Seth Stohs

At the trade deadline, the San Diego Padres went out and acquired four pitchers including a couple of All Star caliber relief pitchers in Tanner Scott and Jason Adams. The Twins traded for Trevor Richards. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports (Jax photo), Matt Krohn, USA Today (Okert photo) How many of the Twins relievers do you believe in to get the job done 80-85% of the time? A study done by Retrosheet several years ago showed that when a team holds a one-run lead going into the ninth inning, they win about 86% of the time. If they lead by two runs, the team wins about 94% of the time. With a three-run lead, that number jumps to about 97% Mariano Rivera, who is the only player unanimously voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, was successful in just over 89% of his career save opportunities. Joe Nathan’s save percentage was percentage points higher than Rivera’s. My point isn’t to ask how Joe Nathan didn’t even get enough votes to remain on the Hall of Fame ballot for more than one election cycle. Instead, it’s simply to point out that even the best relievers of all-time didn’t get their job done almost 10% of the time. So again I ask, how would you rank the relief pitchers in the Twins bullpen right now? This is a question that could be asked from month-to-month (maybe even week-to-week) and the results might look a little bit different. Frankly, the Twins need someone, a couple of relievers to have a strong stretch run. It's more important since Brock Stewart will be out of the season, and Justin Topa has had yet another setback. Check out my personal Twins bullpen confidence rankings, and then discuss them in the Comments below. But be sure to post your rankings too. RHP Griffin Jax (29) 3-4, 8 Saves, 1.79 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, .176 BAA 57 G, 55 ⅓ IP, 35 H, 3 HR, 12 BB, 1 HB, 71 K I don’t think there is much question at the top of this list. In fact, earlier this week, Nick wrote that Jax has a strong case to be the Twins MVP to this point in the season. He just continues to get better and better. He has been a workhorse. He has been nearly unhittable. He throws a ton of strikes. Considering how max-effort each of his pitches are, he generally has very good control. His fastball is now consistently 96-97. His slider can be absolutely devastating and he gets a ton of swing-and-miss on it. And this year, it sure seems that his changeup has greatly improved. When it’s on, it darts down and in on a right-hander. For me, I want Jax to pitch a little bit less to try to keep his arm strong. That said, I want him pitching in the most important late-inning situation whether that happens in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. RHP Jhoan Duran (26) 6-6, 18 Saves, 3.32 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .207 BAA 44 G, 40 ⅔ IP, 30 H, 4 HR, 12 BB, 3 HB, 44 K We definitely aren’t seeing the same Jhoan Duran in 2024 that we did in 2023. While he still sits 100-103 with the four-seam fastball, and his sprinkler typically hits 97-98 mph. However, watching him, it’s not quite as electrifying as we have seen. And, maybe that’s because his season started late and he really didn’t have a spring training. That matters. His ERA is a little higher, though his WHIP is actually better. He’s giving up the same number of hits per nine innings (6.6) and home runs per nine innings (0.9). His walk rate is actually down to 2.7 BB/9 from 3.6 BB/9. Maybe what’s most notable is that his strikeout rate has dropped from 12.1 K/9 to 9.7 K/9. He’s still striking out more than a batter per inning, but 2 ½ less strikeouts per nine innings is noteworthy. Again, looking at the numbers, it’s entirely possible that we have just been spoiled by what we have seen from Duran in his first two big-league seasons. He’s still quite reliable. RHP Cole Sands (27) 6-1, 4 Saves, 3.23 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, .223 BAA 47 G, 55 ⅔ IP, 47 H, 5 HR, 8 BB, 5 HB, 63 K I can’t imagine that anyone who made predictions about the 2024 Twins roster would have had Sands being as valuable and productive as he has been. He has been up with the team all season. He’s pitched in a variety of roles. Primarily he’s been in middle relief, but he’s had set-up opportunities too. He’s come in in the third or fourth innings, and he’s been given save opportunities when Jax and Duran are unavailable, and been quite successful. Some of that is simply being a full-time bullpen arm and that arm being healthy. He is throwing harder, touching 97 and even 98 at times. He’s always had the ability to spin the ball and get swings and misses on his slider. He also changes speeds. In 21 2/3 MLB innings in 2023, he had 3 walks. In 55 2/3 innings this year, he has just eight walks. He’s giving up less hits. His home run rate has been cut in half. He’s over 10 K/9. It sure seems that he is getting a lot more high-leverage opportunities and thankfully for the Twins, he’s been quite successful. RHP Jorge Alcala (29) 3-3, 0 Saves, 3.09 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, .186 BAA 43 G, 46 ⅔ IP, 31 H, 5 HR, 16 BB,3 HB, 43 K Alcala made his MLB debut at age 24 at the end of the 2019 season. Unfortunately, he has missed a lot of time with various arm/shoulder injuries. He pitched in 59 games for the Twins in 2021. He struck out just over a batter per inning. He had just 2.0 BB/9. His WHIP was at 0.97. But then he pitched in just two games in 2022 and just 11 games in 2023. Earlier this season, he was the guy who would get sent to the Saints when the Twins needed an arm. Simply, he had options. But, he has become much more valuable and consistent with each of his pitches. Sure, he had a bad game over the weekend, but overall, he has been quite good. He’s giving up less hits, less homers, and has his walk rate down to a more average number. Especially noteworthy is his pure stuff. He is now hitting triple digits rather consistently and his slider is often sharp, late breaking. RHP Ronny Henriquez (24) 1-0, 0 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .217 BAA 5 G, 6 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 HB, 5 K I would think that this is where the lists might find variance. Henriquez has been up a few times to eat innings, but it seems that he is much more sharp and throws better in the big leagues than he has with the Saints. He’s not a big guy, but he throws hard, and he’s got a really sharp slider. He hasn’t been consistent, and he’s still often being asked to work three-plus innings, but he has the kind of stuff that can dominate once through the lineup. Henriquez came up in 2022 and pitched in three games. He was hurt most of the first half of the 2023 season and then pitched in 37 games for the Saints. He came off of the Twins 40-man roster after the season but quickly re-signed with the Twins. He’s pitched pretty well with the Saints this year, cutting his walk total significantly. RHP Louie Varland (26) 0-5, 0 Saves, 6.14 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .312 BAA 8 G, 7 GS, 36 ⅔ IP, 49 H,9 HR, 11 BB, 4 HB, 32 K I’m not sure the Twins can or should do it now. When Joe Ryan got hurt, it increased the team’s need for Varland to be available as a starter. However, if the Twins were to bring up Varland and put him into the bullpen, I think he’d be a pretty reliable option. He is throwing 98 as a starter, we’d again see triple-digit numbers from him out of the bullpen. He can air it out a bit more. He did well in the role last year. LHP Caleb Thielbar (37) 2-3, 3 Saves, 5.91 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, .268 BAA 43 G, 35 IP, 38 H, 5 HR, 16 BB, 0 HB, 41 K Thielbar came back to the Twins for the 2020 season. That season, he posted a 2.25 ERA. From 2021-2023, his ERAs were 3.23, 3.49, 3.23. In those three seasons, he has struck out about 11 per nine innings while walking about 2 ½ per nine innings. He missed some time in 2023 and came back very strong. He missed a lot of time early in 2024, and he really struggled. On June 11 and 12, he pitched in back-to-back games against the Rockies. He faced four batters in each game and gave up four hits, three walks and one batter got on via error. He has now pitched in 20 games since then, and in 19 ⅓ innings, he has given up run(s) in five of them. Not great. His ERA is about 4.50 since then, but he’s a veteran. He’s been through it. So, unless he’s just completely done, he should be solid the rest of the season. From my eye test, he is now throwing 92-95 again and his slow, slow curveball is pretty solid again. RHP Josh Winder (27) 0-0, 0 Saves, 3.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, .212 BAA 4 G, 9 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 2 HB, 10 K Once a top 100 prospect, Winder has found himself on the Injured List pretty much since his call-up in 2022. His days as a starter are likely done. However, when healthy, he does have some really good stuff. He has plenty of fastball. He’s got a good slider, at times. We just haven’t seen it a lot since he’s been with the Saints most of the season. That is, after missing the first month of the season and not throwing through all of spring training. LHP Kody Funderburk (27) 1-0, 1 Save, 5.61 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, .279 BAA 26 G, 33 ⅔ IP, 36 H, 4 HR, 15 BB, 5 HB, 31 K Funderburk was a decent, lefty starting pitcher prospect. However, once he moved to the bullpen, he really took off. He was called up to the Twins in late August and posted a 0.75 ERA with a 0.92 WHIP over 12 innings in which he had 19 strikeouts. This year, he has given up at least one run in 13 of his 26 appearances. The last time he pitched was July 12th. He went on the Injured List with an oblique strain on July 21st. He could be back soon, and if healthy, hopefully he returns to those 2023 levels of success. RHP Scott Blewett (28) 0-0, 0 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA 1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 HB, 1 K A week ago, Blewett threw 15 pitches in a perfect inning for the Twins to close out an 8-3 win against the Royals. It was his first MLB appearance since 2021. It felt like a great story. And by the next day, we learned that he had been DFAd. A couple of days later, we learned he cleared waivers and was outrighted to St. Paul. However, he elected to become a free agent. A day later, he re-signed with the Twins and is back with the Saints. He has pitched well throughout the season in St. Paul. He’s got a good fastball, a really good slider, and an impressive split-finger pitch. Could he get back to the Twins this season? RHP Trevor Richards (31) 0-1, 1 Save, 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .100 BAA 8 G, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 7 BB, 2 HB, 10 K The Twins lone trade deadline acquisition sent infielder Jay Harry to the Blue Jays organization in exchange for veteran Trevor Richards. He started with two, scoreless, one-inning outings. However, the first time he was put into a close game, he gave up three runs on one hit and an impressive five walks. The next night, Baldelli put him right back out there the next night, and he earned the save with a perfect inning. Ultimately, that is the only one of his eight appearances in which he gave up a run. He had another game in which he gave up a hit and two walks but got out of it unscathed. In his six other outings, he’s actually been just fine, but the lack of control can be hard to watch. LHP Steven Okert (33) 3-2, 1 Save, 5.40 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, .273 BAA 42 G, 33 ⅓ IP, 36 H, 6 HR, 15 BB, 3 HB, 31 K The veteran lefty spent parts of 2016-2018 with the San Francisco Giants. He didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2019 or 2020. However, he worked in 158 games for the Marlins between 2021 and 2023. While his FIP was over 4.30, his ERA was actually below 3.00 the first two years. Before the 2024 season, the Twins acquired Okert from the Marlins in exchange for utility man Nick Gordon. With Okert, it all comes down to Command and Control. As you see, he simply has too many walks, and that’s made worse with three hit batters. You can usually tell how an Okert outing will go pretty quick, with fastballs flying up and out of the strike zone and sliders Summary So there you have it. My rankings of the current Twins with a couple of Triple-A guys thrown in for good measure. Griffin Jax Jhoan Duran Cole Sands Jorge Alcala Ronny Henriquez Louie Varland Caleb Thielbar Josh Winder Kody Funderburk (IL) Scott Blewett Trevor Richards Steven Okert Your turn. Let me know what you think of my rankings, and share yours as well. View full article

The difference there is Keirsey can become a free agent after the season, so although they know what they have in him already, the "see what he can do" phrase makes some sense. Then again, with only two extra roster spots in September and a team that will be vying for a playoff spot, that isn't enough reason. As it relates to Utility types (infield and outfield), I would think that Helman would be the call ahead of Eeles yet, so long as he is healthy. Again, he can be a free agent as well after the season.

What these players do in their draft years really doesn't matter at all. Pitchers don't pitch in games (or certainly not more than 1 or 2). College hitters probably haven't played on any sort of regular basis for 1-3 months when they sign and report. It's just about getting them some pro at-bats, with the wood bat, getting used to playing every day, having an away-from-home job for maybe the first time, meeting tons of new people, learning the organization's philosophies on nutrition, weight room plans, and how they use analytics and what is available to them. In my mind, if you're picking after about 18-20 in the first round of the draft, you have to make a choice. You aren't going to find the perfect player, so you find a player that meets what you're looking for and try to determine what they can work on and develop. With Culpepper, in my opinion (which doesn't mean much, I'm sure), you've got a nice mix of high floor because of his current skill set in the field and at the plate. He also has some tools that he can work on and the Twins player development can work on with him. So, I think there is a chance for some fairly high ceiling too. He can hit for average, some power, run well, play solid defense in the infield, throw, etc. Of note, I do enjoy when they draft high school athletes as they've got all the tools, so Caldwell would have been a lot of fun too. And, to your final point, I believe that it is very much possible that the Twins targeted Yesavage when the Blue Jays took him. But I think that the result is still a tremendous pick (considering the spot in the round).

I'm not sure that's true. Yes, on some days, he'll face some top prospects. On other days, he'll face 5th starters or back-end of A-ball bullpen guys. For the most part, most division 1 players, even those at top colleges, don't get to Low A, much less High A.

Payton Eeles was the Twins minor league hitter of the week for August 12-18, 2024. Seth caught up with the 24-year-old multi-position, everyday player before the Saints start their home series against Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Eeles has been electric, no matter where he's been placed in the organization or on the field or in the lineup). Hear directly from him about his game and his story and more. View full video

The minor-league season is quickly running toward an end. On Tuesday, the DSL season will end. The full season affiliates have three more weeks with the Saints going a week longer. This week found some ups and downs for the affiliates. The Mussels went 4-2 against their top competitor. The Saints had a rough week, and yet, they had the hitter selected as hitter of the week. Check out all that happened in the Twins organization on Monday and last week. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson (photos of Payton Eeles) Spoiler Alert! I am about to post a video interview with this week's Twins Minor League Hitter of the Week. If you prefer to just read through everything before seeing who that is, be sure to scroll quickly past the video shown directly below this paragraph. TRANSACTIONS SS Kaelen Culpepper has been promoted to Cedar Rapids. The Kernels put 1B/3B Kevin Maitan on the 7-Day IL with a hamstring strain. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 10, DSL Rockies 2 Box Score In the DSL Twins penultimate game of the 2024 season, Eduardo Beltre did Eduardo Beltre things in leading his team to a big win. In this game, Beltre went 3-for-5 with his ninth double, 11th home run, and four RBI. For the season, he is now hitting .336 with a 1.096 OPS. He also stole his 10th base of the season. Daiber De Los Santos had a nice pro debut season as well. In this game, he went 3-for-5 with his 11th double. Irvin Nunez also went 3-for-5. Catcher Carlos Silva was a big signing a year ago, and he went 2-for-5 with his ninth double in this game. Melvin Rodriguez put together his fifth strain solid start for the DSL squad. In this game, he tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked two while striking out four batters. Jose Vasquez gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in three innings. He had five strikeouts. Aiberson Ventura ended the game with four strikeouts over two, one-hit innings. WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints Overall: 56-63, Ninth place in the IL West. 2nd Half: 18-27, Tied for ninth place in IL West. Last Week: 0-6 at Indianapolis. The Saints lost all six games by a combined total of nine runs, including four one-run losses. Payton Eeles continues to amaze. The infielder is now also playing some outfield. He played in all six games this past week. He went 8-for-19 and hit .421/.522/.526 (1.048) with two doubles. Caleb Boushley gave up one run on six hits over six innings in his start. He had eight strikeouts and did not allow a walk. Randy Dobnak returned from his much-anticipated return to the big leagues and went four innings in his start. He gave up one run on four hits. He walked two and had six strikeouts. Andrew Morris made his first two Triple-A starts. The first went well. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk over six innings. In the second start, he gave up three runs on two hits, a hit batter, and four walks. What’s Next: The Saints will be hosting Scranton/Wilkes Barre, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. Head out to CHS Field for a few games. Click here for ticket information. Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Overall: 49-65. Fifth place in the Texas League North 2nd Half: 18-27. Fifth place in Texas League North. Last Week: 2-4, at home versus Arkansas. Andrew Cossetti played more and he played well. In four games, he hit .333/.308/.833 (1.141) with a double, a triple, and a home run. He also drove in five runs. OF Carson McCusker played in all six games. He went 9-for-25 and hit .360/.360/.720 (1.080) with four doubles, a triple, and one home run. UT Dalton Shuffield continues to play well despite rarely finding a permanent home. In five games, he went 6-for-17, hitting .353/.389/.588 (.977) with a double, a homer and five RBI. Is it possible that the top pitching performance of the week for the Wind Surge came from infielder Jorel Ortega. He went 1 1/3 innings and did not allow so much as a baserunner. Marco Raya went 4 1/3 innings in his start. He gave up no runs, two hits, walked three and struck out five batters. Cory Lewis went 5 1/3 innings in his start. He gave up one run on five hits. He walked three and had seven strikeouts. Christian MacLeod returned from his one-start appearance with the Saints. The southpaw gave up one run on three hits and a walk over 4 1/3 innings. Travis Adams went 3 2/3 innings in his start. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and had five strikeouts. Miguel Rodriguez pitched twice and had one save. In three innings, he gave up no runs on two hits. He hit two batters and had four strikeouts. Kyle Bischoff had nine strikeouts over four innings. What’s Next: For the second straight week, the Wind Surge will be on the road. They will be in Midland, taking on Oakland’s Double-A affiliate. High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels Overall: 61-51 (3-3 last week in Peoria) Second place in the Midwest League West 2nd Half: 24-24: Third place in the MWL West Division (4.5 GB) Last Week: Went 3-3, hosting the Cubs High-A affiliate from South Bend. Rixon Wingrove’s transition to High-A has gone quite smoothly. In six games, he went 6-for-20. He hit .300/.364/.750 (1.114) with three home runs. Jose Salas had a very nice week. He played all six games and went 6-for-18, hitting .333/.368/.556 (.924) with two doubles and a triple. Walker Jenkins hit .320/.370/.440 (.810) with three doubles over 27 plate appearances. On Sunday, Jeremy Lee made a start and tossed four scoreless innings. Spencer Bengard came on in relief and gave up only an unearned run over four innings. Combined they gave up just five hits and walked two. John Klein made a rare appearance out of the bullpen. He tossed five scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and had three strikeouts. Lefty Rafael Marcano, a minor-league Rule 5 pick in December, pitched twice out of the bullpen. In a combined six innings, he gave up no runs, three hits, two walks, and he had six strikeouts. Ricky Castro put together arguably his best start since joining the Twins organization a couple of months ago. In six innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out eight batters. What’s Next: The Kernels will be on the road the next two weeks. This week they’ll be in Dayton, followed by an off day before starting 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 Timber Rattlers. Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Overall: 68-43. Second place in Florida State League West 2nd half: 29-15, First place in FSL West (4 game lead over Lakeland) Last Week: In a big series, the Mussels took four of six games against Lakeland at Hammond Stadium. They increased their second-half lead from two to four games. Brandon Winokur had a big week in one game last week. His three home run game was the key factor in his 1.080 OPS. Overall, he hit .286/.318/.762 and added a double. He also went 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts. In five games, the Twins fifth-round pick from the 2024 draft, Caden Kendle went 6-for-16 and hit .375/.474/.500 (.974). Sixth-round pick from Coastal Carolina, Derek Bender, played in four games and hit .308/.357/.538 (.895) with a home run. Jaime Ferrer, the fourth-round pick from Florida State, had three doubles during the week. The Mussels put together some really strong starts last week. Charlee Soto went five shutout innings in his start. He gave up four hits, walked two, and had four strikeouts. Jose Olivares tossed four innings in his start. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and struck out three batters. Lefty Cesar Lares made one start and worked five scoreless innings. He gave up seven hits, walked none and had two strikeouts. Young Adrian Bohorquez went four scoreless innings during his start. He gave up one hit, walked three and struck. There were also some strong appearances out of the bullpen. Of course, with young arms, generally in their first couple of seasons in pro ball. Starting and relieving can be a big interchangeable. Knuckleballer Devin Kirby went four one-hit innings in his appearance. He walked one and struck out five batters. Juan Mercedes tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings over two appearances. He gave up one hit, walked two and had five strikeouts. Ben Ethridge recorded a three-inning save. He gave up no hits, walked one and had four strikeouts. Samuel Perez struck out four batters over three scoreless innings in his appearance. He gave up two hits and walked none. What’s Next: The Mussels will travel north to Tampa to play seven games. They will play doubleheaders on Wednesday and Saturday with a day off on Friday. Dominican Summer League: DSL Twins Overall: 29-25: Fourth place in Dominican Summer League South Eduardo Beltre has consistently been in these weekly reports. Last week, he played in four games and went 7-for-16. He hit .438/.471/.563 (1.034) with two doubles. He was also 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Nelson Urbina played in three games and .444 with a double and a triple. Carlos Silva hit the team’s lone home run. He also walked four times. Anderson Ramos struck out six and walked two batters in a one-hit, 3 1/3 inning appearance. After taking on the Rockies on Monday, the DSL Twins will host the Angels on Tuesday morning. It will be the final game of their season. 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/.370/.440 (.810), 3-2B, 6 R, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – Injured List (right biceps) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Injured List (hand/wrist) #4 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – Injured List (Elbow) #5 – Zebby Matthews (Minnesota) – 1 GS, 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .250 BAA, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. #6 - David Festa (Minnesota) - 1 GS, 0-0, 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .286 BAA, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 6 G, 5-for-24, .208/.296/.292 (.588), 2 R, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .222 BAA, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Fort Myers) - 6 G, 6-for-24, .250/.308/.417 (.725), 1-2B, 1-HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K. #10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .143 BAA, 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K. #11 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 2 GS, 0-0, 4.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .129 BAA, 9.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 5 K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 6 G, 6-for-21, .286/318/.762 (1.080), 1-2B, 3-HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 SB. #13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 1 GS, 0-0, 1.69 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .263 BAA, 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. #14 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - IL. #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Injured List (elbow fracture) #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 6 G, 4-for-21, .190/.320/.238 (.558), 1-2B, 3 R, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 3 SB #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 6 G, 8-for-27, .296/.321/.444 (.765), 2-2B, 1-3B, 4 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K. #18 - Dasan Hill (FCL Twins) - Not assigned to a roster yet. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-0, 10.13 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .333 BAA, 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K. #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 1 GS, 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, .385 BAA, 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K. Hitter of the Week - Payton Eeles (Saints) 6 games, 8-for-19, .421/.522/.526 (1.048), 2-2B, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1-for-1 SB Pitcher of the Week - Ricky Castro (Kernels) 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K View full article

It was a tough day in the Twins minor leagues, at least if you look at Wins and Losses. I guess on Saturday, there are only Losses to look at. However, each team affiliate had a couple of very noteworthy performances, including a couple of three-hit games, several homers including one b a 2024 top pick, and the return of a young prospect. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Andrew Cossetti) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 70-53 St. Paul Saints: 56-62 Wichita Wind Surge: 49-64 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 60-51 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 60-48 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 28-25 TRANSACTIONS The Mighty Mussels announced the return of a mighty bat. OF Jose Rodriguez was activated from the 60-Day Injured List. RHP Scott Blewett has had an interesting few days. He made his first MLB appearance since 2011. The next day, he was Designated for Assignment. We learned on Thursday that he had cleared waivers and the Twins outrighted him to St. Paul. Then on Friday night, news came out that he had elected free agency. Well, on Saturday afternoon, the Saints announced that the Twins re-signed Blewett to a minor-league deal. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 6 Box Score Former Twins bench coach Derek Shelton was named the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2019 season. His team is seven games under .500 right now and in fifth place in the NL Central. However, the team signed outfielder Bryan Reynolds a couple of years ago to a long-term deal. Veteran RHP Mitch Keller was locked up before this season. Jared Jones made a rehab start against the Saints the other day. The rookie made the team’s opening day roster and has ace potential and a triple-digit fastball. He’s been on the Injured List for a couple of months. Everyone is aware of Livvy Dunne’s boyfriend (Paul Skenes). He was called up two months into the season and started the All Star game for the National League. He will be a Cy Young contender for years to come, assuming health. And Luis Ortiz has done well in whatever role he's played. On Friday, the Saints saw RHP Bubba Chandler, a top 40ish prospect in all of baseball. The former two-sport, two-way player has flown up the ladder this year after transitioning fully to the mound just last year. He quieted the Saints in his second Triple-A start. On Saturday, the Pirates #5 prospect, Thomas Harrington, tossed seven scoreless innings against the Saints. He gave up just two hits and no walks. He was the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft and could be ready very soon. In other words, in a couple of years, it just might be good to be Derek Shelton. I mean, it probably already is. He is very well respected around the game, but with that kind of pitching and the likes of Ke’Bryan Hayes and O’Neil Cruz and more, the Pirates could be ready to contend for a while. So, you just got a few paragraphs on the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates and some key cogs in that hope who are already at Triple-A Indianapolis. That’s because this wasn’t a very interesting game for a Saints fan. St. Paul had just three total hits in the game, and Yunior Severino had two of them. All three were singles. Rylan Bannon went 1-for-2 with a walk. The team went just 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. Randy Dobnak made the start for the Saints. After working sparingly out of the Twins bullpen the past couple of weeks, he was eased back into the starting role. He gave up one run on four hits over four innings. He had two walks and six strikeouts. Nick Wittgren came on and gave up two runs on four hits over his two innings. Giovanny Gallegos and Josh Winder each tossed a scoreless inning. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8, Arkansas 9 Box Score This was a bit of a back and forth game through the first seven innings. Both teams had a big inning, and scored in more innings too. However, the road team, the Travelers, took the final lead in the top of the seventh and held on. Jaylen Nowlin got the start for Wichita. He gave up a first-inning run and tossed a scoreless second inning. However, he started the third inning, but with one out, the Travelers already had two more runs and the bases were loaded. Jarret Whorff came in and allowed all three inherited runners and one of his own to score. He gave up another run in the fourth inning. Nowlin went 2 1/3 innings. He was charged with six runs on four hits and four walks. He also had five strikeouts. Whorff was charged with two runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. The Surge scored two runs in the second inning. Aaron Sabato was hit by a pitch and advanced to third base on Andrew Cossetti’s 15th double of the season. With one out, Kyler Fedko was batting. Sabato scored on a balk, and then Fedko drove in Cossetti with a sacrifice fly. Wichita surged to score four very quick runs in their half of the fourth inning. Carson McCusker led off with his 26th double. Sabato singled him to third base. Cossetti drove McCusker in with a single. Then Dalton Shuffield launched his third Wichita homer. The three-run blast cut the deficit to 8-6. That’s when Regi Grace came in. He tossed two scoreless innings to keep his team in striking distance. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Cossetti hit his eighth home run of the year. With two outs, Fedko doubled and scored the tying run on a Jorel Ortega single. Taylor Floyd came in and allowed an unearned run in the top of the seventh that proved to be the game-winner. Miguel Rodriguez struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning. Andrew Cossetti had a very nice game at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a double and his eighth home run. Jake Rucker went 2-for-5 KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, South Bend 3 Box Score South Bend started the game with three runs in the top of the first inning. The Kernels bats responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, and two other two-run innings. The Kernels pitching responded by putting eight zeroes on the board. Connor Prielipp, the lefty who is still essentially rehabbing from his elbow procedure, started and tossed the first three innings. He gave up three runs in the first inning and then threw two scoreless innings. Minnesotan John Klein came on in the “bulk” role. He tossed five scoreless innings. He gave up just four hits and no walks, and he had three strikeouts. Mike Paredes struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to record the save. Klein improved to 8-2 on the season while Paredes picked up his second save. The Kernels faced another top college draft pick from recent years who is returning from Tommy John surgery. Jaxon Wiggins had six strikeouts over the first three innings, but he did give up two runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter. Walker Jenkins led off the bottom of the first inning with a double. After two outs, he stole third base. Rixon Wingrove hit his third home run since joining the Kernels just over a week ago. The Kernels took the lead for good with another two-spot in the fourth inning. Yovanny Cabrera came in to replace Wiggins and got the first out. Jenkins drew a walk and scored on a Gabriel Gonzalez double. Rubel Cespedes followed with an opposite field single to drive in Gonzalez with the go-ahead run. It took until the eighth inning, but Cedar Rapids added a couple of insurance runs. Jose Salas led off with a single. Nick Lucky was hit by a pitch. With one out, an errant pickoff attempt allowed the runners to advance. Gabriel Gonzalez then drove in both runners with his 14th double of the season. Gonzalez led the way. He was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Eight of the nine Kernels batters had at least one hit, though Gonzalez was the only hitter with multiple hits on Saturday. Nate Baez went 1-for-2 with two walks. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Lakeland 2 Box Score These teams played 18 half-innings in this game at Hammond Stadium on Saturday, and fans only saw runs scored in three of them. Lakeland put up three runs in the fifth inning. The Mussels scored two in the bottom of the seventh, but that’s as close as they got. The big takeaway from this game was the start by young Adrian Bohorquez. He tossed four scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He walked three and had four strikeouts. In case you were wondering... He threw 28 four-seam fastballs and got five whiffs. They were between 92.5 mph and 95.8 mph with an average of 94.2 mph. He threw 27 sliders that averaged 86.1 mph. He also threw five slow curveballs which averaged 76.6 mph. Paulshawn Pasqualotto came in and worked the next four innings. He gave up three runs in the fifth inning before tossing three scoreless innings. He gave up five total hits and had two strikeouts. Cleiber Maldonado gave up one run on one hit and had two strikeouts in the ninth inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Caden Kendle walked, and with one out, Kaelen Culpepper hit his second pro homer to make the score 3-2. Byron Chourio was the lone Mussel with multiple hits. He was 2-for-4. Culpepper went 1-for-4 with his home run. In his return to the lineup, Jose Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Cedar Rapids) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 65 pitches, 42 strikes (64.6%). Hitter of the Day – Andrew Cossetti (Wichita) - 3-for-4, 2B(15), HR(8), 3 R, 2 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 Saturday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, BB, 2B(6), 2 R, SB(2), K #6 - David Festa (Minnesota) - 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 81 pitches, 54 strikes (66.7%) #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-5, 2-2B(14), R, 3 RBI, K. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, HR(2), R, 2 RBI. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, K #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 K, SB(7). #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-5, 2B(17). #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K, WP. 44 pitches, 30 strikes (68.2%) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Indianapolis (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) – LHP Christian MacLeod (0-1, 3.52 ERA) South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (1-4, 4.50 ERA) Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (1:05 PM CST) – LHP Ross Dunn (1-3, 5.68 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

Wichita's Carson McCusker hit three of the team's seven doubles on Wednesday night helping them double-up Arkansas on the scoreboard. Also, Cory Lewis, Charlee Soto, and Ricky Castro all pitched really well. Check out all that happened in the Twins organization on Wednesday. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 67-53 St. Paul Saints: 56-59 Wichita Wind Surge: 48-62 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 59-49 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 58-47 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 27-24 TRANSACTIONS The Twins optioned RHP Josh Winder to St. Paul. That allowed them to promote RHP Louie Varland to make the start on Wednesday afternoon. Following the game, Varland was optioned back to St. Paul. A corresponding move will likely be made before Thursday’s game in Texas. OF Yasser Mercedes was placed on the 7-Day Injured List by the Mussels. RHP Omar Montano was signed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he was assigned to the DSL Twins. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Indianapolis 6 Box Score The Saints faced 23-year-old Jared Jones who was making his second rehab start before hopefully getting back to the Pirates. The flame-thrower had a tremendous start to his season and may have been a strong NL Rookie of the Year candidate (with Jackson Merrill) until teammate Paul Skenes arrived on the scene. The Saints were able to get to him early and often. With one out in the top of the first inning, Diego A. Castillo, Edouard Julien, and Jair Camargo hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to give them a 2-0 lead. With two outs, the speed of the Saints catchers showed itself. Camargo stole third base. Chris Williams walked and stole second. On a throwing error, Camargo scored from this base to make it 3-0. In the top of the third, Castillo led off with a single. One out later, Camargo singled Castillo to third base. After a pop out for the second out, Williams came through with a big, two-run double that made it 5-0. Unfortunately for the Saints, and for the second straight night, an early big league just wasn’t enough. That said, lefty Caleb Baragar had a very nice start. He tossed three shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four batters. Ryan Jensen came in next and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Hobie Harris allowed an inherited runner to score and one run over his own on three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings. However, through five innings the Saints still clung to a 5-4 lead. That's where the score remained through eight innings thanks to two scoreless innings by Nick Wittgren. Diego Castillo came on for the bottom of the ninth, trying to protect a one-run lead. He faced five batters. It went single, single, single, reach on error, walkoff single. The Saints had nine hits and five of them were doubles. Diego A. Castillo went 2-for-5 with his 19th double. Camargo went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. Payton Eeles went 2-for-4 with his fourth double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8, Arkansas 4 Box Score In the top of the first, it was Mariners’ catching prospect Harry Ford who put Arkansas on the scoreboard with a solo home run. Ford is a top 100 prospect. The Twins top catching prospect, Ricardo Olivar, evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning when he connected for his first home run with the Surge. Wichita took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Jefferson Morales doubled to drive in Tanner Schobel. Morales then scored on a Carson McCusker double to make it 3-1. In the sixth inning, the lead jumped to 4-1 when McCusker scored on a Tyler Dearden double. Cory Lewis made the start for the Wind Surge. He gave up the first-inning Ford homer and that was the only run he allowed over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up five hits, walked three, hit one, and struck out seven batters. Regi Grace replaced Lewis with a runner on and got out of the sixth inning unscathed. Unfortunately, in the top of the seventh, he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk. He gave up an RBI triple to Cole Young and then Hogan Windish hit a two-run homer which tied the game 4-4. Following the seventh inning stretch, Jorel Ortega gave Wichita the lead back with his ninth homer of the season. Miguel Rodriguez came on and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit… though he hit two batters. The Surge added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning. McCusker scored again, this time on a single by Aaron Sabato. Later in the inning, Ben Ross (who pinch-ran for Sabato) scored on Noah Cardenas double. Ortega drove in Cardenas with a single to make it 8-4. McCusker led the way. He went 4-for-4 with three doubles. He now has 25 on the season. Ortega went 2-for-4 with his ninth homer and two RBI. He also stole his eighth base Dalton Shuffield went 2-for-4. Schobel (17th), Morales (20th), Dearden (7th) and Cardenas (9th) each added a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, South Bend 2 Box Score Ricky Castro put together his best start since joining the Kernels. He gave up a first inning run, but that was the only run he gave up over six innings. He gave up four hits, walked two and had eight strikeouts. An Illinois native, he went undrafted out of Tulane. He ended the 2023 season with Juliet in the independent Frontier League. He made three appearances with them this spring before the Twins signed him on May 29th. He made just a handful of appearances in Fort Myers before joining the Kernels about three weeks ago. Down 1-0, the Kernels tied it in the bottom of the first inning. Gabriel Gonzalez hit a one-out single and scored on a Rubel Cespedes double. In the bottom of the second, Nick Lucky hit a one-out single and advanced to third on a Misael Urbina single. Lucky scored on a wild pitch. After Kyle Hess walked, Walker Jenkins singled to load the bases. Gonzalez followed with a walk to make it 3-1 Kernels. Mike Paredes gave up one run on one hit, a solo homer, over two innings. He had three strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez worked a scoreless ninth inning, although he did hit a batter. Gonzalez made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when he singled in Misael Urbina. South Bend cut the lead to 4-2 in the eighth inning when Andy Garriola hit his second home run. The Kernels got that run back in the bottom of the eighth. Nate Baez doubled, and after a Lucky single, Misael Urbina hit into a double play that drove in the fifth run. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Nate Baez was 2-for-3 with a walk and his ninth double. Lucky went 2-for-4. The Cespedes double was his 16th of the season. Kyle Hess had three walks in the game. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Lakeland 3 Box Score The Mussels scored single runs in the first, second and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead. In the first inning, Kyle DeBarge scored on a force out off the bat of Billy Amick. In the second inning, Caden Kendle hit an infield single to short, and Daniel Pena scored on the throwing error. In the fifth frame, the Mussels took a 3-0 lead when Brandon Winokur scored on a wild pitch. Charlee Soto continued his late-season success with another strong start. He gave up four hits and two walks over five scoreless innings. He had four strikeouts. Juan Bonilla worked a scoreless inning in his return from the injured list. Tomas Cleto was on the mound next. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning but was only able to get one out. He was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks. Juan Mercedes allowed an inherited runner to score, but he had three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. Lakeland tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning, but the Mussels responded with a three-run inning to take the commanding 6-3 lead. With two outs, Billy Amick doubled and Khadim Diaw walked. Daniel Pena drove in Amick with a single to right. Derek Bender walked to load the bases. Caden Kendle drove in two runs with his third double. Brandon Winokur went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 14th double. He also stole his 16th base. Kendle went 2-for-4 with the big, two-run double. Pena went 1-for-3 with a walk. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 6, DSL Mets Blue 12 Box Score The game was back and forth through the first six innings when the Twins scored two runs to make it 5-5. Unfortunately, the Mets scored seven runs over the next two innings to take control of the game. Anderson Chacon started for the Twins. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk over two innings. He had two strikeouts. Enyer Cepeda pitched the third inning and gave up an unearned run. Manuel Compres gave up a run on one hit and three walks over the next two innings. Aaron Carranza came in for the sixth inning. He gave up five runs (# earned) on three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Raymi Castillo got three outs and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. All three outs he got were on strikeouts. Daniel Manzueta got four outs and gave up only one walk. Nestor Urbina led the offense. He went 3-for-3 with his fourth double. He also stole his seventh base. Ricardo Paez went 2-for-3 with a walk and his fourth steal. Luis Fragoza had a single and two walks. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Charlee Soto (Mussels) - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 42 strikes (65.6%). Ricky Castro (Kernels) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 84 pitches, 57 strikes (67.9%). Hitter of the Day – Carson McCusker (Wind Surge) - 4-for-4, 3-2B(25), 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 Wednesday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-5, K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-4, BB, R, 2 RBI, K #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 64 pitches, 42 strikes (65.6%). #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 2-for-3, BB, 2B(14), SB(16). #13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, HB, 7 K, 86 pitches, 54 strikes (63.0%). #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 K, SB(7). #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-5, 2B(17), R, K. THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Indianapolis (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Aaron Rozek (0-1, 6.38 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (first AA start) South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (first High-A start) Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Jose Olivares (2-1, 2.90 ERA) DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

The Twins played the Guardians at Target Field. The Saints played the Guardians' Triple-A affiliate at CHS Field. A couple of two-run homers helped the Surge to a win. The Kernels got a tremendous relief appearance and scored early and often. The Mussels had a big inning and held on. Which 2024 draft pick launched his first professional homer? You can find all that and more in today's Twins Minor League Report. Image courtesy of David Malamut (@MWLArchives on X) Check out all that happened, and please ma CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 65-51 St. Paul Saints: 56-56 Wichita Wind Surge: 46-61 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 57-48 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 55-47 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 25-23 TRANSACTIONS The Twins sent Louie Varland, the 27th man on their roster for Friday night’s game, back to the Saints. Michael Helman was also activated off of the 7-Day IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 7, Columbus 11 Box Score Whereas the Twins and Guardians were in a pitchers’ duel at Target Field, the Twins Triple-A affiliate and Guardians Triple-A affiliate were involved in the opposite. Caleb Boushley started for the Saints. He gave up six runs on nine hits (including three homers) over four innings. Caleb Baragar gave up one hit in a scoreless fifth inning. Nick Wittgren pitched two innings. He gave up three unearned runs on three hits (one homer) over two innings. He had three strikeouts. Giovanny Gallegos got the eighth inning. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. Diego Castillo pitched the ninth and had a walk and a strikeout in a scoreless ninth. Down 6-0 in the fourth inning, the Saints got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with two runs off of Triston McKenzie. Diego A. Castillo led off with a single. With one out, Jair Camargo walked. After the second out, Wynton Bernard singled to drive in Castillo with the first run. Patrick Winkel singled to score Camargo. Down 9-2 at the seventh-inning stretch, the Saints got a third run. With two outs, Payton Eeles doubled. After stealing third base, he scored on a wild pitch. Down 11-3 going to the bottom of the eighth, the Saints offense attempted a comeback again. The inning started with singles from Castillo and DaShawn Keirsey. After a pitching change, Camargo doubled to drive in a run. Michael Helman walked. Keirsey scored on a Bernard force out. Winkel then drove in two more runs with another double. Going to the bottom of the ninth inning down 11-7, the Saints tried to mount a two-out comeback. Keirsey singled and stole second base. He scored when Camargo reached on an infield error. There was a wild pitch and a Helman walk, but the game ended with a ground out. For the Clippers, Kyle Manzardo went 3-for-5 with his 16th home run. Estevan Florial was 4-for-4 with a walk, double, three home runs and seven RBI. Winkel went 2-for-4 with his 14th double. Castillo went 2-for-4. Keirsey went 2-for-4 with his 27th stolen base. Edouard Julien hit a double. Camargo was 1-for-3 with two walks and his 11th double. In his first game back with the Saints, Helman was 1-for-3 with two walks. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Corpus Christi 3 Box Score The Wind Surge jumped ahead early, fell behind in the middle innings, and then took the lead back in the eighth frame. Were they able to hang on? Tyler Dearden led off the top of the second inning and reached on a fielding error. With one out, Tanner Schobel launched his ninth homer of the season to give the Surge a 2-0 lead. Travis Adams started and gave up one run on one hit and one walk over five innings. He had five strikeouts. John Stankiewicz came in for the sixth inning. He gave up two runs on three hits, and the Surge were down 3-2. Travis Floyd came in and threw two perfect innings. With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Jake Rucker singled. Jeferson Morales launched his eighth home run of the season, a two-run blast that gave the Surge a 4-3 lead. That’s where the score remained entering the bottom of the ninth. Kyle Bischoff came on and struck out two batters in a perfect inning for his second save. Schobel went 2-for-4 with a homer in the game. The Surge had just six hits. Morales had the huge homer in the eighth inning. Carson McCusker hit his 22nd double, a pinch hit. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 1 Box Score The Kernels scored in five of nine innings including a three-run sixth inning on their way to an easy win in Illinois. Connor Prielipp made the start and it had its ups and downs. In 2 2/3 innings, he gave up one run on no hits. He also had five strikeouts. On the other side, he had five walks. Rafael Marcano came in with two runners on base. He got the third out of the third inning, but not until giving up a hit that scored the run charged to Prielipp. Cedar Rapids got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning. Kevin Maitan led off with a ground-rule double. He scored on a single by Nate Baez. Peoria tied the score in the bottom of the third inning. However, they retook the lead in the fifth frame. With two outs, Nick Lucky hit his first Kernels homer to give them a 2-1 lead. In the sixth inning, Gabriel Gonzalez led off with a walk. He moved to third base on Poncho Ruiz’s first Kernels double. Maitan then drove in two runs with a single. With one out, Wingrove walked. Following a pitching change, Maitan scored on a throwing error. The eighth inning began with singles by Maitan and Baez. After an out, Misael Urbina walked to load the bases. With two outs, Lucky walked to make it 6-1 Kernels. In the ninth, Gonzalez led off with a walk again. He moved to second on a wild pitch, and after a fly out, he moved to third on another wild pitch. Maitan came up and drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to conclude the scoring at 7-1. The pitching star of the game usually gets written about near the top of an article, but you could say that we’re burying the lede here a bit. Ty Langenberg came in for the fourth inning and completed the final six innings of the game. He gave up no runs on four hits. He had seven strikeouts without a walk. Maitan went 3-for-3 with a walk, his 12th double, three runs and three RBI. Baez went 2-for-4 with a walk. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Jupiter 2 Box Score A few players were promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Several others were transferred from the Mussels to the FCL Twins roster. However, the Fort Myers roster has basically become Brandon Winokur and the 2024 Draft’s Hitters, at least from the offensive side of the game. That group pulled together for a big five-run second inning to give the early lead. With one out in the top of the second inning, Jaime Ferrer singled and stole second. He scored on a Jay Thomason single. The Air Force alum then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Daniel Pena, another holdover on the roster, reached on a walk. Derek Bender was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Caden Kendle drove in the second run with a ground out to third base. That put runners on second and third with two outs. Leadoff man, Kaelen Culpepper, came to the plate and drilled a shot down the left field line. It managed to stay fair. The Twins top draft pick drove in three runs with his first professional home run. The Mussels led 5-0. Intriguing 19-year-old Adrian Bohorquez came up to the Mussels following the FCL season. He made his first start and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in four innings. He had six strikeouts. In case you were wondering, his fastball averaged 95.0 mph with a max of 96.8 mph. He has an upper-80s slider/cutter. He also threw a few slow curveballs in the upper-70s. Jack Noble came on and gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs, over two scoreless innings. He had three strikeouts. Cleiber Maldonado pitched the seventh inning. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. Xander Hamilton struck out three batters over the final two innings for his ninth save. He got all six batters that he faced out. The offense slowed outside of their big second inning. They did add on one run in the sixth inning when Daniel Pena singled in Ferrer with the team’s sixth run. Pena went 2-for-3 with a walk in the game. Billy Amick was 2-for-4. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 11, DSL Yankees 1 Box Score The DSL Twins managed to score 11 runs despite just seven hits and two walks. They also were hit by a pitch four times. In addition, the Yankees squad had five errors in the game and the Twins took advantage. The Twins scored two runs in each of the first three innings. They added one run in the fourth inning, and then scored four runs in the fifth inning. On the mound, 18-year-old Melvin Rodriguez gave up one run on four hits and a walk over five innings. He had six strikeouts. He is now 3-3 with a 2.98 ERA on the season. He has completed five innings in three of his past four starts, and he went 4 2/3 innings in the other start. In his past three starts, he has given up two runs in 14 2/3 innings. Nestor Cafe worked two scoreless, hitless innings. He had four walks but also five strikeouts. Daiber De Los Santos went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. He stole home for his 13th stolen base. Ricardo Paez went 1-for-2 with his fourth double and two RBI. Nestor Urbina went 1-for-3 with a walk, his first triple, and two RBI. Victor Leal was hit twice. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Ty Langenberg (Kernels) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 74 pitches, 52 strikes (70.3%). Hitter of the Day – Kevin Maitan (Kernels) - 3-for-3, BB, 2B(12), 3 R, 3 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 Saturday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-5, K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-2, 2 BB, HBP, 2 R #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (FCL Twins) - 1-for-4, BB, HR(1), R, 3 RBI. SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) – LHP Christian MacLeod (first AAA start) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (5:05 PM CST) – TBD Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (2:05 PM CST) – RHP John Klein (7-2, 4.56 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (11:00 AM CST) – LHP Ross Dunn (1-3, 6.13 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

Not really any comparison to Buxton's contract at the point it was signed. Buxton was one year from free agency. Lewis will be four years from free agency. What would he make in arbitration if he stays healthy and produces? 2025: $5M, 2026: $10M, 2027: $18M, 2028: $25M... (4 years, $58M) What would he get going year to year if he maintains current health and production? 2025: $3M, 2026: $6M, 2027: $10M, 2028: $12 M (4 years, $31M) Lewis/Boras would say No to the latter. There is no reason for the Twins to take on all the risk of the top one. I'd argue that it'd be right around that same, $15 million mark. So here is where I would want it to be (And obviously they can shift the money around to make it make sense). Signing Bonus: $10M, 2025: $3.5M, 2026: $7.5M, 2027: $12M, 2028: $13M, 2029: $17M, 2030: $16M, 2031: $15M, 2032: $15M, 2033: $14M, 2034: $14M. Counting the Signing Bonus, Lewis would be at 4 years and $36 million over his arbitration years. It's a bit on the lower end of the year-to-year numbers above, but it'd be giving up some there to have generational wealth guaranteed, PLUS much more with incentives. Overall, it's a 10 year, $137 million contract. I would start the "Buxton Bonuses" starting in 2027... Buxton Bonuses: performance bonuses: $500,000 each for 502, 533, 567, 600, 625 plate appearances award bonuses: $8M for AL MVP ($7M for second place in vote, $6M for third place, $5M for fourth place, $4M for fifth place, $3M for sixth-10th place) So, if he had 625 plate appearances and won MVP, he could make an additional $10.5 million in any season. If they want to add three more years on at the end at $10M per year, I'd be fine with that. That'd make it 13 years and $167 guaranteed.

The White Sox won a game this week, ending their losing streak at 21 games. To celebrate, the White Sox have fired their manager, one-time Twins minor leaguer Pedro Grifol.

Two of the top Twins pitching prospects were on the mound on Wednesday night and were on their games. The Mussels had a huge first inning to take a big win. Wichita and Saint Paul waited until late in their games to get some really big hits. Image courtesy of William Parmeter CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 63-50 St. Paul Saints: 55-54 Wichita Wind Surge: 45-59 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 55-47 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 53-46 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 23-22 TRANSACTIONS Kyle Farmer and Justin Topa continued their rehab assignments with the Saints. Rayne Doncon was placed on the Kernels’ 7-Day Injured List with a sprained wrist. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Columbus 2 Box Score Remember Matthew Boyd, the former Tigers lefty start who had a couple of really solid years in Detroit? Well, he is currently pitching for the Guardians Triple-A affiliate. On Wednesday afternoon, he started against the Saints. He started with five straight perfect innings. In the bottom of the sixth, he got the first two batters out, but Payton Eeles singled off the glove of shortstop Gabriel Arias and into center field. Certainly a sigh of relief when, in the top of the seventh, Columbus removed Boyd from the game. In the seventh, Rylan Bannon led off with a walk, but the next three batters were out. But then came the eighth inning. With one out, Diego A. Castillo was hit by a pitch. Minnesotan Sam Hentges (who is rehabbing ahead of the big Twins/Guardians series) came in for the Clippers. Patrick Winkel doubled which sent Castillo to third. Dalton Shuffield followed with a single to third base that scored both runs after a throwing error. Eeles followed with a single to left that gave the Saints a 3-2 lead. After another pitching change and a second out, Kyle Farmer doubled down the right field line to drive in Eeles with the team’s fourth run. It was another bullpen game for the Saints with Louie Varland set to be the Twins 27th man and make a start at Target Field in one of the games on Friday. Ronny Henriquez started and gave up one run on five hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. Caleb Baragar worked the next 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on one hit. He walked three and had two strikeouts. The rehabbing Justin Topa pitched a scoreless sixth inning. He gave up one hit, but struck out two batters. Jeff Brigham gave up a single, but then struck out three batters in a scoreless seventh frame. Scott Blewett pitched a scoreless eighth inning. After the Saints took the lead in the bottom of the eighth, it was Diego Castillo who came on. He allowed two base runners, but no runs to record his seventh save. The Saints had five hits. Payton Eeles went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Farmer and Winkel each had a double in the game. Farmer played in his second rehab game with the Saints. Could he be back for the Guardians’ series? Who would come down to St. Paul? WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Corpus Christi 0 Box Score When a team throws a shutout, it’s always wise to start with the pitching. It’ll surprise no one that Andrew Morris was on the mound to start for the Wind Surge. The young right-hander tossed seven shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out nine batters to improve to 6-3 with Wichita. Kyle Bischoff worked a scoreless eighth inning despite walking three batters. Miguel Rodriguez picked up his fourth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning. The Wind Surge didn’t exactly mash their way to a win. They scored three runs on just three hits, but those hits were big hits. In the third inning, Ben Ross put the team on the scoreboard with his ninth home run of the season. Ross had two of the three hits for Wichita in this game. He also stole his 15th base of the season. The score remained 1-0 until the eighth inning when Luke Keaschall came up with a runner on and two outs. He launched his eighth homer since joining the Wind Surge to give the team their 3-0 lead. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Peoria 4 Box Score The Kernels offense didn’t muster much in this game. In fact, they were scoreless through seven innings. Down 2-0, they scored one in the top of the eighth inning, but Peoria added two in the bottom half of the inning for the game’s final score. The loss was the seventh straight for the Kernels. Darren Bowen started for the Kernels. In four innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had two walks and struck out four batters. Mike Paredes came on and struck out four batters over three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits but no walks. Jacob Wosinski came in for the eighth and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. In the top of the eighth, Jose Salas led off with his 11th double. After an out, Gabriel Gonzalez singled off of the pitcher toward second base. After a pitching change, Kevin Maitan drove in Salas with a sacrifice fly. Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a walk. Poncho Ruiz went 1-for-2 with two walks. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 10, Jupiter 2 Box Score If you are playing on the road, this is a good example of how to start out a game. And what is also really good for a road team is when the starter takes an 8-0 lead after half an inning, works fast and throws several zeroes on the board. Charlee Soto did just that. I believe we have a new contender for Soto’s best career start. The right-hander tossed five scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out three batters. In doing so, he recorded the first professional win of his career. Devin Kirby came in and gave up two runs on one hit and two walks over two innings. He had four strikeouts. Cleiber Maldonado tossed the final two innings. He gave up no runs, one hit, walked one and had two strikeouts. Six of the nine batters in the Mussels starting lineup were selected in the 2024 draft. However, it was a member of the Twins 2023 draft who had the biggest game. Brandon Winokur went 3-for-5 with his first inning, two-run homer. It was his eighth home run of the season. Billy Amick went 2-for-5 and stole his first base. Derek Bender was 2-for-4 with a walk. Caden Kendle walked once and hit his second double in as many games. Jaime Ferrer had a walk and his first professional double. Rixon Wingrove hit his 11th double and also walked. DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Twins 4, DSL Yankees 14 Box Score The DSL Twins took on the Yankees on Wednesdays. The Yankees went ahead early, and then they went ahead by even more, and then some more yet. Cristian Hernandez started and was charged with two runs on three hits and two walks over the first two innings. Eudy Garcia came in and gave up five runs on three hits and three walks in just 1 2/3 innings. Manuel Compres recorded two outs and was charged with four runs on two hits and two walks. Sebastian Pulido entered the game with the bases loaded and allowed all three inherited runners to score. He was also charged with three runs of his own on six hits and a walk. At that point, catcher Irvin Nunez came on and got the final four outs. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and had two strikeouts. The Twins scored four runs on seven hits and five walks. Alver Medina went 2-for-4 in the game. Victor Leal was 1-for-2 with two walks and a double. Carlos Silva had a walk and a double. Nestor Urbina also added a double. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris (Wind Surge) - 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 79 pitches, 61 strikes (77.2%). Charlee Soto (Mussels) - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 45 pitches, 32 strikes. (71.1%) Hitter of the Day – Brandon Winokur (Mussels) - 3-for-4, HR(8), R, 2 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 Saturday. And, be sure to note the new, updated Top 20 rankings. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4 #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, RBI #4 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-for-4, HR(8), R, 2 RBI. #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 2-for-3, BB. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 45 pitches, 32 strikes. (71.1%) #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (FCL Twins) - Not playing games yet. Getting ready in the FCL. #11 - Andrew Morris (Wichita) - 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 79 pitches, 61 strikes (77.2%) #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 3-for-5, HR(8), R, 2 RBI. #14 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R. #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, BB, R, RBI. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-4, 2 K THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Zebby Matthews (1-2, 7.07 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (1-2, 3.77 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Ricky Castro (0-2, 4.00 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Tanner Hall (3-0, 5.22 ERA) DSL Tigers @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

Yeah, the injured and Bereavement Lists are pretty self-explanatory. Really, the temporary inactive list is too, although I would say that it's really a catch-all term for the guy needs to be away from the team for a couple of days, and we're perfectly fine with it. I don't know what Winkel had... but maybe it's a sibling getting married and the player getting to spend 3 days with the family. I hate to even throw ideas out there of what else. The Development List basically took the place or gave a more-formal name to the old Fake Injured List. Instead of putting a guy on the list with no real injury, they call it something more positive. We've seen it a lot with the Double-A starting pitchers. We've seen them put most of the starters there on the Dev List. Just a formality to add another starter to the roster since the starters won't be available out of the bullpen.

It was a very busy week in the Twins minor league system. Lots of transactions. Some big games and strong offensive and pitching performances. In addition, 2024 draft picks had to be signed this week. Also, the trade deadline is always an interesting time for prospects. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge AWARDS The past several days, we have been handing out our Twins and Twins Minor League Awards for August. If you missed any of those articles, you can click on them below. Minor League Hitter of the Month Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month DRAFT NOTES On Friday night, the deadline passed to sign 2024 draft picks. The Twins signed 20 of their 22 draft picks including the first 17 players they selected. The two that didn't sign are 16th rounder Aidan Haugh (returning to North Carolina) and 20th rounder Merit Jones (heading back to Utah). First-round pick Kaelen Culpepper signed his contract on Friday at Target Field. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before that game. On Saturday, Kyle DeBarge (compensation pick, UL-Lafayette), Billy Amick (2nd round, Tennessee), Khadim Diaw (3rd round, Loyola Marymount) and Jaime Ferrer (4th round, Florida State) were added to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels active roster. All four were in the Mussels lineup on Saturday, but Tropical Storm-turned-Hurricane Debby caused Saturday and Sunday's games to be canceled. At last count, the Twins have also signed four players who went undrafted including Ivran Romero whose story will make your eyes sweat, or, if you're more honest, tears will flow. Since the draft, @Ted Schwerzler has done Get to Know 'Em interviews/articles with several of the Twins 2024 draft picks: Comp Pick: Kyle DeBarge Competitive Balance: Dasan Hill 3rd Round: Khadim Diaw 5th Round: Caden Kendle 7th Round: Eli Jones 9th Round: Jason Doktorczyk 10th Round: Peyton Carr 11th Round: Michael Carpenter 12th Round: Christian Becerra 17th Round: Jay Thomason 18th Round: Michael Ross 19th Round: Logan Whitaker TRANSACTIONS (Monday Transactions) The Twins placed LHP Steven Okert on the Bereavement List. They recalled RHP Josh Winder from St. Paul. IF Yohander Martinez was sent to the FCL Twins roster from Fort Myers. C Wilfri Castro placed on Fort Myers Development. St. Paul C Patrick Winkel activated from the Temporary Inactive List. The Saints also activated DH Alex Isola from the Development List. In addition, IF Kaelen Culpepper and LHP Dasan Hill have been added to the FCL Twins roster. WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints Overall: 54-53 (4-2 last week) Fourth place in the IL West. DaShawn Keirsey found himself back in the leadoff spot much of last week. He responded by going 10-for-22, hitting .455/.500/.636 (1.136) with a double and a homer. He walked twice and was 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts. Payton Eeles just might be more than a tremendously inspirational story. He’s flat-out a ball player! In five games last week, he hit .353/.455/.647 (1.102) with a triple, a huge homer, and four RBI. He also had four walks. Veteran Wynton Bernard has really been a nice spark for the Saints. In five games, he hit .304/.360/.565(.925) with a double, triple and homer. Also stole three bases in three attempts. Yunior Severino had a two homer, six RBI game. Edouard Julien .320/.433/.400 (.833) on the week. It appears that Justin Topa’s rehab is reaching its final days. Over last week’s games, Topa pitched three innings over three games. He gave up just two hits and a walk and struck out four batters. Louie Varland put together his best start of the season. He tossed six shutout innings. He gave up just five hits and one walk. He also had eight strikeouts. Could he be called back to the big leagues soon? Ronny Henriquez made a spot start in a bullpen game and worked another more traditional relief appearance. In total, he worked four scoreless innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and had eight strikeouts! Matt Bowman, Jeff Brigham, Diego Castillo, and Nick Wittgren each pitched two scoreless innings over two appearances during the week. They combined for 12 strikeouts over those eight innings. Also, lefty Brent Headrick is throwing bullpens now in Fort Myers. No updates on his status. What’s Next: The Saints will be back home, hosting the Columbus Clippers for six games at CHS Field. Lots going on throughout the week. On Thursday evening, the Saints will be baseball legend and former Saints player, Joe Black. Friday night will be Scouts Hall of Fame Night, and fireworks. On Saturday, the massaging nun will be there, and the first 1,500 fans will receive a Sister Ros bobblehead! Click here to see the schedule and order your tickets. Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Overall: 43-59 (2-4 last week) Fifth place in the Texas League North 2nd Half: 12-21: Fifth place in TXLN. In his first week of Double-A ball, Ricardo Olivar played in five games. He went 8-for-21 and hit .381/.409/.476 (.885) with two doubles. Ben Ross had a tremendous month of July. In the past week, he continued by hitting .348. Jake Rucker also hit .348 over six games played. Travis Adams (the hero) made two starts last week. He went 0-1 despite a 0.75 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. In 12 innings, he gave up two runs (1 earned) on eight hits and one walk. Cory Lewis came out of the bullpen and earned his first career save. He tossed the final four innings in a game and despite four hits and two walks, he gave up no runs. He had five strikeouts. Lefties Christian MacLeod and Aaron Rozek each made a start. Both went 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs. Both had eight strikeouts. Aaron Sabato went 1-for-17 (.059). Luke Keaschall went 2-for-19 (.105). What’s Next: Traveling to Corpus Christi, Texas, to play six games. High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels Overall: 55-45 (1-5 last week) Second place in the Midwest League West 2nd Half: 18-18: Second place in the MWLW (5.5 GB) Jose Salas played all six games. He went 6-for-20 and hit a triple. He led the Kernels with a .764 OPS. Mike Paredes pitched five scoreless, one-hit innings of relief in his appearance. He had four strikeouts, no walks. Jordan Carr had one appearance and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out four batters. Spencer Bengard made his Kernels debut and did what he’d been doing all season in Fort Myers. He tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and two walks and had just one strikeout. C.J. Culpepper continued his return with two perfect relief innings and three strikeouts. Nolan Santos struck out two batters in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Ty Langenberg made one start. He worked six innings and was charged with three runs (1 earned) on six hits. He had no walks and five strikeouts. Kyle Hess went 1-for-16 (.067). In Nick Lucky’s first week in Cedar Rapids, he went 0-for-10 with four walks and five strikeouts. Walker Jenkins' first week in Cedar Rapids? He played in five games and hit .176/.318/.176 (.494). He had two walks What’s Next: Cedar Rapids head back on the road. They’ll be playing six games in Peoria, Illinois. The following week, they will return to Cedar Rapids to take on the South Bend Cubs. Low-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Overall: 51-46 (1-3 last week) Second place in Florida State League West 2nd half: 20-12, First place in FSL West (1 game lead) Rixon Wingrove led the Mussels offense. In four games, he went 4-for-12 and hit .333/.467/.750 (1.217) with two doubles and a home run. Poncho Ruiz went 5-for-14 and hit .357/.471/500 (.971). When four of the 2024 draft picks were announced as joining the Mussels roster, Ruiz was promoted to Cedar Rapids. In his one game with the Kernels, he went 1-for-3 with a walk. Tanner Hall went six innings in his start. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out nine batters. He also tossed a very rare Immaculate Inning this week. Lefty Wilker Reyes worked in two of the team’s four games. In 3 2/3 scoreless innings, he gave up just one hit, no walks, and he had seven strikeouts! Another lefty, Tomas Cleto also worked in two games out of the bullpen. He gave up just one hit over three shutout innings. He had Jack Noble struck out six batters over three scoreless innings in his relief appearance. He gave up just one hit. And, Adrian Bohorquez made his much-anticipated Mussels’ debut. He came on in relief and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked none and struck out for batters. Byron Chourio went 0-for-12 with two walks and seven strikeouts. Yasser Mercedes went 2-for-14 (.143) with two singles. He walked three times. Angel Del Rosario went 1-for-10, though the one hit was a double, and he walked three times. What’s Next: The Mussels will travel to Jupiter to take on the Hammerheads for six games. Dominican Summer League: DSL Twins Overall: 23-20: Fourth place in Dominican Summer League South Ramiro Dominguez went 5-for-8 with three walks and a home run over his three games played. That’s a slash line of .625/.727/1.000 (1.727), if you were wondering. Irvin Nunez went 3-for-7 (.429) with two doubles and five walks (no strikeouts!) for an OPS of 1.381. Luis Fragoza went 4-for-10 (.400) with two walks and a home run. He had a 1.271 OPS and was 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Daiber De Los Santos played all four games. He went 7-for-19 with four doubles and a home run. He walked four times. He also drove in 10 runs and stole five bases. Victor Leal played in three games and went 5-for-12 (.417) with an OPS of 1.200 and a home run and two walks. Merphy Hernandez played all four games and went 6-for-16 with an impressive nine walks to just two strikeouts. He hit .375/.600/.563 (1.163) with a homer and six RBI. Eduardo Beltre was the TD Minor League Hitter of the Month for July. Last week, he had the seventh-best OPS on the DSL Twins roster (1.038!). In four game, he went just 4-for-17 and hit just .235, but he had four walks, a double, and two home runs. The pitching wasn’t quite as impressive for the DSL Twins last week. However, Sebastian Pulido came on in relief twice and tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out two. Melvin Rodriguez made a start. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits and a walk. In 4 2/3 innings, he had five strikeouts. 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) – 3-for-17, .176/.318/.176 (494), 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K. #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 4-for-16, .250/.368/.250 (.618), R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, K #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Wichita) - Injured List #4 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 2-for-19, .105/.357/.105 (.462), 5 R, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K, 2 SB. #5 – Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) – 1 GS, 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 5 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 8 K #6 - David Festa (Minnesota) - 2 GS, 1-1, 1.80 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, .147 BAA, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 15 K. (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 9 K vs Cubs) #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-20, .150/.292/.200 (.492), 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K. #8 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – Did Not Pitch. #9 - Kaelen Culpepper (FCL Twins) - Officially signed on Friday, placed on FCL Twins roster. #10 - Marco Raya (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-0, 8.31 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K. #11 - Andrew Morris (Wichita) - 1 GS, 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K. #12 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 4-for-16, .250/.294/.250 (.544), R, 2 RBI, BB, 4 K #13 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 1 G, 0-0, 1 Save, 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K. #14 - Yasser Mercedes (Fort Myers) - 2-for-14, .143/.333/.143 (.476), 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K. #15 - Kala’i Rosario (Wichita) - Injured List #16 - Kyle DeBarge (Fort Myers) - Assigned to Fort Myers. No games yet. #17 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 2-for-16, .125/.176/.250 (.426), 2-2B, R, RBI, BB, 4 K #18 - Dasan Hill (FCL Twins) - Placed on FCL Twins roster. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K. #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 1 GS, 0-1, 10.13, 2.25 WHIP, 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K Hitter of the Week - DaShawn Keirsey (Saints) 10-22, .455/.500/.636 (1.136), 2B, HR, 6 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 4-for-4 SB Pitcher of the Week - Travis Adams (Wind Surge) 12.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K View full article

Louie Varland appears to have figured some things out and should soon be back with the Twins soon. Our Minor League Hitter of the Month celebrated with another big home run on Saturday. Lefties Aaron Rozek and Jordan Carr were terrific. Connor Prielipp was back on the mound for the Kernels. Check out Saturday's Minor League Report. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 60-48 St. Paul Saints: 54-52 Wichita Wind Surge: 42-59 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 55-44 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 51-46 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 23-19 TRANSACTIONS Poncho Ruiz was promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Isaac Pena transferred from Fort Myers to the FCL Twins roster. 2024 draft picks Kyle DeBarge (Comp), Billy Amick (2nd), Khadim Diaw (3rd) and Jaime Ferrer (4th) have been added to the Fort Myers roster and will be starting their professional careers. Cedar Rapids C Dillon Tatum has been released by the Twins organization. The Twins also released RHP Matt Helwig from the Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Iowa 1 Box Score The Saints put a couple of crooked numbers on the scoreboard, and Louie Varland put together arguably the best start of his season, to gain a nice win in Des Moines. Let’s start with Louie! The St. Paul native tossed six shutout innings. He gave up five hits and one walk, and he had eight strikeouts. All five hits were singles. 70% of his 86 pitches were strikes. It’s really hard to ask for anything more than that. With one out in the top of the third inning, Edouard Julien got things started with a single. Yunior Severino followed with a single as well. A wild pitch put runners on second and third. Julien scored on a Jair Camargo ground out. Rylan Bannon walked. That brought Wynton Bernard to the plate and he drove in two runs with a double. The score remained 3-0 Saints until the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Payton Eeles triples to right and scored on a Dalton Shuffield double. With two outs, Shuffield scored on a single by DaShawn Keirsey that made it 5-0. Josh Winder had two strikeouts in a perfect seventh inning. Matt Bowman was charged with an unearned run in the eighth inning. Diego Castillo came in for the ninth. He gave up two hits, but no runs, to end the game with a 5-1 lead. The Saints notched eight hits and five walks. DaShawn Keirsey went 2-for-5 with an RBI. He also stole his 25th base of the season. Six other Saints had at least one hit. The two Saints starters that didn’t have a hit? Camargo still had an RBI, and Bannon walked twice. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, NW Arkansas 4 Box Score The Wind Surge got another very solid start from lefty Aaron Rozek on Saturday night, but the offense was just unable to provide the offensive support needed. The southpaw from Burnsville gave up two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He had eight strikeouts to go with no walks. Travis Floyd came on and gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Kyle Bischoff came on and gave up just a walk and two strikeouts over two scoreless, hitless innings. Wichita went scoreless until the eighth inning. Jorel Ortega led off the inning with his eighth home run of the season. Two flyouts and a groundout ended that inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Aaron Sabato walked with two outs. But that was it and the Wind Surge fell 4-1. The Wind Surge had just six hits. Along with Ortega’s home run, Ben Ross’s 14th double of the season was the only other extra base hit. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Great Lakes 6 Box Score Not much offense for the Kernels on Saturday night. The team managed just three singles and two (Nick) Lucky walks. In the game. Connor Prielipp was back on the mound for his second start with the Kernels. He gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. Juan Mendez came on with two runners on and allowed both to score before getting the final out of the third inning. C.J. Culpepper came out of the bullpen for his second appearance since returning from the Injured List. Jordan Carr came in and tossed four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and had four strikeouts. That was the story of the game. Great Lakes scored their six runs all in the third inning. The Kernels got on the board with a run in the eighth frame. Nick Lucky scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Walker Jenkins. If you want, you can replace the word "Kernels" with the name "Oat Milkers," if you really want to. I couldn't do it. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers, St. Lucie (PPD, rain) Box Score Postponed by Rain. Game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. Then, hopefully, those 2024 draft picks will be able to make their professional debuts. All for were in in the top six of the Mussels scheduled lineup for Saturday. Of note, with Tropical Storm (or maybe Hurricane) Debby's rain hitting Fort Myers starting tonight and through the weekend, it will be quite interesting to see if they play on Sunday, and if so, how?! Sounds like the "hurricane" will make landfall up in the "Big Bend" area of Florida. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 3, DSL Tigers 2 Box Score Down 1-0 after a half-inning, the DSL Twins came to the plate. With one out, Daiber De Los Santos was hit by a pitch and stole second. Eduardo Beltre, the Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for July, hit his eighth home run of the short season to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. For most of the rest of the game, it was all about pitching. Melvin Rodriguez gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. He had five strikeouts. Sebastian Pulido gave up three hits over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He had no walks or strikeouts. Aiberson Ventura pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn the win. That’s because, in the bottom of the eighth, Merphy Hernandez started the inning at second base. He reached third base on an interference call on the shortstop on a pickoff attempt to second. Soon after, Hernandez scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Not exactly the most exciting way to win a walkoff. The Twins had six hits and two walks, a far cry from Friday’s 21 run, 17 hit, 11 walk (14 wild pitch) performance. Victor Leal and Lis Fragoza each had a single and a walk. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Louie Varland (Saints) - 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K. Hitter of the Day – Eduardo Beltre (DSL Twins) - 1-for-3, HR(8), R, 2 RBI, HBP, 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. And, be sure to note the new, updated Top 20 rankings. #1– Walker Jenkins (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-3, RBI SF #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 2-for-4, 2 RBI. #4 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-for-4, 2 K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-3. #19 - C.J. Culpepper (Cedar Rapids) - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. 28 pitches, 18 strikes (64.3%) #20 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. 45 pitches, 31 strikes. (68.9%) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Iowa (1:08 PM CST) – RHP Caleb Boushley, 4.47 ERA) NW Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Travis Adams (4-6, 4.83 ERA) Great Lakes @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Ty Langenberg (3-0, 4.70 ERA) St. Lucie @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 11:05 AM CST) – LHP Cesar Lares (2-3, 4.40 ERA), RHP Charlee Soto (0-4, 5.64 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games. View full article

The top five Twins minor league hitters for the month of July all have different experiences and at different levels. From Rookie Ball to Triple A. From a player who has been in the organization for six years, and one who signed less than four weeks ago. July is a very interesting month, in my opinion, in minor-league baseball. While transactions tend to start in mid-to-late June, there are a lot of promotions, demotions, additions and releases in July. The past three years, the draft has been a huge part of the month. The All Star break covers not only the big leagues but also minor leaguers get four days off too. There are lots of legitimate reasons for numbers to fluctuate during the month. One good example of this is a guy who you won’t see below, not in the top 5 and not among those honorably mentioned. Yasser Mercedes played 15 games for the FCL Twins to end their season. In those games, he hit .327/.411/.633 (1.044) with nine doubles and two homers. Incredible numbers, and notably, he had seven walks and nine strikeouts. However, the FCL season came to an end, and he was (rightfully) promoted to the Mighty Mussels so that his season could continue. He played five games with the Mussels and went 2-for-23, hitting .087/.160/.087 (.247) with no walks and 13 strikeouts. So, what’s more important? Being written about in your favorite Twins website for having a strong final three weeks of the FCL season, or the organization wanting to continue your season and push his development. We all know that answer, so I’m still going to mention Yasser Mercedes. Well, not after this point, but he got two paragraphs! What a great month for hitters in the Twins minor leagues! Unfortunately, it was one of the worst hitting months for the big league hitters. HONORABLE MENTIONS IF Ben Ross - Wichita Wind Surge - 21 G, 25-for-77, .325/.388/.494 (.882) with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 R, 11 RBI, 6 BB, 19 K. 1B/2B/CF Luke Keaschall - Wichita Wind Surge - 20 G, 22-for-76, .290/.426/.513 (.939) with 2 doubles, 5 home runs, 15 R. 12 RBI, 12 BB, 14 K. IF/OF Nick Lucky - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/Cedar Rapids Kernels - 19 G, 17-for-62, .274/.384/.565 (.948) with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 10 R, 10 RBI, 9 BB, 24 K. OF Walker Jenkins - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels/Cedar Rapids Kernels - 17 G, 18-for-62, .290/.451/.419 (.871) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 12 R, 15 RBI, 18 BB, 10 K. 1B Kevin Maitan - Cedar Rapids Kernels - 22 G, 23-for-85, .271/.319/.506 (.825) with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 R, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 24 K. 1B Yunior Severino - St. Paul Saints - 18 G, 21-for-73, .288/.361/.507 (.868) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 12 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 21 K C Ricardo Olivar - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Wichita Wind Surge - 21 G, 24-for-77, .312/.407/.442 (.848) with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 14 R, 8 RBI, 13 BB, 14 K. THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - Wichita Wind Surge - OF Carson McCusker - 22 G, 24-for-84, .286/.384/.548 (.931), 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 10 R, 17 R, 13 RBI, 10 BB, 22 K. After four years at Oklahoma State, McCusker went undrafted in 2021. He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with Tri-City in the independent Frontier League. That’s where he began the 2023 season as well, but after 37 games, he was hitting .433/.480/.822 (1.302) with 10 doubles and 17 home runs. The Twins noticed and signed him. He started with the Mighty Mussels and then contributed to the Kernels championship season to end the 2023 season. This season McCusker, who turned 26 in May, has spent the full season at Double-A Wichita. In 79 games, he has hit .274/.360/.446 (.806) with 20 doubles, two triples and nine home runs. He’s played an equal number of games in left field and right field while also DHing in about 25% of games. At 6-8, he looks the part of long-time Cleveland and Milwaukee slugger Richie Sexson. He has immense power potential to go with quite a bit of swing and miss. In July, McCusker was tied for the Twins minor-league lead with 17 runs scored. He ranked second in the organization with 24 hits, eight doubles, and four home runs. Number 4 - St. Paul Saints - C/1B Chris Williams - 20 G, 18-for-67, .269/.363/.627 (.989), 3 doubles, 7 home runs, 17 R, 14 RBI, 9 BB, 26 K. Williams was the Twins eighth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Clemson. He was always a solid contributor as he moved up the organization. He made his first Triple-A appearance in 2022. In 42 games with the Saints, he had 10 home runs. Last year, he hit 21 homers in 95 games for the Saints. With 12 homer runs this season in St. Paul, he has passed Mark Contreras for the all-time Saints lead in home runs (yes, going all the way back to 2021). A slugger, Williams has played several positions this season to give him at least some extra theoretical flexibility. Along with 31 starts behind the plate, 11 starts in lefty field and six starts at first base. The past two seasons with the Saints, he had made 81 starts at first base with a combined 31 starts behind the plate. Reports indicate that he has made himself into a really solid defensive catcher, a guy that pitchers want to throw to In July, Williams led the Twins minors in home runs (7), runs scored (17) and slugging percentage (.627). He was top three in OPS (.990) and RBI (14). Number 3 - St. Paul Saints - C Patrick Winkel - 14 G, 18-for-50, .360/.396/.580 (.976), 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 R, 12 RBI, 3 BB, 13 K. The Twins have very aggressively pushed Winkel since he was the team’s ninth round draft pick in 2021 out of U-Conn. That summer, he played in 21 games in Fort Myers. In 2022, he missed the first month or more but played 54 games for the Kernels. In 2023, he hit .266/.362/.424 (.787) with 16 doubles and 10 homers in 88 games for Wichita. This year, the Saints pushed him straight to Triple-A. In 58 games with the Saints, he has hit .234/.292/.366 (.657) with 12 doubles and five home runs. In July, Jair Camargo spent a bit of time with the Twins which gave Winkel the opportunity to play a bit more, and he took advantage. While he is certainly known mostly for his plus-defensive skills behind the plate, he generally will take solid plate appearances. He gets a bit of a boost by me for being a catcher. 14 games is about what a catcher is going to get in the system, unless he gets some DH games. In July, Winkel had the second-highest Batting Average (.360), the third highest slugging percentage (.580), and the fourth-highest OPS (.976). Number 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels/Wichita Wind Surge - OF Tyler Dearden - .400/.456/.550 (1.006), 9 doubles, 7 R, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 13 K. Way back in 2017, the Boston Red Sox drafted Tyler Dearden out of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The 29th round pick decided to sign. He spent that summer in the GCL. 2018 he spent with Lowell in shortened NY-Penn League. In 2019, he moved up to full-season ball, playing 60 games for Greenville. After a lost 2020 season, he returned to Greenville but they were now the organization’s High-A affiliate. He posted a .897 OPS and hit 20 doubles and 24 home runs in 97 games. In 2022, he played 94 games for Double-A Portland and hit .263 (.763) with 16 doubles and eight homes. He spent much of the 2023 season with Portland and got into two games for Triple-A Worcester. He became a free agent in the offseason and didn’t find a team to sign him. So, he went to the Atlantic League and signed with Long Island and the Fighting Lew Fords. OK, it’s the Long Island Ducks, and Lew Ford is their manager. In 55 games, he was hitting .361/.410/.634 (1.044) with 19 doubles and 12 homers when the Twins came calling. He signed on July 3 and spent five games with the Kernels (1.193 OPS) before moving up to the Wind Surge on July 11. In 11 games, he had hit .357/.429/.500 (.929). That’s a pretty solid first month in a new organization for the 26-year-old. In July, he led the Twins minor leagues in batting average (.400) and doubles (9). He was second in OBP (.456) and OPS (1.006) as well as hits (24). And the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is: DSL Twins - OF Eduardo Beltre - 21 G, 19-for-58, .328/.474/.586 (1.060), 3 doubles, 4 home runs, 13 R, 14 RBI, 12 BB, 20 K. Our choice for Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month for July will not even turn 18 until mid-October. Eduardo Beltre was one of the top international prospects to sign in January. The Twins signed him out of the Dominican Republic for $1.5 million. Beltre’s season started a couple of weeks late due to a minor shoulder issue. However, right from the start, his bat was strong. In July, he led the organization with a .474 on-base percentage and a 1.060 OPS. He was second with a .586 slugging percentage and four home runs. He was third in batting average (.328) and RBI (14). In my personal rankings, I included Beltre at #30 recently. That is probably a bit too low. We want to congratulate DSL Twins Eduardo Beltre, Twins Daily’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for July 2024. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. View full article