Seth Stohs

On Friday night, the Savannah Bananas came to Target Field with their fun-filled brand of Banana Ball. As they always do, they incorporated some friends into their game. Joe Mauer came to welcome the Bananas to town and throw out the ceremonial first pitch. In the seventh inning, Brian Dozier was introduced to the crowd over about 39,000. He acknowledged them, and they gave him a long and loud ovation. Dozier ultimately struck out on a fifth-pitch fastball, but he smiled and waved to the crowd. The Bananas will play at 8:00 pm on Saturday night and 3:00 pm on Sunday at Target Field. If you go to any of the games and want to share pictures and stories here. View full rumor

Image courtesy of Jeff Hanisch-IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect You won't find too many photos of players in big-league uniforms in the Twins Minor League Reports. We are thankful for the photographers in the various minor-league cities who help us get photos of the minor leaguers in their minor league uniforms. However, once in a while it's good to remember what goal each and every minor league baseball player aspires to, and that's to get to the big leagues. On Friday, Kaelen Culpepper got that opportunity. He found out the night before. Let his family know so they could make arrangements to get to Milwaukee. He met the team in Milwaukee and found himself in the Twins lineup, playing shortstop and batting seventh. And in his second at-bat, he crushed a ball for his first hit, his first home run, his first run scored, and his first RBI. TRANSACTIONS There were several transactions throughout the organization. The Twins placed RHP Joe Ryan on the injured list and recalled RHP Zebby Matthews. The big news was that the Twins called up shortstop Kaelen Culpepper to make his big-league debut. To make room on the 26-man roster, infielder Tristan Gray was optioned to St. Paul. To make room for Culpepper on the 40-man roster, RHP Taylor Rashi was DFAd. Just days after being DFAd and subsequently released, the Twins brought RHP Cody Laweryson back on a minor-league contract and assigned him to the Saints. He’s on the Injured List with a right shoulder impingement. Down in Ft. Myers, RHP Jake Covey joined the Mussels from the FCL Twins roster. To make room, RHP Dylan Questad was released. The 21-year-old from Waukesha was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2023 from Waterford High School. In the 2024 FCL, he posted a 10-48 ERA . In 2025 at Fort Myers, he went 4-7 with a 6.87 ERA. He then went to the AFL and had a 15.19 ERA in 5 1/3 innings. He pitched to a 11.81 ERA over 15 games with the Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Louisville 1 Box Score There wasn’t much offense at CHS Field on Friday night. The Saints had just five hits in the game, but they had a couple of really big hits. The Bats, well, they did even less. The Saints got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fourth inning. With Matt Wallner on base, Aaron Sabato drilled his 21st home run to make it 2-0. Two innings later, Ben Ross was on base when Wallner drilled his 21st Saints home run of the season and gave the Saints a 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Saints pitchers were nearly unhittable, literally. Kendry Rojas made the start for St. Paul and faced just nine batters over three perfect innings. He had five strikeouts. Ricky Castro came in to start the fourth inning. With one out, he issued a walk but quickly got out of that inning. That was the lone baserunner over three scoreless innings. You see what was going on. However, in the top of the seventh, Castro gave up a leadoff, line-drive single. It was immediately followed by another single. Castro then coaxed a double play that scored a run, but it was followed by a strikeout and the threat ended. Next up was Jack Anderson. He gave up a two-out single in the eighth inning and a two-out walk in the top of the ninth inning, but he gave up no runs and held the team’s 4-1 win for the final two innings. Wallner was 2-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. He hit his 21st home run and stole his sixth base. He now has 60 RBI. Sabato hit his 21st homer and he’s got 64 RBI. Cody Morissette had the only other extra base hit, his 12th double. Noah Cardenas reached twice, on a single and a walk. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, NW Arkansas 6 (8 innings) Box Score The Surge jumped to an early lead but immediately gave it back. The Royals affiliate added two more and then the rains came. It was called with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Naturals the 6-3 win. Andrew Cossetti led off the top of the second inning with a walk. With one out, Kyle DeBARge singled him to second. With two outs, Jake Rucker drilled his sixth Surge homer of the season to give Wichita a 3-0 lead. Riley Quick was on the mound for the Surge. Given the early lead, Quick gave up a single and a walk. However, he got a strikeout and an infield pop out without runners advancing. However, he followed that with a second walk. Then came a two-out, two-run single. Even then, the Surge still had the lead. However, the next play involved both a fielding error and a throwing error which let one more run score and kept the inning going. One more single and the Surge found themselves down 4-3. To his credit, Quick was able to complete four innings. Two of the four runs ere unearned. He gave up four hits, walked two and had two strikeouts. Paulshawn Pasqualotto came on and was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. He had three strikeouts. William Fleming struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh inning. Kyle Bischoff got two outs in the eighth inning before the rains came and the game was called. The Surge had six hits and two walks. Cossetti had both walks. Marek Houston hit his 10th double, and Brandon Winokur hit his first Double-A double. Cedar Rapids 15, Peoria 2 Box Score I know what you’re thinking. Same thing I was thinking. Did JP Smith hit another home run today? Well, we will get to that. In his first Midwest League start, Merit Jones tossed four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and had four strikeouts. The Kernels got on the board first in the top of the fifth when Yasser Mercedes drove in Jose Salas on a double. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in Mercedes with a single to give the Kernels a 2-0 lead. Ross Dunn came in for the bottom of the fifth inning. He hit a batter, got a fly out, walked a batter, got a line out. The Cubs scored their first run on a Dunn throwing error. He then gave up an RBI single that tied the score at 2-2. Michael Ross came in and got the final out. The Kernels came back right away in the top of the sixth inning. With two on and two outs, Jose Salas hit his fifth home run since returning to the Kernels. Later in the inning, Rodriguez walked with the bases loaded to make it 6-2 Kernels. Teams like adding some insurance runs in the late innings. JP Smith led off the top of the ninth inning with a walk. With one out, Quinn McDaniel walked. Salas drove in a run with a double. With two outs, McDaniel scored the team’s eighth run on a wild pitch. Ricardo Pena and Yasser Mercedes walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Rodriguez had another bases-loaded RBI walk. Eduardo Tait followed with a single to drive in the 10th run. That brought JP Smith to the plate, and brings us back to our question at the beginning of this section. To this point, the answer was No. But then… Following the Smith grand slam, Jayson Bass followed with his first Kernels home run. Michael Ross came up big. He worked the final 4 1/3 innings and gave up no runs, just one hit, just one walk, and he had four strikeouts. The Kernels had 15 runs on 12 hits, two hit batters, and 11 walks. JP Smith was 2-for-4 with two walks and his third home run. It was his third straight game with a homer and three homers in four Kernels games. Yasser Mercedes went 2-for-3, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, and hit his 17th double. Emmanuel Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. Jose Salas was 2-for-4 with a walk, his second double, and his fifth home run. Ricardo Pena was 1-for-3 with two walks. Eduardo Tait went 2-for-6 with his 21st double. MIGHTY MATTERS Game 1: Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 4 Box Score I’ve never claimed to be cool. However, in the Mussels game, I found this strange, even if it really isn’t. Fort Myers scored zero runs in the top of the first. Bradenton scored one run in the bottom of the first. Fort Myers scored two runs in the top of the fourth, and then Bradenton scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Mussels scored four runs in the top of the fifth. Apparently, neither team wanted to put a five on the scoreboard, so the Mussels won 6-4. Matt Barr made the start in Game 1. In three innings, he gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. He struck out two batters. Matthew Dalquist worked the final four innings without giving up any more runs. He gave up two hits, walked one, and he had three strikeouts. In the top of the fourth inning, Luis Fragoza led off with a single. With one out, Quentin Young came up and crushed a first-pitch home run. The ball left his bat at a 30-degree angle and at 115.8 mph and traveled 412 feet from home plate. Down 4-2, the Mussels came to the plate in the top of the fifth. With one out, Bryce Fowler walked. Isaiah Lane tripled to drive in Fowler. Carson Tinney walked. With two outs, Yovanny Duran came to the plate and hit his first Florida State League home run to give his team a 6-4 lead. He took a 2-2 sinker above the strike zone and lined it at 99.6 mph 382 feet. Lane went 2-for-4 and it was his second triple. Tinney walked twice. Fragoza and Fowler each had a single and a walk. Game 2: Fort Myers 3, Bradenton 7 Box Score There weren’t any obvious strange, random number sequences in the Game 2 summary, and frankly, it wasn’t as good of a game for the Mussels. Through 3 1/2 innings, they held a 3-1 lead, but the Marauders scored the final six runs in this game. The third Mussels run came in the top of the fourth inning when Aidan Teel stole second and Merphy Hernandez stole home. The Mussels took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Merphy Hernandez drove in Ramiro Dominguez and Irvin Nunez with a single. The Mussels scored their three runs on six hits and four walks. Teel was 0-for-1, but he walked three times. Dominguez was 2-for-3 with his 22nd double. He also had two stolen bases and has 21 on the season. Hernandez was 2-for-3.He stole three bases and has 33 on the season. Cristian Hernandez started and gave up an unearned run on one hit and two walks. He had five strikeouts. Adam Falinski gave up one run on four hits over 1 2/3 innings. Melvin Rodriguez went 1 1/3 innings and gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits. Brent Francisco got the final two outs. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids): 2-for-4, BB, 2B(2), HR(6), 3 R, 4 RBI, K Pitcher(s) of the Day Kendry Rojas (St. Paul): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 39 pitches, 27 strikes (69.2%) Merit Jones (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 63 pitches, 34 strikes (54.0%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Help us update the Top 20 prospects list now that the trade deadline is passed. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, K (batted first, played CF) #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - Game 2: 0-for-3, BB, 2 K (batted second, played catcher) #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI (batted seventh, played SS) #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in Cedar Rapids: 1-for-3, 2 BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI (batted second, LF) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(10), K (batted first, played SS) #6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 52 pitches, 31 strikes, 59.5% #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-6, 2B(21), R, RBI, 2 K (batted third, catcher) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 39 pitches, 27 strikes, 69.2% #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (Batted fifth, played LF) . #13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-2, 2 BB, R, K (batted third, DH) #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K (batted second, DH) #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, 2B(1), 2 K (batted third, played CF) #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 1-for-3, HR(14), R, 2 RBI, K. (batted sixth, played 3B), UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday, August 8 Louisville @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - RHP Trent Baker (3-3, 5.80 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Chris Vallimont (1-3, 3.86 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (1-0, 3.55 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (5:05 pm CT) - TBD DSL Rockies @ DSL Twins (DH @ 9:00 am CT) - No Game CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 58-59 St. Paul Saints: 65-46 Wichita Wind Surge: 40-64 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 40-64 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 56-48 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 13-31 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Walker Jenkins) TRANSACTIONS The Twins released RHP Grant Hartwig from the Saints roster. The Twins also released DSL RHP Juan Germosen. It’s always a little surprising when a 17-year-old gets released, so it’s worth looking at. In seven games and just 5 1/3 innings, he had a 23.63 ERA (14 ER) on seven hits. He had a BB:K ratio of 16:3, which isn’t too good. The 4.31 WHIP isn’t encouraging. He made five appearances in June. He pitched just once in mid-July and recorded just one out. On Tuesday, he made his first appearance in three weeks. He faced four batters. He walked three and hit another. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Louisville 4 Box Score The Saints won the first inning by a score of 4-2. They added on in the fourth frame and then held on at the end. C.J. Culpepper made a spot start for the Saints. He went three innings. He gave up two runs, both in the top of the first, on three hits and a walk. He had two strikeouts. Fairmont, Minnesota, native Brandon Williamson made a rehab start against the Saints. The Reds lefty gave up four runs on two walks and two hits, and he only recorded two outs. With one out in the bottom of the first, Walker Jenkins took a 1-0 cutter and hit it over the wall in left field to give his team a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Williamson walked Matt Wallner and Hendry Mendez. Ben Ross singled to drive in Wallner and push Mendez to third base. Mendez scored the go-ahead run on a balk. After a mid-AB pitching change, Kala’i Rosario singled to drive in Ross and make it 4-2. That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the fourth inning. Walker Jenkins came up and crushed a 1-0 changeup and hit it 108.2 mph at a 30-degree launch angle. It traveled well beyond the wall in right field and left CHS Field, landing 400 feet from home plate. The Saints had a 5-2 lead through four innings and needed the bullpen to hang on. Matt Bowman came in and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, hit one batter, and issued one walk. He also had zero strikeouts. Taylor Rashi pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Garret Acton gave up one run on two hits in the eighth but left with the Saints leading 5-3 and three more outs to go. Eric Orze got the ninth inning. He gave up one run on two hits but earned his third Saints save. The Saints scored their five runs on nine hits and 10 walks. Jenkins went 2-for-5 with his fifth and sixth homers. Rosario went 2-for-4 with his first Triple-A triple. Wallner went 1-for-2 with three walks. Mendez and Noah Cardenas each walked twice. Aaron Sabato had a walk and his 26th double. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, NW Arkansas 1 Box Score When teams think about piggybacking starters, this is the vision. It rarely plays out this well. Ty Langenberg started for the Wind Surge and was very good, very efficient. He tossed five scoreless innings and gave up just two hits. He had just two strikeouts, but he didn’t hurt himself with any walks. Sixty-eight percent of his 63 pitches were strikes. Cory Lewis came in and threw three scoreless innings before giving up a run in the bottom of the ninth frame. He gave up just two hits and one walk. He had five strikeouts. The Wichita bats came through with five runs on 10 hits, but they also came through in clutch situations and used their legs to force the action a bit. The Surge stole eight bases in the game without being caught. The Wind Surge took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Jorel Ortega singled to drive in Caden Kendle. That is how the score stayed until the Surge pushed four runs across in the top of the seventh inning. Kyle DeBarge singled to lead off the inning. He stole second and then stole third base. On that play, he scored on an errant throw by the catcher. With one out, Graham Brown singled, stole second. He went to third on a Marek Houston single who proceeded to steal second. Khadim drove in Brown with a single. Houston scored on a single by Brandon Winokur. Diaw scored on a single by Andrew Cossetti. Winokur was thrown out at third, but the team had a much more comfortable 5-0 lead. Brown batted ninth, but he went 2-for-3 with a walk. He hit his first Double-A double, the team’s lone extra base hit. Brown also stole two bases. Winokur was also 2-for-5 with his seventh stolen base. Diaw went 1-for-3 with two walks and his 10th Surge steal. DeBarge now has 25 stolen bases, and Houston stole his 20th base. KERNELS CHRONICLES Cedar Rapids 1, South Bend 4 (Completion of Suspended Game) Box Score The two teams began this game on Wednesday, but rains came and caused it to be suspended in the bottom of the third inning. The score was tied 1-1 at the time. Lefty Michael Carpenter made his first Kernels start. He gave up one run on one hit in the two, pre-rain innings on Wednesday. He had three strikeouts. The Kernels had a run. In the top of the second, newcomer JP Smith started where he left Fort Myers, absolutely mashing. He drilled his first Midwest League home run. When the game resumed on Thursday afternoon, Adrian Bohorquez took over on the mound. It’s been a rough season for the young right-hander, but his last couple of outings have been encouraging. And on Thursday, it was his best outing of the season. He struck out six batters over five shutout innings. He gave up two hits and walked two batters. Yehizon Sanchez came in for the bottom of the eighth inning. He gave up three runs on five hits in the inning to take the loss. The Kernels had just three hits in the game. Smith was 1-for-3 with a walk and a homer. Andy Lugo and Byron Chourio each had a single and a walk. Chourio was also hit by a pitch. Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 2 (Regularly scheduled game) Box Score The regularly scheduled game also started out very quietly offensively, but this time, the Kernels were the team that put together a crooked number late in the game to take the win. With no score through three innings, JP Smith led off the top of the fourth with another long home run to give the Kernels the game’s first lead, 1-0. Reed Moring made the start for the Kernels. He was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk over six innings. He had six strikeouts to earn his first win. As impressive, he needed just 70 pitches to complete his six innings. He threw 70% strikes. With one out in the top of the sixth, Jayson Bass and Jose Salas were hit by pitches. Quinn McDaniel singled to drive in Bass. Then the pitcher attempted to pick off Salas, but he threw the ball away which allowed him to score the third run. With two outs, Miguel Briceno drove in McDaniel to make it 4-1. Cole Peschl struck out three batters in a scoreless, one-hit inning to record his second save. Briceno led the offense. He went 2-for-2 with a walk. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers, Bradenton (postponed) Box Score The rains came to Bradenton and made the field unplayable. The teams will attempt to play two games on Friday. COMPLEX CHRONICLES DSL Twins 8, DSL Nationals 6 Box Score The Twins had three crooked-number innings in the first five innings and then held on at the end for the win. Yosmal Garcia started and gave up just one run on two hits over the first four innings. He had three strikeouts and no walks. Enmanuel Mena came on and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk over the next 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three. Arthur De La Cruz got the final four outs. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on one hit and three walks. He had two strikeouts. Jendy Martinez went 3-for-3 with a walk and scored twice. He also stole his 16th and 17th bases. Jhon Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with his eighth double and three RBI. He stole his eighth and ninth bases. Anibal Beltre went 2-for-3. Enmanuel Merlo was 2-for-3 with a walk and his second triple. Jeferson Abreu hit his fifth double. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 2-for-5, 2-HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI, K. Pitcher(s) of the Day Ty Langenberg (Wichita): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 63 pitches, 43 pitches (68.3%) Adrian Bohorquez (Cedar Rapids): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 68 pitches, 43 strikes (63.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Help us update the Top 20 prospects list now that the trade deadline is passed. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, 2 HR (6), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K (batted second, played CF) #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5 (batted first, played SS) #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in Cedar Rapids: 0-for-3, BB, K (batted second, DH) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-5, R, 2 K, SB(20) (batted first, played SS) #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - Game 2: 0-for-3, K (batted second, catcher) #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, K (Batted fifth, played DH) #11 - 1B/OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, K (batted third, played 1B) #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, R, RBI, SB(10) (batted second, Catcher) #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 2-for-5, RBI, 2 K, SB(6) (batted third, played 3B) UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday, August 7 Louisville @ St. Paul (7:07 pm CT) - RHP Ricky Castro (2-1, 3.82 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Riley Quick (0-1, 9.64 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Merit Jones (first MWL start) Ft. Myers @ Bradenton (DH @ 4:00 pm CT) - TBD, TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 57-59 St. Paul Saints: 64-46 Wichita Wind Surge: 40-63 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 39-64 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 55-47 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 13-31 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

No thanks on these guys.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of JP Smith) TRANSACTIONS Trades have been made. Assume more trades are coming. Now the transactions must be made to put the new guys on the 26- and 40-man rosters. To make room for LHP A.J. Minter on the roster, RHP Cody Laweryson was Designated for Assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. RHP Zebby Matthews was optioned to St. Paul to make room on the 26-man roster. Additionally, RHP Garrett Acton was activated from the 60-Day Injured List and optioned to St. Paul. Cedar Rapids catcher Enrique Jimenez was moved to the 60-Day Injured List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 0, Omaha 4 Box Score On Saturday, the Saints were unable to get things going with their bats. They were unable to get to 24-year-old Henry Williams. He tossed six shutout innings. He made three starts in April for NW Arkansas. He gave up three runs in four innings in the first start. Almost three weeks later, he tossed five shutout innings. Five days later, he gave up one run on two hits over five innings. He has been in Triple-A since mid-May and pitched twice against the Saints. Combined, he had pitched six total innings over two appearances. He had given up eight earned runs. Sunday, nothing. Veterans Jose Cuas (2 innings) and Justin Topa (1 inning) worked the final three innings. Ricky Castro made the start and worked the first three innings. He gave up no runs on one hit. He walked none and had three strikeouts. Matt Bowman got the next two innings. He gave up one run on three hits. C.J. Culpepper gave up two runs on two hits over two innings. He had one walk and one strikeout. Eric Orze worked the eighth inning and gave up one run on one hit. The Saints had just four hits and a walk. Hendry Mendez had a single and a walk. They had no extra base hits. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Springfield 4 Box Score What more can we say about Marek Houston and what he has done with the bat this season. In this game, he went 2-for-5 with his ninth double and sixth home run. Khadim Diaw went 2-for-4. Jake Rucker went 2-for-4 with his sixth double. Caden Kendle kept hitting. He hit his sixth double since joining the Surge. In the first inning, Houston doubled and went to third on a Diaw single. He then scored on a single to right field by Brandon Winokur to make it 1-0. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Riley Quick hung a slider to Ryan Campos, who didn’t miss it and tied the game with his 11th home run. Quick had a perfect second inning. His third inning began with a fly out. However, the next batter reached on an error. Then there was a walk, and then Quick threw a first-pitch fastball just above the knees and on the inner part of the plate. Jesus Baez quickly deposited over the wall in left field. Then there was a single and a balk. The second out came on a ground out, but then there was another walk. Quick’s day was done. Mitch Mueller came in and got a strikeout to keep two inherited runners from scoring. Mueller went 1 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits. Quick’s final line was four runs (3 earned) on three hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. He had just one strikeout. Ty Langenberg came on and tossed four scoreless innings in relief. He gave up just one hit, walked one, and he had four strikeouts. KERNELS CHRONICLES Game 1: Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 5 (Completion of Suspended Game, 10 innings) Box Score On Friday night, tornado sirens, lightning and eventually a rainstorm suspended this game in the bottom of the third inning. Danny De Andrade was on first base, and Dameury Pena was batting with a 2-0 count. While the game was just one-third complete, there were already a few Kernels highlights. While it was written about in more detail in yesterday’s minor league report, Dasan Hill tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck out six batters. Most importantly, he walked none and their nearly 80% strikes. With one out in the bottom of the first, Eduardo Tait and Danny De Andrade hit back-to-back home runs. Justin Mitrovich took over on the mound for Hill. He gave up three runs on three hits and four walks over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three batters. Michael Ross came on with two runners on base and left both stranded. He went 4 1/3 innings and gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks. He gets the loss thanks to the unearned run in the 10th inning. When the game restarted, Dameury Pena finished his at-bat with a single. Pena and De Andrade advanced to second and third on a ground out. Quinn McDaniel drove in a run with a groundout, and Andy Lugo singled to make it 4-0 Kernels. However, Peoria scored one in the fifth inning, and two runs in the sixth and seventh innings, to take a 5-4 lead. Following the 7th Inning Stretch, Dameury Pena singled. With two outs, McDaniel singled and Andy Lugo walked to load the bases. Miguel Briceno lined a single to left to drive in Pena with the tying run. McDaniel attempted to score as well, but he was thrown out at home. Pena went 3-for-5. Andy Lugo was 2-for-3 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and stole a base. Yasser Mercedes was 2-for-5 with a walk and his 29th steal. McDaniel was 2-for-5 Game 2: Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 13 (Regularly Scheduled Game) Box Score The regularly scheduled game? Well, that did not go well. Lefty Ross Dunn made his second Kernels start since his return from surgery. He gave up one run on three hits over the first two innings. Cleiber Maldonado pitched the third inning and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. Christian Becerra gave up two runs on two hits and two walks over his two innings. Guess how many strikeouts he had. That’s right. Two. Brian Zeldin gave up two runs on one hit and two walks. At that point, it was time for a position player. Graham Brown came on and gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in the seventh inning. Emmanuel Rodriguez played his first rehab game for Cedar Rapids. He should play again on Sunday and then head north to St. Paul. In this game, he played right field and went 2-for-3. Danny De Andrade went 2-for-3 with his 14th double. Byron Chourio knocked his first High-A hit and his first High-A home run, both with the same swing. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Palm Beach 7 (10 innings) Box Score Sometimes you can do two things at once. For instance, with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Mussels first baseman JP Smith crushed a long home run to give the Mussels a walk-off win. It was his 15th home run of the season. It was also the 104th home run for the Mussels this season, a franchise record. How did they get there? The Mussels fell behind early. Palm Beach scored in each inning from the second through the fifth. In total, they scored six runs over those innings. Ramiro Villanueva started and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks over two innings. Guess how many strikeouts he had. That’s right, three. Dylan Questad gave up an unearned run in the third inning on no hits and two walks and a wild pitch. He struck out two batters. Hendry Chivilli came in for the middle three innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks. He struck out four batters. Down 3-1 going to the bottom of the third, the Mussels got on the scoreboard. Merphy Hernandez was hit by a pitch. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error. After a fly out, Vahn Lackey lost a bat, but he earned his first professional base hit, a broken-bat single that cut the deficit to 3-1. Lackey then stole second. Down 4-1 going to the bottom of the fourth, the Mussels got a huge hit and took the lead. Luis Fragoza led off with a walk. Smith doubled. Quentin Young walked to load the bases. That brought 2026 13th round pick Isaiah Lane to the plate. He lined a triple to the gap that cleared the bases and tied the game at 4-4. Hernandez drove in Lane with a single to give the Mussels their first lead. Hernandez then stole his 30th base for the Mussels (41 games). The Cardinals reclaimed the lead 6-5 in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, the Mussels tied it again. Ramiro Dominguez doubled to lead off the inning. Lackey lined a single to right field, but Dominguez was thrown out at home on a perfect throw. Following a ground out, Colby Turner drove a double to the gap in left-center field to drive in Lackey and make it 6-6. (Turner also made a great catch earlier in the game) That’s how things stood through nine innings. Jake Murray struck out three batters over two scoreless, one-hit innings. Adam Falinski gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. Jonathan Stevens came in for the top of the 10th inning. With a runner on second, Stevens started with a strikeout. A walk put runners on first and second. A passed ball pushed runners to second and third. Stevens got a fly out to center, just deep enough to score the Manfred Man. There was another single, but no more runs in the top of the 10th. Carson Tinney was the Manfred Man for the Mussels. The first two batters of the bottom of the 10th struck out swinging. Tinney took off for third on a wild pitch, and then the throw went into left field and Tinney scored the tying run. And then, JP Smith got a pitch and ended the game in style. Isaiah Lane went 2-for-3 with a walk, his second double, and the three RBI triple. JP Smith was 2-for-5 with his eighth double and 15th home run. Vahn Lackey went 2-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Luis Fragoza hit his 16th double and also walked twice. Ramiro Dominguez hit his 20th double. Colby Turner hit his first career double. COMPLEX CHRONICLES DSL Twins 13, DSL Yankees 9 Box Score The Yankees went 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning, the Twins put together a 10-spot in the bottom of the first inning. What does that look like? Check it out: Daiyer Barboza walked. Jendy Martinez singled. Barboza scored on a wild pitch. Martinez stole second base. 1-0. Jhon Gonzalez reached on an error and then stole second. Abel Sosa walked to load the bases. Enmanuel Merlo was hit by a pitch. Martinez scored. 2-0. Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch. 3-0. Anibal Beltre walked to load the bases. Nolwer Barboz sacrifice fly. Sosa scored. 4-0. Pitching Change Luis Suarez singled. Merlo scored. 5-0. Misael Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Daiyer Barboza reached on an error. Beltre, Suarez, Rodriguez scored. 8-0. Jendy Martinez flew out. Jhon Gonzalez walked. Abel Sosa singled. Daiyer Barboza scored. 9-0. Wild pitch, Gonzalez scored. 10-0. Enmanuel Merlo walked. Pitching Change. Anibal Beltre flew out. 10 runs, 3 hits, 5 walks, 2 hit batters, 2 Yankees errors, 3 wild pitches, Enmanuel Mena started and threw a perfect first inning. The top of the second started with an error which led to five unearned runs. He struck out two in the inning, but his outing ended after giving up a three-run homer to Isaias Castillo. Yolcar Garcia came in and got the third out of the second inning. He went 2 1/3 innings and gave up just one hit. He had three strikeouts. Adrian Martinez pitched the fifth inning and gave up one run on four walks in the inning. Wisarly Reinoso pitched the sixth inning and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks. Jesus Moreno pitched the seventh inning. He gave up a hit and a walk, but he struck out two batters and completed the game. If you add up the runs that Twins pitchers allowed, you will get nine, one less than the Twins scored in the first inning. Fortunately, the Twins added two more runs in the bottom of the second. That inning began with two straight hit batters. Both runners advanced on a pop up to the first baseman. With two outs, Jendy Martinez doubled to drive in both runners. They scored one more with two outs in the sixth inning when Enmanuel Merlo singled and scored on a wild pitch. So the Twins scored their 13 runs on five hits and seven walks. There were also four hit batters. Jendy Martinez was the lone Twins hitter with a multi-hit game and an extra base hit. He was 2-for-4 with his 10th double. Abel Sosa hit a single and two walks. Enmanuel Merlo had a single, a walk, and was hit by a pitch. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day JP Smith (Fort Myers): 2-for-5, 2B(8), HR(15), 2 R, RBI, 2 K. Marek Houston (Wichita): 2-for-5, 2B(9), HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K Pitcher(s) of the Day Ty Langenberg (Wichita): 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 53 pitches, 37 strikes (69.8%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the Twins 2026 Draft picks. #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, HBP, R, RBI, K, SB(2), E(2), PB(2) (batted second, catcher) #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted first, played SS) #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in Cedar Rapids: 2-for-3 (batted second, played RF) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2B(9), HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K (batted first, played SS) #6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, K, 51 pitches, 30 strikes (58.8%) #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - Game 1: 1-for-5, HR(19), R, RBI, K (batted second, played DH), Game 2: 0-for-4 (batted third, catcher) #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) -1-for-3, BB (Batted fifth, played LF) . #11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-3 (batted sixth, played 1B) #13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-for-5, R, 3 K, (batted third, Catcher) #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-for-4 (batted second, Catcher) #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, RBI, 2 K, SB(6) (batted third, played CF) #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-3, BB, R 2 K (batted seventh, played 3B) UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday, August 2 St. Paul @ Omaha (5:05 pm CT) - RHP Trent Baker (3-3, 6.29 ERA) Wichita @ Springfield (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Cory Lewis (1-4, 4.15 ERA) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Ivran Romero (3-5, 7.60 ERA) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (11:05 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 56-56 St. Paul Saints: 60-46 Wichita Wind Surge: 38-61 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 38-61 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 53-46 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 12-29 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Image courtesy of Conor Lacefield, Midland RockHounds (photo of Marek Houston) TRANSACTIONS Another Day, Another Trade The Twins are in Seattle taking on the Mariners. On Friday night, they had a nice come-from-behind win. Shortly after the game started, news came out that the Twins had acquired right-handed starting pitcher Dean Kremer from the Orioles. The Twins sent outfielder Jhomnardo Reyes to the Orioles in return. Emmanuel Rodriguez had his rehab assignment transferred to Cedar Rapids. From the sounds of it, he could play on Saturday and Sunday for the Kernels before returning to the Saints. Yesterday, we highlighted three players that the Twins had signed as undrafted free agents from the MLB Draft League. On Friday, Kurt Barr and Finnegan Wall were assigned to the FCL Twins. More NDFAs!! RHP Aidan Russell was also assigned to the FCL Twins. The Twins signed him from the Healdsburg Prune Packers of the Pacific Empire League. The 22-year-old pitched at San Diego State from 2023 through 2026. This season, he made 21 appearances out of the bullpen and went 6-2 with six saves and a 2.54 ERA. Also assigned to the FCL Twins was outfielder Bryce Fowler. A native of Madison, Mississippi, he pitched and played outfield in high school. He spent 2022 and 2023 in Hattiesburg at the University of Southern Mississippi. He redshirted the first year and played in 10 games the second season. In 2024, he went to Pearl River Community College, one of the top junior college schools in the country. He hit .419 (1.181) and then went to Alabama where he started in right field in 2025. He moved to center for his redshirt senior year and hit .320/.413/.488 (.901) with 19 doubles, six homers, and 15 stolen bases. (if you want to see an impressive walkoff celebration, click here) How excited was Fowler to sign with the Minnesota Twins? From what I've heard, it may have been similar to his reaction after this catch, probably. Fowler's teammate at Alabama, another redshirt senior Hagan Banks. He spent 2022-2026 with the Crimson Tide. He primarily pitched out of the bullpen. In 2024, he made three starts but was injured in mid-March, had surgery, and didn't pitch again until 2025. In 2025, he had 10 walks and 18 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. In 2026, he went 2-0 with six saves. In 23 1/3 innings, he walked eight and had 31 strikeouts. LHP Jack Walker was released from the FCL Twins roster. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Omaha 10 Box Score The Storm Chasers scored in their first three innings, took a two-inning break, and then they scored in their final three times to bat. Aaron Rozek started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and two walks. He struck out three batters. The nice thing is he was able to end with a scoreless fourth inning. Garrett Acton worked a scoreless fifth inning with a strikeout as he continued his rehab. Grant Hartwig gave up one run in the sixth on two hits. Alejandro Hidalgo got the seventh inning, and he gave up four runs on six hits. He did strike out three batters. Marco Raya gave up a solo homer in the ninth. In the third inning, Kyler Fedko drove in David Banuelos and Walker Jenkins with his 16th double. In the fourth inning, Cody Morissette drove in Ben Ross with his ninth Saints double. Soon after, Morissette scored on a Banuelos sacrifice fly that tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth. Ben Ross was 2-for-3 with a walk. He was the only Saints batter with more than one hit. He also stole his 10th base. Fedko and Morissette had RBI doubles. Walker Jenkins hit his 16th doubles, and Tanner Schobel added his 14th double of the season. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Springfield 6 Box Score This was one of the better all-around games for the Wind Surge in 2026. It really was a solid pitchers’ duel for the first six innings. The Surge were pitching a shutout until the ninth inning. The offense gave them a small lead and then added on late in the game. It’s essentially how you might write it up. Garrett Spain put the Twins on the scoreboard with his 16th home run. It gave the team a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. In the seventh inning, Spain scored on a single by Jaime Ferrer. Then Ferrer scored a couple batters later on a Marek Houston single to make it 3-0. In the top of the eighth inning, Brandon Winokur provided the power for an opposite field homer. It was his fourth since joining the Wind Surge. With Jake Rucker on in the ninth, Houston hit his fifth homer to give his team a 6-0 lead. Sam Armstrong started for the Wind Surge after a few bullpen appearances. He tossed five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and had four strikeouts. William Fleming gave up a single in a perfect sixth. Paulshawn Pasqualotto walked one and hit one but struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. Hunter Gregory gave up a run on three hits in the ninth inning. The Wind Surge have seen a lot of Cardinals top pitching prospect and fifth overall pick in the 2025 draft, Liam Doyle. On April 14, the Surge scored three runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning against him. On April 19th, Doyle completed four innings and gave up just one run on two hits. He had one walk in each of those games. Jump ahead to May 29, Wichita scored two runs (1 earned) on two hits, a hit batter, and four walks. On June 16, he gave up four runs on three hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. In this game, he gave up just one run (on the 0-2 pitch that Garrett Spain homered on) on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He also had a career-high 10 strikeouts. Marek Houston continues to surprise, amaze, shock and most importantly, hit. Drafted as a glove-first shortstop in 2025, he had a breakout offensive season at Wake Forest that catapulted him into the first round. Could he put up solid offensive numbers and move up based on his strong defense? Could he carry the 2025 success into 2026? After going 3-for-5 with his fifth home run and 16th stolen base, he is now hitting .336/.410/.546 (.956) with eight doubles, a triple, and five homers in 29 games for the Wind Surge. That comes after he hit .325/.406/.461 (.867) with 14 doubles, a triple and five home runs in 56 games with the Kernels. He also leads the organization with 40 stolen bases and has been caught just four times. Garrett Spain was 2-for-4 with his 16th homer. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-4. KERNELS CHRONICLES Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 0 (Suspended in 3rd inning) Box Score Tornado sirens were blaring throughout Cedar Rapids, but the Kernels kept playing. At least for a little while. The game was suspended in the bottom of the third. The teams will complete the nine-inning game on Saturday before playing the regularly scheduled game (7 innings). Danny De Andrade will be on first base. Dameury Pena will have a 2-0 count. We’ll write more tomorrow after the game goes final. Here are a couple of quick highlights. With one out in the bottom of the first, Eduardo Tait and Danny De Andrade hit back-to-back home runs. The most encouraging thing about the three innings that were played has to be the performance of Dasan Hill. There’s no denying that 2026 has been a disappointing season for the young southpaw. He’s struggled with control and command. The 20-year-old came into the game with a 1-8 record and a 6.64 ERA. While he had struck out 71 batters in 42 innings, he also gave up 39 hits and 37 walks. On Friday night, Hill worked three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits. He had six more strikeouts. And, maybe most important, he had ZERO walks. Forty-three of his 54 pitches were strikes. That’s a remarkable 79.6% Coming into the game, just 58.1% of his 890 pitches this season were strikes. At the end of the day, the suspended game might have been the best thing for the Twins organization and the development of Dasan Hill. Maybe. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Palm Beach 2 Box Score The Mussels got a strong pitching performance. Unfortunately, the bats just did very little on Friday. Matt Barr made his first start for the Mussels this year. He was injured at the start of the season, and he struggled early in his rehab assignment in the FCL this year, so he stayed there after his rehab concluded. He was added to the Mussels roster days ago. However, he was very impressive in this start. He went four innings. He gave no runs on three hits. He walked one and had five strikeouts. He touched 96.5 mph. That’s a pretty nice performance! Callan Fang came in and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over 2 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters. Mike McKenna went 1 2/3 innings and got all five batters that he faced out. Brent Franciso gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. The offense had just one run on just two hits in the game. Surprising to see the struggle because they worked nine walks. They also had 13 strikeouts. Six players struck out twice. Quentin Young was 1-for-3 with a walk. Bryan Acuna had the other hit, the lone RBI, and a walk. Calvin Scholvin made his professional debut in this game. He batted seventh and played shortstop. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Three players that made their professional debuts on Thursday were also in the lineup in this game. Aidan Teel led off and went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Vahn Lackey DHd and batted second. He was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Carson Tinney batted third and played behind the plate. He went 0-for-2 with two walks and two strikeouts. Also of note, Jhomnardo Reyes batted cleanup and played in left field. He went 0-for-2 and walked twice in what turned out to be his final game in the Twins organization. COMPLEX CHRONICLES DSL Twins, DSL Rockies Box Score This game was postponed before it even got started due to lightning. The teams hope to make up the game next weekend. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Marek Houston (Wichita): 3-for-5, HR(5), SB(16), R, 3 RBI, 2 K Pitcher(s) of the Day Sam Armstrong (Wichita): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K, 63 pitches, 42 strikes (66.7%) Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 54 pitches, 43 strikes (79.6%) Matt Barr (Fort Myers): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 47 pitches, 36 strikes (76.6%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the Twins 2026 Draft picks. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, 2B(15), R, 2 K (batted first, played CF) #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, 2 K (batted second, DHd) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 3-for-5, HR(5), R, 3 RBI, SB(16), 2 K (batted first, played SS) #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-2, HR(19), R, RBI, K (batted second, played catcher) #9 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HB, 6 K, 54 pitches, 43 strikes (79.6%) #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) -1-for-4, (Batted fifth, played LF) . #13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K, CS(1) (batted third, Catcher) #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2 K (batted second, Catcher) #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, HR(4), R, RBI, 2 K (batted third, played CF) #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-3, BB, 2 K, CS(8) (batted sixth, played 3B) #18 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 94 pitches, 56 strikes (59.6%) UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday, August 1 St. Paul @ Omaha (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Ricky Castro (2-1, 4.00 ERA) Wichita @ Springfield (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Riley Quick (0-0, 9.00 ERA) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - RHP Justin Mitrovich (1-0, 1.80 ERA) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (6:05 pm CT) - TBD FCL Twins - Season Complete. DSL Yankees @ DSL Twins (9:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 56-55 St. Paul Saints: 60-45 Wichita Wind Surge: 38-60 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 38-59 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-46 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 11-29 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

No chance of that. Look at the lineups at every level. The top 3 hitters are the top 3 prospects most days. Also, a .750 slugging percentage is like 2% below league average OPS+ this year. He's not doing great, but if this is struggling, we might want to review our expectations for Jenkins or any prospect.

Image courtesy of David Frerker-Imagn Images The Twins have declared themselves a buyer days before the August 3 MLB trade deadline. Following an unlikely series win over the Royals at Target Field, they're making their move. Late Thursday night, Jeff Passan tweeted that the Twins have acquired left-handed reliever A.J. Minter from the New York Mets. Minter, 32, has pitched to a 2.35 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 23 innings over 20 appearances this year. He signed a two-year, $22-million contract with the Mets before the 2025 season. The first year of that deal came to an end early in May, when he needed to have surgery on a torn left lat muscle. In 2024, he had surgery on his left hip labrum. Minter returned to the mound for the Mets at the end of May, though, and has looked strong. In return, the Twins will send corner infield prospect Billy Amick and middle-infield prospect Bruin Agbayani. Amick has been a borderline Top-20 prospect at Twins Daily throughout the last two years. The team's second-round pick in 2024, he was hitting .217/.338/.482 with 14 doubles, 23 homers and 72 RBIs at Double-A Wichita. Agbayani, son of former big leaguer (and, specifically, New York Met) Benny Agbayani, was the Twins' sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft. The 19-year-old was limited to just 10 games this season and hit .268/.412/.342 with two doubles. He had nine walks to just three strikeouts. Unfortunately, his season began late due to injury and after those 10 games, he went back on the IL and has not played since. What are your thoughts on the trade? Another lefty reliever, low-30s, with good stuff and an injury history the last few years for two intriguing prospects outside of the Twins' Top 20 prospects. View full article

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Vahn Lackey) TRANSACTIONS Late-Night Twins Trade In case you went to bed early on Thursday night, you missed the Twins first trade deadline deal. I mean, unless you consider the Tommy Nance trade three weeks ago close enough to the deadline. Jeff Passan was the first to announce that the Twins have acquired left-handed reliever A.J. Minter from the New York Mets. Soon after, we learned that Wichita infielder Billy Amick and Fort Myers infielder Bruin Agbayani head to the Mets in return. For much more discussion on the trade, click here. 2026 Draft Picks The Twins placed six of their 2026 draft picks on the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Five of them made their professional debut on Thursday. Top pick Vahn Lackey (Georgia Tech) will be hitting third and playing behind the plate. Second-round pick Carson Tinney (will be DHing and batting fourth. 11th round pick Aidan Teel (Mississippi State) is batting fifth and playing in right field. 12th rounder Colby Turner (Michigan) is batting sixth and playing at the hot corner. Isaiah Lane (Hope International, was transferring to Arizona State), 13th round, will be playing shortstop and batting seventh. In addition, 14th round pick Charlie Scholvin (Toledo) was also assigned to the Mussels and will make his professional debut when he gets into a game. With six new hitters being added to the Mussels roster, obviously something had to give. Catcher Luis Hernandez and outfielders Byron Chourio and Jayson Bass were promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Outfielder Ricardo Paez and catcher Victor Leal were assigned to the FCL Twins from the Mussels. Infielders Henry Kusiak and Rayne Doncon were released by the Twins. They were both at Cedar Rapids. Infielder Jorel Ortega was activated from Wichita’s Development list. Meanwhile UT Jay Thomason was placed on the temporary inactive list by the Surge. After a week-long return to Wichita, Tanner Schobel is back with the Saints. Ufdah! More NDFAs from the MLBDL Following the draft, the Twins quickly signed four non-drafted free agents, all pitches. However, they continue to add talent to the organization. On Wednesday, they signed RHP Finnegan Wall who was playing for the Aberdeen IronBirds in the MLB Draft League. The 23-year-old (turns 24 in about two weeks) pitched at UC-Irvine from 2022-2026. He missed the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. His parents went to college in southern California and eventually went to acting school. In fact, have you ever seen the movie Gold Dust? Wall’s father, David, was an actor and director in that movie. His mom had a role in the movie as well. Finnegin also had a role in that feature film. They also signed right-handed pitcher Kurt Barr from the Williamsport Crosscutters Barr’s first start at Michigan in February of 2023 against Finnegan Wall’s UC-Irvine squad. He pitched for Michigan from 2023-2026. In 2026, the senior was named third-team All-Big 10. He is said to have a deceptive delivery, and has a 12-6 curveball that can be very good. He was a teammate of Twins 12th round pick in this year’s draft, Colby Turner. On Thursday, the Twins signed catcher Jimmy Keenan from the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the MLB Draft League. In nine games, he was hitting .222/.405/.667 (1.072) with a double, a triple, and three home runs. Keenan went to St. John’s in 2023 and 2024. He then transferred to Wake Forest for the last two seasons. In 2025, he hit .246/.405/.509 (.914) with five doubles, two triples, and seven home runs in 44 games. In 38 games in 2026, he hit .217/.396/.406 (.801) with five doubles and five home runs. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Omaha 1 Box Score The Saints jumped up to an early lead with a three-run top of the first inning and then held on thanks to a terrific start followed by strong bullpen work. The Saints got started right away in the top of the first inning in Omaha. Kaelen Culpepper led off with a single. Kyler Fedko walked. After Walker Jenkins struck out, Aaron Sabato launched a towering home run on a 2-1 fastball. It was Sabato’s 19th home run of the season and he now has 59 RBI. He later added his 25th double in this game. There’s no doubt that he has earned an opportunity in the big leagues. It’s hard to imagine that happening with the Twins, but he’s putting up numbers that one would think the other 29 organizations are noticing too. Ryan Gallagher’s Triple-A time has been mixed with a few solid outings and several really rough games. This was a strong start. The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits. He walked three and had six strikeouts. From there, Eduardo Salazar, John Klein, and Julian Merryweather took over. Combined they faced 10 batters and got all 10 batters out, seven on strikeouts. The Saints scored their four runs on four hits and three walks. As noted, Sabato had a double and a homer in four at-bats. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Springfield 6 Box Score Like the Saints, Wichita got on the board first. The Surge scored a single run in the top of the first inning. Unfortunately, that was it for their offense, and the Cardinals affiliate put two crooked numbers on the board. Marek Houston continued his hot hitting streak. He led off the game with his eighth Double-A double. With two outs, Houston was still on second. Andrew Cossetti picked up his teammates by dropping a single into the outfield which allowed Houston to score the first run. Last time out, Chris Vallimont threw the first five innings of a combined no-hitter. He was solid on Thursday night too. He went five innings. In the fourth inning, he gave up a one-out, two-run homer to Deniel Ortiz. Vallimont went five innings and gave up those two runs on three hits. He had five strikeouts without any walks. Darren Bowen worked in the no-hit game as well, but this was a rough one for the talented reliever. He was charged with four runs on three hits and three walks, and he recorded just two outs. Jaylin Nowlin came in and got the final out of the sixth inning without allowing the two inherited runners to score. Nowlin struck out two in 1 1/3 innings. Kyle Bischoff gave up one hit in a scoreless eighth inning. The Wind Surge had two hits in the first inning. They had just three more hits in the next eight innings at the plate. However, they had chances to do more because Cardinals pitchers issued seven walks and hit four Surge batters. However, they went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Houston was 1-for-4 with a double and his eighth double. He also stole his 15th base. Jaime Ferrer hit his ninth double, the only other extra base hit. Khadim Diaw had a single, a walk, and was hit by a batter. Brandon Winokur walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Kala'i Rosario was hit by a pitch and walked. Along with his RBI single in the first, Cossetti stole his third base of the season. KERNELS CHRONICLES Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 5 Box Score Like the Saints and the Wind Surge, the Kernels took the game’s first lead in the first inning. They got a terrific start. They added a run. The Cardinals High-A affiliate scored in just one inning. Unfortunately, they scored five runs in that inning to take the lead and held on to beat the Kernels. Jacob McCombs led off the bottom of the first inning with his sixth home run of the season. Yasser Mercedes followed with a double. He scored on an Eduardo Tait single to make it 2-0. Danny De Andrade came up next and doubled to left to drive in Tait and make it 3-0. It’s been a tough season for Adrian Bohorquez, but he was fantastic on Thursday. He went four scoreless innings and didn’t give up any hits. He walked one, hit one, and had six strikeouts. Cole Perschl came on and tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and had two strikeouts. With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Dameury Pena and Miguel Briceno walked. Andy Lugo followed with a single to left to drive in Pena and make it 4-0. Christian Becerra came in for the seventh inning. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on two hits (both homers) and two walks. Yehizon Sanchez struck out three batters over two scoreless innings . The Kernels scored their four runs on just five hits and five walks McCombs walked twice to go with his sixth home run of the season. Miguel Briceno had two walks in the game. Mercedes’ double was his 15th with the Kernels, and De Andrade’s double was his 13th. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Palm Beach 9 Box Score The Mussels didn’t score first, like the other Twins affiliates. And, they gave up runs in six of nine innings to the Cardinals’ Low-A affiliate. The Mussels were unable to get much going with their bats, but it was a fun game to watch if you’re into prospects. The Mussels lineup included five players that were drafted earlier this month including their top two picks, Vahn Lackey and Carson Tinney. In addition, Emmanuel Rodriguez continued his rehab from more wrist issues. Eric Hammond started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings. He had seven strikeouts. Adam Falinski came on and gave up one run on one hit and two walks. Nick McAuliffe was charged with two runs (1 earned) on four walks over two innings. Michael Hilker gave up four runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts. Billy Oldham came in and got the final out. The Mussels scored their three runs on four hits and four walks. They also were hit by a pitch three times, back-to-back-to-back. Emmanuel Rodriguez batted second and played center field. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. He played seven innings on defense before being replaced by Jhomnardo Reyes. In three rehab games with the Mussels, he is 2-for-11 with eight strikeouts. Vahn Lackey, the Twins top pick in the 2026 draft, made his professional debut. He batted third and was the team’s catcher. He walked in his first plate appearance. He soon followed with his first pro stolen base. He grounded out his next time up. He then walked again. His final time at the plate, he was hit in the left shoulder by a pitch. So, in his pro debut, Lackey went 0-for-1 with two walks, was hit by a pitch, and stole a base. Behind the plate, he had an error on a pick-off attempt at first base. He also had a passed ball. There is talk that he will quickly move up to Cedar Rapids, but I’d like to see him stay in Fort Myers, at least through the weekend. The last time he played a competitive game was June 1st when #2-ranked Georgia Tech was eliminated by the eventual College World Series champion Oklahoma. Let him get 3-10 games under his belt, playing with draft classmates, developing relationships with the Mussels players, coaches, trainers and other staff in Fort Myers. He’ll move up fast, but there is no push in terms of where he needs to be by season’s end. Whether he ends the 2026 season in Cedar Rapids or Wichita will likely have no impact on their decision for where he will start the 2027 season. Mussels, Kernels, and Wind Surge Schedules (BOLD where I would have him assigned) 7/31 - 8/2 - Fort Myers (home), Cedar Rapids (home), @ Springfield 8/4 - 8/9 - @ Bradenton, @ South Bend, @ NW Arkansas 8/11 - 8/16 - Clearwater (home), Wisconsin (home), Corpus Christi (home) 8/18 - 8/23 - @ Palm Beach, @ Beloit, @ Frisco 8/25 - 8/30 - Bradenton (home), Lake County (home), Arkansas (home) 9/1 - 9/6 - @ Clearwater, @ South Bend, @ Tulsa 9/8 - 9/13 - Mussels and Kernels seasons complete, Frisco (home) 9/15 - 9/20 - Mussels, Kernels and Wind Surge seasons complete. Saints play in Columbus. Could he get one extra week of games in? They could do a similar schedule with second-round pick Carson Tinney who also made his professional debut on Thursday night. He struck out in his first at-bat before walking in his next two plate appearances. He was hit by a pitch in his final plate appearance. Like Lackey, Tinney was 0-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. He batted fourth and was the DH. Batting fifth for the Mussels in this game was Aidan Teel. The Twins 11th round pick from Mississippi State debuted. He struck out in his first at-bat. He then reached on an infield single that could have easily been called an error. Teel, whose older brother Kyle Teel is a catcher with the White Sox, went 1-for-3, and he was the third Mussels batter to be hit by a pitch in a row in the eighth inning. Colby Turner, the team’s 12th round pick from Michigan went 1-for-4. After a strikeout, he dropped a single into center for an RBI. He batted sixth and played third base. Finally, Isaiah Lane went 1-for-4 in his debut. He played second base and batted seventh. He had the lone extra base hit, a double down the left field line. He made several plays with his glove. Lane went to NAIA Hope International and had committed to going to Arizona State via the transfer portal before signing with the Twins. Infielder Charlie Scholvin is the other 2026 draft pick who was added to the Mussels roster on Thursday. The 14th round pick from Toledo will certainly be in the lineup on Friday. The team was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. Murphy Hernandez hit a single and stole his 28th base for Fort Myers. COMPLEX CHRONICLES DSL Twins 5, DSL Rangers 4 Box Score The Twins fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Neither team scored until the bottom of the fifth when the Twins got on the scoreboard. With one out, Fabian Ulloa tripled and scored on a Luis Duarte single to make it 1-1, That’s where the score remained until the eighth inning. The Rangers scored three in the top of the inning. But the Twins responded with three of their own in the bottom of the inning. Alam Soriano made the start and tossed the first three. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked two and had four strikeouts. Yosangel Braffit was impressive. He struck out seven batters over four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked none. Herkyn Taveras gave up three runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings. Jeremy Jimenez got the final four outs The Twins scored their five runs on nine hits and five walks. Fabian Ulloa led the way. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, his sixth double and his first triple. He is now hitting .338. Jefferson Abreu was the only other multi-hit player. He was 2-for-4. He had the only other extra base hit, his fourth double. Abel Sosa and Enmanuel Merlo each had a single and a walk. Jendy Martinez walked twice. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Aaron Sabato (St. Paul): 2-for-4, 2B(25), HR(19), R, 3 RBI(59) Fabian Ulloa (DSL Twins): 2-for-3, BB, 2B(6), 3B(1), R, RBI, K Pitcher(s) of the Day Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul): 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 94 pitches, 56 strikes (59.6%) Adrian Bohorquez (Cedar Rapids): 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 63 pitches, 41 strikes (65.1%) Yosangel Braffit (DSL Twins): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the Twins 2026 Draft picks. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (batted third, played LF) #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers) - 0-for-1, 2 BB, HBP, R, SB(1) (pro debut, batted third, catcher) #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, 3 K (batted first, played SS) #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab(FM): 0-for-3, 3 K (batted second, played CF) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(8), R, K, SB(15) (batted first, played SS) #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, RBI (batted second, played catcher) #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, BB, HBP (Batted sixth, played LF) . #11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (batted fifth, played RF) #13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers) - 0-for-1, 2 BB, HBP, R, K (pro debut, batted fourth, DHd) #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-for-3, BB, HBP (batted second, DHd) #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 0-for-1, 2 BB, HBP, K (batted fifth, played 3B) #18 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 94 pitches, 56 strikes (59.6%) UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday, July 31 St. Paul @ Omaha (7:05 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (2-1, 2.92 ERA) Wichita @ Springfield (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (5-8, 4.92 ERA) Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (1-8, 6.21 ERA) Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Matt Barr (0-0, 16.88 ERA) FCL Twins - Season Complete. DSL Twins @ DSL Rockies (10:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 55-55 St. Paul Saints: 60-44 Wichita Wind Surge: 37-60 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 38-59 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-45 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 11-29 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Roger, can you believe it's been over 22 years now that I've been blogging? May of 2004 is when I started. Gleeman and Bonnes were around, and Stick & Ball Guy started around then sometime. Crazy! As for Kendle... he was a fifth-round pick. He has played at three levels this year, but only because of injury. He spent all of 2025 with the Kernels. He was solid, usually hit 8th or 9th, good defense. This year, he was pretty much doing the same thing, nothing outrageous, but since his promotion, it's crazy how good he's been. As for Made, I've done a number of Google searches and haven't found anything yet. I'm go some questions out to people, but no response yet.

They just traded Connelly Early for Curtis Mead... they certainly would deal Tolle for Ryan... But no way they'd get both. It's the crazy side of the trade deadline and of prospects in general. Both of those guys were back-of-the-top 100 guys last year. Arias wasn't really known. It looks like a great package now, but I don't blame Falvey/Zoll for not doing it at that time.

No chance. No way I'd trade him... First, he's got like two more years of arbitration. Let them run out. Frankly, I'd lock him up long term to a Buxton-like deal this offseason. maybe with a $10 million base rather than $15 million.

According to Alex Speier from The Boston Globe, the Twins were offered a huge package in exchange for RHP Joe Ryan. Left-handed pitcher Payton Tolle is a 23-year-old. He was the Red Sox second-round pick in 2024 out of Texas Christian. Early in the 2025 season, he jumped to the top of the Red Sox prospect rankings. At the end of August, he was called up by the Red Sox and made three starts and four relief appearances. He was in the Red Sox bullpen in the playoffs He began the 2026 season at Triple-A. He made three starts and went 2-0 with a 3.03 ERA. Since he has made 16 starts and is 5-6 despite an ERA of 3.31. At 6-5 and over 250 pounds, he has a big fastball and breaking pitches with and without velocity. Franklin Arias was always a well thought of prospect. Before the 2025 season, he was in Top 100 rankings. He began this season as a Top 50 prospect. He began this season where he ended last season, in Double-A. In 75 games for Portland, he hit .318/.407/.587 (.993) with 17 doubles and 19 home runs. Just this weekend, he earned a promotion to Triple-A Worcester. He is now a Top 5 prospect in all of baseball and right on the cusp of the big leagues. From the Boston Globe, "The Sox ended up with a deadline fizzle of Dustin May and Steven Matz while whiffing on a much bigger swing. They made a push to acquire All-Star starter Joe Ryan from the Twins. According to multiple sources, the team was willing to send Minnesota its top two prospects: High-A shortstop Franklin Arias and Double-A lefthander Payton Tolle." Of course, Twins fans know all about Joe Ryan. He came to the Twins five years ago from the Rays in exchange for Nelson Cruz. He was the team's opening day starter in 2022. He's been very good, making the All-Star team for the American League each of the past two seasons. "According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox offered left-handed pitcher Payton Tolle and current top prospect shortstop Franklin Arias in exchange for Ryan. It’s a trade that many in Boston likely would not hesitate to make at the time, but the conversation has changed after the season Tolle has had and Arias’ continued rise through the organization’s farm system." Ryan has one more year of team control before he can become a free agent. Would a package of Tolle and Frias have be enough for you to click "Yes" on the trade offer have been enough for you to like it last summer? Remember, Tolle was in AA and Arias was in High-A. How about right now? Would you need a couple more lottery ticket prospects too? View full rumor

Image courtesy of Greta Riedl, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Jaime Ferrer) TRANSACTIONS Shortstop Kaelen Culpepper was activated from the Injured List on Friday. To make room on the Saints roster, infielder Orlando Arcia was released. Catcher Ricardo Pena was promoted from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids. Several members of the FCL Twins were added to the Fort Myers roster on Friday. OF Jhomnardo Reyes was one of them. He hit third in the Mussels lineup on Friday night. Catcher Victor Leal and RHP Matt Barr also were assigned to Fort Myers. Vahn Lackey on Vahn Lackey The Twins top pick in this month’s MLB draft, Vahn Lackey, was at Target Field on Friday. He met players, coaches, and the manager. He got to see Target Field from most every angle. He even got to talk to the media. Here are a couple of those appearances to help you get to know him. He spent the top of the third inning with the Twins TV crew (Cory Provus, Glen Perkins, and Pablo Lopez). Earlier in the day, he was on WCCO Radio with Jason DeRusha for a terrific segment. Listen here. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Columbus 6 Box Score The Saints and Clippers went back and forth. Through six innings, the Clippers led 3-2. They added a run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to increase the lead to 6-2. The Saints attempted to come back but their rally in the bottom of the ninth fell just short. The bottom of the first started with two strikeouts. Kaelen Culpepper returned to the Saints lineup and singled in his first at-bat. Aaron Sabato singled to center and Culpepper advanced to third. I’m sure the Clippers were surprised when Sabato stole second, maybe surprised enough that Culpepper came home on a double steal. In the bottom of the fourth, Sabato showed his power to go with his speed. He launched his 18th home run of the season which tied the game at 2-2. Ryan Gallagher made the start. He worked the first five innings. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks. He also struck out five batters. Marco Raya pitched a perfect sixth inning with a strikeout. Recently-demoted Woo-Suk Go from the bullpen to start the seventh inning, but he didn’t get that opportunity. He ran in from the bullpen. An umpire checked Go’s glove and found something, maybe a sticky substance. After nearly five minutes of conversation that included manager Brian Dinkelman, the umpires, Go and his translator. Eventually, he was ejected before throwing a pitch. C.J. Culpepper came in and gave up two runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. Taylor Rashi gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Down 6-2, Cody Morissette led off the inning with his seventh double. Noah Cardenas followed and drilled his ninth home run to make it 6-4. Kyler Fedko singled and went to third base on Gabriel Gonzalez’s double. Following a pitching change, Kaelen Culpepper grounded out to shortstop, but Fedko scored the team’s fifth run. Unfortunately, back-to-back strikeouts ended the game with the Saints behind by one run. Fedko went 3-for-5. Sabato was 2-for-4 with a walk, his 18th homer, and his fourth stolen base. Morissette was 2-for-3 with a walk and his seventh Saints double. Gonzalez’s double was his 17th of the year. Culpepper went 1-for-5 in his return to the Saints lineup. He stole his 16th base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, Midland 5 (10 innings) Box Score This was a fun back-and-forth game, and fortunately the Wind Surge came up with some clutch hits in the latter innings and extra innings. Midland jumped up to a 3-0 lead before the Wind Surge even got to take an at-bat. Wichita picked away from the lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Jaime Ferrer crushed a homer way over beyond the fence in center field, his fourth Double-A dinger. Down 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Kyle DeBarge led off with a walk. With one out, Ferrer doubled him to third. Marek Houston drove in DeBarge with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. That is where the score remained until the bottom of the eighth. Let’s take a step back and talk pitching for a minute. Preston Johnson started and gave up four runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out three batters. Jacob Webb gave up two hits and a walk in a scoreless fifth inning. Hunter Gregory struck out four batters in two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and one walk. Paulshawn Pasqualotto pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Back to the bottom of the eighth. The first two batters struck out. Tanner Schobel singled to shortstop. Andrew Cossetti walked. Garret Spain ran for Cossetti. Billy Amick then walked to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Caden Kendle came up clutch and drove in two runs to tie the game at 4-4. Pasqualotto went back out for the top of the ninth. He gave up a run on a walk and two hits. Midland had a 5-4 lead with runners on second and third and just one out. However, Pasqualotto struck out the next two batters to keep the deficit at just one run. With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Marek Houston hit his third Surge homer to tie the game at 5-5. Kyle Bischoff came on for the top of the 10th inning. The inning started with the Manfred Man on second base. Bischoff walked the next two batters. However, he got a strikeout, followed by a fly out to very shallow center field and another strikeout to escape the inning unscathed. Garrett Spain started at second in the bottom of the 10th. Billy Amick singled down the third base line. That brought Caden Kendle to the plate, likely the batter that the team wanted at that moment. He responded with a single that drove in Spain with the game-winning run. The 24-year-old Kendle has now played in a dozen games for Wichita. With a 3-for-5 game on Friday night, he is now 23-for-43, hitting .535/.585/.721 (1.306) with five doubles and a homer. Kendle is the Twins fifth round draft pick in 2024 out of UC-Irvine. He had started the season with 32 games in Cedar Rapids. He hit .288/.406/.510 (.916) with eight doubles and five homers. Marek Houston also had some big moments, twice tying the game. He was 2-for-4 with his third homer. Jaime Ferrer was 2-for-4 with his eighth double and fourth homer. Khadim Diaw went 2-for-5 with his fourth Double-A double. KERNELS CHRONICLES Cedar Rapids 7, Dayton 9 Box Score The game went back and forth, but after scoring six runs between the fourth and fifth innings, the Kernels held a 7-5 lead. However, Dayton scored the final four runs Adrian Bohorquez started and gave up four runs on five hits and three walks. He also didn’t record a strikeout and had two errors on pickoff throws. Michael Ross came on and gave up two runs on seven hits over the next 2 2/3 innings. Yehizon Sanchez tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings despite giving up a hit and a walk. He also left two runners stranded. Jesse Bergin gave up two runs on three hits in the eighth inning to take the loss. Dameury Pena went 2-for-2 with a walk, his third double, and three RBI. Danny De Andrade went 2-for-5 with his ninth home run of the season. Quinn McDaniel had the only other extra base hit, his fourth Kernels triple. Jose Salas was 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch twice. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers 9, St. Lucie 3 Box Score Hard to believe, but through four innings, this one was a 1-0 game. The Mussels bats showed up in the fifth inning and put up three consecutive crooked numbers. The Mussels took that 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when catcher Irvin Nunez drilled a 400-foot home run. As impressive, the Mussels' starting pitching has been really good this series. Reed Moring and Merit Jones were good in the team’s doubleheader on Thursday. Jason Reitz started on Friday. He fought some control issues, but the end results were pretty strong. He tossed four scoreless, hitless innings. He walked four and struck out one batter. Billy Oldham came on in relief. He was charged with two runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out three. Nick McAuliffe recorded the next four outs before Michael McKenna gave up one run on two hits over the final 1 2/3 innings. In the top of the fifth inning, Luis Fragoza came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. He cleared the bases on a double down the left field line to make it 4-0. In the top of the sixth, Quentin Young led off with a single. Nunez followed with a double to drive him in with a double. Two batters later, Harry Genth made it 7-2 with his second Mussels homer of the season. Jhomnardo Reyes led off the top of the seventh with a single. He moved to second on a ground out and then third on a wild pitch. JP Smith walked, and Reyes scored on a passed ball. After a pitching change, Young walked. Smith scored after a pickoff throw went into the outfield. Irvin Nunez hit his fifth double and fourth home run in the game. Byron Chourio went 2-for-5. Merphy Hernandez hit his first double. Fragoza hit his 15th double and drove in three runs. Jhomnardo Reyes went 1-for-3 with a walk in his Mussels' debut. COMPLEX CHRONICLES DSL Twins 2, DSL Tigers 3 Box Score The Twins got terrific pitching performances from their opener and bulk pitcher on Friday. They just didn’t get much offense, and a late, late rally gave the Tigers the walk-off win. Camilo Made worked the first inning. He faced three batters and struck out two of them. Yolcar Garcia came in to start the second inning and tossed four scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked one, and he struck out three batters. There was an empty scoreboard until the top of the third when, with one out, Misael Rodriguez singled and stole second. Daiyer Barboza singles, but Rodriguez was thrown out at home. Fortunately, Jhon Gonzalez followed with his fourth triple of the season to drive in the Twins first run. An inning later, Anibal Beltre started things with a one-out single. Fabian Ulloa moved him to third with another single. Beltre scored on a sacrifice fly by Luis Duarte. The Twins led 2-0 through five innings. Jeremy Jimenez came in and gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth. Then, with just one out recorded in the bottom of the seventh, he gave up two runs and the Twins lost in walk-off fashion. Anibal Beltre went 2-for-3 with his fifth double. Uloa was also 2-for-3. Gonzalez’s triple was his fourth of the year. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Caden Kendle (Wichita): 3-for-5, 3 RBI, K, SB(5). Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 3-for-5, R, K Marek Houston (Wichita): 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, K, SF, HR(3) Irvin Nunez (Fort Myers): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, K Pitcher(s) of the Day Jason Reitz (Fort Myers): 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 1 K, 69 pitches, 36 strikes (52.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the 2026 draft picks. In addition, keep up with the Twins draft pick signings at our Twins 2026 Draft Board. As you’ll be able to see, all 21 players have signed. They have also signed four undrafted pitchers. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - Did Not Play. #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Signed) - #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, R, RBI, 2K, SB(16) (batted third, DHd) #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Injured List (thumb) #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-for-4, HR(3), R, 2 RBI, K (batted first, played SS) #6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, R, K (batted second, played catcher) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch. #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - Did Not Play. #11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B(17), 2 K #12 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Didn’t pitch #13 - C Carson Tinney (Signed) - #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-for-5, 2 K #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - Did Not Play. #16 - RHP Brett Renfrow (Signed 2026 Pick) - #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 1-for-4, BB, R, 2 K (batted sixth, played SS) #18 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 76 pitches, 52 strikes (68.4%) #19 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) #20 - RHP Ethan Wachsmann (Signed 2026 draft) - UPCOMING PROBABLES Saturday, July 25 Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 pm CT) - RHP Trent Baker (3-3, 6.53 ERA) Midland @ Wichita (6:05 pm CT) - TBD Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (1-7, 6.18 ERA) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:10 pm CT) - RHP Ramiro Villanueva (0-4, 4.81 ERA) FCL Twins - Season Complete. DSL Rangers @ DSL Twins (10:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 51-54 St. Paul Saints: 56-43 Wichita Wind Surge: 35-57 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 37-55 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 50-42 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 10-26 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson (photo of Gabriel Gonzalez) TRANSACTIONS Zach Vennaro was released from the Wichita Wind Surge roster. LHP Ross Dunn had his rehab assigned to the FCL Twins. RANKINGS FanGraphs updated their Top 100 prospects and seven members of the Minnesota Twins organization are on the list... And none of them are Emmanuel Rodriguez. I have to think that's a pretty positive sign for the organization. 2026 Draft Class Update The Twins have signed all 21 of their 2026 draft picks plus they have signed four undrafted pitchers. If you check the Twins Daily Top 20 Prospect rankings below, you will see that we have now included the 2026 draft picks in our rankings. Top (L to R): Jackson Sleeper, Brett Renfrow, Thomas Burns, Carson Tinney, Ethan Wachsmann, Tommy LaPour, Tyler Bryan, Charlie Scholvin, Michael Barnett, Max Bayles, Alec Bouchard, Ryne Palmer, JT Raab, Kole Klecker, Steele Murdock, Ethan Lay. Bottom (L to R): PJ Moutzouridis, Hideki Prather, Colby Turner, Aidan Teel, Connor Mattison, Brian Strange, Vahn Lackey, Isaiah Lane, Colter McAnelly. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Columbus 3 Box Score While the Twins were playing extra innings in Cleveland, the Saints hosted their Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. On Thursday, the Twins won in extra innings to even the series. In St. Paul, the Saints were able to walk off the Clippers in the bottom of the ninth. They grabbed an early 2-1 series lead with three more games to play. Ricky Castro made the start. He tossed three innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out two. Next to the mound was John Klein. He gave up no runs over 1 1/3 innings, though he gave up two hits and a walk. He also struck out three batters. Veteran Eduardo Salazar gave up just one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out two. The Saints then got scoreless innings from Cole Sands (2 BB, 3 K) and Raul Brito (BB, K). Grant Hartwig worked the top of the ninth. He was charged with an unearned run on two hits in the inning. He struck out three but the Saints found themselves down 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth. Hendry Mendez lined a single to center to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Kyler Fedko ran for him. Kala’i Rosario singled to left to put runners on first and second with nobody out. He wasn’t credited with a sacrifice, but Cody Morissette advanced both runners with a ground out fielded by the pitcher. Brian Dinkelman turned to his bench. Gabriel Gonzalez pinch hit for catcher Noah Cardenas. He got a pitch over the plate and drilled it to the opposite field gap for a two-run, walkoff double. In the top of the third, the Saints fell behind 2-0. But in the bottom of the inning, a double by Morissette was followed by a Cardenas single to make it 2-1. Walker Jenkins and Matt Wallner followed with singles to load the bases. With one out, Tristan Gray lined a single to left to drive in Cardenas and tie the game at 2-2. The Saints scored their four runs on 11 hits. Kala’i Rosario went 2-for-3 with a walk. Wallner went 2-for-4. Morissette’s double was his sixth with the Saints. Wallner hit his 10th double. The Gonzalez walkoff double marked his 16th two-bagger of the year. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Midland 2 Box Score There was a pitcher’s duel in Wichita on Thursday. Unfortunately, the A’s Double-A affiliate had a two-run top of the ninth to end the shutout, take the lead and held on to win. The Surge had won the first two games of the series and carry a 2-1 lead into the weekend. The loss also broke the Wind Surge five-game winning streak since returning from the All-Star break. Cory Lewis started and tossed four shutout innings. He gave up three hits, walked one, and had six strikeouts. He also hit a batter. William Fleming gave up two hits and a walk over two scoreless innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Marek Houston led off with a single but was caught stealing. Brandon Winokur followed with a single. With two outs and after a pitching change, Andrew Cossetti and Billy Amick to load the bases. Wichita scored the lone Wichita run when the Midland catcher attempted to pick off Winokur at third base and threw the ball away. With the lead, Jaylen Nowlin came in and struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning. Spencer Bengard pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but he was charged with two runs on four hits and a walk when you add in the ninth inning. He had four strikeouts but was charged with the loss. The Twins scored their one run on five hits and six walks. Marek Houston went 1-for-2 with two walks. He also stole his 14th base for Wichita. That gives him 38 steals overall in 42 attempts. He was caught stealing twice in this game. Tanner Schobel, in his return to Double-A, went 1-for-3 with a walk. Billy Amick walked twice. Caden Kendle added his fourth double and is still hitting .526 with a 1.294 OPS since joining the Wind Surge. KERNELS CHRONICLES Cedar Rapids 3, Dayton 5 Box Score The Kernels made the long trek to Ohio for the week, and maybe they’re just catching their bearings. They lost the first two games of this series, both losses by one run. Dayton scored one run in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and eighth innings. The Kernels scored one run in the third, fifth, and eighth innings. . I guess you don’t always need those crooked numbers to win. Kolten Smith gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and two walks over the first four innings. Smith also hit three batters. He struck out five batters. Xavier Kolhosser gave up an unearned run over two innings despite only giving up one walk and no hits. He struck out three batters. Brian Zeldin worked the final two innings and gave up one run on one hit and two walks. He struck out four batters. The Kernels scored their three runs on four hits and two walks. They also combined to strike out 15 times in 30 at-bats (33 plate appearances). Andy Lugo walked and was hit by a pitch. Yasser Mercedes knocked his 13th Kernels double and stole his 27th base. That gives him 38 total steals this season, tying him for the organizational lead this year. They are two ahead of FCL Twins outfielder Yovanny Duran. The FCL Twins season came to an end. It’s possible that he will join the Mussels for all or some of the rest of the season. Eduardo Tait drilled his 18th home run of the season. I keep hearing that he has had a tough season. Dude is 19 years old and hitting .221 with a .727 OPS. He has 19 doubles, 18 homers and 59 RBI. And he’s 19. Yes, it would be nice to see his OBP higher than .285. He has work to do on defense behind the plate. He's 19, in High-A, of course he has work to do, improvements to be made. But as a prospect, this is the kind of players every team wants. This is the kind of prospect that you can get a great closer for at the deadline. MIGHTY MATTERS Game 1: Fort Myers 0, St. Lucie 1 Box Score In Thursday’s first game in St. Lucie, the Mussels had just two hits in their shutout, but they also walked nine times in the game. Unfortunately, they were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base. Of the two hits, one was Byron Chourio’s sixth double of the season. He also drew two walks. Irvin Nunez and Ricardo Paez also walked twice in the game. Reed Moring started the first game. He gave up one run on eight hits and a walk over the first five innings. He struck out five batters. Michael Hilker pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to drop his season ERA to 1.32. Moring took the loss, but his ERA dropped to 2.60. Game 2: Fort Myers 3, St. Lucie 1 Box Score In Game 2, the Mussels played the home teams as this was a makeup game for a postponed game in Ft. Myers earlier this season. The teams had no more games in Fort Myers, so this was the next-best option. The Mussels grabbed a run in the first inning and two runs in the second inning, and that was enough to hang on for a 3-1 win. In the first inning, Ramiro Dominguez led off with a walk. Jayson Bass singled him to third. Luis Fragoza came up and grounded into a double play, but Dominguez scored. The Mussels second inning began with singles from Quentin Young and Luis Hernandez. Byron Chourio moved them up a bag with a successful sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Harry Genth came up and lined a double to left to drive in both runners and make it 3-0. Merit Jones was on the mound to start the second game. He struck out six batters over five shutout innings to improve to 4-1 this season. He gave up four hits and walked none. Brent Francisco gave up one run on one hit over the final two innings to record his second save. He also struck out two batters. The Mussels scored their three runs on five hits and two walks. Jayson Bass was 2-for-3 and stole his 21st base. Genth’s double was his seventh with the Mussels this season. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 2, FCL Orioles 1 Box Score Late last week, we were hoping that this game would still have playoff implications. Their odds weren’t good, but there was still a chance. Unfortunately, by the time the two teams squared off on Tuesday, the Twins had been eliminated. However, it’s still nice to end the season on a high note, with a win. The Twins finished with a record of 33-26. They were one of just five FCL teams to finish with 30 or more wins. Unfortunately, that was behind the FCL Rays (37-20) and FCL Orioles (34-23) in the FCL South Division. The Orioles take the wild card spot in the playoffs. With two outs in the top of the first inning, Carlos Taveras got things going with a single. Jhomnardo Reyes drilled his 12th double. A fielding error in the outfield allowed Taveras to score the first run. Darwin Almanzar walked and stole second. On the play, Reyes scored the second run of the inning. Lefty Ross Dunn made another rehab start. The left-hander gave up a hit and a walk but no runs in two innings. He had one strike out. Jake Covey came in and gave up the one Orioles run in the third inning. But that’s it. He worked four innings and gave up one hit, hit a batter, and had three walks. He also struck out six batters. Brad Rudis walked one in the seventh but completed the inning to record his second save. The Twins scored their two runs on five hits and three walks. Reyes ended his FCL season going 2-for-2 with a walk and a double. Almanzar had a single, a walk and stole his second baseman. DSL Twins 4, DSL Tigers 5 Box Score The Twins fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. They tied the game in the third, but the Tigers immediately with three runs in the bottom of the inning. The Twins cut the deficit to one with a two-run fifth frame, but that’s as close as they could get. Enmanuel Mena started. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks. He recorded two outs, both on strikeouts. Yosangel Braffit came in and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out five batters. Alam Soriano came in and tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two batters. The Twins scored their four runs on seven hits, two walks, and three batters were hit. Luis Duarte went 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Fabian Ulloa went 2-for-3 with his fifth double. Jhon Gonzalez hit his third triple. Enmanuel Merlo went 1-for-3 with a walk and his third stolen base. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Jhomnardo Reyes (FCL Twins): 2-for-3, BB, 2B(12), R, 2 CS(12) Kala’i Rosario (St. Paul): 2-for-3, BB, R Pitcher(s) of the Day Cory Lewis (Wichita): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 75 pitches, 51 strikes (68.0%) Merit Jones (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 65 pitches, 44 strikes (67.7%) Reed Moring (Fort Myers): 5 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 60 pitches, 44 strikes (73.3%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. Notice that the prospect rankings have been updated to include the 2026 draft picks. In addition, keep up with the Twins draft pick signings at our Twins 2026 Draft Board. As you’ll be able to see, all 21 players have signed. They have also signed four undrafted pitchers. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, CS(2) (batted first, played CF) #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Signed) - #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - Injured List #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Injured List #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita) - 1-for-2, 2 BB, SB(14), 2 CS(2) (batted first, played SS) #6 - RHP Riley Quick (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch. #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, HR(18), R, 2 RBI, K (batted second, DHd) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch. #9 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch. #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3 (batted sixth, played LF) #11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-1, 2B(16), 2 RBI (pinch hit walkoff winner) #12 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List. #13 - C Carson Tinney (Signed 2026 draft) - #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - Did Not Play. #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-for-4, R, 2 K (batted second, played CF) #16 - RHP Brett Renfrow (Signed 2026 draft) - #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - Game 1: 0-for-3, BB, 3 K (batted sixth, played SS), #18 - RHP Ryan Gallagher (St. Paul) - Scheduled to pitch Friday. #19 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) #20 - RHP Ethan Wachsmann (Signed 2026 draft) - UPCOMING PROBABLES Friday, July 24 Columbus @ St. Paul (8:07 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (3-4, 6.95 ERA) Midland @ Wichita (7:05 pm CT) - RHP Preston Johnson (0-3, 4.63 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 pm CT) - RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 6.88 ERA) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:10 pm CT) - RHP Jason Reitz (0-2, 3.14 ERA) FCL Twins - Season Complete. DSL Twins @ DSL Blue Jays (10:00 am CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 51-53 St. Paul Saints: 56-42 Wichita Wind Surge: 34-57 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 37-54 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-42 FCL Twins: 33-26 DSL Twins: 10-25 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article