Seth Stohs

These minor league reports don't take as long to write with just two affiliates still playing. I miss the days of reporting on six Twins affiliates. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Alex Isola) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 78-68 St. Paul Saints: 68-71 Wichita Wind Surge: 56-78 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-63 (season complete) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 66-59 (season complete) FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated catcher Christian Vazquez from the Paternity List and OF Manuel Margot from the Injured List. To make room, the team optioned catcher Jair Camargo and utilityman Michael Helman. Following the Twins win on Wednesday night against the Angels, it was announced that the Twins plan to activate OF Byron Buxton from the IL. OF Austin Martin was optioned to St. Paul after the game. Of note, DaShawn Keirsey remains on the roster. LHP Steven Okert was activated from the temporarily inactive list. OF Maddux Houghton was reassigned to the Mighty Mussels a day after being placed on the Saints roster. RHP Ricardo Velez was placed on the 7-Day Injured List. RHP Miguel Rodriguez was activated from the 7-Day IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Columbus 7 Box Score The Saints jumped to a big lead, but it slowly dwindled and they lost in a walkoff in Ohio. Caleb Boushley and Ryan Webb both put up three zeroes to start the game. However, in the top of the fourth inning, Carson McCusker’s fourth Saints home run gave the team a 1-0 lead. McCusker just hits the ball incredibly hard when he makes contact! St. Paul added four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Anthony Prato led off with a single. Payton Eeles followed with another single. Diego A. Castillo was next, and he hit his ninth home run of the season to give the team a 4-0 lead. With one out, Michael Helman walked. After a pitching change and a second out, Jeferson Morales and Rylan Bannon singled to score Helman and make it 5-0. Bousley threw a fourth zero on the board, but then in the fifth inning, he gave up three runs which cut the lead to 5-3. His final line showed that he gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. Jeff Brigham got the final out of the fifth inning and had a perfect sixth inning as well. Three of the four outs he recorded were on strikeouts. The Clippers brought James Karinchak into the top of the seventh inning. McCusker singled and Morales walked. Then with two outs, Prato walked to load the bases. And then Eeles walked to score McCusker and give the Saints a 6-3 lead. Giovanny Gallegos came in for the bottom of the seventh and gave up a walk and a single but no runs. Hobie Harris got the bottom of the eighth. However, he gave up two groundball singles and a 403 foot home run to Micah Pries that tied the game at 6-6. He actually loaded up the bases on a single and two more walks but was able to keep it tied going to the ninth. The Saints went quietly in the top of the ninth. Diego Castillo was brought in to try to send it to extra innings. He got the first two outs, but Johnathan Rodriguez hit his 25th home run to end the game. At the top of the lineup, Eeles went 2-for-2 with three walks. He also stole his 14th base. Castillo went 2-for-4 with a walk and his ninth home run and 13th stolen base. McCusker went 2-for-5 with his 19th overall homer of the 2024 season. Morales went 2-for-4 with a walk and his fifth Saints double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Tulsa 5 Box Score A five-run fourth inning by Tulsa was more than the Wind Surge could overcome. Christian MacLeod started the game with three scoreless innings. However, he ended up giving up five runs on six hits and three walks in four innings. He struck out two batters. Aside from that fourth frame, Wichita pitching was strong. Mike Paredes struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. John Stankiewicz struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. Miguel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth. In the bottom of the fourth, Kala’i Rosario hit a solo homer, his eighth of the season. The score remained 5-1 until the bottom of the ninth inning. Rosario led off with a walk. With one out, Alex Isola doubled to drive him in. Aaron Sabato scored Isola with an RBI single to make it 5-3. But that’s as close as it got. Wichita had just five hits and two walks in the game. Sabato was 2-for-4. Rosario had a walk to go with his home run. Isola had a walk to go with his double. After playing several games against the Kernels for Great Lakes earlier this season, former Twins prospect Noah Miller played in his 32nd game for the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa. In this game, he had two doubles in four at-bats. Overall, he’s hitting .224/.258/.264 (.522) with five doubles in Tulsa. In 101 games for Great Lakes, he hit .251/.336/.332 (.668) with 14 doubles and six home runs. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 2-for-2, 3 BB, R, RBI, SB(14). Pitcher of the Day - Jeff Brigham (St. Paul) - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 19 pitches, 13 strikes (68.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) – 0-for-4. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 2-for-4. 2B(4), 2 RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-1, K (left game in 2nd inning) #5 – Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) – 3.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 61 pitches, 40 strikes (65.6%) #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(8), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 4 K. THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Columbus (5:15 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (1-0, 3.04 ERA) Tulsa @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (2-5, 2.70 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

Six more games, the challenge of a new level... but I don't think this tells us where he begins 2025. He could go back to Cedar Rapids for a bit, or he could start in Wichita.

The Saints had a big inning and held on. The Surge got great pitching but no offense in a pitchers' duel. There was an unlikely final score in Cedar Rapids in another pitchers' duel. Out of playoff contention, the Mussels returned to the Win column. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Doesn't it seem like the minor-league season just started? On Sunday, the Mighty Mussels and Kernels will play their final games of the 2024 season. The Wind Surge have one more week, so it will be interesting to see if any Kernels or Mussels head there to get another week of playing time. The Saints will have two more weeks of games. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 76-66 St. Paul Saints: 66-70 Wichita Wind Surge: 55-76 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 67-62 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 65-59 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS Trevor Richards was placed on the Temporary Inactive List with the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Iowa 6 Box Score The Saints scored six runs in the second inning to take the lead. They added on a couple and found a way to hang on at the end. The second inning began with a Carson McCusker single. He was forced out at second on a Jair Camargo grounder. Chris Williams walked, and Patrick Winkel singled to drive in Camargo with the first run. Rylan Bannon drove in Williams with his 19th double. Payton Eeles reached on a fielder’s choice. Diego A. Castillo walked to load the bases. That was followed by an inside-the-park grand slam by Emmanuel Rodriguez. That’s a fun way to finish out a six-run inning. Aaron Rozek made the start for the Red Wings. He made it a Quality Start. He was charged with three runs on six hits and two walks over six innings. He had seven strikeouts on his way to his first Saints Win! Nick Wittgren gave up one run on three hits over two innings. He had four strikeouts and a walk. Hobie Harris gave up two runs in the ninth inning but got the third out with the Saints still winning. Payton Eeles hit his fifth Saints homer in the fourth inning to make it 7-1. In the sixth inning, Bannon hit a one-out triple and scored on an Eeles single. That gave them an 8-2 lead. Eeles led the way. He was 3-for-5 with his ninth double and fifth home run. He is hitting .302 with a .909 OPS. He also stole his 13th base. Bannon hit his 19th double and second triple. Williams was 1-for-2 with two walks. Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with two walks and his first Saints home run. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 0, Frisco 1 Box Score This game truly was a pitchers’ duel. Pierson Ohl was terrific, but he gave up a first-inning solo home run to Alejandro Osuna. He went 5 2/3 innings and gave up just one run on three hits. He had six strikeouts with no walks. Regi Grace came on and got four outs. Ricardo Velez got the final three outs. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge went scoreless and had just three hits and three walks. The 15 strikeouts by Wind Surge hitters didn’t help. Jacob deGrom started for the RoughRiders and gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. He had five strikeouts. Kyler Fedko’s 14th double was the lone base runner the team got against deGrom. Alex Isola and Jake Rucker each hit a single. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 11, Wisconsin 0 Box Score This was quite the pitchers’ duel in eastern Iowa on Saturday night. Wisconsin starter Tyler Wehrle threw five scoreless innings. Connor Prielipp started for the Kernels. In three innings, he gave up zero runs, zero hits, and he walked zero. Of the 10 batters he faced, he recorded six strikeouts. Ricky Castro came in and tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one, and he had eight strikeouts. In the bottom of the seventh, Kevin Maitan drove in Agustin Ruiz with his 13th double. That gave the Kernels a 1-0 lead which proved to be all they needed on this night. However, just for fun, they decided to put a 10-spot on the board in the bottom of the eighth which made it look much worse than it really was. Kaelen Culpepper and Rayne Doncon began the inning with singles. Nate Baez followed with a single to center that drove in Culpepper. After a line out, Kevin Maitan singled to load the bases. Jose Salas lined a single to right to make it 3-0 Kernels. Kyle Ness reached on an error. With the bases still loaded, Walker Jenkins singled to center to drive in three runs. Culpepper followed with a triple that scored Jenkins and made it 8-0. After Doncon reached on another fielding error, Baez launched a two-run home run to make it 10-0. Baez went 2-for4 with a walk. The homer was his 12th of the season. Maitan and Salas were both 2-for-4. Culpepper went 2-for-5 with his first triple. Jenkins was hit by a pitch and had a walk to go with his three-run single. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Lakeland 4 Box Score The Mussels remained in playoff contention until Friday night. They were able to hang on for a one-run win in their penultimate game of the season. The Mussels took the early lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Jay Thomason led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. He scored on a single by Caden Kendle. Back-to-back walks by Byron Chourio and Angel Del Rosario loaded the bases. Kyle DeBarge grounded to shortstop, but the ball was booted and made it 2-0. Khadim Diaw grounded back to the mound, there was a force out at second, but the Twins 3rd round pick beat the throw to first which allowed the third run to score. Adrian Bohorquez started and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and had four strikeouts. Devin Kirby came in for the fourth inning and gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in the inning. Cleiber Maldonado tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and had two strikeouts. Jack Noble came on and gave up one run over the final three innings to record the save. He gave up four hits, but struck out five batters without issuing a walk. In the top of the sixth inning, the Mussels reclaimed the lead. With one out, DeBarge tripled and scored on a Brandon Winokur single. The added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning, which proved to be important. With one out, Daniel Pena reached on an error. Thomason doubled him to third, and Kendle drove him in. The Mussels scored their five runs on seven hits and nine walks (and two hit by pitches). Kendle was 2-for-5. Thomason hit his first career double and walked twice. Diaw walked once and was hit by a pitch. The team was just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2B(9), HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, SB(13). Pitcher of the Day - Connor Prielipp/Ricky Castro (Cedar Rapids) - 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K, 120 pitches, 89 strikes (74.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-4. K (SS) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, HR(1), R, 4 RBI, K. #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-5, K #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 3B(1), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K. #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-for-4, 2 K. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, 3B(3), R, RBI, 2 K. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 3 K. #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. 45 pitches, 34 strikes (75.6%) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Iowa @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (0-0, 5.40 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (6:05 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-1, 8.25 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (0-2, 6.28 ERA) - Final Game. Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (11:00 AM CST) – TBD - Final Game. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

The Twins got a much-needed Win. The Saints game ended in a walkoff. Wichita put a couple of crooked numbers on the board and held on for a nice win. And the past two top draft picks helped the Kernels to a win over Wisconsin. Of course, the Mighty Mussels need wins if they want to make the playoffs. See if they were able to maintain an opportunity. And much more in Thursday's Twins Minor League Report. Image courtesy of David Malamut (@MWLArchives on X) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 76-64 St. Paul Saints: 65-69 Wichita Wind Surge: 55-74 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 66-61 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-57 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS It may have taken a little longer than many of us thought it should, but OF DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. has been called up to the Twins. OF Max Kepler went on the 10-Day Injured List. LHP Kody Funderburk was placed on the 60-Day IL to make room for Keirsey on the 40-man roster. Also, RHP Josh Winder was placed on the 7-Day IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 7, Iowa 6 Box Score The Saints scored the first three runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning. In the bottom of the seventh, they added three more. In between, the Cubs scored six straight. Essentially that made this a two-inning game. With one out in the bottom of the first, Diego A. Castillo doubled and Emmanuel Rodriguez walked. Yunior Severino drove in Castillo with a single. With two outs, Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch. After a fielding error kept the inning alive, Rylan Bannon drove in Severino with a single. Caleb Boushley started. He went four innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He had three walks and five strikeouts. Jeff Brigham worked the next two innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out two batters. Trevor Richards pitched the seventh inning. He gave up two runs on one hit (home run) and a walk. He had one strikeout. Down 6-3 during the 7th Inning Stretch, the Saints mounted their comeback. With one out, Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch. He moved up one base on a Castillo single. Rodriguez singled to right to load the bases. Severino came through again with a two-run single. With two outs and still down a run, Jair Camargo singled to score Rodriguez with the tying run. With the game now tied 6-6 to start the eighth inning, Toby Gardenhire turned to veteran Giovanny Gallegos. He was able to get Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros and Brennen Davis in order. The Saints missed an incredible opportunity. Patrick Winkel led off with a single. Anthony Prato ran for him. Chris Williams singled and Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Cubs turned things over to Frankie Scalzo. He struck out Castillo on six pitches. Then on a 2-0 sweeper, Rodriguez got jammed and softly hit into a double play. If you enjoy Win Probability, here’s how that inning looked. When the Twins had the bases loaded, they had a Win Probability of 86.8% Following the Castillo strikeout, that number dropped to 77.3% Following the double play, the odds were back to 50.0% Hobie Harris came in for the top of the ninth. He gave up a single and a walk, but got three strikeouts to keep the game tied. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Carson McCusker singled. Camargo was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Anthony Prato singled a single to center to drive in McCusker with the winning run. The Saints had 12 hits in the game. Only Eeles didn’t have a hit, though he was twice hit by a pitch. Castillo went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 22nd double. McCusker was 2-for-4 with a walk and his second Saints double. Severino was 2-for-5 and drove in three runs. Rodriguez and Camargo each had a single and a walk. Camargo was also hit by a pitch. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Frisco 4 Box Score Wichita put up five runs in the top of the third, but was it enough? Christian MacLeod wasn’t quite on his game the way he has been the last couple of months. He gave up two runs in the first and two more runs in the third inning. However, he stayed tough and was able to give his team five innings. He gave up those four runs on five hits. He walked four and had four strikeouts. The top of the third began with a single by Jorel Ortega and a walk by Ben Ross. Following a flyout, Jake Rucker singled to right to put the Surge on the scoreboard. On a double-steal attempt, Ross scored the second run. Tanner Schobel then singled to center to drive in Rucker. Alex Isola followed with his first home run since returning to Wichita recently. Wichita maintained their 5-4 lead until the top of the eighth. Isola walked, and with one out, Andrew Cossetti walked. After a pitching change, Kyler Fedko singled to left to drive in Isola and give the Wind Surge an insurance run. Was the pitching able to hold that lead? MacLeod finished with two scoreless innings. John Stankiewicz gave up two hits over two scoreless innings. Jarret Whorff walked two but struck out three batters over two scoreless, hitless innings to record his first Wichita Save. And it might surprise you that it also earned MacLeod his first Wichita Win. Wichita had six hits, but they also took advantage of seven walks. Fedko was the lone hitter with two hits. He also had the only extra base hit, his 13th double. Isola had the homer along with two walks. Cossetti and Ross each walked twice in the game as well. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 3 Box Score The Kernels scored first in the bottom of the third. They took a 5-0 lead through five innings, but how did the second half of the game go? Did they hang on? Kaelen Culpepper led off the bottom of the third inning with a single and stole second base. Following an out, Rixon Wingrove hit his fifth Kernels home run to make it 2-0. With two outs in the fourth inning, Walker Jenkins doubled and went to third on a balk. He scored when Culpepper reached on an error. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Misael Urbina hit his fifth home run, a two-run shot to make it 5-0. Spencer Bengard made the start for the Kernels. He tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits and a walk while striking out three batters. Jacob Wosinski gave up one run on two hits and two walks over his two innings. Nolan Santos was charged with an unearned run over his two innings. He gave up no hits and a walk, and he had two strikeouts. Samuel Perez gave up a solo home run in the top of the ninth but that was hit. He recorded his first Kernels Save. Walker Jenkins led off and went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 12th double. He also stole two bases. Culpepper batted second and went 1-for-3 with two walks. He also reached on an error and stole a base. Wingrove and Urbina each went 1-for-3 with a walk and their fifth homer with Cedar Rapids this year. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Lakeland 0 (Game Suspended) Box Score Coming into this game, the Mussels needed to win three of the four remaining games to move past Lakeland and make the playoffs. So relative to the Florida State League playoffs, this is a pretty important game so they will try their best to play not only the remainder of this game, but also to play all four of the remaining games. Both teams went scoreless in the first inning. The Mussels scored two runs in the top of the second inning, but that’s when the game was delayed and eventually suspended. In fact, two Mussels hitters were hit by a pitch, so play clearly needed to be stopped. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(12), R, 2 SB(8). Pitcher of the Day - Spencer Bengard (Cedar Rapids) - 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 78 pitches, 49 strikes (62.8%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Thursday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-4, BB, 2B(12), 2 SB(8). #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-1 (PH) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2 R, 2 K #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, SB(2). #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – Game Suspended #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 0-for-5, 3 K. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - Game Suspended. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-5, R, RBI, 2 K. FRIDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (1-0, 3.15 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM CST) – RHP Marco Raya (2-4, 4.68 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-9, 5.94 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (DH @ 4:00 PM CST) – RHP Jose Olivares (2-2, 2.93 ERA), TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Thursday’s games! View full article

The Twins needed a win on Thursday afternoon. Pablo López and the bullpen delivered. The lineup powered their way to an early lead, and the team’s top horses held on. It was a big win, as the Twins head to Kansas City for a huge AL Central series starting this weekend. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Box Score SP: Pablo Lopez - 6 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K (91 pitches, 62 strikes (68.1% strikes)) Home Runs: Edouard Julien (8), Matt Wallner (11). Top 3 WPA: Griffin Jax (.209), Jhoan Duran (.187), Edouard Julien (.160) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Pregame Transactions The Twins announced that Max Kepler was heading to the 10-Day Injured List with his knee injury. He hasn’t played for several days and isn’t experiencing any improvement. In addition, along with his ejection in his rehab game on Wednesday night, Byron Buxton also had a setback in his return from the hip injury. That combination meant that the Twins selected the contract of, and called up, outfielder DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. Keirsey has been tremendous at the plate and in the field for the Saints this year and is very deserving of the opportunity. To make room on the 40-man roster for Keirsey, LHP Kody Funderburk was transferred to the 60-Day injured list. While technically a minor-league transaction, RHP Josh Winder was placed on the 7-Day IL by the Saints. Pregame Notes Since 2019, the Twins have gone 77-60 in September since Rocco Baldelli became manager. Skippers with more wins in September during that stretch include the Dodgers Dave Roberts (91), Atlanta’s Brian Snitker (81), Brewers/Cubs Craig Counsell (81), and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash (78). Early Power from Offense Over the Twins’ previous nine games, 18 of their 29 runs had come in the seventh inning or later. While the Twins went scoreless in the first inning, they were able to put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the second inning. Jose Miranda led off with a single to left field. Carlos Santana followed with a line drive single to right field. That marked the seventh time he had reached base in his past 10 plate appearances. That brought Edouard Julien to the plate. On the first pitch, he saw a splitter that sat right in the middle of the plate at 91.5 mph. With his keen eyesight, Julien was able to see the rotation of the ball and the words “Hit Me Harder” written on the sweet spot. Julien took those words to heart, swung, and watched the ball travel 392 feet, well over the right field fence, at 105.3 mph and a 28 degree launch angle. The Twins led 3-0. With one out in the top of the third inning, Matt Wallner came to the plate. He saw a fastball at 96.2 mph for a ball. Taj Bradley tried to keep him off balance with a slow curveball at just 80.0 mph. On 2-0, Bradley likely hoped that showing the slow curve might make his fastball look a bit faster. He threw another fastball, this one at 97.2 mph. Wallner hit it at 105.3 mph with a bat speed of 80.7 mph and a 41 degree launch angle. It landed 357 feet from home plate, just into the bleachers and just beyond the reach of a leaping Jonny DeLuca. That gave the Twins a 4-0 lead. On a side note, that was the 30th overall home run of the season for Wallner. It was his 11th with the Twins, but he also had 19 in his time with the St. Paul Saints. A Happy Pablo Day Pablo Lopez made his 29th start of the season. He came into the game with a stretch of 20 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. He started Thursday’s game with two scoreless innings. However, with two outs in the bottom of the third, Junior Caminero drilled a line-drive single to right field with the bases loaded to drive in two runs. Lopez’s streak ended at 23 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. The last time that number was achieved was in 2019, when Tyler Duffey went 24 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings out of the Twins bullpen between July 28 and September 25. Lopez followed the two-run third inning with a scoreless, 10-pitch inning in the fourth, and a scoreless, 14-pitch inning in the fifth in which he struck out three batters. He had a nine-pitch sixth inning. He was also throwing really hard. He had three pitches that registered over 98.0 mph. On the season, Lopez has averaged 94.9 mph on his four-seamer. On Thursday afternoon, he threw 38 four-seam fastballs. The slowest came in at 95.0 mph. The max velocity was 98.6 mph, and his average was 96.8 mph, just shy of two mph above his season average. Bats go Cold Through Middle Innings Rays starter Taj Bradley made some adjustments and figured things out with his catcher Logan Driscoll. The Twins went scoreless in the fourth through seventh innings. In the fourth, he got three easy ground outs. In the fifth inning, Austin Martin walked and went to second on a wild pitch, but a ground out and a strikeout ended that threat. It was two strikeouts and a groundout for the Twins in the top of the sixth inning. Then in the seventh, Ryan Jeffers singled to right but was erased on a tailor-made double play off the bat of Willi Castro. That was followed with another strikeout. He gave up the four runs early, but overall, Bradley went seven innings and gave up six hits. He had just one walk, and he struck out 10 batters. Wallner and the Wall With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Yandy Diaz lined a ball down the right field line to drive in DeLuca and cut the lead to 4-3. In an effort to hold Diaz to a single, Matt Wallner went full speed, fielded the ball, took a couple of steps and then toppled over the side wall in foul territory. On the field, it was called a ground rule double, but Rays manager Kevin Cash questioned whether Diaz should get an extra base and get third base. There was a replay, and it took a long time, but this is such a unique play that it’s going to take longer. The delay was 10 minutes and the umpire informed the crowd that the call was made correctly on the field. Diaz gets second base. Ultimately, a very confusing play with many potential interpretations was reviewed and it was called correctly. Unfortunately, the long delay meant that Pablo Lopez’s day was done with 91 pitches. Rocco Baldelli went to the mound and had a pretty extensive (one-way) conversation with Lopez before pointing to the bullpen and summoning Griffin Jax. Lopez looked disappointed but understanding with the decision. Going to the Big Guys in the Bullpen! In his previous start, Baldelli sprinted out to the mound to talk to Lopez when he was at a 100 pitches in a key spot in the game. In that case, he let him stay in. In this case, he went to the bullpen ace. Either option is a good option for the Twins. Jax came in, threw one pitch, and got an inning-ending ground out. He also struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning. Jax needed 13 pitches to get four outs. Jhoan Duran slammed the door with a 12-pitch bottom of the ninth for the save. How important were those last seven outs? Check out the Top 3 Twins players by Win Probability Added in this game. Other Notes The Twins scored the four early runs, but that is about it. They had just two hits after the third inning. In fact, they were just 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left just four on base. These two teams played seven times this season. The Rays won four of those games. Six of the seven games were decided by just one run! More to Come. What’s Next? The Twins head to Kansas City for a huge, late-season series against the Royals. On Friday night (on Apple TV+), Zebby Matthews (1-2, 7.41 ERA) will try to bounce back from his first rough outing. He will face left Cole Ragans (10-9, 3.46 ERA). The game begins at 7:10. On Saturday at 6:15 pm, Bailey Ober (12-6, 3.95 ERA) will try to overcome the issues that he has had with the Royals the last couple of seasons. He will face right-hander Alec Marsh (7-8, 4.70 ERA). On Sunday, Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.95 ERA) will hope to provide some innings. He faces veteran Michael Wacha (11-7, 3.50 ERA) in a 1:10 start. Postgame Interview Bullpen Availability Chart View full article

Twins Daily has learned that DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. has been promoted to the big leagues, and is expected to join the Minnesota Twins in Tampa on Thursday morning before the series finale. Let’s look back at his career to date, and what tools and skills he can bring to the table. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints On Sept. 1, when MLB rosters could be expanded from 26 to 28, the Minnesota Twins called up RHP Diego Castillo and Utilityman Michael Helman. Castillo pitched once and was optioned to make room for Louie Varland. We were all excited for Michael Helman to finally get this opportunity after overcoming several injuries. At the same time, I noted my disappointment for outfielder DaShawn Keirsey. But here we are, just days later, and Keirsey has received The Call. He will be joining the Twins this morning in Tampa and then head with the team to Kansas City. Tools and Skills Normally a Prospect Retrospective would start with a player’s background and what brought him to the big leagues. However, I want to start with what skills DaShawn Keirsey possesses and how they can help the Twins. Keirsey’s best tools are his speed and his defense. No one in the organization, with the possible exception of a healthy Will Holland, is faster than Keirsey. Obviously that speed helps him on defense. Keirsey has spent a lot of time at all three outfield positions over the past couple of years, but he is at his best manning center field. He throws left-handed, and I’d place his arm at average or slightly above average. However, he generally has a very accurate arm. Offensively, when he has been healthy, he has performed. In the minor leagues, he has been a top of the order hitter, though in some lineups with the Saints he has hit third or fourth. A quick look at his 2024 numbers shows that he does a very nice job filling out the stat line. In 103 games with the Saints, he has hit .292/.362/.477 (839) with 20 doubles, seven triples, and 14 home runs. He drove in 75 runs and scored 69 runs. On the bases, he was 36-for-43 in stolen base attempts. Keirsey bats left-handed. This season, he has walked in 9.7% of his plate appearances and struck out 23.0% of the time. That has been pretty consistent the past three seasons which have been spent in Double-A and Triple-A. Over the past three seasons, he has been really good at using the entire field. He pulls the ball about 36% of the time, hits the ball to center about 26% of the time, and he hits the ball the other way about 38% of the time. As for power, the 27-year-old Keirsey is listed at 6-1, 195 pounds. He is fast and looks fairly thin. However, he is strong and does have the ability to drive the ball, mostly to the gaps, but he does have more power than you think. That said, a full season might yield 12-15 home runs in the big leagues. So how can he help the Twins down the stretch? It’s easy to say that he can be a speed and defense guy, a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. And he certainly can do that. However, with his defense in center and with the offense that he has posted, he can fit a center field platoon with Austin Martin or someone else in center field. Really all the things that you would say that Michael Helman can do, DaShawn Keirsey can do, just left-handed. So why haven’t we seen him in the big leagues to this point? It’s all about opportunity. And I know that sounds a little cliche, but it’s also true. He wasn’t added to the 40-man roster last November, and he went unpicked in the Rule 5 draft. He bats left handed. So do Max Kepler, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Matt Wallner, and All Star Willi Castro is a switch hitter. The club has paid Byron Buxton, and they acquired Manuel Margot before the season started to provide right-handed bats. When Buxton got hurt, the team turned to Austin Martin. When Manuel Margot got hurt last week, they turned to Michael Helman. What can DaShawn Keirsey be long-term for the Twins (or other teams)? I feel like saying that he would fit the “fourth outfielder” definition is almost limiting. In the right situation with the right organization, he could get an extended look and be a 130 game guy. In the Twins organization, as it is right now, he really fills out the skill set needed to succeed in that role. And, with Rocco Baldelli at the helm, he does a nice job of keeping his bench players fresh. Max Kepler is a free agent after the season. Alex Kirilloff’s prospects in the Twins organization are uncertain. We’d like to think that Larnach and Wallner can be the team’s corner outfield for the next decade, and Buxton has another five years on his contract extension. So with the Twins, Keirsey (and Martin and Helman, etc.) can fill platoon roles and part time gigs. And with his background and story and injury history, and probably his fair share of doubters, any role in the big leagues probably sounds really good to Keirsey, and his family. The Background I’m going to keep this fairly short. Keirsey has been on a couple of podcasts with me that I will include in this article. In the Twins Spotlight episode, we talked for a good 45 minutes about his background and goals and such. In mid-2023, when he was still in Wichita, I wrote an article calling him the Twins most underrated prospect. With the article, we had a quick 20 minute interview at that time to talk about his improvements and such. You’ll certainly want to watch those. The Twins 2018 draft has been a solid one to this point. Trevor Larnach was the team’s top pick out of Oregon State. In the second round, they selected catcher Ryan Jeffers from UNCW. They selected Cole Sands out of Florida State in the fifth round, and Josh Winder out of Virginia Military Institute in the seventh round. Lefty Kody Funderburk was their 15th round pick out of Dallas Baptist. Michael Helman was the team’s 11th round pick out of Texas A&M. Others still in the organization yet to debut are C/1B Chris Williams who is the Home Run King in St. Paul. He was the team’s 8th round pick that year from Clemson. Finally, RHP Regi Grace was the team’s 10th round pick out of high school in Mississippi. The Twins didn’t have a third-round pick that year after signing veteran Josh Donaldson to a nine-digit contract that offseason. In the fourth round, they selected DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., out of the University of Utah. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Keirsey attended Helix Charter School. You might have heard of some of their alumni. Football: Reggie Bush, Alex Smith and literally a dozen more. . Basketball: Bill Walton graduated in 1970. Actor: Dennis Hopper graduated in 1954. Twins fans may remember that long-time prospect Jake Reed (5th round, 2014) went to Helix before heading to play baseball at the University of Oregon. At Helix, Keirsey was an all-league and all-county wide receiver in football. However, it was on the baseball diamond that his future would be. After high school, he went to the University of Utah where he was first-team All-Pac 12 and a Freshman All American. He played in 54 games and hit .293/.349/.358 (.707( with nine doubles and 11 steals. As a sophomore, he played in 50 games and hit .327/.388/.461 (.848) with 10 doubles, five triples, and three home runs. However, in a late-May home game, Keirsey was in center field when a ball was hit over his head. The next spring, Keirsey told the Salt Lake Tribune, “At Smith’s Ballpark, center field is 420 [feet]. You don’t really, especially in games, see people hit the ball over the center field wall at this level. I just remember thinking, with the trajectory of the ball, I thought it was going to have a chance. In the back of my mind, I knew I was going to collide with the wall some way, but I thought it was going to be like a jump into the wall. I didn’t think it would be, obviously, the way it happened.” He hit the wall. The wall did not move. Keirsey was on the ground for 30 minutes before being taken off in an ambulance. The diagnosis? Keirsey had a dislocated hip and a fractured hip. Instead of playing in a top college wood bat league, or even just doing things on the southern California beaches he had his whole life. Instead, he was working on things like being able to walk again and swinging a bat without it hurting. When you see how bad the injury was, it’s incredible to find out that he was ready on Opening Day of 2018. And not only was he simply able to play, he contributed huge offensive numbers. In 50 games, he hit .386/.440/.609 (1.049) with 23 doubles, five triples and four home runs. The Twins drafted him in the fourth round and were very excited about his athleticism and upside. He went to Elizabethton and hit .301 in 26 games there. In 2019, he went to Cedar Rapids, but missed so much time with leg injuries. He played in just 36 games. Especially with the completely lost season of 2020, it had to be frustrating. He went back to the Kernels in 2021 and was limited to just 45 games with more leg injuries. He hit just .199, but he did have four doubles, four triples and seven home runs. He also stole 10 bases. Since 2022, Keirsey has been relatively healthy. That season, he played 121 games in Wichita. He hit .271/.329/.395 (.724) with 26 doubles, three triples and seven homers. He also stole 42 bases in 49 attempts. He returned to the Wind Surge in 2023. In 91 games, he hit .305/.363/.488 (.850) with 17 doubles, five triples, and 13 homers. He finished the season in St. Paul where he hit .264/.375/.364 (.739) with a double, three triples, and two homers. Combined, he had 39 steals in 44 attempts. There was some concern that Keirsey might be lost in the Rule 5 draft last year, but he went unselected. This offseason, Keirsey would have become a free agent had he not been added to the Twins 40-man roster. He could have stayed in the organization, but I certainly wouldn’t have blamed him had he gone elsewhere. How He Got His Shot As previously noted, Keirsey wasn't the team's first choice when rosters expanded. He wasn't even the second. Finally, though, with Kepler hitting the injured list, the door is open for him. Presumably, since Byron Buxton is also being reevaluated after feeling discomfort during his latest rehab appearance, Keirsey is especially welcome as a solid defensive center fielder, but his immediate value is in replacing Kepler on the roster. That might mean only sparing starts, but he does round out the outfield defense nicely, especially in center and against right-handed pitchers. For much, much more Twins Daily content on DaShawn Keirsey, click here to see articles in which he has been tagged. There are a full four pages of articles linked. View full article

Strong Pitching. Timely hitting. That might be the story in St. Paul on Wednesday. But it won't be. There were some intriguing bookends in Cedar Rapids, but they got a great start from a Minnesota native. Was Fort Myers able to stay in first place? What do they need to do in their final four games to make the playoffs. Tons of information for you in Wednesday's Twins Minor League Report. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 75-64 St. Paul Saints: 64-69 Wichita Wind Surge: 54-74 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 65-61 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-57 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS LHP Brent Headrick was activated from the Saints 60-Day Injured List on Thursday. RHP Louie Varland was recalled from St. Paul while RHP Diego Castillo was optioned to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Iowa 1 Box Score Yes, the big story of this game will be about Byron Buxton. However, this was really a terrific game for the Saints, in particular a terrific game for the Saints pitching staff. Brent Headrick made a start for the Saints on April 6th. On Wednesday night, he returned to the mound in St. Paul and did a very nice job. The southpaw threw three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four batters. At that point, Randy Dobnak came on, and he worked the final six innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He struck out six batters. The lone blemish in his outing was a solo home run by Iowa’s Chase Strumpf (yes, Royce Lewis’s high school teammate). Dobnak improved to 11-6 on the seasons and his ERA dropped to 3.87. The Saints got on the scoreboard first. With one out in the bottom of the third, Payton Eeles walked. Two batters later, he scored from first base on DaShawn Keirsey’s 20th double. Strumpf’s homer led off the top of the fifth inning with the home run. The game remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning. With one out, Jair Camargo walked. He advanced to second base on a passed ball. Carson McCusker singled to score Camargo and give the Saints the 2-1 lead. The Saints had just four hits in the game. Keirsey went 2-for-4 with the double and RBI. He also stole his 36th base of the season. McCusker was 2-for-3 with the go-ahead RBI. Eeles reached on a walk and was hit by a pitch. For the Cubs fans out there, 2023 top pick Matt Shaw went 2-for-4. Iowa had just four hits. Brandon Birdsell went the first six innings for Iowa and gave up just one run. He was the Cubs fifth round pick in 2022 out of Texas Tech. In 2021, he was the Twins 11th round pick. The Twins offered him the remaining money that they could within their draft bonus limit, but he was determined to pitch one more year at Texas Tech. In 2022, he was a teammate and roommate of Twins 2022 fourth round pick from Texas Tech, Andrew Morris. Buxton went 0-for-2 before the ejection with two strikeouts. It would seem to make sense that he would be called back to the big leagues before the Twins big series in Kansas City starting on Friday. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Frisco 2 Box Score Wichita got on the board first when they scored in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Andrew Cossetti drove in Tanner Schobel with a single. Unfortunately, that was it for the Wind Surge on this night. The team had just five hits. The lone extra base hit was a first-inning double by Kala’i Rosario, his 17th of the season. Jaylen Nowlin started and gave up two runs on five hits over five innings. He had two walks and six strikeouts. Mason Fox faced six batters over two perfect innings. He had three strikeouts. Kyle Bischoff gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless eighth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Wisconsin 3 (10 innings) Box Score The Alpha and the Omega. El principio y el fin. The beginning and the end. In this game, that’s all we really need to know about. Things were pretty quiet in between. The Kernels took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Rubel Cespedes walked. Rayne Doncon followed with a double to score both Gabriel Gonzalez and Cespedes. Doncon then scored on a single by Agustin Ruiz. That is how the score remained through eight innings. Burnsville native John Klein made the start and tossed a season-high seven scoreless innings. He gave up six hits, walked none, and struck out six batters. Klein also became the first Cedar Rapids pitcher to reach 100 innings since 2019 when Josh Winder (125 ⅔ IP) and Luis Rijo (107 IP) reached that milestone. Juan Mendez pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He allowed a hit and hit a batter. He hit Luke Adams. The Kernels maintained the 3-0 lead going to the ninth inning. Xander Hamilton came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and a walk. He recorded just one out (on a strikeout). Jordan Carr came in and stranded two runners to keep it at 3-3. The Kernels went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth. Carr tossed a scoreless top of the 10th inning. That brought us to the bottom of the 10th. Kyle Hess was the Manfred Man. He was still standing on second base with two outs. However, Gabriel Gonzalez doubled to drive in Hess with the winning run. When Gonzalez put the ball in play, he did good things. He went 2-for-5 with three strikeouts. The walkoff double was his 19th of the season. Ruiz was 2-for-3 with a walk. Doncon’s double was his 11th with the Kernels. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 0, Lakeland 4 Box Score If you look at his overall numbers, it probably doesn’t jump out as exciting. Following a loss to Lakeland on Thursday, Soto’s season record is 1-7 with a 5.23 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. In 74 innings, he had 33 walks and 87 strikeouts. Soto completed a full season as an 18-year-old. In fact, this was literally the only start he made this season as a 19-year-old. Just 10 of plate appearances against him were with batters who were younger than him. With that, in his game, he gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. He made his starts throughout the season and remained healthy. In fact, his four-seam fastball averaged 95.6 mph on Wednesday night and he touched 97.0 mph. Now hopefully he won’t pick up a baseball for the next three months! Jack Noble came on and allowed two inherited runners to score. He gave up two hits and a walk and got three outs. Cleiber Maldonado struck out three batters over 1 2/3 perfect innings. Juan Mercedes gave up two hits in a scoreless inning. He had two strikeouts. The Mussels went scoreless in the game and had just four hits and no walks. Kyle DeBarge went 2-for-4. Jaime Ferrer and Nick Lucky each had one hit. Ferrer stole his sixth base. Lucky’s hit was his fifth double. With the loss, Fort Myers falls into second place in the FSL West behind Lakeland. The two teams play four more games this week and the Mussels must win three of them to make the playoffs. Lakeland has won the first two games of this series. The Mussels have now lost five games in a row. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day - DaShawn Keirsey (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, 2B(20), RBI, SB(36). Pitcher of the Day - John Klein (Cedar Rapids) - 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 HBP, 6 K, 87 pitches, 65 strikes (74.7%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4, BB, K. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, BB, 2B(3), HR(3), R, RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-5, 2B(19), R, RBI, 3 K. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 71 pitches, 45 strikes (63.4%) #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, 2 K. #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(17), 3 K. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, K, 2 CS(3). #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-4, R, 2 K. THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Iowa @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) – RHP Caleb Boushley (9-5, 4.97 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM CST) – LHP Christian MacLeod (0-1, 2.12 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – Spencer Bengard (1-0, 1.42 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Anthony Narvaez (0-0, 9.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

That's not something you see every day. I wonder how often an MLB rehabber has been ejected in a minor-league game? Can anyone remember if Buxton has ever been ejected from a game with the Twins? Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Twins All Star outfielder Byron Buxton played in his second rehab game with the Saints after missing time with a hip injury. The hope was for him to play seven innings in center field as he did on Monday. Unfortunately, he only played three innings in center field because after striking out to end the bottom of the third frame, Buxton was ejected by a Triple-A umpire trying to make a name for himself. Sure, we'll mention the umpire's name. Willie Traynor was the home plate umpire in this game and felt the need to ejected Buxton in the third inning. So, what happened? Following a 1-1 pitch, Buxton used his one time out. Inexplicably, the umpire didn't have the time clock reset and when it dropped to zero, he called a pitch clock violation on Buxton which made the count 1-2. Obviously when a hitter uses his one opportunity to step out, the clock is to be stopped and reset. The batter gets a little bit of time, and then the umpire gets the clock going again. from the video below, it's clear that something wasn't reset, and the umpire decided not to use common sense. From a purely baseball perspective, the difference between a 1-1 pitch and a 1-2 pitch is huge. Buxton went on to foul off a pitch before he struck out on a fastball just above the zone. As he set his bat and batting gloves down, Buxton continued the conversation with Traynor. Saints manager Toby Gardenhire ran down from the third base coach's box to get in between. As Buxton walked away, Traynor ejected him. What does this mean? Ultimately nothing. He'll probably have to pay a couple hundred dollars to the International League. He possibly missed out on two more plate appearances and four or five innings in the outfield. Not a big deal. Presumably he'll play in one more game with the Saints before rejoining the Twins, assuming everything checks out on Thursday morning. And to answer the question from above. No, Byron Buxton has never been ejected in the big leagues. He is ultra-competitive and yet keeps his cool very well, including in this example. View full article

Most get Labor Day off, but the St. Paul Saints and Wichita Wind Surge gave people a place to go on their day off to watch some baseball. Wichita even worked a little overtime. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Yunior Severino) In a rarity, there were two full-season affiliates that played on Monday. Find out how St. Paul and Wichita performed. Of note, because of the Labor Day weekend, having a regular minor-league report each day, and our August Awards articles, we won't have the Minor League Week in Review this week. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 75-62 St. Paul Saints: 63-69 Wichita Wind Surge: 54-73 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 64-60 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-55 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS Byron Buxton was sent to St. Paul to start a rehab assignment with the Saints. Trevor Richards cleared waivers and was outrighted to St. Paul. In some very surprising but fantastic news, OF Emmanuel Rodriguez ended his rehab in Fort Myers and will continue his season with the Saints. RHP Jarret Whorff was promoted from Wichita to Fort Myers. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Iowa 11 Box Score To celebrate Labor Day, the Saints played a very rare Monday game. To celebrate, the Saints gave free tickets to expecting women for the game. Unfortunately, Iowa had a big seven-run third inning. The Saints tried to come back, but it was too little too late. Caleb Baragar started and gave up one run in the top of the first inning. After a scoreless third inning, he started the top of the third frame by giving up a single, a walk, and a three-run homer to Kevin Alcantara. That ended his game. He gave up four runs on four hits and a walk over two-plus innings. Nick Wittgren came on to replace Baragar. He was welcomed by a Moises Ballesteros home run. After a strikeout, he gave up two singles and threw a wild pitch. Then he got the second out on a strikeout. However, Caleb Knight drilled a three-run homer which gave the Cubs an 8-1 lead. But Wittgren did get a third strikeout to end the inning. Wittgren stayed in and tossed two scoreless innings. Over his three innings, he gave up four runs on five hits. He had four strikeouts. Ryan Jensen was next and he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. Zack Weiss tossed a scoreless inning. Scott Okert came in for the seventh inning. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk and recorded two outs. Jarret Whorff came in with the bases loaded and stranded all three runners. He had three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. Down 10-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Saints tried to comeback. Byron Buxton led off with a single to center. Emmanuel Rodriguez walked. With one out, Diego A. Castillo singled to drive in Buxton. Payton Eeles followed with a single to drive in Rodriguez. Down 11-3 going to the bottom of the eighth inning, Yunior Severino led off with a double. Two batters later, Eeles singled to center to score Severino. With two outs, Patrick Winkel singled and then Rylan Bannon singled on a ground ball to shortstop to drive in Eeles. Down 11-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Saints tried one more time to come back. led off with a single. With one out, Severino hit his 20th home run. Castillo walked and then scored on a Carson McCusker triple that made it 11-8, but that was as close as it got. The Saints scored their eight runs on 13 hits and five walks. Winkel went 3-for-5. Severino was 2-for-4 with his 18th double and 20th home run. Eeles was 2-for-5. Byron Buxton made his first rehab appearance. He batted second and played in center field for the first seven innings. He was 1-for-3 with a walk. Emmanuel Rodriguez made his Triple-A debut. He went 0-for-3 with two walks and an RBI groundout. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Frisco 3 (11 innings) Box Score Both teams scored two runs in the third inning, and then the game went seven-and-a-half innings without another run scoring. The Wind Surge got on the board first in the top of the third inning. Dalton Shuffield reached on an error. He advanced to second on a Jorel Ortega single. Ben Ross lined a single to left to load the bases. Kala’i Rosario kept the carousel rolling when he drove in Shuffield with a single. The second run scored on a double play grounder. C.J. Culpepper started and gave up two, third-inning runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings. Cody Laweryson got six outs. Mike Paredes gave up a walk and had two strikeouts. Taylor Floyd gave up three hits and a walk over three scoreless innings. He had two strikeouts. The Surge had just seven hits and two walks combined. Ben Ross went 2-for-4. Kyler Fedko was 2-for-5. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – RHP Cody Laweryson (Wichita): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Hitter of the Day – 1B Yunior Severino (St. Paul): 2-for-4, BB, 2B(18), HR(20), 2 RBI, 2 R, BB PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 2-for-4, BB, 2B(3), HR(3), R, RBI #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, RBI 2 K #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-2, K. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - DNP TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – TBD Ft. Myers @ Lakeland (5:30 PM CST) – LHP Cesar Lares (3-3, 4.31 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games! View full article

It was a rough night for the Twins big league squad, and it didn't get a whole lot better in the minor leagues. But a lot still going on throughout the system. The Mighty Mussels finally got to play some ball on Saturday, though there was a delay. A big "first" home run for one of the Kernels. But if Wins matter in the minors, Wichita was the place to be! Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Cory Lewis) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 73-62 St. Paul Saints: 62-68 Wichita Wind Surge: 54-71 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 64-59 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-55 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS There were no transactions in the Twins organization on Saturday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 1, Omaha 9 Box Score It wasn’t as bad as the big-league game, but the Saints had a rough one on Saturday night too. The Saints managed just five hits in the game. Patrick Winkel’s sixth home run provided the team with its only run. Diego A. Castillo had a single to go with the team’s lone walk in the game. Aaron Rozek made the start and actually pitched well for the Saints. The southpaw gave up four runs on nine hits over six innings. He had seven strikeouts without issuing a walk. Zack Weiss pitched an inning. He gave up two runs on four hits. Steven Okert made his first Saints appearance. He recorded just one out. He was charged with three runs on four hits and two walks. He left the game with the bases loaded and nobody out, but Nick Wittgren got two outs without another run scoring. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Springfield 1 Box Score In this game, The Wind Surge got on the board first and then had a big fifth inning. In the first inning, Kala’i Rosario singled to lead off. With one out, Tanner Schobel singled Rosario to third. Ricardo Olivar singled in the game’s first run. Fast-forward to the bottom of the fifth inning. Ben Ross led off with a single and stole his 18th base. Rosario reached second on a throwing error with Ross going to third. Jake Rucker singled in two runs. With two outs, Alex Isola singled to advance Rucker to second base. Dalton Shuffield followed with his fourth Surge homer, a three-run shot that made it 6-0 at that time. Cory Lewis was very good on this night. He gave up one hit over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He had three walks and struck out six batters. Following the game, Twins Daily asked what he's had working of late. Lewis said, "Definitely the knuckleball, from the beginning of the game, it was doing what it’s supposed to do. Felt really comfortable with it, and it was in the zone more than prior which helps a lot. " After missing the first two months of the season, Lewis was brought back slowly. However, it is clear that he has returned to his 2023 form. He feels he's there too. "I definitely feel like I’ve finally back to where I was last year. Ever since coming back from the all star break, I feel like everything is back to normal. It took a few starts in Double-A for everything to finally sync up again and I’ve been feeling more comfortable. The stuff piece of it has been pretty consistent. It’s just been trusting my pitches and just building up confidence in everything. More so in locations and just trusting that my stuff is what it was last year." Ricardo Velez gave up one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He had two strikeouts. Mason Fox gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk. Wichita had 12 hits. All nine Surge hitters had at least one hit. Isola and Ross were 2-for-4. Ortega went 2-for-3 and had the team’s lone walk. Eight of nine Surge hitters had at least one strikeout. Overall, the team had 15 strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Lake County 4 Box Score The value of being able to put crooked numbers on the scoreboard was evident in this game. The Kernels got on the board first in the top of the third inning. Misael Urbina led off with his 16th double. With one out, Walker Jenkins signed to right to drive in the first run. Connor Prielipp was on the mound and on his game in this one. He tossed three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one batter and had five strikeouts. Darren Bowen came in and over 3 2/3 innings, he gave up three runs on five hits. He walked two batters and had three strikeouts. Down 3-1 going into the sixth inning, Kaelen Culpepper knocked his first Kernels home run to cut the deficit to 3-2. In the ninth inning, Nate Baez led off with a walk. Kyle Hess pinch ran for him. He moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Rubel Cespedes pinch hit and lined his 20th double to right field to drive in Hess with the game-tying run. Gabriel Yanez came in and got the final out of the bottom of the seventh inning. He tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning. With the game tied 3-3 going to the bottom of the ninth inning, Yanez remained in the game. He gave up a leadoff single to Alex Mooney who then stole his 42nd base. Then there was an intentional walk, and then an unintentional walk loaded the bases. After getting an infield pop up, Yanez gave up a walkoff single to Kevin Rivas. The Kernels had just six hits in the game, but they also walked five times. Culpepper had a walk to go with his first home run. Jenkins had a walk and a single. MUSSEL MATTERS Game 1: Fort Myers 1, Clearwater 5 Box Score It was a sunny day in southwest Florida which was great for the Mussels schedule. This game actually started on Friday night. Anthony Narvaez started and was able to complete two innings. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and had one strikeout. When play resumed on Saturday, Jose Olivares came on to pitch. He had a couple of walks, but through the fifth inning, he had yet to allow a hit. The sixth inning began with a walk and two batters later there was an error. Olivares gave up back-to-back doubles. In total, he was charged with three runs (2 earned) on two hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out three batters. Tomas Cleto pitched the seventh inning. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and one walk. Down 5-1 going to the bottom of the seventh inning (final inning), 2024 picks Derek Bender and Caden Kendle started the inning with a pair of singles. Emmanuel Rodriguez lined out to right, but then a wild pitch advanced the runners. A Brandon Winokur ground out drove in the Mussels second run. The previous runs scored on a wild pitch. Fort Myers managed just five hits in the game, and they coaxed four walks. Jay Thomason went 2-for-3. Kendle was 1-for-2 with a walk. Jaime Ferrer hit his seventh double. Game 2: Fort Myers 3, Clearwater 7 Box Score There was a 90-minute delay after the first inning. After some early runs, the Mussels’ bats quieted while the Threshers continued to add. Adrian Bohorquez started for the Mussels and really struggled finding the strike zone. After getting a fly out, he walked Dante Nori (yes, the Wolves coach’s son). He then walked two more batters to load the bases. He got a fly out for the second out but it did score the game’s first run. After hitting a batter, he recorded the final out of the inning. Then came the lightning. When play returned, Christian Becerra came in to replace Bohorquez and make his professional debut. Bohorquez had thrown 31 pitches in the first inning (just 10 strikes), so his day may have been done regardless. Becerra gave up an unearned run on one hit and three walks over 1 2/3 innings. Cleiber Maldonado gave up two runs on one hit and two walks in one inning. Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks and recorded just two outs. Tyler Stasiowski came in for his pro debut. The non-drafted free agent walked one and had one strikeout over 1 2/3 innings. Juan Mercedes came in and gave up one run on one hit and two walks in an inning. The three outs came on strikeouts. So again, to summarize the Mussels pitching in Game 2; in seven innings, they gave up just four hits and walked an impressive 13 batters. The Mussels got on the board in the second inning. Daniel Pena singled. After one out, there was a wild pitch. With two outs, Byron Chourio singled to drive in Pena. With one out in the third inning, Kyle DeBarge reached on an error and then stole second base. Brandon Winokur singled which moved DeBarge to third. Winokur stole second. After a ground ball was fielded and thrown home for the second out, Jaime Ferrer doubled to drive in Winokur and Khadim Diaw. Ferrer went 2-for-3 with his eighth double. Winokur was 2-for-4 with his 18th double. He also stole his 23rd base. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – RHP Cory Lewis (Wichita): 5 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 89 pitches, 60 strikes (66.4%) Hitter of the Day – Dalton Shuffield (Wichita): 1-for-4, HR(4), 3 RBI, R, 2 K PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3, BB, RBI. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Rehab in FM: Game 1: 0-for-3, BB, K. #5 – Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) – 2 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. 69 pitches, 45 strikes (65.2%) #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, 2B(18), RBI. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(1), R, RBI, K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – Game 1: 0-for-4, RBI, K. Game 2: 2-for-4, 2B(18), R, 2 K, SB(23) #13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 5 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 89 pitches, 60 strikes (66.4%) #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2 R, 3 K. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-3, 3 K, Game 2: 0-for-4. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-4, 2 K. #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. 38 pitches, 23 strikes (60.5%) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (2:05 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (1st Triple-A start) Springfield @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Pierson Ohl (4-6, 5.48 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (12:00 PM CST) – RHP Ricky Castro (1-3, 4.30 ERA) Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (11:00 AM CST) – LHP Ross Dunn (1-4, 6.03 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

St. Paul and Fort Myers were supposed to play doubleheaders on Friday. The Saints got their games in. The Mussels did not and now will hope to play two games on Saturday and Sunday. The Wind Surge had two pitching prospects lead Wichita to a win. Find out all that happened in the organization on Friday. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Marco Raya) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 73-61 St. Paul Saints: 62-67 Wichita Wind Surge: 53-71 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 64-58 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-53 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS After missing more than two months with a fractured elbow and a couple of rehab games in Fort Myers, Kala’i Rosario is with the Wichita Wind Surge. OF Tyler Dearden has been assigned to Cedar Rapids. RHP Travis Adams, who has been fantastic for the past couple of months in Wichita, has been promoted to the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL Game 1: St. Paul 5, Omaha 6 Box Score Walks will haunt! I mean, yeah, they’re annoying, but they don’t always haunt. But sometimes they do, and in Game 1 on Friday night in Omaha, the Saints were haunted by walks. Randy Dobnak made the start. He completed four innings and gave up four runs on four hits. He had six strikeouts, but he also issued five free passes. Giovanny Gallegos came in to start the fifth inning and faced six batters. He walked four of them. Ryan Jensen came in and got the third out of the fifth inning without further damage. Diego Castillo pitched a perfect sixth inning. But when you walk nine batters in less than five innings, you don’t really give yourself a chance. That said, the Saints bats sure tried to stay in it. They just fell short. Down 2-0, the Saints scored two runs in the top of the third. Anthony Prato singled, and Michael Helman doubled him to third to start the inning. Brooks Lee grounded out which scored Prato. DaShawn Keirsey followed with an RBI double to tie the score at 2-2. Omaha responded with two in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth, Jeferson Morales doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball. He scored on a Chris Williams groundout. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Yunior Severino doubled. After a pitching change, he advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jair Camargo single to tie it 4-4. But the Gallegos four-walk fifth inning allowed two more runs to score for Omaha. So, down by two runs going to the seventh inning, the Saints got a two-out single from Severino, and then another from Camargo. Payton Eeles singled to drive in Severino with the team’s fifth run, but that was it. The Saints fell one run short. Severino went 3-for-4 with his 16th double. Camargo went 2-for-4. Prato went 2-for-2 with a walk. Halman hit his 15th double. Keirsey’s double was his 19th of the season. Morales hit his third double since joining the Saints last Saturday. Lee, who is on a rehab assignment, went 0-4 with one strikeout and an RBI. Game 2: St. Paul 8, Omaha 3 Box Score In Game 2, the Saints sent Andrew Morris to the mound. He pitched well, and the offense gave him plenty of early run support. Let’s start with Morris. The 22-year-old tossed five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and had four strikeouts to earn his first Triple-A win. In the top of the second, the Saints got on the scoreboard with four runs. Severino led off with a walk. With one out, Rylan Bannon walked. Morales singled to right but Severino was thrown out at home. So no runs scored and two outs. Patrick Winkel followed with a single to score Bannon. Prato walked to lead the bases. Payton Eeles came up with the big hit of the game. His bases-clearing triple gave the Saints a 4-0 lead. The top of the third inning began with a Keirsey single. Severino walked, and a double steal put runners on second and third. Ultimately, did it matter? Well, Carson McCusker followed with a three-run homer to make it 7-0 Saints. Then, with one out, Morales singled and stole second. He advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Prato. Josh Winder came in for the sixth inning and gave up two runs on four hits. He had one strikeout. Caleb Baragar gave up an unearned run on one hit in the sixth inning. He had two strikeouts. McCusker went 2-for-4 with his second Saints homer. Morales was 2-for-3 and stole his first base for St. Paul. Eeles had a walk to go with his three-run three-bagger. And it was his third Saints triple. Yunior Severino walked twice. Keirsey’s stolen base was his 34th. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Springfield 1 Box Score Wichita had an offensive burst in the three middle innings, and they received a great start and long relief appearance to really earn a nice win. Marco Raya started and gave up one run in the first five innings. He gave up three hits, walked three and had five strikeouts. He threw 74 pitches. Christian MacLeod earned a four-inning save. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and had six strikeouts. Following the game, MacLeod told Twins Daily, “All four pitches were working well tonight. I thought I did a good job of mixing all four of them and attacking the zone. I would just say mixing all of my pitches and not being predictable has led to success over the past few months.” The Surge got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. Tanner Schobel singled, and Alex Isola walked. They each moved up a base on a balk. Aaron Sabato singled to drive in Schobel and tie the game at 1-1. With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Jorel Ortega singled. After a second out, Kala’i Rosario singled. Next, Jake Rucker doubled to drive in both runners and give the Surge a 3-1 lead. The bottom of the sixth inning began with two strikeouts. Kyler Fedko walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Dalton Shuffield walked. Fedko then scored on a double off the bat of Ortega. Noah Cardenas followed with a two-run double that made it 6-1 Surge. In his first game since injuring his elbow in early June, Rosario was back in the Wichita lineup. Maybe attempting to get him as many ABs as possible, he was in the leadoff position. He went 2-for-4 with his 16th double. Ortega went 2-for-3 with his 13th double. Rucker drove in two runs with his 21st double. Cardenas drove in two runs with his 10th double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 7 Box Score A six-run third inning made all the difference in this game. The Kernels attempted a late-inning comeback, but it fell plenty short. In the top of the third inning, the Kernels tied the score at 1-1 when Walker Jenkins doubled to score Jose Salas. Jeremy Lee started the game giving up just one run over two innings. However, things just fell apart in the bottom of the third. The inning went single, single, double, single, walk, three-run homer, and walk. Lefty Samuel Perez came in and kept the Lake County hitters off balance. Lee’s final line was seven runs on eight hits and two walks in 2+ innings. Perez struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. Nolan Santos then struck out three batters in two scoreless, hitless innings. Xander Hamilton struck out one batter over two perfect innings. Down 7-1 going to the eighth, Rixon Wingrove led off that inning with his fourth home run since joining the Kernels. Jose Salas was hit by a pitch. He scored on a Kyle Hess double. With two outs, Gabriel Gonzalez doubled to drive in Hess with the third run of the inning, but that was it, and that’s how it ended. Jenkins was 2-for-4 with his 10th double. The Australian Wingrove went 2-for-4 with his fourth homer. Hess hit his ninth double, and Gonzalez’s double was his 18th of the season. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers, Clearwater (Game Suspended, 2nd inning) Box Score The Threshers and Mussels were supposed to play two games on Friday night after they were rained out on Thursday. Unfortunately, after just an inning-and-a-half yesterday, the rains came and the game was suspended and will resume as part of a doubleheader on Saturday. Game 2 is scheduled to be played as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. At least, they hope to. We’ll write more about this game tomorrow. The only real note at this point was that young Anthony Narvaez started for the Mussels. He issued one walk and had a strikeout in two scoreless, hitless innings. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Who gets your vote? Marco Raya (Wichita) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 74 pitches, 46 strikes (62.2%) Christian MacLeod (Wichita) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 55 pitches, 34 strikes (61.8%) Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 75 pitches, 50 strikes (66.7%). Hitter of the Day – Who gets your vote? Yunior Severino (St. Paul) - 3-for-6, 2 BB, 2B(16), 3 R Payton Eeles (St. Paul) - 2-for-7, 3B(3), BB, 4 RBI, 2K. Carson McCusker (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(2), R, 3 RBI. Anthony Prato (St. Paul) - 3-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, 2B(10), RBI. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – Rehab St. Paul: Game 1: 0-for-4, RBI, K. #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Rehab in FM: 0-for-1 (in Suspended Game) #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, 2B(18), RBI. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K. #10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. 74 pitches, 46 strikes (62.6%) #11 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Game 2: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. 75 pitches, 50 strikes (66.7%) #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-1 (in Suspended Game). #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B(16), R, #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 0-for-1, K. (in Suspended Game). #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-4, R 2 K. SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Aaron Rozek (0-4, 6.55 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (1-4, 2.96 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (6:00 PM CST) – LHP Connor Prielipp (0-1, 4.73 ERA) Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (2:35 PM CST) – completion of Game 1 (TBD), RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 2.19 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! View full article

Very possible just to get him more at-bats. I would think that if he's healthy for the final couple of weeks that he'd be a great candidate for the Arizona Fall League.

I'm not sure it counts as "moving to the bullpen," but Louie Varland pitched in a slightly different role on Wednesday and did great. Aaron Sabato hit a double and a homer, but was it enough. How did the Kernels first-round picks combo play? Brandon Winokur hit a walkoff winner for the Mussels on Tuesday. How did he and the team follow up that performance? Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 72-61 St. Paul Saints: 61-66 Wichita Wind Surge: 52-70 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 63-57 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 64-53 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 30-25 (season complete) TRANSACTIONS With Michael Tonkin officially re-joining the team, Caleb Boushley was optioned to the Saints. LHP Brent Headrick started a rehab assignment with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Omaha 2 Box Score Jeff Brigham got a surprise start for St. Paul on Wednesday night. He went two innings and gave up one run on two hits. Then the Twins brought in the scheduled starter, Louie Varland, and he was fantastic. The St. Paul native tossed five shutout innings. He gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out nine batters. Hobie Harris gave up a run on a hit and two walks in the eighth inning. Diego Castillo recorded his eighth save with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. The Saints got on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. Payton Eeles and Brooks Lee took walks to start the game. Eeles stole third before DaShawn Keirsey drove him in with a sacrifice fly. After the second out, Michael Helman With a 2-1 lead in the third inning, Keirsey led off with a single. He stole second, his 32nd steal of the year. Yunior Severino singled him to third. With one out, Jair Camargo fly out to center, just deep enough for Keirsey to score. However, Severino was thrown out at second base to end the inning. That was all the run support the pitching staff got in this game. The Saints had just five hits, and Keirsey had two of them. Keirsey also had two steals to give him 33 on the year. They also walked six times. Eeles walked twice. Carson McCusker was the only Saints player with a hit and a walk. He hit his first Saints double. The team was just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Springfield 2 Box Score With C.J. Culpepper understandably being brought back slowly from his forearm injury earlier in the season, his starts essentially become a bullpen game. Culpepper went the first 2 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks. He had one strikeout. John Stankiewicz came in and got four outs. Cody Laweryson and Michael Paredes each provided two scoreless innings of relief. Kyle Bischoff then struck out two batters in a scoreless top of the ninth. Down 2-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning, Aaron Sabato’s 10th home run put the Surge on the board. Unfortunately, that was all they were able to score and lost a tight 2-1 decision. Things did get interesting in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Dalton Shuffield and Kyler Fedko each hit singles to put runners at the corners, but Ben Ross lined out to the right fielder to end the threat, and end the game. The Wind Surge had just six hits. Sabato had two hits including the home run and his 13th double. Andrew Cossetti and Dalton Shuffield each had a single and a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Lake County 5 Box Score The Kernels grabbed the early lead. Then they had a five-run sixth inning that made it 7-0. It gave them just enough to hang on at the end. The Kernels scored first when the scored one in the top of the second inning. Rubel Cespedes led off with a double and scored on a Misael Urbina single. In the top of the third inning, Walker Jenkins led off with a triple. He scored on a Gabriel Gonzalez single to make it 2-0. That’s where the score was when former Twins draft pick Steve Hajjar came in for Lake County. The lefty walked Cespedes, Urbina, and Salas to load the bases. Kyle Hess singled in one run. Matthew Clayton came through with a grand slam to give the Kernels the 7-0 lead. Ty Langenberg was the recipient of the run support, but he was fantastic on his own. Langenberg tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked three, and had three strikeouts. He improved to 5-2 with a 4.25 ERA since he joined the Kernels. Jacob Wosinski came on and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk over two innings. Through eight innings, the Kernels held a 7-2 lead. Juan Mendez came in. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and a walk without getting an out. Rafael Marcano came on and gave up one hit but got three outs and held on to a 7-5 lead. Walker Jenkins went 3-for-5 with his second triple. He also stole his fifth base. Gabriel Gonzalez was 2-for-3. Misael Urbina was 2-for-4. Obviously the big hit of the game was the Matthew Clayton grand slam. It marked his first Kernels home run. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Clearwater 8 Box Score This wasn’t a great game for the Mussels at Hammond Stadium. They had won on a walkoff from Brandon Winokur the night before. However, in this game, they were able to manage just three hits in the game. Winokur had two of them. Khadim Diaw had the other, his third double of the season. A key development in this game was the announcement shortly before first pitch that lefty Brent Headrick was going to start a rehab program. The 26-year-old had not pitched since he tossed five, two-hit innings for the Saints on April 6th. It’s been a long road, so starting rehab is a big step. He went 1 1/3 innings. He gave up two hits, hit a batter and issued a walk, but no runs. He threw 35 pitches. 21 were strikes. So, he wasn’t really sharp, but it was a nice milestone to be able to check off the list. Cleiber Maldonado came in and got the final two outs, leaving two inherited runners on base. Charlee Soto came in for the third inning. He’s been pitching well, but on this night, he just couldn’t find it. Soto went three full innings. He gave up three runs on three hits. He had five strikeouts, but uncharacteristically, he also issued five strikeouts. I don’t know about you, but at this point, I would be fine with shutting him down, rather than get him two more starts. Call his first professional season a success, end the season healthy, and have plenty to learn from this offseason. Jack Noble worked the next two innings. He gave up one run on two walks. He had three strikeouts. Ben Ethridge got five outs, but he gave up four runs (2 earned) on six hits and a walk. Maddux Houghton came in and issued a walk before getting the final out. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 74 pitches, 48 strikes (64.9%). Hitter of the Day – Aaron Sabato (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B(13), HR(10), R, RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our recently-updated Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-5, 3B(2), R, SB(5), K. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – Rehab St. Paul: 0-for-3, BB, R. #6 - David Festa (Minnesota) - 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 88 pitches, 58 strikes (65.9%) #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-3, HBP, RBI, K. CS. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 6 BB, 1 HB, 5 K, 71 pitches, 31 strikes (46.5%) #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-for-4, K. #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Rehab with Fort Myers: 0-for-3, BB #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, K. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 2 K. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 61 pitches, 38 strikes (62.3%) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Omaha (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (10-6, 3.81 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) – LHP Jaylen Nowlin (5-5, 4.96 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (6:00 PM CST) – RHP John Klein (8-3, 4.94 ERA) Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Anthony Narvaez (0-0, 18.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

For the second straight week, DaShawn Keirsey put up huge numbers for the Saints. Carson McCusker and Jeferson Morales had very good weeks. The DSL Twins' season came to an end. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints TRANSACTIONS: LHP Samuel Perez has been promoted to Cedar Rapids from Fort Myers. RHP Mike Paredes is heading back to Wichita from Cedar Rapids. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT Minor League Report (8/25): Y'all Got Any Runs? Why Aren't the Minnesota Twins Giving DaShawn Keirsey Jr. a Chance? Twins Minor League Report (8/24): Andrew Morris, Christian MacLeod Toss Quality Starts Again Twins Minor League Report (8/23): Walker Jenkins Hits First High-A Homer Who Has the Best Tools Among the Twins' Top Position Player Prospects? The Twins Have Two Red-Hot, High-Ceiling Prospects Turning the Corner at Fort Myers Twins Minor League Report (8/22): DaShawn Keirsey Continues to Make his Case, Jeferson Morales Does It All for Wichita Is it Time for Twins to Move Louie Varland to the Bullpen? Twins Minor League Report (8/21): Jake Rucker, Carson McCusker Provide Power Surge Twins Minor League Report (8/20): Cory Lewis Dominates, DSL Season Comes to an End Could Emmanuel Rodriguez Become the Top Prospect in Baseball? WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints Overall: 59-66, Tied for 7th place in the IL West. 2nd Half: 21-30, Ninth place in IL West. Last Week: 3-3 hosting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Hobie Harris and Ryan Jensen each pitched twice and threw three scoreless relief innings. Andrew Morris provided a Quality Start (6 IP, 3 ER). After a rough start on Tuesday, lefty Aaron Rozek faced the same team on Sunday. In that game, he gave up one run on just two hits over six innings. DaShawn Keirsey played in five games last week. He went 9-for-18 and hit .500/.545/1.056 (1.601) with two triples, two homers and eight RBI. He also walked twice, and he was 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. For his efforts, he was named the International League Player of the Week. Diego A. Castillo played in all six games. He went 9-for-25, hitting .360/.429/.560 (.989) with two doubles, a home run, and eight RBI. Payton Eeles played in all six games. He hit .348/.400/.565 (.965) with three doubles and a triple. What’s Next: The Saints will head to Omaha to take on the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate this week. They will return to CHS Field for a rare Monday game. They will play the Iowa Cubs on Labor Day. Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Overall: 51-69. Fifth place in the Texas League North 2nd Half: 20-31. Fifth place in Texas League North. Last Week: 2-4, at Midland. Three of the games were one-run games. Travis Adams had one of the best starts of the season, maybe even of his professional career to this point. He gave up just one hit and one walk over six scoreless innings. He also had 10 strikeouts. Christian MacLeod was strong again this week. He gave up only an unearned run on two hits in six innings. He walked three, but he also struck out eight batters. Cory Lewis made two starts, and while neither was a quality start, he gave up just three runs on nine hits in 9 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out 13 batters. Kyle Bischoff (3 2/3 IP) and Taylor Floyd (3 1/3 IP) each pitched twice without allowing a run. They each gave up just one hit. Carson McCusker and Jeferson Morales each had strong performances in their four Surge games last week. Morales hit .438/.500/.688 (1.188) with a double and a home run. McCusker hit .278/.316/.944 (1.260) with four home runs and seven RBI. On Saturday morning, we learned that the two outfielders were promoted to Triple-A St. Paul. The both played on Saturday and Sunday. Morales had three hits in eight at-bats. McCusker was 2-for-7 with a walk. Jake Rucker has quietly filled up the stat lines all season. In four games last week, he hit .294 (1.000) with a double, two homers and six RBI. And that was a really great game! Jorel Ortega played in five games. He hit .400/.526/.467 (.993) with a double. He also had four walks. What’s Next: The Wind Surge return home to take on Springfield, the Double-A affiliate of the Cardinals. High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels Overall: 62-56 Second place in the Midwest League West 2nd Half: 25-29: Tied for Fourth place in the MWL West Division (6.5 GB) Last Week: Went 1-5 in Dayton, the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Rafael Marcano, a left-hander acquired in the minor-league Rule 5 draft in December, made two appearances last week. Over four scoreless innings, he gave up two hits, walked one and had six strikeouts. Connor Prielipp continues to ease his way back into more action and more work, but wisely the organization is going to be cautious with him this season. In his start this week, he gave up one hit and hit one batter over three scoreless innings. He had four strikeouts. Tanner Hall went 5 1/3 innings in his start. He gave up two runs on two hits. He walked three and had four strikeouts. Walker Jenkins led the Kernels last week with a .953 OPS. In six games, he went 8-for-25, hitting .320/.393/.560 (.953) with three doubles and a home run. He also drove in six runs. Rubel Cespedes went 9-for-25 and hit .360/.407/.520 (.927) with a double and a home run. Nate Baez played in five games. He hit .333 with a double and a big extra-innings home run. Gabriel Gonzalez hit .280 with three doubles, a homer and five RBI. What’s Next: The Kernels will stay out east and play a series at Lake County. They will return home on September 3rd (the day after Labor Day) for their final series of the season. They’ll be taking on Cooper Pratt and the Wisconsin TimberRattlers. Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Overall: 63-52. Second place in Florida State League West 2nd half: 32-18, First place in FSL West (4 game lead over Lakeland) Last Week: The Mussels split their six-game series in Tampa against the Yankees, er, Tarpons. It was a week of close games (three, one-run games, two, two-run games) and some crazy comebacks. Sam Perez has been in the organization, and specifically with the Mussels, for a few years now. He tops out at 86, 87 mph. He just often gets the job done. In Perez’s 5 2/3 scoreless innings, he gave up no hits, no walks, and he struck out nine batters. The only blemish was one hit batter. He is heading up to Cedar Rapids this week. Jay Thomason was the Twins 17th round pick out of the Air Force. In six games, he hit .286/.412/.714 (1.126) with two home runs and three walks. Khadim Diaw played in four games. The Twins third-round pick from Loyola Marymount went 8-for-17 and hit .471/.500/.529 (1.029) with a double. He had two stolen bases and has played first base, center field, right field along with catching a few games. Jaime Ferrer, the Twins fourth-round pick from Florida State, played in all six games. He went 7-for-19, hitting .368/.500/.421 (.921) with a double. He was 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Second-round pick, Billy Amick from Tennessee, went just 3-for-18. He hit .167, but thanks to six walks, he posted a .385 OBP, and his two homers helped him to a .500 Slugging Percentage. Derek Bender, the sixth-round pick from Coastal Carolina, hit a single, two doubles and a home run. What’s Next: The Mussels will head home to take on the Clearwater Thrashers. Dominican Summer League: DSL Twins Overall: 30-25: Fourth place in Dominican Summer League South Anderson Ramos struck out six batters over four scoreless innings in a relief appearance. He gave up three hits and walked none. Melvin Rodriguez made a start and tossed four scoreless innings. It may be more impressive because he gave up base runners. He gave up three hits, walked two and hit two batters. He had four strikeouts. Rodriguez, 18, signed in January. He really ended the year strong. In his final four starts, he gave up just two earned runs in 18 2/3 innings. Aiberson Ventura struck out four batters over two scoreless relief innings. He gave up one hit and walked none. It was only two games, but Daiber De Los Santos went 8-for-10 with a double. He went 5-for-5 in the season’s final game on Tuesday. Eduardo Beltre had an Eduardo Beltre final week in his two games. He went 3-for-9 with an OPS of 1.178, a double, a homer and four RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects. And, be sure to note the new, updated Top 20 rankings. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 6 G, 8-for-25, .320/.393/.560 (.953), 3-2B, 1-HR, 5 R, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 2 rehab games in St. Paul, 4-for-8, .500/.500/1.125 (1.625), 2-2B, 1-HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K #5 – Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) – 2 GS, 0-1, 2.70 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .205 BAA, 10.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. #6 - David Festa (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 0-1, 7.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, .214 BAA, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 6 G, 7-for-25, .280/.333/.520 (.853), 3-2B, 1-HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 1 GS, 0-1, 6.75 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, .389 BAA, 4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 6 G, 5-for-21, .238/.304/.286 (.590), 1-2B, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K. #10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-1, 6.75 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, .294 BAA, 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K. #11 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .261 BAA, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 6 G, 7-for-26, .269/.296/.462 (.758), 3-2B, 1-3B, 6 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 11 K, 2 SB. #13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 2 GS, 0-2, 2.89 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .265 BAA, 9.1 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 13 K. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 6 G, 5-for-23, .217/.333/.304 (.637), 1-3B, 4 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 8 K, 4 SB #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 6 G, 0-for-24, .000/.172/.000 (.172), 0-2B, 2 R, 0 RBI, 5 BB, 8 K. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-0, 13.50 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, .200 BAA, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K. #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, .111 BAA, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. Players of the Week Hitter of the Week - DaShawn Keirsey (Saints) 5 games, 9-for-18, .500/.545/1.056 (1.601), 2-3B, 2-HR, 6 R, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 4-for-4 SB Pitcher of the Week - RHP Travis Adams (Wind Surge) 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K View full article