Seth Stohs

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.

Congratulations to the Cedar Rapids Kernels for officially earning another of their annual trips to the playoffs in the Midwest League. Beyond that, you'll want to see a strange innings for St. Paul, a comeback for Wichita, a big final-inning homer by a top 20 prospect in the DSL, and a five-hit game in the DSL. Read all about it in today's minor-league report. And Happy Blayne Enlow Day to those who celebrate. It was a full day in the Twins minor league system on Friday, but there were some really exciting games as well. It seems so early, but Cedar Rapids clinched another playoff spot and the Midwest League's first-half West Division title. The Saints needed extra innings but still crushed in Louisville, Likewise, the Wins Surge got some big hits late in the game. Fort Myers did not have a good game, but the FCL Twins had a strong showing and a top 20 prospect hit a pretty massive home run. And there was a five-hit game in the Dominican. Read all about it and more. Win-Loss Records St. Paul Saints: 39-27 Wichita Wind Surge: 26-34 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 36-25 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 32-29 FCL Twins: 5-4 DSL Twins: 2-7 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Following their game, the Twins announced that left Brent Headrick was being called up to the Twins. Josh Winder has been optioned to St. Paul. Cedar Rapids placed LHP Jordan Carr on the IL with left elbow inflammation. OF Willie Joe Garry was activated from the Cedar Rapids Injured List. RHP Ricky Mineo and C.J. Culpepper was activated from the Development List (which he was on for one day) . SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Louisville 3 (10 innings) Box Score Hard to imagine that this game was tied at 1-1 at the end of nine innings. However, the Saints scored seven runs in the top of the 10th to grab an “easy” extra-innings win. They are now 5-1 in extra-inning games. The Saints got on the scoreboard first with a Matt Wallner opposite field solo home run. And the Bats got their run in the fifth inning when Joey Votto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Alright, let’s get to the good stuff, the top of the 10th inning. Elliot Soto began the inning as the Manfred Man. He advanced to third base on a ground out. Mark Contreras pinch-hit for the rehabbing Gilberto Celestino and drilled a triple which allowed Soto to walk in from third. Next, Trevor Larnach singled in Contreras. That was followed by a double by Jose Miranda. With runners on second and third, Matt Wallner was intentionally walked to load the bases. But that brought red-hot Chris Williams to the plate. He lined a single to left that drove in two more runs to make it 5-1 Saints. But that wasn’t it. With a new pitcher, Jair Camargo walked to reload the bases. Then Anthony Prato drove in two runs with a single to center. Then Soto singled to score Camargo and end the Saints scoring. They gave up two runs in the bottom of the 10th, but no worries. Kenta Maeda made another rehab start. He was charged with one run on two hits. In his 4 1/3 innings, he walked four and struck four batters out. Kody Funderburk got the next five outs, two on strikeouts. Austin Brice worked a scoreless inning. Patrick Murphy struck out two batters over the eighth and ninth innings. He recorded the Win and improved to 5-0 and has given up just one run over his past 21 2/3 innings. Alex Scherff gave up two runs (1 earned) in the 10th inning, but he also struck out three batters in his Triple-A debut. The Saints had 10 hits and eight walks in the game, but until the 10th inning, they struggled to score. Larnach and Prato went 2-for-5. Wallner was 1-2 with three walks and his eighth homer. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8,Midland 5 Box Score This was really a back-and-forth game, but the Wind Surge scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to give them their margin of victory. The top of the Wichita lineup continued to produce. DaShawn Keirsey is now hitting .323 after going 2-for-5. Brooks Lee went 2-for-5 with his system-leading 23rd double. Yoyner Fajardo went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs, two in the ninth inning. David Festa made the start on the mound. He gave up four runs on six hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters. Hunter McMahon was fantastic. He got all eight batters he faced out, three on strikeouts. Francis Peguero gave up the game-tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the lead, Regi Grace got the ninth inning and recorded his first Double-A save. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, South Bend 1 Box Score The Kernels got strong pitching from Marco Raya and Zebby Matthews, and just enough offense to win the game. Cedar Rapids has been a Twins affiliate since 2012, and every year they have made the playoffs. That streak will continue as the win clinched the first-half title for the Kernels. Congratulations to Brian Dinkelman, his staff and players. Raya made the start and again worked three innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He also struck out six batters without a walk. Coming off of his first bad appearance of the season, Matthews came in and tossed six shutout innings. He gave up five hits, struck out four and also did not walk a batter. He was credited with his first High-A Win. Down 1-0 going to the bottom of the fourth, Misael Urbina doubled to score Noah Miller and tie the game. Urbina then scored on a single by Jose Salas to give them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Noah Cardenas gave them a little insurance in the eighth inning when he singled to score Emmanuel Rodriguez for the team’s third run. Urbina led the way. He went 2-for-3 with his seventh and eighth doubles. Salas was also 2-for-3. Rodriguez walked and doubled in the game. Twins 2022 11th round pick Brandon Birdsell, who didn’t sign with the Twins, opting to spend another year at Texas Tech, took the loss in the game for the Cubs. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Bradenton 6 Box Score The Mussels were unable to muster a run until they scored a single run in the top of the ninth inning, but that certainly wasn’t enough on this night. Fort Myers had just five hits in this game, and 2022 sixth-round pick Jorel Ortega had three of them, including his 22nd double. Rubel Cespedes added his ninth double of the seasons nd drove in the lone run. Jose Olivares gave up four runs on just two hits over 4 1/3 innings in the start. He was hurt by the four walks, but he also notched seven strikeouts. Danny Moreno came in to finish the fifth inning, but before he got two outs, he allowed an inherited runner and two more runs to score. Ricky Mineo returned to action and struck out two in a scoreless inning. Jackson Hicks finished with two scoreless innings. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from FLORIDA FCL Twins 12, FCL Red Sox 11 (7 innings) Box Score Man, I heard this was a wild one! And to think, it only went seven innings. The Red Sox scored two in the second inning. They busted out for six in the fourth and three more in the fifth. After four innings, the Twins were down 8-3, but they scored four runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the top of the seventh to take the lead. The hero? Jose Rodriguez hit a three-run homer to give the Twins the lead, and eventually the win. Let’s start with the good news, the offense. Anderson Nova went 2-for-2 with two walks and his first two doubles of the season. Jose Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk and his first home run of the year. Bryan Acuna went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Isaac Pena added a double. On the mound, Brayan Medina started. In 3 1/3 innings, he gave up seven runs (6 earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out one. Yon Landaeta got the final two outs of the fourth inning, but not before both of Medina’s runners scored and he gave up a run of his own. Cleiber Maldonado gave up three runs on three hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Finally, Matt Gabbert came on and got the final for outs, three of them on strikeouts. COMPLEX THOUGHTS from BOCA CHICA DSL Twins 12, DSL Brewers (1) 1 Box Score The Twins Dominican Complex team scored five in the first inning and then scored in six of the first seven innings to earn a lopsided win from the now 6-3 Brewers squad. The hitting star was infielder (DH in this game) Dameury Pena. He went 5-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI in the game. He is now hitting .467 (1.051) on the young season. Catcher Jesus Peraza went 3-for-5 with his first double of the season. Juan Hernandez went 2-for-5 with his first double as well. Ariel Castro led off and went 1-for-3 with a walk, a triple, three runs scored and two driven in. Miguel Cordero started and gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. He walked four and struck out six batters. Joel Garcia gave up one run on three hits and two walks over three innings. He recorded the Win and struck out five batters. Juan Cota and Eider Machuca each struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Zebby Matthews (Cedar Rapids) - 6 IP, 5H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 71 pitches, 52 strikes. Hitter of the Day – Dameury Pena (DSL Twins) - 5-for-6, 2-2B(3), 2 R, 3 RBI, SB (3) 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-5, 2B(23), R, RBI, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-3, BB, K #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B(4), R. #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 2-for-4, 2 K #6 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 47 pitches, 31 strikes.. #8 - David Festa (Wichita) - 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 78 pitches, 51 strikes.. #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, 3 BB, K, 2 R, RBI #10 - Yasser Mercedes (FCL Twins) - 1-for-2, 2 R, SB(2). #12 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, RBI, CS #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, R, K #15 - Brent Headrick (Minnesota) - Called up to Twins after the game. #18 - Jose Rodriguez (FCL Twins) - 2-for-3, BB, HR(1), 2 R, 3 RBI. . SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Louisville (6:15 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (first AAA start) Wichita @ Midland (7:00 PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna (1-3, 5.40 ERA) South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin (2-3, 4.11 ERA) Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM CST) - RHP Ben Ethridge (0-3, 2.96 ERA) FCL Red Sox @ FCL Twins (9:00AM CST) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Giants Orange (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! View full article

Why would or should he do that? And last year, he got pulled early several times, but he was coming off an IL stint about 3 times and he admittedly wasn't ready when the season started. This year, as we knew, pitchers would have longer leashes. There have been several times for each of the starters that they let them go out for an extra inning.

I watched it thinking that if he listens back to it, he's going to really realize why Rocco took him out.

Umm... because he's so competitive, he absolutely would lie to his manager, and he's going to say that he's good to go. That's why I like Gray. Love the competitiveness. He gets it.

He worked through challenges pretty much every inning, as he acknowledges in this press conference. He had bases loaded an nobody out. Yes, he got out of it a couple of times and limited the damage, but he clearly wasn't on tonight. Love the competitiveness. Love the self-evaluation. Love that he wants to keep going. Love more that Rocco didn't back down. Gray is getting his innings in this year. He's got really nothing to complain about. This will - or at least should - be over by tomorrow.

Tony Wolters isn't on the 40-man roster either.

Olivar was back in the Mussels lineup last night.

He should.

Still evaluating how quickly he can start playing again before determining if they will reset his 20-day clock. It probably doesn't matter since he's not rehabbing to get to the Twins but instead, in time, to St. Paul... Injury was from a collision with the shortstop on a catch, so its not related to the elbow concerns... which are still a concern, of course.

Chris Williams is really good at hitting a ball a long way. The first baseman and the Saints have been an offensive juggernaut. And nice wins for the Wind Surge and Kernels too. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor leagues on Wednesday. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints The Twins completed their sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon. The St. Paul Saints continued to crush baseballs, especially first baseman Chris Williams. Wichita got a great start from a lefty from Minnesota. Cedar Rapids had another terrific start from a certain knuckleballer drafted in 2022. And, well, we won’t spend too much time talking about the Mighty Mussels game on Wednesday. And the Twins completed a trade with the Brewers while they were in town. STANDINGS St. Paul Saints: 38-26 Wichita Wind Surge: 25-33 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 34-25 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 31-28 FCL Twins: 3-4 DSL Twins: 1-6 Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins optioned outfielder Trevor Larnach to St. Paul after the game on Wednesday afternoon. Presumably, he is making way for the return of Byron Buxton. In April, the Twins traded reliever Trevor Megill to the Brewers for a Player to be Named Later. On Wednesday, that player was named. The Twins received right-handed relief pitcher Taylor Floyd and assigned him to Double-A Wichita. He was that Brewers 10th-round pick out of Texas Tech. After a missed 2020 season, he spent most of 2021 at High-A Wisconsin before ending the season at Double-A Biloxi. Following the season, he went to the Arizona Fall League. He split the 2022 season pretty evenly between Wisconsin and Biloxi. This year, the 25-year-old has pitched in 23 2/3 innings over 15 appearances at Wisconsin. He has a 3.04 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has 32 strikeouts to go with just seven walks. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Louisville 3 Box Score On Tuesday night, the Saints scored 18 runs on 21 hits. On Wednesday morning, they played again and the offense continued. They had 11 runs on 13 hits and eight walks in this game. Speaking of positive things that continued from the night before… Chris Williams knocked three home runs on Tuesday night. In his first at-bat on Wednesday, he hit a two-run homer that gave the Saints a 3-0 lead. Then in the sixth inning, he hit another two-run homer. He now has 12 homers on the season (and five homers over the past two days!). In this game, he went 2-for-3 with two walks, two homers and four RBI. Jair Camargo also continues to play well. The catcher went 2-for-5 with fifth double and 10th home run and three RBI. Andrew Stevenson went 2-for-6 with his fourth homer. He also stole his 24th base. Alex De Goti had two hits. Anthony Prato went 2-for-4 with a walk, his third double and first Triple-A home run, a solo shot against former Twins reliever Alan Busenitz in the ninth inning. Gilberto Celestino continued his rehab as the team’s DH today. He went 1-for-5 with two RBI. Randy Dobnak got the start and pitched well. He gave up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but they were all unearned. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up nine hits and a walk, and he struck out seven batters. Kody Funderburk finished the sixth and the seventh innings. He got all five batters out, three of them on strikeouts. Austin Schulfer struck out four batters over the final two scoreless innings. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 8,Midland 1 Box Score The Wind Surge got a strong start and plenty of offense in a really well-played game. Aaron Rozek was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month for May. He was tremendous in this game. The southpaw tossed six shutout innings and had five strikeouts. He gave up just one hit and one walk. Hunter McMahon and Alex Scherff each threw a scoreless inning. Jordan Brink gave up a solo homer in the ninth. Will Holland played centerfield. He went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, his third of the season. Brooks Lee had two doubles over his five at-bats and drove in two runs. Alerick Soularie went 2-for-3 with a walk. Aaron Sabato had two doubles on Tuesday night and another on Wednesday. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, South Bend 2 Box Score Cory Lewis was great again in his second Kernels start. In this one, he gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and struck out nine batters. Over his two Kernels starters, he is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA. In 10 innings, he’s given up one run on five hits. He has 17 strikeouts and just three walks. Alejandro Hidalgo gave up one hit over a scoreless innings. John Stankiewicz gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. Miguel Rodriguez was charged with an unearned run on one hit in the ninth inning. Fellow 2022 draft pick Andrew Cossetti was behind the plate again for the Lewis start. Not only did he catch another strong game, but he went 2-for-4 with his fourth double and second home runs since joining the Kernels. Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk. Ben Ross had the big hit of the game. In the fifth inning, he drilled a three-run homer. He now has 10 homers on the season. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Bradenton 18 Box Score Former Gophers pitcher J.P. Massey made the start for the Pirates Low-A affiliate on Wednesday afternoon. The 23-year-old was the Pirates’ seventh-round pick a year ago after four seasons with the Gophers. Coming into the game, he was 2-3 with a 2.84 ERA. In this one, he struggled with control. However, he worked five innings. He gave up four runs on four hits and four walks. He struck out five batters. He was certainly helped by some run support and is now 3-3 with an ERA at 3.28. This section was started with a paragraph on a prospect who isn’t in the Twins organization in large part because it was not a good game for Mussels pitchers. Miguelangel Boadas started and gave up six runs (4 earned) on five hits over three innings. He had four strikeouts and no walks. Front here, it didn’t get better. Gabriel Yanez gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. He had two strikeouts. Juan Mendez then went 1 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on one hit and three walks. Johnathan Lavallee gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings. I think it’s fair to assume that if a team needs to have two position players pitch, the game didn’t go too well. Mikey Perez came in and was charged with three runs on four walks. He didn’t record any outs. Yohander Martinez came on and allowed two of three inherited runners to score, but he issued only one walk and recorded two strikeouts. The Mussels offense did well in the game, but we’re still going to talk about a Pirates prospect who had a big game for Bradenton on Wednesday afternoon. Termarr Johnson was the fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft out of high school in Atlanta. To say he had a big, breakout game is probably a huge understatement. He went 4-for-4 with two walks, two doubles, and a long home run. Coming into the game, Johnson was hitting .230/394/.349 (.743). After this game, he was hitting .254 and his OPS jumped to .824. Alright, now to the Mighty Mussels’ offense. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-6 with his 20th double and sixth home run .He drove in four runs. Frank Nigro went 2-for-3 with two walks and a double. Danny De Andrade went 1-for-3. He was hit by a pitch twice, and drilled his fourth home run of the season. The Mussels had 10 walks to go with nine hits in the game. Outfielders Alec Sayre and Luis Baez each walked twice, as did infielders-turned-pitchers Mikey Perez and Yohander Martinez. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Rozek (Wichita) - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 83 pitches, 52 strikes. Hitter of the Day – Chris Williams (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, 2 BB, 2 HR(12), 3 R, 4 RBI 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-5, 2-2B(21), R, 2 RBI, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - 0-for-2, K #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-3, BB, R, RBI. #4 - Edouard Julien (Minnesota) - 1-for-3, BB, R, K #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, K, 2-R #11 - Austin Martin (Rehab Ft. Myers) - hasn’t played since last Thursday. #13 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K #19 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Cody Laweryson (2-1, 4.45 ERA) Wichita @ Midland (7:00 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (0-1, 10.38 ERA) South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - LHP Christian MacLeod (1-0, 4.50 ERA) Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM CST) - TBD FCL Braves @ FCL Twins (11:00AM CST) - TBD DSL Phillies Red @ DSL Twins (10:00AM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article