Seth Stohs

Saints released Armando Alvarez and added Schobel. Jose Salas moved up from Cedar Rapids to Wichita. Jay Thomasson promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Dameury Pena) On the final day of May, the Mighty Mussels put together their best all-around game. The Kernels got a strong start, a big homer, but did they hang on? And for those who were worried... and you'll see this again... A hit streak continues. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 31-26 (Tied with Cleveland for 2nd in AL Central, six games behind Detroit.) St. Paul Saints: 28-25 (Tied with Iowa for 5th place in the International League West Division, 4.0 games behind Nashville.) Wichita Wind Surge: 25-25 (4th in Texas League North, 1.0 games behind Springfield, NW Arkansas, Arkansas.) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 29-20 (2nd place in the Midwest League’s West Division, 1.5 games behind Quad Cities.) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 22-28 (6th place in the Florida State League’s West Division, 7.5 games behind Lakeland.) FCL Twins: 12-9 (2nd in FCL South, 2.5 games back of the FCL Rays. TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated OF Matt Wallner from the IL after his 10-day rehab stint with Fort Myers. OF DaShawn Keirsey, Jr was optioned to St. Paul. Connor Prielipp has been activated from the Development List and is scheduled to start on Sunday for Wichita. RHP Teague Conrad was placed on the FCL Twins roster. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Omaha 5 Box Score Ryan Fitzgerald homered in the ballpark he called home a season ago, but it wasn’t enough for his Saints club on Saturday. Down 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the 30-year-old veteran who recently made his MLB debut launched his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to give the Saints a 2-1 lead, but that was about it for the Saints offense. Andrew Morris was on the mound for the Saints. He gave up a single run in the first inning. In the bottom of the fourth frame, MJ Melendez hit a two-run homer. #OldFriend Diego Castillo hit a solo homer in the fifth inning for the Storm Chasers. Morris gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks. He had two strikeouts. Randy Dobnak worked the final three innings. He gave up just one run on three hits and struck out four batters. Melendez hit his second homer of the night, a solo shot, in the eighth inning. The Twins had six hits and six walks on the day. They did get production from a couple of now-veterans who really need to produce. Jose Miranda went 3-for-5 with his sixth double. Edouard Julien was 0-for-1 with three walks. Along with his fifth homer, Fitzgerald also hit his 12th double. Catcher Patrick Winkel walked twice as well. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Tulsa 6 (10 innings) Box Score Cossetti and Kala’i provided the power, but not enough as the Wind Surge fell short in extra innings. Down 1-0 in the second, Andrew Cossetti hit his fourth homer of the season to tie the game. An inning later, Kala’i Rosario hit his fifth homer of the year to make it 2-1. Ricardo Olivar followed with a double and scored on a two-out double by Cossetti. Trent Baker started for Wichita. He gave up a first-inning run, but then worked three scoreless innings. Unfortunately, in the top of the fifth inning, he gave up two runs and left the game with two runners on base and the game tied. John Stankiewicz came in and gave up a run-scoring single to put Tulsa up 4-3. But in the bottom of the sixth the Surge grabbed the lead back. Tanner Schobel and Gabriel Gonzalez started the inning with singles. With one out, Rosario singled to left to score Schobel. On the throw to the plate, both runners advanced into scoring position. Gonzalez scored on a ground out by Olivar. Baker ended up going 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk. He also had seven strikeouts. Stankiewicz gave up two hits and a walk but got four outs and didn’t allow a run of his own. Jarret Whorff gave up a run in the top of the seventh inning on a two-out solo homer by Ezequiel Pagan. Whorff pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Cody Laweryson pitched a scoreless inning. Laweryson allowed the Manfred Man to score on a one-out single by Pagan. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge went one-two-three in the bottom of the 10th inning without advancing their Manfred Man. Rosario went 2-for-3 with two walks and a home run. Cossetti hit his fifth double and fourth homer and also walked. Gonzalez went 2-for-6 with his third double. Olivar added his seventh double of the season. Schobel had a single, a walk, and was hit by a pitch. The single pushed his hitting streak to 18 games, the highest in the league this season. The Wind Surge went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Lake County 2 Box Score Chase Chaney was terrific on Saturday. Kyle DeBarge came up with a huge hit, and the bullpen held on to a nice win for the Kernels. Chaney, a 25-year-old righty who signed as a minor-league free agent with the Twins in the offseason, made his sixth Kernels start. He has completed six innings in four of his six starts, and completed five in the other two. On Saturday, he went six innings. He gave up one run on six hits. The lone run he allowed came on a solo homer by outfielder Wuilfredo Antunez in the fourth inning. He walked none, hit one, and had one strikeout. The Kernels took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Payton Eeles walked. Kyle DeBarge followed with a two-run homer, his fifth homer of the season. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Poncho Ruiz hit a one-out double. Misael Urbina hit an infield single which allowed Ruiz time to advance to third base. Kaelen Culpepper came up and lined an RBI single to left field to give the Kernels a 3-1 lead. Lefty Samuel Perez pitched a perfect seventh inning. He came back out for the eighth inning and gave up a single, but that was followed by a double play. He issued a two-out walk, and at that point, Cole Percival was called out of the bullpen who gave up back-to-back singles, the latter drove in a run (charged to Perez) to cut the Kernels lead to 3-2, but he got a fly out to end the eighth. Percival came out to start the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead. He started with a strikeout, but then he hit a batter. That was followed by a single. With runners on first and second, manager Brian Meyer turned to lefty Gabriel Yanez. He got a fly out and a pop out to end the game with a win in front of the Veterans Memorial Stadium fans. DeBarge went 2-for-4 with a homer. He was the lone Kernel with more than one hit. Ruiz doubled for the second time since his promotion a couple of days ago. Brandon Winokur added his 12th double of the season. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 11, Tampa 1 Box Score It was a Dason Day for the Mussels in Tampa. The young flamethrower was terrific, and the lineup reached double digits. Let’s start with Dason Hill’s performance. The lefty tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two, and had five strikeouts. While we didn’t get pitch velocities for every pitch from Tampa, Hill’s fastball was consistently hitting 96 mph. Michael Ross, the Twins 18th-round pick in 2024 from Samford, came on to start the fourth inning. He was fantastic. Over five innings, he gave up one run on five hits (a solo home run). He had eight strikeouts without a walk. 52 of his 71 pitches were strikes (73%). Hunter Hoopes struck out two in a perfect ninth inning, completing a strong game on the mound for the Mussels. For the fifth time this season, the Mussels offense reached double digit in runs scored. After two scoreless innings, the Mussels got things going with a five-run third inning. The inning had a bit of an FCL feel to it. Blaze O’Saben started the inning by reaching on an error. After a passed ball, O’Saben scored on a single by Yohander Martinez. Next, Dameury Pena reached on an error, and Maddux Houghton walked to load the bases. The next two batters got out without getting the ball out of the infield. However, Miguel Briceno walked to score Martinez. That was followed by a bases-clearing double by Jefferson Valladares. The fourth inning began with an O’Saben single. He stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Dameury Pena walked. He stole second, and O’Saben scored on a throwing error by the catcher. 6-0 Mussels. Jump ahead to the top of the seventh inning. Houghton walked and stole second and third. Luke Napleton walked and stole second. With one out Briceno drove both in with a single to center. That made the score 8-1. The top of the eighth inning started with a double by Ricardo Pena. O’Saben was hit by a pitch. With one out, and following a pitching change, Dameury Pena completed the team’s scoring with a three-run homer, his third of the season. The Mussels scored their 11 runs on just seven hits. No one had more than one hit. They also had five walks and were hit by two pitches. They were also helped by four Tampa errors. They forced the issue with six stolen bases. The team was 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left just four on base. Dameury Pena, Miguel Briceno, and Jefferson Valladares each had three RBI. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 1, FCL Red Sox 3 Box Score On Saturday morning, the FCL Twins traveled down Daniels Parkway to take on the Red Sox squad. Most likely they would have made a late-innings comeback, but the rains came and the game was called in the sixth inning. Joel Garcia made the start. He went 4 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He walked one and had four strikeouts. Aiberson Ventura came on with two runners on base and a double scored both of them. He got the next two batters out, one on a strikeout. Andrew Huffman was about to start pitching in the sixth when the rains came. The Twins managed just three hits in this game. The team’s lone run came in the fourth inning. With one out, Daiber De Los Santos walked. He stole second. With two outs, there was a wild pitch which, coupled with a throwing error by the catcher, allowed De Los Santos to score. Luis Fragoza followed that by knocking his fourth double. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Ryan Fitzgerald (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(12), HR(5), R, 2 RBI, K Andrew Cossetti (Wichita): 2-for-4, BB, 2B(5), HR(4), R, 2 RBI, K Kala’i Rosario (Wichita): 2-for-3, 2 BB, HR (5), R, 2 RBI, K. Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, HR(5), R, 2 RBI Pitcher of the Day Chase Chaney (Cedar Rapids): 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, K, 91 pitches, 57 strikes (62.6%) Michael Ross (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 8 K, 71 pitches, 52 strikes (73.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. #6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI (played SS) #8 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 92 pitches, 55 strikes (59.8%) #9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2B(12) (played CF) #10 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 57 pitches, 34 strikes (59.6%) #11 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, HR(5), R, 2 RBI (played 2B) #14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 2-for-6, 2B(3), R, K #16 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - 0-for-2, BB, 2 K (played CF) #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, HBP, R #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2B(7), R, RBI, 2 K SUNDAY PITCHING PROBABLES Minnesota @ Seattle (3:10 PM CT) - RHP Chris Paddack (2-5, 3.92 ERA) St. Paul @ Omaha (5:05 PM CT) - RHP Travis Adams (3-1, 3.20 ERA) Tulsa @ Wichita (1:05 PM CT) - LHP Connor Prielipp (0-2, 4.30 ERA) Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CT) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 6.47 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (11:00 AM CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-3, 14.34 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Saturday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 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And frankly, when guys are signed from indy leagues, no one is projecting them to be big leaguers. For the most part, they are signed as fillers. At this point, frankly, they need some arms at various levels, so they'll sign some older guys who have shown some ability to eat innings. And if they keep pitching or hitting well, they move up. And also, sign them at 24 or 26... if they stay healthy and actually do move up, you're probably talking about maybe a cup of coffee in the big leagues. So, the whole prospect thing, age to level of competition isn't a factor at all. Even these signings are all different. Sam Coonrod is 32 and throwing 97. He's going to AAA and has 5 seasons of MLB time. That's a signing for AAA and maybe even the big leagues. Signing Tyler Dearden after he already spent 4-5 years in the minors and then came from indy ball, and he's played in High-A and AA. Signing Dobnak as a 22-year-old undrafted free agent from the USPBL is different than signing a 26-year-old. Oh, and I do think it's worth mentioning the offensive struggles of some of the Fort Myers prospects. Yasser Mercedes and Jose Rodriguez and Byron Chourio have all struggled. The lineup barely has anyone hitting over .200. Jay Thomasson probably deserves a promotion to Cedar Rapids. The other player they get consistent performance from is Maddux Houghton, a non-drafted guy who based on age and productivity has more than earned a promotion.

The draft going from 40 rounds to 20 rounds means 10-12 players signed each year. That's part of it.

I guess if Bader can't play, then it would make sense to IL him. Prielipp was placed on the Development List on 5/21. I assume he'll just miss a start and come back. Darren Bowen was placed on the Dev List today. I'm sure they are limiting Festa some. He was at 66 pitches

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of John Klein) The Twins and all four of their affiliates played on Saturday Lots of good content for you below. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 30-25 (Tied for 2nd in AL Central with Cleveland, six games behind Detroit.) St. Paul Saints: 27-24 (Tied for 5th place in the International League West Division, 4.0 games behind Nashville.) Wichita Wind Surge: 24-24 (4th in Texas League North with Arkansas, 1.5 games behind Springfield.) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 27-20 (2nd place in the Midwest League’s West Division, 2.5 games behind Quad Cities.) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 21-27 (6th place in the Florida State League’s West Division, 7.0 games behind Lakeland.) FCL Twins: 11-8 (2nd in FCL South, 2.0 games back of the FCL Rays. TRANSACTIONS ICYMI: Carson McCusker was optioned to St. Paul following the Twins loss in Tampa on Wednesday. The Twins will make a corresponding move on Friday. RHP Jacob Bosiokovic is on the temporarily inactive list with the Saints. Khadim Diaw has been placed on the 7-Day Injured List, but he could be out for a while with a fracture of his right thumb. Poncho Ruiz has been promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Catcher Ricardo Pena has been promoted from the FCL to Fort Myers. Of his 81 games started since signing his first games in the DSL in 2022, he has started behind the plate 65 times with a dozen starts at first base. Jay Thomason was activated from the 7-Day IL for Fort Myers. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== A day after we learned that the Twins had signed outfielder Blaze O’ Saben and infielder Caleb McNeely from independent leagues, it appears that the Twins have signed a pitcher from the New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League. The Twins have signed RHP Nick Trabacchi. The 26-year-old started his college career at Maryland-Baltimore County in 2018. After two years, he transferred to Division II Shepherd University. Yes, the same school that Bears backup QB Tyson Bagent went to. He spent three seasons there. Since then (2022), he’s played in the Pecos League, the Atlantic League and the Frontier Leagues. This will be his first time playing in affiliated baseball. Where did we hear about this signing? Twitter/X, of course. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== For those of you who have been following the Twins minor leagues as long as I have. The pitching coach for the New Jersey Jackals is former Twins left-handed pitching prospect Joe Testa. He signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He pitched well in the organization until the July 2010 trade deadline in a trade that I wonder if any Twins fans remember. The Twins traded Testa, and a catcher with very little MLB experience at that time named Wilson Ramos, to the Washington Nationals for Matt Capps. (Oh, you do remember? Sorry!) Testa peaked in Double-A, and the Nationals let him go after the 2012 season. Since then, he has pitched in the Canadian-American Association, the American Association, the Atlantic League, and he’s played in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and even in Italy. He apparently didn’t pitch between 2018 and 2019, but returned to the mound in the All-American Baseball Challenge in 2020. He then spent three seasons in the Atlantic League again. In 2024, he joined the Jackals in his home state of New Jersey. He pitched in seven games for them last year, and this season, he has pitched once, a perfect inning to earn a save in a 1-0 game. The 39-year-old lefty might be the story of them all. And RHP Liam Rocha has been released by the Twins organization. He signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2023 after four years at California Baptist. This comes a day after the Twins released knuckleballer Devin Kirby from the Mussels roster. He was pitching in Fort Myers. They both represented the Twins in the Arizona Fall League after the 2024 season. Then later in the day, the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League announced that two of their players have signed with the Twins. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Teague Conrad is 23. He stands 6-4 and a little over 200 pounds. He pitched at the University of Illinois-Chicago for two years, then spent the 2022 season at Heartland Community College. In 2023, he pitched at Southern Illinois-Edwards. He has spent the past two seasons with Gateway. He went 7-4 with a 3.29 ERA over 18 starts and 101 1/3 innings in 2024. He had 90 strikeouts and 49 walks. This season, he has made four starts and is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA. In 21 2/3 innings, he had 24 strikeouts to go with just three walks. The increased K-rate with the huge improvement in command might explain the Twins interest. He is likely to start out with the Mighty Mussels. Sam Coonrod may be a familiar name. The 32-year-old spent time in the big leagues with the Giants, Phillies and Mets between 2019 and 2023. He’s pitched in 115 MLB games and is 7-5 with a 5.54 ERA over 104 innings. He also has five big-league saves. At his best, Coonrad was consistently hitting 98, 99 mph. He is reportedly hitting 97 this year after not pitching in 2024. He is likely best known for making a stand by refusing to kneel in 2020, “I can’t kneel before anything besides God” was his quote. The plan is for him to report to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Omaha 1 Box Score Maybe I should have put Matt Wallner 3, Omaha 1. This game was quite the pitchers duel. When the Saints came to the plate in the top of the eighth, they were behind 1-0. They had just two hits and a walk. Anthony Prato led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Diego Cartaya followed with a walk. Long-time veteran Sam Long, a southpaw, may wish he would have walked the next guy too. Long started Wallner with a 96 mph slider just below the zone that Wallner swung at, and missed. Long tried to throw the same pitch. Unfortunately, for the pitcher, this second pitch was nearly down the middle of the plate, and, as he seems to enjoy doing, Wallner hit that ball over the fence for a three-run homer. It was the third straight game Wallner homered, and he has five homers in the seven games he’s spent rehabbing with the Saints. Could he be bound for Seattle? The other big story from this game was the start by David Festa. He tossed five shutout innings and gave up just three hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. He was also efficient, needing just 66 pitches to get through his outing. He used all four of his pitches. His fastball topped out at 96.3 mph and averaged 94.9 mph. Richard Lovelady, Brady Feigl, and Anthony Misiewicz - who earned his sixth save - each tossed a scoreless inning. The lone run came on and unearned run against Ryan Jensen in the seventh inning. The Saints had just four hits, and three of them went for extra bases. Wallner homered, and Mickey Gasper and Anthony Prato each hit a double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Tulsa 4 Box Score Tulsa jumped ahead to an early lead. The Wind Surge mounded a mid-inning comeback, but fell just short. Darren Bowen made his first start since tossing five no-hit innings last week. He gave up three runs in the first inning and another in the second inning. He worked three innings and gave up four runs on five hits. He had one strikeout and no walks. Minnesotan John Klein was very impressive on Thursday. He had eight strikeouts over 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and one walk. Michael Martinez walked two and struck out three batters over 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. Jaylen Nowlin gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth inning. The Surge tried to come back in the fifth inning. With one out, Andrew Cossetti walked. He scored on a triple off the bat of Ben Ross. Tanner Schobel followed with his sixth home run. It cut the team’s deficit to 4-3. Unfortunately, that was about it for the Wind Surge offense in this game. They had just five hits, but they also had five walks and two hit batters. Gabriel Gonzalez hit his first triple since joining Wichita. The team was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. Schobel and Ricardo Olivar were the two Wind Surge hitters with a hit and a walk. The homer extended Schobel's hitting streak to 16 games. Wichita faced one of the Dodgers top prospects, lefty Jackson Ferris. He worked the first six innings for the Drillers. #OldFriend Noah Miller’s season started late due to meniscus surgery. He played eight rehab games for Great Lakes and rejoined the Drillers on Sunday. With a 2-for-4 game on Thursday, he has two hits in all three games since coming back. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Lake County 2 Box Score It was another well-played game for the Kernels, both on offense and defense. Cole Peschl made his second start for the Kernels and put together a Quality Start. He gave up two runs on three hits. He had seven strikeouts without issuing a walk. Gabriel Yanez worked two scoreless innings, and Cole Percival pitched a perfect ninth frame to close it out. Peschl gave up single runs in the second and fifth innings. The Kernels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Poncho Ruiz recorded his first Kernels hit of 2025, a double. Jose Salas followed with a towering blast that landed well beyond the right-field wall. It marked his third homer of the season. With the game now tied at 2-2, Peschl finished his outing with a scoreless sixth inning. In the bottom of the inning, with one out, Nate Baez turned on a fastball and lined it over the wall in left field for his third homer of the season. Brandon Winokur followed by hitting his fourth homer. It landed outside the ballpark. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== But they didn’t stop there. Danny De Andrade walked. He stole second and when the pitch went past the catcher, he raced all the way to third base. Caden Kendle walked and stole second base. Jaime Ferrer hit a fly ball to center, deep enough to score De Andrade with the fifth run. The bottom of the seventh gave the Kernels another run, but we also saw something we had not seen all season. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper struck out but reached first base on a wild pitch. Kyle DeBarge followed by lining a double over the center fielder’s head that drove in Culpepper from first. And then it happened. DeBarge took off for third base. He dove toward the base as the catcher threw toward the third baseman who caught the ball, and tagged DeBarge. He showed the ball to the umpire who made the call of “Out!” DeBarge looked up at the umpire and looked as if he was thinking, “Out? What do you mean? I haven’t heard that in a long time.” But, there is no replay in the Midwest League, so the call stands. After starting the season with 27 consecutive stolen bases, the streak comes to an end. Now he should start a new streak. The Kernels had eight hits, and five of them went for extra bases. Salas went 2-for-3, and Winokur went 2-for-4. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 6 Box Score It may not look it from the box score, but Eli Jones put together a really strong start on Thursday night at Hammond Stadium. He started the game with five scoreless innings. However, in the sixth inning, nothing really went right for Jones and the Mussels. The inning started with a walk, but a ground out gave the team one out. The next batter blooped a ball into shallow center field to drive in a run. The next batter hit a well-placed bunt single. Next was a seeing-eye single to right field to score a second run. A sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third with two outs. Then a well-placed swinging bunt down the third base line drove in another run. Another slow grounder toward third base was perfect for another infield single and a fourth run. Jones threw 82 pitches. His fastballs topped out at 95.6 mph and averaged about 93 mph. He mixed in his six pitches. He got just six swings-and-misses in the game. When that’s the case, you’re going to have an inning like Jones’s sixth inning from time to time. The Mussels got on the scoreboard first in the second inning. Maddux Houghton hit an inside-the-park home run that hit high off of the center field wall. It was his fourth home run of the season. Fort Myers responded to the Marauders’ four-run sixth with two runs of their own to cut the deficit to 4-3. Ricardo Pena and Yohander Martinez started the inning with singles. After a pitching change, Dameury Pena walked to load the bases. Miguel Briceno kept it going with a single to left to drive in a run. After a fly out, Luke Napleton hit a single down the third base line (the third baseman dove and knocked it down but didn’t have a play) to drive in the second run. Lefty Zander Sechrist came on and gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He struck out four batters. Ivran Romero struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth frame. Napleton singled to start the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Caleb McNeely singled Napleton to second. The runners moved up on a wild pitch. When Blaze O’Saben grounded out to shortstop, Napleton scored. But that was as close as the Mussels got. The Mussels had 10 hits in the game. Miguel Briceno, Luke Napleton, Maddux Houghton, and Ricardo Pena each had two hits. Newcomers Caleb McNeely played shortstop and batted sixth while Blaze O’Saben played center field and batted seventh. He made a terrific catch in the right centerfield gap that saved runs. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 3, FCL Orioles 2 Box Score Matt Gabbert continues to work back from injury. On Thursday morning, he made his fourth appearance of the season and worked up to four innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He also struck out two batters. Melvin Rodriguez came on and, despite three walks, gave up no runs, and no hits, to drop his season ERA to 1.93. The Orioles scored both of their runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Twins had a great opportunity to put several runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Bryan Acuna led off with a double. Ramiro Domingue and Eduardo Beltre followed with walks to load the bases. However, Daiber De Los Santos popped up to the catcher. Maybe thinking the catcher was too far from home plate or that he could surprise him, Acuna took off from third and was thrown out at home for the second out. Probably painful, but this is how the Twins got on the board in the second inning. Ariel Castro was hit by a pitch. He was moved up a base on a wild pitch and went to third on a ground out. Next, Yandro Hernandez and Carlos Silva were hit by pitches to lead the bases again. After a strikeout, Castro scored on a balk. The fourth inning began with a walk by VIctor Leal. With one out, Carlos Silva hit an infield single. A force-out left runners on first and third. After a pitching change, Ramiro Dominguez hit his fifth double and drove in two runs to give the Twins the lead that Rodriguez was able to hold onto for the Win. Luis Fragoza was 2-for-3. The Twins had just five hits in the game. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Maddux Houghton (Fort Myers): 2-for-4, HR(4), R, RBI, K Pitcher of the Day David Festa (St. Paul): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 66 pitches, 40 strikes (60.6%) John Klein (Wichita): 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 8 K, 60 pitches, 43 strikes (71.7%) Cole Peschl (Cedar Rapids): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 71 pitches, 47 strikes (66.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. #6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, K (played SS) #9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, HR(4), R, RBI, K (DHd) #11 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, CS(1) (played 2B) #14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 3B, HBP. (DHd) #16 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - 0-for-3, BB (played CF) #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR(6), R, 2 RBI, BB, K. (played 2B) #19 - Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (played LF) #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB (played LF) FRIDAY PITCHING PROBABLES Minnesota @ Seattle (9:10 PM CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (0-1, 7.71 ERA) St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM CT) - RHP Andrew Morris (2-1, 3.80 ERA) Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CT) - LHP Christian MacLeod (0-1, 1.06 ERA) Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-3, 8.28 ERA) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM CT) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk (2-1, 4.55 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (11:00 AM CT) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Thursday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

As long as his hamstring is back to where it needs to be, that's all i care about at this point.

My mom's favorite player growing up.

Fantastic dude with so many great stories. Not knowing how long he'd be in Minnesota on some of his call-ups, he roomed with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau at times, on a couch. One of the recent Twins independent ball signings, C/1B Luke Napleton was a freshman on the Quincy team in 2021, Rabe's last year as the head coach there.

The Real Deal!!!

"Astute" = "excuse making".... There were at least two balls that Larnach maybe should have caught in LF... And yes, the lighting isn't even comparable to MLB lighting, and the fact that the lights are lower in minor league parks is also true because you loose it when it gets above that level. That said... The Tampa Tarpons outfielders have the same conditions and the minor leaguers who play there, so it's not a great excuse. But it was clear that he was not seeing the ball well at all from the replays.

TRIVIA ANSWER: #1 - Chris Williams. #2 - Mark Contreras.

Personal opinion with zero insight... They're "grooming" him for a very much functional role in the big leagues. Teams talk about how nice it would be to have a long reliever, and I can't imagine that any teams are really actively trying to figure out how to develop a long reliever. Yes, a starter can come up and be a long reliever, but that person may not have figured out a plan for how to get ready to come in to the 4th inning but be adaptable enough that if you need to come into the 2nd inning, you can. With guys like Raya and Prielipp (personal opinion, wisely) being limited to 50 pitches (under the more controlled environment of a starter), I can't help but think that teams will need to develop an idea for how they can best utilize those types. Right now I'm thinking Prielipp as Raya is probably further away. Huge upside, and if they can get 4-5 innings in 65-70 pitches, having another guy able to go 3-4 innings might be good. I've actually thought about your very question, and obviously specifically with Travis. He can start. He's thrown a lot of innings in recent years, been very durable. (second reminder: I am mostly just thinking out loud)

Image courtesy of Ashley Monjaras The Twins earned a walkoff win thanks to France. On Friday night, it was Holland that helped Wallner, Festa, Gardenhire and company to a big win. TRIVIA On Thursday, Matt Wallner hit two home runs in his first rehab game with the Saints. (you'll be happy to see how he did in this second rehab game on Friday) He has hit 38 total home runs in a St. Paul Saints uniform. That ranks third in the Saints Career Home Run Leaders (since 2021, of course). Which two players have more career home runs with the Saints than Matt Wallner? Leave your answers in the comments below. I'll answer the question around noon on Saturday, and if you got it right, I will think "Good job!" CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 28-22 St. Paul Saints: 24-21 Wichita Wind Surge: 23-20 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 24-18 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 19-24 FCL Twins: 9-5 DSL Twins: Scheduled to start on June 2. TRANSACTIONS What? No transactions the whole day? Well, Carlos Correa was reinstated from the concussion list, but Ryan Fitzgerald was already optioned a day earlier. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Norfolk 2 Box Score If you are looking for offense from your minor-league affiliate, you might only want to read the Saints section today. (I’m kidding. You, of course, want to read it all, thoroughly, and add questions and comments.) While the Tides scored first in the top of the first, a five-run second inning gave the Saints an early lead. The added on late in the game. And, they got strong pitching, and that rehabbing outfielder from Forest Lake played a big role in the win. Let’s start with pitching. David Festa made his first appearance in over two weeks due to an arm issue. He needed to use a lot of pitches, but his pitches looked good. In 3 2/3 innings, gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He had seven strikeouts. One of the two hits was a hard-hit ball to the left-center field gap that Emmanuel Rodriguez clearly lost in the sun and was unable to catch. That runner came around to score. Travis Adams came in and had one of his best performances of the season. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and had six strikeouts to earn his third win in his long-relief role. Kyle Bischoff gave up one run on two hits and two walks in the ninth innings. He had two strikeouts. He just wanted to make things entertaining for the crowd at CHS FIeld. Matt Wallner was back in the lineup, one night after he homered twice in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader. He was leading off and was the DH. He struck out on a questionable check swing in the first inning. The second inning began with a Jose Miranda walk. Mike Ford struck out. Emmanuel Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, and Armando Alvarez walked to load the bases. After Fitzgerald struck out on three pitches (two of which were on the edge and overturned), Will Holland walked to put the Saints on the scoreboard. That brought Wallner to the plate. On a 2-1 pitch, the Tides’ starter tried to throw a four-seamer inside on Wallner, but he turned on it, hit it 103 mph right down the right field line. With Holland’s speed, all three runners scored and the Saints led 4-1. Mickey Gasper was hit by a pitch, and then Edouard Julien lined a single to center to drive in Wallner with the fifth run of the inning. Have we talked about the speed of Holland lately. Well, the Saints scored a run in the fourth inning because of it. With one out, Holland hit a routine ground ball to second base and beat the throw to first. With two outs, Holland stole second base and went to third on a throwing error. Soon after, #OldFriend Matt Bowman unleashed a wild pitch, and Holland scored easily. Holland led off the bottom of the seventh frame with a walk. He went to third on a solid single to center by Wallner. After two strikeouts, Miranda doubled to drive in Holland. Ford singled to drive in Wallner and Miranda and make it 9-1. The Saints added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning to put them in double digits. Fitzgerald walked. He went to second on a Wallner single. With two outs, Julien walked to lead the bases, and then Miranda walked to score that 10th run. Wallner went 3-for-5 with the double and three RBI. Miranda was 1-for-3 with a double and two key walks. Holland was 1-for-2 with two walks. He scored three runs. Rodriguez was 1-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, San Antonio 2 Box Score For the second straight day, there was a pitcher’s duel near the Alamo. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge ended up on the short end, losing 2-1 for the second straight night. They are just 4-9 on games decided by one run. Darren Bowen was very impressive in this game. The right-hander, acquired as part of the Jorge Polanco trade, made the start. He tossed five innings. He gave up one run on three walks and four strikeouts. He gave up no hits through his five innings, but when he left the game, it was tied. Joshua Mears, who earlier this week launched a home run recorded at 504 feet, was credited with a steal of home in the third inning which gave the Mission a 1-0 lead. He was one of two batters to walk in that inning. Bowen has now made seven starts (and one bullpen appearance) for Wichita. He is 2-0 with a 2.73 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. In 33 innings, he has given up just 17 hits, walked 14 batters and struck out 26 hitters. With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Aaron Sabato singled. He came around to score on Ben Ross’s sixth double of the season to tie the game at 1-1. In the sixth inning, Michael Martinez replaced Bowen on the mound. The inning started with a double. With one out, Martinez fielded a ground ball and threw the ball wildly in the general direction of first base. That gave the Mission a 2-1 lead they held onto for three more innings. Angel Macuare threw two scoreless innings to keep it close. The Wind Surge scored one run on six hits and two walks. Sabato was 2-for-4. He has seven multi-hit games this season. Four of the hits went for extra bases. Ross and Tanner Schobel doubles. Rubel Cespedes and Andrew Cossetti each hit a triple. But the Surge was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. San Antonio is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Be sure to check it out and tell your friends from San Diego! Of our top 20 Padres prospects, seven of them are on the San Antonio roster. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1: Cedar Rapids 2, Fort Wayne 6 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a fast lead in the first inning, but a four-run third inning for the TinCaps gave them an insurmountable lead. Kaelen Culpepper led off with a single to the hole at shortstop. He stole second, and then scored on a single by Kyle DeBarge. He stole his 21st base of the season, and then scored from second when the throw went into center field, and then the center fielder’s throw got past third base. Ty Langenberg made the start. He was charged with six runs on five hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. He had seven strikeouts. Jeremy Lee got the final four outs of Game 1 for the Kernels. He gave up two hits, but no runs. He had three strikeouts. Cedar Rapids had seven hits in the game. Culpepper went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a stolen base. Game 2: Cedar Rapids 3, Fort Wayne 9 Box Score The Kernels fell behind again in Game 2, but through four-and-a-half innings, the game was tied 3-3. However, the TinCaps scored late and often. Cole Peschl made his first start of the season. He worked the first four innings and gave up three runs (just 1 earned) on five hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks. In the top of the fourth inning, Nate Baez led off with a single. He came around to score on Danny De Andrade’s fourth home run of the season. In the top of the fifth, Misael Urbina led off with his second homer of the season which tied the game at 3-3. Wilker Reyes came out for the fifth inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. He had two strikeouts. Jacob Wosinski came in for the bottom of the sixth inning. He was charged with four runs on two hits and two walks in just one-third of an inning. The big hit was a bases-clearing triple by Brandon Butterworth. Eston Stull came in and quickly got the final two outs. The Kernels had just three hits and five walks in the game. Jaime Ferrer walked twice. Kyle DeBarge walked twice and stole two bases. Culpepper stole his 10th bag of the season. Fort Wayne is the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Three of our Top 20 Padres prospects play for the TinCaps including arguably the #1 prospect in all of baseball, Leo De Vries. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Lakeland 6 Box Score The Mussels tried to mount a comeback in the ninth inning, but it was too little too late. Eli Jones started and went the first five innings. He was charged with three runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had three walks and four strikeouts. Lefty Brennen Oxford got the sixth inning. He gave up three runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out two batters. Jacob Kisting worked the final two innings without any further damage. He gave up two hits and had one strikeout. The Mussels didn’t score their first run until the sixth inning. They scored two in the top of the ninth but came up well short of the needed runs. The team had six hits, five walks and had three hit batters. Well, Dameury Pena was hit by a pitch twice. Unfortunately, they went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base. Jefferson Valladares hit his fifth double. Yohander Martinez hit his first triple of the season. He also walked twice. So did Maddux Houghton. Rehab updates: Rayne Doncon played third base. He went 2-for-5 and stole a base.. Payton Eeles was 1-for-3 with a walk. He also stole a base. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 4, FCL Red Sox 3 Box Score Matt Gabbert made 13 appearances between the FCL Twins and Fort Myers. Unfortunately, arm pain and ultimately surgery meant that he missed the entire 2024 season. On Friday, he made his third rehab appearance in the FCL. He went three innings, and gave up one run on three hits. He had three strikeouts and no walks. Eider Machuca came on and gave up one run on one hit and a walk in the fourth inning. Juan Cota struck out two batters over two scoreless, hitless innings. With a two-run lead heading into the ninth, Xavier Kolhosser entered. He gave up a leadoff triple which he followed with a strikeout. He hit a batter, and the game was turned over to Liam Rocha. The game-tying runner stole second base. Rocha got a ground out that drove in the runner from third base. With the tying run 90 feet away, Rocha got a strikeout to end the game. Down 1-0 going to the third inning, Jayson Bass and Ricardo Paez started the inning with singles. They were then successful on a double steal. Bass scored the tying run on a Yilber Herrera sacrifice fly. With one out in the fourth inning, Ariel Castro and Ricardo Pena walked. Following a groundout, Bass walked. The catcher threw toward third, but the ball went into the outfield and allowed Castro to score. Pena later scored on a wild pitch. Leading 3-2 going to the seventh (and final) inning, Luis Fragoza walked and Bass singled him to third. Fragoza scored on a sacrifice fly by Paez, an insurance run that proved important in the bottom of the inning. The Twins had five hits and six walks. Bass went 2-for-2 with a walk. He also stole two bases. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Matt Wallner (St. Paul): 3-for-5, 2B(1), 2 R, 3 RBI, K Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-6, 2 BB, 2-2B(7), 1 R, 2 K, 2-SB(10). Pitcher of the Day Travis Adams (St. Paul): 4 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 58 pitches, 38 strikes (65.5%) Darren Bowen (Wichita): 5 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 73 pitches, 44 strikes (60.3%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, BB, HBP, R. #6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1 (SS): 3-for-3, BB, 2-2B(7), R, SB(9), Game 2(DH): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, SB(10) #9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1(CF): 0-for-3, K; Game 2(SS): 0-for-3, 2 K. #11 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1(2B): 1-for-4, R, RBI, 3 K, SB(21); Game 2(CF): 0-for-1, 2 BB, K, 2-SB(23) #14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(11) SATURDAY PITCHING PROBABLES Kansas City @ Minnesota (1:10 PM CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (0-1, 12.00 ERA) Norfolk @ St. Paul (DH @ 5:07 PM CT) - RHP Marco Raya (0-3, 12.06 ERA), RHP Andrew Morris (1-1, 3.44 ERA) Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CT) - LHP Christian MacLeod (0-1, 1.38 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Fort Wayne (5:35 PM CT) - RHP Chase Chaney (1-1, 4.50 ERA) Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (0-0, 1.26 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (9:00 AM CT) - RHP Joel Garcia (0-0, 3.38 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Friday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

I was thinking this same thing, but they shouldn't rush him back from a hamstring issue. Also, yes, it would be McCusker heading back down. And, since the Royals are throwing two lefties against the Twins this weekend, I'd keep McCusker around and keep things slow with Wallner. Where it will get interesting is when the second of Wallner and Buxton come back. Who will the second player dropped be? Option Keirsey? DFA Bride?

Why would they release Camargo or Winkel? Camargo has hit and hit for power including at AAA the last two years. Winkel is clearly the top defensive catcher in the organization. They are where they need to be. Cartaya should probably move down to Wichita when he comes off the Development List.

I would not be surprised to see that happen. It could be multiple things. First, he missed quite a bit of time last year with some arm issues, so it's fair to ask if he's at 100% It's also possible that the injury pushed some mechanical change that's a work in progress. It's also possible that his knuckleball is going through a time of less movement. Sometimes, it's important for a pitcher to work through those struggles and find ways to make something else work when the other piece isn't working. Lewis is a smart person, a smart pitcher, so I'm sure he's spending a lot of time checking out video and release points and spin rates, and it's also possible that he's tipping a pitch or something that Triple-A hitters have found. Could be several things.

I don't think Olivar is a plus-plus defensive catcher, but he's solid, and this year, he's throwing out more runners. I had to look to see what the actual breakdown of catching has been. Noah Cardenas - 16 starts Andrew Cossetti - 14 starts Ricardo Olivar - 13 starts I think it's fair to say that Noah Cardenas is the best of the three defensively. Olivar is solid defensively. Cossetti can hit for a lot of power. Total games played for these three: Noah Cardenas - 22 games Andrew Cossetti - 22 games Ricardo Olivar - 32 games. (13 games catching, 8 games in left field, 11 games as DH) We know that this front office and player development believes in trying to keep their catchers fresh. It's a long season. Gotta keep their legs strong. Remember, they're working on defensive skills most days before the game (especially if they're not catching in the game), catching bullpens, working with pitchers and more. So Olivar is catching about 30%, and he's near the top of their lineup in 80% of their games.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints From yesterday's Twins Minor League Report, one of the big talking points in the comments was Connor Prielipp being placed on the Development List. It's a fair conversation, and because of his injury history, Twins fans will find reasons to be concerned. The general purpose of the Development List is to provide a way for teams to manage some aspect of a players development. If we're being completely honest, a lot of times the "DL" is often used as a spot for carrying an extra player in case there is a midweek injury, like the taxi squad. In the past, the Twins have used it when they have six or seven starters on a roster, they would alternate placing pitchers. The pitcher continues to work, and throw bullpens and go about their routines, just in a controlled environment in the bullpen. As it relates to Prielipp, he has been working three or four innings each of his starts. He's been limited to 40 pitches and then 50 pitches as the season has moved from month one to month two. If there was an injury, he would be put on the injured list. If I had a guess, I would guess that Prielipp, along with a couple of pitching coaches and coordinators and members of the front office, met during spring training to discuss how the season might play out. They get on the same page about pitch counts and ups and downs. They likely agree that after X number of starts, we're going to put you the Development List for a week. We can guess (and maybe assume) that he'll continue on his same schedule, his same between-starts routine. On the day he would have normally started, maybe he throws a simulated game, but just 40 pitches. And that continues until he gets activated in a week to make his next start. It's also possible that they told him not to pick up a ball for four days, and maybe a pitching coordinator and a front office person and an analytics person and a video person will meet for a couple of days and determine how they want to proceed over the next couple of months. The first two months of the season and of their plan has seemingly gone quite well, and everyone (Twins, Twins fans, Prielipp) wants to see continued health for the talented southpaw. Alright, keep the conversation going in the comments below. Let's get to today's minor league report. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 27-22 St. Paul Saints: 23-21 Wichita Wind Surge: 23-19 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 24-16 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 19-23 FCL Twins: 8-5 DSL Twins: Scheduled to start on June 2. TRANSACTIONS After being the Twins 27th man on Wednesday, Mickey Gasper was optioned to St. Paul. So was infielder Ryan Fitzgerald, the 30-year-old who made his MLB debut last weekend for the Twins. With those two returning to St. Paul, infielder Jake Rucker was returned to Wichita after two days with the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1: St. Paul 3, Norfolk 8 Box Score The purpose of the minor leagues is to prepare players for the big leagues. Due to rain, Matt Wallner’s rehab assignment had to wait a day due to rain, but he started his preparation for his return to the big leagues in Game 1 on Thursday. Leading off the game, he grounded out to first base. In his second at-bat, Wallner crushed the first pitch, a fastball up-and-in, 95.8 mph at 34 degrees and it traveled 362 feet. In his third at-bat, he was called out on strikes. His fourth at-bat came in the bottom of the seventh inning with Patrick Winkel on first base. On a 1-2 pitch, he kept his hands back nicely on a changeup and crushed a 90 mph changeup 112.4 mph at 20 degrees, and it landed 409 feet from home plate in dead center. Now for the rest of the game. Well, Wallner had two of the Saints five hits, the only extra base hits. Wallner had all three of the team’s RBI. Jose Miranda and Eduard Julien each had first-inning singles. Jeferson Morales walked twice. Unfortunately, the pitching wasn’t quite as good in Game 1. Cory Lewis made the start. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Ryan Jensen then gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit (a homer). He had two strikeouts. Randy Dobnak struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Tyler Beede got the final inning and gave up a run on two hits (including a homer). Game 2: St. Paul 3, Norfolk 2 Box Score With a short start and three relievers used in Game 1, the Saints really needed a strong start in Game 2. Enter Simeon Woods Richardson for his first start since his demotion recently. The young right-hander gave up just one run on four hits and a walk over six innings. He had eight strikeouts and was in control the whole game. Anthony Misiewicz gave up a solo homer to Chadwick Tromp in the seventh, but struck out two on the way to his fifth save of the season. The Saints got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning when Emmanuel Rodriguez hit his fourth home run of the season. (104.8 mph, 32 degrees, 388 feet) In the fifth inning, Will Holland led off with a double. He advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, the Saints added an insurance run that they wound up needing. Armando Alvarez singled to lead off and moved up a base on a passed ball. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jair Camargo walked to lead the bases. Holland then flew out to the warning track in right field to drive in Alvarez and make it 3-1. The Saints had just six hits in game two. Of course, Mickey Gasper had two of them. Rodriguez hit the home run and walked two times. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, San Antonio 1 Box Score It was a pitcher’s duel near the Alamo on Thursday night. Ricky Castro had his best start of the season. He gave up one run, on a first-inning solo homer by Francisco Acuna, over the first five innings. He gave up just four hits and walked none. Pierson Ohl came on and gave up one run on three hits over three innings. He had no walks and struck out three batters. The Wind Surge went scoreless until the top of the seventh inning. Aaron Sabato led off with his third home run of the season. Unfortunately, the Missions scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth and the Surge were unable to counter. Wichita had just seven hits and one walk in the game. Newcomer Gabriel Gonzalez led the way. He went 3-for-4. He is 5-for-11 through his first three Double-A games. San Antonio is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Be sure to check it out and tell your friends from San Diego! Henry Baez is a Top 15 Padres prospect. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in this game. He gave up just three hits, walked one, hit one and had six strikeouts. Other Top 20 Padres prospects who played on Thursday night include RHP Bradgley Rodriguez, first baseman Romeo Sanabria. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Fort Wayne 1 Box Score This was really a nice, clean win for the Kernels. A lot of times, the Kernels have won by just bashing the baseball, but in this game, they got enough key hits, and they got a really nice pitching performance from the starter and the bullpen. Hard-throwing Jose Olivares got the start. He gave up one run in the bottom of the first inning. He gave up three hits, walked four and had six strikeouts. It was his third start in which he recorded six strikeouts. He reached his pitch count limit and then was replaced by lefty Kade Bragg. He was fanatic, notching five strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless, two-hit innings. Cole Percival kept it going. He had four strikeouts over two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and a walk. Paulshawn Pasqualotto had a walk and a strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning to record his fourth save. The Kernels scored their first run in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. Jaime Ferrer led off with a single. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper singled, and a throwing error allowed Ferrer to score and Culpepper to get all the way to third base. In the top of the fourth inning, the Kernels grabbed a 2-1 lead. Nate Baez led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. Khadim Diaw hit an infield singled Baez moved up to third. Caden Kendle drove a single to left to bring in Baez and give the team a lead. It remained a one-run game until the top of the eighth inning when Brandon Winokur led off with a walk. Nate Baez drilled a double and Winokur raced all the way home to make it 3-1. Nate Baez and Khadim Diaw each hit their fourth doubles of the season. Quietly, Baez is now hitting .337 with a .922 OPS. He was 1-for-3 with a walk. Diaw was the lone Kernel hitter with more than one hit. He was 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. He is hitting .306 with a .906 OPS. Fort Wayne is the High-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. A month ago, we kicked off another sister site, Padres Mission. Be sure to check it out and tell your friends from San Diego! Leo De Vries is the consensus top prospect in the Padres system. The 18-year-old shortstop is the youngest player in the Midwest League right now. He had a single and a walk on Thursday night. Third baseman Rosman Verdugo is the third youngest in the league. He ranks just outside of the Padres top 20 but should move up. He had an RBI single in this game. Clark Candiotti had nine strikeouts and one walk over 4 2/3 innings to start in this game. He appears in some Top 30 Padres prospect rankings. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Lakeland 4 Box Score It was a tough night for the young Mussels, taking on the Lakeland Flying (and rehabbing) Tigers. Such is life in Low-A. The top three hitters for the Tigers were Wenceel Perez, Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling. And frankly, the Mussels have done fairly well against that group this week. Dylan Questad started and gave up four runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had three walks to go with six strikeouts. Tyler Stasiowski came on and allowed an inherited runner to score but then went 2 1/3 innings without allowing another run. He had three strikeouts. Ivran Romero hit a batter in an otherwise clean eighth inning. The Mussels had just one run on three hits and two walks in the game. In the fifth inning, Maddux Houghton scored on a Jefferson Valladares double. Rayne Doncon was 1-for-4 in his rehab appearance. Payton Eeles had a scheduled off day. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 10, FCL Pirates 2 Box Score The Twins scored first in the bottom of the first inning, and then took the lead for good in the third frame. And then they just added on. The FCL Twins got an FCL run in the first inning. Two hit batters, a stolen base, and two walks. In the third inning, Ramiro Dominguez reached on an error. With two outs, Ariel Castro hit his first home run of the season. The fourth inning began with a couple of walks, and an infield single loaded the bases. With two outs, Dominguez hit his fourth double of the season to clear the bases and give the Twins a 6-2 lead. It was another FCL inning for the Twins in the fifth inning. A walk. A hit batter. A double steal. A throwing error. A hit batter. A steal. And then three straight strikeouts. Jump to the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Castro hit his second home run of the game and the season to make it 8-2. The eighth inning began with a walk. Javier Roman followed with his first homer of the season to make it 10-2. To summarize, the Twins scored 10 runs on five hits, seven walks, and five hit batters. Rehabbing Christian Becerra started and struck out five batters over the first two innings. He gave up one run on three hits. Melvin Rodriguez came on and gave up one run over the next four innings to earn his first Win of the season. Mitch Mueller and Ruddy Gomez struck out four batters over the final three scoreless innings. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Ariel Castro (FCL Twins): 2-for-3, 2-HR(2), 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, SB(1) . Pitcher of the Day Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. 88 pitches, 59 strikes (67.0%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 2 K, Game 2: 1-for-1, 2 BB, HR(4), R, RBI, #6 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K. #9 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, R, K #11 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 2 K. #12 - Cory Lewis (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 78 pitches, 41 strikes (52.6%) #14 - Gabriel Gonzalez (Wichita) - 3-for-4. #16 - Eduardo Beltre (FCL Twins) - 0-for-5, 2 K #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB #20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 2 K. FRIDAY PITCHING PROBABLES Kansas City @ Minnesota (6:10 PM CT) - RHP Pablo Lopez (2.40 ERA) Norfolk @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP David Festa (2-1, 3.60 ERA) Wichita @ San Antonio (7:05 PM CT) - RHP Darren Bowen (2-0, 2.89 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Fort Wayne (4:35 PM CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-2, 7.52 ERA), TBD Fort Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CT) - RHP Eli Jones (1-3, 4.41 ERA) FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (11:00 AM CT) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss Thursday’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Normal transaction. Likely part of the plan that he would have worked with Twins pitching coaches and coordinators to get everyone on the same page. Most likely, he may skip a start and then rejoin the rotation. We've seen the Twins and other organizations use this strategy.

For me... today... Duran - appears to be just fine. Jax - not back to last year's level and may never be, but still very good. Coulombe-IL Varland - can be dominant. sometimes might throw too many strikes. Sands - struggled early, but he's been great of late again in whatever role. Stewart - Could be higher on this list. Velo isn't fully back, but still doing pretty well. Topa - Unlike most of the rest of the Twins pitchers, he isn't a strikeout guy, so occasionally there will be some rough-looking outings with those BABIP hits we all love, but generally speaking, he's quite reliable. Alcala - I want to put him in the Varland/Sands/Stewart conversation, but his inconsistency can be incredibly frustrating. Fortunately - I think - it may be a good thing that he can't be sent down so they have to stick with him. "We" just need to accept that 3-4 times per season, he's going to go through a stretch where he's almost unusable. Because the rest of the time, he can dominate. Funderburk - I believe in Funderburk. He's lacked consistency at times, but his velo and slider can make him really good.