Seth Stohs

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Kyler Fedko) Earlier this week, the St. Paul Saints announced their 2025 award winners. Outfielder Carson McCusker was named the team’s MVP. Travis Adams was named the team’s pitcher of the year. Congratulations to each of them! On Sunday, the Saints played their final game of the 2025 season. (I’m not crying… you are!) This also marks the end of the Twins Daily Minor League Reports for the 2025 season (seriously, not crying!), but we’ll be back in 2026. Don’t worry! Of course, we will also again have a weekly update on how the Twins prospects are doing in the Arizona Fall League. We'll be watching those winter league box scores to see how any Twins are doing. Did You Know? RHP Ruddy Gomez and IF Dameury Pena were drafted last week in the Dominican Winter League draft. Gomez was the seventh-round pick by Tigres de Licey. Pena was the 13th-round pick of the Gigantes del Cibao. Last week, we announced the 2025 Twins Daily Short-Season Minor League Hitters and Pitchers of the Week. Our votes are in for the full season awards, and we’ll get those articles posted this week. FCL Twins Hitter of the Year FCL Twins Pitcher of the Year DSL Twins Hitter of the Year DSL Twins Pitcher of the Year As you know, the daily minor-league reports are a staple at Twins Daily. You’ve come to expect it and we sure enjoy writing it. There is a great group of commenters who read the report daily, discuss fun topics (or not-so-fun topics), and ask questions. We really do appreciate you, and your input. If you have any questions or comments, let us know in the comments or DM me. What are your favorite parts of it, and are there parts that seem unnecessary? We welcome your suggestions and look to continue making it a Must Read for fans. TRANSACTIONS None. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Memphis 8 Box Score A few solo home runs were not enough to earn a win for the Saints on Sunday. In fact, it wasn’t enough to reach the number of runs that they gave up in the first inning. After two straight wins, the Saints dropped their final game of the 2025 season. Andrew Morris made the start for the Saints, and he’s been good since returning from the injured list, but on Sunday he was hurt by the long ball a couple of times. He gave up four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Two runs came on a Matt Lloyd homer. In the fourth inning, he gave up a solo homer to JJ Wetherholt. In total, Morris gave up six runs on seven hits and a hit batter over the first 4 1/3 innings. A rehabbing Anthony Misiewicz got the final two outs of the fifth inning. Noah Davis and Brooks Kriske each threw a scoreless inning in relief. Trent Baker gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. On offense, the Saints had just five hits. Jose Miranda had the lone single. He ends the year hitting just .195 with a sub-.600 OPS with the Saints. Walker Jenkins had the lone double, his sixth since joining the Saints. The team went just 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. However, the Saints had three solo home runs on the day. With two outs in the second inning, Aaron Sabato hit his 14th Saints homer of the year. He ends his season with 23 total homers. That marks his career-high, topping the 22 he hit in 2022. Jonah Bride led off the seventh inning with his fifth Saints home run. Leading off the Saints ninth inning, Kyler Fedko hit his eighth home run for St. Paul. It is his 28th overall home run of the season. He also had 38 stolen bases. It is also notable that it is his first career home run on his birthday. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 1-for-4, HR(8), R, RBI, and it’s his birthday. Pitcher of the Day Brooks Kriske, I guess? (St. Paul): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 14 pitches, 10 strikes (71.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2B(6), K (played CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, 2B(14), R, 2 K (DHd) #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 K, (played RF) #16 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K, 76 pitches, 54 strikes (71.1%) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(8), R, RBI (played LF) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES All Twins minor-league seasons complete. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 67-89 St. Paul Saints: 62-86 Wichita Wind Surge: 76-62 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (finished 2nd in Midwest League playoffs) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

Image courtesy of Greta Riedl / St. Paul Saints (photo of Will Holland) Penultimate… such a fun word! That’s right. On Saturday afternoon the Saints played the penultimate game of the Twins 2025 minor league schedule. The other affiliates have each been done for about a week, but the Saints got one more week of games. Sunday will be the final one. TRANSACTIONS Before the second Twins game on Saturday, the Twins placed Pablo Lopez on the Injured List and recalled Mick Abel. Hear me out. What do you think of this idea? A few weeks ago, I wrote about five Twins minor leaguers who will become free agents at the conclusion of the World Series. One of them, RHP Cody Laweryson, was called up recently to take Justin Topa’s roster spot. Will Holland is another player on that list, and he is finishing out the season with the Saints. What do you think about the idea of calling up Will Holland for the final week of the season? Give him an extra $18-20,000 for that week as a thank you for what you’ve done in our organization since they signed him in 2019. There are several players on the IL currently that could be pushed to the 60-Day Injured List. There are a couple of guys that could be DFAd. Would a team do that in a pennant-chasing season? Of course not. Would it be potentially great for good will? Possibly. Consider the Twins have a Top 3 pick in next summer’s MLB draft. They convince a top talent in the draft to sign for a few million dollars under slot. But there are now agents that see that if the Twins draft a guy and he produces and stays in the organization for six full seasons without a big-league promotion, they just might find players in later rounds will to tell other teams that they won’t sign unless they get a certain bonus because they want to be drafted by the Twins, an organization that treats its players well and respects their work and longevity. A human-centered organization. Oh wait! They traded Louis Varland with five years of service time remaining. No one is buying that human-centered stuff anymore. But I would love to see Will Holland get one week in the big leagues. Call him up! SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Memphis 3 Box Score In his final start of the season, lefty Kendry Rojas started and gave up just one run over 3 1/3 innings. He gave up for hits and walked just two, but he had five strikeouts to help him out of some situations. In the fourth inning, Christian MacLeod got the final two on and two outs, but he kept the score at 3-1 Saints. Oh yeah, the Saints. They scored three runs in the top of the third inning. Noah Cardenas hit a one-out single. Will Holland (Call Him Up!) signed him to second. Next, Walker Jenkins singled which drove in Cardenas with the team’s first run. A rehabbing Christian Vazquez grounded out, but Holland scored the second run. Kyler Fedko and Jonah Bride reached on walks. With Emmanuel Rodriguez batting, Memphis starter Zach Plesac balked to score the Saints third run. Rodriguez’s plate appearance ended with a walk, but after a pitching change the half-inning ended. MacLeod gave up a run of his own in the fifth inning which made it 3-2, but the Saints responded right away in the top of the sixth inning. Jonah Bride led off with a single to center. Rodriguez delivered an opposite-field home run. It marked just his sixth home run of the season. Also, later in the innings, the Saints got singles from Tanner Schobel and Will (Call Him Up!) Holland! On the day, MacLeod went 2 2/3 innings and gave up the one run on two total hits. Erasmo Ramirez gave up a hit and a walk but got out of the seventh inning unscathed. At that point, the Saints just added on. In the top of the seventh, Kyler Fedko walked and stole second. Bride singled him to third, and Fedko scored on a fielders’ choice off the bat of Rodriguez. Rodriguez stole second and then scored on a Schobel single to make it 7-2. With one out in the eighth, Will (Call Him Up!) Holland walked and stole second. He scored on a Walker Jenkins single to center. Christian Vazquez followed with a two-run homer that made it 10-2 Saints. The Saints added on more in the ninth inning when Will (Call Him Up!) Holland walked with the bases loaded to drive in Rodriguez. Marco Raya tossed the final two innings. He gave up one run on two hits. Blaze Jordan hit a homer with two outs in the ninth. Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a walk, his sixth homer and his ninth stolen base. He also threw out a runner at the plate. Jenkins went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Bride was 2-for-4 with a walk. Schobel was 2-for-5. Vazquez went just 1-for-5 with a walk, but he drove in three runs. Also, Will (Call Him Up!) Holland was 2-for-3 with two walks and his 11th stolen base. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul): 3-for-4, BB, HR(6), 3 RBI, 3 R, SB(9), Pitcher of the Day Christian MacLeod (St. Paul): 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 45 pitches, 26 strikes (57.8%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-5, HBP, 2 R, 2 RBI, K (played CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - Game 1: 1-for-3, 2B(13), Game 2: #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 3-for-4, BB, HR(6), 3 RBI, 3 R, SB(9), (played LF) #6 - Mick Abel (Minnesota) - 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K, 71 pitches, 39 strikes (54.9%) #9 - Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 68 pitches, 45 strikes (66.2%) #15 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 22 pitches, 15 strikes (68.2%) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, SB(12) K (played RF) SUNDAY PROBABLES St. Paul @ Memphis (1:05 PM CT) - RHP Andrew Morris (4-5, 3.69 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 66-89 St. Paul Saints: 62-85 Wichita Wind Surge: 76-62 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (finished 2nd in Midwest League playoffs) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 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This week, we've been handing out awards to the Twins short-season teams, the Florida Complex League and the Dominican Summer League. In the past, we had lumped these two teams together for "short season" awards. However, the FCL Twins schedule started a couple of weeks sooner, and they finished a few weeks before the DSL Twins did. These are different leagues. FCL Twins Hitter of the Year FCL Twins Pitcher of the Year DSL Twins Hitter of the Year Let's get to our fourth minor-league award, the Dominican Summer League Pitcher of the Year. Let's start with a couple of honorable mentions before getting to the top guys. Honorable Mention Eliezer Lucena (17): 3-0, 3.35 ERA, 11 G, 1 GS, 37 2/3 IP, 38 H, 19 BB, 31 K Yordi Jose (18): 0-1, 2.08 ERA, 7 G, 0 GS, 8 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 11 K (video) Honorably Honorable Mention Geremy Villoria (17): 0-1, 3.68 ERA, 8 G, 8 GS, 22 IP, 20 H, 7 BB, 24 K The Twins acquired the then-16-year-old Villoria from the Phillies in the Harrison Bader trade. He is one of the youngest players in the league, the Phillies signed him for $425,000. In fact, he didn’t turn 17 until after the season was complete. Already 6-3 and 180 pounds, Villoria has room to grow, but he’s already hitting the mid-90s with his fastball. He also has the makings of a solid changeup and breaking ball. He had made five starts and thrown 14 innings. In his time with the Twins, he made three starts and threw just eight innings. But combined, he posted a 3.68 ERA, and in his 22 innings, he gave up 20 hits, walked just seven and had 24 strikeouts. #3: Jensi Infante (18): 2-0, 1 save, 3.47 ERA, 16 G, 2 GS, 23 1/3 IP, 17 H, 17 BB, 17 K. Infante was already 18 when he signed with the Twins in January. The Astros have had some success signing older pitchers in the international market (yes, “older” meaning 18…). They typically sign for less, and scouts know a little more about what that pitcher can be. Infante was solid, but unspectacular. Too many walks. Not enough strikeouts. But he did alright at limiting runs against him. He’s 6-3 and still quite thin. Can he gain size and strength? If so, he can take strides. #2: Rey Pacheco (18): 5-2, 1 save, 3.00 ERA, 16 G, 3 GS, 33 IP, 32 H, 7 BB, 31 K. Pacheco had just turned 18 when he signed with the Twins in January out of Mexico. He was the DSL team’s reliable pitcher throughout their season. He came in in a variety of situations. Early in the season, he was brought into the games late just to finish a long game. Later in the season, he started coming into the middle innings in key situations. He ended the season with three starts. He threw three or more innings in his final five outings. Nothing overly spectacular, but he generally threw strikes which, if you follow the Dominican Summer League, isn’t always a given. #1 RHP Santiago Castellanos (17): 1-2, 2.79 ERA, 9 G, 8 GS, 29 IP, 23 H, 9 BB, 36 K Like Villoria, Castellanos was one of the youngest players in the Dominican Summer League, and hence, in professional baseball. He didn’t turn 17 until halfway through July. In January, Castellanos was one of the top pitchers in Venezuela in the 2025 class. The Twins signed him for $247,500. Castellanos is 5-11, and tiny, maybe 160 pounds, but he is young and has room to grow. However, even before signing he was hitting 97 mph on the radar gun with his fastball. Again, he was just 16. He also has a curveball that spins well and produces a sharp break. He’s also been working on a changeup. Now, with his youth, he’s got a long way to go, and plenty to improve upon. And that will happen. He also just needs to be more consistent (that is true of many big-league pitchers too). For me, what impressed me most, as much as his ability to throw so hard at such a young age, is his control. Of 24 players who pitched for the DSL Twins in 2025, 10 of them had more walks than strikeouts. Two others had the same number of walks as strikeouts. Meanwhile, in his 29 innings, Castellanos had just nine walks to go with 36 strikeouts. There are several Twins pitching and development coaches in the Dominican Summer League. One of those coaches said of the young hurler, “Santiago has a natural ability to throw strikes with all of his pitches and pairs that with a really clean delivery that allows him to produce good velocity for his age.” He continued, “We’re really excited to see him continue to work on the consistency of his shapes and command of all his pitches, as well as add more velocity as he gets older.” Congratulations to Castellanos and these other pitchers on a strong debut pro season, and best of luck and health to each of them! View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Emmanuel Rodriguez) TRANSACTIONS Christian Vazquez joined the Saints on a rehab assignment. He DHd and batted second. RHP Mike Paredes joined the Saints from the Wind Surge roster. John Klein was placed on the Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Memphis 10 Box Score On Thursday, the Saints played an afternoon game in Memphis. Darren McCaughan made the start. He went four innings and gave up four runs on five hits. He had five strikeouts and walked none. The Saints got on the scoreboard first. In the top of the third inning, Tanner Schobel led off with a double. He moved up to third base on a fly out. DaShawn Keirsey singled to drive in Schobel. Cory Lewis came in to start the fifth inning. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits and two walks. He recorded just two outs. Lefty Aaron Rozek came in with the bases loaded and kept the game close by not allowing the inherited runners to score. Rozek went 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and had four strikeouts. Brooks Kriske pitched the eighth inning and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. Down 8-1 going to the eighth inning, the Saints attempted a comeback. Christian Vazquez led off with a walk. Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch. Kyler Fedko followed with a three-run homer to cut the team’s deficit to 8-4, but that’s as close as the team got. Fedko now has 27 home runs to go with 36 stolen bases combined on the season. Can he reach 30-30, needing three home runs over the team’s final three games? Keirsey was the lone Saints batter with two hits. He also had two stolen bases. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Kyler Fedko (St. Paul): 1-for-4, HR(7), R, 3 RBI Pitcher of the Day Aaron Rozek (St. Paul): 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 44 pitches, 25 strikes (56.8%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, BB, K, SB(9) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, HR(7), R, 3 RBI, 2 K (played LF) FRIDAY PROBABLES St. Paul @ Memphis (7:05 PM CT) - LHP Connor Prielipp (5.40 ERA) CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 66-86 St. Paul Saints: 60-85 Wichita Wind Surge: 76-62 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (finished 2nd in Midwest League playoffs) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View full article

TV: Awful Announcing's 2025 MLB local broadcaster rankings Radio: Awful Announcing's 2025 MLB local radio booth rankings Awful Announcing ran several polls around the country, Fans were asked to grade their team's TV and Radio. I know I don't listen to many of the other team's announcers, so I don't know if the rankings are right or wrong, but it is interesting to see where Cory Provus and Justin Morneau compare to other TV teams, or how Kris Atteberry and Dan Gladden compare to radio broadcasters.

They're learning everything. They're high school age. Far from finished product. And again, gotta be careful with these numbers. Just check out stats in the DSL from Eduardo Beltre last year, or Yasser Mercedes and Jose Rodriguez in recent years. Then check out their FCL and eventually Ft. Myers...

The 2025 DSL season started out very slowly, but by season’s end they were competing with anyone who lined up against them. Manager Rafael Martinez’s club finished the season at 24-32. The DSL roster was filled with interesting prospects in 2025. The Twins decided to spread their international money around. Santiago Leon is the son of one of the Twins top international scouts. The talented youngster signed for $1,697,500. He played in 50 games and hit .223 with a .391 on-base percentage. Another Top international prospect in January was OF Carlos Taveras who received a bonus of $1,097,500. His season ended due to injury after just 18 games, but in that stretch he hit .246 with a .389 on-base percentage. He had three doubles, a triple and two home runs. Haritzon Castillo signed for $947,500. The infielder was the Twins lone representative in the DSL All Star game. He played in 39 games and hit .283/.395/.428 (.823) with eight doubles, three triples, two homers and 12 RBI. He also had 24 walks to just 22 strikeouts. It was a surprise in the industry when the Twins signed outfielder Teilon Serrano. He was rumored to be heading to the Dodgers. However, in their efforts to sign Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers had to back out. The Twins jumped in and signed him for $847,500. He played in 41 games and hit .258/.386/.426 (.812) with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs, and 21 stolen bases. Jose Barrios was signed for $422,500. In 37 games, he hit .254/.352/.361 (.713) with three doubles, two triples, two homers, and 10 stolen bases. As the saying goes, the further away from the big leagues, the less important the statistics are. Players in the Dominican Summer League are six promotions away from the big leagues. Most of them are 16 or 17 years old and still growing, still developing, and still learning. So it is always important to take the performances on the field with a bit of a grain of salt. But it’s also important to celebrate successes, and that’s what we’re doing today. Below, you will see how Twins Daily writers ranked the DSL Hitters in terms of 2025 on-field performances. Just one of the players mentioned above Honorable Mention Yovanny Duran - 46 games, .296/.452/.382 (.833), 7-2B, 3-3B, 31 SB. Teillon Serrano - 41 games, .258/.386/.426 (.812), 7-2B, 2-3B, 5-HR, 21-SB. #3: Joyner Perez Perez played in just under half of the team’s games, but he impressed with some impressive numbers. The Twins signed Perez for $397,500 in January. At 16, he was 5-11 and 215 pounds, he may not be your typical, athletic player, but if he can hit like this as he moves up, he will continue to move up. In his pro debut, he hit for average, got on base, and slugged. He had 18 walks to just 17 strikeouts, showing a good approach at the plate which can be unusual in the lower levels. He has doubles power that can certainly turn into home run power as he grows, sees more pitching and makes adjustments. #2: Jhomnardo Reyes Reyes certainly looks the part of a powerful ballplayer. At 6-3 and 190 pounds, the 17-year-old has tremendous power, and even more power potential. Signed out of the Dominican Republic for $332,500, Reyes had a very solid showing in his first pro season. In 50 games, he hit .291/.386/.469 (.855) with 10 doubles, nine triples, and one home run. He had 33 runs. He struck out a lot, but he also walked a lot for such a young player. While he logged just one home run, he showed the power and speed potential that he has with the 10 doubles and nine triples. #1: 3B Darwin Almanzar While Almanzar had the lowest signing bonus of those players written about today, a quarter-million-dollar bonus says that he was a well-known, well-respected prospect. The 17-year-old switch-hitter put together a very solid, well-rounded season. He played in 44 games and hit .252/.347/.497 (.843). He hit 17 doubles, one triple, and six home runs. He showed a good approach at the plate with 20 walks. He played all over the infield, though primarily at third base. At 5-10 and 180 pounds, he has the potential to grow, add strength and continue to improve. If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that the stats in the DSL don’t necessarily transfer. Most of these players mentioned in today’s article will move up to the Florida Complex League next year. That transition comes with its own issues including coming to the States for the first time. Congratulations to these players on a successful first professional season. View full article

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Gabriel Gonzalez) TRANSACTIONS No transactions. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 11, Columbus 7 Box Score In their final home game of the season, the Saints offense used a big inning to claim the lead and then added more to earn the win. Lefty Kendry Rojas started and gave up two runs in the first and the second innings. But he responded with scoreless innings in the third and fourth frames. In four innings, he gave up four runs on seven hits. He walked three and had three strikeouts. The Saints were held scoreless in the first two innings. However, they scored two in the bottom of the third off of John Means. Will Holland led off with his eighth homer of the season. Gabriel Gonzalez hit his sixth Saints homer soon after. The Saints offense put together a six-run fourth inning thanks to a bit of patience. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jonah Bride started the inning with walks. After a pop out, Noah Cardenas walked to load the bases. Holland followed with a two-run double to tie the game at 4-4. Cardenas scored on a balk. Following a pitching change, Gabriel Gonzalez singled to make it 6-4. Walker Jenkins followed with his second Triple-A home run to give the Saints the 8-4 lead. Cory Lewis came on for the fifth inning. He worked three innings and gave up three runs, all on a Kahlil Watson home run in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Emmanuel Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Bride singled, and Payton Eeles walked to load the bases. Cardenas singled to drive in two runs. The third run scored on a groundout by DaShawn Keirsey. Marco Raya threw two scoreless innings to finish out a nice win and send the crowd home happy. Gabriel Gonzalez 3-for-5 with his sixth double and sixth home run. Will Holland was 2-for-4 with his eight double and eighth home run. Noah Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a walk. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 5, Corpus Christi 8 Box Score Needing a win and a Tulsa loss to see their season continue, the Wind Surge fell just short of their goal on the final day of the season. Wichita took the early lead in the top of the second. Ben Ross led off with a single and stole second. Andrew Cossetti reached on an error. Jake Rucker followed with an RBI single to drive in Ross and make it 1-0. After a fielder’s choice, Jose Salas singled to right to drive in Cossetti and make it 2-0. A double play ended the inning. Sam Armstrong got the start for Wichita. He’s been terrific in his past two starts. In the bottom of the second inning, three singles led to a run and made it 2-1. In the top of the third, Hendry Mendez singled and Ricardo Olivar was hit by a pitch. Ben Ross followed with his 14th home run of the season, a three-run shot that made it 5-1. However, the Hooks matched the Surge with three runs in their half of the third inning. And then added two more in the top of the fourth. Armstrong gave up six runs on 10 hits and a walk over 3 2/3 innings. He had six strikeouts. Jaylen Nowlin came on and got the final out of the fourth inning. He also threw a scoreless fifth frame. Of his four outs, three came on strikeouts. Gabriel Yanez kept the deficit at just one run for the next two innings. He gave up two runs in the eighth inning to make it 8-5 Hooks. The Surge went scoreless in the top of the ninth. Unfortunately, after scoring five runs early, the Wind Surge bats went quiet. Mendez was 2-for-4 with a walk and a double. Ross was 2-for-4 with a walk and his home run. He also stole his 18th base. Jake Rucker was 2-for-3 and was hit by a pitch. Salas went 2-for-3 with a walk. Olivar had two walks and was hit by a pitch. KERNELS NUGGETS Midwest League Championship Series Game 1: Cedar Rapids 3, West Michigan 5 Box Score There wasn’t much offense for the Kernels in Game 1 on Sunday, but they were able to take the early lead. In the top of the second, Danny De Andrade doubled and scored on a Caden Kendle single to make it 1-0. Jaime Ferrer got things started in the top of the third with a walk. Kyle DeBarge was hit by a pitch. Marek Houston flew out to center with Ferrer advancing to third base. Eduardo Tait grounded into a fielder's choice, but Ferrer scored the second run of the game. Billy Amick followed with an RBI double. After a pitching change, two batters walked to load the bases, but the Kernels were unable to add on to their 3-0 lead. Garrett Horn made the start for the Kernels. The lefty tossed two scoreless, no-hit innings. However, he threw 57 pitches because of five walks and three strikeouts. Jacob Kisting came on. He was charged with four runs on five hits over 2 2/3 innings. He walked none and had five strikeouts. Nick Trabacchi gave up one run on three hits over 2 1/3 innings. He struck out three batters without issuing a walk. Brennen Oxford struck out two in one perfect inning. The Kernels were unable to make a comeback. They ended the game with three runs on four hits and five walks. They were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. De Andrade and Amick were both 1-for-3 with their doubles and a walk. Kendle had the RBI single. Houston had the only other hit in the game. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 3-for-5, 2B(6), HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI Pitcher of the Day Jaylen Nowlin (Wichita): 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 15 pitches, 11 strikes (73.3%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-5, HR(2), R, 2 RBI (played LF-CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-3B, SB(13), K (played 2B) #3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-5 (played SS) #4 - Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, R, RBI (DHd) #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-2, BB, HBP, 2 R (CF) #9 - Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 83 pitches, 53 strikes (63.9%) #10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 3-for-5, 2B(6), HR(6), 2 R, 2 RBI (played RF) #12 - Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-5, 3 K (played SS) #15 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 19 pitches, 11 strikes (57.9%) #17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 3 K (played 2B) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 0-for-1 (PH-LF) TUESDAY PROBABLES St. Paul @ Memphis (6:45 PM CT) - TBD Midwest League Championship Series Game 2: West Michigan @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) - TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 65-84 St. Paul Saints: 60-82 (27-42 second half) Wichita Wind Surge: 76-62 (39-30 second half) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, beat Beloit in MWLW Division series, playing in Midwest League Championship series)) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete) FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 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Image courtesy of Vanessa Buentello, Wichita Wind Surge Individually, things can seem minor, but I enjoy following this game and this organization because there is always something to be happy about. First, congratulations to Cody Laweryson. He was the Twins 14th round pick in 2019 out of the University of Maine. He has put in his dues in the organization and had a very solid 2025 season. He earned his promotion to the big leagues when Justin Topa went on the Injured List. On Saturday night at Target Field, he made his MLB debut. He gave up a leadoff single, but that was erased by a double play. Another ground out meant that he had a seven-pitch, scoreless first inning in the big leagues. He earned a second inning. In it, he struck out the first two batters before getting a fly out to right field. Two scoreless innings in his big-league debut. Very nice! Wichita came into the week two games behind Tulsa for the final spot in the Texas League playoffs. They are helped by the fact that they have the tiebreaker. With their win on Saturday night, Wichita has gone 4-1 this week. But Tulsa won too, and they have gone 3-2 this week. That means that Sunday’s season finale will matter a lot. The Wind Surge need to win, but they also need Arkansas to beat Tulsa to put them in the playoffs. If both of those things don’t happen, the Wind Surge season will be complete. TRANSACTIONS The Kernels activated RHP Xander Hamilton from the 7-Day Injured List. To make room, LHP Dasan Hill was placed on the Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Columbus 9 Box Score One day after ending their 12-game losing streak, the Saints started a new streak with a loss at CHS Field. The Saints got on the scoreboard first with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. DaShawn Keirsey led off with a single. With one out, he went to third on a single by Walker Jenkins. Aaron Sabato grounded to third but Keirsey scored on a fielding error. Emmanuel Rodriguez drove in Jenkins with the second run. Connor Prielipp made the start for the Saints. He was fantastic through the first three innings. He gave up only a single. However, the fourth inning happened quickly. He gave up a leadoff single. After getting one out, he walked the next two batters to load the bases. Catcher Kody Huff followed with a grand slam, and the Saints were down 4-2. Beyond that quick stretch, Prielipp was fantastic. He went five innings and gave up four runs on three hits and three walks. He also had six strikeouts. Aaron Rozek came in and gave up five runs on six hits (including 2 homers) over two innings. Brooks Kriske and Noah Davis each threw a scoreless inning. The Saints added a run in the sixth inning off of Triston McKenzie. Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He went to third on a Jose Miranda single and scored on a Keirsey sacrifice fly. Keirsey went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and the sacrifice fly. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 7, Corpus Christi 5 Box Score A five-run fifth inning gave the Wind Surge a 7-3 lead. Were they able to hang on and keep their playoff hopes alive? Ryan Gallagher made the start. He gave up one run in each of the first three innings. He gave up three runs on five hits over the first four innings. He walked one and had seven strikeouts. The Surge got on the scoreboard in the third inning. With one out, Jose Salas hit his fifth homer with the Surge. With two outs, Kala’i Rosario and Hendry Mendez hit back-to-back singles. Ricardo Olivar drove in the second run with a single of his own. Jump ahead to the fifth inning. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper singled and stole second base. It was his first game back since being hit by a pitch last weekend. With two outs, Mendez walked. Olivar singled to drive in Culpepper and tie the score at 3-3. After a pitching change, Ben Ross and Andrew Cossetti walked. The latter drove in the second run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Jake Rucker drilled a line drive to right field to clear the bases and give the Surge their 7-3 lead. Michael Martinez recorded two outs but gave up one run in the fifth inning. John Stankiewicz got the final out of that inning, but he gave up a single and two walks to load the bases with just one out in the sixth. Kade Bragg came in and got a ground ball, but they just missed a double-play. One batter later the inning was over. Bragg was huge. He not only got the team out of that sixth inning jam, but he went two more innings without any further damage. Kyle Bischoff came on for the ninth inning. He gave up a leadoff single but got two strikeouts and a ground out to end the game. Rucker went 2-for-3 and his second triple of the season drove in three huge runs. Olivar went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Hendry Mendez was 2-for-4 with a walk. The Wind Surge did their part, but so did Tulas. They won 10-8 at home against Arkansas. Both teams play on Sunday. If Tulsa wins or Wichita loses, they make the playoffs, and the Wind Surge go home. If Tulsa loses and Wichita wins, the Surge will head to the playoffs as they have the tiebreaker. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids - West Michigan Box Score The Midwest League championship series starts on Sunday. The Kernels will play Game 1 in West Michigan. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Jake Rucker (Wichita): 2-for-4, 3B(2), 3 RBI. Pitcher of the Day Kade Bragg (Wichita): 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 38 pitches, 24 strikes (63.2%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, K (played CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, R, BB (played 2B) #3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 1-for-4, BB, R, K, SB(10) (played SS) #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 1-for-3, BB, RBI, K (DHd) #7 - Connor Prielipp (St.Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 77 pitches, 49 strikes (63.6%) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, K (played LF) SUNDAY PROBABLES Columbus @ St. Paul (2:07 PM CT) - LHP Kendry Rojas (1-3, 7.56 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (2:05 PM CT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (2-1, 4.55 ERA) Midwest League Championship Series Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ West Michigan (2:05 PM CT) - LHP Garrett Horn CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 65-83 St. Paul Saints: 59-82 (26-42 second half) Wichita Wind Surge: 76-61 (39-29 second half) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, beat Beloit in MWLW Division series, playing in Midwest League Championship series)) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete) FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 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Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Hendry Mendez) On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced which players will be participating in the 2025 Arizona Fall League. The Twins are sending eight players and a coach. Twins prospects will be playing for the Peoria Javelinas along with prospects from the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds. The Javelinas will play in the first game of the season. It will take place on Monday night, October 6, in Scottsdale. The four other teams will open their season the following day. They will play games until November 12. As per usual, the Twins are sending some quality hitting prospects to the Fall League IF/OF Brandon Winokur: The 20-year-old is Twins Daily's #13 prospect. Drafted in the third round in 2023 out of high school in California, Winokur has steadily performed, playing one level each season. He spent 2024 with the Mighty Mussels. In 122 games for the Kernels in 2025, he hit .226/.304/.388 (.683). He filled out the stat sheet well, with 20 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, and 26 stolen bases in 30 chances. At 6-6, Winokur is a terrific athlete. This season, he played 48 games in center field, 46 games at shortstop, and 30 games at third base. IF Billy Amick: Amick spent two seasons at Clemson before transferring to Tennessee for his junior season. In July 2024, the Twins used their second-round pick (60th overall) to select this corner infielder. He began the season hitting well for the Kernels. In 21 games in April, he was hitting .342/.475/.447 (.922) with six doubles and a triple. Unfortunately, he went on the IL with an oblique injury and didn't return to Iowa for two months. He played in 29 games and hit .283/.376/.396 (.772) with six doubles and two homers. But he went back on the IL and missed another month before returning just a week ago. In those four games, he had six hits including three doubles and two home runs. He is playing in the Fall League to try to get another 100 plate appearances or so. OF Hendry Mendez: The 21-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic came to the Twins from the Phillies at the trade deadline in the Harrison Bader trade. Of the transition to his new organization, Mendez told Twins Daily, "It's been really positive. Everyone has been very supportive, and I feel like I've adjusted well. I thank God for putting me in this organization and I'm excited about the opportunity to keep growing here." In 29 games with Wichita, he has hit .320/.451/.423 (.874) with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. As you can see from his on-base percentage, he's got a tremendous approach at the plate. In fact, he has 22 walks to just 17 strikeouts since joining the Surge. Mendez was originally signed as a 16-year-old by the Brewers. He remained in the organization until a November 2023 trade sent him to the Phillies for Oliver Dunn. The trade came about a month after Mendez first played in the Fall League. "I haven't been there as a fan, but I did play there, and it was a great experience. I learned a lot, and I'm excited to go back." Regarding the opportunity, Mendez said, "I'm really looking forward to competing at a high level again and making the most of the opportunity. The AFL has great talent, so it's exciting to challenge myself and keep learning. I thank God for this opportunity. " "I want to keep working on my consistency and building on the progress I've made this season. It's a chance to sharpen my skills and prepare for next year." RHP Miguelangel Boadas: The 22-year-old has not thrown a pitch in a game since June 8th of 2024. He had made 11 appearances for Cedar Rapids when he was shut down and later had Tommy John surgery. He has spent the entire 2025 season on the 60-Day Injured List. Clearly the hope here is to get him into some game innings so that when he goes home for the offseason, he can say that he's done it. Originally signed by the Twins in July of 2019 from Venezuela, he slowly worked his way up the Twins system, one level each year. While his numbers don't look great, he has the size and stuff to potentially figure out things like throwing strikes. RHP Jakob Hall: The 23-year-old was the Twins eighth round pick in 2024 out of Oral Roberts University. While he worked as a starter in his final two seasons of college, the Twins had him work primarily out of the bullpen. He made three starts among his 28 appearances. In 54 innings, he went 3-1 with a 6.83 ERA with a 1.56 WHIP. He had 22 walks and just 45 strikeouts. RHP Hunter Hoopes: Hoopes spent two years at UNC Asheville before spending 2022 and 2023 at the University of Alabama. He went undrafted and spent the rest of that summer in the independent leagues. The Twins signed him in June of 2024, and he didn't pitch at all that season. This year, he pitched in 16 games in Fort Myers (2.14 ERA) before posting a 1.56 ERA over 14 games in Cedar Rapids. He ended the season with the Wind Surge. Combined, he has 64 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. And following the Wind Surge season, he'll head to the Arizona Fall League. He recently told Twins Daily that he is "really looking forward to playing against the talent and getting to play more baseball." He added, "It's been three years since I had a full season. The Twins seeing something in me and sending me is the biggest blessing and the greatest opportunity to start the offseason." He said that the biggest things he wants to work on in the AFL are attacking hitters and throwing his pitches with more conviction. "Getting into the competitive mindset outing after outing without my stuff taking a dip in bullpens or warming up compared to the game. Overall confidence is where I'm at and where the Lord has placed me! Fine tuning my pitches as well as I think they're in a good spot right now as well." RHP Dylan Questad: The Twins drafted the right-harder out of Waterford High School in Wisconsin with their fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft. Easily the youngest Twins player headed to the AFL this year, he will turn 21 on November 2nd in Arizona. Maybre that is what he is most looking forward two for his AFL experience. Following the draft last year, he pitched in 12 games in the FCL. It didn't go well. He was 2-4 with a 10.48 ERA. In 28 1/3 innings, he gave up 35 hits and 29 walks, but he also struck out 39 batters. He spent the entire 2025 season with the Mighty Mussels. Overall, the numbers don't look great. He went 4-7 with a 6.87 ERA. He went 74 2/3 innings and gave up 64 hits. He also had 62 walks. However, he had 83 strikeouts. He has good stuff. He throws hard. He has the makings of solid secondary pitches. Hopefully he can get to the Fall League and either talk to another coach or one of his teammates might show how he throws a certain pitch, and Questad will try it and if it works, great. LHP Zander Sechrist: Like Hoopes, the 23-year-old southpaw signed with the Twins in July of 2024 after four seasons at the University of Tennessee. Undrafted, he signed with the Twins. He made his professional debut this season and threw 69 innings over 36 games for the Mighty Mussels. He was 4-5 and had two saves. Sechrist told Twins Daily recently that he has never been to an AFL game. "It'll be a great experience seeing not only the high-level competition but also the different parks we play in." He's looking forward to the work he'll be able to do as well. He wants to see that competitive level "to see what I am capable of as well as what I need to work on in order to get better for next spring training." Specially, he's looking to do a couple of things. "Being able to execute pitches at a high rate and get my change up where it used to be. Just working on becoming a better pitcher every single day." In addition, Danny Marcuzzo will be the team's hitting coach. He is the hitting coach (and usually the first base coach) for the St. Paul Saints this year. This was his first year in the Twins organization. Marcuzzo played two years at Coffeyville Community College before playing two seasons at Western Illinois. He went to Central Oklahoma to earn a Master's Degree and help with the baseball program. Since then, he has coached at Coffeyville CC and spent the previous four seasons at the University of Nebraska. As we have for all of our years at Twins Daily, we will again be posting weekly updates from the AFL on how the TWins prospects are performing. Be sure to check back throughout the offseason for tons of Twins content. View full article

Are there actually doubters??

Nope...

How many extra fans would that bring in? 10 home games to go... 3 vs Arizona, 3 vs Yankees, 4 vs Cleveland.

Emmanuel Rodriguez has joined the Saints. Jimenez hasn't been added to the Kernels roster. Caden Kendle is off the IL with Julio Bonilla going on the development list. There is a ton to like about Rojas... As long as he doesn't end up with the yips, he'll be fine. He's so young. DeBarge is a good athlete. I don't think it's a top five speed guy in the organization, but he's a ballplayer. Good instincts. He's gotta be wearing down. He's been caught often of late and isn't going as much. Calling up Jenkins at the end of this season makes absolutely no sense. Especially from the 40-man roster angle. Why use up a 40-man roster spot that you don't have to just to get a 4-5 game glimpse of Jenkins now. In my opinion, they have a pretty strong idea of if Jenkins will make the Opening Day roster or not. Of course, I don't think moving him up to St. Paul was needed for that to be true. It might be just a nice thing to get him a week of games in St. Paul since he probably won't do any next year.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Ben Ross) The Kernels played their final game of the regular season on Sunday. On Tuesday, they start their playoff run. The Mighty Mussels season came to an end on Sunday with another rain out which is certainly unfortunate. Wichita has its work cut out for them if they want to earn a playoff spot, but there Sunday win was absolutely huge for a number of reasons. And the Saints, well, hey, Walker Jenkins is going to make his CHS Field debut with the Saints on Tuesday night! TRANSACTIONS The Twins played catcher Ryan Jeffers on the 7-Day Concussion List on Sunday, retroactive to Friday. The Twins Also DFAd RHP Brooks Kriske. Taking those spots on the big-league roster are OF Carson McCusker and RHP Pierson Ohl. Wichita placed C/1B Nate Baez on the 7-Day IL. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 1, Louisville 6 Box Score Jenkins Drills First Triple-A Home Run, Saints Lose 9th Straight Walker Jenkins hasn’t played in a home game for about a month. His last two series with the Win Surge were away from Wichita, and his first two weeks with the Saints have been spent in Toledo and Louisville. On Tuesday night, he will make his CHS Field debut. Tickets available! On Sunday, Jenkins had three more hits. In his six games played in Toledo, he had one hit in 20 at-bats. This week in Louisville, he went 13-for-25 (.520). He had at least one hit in all six games. He had at least two hits in five of the six games. He had three hits in two of the games. That is a pretty good week of baseball. Consider this, coming into the week, he was hitting .050. Heading into his first series in St. Paul, he is now hitting .311/.404/.489 (.893) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run. The Saints winning percentage this season is lower than the Twins winning percentage, but this can be a fun team to watch. This week, you can watch several of the Twins Top 20 prospects. Walker Jenkins (#1) and Gabriel Gonzalez (#10) are top ten Twins prospects in the lineup. Kyler Fedko (#19) has forced his way into the Top 20 with a tremendous season. Andrew Morris (#16) is expected to make the start on Tuesday which likely means that he will start next Sunday too. Mick Abel (#6), Connor Prielipp (#7), and Kendry Rojas (#9) are likely going to each get a start while Marco Raya (#15) has been working out of the bullpen the last few weeks. Two pitchers from Minnesota are on the Saints roster. Lefty Aaron Rozek has been an innings-eater in the organization for a few years now. John Klein was recently promoted to Triple-A and had his best outing last week. There are several players that we have seen with the Twins like DaShawn Keirsey, Jonah Bride and Jose Miranda. Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato has hit 13 homers with the Saints since coming up from Wichita. Tanner Schobel has been a Top 20 prospect. He just returned after missing about three months of the season with injury. And, Twins Daily readers love following Payton Eeles and his remarkable story. Oh, and since the Mighty Mussels season is over, I think we should expect to see Emmanuel Rodriguez return to the Saints. He is currently the #5 Twins prospect. Six home games left for the Saints. If you can get to CHS Field for a game or six, that’d be great. Check out the schedule here. Oh, yeah, back to the game. Kendry Rojas was on the mound to start for the Saints. The lefty walked two in the first innings, but a double play helped get out of that inning without giving up a run. In the second, he walked two and gave up a single run. In the third inning, a single and two walks, but no runs. So, Rojas went three innings and gave up just one run on three hits despite six walks. Jarret Whorff pitched the fourth inning and gave up one run on a hit and a walk. Marco Raya gave up four runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings. He had two strikeouts, but two of the hits were home runs. Cody Laweryson came in and got the final four outs without any further damage. Jenkins had three of the Saints’ nine hits. Jonah Bride went 2-for-3 with a walk and a double. Fedko hit his eighth double since joining the Saints. St. Paul went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. Chase Petty faced his former organization for the second time this week. In this game, he gave up one run on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He is 6-11 with a 5.48 ERA at Triple-A this season. Petty made his MLB debut in last April. In it, he gave up nine earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. He made another start in May. He went three innings and gave up four runs on six hits and six walks. He made one other appearance out of the Reds bullpen. He gave up an unearned run on one hit and a hit batter in 2/3 of an inning. He is 0-3 with a 19.50 ERA in the big leagues. Dude is just 22 years old with good stuff. He’ll have a nice career. Also, Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a double and a home run. This year, he has 202 minor-league at-bats and hit .252/.321/.520 (.841) with 19 doubles and 10 homers. In 151 big-league at-bats, he has hit .208/.234/.377 (.611) with six homers. He has been injured quite a bit the last couple of years yet he is still just 25 years old. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 12, Tulsa 11 Box Score Cossetti, Ross Power Wind Surge to Season’s Biggest Win When the week started, Wichita was two games behind Tulsa in a race for one playoff spot. On Sunday, the Wind Surge gave up a six-run lead, but Ben Ross saved the day with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the team’s hope alive. Ryan Gallagher made the start. He was charged with three runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings. He had three strikeouts. He left the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. Gabriel Yanez came in and got the third out without additional damage. The lefty tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out two batters. Wichita got on the scoreboard in the third inning, but it did not start out well. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper worked a 3-2 count before being hit by a pitch on the wrist area of his left hand. Clearly in a lot of pain, the decision was made to remove him from the game (obviously the right and easy decision despite the relative importance of the game for the Wind Surge). photos are screenshots from milb.tv. Jose Salas entered the game for him. He went to second on a ground out. Hendry Mendez then lined a single to right to drive in the team’s first run. Ricardo Olivar walked. Next, Andrew Cossetti hit a three-run homer to give his team a 4-3 lead. Wichita added on in the fifth frame. Kala’i Rosario led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Then Hendry Mendez switched places with him with his first triple with the Wind Surge. After one out, Cossetti came up and walked. Soon after, Mendez scored on a balk which also moved Cossetti to second base. Following a second out, Jake Rucker walked before Maddux Houghton singled to center to drive in Cossetti with the team’s seventh run. John Stankiewicz came into the game for the seventh inning and gave up two runs on one hit and one walk. The first run scored on a “disengagement violation.” The second run of the inning scored on a wild pitch. With just a two-run, 7-5 lead, the Surge responded with four more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Olivar led off with a single. Cossetti came to the plate and drilled another home run, his 13th of the season. Ben Ross followed with a walk. With one out, he stole second base, and Houghton doubled to make it 10-5. With two outs, Salas drove in the 11th run with a single. Hunter Hoopes, who has quietly been one of the best relievers in the Twins minor leagues this season, came in for the eighth inning to protect a six-run lead. He got two fly outs to right field to start the inning, and then things went weird. First, he hit a batter. Then he walked three straight batters to make it 11-6. That was followed by a soft single to left to drive in two runs and make it 11-8. With two runners on, Jaylen Nowlin came in. The first batter he faced hit a triple which cut the Surge lead to 11-10. Nowlin then coaxed a flyout to end the inning. Nowlin returned for the top of the ninth, trying to hold on to a one-run lead. With one out, he issued a walk, but he got the second out right away on a ground out. He then threw two wild pitches which allowed the tying run to score. However, he got a strikeout to end the inning. Ben Ross came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He didn’t wait long. He got a first pitch that was up in the zone (or maybe a bit above the zone) and drilled a long home run beyond the left field wall to give the Wind Surge a huge win. Andrew Cossetti went 2-for-4 with a walk, his 12th and 13th home runs, and five RBI. Hendry Mendez went 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI. Maddux Houghton went -for-4 with his sixth double. Ross’s home run was his 12th of the season. With the win, the Wind Surge take the Propeller Series. It’s the first time that Wichita has won the season series with Tulsa since 2021. That might just be really important over the next week. The Wind Surge really needed that win. That would have been a bad loss. With the win, the series ended in a 3-3 tie. So, with one week left to play The Wind Surge are again two games behind Tulsa for the final playoff spot. The Wind Surge will head down to Texas to take on Corpus Christi. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 4 Box Score Kernels Fall Way Behind Early, Score Late Early in the game, both teams put up multiple single-run innings. Quad Cities notched the lone ‘crooked’ number, and it was enough to give them a slight advantage in the final regular-season game for both teams. After four strikeouts on Saturday night, Kyle DeBarge led off the game on Sunday afternoon with his eighth home run of the season. The River Bandits evened the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. However, in the top of the third, Danny De Andrade started the inning with a triple. With one out, Poncho Ruiz doubled to give the Kernels a 2-1 lead. The River Bandits evened the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Misael Urbina walked. He went to third on a Ruiz single and scored on a single by Jaime Ferrer to make it 3-2 Kernels. The River Bandits didn’t score in the bottom of the fifth, or the bottom of the sixth inning. However, they scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Kernels were unable to tie the score or reclaim the lead. Spencer Bengard started and went the first 3 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Matt Gabbert went the final 4 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks. Poncho Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and his 13th double. DeBarge hit his eighth home run, but he also walked and stole his 66th base of the season. Brandon Winokur and Marek Houston did not play. Presumably they will be ready to go on Tuesday in Beloit. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers, St. Lucie Box Score It’s Florida, It’s Sunday, It Rains. For the third straight Sunday, the Mighty Mussels game has been cancelled due to rain and poor field conditions. It is especially unfortunate as that was the final game of the season for Fort Myers. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Andrew Cossetti (Wichita): 2-for-4, BB, 2-HR(13), 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 K. Pitcher of the Day Gabriel Yanez (Wichita): 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 26 pitches, 20 strikes (76.9%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 3-for-4, HR(1), R, RBI (played RF-CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4, R, 2-SB(11), K (played 2B) #3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-1, HBP (left game in 3rd inning) (played SS) #9 - Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 1 K, 67 pitches, 33 strikes (49.3%) #10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, (DHd) #15 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 51 pitches, 31 strikes (60.8%) #17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, BB, HR(8), R, RBI, SB(66), 2 K (played CF) #18 - Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, K (played SS) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, K (played LF) THE WEEK AHEAD Monday Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) - TBD Tuesday Minnesota @ LA Angels (8:38 PM CT) - RHP Zebby Matthews (4-4, 4.73 ERA) Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP Andrew Morris (4-4, 4.08 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD Game 1: Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (1:00 PM CT) - TBD Wednesday Minnesota @ LA Angels (3:07 PM CT) - RHP Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.92 ERA) Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP John Klein (0-3, 5.60 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD Thursday Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - TBD Wichita @ Corpus Christi (6:35 PM CT) - TBD Game 2: Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) - TBD Friday Columbus @ St. Paul (6:37 PM CT) - RHP Mick Abel (7-2, 2.19 ERA) Wichita @ Corpus Christi (7:05 PM CT) - TBD Game 3 (if needed): Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM CT) - CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 63-80 St. Paul Saints: 58-78 (25-38 second half) Wichita Wind Surge: 72-60 (35-28 second half) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-60 (30-33 second half, reg season complete, playoffs)) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half, season complete) FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! 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Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photos of Bruin Agbayani and Quentin Young) Don't worry. Be happy! TRANSACTIONS RHP Tanner Andrews went on the Wind Surge 7-Day Injured List. Wichita activated RHPs Kyle Bischoff and Michael Martinez. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 3, Louisville 4 Box Score Saints Fall Behind Early; Comeback Attempt Falls Short Connor Prielipp was back on the mound for the Saints, and he pitched pretty well. The southpaw gave up one run on three hits and three walks over four innings. He had five strikeouts. One could argue that the run he gave up shouldn’t have scored as a fly ball to left field landed after hitting the end of Gabriel Gonzalez’s glove. Christian MacLeod came on and gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings. Trent Baker got the final out of the seventh inning but not before allowing two inherited runners to score. He pitched a scoreless eighth frame. The Saints offense took a while to find the scoreboard. Through seven innings, the Saints were down 4-0. In the top of the eighth, Payton Eeles was hit by a pitch to start things. With one out, Jose Miranda singled to center off of the pitcher. Eeles made it to third base. Noach Cardenas grounded out to short which drove in Eeles and Miranda advanced to second. Tanner Schobel lined a single up the middle to drive in Miranda and make it 4-2. With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Aaron Sabato came up and drilled his 13th Saints homer (22nd overall) to pull the Saints to within one run. Carson McCusker followed with a pinch-hit single. Will Holland ran for him. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out and the Saints fell 4-3. Walker Jenkins began his Triple-A career by going 1-for-21. With a 2-for-4 on Saturday, he has gone 10-for-20 since that slow start and is now hitting .258 (.765) with the Saints. The Saints had seven hits and no walks. They went just 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Tulsa 10 Box Score Wind Surge Fall Behind Early, Stay There Tulsa scored early and often and drilled the Wind Surge on Saturday. The loss puts Wichita three games behind Tulsa for the second playoff spot in the division. The Wind Surge won on Tuesday. When they won the first game of Thursday’s double header, the two teams were tied for that final playoff spot. However, since then, Tulsa has won the last three games by a combined score of 30-7. Ricky Castro started and gave up two runs in the first inning and three more in the second inning. In 1 2/3 innings, he gave up two hits and three walks. Darren Bowen inherited two runners and allowed one of them before getting out of the second inning. Bowen went 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Kade Bragg threw two innings and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. Kyle Bischoff came in to start the seventh inning. He gave up a hit and two walks before coming out of the game. Michael Martinez came on with two runners on and allowed one inherited runner to score. He went the final three innings without giving up any runs. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out three batters. Tulsa scored in five of the first seven innings (four of them were multi-run innings). The Wind Surge had a total of three hits in the game. Ben Ross went 2-for-4. Maddux Houghton had the other hit, an RBI single in the fifth inning. Penultimate: I've always liked the word penultimate. Short definition? Not the last, but the one before the last. The second-to-last. For the Kernels and the Mighty Mussels, Saturday night's games are their penultimate games of the 2025 regular season. Fortunately, the Kernels will be playing in the playoffs next week starting with Game 1 in Beloit. Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) will be in Cedar Rapids. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 10 Box Score Kernels Fall Way Behind Early, Score Late Ty Langenberg has been much improved in the second half of this season. He’s been pitching quite well. Things didn’t go so well for him in this one, and frankly, he had to eat it for a while. The former Hawkeye gave up 10 runs on 11 hits and two walks over the first three innings. He had three strikeouts. He also had three wild pitches. After that, it was just about getting the final 15 outs. Julio Bonilla, Nick Trabacchi, and Brennen Oxford combined for five scoreless, hitless innings. They combined for three walks and eight strikeouts. The offense wasn’t exactly clicking in this game either. They did not score until the top of the ninth when they put a two on the scoreboard. With one out, Danny De Andrade walked and scored on a Misael Urbina double. With two outs, Urbina scored on a line-drive single by Jaime Ferrer. Prior to the ninth inning, the Saints had just two hits and two walks. Peyton Carr hit a double for his first Kernels hit. Urbina went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 15th double. A quick note: Brandon Winokur was hit in the hand by a pitch on Friday night. He was not in the lineup on Saturday, but I am told that he is doing fine. If I were to speculate, I would guess that he’s likely not to play again on Sunday, use the scheduled off day on Monday, and get back for Game 1 against Beloit on Tuesday. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 3, St. Lucie 14 Box Score It’s Florida; They Should Have Stopped to Count After One Inning The game began about an hour and 40 minutes late due to rain, but once they started, they were able to play uninterrupted. Down 1-0 going to the bottom of the first inning, the Mussels took the early lead. Emmanuel Rodriguez led off with a single. Quentin Young followed with a single. Bruin Agbayani walked to load the bases. Jacob McCombs grounded out, but Rodriguez scored, and the other runners moved up. Enrique Jimenez grounded out, and Young scored the second run. Eduardo Beltre followed with a two out double to drive in Agbayani. Through two innings, the Mussels held a 3-1 lead. And then… The Mets scored four runs in the third, three runs in the fourth, and five runs in the first inning to take a 13-3 lead through five innings. That was quick. Joel Garcia went the first three innings. He gave up five runs on five hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts. Dylan Questad came on in relief. He was charged with six runs on two hits and five walks in just 1 2/3 innings. He left the game with two runners on. Tyler Stasiowski came in and allowed both inherited runners to score and two more runs in his 1 1/3 innings. Tanner Hall struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning. Anthony Narvaez gave up a run on three hits and a walk in the eighth inning. Will Armbruester struck out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning. The Mussels spread out five more hits over the final eight innings. Bryan Acuna went 2-for-4. Bruin Agbayani went 1-for-2 with two walks. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Bruin Agbayani (Fort Myers): 1-for-2, 2 BB, R, K. Pitcher of the Day Michael Martinez (Wichita): 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 36 pitches, 24 strikes (66.7%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1– Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, K (played CF) #2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - 1-for-4 (played 2B) #3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 0-for-3, BB (played SS) #4 - Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, 2 K (caught) #5 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - Rehab in FM: 1-for-5, R, 2 K (played CF) #7 - Connor Prielipp (St. Paul) - 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 76 pitches, 46 strikes (60.5%) #10 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 3 K, E (played LF) #17 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, 4 K (played SS) #18 - Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-for-4, R, K (played SS) #19 - Kyler Fedko (St. Paul) - 0-for-4 (played RF) SUNDAY’S PITCHING PROBABLES St. Paul @ Louisville (12:05 PM CT) - LHP Kendry Rojas (1-2, 8.18 ERA) Tulsa @ Wichita (1:05 PM CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (4-1, 5.40 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 PM CT) - RHP Spencer Bengard (5-2, 4.43 ERA) - season finale! (playoffs start Tuesday!) St. Lucie @ Fort Myers (11:05 AM CT) - RHP Jason Doktorczyk (3-6, 5.00 ERA) - season finale! CURRENT W-L RECORDS Minnesota Twins: 62-80 St. Paul Saints: 58-77 (25-37 second half) Wichita Wind Surge: 71-60 (34-28 second half) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 72-59 (30-32 second half) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 52-73 (25-36 second half) FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs) DSL Twins: 24-32 (season complete) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related. View full article