Seth Stohs

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography (photo of Eli Jones) TRANSACTIONS Utilityman Harry Genth was promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. In addition, Fort Myers placed RHP Joel Garcia on the 7-Day IL with right biceps tendonitis. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score Connor Prielipp made the start for the Saints against the Phillies Triple-A squad. The southpaw went the first five innings and gave up just one run on four hits and a walk. He also struck out eight batters. The lone run he allowed came on a Steward Berroa solo home run. Berroa played his fifth game with the IronPigs after being traded from the Brewers to the Phillies organization. Kendry Rojas came in and worked 3 1/3 innings. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked one and had two strikeouts. He threw 50 pitches, likely his limit in just his second appearance with the Saints. Jon Brebbia got the final two outs, one on a strikeout. The Saints left three on base in the second without scoring. In the bottom of the third, Aaron Sabato led off with a double. He moved up to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, Alan Roden singled to right to drive him in. Back-to-back walks left the bases loaded again. This time, Orlando Arcia stepped up with an RBI single to make it 2-0. The Saints took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning. With one out, Tanner Schobel and Aaron Sabato hit back-to-back singles. With two outs, Kaelen Culpepper doubled to drive in Schobel. Roden followed with an infield single that drove in Sabato with the fourth run. Sabato drove in the fifth and final run in the bottom of the seventh when he lined a single to left to drive in Alex Jackson. Sabato finished the game going 3-for-4 with his first double of the season. Alan Roden was 3-for-5 with his fourth double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 7, Springfield 10 Box Score The Wind Surge offense scored seven runs on 14 hits and three walks. Of course, Ben Ross had another two-hit game including his fourth double and fifth home run. Hendry Mendez went 3-for-5 and made his first start at first base. (He had one error on a missed catch.) Kala’i Rosario went 2-for-5. Ricardo Olivar went 2-for-5 with his fourth double. Jose Salas was 2-for-4 with a walk and his second home run. Kyle DeBarge hit his second home of the season. Billy Amick and Maddux Houghton each hit their second double of the season. Things didn’t go as well for the Surge’s pitchers. Mike Paredes made the start. In 2 1/3 innings, he gave up eight runs (7 earned) on eight hits and a walk and a hit batter. In 2025 in Wichita, Paredes was the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He went 11-0 with a 2.43 ERA over 103 2/3 innings. He also had seven saves. In other words, this was his first really rough outing since 2024. In other words, as Garrett Crochet said of his start against the Twins on Monday, he’s just got to flush this one and forget it. Jarret Whorff came on and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. However, down 10-0, Darren Bowen, Luis Quinones, and Jaylen Nowlin combined to strike out five batters over five scoreless, no-hit innings. KERNELS CHRONICLE Game 1: Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 1 Box Score Strong Start + Strong Bullpen + Early Lead + Add On = Good win for the Kernels. The Kernels got a really nice start in Game 1 from Eli Jones. He gave up just one run on three hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out three batters. In four appearances and 20 innings in 2026, Jones is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA. He’s issued just two walks and opponents have hit just .119 against him. After such a tough pro debut in Fort Myers in 2025, it was certainly important for Jones and his confidence to get off to a fast start in 2026. Recently, Jones told Twins Daily, “I worked hard throughout the offseason and spring training to build a little more velo. I’m throwing a tick harder now, making my arsenal a bit sharper. I’ve got my feet under me in pro ball now, so I’m feeling much more comfortable and confident on the mound.” The 22-year-old former sixth-round pick from South Carolina continued, “I’m competing my tail off and being very intentional on executing each and every pitch. My mindset on the mound, mixed with a slightly sharper arsenal has helped me out a ton so far this year.” The Kernels took advantage of the opposing pitcher Josh Hansell’s wildness and took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Khadim Diaw, Brandon Winokur and Danny De Andrade walked to load the bases. Rayne Doncon grounded to shortstop but beat the throw to first allowing Diaw to score the game’s first run. The River Bandits tied the game in the top of the third inning, but the Kernels were able to jump back ahead in the bottom of the inning. With one out, De Andrade crushed a long home run out of the ballpark and onto the street beyond the fence in left field. Nick Trabacchi pitched a perfect sixth inning, and Paulshawn Pasqualotto worked a scoreless seventh inning to record his third save of the young season. Eli Jones earned his first official Win of the season. De Andrade was 2-for-2 with a walk and the big home run. Jay Thomason went 0-for-0 with three of the team’s seven walks in the game. Luis Hernandez recorded his first hit of the season. The catcher doubled down the left field line. Doncon added a double to his RBI fielder’s choice. Game 2: Cedar Rapids 0, Quad Cities 6 Box Score It’s been a rough start to the season for lefty Dasan Hill. With all the excitement of the 20-year-old’s potential and reaching 100 mph, it’s a good reminder that these kids are people, that development isn’t linear, that there will be ups and downs throughout the process. Big picture, what does three rough starts mean? Nothing. Very little. What it does, one would hope, is provide learning opportunities. What it reminds us/fans, patience is not only a virtue, it’s absolutely necessary. Hill started Game 2 for the Kernels. He gave up five runs on three hits over just 1 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts but also walked five batters. In his three starts, he has given up 11 runs on nine hits in eight innings. He had 10 walks and 10 strikeouts. That amounts to a 12.38 ERA and a 2.38 WHIP. In his three starts at the end of the 2025 season for the Kernels, he was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA. In 10 innings, he gave up nine hits, walked seven and had 15 strikeouts. Even rolling back to his 16 starts at Fort Myers last year, he had 33 walks and 68 strikeouts in 52 innings. Of note, he didn’t have good control last year, but obviously right now it’s even worse. As long as he is healthy and willing to listen, there is little to worry about. It’s a blip on the radar. But the control issue will need to be worked on. It will have to be. As players move up levels, the strike zones get smaller, somewhat literally and mostly just in the fact that most of the hitters have much better eyes and knowledge of the strike zone. Christian Becerra came on and gave up one run on four hits in 1 1/3 innings. Michael Ross struck out two over two scoreless innings. Yehizon Sanchez and Brent Francisco each threw a scoreless inning as well. The Kernels hitters combined for three hits and six hits in this game. They were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. Brandon Winokur had a double and a walk. Eduardo Tait hit his second double. Danny De Andrade and Jaime Ferrer each walked twice. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Lakeland 4 Box Score Riley Quick made his second pro appearance on Thursday night. While he wasn’t as efficient as his first start, it certainly was effective. The 2025 draft pick struck out five batters over three scoreless, hitless innings. The only blemish was three walks, and just 58.3% of his 48 pitches were strikes. Solid start, and the Mussels offense started out quite well too. With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Dameury Pena singled. With two outs, JP Smith walked. Yasser Mercedes followed with his first homer of the season. It gave the Mussels a 3-0 lead. After a pitching change, Eduardo Beltre walked, Ryan Sprock singles, and Byron Chourio walked to load the bases. Beltre scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0. Jonathan Stevens came into the game to replace Quick. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced. He gave up three runs in the fourth. The righty drafted out of Alabama who never pitched for Alabama went three innings and gave up four runs (2 earned) on five hits and two walks. He struck out three batters. The sixth inning run tied the game at 4-4. The Mussels answered that run right away in the bottom of the sixth when Ryan Spock reached on an error which allowed Mercedes to score the fifth run. Jake Murray came in to start the seventh inning. He gave up a leadoff double but immediately left the game with injury. We’ll update as we have more information. Michael Hilker came on and got the final nine outs of the game for the Mussels. Like Quick he gave up no runs and no hits over three innings. He had a walk and four strikeouts. Catcher Ian Daugherty hit a long home run in the bottom of the seventh, his first as a professional, to give the team the 6-4 lead. Dameury Pena extended his hitting streak to eight games. He went hitless in the season’s first two games. Through 10 games, the 20-year-old Dominican is hitting .412/.524/.441 (.965) with a double. He also has seven walks to just four strikeouts. And he’s got four stolen bases. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Ben Ross (Wichita): 2-for-5, 2B(5), HR(4), 2 R, RBI, K. Pitcher of the Day Connor Prielipp (St. Paul): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 76 pitches, 50 strikes (65.8%) Eli Jones (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 67 pitches, 44 strikes (65.7%) 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) - 1-for-4, BB, K, CS(1) (batted first, DHd) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 2B(4), RBI, 2 K (batted second, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B(2), K (batted fifth, played CF) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - Game 2: 1-for-4, 2B(2), 2 K (batted second, catcher) #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 76 pitches, 50 strikes (65.8%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Game 2: 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 70 pitches, 38 strikes (54.3%) #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, K (Batted fourth, played LF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 50 pitches, 29 strikes (58.0%) #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 0-for-3, BB, K, Game 2: 1-for-4, 2 K (both games, batted leadoff, played SS) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 48 pitches, 28 strikes (58.3%) #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - No Game Scheduled. #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - Game1: 0-for-2, BB, K, Game 2: 1-for-2, BB, 2B(2), (batted 3rd/4th, played 3B). #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, E(7) (batted third, played SS) #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 3-for-5, 2B(2), R, 2 RBI, E(1) (batted third, played 1B, then LF) #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-5, HR(2), R, RBI, K (batted first, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-2, BB, R (batted second, played CF), Game 2: 0-for-2, BB (batted third, played CF). #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday: Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - Zebby Matthews (0-2, 8.76 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 pm CT) - Ty Langenberg (0-1, 1.54 ERA) Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 9.53 ERA) Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CT) - RHP Merit Jones (0-0, 3.52 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 11-8 St. Paul Saints: 7-10 Wichita Wind Surge: 6-6 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 6-6 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 8-4 FCL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, May 4) 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

I never understood it when he was playing, and I certainly don't get it for a first-ballot Hall of Famer... and no disrespect, jkcarew, you're not the only one... where does the extra R on Mauer come from? Where did "Maurer" come from? As for Jenkins, since even before they drafted him, video showed us his swing was so similar to Mauer's. Jenkins has a good approach at the plate, but he's 21. He hasn't hit for a lot of power, but it's in there and we've seen it a few times. That'll come. Is Konnor Griffin a needle mover yet? Not really, although he'll have his moments, but they're calling him up so later this year or next year, when Skenes, Chandler, Keller, Jones, etc., are at full-go, he'll be ready to participate.

I've tweeted this general tweet a bunch of times over the last 2-3 seasons.

Image courtesy of Braeden Botts (photo of Ty Langenberg), Rob Thompson (photo of Kyler Fedko) The minor-league season is filled with a series of ups and downs. That's normal in development, and then it's not unusual in the big leagues because the development continues. Look only at Sunday's Saints game to see an extreme high and an extreme low. It's going to happen. TRANSACTIONS Not transactions on Sunday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Toledo 11 Box Score Kyler Fedko had an amazing day, powering the Saints to an early lead and helped build upon it. The Saints held an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Marco Raya came on to protect the lead. In 5 2/3 innings before Sunday, he had given up three runs (2 earned) on six hits and two walks. On Sunday, he just didn’t have control or command of any of his pitches. He recorded just one out and gave up six runs on three hits and three walks. It started with a home run by Ben Malgeri. Then a walk, a double, a single, a walk. Raya made one of the more athletic plays by a pitcher, fielding a bunch, turning and throwing a strike to third base for the first out. It was followed by a walk to load the bases. That’s when Dan Altavilla came into the game. On a 2-1 pitch, Cal Stevenson crushed a 96 mph fastball for a walkoff grand slam. That’s a tough way to end a week on the road. Let’s go back in the game. Lefty Kendry Rojas made his first Saints start. He tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and had three strikeouts. Altavilla was the seventh reliever used in the game. Yeah, let’s just jump to the offense. In the top of the third, Eric Wagaman singled to lead off the inning. Kyler Fedko followed with his first home run of the season (429 feet). David Banuelos followed with a walk. With one out, Walker Jenkins singled to drive in Banuelos. Gabriel Gonzalez doubled Jenkins to third. Alan Roden drove in both of them with a double to make it 5-0. With one out in the top of the fourth, Kyler Fedko hit his second home run of the game (437 feet) and of the season. That made it 6-0 Saints. In the top of the sixth inning, the first two batters got out. Kyler Fedko hit his third home run of the game (397 feet), his third home run of the season. It was big because it gave the Saints a 7-4 lead. As noted in the below tweet, Fedko is the fifth player in Saints franchise history to hit three home runs in a game. The others are Jose Miranda, Brent Rooker, Spencer Steer, and Chris Williams. With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Eric Wagaman walked. Kyler Fedko came up and tripled to center field (411 feet) to drive in the Saints eighth run. Fedko went 4-for-4 with a triple and three home runs. He scored three runs and drove in five runs. Walker Jenkins went 3-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases. Alan Roden went 1-for-3 with two walks and his third double. Gabriel Gonzalez, who made his first start at first base, added this third double of the season. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Arkansas 3 (11 innings) Box Score This game was really a well-pitched game. In fact, there was no score through the first six innings. Ty Langenberg started and struck out eight batters over five shutout innings. He gave up four hits and walked none. 48 of his 65 pitches were strikes (73.8%) It was impressive as he was pitching on three days' rest. William Fleming made his first appearance since joining the Twins organization earlier in the week. The 6-6, 220 pound, 27-year-old, right-hander struck out one in a scoreless sixth inning. Jarret Whorff came on for the seventh inning and gave up two runs on two hits. He walked two and had two strikeouts. With one out in the top of the eighth, Billy Amick singled. With two outs, he moved to second on a single by Andrew Cossetti. Ricardo Olivar followed with a single to center to drive in Amick and make it 2-1. In the top of the ninth, Kyle DeBarge led off with a walk. Ben Ross singled to left. Hendry Mendez grounded to first. Ross was out at second, but Mendez beat the relay throw. With two outs, Amick singled to left to drive in DeBarge with the tying run and make it 2-2. Extra Innings! Garrett Spain started the inning as the Manfred Man at second base. With two outs, Spain was still on second. Jose Salas picked up his teammates. He lined a single to right to drive in Spain with the go-ahead run. Jaylen Nowlin struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. Ricky Castro came in for the 10th inning. The tying run scored quickly, and after an intentional walk to load the bases, he coaxed a ground ball back to the mound, starting a 1-2-3 double play and sending the game to the 11th inning. DeBarge started the inning at second base. Ben Ross singled to left and moved DeBarge to third base. Ross stole second. Hendry Mendez followed with a ground-rule double to make it 5-3. Castro went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th to finish off the Wind Surge win. Ben Ross went 2-for-5. He has at least one hit in all nine games. He’s hitting .444 with an OPS of 1.139. He also now has five stolen bases. Billy Amick went 2-for-4 with a walk. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 5, Beloit 15 Box Score This was a rough one for the Kernels. They gave up three runs in the second, five runs in the fourth, and six more runs in the seventh inning. Three big innings for a team, and there’s a good chance that team will win. It might even surprise you to know that the Kernels had a 3-0 lead after one-and-a-half innings. Eduardo Tait scored on a balk in the top of the first inning. Then in the top of the second, with Andy Lugo on base, Miguel Briceno hit his first home run of the season to make it 3-0. Michael Ross made the start. In two innings, he gave up three runs on four hits. Brent Francisco came on and gave up six runs on four hits (including 2 homers) and two walks. Christian Becerra walked two but got the final two outs of the fourth inning. Cody Peschl and Nick Trabacchi. Ivran Romero came in for the top of the seventh. He got one out and was charged with six runs on five hits and a walk. Eston Stull got the final five outs. The Kernels added a run in the fifth inning. Miguel Briceno singled, went to third on a Jacob McCombs doubled him to third, and Tait drove him in with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the eighth, Briceno lined a single to left to drive in Danny De Andrade with the fifth run. Tait went 2-for-5. Miguel Briceno led the offense by going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three driven in. We haven’t written much about Miguel Briceno yet this season, so here is a quick background. He signed in July of 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers and made his pro debut in 2021. The Twins selected him in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He played in 59 games for Fort Myers in 2025. Unfortunately, in early July his season ended when he was placed on the 60-Day Injured List. He hasn’t had much opportunity this season with the Kernels. Last Sunday, he got one pitch hit at-bat. On Friday, he pinch ran and scored a run. Sunday was his first start of the season. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Jupiter 3 Box Score The Mighty Mussels took an early lead. They gave it back in the middle innings, but then the bats jumped back to life late in the game. Eric Hammond made the start for the Mussels. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks late in the 2021 draft but chose to pitch at Georgia. Four seasons later, he went undrafted, but the Twins signed him in early August as a non-drafted free agent. His first appearance was on Tuesday with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. On Sunday, he started and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked on and had four strikeouts. The Mussels provided him with some run support in the second inning. Jayson Bass and Ryan Sprock started the inning with singles. Bryan Acuna followed with an RBI single to center. With one out, Jorel Ortega was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dameury Pena’s hot start continued. He drove a single to right to drive in a second run. Quentin Young flew out to right field. On the play, Ortega was thrown out trying to advance to second. However, Acuna crossed the plate first to make it 3-0. Jake Murray, a non-drafted free agent in 2025 out of Campbell, came in to start the fourth inning. He faced three batters in the fourth. He walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the fifth inning, but he got an infield pop out followed by a pair of strikeouts. The lefty came out to start the sixth inning, but the leadoff man reached on an error. At that point, Jordan Smith brought Mitch Mueller into the game. Mueller signed as a non-drafted free agent from Utah Valley in March of 2025. He was greeted by a single and then issued a walk to load the bases. Mueller got a ground ball to first base for the out, but a throwing error allowed two runners to score on the play. After a walk, the tying run scored on a sacrifice fly. He got a strikeout to end that inning, but the score was now 3-3. How would the young Mussel hitters respond? Jorel Ortega led off the top of the seventh with a single. Pena was hit by a pitch. After a pitching change and a strikeout, JP Smith walked to load the bases. Ortega scored on a wild pitch to give the Mussels a lead. Eduardo Beltre walked to re-load the bases. The runners all moved up a base, and Dameury Pena scored on a balk. The chance for a grand slam was gone, but Jayson Bass hit a ball 100 mph and 400 feet, beyond the fence in right-center field and settled for a three-run homer. It was his first of the season and gave his team an 8-3 lead. Adam Falinski, who signed as a minor-league free agent in July of 2025, worked the final three innings for Fort Myers. He walked three and gave up three hits but gave up no runs and recorded his second save. Bryan Acuna went 3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. He is now hitting .389. Ortega went 1-for-3 and was hit by two pitches. Dameuery Pena went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. His season average now sits at .476. Jayson Bass went 2-for-5 with the three-run homer. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 4-for-4, 3B(1), 3-HR(3), 3 R, 5 RBI. Pitcher of the Day Ty Langenberg (Wichita): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 65 pitches, 48 strikes (73.8%) 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) - 3-for-4, BB, R, RBI, 2 SB(3) (batted second, DHd) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, K (led off, played 2B) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted sixth, played CF) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, R, RBI, 2 K (batted second, catcher) #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 2B(3), K (Batted fourth, played 1B) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 48 pitches, 30 strikes (62.5%) #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - MLB Debut. 3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 67 pitches, 50 strikes (74.6%) #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K, E(4) (batted fourth, played SS). #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, SF RBI, 2 K, E(6) (batted third, played SS) #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 29 pitches, 15 strikes (51.7%) #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2B(2), 2 RBI (batted third, played LF) #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, BB, 2 R, 3 K (batted first, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, K (batted third, LF, then CF) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch UPCOMING PROBABLES Tuesday: Lehigh Valley @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - TBD Springfield @ Wichita (6:05 pm CT) - TBD Quad Cities @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 pm CT) - TBD Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 9-7 St. Paul Saints: 5-9 Wichita Wind Surge: 4-5 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 5-4 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 6-3 FCL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, May 4) 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

Image courtesy of Braeden Botts (photo of Garrett Spain) Cedar Rapids got the day started with a noon game. The Wind Surge's late offensive explosion meant that the day in the Twins minor leagues system ended well after 9:00 pm in the central time zone. Long day, but there were some intriguing storylines and performances up and down the proverbial organizational TRANSACTIONS On Friday night, it was announced that RHP Cody Laweryson (right forearm strain) and 3B Royce Lewis (knee sprain) were going on the injured list. On Saturday morning, the team reported the corresponding moves. The Twins called up RHP Andrew Morris and utilityman Ryan Kreidler. The Saints activated catcher David Banuelos from the Development List. LHP Kendry Rojas was activated from the 7-Day IL (hamstring). He will start for the Saints on Sunday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 0, Toledo 3 Box Score Of the 17 half-innings played in this game, zero runs were scored in 16 of them. The only negative was the bottom of the fifth inning when Zebby Matthews gave up three runs. Blame Ben Malgeri! No, not really. The Tigers 26-year-old right field prospect led off for the Mudhens. In the bottom of the first, he led off with a single. Matthews proceeded to get the next nine batters out. With two outs in the bottom of the third, Malgeri tripled, but Matthews got Max Clark to pop out to end that threat. In the fourth inning, Matthews gave up a leadoff single to Gage Workman, but a force out, a line out, and another force out meant another zero was placed on the board. In the fifth inning, Matthews got a bit bombarded. Teri Cruz led off with a single. Cal Stevenson followed with a groundball single. Cruz advanced to third, He scored on a bloops single to right field by Max Burt. That brought Malgeri to the plate again. This time Matthews got him to strike out. There was a way out of the inning with limited damage. But Max Clark came to the plate. Matthews got him to hit a ground ball to first base. Kyler Fedko fielded it, made a nice throw to second base where Kaelen Culpepper caught it and threw back to first base. Matthews was there, at the base, seemingly in good position, but he didn’t catch the ball. Matthews was charged with the error. Stevenson scored on the play to make it 2-0. After a wild pitch, Clark scored on a Gage Workman single that made it 3-0. In total, Matthews gave three runs (2 earned) on seven hits. In five innings, he had five strikeouts and no walks. Two-thirds of his 78 pitches were strikes. His average fastball came in at 95.2 mph, but he did hit 96.7. The strikeout he recorded to end the bottom of the fifth included three fastballs over 96 mph. He had 11 whiffs, though just one out of 17 swings at his fastball. Jon Brebbia came on in relief. He faced eight batters. He walked two of them and struck out the other six. Dan Altavilla walked one and had one strikeout in a scoreless eighth frame. The Saints offense didn’t help. They managed just two hits and two walks in the game. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Tanner Schobel each had a single. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 12, Arkansas 5 Box Score This started as a very competitive game. In fact, the score was tied at 2-2 through six innings. The Surge scored two runs in the top of the seventh and then broke things open with an eight-run eighth inning. Wichita scored first with a two-run top of the fourth inning. Garrett Spain singled to drive in Hendry Mendez and Billy Amick. Mike Paredes started and worked the first four innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked none and had seven strikeouts. The only blemish was a solo homer by Hunter Fitz-Gerald in the bottom of the fourth. Ruddy Gomez came in and worked a scoreless fifth inning. He gave up two singles to start the bottom of the sixth. At that point, it was clear that something happened to his powerful right arm. The catcher came out. The manager came out. When the trainer came out, it didn’t take long before they took Gomez out of the game. We hope for the best. Lefty Aaron Rozek made his first appearance since rejoining the Twins organization and the Wind Surge earlier this week. Rozek walked one but got a couple of ground balls. Unfortunately, the second involved a throwing error that allowed the tying run to score. 2-2 through six innings. With one out in the top of the seventh, Jake Rucker walked and stole second. Maddux Houghton singled on a ground ball to third base. Houghton then stole second base. A wind pitch allowed Rucker to score. With two outs, Ben Ross came through with a single to left to make it 4-2. He has at least one hit in all eight Wind Surge games this season. Rozek got two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but he also gave up two singles and hit a batter which loaded the bases. Luis Quinones was summoned from the bullpen, and he needed three pitches to record a strikeout and end the threat. Then came the top of the eighth frame. Garrett Spain led off with a single. Ricardo Olivar doubled him to third base. After a strikeout, Jake Rucker grounded to shortstop. The throw came to the plate and Spain was safe. Houghton singled to drive in Olivar. He stole second. Rucker and Houghton scored on a Kyle DeBarge single which made it 8-2. Ben Ross lined a single to center to make it 9-2. After a pitching change, Hendry Mendez singled to right. After a strikeout, Mendez stole second. Finally, on the seventh pitch to him, Spain added a three-run homer to make it 12-2. Quinones came out for the bottom of the eighth. After a walk, he struck out the next two batter. The right-hander was charged with three runs allowed. Darren Bowen came on and gave up a two-run single that scored two of the inherited runners. He then got a strikeout to end the eighth with the Surge leading 12-5. Bowen tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 2, Beloit 3 Box Score The Twins used their seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft on right-hander Eli Jones from the University of South Carolina. The assumption was (by many) that he would start the 2025 season with the Mighty Mussels but move up to Cedar Rapids relatively quickly. That’s not what happened. Instead, he made 18 starts and five relief appearances for Fort Myers. He went 2-10 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. In 100 innings, he had 40 walks, 10 hit batters, and 84 strikeouts. Still, he advanced to High-A Cedar Rapids to start the 2026 season. He’s thrown in just three games and accumulated 15 innings so far, but he is 0-0 with a 1.20 ERA and a 0.40 WHIP. On Saturday, he tossed five innings and gave up one run on one hit. He walked none and had four strikeouts. He threw 71.4% strikes (44/63). The only run he allowed came in the first inning. Juan Matheus hit a one-out triple and scored on a Cam Cannarella sacrifice fly. The first time through the Kernels lineup, only nine-hitter Jaime Ferrer reached base. He was hit by a pitch. However, the Kernels got on the board in the fourth frame. Eduardo Tait led off with a single. Khadim Diaw followed with a two-run home to give the Kenels the 2-1 lead. Jacob McCombs delivered his third triple of the season on a play that saw two Sky Carp collide in the outfield. Jones was replaced by Yehizon Sanchez in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up an unearned run, but don’t feel too sorry for him. He gave up a one-out single. He made a throwing error trying to pick off the runner, and then the run scored on a wild pitch. That tied the game at 2-2. Sanchez started the seventh inning as well, but he walked the first two batters he faced.Sam Rochard came on and did what any wise pitcher would… he caused the hitter to hit a ground ball to Marek Houston who started a double play. He then got JSerra alum Cody Schrier to fly out to end the inning with the game still tied. Rochard struck out two batters in a perfect bottom of the eighth inning as well. He got to start the ninth inning as well. He got the first out but then gave up an infield single to Juan Matheus who went to second on a balk. Following a walk, Brian Meyer turned to Jacob Woskinski. On his second pitch, Brandon Compton lined a single to center to drive in the winning run for Beloit. Cedar Rapids had just four hits in the game. They also had just one walk compared to 12 strikeouts. Tait was 1-for-3 with a walk. McCombs hit his third triple of the young season, and Diaw recorded his first home run of the year. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Jupiter 7 Box Score Joel Garcia made the start for the Mussels. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on four hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. He gave up three runs in the second inning, and two more before exiting in the fourth. That’s when Merit Jones came into the game. The Twins thought that Jones was ‘the quality of being particularly good or worthy’ of being drafted not once, but twice. The Twins selected him in the 20th round of the 2024 draft. Instead of signing, he returned to the University of Utah. A year later, the Twins selected him again, this time in the 14th round after an impressive showing in the MLB Draft League. In this outing, he worked four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked one and had four strikeouts. Mike McKenna came in to get the final two outs. Acuna was the big reason the Mussels got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning. He walked and stole second base. With two outs, Irvin Nunez and Dameury Pena walked to load the bases. A fielding error allowed Acuna to score. Through four innings, the Mussels were down 5-1. Acuna started the top of the fifth with a single. Jorel Ortega doubled to drive him in and make it 5-2. Fast-forward to the top of the seventh. The Mussels were losing 7-2. Yilber Herrera led off the inning with his first home run of the season. Acuna followed with a single but was erased on a double play. Irvin Nunez walked and went to second on a Dameury Pena single. Ryan Sprock doubled to drive in the team’s fourth run. The Mussels had nine hits and walked seven times. Acuna had two singles and two walks and a stolen base. Herrera went 2-for-4 with a homer. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Garrett Spain (Wichita): 3-for-5, 2 R, HR(2), 5 RBI, K Bryan Acuna (Fort Myers): 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R, SB(1) Ben Ross (Wichita): 3-for-5, BB, 2B(4), 2 RBI, 2 SB(4), K Pitcher of the Day Eli Jones (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 63 pitches, 45 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) - Did Not Play #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K (led off, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, K (batted fourth, played CF) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, R, K (batted second, DHd) #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (Batted third, played LF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Activated Saturday. Will start Sunday. #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K (led off, played SS) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - Called up to Twins. Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K, SB(4) (batted fourth, played 3B). #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Play. #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2 R, K, SB(1) (batted third, played LF) #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-for-5, BB, R, 2 RBI, K, CS(2), E(3) (led off, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, HBP, HR(1), 2 RBI, R, RBI (batted third, catcher) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday: St. Paul @ Toledo (1:05 pm CT) - LHP Kendry Rojas (first start of season) Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-1, 2.25 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Michael Ross (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (11:30 CT) - RHP Kolten Smith (0-0, 0.00 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 8-7 St. Paul Saints: 5-8 Wichita Wind Surge: 3-5 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 5-3 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 5-3 FCL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, May 4) 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

Dameury Pena? I think he's worth watching. He should be moving up to Cedar Rapids by midseason, I'd think.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Quentin Young) TRANSACTIONS Following their 10-4 loss in Toronto on Friday night, manager Derek Shelton announced that RHP Cody Laweryson (right forearm strain) and 3B Royce Lewis (knee sprain) will be going on the injured list. Corresponding moves will be announced on Saturday. QUESTION OF THE DAY Riley Quick made his professional debut. How long do you think he'll stick in Fort Myers? SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Toledo 3 Box Score The Saints got Emmanuel Rodriguez back in the lineup, and maybe not coincidentally, they got back in the win column. Connor Prielipp made the start. He gave up two runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and had five strikeouts. Trent Baker was summoned from the bullpen and tossed 2 1/3 innings with no runs. He gave up two hits and a walk. Matt Bowman came on and got four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Drew Smith worked a perfect eighth inning. Toledo took the 2-0 lead after three innings, but the Saints immediately responded in the top of the fourth frame. Rodriguez led off with a single and scored on a double by Oswaldo Arcia. He advanced to third on an Eric Wagaman fly out and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Sabato to tie the game. Walker Jenkins led off the fifth inning with a walk and then stole second. He advanced to third base on a single to left by Gabriel Gonzalez. Following an Alan Roden walk, Jenkins scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez. Arcia walked. Wagaman drove in Gonzalez with a single to center. Roden tried to score too, but he was thrown out by Tigers uber-prospect Max Clark. Marco Raya came on to protect the 4-2 lead. He got the first two batters out, But then Clark tripled and scored on a throwing error by Arcia to make it 4-3. But one batter later, he got a fly out to end the game and record his second save of the season. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 0, Arkansas 5 Box Score Wichita’s bats have been a bit cold to start the season. That remained true in this game. Sam Armstrong made the start for the Surge. He gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters. Unfortunately, the final line doesn't show how well he pitched the first time through the lineup. Spencer Bengard came on and got three outs, two via strikeouts. However, he allowed two of three inherited runners to score. Sam Ryan came on with two runners on base, but he left them stranded. He went 1 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. Alejandro Hidalgo came on and probably couldn’t have pitched any better. He faced six batters and struck all six of them out. That’s pretty good, right? Garrett Spain doubled in the eighth inning, the team’s second hit of the day. He had also previously walked. The only other Surge player to get a hit and walk was Ben Ross. Ross went 1-for-3 with a walk. The Surge created a lot of wind with the ol’ swing and miss. The team went 2-for-30 with two walks and an incredible (but not in a good way) 19 strikeouts! Kyle DeBarge led the way with four strikeouts. Kala’i Rosario and Billy Amick each struck out three times. Three players struck out twice. In Letterkenny voice: "To Be Fair." The starting pitcher for the Arkansas Travelers on Friday night was lefty Kade Anderson. He was the third overall pick in 2025 out of LSU. In his first pro start, he gave up five hits, walked one and struck out six batters over four scoreless innings. This was his second pro start. He tossed five shutout innings. He walked two batters but didn't give up any hits. He struck out 11 batters. He could move up very quickly. The Mariners need more pitching! A quick look at the Surge lineup shows eight players with a batting average of .200 or lower so far this season. In some cases, there is nothing to worry about. For instance, with his 0-for-4 tonight, Kala’i Rosario is hitting .074 with a .212 OPS. He’ll be just fine. Ricardo Olivar is hitting .053 with a .165 OPS. Again, he’ll be fine. KERNELS CHRONICLE Game 1: Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 2 Box Score Dasan Hill made the start for the Kernels in the first of two games in Beloit. He gave up single runs in the second and third innings, mostly due to a lack of control. The lefty gave up two runs on one hit and four walks over three innings. He had four strikeouts. The bullpen came on and did just what they needed to do. Nick Trabacchi came in and walked one and struck one out in the fourth inning. Jason Doktorczyk gave up a hit and a walk over two scoreless innings. He struck out three batters. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched the seventh and collected two strikeouts and his second save of the season. The Kernels’ bats were quiet through the first four innings. Rayne Doncon led off with a walk. He was still on first base with two outs when Marek Houston singled him to second. A wild pitch pushed the runners to second and third, and that’s when the Sky Carp pitcher balked which allowed Doncon to score the first run. With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Brandon Winokur walked. Jacob McCombs was hit by a pitch. With Winokur bouncing off of second base, the pitcher turned and threw wildly toward second base and into center field which allowed both runners to advance a base. Danny De Andrade came up with the biggest hit of the game. He lined a single to left field which allowed both runners to score and give the Kernels the 3-2 lead. A lead that Doktorczyk and Pasqualotto protected well. The Kernels had just three hits in the game, and they walked four times. De Andrade had a walk to go with the two-run single. He also had two stolen bases. Winokur had a single and a walk and he stole a bag too. Game 2: Cedar Rapids 9, Beloit 6 Box Score You’re welcome, Kernels fans. I was writing this report. Last I looked, the Kernels were losing Game 2 6-5 going to the seventh inning. I typed that into the score above. Thankfully, the Cedar Rapids hitters put up four runs in the top of the seventh and made me change the final score! The seventh began with a walk by catcher Luis Hernandez. Miguel Briceno pinch ran for him. Marek Houston successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Briceno to second with one out. Khadim Diaw was hit by a pitch, and Brandon Winokur walked to load the bases. Jacob McCombs, the Twins seventh round pick a year ago out of UC-Irvine, followed with a bases-clearing triple. It turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead. Great lefty-on-lefty at-bat. After the game, McCombs told Twins Daily, “The triple was the biggest hit so far in my pro ball career.” With two outs, Caden Kendle singled to drive in McCombs and give the Kernels the three-run lead with three outs to go. Adrian Bohorquez made the Game 2 start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and four walks. And, yes, he had four strikeouts too. Eston Stull came in and struck out five batters (and walked one) over two scoreless, hitless innings. Nolan Santos gave up two runs on two hits and three walks over 1 2/3 innings. He did strike out three batters. Ivran Romero got the final out of the sixth inning with a strikeout, and then, after his teammates gave him a three-run lead, he struck out the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh inning. Earlier in the game, RBI singles from Houston and Diaw gave the Kernels a 5-1 lead in the top of the second inning. They gave up that lead but didn't give up on the game or themselves. McCombs added, “Our team is resilient, and we have the will to win no matter how much adversity we face.” MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 0 Box Score Obviously, the big story from this game was the professional debut of Riley Quick. He was the Twins Competitive Balance pick from the 2025 draft. Aside from Twins camps, he had not thrown in a regular game since the end of his 2025 Alabama season. He couldn’t have been more impressive. He was limited, as you would expect. He tossed two scoreless innings. He threw 33 pitches. He got all six batters out that he faced, five of them on strikeouts. He mixed 95-98 mph fastballs with changeups in the upper ‘80s. His low-90s slider got swing and miss as did his cutter and sinker. And that’s when catcher Ian Daugherty really went to work. Fellow 2025 draft pick from Alabama Jonathan Stevens came in to start the third inning. Immediately he loaded the bases, but Daugherty went out to talk to him. The next batter lined into a double play, and that was followed by a strikeout. Stevens went 3 2/3 innings and gave up no runs on one hit. He walked five and had four strikeouts. Michael Hilker, the team’s 20th-round pick last year out of Arizona, got the next four outs, three of them on strikeouts. He gave up a hit and a walk. Brian Zeldin came in for the final two innings. He gave up three walks and a hit, but no runs. He signed with the Twins in February after pitching for Wes Johnson at Georgia the last couple of seasons. The Mussels worked themselves into some tough situations yet came up with big pitchers or big plays when they needed to maintain the shutout. That’s good because the Mussels scored just two runs. They took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second. With two outs, Harry Genth was hit by a pitch. He stole second. He scored on a line-drive single by Byron Chourio. That's where the score remained through seven innings. With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Dameury Pena knocked his fourth single of the game. He went to second on a throwing error. Quentin Young followed with his first double of the season which made it 2-0. Those two hitters combined to go 7-for-8. The rest of the lineup combined to go 2-for-26. One of those hits was a double by Jayson Bass. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Dameury Pena (Fort Myers): 4-for-4, R Quentin Young (Fort Myers): 3-for-4, 2B(1), Caden Kendle (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-4, 2B(4), R, RBI, K Pitcher of the Day Riley Quick (Fort Myers): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 33 pitches, 22 strikes (66.7%) Alejandro Hidalgo (Wichita): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 28 pitches, 20 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) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, R, SB(1) (batted second, played CF, all 9 innings) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, K (batted first, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, R, SF RBI, 2 K, CS(1) (batted fifth, DHd) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 0-for-2, BB, K, (batted second, Catcher) Game 2: Did Not Play. #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 77 pitches, 45 strikes (58.4%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 38 strikes (59.4%) #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, R, K (batted fourth, played RF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-4, 2 K. Game 2: 1-for-2, BB, 2 R, RBI, SH, SB(1) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 33 pitches, 22 strikes (66.7%) #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-2, BB, R, K, SB(3), Game 2: 0-for-1, 2 BB, R, K, #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 3-for-4, 2B(1), RBI, SB(1), K (batted third, played 3B) #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(2), 13 pitches, 8 strikes (61.5%) #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - Did Not Play. #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 4 K, (led off, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #19 - C Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 3 K, OF Assist (batted third, played CF), Game 2: 2-for-3, HBP, 2 R, RBI, K. (batted second, DHd) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday: St. Paul @ Toledo (4:05 pm CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (0-1, 12.27 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Mike Paredes (1-0, 4.91 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Eli Jones (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:00 CT) - RHP Joel Garcia (0-1, 2.25 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 7-7 St. Paul Saints: 5-7 Wichita Wind Surge: 2-5 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 5-2 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 5-2 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

On a day when the Minnesota Twins completed a sweep of the Detroit Tigers, things went quite well for the Fort Myers Might Mussels too. A Top 2025 draft pick tossed four scoreless innings on Thursday. On Friday, prospect fans will be excited to see the top pitchers selected by the Twins in the 2025 draft. TRANSACTIONS LHP Aaron Rozek signed a minor-league contract with the Twins on Thursday and was assigned to Double-A Wichita. The Mets selected Rozek in the Minor-League portion of the Rule 5 draft in December. He went to spring training in St. Lucie but was released in late March. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Toledo 5 Box Score John Klein made the start for the Saints and had a really nice start. He gave up only a solo home run in four innings. He struck out three and walked none. Grant Hartwig came on and gave up three runs in the fifth inning and another run in the sixth. It could have been worse. Walker Jenkins threw out a runner at home to cut off one run. The four runs came on five hits and a walk. Eduardo Salazar came on and got the next five outs, issuing only a walk. Zak Kent gave up two hits and a walk in the eighth, but no more runs crossed the plate. The Saints got on the scoreboard first. With one out in the top of the second inning, Orlando Arcia hit his second double of the season. Two batters later, he scored on a single by Eric Wagaman. Down 4-1, Kaelen Culpepper led off the top of the sixth inning with a single. With two outs, Alan Roden doubled to drive him in and cut the deficit in half. Alex Jackson hit his first home run of the season in the seventh inning. The Saints had seven hits and three walks. Culpepper went 2-for-3 with a walk and his first double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Arkansas 5 Box Score Wichita began the game by taking the lead in the top of the first inning. Kyle DeBarge led off with a single. He stole second base (his fifth steal of the year). Two ground balls later, he scored to give the Surge a 1-0 lead. C.J. Culpepper tossed four scoreless, no-hit innings. On Thursday night, he got the first two batters out, but two walks, two hits, and two runs later, the first inning ended. In total, Culpepper gave up three runs on three hits in four innings. He walked four and had three strikeouts. Ricky Castro and Jarret Whorff each gave up one run on one hit over two innings. Both walked none and had two strikeouts. Down 4-1 through six innings, Garrett Spain hit his first homer in the Twins organization. But that was it for the Surge run scoring. Wichita had six hits and two walks in the game. They also had 13 strikeouts. Andrew Cossetti went 2-for-4 in the game. Ben Ross added his third double. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids, Beloit (Postponed) Box Score Rain and wet weather conditions caused the postponement of Thursday night’s game in Beloit. The teams will hope to play two games on Friday. MIGHTY MATTERS Game 1: Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 0 Box Score There wasn’t much offense in this game, but fortunately, James Ellwanger and Kolten Smith didn’t need more than one run of support to win Thursday’s first game. Ellwanger started and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, and had five strikeouts. Control has typically been his issue. In this game, he needed just 50 pitches to complete four innings. 64% of those pitches were strikes. Kolten Smith pitched a perfect fifth inning, so he gets credit for his first pro Win. Adam Falinski struck out three over the final two innings to record his first pro Save. Smith likely would have gone longer, but there was a 50-minute rain delay. Jorel Ortega and Dameury Pena started the game with back-to-back walks off of the Marlins top prospect Thomas White. Quentin Young grounded into fielder’s choice, and a throwing error allowed Ortega to score. The score remained 1-0 through five innings. In the sixth inning, Ian Daugherty led off with a single. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out Bryan Acuna walked. Byron Chourio turned a double play into just a fielder’s choice, allowing the Mussels second run to score. In Game 1, the Mussels had four hits and walked eight times. Rehabbing Jorel Ortega went 1-for-2 with two walks. Dameury Pena was 2-for-2 with a walk. Yilber Herrera walked twice. The team was 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine one base. Game 2: Ft. Myers 7, Jupiter 2 Box Score Game 2 was another close game until the Mussels broke it open with a four-run seventh inning. The Mussels took the first lead in the top of the third frame. Bryan Acuna led off with a slow roller to third base. He went to second on a throwing error. With one out, Quentin Young lined a single to left but it was hit too hard so Acuna could only advance to third base. Ryan Sprock singled to center to drive in Acuna with the first run. Reed Moring started for Ft. Myers. He tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked three, and struck out five batters. Jake Murray came on to start the fifth inning. Nine pitches later, he had walked the first two batters. He then struck out PJ Morlando, a top Marlins prospect. That was followed with a third walk. Xavier Kolhosser came on with the bases loaded. He gave up a sacrifice fly that tied the game before ending the inning with a strikeout. With the game tied in the top of the sixth, Yilber Herrera led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. After Harry Genth was hit by a pitch, again, Herrera scored on a fielding error. Irvin Nunez followed and was also hit by a pitch to lead the bases. Acuna drove in Genth with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Ryan Sprock was hit by a pitch to start the top of the seventh inning. Herrera struck out, but he challenged the pitch and it was overturned and instead he walked. Ricardo Pena singled, and Sprock scored. Herrera scored on a Harry Genth double. Genth stole third base. After Byron Chourio walked, both runners scored on a single to center by Irvin Nunez to make it 7-1. Mitch Mueller tossed the final two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He had three strikeouts and walked none. The Mussels had 10 hits, five walks, and were hit by a pitch four times in this game. Eduardo Beltre went 2-for-3 with a walk. Acuna was 2-for-4. Harry Genth went 1-for-2. He was hit by a pitch twice, doubles, and stole three bases. Sprock, Chourio and Nunez each had a single and a walk. Herrera walked twice. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul): 2-for-3, BB, R Pitcher of the Day James Ellwanger (Fort Myers): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 50 pitches, 32 strikes (64.0%) 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) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, Assist (batted second, played CF, all 9 innings) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, BB, 2B(1), R (batted first, DHd) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Did Not Play #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - No Game. #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - No Game #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB (batted third, played LF) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - No Game. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch, scheduled to make pro debut on Friday. #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - No Game. #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-4, 3 K (batted third, played 3B), Game 2: 1-for-4, 3 K (batted third, played SS) - CS(2,3), E(5). s #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB, RBI, K (batted third, played LF) #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, K, SB(5) (led off, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 71 pitches, 44 strikes (62.0%) #19 - C Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) -No Game. #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 50 pitches, 32 strikes (64.0%) UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday: St. Paul @ Toledo (12:37 pm CT) - LHP Connor Prielipp (0-0, 1.23 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (0-1, 6.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (DH @ 4:00 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 7.36 ERA), LHP Dasan Hill Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 CT) - RHP Riley Quick (first pro start) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 7-6 St. Paul Saints: 4-7 Wichita Wind Surge: 2-4 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 3-2 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 4-2 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

TRANSACTIONS RHP Garrett Acton was officially added to the Saints roster. To make room, LHP Christian MacLeod was released by the organization. In addition, LHP Kendry Rojas began a rehab assignment with the Mighty Mussels on Saturday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Worcester 5 Box Score The Saints and Woo Sox were finally able to get another game in at CHS Field. It was cold, and especially early, the Saints arms and bats were very cold. The Saints attempted a comeback late in the game, but it fell short. Zebby Matthews was on the mound to start for the Saints. He was touched up for five runs on seven hits and two walks over the first 3 1/3 innings. Four of those hits left the ballpark. Former teammate Mickey Gasper lined a two-run homer over the right-field wall in the first inning. In the third inning, Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton hit back-to-back solo homers. Tsung-Che Cheng added another solo shot in the fourth. Drew Smith got the final two outs of the fourth inning. Eduardo Salazar walked three but struck out two in a scoreless fifth inning. That’s when the Saints turned to Connor Prielipp who was scheduled to start on Thursday and Friday when weather caused rainouts. He tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up two hits, walked two and had four strikeouts. Trent Baker got the final two outs of the ninth, one on a strikeout. With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Gabriel Gonzalez hit his first homer of the season to cut the deficit to 5-2. Eric Wagaman followed with a single and scored on an Orlando Arcia double. Arcia led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with a double. Ryan Kreidler and Alan Roden each walked twice. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, NW Arkansas 9 Box Score C.J. Culpepper got the starting nod for the Wind Surge and was fantastic. He tossed four no-hit innings. He walked one and had one struck out. Unfortunately, the pitching after Culpepper was not helped by their defense, and the pitchers were unable to minimize the damage. Sam Armstrong came out of the bullpen and tossed three innings. He was charged with seven runs, but just two were earned. He gave up four hits, walked two and had two strikeouts. Luis Quinones came on and gave up an unearned run. He walked three and struck out two batters in his inning. Jarret Whorff gave up one run on two hits in the ninth inning. He struck out one batter. Wichita took the early lead in the second inning when Billy Amick lined a ball that the left fielder let bounce past him and to the wall. Amick raced around the bases. The play at the plate was close, but the corner infielder beat the throw to give the Surge a 1-0 lead. Down 4-1 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, Kyle DeBarge and Kala’i Rosario walked to start the inning. They were successful on a double steal. Amick drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. With two outs, Ben Ross doubled in Rosario to make it 4-3. Ross led the Surge offense, going 2-for-4. The double was his second of the season. Rosario and DeBarge each had a single, a walk and a stolen base. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 8, Peoria 4 Box Score Peoria jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Kernels put a Six on the board in the fifth inning to claim the lead and held on for the Win. Let’s jump to the bottom of the fifth. Caden Kendle led off with a double. He went to third on a Jaime Ferrer single. Marek Houston walked to load the bases. With one out, Khadim Diaw walked to put the Kernels on the board. Brandon Winokur lined a single to center that drove in two runs and tied the game at 3. Following a pitching change, Diaw and Winokur were successful on a double steal. Danny De Andrade responded with a single to drive in both runners. Jacob McCombs singled. Then with two outs, Kendle hit his second double of the inning to drive in the sixth run. The bottom of the sixth inning began with a Houston triple. Eduardo Tait followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3. The Kernels added one more run in the eighth inning. Tait led off with a double, advanced to third on a ground out, and scored on a Winokur single. It was a good day for the Kernels offense. Eight of their nine hitters had at least one hit. Winokur led the way to a 3-for-5 day and had three RBI. Houston was 2-for-3 with two walks, his first double and his first triple of the season. De Andrade had two hits and two RBI. Kendle hit his first two doubles in the fifth inning. They were also his first two doubles of the season. Jaime Ferrer also had two hits. Adrian Bohorquez started and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk over 3 2/3 innings He had five strikeouts, and Twins fans will enjoy hearing that he touched 98 a couple of times. Nick Trabacci allowed both runners he inherited before recording the final out of the fourth frame. Michael Ross tossed a scoreless fourth inning. Brent Francisco came in and gave up one run on three hits and a walk over four innings to earn the save. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Clearwater 7 Box Score On Saturday, Kendry Rojas made his first rehab start as he prepares to rejoin the Saints. In 1 1/3 innings, he gave up two unearned runs on two hits. He walked two and had two strikeouts. Mike McKenna came in and finished the second inning, but not before allowing both of Rojas’s runners to score. He gave up his own unearned run as well. Jonathan Stevens came in and was charged with three runs on two hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts. Mitch Mueller got the next four outs, two an strikeouts. Jake Murray gave up one run on one hit and a walk in one inning. Adam Falinski struck out three batters over the final two scoreless, one-hit innings. After a combined two hits over their first two games on Friday, the Miracle doubled that total with four hits in this single game on Saturday. They also managed to walk 12 times. Harry Genth and Jayson Bass each had a double. JP Smith had a single and two walks. Ryan Sprock walked in three plate appearances. Bryan Acuna and Dameury Pena each walked twice as well. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, R, 3 RBI, K. Pitcher of the Day CJ Culpepper (Wichita): 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K, 43 pitches, 24 strikes (58.8%) 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) - 0-for-3, HBP, K (batted first, played CF, 7 innings) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HBP, R, K (batted second, played SS) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, HBP, 2 K, SB (batted sixth, played LF) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2B(1), R, RBI, K, SF (batted second, DHd #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 63 pitched, 37 strikes (58.7%) #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - DNP #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(1), R, 2 RBI (batted fourth, DHd) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Rehab in FM ( #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2 BB, 2B(1), 3B(1), 2 R, K, E (batted first, played SS) #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - DNP #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Sunday probable. #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, R, 3 RBI, K (batted fourth, played CF) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, BB, R, 2 K #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-4, K (batted third, played LF) #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, R, SB(1), E (led off, played SS), #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 43 pitches, 24 strikes (55.8%) #19 - C Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, R, RBI, K (batted third, catcher) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - DNP UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday: Worcester @ St. Paul (DH attempts @ 12:37 pm CT) - RHP Andrew Morris, RHP John Klein Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Nolan Santos CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 3-5 St. Paul Saints: 3-3 Wichita Wind Surge: 1-2 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 1-1 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 1-2 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

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Kyle DeBarge) TRANSACTIONS No transactions. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul, Worcester Box Score For the second straight day, the Saints were unable to play due to weather conditions being non-good. Friday’s game has officially been canceled for two reasons. First, the Saints and WooSox aren’t on each other’s schedule again this year, and second, International League rules do not allow doubleheaders on back-to-back days. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, NW Arkansas 2 Box Score Ty Langenberg made his Double-A debut on Friday night in Wichita. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits over four innings. He had three strikeouts and no walks. Ricky Castro struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Sam Ryan had two walks in a scoreless inning. Ruddy Gomez walked two over two scoreless innings. Down 2-0 after three innings, the Wind Surge got on the board in the fourth inning. Kyle DeBarge singled and later scored on a Billy Amick single. DeBarge received his 2025 Minor League Gold Glove Award before the game. The Wind Surge had five hits and seven walks. Jose Salas went 1-for-1 with two walks. He also stole two bases. Amick, Hendry Mendez, and Ben Ross each had a single and a walk. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 8 Box Score The Kernels played their season opener on Friday night. When the Kernels came to bat in the bottom of the second inning, they were down 2-0. When they came to the plate to start the bottom of the fourth inning, they were down 8-0. But Cedar Rapids did win the final five-and-a-half innings 2-0! Dasan Hill made the start for the Kernels. He worked a 1-2-3 first inning but gave up two runs in the top of the second. He struck out two in a scoreless third frame. The fourth inning began with a walk and two stolen bases. After a groundout, Hill gave up a single and reached his pitch count. Eston Stull came in and gave up a single but got a pop up, just one out from getting out of the inning with the score 3-0. Unfortunately, it was followed by a three-run homer. 6-0. And then there was a walk, and then another home run, and the score was 8-0. Hill was charged with four runs on five hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. Stull was charged with four runs on three hits in 2/3 of any inning. We’ll see how things match up at the end, but it’s hard to believe that tonight’s Pitcher of the Day might have been a Kernels pitcher. Eli Jones came on and tossed five shutout innings. He gave up one hit and walked one batter. He had four strikeouts. Jones was the Twins seventh round pick in 2024 out of South Carolina. He struggled last year to a 2-10 record with a 4.89 ERA in Fort Myers. In the bottom of the fourth, the Kernels scored their two runs. Eduardo Tait reached on an error to lead off the inning. Khadim Diaw doubled him to third base. Brandon Winokur walked to load the bases. After one out, Jacob McCombs was hit by a pitch to drive in the first run of the Kernels’ season. After a second out and a pitching change, Caden Kendle walked to drive in the second run. The Kernels managed just three hits and had five walks. Jacob McCombs was twice hit by a pitch. Kendle walked twice and stole a base. Khadim Diaw walked once to go along with his double. Jay Thomason also had a double and a stolen base. MIGHTY MATTERS Game 1: Ft. Myers 0, Clearwater 2 Box Score They had to wait an extra day to play their season opener. Unfortunately, the Mussels offense was not too busy in this game. Things started alright. Dameury Pena led off with a walk. But the next two batters struck out and Pena was thrown out attempting to steal second for the third out. With two outs in the third inning, Byron Chourio singled, but was forced out at second pitches later. So the Mussels left just one runner on base in the game. Joel Garcia was given the opening game nod. The right-hander gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits, a walk, and two hit batters. He had four strikeouts. 2025 draft pick Kolten Smith, a right-hander who pitched at Georgia, threw three perfect innings in his professional debut. He had three strikeouts. Game 2: Ft. Myers 2, Clearwater 0 Box Score As we learned from Game 1, it can be hard to win a baseball game when your team has just one hit. But that’s just what the Mussels did in the second game of the doubleheader. That’s right. They were one-hit in game one and lost. They were one-hit in game two, and it was enough for the win. We’ll get to “The Hit” in a bit, but the Mussels tossed a shutout. Let’s talk pitching. James Ellwanger pitched for the Twins in the Breakout game during spring training, but Friday he made his first official professional start. He did well. He tossed the first three innings. He gave up two hits, walked one, and had four strikeouts. Fellow 2025 draft pick Reed Moring. He was the Twins 15th round pick out of UC-Santa Barbara. He threw the final four innings and gave up just one hit. He had no walks and struck out seven batters. With one out in the bottom of the first, right fielder Jayson Bass walked and stole second base. Quentin Young came up and drilled a triple to drive in the first run. Ryan Sprock followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. And that was it for the scoring in Game 2. Harry Genth walked twice in the game. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3, 2B(1), R, RBI, K. Pitcher of the Day Eli Jones (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 4 K, 54 pitches, 39 strikes (72.2%) 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) - DNP #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - DNP #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - DNP #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, K #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - Didn’t pitch again #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 3 1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 61 pitches, 38 strikes (62.3%) #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - DNP #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring) #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-5, K #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - DNP #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - DNP #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, 2K. #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 2K, Game 2: 1-for-3, 3B(1), R, RBI, 2K. #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, 2K #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, BB, 2K (led off, played 2B), #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4K, #19 - C Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B(1), R, BB, K #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 57 pitches, 31 strikes (54.4%) UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday: Worcester @ St. Paul (2:07 pm CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews NW Arkansas @ Wichita (4:05 pm CT) - Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 5:05 CT) - CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 3-4 St. Paul Saints: 3-2 Wichita Wind Surge: 1-1 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 0-1 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 1-1 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

Yeah, it is in process now, but it's my fault it's not out there already. I kind of refused to write up a roster preview that had 44 players on it including 26 pitches. But then I saw that there were literally 16 players starting the season on the IL. That's crazy!

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Ben Ross) With the holiday weekend, it appears that some of the leagues gave their teams the option to play Thursday through Saturday this weekend instead of Friday through Sunday. Three of four Twins affiliates were supposed to play, but to no one’s surprise in early April, weather became the winner. Just one of the three games were played. But hey, the Twins won in Kansas City and just down the road from them, the Wichita Wind Surge were victorious in their home opener. TRANSACTIONS Following their Thursday afternoon win in Kansas City, the Twins announced that they had acquired RHP Garrett Acton from the Miami Marlins in exchange for RHP Logan Whitaker (who was on the Wind Surge roster). Click here for more. Earlier in the week, the Twins sent their initial opening day rosters. On Thursday’s Opening Day, the teams updated their rosters to include more players listed on the Injured List. St. Paul catcher Ian Daugherty was sent back to the Mighty Mussels. He spent about four days with the Saints. Daugherty signed with the Twins shortly after last year’s draft. He had spent four seasons at Oklahoma State. Wichita placed three players on the 7-Day Injured List, RHPs Jose Olivares and Kyle Bischoff, and infielder Jorel Ortega. Now I see where there were 44 total players including 26 pitchers on the Mussels’ opening day roster. On Thursday, their official roster indicated 16 players on the Injured List. Previously, they had announced players on the 60-Day IL or the Full-Season IL. The following players were placed on the 7-Day Injured List: RHP Billy Oldham (right UCL sprain), RHP Justin Mitrovich (right lat strain), RHP Dylan Questad (left oblique strain), RHP Jason Reitz (left ankle sprain), IF Bruin Agbayani (right thumb strain), C Enrique Jimenez (right finger fracture), OF Yasser Mercedes (right oblique strain). Here are the players placed officially on the 60 Day IL: RHP Matt Barr (right elbow fracture), RHP Callan Fang (right elbow sprain), RHP Jake Hunter (right shoulder impingement), LHP Jace Kaminska (right elbow surgery), LHP Cesar Lares (left elbow surgery), LHP Cleiber Maldonado (left elbow surgery), catcher Carlos Silva (right forearm strain). Two players were placed on the Full-Season IL: RHP Jack Dougherty (right shoulder surgery) and IF Shai Robinson (left shoulder surgery). SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul, Worcester (PPD Rain) In 2025, the Saints led all of the baseball world with 17 games postponed. It actually is impressive that the Saints completed five games before having their first postponement. The Twins and Worcester are not scheduled to play again throughout the 2026 season after Sunday. They have not yet scheduled a doubleheader but would certainly love to get it completed (even though the odds are low) this weekend. The two teams will attempt to play their third game of the series on Friday night. Connor Prielipp is scheduled to make his second Saints start of the season. Baseball America named the Saints as the most talented team in all of minor league baseball coming into this season. It’s hard to disagree. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 10, NW Arkansas 6 Box Score With 73-degree temperatures when the game started in Wichita on Thursday night, Ryan Gallagher got the Opening Night nod for the Surge. He may have been a little nervous, but the game started with him walking the first two batters on eight pitches. There is no ABS system in the Texas League, which is inexplicable, but no fewer than three of those pitches could have been reviewed. However, we know that walks will haunt, and with one out, Brett Squires doubled to score both walkers. Gallagher ended that first inning with back-to-back strikeouts. He followed with a 1-2-3 second inning. In the third frame, he gave up a two-out single but that’s it. The fourth inning was another 1-2-3 inning for Gallagher, who came to the Twins at last year’s trade deadline from the Cubs for Willi Castro. Gallagher came out to start the top of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, the leadoff man reached on an error and went to third base on a single to center. Gallagher got a strikeout, but that marked the end of his night. Mike Paredes came on and after a steal, a sacrifice fly and a soft single to give the Naturals a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning. Both runs were charged to Gallagher, and both were unearned. Gallagher went the first 4 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks. He struck out four batters. Paredes went 3 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He had five strikeouts and issued no walks. Both runs scored on a Dustin Dickerson two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning. Reclaim the Lead The Wind Surge responded in a big way in the bottom half of the inning. Hendry Mendez was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Billy Amick and Garrett Spain followed with walks to load the bases for Ben Ross. I don’t even know how that would possibly happen, but here is what really happened. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Ross drilled a ball to the opposite field and hit off of the top of the fence for a double. Mendez scored. Amick followed and could have been out, but the ball got away from the catcher which allowed Span to score the third run. Ross advanced all the way to third. After a pitching change, Ross scored on a sacrifice fly by Ricardo Olivar. Adding On… and Closing the Door Kyle DeBarge led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a long, long home run well onto the berm in left field. In the bottom of the eighth, Spain led off with a walk. Ross stepped to the plate and crushed a homer well beyond the top of the left field fence. Alejandro Hidalgo came on for the ninth. He gave up a hit and walked one, but he struck out two batters to end a scoreless inning. Ben Ross went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, a stolen base, two runs and four RBI. Kyle DeBarge was 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, and a home run. He drove in two runs and scored two runs. Maddux Houghton was 2-for-4 with a triple and made a diving catch in center field. That was Quick! In 2025, Kyle DeBarge began his season by being called safe on his first 27 stolen base attempts. The 22-year-old went on to steal 66 bases in 74 attempts for the Kernels. DeBarge led off the first inning with a walk. Travelers catcher Canyon Brown had a good pitch to throw, had a very quick release, and threw a bullet (or a cannon?) just above second base to throw out DeBarge. DeBarge had a very nice Double-A debut. He had a line drive double down the left field line for an RBI and then crushed a long home run. If Ross can Rake, then Make no Mistake, he Can Be a Big Leaguer. Ross came from a Division II school and was initially known for his bat, but he struggled some early and kept finding himself in the lineup because of his great defense, mostly at shortstop but also at third and second base. I’m trying to think about Twins shortstop prospects over the past two decades. I’m sure I’m missing someone, but I think Ross is, at worst, one of the best defensive shortstops I can remember. I think that Wander Javier was a really good defensive shortstop, though inconsistent. Jordan Gore was really good before he made the move to the mound. I think AJ Pettersen would be near the top of this list. Others who have been following this for a couple of decades, who am I missing? Double-A Win #1 Congratulations to Wind Surge Manager Nico Giarratano on winning his first game as a Double A manager. Giarratano was born and grew up in San Francisco. After graduating from St. Ignatius College Preparatory school in San Francisco. He stayed home and went to the University of San Francisco where he played 218 games at shortstop over his four seasons there. In the 24th round of the 2017 draft, he was selected by the - you guessed it - San Francisco Giants. KERNELS CHRONICLE The Kernels begin their 2026 season on Friday. They will host Peoria for three games. MIGHTY MATTERS After being rained out on Thursday, Fort Myers will also begin their season with a doubleheader on Friday and another game on Saturday. They will host the Clearwater Threshers. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Ben Ross (Wichita): 3-for-4, 2B(1), HR(1), 2 R, 4 RBI, SB(1). Pitcher of the Day Mike Paredes (Wichita): 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 45 pitches, 33 strikes (73.3%) 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) - DNP #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - DNP #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - DNP #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - DNP #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - Starting Friday #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Starting Friday #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - DNP #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring) #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - DNP #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Ft. Myers) - DNP #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - DNP #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - DNP #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - DNP #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (Wichita) - 1-for-3, HBP, R, RBI #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 2-for-4, BB, 2B(1), HR(1), 2 R, 2 RBI, K, CS, E (led off, played 2B) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - scheduled to start Saturday #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - DNP #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - scheduled to make his pro debut on Saturday. FRIDAY PROBABLES Worcester @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - LHP Connor Prielipp NW Arkansas @ Wichita (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:05 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 3:30 CT) - Joel Garcia, James Ellwanger CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 2-4 St. Paul Saints: 3-2 Wichita Wind Surge: 1-0 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 0-0 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 0-0 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

Image courtesy of © Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Shortly after the Twins left Kansas City following a 5-1 win over the Royals on Thursday afternoon, the team announced that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Garrett Acton from the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor league righty Logan Whitaker. Acton will report to St. Paul this weekend. This might just be another case of an arm that the Twins can use their five options per season on as they need pitchers to move up and down throughout the season. The 28-year-old has a combined 31 days of MLB service time, and he's got two years of minor-league options remaining. There may be some value in that information. Acton is a native of Illinois and was the 35th round pick of the White Sox way back in 2016. He decided not to sign and instead went to the University of St. Louis. After missing the 2018 season, he transferred home to pitch two seasons at the University of Illinois. Of course, in that 2020 season, he only pitched in six games before the season ended abruptly. In those six innings, he tossed 6 2/3 innings and recorded six saves. Late that summer, he signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Oakland A's. In 2021, e combined for 34 games between the two Class A levels. In 2022, he split the season between Double-A and Triple-A. In 2023, he went 5-2 with a 5.59 ERA over 29 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas and posted an ERA of 12.71 in 5 2/3 inning of big-league action. He missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. In December of 2023, the Rays signed him to a two-year minor-league deal. In 2025, he made 45 appearances for the Rays Triple-A ballclub and went 5-1 with a 3.68 ERA over 58 2/3 innings. He pitched one inning for the big-league club. The Rays DFAd him after the 2025 season completed and the Rockies claimed him. In early February, the Rockies DFAd him and the Marlins claimed him. He made two appearances this weekend for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. and had four strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Acton's average fastball is about 95 mph, and he also throws a changeup 8-10 mph slower, as well as a slider. Logan Whitaker is a 25-year-old right-handed pitcher. The Twins made him their 19th round pick in 2025 out of North Carolina State. He pitched in two games for the Mighty Mussels in 2024, and last year, he combined for 25 games between Cedar Rapids and Wichita. He went 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA. In 38 1/3 innings, he had 33 strikeouts and 10 walks. He was set to begin his 2026 season with the Wind Surge. To make room on the Twins 40-man roster, David Festa was transferred to the 60-Day Injured List. View full article

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images TRANSACTIONS Wrote about the Twins signing Drew Smith to a minor-league deal. Sunday he was added to the Saints roster. Catcher David Banuelos was placed on the development list to make roster room. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Indianapolis 1 Box Score Saints Complete 3-Game Sweep Jenkins Returns The plan for Walker Jenkins’ playing time has been laid out through next weekend. He played seven innings on Friday night. He didn’t play on Saturday. On Sunday, he played seven innings. In the top of the eighth frame, his spot in the lineup came up with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Kyler Fedko pinch hit for him and took over in center field. Jenkins led off the game with a double off of the wall just to the left of dead center field. A couple of batters later, his hamstring was tested. Kaelen Culpepper lined a single to left. Jenkins rounded third and sprinted home. He dove in but was easily out. More importantly, Jenkins was just fine. He walked in his next plate appearance and lined an RBI single. He flew out to right field in his final at-bat. Morris Makes 2026 Saints Debut The goal when the game started was for Morris to go about four innings, and then John Klein would come in and hopefully go three innings. Well, Morris went 3 2/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He had one walk and one strikeout. He was at 57 pitches, likely within a handful of his Start #1 limit. Certainly Morris was not in mid-season form. No one would expect him to be. But he only had three whiffs over those 57 pitches. Per StatCast, Morris threw 23 four-seam fastball (40%). He averaged 95.7 mph with the pitch and got nine called strikes. He maxed out at 97.3 mph. So velocity-wise, he’s where he needs to be and has been. He also threw 10 curveballs (18%), eight sinkers (14%), six changeups (11%) and five cutters and five sweepers (9%). Saints Score First Again, Take Early Lead Noah Cardenas led off the top of the second by being hit by a pitch. Tanner Schobel walked. With one out, Jenkins walked to load the bases. Gabriel Gonzelz grounded toward second. Jenkins was out at second, but Gonzalez beat the throw to first and the Saints had their first run. With one out in the third inning, Ryan Kreidler doubled to left. With two outs, Schobel walked again. Aaron Sabato followed with a single to left to drive in the second run. Jenkins followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Klein Time Indications and some quotes indicate that Minnesotan John Klein will be used in the three-to-four inning, twice per week role for the Saints this year. The goal for this game, his first outing of the season, was to go about three innings. He went 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two, and had four strikeouts. He threw 48 pitches and 31 of them were strikes (64.6%). Half of his 48 pitches were four-seam fastballs. He averaged 95.6 mph with a max of 96.9 mph. He threw 14 curveballs (29%). That pitch averaged just under 81 mph, a really nice velocity drop. Same thing with his seven changeups (15%). It averaged 86.8 mph, about nine mph less than his fastball. Finally, he added three cutters. However, he was only able to record four whiffs. I Can Hit Too, Really! We’ve all seen Ryan Kreidler’s career number in MLB. Simply, he hasn’t hit. He has a .138 batting average and .208 on-base percentage over his 188 big-league at-bats. However, it doesn’t take watching him play all over the diamond that you appreciate just how terrific he is defensively. And (Alert: Small Sample Size Warning), Kreidler hit his first double and first home run of the season. Through the first three games, Kreidler is 5-for-10, hitting .500/583/.900 (1.483). The 28-year-old from UCLA has good size. He’s 6-4 and about 210 pounds. New Vets Get Their First Chance When the Twins bring in a new veteran on a minor-league contract, they get them in the game right away! John Brebbia came in for the sixth inning. He got two outs relatively quickly. Then came Dominic Fletcher. 15 pitches later, Brebbia won that mini-battle and ultimately tossed a 1-2-3 inning. He threw eight four-seam fastballs and eight sliders. StatCast said that he threw two cutters and one sinker, one changeup, and one sweeper. Drew Smith came in and pitched the eighth inning. He faced just three batters, but he definitely used his defense. Konnor Griffin led off the inning with a double to the gap in right-center field, but with a perfect relay from Fedko to Culpepper to Kreidler to nail Griffin at third base. A huge play in a three-run game. Smith followed it up by walking a batter, but he followed by getting a double play to end the inning. Grant Hartwig got a strikeout to end the eighth inning on Friday. He came and despite two walks tossed a scoreless inning to record the save. Defensive Alignment It’s only been three games, and the lineup may look different starting Tuesday at CHS Field when the Saints take on the Woo Sox for six games. Here’s a quick look (again, just three games): Saints Players 3/27 3/28 3/29 Walker Jenkins CF DNP CF Kaelen Culpepper SS 3B SS Gabriel Gonzalez DH LF RF Emmanuel Rodriguez RF CF DH Alan Roden LF RF LF Orlando Arcia 2B SS DNP Eric Wagaman 1B 1B DNP Ryan Kreidler 3B 2B 3B Alex Jackson C DNP DNP Kyler Fedko DNS (CF) DH DNS (CF) Noah Cardenas DNP C C Tanner Schobel DNP DNP 2B David Banuelos DNP DNP Dev List Aaron Sabato DNP DNP 1B WIND SURGE WISDOM The Wind Surge season begins on Friday, April 3rd, when they play host to the NW Arkansas Travelers for three games. KERNELS CHRONICLE The Kernels also begin their 2026 season on Friday. They will host Peoria for three games. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers will also begin their season with a three-game home series. They will host the Clearwater Threshers. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Ryan Kreidler (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(1), HR(1), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. Pitcher of the Day John Klein (St. Paul): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 48 pitches, 31 strikes (65.6%%) 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) - 2-for-3, BB, 2B(1), RBI (played CF, batted 1st) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, K (played SS, batted 4th) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 K (DHd, batted 5th) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (TBD) - DNP #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - DNP #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (TBD) - DNP #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, RBI (played RF, batted 2nd) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - Injured List (hamstring) #9 - SS Marek Houston (TBD) - DNP #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (TBD) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (TBD) - DNP #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 57 pitches, 36 strikes (63.2%) #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (TBD) - DNP #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (TBD) - DNP #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (TBD) - DNP #17 - 2B/OF Kyle DeBarge (TBD) - DNP #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (TBD) - DNP #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (TBD) - DNP #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (TBD) - DNP UPCOMING PROBABLES Tuesday: Worcester @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - LHP Christian MacLeod CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 1-2 St. Paul Saints: 3-0 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