Seth Stohs

Two wins. Two losses. Wichita played a morning game in Texas and had big innings on their way to 16 runs. Seven of nine in their lineup had multi-hit games. Two April Award winners in Fort Myers helped the Mighty Mussels to a win. We also saw lefty Christian MacLeod make his return to the mound after missing 2022 with Tommy John surgery. And, we are all excited for the top prospect who will be making his first rehab appearance with Wichita on Thursday! Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Will Holland) The Twins got a fun extra-innings win against the Padres on Wednesday night. In the minor leagues, a lot of good things happened, especially with the hitters in Wichita and Fort Myers. TRANSACTIONS Infielder Kyle Farmer was activated from the Injured List after missing about a month after being hit in the face by a Lucas Giolito fastball. To make room for Farmer, Jose Miranda was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. (Discussion here) LHP Christian MacLeod started a rehab assignment with the Mighty Mussels on Wednesday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Indianapolis 4 Box Score The Saints had seven hits and four walks, but managed just two runs and fell to Indianapolis. Jose De Leon started and gave up three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. Kody Funderburk came on and recorded the final two outs of the sixth inning, stranding an inherited runner. Ronny Henriquez came on and worked two innings in his first rehab appearance with the Saints. He gave up one run on three hits and two walks over two innings. Cole Sands gave up two hits, but no runs, in the ninth. Trevor Larnach went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, and is now 4-for-8 with four RBI in his two games. He also played a little defense! Andrew Stevenson went 2-for-4 with a double. He stole his 11th base of the season. Edouard Julien went 1-for-3 with a walk and his eighth double. Jair Camargo hit a solo homer in the fifth inning. He now has three on the season. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 16, Frisco 8 Box Score This was a game for the hitters. Big performances. Big innings. Eight out of nine Wind Surge hitters had at least one hit. Seven out of nine in the lineup had two or more hits. It might surprise you that leadoff man and top prospect Brooks Lee went 0-for-6. The Wind Surge scored four in the second inning, five in the third inning, and four runs in the sixth inning. Let’s just go through the lineup, starting with the second spot. DaShawn Keirsey went 3-for-5 with a walk and two doubles. Yunior Severino went 2-for-5 with a walk, his fifth double, and his seventh home run. Alex Isola went 2-for-4 with two walks and his third homer. Yoyner Fajardo’s hitting streak ended at 11 games on Tuesday night, so he started a new one. He went 3-for-5 with a walk and his fourth double. Jake Rucker went 1-for-4 with two walks. Will Holland went 2-for-2 with four walks. Armani Smith went 2-for-6. David Banuelos went 3-for-5 with his second homer and six RBI. Holland and Fajardo each had three RBI in the game. In addition, Fajardo stole his 11th and 12th bases while Holland stole his eighth and Smith stole his first. Chad Donato put together one of his better starts of the still-young season. He gave up two runs on six hits and four walks in four innings. Jose Bravo gave up three runs on three hits (2 homers) and a walk and only recorded one out. Osiris German went the next 2 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on six hits and a walk. Seth Nordlin got the final seven outs and gave up only one hit. Reminder: Royce Lewis is set to begin his 20 days of rehab with the Wind Surge. On Thursday in Frisco, he and the team will face Jack Leiter. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 12 Box Score The Kernels fell behind 3-0 after one, and a seven-run sixth inning put it well out of reach. Orlando Rodriguez started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits and three walks over four innings. He had five strikeouts. Malik Barrington gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. Matt Mullenbach then was charged with four runs on six hits and a walk in one inning. Charlie Neuweiler got the final four outs, two on strikeouts. The Kernels had just five hits in the game, although they actually had five walks as well. Willie Joe Garry led the way. He went 2-for-2 with a double and a triple. Ernie Yake and Kala’i Rosario each walked twice. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 8, Tampa 3 Box Score The Mighty Mussels put up a three-spot in the first inning, another in the fourth inning, and got some strong pitching along the way. However, the big news (from a big-picture perspective) was the return of lefty Christian MacLeod. The talented lefty, and son of former minor-league pitcher Kevin MacLeod, from Mississippi State was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2021. He had Tommy John surgery last March and has been working his way back since. He is on the Cedar Rapids roster, so technically this is a rehab start. Semantics. Certainly MacLeod wasn’t at his finest. He gave up one run on four walks over 1 1/3 innings. He struck out one batter. Just 19 of his 41 pitches were strikes, but none of that is as important as getting the first appearance out of the way and feeling healthy. His catcher, Andrew Cossetti, understood the struggles but was impressed with MacLeod. “I thought MacLeod battled today in his start. Anytime you’re making your first start in a while, it can be difficult to get in a rhythm, but he stayed strong in a tough situation and kept us in the game. I think that’s a tribute to his mentality as a competitor and a teammate.” Johnathan Lavallee went the next 2 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs on two hits> He struck out five batters. Then Zebby Matthews came out of the bullpen tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four batters. Jackson Hicks came in and got the final out. Cossetti has worked with Matthews several times already this season. The Twins Daily Hitter of the Month of April said of the Twins Daily Starting Pitcher of the Month of April, “Matthews just continues to dominate. He’s fun to catch because he has confidence throwing any pitch in any count. He continues to upgrade his arsenal day in and day out. Anytime he’s on the mound you know you’re going to be in the game.” In addition to his work behind the plate, Cossetti continues his assault on pitchers in the Florida State League, the 2012 11th round pick from St. Joseph’s went 2-for-3 with a walk tonight. In the first inning, he hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season. It was followed immediately by the fourth homer of the season for Carlos Aguiar. Then in the seventh inning, Cossetti hit his second home run of the game to give the Mussels some insurance. Finding success takes a lot of work. After the game, Cossetti told Twins Daily, “I’ve been working a lot with the hitting coaches to create a better and more efficient bat path, and focusing on that process has definitely been bringing me success. I’m just trying to use my opportunity with the Mussels to become a more complete hitter and allow me to have more success in the future.” He continued, “I would call myself a power hitter. I’ve always been able to hit the ball out of the yard, and my goal is to continue to tap into more power. ” In between the Cossetti home runs, Jorel Ortega - who had four hits on Tuesday - hit a three-run homer. Ortega is now hitting .308 with a .942 OPS on the season. Aguiar went 2-for-4. Dillon Tatum went 2-for-4. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Zebby Matthews (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels) - 4 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K. 52 pitches, 34 strikes. Hitter of the Day – David Banuelos (Wichita Wind Surge) - 3-for-5, HR(3), R, 6 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) - 0-for-6, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - IL (Rehab begins Thursday in Wichita) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B(8), R #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, R #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K. #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K #17 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul-Rehab) - 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 29 pitches, 13 Strikes. #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, K. #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 2 K. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES Indianapolis @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-3, 6.35 ERA) Wichita @ Frisco (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna (0-1, 5.89 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (DH at 5:00 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (2-1, 2.25 ERA), RHP Mike Paredes (0-0, 2.00 ERA). Tampa @ Fort Myers (5:45 PM CST) - LHP Develson Aria (0-0, 4.41 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

Popkins is safe, and should be. He's got Correa's support and that's key, but he's also very well respected around the league. Derek Shomon is safe, I would think. He only had two years in the organization before joining the club as the third batting coach this year. If anyone is susceptible, it's probably Rudy Hernandez. He's been a hitting coach in the big leagues for probably the last 7-8 years (I could, but won't, look it up). He was often given a lot of credit by Sano, Rosario, and others from the group 4-6 years ago. I'm sure he's not worse a coach now, but a lot of the guys he worked with in the minors and then in the majors are now elsewhere.

Yeah, his track record as a hitting coach is "pretty impressive."

Sean Poppen has had some moments, and some saves, in the big leagues. Caleb Hamilton getting to the big leagues is a major success. Balazovic will still get there. The draft also includes Matt Wallner and Brent Rooker who didn't sign (Wallner out of HS, Rooker after his third college season). Obviously good decisions by both. But getting this much talent to the big leagues shows a terrific eye for talent. I think most of us still believe that Kirilloff and Miranda are important pieces to the future, and Jax should be a reliable high-leverage arm for them for 3-4 more years, maybe longer.

Happy for Enlow, the six innings, the quality start, and the nine Ks are very much impressive. Fun to see he's fully healthy and performing!

It should be Miranda BECAUSE of the belief that he will be a core part of the Twins future. He's struggling. The strike zone judgment he had shown the lst two years is gone. He's trying to do too much with every swing. The defense was fine early, but now that's even a mess. He can use the time for a reset. Farmer has played plenty of third in his time. He'll be just fine there. And Miranda can clear his mind a bit, take a step back and then move forward.

De Leon's been a swing man all year, and if he were to get to the Twins, that's the role he would have. Balazovic is another guy that they would want to get 3-4 innings as a swing-man as well. Starting or relieving... doesn't really matter for St. Paul. Both would be swing guys, long relievers if they got called up. I'm just glad Balazovic is putting himself back in that conversation.

It was a day of close games throughout the Twins organization, and fortunately, three of four Twins full-season affiliates won on Wednesday. There was a little bit of everything in these games. Some quality starting pitching, so big moments for relievers, some good defense, some big offensive performances and some big-time, clutch hits. Find out more below. Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Jordan Balazovic) Before we get started with the daily minor-league update, we're trying to come up with as many Minnesotans in pro baseball there are. Click here to see what players we have, and let us know in those comments if we missed someone. TRANSACTIONS While we knew it was coming, the Twins officially placed RHP Tyler Mahle on the Injured List and recalled RHP Louie Varland. RHP Ronny Henriquez was sent to Fort Myers to start his rehab assignment. RHP Alex Phillips was placed on the 7-Day IL by Wichita. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Nashville 3 Box Score While it wasn’t perfect, Jordan Balazovic made his first start of the season. He went 3 1/3 innings and was charged with one run on one hit. He walked three and struck out six batters. Things looked much better after three innings. He walked the first two batters he faced in the fourth frame before getting a ground out and handing things over to Jose De Leon who allowed one of the inherited runners to score. De Leon worked 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. He was charged with two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out two batters. Jorge Alcala pitched the eighth inning and got the first two outs of the ninth frame. He walked leadoff man, Maple Grove’s Isaac Collins, to start the ninth. Then he struck out Monte Harrison and Blake Perkins. However, Eddy Alvarez walked, bringing up slugger Jon Singleton as the go-ahead run. Toby Gardenhire went to newly-promoted southpaw Kody Funderburk. On three pitches, the former two-way player at Dallas Baptist got a strikeout to end the threat and the game. Alcala gets the Win, and Funderburk recorded his first Triple-A save. Following the game, Funderburk told Twins Daily that tried to keep it simple in the big moment. "It was a really exciting experience to come into that situation. (I) just tried to focus on doing my job and getting the lefty out." The Saints took the lead in the third inning. Elliot Soto doubled, and Edouard Julien followed by switching places with him. Soon after, Alex Kirilloff singled in Julien and the Saints had the 2-0 lead. However, the Saints were down 3-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Kirilloff singled, and Kyle Garlick walked. Andrew Stevenson pinch ran for him. Matt Wallner came to the plate and came through with a two-run double. Soon after, Wallner took off for third base on a Lucas Erceg wild pitch. Catcher Payton Henry threw the ball away and Wallner scored with the fifth run of the game. Kyle Farmer went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his second rehab game with the Saints. Kirilloff went 2-for-4. Michael Helman went 3-for-4 and is now hitting .348 since his return to St. Paul. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 3, Northwest Arkansas 1 Box Score Last week, the Wind Surge gave up 53 runs over the final five games of the week against Springfield. So what the pitching staff did in this game is greatly appreciated. Lefty Aaron Rozek had his best game of the season. He gave up one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out two, but he walked none. The performance was good for him him, but it was also good for his younger brother! Back to Aaron Rozek's performance... after the game, he told Twins Daily a little bit about what was working for him. "Cutter was the go-to pitch tonight for sure. (I) was able to use that in any count. Think the biggest thing for me was being able to just go deeper into the game to allow our bullpen to relax a bit, and ultimately just giving our team a chance to win." The Burnsville native continued, regarding his early-season struggles and what he needed to focus on in the game on Wednesday. "No huge adjustments were made, just fine-tuning, I think. Being able to throw pitches in better locations... obviously not going to blow guys away with velocity, so have to move the ball around more than others would." Next, Tyler Beck worked 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball and was credited with the Win to improve to 3-0. Alex Scherff recorded his second save of the season. He gave up a hit and a walk, and another batter reached on an error. However, Scherff got a double play - the Wind Surge’s third of the game - and ended the game with the score at 3-1. The Wind Surge tied the game at one in the second innings when Yoyner Fajardo singled to score Pat Winkel. Then in the seventh inning, the Wind Surge took the lead. Brooks Lee led off with a single. He advanced to second when DaShawn Keirsey reached on an error by the shortstop. However, the next two batters got out. Winkel walked to load the bases, and then Anthony Prato came through with a huge hit. He lined a single to center that scored Lee and Keirsey and gave the Wind Surge a lead that they didn’t relinquish. Lee led the way by reaching base four times. He was 3-for-4 with a walk and a double. Prato went 2-for-4 with a walk and clearly the biggest hit of the day. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, South Bend 5 Box Score The Kernels had an afternoon game in South Bend against the Cubs. The game was scoreless through the first five innings, but then the two teams combined for 14 runs over the final four innings, and fortunately, the Kernels scored nine of them. Let’s start with the pitching. Alejandro Hidalgo made the start. The 19-year-old acquired in the Gio Urshela trade struck out nine batters over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just three hits and one walk. The outing dropped his season ERA to just 1.29. Most important, since his Kernels/Twins debut when he gave up six walks in just 1 2/3 innings, he has just four walks in 12 1/3 innings over his next three outings. On the other side, Brandon Birdsell tossed five shutout innings for the Cubs. He gave up just three hits and two walks, and he struck out five Kernels. Why does the Birdsell name sound familiar? Maybe you follow Texas Tech baseball really closely? Or, maybe you remember that the Twins selected him in the 11th round of the 2021 draft and offered him as much as they had available above slot but within their allotted amount. Instead, he went back to school and the Cubs made him their fifth-round pick a year ago. He didn’t debut until this season. He has now made five starts for South Bend and is 1-0 with a 0.44 ERA. In 20 2/3 innings, he has given up one run on seven hits. He’s walked eight and struck out 18 batters. And then came the runs. The Kernels scored first with two runs in the sixth inning. Kala’i Rosario hit his first home run of the year, and it was followed by Jose Salas’s first home run as a member of the Twins organization. In the seventh frame, Charles Mack picked up his first hit of the season, a double that drove in Keoni Cavaco (who had reached on a double). John Wilson walked two but got the final two outs of the sixth inning while he maintained the shutout. Unfortunately, in the seventh inning, he faced three batters and all three singled. Niklas Rimmel came in and got the first out on a ground out. However, Scott McKeon tripled to drive in two runs to tie the game at three. Rimmel got the next two batters out without allowing McKeon to score. He then worked a perfect eighth frame. That sent us to the ninth inning, and the Kernels busted out. It started out simple enough. Cavaco walked. Ernie Yake came in to run for him. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third base, and scored the go-ahead run on a Mack sacrifice fly. Noah Miller struck out for the second out. Then the real fun began. Ben Ross and Tanner Schobel singled. Rosario singled to score Ross. Jose Salas walked to load the bases. Kyle Fedko drove a bases-clearing double to open things up. A wild pitch and a Willie Joe Garry single scored another run and the Kernels had a 9-2 lead. And they needed it. Miguel Rodriguez came in for the ninth and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk, but the Kernels held on to work to a 9-5 win. Rosario led the offense. He went 3-for-4 with the homer and two RBI. Tanner Schobel and Ben Ross each went 2-for-5. For the Northside Cubs readers, Scott McKeon went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Fabian Pertuz and Jacob Wetzel each had two hits. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Dunedin 5 Box Score For six innings, the Mussels offense did nothing. Down 4-0 going to the seventh-inning stretch, Ft. Myers scored one run in the bottom of the seventh. A Dalton Shuffield single scored Ricardo Olivar. In the bottom of the eighth frame, a run double off the bat of Jorel Ortega scored Alec Sayre with the second run. Ortega advanced to third base on the play and scored when the Dunedin catcher tried to pick him off. The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, but the Mussels made it very interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Shuffield walked. Dylan Neuse singled, and Mikey Perez walked to load the bases. Sayre struck out for the inning’s second out. But Twins Daily’s Minor League Hitter of the Month, Andrew Cossetti, came up and walked on five pitches that weren’t near the strike zone. After a pitching change, Ortega came up but struck out to end the game. Young Jose Olivares started and was charged with three runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four batters. Ronny Henriquez came on for the sixth and gave up a run. He started the seventh inning and got two more outs before being replaced by AJ Labas who got out of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth inning. Juan Mendez gave up the ninth inning insurance run when he walked two and gave up a hit. Henriquez looked solid in his first rehab appearance of the year. Sure, he gave up a run on a hit and two walks in 1 2/3 innings, but that isn’t terribly important. How he looked, how his pitches looked, and then how he responds tomorrow physically is what really is important to the process. His stuff sure looked like it did last year. His fastball sat between 94.4 and 96.3 mph. His slider was between 84.4 and 87.9 mph. His changeup was between 86.8 and 89.6 mph. His slider and changeup both got really good vertical movement, and his changeup had a nice horizontal drop. With how much time he has missed this spring, I would expect his rehab to be very close to the 30 day maximum, and even at that point, I would expect he would be activated and optioned to St. Paul to continue the work. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Alejandro Hidalgo (Cedar Rapids) - 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K. Hitter of the Day – Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-4, BB, HR(1), 2 R, 2 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) - 3-for-4, BB, 2B(9), R, SB(2), E(3) #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, 2B, R, RBI. #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, HR(1), 2 R, RBI, K. #9 - Louie Varland (Minnesota) - 4 2/3 innings, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 87 pitches, 59 strikes. #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2B(6), R, 2 RBI, 2 K. #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, BB, SB, 2 K. #16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 60 pitches, 32 strikes. #17 - Ronny Henriquez (Ft. Myers-Rehab) - 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 33 pitches, 22 Strikes. #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, R. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES Nashville @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick (0-0, 6.00 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CST) - RHP Chad Donato (0-2, 12.54 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CST) - RHP Orlando Rodriguez (2-1, 1.59 ERA) Dunedin @ Fort Myers (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Zebby Matthews (3-0, 3.10 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

What I like: Make up, IQ, Work Ethic. His delivery is very unique. Very few come from that much over the top. He has typically had really good control, and starting in 2022, his command was much improved. I really like his two other pitchers. I think the 12-6 curveball can be a plus-pitch, and the changeup is really good. It's the changeup that might be the best pitch. It also moves in on a right-hander. I still think that his upside is a solid #3-4 starter, but that's not a bad thing at all.

I think it's wise to keep him ready-if-needed for a 3ish inning stint. So while his MLB future may be in the bullpen, he should continue to build to 50+ pitches in outings.

Maybe a college pitcher taken in the first couple of rounds shouldn't start at Low-A, but I'm not sure it's fair to expect that of guys taken later in the draft. They were taken later in the draft for a reason. Like high school guys, they need to develop. The Twins have had tremendous success with later-round college guys in these drafts... by being smart, letting them develop and work on things. Matthews will get to High-A when he's ready and there's a spot to start. When you consider the successes such as Ober, Varland, Festa, Winder, Sands, Nowlin, etc., I think it's fair to be excited about guys like Matthews and Jones and Lewis and others.

I mean, I like Lee and think he'll be a solid big leaguer for a long time... but he's hitting .279 with an OPS of .780. Solid numbers, all things considered (primarily just lack of playing time especially at that level), but to this point, nothing too exciting.

torn labrum in his thumb. Had surgery in mid-March... 6-8 week recovery if all goes well.

One exciting Twins pitching prospect held a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. Was it enough to help his team win? Wind Surge pitching continues to struggle. A slick-fielding infielder came up with two huge hits. A 2022 draft pick improved to 3-0 with the Mussels. It was a full night in the Twins minor-league system, and it's always a good day when the Twins win. Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Carlos Aguiar) Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS There were no transactions in the Twins minor leagues on Friday. However, we know that Bailey Ober will be starting for the Twins on Saturday, and for that to be OK, the Twins will have to put a player on the Injured List. If I were to guess… I’d take my chances that the player will be Kenta Maeda. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 1, Rochester 2 Box Score Simeon Woods Richardson fell to 0-3 on the season, but he really put together a terrific start. In fact, he carried a perfect game through four innings. He faced the minimum number of batters through five innings. In the sixth inning, a Derek Hill single broke up the no-hit bid. He advanced to third base on a single. Darren Baker bunted and Woods Richardson flipped it home but Hill was safe. The second run scored on a wild pitch. Richardson was charged with the two runs on three hits and two walks in seven innings. He had four strikeouts. Austin Schulfer tossed a perfect eighth inning. Unfortunately, Red Wings (Nationals) pitcher Cory Abbott also kept a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. Alex Kirilloff had a walk in the fourth inning to end the perfect game bid, and Elliot Soto broke up the no-hitter with a double in the sixth inning. Down 2-0 going into the ninth inning, the Red Wings mounted a bit of a comeback. Mark Contreras doubled in Kyle Garlick to cut the deficit to 2-1 with nobody out. Andrew Bechtold followed with a walk. Andrew Stevenson bunted the runners to second and third with one out. However, two strikeouts later and the Saints had a 2-1 loss. The Red Wings had five walks, but they also struck out 18 times in the game. Not much for base runners, but the team went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base in the game. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Springfield 9 Box Score Chad Donato is a 27-year-old pitcher that the Twins signed in the offseason to provide innings and maybe some mentorship. He was originally drafted by the Astros in 2016 out of West Virginia and spent the 2022 season at Triple-A Sugar Land where he went 4-8 but tossed 124 2/3 innings. Upon becoming a free agent, he signed with the Twins this offseason On Friday, he made his third start for the Wind Surge, and it didn’t go well. He went 3 2/3 innings and gave up six runs, two each in the first, third and fourth innings. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out two. Andrew Cabezas came off of the Development List on Thursday. On Friday, he struck out four batters over two scoreless innings. Hunter McMahon is off to a slow start this season. In this one, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on two walks in just 1 1/3 innings. He did strike out three batters. Michael Boyle came in and allowed both inherited runners to score. But he was able to complete the final two innings. Wichita pitchers have given up 30 runs over the past three games. The Wind Surge bats just weren’t able to get much going in the game. They had just six hits and walked just twice. Alex Isola went 2-for-4 in the game. Jake Rucker went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 7, West Michigan 5 Box Score Marco Raya made the start for the Kernels in this game. The youngster completed the first three innings. He gave up three runs on three hits (including 2 homers) and a walk. He struck out two batters. Orlando Rodriguez came on and worked four innings out of the bullpen. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out five batters. Niklas Rimmel walked one and struck one out in a scoreless eighth inning. Regi Grace has had a nice breakout in the first month of this season for the Kernels. In this game, he had a perfect ninth and ended the game with a big strikeout to earn his first Save. Rimmel gets the Win because the Kernels scored three runs to take the lead in the eighth inning. Kala’i had an RBI double to tie the game. Then Tanner Schobel and Misael Urbina hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the Kernels the two-run lead. The first three runs of the game for the Kernels came off of the bat of Noah MIller. He had an RBI single in the second inning. Then in the fifth inning, he hit a two-run single. Miller went 2-for-5 with those three RBI. Ben Ross went 2-for-4 with a walk. He stole a base too. Noah Cardenas walked once and added his third double of the season. The Kernels gave up three home runs in the game. Two of them came off of the bat of the #12 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Jace Jung. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Daytona 2 Box Score Zebby Matthews, the Twins eighth round pick last summer out of Western Carolina, has started off his season 3-0 after another solid start on Friday night. In this game, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight batters. Jonathan Lavallee struck out three over 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Jackson Hicks struck out three batters over the final 1 2/3 innings to record his first save as a pro. The Mussels had plenty of baserunners that this game could have been a blowout. They had nine hits and six walks, but they were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. However, Dylan Neuse and Carlos Aguiar provided the big hits. In the second inning, Neuse gave the team a 1-0 lead with an RBI single. In the third inning, Aguiar drove in a run to make it 2-0 Fort Myers. The Tortugas got on the board with a run in the fourth inning. In the sixth frame, Neuse came up big again with another run-scoring hit to provide the team with just enough insurance since Dayton scored a run in the bottom of that inning to make it 3-2. Neuse went 2-for-3 with a walk in the game. He also stole his fifth bag of the season. Aguiar added a triple to his run-scoring double. Jorel Ortega went 2-for-4 with a walk. Rubel Cespedes went 2-for-4. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Hitter of the Day – Carlos Aguiar (Fort Myers) - 2-for-5, 2B (4), 3B (1), 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) - 0-for-4, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - IL (news came out on Friday that he is playing three games in Extended Spring Training games every other day. They hope to have him start a rehab assignment in May.) #4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 50 pitches, 30 strikes. #6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. 78 pitches, 55 strikes. #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, BB, 2 K. #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-5, 3 RBI #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, R, RBI, HBP, SF. #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 K, SF. THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Rochester (12:05 PM CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (1-0, 5.94 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (2:05 PM CST) - RHP Carlos Luna (0-0, 4.09 ERA) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 PM CST) - RHP Pierson Ohl (1-2, 2.70 ERA) Fort Myers @ Daytona (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Tomas Cleto (0-1, 2.57 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games! View full article

One member of the Yankees traveling party, under condition of anonymity said emphatically said that "the league, the umpires, and others involved needed to Tighten... It... up!!!"

Link updated... Thought I'd post the full top 20 from yesterday... Just to look at how many are hurt, versus how many pitchers are healthy be not scheduled to start that day, etc. #1 - Brooks Lee (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K #2 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - IL (ACL, rehabbing very well) #3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - IL (abdomen strain, shouldn't be too long) #4 - Marco Raya (Cedar Rapids) - DNP (in the rotation) #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 K. SB. #6 - Simeon Woods Richardson (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch (In the rotation) #7 - Connor Prielipp (Cedar Rapids) - IL (reports coming out have been positive) #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, BB, K #9 - Louie Varland (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch (started for St. Paul this morning) #10 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - IL (no updates of late, TJ surgery still possible) #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, BB, 2B, HBP, K. #12 - Yasser Mercedes (EST) - DNP (Extended Spring Training schedule started this week, generally playing 4 games a week vs the Red Sox group, two days of workouts/practices, one off day a week) #13 - David Festa (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch (pitched Tuesday) #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K #15 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - IL (TJ rehab) #16 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch (in bullpen, worked Tuesday) #17 - Ronny Henriquez (Minnesota) - IL (hardly any updates on him) #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K. #19 - Jose Rodriguez (EST) - DNP (same as Mercedes) #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, K

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The Twins lost to the Yankees and gave up a dozen runs. The Saints lost to the Red Wings for the first time, ever. The Kernels and Wind Surge also gave up double-digit runs and were shutout. Thursday is a new day! But a few players still had good games, and we even have some fun trivia and good news for a Minnesota product. Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Danny De Andrade) It's days like this where it's important to remember that the minor leagues are primarily about player development. And then we can continue by saying that sometimes people can learn the most from their adversity and bad days. That is an absolute truth. But when the big-league club gets blown out, and two affiliates not only give up double-digit runs but also get shut out, and another affiliate mounted a comeback only to lose it right away, it can be tough. That said, there's good in everything and there are highlights or players from each level that need to be discussed. Also, learn more about a Minnesota pitcher who appears destined for a big-league debut in 2023. And, we even added a little fun trivia for you to think about and discuss. So, how about we get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS After tossing five long-relief innings against the Yankees on Wednesday afternoon, Brent Headrick was optioned to the Saints. Corresponding move(s) coming before the Twins four-game series against the Royals starts on Thursday. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 2, Rochester 7 Box Score As you saw above, there was only a single transactions in the Twins organization on Wednesday. However, we have to assume that there are going to be at least a couple on Thursday as the Twins pitching depth is again being tested. Because of that, the Saints pitching depth has been tested as well. On Wednesday night, Jose De Leon made the start for the Red Wings. The righty from Puerto Rico gave up three runs (1 earned) on four hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out four batters. Connor Sadzeck came on in relief and threw two scoreless innings against a team he once played for. He gave up one hit, walked none and struck out three. Trivia: Ten members of the St. Paul Saints have been a part of the Rochester Red Wings in the past. I’ll give you one. Saints Manager Toby Gardenhire played for the Red Wings in 2010 and 2011. He was set to be the Red Wings manager for the 2020 season. He also spent half of a season as Mike Quade’s third base coach after the former Cubs manager (and current Twins minor-league outfield coordinator) had an arm surgery. In the comments below, let’s see if we can come up with the other nine? Anyway… Dereck Rodriguez came on for the seventh inning. He was charged with four runs on five hits. Patrick Murphy then struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning. The Saints actually got on the scoreboard first. Jair Camargo hit his first Triple-A home run, a solo shot in the third inning. The other Saints run came in the sixth inning when former Red Wings outfielder Andrew Stevenson singled in a run. The outfielder went 1-for-4 against his old teammates and stole his ninth base of the season. The Saints had base runners. They had seven hits and four walks. Edouard Julien had a double and a walk. Matt Wallner had a double, a walk, and was hit by a pitch in the game. Alex Kirilloff did not play in this game. Ryan LaMarre spent the game at first base. It was just the third time that he played at first base in his 14 seasons as a professional baseball player. He played two games there in 2021 for Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The loss ended the Saints five-game winning streak. The Saints also lost to the Red Wings for the first time since joining the International League in 2021 (7-1). Former Twin Travis Blankenhorn got the night off. The night before he hit a double to extend his on-base streak to 10 games. Finally, the winning pitcher for Rochester on Wednesday night was Bloomington Jefferson graduate Jake Irvin. The 6’-6” right-hander gave up two runs on five hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out six batters. Irvin graduated from Jefferson in 2015. That year, he was drafted in the 37th round by the Twins. However, he went to the University of Oklahoma and three years later, he was the Nationals’ fourth-round pick. He pitched quite well his first two pro seasons and was part of the Nationals’ player pool in 2020. He didn’t pitch in the big leagues, and then he got hurt. He had surgery in October of 2020 and missed the entire 2021 season. He returned in 2022 and made 24 starts between High-A and Double-A. After the season, he was added to the Nationals’ 40-man roster. He had a solid showing this spring and it’s very possible he will make his big-league debut this season. His velocity has actually improved post-surgery which is always encouraging. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 0, Springfield 10 Box Score With one out in the top of the fifth inning, the game was scoreless. Travis Adams was dealing with 4 1/3 scoreless innings. And then things turned. He gave up a single before Matt Koperniak hit a two-run homer. The next batter reached on an error, and Adams’ day was done. Tyler Beck, making his return after missing the 2022 season after Tommy John surgery, came in and struggled for the first time this season. He walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases. Then a bloop single scored two runs (one charged to Adams). Beck issued another walk to reload the bases. He got a ground out for the second out, but a run did score. Another walk loaded the bases and Ramon Borrego came out and brought Hunter McMahon in. A line out to left ended the five-fun innings. McMahon pitched a scoreless sixth frame. He came back out of the seventh and gave up two runs on three two hits and a walk before Seth Nordlin came on with one out. Whereas McMahon stranded the three base runners he inherited, McMahon left with two runners on base, and both scored. Nordlin gave up three hits and two runs of his own too. He gave up a third run on two more hits in the eighth frame. Michael Boyle pitched a scoreless ninth inning. The Wind Surge offense struggled throughout the only Yoyner Fajardo had the lone hit of the day, a single, and he also had one of the four walks the team had. Not-So-Fun Fact: The Wind Surge have now played in five afternoon/morning games. In those games, they are 0-5 and have been outscored 45-11. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, West Michigan 10 Box Score On Tuesday night, the Kernels shutout West Michigan. On this night, they scored 10 runs on 16 hits and shut down the Kernels offense. Something about Turnabout being fair play, or something? Jordan Carr started, and he did a decent job of limiting damage. He went five innings and gave up three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out seven batters. Matt Mullenbach gave up a one over two innings, and Matt Swain gave up a run in the eighth inning. Charlie Neuweiler got two outs in the ninth inning but gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. John Wilson came on and needed one pitch to end the inning. The Kernels were shutout for the first time this year, and three hits is tied for their fewest on the season. Ben Ross had two of the three hits, both doubles. Check out this Jeff Johnson article from The Gazette in Cedar Rapids on Kernels pitcher Regi Grace . MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Daytona 7 Box Score Down 5-1 through seven innings, the Mussels rallied with four runs in the top of the eighth to tie the game. However, Daytona scored two in the bottom of that inning and held on for the win. Cory Lewis was back on the mound to start. In 4 2/3 innings, he gave up three runs (1 earned) on five hits. He walked just one and struck out nine batters. The two runs he gave up in the third inning were a bit of bad luck. After striking out the first batter, he struck out the next batter, but the ball got by the catcher and the batter reached base. After a second out, Lewis had a throwing error that allowed runners to reach first and third. With two outs, he struck out the next batter, but again, it rolled by the catcher and allowed everyone to advance. Another run scored on a single up the middle. AJ Labas got the final out of the fifth inning and then pitched a perfect sixth inning as well. Hard-throwing Juan Mendez gave up two runs in the seventh inning and then after the game was tied, he gave up two more in the eighth. Combined, he gave up four runs on two hits and three walks in two innings. In the four-run eighth inning for the Mussels, Andrew Cossetti scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch. The bases filled again, but Jorel Ortega emptied them with a double to tie the game… temporarily. Danny De Andrade, who played hero the night before, was the lone Mussel with two hits in the game, and both of them were triples. Cossetti went 1-for-2 with a walk, and he was hit by a pitch twice. Fort Myers had seven hits and six walks, but they went 1-for-10 with Runners in Scoring Position and left 11 on base. Mussel batters struck out 17 times in the game. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis (Fort Myers) - 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1ER, 1 BB, 9 K Hitter of the Day – Danny De Andrade (Fort Myers) - 2-for-4, BB, 2-3B, BB, 1 R, 1 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) - 0-for-4, K #5 - Edouard Julien (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 K. SB. #8 - Jose Salas (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-2, BB, K #11 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, BB, 2B, HBP, K. #14 - Noah Miller (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K #18 - Tanner Schobel (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, K. #20 - Misael Urbina (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, K THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE AND PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Rochester (10:05 AM CST) - RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 5.59 ERA) Springfield @ Wichita (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Aaron Rozek (0-1, 14.21 ERA) West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CST) - RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 1.59 ERA) Fort Myers @ Daytona (5:35 PM CST) - TBD Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Wednesday’s games! View full article

Regi is a great dude, so I'm so happy to see him off to a strong start this year. He was actually eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft this year but there was no concern about him being taken. Hopefully he keeps it going and gets up to AA to make it a tough decision!

A 11th or 12th round pick last year from St. Joe's, he's got a ton of power, and it showed this week. He had homers in consecutive games and had several exit velocities over 100 including homers at 108 and 11 mph.

What we know about Prielipp is the same stuff that's come out in the media, that he felt a little discomfort, but at this time, there isn't long-term concern. I would say that the Salas numbers speak for themselves, right? Couple those numbers with the fact that he's one of the youngest players in the Midwest League and he's a prospect. Rodriguez has an abdominal strain. Good to catch that before it gets worse.