Seth Stohs

The Twins had an exciting, Byron Buxton walk-off win over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of their three-game series at Target Field. Just three minutes earlier, 10-ish miles east at CHS Field, the St. Paul Saints had an unlikely comeback that resulted in a walkoff win as well. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Most of the Twins affiliates fell behind early and attempted comeback. Find out if any of the others were able to complete that comeback. Let’s get to the report. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS The Twins selected the contract of RHP Juan Minaya. The Twins DFAd RHP Tyler Thornburg. RHP Casey Legumina was placed on the IL in Wichita. RHP Pierce Banks was added to the Cedar Rapids roster. He had signed with the Twins out of the United Shores Professional Baseball League (USPBL) about a month ago and had pitched a couple of games for the FCL Twins. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 4, Omaha 3 Box Score Just moments before the Byron Buxton provided the Twins with a walk-off win, the Saints were celebrating a four-run ninth inning and a walk-off win of their own. The ninth inning began with a single from Spencer Steer. Jake Cave stayed hot and hit his ninth homer of the season to cut the Saints’ deficit to just 3-2. One batter later, Mark Contreras hit a double. Michael Helman followed with an RBI double of his own. Roy Morales followed with a single to left, but Helman was thrown out at home. Morales advanced to second on the throw. He was replaced on the bases by John Andreoli. After Curtis Terry was intentionally walked, Jermaine Palacios pinch hit and drew a walk to load the bases. Newcomer Braden Bishop lined a single to left that scored Andreoli with the winning run. Not only were the Saints down 3-0 going into the ninth inning, but they had just one hit and two walks. In their four-run ninth, they had six hits and two walks. Cave led the offense going 2-for-4 with the homer and two RBI. Ronny Henriquez had an Henriquez-like start in this one. The diminutive right-hander, gave up two runs over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up just three hits. However, he also walked three batters. But his stuff can be absolutely electric and his night ended with seven strikeouts. Evan Sisk came on and gave up a run on three hits over 1 1/3 innings. Jake Petricka tossed a scoreless inning. Wladmir Pinto earned the Win with two scoreless innings. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Springfield 5 Box Score The Wind Surge fell behind quickly when Sawyer Gipson-Long gave up three runs in the first inning. In total, the Twins #20 prospect gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out five batters. Steven Cruz struck out four batters over two perfect innings, and Andrew Cabezas struck out one batter over two scoreless innings. More fun, Blayne Enlow was ejected, even though he wasn’t pitching. Wichita had just six hits and six walks on the night. The top two hitters, Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien, each walked twice. Julien added a single. Chris Williams and DaShawn Keirsey Jr each had 2-for-4 nights. Keirsey hit his 14th doubles and stole his 20th base of the season. He also made a great diving catch in center field. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== On the other side, Austin Martin showed incredible range on a pop up behind second base, but he came out of the game with what appeared to be a hand or wrist, or some kind of arm injury. Hopefully he isn’t out for very long. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Wisconsin 12 Box Score I think it’s fair to say that this game did not start out well for Bradley Hanner and the Kernels. The right-hander, who has been terrific this season, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.03 ERA, all out of the bullpen, was asked to start this game. He faced seven batters and gave up seven runs on four hits and three walks before exiting the game. Miguel Rodriguez came on and allowed two of Hanner’s runners to score before giving up two more runs on four hits over 2 1/3 innings. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Matthew Swain got the final out of the third frame. However, he gave up three runs in the fourth inning on two hits and two walks before being replaced by Tyler Palm. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings and Derek Molina got the final five outs without any more damage. Catcher Frank Nigro walked two and struck out two batters in the eighth innings without allowing a run. Down 12-2 after just four innings, the Kernels scored four in the fifth inning and three more in the ninth inning but fell shy in their comeback attempt. The Kernels scored nine runs on seven hits. In addition, they had 10 walks and a whopping six hit by pitches. (Might be interesting to see Saturday and Sunday’s games!). Unfortunately, the Kernels went just 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. Yunior Severino went 2-for-4 and was hit by two pitches. Seth Gray had two hits, including his first triple of the season. Kyler Fedko went 0-for-3, but he had a walk and twice drove in runs by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Jake Rucker had three RBI on a bases-clearing triple. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 5, Dunedin 8 Box Score The Mussels fell behind early. They mounted a power-filled comeback late, but it was a bit too late. Lefty Jaylen Nowlin started and gave up five earned runs on five hits over 2 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two batters. All five runs came in the top of the third frame. Jonathan Lavallee gave up a hit and three walks over two innings, but he did not allow a run to score, other than one of three inherited runners in the third. John Wilson worked the next 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. Malik Barrington gave up one run on one hit and one walk in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Jackson Hicks came on to get the final two outs, but not before allowing an inherited runners to score the Blue Jays final run of the night. Down 7-0 going into the seventh inning, Mikey Perez hit his sixth homer before LaRon Smith hit his first Florida State League long ball. In the eighth inning, Zach Huffins hit his first homer for the Mussels, a two-run home run. In the ninth, Dillon Tatum added a solo homer, his fourth of the season. Tatum went 2-for-4, the lone multi-hit game of the night. Huffins added a walk to his homer. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 3, FCL Red Sox 0 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Luis Rijo (3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP) Multi-Hit Games: Misael Urbina (2-for-3, R, RBI, 2B, HBP) 2B: Breilin Ramirez (1), Misael Urbina (2), Ricardo Olivar (3) Rehab Players: Rijo, Jon Olsen (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), Alex Phillips (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K), Jeferson Morales (1-for-4, RBI, K) Top Prospects: Urbina, Danny De Andrade (0-for-4). Rehabbing righties Rijo, Olsen and Phillips combined for five scoreless innings. Tomas Cleto came on and slammed the door! He worked four perfect innings and struck out seven batters to earn his second save of the season. Misael Urbina played in his fifth game since his Visa issues were worked out and he was able to get to Ft. Myers. In the fifth inning, he drilled a double to score Breilin Ramirez. Jefferson Morales singled to score Urbina, who will likely join the Mighty Mussels soon. In the sixth inning, Ricardo Olivar scored on a wild pitch. DOMINICAN DAILIES DSL Twins 2, DSL Giants Black 3 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Cristian Jimenez (5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 7 K) Multi-Hit Games: None 2B: Yilber Herrera (2) Top Prospects: Bryan Acuna (0-for-2, RBI, SF, K), Yasser Mercedes (0-for-4, RBI, 2 K) Down in the Dominican, the Twins fell behind 3-0 after two innings. In the sixth inning, the Twins got an RBI ground out by Mercedes that scored Luis Rodriguez. Acuna followed with a sacrifice fly to score Herrera. That was it, and the game ended after seven innings played. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Tomas Cleto (FCL Twins) - 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K Hitter of the Day – Jake Cave (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR (9) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on the new Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did on Tuesday. With the turning of the calendar to July, Twins Daily has updated its Top 20 Prospect rankings. #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 0-for-1, (played SS, injured) #6 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R #8 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 0-for-4, K #12 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, K #13 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - Did Not Pitch, ejected #14 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 1-for-3, 2 BB #15 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K #20 - Sawyer Gipson-Long (Wichita) - 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (83 pitches, 54 strikes) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Omaha @ St. Paul (6:07 PM CST) - RHP Ariel Jurado (0-1, 5.40 ERA) Wichita @ Arkansas (1:35 PM CST) - RHP Blayne Enlow (0-2, 5.25 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (1:05 PM CST) - RHP John Stankiewicz (2-4, 6.55 ERA) Dunedin @ Fort Myers (6:00 PM CST) - RHP Mike Paredes (3-2, 2.29 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Friday’s games!

Less than a week ago, we learned that Wes Johnson was leaving the Twins to take the pitching coach job at Louisiana State University. He remained with the team through their series in Cleveland, but his time with the Twins is now complete. On Friday, the Twins officially named Pete Maki as their pitching coach. He has been working as the Twins bullpen coach since 2020 when Bob McClure was not able to assume the job due to Covid. The 39-year-old joined the Twins organization before the 2018 season as the minor league pitching coordinator. Like Johnson, Maki was hired out of the college ranks. He coached at the University of New Haven for two seasons. Then he became the assistant pitching coach at Columbia University from 2008 through 2015 when he became the pitching coach at Duke University where he remained until the Twins hired him. Luis Ramirez remains the Twins assistant pitching coach. Maki spent time in the Twins dugout the past couple of games to work with Johnson in that location in preparation for taking over the position. Colby Suggs was hired by the Twins before the 2019 season as an advanced scout. Before 2021, he was named the team's coordinator of run prevention. He actually pitched at the University of Arkansas from 2011 through 2013. He became the 73rd overall pick in the 2013 draft by the Marlins and spent four seasons pitching in their organization. He worked and coached at private facilities for a couple of years before being named the bullpen coach at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas where he worked with Wes Johnson. Speaking of Johnson, he took to Twitter to leave a message for Twins fans.

These Minor League Week in Reviews are getting long. They are filled with how Twins minor leaguers, from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, down to the 17 and 18-year-old kids playing in the Dominican Summer League. Who played really well? How did the teams perform. While wins and losses are secondary to player development, it is a part of the game that matters to the players. There were several transactions on Monday. Both Rookie League affiliates played on Monday morning. There has been a lot of Twins minor league coverage all week, so be sure to keep checking back. Of course, we also look at the current Top 20 Twins prospects, and we enjoy seeing them do well. But, we (or at least I am) are just as excited to hear that a player like Elliot Soto is being called up by the Twins. Fun stories! If you missed it, read Nick's Twins Week in Review after you've read about the minor league week. TRANSACTIONS With no Monday Minor League Report, here are the transactions from later on Sunday and on Monday: RHP Cole Sands was optioned to St. Paul. Infielder Elliot Soto’s contract was purchased and he joins the team in Seattle. To make room, RHP Cody Stashak was placed on the 60-Day IL. LHP Evan Sisk was promoted from Wichita to St. Paul. RHP Jordan Gore was sent from St. Paul to Wichita, as was OF Cole Sturgeon. RHP Argenis Angulo placed on the Development List for Wichita. RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long promoted from Cedar Rapids to Wichita. C Jair Camargo activated from the Injured List. OF Kennie Taylor and C Kyle Schmidt sent from Wichita to Cedar Rapids. RESULTS Previous Week in Review (5/31-6/6):Another No-No, and Huge Offensive Performances Tuesday: Gipson-Long Shucks Cubs, Steer Stays Hot Wednesday: Encarnacion-Strand Continues to Mash, Emmanuel Rodriguez Injured Thursday: Festa Fancy in Start, Steer Walks it Off Friday: A Near Sweep Saturday: Kirilloff, Saints Power Their Way to Sixth Straight Win Sunday: Offensive Clinic from Cedar Rapids, Kirilloff Homers Again MORE TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE CONTENT (More Than) Three Questions With… Saints Infielder Spencer Steer (includes video) Is Austin Martin Minnesota’s Best Trade Chip? Partial ACL Tear Ends Lewis’s Season… Again! Passing on What He Has Learned Is Elliot Soto’s Drive With the 2022 Saints MONDAY’S SHORT-SEASON RESULTS We don’t have a Minor League Report on Mondays since the full-season affiliates don’t play on Mondays. But, often the FCL Twins and DSL Twins do play. Here are their box scores and highlights. FCL Twins 6, FCL Rays 11 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Juan Rojas (4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) Multi-Hit Games: Gregory Duran (2-for-3, BB, 2B, R, RBI, K 2B: Gregory Duran (2) Rehab Players: Daniel Robertson (0-for-2, K) Top Prospects: Danny De Andrade (0-for-3, HBP, K), Fredy Michel (1-for-3, 2 BB, K, 2 R, 1 RBI, SB). Summary: The GCL Twins fell behind 6-1 but clawed their way back to 6-5 going to the bottom of the eighth inning. That’s when the Rays scored five runs to put the game away. Just one of those five runs was earned as the Twins youngsters committed six errors in the game. DSL Twins 7, DSL Brewers (2) 6 Box Score Starting Pitcher: Julio Bonilla (4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) Multi-Hit Games: Denyerbe Gervis (2-for-2, 2B, R, RBI, SB), Isaac Pena (2-for-2, RBI), Junior Del Valle (2-for-3, R) 2B: Denyerbe Gervis (3) 3B: Yilber Herrera (1) Top Prospects: Bryan Acuna (0-3, HBP, R, 2 K) WEEK IN REVIEW Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week: 6-0, hosting Rochester Season: 30-29 overall, 6th place out of ten teams in the International League West. They are 6.0 games behind Nashville. Despite the rough week, Rochester remains in first place, a half-game ahead of Lehigh Valley. The Saints were struggling, but it’s fair to say that they are playing much better now. They began the week at 24-29. The former Twins Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings, came to St. Paul leading the East division of the International League. The Saints swept the series and are now back over .500 at 30-29. In reality, the Saints completely dominated #OldFriend Matthew Lecroy’s squad. They outscored the Wings 48-23. They reached double-digits in runs scored three times. Aside from a walk-off win on Thursday, none of the other games were particularly close. The Red Wings still lead their division by 1/2 game. Mario Sanchez had a four-inning save this week. He gave up no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out six batters. Joe Ryan made a rehab start on Thursday night. He struck out four batters over three scoreless, one-hit innings. He appears ready to make his next start with the Twins. Jake Petricka worked three scoreless, one-hit innings over two appearances. He walked one and struck out three batters. Tyler Thornburg threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He gave up one hit and struck out three batters. He also threw 2 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings in his Twins debut on Sunday afternoon. Jake Faria gave up one run on five hits in five innings in his start. He walked one and struck out two. Alex Kirilloff played in all six games. He went 9-for-24 and hit .375/.423/.792 (1.215) with a double, three homers and seven RBI. Tim Beckham played in four games. He went 9-for-17 and hit .529/.600/.765 (1.365) with a double, a homer, and nine RBI. He also had two stolen bases. Spencer Steer played in the Saints first three games this week. In that time, he went 5-for-13 and hit .385/.500/.923 (1.423) with a double and two home runs. On Thursday, he capped a four-run ninth inning with a two-run, walk-off homer. Jermaine Palacios returned to the Saints. In four games, he went 6-for-17, hitting .353/.389/.647 (1.036) with two doubles, a homer and four RBI. Michael Helman went 6-for-19 (.316) with two doubles. Mark Contreras went 6-for-20 (.300) with three doubles. Caleb Hamilton played in four games and went 4-for-12. He hit .333/.556/.583 (1.139) with a homer and two RBI. He also walked six times. In six games, Jake Cave went 8-for-23 and hit .348/.444/.609 (1.053) with a double, triple, homer, and five RBI. What’s Next? The Saints will be on the road the next two weeks. They will travel to Ohio and take on the Columbus Clippers this week. Pitching Probables (RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Ronny Henriquez, RHP Jordan Balazovic, RHP Derek Rodriguez, RHP Jake Faria, TBD) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge Week: 2-4, @ Arkansas Season: 32-23 overall, 1st place in the Texas League North Division. They remain 1 1/2 game ahead of Tulsa (30-24) and 2.0 games ahead of Arkansas (31-26). The series began with 6-1 losses at the hands of Arkansas. After a rainout on Wednesday, they split a doubleheader Thursday. The Wind Surge were outscored 23-20 for the week. Only one game throughout the full week was decided by less than three runs. Here are some of the top performances for the Wind Surge this past week: Louie Varland had a terrific start this week. The Minnesota native tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none, and struck out nine batters. Melvi Acosta gave up just one hit over 4 2/3 innings in two appearances. He walked two and struck out four batters. Lefty Evan Sisk struck out six batters over three scoreless, hitless innings. He walked two batters. New Surge relievers, Denny Bentley and Andrew Cabezas each worked two scoreless innings and struck out two batters over two games. Anthony Prato had a good start to his Wichita days. He went 5-for-18 and hit .278/.417/.389 (.806) with two doubles and three walks. Chris Williams went 5-for-22 (.227), but he had three doubles, a homer, and five RBI. Edouard Julien was 5-for-18 (.278), but he walked six times, giving him a .458 on-base percentage for the week. What’s Next? The Wind Surge will remain on the road. They will head to Tulsa to play a seven-game series. They will play a doubleheader on Wednesday, making up for a rainout from early May. Pitching Probables (RHP Casey Legumina, Wednesday DH (TBD, TBD), TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week: 4-2, @ South Bend Season: 37-20 overall, 1st place in the Midwest League West Division, 3.5 games ahead of Wisconsin (33-23). The Kernels dominated the series to the tune of a 37-16 run differential. They lost two close games and they won the other four games by an average of six runs. The Kernels were able to increase their lead in the division and put more space between themselves and third-place South Bend. David Festa continues his impressive, breakout season. In his start last week, the flamethrower struck out six batters over six scoreless innings. He gave up four hits and walked one batter. Lefty Aaron Rozek tossed four innings. He gave up no runs on two hits, one walk, one hit batter and struck out three batters. Sawyer Gipson-Long gave up one run on three hits (a solo homer). He walked one and struck out six batters. Cade Povich gave up one run on four hits over six innings on Sunday. He walked two and struck out five batters. Brent Headrick had another strong start. In 5 2/3 innings, he gave up one run on six hits. He walked one and struck out seven batters. Christian Encarnacion-Strand played all six games. He went 6-for-24 and hit .250/.333/.708 (1.041) with two doubles, three homers, and eight RBI. Dylan Neuse played four games and went 3-for-10 at the plate. He hit .300/.533/.600 (1.133) with a homer. He walked four times. Wander Javier went 6-for-17 in five games last week. He hit .353/.450/.529 (979) with a double, a triple, and four RBI. In six games, Seth Gray went 7-for-22 and hit .318/.400/.636 (1.036) with a double, two homers, and seven RBI. What’s Next? The Kernels will be home for the next two weeks. This week, they will be hosting Dayton. Dayton leads the Midwest League East Division with a 36-19 record and a 4 1/2 game lead over Great Lakes. Order Tickets here. Pitching Probables (RHP John Stankiewicz, RHP David Festa, LHP Brent Headrick, LHP Aaron Rozek, LHP Cade Povich, RHP Sean Mooney) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels Week: 1-5, @ Daytona Season: 35-21 overall, 1st place in the Florida State League West, 6.0 games ahead of Clearwater (29-27). It was a tough week for the Mussels. Marco Raya Steve Hajjar was terrific but only went two innings in his start. Emmanuel Rodriguez injured his leg on Wednesday. He is going to be out for three-to-four months after having surgery. Keoni Cavaco played in just one game but is expected to return to action this week. They were outscored by the Tortugas 17-37. Carlos Aguiar began the week by playing one game with the FCL Twins. He had a double in a 1-for-3 game. He also walked once. In four games with the Mussels, he had a double, a triple, a homer, and two walks. Noah Cardenas played in six games. He went 3-for-12 (.250). He also walked six times and was on base 59% of the time and had a double too. Jaylen Nowlin made one start. He went three scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out six batters. Sam Perez pitched twice, In three innings, he gave up one hit. He struck out two batters and didn’t walk anyone. Travis Adams struck out eight batters in five innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. Malik Barrington struck out four batters over three scoreless innings over two outings. He finished both games he pitched and recorded a save. What’s Next? The Mighty Mussels head back to Hammond Stadium this week to take on the Bradenton Marauders (25-31). Pitching Probables (TBD, TBD,TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD) Rookie: Florida Complex League (FCL Twins) Week: 3-2 Season: 4-2 Alexander Pena is off to a fast start. In four games, he went 7-for-12. He hit .583/.600/.917 (1.517) with two doubles, a triple, and three home runs. Fredy Michel also played four games. He went 5-for-13 and hit .385/.500/.538 (1.038) with two doubles and an RBI. Gregory Duran played four games and went 3-for-10. He hit .300/.563/.500 (1.063) with two doubles. He also walked five times. Rehabbing Daniel Robertson went 4-for-12 over three games and hit .333/.429/667 (1.096) with a double, a homer and five RBI. He also walked twice. Jose Olivares worked four relief innings. He gave up an unearned run on three hits. He walked two and struck out four batters. Tomas Cleto recorded a Save in his outing. He tossed three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four batters. Jon Olsen and Luis Rijo made their first rehab appearances since they had Tommy John surgery late last year. Rookie: Dominican Summer league (DSL Twins): Week: 4-1. Season: 4-2 Cesar Lares struck out eight batters over four scoreless, hitless innings in his professional debut. He walked three and hit a batter. Miguel Olivares struck out five and walked one batter over four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit. Roger Duran worked twice out of the bullpen. In five innings, he gave up one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out nine batters. Rafael Cruz played in four games and went 5-for-11. He hit .455/.538/.727 (1.265) with a double, a triple, and two RBI. Denyerbe Gervis went 6-for-12 in his four games and hit .500/.538/1.000 (1.538) with three doubles, a home run, and five RBI. Isaac Pena played in five games. He went 7-for-11 and is hitting .636/.583/.818 (1.401) with a triple and three RBI. Junior Del Valle went 5-for-8 in his four games played. He hit .625/.667/.875 (1.542) with two doubles. PROSPECT SUMMARY This Prospect Summary shows our current Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings and how they performed last week and this season. The Prospect Tracker will be updated on the first of each month throughout the season. Notice that these pages now include stats and splits, as well as past article links, video and more. #1 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - Did Not Play (Season: 34 G, .313/.405/.534 (.940), 12-2B, 1-3B, 5-HR, 30 R, 14 RBI, 18 BB, 32 K) #1 - Royce Lewis (Minnesota) - Did Not Play (.000), 0-2B, 0-HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K (Season: 12 G, .300/.317/.550 (.867), 4-2B, 0-3B, 2-HR, 5 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K) #2 - Austin Martin (Wichita) - 5 G, 1-for-14 (.071), 1-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K (Season: 51 G, .235/.360/.311 (.671), 8-2B, 2-3B, 1-HR, 37 R, 14 RBI, 25 BB, 34 K, 21 SB, 2 CS) #3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - In MLB (Season: 21 G, .256/.295/.442 (.737), 10-2B, 2-HR, 10 R, 12 RBI, 5 BB, 14 K) #3 - Jose Miranda (Minnesota) - 5 G, 6-for-17 (.353), 2-2B, 0-HR, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K (Season: 30 G, .226/.255/.415 (.670), 8-2B, 4-HR, 10 R, 15 RBI, 3 BB, 26 K) #4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 2.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K (Season: 6 GS, 19.0 IP, 22 R, 17 ER, 31 H, 12 BB, 18 K, 0-2, 8.05 ERA, 2.26 WHIP, 5.7 BB/9, 8.5 K/9) #5 - Simeon Woods Richardson (Wichita) - 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K (Season: 11 GS, 53.0 IP, 21 R, 20 ER, 41 H, 19 BB, 53 K, 2-3, 3.40 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, 9.0 K/9) #6 - Matt Canterino (Wichita) - Injured List (Season: 11 G, 10 GS, 34.1 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 17 H, 22 BB, 50 K, 0-1, 1.83 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 5.8 BB/9, 13.1 K/9) #7 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - (Season: 35 G, .307/.385/.591 (.976), 13-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 27 R, 30 RBI, 14 BB, 23 K) #7 - Spencer Steer (St. Paul) - 3 G, 5-for-13 (.385), 1-2B, 2-HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K (Season: 16 G, .279/.380/.691 (1.071), 4-2B, 0-3B, 8-HR, 18 R, 19 RBI, 8 BB, 13 K) #8 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Ft. Myers) - 2 G, 0-for-4 (.000), 0-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K (Season: 47 G, .272/.493/.552 (1.044), 5-2B, 3-3B, 9-HR, 35 R, 25 RBI, 57 BB, 52 K) #9 - Noah Miller (Ft. Myers) - 5 G, 2-for-17 (.118), 0-2B, 0-3B, 0-HR, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K (Season: 50 G, .243/.375/.335 (.710), 7-2B, 2-3B, 2 HR, 33 R, 13 RBI, 37 BB, 58 K) #10 - Marco Raya (Ft. Myers) - Did Not Pitch (Season: 8 G, 7 GS, 32.2 IP, 15 R, 12 ER, 26 H, 12 BB, 35 K, 3-1, 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9, 9.6 K/9) #11 - Cade Povich (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K (Season: 9 GS, 43.0 IP, 20 R, 16 ER, 34 H, 15 BB, 57 K, 4-4, 3.35 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, 11.9 K/9) #12 - Louie Varland (Wichita) - 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K (Season: 11 G, 10 GS, 58.1 IP, 24 R, 21 ER, 46 H, 24 BB, 71 K, 5-1, 3.24 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 3.7 BB/9, 11.0 K/9) #13 - Ronny Henriquez (St. Paul) - 1 GS, 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 9 G, 6 GS, 34.0 IP, 29 R, 42 H, 14 BB, 36 K, 0-2, 7.68 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 3.7 BB/9, 9.5 K/9) #14 - Blayne Enlow (Wichita) - 1 G, 3.1 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K (Season: 5 G, 4 GS, 16.2 IP, 13 R, 10 ER, 19 H, 9 BB, 21 K, 0-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 4.9 BB/9, 11.3 K/9) #15 - Matt Wallner (Wichita) - 6 G, 4-for-19 (.211), 1-2B, 1-3B, 0--HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K (Season: 52 G, .266/.380/.511 (.891), 10-2B, 1-3B, 11-HR, 35 R, 41 RBI, 33 BB, 77 K) #16 - Edouard Julien (Wichita) - 6 G, 5-for-18 (.278), 1-2B, 0-HR, 0 RBI, 6 BB, 9 K (Season: 35 G, .270/.424/.387 (.811), 5-2B, 1-3B, 2-HR, 19 R, 11 RBI, 31 BB, 37 K) #17 - Cole Sands (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch (Season: 6 G, 5 GS, 18.2 IP, 15 R, 23 H, 6 BB, 21 K, 0-4, 7.23 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.1 K/9) #17 - Cole Sands (Minnesota) - 2 GS, 8.1 IP, 9 R, 13 H, 3 BB, 8 K (Season: 5 G, 3 GS, 16.1 IP, 12 ER, 14 H, 7 BB, 18 K, 0-3, 8.82 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 3.9 BB/9, 9.1 K/9) #18 - Christian Encarnacion-Strand (Cedar Rapids) - 6 G, 6-for-24 (.250), 2-2B, 0-3B, 3-HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K (Season: 55 G, .207/.364/.568 (.932), 15-2B, 3-3B, 13-HR, 37 R, 51 RBI, 21 BB, 62 K) #19 - Steve Hajjar (Ft. Myers) - 1 GS, 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (Season: 9 GS, 35.1 IP, 10 R, 8 ER, 17 H, 19 BB, 59 K, 2-1, 2.04 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 4.8 BB/9, 15.0 K/9) #20 - David Festa (Ft. Myers) - (Season: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K, (Season: 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 0.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9) #20 - David Festa (Cedar Rapids) - 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K (Season: 4 G, 2 GS, 19.2 IP, 4 ER, 14 H, 4 BB, 22 K, 3-0, 1.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 1.8 BB/9, 10.1 K/9) PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Hitter of the Week: OF/1B Alex Kirilloff, St. Paul Saints Why is Alex Kirilloff such a great hitter? Let me count the ways. Last week, Kirilloff played in all six Saints wins. He went 9-for-24 and hit .475/.423/.792 (1.215) with a double, three homers, and seven RBI. He was the Twins choice for hitter of the week the previous, but we went with Spencer Steer. This week, the Twins went with Steer, and we are taking Kirilloff. Granted, he shouldn’t be in the minors. That wasn’t the plan. The plan was that his surgically-repaired wrist would be completely healed, and he would be hitting well in the middle of the Twins lineup. Instead, he went on the IL with some wrist pain, found out it wasn’t anything structural and was sent to St. Paul to basically get at-bats and regain confidence. In 25 games since he was optioned, he has hit .384/.465/.717 (1.182) with six doubles, nine homers, and 26 RBI. He also has 14 walks to go with 18 strikeouts. Seven of the home runs have come in the past nine games. And as soon as a position opens up and he can get very regular playing time, the former top pitch will turn to the big leagues. Pitcher of the Week: RHP Louie Varland, Wichita Wind Surge At 24, Varland is exactly one month younger than Alex Kirilloff. Their paths have been different, but they are both on the path to Target Field. Varland was a terrific pitcher at South St. Paul before joining his brother Gus at Concordia University in St. Paul. The Twins made him their15th round pick in 2019. He was the organization's minor league pitcher of the year last year, per the Twins and Twins Daily. This year, he has had outings on both sides of the spectrum. Generally speaking, it tends to be pretty directly tied to his control. Overall, he is 5-1 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 58 1/3 innings, he has given up 46 hits (9 homers), walked 24, and struck out 71 batters. His fastball is sitting 94-96 mph and has touched 97 on occasions. His slider is generally a plus-pitch for him, and his changeup has had mixed results, but there have been several very good days. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the players and the teams in the COMMENTS below.