Seth Stohs

The nice part is that there is no reason for the Twins to rush Prielipp. Add him to the 40-man roster when required and keep the patience. I don't care if he's called up a 24, 25, or 27... Just when he's ready.

Saturday in the minor-league parks, I'm pretty sure it is the 27th of July. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge It was a Zebby Day! Connor Prielipp made his first non-rehab appearance for the Kernels in over a year. The Wind Surge offense was great, and somehow their pitching held on for a Wild Win. There was little offense in the Fort Myers and DSL Twins lineups on Saturday. Check out all that happened, and please make your voice heard. First, Rank the Twins Top 20 Prospect here. Second, leave some feedback in the comments, not only about today's article, but also about your thoughts on the daily minor league reports. What do you like? Love? Skip? What can we do better? Is our focus in the right place on these? Let us know. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 57-46 St. Paul Saints: 50-50 Wichita Wind Surge: 40-55 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 53-40 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 49-43 FCL Twins: 27-31 (season complete) DSL Twins: 19-19 TRANSACTIONS The Twins activated Jose Miranda from the injured list. To make room, Edouard Julien was optioned to St. Paul. In very good news, RHP C.J. Culpepper was activated from the Kernels 7-Day Injured List. In Fort Myers, outfielder Carlos Aguiar was placed on the 7-Day Injured List with a left calf strain. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Omaha 9 Box Score It was Zebby Day in St. Paul on Saturday, and of course, he had no walks. But it was probably the first Zebby Day of the season that didn’t go well. In four innings, he gave up four runs on nine hits (one homer). He gave up two runs in the second inning and single runs in the third and fourth innings. Josh Winder came on and gave up three runs on four hits (2 homers) and a walk in two innings. He struck out three batters. Nick Wittgren came on and gave up two runs on two hits (1 homer). Caleb Baragar and Hobie Harris each threw a scoreless innings. The Saints scored both of their runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Williams singled and scored on a Wynton Bernard home run. At the time, the Saints cut their deficit in half (4-2), and that was about it. Bernard went 2-for-4. The homer was his fourth of the season. He also stole his 14th base. The Saints had just other hits in the game. Jair Camargo hit his ninth double, and Rylan Bannon hit his 16th double. #OldFriend Tyler Duffey got the final four outs for Omaha, one on a strikeout. His Triple-A ERA is now 2.17. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 10, Amarillo 9 Box Score There was a bit of an offensive shootout deep in the heart of Texas. Well, Amarillo is in that northern piece of Texas that, if they’d kept the pattern of North and South Dakota and Kansas, would have been part of a rectangular Oklahoma. Instead, like Nebraska, Oklahoma decided to go with a panhandle. Anyway, not sure if Amarillo is in “the heart of Texas” or not, but it is in the Texas panhandle. And, there was a high scoring affair between the Wind Surge and the Sod Poodles on Saturday night. Through three innings, the Surge held a 1-0 lead. They added three in the top of the fourth, but Amarillo counted with two of their own to make it 4-2. The Surge scored two in the fifth, one in the sixth and three runs in the top of the 7th inning to take a 10-2 lead. I’m sure the lead felt pretty safe. However, Amarillo scored three in the bottom of the seventh and four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Wind Surge went scoreless in the top of the ninth frame meaning that they were clinging to a 10-9 lead with three outs to go. Kyle Bischoff, making just his second Double-A appearance, got the final out of the eighth inning and tossed a perfect ninth inning to hold on and record his first save with the Surge. Cory Lewis started and did well. He gave up two runs on three hits (1 home run) and three walks. He struck out six batters. Ricardo Velez came on and got four outs. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk. He had two strikeouts. Jared Solomon got two outs, but not before giving up a three-run homer. Scott Engler gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in just 2/3 of an inning. He left with two runners on. Bischoff came on and both runners scored, but he did record three strikeouts and his first save. In the fourth inning, Tyler Dearden singled to lead off the top of the inning. After a strikeout, Jeferson Morales and Tanner Schobel hit back-to-back home runs that made it 4-0. In the top of the fifth, Luke Keaschall led off with a home run to make it 5-2. Jake Rucker singled, and after a pitching change, Dearden doubled him to third base. Carson McCusker drove in Rucker with a sacrifice fly. With two outs in the sixth inning, Jorel Ortega was hit by a pitch. He advanced on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a Keaschall single. (7-2) In the top of the seventh inning, Dearden led off with a single. McCusker followed with an RBI double. After Morales reached on error, Schobel doubled to drive in McCusker. Morales advanced to third base and scored on an Andrew Cossetti ground out. The Surge had a 10-2 lead and held on, barely, for the win. Dearden led the way with a 4-for-5 day with two doubles. He’s now hitting .406 with a 1.018 OPS in nine games with the Wind Surge after hitting .500 (1.193) in five games with the Kernels. And before that, he was hitting .361 (with a 1.044 OPS) in 55 games for Lew Ford and the Long Island Ducks. The 26-year-old had spent the 2017 through 2023 seasons in the Red Sox organization. Schobel went 2-for-5 with his 14th double and fifth home run. He went back-to-back with Morales whose homer was his sixth of the year. McCusker went 2-for-4 with his 19th double. Keaschall went 2-for-6 with a seventh home run since joining Wichita. Ben Ross went 1-for-3 with two walks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Quad Cities 4 Box Score Earlier in the week, Connor Prielipp was activated from the 60-Day Injured List. On Saturday in Quad Cities, he made his first Kernels start in over a year. Obviously, the Twins will be quite cautious with such a young and talented arm. In this game, he had four strikeouts over the first two innings. He gave up no runs and two hits, but he walked none. He threw 32 pitches and 22 were strikes. Ricky Castro came on for his first Kernels appearance. He gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk over the next four innings. He had two strikeouts. Jacob Wosinski struck out two batters over two shutout, hitless innings. He had one walk. For the fifth time in five games this series, the Kernels took the first lead. With two outs, Rubel Cespedes knocked a single. He stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. He scored on a Kevin Maitan single. And that was it for the Kernels scoring. They had just one more hit over the final eight innings. Maitan had another single. He ended the day 2-for-3 with a walk. The Kernels had seven walks. Misael Urbina and Kyle Hess each walked twice. The team was just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base. After winning the first two games of the series, Quad Cities had won the past three games. On Sunday, C.J. Culpepper will be returning to the mound to face exciting Royals’ LHP prospect Frank Mozzicato. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Dunedin 5 Box Score The Mussels offense was held scoreless for the first eight innings. By that point, they were down 5-0. They had a minor comeback attempt in the ninth that came up well short. Charlee Soto made his 16th start of the season. He was charged with two runs on three hits over four innings. He had four strikeouts and no walks. He took the loss and fell to 0-4 on the season. Of course, that doesn’t matter at all since: 1.) The Twins are going to be very patient with such a young pitcher, 2.) he is averaging 3 1/3 innings over his 16 starts, and 3.) He doesn’t even turn 19 until the final day of August. Of the 50 pitches, Soto threw 38 strikes, an incredible 76% strike rate. Devin Kirby came on for his first Mussels appearance. He gave up two runs on one hit, three walks, and a hit batter in the fifth inning. He had two strikeouts though. Tomas Cleto gave up one run on one hit and one walk over the next two innings. He had two strikeouts. Juan Mercedes struck out a batter in a perfect ninth. Through the first eight innings, the Mussels had just three hits, all singles. In the top of the ninth, Brandon Winokur led off with his second triple of the season. He scored on a ground out. Next, Nick Lucky hit his fifth homer since joining the team a month ago. This one was of the Inside-the-Park variety. Lucky and Maddux Houghton each went 2-for-4 in the game. Houghton stole his 14th base. Winokur had a walk to go with his triple. Walker Jenkins went 0-for-2 but walked twice. Yasser Mercedes has had a tough start with the Mussels. He was promoted when the FCL season ended earlier this week. In three games with the Mussels, he is 1-for-14 (.071) with seven strikeouts after going 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts on Saturday. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 0, DSL Mets 4 Box Score Melvin Rodriguez was the starter for the Twins in this game, and the 18-year-old was fantastic. He tossed five shutout innings and gave up just two hits and no walks. He had one strikeout. Manuel Compres came on and had a perfect inning. He started the seventh, and it didn’t go well. A walk was followed by two stolen bases. Then two more walks loaded the bases. Fabian Herrera came on in relief, trying to keep the game tied 0-0. The first batter he faced popped out to first base, but the runner from third scored to make it 1-0 on the sacrifice fly. A wild pitch put runners on second and third. The next two batters had RBI singles, and a fourth run scored on an error. The Twins offense was pretty non-existent in this game. They had two singles and a walk. Merphy Hernandez went 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. He also stole his 23rd base of the season. Alver Medina had the other single, and Ricardo Paez worked the walk. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Melvin Rodriguez (DSL Twins) - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K Hitter of the Day – Tyler Dearden (Wichita) - 4-for-5, 2-2B(4), 2 R PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. Help(!) us update our Top 20 rankings by ranking the players here. #1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 0-for-2, 2 BB, K #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 0-for-4, #5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-2, BB, HBP, K. #7 – Charlee Soto (Fort Myers) – 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 50 pitches, 38 strikes (76.0%) #8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-for-2, BB #9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 2-for-6, HR(7), R, 2 RBI, 3 K #10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 1-for-3, BB, 3B(2), K. #13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 2-for-5, 2B(14), HR(5), R, 2 RBI #14 – Zebby Matthews (St. Paul) – 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 84 pitches, 58 strikes (69.0%) #15 – Cory Lewis (Wichita) – 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 75 pitches, 44 strikes (58.7%) #17 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 32 pitches, 22 strikes (68.8%) SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Omaha @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CST) – RHP Louie Varland (3-7, 5.34 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (6:05 PM CST) – LHP Aaron Rozek (4-3, 1.88 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 PM CST) – RHP C.J. Culpepper (2-1, 3.26 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (11:00 AM CST) – LHP Cesar Lares (2-3, 4.37 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

Fun day in the Twins minor leagues. In fact, we've got lots of bonus content in today's minor-league report. You'll even enjoy reading through how our Top 20 Twins prospects did on Wednesday. Draft Talk. Business of minor-league baseball. And some great performances. Could the Mussels throw back-to-back No Hitters? Kernels got very strong pitching! Wind Surge made a late comeback attempt with the help of, well, you can probably guess. And the Saints had a couple of rehabbers and a great start. And, and the Twins welcomed 21 newly-signed players to Fort Myers and the Twins organization. Check it all out below. Image courtesy of William Parmeter CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 55-45 St. Paul Saints: 48-49 Wichita Wind Surge: 38-54 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 53-37 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 48-41 FCL Twins: 27-31 DSL Twins: 18-17 BUSINESS OF MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL Remember the limits on minor-leaguers in an organization changed again in 2024. Each MLB team fields five minor-league teams in the United States. There are four full-season affiliates and one “complex” affiliate. Just three years ago (2021), teams were limited to 180 players . This year, that number has been reduced to 165 active players on domestic minor-league rosters. This doesn’t include the Dominican Summer League. In addition, teams can have up to 15 players on the 60-Day (or Full-Season) Injured List. However, players on the 7-Day IL count toward the 165 player limit. So, what does this mean? Well, as players come off of the 60-Day IL, if the organization is at 165, someone would need to be released. Also, the Twins just drafted 22 players. As they sign and are placed on rosters, the organization needs to remain at 165 players or fewer. I bring this up because there are likely to be several tough releases over the coming weeks. Some of that started yesterday as the Twins released four players from the organization. You can keep up with the 2024 Twins draft picks here. It was updated with a lot of player signings on Wednesday. Have they signed? How much? Under or over slot? Two signings worth looking at are Competitive Balance pick Dasan Hill and 11th round pick Michael Carpenter. PROSPECT RANKINGS First, if you missed my updated Top 30 Twins prospects blog posted yesterday, please check it out and share your thoughts. Twins Daily is in the process of updating our Top 20 Twins Prospect rankings. You can participate in that ranking. Click here to rank your Top 20 Twins Prospects. TRANSACTIONS With the Twins early-afternoon game, RHP Ronny Henriquez was optioned to St. Paul, and David Festa was recalled to be the “bulk” pitcher against the Phillies. In addition, RHP Brock Stewart was added back to the Twins roster. Infielder Diego A. Castillo was DFAd to make room for him. Castillo is likely to clear waivers and remain with the Saints. He had a couple of nice moments, highlights in his brief stint in the big leagues. Following the Twins game, Jair Camargo was optioned to Saint Paul. The Twins have an off day tomorrow, but there will certainly be at least one more move made on Friday to make room for the two players in the next paragraph. Royce Lewis played in his second rehab game for the Saints, and Jose Miranda played in his first rehab game. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Omaha 2 Box Score The Saints welcomed Bernie, well, Terry Kiser (of Weekend at Bernie's fame) out to toss the ceremonial first pitch. Also, how is that movie 35 years old!!?? What a classic! Caleb Boushley has had a very nice season with the Saints. He’s even been called up to the Twins a couple of times. He is currently off of the 40-man roster but continues to pitch well in St. Paul. On Wednesday, he gave up one run on four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. He is now 9-4 this year with an ERA of 4.47. Nick Wittgren came on and gave up one run on one hit and one walk in his inning. Matt Bowman gave up two hits in the eighth inning, but no runs. Diego Castillo got the ninth inning and struck out two batters. The Saints scored in the first three innings of this game to give them a 4-0 lead. Omaha scored their two runs in the middle innings, but St. Paul scored two more in the eighth inning for the final runs on the game. The Twins had two of their players rehabbing at CHS Field on Wednesday. Royce Lewis batted second and was the DH. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a strikeout. He doubled in the first inning and came around to score on a single by Yunior Severino. Jose Miranda batted third and played third base. He went 2-for-4 in the game. Severino went 3-for-4 with a walk and his 10th double. Wynton Bernard went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Rylan Bannon went 1-for-3 with two walks. Payton Eeles went 1-for-3 with a walk and his sixth stolen base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Amarillo 7 Box Score Let’s just jump right to the eighth inning because that’s where the action really started, at least if you’re a Wind Surge fan. The Surge were down 3-0 and had approximately an 11-percent chance of winning. To that point, they had just two hits in the game. However, Tanner Schobel led off the inning with a single, and Ben Ross walked. Suddenly their odds of winning jumped to nearly 18-percent. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third. However, the next two batters struck out without a run scoring, so the odds of winning were down to just under 8-percent. That brought Luke Keaschall to the plate. After watching two pitches come in just wide of the plate, he got a pitch right down the middle, and he did exactly what good hitters should do with pitches right down the middle. He launched a ball well beyond the fencing in left-center field to tie the game at 3-3. While the majority of his home runs have come to lead off the game for his team, this has to be the most clutch to date. Wichita’s Win Probability surged from 8-percent to about 43-percent. And then the Sod Poodles scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-3 lead and the Surge were unable to score in the ninth. Travis Adams made the start for the Surge and gave his team a Quality Start. In six innings, he gave up three runs on six hits. He walked three and had two strikeouts. Sure, he got a little help from his friends too. Sometimes that friend can be your 5-8 catcher/outfielder. And sometimes it is really nice to have a 6-8 right fielder. Cody Laweryson pitched a scoreless seventh inning. However, he was charged with all four run in the eighth inning (three were earned). He exited a 4-3 game, and Miguel Rodriguez got the final two outs. However, that final out came after all three inherited runners scored. Keaschall provided the big, timely hit for Wichita, but the team had just five hits and two walks Schobel went 1-for-3 with a walk. Jake Rucker hit his 16th double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 2 Box Score The Kernels spread out their runs. They scored right away, a couple of times in the middle, and maybe most important, they added insurance runs late to take the win down in Davenport. Cedar Rapids scored the first run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Ricardo Olivar and Gabriel Gonzalez singled. Then with two outs, Rubel Cespedes singled to center to drive in Olivar, but he tried to make it a double and was thrown out. Quad Cities scored two runs in the bottom of the third frame to take the lead, but the Kernels responded quickly with a pair in the fourth. With two outs, Nate Baez walked. Misael Urbina followed with an RBI double. Jose Salas came up and singled to center to drive in Urbina with the team’s third run. The score remained 3-2 through seven innings thanks to some fantastic pitching from the two Kernels pitchers. Let’s jump to the pitching because the Kernels got two very strong performances on Wednesday night. Brooklyn Park’s John Klein improved to 7-2. He tossed the first six innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out seven batters. Jarret Whorff came on and was perfect for the final three innings to record his first save of the year. Five of the nine outs came via the strikeout. Back to the batters. Where were we? Oh yeah, the score remained 3-2 through seven innings, but that’s when Cedar Rapids added some insurance which, I guess, makes a lot of sense now that I overthink it. Cespedes led off the eighth with a walk. He advanced to third base on a double by Baez. A wild pitch allowed Cespedes to score the fourth run. Unfortunately, that was followed with two strikeouts and an infield pop up which left Baez stranded at third base. On to the ninth inning, with one out, Olivar doubled and moved to third on a ground out. Kevin Maitan wasn’t going to strand him. He (presumably) wanted to get a pitch he could drive into the outfield, deep enough to score Olivar. Instead, on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Maitan got a pitch at the bottom of the zone and hit one far enough into the outfield that it went over the fence in right-center for a two-run homer. That gave the team a more-comfortable 6-2 lead, though on this night, Whorff didn’t necessarily need insurance. It’s still nice to have. Olivar led the Kernels offense. He went 4-for-5 with his 16th and 17th doubles. Gabriel Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with his 11th double. Urbina went 2-for-4 with his 12th double. Maitan’s home run was his sixth since joining the Kernels. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Dunedin 1 Box Score With three runs in the third and three more runs in the fourth inning, the Mussels got strong pitching and cruised to a nice win on Wednesday night in Dunedin. How did their pitching staff compare to the previous night’s no-hitter? I think we can say they did quite well! Maddux Houghton led off the top of the third inning with his third home run of the season. He found himself down in the count 0-2 but worked it back to full before launching a ball 355 feet onto the berm in left field. With one out, Yohander Martinez was hit by a pitch. Walker Jenkins followed with his third home run of the season to make it 3-0. It appears Jenkins might have been guessing slider (or at least something offspeed) as he hit the first pitch out of the yard. Dunedin scored one in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. In the top of the fourth inning, Poncho Ruiz singled to right, and Rixon Wingrove singled to left to start the inning. Seeing both record opposite field hits had to make the Mussels coaching staff feel good. After one out, Houghton was able to reach on an error. Ruiz scored and the Mussels had runners on second and third with one out. After a line out for the second out, Martinez walked to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Jenkins went the opposite way for a two-run single that made it 6-1. That’s how the score remained until the top of the eighth when, with two outs, Houghton singled to drive in Ruiz. Then in the ninth, Martinez walked and advanced to second and then third on a couple of wild pitches. Jenkins walked. With one out, Brandon Winokur hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in the team’s eighth run. Jenkins went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer, and four RBI. Houghton was 2-for-4 with a home run. Martinez reached three times, twice on walks and once when he was hit by a pitch. No, No… I didn’t forget to mention the pitching staff that held Dunedin to just one run in nine innings on Wednesday. Sure, it wasn’t a six-inning no-hitter like the Mussels had on Tuesday, but this performance was fantastic. Paulshawn Pasqualotto gave up one run on just one hit, a solo homer, over the first four innings. He walked one and had six strikeouts. Tomas Cleto came on and struck out three batters in 1 2/3 scoreless, hitless innings. Jack Noble got the next four outs, two came on strikeouts. Sam Perez struck out two batters over two perfect innings to close out a very nice, all-around win. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – John Klein (Kernels) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K, or Jarret Whorff (Kernels) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K. (9 up, 9 down) Hitter of the Day – Ricardo Olivar (Kernels) - 4-for-5, 2-2B(17), 2 R, or Walker Jenkins (Mussels) - 2-for-4, BB, HR(3), R, 4 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 2-for-4, BB, HR(3), R, 4 RBI #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-4, K #4 – David Festa (Minnesota) – 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 73 pitches, 46 strikes (63.0%) #5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 3-for-5, 2B(11), K #8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-for-0, SH #9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-for-4, HR(5), R, 3 RBI, K #10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, SF, RBI, K . #13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-3, BB, R, K #18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 3-for-4, BB, 2B(10), R, RBI, K #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 4-for-5, 2-2B(17), 2 R THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Omaha @ St. Paul (7:07 PM CST) – RHP Randy Dobnak (8-5, 3.79 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (7:05 PM CST) – LHP Christian MacLeod (first AA start) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (6:30 PM CST) – RHP Jeremy Lee (1-3, 3.90 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM CST) – RHP Spencer Bengard (6-2, 1.79 ERA) FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (9:00 AM CT) - TBD DSL Marlins @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

#31: Daiber De Los Santos #32: Miguel Cordero #33: Jaime Ferrer #34: Patrick Winkel I added a few more because, first, Martin already shouldn't be on the list... so adding #33 brings in another 2024 draft pick who, in your question, we need to make sure he signs, so I went to #34 and added Winkel. I'll also say this... they aren't going to select a guy in the top 10 rounds if they aren't going to sign them. They will sign.

I don't think they should try to pass him through again. But, never know. Maybe that's a good reason to not push him to AA, so other teams may say it's not likely he'll be ready to stick in 2025.

That's not a crazy thought. I'd say make the case for him over Jenkins or Lee. It can be done.

I'll be surprised if we don't see Zebby Matthews making starts for the Twins down the stretch. No recent updates on Canterino, but you're not wrong. His stuff, when healthy, is incredible.

My guess is he'll stay in CR the full season. No rush. After this season, he can get added to the 40-man roster and start next season at Wichita (which is where he will start next year even if he gets called up there at the end of this year). Once he's got a little AA Success under his belt, he can help the big league club. Until then, they'll have Jeffers and Camargo for 2026 and beyond.

Why? Let's let him pitch a few games before pushing him too fast. Let him get re-acclimated to the mound. He won't be pitching in the big leagues this year, so we hope for next year and what's best for him.

As noted in my previous response, Prielipp is no longer on the IL, back with the Kernels. Let's hope he can stay healthy. I would generally agree with your thoughts on the guys that won't be back. I try not to think much about that in-season. But a look at the roster spots, several are likely givens, or nearly givens. Jeffers, Camargo, Lee, Lewis, Correa, Julien, Miranda, Larnach, Buxton, Wallner... Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Duran, Jax, Varland, Alcala, Festa. It'll be more about adding to that group. ERod could debut next year. Morris, Matthews, Raya, MacLeod, Lewis, Jones, Keashall, Severino. Obviously not all will and there will be moves and trades and struggles and such.

100% Even his rehab this time around has been quick. Just saw that he's been activated by the Kernels. He's off the IL.

Correct. When we started this vote round, he was several plate appearances and days from surpassing that point, but then he came back quickly.

It's been two months, and the draft has brought new players into the organization. It's prospect voting time again! A rundown of the rules again: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It literally requires 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your dirty little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://twinsdaily.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple, you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no great way to make something like this be as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you wish to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp or @Seth Stohs as they appear). Mention the prospect you want added and I will do that asap. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in this forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock, asking to have your vote deleted. It will be removed and you can vote again. Voting will close at end of day Monday, July 29th!

Very soon, you will be able to update your Top 20 Minnesota Twins prospect rankings again (so watch for that!). In thinking about it over the past week or two, I actually ended up ranking my top 203 Twins prospects. Again, I include only players who remain a "prospect." It's the same criteria used the MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and any other credible prospect ranking site. This won't be a real deep dive into these prospects. In fact, I will attempt to keep the Top 10 prospect summaries to 3-4 sentences. The goal will be to keep the reports on prospects 11-20 to 2-3 sentences. For prospects 21-30, I'll limit myself to just 1-2 sentences. My hope is that you will use this as the starting ground and ask me a ton of questions. Ask questions on these 30 players, or ask about other players that don't appear on the list. (My hope is that I didn't miss anyone, but that is possible too.) Update - I didn't keep anywhere near my goals of keeping it short! What do I consider in my rankings? In my opinion, the biggest factor is upside and ceiling. Just how good can this player be? But also, what is the players' floor? How likely is that player to get to the big leagues. Have they been hurt? For pitchers, I consider their velocity, stuff, reports on spin, etc. For position players, I consider athleticism, speed, defense, arm, ability to hit and the potential to turn doubles into home runs down the line. What level is the player at? How old is the player relative to level of competition? Was the player drafted out of high school or college (because that will effect age-to-level)? What types of decisions are being made regarding the player in terms of promotions, timing, place in batting order, how the teams take care of the players, etc.? And then ultimately it comes down to comparing a player versus another player and which I would have higher. Let's get started! When you get to the end, let's discuss the rankings, the players, who was snubbed, who's too high or too low? #1: Walker Jenkins - 19 - OF It was just over a year ago that the Twins used the #5 overall pick in the 2023 draft. When he has been on the field, he has hit very well. Hurt in the Mussels first game of the season, he is hitting .265/.402/.398 (.800) with five doubles, a triple, and two homers in 27 games. Most impressive has been his patience. He has 23 walks to just 15 strikeouts. The sky is the limit. Jenkins has all five tools. #2: Brooks Lee - 23 - IF After impressing throughout spring training, Lee missed the first two months of the season with a back injury. He was brought back slowly with five rehab games in the FCL and five more in Fort Myers. He played 20 games for St. Paul and hit .329/.394/.635 (1.029) with five doubles and seven homers. He got off to a fast start, with eight hits in his first four big-league games. Since then, he has three hits over his past six games. A solid contact hitter, line drives from gap-to-gap, with potential for more power, Lee can also play solid defense across three infield positions. #3: Emmanuel Rodriguez - 21 - OF In the offseason, E-Rod was added to the Twins 40-man roster. In 37 games at Double-A, he has hit .298/.479/.621 (1.100) with 12 doubles, two triples, and eight home runs. He has 42 walks in 166 plate appearances. His on-base skills are incredible for his age. His power is legit. He has great speed and does a very nice job in center field. You may have noticed... Twins prospects get hurt, and Rodriguez has not been able to avoid that. He has missed time two or three times due to a hand/wrist injury that keeps coming back. When he can play, he's as talented as anyone. #4: Luke Keaschall - 21 - 2B One of the biggest risers among Twins prospects this season, Keaschall represented the Twins in the Futures Game recently. He began the season with 44 games in Cedar Rapids where he hit .335/.457/.644 (1.001). In 42 games at Wichita since, he is hitting .315/.415/.457 (.872). Combined, he has 21 doubles, a triple, and 11 home runs. He has 53 walks already. he is also 20-for-25 in stolen base attempts. After seeing him hit early in the season, I compared his approach, set up and swing to that of Mike Trout. He's big, strong, and he's got a ton of potential. #5: Andrew Morris - 22 - RHP The next guy on the list is getting all the headlines, but Morris is putting up very similar numbers. Sure, a few more walks, but some impressive overall numbers. He was the Twins fourth-round pick in 2022 from Texas Tech. He began the 2024 season in Cedar Rapids. In seven starts, he went 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA. He moved up to Wichita. He has pitched nine times and has gone 5-2 with a 1.19 ERA. In 83 combined innings, he has 87 strikeouts and just 16 walks. He's got the numbers, but he also has the stuff. He's got a mid-90s fastball. He also has a really good slider and a slower, 12-6 curveball. #6: Zebby Matthews - 24 - RHP Matthews was the Twins eighth round pick in 2022 from Western Carolina. Like Morris, Matthews started in Cedar Rapids. After four starts, he was 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA. He moved up to Wichita and has pitched in 10 Double-A games. He has gone 2-1 with a 1.95 ERA. In a combined 78 innings, he had 91 strikeouts and just six walks. Morris fills the strike zone. Matthews just picks the spot within the zone and throws it there. And it's worked because he now has the stuff to get whiffs in the strike zone. His mid-90s fastball also touches 98 mph now. He's also really, really worked to improve his secondary pitches. He has four strong pitches. #7: Austin Martin - 25 - UT After struggling in his transition to professional baseball and fighting some injuries the last couple of seasons, Martin has shown exactly what type of player he can be in the big leagues. He may not hit a huge number of home runs, but he hits a lot of line drives from foul line to foul line. He can run well, and run the bases well. And, defensively, he is at least adequate at second base, left, and center field. He will soon lose prospect eligibility, but the on-base machine has shown that he can be a productive big leaguer. #8: Charlee Soto - 18 - RHP A year ago, the Twins made him the 34th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Reborn Christian Academy in Florida. He made his pro debut in 2024. A look at his overall numbers is fair, but not necessarily indicative of what he's done. In 15 starts, he is 0-3 with a 5.73 ERA. In 48 2/3 innings, he has struck out 60 and walked 22 batters. Soto is all about projection. First, he is huge; tall and very strong. He throws hard, touching 98 and 99 at times. He's also working on his secondary pitches, but each of them have shown some potential. Despite the lack of numbers, he's worked and improved and his most recent start was the best of the season. #9: Kaelen Culpepper - 21 - SS/3B The Twins selected "KC" with the 21st overall pick this month in the 2024 MLB draft. The Memphis native was not recruited heavily out of high school, but he went to Kansas State and got the opportunity to play right away. In 2023, he hit .325/.423/.576 (.999) with eight doubles and 10 homers. He had the opportunity to play for Team USA last summer, playing for Larry Lee. This season, he played 61 games and hit .328/.419/.574 (.993) with 15 doubles, six triples, and 11 home runs. Culpepper is a contact, line-drive hitter who puts the ball in play and makes things happen. He played third base his first two years before moving to shortstop this season. I personally think that Culpepper is a great example of a prospect with a high floor but also has the tools to become a high-ceiling performer too. #10: Yasser Mercedes - 19 - OF A top international signing in 2022, he put up a great stat line in the DSL that summer. Last year, he moved up to the FCL, but a shoulder injury cost him performance before finally being shut down. Now healthy again, Mercedes is back. In 49 games, he has hit .337/.426/.577 (1.003) with 17 doubles, two triples, and six homers. He also has 18 stolen bases already. Mercedes can hit for average and doubles, but he'll get bigger and stronger and could add significant power. He's got really good speed, and he has the ability to play strong defense in center field. #11: David Festa - 24 - RHP A bit of a drop for Festa since the most recent prospect rankings, but honestly, for me at least, it's a lot more about the players that made big jumps in the season's first half. Sure, he had a couple of rough starts in the big leagues. He went 1-1 with an ERA over 10. I don't care about that at all. He gave up too many homers, but what did I see? I saw a fastball between 95 and 99. I saw a slider that was sharp and got some swing-and-misses. He also had some really good changeups. He's got three potentially big-league pitches. He just needs to get to St. Paul and keep working on the consistency and command of each of his pitches in and outside the zone. The stuff is definitely good enough. #12: Gabriel Gonzalez - 20 - OF Did we place Gonzalez too high before the season started? Maybe. But what did we know? All we saw were his numbers, stats, and other information available online. Now he has been in the organization for a little over half of a season. Unfortunately, He missed nearly two months with a back injury which cost him valuable development time. Should he have been a Top 100 prospect as some in the industry had him? Maybe. He struggled a bit early in the season with his new organization and then got hurt. Overall, he is hitting .267/.303/.437 (.740) with 10 doubles, two triples and three home runs. So yes, he drops for now, but he is very young for the level. He is incredibly strong with a quick bat. He likes to swing. He's got things to work on, as does everyone on this list, but he's got a ton of talent and power potential. #13: Marco Raya 21 - RHP It's just really hard right now to rank Raya. His "stuff" is as good as anyone's in the system, and I don't have a big problem with how he's been used. The other day when he threw 78 pitches in a game and it was the most he's thrown since 2022, it definitely gives pause. He has fought injury early in his career. He is not a big guy. He needs to continue gaining strength. I have no problem if his "future big league" roll is seen more as a 3-4 inning reliever where he just throws his big fastball and sharp breaking pitches and changeup at max effort. That can be an immensely valuable pitcher. But how do we rank that type of pitcher? Not as high as a full-time starter, but ahead of relievers. The stuff is good. The numbers haven't matched this year. #14: Rayne Doncon - 20 - IF Doncon came to the Twins this offseason with Manuel Margot from the Dodgers in exchange for SS Noah Miller. Doncon was a big international signing in 2021. He hit in the DSL, and then in the ACL. However, in 2023 at Low A, he hit just .215/.283/.368 (.651), and while those numbers aren't great, he hit 21 doubles and 14 homers. He began this season with 38 games and hit .283/.374/.464 (.838). He moved up to Cedar Rapids and in 43 games, he has hit .253/.333/.446 (.779). Combined, he already has 21 doubles and 10 home runs. Doncon is a really great athlete, very strong and quick. He's got a solid approach at the plate and does a decent job defensively around the infield. #15: Brandon Winokur - 19 - IF/OF Winokur was the Twins third-round pick just a year ago out of high school in California. Winokur just might be the most athletic player in the Twins system. He stands 6-6 and is lean. Right now, he's able to play shortstop and third base as well as center field and right field. He's got a ton of power potential on his frame. Right now, he's got really good speed as well. In 56 games this season, he has hit .252/.347/.393 (.740) with 13 doubles and five homers. He has 23 walks, but he's also struck out a lot. He also have 14 stolen bases. 2024 is about getting him games and at-bats and time at each of the defensive positions. He'll have an offseason to work on things, so I believe 2025 will be a bigger year for him. #16: Dasan Hill - 18 - LHP Hill was the Twins fourth pick in last week's draft, a competitive balance pick following the second round. The lanky lefty had committed to Dallas Baptist. At 6-4 and 175 has plenty of room to add some weight and mature. He's already throwing 95 mph at times. He also has the makings of really good slider in the low-80s and high-70s slower curveball. He also has a changeup. He's all about upside. #17: Kala’i Rosario - 22 - OF Rosario was the Twins' fifth and final pick from the 2020 draft. The Hawaiian-born slugger was the High-A Midwest League's home run and RBI champ and the league's MVP. He went to the Arizona Fall League and tied for the league lead in home runs. Rosario only recently turned 22, so he is very young for the Double-A level. In 52 games, he hit .241/.342/.417 (.759) with 15 doubles and six homers. Unfortunately, his season came to an end due to injury. #18: Cory Lewis - 23 - RHP Lewis was the Twins ninth-round pick in 2022 out of UC-Santa Barbara. He made his professional debut in 2023. He made nine starts in Fort Myers and 13 starts in Cedar Rapids. He went a combined 9-4 with a 2.49 ERA. In 101 1/3 innings, he had 118 strikeouts and 33 walks. He was named the Twins minor-league pitcher of the year and the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. Unfortunately, he missed the first two months of this season with injury. He is now back and with the Wichita Wind Surge where he has made five starts. #19: Ricardo Olivar - 22 - C The Twins signed Olivar in July of 2019 which meant that his professional career really didn't get underway until the 2021 season. He had a breakout season in the FCL in 2022. In 40 games, he hit .349 (1.046) with 12 doubles, three triples and five homers. He validated that season by hitting .285 (.855) with 28 doubles and 10 homers in Fort Myers. He has played in 75 games for Cedar Rapids .He is hitting .294/.403/.489 (.892) with 15 doubles, three triples, and 11 home runs. He's a good athlete for a catcher and can play some left field. He's got a strong arm. He takes very good plate appearances and is willing to walk. He also has the talent to be a solid all-around hitter. #20: Danny De Andrade - 20 - SS De Andrade was a top international signing for the Twins in January of 2021 from Venezuela. He has generally held his own offensively while playing very strong defense at shortstop. In 2023 in Fort Myers, he hit .244/.354/.396 (.750) with 21 doubles, three triples and 11 home runs. He was also 20-for-24 in stolen base attempts. In 29 games with Cedar Rapids this year, he hit .243/.333/.359 (.693) with six doubles, two homers and five steals. Unfortunately, his season came to an end after a high-ankle injury. #21: Kyle DeBarge - 21 - SS Barely recruited out of high school, the Louisiana native stayed in-state and played for the Ragin' Cajuns at Louisiana-Lafayette. He played in 60 games that first season and hit .293 (.750), a solid freshman season. In 2023, he hit .371 (.994) with 15 doubles and seven home runs. He spent last summer in the Cape Cod League. This spring, DeBarge was the Sun Belt Conference player of the year after hitting .356/.418/.699 (1.117) with 19 doubles, three triples and 21 homers. At the same time, few question his ability to stay at shortstop defensively. He's just 5-9, but it's fair to call him a "ballplayer." #22: Jose Rodriguez - 19 - OF Rodriguez is a big, strong youngster with a ton of power potential. He's shown it at various times. As a 17-year-old in the DSL in 2022, he hit .290 (.966) with 15 homers, three triples, and 13 home runs. In 2023, he came to the FCL and really had to adjust but by season's end, he had. He hit .262 (.737) with 10 doubles and six homers. This year, he played 33 games with the Mussels and hit just .186 (.569) and struck out about 33.3% of the time. But few in the organization have as much power potential as Rodriguez. Unfortunately, his season came to an early end as well which is costing him valuable development opportunities. #23: Jair Camargo - 25 - C Camargo signed with the Dodgers out of Colombia in January of 2015. In February of 2020, he was traded with Kenta Maeda to the Twins. It's been a slow progression through the Twins system ever since. Last year in St. Paul, he hit .259/.323/.503 (.826) with 16 doubles and 21 homers. This year, he's been injured a couple of times and was called up for a little while. The burly backstop is a good athlete, and he's quite strong. He has improved his plate discipline and contact rate the past couple of years. #24: Yunior Severino - 24 - IF It's been an interesting career for Severino, going back to signing with the Braves, being deemed a free agent, and signing with the Twins to a second seven-digit signing bonus. He could always hit, and he's made himself playable at the corners. In 2023, he played 84 games for Wichita and 36 games at St. Paul. Combined, he hit .272/.352/.546 (.898) with 17 doubles and a minor-league-leading 35 home runs. His 2024 started out very slowly. That makes his .253/.362/.451 (.813) stat line look better. He's got nine doubles and 16 home runs. Tons of swing and miss, but a lot of pop in his bat too. #25: Dameury Pena - 18 - 2B A right-handed Luis Arraez? Probably not fair, but Pena is a really good hitter as a very young player. Signed in January 2023, he hit .382/.453/.496 (.949) with eight doubles and three triples. This year, as an 18-year-old in the FCL, he has hit .294/.400/.431 (.831) with four doubles, a triple, and three home runs in 33 games. Over the two years, he has 32 walks to go with just 18 strikeouts. Hard contact, uses the whole field, lots of singles and doubles. Pena is a very intriguing prospect. #26: Rubel Cespedes - 23 - 3B/1B Cespedes has been in the organization for a long time, but I would bet most people really didn't know his name before this season. He signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic back in April of 2019. He made his pro debut in the DSL that summer. In 2021, he hit just .158 in the FCL. However, in 2022, he was doing well in Extended Spring and got an opportunity with Fort Myers. He stuck, hitting over 74 games. He remained with the Mussels in 2023. In 115 games, he hit .233/.313/.398 (.711) with 26 doubles and 13 homers. He played some winter ball this offseason which he said really helped him prepare for this year. In 71 games with the Kernels, he is hitting .289/.361/.459 (.820) with 12 doubles and 10 home runs. Cespedes has really cut his K-Rate. He's got a fairly smooth but strong left-handed swing that can generate a lot of power around the field. Defensively, he's solid at both corner infield spots and possesses a tremendously strong arm. #27: C.J. Culpepper - 22 - RHP Culpepper was the Twins 13th round pick in 2022 out of Cal-Baptist. He split 2023 between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids. In 21 starts, he went 6-5 with a 3.56 ERA. He had 89 strikeouts per inning. This offseason, he found himself featured in national publication's Top 10 Twins prospect rankings? He isn't a flame-thrower, though he sits 92-94. What makes him so intriguing is that he has six pitches, and he's been encouraged to continue working with all of them. This season, he's been limited to just seven starts. He's been fine, posting a 3.26 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning. However, he has been on the IL when forearm/elbow issues. #28: Billy Amick - 21 - 3B A South Carolina native, Amick stayed in-state out of high school and went to Clemson. His first season, he had just 19 plate appearances over nine games (and had 11 strikeouts). However, as a sophomore, he played in 46 games and hit .413/.464/.773 (1.236) with 17 doubles and 13 home runs. After spending time in The Cape, he took advantage of the transfer portal and went to Tennessee and the SEC. In 65 games, he hit .306/.387/.639 (1.026) with 14 doubles and 23 home runs. He helped lead the Volunteers to the College World Series championship. The Twins used their second-round pick on the slugger, and he could move swiftly once he gets acclimated. #29: Spencer Bengard - 22 - RHP This is the Cal-Baptist section of my prospect rankings. Bengard was the Twins 15th round pick in 2023 from the same school as CJ Culpepper. (No, I couldn't quite fit FCL right-hander and 2023 Undrafted Free Agent signing into this range.) Bengard, to some degree has become this year's Day 3 Find. He began the season working out of the Fort Myers bullpen. He's made six starts and six relief appearances, but even coming out of the bullpen he works 3-5 innings at a time. He is 6-2 with a 1.79 ERA. In 55 1/3 innings, he has 57 strikeouts to just 10 walks. Bengard throws a low-90s fastball (90-91, touch 94), a low-to-mid-80s changeup, a mid-80s slider, and some upper-70s curveballs. #30: Eduardo Beltre - 17 - IF At the 30th spot, it's always fun to consider the youngest players in the organization. In January, the Twins signed Beltre out of the Dominican Republic with a bonus just shy of $1.5 million. Only Daiber De Los Santos received a larger bonus this year ($1.9M). His DSL season got going a little bit late due to a wrist injury, but once he got in the lineup, he's been unreal. In 22 games, he is hitting .339/.500/.554 (1.054) with two doubles and four homers. He's also got 18 walks to go with just 14 strikeouts, something I sure like to see. He's got huge power potential, but he is also a very good athlete. He likely has the speed to stay in center, but he's been getting a lot of time in right field too. The Next 20 (in alphabetical order) Adrian Bohorquez - RHP Darren Bowen - RHP Matt Canterino - RHP Noah Cardenas - C Byron Chourio - OF Miguel Cordero - RHP Khadim Diaw - C Daiber De Los Santos - SS Jaime Ferrer - OF Tanner Hall - RHP Ronny Henriquez - RH RP Kyle Jones - RHP DaShawn Keirsey - OF Cesar Lares - LHP Jeferson Morales - OF Jaylen Nowlin - LHP Pierson Ohl - RHP Connor Prielipp - LHP Tanner Schobel - IF Patrick Winkel - C

What does Wichita starter Andrew Morris need to do to enter the top Twins pitching prospect conversation? Or is he already there? Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 54-43 St. Paul Saints: 46-48 Wichita Wind Surge: 37-52 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 51-36 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-41 FCL Twins: 25-30 DSL Twins: 17-16 TRANSACTIONS The Twins placed Chris Paddack and Carlos Correa on the 7-Day Injured List. Austin Martin was activated from the IL, and Edouard Julien was recalled from St. Paul. In addition, the Saints transferred Will Holland from the 7-Day IL to the 60-Day IL. Really it was just a formality since he has a fractured fibula. Wichita placed Regi Grace on the Injured List. Lefty Connor Prielipp’s rehab has been transferred to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Toledo 3 Box Score What an impressive offensive explosion for the Saints on Saturday night in Ohio. They scored 11 runs on 19 hits and eight walks. All nine Saints batters had at least one hit. Seven of the nine hitters had at least one hit and one walk. The Saints went 10-for-16 with runners in scoring position and they still left 11 men on base. They scored in just four of the nine innings including four runs in both the second and ninth innings. And they did so without the benefit of a home run. Anthony Prato went 3-for-3 with two walks, his third double, three runs scored and four RBI. Patrick Winkel went 3-for-4 with a walk, his 12th double, and two RBI. Wynton Bernard went 3-for-5. Dalton Shuffield went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Chris Williams went 2-for-5 with his ninth and 10th doubles. Yunior Severino went 2-for-5 with a walk. Rylan Bannon went 2-for-5 with a walk and his 15th double. DaShawn Keirsey and Payton Eeles each had a single and a walk Adam Plutko was the recipient of all of the run support. The veteran went 5 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out six batters. Nick Wittgren got the final two outs of the sixth inning, both on strikeouts. Matt Bowman struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. Diego Castillo struck out three batters in the ninth inning, but not before giving up a run on two hits and a walk. Several former Twins are currently with the Toledo club. In this game, Austin Schulfer tossed two innings. Andrew Vasquez worked 2 1/3 innings. Even Drew Maggi came on and got the final out for the Mudhens. Akil Baddoo played center field and led off. And Sauk Rapids native Anthony Bemboom caught and batted eighth. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 4, Frisco 1 Box Score Andrew Morris was back on the mound for the Surge. He gave up a first-inning run, but Wichita tied it up in the bottom of the first and then added on. Morris has been fantastic all season, especially since joining the Wind Surge. He gave up just one run on four hits over six innings in this game. He had one walk and five strikeouts. He is now 5-2 with a 1.19 ERA with Wichita. Scott Engler had two walks and two strikeouts in a scoreless seventh inning. Miguel Rodriguez finished things out with three strikeouts over two scoreless, hitless innings. With one out in the bottom of the first, Jake Rucker knocked his 15th double. After a wild pitch, Carson McCusker walked. Rucker scored on a ground out. The Surge added on in the bottom of the third inning. Luke Keaschall led off by reaching on a throwing error. With one out, he stole second. McCusker walked, and then Jeferson Morales was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases. With two outs, Andrew Cossetti lined a double, his 14th of the season, to score two runs and give them a 3-1 lead. That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the eighth inning. Tanner Schobel led off with a walk. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Schobel scored on an infield ground ball. Wichita scored their four runs on just three hits. They did walk seven times in the game. Kyler Fedko went 0-for-1 but walked three times. Ben Ross made a tremendous play in center field. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 4 Box Score The Kernels fell behind 3-0 after the top of the first. That’s where the score remained until the ninth inning when they added a fourth run for insurance. The Kernels mounted a big comeback in the bottom of the ninth, but it came up just short. Darren Bowen started and gave up those three runs on five hits over 2 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts without any walks. Mike Paredes was fantastic in relief. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings and gave up four hits. He had three strikeouts. Juan Mendez walked one in a scoreless eighth inning. AJ Labas got the ninth inning and gave up one run on two hits. Down 4-0 going to the bottom of the ninth inning, the Kernels didn’t give up. With one out, Rubel Cespedes singled and scored on a double by Kevin Maitan. Jay Harry was hit by a pitch. After the second out, Misael Urbina doubled to drive in Maitan and Harry and cut the deficit to 4-3. There was a pitching change, a strikeout and the end of the game. Cedar Rapids had seven hits and two walks, but they also struck out 13 times. Maitan went 2-for-4 with his ninth double. Harry was 1-for-2, was hit by a pitch and walked. The hit was his 14th double. Urbina’s double was his 11th of the season. He also threw out a runner on the bases. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 1 Box Score Lefty Connor Prielipp had his rehab transferred to Fort Myers. He worked the first two innings and gave up just one hit. He had three strikeouts to go with no walks. Tanner Hall came in and worked the next 3 2/3 innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and had eight strikeouts. Juan Mercedes went 1 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings. He also walked one and struck one out. Samuel Perez struck out three in two perfect innings to close out the win. Down 1-0 going to the fifth inning, the Mussels scored in four of the final five innings. With one out in the fifth, Walker Jenkins tripled and scored on a Byron Chourio sacrifice fly to tie the game. In the sixth inning, Nick Lucky’s third home run drove in Rixon Wingrove and gave the Mussels a 3-1 lead. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Poncho Ruiz doubled and scored third. Daniel Pena hit a ground-rule double to make it 4-1. Wingrove followed with an RBI single to make it 5-1. Poncho Ruiz led off the top of the ninth inning with a solo homer to close the scoring. Ruiz went 3-for-5 with his 18th double and fourth home run. Nick Lucky went 3-for-5 with his third home run. Wingrove went 2-for-5. Walker Jenkins went 1-for-3 with three walks and a triple. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 5, FCL Red Sox 4 Box Score The Twins jumped ahead early in the game, but the Red Sox tied it up in the third inning. That was it for the offense until the eighth inning when both teams scored. But which team got a second runner, beside the Manfred Man, to score. In the top of the first inning, Yasser Mercedes led off with a double (after hitting three doubles on Friday). Dameury Pena singled to right field. Bryan Acuna then doubled to drive in Mercedes. Amilcar Vasquez singled in Pena with the second run. With one out in the second inning, Cole Elvis doubled. That brought Yasser Mercedes to the plate, and guess what he did? That’s right. He hit another double to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. Liam Rocha started and gave up one hit in the first inning. Then Ezequiel Ventura came in and threw a scoreless second inning. However, he gave up three runs in the third inning and the game was tied up. Devin Kirby calmed things down a bit. He threw three scoreless innings. Alejandro Crisostomo pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh to send it to extra innings. The top of the eighth began with Mercedes on second base. Dameury Pena began things with a triple which gave the Twins the 4-3 lead. With one out, Amilcar laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score Pena. In the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox had runners on second and third with nobody out. A fly ball to left field allowed the lead runner to score, but the following runner was thrown out trying to advance to third. Suddenly with two outs and no one on base, a strikeout ended the game. After his 4-for-4 game on Friday, Mercedes went 2-for-4 with his 16th and 17th doubles. Pena was 2-for-4 with his first triple of the year. Acuna’s double was his sixth of the year. Elvis’s was his first double of the year. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Morris (Wind Surge) - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K; 80 pitches, 56 strikes (70.0%) Hitter of the Day – Anthony Prato (Saints) - 3-for-3, 2-BB, 3B(3), 3 R, 4 RBI. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Saturday. #1– Walker Jenkins (Fort Myers) – 1-for-2, R, 3 BB, 3B(1) #2 – Brooks Lee (Minnesota) – 1-for-5, R, K #5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-4, K #8 – Austin Martin (Minnesota) – 0-for-3, K #9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-for-4, R, SB(6) #10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, BB, 4 K. #13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 0-for-3, BB, R, 2 K, SB(10) #17 – Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) – 2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 26 pitches, 17 strikes (65.4%) (rehab in Fort Myers) #18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 2-for-5, R, BB, K #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4, 2 K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Toledo (3:05 PM CST) – RHP Zebby Matthews (first AAA start) Frisco @ Wichita (1:05 PM CST) – RHP Cory Lewis (0-2, 5.09 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) – LHP Jordan Carr (2-3, 5.43 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Clearwater (11:00 AM CST) – TBD ALUMNI of the DAY Trey Cabbage is getting a lot of run for the Astros with Kyle Tucker on the Injured List. On Saturday night, the long-time Twins prospect robbed Julio Rodriguez of a home run. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday’s games! View full article

Martin is on the MLB Injured List already. Julien not playing last night was interesting though.

Winder: Just needs to be healthy for an extended period of time. His shoulder just hasn't been write the past couple of seasons. At this stage, he'll be a reliever, and that's totally fine. Plenty of value in that. Re Raya: I would expect that to happen. It's certainly happened on my rankings.

Maybe you've heard. Prospect development is not linear. And, Twins fans know that that often is caused by injuries. After a tough 2023, Yasser Mercedes appears to be back. He is filling up the box scores and stat lines thoroughly again. Find out what he did on Friday, and who else did well. Image courtesy of William Parmeter CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 54-42 St. Paul Saints: 45-48 Wichita Wind Surge: 36-52 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 51-35 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 44-41 FCL Twins: 25-30 DSL Twins: 15-13 TRANSACTIONS We learned about it a few days ago, but on Friday, RHP Zebby Matthews was officially assigned to the Saints. We have written about that a few times. In addition, utility man Dalton Shuffield has been assigned to the Saints from Wichita. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Toledo 6 Box Score Randy Dobnak was blessed with the honor of being the starter in the team’s return from the All Star Break. A five-run sixth inning gave the Saints an 8-2 lead that they found a way to hang onto. Dobnak went the first five innings. He was charged with two runs on five hits and three walks. He also struck out four batters. He earned the Win and improved to 8-5 with a 3.79 ERA. Brock Stewart came in for the sixth inning and gave up one hit and had two strikeouts. The Saints got on the board when Chris Williams hit his 11th home run of the season. It was a solo blast that made it 1-1. In the fifth inning, Payton Eeles led off with his second homer since joining the Saints. Dalton Shuffield followed with a single and stole second. Rylan Bannon walked. With two outs, Williams singled to right to drive in Shuffield and make it 3-2 Saints. That brings us to the sixth inning. Anthony Prato led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Alex Isola reached on an error. Eeles then had a bunt single to load the bases. Shuffield singled to left to drive in two runs. Bannon singled to drive in two more runs. The final run scored on a Williams’ sacrifice fly. With an 8-2 lead, Scott Blewett came in. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. With an 8-4 lead, Josh Winder came in. He gave up two runs on two hits and two walks and recorded just two outs. Jeff Brigham came on with two runners on base and didn’t allow either runner to score. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save. Williams went 3-for-4 with his 11th home run and three RBI. Eeles went 2-for-4 with his second home run. Shuffield went 2-for-4 with two RBI. He also had two stolen bases. In his first game in the organization, Rylan Bannon went 1-for-2 with three walks and two RBI. It will be interesting to see how the Saints roster is comprised depending upon the Twins roster needs on Saturday. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Frisco 8 Box Score Marco Raya gets the nod for the Wind Surge. He went the first four innings and gave up five runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out four batters. He threw 79 pitches which matches a career-high. The other time he threw that many pitches in a game was on May 21, 2022, for Fort Myers. Ricardo Velez came on for the fifth inning. He gave up a hit and a walk in a scoreless inning. Kyle Jones came on and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in three innings. Cody Laweryson pitched a perfect ninth inning. After second-inning walks to Carson McCusker and Tyler Dearden, Ben Ross singled to drive in the team’s first run and tie the game at 1-1. Down 5-1 going to the bottom of the fifth inning, Jake Rucker singled with one out. He scored on a Jeferson Morales double that made it a 5-2 game. Let’s jump ahead to the bottom of the eighth inning, Morales led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. However, Wichita was now down 8-3. Luke Keaschall led off with a single. He moved to second on a one-out single by Morales. McCusker walked to load the bases. Schobel walked to drive in one run, and then Dearden singled in a second run. But that was the end of the scoring, and the Wind Surge fell 8-5. Morales led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with his 18th double and first triple. Dearden went 2-for-4 with a walk. McCusker walked three times. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 1 Box Score Lefty Christian MacLeod was back on the mound in Cedar Rapids as they took on the Timber Rattlers. He continued his streak of strong starts with another strong start on Friday. He gave up one run on six hits over six innings. He walked one and had seven strikeouts. Kyle Bischoff got the next five outs, three of them on strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez got the final four outs to record his seventh save. However, the Rattlers’ pitching was up to the task as well. The Kernels’ bats were held scoreless through the first six innings. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, former Gophers pitcher Aidan Maldonado came in for his Double-A debut. He had been the Brewer Fanatic Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month in June. Kevin Maitan led off with a single. Jay Harry was then hit by a pitch. After a strikeout, Misael Urbina walked to load the bases. Kyle Hess followed with a sacrifice fly to score Maitan. Harry then scored the second run on a wild pitch. The Kernels had just seven hits in the game and one walk. There were also five Kernels hit by pitches. However, they were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Rubel Cespedes led the way with two hits. Gabriel Gonzalez was 1-for-2 and hit by a pitch twice. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Clearwater 1 Box Score Ricky Castro was on the mound for the start, well, delayed start in Clearwater. He was tremendous. He tossed five innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball. He walked none and struck out seven batters. Paulshawn Pasqualotto came on and struck out three batters over two scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit. Jack Noble pitched the eighth inning and gave up one run on two hits. Xander Hamilton gave up one hit and one walk in the ninth, but no runs. The Mussels got on the scoreboard first in the top of the fourth inning. Nick Lucky doubled to drive in Daniel Pena and Maddux Houghton. In the sixth inning, Rixon Wingrove hit a solo homer to give the team a 3-0 lead. Pena drove in Poncho Ruiz with a double in the eighth inning to make it 4-0. After giving up a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Fort Myers responded in the ninth. Lucky scored on an error, and Yohander Martinez scored on a force out that gave us the final score of 6-1. Nick Lucky went 1-for-2 with two walks, his third double, and stole three bases. Daniel Pena went 2-for-4 with a walk and his first double of the season. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 5 Box Score Yasser Mercedes is back! The Twins top international signing from 2022 had a strong debut season in the Dominican Summer League. In 2023 in the FCL, he had a shoulder injury. He played through it for a while, but his performance suffered, and he was finally shut down. He has been healthy again in 2024 and the numbers are back! On Friday afternoon, he was at the top of the Twins lineup and went 4-for-4 with three doubles and two RBI. In 48 games played, he has hit .333/.424/.566 (.990) with 15 doubles, two triples, and six home runs. The 19-year-old also has 18 stolen bases. Alright, back to the game. Adrian Bohorquez started and gave up one run on one hit over three innings. He walked three and struck out three batters. Miguel DeJesus worked the next 2 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on two hits. He had three walks to one strikeout. Kyle Bloor worked the final 1 2/3 innings. He stranded two inherited runners in the sixth, but he gave up two runs on three hits in the seventh inning to take the loss. Omari Daniel went 2-for-3 in the game with his third double. Yilber Herrera was 1-for-3 with a walk. Harold Grant walked twice. Anderson Nova hit his second double and recorded the team’s other RBI. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 8, DSL Rangers 2 Box Score A couple of big innings helped the Twins to a big win in the Dominican. They scored four runs in the second inning and then three runs in the fifth inning. Eudy Garcia made the start for the Twins and worked the first three innings. He gave up two hits and a walk without giving up a run. He also hit two batters and had two strikeouts. Melvin Rodriguez came in and gave up two runs on five hits over the final four innings. He had three strikeouts with no walks. The second inning began with singles from Luis Fragoza and Ricardo Paez. They advanced a base on a passed ball. Fragoza scored on a Victor Leal groundout. Alver Medina reached on an error before Guillermo Sosa was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Daiber De Los Santos drove in two runs with a single to center. Ramiro Dominguez doubled to drive in the fourth run of the inning. The Twins added a single run in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, De Los Santos and Dominguez walked. After the second out, Carlos Silva walked to load the bases. Fragoza then walked to score De Los Santos with the team’s fifth run. In the bottom of the fifth, Medina and Ruben Velazquez walked with one out. After De Los Santos grounded into a fielder’s choice, he stole second. Dominguez drove a single to center that scored two runs. Silva drove in Dominguez with the eighth and final run of the game. The Twins had seven hits and nine walks in the game. Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth double and three RBI. De Los Santos went 1-for-4 with a walk. He drove in two and scored twice. Fragoza went 1-for-2 with two walks. Eduardo Beltre went 1-for-2, was hit by a pitch twice and walked once. We also learned on Friday that DSL Twins Beltre and Dominguez have been named DSL All Stars. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Ricky Castro (Mighty Mussels) - 5.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, HBP, 7 K; 64 pitches, 49 strikes (76.6%) Hitter of the Day – Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 4-for-4, 3-2B(15), 2 RBI, K. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Friday. #5 – Gabriel Gonzalez (Cedar Rapids) – 1-for-2, 2 HBP #6 – Marco Raya (Wichita) – 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 79 pitches, 48 strikes (60.8%) #9 – Luke Keaschall (Wichita) – 1-for-4, BB, R #10 – Brandon Winokur (Fort Myers) – 0-for-4, BB, 3 K. #13 – Tanner Schobel (Wichita) – 1-for-4, BB, RBI #18 – Yunior Severino (St. Paul) – 1-for-4, BB, 3 K. #20 – Ricardo Olivar (Cedar Rapids) – 0-for-4 SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Adam Plutko (3-1, 4.57 ERA) Frisco @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) – RHP Andrew Morris (4-2, 1.14 ERA) Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) – RHP Darren Bowen (2-4, 6.23 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Clearwater (5:30 PM CST) – TBD FCL Twins @ FCL Red Sox (9:00 AM CT) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! View full article

With how many people the Twins had come up and contribute from Day 2 and Day 3, I'm not going to guess which ones, but I'm sure 2-4 of them will contribute.

No hints, but it's pretty clear just from the players they drafted. Culpepper was picked 21st. He was something like 32nd on the big board. Maybe he goes for slightly under slot. DeBarge went 33rd and was maybe 50 on the big board. Maybe there's a bit of savings there. At the same time, they only took one high school kid, so they may not need a ton of extra. Hill will take some, I'm sure. The other thing is that they don't take a guy in the top ten without pretty much knowing what they're signing them for.

On Sunday night, the Minnesota Twins had four draft picks in the top 69 overall picks. They added three college hitters before drafting a lanky high school pitcher. We were able to chat with top pick Kaelen Culpepper after he was drafted. Sean Johnson chatted with media late after the Day 1 draft was complete. Image courtesy of © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports It was a long day on Sunday, even before Day 1 of the 2024 MLB Draft got underway deep in the heart of Texas. The Twins were busy making four draft selections over the next four hours. However, Sean Johnson seemed very happy about the day. The Twins last had four picks on Day 1 of the MLB Draft in 2016. It was the final draft with Deron Johnson as the team’s scouting department. The Twins uniquely drafted four high school bats that night. They took Alex Kirilloff in the first round. In the second round, they took catcher Ben Rortvedt. Then, after the second round, they had two bonus picks and took outfielder Akil Baddoo and infielder Jose Miranda. Impressively, all four have made it to the big leagues, and each has had some big moments. On Day 2, they took right-handed pitchers Griffin Jax and Jordan Balazovic. Then, on Day 3, they added right-handed pitchers Tyler Wells and Sean Poppen, as well as catcher Caleb Hamilton. In addition, they selected Greg Deichmann, Matt Wallner, and Brent Rooker were selected late on Day 3 but did not sign. Director of Scouting Sean Johnson met with the media after their four picks were made. “We knew we were in for a long night!” He continued, “There were some spots we anticipated being a little tricky to navigate, but our group feels good about how things played out. All four players we took tonight we really love. So, that always feels good on the front end. It couldn’t have gone much better from what we thought we were going to get coming into the night and what we ended up with. That’s a rare feeling, so whenever that happens, we’ll take it.” The talk before the draft was that this draft’s strength was college hitters. In previous weeks and interviews, Johnson said they may have to lean into the draft’s strength. And that is generally how Day 1 of this draft went. And the Twins' first three picks were college bats. “I think we’ve learned over the years that you can never fully have a feel for how the draft is going to play out. There are always surprises that you can’t see coming. That happened at various points tonight. That’s just the way it goes. We just try to stick to our plan of attack and take the players we believe in and our scouts believe in, and that is holding up on the board. We ended up with three bats, and that’s not unusual for us.“ Looking back, three of the Twins' first four picks in 2023 were bats. They took Walker Jenkins, Luke Keaschall, and Brandon Winokur. In the Covid-shortened draft of 2020, the Twins had for picks. They drafted Aaron Sabato, Alerick Soularie, and Kala’i Rosario. In 2019, five of their first six picks were hitters (Keoni Cavaco, Matt Wallner, Spencer Steer, Seth Gray, and Will Holland). Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers, and DaShawn Keirsey were the first three Twins draft picks in 2018. And again, that 2016 draft saw the Twins select prep hitters with their first four picks. Let’s talk about the four players the Twins drafted on Sunday night. The Twins used the 21st overall pick to select Kansas State infielder Kaelen Culpepper. Culpepper was in Texas and was quite emotional when the Twins drafted him. Tears welled up in his eyes. He gave big hugs to his parents and walked to the stage wearing a Twins jersey. It was important for him to be at the draft, even if it wasn’t always comfortable. He said, “For one thing, it’s hot. Very hot. But when I heard my name being called, a jolt of emotions ran through my body. I didn’t know what to do. It was all Excitement, joy, and tears, all real. I came a long way, a journey, just to get here. Looking back on it, it’s amazing. I’m just really excited.” However, he was somewhat surprised to hear that the Twins took him. “The only interest I felt was when I met with them at The Combine. That was about it. I was pretty shocked, but I’m also really happy. I’m excited to see what the future holds.” When Sean Johnson was told that, he responded. “That’s probably fair, but some of that’s just us trying to lay low a little bit and not tip our hand. I think Royce said that, too, last fall. He was like, ‘I didn’t know they were going to take me. I didn’t even know if they liked me.’ We absolutely loved him. So there’s some gamesmanship to all of this. We did connect at The Combine. We really enjoyed the interview. They give us extra time slots for players that we want to talk to more. So we spent an hour with him. Really enjoyed the time we got with him. We had a lot of background checks on Kaelen, and everyone across the board liked the way he approached the game of baseball and who he was as a person.” Culpepper starred last summer for Team USA. He’s also had some of his best moments and best streaks in big games. Culpepper noted, “I think when you’re playing for something bigger than yourself, it means a lot more, especially the games. I like playing on the biggest stages.” Johnson contacted a familiar person to get feedback on Culpepper and others. “Going back to last summer and the USA team, a lot of glowing reviews from the coaching staff included Brooks Lee’s dad, who was the head coach of that club. He really vouched for his character and the way he went about his business.” ‘ Asked about himself and his game, Culpepper said, “I consider myself a five-tool player. Definitely speed. I want to always be a guy that steals maybe 40, even 50 bases. There’s always a willingness to get faster.” He’s just trying to be more consistent. While the Twins have had their eyes on Culpepper for a long time, he was not heavily recruited out of Memphis. Kyle DeBarge, their Competitive Balance pick, was a relative unknown out of high school, and Billy Amick, the Twins second-round pick, is a guy they have been watching since high school. According to Johnson, These players aren’t all on a linear path in their development. You just have more comfort in a player who has hit for a long period of time. Sometimes, you have to be opportunistic on players who just had a good year or two. It’s something we discuss, we measure, and we try to quantify. It’s really hard. So we always lean into the players we know best, on and off the field. I think that’s just us trying to stay disciplined in our approach.” After Culpepper, the Twins took another smallish shortstop in Kyle DeBarge from Louisiana-Lafayette. He turns 21 years old today. He’s just 5-9 but probably best described as a “ballplayer.” That said, he put up some impressive Slugging numbers in Lafayette. DeBarge was a three-year starter for the Ragin' Cajuns. This year, he hit .356/.418/.699 (1.117) with 19 doubles, three triples and 21 homers. Those first two picks are contact-type shortstops. “It’s something we certainly value. It’s very difficult for our player development to teach guys to swing at the right pitches and control the strike zone. So we usually lean into those types of performers.” But can they stick at shortstop? Sean Johnson doesn’t worry about that kind of stuff.“ I don’t get hung up on where they’re going to end up. I know we have to talk about where they think they’re going to play. I think all three (including Amick) have a chance to stay in the dirt. I think Culpepper and DeBarge have good chances to play shortstop, but if they have to shift to second base or third base, it’s a lot like Brooks Lee. We didn’t take Lee because we thought he was a shortstop. We thought he could hit. That’s really what drives our decisions on night one. We want a player we believe can hit and play multiple positions. It really is in line with how Rocco (Baldelli) deploys his roster. On a nightly basis, it’s nice to get him potential pieces that can play around the diamond. That’s always a good thing for the way our roster is constructed.” Billy Amick just won a College World Series title with Tennessee. He profiles as more of a power hitter. Johnson noted, “ I think we looked at Billy’s overall track record of performance. He was a good performer at Clemson. Then he was on this decorated Tennessee team that was full of really good hitters. You look at his numbers, and the underlying numbers, beyond the stat sheet, and we just really feel good about his swing and his chance to be offensive, and we were really glad he was still on the board at 60.” He spent two seasons at Clemson. His freshman year, he played in nine games and went 2-for-19 with 11 strikeouts. As a sophomore, he hit .413/.464/.773 (1.236) with 17 doubles and 13 home runs. This season, in 65 games, he hit .306/.387/.639 (1.026) with 14 doubles and 23 home runs. And with their competitive balance pick, they selected long, lanky lefty Dasan Hill. He is listed at 6-5 and 165 pounds. He is drafted out of Grapevine High School in Texas. It’s the same high school that former Twins prospect Mason Melotakis attended. According to Johnson, “We saw Dasan Hill a lot. We’ve seen him since last summer. He made a nice jump from last summer to this spring. Our area scout, Trevor Brown, saw him pitch at least eight times this spring. So we had a lot of looks. He was Trevor Brown’s bullet guy. We had good belief from the intel we received from our area scout, which we lean toward. He’s got a chance with four pitches. He has present velocity. We think once we get him in our system, we can do a lot physically and develop his pitches. That pick was a nice way to end the day today.” Hill has a nice fastball, which actually improved throughout the year. He’s consistently in the low 90s and reached the mid-90s. He also throws two different breaking balls that have the potential to be very good. He’s also continuing to work on a changeup, though he didn’t need to use it in high school. That will become a very important pitch for him in professional baseball. And again, with his size, he’s got room to get bigger and stronger as he continues to develop and mature. On Day 2, the Twins will make eight selections. The day will start in the third round and will go until the 10th round is complete. On Tuesday, teams will make their 11th through 20th-round picks. View full article