He walked one and struck out three batters. Eston Stull came on and had one walk and one strikeout to earn his second save. Winokur led the way by going 4-for-5. De Andrade had a single to go with his huge home run. Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk. Khadim Diaw went 1-for-3 with two walks. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Tampa 9 Box Score For the second time this week, the Mussels used a big inning late to claim a lead and secure a win. Tampa scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Mussels responded with three runs in the bottom of the first. Dameury Pena led off with a single and went to second on a passed ball. Ramiro Dominguez walked. After a successful double steal, Yasser Mercedes walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Ryan Sprock walked to tie the game at 1-1. Quentin Young followed with a single to left field to drive in two runs and make it 3-1. Justin Mitrovich started and gave up just an unearned run on one hit and one walk. He had four strikeouts. Brian Zeldin came on and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Jake Murray came on and got five outs. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He had three strikeouts. Michael Hilker was next. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts. The Mussels scored a run in the seventh inning on a balk. Going to the bottom of the eighth inning, the team was down 8-5. The bottom of the eighth inning started with singles by Dameury Pena and Ramiro Dominguez. Yasser Mercedes drove in both runners with his second triple. Henry Kusiak walked. Then Ryan Sprock singled to left to drive in Mercedes with the game-tying run. With two outs and after a pitching change, Jayson Bass came to the plate and untied the game with a two-run triple. Byron Chourio singled to drive in Bass and give the Mussels an 11-8 lead. Mitch Mueller came in for the ninth. He gave up one run on one hit and a walk. He struck out two and earned his second save. Quentin Young went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Jayson Bass went 3-for-5 with his fifth double, first triple, and two RBI. Ryan Sprock went 2-for-4 with a walk. Dameury Pena went 2-for-6. Yasser Mercedes went 1-for-3 with two walks, a triple, and two RBI. The team also has seven stolen bases. Chourio and Dominguez each had two steals. COMPLEX CHRONICLE FCL Twins 2, FCL Red Sox 9 Box Score The Twins fell behind early on Saturday. Miguelangel Boadas made the rehab start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits over two innings. He had three strikeouts. Rainer Marin came on and gave up three runs on five hits over 1 1/3 innings. He left the game with two runners on, and Nick McAuliffe allowed both to score. He allowed two more unearned runs to score on two hits before getting out of that fourth inning. Yoel Roque came in and had three strikeouts over two scoreless innings. The Twins avoided being shutout with two runs in the seventh inning. With one out, Ricardo Pena reached on an error. Daiber De Los Santos walked, and Pena advanced to third on a wild pitch. Pena scored on another wild pitch. With two outs, De Los Santos went to third on a wild pitch. Miguel Caraballo walked. After a pitching change, De Los Santos scored on a balk for the second run. But that was it. The Twins had just two hits, and five walks is a pretty solid number. They struck out 13 times in seven innings. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Jayson Bass (Fort Myers): 3-for-5, 2B(5), 3B(1), R, 2 RBI, K Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 4-for-5, R Pitcher of the Day Marco Raya (St. Paul): 2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches, 15 strikes (71.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-6, 2B(7), R, 4 K (batted first, played 2B) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB (batted second, played catcher). #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 BB, R (batted second, played DH) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - On Twins taxi squad. Could be activated Sunday. #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. Missed fourth straight game. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K, 11 pitches, 7 strikes (63.6%) - Will also start for the Twins on Sunday. #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 4-for-5, R, (batted first, played CF) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, 3 RBI, K (batted sixth, played SS). #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches, 15 strikes (71.4%) #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, BB, 2 R, K (batted sixth, played LF) #17 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, BB, 2 R, 2 K, 2 SB(11), (batted second, played SS) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R (batted third, played DH) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday, May 10: St. Paul @ Las Vegas (2:05 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (0-0, 6.14 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-2, 4.08 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (0-3, 8.44 ERA) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (11:05 am CT) - RHP Matthew Dalquist (0-1, 5.40 ERA) FCL Twins - No Game Scheduled. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 17-23 St. Paul Saints: 19-18 Wichita Wind Surge: 16-16 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 17-15 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 18-14 FCL Twins: 3-3 DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Not yet, dude's hitting like .180. However, I'd play him at 1B 3-4 days per week for the next month and see where he's at. I've watched him a bit there this year. He's been fine on pop ups. He's been fine one good throws. I've only seen him field a couple of grounders, and that's been fine. I haven't seen him have to scoop baseballs. So yeah, I'd update his usage at 1B and maybe see if Mauer and/or Morneau can work with him in St. Paul a few times.

Image courtesy of Elisa Chavez (photo of Aaron Rozek) TRANSACTIONS Fort Myers placed RHP Eric Hammond on the 7-Day Injured List with a right eye contusion. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 7, Las Vegas 4 Box Score Zebby Matthews was strong and efficient on Friday night. Orlando Arcia led the offense. Overall, this was a very nice win for the Saints. For the Aviators, lefty Gage Jump (a Top 60 overall prospect in baseball) started. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs (5 earned) on six hits and five walks. He had eight strikeouts. The Saints got ahead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Gabriel Gonzalez and Kyler Fedko walked. Arcia singled to right to drive in Gonzalez and give the team the 1-0 lead. The third inning began with Tanner Schobel reaching on a two-base error. Kaelen Culpepper singled to left with Schobel advancing to third base. Gonzalez drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly. Kyler Fedko just missed a home run and had to settle for an RBI triple. Arcia followed with his seventh homer of the season to give the Saints a 5-0 lead. Let’s jump to the top of the fifth inning. Arcia led off the inning by crushing a ball well beyond the fencing in left field. It was his second homer of the game and eighth of the season. It also gave the Saints a 6-2 lead. With two outs in the eighth inning, Fedko singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Arcia followed with an RBI single to left giving him four RBI in the game. Zebby Matthews was really good, and he was very efficient. Overall, he tossed eight innings. He was charged with three runs on 10 hits and two walks. He had five strikeouts including getting two strikeouts to end a threat in the bottom of the eighth inning, both on 96+ mph fastballs. Through six innings, he had thrown just 65 pitches. Through seven innings, he had thrown 74 pitches. Through eight innings, he threw 95 pitches, and 69.5% of them were strikes. Drew Smith gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning. Not a Twins guy, but I have to write about the game that A’s top ten prospect Henry Bolte had. Leading off for the Aviators, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. He played in 34 games for Las Vegas last season and hit .300/.404/.433 (.837) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. He was also 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts. Friday night was Bolte’s 35th game with the Aviators in 2026. He is hitting .329/.401/.604 (1.005) with five doubles, three triples, and 10 homers. He is also 16-for-17 in stolen base attempts. He was the A’s second round pick in 2022 out of Palo Alto High School in northern California. Bolte and Blue Jays prospect Josh Kasevich (currently with Triple-A Buffalo) are racing to become the high school’s fifth major-league player. Brothers Mike Brewer (Royals) and Tony Brewer (Dodgers) and Stu Pederson (Dodgers) combined to play in 44 MLB games between 1984 and 1986. The fourth player from the high school to play in the big leagues is Joc Pederson who is playing in his 13th MLB season in 2026. He is the son of the aforementioned Stu Pederson. Based on his Triple-A numbers, it looks like the Bolte family might be the third Palo Alto High School family to have big-league service time. The Kasevich’s may just need to accept being fourth. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Amarillo 4 Box Score The night before, the offense set several franchise records for runs scored, hits, homers, and more. On Friday night, they showed they can slowly and methodically come back from a deficit to win a close game. As was generally the theme of the night, there was some really solid pitching throughout the system on Friday. Lefty Aaron Rozek started and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, hit one, and struck out five batters. He’s been terrific since rejoining the Twins organization. His ERA with the Surge is down to 2.45. Wichita got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, Kyle DeBarge singled. He stole second and then third base. And then Billy Amick drove him in with his fourth double of the year. In the top of the sixth, the Wind Surge added on. Garrett Spain led off with a walk. With two outs, he had moved to second base. Amick came to the plate and hit his ninth home run of the season to give his team a 3-0 lead. Jarret Whorff came in and pitched a scoreless fifth inning. However, he was charged with four runs on three hits and two walks, and he recorded just one out in the bottom of the sixth. He left the game with the bases loaded and a 3-2 lead. William Fleming came on and allowed two of the three inherited runners to score and give the Sod Poodles a 4-3 lead. The tying run scored when he hit a batter. The second scored on a soft groundout. Fleming’s pitching line doesn’t look bad. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. With two outs in the top of the eighth, Ricardo Olivar notched his seventh double of the season. Guess who followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4? Of course, it was Billy Amick. With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Andrew Cossetti homered to center, his first homer of the season. It couldn’t have come at a better time! Sam Ryan struck out three batters over the final two innings. He faced the minimum. Amick went 3-for-4 with his fourth double and ninth homer and the team’s first four RBI of the game. He has seven homers in his past 13 games. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 2 Box Score The Kernels were shut out in Quad Cities on Thursday night, and they didn’t exactly start Friday night on fire. However, some late runs were not only good for their psyches but also led them to a win. The Kernels got on the scoreboard first in this game. With two outs in the top of the third inning, Jacob McCombs singled. He went to second on a balk and scored when Brandon Winokur reached on an errant throw. The Kernels have pitched well and did so again on Friday. Ivran Romero got the start and worked three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, but he didn’t hurt himself with any walks. He had four strikeouts. Yehizon Sanchez came in and had three strikeouts over two scoreless, one-hit innings. Cole Peschl threw the sixth inning. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. The game was tied 1-1 through seven innings. Jump to the top of the eighth inning, and the first two Kernels batters struck out. McCombs was hit by a pitch, and he scored from first on Winokur’s seventh double of the season. Nick Trabacchi put zeroes on the board in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings. He walked one, but he gave up no hits and struck out four batters. The top of the ninth started out well. Khadim Diaw led off with his fourth double. Jaime Ferrer followed with his seventh home run of the season. That gave the Kernels a little cushion, a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth. Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one run on one hit in the ninth to record a relatively stress-free fourth save of the year thanks to the insurance runs. Winokur went 2-for-4 with a double. Cedar Rapids had just five hits in the game and no walks. They were helped by three hit batters. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 6 Box Score This was a really well-pitched game for both teams, especially through five innings. Tampa took the lead in the sixth. They put together a big inning and held on to win game four of this series. Again, we will start with the pitching. Ramiro Villanueva is back and healthy and pitching like he wants to move into the Twins Top 40 rankings! After missing the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, he has impressed in his first few Mighty Mussels starts. That held true on Friday night. The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked three, and had four strikeouts. Of course, it’s no surprise what his one issue has been in his return so far. It’s common for control to come back a little slower for some. In 10 innings so far, though, he’s given up one earned run on six hits. He has walked nine and struck out 12 batters. Not bad for a 19-year-old with three professional innings pitched (in the DSL in 2024) under his belt. Kolten Smith came in and worked the middle three innings. He started with two scoreless innings (two hits, four strikeouts), but he was charged with the four runs in the sixth inning (four runs, four hits, two walks, two strikeouts). It likely won’t surprise you to see how the Mussels scored their two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bruin Agbayani led off with a double. He came around to score on Yasser Mercedes' sixth home run of the season. It cut the deficit in half, but Fort Myers was unable to complete a comeback. Xavier Kolhosser pitched the final three innings. He gave up two unearned runs on two hits and no walks. He struck out four batters. Five Mussels hitters had one hit. Agbayani’s double and Mercedes’ home run were the only extra-base hits. Ramiro Dominguez had both a single and a walk, and he stole his second base of the season. COMPLEX CHRONICLE FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 0 Box Score The FCL Twins jumped ahead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added one more run in the fourth. Three pitching prospects combined for the seven-inning shutout. Let’s start with the pitching, as I really think all three pitchers are legitimate prospects. (Each ranks in my current Top 65 Twins prospects.) Melvin Rodriguez started and gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. He had one strikeout. Geromy Villoria came on and gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out two batters. Hendry Chivilli finished the game with three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one, and had two strikeouts to earn the save. Yovanny Duran led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple. After two strikeouts, Joyner Perez singled to center to drive him in. After a wild pitch, Daiber De Los Santos singled to right to make it 2-0. Perez and De Los Santos each finished their day 1-for-2 with a walk. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Ricardo Paez knocked his first home run of the season to make it 3-0. It marked his first home run in the States. Last year, in 39 games in the FCL, he hit .242 and got on nearly 40% of the time, but he had no home runs. In 2024, he had two home runs in 36 games for the DSL Twins. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Orlando Arcia (St. Paul): 4-for-5, 2 HR(8), 2 R, 5 RBI. Billy Amick (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2B(4), HR(9), R, 4 RBI. Pitcher of the Day Aaron Rozek (Wichita): 4 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 63 pitches, 38 strikes (60.3%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, 2 K (batted first, played 2B) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4 (batted third, DH). #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, HBP, 6 K. 93 pitches, 61 strikes (65.6%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch. Scheduled to start Sunday. #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, SF RBI, K (batted second, played 1B) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. Missed third straight game. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, 2B(7), RBI, CS(2) (batted second, played SS) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, 3 K, E(13) (batted sixth, played 3B). #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, BB, 3 K (batted fifth, played LF) #17 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, K, 2 SB(9) (batted second, played SS) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B(4), R, HBP (batted first, played Catcher) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday, May 9: St. Paul @ Las Vegas (9:05 pm ET) - RHP Trent Baker (2-2, 9.42 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Ricky Castro (1-0, 4.63 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (5:30 pm CT) - RHP Eli Jones (1-1, 4.70 ERA) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (5:05 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (0-0, 0.00 ERA) FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (9:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 16-23 St. Paul Saints: 18-18 Wichita Wind Surge: 16-15 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 16-15 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 17-14 FCL Twins: 3-2 DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Walker JenkinsRiley QuickKaelen CulpepperEduardo TaitEmmanuel RodriguezConnor PrielippGabriel GonzalezKendry RojasDasan HillMarek HoustonCharlee SotoHendry MendezAndrew MorrisJames EllwangerKhadim DiawSantiago CastellanosQuentin YoungBrandon WinokurCJ CulpepperRyan Gallagher

Image courtesy of Elisa Chavez (photo of Garrett Spain) TRANSACTIONS Right-hander Miguel Martinez was assigned to the DSL Twins. Earlier this week, we learned that the Twins acquired RHP Yoendrys Gomez from the Rays in exchange for #OldFriend Cash Considerations. Following Thursday afternoon’s game in Washington DC, the Twins optioned John Klein to make room on the roster. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Las Vegas 7 Box Score Thursday night in Vegas, the Saints fell behind quickly. Through two innings, they were down 5-0. Andrew Bash made the start. He gave up five runs (3 earned) on six hits and two walks in three innings. C.J. Culpepper came on and tossed two scoreless innings. It wasn’t pretty, but he got through it without giving up a run. He gave up one hit and walked a batter. He also fielded a ground ball and threw it into center field. But overall, he looked solid. He looked comfortable. It will be interesting, in my opinion, if he is used as a two or three inning guy with the Saints. A top 20 prospect, he could put himself into consideration for a bullpen gig by the season’s second half. The Saints offense was quiet through six innings. They were still behind 5-0 when they came to bat in the top of the seventh. Hendry Mendez led off the inning with a walk and stole second. He moved to third on a single by Aaron Sabato. Tanner Schobel drove in Mendez with a single to left. With two outs, Kaelen Culpepper came to the plate. On the first pitch, he saw an 85-mph slider just below the zone, near the outside corner. The second pitch was an 84-mph slider, but it sat right in the middle of the plate. Culpepper launched the pitch at 101 mph at 27 degrees, and it traveled 376 feet for his eighth homer of the season. The club was back in the game, down just 5-4. Matt Bowman struck out three batters over two innings. He gave up a run on a hit to make it 6-4. His ERA is at 1.86 now, and I would assume he would have an opt-out in his deal. In the top of the eighth inning, the Saints got that run back off of former Twins prospect Nick Anderson. Gabriel Gonzalez led off with a single. He went to third on an Orlando Arcia single to right. Gonzalez scored, but it came on a double play which ended the threat. Dan Altavilla threw a scoreless eighth inning. With one out in the top of the ninth, Tanner Schobel lined a 100.8 mph fastball to the gap in right-center field for a double. With two outs, Culpepper came back to the plate. He fell behind 0-2 on a couple of sharp, upper 80s sliders. Then he fouled off fastballs at 100 mph and 102.2 mph. On the fifth pitch, he got a slider at 90.3 mph over the middle of the plate, and he bounded a 90-mph ground ball through the infield, avoiding both diving middle infielders. Schobel scored the tying run. But in the bottom of the ninth, he issued a walk and a single before Tommy White doubled in the winning run. Culpepper went 2-for-5 with his eighth home run and four big RBI. Gonzalez was 2-for-4. Schobel and Sabato were each 2-for-4 with a double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 19, Arkansas 7 Box Score The Surge scored three in the top of the first inning. They added crooked numbers in the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth. Maybe the Surge are trying to keep up with big brother. The Saints came into the day with more home runs than any other professional team. The Surge came into the game with 47 homers, and they ended the game with 57 homers. The Wind Surge set their franchise record with 19 runs scored and with 10 home runs in a single game. Their 17 hits were a season high. In this case, I think we’ll just post notes to summarize the game. Garrett Spain (25): Leading off, he went 3-for-6 with his seventh, eighth, and ninth home runs, and six RBI. He now is hitting .290/.365/.688 (1.053) with six doubles, two triples and nine home runs. The last Wind Surge batter to hit three homers in a game was Carson McCusker back in 2023. (McCusker has hit two home runs in 20 games for Rakuten (Japan).) Billy Amick (23): Amick went 3-for-5 in this game. He homered in his first two at-bats and then added a single in his third at-bat. He has eight home runs on the season. Maddux Houghton (27): Houghton went 2-for-5 with his first homer of the season and stole his seventh base. Jake Rucker (26): Many thought that Rucker hit his third home run of the season in the fifth inning. He drilled a ball to dead center that one of the umps called a homer. Rucker kept running and got to third. It was discussed by the umps, and he was credited with a triple. When he came to the plate in the seventh inning, he went to the opposite field, no question about it being over the fence. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, his first triple, and his third homer. Kyle DeBarge (22): He went 2-for-5 with a walk and his fourth home run. He scored three runs in the game. Ricardo Olivar (25): The backstop went 2-for-5 with a walk and his 10th home run of the season. All 10 of the homers have come in his past 13 games. Overall, he is now hitting .281/.369/.685 (1.054) with six doubles and 28 RBI. He has a seven game on-base streak. Kala’i Rosario (24): Rosario went 2-for-5 with his seventh home run. It marked his 40th home run with the Wind Surge. Andrew Cossetti (25): The DH went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored. In case you were wondering. Jose Olivares started and gave up two runs on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. Spencer Bengard walked two and struck out two batters but got four outs with no runs. Darren Bowen gave up one run on two hits and a walk over two innings. He struck out three batters. Kyle Bischoff gave up four runs on four hits (including two homers) in the seventh inning. Luis Quinones tossed two scoreless innings He struck out five batters. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 2 Box Score On a day when four of the Twins affiliates combined for 45 runs, you had to know that one affiliate would be shutout, and that was the Kernels on Thursday. Jason Doktorczyk started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out five. Sam Rochard struck out two in a scoreless sixth inning. Adam Falinski struck out four batters in his first High-A debut. The Kernels certainly had chances. While they had just three hits, Kernels batters walked eight times. Four times the Kernels had a runner on third base, but only once did that come with less than two outs. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Miguel Briceno had a single and a walk. Brandon Winokur and Jay Thomason each walked twice. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 10, Tampa 6 Box Score Big innings always play such a big part in deciding a team that wins. That was definitely the case in this late-inning comeback win. When the Mussels came to the plate in the bottom of the third inning, they were losing 5-0. With two outs in that inning, Yasser Mercedes was on first base and scored ahead of Ramiro Dominguez who drilled his third home run since joining the Mussels two weeks ago. Mercedes doubled in the fifth inning and scored the team’s third run on a ground out. When the Mussels came to the plate to start the bottom of the eighth inning, they were down 6-3. Henry Kusiak singled to start the inning. Then things got a little wild. Irvin Nunez and Jayson Bass walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Dameury Pena was hit by a pitch to drive in a run the hard way. Bruin Agbayani walked in a run. Down one, Mercedes was called out on strikes. He immediately challenged and the ABS told him that the ball was 0.8” low. In that instant, the strikeout became a walk, and the game was tied 6-6. Then came a strikeout for the second out. But, Ryan Sprock walked to give the Mussels a 7-6 lead. After a pitching change, Henry Kusiak came up for the second time in the inning. He cleared the bases with a line drive double to left field. 10-6 Mussels. Reed Moring started for the Mussels. He gave up two unearned runs on one hit in 1 1/3 innings. He had two strikeouts but also four walks. Merit Jones came in and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. Jonathan Stevens came on and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. Mike McKenna had a walk and a strikeout in the scoreless ninth inning. Henry Kusiak signed with the Twins organization from the Long Island Ducks. He had an “O-fer” in his first game. In this game, he was 3-for-5 with the biggest hit of the game, his first double. The Mussels scored their 10 runs on seven hits and 10 walks. Agbayani went 1-for-3 with two walks. Mercedes was 1-for-3 with two walks and his fourth double. COMPLEX CHRONICLE FCL Twins 10, FCL Orioles 5 Box Score Cory Lewis made his second rehab start for the FCL Twins. He struck out three batters over two perfect innings. 19-year-old Yordi Jose came in for the third inning. The lefty gave up four runs (3 earned) on two hits. He walked four batters and had three strikeouts. Next up was 26-year-old minor-league veteran Jesse Bergin. He allowed both inherited runners to score, and then gave up one run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings. Carter Holjes had one walk in a scoreless inning. The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Yovanny Duran and Merphy Hernandez. They added an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning on two walks and two fielding errors. The Twins broke it open in the third inning with six runs. Darwin Almanzar singled to drive in Daniel Pena. Ricardo Paez scored on a wild pitch. With the bases loaded, Miguel Caraballo doubled to drive in two runs. Teilon Serrano tripled to drive in two more runs and give the team a 9-2 Almanzar singled to drive in one more run in the fourth inning and give the team 10 runs. The Twins scored their 10 runs on nine hits and eight walks. Ricardo Paez went 2-for-4. Almanzar went 2-for-3 with a walk. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day (Wichita Wind Surge): 17-for-42, 19 R, 5 BB, 19 RBI, 10 K, 3B, 10-HR. Pitcher of the Day Jason Doktorczyk (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, BB, 5 K, 75 pitches, 53 strikes (65.0%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, HR(8), SB(7), R, 4 RBI (batted first, played DH) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K (batted second, DH). #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Starts Friday in Cleveland. #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, R (batted third, played RF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K (batted third, played SS) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, R, K,SB(1), (batted fifth, played LF) #17 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-for-5, BB, HR(4), 3 R, RBI (batted second, played SS) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 B, 2 K, 30 pitches, 19 strikes (63.3%) #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, 2 K (batted first, played CF) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday: St. Paul @ Las Vegas (9:05 pm ET) - RHP Zebby Matthews (2-2, 5.13 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (2-1,3.38 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 pm CT) - RHP Ivran Romero (2-0, 5.79 ERA) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Ramiro Villanueva (0-0, 1.29 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (11:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 16-22 St. Paul Saints: 17-18 Wichita Wind Surge: 15-15 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 15-15 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 17-13 FCL Twins: 2-2 DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

check the transactions later today...

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography It was a solid month for pitching in the Twins minor leagues, in general. As you'll see below, there are some pitchers who have pitched well in Triple-A and have been able to make their major-league debuts. You will also find several pitchers making their professional debuts in Fort Myers, mostly 2025 draft picks. One other thing you'll notice is that our minor-league writing core made the decision to only have a Pitcher of the Month. In the past, we have always had separate awards for Relief Pitcher and Starting Pitcher of the month. However, at this stage of baseball, what is the difference between a starting pitcher and a reliever? That is especially true with the Twins who have gone to having starters and relievers being able to work three or four innings at a time with more frequency. This isn't the "olden days" of two-to-three years ago where starters would hope to work five or six innings and top relievers would get an inning at a time. We will attempt to make sure that we recognize the variety of roles pitchers can have in the minor leagues in our Pitcher of the Month articles. HONORABLE MENTIONS LHP Kendry Rojas - St. Paul Saints - 10 1/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .229 BAA, 30.0 K%, 10.0 BB%, 4.18 xFIP. LHP Connor Prielipp - St. Paul Saints - 13 IP, 2.30 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .200 BAA, 34.9 K%, 7.7 BB%, 2.96 xFIP. RHP Michael Hilker - Fort Myers Might Mussels - 12 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .100 BAA, 30.2 K%, 22.6 BB%, 5.39 xFIP. LHP Aaron Rozek - Wichita Wind Surge/St. Paul Saints - 13 IP, 1.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, .264 BAA, 15.5 K%, 5.2 BB%, 4.65 xFIP. RHP Matt Bowman - St. Paul Saints - 16 1/3 IP, 1.65 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, .246 BAA, 24.6 K%, 8.7 BB%, 4.15 xFIP. RHP Merit Jones - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 18 2/3 IP, 1.93 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .188 BAA, 23.4 K%, 11.7 BB%, 5.05 xFIP. RHP Jacob Wosinski - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 12 1/3 IP, 2.19 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, .178 BAA, 34.0 K%, 4.3 BB%, 3.14 xFIP. RHP C.J. Culpepper - Wichita Wind Surge - 19 2/3 IP, 2.75 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .213 BAA, 28.2 K%, 10.5 BB%, 4.20 xFIP. RHP Eli Jones - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 4.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .246 BAA, 24.2 K%, 3.1 BB%, 3.92 xFIP RHP Darren Bowen - Wichita Wind Surge - 11 1/3 IP, 3.18 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, .122 BAA, 26.7 K%, 8.9 BB%, 4.62 xFIP RHP Kolten Smith - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 11 IP, 3.27 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, .171 BAA, 43.2 K%, 6.8 BB%, 1.89 xFIP. THE TOP FOUR PITCHERS Number 4 RHP Reed Moring (21) - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3 G, 2 GS, 13 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .229 BAA, 34.5 K%, 7.7 BB%, 2.96 xFIP. Moring was the Twins 15th round draft pick in 2025 out of UC-Santa Barbara. Like other 2025 drafted pitchers (other than Jonathan Stevens), Moring didn’t pitch at all in 2025. He began the 2026 season with Fort Myers. In his pro debut, he came out of the bullpen and worked four scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and had seven strikeouts. Six days later, he made his first start and again threw four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked three, and had five strikeouts. Five days later, he made another start. He gave up six hits and one walk over five shutout innings. He struck out six batters. That was his final start of April. He returned to the mound about 2 1/2 weeks later with two perfect relief innings. Moring uses a four-seam fastball that averages 93 mph and tops out around 95 mph. He also has a slow curveball between 79 and 82 mph. He also throws a slider, a cutter and a changeup in the 83-87 mph range. Number 3 RHP James Ellwanger (22) - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3 G, 3 GS, 11 2/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, .077 BAA, 34.1 K%, 11.4 BB%, 2.96 xFIP. The Twins have done a job in the past decade of drafting college pitchers and working with them to add velocity. In 2025, they drafted a couple of college pitchers with Top 100 picks, guys that already threw hard, so it’ll be interesting to see how they develop. The Twins drafted James Ellwanger in their third round pick out of Dallas Baptist. He signed and this spring made his official professional debut with the Mighty Mussels. As you might expect, he dominated in his three starts. In his first game, he gave up two hits and a walk while striking out four batters in three innings. His second game was in Jupiter. He tossed four shutout innings and gave up one hit and one walk. He struck out five. His third start was in Fort Myers. He walked three and struck out six batters in 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Ellwanger has really good stuff. In his first game, he topped out at 98.7 mph and averaged 96.2 mph. He also throws cutters in the upper 80s and low 90s. He has a slow curveball that sits in the low 80s, which is nice for giving him a pitch that alters a batter’s timing. He throws a low-90s changeup which he’ll want to work on to slow down a few ticks. Unfortunately, he came out of the game and soon after it was announced that he was placed on the 60-Day Injured List with a right elbow sprain. We can certainly hold out hope that he can be back on the mound this season. Number 2 RHP Cole Peschl (23) - Cedar Rapids Kernels 7 G, 0 GS, 10 2/3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.09 WHIP, .030 BAA, 27.3 K%, 0.00 BB%, 3.61 xFIP. If you want to tell me that Cole Peschl should be the pitcher of the month for April, you’re not going to get much of an argument from me. The 23-year-old was the Twins 15th round pick in 2024 out of Campbell University. He began the 2025 season with six games in Fort Myers, but he moved up to Cedar Rapids fairly quickly. With the Kernels, he made nine starts. He went 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA. However, his season came to an end before August. He is back in Iowa this season and working out of the bullpen. Just look at those numbers. He faced 33 batters during the month and gave up just one hit. No walks. No hit batters. I’ve never seen a WHIP of 0.09. Could a promotion to Double-A Wichita be in the near future? And the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April 2026 is: RHP Riley Quick - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/Cedar Rapids Kernels 5 G, 5 GS. 12 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.42 WHIP, .054 BAA, 45.0 K%, 7.5 BB%, 2.33 xFIP Riley Quick grew up in Trussville, Alabama. He attended Hewitt-Trussville High School, the same school that fellow 2025 first round draft pick Steele Hall (Reds, ninth overall pick). When Quick was in high school, he was the top-ranked right-handed pitcher and the number six overall prospect in Alabama according to Perfect Game. He ranked #2 according to Prep Baseball Report. He was also a four-star recruit, one of the top offensive line prospects in the country. His brother Pierce played football at Georgia Tech and Alabama. Quick signed pretty quickly following the draft last July. He spent the summer and much of the offseason in Fort Myers continuing to work, getting himself in better shape and working on pitching. When the 2026 season began, he was assigned to Low-A Fort Myers. As expected, his time there was very short. He made three starts and worked a total of eight innings for the Mussels. He gave up zero runs, one hit, walked three and had 13 strikeouts. The 6-6 righty was promoted to Cedar Rapids where he made one more start in April. He tossed four shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none, and had five strikeouts. Using an upper-90s (four-seamer and sinker), Quick can be dominant. His highest velocity in a game this season is 98.7 mph. However, when you add in a cutter in the low 90s, a slider in the low-to-mid 80s slider, he’s got four or five above average pitches that can get swings and misses. Literally and figuratively, Quick is one of the biggest pitching prospects that the Twins have selected in a long time. We want to congratulate Riley Quick, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April of 2026. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. How would you rank the top pitchers in the Twins organization in April? View full article

That makes sense. He was flying and his left arm/shoulder made the catch and hit the wall without any ability to brace himself. My initial thought was that it was a disclocation... =

You could make an argument for replacing Matt Wallner with E-Rod now, but not a week or so ago. e is deserving. That said, Roden was probably more deserving before that. Jenkins has been solid, but not so much so to add him to the 40 at this point. And Culpepper is doing fine as well, but same 40-man roster issues, and he's only hitting .245.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Ben Ross) One month of the minor-league season is now complete. Despite cool temperatures, especially early, there have been quite a few really strong offensive performances already. Today we take a look at the top hitting performances of the season's first month. Before we jump to the Top 5 hitters, there are several Honorable Mentions. HONORABLE MENTIONS OF Kyler Fedko - St. Paul Saints - 25 G, 18-for-78, .231/.291/.551 (.842) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs, 12 R, 21 RBI, 5 BB, 24 K. UT Dameury Pena - Fort Myers Might Mussels - 20 G, 25-for-73, .342/.417/.397 (.939) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 0 home runs, 9 R, 8 RBI, 9 BB, 8 K. SS Marek Houston - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 23 G, 29-for-93, .312/.375/.473 (.948) with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 16 R, 7 RBI, 10 BB, 25 K. OF Alan Roden - St. Paul Saints - 19 G, 189-for-69, .275/.425/.464 (.889) with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 R, 15 RBI, 17 BB, 14 K. OF Jacob McCombs - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 13 G, 13-for-46, .283/.377/.587 (.964) with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, 5 R, 12 RBI, 1 BB, 14 K. OF Yasser Mercedes - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 13 G, 14-for-49, .286/.417/.592 (1.009) with 1 double, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 13 R, 16 RBI, 11 BB, 15 K C Ricardo Olivar - Wichita Wind Surge - 18 G, 16-for-65, .246/.342/.554 (.896) with 5 doubles, 5 home runs, 12 R, 18 RBI, 10 BB, 10 K. THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Wichita Wind Surge - OF Hendry Mendez (22) - 22 G, 23-for-81, .284/.372/.519 (.891), 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 17 R, 19 RBI, 9 BB, 20 K. The Twins acquired Mendez and 17-year-old RHP Geremy Villoria from the Phillies at the 2025 trade deadline. Following the season, he was added to the team’s 40-man roster. With the Twins left-handed hitting outfield depth, both in the big leagues and at St. Paul, he returned to Double-A Wichita to start the season. There was also talk about him getting some time at first base, but to this point, he hasn’t played two full games at the position. What he can do is hit, and he generally knows the strike zone. He appears to be pushing for more power with 10 extra base hits in the month. Can he turn a great eye and contact skills into more power? That’ll be the question we’ll check on at the end of the season. Number 4 - St. Paul Saints - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (23) - 24 G, 20-for-80, .250/.419/.513 (.932), 3 doubles, 6 home runs, 15 R, 17 RBI, 22 BB, 31 K. It seems as though we have been talking about Rodriguez for years and years. His power potential. His speed and defense. Stolen bases. Lots of walks and lots of strikeouts. We know the scouting report as it has been similar for years. But he only turned 23 two months ago. Part of it is that he finished the 2024 season with seven games in St. Paul. And, he had an inside-the-park grand slam. We see his heart, his enthusiasm and his passion for the game and want to see it at Target Field. But injuries have kept him sidelined much of his career. In 2022, he played just 47 games. In 2024, he played in just 47 games including rehab games. In 2025, he played in just 65 games, including 13 rehab games. He got off to a fast start with the Saints in April. While he may never hit for a real high average (because of all the strikeouts), he gets on base (because of all the walks). He’s got tremendous power, not only hitting home runs, but in just hitting the ball really, really hard. It isn’t rare for him to have exit velocities over 110 mph, and he hit two over 117 mph during the month. He is playing mostly right field, some center field, and has made two starts in left field. Number 3 - Cedar Rapids Kernels - OF/1B Jaime Ferrer (23) - 23 G, 19-for-64, .297/.444/.484 (.929), 3 doubles, 3 home runs, 16 R, 7 RBI, 14 BB, 18 K. Ferrer was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, the same hometown as former Twins pitcher Jose Berrios. He went to high school in Orlando and then spent three seasons at Florida State. In 2024, he was the Twins fourth-round draft pick. There was an effort to move him behind the plate the last couple of seasons, but to this point this season, he has played both corner outfield spots and first base. Last year in Cedar Rapids, he hit .216/.296/.339 (.634) with 20 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. Note that his April stats above do not include the three home runs he hit over two games on May 1st and 2nd. While he’s been batting ninth for the Kernels, it gives them a very professional hitter at the bottom of the order. His quality of plate appearance has been much improved and he’s putting up the kind of numbers that captured scouts’ attention at Florida State. Number 2 - Wichita Wind Surge - OF Garrett Spain (25) - 19 G, .271/.354/.629 (.983), 5 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 16 R, 7 RBI, 9 BB, 21 K. Spain came to the Twins in December’s minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He had spent the 2024 season with the Brewers organization. He played in 120 games for Double-A Biloxi and hit .207/.282/.377 (.659) with 17 doubles, four triples and 16 home runs. He also played 11 games at Triple-A Nashville. Spain grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, and then he stayed home and attended Austin Peay. He was the Blue Jays 15th round pick in 2021. After two seasons at High-A Vancouver, and hitting .167 over 103 games at Double-A in 2024, the Blue Jays let him go,and the Brewers signed him before the 2025 season. Spain is a max effort type of player, but the hard work has kept him in affiliated ball. He generally takes quality at-bats. He has shown improved power. He’s a smart player. He was 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts in April. And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Wichita Wind Surge/St. Paul Saints - IF Ben Ross - 20 G, 27-for-74, .365/.460/.676 (1.084), 8 doubles, 5 home runs, 16 R, 16 RBI, 12 BB, 13 K. Ben Ross grew up in Springfield, Ohio. In high school, he starred on the soccer pitch and the baseball diamond. Upon graduation, Ross made the 200 mile drive north and east to South Euclid, Ohio, a city of almost 22,000 people, a suburb east of Cleveland, adjacent to Cleveland Heights. It is the home of Notre Dame College, a Division II school in the Mountain East Conference. As a freshman in 2020, he hit .389 with three doubles in 11 games before the season came to an abrupt end. In 2021, he hit .426/.494/.844 (1.338) with 20 doubles, three triples, and 11 home runs. In 52 games as a junior, he hit .392/.452/.747 (1.200) with 20 doubles, two triples, and 14 home runs. He also had 15 stolen bases. That summer, he played for Wisconsin Rapids in the Northwoods League. In 42 games, he hit .421/.502/.649 (!.152) with seven doubles and 10 homers. He also stole 17 bases. In July of 2022, the Twins were thrilled to be able to make Ross their fifth round draft pick. He played in 22 games for the Mighty Mussels that summer. He made the jump to Cedar Rapids to start the 2023 season and hit .240/.322/.455 (.777) with 25 doubles, two triples, and 19 homers in 103 games. He ended the season with 10 games in Wichita. Between 2024 and 2025, he played in 244 games for the Wind Surge. With a full infield to start the season at St. Paul, Ross was sent back to Kansas to start this season. He could have been down, could have moped. Instead, he does what he’s always done. First and foremost, Ross has always played great defense. He can legitimately play shortstop, but he’s had opportunities all around the infield and in center field as well. He began the 2026 season with 16 games in Wichita. In that time, he hit .424/.528/.797 (1.324) with seven doubles, five homers, and 16 RBI. He had 12 walks to 10 strikeouts. He was 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts. He began the season with a 13-game hitting streak. He reached base in all 16 games. He had nine multi-hit games including two, three-hit games. A little over a week ago, Ross told Twins Daily, “I think a huge piece of hitting is the mentality going up to the plate. It’s super tough day in and day out to feel confident for every at-bat which is why it’s important to have a plan tailored to the situation.” He put in the time and put in the work and earned his first promotion to St. Paul. He played in four games for the Saints in April, and went just 2-for-15 which hurt his overall month stats, but what he did in Wichita is undeniable. Also, on May 1, he went 0-for-4 to start 2-for-19 with the Saints. But in two weekend games, Ross went a combined 3-for-5 with four walks, two doubles, a home run, five runs scored and four RBI. We want to congratulate Ben Ross, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for April of 2026. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. How would you rank the top five hitters in the Twins organization in April? View full article