Seth Stohs

I'm sure some of Wallner's steals are back-end of double-steals, but he's a pretty good athlete. Not a burner, but kind of sneaky fast... Maybe similar to Corey Koskie, who wasn't a burner, but once he got going, he could run a bit, and one year stole a lot of bags. Oh, and I am going to comment this a couple of times so hopefully more people will see it. Heard this morning that Raya was removed from the game last night with a "sickness", not an injury.

Heard back from a person with knowledge of the situation... Raya left the game due to "sickness", not injury. I don't know any more details than that, but 1.) hopefully he soon feels better, and 2.) if it's not injury, that's a good thing. Rocco was a speed and stolen base guys. My guess is he would love to incorporate that more into the game. It's good to see that the players are being allowed to steal so much in the minors. With the bigger bases coming to the big leagues, there should be more steals in the near future. I don't think Enlow will, or should, drop much. I am certain they still see him as a starter, and this year was about keeping him healthy and working, and next year is when he can start being more stringently evaluated for performance.

I'm guessing it's an innings thing... I'd be very surprised if he'd be considered for a big-league promotion at this point.

Prielipp won't pitch in the regular season. He'll debut in the Instructional League.

In about a year, the country is going to turn its eyes on Iowa for non-sports reasons. On Saturday night, the Saints were in Iowa and managed to steal a victory against the Cubs. Whitey Herzog would be proud! Wichita's balanced offense made a big comeback, and the late-season rains in Florida wreaked havoc again on Saturday. TRANSACTIONS OF Leobaldo Cabrera was activated by Wichita. OF Cole Sturgeon was activated by the Wind Surge and then promoted to the Saints. RHPs Ben Heller and Ariel Jurado were also activated by the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 3, St. Paul 6 Box score Simeon Woods Richardson took the mound for his second Saints start. In 5 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He also struck out eight batters. He earned his first Triple-A wins. Michael Feliz had one walk and one strike out in 1 1/3 innings. Mario Sanchez gave up a run in the eighth frame, but Brad Peacock locked things down in the ninth for his first Save. He struck out two batters in a perfect inning. Power and speed can be a great combination, right? The Saints used both to earn the win. The power? Mark Contreras hit a two-run in the fifth inning to put the Saints in the lead for good. It was his 13th home of the year. The speed? In yesterday’s report, we showed the organization’s leaders in stolen bases. In this game, the Saints added an incredible NINE stolen bases to their season total. Contreras stole two bases to go with his home. Michael Helman, who went 2-for-4 with a walk, led the way with four stolen bases. John Andreoli also stole two bags, and Matt Wallner added one as well. WIND SURGE WISDOM Frisco 6, Wichita 8 Box Score Lefty Aaron Rozek made the start and gave up four first-inning runs. After a scoreless second inning, the first two batters of the third inning reached. Andrew Cabezas allowed one of the inherited to score, so Rozek’s final lie was five runs on nine hits over two innings. Cabezas, other than the inherited runner that scored, tossed two scoreless frames. Francis Peguero gave up one run on a hit and a walk. He had two strikeouts over his two innings. Jordan Gore pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Casey Legumina came on and struck out three batters in a scoreless eighth frame. The Wind Surge had a very balanced offensive attack to put up their eight runs. All nine starters had one hit. No one had two, just one hit for everyone. In the first inning, Yunior Severino hit a two-run homer. In the fifth frame, Jair Camargo hit his ninth Wichita homer. The two each drove in two runs, as did Austin Martin who went 1-for-5. With an 8-6 lead going to the bottom of the ninth, Blayne Enlow was brought in for the save opportunity. After a leadoff walk, he struck out two batters on his way to a scoreless inning and his second Save. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County 6, Cedar Rapids 0 Box Score OF Dylan Neuse hit a double. OK, that is it for the Hitters portion of the Kernels report. That’s it. One hit, two walks and 12 strikeouts. To the defensive portion of this game. OF Dylan Neuse had two outfield assists in this game, twice throwing out runners at first base. The Kernels also had two errors in the game. Lefty Jaylen Nowlin made his second Kernels start. He gave up three runs on four hits (2 homers) over five innings. He walked three and struck out six batters. He was replaced by Sean Mooney who gave up three runs on three hits in an inning. Jon Olsen came on and gave up one run on one hit over the final two innings. MUSSEL MATTERS Lakeland 2, Fort Myers 6 (Final-6) Box Score As per usual at this time of year, the Weather has been the “Winner” in Florida of late. As we mentioned yesterday, Brock Stewart started for the Mussels and went the first two innings. He gave up two runs on just one hit. Michael Boyle pitched a scoreless top of the third inning. Noah Cardenas hit a solo home run in the second inning, his ninth of the year. In the bottom of the third inning, Misael Urbina led off with a double. Ben Ross drove him in with a double. One batter later, Ross stole third base and then scored on a Cardenas single. Kala’i Rosario followed with an RBI double, his 20th two-bagger of the season. And that’s when the game was delayed by rain. It resumed in Ft. Myers on Saturday afternoon. After the second out of the bottom of the third inning was recorded, 2022 draft pick Alec Sayre singled to score Rosario. . Later in the game, the Mussels got one more run on the first professional home run from Tanner Schobel. In this game, Noah Cardenas went 3-for-3 with a single, double, and home run. When the Mussels took the field, they sent Marco Raya to the mound. Raya gave up a single and then was removed from the game with an injury. We are trying to learn more about the specifics. Malik Barrington came on and worked three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked one, hit one, and struck out four batters. Then the rains came again. The Mussels held the 6-2 lead after 5 1/2 innings, so the game was called complete. Boyle got the Win, and Barrington recorded the well-earned Save. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Malik Barrington (Ft. Myers) - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K Hitter of the Day – Noah Cardenas (Ft. Myers) - 3-3, 2B (15), HR (9), 2 R, 2 RBI PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-5, 2 RBI, R #6 - Simeon Woods-Richardson (St. Paul) - 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (78 pitches, 55 strikes) #8 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - 0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (left with injury) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 0-2, 2 BB, K, R, SB #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-3, R, RBI, 3 K #15 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, Save #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 1-3, R, RBI, HR(1), #20 - Kala'i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-3, 2B(20), RBI, K SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Here are the start times and probables for Sunday’s games. St. Paul @ Iowa (1:08 PM CST) - RHP Dereck Rodriguez Wichita @ Frisco (6:05 PM CST) - LHP Brent Headrick Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (12:00 PM CST) - TBD Lakeland @ Fort Myers (DH starting at 10:00 AM CST) - TBD, RHP Regi Grace Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Saturday's games. View full article

The #MNTwins broke their six-game losing streak with a big win at home against the Giants. There were some terrific starts on the mound in the Twins minor leagues too, and one speedster was a triple away from the cycle. See what all happened in the Twins system on Friday. TRANSACTIONS Recently signed non-drafted free agent LHP Michael Boyle was assigned to Ft. Myers. So was MLB veteran RHP Brock Stewart who has worked his way back to affiliated ball after recovering from injuries the past few seasons? SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 6, St. Paul 5 Box score Ronny Henriquez has been coming out of the bullpen for the Saints the past couple of months, generally still working multiple innings situations. He returned to the starting rotation this week and put together arguably his best start of the season. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits over five innings. He struck out six batters, and maybe most important for his development, he walked none. The bullpen came on and had some moments. Juan Minaya recorded the first two outs in the sixth inning. But, he gave up one run on two walks. Austin Schulfer came on and got the final out of that inning. Jharel Cotton gave up a run on one hit and one walk in the seventh inning. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Saints held a 5-3 lead. Jovani Moran came on and struck out two in the eighth inning. Unfortunately, he gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, and a hit batter to blow the save and take the loss. The outing bumps his Saints season ERA up to 6.00. Just 15 of his 31 pitches were strikes. There are openings in the Twins bullpen, and he certainly isn’t putting up the Triple-A numbers to force the Twins’ hand. Matt Wallner went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth double since joining the Saints. Jermaine Palacios went 2-for-5. Nash Knight went 2-for-4. WIND SURGE WISDOM Frisco 2, Wichita 1 Box Score Lefty Kody Funderburk gave up two runs in the third inning, and that was it for the Frisco run-scoring on this night. Unfortunately, it was one run more than the Wind Surge were able to muster. Funderburk gave up those two runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out four. The bullpen followed with four scoreless, hitless innings. Denny Bentley walked one and struck one out over two innings. Alex Phillips and Steven Cruz each worked one inning. Cruz struck out two batters. The Wind Surge batters had twice as many hits as Frisco, but just half as many runs. Wichita had four hits, but the lone run came in the top of the seventh inning in the form of Jair Camargo’s eighth Double-A home run. Austin Martin found three different ways to get on base. He was hit by a pitch, walked, and had a single. He also stole his 31st bag. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County 1, Cedar Rapids 5 Box Score Cedar Rapids got some great pitching and kept the offense rolling, scoring their five runs in four different innings. Let’s start on the mound where David Festa improved to 7-2 with a 2.25 ERA with 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, no walks, and he struck out six batters. Matt Mullenbach got four of the five batters he faced out. He did hit one batter. Bobby Milacki struck out four batters over the final two innings. The lone run allowed came on a ninth-inning home run. It’s been a tough season for outfielder Willie Joe Garry. He missed more than two months with injury, but since his return, the speedster has been playing very well. On this night, he went 3-for-4 with a single, double, and a home run. He drove in two of the Kernel runs and scored three runs. Jake Rucker went 2-for-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. If not the fewest in the league, the Minnesota Twins big-league club has very stolen bases. On Friday night, infielder Mikey Perez stole his 12th base since joining the Kernels. He had 32 stolen bases in Ft. Myers earlier in the season. Here are the organization’s Top 10 leaders in Stolen Bases in 2022: Mikey Perez - 44 DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. - 34 Austin Martin - 32 Michael Helman - 30 Yasser Mercedes - 30 Will Holland - 26 Daniel Ozoria - 20 Anthony Prato - 20 Luis Baez - 19 Noah Miller - 19 MUSSEL MATTERS Lakeland, Fort Myers (Game Suspended in the 3rd inning) Box Score The Mighty Mussels played two games on Thursday but only completed two innings on Friday night due to rain. We’ll have more on this game when it is completed (hopefully on Saturday), but we’ll show you a little of what happened. 30-year-old Brock Stewart started for the Mussels and went the first two innings. He gave up two runs on just one hit. Immediately following a hit batter in the second innings, he gave up a home run to Mike Rothenberg. But all that is the background to a potentially great story. Stewart was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round in 2014 out of Illinois State. Just two years after signing, he made his big-league debut. Between 2016 and 2019, he pitched in 36 games for the Dodgers, including 11 starts. He went 6-3 with a 6.05 ERA over 105 2/3 innings. When the Dodgers let him go, the Blue Jays claimed him and he went 4-0 over 10 late-season appearances. After that season, he was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft, but they let him go in late May of 2020 as the season was in doubt. He pitched in six games for the Chicago Deep Dish of the City of Champions Cup League. The Dodgers signed him before the 2021 season, but he had Tommy John surgery in May of 2021 and rehabbed the rest of the season. He hadn’t pitched at all this year either, but after a tryout, the Twins signed him in mid-July to a minor league deal. Maybe it’s a long shot, but maybe he works his way back and gets to the big leagues in a bullpen role. Those are the kind of stories that are fun to tell when a game is suspended in the bottom of the third. Michael Boyle pitched a scoreless top of the third. He is 28 years old and hasn’t pitched since 2019 with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa. He’s healthy and attempting to come back. Hopefully we’ll continue to write about him the next year or so and get to know more about his story too. Noah Cardenas hit a solo home run in the second inning, his ninth of the year. In the bottom of the third inning, Misael Urbina led off with a double. Ben Ross drove him in with a double. One batter later, Ross stole third base and then scored on a Cardenas single. Kala’i Rosario followed with an RBI double, his 20th two-bagger of the season. And that’s when the game was delayed by rain. The teams will attempt to finish this game as part of a modified doubleheader on Saturday late afternoon. That will be a nine-inning game. The regularly-scheduled game will then be a seven-inning game. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, (73 pitches, 47 strikes) Hitter of the Day – Willie Joe Garry, Jr. (Cedar Rapids) - 3-4, 2B (9), HR (2), 3 R, 2 RBI, K PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed: #2 - Brooks Lee (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, BB, RBI #4 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 1-2, BB, HBP, SB (31) #9 - Matt Wallner (St. Paul) - 2-4, BB, R, RBI, 2 K #13 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, (73 pitches, 47 strikes) #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 0-4, 2 K #16 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (67 pitches, 45 strikes) #18 - Tanner Schobel (Fort Myers) - 0-2, 2 K #20 - Kala'i Rosario (Fort Myers) - 1-2, 2B(20), RBI K SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Here are the start times and probables for their games. St. Paul @ Iowa (6:08 PM CST) - RHP Simeon Woods Richardson Wichita @ Frisco (7:05 PM CST) - LHP Aaron Rozek Cedar Rapids @ Lake County (5:35 PM CST) - LHP Jaylen Nowlin Lakeland @ Fort Myers (DH starting at 3:30 PM CST) - TBD, RHP Tomas Cleto Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday's games View full article

He just has not been a good hitter, a good pitcher (starter or reliever)... and he just can't keep the rest of the players all healthy...

I wouldn't mind seeing either one of them up. They both are clearly guys that will be added to the 40-man roster anyway, so they can call them up ahead of time. Only negative would be losing an option year if/when Garlick and/or Larnach and/or Buxton come back. However, if they're already in the big leagues, and they're not ready by 2025, then we probably won't be terribly upset if they are DFAd in 2025.

Agreed... Now, the guys that Atlanta has called up are top prospects. I actually think that Julien's bat would be much more ready for the big leagues than Wallners just because he's got such a great approach at the plate. Wallner will be a decent MLBer, I think, with a lot of power, but he might strike out 50% of the time if called up right now. I'd be curious what Julien could do.

Correct. I like Isola and I have tweeted several times that I think he'll play in the big leagues... but that's as a #2/3 catcher who can play 1B, maybe even DH at times because he's got a strong approach at the plate and some power to go with it. But yeah, he's no Ryan Jeffers, who should, when healthy, start 110-120 games behind the plate.

They've tried the OF with Julien. And they've kept him in the infield. Similar to Luis Arraez. Sure, we can try out the LF thing, but now let's keep him far from the outfield. Similar to Nick Gordon, who was tossed into the OF last year, having never really played it, and now that is his position. At this point, Julien is always going to be bat-first. I'd also add that the reason to play him other places is because Polanco and Arraez can play 2B. Julien is also another LH batter. Also, when healthy, LF should go to Larnach and/or Kirilloff (depending on 1B situation). They know that Martin can play CF. They want him capable of playing short, and he's been pretty solid since coming back from the IL. He can play 3B, 2B, LF, CF if needed.

I think that's fair... He's best at second base, probably. Has played some 3B. Just a few games in LF.

Well written. Good research. He's opting out.

It is worth basically nothing. That's the "proper" thing to say right now because he is with the Twins and the season is still going.

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Of course.

Strawberry... playing for the Saints in the mid-to-late '90s... Has offers from the Twins (during their horrible years) and the Yankees (during their WS streak)... who do you think he's signing with? I'm sure they recognized his talent. Every team follows the independent league (Atlantic League, American Association, USPBL, all of them). Every team scouts every other organization's minor league affiliates.

Teams never have enough pitching, and on Wednesday, the Guardians announced that the Twins have claimed right-handed pitcher Jake Jewell from the Cleveland Guardians. Find out more about the 29-year-old below. The Guardians have announced the move. The Twins have not as of this moment. However, MLB Trade Rumors has run with it, crediting the Guardians with the announcement. Jake Jewell was the fifth-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels back in 2014 after playing at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. He has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues going back to 2018. He is able to be optioned through the rest of this season, so he likely just provides some depth to the organization and help for the St. Paul Saints down the stretch. He also has just over one year of service time, so if he would show something, they would have several years of team control. The Twins had an open spot on their 40-man roster, so they do not have to make a corresponding move to make room. Jewell made his debut with three games out of the Angels bullpen in 2018 when he was 25. The next season, he worked in 18 games in Anaheim. In 2021, he worked in 10 games for the Chicago Cubs before spending Triple-A time with both the Giants and Dodgers organizations. In 38 total big-league games and 38 1/3 innings, he has a 7.75 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP and 34 strikeouts. This season, Jewell has pitched in 36 games for the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He has 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 43 1/3 innings. He is 2-2 with four saves and a 2.49 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Over most of his career, Jewell has averaged about 94-95 mph with his fastball. He also has thrown a significant percentage of sliders (nearly 30%) in the mid-80s. He also can throw a changeup, though it isn't his best pitch. Knowing the Twins, I think it's fair to assume that the Twins will have him increase his slider usage. He has been generally healthy, though he did miss time with an ankle injury in 2018. An organization never has enough pitching, and signing a pitcher like Jewell simply gives them another option if needed. View full article

SWR hasn't had any injuries this year, has he? He missed 5-6 weeks with Covid, but I don't think he's been hurt.

If he can throw strikes, he has a chance to be special!

The Twins have signed many, many players out of independent leagues. Caleb Thielbar for one. Nick Anderson was. Several minor leaguers have. Of course, most won't get to the big leagues. There aren't a lot of Strawberry's that sign into indy leagues. But there definitely are some guys who got big league time in them today. Most are there for a reason. But there are always exceptions.

Since coming back from missing a month with Covid. I think he's made one start and worked out of the bullpen a couple of times. They're monitoring him in his return from Tommy John and obviously just want to keep him healthy going into the offseason. As for Lee, keep him at SS as long as there is any chance he can play there. There aren't a lot who can, so if you can find one, even if it's unlikely long-term, let them keep working there. If he's legitimately worth considering at SS, then any transition to 3B will be no problem.