Seth Stohs

They can't find a way to keep Larnach and Wallner up in the big leagues... not sure how Stevenson would get there. He can play CF, so I guess if Taylor got hurt, they could justify bringing him up.

My Rankings: 1.) Royce Lewis 2.) Brooks Lee 3.) Trevor Larnach 4.) Brent Rooker 5.) Matt Wallner 6.) Chase Petty 7.) Noah Miller 8.) Aaron Sabato 9.) Keoni Cavaco

Yeah, that's not really it... though not completely wrong. First, in this case, Cavaco stays with the Kernels, keeps working with them, practicing, dressing for games, being a part of all they do, except can't play. The DL is kind of like a taxi squad with a couple of players at each level, ready to be activated when needed. But, you are right in the part about them wanting to play other prospects... They're going to play Ross, Miller, Salas, Schobel. They're all ahead of Cavaco. Ernie Yake is in a similar situation. He jumps around from level to level and has found himself on the Dev List several times.

I watched the last couple of innings of the Kernels game, so I didn't see the E-Rod error. However, I messaged Tom Froemming to see if he had watched the video of it. He said Rodriguez had to run quite a long ways to get to the ball and it was just an error, not so much due to the 'lollygagging'. I'm sure that's up to individual evaluation and opinion for everyone. Why would I have even asked that question to Tom?

I think he's fine defensively in CF.

Emmanuel Rodriguez? Or am I forgetting another Rodriguez? His timeline is likely 2025 sometime, and that would be impressive. Celestino is coming back from a broken thumb and missing 2+ months. He's so young still and talented.

Varland's Return to Triple-A. Saints Mount Comeback After #OldFriend Leaves Game. Lee Reaches Base Four Times. Kernels Late Comeback Attempt Falls Short. FCL Twins Top Red Sox Twice. Gran Juego Para Una Beisbolista de Barcelona. El Informe de Ligas Menores de hoy está repleto de información sobre siete juegos, transacciones y mucho más. (Today's Minor League Report is filled with information on seven games, transactions, and much more.) Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints Here are the records of the six Twins affiliates through games played on Friday. St. Paul Saints: 42-30 Wichita Wind Surge: 28-38 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 40-27 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 34-33 FCL Twins: 9-5 DSL Twins: 5-9 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS With Kenta Maeda being activated from the IL on Friday, the Twins optioned RHP Oliver Ortega to St. Paul. RHP Owen Griffith, who was activated from the IL earlier this week and promoted to Wichita, has been placed on the Injured List. He pitched on Thursday night and faced three batters. He gave up a walk, hit a batter and allowed a home run. After not pitching in a non-rehab assignment game since early July of 2021, I’m sure it was great to get back, and hopefully this IL stint is short and goes smoothly. Fort Myers activated RHP C.J. Culpepper from the IL. They also re-assigned OF Andres Centeno to the FCL after spending about a week with the Mussels. Catcher Austin Schell signed with the Twins in mid-January to provide depth behind the plate during spring training and extended spring training. He had played his college ball at Cal State-Fullerton. On Friday, he made the decision to retire. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 10, Toledo 6 Box Score Louie Varland made his first start since returning to the Saints. He and his teammates faced an #OldFriend for the Mudhens in lefty Bryan Sammons. Sammons was the Twins eighth-round draft pick in 2017 out of Western Carolina. The 28-year-old spent most of the past two seasons in Wichita but also pitched for St. Paul in 2021. The Twins released him very late last season. He began this year pitching for Gastonia in the independent Atlantic League before the Tigers recently signed him. Friday night was his fourth appearance with the Mudhens. Sammons had a very Sammons-like start in this game. He gave up two runs on five hits over five innings. He had two walks and six strikeouts. Varland’s night didn’t go as well. The right-hander from St. Paul gave up five runs on six hits and two walks and a hit batter over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters. Blayne Enlow came out of the pen and immediately got the final out of the fifth inning to strand two runners. Through the fifth inning, the Saints were down 5-2, but they just kept plugging away. They scored two in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI double from Anthony Prato (who homered in the third inning) who then scored on an Elliot Soto single. The Saints scored four runs in the seventh inning. Chris Williams drove in Matt Wallner on a sacrifice fly. Then Mark Contreras doubled, his 14th, to score Gilberto Celestino and Trevor Larnach. That put the Saints on top 7-6. Andrew Bechtold drove in Contreras with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-6. The Saints added two more in the eighth inning. Jose Miranda scored from third on a Celestino ground out. Later, Celestino scored on a Williams single. Blayne Enlow gave up a run in the sixth inning, but was excellent on the way to his first Triple-A Win. The right-hander gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four batters. All nine Saints batters had at least one hit. Prato led the way. He went 3-for-4 with his fifth and sixth doubles and his second Saints homer. He also stole his third base in his short time with St. Paul. Wallner went 2-for-4 with a walk, and he was hit by a pitch. Celestino was 2-for-5 with a walk. Contreras went 1-for-3 with two walks, his 14th double, and two RBI. First baseman/Third Baseman/Catcher/Pitcher Andrew Bechtold drove in two runs and knocked his 12th double. (And just for fun, here is his first pro game in which he pitched as a pitcher - and not a position-player-pitching.) WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 2, Arkansas 5 Box Score The Wind Surge got to see the Arkansas Travelers celebrate on Riverfront Stadium. The Travelers clinched a playoff berth by clinching the first half title. Carlos Luna made the start. He was charged with three runs on nine hits (including two homers). He struck out three batters and walked none. Alex Phillips finished the fifth inning and worked a scoreless sixth inning as well. Regi Grace had his first tough Double-A outing. In 1 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Those were the first runs he has allowed since joining the Surge and bumps his ERA up to 1.93. Francis Peguero gave up one hit and recorded the final four outs. Brooks Lee got the Surge on the scoreboard in the third inning when he connected for his fifth home run of the season. Lee went 2-for-2 with two walks in the game and is now hitting .266 with a .765 OPS this season. Seth Gray went 2-for-4 and knocked his sixth double. He scored later on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Will Holland. Jake Rucker was also 2-for-4. Aaron Sabato went 0-for-3 in the game. He was pinch hit for late by Ernie Yake. Earlier, he had been involved in what appeared to be a minor collision on a pop up. Are the two things related? Not sure at this point, but something to check in on when Saturday’s lineup comes out. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, Beloit 10 Box Score Marco Raya made the start for the Kernels in this game. He started with two scoreless innings. He then gave up two unearned runs in the third. However, his pitch count was in a good spot, so he was sent out for the fourth inning. Unfortunately, he got just one more out. After a flyout, he gave up three straight singles, none of them hard-hit, to load the bases. That’s when Brian Dinkelman came to the mound and replaced Raya with Charlie Neuweiler. He struck out the first batter he faced for the second out. However, a walk and a single later, all three inherited runners scored. In total, Raya was charged with five runs (3 earned) on four hits and a walk. He had two strikeouts. Neuweiler’s line looks OK with 2/3 of an inning, no runs, one hit and one walk. Jaylen Nowlin came on next and really struggled with his control and command. Of his 60 pitches thrown, just 31 were strikes. He went two innings but was charged with five runs (4 earned) on five hits and three walks. German Niklas Rimmel came on and tossed two scoreless innings to slow the burn The Kernels were held off the scoreboard until the fourth inning when Tanner Schobel and Emmanuel Rodriguez hit back-to-back homers. It was Schobel’s ninth of the season and Rodriguez’s 10th homer. Down 10-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Kernels tried to mount a comeback. The scored one run in that inning on a Jose Salas sacrifice fly that drove in Misael Urbina. Then in the eighth inning, they scored four runs. With two on, Noah Miller singled to drive in Rodriguez. Then Kala’i Rosario scored on a Noah Cardenas ground out. Next, Urbina knocked in Miller with his 11th double. After a pitching change, Jorel Ortega followed with a single to score Urbina. And then Salas’s eighth double drove in Ortega. Schobel grounded out, but the five-run inning cut the Kernels’ deficit to 10-8 heading to the ninth inning. In the top of the ninth, Rimmel gave up one run that pushed the score to 11-8, but the Kernels had the middle of their lineup coming up in the bottom of the inning. Rodriguez struck out to start the inning, but Rosario worked a walk. Ben Ross struck out. Rosario advanced to second on Defensive Indifference (which is a dumb thing). That helped because Noah Miller bounced a single up the middle to drive in Rosario. Miller stole second, but that was it for the Kernels. Misael Urbina went 3-for-4 with his 10th and 11th doubles. Ortega went 2-for-4. Miller went 2-for-5 and stole his eighth base. Along with his 10th homer, Rodriguez also walked twice. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Tampa 5 Box Score The Mighty Mussels fell behind 2-0, but they clawed their way back to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth frame. Unfortunately, they gave up three runs in the bottom of that inning and fell 5-3. Ben Ethridge got the start and gave up two runs on three hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. An impressive 42 of his 61 pitches were strikes. Danny Moreno came on and struck out three batters over two innings of one-hit ball. Down 2-0, Rubel Cespedes put the Mussels on the board with a solo homer, his seventh long ball of the season. Cespedes went 1-for-2 in the game with two walks. In the seventh inning, Dylan Neuse drove in Kyle Schmidt with a sacrifice fly .Schmidt had reached on a double. Neuse doubled earlier in the game. Then in the top of the eighth, Cespedes drove in Maddux Houghton to give Ft. Myers their first lead of the game… their only lead of the game. Jackson Hicks came in for the bottom of the eighth inning. He got the first two batters to ground out. Then Jared Serna doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Anthony Hall singled off of Hicks… literally off of Hicks, so Serna remained at third. With two on and two outs, Agustin Ramirez launched a three-run homer to give the Tarpons the 5-3 lead. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA Game 1: FCL Twins 5, FCL Red Sox 2 Box Score It was a long, hot day for the Red Sox and Twins Florida Complex teams on Friday in Fort Myers. Because of a rain-out, they had to play two games in 87-degree humidity. Third baseman Harold Grant missed about a week of the FCL season. The Barcelona native went 3-for-3 in Game 1 to raise his average to .455. He hit his first home run of the season. Isaac Pena went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .340. He hit his third double. Bryan Acuna and Fredy Michel each hit their first doubles of the season and drove in a run. On the mound, Matt Gabbert made the start. He was charged with one run on three hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Then Yon Landaeta came in and gave up one run on just one hit and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He also struck out two batters. Kyle Bischoff came on and struck out five batters in two scoreless innings to record his first pro save in his second pro appearance. Game 2: FCL Twins 5, FCL Red Sox 1 Box Score Harold Grant played second base in Game 2. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average just a little more, to .462. He got the team on the board with an RBI single in the three-run fourth inning. It was followed by an RBI double off the bat of Bryan Acuna. Grant then scored the third run on a wild pitch. Andres Centeno singled in Omari Daniel in the fifth, and then Acuna walked with the bases loaded to score the second run of the inning and the fifth and final run of the game. Brayan Medina worked around some self-inflicted tough situations. He gave up just one run on one hit over five innings. He also walked five batters and struck out three. Miguel Olivares came on and struck out two in a scoreless innings. Cleiber Maldonado got the final three outs of the game. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins 11, DSL Yankees 6 Box Score The Twins got an early lead, and then they used a seven-run sixth inning to take control of this game. They scored one in the second inning when Yilber Herrera singled in Ricardo Pena. They added three runs in the fourth inning. The first scored on a wild pitch which was followed by a two-run double by Ariel Castro. Cordero made the start and was really good. He tossed four scoreless, hitless innings. He struck out eight batters. The only “blemish” in his box score line was a two-out walk in the fourth inning. This was his third appearance of the season. In 11 2/3 innings, he has 19 strikeouts. Cordero is very interesting as he signed in January but won’t turn 17 until mid-August. In the top of the fourth inning, the Twins broke it open with a seven-run inning. The team hit for the cycle in the inning. They had three walks and stole a couple of bases. There were two pitching changes during the inning. Yilber Herrera got the scoring started with an RBI double. Later, Dameury Pena knocked in three with a bases-loaded triple. A few batters later, Angel Trinidad came on as a pinch hitter and drilled his first professional home run, a three-run shot to put a cap on the inning. Despite Cordero’s dominance, Juan Cota got the win. He was charged with two unearned runs on one hit over two innings. Joel Garcia then gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in the seventh inning. Jose Ojo walked two and struck out two batters over two scoreless innings. We’ll finish with the offense. The team scored 11 runs on 10 hits, seven walks, and two hit batters. Ricardo Pena went 3-for-5 with a double. Yilber Herrera went 2-for-2 with a walk and his fourth double. Castro went 1-for-2 two two walks and his first double. Dameury Pena’s triple was his first, and Trinidad’s homer was the first of his career. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Miguel Cordero (DSL Twins) - 4 IP, 0H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 71 pitches, 52 strikes. Co-Hitters of the Day – Anthony Prato (Saints) - 3-for-4, 2-2B(6), HR(2), 2 R, 2 RBI, K, SB(3) Co-Hitters of the Day – Brooks Lee (Wind Surge) - 2-for-2, 2 BB, HR(5), R, RBI. Co-Hitters of the Day – Misael Urbina (Kernels) - 3-for-4, 2-2B(11), 2 R, RBI, K, OF Assist Co-Hitters of the Day – Harold Grant (FCL Twins) - 5-for-7, HR(1), 4 R, 2 RBI, K. PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 2-for-2, 2 BB, HR(5), R, RBI #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, HR(4), R, RBI, K #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, HR(10), 2 R, RBI, K, E #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 54 pitches, 36 strikes #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, HBP, R, 3 K. #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2B(8), SF, RBI, K #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, 3 K, SB(8) #17 - Blayne Enlow (St. Paul) - 4 1/3 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 4 K, 59 pitches, 38 strikes. #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-for-8, K SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Aaron Sanchez (4-4, 5.12 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Jose Bravo (2-2, 6.16 ERA) Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Kyle Jones (3-4, 4.47 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30 PM CST) - LHP Develson Aria (2-3, 6.75 ERA) FCL Twins - No Game Scheduled. DSL Angels @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games or any other Twins minor league topics! View full article

Fun to see Bechtold get this opportunity to pitch too. He wanted to try catching to make himself more versatile, and pitching adds another layer to that. I remember in spring training in my 2018 or 2019, talked with Royce and Andrew outside of the Twins complex as they were waiting to board a bus for a minor league spring training game. Just yapping, I remember Bechtold mentioning that he was clocked at 102 throwing across the diamond, so fun to see him averaging almost 97 with his fastball but also having a slider/cutter.

But he hasn't really hit yet in Cedar Rapids. He's had a couple of good games. He can also work with pitchers in CR that he didn't work with in CR. I'd say Cardenas would be the catcher to move up if Wichita had a need. Cossetti is 23 and just got drafted a year ago. There's no rush. Vazquez and Jeffers aren't going anywhere. Camargo's at AAA, Winkel is at AA. He and Cardenas at High-A.

None of these guys were even competing with Kepler for playing time when they were let go. Cave was a 4th outfielder, and a fine 4th outfielder, but I don't care about his AAA numbers this year. Rooker wasn't going to play RF. Rosario hasn't been better than Kepler. Refsnyder was a career journeyman, and good for him for locking down two years with the Red Sox, but that's at utility man money. LaMonte Wade... That was a bad trade, we can all admit. That was a choice between him and Cave, and at the time, it was probably justifiable, and I'm always going to be biased toward Wade. He had a nice breakout in '21. Struggled in '22, and he's been an on-base machine this year again. If he was still around, I'd like to think he'd be playing over Kepler by now. But the bigger thing too was they already had Kirilloff, Larnach, Gordon, and now Wallner for the spot. Wade is the only question mark in the group.

Based on what??

There are four games scheduled in the Twins minor leagues on Wednesday. Both "Complex" teams did not play. St. Paul and Cedar Rapids played already, and Ft. Myers and Wichita will play tonight. Get an early start talking about the day in the Twins organization. St. Paul got a terrific start from Randy Dobnak, and three home runs, but they coughed up the lead late. Were they able to record a win? And the Cedar Rapids Kernels just keep rolling along with different heroes most every night. We will update this article throughout the evening during and after the Wichita and Fort Myers games. We'll also update the standings as games go final. St. Paul Saints: 41-29 Wichita Wind Surge: 28-36 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 39-26 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-32 FCL Twins: 6-5 DSL Twins: 3-9 Let’s get to the report. Please remember to check back throughout the night for updates, especially when the Fort Myers and Wichita games go final. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Fort Myers placed RHP Miguelangel Boadas on the Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Toledo 5 Box Score Randy Dobnak was in 2019 form in this game. He was throwing two-seamers and sliders that were darting in or just outside of the strike zone. This game was played with the electronic strike zone, and he was living near the corners. He gave up one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six batters and didn’t issue a walk. “Dobber” threw 84 pitches and 61 of them were strikes. He also got nine ground outs. Very encouraging outing. With a runner on and two outs in the seventh, Kody Funderburk came on and got an inning-ending strikeout. Andrew Stevenson got the Saints on the scoreboard in the third inning with a two-run homer that also drove in Anthony Prato (who walked twice and stole two bases during the game). It was the former Nationals’ sixth home run of the year. An inning later, Matt Wallner drilled his ninth Saints’ homer of the season, a 109 mph blast to centerfield that made it 3-0. Wallner went 2-for-4 in the game and is now hitting .296 with a .960 OPS. The Mudhens got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. However, Chris Williams came to the plate in the top of the seventh inning. He got a hanger from Sam Clay, and he destroyed it to make it 4-1. After hitting six home runs last week, the reigning International League Player of the Week has homered in each of the first two games of this series. He now has 15 homers this season. He is now hitting .289 with an OPS of 1.025 after going 1-for-3 with a walk in this game. That’s where the game turned. In the eighth inning, Funderburk got another strikeout, but he also gave up a double. Austin Schulfer came in and walked the first batter he faced. With two on, Justyn-Henry Malloy crushed his 11th home run of the season to tie the game at four. The Saints went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. Schulfer started the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 walk. That was followed with a single that put runners on first and third. Corey Joyce came up and hit a deep fly ball down the right field line. Wallner caught it but had no chance to throw out the runner at home. The Mudhens win on a walkoff. The Saints had more opportunities, but they went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Arkansas 5 Box Score Pierson Ohl made his third Double-A start. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. 55 of his 79 pitches were strikes. Unfortunately, the Wind Surge offense was unable to generate much offense on this night. Hunter McMahon completed the sixth and worked two more innings. He gave up only a solo home run. Francis Peguero gave up a run on three hits in the ninth. The Wind Surge did have base runners in this game. The first eight batters in their lineup had at least one hit. Pat Winkel led the way with three hits. Seth Gray had two hits. Alerick Soularie went 1-for-2 and walked twice. However, all hits were singles, and the team went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position to strand 12 runners. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Beloit 2 Box Score Tanner Schobel’s season started out slow, but he has seen his batting average, OPS and power production increase over the past month. After Beloit scored one in the top of the first inning, Schobel led off the bottom of the first with his seventh home run. Then, down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Schobel came to the plate with Andrew Cossetti on base and crushed another homer well beyond the wall in left field that gave the Kernels a 3-2 lead. Schobel went 2-for-4 on the day. He is now hitting .276 with an OPS at .800 for the season. Lefty Christian MacLeod continues his return from March 2022 Tommy John surgery. In this game, the former Mississippi State start gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three batters. The bullpen really pitched great on Wednesday. Orlando Rodriguez came on and was really good. Through three innings, he gave up no runs and no hits. He walked two and struck out two. John Wilson came on to start the eighth inning. He gave up a walk and a single, but got out of the inning unscathed. Miguel Rodriguez got the ninth inning. He gave up one hit, but had a relatively easy inning to pick up his seventh save. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk. He stole his eighth base. Jeferson Morales went 2-for-3 MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers @ Tampa Box Score The Mighty Mussels game in Tampa was postponed due to wet conditions. The game will be made up Thursday as part of a doubleheader. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA No Games in the Florida Complex Leagues on Wednesdays. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA No Games in the Dominican Summer League on Wednesdays. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul Saints) - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6K, 84 pitches, 61 strikes. Hitter of the Day – Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, 2-HR (8), 2 R, 3 RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Wednesday. #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 1-for-5, K. #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, 2B(2), R, PO #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, BB, SB(8). #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-for-3, R, 2B(7) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, HR(9), R, RBI. #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K, E(9) #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-5, RBI, K. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-1, 24.00 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - RHP David Festa (2-2, 5.09 ERA) Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (1-1, 6.39 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (DH @ 5:30 PM CST) - RHP Andrew Morris and RHP Jose Olivares FCL Rays @ FCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

Is this just a copy and paste of an article on another site rather than just a link and some opinion?

I don't think so. They're 100% with Baldelli... maybe if a new front office came in and wanted someone to finish a season. he's very smart. He's a baseball lifer. He provides so much to the club. Players definitely love him.

Also, Watkins does much more than 'just' coach 3B.

There was no minor league week in review article this week, so along with writing about the Twins' Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League games find out which Twins minor leaguers played well last week. It was an interesting week in the Twins farm system. With the big-league team still in first place and struggling to find any consistency, there were several players who moved up and down this past week. Brent Headrick came back to the Twins and earned his first big-league Win. Jordan Balazovic pitched well in his MLB debut on Sunday. The Twins had two minor-leaguers earn Player of the Week honors from their leagues. Another affiliate clinched a playoff spot. And then the Twins FCL and DSL teams each had a game on Monday morning, so we'll update you on how they did. There was an 11-strikeout game (by a Twins minor league pitcher, not a Twins big-league hitter). Let's start today with a look at the current records of each of the six Twins affiliates. St. Paul Saints: 40-28 Wichita Wind Surge: 27-35 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 37-26 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-31 FCL Twins: 5-5 DSL Twins: 3-8 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Fort Myers played infielder Yohander Martinez on the 7-day IL with a thigh strain. In addition, Mussels outfielder Alex Sayre was placed on the 7-day IL with a fractured right thumb. SAINTS SENTINEL No surprise here, but Saints first baseman Chris Williams was named the International League Hitter of the Week. Williams played in five of the six Saints games and went 7-for-19. He hit .368/.500/1.316 (1.816) with six home runs and 14 RBI. In addition, he was willing to take five walks. On Tuesday, he hit three home runs in Louisville. In a morning game on Wednesday, he hit two more long balls. Then on Thursday, he had one more. Overall this year, Williams is hitting .281/.386/.595 (.980) with seven doubles, 13 homers and 41 RBI in 44 games. The 26-year-old was the Twins eighth-round pick in 2018 out of Clemson. He has been a catcher at various times in his career. This year, he has played just three games behind the plate this year. Others in St. Paul who had solid weeks last week include: Andrew Stevenson hit .400/.455/.800 (1.255) with a triple and two homers (plus three SBs) Anthony Prato played in five games and hit .391/.440/.652 (1.092) with three doubles and a homer. Matt Wallner played in five games and hit .294/.480/.529 (1.009) with a double, a homer and six walks. In three games, Trevor Larnach hit .333/.357/.583 (.940) with a homer. Randy Dobnak made a start and was charged with three unearned runs over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Kody Funderburk struck out five batters over 3 1/3 scoreless, hitless, walkless innings. Should I mention that he did hit a batter? WIND SURGE WISDOM The Wind Surge had a player of the week as well. Lefty Aaron Rozek was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week. The southpaw made one start in Midland and tossed six shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, and he hit a batter. He struck out five batters. The 27-year-old from Burnsville and Minnesota State-Mankato has had an up and down season for the Wind Surge so far. He struggled early in the season, but then in May he was selected the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month. So overall, he is 1-3 with a 6.14 ERA over 10 starts and 44 innings. Regi Grace’s season has continued to go well since his promotion to Wichita. He worked twice last week and worked 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out three batters. He recorded the save in one of the games. Hunter McMahon was back in 2022 form last week. In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up no runs, no hits, no walks, and he struck out four batters. I tweeted it over the weekend, and a couple of times earlier this season, but DaShawn Keirsey might be the most underrated prospect in the organization. He played all six games last week. He went 10-for-24 and hit .417/.440/.833 (1.273) with two triples and two home runs. Yunior Severino played in five games and hit .400/.478/.550 (1.028) with a double and a triple. Aaron Sabato was a doubles machine last week. The burly first baseman played in five games and hit .316/.435/.632 (1.067) with six doubles and four walks. He had six hits during the week, and each was a double. Seth Gray hit .333/.455/.611 (1.066) with two doubles, a homer, and four walks in five games. Will Holland hit .308/.412/.538 (.950) with a homer. Brooks Lee hit .333 with four doubles. KERNELS NUGGETS The Twins moved their Low-A affiliate to Cedar Rapids in 2012. In 2021, the Midwest League was bumped up to the High-A level. They have been managed by Jake Mauer, Tommy Watkins, and now Brian Dinkelman. The constant through all of those seasons has been providing the Kernels fans wins and playoff berths. This week, the Kernels clinched the first-half Western Division title which means they will continue their streak of making the playoffs every year since they’ve been a Twins affiliate. Misael Urbina played in five games and hit .412/.474/.529 (1.003) with two doubles. Andrew Cossetti hit .267/.294/.733 (1.027). He had four hits including a double and two home runs. Kala’i Rosario went 4-for-15 (.267) in five games, but he walked seven times so his on-base percentage was .500. Noah Cardenas hit .313 over four games. It is fair to say that the Kernels got great starting pitching last week. So much so that Zebby Matthews was used in long relief as a bulk pitcher. He worked the final six innings of a game started by Marco Raya and gave up five hits and walked none while striking out four. Jordan Carr earned a win in his start. The lefty worked five scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He walked three and struck out three batters. Kyle Jones tossed four scoreless innings in his start. He gave up just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Cory Lewis gave up one run on two hits over five innings in his start last week. He had nine strikeouts. Christian MacLeod struck out six batters over four innings of one-run ball. Raya again went three innings in his start. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out six batters. MUSSEL MATTERS Jackson Hicks pitched twice and gave up a walk and hit a batter over three scoreless, hitless innings last week. Ben Ethridge gave up just one run on two hits and a walk over four innings. It was a 2-4 week for the Mussels, so no surprise that the pitching struggled. Two position players got to work on the mound during the week. Yohander Martinez returned from the IL and went 6-for-12 (.500) with a double and a homer in his three games played. Unfortunately, as you saw above in the transactions section, he is now on the IL. Jorel Ortega continues to hit really well in Fort Myers. The Tennessee alum played in all six games. He went 10-for-29 and hit .345/.367/.690 (1.057) with four doubles and two home runs. Maddux Houghton got a chance to play. In five games, he hit .353/.476/.412 (.888) with a double and four walks. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA FCL Twins 0, FCL Orioles 1 Box Score As you can see from the score, there was not much offense in this game for either team. Or, if you choose, we can credit the pitching of both squads. The difference in this game is that the Orioles had no errors while the Twins committed four. The O’s lone run came in the eighth inning, and it was unearned. So let’s start with the positive, the pitching. John Klein started and gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out three batters. Owen Griffith continued his rehab assignment with two scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, but walked none. Jeferson Lopez worked the final three innings. The 18-year-old from Caracas gave up the unearned run on three hits. He had two strikeouts. The Twins batters managed just five hits in the game, and they walked four times. Omari Daniel went 1-for-2 with a walk and his first double. Bryan Acuna walked twice and stole his second base of the season. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins 9, DSL Mariners 2 Box Score The Twins Dominican Complex team scored five runs in the first inning and added more throughout the game to capture their third win of the season. Dameury Pena and Jayson Bass pulled off a double steal and thanks to a throwing error, Pena scored the first run of the game. Then with two outs in the top of the first, Ricardo Pena singled in Bass for the second run. Yilber Herrera and Carlos Silva walked to load the bases. Then Javier Roman walked to score Ricardo Pena. At that point, there was a pitching change. Angel Trinidad hit an infield single to score Herrera. And finally, Silva scored on a wild pitch. That is an inning that happens fairly often in the DSL. The Twins managed just five hits in the game, but they also added 11 walks and took advantage of wild pitches, a couple of errors, three hit batters, six stolen bases (in seven attempts) and more. Bass led the way with a single and two walks. Dameury Pena, Herrera and Silva each walked twice. Ledwin Taveras started and struck out five batters over the first three innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and didn’t issue a walk. Eduardo Soriano came on and worked the next five innings. The 20-year-old gave up just one hit, no walks, and he struck out 11 batters. He now has 19 strikeouts and just one walk in 11 innings this season. Jose Ojo, a 22-year-old just signed a year ago, worked a scoreless ninth and struck out two batters. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Eduardo Soriano (DSL Twins) - 5 IP, 1H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K, 71 pitches, 52 strikes. Hitter of the Day – Omari Daniel (FCL Twins) - 1-for-2, 2B(1), BB, CS PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Monday. #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, 2 K, E(2) #10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 0-for-4, 2 K, E #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 1-for-4 TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Toledo (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 8.08 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Aaron Rozek (1-3, 6.14 ERA) Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Cory Lewis (2-0, 0.90 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Miguelangel Boadas (0-2, 5.63 ERA) FCL Orioles @ FCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD DSL Phillies Reds @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Monday’s games! 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Possibly, but with his minor-injuries past and frequency, I think it's pretty smart. No rush to get him up higher. He's at least two years out from MLB either way, so no need to rush. Get him healthy, keep building him up. He had gone 4 innings in his previous outing, so I assume he'll jump out to that, or maybe a 60-pitch limit for awhile.

That would be impressive. That's not exactly what the Tweet says (although it could certainly be read that way).

five-tool potential!! Lots of development still needed. Also, MLB's little-known rule that all players must be potty trained means that for a little longer, he will be ineligible.

I held off for a LONG time on including DSL reports in the minor league reports for several reasons. One was just that it was so much for someone, but now we have 4-5 people who do these reports so it's not bad. Another reason is because it is so far from the big leagues. It's like 6-7 promotions from the big leagues. Figuring out the prospects is fairly easy. The 17 year olds who are holding their own, 18 year olds playing fairly well. The 20-year-olds aren't prospects, but as I like to point out, doesn't mean they can't get to the big leagues. Just means they developed a little later or weren't seen for awhile longer...

Dinkelman is really good. Great demeanor for a manager whose job is to help players work their way up the system. Works great with coaches too and let's them do what they need to do. Has the confidence of players. And, he has been the underdog who got an opportunity that all of his players dream of. That should hold some value and earn respect.

Maeda: Nah, not too worried about the results. More about the pitch count and health. Will be interesting to see what they decide to do at the end of his rehab time. St. Paul: Just need an opening. Grace: No, not this year, and the peripherals aren't there yet. He's made huge strides, but still work to do. So happy to see him getting results. Acuna: if that's the expectation, I'm going to guess no, just because so few players get anywhere near that level. Ronald's a great player. If he can be as good as his other brother, Luisangel, and get on the 40-man roster, and we'll see when/if he gets an opportunity, that would make it a good signing.